#she was erasing the queen to forget the queen
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Susan loved Narnia so much that she chose to forget it, because that hurt less.
#she was erasing the queen to forget the queen#the lipstick and nylons were distractions#the problem of susan#chronicles of narnia#narnia#cs lewis#the magicians nephew#the lion the witch and the wardrobe#lww#the horse and his boy#prince caspian#voyage of the dawn treader#silver chair#the last battle#peter pevensie#high king peter#king peter the magnificent#susan pevensie#queen susan the gentle#edmund pevensie#king edmund the just#lucy pevensie#queen lucy the valiant
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"Angry robin" "violent robin" "misbehaving robin" shut up and accept my alternative; spunky Robin. Determined and head strong, can out-stubborn the Batman, has a strong moral-backbone and does what he thinks is right regardless of what anybody else says, Robin. Jason who was sassy and quippy and made crude jokes with a smile on his face. Jason who hid in Bruce's cape and whispered gossip to him. Jason who, if Bruce refused him something, could keep bothering endlessly until Bruce caved. And also dramatic Jason. If Bruce tells him no, it becomes a whole theatrical show; a monologue, a narration, embellishments, and falling onto the floor in his grief upon the fact his cruel father has denied him once again.
(Jason who has suffered through abuse and homelessness and poverty and starvation, who is the Fight out of Fight or Flight, who's built up defenses and walls and when pushed and triggered responds with the thing that's always protected him; anger. He's sweet and kind and funny, and when he sees a pimp hitting a prostitute he gets furious and responds with violence.)
#my dc posting#dc#jason todd#jaybin#im having so many thoughts abt jaybin and he is so important to me#in one fic he went on a hunger strike bc alfred didnt eat w them and did it for so long they had to compromise#i love a jaybin 100% willing to menace and bother batman until the man folds. as is his right#the thing abt jason's backstory is that it shows him unwilling to suffer for a home#ma gunn's is bad; he gets beat up and she tries to get him to help rob a place. so he leaves! and rats the whole thing out to batman#and shows up himself cus he didnt think he had been believed#and lets not forget the fact he hit batman with a tire iron and called him a 'big boob'!#the boy's got moxie!! let jaybin be crass and angry and sassy and flawed and traumatized without reducing him to 2d caricature of a 'troubl#d kid'#i dont like a jason who did nothing but use excessive violence and disobey orders and be cocky and all that shit#i like a jason who was. oh yknow. a complex person!! a child/teen who has been fucking abused!!!#you shouldnt erase the fact that jason's reaction/response to stressful situations and triggers IS anger#it's not an indication that he was always gonna become a criminal/red hood or whatever. get outta here w that shit#but like. let us not go so far in the other direction we forget to have him react and be affected by the abuse he's suffered#anyway. if anyone should be a drama-queen it should be jaybin. once he becomes truly comfortable w bruce he should dial it up to 11#a lot of red hood's appeal (to me&many others) is that he is an 'imperfect' victim. meaning he is angry and flawed and doesnt suffer quietl#but is loud and obvious abt it#so when i see jaybin written as the opposite its like. man whats that about#anyway. jaybin is good and cares and wants to help and protect people. and by god if i ever see anybody writing#him having arguments with bruce about the no kill rule WHILE robin again im gonna throw hands istg-#my tags are like a hidden treasure box. most of what i say is in here lmao
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"[Elizabeth Woodville] was the only member of [Crown Prince Edward of Westminster's] original 1471 council not already on the king’s council and her name headed the list of those appointed as administrators in Wales during Edward’s minority. [She remained on the council after it was expanded in 1473 and granted significant new governing and judicial powers]."
"In 1478 Prince Richard [of Shrewsbury] married the Mowbray heiress. Like his elder brother he had a chancellor, seal, household and council to manage his estates. His council, like that of Prince Edward, comprised the queen [Elizabeth Woodville] and a group of magnates and bishops, few of whom were Woodville supporters [...] It was Elizabeth who mattered, for Richard resided with her and Rivers treated his affairs as their own."
-J.L. Laynesmith, The Last Medieval Queens: English Queenship 1445-1503 / Michael Hicks, Richard III and his Rivals: Magnates and their Motives in the Wars of the Roses
#good👏🏻 for 👏🏻 her#historicwomendaily#elizabeth woodville#15th century#english history#princes in the tower#my post#Reminder that these sort of additional official positions in governance were very unusual (unprecedented) for late medieval English queens#Elizabeth's formal appointment in royal councils (+ authority over her sons) should not be ignored or downplayed in the slightest bit#It should instead be considered one of the most defining aspects of her queenship that spanned over a decade and lasted right till the end#& should also be highlighted as one of the most vital topics of discussion when it comes to broader queenly power in late medieval England#I think it also says a lot about Elizabeth's relationship to Edward IV and the regard he seems to have had for her capabilities#'The only member of the original 1471 council not already on the king’s council' that speaks VOLUMES. Once again: good for her.#It's also really frustrating how some historians (Katherine J. Lewis; AJ Pollard; Laynesmith etc) have incredibly lopsided perspectives on#Elizabeth that fundamentally *do not work* when you remember these actual facts and what they reveal about her power and influence#I'm also still baffled at Lynda Pidgeon's claim that 'Elizabeth's influence with Edward IV was less than with family members who were#part of the king's council or that of her son Edward prince of Wales'. Like???????#First of all - we *already know* that Elizabeth had the most personal influence with Edward and was the one he trusted the most#The case in 1480 & his own will in 1475 (where he referred to her as the one 'in whom we most singularly place our trust') make both clear#Second of all - ELIZABETH WAS LITERALLY ON HER SONS' COUNCILS HERSELF. HER NAME HEADED THE GODDAMN LIST. How have you missed this????????#It's actually bizarre because it completely ignores the fact that 1) Late medieval queens *weren't* generally given positions like this?#If we accept Pidgeon's (false) interpretation we have to claim that NONE of them were influential at all#Which I'm pretty sure nobody agrees with? So why have I seen people agreeing with Pidgeon's FALSE take on Elizabeth based on that lmfao?#2) Elizabeth WAS in fact given such positions. She genuinely was given unusual authority and was an Exception™ rather than the rule#Forget emphasizing her atypical role - Pidgeon has outright erased it in an effort to diminish her#She does the same thing when talking about Elizabeth's role after Edward IV's death and it's equally ridiculous and incorrect#There's stupidity and then there's willful misreading & rewriting of history according to your own imagination. This fits the latter
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Last night I was so caught up in thinking about my modern unhinged faves like Tannis and Reagan that I forgot my decade-old roots fighting people to the death over a woman who shot a lady point blank in the face because the lady insulted her 💕
#was literally thinking ‘god my faves these days are so off the shits. what happened to me’#COMPLETELY forgetting my herstory with Lilly#original mental illness daddy issues antisocial queen#TWDG S4 Lilly was so bad that I retroactively erased her entire character from my brain#she’d kill any of my other faves without hesitation. and then probably eat them#she’s not allowed to interact with anybody else in the Baph Cinematic Mind Palace unless she’s handcuffed and has trained snipers on her
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Mean Left Hook - Charles Leclerc x Ferrari! Reader
Summary: Silly season brings forward more children for Charles and YN. And how best to welcome into the world of F1 than to crochet them a gift.
2024 silly season. Fluff. Humour
Pinterest pics
Requested: Yes by @illyrianprincess
F1 Masterlist
I have so many fics to finish off but i saw this request and it possessed me lol
This can be read as a standalone but for more fluff, crochet and terrible puns, read Needle Little Love
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haasf1team just posted
liked by its_ynln, charles_leclerc and others
haasf1team ollie’s on the grid for ‘25
5,027 comments
its_ynln amazing news! well done, ollie
→ olliebearman thanks, y/n/n
charles_leclerc can’t wait to have you on the grid next year, mate
→ olliebearman thank you. i hope to put all your tips to good use
→ user father and son reunited once more
→ user okay i didn’t know how badly i needed these two to be on the grid until right now
→ user yes! we know she’d take such good care of him
→ its_ynln @/charles_leclerc we’ve got another child
→ charles_leclerc well, you did agree to a big family
→ user they’ve talked about kids!!
oscarpiastri well done, ollie. looking forward to spending time with you on the grid and at family dinner
user poor ollie is going to find out just how slow that haas is
jackdoohan congratulations, mate
→ user @/alpinef1team jack announcement next?
→ its_ynln yes, please
→ jackdoohan being nice doesn’t erase the fact that i still don’t have a dinosaur
→ its_ynln 🖕🏻🖕🏻
its_ynln just posted
liked by olliebearman, pierregasly and others
its_ynln welcome to the grid, ollie BEARman. you must be BEARy excited to be joining the world of f1
3,316 comments
its_ynln i tried to make him haas style but turns out i didn’t have red, white or black
→ scuderiaferrari no red?! where’s your team pride? where’s your forza ferrari sempre
→ user girly isn’t gonna get renewed after this scandal
olliebearman thank you, yn! now my most prized possession. Fluff Von Haas will be attending every race weekend
→ user fluff von haas 😍
user charles and yn really are his parents lol
arthur_leclerc good luck @/olliebearman, you’re going to need it dealing with her puns
→ its_ynln charles doesn’t do the dad jokes so i have to
→ oscarpiastri she’s the dad who stepped up
→ charles_leclerc whoa, stop trying to take my role in this family
user look at how sweet she is @/scuderiaferrari. now renew her contract
user you can’t break up the family @/scuderiaferrari. announce her seat for next year
jackdoohan okay, i see how it is. i’ve got to get an f1 seat to get a dinosaur
→ user haha poor jack still doesn’t have his dinosaur
→ user i bet it’s because he said he couldn't wait to get rid of her before she was announced for ferrari last year
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scuderiaferrari just posted
liked by charles_leclerc, maxverstappen1 and others
scuderiaferrari signed, sealed and delivered. ferrari are pleased to announce @/its_ynln has renewed her contract. we look forward to racing with you for seasons to come
5,547 comments
user finally!
user seasons?! queen got that multi-year contract
→ user she’s not going ANYWHERE
charles_leclerc oh mon dieu, i’m going to have to deal with her for many years
→ its_ynln don’t act like you didn’t know before me
→ oscarpiastri oh fuck, i’m going to have to deal with her for many years
→ arthur_leclerc @/oscarpiastri try having her be part of your family
→ user i think arthur is forgetting that oscar is their son
→ user not the leclercs acting like she won't be with them forever. we've seen the way charles looks at her, he ain't ever letting her go liked by charles_leclerc
charles_leclerc i couldn't imagine anyone else being my teammate ❤️
→ pierregasly it’s because no one else can “cheer you up” after they beat you
→ its_ynln well, they could but i can’t imagine i’ll forgive him for cheating on me with one of you
user omg charles and yn racing side by side for multi years
→ user il predestinato and la principessa
olliebearman yay! can’t wait to share the track with you next year
→ its_ynln me too! it was so hard not to comment that when haas announced you
→ user excuse me, you’ve known for a month and you let us suffer!
arthur_leclerc like they would ever pick anybody else for that seat
→ its_ynln is this you being nice to me?
→ arthur_leclerc no. it’s just the forza ferrari running through me
francisca.cgomes woo! that’s my girl. i’d have built you a team myself if they hadn’t taken you back
→ pierregasly you’ve never offered to build me a team
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alpinef1team just posted
liked by its_ynln, pierregasly and others
alpinef1team dreams doo come true jack doohan will complete our line-up for 2025
3,310 comments
its_ynln and you thought you were rid of me!
→ its_ynln although it’s on you this time because you’ve followed me to f1
user i swear yn was the first like
→ user and comment
→ its_ynln shh, i’m secretly really proud and happy, but don't tell him that
→ user i love how she went from “i’m not babysitting” to getting charles to adopt more grid kids
pierregasly félicitations, jack. welcome to the team
oscarpiastri aussie aussie aussie
→ jackdoohan oi oi oi
→ danielricciardo oi oi oi
→ user they’ve been summoned
user yn’s been liking these rookie announcement posts so fast
→ user gotta ensure she’s up-to-date on her grid kids
user omg guys do you think jack will finally get his dinosaur now
→ its_ynln no
→ jackdoohan can you tell i’m the least favourite child
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charles_leclerc just posted
liked by lilymhe, scuderiaferrari and others
charles_insta weekend away with mon amour, without the kids (and the crochet needles)
2,211 comments
arthur_leclerc it sickens me how much you love each other
→ charles_leclerc you were the one begging me to tell her how i feel
→ its_ynln and you were the one constantly telling me how attractive he was, and how funny, and how kind, and blah blah
oscarpiastri come back, the other two scare me
→ olliebearman oi
→ jackdoohan i resent that statement
→ user when did they adopt jack?
user love how the only relationship content we get is from charles
carlossainz55 wow, did she let you drive?
→ its_ynln yes, and i tell you, death himself was riding in the back seat
→ charles_leclerc oi!
→ user we've all seen the hairpin video charles
user always forget how stunning yn is until charles posts her liked by charles_leclerc
francisca.cgomes the prettiest girl
→ charles_leclerc yes, yes she is
→ its_ynln love you lots
→ user i love how we can’t tell whether she’s talking to kika or charles
→ pierregasly definitely kiks
its_ynln i could spend forever with you and never get bored
→ charles_leclerc tu es tout mon cœur
→ user the perfect couple on and off the track
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jackdoohan just posted
liked by its_ynln, alpinef1team and others
jackdoohan fucking finally i said getting a seat would be when i got a dinosaur, didn't i
1,647 comments
it’s_ynln will you leave me alone now? i made you three!
→ jackdoohan i mean, i saw a really cool crochet koala the other day ;)
→ its_ynln you know, i have a mean left hook 🪡
→ oscarpiastri i thought getting to f1 meant i was free from your bickering but you’ve followed me
→ scuderiaferrari @/its_ynln you were told last year that you’re not allowed to publicly threaten drivers. do we have to make you sit through the powerpoint presentation again?
user at least you didn’t have to sleep with her
→ jackdoohan i thought i deleted that comment
→ charles_leclerc ha, like he could do a better job than me
its_ynln seriously though, congrats jack. It’ll be totally ROARsome to have you on the grid next year
→ jackdoohan thanks mum
→ charles_leclerc mum? is there something you’re not telling me?
→ jackdoohan you’re my dad, boogie woogie woogie
→ user f1 rookies, getting adopted by the ferrari power couple since 2023
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Requests open! Just delayed lol
Tag list
@peachiicherries @rosecentury @c-losur3 @heavy-vettel @evie-119
#formula 1#f1#formula 1 smau#f1 smau#formula 1 social media au#f1 social media au#social media au imagine#formula 1 imagine#formula 1 headcanon#formula 1 drabble#formula 1 one shot#formula 1 fluff#formula 1 x reader#f1 imagine#f1 headcanon#f1 drabble#f1 one shot#f1 fluff#f1 x reader#charles leclerc#charles leclerc imagine#charles leclerc drabble#charles leclerc headcanon#charles leclerc one shot#charles leclerc fluff#charles leclerc smau#charles leclerc x reader
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proclivity - part three - true blue
✯ pairing:
ex!bff!rafe cameron x diabetic!kook!fem!reader
✯ summary:
at one point in time rafe was your best friend. can summer romance erase all the damage he's done?
✯ [4.1k] warnings:
mature themes, mentions of anxiety, nostalgia, heartbreak, diabetes lingo, injury, ghosting, fluff and fear, domestic violence (not rafe), mean!ex!jj etc.
✯ a/n:
nothing!! please don't engage if you have a hard time with any of these topics <3 this was origianlly posted on my old blog @/illicitfixations, @/lovelornanonymity and i have rewritten + reshared it here :) trying out a new format with this post, hope you like it!
You didn’t want to – really you didn’t. The idea of you and Rafe being alone at a spot – your spot – a place, the place, that you hadn’t shared in close to two years was suffocating to say the least. You have continuously pressed replay on all the world’s worst scenarios; all the things that could go horribly wrong, that would surely break your heart into a million pieces all over again. Your feet feel clucky as they trudge through the sand and like the water that meets the land on the other side, you feel rushed into you; like the waves of a tsunami are crashing against the wall you’ve placed around your heart, the barriers are so close to breaking and they do as soon as you see him. He’s sitting, just past a sand dune, his shirt has been discarded and his hair is wet.
“Hey, hot shot – you've been swimming without me?”
You ask with a forced cheek. He only responds with his signature smirk. It was quiet, awkward for a moment. You couldn’t help but feel like you were being punked as you sat down beside him, his feet digging holes in the sand. You couldn’t remember the last time the notion of him being this close had crossed your mind or even seemed within reach. Which probed your next question to the boy sitting next to you.
“Rafe.”
“Yeah?”
He questioned, with a smile on his face.
“Can you tell me now?”
You asked anxiously, ready for the blow of what you knew was coming – he was going to tell you why he left and you were sure that it was because of you after all. That’s the only thing that made sense in your brain. You watch him anxiously, intently as he shuffles, bringing his hand up to his hair to swoop his long locks out of his face and behind his ears.
“Yeah, I guess I owe you that don’t I, pretty girl?”
You’re on edge as you hear your old namesake leave his lips. He moves his hands behind him, leaning back into the sand. His skin feels hot against it, he notes. He swallows thickly and opens his mouth to speak.
“You know I was different after my mom died, right?”
You’re taken aback by his question – of course you know. She was the fucking sun and he’s just fucking like her; his cheeks and eyes – they belong to her. He belonged to her and it physically pains you to see him lose it after she’s passed away. You remember it all but mostly the way the bright left the blue hue of his eyes in the same moment the breath left her body. It makes your bones hurt to think about it still.
“Yeah – how could I forget? I was too, we all were.”
You said quickly.
“I kept it well hidden then – until I couldn’t anymore, until I didn’t have a choice.”
He’d replayed how he was going to tell you in his head over and over, over the last two years and finally came to the conclusion that he never ever would. But, now – at the prospect of having you within his reach again, he’s sure he’s going to spill his guts any moment.
“Can you spit it out, drama queen?”
You said with annoyance. So he blurted it out – rather frantically.
“I was on drugs, okay!”
He shouted. There was silence for a moment, you – too shell shocked to reply.
“Look – I know you’re perfect and you’ve never done anything wrong in your life, okay? I’m sorry.”
His eyes go dull as he braces himself for your judgemental glare.
“What?”
You ask in a too small voice. He doesn’t know what to say, so he stays quiet for a moment.
“I was on drugs. Nobody knew. Then, I owed Barry a massive amount of money and he knew I loved you more than anyone, alright? So I had to cut ties.”
He said very matter-of-factly.
“I’m sorry.”
You whispered and the ocean breeze made him suddenly cold, or maybe your tone of voice sent a chill up his spine. He’s truly not sure which.
“What do you have to be sorry about, y/n?”
He asked confusedly.
“Not being enough – not being good enough for you to come to me and tell me the truth, that you didn’t feel like you could come to me.”
The crack in your voice as you finished talking cut him straight to his core.
“Pretty girl, it’s not like that, okay? I was trying to protect you.”
Again, there was silence for a little while before either of you spoke. Rafe was trying to find the words; the ones to make you understand that you weren’t to blame.
“You’re not messing with me, right?”
You asked suddenly.
“What do you mean?”
He questioned, confusedly.
“I mean, you actually want to be near me again? You’re not messing with me?”
You asked innocently, feeling far too insecure for his answer to be anything other than yes.
“Of course, I want to be near you. I never wanted to stop being near you. It was just easier to cut everyone out than to explain my pain to someone else. I didn’t want to face all the disappointment either.”
You swallowed thickly and he noticed.
“I’m sorry. I always just assumed it was me, that I had done something.”
You whispered, almost inaudibly. But, he heard you, loud and clear.
“What? What could you possibly have done?”
He asked incredulously.
“I-I don’t know.”
You looked down at your feet, afraid of what he was going to say next, not wanting this intimacy with him to become foreign and far off again. He gently lifted your chin so your eyes could meet his.
“You never did anything wrong and this is not a game. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
He reassured you gently.
“I appreciate you reassuring me, but it’s going to take a lot more than words for me to trust you again and I think you know that.”
You replied, giving him the kindest smile you could muster up. It wasn’t your intention to be rude or mean to him, you just needed him to know where you stood.
“I know. I’m sorry that I broke your trust, but I hope you know I’m going to spend every day trying to make things right between us.”
“Okay, Cameron.”
You smiled nudging his shoulder. You made your way back to the parking lot with Rafe, not long after the conversation fizzled out.
“Well, I think I’m gonna head home. This was fun.”
You said with a sweet smile.
“Let me drive you, I know you walked, you always walk here.”
Rafe spoke, excitement in his voice.
“Okay.”
You agreed to his idea, smiling kindly his way, following him to the truck you had made your home ever since he had gotten his license. He was the first of the two of you to be able to drive and you had taken full advantage of that, waiting for him after football practices and in the early morning so he could cart you everywhere you needed to go. That was the first thing you missed when he had left you - the intimate car rides, where you experienced a version of Rafe that no one else got to. He opened the door for you, ushering you into the passenger seat and closing it once he made sure you were inside and comfortable. Making his way around to the driver’s side, he took his keys out of his pocket and climbed in, starting the truck. The engine roared, sending vibrations through your spine. It felt euphoric to be here, alone with him. Which was something you had dreamed about for so long. He pulled out of the beach parking lot, hands steady on the wheel, and began the trek to his neighborhood. Tannyhill had become your second home over the years, whether it was play dates with Rafe when you were six or trying on clothes with Sarah when you were fifteen, the Camerons were your family and you were thankful that your favorite one was seated next to you, a backward baseball cap sitting on his head and strong arms fixed on the wheel. You’d never get over the view.
“Y/N?”
He spoke your name with a question in mind.
“Yeah?”
You smiled in his direction.
“Would you wanna come to dinner tomorrow at Tannyhill?”
He asked gently.
“Sure, you know I never pass up Rose’s cooking! What’s the occasion?”
You questioned with a giggle, it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
“Just having you back, I guess.”
He smiled sheepishly.
“That’s sweet, Rafe.”
You spoke softly, the blush coating your freckled cheeks.
“Your parents are going to be there, so I figured you could just join them and we can have a big family dinner.”
“Why are my parents going to be there?”
You questioned, confused at his comment.
“Uh, Ward said he and your dad are working on some big business project or something.”
He replied, not really knowing the answer to what you were asking. He had no idea what the two men were up to.
“Ah, okay. Sure, Rafe, I’d love to come. How fancy do I have to dress, 1-10 on the fancy scale?”
The laugh that escaped his lungs was boisterous. You and Rafe had created the fancy scale after you got bitched out by your dad’s for not dressing appropriately for Midsummer’s in the eighth grade and ever since you always warned each other of the fancy level parties or dinners would be.
“A solid 5.”
He retorted a laugh ever-present on his lips. He forgot how much you made him laugh and how good it felt. He was brought out of his thoughts as he pulled into the driveway, spotting your car sitting right next to your dad’s.
“This has been fun! I missed you.”
You spoke softly and a smile danced across Rafe’s features.
“I missed you too, Y/N.”
Your eyes studied his face, looking for any inkling of deception. There were none, at least not that you could see. His eyes met yours, locking in on your face and not looking away. You swallowed thickly, unsure of what to do. Having his full attention was not something you were used to anymore.
“Thank you, Rafe. I seriously had a really good time tonight. We will do a movie night soon.”
“Of course, you’re still my favorite girl.”
He smiled kindly, ushering you over to your front door, lingering for moments longer than he should have, but not wanting to let you out of your sight.
-
Your phone rang early the next morning and as you groaned loudly, willing whoever was making your phone ring at 7 am to die, you read the contact. It was Topper. Your sluggish fingers slowly but surely slid across the screen to see what in God’s name your best friend wanted this early.
“H-hello?”
You grumbled.
“Wake your ass up!”
Topper yelled into the phone.
“T-top. I’m about three seconds from killing you. Why are you screaming into my phone so early?”
You questioned with annoyance.
“Get up and get dressed. We’re outside your house.”
He said plainly.
“Who’s we? And for what? It’s fucking 7 am?!”
“Don’t be grumpy, princess. We just want to spend the day with your sexy little self.”
Kelce interjected.
“Kelce, please shut up. I’m not awake enough for your bullshit attempts at flirting with me.”
You grumbled with a sneer behind that phone that he couldn’t see.
“Damn, you’re a spitfire today!”
Topper exclaimed, laughing.
“I was up late, okay? Jesus Christ.”
You couldn’t believe he was being so mean to you this early in the day.
“Okay, well get up, get dressed and pack insulin and some snacks. We’re going to be gone all day.”
He replied.
“Top, I can’t. I have this dinner with Rafe tonight, I can’t be gone all day.”
You were nervous to be saying anything to Topper about it at all, he knew your history with Rafe better than anyone. But, you knew you had to tell him the truth.
“Listen, idiot, Rafe is with us. So, come on. We’ll have you both back at Tannyhill in time for your dinner, so either pack a dress or wear one. You’re not missing this.”
You rolled your eyes, but your heart leapt at hearing you were going to spend the day with Rafe by your side whether it was in a group setting or not.
“Fine, I’m coming, Topper! Jesus.”
You said, feigning annoyance.
“Told you she’s not a morning person.”
Rafe interjected, giggling.
You grinned to yourself, realizing you were going to get to spend an entire day and night with Rafe. Scurrying out of bed, you searched through your closet in a hurry and settled on wearing a baby blue sundress with white polka dots that Rafe got you for your birthday the summer before you started high school. He always said that baby blue was your color. You slid it on quickly, pairing it with white platform sneakers and some dainty gold jewelry. You fluffed your hair and quickly packed your insulin after changing your insulin pump site and choosing a new area of your stomach to plunge the needle into. You ran through the kitchen, grabbing a few snacks and some juice to throw in your bag. Before walking out the door to Topper’s jeep, you stopped, took a breath, and smoothed your dress and hair before stepping out of the house and opening the back passenger door, hopping in, to be met with a very tired Rafe Cameron.
“Hey, sweet cheeks! Are you done being an asshole? I need my morning kiss.”
Kelce gave you a sly smirk and Rafe chuckled to himself, knowing pushing your buttons this early was not a good idea.
“Kelceo, Fuck off!”
You exclaimed with a growl, letting him know you weren’t in the mood.
“Fine, I’ll chill. Can you blame me? Look at that dress.”
He continued his train of putting his foot in his mouth.
“Kelce, cool it, man.”
Rafe spoke, his tone laced with warning. His protective nature made you smile.
“So, what’s so important that you drug me out of bed at 7 am on a Saturday?”
You questioned Topper.
“My mom set us up on a tour of UNC like months ago and I forgot to tell you until this morning.”
He replied nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t absolutely unhinged to let you know the morning of – in a way that only Topper knows how.
“Topper, I’m going to kill you.”
You muttered. You truly couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday, your three favorite boys, and a four-hour-long road trip. Truthfully, what could go wrong?
You were brought out of your thoughts by Rafe’s hand touching your elbow.
“Y/N?”
He was saying your name in question again.
“Sorry, I was zoned out. What’s up?”
You asked.
“Have you eaten yet?”
He asked in a gentle, hushed tone not wanting to draw everyone's attention to the two of you.
“No.”
You replied just as quietly.
“Go ahead and eat, okay? I read that being up on your feet all day can be hard on your body.”
You were shell shocked for just a second – he cared enough to read about what your life is like?
“You’ve been reading about diabetes?”
You questioned.
“Of course I have, you’re my favorite girl.”
He said it again.
“Thanks, Rafe. That’s so sweet.”
He smiled in response and watched as you took the banana out of your bag and began to eat it. When you finished, Topper was pulling into a gas station and asked you to come in with him to pick out some snacks while Rafe and Kelce pumped gas. As you made your way inside, rummaging through the aisles of various snacks, Topper began the inevitable best friend questioning that you knew was bound to happen eventually.
“So, you and Cameron, huh?”
He teased, knowing your history of being in love with him since you were six.
“I don’t think he feels that way. I’m just happy to have him back.”
You gave Topper a kind smile.
“So, what happened? I mean was there a conversation? Did he at least apologize?”
“Yeah, Top. He did.”
You said, matter-of-factly.
“Y/N, if you don’t tell me everything right now, I’m going to fucking combust.”
He said with urgency as he giggled.
“Okay, okay. Jesus! So, we met up at our spot the day after the party and he told me the truth. I have a feeling that it’s not all of it, but he seemed genuine and i’m assuming it’ll all come out in layers over time.”
“Why do you say that?”
He questioned with curiosity.
“Because it seemed like there was more to the story, more to tell. I got a very shrunken down version.”
You replied.
“Well, if you need me to beat his ass I will. You just let me know.”
He spoke with a devilish smirk that you knew meant he was both serious and joking.
“Thanks, Top.”
You laughed.
“Of course, you know I always have your back.”
He replied, snaking an arm around your shoulders.
“Anyways, so we talked about the drugs and why he felt like he couldn’t talk to me, and then he told me he was sorry and he wanted to be friends again. He drove me home and asked me to come to dinner tonight at Tannyhill. I said, yes, so here we are. Oh, and I told him about me being sick at the party-”
“You did what?!”
You were cut off with an incredulous question and raised eyebrows from Topper.
“Yeah, I told him a little about getting sick when we ended things and he didn’t even run like I thought he would.”
You said with a soft, sweet smile. Topper couldn’t remember the last time he had seen you smile like that.
“I told you he wouldn’t. He loves you.”
He replied easily, the truth of the words flew out of his mouth so effortlessly.
“Yeah, we’ll see. I’m not 100% on board yet. I don’t want to get my hopes up and then he runs away again.”
Topper shrugged, he couldn’t disagree with your reservations after the last couple years you’d had. You’d been through so much. All he wanted was to see you happy and he knew if the timing was right Rafe would treat you so well. He’d truly changed.
“That’s understandable and valid. Just don’t write him off yet. He might surprise you.”
He said with an easy smile.
“Thanks, Top.”
The two of you shared a hug after exiting the convenience store, with snacks in hand. As you made your way back to the jeep, Rafe admired your form, watching the wind raking through the skirt of your dress.
“Welcome back, pretty girl. Are you ready for our morning kiss, yet?”
Kelce asked again, sweetly this time. He was starting to get on your nerves.
“Kelceo, cool it.”
Topper stated, climbing into the driver's seat. Kelce was annoying everyone today, kidding or not.
You climbed into the backseat again, plopping down next to Rafe. His sparkling blue eyes took in your smiling form as you tore into a bag of popcorn.
“How are you feeling, sweet girl?”
Rafe questioned, studying your form with his piercing blue eyes. Sweet girl. You hadn’t heard that in a long time and it felt warm against your ears.
“I’m feeling pretty good right now. But, my sugar is low.”
You smiled in his direction.
“How do you know it’s low?”
He asked with genuine curiosity.
“I have this app on my phone, see.”
You turned your phone screen around, which displayed your glucose monitor’s readings. Your blood sugar was low, reading 76 mg/dL. Which was not low enough to warrant panic, but also not high enough to be considered normal.
“So, if 76 is low, what’s considered normal?”
Rafe probed in a genuinely curious fashion.
“Generally, the goal is to keep the daytime blood sugar levels before meals between 80 and 130 mg. But, after-meal numbers are a little bit higher but shouldn’t be more than 180 mg.”
You explained simply.
“Oh, okay. That makes sense. Will you tell me if you start to feel bad?”
He questioned. It made you smile that you seemed to be falling back into your rhythm so easily.
“I won’t have to. You’ll know. But, I promise I will.”
You gave him a reassuring smile and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. The touch, though short-lived, was electric and you wondered if he felt it too. The music topper was playing lulled you to sleep all of thirty minutes into the road trip and you were beginning to stir as soon as he pulled into the UNC visitor’s parking lot.
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”
Rafe ran his fingers through your hair, scratching it in a circular motion. Your favorite way to wake up. When you opened your eyes, you jolted up, embarrassed, realizing your head was on Rafe’s shoulder and drool was pooling at the corner of your mouth, dripping onto the gray t-shirt he was wearing. You turned your head towards him with apologetic eyes as you took in his face, the sweet disposition oozing out of him, as his eyes smiled at you before his mouth did.
“I’m sorry I drooled on you.”
You spoke sheepishly.
“Hey, it’s okay. Not the first time, definitely won’t be the last.”
He chuckled, giving you his classic Rafe Cameron smile before getting out of Topper’s jeep and making his way to the passenger side to open yours for you. As you began to climb out of the car, he picked up your bag, carrying it for you.
“Thanks, Rafe. You don’t have to carry it, though.”
You said, beaming up at him.
“You look so pretty today, I think I’d do anything you asked of me.”
He blurted out without thinking and your eyes went wide as your cheeks filled with a blush.
“You are so sweet, Rafe. Thank you.”
He nodded and smiled your way, yet again.
“I’ll carry it. It will make me feel better if you have a glucose emergency if I know where it is.”
He stated, matter-of-factly, as he placed the brown leather backpack on his shoulder. His words created a flutter in your stomach.
“Okay, losers! Come on, we gotta check-in at the visitor’s center.”
Topper remarked. You and Rafe began following him and Kelce to the front of the building. Topper quickly went inside and left the three of you waiting on the steps as he went to collect your program information, campus maps, and name tags. When he came back out of the door, he handed each of you your designated packets of information and began explaining what the game plan was.
“Okay, so in each of these packets is information specific to your major. Y/N and Rafe, you’re in a group and then me and Kelce are in a group because our majors and buildings are on the same sides of campus. Go through the packet, it’s got a scavenger hunt and then instructions for meeting the bigger tour group after lunch. We will see you guys then.”
He finished what he was saying and Rafe was already moving, ready to get away from Topper and Kelce and celebrate his alone time with you.
“Okay, sounds good.”
Rafe spoke, taking the packet of information from Topper’s hands, and turning to you with a smile.
“You ready?”
He questioned with a smile.
“As I'll ever be, lead the way, Cameron.”
You gestured to the sidewalk in front of you, beaming up at his tall form, opting to go the opposite direction of Kelce and Topper.
Topper and Kelce quickly scurried off, putting you and Rafe alone again, finally. You love the other two stooges with every fiber of your being, but you’d always loved Rafe more. If soulmates were a thing, he was yours in a platonic way of course, because there’s no way he felt about you the way you felt about him. You were okay with that. Rafe in any way, shape, or form was enough for you, as long as you had him in some way, you’d be okay. As Rafe began talking to you, you were brought out of your daydream.
“So, what do you want to hit first, the football field?”
He asked sarcasm present in his tone, though playful and innocent.
“Sure, if you’re gonna be playing here, we should check it out first.”
You gave him a small smile.
“Are you thinking about coming here in all seriousness?”
“Yeah, I was offered a full scholarship for cheer and academics pending my final grades next year.”
“What?! That’s amazing, Y/N!”
“Thanks, Rafe. I wish my brother thought so.”
“What do you mean? Hasn’t he wanted you to go to UNC like forever?”
He asked, confusion ever-present in his voice.
“I mean, yeah. He’s just been different ever since I got sick.”
“What do you mean?”
He questioned.
“It’s like most of the time, I’m a bug he’s trying to swat away.”
You replied with nonchalance, though Rafe could register the pain in your voice.
“Maybe he just worries about you?”
He asked, suggestively.
“Maybe. I don’t know. You’ll see tonight what I mean.”
You muttered.
“Well if it makes you feel any better, we’ll be here together. At UNC, I mean.”
He said with a sweet smile.
“Really?!”
The joy that riddled your face made Rafe smile.
“Yeah, I’ve got some scouts coming to see me play in the fall and I’m excited. UNC is my dream school, though. So even if I have to be a walk-on or not play at all, I’ll still be coming here. They’ve already given me a scholarship.”
“As they should, Mr. Valedictorian.”
You smiled brightly at him.
“Hey, how do you know I’m valedictorian?!”
He chuckled but was surprised. He had never talked to anyone about his class standing.
“Well, I did some digging after realizing I was second in our class, and to my surprise, my favorite Cameron was the one that beat me out.”
You gave him a sly smile.
“Since when am I your favorite Cameron?”
He asked jokingly, though the notion made his heart soar.
“Since always.”
“Oh, come on! You and Sarah have been thick as thieves for the last two years.”
“Maybe. Sarah’s always been a good friend to me. Topper and Kelce too. But, you’ve always been number one in my heart, I hope you know that.”
The kindness exuded from your eyes. You meant every word.
“You’re something else, you know that.”
He chuckled, but you suddenly felt like you had said the wrong thing, swallowing thickly. He observed your form, realizing where your mind had gone.
“No, no, I mean that in a good way. There’s just no one like you. You’ve always been just so perfect. It’s hard to measure up.”
“It’s a facade, trust me.”
You spoke, rolling your eyes at the notion that anything that had anything to do with you was in the same category as perfect. You were brought out of your thoughts as the two of you made your way to the entrance of the football field, following other students into the gates. Rafe looked on in awe at what would be his stomping grounds in just a few short years, his eyes sparkled as he daydreamed about the baby blue uniform he’d get to wear with his name and number sewn into the back. He’d get to matter here. He’d get to be somebody other than Ward Cameron’s son. He’d hope to make you his girl, here. But, quickly pushed that thought down as you began speaking to him.
“What? Are you imagining all of your fans screaming your name? All the girls throwing themselves at you?”
You chuckled.
“Nope. Just one.”
“Shutup! Who is it, Cameron? You have to tell me!”
“You’ll know soon enough, you know how bad I am with secrets.”
You giggled and its music to his ears.��
“Boy do I! Remember that time in second grade when we brought that puppy to my house from the street and we were only able to hide it from my mom for three hours before you blabbered?!”
“Not my best secret-keeping moment.”
He chuckled, remembering that day with you. Your soft curls that too often fell on your face and the look of pure fear in your eyes when your mom found out about the puppy.
“That was a good day.”
You spoke softly.
“Yeah, it was.”
The two of you stood side by side, Rafe’s shoulders towering over you, as you both looked onto the field that would be your home for four years. Excitement stirred in your gut at the chance to get out of the Outer Banks, out of Kildare fucking county with your best friends in the entire world and you simply, couldn’t wait. You hoped the next two years would fly by so you could get out of your hometown, finally fall in love, and forget that Kooks and Pogues even existed.
“Okay, Cameron. Let’s go check out the buildings where our classes will be.”
“Sounds good, pretty girl.”
He smiled at you and placed his hand on the small of your back as he led you out of the stadium and back to the quad. Once you made it away from the large crowd inhabiting the stadium, you probed Rafe with another question.
“So, what are you majoring in, big guy?”
“I haven’t fully decided. Dad wants me to be a business and marketing major, but I am really into the idea of English lit. What about you?”
“I’m English Literature with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in entrepreneurship.”
“Nice! What do you want to do with that?”
He probed, curious about your career path.
“I’m not sure, yet. Maybe teach English or become a writer. All I know is that writing and reading makes me feel alive and I’d like to chase that high as long as I can.”
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
You instantly recognized the words he was stringing together into a sentence.
“Rafe Cameron, are you quoting Dead Poets Society to me?”
You smiled so widely at him. This version of Rafe was different. It was one you had seen glimpses of over the years, but this one, he was your person. You were sure of it.
“Don’t all the guys you talk to do that?”
“What? Do you mean the ever-so-educated JJ Maybank who cares about feelings and reading? Yeah, no. I can’t say that they do.”
You scoffed into a laugh at Rafe’s joke slash question.
“Okay, that’s fair.”
He said, letting out a boisterous belly laugh.
“Let’s go look at the Business Administration building first.”
You suggested and Rafe agreed with your idea. Since you both would have classes in both buildings, it truly didn’t matter which you explored first. As you made your way to the building across the quad, your phone started dinging. Your stupid blood sugar, ruining things again.
“What’s that noise?”
Rafe questioned.
“It’s my glucose monitor on my phone. It’s low again.”
You looked on at him, defeated. He gently lifted your bag off of his shoulders and took your phone out and looked down at the readings. 76 mg, way too low for his comfort and probably for yours too.
“It’s 76 mg, Y/N. What do I need to do?”
“Look for anything in my bag with carbs and I'll check again in 15 minutes.”
You reply without the urgency that Rafe is feeling.
“Okay, let’s sit down for the time being. You don’t look like you feel great.”
He motioned to the bench, just off the sidewalk, close to the arboretum. He knew you wanted to see it before you left campus today, so this was the perfect spot.
“I’m okay, just sluggish. I thought I was just tired from last night.”
You let Rafe lead you to sit, his hand on the small of your back. You took his hand as he motioned you down onto the bench and he felt you shaking. Rafe looked through the bag, examining its contents, quickly.
“Okay, there’s bread and a banana. Which is better?”
“Give me the bread. It’s this banana nut bread I make every week.”
“You amaze me you know that?”
He gave you a soft smile and unwrapped the bread from the Ziploc bag it sat in, handing it to you.
“Thank you, Rafe, really, it means the world to have you here and to have your help.”
“Anything for you, I mean that. Are you thirsty?”
“Yeah, there’s water in there, too.”
He nodded, reaching back into the bag to retrieve the water bottle and handing it to you.
“After we get your levels back up, let’s go into the arboretum, and then we will grab some lunch.”
“Sure, thanks, Rafe. I love the Arboretum here, it’s so beautiful!”
“Yeah, I know. You’ve only been talking about visiting it since we were ten.”
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything you tell me.”
You blushed at his confession. You sat there, just chatting back and forth for the fifteen minutes it took for the food to settle before you checked your blood sugar again. Rafe pulled your phone back out of your bag and looked at the screen. 100 mg. We’re back in business baby!
“88 mg, back to normal, pretty girl.”
He spoke, blush coating your cheeks and you watched the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile.
“Thanks, Rafe. You’ve been so good about all of this. It scares most people.”
You thank him sheepishly.
“I’m not most people, you know that.”
He stood up from the bench, placing your backpack on his shoulders once more, and gently took your hand in his, lifting you to your feet. He led you to the sidewalk and you began your trek to the arboretum, his hand on the small of your back once again. You tried not to read too much into his hands constantly being close to you, you and Rafe had always had an intimate relationship that was very hands-on. As you made your way toward the greenhouse, you felt a raindrop hit your nose and before your brain could process what your orbs had just taken in, the bottom of the sky fell out and rain poured from the sky. The same way your eyes leaked when you and Rafe had stopped speaking. As the rain-drenched your clothes, you and Rafe shared a mischievous look, before he grabbed your hand and you both took off running toward your destination. It seemed like you had been running forever when you made it inside the doors of the greenhouse. Once you finally shook the water off of your bodies, reminiscent of a wet dog shaking his fur violently, you had a minute to take Rafe in. The light from the lightning lit up his drenched features. He took his baseball cap off, shaking it out and ringing out the water from his shirt. As he turned to look at you, you moved into him, eyes locking with his, his tall muscular form standing over you. You’re not sure what’s come over you, maybe it’s the care he’s shown you or how different he is now. But, you couldn’t take too much time to process what you were feeling or what you were thinking. The next few moments felt like a scene from a movie, as you placed your hands on his cheeks and kissed his lips, deeply, a moan escaping your lips. He was quick to pull away, bewilderment in his eyes.
“I-I’m sorry, Rafe. I read the signals wrong.”
“I’m not sorry because you didn’t misread anything.”
And just like that, Rafe Cameron was kissing you, gently, deeply, madly, clothes drenched in rainwater and with ecstasy-filled eyes. Rafe Goddamn Cameron was kissing you and you fucking loved it.
taglist:
@maybankslover @inthelibrarybtw @luvrcndy @silkylovey @yagirlwrites @obxbabygirl @rafeecameronsbitch @klutzy-kay24 @roseczbalt
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I adore the crack-y Trek episodes. I love them because they always give it 110% but also while comedic and bizarre it usually says something about the characters.
(This is why I think SNW's The Elysian Kingdom didn't really work for me on two fronts, I didn't think they went far enough in the concept and didn't really tell me anything about the characters).
One of the few times the Voyager crew gets to be in an over-the-top scenario where they get to keep their memories -- Voyager crew's memories get erased and overwritten a lot. No wonder Seven made her own psychological assessment in season 2 of Picard-- is Bride of Chaotica.
As much as Janeway had to be dragged to the role of Arachnia, Janeway took to the role of a 1930s star like a fish to water:
The production crew was BRILLIANT this episode:
And then Janeway asked if she could sit on Chaotica's throne:
"Somehow I feel comfortable here."
LOL. Janeway.
She was a theater kid for sure. Kate Mulgrew must have enjoyed this episode a LOT.
And then Janeway pauses, and possibly wonders what that says about her. It's the look of, 'I hope this didn't awaken anything in me.'
Too late!
(It says you're a queen).
I love how Janeway actually loved playing an over-the-top villain.
And then she does this thing where she gives the wire of the mic a whipping flourish.
Calmly watches as Chaotica is electrocuted to death.
And takes a moment to gloat over his body, even telling Chakotay to wait before shutting down the holodeck. LOL. It's the most she's enjoyed herself, and to think earlier she was chiding Tom for enjoying this kind of entertainment.
Tom enjoys playing the hero but Janeway just gets to indulge this delicious side of her.
Remember when I said Janeway has no Mirror equivalent? I love her..
And then when her 'rescue' party arrives they find her just looking over Chaotica.
Yes, yes you are the queen!
I think Janeway just learned, that if Tom likes playing the swashbuckling hero, Janewa loves playing the over-the-top villain. This is the most Janeway's enjoyed herself without being brainwashed into forgetting she's Voyager's Captain.
Seriously, I love Janeway. She's the most Extra. And she's learned to embrace the Extra.
/edited
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By Leslie Patrick
1 August 2023
Anne Boleyn (c. 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536), King Henry VIII's second queen, is often portrayed as a seductress and ultimately the woman responsible for changing the face of religion in England.
In reality, she was a fiercely intelligent and pious woman dedicated to education and religious reform.
But after her arrest and execution on false charges of adultery and incest in May 1536, Henry VIII was determined to forget her memory.
Her royal emblems were removed from palace walls, her sparkling jewels tucked away in dark coffers, and her precious books disappeared from the pages of time.
One of Boleyn’s books that has reappeared is the Book of Hours, a stunning prayer book, printed around 1527 with devotional texts designed to be read throughout the day, features hand-painted woodcuts — as well as a rare example of the queen’s own writing.
In the margins of one of the beautifully decorated pages, she penned a rhyming couplet followed by her signature:
“Remember me when you do pray, that hope doth lead from day to day, Anne Boleyn.”
The book vanished with Boleyn’s execution in 1536, then resurfaced around 1903 when it was acquired by the American millionaire William Waldorf Astor (31 March 1848 – 18 October 1919) after he purchased Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn’s childhood home in the English countryside.
The hiding place of the disgraced queen’s devotional tome had been a mystery for centuries, until recent research by a university student uncovered hidden signatures that helped trace its path through history.
The discovery
The book’s whereabouts in the 367 years between Boleyn’s death and its reemergence remained puzzling until 2020 when Kate McCaffrey, then a graduate student at the University of Kent working on her master’s thesis about Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours, found something unexpected in the margins of the book.
“I noticed what appeared to be smudges to the naked eye,” recalls McCaffrey, assistant curator at Hever Castle since 2021.
Intrigued, she borrowed an industrial-strength ultraviolet light and set it up in the darkest room of Hever Castle.
Ultraviolet light is often used to examine historical documents because ink absorbs the ultraviolet wavelength, causing it to appear darker against the page when exposed.
“The words just came through. It was incredible to see them underneath the light, they were completely illuminated,” the curator recalls.
McCaffrey’s theory is that the words were erased during the late Victorian era when it was popular to cleanse marginalia from books or manuscripts.
But thanks to her extraordinary detective work, these erased words turned out to be the key that unlocked the tale of the book’s secret journey from certain destruction at the royal court to safety in the hands of a dedicated group of Boleyn’s supporters.
The guardians
Indeed, various pages throughout the text reveal the names and notations of a string of Kentish women — Elizabeth Hill, Elizabeth Shirley, Mary Cheke, Philippa Gage, and Mary West — who banded together to safeguard Anne's precious book and keep her memory alive.
While it’s unclear how the book was initially passed to these women, Anne Boleyn expert Natalie Grueninger suggests it was gifted by Anne to a woman named Elizabeth Hill.
Elizabeth grew up near Hever Castle, and her husband, Richard Hill, was sergeant of the King’s Cellar at Henry VIII’s court.
There are records of the Hill’s playing cards with the king, and there may have been a friendship between Elizabeth and the queen that prompted Boleyn to pass her prayer book on before her execution.
“This extended Kentish family kept the book safe following Anne’s demise, which was an incredibly brave and bold act considering it could have been considered treasonous,” says Grueninger, podcaster and author of the book The Final Year of Anne Boleyn.
Anne’s Book of Hours was passed between mothers, daughters, sisters, and nieces until the late sixteenth century, when the last name makes its appearance in its margins.
“This story is an example of the women in the family prioritizing loyalty, friendship, fidelity, and a personal connection to Anne,” says McCaffrey.
“The fact that the women have kept it safe is a really beautiful story of solidarity, community, and bravery.”
The book, currently on display at Hever Castle, is a touchstone of the enigma that was Anne Boleyn.
Castle historian and assistant curator Owen Emmerson points out that the book contains Anne’s DNA on the pages from where she touched and kissed it during her daily devotions.
“This was a really beloved possession of hers,” says Emmerson.
“Because of what happened to Anne Boleyn, we don’t have a vast amount of information in Anne’s own words. But the physical remnants of her use of the book, and the construction of that beautiful little couplet, have her identity in them.”
While Anne’s Book of Hours has finally found its way home, the research into this intriguing historical mystery is not yet over.
McCaffrey continues to chart the book’s provenance through the centuries to find out where it was hiding all this time.
The discovery of the inscriptions illuminates the book’s furtive journey, providing us with a glimpse into the controversy, loyalty, and fascination that Anne Boleyn has engendered for the past 500 years.
#Anne Boleyn#King Henry VIII#Book of Hours#William Waldorf Astor#Hever Castle#Kate McCaffrey#University of Kent#ultraviolet light#Natalie Grueninger#Owen Emmerson#Elizabeth Hill#Elizabeth Shirley#Mary Cheke#Philippa Gage#Mary West#The Tudors#House of Tudor#British Royal Family
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Bridgerton Rewatch Observations:
Despite how she’s the main love interest of season 2, Kate doesn’t really get the attention she deserves, (which is the point of her character development) but there’s little moments that really deny her the Main Character Romance she deserves
No one ever fills out Kate’s dance card
Not even Antony
Or Lord Dorset
It’s not even clear if Dorset attends balls. He’s only around for the occasional promenade
If Dorset did attend balls, he didn’t even talk to Kate
Kate is always watching everyone else be courted or danced with, but Kate is never asked to dance till the finale of the season (Edwina forcing Antony to dance with Kate doesn’t count)
No one even really converses with Kate at balls let alone flirts or even fetches her a lemonade
No one calls on Kate
Again, not even Dorset
Kate’s birth parents’ names are never said. We only know her father as a clerk but not even Lady Mary calls him by name.
We also don’t know how old Kate was when her father passed
There’s no flashbacks of Kate’s backstory, which may have been due to budgeting a landscape that looked like India but Antony got flashbacks for his character development in the same seaosn
When Dorset does pursue Kate, he actually says something inappropriate between the lines, “If friends can visit her in India” and that casualness and unchaperoned in that society was not allowed. It almost sounded like he was asking if he can hook up with her whenever he was in India
BUT in front of Antony (the viscount) and the ton Lord Dorset makes this sudden remark about trying to convince Kate to stay in England when he just flirted with her about visiting her in India
It’s easy to forget that Kate’s early life was in the midst of the “Working Class” which were labors such as house maids and staff. She grew up needing to know skills from a very early age
It’s never stated outright but implied why Kate took over her family’s finances after her father’s death. Kate’s father was a clerk, he had skills in order to survive, and he pushed Kate to learn as much as possible. For example how she can hunt. Whereas Lady Mary who grew up in the early 1800s in the palace never had to learn a trade, let alone how to manage finances. So Kate took over because there was literally no adult left in her life who could even remotely balance a checkbook but her and that must have been so scary at such a young age
Though Lady Mary must have thrived in India because she seemed very confined in the palace, and got to know a part of her heritage that seemed erased (this an assumption from context)
Lady Mary’s mother doesn’t seem to engage in Indian culture much (from the 3 scenes we saw of her) but Lady Mary practiced so many traditions with her daughters from language to wedding traditions, to even hair oiling
It’s crazy that Eloise never told any of her family that the queen accused her. She was a teenage girl who was accused with treason from the head of state and one of the most powerful people in her country, AND SHE DIDNT TELL ONE PERSON IN HER FAMILY. CRAZY
#bridgerton#bridgerton season two#bridgerton season 2#kathony#eloise bridgerton#kate bridgerton#kate sharma#anthony x kate#anthony bridgerton
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ㅤ Once Upon a Time is a thirteen-year old’s fanfiction that was found by the creators of Lost and stolen for a show in hopes of making some money off the teen population. If the half-formed faux-edgy characters or bad acting doesn’t sell you on just how poorly this show was made, the terrible CGI definitely will. The first season revolves around a character named Emma Swan, aka The Savior, coming to the town of Storybrooke where her son tries to convince her that the town is actually full of fairytale characters that are under a memory erasing spell. The show has a way of making you forget that you’re watching a fairytale story until later you realize that “Oh! They just had Prince Charming cheat on his wife with Snow White. And then The Evil Queen framed Snow White for the murder of Prince Charming’s wife by hiding that wife’s heart in a box in the place Snow and Charming would always meet.”
ㅤ While the first season seems Wild, each subsequent season tries to outdo itself. The following seasons follow a clear formula constantly trying to convince you that it’s a good show. The creator’s favorite persuasion is to twist the usual fairytale stories and then play a dramatic stinger underneath it as if to convince the viewer to say, “oh shit!” Each time it makes this attempt, I am met with an intense feeling, but not the intended one. It’s a burst of laughter, a burn of secondhand embarrassment, and the impulse to share it with a friend so I don’t have to go through it alone (and may I say, I think my friends are starting to get sick of me).
The show is held together by attempts to be a show that makes the viewer sit at the edge of the seat waiting to see what happens next. These attempts often involve corrupting or redeeming a “good” or “evil” character respectively. While the show constantly brings in numerous characters from Disney movies or any other existing story for that matter (such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), it seems to forget this sometimes, so we are left with characters who have been corrupted and redeemed 6 times alone (in Rumpelstiltskin’s case).
Might I also add that the show often does a twist saying that two fairytale characters were actually the same one. If we take Rumpelstiltskin as an example again, he is at least three different characters off the top of my head. He also happens to be the Crocodile from Peter Pan and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. This isn’t even counting the family tree. Please feel free to skip the rest of this paragraph while I sort that out. Rumpelstiltskin is the son of Peter Pan (who’s evil) and the Black Fairy (who’s the origin of all evil or something?). He has a grandson, Henry, who is also the grandson of Snow White and Prince Charming. Henry also happens to be the adopted son of Regina, aka The Evil Queen. Regina if the daughter of the Queen of hearts and the sister of the Wicked Witch of the West. She’s also Snow White’s step-mother. Regina also happens to be soulmates with Robin Hood, who’s previous wife was sentenced to death by Regina before the curse. And Robin also had a daughter with the Wicked Witch but he didn’t know it was her at the time because she was pretending to be his dead wife.
I’m stopping myself there. If you read any of that, you now hopefully know how complicated the lore is and how near impossible it is to explain. You may have also gleaned how fucking stupid it is. That was all just a small section of the family tree. The actual lore of this show involves people who are definitively good or evil (but they can be redeemed) and authors who are all powerful gods who control Everything but are also just Some Guy. And of course, a being of pure light magic called The Savior (Emma Swan aka Snow White and Prince Charming’s child) and a being of pure dark magic called The Dark One (Rumplestiltskin). I forced myself through the show. High out of my mind if I had to. And I gotta say, folks.
I kinda love this show.
At some point it starts to get confusing what the creators were thinking while making this show. You drive yourself crazy trying to put yourself in their heads. Do they know how dogshit it is? Are they trying to convince me this dogshit is actually fucking ratatouille? Or do they know it’s bad?
By the end of season 6, I started to get the feeling that the writers had finally decided to accept that no one in the universe would consider this a good show; however, the show must go on so they may as well have fun with it. They finally left behind the attempts and just leaned into how bizarre the lore they’re spun truly is. They timeskip and they say. “Hey. We know that we’ve gone too far. We know we crossed a line somewhere along the way. But buddy? We’re not turning around. We’re gonna find throw back some brewskis and have a little fun.” And they decide to say that, “Actually? All those characters you just saw? The seemingly infinite number of them? That’s just the start. They’re just one of an actually infinite number of that same character that exists in the multiverse. We’re gonna make a new main character and she’s gonna be Cinderella. Yes, I know we already introduced Cinderella in season one. But this is a different Cinderella. From a different thirteen tear old’s fanfiction. “
And so it becomes a show that clearly knows it’s bad. And I sit there and realize I had fun. And I realize that I’m still having fun. And I realize that that was the point. I spent the whole show taking everything so seriously, and for that, I partially blame the show for taking itself seriously. But somewhere along the way, the show stopped. And I followed suit shortly after. And it was fun.
I loved watching Once Upon a Time.
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After the Flashpoint Reset…
Female Justice League Headcanons
Kara Zor El/ Supergirl
Kara remembered you. She practically crushed you in a hug when she found you. As for you, it was a mystery who this super gal was but she was beautiful and she gave great hugs. You’ll see where this relationship takes you.
Barbara Gordon / Batgirl
You both find yourselves back at square one. Friends. But over time, love blooms as does little memories that seem like a whole life with one another.
Bailey Allen / the Flash
Bailey sought you out, just hoping she didn’t erase you from time itself. She found you working at the newspaper now as an intern. You didn’t know why this strange young woman was so interested in you but you found her quite beautiful.
Diana Prince / Wonder Woman
Diana couldn’t remember her life with you. But you never forgot. You found each other and you slowly worked to rebuild a life with her. Luckily, she still found herself falling for you, even if it was for the second time.
Allison Currey / Aqua Woman
No longer queen of Atlantis, Allison still found you. Nothing much changed really. You still love one another and tussle around.
Mary Marvel / Shazam
You were no longer the apprentice to Doctor Fate. But yet some small part of you could never forget her face, her smile. Like fate itself, you ran into her. Some small part of her remembers you too. “Hey” she offers you a smile. “Hi” you answer back.
#dc comics fluff#dc comics#dc comics imagine#the justice league#justice league#mary bromfield#mary marvel#shazam#supergirl#kara zor el#sasha calle#batgirl#bailey bass#bailey allen#the flash#the flash x reader#diana of themyscira#diana prince#Wonder Woman#rule 63#gender swap#genderbend#genderbent#aquaman
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I want to ask why you chose Aaron Warner, Christian Harper, and Rhys Larsen as a good comparison to Sylus? I want an essay!! I LOVE Aaron Warner but honestly haven't yet read the twisted series. Also, I don't mind spoilers so... excited to see what you come up with!
You want an essay??? Please 🙄 ….. No problem lets get it 😘
bear with me I read the twisted series over a year ago
‼️SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS‼️
Aaron Warner [Shatter Me Series ~ Tahereh Mafi] - This 5'9" golden haired military assassin with a heart of STONE. Yea you thought I was gonna say heart of gold huh? Nah this boy was trained to be a killer from birth. However when it comes to Juliette/Ella she is quite literally the only thing he cares about and is also the only girl he's ever loved.
He will quite literally sacrifice the world if it means she will be okay. His memory was erased multiple times, but he fell in love with her every. single. time. If it's for Juliette/Ella he's a goner because she is his only weakness in the world. He wants to love her and be loved by her and only her unconditionally.
“The reason why he had to keep wiping their memories was because it didn’t matter how many times he reset the story or remade the introductions— Aaron always fell in love with her. Every time.”
Christian Harper [Twisted Lies ~ Ana Huang] - Now this man stalked his girl for I think 5 years before making himself known. He's a billionaire who runs a security/tech company and he can hack into anything. He's a modern day genius obsessed with this girl Stella. They finally met in person when she moved into one of his apartment buildings with her friend Jules. He really slipped into her life though when Jules moved out and she couldn't afford the rent. He made a deal with her by letting her stay for a lower price and these were high end apartments (At least like 80% off the listing price). He also happened to live just one floor above her. The deal was she would take care of his plants in exchange for the low cost. He claims he isn't a jealous man yet he's jealous of every person she smiles at, every laugh that he didn't cause, etc he's completely and utterly obsessed with her from page one.
He will do literally anything for her including pretending the be her man for her social media platforms oh yea she's an influencer/model. Stella also likes being tied up and Christian happily obliged to tying her up ON A YACHT and was a real pussy pleaser. He supported her in her fashion designer endeavor and married her ass and IMMEDIATELY put a baby in her.
Oh one more thing Stella got kidnapped while her and Christian were fighting (this man was SICK) he sent a Code Black Out to all his agents in the area to find her and code black out if for extreme emergencies. Let’s just say her kidnapper is having a nice nap. A permanent nap. (Reminds you of a certain someone who turned MCs kidnapper into fucking black and red mist huh?)
Rhys Larsen [Twisted Games ~ Ana Huang] - Forget Prince Charming give me Mr. Scarred Knight Rhys Larsen 😮💨. He's ex-military and works as a bodyguard now (He works for none other than Christian Harper & they're in a sense friends) This man and his girl Princess Bridget who is a literal Princess. He was her bodyguard and she was forced to step up and become Queen because her brother married a commoner so he couldn't become king and Eldorra (their country) needed a ruler.
She basically starts acting up and Rhys is like girl wtf is going on?! She ends up wanting to do everything on her bucket list before becoming Queen so Rhys takes her to Costa Rica to do it. They fall for each other but it's a forbidden love so they can't really be together because she's royalty and he's a commoner. He fell in love despite him telling her he doesn't get involved with his clients. Him and Bridget were blackmailed by someone close to her which caused him to be terminated as her bodyguard. This man never drank in his life, but the minute he had to let Bridget go he drank himself stupid.
He was down bad for her (and so was she). They went through hell trying to get a centuries old law overturned so he could marry her. He didn't care about the fame or the royal title he just wanted to be with her. This man broke every single one of his rules that he'd set for himself for her. He never really opened up about his scars to anyone, but her (and I think Christian).
He's rough around the edges and can be a dom daddy made her stir down to her heels and said "Crawl to me" (SCREAMING WHINING AND RUNNING AROUND THE ROOM) He's also VERY possessive I quote...
"From this point on you're mine. No other man touches you. If they do I know seventy-nine ways to kill a man and I can make seventy of the look like and accident. Understand?"
I hope after reading all that you can see the similarities that I see. He's not dark romance he's just romance sunshine x grumpy basically.
I say all that to say this....
Sylus is morally gray like these characters above and he has a soft spot for MC (& the twins) he'll do anything for her and protect her at all costs. He's been through hell and may be a high functioning sociopath due to that trauma, but he still has a heart and is selective with who he's vulnerable with. He's not out here murdering people because they looked at MC. He knows his girl fine as hell, but he gets to touch while they hopelessly gaze.
#love and deepspace#twisted games#twisted lies#shatter me#aaron warner#christian harper#rhys larsen#sylus love and deepspace#nikaaaajusttalkin#sylus#lnds sylus#lads sylus
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I know that right now we're all pissed at the horrendous character assassination Alicent has gone through this season (God I'm the first one who still can't believe her eyes), but this awful representation of the green Queen on screen has at least given me some newfound appreciation for book!Alicent and all she stands for.
Alicent, the young girl who stood by Jaehaerys's side as he passed.
Alicent, who became queen against all odds and watched in horror as her foolish husband dismissed her sons' claim to the throne in favor of her step-daughter.
Alicent, who knew what she wanted for her family and fought tooth and nail against Rhaenyra to protect her children.
Alicent, who demanded Luke's eye in exchange for Aemond's when she realized Viserys didn't care for the wellbeing of their son.
Alicent, who cleverly plotted Aegon's ascension and put her plan in motion the moment her useless husband kicked the bucket, disregarding his wishes in order to save her kin from the blacks.
Alicent, who witnessed the atrocity that was blood and cheese, helpless to do anything as her grandson was butchered and who then later on said she wishes to bathe in the blood of the men who had committed this horrible act.
Alicent, who remained loyal to her side till the bitter end, and kept taunting and threatening Rhaenyra even after she took the capital.
Alicent, who never recovered from her children's deaths and lived only to erase Rhaenyra's legacy, trying to convince her granddaughter to kill Aegon III despite the end of the war.
Alicent, who spent her last days in imprisonment, seen as a remnant of the past, a grief stricken woman fueled by vengeance, unable to see a future with Rhaenyra's blood on the throne.
Alicent, who died alone and defeated still thinking of her happy teenage years and her beloved family.
She was fierce, she was loving, she was manipulative, loyal, clever, brave and even fucking evil when she had to be, but at least she felt real.
She had agency, knew what she wanted and how to obtain it.
Never forget what they took from us.
#what is that woman in episode 8 and what has she done to Alicent#rereading fire & blood reminded me of how much better of a character she could have been#i'm still salty#anyways a kinght of the seven kingdoms only you can save me now#hotd#anti hotd#hotd critical#Alicent Hightower#team green#fire & blood#f&b#asoiaf#bring back angry women you cowards#house of the dragon
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2004 - 2009
WC: 3.3k
There are a few things that you need to remember.
No because you try to erase them from your memory but because some memories of the past are just as crucial as the future. The little moments that seem so insignificant at the time, are appreciated in the future, and are soul crushing when nothing is the same anymore.
So maybe you try to forget them because thinking about them makes it hard to breathe for a long moment.
But you need to remember them.
They are points in time you should never, ever forget.
°。⋆˚🕷˚ 🏙 。⋆˚☂︎ ˚⋆˚
6/26/2004:
Peter Parker was a Dick.
At least, you thought he was. It was a word you’d heard your dad mutter under his breath during rush hour when someone cut him off. You also knew you weren’t allowed to say it because, when you asked your mom what it meant, she shot your dad a dirty look and told you not to say it.
But if it meant asshole, then yes. Peter Parker was a dick.
You could feel his eyes on the back of your head as you knelt on the pavement. Your new house in Queens was small, brick and without any of your old friends living nearby. You hated Queens. You hated New York. At that moment, you were pretty sure you hated your parents for moving you there.
Chalk covered your fingers, staining them yellow and orange as you tried to fix the sun you’d drawn before lunch. When you’d returned from inside where your mom had forced you to stop drawing on the sidewalk so you could eat half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and six carrots, it had two lines cutting through it. It became clear the boy across the street had skated right over it.
He’d been relatively quiet the past week since you’d moved in. Always riding his skateboard in the street, trying to teach himself little tricks and stumbling before he caught himself from hitting the gravel.
You knew he knew that you were mad because he pretended not to notice the glare you gave him from your side of the street.
Good. He should feel shameful. You’d been working on this all morning since it was the first day all week that lacked overcast skies or sprinkles of rain.
You kept your back to him as you worked, grinding the yellow chalk into the cement harder than necessary to erase the mark he’d made. You were too young to know that chalk drawings weren't all that important in the grand scheme of the universe. To a nine-year-old who was angry at the world for having to move to Queens, leaving your friends and old house behind, it felt like the only thing you could control.
Like it was the only thing you had left.
The sound of a body smacking onto the pavement and the clattering of the skateboard snapped you out of your fuming. Peter pushed himself up onto his hands with a grimace; knees, elbows and palms skinned and embedded with little pebbles.
“Are you okay?” you called out as you stood, rushing over to him where he sat in the middle of the street. Embarrassed from the fall and ruining your chalk, he averted his eyes and winced. It didn’t deter you as you got to your knees on the pavement beside him.
Peter hadn’t meant to ride over your art. Really.! Uncle Ben and Aunt May had only given him the skateboard at the beginning of summer vacation so he was still learning how to ride it. He had been trying to work up the nerve to say hi all week since you moved in. All morning he had tried to do the same thing. So when you went inside, Peter had the idea that maybe he could say something about drawing or your chalk art but… he just hadn’t been able to stop in time.
You frowned and turned away in the hope of hiding his cut-up knees from your view. You quickly leaned forward to grab his arm and he stiffened at the touch, brown eyes wide as he peeked up at you. You were waiting for him to answer.
Sniffling, he managed to nod. The last thing he needed to do was look like a crybaby.
“You’ll need band-aids.” You placed your hands on his legs so you could inspect the cut-up skin exposed by his khaki shorts. The sting was practically nonexistent now when all he could think about was the way your nose scrunched up in thought. “And these need to be cleaned first. My mom is a nurse. We have a first aid kit inside, come on.”
Gone were your concerns about your chalk drawings, replaced with a newfound concern for your neighbor.
Peter let you help him up even if he didn’t actually need it. A part of him wanted to tell you that he was fine. That he’d fallen off his skateboard more times than he could count. He just couldn’t seem to get the words out. Actually, he couldn’t seem to get any words out or shake the dreamy expression off his face.
You were careful as you opted to grab his forearm rather than his hands to not touch the scrapes on his palms. He almost tripped a few times as you dragged him towards your house. There were still a few packed boxes lining the walls from the move but it seemed like your parents were making good progress on moving in.
“I’m really good at putting bandaids on. On myself and other people. I fall a lot. Especially since we moved,” you continued just to fill the quiet to distract him in case he wanted to burst into tears. Sometimes you cried when you fell down and you really didn’t want him to cry.
“I’m not used to the new house yet so I keep tripping or knocking my elbows into the corners of the walls. The bandaid on my elbow is from when I fell down the stairs the other day because I thought there were only twelve steps like in our old house. This one actually has fourteen so I miscounted.”
You patted the counter to signal that he could sit on the edge and he complied, still silent and watching you with awe. The first aid kit was heavy in your hands which made you practically dump it beside him.
The whole situation would be awkward if you let it. The one-sided conversation you were able to hold while he nervously picked at some of the dead skin soothed some of his anxiety. Pink flooded his cheeks when you noticed what he was doing and gently swatted his hands away. They fell to his lap before you stood in front of him.
“Here,” you murmured, taking his hand towards your face so you could see the damage better. You didn’t bother looking away as you flipped on the faucet to warm up the water..
Peter Parker might only be nine years old but at this very moment, he was sure that he was in love. Each touch of your fingertips against his skin made his stomach do summersaults like when he and Harry went to Coney Island two weeks ago. The proximity of your face to his made his cheeks so hot that he was sure you could feel the warmth..
But when you finally looked up at him from under your lashes, Peter didn’t think he was in love.
He knew he was.
It took him a long minute to realize that you had just told him your name. It had to be the prettiest thing he’d ever heard in his life. He mulled the combination of letters over in his brain and desperately wanted to say them outloud over and over again.
“Peter. Peter Parker.” His voice was hoarse but he managed to get the words out.
You smiled.
After a long moment, he smiled back.
From that moment, the two of you couldn’t seem to spend a moment apart.
8/27/2006:
“She did not say that,” Peter snorted from his spot on his bedroom floor. The ugly gray skies and splatter of rain against the glass were enough to keep the two of you indoors for the afternoon. Neither of you were happy about that. Not when summer was going to come to an end in days. Then, you would both start sixth grade.
“Yuh huh.” you shot back defensively. You were draped across his twin-sized bed, hands tucked behind your head and tracing the glow in the dark stars that were peeling off the ceiling. The top of his head was just visible over the edge of the comforter, looking like he had either just woken up or stuck a fork in an electrical socket. Each click of the Rubix cube in his hands filled the lulls of silence.
“Nuh-uh.”
“Swear to god.”
Now it's his turn to make a face, which he knew you saw before you leaned over the bed, just to make sure he could see the pout you were wearing.
“There is no way that Mary Jane, of all people, told you that having your first kiss before middle school is a requirement,” he sighed. Although, it did kinda sound like the exact kind of dramatics she tended to have. Peter wasn’t paying enough attention to you or the topic at hand. This was serious. Not when you were stressing out because what if she had been telling the truth and you were going to show up to middle school and be the laughing stock of all the eighth graders.
“She did.” Sick of fighting for his attention, you plucked the Rubix cube from his hands and yanked it out of his reach when he tried to snatch it back. All you had to do was sit up on your knees and hold the cube above your head to keep it from him.
When you whined his name again, he decided to give in. Climbing up beside you on the bed wasn’t weird. Hanging out in his room or your room had never been weird because you’d been doing it ever since you moved in across the street two years ago.
“Jeez, okay.” He raised his hands in surrender before flopping onto his back beside you. His brown doe eyes were wider than usual when he leaned over; nothing but his face visible in your view. “Okay, fine. So… MJ said that most people had their first kisses by middle school. So what?”
“So what?” You repeated with a comical drop of your jaw. He just shrugged at the dramatics.
“So, we're gonna be the only two sixth graders that haven’t kissed anyone-”
“Oh come on, we are not going to be the only sixth graders that haven’t kissed anyone-”
“How do you know we won’t?”
“Oh, so Ned kissed someone this summer?”
You opened your mouth to protest but hesitated because… there was a very slim chance that Ned Leeds, bless his heart, had fulfilled his lifelong dream of kissing Katie Douglas. You hung your head in defeat before falling over dramatically on the bed.
“See.” He pushed up on his elbows so he could be the one to lean over you with a ‘told you so’ look. “We won’t be the only ones.”
You didn’t really seem to believe him by the way you scrunched up your nose and looked up at the ceiling. He gave your hair a playful tug and snorted. At least the little smile on his face was enough to calm some of your worries.
Since when did you care about kissing someone? Since when did you care about what Mary Jane said like she didn’t make things up all the time? It seemed silly. The idea that everyone entering middle school was supposed to have kissed someone before the start of the semester. You barely knew what kissing was. Sure, you’d seen it in movies and you’d seen your parents do it. Aside from those glimpses, you really didn’t know what the big deal was anyway.
Maybe now was when you were supposed to start thinking about it like it was a big deal…
“Fine,” you sighed and sat up beside him. The Rubix cube bounced between your hands, “As long as we don’t show up the first day and turn into social pariahs.”
Slowly, he sat up too, studying you carefully as you both settled beside each other. Eventually, your hands stilled, the unsolved Rubix cube finding a spot on the pillows. Peter could see the way you worried about the whole idea in the back of your mind but he didn’t seem to get it either.
Who cared what everyone else thought? Why did anyone else even need to know whether you had kissed anyone anyway? Unlike you, he did understand the idea of kissing someone- at least as much as an eleven-year-old could understand the idea. Even though he had never done it, sometimes he wondered what it would be like to kiss you.
You scratched at a scab on your knee that you’d gotten last week falling off Peter’s skateboard. He was still determined to teach you even when it always ended in skinned extremities. Last summer it had ended in a broken collar bone which he still felt guilty about.
“I just…” you started before letting out a quiet exhale. When you worked up the courage to speak again, your voice was much quieter. “I don’t want to be the only person in the entire grade who’s never done it.”
More like you didn’t want to be the only person left out of something.
His eyes studied your face, bottom lip rolling between his teeth. He took in your slumped shoulders and furrowed brows with a frown of his own. He didn’t like seeing you upset. It didn’t make him feel good.
Giving up on the topic, you tried to gather some optimism even if the rain just made everything feel gloomy. Thunder rumbled somewhere far away and it was clear that the August afternoon storm was going to roll into the evening.
“It’s fine. I’m sure that no one is going to even bring it up-”
You’d barely turned your head in his direction before he leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours. It was quick, just a peck before he was already pulling away and sitting back. Your eyes were wide in shock.
He just stared at you tentatively. Now, he thought he’d screwed up. That he should’ve said something first- at least asked because you were staring at him and saying nothing and- oh my god! What if you were mad at him now?
It was only when a bashful smile appeared on your face that he felt like he could actually breathe again.
Both of you were blushing, still trying to make sense of what the big deal was with kissing. All you knew was that it wasn’t that bad. The feeling of butterflies in your stomach was a funny reaction to the whole thing but, hey? What did you know?
“There,” he said slowly, his voice quiet and slow. “Now neither of us will be social pariahs.”
You were lucky to have him.
He was lucky to have you.
Neither of you actually spoke about it. .
4/14/2009:
It was an old root beer bottle that was the decider of fate.
Someone had ripped the label off the best they could but there were still pieces of the blue paper stuck to the glass. It felt scandalous, sitting in the hotel room with a handful of other students in Science Club who had snuck out of their respective rooms. The carpet was kind of gross and you couldn’t stop shifting in your spot to try and keep your legs from falling asleep.
Peters knee pressed against yours. The circle of students gathered for the game sat tightly together as everyone tried to keep quiet enough to not get busted. Ned was on the other side of him, only having joined the team for a very smart, but very popular, Katie Douglas, who sat on the other side of the circle next to the next most popular girl in Science Club, Gwen Stacy.
It was your turn, your cheeks pink from the quiet cheers of your name as you reached for the glass. Peter gave your arm a reassuring nudge and, while you didn’t acknowledge it, you did appreciate it. It wasn’t like there was anyone in this room you really wanted to kiss. You just didn’t want to be left out.
It wasn’t the drive to be popular and cool. It wasn’t even about being on the inside. You just didn’t want to be on the outside if it wasn’t by choice.
Peter had always been comfortable with a sense of invisibility. Being on the outside, right on the cusp of everyone where he was close enough to watch but far enough away that he didn't actually have to be included was his preference. You were always okay with that but you did tend to toe the line more in hopes of crossing between both worlds.
So when you spun the bottle and it landed next to you, all eyes were on you and your best friend of four years.
The two of you had already kissed once. In fact, it was the only kiss either of you had ever had. Your classmates erupted into giggles and hushed cheers, gossiping already beginning that would only spread at school.
You peaked up at Peter but he was already doing the same. Pink tinged his cheeks and ears (yours surely looked the same) and his eyebrows were stuck high on his forehead. But the look he was giving you wasn’t one of embarrassment, it was one to ask you a question.
‘You sure?’
Like he was waiting for confirmation. Maybe deep down he knew that you did want to because declining would be far more embarrassing than kissing him in front of your peers. It wasn’t like you two hadn’t done it before either.
So you shrugged, the corner of your mouth turning up.
Then he shrugged, returning your little smile with one of his own.
And then you both leaned forward and pressed your lips together.
This kiss was longer than the first, three whole seconds of a chaste kiss before pulling back to the sounds of giggling and whispers. Neither of you really seemed to care.
Neither of you ever talked about it again.
°。⋆˚🕷˚ 🏙 。⋆˚☂︎ ˚⋆˚
Now you see.
There are things you do your fucking hardest to try and avoid thinking about. It isn’t like you just deny it out loud; rather you pretend that it doesn’t plague you the way it does as you lay in bed some nights.
It’s worse when it rains.
When you find yourself laying in bed and staring at the ceiling. Sometimes you find yourself thinking that you can hear him knocking on the glass between the patter against the glass. Each rumble of thunder makes you want to reach for him even though he hasn’t shared a bed with you in years. Cracks of lightning feel like sharp aches in your chest when you wonder if he thinks about you.
Sometimes, if you close your eyes and REALLY focus, you can almost pretend that he’s lying next to you. That the sheets are warm from his body heat and you can feel the steady rise and fall of his chest. That if you were to reach out a hand, you’d be able to touch his skin.
What a fucking joke when there’s nothing there.
#peter parker tasm#peter parker tasm x reader#the amazing spider man#marvel#Peter Parker#Andrew Garfield#TASM#tasm peter parker#tasm!peter x you#tasm peter x reader
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It’s been so long since I’ve sent an ask in, i fear the kids will think we’re in a divorce. So today I came to offer up a situation I believe in 1000%.
Jackie Taylor in college not knowing how to flirt with women, so whenever she meets you for the first time she doesn’t know how to talk to you. She ends up buying those stupid men’s pickup artist CDs, the like late 2000s type. She believes it completely and thinks that this is how you get girls and buys like the whole box set. It comes with douche clothes, a small notebook of pickup lines and a huge textbook along with like 10 CDs. Literally any normal person would know these lines and tactics would absolutely not work, but she’s convinced herself. So she tries approaching you in a bar and when you don’t follow the script that the pickup artist said you’d respond with, she gets nervous. She pulls out and skims through the pages of a huge book that in VERY bold letters on the front reads, ‘HOW TO GET WOMEN’
She eventually gives up on the textbook after she sees the weird look you gave her upon seeing it. Just ends up taking a bar napkin and writing “Do you like me?” With 2 options below that read “Yes” and “YES”. She’s looking at you like she’s so proud of herself that you cant help but circle the option in all caps. (She thinks that means you’re dating, immediately)
excellent ask as always bro. feels like we haven't spoken in soooo long. waiting by the window for my husband to come home from war. checking the post office every day for one mere letter from the front lines 😔
the way that little book is the only thing jackie's taking notes on before she got to college. she bombed her first exam and is like "omg how do you study in college???" and then looked at her 10 pages of notes from "chicks 101" and a lightbulb lit up
jackie has the best pickup lines written down and her phone and keeps checking the notes app as shes walking towards you (walks into a pole). forgets them immediately the second she starts talking to you (you talked first and she forgot what she crammed) but refuses to admit it and tries it anyways. completely flips the line around. like "you're the only ten i see, are you from tennessee?" and immediately winces.
screams into her pillow atleast once a week. did not realize that flirting with girls would be so fucking hard. no one tells you this thing. she almost misses when she thought she was straight. the shit was soooo easy. she's so good at flirting with boys that she's still pulling them without even trying.
also jackie for fucking sure memorizes how she wants conversations to go in general when she's nervous about something i feel and the second someone goes off script she's like "hold on now". has to schedule a doctors appointment for the first time and they ask her a question she didn't have written down and she hangs up (they needed her middle name. she makes shauna call them from rhode island lmaoo.).
peering over jackie's shoulder and she's got 20 tabs open all along the lines of "how to kiss", "how to tell her i like her", "how to flirt with women when you look straight", "how to be her friend in a gay way", "lesbian. girl pretty. help"
jackie does NOT believe in situationships. what do you mean you're not in love with her??? you went on three dates?? she secretly sprayed her perfume on your pillow when you were in the bathroom and everything. yahoo answers swore it would make you fall in love with her
side note jackie immediately hard launches you after one date. queen. writing mrs jackie taylor in all her notebooks for sure. calling shauna up like "i found the one" and shaunas like "...where is she from?". "unimportant. anyways so on our date..."
you see a no faintly written under a shit ton of eraser marks before she changed her mind and wrote another yes. (was nervous about giving you the option lmaooo)
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When Rhaenyra says she has to take Aegon's head, Alicent agrees because it means the war is over and Rhaenyra is finally queen, right? WRONG, is she forgetting Aemond and Daeron are Aegon's heirs??? Killing Aegon doesn't erase his brothers' claims to the throne. She is literally sentencing all three of her sons to death.
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