#look i needed an excuse to mention my favorite little touch for daniel in that first episode

[honeyandpineapple]

@shetales​​ ❝ you aren’t the center of the universe. ❞ from daniel

“Am I not?” Armand’s eyes are wide with false innocence. A mask of one emotion to conceal any others that might be present somewhere beneath.

“That’s an oversimplification, I think. Perhaps I’m not now, not to you, but I have been for some of those in my life, from time to time. Still, I would’ve thought I’d at least merit a paragraph. Somewhere between your first hit and your first wife?” He smiles, not a kind smile. “But your memory is not what it once was. Is that why you keep those old toys in your closet? So you can remember your children when they don’t visit?”

[msfbgraves]

[[Doing that trick with bringing in refreshments during a meeting and brushing up against him.]] Can we see that in action? Like, Terry’s in a Mob meeting, and there’s his pretty little Omega bringing in some homemade snacks, offering them to the lot. Lucky bastard, that Silver. Maybe one of the Alpha there lets his gaze linger too long, and Daniel senses trouble, so he lets his touch linger on Terry to soothe him, maybe stays a little longer in the room so his scent calms Terry down. 

"What are you doing, Mama?"

Daniel looks up into the mirror to see his youngest boy. "Anthony! Come here, baby." His little one is as happy to snuggle as any of his puppies, but Daniel can honestly do with a cuddle himself. "I'm going to help Daddy," he says, pressing his nose into his curls. The boy lights up at the mention of his father. "Can I help Daddy?"

"I'm sure you can help Daddy loads when you're a big boy, hm?" He kisses the little cheek, and his son grins. Then he looks longingly at the make-up. "Can I be pretty too?"

"You are pretty, my love." He takes out the strawberry flavored lip balm anyway. "Open?" Anthony does, and he can feel a little shiver of delight go through the small body. "Pixie dust?" Daniel says as he applies just the tiniest amount of bronzer. (It's all about the feeling of the soft, big brush to the boy, anyway.)

Then he combs his son's locks and pins back a few curls. "Why don't you go pick out a nice flower for your hair with Auntie Jessica, baby? You can show Mama and Daddy after." Satisfied, the boy runs off, and Daniel lets out a deep breath.

Time to put on his battle face. It's the first time they are trying to buy an officer.

You can't simply order a cop to take your money. There's always some inherent disdain on both sides, and play your cards wrong, they might start an investigation.

Also, the strongest ones are not for sale.

Terry has a weak spot there, he doesn't respect weak men. He extorts them. Needing them, actually needing them, is foreign to him, which makes this a tough tightrope to walk. What to extort someone who has so little with? What influence to offer them?

Omega.

Daniel knows the type such Alphas want, too - soft, shy and servile. It's why, of course, in his first meeting with Terry, he did his best to appear anything but.

But now, his knocking on Terry's door is timid, though it comes not a moment too soon. His mate is agitated, Daniel can sense it. His first instinct is, as ever, to run to his mate, and he follows it this time. Not usually. Normally, he's a plotted distraction. This time, he is selling a dream.

He stands very close to his mate, but offers the plate of snacks with lowered eyes, head tilted down - if he does take care to hand Terry the cocktail with no alcohol in it.

Terry is having none of it. He takes Daniel's platter, puts it on his desk in front of him, and pulls Daniel close against his body. Protective instincts, then,against a strange Alpha his mate can't completely control. Yeah, he's frazzled. Daniel's Pop never reacted this strongly.

"Baby," Terry whispers. "Baby, what are you doing?"

"Trust me," he breathes against his mate's collarbone, cuddling in just slightly. He can feel his Alpha's body relax as if they were in bed. "I made your favorite, sir," he says then, more loudly. "Arancini, and olives in chili oil."

The other Alpha stirs. "That sounds delicious."

Daniel's shock is not completely feigned. You'd think he's in heat, the way the man sounds. He gives a small look, cuddles back in. Still, he squeezes Terry's arm. Trust me.

"Excuse my mate, officer Jones," Terry drawls, giving him a little push. "Honey, we have guests."

Honey is code. He never calls him that. Now, Daniel approaches the man with perfect, finishing school poise. "Excuse me, officer. May I offer you some refreshments?"

"How gorgeous," Jones says, and the double meaning wouldn't even be lost on the furniture. "Turn around, sweetheart, I want a better look."

Daniel swallows. "It's all in the taste, officer."

He laughs. "I bet." Before Daniel can react, he's up, yanking the platter out of his hands. "Sorry about that," he says, steadying Daniel with another hand.

Yeah, no. Daniel has half a mind to topple forwards and douse the man in alcohol, but instead he drops sideways, away from him, and right into Terry's path, because his mate will have taken that as a challenge and is indeed running over. "Sorry, I'm so clumsy," Daniel squeaks, but is in fact kind of relieved to feel Terry's arms around him. Not in the least because he cannot fight this way.

"That's OK, mo cuishle," Terry says. "Why don't you go check up on our babies, hm? We'll finish up here, soon."

"Thank you, sir," is so soft he can barely hear it himself. He nods at the Alpha. "Please enjoy, officer."

His grin is revolting. "No worries, sweetheart," he says, and Daniel squeezes Terry's arm again. Nearly there.

Still, he's shaking when he closes the door behind him. That was vile. Did Pop ever have him serve dirty cops? He'd have to ask Ness.

He lingers close, keeping half an eye on Yasmin and Sammy, covering Anthony in flower crowns outside his window. Listens to the sounds of Robby practicing his very first chords; Eli and Gianni trying to construct something out of bottlecaps.

His puppies.

His world.

He stays away as he hears the door slam, the voices of the two Alphas as they say their goodbyes. Then, running footsteps and he's spun around the room.

"You did it!"

He smiles, holds tight.

"He took it?"

"Ha!" Terry's eyes are gleaming. "Offered me more than I asked for. Wanted to get with your sister."

He snorts. "Nessa? She'd have his kidneys for breakfast."

Terry pulls a face, then sweeps him back to his sitting room. Daniel clings on. "Terry what?"

But Terry sits him down in his desk chair, gives him a mock bow. "Don Silver."

He looks at him. "Terry, this was personal. Not business."

He stands behind the chair. "Oh, Danny love. When will you stop lying to yourself?"

He closes his eyes. "You can't turn me into something I'm not."

He crouches down beside him. "I didn't. It seems that all I need to do is get out of your way."

Then he kisses him, and Daniel stops thinking.

[a-supernatural-writer]

Lost in the Shadows Pt.4

Previous Part Next Part

Word Count: 2801

FemOC x Poly Lost Boys

A pink and blue sugary sweet entered Vanessa’s mouth. She hummed in enjoyment as the cotton candy instantaneously melted in her mouth. She loved the treat. Anything cotton candy or even a sweet that had the pink and blue color combination sent her into a giddy state of being. 

She was leaning against the railing of the boardwalk with a set of stairs leading down to the beach right next to her. 

It’s been a very long time since she’s been to a beach town. The group's previous home was New Orleans. Filled with swamps and bayous, smoke filled bars, and jazz playing almost every single night. 

Vanessa didn’t dislike their previous home, it was just starting to become too repetitive for her. She loved jazz but was soon losing her mind hearing the same things over and over again. Their own rock band that they formed was at the bottom of the totem pole because of the music genre. 

So, that’s when Vanessa suggested that they moved. Find somewhere new where their band would be appreciated. And what better place than California? Especially a small beach town that was always looking for performers. 

Santa Carla was perfect. It was a hub for strange people. People like them. Well, not entirely like them but close enough. 

Not to mention, more often than not, she was feeling a strange pull towards the beach town. Over the past few years it was getting stronger and stronger. She talked to the others about it and that convinced them even more to move to Santa Carla. 

The others had a theory that made Vanessa practically itching her skin. The theory that her mate could be roaming around. And that freaked her out to no end. Her and her group have been around for over a few hundred years and only now she was getting a pull? 

The group chalked it up to whether her own mate either turned into a vampire or it was a desire that both her and her mate wanted. Companionship. 

Vanessa didn’t outright ever admit she wanted companionship in the sense of love or romance. She was perfectly content with her own coven. 

But having a mate was a romantic situation. Sarah and Danielle are mates and so is Timothy and Luis. They were already all together before they changed, so not much changed to their dynamic. 

Vanessa only guessed that deep down, she wanted it. She wanted what her friends had. Someone to be with and to rely on in a different way. 

Vanessa frowned as she finished the last bit of her dinner, leaving nothing but the plastic bag behind. She crumpled up the plastic in her hands and tossed it into the trash can down below on the beach. 

She still had a little time before she had to meet up with her friends. And the night would end with them maybe grabbing an extra bite to eat down at the beach. 

She reached into her back pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes that was slowly dwindling and would have to get a new pack by tomorrow night. 

A single cigarette was plucked from the pack and Vanessa held it in between her lips as she put the pack in her back pocket and fished her lighter out in the other one. It was a gold lighter with her full name and a butterfly engraved on it. It was a present from her parents when she changed completely. 

Cupping the cigarette with one hand, she flicked the lighter that was at the tip of the nicotine. Vanessa started to growl in frustration as the lighter wasn’t igniting. She stopped her attempts to get it to work and shook it up against her ear. 

“Fucker.” Vanessa groaned when she couldn’t hear any lighter fluid sloshing about. She was so busy bringing everything into their new place this morning and getting all the necessary paperwork done that she forgot to refill it. 

She reluctantly placed her lighter back into her pocket but kept the cigarette in her mouth. Maybe she could find someone with a lighter on hand? 

“Need a light?” A lighter was held up by a leather gloved hand. 

Vanessa’s eyes that were hidden behind her black sunglasses trailed up the arm and then landed on their face. 

If that pull wasn’t strong before, it was now. She could feel her inside turning and twisting. The pull was much stronger, but it still seemed incomplete. Like it was waiting for more. 

The owner of the lighter was a guy around her age. He had a platinum blonde mullet that almost looked white but it was nowhere close to her own white colored hair. He had stubble of the same color and icy blue eyes that looked like it could pierce through her heart. Thank god that her heart was half dead so it wasn’t beating like a drum. 

Not only did the leather gloves surprise her, but his whole wardrobe did. He had two coats on which was a leather jacket underneath a black trench coat. Weird combination but it really worked for him. She saw a black shirt underneath those layers but she couldn’t tell what kind of shirt it was because it seemed to be hidden. A pair of leather pants that anyone can salivate over and ankle boots that had… Were those spurs? 

Vanessa hid a smile behind her cigarette. She only concluded that he was old enough to have lived through the old western days. Maybe it stuck with him so much that he carried that piece of his life all these years. 

She knew he was a vampire, a fully turned one cause she could not only smell it on him, but she felt deep within her blood. 

“You have no idea.” Vanessa answers him. She cups her hand around the lighter as he ignites it, lighting up the end of her cigarette. She pulls back, inhaling it deeply, the ends of it burning as she breathes it in. 

Vanessa watches as he himself takes a cigarette he had placed behind his ear, placing it in between his own lips and joining her. She breathes out smoke, tapping the ends of ashes over the side of the railing, “Thanks. I thought I was gonna lose it for a second.” 

He smiled a little, breathing out his smoke, “I saw you struggling, and wanted to help.” 

Vanessa smirked, she felt him trying to prod her mind. But since she was much older than he was, she had much more experience in the field of mind games than him. She closed her mind to him, not letting him get past any of her defenses. And instead put out some fake thoughts that would appease him. 

But she was easily able to gain access to him without him knowing. And that’s when she learned that the pretty platinum blonde’s name was David. And so far, he thought she was human. He felt that same pull towards her. They both knew that they were each other's mate, but he thought she was oblivious to this pull. Just a naive little human. 

“Why do I feel like that’s just an excuse?” Vanessa asked, taking in another puff. 

David followed her actions, she will admit, guys who smoked like her surprisingly always put her off. But with David, it was a nice sight to see. 

David smirked a little, “Don’t know what you mean.” 

Vanessa wanted to laugh. Fucking tease. “Name’s Vanessa. I’d like to know the name of my hero of the night who encouraged my addiction.” 

“Vanessa…” David repeated her name. If he wasn’t dead, maybe his heart would’ve skipped a beat. His mate's name was Vanessa. It wasn’t a name he heard often, but it would soon become his favorite. 

David leans against the rail next to Vanessa, his coat covered shoulder just barely brushing against her bare ones. 

Vanessa blinked and then continued to smoke as if the slight touch didn’t affect her. Which was a huge fucking lie. It almost felt like a shock and damn it felt good. David was on the same page. Suppressing his urges. 

“My name is David. Hero of the night?” David smirked at Vanessa’s choice of words, “Such a compliment.” He continued to smoke as well, watching as the white haired female exhaled. 

Vanessa rolled her eyes, “Take it. Don’t give them out much. But seriously, thanks. Nerves have been crazy.” 

David nodded in agreement. His own nerves have been in a frenzy ever since he felt the pull towards her. He hid it well better than the others, smoking like a chimney ever since his mate set foot in Santa Carla. 

He felt it even more when he sensed her at the Boardwalk. His coven could feel her too. But being the leader of their group, he broke off first, trying to find her through the crowds of people. 

And when David saw her struggling with lighting her cigarette, the pull that he felt all but dragged David to her. He seized the opportunity and he was successful. He had control. 

Once again, Vanessa wanted to laugh. So he liked control? Interesting. But what amused her the most was the fact that he thought he was in control. He was strong, she gave him credit where credit was due. Hell, he was close to being on par with her. Just some more practice and he would be stronger than her. 

Vanessa was half vampire. She was strong in some areas but if a fully fledged vampire had enough time, they could easily beat her. 

“Been in Santa Carla long?” David asked. He already knew the answer to that but he wanted to hear it from her. 

Vanessa tapped off the last bit of ashes, taking her last puff, but before she could answer three news faces made their way over to the two of them and that’s when Vanessa almost lost her shit. 

That pull that felt with David grew in tenfold as the new faces came closer. And it felt complete. Vanessa wanted to let out a string of curses. She didn’t just have one mate, she had four. 

“Who’s the babe?” A guy with long blonde hair that was teased asked David as he hopped up to sit on the rail on Vanessa’s opposite side. He had sharp facial features and he had a blonde stubble as well, but not as noticeable as David’s. Pretty blue eyes that looked down at Vanessa with eagerness. He wore a black jacket that had some random pins and chains attached to it, a mesh tank top and white jeans that left very little to the imagination, brown worn out boots, and a bunch of random bracelets. 

One of the other ones who had a mop of very long golden blonde curls that he had tied back was standing next to the other blonde, smiling devilishly at her. Which was opposite of his angel face looks. He was the only one with a clean face which pushed his innocent soft look even more. His eyes were a shade of light brown that held mischief. A very colorful jacket filled with different pieces of tapestry, pins and patches was placed over a white crop top to which Vanessa thought was a nice choice for his body type. A pair of jeans that was covered by chaps, boots and fingerless leather gloves adorned his hands. 

And finally, a guy to which Vanessa thought fit every aspect of the phrase, tall, dark and handsome, stood next to David. Long dark brunette hair cascaded over his shoulders. He had a little bit of a stubble but not much. Deep brown eyes that were staring Vanessa down intensely. What shocked her a little was the fact that only a leather jacket with a jaguar on one sleeve and a necklace made from random items were the only things that was covering up his upper half. His tanned torso was just out in the open for everyone to see and Vanessa was very happy that she pretty much always wore her shades. He had a simple pair of black jeans and boots to finish off his look. 

Vanessa then noticed that all four of them wore a single dangling earring in their left ears. They were a coven. 

Vanessa and her coven had a similar jewelry accessory. All five of them had simple gold rings on their right thumbs. Things like that symbolized that you were part of their family, and that rule applied to most if not all vampire covens. 

Vanessa stomped out her finished cigarette as David introduced everyone to each other, “This is Vanessa. Vanessa, that’s Paul, Marko and Dwayne.” 

She nodded in acknowledgement at their names, “Hey.” She simply said. She wasn’t really trusting herself to say more at the moment. Four god damn mates. This was highly unexpected. 

David finished his own and repeated his question from before the others interrupted. 

Vanessa hummed, “Just got here today. My friends and I moved into our new place this morning.” 

“Oo!” Paul exclaimed, throwing his arm over Vanessa’s shoulder. For a second, she thought she was going to push him off from the shock she felt when their skin touched. She wondered if it affected Paul as much as it did her. 

“Where you from?” Paul continued. Paul did feel the same shock that Vanessa did. And it made him grin even more down at her. She was pretty, really pretty. The white hair looked hot on her and he so deeply wanted to see her eyes that were hidden from them. 

Vanessa felt her hand twitch, wanting to reach back and pull out another cigarette, “Not really from anywhere. We just moved from New Orleans.” She decided to go with the last place she called home. In reality, she hasn’t been home in over thirty years. 

Marko moved a little bit closer to Vanessa, desperately wanting to feel the same shock that David and Paul felt. He was itching to just even hold hands with his mate. 

“Pretty big move.” Marko comments, placing his thumb nail in his mouth and biting down on it. 

Vanessa couldn’t tell if that was a nervous tick of his or just something he repetitively did. She was leaning more towards being nervous just from his own thoughts. The action was cute though. 

“Very.” Dwayne grunts out. Vanessa could feel her chest tightening at how deep his voice was, her jaw even dropped a little. Oh his voice is not fair. 

The boys snickered among themselves at Vanessa. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought they were amused at her jaw dropping, but she did know better. She put that thought out in the open for all of them. Purely by accident. 

David’s pointer finger pushed up Vanessa’s jaw, drawing her attention to him. “So, what are you doing here all alone?” 

David’s finger gently trailed down the side of her neck. The leather making Vanessa involuntarily shiver. 

That question snapped Vanessa back to reality, “Actually, thank you for reminding me.” Vanessa pushed off the railing, parting from David’s touch, “I have to go.” 

Vanessa only made it two steps away from them when Marko’s hand snatched Vanessa’s wrist, “Where are you going? We could have some fun?” 

Vanessa looked back at Marko, a shock running up her arm and spreading through her entire body. Marko’s grip on Vanessa’s wrist tightened a little from the same shock. 

Biting her lip, Vanessa gently pulled away from Marko only to be stopped by Dwayne from behind. 

Vanessa flinched a little as Dwayne’s torso collided with her back, a shock coursing through both of their bodies at the touch, “Vanessa?” Dwayne asked, placing his big hands on her shoulders. 

Taking a moment to collect herself, Vanessa removes Dwayne’s hands and is fully able to back away from them. Disappointment flashed through their eyes, not wanting her to leave. 

Vanessa smiles softly at them. She knew they wanted to get to know her and be around her. Once a mate touched a mate, it was hard to even separate five feet away from each other. She just needed a breather. Four mates was a lot and she just needed one day to fully take it in. 

“I’m we could have a lot of fun…” Vanessa said to Marko, causing him to smile. Vanessa directed her attention back to David, “But, I’m afraid I have previous engagement.” 

“Nessa!” A female voice that belonged to Sarah called out in the distance. 

Vanessa wanted to kiss the ground she walked on. Her friends had perfect timing. Vanessa smiled, looking over her shoulder at her incoming friends, “Speak of the devils.”

[residentlesbrarian]

The Second Book I Read In the Dark: Another YA superhero novel for me to squeal over forever...YES, Please! Gimme Gimme!

Dreadnought by April Daniels

So Day 1 in the dark continues onward and I have already finished 1 of my 3 library books with still so much day left so what else to do but soldier forward and continue without pause. Well there was a short pause for delicious chicken soup cooked on a blessedly gas powered range (never gonna live in a house with an electric range; I swear this thing has saved our butts in so many power outages), but I digress; I was ready! This time I was taking a break from the whimsical and witchy and diving head first into all things super with an extra heroic twist. 

I had heard so many good things about this book for so long but again it had fallen to the wayside of other distractions (a rainbow montage of movie and TV show gays runs back and forth through my head like the migrating fandom flamingoes). What finally made me make the decision to buckle down and do the thing was a video review done by one of my favorite YouTubers, Dominic Noble (Video Linked below). I love his series Lost in Adaptation, because as an avid reader I too find myself appalled by what Hollywood often does to my favorite books. Hearing him talk about Dreadnought was just the push my flighty brain needed to say, “Fine! Alright! We haven’t utterly obsessed over a teenage superhero book in like 6 months since we near bludgeoned our girlfriend with Not Your Sidekick! Fine! Let’s do it!” So...yeah if this intro is anything to go by this should be a fun one! Let’s dive right in shall we!

Unicorn Rating:

Blurb: She just wanted to paint her toenails in peace but then a superhero had to go and die and give Danny the one thing she never thought she’d have...her proper body. Now if only everyone else felt that way too. Life just got awesome and really really complicated all at once! Oh yeah and she can fly now. Bonus!

Disclaimer: I will try my best to not spoil anything from the book, but my book loving rambles may give more away than a traditional review. Here we go! Ramble time!

Review: 

Holy crap! After the last book this was exactly what I needed! This book was just...so good! The plot...the characters...the world...everything about it just pulls you in and doesn’t let you go. Now I may have felt that way because I didn’t have anything trying to pull me away from this book but I don’t think I would have been easily pulled away if there had been distractions. And so many facets of this story were things I didn’t expect because I had never seen them portrayed before. Like the fact Danny having to deal with the rampant day to day sexism of being a woman now that her appearance matches who she really is. I’ve never seen that in a book before and I absolutely loved it! I was so dedicated to Danny’s story from page 1 it’s ridiculous, and look at that, a perfect segue into the phenomenal characters of this book...look what I did there switching it up going out of order on ya...gotta keep ya on your toes.

Our protagonist Danny is such a phenomenal example of a genuine kind caring person who is also deeply scarred and angry. It was so amazing to read a character that was flawed and struggling and doesn’t see how much a hero she really is and the small moments when others take that double take and go, “You’re the real deal, huh?” But those moments just confuse the living hell outta Danny cause she’s just Danny, she got super powers as a fluke. She is also hilarious and courageous and smart but knows she isn’t perfect and has weaknesses. She may be the strongest person on earth physically now but she acknowledges that that isn’t everything someone needs. Danny is such a good bean, but she has issues and that isn’t glossed over which is so rare. Now the next thing I want to touch on is a very tough subject but is very prevalent in the book so I wouldn’t be a very prudent reviewer if I didn’t bring it up. Danny is, without question, an abused child. This isn’t even really a spoiler, it alludes pretty heavily to it in the blurb, but what I’m gonna touch on next does dip into that territory so I’m gonna break it into a new LONG paragraph so just scroll on by if you don’t want to read this bit.

So at one point in the book Danny mentions a health screening at school that revealed she had hearing damage in her right ear that has now been healed by the mantle of Dreadnought. At the time of the screening she didn’t realize why until her dad had another Mount Vesuvius day and she assumed her usual position of curling in on herself and turning her head to the left so he would yell into only her right ear. Now how loud and how often do you have to yell into someone’s ear to cause permanent hearing damage? I don’t know and honestly I don’t want to know. Why am I highlighting an overall tiny moment...because for me this moment jumped out and gut punched me. Brought literal tears to my eyes. Tears of pain. Tears of rage. Tears of hate. I’m a weepy bitch when I get emotional. I’ve read a lot of books that try and portray abuse and how Daniels wrote Danny’s abuse from her father took my breath away because it felt so real. There weren’t really any good days, there were bad days, there were really bad days, but most days were just anxiously waiting for the next bad day, because Danny knew there would always be a next bad day. Something that did surprise me was my feelings about Danny’s mother. I knew going in I would hate her father, before even meeting him I hated him, but her mother, that was a hate that lay dormant until it exploded onto the scene and froze me to my core. I’m not gonna get into my own demons here but there is one thing I cannot abide by and that is people turning a blind eye while someone abuses another. Danny’s mother is the textbook definition of someone who “goes along to get along”, she will do just about anything to keep the peace, but at what cost? Instead of protecting her child from someone who literally screamed so long and so loud at her child that it damaged her hearing she just sat back and let them. That’s not the worst though, no, after Danny’s transition her mom seems to be understanding of the fact she is happy being a girl and is buying her things she needs like bras and undeniably feminine shoes, only to reveal it was all to keep Danny docile so she wouldn’t cause more fights with her dad. That to me is unforgivable. Not worse than the abuse of the father, but still undeniably selfish. She never cared about Danny or listened to her and what she was really saying. She just didn’t want there to be anymore fighting. Well I’m sorry, but sometimes, as a mother, you should fight to protect your goddamn child when someone is hurting them. The last thing I’ll say before going back to the more spoiler free and fun part of the review is that the fact Danny can never make herself say she is being abused hits so close to home for me. As a reader looking in from outside, there was a scene with a member of the Legion that I felt like, as an abuse survivor myself, I was standing there begging Danny to accept her invitation. To get out of that house. To get away from her father. To see what he was doing for what it was. But I knew she wouldn’t, she wasn’t ready, and it broke my heart to watch her fly away.

Anyway moving on from all that heavy stuff lets talk about other things like some freaking superheroes and one particular vigilante. We have the Legion members: Doc Impossible, Valkyrja, Magma, Graywytch, Chlorophyll, and Carapice. Now How do I want to talk about these characters...in what order...hmmm...how about from best to worst. Okay? Okay. Great! 

I freaking love Doc Impossible! She is a character that from the moment I met her she gave me ‘kookie grandma’ character vibes and I get DOWN with kookie grandma characters. Now I know she isn’t a grandma character nor is she particularly crazy in the way she acts; it's just a vibe I get from her that I love. Now one thing I do want to say without spoiling anything is how Doc is one of the few characters that never tries to take away Danny’s agency in everything that happens around her in all this superhero craziness. Danny can always be her own person and most importantly a kid around Doc, and I feel Danny really needed that. I will stop myself now because I could go on for hours about Doc and how much I LOVE HER!

Next up we get a two for one, Valkyrja and Magma. We don’t see much of them but what we do get is pretty good. They are adult superheroes who have their own priorities surrounding what is going on with Danny, but aren’t mean or cruel and seem to genuinely care about Danny. Valkyrja is funny and surprisingly down to earth even though she is basically a scandinavian goddess of sorts. Also the hilarity of her being Danny’s long time celebrity crush never gets old. Oh Danny, you useless little lesbian. Magma is a precious big hot boy that seems like he’d give good hugs. Yeah, that's about all I got to say about him that won’t spoil anything. 

Now we have another two for one with Chlorophyll and Carapice. These two I'm between dislike and indifferent on.  They weren’t outright mean to Danny but they treated her more like a means to an end or down right refused to acknowledge she was the new Dreadnought whether they liked it or not, but we didn’t really get to see them enough to really learn more about their motivations. 

Finally to round out the Legion we have Graywytch. Excuse me while I get this out. *Exaggerated throat clear.* First of all, Imma slap that stupid robe of ya stupid head. Then Imma stab you with your stupid fancy atheme you like to wave around all the time. And don’t even start on your “Typical male, always resorting to violence” shtick, cause guess what, I’m a ciswoman and I still wanna stomp a mudhole in your ass. And for that...Imma slap your dumb bird too. *Deep breath in. Looooooong exhale.* Sorry about that. Mama had to express some rage. I have never had a hate-sink character that made me feel the fiery flames of rage quite like Graywytch...obviously. Her treatment of Danny had me gripping the book tightly and growling about slapping birds and “shanking bitches” more than I should probably admit. She is one of those characters that I love how much I hate her. She served the exact purpose she was meant to and it was never cast in a light that she may be right in her treatment of Danny, we are always aware that her mindset is ridiculous. Like the fact outside of her parents Graywytch is the only character to blatantly deadname and misgender Danny. To go off on a small tangent here I may relate too much here because I have a younger brother who is trans (don’t worry he is fine with me discussing it in reviews and such) and I went to a graduation party when my best friend graduated medical school and he was out to the family but not extended friends yet. After only referring to him by the proper pronouns for so long at home hearing the wrong ones caused legitimate eye blinking record scratch cognitive dissonance for me. I had the same feeling anytime Graywytch opened her stupid mouth and blatantly misgendered Danny. Because the way this is written Danny is Danny, she is exactly who she is meant to be. Suck it Graywytch!

Okay, I know you probably want to hear about the plot I know, but we have one more character we have to talk about and that is Calamity, the rootin’-ist tootin’-ist vigilante that ever did come through these here parts. Sorry, I have to talk like this now, it’s part of the persona, you have to commit to the persona. But real talk, I absolutely love Calamity as a look into “graycapes” and the real dive into the world of superheroes beyond the big heroes. We get to see how someone who doesn’t have the backing of the Legion goes about helping people, the little people, those that maybe the Legion way up in their tower can’t see from so high up in the clouds. And y’all know me, I love a morally gray vigilante with a heart of gold.  She had me at “You wanna go capin’?”

Now obviously I couldn’t get enough of the characters but the plot was pretty darn good too. It was so intricately woven in with Danny and her inheriting the mantle from the previous Dreadnought that she had no choice but to be an integral part of it. Now I obviously don’t have as much to say about the plot as I did the characters but know if you come for the plot you won’t be disappointed. It kept me guessing and threw me for an absolute curve ball at the end that I did not see coming! You won’t be disappointed.

So final thoughts...there isn’t much more I can say without going on an hours long squeal fest about how much I freaking loved this book and the characters and the intricacies of how Danny’s powers work and how she was written and how she interacts with different characters and just everything that would mean massive untakebackable spoilers! So I will end on this note; Danny is a character that it would have been easy to lean into the superhero aspect and let the reader forget that she was trans, but April Daniels didn’t want that. Danny was gifted the easiest transition in the history of the world. What takes most people years of HRT and surgeries and therapy Danny did in the passing of a mantle, but it never took away the fact she is and always will be trans. It was a unique reading experience that I have only been blessed with once before but that’s a story for a different review on a different day.

Queer Wrap-up: I would give my left kidney (that’s my good one btw) to give this book five unicorns, but alas I cannot, a one off conversation in an elevator hinting that a certain improbable doctor may have a one sided thing for a particular sadly straight scandinanvian god being is just not enough to count as additional rep. As much as I love this book, and I love it A LOT! We only have Danny as our queer rep and she is fantastic rep and our protagonist so a 4 unicorn rating was a no brainer on this one. Danny is the kind of trans rep I want to see more of in the world of books, YA and otherwise. Being a trans lesbian is a huge part of her character but she gets to do so much more than that in the breath of the story and that’s what I look for in great representation, so Danny easily earned these 4 unicorns on her own merit just being her amazing self.

Links: 

Goodreads

Dominc Noble’s Review

Alright so...this one got long. Ah hell, I ain't gonna apologize for it! This is a damn good book and I wanted to get my fangirl squeal on y’all. 

Oh no, I think I’ve been thinking about Calamity too much I slipped into the persona without meaning to! This book was just far too much fun to read to the point I started reading it out loud with a full cast of voices (hint: the Calamity parts were my favorite) because it flowed so well and was genuinely so funny at parts and heart wrenchingly sad in others and so action packed the next moment. I finished this book in less than a day and if I had been more present and not under a pile of blankets and wearing a headlamp I might have thought to keep a timer to tell you the exact number of hours it took me, but alas know it didn’t take me many. 

So the adventures reading in the dark continue on to the next review after this one but as always if you want to read this but don’t want to spend the money without knowing for sure you are going to like it, go to your local library. You’d be surprised what they have on their shelves just waiting to be discovered. Trust me, I’m a lesbrarian.

[jubilantwriter]

Heart Shaped like Sea Glass

(First)  (Previous)  (Next)  (AO3)

Part 8 - Reflected like Sunlight Against the Waves

Summary:  Getting the human to do what needs to be done is harder than Daniel realizes.  But each part of the process takes steps.  And he’s willing to put forth the effort, so long as it gets him the results he needs, however long it takes.

// // // // //

It's not often that the sun comes out.  But it's very often that it disappears back behind the clouds without a single word.  Routine returns without another word.  And not another word is mentioned as they settle back into fish and silence and the ever lingering darkness that follows with the changing of the seasons.

Daniel finds that he doesn't enjoy the silence that much anymore.  But words are hard to coax out.  Hard to lure out when he's scrabbling for a purchase as the human stares at him blankly from where he resides.  He doesn't know too much about humans.  Doesn't really want to get too close to them.

(A lie and a half.)

But now he's starting to... feel a little concerned.  No, not worried, of course not.  But he's a little concerned.  Because the sun, or what little of the sun he used to see, is dipping down below the horizon faster and faster.  There's a chill in the air that he can finally feel.  A warning.  He watches as the gulls around him begin to dwindle in number, their little eyes looking at him with a mild curiosity as he remains.  A whisper draws his attention, but he pays the sea no mind.  It's been awfully calm lately, strangely calm.  But he doesn't have time to question the sea and why it decides to whisper instead of yell.  There's more important things to consider.

For instance, if Daniel makes his seasonal trip to the warmer waters, where other humans are more likely to be easier meals, would the human here still be alive for him to feed when he returns?

Will the human remember to feed himself?

Will the human be able to care for himself?

Difficult, difficult questions that should not be questions.

On one hand, he could perhaps ask the selkie for a favor.  Her little human lover could be of help.  Maybe feed the human while he's away.  He can even suggest which winter fishes to feed the human in order to satisfy his nearly nonexistent palette.  And because she's a selkie, she's less than likely to show herself around the human.  

But... she's also a selkie.  A selkie who finds humans such curious creatures, despite her natural instinct suggesting she stay the fuck away from them.  No no, it seems more so that her friendly nature wins out every time, and that's what keeps her from completely leaving her lover behind.  Not only that, but her playful nature would make her endearing, which would make her convincing.  Maybe she'd even convince the human to crave life instead of death!  Awful, really.

No.  He cannot depend on the selkie for help.  She'd never leave him alone if he asked her lover to call her for help.  And the old fool would oblige, because of course he would.  Years and years of obsessing over eating the human managed to endear the siren to the old fisherman, when the old man should have felt fear instead.  Daniel groans and rubs at his face.  Humans make no sense.  They should be fearing him - a siren!  He's their natural predator.  But of course not.  He has one old fisherman that waves to him when he sits on his rock, and another human that practically begs for Daniel to eat him.  An involuntary shudder shakes his feathers, and he finds himself fluffing himself out to better keep himself warm.

The weather is growing colder.  And that means he has to leave soon.  Which means...

Which means he needs to convince the human to take care of himself while he's gone.

He stands up, wings spread wide as he dashes across the waves and beats his wings for added momentum.  Even as his feet touches the sand, he keeps up his pace and aims for the door.  Just as he's about to tackle the door with the full force of his body, the door opens.

Goddammit.

A loud grunt greets him as he and the human crash and tumble onto the ground.  Daniel squawks in shock as he pulls away from the tangle of limbs he finds himself in.  The human takes longer to sit up, groaning as he rubs his head and shoots a half-assed glare at Daniel.

"Really?"  Annoyed words leave the human as he continues to sit in place.  "You got tired of kicking my door in, so now you wanna start slamming into me instead?"

"I didn't know you were going to open the door!"  Daniel points at the empty bed and glares back.  "Normally, I have to struggle to get your ass up and about!  What made you suddenly decide to get up now?!"  

"Well, I heard you coming and thought, 'Gee, maybe I should just invite him in instead of letting him break my door,' and what do I get for trying to be polite?  An aching back and a puffed out siren."

Daniel grumbles as he tries to relax, pulling his wings back close to his body.  "I didn't ask you to open the door."

"Yeah, well, I shoulda realized that sirens don't have manners."

"I have manners!"

"In a manner of speaking."  The human ignores his outraged cry and stands up to stretch.  Looking around, the human tilts his head to the side and blinks slowly.  "What?  No fish?"

"No."  Daniel gets up and dusts himself off as he remembers why he came here in the first place.  "I can't keep feeding you like this.  You need to take care of yourself."

"Stellar idea."  The human turns on his heel and begins crawling back into his bed.  "I'm going to take care of myself by never waking up."

Irritation creeps through Daniel as he clears his throat.  It's not his favorite thing to do, but it's the only thing that works.  "You can't keep doing this-"  He hesitates for a moment, realizing he doesn't even know the human's name.  However, the gentle tone and higher pitch is enough to get the human to freeze in place.  "I wish you'd take care of yourself...  It makes me so sad seeing you like this."

"Dave..."  The human slowly turns to Daniel, tears in his eyes.  "Davey."  

Their eyes meet for a moment.  The smell of heartbreak grows stronger by the minute, and Daniel heaves a sigh through his nose as he drops the voice.  "He'd want you to take care of yourself."

"Y... no, why do you care?"

"I can't be around to feed you all the time."  He crosses his arms as the human sits on his bed.  The brunette's head droops as he focuses his gaze on the wooden floor.  "You need to start feeding yourself.  Or at least, attempt to care for yourself.  Maybe that will change your attitude enough to make me want to eat you."  

"I do want to get eaten."

"Then fucking eat.  Or do I need to teach you how to do that too?"

"No, absolutely not."  The human's face scrunches up as he thinks.  "Do sirens do that thing that birds do to feed their babies?  Davey told me once that they uhhh, digest food and then spit it back up into their kids' mouths."

"I can show you, it's quite easy actually-"

"Nononononono, absolutely NOT."  He stands up quickly and waves his hands in front of him.  "You already tried to shove worms into my mouth, I do NOT need bird spit up in my mouth instead!"

"It's actually more complex than that.  Look, it's easier if I just show you-"

"Hey, how about we start working on that 'feeding myself' thing, yeah?  Instead of you puking up your last meal to 'show me' or whatever."

"I was going to show you one of these days, since you insist on acting like a little chick."  Daniel smirks as the human gags.  "Little chicky food for the little chicky baby."

"Gross!"

"I'll be happy to resort to it if you insist on making me continue to feed you."

"I'd rather eat the worms, thanks."

"How about I get some right now, just so you have the chance?"

"No, keep your dirty worms to yourself."  As the human continues to cringe, Daniel takes a closer look around the one-roomed shack.  The fisherman uses a fishing pole or whatever to catch his meals.  He looks around and spies nothing of the sort.  Actually, the more he looks around, the more he realizes that the human simply has... nothing.  There's a bowl or two, sure, the roasting sticks, some logs of wood that the human must have dragged from somewhere, a single plate, a knife that's duller than his talons, and old, drying fish scales littering the floor.

There's nothing in here.  Nothing but a bed and a human and a sad excuse of a living space.  Even Daniel's cave looks more luxurious than this travesty!

"...How did you feed yourself before I came here?"

"Uhh."  The human looks around at his empty shack and shrugs.  "I traded most of my things away."

"...Why?"

"I didn't have a use for them anymore."  The brunette rubs his arm slowly, as if the reality of his home begins to dawn on him.  "I mean, I kept a few bare essentials.  But I was considering trading the bowls for something too before you came here.  I don't have money.  Everything I arrived with is gone to someone else.  And..."  He shrugs as he looks at Daniel.  "It's not like I had anything worth keeping."

(A painful thought tries to surface, but Daniel shoves it down.  Not here.  Not now.  He doesn't want to... relate.)

"So," he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you have nothing to get you more food.  No tools, no money, nothing of worth."

The human hesitates.  "Well..."  He kneels beside his bed and carefully pulls out an object.

An... instrument?  Daniel's seen those before, on ships that would pass by in the warmer waters.  He's never seen one so up close before.  The human strokes the instrument gently, refusing to look up as he gazes at it almost wistfully.

The scent of rot almost... lightens as he sighs.

"This belonged to Davey.  It's the only thing I have left."

"Can you play it?"

"What?"  The human looks up in surprise as Daniel settles down in front of him.

"I said, can you play it?"

"I-"  He glances between the instrument and Daniel as the blonde focuses his attention on the instrument in front of him.  It looks to have... many strings on it.  He loses count after the tenth or so string.  But the body of the instrument reminds him of a drop of water, and that's enough to have him tilting his head in interest.

"Play it?"

"I don't uh, I don't know how."

"Unbelievable.  Fingers are wasted on you."

"You have fingers too!"

"Yes, with talons."  He flexes his hands out in front of the human to emphasize his point.  "I can't make music with my hands like you humans can.  Only with my voice."  A little bit of bitterness enters his voice as his wings slowly curl around his sides.  "My songs would be perfect with a bit of instrumental backing."

"You really care about your songs being perfect."

"Of course!"  He puffs his chest out proudly as he smirks at the human.  "It's how I lure desperate idiots like you to become my meals."

(And it's how he passes the time.  How he fills the emptiness all around him with something.  Fills the air with nonsensical noise so that he doesn't feel alone.  Drowns out the ocean's cries and the faint whispers from his memories.  It's all he has.  It's all he's ever had.)

"Well, you're not wrong."  The human idly plucks at the strings, plucking the siren's interest in turn.  "But I honestly don't know how to play this."

"Just do what you're doing.  It doesn't have to make sense."  Daniel just wants to hear something new for once.  A little nonsense doesn't hurt, after all.

"...Sure."

The human plucks at the strings, strums a bit, before returning to random plucking.  Musical notes jumble together in a strange pattern as the brunette gets a feel for the instrument.  It's nothing special.  It's nothing interesting.  But it's something relaxing.  Daniel sighs softly as he watches the human's fingers wander the many strings on the instrument, closing his eyes as he listens to the idle noise.

"...Davey used to play me songs all the time."

Daniel keeps his eyes closed as he nods along.  "Mmm."

"He'd always come up with new songs.  Most of the time, they were just silly tunes about whatever he saw that day.  Like the trees swaying in the wind.  Or the stars sparkling at night.  Sometimes, he'd make songs at our friend's behest.  Something like, 'Gwen isn't your mother, so stop asking her to fix your clothes for you'.  That one was always one of my favorites."

"Mmhm."  

"He loved the hell out of this thing.  Said it was the best gift I'd ever given him.  Well, second to best gift."  

Daniel opens his eyes wordlessly as he focuses on the human's sad smile.

"My very best gift to him was my love, or so he said."

"...What about you?"

"Hm?"  The human stops plucking at the strings to focus on Daniel.

"What did he give you in return for your gifts?"

"...His smiles.  His laughter."  The human's eyes grow watery, but not a single tear sheds as Daniel watches.  "I loved seeing him happy.  I'd do anything to see him shine brighter than the sun and the stars.  I thought that I wouldn't need anything else in the world.  Just him, and his sweet, bright smiles."  

They both look down at the instrument held tenderly in the human's hands.  Bright smiles and happy laughter are long gone now, Daniel thinks.  But the memories remain.  So maybe, not all is lost.  The instrument, despite how the loss of its owner still affects him, garners positive emotions from the human.  He smells less like rot, which is good.  But nothing else comes from him.  No sweet scent of happiness, no fragrant scent of wistfulness.  Nothing but rot, though the scent is a little weaker than usual.

So.  It's a start.

"Keep the instrument."

"What?"  The human looks up at him with shock.  Daniel rolls his eyes as he continues.

"Keep the instrument.  It obviously will give you something to do in this empty excuse of a shack."

"I guess but-"  The brunette looks around at the noticeable lack of food.  "I don't have anything else to trade."

"So then, what?  You're going to trade away your beloved's beloved instrument?"

The human hugs it closer to his chest.  "...I refuse."

"Good."  Daniel stands up with a grin and heads towards the door.  "At least you have some semblance of life in you.  That'll make you tastier to devour."

"But what about the food?"

"I'll just catch fish until you figure something out."  He shrugs as he pauses by the door, a thought returning to him as he studies the human still seated with the instrument.  "By the by, what the hell is your name?"

The human squints at him suspiciously.  "Why do you want to know?"

"To perfect my song, obviously."  He rolls his eyes.  "Makes it more personal, more intimate.  More believable.  I thought you wanted to drown in your delusions just a little bit more?  If I make my songs more palatable to you, then maybe you can finally experience the ounce of joy needed to make me consider eating you."

"My name-"  The human cuts himself off, frowning as he looks away from Daniel.  He considers a little bit too long as Daniel snaps from where he stands.

"Well?  What's your name?  Or do you not have one?"

"I have one," he says calmly, not looking at Daniel, "but I'd rather not give it to you."

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't want you to grow attached."  The human glances at Daniel before returning his attention to the instrument.  "It'd be harder for you to eat me if you know my name, right?  I wouldn't be another nameless human you want to eat.  I'd be that guy you know, that guy who's name you'll say everyday like it's commonplace.  You'll get attached, and then you'll reconsider making good on your promise to eat me.  Better for us both if you don't know it."

He blinks.  Once.  Twice.  Dumbfounded, almost.  He didn’t think he’d be rejected being told a name.  His chest twists into knots as his fist trembles by his side.

Daniel swallows hard as he glares at the human's head.

"Fine."

(He's not disappointed.  He's not.)

The human flinches at his hard reply, but before he can get another word out, Daniel races out towards the sea.

He hears the ocean whisper, but he ignores it in favor of diving into the waves.  And for once, the ocean welcomes him with a pitying embrace.

Pathetic, he thinks, as he lets himself sink.  How truly pathetic.

[dreams-madeof-strawberrylemonade]

Reunion

Request: The reader and him had dated when they was 17-19 but she moved to UK for studying in royal academy of music and they "broke up". so when they are 23 they meet again at some event/party because of their careers A/N: Guess I really let myself go for it in this one lol. @pennylane-gvf​​ I hope you like it! Critiques and comments are welcome Word count: 2.9 K Warnings: drinking, steamy stuff (nothing too explicit) 

To be added to the permanent taglist, DM me or leave an ask!

Fanfiction Masterlist

You sat down at the long dinner table as you took a sip of your clear glass filled only up to a quarter of its full capacity with cognac. Your eyes wandered around the room filled with dim lighting. People started gathering around the table and in the following minutes it was almost full. You downed the rest of your drink and raised your hand to ask for a refill from the waiter.

About the same time the waiter came back with a bottle to pour in your glass, the seats across the table from you have been occupied. You didn’t pay much attention to the people who sat down, you just mumbled a polite “good evening” and told the waiter to stop pouring the drink only when the glass was filled a little bit more than half.

The woman sitting to your right extended her arm towards you, holding her glass in it. You raised yours and lightly touched glasses with smiles on your faces, as a sign of good luck. She was your manager. The person who helped you to get where you were today. Without her you wouldn’t have made it out of the underground British music scene and for sure you couldn’t have been at this beautiful party with all kinds of artists.

You drank a sip or two from the freshly poured cognac, but you decide to hold it for a moment since your stomach was burning from the alcohol and lack of food.

“Hello,” spoke the man sitting exactly across the table from you. Your head shot up and glanced at the man. Short and curly hair, bright eyes and a wide smile – that would sum him up. “Sorry to interrupt you, I just wanted to say I am a big fan of yours and your work,” he continues and reaches out to shake your hand. “I am Josh Kiszka.”

Your face brightens up at his words. You never found the words to explain the joy that filled your whole heart, soul and being when someone told you they enjoyed your work. “Pleased to meet you, Josh and thank you for your kind words. I am making the music I’d love to hear myself, because if you won’t do it, who will?” you smile.

“That is very true, I must admit. This is what set us out for the first time – the will to create something that is missing from this world and spread out the word that this place is beautiful and love isn’t to be ignored,” Josh spoke, moving his hands a lot. “Shit, sorry, I forgot. This is my band. Daniel Wagner, here to my left, and next to him is my baby brother, Sam. To my right is my baby twin, Jake.”

“Jake…” you repeat and your head shots in his direction. Hair dark brown, flowing down his shoulders, a little bit curled at the ends. He didn’t seem to quite pay attention to what was going on. On the contrary, he seemed totally spaced out, being caught in a trance-like state, staring at the amber gold liquid flowing in his glass while swirling it around. His shirt was neatly arranged, but the top three or four buttons were undone (putting it in another manner – his shirt was held together by only three buttons), slightly revealing his chest and a necklace falling down on his chest. On the middle finger of his right hand, you saw a simple black ring, no inscriptions or decorations on it.

Your eyes wandered on the man to Josh’s right side for a few moments, but you took in every single detail. The dark brown eyes, completely lost, the hair falling down, his prominent cheekbones and jawline (or maybe that was just the lighting’s fault, who knows). Your eyes widened as you realized.

“Jake!” you speak up, snapping the man out of his trance. He was now looking at you, probably doing to you the same thing you did to him a couple of moments ago. You saw his eyes wandering all over your face, then over your hands, clothing, taking in every little detail. By the look on his face you could tell he had the same realization as you did.

“Y/N,” he spoke, his voice a little bit hoarse, probably from not exchanging any words for quite a while. He cleared his throat and tilted his head sideways, as if to get a better angle of you.

“Flesh and bones,” you let out a nervous laugh and realize that you actually knew all of the boys from back in the day, when you dated Jake.

You ate dinner in silence. I mean as silent as it can get at a table with so many people. You changed a few words with your manager, and you kept it simple and professional with the boys across the table. You threw an occasional glance over to Jake, but quickly looked away every time he caught you looking. Which was really… every time you looked. It didn’t take you that much time to down the drink down your throat, leaving at first a burning sensation on its way down. You repeated the same thing one more time and then you decided it was time to stop. You didn’t want to get drunk and do something embarrassing or that you would regret.

Once you finished up with the dinner, you excused yourself and sat up to the table. You walked in the other room, which was filled with people more or less drunk, dancing to the music blaring through the speakers. You were honestly tempted to join this dancing mass, but you weren’t in the necessary mood, so you just leaned against the wall in a corner less lighted by the stroboscopic lights, changing colors every single damn second.

You saw the door to the dining room opening and you saw someone walking around aimlessly at first, but then straight to you. You knew it was him and you couldn’t run from this. This was necessary. Your breakup with Jake hurt your soul as much as it benefited your career. It still hurt, even after 4 years since it happened. You loved him truly. He was your first real boyfriend – the first one to treat you accordingly. You needed to do this. To heal your soul, ease the pain, plus Jake deserved it. He didn’t do anything wrong, he didn’t deserve to be broken up with. After all, you were the one who left Michigan, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, in the United Kingdom to study music.

“Hey,” Jake spoke hesitantly once he got next to you.

Your eyes met his and you could see all the memories from the past that you wanted so badly to forget. Your heart slightly fluttered and you felt your throat drier than ever, needing to drink something immediately.

“Hi, Jake,” you struggle to get out.

“Do you want to talk?” he asks and his fingers brushed yours and you quickly nodded. “Great, let’s go in the lobby of my hotel, we can get a drink and catch up.”

In no time you got to the hotel where Jake stayed. It was downtown, not far from the one where you were staying. The lobby was really simplistic, but sophisticated. It really gave you a nice feeling. There was a light cherry blossom scent flying in the air, making it feel even better. You and Jake chose two armchairs facing each other, in the corner of the room.

Jake ordered for the two of you some rose wine. He still remembered that it was your favorite drink.

“If somebody would’ve told me that I’d meet you at the party this evening, I’d straight up laugh about it and say they’re delusional,” you chuckle nervously as you watch the waiter pour half a glass of wine, the color of roses.

“Tell me about it,” he answered and played with the black ring on his finger. “So, please, do tell me what has been up with you since we parted ways,” he continued, his voice getting deeper at the end of the sentence.

“Well, let’s see…” you say and start browsing through the library of memories in your head. “I left Michigan, and as I said, I went to the Academy in London where I got that scholarship. While there, I got in this band – it was a music academy and I guess you can assume how many bands there were – and we played in pubs, no success, but we did what we loved. One night, I took the lead for a single song, I played guitar and vocals, and Camelia, my manager, the lady you saw with me, she saw me and she took me in and cared for me, and brought me where I am today,” you summed up the past 4 years of your life.

Jake smiled at the mentions of the guitar. He thought of the exact same thing you thought when saying it – the memory of him teaching you how to play guitar.

“And what can you tell me about yourself?” you ask, your eyes glued to the man in front of you. Man, he looked so damn good. You really liked what he did with his hair and his new style (but you could still see hints of the old one, which made it even better).

“Well, what can I say…” he pondered for a moment and finished the wine in his glass. He reached over to grab the bottle and pour himself another half a glass and poured you a little more, since you had only about two sips left. “I am in the same band as before and actually I am quite disappointed you didn’t recognize Josh, nor any of them!”

“What? Jake! He introduced himself to me and said he was my fan!” you protest and laugh, realizing it was one of Josh’s old tricks to get your attention.

“You’re saying it like you don’t know him,” Jake rolled his eyes with a smile blooming in the corner of his mouth. “And he really does enjoy your work, he has been rubbing it in my face since day one he discovered you.”

“An honor,” you laugh with a dramatic hand gesture. “But please, do continue your story.”

“Alright, so we just kept the hope, we wrote, we recorded. We really hit it off with Highway Tune. After that, things followed their natural course, really,” he shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“Congratulations!” you smiled. You were genuinely happy to have met Jake again and you were proud of him and his band.

“Thank you,” he nodded. “God, don’t you ever miss the day that have passed?” he spoke moments later, like he was caught in the world of the dreams.

“Yeah, I miss them…” you ponder. “And I miss you,” you add, even surprising yourself with your boldness. Maybe the wine (and the few glasses of cognac) gave you the strength you needed to speak out your mind that way.

Jake looked at you and blinked a couple of times. You could tell he didn’t expect that to happen.

“Oh shit, I am sorry,” you say as you notice his reaction. “I am so, so sorry, I didn’t think this through,” you add, feeling your cheeks heat up.

“No, it’s alright, really. I feel the same way, Y/N. I have missed you since day one and nothing could fill that void.” Jake said and almost as if you were commanded with a remote control from somewhere, you sat up and walked next to Jake.

Jake sat up and you felt his fingers brush against yours. He was only a little taller as you, but you always considered yourself on eye level with him, but now it felt like he was towering over you. When Jake eventually got a proper hold of your hand, he leaned in, closer to you, while snaking the other hand around your waist. You felt the tension building up between the two of you; the tension and the anticipation.

All the wait has finally been rewarded when Jake’s lips pressed against yours. Everything felt like it was still those old days. The same faint taste of cigars and mint, now only with a taste of wine, too. You let yourself melt away into the kiss and be washed over by all the memories. Your first kiss underneath the delicate moonlight, just like in the movies; your first date which was a cheap one, but come on, you were two teenagers head over heels in love with each other, so who gave a damn about the price?

Your breathing got heavier and needier. Four years you’ve missed his touch. It was like he had put a spell on you.

“Do you want to go upstairs?” Jake whispered in your ear, his breath getting heavier as well.

You nod and follow Jake who was already two steps ahead of you. In no time you were in his room. It was really spacious. You eyed the double bed.

“Jake, is there someone else?” you ask. You didn’t want this unless it was real and you were sure that you didn’t get in the middle of his possible other relationship.

“No, it’s not,” he shook his head and walked towards you with small and steady steps. You didn’t know why, but you backed up step by step until your back hit the wall.

Jake’s fingers swiftly switched on the light at the entrance in the room. It was a rather dim light, but enough to see what you were doing and where you were going. You looked over his face and you felt your knees and joints turning into jelly.

Jake didn’t hesitate to come near you. With a hand he cupped your cheek and with the other one he caressed the other cheek. A smile bloomed on his lips. He was so happy he met you again, despite all the thoughts that he had lost you forever.

“Do you want to do this?” Jake asked, his lips only millimeters away from yours. You hum an affirmative answer and the next thing you know, Jake’s hand helped you wrap your legs around his waist, while pressing messy kisses on the lobe of your ear, and slowly down the neck, until it met the fabric of your dress.

That’s when he stopped and took you to his bed. In the moment you touched the fluffy sheets with your back, Jake was already back at it.

Four years of failed relationships and meaningless kisses. You didn’t even realize until now how much you wanted it to be Jake instead of all those similar, yet unknown faces. No one in all those years managed to make you feel as good as Jake did now with only a touch of his lips.

Jake’s fingers roamed around the fabric of your dress, trying to locate the zipper, his lips not leaving yours, not even for a single moment. He was as lost in your touch and desperate as you were. He had spent too much time away from you to afford to slow down now.

You didn’t know how he managed – even back then – Jake earned control of the kiss, even though he was still busy pulling down the zipper. He was doing it painfully slow, probably only to tease you, but the one who he was teasing the most was himself.

When the zipper finally reached the end, Jake’s hands ran on the sides of your body, as if trying to remember the shape of it, alongside with every little detail. Everything happen at such slow speed that a needy moan escaped your lips, earning a groan from Jake.

A moment later, Jake was already back on kissing you, starting from the jawline, down to the collarbone, while with his hand he slowly removed the dress and kicked off his shoes. He did take his time, working on every kiss and slightly biting here and there.

You were already driven out of your mind. “Jake,” you whisper hoping that you’d get his attention.

“What?” he answers and goes right back at it.

“Please.”

“Time makes perfect,” he answered and you could feel the smirk on his lips against the sensitive skin on your neck. You only groan as an answer and push yourself into the middle of the bed.

Jake took off your high heels and joined you in no time. Jake was laying on top of you, your legs on both sides of him. The dress was gone by now, so Jake took the trail of kisses over your chest and down your tummy, stopping right underneath the bellybutton. Through your whole body flowed something electric. Your hands traveled to Jake’s hair, roaming through it and tugging at it a little bit.

“I like what you did to your hair,” you speak and gasp loudly as Jake proceeded to kiss the inner part of your thighs, squeezing them here and there.

Since the early days Jake loved teasing you with everything he could and time didn’t change that. He stopped in between your thighs and he looked at you straight in the eyes. You could see the familiar gleam of his eyes that has quickly been replaced with a darker look, a look of lust.

He returned up, sliding his hands underneath your back while keeping you occupied with needy kisses in which he told you without words how much he needs you and before you realized, your bra was unclasped and tossed aside.

“God how I missed you,” he groaned. “Please never leave again.”

Tags: @myownparadise96​, @satans-helper, @jeordinevankiszka, @littlegeekwonder​, @songbirdkisses, @pomegranatecurses, @umbriellethenightfall​, @freeeshavacadoo, @karrotkate, @mountainofthesunn

[undecidedpersonality]

Writer’s Month 2020 Day Twenty-Two: Pet Shop AU

Title: “Pet Shopping”

By: Nalijah Daniels

Word Count: 1245

Genre: Fiction - Contemporary

“Girl, I promise you, I got this one.” My eyes are wide as I whisper, staring at my coworker Lorie, trying to get her to understand the obvious. A hot guy just walked into our pet store and I want an excuse to talk to him by helping him.

“But Quinn, I don’t understand, you just helped the last customer.” Lorie’s whispering skills aren’t that great. I throw a worried glance towards the boy, the store is not that big. He looks to be around the same age as me, anywhere between 17 to 21. His back was still to us so he didn’t hear or was pretending not to hear this embarrassing interaction. “The deal is that we switch off so it’s fair.”

“I’ll give you commission if he buys a pet! Just let me speak to him, okay?” I grab both of Lorie’s hands that rest on the glass counter and squeeze them, hoping that she can feel what I mean.

In return, Lorie just stares at the back of the boy’s head with a frown on her face. He turns his head to the right to look at the dog cages on the far right wall and her mouth forms an ‘o’. She nods quickly and turns back to face me. Took her long enough. At a normal volume she says, “Hey, Quinn, can you help him out for me? I need to check something out in the back,” and heads towards our break room.

I take a deep breath and put on my best customer service smile as I turn and walk over to him. He gives me a small wave on the way over.

“Hi, sorry for that delay,” I say once I’m closer to him. “I’ll be helping you shop today. Is there a specific pet that you’re looking for?”

“Well,” he starts. His voice is deep but smooth. I am positive that if I lay my head on his chest that I can feel the vibrations as he speaks. I want to lay my head on his broad chest. His shirt isn’t fitted but I can just imagine his smooth skin, sculpted perfectly from his collarbones, that peak out over his blue collar, down over his toned stomach, not quite abs, to the V leading into his black joggers. I lick my lips and nod absent-mindedly as he continues speaking. When I look back up to his eyes, they have to be the most beautiful color of brown I’ve ever seen, he’s already looking down at me. Did I mention that he was at least half-a-foot taller than me? His thick groomed eyebrows are slowly pulling together and the left corner of his lip is twitching upward. He must use chapstick religiously because his lips are so smooth. I want to kiss his lips.

When his eyebrows shoot up I know I did something wrong. “Well, can I?” He asks.

My eyes widen and I mentally curse myself until my face is a mask of calm. I can’t keep my cheeks from continuing to heat up though. “I’m sorry, can you do what?” I ask.

“After I did a whole monologue about getting my mom a dog for her fiftieth birthday, I asked if I could hold the French Bulldog puppy.” His eyes have a hint of worry in them as they roam my face. Probably searching for whether or not I’m sane. How long had he been talking for? Had I been staring at his body and lips the entire time?

I nod my head quickly and mutter an apology as I go around the back side of the cages. I come back around with the dog cradled in my arms. “This is Sawyer,” I say, trying to level my voice as I hand Sawyer to him. “He just turned five months old yesterday. He’s definitely my favorite out of all the dogs here.”

“Yeah?” The boy asks, his eyes flicking up to look at me through dark, long eyelashes that curled perfectly up towards his eyelids. “Why’s that?” I watch as his long fingers, slightly wrinkled around each knuckle, stroke down Sawyer’s soft gray back. Sawyer appears to be grinning up at the boy, the dog’s big ears sitting straight up. I guess I wasn’t the only one in the store that really wanted attention from this random guy.

“Well, for one, he is quite the lady’s man,” I chuckle, my grin growing, “That’s how he trapped me in. He’s also a very determined little guy. He came in kind of banged up with scabs on his underbelly and legs. I would always feel bad leaving at the end of the day because I didn’t want him to be alone but he got better every single day. Fastest healer I’ve ever seen come through here.”

“That is amazing,” the boy smiles fully, holding Sawyer up to be face-to-face with him. “My mom loves strong will power and melts at cuteness,” he pauses for a second before looking me directly in the eyes, “Are you going to miss him?”

I hesitate, the question catching me off guard. This boy is able to be so direct without doing much that he makes me more nervous than flirtatious like I set out to be. “Uh, yeah, actually, I will. He’s been my little buddy since he got here three months ago. We stay out on walks the longest to spend time alone away from the other crazy pups. Isn’t that right?” I ask Sawyer, instinctively reaching my hand to scratch behind his triangular ear as he strains in the boy’s hands to look towards me.

I regret the movement as soon as my fingers graze over the boy’s when pulling away. His fingers are warm and soft and I wonder what kind of lotion he uses. He probably thinks the touch is intentional, especially with the way I was staring just minutes before. Heat floods my face again and I jerk my hand back and glance away toward the fish tanks. So not smooth, Quinn. When I glance back he’s studying my face again, this time with a soft half-smile.

“If that’s the case then,” he begins, his words falling carefully out of his mouth, “Then I’ll probably need to keep in touch with you so he doesn’t get too homesick. Or… You-sick.” My brain is racing too quickly for me to focus on just one feeling. Excitement, confusion, lust, and anxiety all making my head spin. “What is your name, by the way?”

Swallowing so that I don’t answer too quickly, I beg my voice to come out even. “Quinn,” I reach my hand out to shake. I immediately think it’s stupid but justify with myself that this is a business transaction. “And you?”

“Joel,” he shakes my hand, tucking Sawyer carefully in his other arm. “I assume that proposal isn’t too forward, of course. Not with all of your… observing early.”  The wide smile that takes over his face is teasing and his eyes shine with silent laughter.

I blush, once again, and slap my hand against my forehead. So he had noticed. “I’m sorry about that,” my shoulders inch up towards my ears and I force them back down, my lips pull into a thin line. “I guess it was worth it if it means we get to hang out together with Sawyer?”

He nods, grinning down at the dog then towards me. “Totally worth it.”

[goodnightkisseu]

Kang Daniel - Chocolate (Valentine’s Series 11/11)

Genre: Fluff

Series: [ Jihoon ] [ Daehwi ] [ Guanlin ] [ Minhyun ] [ Woojin ] [ Jinyoung ] [Sungwoon ] [ Jaehwan ] [ Jisung ] [ Seongwoo ] [ Daniel ]

Note: After 4 very long months, the Valentine’s series is finally done! I hope that you all will enjoy this last part. It’s personally one of my favorites and the idea that started me on writing this series for all of the boys. ^^

With this series done I’m going to focus on finishing up all of my requests. I may have to close requests for a little bit (still unsure) because I do want to write up some other things that I have on my mind, but I’ll determine that at a later time. :)

Anyway, please enjoy this Daniel Valentine’s story, and I’ll be back with more fics/drabbles/etc, soon.

- goodnightkisseu’s admin <3

“I’m sure your girlfriend is going to love those chocolates! Stop by again soon, okay?” Daniel called out to the other individual that was leaving the shop, a giant smile plastered on his features. It was always nice to see customers leaving in such a happy mood. Honestly it was one of Daniel’s favorite things about this job. He liked seeing people’s faces light up as they picked the pastries or chocolates that they wanted. He like being able to help them by telling them which ones were his favorite (though he pretty much liked all of them) and just chatting with them about what or whom they were buying for. And today, being Valentine’s Day, meant he got to see a lot of those happy faces.

Valentine’s Day was the busiest day for the small bakery that was situated just off of one of the busiest main roads. Usual days got a fair amount of business, but holidays, particularly like today, saw an increase in sales as people clamored to get last minute handmade baked goods. It definitely could be a little hectic working during these times, but Daniel enjoyed it nonetheless.

“Daniel, how are things going up here? I just finished up another batch of chocolate cakes. Are we running low on anything yet?” you asked as you poked your head out behind the doorway that led back into the massive kitchen. You were greeted with the brightest smile from your co-worker as he turned around to face you before moving over to the glass displays that held the pastries you both worked so hard to make that morning.

“Hmmm… looks like we’re starting to run low on those strawberry cupcakes… and also the chocolate hearts…” he said slowly, as he tried to figure out if you were also running low on cookies. “Yeah, no, I think that’s it for now.”

You gave him a small nod. That wasn’t too bad then… well, not yet anyway. “Okay, I’ll get started on the chocolate hearts then since they’ll need time to harden,” you replied and as you were about to turn back towards the kitchen, you noticed the bouncing over towards you and beating you into the kitchen.

“I’ll help out,” he offered. “I can get started on those cupcakes so you don’t have to rush to pour the chocolate.”

“Daniel, you need to man the front of the store…”

“I can do both, I promise. Just let me help you out so that you aren’t doing all of this alone,” he insisted, flashing you another smile that made your heart skip a beat.

To say that you had a small crush on your co-worker was a bit of an understatement. You had been crushing on him for a while now. When Daniel had started working at this little bakery a year ago, you thought he wouldn’t stay long. Most people only worked for a bit before they moved onto something new. You figured he would be the same since he had mentioned that he was transitioning into his career. Yet here he was, and in that time, the two of you had become close.  

As you got to know him better, you realized that you felt something for him, more than just simple attraction. Thing was, though you would flirt a bit with him from time to time, it was hard to tell how he felt. Daniel was sweet, by nature, to everyone, whether it was a customer or another co-worker. He never really treated you any differently than the others, so it was hard to tell if he felt anything different towards you.

Unsurprisingly though, with his good nature and his good looks, you were definitely not the only one in that small bakery that had a crush on him. Granted, any time that any of the girls told him how they felt, he turned them down and apologized. You knew why though. He had told you that during college, there was a girl he was head over heels for, but she inevitably broke his heart. Daniel never went into details about what exactly happened, but you had a feeling that she may have cheated on him, and that was likely what broke the relationship apart. He had confided in you that he was a mess afterwards and just hadn’t felt like dating again. It was a little painful to hear, mostly with how you felt about him, but you understood. He needed to heal.

Granted, that conversation happened almost eight months ago, and even now he hadn’t pursued any advances on him. He politely declined them all and it was in part why you had never tried yourself. In the back of your mind you thought that he might already have someone in mind. You were giving him space, but honestly, sometimes, it was hard to, mostly with your feelings growing for him, like they had. And with today being Valentine’s Day, it really wasn’t helping. People always said that there was love in the air and you always thought it was a joke, but when working at a place like a bakery on a day like today, you really thought you could feel it.

“So, any plans for tonight?” Daniel asked as he mixed the cupcake batter.

“Not really. This isn’t my type of holiday…” you admitted, sending him a sheepish smile. “What about you though? You took Jonghyun’s shift so that he could go on his date. No plans either? Or… maybe your plans are later in the evening?

He shook he head, a chuckle leaving his lips. “I think I rebuffed too many confessions. No one has asked me to be their Valentine.”

“Oh so you are aware that you do that. I was going to tell you, just in case you were wondering,” you teased, eliciting another chuckle from him. God, why was that so attractive?

“Thanks for looking out,” he teased back. “But you’re right, it is of my own doing. It would be nice to be asked though.” Daniel opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, he heard voices in the front of the store and quickly excused himself, leaving you with your thoughts…

========

Daniel’s words had you thinking for most of the day. Business was picking up and you were mostly stuck in the back making pastries after pastries, which gave you a lot of time to think. At first you thought that he might have been joking, but you couldn’t help but feel like there was a layer of truth to his words too. Daniel was usually a rather straightforward person, but sometimes, sometimes he would say things that made you wonder if there was more to it than what was there at face value.

It gave you the idea that this might be a good time to tell him how you felt. It might have been silly to tell him after he said something so frivolous, but it was worse walking around with feelings that you couldn’t express. And even if he rejected you like all of those other girls, at least it would be out there. It was harder to keep it to yourself at this point. So you thought of a cute little thing you could make for him when you had the time in between all of your other work.

You remembered that he had mentioned his love for cats, mostly because he had two, and you thought it would be cute to make him a little cat shaped cake. It wouldn’t be anything too fancy as you didn’t have the time in between all of the pastries you had to make in order for the store to remain stocked. But still, you had enough time to put it together in pieces.

Lucky for you, Daniel had been confined to the front of the store for most of the day so you could work on your project in secret. Though, he would, from time to time, poke his head back to see how you were doing, which meant you had to quickly hide your little surprise. You had been doing a pretty good job of keeping it from him… at least, up until you were about to put on the finishing touches. You were concentrating so hard on it that you didn’t hear him enter. Daniel’s timing was terrible… or it was too good. It depended on whose perspective you were looking from.

“What are you working on? I didn’t think we have any custom orders today. I thought we finished them all yesterday…” he said as he snuck up behind you, almost making you jump a foot in the air. In the process you moved back and right into him, almost losing your balance. However, being the more agile and aware person in the pair, Daniel instinctively reached his hands up and lightly held your forearms, keeping you upright.

“Y-you startled me, Daniel! Ah, how many times have I said not to sneak up on me like that? I’m jumpy by nature,” you reprimanded, but knowing that he had seen his present, you really couldn’t lie about it. “To be honest, this isn’t a custom order…”

“Oh? But we don’t make things like that. Is it a lava cake shaped like a cat? For your boyfriend?” he asked, half interrogating. His words were fast and though his face tried to maintain its usual gentleness, you could see a hint of frustration. Hmm, that was different.

“You know I’m not seeing anyone,” you retorted. “I-it’s not for a boyfriend. It’s… it’s for you…” you finally say, feeling the heat rise in your cheeks.

“Me?” Daniel parroted as he looked at it. “Why would you make it for me?”

You sighed softly. You were really hoping you wouldn’t have to explain yourself like this, but it seemed like you would have to. It was so cringe-worthy. “Look, you said earlier that it would be nice to receive something today, so I thought I would make it for you. That and…”

“And?” he inquired as he took a step closer to you, intrigued by your words and hanging on every single one.

“And,” you started, knowing that you would just have to say it, even if it was embarrassing, “I like you a lot. Look, you can feel free to rebuff me like you do with all of those other girls if you aren’t ready for something like this but –”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t accept?”

“Daniel, you’ve declined every other girl that had confessed to you, and you told me that you weren’t ready for a relationship. Please don’t make this more complicated and just say what’s on your mind…”

He chuckled again. “I wasn’t accepting any of them because I liked you, you silly girl,” he finally said, putting an end to this ridiculousness.

“You what?”

“I really like you too,” he admitted. “The reason I never said ‘yes’ to those other girls was because I waiting to tell you how I felt,” he explained. “You really messed everything up though,” Daniel said, rubbing the back of his neck as your brow furrowed. When he saw your expression and realized how his words could have sounded he quickly shook his head. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant… ah, let me show you,” he said instead, as he led you over to the fridge as he pulled out a metal sheet.

Resting on the sheet was a piece of chocolate, formed into the shape of an elephant… or at least that’s what you figured it was supposed to be. The proportions were kind of weird because of the way that the chocolate solidified, but it was very elephant-like. You tried not to giggle, knowing that Daniel must have been the one that made it, but you also knew that he hadn’t had much training with chocolate yet. It was cute though.

“I made it because I wanted to give it to you for Valentine’s Day, to confess to you. But you beat me to a confession and a cuter gift. Seriously, why do you have to like such a complicated looking animal,” he teased as he pulled you in close, giving the side of your head a light peck.

You couldn’t stifle your giggles anymore, but you still took the chance to praise him. “I think it’s a good first attempt. I mean, I’ll have to show you better technique, but I think he’s super cute! I like him, just like I like you,” you said cheekily, making a small noise when Daniel swung you around in his arms, hands rested squarely around your waist as he looked at you with a smile.

“I’m just glad you like it,” he said softly, leaning in for a kiss. But before his lips could make contact with yours, the sound of the bell by the cash register stopped him.

“Excuse me, is anyone here?” a man called out. “I really need to get a cake!”

“You better go help out that customer and close up, Romeo,” you teased as Daniel let out a sigh in annoyance.

“Fine, but you can’t leave before I get my kiss, okay?” he said, watching as you rolled your eyes.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you reassured him and with a giant grin, Daniel went dashing out into the front of the store to help the customer while you tidied up in the back. This turned out to be a pretty good Valentine’s Day after all…

[lovelikeelena]

Song of the Sirenas Review- Part 1/4

Firstly, I wanna say muchas gracias to my best friend, Becca, along with DisneyNerd, DisPrincess3 and others for helping me with some of the visual aspects of this awesome, incredible and amazing movie!

  As many of you know who read my tumblr, I’m almost blind.  That means this review will be unique.  While I’ll be touching on some important visual aspects, I’ll mostly be focusing on storyline and the friendships formed and established bonds between our favorite characters throughout the movie.  There will also be some shipping as well, just so you guys who aren’t Elenaomi shippers know ahead of time.  One more thing before we officially get started:  How cool was it that this movie premiered on international peace day?  This makes it even more timely and relevant than ever!  Okay, let’s dive in!  Pun intended wholeheartedly.

  We open with a spectacular view of the Turner’s boat skimming through the water.  The royal familia, royal guard Gabe and Naomi , along with her parents Captains Scarlet and Daniel Turner, are heading somewhere.  Hmmm?  Where could they be going?  Maybe they’re dropping the douche of Avalor, Esteban off on a deserted island and continuing without him.  Only one can hope.  (I DID NOT come up with that nickname for the chancellor.) Oh yeah, Mateo’s there too.  Well, Esteban isn’t being dropped off anywhere.  No such fortune is shining upon us.  Instead, Elena is stuck with her cousin for the entire journey.  It’s not long into her magical bow and arrow practice that Naomi gets Esteban right in the butt!  Elena giggles, even though she tries to remain stern.  Oops, Sorry!  never mind.  That’s my fanfic version of events.  Back to the actual movie. 

  As I was saying, it’s not long before we find out Scarlet doesn’t take any crap from anyone-including her husband!  She finds Daniel standing, using a barrel as a table.  Poor Daniel just wants to eat a sandwich, but instead he’s told to trim the sail.  He tries to get out of it by assuming bc his wife is captaining the voyage that he would get a well-deserved brake.  No such luck buddy.  Say adios to that break you were hoping for.  Turning, Daniel goes to complete the task.  Before leaving his post, he snatches up his sandwich, knowing his daughter too well, not to mention the fact that there are two hungry teen boys on the ship.  It’s then that Isa answers the question that’s been on our minds since the movie started-especially if you haven’t read the book companion that was released in June or kept up with spoilers before the movie premiered.  The royal familia is on their way to Nueva Vista on the west coast of Avalor.  Isa is excited to get there and her abuela feels the same way.  Louisa mentions sitting on the terrace of the summer palace and napping in the sun.  Esteban puts his two cents in, commenting that Francisco has gotten a head start, indicating him sleeping on a chair.  On another part of the ship, Elena is hanging out with Naomi and Gabe, practicing with her scepter.  Elena demonstrates a few powers we’ve seen in the past-including envision and glow.  Then she shows off a newly acquired power, which is making objects invisible by saying the word vanish.  She uses Naomi’s lasso for this test.  It works and Elena beams.  Gabe asks how many powers the scepter has.  Naomi chimes in by requesting teasingly if her girlfriend can test them on something else bc she wants her lasso back.  Unfortunately, this is the last time in the movie that we see Elena and Naomi treating each other with the love and respect we’ve come to know they possess.  Just knowing this makes me sad.  Hopefully, they’ll resolve things fully in Snow Place Like Home.  I love how Isa comes up to them and is fully welcome by Elena and not told to go away like most older siblings say to the younger ones when with their friends and significant others.  Isa tells them that Scarlet said they’re almost there.  Elena starts to reminisce about her and Isa’s first paternal cousin, Christobal, telling everyone how she remembers going fishing with him every summer.  Gabe is puzzled and says he thought Esteban  was the girls’ only cousin.  Naomi throws her usual jab at the Chancellor by stating “Leave it to Esteban to exaggerate.”  She lays a hand on Elena’s shoulder, initiating the only loving contact they have for the rest of the movie.    In making that jab at the douche, she exemplifies why I love her so much!  Mateo, yup, he’s there, tells Elena she’ll have plenty of time to reminisce when they arrive and it’s time to get back to practicing.  Come on, dude, give Elena a break!  Mateo encourages her to try to make herself vanish.  Elena protests that she only knows how to make objects vanish.  Mateo is insistent, so our favorite future Avaloran ruler obeys.  Elena, there’s no law that says you must listen to him!  You make the laws or will be doing so in three years!  After trying the power, Elena mildly succeeds.  Her body disappears, but her head is still visible.  Mateo makes a lame joke that doesn’t even make any sense by saying “You’re headed in the right direction.”  Leave the quips to Naomi, por favor.  Elena reforms just as all five of them hear a bell ring, followed by Scarlet yelling about approaching sirenas.  All four young adults have different reactions to Scarlet’s announcement.  Elena is confused, while Mateo is all excited and looking every which way like a puppy who is trying to find his new bone.  Apparently, he’s never seen a sirena before.  Gabe is also curious.  Naomi is ready to obey her parents’ instructions at a second’s notice.  Scarlet commands her to take the wheel, calling Naomi Nomes, which I despise!  Naomi does so while her parents ready the crossbows.  Elena shakes her head upon hearing this and asks why they need the weapons?  And this is where I get a little irritated with Naomi.  I know she’s panicking, but still.  She whirls around and snaps at her girlfriend for no reason.  “Sirenas are dangerous!  Everyone knows that!”  Excuse me, Naomi, everyone knows that?  Not everyone has traveled as extensively or has the knowledge you do.  Especially your girlfriend who was trapped in an amulet for 41 years!  Daniel explains to Elena that sirenas sing a song that put sailors into a trance, crashing their ships.  Even though he too is panicking, he doesn’t snap at her.  Take a lesson from your Dad, Naomi.  Elena points out the sirenas aren’t even singing and Mateo chimes in that he can’t remember the last time sirenas caused a ship wreck.  Still, the Turners go through with their defense plan.  Glancing down into the water, Elena locks eyes with a female sirena.  We later learn her name is Marisa.  In the moment their eyes meet, Elena is captivated in wonderment-never having seen a sirena before this.  I’d like to think  she’s also silently assuring Marisa that she knows Marisa isn’t doing anything wrong and that she, Elena, won’t let any harm come to her.  Meanwhile, Scarlet commands Gabe to get everyone below deck, which he does immediately.  Elena commands Scarlet to stop firing.  Instead of listening, Scarlet fires anyway.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s grounds for treason.  Scarlet defied Elena’s direct command.  Eighteen or not, Elena is in charge.  If she says stop firing, you stop firing-no questions asked.  Scarlet, you just keep slipping further and further down my like meter.  It looks like there’s one more in Esteban’s party on that deserted island if they find one.  Elena keeps her silent promise to Marisa and fires her scepter, knocking Scarlet’s crossbow out of her hands.  This affectively saves Marisa and her male companion from injury.  We switch points of view and see Marisa, her friend and seahorse dude in the water.  We discover that the male friend is actually Marisa’s twin brother.  Marisa is just as amazed by Elena.  She asked if her brother saw what Elena did, then must keep him from retaliating.  She calls him Marzel and tells him to stop!  Marzel argues that the people on the ship tried to fillet them to which Marisa points out,  “But the princesa stopped them with that magic thingy.”  Marzel advises they better leave before she decides to use it on them.  Their seahorse friend agrees, and they dive beneath the waves.  Meanwhile, back on the Turners boat, Naomi again turns on her girlfriend, demanding,  “Why did you do that!”  Elena doesn’t take her crap and shoots back with,  “I’m not going to attack someone who hasn’t attacked me first!”  As much as I love watching Elena stand up for herself, my heart breaks a little more.  I don’t like it when Elena and her future wife fight.  I know it happens in every friendship-whether it’s destined for romance or not.  Even so, it’s still hard for me to watch when it's Elena and Naomi. Meanwhile, under the sea, Marisa and Marzel are swimming towards the palace they share with their parents.  Marzel points out that “Sirenas haven’t sunken a ship since before we were born.  And still Humans come after us.”  Marisa counters with,  “That’s because no one has told them we’ve changed.”  Marzel doubts they would listen.  “Maybe the princess would.  You saw what she did.”  Marzel disagrees.  He shakes his head when he sees an all too familiar look in his Hermana’s eyes.  “I hate that look!”  Marisa ignores him.  “We can tell her, then she can spread the word to the rest of the Humans.”  Their friend tells her to keep dreaming.  Marzel reminds him that’s what Marisa does best.  Marisa declares she’s going to talk to their father.  Marzel tells her she’s wasting her time while watching her swim off.

And that’s where I leave everyone off for now!  Part 2 is coming in a few days!  Feel free to leave comments or send me asks!

[averyonelovesjack]

baby sister ~ zach herron

requested: yes

Do a Zach imagine!

summary: on a trip to visit her older brother jack, y/n and her boyfriend struggle with a decision on how to tell him. 

warning(s): cursing, angry jack, mention of sex (briefly), hella long

word count: 2715

A smile peered on my face as my feet lifted off the ground, launching my body forward onto the curly haired boy I’d missed more than anyone could imagine. My ears filled with the soft laughter of my brother who held me tightly, spinning around in a circle.

More pressure was applied to my tiny feet as Jack set me down and grabbed my bag from next to me. Most people would argue that they could carry their own bag, but honestly i just took a four hour flight out here to see him before the holidays, this bitch can grab my luggage. Jack’s car was going to be a good bit away, i know that, but there were conversations to be had in that time. We’d been away from each other since before summer, during his graduation. Despite anytime that Jack would come home, I’d be out of town or busy.

Jack smiled over at me, “i still can’t believe mom let you take a flight by yourself”

i playfully rolled my eyes, “you do understand that i’m sixteen right? i know you’re not good with birthdays, but come on”

he nudged me, “that’s pretty young! and i sometimes know your birthday”

a scoff escaped my mouth, “i get that i’m your least favorite sister, but damn. that hurt”

“there’s a lot to choose from,”Jack joked, shrugging, “not all four of you can be my favorite”

i used my two hands, turning and pushing him so that he was further away from me, “you’re supposed to disagree!”

he laughed, “i’m kidding”

i rolled my eyes, “no you’re not”

“yeah, you’re right. i’m not”

The door to the house opened and the smell of burning food filled my nose, realizing that it would probably be like this for a while. I looked over to see Daniel taking a very steamy cup of ramen out of the microwave. knowing these idiots, someone must have forgotten to take it out or put it for much longer than the timer says and then it was destroyed.

Jack set his keys on the table, yelling through the house, “WE’RE BACK”

I heard a few footsteps and then I was immediately tackled by a blond boy. Giggles left my mouth as Corbyn nearly knocked my over, hugging me tightly. A few more boys appeared from around the corner, each taking their turn to hug me, Zach’s being the shortest. Despite a normal length hug not being suspicious, we didn’t like to take chances. Our eyes glanced towards each other, but then away.

Jack had my bags in his arms, walking away from the large group of guys, “i’m gonna put your bags in my room”

i nodded my head at him, continuing to socialize with the four boys i hadn’t seen in so long. It was nice, chatting with all of them about what we’ve each been up to. Primarily what i’ve done recently, since their recent events can easily be found on the internet.

Jack playfully rolled his eyes as I stepped away from the living room that the two of us sat in to go answer my phone out by the pool. It wasn’t necessarily important, but it was a friend and it was an excuse to talk to Zach. I quickly answered Lila’s call and as soon as i hung up, i felt two arms grip my waist.

I was surprised, but I knew he was coming. My body jumped, but an adorable laugh left Zach’s lips, giving me comfort as I turn around. One of his arms stayed on my waist as the other lifted up, pushing my hair out of my face and landing on my cheek as his lips touched my own softly. A blush appeared on my cheeks as I kissed him back, taking in the taste of the flesh i’d missed for all too long.

When we separated, i looked up at him with a smile, “i’ve missed you”

“i’ve missed you too” He brought my body close to his, wrapping me in his warmth for longer than before as if to make up for what happened when i first arrived, “i hate having you so far away”

i nodded my head, “it truly sucks”

“and i hate having to share you,” Zach admits, “i just want everyone to understand that i miss you the most”

i laughed a little bit, “i wish we could tell them, zach. you know i do”

“i know,” he let out a breath, “it just sucks keeping the most important thing in my life from everyone”

i nodded, “it’s too risky. i want to tell everyone too, trust me”

“no one can do anything about us wanting to be together, y/n” Zach tried to convince me but fear of what could come rushed my mind.

“it’s jack we’re talking about,” i remind, “as much as i want to trust that he wants the best for me, i don’t want to ruin or wreck any relationship you have with him”

“i’m dating his little sister,” Zach told me as if i didn’t already know, “how would that ruin our relationship?” 

i sighed, looking away, “i don’t know. if we– like maybe one day if we were to break up and-” 

“why would we break up?” Zach was defensive now, hurt by what i’d suggested.

“i don’t know,” i sighed, “i don’t want to, ever, but you never know” 

“baby, we’re not breaking up, right?” 

“no, of course not! and i don’t want to” i tell him, “i just don’t know what to do about this whole jack situation” 

“my relationship with him is separate from my relationship with you,” Zach informs me.

“i know,” i sigh, “just give me some time to think this over” 

Zach nodded his head, slipping his fingers onto my cheek and feeding me a small and beautiful smile, “i love you” 

“i love you too” i wrapped my arms around his body, taking in the scent that i could never get enough of.

I sat on the counter top of the bathroom, Zach standing in front of me as the door was lightly closed. Despite the pretty wide chance of someone walking in, it seemed less suspicious than the two of us being locked in one of the bathrooms together.

My eyes dazed into his as we talked about anything and everything. His smile lit up my world, making everything about the day seem amazing, even the boring times. The way his laugh filled my ears made me want to crumble beneath him.

His lips came closer to mine, nearly touching my own before the door opened and he quickly pulled away.

Jack looked highly confused, but within the .5 seconds of silence, his confusion turned to anger and rage, “what the fuck is going on?”

i was quick to spit out a few senseless words, “zach was just- my contact,” i realized this didn’t make sense and jack gave me a look and some time to continue on and make some sense of the words i’d blurted out, “he was just checking to make sure my contact was still in my eye”

“why wouldn’t you know if your contact was in your eye?” Jack glared, crossing his arms over his chest, “and why can’t you just check your case to see if it’s in there?”

“she might have dropped it,” Zach went along with what i was saying.

“might’ve dropped it?” Jack didn’t believe a single thing we were saying.

“yes,” i blurt more words, “i couldn’t tell if it was still on my finger and then i had a hand cramp”

jack took in every bullshit lie i said, thinking about it for a second. for a split second i thought he was gonna believe me until fury filled his eyes, ��you don’t even wear contacts! you hate touching your eyes!”

this was true. he’d caught the fact that i was completely lying about wearing contacts and he knew me too well. i quickly came up with the reason he wouldn’t know about my completely fake affiliation with contacts, “we’ve been apart for a long time. i got over my fear”

He rolled his eyes, “you’ve literally been wearing your glasses all day! you can’t even deny that”

my jaw dropped at the fact that our lie had come to an end and i didn’t have any ideas on how to save it, “well i–,” i started, “we–”

Jack realized that there was no way for me to explain the close proximity of Zach to my face and quickly turned to shove Zach, his fingers digging into my boyfriend’s shoulders and forcing the younger boy against the wall. a squeal escaped my pleading lips as jack spit words at Zach, “what the fuck were doing with your face so close to my baby sister’s?”

zach hadn’t any idea of what to say, “jack! stop!” i squealed at my older brother, but it was ignored.

“fucking answer me!” Jack’s fingers pushed Zach back against the wall as zach tried to move off of it. another squeal left my mouth as i tried to yell at my protective older brother who didn’t seem to understand what was happening.

“hey, calm down,” Zach tried but my brother only grew closer to him. Although i couldn’t see his face, i knew jack was getting angrier by the second.

“what the fuck were you doing with my baby sister?” Jack questioned him and I heard footsteps running closer to us as my squeals and stops grew louder, “you have a fucking voice, answer me!”

The three other boys living in this house came in, Jonah immediately stepping between jack and zach, pulling jack back and away from him as zach quickly walked away from my raging older brother and back towards me.

i got down from the counter, stepping in front of my boyfriend and staring at jack, “i’m not your fucking baby sister”

Jack’s eyes turned from rage to sadness in the matter of two seconds after processing what i’d told him.

“it’s not your job to protect me,” I continued, feeling the need to go on with my argument against my brother, “i’m my own goddamn person and i’ll do what i fucking please. you can’t keep me in this little box like i’m four years old jack. newsflash, i turned sixteen months ago. i know you weren’t there, but trust me, it happened”

It was silent as i scoffed and walked out of the bathroom, trying to find some place safe for me to be alone, but it seemed like being in someone else’s house gave me no option. everyone had a room and i couldn’t find a spot to just sit.

instead of staying in this poisoned house, i went out the back door. LA was cold at night, but my anger kept me warm as i walked as far away from the house as possible, sitting down on the ledge that overlooked the city. it was quiet, other than the sounds of cars driving down the street and fireflies looking for mates. 

a cool draft tickled my shoulders, making me shiver as i felt the presence of someone next to me. despite my usual fear of someone murdering me, i felt safe in the fact that it was one of the two people i’d have liked it to be. 

a short breath left his mouth as i continued to stare out at the pretty city lights at night, not daring make eye contact, “can you at least look at me?” 

jack’s voice cracked and i felt my heart shatter. i didn’t know what to say, but i figured it’d be easier than looking at him, “what for?” it was a cold reply, but nonetheless he deserved it, “you gonna push me too?” 

a soft and sad scoff left my brother’s lips, “i don’t care what you tell me or how old you are, you will always be my baby sister” 

“you’re two years older than me, jack,” i say, “you don’t even remember me as a baby” 

“that’s not the point,” he paused, “the point is that i don’t care that you’ve turned sixteen because you will always be my baby sister. you have to live with the fact that i won’t like it when you get boyfriends, it doesn’t matter how old you are” 

“and you have to live with the fact that you don’t get to protect me from everything in the world,” i finally looked up at him, “maybe i’ll always be your baby sister, but i am sixteen, despite you choosing not to abide by it. i’m going to act my age. i’ll get boyfriends and i’ll have sex and i’ll make mistakes because that’s how a person is created. if you want me to be the best person i can be, and to live up to my potential, then you need to stop protecting me from the world. i am very much aware of the damages that could do to me, but if i don’t make mistakes i’ll never learn” 

“i don’t want to watch you make mistakes, y/n” Jack told me, “i want to protect you from making them. what you make a mistake that’s too big for you to handle?”

“we’re given the things we can handle,” i stare at my older brother, “the strongest soldiers get the toughest battles. i will find a way to handle what i need to” 

jack looked back at me, “so are you and zach a thing?” 

i sighed, letting out a deep breath, “yeah, zach is my boyfriend” 

“how long did you keep it from me?” he questions and i suck in a deep breath.

“maybe six months?” i estimate and his eyes sadden.

“you really didn’t trust me to keep it?” i didn’t answer, “did anyone else know?” 

“mom, sydnie, and ava,” i tell him, “i wanted to tell Isla, but you and her have this bond and i had a feeling she’d tell you” 

he laughed a little bit at what i’d said about isla, “at least i’m not the last one to find out” 

“i guess that’s true” i say, “i didn’t tell dad either. i figured that i should probably tell you first to prepare myself for what he’d have to say” 

“oh shit, i’m not even the worst of your problems” 

“i don’t see what the big deal is,” I admit to him, dangling my legs, “sydnie’s had boyfriends, she has one right now. and you two have still got ava and isla to protect from boys” 

he sighs, “how long do you think we’ve got with single ava?” 

i giggled, “not long. she’s thirteen and already prettier than me. i give it six months, a year tops” 

“shut up!” jack nudged me, “you know that’s not true” 

“yeah yeah,” i rock and then look at him with a small smile, “now i love this sib moment, but can i go see my boyfriend and make sure you haven’t scared the shit out of him enough to break up with me?” 

“go getchya man” Jack smiled widely at me and stood up, helping me up as i ran towards the house, opening the door and leaving it for jack as i searched around for zach. 

I found him sitting on his bed in his room, his head in his hands. the boys were all sitting in the room too, but watching tv and trying not to bother him. i looked into the room and then moved in front of him quickly, sitting down next to him.

he looked up as the bed sank and the smile on my face gave him a bit of hope as he wrapped his arms around me. i heard a few awes as i hugged him back, falling over onto the bed. 

“ok ok, i don’t care that you’re dating but please, no pda around me” Jack walked into the room, cringing.

i stared at jack and then turned around, planting a kiss on zach’s lips, making his cheeks turn red.

“i swear to god she just likes to bother me” Jack gave up, sitting down on Jonah’s bed as the boys laughed. 

[darpok]

Blog Post: On Fan Fiction and Other Storytelling Traditions

When I was twelve or thirteen years old, and even our family finally had DSL internet, I discovered the joys of fan fiction. In case you haven’t been living under the same rock as I have, allow me to explain. “Fan fiction” refers to stories written by enthusiasts of a particular book, TV show, or other creative work. While most “fics” – as my friends and I would call them – take place within the particular universe of the original story, others take known characters and put them in an entirely new setting. (That’s how 50 Shades of Grey was born.) There’s also fan fiction that doesn’t deliberately draw on any work but revolves around real, famous people in imagined situations. (See Graham Norton and Daniel Radcliffe discuss this type on the former’s show.)

The stories that interested me ranged from shorter “one shots” to multi-chapter epics, but most were placed in the Harry Potter universe and nearly all were tales of romance – if you could call it that.

The pairings I read about (and often ‘shipped’ – a verb that comes from the ‘ship’ in ‘relationship’ and means “hoped would bang”) – whether true to canon (i.e. the original books), such as Lily and James Potter, or wildly inventive, such as Hermione and a Tom Riddle to whom she has traveled back in time – usually engaged in the kind of love/hate banter that sends real couples to therapy. The pair would glare at and insult each other (often employing strangely American turns of phrase for a pair of ostensible Brits), their apparent mutual disgust hiding a deeper attraction. For my friends and I, it was riveting stuff.

While I was mainly a Lily/James shipper myself, you can’t talk about Harry Potter fan fiction and not mention Dramione. The fan-invented romance between Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger was a tale of forbidden passion, a defiance of Hogwarts housing norms and the mandates of Potter canon itself. Draco did need to be less of a whiny loser to be a deserving match for Hermione, but this could be arranged without too much trouble. In the fan fiction world, Draco was dark and brooding, and he didn’t bring his dad up in conversation quite as often as in the books. Hermione was clever and empathetic, and although she was rarely depicted with less than Yule Ball-level beauty, her looks were not her main characteristic.

Sometimes fan fiction Draco and Hermione fell for each other while at Hogwarts. In other fics, they met again under changed circumstances years after the fall of Voldemort. Then there were the AU fics in which a brilliant young paralegal named Hermione Granger begins work at the firm where successful lawyer Draco Malfoy practices. You get the idea.

Photoshop creations starring Tom Felton and Emma Watson (no credit belongs to me). The purple one in particular has stayed in my memory for years, and brings on a familiar feeling of excitement at all the great content to peruse in the world. It was the banner for a website that allowed fans to nominate and vote for their favorite Dramione fics.

A particularly sexy iteration of the Draco/Hermione story was called Water by kissherdraco. In it, Draco and Hermione are Head Boy and Girl at Hogwarts. Of course, this means that they must live sequestered in their own dormitory, with its own entrance, common room and adjoining bathroom that ensure they see each other in a state of partial undress when the story demands it.

Water was held by many to be the pinnacle of the genre. It had lust and angst in equal measure, executed with a liberal dose of swear words and aggression. Moreover, Water took the common flaws of the Dramione world’s characters and actually explored them, allowing character to drive plot. In the story, Draco is brooding and cruel as ever, but these traits are linked to vicious abuse at the hands of Lucius. This backstory is not seen as an excuse for Draco’s behavior and he is forced to grow and change as the story progresses (although not quite enough, tbh).

I never finished the story, perhaps because my young brain was alarmed by all the hate-sex, but I revisited it with curiosity for this piece. Here is a relatively benign excerpt from the text, although please skip if you’d rather avoid themes of physical dominance:

“You’re crying,” growled Draco, leaning in and flicking his tongue onto her cheek. He tasted salt.

She struggled then, and he brought his hands to her shoulders to hold her still. “Don’t, Granger,” he warned. “I fucking need this. I can’t fucking…” He trailed off.

He never would have noticed before. Not like he did now, at least. Her lips were wet. They were red and moist and magnificently ripened for him. So full of blood. Hot, heated, sullied blood. He couldn’t take his eyes off them.

Other fics situated romance within a larger plot about the politics of the wizarding world. Prelude to Destiny by AnotherDreamer took place in the Marauder era (i.e. the time of Harry’s parents) and focused on the coming-of-age of Lily Evans and her role in the battle against evil. It begins, “Two cultures and a thousand miles from you, there is a castle on a hill…”

Another fave began life under the title Ancient and Most Noble and is now called Druella Black’s Guide to Womanhood. It is about the diverging lives of the three Black sisters — Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa — in the early years of Voldemort’s power. The sisters confront the crumbling of the their easy closeness as they make different choices in a changing world.

”It’ll be a laugh, you’ll see,” Bellatrix whispered into her ear, her breath sweet and thick from wine. They were curled in the cool grass, tangled in the layers upon layers of lace and satin that were their dress robes; it had taken them an hour to get them on right and just ten minutes to unsettle them. Andromeda’s head was spinning: from the liquor, from the heat, from far too much dancing. “It’ll all be just like this,” Bella was murmuring, her lips brushing against her ear. Stars whirled by overhead, maybe close enough to touch. Close enough to try.

“Always just like this.”

—

Andromeda swore as she stepped off the train. From inside the nicely cool travel car, summer had looked so charming, green and bright and gloriously school-free…

I was most interested in these fics, the ones that revolved around the generations before Harry’s. There was something compelling about the knowledge of forthcoming tragedy for many of the characters…Plucked away from the happy ending of the books, these fics became an exploration of why life is meaningful even in its flawed and finite scope.

I look back on my fan fiction experiences as belonging to a beautiful time when the internet was less like Janet from The Good Place* (if Janet were selling everything she knew about us to profit-hungry corporations and belligerent, militarized governments), and more like a library you went to when you felt like checking out a book. Nobody knew what I ate and where I went every minute of the day, because I didn’t put that stuff online, nor did I (to my knowledge) carry a tracking device with me when I went downstairs to play with my friends. At 5 pm, our moms would have to call each friend’s landline to reach us and remind us to stop home for our daily glass of milk or what-have-you.

*Janet is a humanoid presence in the afterlife who holds all knowledge in the universe and can create objects out of the void.

Fan fiction was a commerce-free creative space – devoid of ad revenue and the quick accumulation of likes. Since there was neither money nor social capital to be gained, everyone who participated did so out of pure interest. One did have the hope of raking in reviews from other community members, but these were about more than validation; reviews allowed people to have conversations about a shared passion and often included constructive criticism along with praise. There was little need for bitterness – if a fic was well-written, everybody won, since it meant they got to read it.

Below are some examples from the reviews section of Prelude to Destiny. It’s certainly no Twitter.

Written by rach on chapter #13. (March 28th 2009, 5am) Hey,

So I’ve read your whole story before, and now I’m reading it again, because I saw it spotlighted on the site. And this chapter is amazing. I love the end…I’ve never (well, before I read this the first time) compared Lily to Mrs Crouch. But it’s so true. They both gave their lives for their sons and…this chapter is phenomenal. Just thought I’d let you know

Rach

Written by Smith on chapter #26. (April 29th 2008, 11am)

…If I am to find any fault in the story, then I should say that Remus was rather dull. Not that it was completely out of character, but I imagine him being funnier and also good Lily’s friend. Their friendship is mentioned by Lupin in the third film and, I should think, in the book as well, though I don’t have a copy right now and thus can’t provide a quote. Pity, that. [Given my extensive knowledge of canon, I can tell you that the reviewer is mistaken on this last point.]

Thank you very much for writing this story. Reading it was an enjoyable experience that I might repeat in the future. You’re brilliant, to put it short.

Author Response: Thanks for the review!Yeah, Remus was a bit dull. Actually, I didn’t intend for Lily to be friends with any of the marauders besides James. I just wanted them out of the way. But I know what you mean. After Sirius entered the story, Remus was even duller in comparison. Plus, I wanted to make Peter seem like he fit in, and Remus just fell by the wayside, you know?I’m enjoying writing Gertrude again after taking over a story from my friend who used my characters. Anyway, thanks again!Miranda

For me, too, fandom was a more than a casual hobby. Since I was only allowed an hour of internet use a day, I would spend the time copying and pasting chapter after chapter of fan fiction onto Microsoft Word, allowing me to read all I wanted later. (As you might imagine, Water was not stored on the family computer.) I remember scouring for new fics on fanfiction.net and clicking through page after page of fan art on deviantart.com (both of which retain their early-2000s layouts, unlike Mugglenet or JK Rowling’s official site), very differently from how I scroll through Instagram today. I admired works of fandom the way one appreciates springtime’s first flower, or the décor of a friend’s bedroom – I admired the stamp of individuality they bore and that inspired me to create something myself, to express my joys and sorrows, to be a part of the world.

RIP old websites

When I did put Harry Potter-inspired art out there, somewhere around age fourteen, it was of course in the form of fan fiction, writing being my weapon of choice. I wrote two one-shot pieces, one funny and the other sad — or such were my intentions, though perhaps the results were inverted. While some friends wrote longer stories, I never felt talented or inspired enough to commit, which is a typical self-doubting move of the kind I am trying to leave behind. (I now plan to write no matter how untalented and uninspired I may be.)

One piece was about a character of my own invention, a Slytherin guy with the requisite pure-blood, Dark magic-loving family, and a perky, ponytailed Huffelpuff girl on whom he develops an obsessive crush. It was intended to be a BBC-inspired mockery of the character, taking all the gloomy sexiness of the Dramione universe and making it ridiculous. It was also a thorough exploration of really wanting to make out with somebody sitting in the same classroom as you, not that I’d know anything about that myself.

The other short story was a sincere ode to the books and an exploration of some of their core questions on death and loss. It followed Harry in an imagined scene that takes place (SPOILER ALERT lol) after Dumbledore’s death in the Half-Blood Prince. Harry is climbing the steps to the Owlery with a package in his hand, thinking over his relationship with Dumbledore. As I wrote, I found that I absolutely had to include excerpts from a fairly unexpected source, a chapter in the first and most overlooked of the Harry Potter books. The chapter is “The Mirror of Erised,” whose titular object reveals to the onlooker their deepest desire.

“Professor Dumbledore. Can I ask you something?”

“Obviously, you’ve just done so,” Dumbledore smiled. “You may ask me one more thing, however.”

“What do you see when you look in the mirror?”

“I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.” Harry stared. “One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”

It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful.

In my story, Harry gazes out at the Forbidden Forest for a little while, wondering who Dumbledore had been behind the mask of calm wisdom and pondering the burden of those left alive and grieving. Harry then ties the package he’s been holding to Hedwig’s arm and sends her off, chuckling a little through tears. In the last line it is revealed that – OMG – he has just sent off a pair of thick, woolen SOCKS. To DUMBLEDORE. Even though Dumbledore is DEAD. Isn’t that profound?

Two years later, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released, and to my complete surprise, it delved deep into some of the questions about Dumbledore that had tumbled out of me, stream-of-consciousness-like, in the story I wrote. The text even includes part of the above excerpt from “The Mirror of Erised”. At the outset of Deathly Hallows, Harry learns that Dumbledore’s childhood was a difficult one, the true details of which remain murky and contested by his admirers and critics. Harry regrets never having asked Dumbledore about his past, but recalls that, after all, the one personal question he had asked Dumbledore was not answered honestly…

While writing my story, I had imagined Harry’s pain and longing to know Dumbledore better. Because fan fiction allowed me to externalize my interpretation of the text, the questions in my mind took on concrete form. Their answers, when the next book presented them, became all the more striking and emotionally impactful. It was as though I had written a letter to the series of books that had shaped me and received, in a way, a gentle but meaningful response.

In 2004, JK Rowling released a statement about the phenomenon of fan fiction. She was flattered by fans’ desire to write about her characters, and her only caveats were that fan fiction should remain suitable for children (unfortunately that ship had already sailed, and Water was truly the least of it), as well as a non-commercial activity so that fans’ creative pursuits would remain unexploited. Other authors have not been as accepting, and have asked for fan fiction based on their work to be removed from popular websites. After all, in our current world, a story is classified as property. A sentence, a verse, a character’s name, can belong to someone the same way as the furniture in their house and the dollar figure in their bank account.

In the long history of storytelling, however, ownership is a relatively recent idea. Bear with me while I make an analogy – in pre-industrial Britain, every town had a commons, an area of land where anyone could gather firewood, take their cattle to graze, or hunt and fish to supplement a year of poor harvest. Storytelling has historically functioned as a kind of commons of ideas, one that anyone could pull from when the time came to tell a tale. Want to warn your kid against going near a well? Tell them about the hungry demon that lives in it. Were you hired to entertain a crowd at a wedding? Maybe you dust off an old poem about a prince and princess who meet one evening in the forest but spend years apart, not knowing each others’ true identity until it turns out they were betrothed all along.

Nobody invented well-dwelling monsters or estranged lovers for the first time – they simply existed in a shared cultural space, available when needed (or when it was particularly enjoyable to use them), ready to be shaped into something new and old at the same time. Even today, no one questions the use of familiar tropes in books and movies; we know that all storytelling involves a certain amount of borrowing and repetition, and we deem this acceptable as long as the storyteller has put an adequately original spin on the themes they utilize. The legal line is drawn once you get to the particulars – character names, or sentences and dialogue. These must be brand spanking new if you want to avoid a lawsuit and getting dropped by your publishers. (Does anyone else remember How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life?)

But for thousands of years, people told and re-told stories of beloved and familiar characters, not just unnamed archetypes – characters like Odysseus and Arjuna, Gilgamesh and King Arthur. The Sanskrit Mahabharata (Maha-BHA-rata) an epicly long, genre-defying story from South Asia, especially challenges the idea of a single, canonical text (much like other ancient story traditions from the subcontinent). It was told so many times by so many people that modern-day folks are not always able to agree on what the Mahabharata even is. The story is like a vast ocean — recognizable to all, but appears different depending on where you happen to be standing.

In the 20th century, some scholars collected Mahabharata manuscripts from all over the subcontinent, extracted the most commonly occurring parts to form a text, and detailed the many variations of each verse in footnotes that turned out longer than the text itself. No one can quite agree whether to treat this resulting (multi-volume) “Critical Edition” as the essential Sanskrit Mahabharata tradition, or as some kind of strange, post-colonial Mahabharata scrapbook. All this so that whenever somebody wrote an essay about the story, there was a single text, pieced together as it was, to use as a point of reference. (My Bachelor’s thesis was one of the lesser works of this scholarly genre.)

The plot of the Mahabharata goes like this: The five Pandava brothers, namely the prone-to-gambling leader Yudhishthira, morally-conflicted archer Arjuna, lovable beefcake Bhima, and something-to-do-with-horses twins Nakula and Sachdeva, along with their badass wife Draupadi, are exiled from their kingdom and forced into a year of disguise after a rigged dice game that Yudhishthira loses, and in which Draupadi is stripped and humiliated before a hall full of men. Eventually the Pandavas regain what they lost through a bloody war that leaves both sides devastated and questioning the point of all this conflict. The End.

Does my summary reflect my biases a little bit? For somebody else, the Pandavas might be perfect heroes, Draupadi a whiny ungrateful shrew who won’t stop yelling at them. To me, she is the moral backbone of the Pandavas, unafraid to call for what she feels is right even as everyone around her takes the coward’s way out of trouble.

Interpretations of Draupadi from various traditions

But it’s not just me who has a take on the story: the Mahabharata itself reflects a range of interacting and conflicting views, which might indicate that people from various backgrounds heard it and were able, in some way, to influence it. For example, although the text generally upholds hierarchies of caste and gender, it also pulls at the listener’s heartstrings with stories of characters who must confront these oppressive norms.

There’s Amba, who is stolen from her future-husband at her wedding and rejected by him when she manages to return; she later chooses to be re-born as a man in order to kill her kidnapper in battle. There’s Ekalavya, the talented archer from a forest tribe who trains with the Pandavas in youth and asks to prove his devotion to his archery guru any way he can; the guru, who favors the upper-caste prince Arjuna, asks Ekalavya to cut off his right thumb. There’s Kunti, who finds herself pregnant after an illicit affair with a god and places her baby, Karna, in a river; Karna is adopted by a lower-caste charioteer couple and goes on to fight against Kunti’s legitimate sons in the great battle that destroys the universe. And there’s Satyavati, whose husband/baby daddy pretends not to recognize her in front of his kingly court but gets completely schooled on how not to be an asshole.

“You know very well [who I am], your majesty; why do you say that you don’t, lying like a common man? Your heart knows the truth, and knows your lie. A man who does something wrong thinks, ‘No one knows me,’ but the gods know. If you do not do what I ask, your head will burst into a hundred pieces.” She discoursed at length on the reasons why a man should honor his wife, quoting the dharma texts.

(from The Ring of Truth: And Other Myths of Sex and Jewelry by Wendy Doniger)

Perhaps, among the traveling bards and indulgent grandmas who told the Mahabharata over centuries, there were some who identified or empathized with the pain of oppression and through whom otherwise-marginalized voices could ring out into the millennia.

The many Mahabharatas, along with the many conversations inside the Mahabharata, illustrate how the human imagination is prolific and messy, not content with merely absorbing information but impelled to remake, to take inspiration, to create, create, create. Isn’t that what happens when we read? We see the world we are reading about in our own way. We make up something in our own head as we go along, and that’s where the entertainment lies. The book itself is but a wonderful tool.

Perhaps if I had a right-wing patron who paid me to tell stories, I would tell the Mahabharata a little differently from how I do here, focusing on how the Pandavas were self-made men or how the ethnic minorities they killed were thieving encroachers. Or if I were telling the story to children, I might leave out anything particularly frightening. In the telling of a story, the will and whims of the teller have influence, as do those of the listener (or reader) and the financial benefactor (or publishing house).

What remains inevitable, however, is that rarely is a story told the same way twice. Even in our post-printing press, post-internet world, where stories are replicated identically again and again, we continue to dissect, analyze, and change them, whether it be through everyday conversations, online forums, or the prestige lens of a critic’s review. (A perfect example is the adaptation of works from one medium into another, be it from literature to film or from film to theater.) Sometimes the authors themselves continue to tweak and interpret their work – Virginia Wolf was known to make changes to her books prior to reprinting, and we all know that JK Rowling can’t leave the Potter universe well enough alone (love you Jo!).

For me, fan fiction is a grand storytelling and textual tradition not entirely unlike the Mahabharata. Fan fiction not only illustrates the malleable, generative nature of stories, it also provides a rare space, in our capitalist global economy, for storytelling to be that malleable, generative thing it has always been. It allows for democratic engagement in the storytelling traditions of our time, free from the boxes of profit and ownership. It lets us expand the possibilities of our collective imagination. Importantly, it allows voices from the margins into the story, where our canonical texts routinely fail us.

I’m also thankful to fan fiction for being a rare space, outside overpriced college English classes, where literary discussion can thrive. When I say discussion, I don’t mean mere binary criticism – like book reviews, or the Goodreads star rating-aggregates that help determine book sales. I mean questions about how a text makes you feel, what it reflects or critiques about our world, the things that literary characters, beloved and abhorred, may teach us about our shared humanity and flawed choices. And yes, some of these conversations involve Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy as co-Heads of Hogwarts, using the same bathroom.

Are you a reader or writer of fan fiction? Have you you dabbled in fan art? Or do you engage in a non-online form of fandom, like a book club? Please share!

Thanks for reading.

[deepdickdaniel]

Kang Daniel | FlowerShop!AU

prompt: while shopping for flowers to give to your favorite professor as a going away present, you see the most unlikely character preparing the bouquet.

note: this is the flowershop!au that no one asked for, but take it anyway! also, i love researching flower meanings but i’m not too sure about the seasons in which they grow, etc. so please excuse any inaccuracies!

your favorite professor was transferring to another university on the other side of the world so you decided to get her flowers

a few blocks away from your school, you found a cute little flower shop so you stopped by to ask for a custom-made, good luck bouquet for her

when you walked in, you saw that there was no one at the counter but the flowers were all watered and displayed prettily so you just assumed the staff was in the back

and you were right

after a minute or two of browsing, you finally heard the curtain from the back slide open and close

you looked up and saw the most unexpected person: kang daniel

you had a few classes with him before and one currently + you always found him attractive, but he never actually went to class enough for you to know him well

and whenever he went to class, he was asleep lmao

“hi, do you need help?”

his smile was as pretty as the flowers surrounding him 

“yeah! i’d just like a bouquet of flowers, please”

he nodded and stared at you for a bit, his smile getting brighter in realization,

“wait, you’ve been in a few of my classes, right???”

and he proceeded to say your name and you’re honestly surprised because while you have a few mutual acquaintances, you weren’t expecting much

he asked you what it was for and you said it’s a good luck/encouragement type of bouquet

“ooh is your boyfriend taking some type of exam or something?”

“b-b-boyfriend?! i’m single af”

you didn’t know if it was your lack of sleep but his smile seemed to grow even bigger at that

so you told him who the bouquet was for and he came up with the prettiest bunch of flowers

“white carnations are a good symbol of luck for females!!! your prof’s a lady, right? and goldenrods are a sign of encouragement and good fortune! hollyhocks are for ambition and while the colors may at first seem a bit odd together, when you look back: white, gold, and variations of a berry color are really nice together, no?”

he honestly lost you at goldenrods

so you just nodded in shock and he seemed to be relieved at your approval

after you paid, you guys talked for a bit and found out you actually got along really well + had a lot of similarities

you exchanged numbers even, ayyyyyy

when it was time for you to go, daniel randomly handed you a single white flower

??? = you

“o-oh, we just had some extra gardenias, so just take one, okay? have a great day!”

you were confused but also touched so you left the flower shop lowkey giddy and excited to see him again

and that would come soon!!! because he actually started to come to the class you guys had together and even sat next to you

and stayed awake…lmao

he brought you another one of those flowers

“more extras!!!”

with the brightest smile and despite the curious looks of your classmates who had never seen you talk to each other before, you smiled just as brightly back at him

tbh you wanted to look up the meaning of this flower but you forgot the name of it, sigh

you started hanging out at the flower shop, too, sitting around and using a spare desk near the counter

“my boss is this really nice lady, i’m sure she’ll be fine with you being here”

so you and daniel got even closer and while he’d prepare bouquets for orders, he’d also tell you the meanings behind the flowers he’s putting in them

and you started to realize what certain bouquets meant by the way daniel would react while making them

he’d get the saddest while making it for a husband who’s obviously cheating on his wife

“as if a bunch of flowers is going to make the pain go away for her and the guilt go away for him!!!”

or how daniel would get bittersweet while making a bouquet for a woman who visits her deceased father once a week

overtime, you just really got to observe daniel and you started crushing on him big time

he’s just such a genuine person who has a heart of gold

it’s just an added bonus that he’s probably the most attractive person your eyes have ever landed on

but he was also such a dork who loved his two cats more than he could ever love a human most likely tbh

“i always get the safe catnip plants for rooney and peter!!! my boss is really nice and always lets me take a bit home for my cats whenever we have them in stock!”

he also would occasionally bring you that same white flower or even a delicate, small bunch of yellow ones in class

“extras as always!” 

one day you went into the flower shop, calling out daniel’s name in greeting

but instead, an elderly lady came to the counter

“oh, you’re the one daniel’s always talking about! i’m so happy to finally meet you after all this time!”

wow, after about two months of never seeing her, you finally met his boss!

“he’s not here today, but please, feel free to stay!”

she was the sweetest, old little thing and she tried to teach you about most of the flower meanings, too

you were unmistakably looking a bit down that daniel wasn’t there but you were happy to have such kind company

this brilliant lady noticed and decided to tell you a story about daniel to make you feel better

“do you know how daniel came to work for me? one day, i was struggling to carry some of the heavier potted plants since my son just moved out of the country and i was left to do most things by myself and daniel was passing by - he saw me and dropped his things just to help me!”

you smiled - typical angelic daniel!!!

“he started helping me every day out of his own free will and became interested in learning about the different kinds of flowers, so i just ended up hiring him”

she then laughed a bit mischievously

“and it helps that we get a lot of business from young girls who find him attractive!”

this made you frown while made her smirk hehehe

“don’t worry, he hasn’t looked at anyone but you since you first bought that bouquet”

“e-excuse me!”

she just laughed and continued to make the bouquet that was in her hands

you then noticed that the bouquet contained the flowers daniel always happened to give you but refused to tell you the names of again

so you asked the sweet lady and she smiled dreamily,

“they’re gardenias and yellow acacias. yellow acacias are a sign of a valuable friendship but…they can also mean secret love. gardenias also mean secret love…this is probably going to the object of affection of a secret admirer!”

you were so shook that you ended up leaving the shop, thanking her for her time and hospitality and wanting to think for yourself

you were super happy but didn’t want to get your hopes up

what if he was just being friendly???

so you were super confused but returned to the flower shop the next day as always after researching a bit about flower meanings

your turbulent heart, however, calmed at the sight of daniel’s special smile just for you

but he was a bit more quiet today, focusing on the bouquet he was making and answering you only when you spoke to him

finally, when he was done, he actually went around the counter to where you were seated

and placed the bouquet right into your lap

“what’s this?!”

“it’s for you and it’s my newest creation: white dittanies to represent a man’s romantic desire towards an individual, roses as a sign of traditional love…”

he paused, looking at you while biting his lip

“…and yellow daffodils are a sign of new beginnings…and hopefully today will be day 1 for you and me as a couple…”

he trailed off there, watching your every movement intently

you smiled the most beautiful smile he had ever seen and said one word,

“ambrosia”

he laughed happily and picked you up after you gently placed the bouquet on the table

while you were being spun around by your newly acquired boyfriend, you couldn’t help but be even more thankful to your professor for all that she had done for you

she even (indirectly) got you a love life!

daniel’s boss came out of the back to witness this adorable scene, clapping for the two of you

“he always mentioned a pretty little thing in one of his classes and to his luck, his object of affection ended up stopping by here to get flowers!”

“oooohhhhh, that’s why you kept giving me gardenias! you’ve liked me secretly from the start!”

daniel was silent as you and his boss ganged up on him

and just like that, you found a new beginning in your favorite little flower shop

ambrosia = your love is requited

[dansphlevels]

part 2 please!! your writing is wonderful :)

Thank you :)

Yellow Roses Pt. 2 of 6

Read part one here or read on AO3.

Summary: Dan has a wife who just loves the flowers he keeps getting for her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know about the attractive florist who sends hidden messages with each bouquet that her husband might just be falling for.

Length: 2.7k words

Themes: historical, flower shop au, forbidden love, language of flowers, 

The response to Dan’s message requesting mixed roses took over a week to come. It was so long, in fact, that Dan considered marching down to the flower shop himself and demanding to know why he was being ignored. But he was too busy handling the legal affairs around his home to leave for an afternoon to chew out a certain florist, so he had to wait.

He didn’t want to fire the two workers, the estate and stable boys who were caught kissing by Rose. But it was against the law, and such immoral acts were punishable by prison, at the very least. Rose continued to insist they go to the authorities, and though he didn’t like it, Daniel put his foot down as the head of the house and demanded she leave him to decide it on his own. She stormed away, and Dan hoped the new bouquet of flowers came in soon. He would have to apologize.

But then Dan was left to decide, on his own. Rose’s teatime friends had found out, and now everyone had heard the gossip. People knew what was going on, and Dan couldn’t just let the boys off with a free pass.

But word got around fast, and before too long Dan was notified the Police were at his door. “I assume this is about the two boys?”

“Yes, may we come in?”

“Certainly.” Dan looked around, and pointed to the first staff person he saw. “You. Bring out some tea to the parlor.”

In the parlor- tea in hand- Dan explained how he found out, and how the boys were still working until further notice. “Amazing,” one of the men grumbled, his chubby fingers gripping the tea cup clumsily, “you aren’t completely disgusted by their presence.”

Alarm bells went off in Dan’s mind, but he forced himself to retain his composure. “Yes, well, they do good work. I don’t want to let them go, good help is so hard to come by these days.”

The officers nodded absently. “Well, you’ll have to. It’d be a long sentence too, a few years at best.”

“Yes, of course,” the other officer, the one with the clumsy grip on his tea agreed groggily. “Though, it is under our jurisdiction. I’m sure… well, we could be convinced to help you out.”

Their message was made perfectly clear. A bribe. “Yes, I suppose we could… come to an understanding. A reduced sentence, perhaps?”

So they talked money, for quite a while, until Dan was called back to the front door. “Good God, what is it this- oh. The flowers.” What Dan meant to say was ‘Oh good, you haven’t forgotten me,’ but he hardly could say such a thing. “The price?”

Phil told him how much these particular flowers cost- more than most of the others, not that it mattered much- and eyed Dan as he dug around, getting out the coins. “Here you are. Now if you’d excuse me, I have guests.”

“Thank you.” Phil spoke hesitantly, like he was trying to choose out his words carefully. “These ones…. will wilt quickly. I’d advise you to admire them soon.”

Translation: Dan needs to interpret the meaning behind the flowers today.

So these flowers were different.

—–

The flowers were very different indeed. The first of the bundle, with white petals that hadn’t opened yet, didn’t even have a meaning, just a name: White Morning-Glories, or rather, Moonflowers. Apparently, they only bloomed at nighttime. Along with that, the most prominent piece in the bouquet was slender green stalks with soft brown ends: cattail. Dan plucked one from the arrangement, eying it carefully. It was no flower. It looked much harsher than all of the flowers Dan had received so far, and with a start, Daniel realized that Phil must not have grown it himself. Which meant, he picked them up on his way to Dan’s home. And there was only one place that could be.

Checking his flower guide- honestly, more like a flower bible- Dan confirmed his suspicion. These plants only grew in water. Yes, Dan knew exactly where these were picked.

Flowers that only bloomed at night, and plants that only grew in a grove nearby. “I’d advise you to admire them quickly,” Phil had suggested.

He had a time and a place. Tonight. The grove, by the stream.

There was one flower left. But Dan didn’t need to look up the meaning of red roses.

—–

In the pocket of his heavy coat, Dan carried one of each of the past day’s flowers: a Moonflower, because he wanted to see it unfold under the light of the (almost) full moon, a cattail, so he could make sure he found the right patch, and a rose. Because it looked nice, and completed the trio. What? Dan didn’t need justification for everything.

He took a candle with him for some light, though the moon was so bright it was hardly needed. Daniel just hoped that he’d read the flowers right.

He found the river, and then followed it until he found a patch of cattails that looks right. Settling on the ground, Dan waited.

The night felt very quiet, and Dan might have felt lonely if it weren’t for the chirping of dozens of crickets, none of which bothered him. Though it didn’t make complete sense to him, Dan’s heart was pounding.

He waited an hour, at least. But it wasn’t painful. In fact…. in fact, Dan fell into a sort of trance, the sounds of nature surrounding him, the warm coat engulfing him.

“You came.”

And there that feeling was again, that feeling that Dan wasn’t allowed. “Yes. And so did you.”

Phil’s laughter filled the empty night, though it wasn’t too loud as to let anyone know of their whereabouts. What they were doing- whatever it was, that they were doing- had to remain a secret. “Put out that candle, will you? The whole town doesn’t need to know we’re here.”

Dan reached for the candle, then hesitated.

Phil stepped forwards, his own coat loose against his form, unlike Dan’s, which he clutched against his chest. And there was another feeling, like Dan was just realizing what he was doing and how dangerous it was. He didn’t bring a weapon. If this florist of all people wanted him dead…. well, the odds were definitely against him.

Phil noted his hesitation and chuckled. “Are you scared?”

“No.” Maybe.

“I don’t bite.”

But will you, if I ask? Dan shook the ridiculous thought out of his head, quickly putting out the candle. “I’m not scared. You tend to flowers for a living.”

Phil grinned, sitting beside him on the ground easily, admiring the stream in the moonlight. “True. I’m glad you found your way here.”

Dan could feel the flowers in his pocket, and reached in, presenting them to Phil. “It wasn’t so hard. Moonflower, cattail, and rose.”

“I think roses are my favorite,” Phil said quietly, with something that vaguely resembled vulnerability. “They… have so much meaning, behind them. And they look so natural, with every other flower. What did your Rose think of the bouquet?”

The question took Dan aback. For whatever reason, bringing up his wife didn’t seem appropriate. “She loved it. We were fighting, and I suppose the flowers made her love me again.”

“Oh?” Phil asked, his voice soft, and gentle, but held some sort of danger that Dan didn’t recognize. “Her love is bought with flowers?”

It was an insult, but Dan shrugged. The florist wasn’t wrong.

But the mentioning of his wife brought Dan back to reality. And in reality, he was sitting next to a male florist in the woods, in the dark, talking about his wife. “I don’t know what I’m doing here,” Dan admitted. “Your flowers…. they aren’t right.”

“What?” Phil asked, clearly taking a personal offense.

“No no, the flowers are beautiful,” Dan backtracked, trying to recover. “But their messages…. Phil, they aren’t very appropriate.”

Phil turned away, looking forwards at the river a little ways before them. “Because you have a wife?”

Dan groaned, digging his fingers through his hair. “Yes! No! I just- there are two boys who work for me, who were caught kissing- each other. And they’ll be going to prison! Phil, whatever it is you want…. it’s not allowed.”

It was quiet for a few long seconds, Phil not answering. Dan was trying to reject him, trying to be reasonable, but it wasn’t like he wanted to deny Phil. He had no choice!

“Why do you care what happens to them?” Phil wondered aloud. “The boys, I mean. Why do you care?”

Now that was a question Dan wasn’t allowed to answer. Not when his wife asked, not when the police asked. He couldn’t even answer when the actual boys asked him with their eyes, trying to make sense of why their employer, whom they betrayed, would ever bother trying to help them. But Dan wasn’t allowed to tell them, wasn’t allowed to answer, not to anybody in his life, his real life. But maybe, in the dead of night, hidden by the woods around them and their voices concealed by the chirping of the bugs- maybe he could tell Phil.

“They made a mistake,” Dan admitted, his mouth dry. He was becoming increasingly aware of the man next to him, their hands so close they almost touched. “And…. I don’t think they should be persecuted for it. Because if I’m being honest….” He turned towards Phil, who was already looking at him, and they were so, so close, and they’re fingers touched but Dan refused to pull away…. “If I’m being honest, I’m afraid I’m going to make a mistake too.”

He closed his eyes, trying to push everything else out but Phil from his mind. He could feel the boy’s breath on his skin. He smelt like flowers.

“Will we see each other again?” Phil whispered, eyes almost closed. “After tonight?”

Phil was looking at Dan, and Dan was looking at Phil, and they were closer than he remembered. They were closer than allowed.

“I don’t know,” Dan admitted. “I don’t know if there is something after tonight.”

“There could be,” Phil whispered, as Dan became increasingly aware of how close they were becoming. He could feel Phil’s breath on his cheek and it was so, so good and it was so, so wrong.

Dan leant in without realizing and Phil leaned in and the gap was closed, and, and, and, and they were kissing. And it was illegal.

Dan pulled away, gasping, though it had just been a quick kiss. “We can’t.”

“Why not?”

Dan stared at him in horror. “I’m married! And even if I wasn’t, you… you’re a man.”

“So?”

“So? So, I’m a man too, and that’s wrong!”

“Is it wrong because you believe it is, or because you’ve been told it is?” Phil spat, growing increasingly angry. “Because I don’t know about you Daniel, but that felt right.”

“It felt…” Dan started, quieting down, “…like something that I shouldn’t have done. Forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive.”

“Yes, there is! I shouldn’t have done that!”

“There’s nothing to forgive!”

His voice was low and quiet, and almost as dangerous as his actions had been. “Forgive. Me.”

Phil turned away, refusing to let Dan see his expression. “Fine. You’re forgiven.”

“Good. I should… I should go.”

Every bone in Dan’s body told him no, told him to stay, to kiss him again. But Dan pulled himself up to his feet, picking up the unlit candle, and brushing off his coat.

“Wait,” Phil stopped him, pulling himself to his feet and reaching inside his own pocket. “I have something for you.” Whatever it was, he held it inside his pocket, eyeing Dan carefully as if judging his merits. “But first, I must know. Is this… will I see you again?”

I can’t. I won’t. My wife. It’s wrong. “Yes.”

“And… and can I kiss you again?”

No. I can’t I won’t my wife it’s wrong. “Yes.”

So, stepping forwards and standing a little taller as to reach him, Phil gave Dan a lingering kiss that left his lips tingling and his heart pounding. “Moonflowers are hard to grow,” Phil whispered. “But I can get you more cattails. You’ll know what it means?”

No I can’t I won’t my wife it’s wrong I love y- “Yes. I’ll understand.”

Phil nodded, once more, and pulled whatever it was out of his pocket, placing it in Dan’s hands, but Dan couldn’t look away from his face to see what it was. “I’ll see you again,” Phil promised.

“I’ll see you again,” Dan agreed.

And with that, they parted ways.

—-

It was a blue rose. “Blue roses cannot be achieved naturally,” he read, back in the warmth and safety of his bedroom, “and thus have particular value. A pure blue rose is hard, though not incredibly so, to come by. Furthermore, they represent the unattainable or the mysterious. Giving someone a blue rose symbolizes ‘I want you but can’t have y-’”

“Daniel?”

And once more, he startled, almost dropping his flower bible. “It’s late Darling, what are you doing here?”

Rose stood in Dan’s doorway, waiting for permission to come in. They slept in their own separate chambers, as was custom, so Rose needed permission to go into her husband’s dressing rooms. “I’m sorry to disturb you,” she said bashfully, and it was then that Dan realized she was in her dressing gown, not her day clothes. “I just wanted to talk to you. You seemed… upset, earlier.”

Dan blinked. “Um… yes, you may come in.”

His wife sat on his bed gracefully, leaning back and stretching out her legs, one at a time. For whatever reason, Dan was enthralled by the action, his mind dizzy and unsure. “Yes…. you had something you wanted to tell me?” He remembered, trying to focus.

Rose hummed, closing her eyes. “I miss you.”

Chuckling, Dan walked over and sat next to her on the bed. Though in truth- he had been sitting closer to Phil. “You miss me?” He smiled, amused at her words. “Darling, I’ve been around all day. What is there to miss?”

She stretched more, and Dan realized perhaps she didn’t come to talk. “I miss our conversations,” she admitted, voice soft and deep, rolling like the stream from before. “I miss…. talking with you. I miss being happy with you. And I miss… something else.”

“You’ve overstepping your boundaries,” Dan warned, though he wasn’t sure why. Everyone had always told him that he should never let his wife talk to him this way, as if she were his equal. But then again….

“Is it wrong because you believe it is, or because you’ve been told it is?” Phil had said. And Dan should really think about something other than the words of the silly florist, but he just couldn’t forget. “Well?”

“I’m sorry,” Dan admitted, the words feeling strange on his tongue. “That was… rude, and ungentlemanly of me. Please forgive me.”

“Forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive.”

“Yes, there is! I should’ve have done that!”

“There’s nothing to forgive!”

“You’ve been stressed,” Rose said, pulling him from his thoughts. “Of course I forgive you.”

Her hand was on his arm, and it made Dan feel some type of way. “Rose… why’d you come here tonight?”

She leaned forwards, closer, so both hands were on his shoulders and she was leaning against him, and he could feel her breath but it was different from Phil’s. And she didn’t smell like flowers, didn’t smell like Phil. And Dan didn’t know how he felt about that.

“I told you,” she muttered, whispered as she leaned in close. And she was so warm, and he was being so stupid, and this was right- this was the right thing, not Phil, not his flirtations, that Dan had to close the gap, kissing his wife because it was right. What happened in the woods was wrong, and this was right. Rose was his wife, and despite how he felt about Phil, he loved her.

Their kiss became deeper than his and Phil’s did very quickly. Dan kissed her harder, telling himself this was right.

But he couldn’t pretend that how he kept picturing the silly florist’s face was anything but wrong.

Part 3 / Fic Masterpost / Ao3

[vermillionworks]

Applying Horror To Webcomics

Hello, I'm SarahN, author/artist of the vampire webcomic, DANIEL.

I also wrote the post on Writing Vampires quite a while ago. Honestly, I'm not sure if this one will be as good as that one for a couple of reasons... One is because I tend to have a hard time putting my thoughts on writing horror into words for some reason. That and I think because horror is such a broad genre, it's hard to suggest guidelines for it.

A few of my suggestions are based on opinion. So if you don't agree with me on some things, that's fine, I expect that, so there's no reason to message me with a rant about why I'm wrong about so and so. XD If you REALLY don't agree with something, then just ignore it and continue with your own plans.

Secondly, I also feel like I had a lot more "trial and error" experience with writing vampires than I have with horror in general. So yeah, I believe I have a BIT of knowledge on the subject but by no means consider myself an expert.

Nonetheless, trying this out anyway since people showed an interest in me doing this.

Sooo, click "Keep Reading" to see my rambles on the subject! (There’s some horror gifs in here and please excuse any typos.)

First, A Word About Jump Scares

For the most part, forget about trying to make your readers jump out of their seats and run away with a webcomic, that's near impossible to do unless your reader is VERY sensitive (and if they are that sensitive, they probably won't be sticking around anyway). Besides, there is more than one way to 'scare' people.

Your aim instead is to plant an idea in the readers' heads that leaves them unnerved and maybe, just maybe, make them lose a little sleep (not a guarantee, but nothing wrong with a momentary creep-out either XD).

If you're REALLY looking to use jump scares in a comic, then you might want to consider making a comic VIDEO instead, or going the Bongcheon-Dong Ghost route (IF YOU LOOK UP THIS COMIC, YOU WILL BE JUMP-SCARED) and learn to make some clever coding to 'possess' the reader's mouse to shoot downwards (thus 'animating' the comic) and have sound effects play in the background at the same time.

Otherwise most webcomic pages are static images that people see right when the page loads, so throwing people off with an unexpected sight is hard to do. However, if you don't have a need to publish your comic and you want to catch readers off guard with imagery a little, consider the vertical "webtoon" look that's big these days. It works well for horror, I think, though even that is not essential to apply good horror to webcomics.

Frankly, I find jump scares overrated in general anyway. Anyone can catch someone off guard; startle them. They're sometimes a good, momentary thrill, but don't usually have a long lasting impact like good atmosphere, slow building tension, and terrifying ideas can, and I find that is really what horror is about.

The Power Of Disturbing Imagery & Actions

These are kind of no-brainer suggestions, but here it is anyway.

There are LOTS of options with disturbing imagery and there is no better medium for it than webcomics. A person's body twisting unnaturally, monsters, possession, a walking sin against nature, mind fuckery, world distortion and any other horrible concepts your mind can come up with. The sky's the limit, especially if you go the supernatural route.

And then there’s the disturbing behavior and actions of characters, which can be scary enough at times and feel closer to home. Remember that this DOESN'T just mean a knife-happy psycho jumping right into the comic and causing havoc. It can mean behavior just off-kilter enough to leave the reader tense and uncomfortable that slowly gets worse and worse until the inevitable conclusion. Play on the fact that something is very obviously...off.

The same thing can work for dialogue; people really underestimate the power of words in horror. Dialogue can leave a knot in your gut, leave you nervous of a character's intent, or force you to use your imagination of what they're describing, which can often be even worse than seeing it.

Which brings me to the next subject....

Subtlety and Ambiguity Can Be Your Best Buds

To me, horror is often what you CAN'T see. Horror is not knowing exactly what's happening. Horror is not having a clear solution.

Giving the gist of it and dropping lots of hints is fine for the most part, but sometimes if you give a clear explanation that leaves no doubt in the reader's mind about what's happening, why it's happening, and what the protagonists need to do to escape/win/whatever, there is a lot less tension and uncertainty to be felt by the reader. These things are ideal for horror comics since that mystery can keep the reader invested and continually disturbed.

Horror doesn’t have to “explode in your face” either, consider more subtle creepiness to amp up the dread. Someone twitching and staring in the background might leave more impact than a brutal murder scene.

Even In Webcomics, Silence Is Golden

Consider more 'silent' moments with little or no dialogue or sound effects. Your comic may naturally have no sound, but you may be surprised how unnerving it can be to a reader when there's only images and nothing to read.

A silent monster can often be more scary than a gabby one, too.

Psychological Horror

....is IDEAL for webcomics. XD

Use Violence & Gore Wisely

First off, if all you want to do is a make a comic with an endless supply of blood & guts, that's fine, nothing wrong with that. It can work well in a more campy story or just for those who are entertained by constant, mindless violence...just don't expect it to REALLY scare people. Oh, they might get a kick out of it or at least be plenty grossed out, but that's it.

You see, gore fest comics/movies/whatever really are just for a certain audience. Some love it, others are repulsed by it and won't touch it with a ten foot pole, and some are only fine with it at select times.

If you want your violence to actually leave more impact and not make portion of your audience decide they're no longer interested because pointless, brutal violence is all that's happening, then you're going to have to think about how you use violence a little more deeply.

I do truly believe violence CAN be scary, but it must be used at the right time, and in the right way. You must really consider at what point would be the most disturbing for graphic violence to suddenly occur, and then sure, make that crap as brutal as possible. XD

Violence that shows everything in detail at a relatively slow pace can be particularly cringe-worthy at the right moment, or at least I personally find that more unnerving than just seeing someone fly apart in pieces out of nowhere or something, that can actually come off as unintentionally funny, or at least too abrupt to leave the reader traumatized.

Though even though I suggest not holding back with violence, also consider that way over the top, silly ways to kill people may be too unrealistic to cause fright (think being killed by over-elaborate traps, ridiculous weapons, or...death by hairdryer). This...MIGHT work on some people and definitely works for more campy horror, but if you're really trying to scare people, you might instead get, "Seriously?"

And as for anything in horror, use the imagery and angles to your advantage. Make the viewer feel what the poor victim is feeling - terror, pain and all. ;) I'll be going into this more with the next subject...

Unnerving 'Camera' Angles

Obviously there's no cameras involved in the process of a webcomic, but there should be an imaginary one in your mind's eye as you consider the scenes you make.

Dramatic shots and angles are just as important in comics as they are in film. In fact, to push the impact of a horrific scene, they're almost essential. Panels full of talking heads won't cut it if you're trying to give people goosebumps. If this is something you're not used to doing, then it's time to start experimenting!

Good use of perspective can really push your horror comic's atmosphere over the edge. Look at movies by Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King-based movies, or any of your own personal favorite horror flicks (I could make more obscure suggestions but I won't here XP), comics, ect. Really consider the shots and angles and what moods they establish. You CAN use the same methods that are in film in webcomics while also taking advantage of the medium you're using by doing clever things with the panels and art.

Atmosphere

I think scary atmosphere can go beyond "very shadowy places". Sometimes the above mentioned use of perspective, and creepy characters that chew up the scenery, can create a disturbing atmosphere even in a bland or brightly colored world.

Not to say using darkness doesn't work VERY well, too. Definitely experiment with lighting and coloring for cool, spooky effects.

Beware Of Using 'Cartoony' Art Styles

OKAY, just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. If your greatest desire is to make a brutal comic with kawaii anime characters, then do it, but if you're aiming to make things really scary, I STRONGLY believe that by combining an adorable or extra cartoony style with graphic horror, the contrast makes them more hilarious than horrific, like unintentional dark comedy. Or even if it isn't funny it may still "soften the blow" considerably.

That's not to say manga-inspired or more unrealistic art can't work with horror (my art style certainly isn't realistic, I draw VERY over-exaggerated expressions), but I believe there needs to be at least a certain level of realism so the style doesn't clash with the feel you're trying to go for.

Is This Scaring YOU?

An important thing to remember is that if you're not creeping yourself with your story, then chances are your readers won't be creeped out either, don't assume your readers are more sensitive than you are. Plus it's just more boring to work on something that doesn't really bother you. XD Take those common horror formulas out of your mind for a minute and think about what truly disturbs you. Then again...

Don't Be Afraid of Cliches

As I also kind of said in my "Writing Vampires" article, tropes can be a good thing. Take the ones you love and brainstorm different ways to approach them.

Webcomics Burn Slowly

Remember that you're working with a webcomic that usually update a page at a time. Don't let readers make you feel pressured to jump to the point sooner, it could ruin the tension and destroy your original plans.

Take Inspiration But Don't Try To Be Another Horror Creator

It seems like, with horror in particular, people think they have to take one creator and do things exactly their way rather than taking inspiration from several sources and using what works for them.

You know who's great and is brought up a lot? Junji Ito. He's a manga artist who has made some very surreal, very creepy horror comics with great visuals...and tons of body horror. I have checked out a couple of his comics, but I have never attempted to create as he does. It's just not me. Oh, I've learned a couple of things from him, certainly, but trying to do things exactly as he does would bore me, and I wouldn't be able to match his style anyway.

Find many inspirations and work the way that’s best for you.

I will end on that note. GO GIVE THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES, WEBCOMICKERS!

[iamn0tdansmith]

The aquarium was a charming way to spend time with Rinan,

 despite her underwhelmed expression Dan had just slightly picked up on when he’d suggested it. Making her laugh at his silly mistake was easily his favorite part, that and seeing the thousands of colorful fish on display. Watching them swim to and fro was like admiring a moving piece of abstract artwork. He’d enjoyed their day together so far, but he hadn’t been expecting there to be any awkward silences or arguments. They were silly things, meaningless topics that they’d had to ‘agree to disagree’ as they conversed during their day. Dan reminded himself that it was normal, they were only just starting to get to know each other, and it was the first time they were spending time together outside of a bedroom. Still, once they had gotten to the fair and she’d excused herself to the bathroom, Daniel was almost relieved to have a moment to be able to text Kyle about his day. He felt like he was on a first date with a stranger, and he sort of was. He knew he loved her, though; the chemistry they had was too real to deny it.

Dan had been looking down at his phone for mere seconds when he was crashed into from behind, his phone tumbling to the ground from his hands and him stumbling backwards to meet it. He landed flat on his ass, the impact resonating through his body. It took him a second to catch his breath and find his phone, and when he finally saw what had crashed into him, he was stunned. Someone ran him over with their bike.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m alright.” He’d replied, only to be asked the same question again. The concerned young woman was beautiful, even as she knelt in the dirt. Dan chuckled then, standing up. His butt was a bit sore, but he was fine. “No worries, only hurt my pride.” He smiled at his own joke. “Partly my fault, anyway, I was looking at my phone.”

“I’m so sorry. I really should pay better attention.” The girl said. She really was stunning. The multicolored lights from the booth next to them reflected brightly off her silvery hair.

He repeated that there was nothing to worry about, and when she started scrambling to pick up her things, he helped her. She almost seemed surprised that he’d stopped to help her out, and he felt a twinge of sadness. No one should be surprised by kindness; it should be the standard. As he gathered her things; which consisted of many pet items, Dan noticed a pair of yellow eyes staring him down from her backpack. He took a literal step back, and for a second he didn’t know how to react to the sight. “There’s a cat in your bag.” He stated finally.

The girl introduced him to her cat, who’s name was Ash, like it was a natural, regular occurrence. Daniel wanted to laugh out loud. Instead, he scratched the kitty on top of his head, right between his ears. When she had gathered all her things, she got back on her bike, leaving Dan in the dust with another apology and passing farewell. He watched her as she biked away, and that’s when Rinan showed up next to him.

“Rin, oh my god, I can’t believe you just missed that.” He said when she got his attention. “I just got knocked on my arse by this girl on a bicycle, and she had a cat in her backpack?” The end of his sentence sounded like he wasn’t even sure he believed his own story. He reassured Rinan he was fine when she showed concern, and he continued to tell her about the weird cat lady and her bike. He couldn’t wait to tell Kyle about it, too. Needless to say, this girl had really left an impression.

The rest of the evening went on without issue or accident, until the two were in line for the Ferris wheel and Rin just walked off, saying she needed to take a call. They weren’t far off from the front of the line, but Dan didn’t even have a chance to protest; Rin had already slipped through the metal bars of the fenced line. If he was going to be honest, Dan was a bit peeved. He wasn’t at first, he trusted that the call was important and she had to take it, but the closer he got to the front of the line, the more he felt like she had just ditched him. He had reached the steps leading up to the wheel, there were only six people in front of him. Dan spotted her next to the cotton candy stand and caught her eye. He tried waving her over, but she just turned around, her hand blocking her ear. Soon, there were only four people in front of him, then two. When it was his turn, the worker asked him if he was alone.

“Well, no, but…” Dan looked around again, but Rin wasn’t there.

“Just get on,” the worker said, shooing him onto the cart. Dan heard him call for any other solo riders, and a second later there was someone else with him. He still stared down at the crowd, looking for Rinan and only briefly spotting her before the cart lurched forward.

The sun had begun to set. Bright streaks of yellow, orange and magenta bleeding into indigo painted the sky, matching the rainbow colours on the Ferris wheel. “Oh wow. What kind of coincidence is this?” A familiar voice came from beside him.

It was the cat lady from earlier, and Daniel’s eyebrows shot up. “Obviously a crazy coincidence, but I’m not the type to believe in those.” They laughed, and he was surprised all over again when she introduced herself as Coal. An interesting name, but he didn’t say so. He figured she had heard countless comments about her name, and he wasn’t about to add onto it. Besides, he kind of liked it.

Seeing the golden light reflecting in her deep brown eyes, he was struck again by her beauty. Guiltily, his eyes shot away from her, but just as soon he looked away, his gaze was drawn back to her. Rinan was waiting for him on the other side of the wheel, but Coal had his attention. “I’m Dan,” he introduced himself, and they shook hands in a semi-formal way, giggling together again. He was surprised by how relaxed he felt. This was an extremely awkward situation, but it felt like anything but. “I see you left Ash at home?” He commented.

“Yeah, he’s afraid of heights.” She replied jokingly, and the two were laughing again.

“Coal and Ash. Are your names another happy coincidence?” He teased. He wasn’t proud to be mentioning her unique name after all, but he couldn’t resist bringing up the connection.

At this point, they were up at the top of the wheel, and it stopped there for a moment. The two of them stopped, wordlessly admiring the most gorgeous view. On one side there was the gorgeous sunset, and on the other side the deep, dark blue of night was closing in, filling the sky with stars. Dan rested his hand on the bench, which touched her hand just ever so slightly. He didn’t move his hand, not minding the touch. They sat together in comfortable silence, and Dan’s attention shifted to her. While she stared out at the view, his eyes kept being drawn back to her face.

The Ferris wheel lurched again, and they were on their way back down. Daniel suddenly felt down, knowing this would likely be the last time he would see this girl. Still, it was no coincidence that they’d run into each other twice in one night, but he didn’t feel right asking for her number. After everything he’d been through with Rin, it wouldn’t be fair. He was still on a date, after all. At that moment, his phone buzzed, with a text from Rinan. A scowl formed on his lips. She was ditching him, for real. Her text stated that something had come up, and she needed to leave the fair. He couldn’t believe this.

They were almost at the end of the ride when Coal spoke again. “So, this might be totally random and out of line, but can I give you my number?”

Her boldness surprised him once more, and he noticed that this was kind of a pattern with her. Almost everything that came out of Coal’s mouth was a pleasant surprise. Maybe he was feeling petty after being ditched by Rin, but he obliged immediately. “It’s random, but not at all out of line. Here,” he handed her his phone, displaying a ‘new contact’ page, and watched as she not only entered her number, but texted herself from his phone so she’d have his number, too. He liked that; being on an even playing field, if that’s even where it was heading. Dan had never felt so torn, but he was relieved that whatever happened, he’d have a way to contact this girl that made him laugh.

 ------

 Alex Turner sat in the rooftop terrace of the bar with his bandmates, a couple of their girlfriends, and a few friends. He was surrounded by people he cared for, but he only felt like the group was complete once she walked in. Rinan, who was even more stunning every time he saw her.

“Rin! Love, over here!” He called, waving her over to their booth. She joined them underneath the trellis which dripped vines of flowers and greenery. It was a really quite charming place. He handed her a drink, which she immediately took a sip from. “I ordered you your favorite when you texted.”

She had let him know she’d be coming sooner than expected, but hadn’t explained why. Alex didn’t question it, though, and he was secretly a little bit glad that her date with Dan ended early. He rest his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a kiss on her forehead.

Alex lifted his glass in the air. “Here’s to Rinan’s big Billboard win, and many more! You deserve it, Rin.” Everyone cheersed to his toast, and the embarrassed smile on her face made him grin. While she was normally so stoic and tough, Alex knew her well enough to know that she didn’t give herself enough credit for the work she did, and he was going make sure she knew just how amazing she was.

“So, how was your night?” He was genuine in his question, and while he was curious to know why her date ended so early, he mostly wanted to make sure she was alright.

[artfulgeekgirl]

Did you notice I changed the tagline for the blog?  You’ll note that it now announces that I am an ‘erratic’ blogger. As much as I wish it weren’t true, it is.  I haven’t been able to post here since before Christmas! I could give you a lot of excuses, running my online tech and website creation business, lack of a really decent camera and recording setup for videos, the flu, snowstorms…. the list could go on forever.  They are all true.  Plus, the fact that I love blogging about my art/papercrafting and it always makes me feel guilty when I sit down to write a post.  A wee, little voice whispers that this is for fun, and I must have ‘real’ work to do. So please forgive me when my posting gets erratic. I’m going to try to hush that wee, little voice and get back on track.

I thought I’d start simply with one of my current Craft Crushes.

Watercolors.  I know, I know, everyone is into watercolors now.  There must be a reason right? 

I think for me it has a lot to do with moving past the Artist Loft cheap set and seeing how different other options, particularly professional grade watercolors, are. That’s not to say that when you’re just starting out that Artist Loft isn’t a valid choice. However, if you’re feeling a bit bewildered about just why everyone is so nuts about watercolors right now, do yourself a favor and try something at a higher level.

Below is my own progression, and three great options at three different price points, for you to try.

Peerless Watercolors:  These were the first watercolors I purchased when I became frustrated with the chalky nature of the Artist Loft set.  I purchased both the Complete Edition of 15 colors and the small Bonus Pack of 40 colors because…well because I wanted as many colors as possible.  One of the reasons I chose Peerless is because they come on what is called a dry sheet.  Intense, concentrated watercolor is loaded onto a special fabric paper and dried.  Originally invented in 1855 for hand-coloring photographs, they are packaged in leaflets for easy transport. In fact, they are so concentrated that looking at the dry sheet really doesn’t tell you what color it may be. Touch the color loaded paper with a wet brush and watch the magic happen.  An orange might end up being a soft flesh tone. An eggplant purple ends up being a soft beautiful jade.

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The biggest reason I invested in Peerless first was their portability.  I created a palette with heavy watercolor paper, dividing it into a grid and gluing a small 1“ square of the larger dry sheet into each square. Beneath each square I did a small swatch of what the color actually looked like and numbered them all. On the front of this super flat 9” x 6” booklet palette I have the numbers with the actual color name next to them for reference.  These are the watercolors that stay in my travel art kit because they take up so little space but provide such vibrant and transparent color that blends wonderfully.  When I use up a square I simply snip a new one from the original sheet and replace it in my palette.

The cost isn’t bad at $15.00 for the 15 color Complete Edition.  If you’re like me and need more colors, the small Bonus pack will cost you another $23.00. Still for 55 quality watercolors $48.00 isn’t bad at all.

Jane Davenport Watercolor Palettes:  I was so very excited when Jane Davenport announced that she was going to have her very own mixed media line at Michaels. I’ve been a huge fan of Jane for several years and was even lucky enough to take a class with her through the Ever After online course I took this past summer. Her amazing whimsical girls  have been an influence on my own art and her Beautiful Faces book is currently in my cart at Amazon.

I hoarded my Michael’s gift cards I received for Christmas and waited somewhat impatiently for the Jane Davenport collection to arrive at my local store.  The first day it was available I purchased both the Bright and Neutral watercolor palettes. Each comes in an adorable little tin (the neutral came in a GOLD one!) with 12 half pans of watercolor goodness. I love the colors like 70’s eyeshadow and Kiss Kiss. While these sets aren’t billed as  professional watercolors, they are perfect for art journaling, card making, and all kinds of papercrafting. The colors are rich, transparent and mix wonderfully to create new and wonderful colors.

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If you’re someone who likes to know the details about your paints, Jane has all the info about lightfastness and pigment colors listed on her website.  I adore these watercolors and especially love the skin tones in the neutral palette, which means I don’t have to mix my own skin tones every time I paint a whimsical face.

At $29.99[1] a palette, these paints are a bit more expensive, but worth it.  Not to mention a great bargain when using a coupon for 40% or 50% off.

Daniel Smith Watercolors:  Daniel Smith Watercolors are high quality, professional watercolors. Yes, that means these are some super expensive paints.  Worth. Every. Penny. But probably not an investment everyone is going to want to make.  As I have become more serious about my artwork, I found myself drawn over and over again to these paints.  Other artists that I admire like Jane Davenport have sung their praises.  I’ve watched loads of YouTube videos of artists swatching them and exclaiming over the incredible color and quality.  I’ve been lusting after them for almost a year, but at what seems to be an average of $8[2] for a tiny 5ml tube and $15[3] for a slightly larger 15ml tube, my dreams of a huge colorful palette of Daniel Smith watercolors seemed pretty doomed on my budget.

Then I discovered Artistic Katt on Etsy. Shandra, the owner of the shop, hand pours Daniel Smith watercolors into half pans and sells them in this more affordable format.  I send out a thousand thanks as she makes it a bit easier to build a Daniel Smith palette, learn what colors we love and then simply purchase a tube when our half pan runs low.  I purchased the 8 new colors that Daniel Smith recently released and the Perfect Transparent sets. And while the $120.85 that I spent combined can still be considered expensive, it was much, much cheaper than it would have been buying tubes of all 18 colors. That said, if the colors you love are available in 5ml tubes, they may be just as inexpensive on a website like Dick Blick. For example, I did a price check on seven of  the  colors I want and it was a little cheaper to purchase the 5ml tubes at Blick, so sometimes it pays to price check.

Why are they so expensive?  It will take one dip of the brush into the half pan and you’ll notice the difference immediately. Luscious, transparent and buttery can all be used to describe the experience. The pigments are so rich that a little bit goes a long, long way.  These paints are made for professional artists and longevity of their artwork. I haven’t had a moment of buyers remorse at all. In fact, I already have about 10 more colors favorited for another order from Artistic Katt.

I should note that I use all three of these watercolors in my art and papercrafting. I haven’t abandoned any of them.  I have however given my Artist Loft set to my granddaughter.

If you’re ready to explore watercolors, I can wholeheartedly recommend all three. If you’re short on space or like creating on the go, the Peerless are perfect.  If you want something that works for stamping, cardmaking, mixed media as well as your artwork- the Jane Davenport palettes are great.  And if you’re ready to get serious about watercolors do yourself a favor and try some Daniel Smith.

If you’d like to see the colors from all three brands swatched, you can watch my YouTube video below where briefly explain how I made a simple swatch book and do a flip through.

[1] This is the cost in the US. JaneDavenport.com also sells them Internationally where they are priced in AUD, as she is in Australia.

[2] The lowest price I saw for 5ml was $6.86 the highest appeared to be $10.33 for some of the Primatek colors made from genuine stones.

[3] The lowest price for 15ml I saw was $11.71, the highest $22.11 for genuine Lapis Lazuli or Kingman Turquoise.

Craft Crush: Watercolors- Peerless, Jane Davenport and Daniel Smith Did you notice I changed the tagline for the blog?  You’ll note that it now announces that I am an ‘erratic’ blogger.