#probably difficult to think of new and exciting adjectives all the time

[starglitterz]

elysian.

─── THE BEGINNING ; 03.

elysian adjective; relating to or characteristic of paradise

summary: when you lose your job out of the blue, you’re pretty sure this is the end of the road for you. at least until you reconnect with your childhood best friend aether and he offers you your ideal job and a place to stay. the only condition is that his office will be behind the store you’ll be running, and under no circumstances are you permitted to enter. that’s how you begin your new life as a florist, though you’re not sure how to focus on working when aether seems to have too many pretty boys working both for and against him. your fresh start gets a whole lot more interesting when you discover just how many secrets these men are hiding, but somehow you think you’ll still be able find the elysian ending of your dreams.

pairing: various genshin male characters x gn!reader

a/n: this chapter is so long but wahhh finally !!! requests for elysian will officially open after this ! i'm so excited to see what you all come up with omgjkskdjsk :D <3

previous. // elysian masterlist. 

"For the last time, I don't know what you're talking about! And no, I'm not saying anything else until I get a lawyer.”

You lean back in your seat defiantly, folding your arms over your chest. Strands of white hair frame the face of the officer opposite you, offset by his red eyes boring into yours and searching for even a hint of deceit in your gaze. When he finds nothing, his stern stare doesn’t change, but he exhales slowly and leaves the room. 

The other officer in the room gets up and hands you a glass of water. He has messy gray hair and teal eyes, and because of his simple kindness you think he must be slightly friendlier than the one who was interrogating you. “Hey, can you let me out of here? I haven’t done anything wrong, I swear!” Asking one of the guys who arrested you to set you free is a definite shot in the dark, but you suppose it’s better than nothing. He doesn’t reply, but he quirks an eyebrow and you frantically scan the name on his tag, “...Al-Haitham? Listen, I seriously was just minding my own business when you stopped us. Is it even legal to randomly bring people in?!” Haitham rests against the cabinet in the back of the room and doesn’t answer your question, “Why do you want to be set free?” “Because I want to go home, dumbass. Is that so difficult to understand?” you scowl at him, and somewhere in the back of your mind you can hear a voice saying that it’s probably best if you don’t insult the officer in charge for now, but you choose to ignore it. “No.” He doesn’t elaborate or offer a reaction and you groan.

This has got to be the most idiotic conversation you have ever had, and you once argued with Aether and Lumine for an hour about whether water was wet. And you don’t even have anyone to blame, you and Kaeya were just driving around with him pointing out the sights when an officer pulled you over for a random inspection and decided to bring you over to the station without even an explanation. If you had just shut up and stayed home, by now your apartment would be unpacked and ready, but instead you’re stuck in a dreary room with tiled floors and stained walls. 

Just then, the door swings open and the officer who left earlier enters with an indecipherable expression, “You can leave. Haitham, escort them out.” Relief swells in your heart, and you jump off the chair and practically skip out, accompanied by Al-Haitham. In the main lobby of the police station, you notice a tall man with blue hair and matching eyes surveying the area with an aura so intimidating it’s as if he was the owner. A chirpier blonde man scans the room, and when his green eyes land on you, his face breaks out into a huge smile, “Sir Kamisato, Y/N’s here.” 

Kamisato? The name rings a bell, and you mentally dig around your brain until it clicks. Wait. Kamisato? As in Kamisato Ayato, the heir to Yashiro, one of the biggest corporations in Teyvat?! And more importantly, why does he seem to know you? The two of them stroll up to you, and the blonde man sticks his hand out to shake yours vigorously, “Hello! I’m Thoma, Kamisato Ayato’s bodyguard, chauffeur, retainer…” Ayato tilts his head, “It’s safe to say he is very multi-talented. And so are you, it seems.” “Pardon?” You’re not sure what he’s insinuating until his smile turns cunning, “Not everyone manages to end up getting interrogated by the Chief Officer Cyno.” You frown, irritation edging your tone, “I think we both know I would prefer that hadn’t happened. How do you even know who I am?” “I’m a friend of Aether’s,” Ayato smiles mysteriously, but before he can elaborate further, the door opens so roughly that it slams against the wall and threatens to break off its hinges as a group of guys stumble in.

“I had advised you against rushing in,” a tall man with a long ponytail sighs, “I’m not sure why you request for advice that you instantly ignore.” “For fun! Or perhaps you don’t know what that means, Zhongli,” a much shorter man with twin braids grins, “Anyway, it’s a good thing that Ragnvindr guy got fired.” “Indeed. He would have locked Y/N up without a second thought,” Zhongli agrees before adding, “But I still believe you should have followed my advice.” “I think that must be Y/N over there!” another man with artfully messy maroon hair and a mole dotting his cheek cuts in before their bickering can start again and points at you. You’re staring blankly at this whole exchange when yet another man with white hair streaked with red steps forward to introduce himself, “Kaedehara Kazuha, at your service. Aether instructed us to bring you back to the florist.” 

Now you’re really getting annoyed. “I’ve had quite enough of people claiming to know Aether, thank you very much. I’ll find my own way back.” “Unfortunately, that will not be possible,” a man with brown hair and blue eyes replies, “It’s too dangerous to let you go alone. Aether would be very worried.” “Not to mention he would have our heads!” the short man pipes up, to which the maroon hair knocks him on the top of his head, “Shut up, Venti.” “If Aether’s so worried, why can’t he come get me himself?” you glower, and all of them unconsciously take a step back at the intensity of your death stare. 

“Seeing as we were the ones who got Y/N out, perhaps it would be best if we sent her back-” Thoma starts, but is easily shut down by Zhongli, “No. That is not a feasible option considering our clear differences.” The simple sentence seems to hint at something much heavier, and Thoma groans before admitting defeat. “Just let us send you back,” Kazuha pleads, “On a samurai’s honour, you will return safely.” You jut your chin outwards, “That’s not enough. I want to know the truth as well.” “The… truth?” “Yes. I’m 100% certain it’s not normal for me to be interrogated about all the people working at some flower shop in the middle of nowhere.” “Did you say anything?” the maroon headed man’s gaze flicks sharply to yours, and Kazuha swats his arm, “Heizou, even if they did-” “Did you?” Heizou presses on and you give him a dirty look, “No. I’m not an idiot. Or a snake.” “Better than Kaeya, at least,” Venti snickers, and Heizou elbows him, “Kaeya isn’t a snake… he’s just slippery.” But even Heizou’s voice sounds doubtful.

Then he snaps himself out of it, “Regardless, we will be taking you back now. And good job for not saying anything.” Heizou turns around and starts to walk away, flanked by everyone except Kazuha, who at least gives you an apologetic shrug first. You glance at Ayato and Thoma as if seeking assistance, but all you see is an amused smile playing about Ayato’s lips and a tight smile on Thoma’s face. When he catches you looking, Ayato smirks, “Don’t worry. I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other soon. Get home safe.” 

With no other choice, you sigh, groan, and roll your eyes in quick succession before hurrying after them. Maybe taking up Aether’s offer wasn’t such a good idea after all. 

— 

After what has to be both the longest and simultaneously most awkward car ride you have ever been in your life (it wasn’t helped by the fact that the driver was the most muscled man you have ever seen, and he wouldn’t shut up the entire time), you finally reach the florist and you’re ready to just crash into bed. But the minute you see Aether silhouetted in the doorway, your fatigue disappears, replaced by a desperate desire to know what’s really going on. From the secretive looks shared between the men in the car and the two guys at the police station, not to mention the fact that their so-called office is situated at the edge of the city, it feels like everyone is in on a secret and you’re purposely being kept out of the loop. 

“What the hell is going on, Aether? I trusted you. Why won’t you do the same for me?” That barrage of questions is the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you’re close enough to speak to him. It feels like a dam in your mind’s been broken and all your worries about jumping headfirst into a suggestion with so many unknowns combined with your stress from being fired and evicted are flooding out. “Listen, Y/N,” Aether looks pained, and the seriousness of his expression is enough to make you stop in your tracks before you can scold him even more, “I didn’t want to tell you this at first, but now I think it’s best if you know. Would you mind having a seat?”

You pull up a chair and look expectantly at him, “So, what is it?” Aether sits opposite you, seeming as if a million and one things are rushing through his mind at the speed of a bullet train, “You remember my sister, don’t you?” “Yeah, Lumine. Of course I do,” you don’t understand where he’s going with this. Obviously you remember his sister; the three of you were inseparable in university, but the two of them had always been joined at the hip, closer than any other siblings you had seen before. You often wondered just how much the two of them had been through that bound them so close together. But as uni friends often do, you all had fallen out of contact, your rare interactions stemming from mere posts on social media, and even that had trickled to an end eventually. “Right. Well, she’s gone missing,” Aether can’t meet your eyes when he admits it. “What?!” it takes you a few seconds to process, “What do you mean?” “Gone without a trace. Not even a text,” he sounds clinical, detached from the story as if he’s gone over this many times in the past.

“But… what happened? Lumine wouldn’t just up and leave like that.” “I’m not sure if you remember, but Lumi was always into journalism. She was always busy looking for ‘the next big scoop’, and she had special obsession with politics. She liked exploring, poking around in places she shouldn’t be, and…” here his voice breaks slightly, but he forces himself to continue, “I think that she saw something she wasn’t supposed to, and they took her away.” “Who did?” “The government; the Abyss Order. Or maybe the Fatui.” You shudder at the mention of the government’s special operations service; they’ve been rumoured to have murdered hundreds, if not thousands, of people globally without hesitation nor remorse – they acted purely according to instruction. 

“What does that have to do with this place? Or me?” While you’re reeling from the impact of what he’s just accused the Abyss Order of, you still want to know how this correlates to your current situation. “Well, I obviously wanted to get her back. So I started searching around, hunting for information, that kind of thing. And I found out that Lumine wasn’t the only potential victim. There were people disappearing all the time, I’d see their families posting about it online. But I didn’t want to stop at just a cry for help on some random internet forum - I wanted to go further. I wanted to find Lumine and punish those who had unjustly taken her.” Your mouth feels dry, and you’re not sure how much you want to hear what comes next, but you know it’s something that you have to listen to. 

“I found a bunch of people with similar mindsets who had the same thing happen to them, and we…” his voice trails off, but he keeps going, “We started what could be called a support group at best… but a gang at worst. And we don’t do anything bad, I promise. We just keep our ears to the ground and find out things we aren’t supposed to know, and Y/N, you won’t believe how deep this corruption runs within the system.” “So, essentially you invited me here, knowing how badly I needed a job and a place to stay, just to work as a cover for a gang,” your throat feels tight, and your heart is threatening to shatter, “Y’know, for a second there, I really thought you genuinely cared.” You move to leave, but Aether stands in your path, “But I do! I didn’t mean to involve you in this business at all, you were just supposed to live your dream and run a peaceful flower shop and stay in the apartment upstairs. You weren’t supposed to find out about any of this.” Your gaze softens – you’ve known Aether long enough to know when he’s lying and when he’s telling the truth, and you recognise that he honestly wanted to keep you in the dark about the whole thing.

“But now that I do know, what are you going to do?” “Nothing,” Aether states, a mask of calmness slipping into place, “What happens next is up to you.” “What?” “You can either go to the police and tell them everything I just told you,” he begins, “Or you can stay with us, and work, as you put it, as a cover for a gang.” You fall silent, the protests bubbling up on your lips dying in seconds as you do your best to observe the circumstances rationally and figure out what to do next. But deep down, you already know what you’re going to choose. Perhaps your decision was decided for you the second you met Aether in that coffee shop. You don’t even listen to how he’s explaining, “-if anything happens, you can claim plausible deniability-” before you say, “I’m staying. I can’t leave you now.” “Really?” Aether’s in disbelief, but he manages a grin when you nod, “I’ll be your spy florist.” 

And that’s the story of how you ended up as a florist for a gang. It wasn’t that great of a job, but the people you got to interact with daily made things much better, and if anything, that’s where the real story starts – within the elysian new life you carved out for yourself.

© starglitterz 2023. do not repost or modify in any way – reblog & leave comments if you enjoyed !

[iratetourist]

study buddy // eddie munson x reader

featuring my fave eddie gif 🥰

summary: eddie munson wasn’t much of a good study buddy, but he had other ways to make it up to you… 👅 aka eddie’s tongue is a bit of a menace

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: idk girlies i wrote it on my phone, it’s not too long

author’s note: this man got me so obsessed that i wrote a fic for the first time in nearly a decade because of him… so this shit is ROUGH (sowwy) and the concept kind of got away from me, but regardless, i had fun just writing away for a few hours!! also, if any of the formatting is off, i apologize, like i said, i’m only just getting back into this lmao

warnings: a little sauciness, nothing explicit, only lightly implied

________________

“So, of course, I was thinking that if I introduced, like, a… a dragon-blooded drow priestess, the entire idea would come together so well. I think I want her dragon lineage to be a secret, though—”

You nodded absentmindedly at your boyfriend’s random D&D musings, humming at him in response, though a small, contented smile rested on your face as you listened and flipped through the textbook on your lap. Eddie, completely enraptured within ideas for his next campaign, continued to ramble from his spot lying next to you on the floor, his own textbook having long been tossed God-knows-where and his papers scribbled with D&D notes.

“Dustin would lose his goddamn mind at the reveal, I bet, but would still probably try to recruit her even if she killed off half the party—” Eddie shot up instantaneously at that, yet another idea that had to be written down dawning upon him.

Needless to say, this studying session wasn’t exactly proving to be successful.

Sighing, you set your book to the side and just watched him for a few moments. It was difficult to be annoyed at him when he was talking about far more interesting things than anything your textbooks had to offer and was this hyped up, because frankly, it was downright adorable. Not an adjective pretty much anyone would use to describe Eddie Munson, but entirely applicable right now, in your expert opinion as his girlfriend.

He had a contagious smile plastered on his face, his dimples deeply on display… a boyish sparkle of excitement to his eyes… his curly hair splayed wildly across his face, and his hand was writing away a mile a minute as he attempted to get out every idea he had before it disappeared. Every few seconds, he would look up at you and his face would light up just that much brighter, and you could feel your heart ache all the more, and it took everything in your power not practically pounce on him.

It was the way he was so comfortable with you, so happy to have you just be with him and listen to any and all passionate rants and ravings he had, that you wanted nothing more than to just grab him and go at it right then and there—

But no! You had come here, to his trailer, with the express intent to study while spending time with him. You hadn’t gotten to see each other that much over the past few weeks, what with studying for finals, so you figured, two birds, one stone - you both could get some studying done while getting a chance to chill and catch up with each other…

…Yeah, you’re not really sure how you convinced yourself this would work.

Inevitably, Eddie Munson didn’t give much of a shit about studying when he had barely seen his girlfriend for three weeks and you both were alone in his trailer. You couldn’t exactly blame him (you weren’t feeling particularly studious yourself that late afternoon, among other things), but the fact was you promised yourself you would at least finish reviewing up to Chapter 31 of your physics textbook before you let him… uh, actively distract you too much.

And yet, you were only barely done reading through to Chapter 16, and had already been there for three and a half hours. Oops?

Taking a deep breath and closing your eyes, you made a new promise to yourself: at least get to Chapter 20 today, that’s it. You could do that, easily - only four more chapters to go, and you knew the eighteenth was shorter than most. Perfectly attainable goal.

Then you heard a groan to your side, and opened your eyes to find Eddie stretching his arms high above his head, muscles taut and tattoos enticingly on display. Add the fact that his tongue - it was always that goddamn tongue of his - was sticking the slightest bit out past his lips, running along them, and you felt every bit of resolve you had just mustered flush out of your system in an instant, only to be replaced by an immediate surge of heat and longing. You exhaled forcibly, but couldn’t bring yourself to look away.

When he opened a single eye a second later at the sound, he gave you a long, knowing smirk and then changed his stretching position, throwing one arm across the opposite shoulder and pressing his hand to his elbow, making sure to go slow as he did so.

“See something ya like, sweetheart?”

Oh, good Christ, you didn’t know how long you could keep this up, not when he brought in the nicknames. Looking down, you saw a flash of his smooth skin, the briefest peek of toned abs, as his shirt riled up from the action, and your mind went blank yet again. Your eyes shot up to his, and you could feel your cheeks flush instantly at the cocky glimmer in his own - caught red-handed and by God was he revelling in it.

Stupid cute, annoying boyfriend… he knew exactly what he was doing and you both hated and loved him for it.

“I… I need…” You could barely swallow down your embarrassment at how breathy your voice came out. Coughing a bit, you shifted a little away from him, and then purposefully grabbed your textbook and made a show of sticking your nose in it. “I need to finish reading… um, this… yeah. At least… to Chapter 20.”

Wow, super convincing, Y/N, good job.

Eddie’s smirk only grew that much more smug at your strained tone. Oh, he liked a bit of challenge.

Crawling over to you, he leaned his head down on your lap, turning so he was looking directly up at you through the window your textbook made. “Hm…” He ran a hand up the back of your forearm, sparking goosebumps across your skin, and reached for your textbook. “I think what we both need is a bit of a break, don’tcha think?”

Despite the increasingly distracting mood, you couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. The warm sound reverberated through your body, and Eddie swallowed thickly, trying to keep his own composure - were it not for the fact that he was trying to wind you up as much as possible first, he would have hiked you over his shoulder at that and taken you to the bedroom. But… not yet, not yet.

“Tell me, Eddie Munson, how do think you’ve earned a break, considering I know for a fact you haven’t read past chapter three in that textbook of yours?” Passively, you began to play with the ends of his hair - you knew he loved that more than he was willing to admit.

Eddie put on a fake pout at that, pressing a hand to his heart. “Y/N, you wound me!” he began, running his tongue across his lower lip again. Despite your best efforts, you once again found your eyes trailing after it, and the shiver that ran through you at that was quite acutely felt by man laying beneath you, earning yet another self-satisfied smirk. Good God, you were gonna let him have it…

“I have spent the the better part of nearly four hours tirelessly working out potential ideas for our next D&D campaign, and you don’t believe that warrants a nice, long break? Well, I’ll be damned. I think I more than deserve it…” He pushed himself up at this, knocking the textbook you were very much so just staring blankly at out of the way, before nudging you to the ground, hovering atop you.

That goddamned smug grin of his grew that much more at how easily you let him do so, and the sight stoked further at the coiling sensation in your gut. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to the shell of your ear, a husky whisper leaving his mouth, “…and I think you require it.”

“Mm, you think so, do you?” Your hands came up to ghost your nails down his back, and he let out a throaty noise at the contact, causing a cheeky smile of your own to grace your features. “Well, I think what you require is just one good thing to really focus on…”

“Just say the word, sweetheart,” he breathed, turning from your ear to drag his lips across your jaw and down your neck, pressing hot kisses to the exposed flesh.

You felt a hand snake its way up your shirt, and smiled to yourself before reaching down and running a your thumb across his chin and up to his lips, pulling his face to yours. He peered up at you - eyes dark and half-lidded, tongue, as always, poking past his lips oh-so temptingly - and you knew he was utterly at your command.

“I suppose this,” you whispered, brushing your fingertips lightly across the blade of his tongue, “could be put to better use than just teasing me.”

And that was all it took before he was crushing his mouth against yours, pressing that distracting tongue of his to your quite receptive own.

The suddenness and force of the kiss caused a broken moan to leave you, and whatever cheeky resolve you had left began to succumb to the greater desire to just be close to him. Reaching up, you eagerly threaded your fingers into his long hair and gave it a quick, sharp tug, and a stuttered breath fell from Eddie’s lips.

“Fuck…” His eyes fluttered closed for a few seconds, savouring the sensation, before a wicked grin broke out on his face and he shifted himself downwards, pressing kisses down your much-too-clothed body.

Settling just before the hem of your pants, he hooked his thumbs in your belt loops, and then proceeded to flash you a look from between your legs that had your heart skipping a beat and your toes curling in anticipation.

“Don’t worry, love, this tongue has more than one way to go about teasing you…”

…And just like that, it was safe to say that you didn’t bother getting anymore studying done that particular afternoon.

[volfoss]

Team Bucciarati pet headcanons:

(long post under the cut)

Giorno Giovanna:

He would definitely have pet frogs and in his big office, probably a really big terrarium

I think he'd have probably a few frogs but I can see him having an Asian painted frog and a reticulated glass frog

He would be the actual best frog dad and I can see him letting them just chill on his shoulder during meetings

Would probably get random frogs off the street too so his frogs don't get lonely

He'd name them slightly goofy names or let one of the gang name them

When Giorno gets overwhelmed from work, he'll just put some gloves on and hold the frogs for a bit

He has a lot of experience caring for them, because as soon as he realized he could have a pet, he went into research overdrive

Gio is also in change of taking care of Coco Jumbo, and dotes on the turtle a lot! At this point his entire room is nearly a terrarium.

Pannacotta Fugo:

Pannacotta really admires ferrets because of how smart and mischievous they are but didn't feel like he could take care of one because of how he struggles to control his emotions

He brought it up offhand after Narancia got his gerbils and Narancia had no hesitation to help Pannacotta care for a ferret in exchange for help with schoolwork

They went to a lot of pet stores until they found a rescue with a few ferrets left

The second he laid eyes on this adorable white ferret who was napping, Pannacotta's mind was set, this was the pet for him

The ferret immediately snuggled right up to him when he held it

The whole way home (Giorno drove), he was brainstorming names

The first night, he woke up panicked as Purple Haze was out and just watching the ferret, but watching the ferret run around the large enclosure that the gang worked together to get built

PH seemed oddly peaceful but that didn't help Pannacotta feel less worried that it was out, but as the night went on, he found that spending time and playing with the ferret made him feel more comfortable around it in general

Narancia Ghirga:

Definitely a gerbil and probably begged Bruno to take him to a pet store to get one which then turned into two because he couldn't resist the two he found

He would probably keep one or both in his pockets around the house and sneak them little scraps of Bruno's cooking at the dinner table

His favorite thing is seeing them use the toys he got for them or when they sleep on top of each other

Would probably name them adjectives, like Stuzzichine or Coccolone and give them semi ridiculous nicknames

Would keep them on his lap when the gang has a movie night and loves when they fall asleep on him

Trish Una:

Trish really likes lovebirds and has an affinity for birds which she found out when Giorno made her a bird out of paperwork for her birthday

She had to go and get another one so they could play with each other. The trip to the rescue had involved the entire family since no one wanted to turn her down when she looked that excited.

Trish took a while picking one out, as she needed to make sure that they would get along with the bird at home, but she settled on a very cheerful peach-faced lovebird

The entire ride home, the bird was leaning into her head pets and being generally noisy

Trish likes to sing or hum and the birds will chirp along with her

When she works on schoolwork, the birds will perch on her shoulder often times to try and get her attention, which makes schoolwork take a long time. She absolutely loves doting on them

Trish takes the absolute best care of them and gets them the finest things!

Guido Mista:

Dog has 3 legs bc luck

Guido adopted a stray Doberman Pinscher on his way back from a solo mission without telling anyone, other than Giorno who was about to head out when Guido was sneaking into the base

Obviously he couldn't just leave the poor thing there when it was looking at him with those eyes, and he was fairly certain that the actual zoo they had in their base would not be helped by a big dog, but he wasn't going to let Vivian ( he had already named her after the main character of his favorite movie) limp around with no home

Giorno helped smuggle her in since barely anyone else was home, and sent Narancia off to get some dog supplies while he helped Guido get Vivian settled

They helped get her all clean, which was difficult with her tail wagging at a rapid pace, and water was all over the bathroom by the time that they were done

The two of them got the dog all comfy on Mista's (very ugly and questionably patterned) bedspread and she snuggled right up to Guido the second he laid down

The Sex Pistols love the dog too, and find themselves resting on her when she sleeps since Vivian is so warm and riding on her back when she's being played with

Guido is already used to giving the Pistols food, but now he also has a dog (although he doesn't give her a ton of human food) to feed

It doesn't take too long for the rest of the group to realize there is a big dog, especially when Guido trains Vivian a lot during the day or is outside playing with her

Giorno has offered multiple times to make a leg for her missing leg, but Mista insists she's fine without one (and he won't admit that the tetraphobia makes it hard to think about her having 4 legs instead of her 3)

Vivian gets along well with the rest of the pets, thanks to a lot of training and steady introductions to everyone else

Bruno Bucciarati:

He and Leone have had cats for years, although he's constantly the instigating force to bring new animals in (including all the kids pets), he has a massive soft spot for strays

He's the very best cat dad and has blankets quite literally everywhere possible to give the cats as many options to lay and built cat ledges for their windows so the cats can bask in the sun

Has a lint roller in the car because the cats love, love, love to lay on his clothes when he sets them out for a shower. He learned his lesson with his lingerie and does not have that set out after one of the cats clawed into it and destroyed it

Bruno can and will walk the cats if the weather is permitting

He just started bringing the strays home one day, and Leone didn't notice until the 2nd cat started clawing up his pants while he was wearing them

Bruno, in contrast to Leone's bad names, gives the cats some extremely cheesy nicknames and has no shame using them in public

One of the strays that they brought in initially was a very young kitten, and he stayed up all night (ignoring the meeting/job he had the next day) to care for it and make sure it was alright

He SPOILS these cats rotten and they have multiple cat towers around their room because of that

The cats also have customized collars and they are all color coordinated

Bruno really relies on the cats if the memories of somehow surviving the fight become too strong, as the cats can really sense when he's stressed and huddle around him

The cats really like to bat at his zippers, so he makes sure to change out of his suit when he knows he'll be home for the rest of the night

Leone Abbacchio:

So. Many. Cats.

As much as Leone gripes about the fur on his clothes, he loves when the cats come in and keep him company when he's winding down for the day with a good book

He swears he doesn't mean to keep adopting cats but they tend to show up at the base or Bruno sneaks another one home

He has a few blankets piled up under the windowsills so the cats can lay there, but often finds them all on his bed or trailing behind him

He tends to feed strays when they come but tries to not get attached

Has the actual worst names for them and refuses to change even when the rest of the family judges him for it

He often wakes up surrounded by cats or having one lay on his face

Leone and Bruno have had cats for years so are practiced cat dads by now

The kids often will just come and grab a cat if they need a stress reliever

Leone will not admit it but he wakes up early to feed the cats wet food and tries to be stealthy about it

As for cat breeds, most of theirs aren't purebred, but their cats that they know for sure are breeds are semi close to being a Bengal and a Cornish Rex

He keeps toys for them in his bedside table to make sure they don't wake him or Bruno up in the middle of the night with wanting to play (they do anyways)

If he's sitting anywhere, there's a very high chance there's a cat on his lap or laying on his chest if he's reclining

All of the cats are incredibly attached to him and when he's on a mission, they'll wait in a group at the front door until he returns

[crqstalite]

Letters Home.

I made a mistake because this was originally meant to answer a prompt fill and then I forgot about it until now. So I tweaked it, but it still works I think.

I would rather not think about the fact the current majority of writing I've done for Lali and Joker is very angsty. That'll change, eventually, but it was begging to be written so here we are. It's a little shaky since I've written Joker himself maybe a grand total of three times but I'm happy enough with it.

Post-Thessia, minor (major?) character death mentioned. Lali/Joker.

"There's a new Blasto movie coming out, it doesn't look a lot better than the last one, but it'd be great to see with you when you're home again."

Her green eyes are still bright, her grin wide while she falls back on the collection of pillows decorating her bed. Her concerns then must've extended about as far as what was for dinner that evening, or tomorrow's assignment. Blasto wasn't one of her favorites, he knew that every time they'd watched one together, but she'd sat through every single one because it made him happy. Not that she didn't complain the entire time though.

It'd been a while since he'd been fifteen himself, but those concerns shouldn't have included Reapers in them.

"You must know about all the inaccuracies in the movies, huh? With the Council and stuff this has to be hilarious to you."

Joker isn't sure what feeling to name the one that's threatening to consume him while Hilary continues talking, rattling off that week's events. Teachers, classmates, her chores around the house.

The vidmail just seemed so normal. Everything had seemed perfectly fine when he'd checked in on them after they'd left Earth. Maybe that was an overstatement, nothing would've been fine but it was still manageable then. His father and his younger sister had intended to bunker down for as long as they had to, as long as they could while he'd promised them to try and get them off Tiptree. Nothing had seemed off. Nothing had seemed wrong. He thought they'd have time.

Six months later and he'd proved himself wrong. Time was in shorter and shorter supply. By the time he could turn his attention fully back to finding them nearly a week ago to do anything more about their situation, it'd been too late. He'd heard it over the extranet, part the long list of colony worlds flashing red every other hour. His blood had run cold while he'd hoped, prayed he wouldn't find his homeworld among the lost.

The galaxy felt like it stopped spinning when he did. In big, bright red letters, it'd said Tiptree, and he...it'd all felt like a bad dream then. That he'd look back and see it was some other colony out in the Traverse. Not his. It couldn't. It shouldn't have. It was so far outside of normal trade routes that it didn't make sense for the Reapers to seize it.

Yet they'd done so anyway. The last communications had gone out the day prior, and had stretched into silence since then. Where he'd be expecting a call today, instead his missed messages have remained dark. His 'tool won't connect to his father's, or Hilary's.

He almost misses when the door behind him opens, his hand missing the pause button on the video while he scrambles for it. He doesn't get a great glance over his shoulder, but it's enough for him to try and get his emotions back in check long enough to hold a conversation, "Shepard? Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

"You've got the wrong Shepard, actually. I think." If the voice isn't enough to convince him, then the absence of anger in it does when he turns his chair to look at her. Smaller, softer, more concerned when Citlali pauses in the doorway compared to her elder sister. His girlfriend a sight for sore eyes, at least compared to her counterpart, "Sorry for scaring you, if I did.

"You didn't. Just, thought she was making the rounds again. And holding a grudge against your commander doesn't really bode well for you, as I've found." He can't find the energy to add a genuine laugh with the quip, and while Citlali smiles, it's one of the ones that's strained, "What? I feel like Alenko's walking proof of that."

"I guess, depending on how you look at it." She furrows her brow, maybe in thought, maybe in disbelief. He still can't read her very well, though it's not as if she makes it easy. Shaking off the expression, "Do you mind if I come in? You seemed...busy."

While Hilary's vid has gone quiet, he doesn't meet her eyes. The distraction might be better than nothing, even though he'd rather spend his time alone, most likely watching the last handful of mails from the month prior, "If you want to, sure. Did you need anything?"

"No. It's just...quiet around here. Thessia's on everyone's mind and it honestly feels too constricting." The door closes behind her, "If you're worried, Kodelyn's with Liara right now. I don't think she's going to come back up here for a while."

"Oh good. That'll probably give her time to cool off." Refocus her frustration with Thessia back towards comforting, always seemed like it fixed something in her. He might've been out of line, but he hadn't been expecting for her to explode at him like that. It seemed too out of character, and he hadn't been able to accurately predict it. The longer she spent doing anything else was probably extending his lifespan. Shepard wasn't predictable, but she rarely played the stereotype of the short-fuse Commander.

"Cool off?" Citlali quirks an eyebrow, "Was she mad at...you?"

"Surprising, I know."

"Weird. What'd you do?"

"Nothing." He says habitually, then sighs, "I don't know. Rough day for obvious reasons, she wasn't doing so well and I probably didn't make it any better."

"Oh." Citlali cringes, "She wasn't too upset with you, was she?"

"Probably not with me specifically. I just ended up as collateral damage."

"Collateral -- Never mind. She'll probably apologize when she's feeling more like herself. If she ever does." Her tone wavers at that, uncertainty on the other end of it, "Are you okay, though?"

His silence answers it for her. What does he say to that? Fine, only that I found out my home might be ashes and the only family I have left might be gone?

Well, he probably could.

"Sure. Fine."

Her smile's shaky, "Are you really fine, or are you just trying to get rid of me?"

"Never, I love spending time with you. You know that."

"Uh-huh. I'll suspend my disbelief, but only because you're sweet," She frowns at that, padding over to sit in the empty co-pilot's chair, turning it to face him, "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. You don't have to lie to me though."

"I'm not. Just dealing with...everything. All of us have our off days." The screen blinks when he turns back to it, Hilary's expression still frozen in one of amusement. His chest grows heavy again, this one was dated a day before the Reapers came through. This vidmail, the one like so many others that'd come before it, was one of the last ones he'd ever have of her.

And when he received it, he hadn't thought anything of it. He wouldn't go as far as to say he'd taken the ritual for granted, but he'd thought he'd receive another one. And another after that. He was careful to watch every one, and send back another as soon as he was able. His had gone unread.

"Fair enough." Citlali leans back, blissfully oblivious, "Long day. Maybe way too many things happened all at once."

"You could probably say that again."

"I'll refrain from repeating myself." She chuckles, "Can't wait to get back to the Citadel. The rest this crew needs is probably ticking up towards absurd."

"That bad in your professional opinion?" He asks, "I'd thought we were doing just peachy. Y'know, with the Council trying to absolve themselves of guilt and the galaxy crumbling around us."

"Thank God for night clubs." She responds, leaning back, "It just feels tenser than ever. Can't shake the feeling we're getting towards the end of whatever this is, and it's making everyone jumpy."

"Probably, yeah. Hopefully it'll be longer than a day or two when Shepard's done with Horizon. It'd be nice not running from Reaper forces day in and day out."

"Too exciting for you?"

"Everyone has their limits. just seems like there are more of them than ever lately, and they all want a piece of us." That much is true. The other half is that he wants a chance to search. Search the Citadel, search the surrounding systems. Maybe Hilary would be with the refugees, and he just hadn't found her yet. Maybe she'd lost her 'tool. They'd never been great at remembering each other's codes.

One hell of a time to forget, if she was out there, all alone and surrounded by the unknown.

Citlali turns her gaze towards the front window, then to one of the screens in front of him from what she can see, "Thessia-related matters aside, if you're willing to share, who's that?"

He hesitates, trying to find an answer while his throat tightens around his words. All he can do is send a picture of Hilary over to her screen. She halfway smiles when she receives it, one of her out in the yard during his last leave. Yellow sundress, celebrating the first day of summer, "Friend? Family? She looks just like you. Same grin and everything."

"Family. Younger sister, actually."

"Aw. Looks just like you." Citlali smiles, "What's she like?"

"Like any little sister, I guess." What was there to say? Why is he looking for adjectives to encapsulate the sister he loved, and why is it so difficult, "Smart, kind, practical joker sometimes. Occasionally gets on your nerves, but you love her too much to stay mad."

"As all siblings do. Feel like she'd be fun to have around. Guess you missed out on the curly hair gene, huh?"

"Had it when I was younger."

"Is she looking to follow in your footsteps? A pilot just like her brother?"

The lump in his throat almost doesn't let him answer her, and he plays with the bill of his hat, "Maybe. I don't think she ever really said anything about it."

"Big shoes to fill, I get it." The smile fades slightly when he doesn't follow up on it, "Where is she now?"

His voice is raspy when he tries to talk again, "I don't...really know. I don't know if she even still is."

Her face falls, furrowing her brows once she realizes, "I- Jeff..."

"Evac orders were sent out to Tiptree a couple of days ago. No news since, only that a handful made it...somewhere. Liara didn't say where." The orange lights in front of him start to swim in the water collecting in the corners of his eyes, "I don't even know if she made it offworld."

There's a flood threatening to burst behind his eyes, delicately held back for the last few days just by sheer will. Just the thought of the planet being turned into Earth, Palaven, Tuchanka...hell even what he saw of Thessia turns his stomach.

They didn't live that close to any major city, but they still would've been at risk if they sent any husks out that way. Any of the other grotesque monsters they'd seen lately.

Had she been looking for him? When it'd all happened, had he missed her call while they were in FTL? Just by a split second.

The thought of one them getting their hands on her, one of the sweetest girls in the galaxy who'd done nothing but act as a ray of sunshine in his life, it kills him to think about.

His hands are wet, he doesn't even realize until he hears Citlali's boots against the ground behind him. Her eyes are searching his face when she kneels down next to his chair, holding out her arms halfway in a silent question.

He accepts a moment later, wrapping his arms around her. She hugs him back, a quiet whisper on her lips when she returns the gesture, "I'm so sorry."

The dam breaks.

Big jade eyes that match his, a grin she lamented about every other day. The figurine he'd brought back for her, the Normandy, on her nightstand just in view.

What he'd give to see her again. Hear her voice again.

The galaxy crumbles away, tears streaming down his face.

"I love you, Jeff. I miss you."

[recurring-polynya]

Do we have a Byakuya giving Renji marriage advice fic? I'd love to read one!

I know this is gonna seem like I can’t read the prompt, because it’s 95% Byakuya giving Rukia marriage advice, but I just honestly think Byakuya trusts Renji on this, given that Renji has worked for him for years at this point and just sort of anticipates all his needs and understands him better than really anyone, and also, Byakuya does not understand Renji at all and has no idea how his dumb jock brain works. He knows exactly how Rukia’s brain works, though.

Anyway, I am back on my Byakuya-writing-letters bullshit, please enjoy some Sunday afternoon feels. I think it should be obvious, but this takes place the night after Rukia and Renji’s wedding.

❤️   🥂   🎊  

It was late at night, but Rukia couldn’t sleep. Too much excitement, maybe, the unfamiliarity of a new house, the evening’s pleasant alcoholic haze fading into the beginnings of a hangover. It certainly couldn’t be the idea of a new life entirely, looming in front of her like an iceberg, complete with a new name and all sorts of new possibilities. Primarily, there was a new bed and a new person who slept in it with her, and she found the idea of waking him up terrifying, so she slipped out from under the blankets and crept downstairs.

She was digging around in the kitchen, wondering if Renji had gotten around to making any pickles since he moved in a month ago (there was an entire cabinet full, wonderful man!), when she remembered the note.

Rukia had briefly flipped through the envelopes of wedding money they had received earlier. The one from her brother bulged, and when she opened it up, the bills inside were large. Renji got nervous in the presence of large sums of money and she suspected he would attempt to give it back, so put it away quickly to deal with later, but not before she noticed a sheet of paper tucked inside among the bills. It had only her name on it, in her brother’s finest handwriting.

After retrieving the note, she settled on the couch (which had been Renji’s but was now theirs because that’s how this worked) with the jar of pickles tucked beside her (the pickles were hers because they were the spicy kind Renji made specially for her even though he couldn’t eat them himself).

My beloved sister, the note opened.

It is my impression that one of the important roles of an older brother is to go before one’s younger siblings, to chart the unknown terrain of life, and to act as guide and mentor. My own marriage was characterized by deep love and joy in the face of hardship, and I hope that yours will contain all of its happiness and none of its heartache. Unfortunately, I regret to inform you, I have no idea how I did it.

When our lots were first cast together, as you know, I declined to form a close relationship with you. This was a mistake on my part, born of the fear that you would remind me too much of Hisana. Later on, to my horror, I found the truth to be far worse-- although you do share some of your sister’s fine qualities, in personality, you bear a much greater resemblance to myself.

That being the case, I imagine that by the time you find this note, you will have tied yourself up into knots over whether or not you ‘deserve this’ or if you can ever be a satisfactory partner. We are very fine Kuchiki, you and I, Rukia. We are strong of body and of will. We are dignified in all we do. We devote ourselves to our duties before our else. Our hearts are strong and love strongly, but we hold them close, as we must. Our family is our pride, which, paradoxically, makes it nearly impossible to share ourselves with those we hold closest.

Your sister Hisana was an exceedingly stubborn person, who formed her own opinions of me, which may or may not have had any grounding in reality. She frequently told me that I was ‘kind’ and ‘thoughtful’ and ‘sweet’ and a variety of other adjectives that no other thinking person would dare to apply to me. It is very difficult to live with such a person for long before you find yourself trying to live up to their misguided delusions.

As it happens, this is among the distressing number of personality traits my adjutant shares with my late wife. His optimism is endless, his vision is permanently rose-tinted, even when he insists upon wearing those horrendous goggles. Any yet, time and again, I have seen him bring out the best qualities in the horrible ne’er-do-wells under our mutual command. Indeed, if I have ever been a good brother to you, it is mostly due to his belief that I could be so. It is a verifiable fact that you are one of the best best souls in all of Soul Society, one would think it would be unimaginable to inflate your worth beyond its actual measure, and yet, somewhere, he manages that, as well.

How is one supposed to live up to these sorts of expectations from the person they love most of all? It is impossible. At least in my case, Hisana was quite aware that I am a pompous buffoon, whereas Abarai fully believes the sun rises and sets for your personal benefit. I am going to tell you something that may be difficult to hear: you have to simply deal with it. He is never going to stop. If you are truly as like to me as I suspect, you will rebel against this, your brain constantly trying to sabotage your happiness.

The fact of the matter is, Rukia, these feelings of inadequacy spring from the very fact that you hold him so dearly that your own estimation of him is also blown out of proportion. Do not misinterpret me. I am very fond of Abarai, but he is a mess. A disaster. You have probably never seen his filing system, but it would give you the vapors. (I do suggest that you take responsibility over that aspect of your household management.) Again, I sympathize. He is actually not nearly so bad as your sister, whom I once watched deface a centerpiece at a very fancy benefit dinner (the end result was extremely offensive and also very humorous). In my mind, she is still the most perfect person I have ever met.

Perhaps I am mistaken. Perhaps you are plagued with none of the insecurities that troubled the early days of my marriage, and that I was only able to come to terms with once it became evident that our time together would be finite. I desperately hope this is the case, and if so, please do me the courtesy of destroying this letter, and forgetting all of this.

In either case, I wish you the utmost happiness with your horrible husband.

Your affectionate brother,

Byakuya

Rukia’s fingers clenched on the edges of the paper. The edges of her eyes were burning. How dare he do this to her, after all these years? How many times had they crossed paths in the gardens in the hours when they should have been sleeping? Since when did they need to say things in order to show how well they understood each other? Rukia had half a mind to march over there right now and punch him in his perfect face. He was most likely sitting out next to the koi pond this very minute.

“Thinkin’ of skippin’ out on me already?” a sleepy voice asked behind her, and Rukia jumped nearly a foot in the air.

“What? No!” Rukia rubbed at her hair and frowned apologetically at Renji, who seemed more interested in yawning. "I was thinking too loud and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Nah, my skull is too thick, I can’t even hear my own thoughts most of the time.” Renji leaned over the back of the couch, and Rukia guiltily folded her note in half. “Letter from Captain?”

“Uh, yeah,” Rukia excused. “Sorry. It was kinda personal.”

“I understand. I got one, too. It was less personal.”

A piece of paper dropped in her lap and as she was busy unfolded it, Renji grabbed her jar of pickles.

“Hey, that’s mine!” she protested.

“You don’t gotta tell me what your brother wrote to you,” Renji yawned, tucking the pickles under his arm. “But I think you should probably listen to him. He knows what’s he’s on about.”

Rukia looked at the piece of Squad Six letterhead in her hands. In precise, businesslike handwriting, it read:

To: Abarai Renji, Assistant Captain, Sixth Division

From: Kuchiki Byakuya, Captain Sixth Division

Re: My sister/Your pending wife

Lieutenant Abarai,

Please be aware that Rukia is prone to poor decisions when she has insomnia and it is in your best interest to prevent her from consuming excessively spicy and/or vinegared goods past a respectable bedtime.

Sincerely,

Captain Kuchiki

“Rat fink!” Rukia exclaimed.

“Come back to bed,” Renji implored, pressing a kiss into her hair. “I know some good ways to make your brain shut up.”

“Okay,” Rukia agreed grumpily. “I’m eating those pickles for breakfast, though.”

“I’m makin’ pancakes, but suit yourself.”

Rukia decided that maybe it was best to try and get some rest. She had a big rest-of-her-life coming up the next day.

[therokoko]

“A bad attitude on set is deadly” - Interview with Alex Rider Director and Producer Andreas Prochaska 

Andreas Prochaska on adapting the books, casting Otto Farrant and the challenges of releasing the series in times of Corona

Based on a podcast interview with Austrian news outlet Der Standard titled “Schlechte Laune am Set ist tödlich”. I’ve translated the important bits. 

1. How he came in contact with Alex Rider: 

Well, that was relatively simple. I have an agent in England, and he sent me the script for the first episode as well as an outlook, a kind of series bible about how things were going to proceed, and I read this and thought: “This works for me. That’s something completely different.” 

I mean, especially … you mentioned “Das Boot” earlier, which was the production I worked on before, and which was burdensome in every way, I mean not only because of the time it took but also because of the topic, because we killed, I think, 26 characters in “Das Boot”, not counting extras, and of course that has an effect on you. And then I also filmed “Spuren des Bösen” [Traces of Evil, a German 8 part crime series made between 2010 and 2019, A/N), in which a mother jumps out of a window with her baby, and I was looking for something with a lighter tonality, and something which I hadn’t done before in this particular form, and “Alex Rider” was perfect for that.

I also didn’t know the book series at all. I read it completely unbiased and thought: “This is actually a cool, daring concept – so to speak somewhat exaggeratedly Coming-of-Age meets Jason Bourne....

[This job] was a result of “Das Boot” insofar as someone working for the distributor, Sonar, knew someone at Eleventh Hour – and it’s not just over here that people talk, and when someone says “listen, this guy has done a decent job, take a look” or something, that helps, and in this case it’s probable that the people became aware of me through these contacts.

2. How they approached adapting the books:

Well, it already started with the fact that our series is a mixture of the first book of the book series, namely “Stormbreaker”, and “Point Blanc” – I don’t remember right now whether that’s the second or a later book.

In Stormbreaker, the drama of the protagonist is established with the uncle who dies and the realization that this uncle wasn’t who he appeared to be. Stormbreaker had been made into a feature film which was produced by Harvey Weinstein and for which Anthony Horowitz had written the script, and that was pretty much a lead balloon. And because of that it was relatively clear that everything bad that had happened with that feature film needed to be avoided, namely that everything was totally over the top.

And my job was to [adapt] this material, which actually … I started reading the novel afterwards, and I stopped after 20 pages because I realized that that wasn’t helping me because they are actually books for 12 year olds, or at least Point Blanc is – when I read it I thought: “This is an English, better-quality version of the ‘Knickerbocker Gang’ [a German children’s book series about a group of child detectives, A/N] or something like that”. And the task was to just adapt this material for an older audience and to just draw the characters in a different way emotionally, to draw them in a more realistic way. When you look at the entire season it does occasionally reach into almost absurd spheres, but it was important for me to pave the way for the audience by starting out realistically with a protagonist that could just be the boy next door.

3. How he went about filming a spy series:  

Well, the most important thing for me in every story are the characters and to get as close to them as possible. I developed a sympathy for this unwilling hero quite quickly. And, as I said, I tried to make the surroundings as British as possible given my Austrian view of things, and to draw a character that you believe and for whom failure is always a possibility, because I find it incredibly boring when you have these superheroes and you already know that they are never in any real danger.

And this was very important to me also in working with Otto Farrant, who plays Alex, to guide him and direct him in such a way that you get the feeling that it’s possible for things to not turn out well, so that you go on this journey with him emotionally, and as to the rest it is … I don’t approach things mathematically. It’s not as if I feel: “Ok, in minute 10 this particular thing must happen, and in minute 20 this thing must happen.” For me, every story is a journey, and you try to make these journeys as good as possible following your instincts.

Like, for instance, the opening scene. In the script the villain was sitting on a roof manipulating some things on his laptop. And then the thing that happens with the man happens – I don’t want to spoil anything, because it’s actually a pretty nice surprise – and this was only 2 thin pages, and I thought: “Actually, to start this series off in an epic fashion, I’d rather like to introduce another character here, too, to charge this scene as much as possible so that you’re just drawn into this world.” And equally in episode two, that’s so to speak the episode of the test, where he has to pass the test designed to show whether he’s suited for this mission, and the script called for a hut in the woods and a road in which things happen, and I thought: “Ok, if we are dealing with a secret service, the military is not that far off.” And so I told the location scout to look for abandoned military bases, and we ended up on a former nuclear weapons base somewhere in the South of England, which made the producer sweat quite a bit because this was a relatively complex location compared to what had been in the script. But those are the things where I, as a director, can try to create visual appeal for a global audience. The series has been sold to a hundred countries, which comes with certain expectations, and of course you don’t want to disappoint these expectations.

4. On the circumstances of the release and viewer reactions: 

It came out in England in the beginning of June, which is sad, of course, because we had planned to have a premiere celebration at some festival, which wasn’t possible because of the current situation. And so this release on Amazon almost felt a little stepmotherly. So I just refreshed the link on Amazon.uk again and again to see how the people reacted to it, and there were actually many very positive reviews in a relatively short time. I think we are at 4.6 out of 5 stars at the moment, whatever that means, …

There are of course, again, total haters who only give one star and say: “What a bunch of crap.” But the majority of people seem to really like it. So hopefully, or it seems we have managed, at least in England, to … that the fans who read it as children watch it, so to speak, in retrospective joy and that they remember the times in which they read it, and still [feel like the series] adds something new.  

5. On the casting process: 

There was … even before I came on board, they made an England-wide, i.e. Britain-wide casting call. And in England, there are quite a lot of youth theatre projects, which were also contacted. And we received, I think, more than 3000 e-castings, which were screened beforehand. I still saw about 200 e-castings, and then this number was reduced bit by bit. In the end there were 3 people left in the room, one boy was from Game of Thrones, another one was very young – barely over 16, which would have been difficult -, and then, to be honest, there was only Otto. On the one hand, that was surprising because you think that there are loads of great actors in England, that it would be difficult to find the right hero, but in the end it was just very clear. It was an interesting casting situation: there was Anthony Horowitz, then there were the two executive producers from Eleventh Hour, then there was Wayne Garvey from Sony International Co-Productions, and also a casting agent from Sony America, and they all sat behind me like an assembly, and I just took the camera and worked with the actors and just tried to ignore the audience – I also felt like I was being cast again as well in my work with the actors, but … it was, yeah, it was very interesting and exciting.

I virtually grilled him for hours, tried again and again to draw the different scenes in different temperatures and with different emotions out of him, just to see what his range is and how much I would be able to work with him later on in terms of fine-tuning. Because carrying 8 episodes is an extreme challenge for a young actor, and it doesn’t help me if the boy is just dashing and then he carries only half an episode and then breaks apart. That is why it was so important to really test him thoroughly, also in combination with Brenock, who plays his best friend - we tried different combinations – and with Ronke, who plays his confidante in the household, just to try and find the right chemistry. And that was a very exciting and very satisfying process. What was really great was, when he had those three, there wasn’t any discussion anymore at all, we all agreed – I mean it would have been equally possible for Anthony to favour someone else or for Sony to like somebody else better, but it was really incredibly harmonious and unanimous.

6: On what made Otto Farrant stand out: 

Well, it was his perseverance. I mean, really, we had one scene which we really tried in 10 or 15 variations, and every time I felt that he understood where I wanted to go. To direct often means to change the temperature of a scene using only short adjectives, and for that you need someone who understands you and who can also implement that. And I just saw that he doesn’t give up that he really has stamina, and that was essentially – apart from the fact that he really comes across as incredibly natural and likeable – the deciding factor for me in the end.

7: On the responsibility of making Alex Rider and the first weeks on set: 

Well, I mean the … Alex Rider is, I mean to English fans, a promise like James Bond, on a different level. And you need someone who – and of course you need that with every film and with every series – you need an actor who touches the people emotionally, to whom they can connect. That is, of course, something you can’t … beforehand … I mean, of course you can, as we did, try everything out during the casting process, but you only know whether it really works out after a week of shooting.

And I really – especially in the first 3-4 weeks, in which I was still searching, too – I mean with every production you start on the first day of shooting and you want to throw away all the material you shot on the first day right away and start over on the next day – but he was searching, I was searching, and in a way I became – it sounds a little exaggerated right now – I became a little bit of a surrogate father during that time, because I noticed that he needed a certain type of attention and a certain security that only I as the director could give him. That is, he could come to me with every problem and with every decision concerning the character, and that worked out really well …

8. On the challenge of “carrying” a series as a lead: 

As for the “carrying”: on the one hand he has to, so to speak, function technically, i.e. he must be able to, so to speak, deliver every scene, i.e. to know the dialog, to have the right energy, and do that over the course of months - now, luckily, Otto is 21; I don’t think that would have worked with a 16 year old. And that meant that while we were shooting Otto had to read the other four scripts, which were still being written while we were shooting, and he had to comment on them and to learn them by heart, and the transition was seamless. I had to interrupt my shooting schedule for two weeks because we had a location that was only available at a specific time, and so I left the set and flew to Austria to start the cutting process, and on the next day the other director came in and just kept working with him. That means Otto had to adapt to the other director, and that’s a challenge for every actor, but especially for a young actor. ...

I [as a director] could only keep it together up to a certain point in time, until my episodes where done shooting. [...] And of course, when the lead actor is in a bad mood when he comes to the set in the morning, that is at least as bad as when I come to the set in a bad mood. That emanates in all directions. So the strength of character of someone, who also knows … I mean, he doesn’t know yet about the power he may have in the second or third season, when he maybe becomes executive producer or I don’t know … but [it’s important] that you, as a human being, just treat everyone with respect in such an environment.

Source: Der Standard AT 

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki SSL: Tell me! Secrets Q&A

Last post of the month! so I’ll once again end by asking you to please support me if you can either on ko-fi, through paypal or patreon for access to my blog post translations or just to support me. …. also let me know if you have any hakuoki drama cds that you’d be willing to share that are on my looking for list since i either do not have audio for those cds or do not have audio that i can share...

This is the thing that i left as ???? on my March update post... and the thing that i accidentally posted the title of back in may when i was planning out my queue (oops?). 

I think I should start by saying that I translated this for amusement.... though I won't deny how this is a fascinating piece of reference for writing hahaha......

Unfortunately since this is only limited to the main six, I really wish I had some of Yamazaki’s responses to these....

Favourites by character order: Hijikata's answer to Q4, Saito's to Q5, Harada's to Q7 and Kazama's to Q7.

Only for references purposes. LMAO. 

enjoy!

Hakuoki SSL: Tell me! Secrets Q&A

From 『B's-LOG別冊 オトメイトマガジン vol.9』

Translation by KumoriYami

Q1: What is the first thing you wash when bathing [text can be interpreted as either bath or shower]?

Q2: Where would you want to go for a date?

Q3: At Hakuo Gakuen, who do you have the best relationship with?

Q4: Where do you want to go most now?

Q5: What words and actions/behaviours from a woman make you feel a rush of excitement/moves you ["feel a rush of excitement" is an idiom. can be also interpreted more literally as 'move your heart']/excite you the most?

Q6: What are your favourite school activities [roughly says: fond of school activities]?

Q7: What do you wear while sleeping?

Q8: What are your best and worst subjects?

Q9 What happened recently that made you happy?

----------

Hijikata Toshizou

A1: Hands should be washed first.

A2: This...... How about going to a Buddhist shine that has snow in its surroundings. We can recite poetry [either that or songs]....... No, I didn't say anything.

A3: Kondou-san.

A4: I don't know why, [but], no matter what happens, I want to see Hokkaido [says reckless/regardless of everything].

A5: Rather than saying affecting the heart, perhaps it might be better to say that [I'm] not good at dealing with a woman staring into my eyes without fear [or something like that...?].

A6: Although it might cause misunderstandings, that would naturally be writing exams [conducting exams to be written...?].

A7: I sleep in Western style pyjamas.

A8: The subject I am good at is classical literature, [and] I'm not good at chemistry.

A9: Probably when I met with that guy who listened to listened to me without getting tired.

----------

Okita Souji

A1: Hey, after learning about this, what do you plan on doing?

A2: Of course, it needs to be a place where you can go have fun and be happy. That's How about an amusement park, or something like that?

A3:……This question is very difficult to answer. Who knows.

A4: Now? During winter? Oh...... somewhere that isn't cold.

A5: Heheh...... you're probably just wanting to secretly watch me while thinking I haven't found anything out, and of how surprised I'll look when I do.

A6: Club activities.

A7: What will you be wearing? If you want to tell me, I'll tell you after.

A8: I'm actually not particularly good at anything, [but] I dislike classical literature the most.

A9: I saved quite a few pictures of someone recently.

----------

Saito Hajime

A1: Ah, probably the feet.

A2: Da-date!? Then...... a place to go together with a woman? For me/As far as I'm concerned, as long as we're together, it doesn't mater where we go.

A3: Well, when it concerns time spent on school activities, that would be Yamazaki.

A4: I don't know why [but] I look forward to winter, and would like to see snow as soon as possible....... I want to go to a place where I can see snow. 

[Personally, i don't get why people like summer lol. I seriously hate summer. and the heat. Snow is soooo much better than the heat. i absolutely can't stand hot weather lol]

A5: Does this question have to be answered? Really...... then, when she shows/exposes her ear...... Ah.

A6: Probably school trips. It's nice to go learn and study new things in places you wouldn't normally go to.

A7: I personally feel that tight sweatshirts are very good.

A8: I'm good at classical literature, [but] I'm not good at math.

A9: When two equal partners people share their lives...... when you hold your other half's hand, you will immediately feel that you are not alone.

----------

Toudou Heisuke

A1: If taking a bath/shower....... of course it'd be the head, the head!

A2: Obviously going to the game centre! Eh...... ah, for a date? Then, is going to karaoke OK? [ok is ENG here]

A3:  The person that I have the best relationship with, that'd be Souji since we're constantly together. However let me say beforehand, that this doesn't mean I have a good relationship with him.

A4: This period [Right now]...... it'd be nice to participate in a snow festival? I'd like to go somewhere where I can play with snow.

A5: This....... Ah....... Is it that just that I'm defenceless, or was I just relieved..... [to be able to show her my] sleeping face like that? [I think??????????????]

A6: The cultural festival!

A7: Sleeping in a skintight sweatshirt/sports jersey?

A8: Subject that I'm good at, I can fill in the blanks for modern language [i'm assuming this means a version of Japanese characters but since I don't feel like looking it up right now, I'm just going to leave that translation as is for now.] during an exam, but I'm completely unable to understand stuff in English.

A9: Er...... Well...... after being going into that room again after many years...... I found that the inside arrangement/layout had changed a lot so I was surprised. However she was really happy to let me in.

----------

Harada Sanosuke

A1: Hey. Do you know the common sense of bathing before taking before taking a shower?

A2: Date...... as long as it's the two of us together, it doesn't matter where we go. After she turns 20, there are many places that I'd like to take her to.

A3: Rather than saying that it's a good relationship, it might be accurate to call the relationship with Shinpachi and ill-fated one/ It's not so much a good relationship as a bad one between myself and Shinpachi.

A4: It's rarely winter, I want to go with a country with lots of snow. During the day I'll ski and take a sled/sleigh/bobsled, and in evenings I'll go soak in a spa/hot spring, while also enjoying other foreign culture.

A5: This....... [Seeing] the view of your back while [you're] in the cooking for me in the kitchen.

[the wording in this sentence reaaaaaaally threw me off since it kinda (more literally) reads as "in the kitchen as I cook from behind" ]

A6: All the activities conducted by the school, they're unbelievably exhausting. However, being able to watch how all the students grow and mature, is something to enjoy.

A7: Regardless of what is said...... pyjamas will ultimately become an obstruction. [ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) pfft...]

A8: This, since it's my specialty [referring to subject taught], I'm fast[? and?] good at using my body. Subsequently, I'm not good at every subject that requires lots of thinking.

A9: How can I say this, there's a line that absolutely must not be crossed when I'm together with her...... If I'm not resolute, this line would easily be crossed...... I've been thinking about this lately.

----------

Kazama Chikage

A1: Bathing......? The first thing to do, shouldn't that be immersing oneself in the bathtub?

A2:  First tell me where you want to go. I will bring you there.

A3: This way of describing the relationship is very literal [??? well something like that. either that or something along the lines of: That is a good adjective that literally describes the relationship]. It goes without saying, that would naturally be my wife.

A4: Where my wife and I get married.

A.5 Hesitating while wanting to say something with beautiful and delicate eyes while gazing at my appearance, hahaha......

A6: Of course that would be student council [activities].

[it's either that or student assemblies depending on how the words after ‘student' are interpreted, since if they are translated as verbs instead of noun/adjectives, it can mean something to the effect of 'complete gathering of students'... which is also why im kinda leaning towards 'assemblies' though.]

A7: What is meant by this question? Isn't it common sense to sleep while naked?

A8: I'm an expert at every subject. No subject exists that I am not an expert in.

A9: Fufu....... This year I will surely be able to graduate. I've been waiting for so long...... waiting for far too long!

----------

this probably felt longer to translate than it actually did lol... too many questions and answers.... also i don’t know if this was reprinted in one of the ssl books. maybe when i’m bored i’ll mtl the jp to double check some of this lol.... or not.

[skvaderarts]

Apocrypah Chapter Forty: Judgement

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Forty: Judgment

Notes: See the end for the closing notes! Thank you so much to everyone who did the poll! It’s still open until Sunday in case you still wanted to do it but didn’t have time! More on that later!

(-~-)

Sunday, August 25th, 5:30 

None of them could recall the last time they had participated in such a woefully silent ride in the van. Despite the obvious time pressure and severity of the majority of the missions that they underwent, there was normally an air of excitement or humor on board the van, even on the occasions that the passengers present were missing a sense of humor altogether. Tension wasn’t an emotion that most of the Devil May Cry crew associated with their commutes, but on this specific occasion, that was the perfect adjective to use to describe how they felt about the situation that they currently found themselves in.

The strangest thing about the situation was that their new guest didn’t seem the slightest bit fazed about the situation. He sat atop one of the two stools that accompanied the bar-style table that was bolted down behind the drives seat, more or less silently content with flipping through a magazine that one of them had left onboard sometime ago. Some sort of mind-numbing fashion periodical that none of them really cared to flip through aside from Nero who claimed to have taken a nap under it at one point or another during a mission. All in all, it wasn’t the sort of thing that any of them really cared to read, but the unfamiliar redhead in question seemed to be captivated to some considerable degree with every single page of the thin paper booklet, nodding to himself quietly as he read each page, genuinely intrigued.

In an effort to ease the admittedly agonizing silence between them, Nero sighed and came to the conclusion that maybe trying to talk to this new guy might make things less uncomfortable. V was sitting shotgun to him, quietly contemplating something that Nero couldn’t fathom. He’d been around V long enough at this point to tell when he was thinking deeply about something, and he was willing to bet that in this particular situation, it was the mysterious redhead they were currently traveling with. There was no way that his older brother was going to initiate a conversation with him, so it was probably best that he do so himself.

“So, um… Sirrus right? What’s so interesting about that magazine? You’ve been reading it since we left.” Nero said with a passive glance towards the back of the van. He’s become accustomed to driving with Nico around, but that didn’t mean that he’d forgotten the basics of road safety. For a moment he caught himself wondering if V could drive. He’d seen him sit in the driver’s seat before, but the white-haired summoner had never so much as reached for the steering wheel. He’d have to ask him about that another time when he wasn’t so… preoccupied.

A surprisingly pleasant smile spread across the newcomer’s face, his grey eyes leaving the magazine for a moment to acknowledge Nero’s question. He seemed pleasantly surprised that the devil hunter with the short hair was actually speaking to him. It was a nice change of pace from the last half hour or so of awkward but admittedly welcome silence.

“Oh, and here I thought you were giving me the silent treatment. Understandable, of course. I don’t tend to mix well with strangers, either. But regardless, I’m glad you asked.” He glanced between V and Nero for a moment before nodding towards the magazine in question. The older of the two white-haired demon hunters seemed to catch his gaze for a moment, still in the process of combing over his mental quandaries.” I love to see how the clothing and the people that wear it change over time. It’s kind of a timepiece in of its self in that regard. I find it truly fascinating. Living history has always captivated me in a way that times long since passed could not, though in that sense, all moments are instantaneously relegated to the annals of history the moment they pass, so history will always be both living and dead. Strange how that works.”

Nero stared at him blankly for a moment, simultaneously confused and yet somehow fully understanding what Sirrus meant by that all at once. At least from what he could tell. He hadn’t expected that response in the slightest, and his lack of a sufficient response pointed to that factor. But then who would expect such a philosophical answer to such a benign question? No one in their right mind expected to receive a thesis paper as a response to a simple inquiry, after all.

Without warning, V stood up and made his way over to the couch that sat across from their new companion, seeming finished with whatever had kept him so preoccupied the majority of the car ride. There was a certain level of obvious curiosity that was evident in the other man’s gaze as V sat down, giving him an intense but otherwise harmless look that was difficult to decipher. From what Nero could tell at a casual glance, it seemed almost as if V were attempting to study the man in the hopes of understanding something. Maybe there was more to him that he has initially suspected, and V knew something that he did not? That wasn’t impossible. Neither of them had moved past the point of suspicion when it came to this new person who they had only met a short while ago. Much like when Nero had first met V, he had far more questions than answers, and what questions he did have were profound and needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Hopefully they would have them in a few minutes when they affixed at Magnolia’s house.

“I’m curious. What do you mean by living and dead history? Is that to say that history that has yet to be created is living, but that which has already been created and resigned to paper should be considered dead as, by its very nature, it is in the past?” V reclined slightly, attempting to make himself somewhat more comfortable than he previously was. This conversation had suddenly piqued his interest, and he wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to gain a better understanding of who they were working with.” Can actions that have yet to be carried out be history, or are they simply predestined, if you believe in that sort of thing?”

Sirrus raised an eyebrow, nodding to himself slowly as he took in V’s response, taking a moment to linger on the questions that he’d been asked. He chuckled slightly, closing as he nodded in agreement, this time much more noticeably than he had before; more sure of himself and of how he felt about the inquiry.” I think I like you. I hope I don’t come off as the smug, pretentious lout that you probably think I am by now. In actuality, I’m quite approachable. I just lack people skills.”

Nero scoffed slightly at the statement.” Well, if that’s the case, at least your self aware.”

A thoroughly exhausted expression crossed the young summoner’s face, signaling that he suddenly felt more exhausted than he had a moment ago. It was as if the possible repercussions of such a bold statement had physically aged him several years. While there was a part of V that genuinely loved Nero’s no-nonsense attitude, neither of them was sure what this stranger was capable of just yet, and he was willing to bet that possibly the worst place to receive that education would be in the back of a moving vehicle. While he was sure that they could both handle themselves, he wasn’t eager to limp the rest of the way to Magnolia’s home after pulling himself out of a car accident, especially if they then had to explain what had happened after arriving.

Much to his surprise, Sirrus burst into hysterical laughter. Nero glanced back at him for a moment as the red-haired man whipped a few stray beads of moisture from his eyes, noting the curious look that V was giving him. He seemed almost confused, unsure as to how to interpret that kind of reaction. Was he angry, or did he actually find that entertaining? In truth, it was all a bit much from him this early in the morning. The summoner was far from the sort of person who enjoyed being up this early, and critical thinking? Well, that didn’t occur until at least nine am at the earliest.

“To be honest, I think your probably right. I am a stuck up git, aren’t I?” Sirrus said as he took a few deep breaths to settle himself.” The environment I come from demands composure and a keel intellect above everything else. Having an actual personality is secondary. It’s nice to do fieldwork for a change. Thank you for entertaining my insanity.”

Before either of them could ask him to elaborate, they turned onto the street that Magnolia lived on and Nero pulled the van to a stop. The porch light was on, and the front door opened as soon as the key was removed from the ignition, signaling to both of them at they had, in fact, been expecting them. Sirrus nodded and then opened the side door to the van, gesturing for V to go ahead of him. After a moment, he obliged, noting that the man in the black coat patiently waited for him to exit before hopping down and closing the door. Nero exited through the front door to the van, joining V as their companion forged ahead, waiving at Magnolia. She stood in the doorway shaking her head as they approached, seemingly saying something under her breath.

V glanced over at Nero as he joined him, the two of them heading up the stairs just behind the intrepid man in the foreign getup. He seemed slightly perplexed, earning him a curious look from the younger of the two as they approached the door.” What is it?”

The young summoner shrugged slightly, a gesture that Nero was not at all accustomed to seeing. From what he could tell, V was more than ready to see what was going on so that they could enact whatever plan they had probably been summoned here to discuss. He needed to put his mind at ease, not that he was exactly worked up to start with. He just needed a more concrete idea of who and what they were working with.

“It’s nothing. I simply find it amusing that you could drive as well as you do this entire time, and yet you insist upon allowing Nico to nearly kill us every time we travel.” V chuckled slightly under his breath, smirking as they entered the building.” If others had not been foolish, we should be so.”

Nero followed behind him, shaking his head as they entered the room to find two familiar faces sitting across from them. Both Dante and Vergil seemed to be just a few moments shy of a disagreement, and he got the feeling that their arrival might have been the only thing that had stopped that from occurring. Between that and the quote that V had just thrown his way, Nero was about as done with the situation as his older sibling was, and they’d only just arrived. How was it only six in the morning and things had gone this poorly already?

“Okay, now that everyone is here, I think I have some explaining to do,” Magnolia said, a slightly somber look on her face. She took a deep breath and exhaled, clearly displeased by some turn of events that the majority of the group had missed.” Well, everyone except Nico. But I suspect that she will be along in a moment-”

As if summoned by the words that Magnolia had spoken, the mechanic came from the kitchen, clearly caught red-handed in the act of eating something. Magnolia gave her a humorous look as the young gunsmith shrugged, clearly embarrassed by the number of eyes that she found on herself. It seemed that she’s been found out long before now, and the kindly botanist had simply been biding her time waiting for an opportunity to publicly shame her for her gluttony.

“Hehe… My bad. I was hungry, and there were dinner rolls, and one thing lead to another and…” Nico rapidly realized that there were more pressing things at hand, her gaze turning to Sirrus as she finished chewing whatever was left of what she’d been eating, still holding a spare in her off-hand as she raised her free hand to gesture towards the newcomer.” Should I even ask who this is, or should I just go back to eating?”

Dante laughed to himself slightly, gesturing in a manner somewhere between a shrug and a disingenuous “whatever” motion.” If you’re going for the second option, then so am I. I still have no idea what’s going on here, and I’m actually pretty hungry.”

Vergil shot Dante a look of flabbergasted disbelief before turning his attention back to Magnolia and Sirrus. Just as she’d said, they were due some answers, and he intended to receive them sooner rather than later.” … What is this about, then? Time is of the essence.”

The plucky botanist nodded before reaching into her apron pocket and producing a familiar black book. Confused looks were exchanged across the room before she contented, gesturing towards Sirrus as she did so.” When V brought this book back, I enlisted the help of a longtime associate of mine to help deal with it. As I might have mentioned before, it’s heavily cursed and, as such, needs someone experienced to decipher it. That is where he comes in.”

Everyone glanced in the red head’s direction as she handed him to book. He opened the cover, flipping through the pages with a look so casual that it actually unnerved Magnolia slightly. He then closed the book and scoffed, groaning as he returned it to her.

“Honestly, Magnolia. Associates? Were far more than that. I can’t be that embarrassing to know.” he turned back towards the room, facing the rest of them in an attempt to settle the discourse he felt brewing in the small space.” Yes, that book is very cursed, and for good reason. I think I’d be more concerned if it wouldn’t try to kill me for reading it. It’s an Apocrypha, a book of forbidden knowledge. I wouldn’t be surprised if the influence of that book alone was enough to drive those cultists I’ve heard about insane.”

Vergil looked visibly uncomfortable with that revelation.” … I have a feeling that I may know where they got it from. Have you heard a devil prince named Belial?”

A somewhat startled look crossed Sirrus’s face as he nodded, immediately understanding the implications of what the eldest Son of Sparda was implying.” Ah. Truly wonderful. And just when I thought this part of the country couldn’t have more problems. Now I understand why I’m here.” He took a moment to remove his coat and hang it on the coat rack nearest to the door, clearing his throat before proceeding.” I am an adjudicator on behalf of… well, that’s not important. What is is that I’ve been assigned to find out what the hell is going on in this region. But with a Prince of Darkness involved as well as an Apocrypha, I can’t say that it’s much of a mystery anymore. Cult or no cult, this honestly can’t get much worse.”

Dante raised his hand, interjecting. While the gesture was entirely unnecessary and he knew it, it garnered the correct response. In the end, he’d done so more to bring humor to a bleak conversation than to actually ask for permission to speak. He’d never asked for that a day in his entire life, and there was no point in starting now.

“Would an Arcana make it worse? Because the cult had one of those, too. And a Conduit. Well, they did before their master killed them all. But that’s what I’d call a “technicality.” Dante gestured towards V and Nero, the two having gradually made their way over to the couch during the discussion. They couldn’t have been more lost as to what was going on if they tried.” You two got any ideas?”

Nero shook his head, more interested in finding out more about what was going on than anything else. It was problematic, to say the least.” Honestly, I just wanna know how you two even know each other.” He said, pointing between Magnolia and Sirrus.” I mean, are you two related or something? I don’t know anyone that can read a cursed book or whatever, and I live in Fortuna. What a lucky break.”

Much to their collective surprise, Sirrus nodded. “Yes, that does make it worse. Considerably worse, actually. I work in antiquities, so to speak. And ironically, yes, we are related. Though distantly. Probably a few times removed. There are a few divorces in there somewhere.” He shook his head, clearly recalling some until and more than likely complicated series of events that they were not privy to.” It’s quite a long and complicated story, so you’ll forgive me for not retelling it now. There will be time enough for that later. Regardless, I’m happy to help in any way that I can. This is a case of both business and pleasure, and the two rarely mix. When Magnolia askes, I deliver. It’s that simple.”

His eyes traveled to the far end of the room, landing on Nico as she gave him a perplexed look that he couldn’t quite quantify. The rest of the room followed his gaze, sharing his puzzled sentiments. None of them were sure what was going on with her, but they also knew that if it was Nico, then she probably had a decent reason to look so confused. As a whole, she tended to keep her composure in most situations. Something was clearly bothering her.

“Have I done something wrong, Luv? You seem disconnected from the situation.” The redhead looked genuinely confused as to why she looked so lost.” I there something I can do to put your mind at ease?”

The normally silly, funloving mechanism gave him a sideways look, nodding to herself as though she had just confirmed something for herself.” I knew it! We have met before. You been in town recently?”

An amused smile spread across Sirrus’s face as he chucked under his breath slightly, nodding in agreement.” Guilty as charged. I was wondering if you’d recognized me.” He looked genuinely pleased with himself as he continued to laugh to himself, clearly reveling in the irony of their encounter.” So, how was the blueberry pomegranate danish, then? Did you end up getting it?”

Nico shook her head and flopped down in one of the nearby seats.” Yea, I got it. What the hell? Small world, hu?”

He nodded.” Yes. Yes, it is.” he turned his attention to the rest of the room, a more serious look on his face.” I do hope there is some sort of plan?”

Vergil gave him an ambiguous look, not entirely sure that they should even call it that.” We have to return the artifact to the guardians that watch over it. After that, no. Not at all. I don’t make plans that far ahead.”

Dante repressed the urge to laugh. They were thoroughly fucked, weren’t they?” Well, at least you can admit it. But yea, getting that knife as far from this demon as we can is all we’ve got at the moment. Unless we decide to go down to the underworld and pick a fight with him, that’s all we really can do until we know more about what he’s planning.”

Sirrus nodded, the severity of the situation weighing on him.” Well, then I won’t keep any of you any longer. I have my own investigations to undergo, and it looks like you have a trip to prepare for. Good luck to you. I’ll be back with you shortly.”

With that, he grabbed his coat off of the coat hanger and slipped out of the front door, leaving them to sit and consider their next move carefully. There were still far more questions that there were answers, but that was normally the case, wasn’t it? For now, all they could do was deal with the task at hand. There was one eventually that they could prepare for, and so long as that was the case, that would be their main goal. Taking things one at a time could be their best shot at figuring out how best to combat what they were up against.

Dante glanced out across the room. No one needed to say anything. They knew what they needed to do next. “Ok then that settles is. I’ll call the girls. It’s time to visit Lucia.”

(-~-)

I want to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to read this fic! I never would have thought that such an awesome community of people would spring up around this AU, and I can’t thank you enough for everything! This isn’t the end, don’t worry! Were just going into book three soon.

Book three is called Hiraeth

On Friday, December 18th, 2020, book three starts! I just need a few weeks to get the new pages together! Don’t be surprised if you see me throw a few chapters of a new fic up. I’m thinking of doing something fun just for the hell of it during that period, so look out for a new fic called “Saudade”. It’s just a collection of side fics to fill in parts of the story that didn’t need a whole chapter in the main series. Might even throw some stuff in there from Dante and Nero’s childhoods. I’ll toss it into the Seriese section for this fic, so keep an eye on that sometime next week if your interested!

My poll from last week is still open as well! Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it out! And thank you for everything! See you in two weeks!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #283

“if teardrops could be bottled, there’d be swimming pools filled by models”

How much would you tip a waiter or waitress for good service? I honestly don’t even know the proper etiquette of tipping because I almost never ever have been in a sit-down restaurant where I’ve paid because of the whole “I don’t have an income” thing. If for whatever reason I did, I would have asked the person with me how. I do (maybe…) believe however that there should be a baseline for how much you tip, even if your experience is somewhat unpleasant. You don’t know what that person is going through that day. If it’s just pure awful, then I might not tip at all, but I think I’d honestly feel way too guilty. Who is your favorite character from the television sitcom Friends? I don’t watch it. Whose name might you have tattooed on your body? None. Well, I guess if I had hypothetical kids, I might, especially as a tribute if they died. What is something that you always need to leave plugged in? I always at least have my laptop charger plugged into the wall, but not always into my computer as to not totally kill the battery. I just need it a lot because I’m only always on it. Who might you send a selfie to? I don’t send them to anyone, really, save for specific occasions. I just take selfies once in a blue moon to change my Facebook picture, honestly. I feel weird just sending people pictures of me because I feel like I’m screaming, “HEY LOOK AND COMPLIMENT ME!!!!!!!!!”, so it makes me uncomfortable. I only did semi-recently because my friend did my makeup for a Halloween shoot and for once in my goddamn life I felt really pretty so sent it to Sara. Name an item in or on your bed every night. My phone is on the right upper corner of my bed so I can check it when I wake up; I always wake up throughout the night and wanna know what time it is. Out of your work shift, how much time do you spend doing “actual work”? Well one, define “actual work,” but odds are almost zero because I don’t have shit to do. How long do your New Years resolutions typically last? I don’t make ‘em. Who would you call first after getting engaged to tell them the news? Most likely Mom. What’s the song that reminds you of the person you like?Okay so deadass I listened to NSP’s “Wish You Were Here” cover recently and kinda cried lol. Are you good at holding back your tears? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Have you ever sacrificed something important to you for someone you love? My goddamn sanity. How many jobs do you have? None. Do you have any memories you want to erase? There’s one occasion with Jason I wish I could forget so, so badly. Do you believe in the phrase “If it’s meant to be, it will be”? No. I don’t believe in pre-determined destinies and such, and thus I don’t see anything as “meant” and “not meant” to be. Do you believe in destiny? Wow, good timing lmao. Do you believe that things will get better? I like to think so. Have you ever drunk dialed someone? No. Have you ever worn a tiara? Haha, I think on my 18th birthday maybe, my friend Summer came with us to dinner and brought me a birthday tiara. If someone offered to take you out for your birthday, where would you decide to go? I almost always go to Olive Garden for dinner. But, after trying the Cheesecake Factory for the first time… *eyes emoji* If you plan to have kids, what will you tell them about Santa Clause? I’m not having kids, but hypothetically, I’d let them believe it. It’s so magical as a kid and brings so much excitement. I’d tell them the truth when it feels appropriate, and if I know they’re not the type to go telling other kids for no reason “HEY MY MOM SAID SANTA’S NOT REAL SO UR DUMB.” I’d be damned if they ruined it for other children. If you have ever been employed, have you ever been attracted to your boss? What about a co-worker? Not that I remember. Do [would] you avoid kissing your [possibly hypothetical] significant other when you or they are ill? Look man I made out with my ex while he was recovering from bronchitis before we knew it wasn’t contagious so OOPS yeah because I am 110% the “if you’re sick, I’m sick” dumbass all the while going FULL Mom Mode taking care of the person. What was the last thing you bought, other than food? With my own money, that is a daaaamn good question. I only really use it/am given it for food. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? No. Who was the last person you Facebook messaged? Do you know what that person is doing at this moment? My mom. She’s in the living room watching TV, probably. Think back to the last time you cried, or felt like crying. Who or what helped you to feel better? My mom. Do you own any accessories with your name or initial on them? No, they don’t appeal to me. Is there someone of the opposite sex that knows everything, or almost everything, about you? I would say Jason, but we haven’t seen or spoken to each other for almost four years, and I’m a much different person by now, and I’m sure he is, too. Do you remember the last time you cried because you missed someone? A few weeks back I had a breakdown over Jason again. My PTSD was and still is being pretty rough lately. Are your eyes the same color as your sibling(s)? Just my brother. Anything in your room that you’re hiding from your parents, or someone else? No. What’s your most noticeable flaw? Thinking about it, probably my extreme aversion to conflict. I will BOLT from confrontation. And what’s your best feature? I’m extremely empathetic. Have you ever hallucinated? Yeah; I would see shadows move when I was coming off a certain med. Do you have fangirl-ish tendencies? ………………. Have you ever replied “OK” when someone confessed they liked you? Wow, no. Either admit reciprocated feelings or gently turn them down. The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, or The Beatles? OHHHHHHHH BUDDY. Led Zeppelin, I think… but maybe the Stones. Idk. What would you do for immortality and infinite youth? Nothing. Would you rather have a pool or a hot tub? A pool. Is your handwriting legible? Yes. Well, some people find it slightly difficult because it’s kinda fancy. Have you ever held a baby chick? Yes! Do you think ‘everything bagels’ are disgusting? I’m not a fan. Do you live with anyone that you try to avoid at all costs? No. What did you last get upset about? How incredibly fuckin weak my body is. When is the last time you personally made someone else cry? I don’t know. How many more people do you think you’ll kiss before you die? Hopefully only one. I do NOT want to deal with anymore heartbreak, nor do I want to waste anymore time with someone I’m not going to spend the rest of my life with. Are you more spiritual or religious? Spiritual. Ever been to a rave? Nooooo, most definitely not my scene. Are you afraid to name the person you talk the most shit about? No. Song playing right now? I’m listening to “PRESIDENT X” by 3TEETH rn. Have you ever laughed at someone because they had a funny name? No, that’s incredibly rude. Speaking of names, why do celebrities always call their kids stupid ones? They’re not all “stupid”…? There are some beautiful names I’ve heard. It’s none of my business why others’ children are named what they are. Do you get car sick easily? I don’t. Do you think you’re a good conversationalist? Why is that? NO. I’m just awkward and don’t know what to talk about or what to say back to people a lot. Awhile back though my friend Ian told me I was actually a really nice one and it meant a LOT to me. Hearing someone say that reassured me a little bit. Have you ever been on a float in a parade? What were you doing on it? No. Have you ever been in a helicopter? No. Have you ever had chicken pox? No. Who is your favorite animated character? Oh boy that’s hard man, idk. Maybe Ninetales, at least aesthetically. Idk about as characters themselves. Is it easy to make you gag? Yeah. Who’s your favorite Disney character? Probably Scar. Would you rather have a pet crocodile or a pet octopus? I deadass kinda want a caiman lol. It’s something I doubt I’ll actually do, though. Do you like Ritz crackers? Yeah. Do you have any designer clothing? If so what brand? No. Were you afraid of the dark when you were little? Not very, no. What are your opinions on war in general? It’s fucking awful and could be avoided if people weren’t so goddamn hasty, selfish, and uncompromising, among many other adjectives. Do you like pretzels? Yessss, especially soft ones. Have you ever wanted to be a writer? Yeah, tons of times in my life on-and-off. Did you even vote? This is the very first year I actually did. I felt really bad for not acting, only complaining about my government, and “silence speaks” was heavy on my head. Did some research to educate myself, and I felt amazing afterwards. What is your favorite flavor of gum? Usually watermelon. Are you wearing any bandaids? If so, where and why? No. Do you currently have any bruises on you? No. Do you/did you like or dislike school? I always hated it. Are you currently wearing any lotion? No. Do you ever make recipes found online? What was the last one? I don’t cook, so… but there sure are some that look good. If you smoke weed, what do you usually do after you get high? If you don’t, what would you do if everyone around you were smoking? I never have, so I wouldn’t know. Haha, for the second half, sit there awkwardly… been there once. What’s the last thing you ordered online? The next Wings of Fire book. Starting Sunny’s story now. Tell me about your favorite dress. I had this spring dress in high school that was white with purple skulls on it in a floral design… It was really cute and just has a special memory tied to it. Have you ever slept in a waterbed? If so, what was it like? Yeah, that used to be considered “fun” as a kid. They’re not awful, but not that comfortable either, and if I remember well, it’s easy to get sweaty because of the material. How many floors does your house have? Just one. Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Yes. Do you enjoy sappy love songs? Hell yeah I do. Do you ever buy the same shirt in different colors? Simple tank tops, yeah. Ever made out on a rooftop? Damn dude no I’d be paranoid of falling off lmao. One place you will never eat at? Arby’s. If someone went through your pictures, would they find a "bad" one? Nope.

[animus-inspire-archive]

Workiversary carried on from here 

@urbdev-assistant​

He never failed to surprise her, Rita would credit him there. She’d gotten used to a decade’s worth of habits, yet she still found herself always caught off-guard by his self-deprecation - and his unfailing kindness. She felt certain none of the other Executive assistants had Directors that even cared about city parks or ‘workiversaries’. She smiled, and yet felt a pang. She wished he could see himself as she saw him: Devoted, never giving up even in the face of failure. Hardworking. Diligent. Sweet.

“A ‘Workiversary’ celebration, huh?” The question tickles her. It feels so unexpected, him asking in earnest. Rita ponders, feeling playful. “I like that. Marking 10 years of you keeping the same assistant - clearly you’ve done some things right, even if you don’t believe it yourself,” she teases. “So that should be your sign that you made a good impression in the Corporate Archives and beyond.” She straightens her posture, grinning at him. “Actually, I always admired that you used the archive so much - most of the other Executives never bother stepping foot there….”

Rita refocuses to his question. “Anyway, let’s see, let’s see. What’s a good ‘workiversary’ plan?” She scrunches her nose, thinking deep. “Well, in January is also my 30th birthday, which means that it’s an extra special time. So obviously,” she exaggerates, “whatever we do, the occasion calls for fireworks,” she grins, feeling giddy, but grateful knowing he didn’t mind her occasional silliness.

“And I’ll have be the one to borrow Papa’s cane since someone acts like being in their thirty’s is old.” She faux-glares at Reeve, shaking her head. “I don’t know where you get this idea that you’re a creaky old man who doesn’t do enough around here. That’s certainly not the case!” She almost leaves her chiding at that, but seeing the opportunity… “Of course, if you’re feeling old, regular sleep and eating habits would also probably help with that, Director.” Rita keeps her tone light, to convey there’s no real bite to her words.

“As for what I want to do for our Workiversary…” she feels impish, excited by her plan. “Well, I have an idea. And I think it’s quite a good one…but I just don’t know you’d go along.” She sighed play-dramatically. “I’m not sure you could handle it, sir….”

@animus-inspire​

Reeve was no stranger to self-deprecation, it was true. For many it was a form of defence. Or manipulation too if he was to be entirely honest. The rest of the time, he generally perceived himself to be a pretty average kinda fella. Sure he was an Executive Director in the most powerful company on the planet, and had certain other traits that could be seen to set him apart if his vast output of work had anything to say for itself. But compared to the frankly barmy collision of personalities within his direct peers, to the departments of SOLDIER and the Turks, Reeve was comparatively an everyman and he certainly did not feel special in the slightest. Neither did he much appreciate self-aggrandisement, for he saw far too much of that on a day-to-day basis. From people who really should not possess that much arrogance or conceit in his humble opinion.

If he knew of the adjectives that were passing through his assistant’s mind right now, Reeve might have struck up some debate with her assessment. Arguably he was devoted, and he tried to never give up on a problem that was challenging him to find the solution. Hardworking and diligent, objectively so, but it still felt too little for Reeve personally. And sweet? Well, he had far too much blood on his hands, metaphorically speaking, to ever entertain that notion. But he was not Rita, he was Reeve, and it was difficult to have a sense of objective perspective upon one’s own person. Much like she did not credit herself enough either, “That is entirely down to you, Rita. I remain the common denominator across your predecessors and your good self. But you?” He smiles at her, still earnest in tone but also a little tickled warm because of her teases, “You are clearly different. Ten years you’ve managed to put up with me and the... demands of this company for longer than that. Frankly, I think you deserve a medal or something.”

Reeve leans back in his office chair and folds his hands into his lap, rocking slightly as he hums, “Well as much as I like new technologies, there is something to be said for an actual book.” If Rita only knew of his childhood, where books where one of his most favourite things. Non-fiction, encyclopaedic tomes though they may have been, they nonetheless had been a perfect stimulus for a rather over-active imagination. He smiles again, more to himself as his eyes nearly close, then blinks instead to steady a gaze back at the red-head, “Plus those archive-bots are adorable, and nobody else seems to do any form of maintenance on them.”

The Director glances away when his assistant scrunches her nose up cutely in thought, though he quickly turns back with his entire body, a look of surprise on his features at her words, “It’s your birthday? Did I know that already?” He was going to add in his apologies, perhaps even an explanation, but Rita had already continued on to mentioning fireworks and the child-like side to the man was starting to let itself be known, “Oh! Fireworks, a wonderful idea!” He claps his palm on the desk edge, mischief slipping into his features, “Keep it a secret between you and I, Rita, but there is a distinct possibility that some Wutaian specialities could be ah, negotiated.” They were well reputed for their spectacle and beauty after all and Reeve had just the contact in mind.

“I’m not one to go around calling 29 year olds middle-aged,” Reeve announces rather exasperatedly into the office, “But others certainly do, I can assure you of that fact.” It still rankles him, though he tries to not let such petty thoughts distract. There was so much else to concern himself besides being perceived as old. Becoming old and unable to carry out his work for one. He merely huffs at her suggestions, also light heartedly. Who knows, one of these times, he might just listen. But not today, or any time soon. Not when there was so much left to get done, and time waits for (almost) no-one.

Oh-hoh, a challenge. Reeve flickers away his dark hazel guiltily from the thrill, schooling his features back and deciding to stand, resting back on the side of the desk, arms crossed in front of him, “You don’t say. Why not let me be the judge of what I can and cannot handle...”

[eldritchsurveys]

1015.

5k Survey LXIX

3501. Is 'no glove, no love' your STRICT policy? >> I don’t have policies for activities I don’t participate in in the first place.

3502. What is the best Epic movie (examples of epics: ben-her, gone with the wind, last temptation of christ)? >> I don’t know what else falls into the category of “epic movie”, so... can’t really answer. 3503. Finish the sentance. Hey, Hey we're the: Monkees People say we:  But we're too busy:  The time to hesitate is: now You're too: physical It's a nice day to: start again 3504. Have you ever had 'missing time'? >> Only in the context of being intoxicated (and that one botched suicide attempt). 3505. Have you ever sent an electronic greeting? >> Maybe a long time ago.

3506. If you could send anonymous tips to people you knew who would never ever find out who sent them who would you send the following tips to? doesn't know when to leave: poor crotch hygenie: talks to much: band/art/dream is going nowehere: most likely to get arrestted: needs to get their life together: bad taste in clothes: bad taste in music: needs a hobby: 3507. Are you more likely to download porn or disney movies? >> I don’t download much of anything, really. Streaming has become my default mode of consumption. 3508. What is it with people? >> ??? 3509. Do you eat too much sugar? >> I can assure you that I do not. 3510 Imagine you have aband. Let's name your band. Adjective: Animal(plural): Your band name is (adjective) (animals) Under Glass! Could be better? Let's try again. Adjective: Noun (plural): Your band is (adjective) (nouns) With Puppets 3511. Are you desperate but not serious? >> I have no idea what this means. 3512. Was there a time when you were younger and it took less to get you excited? What did it take then? What does it take now? >> Honestly, I have no recollection of excitement experiences as a child. I do know that excitement is difficult for me nowadays because 1) I’m still pretty emotionally blunted, particularly for positive emotions and 2) I automatically attribute all physical feelings that could suggest excitement to anxiety instead (because I’m still learning the difference). 3513. Remember learning to write in elementary school? We spend 2 years learning to print..then they throw that out the window and teach kids cursive. Why? If cursive is so important and easy to read then why aren't books printed in cursive? Why aren't cursive computer fonts more popular? Why do buisness forms always say 'please print'? Schools are so preoccupied with teaching kids the complicated but traditional skill of cursive writing that more emphasis is put on that than on teaching kids how to clearly express their ideas through writing. I move that cursive writing become a jr. high school elective instead of a grammer school priority. Who's with me? >> This seems like a personal rant based on your own experiences and I have no dog in this fight, dude. I think of penmanship like art -- script writing is an art form and being adept at it can lead to some pretty results. Just don’t use it if you don’t care for it. Also, I’m pretty sure very few (public) schools care about cursive writing in this era, lmao, so this is also an outdated rant. 3514. Can you think of anything else (besides cursive writing) that is unhelpful, or unuseful, yet traditional and unquestioned? What? >> Whatever. 3515. Name one female celebrity who you would guess wears size ___ clothing: 0? 5? 12? 16? 20? 3516. Have you ever been to a place where the restrooms were named in a clever way rather than just saying men's and woman's? I've seen Hens and Roosters, Bart and Lisa, Dudes and Babes...what have you seen? >> Yeah, I saw “Pirates” and “Wenches” once. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen others but I can’t remember what they were now. 3517. What is the 'message' or 'point behind': Fight Club? Donnie Darko? AI? Minority Report? Solaris? A Walk to Remember? You've Got Mail? 3518. have you seen, and what are your thoughts about these movies: Drumline? >> Now this is a question block I can actually answer. I did see Drumline, but I was 13 at the time so I have no real recollection of my feelings about it. The Hot Chick? >> Nope. Maid in Manhattan? >> Nope. Star Trek: Nemesis? >> Nope. About Schmidt? >> Nope. Okay, maybe I can’t answer this question block after all. What are most of these movies...? Evelyn? >> --- The Guys? >> --- Intacto? >> --- The Jimmy Show? >> ---

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers? >> I did see this, but I don’t remember much of it either because it was at least half a decade ago. I do assume I enjoyed it. Gangs of New York? >> --- Two Weeks Notice? >> --- The Wild Thornberrys Movie? >> --- Smokers Only? >> --- Treasure Planet? >> --- The Santa Clause 2? >> --- 3519. START this sentance: ....and I think to myself, what a wonderful world." >> ---

3520. What is: insanity? normal? farenheit? 3521. Tell us about yourself in the third person for a bit: >> I’d really rather not attempt that. 3522. If someone breaks a law, should they be punished if they did not know it was a law? >> Oh, I don’t know. This is a concept that can get real thorny real fast. 3523. If it's so much easier to learn languages when we are very young (and it is, something to do with the developing brain) why do they wait until jr high and high school to teach them? >> I don’t know anything about the justifications behind public-school curricula, dude. 3524. Name a band you sort of like: Dream Theater. You are wearing that band's t-shirt in a store. SUDDENLY some guy you don't know comes up to you and goes, "Hey! You like (insert name of the band here)??!!" This is obviously a really stupid question because if you didn't like them you wouldn't be wearing the t-shirt. Your witty reply is: >> It’s not a really stupid question, first of all, because it’s a conversation starter as opposed to a straightforward inquiry. I’d assume he’s excited that someone else seems to be a fan of a band he likes, and is opening the floor to talking about it. Which is great! Let’s talk about prog metal! Now, on the other hand, if the tone of “hey, you like Dream Theater?” is skeptical, like he’s assuming I’m just blithely wearing the shirt without actually liking the band or whatever, then I’d probably just give him a simple “yep” and see what happened after that. I’m not going to immediately be sarcastic or “witty” until I am positive about what kind of interaction is happening. 3525. If you were organizing cd's in a music store what section would you put each of the following in (don't forget the 'bargain bin' section!): Blink182 Depech Mode Weezer Led Zeppelin The Doors Avril Lavigne Nelly Manfred Mann Iggy Pop Pink Floyd Guns N Roses Shakira Britny Spears Tool Ozzy Osbourne Madonna The Rolling Stones The Beatles Motley Crue Bon Jovi 3526. Does coffee stimulate your mind or body more? >> It stimulates my anxiety drive, is what it does. 3527. Can you do 'six degrees of seperation' to anyone famous? >> I assume not. 3528. What's the oddest thing in your home? >> Me. 3529. Do you find it odd when people who are not handicapped use the handicapped stall: in the bathroom? >> No, I’ve used it because the close quarters of the other stalls wig me out sometimes. Or I’ve used it because the other ones were disaster zones. Or I’ve used it because I was also getting changed in the stall, or something, and needed the room. in the parking lot? >> You need a whole placard (or handicapped license plate) for those, so there are obvious rules. 3530. Do you sometimes find yourself talking to yourself? Do you answer yourself back? >> No, I talk to the Inworlders, not “myself”. 3531. In your head do you call yourself 'I' or 'you' or both? >> Er... “I”? 3532. What is the best excuse for why you haven't done your homework? >> --- 3533. Someone tells you 'well there are black people, and then there are n*ggers'. What do you think? >> I think that person’s an out-and-out bona-fide bigot, obviously? What the fuck else am I going to think (besides “I have to leave immediately”)??? 3534. Does culture shape behavior or does behavior shape culture? >> Yes. 3535. What determines whether a person will be: intelligent? pretty? happy? sucessful? 3536. What is social loafing? What is groupthink? >> ??? 3537. I have an idea. let's change the english language by making the words fewer, shorter and more concise. What do ya think? >> No. 3538. What are the physical symptoms of: joy? fear? shame? 3539. Here's the scenerio...your little eight year old brother is hangin out in the house when you come in..and catch him watching the playboy channel! What do you do/say? He says, "Why can't I watch this?" What is your response? Why do you respond that way? >> I don’t have an eight-year-old brother and I don’t know anything about how I would respond in a sibling-dynamic situation because I’ve never been in one. 3540. Who REALLY has a higher sex drive, girls or guys? How can you tell? >> --- 3541. are you usually carefree? >> No. 3542. Do you generally prefer reading to meeting people? >> This is an odd comparison to make. 3543. Do you often long for excitement? >> No. 3544. Are you mostly quiet when you are with others? >> It depends on what kind of situation I’m in and what kind of day I’m having. And who the others are. And where we are. Context, people. Details. Please. 3545. Do you often do things spur of the moment? >> No. 3546. Are you slow an unhurried in the way you move? >> Sometimes. If I’m doing something I hate or that triggers me, then I tend to be a lot more hurried. 3547. Would you do almost anything for a dare? >> I wouldn’t do anything on a dare. 3548. Do you hate being in a crowd who plays jokes on one another? >> Er... 3549. Do you enjoy wild parties? >> No. 3550. Have you ever paid for something priced more than $5.00 in only change? >> No, but I was with someone that did. We had to scrounge for change in her car so we could buy enough gas to get us the rest of the way home, lol.

[maritzaerwin]

How to Formulate Your Career Goals and Objectives (+Examples)

Progress results from targeted action. When you are not quite sure where you want to be career-wise, you won’t accomplish much. You need a strong sense of direction to push your career forward and that’s where precise career goals come into play.

By knowing where you want to be in 3-, 5-years, and, more importantly, understanding how you’ll get to that point can help you massively improve your career progression and accelerate job search. So let’s dive in and take a look at why having goals is important and how you can get better at meeting them!

Why You Need to Have Clear Career Goals

Job searching without career goals is like driving without a rearview mirror — you can easily miss some big opportunity heading your way. Setting clear professional goals and objectives can help you stay on track towards your success.

In fact, precise goal setting is one of the four techniques the US military used to increase NAVY SEAL passing rates from 25% to 33%. And their framework also delivers great results in the “civilian” fields.

Goal-setting teaches you to break lofty, intangible dreams into smaller, daily steps that are much easier to accomplish. For instance, rather than stating that you want to get a high-paid IT job, drill down to the specific goals such as a) write or update your resume b) craft a compelling cover letter c) find and review at least 5 job posts this week and so on.

Mental rehearsals help you visualize yourself in succeeding with your stated course of action.

Self-talk. Talk positively to yourself. The military found that doing so helped recruits “override fears” that are generated by the amygdala — a useful part of our brain that helps us deal with anxiety. So pep talk yourself into the right mood whenever you feel like the job blues are about to hit you.

Practice arousal control — getting your excitement or anxiety levels in check with the right breathing and emotional control techniques is key to helping you mitigate the crippling emotions and fears.

This framework is an excellent tool for helping you formalize and push through your day-to-day job search and short-term career goals.

When it comes to long term career goals, you’ll need some extra time to think and strategize about what you want to achieve in life.

Do you want an increase in your earnings, move up the career ladder, or change your occupation entirely? Asking yourself where you would like to be in five or ten years is a good starting point.

Doing so helps you work backward and plan for more short-term, smaller, and more achievable goals with an objective (as per technique above) and slaying them effectively so that you can hit your five or ten-year target.

Also, by having a formalized list of both short-term and long-term career goals, you’ll be able to easily answer the “what are your career goals?” interview question!

So let’s get started with the goal-setting part!

How to Set Your Career Goals

The benefits of setting a career goal give you something to work towards achieving, but it spurs you on to take the necessary steps needed to fulfill your long-term ambitions.

So how do you identify those steps? Here are some pointers, plus career goals examples.

Aim for Smaller Byte-Sized Career Goals

When setting up your career goals, be careful not to bite off more than you can chew. Set yourself smaller goals that can be spread out daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. This way you will not become overwhelmed by trying to achieve too much at once and potentially suffering a career set-back should you fail to meet your goals.

It is very easy to say ‘I want to double my salary in five years’, but achieving that goal can be made much more difficult if you try to take on too much too soon. So rather than writing down that broad idea, consider the following wording instead:

“In five years, I want to break into a management position in my industry that pays $80,000-$100,000 on average. To accomplish that I will need to a) improve my leadership skills by completing an online training course (by December 2020)  b)negotiate more supervisory responsibilities at my current job (starting from Jan 2021) c)get more proactive during group work (whenever the opportunity comes up).”

Having such a detailed formula planned out with achievable goals set at regular intervals is much more effective than merely stating some ‘dreamy’ objective without thinking much about how you’ll accomplish it.

Get Your Priorities Straight

Berkeley Career & People division advises prioritizing all the goals you are setting. As the earlier example shows, your grand career goal will likely involve several interim steps. Prioritizing them helps you focus your attention on what’s really important right now and reduces the overwhelm.

Also, as studies show people who can precisely picture or describe their set goals are 1.2 to 1.4 times more likely to achieve them eventually.

So get that pen and paper, jot down your big long-term goal. Then pounder over and add short-term sub-goals that stand for steps you’ll be taking to get there. Here’s an example:

“In 3 years, I’d like to work as a Customer Success Manager for a SaaS startup with 1+ million active monthly users. I’d like to have a salary of $95,000 to $120,000. 

This year, I will maximize my issue resolution rate to 90% and try to raise the Customer Satisfaction Score to 85%.

By May 2021, I will complete a course in product management and apply for a certification from Boston University via edX

During the next year, I will attend at least 5 SaaS startup/Product Management meetups to network. 

Also, by February 2022, I will negotiate a promotion at my current job (from Customer Support Specialist to Customer Support Supervisor).”

Set H.A.R.D Goals

You’ve probably heard about SMART goals a dozen of times already. But the truth is…SMART goals don’t really work for most people. As one study suggests: only 15% of survey respondents agreed that their set SMART goals will help them accomplish something this year.

HARD goal-setting isn’t a new concept either. But it’s a big boon is that it helps you set more ruthless and refined goals — ones that are both challenging and delightful to achieve.

HARD stands for:

H — Heartfelt: Can you create an emotional attachment to the set goal? In three adjectives, describe what makes you want this. Your motivation can be intrinsic, extrinsic, or personal.

A — Animated: Can you visualize your goal? In great detail, describe exactly where you want to be and what do you want to do in 3-,5-,10-years. Try to paint the best picture you can.

 R — Required: What’s required of you to get to where you want to be? Set deadlines for yourself. What do you want to get done in 90 days? In the next 30 days? What can you accomplish today?

D — Difficult. What are the possible stumbling blocks on your way to the top? Do you need extra skills, training, credential, confidence? What difficulties will you need to overcome to achieve your outcome?

Research shows that people who use the HARD goal-setting technique end up feeling up to 75% more fulfilled than people using weaker frameworks. So give yourself a challenge, OK?

Several More Career Goals Statement Examples To Swipe

If you need some more inspiration, think about your career goals from either of the following perspectives:

Level up your skills

Improve your in-person networking skills

Get better at networking on LinkedIn

Boost your performance metrics

Get a new degree or extra certifications

Obtain a new license

Speak at an industry event

Change jobs or career fields

Negotiate a promotion

Break into management/executive roles

Improve your personal brand

Find a new weekend job

Launch a side-hustle

Start a business

By knowing what direction and steps you need to take in life over the foreseeable future will keep you ahead of the curve. Setting career goals will prevent you from going forward in an aimless direction and will make you stop and think carefully before taking up opportunities that are not quite right for your long-term goals.

How to Create Winning Career Objectives

While career goals are rather ‘personal’, a career objective (also known as resume objective) is a succinct statement atop of your resume explaining what you want to get from the job and what you are bringing to the table.

A career objective should align with your career goals. When these two don’t match, you can easily get derailed from your selected career pass and settle for opportunities that don’t quite tick all the boxes.

We wrote a separate big guide on writing great resume objectives with some snappy examples, so be sure to check it out. Here’s we’ll just recap some key best practices:

Maintain a positive, confident tone. Speak about what you want to achieve, rather than what you’d want to avoid.

Customize your career objectives to each role to make a positive impression with a potential employer.

Keep it short. A good career objective does not need to incorporate all your goals. It should not be more than 2-3 short sentences long.

It should be about “them”, not “you”. Don’t just say what you want from this job. Indicate how you can help the company.

Here’s a quick career objective statement for a recent graduate, looking for an internship position:

“BA of Management Sunnydale College graduate with strong marketing analysis, social media marketing, and writing skills seeks a full-time internship at Communications/Marketing Department at a SaaS startup”.

Don’t Forget to Create Accountability

Having career goals is one thing, but taking the necessary steps to reach them is another. You may sit and imagine yourself working in your dream job, but unless you actually take those physical steps to reach your goal, a dream is all it will ever be.

That’s why you need to build a strong accountability system to support your goals.

One study suggests that you have a 65% higher chance of completing a goal if you commit to someone. And your success rate rises to 95% if you have regular meetings with the person you’ve committed. While building an accountability tandem with a professional career advisor or mentor can give you the most acceleration, committing to your friend, spouse, or family member can be very beneficial too. They’ll act as your support system and will help you to get going despite possible setbacks.

Further, by becoming accountable for what you do, and remembering to praise yourself once you have finished a set of tasks, you can get great satisfaction from being another step closer to your dream job. This in itself can be extremely motivating and will encourage you to take the next step, then the next step, and so on.

You can also try to use various habit trackers and planning tools to personally track your progress on your small day-to-day goals. Doing so also helps you visualize your progress over time — a helpful and satisfying thing to do!

Wrap Up

Your career goals will remain ephemeral unless you break them down into management chunks, write down the outcomes, and place them on a timeline. By creating and accomplishing small steps one at a time, you will be consistently working towards your end goal, but you will also be more productive and motivated along this path to complete these tasks because you have a firm career goal in mind!

This post has been originally published on September 4, 2017 and has been extensively revised and updated on July 21, 2020.

The post How to Formulate Your Career Goals and Objectives (+Examples) appeared first on Freesumes.com.

How to Formulate Your Career Goals and Objectives (+Examples) published first on https://skillsireweb.tumblr.com/

[batgirl-87]

Summary: Sixth Year begins and the events of last year’s End of the Year Ball still linger over Charlie and Keira. While the two try to navigate what this means exactly for their relationship, various obstacles thwart their efforts including rumours about Keira’s summer and the mysterious letters she receives, her consistently disappearing, withholding her whereabouts, and returning exhausted and bruised (does it have to do with R or something else?), and one intense night that may destroy Charlie and Keira’s relationship, friendship or otherwise, completely.

First Part of the Series: The gang reunites on the Hogwarts Express with Charlie struggling a bit with his new role as the now oldest Weasley (at least at Hogwarts) who has to wrangle his two younger Twin brothers on to the Hogwarts Express and be responsible for them the next two years – Bill had it so easy with him and Percy. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding his relationship with Keira following the End of the Year Ball last year and while their reunion doesn’t add much clarity, it ends up providing Charlie with a bit of hope. Also a surprising new fact about Barnaby is learned!

Word Count: <13k

Genre: Fluff (Charlie x MC), Humour

Warnings: Some Angst mentioning Bill graduating and going off to Egypt – WE MISS AND LOVE YOU WILLIAM! (Take a drink every time I mention Bill to try and numb the pain 😜)

Note: I’ll just apologize for the bad Quidditch metaphors now… I’m sorry. I should also apologize for the sappiness and clichés. I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. I tried! But I failed… Guess who wrote more than intended?! (Classic me!) Reference to Under the Stars (primarily). I would describe my writing style as too many commas and too many adjectives/details... Sorry... Hi, I have a problem writing concisely...

I also want to apologize up here instead of an author’s note at the end if it’s not edited all that well - I really wanted to get this posted before I leave for a little birthday vacation this week.

I’ve done a lot of research and thinking about the Quidditch World Cup and how teams are made up, games are played, etc. and I may make a post about it some time but if anyone is interested or has any questions on my take on it feel free to ask =) I also believe Charlie has tons of fans that drool over him for his Quidditch skills that he is completely oblivious too.

I am in Chapter 17 or 18 of Year 5 I believe so I’m not sure if we’re actually going to face a dragon, and if Charlie gets to be there with us, so if that does happen than rephrase the line (you’ll know it when you see it) to him feeling the same way when he finally saw a dragon in person – up close and personal =p And I’ll try to remember to change it when/if that time comes.

I estimate the Hogwarts Express takes about eight hours to get to Hogwarts since it departs at 11am and seems to arrive in the early evening, about 7? I know in the game when eating with Andre he says he shops as Gladrags Wizardwear but I believe he would splurge and treat himself to something nice from Twilfitt and Tatting’s, probably something he could wear with pretty much anything or maybe some fancy dress robes for game days and special occasions =p  

Arrival of Fred and George! Get excited people!

Preview: He found himself transported to that night a few months ago where he held her close in his arms as they glided gracefully along the balcony outside the Great Hall. Where it felt like they were the only two in the world, if only for that brief private moment. Where they were able to drop their guards and allow their emotions to freely flow. .…. His arm around her waist tightened to hold her securely against him, to bring her closer to him as if they couldn’t get close enough, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. The sensation of her lips on his was intoxicating; the feeling of her in his arms, her hand in his, caressing his face, running through his hair, brought a sense of comfort – it felt right. And he wanted to feel like this all the time.

“Fred! George! Slow down!” A frazzled Molly Weasley chased after her two newest editions to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as they raced through King’s Cross Station. Their agility to weave throughout the crowd without mowing anyone over with their luggage carts was a remarkable feat. Needless to say the Twins were very eager to board the train and begin their own Hogwarts adventures! While her husband watched after their two youngest children, Molly focused her energy on wrangling her two most mischievous ones. At least their high energy kept her busy from missing and worrying about her eldest now out on his own in Egypt pursuing a Curse-Breaking career.

Meanwhile, her second eldest was hell-bent on becoming a Dragonologist and working hands-on with those ferocious beasts! He was so determined, in fact, that he spent most of the summer seeking advice and help from his mum on improving his healing spells – apparently an essential skill when working with dragons according to the experts and not just their mothers. He even spent a lot of time reading up on healing potions but was waiting for school to start up again to work with his friend Penny Haywood who was apparently very skilled in potion making. But he did not remain held up in his room all summer studying – he wasn’t Percy! In true Charlie Weasley fashion, he also spent a lot of time outside during the summer as well, probably searching for new magical creatures to study and practice his caretaking on. And of course played some Quidditch with his siblings.

However, his dedicated focus on his future Dragonologist career also caused him to turn down the opportunity to play on England’s Quidditch team for the upcoming World Cup. It was an honor, and he greatly appreciated the offer, but as much as he loved Quidditch (and had quite the natural skill for it) his goal was always to work with dragons. And to achieve his goals he needed to receive an E or O in his Care of Magical Creatures class, and next year’s N.E.W.T.s, (which shouldn’t be too hard for him to do), while also proving to have high competency in healing magic, and in advance healing/antidote potion making – why he required Penny’s help. He needed to learn and perfect fireproofing spells, protection spells, and cloaking and tracking abilities.

He had done his research, a lot of research, over the years on what he needed to do to finally get to work with his beloved dragons and he couldn’t allow anything to distract him or take time away from his studies. If he didn’t do well in his classes or on his N.E.W.T.s and didn’t improve in the necessary areas to become a Dragonologist because he was too busy training and practicing for Quidditch he would never forgive himself. And probably always resent Quidditch which would be horrible because he loved it! He just loved dragons more.

Besides, he still planned on venturing out into the Forbidden Forest just in case he found his own dragon out there – old habits die hard and if he did find one and handle being in its presence wouldn’t that prove he was destined to be a Dragonologist? (and look good on the resume?) – and still planned on helping with Cursed-Vaults adventures, plus he had Prefect duties – his plate was already pretty full. Unfortunately, he couldn’t accept the offer to play for England – it would be just one too many things to take on for him. At least Forbidden Forest explorations and Cursed-Vaults adventures could help him in the areas he needed to become a Dragonologist. Unfortunately, Quidditch didn’t really help him on the skills he needed to achieve his dream career and therefore would be an unnecessary added responsibility and a distraction. It was a tough decision but he felt he made the right one. He would still play at Hogwarts for Gryffindor of course though!

Molly at least didn’t have to worry about Charlie possibly getting severely injured while playing Quidditch in a professional setting, especially for the World Cup which was a major event in the wizarding world and those players practically played until the death to win. It was a tough sport and playing in school was already bad enough. Her children playing in their backyard was even worse. Not that she wouldn’t be immensely proud of him if he chose to take their offer. But she was also immensely proud of him for making such a difficult and mature decision to turn the offer down to focus on his dreams. Honestly, she wished he could do both. But at least studying was much safer than playing Quidditch.  Until he graduated and went to work with actual dragons…

Oh, what did she do to get such adventurous, reckless children? Didn’t they think about what their actions did to their poor mother?

Speaking of her second eldest, where was he? He should be helping her with his younger brothers just as she had Bill help with him and Percy. Although, Percy clearly was not as much trouble as the Twins.

Bill may have sent Charlie a letter before the start of the school year wishing him luck on looking after the Twins while also gloating how he graduated just in time. Looking after Charlie and Percy was a walk in the park compared to looking after Fred and George. Of course Charlie could always write to Bill whenever he needed. But Bill had to admit he was glad he didn’t have to watch over all four of them at school.

“Percy, help me with your brothers.” Molly nudged the least adventurous of her children whose nose was currently stuck in a book as they walked along the station towards their platform.

“Isn’t that Charlie’s responsibility?” The good thing about being a middle child and having older siblings was watching after the younger siblings automatically became their responsibility and he got left alone.

“And when we find him I’ll make sure he looks after all of you but until then I need your help,” Molly informed him, causing Percy to sigh a bit dramatically and close his book.

Charlie was already at Platform 9¾ scouring the crowd of returning and new Hogwarts students for one in particular. He had tried to get their earlier but getting the bustling Weasley house organized was a trying task and they always ended up being later than intended to anywhere they were heading. Fortunately, most were understanding. It was already getting close to 11, so the Twins also had a bit of a reason to rush if they wanted to make it to the correct platform in time.

“Charlie, there you are!” Charlie whirled around when he heard his mum calling to him. “I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

“Sorry, mum.” Charlie smiled apologetically as he walked back over to his family, Percy currently in the middle of giving the Twins a scolding lecture, one they were not really paying any attention to.

“I know you’re eager to return to school and get that help on your potions and learn all you need to so you can achieve your goals but try and have some fun to,” Molly reminded her son as she draped an arm around him as they walked back to the rest of their large family.

“I will, mum,” Charlie promised.

“And please look after your younger brothers. I know it’s impossible to ask you to keep Fred and George out of trouble completely but –“

“Don’t worry, mum, of course I’ll look after them. And try and keep them from getting caught,” Charlie added with a smirk, earning a couple more smirks from his twin brothers. Molly huffed and playfully hit Charlie’s arm but smiled at her boys. She did love her children so.

“I can’t believe we’re sending another two off to school,” Molly said as she stared wistfully at the Twins, some tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“Ugh, mum,” the Twins groaned in embarrassment, looking away from her intense gaze only because they were going to get emotional too!

“We’ll be empty nesters soon enough,” chimed in Arthur who placed a lovingly supportive arm around his wife’s shoulders.

“Oh, don’t talk like that,” Molly scolded.

“Won’t know what to do with ourselves then,” Arthur continued.

As their parents lovingly bickered, Charlie and Percy took the opportunity to bestow their older brother knowledge on the Twins and what they could expect. Sure, they had heard about some of their adventures and experiences at school but the more boring, informational things, such as the rules or what to expect on their first day they tended to tune out when anyone mentioned it. They knew the Twins found it boring but begged them to listen.

Of course Percy may have also told the Twins not to cause too much trouble, especially for him as he worked towards becoming Prefect and Head Boy himself and if they got in the way of that he would never forgive them! Also, don’t embarrass him.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to ruin your chances at becoming Head Nerd,” Fred snarkily assured.

“And how could we possibly embarrass you more than you already do for yourself,” George asked as innocently as he could with a smirk.

Percy narrowed his eyes at the two of them briefly before waving at Charlie. “They’re your responsibility. Good luck.”

Charlie sighed and shook his head but did echo some of Percy’s sentiments. “He’s right though. Try not to get into too much trouble.”

“Don’t worry. We plan on pacing ourselves,” Fred assured their older brother.

“Yeah, we have a whole school year! We’re not going to waste pulling all our best pranks at the beginning of the year and having nothing left for the rest of it,” George explained.

Charlie sighed but chuckled softly. “As long as you mean that. And do well not to get caught. I don’t want to have to punish my brothers all the time.”

“Get caught,” the Twins scoffed. They were not amateurs!

“You two plus Tonks and Tulip are going to be the death of me,” Charlie groaned.

The Weasley family said their goodbyes which were filled with promises to write home and a lot of hugs all around. Molly made sure to give each of her boys plenty of kisses to make sure they knew how much she loved them and would miss them, along with her stern warning of keeping out of trouble. Don’t make her send howlers every week! She’d lose her voice!

“Hey, Percy! Where are you going?” Charlie called after his brother as they boarded Hogwarts Express. Almost instantly onboard, Percy took off down the corridor through the throng of students, primarily First Years unaware of where to go since older classmen already had their usual compartments.

“I’m going to sit with my friends,” Percy shouted back over the crowd.

“You don’t have any friends,” the Twins shouted back in unison. Charlie sighed and shook his head before taking the lead as the new oldest Weasley at Hogwarts and following after Percy, maneuvering through the crowd of confused students. He knew as Prefect he should be helping them but he was busy helping some other First Years at the moment so technically he was doing his Prefect duty. Besides, the wrath of his mum was way scarier than the wrath of the Head Boy and Girl and other Prefects.

“Excuse me. Pardon us.” Charlie politely forced his way through the mass of students, new and old, before arriving at the compartment Percy disappeared into towards the front of the train. Of course Percy would sit as close as he could to the Prefect carriage without actually being in it.

“Why do we have to sit with Percy,” the Twins whined. Their complaint was echoed by Percy himself when Charlie opened his compartment’s door.

“Oh no, they’re not sitting with me!”

“They have to,” Charlie informed them all.

“But why-“

“Because I have to go up to the Prefect’s carriage,” Charlie continued.

“Why can’t we go sit with you up there,” the Twins asked with a smirk. Charlie was unable to hold back his own amused smirk at the thought of that happening.

“No way. If anyone gets to go up to the Prefect carriage without being a Prefect it’s me,” Percy announced, standing up for emphasis.

“Okay, settle down, none of you are going up there with me. Not that I don’t doubt you’ll all make Prefect if you want, but for right now, I’m going up there and you’re all staying here,” Charlie instructed. Which of course was met with more complaining.

Bill had it so lucky with him and he planned on letting Bill know that especially come Christmas.

“Percy,” Charlie started, turning his attention to his now second in command, whether either of them liked it or not. “I’m going to need your help with looking after Fred and George. Think of it as prep for becoming Prefect. And I’d owe you,” he added.

Percy thought it over a moment before sighing. “Fine. Although I still don’t understand why they have to sit with me.”

“Don’t you remember your First Year? You think you’re prepared but there’s a lot more people than you think and it’s overwhelming and you haven’t made any friends to sit with yet so you sat with me. And you sat with me in the Great Hall for meals and hung out in my room with me and my roommates –“

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Percy held up a hand to stop Charlie from going down this memory lane.

“They’ll make friends quickly, don’t worry,” Charlie assured Percy.

“Yeah, people love us,” the Twins decided to chime in with their charming grins.

“Just buy them some sweets when the trolley comes around, that’ll keep them occupied,” Charlie suggested to Percy.

“And get them all sugared up? I don’t want to deal with that,” Percy cried.

Charlie groaned again and made another mental note to write to Bill informing him of how wonderful and easy he was as a brother, caused Bill little to no problems, and how he would expect some great birthday and Christmas gifts to show his appreciation.

“It’s a long trip, they have to eat. And you can’t keep them locked up in here the whole time. Maybe they’ll make friends and then they’ll leave you alone,” Charlie reasoned. Percy thought that over a moment before nodding his head in agreement. If they met friends on the train and left to sit with them they would no longer be his problem!

“Just don’t be out in the corridor causing any problems when I’m on patrol,” Charlie suddenly instructed the Twins.

“If we see you in the corridor we’ll turn right back around,” the Twins promised.

“Alright guys, I really got to get going. I’ll come back and check on you when I can. Listen to Percy,” Charlie told them, making a point to tell the Twins to respect Percy’s authority. Doubt it would really matter but at least he tried.

Fred and George sighed but didn’t argue as they moved to go into Percy’s compartment. “Where are all your friends, Perc,” the Twins teased as the noted the empty compartment.

“They haven’t arrived yet and once they see you two here they’re going to find somewhere else to sit,” Percy irritably replied.

“Once they saw your rat they fled,” Fred joked.

“Hey! Ron likes my rat,” Percy argued.

“Ron likes anything soft and furry,” Fred retorted.

“Except for that teddy bear we turned into a spider that one time,” George reminded with a mischievous smirk.

Charlie turned to leave his bickering brothers and head to the Prefect carriage through the still crowded corridor of the train. “Excuse me,” he started as he attempted to push his way back into the traffic of students.

“Charlie! They’re being unreasonable!” Percy’s cry of outrage was followed by the giggling fit of the Twins. He knew putting the Twins with Percy alone in a small train compartment was a recipe for disaster but couldn’t they manage for a few minutes? “Wait until I tell mum you dropped the Twins off on me and ditched out on your older brother responsibilities!” It had literally been two seconds and Percy already had enough of babysitting Fred and George.

“Percy-“ Charlie started, unable to hide the annoyance and frustration in his voice as he spun back around to confront them. Unfortunately, this quick movement could not be done gracefully in a narrow corridor bustling with students trying to find a place to sit for the ride. He wasn’t sure if he tripped over someone’s bag or foot or what it was but whatever it was caused him to fall forward and knock into another student who was trying to sneak by.

Fortunately he was able to catch himself and them before they both hit the floor and risked being trampled on by other students. One hand flew out to slam against the wall of the train compartment holding his brothers to stop his fall and regain his balance, while his other arm instinctively wrapped around the smaller figure he almost knocked over to catch them, causing them both to fall against the wall on the compartment side of the train instead of the floor. Great, first day as the eldest Weasley at Hogwarts and he almost killed someone! Ugh, he missed Bill.

Charlie opened his mouth to apologize and check to ensure they were okay but his breath hitched in his throat when he heard them speak first.

“Well bonjour mon étoile! This is quite the reunion, eh?”

Charlie looked down at the person he currently had pinned against the wall and found himself suddenly drowning in stormy sea eyes once again. He quickly became hyper-aware of how close they were, their faces mere inches apart, his hips pressed against hers as he pinned her to the side of his brother’s occupied compartment, his arm securely snaked around her waist.

He found himself transported to that night a few months ago where he held her close in his arms as they glided gracefully along the balcony outside the Great Hall. Where it felt like they were the only two in the world, if only for that brief private moment. Where they were able to drop their guards and allow their emotions to freely flow.

Their eyes were locked much like they were now before Charlie leaned down to close the distance between them, moving instinctively. However, the fear suddenly struck that maybe she didn’t want this and maybe he was putting her in an awkward and uncomfortable situation, a situation that could ruin their close friendship. But when she leaned up and her lips met his all his fears and doubts melted away as a spark ignited within him.

His arm around her waist tightened to hold her securely against him, to bring her closer to him as if they couldn’t get close enough, as if he was afraid she would suddenly disappear. The sensation of her lips on his was intoxicating; the feeling of her in his arms, her hand in his, caressing his face, running through his hair, brought a sense of comfort – it felt right. And he wanted to feel like this all the time.

It was addicting.

Now he understood why so many couples were caught snogging all the time. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it throughout the summer, replayed that moment over and over again in his head as he remembered all those sensations. And he’d be lying if he said he had no desire to feel that way again when in actuality it was all he wanted. They had had so many “almost” moments and he was quickly growing tired and, frankly, frustrated by them; and now that they finally had their moment he greedily wanted more.

When they eventually parted, slowly, he rested his forehead against hers, their eyes remaining shut as they savored the moment. And he would have kissed her again, kissed her all night if he could have, but their pivotal moment was brought to an end as one of their friends found them to spend one last moment at the ball with Bill – the whole reason they even went to the ball that year – surely including pictures since Penny was around.

He was very reluctant to let her go, to no longer have her near him, leaving him feeling cold and incomplete. But when she reached down to grab his hand and led him back inside the Great Hall that spark she always ignited within him returned, spreading her signature tingling warming sensation through his body.

The rest of the evening and the next day at the End of the Year Feast were dedicated to Bill, and packing up to head back home, but primarily for Bill, filled with tearful goodbyes and bone crushing hugs – both mainly from Keira herself. They even had a goodbye dinner at the Burrow over the summer for Bill, which Keira would have attended but she spent most of this summer in Canada. Therefore, they never discussed the events of that night. They never determined where they went from there, what they were now. And maybe because of the fear and anxiety of the uncertainty of what either of their response would be – possible rejection after putting their feelings so boldly out there, an excuse of being swept up in the moment, fear of losing a close, dear friend – neither of them had brought up that night in the few letters they shared throughout the summer, a lot fewer than previous summers.

She was busy and far away and this wasn’t really something that should be discussed in letters anyway, right? This should be something to discuss in person. Which may be why he was so eager to get to the train station that morning, to finally see her again. He wasn’t sure why, but he just had this feeling that once they saw each other, in that moment everything would be made clear.

However, this was definitely not the reunion he had planned for.

Instead of sharing a knowing look where they both somehow understood each other’s unspoken thoughts and feelings and ending on the same page he had knocked into her, almost fell on top of her and squashed her, and now they found themselves in a compromising position in front of a large portion of students at Hogwarts, including new First Years and his brothers.

But none of that even registered to Charlie at the moment. All he could see was her. And all he could think about was how he was finally holding her close again in his arms, where she belonged. And how that electricity flowed through them when their hands touched, even just brushed up against each other, and how that initial spark lit a fire that burned hotter within them the closer they grew. Her warm, dark, alluring scent with her signature hint of ocean air enveloped him. It seemed every time he was around her he found himself drowning in her, completely entranced by her, but it was one of the best feelings he’s ever felt; it was exciting but calming, an adventure and home, dizzying yet grounding all at the same time. It was an overwhelming, intoxicating feeling he couldn’t get enough of. He imagined this would be how he would feel when he finally came face to face with a dragon, but never imagined a person would cause these feelings to stir within him. Suppose he had to admit he had become utterly enamored with her. He loved being completely immersed in her, yearned to be lost in her. Without even realizing it, he had begun leaning down towards her, longing to reclaim that captivating, pleasurably blissful feeling once again that only her enticing lips allowed.

“Bloody hell, Charlie, are you going to start snogging her right here in front of everyone?”

“The train hasn’t even left the station yet! Bet mum can still see you through the window.”

The teasing from the Twin’s caused Charlie to freeze, his nose brushing against hers, successfully halting his actions. Suddenly their surroundings crashed into him like a freight train. Students were still shuffling behind him trying to locate a place to sit for the ride, his brothers were right there staring at him from the doorway of their compartment and – Oh Merlin, what if his mum really could see them through the window of the train?! Part of him feared he would hear his mother storming aboard any moment now – ‘Charles Weasley! What are you doing to that poor girl?!’ She didn’t raise him to be like that!

“I expect this type of behavior from Bill, but not from you Charlie!”

“Never from you, Charlie!” The Twins continued to taunt their older brother.

Charlie pulled away as much as he could, which wasn’t much considering the hoard of bustling students behind him trying to frantically find a place to sit before the train took off to Hogwarts, stammering out an apology to the young woman he still had trapped.

Fortunately for him, she somehow always managed to diffuse the awkwardness of a situation like this for him. “It’s okay,” Keira assured with a small amused laugh. “I missed you too.” She patted his chest playfully a couple times before a mischievous smirk played on her lips. “Ooo, someone worked out over the summer.”

“What? No,” Charlie awkwardly replied with a sheepish chuckle, glancing away a moment as he felt the familiar feeling of heat rising to his face she always brought upon him.

“Clearly you spent a lot of time outside,” Keira observed. “I think your freckles have doubled – at least,” she teased.

“Yeah? Are you trying to tell me I look fit,” Charlie asked her with a charming smirk.

“You’re looking very fit,” Keira confirmed with a flirtatious smirk of her own, her infamous House of Black genes showing, causing Charlie’s brothers to groan.

“I think I preferred it better when they were about to snog,” George leaned over to whisper to Fred.

“This is only the beginning.” Percy muttered his warning to the Twins – he would know, he had already spent a couple school years around them making eyes at each other and all their flirting and blushing – it got annoying.

“She’s right, Charlie, you are looking very fit.” The group of primarily red heads turned to look at the girl who interrupted their private moment with her unsolicited, overtly flirtatious comment as she eyed Charlie like he was her favourite treat on the Honeyduke’s trolley. She appeared to be in Charlie and Keira’s Year and brought her own little posse of Charlie fangirls with her for an added bonus.

“Oh, thanks mate,” Charlie replied, ever the oblivious one to his throngs of adoring fans for his amazing Seeker skills, particularly towards the ones who practically threw themselves at him. Honestly, they could be laying on a bench in the Quidditch changing room in lingerie with candles lit and smooth jazz playing and he still wouldn’t get it.

“But if anyone here looks fit, it’s Ady,” Charlie said, taking a moment to admire the Slytherin fully in front of him. “You look great,” he gushed sincerely, causing a light blush to appear on her face.

“W-well I did play a lot of Quidditch this summer,” she stammered, suddenly nervous.

His adoring fan did not take too kindly to the attention being taken away from her and glared daggers at the Slytherin who received such high praise from him. “Did you play a lot of Quidditch this summer, Charlie,” she asked in an attempt to get the attention back on her.

“Uh, yeah, not as much as usual with Bill leaving,” Charlie awkwardly replied. He missed his older brother and best friend.

While one of his admirers continued to swoon over the Gryffindor Seeker, coming on a bit strong in Keira’s opinion… Keira managed to slither out from under Charlie and give the Twins a proper greeting, hugs and all. She couldn’t help but gush about how excited she was that they were all going to be going to Hogwarts together while also voicing her concern about dealing with them and Tulip and Tonks – the four of them and their pranks were going to end up being her downfall long before ‘R’ ever got to her.

Much like with Bill and Charlie, Keira bonded rather quickly with the Twins, and seemed to share a particular closeness with them. And as soon as the Twins caught on to Charlie’s little crush they definitely used that to taunt to him. Not like Charlie was really going to be jealous over his little brothers and worried the now eleven year olds were somehow going to “steal” Ady from him, something they liked to tease him about, but she did seem much more comfortable with physical affection with them – the hugs, sitting close together, sharing a blanket, arms around each other. And at first he thought it was because they were little kids, but he couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t like that with Ron or even Ginny much! Sure she’d give Ginny a hug and let her play with her hair if she wanted but it was nowhere near the same level of physical contact as with the Twins.

Any time she visited the Burrow or they somehow managed to run into each other while shopping in Diagon Alley, the Twins always gained her attention and did, much to their smugness, steal her away from Charlie to spend time with them. Which led to more taunting such as how she loved them more than him, how they were going to ask her to the ball and she’d of course say yes to one of them and reject Charlie. Ugh, little siblings…

Honestly, though, he was worried about the quick close relationship she had with his Twin brothers because the three of them and their mischievous nature concerned him and what trouble they were bound to get into. And like Keira, the thought of George and Fred with Tulip and Tonks was anxiety provoking. Oh what was going to happen to poor Ben… The Weasley’s were known for being a very close, tight-knit family. Charlie and Bill always visited each other’s room, Percy visited both his older brother’s rooms and now the Twins – who had to be sorted into the same House, right? – were going to barge into Charlie’s room. Or worse. Sneak in and leave traps everywhere. His poor roommate Ben…

“No way, you guys are totally Slytherin!” Charlie glanced over as he heard Keira inform his Twin brothers they belonged in her House instead of the family Gryffindor one. And actually, he wouldn’t mind it if they were in Slytherin. Give him a little bit of break to not worry about pranks set up around his room. Let them terrorize some other people for a change! “Whatever happens, you guys belong in Slytherin and nothing will convince me otherwise.” Charlie couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as her proclamation.

“Charlie? Did you hear what I said?” Charlie looked back over at his fellow Gryffindor as she sweetly – sickeningly sweet – called to regain his attention back on her.

“Uh, no, sorry,” he apologized politely.

“I asked if you would help me with my Charms homework some time.” She repeated her question as she reached up to place a flirtatious hand on his arm.

“Oh, well actually Ben is the one who’s really good at Charms. I’ll let him know you’re looking for some help,” Charlie told her, continuing to be blissfully unaware of her advances.

Keira had to admit those types of people who tended to throw themselves at him and shamelessly flirt with him did bother her a little bit, but since Charlie showed no interest in them whatsoever – that, and he appeared completely unaware he was even being chatted up – she wouldn’t say she was necessarily jealous. Maybe if Charlie showed interest in someone else, connected and grew closer to them, then she would be jealous. But this, while it annoyed her, didn’t make her jealous. That being said, if necessary, she would rip that girl’s arm off and beat her to a bloody pulp with it.

“Okay, that’s enough. Piss off!” The girl was suddenly shooed away from Charlie by his best, although never recruited, wingman.

“Hey! We were just talking!”

“Yeah, we heard you chatting him up, being all cheeky. We get it, you’re up for it, but he’s not – at least with you – so begone,” Andre demanded as he continued to usher the girl and her little friend group away. She called back to Charlie to come by so they could finish their talk but Andre was adamant that they keep moving and get out of there.

“Honestly, the nerve of some people,” Penny huffed as she folded her arms after assisting Andre with escorting Charlie’s small group of admirers away.

“She just wanted to talk about Quidditch and asked for help on her Charms homework,” Charlie said with an ignorant shrug.

“Sometimes you’re dafter than Barnaby,” Andre informed him. “She fancies you – they all do.”

“Who?”

“All those girls – your fans,” Penny chimed in.

“You guys think everyone fancies everyone,” Charlie said, waving off their supposed warnings.

“Shouldn’t you guys be in the Prefect Carriage,” Penny suddenly reminded them.

“Oh right! That’s where I was heading,” Keira said from her new position of leaning against the compartment’s doorway, an arm lazily draped across Fred’s shoulders. Charlie couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at his little brother’s smug look – it was the smugness that got him and he would wipe that smug little look right off his face! Everyone thought Bill was the one Charlie was supposedly jealous of with how close he was to Keira but turned out that maybe it was the Twins instead!

“Right, so we better get going then. The train’s about to take off any minute now,” Charlie said before turning his attention to his brothers. “Now what did we discuss?”

“Only cause mischief when you’re not on patrol.”

“Don’t listen to Percy, he has no authority whatsoever!”

Charlie sighed while Percy slammed his book down on his lap and glared at the Twins. That was not true! Keira however found this quite amusing. “Don’t cause any mischief while I’m on patrol either,” she requested to which the Twins happily obliged.

“I can’t believe you became a Prefect with all the trouble you get into,” George amazed.

“According to all the stories we heard from Bill and Charlie,” Fred added for a further explanation.

“I know. If I can become Prefect, anyone should be able to, right,” Keira joked.

“Tell me about it,” Percy muttered, earning himself a glare from the Slytherin Prefect.

“I don’t think becoming Prefect is in the cards for us.” The Twins had to agree on that. It was added responsibility and duty that would get in the way of their fun.

“You guys could if you wanted to be! How cool would it be if all of us became Prefects?” Charlie couldn’t hide his excitement over that thought.

“If we wanted to be-“

“But we don’t really.”

Charlie’s grin fell at the Twin’s admission. “Come on, Charlie.” The Gryffindor looked over as he felt a cool hand on his arm which began to lead him away from his brother’s compartment. Keira smiled up at him reassuringly before another realization dawned on her. “Oh!”

She quickly let go of the redhead and hurried over to Penny, throwing her arms around the Hufflepuff. She had almost forgotten to give her friends a proper greeting as well! Her and Andre shared a special handshake – no hugging since it would wrinkle his outfit, plus much like her, he wasn’t really one for physical affection, but she had clearly grown more comfortable with her friends over the years, opting to give them hugs at least. Charlie walked back over to partake in the friendlier greetings as well. There was brief chitchat over how everyone’s summer went – Good? Good! – and promises to talk more about what they did over the summer, and what they planned to do that year regarding the Cursed Vaults, before Charlie and Keira had to part ways and finally make it to the Prefect Carriage.

“You’re late.”

The warm greeting welcomed the pair of Prefects as soon as they opened the door to the Prefect carriage and stepped inside.

“Uh oh, are we grounded now,” Keira snarkily replied as she plopped down in an available seat, smirking playfully at the Head Girl who scolded them upon arrival.

“We were helping some First Years find a place to sit,” Charlie explained as he took a seat next to Keira. He conveniently left out the fact that those First Years were his brothers earning a small smirk from Keira as the Head Girl accepted his reason for being late.

Fortunately the debriefing in the Prefect Carriage and distribution of patrol schedules was brief and they were able to return to their regular compartments with their friends.

Keira plopped down on the seat across from Barnaby, who was getting a head start on his tutoring lessons with Rowan, resting her feet on the seat across from her between her fellow Slytherin and the wall of the compartment. “Hey roomie,” she greeted, causing the Slytherin boy to beam. Charlie closed the compartment door behind them and took a seat next to Keira.

Ah, that’s right, Charlie recalled hearing something about Barnaby moving in with Keira over the summer when they ran into each other in Diagon Alley for some back to school shopping. Well, he saw her, she didn’t see him because he made sure to hide and avoid her, somewhat awkwardly according to the Twins and Percy. He wasn’t sure why but seeing her put him into a bit of a panic. Well that wasn’t the complete truth, he did have a good idea why…

For one he had lost the snitch, sort to speak, let it slip right through his fingers and didn’t keep in better contact with her over the summer. Especially after spending the End of the Year Ball together…

And for another…

He had first spotted her hanging out around the entrance to Knocturn Alley with Barnaby, Jae, and Merula and Ismelda, of all people, who probably saw the others there and went to investigate what they were doing per their nosy selves. Charlie knew how his mum felt about that place and the people that hung out in the shady shopping area, banning all her children from even thinking about entering that place or anywhere like it, so he clearly did not want his mum catching Ady there! She was initially put off by the idea of her two eldest boys befriending a Slytherin, changing her mind once she actually got to know Ady better, but if his mum saw her in Knockturn Alley… he did not want to deal with that. So there was some awkward rushing of his mum past the Knockturn Alley entrance.

They didn’t seem to spend too much time there, however, and soon Charlie saw her walking around Diagon Alley with Barnaby and he, once again, awkwardly hid and avoided her, ducking into the nearest store as she approached and was warmly greeted by his mum and family. Unfortunately that store was Twilfitt and Tattings, a store that his family never entered since they could never afford the high end prices which therefore earned him a lot of confused and disdainful looks from the wealthy, primarily pureblood, shoppers…and Andre. Commence more ridicule.

“Charlie?!” The second eldest Weasley spun around from watching his family through the store window from behind a mannequin at the surprised call of his name to come face to face with his fellow Quidditch aficionado, Andre Egwu.

“Uh, y-yeah, h-hey, Andre. What’s up? How was your summer? Doing some back to school shopping?” His attempts to act cool and casual clearly failed since the Ravenclaw saw right through him. That and he was, again, in a store he never shopped at.

“…What are you doing in here,” Andre questioned suspiciously.

“Umm…. Shopping?”

“I’ve never seen you in here before. I’ve also never seen you wear anything from here before. Normally you’re in Bill’s hand-me-downs,” Andre observed.

“W-well, maybe I thought with Bill graduated and gone now working in Egypt I should get myself some nice, new clothes,” Charlie attempted to reason.

“Really? Is that so? Then why are you hiding behind a mannequin,” Andre questioned.

“I’m not hiding! I’m just looking at this piece of clothing,” Charlie defended, turning to admire the article of clothing on the mannequin before grimacing. Bloody hell….

“Those are women’s dress robes,” Andre pointed out. “Not that I’m one for gender stereotyping, of course, I think anyone should wear whatever they want. As long as it’s stylish and properly tailored, of course. But you’ve just never struck me as someone who would wear something like this… Not even something feminine but something so lavish. You and your family manage to pull off the casual, second-hand look.” It was a compliment, he swore!

“…Maybe I’m looking for something for my mum,” Charlie quickly thought, earning an unamused look from Andre.

“Really? We’re going to keep doing this?”

“Okay, okay,” Charlie sighed exasperatedly, running a hand through his hair. “I’m…hiding,” he awkwardly admitted.

“From what,” Andre asked quizzically.

“Not what, who,” Charlie answered before begrudgingly motioning out the shop window where Keira and Barnaby were talking to his family. Andre peered out the shop window before a devilish smirk spread across his face.

“Ohhhh…. I see. Why are you hiding from her? I thought you guys had a great time at the Ball last year,” Andre recalled, his smirk widening.

“I haven’t really talked to her much this summer,” Charlie admitted.

“What,” Andre cried out in surprise, earning the attention of most of the shoppers although he didn’t seem to notice or at least not to mind. “But… why?! I thought we were finally over all the oblivious feelings and then the awkward realization of feelings and embarrassing behavior around each other. You had your chance, you took it, I was so proud of you! And now –“

“I know! I know!” Now it was Charlie’s outburst that caused the shoppers in the store to once again look over at the two boys. “I blew it! I buggered everything up!”

Andre frowned as he watched his friend wallow in his despair. “Maybe not. Why don’t we go talk to her and –“ The mere mention of going out to talk to Keira instantly horrified the Gryffindor, his eyes widening, face paling, and adamantly shaking his head no. And they’re supposed to be the brave House… “Alright, how about I go out and talk to her. See if she’s upset with you ditching her after one night together. If she thinks you were just using her to get what you want and then once you got it you threw her away or you didn’t enjoy your time with her, think she’s a bad kisser –“ Charlie let out a groan of despair. This was not a good pep talk if it was supposed to be one! “I’ll go do damage control,” Andre rephrased before handing Charlie a robe he was looking at before heading out of the store and joining the group catching up in front of it.

Meanwhile, Charlie watched them nervously from behind the mannequin in the store. Ugh, what was he doing? What had become of him?! He was a Quidditch Seeker, a future Dragonologist, a big brother! He normally was braver than this and more calm and collected. Dragons didn’t scare him but this girl did? What was happening to him?!

He just couldn’t bare it if he hurt her and he was afraid he did. He didn’t mean to! And he wanted to fix it! He just wasn’t sure how to do that… This whole situation, having these types of feelings for someone, everything, was entirely uncharted territory he was trying to navigate with a map he couldn’t read. Normally he would turn to Bill for help but now he was embarking on the next chapter of his life in Egypt as a Curse-Breaker.

“So? What happened,” Charlie questioned eagerly but nervously once Andre returned into the store.

“I think you can rest easy, she doesn’t seem mad at you,” Andre informed him, causing the Seeker to visibly relax. “Actually she said she felt bad she didn’t keep in better touch, like it was her fault, so doesn’t sound like she’s blaming you. She asked about you, wondered where you were. Sounded like she missed you.”

Charlie took a moment to process what Andre told him before finally speaking. “She blames herself? Why? She shouldn’t do that! I didn’t write to her either –“

“Yeah but even if you did it sounds like she wouldn’t have gotten it for a while or have a lot of time to respond back. According to Barnaby she was away from home a lot this summer. Spent most of it across the pond in Canada,” Andre informed him.

“Oh… Guess Barnaby did a better job of keeping in touch than me,” Charlie chuckled.

“Well it was easier for him. They’re living together apparently.” Charlie immediately tensed back up at this new information that completely blindsided him.

“They’re living together?! What does that even mean?!”

Andre shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask. I was sent to go see if she was mad at you. Which I did. And since she’s not, you can go ask her about her living situation. Now give me this,” Andre said, taking the robe he was looking at before all this drama started from the Gryffindor, “You can’t pull this off.”

Charlie admitted, at first, the news of her and Barnaby living together came as quite the shock to him and he may have been a little… jealous… and confused and worried what that meant exactly… And he tried to listen to Andre, despite the Ravenclaw being only somewhat helpful, and prepared himself to step out of that store and rejoin his family and greet Ady and Barnaby but as he began to do so, the owner of Quality Quidditch Supplies stepped out of their store and attempted to get Ady’s attention who quickly grabbed Barnaby’s arm and said her goodbyes to the Weasley’s as she hastily took her leave before the owner of the Quidditch store caught up to her.

Charlie wasn’t really sure what that was all about but he was more focused on figuring out what was going on between her and Barnaby. He knew they had always been very close friends, and Charlie and Barnaby were good friends as well, sharing a common passion for Magical Creatures as well as in interest in Quidditch since Barnaby was Ady’s Beater partner on the Slytherin Quidditch team. He just wanted some clarity on the situation because the uncertainty was causing a lot of crazy thoughts to swarm through is head.

He had started a letter to Penny about twenty times, scribbling out each attempt and throwing away a lot of parchment that evening when he got back to the Burrow. Bill’s empty bed was now covered in crumbled up pieces of parchment from all of Charlie’s failed attempts at trying to figure out how to casually ask the Hufflepuff, who knew everything that was happening with everyone at Hogwarts even during the summer months, if she could shed some light on what was going on with Ady and Barnaby. But every time it was too awkward or obvious why he was asking and Penny, like Andre and Bill…and the rest of his siblings, loved teasing him about his secret feelings for Ady…which may not be so secret anymore…

Ultimately Charlie scrapped the whole thing and instead had the brilliant idea to ask Tonks instead. Tonks, who surprisingly discovered was related to Ady which only brought the two closer, who also did not care much, if at all, about who fancied who, or who was dating who, or who was caught snogging who unless it was a funny, embarrassing story. Tonks who also was his first, and still one of his closest, friends since he first starting attending Hogwarts (clearly not including Bill).

Tonks proved to be quite the reliable source, although Charlie had to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand a few times since Tonks could lose her train of thought and get distracted easily. According to her, Barnaby had spent most of the last summer and holidays with Ady at her place or at Hogwarts with her. This summer it seemed he officially moved in to one of the spare rooms in 12 Grimmauld Place (Keira taking over the old House of Black home was a sort of revolutionary act and having her friends visit during the summer and hang out there was surreal. Walburga was probably rolling over in her grave). It was pretty common knowledge, at least in their friendship group, that Barnaby did not have the best childhood with his father or being cared for by his grandmother. Apparently things with her continued to be bad, possibly growing worse, and none of their friends felt Barnaby should continue to live in such a negative, stressful, and toxic environment. And Ady was the one friend who finally took action.

First she opened up 12 Grimmauld Place to all her friends whenever they needed a place to go, to get away or just to hang out, and then she practically packed up Barnaby and his things herself and brought him over to live with her and her elusive guardian. Barnaby still visits his grandmother, checks on her to make sure she’s doing alright since she is getting older, and run some errands for her (apparently that’s what they were doing in Knocturn Alley that day and ran into Jae and the others) since Barnaby still cares for his grandmother and feels responsible for her and her well-being. However, he does seem to be doing better since no longer living there, like a weight has been lifted and he even seems well-rested.

Charlie appreciated Tonks sharing this information with him. Not only did it ease his anxiety but it just made him admire and fancy Ady even more than he already did. Plus she didn’t tease him about his crush on Ady like Penny would have. That Hufflepuff was part Slytherin, he swore!

“Oh thank Merlin,” Andre breathed a sigh of relief as he entered their compartment. “I hope it’s safe in here. Tulip and Tonks are getting an early start on their mischief making and rumour has it they have two little apprentices with them as well,” Andre informed them as he closed the door behind him and took a seat next to Rowan after she shifted over for him. Charlie tensed up at the mention of the two apprentices although he did his best not to show how anxious he actually was. But his worst fear was happening. And they hadn’t even made it to Hogwarts yet!

“Shouldn’t you two go and stop them as Prefects,” Rowan asked the two sitting across from her, giving them a pointed look from over the top of her glasses.

“It’s safer in here. I’m not going to get caught in a dung bomb explosion or worse,” Keira replied.

“And I deal with this kind of stuff every day when I’m home, can’t I have a little bit of a break,” Charlie pleaded.

“Besides, there are other Prefects who can handle it, ones who are on duty right now. We’re on break,” Keira added. Rowan sighed but dropped it, resuming reading her book.

“So, how was everyone’s summer,” Andre asked in an attempt to change the subject to a less anxiety provoking one. The small fraction of their group of friends began to share their summer holiday stories, the popular Hufflepuff even managing to join them from her busy task of greeting and catching up with essentially everyone on the train (she was the most popular person in Hogwarts for a reason), sometime during Rowan telling everyone about her time on her family’s tree farm.

When it was Charlie’s turn to talk about his summer he had to admit it was bittersweet with Bill leaving for Egypt. He didn’t mean to bring the train compartment down but he missed his brother and they all missed their surrogate older brother. Or crush in Rowan’s case. And as proud as his family obviously was for him becoming a Curse-Breaker and achieving his dream, of course they all missed him and worried about him, especially their mum. But he promised to write them often and so far had kept his promise, writing to them almost every day, mainly to assure their mum he was safe and eating and had clean clothes and he was okay. “You might get some letters from him too this year, who knows,” Charlie told them, trying to end on a positive note.

“What about you, Keira? How was your summer,” Penny asked, peering around the Gryffindor who sat between them.

“Fine,” Keira answered with a shrug. The rest of the compartment stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate.

“Just…fine? That’s it,” Penny asked with a frown.

Charlie didn’t want to pry or urge her to speak when, he assumed, bringing up the topic of Bill had upset her. She wasn’t one to normally show her emotions, at least not the negative ones, in front of others and only a select few had actually seen her stress, frustrated, and depressed, himself and Rowan being a part of the select few. Keira and Bill were close. Very close. Best friends. Partners. Family. And him graduating and leaving had to be just as hard on her as it was on him and the rest of the family, if not possibly harder. She had lost one brother and now it was sort of like she was losing another one. But he was sure Bill would write to her and keep in touch with her. Didn’t matter the distance between them, nothing would break their bond.

“You were gone a lot,” Barnaby finally spoke up when it was apparent Keira wasn’t going to say any more on the matter. “It was kind of lonely. Luckily Tonks and some of our other friends were around to hang out with,” he added with a grin, but it was obvious he missed her.

“Gone? Where did you go,” Penny asked curiously.

“Canada,” Keira answered. These one word answers were clearly starting to annoy the Hufflepuff as she narrowed her eyes at the Slytherin girl.

“And what were you doing in Canada,” Penny asked.

Keira shrugged as she stared out the window. “Stuff.” Charlie swore he saw her smirk briefly but she quickly hid it to continue messing with the Hufflepuff.

“Must have been really busy since I didn’t hear from you much over this summer,” Penny continued.

“Yeah, I was really busy,” Keira confirmed sincerely. “And I’m sorry I couldn’t write more often. To you and everyone. Plus travelling that much distance is exhausting,” she added.

Penny perked up once she got a genuine answer from the Slytherin that was also more than one word. “What was keeping you so busy? Something exciting?”

“More Curse-Breaking adventures,” Rowan asked, intrigued as well because she was also worried that she hadn’t heard much from her friend over the summer holiday but learning she was not the only one was a relief.

“Did you get a Thunderbird,” Barnaby asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat.

“Was it a guy,” Andre asked with a smirk, causing Keira to look over at him curiously. Why would he assume that? His suggestion seemed to capture everyone’s attention in the compartment as they looked over at him in shock over that possibility, since it never crossed any of their minds, before looking back at the Slytherin being questioned curiously.

“A guy. Twenty guys. You don’t know my life,” Keira replied with her usual sass. And while everyone else chuckled Charlie was filled with dread - he may have just missed the snitch and lost.

“World Cup is happening next year,” Andre announced excitedly to change the subject once again. “Teams are already competing for a spot.”

“Did you get offered a position, Andre,” Penny asked curiously. He was working towards playing professionally after all.

“No, unfortunately but they only choose a few select Keepers so it’s more difficult to get offered a position as one compared to say all the Chasers,” Andre explained.

“Guess that makes sense. One Keeper to three Chasers,” Penny replied.

“Right, but since this is the World Cup and not any normal match, games in the tournament can last for days or weeks! So they want to have two to three Keepers and a few lines of Chaser and Beaters to switch out so players can get some rest,” Andre continued to try and explain. “So teams may have nine Chasers but only two or three Keepers, so the odds are slim. I’m not taking it personally. Or letting it discourage me from playing professionally,” he assured.

“That’s good to hear,” Penny replied with a grin before Andre turned his attention to the red head next to her.

“While I may not have gotten an offer, someone here did…”Charlie tensed up slightly as all eyes turned to him.

“You got offered to play,” Rowan asked excitedly.

“Uh… yeah… I was offered a position for England,” Charlie admitted awkwardly, clearly a bit embarrassed by all this attention. Also because he knew when he told them he turned it down they were all going to throw a fit.

“Congrats! I knew you would, mate,” Andre congratulated proudly. “I can’t wait to watch you play and beat all those other teams and win, and oh you think you have fans now, wait until they see you -“

“I’m…not going to play for England,” Charlie interrupted nervously. But he didn’t want Andre to get himself all worked up only to be let down by his decision.

“What? But you said you got an offer to –“

“I did. But… I turned it down,” Charlie admitted.

“YOU DID WHAT?!?!” Charlie winced and looked down as the entire compartment yelled at him followed by a lot of scolding and questioning. He was afraid Andre might hit him in an attempt to knock some sense into him!

“Are you insane!? It’s an opportunity of a lifetime!”

“Why wouldn’t you want to play in the biggest Quidditch tournament in the world?”

“What is wrong with you?!”

“What?! What do you mean you’re not playing for England?” Charlie glanced over at the Slytherin next to him whose question, although a cry of surprise and outrage, was not as rage filled as others (Andre) but instead filled with disappointment. The look on her face confirmed the tone in her voice and Charlie’s heart began to ache slightly.

Keira had sat up when Charlie made his announcement, her feet dropping to the floor from the seat across from her. She was definitely not expecting him to say that. And she couldn’t hide the shock and disappointment from her face as she stared at him awaiting an answer, an explanation for his poor life decision, in her opinion.

“Can we all stop yelling, please!” The compartment went silent and for a brief moment everyone’s attention turned from the red head to Barnaby. “I know you’re not fighting but I still don’t like all the yelling,” he explained. The compartment quietly apologized to the Slytherin boy before turning their attention back to the Gryffindor Seeker.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself,” Andre demanded, folding his arms over his chest as he watched Charlie fixedly.

“It was an honor being asked and I am very grateful for the opportunity, like I told them, but… after thinking a lot about it and how much time and energy it would be asking of me, and travel, and everything it meant… it’s accepting a huge commitment and that means it would take time away from school and studying and working towards becoming a Dragonologist. It’s my dream to work with dragons and I’m not going to let anything jeopardize that, even Quidditch. And if my grades slip or I’m unable to master necessary spells and skills I need to be able to work with dragons I’ll never forgive myself.” His passionate speech seemed to settle the questions everyone in the compartment had, even if they were still disappointed in his decision.

An awkward silence fell throughout the train compartment until Keira finally dared to break it. “I guess it’s for the best. I would hate to see the disappointed look on your face when Canada beats England and wins,” she told him with a small smirk.

Charlie blinked at her a couple times, not expecting some trash talking, before a small smile crept onto his face. She, and everyone else, may still be disappointed in his decision but at least they accepted it, or were at least trying to.

“You’re right, it is a big commitment and you have different goals for yourself and your future. It couldn’t have been an easy decision to make but I think it is the right one for you. Takes a lot of courage to be able to turn down an opportunity like that and maintain your focus on your aspirations that you know will make you happy overall instead of just for a moment,” Penny spoke up encouragingly.

“Thanks, Penny.” Charlie was really touched by the Hufflepuff’s words. He was very fortunate to have such understanding friends and it meant a lot to him that they thought so highly of him.

“Very focused on your career goals… Very ambitious… Very Slytherin of you,” Keira teased with a small smirk earning a small smirk and chuckle from the Gryffindor.

“Well, you know-“ Charlie started before being interrupted from the Ravenclaw across from him.

“Wait, hold on,” Andre said suddenly, holding up a hand as he took a moment to gather his thoughts. Charlie prepared for another tongue lashing but instead, to his surprise, Andre turned his attention to the Slytherin next to him. “You think Canada is going to beat England? And win?”

“Yeah, I do,” Keira replied confidently.

“Really? I’ll take that bet,” Andre replied just as cocky.

“Oh no, here they go,” Rowan sighed, shaking her head.

An evil, mischievous grin spread across the Slytherin’s face. “Are you sure? Without Charlie they don’t really have much of a chance to win, do they,” Keira pointed out with a smirk before looking at the Gryffindor Seeker. “So really I should thank you for turning down playing for England. Makes England far less of a threat.”

“Your maple drinking team is the nonthreatening one,” Andre barked suddenly.

“Alright you two, calm down.” Penny attempted to calm the two Quidditch obsessed friends down. This was not the first time they got into passionate arguments over Quidditch teams and players and it wouldn’t be the last. She had a feeling this was going to be a long year with the World Cup coming up.

“Hey! Maple is delicious,” Keira snapped back. Not exactly the point but still she felt she needed to defend it.

“It really is. She brought me back pure maple sugar candies – those things are amazing,” Barnaby informed the compartment blissfully.

“Did someone say maple sugar candy?” The compartment’s residents all turned to look at the new voice that graced them with their presence. Jae stood in the now open doorway of the compartment with a bag of what they all assumed was full of some of his merchandise slung over his shoulder.

“Hey Jae,” the group greeted prompting Jae to go into his sales pitch. The train ride to Hogwarts was a long one! They needed snacks, rarer ones they couldn’t get from the Honeyduke’s cart, and things to keep them busy! Plus now was the best time to get their hands on last minute school supplies, like auto-answer quills, before they arrived at Hogwarts. And since they were his friends he’d promise to give them a deal… He had a bag full of stuff for everyone! Like Santa except they had to pay him…

“We’re fine, Jae, thanks though,” Charlie answered. Every day that kid pitched him something, being roommates, so he had gotten used to turning him down without any feeling of guilt.

“Alright but if you do decide you want anything, you know where to find me. And speaking of maple sugar candy, I believe we have our own deal to make,” Jae told the Slytherin girl who sighed and stood up to grab her own bag from the overhead luggage compartment.

“Keira! Have you become one of Jae’s suppliers,” Penny asked, sounding rather shocked by this turn of events.

“He asks me to bring him some candies and snacks from Canada that he can’t get here to sell. It’s not a big deal,” Keira assured.

“Yeah, and it’s not like I’m taking advantage. We’re splitting the profits,” Jae assured Penny as Keira grabbed a package out of her bag and began to hand it over to him. “70-30.”

Keira paused at Jae’s distribution percentage and quickly pulled the package back to her before Jae could get his hands on it. “70-30? It’s supposed to be 50-50.”

“Did we decide on that though? I mean, I am the one doing all the work, making all the deals, doing the sales pitching, putting myself at risk by carrying the merchandise around so if I get caught that’s it,” Jae debated.

“And I’m the one who smuggled these in for you and without me you wouldn’t have any merchandise to sell,” Keira pointed out.

Jae frowned and considered her point. “Fair enough. 60-40.” Keira’s eyes narrowed at the shady dealing Gryffindor. But since she knew he did this to get money to send back to his mum she didn’t mind him getting the majority of the profits. Besides, she had enough money.

“Alright, deal,” Keira agreed before they shook hands and she handed over the package to him.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Jae said with a smirk before placing her package in his bag. “I’ll come back around later and see if you guys want anything.”

“You could also come back just to say hi and hang out with us because we’re friends,” Penny pointed out.

“I would, Penny, but I’m working,” Jae pointed out.

“You know, if you put in half as much effort into your school work as your do with this little business of yours you could be top of the Gryffindor students in your year,” Penny informed him.

Jae blinked at her a moment before bursting out into laughter. “Oh Penny, I had no idea how funny you were! Studying about plants and writing essays on Goblin Rebellions doesn’t help me, but perfecting my business skills and making money does.” And with that the shady dealing Gryffindor took his leave to get more sales, closing the door to the compartment behind him.

“There goes all the pure maple candy,” Barnaby sighed, looking down in disappointment. That was short lived, however, as suddenly a box of the candy he was just mourning plopped down in his lap. “Maple candy,” he exclaimed excitedly with a grin.

“I wouldn’t give him all of it,” Keira assured. “Have to save some for ourselves. For free,” she added. Keira began distributing some more candy and snacks she brought back with her from her visits to Canada around the compartment. “Oh, you know who may like some of these? Talbott.” Since, thanks to Penny, she learned he had a bit of a sweet tooth. “I’m going to go find him,” she announced, standing up. “Besides, I have to do my rounds soon anyway. Tonks and the rest of them better take a break from their mayhem.”

“I’ll go with you,” Penny said, standing up as well. “I want to go check on Beatrice.” Of course she did. She was going to be even more overprotective of her little sister after what happened last year and no one blamed her.

Barnaby stood up suddenly as well and wrapped Keira in a tight bear hug. “Thanks, Keira! You’re the best!”

The Slytherin girl blinked in surprise before laughing slightly and reaching up to pat Barnaby on the back a couple times. “Thanks, Barnabas. Any time.” After their hug, Barnaby took his seat and began devouring the maple candy while the two girls left the compartment.

As soon as the door to the compartment closed, Andre looked over at the Gryffindor with a devilish smirk.

“No –“ Charlie started.

“So….” Andre started innocently.

“Don’t –“ Charlie warned.

“You two-“

“I’m not talking about this right now with you,” Charlie informed him.

For a brief moment Charlie honestly thought Andre had dropped it but he just lulled him into a false sense of security. “So do you think she has a boyfriend back in Canada,” Andre asked suddenly. “Maybe it was just a summer fling,” he suggested as Charlie groaned and slumped over to thump his head against the wall of the train. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think she actually dated or did anything with twenty guys,” Andre added, trying to make Charlie feeling better…or mess with him more, Charlie wasn’t sure, but it didn’t help him feel any better and instead let out another groan. “Could always ask her roommate,” Andre suggested with a smirk, glancing over at Barnaby who was preoccupied with stuffing his face full of candy.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Charlie attempted to say but Andre just spoke over him like he wasn’t even listening.

“Hey, Barnaby. Do you know what Keira was busy doing in Canada this summer,” Andre asked curiously.

“She went to see her family over there,” Barnaby replied after a moment. “And… I know there was something else… but I forgot.” The Slytherin paused a moment to think. “I think it’s supposed to be a secret. So guess it’s good that I forgot,” he laughed.

“That’s it? You can’t remember anything else,” Andre urged prompting Barnaby to think hard once again.

“Umm…. I think I remember her mentioning someone named Patrice?” Charlie and Andre shared a look at Barnaby’s possible recollection.

“Is that…a woman or a man,” Charlie eventually, carefully asked.

“It depends,” Rowan spoke up from behind her book, the boys forgetting she was even there for a moment since she was so quiet! “Typically in English it’s a feminine name but in French it’s a masculine name.”

“Well that doesn’t help much,” Andre sighed. Charlie still wasn’t sure if Andre was actually trying to help him or if he just liked messing with him. Probably both. But guess he should appreciate his friend taking an interest. Unfortunately, none of this made Charlie feel better or clear up anything for him.

After Keira returned to their compartment, with Tonks in tow – whether she came as a friend or as a prisoner from getting caught in her mischief making while Keira was on rounds was unknown – Charlie left to go on his rounds.

“Did you find Talbott and give him some candy,” Rowan asked curiously.

“I did. I think he was happy. I told him where we were sitting and he said he might come by,” Keira replied as she took her seat back across from Barnaby and next to the window.

The group of friends chatted idly, quietly read or watched the scenery go buy, and snacked on their various snacks. Charlie’s mum of course made her children plenty of delicious homemade snacks, as did Penny’s mum, and they were nice enough to share with their friends. Although Keira also joked she might go shake down Percy for more. At least Charlie thought she was kidding…

Rowan even attempted to hone her teaching skills by discussing what she was reading about and quizzing her friends but that did not last long since they decided they weren’t even at Hogwarts yet and they would have plenty of lectures and homework and studying this year so they wanted to continue to enjoy the last bit of their summer holiday; although of course Rowan thought this was fun! Penny came back for some time but left again to check on her sister once again, and once again no one was going to blame her for her overprotective nature. Honestly, the fact that she didn’t keep Beatrice chained to her was astounding. Jae also returned and attempted to sell them some of his merchandise once again but they all refused; however, they did manage to get him to stay and hang out for a while before he continued with his side hustle, taking Andre’s place as Andre went to visit with some other people for a moment.

It was hard having so many friends and such small compartments on the train and they did their best to squeeze in – it became like a revolving door of friends in an attempt to get to sit and hang out with each of them during the ride up to and from school. They basically needed their own train car at this point.

Eventually, the part of the eight hour train ride came where everyone began to get tired, or aka: nap time. Tonks leaned against the compartment wall, snoring slightly as she dozed. Jae pulled out a pillow from some unknown magical place to help him sleep, apparently needing that break from the hustle and finding the perfect place to do it with them, while Rowan fell asleep in her classic style with an open book across her lap and her glasses askew on her face. Keira meanwhile had fallen asleep with her arms folded and legs still propped up on the seat across from her next to Barnaby. At some point she slowly began to fall over and ended up using Charlie’s shoulder as a pillow – something that was becoming a bit of a habit – which he of course didn’t mind and instead gazed down fondly at her with a small smile from his newest book on dragons as she slept peacefully, reminding him of other times he had the privilege of watching her sleep over the last couple years.

“Hey, Barnaby,” Charlie called out softly to the only other person awake in the compartment, possibly due to all the sugar candy he ate earlier. Barnaby looked up from his own book on magical creatures where he was probably more admiring the pictures rather than reading it. “What does etrall mean? Keira said it earlier…”

Barnaby frowned quizzically as he repeated the word under his breath a few times. Was this some sort of trick question? “Oh! Do you mean étoile?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Charlie confirmed. “Couldn’t quite remember it. Do you know what it means?”

“Don’t worry, I have that problem all the time,” Barnaby assured when Charlie apologized for not remembering. “Étoile means star.”

“Star,” Charlie repeated before looking over as he heard voices coming from their compartment doorway.

“Looks like it’s full,” Penny observed. “I’ll go sit with Beatrice and come back later,” she assured with a smile as Andre continued to stare at Barnaby.

“You speak French?!” Barnaby smiled proudly up at the Ravenclaw who was astounded to learn this new bit of information. He shook his head as he slowly closed the door and went to go find somewhere else to sit for the time being and needing time to process that Barnaby, who he thought had a hard time with English, apparently spoke two languages! Maybe more! Barnaby continued to grin proudly as he resumed looking back at his book.

Charlie’s gaze once again turned to the sleeping Slytherin on his shoulder, his eyes softening as he admired her a moment. “Star,” he repeated again softly, the memories of asking her to the Ball last year during her Astrology class and dancing with her under the stars before they shared their first, and only, kiss playing in his head. Maybe he hadn’t lost after all. Maybe he still had a chance.

A/N: I know the song I’m referencing isn’t the best to use for a romantic relationship (since it’s about drug addiction) but it has some great lines I think that are perfect for them (it talks about a dragon okay?! =p) I’m going to continue using the lyrics throughout each part that I think correspond to the mood.

Again, apologize for the rough editing and that I have a problem being brief... Too many commas, too many adjectives/details... I’m sure there’s a support group out there somewhere =p

I decided to make a sort of series instead of just one about them admitting their feelings because I have a lot of ideas that happen this year. I also wanted to finish Year 5 fics before getting into Year 6 but this has been sitting around waiting to be posted and I love writing the sibling banter with the Twins so I’ve been excited to get this posted and this series started - so many ideas! But I will try to get the last Year 5 fic written and out soon too I just haven’t had any motivation to write it, all my inspiration has been taken up by Year 6! (I’ve also been looking into AO3 and Wattpad to post my fics on as well so if anyone has any experience with these platforms please let me know =)  )

I hope you enjoyed, hope you laughed, and if you did please let me know which parts you enjoyed and laughed at the most! As always feel free to comment and/or reblog with your thoughts and comments and let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list (and I’m sorry if I forgot anyone, I have to find a better way to do this!)! And as always my Masterlist is linked in my bio =)

Thank you for reading! 😄 ❤️

Tag List: @sly-vixen-up2nogood @sungoddessra @cinnamoncam @bexeris @urban-eagle @thatbritishcanadiangirl @abravelittlefangirl @justducky0423 @tatlikar @otpshipper93 

[venus-says]

Kamen Rider Fourze Episodes 01-16

Space is here!

... and I couldn't be any less stoked about it.

Yes, despite taking a little longer this time, I'm still doing this madness. I had a few problems these past weeks and I couldn't post on Saturdays like I wanted to do for this "watch all of Kamen Rider" series for like two or three weeks in a row, but I'm still trying my best and I won't give up!

This post is in charge of telling my thoughts on the beginning of the third Kamen Rider series that I watch, and if you could grasp my mood from the first sentence in this text you may know that... I didn't like it. I know what I'm saying may sound like a heresy to some since in all places I looked trying to define what would be my starting point in this franchise EVERYONE recommended Fourze as a good first series to watch and EVERYONE seemed to consider this one of the best Kamen Rider series ever. Well, I don't know if I had my expectations high because of all of that, of if this is just an overestimated series, what I know is that I didn't like it and I don't have many positives to say about it.

Which is odd because I like space, and I like space-themed things so a season about space seemed like a sure deal to me, but I couldn't get invested in anything here. To not say that I disliked everything about Fourze, I like a few insert songs, I could see myself jamming to some of those, and I also like that the villains are based after constellations, that's another cool touch, but that's pretty much it. I don't like the characters, I don't like the setting, I don't like the transformation belt, I don't like the suit designs, I don't like the toys that look like food, I wasn't really interested in the plot, nothing caught my eyes under a positive lighting. Of course, this is just coming from the first third and my opinion may change, but for now, I really dislike everything about Fourze.

And it's not like Fourze is a terrible show either, despite my lack of interest I could see that there were things there that could appeal to a lot of people, the problem is that those things don't appeal to me.

The thing that pushes Fourze away from me the most is the school setting. It may seem odd, after all both Aikatsu and Precure that are my favorite shows are set on schools, but I'm not a fan of the school aspect, I never was, and seeing a season happening on a school seems like a downgrade for me after two very strong seasons that managed to gather a quite diverse cast despite not happening centered around a space where they could gather lots of different people to serve both as allies or MOTW victims. And like it's not even the typical Japanese school setting that at least has the "foreigner" factor to bring some spice, this is a school that looks more like an American school and there's nothing more boring than a story that happens on an American school, with the sport jocks, the mean popular cheerleader, the geeks, the trouble makers, and all that boring stuff. Though I guess to them this would be the "foreigner" element so... In any case, if the school element wasn't present, or if at least it wasn't so focused around that, I could see myself enjoying Fourze more. I would still have my problems with it, though I wouldn't be as uninterested.

The other aspect I don't like is the characters. First, there are way too many of them for me to care about, there are seven "main characters" and I just ask myself why. Like, most of them aren't even characters they are an adjective and their whole character is based around said adjective and they don't evolve at all (I mean they don't have time to since there are seven of them), they have one moment of catharsis that is the point that leads them to join the club and after that, they're just that adjective that defined them once again. I don't feel compelled to like or sympathize with any of them INCLUDING THE PROTAGONIST. Gentarou is just shallow, Kengo is Gotou 2.0 but with a sick body, Yuki is the generic girl companion filling the female quota that has a thing for space to make her fit the story, Miu is the spoiled mean girl, Shun is the jock that is the star of the football team, Tomoko is the goth girl, and I have no idea what JK is supposed to be. And like I could excuse Miu, Shun, Tomo, and JK, being onesided if they were just victims of the MOTW because more or less each one of them had an interesting conflict centering around them for their "introduction" mini-arcs. But at the moment you make them recurring characters you gotta do something with them, you gotta show they're not just a stereotype in the story, but after 16 episodes that's all they are and I don't have hopes that they will have any major changes during the rest of the show.

I usually would take some time to talk about the main trio of this season, but I feel like I have even fewer things to say about them than I have to say about the attached cast. Gentarou is supposed to be the upbeat cheerful lead that you want to root for, but he's the type of person who I hate the most that go around making the rest of the world bow to his will and make things without taking other person's boundaries into consideration and, in the end, he's reassured that what he's doing is right. I just can't like him, I'm sorry. Kengo is just boring, they try to make him interesting by giving him a sickness and a tragic past but it doesn't work for me. And Yuki is basically the same, don't get me wrong in terms of female companions she's an improvement from Hina and Akiko, but like, she lacks so much she's so generic I don't have any feeling for her.

I wish I had something to say about the villains but we didn't get a lot of them in these episodes. They're based on the zodiac and they're all of the school staff it seems so I think that's cool. We've only seen two generals so far and I liked one but disliked the other so there's no concrete thing I can say about their designs. The zodiarts are cool, some designs are hit or miss but I like the concept of being constellations and that they can evolve/grade change into a general. I think the most exciting thing from the villains so far was seeing that the teacher was the Scorpio constellation because that was truly shocking I never guessed that bland teacher could be a villain, very sad she "lasted" for like only two episodes, but she hasn't been utterly defeated so I guess she can still come back.

Before I go on with Fourze's design, I'll comment on something I didn't find a place for it. I don't know if it's just me, but this was a very slow show. Because of the "two episodes, one story" formula it took freaking TWELVE EPISODES to introduce all characters of the club and it felt so dragged, like if things weren't moving at a proper pace. Another thing that was quite difficult to me was accepting that those actors were high school kids, which is weird because I made the research and, by the calcs, everyone in the cast was around 18 years old by the time of release so it shouldn't feel as weird to have them playing high school kids, but I don't know there's something in there that doesn't register as right with me. Also, I was shocked by the small number of notes I had, for a post like this I usually have three pages worth of comments that I write on a notebook while I watch the show, but I could barely write a full page on these 16 episodes and that's just sad.

And the last thing I have to complain about is Fourze's design. I'm sorry, but this design is ugly a hell, it took me so much to realize the helmet was supposed to be a rocket is not even funny. If their goal was to make something alien well congratulations to them because that looks awkward and uncomfortable as hell. And the power-ups? I know this probably sounded like a great idea on paper but the execution is way too wonky for me to like. And also he has the most awkward add-ons ever like, who though a brush would be a good power up? Not even the electric and the fire forms were able to make the design improve.

I could complain some more and talk about the new rider that comes out of nowhere once again, but I'm tired and I don't wanna sound more annoying as I probably already do so I'll wrap things up here. Feel free to tell me how wrong I am in the comments, but please be kind. XD I'll see you guys another time, hopefully being more positive next time.

[welllpthisishappening]

The Period of the Long Change (15/15)

It’s quick. One second she’s standing there and everything is fine and then Emma looks up and it’s not. It’s awful. And the lights are too bright and there are too many rooms and too many opinions and her phone won’t stop ringing because everything seems to be changing all at once. She’s never been great at coping with change. But, maybe, if she can just figure it out and stay right where she is, with Killian Jones, captain of the New York Rangers, at her side, it’ll be alright.

It’s slow. One second he’s standing there and everything is fine and then Killian’s breath catches and it’s not. It’s terrifying. And the noises are too loud and there are too many questions and he can’t find the right answers to any of them, not sure how to cope with everything changing all at once. That’s never really been his forte. But, maybe, if he can just figure it out and stay right where he is, with Emma Swan, director of New York Rangers community relations, at his side, it’ll be alright.

It’s another season and another challenge and Emma and Killian are both struggling to get over the boards.

Rating: Mature Word Count: Like...9.5K. It’s the last chapter. It’s long.  AN: Hey! This story is over! If you’ve been clicking and reading and sticking around, I cannot possibly tell you how much I appreciate it. Even the idea of you guys being interested in this silly, over-sized hockey family blows my mind. So, thank you. For realz. I have a questionable number of one-shots still sitting in my docs and I don’t know that I’ll ever actually close the book on this verse officially, so there’s probably some more adjectives to come. Thanks for reading, internet. 

Also on Ao3 and FF.net and Tumblr if that’s your jam.

“A little up on the right.” Emma grunted, trying to shift the kid in her arms and that only ended with a foot in her thigh and a mumbled apology and they were going to rip the sign. And maybe the balloons had been overkill. They’d been Mary Margaret’s idea anyway.

“Reese’s, my arms are going to fall off my body,” Emma warned, glancing over her shoulder when she heard something that sounded a hell of a lot like several hockey sticks crashing to the ground. “Margaret,” she snapped, met with a pair of wide eyes and an innocent face that Emma was fairly positive her other kid was practicing. “What did we say about running around?” “C’mere, Pegs,” Mary Margaret said, holding her hand out and pulling the nearly two-year-old and decidedly rambunctious kid against her thigh. “That was totally my fault anyway, I got distracted by how crooked the sign is.”a

Emma sighed, letting her head fall against Matt’s back which wasn’t really helping her general state of being at all because she could feel the stitching of the lettering press against her forehead and that just kind of felt over the top.

More than the balloons.

God, there were so many balloons.

“I thought we only had to go a little up on the right,” Emma muttered. Her arms were going to be incredible toned by the end of this. “A little does not suggest that it’s incredibly crooked.” “I didn’t use that word.”

“There was an implication. And maybe we should be using actual words. So my arms don’t fall off before we even get to puck drop.” “Your arms are going to fall off?” Matt asked, twisting against Emma and landing another kick. She grimaced.

“Not if I can avoid it. And why do you sound so interested in that, huh?’

Emma made a face, arms grateful when Matt rested his feet on one of the lower cubbies in the locker they were currently decorating and he laughed when she peppered his face with kisses. “Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom,” he said, voice getting louder with every shout. They were playing a dangerous balancing game, but the jersey he had on was new and Peggy’s was almost comically large, even after being custom-made because they were those kinds of people now and decorating Killian’s locker with signs their kids made the night before suddenly didn’t seem quite as ridiculous.

It was, after all, kind of momentous.

The Post headline had been almost clever that morning – Jones’ing for a Comeback, which played very well to the collective sense of humor of most of the New York Rangers first line and the Vankald-Jones group text message, but David thought it was lazy and Killian had rolled his eyes when Emma showed him her phone.

And then kissed her because it was the season opener and it didn’t land on Matt’s birthday this year, but that was only three days away and it was a comeback and she wasn’t really nervous.

Honestly.

She was excited and a little anxious and a little frustrated, really, because it was raining and the tent guys from Bed-Stuy had been incredibly difficult in the last week. She’d filled out so much paperwork she was positive she had carpal tunnel in both wrists.

Just to prove a point or something.

Emma wasn’t nervous.

At all.

She was fine. It was going to be fine. Killian had played in preseason games anyway and nothing had happened and practice was great and he really hadn’t argued Ariel’s PT schedule much that summer, so that was some kind of miracle and it was going to be great.

That was even better than fine.

Great, good, fantastic, one-hundred percent totally ok.

Ok was not a good adjective for this situation.

She hoped he didn’t get hit. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do if he got hit.

“Mom,” Matt whispered, pulling on the front of Emma’s shirt and she hadn’t actually changed into something professional yet. She wasn’t entirely sure she was going to. The Jones in between her shoulder blades matched her kids.

And at some point she’d become some kind of sentimental freak.

Probably after reading that Post story while Killian watched pre-game film with Matt and Peggy.

“Yeah, kid,” Emma said quickly, shaking her head like she was trying to get rid of conversational and vaguely emotional cobwebs. She wasn’t entirely sure it worked. She might have been a little worried. But only a little.

Not a lot.

That would have been insane.

He’d played in preseason games already.

This was not a preseason game.

“Can we fix Dad’s sign now?”

Emma blinked, licking her lips like that would fix whatever was clearly wrong with her heartbeat and they needed to order new walkie talkies because the one hanging from her belt was doing an absolute garbage job of delivering whatever message Merida was shouting.

If it had to do with the tents Emma was going to scream.

“We can absolutely do that,” she nodded. “Ok, come here, and try not to flail your legs out when you move.

Matt grinned – which seemed like an unfair card for the universe to play in whatever twisted game it was currently competing in with Emma – twisting and wobbling a little and one of his feet fell off the shelf. It slammed into Emma’s right shin.

She couldn’t quite stop her exclamation of pain, hissing in a breath of air and squeezing her eyes shut, but that only led to her being entirely unprepared for the rest of Matt’s body to collide with her chest and they should have staged some kind of walk through for this.

There hadn’t been time.

And Matt had gone to the actual walk through anyway.

“Are you ok?” Mary Margaret asked, genuine concern in the question. Emma nodded, but she couldn’t actually voice her guarantee, slightly worried about the bruise she swore she could feel blossoming on her skin.

“Sorry, Mom,” Matt whispered. That was like several aces and some kind of royal flush and Emma didn’t really know any other card games, but the universe was definitely the dealer in this strange metaphor and had definitely drawn Blackjack as soon as it flipped its cards over.

Emma wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, ignoring the slight scratch of brand-new jersey fabric under her cheek when she leaned forward and he didn’t squirm against her kiss. So, maybe, she was the one winning the metaphor.

She’d lost track of it anyway.

“You know what I think we need?” Emma asked, Matt’s hair nearly finding its way into her mouth when he shook her head. “More stick tape.” Mary Margaret laughed behind her, a wide smile on her face when Emma twisted around. “I can’t believe we didn’t think of that before. That’s definitely what the whole project was missing.” “Well, we can’t afford to let these priceless works of art and questionable number of balloons suffer for our lack of planning, can we?” “That would be irresponsible.”

Emma’s arms ached, still or probably always would after this, but she swore the happiness was literally bubbling out of her soul at this point and she’d have to apologize to Kristoff for stealing all the stick tape.

“Can you see any in Dad’s locker, Mattie?”

He made a contradictory noise – which was only slightly like Killian and a bit like Will when he didn’t appreciate particular whistles, and Mary Margaret’s eyes bugged slightly when she realized what was happening. Emma’s cheek muscles were starting to ache too.

She dropped Matt back onto his feet, fingers moving with almost practiced ease through the drawer he’d been standing on and he yelled look when he found a half-finished roll.

“That’s perfect kid,” Emma said, pulling the tape out of his hand and neither she nor Mary Margaret were surprised when he grabbed a puck too.

“Put it in your pocket so no one sees you take it when we go back upstairs,” Mary Margaret suggested. Emma’s jaw cracked when it dropped.

“I don’t even know who you are right now, Reese’s.” Mary Margaret shrugged, but she’d snuck balloons into Madison Square Garden several hours before a season-opening event and puck drop against the Flyers and Emma probably should have expected that too.

She was fairly positive David was playing lookout at the other end of the hallway.

“Someone who bought real, high-quality balloons for more than one celebration.” Emma blinked. “What?” “You heard me.” “Are you kidding me?” “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “That makes no sense at all.” “Yeah, well I don’t want to be accused of not being able to keep a secret later on,” Mary Margaret said. “But I’d maybe reconsider sneaking out of the Garden later.” “What?” “You said that already.”

“I know, I know,” Emma stammered, mind racing and trying to figure out what was going on at the same time she was trying to understand what the hell Merida was talking about on the walkie-talkie. They needed to get out of that locker room. Soon. They had to go stand in the rain. Or not in the rain.

She’d punch all the tent people if there was actually rain involved.

“But, like….what?” Emma asked. Peggy wiggled against Mary Margaret’s side, dangerously close to a wail and that was not going to end well if they were still in the locker room.

“You can sneak out of the restaurant later,” Mary Margaret answered. “Just maybe don’t leave the Garden without going uptown first.” “We live uptown.” “You’re being difficult on purpose now,” Mary Margaret accused, but she couldn’t stop smiling and Killian’s locker was going to be covered completely in stick tape by the time Matt was done with it.

Emma shook her head. “I’m not, honestly. I am…”

She drifted off, teeth sinking into her lower lip and shoulders heaving when she inhaled deeply and it would have been stupid to start crying in the middle of the New York Rangers locker room. So she blinked instead.

That was way better.

Definitely.

For sure.

“Yeah, that was totally the goal,” Mary Margaret said. “Don’t bother asking if that was an intentional pun, it was and I expect you tell everyone how absolutely hysterical you think I am later on tonight.” “Hopefully after some real goals.” “I’ve got no doubt whatsoever.”

“Ah, that was good.” “Not the longest hope speech I’ve ever given, but it really is supposed to be a surprise.” “Still hit the mark,” Emma promised, letting Peggy grab ahold of her fingers when she managed to get back on the ground. Mary Margaret’s upper body strength was no match for her quasi-namesake.

“And,” Ruby added, coming around the corner like she’d simply been waiting to hit her mark in the conversation. Emma rolled her eyes. “She and Cap would totally sneak out of the Garden if they could. So we had to be proactive about this.”

“Don’t you have media to keep at bay?” Emma asked.

“Obviously not or I wouldn’t be here. And they got their stuff already because, you know, we’ve got that whole pre-game thing happening. With your carpet.” “How’s it look?” “The carpet?” “Yeah. Appropriately blue? Not damp.” “They put tents up, Em,” Ruby said slowly, like she was talking to a person who was slightly to moderately terrified of what would happen when her hockey-playing husband inevitably got hit against the boards that night.

It was hockey. That was how it worked.

Maybe Emma was worried.

Maybe might have meant definitely.

“And they look ok?”

Ruby nodded, smile spreading across her face like it was trying to set a record for being slightly frustrating. “I think they knew you’d threaten to run them over with several large machines if they didn’t do it perfectly.” “Aw, that’s kind of rough,” Emma sighed, but also kind of true and the footprints on one of the signs was only because Peggy had been trying to imitate her pacing in her office the night before. Merida had probably told Ruby that.

“And accurate. The tents look fine. The stands look fine. The carpet is exceptionally blue because it is the same carpet we’ve been using for decades.” “We haven’t been here that long,” Mary Margaret mumbled.

“Really? God, that can’t be right. It feels like forever.” “And that seems kind of depressing,” Emma pointed out. “Mattie, I think we’re good with the tape. Put that back where you found it, ok?” He made a noise, a jumbled string of words that made a hell of a lot more sense when Emma twisted to find he’d used all the tape and she should have been ready for that. Ruby tried to turn her laughter into a convincing cough.

“You are an artist, mini-Jones,” she proclaimed, crouching down to wrap both arms around him. “Hey, how many hours until we hit the five-year-old mark?” “Sixty-three,” he yelled. Emma blinked again. Mary Margaret might have actually cackled. Peggy didn’t seem to appreciate either. She quite clearly wanted to knock over more equipment.

“That’s actually pretty close,” Ruby said. The smile on her face widened, but it might have also gotten a little softer and she was definitely in the running for biggest pushover when it came to being charmed by Matthew David Jones, particularly three days before his fifth birthday. “We’ve been practicing,” she added, glancing up at Emma’s undoubtedly stunned expression. “Your kid’s going to be a mathematical genius by the time I’m done with him.” “That sounded really aggressive,” Emma muttered.

“It’s because we’ve been using major New York Rangers dates in history to help explain it.” “And that sounds like cheating,” Mary Margaret said.

Ruby shrugged. “Whatever works, right? As long as he knows how to add by the end of it.” “I think that’s what school is for, actually.” “You can help with the lessons too if you want, M’s.” “I mean, obviously, that’s what I want.”

Emma opened her mouth, not entirely sure what she was going to say, but sure it was going to be something good and she was only a little disappointed when nothing came out. Her teeth clicked when she snapped her jaw again, another crack she didn’t entirely appreciate.

Ruby arched an eyebrow. “You freaking out yet?”

“No,” Emma lied.

“That was awful. Really. Like. As bad as it could possibly have been.”

“Yeah, well, you’re apparently staging math lessons with my kid in secret, so--”

“--So, that is not even remotely the same thing. You know it’s going to be fine. He’s probably going to hat trick.” “Please don’t,” Emma started, but it was already too late and Matt’s shouts were very likely doing damage to the paint in the locker room. And their eardrums.

Ruby winced, every single one of her teeth on display as she and Mary Margaret both tried to quiet the almost five-year-old kid who was actually jumping up and down with excitement.

And Killian would probably score a hat trick.

Just to prove a goddamn point.

Or inspire a slightly more creative New York Post headline.

There were more footsteps coming around the doorway, a flash of blue and far-too-long curls and Emma was still a little surprised how tall Henry was every single time she saw him. It wasn’t his birthday yet either.

David was the worst lookout in the history of the world.

“Hey,” Roland said. “We heard yelling. What’s going on?” “What are you guys doing down here?” Emma asked. “Shouldn’t you be outside?” “It’s raining. And we were waiting for you guys. Mer said you were here and we kind of wanted food.” “There’s food outside.” Roland muttered ehhh and Henry didn’t quite swat at his shoulder, but it was pretty close, knees barely buckling when Matt slammed into his side. The kid was never going to stop shouting about hat tricks now. “There’s definitely food outside,” Henry promised. “And the tents look really good, but Mer did tell us you were here and we didn’t really want to wait in line.” “Man, you guys have got it good, don’t you?” Ruby asked knowingly, standing back up and immediately hitting her head with a balloon. “Where the hell did these even come from?” “Mom and Dad ordered ‘em,” Roland shrugged, a surprising sentence for several reasons, least of all the actual words he used, but mostly because that meant the balloons had been ordered and this plan was extensive.

“Only because it was cheaper that way,” Mary Margaret explained.

Emma nodded, fingers drifting towards her left wrist out of instinct and she flexed her hand half a dozen times when she remembered. Ruby’s smile looked vaguely predatory now. And far too knowing. Henry laughed.

“It’s going to be fine, you know that, right?” he asked.

“Don’t try and get adult with me, kid,” Emma muttered, but Ruby whispered freaking out under her breath and Mary Margaret was going to give them all detention.

Henry pressed his tongue into the corner of his mouth, running a hand through his hair – which felt like some kind of power play by the universe. “I’m not. I’m pointing out facts. Did Rubes tell you about the hat trick guarantee yet because she should have.” “You’re giving away all my secrets,” Ruby groaned. “And, before you freak out, Em, or you, mini-Jones.” Matt snapped to attention, eyes wide and a little familiar, but he’d never put that puck back in Killian's locker. “Cap did not guarantee a hat trick. That’s just--” “--Us,” Roland finished. He pulled his own puck out of his back pocket, and Emma couldn't really twist her wrists still because that still kind of hurt, but she hadn’t had a ton of time and it had been a spur of the moment decision anyway.

“How much do you get if you win?” she asked.

“A lot. Uncle Will thinks he’ll only get three points, but Hook hat tricked in a gold medal game, so this seems pretty par for the course.” “You’re mixing up your sports and clichés. Don’t let Anna hear that.” “Nah, she won’t. She was promising Kristoff we wouldn’t trash the locker room too much when we decorated.” “We?” “We all are awful at keeping secrets,” Mary Margaret said. Her eyes were glossy.

Emma hummed, mouth twisted and two different kids trying to hang off her side at the same time. She wasn’t ever going to change her shirt. “How’d you get the balloons into the Garden?” “David flashed his badge. I baked that one security guard more cookies. And both Roland and Henry promised they’d get said security guard’s granddaughter an autograph from Rook because she’s got a crush on him.”

“Does he know that?” “He’s been in media, Em,” Ruby reasoned. “Some of us are actually doing our jobs.” “Oh, low blow,” Emma muttered, but she couldn’t actually feel bad and Merida deserved the entire state of New York at this point. She glanced back at the teenager and almost grown adult in front of her – each of them decked out in head-to-toe blue and she hadn’t noticed Roland had both Robin and Killian’s number on his cheeks before.

It all felt a little full-circle.

And emotional.

Decidedly emotional.

“Anna did it,” he said, answering the question Emma hadn’t asked. Mary Margaret had lost the battle against crying. “And, uh…” “Here,” Henry finished, holding out a sheet of printer paper with half a dozen folds and one of the corners had ripped. “It’s raining. We had to take drastic measures. And we didn’t have, you know, crayons at home.” “You used crayons?” Ruby asked skeptically, Emma’s hands shaking a bit when she reached out and she knew every single person in that locker room was staring at her left wrist.

“We used markers that we just bought in the Duane Reade around the block,” Roland shrugged. “But we figured we should get in on the decorating action too.” It looked as drastic as Henry promised it was, the markers running a bit on the slightly damp paper and they’d clearly run out of room with the block letters, but the SKATE FAST was still obvious even through Emma’s slightly blurry vision.

“It’s going to be good, Emma,” Henry promised, squeezing her shoulder and smiling with a confidence she was certain sparked a small, metaphorical fire in the pit of her stomach. “Plus Rol really wants his money.” “We’ve turned you all into degenerates,” Mary Margaret sighed, but Emma was already shaking her head and they needed to get out of that locker room.

She was fairly positive one of the sticks Peggy had knocked over was broken.

“No, no, it’s nice. That’s a super lame word, huh?” “Luckily you’re not the one writing the headlines tonight,” Ruby grinned. “Hey, he know what you did yet?” Emma shook her head – met with several decidedly emotional and possibly proud looks and Ruby muttered oh this is going to be fun while Roland pulled another roll of stick tape out of Robin’s locker.

The rain wasn’t as bad as Emma had convinced herself it had to be, like the weather was being held to some kind of emotional marker, but it still took some finangling to get everyone who needed to be in the marked off section of the stands, into the marked off section of the stands and Anna could barely hold onto her phone.

“Mattie,” Emma said, doing her best to sound adult in a situation where she couldn’t bend her wrist and her walkie-talkie was definitely broken. “What did we say were the rules while you’re up here?” “No jumping, no running away from Anna, no throwing the puck.”

The last one was a recent addition – Anna’s eyebrows flying into her hair when Matt listed off the rules – and Emma nodded deftly. “That’s right. And Pegs,” she turned towards the toddler already displeased with her options of being held by either David or Mary Margaret. Whoever wasn’t holding Leo. “No trying to run anywhere, even when Dad is--”

She nearly growled when her phone buzzed in her pocket, sure it was something to do with the cars or the scheduled player arrivals and Emma wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a fan brawl happening somewhere, just to keep her on her toes.

It wasn’t any of those things.

Did you know that the Garden ceiling is the only arena ceiling in the world that’s concave. Something about better sound. So I expect good cheers tonight.

“Em,” David muttered. “You’ve got to finish your mom speech or we’re going to end up with some very frustrated two year olds here.”

Emma shook her head. Her phone buzzed again.

The first version of the Garden was built before b asketball was invented. That’s not relevant to our current sports interests, but is at least kind of interesting.

The Garden is the only venue where all four Beatles have played solo concerts. They never played here together.

The torch from the Statue of Liberty was kept on display at the Garden from 1876 to 1882.

Swan.

Swan.

Swan, you’ve got to at least acknowledge that you’re impressed by these facts, otherwise it’s no fun at all.

She didn’t quite giggle, but it was pretty damn close and David stopped yelling about responsibility when her fingers started flying over her phone screen.

The Post is probably going to use your name in a pun tomorrow morning.

Is that a fact?

You want to bet?

Emma heard the cheers before she could even come up with something witty to send back, knuckles turning white so she didn’t drop her phone. Anna took another picture.

Matt started jumping.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop.

And it wasn’t going to do much to her responsible marker, but Emma was having a difficult time focusing on anything except the smile on his face and the look in his eyes, gaze darting around the crowd like he was trying to find something and her heart possibly exploded when he found exactly what he wanted.

Killian grinned, running a hand through slightly damp hair because they couldn’t get the tents all the way to the end of the block. The city of New York, Emma was certain, was bound and determined to cause her as much frustration as possible, but any sense of that was gone as soon as her brain processed how goddamn good Killian looked in his suit.

Blue.

Obviously.

The headlines probably wouldn’t mention how he actually ran down the carpet, sure steps that put Emma’s heart back together only so it could explode again, but it was all she’d be able to think about for weeks after the season opener and the fans around them yelled when Killian moved up the stairs.

“You’re not supposed to be up here,” Emma muttered, a distinct lack of anything except swooning in the sentence.

Killian grinned wider. His eyes were incredibly distracting.

“Ah, well, I figured it was more fun to present my facts in person,” he said. He had to bend his knees to grab Matt, both arms wrapped around him and laughter lingering in the air and the rain drops and several different adults yelled be careful, Cap at him.

Emma didn’t move.

She might have blinked again.

“I think you’re trying to show off,” she said.

“That’s an absolute guarantee. How’s it going?” “It’s way too easy, honestly.” Killian laughed – normal and confident and several other very positive adjectives and Emma forgot about her walkie-talkie entirely. His eyes traced over her again, like he was taking inventory or stock and it was equal parts overwhelming and something that made more sense than nice, but his mouth opened slightly when he realized she’d never actually changed.

“Oh, that’s not even fair, Swan.” “Maybe I’m just trying to inspire or something.” “Something?” “Something,” she repeated, pulling lightly on his tie when it threatened to twist underneath Matt. “A point. Or whatever.” “One point seems kind of lame, don’t you think?” The crowd around them cheered again – phones out and cameras recording and David kept shaking his head, like he hadn’t also been part of the hat trick bet. Emma did her best not to look too impressed, honestly, she did, but Matt was shouting hat trick, hat trick, hat trick like they were the only two words he’d ever learned and both Roland and Henry were humming the goal song.

Killian did something entirely unfair with his eyebrows.

“A hat trick,” he said, not a question and they were going to cause seismic activity right there on 34th Street.

“If it’s not too much trouble, Hook,” Roland added. Whatever noise Anna made was not entirely human, Emma’s eyes widening to a size that was did more damage than her exploding heart.

Killian and David were both hysterical.

“What do you think, Swan?” he asked. “Seems reasonable, don’t you think?”

She nodded, still not entirely sure if she could remember the English language when he looked at her like that – as if he could absolutely score a hat trick based solely on emotion and feeling and want and that last one was a little out of place on the corner of 34th Street and 7th Avenue.

Or it would have been.

Once upon a time with a different set of beliefs and a different set of dreams and hopes and a distinct lack of either, but that was then and now there was a comeback and headlines and--

“Maybe just a breakaway,” Emma shrugged.

Killian’s lips twitched. “Yeah?” “Yeah. For posterity’s sake or whatever. Full circle.” “Seems rather reflective, love.” “I might be in that kind of mood.” He had to shift Matt to catch her around the forearm, fingers warm despite the distinct chill in the air and it felt like standing on Chase Bridge and balancing above center ice, but Emma’s breath didn’t catch when he kissed her.

On the goddamn corner of 34th Street and 7th Avenue.

The fans cheered again.

“A breakaway it is,” Killian said, not bothering to pull away and it was only a matter of time before Emma’s phone buzzed again because this whole thing was probably being live-streamed on the subReddit.

She didn’t know if that was possible. She did not care.

“Dad,” Matt said, twisting in Killian’s arms with one leg hitched over his hip. “Did you see your locker yet?” Emma squeezed her eyes closed, not able to keep her sigh in her body where a responsible adult would have been able to. Mary Margaret cursed softly.

“I absolutely refuse to be labeled worst secret keeper now,” Anna announced.

“He’s five, Banana. I think he gets a pass.” “No, no, Dad,” Matt argued. “Not for another sixty-one hours!”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s freaky how close it is, isn’t it?” Emma asked, and Killian nodded slowly. “Apparently there have been math classes that I’ve been unaware of and it was a whole thing, but, uh...you should see your locker. And just the general locker room.” “None of this is making much sense, Swan.” “That’s because it’s all supposed to be a surprise.” “Who’s teaching Matt birthday-based math?”

“That was a good alliteration, and Ruby. I think it’s a play in whatever war she’s consistently staging with Scarlet, but that’s only an assumption from me.” “Probably a correct one.” “Charmer.” He grinned, eyebrows twisting and turning and Emma had never thought either of those things were possible until she’d met Killian Jones, but that might have been par for the course and now she was stealing a teenager’s clichés.

“How many headlines do you think we can get if I kiss you again?” “At least five.” “Aiming low, Swan.” “Shut up,” she mumbled, reaching forward to grab the lapels of his jacket. He didn’t stumble when he moved forward, but his hand landed on her hips and it felt a bit like every inch of her was touching him and she could just make out several different whistles directed at them.

One of them was definitely Will.

It didn’t make much of a difference – Emma kissed Killian and Killian kissed Emma and they both ignored whatever it was Will was shouting from the carpet.

“Go check out your locker,” Emma said, voice shaking a bit when his mouth brushed over the curve of her jaw.

“There are several different major news outlets here,” Will called. “All of them witnessing whatever the hell it is you two are doing up there!” “Shut up, Scarlet,” Robin said. “But also we do have to acknowledge some of the fans you aren’t married to, Cap.”

Killian hummed, not moving immediately and Emma tried to keep her wrist out of his line of vision. It was a secret. Or something. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous.

“I think that’s my cue,” he muttered.

Emma nodded. “Please don’t mess up my event. And one breakaway goal.” “Done and done. Scouting report?”

Matt’s whole face lit up, and Emma had to bite her lip to make sure she didn’t embarrass herself at her own event. It didn’t take long – he wasn’t even five, but Matt knew as much about the Philadelphia Flyers as anyone who was paid to know that and most of his advice focused on screening the net and blocking the goalie and Killian nodded like he was listening to Arthur. He wouldn't have done that in front of Arthur.

“Thanks kid,” he said as soon as Matt ran out of facts and oxygen. “Don’t jump here, ok, Mattie?” Matt froze, several other shutter snaps echoing around them, and Killian made a face at Peggy before he jogged back down the steps and signed a few autographs and Emma’s phone buzzed, right on cue, as soon as they set foot in the team suite.

I couldn’t have done any of it without you.

Emma bit her lip again.

By her, admittedly, unofficial count, Arthur had smashed four whiteboards in the first two periods, pacing in the back of the bench with an expression that likely could have turned several humans to actual stone.

They weren’t even losing. They were tied, but there were only twenty minutes left and they hadn’t really looked great yet and there was something to be said for season-opening jitters.

Mary Margaret used that word.

Emma couldn’t really talk.

She kept walking, tracing the same semicircle around the same chair in the team suite while several different pairs of eyes flitted her direction once every ten seconds.

To her credit, she hadn’t actually gasped the first time Killian got hit – slammed into the boards at the far end of the ice, which, as David was quick to point out, was probably for the best because Emma wasn’t sure what she’d have done if it had closer to them. Probably just fallen over or something.

“You’re going to do damage to your hamstrings,” David muttered, a wry smile on his face when he twisted in his own chair. He couldn't move much more. Both Peggy and Leo were on top of them and Leo had fallen asleep at some point in the second period, but Peggy seemed fascinated by the whole game and Emma was going to brag about that for at least the first month of the season.

“I don’t think that’s how the human body works,” Emma argued.

“Ah, that may be true. Don’t your feet hurt though?” “I haven’t really thought about that, honestly.” David nodded. “Yeah, that’s almost too obvious.” “Then you should not be asking questions you already know the answer to and let me continue pacing out a hole in this ugly carpet.” “It’s a coping device,” Mary Margaret reasoned. She hadn’t sat down since five minutes into the first, screaming a string of insults that definitely got more pointed with each season and Emma only paused pacing long enough in the second to record a snippet and sent to Ruby.

Her answering ha had lasted for several scrolls of text message.

Anna had her phone out as well - panning around the room until Liam inevitably started yelling about focusing on the ice and Regina kept pointing out that they could watch it on TV. “It’s delayed for us though,” Liam sighed.

“He’s really the most impatient person in the world,” Elsa added. “But seriously, Anna, on the ice and only the ice.” Anna groaned. “You guys are boring. I’m trying to give you the insider’s view.” “They don’t really need that,” Emma said. She swung her leg out when she rounded another corner, keeping her eyes trained on her feet so she wouldn’t lose her balance.

“Boring. Boring. Boring.” “They’ve got to score again, eventually, right?” Mary Margaret asked. Henry shook his head. “The Flyers are big on--” “--Shot blocking,” Matt yelled, and every single head in the entire team suite snapped towards him. His ears didn’t turn red, exactly, but he looked a little stunned and a little embarrassed and Emma had to stop pacing when he ran back towards her.

He wrapped both his arms around her waist, burying his head into her t-shirt and both Vankald sisters aw’ed in tandem. “They practiced that when they were kids,” Liam said, but he sounded a little proud too.

“How’d you know that, Mattie?” Emma asked. She pulled him with her when she moved closer to the windows, standing next to Mary Margaret in spots that she was sure, eventually, would just have their footprints embedded in the carpet.

That carpet was so ugly.

“Dad and me watched the game from last year. Vestrov...Vestrovs…” “Vestrovsky,” Roland finished. He dropped onto the exceptionally ugly carpet on Emma’s other side, the numbers on his cheeks a little streaky now, but Matt moved onto his legs as soon as he held his arms out. “He’s right too,” he added. “Gets in lanes and uses his legs and it’s ridiculous what he does to stop shots. The Flyers goalie should be buying him gifts after every game.” “A rather pointed opinion of the Flyers goalie.” “Not a bad team, might even threaten for a Wild Card this year, but their goalie is atrocious. I’d hate to play on a team like that.” “I think you’ve got some time.” “Never too early to scout. Ask Hook.” “I don’t need to be proved wrong on two different counts,” Emma said, brushing curls away from his eyes and earning a disgruntled noise for her efforts. Liam cursed. Loudly. In Norwegian.

And so did Anna.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she mumbled, picking her phone up from where it had fallen on the floor and Emma was glad she’d been distracted.

It wasn’t a bad hit – not by any means. It was a normal hit and a normal moment because this was professional hockey, but the replay looked worse every time they showed it on that incredibly ostentatious scoreboard and Robin was actively trying to hold Will back from slamming his fist into that guy’s face.

Killian shook his head, leaning against the Rangers bench and Emma knew, reasonably, his eyes didn’t actually flicker towards the team suite, but she wanted them too and it was almost comforting to imagine.

She glanced at Matt, not sure what she was expecting to find, but it absolutely was not a kid pounding the glass in front of him shouting two minutes like he was also the head referee. He had a very busy schedule that night – ref, coach, number one fan.

It was impressive.

“Hook better screen that goalie,” Roland mumbled, doing his best to keep Matt from jumping on his outstretched angle. “Or all that talk last season is going to be embarrassing.”

Emma laughed, a shaky, undeniably nervous sound because standing in front of the net wasn’t dangerous , but it was the first time in a long time and she needed to come up with another word for fine.

“C’mere, babe,” she said, pulling Peggy away from David and muttering a string of nonsense in her daughter’s ear that was as much for her developmental growth as it was for Emma’s third period sanity. “You think we’re going to score? You think Dad’s going to score? We going to let that guy block all our shot attempts?” “Vestrovsky,” Henry repeated.

“Yeah, I really don’t care.” He grinned, nose scrunched and hand back in his hair and neither of them mentioned how nervous they both obviously were. Regina had taken up Emma’s pacing.

It took, exactly, forty-seven seconds, two rather obnoxious whistles and one faceoff win in the zone.

She didn’t blink. Didn’t know if she was breathing, really. But her arms didn’t threaten to strangle her own kid, so anything else felt like a victory.

Which is what they got. 

Robin won the faceoff, pushing the puck back towards Will who was still planting himself on the edge of the circle like he believed he was the offensive threat he absolutely was, and there was a collective gasp from all of them, including the two in Colorado, as soon as he pulled his stick back.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” Emma mumbled. She clearly was not above begging the universe.

But the universe was, sometimes, a bit of a dick and consistently liked to surprise her and Vestrovsky couldn't block Will’s shot without threatening to break his own leg. And Killian was very good at screening the goalie.

He kept his stick on the ice, battling for position against two Philadelphia jerseys and Emma wasn’t sure he’d actually tipped the puck into the net until both Matt and Roland yelled “Dad” and “Hook” at the same time.

Figured.

Liam cursed again. In English.

Emma got some fairly good air on her jump, Peggy yelling and David screaming and Mary Margaret kept sniffling, a far cry from the vaguely ruthless cheers she’d been dishing out at puck drop.

“Goal, goal, goal, goal, goal,” Peggy chanted, an impressive show of context clues and they were obviously the best parents in the history of several different universes.

Emma was absolutely crying too.

All things considered, she thought that was fair, the cheering in the suite nothing compared to the cheering in the stands and the celebration on the ice, a rush of blue jerseys and discarded sticks and someone had lost one of their gloves.

It was probably Will.

But none of it mattered when Killian celebrated the same way he celebrated every single goal, arms wide and mouth wider and Emma was sure she could hear it in her soul or something equally absurd. She was going to cry for the first week of the season, at least.

Totally reasonable.

The entire goddamn Garden sang the goal song even after the next faceoff, chanting and shouting and they were going to buy frames for all the inevitable headlines the next morning.

“We did it,” Emma mumbled, pressing the words to Peggy’s shoulders and kissing across her face as Matt recounted the goal until the final buzzer went off.

She did, still, have a job to do and Merida was going to wind up being President by the end of it all, but Emma made it through the to-do-list and only kind of ran to the locker room, slightly frustrated by how out of breath she was at the end of it.

Emma spun on the spot, looking for someone or an assistant coach or possibly Kristoff so she could apologize for what they’d done to the locker room. There wasn’t anyone. At least not at first and it was a testament to the sound of her own pulse hammering in her ears that she didn’t hear his footsteps. “Swan?”

Emma turned again, nearly dislocating both her ankles in the process, and it was good neither of them were holding anything.

She basically launched herself at him.

Killian didn’t stumble backwards, didn’t even flinch or grunt or do anything except wrap his arms around her and pull her flush against his chest and neither one of them did anything except hold onto the other.

A little desperately.

They stood there for days or weeks or the rest of the goddamn season, gripping t-shirts and ignoring the water dripping from the ends of Killian’s hair because he’d totally just gotten out of the shower and probably had media to deal with, but he also had some kind of absurd sixth-sense when it came to Emma and she was going to be selfish for, like, at least five minutes.

Possibly six.

Maybe a round ten.

She really wanted to sneak out of the Garden.

Emma squeezed her arms tighter, fisting the back of his shirt while his fingers traced light patterns over her spine and the name plastered across her. She closed her eyes, trying to force the moment into every single corner of her memory and she refused to ever be held accountable for the absolute romantic drivel that seemed to just fall out of her as soon as she felt his lips brush over her temple.

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” she muttered, pushing up on her toes like being closer to his actual face would make the words mean more. Or like she wanted to make sure she saw his inevitable smile as soon as he processed the words.

Either or, really.

All of it was moot, though, as soon as he bent his knees and her feet weren’t touching the floor anymore, arms slung over his shoulders and fingers carding through his hair and not kissing felt decidedly absurd. She felt his smile anyway.

They’d done this more times than she could count – hallways and those dark corners and their own goddamn bedroom and several dozen NHL arenas – but Emma was sure something flipped in that moment or turned back on and she was running out of energy puns rather quickly.

That was for the best.

Killian tilted his head slightly, tongue moving over her lower lip and fingers drifting dangerously under her shirt. Her toes dragged over the ground, but he didn’t let her back down and certainly didn’t let her fall, another cliché that felt a bit more like a guarantee.

“I love you too,” he whispered, dragging his lips back towards her neck and leaving open-mouthed kisses just behind her ear. “Wasn’t a breakaway though.” “I could not possibly care about that less.” “That’s rather sweeping, love.” “Yeah, I’m good with that. A fan of sweeping and series and it’s only the start of the season.” “This is getting pointed.” “And heavy-handed,” Emma agreed, appreciating whatever he did with his face when she laughed against him. “Plus another rather impressive display of upper-body strengths.” “She’s got to get the genetics from somewhere, right?” “Is that you suggesting I don’t have upper-body strength?” Killian shook his head, another quick kiss that evolved into a much longer kiss and they needed to move out of the middle of the hallway. If only so Emma could remember what gravity felt like. She seemed to have lost it somewhere in the middle of the winning and the screaming kids and the making out.

Mostly the making out.

“I’ve got all the belief in your upper-body strength, Swan,” Killian promised. “A little less in mine after seventeen minutes of ice time, but--” “--Why do you have that memorized?” “Don’t you?” “Obviously,” she said, swatting at his shoulder and rolling her eyes when he caught her around the wrist. “But I had to look at box scores for the site and the season tickets and...what?”

He didn’t blink, clearly breathing through his mouth when the one hand that was still, somehow, under her shirt stilled. Emma gritted her teeth.

And resolutely refused to look at him.

Her balance wasn’t perfect when Killian let her fall back to the ground, twisting against him in a way that, if he weren’t so busy staring at her left wrist, probably would have been way more distracting.

“Surprise,” Emma mumbled, waving her free hand through the air. Killian didn’t let go of her other one.

“Wasn’t that my locker? And...everyone else’s locker?” “That second part was a spur of the moment decision, really. Mostly because Rol and Herny’s sign was a spur of the moment decision and we figured it was the start of a new season and everyone else needed some balloons too.” “How’d you get the balloons into the Garden?” “There was cookie bribery involved.” “Ah, naturally.” Emma nodded, chewing on her lip when he didn’t say anything else and he was going to make her tell him. Stubborn ass. “There was a reason I didn’t have a sign too,” she started. “Although I do think Matt and Pegs would have been very angry if I stepped on their moment.” “Literally in some sign cases,” Killian grinned. He glanced up at her, staring from underneath his eyelashes and, honestly, the universe could suck it. That was absurd.

There was still a bandage on her wrist.

Emma might have been the worst at surprises. That was a disappointing discovery to make in the hallway.

“I think Peg’s going to start running marathons soon.” Killian chuckled, eyes flashing back to her wrist and his thumb had started moving at some point – right where Emma’s laces should have been. “She and I can start offseason training in Riverside Park.” “You say that like you’re not already plotting running routes right now in your head.”

He nodded, a smirk that was, at least partially, the reason for this whole preposterous, ridiculously romantic moment. “Where are your laces, Swan?” “You know that guy on Astor Place remembered me? From the first Cup and matching sets. He asked if I brought any champagne with me.” “Did you?” “Not this time.” “Maybe eventually though.” “Definitely.” “That confidence,” Killian muttered, a note of something that may have been all the reason behind the moment and Emma didn’t think before she pulled back the the edge of the bandage on her skin.

He didn’t say anything immediately, but she could see the muscles in his throat move when he swallowed and his shoulders dropped a bit when he exhaled, like he was getting rid of the weight of several different worlds.

It wasn’t really very big – partially because she was an enormous wimp and partially because she didn’t have time for anything more, but the numbers would be clear even if someone wasn’t looking for them. And even when she, eventually, put her laces back on her wrist.

“Something, something, I really like being able to make you kind of lose your head when I wear your number,” Emma said, thankful to the universe she’d been so intent on cursing earlier that her voice didn’t shake over the words.

Killian’s head snapped up, air rushing out of him and eyes frustratingly blue and there were, exactly, three droplets of water on his right temple. He didn’t try to brush them away. He just kept staring at Emma and she knew she was blushing, but she didn’t blink either, might have even tried to smile and it was all for naught when his lips crashed against hers.

His mumbled I love you felt like it moved into her as soon as he kissed her and it was a ludicrous thought, but Emma had gotten his goddamn number tattooed on her wrist, so she figured it was a reasonable thought in the moment.

And, really, this making out was better than the last one.

She pressed back on her toes, hands with minds of their own and wants of their own and Killian did groan when her hips canted up. They stumbled backwards or forwards and direction didn't matter when Emma’s shoulders collided with the nearest wall, laughing and happy and so incredibly confident she was certain she was made of it.

“It totally worked,” Killian said, another breathless promise in between kisses. There were a questionable number of kisses, and neither one of them heard the coughs or the scoffs or the camera shutters.

They weren’t really trying to hide, anyway.

They’d always been painfully bad at that.

They did, however, notice the two kids yelling their name and running into their bodies and yanking on clothing, neither one of them all that impressed with their parents’ propensity to making out in hallways.

“Goal,” Peggy shouted again, Killian’s eyes getting even wider and Emma shrugged. “I think we’re harping a little, but it’s impressive diction.” “Seriously,” he muttered, bending down to haul her against his side. “That was really good, Pegs. We’ll work on power play next, ok?” Emma scoffed, letting her head fall forward and he’d totally blown off media for this. “That seems like kind of a reach, don’t you think?” “Nah, parents of the year or decade or whatever.” “Decade, for sure.”

“That’s awfully presumptuous, isn’t it?” Robin asked, walking down the hallway with an arm around Roland’s shoulders and Henry a few steps behind. “You going to go back to media, Cap or you just going to suffer Lucas’ wrath later?” “I’ve got no plans to see Lucas, at all later, so that’s totally fine with me.” “Eh,” Emma objected. Matt was trying to talk about the goal again, clearly unimpressed by his sister’s speech patterns if it meant he wasn’t the sole focus of everyone’s attention. “There was apparently kind of a plan.” “And way more balloons uptown,” Will added. They were all, apparently, blowing off media.

“Do we know some kind of balloon supplier?” Killian asked.

“See, you make fun, but I’m fairly positive Gina does and probably glared at them until they gave her some kind of discount rate. Also Anna and Ariel spent a very long time decorating the restaurant today, the least you could do is not be a complete jerk about it.” “Complete jerk, huh?” “There are children present, Cap. Who just witnessed you and Em doing whatever it was you were doing.” “Making out,” Emma said, shrugging again when Will audibly gagged. “Go find your girlfriend, Scarlet.” “That’s what I was trying to do. Because I answered media questions. Because I am the most responsible athlete on this team and I would like the record to show that Cap’s very impressive, emotional goal would not have been possible without me.” “And you wouldn't have taken it if Cap didn’t tell you to get off the blue line last season,” Robin said.

“It was a really good goal,” Matt yelled, bobbing on the balls of his feet again and Emma took Peggy before he could jump at both her and Killian.

“That was only because I got a fantastic scouting report,” Killian grinned. He ignored the several pointed objections around him when he hauled Matt over his shoulder, winking at Emma. “We’ll watch it again later, ok?” “Can’t we do it tonight?”

“Somehow I doubt you’ll be awake that long.” “No!” “We’ll see, kid.” “Can we bet on it?” Will almost fell over. Henry and Roland both appeared to be choking on air.

“Why don’t we wait until after we eat for any money to exchange hands, ok, Mattie?” Emma asked, getting a grumbled agreement that was difficult to understand when spoken into Killian’s shoulder.

“You guys are a picture of responsibility,” Will laughed. “Seriously, Scarlet. Your girlfriend. Or a cab.” “That’s rude, Em. You wound me.” She rolled her eyes, but she was way too happy to actually be annoyed and Matt was talking a mile a minute again. “What did you do?” Emma asked.

Killian winked again. “We’re going to go answer some questions, Swan. That’s all. Five minutes, tops and then we’re spending less than an hour in this restaurant. Deal?” “Deal.” They spent three hours in the restaurant, but only because they kept laughing and posing for pictures and there were FaceTime phone calls to make and goals to reenact and Matt split an entire plate of onion rings with Emma before he, Roland and Henry fell asleep in one booth.

Anna took a picture of it.

And it was probably somewhere close to one in the morning when Emma felt her own eyelids fluttering, head lolling against Killian’s shoulder. Peggy had fallen asleep in the car uptown.

“You ready to go, love?” he asked softly, fingers brushing over the curve of her arm and back towards the side of her wrist.

“Yeah,” Emma whispered. “Let’s go home.”

[zenosanalytic]

4/13/19 HSE 4

Events Conspired and so my “short break” turned out to be all night. Oops.

Anyway back to it.

I’m doing a bit of rereading of the first part of the RoxyCali bit to contextualize, and I love the use of “beautifully renovated” as a description of Earth C. It’s great characterization in at least two ways: 1)it’s a very suburban and middle class way to think about a planet reclaimed from apocalypse, and so appropriate for John who’s a very suburban and middle class character and 2)it’s such an unnatural and stock turn of phrase(the sort of thing you’d hear on HGTV) that it basically CANNOT fail to carry a hint of sarcasm in it, which both expresses John’s underlying(and always plausibly deniable) bitchiness/snarkery, and is another very bourgeois response, as basically nobody who grew up in the burbs doesnt have some vein of disdain within them for the perfect cookie-cutter sameiness of the place(so samie you can sensibly talk of all suburbs as the same “place”); that sense that it’s all fake and affectation. And that hint calls back to John’s thoughts at the start of this section about the perfect weather and the overt, unhypocritical identicality of the Carapace Kingdom; there’s something about Earth C which strikes him as a bit fake, even if he wouldn’t think of it in quite such explicit terms.

how would it taint the results? Because it wouldnt be believable or satisfying writing for the audience. I continue to love how meta this epilogue is. Also: it’s meta-awareness like this which suggests to me that Calliope is aware of the narrative, somehow. Probably a Muse thing.

I Love It u_u u_u

But seriously: this is a wonderful example of how “writing rules” are more guidelines for beginners than unbending laws. Here you have serial ands, 2nd person narrative, and a profundity of adjectives. All this works because it serves clear purposes within the writing: it’s the Homestuck style, of course(and so a callback of sorts), but also John’s delaying his choice. All of this drags out the section, delaying it(and your reading of it) just as John is delaying. The style of writing makes you experience what John’s doing and experiencing. And of course it’s also characterization because it’s emphasizing John’s internal process, and that he is delaying his decision.

This is what we call “symbolism” and “metaphor”, and  “foreshadowing”, Dear Readers u_u John’s less than robust diet is his static, unchallenging lifestyle. Meat is “Life”, Relevance, and getting back into canon, all of which is “nutritious” but also difficult, hard to take, bloody, and filled with “juicy”, but stupid, drama. Or at least, that’s what a life of interacting with literary convention would suggest given the word-choice here. It may be that this is just a picnic and none of this carries a deeper meaning than the one it has explicitly declared(that there needs to be more canonical HS content to keep interest in it going), but the authors chose to word this choice in such a way as to invite metaphorical readings, knowing the tendency in the fandom towards critical analysis. Just a really great bit.

Also: “...carnivorous comestibles are concerned” I do so very much Love consonance u_u u_u u_u

(shame it wasn’t S’s; obvsl my stature in this fandom continues to be insignificant >:T)

Re: that last bit:

XD XD XD

OK, that seems to be it for now, unfortunately. Overall, so far, I am really loving the writing and how well it does at simultaneously

moving forward the plot

explicating the meta-plot(that this is new HS content, and that THAT is also part of the plot, and also the character-plots involved with the epilogue)

inspiring/anticipating/engaging with fan-interaction through its direct meta-awareness of its audience’s predilections and interests(I initially had this worded differently, but then point two occurred to me, and by the time I wrote it I’d forgotten what I was going to say, but I THINK this gets at what I was originally thinking |:T)

Anyway; It’s great to finally see @cephiedvariable‘s writing in HS again, and the quality’s even made me a bit more excited&interested in Her Book, which is coming out this September.