#not a fc but the fact i am so close already feels Concerning

[gemharvest]

whatever, go my brainrot

[carlyraejcpsen]

alright, i’ve tried to keep quiet because i truly believe in karma and wanted this rp to close through the admin’s own actions and not give them any opportunities to blame it on me instead. it also felt like beating a dead horse, because i was sure they’d close the rp after losing a huge proportion of their active members and the majority of their diversity. however, after seeing multiple people sharing their experiences today, they are still posting promo posts and starting their event. so yeah, here’s my experience with @thevillagerp​​

NOTE: i no longer have screenshots from my conversations with the admins, as i blocked them when i left the rp for the sake of my own mental health, but i did save the text in my drafts, so the messages below are copy pasted. i have not edited them in any way. They also deleted my original anonymous messages off of their blog.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: racism, very vague allusions to homophobia and transphobia

so i was a member of this roleplay for around two months. during my time there, it was startlingly obvious that white fcs were preferred and prioritised, both from the fact that they got more plots and interactions in general and from the fact that admins never promoted diversity on the main. even now, they repeatedly say they “would still love to receive some more male and non-binary apps” while ignoring that they currently have a ratio of 8 fcs of colour to 24 white fcs. their diversity rules at the time were that 1/3 of a mun’s characters had to be played by an fcoc. so people could easily just play one or two white characters.

a while ago, i sent an anonymous message to the main asking if they had considered perhaps changing this rule to be 2/3 characters instead of 1/3, since there were so few muses of colour in the roleplay (as i said before, they’ve since deleted this from their blog so i cannot provide a screenshot). they responded that they had been thinking of upping the character limit to four instead of three, with a rule that 2/4 must be played by an fcoc. i gave them the benefit of the doubt and the time to enact this change, but nothing happened.

so a few weeks later, i sent them this message on anonymous:

I was wondering if you had thought any more about the diversity rules here? I know you said before that you were considering increasing the character limit, but I noticed that hasn’t happened and I wanted to know if that was a change we���re going to see or if you would consider changing the rules in another way? I’m really disheartened by the lack of diversity in the roleplay

at the time there were 18 characters of colour out of a total of over 60. they responded (again, i’m sorry i don’t have the actual wording since they’ve deleted the messages) that they had thought about it and decided against upping the character limit, but instead would be having a weekly “poc acceptance day,” where they would only be accepting apps with fcs of colour. they also said they were doing this “now that the waitlist was mostly cleared,” which meant that the rp was mostly at capacity anyway, so they needed to look more at how to encourage their existing members to promote diversity, since there weren’t spaces open for new people to bring them in.

i responded with another anon expressing my disappointment and pointing out that they had done more to prevent having too many celebrity characters than too few muses of colour, as at the time they had a ban on celebrity muses. i wouldn’t usually suggest a ban on certain fcs, but as it was something they had done for celebrity characters, then i supposed it was a reasonable option.

they didn’t even respond to this message and instead posted on the main asking me to come off anon to discuss it. so i did, and i sent them the following dm:

i didn’t want to come off anon because i honestly feel really ostracised in this group and didn’t want to make it worse, but i don’t want to drop this issue and you aren’t comfortable addressing it publicly so here we are i guess. like i said in my previous message, i really don’t see how a “poc acceptance day” is going to make anywhere near enough of a difference. people will just wait for the opportunity to play their white characters. there are only 18 characters of colour in a roleplay with over 60 characters. that’s less than a third, which is obviously concerning. what’s even more concerning for me is that these characters are more often than not overlooked. i am often ghosted when plotting, or people don’t even reach out at all when i like plotting calls or intro posts. and then i have to watch characters like leo almost exclusively interact with white women (i’m sure that’s not the only example, but it is the first that comes to mind as he is one of the more active characters).

so this issue goes so much deeper than there just not being adequate representation in the rp. i really tried to help, i suggested making it a rule that 2/3 characters need to be poc in my original ask and you mentioned upping the character limit in response. i was worried that my concerns were being brushed aside, but i waited a while to give you the benefit of the doubt and the space to discuss the issue. so you can understand why it was really upsetting today to learn that the one thing you suggested was dropped and instead replaced with something that is barely scratching the surface of the problem. and i don’t know if it was your intention, but by saying that you were waiting for the waitlist to clear, it comes across as not wanting to receive any backlash from people who would want to join with only white characters. and even if people did want to join with faceclaims of colour, they can’t because the waitlist is cleared. like i suggested, you could change the rules so that 2 out of 3 characters must be people of colour. or, as was your proposed idea, up the character limit to four. you could also put a temporary ban on white faceclaims until the ratio evens out. as i mentioned, it’s really distressing that this was something you were willing to do for celebrity characters, but not to aid diversity.

i also just want to make it clear that these have been the only anons i’ve sent, i know you’ve been getting other ones, but those weren’t from me!!

( for context, they were receiving anons from someone else claiming that they felt left out in the rp ).

i had hoped that coming off anon would show them that this was a very real issue which was affecting their members, as well as giving them a space to discuss it privately instead of on the main. they responded with:

Hi Em, thank you for coming forward. We really, really appreciate it and we understand it’s not an easy thing to do. We also appreciate you flying the flag for diversity so strongly. We can always strive to be better, we are on the same page with you here.

Let us just explain our decision making. Firstly, just to address the waitlist, that was certainly not at all our intention when we brought it up. It was a logistical decision with 5+ applicants having already waited a week for acceptance and aware of their position on a waitlist.

When we decided against upping the character limit (and therefore the 2/4 POC character rule), we thought a POC acceptance day could be a good alternative course of action. In our eyes, this was something that would probably bring more POC characters to the group than the 2/4 rule because we knew there weren’t going to be many muns taking up an additional fourth character. This was a rule we’ve seen other groups enjoy success from so we wanted to try it out here. Plus, we think a day that explicitly highlights diversity every week would bring the message to the forefront of everyone’s minds. As we said, we’re going to monitor this over the next couple of weeks to see if it brings any improvement because we’d really like to have it as an ongoing rule.

The non-POC ban is actually a measure we’ve spoken about too and we are considering putting one in place should this fail. Thank you for raising your concerns, know that we’ve taken them very seriously and we hope that you’ll trust our judgement in trying this rule out first to see where it leads.

first of all, i don’t think i even have to mention the wording of “flying the flag for diversity.” but the real crux of the issue here is that they supposedly wanted me to come off anon to discuss the issue, but instead just explained their idea further and didn’t take anything i said on board. they didn’t even say a single word about how i told them i felt ostracised and regularly got ignored. i knew from speaking to other muns in the rp who played muses of colour (and just from looking at the dash) that they felt the same way too, but of course was only speaking from my own experience.

i thought long and hard about how to respond to this, as i was so disheartened by their unwillingness to listen to their members and the fact that they didn’t care that i felt left out. it felt like they had asked me to come off anon just so they knew who was messaging them and therefore put a target on my back, so honestly the thought of being on the dash or talking to the admins made me incredibly anxious. before i had a chance, however, they responded again with:

Hi hun, we’ve continued discussing this issue over the last couple of days and we wanted to let you know that we’ve decided to put in place a non-POC ban instead. Thank you again for holding a mirror up to the group. We do hope that this will recorrect the balance.

so i waited to see how things would play out. they posted about this new ban here and pinned the post to the top of the main:

[ IMAGE ID: a screenshot from thevillagehq of an admin update, which reads: in the interest of keeping the village a diverse space, we are currently only accepting applications for POCs. please note that any apps or reserves submitted to us for faceclaims that are not POCs will be deleted. we will lift this rule once we see fit.

thank you for your understanding and your efforts in making this group a brighter, more inclusive and diverse place for all. /END ID ]

this rule remained in place for around two weeks, during which time they made almost no effort to promote it. the above post was pinned to the main page, but that was the only mention of the ban anywhere on their page, they didn’t update the rules page or even put a note on the application page about it. during this two week period, the admins posted 10 promo posts, none of which suggested fcs or even mentioned the ban or diversity at all. the ban was then lifted suddenly when the pinned post was removed and the admins just went back to accepting apps with white fcs. the ratio had only evened out in those two weeks (from 18 out of 65 to 24/50) because of people going inactive or leaving, and there was nothing put into place to continue to promote diversity after the lift of the ban. in the three days after the ban was lifted, the admins posted over 10 promo posts, the same amount they had posted during the entirety of the ban. it was clear that they had no intention of actually making changes in their rp and had only done so because i refused to drop the issue.

again, i thought a lot about what i wanted to message them. i knew at this point that they didn’t want to make any real changes, but i still felt like i had to make it clear to them how disappointing their actions were. once again, i was messaged before i even had a chance, this time for bubbling.

as you can see in the above correspondence, i had told the admins point blank that i felt left out and ignored in the rp because of the characters i played (aubrey plaza, mj rodriguez and keiynan lonsdale fcs. all of my characters were queer and used either she/they or they/them pronouns). as a general rule, the only people who wanted to write with me and have interesting plots with me were people who played other muses of colour. the rp had a rule that you must reply to 3+ muns on every character, which i had been doing. i had only been back from my hiatus for a few days at this point and had responded to 6 different open starters the day prior. their message to me read:

Hi hun. There’s something we wanted to address to you directly. It’s been expressed to us by multiple members during these last few weeks that they have felt excluded by your character within the group, especially when it comes to the friend bubble that has formed between Mars, Bowie, Luvena, Asher and others. 

While we encourage the development of friendships and trust that this isn’t intentional, we have a zero tolerance for bubble roleplaying at The Village. We are aware that our three mun activity rules have been met by all parties involved, however, bubbling is usually a little more nuanced than that and it seems it has unfortunately begun to create a bit of a divide within the group. 

We have already issued individual warnings to a few people within the bubble, however with multiple members still expressing their concerns to us, we decided it would be better to address the group as a whole. We hope that by pointing this out to you, you will try and branch out to your fellow members a little more from now on - and try and be a little more inclusive when it comes to everyone else in the group. 

We take such matters very seriously as admins, and while we hope it won’t have to come to this, there will be consequential steps taken should we not see any changes in your interactions in the weeks to come.

as you can imagine, i was incredibly upset to receive this message after already telling them i didn’t get plots from many of their members and they had done nothing. even people who i had previously messaged continued to only write with the same few white characters. i don’t deny that we definitely had a friendship group between our characters, but there were multiple people in that roleplay, including the admins, who only cared about ship plots or plots with the same few muns. me and other people who received the same message had all previously told the admins that people aren’t plotting with us and gotten ignored, so receiving this message made it clear that they neither cared about us nor wanted us in their rp. and so i responded as below:

yeah i literally told you i felt left out because there are multiple people only writing with white characters and you never addressed it, so this message is honestly insulting. i have reached out to almost every new member, responded to multiple open starters and have tried to plot with as many people as possible. like i told you, i am often left on read or people don’t even message me at all. if people do message me, i am usually expected to put in all of the effort and if people aren’t interested in actually developing plots with me then i am obviously not going to force my characters on them. all of my characters are queer, non binary people of colour and the harsh truth of this roleplay is that people don’t care about them. i even wrote out a whole list of 20 detailed suggested connections in an attempt to get more plots and nothing came from that either. i’ve even gotten anonymous hate saying that offering to explain my characters’ pronouns was “patronising,” which i didn’t feel like i could approach you about because, when i told you about how i’m feeling excluded, you didn’t care.

so if i only have actual plots with the people who actually care about my characters, i make no apologies. i also don’t even have threads with half of the characters you named, asher being the only one, and have literally only just come off hiatus. so please explain how i am bubbling, because this really just feels targeted at this point.

you’ve made it endlessly clear that this rp isn’t a safe space for people who want to play diverse characters. the main was practically silent while you had a ban on white faceclaims, which you never actively promoted, and then you dropped that suddenly without putting anything else in place. you also deleted my initial anonymous messages asking about diversity as if you were trying to hide that there was ever an issue. you turned anonymous messages off, so that no one can safely criticise you. because i did that off anon and ever since it has felt like there is a massive target on my back. my characters have been “accidentally” on the activity checks multiple times despite me being on hiatus (people get a notification that they were tagged even if you remove their name from the list btw). plus when i asked for an extension on my hiatus, you said that you would allow it “just this once” which now makes me feel like i can’t come to you if i’m busy. right now, for example, i am in the middle of moving house, but i’m also stressed about trying to stay active because you have made yourselves completely unapproachable.

the ratio only evened out slightly because members left. then suddenly after the ban you’re posting multiple promo posts a day??? you couldn’t get more obvious. i came to you about diversity in good faith, hoping that it was something you were unaware of, but you have made it abundantly clear that you actively do not want to promote diversity in your roleplay, we are just here to be witnesses to your ship. there are multiple members who are actually bubbling who have been brought to your attention, but nothing has been done. leo continues to only write with the same three white and white passing characters. charlotte pretty much only appears to write with leo and post a vague “message me for plots” post that wasn’t even tagged. both of you only put effort into your ship threads with each other and the occasional text threads. even with something like group events: while i’ve been here, there’s been a pride event that neither of your characters were even in new york for (an event where i was the only one reaching out and posting multiple starters, by the way); there was no event last month, and this month all you’re talking about is this housewarming party.

i’m really disheartened that it’s come to this, but i can’t be here anymore. please post unfollows for all my characters. you’ve said multiple times that we should trust you as admins, but this message shows again that i simply can’t do that. from the disregard of trigger warnings, to the way you treated being held accountable for the lack of diversity, to how you respond to people asking for hiatuses, this isn’t a safe space. even if i stayed, the target you have placed on me is making it insufferable to just write my characters in peace.

the other muns who received the same bubbling message (copy pasted btw, we all got the same one word for word) all responded with their own concerns and criticisms in responses of a similar length to mine. none of us received a reply, our unfollows were just posted the next day without any further responses from the admins. a few of the other members who had written and plotted with us chose to leave as well, which the admins wrote off as us just dragging them with us as opposed to them being able to make their own decisions and being aware of the situation (which was incredibly obvious. no promotion of a white fc ban, suddenly being active on the main once they try to stealthily drop the ban, then the majority of their muses of colour leaving???)

i haven’t paid the rp much attention since i left, as i mentioned above i blocked the main and the majority of the members just for my own mental health. but from a quick scroll through today i can see that the only change in diversity rules is that now instead of your third character having to be a poc, it is now your second. however, you still only have to have 1 character out of 3 have a fc of colour. so very little has been done, but of course i’m not surprised in the slightist.

these admins don’t want diversity in their roleplay. if you play any character who isn’t a rich, white, cishet neurotypical, please avoid it at all costs. it’s not in any way a safe environment.

[mxndwitch]

PSA

This is a PSA about the changes that will be implemented on this blog from now on. I will put them under a read more, so that I don’t clog anyone’s dash, but I would kindly ask everyone to take a look at them and then decide for yourselves if you want to keep following me, or not. 

I am going private and mutuals only. That means I will no longer reply to people who are not my mutuals and most likely stay away from following blogs first. Following people has become such an anxiety inducing task in the last year that I will just keep my inner circle small. If you follow me first and I decide not to follow back, please don’t take it personally. I will be much more selective with who I follow from now on than I was before.

I will unfollow people who have never interacted with me/ have not made any effort in a couple of months to interact. I understand that life is busy and sometimes the muses just prefer certain people, but I don’t want to clutter my dash with people who have no interest in actually being mutuals. I don’t collect writers for the follower count, but actually want to write with the people I follow

Anon will be turned off until further notice, so if you’d like to send me hate, I guess you’ll have to do it while showing your face

I have already unfollowed all inactive blogs. If I have accidentally unfollowed one of your sideblogs, please let me know. Sometimes I forget who is who

I will not tolerate any hate on my dash whatsoever. That includes anon hate, continuously shitting on MCU content, gatekeeping, gaslighting and general lack of human decency

Last but not least I’m gonna be very blunt here and put it out into the world once and for all ( with the preface that if this is a reason for you to unfollow me, no hard feelings bruh. Do whatever you need ): I will not change my fc. I am aware of the gatekeeping culture concerning the Maximoffs in the fandom and this past year has been the absolute worst for me here when it comes to getting hate, solely over the fact that people cannot separate the MCU from the comic contents. Yes, the Maximoff twins had an entirely different background in the comics than they have in the MCU now and I would have appreciated it to remain the same, but fact is, the MCU did not have the legal rights to use the comic background and therefore created a completely new origin story. Elizabeth Olsen has poured her heart and talent into portraying Wanda Maximoff and I will not stop using her to cater to other people’s needs for political correctness ( or their idea of it ). I have personally met and worked with Lizzie and she was one of the kindest, most considerate people I have been blessed to encounter. She has never personally done anything to me that would make me want to stop supporting her and I am tired of defending myself for my choice. I have lost year long friendships over this debate and the constant hate i have been getting for over a year now has gotten to me. I have been very close to leaving recently, but I will not let other people take away something I thoroughly enjoy. I’ve had Wanda since 2015 and I will not throw away 7 years of writing a character I have loved since the moment I first saw her on screen.

If this is something you feel strongly about and cannot tolerate, that is absolutely fine with me. Everyone has their opinions and personal preferences and unlike some people, I will never tell anyone what to do with their own blogs. We are essentially all here to write and to develop the characters we’ve fallen in love with. For some that comes with the faceclaims of said characters, for others it means finding a new one they like more. Both is absolutely valid and should be respected. I wished the fandom would be a more considerate, open minded, tolerant place for all of us to peacefully exist in, but since that is apparently not possible, we all have to do what we can to make our dashes safe spaces.

Thanks if you have read all of this. If our ways part here, I wish you all the best and hope your future in the fandom will be fun and filled with amazing plots. If you decide to stay, I am looking forward to interacting with you in the future.

Cheers, Katie <3

[debbiechanclub]

Know You Better Now (*new* BTOOT sequel), Part 1

The title is the same, but I assure you the content is all shiny and new! The revamped BTOOT sequel is here!

Thank you to everyone for your patience on this. I just lost interest/direction for the original sequel after Ethan all but disappeared off Dynamite, but I'm honestly kind of glad I did because I like this new version so. Much. More. And we have Kenny's facial hair to thank for it.

So enough talking - enjoy! And please let me know what you think!

Know You Better Now

Synopsis: Nearly nine months have passed since Alex's freak shoulder injury, and she's still not cleared for action. But while Kenny has been a source of strength for her throughout her recovery, all her other relationships are in shambles - and she's finding it harder and harder to reconcile the Kenny she knows behind closed doors with his persona as the "Belt Collector."

Part: 1/?

Pairing: Kenny Omega x OFC x TBD 👀

Word count: 4.6k

Warnings: Language, ANGST

Find more of my fics here.

Tag squad: @galacticstat @hotyeehawman @hdbngsprnva @heelchampbucks @kingswitchblade @bec0m @betsy-bradock @linziland13 @librathepheonix13 @gabbynorth98 @exe-babymox-exe @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @brokenglassslippers @rocca09 @meteora-fc @kawaiikels @adriii-omega @thatgirlforever5 @sugar-melts-mo-fo

May 30, 2021 AEW Double or Nothing

Surgery with six to twelve months’ recovery time. That was the prognosis Alex had received when she’d dislocated her shoulder in September. Now, nearly nine months later, everything had changed.

“Well, there’s good news and there’s not-as-good news,” Doc Sampson started. He’d just completed yet another check-up exam on her shoulder, and Alex could tell he was trying to keep up morale. But she already knew what he was going say. “The good news is you’ve gotten the full range of mobility back. The bad news is the strength isn’t quite there yet.”

She scoffed lightly to herself. It was exactly as she suspected. “So it’s no news, in other words,” she quipped.

“At least it’s not bad news?” Kenny hopefully offered.

Doc smiled sympathetically. “Just keep at it. Resistance bands, weights; you know the drill.”

Alex’s eyebrows arched. “Yeah, I do,” she returned. It seemed like weight training and physical therapy was all she did anymore.

“Just a few more weeks,” Doc said; but in medical-speak, time was relative. Alex knew all too well that weeks could easily mean months. “Good luck tonight, Kenny,” he added, and he went out the door.

Alex’s head fell back and she groaned in frustration. Kenny wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. “It won’t be much longer,” he assured with a kiss on the side of her head.

“It’s been almost nine months,” she muttered.

“I know. But you don’t want to rush your recovery, especially for something like a shoulder injury.”

She frowned. “At this rate Anna will be back from her shoulder injury before I am.”

“What?” Kenny laughed and hugged her tighter. “No, she won’t. I give it maybe another month and you’ll be back better than you were before. Which reminds me, you should probably have some new gear made. I bet your old stuff is too big on you now.”

The sound of her laugh was muffled by his shoulder. “Because you’ve been kicking my ass every week for the last six months,” she said. If there was a silver lining to her injury, it was that she’d gotten into the best shape of her life what with all the training she’d been doing—and it was all thanks to Kenny. Truth be told, Alex didn’t know what she would have done without him over the last nine months. He’d moved her into his house so she wouldn’t have to struggle through the weeks after surgery alone; he’d set her up with his doctors; he’d driven her to physical therapy appointments and trained with her every single week. He’d been there for her in ways she couldn’t even express, and she’d fallen even more in love with him for it.

It made it that much more difficult for her to admit that the Kenny she knew in private was a far cry from the one who called himself the “Belt Collector.”

“I wouldn’t push you if I didn’t think you could handle it,” he returned with a peck on her lips. “I don’t think anyone’s gonna recognize you out there tonight.”

Alex momentarily tensed in his arms, but she didn’t relax quick enough. Kenny felt it—and he knew exactly what it was about.

“You’re not having second thoughts about it, are you?”

She looked up at him. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” she admitted.

Kenny’s face fell. “Alex… we’ve talked about this.”

“I know,” she breathed. She stepped back from him, suddenly anxious. They had talked about it, at length. It was a big statement for her to accompany him for his match tonight, because she hadn’t been seen since her injury. In fact, she’d all but gone off-grid. She hadn’t been on television; she’d barely posted on social media; she hadn’t responded to any questions for comment about her recovery or her thoughts on Kenny’s pursuits. She’d just wanted to fly under the radar until she was back in that ring for good.

But then, two-and-a-half weeks ago, the match between PAC and Orange Cassidy for a shot at Kenny’s AEW World Championship had gone to a no contest. As a result, it was decided that Kenny would defend the title in a triple threat match against them both at Double or Nothing—tonight. And as soon as the match was booked, Alex knew—she knew—that Kenny would find a way to pull her into it.

But she didn’t know if she could—or should—go out there with him. Not with the way things currently were between her and the people she’d thought were her best friends.

Kenny reached out and took her hands in his, and she looked back up at him from the floor. His blue eyes were concerned. But she could tell he was frustrated.

“I want you out there with me, baby. And yeah… I’d be lying if I said Orange wasn’t part of the reason why.”

She frowned. “Kenny—”

“Just hear me out,” he gently cut her off, and she pursed her lips. But she let him continue. “Best Friends are actually supposed to be your best friends, right? But when was the last time any of them checked in on you? I know Chuck did for a while, but Trent? He’s been a complete asshole to you.”

Alex fidgeted, her chest tightening. His words were like salt in a wound—but he wasn’t wrong. At first, Chuck had checked in on her fairly regularly… but his texts and FaceTime calls had tapered off after the first couple months. At the time, she’d just chalked it up to circumstance. She was out of sight and out of mind, and he and Orange had been put through more than their fair share of bullshit by Miro, Kip, and Penelope after Trent had torn his pec muscle in December. She couldn’t really blame him for going quiet.

But then, two months ago, Trent had returned with Kris in tow—and Alex hadn’t been able to chalk it up to circumstance any longer. And when Kris seemingly became an official member of Best Friends, she couldn’t ignore the twinge of jealousy in her gut, either. She felt forgotten. Replaced in person just as much as she had been on the Best Friends t-shirt. And the thing of it was, none of them seemed to even miss her.

Least of all Trent.

Kenny squeezed her hands, redrawing her attention. “Look… I’m not trying to turn you against them. But I can see how hurt you are by how they’ve acted over the last couple months, and it kills me. And yeah, it pisses me off, too. So… why not come out there with me tonight, looking absolutely fucking fantastic, and show Best Friends just how good you’re doing without them?”

Alex’s brow furrowed. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, there was a petty part of her that wanted to do exactly that. But the softer side of her just wanted her friends back.

“I get what you’re saying, I just... I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

“I know you do,” he sympathetically returned. “But I’m not asking you to go out there and try to keep Orange from winning. I just want you in my corner. And maybe I want to show you off a little bit, too.”

He grinned and pulled her closer, and Alex couldn’t help the coy smile that pulled at her lips. Through all their ups and downs, Kenny had never failed to make her feel special; wanted. She didn’t take that for granted—especially not now.

“I did bring a really cute outfit to wear,” she said, sliding her hands up his arms. “It would be a shame if it went to waste.”

His smile widened. “Well then you gotta wear it.”

Alex bit her lip in thought. But she didn’t think for long. She put her hands on either side of his face and gave him a tender kiss. “You know I love you, right?”

Kenny gripped her waist. “Of course, I do. I love you, too,” he returned, and he kissed her again. “Come on, you should go get ready,” he said with a pat on her backside. And as they left the exam room, Alex knew that accompanying Kenny for his match was the right decision.

It was the potential consequences that worried her.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Holy shit, I almost didn’t recognize you!”

That was what Stella had proclaimed when Alex walked into hair and makeup. It was followed by a chorus of more of the same, a parade of hugs from everyone in the room—and dozens of questions.

“How are you? You look incredible!”

“Is your shoulder cleared?”

“So, are you officially living with Kenny now?”

“I’ve been dying to know how you feel about everything going on with him.”

And Alex had done her best to field each one of them.

“I’m doing pretty well, and thanks. It seems like I’ve been filling all my free time with working out.”

“No… not yet. But hopefully in the next few weeks.”

“I mean, not officially. I still have my house in Virginia—my cousin’s been renting it out. But I don’t know. It feels like I’ve officially moved in.”

“It is what it is. He’s just being Kenny Omega.”

Thankfully, no one pressed her on that last one.

Instead, Stella was all too happy to dish on all the latest and juiciest backstage news and gossip. Anna Jay and Jungle Boy were an item. Cody had estranged himself from nearly everyone. Callie had left AEW and pro wrestling altogether—and moved in with Cash. Alex had already known about that one, but it was still strange to hear. Looking back, it was hard to believe her friendship with Callie and relationship with Cash had ever even happened at all. It felt like another life; another time.

“You’re all done, my dear,” Stella said. She handed her a mirror—and Alex was taken aback by her own reflection. Long, sleek dark brown hair; glowing fair skin; pouty nude lips; a sexy reverse cat eye that made her hazel eyes pop. She sat up a little straighter. For perhaps the first time in months, she felt herself again.

She thanked Stella and hopped out of the chair, a pep in her step as she went out the door—

“Alex?!”

She halted in her tracks. Even though she hadn’t heard it in forever, she’d recognize that voice anywhere—Kris. She held her breath and turned around; but relaxed in relief. It was just her and Orange. At least she wouldn’t have to face them all at once.

“Holy shit!” She hurried over and wrapped her in a tight hug before she could even blink. Alex was stiff and awkward as she returned it. She hadn’t expected that reaction.

“Why didn’t you tell us you’d be here tonight?” Kris asked as she stepped back from her. Alex hesitated to answer.

“Um, I thought about it. But given why I’m here…”

She trailed off and looked awkwardly at Jim. He shrugged. “It’s business,” he returned. “So I guess this means you’ll be in Kenny’s corner tonight?”

Alex crossed an arm over herself and nervously fidgeted with the skin on her elbow. She nodded. Jim’s expression remained as indecipherable as ever.

“And you look hot as fuck,” Kris perceptively interjected. “Seriously, I think I might be questioning my sexuality.”

Alex breathed a laugh—

“You should come say hi to Chuck and Trent! Trent’s gonna shit himself.”

Just like that, her smile vanished. Her lips parted in silent question, uncertain if Kris was being serious. But she looked too genuinely excited not to be.

“I… I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Alex said. “I mean, considering the last time I talked to Trent…”

She trailed off and looked down at her shoes. There had been things said by both her and Trent in the heat of the moment that had made an already uncomfortable situation worse. They hadn’t spoken in more than five months, since right before he’d gotten injured. She didn’t think now was the time to start.

“Trent has his head up his ass,” Jim said, and Alex flicked her eyes back up at him, surprised. “You know how he is with this stuff. You’ll probably have to be the bigger person.”

Alex sighed. He was probably right. But again—tonight wasn’t the night. “Now’s just not the time,” she remorsefully returned. “But I’ll see you out there. Good luck—really.”

And before either of them could say anything else, she turned and continued down the hall, digging her nails into the palms of her hands.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Maybe you shouldn’t come out there… you’re gonna distract me walking around like this.”

Alex looked at Kenny through the mirror as he sidled up behind her. He reached up and brushed her hair back from her neck, and she tilted her head so he could press his lips against her skin.

“It's too late,” she returned. “I’ve already gone through all the trouble of getting ready.”

Kenny hummed. “Well, I can take it all off for you, if you want.”

He nipped her neck, and she smirked and squirmed. Her mood had completely turned around from earlier in the night; it was amazing what a little hair and makeup and the right outfit could do. The white bustier-style crop top she wore wasn’t her usual style, but it showed off the hard work she’d put in at the gym—and it didn’t hurt that it made her boobs look amazing. And even though she’d made the outfit more “her” with a pair of distressed boyfriend jeans and her white low-top Chucks, Kenny was right—they probably wouldn’t recognize her out there.

But truth be told, she’d never felt more confident.

“You can later,” she smirked, and she felt a low growl rumble in his bare chest.

“Get a room!”

Alex rolled her eyes. Matt’s voice was an unwelcome interruption from across the locker room. She’d almost forgotten that he and Nick were there.

Kenny shot a glare over his shoulder. “Why are you looking?”

Matt opened his mouth, but two quick knocks on the door cut him off before he could make a smart-ass retort, and then Don Callis walked in.

“We’re up, Ken.”

Kenny smirked at Alex. “Let’s go give the people what they really want.”

He picked up his AEW World Championship, and she helped him secure it around his waist, followed by the Impact World Championship, which he strapped across his chest. Then, he picked up the AAA Mega Championship and old TNA World Heavyweight Championship and held them in each of his hands. And Alex had to admit—it was an impressive sight, Kenny draped in championship gold. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t turn her on.

“How do I look?” he asked her.

She bit her lip. “Good. Really good.”

He grinned, cocky.

They started for the door; but before Alex could follow Don and Kenny out, Matt stopped her. “Alex.” He pushed himself up from his chair and cast Nick a glance. He stood too. She rolled her eyes. They weren’t subtle at all.

Matt gave her a discerning look. “You are one-hundred percent in Kenny’s corner… right?”

Her brow lowered dangerously. Was he really questioning her loyalty now? “Are you serious?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Well… I know Orange is one of your best friends—”

“Or he was,” Nick interjected.

“—and I just want to make sure that there aren’t any conflicts of interest.”

He smirked, obnoxiously smacking his gum between his teeth. Alex bit down on her jaw. She’d thought that maybe—maybe—Callie’s departure and her relationship with Kenny would have led her and Matt to at least be friendly with each other. But she’d thought wrong.

She gave him a tight smile. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Matt. The only conflict going on here is the one between what you think that outfit looks like and what it actually looks like.”

He abruptly stopped chewing his gum. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

But Alex was already out the door. She caught up with Kenny and fell in step beside him. “Forget something?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. Just got held up.”

They arrived at Gorilla, and Don went on and on talking Kenny up, boosting his confidence, assuring that neither Orange nor PAC stood a chance; but Alex tuned him out, nervously looking around. Waiting. And then she saw them: Orange, Chuck, Kris, and Trent.

Her heart jumped into her throat when her eyes met Chuck’s. He flashed her a smile; but it wasn’t as wide or as bright as she was used to.

“Hey. It’s good to see you,” he said, and he gave her arm a squeeze as he passed. She said nothing in response—just a tight grin of acknowledgement. Entirely impersonal compared to how they used to greet each other.

It’s the circumstances, she tried to tell herself.

Orange and Kris greeted her in much the same way, with awkward half-smiles as they walked by; Kris seemed apologetic, for some reason. And then, Trent reached her. His expression was cold, his eyes hard, and then he muttered underneath his breath, just loud enough for her to hear, “Thanks for telling us you’d be here.”

He kept walking, not waiting for her to even process what he’d said, and Alex’s heart sunk petrified into the pit of her stomach.

This was how things were now. She felt stupid for hoping for different.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alex had known it would be difficult to be ringside for this match. But, sixteen minutes into it, she hadn’t realized it would be this difficult.

PAC laid on his back, staring up at the lights courtesy of a bridging deadlift suplex into a pin attempt from Kenny. So, with him taken care of for the moment, Kenny turned his attention to Orange. He pulled his right kneepad down, and Alex had to stop herself from watching through her fingers as he kneed Orange hard in the face, once, and then again. She could feel the eyes of the fans at ringside watching her with keen interest, trying to gauge her reactions. They’d been shocked to see her come out with Kenny, and now her presence provided them with an extra layer of entertainment. At least Chuck, Trent, and Kris weren’t at ringside, too; they’d walked Orange out and promptly disappeared backstage. Alex didn’t know what she would have done if they’d stayed.

Kenny backed toward the ropes, aiming to deliver a third and final V-Trigger. But before he could, Orange held up his hands as if to tell him “stop.” And then he plunged them into his pant pockets and fell facedown onto the mat.

Kenny laughed, but he couldn’t care less. He walked over and started to pick Orange up; but then a revived PAC grabbed him and hit him with a hard forearm. They traded blows and kicks in the middle of the ring until Orange suddenly intervened and hit Kenny with a Michinoku Driver. However, Kenny rolled away and PAC hit Orange with a brainbuster. He covered him, but Orange thankfully kicked out at two.

Alex put her hand on Kenny’s shoulder as he laid underneath the ropes, halfway out of the ring. “Are you alright?”

But he didn’t answer her question. Instead, he said, “Go get one of my belts.”

She looked back at him in confusion. “What?”

“Go get one of my belts in case.”

Alex blinked and shook her head. She could not believe what he was asking her to do. “What? No, Kenny, I’m not doing that. You don’t need—”

But he rolled away, back underneath the ropes into the ring. PAC and Orange were in a precarious position on the top turnbuckle closest to them. It looked like PAC was trying to execute a superplex—but Kenny jumped up and shoved PAC off-balance, causing Orange to tumble from his grip and bounce off the ring apron to the floor. Alex started to check on him—but then she remembered she wasn’t out there for him and stopped short. She ran her hands over her hair, helpless. Inwardly hoping that he was alright.

Meanwhile, PAC had reversed Kenny’s attempt at a One-Winged Angel from the top turnbuckle and sent him sailing across the ring via a sunset flip powerbomb. They stood atop the opposite turnbuckle now, and Alex’s eyes widened in horror when PAC delivered an avalanche Falcon Arrow. But then, Orange suddenly scrambled back into the ring, tossed PAC out, and hooked Kenny’s leg. Every single person packed into Daily’s Place jumped from their seats as Bryce Remsburg slid to the mat and started to count. Kenny barely kicked out before three. Alex leaned her elbows on the ring apron, her head in her hands. That had been way too close.

All around her the fans started chanting, “That was three!” booming in her ears, and she bit down on her jaw. Kenny rolled out of the ring and stumbled over to her. For some reason, she already knew what for.

“Alex, go get one of my belts,” he said again. It was an order, not a question. But she stood her ground.

“No! I’m not helping you win like that!”

He let out a frustrated huff. “Baby, now’s not the time to argue about this. Just go get—”

She cut him off with a gasp as PAC came flying over the top rope headed straight for them. Kenny shoved her out of the way at the last second, taking all the impact himself and getting knocked to the floor. PAC, meanwhile, sprung back up and to the top turnbuckle. He slowly stood—and when Alex saw him jump into the air and perform the Black Arrow, she knew she had just seconds to act. She jumped over Kenny and rounded the turnbuckle as PAC hooked Orange’s leg. And just before Bryce could count three, she grabbed Orange’s boot and put it on the bottom rope.

Bryce stopped the count and pointed at Orange’s foot, none the wiser to what had happened. The fans, on the other hand, showered Alex with thunderous boos. Realizing what she’d done, PAC turned and shot her a glower that seemed almost inhuman. But she just pursed her lips and raised her chin in defiance.

Kenny pulled himself up by the ropes and ducked back into the ring, grinning like the cat that caught the canary, and the match went on, back and forth between him and PAC—until Orange scored another near-fall after he hit Kenny with a frantic Beach Break. PAC then tried for a Liger Bomb on Orange, but he fought out of it and landed a hard Orange Punch across his jaw, dropping him to the mat. Then he gave one to Kenny, and the crowd came unglued.

Orange fed off their energy, pumping himself up as PAC staggered to his feet. He hit another Orange Punch and went for the pin. Time seemed to stop as Alex watched, her heart in her throat and her hands on her head. She didn’t want Kenny to lose at all, let alone like this. But just as Bryce started the count, Don appeared out of nowhere and pulled him from the ring by his ankles.

Alex stood frozen to her spot as Bryce and Don yelled at each other, and she fully expected the former to expel the latter from ringside—but he didn’t. He simply got back in the ring, and the match continued. Don walked toward Alex, straightening his suit jacket. “Good work putting Orange’s foot on the ropes,” he said to her.

She didn’t say anything in return. She didn’t want a compliment from the likes of him.

Back in the ring, Kenny had been knocked to the floor once again—and PAC had the Brutalizer locked on Orange. When Kenny finally made it back through the ropes, he kicked PAC in the face once, twice. But he didn’t let go of his hold on Orange. So instead, Kenny made the desperate decision to hit Bryce with a hard double axe handle to the back.

The crowd booed, and Alex hid her face in her hands. “Come on, Ken…” she breathed. Not like this.

Meanwhile, Don took the initiative to do what Kenny had been asking Alex to do all along. He grabbed the Impact Championship from the timekeeper’s area and tossed it to Kenny in the ring. Kenny caught it, and then he turned and clocked PAC over the head. He dropped like dead weight to the mat, and Kenny tossed the belt aside, the fans still booing all the while.

But apparently, one belt wasn’t enough.

Don tossed in the Triple A Mega Championship next, and as PAC staggered to his feet, Kenny hit him again. Then he threw in the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Alex had to bite her lip to keep from shouting at Kenny to stop. She looked away just before he hit PAC a third time.

Finally, Don handed Kenny the AEW World Championship. He took it and held it high above his head, gloating, reveling in the crowd’s hatred. Somehow, PAC was still moving, trying to stay in the match. But just as he climbed to his feet for a third time, Kenny hit him again and knocked him down for good.

Kenny held the championship up again, parading around the ring. He didn’t notice Orange darting toward him until it was too late. He laid him out with another Orange Punch across the jaw.

Orange crawled toward Kenny, obviously going for the pin; but Bryce was still down from Kenny’s earlier attack. However, it didn’t matter. As soon as he draped himself across Kenny’s chest, Aubrey ran down to the ring. Alex grabbed her own throat as she counted.

One.

Two—

But unexpectedly, Kenny reversed the pin and rolled Orange’s shoulders to the mat in a crucifix. Aubrey counted again.

One.

Two.

Three.

That was it. The bell rung, and Kenny’s music started. Alex let out a breath. He’d won by the skin of his fucking teeth.

She and Don both rushed to Kenny’s side as Justin Roberts officially announced him the winner. He clutched his jaw, and somehow his left hand had been sliced open. “What happened?” she asked, looking over the blood on his fingers with concern. But he wasn’t able to answer her before they were suddenly swarmed by both the Young Bucks and the Good Brothers. Matt and Nick practically pushed her aside as they congratulated Kenny, and Nick and Karl Anderson put an arm each over their shoulders and helped him up the steps to the entrance ramp. And as they all celebrated, reveling in Kenny’s stolen victory, Alex felt a sourness curdle at the back of her throat.

She was in love with Kenny. He’d come to mean the world to her over the last nine months. But she hadn’t signed up for this world.

[genevievemd]

The Exception.

A/N: Was this what I should have been writing? No. Did I do it anyway? Yes. Because I have no self control and restarted the books again. Someone take VIP away from me.

Set after chapter 5 of book 2. Ethan finds out that MC (Genevieve) kissed Bryce at the music festival and is heartbroken at the thought that she’s moving on. (Even though she’s not. Bryce is not Ethan and Gen only wants Ethan, despite her best efforts to move on, but he doesn’t know that yet)

Just some angsty longing because that’s all that the beginning of book 2 is and I love exploring Ethan’s side of it since we only get MC’s. 

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x MC (Genevieve McClure)

No Warnings, just painful yearning.

Ethan sees her as soon as he rounds the corner. She’s standing at the nurses station, talking animatedly with Dr. Trinh, her green eyes sparkling as she hides a laugh behind her hand. He stops dead in his tracks, and he can feel his anger after the board meeting dissipating at the sight of her - despite her being the cause of that anger.  

She’s wearing the red dress today, the one that brings out the color in her cheeks. It’s one of his favorites, though he’d never dare admit it out loud. He shouldn’t even be having a favorite dress or any thoughts like that about Genevieve in the first place. Not while she’s on his team, and certainly not while he’s her boss. 

But even knowing he shouldn’t, hasn’t stopped his mind from drifting to Gen every spare second of the day. It’s like he’s haunted by her, by the memories of her. Every moment together in the last year plagues his heart and mind. The vision of her in blue in Miami, the way she’d kissed him at the opera house, her hand in his as they watched Naveen leave the hospital. Her in his kitchen, in his bed. Her brief but relieved smile when he went to her ethics hearing, the way she sighed his name in the quiet of her bedroom. 

Every single moment between them plays on repeat, making it harder and harder to stay away. It’s as if deep down he already knows he belongs to her. That every part of him is already branded with her name.

She is all consuming and dangerous and thrilling. 

But, he cares too deeply to jeopardize her development as a doctor by giving in to his desires. No matter how badly he wishes to waltz down the hall and kiss her until they are both out of breath. 

He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about kissing her since the other night. When they sat on the couch in the diagnostics office, close enough where the smell of her perfume took over his senses, and he could see the small freckles on her cheeks. 

It was the closest he’d been to her in weeks, and he can still feel the tremor in his fingers, fighting to keep from touching her. Can still picture the way she looked at him when she so easily brought up the question of marriage, the tilt of her head as she spoke. 

It’s love, Ethan. It doesn’t have to make sense.

That four-letter word has been keeping him up all hours of the night, struggling with the notion that perhaps he was, in fact, in love with Genevieve. That his deep care for her far surpassed the true definition of the word care. 

You don’t long and ache and need someone this adamantly if you only care for them.

Ethan’s so lost in thought that he doesn’t realize Genevieve’s walking towards him until she’s practically in front of him. He quickly looks down at the chart in his hand, trying his best to not look like he was just staring at her like a damned love stricken teen. 

But she doesn’t even notice him, too lost in conversation to realize he’s there. He flicks his eyes up at her and Sienna as they pass in front of him, trying his best to catch a word of their whispered conversation. 

“I still can’t believe you kissed Bryce at the festival.” 

Ethan looks up fully at Sienna’s words, as they cut through him like a knife. Twisting into his heart slowly and excruciatingly. 

He doesn’t hear Genevieve’s reply over the thundering in his ears, his eyes following her down the hall as the air leaves his lungs. 

She was doing exactly what he had feared for weeks. 

Moving on. 

Though it was he who told her that they can’t be together, his decision to reset their relationship, it didn’t stop his heart from breaking right there in the hospital corridor. Logically, Ethan knew it was bound to happen. A woman like Genevieve won’t wait around forever, nor would he want her to. But thinking and knowing she was leaving what was blossoming between them in the past were two completely different things. 

He takes a deep breath before quickly walking back to the diagnostics office. The burning ache in his chest worsening as he imagines losing Genevieve completely. 

She wouldn’t have to hide a relationship with the surgical resident. He’d have to see it, every day. Watch her be happy with someone else, see her smile for someone else, kiss someone else, every damn day. 

All because of him, his rules and the line they couldn’t and shouldn’t cross. 

He swings open the glass door, briskly walking over to his desk and bracing himself against it, head dropping as he closes his eyes. The sheer thought of her falling in love with a man that wasn’t him making his stomach drop and his heart flip. 

The bone deep regret of letting her go washes over him, as he forces the images of Genevieve in the arms of another out of his head.

Ethan takes a deep breath, fighting against the overwhelming urge to run to her. Find wherever she is in the hospital and take her into his arms, profess his - 

He shakes his head, forcing that godforsaken word out of his thoughts. He can’t be in love with her, she’s unobtainable and there’s nothing he can do to change it. 

There’s a knock on the door and Ethan looks up to see the very thing that’s ripping him apart. She’s eying him cautiously like she’s afraid to fully entire the office. Like she’s afraid he’s still angry with her. 

And he is, she went against his wishes and now the team will have to solicit high paying patients but right now the anger no longer seems to matter. Not when she’s all but slipping through his fingers.

Genevieve bites her lip briefly before speaking, a nervous tick of hers that’s entirely too distracting on a normal day, let alone in the very moment he’s trying to keep himself from running to her. 

“Are you okay? You look upset.” Her voice is warm, her eyes full of concern and it twists the knife in deeper.

He could tell her the truth, he should tell her the truth. They’re alone in the office, the hallway is empty - it's the perfect moment to grab her, kiss her and promise to never let her go again. Ethan open’s his mouth to speak but the words die on his tongue. 

He can’t do this, he won’t do this. 

The stakes are too high, the consequences too damning. Logic has to win over the longing in his heart. No matter how much it will break him. 

“Ethan?” She tilts her head, taking a few steps until she’s fully in the office. 

He clears his throat, the air suddenly too thick to breathe, “I’m fine.” He stands up straight and fixing his coat, trying his best to hide the pain that's overtaking him. “Are you done for the night?” 

“Yeah, I just wanted to check in with you before I left.” 

“I have nothing left for you today, so you’re good to go.” 

“Okay.” She gives him an overly cautious smile and it feels like the chasm he’s created between them grows deeper. 

Genevieve turns for the door, but hesitates after a few steps. Her back is facing him, but he can still see her twist her fingers and there’s no doubt in his mind, that if she were to turn around, he would see her brows furrowed and her lips pursed in thought. 

He watches her take a deep breath, and he braces himself for whatever it is that’s about to leave her lips. Perhaps she had noticed him practically lurking in the hall, knows that he overheard her conversation with Sienna and is about to plunge the knife back in. But she says nothing, quickly gathering herself and walking out of the office without a backwards glance. 

Ethan runs a hand down his face as he falls back into the chair, eyeing the spot where she just stood. The intense need to follow her taking over every nerve in his body. He isn’t sure how much longer he can keep himself from her, keep up the fight and pretend like Genevieve isn’t everything he’s ever wanted, everything he needs. Not if he’ll be forced to watch her with Lahela day in and day out. 

The thought alone is enough to send him to his knees and make him want to throw out every rule he’s ever set for himself, consequences be damned. She’s already been the exception to them all since the day they met, so effortlessly and breathtakingly shattering every single one with a smile on her face. 

He’d do anything to see that smile. Hell, he let her use that damn picture of him on the beach for his pictagram because he knew it’d gift him a laugh, let her write Gen is the best as his first post without protest just to see her beaming with joy. 

She’s the exception, one Ethan isn’t sure he’s ready to give up.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a/n: Title taken from one of my all time favorite movies, which happens to star Lily James (who is Gen’s FC) so the title was an ode to that. Also because Gen is the exception to all of Ethan’s rules. I hope you enjoyed this baby bit of angst filed longing. I promise to post fluff next. - Sara (I’m gonna go watch The Exception now, i love it so much. I don’t even care that it’s 2 am)

tag list: 

@queencarb, @overwhelminglyaquarius, @me-and-my-choices, @schnitzelbutterfingers, @crazy-loca-blog, @a-crepusculo, @drakewalkerfantasy, @ohchoices, @adrex04, @udishaman, @drariellevalentine​, @custaroonie​, @archxxronrookie​, @terrm9​, @maurine07​, @openheartthot​, @gryffindordaughterofathena​, @aworldoffandoms​, @caseyvalentineramsey​, @dulceghernandez​, @elwetritsche75​, @emotionalswift2, @thegreentwin, @starrystarrytrouble​, @utterlyinevitable​, @angela8754​, @fireycookie​, @sizzlingcashherohumaniod, @jooous​, @3riche, @open-heart-ramseyyy, @iemcpbchoices

LMK if you want to be added or taken off 😊

[messrprcngs]

PICNIC MISHAPS & RAINY KISSES.

REQUESTED by @meteora-fc : “"Kissing in the rain and getting soaked before running inside laughing" with charlie weasley please 💖” ( number 4 from this prompt list ! ) SUMMARY : you’ve been with charlie weasley for six months now, to the day, and so far your relationship has been perfect - well, aside from the fact that charlie’s been avoiding you for the better part of the last week. part of you is afraid charlie’s going to break up with you soon, but he proves that that’s not at all what he has in mind. PAIRING : charlie weasley x reader ( gender neutral ) WARNINGS : little bit of angst but only if you squint. like really, really quint. lots and lots of fluff. this is 99.999999% fluff, i promise ! WORD COUNT : 2.4k. too many words, whoops. A/N : i gave this too much plot, but hope you like it anyway ! thanks for requesting, love. also, tonks and charlie were definitely the supreme brotp during their years at hogwarts. sry i don’t make the rules

you’re woken by the warm sensation of mid-morning sunlight on your face, and you lazily peel your eyes open to find the curtains covering the window in your dorm room thrown wide open.

you push yourself up in bed and let loose a very loud yawn as you stretch to get rid of that dreadful stiffness that comes with sleeping in. you figure you must’ve slept in, anyway, despite the watter

a glance at the clock above the door tells you that you were in fact right. it reads 11:32, meaning that you’d missed breakfast this morning. but it’s alright, because it’s saturday, and it is a well-known fact around hogwarts that many students popped into the kitchen on weekends to pick something up in place of whatever meal they’d missed.

slipping out of bed, you yawn and stretch one last time, before going to your trunk at the foot of the bed. you rummage around through it, trying to pick something to wear. on the one hand, it was saturday, which meant you could dress as comfy as you liked - on the other hand, though, you may run into charlie, and there was a part of you that really wanted to try and impress him.

it isn’t like you need to, you remind yourself as you settle on a plain sweatshirt. you two are already dating, had been dating for six months now. six months, to the day, you think happily, setting the sweatshirt back into your trunk and picking up a nice button up instead. you could definitely tuck that into something, and look cute and put together for your six month anniversary.

they’d been a nearly perfect sixth months, with every moment you shared with charlie being better than the last, even when you two argued.

it hadn’t been feeling very perfect lately, though. for the past week or so, charlie had been avoiding you. he was quick to leave any room you were both in within five minutes if he could get away with it, and he kept making up excuses during meals to sit with his friends on the gryffindor quidditch team and not with you and nymphadora tonks at the hufflepuff table. he’d even taken to pairing with one of the gryffindor team beaters during potions instead of with you.

all of that, coupled with the fact that he’d been stumbling a lot through the conversations he had had with you this week (which was very un-charlie-like of him), left you worrying about the possibility that maybe charlie wanted to break up with you.

you worry at your bottom lip at the thought, picking up the lip balm on your bedside table and applying it to keep yourself from doing it. calm down, y/n, you chided yourself. it’s charlie. he would just tell you if he wanted to break up with you. wouldn’t he?

you shake your head to clear it of the dreadful thoughts you’re having, but you fold the button up back up anyway, choosing to wear the sweatshirt instead. you dress and brush your teeth quickly, slip your wand into your pocket, and head out the door and down the stairs into the gryffindor common room.

and who do you find sitting in a chair facing the staircase you’ve just come down? none other than your very own charlie weasley, of course.

you start in surprise when you realize that it is, in fact, him sitting there, and his whole body seems to perk up when he sees you, which startles you even more. though you really weren’t that concerned about it, you definitely hadn’t expected him to be so eager to see you, given the events of the past week.

“y/n!” he shouts, and he’s out of the chair and on his feet in front of you in seconds. he’s grinning, wide and goofy and perfect, and despite your confusion you can’t help but smile a little too.

“charlie,” you say breathlessly, clearing your throat when you hear how you sound. “i mean, um - what are you doing here ?”

he tilts his head to the side, like a puppy. confused. some of his hair falls into his face and over his eyes, and you resist the urge to brush it away. just in case.

“what do you mean what am i doing here? this is my common room, too, you know! i’m - was - waiting for you, love.”

your brows furrow. “for me?”

“of course! now come on, i have something to show you!” and with that he grabs you by the hand and pulls you to the portrait hole, opening it and practically shoving you outside with his free hand. he lets the portrait door slam closed (much to the fat lady’s displeasure) and then he takes off running down the hall, dragging you along with him.

you yelp as the two of you race down corridors and around corners, only slowing to go down staircases - but not by much, seeing as how you’d tripped over your own feet nearly fifteen times going down the first one.

by the time charlie finally slows to a stroll, you’re panting very loudly. you’d just woken up, for godric’s sake! how did he expect you to keep up with him under those conditions? curse charlie and his unnaturally long legs and apparently large lung capacity.

you’re in the entrance way now, nearing the great big front doors of hogwarts - and the door to the great hall, too. you turn your head and tug on charlie’s hand as you pass. you need an early lunch after sleeping in so late, after all. but charlie simply tugs on your own hand harder, sending you stumbling forward and closer to his side. when you look up at him with a pout, he shakes his head, his messy red hair flying up in all directions, and smiles at you.

“you’ll get lunch soon enough, don’t worry,” he tells you as he tugs you out the doors and down the stone path leading onto the lawn. it’s chilly out, and the sky overhead is full of gray clouds.

you huff. “charlie, where are we going?”

he’s still smiling wide as he looks down at you and says, “you’ll see.” he looks about ready to burst with excitement.

you huff again, but don’t ask anymore questions. instead, you shiver and look up at the sky warily. it looks as if it’s going to rain, and while you don’t particularly mind rain, you’re hungry and still partially worried about the possibility of charlie breaking up with you - in short, not in the mood to be rained on.

charlie tugs you closer as you shiver, letting go of your hand to loop his arm through yours before lacing your fingers together again. you suppress a smile at the contact; okay, so maybe you really had been getting much too far into your head thinking that charlie wanted to break up with you. that still didn’t explain him avoiding you, though.

after walking for around ten minutes, you reach the bottom of a hill higher than most on the right side of the black lake, and charlie turns to you, another one of his wide, perfect grins lighting up his face.

“come on, y/n/n!” he says as he untangles his arm from yours only to grab your hand and start pulling you along again instead. “we’re nearly there!”

charlie breaks into a sprint, and you grunt as you have to run with him to avoid falling down. when the two of you reach the crest of the hill, you’re out of breath and your calves are burning, but you still manage to gasp at what you see before you.

at the base of the hill, spread out over the grass under the shade of a large oak tree, is a lovely picnic.

your lips part in awe, and relief floods through your whole body. your shoulders slump, and tears burn at the back of your eyes. but it’s a good slump, and they’re good tears; charlie isn’t the type of person to do something like this for someone he likes the way he likes you, which meant that he definitely 100% wasn’t breaking up with you after all.

charlie squeezes your hand gently to steal your attention away from the beautiful picnic. “do you like it?” he asks, uncharacteristically nervous. a laugh bubbles up in your throat, and you throw your head back and let it out.

“of course i like it, you doofus!” you exclaim when your laughter subsides. you throw yourself at him, practically tackling him in a hug. “i love it! did you do all this?”

“yeah,” he tells you as he pulls away, eyes alight with a joy that makes your heart flutter. “for our anniversary, love.”

“is that why you’ve been avoiding me?” of course it was; you knew very well that charlie couldn’t keep a secret to save his life. (except for that very important secret that was that he loved you as more than a friend, which he’d managed to keep for nearly a year before telling you. but that was a whole other story.)

charlie looks sheepish, and he leans back into your embrace. “yeah. wanted it to be a surprise, love,” he murmurs into you hair.

“part of me honestly thought you wanted to break up with me,” you tell him, voice muffled in his shoulder. he pulls back immediately upon hearing this, holding you at arms length by the shoulders.

“you what?”

you laugh in place of an answer, but charlie looks concerned, so you say, “well, what was i supposed to think! you were avoiding me! you kept ditching me in class and you weren’t sitting with dora and i during meals!”

“well, you’re supposed to have more faith in me than that, darling!”

“darling?” you ask, grabbing his arm and tugging him back towards you and a little farther down the hill. “that’s new.”

“i was trying it out.” he hums as he lets you guide him down the slope and to the picnic that’s spread out over a spare comforter in gryffindor colors that charlie must’ve taken from the boy’s dorms. “do we like it?”

you plop yourself down in front of the picnic basket at the center of the blanket and pull him along with you. “i could get used to it.”

he reaches into the basket and brings out two butterbeers, passing one to you. he reaches around the basket and hands you a plate with one hand while balancing a platter of sandwiches on the other. he holds the platter out to you and you take two sandwiches with a smile. after all, what’s the point of a picnic if you aren’t going to stuff yourself with food?

you talk and laugh together as you eat. charlie had brought chocolate frogs, blood pops, and plenty of other candy from honeydukes, as well as treacle tart and macaroni and cheese and a small pot of roasted vegetables. the pair of you are halfway through your third slices of treacle tart when you feel the first droplets of rain come down through the leaves above you.

“it’s nothing to worry about,” charlie says around a mouthful of tart. and he’s right; it really isn’t. but just minutes later as you’re unwrapping a chocolate frog, the rain starts coming down heavier, and you look out into the sky to see that the clouds have gotten grayer since you last checked.

“maybe we should start packing up,” you say as you turn your eyes to the vegetables that are open in front of you. you watch as the pot they’re in fills with water.

charlie sighs. “yeah, okay. you’re right, as usual.”

you grin at him. “remember that the next time we take a charms quiz.”

you pile everything back into the basket, though you leave a chocolate frog out to unwrap on your way back to the castle.

“it’s a shame you didn’t bring an umbrella, love,” you say to charlie, and he gives you a playful glare as he stands up, the basket sitting in the crook of his elbow.

“well i’m sorry i don’t have foresight, darling.”

you laugh, loud and full of delight, and you move forward so that you’re standing so close to charlie. he looks at you, spellbound, like you’re the only thing in the universe, and you wrap your arms around his neck as you push yourself up to meet his lips with yours. the kiss is soft and full of love, so breathtaking that you don’t care that his shirt and your sweatshirt are both soaked through with rainwater.

when you pull away, charlie is smiling down at you lopsidedly. “the castle’s too far away, and it’s raining too hard,” he says. “we should go to hagrid’s instead. we haven’t visited in awhile.”

you nod along as he talks, and look around for hagrid’s hut. you spot it not far from where the two of you are, and you grab charlie’s hand in yours. “come on!” you call as you begin to jog through the rain. now it was your turn to drag him along after you.

you reach the cozy cottage after a few minutes - which feels like much too long to you - of sloshing through the wet grass, and by the time you slow to a stop you’re giggling.

"thank you for today,” you tell charlie as you turn to face him. you move closer so that you can once again wrap your arms around his neck again. “it was very sweet of you.”

he leans down to kiss you. “well, i’m a very sweet person,” he says against your lips, making you laugh.

“i know,” you tell him as you break away from him and head up the steps to hagrid’s front door. he follows closely behind. “that’s why i love you.”

he hums as you knock twice. “i love you too, darling.”

“you sound like your father talking to your mum when you call me darling like that, love,” you tell him as hagrid opens the door for you. he ushers the two of you in, saying something about how you’re both ‘soaked to the bone’ and ‘are going to catch a cold in weather like this,’ but all of hagrid’s mother-hen-worry is drowned out by charlie’s bright laughter.

[benisasoftboi]

Unorganised thoughts on Trails in the Sky: The 3rd

I had a twelve hour marathon session to finish it yesterday, why no, I don’t have a social life, why do you ask?

What an ending!

That horrible thing happened where I find a final boss really hard and then I look up the game afterwards and everyone’s going on about how easy it was and I’m like :/

I’m not good at video games

I can’t believe the game starts with Kevin SPOILING THE END OF CARNELIA, damnit it Kevin, I never read it because I missed some chapters in FC and was planning on reading it when I replayed

I read it in the garden. It’s pretty good 

I love the doors thing so much. The main plot was like... fine, as an excuse to have a game, but I would honestly have bought this if it were nothing but just a bunch of these little vignettes. Shows how good the characters are

Really enjoyed Schera and Estelle’s Moon Doors, and the Star Doors about Olivier, Julia, the one at the banquet, Zin’s (surprsingly, as I’ve always found him kinda dull), the Ravens (MY BOYS), Campanella breaking the fourth wall, and Bleublanc. 

I hated all of the minigames except the quiz. I like quizzes

I did not finish the Nightmare Arena. I kept a save if I ever feel like going back and trying, but I probably won’t

Special mention: Fucking hell Star Door 15 do I have to say more

I figured that at most it was going to be an abusive, or maybe negligent parents thing, not... 

I take back my previous comments about not caring for Renne

I resent the ‘win x battles’ doors because I’m the kind of player who skips encounters whenever possible, so I ended up having to grind in Abyss for hours - and the reward is very little, really >:(

I guess I have shipping opinions now?

Joshua and Estelle are still good and I like them very much

Kevin and Ries as friends, thanks

I had kind of jokingly been shipping Maybelle and Lila already, but Star Door 9 has made me militant

Am I the only person who ships Kloe and Josette a little? It would be cute!

The game pushes Olivier and Schera, which I don’t hate but like. She’s way too good for him. Her Moon Door kind of made me like her with Aina, actually, more than anything else  

Speaking of Olivier, I don’t necessarily ship him with Mueller, but one thing I noticed about them that I thought was very sweet is that despite Mueller’s usual frustration at Olivier’s flirtations, he doesn’t seem to take any issue with Olivier calling him ‘love’. It’s a nice, subtle indication that there is mutual affection there, really. I don’t know. It made me smile

I like Mueller and Julia together as well. Except for the fact that their names sound awful next to each other

They had a lot of time to hang out on the bench...

So, uh. Tita and Agate. Why. Like, in the first two games it was very much a pseudo-sibling relationship, and then we meet Erika who seems pretty convinced it’s something far... worse, and you know what? That’s understandable. If I had a thirteen year old daughter and I’d been informed that in my absence she had become close friends with an adult man I didn’t know, I would be pretty damn concerned

But Anelace?!? Who knows Agate and knows he’s a good person and still seems to think their relationship is romantic?!? And she’s supportive!?!

‘She just has a dark sense of humour’ I whisper into my paper bag

I mean, not to Age Gap Discourse, but no. Bad. What the hell. She’s unambiguously a child

The saving grace is that, at the very least, it seems like this is just everyone else’s misunderstanding of the situation. Which is good, because I really, really like Agate and wouldn’t want to have to start despising him (perhaps a case could be made for Tita having a crush. As far as I’m concerned, that’s perfectly fine - as long as it isn’t reciprocated)

Anyway rant over

It’s so weird how every chapter is pretty short and supplemented by doors, except 6 which takes approximately 15 years

I do like how blatantly Falcom was wringing every last bit of usage possible out of all the old assets 

I started yelling GILBERT everytime he appeared, god he’s such a loser I LOVE him

I loved being able to play as Richard so much. He’s genuinely my favourite antagonist in the whole series so far. He just had the most interesting motivations to me (and I’m a huge sucker for redemptions)

I wish it had been clearer that I wouldn’t be able to do a team reshuffle for the final boss, because I took my four best characters (Kevin, Estelle, Joshua and Richard) and made them Team Leaders, with the intention of then using them all together for the final fight. Which I of course couldn’t do. So I got stuck with underequipped glass cannon Tita in that final arena. Remarkably, she survived

I didn’t tear up at the end you can’t prove it

So Crossbell is of course next, but after a few hours of messing around with translation patches and corrupted zip files and that one doujin website where you can buy it but it’s all in Japanese, I have come to the conclusion that I’m not going to be able to play it unless we get an official localisation 

But what I have found is a Let’s Play! Which is definitely not ideal, but it’s that or no Crossbell at all for me. So my plan is that I’ll watch that, and also play the first two Cold Steel games concurrently, as I’m told that’s okay. Should all be interesting 

[lianadrayton]

**CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION 11/19**

UPDATED: NOVEMBER 19th, 2020

@tupeloextras

KANE // 24 // SHE/HER // EST

DISCORD: whiskey#6583

I work nights so my replies on the dash and in discord are kind of all over the place time-wise

I am irresponsible so here is a 3rd I said I’d never have

LIANA DRAYTON-CRAWFORD

Full Name: Liana Selene Drayton-Crawford 

Nickname(s): Lia, Duchess 

Birthday: July 5th, 1978 (42) 

Hometown: Chanute, Kansas

Education: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry from Northeastern University

Occupation: Waitress at Red’s Diner

Faceclaim: Amy Adams

Content Warning(s):

Divorce, Emotional Manipulation/Abuse (Implied), Cheating, 

BACKGROUND:

Liana was born & raised in Chanute, Kansas to young parents (18, 19) who had no concept of the amount of work it took to raise a child

She was raised on hard work, thrift shops, and Sunday mass by her maternal grandparents as her parents never stepped up to the plate to try their hand in raising their daughter

Already absent in much of her life, the couple broke up in their mid-20′s and her father moved to Washington state and was not heard from after that point 

Her mother never ended up going to college and ended up marrying a lineman and moved away against the wishes of her parents, officially leaving Liana behind with her grandparents

Though her parental situation was different her life with her grandparents was great

They may have been some of the poorest people in the already poor, little midwestern town.. but they were all rich in love which was what mattered the most 

The moment that Liana could get a job she did and her first job was working in a local flower shop and then moved to picking up shifts at the diner 

All of the money she made went to help her grandparents with bills even though they would protest and downright refuse her offer to help. Liana would often secretly go and pay off some small bills anyway behind their backs to help 

Anything extra of Liana’s that could be spared was saved so she could purchase a car. Her first vehicle was a 1985 Ford Escort (9 years old by the time of purchase). Issues with the vehicle were worked on by her grandfather (and sometimes Liana herself) as he used to be a mechanic in the town

Even with juggling working and school Liana managed to post outstanding scores and was named the valedictorian of her class (even though it was a small class it still felt like a great accomplishment with the way her parents had both barely graduated from high school) 

She was accepted and granted a scholarship to attend Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts for chemistry

While in Boston, Liana met Alexander “Lex” Crawford who was attending Harvard University in the neighboring Cambridge, Massachusetts for law 

The two began dating officially roughly 6 months after meeting

During Liana’s 4th year at Northeastern and Lex’s final year in law school, Liana found out that she was pregnant with Lex’s child (~2 months before graduation)

After graduation Lex proposed to Liana and the two had a fast-tracked wedding late that summer

The two would end up having 3 children in total and remain happily married for over 10 years before issues arose

MARRIAGE & DIVORCE: TW Divorce, Emotional Manipulation/Abuse, Cheating 

They welcomed their first child in 2000, a boy, named Theodore “Theo” Crawford

Even though Liana had her degree her dreams of pursuing a career were cut short and she instead became a stay-at-home mother to care for Theo full time (as per the request of her husband and his family)

Five years after the birth of Theo, Liana and Lex had another child in 2005 - this time a girl named Ava Crawford

For the first few years of marriage Lex was fairly sincere and loyal to Liana but was often swept up in the scandals of his own family’s bad behavior 

This bad behavior was often praised by other members of his family and he grew to resent Liana for keeping him from enjoying his youth 

Liana spent much of her time with the children and trying to be the perfect housewife 

In a matter of years she had gone from the only thing in her name being a 1985 Ford Escort to having access to a house in the Hamptons, cars, lake homes, and expensive time shares overseas 

She cooked, cleaned, decorated the house for each and every occasion and was always the parent who attended parent-teacher conferences and was also part of the PTA/PTO 

Lex started to go behind Liana’s back with other women (most of whom were college interns or assistants for the law firm) 

Everyone knew about it but no one would say anything since Liana never brought it up as she preferred to pretend that it wasn’t always the hot gossip amongst the circles she was in 

Lex would reel Liana back in by preying on her love for her children, informing her that if they were to divorce he would take the children and she would be left with nothing 

He would also often switch between threats against Liana and grand romantic gestures (empty, of course) to keep her attached to him just enough to not leave

She preferred to wear the rose colored glasses as long as she could though eventually they would break

The worst came when Liana would have their third child together, another boy, in 2015 (Benjamin “Bear” Crawford) 

From there things escalated quickly between Liana and Lex and they divorced in 2018 

Lex would gain full custody of the children at this time by accusations against Liana that she was alienating the children from him

The Crawford reach extended into many of the rich and elite in New England so there was no concern from Lex about keeping custody no matter what Liana did, in fact the custody battle was an attempt to lure her into doing something uncharacteristic then using that against her to ensure that the children would stay with him (though he did it for revenge against her, not because he cared for the children)

Additionally, the Crawford family did not care for Liana that much overall, believing that she was still “some girl from a cornfield in Kansas” and they often called her Dorothy 

Liana would battle with Lex in court over custody until the money ran short, additionally she would see how much of a toll the fighting took on the children and knowing she would never be able to beat her then-husband in court she stopped fighting 

Lex also took out a restraining order against Liana after their legal proceedings were finished

Even though the children had spent 90% of their lives with their mother, their father’s words (and Black Amex) proved to be much more alluring than staying with the person who had seen them through everything in their lives 

By the time the legal battles had settled down, Theo was of-age and went to college. Liana tries to keep in contact with him but he has not been that responsive (reasons not known, suspected influence from his father paying for his schooling) 

Lex offered Liana a large share of money during the divorce as well as vehicles and vacation homes all of which she rejected, only taking what was in her name only 

PERSONALITY:

Liana is very dedicated and loyal to her friends and family (even if sometimes they don’t deserve it) 

Strong work ethic! She never lost this even while being married to someone who would’ve rather just paid for everything to be done rather than do it himself

Very maternal, she tries not to mother everyone but kind of accidentally does it sometimes (she’s working hard on reeling it in) 

She’s very sweet, likes to help others when possible

Tries to see people for the best instead of the worst (hence staying with her husband for so long) even if it comes back to bite her in the ass

Can be almost a little too kind, this usually lead to her being used like a door mat but her divorce gave her some strength to push back once things got to be too much 

Walking Pinterest board, she’s creative and enjoys her little projects. Often subjecting friends to testing them out with her (whether it’s building something or baking a recipe that looks good) 

FAST FACTS:

Liana moved to Tupelo as an attempt to go somewhere where no one would know her 

She could not go home as her family there is no longer around and no one could ever track down her father after he moved to Washington 

She has deep regrets and embarrassment over not being able to get custody of her children and does not speak of them (as she does not want to explain anything) 

Her home is bare of any photographs that would hint that she has children 

She will speak of her ex-husband, but only briefly and not mention what he did but instead say that they split due to differing opinions on where they wanted their lives to lead 

She still enjoys cooking and decorating as they are some of the few things she finds comforting, she also finds having live flowers in her home 

Liana has two pets - a Great Dane named Salem and a brown tabby cat named “Billy the Kitten” based off the character of the same name from the popular mobile app Neko Atsume (both pets were handed over to Liana during the divorce) 

Liana now lives in small home with a decent yard, using the remaining money she had to purchase it mostly for the yard for Salem (the inside of the home is lined with carpet runners for the dog and there is not an abundance of furniture that is not necessary as to accommodate Salem’s size) 

Liana can be seen walking Salem often or having Salem outside with her while she gardens, Salem can wander freely around the property when Liana is outside - otherwise he is limited to the fence (which he can stick his head over) 

She has a Mercedes (which she hates) and can never get it worked on without taking it to a larger city 

She kept the Crawford part of her last name as (for whatever reason) it makes her feel closer to her children in some small way 

BEST FRIEND FROM COLLEGE TM:  (Taken WC by Ethan Morris, Jake Gyllenhaal FC)

These two met while attending Northeastern and quickly became close friends 

Just because they were close didn’t necessarily mean that he always supported or even liked the fact that Liana was dating Lex Crawford

He & Lex shared a mutual distain for one another

Even with this, the two would eventually attend each other’s weddings 

Right before he got married he asked Liana to leave Lex and to essentially have a modern-day runaway sequence with him (no points for timing) 

Unfortunately, she could not bring herself to divorce her husband at the time 

After he got married they began to drift apart

CONNECTIONS:

Friends! 

People she mothers on accident 

Other dog people (and cat)

Those who benefit/are subjected to taste testing random recipes she finds

Regulars at Red’s 

Her kid?? This could be a WC at some point I guess (We out here being flexible on most of that)

She’s not really looking for anything romantic at all - but y’know sometimes it hits you when you least expect 

Maybe someone who actually did know her from the east coast (whoops)

Everything!!

[dramaqueeenamby]

Feast

A/N: Yeah. Idk how to stick with the word requirements for blurbs so here is a whole damn oneshot with Big Nasty and a black reader. Also, ya’ll know I love Amara and she’s my go-to FC, but feel free to ignore and imagine yaselves’! :p

Words: 3.4K

Warnings: Slight, like very slight, and shitty smut

Tagging the fellow Flo’s Hoes/Lil Nasties who I know share love for our manzzzz and expressed interest in this hot mess!

TAGS: @chaneajoyyy @forbeautyandlife @heyauntieeee @crushed-pink-petals @mimigemrose @thepinkjinx @honeychicana @sdcyumyum @babygirlofwakanda

FEAST

“Bitch, hurry up. I can only hold my stomach in for so long. Not all of us have abs like you.”

Your best friend and current photographer sucked her teeth. “What abs? I haven’t done a real workout in months.”

You rolled your eyes, breaking from your position to place your hands on your hips and look over at her, squinting from the intensity of the sun. “What are we about to do then?”

Maya mirrored your stance. “You know damn well we’re only going to make it about a block before we call it quits.”

You laughed. It was true. While Maya had a bit more stamina than you, neither of you were feeling like being healthy. Plus, between decorating your new condo that you’d purchased with your best friend since elementary school or getting in a negative calorie burning workout….playing interior designer sounded a lot more appealing.

“Well let;s at least get these pictures done. We look too bomb to not snap a pic or two.”

“Or 100.”

You fake sniffled. “You know me so well.”

Sharing a laugh, Maya instructed you on how to pose, snapping more than two photos before you switched positions.

“Ugh. Give me your height, please.” At 5’10 with a slim thick figure, your best friend could have easily been a model if you two hadn’t went into the clothing business, opening your own boutique.

Maya snorted. “Give me your booty.”

“It’s a trade,” you agreed as Maya gave you poses that made her look even that more angelic and bomb than she already was. “Work, bitch.” The two of you fell out laughing as she gave a little twerk before covering her face.

“Can’t take us anywhere.”

You wiped at your eyes. “Nowhere.” She came to stand beside as you two perused through the photos you’ve taken eventually settling on one for each of you to post on social media.

“Franchise is going to love that one,” Maya murmured as you guys started to walk back toward your condominium, the decision to bypass the workout an unspoken agreement made among you.

You threw your head back and groaned. “You and that damn nickname.”

“I wouldn’t have given it to him if you would bless that man with some Rosetta Stone.”

“Now see, what we not gon’ do is talk about my baby.”

“That’s the biggest ass baby I’ve ever seen.” As her eyes fell onto you, she caught the sly and suggestive smile planted on your face. “Stop that!”

“You tell no lies,” you wiggled your brows as she grimaced.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” She pretended to gag as you pulled out your phone to check the post. Sure enough, he’d been one of the first to like it.

Smiling, you swiped to see he’d left two separate comments.  

😍😍😍

Mine 🤪🙌🏻❤️

You quickly double tapped both to heart them before giving a quick reply.

☺️😘❤️

Your boyfriend, Florian, was the definition of unexpected. You’d met by chance, both of you being on the same connecting flight that been delayed, forcing passengers to spend the night in the terminal. Your phone was dying, you foolishly leaving your charger in your suitcase as you hadn’t expected your battery to die before you reached your stop, Honduras.

Looking around the terminal, you noticed that there was only one available seat that was near a charging station. And it just so happened to be next to the tall, large, and handsome man who you could have sworn you’d caught staring at you several times. Never really into white guys, even you couldn’t deny the man was sexy as hell.

You’d overheard him talking on the phone and noticed he had a European accent to his deep voice, amping the appeal you were already having problems ignoring.

As your battery sunk into single digits, you decided to approach the handsome stranger, asking if it was alright for you to take the seat next to him.

“Of course.” Was his kind reply, his smile causing your stomach to do all kind of somersaults and walkovers.

While you’d initially planned to pretend to be busy on your phone, it seemed as though being in his proximity or being the first to make the move was the only thing he needed to start up a conversation.

An exchange of names and casual conversation quickly turned into you learning almost everything to know about each other. He was an actor who’d just been cast in a film he couldn’t tell because of contractual reasons and was going on a short vacation with close friends before traveling to the states to start filming.

You told him how you were heading to Honduras to celebrate your best friend’s 25th birthday. His favorite color was green. Yours was pink. He was the baby of his siblings. You were an only child. He was single….you were single.

You could definitely detect the flirtatious tone he allowed to seep in his naturally confident demeanor and surprised yourself with how you matched his vibe. Then again, how couldn’t you? The man was gorgeous and his body was delicious.

And that was just from what you could see through his sweats.

Contact information was exchanged as you two eventually separated, and what started as a long distance friendship easily transformed into something a lot more serious. He was away filming for three months, 90 days that comprised of constant phone and video communication, virtual interaction constituting the forming of your relationship.

Though you hadn’t officially discussed the status of you “-ship” as you’d gleefully ran into his open arms as you met him at the airport, making physical contact with him for the first time since you met…..you just kinda knew.

Then, of course, the fact that you two went through almost half a box of condoms the same night and you learning the real reason they called him Big Nasty probably helped as well.

So now, months later, there was no question about where you two stood. Florian was your man, and you, his lady.

Pulling down to refresh the comments, your smile dropped as you saw Maya’s reply on the thread between you and your boyfriend.

🤨 She been both fine AND mine long before you, Franchise.

Looking at her with the ‘really, bitch’ face, she busted out laughing.

“You know I had to.”

You maintained your annoyed expression before joining her in her cackling. “I hate you.”

“Lies,” she sang. “That’s like saying you hate Baby Arnold.”

“Maya!”

She was right though. Though you’d always been hesitant about falling too deeply given your less than stellar track record with men, there was something different about Florian. Being with him made you feel like a teenager all over again. Hell, you were 25 and getting all giddy over a damn Instagram comment.

You didn’t want to say that you loved him. Not yet. Not out loud, at least. But….you definitely more than just liked him.

As you two made it back to your condominium, you decided to start unpacking the boxes that created a fire hazard in your kitchen. You’d had just about enough takeout and while neither of you could cook to save your lives, it couldn’t help to start learning.

After all, you wanted to try to learn how to make at least one of your man’s favorite dishes. All you needed was a recipe, ingredients, prayers, and a fire extinguisher.

“Would you get off your phone and help me put some of these dishes away?” You yelled at your friend as she waved you off, continuing her IG live as she ate the last bit of her Chinese takeout.

“You’re doing great, sweetie!” She snorted as you turned around to flip her off.

“Hey, Siri. Play my music on Shuffle,” Maya called out to the HomePod. You rolled your eyes and prepared to tell the music player to turn it off when you realized it was “Bust Down Barbiana.”

“Ayee!” You shouted, running over to turn the music all the way up as Maya jumped up as well. Going over by her, the two of you started to dance and sing along.

“Thank you next, Ariana!” You both yelled as you two twerked on each other, all desires to stay on task thrown out the window. You continued to dance, noticing as the viewers of the Live continued to go up and up as you remembered Maya had a good amount of followers.

For a second, you contemplated moving out of the frame but as soon as the next song came on, Tia Tamera by Doja Cat, you knew it was a wrap.

“Hair grow long like Chia. Money go long like Nia!” You sang loudly, moving to climb up on the half wall, dancing on there, dropping into a squat and moving your ass. “I am the big idea! My twins big like Tia!”

“Aye! Aye!” Maya continued to hype you as she grabbed her phone to better film you. “Get it, Thickems!”

Continuing to act a fool, you didn’t notice Maya roll her eyes until she shouted.

“Go away, Franchise!”

Hearing that, you looked at her. “Flo’s watching?” As she murmured a ‘you know he is,’ you grin widened as you blew a kiss. “Hi, baby!”

“Can ya’ll not be all romantic on my live!” Maya groaned. You ignored her and continued to dance, purposely moving your ass even more. Flo loved your booty, his big hands always going to grab or smack it every chance he got.

Especially during sex. His favorite position was any that allowed him to bend you over. The counter, the bed, a workout machine, anything really.

“He said get your ass down before you fall, Bee!” Maya warned, though you were unsure if she was just saying that or if Flo really was concerned.

“If I fall and hurt myself, will you come home?” You asked, half joking, half serious. Promo for the film Florian had been filming, Creed II, was at full force, your poor boyfriend having to partake in interview after interview and premiere after premiere. A part of you felt bad for him, but you missed your man more.

It’d been almost two months since you’d seen him in person, and he wasn’t set to come visit you for another month. Your shower head and vibrator could only do so much. You needed the real and much bigger thing.

But sexual desires aside, you really just missed being held by your boyfriend, joking around with him, forcing him to watch your “chick flicks” or the occasional trip to the club.

“Ooooh.” You finally jumped down and walked over to Maya. “Call him.”

Maya turned up her nose. “Hell no. This is a rated G live. Ain’t no freak shit taking place on my watch. I’m a Christian.”

“Bitch you a whole lie and 3/4ths.” You smacked your lips as you looked over her shoulder to see comments coming in left and right but focusing in only on his.

😂😂😂😂😂

“Call me, baby!”

“It’s maybe.”

“Maya, I am about to punch you in your throat.”

“Come on then, bitch. I ain’t never been scared.”

“You are so ignorant.” You wiped at your eyes and elbowed her, walking away to get your phone out the kitchen.

“That ass though!”

Shaking your head, you looked at your reflection in the FaceTime before calling him. Ring, ring, ring, With each ring, your smile dimmed. Why was he not answering? Eventually, the “unavailable” screen came up and you frowned.

“He didn’t answer.” You told Maya as she walked over, having ended her call.

Maya shrugged. “Probably went to go beat his-“

“Maya!”

——

As you finished applying your night serums, your mind was still focused on the day’s earlier events.

You’d tried calling Florian a few more times after that with each call being ignored. You texted him. No reply. Hell, you’d even resorted to more stalkerish tendencies by checking his IG activity to see if he was liking photos or whatnot. Nothing. He’d just gone ghost.

You tried to ignore it. You really did. The last thing you wanted to think about was him cheating, messing around on you. He was probably working, but as you thought about where he was and the time zone, what work could he be doing at 3 something in the morning?

Something just wasn’t right.

Of course, Maya called you stupid.

“Terminator knows I’ll kick his Russian ass if he breaks your heart.”

“He’s Romanian, Maya.”

“I don’t care if he’s Lettucian. He still gon catch this fade if he wanna be on some Tristian Hoempson shit and cheat on you.”

You chuckled. Your best friend was crazy, but you loved her.

Just like you love Flo-

“Oh hell no.”

Frowning, you walked to the bedroom door. “What’s up?”

“Ain’t this about a bitch.”

Sighing, you walked over to slide on your slippers and headed out your room. “Heifer, you better be dying.”

“Oh, someone is about to die.”

You rolled your eyes and walked over to the top of the steps. “What-“

Mouth ajar, eyes wide as saucers, you completely blocked out Maya’s smirking, charcoal mask covered as she crossed her arms over chest, and murmured a small “gotcha.”

No, your eyes were focused on the giant standing at the bottom of your steps, bag on one shoulder, suitcase on the floor next to him, his magnetic smile on his handsome face.

“Surprise.”

As though his voice was your ‘on’ switch, you broke from your trance. “Baby!” Descending down the steps with surprising speed, you threw your body into his, legs wrapping around his waist.

“Now what if you had fallen? Hmm? Who was going to pay that hospital bill?” Maya wondered aloud as you flipped her off while crashing your lips onto Florian, his hands going to palm your ass as he held you against him.

“Hey, hey, hey! All possible baby making activities need to take place in the bedroom as per section G, paragraph 2, lines 8 through 11 of the contract.”

“What are you doing here?” You asked after having to break away for air, completely ignoring your best friend. “I thought you couldn’t get away for another month.”

“I’m done in a month, but everyone needs a break, yeah?” His finger traced your lips as you went to drop your legs so that you could stand up, only for him to tighten his grip. “You missed me, hmm?”

“You know what I’m going to miss? The silence!” Maya groaned. “Where are my Beats because if you think I’m going to listen to “fuck me daddy” and “don’t stop” all night-“

Florian chuckled as you wrapped your arms around his neck, dropping your head on his chest. “It’s nice to see you too, Maya.”

“Don’t lie to her,” you mumbled into him as he turned to look at you, pecking your forehead, forcing a giggle as you clutched him tighter.

Maya gagged. “I’m leaving. Don’t beat it up too much. Tomorrow is the Lord’s day.”

“Hate you, mean it.” You groaned as she walked up the steps, finally leaving you two alone.

Hitting him on his shoulder, he looked over at you with a scowl. “Wh-“

“You had me worried sick about you.” You finally remembered the stress he’d unknowingly forced you to endure as the result of his surprise.

“I’m sorry.” You noticed the guilt in his eyes and voice and felt a bit bad about making him feel bad. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“I don’t like surprises,” you pouted as he finally let you down so that he could slide the bag off his shoulder, hands going to your hips. “I like being able to talk to my man.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna talk,” he hummed, head dropping down as he lightly nipped at your neck. “Maybe I want to touch…to taste.”

You released a mixture of a moan and groan, legs involuntary clenching together.

“You should be tired.” You tried to be considerate. As much as you wanted him, you thought about how he’d most likely been in the midst of traveling while engaging with you on Instagram. He’d been in airports and on planes for the most of the day. “At least, take a shower. Settle down.” Your fingers crawled up his chest. “Just for a bit.”

He sighed with irritation as you giggled. Standing up on your toes, you kissed his nose. “Go on. The sooner you get done, the sooner we can get started.”

——

Pouring the crystal light into the glass, you closed up the container and placed it back in the fridge. As soon as you turned around, you were ambushed with a passionate kiss, Florian grabbing you by the back on your legs and hoisting you up against his shirtless frame.

Hands holding onto his broad shoulders, you nipped on his bottom lip.

“I guess I don’t need to ask if you missed me, huh?” You teased as he sat you down on the counter so that you could grab your drink.

He chuckled and looked down, hands moving up and down your bare thighs. “I always miss you, Bee.”

Grinning bashfully, young nails lightly raked across his back as he netted his head into your neck. “Needy.”

“Very,” he absentmindedly replied, hands moving higher up your legs and under the big shirt you were sporting.

“Flo,” you whined, taking a sip of your drink as his fingers toyed with the waistband of your panties. “At least let me fix you something to eat.”

“I don’t want that.” He groaned, lifting and relocating you to the island. “And you can’t cook.”

“You know what,” You gasped and slapped his arm. “I-“ Your eyes fluttered as pushed him hands up your body, kneading your breast with one hand while using the other to carefully push you down on your back. “Not here.”

“Why not,” he murmured, kissing the inside of your thighs as he started to tug on your underwear. “Kitchen made for eating, hmm.”

You whimpered as his finger stroked your folds, a low groan leaving his mouth. You were already so wet for him. “You said you missed daddy, ehh?”

Nodding rapidly, you threw your head back and just as you felt his cool breath on your pussy, it fell out in breathy voice.

“Mmmm, I love you.”

Both of you froze. Your eyes stretched as you started to wonder just how you were going to get away from him, put as much distance between you two as possible.

Unfortunately, with the position he had you in, it was almost physically impossible for you to dash so you forced yourself to attempt to do damage control.

“I-uh-what I meant is-you know-uh-,” you stammered, finally gaining the courage to him to see that he was smiling at you. Like, genuinely fucking smiling. You wanted to smack him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” you snapped, turning your head when you felt his hand come to cup your cheek, forcing you to meet his eyes.

“You love me?” He questioned casually, like it wasn’t something you’d been trying to keep a secret for weeks, still unsure if it was, in fact, love or just lust. Maybe that’s what it was. Lust. Yeah. It’d been too long and you were speaking from your pussy. Not the heart.

That was your story and you were-

“I love you too.”

Silence.

The silence that fell over you two was so thick that you could literally hear the sound of your gulp.

“W-wh-at you just say?”

He couldn’t have said what you thought he said. No. Your-your ears were playing tricks on you.

His gaze darkened as he gazed his lips over yours. “You heard me, frumos.” Beautiful. “You want me to say again?” He questioned, giving you no time to process let alone reply as he brought his head back down your body. “Or show.”

You moaned and released a shaky breath. “Baby-“

“Shhh,” he tugged your thighs over his shoulders, pulling you right into him. “Daddy needs to eat.”

And as your man finally indulged on the dessert he’d been waiting for all day and your mewling fueled his hunger, you realized that while your punani certainly loved the man feasting on you like you were his last supper…..so did your heart.

Huh.

“Ugh. I’m starv-ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!” A Beat. “YA’LL ARE GOING TO JAIL, PERIODT!”

[ghostofviperwrites]

What's My Name

Requested by @dahlia-blossom

Pairing:  El Desperado/FC

Category:   Smut

Word Count: 1705

Please like, comment, reblog.  It is greatly appreciated

Warnings:  Smut, language, choking, leash play

75.          “You’re going to regret that, sweetheart.”

“Who the fuck are you?”  The masked man growled as he yanked open the door to the Suzuki Gun locker room in response to your knocking.  His hostile greeting threw you for a loop, staring back at him in bewilderment. 

“I asked you a fucking question.”  He spat again.  “Who are you and why are you pounding on our door?” 

“I wasn’t pounding, I was knocking.” You said finding your voice trying to hide your reflexive flinch when he sneered at you.  “I’m Y/N.  The intern assigned to work with Suzuki Gun?”  You trailed off your statement turning into a question as his expression didn’t change a bit. The HR Director had told you they were informed of your arrival.  He didn’t look like he was expecting you in the slightest.  

Finally he stepped back and motioned for you to enter.  You found yourself alone in the room with him as he closed the door behind him.  Slowly he circled you, his intense blue eyes seemingly categorizing every inch of you. 

“The others are out at the ring.”  He finally said moving to sit back down on the couch he had been occupying prior to your interruption.   Replacing the ice pack on the knee he had tweaked he introduced himself.  “I am El Desperado.  You may call me Desperado.  Nothing more, nothing less.”  

You nodded your understanding shifting anxiously from foot to foot as you wondered just what you were supposed to do.   It wasn’t helping that he was staring at you as if you were a giant annoyance.   Finally he huffed out an aggrieved noise.

“Go to gorilla and see if the guys need anything.  You’re not going to just stand around in here.”  Desperado said dismissing you with his curt words.   You hurried out happy to get away from the unwarranted hostility.   You sincerely hoped the rest of them weren’t as capricious as Desperado seemed to be.  Then again you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.  He did appear to be injured.  Maybe he was in pain and taking out his frustrations on you.  

So you went to gorilla and got introduced to the whirlwind that was the men of Suzuki Gun.  Loud and chaotic was the best way to describe them and you wondered how in the heck you were going to keep up with them.   Not to mention the fact that their leader terrified you.   You couldn’t even look the man in the eyes without shuddering.   You trailed after the group back to the locker room, standing quietly against the doorframe as they spread out.  Beer cans were tossed into everyone’s hands as they got comfortable. 

“How’s the knee Desp?”  Taka said slinging his arm around the masked man’s shoulders as he sunk into the couch beside him.

“Just a bit sore.  I don’t think it’s anything major.”  Desperado replied popping open his beer and taking a long swig. 

“Good to hear Despy.  Good to hear.”  Minoru Suzuki said slinging a towel around his neck and heading back towards the showers.  He paused to clap Desperado on the shoulder as he left.  

You watched the interplay with fascination seeing the various interplays between the men, able to see the real affection they had for one another.   You were grateful to see that, it made them less intimidating in your eyes. 

“Would you like more ice Despy?”  You asked leaving your perch by the door and taking a few steps towards him.  However the immediate silence that descended over the room had you pausing head raising to meet Desperado’s glare. 

“What did you just call me?”  He asked.

“Despy?” You said quietly, making it sound more like a question.

“I don’t recall giving you permission to call me Despy.”  He said flatly.  “I’m pretty sure I told you Desperado. Didn’t I?”  You nodded slowly in acknowledgement, embarrassment coursing through you as you felt the attention of the entire locker room on you.   “Don’t do it again.”   With those words he turned back to his conversation with Taka leaving you to retreat back to your post by the door. 

You had hoped as time moved on Desperado’s attitude towards you would thaw.  It never did.  It probably didn’t help that you continuously messed up and called him Despy.   You couldn’t help it.  Everyone around you called him Despy.   Friends and enemies alike used the shortened version of his name.   Yet every single time you slipped he acted as if you were personally offending him.  Pointedly reminding you that you had been repeatedly warned not to call him Despy. 

This morning they had you running around like crazy in a hundred different directions.  It was no wonder you messed up.   You weren’t even thinking when you had yelled after him down the hallway.  Trying to catch his attention you had yelled out Despy as you rushed to bring him the leash he had forgotten in the locker room. 

“You just don’t learn do you?”  He asked with a disappointed shake of his head. “You’re going to regret that, sweetheart.” You were left staring at him after those ominous words as Suzuki Gun disappeared through the curtain to start their match.  

The rest the day had passed rather uneventfully and you were able to push the encounter from your mind.   Desperado didn’t say anything further, in fact he pretty much ignored you.  Which suited you fine since you couldn’t seem to do anything right as far as he was concerned. 

The words only came back to you as you stared at him standing on your doorstep.  Swallowing nervously your eyes darted down to the leash he held in his hands as he stared at you with his intense blue eyes.   He pushed past you without invitation, his hand grabbing your arm and pulling you after him.  

“You remember what I told you earlier?”  Desperado asked throwing you down on the couch.  You bounced against the back of it, eyes watering as you nodded.  “Are you going to accept your punishment?”  His hands idly stroked the thick black leash drawing your gaze.  Lips parting you gasped looking up into his eyes and wondering what exactly he had in store for you.  Hesitantly you nodded yes that you would accept whatever he wanted to do to you.  You were scared and excited, his intensity striking a chord deep inside you. 

“Get naked and get on your knees.”  Desperado commanded stepping back to give you room.  Hurriedly obeying his command you stripped free of your clothing and knelt in front of him.   Your heart raced as he slid a thick block collar around your neck and attached the leash to it.   “Take out my cock.”  

Trembling hands pulled his cock from his pants, stroking the length as Desperado wound the leash around his fist pulling you closer as your mouth opened taking his cock into your mouth.  With a yank he was immediately buried in the back of your throat holding the leash taut as he smirked and watched you choke around him. 

“I should fuck your face until you can’t speak anymore since you can’t be bothered to get my name right.”  Desperado said bucking his hip against your lips as you stared up at him with watery eyes.   Pulling you back with a sharp tug of the leash Desperado sneered at you.  “What’s my name?”  He asked.

“Desperado.” You choked out. 

“So you do know it.”  Desperado said forcing his dick back into your mouth.  “So are you deliberately using the wrong name?   Were you looking to get punished?”  You shook your head against him trying to profess your innocence against his cock.

“So you’re just stupid?”  He asked with a condescending smile as he jerked you forward with the leash.   “Your knees is probably a good place for you to learn to be then.  Cause you’re not going to get far if you can’t even remember a simple name.”    Once again he pulled out of your throat this tie starting down the hallway that lead to your bedroom pulling harshly on the leash to make you crawl after him. 

Walking through the door Desperado paused surveying the room before he pulled you over to the dresser.  Grabbing you by the arm he pulled you to your feet and made you bend over it.  You stared at him through the attached mirror, watching him wind the leash around his fist and giving you a sickly sweet smile. 

“Keep your eyes open and on the mirror.”  He commanded.  “You’re gonna watch yourself get fucked like a bitch with a leash on.  Watch yourself cum all over my cock with a collar on like a dog.”   Spreading you open Desperado pushed his cock into your pussy pulling back on the leash and making your back arch unnaturally.  You couldn’t tear your eyes from the image in the mirror.  Black collar standing out starkly against your skin, Desperado pulling on the leash while he pounded into you.   You were embarrassed at how aroused you were with his demeaning treatment, your pussy pulsing around his dick as he slammed you repeatedly into the dresser. 

You were going to have bruises in the morning.  You could already feel them forming as the wood bit into your tender skin.   Desperado kicked your legs further apart slapping his free hand down on your ass cheek and you gave a strangled cry as it fueled your arousal.   It was with your eyes locked on his own cold blue ones that you came around Desperado’s cock with a scream head falling forward as you rode out your orgasm.  

Pulling out of you Desperado guided you back to your knees and pushed his cock past your lips, his seed erupting and coating your tongue.  

Casually pulling out of your mouth Desperado tucked himself back into his pants before reaching out and unhooking his collar from your neck. 

“Please do try to get my name correct.  Your next punishment won’t be nearly this enjoyable.”  Desperado issued his parting warning before leaving your room and apartment while you knelt on the floor wondering what had just happened.  

[diveronarpg]

Congratulations, KITA! You’ve been accepted for the role of CORIOLANUS. Admin Minnie: Kita, I genuinely don’t think we’ve had a Cyrus like yours join us in Verona. The way you capture both Cyrus’s beauty and his ugliness both. All that entitlement, all that arrogance, all that charm — you’ve grasped it masterfully. You understand Cyrus on a deep, personal level; but that’s not why I was so excited to accept your application. Ultimately, it was this line that really won me over: “But mostly, I am here because of this: if I do not stand witness to a falling star, if I do not love him as he is–, then I fear no one ever will.” I’m already in love with your Cyrus for who he is, and all the potential he has to ruin my life! Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER Alias | kita Age | 20 Preferred Pronouns | she/her Activity Level | I think I can be fairly active. I am a full-time student, so my priority will always be there, but I always aim to get my replies done within a week. 6/10 or more? Hopefully more. Timezone | EST 

(also English is not my first language so pls be kind)

IN CHARACTER Character |

Cyrus Vicente Sloane ; CORIOLANUS FC: Lorenzo Zurzolo

Alt fc: Wolfgang Novogratz

What drew you to this character? |

oh Gods, where do I begin? Of all Verona’s monsters, Cyrus Sloane has to be one of the worst. At once, spoiled rotten, cruel and innately duplicitous, Cyrus is an arrogant princeling whose tyranny knows no bounds. And yet, as soon as I finished reading his biography, I knew it was over. He materialized in my mind like some sort of phantom, flashed that winning smile at me and visions of him haunted me ever after.

I saw his head across Brigette’s lap on a lazy summer afternoon. Sipping champagne out of long-stemmed glasses, wearing filigreed gold masks to cover their ugliness inside, the two of them are tyrants, fickle and fiendish things about to wreak terror on a city that has only known it.

———— “do you love me, cyrus?” she pouts. he smiles. when he kisses the petulance from her lips, there is no answer needed.

I saw his lips tilt upward into a smug grin as he and Lawrence meet up in a dingy bar. When the time comes, he throws his head back with laughter, he leans in, whispers something just loud enough for the other man to hear. This is a dangerous game to play, Lawrence knows. Nothing, after all, is ever given freely. But one look at Cyrus, at that indigent boy who seems not at all concerned with his traitorous tongue nor the consequences of it, and his fears are momentarily assuaged.

———— “all of this is just talk between friends, signor vernon,” cyrus says, waving off worries with an unconcerned shrug. lawrence pauses, raises an eyebrow, “is that what we are?”

I could wax poetic about why Cyrus is the way he is, why he plays at being charming, demands to be worshipped. But, in the end, it boils down to this: the rot in Cyrus Sloane is that he could not find it in himself to be forgiven. The anger he has in his heart, the revenge he plots– it is all because he cannot find anyone to blame but himself.

In Capetown, he learned to make weapons out of fleeting sweet-faced grins and honeyed lies. Barely into manhood, he won the hearts of his countrymen, had the ear of a kingpin, sat poised for an easy throne. But, though he had everything one could ever dream of, he still gave it all up in order to return to the place of his first and most terrible failure. Look, I have no doubt that he tells himself that he hates his mother. I have no doubt that he even believes that. However, I know that if you cut him open, you would see that he only hates that he does not hate her, not really. He hates that he cannot fault her for anything that she has ever done.

He had always idolized her, had always thought her the paragon of perfection, of stoic and unbending strength. He had never even blamed her for being cold to him– after all, his mother was never anything but pragmatic. She must have had her own reasons to toss him to the wolves. He blames her only for this: for propping up a mirror to his nature, for casting a light on a part of him that he would rather have never acknowledged… for reminding him that he was weak enough to be unwanted, that no matter how hard he tried to be beloved—he would only ever be left behind.

Yes, he is a sharp and cutting thing, hard to look at. He burns so bright, my icarian boy. He fashions himself so easy to be loved and flies so close to the sun, taunting it to shoot him down. He will ruin Verona, if he has his way. He will almost certainly burn himself up to do it. And I suppose I have applied��� in part, to try and stop him, to save him from himself. But mostly, I am here because of this: if I do not stand witness to a falling star, if I do not love him as he is–, then I fear no one ever will.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

1— Nothing short of a prodigy in politics + war, this princeling figures some form of leadership to be the most natural application for his talents, and, as it seems, he seems destined for it. Impressed by Cyrus’ verve and natural aptitude for diplomacy, Cosimo has promoted the young man to an emissary and holds Cyrus in high regard. But, while Cyrus seems content in his position and its upwards mobility, he does not intend to take orders forever.

In his biography, there are inklings of a betrayal from Cyrus to the Capulets written throughout his biography. His position to Lawrence as an informant is an obvious clue of lack of loyalty, but it definitely goes far beyond that. Cyrus pays no mind to any man (nor God). He is only concerned with his own interest.

While the possibility of Cyrus becoming a Montague is tantalizing, I think Cyrus hates the Capulets for what they have done to him, but he hates all of Verona the same way. Trading loyalties to the Montagues, to another mob family with a rigid hierarchy isn’t how Cyrus sees himself. He wants to be King, not just a soldier with a different perspective of the Castelvecchio Bridge. Right now, Cyrus does his best to play at peace. But, as the war in Verona streets escalates, the number of neutral sanctuaries decreases, I intend to make Cyrus prove himself loyal to a side, once and for all— whichever one that may be.

———— “Do you not trust me?” Cyrus grins. With his teeth bared and the whites of his eyes glittering in the dark, he looks like the Cheshire cat. You think you have never trusted him less.

2— Earnestly, I think that Cyrus probably wouldn’t betray the Capulets for the Montagues. However, I didn’t say Cyrus wouldn’t betray the Capulets altogether. In fact, for his goal (just like… enacting revenge on all of Verona), I think it’s more likely than not that he will betray them at some point. A thread I’ve been following through the biographies is Cassian’s ties to certain neutral parties (olivia + mona in particular). I could be misreading, but Olivia has her eyes on him. Mona knows his secrets. Like snakes, they cut through the grass, wrap themselves around the prey and they squeeze. Pressure mounting, Cassian might crack sometime soon. And Cyrus— well, he’s nothing if not an opportunist.

In the biography, it is explicitly stated that Cyrus seeks to overtake Cassian. Though Cyrus plays the part of being his dutiful student, he has no real affection for his mentor. Ever since he has been in Verona, he has tried to get closer to his mentor. However, when he spots Olivia’s watchful gaze on the man, I think Cyrus will jump at the chance to act– to finally show that he is not someone to be underestimated. I think this is a perfect opportunity for him to stumble.

I would love to see him team up with Mona and Olivia to amp up the pressure on Cassian. And moreover, I would love to see Cyrus’ loyalties be swayed to them entirely. In my eyes, Mona Chen is someone who thrives in duplicity, whose mother (and father) has not been kind to her and someone who Cyrus knows- will never bow to anyone. It is those things that Cyrus respects. It is those things that will make Cyrus vulnerable to her.

Perhaps Cyrus just passes information about Cassian to Mona and Olivia at first. he offers his assistance from time to time. But maybe things go deeper. Maybe he sees Mona as the coming storm, as someone who will brings the winds of change. Maybe Cyrus can be even convinced to follow her entirely. In any case, this is a perfect opportunity for Cyrus to make a misstep, for him to reveal too much about himself and having that be his undoing. Mona is a woman who deals with secrets and has no problem weaponizing that. It would be awful for him, if she had some dirt of him.

———— “You cannot think that I will let you crush my mentor,” he says, “at least, not without my help.”

3— What is Cyrus without his mother? What is a list of plots without Cyrus and Vivianne on it?. Honestly, I don’t even know where this is going to go. I just know that it’s going to hurt so exquisitely. If you asked Cyrus about his mother, he would laugh. I have your love, he would say, why do I need hers? There is no hard feelings between the two of them, he says. What she did gave him a better life. I mean, just look at him. He was spoiled in Capetown, given everything he ever wanted. And now that he is back in Verona, his good fortune has only followed. Right?

In the years since Cyrus left Capetown, Vivianne has only thrived. She has married Cosimo, become the underboss of the city’s best crime family (fuck u, montagues). She has even found a surrogate daughter to replace him, one that she loves in ways that she never could with him. It is clear that the problem was never with her. To a layman’s eye, Cyrus is nothing but an indigent boy who aims to make Verona his playground. Reveling in every waking moment in the city, he’s a reckless and terrible thing, content to leave caution to the wind so long as he conquers these streets. But the truth is– he has no appetite for ambition without her as an audience, no desire to prove his happiness and success if the news will not travel somehow to her ears.

He hates Vivianne. But what he hates most about her is that—while he would have done anything for her attention, she never seemed to care for him. ———— “You have the world, Cyrus,” she says, calm as ever. He laughs. ”Does it matter? I would have given it all up if you had just been there.”

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | not yet.

IN DEPTH In-Character Para Sample:

//// I WROTE THIS LITERALLY ALL TODAY BC I WANTED TO GET MY APP IN PLS DONT JUDGE TOO HARSHLY

Mass had only ended an hour or so ago. The candles lit for the service still smoldered from having been snuffed out. But Cyrus held no pretensions—sanctity had left this house of worship far before that.

There was nothing holy about this place, he ascertained.  

Perhaps there never had been.

Of course—he would not deny that, as a child, Cyrus had found the Cattedrale di Verona impossibly beautiful. A feat of architecture like no other, it had filled his chest with wonder to see the golden mural that arched across the vaulted ceiling, the reverential way sunlight passed through the stained glass. However, he had long since learned that the spectacle was only a clever ruse. Just like most things in Verona, beauty existed only to hide the rot that so often lurked beneath.

As he walked through the empty pews now, he felt a visceral disgust with himself. How had he not seen it? While he sat in these very seats, knelt on this very floor, sought out something bigger than himself, looked in every corner to find out why the room always felt so empty, he had been blind to the cracks in walls, the chips in the paint. The priest had said once to him that “in god, he would find all answers”—but there was no salvation to be found here.

Even when he had needed it the most, he had never found any salvation here.

Yes, you see he understood now. There was only one reason why he came to the Cathedral now: to drink in his bitterness, to remind himself of the debt he was owed.

The Cathedral was his, just like this city was. Not in that he believed in it or that he loved it more than anyone else, but because he had paid for it ten times over. It had promised him mercy and benevolence and safety, but, when every alley had looked like fear and every corner had held another terrible surprise, it had denied him of all of it. When he was weak, they had cast him aside, and he still remembered that casual cruelty, still felt the sting of rejection and could not bear it.

With no one around to stop him, Cyrus clambered atop an empty pew and went to light a cigarette. While the puff of smoke rose ever upwards, caressed the faces of Abaddon and John, St. Michael and Magog, he laughed. How prescient of them, he thought to himself, to paint a picture of their own reckoning.

He stubs his cigarette out on the pew. It leaves a scorch mark, but he does not seem to care. He offers a rakish smile to no one in particular. He laughs.

“You would forgive me,” he says to the empty air.

(And look- look at that winsome smile, at that careless leer. You could try to fault him for something. He would dare you to. But you would still forgive him anyways.)

[mutantsrisingrpg]

Congratulations M! You’ve been accepted as PHOBOS.

Rahim is a skeleton that I absolutely loved writing and had a very specific image in mind while writing it. I’m not sure how you did it, but you brought that very thing to life! The first line in your bio is “A boy is a bomb.” which is really what Rahim is at the end of the day. Of course, I have to bring up the way you broke down their dossier and connected it with the fear that drives every part of his life because it truly made me feel for Rahim. I can’t wait to see what this boy does on the dash! 

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

Out of Character Information:

NAME/ALIAS: M

PRONOUNS: She/her

AGE: 27

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: GMT+1

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Rahim Avery/Phobos

GENDER/PRONOUNS: Cis male, he/him

DETAILS & ANALYSIS:

Rahim was like a perfect storm of things made to attract me it seems: his code name is the name of the god of fear in greek mythology and i’m a sucker for the less known deities in mythology, riz ahmed as a fc is just such a perfect choice i don’t even have the words and then there’s his aesthetic blurb especially this line “The feeling of a hand on the back of your neck, tightening as they get their message across and the sparks from a train coming into the station as it attempts to stop.” This line was what got me absolutely hooked and what to me sets Phobos apart from other characters in play (especially male ones) like Cain for instance because i think Rahim has a lot of pent up anger and agression but he rarely ever gets it out, he’s much more skilled at the lead up to violence, at simply threatening it and oh he’ll unleash hell upon someone if he’s pushed to it whether that’s with his mutant ability or his fists but truth is his anger is mostly turned onto himself, he isn’t so much destructive as he is self destructive. Anger’s not a fuel or a driving force for him it’s a crutch, it’s a bad habit he’s unwilling to kick. He’s more likely to do dumb shit like bare knuckle box with people twice his weight and size just so he can get punched in the face and bleed or drink himself into oblivion, run on barely any hour of sleep and brush off any concern from claiming he’s working, doing it for the syndicate.

And then back to the code name, Phobos. I looked into that greek god and apparently Phobos and Deimos were meant to represent fear of loss also because of Aphrodite being their mother and then that just got me thinking about the driving fear in Rahim’s life and the more I thought about it the more I thought that his driving fear must be the fear of being known ‘cause otherwise why would he be so freaked out by the mere possibility of Jack digging into his past (and I do picture him to be quite unnerved about it and hiding it not quite as well as he thinks he is but putting up a front). I don’t have plans to insert a tragic backstory or big dark secret but I do think being known fully is not something Rahim is open to or even capable of, he’s barely managed to trust anyone in his life fully (except Finn, god bless Finn honestly) and letting anyone in on who he really is, in all his vulnerability, letting them know about his past (he’ll give you mundane pieces about his past, anecdotal shit but try and dig deeper and witness this man’s incredible proficiency at shutting the fuck down and quick) is just inconceivable to him because then that opens him up to hurt and loss and like I said there’s no tragic backstory behind it but he’s known loss once or twice already and some people handle loss better than others. Rahim is others.

BIO:

A boy is a bomb. Now that’s a sort of sentence that’s enough to make one think 'oh how tragical’ and start worrying about the boy but now what if I told you that it was no metaphor? That it was quite literal and in fact not only is the boy a bomb but there is no ticking, no counter and he can go off at any second leaving wreckage in his wake. The boy lives, oh he always live and he doesn’t get hurt but that doesn’t make his predicament any less tragic, now wouldn’t you say. That boy has a name. His name is Rahim Avery and he was born thirty-five years ago in Illinois to two mutant parents only Teresa and Caden Avery were not prepared for their child to have such a volatile and destructive ability as both their mutant abilities were of a defensive nature.

Knowing Rahim could not hurt himself using his power was only a slight relief but rather than a childhood of playing with other children as any other child should Rahim’s own childhood was more often spent training to master perfect control and emotions such as anger or passion were heavily discouraged as he was reminded at every turn of the consequences, of how he might hurt others without meaning to. He found outlets however for a time through sport but then his old habits got in the way as he was almost paralyzed with fear of hurting his teammates living any contact sports out of the question until he had more control. Puberty was particularly tough on him, as if raging hormones and social awkwardness was not enough to add on top of that the possiblity of literally exploding at the slightest change of mood was a lot, too much to place on a young man’s shoulders.

What Rahim found though and what was a great relief to him was that keeping such a tight reign on his emotions had opened him up to listening better because he didn’t take up much space at all, didn’t speak much only when he did it was with eloquence and more importantly empathy. He became in tune with other’s people feelings from spending so much his time, waiting, observing and one emotion he realized could be quite useful was fear. He didn’t have to be violent or let his anger out if only the mere thought of him doing so was enough of a threat to have people backing down and so he soon sought out loneliness and embraced it, happier keeping people at bay with one dark look. It was freeing, much easier to keep a lid on all his repressed anger when there wasn’t a soul in sight to potentially piss him off.

The tactic kept him lonely and stronger by the day, much more in control of his ability until he felt like he could have been in a rage and not made anything explode at all, like he wasn’t a threat to his immediate surroundings just by existing and what a relief that was too. Life, it seemed had one lesson to teach him: it didn’t matter how much control you thought you had you could still screw up and badly.

An incident occurred cutting him completely off guard as his parents house was attacked while he was visiting, an anti-mutant attack evidently as their neck of the woods had grown progressively less safe for their kind over the years and intending to charge an item for explosion and aim it at an attacker he was blindsided and instead the charge injured his father. Although he was assured following the attack time and time again that he had nothing to feel sorry for, that his father knew he was only trying to help and to protect his family, Rahim had to admit to himself that although isolating himself might have seemed like the perfect plan he was still far from harmless, having focused all of his attention on control rather than precision.

When he learned of the Blackburn Syndicate’s existence and its origins he at first refused to even consider looking further into it or meeting its members. He was no cast aside mutant, he was simply one of many (he had to assume, it couldn’t only be him) that struggled with his powers. It wasn’t that the criminal activities rebuked him either as he had gone from job to job aimlessly, never having found a vocation for himself so putting his powers to good use and making more money than he would on his many odd jobs was definitely appealing but he couldn’t help at first but to think he would be stealing a spot from a needy mutant to until he met the underboss of the Syndicate who made it quite clear that as long as he was useful whether or not his spot was filled by him or some less fortunate mutant out there did not matter. They needed a bruiser and if he had the ambition and the skills for it, he ought to take the position, that wouldn’t stop the Syndicate from taking other less fortunate mutants into their ranks. The nature of the job was enough to make him say yes as he saw there an outlet for his anger that was slightly more healthy than the ones he was accustomed to. Of course, he got more than he bargained for joining the criminal crew, some friends he thinks he might very well be willing to kill or die for and some thorns in his sides too.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:

Finn Croix: All I could think of reading that connection was of Jonathan Van Ness and Antoni Porowski friendship (but tbh the whole fab five and their non toxic love towards one another, the way they’re so comfortable hugging and touching and telling each other they love each other, i just a hundred per cent pictured that with Finn and Rahim) except that sentence in finn’s description of the connection with Rahim about people gossiping about the two of them lodged itself into my brain and made me go 'could this be romantic, taking the romance out of the bromance? or am i reading into it???’ but i’m quite happy to say whichever way it goes, I just absolutely love this connection and I can see Finn being the only one Rahim fully trust and is as close to his truest self with so that’s saying somethin.

Jack Mizuno: Jack was put on this eath to test Rahim’s patience and goodness and by God if he isn’t fulfilling his purpose to the fullest. Basically every day that he doesn’t break a bone in that guy’s body just because or blows up anything electronic just to fuck with him is a day that Rahim congratulates himself on his impeccable restraint. No, but more seriously Rahim doesn’t let people in on his fuck up with his parents and the robbery, doesn’t let anyone know of all the fucked up ways he’s been punishing himself for years for just being born wrong (he wishes he could have a defensive power on most days like his parents and that’s definitely a secret Jack can’t find but Rahim’s lucky Jack can’t quite read thoughts yet) so Jack gets under his skin, make his skin crawl and deep down Rahim’s midly scared of the guy and trying to get desperate for a way to get him off track, distract him.

EXTRA: I did not have time for extras unfortunately at this time. I thank you for reading my app for Dana/Enceladus and am available for any feedback.

ANYTHING ELSE: Nothing at the moment.

[thecollegefootballguy]

2019 Big 12 Coaching Power Rankings

Welcome to the second part of the 2019 Coaching Power Rankings. It’s basically how it sounds: I’m going conference by conference and rating how good each head coach is relative to his peers.

The Big 12 is in the middle of the pack as far as the P5 is concerned. Oklahoma continues to dominate the conference and maybe Texas is back. They’ve got a some good teams, some bad teams, and a giant middle section all fighting to compete.

The Big 12 joins the ACC with a whopping four coaches being replaced. The Big 12 has only 10 members, so proportionately they’re churning through a whole lot more talent. The legendary Bill Snyder (#1 on last year’s list) retired after a long and successful career in Manhattan. Dana Holgorsen (#4 last year) and West Virginia more or less moved on from each other after the marriage grew stale, though it’s a bit embarrassing that Holgo went to a G5 program over WVU, even if it is Houston. Kliff Kingsbury (#6) was fired for underperforming at Texas Tech, though he now is an NFL head coach, which tells you all you need to know about the state of NFL coaching talent right now. David Beaty (#10) was fired at Kansas because they just totally sucked his entire career there.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the Big 12 considering the hires they made. I’m a big fan of all four men stepping into their new roles, this should really strengthen the conference overall, even if we lost an all-time great like Snyder.

Here is a link to the list from last year if you’d like to check that out first.

-

10. Matt Wells

Overall Record: 44-34

Movement: N/A

That Matt Wells is the 10th coach out of 10 on this list is a good sign. Wells was one of the more successful coaches in Utah State’s history, at least since the 1960′s. Wells overcame all the deficiencies inherent to the program and terrible injuries in several seasons to craft his second 10 game winner in Logan last year. If he can work his magic in Lubbock, the Red Raiders are going to be a competitive team, and perhaps work against the normal Big 12 template. They probably won’t get real good this year, so be patient.

-

9. Neal Brown

Overall Record: 35-16

Movement: N/A

Neal Brown turned Troy back into a powerhouse after the Trojans fell off at the tail end of Larry Blakeney’s career. Brown was one of the hottest coaches that somehow seemed to fly under the radar. I’m sure he’s going to do real well at West Virginia. Again, it might take him a year or two but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he just hits the ground running and starts winning right away.

-

8. Matt Rhule

Record at Baylor: 8-17 Overall Record: 36-40

Movement: Up 1 Spot

Matt Rhule is getting the ball rolling at Baylor. The Bears jumped from 1-11 to 7-6 in his second year. It’ll get harder and harder to add more wins per year, but even averaging seven wins a seasons is pretty good for a school like Baylor. I’m not sure high Rhule can climb, but if he builds the program up, we’ve seen that the Bears can field a really good team. Just, maybe this time we won’t have the Briles issues.

-

7. Tom Herman

Record at Texas: 17-10 Overall Record: 39-14

Movement: Up 1 spot

Well hey, Texas might actually be back. Tom Herman has got the Longhorns back to 10 wins in year two and the recruiting is on fire. The shellacking of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl probably helped. Herman is doing all of the right things in Austin. If he keeps them up he’ll be much higher on this list in no time.

-

6. Matt Campbell

Record at Iowa State: 19-19 Overall Record: 54-34

Movement: Down 1 spot

Boy I feel real bad bumping Matt Campbell out of the top five. He really doesn’t deserve the demotion, he’s done such a good job at Iowa State so far. It’s not every year that two coaches join a league after having already won national championships. Unfortunately that pushes Campbell down a spot. If he keeps winning in Ames like he’s been doing I’m sure he’ll shoot right back up the list.

-

5. Mike Gundy

Record at Oklahoma State: 121-59 Conference Championships: 1 (2011)

Movement: Down 2 spots

Now this move is really breaking my heart. I’m a huge Mike Gundy fan so I’m pretty bummed to have to do this to him. It’s just that the “new” guys have pretty impressive resumes, even when compared to one of the more successful coaches in the country like Gundy. Oklahoma State did have a pretty underwhelming 2018 campaign, but that’s not the reason he’s falling down the ranks. The only thing busting him down is just the sheer talent ahead of him, including the man he replaced at OK State.

-

4. Chris Klieman

Overall Record: 72-13

Movement: N/A

Chris Klieman is probably the perfect person to take over Kansas State. In fact, as much of a god Bill Snyder was, North Dakota State was even better than the Wildcats in the past half decade. Chris Klieman inherited the best FCS team from Craig Bohl in 2014, and went 69-6 with four national championships at the lower division. If Klieman can build that kind of machine at K-State we’ll be seeing something very special in Manhattan. I can’t wait to see what he can do.

-

3. Les Miles

Overall Record: 142-55 National Championships: 1 (2007)

Movement: N/A

You know, I never thought I’d put a Kansas head coach so high up my list. And I’m thinking I probably should put him a bit higher, even at the #1 spot. The only thing holding me back is the time Miles has been away from the game (and the very recent successes of the two coaches ahead of him). Les Miles was one of the great coaches of the 2000′s, winning a national championship in 2007 and coming close in 2011. Kansas, at this moment, seems like a particularly hopeless case. Miles is going to need to use all of his talents in recruiting, fundraising, and program development to make an even passable winner out of the Jayhawks. Godspeed, Les. 

-

2. Lincoln Riley

Record at Oklahoma: 24-4 Conference Championships: 2 (2017, 2018)

Movement: Up 5 spots

I think I’m being a bit optimistic here, coaches usually don’t rise this high in one year. And I’m really not sure about putting Riley ahead of a legend like Miles, but this is a power ranking, and recent success is weighed more heavily than older accolades. In two years Lincoln Riley has taken Oklahoma near to the peak of their historical successes: they’ve won the Big 12 in back to back years and earned two successive Playoff bids. OU is in the conversation among the perennial powers in college football, though perhaps just a step behind Alabama and Clemson. If they keep this up, you can easily see them winning a national championship one of these years. And my god he’s so young, please keep him away from the NFL.

-

1. Gary Patterson

Record at TCU: 167-63 Conference Championships: 6 (2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014)*

*Won in Conference-USA, Mountain West, and Big 12

Movement: Up 1 spot

Gary Patterson takes away the #1 spot from his old mentor, Bill Snyder. Very fitting. Patterson has done such a wonderful job at TCU it feels good to reward him and put him at the top of this list. Yeah the Horned Frogs didn’t have their best year in 2018, but they never spend more than a year or two from competing at the national stage, I expect they’ll be back real soon.

-

We’ll miss you, Bill.

[requiescatinpacerp]

“I can’t change who I am, so now it’s time to live with it.”

Remus Lupin

Age: Eighteen

Affiliation: Order

Blood Status: Halfblood

Career: Research Consultant 

Wand: 10 1/4, Cypress Wood, Unicorn Hair Core, Unyeilding 

Bright moon against a dark sky. A pint with friends. Books spread across a table. Fur moving in the wind. Woods. Smell of old books. Comfortable trench coats. Red plaids. Messy brown hair. The silence of a library. Strength of those around you. The laughs of a easy night. Fear of what’s coming. The light of learning something new. Storm from a monster brewing inside. Crimson. Chocolate. Late night adventures. Support of family. Gold. Memories that last forever. Acceptance of who people are. 

Remus was born the son of a wizard and a muggle. Both his mother and father were quiet and kind people. They didn’t bother anyone in any way, nor were they bothered when someone asked for some help. People had always said such nice things about the Lupin’s, however, even the nicest people can make terrible judgment calls. For Remus’ father, Lyall Lupin, the terrible judgment called happened in court one day when he was face to face with Fenrir Greyback. There was just something about the man that didn’t seem right, no matter the lies that he had been telling the rest of the court. The frustration that Lyall had towards the situation grew before it finally escalated into the same type of judgmental words that someone might think about werewolves. Once the situation had been over, Lyall thought that everything might be okay. Little did he know that not only were his suspicions right, but Fenrir was the worst werewolf to piss off. It wasn’t until a few days later, possibly to give the Lupin’s some false sense of security, that Fenrir made his attack. Remus had been fast asleep in his bed, just like every other almost five-year-old, when suddenly he felt an excruciating amount of pain and started into a scream. Opening his eyes, he didn’t recognize the being next to him and he tried to squirm or do something, but Fenrir was just too strong, and Remus too young. Lyall heard the commotion and ran to his son’s aid as quickly as he could. It took a lot of fight and some very strong spells to get Fenrir out of his house, but he was only glad that he saved his son. The bite marks that Remus know had only told his father one thing, that while he had been successful in saving his son's life, he wasn’t as successful in keeping him human.

Some would say from that moment on, fear had taken over Remus’ parents more than they had Remus, for Remus was only a child and didn’t fully understand how people felt about those like him. Like most children, Remus believed that when you meet someone, there shouldn’t be judgment right away because you don’t know them. While he wasn’t wrong, it just wasn’t how the world worked, especially if you were a werewolf. For the rest of Remus’ childhood, he was forced to move from place to place because his parents started to become a little worried when people began to notice that something was odd about Remus. They began to notice his patterns, and his father didn’t want someone coming after his son. Remus however just wanted to have some friends of his own. He wanted the chance to stay in one place and maybe make some friends that were the same age as him. While his parents understood this need, they didn’t agree with it. There was too much danger in him potentially telling people what he was for him to spend time with other kids. Remus felt like this was going to be his life forever, spent hiding away from people, until his family was visited by a wizard named Albus Dumbledore. It took a little work on Dumbledore’s part, but he was able to ease the worries of Remus’ parents and convince them that it would be okay for Remus to go to Hogwarts. He told them that there were already precautions taken in the form of a shack in Hogsmede where Remus could spend his week of transformation. Even though they were still reluctant to let him go, they agreed to try it out, only hoping for the best.

Remus was thrilled to be going to school because not only was this his chance to spend time with kids his own age, but even a chance for him to prove that he was more than his condition. Possibly even make a better name for werewolves. On the train, he kept to himself a bit, not wanting to try and draw too much attention. Even though he was excited, he was still a little scared. This was his first trip off on his own and he really didn’t know what to expect, or even how to act. Upon entering the Great Hall and sitting under the Sorting Hat, Remus waited for his house to be announced before finally Gryffindor was called out for all to hear. This announcement gave Remus the feeling that maybe this would end up being a good thing. He had heard about the Gryffindor house from his parents and believed that it could be a start to something good. After the ceremony, he followed the pack and headed into his dormitory where he met some of the friends that he would have for the rest of his life.

James, Sirius, and Peter were the friends that Remus had always dreamed about having. They were funny, loyal, and just good to be around. They helped Remus come out of his shell a bit and grow with some confidence. It wasn’t until their second year that it came out that Remus was a werewolf, but it didn’t make things worse like Remus thought it would, it actually made things better. The other boys teamed up to learn how to become an Animagus, and soon started going to visit Remus in the shack as their own animals when he was out for the week. Of course, Remus had some friends outside of these three, but mostly it was just the four of them. Remus had always been the smarter of the bunch, or maybe just the one who really wanted to pay attention in class. He always did well on exams, got high marks in classes, and never seemed to disappoint in the work he did. Remus loved being in Hogwarts more than he really imagined he would. Everything was perfect from the lessons to his friends, and even the trips home when he could tell his parents all about the events of that year. Everything was going great until a prank went terribly wrong towards the end of their time at school.

Remus knew that James never meant it in a serious way when he mentioned pulling a harsh prank on Severus. Sirius, on the other hand, seemed to think it was actually something they were going to do. Remus doesn’t have much of a memory of that night, but he has enough to put the pieces together. It wasn’t until after he had transformed that Severus had been stuck on that tree, with Remus closing in on him. Without the ability to stop himself, Severus was sure to have died that night, until James had stepped in. The stag had helped Remus get to the shack he used for hiding and stayed with him until everything had calmed down. That was probably the hardest time for Remus, in most of his life. Having to not only think about the fact that his friend, whether he meant it to be that bad or not, had put him in that position, and that he almost killed another student. If James and Peter hadn’t been there that night, who knows what would’ve happened in the end. Remus’ final year could’ve ended in a very different place.

With certain events behind them, but the effects still present, Remus finished his time at Hogwarts and moved on to something new. It was time for him to find the next part of his life. Even with the thing that happened with Severus, Remus didn’t want to go back into hiding, well, not like how his parents had been doing it. He couldn’t change who he was, so there was no point in pretending that he could go without human contact for the rest of his life. At this point, he still tries to keep in touch with his friends as much as possible, mostly because he cares for them greatly. As well, he’s trying to find out what’s best for him in the idea of a career. His professors told him that he could do just about anything he wanted to at this point, for he had been such a great student, but that still meant having to find something that he really loved the idea of doing.

Something that had been really bothering him since graduation was the idea of the war that was brewing. It seemed that whenever Remus had the chance of something positive happening in his life, something else would come around to complicate it. There was really nothing they could do to stop this war from coming in the first place, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t going to try and help end it. James had been the one to tell him about the Order, and Remus didn’t even hesitate to join. While it was dangerous and he had his own personal concerns, he knew that he needed to do this. This was going to be their chance to help make sure their world was protected, so why not put in the effort?

THE MARAUDERS – James, Sirius, and Peter are Remus’ three best friends, and the best of friends that someone could ask for. While it’s still awkward to be around Sirius after what happened, he’s trying to move past it because he doesn’t want to lose someone who means so much to him.

FENRIR GREYBACK – Remus hasn’t seen Fenrir since the night he was attacked, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t looked.

LUCINDA TALKALOT – As long as possible it had always been him and Lucinda, despite rocky roads and other forces greater then they tell them that they shouldn’t be friends. Despite it all, they persevered.

Remus Lupin is currently an TAKEN character with a FC of Tom Holland.

[sansloii-a]

coughs so am I allowed to request all of the “salty af munday meme” answers or—

oh my fucking god || @imbruedinfear​

strap in y’all ‘cause someone wants to hear me complain

What does someone have to do for an instant unfollow from you?

if you post excessive ooc in quick sucession, i will unfollow you faster than the speed of light. i’ve done it in the past. i will not hesitate to do it in the future. i don’t care if it’s tagged. if i’m on and i see it, you’re gone, my friend.

What’s the WORST thing that has happened to you rp wise?

uuuuuuuuuuhhhhh there was this one dude that legit tried to monopolize one of my old muses on another blog, got upset when i set a main ship for said muse, complained to me nonstop, was trying to use me to get back into rping with my friend group ( which he called “the popular group” for a reason I don’t understand to this day ), only wanted to ship, got pissy over a fucking pokemon au ( if you ever wanna hear about this, lemme know ), tried to insert a ship into every au we made automatically, tried to tell me how to write smut for no reason ( said he would read it and give me tips and everything ffs ), was an asshole to my sister ( who rped way back when but doesn’t anymore ), made several friends of mine uncomfortable to the point of leaving the rp scene for a bit, blamed other people for issues that he honestly had a part in causing, and a bunch of other things that i’m forgetting right now.

i figure that’s the worst because nothing has topped that. nothing. that happened years ago, though, so i’m good now. no one fucks with me like that anymore.

What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

i got about 10 asks from someone when i wanted to do other shit ( my asks that are in the double digits ) ‘cause they wanted me to send them an ask. annoyed me to hell and back and i promptly deleted those asks

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  tough shit. i was not in the mood for games and i’m still not.

 Has anyone ever tried to steal your blog? Your headcanons? Icons? All that jazz?

not that i know of??? i hope not ‘cause i worked real hard on all this and if you steal anything from me, i’m gonna throw a huge-ass heaping of karma your way.

 How many people don’t like you?

i dunno. i’d say none but i know not everyone is going to like me so if you’re out there and you don’t like me, you’re entitled to that. don’t tell me, though, ‘cause i don’t wanna know if you don’t like me.

How many people do you not like?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i don’t really care enough to actively not like anyone. you can annoy me but unless you piss me off and continue to piss me off, you get stuck on the “do not care” list. 

Have you managed to stay away from drama?

i give advice when needed on how to avoid whoever my convo partner is talking about and i avoid getting involved. unless it’s like… a close friend or involves a close friend, i refuse to get in the middle of whatever issue people have. i’m not about to have my ass dragged into problems that do not concern me.

i don’t cause drama either so that’s also how i stay away from it. 100% guaranteed to keep you out of drama.

Have you ever been in the middle of drama?

personal/friend drama? yes. rp drama? see above.

none of that was fun btw. it was a lot of me getting angry, being frustrated with certain behaviors, having to cut people out for doing shit/saying shit that they knew they shouldn’t have and refusing to recognize that they have fucked up and use that to change their behavior, etc. it’s draining and not fun and i’m pretty sure it shaved years off my life but y’know, it is what it is. the most i can do about it is look out for myself and keep out of relationships that will put me in those situations again.

Have you ever tried to bring peace to a situation?

no because i used to be friends with people that weren’t straightforward with shit and made excuses instead of changing their behavior. i don’t wanna go into it ‘cause and i can’t remember all the details but boy, peace was hard to come by and it didn’t last long. i wasn’t going to try to bring peace if people didn’t really seem to want it and level with each other.

How long do you stay mad?

depends on what you do, tbh, but it’s a couple hours at least. a couple days at most.

What’s your rp pet peeve? ( i have a lot of these )

playing “find the links” on someone’s blog. if i can’t find your links, i’ll try “/rules”, “/r.”, “/g.” and whatever else i can think of to get your rules and a couple more things to get your muse’s about. however, i shouldn’t have to and it takes little effort to make it so that your links are easily distinguishable from the background. if i don’t find them, i don’t find them. and i don’t follow/follow back

Have you ever forgiven a partner when you shouldn’t have?

nope. not now, not ever.

 Have you ever been forgiven when you knew you shouldn’t have been?

i’ve never been in a situation where i’ve had to be forgiven for stuff i’ve done so no.

What fads/trends are you so over?

the first thing i thought of was the fucking double ampersands thing that was everywhere at some point. those annoyed me so much and i’m so glad they’re gone. super small text needs to die too. i may not wear glasses but i sure as shit ain’t straining my eyes to see what you’ve written in 3px font. 

honestly, a lot of the excessive aesthetic shit that sacrifices accessibility for #aesthetic

Have you ever rp’d with someone you knew for a fact was abusive but tried to give them a chance/to make up your own opinion on the roleplayer? Did they change or did you understand what people were talking about?

nope, nope. nu-uh. if i knew for a fact that this person was abusive in that moment, i wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole. absolutely fucking not. 

Have you ever made a public call out post?

-loud snort- hell no.

What has made you completely lose your chill?

honestly? look at my worst experience and that about sums up shit that has made me lose my chill. you really gotta push my fucking buttons to make me mad ‘cause i’m usually pretty laid back.

What do you think about public call out posts?

answered here

A fandom that you feel isn't open and accepting? 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i dunno. i’ve only been in one before and that was f.ire e.mblem

 A fandom that you feel is open and accepting?

imma be real honest with y’all--the only fandom i’ve been in that i will acknowledge is f.ire e.mblem and i had a pretty sweet time there. i had some ups and downs but it was an overall good experience for me. it was pretty open and inviting in my opinion but i tended to stay away from the douchebags in the fandom ‘cause i just wanted to have a good time there.

Thoughts on duplicates following you?

 if i have duplicates of my oc following me, i’ll have a whole fucking cow 

Do you agree with reblog karma or is it forced interaction?

i don’t think it’s forced interaction most of the time ( with sentence starters, symbol memes, memes that take literally zero fucking effort to send in ) ‘cause... everyone likes getting stuff, y’know. if you wanna reblog it from someone, just take a moment to send something in if the interaction is feasible. that’s the key thing here. if it’s feasible, then i don’t see the issue with sending something in before you reblog it from someone ( especially if you’re mutuals ). if it isn’t and you just wanna reblog it, reblog it from the source. it’s not that serious.

if someone nitpicks you for rebloging the same meme they did but you reblogged it from the source, i wouldn’t feel too bad. you know what’s best for your muses and if you don’t feel like the meme is cohesive for interactions, then that’s your prerogative and the 

Has someone ever ruined an FC or character for you?

answered here

Has someone been jealous of you?

i’ve only been told that someone was jealous of me once and it was a long time ago. i have never heard that from anyone again ( not that i remember, at least )

Have you ever been jealous of anyone?

mhm! but it usually comes when i’m feeling super down about my blog and doubting my ocs ( which isn’t often ). when i do get jealous, it’s over interactions and the like and my big dumb galactic brain is like “wow, don’t you wish you had those interactions? don’t you wish you were rping with those people?” and makes me feel bad about the interactions i have, the speed at which i reply, my ocs, how many people are interesting in my ocs, etc. however, this shit doesn’t last long ‘cause i have a bunch of wonderful people that motivate me to get out of that funk and just... focus on what i have instead of what i’m seeing on my dash. i remind myself that i’m here to have fun and i shouldn’t try to match my experience to others’

How has Tumblr RP changed since you started?

more formatting, smaller icons, more focus on having a fancy ass theme, more formatting, more callout posts, less communication in some regard, more reminders for communication.more psa posts, more formatting--

honestly, i’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and most of it is a blur lmao. i probably don’t remember everything ‘cause i was.... 15 when i started rping on here. i’m 22 now. i’m sure a lot has changed in seven years but i definitely haven’t seen it all.

Thoughts on the fandom you're currently rping in?

i’m currently a fandomless blog and boy, is it a lot more fun XD i have a lot more creative liberty and i can shape the world my muses live in to my liking, as opposed to following or just adding onto what the fandom universe already is. it’s a lot of work and it takes a ton of time but it’s fun and i’m enjoying every second of it! 

How salty are you feeling right now?

answered here but i’ll just say it again: not salty. just tired and rambly because holy shit this took a while

[ledenews]

The Guilt of Enjoying Staying Home

I freely admit it. I feel guilty. No, that’s not quite right. I am guilty. Guilty of what you ask? I’m guilty of enjoying this stay-at-home isolation that many of my fellow citizens are struggling mightily with, whether that be psychologically or financially—or both. My fellow members of the working world are dealing with work stoppages, or furloughs, or reduced hours. They initially waited hours, sometimes days, to file unemployment claims via telephone or computer, sometimes failing to get through. I gather the systems have finally started improving and people are getting their checks. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here at my desk, typing away whilst still working all of my jobs from home. Let me preface by saying that the mere fact I work multiple jobs means I wasn’t exactly killing it in the expendable income department before the pandemic began. That being said, being able to still work during these troubling times has afforded me the luxury of less things to worry about But it’s not just being able to work while others can’t. People are getting sick and people are dying. True, you can debate the numbers from each category and say it’s no worse than those that the common varieties of flu strike down annually. The death rate is a few percentage points higher, but so far, the bubonic plague this is not. Regardless, it’s something I refuse to debate. Like seemingly everything else these days, its devolved into a partisan shouting match, where those that speak the loudest are the least interested in listening, let alone considering, a diverging opinion. Plus, whether it kills millions or merely thousands, I invite anyone to stand next to the loved one of a patient dying of complications from COVID-19 and express to them your feelings on how social distancing and stay-at-home steps have been taken way too far. I’m sure they’ll have sympathetic ear. But seriously, if you want to protest, protest, it’s definitely your right and I support it. But holding a sign comparing this to slavery? The last I checked, no one was forcing you to do hard labor while beating you mercilessly and threatening to sell members of your family whilst doing it. You’re being asked to stay indoors for your own good and for the safety of those around you. SLIGHT difference. To quote famed American comedian Ron White ‘The next time you have a thought … let it go.”

Worry About What I Can Control

But as I said, not getting involved in a partisan debate. I’ll admit I am selfish in that my main concern is my 12-year-old daughter. I have family scattered throughout the area and my 74-year-old father lives in Arizona and still goes to work a few days per week. I worry about him too, but being a near four-hour plane ride away, there’s not much more I can do other than worry and pray for the best. So, in that case, it’s mainly prayer. I long ago quit worrying about things out of my sphere of influence. Doing the opposite is an exercise in futility and I already have enough greying hairs in my beard. No sense creating more by fretting over something I have no control in. What I can control is how much I’m enjoying the extra time this pandemic has provided me to spend with my daughter. I’m not going to complain that’s she’s home more during the day and that I’m forced to help her with her schoolwork. Sure, it reminds me that my math skills have dwindled greatly since my collegiate days in the early 2000s. But that’s okay. We can learn, or in my case relearn, together. It’s fun seeing how her mind works up close, how we approach problems differently. We already get to spend a ton of time together. So this is just icing on the proverbial cake. While her mother and I failed miserably as spouses, we do co-parent quite well together and share a balanced custody agreement. For that too, I am thankful. So, whether it’s helping her wade through her distance-learning assignments from St. Clairsville Middle School or teaching her how to mix the seasoning properly for dad’s homemade tacos, the extra time has been well spent. Last night I introduced her to one of my favorite comedy series from the 1980s. Naturally, she found it hilarious and looks forward to catching the next installment. We share a similar sense of humor.

My daughter and her friend got to shoot a free throw at Rocket Mortgage Arena following a Cavs' win against the Nuggest in March. It was one of the last big public outings we had before everything got shut down.

Dealing with Loss

This experience is not without its negatives, even for us. Prior to the widespread cancellations that seemed to begin with the NBA postponing its regular season, we had things we were looking forward to, like many of you. I had purchased tickets to our first Columbus Crew game and planned on taking my her and one of her soccer teammates to the game. That’s likely not going to happen now. I feel for the high school and college athletes who, whether winter sports athletes vying for championships or those prepping for spring to begin, lost out on the chance to compete.  Personally, spring soccer for FC Wheeling was prepping to get underway. I also help coach my daughter’s softball team here in town and her head coach and I were already making a number of practice plans and discussing our hopes for the season. Those too are put on hold, perhaps permanently for this season. Even little things like my daughter’s class trip to Carnegie Science Center scheduled for next month are off.  Many have experienced far greater loss. That fact isn’t lost on me. But we shape our own pandemic narrative by how it’s affected us directly.

Our "poor" new cat Stormy we had recently adopted from the Belmont County Humane Society is getting his fair share of attention with both of us home the majority of the time.

Must I Go Back

I also admit that I’m partially introverted and partially anti-social. It’s not that I don’t like people, but I can function just fine without social interaction for weeks on end. I know this isn’t the case for everyone. So, when my company has Zoom meetings so that our coworkers can see one another and they talk about dealing with the feelings of isolation, I try not to smile. My main worry is when we have to go back, and I can no longer work in a t-shirt and shorts. While others are ready to return to the office, I’m sitting here hoping at least one position in our office will be made a permanent work-from-home position: Mine. Fingers crossed right? Again, it’s not that I don’t like my coworkers because I do. I’ve made friendships that I value. I just value the solitude of my home work desk more. I’m more relaxed and I feel far more productive because of it. For others, working from home is a nightmare. To me? Pure heaven. So yes, I do feel guilty for enjoying life in its present form far more than I should be. I admit that if it wasn’t for my daughter’s scholastic and athletic pursuits, I’d be in no hurry for things to return to normal. Is that selfish to say while others are dealing with unemployment, isolation and far worse? It is. And I can admit that. Read the full article