#older muse commenting on newer muse

[cissyenthusiast010155]

Just a Nudge in the Right Direction ~Barbara Howard xFem Younger!Teacher!Reader

Summary— Reader is younger and a newer teacher at Abbott. She’s been harboring a liking for Barbara. What happens when she finally tells the older woman? Anon request— 🥸—Hey!! ❤️❤️ I love your fics so much! These are just some ideas I had for! Feel free to mix it up if you want.! 33 10 5 Barbara Howard × reader

Mommy… Master List

Requests & Prompt-List

#5. “Shut up and kiss me already”

#10. “Well… I didn’t expect that…”

#33. “Don’t do that... Let me see you.”

Warnings: age gap (all legal), kissing, confessions of feelings, light teasing, light flustering, light insecurity, happy endings, etc.

Enjoy (;

Monday’s always brought chaos to Abott Elementary. The sound of paper clattering to the teacher lounge’s floor, had you in the room in seconds. You quickly helped the poised kindergarten teacher in picking up the fallen pile of papers.

“Thank you, Sweet girl…” Barbara breathed out with a smile.

“Of Course, Ms. Howard!” You exclaimed lightly.

You heart always fluttered when she had a pet name for you…

“I don’t usually have people take care of me…” the older woman mused aloud.

“Don’t worry about it” you quipped, a big smile on your face.

Barbara then walked off with a nod, leaning you in the break room to daydream about the woman. Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by a chuckle across the room. You turned around and found, Melissa smirking and chuckling to herself.

“What’s so funny?”

“You, sweet cakes.” The redhead chuckled, “When are you going to tell Barb…?” She teased.

You went red in the face and quickly looked away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” you mumbled, crossing your arms in defense.

“Uh huh, totally…” the woman sarcastically replied, “You know you better tell her before someone else does…”

You rolled your eyes lightly and went back to your classroom, your face bright red.

You thought about Melissa’s comments throughout the day. And the redhead did have a point. You didn’t want someone else telling Barbara how you felt about her.

You had to tell the woman…

The thought made shivers run down your spine. You took a deep breath and resumed your work.

By the end of the week, Friday evening, you had finished all your work for the day, although your mind was completely somewhere else. You had decided that you had to tell Barbara. It had been bugging you all week.

So you made your way to the woman’s kindergarten classroom as soon as school was out. Ms. Howard was waving her last student a good weekend when you entered.

“Hello, Darling. How may I help you?” Barbara said lovingly, clasping her hands together and giving you a warming smile.

That nickname sent butterfly’s fluttering a dozen inside your stomache…

You cleared your throat as you felt your heart begin to race. You took a deep breath for beginning,

“W-would you perhaps… I… ummm” you stammered.

Barbara gazed upon you with her soft and loving eyes. She put her things down on a desk, that she was holding ready to leave. And she came up to you close and took your hands into her own.

“Breathe, sweet girl. What’s on your mind?”

Your heart melted at her pet name and kindness for you…

You felt like a kid. Heart ablaze and emotions racing.

“I—I like you…” you whispered.

You immediately shut your eyes as you said those words, too afraid to look at Barbara or anything else, in gear of the older woman’s reaction.

You heard a small gasp. And then her warm hands squeezed yours lightly and reassuringly.

“Don’t do that... close your eyes like that, sweetheart. Let me see you.” Barbara hummed with warmth.

Her warmth spread and corsed through your body, giving you courage to open your eyes and look at the woman. She was smiling lightly.

Did she understand what you had said…?

“No Ms. Howard, I like like you…” you said in a low tone, trying to emphasize the likes to convey your intent.

Her eyes gazed upon you intently, and they widened as she really took in what you meant. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and Barbara chuckled lightly at your tone.

“Well… I don’t know what I was expecting. But I didn’t expect that…” she breathed out in a large smile.

“Your—You’re not… mad…?”

Barbara’s eyes flashed from warmth to light concern.

“No, not at all. Why would I be, Darling…? I’m flattered if anything.” The older woman reassured you, “I didn’t think, you or anyone like that would be interested in… well little old me”

Barbara spoke, adding a little flair to herself at the end when she spoke of herself.

Wait what??

“Why wouldn’t people… wouldn’t I be interested in you?” You immediately asked.

Barbara looked at you deeply with warmth once more and she squeezed your hand once more.

“Thank you, you are too kind, sweet girl…” Barbara cooed.

You blushed some more. And looked back to the ground, biting your lip. When you looked back, her gaze mesmerized you. Her eyes were dark and easily to get lost in.

Your eyes fluttered to her lips and then back up to her eyes. Her gaze did the same. You began to pull closer to the woman, before she spoke.

“But, aren’t I too old for—”

“Shut up and kiss me already”

Your lips quickly connected after that. Her lips were soft and plump, how you’d imagine them to be all this time, but so much better in reality. She kisses you with warmth and slow burning passion. It was light and slow.

From the hallway, Melissa chuckled to herself knowingly while leaving for the weekend.

~~~

Barbara Howard Masterlist

[enigmaticexplorer]

I Yearn, and so I Fear - A Muse I

Masterlist | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

General Summary. Nearly a year since the Galactic Empire’s rise to power, Kazi Ennari is trying to survive. But her routine is interrupted—and life upended—when she’s forced to cohabitate with former Imperial soldiers. Clone soldiers. 

Pairing. Commander Wolffe x female!OC

General Warnings. Canon-typical violence and assault, familial struggles, terminal disease, bigotry, explicit sexual content, death. This story deals with heavy content. If you’re easily triggered, please do not read. For a more comprehensive list of tags, click here.

Fic Rating. E (explicit)/18+/Minors DNI.

28 Telona

The nightmare always started the same.

The governor of Desix was staring at him. Suspicion sharpened her eyes but she still lowered her blaster, kicking it away.

She was still staring at him, her face resigned, when the blaster shot killed her.

Usually, the sound of the shot startled Cody awake. He always awoke covered in sweat.

Tonight, the nightmare held him longer. Long enough to replay the moment he ordered a cannon to fire at his general. The moment he ordered his men to decimate a supposed-insurgent group—a group of civilians who were afraid. The orders he didn’t question or disobey.

Bracing his hands against the cooled kitchen counter, Cody forced himself to breathe. Sweat still slicked the back of his neck. His sleep shirt clung to his chest. He should have changed his clothes. But he needed to move. Get out of his head and the nightmare.

Through the windows, Eluca’s three blue moons cast enough light he could see clearly. Silence enshrouded the main level of the safehouse.

Before him rested a worn cookbook he’d found when he and his vode first searched the house. Some of the recipes were written in an unfamiliar language. It wasn’t the Elucan language. He’d researched it.

Usually, when his nightmares were this bad, he painted. His GAR therapist recommended it to calm his nervous system, and since he’d always liked to paint, it was the ideal solution. But he hadn’t yet transferred his paints from the ship to the house.

Tonight, he was stuck with reading the cookbook to try and quiet his mind.

Cody was looking over a simple soup recipe—memorizing the instructions—when the floor to his right creaked. He lifted his face to the banisters guarding the upstairs.  

The house was oddly built: the upper level was a mezzanine overlooking the vaulted ceilings of the kitchen and living area. Half of it covered the entry way and garage; a walkway bordered the kitchen, and the second half covered the sunroom. To his understanding, the older sister’s bedroom was at the front while the younger sister and the youngling’s bedrooms were above the sunroom.

The footsteps neared the top of the staircase and started their descent. Cody stiffened, keeping his eyes trained on the cookbook. He knew his advanced hearing unnerved some nat-borns. Especially when he was already looking at them when they arrived in a room.

Another creak alerted him to the person’s arrival. He glanced at the staircase.

Golden hair. Green eyes. A refined posture common among the elites he’d protected over the years. It was the younger sister: Daria.

The woman blinked at him. “I wasn’t expecting someone to be down here so late at night.”

Cody mustered a tight smile. “I wanted to prepare a meal for my brothers.”

“I didn’t know clones knew how to cook.” Cody forced himself to hold still. To not clench his jaw at the comment. Daria glanced at the cookbook. “I have a newer cookbook. One that has more recipes in Aurebesh.”

Flipping a page, Cody frowned. “What is this language?”

Daria started to answer but hesitated. She lifted her chin, a mask falling in place. “Since you’re down here, I have a request.”

The change in conversation didn’t surprise Cody. From the blatant mistrust in Kazi’s constantly tense posture and brusque tone and Daria’s hesitation just now, it was clear the sisters were withholding information. Nevertheless, he played Daria’s game and nodded for her to continue.

“Can you tell Commander Wolffe to not antagonize my sister so much?” Daria studied him for a prolonged moment of silence, her expression composed. “My sister has much on her mind and doesn’t need additional problems.”

Years of training kept Cody’s features neutral. But he was intrigued by Daria’s request. He’d seen the tension between the two sisters. They’d allseen the tension the first night here.

Then again, he remembered the tension between Wolffe and Fox when the latter joined them. Hell, Fox still held a grudge.

No, not a grudge. Guilt. Guilt that displayed itself in his defensiveness.

“I’ll let Wolffe know,” Cody said diplomatically.

Daria dipped her chin the same way he’d seen senators do. An acknowledgement that contained skepticism.

“You should know: my sister doesn’t mean to be so antagonistic.” Daria adjusted the sleeve of the white robe she wore. “Kazi hides her fear behind her defensiveness. We’re different in that way.”

The comment confirmed his own suspicions. Daria must have seen him from the overlook upstairs and decided to investigate things herself.

“You’re afraid of us.”

He should have surmised as much. Most nat-borns were wary of clones.

But it didn’t make sense in this situation. Why were these women afraid when they had opened their house to him and his vode?

A blush darkened her cheeks and Daria smiled apologetically. “You’ll have to excuse us. But three males inside our house—males with military training—is… uncomfortable.”

“I understand.” Cody leaned against the kitchen counter. “We would never hurt you. I am a man of my word.”

The moment he said the words Cody regretted them. He’d promised the governor on Desix peace. He’d vowed to protect the people of the galaxy. He’d told his general he would always have his back. His word wasn’t worth shit these days.

Daria considered him for a moment. “I appreciate that.” She turned toward the staircase and then hesitated. “There are some wonderful recipes in there. I can translate them for you, if you would like.”

Shock pulsed through him but he hid it, nodding his acceptance. Daria smiled. Her gaze shifted behind him and a vacant look glazed her eyes. Her smile widened.

Cody looked over his shoulder.

Only an empty, cold house stared back at him.

When he turned around, Daria had disappeared.

Disquiet tingled down his spine and he reassessed the main level once more. Shadows, furniture, plants, and a dragon figurine were the sole inhabitants. Still, Cody was unnerved enough he replaced the cookbook and returned to the basement.

Roughly 30 meters in length, the main area of the bunker was spacious. A white light dimmed the area and cast shadows along the stone walls. The door to the bunks he and his vode had claimed was closed.

Sitting at the single table the three men used for strategizing, Wolffe was analyzing a holographic map. The schematics of their last mission. He lifted his gaze.

“Something happen?”

Cody shrugged. “The younger sister came downstairs.” The conversation bothered him enough he frowned at his vod. “She asked me to tell you to not antagonize her sister.”

Wolffe snorted. “She antagonized me first.”

“I sincerely doubt that.” Wolffe opened his mouth to argue but Cody interrupted. “They’re afraid of us.”

Bemusement furrowed Wolffe’s brow. “Why would they be afraid of us?”

“I had the same question.”

Wolffe searched his face, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t go soft, Cod’ika. The younger sister was trying to gain your trust. We don’t know them. And we don’t know their network. We need to protect ourselves.”

The mistrust in Wolffe’s gaze was sharper than the kitchen knives upstairs. Cody hated that look in his vod’s face. He sighed. “Get some sleep, Wolf’ika.”

Wolffe rolled his eyes. “Tell yourself that. You look terrible.”

Cody flashed him a grin. “Not as bad as you.”

Chuckling, Wolffe switched off the holographic map and rubbed his face. The same exhaustion toiling within Cody was hounding both his vode.

Then again, the three of them were dealing with personal shit. Just trying to survive. 

Masterlist | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

A/N: Here is a picture of the house’s floor plan. Don’t pay attention to the metrics. They’re completely unrealistic. I spent an hour on this, got a headache, and decided this was good enough. (The layout on the left is the downstairs. The layout on the right is the upstairs. The stairs are opposite the bookcase in the entry hallway; you can't see them. Other than the three bedrooms upstairs and the hallways connecting them, the space is open and overlooks the downstairs.)

[e-dubbc11]

Thank You for 400!!

Celebration Anyone?

Pic isn’t mine. Found it on Pinterest.

Greetings lovelies from my little blog!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who follows me, comments and reblogs my fics, throws a ♥️ at anything I post/write or sends a tag game my way.

To my pocket friends that I chat with on the regular and sometimes not so regular, you always bring a smile to my face when I see your messages.

I know interaction has been down here in the Tumblr-verse lately but I’ve decided to do a celebration anyway. I hope you’ll come say hello and drop something in my inbox ♥️

I don’t really have a name or a theme for this celebration so I’ll just say thank you again and the rules will be under the cut.

This isn’t limited to my followers, although I would love it if you did.

My two muses I write for are Matt Murdock and Billy Russo, although there are a few characters that I wouldn’t mind trying to write for ( Dean Winchester, Donald Pierce, Quinn McKenna, Brock Rumlow, but I’m really scared to. Maybe I just need a nudge 🤣

Send in as many as you’d like

Fuck, Marry, Kiss (or Kill if you wanna make it interesting) I’ll do characters from the following…

MCU

Supernatural

Netflix Series ( DD, Punisher, Defenders)

Boyd Holbrook characters

Ben Barnes characters

Fall Activity Moodboard 🍁🍂🎃👻🍺

It’s getting to be my favorite time of the year in my neck of the woods. I love everything about autumn. This one is for mutuals only OR if you have ever reblogged and commented on any of my fics.

Send in any character with a fall activity (apple picking, Halloween related, cider tasting, etc.) and I’ll make a moodboard for you

Song Lyric Prompt

Full disclosure, I am not a new music girl. I probably stopped listening to newer music around 10 years ago. But I love anything from the 80’s thru early 2010’s. (I love older music too from the 60’s and 70’s)

Send me a character and a song lyric (from those time periods) and I’ll see what it inspires me to write

Miscellaneous

Send me a character plus a fluffy or smexy gif and I can try to write a drabble/fic based off of that gif

Pick a scene from a fic of mine and I’ll write it from the other person’s POV.

Prompt Lists

I’ll leave some prompt/dialogue lists below and if something strikes your fancy, send it on over with one of my muses (or challenge me with a new one from the above list) and I’ll see what I can do with it. Or if you have one in mind not on these lists, that’s absolutely fine also.

Confessions of Feelings

Kiss Prompts

Hurt/Comfort Dialogue/Prompts

Random Dialogue Prompts

Autumn/Fall Dialogue/Scenarios

I’ll keep this open until September 16 CLOSED

Again, thank you all for following me, for commenting on my fics, just all of the things! Nothing goes unnoticed, I promise you ♥️ Everyone’s support means a lot to me and I hope you continue to like the content I put out. ♥️

Tagging some of my lovelies that always cheer me on and hug me from afar whenever I need it, thank you again!

@mindidjarin @saintmurd0ck @munsonownsmyass @ilovewhiteroses @ruflirtingwithme @russosafehaven @qu1etwolf @kayhi808 @k-marzolf @wheresthesunshinesblog @danzer8705 @snowkestrel @fictional-hooman @itwasthereaminuteago @fluffyprettykitty @mattmurdocksscars @theradioactivespidergwen @skvatnavle @imagine-a-fictional-boyfriend @music-indie-tv @idaofinfinity @vaguekayla @pedrito-friskito @wint3r-h3art @freshabogados @gijos @nutmeg17 @jvanilly

[headstrongblake]

[ DISTRACT ] for one muse to drive while the other gives them head/fingers them. / grant & o / @thewholecrew

as grant slid in beside her, octavia was already happily perched in the middle of his truck bed, as she so often is when he drives. "what did you think of that one?" he asked her opinion about the newer truck he was looking at possibly purchasing and truthfully, octavia was simply happy to spend time with him. not really giving much technical thought to his different choices and only cared for what felt comfiest. casually shrugging, "it was nice, and a lot more room than this one," she mentioned, glancing around at the older model fondly. as she looked back to him, octavia reached for his hand closest to her, resting it along her thigh before wrapping herself around his arm. "but they all make this a lot harder," she smirked up at him, pressing her chin to his shoulder. sure there were different models where the middle console lifted to create a bench seat, it just wasn't the same.

but as if the universe was tempting grant to his new sleek black truck, it took a moment before the old truck started properly. a giggle left her lips as she shook her head against his shoulder, "okay...maybe the black one is nicer, nick's going to kill you if he has to fix this one more time," she teased as grant drove them toward the highway. "back seats are nice too," she commented suggestively, lightly dragging her nails up and down along his arm.

at the look grant gave her, her smirk grew, attention turning to the radio as she leaned forward a bit to fiddle with it, pressing into grant's arm. a slow trickle of desire moved through octavia while his hand absentmindedly smoothed along her thigh, his attention on the road as she rested her chin on his shoulder once more, watching him in the dimming sunset adoringly. she was happy that both grant and nick were creating more settled lives for themselves. grant in wanting his new truck, and nick was nearly set to move into his new house. but the more she thought about it, the more she'd miss this truck a little. over the last year, they had a lot of moments in here. heated rushed moments together. moments of laughter as the engine smoked or wouldn't turn over. times when she'd sit stretched out and snap photos from out the window. & just how many parties had he picked her up from just for her to end up in his lap?

"i'll be sad to see this one go," she murmured, shifting her hips just a touch to move grant's hand along her jeans higher. with one arm still firmly wrapped around grants, her other hand slowly strayed down his shirt, feeling him tense beneath his clothes as she went. "i think it's only fair that it gets a proper goodbye." she teased, leaning up a little to press a light kiss to grant's cheek that flushed warm. "don't you?" her lips trailed up to his ear, lightly kissing his earlobe while her nails raked along the tops of his thigh. back and forth tantalizingly, applying pressure the closer her fingers traced his inner thigh. her breath hitched against his ear as his grip tightened along her, earning a devious smile as she cupped him. "mmm, glad you agree," she softly whispered, her tongue lightly swiping the sensitive skin before releasing grant's arm to dip beneath it, giving her full access to him while he drove.

after making quick work of his belt, as one hand continued to rub along his leg, the other flicked the button on his pants as she slowly dragged the zipper down. teasingly, and without much pressure, her fingers brushed along the fabric, smirking as he shifted, reacting beneath her light touches. "you're going to miss this truck just as much as me," she said, looking up at him as she rubbed her lips together just as her hand dipped beneath his underwear to grasp him. slowly, she played with him, running her thumb in gentle circles over the sensitive tip. her eyes stayed on him while he tried to maintain his focus on the road, but as the car rolled to a gentle stop at a red light, her eyes flashed with lust. before the light had a chance to change, she quickly bent down to him, teasing her tongue along the underside of him and moaning to herself as she swirled the tip. there was something so intoxicating to her about being the sole source of his pleasure, her mouth begging to deliver a delicious distraction.

as the song in the truck changed, pride and desire swelled together inside of her, hearing the shake in his breath and the groans he tried to stifle as he focused. but as the light switched and the truck moved forward, it only encouraged octavia further. wrapping her mouth around him, her hand lowered to the base as she fully began to take him in, sucking and whimpering as her own pleasure soared. desire rocketing through her the more she pumped her hand along him in succession with her mouth.

[pixiestickers]

Tagged by @mydoctor Thanks

Rules: list your ten favorite albums of all time and tag ten people to list theirs!

When it comes to music I would usually see a meme like this and start thinking of all the ways I could wax eloquently abt my favorite albums, but I am currently depleted of my ability to write atm bc i am mentally maxed out due to school, so here have the short version in no particular order.

The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Fell in love with mcr the first time I saw them singing 'I'm not okay' on mtv2, but it wasn't really until Black Parade that I loved every song on one of their albums. I don't skip a single one when I listen to this.

The Archandroid by Janelle Monae. Love Janelle's older stuff more than her newer music with this album at the top. It's just a mixture of exactly what I like. Weird, quirky, and profound all at the same time.

Figure 8 by Elliott Smith. This album has always been great writing inspiration for me. His music, but this album in particular, appears on many of my mental and also actual playlists for my blorbos.

Little Plastic Castle by Ani DiFranco. When I was 18, I saw this album ranked as one to buy by some music magazine and so when I saw it a few months later at a CD store in the mall (remember those? or maybe you don't, you're all probably younger than me) I bought it on a whim. It was a good buy from my many MANY impulsive music buys over the years, bc it started my love for Ani's music. It was also my first foray into music that was somewhat against my upbringing ie conservative evangelical christian. Since then, I've seen Ani 6 times in concert and it's always been a good show.

Feel Good by The Internet. This is just the type of R&B that I love. Like Janelle Monae, it's a little strange with 8-minute-long songs that take twists and turns until they eventually morph into a completely different song, but it's an album I can play from start to finish.

When the Pawn ... by Fiona Apple. One of the few albums I wish I could get on vinyl but it's just way too expensive to justify spending on something i could easily listen to on the CD I bought ages ago (or more likely listening to on spotify). This album has been there for me at my lowest. Sometimes hearing someone else sing about bad breakups and being angry and sad over someone who hurt you, helps you cope with all the times you've had a fight with your SO or had a friend who ghosted you.

The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Really sad that Win Butler turned out to be a garbage human bc I love this album, but find it hard to listen to now, knowing the band's lead singer is awful. There were other ppl in the band tho (a lot actually, it's a big band) so I figure I'll still add this album to my list for them and to be honest to myself.

Apollo 18 by They Might Be Giants. Flood was the first album I bought by tmbg, but Apollo 18 is the album I can listen to all the way through with the song Narrow Your Eyes being my fav. Considering how weird their music can get, Narrow Your Eyes is a pretty straightforward break-up song on an album that also contains songs like The Statue Got Me High and Hall of Heads.

The Con by Tegan and Sara. Call It Off is one of my most played songs ever, but this whole album is good and was my introduction to them. This was one of the last CDs I actually bought before I started just downloading everything with iTunes and then eventually moving on over to Spotify and buying vinyl.

Blackout by Britney Spears. Good for working out to when I used to work out and I just really love the song Heaven on Earth.

Honorable Mentions: Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair, Bionic by Christina Aguilera, Absolution by Muse, OK Computer by Radiohead, Same Trailer Different Park by Kacey Musgraves, Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, Titanic Rising by Weyes Blood, and Actor by St. Vincent

I tag: @trashangel-dee @alphamano @bethanyactually @ladybender @selkiestorytelleracademia @theangrypomeranian @vanessarama @leaving-a-comment and @dj-osha

And anyone else who would like to do this. Even if we're not mutuals go ahead and tag me. I'm always interested in seeing others' musical tastes.

[lizzie-bennetdarcy]

Fic Origin Story

Thank you to the lovely @carolrain for tagging me!!

What was your first fandom (reading and/or writing)?

Schitt's Creek is the first fandom I've written for, though I did read a fair amount of Hunger Games and Percy Jackson fic after my friend introduced me to fanfiction.net

What was the first story you ever wrote (even if it was never posted) and what made you decide to write it?

My first fic was You look fine. I had thought about writing fic because even though I was doing art, I wanted to be more involved in the fandom, and that idea came to me in the night after watching the plant. And here we are now

What’s a piece of advice you would give to your younger fic-writing self?

Write what you want to read. Write because you enjoy it. Don't listen to the voice that sounds suspiciously like your shitty high school English teacher

What’s an early fandom interaction that stuck with you (be it a nice comment, a friend you made, a fic that got a lot of feedback etc.)?

Literally everyone who has ever commented/kudos/liked/reblogged but specifically @maryp50 was the first person to send me a dm about how much she loved my art and i was so, ridiculously touched. It was the first time I felt like I could be part of something

Post a sentence or two from one of your older fics, and a sentence or two from a newer one (if you want).

From You look fine:

The house was quiet now, and Ray figured Patrick and David might appreciate some tea as well after their exertions. He opened the door to go ask, only to be greeted by the sight of a very naked David Rose walking out of Patrick's room, and down the hall into the bathroom. David is in very good shape for someone who is constantly talking about how much he eats, Ray mused. No wonder Patrick seems to be enjoying their time together so thoroughly!

From The luckiest

David looks back to the stage where his husband is adjusting the mic height. Patrick shifts, and there is a glint of light from Patrick's left hand. Realization hits him, then: his ring. David has been wearing his engagement rings for a while, but seeing Patrick with his wedding ring is still new. As soon as David notices it, he can't tear his eyes away. On some level, the town knows that Patrick's songs have always belonged to David. But now there is physical, tangible proof that Patrick is his, and he is Patrick's. David fucking loves it.

Apologies if you have already done this, but I'm tagging @smblmn @hippolotamus @smallumbrella369 @jesuisici33

[rescue-ram]

3, 26, 42 and 50 for the fic writer meme!

3) What are some tropes or details that you think are characteristic of your work?

My worst habit is getting a really big idea for a fic, writing part of it, then losing steam and not being able to finish. I will come back to you WIPs, I swear!! I also tend towards very introspective narrators, for better or for worse, and whenever I edit I have to constantly ask myself what is the character DOING to make sure I'm not relying too heavily on dialogue. I've also noticed I tend to be annoyingly meticulous and have difficulty eliding details. If a character picks something up they WILL put it back down, I do draw little diagrams to make sure everything's spatial positions stay the same, and I will find myself writing an extra thousand words to explain how a character got to where they are rather than skipping to the good part... which definitely contributes to my difficulties finishing WIPs 😅 As far as pairings and character relationships generally, I'm a sucker for complicated and ambiguous relationships, and pairs who have overcome some kind of inequality to be together. I'm frequently a fetid phone poster so I often notice annoying little typos after publishing, which makes me gnash my teeth. As far as tropes, I like "slow burn build up to big cathartic moment", and "character wrestling with humanity/sense of self", and a lil bit of outsider POV. I also have a tendency to focus on the characters hands in descriptions, and there are DEFINITELY a few phrases I catch myself reusing when I reread my fics, I should probably go through and make a call out post for myself at some point with those ram-isms 😅

26) Would you rather write a fic that had no dialogue or one that had only dialogue?

I know this would only further my bad habit, but definitely dialogue only.

42) Have you ever received a comment that stood out to you for any reason?

Love and light to all commenters everywhere 🥰 But I think the comment that most stood out to me when I received it, was I gave Rescue Bots (my beloved) a chance because of a specific Tumblr user who hyped it up, and then they left a very nice comment on Discretion. I was too depressed to respond at the time, but I was very bemused they found my fic and happy they liked it!

50) Using my free space here to muse on something I've noticed, in reading older fics recently and comparing them to newer fics... There is a lot less homophobia in fics nowadays. I mean this in a neutral way. I think it generally says good things about our culture and LGBT acceptance, and also is probably part of the trend of stronger taboos on controversy in many parts of fandom. But in reading older fics, it wasn't that the characters are haters or anything but homophobia is just an embedded assumption that has to be wrestled with. A lot of pagespace is given to characters working through their own internalized homophobia, wrestling with the closet or coming out, and facing varying levels of rejection from the rest of the cast. Nowadays, it seems like most fics are written as "Everything is canon except these characters have always been gay/bi", or in AUs where things like DADT never existed or gay marriage has always been legal, so there a lot less on page conflict over the characters' sexualities. Yay for people now being able to treat broad acceptance as unremarkable and a given nowadays, is the plusside!

I really started thinking about this the other day after reading two fics. One was a West Wing fic from the year of our Lord 2000, where Toby was both broadly supportive of a relationship between Josh and Sam... and also homophobic. Like, he loved them both and supported their relationship and was the best man at their commitment ceremony, AND was repeatedly vocally grossed out by PDA between them and actively got in between them in public out of fear they'd accidentally out themselves. This behavior was both accepted by the characters and totally uncommented on by the narrative. It was a pretty good fic, but that characterization struck me as being very of its time. In contrast, I was then reading a MASH fic from like last year, and it had Potter say something like "Love is love" and I was just immediately jarred out of the fic. Not in the sense that I think Potter would necessarily be hateful or something- I think he's both compassionate enough and pragmatic enough to decide what two consenting soldiers of similar ranks do in private is none of his business- but like, he's a Presbyterian Regular Army Colonel who was born in 1890-something, "Love is love" does not scan as natural or inevitable for the character to me. It felt like either a missed opportunity for a little character work- maybe Hawkeye is shocked by his easy reaction and they exchange a few lines on how he came to acceptance- or a missed opportunity for drama. And if the author just didn't want to get into it- completely valid- then writing Potter out of the scene would've preserved the suspension of belief better IMO. Reading those fics close together got me thinking about that broader pattern, which again I just find interesting... and also left me a little curious if the extremely frustrating and unfortunate resurgence in atmospheric/cultural homophobia in many places means that older pattern is going to reemerge in the psychosphere of fandom. I think my own fics tend more towards the "background homophobia" side of the force because of my own experiences. And I guess that's my "deep fandom thought" of the week.

[allisonreader]

Bones of Old

A related story to The Hidden Royals

🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴

I have to admit that @isfjmel-phleg has inspired this in a couple of ways. One is due to having read your annotated letters that you had posted throughout March and the other goes all the way back to a comment left on Tales Of A Frozen Sailor; The Autopsy

This time there is no twist, just bones.

🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴

A mystery had been uncovered.

The park project had been halted. People weren’t happy. This park project had been years in the making.

The luxurious gardens that had been planned for this park, had been meticulously laid out in the seemingly untouched wooded back corner of the land that had once been attached to the palace.

Plans that could now no longer go forward, once it had become clear that the bones that had been unearthed were human.

Which was where she and her team came in. As far as anyone had known, there were no records of any burials in the surrounding area. This could be a problem if these bones were recently put there. Burying bodies on crown land was concerning.

The sooner she and her team learned what they could about the bones the better.

She hoped that the site hadn’t been too badly damaged by the crew digging the place up. If the bones were badly damaged by the workers, it would make her job just that much harder. Though newer breaks should be noticeably different from older ones.

The site had been untouched and guarded since the bones were realized to be human, so there was at least that. Everything about the site was going to have to be documented.

She employed a photographer that she would be making use of. Before her crew did anything, she had the photographer set up his camera and take pictures of the area as it was currently. Freshly cleared of trees and dark ground turned up and the few bones that had been dug up, including the skull that halted all of the work.

A tent had been set up to protect the space and detour onlookers. Once the photographer finished the first set of photos, they would set up a grid and start the excavation for the rest of the bones of the remains.

The king wanted everything documented about these remains.

Once she was able to get her first good look at the bones, she could tell that these bones were old. They had been in the ground here for a long time. Only providing slight relief in that fact.

She would still need to study them closer to determine how long the bones had been here. Because of that, they would be packing up each bone so that it could be taken back to the museum and studied further.

But first came finding the rest of the remains and anything else that might relate to these remains. Anything found with them could be of importance, could help pinpoint an age for them.

It was a picturesque place.

She could understand why the gardens were being put here. Now was not the time to muse about the beauty of her work setting.

They had to be careful as they dug. Anything could be a clue to who this was, when this person was buried and why.

Anything that they uncovered would have a picture taken and documented where it was found and if there was anything immediately noticeable about it.

A job that she had assumed would take a few days stretched into weeks as they found more bones.

This was no longer the grave of a single person, but three, four, five, nine in total and half of them were adolescents. A mass grave of nine, but thankfully no more than that.

There were so many questions. Who were these people? When had they died? Why were they buried in the middle of what would have been nowhere? Who had killed them? Or had an illness swept through a family?

Some of the questions should hopefully be revealed through the bones.

The bones of the nine had all been taken back to the museum with anything else that could be a potential artifact. Perhaps something among those items once cleaned could help date the bones better.

🦴🕯️🦴🕯️🦴🕯️

She let out a sigh.

The basic outline of her findings were written and could now be given to the king to read.

She had learned as much as she could from the bones. Without more advanced technology or a greater understanding of bones, there was little more to be gleamed from what they had.

Currently, the singular button that had been found, didn’t help them narrow the date down much. There was a crest on the button, but it couldn’t be made out with what they could do. They were at a standstill.

🦴🕯️🦴🕯️🦴🕯️

The report for the king.

The skeletal remains found on the property of the royal gardens has been concluded to be the bones of nine individuals; ranging in age from approximately 50 down to maybe about six years old. All of the bones appear to be approximately from 500-600 years ago.

The oldest appears to be a male individual of approximately 45-50 years in age (Subject A). He appears to have nicks from a blade on his ribs, possibly from being stabbed in a downward motion from a wide sharp blade.

His bones seem to be healthy and show no signs of malnutrition or disease.

There were also blade marks on his neck. One blade mark could possibly have been caused by the slicing of the throat, not likely to have been self inflicted. It also appears that his head was severed from his body, the way that one of his vertebrae has been cut.

There were also similar injuries on the bones of the eldest female (Subject B) who appears to be a similar age to the eldest male.

Though there are no marks on her ribs. She appears to be of a similar age to Subject A possibly slightly younger.

Subject C is an adult male, possibly 30-35, there are no discernible marks on the bones to determine cause of death.

There appears to be no signs of disease or malnutrition to a degree that could lead to his death. Though there does seem to be slight scorching on some of the bones which might indicate that the body might have died or experienced a fire at some point.

Subject D; a female of approximately 25-30, is in a similar condition.

Other than a fracture on the skull that shows blunt force trauma that potentially could have caused her death. Her bones also show minor scorching.

Subject E is a female approximately age 16-21, she shows signs of multiple stab wounds on her ribs.

Subject F also appears to be female, possibly 14-19 years old. She also appears to have been stabbed multiple times.

Subject G appears to be a young male somewhere between the age of 10-15. He too shows signs of stab wounds on the ribs, along with blunt force trauma to the skull.

Subject H also appears to be a young male of about 8-13. Not only does he show similar marks of having been stabbed multiple times on the ribs and blunt force trauma on the skull, but he has a mostly healed fracture on his left arm.

The last subject; Subject I, appears to most likely be a young girl between the ages of 5-10.

Before her also violent death, it appears that it is possible that she had lost a baby tooth or two.

All of these remains had been found in the same grave, possibly thrown one on top of each other without any care. There was no signs of any preparations for any of them.

They appear to have been thrown away as if trash, buried and forgotten about for hundreds of years.

There was a singular button found nearby. It needs to be carefully cleaned yet to see if it might reveal any clues that might help us pinpoint a date that’s a little bit more narrow.

🦴🕯️🦴🕯️🦴🕯️

It had been nearly a hundred years since the bones of the garden nine had been found. They had more advanced technology now and were going to take a closer look at all of those bones. Maybe the mystery of who they once were, would finally be solved.

The bones themselves had become famous since their discovery. Nine people, all buried in a mass grave with no care taken in their burial.

Not only that, but the fact that they had been found in an area that had not been known to have any burials was also interesting. Especially as it was on crown land that the remains were found. The only reason that they were found, was because the royal gardens that had been commissioned and built. Otherwise the bones would have remained buried.

Other than the bones, the only thing that had been found in or near the grave was a single metal button. One which helped narrow down the time span greatly.

It was a button with a currently hard to make out crest. It was the crest of Roland Fordsfield, more particularly, of when he was king. Which was ever so slightly different from when he was just a nobleman. Clearly he had wanted to make sure that everyone knew that he was the king at the time. And if the bodies were from his reign, it was a little strange that they would be all the way out at what was now the Royal Gardens.

It wasn’t anywhere where people had normally been buried at the time.

Doing a DNA analysis was helpful. It showed that out of the nine people in the grave, seven were related. If the results were correct, it was likely that the eldest two were the parents of the youngest five.

Subject C and D, showed no relation. Suspicions were raised.

It was possible that perhaps, King Edgar, Queen Priscilla and their five children who were killed had been found. No one had ever known where they had been buried. And it had been documented that not only did the king and queen have their heads cut off, but it would then make sense why there were two in the grave who showed no relation. They would have been the decoys of King Theodore and Queen Elizabeth, who were well known to have survived.

🦴🕯️🦴🕯️🦴🕯️

Excerpt from King Theodore's journal after having taken back his rightful throne.

It is one thing to be the only member of your family to have avoided being slaughtered. It is another to realize that you do not know where your family has been buried afterwards.

Roland stole my parents and siblings from me not once, but twice with this. He has refused to say where he has buried them and it seems not one person among his court knows where they are.

It is beyond frustrating.

Rosaline, Marla, Lionel, Richard, and Lilliana should all still be alive. Rosaline was only 18 and Lilliana was only 8. What crimes has an 8 year old committed other than being the youngest daughter of a king?

That is truly the most sickening part of this. My siblings never had the chance to live full lives, to meet any of their nephews or niece. To get married themselves, let alone finish growing up for the youngest ones.

Though had they lived, I fear what their lives under Roland would have been like. As he certainly wasn’t kind to my youngest son while he held him imprisoned.

Leaving James to nearly starve and freeze to death. Or as close as he might have come.

Roland is a thief in that respect as well as a traitor. If we had any other choice, we would not chose to execute him. If we don’t, he will not only cause problems, but his many heinous crimes against the people of this country would go unpunished.

His judgment day will happen sooner than he likes. May God have mercy on his soul.

If it is feasible, we will only put his children in exile. They should only be judged upon their own actions, not the actions of their father and mother.

[impulsea]

How do you feel about how the Disney Princess franchise has treated Ariel's character? This is a question that sparked upon a debate about how the franchise portraits the princesses vs how they are in the movies - ie, all the princesses are resolute and brave and kind in their own ways yet the franchise during the 2000s used to focus more in giving them sparkling dresses (not saying sparlking dresses are bad though!) and I remember back the Disney Princess magazine had lots of stories featuring the princesses and while some were good, others were kinda OOC (I remember a story where Ariel found out a note of a little human girl she saved wishing she could be a mermaid and Ariel was like "Yeah, being a mermaid is amazing!"...which really contradicts her canon characterization in the movie in how she didn't liked to be a mermaid!). I have noticed in recent times the Disney Princess franchise is now focusing more in the more empowering themes surrounding the princesses and their stories (their new "Dream big princess" slogan for example), but overall how do you feel Ariel has been handled?

PS: If you wish you can also comment on how the franchise has treated your other princess muses! (Snow, Cindy and Aurora).

This is such an interesting question- thanks for sending this in, friend! My relationship with the princess line is very layered. On one hand, I was a very feminine child who worshipped pink and believed the bigger the ballgown, the closer to God. I totally benefited from them glamourizing Ariel, as a child, to an extent but I also think there's a huge difference between what happened in the beginning of the line and what's been happening for the past fifteen years.

The conceit of the Disney Princess line was an exciting premise- they sought to reunite strong female leads from the most iconic Disney films, almost in the same manner as those screen legend documentaries centered around the top actresses of Old Hollywood. They wanted to maintain who the characters were from the films (Ariel's clipart, for instance, was mostly reused from the 1997 rerelease of the film in the beginning of the Disney Princess line) and, while they attempted to provide a cohesion to the characters, I feel like they still succeeded in allowing their individual voices, appearances, and temperaments be shown. Disney really did want to keep each princess separate, to the point where they famously weren't allowed to interact or exchange eye contact and even when Glen Keane proposed a film based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, he was told that would be too many princesses in one film to keep separate and unique. However, as the line went on, they began to homogenize them and, unfortunately, aim them toward a younger base which is where a huge dip in quality started. As I mentioned previously, there was always a cohesion to the line, but the late 2000s and 2010s took it to a whole new level. It was the byproduct of Disney becoming increasingly commercialized and making the princesses in the films, themselves, more similar to one another and infantilized.

The older princesses were very mature, and we can see that in their fine art merchandise and the elevated discourse surrounding them. The newer princesses, we all meet as children and just seem more made for an audience under twelve. We can observe this in their design, their character treatments, and the writing of their films. Also, we saw this strange phenomenon where the later princesses were seemingly made to rebel against the line itself, like when Moana famously proclaimed she wasn't a princess in her film...yet was still inducted into the princess line? It's very confusing to me, and I feel like there's no reason why anyone is or isn't a princess anymore. The very mold of the line has become breaking the mold, in a sense, as a delayed response to battling the patriarchy but I feel like it's only succeeding in coming across as belittling femininity. I have so many more things to say about this...like the fact that the princesses are one of the most successful franchise in the world but never get their dues (they're the only reason Ralph Breaks the Internet had any buzz around it, sorry) or that they wouldn't even face a fraction of the criticism they do if they were comprised of male characters or that the line is being led of misogynists parading around as feminists that are meanspirited and want to pit the princesses against one around.

In terms of how the princesses were handled, it definitely depends on the era of the line we're discussing. The 2010s were by far the worst and their horrific redesigns still plague the parks costumes. Take Cinderella, for instance. She's such a lovely character that's drawn with a realistic body type, sensible features, and nothing about her is overtly ornate or unnecessary. The clipart from the 2010s slimmed her down considerably and even went as far as airbrushing bones into her upper chest to make her look more thin. They did that for a lot of princesses and it was honestly disturbing, reducing them to an archetype. In this era, Ariel pretty much had no function outside of the "resident mermaid", Cinderella represented the power of makeovers, Aurora was "nap queen", and Snow White was largely omitted/forgotten about. I think Ariel was more true to herself in the beginning, and despite the fact that the newer artwork that has surfaced is hideous, I think with the biographies and shift in marketing, it seems like a change in the right direction? Ariel's about, for instance, on the princess website is very similar to the character description Jodi received for Ariel all the way back in '85. So, I definitely think that it's getting better than what it devolved to in the 2010s, but I think they're still missing that princess energy that made so much of the princesses special. You felt enchanted by them, that it was magical to be in their presence or to just see them. Now, it's very mundane and I feel like anyone could churn out the content that's being produced- nothing's unique about it.

I definitely see the value in maintaining the line, as I think putting certain characters that have dwindled in popular against the "new, cool ones" keep them relevant, to an extent and prevent them from being forgotten about. But I genuinely do wish that they returned to marketing the movies as individual franchises and The Little Mermaid had easily the best franchise in all of Disneydom! The comics, the read along storybooks, the chapter books, the television show, the magazine line- there was so much and it was mostly great! I also think it will allow us to start seeing them as individual characters, as opposed to viewing each princess as a mascot for the Disney Princess line, and then lobbying criticisms against that. If we took the approach I just described, we'd also get to further explore their universes and use characters that are in dire need of new life that never get to see the light of day! For instance, focusing on Sleeping Beauty's universe would allow us to see more of Flora, Fauna, Merryweather and Phillip! Snow White has sadly been parted from the Dwarfs, as they have no place in the princess line, and I wish we would get to see Ariel's sisters as they originally were and not how the prequel made them out to be.

How I feel each individual princess was handled is as follows:

Snow White: She had beautiful merchandise when the line began, and it was right around the time her film was released on DVD first, so I really adored how she was marketed in the beginning! However, as the line went on, she was largely neglected and forgotten so there isn't much to say in the way of a depiction so she wasn't really depicted. I remember one of the voice replacements for Snow White was even told, "You're not Cinderella. You're not going to be making a living off of Snow White or be able to buy a home from this job- we'll probably only use you once a quarter."

Cinderella: I thought her likeness is the beginning of the line was appropriately mature, appealing, and comforting. I liked that they used her as the representative of the line, but I felt that often led to them making her character too general and they were very quick to exchange her personality for more popular renditions of the character (post the third film, they changed her to reflect that Cinderella and then after the live action, they used her interchangeably with the 2015 Cinderella which is a huge mistake that never should've happened). Also, while Jennifer Hale isn’t horrible, her take on the character isn’t really the character and she’s said things recently that leave a bad taste in my mouth about Cinderella.

Aurora: I think Aurora maintained charm in the beginning with her likeness, but as the line progressed, they never really saw her as anything but a pretty girl in a pretty dress and it kind of shows. I think she probably get shortchanged the most for having to be infantilized because she is among the most mature of the princesses in her sensibilities, temperament, and design.

Ariel: Ariel has always been one of the most popular princesses, so they never messed with her too badly, but they did sometimes make her empty-headed and her sole purpose to be: "let me tell you about my exciting life under the sea!" Which, I guess I understand because many children do want to be mermaids and like Ariel because she is one, but as you mentioned it's counterintuitive to her character. Ariel, and all the princesses, fair better or worse depending on what age range the line is being marketed to. When it was wider and more inclusive to adults in the early 2000s, I felt like they kept her intact pretty well, but as it progressed, she got more and more glittery and interchangeable and it makes me sad.

My personal recommendation is from to begin splitting the marketing up! I think Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty should be marketed together as "Walt's Princesses." Aimed for an older audience of art lovers that are collectors, the line would feature authentic items and continue the tradition of hand drawn animation. A lot of integration about Walt would be abundant here, as his hand was paramount to their creation. I want them to be marketed as the women they are, instead of the weird baby hybrids they sometimes become. I think this move would be able to retain Aurora's operative quality, Cinderella's soft jazz voice, and Snow White's coloratura that is eradicated so often for a generic "pop" feel. They'd also just be able to feel like themselves and they, with the aim of this franchise being marketed to a 30-90+ age base, would help animation be seen as a category of film, as opposed to kids' stuff, the way Walt intended. Another line- "Ready to Stand" would feature Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Esmeralda, Meg, Mulan, Tiana, and Pocahontas! So much great diversity, and keeping them with one another would really allow them to continue looking like products of the 90s, as opposed to whatever they're currently turning into. They're also all Broadway girls! It'd be aimed to a base that's in the 20-40ish age range. It's fancy, has sing along values, and the nostalgia, but also the adult factor with characters like Esmeralda, Pocahontas, and Meg bringing a more serious tone. Lastly, the 3D girls: Rapunzel, Frozen sisters, Moana, Merida, and Raya. They're all 3D and should be aimed toward like a preK-early 20s audience because I feel like they mostly cater to that age range? Part of me almost wants to spilt them up into Rapunzel, Frozen sisters, Giselle, and Merida and then have Raya, Moana, Kida...maybe a grown up Eilowny and Nakoma too???

[sincerely-krp]

i honeslty hate these new krpers. activity checks used to consist of posting once every four days. now it's once every TWO WEEKS.. and people are still complaining?! if you don't want to be active then please free up your muse so someone who actually wants to rp can take them, thank you! // the whole discourse on the posting thing and why that anon brought it up initially is that there are a lot of posts clogging up the feed. not that it's too much to do activity wise. 💀 even posting every four days or posting a week was a lot back then too. not activity wise but having to see handful of posts each day.

i'm not the original person who brought it up but for years i've always thought the downfall of larger roleplays is that there is SO MUCH going on feed wise to the point where people burn out and eventually dwindle down in PUBLIC activity. which ultimately leads to people leaving the roleplay in drones because people never fail to jump ship when they notice those things. (of course what admins provide for their members also has a lot to do with this as well)

there is a reason why when places initially open, have just under a hundred muses and have less posts being posted, have more comments (10+) than an older places with over a hundred muses, more posts and less comments and maybe 3 or 4 posts reach up to 12 comments. in a place that has over 150 muses... you would HOPE that posts reach past 6 or 8 comments. even then when those newer places gain more traction, you would think that the feed would only gain more interactions? wrong! it only meets the inevitable: too many posts/people to keep up with. too many posts to interact with. members are stretched thin and public engagement ends up looking like less.

honestly none of these posts are boring aside from the posts that consists of a random ass quote or two sentences talking about the weather. but those are the people who are fighting for an extra posts requirement/option. for what? so you can continue to give us nothing? let me see posts from people who WANT to post, from people who love to give effort in posts. i miss out on good posts because there are a lot to scroll through! it would take me up to an hour to scroll through, read, interact with the post and only for 5 new posts be published within that timeframe.

and that is just to catch up on 2 days worth of posts! 2 days!

the number one complaint made by people in LARGER roleplays is that posts don't get enough engagement. "is it me or is so-and-so dying?" no, it's not because nobody wants to scroll past more than 10 posts and out of those 10 posts they scrolled past? they decided to comment on 3. "so-and-so is a good place but posts hardly get comments." yes because oh my god there are TOO MANY POSTS.

i'm possibly part of the minority in this case but i would LOVE to see less posts in a large roleplay and see more unique engagement between muses. i've yet to ever see a 100+ member place reach consistency in post interactions. i would also love to have to spend less time on the public feed and be able to get through and interact with more posts without having to sacrifice the attention i give to dms and threads.

tldr; this is a hobby ... i don't want to spend as much time on a feed full of fictitious people as i do now but i also don't want to be the cause of less activity that leads to people wanting to leave. having less posts on the feed would mean i get to interact with more people who genuinely enjoy posting on what their muse has been up to. not just that but this helps out muses who hardly post on social media irl and don't have much going on. COUGH, MUSES IN MILITARY, COUGH.

・❥・

[the-skull-king]

Of course the loudmouth wouldn’t listen to warnings and had to aggravate him. I ain’t going to bail him out either, I’ve dealt with enough crazies in my life time.

[ensuists-moved]

i’ve been feeling a little anxious about reaching out to newer and even older mutuals lately, so i’m dropping this as a PERMANENT INTERACTION CALL. please like/comment if you’re interested in interacting and don’t mind me messaging you about whatever, if you don’t mind me sending you memes and ic asks even with no prior interaction, and if you don’t mind me interacting with you/your blog/your muse(s). this is really just to ease my anxiety and you’re always welcome to do the same with me. <3 

[inxtricabilis]

TEN Q’S:

1. When are you usually online? 

// My schedule is really volatile, and changes pretty much monthly, sometimes weekly. But I can usually count on having the evenings off, which is when I’m most active. I may log on to mobile throughout the day for short ooc posts, or to publish finished drafts though! I operate on CET/CEST.

2. What verses are you involved in outside of this page? 

// I have a Fire Emblem blog on here with verses for its own canon and other titles in the franchise. The muses are from one of the older games because, frankly, I’m not caught up with a lot of the newer titles.

3. What is your biggest RP pet peeve? 

// Okay, so not a world-shattering one, but definitely a peeve of mine: When asks get turned into threads, but on the same post as the ask. I jut find it immersion-breaking when the initial ask and response are constantly on the top of the interaction. That’s why I’m actually a little glad that people have been moving to answering asks with personalized banners. Firstly, yes it looks neat, but secondly it does avoid this issue altogether. 

4. Are you drawn to specific types of muses? 

// Well, especially as I was creating this blog, I noticed a lot of my muses tend to be the types who give their all in whatever they do. Real confident types who aren’t afraid to go out of their comfort zone and tackle any problem they have with vigor and with their hearts fully set on it. Maybe it’s a little bit wishful by me as I can be half-hearted at times, but I’ve definitely felt myself really adoring those types of muses. Like- Yes. You go and show the world what you are capable of!

5. Are there recurring themes in your writing that people might not notice? 

// I think this blog is far too fresh to really have any great overarching themes that people can come to grasp from my writing. But if I had to shine a light on a theme I hope to tackle often it would be that of bonds and how they hold people together. Indeed, my url is a play on that. Whether it’s the bonds of family (biological or found), or that of your circumstances. They can be constricting, or they can make you one of the most powerful people out there.  

6. What are your favorite RP trends? 

// I like a lot of dash games. Especially ones that can kind of evolve into a bunch of other muses commenting on things. It’s silly and good fun and I like how it brings muses outside of that formal RP style and they can kind of just become two people just hanging out. 

7. What is your process for starting a new story with someone?  

// It varies. I have always had a habit of picking up muses from obscure fandoms, or just muses that aren’t as well known, so I try and be accommodating by being available to plot and ask and answer questions so we can get on the same page. On the other hand, sometimes we can just sorta go. Though this is definitely the exception, not the rule here.

8. How do you feel about duplicates? 

// Yes please. I think everyone brings something unique to the table in their interpretations. It can be really fun seeing those differences mash up against each other. You have headcanons and different verses and different writing styles, so it’s genuinely never really the case of: Same muse, same experience. I think that’s just really neat.

9. How long have you been involved in roleplaying? 

// If I’ve got it correctly in my mind, I must’ve started around 2010/2011, but I ought to mention that I recently returned from a five-year break from roleplaying. Thanks to university taking up all my time I had zero energy for creative writing and have only in recent weeks been able to decide for my return to this platform.

10. Is there a muse or verse you wish you could write in, but haven’t?

// That’s a difficult question to answer, seeing as I’ve yet to use a fair few of my muses at the time of writing this. The answer is “Yes”, but the list of what those are is a little too broad right now, to the point that it would just be unhelpful. I’d rather just continue to slowly build up interactions as they naturally come up!

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TAGGED BY: @more-than-a-princess (Thank you so much!! I love this sort of stuff!)

TAGGING: @aestuavis, @atimelesslullaby, @dcviated, @orderbourne, @pastballads, @quickdeaths (Hopefully you haven’t done this one yet! If you have, please forgive me.), and anyone else who wants to do it! Steal it and drop the @!!

[readyplayerhobi]

Jung Hoseok and the Magic to Happiness | 04

; Hufflepuff Teacher!Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, angst, future smut

; Word Count: 5.2k

; Synopsis: An unexpected issue with your Ministry of Magic job leads to you taking the role of Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts. It’s here that you meet your best friend’s younger brother for the first time in years, the Hufflepuff Head of House, Jung Hoseok. While you contend with seeing him once again, Hoseok tries to show you that he’s very much a man and no longer the gangly teenager you once knew.

; A/N: I swear, it’s so hard getting back into writing because I’m permanently convinced that everything I write is bad lol. If you enjoy reading this, please let me know by leaving me an ask or writing a comment on a reblog! I appreciate all the comments I get and it helps to inspire me on <3

Last Chapter ; Next Chapter

-

The Winter Solstice Ball was a newer tradition at Hogwarts. Before the Battle of Hogwarts, there hadn’t been anything resembling the ball that would happen. The closest you knew of was the Yule Ball, but that only occurred whenever there was a Tri-Wizard Tournament. 

Something that hadn’t occurred since the unfortunate events of 1994, when poor Cedric Diggory had been murdered by the dark wizard Voldemort. As expected, it had been mutually agreed that the tournament should no longer continue to ensure there could never be another event like Diggory’s death.

Admittedly, that had been a rather unique set of circumstances. The inclusion of the wizard, Harry Potter, in the Tournament had been arranged by dark wizards on the behest of Voldemort, meaning that Diggory’s death had been even more tragic as he wasn’t meant to be there. 

In an attempt to bring more cheer to what should be a happy holiday, Hogwarts had started the Winter Solstice Ball tradition. Unlike the Yule Ball, all years were invited to attend and it also wasn’t on Christmas Day. Instead, it was held on the last day of term and was just a fun event for everyone to enjoy and let off some steam after their first semester back.

You’d always enjoyed it as a student; feeling like a grownup during the first few years and using it as a great way to flirt with boys when you were older. There hadn’t been a year that you hadn’t loved going to it.

It felt a little odd this time though as you were attending as a professor, which meant you had the job of chaperoning all the excited students for the evening. As such, you were excited for an entirely different reason as you would get to watch the First Year’s experience of the ball.

The House Elves had gone all out when decorating the Great Hall today, bringing the feeling of winter inside and taking your breath away. Standing by the open doors, you look around cavernous space with wide eyes and a bright smile. Chaeyoung was next to you, a dress of starlight gracing her body and highlighting just how beautiful she is.

You’d already complimented her as soon as you’d spotted her, admiring the elegant design of her dress and how the tiny crystals are sewn into the fabric reminded you so much of sunlight hitting frost on a winter’s day. Her long black hair was curled into soft waves with her fringe pinned away from her face with a delicate snowflake.

Where she was all light and ice, you were the sumptuous darkness of winter. Your dress was a sumptuous royal blue around your chest which slowly blended into deep midnight by your feet, a shawl of the lightest chiffon in a dark blue around your shoulders. Silver glinted occasionally, threads of it woven through the fabric of your dress and adding a little sparkle alongside the dainty silver necklace around your neck.

The two of you made a striking pair and the combination of a full face of beautiful makeup combined with the jaw-dropping dress made you feel like the prettiest girl in the room. Whether that was true or not, you didn’t care.

The hall itself matched the colour scheme of you both with long swathes of gauzy fabric in rich lavender, crisp white and shimmering silver decorating the tall windows and streaming from the ceiling. Tonight, the ceiling had been enchanted to show clouds backlit by a full moon and tiny flakes of snow fell. They didn’t reach the ground though, melting away a few metres away from the tallest person in the room.

Candles lit the room in all corners, hovering in the air and situated around the room and the tables. A large open space in the centre of the hall was reserved for dancing while a raised section before it hosted the musical entertainment for the night. Small tables surrounded the floor, each only big enough for six people and with white cloths embroidered with tiny snowflakes in silver.

Platters piled high with finger foods dotted the tables alongside empty goblets and jugs of pumpkin juice and butterbeer. A few of the ghosts that haunted Hogwarts floated through the tables, greeting the formally dressed students with cheer and getting into a few conversations with some of them.

Already the hall was filling nicely, students greeting you happily as they rushed inside to meet up with friends and a few of them had already begun to dance. Some of them danced together, trying to figure out how to ballroom dance with the typical awkwardness of teenagers discovering their hormones, and others danced in friend groups. The latter seemed to just be having fun, shaking their bodies wildly to the beat of the music.

“I remember doing that.” Gesturing towards a group of mixed house Fourth Years, you grin at Chaeyoung before chuckling at the memory of dancing like that with Jisoo, Robert and Candace. That had been your ‘group’ of loyal friends throughout your years at Hogwarts, though only Jisoo had remained a close friend once you’d all left.

“Merlin...me too. I had no rhythm back then. Still don’t. Dancing is not for me.” Chuckling, you lean into her and push until she staggers away from you a little before returning the gesture. Glancing around the hall, you note the more introverted people sitting at the tables and sipping at drinks. They don’t seem to be uncomfortable but you resolve to check up on them throughout the night to make sure they’re okay.

“One thing I do love about working with such handsome men here? They make the ball so much better to enjoy.” Chaeyoung hums over the top of her goblet of butterbeer, her refined brows rising in amusement as she looks across the hall. Following her gaze, you have to hide a smile as you take in the sight of some of Hogwarts most eligible bachelor professors and how well they smarten up.

Park Jimin is standing next to Kim Taehyung, his silver hair styled even more elegantly than normal while his dress robes look to have been perfectly tailored to his slim body. A white bow tie adorns his neck and he’s smiling at whatever Taehyung had told him. The Gryffindor Head has his usual boxy smile and you note that he scrubs up just as nicely. Together, they make a lethal pair in terms of looks.

“Now, now,” You muse lightly, looking over to Chaeyoung with mischief on your face. “We’re here to chaperone, not to swoon over good looking men like the teenagers we teach.”

A derisive snort is the only response she gives you, but you see that she’s not taken her eyes off the two younger men. Idly, you wonder which would make the perfect partner for her. You’d consider Taehyung to be a good candidate as their fun-loving natures would get on well, but there’s something about Jimin that makes you think he’d be an even better pick.

She wouldn’t even have to change her last name.

Any more thoughts you have on the subject vanish when the newest professor walks through the door. Black hair made darker from some kind of styling gel is swept up from his forehead, a strand or two falling stubbornly and giving him an almost charming appearance. Deep black robes sweep from his shoulders, covering up a suit that highlights his body in all the right ways.

Unlike Jimin and Taehyung, his outfit was completely black and you swallowed instinctively as you let your eyes run down his frame. Hoseok pauses at the doorway, pink lips moving as he talks to Nayeon, the divination professor. She looks pretty in a floaty dress of bubblegum pink and fizzing lilac, her smile genuine and eyes sparkling as she looks up at him.

Lips twisting, you turn away from the sight and don’t even notice the way Chaeyoung is watching you closely, her lips turning up in a smile she tries to hide. Looking away from you, she catches Seokjin’s questioning expression across the hall and nods at him subtly, enjoying the way the astronomy professor gets a determined look on his face.

“Speaking of men who are too beautiful to be real, Jung Hoseok always looks so good at these events. How is a man like that allowed to even exist?” There’s a breathy note to Chaeyoung’s voice, causing you to frown at her a little before looking back over in his direction. 

Nayeon is still standing there, a forlorn expression gracing her face as she watches Hoseok move away from her. It’s only then that you realise he’s walking towards you, causing your eyes to widen in surprise. Confusingly, you’re a little unsure of what to do or how to act.

Not when he’s looking like that. This is not the shy and awkward Hoseok with his dress robes too big for him, the only memory you have of him at the Winter Solstice Ball. He couldn’t be any further from that teenager and you don’t know how to handle that.

Especially when he gives you that breathtaking smile, his cheeks rising and dimpling while his dark eyes shine in delight. You should’ve known the Jung genes would result in him growing into an attractive man; his sister was one of the most beautiful people you’d ever seen.

“Y/N, Chaeyoung,” He bows his head to you both, that smile just as prominent and you nod back to him a little awkwardly. “You both look beautiful tonight. Winter is personified with your colours, it’s nice.” 

For a moment, you’re a little lost for words on how to respond to him. You couldn’t recall the last time you’d been so casually complimented, especially from a man. A man as attractive as him. It causes you to swallow wrong and you cough loudly, pressing a hand to your throat.

“Thanks, you’re looking pretty fine yourself tonight,” Chaeyoung teases him, causing that smile to become a little more bashful. “Anyway, I’m going to leave you two alone for a moment, okay? I need to go talk to Seokjin about something.”

You watch her go with wide eyes, noting with suspicion that she’s moving a little faster than you’d expect and you wonder if she’s up to something. But then you realise that you’re being left alone with Hoseok, who’s casually looking you up and down while you’re attention is elsewhere.

It’s only when he catches your eye when you look back, a brow raised, that he realises you’ve caught him. Hoseok turns his head quickly, probably giving himself whiplash and you have to hide the snort at the soft blush on his cheeks.

He may be all grown up now, but he still reminded you of that shy boy who never quite knew how to talk to you.

Reaching out, you poke at his chest and grin at him.

“She’s right, you are looking good tonight. Cleaned up very well.” Hoseok gives you a droll stare and you laugh, feeling any awkwardness rushing away as you both fall into the easy-going nature of your friendship.

The rest of the evening goes by in much the same manner with the two of you separating on occasion to handle issues with students or just to do a walk around. Apart from that though, you both end up spending more time with each other than with anyone else. Conversation flows easily like a fast-moving river and you find yourself laughing more than you have in a while.

You only have to break up one fight between two young boys; the culmination of weeks of tension between the two finally bubbling over. It starts with raised voices before escalating to blows, resulting in you escorting the two to Madame Pomfrey to check for any injuries. After that, you leave them in the hands of Park Jimin to discipline them given their house.

When you get back, you look around for Hoseok or Chaeyoung. You can’t see either of them, causing you to take up a place at the back against the wall to observe for any fallout from the fight. Thankfully, the mood seems to have picked up and you wonder if that’s got anything to do with the more upbeat music that’s being played.

It was never nice watching your students get into fights with each other or lose friendships, but you knew that was part of growing up. The thing about teenagers, and kids, was that they were incredibly resilient. You did not doubt that they would both be back to being friends within a week or so.

“All sorted?” Comes a deep voice to the right, the sound closer than you expected and causing you to jump slightly. Turning to look, you note that Hoseok has turned up out of nowhere and you relax at the sight of his familiar face.

“Yeah, no injuries to each other apart from wounded pride and friendships.” That causes Hoseok to snort and roll his eyes, leaning back against the wall alongside you. Suddenly, you recall how many times Jisoo complained of having to comfort her brother when he’d had yet another fight during his tenure at Hogwarts.

“I’m sure you know all about that, Mr Jung. I remember Jisoo having to deal with you. You were shy but a firecracker.” He sighs deeply and you lean into him, giggling as you regale him with some of the tales she’d told you. Thankfully, he takes it all with his usual good nature and you end up segueing into other memories of your time at Hogwarts.

The exams and the studying, the professors back then and your favourite subjects. It’s something he already knows as you’ve both discussed it previously, but he indulges you and listens amiably while keeping an eye out.

You’re stopped though when he suddenly interrupts you, straightening slightly.

“Would you like to dance? There’s not as many people out there now and you haven’t danced once tonight.” His question is abrupt, causing you to falter in your conversation. Narrowing your eyes, you look him over closely and wonder if he’s being serious. And you conclude that he is.

Looking over at the dance floor, you contemplate for a moment and chew your lip before nodding. Now it’s your turn to feel shy, avoiding his gaze and trying not to catch the eye of anyone else in the hall as he leads you carefully to the floor. 

There’s probably a few statues in the British Museum that are less stiff than you as you turn to him, feeling his hand as he settles it on your lower back. You’re hyper-aware of that hand; how hot it feels against you even with the fabric of the dress between you. But that pales in comparison to the feel of his hand against your own, the way he holds it almost tenderly.

Logically, you know that he’s doing that because that’s how you’re supposed to dance like this. A light touch, but it makes you feel a little strange. You’re not sure why it makes you feel like that and you find yourself staring at his long fingers, wondering if he kept up the piano he’d been taught when younger.

The music leads you both in the dance, each beat dictating where you move and you’re vaguely aware of the students dancing around you. None of them are staring or looking confused as there had been many professors who had danced together tonight. But you couldn’t help but feel like this dance was a little different.

This was the closest you’d ever been to Hoseok and his body is so close to your own that you can physically feel the heat coming from him. Every breath you take brings the smell of him into your nose, the familiar mix of rich wood and lemongrass that is so, undeniably Hoseok. And underlying all that is the smell that’s unique to him.

“Is this okay?” He asks quietly and you stare at the black button-up covering his chest, avoiding his gaze given how close the two of you are. It’s probably not the best thing to do when you realise that shirt is straining a little and you can see the outline of his torso from the light of the nearby candles.

Swallowing hard, you look over his shoulder and try to ignore the sudden knowledge that Hoseok is buff beneath his clothes. Which doesn’t help, because you find your eye trailing down his chest as you consider. It’s only when you reach his belt buckle that you suddenly look away, taking a deep breath and wondering what was wrong with you.

You’d had one too many butterbeers tonight or something, which was a terrible excuse as it had such little alcohol content that it didn’t even matter. This was Jisoo’s brother, her little brother. Not someone you should be thinking about half-naked.

Right?

Finally, though, you register his question and nod quickly in response. You’re not sure that you can talk to him without saying something inappropriate as your brain isn’t working very well right now. Not when you’re so confused about...well everything.

“Are you sure? You’ve gone a little weird. Quiet.” Hoseok murmurs, his voice low to avoid any of the students overhearing it. Sighing, you stand a little straighter before looking at him directly and giving him a firm smile. It takes a little more effort than you’d like to push away those errant thoughts but you do so.

“Fine, just worried about those students. I hate seeing their friendship ruined and them angry at each other, you know?” It’s not a lie as you are still concerned about them, but he doesn’t need to know everything going on in your head. Which is why you’re thankful when he nods slowly before spinning you around.

“They’ll be okay. I’ve been doing this job long enough to know that they’ll be back to being friends sooner rather than later. They’ve already got some of that testosterone out by punching each other, which I’d rather they didn’t do but Jimin will talk it out with them. Don’t worry too much, they’ll be fine.” It’s sweet how considerate he’s being and you can hear how genuine he is in his voice. 

You don’t get to say anything else though as the tempo increases when the song switches over, causing Hoseok to twirl you away from him with a laugh. All around you the dances start to get a little more energetic and you can’t help but shriek with joy as he matches the student’s enthusiasm, listening to them as they cheer at two of their professors getting involved in the frivolities.

Neither of you notices the way Seokjin and Chaeyoung watch you both closely before smirking at each other.

-

Glancing around the room, you note how most of the students had already left and gone to bed for the night. The clock had struck midnight a while ago and you had to press a hand to your mouth as you yawned, turning your head away to be polite. A few remaining students were still dancing on the floor but even as you watched, some of them started to walk towards the exit.

Looking over at Chaeyoung, you caught her eye with a wave and smiled with relief when she nodded and made a shooing gesture. Turning to Hoseok, you tried to hide another yawn and almost giggled when you saw that he’d caught one from you, his mouth wide as he didn’t even try to hide it.

“I think we can go now. Chaeyoung gestured that we can leave so I think they’re going to hustle the last students to bed. Something which I’m also very excited to do because I feel like I’ve been awake for two days right now.” Blinking and almost trying to stretch your eyelids by widening them as far as you could, you almost missed the way Hoseok laughed at your antics.

“Tired? It’s not even two in the morning, I expected better of you.” He teases, gently pushing his elbow into your arm before avoiding your hand as you try to swat him. You’d admit that he looked a lot more awake than you did, which you’d say wasn’t fair but you don’t think you’ve ever truly seen him look tired.

“Well, you’re still young and spry. You’ll learn when you get to my age.” Moving off towards the doors of the Great Hall, you grab a tiny triangular sandwich from one of the remaining platters on a table as you pass by.

Light pressure on the small of your back causes you to arch slightly, your chest moving forward and you tilt your head to look at your companion. There’s no expression on Hoseok’s face, nothing to indicate he’s affected by touching you and you frown slightly as you wonder why it’s affecting you.

“You’re not old, I don’t know why you keep thinking that.” He murmurs, voice deep and quiet.

Neither of you says anything more for a few minutes, instead just walking quietly through the hallways. It’s a comfortable silence and you muse for a moment on how much you’ve come to enjoy spending time with him. You would happily say that he was your closest friend here at Hogwarts; something you would’ve never thought would happen when you were studying here and he was just your best friend’s little brother.

That makes you think of how defensive he always gets whenever you, or anyone else, seems to imply that you’re old. Huffing out a laugh, you bite your lip as you contemplate that for a second. Maybe he doesn’t like the implication that you, and by extension, his sister, are considered ‘older’ by the students. Or that he’s also approaching thirty.

The student’s opinions have never bothered you as they think anyone over the age of twenty is old. Nor have you been concerned overall, given the extended lifespan that witches had compared to muggles. You were finally feeling content with your career and your life, something you attested partly to growing older and becoming more at ease with yourself.

But he always got so defensive of it, so maybe he was concerned about himself.

“You don’t have to keep defending my age, you know,” Apparently you were going to query this with him and you blamed the butterbeer for loosening up your tongue. “I’m okay with it, honestly. Which means I’m okay with joking about it.”

Hoseok stiffened slightly and you spotted his expression looking a little uneasy. Frowning, you placed a hand on his arm and pulled him to a stop. Your quarters were only a few corridors away now and the two of you were given a warm glow from the candles lit nearby. 

“I’m not defending...I mean, okay maybe I am. I just...I don’t want you to feel like it’s an issue.” Now you’re giving him an amused look, lip quirked up on one side as you try to hold in a small giggle.

“It’s not an issue. Have I made it seem like it was?” Tilting your head, you watch as his eyes dart across your face in an almost shy manner.

“No...well, not in the way you might think,” He looks uncomfortable and you’re about to tell him it’s okay, that he doesn’t have to continue but he does so before you get the chance to speak. “I’m just made every aware of our age difference. You know, the whole ‘you’re her best friend’s little brother’ thing.”

“Hey, I don’t do that, do I?” Now you’re a little concerned.

“No, not really. Not for a while anyway. You did when you first got here but I understood that. We hadn’t met in a while and everyone was curious about how we knew each other. But now...I don’t even know what I’m talking about. Honestly, it’s not important. You’re right.” Hoseok’s babbling a bit but you decide to let him change the conversation. You’re not entirely sure why it truly bothers him, but you’re not going to press it anyway. He deserves to have his feelings and they don’t need to be analysed.

“Okay-” Before you can say anything else, you hear the quiet chiming of bells and frown in confusion. The sound echoes a little in the empty corridor, simultaneously creepy and also ethereal. 

Hoseok looks around as well, his brow knitted in confusion before he suddenly spots something about you both. Following him, you note the odd plant that’s grown from the ceiling out of nowhere. The green branches are still growing and you note with interest the small white berries that seem to be forming and familiar leaf shapes appear at the end of each branch.

A red ribbon is delicately wrapped around the stems and you see the little golden bells that let out tiny chimes as they rock from side to side in a non-existent breeze. Now you’re the one frowning as you look around you both, trying to spot who’d set a mistletoe charm to grow when someone walked beneath it.

“Mistletoe?” Hosek whispers, reaching up with one hand in an attempt to touch it. He can’t reach it and you sigh, shaking your head and crossing your arms over your chest.

“Someone has thought it’d be funny to put mistletoe charms around the castle for the ball. Certainly adds to the Christmas spirit. I’ve seen these popping up all night above couples on the dance floor. I think it’s a seasonal Weasley thing, seems like something they’d sell to annoy people.”

The mistletoe is suddenly snowing, letting tiny snowflakes drift to the ground around you both and leaving fluffy snow to settle on Hoseok’s hair and dress robes. How very romantic, you muse to yourself.

“Does it just disappear on its own after a while?” He asks, running his fingers through his hair to try and get rid of some of the snow. Smiling at him, you gently brush at his shoulders only to decide it’s a losing battle as more snow lands.

“Nope. You gotta kiss, that’s the whole point of mistletoe, right? Otherwise, it follows you around.” Hoseok sighs deeply and rolls his eyes.

“Of course it does. Definitely a Weasley thing.”

Looking back up at the mistletoe, and having to blink to avoid getting snowflakes in your eyes, you purse your lips before looking back at Hoseok. You’d long since come to terms with the fact that you find him attractive; anyone with eyes can see that. But you hadn’t planned on doing anything about it, not given who he was and who his sister was to you.

His words from earlier play through your mind though, and you wonder if he hates having to constantly know he’s given the best friend’s little brother status. Even now, months after you’d arrived and you considered him a friend, you knew that there were still people who thought of that as the most defining characteristic of your friendship.

Letting out a little sigh, you straighten your shoulders before reaching out and taking hold of his dress robes. Fuck it, you’re not one to waste a perfect chance.

Pulling him closer, you watch as his eyes dart to yours and widen when he realises that you’re moving towards him as well. And then those same eyes flick to your lips, the movement so fast that you’d almost miss it if it wasn’t for the fact that he did again only seconds later. 

Combined with the zero resistance he was giving, you came to the solid conclusion that he wasn’t going to reject you. Not when you were giving him plenty of time and reason to back out if he wanted to.

Tilting your head to him, you felt his warm breath as it caressed your face, the smell of butterbeer strong. And then your lips are pressed together, neither of you sure who made the final move and neither of you gives a damn at that exact moment. 

The pressure of your lips against each other is gentle at first, almost hesitant as both of you try to figure out where to go from here. All that was required was a kiss, which was what you were both doing right now. But you didn’t quite want to let him go just yet, not when you knew he probably had so much more to offer.

Shifting, you manoeuvred your way into a position that made the kiss a little more personal and no longer like two teenagers who’d never kissed in their life. Letting go of his robes, your arms move to wrap around his neck and you run your fingers through his hair, enjoying how soft the black strands feel against your fingers.

A quiet noise leaves Hoseok, his arms sliding around your waist to pull you a little closer to him while he kisses you more forcefully than before. It feels...you can’t even find the words to describe how it feels, only knowing that you’re not entirely sure you want him to stop.

Any hesitation has disappeared between you both and you simply lose yourself to the delightful feeling of Jung Hoseok against your lips, against your body and how he feels under your fingertips. It’s only when he moves a little further, his tongue asking for entrance to fire up the kiss even more, that you suddenly come to your senses.

Pushing back from him, you stare with wide eyes and only just realise that the bells have stopped. A glance up shows the mistletoe is gone and you breathe a little heavily, not realising that you’d kissed him that forcefully until now. Hoseok looks just as out of breath with an odd look in his eyes that you can’t quite figure out.

Licking at your lips, and trying to ignore the knowledge that you could probably taste him right now, you run your hands down the front of your dress robes before giving him a slightly awkward smile. Coughing, you turn your eyes away from the strangely intense gaze he’s giving you.

“Erm, well it’s gone now. So...we’re not gonna be followed by mistletoe anymore,” Playing with your fingers, you wonder if you made a very bad decision tonight. “I, erm, I’m gonna go to bed now. It’s late and...well...yeah. Thank you, for walking me here and spending time with me, you know, dancing and all that. It was nice, I had a good time and thank you. Yeah, I already thanked you. Err...get to bed safely, okay? I mean, I…” 

Hoseok reaches out and takes hold of your nervous hands. It makes you jump nervously, but he just gives a reassuring smile while rubbing the back of your hands with his thumbs.

“Y/N...it’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Go to sleep and have good dreams.” There’s no annoyance in his voice, no anger or outrage that you’ve gone from initiating that kiss to acting very strange in only seconds. 

“Yeah...I...you too. You too.” Frowning as you walked away from him, you wondered what in Merlin’s beard you’d just done.

[ducknotinarow]

[Childhood AU uwu]

"Oooooh..." was the first noise Bailey made upon seeing Richard for their holiday visit.

He hadn't seen then in a while, and nothing had been mentioned in their letters, but apparently, Richard was trying out a new look. White feathers were a lovely shade of brown, sticking out against the lighter plumage. Bailey, having already gone through his feather change when barely a year old, did not realise that it was different for Eagles,

"Richy-roo, I wouldn't think you'd dye your feathers, the brunette looks suits you," Bailey giggles, moving in for a closer look, "Hm, those, it's weird you wouldn't do them all at once," He comments raising an eyebrow, soon pouting as he lightly touches some of the newer feathers, "Aw they're not as soft now either..."

|Muse interaction

"I don't want to go" Was all Richard said sitting in the back seat of the car. Zane beside him was the first to look his way, Thomas in the front adjust the rear-view mirror so he could angle it to look at Richard. It never once crossed Richard's mind that his feathers would change in color. He was born with those near snow-white feathers he just grew attached to them. His mother had white feathers, so he figured he just had white feathers like her. Zane was smirking finding this funny well Thomas just seemed annoyed. They had been sitting at the drop-off for a bit of time a few other cars even honked trying to get them to move. Soon he told Richard he was being completely childish about this; he had lost count of the times he had explained to his son that Golden eagles' feathers change colors once they get older. White feathers were replaced with brown ones.

"I don't want to go." That was all Richard repeated back, he had tried just about anything to get out of going to St. Canard. He tried to act sick, he tried to claim he was behind on schoolwork he even tried to get himself grounded. To no avail. Actually, being in trouble with his parents was still worse compared to having to be seen like this. Thomas sharply and sternly rose his voice however and was quick to snap out for Richard to get out of the car. He was wasting time but worse he was wasting his father's time. Richard slightly flinched but unclicked his belt. There was no getting out of this, the Alders may understand but Richard's parents weren't going to afford any possibility of damage to the connect they had with the other family simply because to them at least their son was in a mood and simply didn't feel like going. Zane hopped out the other side and got into the truck of the car to get Richard's stuff before the two of them walked in. Giving Richard a chance to see his reflection in the glass doors.

"What if he laughs at me?" was all Richard offered to his older brother. Even if the newer feathers were fully brown most were still white, and some patchy looking ones. The fact he felt itch all over from the new feathers coming in didn't help his mood anymore. He tried wearing extra layers to hide it but it was far too hot in Las Egeals and he nearly got sick just from the extra heat alone. St.Carnad was a bit cooler but if his parents somehow found out he was covering up? Zane just spoke up telling Richard to chill out, it wasn't the end of the world if Bailey saw him like this. Seeming to pick up on the real issue his brother was having. The younger egeals cheeks grew hot and flushed as he looked away and stayed ahead of them. "Shut up."

----

The plane trip wasn't nearly enough time to help Richard feel prepared to meet up with Bailey. Or to get over the need to sulk even if the flight attendants were nice enough to try and cheer him up with a little bear toy. Richard wished he were home instead, he hadn't even mentioned a thing about his apparent 'journey to adulthood' as the pamphlet his mother passed over to him when it had started, tried to explain this all as. Apparently, Richard had even more things to expect with this change in appearance alone. But right now he had to face the music on what Bailey would say. Kids at school had laughed and even teased him some over it. But, if Bailey did that was just going to be worse to Richard. He felt like his stomach was flipping and flipping and twisting around. Like he could lean his head out the car window and puke out it. Maybe the rest of the way to Bailey's place. As gross as the thought was it least distracted him somewhat. Only for Richard to see the said house coming up he slightly groaned. His father would tell him to suck it up, so he would. It was only for a few he could manage that right?

"Oooooh..."

Was the first noise, Bailey, once they came over to greet Richard once he got there. Richard was a bit surprised it didn't sound like a bad 'oh' like the kind that would turn into a snicker or dismissed to act as if he didn't look weird right now. To give those snide glances kids at school had been giving him till the break came up.

"Richy-roo, I wouldn't think you'd dye your feathers, the brunette looks suits you,"

Richard slightly crocked his head to the side at Bailey's assumption. A dye job? Or was Bailey just being nice?

"Hm, those, it's weird you wouldn't do them all at once,"

No. they weren't just saying it to be nice, they actually thought Richard dyed his feathers and in such a stupid patchy looking way? Okay, sure other creatures did much more out there things with thier own appearances but still? Though he did like that Bailey felt the Brunette look fit him well Bailey had said suited him. And for some reason, that alone made him like the brown. Bailey reached over to touch them maybe to look closer at the dye coloring. Only to soon start to pout.

"Aw they're not as soft now either..."

Richard had to lift a hand up to his beak as he tried not to laugh just now. It would be rude to laugh his mother would say. But try as he might he couldn't stifle that laugh much as a little chuckle still managed to break free from Richard. It felt could to laugh just a little bit, it was like all the fear and worries shook right off the second he did it. He peeked an eye open to look at his friend.

"I didn't dye them pollito." he started with "My adult feathers are just coming in, and they are brown, not white." Playfully batting away Bailey's hand "And not the soft baby kind." as to make claim to the fact he was older somehow made this seem better. "Who would want to walk around looking like this on purpose dork?" He soon said even if Bailey's remarks made him feel a bit better he still wasn't quite feeling his current look. Arm crossed over his chest and he tried to hunched up his shoulders some and lower his gaze even. He still wasn't happy that he had to be here with his feathers looking stupid. Some were still fluffed almost others more smoothed over and brown. It looked weird to him.

"Is it okay if we don't go out much well I'm here?" he at least tried to ask, of course, if the answer was no he would deal with it. But Bailey seemed to pick up on something as they just nodded to Richard saying it would be fine they could do lots of things inside they even chimed with. Richard cracked a slight smile at that. Feeling relief come over him as he in the least lowered his shoulders some. Letting Bailey take one of his hands so he dropped his arms back down, feeling comfortable with the fact now one else would be seeing him. Outside the rest of the Alders. Richard slightly gripped Bailey's hand and let himself be led off with them.

Though some things were still eating at him, Richard looked over his shoulder making sure they were out of earshot of anyone else. "Bailey? you don't think it looks weird do you?" he asked "Cause I do I liked the white feathers but they are going to brown now? and I guess to get some gold?" he was confused on that bit still "If you want to laugh I don't blame you...I look so stupid right now. More like awful people were staring at me like I was" He paused a bit. "Like a side show freak" Richard declared letting go of Baileys hand so he could slightly crouch down towards the ground. No wonder kids were laughing at him and people were looking at him as they were. He looked like a freak and everyone wanted to see it. "This is the worst."

He manged to at least looked up to his friend expecting them to be honest now. Bailey just looked back at him with a confused expression but it was enough of an answer for Richard. Who just simply looked back to the ground hoping the brown feathers to his face would make it hard to see the way his cheeks were flushing right now. Embarrassed that Bailey was seeing him like this even if they thought the brown feathers looked nice. More he didn't lole Bailey seeing him actting and showing how much he cared. It wasn't cool to care after all. He just got into a more comfortable spot on the floor. "I'm just gonna stay like this till its time for me to leave okay?"

[nekojitachan]

Hmm, slowly working on Casts a Shadow ch8 while trying not to be distracted by the MDZS fic (so many ideas!). Trying to decide to post the next CAS chapter or upload the Raven!Andrew soulmate fic this weekend.

Either way, here’s a sneak peek at ch2 of CAS. Warning for the Nest, and dealing with sexual harassment in a... removing parts way.

*******

“You are such a speedy little demon; we should put a bell on you so we can at least keep track of you on the court,” Kari complained while she tousled Nathaniel’s hair. He grimaced at the affectionate gesture but allowed it since the offensive dealer was one of Natalie’s friends.

“You’re gonna give your mark fits once you’re an official Raven.” Octavia frowned as she handed over her apple. “We need to bulk you up some more by then.”

“He just burns it off,” Natalie said as she gave Nathaniel a slight nudge in the side. “This one seems built for running. Maybe he should be a striker or a dealer.”

“I like running,” Nathaniel mumbled after he swallowed a bite of apple; it was crisp and tart, just how he liked them. “And I do fine as a backliner.” He certainly had no problem blocking Riko and Kevin.

The three young women agreed and commented that lack of size didn’t equate to lack of toughness; Octavia and Kari were two of the newer Ravens, both sophomores, and among the few women on the team.

The Ravens – or at least some of them – had stopped being so standoffish with Nathaniel and Natalie in the last few weeks. Part of it had been them noticing the split (such as it was) between the two of them and Riko and Kevin (the ‘heirs’ of Exy), and part of it had been when John, an asshole freshman striker, had heard about Natalie’s sixteenth birthday and thought it a great idea to ask her if she was now ‘ready for some fun’.

Natalie had immediately pulled a knife on him and asked if he was ‘ready to live life as a eunuch’, while Nathaniel told her to leave him his balls and go for his dick instead.

For some reason, that had endeared the handful of women Ravens to them, and earned them the respect of some of the men. It also meant that Nathaniel had to put up with people messing with his hair and teasing him about his height (more the lack of it), about them being ‘asked’ to fetch drinks, snacks or other items during their downtime… but no one tried to hurt them.

(Other than Tetsuji when they messed up drills or practice, or Riko with his tricks out on court, but that didn’t count.)

Nathaniel supposed he could put up with becoming the Ravens’ ‘unofficial’ mascot when it made Natalie smile and got him extra fruit.

After lunch, everyone returned to their rooms or one of the common areas to study during the short time before the final practice of the day; Nathaniel and Natalie usually went to her room to do their homework together. They passed Riko and Kevin in the hallway since their rooms were nearby, and of course Riko couldn’t resist getting a taunt in while passing.

“Ooh, what class is it today? Reading for dummies?” He laughed at the pathetic joke while Kevin gave them an apologetic look; long used to the asshole’s antagonistic behavior, Nathaniel and his sister simply ignored him (which they knew would affect him the most).

For once, Riko left the insults at that, which was a surprise; he enjoyed taunting Natalie over the fact that, despite her being sixteen, she wasn’t that far past Riko and Kevin in academics since she’d dropped out of school after joining the Bloodhounds. She’d done an incredible job catching up while living in Baltimore, but Tetsuji’s intense training regime didn’t leave her much opportunity to study ahead so there was talk of holding her back at least a year, probably two, which would grant her more time to work on her Exy skills.

(Perhaps it was selfish of him, but Nathaniel wouldn’t complain about having Natalie around the Nest longer.)

They didn’t say anything until they were in Natalie’s room. “He’s been a bit odd lately,” she said as she fetched her laptop.

(There was no question about who ‘he’ was.)

“He’s an asshole,” Nathaniel muttered as he dug through his bag for his own laptop. “What’s odd about that?”

“It’s just….” Her brows drew together as she stared at the device’s blank screen then shook her head as she powered it on. “He was so angry when he found out about us swearing to Ichirou, but the last few days he’s been less antagonistic.” At Nathaniel’s dubious look, she rolled her eyes. “For an asshole.”

“Maybe he’s plotting something,” Nathaniel suggested as he logged on to his online classes. “Maybe he thinks he’s figured out something so much better than messing with our beds in that little asshole snake brain of his.”

Natalie smiled as she bumped into his left shoulder. “Tell me how you really feel about him.”

Like he needed an excuse. “He’s an asshole snake of a bastard who-“

His sister cut him off by smacking him lightly over the head with a pillow. “I think I get it!” When he batted the pillow aside and glared, Natalie grinned and pointed at his laptop. “Show some of that creativity for the essay you have to write for English.”

“School sucks almost as much as Riko,” he grumbled as he clicked on the mentioned assignment. “Hey, I’ll do your math if you-“

“No,” Natalie said, smile gone as she focused on her own lesson plan. “You need to learn more than math, Ram.”

“Why, when we’ll be playing Exy and doing stuff for Ichirou.” He narrowed his eyes when he spotted his latest reading assignment. “We gonna debate Pride and Prejudice while slitting some guy’s throat?”

“Perhaps,” she mused while she typed something. “You never know what triggers some people. Might be the thought of figuring out a calculus problem or they’ll lose a finger, or hearing the breakdown of War and Peace’s plot.”

Nathaniel gave his sister an intent look for several seconds. “You’re terrifying, you know.”

Natalie’s special smile returned, the one which she mostly reserved for him, the one that brought out the dimple in her right cheek. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He resumed lying down next to her and forced himself to start on the detested essay. “Hey, why do people hate math so much?” he asked after a few minutes.

“Hmm, not sure, maybe because it doesn’t come to them as easily as it does you. Just like how you pick up languages.” She flashed the special smile again. “But not essay writing.”

“That’s for you to do.”

She hummed in pleasure and stroked a hand over his hair in agreement.

They studied for the rest of the hour (Natalie corrected his essay once he had it written, and he checked her math – they still covered each other like that), then they got ready for the last practice of the day.

There had been some uncomfortable stares from the Ravens when Nathaniel had first changed with them, as they took in the knife and burn scars on his chest and back, but now they no longer paid attention to them. Instead, they teased each other about who would score the most points or rack up the most blocks, then took turns rubbing Nathaniel’s head on the way out to court.

“Why?” he demanded to know as he fended off Gerry’s hand.

“For good luck of course!” the older backliner declared with a laugh, while his partner, Liam, nodded in agreement.

“Your fault for being a redhead, Nat,” Omar called out while he tugged on his gloves. “And so adorable. You should-oof.” He stumbled as Riko ‘accidentally’ swung his helmet at the junior striker while he stormed out of the locker room, a quiet Kevin ever his shadow.

“Spoiled little brat,” Omar muttered as he rubbed his ribs, a sentiment that was echoed by a few other Ravens; Nathaniel wisely kept his opinion to himself (even if it was much the same). He might badmouth Riko to his sister all the time, but they were still Moriyama property even if they now answered to Ichirou and not Tetsuji.

Tetsuji had Nathaniel, Natalie, Kevin and Riko work on drills while the official Ravens warmed up, then scrimmage together for a while. Nathaniel enjoyed the matches because even if Riko was an asshole who always used excessive force against him (which Tetsuji ignored), he was a talented asshole, along with Kevin (who wasn’t as much an asshole as Riko’s toady).

When it was time for them to stop and join in with the Ravens, Tetsuji ordered Nathaniel and Natalie to go back to working on drills; Riko smirked at them as he and Kevin left to join the older players. Nathaniel opened his mouth to complain about being deprived of scrimmage time, except Matsumoto offered to call out drills for them.

Tetsuji nodded in approval while Nakamori and Akagi fell in step behind the ‘Master’; normally, Nathaniel was uneasy around older men (especially ones his father’s age), but Matsumoto was in his early sixties, possessed a quiet voice and kept his hands to himself.

He was also very pragmatic and while he might be one of Tetsuji’s assistant coaches, he realized that ‘the Master’ and his grand Castle Evermore only existed with the main branch’s blessing. That meant he often passed along useful bits of information to Nathaniel and his sister.

They spent half an hour going through the eight Ravens drills (which they’d perfected) in the random order Matsumoto called out, knocking down cones again and again. It was while Nathaniel was setting up the cones yet again that he caught Matsumoto leaning toward Natalie and whispering something in her ear.

He had to wait until after dinner to find out what it was; Natalie joined him in his room. “It seems that someone owes a debt to Kengo, and the only way he can pay it back is to offer up his son, who plays Exy very well,” she explained in French.

For a moment, Nathaniel felt an intense wave of anger at the thought of another kid being sold to the Moriyamas, of having a father like his, before he shoved the thoughts aside. He jumped a little when Natalie gave a gentle touch to his left cheek (scrubbed clean for the night of the stupid ‘3’ which Riko insisted he bear). “I think it’s why Riko’s been acting up lately. Matsumoto said that he overheard Tetsuji telling Riko that you’re getting a partner, so he probably knows about the kid’s background.”

Nathaniel huffed as he rubbed his sore ribs, the ones which Riko had smacked with his racquet earlier in the day. “Knowing the asshole snake, he’s probably expecting a new ‘toy’ to play with.” One his big brother wouldn’t snatch away this time.

“Perhaps.” Natalie didn’t appear pleased with the thought, but there wasn’t much they could do about Riko’s personality worsening by the month. “Come, time to practice.”

“Slave driver,” Nathaniel groaned even as he climbed off his bed and slipped free the knife he kept sheathed on his left ankle at all times; he figured the sooner he suffered through their nightly fighting practice, the sooner he could sleep.

More like pass out on his bed, by the time they were done.

Jean Moreau arrived two days later, a young Frenchman around Kevin’s and Riko’s age, with black hair, grey eyes, and a massive attitude problem. He glared down his nose (of course he was taller than Nathaniel) at everyone but the adults while Tetsuji introduced him to the rest of the ‘Perfect Court’ (as Riko had dubbed the four of them). “Nathaniel, Jean will be your partner. He’s a backliner, too.”

“Understood, sir,” Nathaniel said with a slight bow.

“You’ll teach him everything he needs to know.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you’ll be-“

“I don’t want to be here!” Jean complained in French as he tugged on the front of his new uniform, which bore the number ‘4’. “All of you can go to hell, I refuse to-ow!” His pale grey eyes grew wide as he stumbled forward beneath the force of the blow to his back from Tetsuji’s cane.

“You’ll speak English,” Tetsuji reprimanded while Riko smirked and Kevin stared off into the distance as if he wasn’t participating in the whole ‘here’s a new possession’ thing.

“I’ll speak whatever I wa-ow!” That time, Jean was knocked to his knees, where he was hit several times before Tetsuji relented; Nathaniel was disgusted to notice the gleam of pleasure in Riko’s dark eyes over the abuse.