#personally voting for the guy i accidentally started making instead of who i was meant to make last time 😅 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years ago

Text

Top 5 Missed Opportunities in 400 Days

Hey, remember when TWDG Season One ended and we were a group of emotional messes? Remember when Season Two was announced and we were gonna get a DLC to bridge S1 and S2 together and we were extra excited for everything to come? Because I do.

To be fair, I truly did enjoy 400 Days when it first came out years ago, and it’s not like I hate it now or anything... I just can’t help but look at it and see wasted potential on every level-- the characters and their development, the stories, the impact our choices made for the future...

The concept of 400 Days-- a collection of stories that follow different protagonists and the situations they find themselves in within the zombie apocalypse that eventually connect to one another-- is a great one. I love the idea of mini-episodes that are all connected, and one choice you made in one episode affects the next episode you play... so what happened? Why does it fall flat now when we look back on it?

Well, a major reason for me is the fact that all four seasons of the main game are complete. When 400 Days came out, we didn’t have S2, so we didn’t know what our choices meant. That lead to us theorizing about what would happen if we got everyone to go with Tavia, or what would happen if no one but Bonnie went. Why was Bonnie the only one who agrees no matter what? What could that mean?

And we have those answers now, and it’s a let down... especially when it could’ve been so much better. That’s what I wanna talk about today. I wanna talk about what I think are the biggest missed opportunities in 400 Days.

5. Giving Shel and her dumb sister actual personalities

Of all the stories you can play in 400 Days, Shel’s episode is probably the worst due to the fact that she and her dumb sister lack any memorable qualities or personalities.... which is such a shame because this story also has one of the more interesting moral dilemma’s.

In this story, you play as Shel who is surviving in the diner/gas station with a group that consists of some of the cancer patients from S1. Remember them? They were with Vernon and helped him steal out boat? Yeah, they got away and apparently Vernon died and the group feel apart over the damn boat, but you don’t get much more than that.

Shel has this dumb sister who I can’t be bothered to remember her name because she’s that bland. Her sister is basically Shel’s personality. Take away her sister, and you’re left with nothing.

They’re going for the “Oh man, I don’t know what this world is doing to my dumb sister, it’s changing her, I don’t want her to have to do things like murder, I want her to have a normal childhood,” but that falls flat when they don’t give me a reason to care about them in the first place.

Like I said, the moral dilemma for this one IS interesting-- They catch someone who tried to steal from them. The man is injured pretty bad, and he can’t speak English, so there is no way for them to communicate with him. Roman, the dude who acts as the leader of our group, says that they can’t keep him here but they can’t send him back out there... and that means killing him.

So what do you do? Do you risk it by giving this man a second chance, give him some food and send him on his way and hope he doesn’t come back and do more harm? Or do you kill this man so that there is no risk in him coming back to do harm?

And you as Shel are the swing vote. That’s not an easy choice to make, plus you gotta think about how that choice is gonna affect your dumb sister?

Except it doesn’t really matter.... at all. No matter what you do, Roman still cracks down and wants to murder another member of the group who tries to escape, Shel’s dumb sister is still a brat who talks big but never does anything, and Shel is still a stale piece of white bread.

If they wanted us to care, then give Shel something other than her sister. Maybe they could’ve had her be someone who doesn’t really have a backbone, she tries to avoid conflict and is intimidated by Roman, she doesn’t speak up even when she should, and then her dumb sister could be the opposite-- Loud, take charge, wants to get more involved with protecting the group, isn’t afraid to stand up to Roman which causes him to take her under his wing and wanna turn her into a murder baby... which Shel definitely doesn’t want so what could she do to keep her dumb sister away from him?

If they wanted to tell the story of a woman worried her sister is going to grow up cold and ruthless because of the world around her, then tell that story. Show us that story, show us what happens when you agree to kill the man and now her dumb sister genuinely believes that murder is an easy solution to their problems, so when it comes to the woman who escaped, the dumb sister volunteers to kill her and Roman lets her... and you as Shel gotta decide if you wanna fight that by running away or just let it happen.

I dunno man, but Shel’s story is my least favorite of the bunch because I have no reason to care about either of them, and that’s a waste.

4. Nate’s a shithead so they should’ve used him more

Well, hello again, Nate... we meet once more here on T5F.

So yeah, I’ve talked about this crazy bastard on a previous list about characters no one likes, so you’re probably wondering why I’m saying that he should’ve been around more.

That’s the thing, I hate Nate. He’s gross, he’s brutal, and he’s uncomfortable with those crazy eyes of his... but he would’ve made for a fun antagonist in more of 400 Days, as well as in S2.

Depending on what episode you play first, Nate can either first appear in Wyatt’s story, or Russell’s. In Wyatt’s story, Nate is chasing down him and Eddie after Eddie accidentally killed a guy who was with Nate, and Nate here is chasing them down for some revenge. He eventually finds them, and who ever is left in the car as no choice but to flee, leaving the other behind.

Nate plays a more active part in Russell’s story, picking him off the highway and chatting with him on the way to the diner/gas station, and y’know how Shel has no personality? Well, I think I know where all the personality went because Nate’s got quite a bit of it. He’s one of the more memorable parts of 400 Days for a reason. He has a weird charisma about him, but then he starts talkin’ gross and almost gets Russell’s face eaten off by a walker and you get the idea that this man isn’t quite right, y’know?

Then we make it to the diner/gas station where they get shot at, and Nate insists on finishing this... as in, let’s go in and shoot whoever is shooting us. They sneak in, and the old man there says Nate is back to finish the job... which isn’t great. Nate acts like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but then suggests they kill the old couple using a line from the story Russell told her.... y’know, the story that’s kinda triggering for Russell.

At this point, Russell can either tell Nate off and leave, or he can stay where Nate will kill the couple right in front of him and claim that Russell is his boy and it is not great.

We know that either way, Russell gets away from Nate. We never see him again so he could be dead, turned, or alive. All I can think about is the fact that they created the beginnings of a compelling antagonist who could’ve bled over into S2 at Howe’s or even afterward. Like if we showed up at Howe’s and were locked up, only to find Nate locked up with us. Or maybe instead of Arvo, Nate could’ve been the one who stumbled upon Clementine and Jane and was overpowered and threatened by them... only for him to stalk them and confront them about what happened.

Either way, there was a missed opportunity to do more with Nate.

3. Focusing on the wrong things within Bonnie’s story

Alright, everyone’s favorite: Bonnie.

Bonnie is the only character in 400 Days who actually matters in terms of S2... and even then, her story doesn’t matter too much...which is dumb.

For me, Bonnie’s story is such a waste... like okay, right from the start they establish that Bonnie is a recovering addict, and I’m intrigued. The idea of an addict surviving in the apocalypse while trying to kick the stuff is interesting as hell.... but the story kinda just glosses over it unless Dee is insulting Bonnie by calling her a junkie.

No, the story we got was Bonnie breaking up a marriage. Great.

There’s this dude Leland who has a wife, Dee, but he and Bonnie are getting awfully snug with one another... so that’s real nice. Dee eventually finds them giving each other the look and breaks it up in a passive aggressive way before revealing she found a bag of supplies. This happens to be a bag that she “found” at the diner/gas station where Shel’s group is currently staying.

An argument breaks out between Leland and Dee with Bonnie in the middle and it’s not compelling at all. You can just sit there and do nothing and it doesn’t matter, they continue to fight until Shel’s group spots them and they gotta run.

Bonnie ends up shot and falls behind, and we do get a cool scene where she has to make her way through this cornfield without getting caught. I do like that bit, it’s fun.

But then she gets away, grabs a weapon, and hits someone walking up on her... that someone happened to be Dee. Whoops. Dee calls her a junkie, saying she killed her, and then dies.

Now comes the big choice: Do you tell Leland the truth or lie to cover your ass?

While this is an interesting choice on paper, it doesn’t matter. Leland isn’t with Bonnie in the end no matter what, and Bonnie will always agree to go with Tavia.

Personally, I wanted the fact that she was a recovering addict to be more front and center. Throw Leland and Dee away, have Bonnie travelling on her own. Have her going through withdrawals, show us her struggle of still being hooked on drugs while surviving in the zombie apocalypse... have her stumble across Shel’s group and from a distance, she sees they have medical supplies. She’s so desperate that she sneaks in at night and steals as much as she can, but gets caught.

We could still have her running away through the cornfield with the drugs, she can still get shot and everything... but maybe she’s so desperate for them that she ends up killing one of Shel’s group members, and she sees just what she’s willing to do in order to get these drugs, and you can make a choice of abandoning the drugs and quitting, or taking the drugs and running away... and it could actually affect Bonnie in the ending and into S2.

Plus, her killing one of Shel’s group would help add to the debate in her episode, y’know?

I just... I wanted that story... not what we got.

2. The past is more interesting than the present

This goes hand in hand with #3, but applies to almost everyone else.

All of these characters that we get to play as have more interesting backstories that I was more compelled by than what they’re actually going through in their stories.

The first time we meet Vince, he straight up murders a dude who is pleading for his life, saying he doesn’t even know Vince’s brother. Like... okay, what the hell happened here? What happened to Vince’s brother that made her commit murder like that?

How about Wyatt and Eddie? They’re running from Nate after Eddie killed the guy he was with. They’re panicking, Eddie is covered in the dude’s blood, Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie meant to shoot or not. You can tell they’re known each other a long time, too. They’re a couple of stoners who got themselves into hot water.

Oh and Russell? His story is interesting as hell! He was in a group where the main guy kept going on about how seven if the perfect number for a group, ya can’t break seven, and this group eventually started killing so they could steal, so Russell got away and is now on his way to find his grandmother’s place.

Once again... Bonnie is a recovering drug addict in the apocalypse.

The only one without an interesting backstory is Shel... which I guess is fitting. The boring character doesn’t even get a fun backstory, she just exists.

It’s not a good sign when I’m more interested in the past, y’know? Vince’s I can give a bit of a pass to because he killed that guy before the apocalypse broke out, and his dilemma takes place right at the start, and it’s done pretty well.

Everyone else though? I already explained Bonnie’s, but what about Russell and his seven group? We could’ve gotten that story of a group that starts out good, the guys gives his philosophy on the dumber seven, Russell meets that one girl... but then things start to grow dark when the group starts to become desperate enough to murder and steal, the guy keeps going on about the number seven so they can’t invite anyone in, and they can’t let anyone go... so Russell has to sneak away or something.

Wyatt and Eddie? Show ‘em there when Nate and his buddy show up. Give us the tension of “are these guys chill or are they planning something?” when Eddie gets into a fight with the other dude and ends up shooting him, Nate gets pissed, and they gotta flee. Wyatt doesn’t know if Eddie shot him intentionally or not, it’s a whole, thing and they can still hit the cop and do that whole thing, too.

I just... I think problem is the stories were a bit too compact and short, not giving the characters a chance to develop or the stories enough compel to them.

1. It doesn’t matter who goes to Howe’s or not and that’s dumb

Sigh..... so yeah, obviously this is #1.

My biggest problem with 400 Days is that is doesn’t affect much. Even Bonnie’s story doesn’t affect what she does in S2.

As for the rest, if you only got Bonnie at Howe’s, then the rest and their fate’s are unknown. But if you do manage to get everyone to go with Tavia, they are at Howe’s... the problem is, they show up in small cameos that literally do nothing.

Ya got Wyatt who walks past Clementine like “Dude you better hurry, Bill doesn’t like to wait” like.... what, am I just supposed to get excited and point at him like “oooohhh I know him! I know him! That Wyatt! Hehehehe!” because I didn’t do that...

Or Vince randomly showing up to catch Tavia smoking, or Shel and her dumb sister making a comment about Sarah, it’s just dumb.

And then Howe’s falls and their fates are left unknown anyway.... so it didn’t matter.

I’ll just say what most of us were thinking.... Why weren’t they the cabin group? No, seriously, why weren’t the 400 Day’s crew the cabin group? Because it was too hard given the fact that there are so many combos? That’s fair, but if that’s the case, then what was the point of 400 Days?

Did they just want to tell a bunch of smaller stories within this world but never actually planned on using them outside of fun cameos in S2, with the exception of Bonnie? That probably is the case... and I think my disappointment in 400 Days does stem from being in the fandom at the time and getting hyped to see what they would do with these characters, only for it to be this.

Not only that, but then I started to think about how they could’ve done with game but with the actual cabin group from S2. Luke, Nick, Pete could’ve had their own story dealing with Nick’s mom getting bit after they took in a bite victim.

Rebecca and Alvin could’ve had a story about their marriage kinda falling apart despite them trying hard, and this could help make her affair with Carver make more sense.

Carlos and Sarah could have a story that explains Carlos’ over protectiveness and as well as explore Sarah as a character.

Hell, give Mike a story.

Give JANE a story about her and Jaime so that her appearing outta no where isn’t jarring, and develops her and the reasons she treats survival the way she does.

There was so much they could’ve done with this idea... and to be honest, if we ever get another game in this series, I would love it in this style but expanded into a season where each episode follows a different character and tells a different story, but in the end they all end up connecting. There is SO MUCH you can do with that!

But alas..... 400 Days for me is full of missed opportunities and I wish it wasn’t.

---

Honorable Mentions

-Eddie only appeared in Wyatt’s episode and then disappeared until his death in S4.... Eddie’s great, should’ve been around more. -Would’ve been nice if the cancer group from S1 was expanded on, give more context to what the hell happened to Vernon and the boat, y’know? -a bit more development for Tavia would’ve been nice, as well... she just kinda shows up at the end and recruits who she can.

---

So what are your thoughts on 400 Days? Do you agree with these missed opportunities, or have any to add? Lemme know, it’s always fun to chat.

Have any suggestions for future T5F��s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Reasons Gabe’s Pretty Great, Y’all Are Just Mean

#twdg t5f #twdg 400 days #twdg vince #twdg wyatt #twdg shel #twdg russell #twdg bonnie #twdg nate #next weeks t5f inspired by reddit

20 notes · View notes

haroldtea · 4 years ago

Text

i wrote something!!

soooo I’m a pathological “i have a fic idea and i’m never going to write it or I write a few pages and then fall off” writer buuuut I had this very cute idea and wrote 4k words of it! I wanted to post it here before ao3 because 1) not sure if I’m a fan of starting a multichapter WIP because I still may abandon it like my other stuff 2) i want feedback before i continue!!

here’s the gist: it’s princess prom except it’s a high school au and princess prom is actually homecoming. Adora is very happy and supportive of Glimmer and Bow running for king/queen. Glimmer is very, very passionate about winning. The problem is they’ve naturally got competition, in the form of Perfuma (who is equally as passionate about winning, for her own reasons) and her new girlfriend Scorpia. In a sitcom-style mishap, Adora sort of accidentally signs up to run as well...with Catra, Scorpia’s best friend who Adora doesn’t not have a crush on. The two decide to go through with it with the intention of getting eliminated from the race as soon as possible. Then, their friends come up with a different plan for them.

so, take a read below at 4k of stupidity and let me know what you think, and if you would be interested to read more :) (fyi there is a lot of swearing lol)

“I’M GONNA BE THE QUEEN!”

Adora shrieks, flailing her arms and almost knocking her lamp over in the process. She whirls around in her desk chair to face the intruder, arms raised in karate chop form (she does not know any martial arts), and finds Glimmer, who has flung her bedroom door open and has that crazed Glimmer look in her eyes that only means trouble.

“Fuck! Glimmer, you can’t just sneak up--wait, how did you get in my house?!”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?! Also, the door was unlocked,” Glimmer replies, kicking off her shoes and launching herself onto Adora’s bed, which she had just painstakingly made.

Adora presses her hand into her face, sighing. “I was kind of busy trying not to piss myself. Haven’t you heard of knocking? What if I was, you know...” she says, gesturing vaguely.

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Please, Adora. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Anyway--the student council decided to bring back the homecoming pep rally!” she squeals, gleefully kicking her feet in the air.

Adora leans back in her chair, brows furrowed. “Bring back? Didn’t we have one last year?”

“Yes, but after the water balloon thing they weren’t gonna let us have it anymore, but it turns out that one senior who wasn’t gonna graduate did graduate so I guess they figured it would probably be fine, ‘cause like, who’s ever gonna try and top that?”

“Right,” Adora hums, thinking back to last year’s pep rally. Just before homecoming court was announced, a group of rogue seniors had risen from the bleachers, unleashing dozens of water balloons they had stashed in their backpacks. What ensued was a pandemonium Adora could only remember in flashes, resulting in almost the entire student body and the school’s hallways being completely soaked.

The catch was that the seniors had filled the balloons with blue paint. It had taken the janitorial staff weeks to get the gym bleachers, the lockers in the science wing, and the cafeteria ceiling (don’t ask) to look normal again. Classes were cancelled for almost an entire week because the paint had messed up something with the internal plumbing. It was single-handedly the coolest thing Adora had experienced in her living years.

It was all led by the legendary Mara Hart, notorious for sticking it to the man during her K-12 years. The prank had all but gotten her and her friends expelled, but given that she was otherwise an A+ student and no one could technically prove who was behind it (her friends were loyal to each other to the bitter end), she walked at Bright Moon High’s graduation to uproarious applause from her classmates.

Adora knew some of the more grisly details because Mara had been captain of the girls’ lacrosse team last year--effortlessly cool Mara, endlessly caring Mara, definitely part of Adora’s gay awakening Mara--but it had become something of an urban legend at BMHS over the past year.

“Wait, how do you know any of this?” Adora asks, because while she was personally connected to Mara in a small way, she hadn’t been aware that they were going to cancel the pep rally indefinitely.

Glimmer arches an eyebrow. “Um, hello? My mom’s the principal?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“And Mermista totally let it slip when I asked her about it after the student council meeting,” Glimmer adds, then pauses. “Okay, it was more like I didn’t even wanna be there and I wish no one had ever voted for me and I’ll tell you whatever, but still. I’m...” she props her face in her hands and bats her eyelashes, “in the know.”

Adora smirks and rolls her eyes fondly, turning back to her desk to shut her textbook and put her notes away. She can never get anything done when Glimmer’s around. “Okay, so, pep rally’s back--that’s cool,” she says.

“It’s not just cool, Adora,” Glimmer scoffs. “Being homecoming queen is literally all I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I thought my dream had died with Mara’s academic career, but now there’s hope again--it’s meant to be, Adora. It’s destiny.”

Adora had literally never heard Glimmer talk about this, but, “Um, okay.”

Glimmer huffs and dramatically rolls onto her back, flinging her arms out and further messing up Adora’s sheets. Lesson learned, it isn’t worth the effort for Adora to make the bed anymore. “My mom was the homecoming queen like a hundred years ago, and my aunt was the homecoming queen before that. It’s, like, my birthright!”

Adora lifts a shoulder, twisting around in her chair to look at Glimmer. “Okay, then we’ll just get you to be the homecoming queen too. Can’t your mom just...make it happen?”

“Ugh, no,” Glimmer sighs. “I already asked. It’s a student vote.”

“Oh!” Adora brightens. “That’s easy, then. Everyone loves you.”

Glimmer pouts. “I know, but it’s not just a popularity contest--it’s, like, a whole thing. Me and Bow are gonna have to do a talent show, and there’s a relay race, and other stuff that if we don’t do well in we won’t even get to be in the final vote.”

“Wait, what?” Adora doesn’t remember any of that from last year. “What do you mean, Bow? Is...he's running for homecoming queen too?”

“Ha! No,” Glimmer laughs, then her expression darkens, eyes narrowing. “I would crush him.”

“Right...” Adora says. Actually, Bow would make a pretty good homecoming queen. But Adora values her life, so she decidedly does tell Glimmer this.

“No, every queen nominee has to also have someone to run with them as their ‘king,’” Glimmer explains, making air quotes with her fingers. “There’s no boy/girl bullshit, but you do have to be in a pair.”

“I don’t remember any...talent shows, or whatever,” Adora points out. “I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of one of those happening in real life.”

“Well, obviously you never went. It would’ve all been during your lacrosse thingies and you would've been too busy making googly eyes at Mara Hart,” Glimmer replies, wiggling her fingers at Adora.

Adora crosses her arms and blushes a deep red. “I would not. I would’ve been playing lacrosse. And stuff.” Okay, maybe she did make googly eyes at Mara, but only sometimes, as a treat, and Glimmer doesn’t need to know that.

Glimmer flips back over on her stomach and levels Adora with a pout. “Adora, this means a lot to me. We’re gonna need your help to win this.”

Adora has no idea how she could possibly be of any help with this, but hey-- “Of course, Glimmer. Whatever you need. I’m there.”

Glimmer grins, eyes sparkling. “Yaaaaay. Also, my mom’s making meatloaf tonight, you in?”

Adora pumps her fist in the air. “Sweet. Hell, yes.”

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

“This is a joke, right? Like, you’re joking?” Catra says into the receiver as she shoves another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“I am usually a pretty funny gal, it’s true--but, ah, no. This time I’m serious,” Scorpia replies on the other end.

Catra hoists her phone higher up on her shoulder while she adjusts her grip on her Xbox controller. “Okay, please explain,” she says between chews.

Scorpa sighs, and Catra visualizes her sitting cross-legged on her bedspread, hugging one of her many stuffed animals to her chest. “I know it’s kind of silly, but Perfuma sounded really excited about it, ‘cause I guess if you win, you get to pick what charity the proceeds from the dance ticket sales go to, and...I just couldn’t say no?”

Catra smirks, mashing a series of buttons on her controller as her TV screen lights up in front of her. She’s been trying to get past this level for weeks, but she’ll probably die right before the end again whether she’d answered Scorpia’s call or not. “You are so whipped,” she says.

Scorpia sighs again, but this time Catra can hear a smile in it. “I guess so, kitty cat. Still, it sounds kinda...fun? I mean, it’s more time spent with her, if anything else. She’s talking about writing an original song together for the talent show and incorporating her Tibetan singing bowls into it.”

Catra takes that in and barely suppresses a laugh. Her New Year’s resolution was to make fun of her friends less. Some days are harder than others. “Um, wow,” she says instead. “That’s, uh...that’ll be interesting. Do I have to call you Queen Scorpia if you win?”

“Oh, Perfuma doesn’t believe in gendered royalty,” Scorpia replies. “She wants us to be known as Homecoming Monarchs.”

“Of course she does,” Catra mutters. Perfuma is endlessly kind and patient and makes Scorpia smile, so by default Catra likes her, but otherwise they...don’t exactly share identical values, let’s say. Catra brings her own point home by pressing a button on her controller and chainsawing an alien in half on screen.

“Do you...think it’s a stupid idea? The whole...running for homecoming thing, I mean.”

Catra hears the telltale signs of Scorpia-doubting-herself in her reply, so she pauses the game. “Nah. If it’s something you guys wanna do, you should go for it. Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

“Okay, thanks,” Scorpia says, sounding lighter. “I think it means a lot to Perfuma. It would be cool to win it for her.”

“Well, hey,” Catra continues, un-pausing her game. “If you need any help, let me kn--oh, fuck!”

“Catra?” Panic sets in Scorpia’s tone. “Kitty cat, speak to me--do I need to call 911?!”

“No, no, Scorpia, please don’t do that,” Catra groans, tossing her controller aside. “I just got blown up in my stupid game again, that’s all. I’m never gonna beat this final boss.”

Scorpia sighed in relief. “Aw, don’t give up, kitty cat. One of these days, you’re gonna really give it to--what’s the dude’s name again?”

“Prime something-or-whatever,” Catra grumbled, reaching for her popcorn.

“Yeah, that guy. He’ll never know what hit him.”

Catra snickers into the receiver. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Scorpia.”

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

The lunch period at BMHS is, naturally, chaotic. Being a regional high school, every inch of the place is usually crawling with students, and the cafeteria is no different. The student population is small enough and the cafeteria big enough to condense into one lunch period, although Adora has oftentimes heard Perfuma lament about the ethics and health concerns of overcrowding.

Adora likes chaos. She likes that the overlapping sounds of chairs scraping and garbled chattering combine to form a comforting din that allows her to drown out whatever weird TikTok plans Bow’s making (ok, to be real, she will be asking about them later) and quietly observe the antics happening at tables around them.

She takes another bite of her pudding and her eyes land on the table to their right where Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio from her math class always sit together. Lonnie is mechanically chewing her gum as she stares into a compact mirror, examining her eyebrows with fierce concentration. Across from her, Kyle is holding up something on his phone to Rogelio with one hand and gesticulating wildly with the other as he holds a corn dog. Rogelio is nodding along but is staring down fondly at Kyle rather than at the screen Kyle’s pointing to, one arm hanging loose around Kyle’s shoulders. Lonnie slaps her compact shut and shouts something at them, pointing emphatically to her eyebrows. They all pause for a moment before bursting into laughter. Then Kyle drops his corn dog.

Adora pointedly does not observe the table across from theirs. She’ll gladly watch the Star siblings silently and intensely do their homework for the next period, or listen to Mermista fight off Seahawk’s PDA attempts, but nothing could compel her to look at the table straight ahead.

That table was where Catra Weaver and her friends sat.

Including: Perfuma’s new girlfriend, Scorpia Garnet; Entrapta Dryl, who was dating one of the Hordak twins (Adora was ever completely sure which one); the Hordak twins in question, one of which who usually broods silently and one of which who usually stares around smiling at nothing and everything; the stylish and blonde ruler of the theatre kids who has been nicknamed Double Trouble for as long as Adora can remember; and finally: Catra Weaver. Effortlessly cool, effortlessly gorgeous, effortlessly effortless Catra Weaver, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, coolly regarding the rest of the cafeteria as she holds court at her table of wonderful misfit toys.

Today’s effortless ensemble: cool jean jacket, a cool crop top, cool black jeans, cool combat boots, she got a haircut recently so--

“Um, Earth to Adora?”

“Huh?” Adora says, jerking her head up.

This is why she avoids looking at Catra Weaver’s table. Or Catra Weaver in general.

“We were talking about homecoming,” Glimmer says from her seat across from Adora, raising an eyebrow. “You were totally spaced out.”

Adora clears her throat, willing herself not to blush. “Sorry,” she replies, digging back into her pudding.

“Glimmer’s trying to convince me not to run for court,” Perfuma continues, crossing her arms.

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s totally lame and stupid and a waste of time,” Mermista answers from beside Perfuma, inspecting her nail polish. She glances up when she senses everyone at the table staring at her. “What?”

“Mermista, you’re on the homecoming committee,” Bow says.

Mermista shrugs. “So? I said what I said.”

“Look, Perfuma,” Glimmer starts, sliding her hand across the table toward Perfuma. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed if you lose. Homecoming’s a really big deal to me, and I really want to win.” She smiles saccharinely, tilting her head at Perfuma, eyes gone wide. Bow and Adora exchange a look.

Perfuma smiles back. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Glimmer! I’m sure our classmates will select the most deserving and talented couple to win,” she says, then goes back to stabbing a fork into her salad.

Glimmer’s eye starts twitching. Bow slowly and gently takes Glimmer’s hand and slides it back to her side of the table. “Glimmer, we’ll do great. The most important thing is to have fun,” he says, patting her hand.

“The most important thing is the charity,” Perfuma mutters.

“That too.”

“Is anybody else we know running?” Adora asks. Glimmer and Perfuma both shake their heads in response, until Mermista sighs dejectedly.

“Unfortunately,” she groans, raising her hand.

“Wait, what?! You just said it was stupid and lame!” Bow squawks.

“It is,” Mermista rolls her eyes. “But the rest of the student council said it would look really bad if I was on the planning committee and didn’t run. I was forced against my will.”

“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?” Glimmer asks, gripping her lunch tray so tight Adora wondered if she was going to launch it at Mermista’s head.

“I don’t know? I guess not? I’m planning on getting cut as soon as humanly possible though, so whatever,” Mermista replies, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

“We won’t win with that attitude, my love!” Seahawk roars, throwing his arm around Mermista’s shoulder and raising a fist triumphantly. “You and I are going to be the greatest King and Queen this school has ever seen!”

“Oh my god, please stop,” Mermista groans, hiding her face in her hands.

“Picture it: you, me, newly crowned, gliding down the science wing--the students stop and stare! Could it really be our King and Queen in the flesh? The teachers stare too! I am going to give them both straight A’s!”

“Please just sit and eat your sandwich,” Mermista begs.

“Never,” Seahawk says, then kisses her on the cheek and acquiesces, taking a big bite of his sandwich. Adora tries to hide her smirk when she sees Mermista blush a deep red. She elbows Glimmer and nods in their direction so she can see.

“Aw, how cute. I’m going to destroy them,” Glimmer whispers in Adora’s ear.

“I know,” Adora whispers back. “But try to at least be nice about it.”

“No promises.”

“Ok, I have to pee,” Adora announces to the table, grabbing her lunch tray as she stands, grinning at Bow’s groan of TMI, Adora!

She makes her way over to the trash cans by the cafeteria exit, waving to her friends on the lacrosse team as she dumps her leftovers in the trash and sets the tray in the dish bin beside it. She should probably go over and check in with them about practice tonight, but she really has to pee, which reminds her that she forgot her water bottle all the way back to the table and needs to refill it before her next class.

“Damn it,” she mutters to herself, still smiling at her lacrosse friends as she whips around to head back--

And crashes right into someone, their heads knocking smack together.

“Ow!” Adora yelps, losing her footing for a moment. She rubs at her stinging forehead, glancing up as she apologizes, “Shit, sorry, sorry, that was totally my fault, I--”

And stares right up at Catra Weaver.

“I...I...I...”

She blinks a few times, but yes, that is Catra Weaver, rubbing at her own forehead and fixing a few strands of hair that had come loose from behind her ears. Catra Weaver, up close and personal, who she hasn’t talked to since...

“Your forehead is fucking hard. And big,” Catra says, holding her tray in one hand as she narrows her eyes up at Adora.

“Oh, um, you too...I mean! Thanks? I grew it myself,” Adora replies spectacularly, and then promptly wants to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Catra raises one eyebrow at her. “How hard did I hit you?”

Adora scrambles to answer. “Oh, not at all! I mean, not hard. It was my fault. Are you, um, are you okay?” This is going amazingly.

“I’m fine, Greyskull,” Catra replies, sending a tingle up Adora’s spine. She goes to deposit her tray. “Just watch where you’re going.”

Adora grins dopily. “Yes. I mean--I will. Sorry. Again.”

Catra glances Adora up and down, eyebrow still raised, and goes to say something else, when they’re interrupted by a foreboding, familiar voice.

“Ah, Adora! I’m so pleased to see you taking an interest in student affairs.”

Adora turns to see Glimmer’s mom looming over them, hands neatly clasped together. Maybe looming isn’t the right word as she’s smiling brightly down on her and Catra, but she’s tall, ok? “Oh, hi Ang--,” Adora starts before remembering they’re at school, “um, Mrs. Moon. What’s up?”

Angella gestures between her and Catra. “I was just observing how wonderful it will be that Glimmer will have a friend to share the homecoming experience with.”

Adora tenses again, remembering that Catra is still standing very close to her. “Oh, haha, yeah, super great. Wait, what?” Sharing?

Then she notices that her and Catra are standing in front of the wall where the Homecoming Court Signup Sheet is hanging. A sparkly pen tied to the clipboard is dangling within Adora’s reach.

“Oh, um, actually, Perfuma’s already--”

“I think this activity will make a fine addition to your college applications, Adora. And you know how Glimmer gets,” Angella leans in conspiratorially, not bothering to lower her voice. “I think it will calm her nerves to have a friend by her side. A bit of friendly competition, even!” she claps her hands together, delighted. “I remember having so much fun with my friends back in my day.”

“But, I’m already on the lacrosse team...” Adora mumbles, scratching the back of her neck. She glances down at the pen.

“Oh, but you know schools these days, always looking for that something that makes a student stand out,” Angella says, waving her hand dismissively. “And don’t worry, I’ll speak to Coach Huntara about any scheduling conflicts. You’ll get to have the best of both worlds!”

Wait, but lacrosse was Adora’s whole thing--does she not stand out enough? Will she seem boring to UEternia? “I...”

“Oh, Ms. Weaver!” Angella says, as if she’s just now noticing Catra. “I didn’t take you for the...school spirit type.”

“I’m not,” Catra replies, crossing her arms. She smiles saccharinely and adds, “ma’am,” for good measure. God, she’s cool.

“Ah,” Angella says, creating an awkward pause before brightening again. “Well, still, here you are. Are you Adora’s running mate?”

So, sometimes Adora panics.

Look, she’s in a high-stress situation. The girl she doesn’t not have an embarrassing crush on bumped into her, talked to her, and then her best friend’s mom swooped in basically saying that lacrosse is boring and dumb and running for homecoming court will get her into UEternia. At least, that’s what Adora got from all that. And then she insinuates that she’ll be doing that with Catra Weaver.

So, she panics. She panics, and she grabs the glittery pen, and she continues to panic.

“Yep! We’re running together!” she says, grinning.

“Say what?” Catra hisses.

“Oh, wonderful!” Angella squeals, clapping her hands together again. “I must say, I think this will turn out to be a very interesting competition. You’ll have to come dress shopping with us, Adora.”

“Haha, yeah...” Adora says, quickly scribbling Adora Greyskull & Catra Weaver on the signup sheet. Oh fuck, oh god.

“Hang on a fu--” Catra starts, then clamps her mouth shut, because the goddamn principal is still talking to them.

“Oh, I wonder what you’ll do for the talent show! I can’t wait...well, I’m off. It was great catching up, girls!” Angella says, and winks, and does weird-mom-finger-guns, and then she’s gliding away as quickly as she came.

Adora continues to grin and wave awkwardly until Angella is out of sight, then she deflates. That was so weird.

Then she turns and sees Catra reach for the pen that’s still in her hand. Adora has half a mind to snatch it away. Or half a brain cell, at least. “Hey!”

“Cross our names out. Right. Now,” Catra growls through gritted teeth, still trying to grab the pen. Adora tries to hold it up out of reach, but it’s still attached to the clipboard, so the best she can do is weave her hand in and out of Catra’s way.

“Um, no? I just told her we were running!”

“Well, we’re not. Give it to me!”

“No!” Adora grunts, yanking the pen away. “You heard her--she’s gonna talk to Coach Huntara. I can’t back out now.”

“Well, I can!” Catra says, grabbing at Adora’s arm, where she has the pen tucked under her armpit. “Find someone else to run with you!”

“I can’t! They’ll want to win!” Adora says, twisting her body away from Catra. She’s having a slight meltdown over Catra touching her so much, but she’s focusing on the pen for now. “No one’s gonna want to run with me anyway.”

Catra mutters something under her breath that Adora doesn’t catch, then she snakes her hand under Adora’s and takes hold of her wrist. Adora stifles a gasp. “Wait, you don’t want to win?” Catra asks, eyebrow quirked.

“Noooo,” Adora furiously shakes her head. “No, no, no. Glimmer would kill me. She wants to win. I just, um, panicked. I guess?” The heat from Catra’s hand is searing into her wrist.

Catra glances down at their hands and back up at Adora. “So, your friend will kill you if you run for homecoming. And you just signed up in front of her mom?”

“Um...” Adora thinks for a second. “Yes?”

Catra huffs out a laugh. “Wow, you’re even more of an idiot than I remember.”

Adora feels her face redden, shocked at Catra’s casual mention of the past, and glances away. “Look, let’s just get eliminated as quickly as possible and then we can forget it ever happened. Deal?”

“Ugh,” Catra lets out a groan, leaning her head back. She tugs at Adora’s wrist a few times, finding that she isn’t budging. “Fine! As quickly as possible.”

“As quickly as possible,” Adora nods, finding herself grinning as Catra loosens her grip and pulls away. “I’m gonna take this pen home, by the way,” she calls out as Catra begins to head back to her table.

“Fuck!”

After Adora finally pees and refills her water bottle, she gingerly sits back down beside Glimmer. Poor, sweet, deadly Glimmer, who’s chattering away excitedly with Seahawk about some new music video or something.

She says, in a very tiny voice, “So, um...I think I’m running for homecoming queen?”

Glimmer whips her head around, nose flaring. She stands up, slamming both hands down on the table with a smack.

“You WHAT?!”

And then the bell rings.

#she ra #she-ra #spop #catradora #catradora fic #scorfuma #glimbow

34 notes · View notes

solidservantry · 5 years ago

Text

DESPOT DESPAIR: CHAPTER 2 RECAP

This journal will act as a recap for everything that has happened during Chapter 2. This means there will be information that Tsuyu/Yahari would not realistically know. This is only for the sake of the recap. If you’re confused on who’s who, here’s a link to the roster page.

NOTE TO SELF: These are MANUSCRIPT NOTES!!! They’re meant to be a rough rough rough ROUGH draft of my FIRST NOVEL!!!! Tentatively titled Tsuyu Tsuyuki and the Primrose Palace Peril.

That trial sucked. It really, really, really sucked. I’ve never seen anybody die, not in real life, and I never wanna see it again, ever. Ami was one thing, but Kokoro... we had to watch her die and get executed, and it was just horrible.

I guess I don’t have it as bad as Airi, though, since he and Kokoro were dating, apparently? I had no idea until he just started losing it when she died.

But even if I didn’t have things as bad as he did, I still kinda lost it a little bit.

So, by now, anyone reading this book would know that I’m pretending to be somebody else. Everybody still thinks that I’m just Tsuyu Tsuyuki, SHSL Servant. And I am the SHSL Servant, but my real name isn’t Tsuyu, it’s Yahari Yasui, the master detective and, since you’re reading this, successfully published mystery novelist! Currently, I’m Ricardo Caballero’s butler, but I’m really just doing it because... well, that’s spoilers. You guys have to keep reading to find out!

Anyway! After the trial, I went to talk to Ricardo, and he started going on about how miserable he is here, and Tsuyu got mad, and I sorta did, too. Tsuyu is just a character and all, and it fits with what would make them mad, but it made me a little mad, too. So I kind of ended up going off on him and telling him about how he needs to think about other people for a change, and he was really, really upset.

So I went outside to get a breath of fresh air and take a swim, and then Yuu showed up. He started going on about how I’m a loser and everything and I was still mad, so I... well, we fought? And I kind of ended up killing him? But it’s fine because I revived him!!! I think he’s gonna hold that against me forever, though.

I ended up storming off after that, and I went to the kitchen and saw Sakura! I was trying to stresscook, and she kept trying to ask what was wrong, and I ended up so absorbed in my anger that I accidentally cut myself. But when I tried to wash the wound, I burned my hand with the water, then I fell backwards and hit my head on the floor!

Things are kinda fuzzy after that since I think I got a little concussion or something, but I left the kitchen and then went to the infirmary and Liya was there! We talked some and they patched me up and... we kinda ended up napping together on a cot? But. That’s not the important part! The important part is we talked about how self-sacrificial they are, and I made them pinky swear not to give up or do something stupid and end up getting themself killed!

After that... Tsuguyo and Azumaya had an argument that ended in Tsuguyo storming off, and she talked with Cai for a while and he gave her his sunglasses and she looked really cool! And there were some weird eggy cinnamon rolls in the fridge and they were REALLY BAD and I think Tsuguyo made them with Momo... It’d make sense since neither of them know how to cook.

Speaking of people who don’t know how to cook, Ricardo tried to make rice! And he failed! So Sakura tried to give him a hand. I think he also tried to make spaghetti, too, but he just put it in a pot with two drops of water and left it there instead of actually doing anything. He thought it would cook itself! I guess that makes sense, since he normally has other people do everything for him.

Ricardo and Yuu also looked around and completed some kind of puzzle! The toys ended up giving them a chest, and they opened it and found a weird symbol! I’m kinda sad that I didn’t find it first, but sometimes it’s just like that, I guess. There was also a list of names and stuff in it!

.....ologist

Midori Uehara - SHSL Detective

Mika Hanyuu - SHSL Ballroom Dancer

Roseanne Aurora Li - SHSL Broadway Actress

Roshan Shinten - SHSL Biomedical Engineer

Saruhiko Kizuguchi - SHSL Sharpshooter

Takeshi Taro - SHSL Tic Tac Toe Champion

Towa Sonogami - SHSL Roboticist

Yuko Kuwashima - SHSL Home Tutor

Ricardo and Mari hosted self defense classes for judo! Tsuguyo really wanted to learn, so Hanae helped her out, and they ended up totally owning Ricardo! Airi also got his shoulder dislocated, which he deserved bigtime. After that, he was taken to the infirmary and Kliment and Liya tried to help him out! Liya has generally been serving as the doctor for everybody, so that’s pretty nice.

After all that, Ricardo and I (still as Tsuyu) talked a bunch and ended up making up! That was cool, while it lasted.

But then we got the new motive. It was basically that if you get away with murder, you can choose half of the participants to escape with, while the other half gets executed immediately.

But that wasn’t it. Not that long after, we got a second part of the motive: a lot of people’s secrets were exposed. I guess it was to help with the decision of who to save and who to kill.

In terms of other stuff that happened… it turned out that the guy who raised Tsuguyo is on death row, and she told Airi that his charges include fraud, arson, and over 100 counts of murder and attempted murder. Yikes!

Oh, and during the secrets thingy, Yuu tried to hide his own secret and Liya tried to hide someone else’s (more on that in a second…), so they got SHOCK COLLARS!!! I hope nothing bad happens.

But, okay, so the secret Liya tried to hide was actually mine. It was that Tsuyu’s not real and that they’re really me and all that, and when the secret got outed anyway, Ricardo really didn’t take it well! On one hand, I get it, but, come on, Ricky. It’s nothing personal! After that, though, he just kept moping and ate a bunch of ice cream because he was so depressed. To say the least, us making up was pretty short-lived.

But after all that, I went and gave myself a peptalk! It’s kinda weird, showing everyone who I really am after pretending to be Tsuyu, but I’m AMAZING, so it’ll all work out! For example, my two closest buddies right now, Sakura and Liya, both were kinda weirded out, warmed up to me pretty quickly!

And on the topic of Sakura, she was so determined to live for other people all the time and not do anything for herself, and as we kept talking and stuff, I tried to convince her to live for herself, too!

But I’m not the only one Sakura got close to! She and Mari had a heart-to-heart in the infirmary! Mari told Sakura about how she got into scuffles with cops, but didn’t go into detail, and Sakura thought Mari might have anger issues! She told Mari it was okay, but Mari said that she acts the way she does because she doesn’t wanna deal with turbulent emotions because acting on them ends badly!

Sakura told Mari that it’s okay to be erratic and temperamental, and it’s just human nature! And she told Mari she’d accept her no matter what. Mari thought Sakura was amazing and virtuous and all that, and she’d protect her, too! And then they vented and shared more secrets.

And then we all had a picnic! Me and Hanae helped prepare some food for it, and Cai saved Hanae from drowning, and I helped Sakura confess her crush to Mari! She was really embarrassed, though, even though I did a GREAT job!

Tsuguyo also got pushed off the roof of the gazebo, but Ricardo caught her! So she promised to teach him how to make origami horses to pay him back.

Everything was really nice! …Until it wasn’t. Yuu kept throwing apples at people, and when he threw one at Muqiu, he didn’t move. We all got closer to see what was up, and we realized that Muqiu was dead.

After that, we investigated for a while, and then it was time to have the trial. It turned out that Muqiu didn’t wanna keep going through the killing game, so he made a deal with Sakura for her to kill him in an assisted suicide.

What happened was they organized the picnic to mask the time of death, and then Sakura made poisoned mochi and gave it to Muqiu in his room. She got the poison from the apples in the forest, since apple seeds have cyanide in them. He ate the cyanide mochi, then died, and none of us even realized it until midway through the party.

Sakura planned to sacrifice herself, too, and gave people the offer that if they purposefully mistrialed for her, she’d save the people who voted to help her rig it. When Muqiu was alive, they made a kill/save list together, and here’s what was on it:

Kill: Airi, Gam, Ivy, Keiyuu, Momo, Sakura, Ren, Tsuguyo

Save: Azumaya, Cai, Hanae, Hitomi, Kliment, Liya, Mari, Ricardo, Yahari

We all got into a huge debate about what to do, and I tried to get Tsuguyo added to the save list because she’s practically a LITTLE BABY and doesn’t deserve to die. Liya also tried to sacrifice themselves, too, and that made me mad.

A lot of us tried to vote for ourselves instead of Sakura to save more people, but in the end, there were still a lot of votes for her, and Sakura got executed. Hakumei ended up getting pulled into it, too, and she also died.

After all of that, I’m… really tired. I hope we find a way out soon.

- YAHARI YASUI

14 notes · View notes

incorrectly-quoted-queers · 5 years ago

Text

Drunk Punch Love: Chapter 9

Pairing: FemShep and Garrus Vakarian (Shakarian)

Rating: PG-13 (with some tossed F-bombs)

Summary: Their awkward, badass journey through saving the galaxy and accidentally falling in love

Chapter 9: 4 AM Stroll

Maybe she was up a little too late. Or too early, depending on whose standards. But Shepard needed a hot drink and she needed to remember that the emptiness in these halls, and the calm across the Galaxy, was very temporary.

She and Garrus had been having a movie marathon in her room, as many James Bond films as they could stomach. There were over 50 movies (the franchise's popularity never quite waned when Bond could just evolve with the times; there was even a turian MI6 agent when the military was trying to improve relations with them). Her dad had only collected so many copies of the movies, though. She was definitely missing a ton of the older ones. But they'd made it about halfway, to one called Spectre (fitting title), when she realized Garrus fell asleep on her couch.

But with Garrus out for the count, Anya stopped the film and decided to get her sleepless ass a drink. Earl Grey tea, a favorite. She sipped it in the mess hall, alone, trying to organize her thoughts, but she was just tired. Sleeping had been harder the past few days. It was hard to ignore the fact that in only a little over a week, and he'd be gone.

She'd lived 29 years with no stubborn turian snipers by her side. So why did it feel so bizarre to think of life without him?

Anyway, it wasn't like she'd never see him. Hell, if he did end up a Spectre, they could run into each other out on missions. It'd be likely, even. They could probably catch up then.

Damn, did that sound more depressing than she meant it to be.

Just as she was about to punch herself in her own tragic sentimentality, she watched Kaidan stumble out of the science office and through the med bay. Her eyebrows were raised the entire time she looked at him. The guy looked pretty flustered, his hair even messier than that awkward Ilos conversation.

Anya couldn't help herself. As he walked out of med bay, she said, "On a 4 am stroll, Alenko?" The second his eyes met hers, they were filled with this existential dread that was partially amusing and another part offensive. Was she really that scary now? Sighing, she dropped the jeering Commander schtick. "I'll stop the taunting there. Could we sit down and talk like adults? Because I think we've both done things we regret the past few weeks."

Kaidan didn't look too thrilled, but he sat down. "Okay, Commander."

"I mean, if you want to leave, it wasn't an order. Granted, I do have Asari-related blackmail on you now if you don't, so I guess make your choice accordingly."

Sitting across from her, he still didn't look too comfortable. But he did have the faintest wisp of a smile on his face. "I'll stay."

"Good." Anya sipped her tea and drummed her fingers on the mug. "Kaidan, I'm sorry I was so tough on you before Ilos. I was stressed and grieving. You have the right to have feelings. I'm just sorry they were for me."

"It's okay, Shepard. I think after Ash, I jumped myself through a lot of mental hoops to feel like I had something real with you."

"You still have something real. I still care about every single member on this team like they're my family. And that includes you."

Kaidan shook his head, chuckled low. It was like stabbing pin needles against her arteries, just begging for her heart to burst. She never wanted to do this to him. "No offense, Commander, but that's easy for you to say when you're the one trying to let someone down easy."

"I've been on the other side. I know it hurts."

"You? Really?"

Shepard laughed, but dread pooled in her stomach. She was going to have to get into that story to make him feel better, wasn't she? "When I was at the Academy, there was another student, Rike. He was from Australia. I hadn't met many people actually born on Earth who grew up there, too. And yeah, give me shit later about how you're like that. But he was breezy and open, where I grew up with my boots laced and my emotions in a locked cage. I was crazy about him. But when I told him how I felt, he wasn't interested." Anya snorted, even though it still kinda stung. "He actually admitted he had an Asari girlfriend and then followed up the rejection by asking me how to propose. Apparently he wasn't the most tactful guy."

"Are you saying at least you didn't ask me for romantic tips?"

"No. I'm saying romance is a mess and everyone gets rejected." Anya ran a hand through her hair and leaned back in her chair. She didn't know why it felt so important to fix things with him, but maybe it had to do with the fact he was the only one left in her new "family" that might actually stay. "It's your call for what you want moving forward. But I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not embarrassed or mad with you. I just want to be your friend. And you don't have to be, and you can take all the time away from the Normandy that you need. This doesn't have to go one specific, uncomfortable, embarrassing way. But if you want it, you can still be the best damn Alliance soldier on the Normandy."

Kaidan's smile grew then, looking down into his palms. "When we hit the Citadel, I do think I'll take some time. But you're right, we're a good team. I'll stay, as long as you never bring up the fact I tried to kiss you ever again."

"Deal." Anya tried to ignore it, she really did, but the fact his shirt was on inside out was really starting to kill her. "So, you and Liara...?"

"Also don't mention that."

"Fair." Looking down into her own glass, she couldn't help but add, "But I'm happy whenever my officers are happy." Kaidan didn't seem to have an answer to that, but speaking of officer's happiness... "I should tell you that you that avoiding me has been putting our pilot on the fritz. Just start doing target practice with us again, okay? Joker's not used to so much attention. It gives him hives."

"I figured that he never really got himself all the way down to the storage bay."

"Absolutely not, it has some steep stairs and the door jams. Dude would break something just trying to get in."

Kaidan chuckled and said, "Yeah, fine. I'll be there tomorrow to get the old assault rifle tuned." Then he looked at her, and it was nice to see him look at her without shame or lust. Didn't mean his raised eyebrow didn't perplex her. "What are you doing up in the first place, though?"

"Trouble sleeping."

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that you want me to stay? And don't worry, I know you meant it in a platonic way."

Anya was used to throwing double meanings, doing her officers' questions about her motives, but it was like Kaidan saw right through her and she didn't know what to say. It didn't make her love him, but it did make her respect him more. Maybe he did have his head further out of his ass than she expected. Rubbing her neck, she admitted, "Everyone's leaving. And more than I'd like to admit, as much as I've inspired everyone, I didn't want any of them to leave. But now it's just you and me and despite all our bullshit I don't want to lose you, too."

"That was refreshingly honest."

Laughing, Anya didn't realize how much she'd missed talking to him like a friend. Before he got those obvious puppy dog eyes, he was one of her favorite people on the ship. Like a good old fashioned soldier but somehow, still different. "I hope this doesn't sting too much, but I'm really happy you're my friend, Kaidan."

"I'm happy to be yours, too, Commander. But now I'm going to bed." He stood up from his chair and, even though his smile was still a little awkward and things between them still had a long way to go, it was something.

Shepard waved in his direction as he walked off, waiting until he was out of sight to down her own tea. Then the embarrassing, asshole teenage smirking came. She needed to talk to someone, and she only really had one option. But he probably was the only person she'd want to tell anyway.

Walking a little too brisk back to her room, she opened it to see Garrus curled up like a damn kitten on her couch. But she couldn't keep her mouth shut, so the man was going to wake up whether he liked it or not.

Tossing a polar bear plush from Joker at his face, he stiff armed the thing and nearly fell off the couch. "Wha-"

Anya interrupted him as fast as she could. "Kaidan and Liara hooked up."

He sat up and scratched his head. "May I repeat: what?"

Looking at Garrus, Anya didn't really care if he was all that awake. "I just caught Kaidan doing the walk of shame out of Liara's room."

"Huh. So when you turned down both of them, they turned to each other?"

"I have been waiting all mission to report somebody was hooking up with somebody and it finally happened. And even better, it wasn't me!"

Garrus snorted, still rubbing away some sleepiness from his eyes. "You're being an absolute child. Why are you so excited?"

"Because I just won the dating pool."

The slow realization that fell over his face was priceless. He smiled at her with bewilderment, but still threw the polar bear back at her head. "Shepard, you hated that pool."

"And I voted Kaidan and Liara as a joke, but guess who was right after all? The second they go public, I get to laugh at everyone else who was trying to say I'd get with them. And like 1,000 credits." She sniggered, probably a little too much, but the entire thing was absolutely priceless. "Oh, but don't tell Kaidan I told you. I said I wouldn't talk about it."

"Some days I think the galaxy needs to save you, not the other way around."

"And some days you're probably right." Anya flopped down onto the couch and leaned into his shoulder. She wanted to say: I never want this week to be over. But she couldn't say that, not when she knew that if he thought she needed him, he would stay. He was too good a guy for that. So instead, Anya said, "Now where were we?"

Garrus growled at her, "Sleeping."

"We can sleep when we're dead."

"Fine, but you better keep it interesting." Before she could answer, he leaned into the side of the couch, adjusting to her weight on his side, and shoved the pillow he once was sleeping on into her face. "Who am I kidding? I'll be lucky if you ever let me die in the first place."

"You're stuck with me forever, Vakarian... Or at least until next week."

Things between them got silent for a little while, but then he put his arm around her shoulder. She was starting to love when he did that, because it always was when he was about to say something that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. And battle-ready commanders didn't get to feel fuzzy too often. It made everything that was eating out her about the next week feel a lot less overwhelming. "Don't worry. No matter where I go, I'll be stuck with you. Forever."

///

I hope you guys enjoy my awkward Anya and Garrus just as much as I do <3 So many more chapters to come! On AO3, this story is at 20+ chapters, so we’re catching up slowly but surely.

Thanks so much for reading, and double thanks to my lovely patrons:

Danyell Jones

Amy Connolly

If you'd like to support the story, please go check out my bio for more info :) All proceeds will be going towards a gaming desktop so my lovely sass can game on Twitch with fans (also read/write new fanfics or original stories!)

Patreon: patreon.com/GraceJordan

Twitter: (at)Steph_Marceau

Wattpad: user/GraceJordan

#Drunk Punch Love #Shakarian #femshep x garrus #Garrus Vakarian #Anya Shepard #Kaidan x Liara #Kaidan Alenko #Normandy fluff #Mass Effect fanfiction #bioware romances #fanfiction #drama

2 notes · View notes

danceyreagan · 6 years ago

Text

Modern!John Shelby x Black Reader~ Headcannon.

Check out my Masterlist for more.

~You met when he came to Help Ada and Michael establish a new branch Of Shelby Bros. limited in Los Angeles, Ca.

~You met at a bar. Michael was trying to hook up with your friend. You were over the sauve, “Ive got money and a cool accent vibe” and ended the night early.

~Later that week you ran into each other at a bagel shop that was halfway between both of your jobs.

~John recognized you first and apologized for acting like An ass.

~After a few chance run ins at the bagel shop he asked you to dinner properly. And it took off.

~He gets along very well with your brother says he’s a poor bastard for being the only the boy. Thats when you remind him that you and your sister were much nicer to him than his brothers ever were to Ada.

~Your cousins introducing him to American Football.

~Your brother and cousins whoop his ass in basketball every weekend.

~He enjoys the holidays with your friends vs family, cause you guys just watch Old music videos on youtube and play board games. But when it turns to a Beyonce marathon he goes in the room with your Brother and His friends and plays video games. He’s shit at first person shooters. But he knows how to shoot a real gun so who cares really.

~Your family is very uppity and christian and he has a hard time with black family rules like.

~Its very hard to find people that arent intimidated by him and his family in England. But here he’s just “your little friend”

No PDA in front of the family

No cursing. He messed that up once, when Tommy called during a visit, and he went to hang up. “Fucking Hell, Tommy”

“Tell your little friend no cursing in my Christian house.”

“Watch yo language youngin”

Changing the subject every time his very violent and very illegal job is brought up.

“What it is you do again?”

“He’s an accountant” technically not a lie. But not the truth either.

Having to enter the house and greet each person individually with a hug and a kiss

Letting the elders serve themselves first.

You had to punch him in the hip when he stood and started towards the kitchen after they announced dinner was ready. The whole room froze looked at you like “get your heathen boyfriend to behave”

You stage whispered “sit your ass down” “Why? Its ready and Im fuc- very hungry”

He was shocked and appalled when you got attacked for not making him a plate. “You’re not gonna make him a plate?” You looked around dramatically, “Im sorry, whats wrong with his legs?” “Why would she make me a plate? Im not helpless” Your Aunt side eyed him, and he shut right the hell up.

Having to tell him not to eat food that Aunt Shirley brought because it was always ice cold, flavorless and colorless.

He accidentally put chitlin’s on his plate cause you were too busy arguing with your cousin over something that happened when you both were 5.

“I didnt know you liked chitlin’s baby?” Asked your grandmother.

He looked confused. “Whats a chitlin?” Being a great girlfriend you kept your mouth shut watched intently waiting for him to taste them.

It did not go well. Trying to be polite he just smiled and turned bright red continued to eat it.

“You know that’s pig intestine right?”

He spit everything out on his plate.

“Time to go get him some unseasoned potatoes”

~He refused another family Holiday after that.

~You were not interested in his gangster status. It was actually the source of lots of fight. “You’re smart John, I just dont see why you cant make a honest living”

~You told him once “If any harm comes to me and mine on account of you I will not hesitate to leave and never come back”

~He always took you to fancy places to eat around town. After the first few months you had to admit to him. “I appreciate this, I really do. But its just not my scene. Can we go to the bar with $6 whiskey and the bomb garlic fries instead?”

~White women flirting with him in your presence cause they never assumed you were a couple. John would put his arm around you, “sorry, Im taken” Lots of dirty looks from women.

~He likes that you had no idea what a Shelby was, meant you liked him for who he was and not what he had to offer.

~He tried to pull your hair during sex once. It was like one of those scenes in a movie where everything stops “see what we not gonna do...”

Let me know what you think. Did you like it?

Tagging everyone that voted for Modern!John my usual suspects, and those who asked.

Taglist: @twistedrunes @collecting-stories @animalkingdom-anonymous @sparklemichele

#justice for john shelby #my peaky boo #peaky blinders #Modern!John #Peaky Blinders Au #black reader #Black Fic readers matter #modern!au #Black women in fandom #John Shelby

51 notes · View notes

loquaciousquark · 7 years ago

Text

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E18 (May 15, 2018)

@eponymous-rose is out tonight, so here I am instead, tiny-footed in her enormous...shoes? This metaphor’s escaped me.

Preshow is the crew filling a whiteboard with chat-directed drawings. It includes Mollymauk covered in pyramids, Jester’s lollipop, and Caleb on fire. You know, as it happens. Liam smiles very convincingly next to it.

Anyway, tonight’s guests are Liam and Sam, who arrives late and brings his Emmy. This fool.

Tonight’s announcements: new website! Critrole.com. It’ll have updates, news, events, and Sam suggests a daily vlog from BWF. The hardcover version of VM Origins will have its launch date announced this Thursday morning on said website. Liam pulls out a copy of the thing and it looks great. Also, everyone except Liam will be participating in the Stream of Many Eyes livestream in LA June 1-3, which will include multiple live D&D games. More information and tickets here.

Crit Role Stats! Nott currently has the most kills of the MN with 16. Her HDYWTDT on the hill giant puts her at 5, tied with Molly for the most.

Caleb has cast the most spells of the group with 146. The next closest is Jester with 100. Liam: “It’s that ritual casting, yo.” However, Jester’s cast a larger variety of spells (22 to Caleb’s 20). This doesn’t include the Wand of Smiles (Caleb: 1, Jester: 4).

Sam is still stuck in character creation in Pillars of Eternity. Liam calls BS since he asked how to walk, but Sam reminds him you walk before going into the CC. He’s spent an hour and a half making a Cipher. BWF made Pike, but picked the wrong voice. Liam suggests picking Grog’s voice in his remake. Liam played the opening nine times and eventually had to reinstall the whole thing to unlock the VM portraits. Sam has a traumatic realization that he has the same problem & will have to reinstall as well.

Caleb is strongly regretting entering the Victory Pit due to the exposure it’s gotten them. He didn’t think there would be any bigwigs this far out, but he was “shocked” to find he was mistaken.

Nott isn’t happy with the notoriety either, but she’s conflicted; “she enjoys the supportive glances of her comrades, her teammates, but every once in a while is reminded other people are watching too.” Both agree the afterparty went badly.

Re: the Trent namedrop, Liam: “I can’t believe he’s here, this far out... I didn’t take in a lot of what happened for the next twenty minutes.”

During a discussion of distractions during an episode, Sam talks about how he and Laura were drawing a shared picture last episode whose arms and legs became dicks over the course of the episode.

Nott was surprised to find she was of value to the team during the hill giant fight. She’s still getting used to her abilities, but being so small and taking down something that big was a confidence boost. “She’s super jittery and nervous about everything and she drinks to compensate. I think this is going well for her, helping the team.”

Frumpkin happened post-asylum, so there was no danger of Trent recognizing him. Liam: “He was tapped for school at 15, meets Ikathon at 16 & goes with Astrid & Aeowulf, goes home for the first event with his parents about a year later, burns the house at age 17, and then was in the asylum until age 28. He ran and was totally alone when he got out; the first step was a cat, the second step was a goblin, and the next step was a group.” Sam: “Your guy was institutionalized for over a decade? I should reconsider who I travel with...”

Nott doesn’t necessarily believe Yasha is a spy, but she doesn’t know why she keeps disappearing or what she’s doing. She doesn’t even know what Yasha is, just that she’s super powerful and scary.

GIF of the week: @trisail. It’s the Trent reveal moment with overlays of Caleb shorting out. Heh.

Lengthy discussion about the “leave the table” moment. Liam found the scene super satisfying as it played out and doesn’t regret it. However, it’s a game for his friends first and foremost, and the primary purpose must be to entertain his friends and make them laugh and gasp, and this way robbed them of their reactions. He doesn’t think there would have been an issue with them being at the table--they’re all respectful audience members, and they’ve all been present before at other reveals. Plus, his story is very complicated, so “what am I gonna do? Spill it out all over again for Fjord, for Jester? It just didn’t seem feasible.” Caleb’s story has been in Liam’s head for a long time, so he was glad to get it out. Liam got the most responses on Twitter ever after his first tweet that he’d told his friends to go back and watch.

None of the other cast members aside from Ashley & BWF have watched the Caleb scene yet. Ashley found it pretty crazy and “a lot.”

Liam reminisces about seeing Vex’s heartbreak at Percy’s death and Grog’s privy conversation with the sword, even though he wasn’t part of those scenes, and wishes he hadn’t excluded his friends from his reveal. “I didn’t get a cat o’nine tails out of Taliesin’s closet and flagellate myself, but...a small course correction.”

Caleb’s reveal clarified some things about how Nott views Caleb; neither Sam nor Nott are dumb, and they both knew that he was suffering from something terrible. This just confirmed that & fleshes out the details. Nott’s views of Caleb’s victimhood, and her wishes that he no longer have to suffer, have not changed.

Liam points out that the intimacy of the show has changed over time, allowing them to pursue deeper conversations between characters instead of just the wacky hijinks they started with. As an example, he points out the difference between the first Liam/Keyleth scene where people hid behind hats vs. later Percy/Vex scenes where everyone was respectful and quiet. Sam enjoys that they can now have fun-fun (getting out of tricky situations and fighting together) alongside adult-fun (deep conversations and new relationships). BWF points out they’ve spent more time with these characters already than a full 5-season primetime show.

Sam became addicted to playing D&D precisely because of the level of depth you could reach with these characters, which you can’t achieve anywhere else.

In the thirty minutes before the Caleb conversation, Liam was wildly conflicted about what he was going to do (reveal everything, reveal only parts, lie). At the same time, “it’s killing [Caleb] to keep it all bottled up,” and even though Caleb’s really smart, he’s not a mastermind, and it may have still been too soon. However, Liam was also ready to stir the pot--he’s getting antsy that so many backstories haven’t been revealed, even though they’re theoretically a sixth of the way through the show. He also points out that Caleb has achieved his goal of finally getting into the library, so there’s nothing keeping him from leaving at any time. “That’s Caleb talking, not Liam.”

Laura & Travis interrupt to Facetime in & pretend they meant to call BWF’s mom for Mother’s Day. It’s pretty darn funny, and they confirm they totally watch this show from home when they’re not on it. Nerds.

Sam also takes a moment to loudly, angrily remonstrate Laura & Travis for taking pho home to eat. “You do not take pho home to eat. You eat it at the restaurant. It does not travel.” Discussing Sam’s food snobbery, Liam reminisces about how proud he was of some homemade blueberry pancakes he made after his kids were born. He shared a picture of them with Sam, who then sent back a picture of pancakes Sam’s wife made that “looked like something out of a magazine, there were raspberries, and everyone was like OHHHH, OHHHH, and I was alone and tired in my kitchen.” Sam: “I’m the worst person.”

Sam had guessed that Caleb’s backstory had something to do with fire, but had thought maybe he’d accidentally hurt/killed someone. “It’s pretty bad to accidentally hurt someone with fire. It’s super bad to intentionally kill someone with fire who is related to you.”

Caleb has no idea what happened to the other two children. The last thing he remembers before hospitalization was the house. Liam still thinks of Caleb as young since he’s essentially lost eleven years.

Sam asked Liam why he wanted to play someone so dark after Vax instead of someone more lighthearted. Liam’s just attracted to these kinds of stories; “this is what I want to do with my spare time.” He’s fine with other people being jovial instead of him.

Fanart of the Week: This gorgeous thing by Wesley Griffith. Apparently, Travis said this is his favorite representation of Fjord so far.

Nott doesn’t think she can do powerful magic; she’s just excited to be able to do small things. Liam’s dying to know Nott’s backstory: “She’s like a little bag of knives who’s hyperintelligent and drunk.”

Sam pauses to plug a new organization, Nerds Vote, a nonpartisan encouragement to register to vote.

In re: Beau’s reaction to Caleb’s reveal, Liam discusses his other options. He thinks Fjord is very intelligent but an unknown who might be evil. Jester he thinks would be the most likely to be repulsed or run away. Yasha’s her own kind of stranger who always leaves. Molly’s a 24/7 party animal that’s wildly different from Caleb. He feels Beau was the best choice; Beau had something he wanted anyway (and had shared a secret with him) so he didn’t have second thoughts acceding to her request.

Even though Nott has forgiven him, Caleb’s not looking to be forgiven or have anyone pat him on the back. He doesn’t believe “it’s going to be okay or it’s not his fault.” He knows he’s absolutely to blame and there’s a massive degree of self-loathing, so Liam feels Beau was the absolute perfect person to tell since she was going to be dry, pragmatic, and real. “No fluff, all...elbow-corners.” He didn’t want someone to coddle him and she was the perfect person for that.

He recognizes that they’re both Empire kids and share that history. Caleb also has been paying attention to everyone, and he feels Beau is clearly not happy with the Empire regardless of what she says, which aligns with Caleb’s feelings as well. Liam thinks it was a great choice to break it to her first, & he feels it wouldn’t have been fair to exclude Nott if he were to finally spit it out.

Nott’s not concealing anything from anyone about her backstory; it’s just that no one’s asked. Caleb never asked about anyone’s backstory because he didn’t want return questions.

Sam likes Liam’s story choices and calls them brave.

The original idea for Caleb stretches back so far that Liam thought of the name Astrid even before Matt introduced Pike’s cousin, Astrid. When they started discussing character creation for the new campaign, Matt okayed repeating the name. The German accent came much later in character creation (i.e. after the development of backstory). To Liam, Caleb’s backstory reads more like KGB or Pet Murderer over Hitler Youth, since as far as he knows it was only the three children involved, not an army.

Of the choices available to the group, Sam most wants to go back to the Gentleman. Liam wonders if Pumat has skeletons in his closet. (How many closets does Pumat have, I wonder?)

Sam segues into his difficulty remembering the difference between the Soltryce Academy and the Cerberus Assembly since they both have “C-A” sounding names. Liam: “Look, folks, he can either be really funny, or he can know the details.” Sam: “And that’s... where Ikathon is? And then there are the Halls of Erudition? There are too many things!” I have never identified more with him than this moment right here.

I have a brief, violent heart attack when an accidental keypress navigates me away from this page and I think I’ve lost it all. False alarm, please reduce heart rate to under 100bpm.

After Dark: Emmy and a lovely mace for Pike Edition

Liam elucidates the difference between a mace and a morningstar. Sam just about knocks his Emmy off the shelf getting the aforementioned mace for demonstration.

Sam’s asked which 90s Disney Afternoon show his character would like best. Sam: Darkwing Duck, Talespin, Gummy Bears, Fraggle Rock. Liam: Duck Tales.

Does Nott regret saying she’s Caleb’s mother after knowing what he did to his last mom? Sam: “Oh, wow. I didn’t even think about that.” Liam: “How could you not? I’ve been thinking about it for weeks!” Sam: “Well, it’s not like he’s a Terminator-style hunter of only mothers...” Finally--no, it hasn’t crossed Nott’s mind, but Sam will inform her soon.

The ultimate food sin for Sam--transporting pho is pretty high on his list, but he decides on ten-dollar wine. (Two-buck chuck, you know what you’re getting, swillwater flavored like wine; ten-dollar wine is actual wine that is terrible.) He recommends splurging for the fourteen-dollar wine. Sam loves cheap Chinese but Panda Express doesn’t count as Chinese. “No good Chinese restaurant ever advertises, ever.” Salted vs. unsalted butter is also a big thing. This is all because of Sam’s wife, he says; Liam points out that a year after they first met, when Sam moved to LA, Liam went over to Sam & Sam’s wife’s terrible apartment where they made very fancy salmon wrapped in that clear waxy rice paper stuff I can’t remember the expensive name for.

Caleb had very little left offensively in the hill giant fight. All he had was Sleep and Shield and a weak cantrip, so all he could do was gamble and guess on the timing. When he first cast it, Sam told Laura it was a big mistake.

A viewer question tries to goad Liam & Sam into a tickle fight. Liam threatens BWF with the mace instead.

Sam agrees to grow a small beard for Liam’s birthday, a little “chin music.”

And that’s all for the night! Is it Thursday yet?

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #brian wayne foster #liam o'brien #sam riegel #long post for ts

514 notes · View notes

fallen-imagine-angel · 6 years ago

Text

Merry Christmas (Harry Potter AU with Peter Parker) Chapter 13

Notes: Hey guys, so here’s chapter 13! Chapter 14 should be up either tomorrow or the next day, hopefully. Also, I’m debating whether I should keep the series going for a little bit longer (I have a couple more ideas I could use) or if I should end it at chapter 15. Let me know what you would rather have happen! And, tag lists for everything are still open! Just drop in my ask and let me know!

Summary: The chapter where you have your first merry Christmas in a very long time.

Merry Christmas - Chapter 13

Peter Parker x Reader

Word Count: 1,734

Warnings: none?? this is just a pure fluff chapter? Wow. (okay, I lied. a hint at angst at the end but...just enjoy this chapter, okay? while it lasts)

It’s Christmas day and you’re the happiest you’ve ever been. You and Peter still haven’t talked about it yet, but you’re slowing getting there. In fact, you’re pretty sure the conversation will happen soon. You’re just not sure what the outcome will mean.

“Wake up, wake up! It’s Christmas!” Peter jumps on the bed, stirring you from your deep sleep. You groan and grab your pillow, throwing it in his general direction.

“Five more minutes…” You mumble, smiling lightly when you feel him grab your hands and try to tug you up.

“You missed, and no! No more time for sleep, it’s now time for presents!” He giddily drags you into the living room, you only half awake now.

“What do you mean presents? For me?” You yawn.

“Uh, yeah! You’re family now, whether you like it or not.” He nudges your shoulder with his and gives you a small smile. You smile back and lay your head on his shoulder. Tony and Aunt May walk in moments later, giving you two the look.

“I’m tired, don’t say anything.” You sleepily wave a dismissive hand at them. They just chuckle and start passing presents to you and Peter before finally taking a couple of their own. You look down to see you and Peter both got three presents. You might’ve snuck a present under the tree for Peter at some point.

“(Y/n), you got me something?” Peter grins at you. You shrug slyly and grab your present from him.

“Of course I did. Open it up, I think you’ll like it.” You smile at him. He unwraps it to unveil a brand new Firebolt with his name engraved into the tip of the broomstick.

“You got me a Firebolt!?” He yells, tackling you in a big hug. You laugh and hug him back, savoring his touch.

“Yes, I did. I know you’ve always wanted to do Quidditch, but you’ve never had enough money to buy the broom to play. Now you have a broom. Is it my turn to see what you got me?” You smile and sit up, definitely noticing how his hand stays planted on your lower back.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on. This thing is worth...a lot. How did you afford it for me?” Peter asks.

“Easy, I’ve still got a lot of savings that my parents can’t get to. With or without them, I’m rich. Now, is it my turn?” You grin.

“Wow. And yes, yes it is. I’m positive you’re going to like my gift.” Peter smiles confidently, one hand on your back, the other clutching his new Firebolt.

“I’m intrigued.” You smirk and place the box on your lap, undoing the bow and opening the box. There, sitting quietly is a black kitten.

“So you can take her to school with you when we get back,” Peter explains. You grin and pick up the small cat, pushing the box aside and setting it in your lap.

“Boy or girl?” You smile down at the kitten.

“Girl,” Peter confirms. You pet the kitten’s head, hearing her purr already.

“What should we name her?” You whisper.

“We?” Peter raises his eyebrows. For a minute, you’ve forgotten that Tony and May are in the room.

“Yeah. We’re her parents, so we both get to choose a name for her. I vote Nox.” You coo, snuggling your face up to the kitten’s face.

“Nox? Like the spell?” Peter scrunches up his face in confusion.

“Exactly!” You nod, setting the cat in Peter’s lap.

“I...actually like that. Nox it is.” He nods and starts to pet Nox. You stare gleefully at the boy you love and your new kitten as they get along. You look over to Tony and May who are staring at you and Peter with that face. The face that says “oh aren’t they so cute together?”

“Next presents!” You clap your hands together, knocking everyone out of their love-struck trance. Tony and May laugh nervously, knowing you saw them, as they open their presents.

The rest of the morning goes very smoothly. Then Ned and MJ show up.

“The party has arrived!” Ned announces as he steps over the threshold of the door, making you laugh.

“What did you guys get for presents?” MJ asks, smirking.

“A kitten. And some other things.” You smile.

“A brand new Firebolt. And...other stuff, but the Firebolt was the coolest.” Peter grins widely. You look over at him and smile lovingly. Not that he noticed, though.

“Dude! A Firebolt!? Who got you that?” Ned punches Peter in the arm and runs into the living room to find the Firebolt.

“(Y/n) did, actually.” Peter nudges you in the side causing you to blush.

“That’s totally awesome!” Ned returns to the entry hall holding the Firebolt. You laugh.

“Okay, well, now it’s time for my present reveal. I got a nose-biting teacup. I’m gonna prank some unsuspecting first-year and it’s going to be great!” MJ pumps her fist in the air.

“Do you think you could use that on Flash?” You hum, grinning mischievously.

“Absolutely. More than once.” She nods in approval.

“Dinner’s ready!” May calls out, and everyone goes rushing to the dining room to be served. You sit between Peter and MJ.

“I’m starving.” MJ digs in as soon as she sits down, causing May to chuckle.

“This food is delicious, Aunt May!” Ned praises, stuffing his face with food.

“Why thank you, Ned.” May smiles and daintily eats. You feel a foot nudge yours, from your right side. You give Peter the side eye, only earning a slight chuckle from him. He nudges your foot again, causing you to nudge his foot back.

This goes on for a while, and a couple of times you accidentally hit MJ’s foot in the process, earning a sigh from her.

“Would you two stop playing footsie over there? I’m trying to eat, and the tension is really making it taste sour. You know what, let’s just go watch a movie. Star Wars, anyone? Aunt May, Tony, dinner was great. Thank you.” MJ stands up and walks out of the living room. You, Peter, and even Ned break out into giggles.

“I guess we should follow her.” Ned stands up, followed by you and Peter. You all walk to the living room, which connects right to your room.

“Lovebirds get their own loveseat.” MJ points to the two-seater couch. You blush uncontrollably.

“I think we’ll be okay just sitting on the couch.” Peter shrugs.

“Nope. No. I am not dealing with you two flirting through the entire movie right next to me. You get your own chair for that.” MJ shakes her head and plops down on the couch, spreading out to minimize room for any more than one person, Ned.

“Okay. Our own chair it is.” Peter awkwardly lets you sit down first before sitting next to you, leaving a little space between you.

“Boo.” MJ gives Peter a thumbs down.

“What? You said you didn’t want to see us flirting through the whole movie, so I’m not-” Peter tries to explain, but MJ cuts him off.

“I meant not next to me. When you two are sitting alone, have at it. I know all you two wanna do is drool over each other instead of watching the movie.” MJ waves her hand dismissively before starting the movie.

“She has a point.” Ned agrees before sitting back to watch the beginning credits.

“We do not...drool…” Peter trails off, biting his lip awkwardly. He then minimizes the space between you until there is none.

~+~

A few hours later of not paying attention to the movie at all, after which you have found yourself comfortable lounging across Peter’s lap as he plays with your hair, you look over to see both Ned and MJ peacefully asleep. MJ snores loudly as her head lays on Ned’s shoulder. Ned is leaned back against the cushions of the couch, not looking very comfortable but also not looking like he cares much.

“Do you want to, uh, go into your room real quick? I think...I think it’s time we talk.” Peter bites his lip, a habit he has that you secretly love because it’s adorable. He leads you to your room and you sit down on the bed.

“Talk about what?” You play naive, nervous for how this conversation is going to play out.

“You know what. Don’t play dumb.” Peter laughs nervously.

“Okay, okay. Where do we start?” You ask, looking down at your hands in your lap.

“I’ll start by saying that...I’m still in love with you. Everything I said back in the cabin of the train was true and still is. I’m deeply and madly in love with you and there’s nothing I can do about it except to hope that you feel the same.” Peter starts, nodding his head slowly at the things he says.

“Wow. Well, uh, I can silence your fear by saying that I absolutely feel the same. And I think that this time, both of us are ready for a relationship.” You smile.

“I would completely agree with that.” Peter breaks into a grin wider than you’ve ever seen before, and that’s saying something.

“It’s always been you, Peter. And if I’m being honest, I think it always will be you.” You admit, smiling like crazy. Your cheeks start to hurt.

“I know it will always be you,” Peter repeats, bringing up a hand to cup your cheek.

“Good.” You breathe out, nervous and giddy at what you think is about to happen.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispers, and you nod ever so slightly to give him your permission.

Then it happens. Your lips connect and you feel every emotion you’ve ever felt for Peter fill your heart with joy and love. Peter makes you feel something you’ve never felt before.

Peter makes you feel loved. Peter makes you feel like you have a home.

“I got it! First kiss! Go, go, go!” You turn to see MJ and Ned rushing away from the doorway to your room.

“Hang on, how long have you two been awake?” You break the kiss with Peter to yell at them. Peter’s just laughing.

“We were never asleep!” Ned calls back. You sigh but chuckle right after. You love them. You love everyone here.

And maybe that’s why what happens next is so soul-crushing.

Tag List: @nerdofthehighestcalibre @carry-on-ms-believer @trumpettay @tcmhcllqnd @farfromjustordinary @anglekit123 @ajl090 @mysticalmagicmoon

(Strikethrough means I can’t tag you)

30 notes · View notes

quarantineroulette · 6 years ago

Text

Minor Disappointments’ Least Disappointing Releases of 2018

Preamble: I had a bit of a low (not Low, although that would’ve been preferable) period in 2018 that went on for several months. I didn’t really listen to music during that time, and so I missed out on a lot of things. I’m kind of too scatterbrained from holiday hysteria to really take in anything new. So these lists probably don’t designate “the best”, but they’re decent documents of what I wasn’t too distracted or down to take serious notice of.

Secondly, my own band released an album this year, and that occupied a large amount of time normally reserved for listening to other bands. I won’t rank it because I don’t want to be that conceited...but if you want to check it out for yourself, the highlights for me are “For the Rest to Rest”; “Open Up the Ways”; “Screen Test”; and “Suspend Disbelief”. One of my favorite reviews of it described our sound as being a “unique blend of post-punk, brit-pop, indie, and a little post-rock too.” and said we’re “one of the smartest bands to come out of Brooklyn in a very long time.” This is both why people should listen to it and also why they might not.

Thirdly, one of the things I listened to the most this year was Protomartyr’s Consolation EP, but I’m refraining from listing it as it’s not a full-length. That said, I think it’s as good as nearly anything I’ve heard this year, Protomartyr are the best and both of their live sets I caught were my favorite gigs of 2018. TLDR: Protomartyr = good. Most other things on this list = equally good but not Protomartyr. Let’s get started shall we?

10 Songs That Were Good:

10) Neko Case & Mark Lanegan - Cures of the I-5 Corridor. How has a Neko Case / Mark Lanegan duet not existed until 2018?? No matter the year, something this gorgeous and heartbreaking is always worthy of making the cut.

9) Lana Del Rey - Mariners Apartment Complex . I remember Spencer Krug tweeting something kind of snarky about “Venice Bitch” a few months back, then deleting it, and damn well he should’ve because both that and “Mariners Apartment Complex” are blinders. “Venice” may be the most low-key epic ever, but the way “Mariners” takes hints of Leonard Cohen and Lee Hazlewood / Nancy Sinatra and places them in a pop context is perhaps even more admirable. It’s truly inspiring to hear mainstream music this nuanced.

8) Parquet Courts - Tenderness . I love the jaunty piano, and how Andrew Savage’s vocal take is simultaneously forceful and lax. But most of all I love how all its elements converge to create a sense of hard-won optimism.

7) Iceage - Thieves Like Us . Iceage do a swamp cabaret song and I just can’t love it enough.

6) MGMT - Me and Michael . Yes, it’s ridiculously ‘80s, but you would have to be a very dour person to not smile whenever that opening synth riff kicks in.

5) Shame - One Rizla . Riff of the year. Hands down.

4) Bodega - Jack in Titanic . One of the great things about 2018 was witnessing Bodega’s success. To me, they’ve always been one of the few up-and-coming indie bands with the charisma to be actual stars, and it’s been a joy seeing the rest of the world take note of this. From the moment I heard “Jack in Titanic”, I just knew it was destined to show up on a BBC Radio 6 A-or-B list at some point in the near future (and it did!). And yeah, they’re my good friends, but even if they were strangers I’d appreciate the smartness, melodic hooks, and sexiness all the same:

youtube

3) Preoccupations - Disarray . Click on that link because the song is really good, but be warned -- the vocal melody is never, ever going to leave you.

2) Protomartyr - Wheel of Fortune . This song has everything: a nerve-wracking stop and start guitar part, an at-once badass and terrifying refrain, Kelly Deal, and the exact sense of urgency that’s needed right now. Powerful, timely, and a rare example of a song that puts its guest star to highly effective use.

1) Janelle Monae - Make Me Feel . This song combines about five different Prince songs but Janelle Monae’s personality is so strong that the end result is something wholly her own. And if the song weren’t a blast on its own, the technicolor video is almost lethally fun:

youtube

10 Albums That I Loved A Lot:

10) Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino . I really loved this album but I’m ranking it as 10 just because it’s the Arctic Monkeys and I can’t believe I enjoyed anything they’ve produced *this* much -- especially a lounge album about a casino on the moon. I find Alex Turner overrated as a lyricist and cosplaying a Bad Seed isn’t endearing to me, but he obviously loves Scott Walker a lot so I guess he gets some sort of pass.

9) Moonface - This One’s of the Dancer and This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet . The only reason this isn’t ranked higher is because I haven’t been able to give it the attention it deserves. This is a concept album where some songs are sung from the pov of the Minotaur and others from Spencer Krug, and both these creatures are enigmatic are too enigmatic to be given mere surface reads. This all said, I’ve listened enough to glean that, as always, Spencer’s lyrics are awe-inspiring, the marimba is implemented well, the alternate version of “Heartbreaking Bravery” is excellent, and comparing and contrasting its themes with those found on Wolf Parade’s 2017 release Cry Cry Cry is a fun past time if you’re me or seven other people. Looking forward to delving deeper in 2019.

8) Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer . To be honest, I *was* a little disappointed in this. It’s not as cinematic or stylistically adventurous as Monae’s previous full-lengths, but I think Monae herself is extremely talented and I wish she was a much bigger star. Furthermore, when considered against the drek of the general pop landscape, this is still a bold, unpredictable, and intelligent pop record from a true enigma.

7) Luke Haines - I Sometimes Dream of Glue . Like “Kubla Khan” if it had been written after huffing a river full of glue, but instead of Xanadu it’s an English village full of miniature people having a orgy:

youtube

6) Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! . No other song better captures the frustrations and anxieties of living in NY in 2018 than “Almost Had to Start a Fight / In and Out of Patience”, and for that alone this album would make the year-end cut. But it also happens to be brilliant start to finish, with the two closing statements, in the form of “Death Will Bring Change” and “Tenderness” respectively, being among PC’s best.

5) Low - Double Negative . Mimi Parker’s voice emerging from a sonic cocoon on “Fly” is one of the most gripping moments of Low’s fantastic career. This album challenged me the most in 2018, but it’s also one I frequently returned to, determined to crack its code.

4) Preoccupations - New Material . I suppose some would dismiss this as too trad. post-punk, but holy hell - these trad. post-punk songs have got some hooks! And there isn’t quite another singer like Matt Flegel, who somehow manages to channel Bowie and Mark Lanegan at the same time. I’ve listened to this so much that New Material already feels like a well-loved classic.

3) Gazelle Twin - Pastoral . I would argue that Pastoral is the closest anyone’s come to making something comparable to PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake. An electro-pagan examination of Britain’s heritage and history (and the whole Brexit thing) that manages to feel thorough despite only being 37 minutes long, Pastoral moves beyond being just “a record” and becomes something closer to contemporary art. Elizabeth Bernholz’s vocals, whether warped or unconstrained by processing, are remarkable throughout. A mash-up of folk traditions and modern beats that somehow works shockingly well:

youtube

2) Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance . Boyfriend / bandmate James and I have discussed this album more than any other this year, and it’s been a pleasure hearing his love for it and forming my own appreciation of it in the process. What sealed it for me was James’ description of “Idles” as pagan, and how the band’s use of repetition and simple melodies (as well as their bacchanalian stage presence) created an air of ritualism. In their primalness, they even remind me of The Birthday Party - a “woke” Birthday Party, but a Birthday Party all the same. My favorite musical moment of the year may very well be Joe Talbot’s first shout of “UNITY!” in “Danny Nedelko”, primordial, raw, unpretentious, and completely punk. We *need* these guys right now:

youtube

1) Suede - The Blue Hour . There is a joke in the TV show 30 Rock in which Jack Donaghy -- Alec Baldwin’s network head character -- says he attended Harvard Business School, where he was voted “Most”. The Blue Hour could be considered “Most” -- it’s meant to be taken as one piece, it’s insanely grandiose and, like its predecessor Night Thoughts, listening to it makes everything in my life seem 18 times more dramatic and tragic. I don’t know how, but this bizarre mashup of Kate Bush, Jacques Brel, Pink Floyd, Scott Walk, Gregorian chanting, classic Suede, spell books and (of course) David Bowie somehow seems bizarrely in step with 2018. Seeing as this top three consists of albums that are arguably “pagan”, and folk horror’s representation in popular 2018 films like Hereditary, The Blue Hour feels accidentally on trend. It’s crazy to think that a band whose first release happened 25 years ago could still be relevant in 2018, but Suede somehow are so please give these dads a hand and then listen to The Blue Hour’s glorious closing trio of songs a lot, because boy are they “Most”.

3 notes · View notes

ficsforfangirls · 6 years ago

Text

Favorite Fanfiction (That I’ve Written)

A Tomco where Star accidentally gives Marco hypothermia and calls upon Tom to keep him warm while she finds a cure.I’m going to link some of my favorite fanfiction - that I’ve written. I’ve decided to link my Top 10 Faves out of a total of 108 fanfiction stories between my Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own profiles. I do have some stories that are on both platforms, but there are plenty of stories that are exclusive to either website. Not all of my work on there is perfect, I’ve not always edited my work and I’ve been doing this for 12 years (though I think the oldest work I’ve left posted is from 2011). As I’ve gotten older, the work quality has improved, but that being said - this list is going to be the stories I’m most proud of and felt the happiest with when I was finished writing them.

So I’ll tag the story, include the fandom and the summary below the linked title. These are in no particular order. I will also have a small, bolded explanation why each story has made it onto this list. 1. A Hazard to Myself

(Harry Potter, Post-War)

This song!fic inspired by "Don't Let Me Get Me" by P!NK showcases Draco Malfoy reflecting with and talking to his psychiatrist - because he's not handling life after the war very well. TW: Mentions of alcohol abuse and self-harm, only in passing with absolutely no details of those acts.

This piece is one of those stories where the ending line was so powerful to me, and that song meant so much to me growing up, that I can’t ever read it without getting chills. Perhaps it could have been written better with fewer constraints, but the impact of it doesn’t change for me. This story always moves me every time I revisit it.

2. Dear Reader

(Harry Potter, Golden Era)

(5th Year - Assumed/Slight AU) Hermione decides the Hogwarts Library needs a piece of Muggle literature. Even though she doesn't expect anyone to find it, let alone respond to it, she is surprised when it is sent back to her within a couple of days – and with a letter, wouldn't you believe it? {rated based on future chapters}

This was the first wildly popular story I’d done in my fanfiction career. I even entered it into a contest to have it published after reworking it as an original piece. However, I was naive at the time and I didn’t edit it enough to get the votes. Still, it remains one of my favorites because I took something I loved from two different stories and made it my own so much so that it was wildly well received. I will always be proud of what I accomplished with this story.

3. Forever & Always, Clara

(Doctor Who, 12th Doctor)

This piece is a letter written to the Doctor as a means for Clara to say a proper and final farewell to the man who has so radically defined her life.

This was just a personal piece. I didn’t write it for any particular reason other than I was inspired to do so. I loved these characters together and by themselves separately. Losing them on the show was difficult and I wanted a more solid closure. I wrote this entirely for myself but I felt that, despite the distinct lack of popularity, it was still a good piece all together.

4. I Don’t F-cking Care

(Carry On)

This fanfiction depicts the struggles that Simon Snow and Baz Grimm-Pitch experience in their relationship that starts with them being enemies, how their timing is never quite right, and big life changes that force them to reassess what truly matters when it comes to their love for each other. ! Please review disclaimer thoroughly prior to reading this piece to avoid triggers !

Thanks to my good friend @ouranose - I got into the Carry On fandom. I had already read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, so it wouldn’t have been long before I got into it on my own, but she jumpstarted the process. It’s been a great time, of course, and one of my comfort fandoms now. What I really enjoyed about this one was that it was dark and imperfect and realistic and true to the blurry nature of their relationship. It’s one of the longest one-shot pieces I’ve ever written, and for that reason alone, on of those stories I’ll never forget. I put a lot of work into it and I think it shows.

5. Library Kisses

(Harry Potter, Golden Era)

This story details the romance of Hermione and Harry after a late night kiss through the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione, Harry and Ron learn about each other and evolve as couples and friends along the way. Rated T, but may contain some M chapters.

Yikes? I shouldn’t start this by saying ‘yikes’ about the story. I wrote this many years ago, when I was very young (18 years old, just out of high school). I had a child in high school and drew heavily on the experience of being an intelligent woman who made a mistake and incorporated that into this story. It diverts from the canon quite a bit, but with this being the oldest story I’ve written available online, I think it shows that I’ve always had the skill and the drive to pursue writing as career opportunity. I love to do this, and despite my many pitfalls as an 18-year-old writer, this story has 73,368 views anyway. It is still, to this day, my third most popular story on Fanfiction.net and I’m okay with that because we should always be proud of where we started.

6. Little Talks

(Merlin, BBC)

This fic follows Merlin and Morgana from the first day they begin to fall in love until their first day together in the afterlife. Based off of the song by Of Monsters and Men. Rated T For - Brief death scene, suggestive adult themes.

Hands down, this has got to be favorite fanfiction piece that I’ve ever written. I was trying to do a lot with this story, and I think I was successful in most every front, though I wish I had edited it better at the time. It started out as a passion project and ended up being a comfort one. I hated the way Merlin ended and felt that I could write a better story - which wasn’t the first time I had ever felt that way, but the first time I ever executed those emotions to do something. It’s not my most popular piece, having written this towards the end of the Merlin fandom’s lifespan, but it doest rank among the top 10 pieces with the most traffic. I felt very connected to the song, the show, and the outline of this story. It’s also the first piece of fanfiction my husband ever read and felt was done better than the show (which is hard to do because he’s a canon-only-verse kind of guy). I’ll never not love this story.

7. Just One Yesterday

(Supernatural)

I've been hiding from him. I don't even think of him by name. I miss him but now that I'm a monster I don't think I can ever be close to him again. I am so afraid of the consequences of implicating him any further... But I just can't stop being there for him... I need him... {T for moderate violence; regular swearing; major character death}

This is yet another passion piece. I had outlined it during my lunch breaks at work, or when I was waiting for X, Y, or Z to finish loading on the computer. Am I proud to have done this is stolen moments? Not really. But the outcome is an emotional piece that I think really captured how I’ve always felt about the ship (Destiel). The stats for this piece are abysmal, but that means nothing to me because I felt awesome about the story I was telling.

8. In The Summer...

(Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus)

The seasons used to mean something very different to Nico, but those days are gone. And he wants Percy Jackson to know that he's moved on.

This is a poem that I wasn’t even meant to write. I had asked a friend to write it (That’s @ouranose again because she’s pretty much the only friend I’ve got). But in the end, she lost the lines she had crafted for it, I think, and it fell off the metaphorical production board. When we started this PJO/HOO series of poems, I took on the task instead because I loved the idea of it so much. I did much better than I expected, having never written anything substantial for PJO/HOO before, and for that reason I’ll always be proud of the way I show the changing of feelings towards someone that you used to love.

9. Make Memories

(Girl Meets World)

Excerpt/Summary: Shawn and Katy decide that Maya should make memories before her senior year of high school. They decide to send her to a camp out of state for six weeks so that she can experience life that is different from the city.

Lucas decides that it's time to do something for himself. After seeing an article about a six week camp out of state he decides to register and take a chance.

Unfortunately, Maya finds herself shacking up with an all-too familiar face after a transcription error by the receptionist of the camp.

“They thought your name was Luna?” Maya questions.

Goodness, where do I even start? After I had my son, I found a book a few years afterward and it was about a pregnant teenager who has to make the decision to have a baby or have an abortion. There’s so much more to the book and I loved reading it, but I drew from that story a bit to craft this Girl Meets World piece that allowed me to really be original more than most any other piece I’ve ever done. It is popular enough for a dead fandom, still getting more views and kudos every week at a slow rate. I was just proud that I could take elements from both of these shows that I loved and craft a romance that was focused on the emotional aspect of loving someone without making it too sexualized.

10. An Untitled Tomco

(Star vs. The Forces of Evil)

A Tomco where Star accidentally gives Marco hypothermia and calls upon Tom to keep him warm while she finds a cure.

I have never watched a single episode of Star vs. The Forces of Evil. Someone made a request for me to write it and I researched the characters and the ship. I wanted to craft this believable story seamlessly, as if I had seen it and knew all there was to know. And, by some miracle, it worked! This is one of the most popular stories on my Archive of Our Own despite not having been there nearly as long as the three others that surpass it’s viewership. I felt that I had done very good work and made the most of the research that I had done to craft this story. It’s one of those experiences that reminded me that I’m more than capable as a writer and that I can do anything when I’ve set myself to it.

#fanfiction #fanfiction recommendation #self promo #shameless plug #fanfic recs #harry potter #star vs the forces of evil #superantural #doctor who #carry on #girl meets world #merlin #percy jackson #heroes of olympus

4 notes · View notes

andremarcusburky · 7 years ago

Text

Summer camp kids - Nolan Patrick

A/N: So I went with Nolan for this one but I had a lot of votes for several others so I'm gonna try to come up with a new fit idea and I'll write about them at that point alright?

Plot: basically you a Nolan met as kids on summer camp and were really cute and now you meet in the future and you don't recognize each other really but you’ll see what happens

masterlist

part 2 [3] [4]

The nine year old never wanted to go to summer camp, she really just wanted to spend the summer at home with her friends and family. However, with her single mother having to work and her grandma in the hospital with a broken hip, that would not be the case. So she was sent off for eight weeks of ‘non-stop fun’ as they said.

The camp had looked nice. The cabins they slept in were fairly new at the time and there was a nice lake nearby for the children to swim in. They were going to have campfires and outdoors-activities every day.

Unfortunately, the girl had an unfortunate accident the very first day. She accidentally pushed one of the other girls into the lake as she tripped on the docks, and she was unlucky enough to have pushed the bully. As one of the leaders were present, the bully had not said or done anything to the girl after her mistake. But as they walked back to the cabins, the girl found herself being pushed into a puddle of mud, her white shirt instantly brown and yucky. Everyone had laughed and the girl started crying. That night, when everyone was attending the first bonfire, the girl hid by a tree on a hill, crying to herself.

“Are you okay?” a voice had appeared from nowhere. The girl had been joined by a boy, he was about her age. As the girl cried, the boy comforted her, telling her that she shouldn't care about the other kids. He told her they’d all make a fool out of themselves at some point during the summer and everyone will laugh at them too. No one were to remember what happened the first day. The girl had felt better after that, and the girl and boy started talking. It had turned out that they were the perfect match. What one of them lacked, the other one made up for. Ones strength was the others weakness. When one of them hated a certain candy, the other one loved it. They were able to share just about anything during that summer. When the boy was struggling with nightmares, the girl had snuck into his cabin to make sure he wouldn't have to sleep alone. The bully had played a few more tricks over the week, but the boy was always there to comfort the girl whenever it was needed. They were quite the pair, maybe even a match made in heaven.

The young boy dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player, and they girl wanted to be an artist. Her painting skills were very unusual for a nine year old actually. Sometimes the two of them would sit by the lake, the girl drawing different things and the boy would either fish or throw rocks into the lake. One time, the boy caught the girl drawing him. She had blushed and felt very embarrassed, but the boy had loved the drawing. He even requested to keep it, which she allowed. He made her sign it, saying that it was one day going to be worth a lot of money. So she wrote “Y/N” on it with the best handwriting she could muster. She had given him his first kiss after that, which also happened to be her first. He had blushed, which was one of her favorite things about him. Because when he did, there was a patch in the middle of his cheek which stayed his natural skin color. And it was often shaped like a heart.

As the eight weeks were starting to come to an end, the pair knew that they weren’t going to be able to see each other a lot. But they still promised each other that they were never going to forget one another, that they’d meet again someday. Both of them believed fiercely in destiny, and they knew they were meant for each other. So the boy snuck into one of the girls cabins and stole a plastic ring from the bully, which he offered to the girl, asking her to marry him one day in the future. It was both revenge for the bullying, but also a promise that he would one day find her. The girl had said yes, and she hid the ring until she came home so the bully wouldn't find it. They had both cried during their last day, not wanting to leave each others sides.

“I will find you, I promised you that.” he had told her

“I know, and we’ll be together. One day” she had said back.

They hadn't said goodbye after that. They simply said “see you in the future” before hopping on their buses and going home to their families. Y/N and Nolan had an amazing summer, which they both still remember to this day, but it didn't take many years before they both accepted defeat. It was an adorable childhood story, but they were sure they were never going to meet each other again.

Y/N looked up at the tall building which she was spending the next few years walking to and from. She went inside to register to the art school she had been so excited about, but now she felt like she might throw up. Her mother had her doubts about pursuing a career as an artist, she even made a powerpoint of the most famous artist of all time. But it did not contain their excellent work, instead she pointed out who was an alcoholic, tho was melancholic, who commited suicide and who was poor only to be famous once dead. Her mother was a work of art herself, all of Y/Ns friends called them the Gilmore girls, claiming that the two of you were just like the girl and her mom in the series.

Y/N had eventually convinced her mother, saying that she would regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't at least try. So here she was, registering to the University of the arts in Philadelphia. Being from Toronto, this was all very exciting. An entirely new city in a different country was a big deal for Y/N. Her first step to independence as she was actually meant to take care of herself for the upcoming years. That meant feed herself, wash her own clothes and act like an adult. It was exciting, but also terrifying.

Registration went by smoothly and before she knew it, she was unpacking her things in her dorm. The nerves were still there, so she picked up a pen and paper and started doodling silly things, something that usually helped.

The next day started with a trip to the closest starbucks. Being a coffee addict, this was her number one priority. While waiting for her order, her mother called. She talked to her mom while receiving her coffee, and was too swept up in telling the mother about the school while not spilling her drink to look where she was walking. She just managed to stop herself from walking straight into a boy who also hadn't been looking in front of him.

“Woah! Sorry, didn't see you there.” he said, looking down at the girl who he almost knocked over.

“No worries, I wasn't paying attention either” she replied, smiling at the boy. She had to admit, he was cute. But there was something else as well, he was familiar. She couldn't really put her finger on what it was, but it felt like she’d seen him somewhere. She brushed it off though, thinking he probably just looked like someone she knew.

He excused himself once more and smiled at the girl before moving past her to order his coffee. She was cute, really cute. And somewhat familiar. He realized he should have asked for her name, maybe her number. As he turned around though, she’d left the coffee shop and she was now gone.

The first month of school went by quickly. Y/N made friends and went through good and bad days due to some of her teachers being very critical, while others seemed to love her work. She tried to take it lightly though, remembering her mothers powerpoint of artists whose art wasn't considered good until they were dead. Though she hoped she’d live to see some success.

She’d woken up pretty late, having the morning off. She was texting a friend of hers as she came to the coffeeshop, not looking where she was headed as she walked straight into some dude. Looking up she couldn't help but laugh as she looked into the eyes of the familiar-looking guy from about a month ago.

Nolan looked at the person he’d walked into and a smile grew on his face as he saw the pretty girl.

“I like running into you like this” he joked. She smiled, so he was pretty happy.

“Me too, I'm sorry for my clumsiness though” she said, putting her phone in her back pocket. Nolan didn't really know what to say or do, his only intention was to not let her slip away this time.

“can i... buy you a coffee?” he asked and scratched the back of his neck.

“okay.. Nolan” she said after taking a look at the writing on his coffee mug. He asked for her name as they went to the line. “It’s Y/N” she said, this time taking a good look at the boy. He was pretty tall and well built, his hair was kinda long and he had the most heartwarming smile she’d ever seen.

“Is that a Canadian accent?” he asked. “Yeah I’m from Toronto” she told him. It turned out that Nolan too was from Canada, and they immediately started talking about their home country and all the things that the US was lacking. Y/N got her coffee and they exited the coffeeshop together, still talking. It was easy, the conversation just floated naturally. Y/N told Nolan about her art school and the mean professor who’d basically told her she had no chance of becoming a ‘real artist’ and Nolan told her he’s a hockey player. He didn't really get into specifics, he didn't say he played in the nhl, but it didn't really seem important at the time.

Before parting ways, they exchanged numbers after Nolan said he needed a Canadian friend in the city, as if he didn't have enough on the team. He then walked off towards his home with a bright smile on his face. He thought for hours, trying to write a simple text message. “Wanna grab lunch someday?” is what he ended up with, and the two made plans for a few days later.

“I’ll have the cajun chicken pasta, please” The waitress grabbed their menus and left, leaving Nolan and Y/N to fend for themselves. He was nervous, really nervous actually. It wasn't clear to either one if this was a date or not, but they both had their hopes. It was silent for a couple seconds before Nolan asked her about the mean professor, her head quickly dropping as a groan escaped her lips. She started ranting about the class she’d had that day and how her sun simply wasn't good enough.

“Im sorry but isn't a sun just a yellow circle? How could anyone mess that up? Wait did you draw lines coming out of the sun, like kids do?” Y/N laughed at the boy’s humor as she felt a little bit lighter in her chest. When lunch was over Nolan had quickly grabbed the bill, making Y/N protest.

“Im the one who asked you on a date, so I pay” he insisted. A smirk grew on Y/Ns lips. “So this is a date, then?”

Nolan blushed, shyly looking up at the girl. “Well if you don't want it to be it doesn't have to be, but thats what I intended at least” he said, his low voice sending shivers down Y/Ns spine. “No, I want it to be a date. But next one’s on me”

“Oh, so there’s gonna be a second date then?” his comeback made her blush as well. After lunch the two went to a nearby park to take a walk. They sat at a bench located under a tree as they talked.

“Can I see something you’ve done? Like art wise, that is” Nolan asked. Y/N was a bit shy about her work, but always tried to expand her boundaries. “Yeah, I guess” she said as she took her notebook from her bag.

“This is mostly just doodles but its something so..” she trailed off as the boy took the book from her hands. He looked through it and pointed to his favorites. He especially loved the old, angry man who took up an entire page. “Oh yeah, thats my professor” Y/N said, making Nolan laugh out loud.

As he turned to the next page though, a big smirk etched onto his face. Y/N was great at drawing, so when she tried to make out someones features, she succeeded. There was no question that the boy who’d taken up the entire next page was Nolan himself. She had completely forgotten about the drawing she’d made after their first meeting. Y/N quickly tried to grab her notebook, but Nolan had a firm grip on it as he tried his best to keep it.

“No, no! I like it, I really do” he exclaimed as he saw a blush covering her face. “I mean it, I do like it” he seemed sincere as he looked into her eyes, trying to get the point across that she was fine. Y/N eventually let go and tried to explain that she sometimes just drew whatever she’d seen during the day and he just nodded along, pretending to understand.

“Can I keep it?” he asked, surprising her. He smiled fondly at her before looking down on the page again. “Sure” she said before ripping the page out.

“But you have to sign it though” he protested. “This is gonna make me a million bucks one day”.

Y/N laughed but put her name in one of the bottom corners. Nolan squinted his eyes and looked deep in thought as he saw her signature, sure that he’d seen it somewhere else. But he pushed it to the back of his mind before giving her back the notebook.

let me know if you want a part two

#Nolan patrick #nolan patrick imagine #flyers #philadelphia flyers #hockey imagine #nhl imagine #Nolan patrick x reader #summer camp kids

264 notes · View notes

lokidoki-imagines · 7 years ago

Text

Fairgrounds and Ferris Wheels

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Content/Warnings: 1st person POV, lots of fluffy fluffy Loki

Words: 2289

Prompt: ‘I wanted to go on the ferris wheel but there has to be two people to a cart come on random person let’s go oh wait are we stuck at the top? Fuck’ Changed it a little but you get the idea!

Not sure how I feel about 1st person...What do you guys prefer? 1st or 3rd POV?

“Can we get cotton candy?” I asked, words slightly slurred from the toffee sticking my mouth together. Jane shook her head ahead of us and pulled herself tighter into Thor’s side, this was her idea really. Her and Thor had worked things out after their break up and were taking things slow again, they still weren’t quite there with being comfortable with each other again so Jane suggested that instead of a solo date, we make it a group thing. Enter me, Darcy and Loki.

The funfair was in town so 4 votes against Loki’s one meant that here I was, two scientists, two gods and me. “Okay who want’s to go into the haunted house?” I squealed in excitement as I bounced over to the entrance, “Come on Jane!” A smile broke out on her face as she held her hands up in defeat. “I’m not going in there Y/N.” Pouting I looked over to where Loki and Darcy were standing, something had caught Darcy’s attention but Loki stepped forward with a small mischievous smirk on his face.

“Sorry Y/N, Loki’s gonna win me a stuffed dog!” Darcy called over her shoulder as she pulled an unwilling Loki over to a stall. I crossed my arms over my chest as my heart dropped into my stomach. “I’ll go on my own then.” I huffed before handing the guy a dollar bill, pushing the fake spider webs out of the way.

“Lady Y/N wait,” I heard Thor behind me as an old corpse bride sprang from a fake grave to the left. “You didn’t have to come with me Thor I’m fine by myself.” He fell into step next to me as we turned a corner to darkness, save for glow in the dark murals.

I bit my lip at his silence, “You could have waited outside with Jane, it’s lame in here anyway.” I mumbled as a skeleton fell from the ceiling in front of us. “You should go and win her a stuffed animal.” Thor turned to face me again with a small smile on his face.

“What’s the significance of a stuffed animal?” He asked as we came to a stop in front of a mirror maze. I looked at our difference in height and huffed, “Nothing. It’s just what couples do is all.” Fiddling with my scarf I walked into the maze with Thor behind. “It’s just one of those stupid things people in love do.”

“Then why are you upset?” I sighed as I heard him stop behind me. I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. “I’m not.” I lied.

“I’m sure Darcy just wants a stuffed toy Y/N,”

“I don’t care Thor, it’s nothing to do with me anyway.” Stomping off I made for the exit in an even worse mood than I was already in when I entered the stupid haunted house. Darcy and Jane were stood sharing the responsibility of keeping a giant stuffed dog off of the muddy ground they were standing on. To the right of them was a very bored looking Loki.

“Y/N look what we won!” Darcy cheered. I didn’t want to but I couldn’t help but smile at her childish joy from a stuffed dog. “He’s a bit small isn’t he?” I bit out, ignoring the pang of jealously I felt.

“She wanted the big one.” Loki drawled from behind, walking over with Thor in hushed conversation. “I can see.” You whispered, following the two girls off to the next ride.

Thor and Loki were hanging back slightly looking like they were talking very intensely. The two brothers had arrived back on earth a few months ago and had been a part of daily life ever since, Loki especially. There was no real way of describing the relationship the two of you had, it started with hot chocolates that you would indulge yourselves with at your nightly 3am meetings when the two of you couldn’t sleep. You knew he had nightmares and you just couldn’t bear to leave him alone with them, so you started to set your alarm for 2:50am each night in order to meet the god dead on 3am.

“I’m going on the ferris wheel, I’ll catch up!” I shouted to the girls who had already began to make their way over to a hot dog stand. There wasn’t much of a que, mainly young couples who were waiting for a chance to have a seat and a snog. “Sorry, only two to a cart.” The operator coughed as I got to the front. “One of you will have to wait.”

Looking behind me I saw Loki and Thor had qued up too, Loki quickly glanced between me and his brother. “I’d better go and see if Jane is alright.” He spoke cheerfully as he clasped Loki on the back and turned away.

I turned to Loki who gestured for me to step in ahead of him. The carts were small with no step to rest your feet on, just a simple cushioned bench with a safety bar across it. There wasn’t much room once I’d squashed my hand bag into the side of the seat to prevent it falling out, this left me squashed arm to arm with the god of mischief.

“Sorry,” I mumbled as the operator pulled the bar down across us, struggling to secure it with Loki’s long legs. He shot me a questioning look. “You’re sorry?”

I nodded, “Yeah. You didn’t have to come on here with me you know, I can do things alone I don’t mind.”

The cart started to move. “You’re independent to a fault but I don’t think even that would convince the old coot that you could ride in a cart alone.” I smirked, oddly proud that he thought I was independent.

“True.” Silence fell over the two of us as we climbed higher and higher. Loki shifted in his seat, his legs dangled and bumped into mine lightly. “Are you alright?” My breath hitched slightly as I realised just how close I was to the god. He nodded and wriggled his arms forwards over the bars, “Fine it’s just very compromising.”

I couldn’t help the giggle that rose at the sight of it. He turned to me with a quirked eyebrow, “Sorry, you’re just so tall really aren’t you?” Two hands rose to cover my mouth as I tried to hide the giggles as he fidgeted again only to lift his arms up into the air and place them over the back of the cart.

Suddenly the cold winter air had gotten much thicker.

“Are you cold?” Loki asked just as the cart jolted to a stop. We were right at the top, peering out over the edge we could see our friends and the old man who owned the ride walk over to the generator.

“Did he just...” I mumbled as I squinted my eyes. “Kick the ride?” I turned to Loki in mild horror, “Did he just kick the ride? Why aren’t we moving?” He shrugged and relaxed back into his seat.

“I’m calling the fire brigade!” A voice yelled from the ground. I glanced at Loki who was already watching me with a curious look on his face. “Looks like we’re stuck here for a while.” I mumbled as a cold wind blew, making the cart rock a little too much. Instinctively I grabbed onto Loki as the cart continued to rock in the wind.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all...” I mumbled with my eyes squeezed shut. Loki hummed beside me and wrapped a hand around my shoulder. “This is the most fun I’ve had all night.” He chuckled from beside me.

Opening one eye I peeked up at him from underneath my lashes, “Seriously? You get dragged along on a ‘group event’ and the most fun you have is getting stuck in a cart at the top of a ferris wheel with your brothers girlfriends best friend?” I lightly teased, still tense next to him from the wind.

He hummed and pulled me closer into him, “Yes I suppose.”

Struggling to manoeuvre my bag from the seat beside me I pulled out a hat and looked at Loki. “Are you cold?”

He shook his head slowly, “Frost giant’s don’t really mind the cold.”

Feeling more than a little embarrassed at forgetting Loki’s heritage I quickly stuffed the hat back where it belonged and stared out at the skyline. “Are you cold?” Loki asked into the silence, tilting my head I looked up at him staring out at the skyline too.

“You already asked me that,” I reminded him with a smile, “I’m alright. Though if we stay up here forever then my toes might slowly start to drop off.” He didn’t laugh with me, instead he kept watching the world go by. “You don’t have to worry about that you know.” I spoke quietly, eyeing my hands in my lap.

I felt his gaze fall to me without looking. “Making me cold I mean, I know Darcy and Jane always comment on it but it’s never really bothered me...” Mentioning Darcy again made the jealous pang return to my chest. “Is Darcy even ok with you being up here? With me I mean?”

His head snapped down to mine with scrunched brows. “I - I don’t follow,” He paused and glanced at the ground. “Why would Darcy care where I go?”

I snorted, “Aren’t you two...You know?” I clasped my hands together and motioned for him to get the idea. Instead he just stared at my hands blankly and shrugged. “No I don’t follow,”

“Together?” I laughed bitterly, “She’s been dragging you off on rides or to stalls at every chance she’s gotten tonight so I just assumed -”

“Are you jealous?” He smirked, turning his body as much as he could towards mine. I could feel my cheeks heating up under his gaze. “No.” I choked out, “No I was just curious is all.”

We both stared at the other for a moment longer before looking back out at the world surrounding us. “I was rather hoping you’d be jealous.” He commented quietly.

I stilled under his arm as the world seemed to stop revolving. What did he mean by that? Was there a hidden meaning or was he just being his usual teasing Loki? I mean, yes there had been those nights where the two of you flirted a little but it had always been playful and nothing had ever come from it. And yes you two may have fallen asleep on the sofa in Jane’s apartment one too many times but you always slept better when you were tucked under the lanky god’s legs and -

“Y/N?” He squeezed my shoulder with a nervous laugh, “Did I accidentally charm you into a coma?” He teased lightly as he pulled me closer into him and away from my thoughts.

“Quite possibly. You do always like a good flirt.” As quickly as the moment had come it was gone again. Do you ever flirt like this with Darcy?

Loki seemed to sense the shift in atmosphere. “Perhaps if I were to flirt with Darcy she wouldn’t be as dense as you.” He huffed quietly.

I whipped my head up to see him smirking down at me once again, “Did you just call me dense?” I seethed, sitting up further in my seat. “I am not dense Loki! I -”

He cut me off my placing his lips on mine with a quiet urgency that was only too quickly returned. I tried to turn my body towards his but was confined by the safety bar, instead I pulled his neck further down and wound my fingers ever so slightly in his long hair. In return his hand pressed into my back, pulling me as close into him as possible. His lips were softer than I’d imagined and cool like the rest of him which only added to the rush that we both felt. His other hand grabbed at my waist eagerly as we both explored the other with teeth and tongue, time seemed to have stopped completely just for a moment.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind us caused the two of us to break apart quickly.

Thor stood holding the cart still with a stupid grin plastered on his rosy face. “If you two are quite finished, I think the other passengers would like to get off.” Fumbling with the safety bar Loki helped guide us both with shaking legs back onto solid ground.

Looking around for Jane and Darcy I opened my mouth and looked up at a beaming Thor, though he seemed preoccupied by staring at his brother. “Uh, Thor?” His beaming face shot to yours, “Where’s Jane and Darcy?” Looking around again I made sure I hadn’t missed them.

Thor began walking and we followed, Loki’s hand burning on my waist the entire time. “They got bored so carried on,” I glanced up at Loki and smiled feeling suddenly very shy around the tall god. “ - I think they may have made their way to the dodgems?”

Loki chuckled beside me and squeezed me lightly, “I’m not sure I’ll be able to kiss you as much as I’d like too on that.” He whispered huskily, low enough for me to hear. I blushed and thought quickly.

“Thor!” I called as I pulled a confused Loki to a stop beside me, “I’m just going to show Loki that scary haunted house we went in earlier!” Pulling Loki behind me in a run I caught the knowing gaze he sent our way.

“About damn time.” Thor smiled to himself, making his way towards the next ride.

#loki imagine #loki x reader #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x reader #loki x oc #thor ragnarok #thor imagine #loki x you #loki laufeyson x you #marvel #marvel x imagine #the avengers #the avengers imagine #thor ragnarok imagine

1K notes · View notes

eblisbaculum · 7 years ago

Text

In Defense Of

Inspired by this post

It wasn’t a very big leap to say that Prompto was Noctis’ only friend.

Sure, Ignis and Gladio were always around, and they cared about his wellbeing past what it meant to them as a job, but they’d only gotten to that level of friendliness because they were paid to be there.

That made Prompto special - he’d careened into his life with a slap on the back like they’d talked consistently for years. And if Prompto wanted to pretend that their first encounter in elementary didn’t happen, then so be it; all that mattered now was that they were as thick as thieves, and Prompto hadn’t had an incentive to be there.

Of course, there were perks to being best friends with the Prince of Lucis - Noctis would be lying to himself if he said it hadn’t been a worry that turned over in the late hours of the night since Prompto started making plans to hang out after school let out.

But he knew Prompto now - the guy didn’t have it in him to play anyone like that. He was all smiles and jokes and sometimes things went so far over his head they may as well have fired into the sun. He was a good person, and Noctis doubted there was a mean fibre in his body.

At least - that’s what he’d thought. Now he wasn’t so sure.

Noctis knew that for all his celebrity as the next in line for the throne, he wasn’t exactly the most popular person in school. Days where people crowded him and asked him what it was like being prince and how lavish the Citadel had to be were long gone. Instead, it was whispers behind his back of girls gossiping about how he and Prompto were “so obviously gay”, and that was why he’d never taken any interest, and the subsequent intense jealousy from the rest of the guys in his class because no one they ever fancied payed them any attention.

Noctis was used to their two faceted nature. Their backhanded compliments were just a given, because of course no one would outright attack the Prince of Lucis unless they wanted to have a meeting with the Kingsglaive.

Prompto, as it turned out, was not.

–

“Heeeey Noct!” Prompto chirped as his hands landed on Noctis’ shoulders, using them for support as he leaped over the back of the bench he was slouched against.

They’d been released from school a quarter of an hour ago. Noctis had had a particularly gruelling math test last period, but he was reluctantly relieved that Ignis had made him study. Hopefully his grades would reflect his efforts.

Prompto smellef like sweat beneath his deodorant, and when he dropped down next to Noctis and began runmaging through his bag he could see the sweat sticking his bangs to his forehead.

“Man, it’s so hot,” Prompto puffed, flopping backwards against the bench, tilting his head back to chug the leftover water in his bottle. His blazer was rolled into a ball and shoved into his bag - Ignis was gonna stop ironing it, one of these days.

“Yeah. Where were you today? Iggy made you a salad for lunch and it’s gone soggy.”

Prompto gave him a pointed look, even as he took the box Noctis offered him from his bag and set into the wilted greens.

“You thure you jutht di'n’t wanna eat your vege'th, Noct?” He swallowed. There was a splotch of dressing on the corner of his mouth that was driving him crazy. “What’re you, twelve?”

Noct hummed, leaning forward to swipe it away with his thumb like Ignis did when there was too much sauce in his burgers. Prompto munched on without care. How he could stand to eat so many vegetables was beyond him. “Only in spirit. So what took you so long? What happened at lunch, I didn’t get a text or anything, dude.

Prompto smiled guiltily. “Well. I uh, got to spend the day in the guidance counselor’s office…so that’s a thing. I didn’t want to risk getting my phone taken off of me - I just barely escaped a suspension as it is.” The guilty look got shyer Prompto laughed in the way he did when he was trying to avoid a conversation he didn’t want to have. “I…may or may not have accidentally broken Parvos’ nose with a dodgeball?”

Noctis lifted his brows. Prompto winced, putting the salad down and waving his hands dramatically like he was trying to gain the attention he already had.

“Hey! Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t mean to break his nose!” Prompto’s cheeks had lit red, sinking low in his seat. He was positively pouting, arms crossed defensively over his chest.

“Dude, you’re usually so onto that type of thing. What happened?”

“Well…my shoelace was untied, y'see…” he trailed off, eyes skirting sideways to watch a group of upperclassmen walking over to a waiting car. Noctis knew Ignis was probably just idling around the corner, waiting for his text.

Noctis snorted as he sent the text off, and less than a minute later Ignis’ sleek black car was pulling into a parking spot. He stood, shaking his head at him. “Say no more. Your clumsiness is gonna come back to bite you one day, Prom.”

“Hey, I take total offense to that!” He jumped up defiantly, and the remaining salad met the concrete in a splatter of leafy green and tomato red. Prompto turned to the car and smiled sheepishly. Noctis had to press his lips together to stop himself from laughing. Ignis’ head had dropped to press against the top of the steering wheel.

“Okay, okay…only mild offense.“

–

Noctis didn’t really think on the incident much more. He offhandedly mentioned it to Ignis, who apparently thought his best friend nearly getting suspended was funny if the little smile he had on his face for the next ten minutes was anything to go by.

When he asked what the look was for, he only got a confusing “well, he is a Scorpio,” back.

Which made exactly zero sense.

It all came to a head one day when Noctis was late to school - his dad had made him sit in on some dumb council meeting on trade agreements, and he’d spent the whole time trying not to look like he was falling asleep.

It was already almost lunch, so Prompto was probably in their usual spot in the courtyard, so he began to make his way there when a voice stopped him just around the corner.

“Does King Regis even, like, do anything useful? Like, for real? My parents say the kingdom is gonna, like, fall to pieces or something before Niflheim even manages to get it’s gnarly fingers in here,” a high, mocking voice said.

Noctis rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like they even knew half the crap his dad had to deal with. He’d have loved nothing more than to lay into her for being ungrateful for everything his dad did for Insomnia, but a lot of it wasn’t general knowledge to the public, and he didn’t fancy having to fix the scandal it would cause, either.

He was just about to round the corner and at least make his presence known when Prompto’s voice came from down the hall, rapidly getting louder. In a cutthroat tone Noctis would have never associated with him he said, “Oh sweety, that is, like, so funny, because last time I, like, checked it was, like, your father’s, like, business, that’s like, ’falling to pieces’.” He’d adopted a falsetto, high and snarky. Noctis was more than a little surprised by the way he mimicked her tone. He could almost imagine a cocked eyebrow and a hip jutt to match, like in the teen high school comedies Prompto liked to put on when he came to the apartment.

“Oh - oh look, it’s the Prince’s lap dog. Come on, Prompto, he’s like, not even here. What’s even the point in defending him?” Her voice didn’t sound as confident as before, the sounds of her other friends giggling around her. It reminded Noctis of the counsel members who’s vote got overturned.

For a minute, Prompto didn’t say anything, and Noctis felt real fear drill into his gut. But Prompto didn’t side with them, like he’d dreaded. Instead, there was the scuffle of footsteps, a surprised squeak as lockers crashed with a bodily impact. There was a chorus of “woah’s!“ and a "back off, Prompto! Gods!”

“He’s my friend, and he’s never done anything to you so quit mouthing off before I make you.”

Undetterred, but sounding far less confident, she missed, “You know as well as the rest of us that he’s got his head so far up his own ass that he’ll never see you as anything but his little bitch.”

Noctis sunk carefully against the wall. He was all at once furious on Prompto’s behalf, and also rooted to the spot.

In a voice Noctis had to strain to hear, Prompto laughed something bitter and sharp and said, “oh, you want this bitch to bite, huh? Because it’s worse than my bark, honey. Go ask Parvos’ nose.”

Noctis could almost hear her mouth opening and closing - he could feel his own doing the same. “Wait - Parvos?”

“You can say goodbye to that pretty little nose job if you keep talking shit.” His words were biting, and they sent a sharp zap of electricity up his spine.

Oh. Oh.

Well. That was - that stirred something in Noctis’ chest that he wasn’t sure he wanted to entertain the existence of.

“So why dont you and your friends back the fuck off before I smack you the fuck off? Okay?”

The other girls were quiet - Noctis could just make out their shuffling feet, like they didn’t want to be involved in the fight.

There was silence, and then the sound of the lockers being pushed against. With a last scoff that sounded weak to Noctis’ ears, She said, “w-well, why don’t you just go and fuck your boyfriend, Argentum? Gods!”

Her footsteps stomped away, several others scurrying after her. Noctis slipped out from around the corner, watching the gaggle of girls make their way out into the courtyard. Prompto was staring after them, cheeks flushed a vague pink and his brows drawn down with what Noctis thought looked oddly like contempt. It wasn’t an expression he’d ever seen on Prompto’s face, but the way he’d been speaking with the way he looked all hackles raised made Noctis feel queasy in a way that felt…really good.

Oh. Oh boy. Oh no.

This…this was gonna be a problem.

#promptis #promptis fic #ffxv #final fantasy xv #ffxv fic #prompto argentum #noctis lucis caelum #can you tell i dont fuck with latin #we can all tell i dont fuck with latin right #ffxv drabble #noctis #prompto #fic #my writing

108 notes · View notes

supergirlimaginesfic-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Dating Kara Danvers (clingy and cuddly)

a/n: nobody asked for this, but I’m gonna do it anyway because I’m feeling a distinct lack of Kara love on this blog LOL (all in fault of my own, though!)

Soooo, here we are! As always I apologize if the formatting of this is really ugly if you’re reading on the mobile app - for whatever reason it just doesn’t turn out well at all no matter what I do. And as always, I love seeing your prompts y’all! Thank you so much for reading! :D

anyway, Kara is the human version of an excitable puppy who absolutely loves chasing your love, and also she’s the biggest freakin weirdo when she doesn’t know what to do with you, I don’t make the rules

- - - - -

for better or for worse, your romance with Kara Danvers started at CatCo., and as such, it would continue to prosper there. Dating Kara (without realizing at first she was literally Supergirl) had its interesting moments already

you had no doubt in your mind that Kara, much like what most of the world sees of her effervescent personality, would be the touchiest person you’ve arguably ever known

you could be at your desk and, without knowing just exactly why or how, a certain small gust of wind would always notify you of Kara’s presence, and whenever you see her ridiculously ecstatic smile standing near you, you always, without fail, feel the flurry of butterflies chasing after you in Kara’s wake

more often than not, you’re the only other person Kara gets coffee for when she does her runs for Ms. Grant - she’ll volunteer to carry a distinctly dangerous amount of coffee cups in trays for whoever wanted one on your floor, but it was only you who ever found a coffee cup on your desk, sometimes even with a new doodle drawn on it nearly every morning

she texts you constantly. Even when she was still an assistant for Ms. Grant, she risked the volatile wrath of the Media Queen just to talk to you

“Keira, don’t get me wrong, it’s a blessed miracle that you’ve finally found someone to scratch your needs, and it is truly a breath of fresh air now that you are no longer looking like the dejected, wound up schoolgirl that you usually do, but please at least take your sexting extracurriculars out of my sight-” “Uh, what- Ms. Grant, it’s- no, it’s not-” “I don’t care what it is, Keira, there’s no use denying that it works, but I don’t want to see it in the works-”

when you two were finally beginning to get to the “acknowledgement” part of your relationship (that is; finally admitting there was something going on between you two), Kara was becoming increasingly weird

you’d notice when she opened the door to her apartment, she’d be looking particularly windswept, and you’d do nothing but look at her quizzically and brush the hair from her face

she would blush instantly when you did, which is half the reason why you even did it at all - you don’t bother to hide your smirk, and even still, she blushes every single time without fail

whenever you’d indicate that you were scrutinizing her a bit too closely, she would do something ridiculously outlandish just to distract you, and you learned then that she really had no qualms about getting into your personal space

once, you were staring at the scar on her forehead, wondering who else you knew had a similar one, and when you’d questioned it out loud, she really did clamber onto your lap and effectively shut you up when she grabbed your face and, realizing what on earth she was doing, awkwardly attacked your cheeks in a kiss attack

another time, Kara had her hair down and you really wondered why she looked like someone so familiar to you, and your face must have flashed with some telltale look of recognition she must be so used to that she kissed you

Kara actually just... kissed you - a chaste, seemingly instinctive reaction in her limitless plethora of distraction tactics, and when you both pulled away, she squeaked in shock and you stared at her bewildered and shocked

you stood there gaping at her, mouth hanging open and closing and opening again

“so that was our first kiss...” you say more as a question “yes- yeah, I, uh- yup, that was definitely... I definitely went and did that, okay, it’s happening-” “you’re giving me a lot to work with here Kara, first I find out you’re Supergirl and now we’ve gone and done this-” “NO- I’m not, I am not-” “Kara, you’re cute, but don’t push your luck,” you say as your only warning

you kissed her then to shut her up, and it was only later in the night when she groaned at the inevitability of Alex’s knowing glare and J’onn’s exasperation that she brings you to the DEO to sign the neverending paperwork that came with keeping Kara’s identity a secret

as Supergirl, she tries to keep you as far away from the dangers of it as possible, which is distinctly difficult for someone like Kara

she asks if you’ve eaten, a lot, which you know is Kara’s love language, but she takes it just a bit too far, literally

it took a lot of what felt like pulling teeth to convince Kara you were fine and could very much handle getting food for yourself, but now that you knew she was Supergirl, she was more liberal in her expressions of affection

“I know you like pizza, so-” “please don’t tell me you went to Italy...” “oh... oh no, I didn’t, but did you want me to? I could, it’ll only take 5 minutes max-” “Kara, no-”

a gust of wind later, Kara was back and, “that was only six minutes but even then that felt like the longest time to be away from you” - you roll your eyes at her and let her eat most of the pizza she brought back

Kara says ridiculously adorable shit and you’re annoyed by how utterly incapable you are of being even just pretend-annoyed by it - you loved it far too much

“I was in Spain for a little bit checking out a lead, but even there kinda halfway across the world I still missed you, which is funny because I could literally just fly to you and not miss you-”

“I kinda forgot Lena knows about my secret identity now so I didn’t get to come here as quickly as I’d like because if I did remember that Lena knows, I could have just flown off her balcony or something instead of waiting the extra five minutes to get to ground level like a normal human-”

Kara is an actual radiator. You almost feel bad about not wanting to cuddle her, but every time at some point in the night you find strong, Kryptonian arms wrapped around your midsection and she’s got just enough of a light grip on you for you to turn around if you wanted, but you are not getting out of this bed, nope, you’re too comfy

Kara makes you late for work 9 times out of 10 because of this and by virtue of her not being a morning person, which extension, meant that you couldn’t be as well

“can’t you call in sick?” “no, Kara.” “can I call in sick?” “no, Kara-” “can I call in sick for you?” “Kara-” “okay can I snuggle you at least?” her voice is muffled by your hair and you no longer can hear any intelligible words as she mutters sleepily and, effortlessly you observe enviously, falls asleep instantaneously

the office finally found out you two were dating and you were voted the cutest office couple, also Alyssa from the business column voiced her irritation and why couldn’t you guys have waited another week, I could have made double- which then subsequently informed you on the betting pool your coworkers made regarding your relationship

Kara’s always somehow pulling you onto her to the point where you’re practically sitting on her sometimes, regardless of how wildly inappropriate this particular inclination of hers is in most public social situations

you find you spend most of your time in Kara’s lap, for whatever reason, and Maggie never stops laughing at Alex’s reaction the first time you all had a double date at a restaurant

like all things Kara, however, everything she does becomes endearing, and eventually your friends know by now to not blink at Kara’s needy affection for you

for all her deep, unstated fears of her accidentally overestimating her power, Kara’s always gently touching you; caressing your face, playing with your fingers idly, massaging any part of your body gently whether you’re sitting or standing beside each other, squeezing your hand reassuringly to remind each other that you’re both here and that you’ve got each other

Kara loves hearing your voice, and more often than not you catch her just staring at you, and at first, you thought it was just her being strange

eventually, you began to understand it for what it was when you’d catch Kara smiling entranced whenever you were ranting about something particularly anger-inducing about your day, or when she never stops commenting on how much she loves your singing voice (which you’d say is no mark of talent at all), or when she asks you to talk about something, or anything, when you’re both laying in bed, and she falls asleep to the sound of your words

Kara isn’t human, however, and you’ve forgotten this particularly important fact when you whispered that you loved her for the very first time on one such night that you think she’s fallen asleep

it’s silent and you’re closing your eyes but then she turns around to face you and you realize, wide-eyed and with bated breath, that she heard you and she just looks at you with the softest, awe-struck face you’ve ever seen, even on someone like Kara

“say it again.” “Kara, you big nerd.” “no, not that, the other thing-” “Kara, you big nerd... I love you.” “I love you too.” “okay.” “okay. I just like hearing you say it.”

Kara loves hearing you say it, over and over again. You indulge her, not because she’s some egotistical asshole vying for compliments and unwavering love - you tell her, you remind her, you do it to become more honest with yourself, because she is a superhero, but to you, she is your girlfriend, and her greatest miracle is making you the happiest you’ve ever been

#kara danvers x reader #kara danvers #supergirl #kara danvers fic #kara danvers fanfic #dating kara danvers #supergirl fic #supergirl fanfic #kara danvers imagine #supergirl imagine #dating supergirl #kara danvers x you #supergirl x you

571 notes · View notes

sanctferum · 7 years ago

Text

Dangan Ronpa V3: Chapter 4 Class Trial

Last time, we investigated Miu’s death and temporarily recruited Monotaro. Time to start the trial!

Monokuma’s still super low on energy.

Kokichi asks what happens in case of the votes resulting in a tie. Apparently, as long as one of them is the blackened, it’s fine.

Himiko’s really changed. She’s determined, and willing to exter energy, and wants to survive. Monokuma says that she’s lost all of her unique character traits.

We attempt to begin, but Kokichi immediately accuses Kaito of being the culprit. Even if we trust Kaito, that doesn’t make him not the blackened. Shuichi trusted Kaede, after all…

I don’t understand what I’m doing in this nonstop debate at all…

A bunch of lost health later, I accidentally hit the right answer. Apparently, Miu wasn’t killed via poisoning, because her eyes weren’t bloodshot. But, in the picture shown, we don’t have a good look at her eyes, so how would we guess that?

Anyways, the poison wasn’t relevant. It was placed there for the purposes of misdirection. Miu’s real cause of death was a fatal injury to her avatar.

Gonta still doesn’t understand what the virtual world really is, but Maki thinks explaining it to him would be a waste of time. So next question is: what was the fatal injury that killed Miu via her avatar?

Tsumugi offers to explain to Gonta what went on, while also going over the incident again with everyone.

Two groups. One searched the mansion, and one searched the chapel. And Miu took fatal damage in that latter group.

Miu was grasping her neck when we found her body. And Shuichi has no idea, but we, the player, saw Kokichi mention strangulation right before logging out. Was she strangled? If so, it couldn’t have been by Kokichi. His avatar would’ve been paralyzed if he tried.

But then, if she wasn’t dropped off the roof…or, was she dropped off the roof after she was already dead?

All the avatars were equally as strong as each other in the Virtual World. How would someone overpower her? How would she be unable to fight them off? There wasn’t a rope somewhere that she could’ve been choked to death with, so there must have been something else used as a makeshift rope. If no object can be broken, then she could have been choked via something that we wouldn’t have thought of due to its real world flimsiness. Toilet paper.

Gonta disagrees, but only because he doesn’t understand the virtual world. Objects in the Virtual World are not breakable.

Himiko says that death by toilet paper was a fitting end for Miu, and boy, she isn’t wrong about that.

As for the toilet paper being near the mansion and Miu’s avatar being at the chapel…it’s odd. And if Miu was strangled, what’s with the hammer? If the toilet paper was the blackened’s weapon, then the hammer must have been Miu’s weapon. And if Miu had a weapon prepared, that means she planned to kill the blackened, but was killed instead.

No, that isn’t it. Miu intended to kill someone, but that wasn’t the blackened. She planned to meet up with Kokichi, and we know that she modified Kokichi’s avatar to cease movement when touched by her. If Kokichi had been in a struggle with Miu, he would have become unable to move. It’d be him who was dead.

Miu planned this meeting with Kokichi even before everyone went into the Virtual World. Keebo overheard the plan, but at that point it was just confirmation that the meeting was gonna happen, and details on where it was going to be.

So Miu tried to meet up with Kokichi in secret, so that she could kill him. And she left the bottle of poison on Kokichi’s seat to make it look like he’d been killed in the real world. Sure, she didn’t log out once she logged in, but she had a few minutes in between everyone else logging and herself logging in.

And if everything that we’ve said so far is correct, then it makes sense that Miu logged Kaito out. She was gonna pin the blame on him.

The only person who could’ve set all this up was Miu Irum-

…instead of her memorial portrait being crossed out with an X, it’s crossed out with three. XXX. Very funny, Monokuma. Anyways, I just noticed that. I haven’t had a chance to get a good look at Kiyo’s portrait yet, though.

Kokichi had this all figured out from the start. He only insisted that Kaito was the culprit to try and get him to understand the rules of the game. A killing game has no room for trust, or for defending others. But it’s fine if Kaito thinks that way. It just makes the game more interesting. Right, Monokuma?

Monokuma mumbles something groggily. Monophanie and Monotaro discuss his sudden lack of motivation. Monotaro is worried that if his father slacks off, Mommy will have to do all the work. Then he becomes confused about why he thought he had a mom all of the sudden.

If Miu had succeeded in killing Kokichi, all the clues Kokichi would provide us would be hidden away by the blackened, Miu. She would have told us that deaths in the virtual world don’t affect bodies outside of the virtual world. And we’d have no idea that that wasn’t true.

Himiko was right from the start. The whole idea was fishy as all hell. Miu wasn’t planning to save us at all. She wanted to escape the school into the real world, not into some virtual reality simulation.

She was our friend, as annoying as she was. We felt sad when she died. And now, we learn that she intended to kill us all.

Kokichi is thrilled by this exciting turn of events, because of course he is.

Gonta is scared of Kokichi. He’s sounding more and more like Monokuma by the day. Kaito agrees. Both Monokuma and Kokichi are cowards. Lying, hiding their true faces, smiling, putting on a mask, never saying what they really think. But Kaito? Kaito is done with his bullshit. The “game of suspicion” is bullshit! Kaito will find the truth not by suspecting his friends, but believing in them.

Kokichi warns he won’t win the game like that. But Kokichi is the only one here (besides the blackened) that still wants to win.

Kokichi is currently the main suspect. But he couldn’t get to the roof to meet up with Miu. The door was locked, and his lockpicking tools were in the real world. And he never went to the roof anyways. Huh? Then how did he know the door was locked?

But back to Miu’s avatar. There were some strange circumstances surrounding her death. Specifically, her avatar being nowhere near the mansion’s roof. But, Tsumugi definitely saw Miu near the mansion.

So, there was some other method Miu had access to that let her go between the two sides of the river. She dropped the bridge into the river so that Kokichi’s murder happening at the mansion would supposedly make it impossible for her to have committed it. The only way she could have gotten across is by being classified as an object, and going through the wall.

Kaito claims that Miu wasn’t an object, which makes this whole scenario impossible. Shuichi explains that Miu changed her own avatar’s setting from human to object.

Kokichi keeps ragging on Kaito, but Keebo tells him to shut up.

Miu did say that past the wall was the end of the world. Nothing. She must have lied about that too.

Kokichi again bursts in with the insults, and also that he agrees with Miu having lied.

Monotaro promptly regains his memory of Miu supposedly being his mom, and lets Kokichi have it. And lets slip that there’s no hidden passageway in the Virtual World. Monophanie chides Monotaro, accidentally confirming that what Monotaro said was an important hint.

Miu needed to change the program so she could go through the wall. And that had to have a reason. C’mon, I figured this out ages ago, guys.

The mystery of the Virtual World begins with the loud sound Shuichi and Tsumugi heard in the kitchen. The kitchen of the mansion, supposedly across the world from the chapel, where the people there also heard it.

Sound can’t go past the map loading point. True, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t come from the chapel.

The sound was something hitting the chapel wall, and then Keebo yelled in dismay, and we heard that sound too. And something else was strange. The signboard bridge was dropped in the river, which flowed towards the chapel, yet the sign ended up upstream of the river fork.

Psyche Taxi time…with moving letter cubes. When will I be freed from this hell.

We’re pretty close to figuring it out now. The wall that only objects can pass through. It’s true identity is? ISSSSS? Come on, I know you know it. How there’s two walls, but only one was added.

Kokichi certainly knows. He’s even giving us a hint! Stop trying to use common sense in a Virtual World.

That’s right. The river feeds into itself. Which means…come on, come on!

Finally! The “two” walls are one and the same!

When Kokichi said everything was connected, he didn’t just mean metaphorically. He meant literally as well. The Virtual World is a loop.

The edge of the world, the true place the loop starts, is the loading point. And the black border wall was at the center of the world. In truth, the chapel and mansion were right next to each other.

Miu’s trap began with the maps she showed us. The map showing the mansion and chapel being on opposite ends of the Virtual World.

Kokichi seems to be steering everyone to praise me. Is me solving the mystery part of Kokichi’s trap?

We figured out everything about the Virtual World, except for what the secret of the outside world is. But we still don’t know who killed Miu.

And Kokichi is definitely still plotting something. He’s praising me and prodding at Kaito, and it’s in service of some goal. What kind of trap has he set for us? And why?

I guess we’ll find out next time…

#Dangan Ronpa #Dangan Ronpa V3 #Danganronpa V3

3 notes · View notes