#the story focuses on the lives of four different teenagers and maybe an adult | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sg-marshall · 4 years ago

Text

sims 4 trait legacy challenge

Overview:

This is a ten generation legacy challenge based on some characteristics people can possess. Each generation will be based upon a new trait. The style and gender of the generation is completely up to you (I usually play as women but gender does not matter in this challenge)! Complete all goals before focusing on the next generation. Some may play onto each other, so be sure to look ahead before moving forward! I created an adapted version for people who do not have the packs I used listed below the challenge. I wanted to make sure everyone could play and not feel left out!

Rules:

No cheats or mods!

Start off with $20,000 and a build a house wherever you want one.

Complete all six goals for every generation before moving onto the next one.

Complete the full aspiration and reach level 10 in the set career.

There is no rules when it comes to aging up but I suggest waiting until it is their set birthday.

Play on normal life span.

Packs Used: Base Game, Discovery University, Seasons, City Living, Get to Work, Cats and Dogs, Parenthood, Spa Day, and Knifty Knitting

Generation One: Responsibility

You are a very old fashioned person who believes things have a certain way of being done. Every object in your house has a set place, the person you marry you are supposed to stay with forever, and the world should be a clean place to live in. Never once have you strayed away from your beliefs and you’ve always lived your life by the book. Even once your partner dies and you are left with a child who cannot handle their passing, you stay true to your morals. (EDIT: I have been playing this challenge myself and found that the final level of the aspiration said “have a child master a career”. I do not know if you have to be in the household for that, but if you do, just add this generation to the household of the next one before they master it. It is also okay if you want to ignore/cheat this part.)

Traits: Neat, Good, Green Fiend

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Career: Education (Administrator Branch)

Goals:

Max charisma skill.

Max research and debate skill.

Be married as a young adult, but have your partner die (do not tell your child how) once they reach adult hood. Never remarry.

Have only one child with your partner.

Complete the snowglobes collection and have them set up in a specific room in your house.

Make your neighborhood green and keep it that way.

Generation Two: Determined

You’ve always struggled to cope with the death of your father/mother ever. Maybe that's because you never really knew why they died in the first place. Left with too many questions to handle, you destroy your relationship with your friends and family and run away to find some answers. This entails a trip to Sixam, where you can finally wrap ahead around the passing of you mom/dad. You decide to come home just in time to see your mom/dad just before they too pass away. After a heart-breaking conversation, you realize that all the secrecy was for the best.

Traits: Gloomy, Ambitious, Loner

Aspiration: Nerd Brain

Career: Astronaut (Interstellar Smuggler Branch)

Goals:

Max rocket science skill.

Max mischief skill.

Build a rocket ship and fly to Sixam.

Run away and live on your own as a teenager.

Have a horrible relationship with your mom/dad as a young adult, but become best friends with them before they pass away.

Complete the microscope prints collection.

Generation Three: Loving

Your mother/father was extremely distant growing up, which caused you to rely on friends as your family. Your childhood best friend has been with you every step of the way, and you ended up fell in love with them. All you wanted to do was be a mother/father, but found out you could never have children. You adopt a child as a baby and raise them as your own, teaching them everything you wish your parents did for you.

Traits: Romantic, Family - Oriented, Foodie

Aspiration: Soulmate

Career: Babysitter (Teenager), None (Young Adult and older)

Goals:

Max parenting skill.

Max wellness skill.

Marry your childhood best friend.

Adopt a baby after you get married.

Teach your toddler to max all skills.

Have a side passion of knitting.

Generation Four: Intelligence

You grew up incredibly smart with no knowledge of who your real parents were. However, that never mattered to you. Your adoptive parents have made it their life goal to advance your gifts in every way they know how. Late nights of helping you with homework, early mornings of finishing projects, and spending their fortunes to enroll you into the college of your dreams. All you wanted to do was repay them by becoming a world renowned journalist. You dedicate your best-sellers to them because, after all, they’ll always be your biggest fan.

Traits: Genius, Bookworm, Unflirty

Aspiration: Academic

Career: Writer (Journalist Branch)

Goals:

Max logic skill.

Max writing skill.

Reach level eight in five other skills of your choice.

Go to the University of Britechester and study Language and Literature (distinguished).

Join the Debate Guild and reach the highest rank.

Write five novels.

Generation Five: Hard - Working

Fashion has been your passion since you were a little girl/boy. You even asked your parents to stop dressing you as a toddler because the clothes they picked were “not stylish enough.” As a self-proclaimed style icon, you knew you had to make your biggest dream come true: to create your own fashion line. So, as soon as you graduated high school, you packed your bags and moved to the big city - San-Myshuno. There you created your social media platform and blew up! A normal life was never your style, and you made sure to put in as many hours as it would take to achieve all you ever wanted.

Traits: Perfectionist, Self - Assured, Materialistic

Aspiration: City Native

Career: Style Influencer (Stylist Branch)

Goals:

Max photography skill.

Max painting skill.

Must live in San-Myshuno.

Complete the crystals collection.

Hire a nanny for your child and do not spend much time with them.

Gain 10,000 followers on Simstagram.

Generation Six: Resilience

After being known as “the child of the most famous fashion designer” all your life, the city became a toxic place for you. You hated the loud noises, constant stream of people, and just wanted to live a quiet life. You loved visiting your grandmother/father’s house and hearing one of her/his famous stories. You decided to pull inspiration from one of their novels and live off by the coast in the adorable Brindleton Bay. Your passion for crafting and living off the land inspired you to start a small business selling your candles and juice - all locally grown of course.

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Maker, Creative

Aspiration: Master Maker

Career: Freelancer (Simply Crafted)

Goals:

Max fabrication skill.

Reach level eight in both candle making and juice fizzing.

Move to Brindleton Bay as a young adult.

Have four or more kids.

Complete the frog collection.

Never go to an event in the city or visit the city once you are a young adult.

Generation Seven: Carefree

Being in a big family is can be hectic at times. So, you decided to be the happy jokester in the middle just trying to get people to crack a smile. And you got really good at it. As a major people person, you made sure to get to know everyone you meet. You even started a tradition of taking a picture with them so you could never forget that moment. Your friends will always invite you to go out because you are known for being the life of the party. However, the parties you host, are even better. You decide to live life as if it was one big stage, and you’re the star performer.

Traits: Goofball, Clumsy, Outgoing

Aspiration: Party Animal

Career: Entertainer (Comedian Branch)

Goals:

Max comedy skill.

Max singing skill.

Host a party every week.

Take a photo of every person who visits you.

Marry someone you met just two days before.

Attend every festival or event you are asked to attend.

Generation Eight: Kind

Expected to be just like your mother/father, no one ever assumed you would be the quiet kid who preferred reading over partied. However, that is exactly who you were. When it was that time of the week for a new social event, you either left for the library or locked yourself in your room, praying it ended soon. Your parents noticed you struggled talking to people, so they allowed you to adopt a puppy once you became a teenager. You and your dog instantly became best friends and you took them everywhere. Even though you may not be great with people, being compassionate was a skill you ranked high in. You always looked out for the less fortunate and wanted to provide in anyway you could.

Traits: Vegetarian, Loner, Good

Aspiration: Friend of the Animals

Career: Gardner (Floral Designer Branch)

Goals:

Max gardening skill.

Max flower arranging skill.

Keep up a garden of just flowers.

Adopt strays: one dog, and two cats.

Marry an ambitious sim.

Donate $100 to charity weekly.

Generation Nine: Impulsive

You grew up hearing stories of your grandmother/father’s so called “wild days” and fell in love with the energy it brought. However, your mom/dad raised you better than to go out spending life as if there was no consequences. Finding a balance started off to be very challenging for you. You could never hold down relationships and even got pregnant/got someone pregnant twice. It wasn't until you became a secret agent and learned how to live two lifestyles: one full of fun and adventure; the other more stable and structured.

Traits: Active, Non-Committal, Bro

Aspiration: Bodybuilder

Career: Secret Agent (Diamond Agent Branch)

Goals:

Max fitness skill.

Max handiness skill.

Go to either college for Psychology and play soccer.

Have four failed relationships and never get married.

Have two children from two different relationships.

Move three times once you become a young adult.

Generation 10: Passionate

Because your mother/father’s job required you to move around so much, making real life friends was a lot harder than it seemed. So, you built your relationships within the online community. Every day, you and your closest friends would hop online and compete in tournaments or even play for fun. As the years went on, you became really good at coding and even started working on your own apps. You looked up to the players from ESports Gaming - only the best gamers in the world - and longed to be sitting in one of their spots. And sure enough, after years of perfecting your strategies and game plays, your dreams came true!

Traits: Geek, Hot-Headed, Outgoing

Aspiration: Computer Whiz

Career: Tech Guru (ESport Gamer Branch)

Goals:

Max programming skill.

Max video gaming skill.

Complete the MySims Trophies collection.

Attend and compete in every Geek Con convention.

Make five video games or apps.

Mentor your child/ren for five hours each.

Adaptations:

Gen 1:

If you do not have Discover University, go into the Business career (Management Branch).

Max cooking skill if you do not have Discover University.

If you do not have City Living, complete the postcards collection.

Gen 2:

Unlock the secret world in Oasis Springs if you do not have Get to Work.

Gen 3:

If you do not have Parenthood but do have Get to Work, max the baking skill.

If you do not have both Parenthood and Get to Work, max the gourmet cooking skill.

If you do not have Spa Day but do have Knifty Knitting, max the knitting skill.

If you do not have both Spa Day or Knifty Knitting, max the photography skill.

If you do not have Knifty Knitting, have a side passion of photography.

Gen 4:

If you do not have Discover University, read a new skill book every week instead of attending university.

Gen 5:

If you do not have City Living, have the Fabulously Wealthy aspiration.

If you do not have City Living, live in Oasis Springs.

Gen 6:

Do not have a career if you do not have Eco-Lifestyle. Instead, craft item on the woodworking for money.

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, max the fishing skill instead of reaching level eight in candle making and juice fizzing.

If you do not have Cats and Dogs, move to Evergreen Harbor.

If you do not have both Cats and Dogs or Eco-Lifestyle, live in Willow Creek

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, have the self-assured trait instead.

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, have the Angling Ace aspiration.

Gen 7:

If you do not have City Living but do have Get Together, max the dancing skill.

If you do not have both City Living or Get Together, max the mixology skill.

Gen 8:

If you do not have Dogs and Cats, have the Freelance Botanist aspiration.

Do not have a career if you do not have Seasons. Instead, sell your plants for money.

If you do not have Seasons but have Get to Work, max the baking skill.

If you do not have both Seasons or Get to Work, max the violin skill.

If you do not have Dogs and Cats, but have Seasons, own three bees nests and two insect nests instead of owning pets.

If you do not have both Dogs and Cats or Seasons, have three children instead of having three pets.

If you do not have City Living, have the cheerful trait.

Gen 9:

If you do have Strangerville, go into the Military Career (I do not have it, so I played as a Secret Agent)

If you do have Snowy Escape, have the adventurous trait instead of the active trait (I do not have it but believe they would be adventurous).

If you do not have Discover University, read five skill books over different topics, instead of going to college.

Gen 10:

If you do not have City Living, compete in an online tournament weekly instead of going to Geek Con.

#sims #sims 4 gameplay #sims 4 legacy #small creator #newchallenge #lilsimsie #clairesiobhan #maxismatch #maxismatchccworld #legacy #sims4 #basegame #traits

705 notes · View notes

wolfstarlibrarian · 4 years ago

Note

Hey Librarian!

Any modern AUs?

Oh goodness. The Librarian has gotten this ask many, many times and it’s a valid question! However, it is so broad that it’s impossible to make just one list?

All that said, here are a few modern AUs that the Librarian loves but maybe hasn’t listed as often as the ones on their favorites list. Please know that this list is incomplete, so check out the other modern lists below the cut!

Wolfstar Modern AUs: B side

Ever Thus by @wolfstarting “Right, well I’d say it’s about time to put an end to this nonsense, wouldn’t you?” James nodded sagely. “You’ve obviously still got some things to chat through with him, but he will talk to you about it, Remus. He thinks the world of you, you know that. But the important thing is that you do talk because nothing’s going to get sorted if you just sit cry-wanking in your room.” The world is excruciating and enthralling in equal measure. The gang try their hardest to navigate it as real, legitimate adults.

Déjà Vu by @remus-john-lupin Sirius swears he’s seen this guy before, and he’s dying to figure it out.

A Promise by @kattlupin Remus Lupin and Sirius Black are two strangers both seeking solace in solo trips to Paris. Strangers that is, until happenstance sits them together on a plane and their solo trips turn into a romantic adventure together.

Chocolate Cake part of the Just Desserts series by @theprongsletthatlived “Yes, Remus Lupin is gorgeous, smart, funny, and hands down the best lay Sirius has ever had. Sometimes, Sirius just can’t get enough of him—of his plump mouth or the sweetness that seems to radiate out of his pores. He’ll even admit that he does prefer Remus’ company to anyone else’s ninety percent of the time. But—just because your favorite dessert is chocolate cake doesn’t mean you’ll never crave a cookie, right?”

Lost to You Yourself by OfALaurel Sirius Black writes gay porn for a skin mag, and meets Remus Lupin, who does professional readings (audio recordings) of his fictions, and there is flirting, and courting, and love over narratives, cds, and fictionality.

Something Beautiful -orphaned account When Remus Lupin's ex talks him into a drunken tattoo mistake, he goes to his friend and co-worker Lily for help. Luckily her husband's best mate is a tattoo artist who can help with the cover up. Unfortunately for Remus, the tattoo in in a rather compromising area, and he'll have to get over his embarrassment. Luckily for him, Sirius Black is just the man for the job.

There is a Light That Never Goes Out by WolfstarGarden Sirius’ breath puffed a warm tickle around his ear. “You’re gorgeous... I want to take you out, somewhere nice, away from Prongs and Evans. Can I?” Remus opened his mouth, but the yes he had intended instead came out, “Why?”

The Barista, the Burglar, and the Sofa by SeasOfTrees This is the story of twenty-three year old Remus Lupin, an overworked graduate student and underpaid barista, who comes home one day to find an exceptionally attractive man has broken into his flat. Given the neighborhood he lives in, that isn’t a huge surprise. He is surprised, though, when the burglar comes back with a sofa. Alternatively, this is the story of how Sirius Black tries to seduce a man by slowly furnishing his flat.

here's to never growing up by @elixirsoflife A group chat documents the lives of four highly dramatic teenage boys as they navigate their A Levels. Or, like, die trying.

where are we now? by @miraxb

Sirius meets a familiar stranger while visiting Berlin. Everything is different. Everything is the same.

I Am A Mess Around You by @littlemissbennet Modern Setting AU - Remus finds out that a hot, beautiful man just moved into his building. But for some reason, every time they meet a disaster strikes and Remus makes a complete fool of himself. Why can't he act like a sensible person around this handsome young man?

Liebestraum by @quoththethestral

“Do you still have a lot of friends in the area, then?” “None,” Remus answered simply, which felt much easier than explaining at the level of detail that the question actually deserved.

Of Bookshelves and Baby Carriers by @poppunkpadfoot The customer standing in front of him is quite possibly the most beautiful man Remus has ever seen. Like, he looks like a model or something. He has long, black hair, flattened by water, and just the slightest amount of scruff on his face, and… And a baby strapped to his chest. Okay.

Cut Your Bangs part at the Introduction series by @notmycatsname "There’s something about him that catches Sirius’s eye. His voice is a little whiny, almost off-key. Sirius has heard it time and time again in the bands that Lily plays through their speakers at their apartment but it sounds more genuine, almost heart breaking, through his voice. Remus’s voice."

Saving Regulus Black by @toyhto A story in which Remus Lupin meets a dark handsome stranger and they go for a road trip to rescue one little brother who’s probably up to something bad.

We Will Fill the Cracks Together by newskyillusion Remus works in a library and at his parents pub in a small, Welsh town. Sirius Black is doing his PhD on werewolves and comes to a small, Welsh town to do some research.

Find all the previous lists that feature wolfstar in a modern AU below!

The Librarian’s 12 Favorite Fics

Alternate Universe

Accountants + Finance

Athletes

Babysitter Remus

Baking/Bakers

Bartender

Bookshop

Cafes + Artists

Camping + Roadtrips

Coffee Shop

Cooking/Chefs

Dancer

Dating Apps

Hairdressers

High School

Legal/Courtroom fics (Non-magical)

Library

Model

Movie RomComs

Muggle MWPP

Musician/Band

Science Focused Fics

Skateboarding Remus

Social Media

Subway, Underground & Tube

Tattoo Shop

Tech workers/Programmers

Texting Fics 1

Texting Fics 2

Tumblr Mutuals to Lovers

University/College

Video Games

Writers + Authors

Mood/Theme

Fluff 3: Modern AU

Tropes

Famous Sirius or Remus

Neighbors

If you need more just send an ask or check out the Card Catalogue!

#modern #wolfstar #remus x sirius #remus lupin #sirius black #marauders

305 notes · View notes

kingreywrites · 4 years ago

Text

Beyond Those Trees

Fandom: Tangled

Word Count: 2263

Eugene Appreciation Week Day One: Childhood

Summary: When he was five, Eugene climbed a tree.

Note: i am very very weak for orphanage stories so here is a self-indulgent one asfhdghj also i generally hc that lance grew up for a few years with his parents before losing them (around the time he was six or seven) and then going to the orphanage and meeting eugene, which is why he won't really be there because they haven’t met yet ;;

Read on ao3

When he was five, Eugene climbed a tree.

He shouldn't have climbed that tree. He knew the matrons at the orphanage would be mad at him, and tell him that he was causing trouble again, that he should stop making it more difficult on them by being up to no good all the time. Something like that, at least; he heard the sermon often enough.

But, for all that they hated when he did stupid stuff, it wasn't like the matrons paid much attention to him in the first place. Not enough to stop him, in any case. As long as they didn't know, it would be fine, and Eugene knew they wouldn't notice anything if he did it before they checked where he was. So he left the orphanage right after lunch, went to the big old tree not too far at the edge of the village, and decided to climb it. He saw the older boys do it a few days before - they weren't his friends, and so he had been too shy to join them, but now he knew how to do it, and he wasn't gonna wait anymore.

He wanted to do the same thing as Flynnigan Rider on the cover of his favourite book, the one he was painstakingly learning to read with. On it, the adventurer stood tall on the branch of a tree, looking towards the sun rising on the horizon. The rays of sunlight were the same colour as his treasure, and the golden accents were in relief - Eugene had traced them with his finger time and time again, yearning for a life like this one.

So Eugene climbed a tree. It wasn't too hard, and he was very proud of himself, because he knew the older boys had needed each other to get up there, but he had done it all alone. He reached the thickest branch he could see, stood up tall, and... well, Vardaros was not as pretty as the city drawn on his book, and the sun wasn't exactly rising, but it still looked wicked cool, in his own words.

If you had asked him then, he would have said that this was the best moment of his life.

He was bored after exactly four minutes. To be fair, there wasn't much to do on a tree, and he really wanted to go tell everyone about what he did - except the matrons, of course. Anyway, he reasoned, Flynnigan probably didn't stay there long either, instead running off to go on new adventures, which was exactly what Eugene was going to do.

Eugene looked down.

Climbing had taken him mere minutes. He had been so focused on his goal that he did not even stop to think about the height, or anything, really. But he looked down, and suddenly the distance to the ground was nauseating, and the closest branch seemed miles away. Leaning on the trunk, feeling small, Eugene shakily tried to extend his foot towards it, before immediately giving up.

He... He was scared.

As he remembers it today, the tree was the tallest thing he had ever seen, reaching towards the sky, nearly on par with the clouds. When he came back during his teenage years - when Eugene wasn't his name anymore and his dreams had drastically changed - he saw the tree again, and realised that it was simply a sad, old tree, who wasn't even that tall compared to those in Corona's luxurious forests.

But he had been five. He had been five, and little, and scared, so he had decided to stay on the tree, and wait for someone to notice his absence. Wait for someone to come help him.

And he waited. And he waited.

The sunset had been prettier, bathing the entire town in red and golden light, just like on his book. He hadn't really appreciated it.

(When he tells this story, he always acts as if he had tried to distract himself, and that was it. He doesn't talk about the tears, and the heart wrenching loneliness he had felt, certain in that way kids were that this was permanent.)

Exhaustion and fear got the best of him, and he fell asleep. When he woke up, he was still here, and no one had come.

The sun was rising this time. Eugene got up, looked down, and something clicked for him. No one would come. He was cold, and scared, and hungry too, but no one would come, and so there was only one person who could save him. Only one daring adventurer, ready to brave his fear and save the day.

He tried to convince himself that this hero was him. Despite how terrified he felt, he was an adventurer, he was just like Flynnigan Rider, and Flynnigan never backed down when faced with a challenge.

"If it's not possible, it's not worth doing," he muttered, before jumping to the nearest branch.

Miraculously, he reached it. The same couldn't be said for the next branch, and he fell heavily to the ground.

He remembers pain exploding in his arm, staying on the ground for a long, long time, and then making his way back painfully, stomach growling loudly.

"Eugene?"

Rapunzel's voice breaks him out of his narration, and he looks at her, squeezing her hand lightly. They're both sitting in the special spot he found on the roof, an easily accessible ledge giving one of the best views on Corona.

"Yeah?"

"You said… You said this was a funny story," she remarks, tone hesitant, uselessly tucking a strand of her short hair behind her ear.

"It is!" he exclaims. "After spending all day and night away, I was so sure I would find the orphanage in absolute chaos that the whole way back I prepared a lie about going to fight off bandits or something. Imagine my surprise when not only no one had noticed I was gone, but the adults were even mad at me because I was late for my chores!"

He chuckles, and stops when he sees the lack of amusement in Rapunzel's eyes.

"It's funny because… I was being overdramatic?" he tries. Her frown deepens. "Guess you had to be there…"

"You were five," she protests. She's the one who takes his hand this time, an intensity he hadn't expected in her eyes. "You were five, and alone, and- no one cared you were gone?"

He opens his mouth, and closes it, unsure how to proceed. That wasn't the reaction he had expected. And, in all honesty, the way she said it did make the story sound sad, but it wasn't! He… They cared, he thinks, they would have if they had noticed because, at the very least, they would be in trouble with the law if they had lost a kid. They cared… They simply didn't know he had left.

"I got up to a lot of mischief at the time," he finally answers. "They were busy, and probably assumed I was out causing trouble."

Rapunzel stays silent after that. She holds his hand on her lap, and gently rests her head on his shoulder, while they both look at the view. The sun is setting on the horizon, bright and burning, the entire town glowing orange because of it.

Eugene sighs, and finally rests his head on top of hers, enjoying the soft brush of her hair against his cheek. Maybe this story isn't as funny as he remembers it. He's good at turning every little anecdote into something grandiose, entertaining whoever is willing to listen with his lively retelling, but… It's different, with Rapunzel. Everything is.

There's no hesitation to have when he says she cares, for one. Maybe she shouldn't, but she does, more than anyone ever did. She's also the first person in his life he doesn't want to lie to. The first person he doesn't feel like he has to lie to. She saw the worst of him already, saw how much of a selfish, useless jerk he could be, and she… she still loves him, for some reason. It's difficult to phantom, sometimes, and in the last month since their first meeting, Eugene kept worrying that he would wake up someday, and this dream would have ended as quickly as it started.

He's used to being forgotten, after all.

"I think we'd have been friends," Rapunzel whispers, interrupting his thoughts. "If we met, as kids. I think we'd have been friends."

"I was a troublemaker," he breathes out softly, still resting on her, "Sometimes, I acted out some scenes from my books, and it often ended with broken windows. You probably would have found me annoying."

"Oh I don't know, I think I would have enjoyed acting out those scenes with you, Mr Troublemaker," Rapunzel teased. "Though… Maybe you wouldn't have liked me. I was a bit of a crybaby when I was a kid, and not a great adventurer."

For a second, Eugene is glad she can't see him, because he knows his sadness for her must show. His heart tightens each time she mentions her childhood, and he remembers how lonely she had been, all alone in her tower.

"I would have loved you," is all he answers, and it's not even a lie. There's no universe in which he doesn't like Rapunzel, he's pretty sure of that, and even then… He had loved the younger kids, at the time. When he grew up a little, got over his tree adventure, and decided that he wasn't gonna be like the older kids he had known - he had read them stories, and had helped the new kids adapt, and had felt both happy and sad when they got adopted, and he inevitably wasn't.

And then… Then he started stealing, and it all went downhill from there.

"I would have loved you too," Rapunzel echoes, a bit too intensely. "We would have played together all the time, and- And I would have noticed that you were gone. I would have helped you come down from that tree."

They're still hugging. Still looking at the view, though Eugene is not seeing much of it, too focused on her words. He wants to joke that she couldn't have been more than one year old at the time, that she would have had trouble doing anything, but the deflection doesn't feel right. She's squeezing his hand tight, and he understands what she's trying to say, understands what she's trying to make him see.

"I know," he whispers, because he does. He knows she cares about him. He knows- He knows she wouldn't forget him. As much as he worries, deep down he knows she loves him, because she tells him and shows him in every little moment.

Rapunzel shifts, and they finally meet each other's eyes again.

"Do you know how I found you here?" she asks.

"Uh…" Eugene hesitates, thrown off by the subject change.

To be perfectly honest, he had come here because he was bored out of his mind, since Rapunzel was taken by her princess lessons, and no one really cared where he went as long as he didn't cause trouble. And then, all alone here with the sun shining warmly on his face, and the ledge offering more than enough space to stretch, Eugene had simply… fallen asleep.

Before waking up to Rapunzel curiously peering down at him, which surprised him so much it nearly made him fall off the roof. Thankfully, she had quick reflexes, and caught him, but she had looked spooked and he had wanted to make her feel better, thus the tree story he had been reminded of with this adventure.

"Usually, when my lessons are over, you always manage to find me and let me talk to you about my day, or try to take me on a date even when Cassandra says we can't, or… Well," Rapunzel chuckles softly, "what I mean is that you're always there. And today… Today you weren't."

"Oh," he breathes out.

"Cass said there was no reason to worry, and I knew she was right, but- but what if, you know? What if you were in trouble, or what if you had gotten hurt somewhere and couldn't come, or- or… I was worried," she sighs, looking down.

Gently, he put his hand on her chin, and made her raise her head again. The thing is, he does know what she was talking about. That worry gnawing at his insides every time he can't find her, and doesn't know where she is, he understands that all too well.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," she immediately corrects. "I simply… I notice your absence. Always, all the time, I notice when you are there or not, and I care about that. If… If you ever were in trouble, if you ever disappeared, I would find you, I promise."

When he sees the honesty in her eyes, Eugene thinks back to that little kid crying all alone on the branch of a too big tree. He thinks about him, growing up, meeting people he loved, finding a best friend in Lance, and yet continuing to ruin all of that little by little, because he was so sure the only way to carve his place in this world was by doing it alone.

He had been an idiot, he knows.

"I know you would, Sunshine," Eugene says. "I would too." Because now that they have each other, he knows that, no matter what, they will never let the other feel lonely ever again.

#tangled #tangled the series #Eugene Fitzherbert #Rapunzel #EAW

49 notes · View notes

glitterytidalwavedragon · 4 years ago

Text

Expanding into my other Fandoms (I’m gonna have to take a stance) Read the whole thing please.

One of my oldest and most beloved anime is Inuyasha. As of late I have been binged watching the hell out of it as I am getting my BFF into different anime shows. We are really close to entering the Yashahime part of the series, and she asked if I planned to write fanfiction involving the one character which made me even watch the show as a 10-year-old.

Sesshomaru

The first episode I ever watched involved this aloof, entitled dog fighting his brother over the sword in their father’s grave. Specifically, it was part 3 of that whole episode series were Kagome pulled out the sword. I at the time had 3 dogs of German Sheppard/wolf hybrid, they were MASSIVE dogs, fell in love with the big white fluff that was Sesshomaru’s demon form. I use to sneak staying up and watch the show faithfully to see the goodest boy as it was only on at 11pm EST on adult swim. Which meant it was bad and I was breaking the rules, I felt like a rebel.

Now I hesitated answering that question. She has no idea of what is in Yashahime, she is being careful not to spoil it so I told her I didn’t know. Recently, to find out what the feel is for Sesshomaru content, I looked into the tag on tumblr…

OH MY GOD.

Sesshomaru’s tag is FLOODED with hate. Like every four post, there is hate, distain, and attacking happening. As someone who watches Yashahime, I quickly knew why.

Sessrin.

Even now I sigh. And I sigh HARD. I am not for, nor am I against the Sessrin train. Same for the Sesskagu train. I think both sides need to look at things on a logical prospective. I plan to do just that. I know I will get hate from the either side and maybe some support as well. But if I am going to do anything in this fandom (as I like doing ships and reader inserts) it will come up.

So, like my Kaiba post, and my Sebastian Heel post, I will use my research skills as well as my COLLEGE DEGREE WHICH HAS BOTH ART AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY labelled on it to explain why this progression in the story is normal to anti-Sessrin fans and why this isn’t a crime by story standards nor should we look at it as a crime.

AS WELL

Explain to Sessrin fans why it is so weird for non-shippers to see it play out and why so much hate formed.

As I let out another sigh, we shall begin. Let’s start at an historical prospective. (Links at the bottom).

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING! I’LL BE ABLE TO TELL!

I will start with the information I can access right away.

While finding charts on the life-span of common folk in 1590’s Feudal Japan is rather difficult, Ancient.edu states that the average lifespan was about 50. To put this in perspective, the average lifespan of Europeans at the time was somewhere between 40-45 with the latter being rare. Since most of us reading are not from Japanese descent, I will through Europe in this first.

If we look at the same time frame of 1590, we are looking at most of Western Europe had now entered the age of Renaissance. According to sources from Learning Resources in association with the National Gallery of Art, marriage was not what TV drama’s from HBO or Hulu depicted. By today standards they would be a crime, as the average age for marriage of an adult female was age 14…

The reasoning behind the young marriage age had multiple factors. First being, females were considered an adult once they were menstruating. Birthing also proved to be fatal, and since the lifespan was at best 40 and 45 if they were lucky, there was really no room to wait. Also Europe at the time had became hugely focused on making sure blood lines were legitimate, meaning to ensure the girl was a virgin, the moment she was able to reproduced she was married off. Those they married were not young teenagers either. Most marriages, a man would be in their thirties, and had probably multiple wives as women died more than men when not counting the battle field.

To make matters worse for the Renaissance Lady, these marriages would leave many young males unable to marry and if their husband died in battle, well, unfortunately they were not seen as desirable. This was due to the idea of a ‘free woman’. Should the girl not have a father, brother or uncle to return to as they too died, a widow had her freedom. But that freedom came at a cost. She would be assumed to have slept around, and in many writings, such as the Canterbury Tales, where Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a Window on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land survived her five husbands and the men in her family. In short, she was made to be a slut and to be looked down upon as no man controlled her.

The point of talking about Europe is because that is something most of us Non-Asian or Japanese people consume and like to paint in large romantic brush strokes of knights and magic. Honestly, reading G.R.R.Martin Song of Ice and Fire, he uses this model as we see the Queen of Dragons, Danny start off at age thirteen shortly after she had her first menstruation.

Now let’s look at Feudal Japan.

As stated before, the lifespan was around 50 years. In some populations, this was even shorter. Nagaoka, Hirata, Yokota and Matsu’ura’s on demographic data at the Yuigahama-minami area in Kamakura, Japan and found both male and female remains that suggested life expectancy to have ended around age 24-25. This was largely due to living conditions and public health. In areas like these, it would make the most sense to marry and repopulate quickly as the expectancy of life was half the national average at the time.

To my frustration, I could not find a clear marriage age for Japanese women at the time of the edo period. HOWEVER, where there is a will there is a way. I took a look at famous Lords or Daimyo’s of the time. The average age of marriage of their wives was between 12-14. Much younger than I expected, but it made sense considering this is a time where war ran the show and marriage was strictly about political gain. One of these Daimyo’s was Masamune Date, who was also 13, but then as he got older took concubines who became considerably younger than him as he became older. The goal was to have as many children as possible for hires and for political marriages to gain power.

Now lets look at Inuyasha the MANGA

Lets get the manga timeline proper here. The whole adventure took place in 11 months, a month shy of Kagome’s 16th birthday. Doing a few estimations, Rin would have travelled with Sesshomaru about 8-9 of those months. But before we get into the relationship, lets look at something the ANIME made a huge mistake with in the beginning and tried to fix as the story went on.

For some reason I could only fine gifs for the Early appearances of Sesshomaru so bear with me.

Early appearances in the manga

^ He was so fickle and a trickster then...

Now early apperances in the anime.

Later appearance in the manga

Laster appearance in the anime

Notice the issue here?

Sesshomaru was CONSIDERABLY younger looking in the start of the manga. In the anime, he started off looking like an fully adult male. But as the anime went on, they tried to make Sesshomaru look younger with subtle changes to his jaw line, eye size, and his height. Yeah, his height had changed. They made him shorter.

While in the manga, we see this young-teen looking demon, slowly mature over 11 months to look like he is in his later teens and by series end, closer to being in his late teens or twenty. Yes, art changes over time, but the anime went a reverse route. I can only guess they spoke to the author of Inuyasha about her ships, as they did Drama CDs, and realized the mistake that was made in making him more mature than he was.

You can’t tell me he doesn’t look closer to his manga self in the final act, because he does.

Since we are on the topic of the anime, lets be clear. The anime timeline and manga timeline are very different. The story in the anime (in the English) suggests that OVER a year has past since Kagome started her journey. They try to fix this in the final act, but it was still so muddled as previous seasons are to be taken as cannon. This could have been due to an translation error in the early production when the anime no longer had anymore manga material to reference. But whatever the case, for English viewers the time the group spent together felt much longer.

So now we come to the heart of the issue.

Because of the mistakes of the anime, a lot of anti-sessrin see the relationship as father daughter. I’ll be honest, watching the anime and solely the anime as a teenager and as an adult (as the manga was on hold for a very long time due to author’s health. I was in college when it finished.), I too thought it was just a father-daughter relationship and Jaken the nanny who got punched all the time. In fact, the English took hard liberties with Kagura, as the English dubs often do with characters, and made it very clear her feelings for the demon lord and Sesshomaru very much recognized them (though he never responded). Even in her death scene, it felt as if he was saying good bye to a friend more than love interest. But who really knows, as there are things that point otherwise. When another demon mock’s Kagura’s death, Sesshomaru gets super pissy.

The manga did also play with this fact when it came out in English, idk if the wording or message is different in the Japanese. Translation errors happen a lot even in todays releases, look at Kuroshitsuji. So of course most anti-sessrin’s did not see this coming in Yashahime when Rin was named mother. In fact it felt like a betrayal as we were sure Sesshomaru had no romantic feelings.

Then there was the Kohaku/Rin mashup that was hinted left and right. The English anime, with its overly dramatic and blunt emotions made it appear one way. That in the end the two kids would probably be married. Then the anime as a whole made Sesshomaru older than intended. I can see why and understand how this became a problem.

On the other side of that coin.

If you followed the dub, seen ‘Swords of an Honorable Ruler’ and read the manga… Sesshomaru was not fatherly to Rin at all. In fact, Jaken picked up all of that leg work. Rin worried for Kohaku, but clearly loved Lord Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru cared about Kagura but he almost CRIED when he lost Rin.

We have to remember that Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship must have been very hard for the demon. While we never see his mental process expect for a few rare times, we have to remember he hated humans. In the movie, he blamed a human for the early death of his father, Sesshomaru killed without mercy. It made sense that he wouldn’t be fatherly to Rin as her just being there should have caused countless inner conflicts. Hell, he even says his father’s weakness was humans, and look who picked up that trait.

Sesshomaru was designed to, someday, walk in his father’s footsteps. So sess/rin, not a surprise. Also when you see it in a historical perspective, Rin having kids around age 15-16, makes sense. In fact you could argue he waited too long for the time period.

We also need to look more at the manga when concerned with Yashahime. 8-9 months is all Rin travelled with him and he was like hold up, and left her at the village because he KNEW she needed to come to her own conclusion. That no matter what she picked he would live with and protect her. Unconditional love on his end. She cannon wise spent YEARS living with humans and MONTHS with Sesshomaru. Again, by manga standards of cannon.

Now I can already hear the screaming about age and what not. Some sources say Sesshomaru is over 900, by the rule of thumb, if we look at anime and movie releases, we have Sesshomaru being over 500 with no define age and Inuyasha around 270 years old being more pinpointed due to the movie. Just by going by ANIME CANNON. Kagome and Inuyasha, you have a 15 year old with a 270 year old man. If you say being pinned to the tree doesn’t count, then you have 220.

Also, here is something very interesting. In the episode where Inuyasha meets the unmother, he tells her, thinking it was his mom, she died when he was very small and we have flash backs later in the series of him being small running from demons. Demons clearly age much slower than humans, even half-demons. Inuyasha can be 270 but mentally and physically be 15, the same logic works for Sesshomaru, who in the manga is not much older than Inuyasha.

In the manga, there wasn’t any grooming, in the anime, there was a ton of mess-ups but no grooming.

Would this fly in todays world? HELL NO! NO, its gross, she’s a kid. Stop.

I know any fanfic I write will lean heavily on the side of father/daughter because that is what I grew up seeing on the screen. I can’t think of Rin as an adult because years of seeing her as a cheerful little girl. It’s like seeing G.O.T Arya about to have sex for the first time in season 8… I remember when she was a kid on the show. It was way to weird and I had to look away until it ended. But that’s my 2021 mentality.

But Inuyasha is not taking place in 2021. Feudal Japan is a whole other era with its own beliefs, morals and way of life. Those who understand this have nothing wrong with them. They just understand history.

Also, just to bang some nails in…

Anyone remember Bleach? Remember the MOST accepted couple was Ichigo and Rukia…. Rukia who was hundreds of years old and Ichigo who was 15… or Ichigo’s mom who was a teenager and his dad also hundreds of years old.

Most of this also boils down to Sesshomaru being a dude. As in reverse roles in animes its accepted and they don’t have the same historical context. Inuyasha is based off of historical context of Feudal Japan.

We need to stop spreading hate. We can’t accept some forms of literature because its European fantasy but bash other fantasy based literature for doing the same thing.

Sure, its weird for those who were use to seeing the father/daughter dynamic. Yes, there are extreme sessrin fans who post really questionable illegal content when they decide to leave Rin as an 8-year-old…

But this wasn’t ever meant to be perverted. The story was meant to make sense on a logical and historical base.

I hope everyone takes the time to read this. I love Inuyasha, I love Sesshomaru. I am just sick of seeing so many people fighting over what should be the revival of a beloved series. While yes, there is still room for sess/rin not being a thing, until it is stated otherwise, why hate each other? This fandom will only lose people by doing this. Calling people names or accusing them of illegal endorsement can hurt someone these days over social media.

Tumblr allows you to block tags. You don’t have to read anything or watch anything you don’t like. We gain nothing from attacking each other but can lose so much by doing so. Fanart, really good fan fiction, friends, ideas, sharing fond memories. Both sides have the right to feel as they feel, but no right in hurting each other.

A fandom is meant to bring people together. Not start a war…

Thank you.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20402

http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/#:~:text=Marriage%20not%20only%20reflected%20order,to%20ensure%20the%20bride's%20virginity.

https://www.ancient.eu/Canterbury_Tales/

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1424/daily-life-in-medieval-japan/#:~:text=Just%20as%20Japanese%20people%20today,in%20Western%20Europe%2C%20for%20example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megohime

81 notes · View notes

avengersassemble-fics · 4 years ago

Text

Leave Out All The Rest

part 01/?? “the french quarter”

next part

summary: in the summer of 1994, four years after the death of their father, a teenage witch is pulled from their roots in new orleans and moved back to their mother’s home in westminster. out of place and being pulled in two different directions, the teen is faced with a new life at hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. people fear what they don’t know, a lesson their father tried to shield them from their whole life, but maybe friends will make it easier.

word count 3.3k

an: efngojkf;enb; a harry potter fic i never saw myself falling back down this hole but here we are. don’t want to label this a certain pairing and ruin the story so y’all gotta bear with me :) also this takes inspiration from tvd/to in terms of the magic showcased, and the history of new orleans. as an la resident it’s always been fascinating and i’ve always wanted to incorporate that in some way. the only oc characters are the mother/father names. also title is inspired by leave out all the rest by linkin park.

The streets are lined with lights, fluorescent and bright to indicate the exciting environment. The jazz that radiated from the four person band making their way down the street carried up into the businesses and homes that resided in the French Quarter. The sunshine from the outside world that warmed the bodies underneath didn’t make it into the apartment off of Chartres St. Inside the red bricked building and in apartment 2D in 1990, the ever growing shouts from one adult to another could be heard from even down in the streets.

It was like any other day in the observant eleven year olds life. Focused on packing things into the expensive trunk her mother had bought for her, she did her best to tune out the shouting. She ran her fingers over the blue and cranberry robes, lost in thought of what this new school would be like when she heard the sound of a slammed door followed by footsteps. She knew who it would be, and closed the trunk and latched it before they could even get the door open.

“Are you all packed?” They had asked in a calm and comforting tone.

She nodded her head, pushing the trunk out of the way before standing to scratch the head of the black and tawny screech owl resting near the window. It lowered its head further into itself in satisfaction, when a hand grazed her shoulder. The child stopped, eyes looking up to look out into the street, and subsequently to see her mother disappear just around the corner into oblivion.

“She just needs some time to cool down,” her father told her. His daughter nodded, but he knew it was just an automatic response. He guided her to the ledged seat and she sat next to him while he grabbed her smaller hand in his.

“She doesn’t want me to go,” his daughter said matter of factly. He inhaled a bit, and gave her hand a squeeze.

“Your mother thinks you should go to the school she went to when she was your age,” he carefully explained. She gave him a nod, though there was a second of hesitation before she spoke again.

“But they aren’t like me. They’re like mom.”

There it was, the acknowledgment that you knew more than he ever wanted you to know. Vincent Dupuis had done everything he could to protect his daughter from the fact that her mother didn’t know what to do with her besides send her off to that school in Scotland in the hopes she’d return as only half of herself. It wasn’t an malicious intent, not at all, but it was an attempt to take a part of you (his part of you) away. That seemed to be the root of all their fights as of late, but he didn’t want you to know that. Vincent reached over and pulled his daughter into his lap and rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

“Ilvermorny will be able to teach you not only what your mother knows, but what I know too. Safely,” he emphasized. “You’ll be the brightest witch this city has seen. I know it.”

She smiled at that, and he kissed her forehead. It was the last tender moment they’d share, though she didn’t know that before heading off to the boarding school in Massachusetts. It was the last memory she had of her father before his death a few months later.

Vincent Dupuis was celebrated in a traditional New Orleans style. Though his family and his coven mourned him, the city celebrated his life (though the strangers lining the streets didn’t really know him). That was just how it was, and your mother said he would have appreciated that.

Vincent Dupuis was a part of a deeply rooted witch lineage in New Orleans, which now was a part of you. One of the original founding families of the witch covens in New Orleans to be exact. He often would remind you (and especially your mother) of that fact. You were a respected witch family, even if you were seen as different. Because of your mother.

Vincent was born and raised in the heart of the French Quarter. His parents still lived in the same house that smelled like cookies (your grandma would always have them ready when you’d stay the night when your parents would fight). It was a second home, and it was adorned with pictures of his family, and then yours. They moved and smiled, they held life in them. It was your favorite thing to see, though your grandparents didn’t see what you saw. They only saw the still motion. You wondered why that was, but eventually that thought trickled away when you found out why.

Althea Talpin (she opted to keep her maiden name) was a part of one of the most important bloodlines in the witch world. It was never tainted with muggle blood your maternal grandparents boasted about throughout your childhood. But when it came to her daughter, to you, they were colder than grandparents should be.

Althea was born and raised in Westminster. She was raised with the finest things, and was amongst one of the wealthiest families at this time. When she came of age, Althea was sent to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and continued her family's legacy by being sorted into the Slytherin house. Over the next seven years she excelled in everything from potions, charms, to defense against the dark arts. She wanted a change after her final year, and took to traveling the world.

She eventually travelled to The Big Easy, drawn to the French Quarter because of the festivities and thrill of it all. She had always been a thrill seeker, and she found that in a man named Vincent. They fell in love and within the year were married, and when you came around shortly after was when Vincent opened up about his own life and lineage.

Althea was fine with it, she hoped her daughter would be free of that kind of magic, and she could convince Vincent to move the family back to her home. After eight years away, she missed everything so dearly. But he always refused, he was afraid of what people would say or even do to their child. The witches knew about the murders, knew the name which shouldn’t be spoken, and he was fearful of what would become of his only child. That was when the resentment started, almost immediately after she had found her daughter bringing dead flowers back to life with the touch of her hand.

Four years have passed since that day, those final moments between father and daughter. The summer of 1994 was soon coming to an end, though the fifteen year old didn’t want it to. With summer ending there was an ever looming cloud of uncertainty over her head, especially with her mother's eccentric ideas for the weekend, and future.

Westminster was nothing like the French Quarter. It was gloomy and busy with people who dressed like they were on their way to business meetings. Looking out of the average townhouse (on the outside, of course the inside felt like it had grown two sizes) it was dreadful. Your mother shouted from downstairs, and with a final sigh you scratched your owls head.

“We’ll be back soon, Arro,” you told the black and tawny feathered bird. “Don’t bother the house elves too much.”

Arro chirped at you, and you stood and grabbed the jacket off your bed. You bounced down the stairs and moved around the cleaning house elves. It was still odd to you to have these creatures in your house. You had always done the chores around the apartment in New Orleans, but your mother said you didn’t have to do that now. It didn’t sit right in your chest, but your mother was hard headed.

You missed your dad.

Your mother was transfixed on her hands, elegant and long, she barely looked up at you as you shoved your arms through your flannel. She was dressed like what you would think witches dressed like. Black jumpsuit that was sitting just below her shoulders, but also joined with a hood less black cape that just passed her elbows. Like you said, elegant and long, and daring as usual. She was like a new woman, back in her own world. Whereas you were more simple, you could even say more dressed to the times.

You had opted for a black overall and white shirt under it, basic shoes, and a loose flannel jacket. If you were honest you had seen a character from Friends wear it and you loved the look. You felt comfortable, but that faded the minute your mother looked you over.

“Did you not like the outfit I had picked?” She asked.

Right. The black stockings, black dress that looked too stuffy and had a weird collar that looked like you were a doll. No thanks. You could only offer a shrug and could see her eyes roll.

“This is more me.”

Partially true. You were at an age you didn’t know who you were really. Two halves of two different worlds ate away inside of you, but that was a topic for another day. She huffed in defeat and messed with the cape on her one more time. “Well that’s fine. Our stuff is already there, and as it is we’re late.”

She offered her hand to you, and you grimaced. “Oh no, please not this again.”

“It’s the fastest form of travel! You’ll need to get used to it.”

“It makes me feel sick,” you mumbled. She wiggled her fingers at you and you sighed. Taking her hand in yours, she led the way. You walked side by side down the hall on the first floor, and in a second were in a new location. Apparating still left your stomach in a twist, it may be effective but certainly not your favorite form of travel.

Night was falling quickly, and at the same pace as inside the house, you walked side by side, hand in hand, amongst others. The same air snapping sound rippled around you as others Apparated and approached the stadium.

The Quidditch World Cup was something your mother had been looking forward to for weeks. After receiving a personal invitation from the Minister of Magic, she insisted they both attend. With each flight of stairs upwards her stomach flipped more and more than when they Apparated. The large crowd trying to reach their respective seats was hard to navigate through, you even knocked into a boy around your age, but could barely mumble an apology as your mother kept pulling you in different directions.

Finally, the loud yells were hushed when a curtain was peeled back and they entered their destination. The private booth was full of others dressed almost like your mother. Eccentric. She detached her hand from yours as she approached a man, and you followed behind like a lost puppy. You were uncomfortable in this unknown place, with these unknown faces, and messed with the sleeves of your flannel. Your mother seemed to smile hugely, which was a rare occurrence to see, when the shorter and stout man met her eye.

“Althea,” he breathed. She laughed as he engulfed her hand with his large ones. “My it’s been so long.”

“It has Cornelius,” your mother replied. “You don’t look any different.”

He laughed and tapped her hand still in his. “Either you’re lying or you’ve been gone too long.”

“Too long,” she confirmed with a smile. The man called Cornelius looked behind him and called another unfamiliar name and a woman came over. After more laughs and smiles and embraces, your mother wandered over to what appeared to be a father and son duo. “I see you’ve grown your hair out Lucius.”

The taller man turned around, and without even a flicker down to you, his cold face erupted in it’s own smile. It felt uncomfortable to see, like it wasn’t genuine, but either way your mother embraced him

“Is this Draco?” She asked after a few moments. The man placed his ringed hand on his son's shoulder and looked to give it a good squeeze. Your eyes met the look of the young boy, while his father spoke.

“The one and only,” Lucius answered. That’s when his eyes looked down on you, and settled into something you couldn’t quite place. “And who is this?”

Ouch. So she knew of his son but he didn’t know of her daughter? You felt a pang of insult form at the back of your mind, but your mother stepped behind you and gripped onto your shoulders. It was as if she was offering reassurance. “This is my daughter. (Y/N).”

Lucius let out a humph, not disassociated but not satisfied either. His cold eyes went back to your mother and with instruction told his son, Draco, to not be rude as the parents stole one another away. You awkwardly stood before Draco, who overlooked you in some kind of judgement.

“My father never mentioned your mother had a daughter,” he finally said to break the silence. All you could do was shrug.

“My mother never mentioned either of you existed,” you said back. Draco’s brow lifted a bit, intrigued it seemed.

“You’re American,” he said.

“Guilty as charged,” you replied. Draco grinned a bit, before glancing around the room. His eyes hesitated for a moment, and you looked over to where his gaze paused. Another boy, older with dirty blonde hair and a nice smile, stood beside a man. Draco seemed to turn you away quickly and out towards the Quidditch field.

“So you’ll be coming to Hogwarts then?” He asked. Your hands reached out to hold onto the railing as you reached your body past to get a good look around.

“Against my own free will,” you joked. Draco huffed, laced behind another grin. “You’ll be the first person I know.”

Draco saw his opportunity, his eyes catching the far away look of the bunch he had just seen while travelling up here. His hands clutched the railing as well and motioned with his head across the field. “More than happy to give you the inside scoop, from one Slytherin to another.”

Hm, made sense. Your mother had explained her house background, and he seemed to fit the description to a T. You fought the urge to roll your eyes, but Draco pulled something from the side. It was like a magnifier, and he positioned it before you both, on a group of people. You glanced his way in confusion, but he began to explain his antics.

“See those red headed freaks? Those are the Weasleys. They’re pureblood like our families, but the father is fascinated with muggles. Their mother makes their clothes, and they share hand-me-downs. The twins are in Fifth year, the other one Ron is in our year, and the girl is below us. Awful family.

“Then next to them is Harry Potter,” Draco spat his name out. You raised a brow at the recognition of the name. You had heard of the Potters, though it was only small information. “He thinks he’s the bloody center of the world. Can’t believe he’s the Chosen One.

“That girl with the bushy hair is Hermione Granger,” he scoffed. “Thinks she’s so witty, but she’s nothing more than a mudblood.”

Can blood freeze? You shifted your weight a bit when the warm air seemed to hit you straight on. The Minister announced the start of the match (maybe, you weren’t too sure) but you looked over at the platinum blonde and inhaled a bit too sharply.

“Mudblood?” You repeated. Draco glanced your way before looking back to the field.

“Right, you probably don’t know the term. She’s of non-witch blood, bloody pathetic, not even half witch. Don’t know how she got into this school. It’s gone down the drain if you ask me.”

“I didn’t,” you stated. Draco looked over at you as if he wanted to rebut your statement, but a hand dropped down on your shoulder. You looked behind you and sighed a bit, the tension leaving your body though your fist were still tight in a ball you didn’t realize had formed. Draco’s expression fell, and your mother gave you a squeeze.

“You two doing alright?”

“Peachy,” you mumbled. Her thumb rubbed the back of your shoulder, before turning you to face her, and small tsk’s leaving her lips.

“Sweetie why don’t you go back down and get some fresh air?” She offered. You glanced back over to Draco, who looked uncomfortable in this moment, and nodded a bit. It was too pretentious in here anyway.

All the way back down, bumping past bodies you wouldn’t remember as more time passed, you felt the frustration reaching a boil. Finally as you pushed past the final set of bodies you breathed in the empty air.

You weren’t dumb, you liked to believe you were far from it. In ways your parents had tried to warn you about how people could be once they learned of your true lineage. You knew people could be cruel, that’s why being here, being brought to the world your mother had lived in, was so.. Wrong. You could only imagine the possibility it could get worse, the names they would call you.

No one deserved that.

Your frustration toppled over in a gust of wind that blew pieces of trash away from where you stood, blew the flaps on surroundings tents, but the release felt better than holding it in. In deep breathes you attempted to calm your mind, uncurling your fists and easing yourself into some foldable seats left out. You were sure the owners wouldn’t mind.

There were chants and hollers coming from the stadium, but they sounded far away. Your mind was drifting back to the thought of home, where you should be right now, and didn’t hear the crunch of grass as someone approached. “Mind if I join you?”

You averted your attention to the voice, met with the welcoming look of the other boy inside that pristine booth. You glanced at the chair beside you and nodded. “Sure.”

He smiled a bit, the one you recounted as being nice, and took the seat next to you. Your knees touched ever so slightly, and he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his legs, glancing up at the twirling lights in the sky. There was an awkward silence, one you didn’t know how to break or if you even should. Thankfully, he seemed to know how. “I couldn’t help but overhear what Draco was saying.”

You looked over at him, but his gaze still lingered up in the sky. It was an invitation to talk about it, and you couldn’t help but accept it. You rubbed your hands together and stole a glance at the ground. “I just can’t believe he uses a term like that so vilely.”

“Unfortunately there’s been a lot of prejudice circulating around recently,” he trailed off. You looked up to meet his gaze, and he offered a smile. “But don’t let Malfoy get to you.”

You wanted to scoff, but your throat couldn’t produce the sound. Instead you simply nodded, only to catch the slight lean in from your company. “Are you coming to Hogwarts this year?”

“It.. Looks that way yeah,” you answered sheepishly. He smiled even wider and offered his hand out to you.

“I’m Cedric,” he introduced. You hesitated only for a moment before taking his hand in yours.

“(Y/N),” you replied with a shake of your hand. His hand was warm, and nearly engulfed your own. The moment only lasted for a few seconds before shouting from the match drew both your attention, and your hands from one another. The slight gust of wind brought a fresh scent that would stick in your mind for the rest of the night.

Worn leather, the fresh scent of laundry detergent, and a hint of butterscotch.

- - - - - - - - - -

taglist

@snarky--starky

#Harry Potter fic #harry potter #Draco Malfoy x reader #Draco Malfoy x you #Cedric diggory x reader #Cedric diggory x you #Draco malfoy #Cedric diggory #Harry Potter x reader #Harry Potter x you #tvd inspired #to inspired

100 notes · View notes

brokutosan · 5 years ago

Text

Title. We Are Your First, Last, & Only Line of Defense Against This World of Scum

Pairing. Seijoh 3rd Years x Platonic!Reader

Summary. In which growing up is hard, but it’s a lot less harder if you’re doing it with the bestest friends you could ever ask for in the world (and Oikawa Toruu). Or; a journey through the friendship of the third years of Seijoh’s volleyball club.

Warnings. Manga spoilers up to chapter 395. Lots of cursings and mentions of anxieties about growing up. Kind of incoherent and mostly ramblings + not much dialogue, but I’ve been enjoying writing these types of things. Full disclosure: this is completely based on that official art of them at a karaoke bar. Title is from Men in Black by Will Smith.

Oikawa Toruu was 6 years old when he was crying about some kid stealing his pudding cup. And Iwaizumi Hajime was 6 years old when he dreamt of becoming a cop once he grew up, so he sought to bring justice for Oikawa’s pudding cup. L/N Y/N, also 6 years old, had declared that she would marry Hajime once she was old enough to, so she thought it was her job as his future bride to be his partner in solving this crime. (Oikawa Toruu could care less, he just wanted his pudding cup back).

Long story short, Iwaizumi Hajime ended up scuffling with said kid after he called him “stupid porcupine head” and Y/N jumped in the fray to save her future groom, while Oikawa jumped in to reclaim his pudding cup. And that was just the start of their long series of getting into trouble together.

When Oikawa Toruu was 14 years old and in his last year of junior high, the ugly green monster had reared its head and caused hostility between him and a certain kouhai. Y/N, always the kind one, had called him out on his bullshit and told him to get his act together. Oikawa fired back and called her out on her “pathetic crush on Iwa-chan,” effectively setting off the cold war between them that lasted all of summer. Iwaizume recalls having to go back and forth between the two because they refused to be in the same room together.

By the time they were 15 years old and entering highschool, the two ended up being in the same class. Oikawa pretended not to know her and hung out with “Makki” from his volleyball team. Y/N tried branching out and making friends with the other girls in her class for once, but she was shunned out for being close to the Oikawa Toruu back in middle school.

Their three months of silent treatment ended on the second week of the new school year, when Oikawa was enraged by the nasty rumors spreading about his childhood friend. Some guy Y/N rejected during the third day of school had spread rumors that she was involved in a reverse harem with Oikawa and Iwaizumi and that he didn’t bother going out with her because she was “too easy.”

Oikawa, 15 years old, threw the first punch. Iwaizumi, also 15 years old, held back his friend until Oikawa shouted out, “This bastard’s running around calling Y/N-chan a whor-” Oikawa didn’t need to finish because by then Iwaizumi had thrown the second punch. Matsukawa Issei and Hanamaki Takahiro, both 15 years old, tried holding back their two new volleyball teammates.

And that’s how Y/N and Oikawa tearfully made up, and the two, “Mattsun” and “Makki”, as Oikawa affectionately named them, joined their little friend group. Y/N ended up joining the volleyball club as a manager per Oikawa’s request (command) and finally everything was back to normal, with everyone forgetting about the “cold war” between Oikawa and Y/N.

It didn’t take long for Hanamaki and Matsukawa to fit into the group because anyone that could tolerate Oikawa deserves a reward (and that reward is the friendship they’ve built over the years, but none of them actually liked to get sappy).

By the time the five friends were 16 year olds in their second year of highschool, Oikawa has made a name for himself as the great setter of the Seijoh volleyball team. The other three were close behind in terms of popularity, but none were quite as open with it as Oikawa was. Y/N, on the other hand, did not get to enjoy the joys of the glory brought by the four players. She made heads turn, but the sight of four glowering boys right behind her made them turn back.

But there were a few exceptions.

Y/N was 16 years old and in second year of highschool when she got her first boyfriend. It wasn’t Oikawa, or Iwaizumi, or Hanamaki, or Matsukawa, no, it was a fellow second year in the same class as her (she was lucky enough not to be put in the same class as any of her idiot friends that year).

All five of them have forgotten his name now, but when they do talk about him every now and then, he was given the affectionate nickname, “Pighead.” Because two months into their relationship, Pighead had the nerve to demand Y/N to completely cut off her four friends.

Because she was young and naive and under the illusion of puppy love, Y/N was thrown into a dilemma. She mulled over it for weeks, lost sleep over whether or not she should comply, until Iwaizumi snapped her out of it and made her spill what was bothering her.

Once the four boys found out they offered to wipe Pighead off the face of Earth, but Y/N just cried and apologized for even just thinking about cutting off her amazing friends. They had a sleepover that night and Y/N still remembers it as one of her best childhood memories.

(Because of that one incident Y/N had decided to completely cut off immature boys from her highschool days).

Come their third year of highschool the five were as close as ever (and Oikawa, regrettably, much more annoying). They’ve built up seemingly unbreakable bonds that would last a lifetime, and Y/N was glad that she was able to take part in it. Having the four boys throughout her teenage years certainly was enjoyable, and she wouldn’t trade the memories and years of friendship they’ve attained for anything in the world. As long as she had the four of them (even Oikawa), she believed she could face off anything and anyone in the world.

When Y/N began worrying about college and growing up, they were there to help cheer her up. When the boys lost to Karasuno in the Prefectural Qualifiers, Y/N was there to cheer them up. She still remembers the tearful afternoon spent in the gym they’d spent three years of their lives in. And despite not being as hurt as the boys were after losing, Y/N had found herself shedding a few tears of her own. As they closed the gym doors one final time, they’ve also closed the doors to their childhood.

Teenage years go by, and as quick as they’ve entered highschool they found themselves graduating. Growing up. Taking the next step into adulthood. The four boys she came to love as her found family were now four men, and they’ve done well growing up.

And just like that tearful goodbye at the Seijoh volleyball club gym, Y/N finds herself preparing for another one. All five of them are adults now. Iwaizumi is going off to California to study in an American university, Oikawa’s going to Argentina to play volleyball, and Hanamaki and Matsukawa are moving to Tokyo together to study in a university. For once in her life, Y/N finds that she’ll be all alone in Miyagi, while her friends take the next few steps to growing up.

The five of them find themselves in Hanamaki’s childhood bedroom, for one last weekend sleepover before everything changes. They’ve strewn out blankets and pillow on the floor, and are laying down in a circular formation. They’ve been in this bedroom hundreds of times, in this same exact position, but now it’s completely different.

All his posters of celebrities are taken down and wrapped neatly on a pile sitting on his desk. His clutter of figurines and plushies collected over the years are in boxes, ready to move with their owner. His closet is empty, the clothes inside stuffed into their own labeled boxes. And his volleyball jersey that’s usually hung by the door is no longer there, no doubt already packed somewhere safe. Y/N tries not to dwell on the somberness of it all, and instead forces a laugh when Matsukawa makes a joke.

Y/N realizes she messed up when four pairs of eyes turn to look at her. “I know I’m a riot, but that joke wasn’t even that funny. I’ll admit to that.” Matsukawa speaks up.

“What’s on your mind?” Iwaizumi finally asks. His arms are behind his head and he’s staring up at the ceiling, no doubt lost in his own train of thoughts.

Y/N contemplates if she should ruin the peaceful vibes surrounding their group. They’ve already cried tons after losing to Karasuno, so do they even have any tears left for a goodbye? Y/N looks to her left and realizes all their attention focused on her, waiting for her to answer Iwaizumi’s question.

“Nothing. Just that maybe this’ll be our last weekend together.” She sighs, letting her emotions get the best of her. “We’re all going our own separate ways, who knows what could happen, y’know?”

It’s Oikawa that reacts first, but that’s no surprise since he’s Oikawa. “Y/N-chan! Are you trying to say you’re gonna miss me?” He asks with comical tears in his eyes. Y/N immediately regrets speaking up.

“I think I might miss you the least.” Oikawa feigns hurt at the comment, but he knows his friend better than anybody. ‘I’ll miss you more than you could even imagine.’ Is what she’s trying to say.

“Oi. No more crying.” Hanamaki finally says something. He can see the tears forming at Oikawa’s eyes, and a few that already shed from Y/N’s, before he feels the familiar burning sensation in his throat. “Damn it.”

“Nothing’s gonna change. We’ll all keep in touch, plain and simple.” Matsukawa announces, almost as if he was sure of it. “And if anyone,” Iwaizumi adds, looking directly at Oikawa, “decides to be a dick and try to cut us off, we’ll all personally fly out to South America to kick his ass.” A chorus of ‘yes’ sounded out as Oikawa gasps at his friends’ reactions.

“Why does it always get violent with you, Iwa-chan?!” He whines like a child, causing an outburst of laughter from the other four.

Hanamaki notices Y/N staring off into space again before he sighs, placing an affectationate hand on her head. “Relax, loser. It’s not like we’re gonna totally forget Miyagi. If anything me and Issei are gonna come back home more than you think. You’ll get tired of us eventually.”

Y/N wipes a few stray tears and nods, finally showing a genuine smile. “I’ll kill all of you if you even try to forget about Miyagi.”

“Impossible.” Iwaizumi says with a gentle smile on his lips.

The next morning the five friends make their way to Narita Airport, where Oikawa’s flying off to Argentina to become a better player. Their eyes are bloodshot red from staying up all night crying and reminiscing old memories together.

The walk from the parking lot to the boarding gate is quiet, until Oikawa breaks the awkward air between them. “When I get back, I’ll wipe the court with Tobio-chan.”

“You’re still not over that? Grow up.” Y/N glares, suddenly remembering their childish fight during their last year of junior high. Hanamaki laughs first, followed by Matsukawa, and finally Iwaizumi. The people around them stare strangely as five teens laugh with tears streaming down their eyes.

“Try not to miss me too much, ‘k, Y/N-chan?” Oikawa winks, just barely dodging the fist swung at him. A boarding call for Oikawa’s flight fills the airport, and they finally remember why they’re there in the first place.

“I’ll miss you guys.” He finally says seriously, tears freely falling down his face. Y/N cracks first, flinging herself to his awaiting arms and cries as she realizes this is his goodbye. Hanamaki, Matsukawa, and Iwaizumi follow, forming a group hug in the middle of Narita Airport.

Oikawa pulls away, dragging a sleeve to wipe away his tears. He opens his mouth to say one final goodbye, but is interrupted by a plethora of voices overlapping each other,

“Try not to make your teammates hate you too much. Make some friends.”

“Don’t even think about calling me at midnight about your stupid problems.”

“If you come crying to me about your knee, I’m just gonna say I told you so.”

“Once you get back, I’ll be sure to give you hell.”

“Oi, what kind of curse are you all placing on me?!” Oikawa whines, the somber atmosphere replaced by their usual energetic one.

With one last ‘goodbye,’ Oikawa strides towards the airport gates, and away from the ones he’s grown to love over the years. He looks over his shoulders, taking a mental picture of all four of his closest friends waving and giving him nods of encouragement so that he’d never forget what he’ll always have back home.

The world can throw anything it wants at them, but as long as they had each other, nothing’s ever too scary or too tough.

A/N. Thank you for reading this totally self-indulgent fic with my fav third years! A Miya twins version of this fic is in the works! Also, I’m thinking of making a mini series off of this oneshot where you chose a route with one of the boys (romantically). Let me know if you guys would also be interested in that. - chuu

135 notes · View notes

prettywordsyouleft · 5 years ago

Text

10 Dates | The Obstacle Date

Summary: Kim Junmyeon was the epitome of a perfect catch - he was successful, handsome and everything you currently didn’t want in a man. Yet after agreeing to his request to give him 10 dates in total to change your mind, you realised you might have been looking for someone like him all along.

Pairing: Kim Junmyeon x reader

Genre: dating au / romance

Warnings: none

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

The confessions in Italy only weighed heavier once back on home soil. Although you tried not to let it bother you, it did. There was so much more to Junmyeon than you had even expected. And whilst it was rather innocent and came from a genuine heart, you were uneasy.

Not by him, but by yourself.

Did you always have this habit of jumping into things too fast? You admitted to him that you were falling in love. Now over something small, you were backtracking as if those ardent confessions didn’t mean anything.

Because they did. You weren’t joking about feeling what you did for him.

However, Junmyeon was right. You should have waited. There were moments in the relationship thus far where you could tell he wanted to tell you that he had liked you for so long. You were certain it would have naturally come out at some point and in the right setting you probably would have been touched.

To some point, you were now, even if you couldn’t quite comprehend it.

“He’s liked you since forever?” Ayla asked after you explained to your best friends what had happened for you to return home and not gush a mile a minute about how fantastic everything was.

Nodding slowly, you looked to Kelsi, waiting for her to pipe up about how Junmyeon was still the dream man. Instead, she looked puzzled. “If he liked you so much, why didn’t he just do something about it?”

“It was when I dated Kyungsoo in high school so it kind of occurred around the same time.”

“Yeah but you just said he crossed paths with you more than recently. He’s an adult, he could have approached you now,” Ayla mentioned and Kelsi nodded along.

You sighed. “I know. But I can also understand why he didn’t. It’s rather odd though, don’t you think? Junmyeon and I are adults yet a lot of this relationship has been built on juvenile things like my plan to escape if necessary. Those first few dates were definitely a mess.”

“Yet, he still liked you,” Kelsi offered but Ayla scoffed.

“Yeah because he’s liked Y/N forever. He’s living out his teenage fantasy right now. How long will that last?”

“He’s genuine,” you grappled at a defence for the man. You didn’t appreciate hearing it from your friends like that, even if you had thought it all yourself. “He’s been nothing but a gentleman. He never forced me to do anything, and he never rushed a thing. It’s me who did. I think I’m the one with the problem. Each person I’ve dated, I would tell them I loved them and then something would come up. I don’t wait long enough to understand what is really love and what is just lust.”

“You live in a fairytale over romance, you always have,” Kelsi explained. “That’s why I thought if I sent a prince your way, maybe you’d snap out of that way of thinking. Kim Junmyeon is a great man and it’s uncanny that you both have a history that wasn’t clear from the start. But that doesn’t mean he can’t be your happily ever after if that’s what you want, Y/N.”

“The problem is, I don’t know what I want. I confessed to feelings that maybe were too premature and now it feels like a mess. Everything was going so smoothly.”

“And now you have an obstacle to face,” Ayla concluded, staring at you carefully. “It’s in every story, Y/N. It’s up to you whether you think you can get passed it or if you should give up before you try.”

Lowering your head, you didn’t know what the right answer was anymore.

You were thankful for your return to work. It kept you busy during the day and with a new team project, you were able to extend it into the nights.

Still, you knew you couldn’t avoid Junmyeon either.

“Hey,” you spoke into your phone as you leaned back in your work chair. It had been a few days since you last talked and you swallowed back the distance you felt pushing in between you.

“Hey.”

“How’s work?” you started, cringing silently at how ridiculous that was to ask. Spinning around in your chair, you clamped your eyes shut and tried to think of something better to say whilst Junmyeon gave a generic answer. “Ah, that’s good. Do you think we could meet up tonight?”

“Tonight would be good,” he agreed, sounding more earnest than usual. You wondered if he was anxious like you were too. “Should I cook?”

“No I’ll bring something on my way over,” you replied and after arranging a time, you hung up and stared at your office wall for an immeasurable moment.

It was hard to remain focused on your job for the rest of the day and you were grateful when it was an acceptable time to leave the office, stopping by one of your favourite sushi stores before taking an Uber over to Junmyeon’s home.

He answered the door with the smile you had missed seeing every day, and for a moment you grinned back, stepping inside his home and carried the food over to the table in his kitchen. Junmyeon helped you out of your coat and then lingered at your side.

“I don’t know what I am allowed to do or not do,” he admitted, his arms loosely outstretched towards you.

It was enough of an invitation for you to step into his waiting embrace, inhaling deeply to ground yourself. It felt as if it had been years since you were last here, not mere days. Feeling greedy, you didn’t step away at an acceptable time, remaining embedded into his side until you were certain you’d forget all about why you came over tonight.

Maybe that would be best. If you could just forget about all of it, you could go back to loving on Junmyeon in the way you had begun to. However, the hours you had spent overthinking everything required attention and you finally shifted back, your cheeks pink as you tried to gesture to the food.

“I got sushi since I know you like it.”

“Should we eat first then talk?”

You nodded with a smile. “Food should never have a part in any deep discussions.”

And so you both chatted. You heard about the recent shareholder’s meeting Junmyeon had attended for his company and praised him for securing another big deal. He was equally interested in your new project proposal and asked how things were with your friends. It was all amicable and yet, you could both feel the burning questions lying just underneath the shallow ones, waiting to be exposed.

Finally, once seated in the living room, it was time to do so. Junmyeon ran a hand through his hair agitatedly. “Are you wanting to break up with me?”

“I can’t say it didn’t cross my mind a few times,” you responded carefully, playing with the bracelet on your wrist. You smiled sadly. “But I also know it’s the last thing I want to do.”

“Really?”

“I wasn’t hurt by what you had to say, rather with myself,” you confessed, angling yourself on the couch you both sat upon so you were facing him. After tucking your legs up underneath yourself, you nodded softly. “I told you I was falling in love with you.”

“Does it feel different now?”

“Every relationship I’ve had, I’ve always wondered where I went wrong. I would try to meet people who I thought matched me well, and every time it would end with me feeling as if there was no growth, no excitement. None of the initial flutters remained and so I believed I grew complacent and fell out of love. After meeting you, I don’t think that was the case at all.”

Junmyeon merely waited for you to continue, his expression curious and encouraging.

“I told people I was in love with them before I could truly feel what love was. I did the same with you too. The difference is, with you, I know I can reach that feeling. Whatever I feel right now, I know it will only deepen and become more powerful the longer I’m with you.”

Junmyeon couldn’t stop the smile that spread over his lips. “Well, that’s a relief to hear. With how everything ended on our trip, I was convinced you’d be coming around to end things tonight with me.”

“That would be the easy way through navigating the obstacle that has arrived in our narrative, right?” you mentioned with a heavy breath. “We could both decide what we had was amazing, but too much of a dream to continue. Or we could pretend nothing came up for us and continue with the loving words we expressed. Worse even, we could opt for a clean slate and start afresh.”

“Are they our only options?”

You shook your head. “I choose option four.”

“What’s that?”

“We acknowledge the way we got together wasn’t always ideal. I for one had no hope for us and reacted rather juvenile towards you. Equally, the rush I began to feel carried me too strongly into a realm that I’m not ready to fully commit to. I listened to my friends at times when I should have been listening to myself or to you. I wasn’t fully present as myself and myself only until the fourth date.”

“The real us date,” he murmured with a fond smile and you nodded, scooting along the couch, closing the distance between you.

“Let’s just be real with each other. So you liked me for years. I don’t know why you didn’t do anything about it, life is mysterious like that. However, you can tell me. And I’ll listen. I’m not prepared to let go of what I discovered in Italy with you. We’ve come too far to have a clean slate, to pretend anything. I want to be real and raw with you. You told me to wait to tell you that I felt something for you, and so now, I want to do just that. I want to grow with you until the moment I can no longer keep those words in and they scream out from every part of me. We’ve only just begun this adventure together; it’d be a shame to stop journeying like this.”

Junmyeon cradled your face in his hands, nodding as he ran a thumb over your cheek gently. “I want to go with option four as well. How long do I have you here tonight? I want to discuss as much as I can with you.”

“Well,” you mentioned slowly, trying not to let yourself come across as too eager. “I was kind of hoping you’d have room for me in your bed and time in the morning to drop me off at work or a subway station?”

Leaning in and kissing you slowly, much like your very first kiss, Junmyeon then pulled back only enough to rest his forehead on yours. “I was kind of hoping that would be your answer too.”

_________________

Part 9

[EXO Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

149 notes · View notes

boneswriteswords · 5 years ago

Note

How do you think was the childhood in the sewers four our beloved turtles? (maybe a short head canon? please and thank you^^)

AN: Hi! I am a hundred years late but what else is new? Thank you for sending in an ask. I went with the head canon route because lazy. This also took me forever and they didn’t turn out to be fun head canons and I am sorry about it. I can’t make nice things.

Childhood Headcanons

Michelangelo:

- Mikey was very decisive and sure of himself as a kid, even when he was feeling insecure. He was very much like Othello – he was sure that he was feeling unsure and secure in that he knew he was feeling insecure. He had no issues expressing how he felt, able to search inside himself to put a name to the chemicals firing off inside his brain. He was good with making choices – even if the choices themselves were very bad. From a young age, he made the choice to see and search out for the good. He lived in darkness and dampness but he would not allow it to control him.

- He wondered what it was like to have a mother. He loved his dad but it wasn’t the same. He craved a feminine touch – a gentle hand with a soft voice and a soft place to lay his head when everything got loud inside his skull. He’d never tell his dad – would rather sew his own mouth shut before he ever said anything that could hint that his dad wasn’t enough for him – but he couldn’t help staring at mothers and their children through the openings to the sewer and wondering what a mother’s love felt like.

- He got really into art when he was about 10. He found a couple cans of spray paint that some dumb kids had left behind after being caught vandalizing and he sat at a dead-end of the sewer, testing what he could do with them. He had a limited palate but he managed to create really cool art pieces. Whenever he needed a mental break, he’d take his bag of cans and skateboard and go find an isolated area where he can create. As he got older, he uses the murals as a way to find his way home.

Donatello:

- Donnie struggled in his really early years and was incredibly withdrawn, even from Splinter. He was born a genius, able to make connections that were beyond his age very early on and it came with the pressures of being a ‘gifted child.’ His body often felt heavy and ducking into his shell to hide when it got too much for him to move was common. He spent a year or two resenting his brothers – the teenage angst came early for this boi – because they weren’t making the same connections that he was and he had issues reconciling that he could see things they couldn’t, not yet.

- People think Mikey is the biggest video game nerd but they would be wrong. That title belongs to Donnie. The moment he got his hands on a game station, it was over. He revamped it, acquired some games for it, and played it for daayyyys without interruption. He was fascinated by the technology and one of his favorite things to do to this day is beating games and then taking them back to his lab and reprogramming them with more play, more side quests, more characters, more scenes, just…more. It is one of the ways to test and improve his skills without killing himself with deadlines.

- Donatello was obsessed with fire. He isn’t sure when his search for warmth became more but he remembers the freezing temperatures in the sewers, especially during winter time, and the way his blood slugged through his veins. He created fire in an attempt to warm up their den one evening and, while he did is safely, he felt a compulsion to watch and to touch, feel the burning break through his skin to light up his bones. He didn’t and he made sure Mikey didn’t accidentally flail into the fire but, even as an adult, he can’t help but feel it call to him.

Raphael:

- Raph was the kid that fluctuated weight as he grew. One month, he’d be short and chonky and the next he’d be an inch taller and thin. It made him really self-conscious because his brothers grew into their bodies a lot more gracefully than he did, going through a small awkward phase before settling with the ease of a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. His body angered him, especially when it made him lethargic, because he ate the same amount and trained the same– if not more – than his brothers. It wasn’t until they hit their midteens when he got big. His shoulders expanded. He got even taller. Muscle replaced the baby fat. He lost the weird second chin flap thing that was along his jaw. He full on Neville Longbottom-ed in the span of six months and he was finally able to feel comfortable in his skin….even though he still doesn’t get how big he actually got at times and has fallen over many times.

- He sang in the shower. A lot. Once his voice stopped cracking and the deep timber set in, he liked murmuring song lyrics while he scrubbed himself down. A lot of the songs were very uncharacteristic for him - love songs and soft melodies meant for lovers to sway to on the dance floor together.

- Raph was scared a lot of the time. Just because he lived in the shadows doesn’t mean he wasn’t scared of what was in there with him. He flinched every time he caught movement he couldn’t identify. As he grew, he realized that facing the dark was the only way he could really know what was there. There were times where he went too far, moving to fast, and he had to scream for his dad to come find him between panicky, stuttering sobs.

Leonardo:

- He was a curious boy. As a result, he was the one who lost his innocence first. Before he felt the pressures of leadership and being the eldest on his shoulders, he liked to wander the sewers, going a little farther every night. Closer to the lights and the sounds he heard some nights that filled his mind with vastness. He discovered people before his brothers. He watched as a young woman was dragged into an alley by her boyfriend and beaten to death, the blood pooling under her body drowning the daydreams he kept close to his chest. He walked back to the lair changed, the urge to protect blossoming under his skin and spreading across his chest like armor.

- Leo loves to read and it was something him and Donnie bonded over as they grew up. A lot of the books they got were busted with missing pages and dented spines and scribbled to hell so they filled in the missing plots with their own, battling knights and overthrowing kings (Donnie was adamant that the kings were bad because of taxes) and brewing healing potions. After a while, Donnie became immersed in his science and Leo drifted into training but some of Leo’s favorite memories are when he and his brother were rogues in a forest surrounded by nymphs napping in the sun.

- He spent years learning control because he didn’t have much of it as a kid. Splinter focused on teaching him meditation the most out of his children because he required the most reigning in. Raph lashed out in large bursts and fizzled, Donnie snapped harshly and retreated to think, and Mikey cried it out but Leo was a different story. He couldn’t stop when he started and he couldn’t let it go. He fixated in unhealthy ways and Splinter had to find a way to stop it before he got out of hand.

~~~

End

~~~

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #headcanons #michelangelo #raphael #leonardo #donatello #My writing #imagine #tmnt headcanons

185 notes · View notes

gosagacious · 4 years ago

Text

HAWK fails at a postapocalyptic future

I’m waiting for my copy of HAWK from the library, but from what I’ve heard from other readers, it sounds like it hasn’t changed much since the ARC. That’s frustrating. Partly because there were so many plot holes.

In Maximum Ride Forever, the world has been hit by a meteor, and then gone through not only that fallout but numerous weapons like a lab-created plague and nuclear bombs. Major cities are flooded, or cratered, or experiencing nuclear fallout. A significant part of the population is dead. We meet only a handful of adults. The vast majority of survivors who we see are children, and quite a few of those are mutants. The ending features a battle between child armies.

In MRF, we are given to believe that these are the people on whom the rebuilt future rests.

In HAWK, we get a completely different fallout.

Take all of that stuff from MRF and add in a four-year-long nuclear winter. The surviving child soldiers do have resources and can work on planning, but all the characters we know of go into underground bunkers to survive.

Eleven years after that – sixteen years total since the extinction-level event - there are multiple cities full of people of all ages. These cities feature skyscrapers, massive drug labs, evil science facilities, tanks, cars, guns with government chips in them, paved streets, plumbing. Film studios, movie cameras, animated cartoons! There is a hidden canyon city with houses carved into the walls, which one imagines would have taken a very long time, but which is apparently quite well-established. There are doctors and nurses. Where did they get their degrees? Are they all in their thirties and younger, or were they adults who we didn’t meet in MRF?

It’s difficult to tell the ratio of mutants to humans, but from what we see, mutants are occasional but rare. (So much for Itex’s plan to have their mutants rule the world.)

On to the social status quo. Now, bear in mind that Hawk never got an education and has lived in one place for as long as she can remember. Okay: Hawk does not know what the ocean is. She does not know what a squirrel is. She believes that horses and pandas are mythical creatures, and she talks about “Crismins” instead of Christmas.

More widely, everyone, including Americans, has adopted the metric system, people talk about the “gods” and some worship statues. Okay. Fine, I guess. I can even sort of take Max’s inspirational speech reminding the citizens that they deserve to be treated like human beings.

But it’s difficult to tell how much of this is Hawk being clueless and growing up in a hellhole of a city, and how much is meant to be genuine worldbuilding of “See! See how different this dark, gritty future is! See how much has been forgotten! Our main character has heard only a garbled version of the word ‘Christmas!’”

Except that it has been only sixteen years since the world ended. It has only been eleven years since they really had the chance to start rebuilding. I know we only see two cities and one prison island, and it’s hinted there’s more of a connection to the previous world in the free city of Tetra, but this is ridiculous.

Technology, infrastructure and population should be low. Connection to the previous world’s pop culture and society should be high. There are adults running around for whom sixteen years is only a fraction of their lives. There would still be teenagers who would have been born before the apocalypse.

Instead, the book treats things as if it has been much longer. High population, infrastructure and technology. Low connection to the previous world.

After sixteen years, things have changed so much that a girl born at the pivotal point does not know the word Christmas. She does not know what the ocean is; she has never heard anyone talk about islands, or cruises, or going to the beach. In a world where TV is a constant presence, she thinks horses are made up. But Christmas is what really gets me. Look at how much Christmas takes over stores and media around December. Are you telling me that in under two decades, people forgot the word Christmas?! They have TV and cartoons, and in the past decade and a half, nobody has ever cranked up some old carols??

After all this, I want to try a quick worldbuilding of what the Maximum Ride future might look like. This is just spitballing; there are any number of directions it could go.

What HAWK could look like if the future followed a sensible pattern:

To begin: after natural disasters, plague, nuclear bombings, and a four-year nuclear winter, you’d have a vastly shrunken population. Most of the characters seen in Maximum Ride Forever are orphaned children. There will be huge gaps in the age population. I’ll hypothesize that most adults died in the plague. By the time of HAWK, you probably don’t see anyone over 65, and even that might be pushing it.

On the other hand, I expect there will be a huge emphasis on repopulating the planet. The survival of the human race is still in question. Let’s say there was a baby boom right after the nuclear winter ended and people started leaving their bunkers. You see a lot of kids around 10-11 years old. Hawk will hardly ever meet anyone her age; she was born in a patch of time when pretty much nobody was having babies. There are no abusive orphanages. Children are far too treasured. Even if death rates are high and orphans are common, there will be people anxiously collecting up those orphans and raising them in a safe place. Hawk’s orphanage could still be a weird place, but the kids wouldn’t be disappearing or taken off to evil laboratories. Although—more on that in a minute.

By the time of HAWK, the Apocalypse’s shadow still looms; anyone 20 or older can remember where they were and what they were doing That Day. They reminisce to each other or to their children about the old days. Hawk can be skeptical, as in canon, that some of these stories are true. Enough people that the world was struggling with overpopulation? How is that possible?

The survivors are people who went down into bunkers. Let’s say there were bunkers scattered all over the world. You’ll get a lot of wacky survivalist types, and also probably some of those scientists and major businessmen who were talking about the end of the world in the older MR books, and who could afford to build bunkers. Speaking of which: Himmel! This was the main villain’s bunker that the Flock and their army of child soldiers ended up moving into. Chock-full of advanced technology.

The groups in these bunkers would have lived together for four years in close quarters, relying on each other to survive (or maybe fighting to the death, I don’t know). Groups like the one in Himmel will probably be incredibly close-knit. Even after the nuclear winter is over, it will make sense for people to use those bunkers as bases. Towns, and one day cities, will grow up around them. Some people may still live primarily in underground apartments.

Maybe (I could be pushing it here) there are some people who stayed out of the bunkers and ended up in a hunter-gatherer caveman-type existence. If they survived, this could be an important allyship or a source of tension with the bunker-dwellers. Do they join up? Do they keep their distance?

Major cities do not exist (so no “City of the Dead”). The older cities are uninhabitable and being reclaimed by nature, long stripped of resources even if they aren’t just piles of rubble. Most people are not concerned about rebuilding them right now, and there probably aren’t even enough surviving workers with the right knowledge; a lot of professions will have to be re-developed from the ground up. Suffice to say there are no new skyscrapers going up.

The immediate concern will be food. Agriculture will have suffered from the nuclear winter. Some people are working on traditional farms, but we do have that advanced technology from Himmel, and the surviving scientists will be in high demand for developing new food sources.

I’m thinking of lots of farming communities centered around the safety of the bunkers. They will spread outwards only gradually. And there was a large population of mutant “Aquatics”, so new towns may not necessarily be built on land. We could have towns built on or under the water, and farms focused on fish and seaweed.

Mutants make up a major percentage of the surviving population. There’s no more of scientists coming after mutants and picking them off. Mutants are the scientists now, in many cases; the mutant kids growing up in Himmel would have been studying the resources there and learning to build things necessary for the new world.

However, there’s a possibility of prejudice against mutants. Perhaps some of the human survivors, particularly from other bunkers, resent the mutants or see them as tied to the Apocalypse. The question of reproduction and having the human race survive? Maybe some people want humanity to be “pure.” They don’t want bird or fish DNA floating around in there.

There will likely be a problem of ruffian bands who try to raid these settlements for food. Sometimes settlements raid each other. There may also be corrupt administrations, or gangs who offer “protection.”

There isn’t the same kind of worldwide connection. Although they certainly have the technology for long-distance communication, it will take a long time to rebuild the infrastructure and carry it all over the world. The postal system is gone. The transportation system is gone. Instead of booking a flight at the airport, you ask your buddy Susan if she can give you a ride in her crop duster to the next settlement.

There are no huge, high-tech prisons, either. Nobody’s got the time or resources to devote to that, and there simply aren’t enough prisoners to fill up something like that. Prisons in this world? I’m picturing big old pits like in The Dark Knight Rises.

So here’s a shot at reworking the beginning of HAWK: Hawk’s parents leave her with a babysitter in a farming community, but while they’re away, it’s hit by raiders. In the destruction, along with food, the raiders also take kids to sell them. Hawk ends up in a weird orphanage obsessed with raising the new generation of the world and ensuring humanity’s survival. However, one of the administrators is bigoted against mutants, and when it’s discovered that Hawk is a mutant, she’s put aside with the other "non-ideal” kids, who are treated like servants. The orphanage might be under the “protection” of a gang - the Paters. Pietro can even still be around—except please less boring and maybe with a name that doesn’t sound like a tongue twister—and he might be a rare kid born around the same time as Hawk, maybe a year older, whose parents made it through the Apocalypse and kept their infant son alive because of their wealth.

That’s something I could have accepted. I can’t accept smacking Hawk in the middle of a generic dystopian city that seems a century or further into the future, when it should be only sixteen.

#hawk spoilers #hawk #maximum ride #spoilers

55 notes · View notes

rpgsandbox · 5 years ago

Link

What Is IWATC? Click here to download a free QuickStart!

I WAS A TEENAGE CREATURE is a narrative-focused, urban fantasy tabletop roleplaying game that emulates a young adult paranormal TV show such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Teen Wolf, or even the Dresden Files. What keeps fans of this genre coming back for every single episode of the show? Is it the monster of the week...or the angst and drama of the main characters' lives? An exciting paranormal threat or creature certainly helps, but it's mostly the audience wanting to witness the main characters go through the emotional wringer (and hopefully emerge generally victorious on the other side.) In this game, that's exactly what happens...it's actually the point of the game.

In IWATC, it doesn't matter how strong the werewolf is, or how fast the vampire is, or how beautiful the fae is...what matters is how each of these characters feels, WHY they're doing something, not just how capable they are of doing it. When the monster of the week invades Signal Lakes High School grasping the Hunter guy's mom by the throat, of course he attacks it...but why? Out of LOVE for his mother, or RAGE at the monster for threatening her? FEAR he's about to lose her? Or maybe he's PROUD to have learned the family business well and proves it by saving her all by himself! The Player tells their character's Story in this game, choosing why they do the things they do and how they try to do them.

The I WAS A TEENAGE CREATURE core gamebook is the complete roleplaying game, all in one ~350 page book. This epic tome of urban fantasy will contain everything needed to tell gripping and exciting young-adult paranormal drama stories with in-depth characters that have built-in emotional backgrounds and motivations. The book includes an introduction and an overview of the mechanics; an extensive character creation section that includes the character's base emotional matrix; explanations of the various Creature Types and their paranormal abilities; the metaphysical "laws" of reality for the setting; the game mechanics rules; GM sections on guiding character creation, running the game, creating scenarios & campaigns, and customizing the game's setting; the base setting of Signal Lakes; and 23 pre-generated characters along with three ready-to-run scenarios or "episodes" of the IWATC "show." The game also includes both a table of contents and extensive indexes to make locating desired information easy, as well as a variety of appendices for looking up point costs, mechanical effects, converting the crunch-light narrative mechanics into reliable dice modifiers, and more!

IWATC uses a simple Success-based d10 system where the Players roll a number of d10s equal to their character's appropriate stat, perhaps plus a few dice for a relevant Skill. Each die generates -1, 0, 1, or 2 Successes; if the roll's total Successes are equal to or greater than the roll's Difficulty, the character successfully performs the action. There are only four stats, covering ANYTHING a character might try to do: Might, Reflex, Insight, and Codex. Skills are broad categories that can add more dice to any roll, as long as the Player tells their character's story in a way that makes using the Skill make sense. I WAS A TEENAGE CREATURE is all about making the characters and their Story as awesome and dramatic as possible, which means that creative story-telling gets well rewarded!

So, the Player rolls some number of dice when their character tries something, but what do their emotions have to do with it? The characters' Emotions determine how many Successes each die generates. Each character's Emotions are arranged in four opposing pairs, with each pair's intensity rated from 1-10. When they attempt an action, a character chooses which of their Emotions is motivating that action, then rolls the appropriate number of d10s against that rating. Rolls motivated by a Positive Emotion generate 1 Success for each die that rolls higher than the rating, 2 Successes for rolls of 10, zero Successes for rolls equal to or less than the Emotion's rating, and -1 Success on rolls of 1, removing a Success from the combined total.

If this is a PROUD roll, it only has 1 Success, but if it's a SHAME roll, it has THREE Successes!

Conversely, actions motivated by Negative Emotions want to roll low, generating 2 Successes on rolls of 1, a single Success for other numbers less than the Negative Emotion's rating, zero Successes for rolls equal to or higher than the rating, and removing a Success for rolls of 10. In the picture above, if a monster is attacking Dylan's father and he made this roll out of LOVE for his father, he got no Successes and failed his action! But if Dylan made this roll out of RAGE at the monster for threatening his father, he got THREE Successes! However, the Player does have to choose which Emotion their character is using before they make their roll, of course.

This is why it doesn't matter how _____ a character is in I WAS A TEENAGE CREATURE, as long as they're ____ enough. On an urban fantasy TV show, the audience is well aware that the Hunter is skilled and the Fae is cunning and the Ghost moves in an eyeblink...it's why they're doing the amazing things they do that counts! The audience is watching to see how the characters respond to the dire situations they find themselves in; IWATC is about those responses and how the characters feel, not about how powerful they are.

I WAS A TEENAGE CREATURE is set in Signal Lakes, the suburb immediately south of Miami...which happens to be the western tip of the Bermuda triangle. Paranormal creatures and forces are drawn there, with new ones showing up all the time. The Player Characters in IWATC can be any of ten different Creature Types, each associated with one of the game's eight Emotions. The ten Creature Types included in the base game are:

Click here for more details on Casters

Click here for more details on (Eros)cubus

Click here for more details on Fae

Click here for more details on Ghosts

Click here for more details on Humans

Click here for more details on Hunters

Click here for more details on Kitsune

Click here for more details on Psychics

Click here for more details on Vampires

Click here for more details on Werewolves

Character creation in IWATC uses a point-based system, so Creature Types that start with multiple paranormal Abilities, like Vampires and Werewolves, cost more than those that require points to be spent on customization, like Casters and Fae. Character Creation Points are also spent on Skills, Capabilities, and Feeling Factors, which are aspects of a character's personality or history that affect their starting Emotional State, such as a CHEERFUL character having a lower HAPPY-SAD rating, or a character who has suffered a LOSS having a higher rating. Players can build their characters any way they want, taking whatever Traits they feel describe the character they want to play.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Sat, March 21 2020 4:59 AM UTC +00:00

Website: I Was A Teenage Creature

#RPG #kickstarter #I Was A Teenage Creature #Ninjacat Stories

200 notes · View notes

ninja-muse · 4 years ago

Note

i’m trying to branch out and read outside my genre (fantasy) do you have any book recs for someone whose heart is in fantasy but needs to see what else is out there?

Hi anon! Thanks for the ask! Fantasy’s such a wide genre, and this is such an open ask, that I’m mostly going to be recommending books with similar feels or themes from other genres, to push you a little outside the fantasy bubble and introducing you to different genres and types of storytelling. If you have a favourite subgenre or trope or author, I can maybe get a little more specific or offer read-alikes.

Also, I don’t know if you knew this before asking, but fantasy is my favourite genre too, so some of these recs are books that pushed me out of the genre as well, or that I found familiar-but-different.

And this is getting long, so I’m going to throw it under a cut to save everyone scrolling.

Science fiction

the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold - This is space opera, which means it’ll have fairly familiar plots except with science-y things instead of magic. There’s an heir with something to prove, heists, cons, and mysteries, attempted coups and assassinations, long-suffering sidekicks, and a homeworld that’s basically turn-of-the-century Russia but with fewer serfs. It was one of the first adult sci-fi books I read and genuinely liked.

The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey - I finished this recently, and the second book of the trilogy just came out. This is post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but not grim or particularly complex. (Some SF gets really into the nuts and bolts of the science elements; this isn’t that.) Basically, Koli’s a teenager who wants more than his quasi-medieval life’s given him, and finds himself in conflict with his village (and then exile) because of it. I could see where the story was going pretty much from the start, but I loved the journey anyway.

The Martian by Andy Weir - This doesn’t have much in common with fantasy, but it’s my go-to rec for anyone who’s never read science fiction before, because it’s funny, explains the science well, and has a hero and a plot you get behind right away. In case you haven’t heard of it (or the film), it’s about an astronaut stranded on Mars, trying to survive long enough to be rescued.

Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh - This is an alien first contact story, about a colony of humans in permanent quarantine on an alien planet. The MC is the sole social liaison and translator, explaining his culture to the aliens and the aliens to the human, and working to keep the peace—until politics and assassins get involved. It’s been over a decade since I read this, so my memory’s blurred, but I remember the same sort of political intrigue vibes as the Daevabad trilogy, just with fewer POVs.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor - One from my TBR. It looks like dark fiction about women, outcasts, and revenge, which sounds very fantastic and the MC can apparently do magic—but it’s post-apocalyptic Africa.

Speaking of political intrigue and sweeping epic plots, the Expanse series by James S.A. Corey has both in spades. Rebellions, alien technology, corrupt businesses, heroes doing good things and getting bad consequences, all that good stuff. It takes the science fairly seriously, without getting very dense with it, and will probably register as “more sci-fi” than my recs in the genre so far.

Oh, and Dune by Frank Herbert is such a classic chosen-one epic that it barely registers as science fiction at all.

Graphic novels

It’s technically fantasy, but assuming you’ve never picked up a graphic novel before, you should read Monstress by Marjorie Liu. Asian-inspired, with steampunk aesthetics, and rebellions and quests and so many female characters. It’s an absolutely fantastic graphic novel, if you want a taste of what those can do.

I’d highly recommend Saga by Brian K. Vaughan. It’s an epic science fiction story about a family caught between sides of a centuries-long war. (Dad’s from one side, Mom’s from the other, everyone wants to capture them, their kid is narrating.) It’s a blast to read, exciting and tense, with hard questions and gorgeous tender moments, and the world-building somehow manages to include weaponized magic, spaceship trees, ghosts, half-spider assassins, and all-important pulp romance novels without anything feeling out of place.

Historical fiction

Hild by Nicola Griffith - Very rich and detailed novel following a girl growing up in an early medieval English court. It’s very fantasy-esque, with battles and politics and changes of religion, and Hild gets positioned early on to be the king’s seer, so there’s “magic” of a sort as well.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry - A widow goes to the Victorian seaside to heal and reawaken her interest in biology. Slow, gentle, lovely writing and atmosphere, interesting characters and turns of plot. Doesn’t actually deliver on the sea monster, but still has a lot to recommend it to fantasy readers, I think.

Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin - The late-medieval Jewish pirate adventure you didn’t know you wanted. It’s funny and literary, full of tropes and set pieces like “small-town kid in the big city” and “jail break”, and features the Spanish Inquisition, Columbus, the Fountain of Youth, and talking parrots, among other things.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - A thousand pages about the building of a cathedral in England, mostly focusing on the master builder, the monk who spearheads the project, and a noblewoman who’s been kicked off her family’s land, but has several other plots going on, including a deacon with political ambitions, a war, and a boy who’s trying so hard to fit in and do right.

Sharon Kay Penman - This is an author on my TBR, who comes highly recommended for her novels about the War of the Roses and the Plantagenets. Should appeal to you if you liked Game of Thrones. I’m planning to start with The Sunne in Splendour.

Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson - Either a Robin Hood retelling that’s also a romance, or a romance that’s also a Robin Hood retelling.

Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell - A novel of the Shakespeare family, mostly focused on his wife and son. Lovely writing and a very gentle feel though it heads into dark and complex subjects fairly often. A good portrait of Early Modern family life.

Mystery

There’s not a lot of mystery that reads like high, epic, or even contemporary fantasy, but if you’re a fan of urban fantasy, which is basically mystery with magic in, then I’d rec:

Cozy mysteries as a general subgenre, especially if you like the Sookie Stackhouse end of urban fantasy, which has romance and quirky plots; there are plenty of series where the detective’s a witch or the sidekick’s a ghost but they’re solving non-magical mysteries, and the genre in general full of heroines who are good at solving crimes without formal training, and the plots feel very similar but with slightly lower stakes. Cozies have become one of my comfort-reading genres (along with UF) the last few years. My intros were the Royal Spyness novels by Rhys Bowen and the Fairy Tale Fatale books by Maia Chance.

If you like your urban fantasy darker and more serious, and your heroines more complicated, try Kathy Reichs and her Temperance Brennan novels. Brennan’s a forensic anthropologist, strong and complicated in the same ways of my fave UF heroines, and the mysteries are already interesting, with a good dash of thriller and a smidge of romance.

Two other recs:

Haunted Ground by Erin Hart - The first of four books about a forensic anthropologist in Ireland, who’s called in when the Garda find bodies in the peat bogs and need to know how long they’ve been there. They’re very atmospheric—I can almost smell the bog—and give great portraits of rural Ireland and small-town secrets, and since not all the bodies found in each book are recent, they also bring interesting slices of the past to life as well.

A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger - This is essentially a medieval thriller about a seditious book that’s turned up in London. I liked the mystery in it and that it’s much more focused on the lives of average people than the rich and famous (for all that recognizable people also show up).

Classics

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift - I swear this is actually one of the first fantasy novels but few people ever really class it as such. Basically, Gulliver’s a ship’s doctor who keeps getting shipwrecked—in a country of tiny people, a country of giants, a country of mad scientists, a country of talking horses, etc. It’s social satire and a spoof of travelogues from Swift’s time, but it’s easily enough read without that context.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Another, slightly later, fantasy and satire! Even more amusing situations than in Gulliver’s Travels and, while it’s been a while* since I read it, I think it’ll be a decent read-alike for authors like Jasper Fforde, Genevieve Cogman, and that brand of light British comic fantasy.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare - Also technically a fantasy! I mean, there are fairies and enchantments, for all it’s a romantic comedy written entirely in old-fashioned poetry. It’s a pretty good play to start you off on Shakespeare, if you’re interested in going that direction.

On the subject of Shakespeare, I would also recommend Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, and King Lear, the first because it’s my favourite comedy, the others because they’re fantasy read-alikes imo as well (witches! coups! drama!).

the Arthurian mythos. Le Morte D’arthur, Crétien de Troyes, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain, etc. - I’ve read bits and pieces of the first two, am about 80% sure I read the third as a kid (or at least The Sword in the Stone), and have the last on my TBR. Basically, these stories are going to give you an exaggeratedly medieval setting, knights, quests, wizards, fairies, high drama, romantic entanglements, and monsters, and the medieval ones especially have different kinds of plots than you’ll be used to (and maybe open the door to more medieval lit?) **

Beowulf and/or The Odyssey - Two epics that inspired a lot of fiction that came later. (There’s an especial connection between Beowulf and Tolkien.) They’re not the easiest of reads because they’re in poetry and non-linear narratives, but both have a hero facing off against a series of monsters and/or magical creatures as their core story.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - The first real science fiction novel. It’s about the ethics of science and the consequences of one’s actions, and I loved seeing the Creature find himself and Frankenstein descend into … that. It’s also full of sweeping, gothic scenes and tension and doom and drama.

* 25 years, give or take

** There are plenty of more recent people using King Arthur and associated characters too, if this "subgenre” interests you.

Other fiction

Vicious by V.E. Schwab - I don’t know if you classify superheroes as science fiction or fantasy or its own genre (for me it depends on the day) but this is an excellent take on the subject, full of moral greyness and revenge.

David Mitchell - A literary fiction writer who has both a sense of humour and an interest in the fantastic and science fictional. He writes ordinary people and average lives marvelously well, keeps me turning pages, plays with form and timelines, and reliably throws in either recurring, possibly-immortal characters, good-vs-evil psychic battles, or other SF/F-y elements. I’d start with either Slade House, a ghost story, or Utopia Avenue, about a ‘60s rock band. Or possible The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, which I fully admit to not having read yet.

Devolution by Max Brooks - A horror movie in book form, full of tension and desperation and jump scares and the problems with relying on modern technology. The monsters are Bigfeet. Reccing this one in the same way I’m reccing The Martian—it’s an accessible intro to its genre.

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson - Contemporary fiction with a slight literary bent, that doesn’t pull its punches about Indigenous life but also has a sense of humour about the same. Follows a teen dealing with poverty and a bad home life and drugs and hormones—and the fact that his bio-dad might actually be the trickster Raven. Also features witches, magic, and other spirit-beings, so I generally pitch this as magic realism.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones - Another Indigenous rec, this time a horror novel about ghosts and racism and trying to do the right thing. This’ll give you a taste of the more psychological end of the horror spectrum.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia - A good example of contemporary YA and how it handles the complexities of life, love, and growing up. Follows the writer of a fantasy webcomic who makes a friend who turns out to write fic of her story and who suddenly has to really balance online and offline life, among other pressures. Realistic portrait of mental health problems.

Non-fiction

The Book of Margery Kempe - The first English-language autobiography. Margery was very devout but also very badass, in a medieval sort of way. She went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, was possibly epileptic, frequently “saw” Christ and Mary and demons, basically became a nun in middle age while staying married to her husband, and wound up on trial for heresy, before talking a monk into writing down her life story. It’s a fascinating window into the time period.

The Hammer and the Cross by Robert Ferguson - A history of medieval Norse people and how their explorations and trade shaped both their culture and the world.

A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor - Travel writing that was recommended to me by someone who raved about the prose and was totally right. Fermor’s looking back, with the aid of journals, on a walking trip he took across Europe in the 1930s. It’s a fascinating look at the era and an old way of life, and pretty much every “entry” has something of interest in it. He met all sorts of people.

Tim Severin and/or Thor Heyerdahl - More travel writing, this time by people recreating historical voyages (or what they believe to be historical voyages, ymmv) in period ships. Severin focuses on mythology (I’ve read The Ulysses Voyage and The Jason Voyage) and Heyerdahl’s known for Kon-Tiki, which is him “proving” that Polynesians made contact with South America. They both go into the history of the sailing and areas they’re travelling through, while also describing their surroundings and daily life, and, yes, running into storms and things.

Hope this helps you!

#bookblr #booklr #fantasy #read-alikes #answered asks #book recommendations #rec lists

27 notes · View notes

mychemicalaromanticism · 4 years ago

Text

things ive already established r on this post

besties this got so fucking long but heres a giant ramble about cherri

okay so. there are huge differences betwn cherri as a hyperviolent drac hunter and cherri as a friend of the four and cherri as the girls mentor. with the first one he was 17 and desperate to distance himself from his upbringing so he went all in on Being A Killjoy. he was always one of the first ppl to rush into a fight and he fought hard. he blew up his fuckin hand with that attitude. and all the while he was just racking up more unaddressed trauma and eventually he ran away from that, too. giving himself radiation poisoning was more appealing than facing his problems.

so as a teenager/young adult hes kind of constantly in a panicked state. hes scared the people from his past are going to find him and drag him back with them. so he lashes out and he runs away over and over again.

i said in another post that he has some past life shit goin on which usually would give him a connection to the witch that manifests early in life, but with all the stuff hes gone through he has been Preoccupied. he can become oblivious to almost anything that doesnt apply to whatever hes focused on. not in a hyperfocus way its likeeeeee. when u live on survival mode during prolonged periods of stress. hes immune to magic bullshit bc hes too tired and scared.

anyways around his mid-20s he finally has a little more stability (as much as the average person living in the zones can have, that is) and he finally notices that Weird Stuff happens around him. basically: out of my list of Powers People Connected To The Witch Have he has the prophetic dreams/enhanced intuition as well as a form of sensing ghosts where he can see auras and kind of like, echoes of past events in ppls lives. that look like auras. itz complicated and not of utmost importance so im leaving it at that.

anyways thats what makes him start writing poetry. just 4 funsies he'll describe his weird experiences and embellish them to make em pretty. just as a casual hobby n all that.

he would forget fun ghoul in between the times they ran into each other but its pretty easy to be reminded of who fun ghoul is. the most insane 10 year old cherri has ever met. cherri isnt a brother figure to ghoul. hes just. his friend that happens to be more than twice his age. its whatever lmao

to cherri, ghoul is kinda like a stray animal he keeps seeing. which is hilarious. ghoul actually goes and finds him to introduce him to jet when they start running together, and cherri meets party and kobra (spark and birdie at the time) when he drives the four of them to a party. because he has a truck hell yeah. so now instead of one stray animal he has, like, a feral cat colony that he drives around occasionally. i have no real-life human relationship equivalent to them because irl if some guy that is not related to any of you and isnt even a childhood or family friend and theyre hanging out with you? they are usually not a safe person lmao. but this is my fantasy land and im too stubborn to change anyones birth years even though ghoul being born in 2004 makes everything really hard to make not creepy.

so yeah hes a casual somewhat friend of the fab four. hed probably get more and more concerned as they got famous. the beginnings of any sort of protective feelings, awww :) that sets him up for becoming the girls mentor.

OH FUCK. THE GIRL..... i think if i was in my late 20s and i heard that the gang of 13-17 year olds had adopted a 5 year old kid i would go bananas. what the fuck. it is a LONG while before cherri meets her. but he has the strongest affection for ghoul (if you could even call it that) and ghoul absolutely adores the girl and swings her around under her arms like a cat to show her off to cherri and its very endearing and the girl is sweet and funny so its easy to be around her. and (unfortunately) she is somewhat used to interacting with weird easily agitated people so she kinda gives him space. cherri isnt quite the uncle figure the fandom usually makes him (i luv uncle cherri sm but he simply cannot exist in the universe ive created, f), but hes a little similar.

and then the four had to go and pretend to die. lol.

when the girl was kidnapped, fucking everyone who knew her was ready to storm the city then and there. like regardless of how little you knew her, if you had ever met her you would fucking die for her. she is pure childish charisma and shes precious. i love the girl. so cherris immediately on board with whatever plan the four make to get her back. ive already talked abt how it fucked up the girl tho; there was no way to tell her that the four werent actually dead, she sees the building collapse and she shuts down. and cherri has to fight against his instinct to leave the radio station and never come back when he sees an eight year old girl sitting dissociated on the couch. that fucks everyone up.

i just realized i havent talked about literally anyone else at the radio station. i think cherri started lingering around the station bc it was safe and sheltered while also not being a popular spot. there are less kids there (people pass through but its not a hangout spot). he was kind of just hanging around to get away from the heat and noise and dr d took notice. because that man can see ur soul and no one knows if thats literal or not. so theyd chat a few times a day and show pony was the one 2 get him out of his shell a little and also was the first one he mentioned his poetry hobby to. im making this all up right now as im writing bc i dont know anything about LITERALLY any of the ppl associated w the radio like im not even going 2 try with chimp n newsie i do not have the willpower to tackle all that. justttt. cherri pony n D become bros and live 2gether there.

back 2 the regular timeline. the rescue mission happens in 2019. the girl lives at the station until 2023. during that time she is very much depressed and withdrawn and is only happy when the four come to visit. none of the Adults know how to help her so they just keep her safe and cared for and hope she'll open up to them.

she does not. she takes the weird cat thats been hanging around and she runs away.

cherri does not see her for three years. shes still worse for wear in the mental health department and he can see all kinds of visions of what shes been through since the last time he saw her and he fucking hates the ultra vs bc they remind him of his past. he does not want her going down that path but its obvious that she isnt crazy abt the ultraviolence thing either so thats a relief.

they have a kind of tense relationship throughout the comics. he feels like he failed her and that spirals into feeling like he failed the four for not being a good adult to them and fun ghoul for not helping enough when his commune was bombed and all kinds of shit and that irrational thinking mixed with plain old, yknow, caring about the girl, is what makes him take a bullet (laser. whatever) for her.

i was trying to figure out the timing of each of their ghost experiences, but i want both of them to talk to the witch and im just gonna make it like dreams where a whole buncha stuff happens but irl its been like seconds. so its like barely a second while the girl has her Witch Convo and cherri FINALLY gets a straight answer, yes there is weird shit going on with him having powers. he doesnt have any story-significant past lives because im lazy, hes just an old soul. like really fuckin old. the amount of latent life experience and stuff his soul/energy/whatever has picked up along the way makes him VERY noticeable to gods n stuff. he fuckin lights up all the alarms like what the FUCK is that over there. she wasnt rly able to get to him or even properly notice him while he was a kid and a young adult so shes happy to finally see him again. he has a STRONG sense of familiarity with her. they know each other on a wild ass level that he cant really comprehend.

welp thats some more lore I'll have 2 think abt. anywayz

post canon is when he and val get to have the most awkward spiderman meme moment of realizing that they have the same trauma SOOOOO thatz fun lol /s sorry kings i thought it would be fun to give u something fucked up to bond over <3

not much changes in his personality. he has a better understanding of Weird Magic and delights in freaking out the ultra vs but for the most part he returns to his life at the radio station. i love him

THIS GOT SO CRAZY LONG I DID NOT MEAN 2 GO THROUGH EVERY PART OF HIS LIFE LIKE SOME WEIRD CHARACTER STUDY but here we are. this is basically a first draft like almost all of this is subject to change but u gotta start somewhere. so heres my start i love this guy. its probably obvious but i have not read ANY twitterverse killjoys stuff </3 maybe i will someday idk

#cat talks #lore #ok2rb but what a mess this post is

3 notes · View notes

paths-of-my-childhood-candid · 5 years ago

Text

Lover Conquers All

By: Mark Sutherland for Music Week Date: November 4th 2019 issue (published online on December 13th 2019)

She’s the world’s biggest pop star, but despite her global success, Taylor Swift is also the music industry’s greatest advocate for artists’ and songwriters’ rights. And, with a ground-breaking new record deal and a bold new album, Lover, she’s not about to stop now. Music Week meets her to talk music and business...

Around this time of year, the Taylor Swift anniversaries come at you thick and fast. Nine years since her third album, Speak Now, every note of which was written entirely by Swift, hit the shelves. Five years since she released her mould-breaking pop album, 1989, and went from the world’s biggest country star to the world’s biggest pop star overnight. Two years since her Reputation record saw her become the only musician to post four successive million-plus debut sales weeks in the United States. And so on.

But today, Swift’s mind is drawn further back, to the 13th anniversary of her debut, self-titled record, and the days when her album releases weren’t automatically accompanied by mountains of hype and enough think-pieces to sink a battleship. Her journal entries from the time - helpfully reprinted as part of the deluxe editions of her new album, Lover - reveal her as an excited, optimistic teenager, but also one with a grasp of marketing strategies and label politics way beyond her years, even if she was reluctant to actually take credit for her ideas.

“It always was and it always will be an interesting dance being a young woman in the music industry,” she smiles ruefully. “We don’t have a lot of female executives, we’re working on getting more female engineers and producers but, while we are such a drastic gender minority, it’s interesting to try and figure out how to be.”

And, of course, when Swift started out she was, as she points out, “an actual kid”.

“I was planning the release of my first album when I was 15 years old,” she reminisces. “And I was a fully gangly 15, I reminded everyone of their niece! I was in this industry in Nashville and country music, where I was making album marketing calls, but I never wanted to stand up and say, ‘Yeah, that promotions plan you just complimented my label on, I thought of that! Me and my Mom thought of that!’

“When you’re a new artist you wonder how much space you can take up and, as a woman, you wonder how much space you can take up pretty much your whole period of growing up,” she continues. “For me, growing up and knowing that I was an adult was realising that I was allowed to take up space from a marketing perspective, from a business perspective, from an opinionated perspective. And that feels a lot better than constantly trying to wonder if I’m allowed to be here.”

In the intervening years, Taylor Swift has released six further, brilliant albums, growing from country starlet to all-conquering pop behemoth along the way. She takes up “more space”, as she would put it, than any other musician on the planet: a sales and now - having belatedly embraced the format with Lover - streaming phenomenon; a powerhouse stadium performer; an award-garlanded songwriter for herself and others; and a social media giant with a combined 278 million followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (which would make the Taylor Nation the fourth most populous one on earth, after China, India and the US).

But her influence on music and the music industry doesn’t end there. Because, over the years, Swift has also become a leading advocate for artists’ and songwriters’ rights, in a digital landscape that doesn’t always have such matters as a priority.

In 2015, she stood up to Apple Music over its plans to not pay artist royalties during subscribers’ three-month free trials (Apple backed down immediately). She pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify in 2014 in protest that its free tier was devaluing music, sending Daniel Ek scrambling to justify his business model. When she returned in 2017, it was a crucial fillip for the streaming service’s IPO plans.

More recently, her ground-breaking new record deal with Republic Records contained clauses not only guaranteeing her ownership of her future masters, but also ensuring Universal Music will share the spoils of its Spotify shares with its artists, without any payments counting against unrecouped balances. And when her long-time former label boss Scott Borchetta sold Big Machine to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, taking Swift’s first six albums with him, the star publicly called out what she saw as her “worst-case scenario” and stressed: “You deserve to own the art you make”. She may yet re-record her old songs in protest.

In short, Swift has, for a long time now, been unafraid to use her voice on industry matters, whether they pertain to her own stellar career or the thousands of other artists out there struggling to make a living.

All of which makes Swift not just the greatest star of our age, but perhaps the most important to the future development of the industry as a more artist-centric, songwriter-friendly business. Hers is still the life of the pop phenomenon - she spent today in Los Angeles doing promotion and photoshoots (or, in her words, “having people put make-up on me”) as Lover continues to build on huge critical acclaim and even huger initial sales. But now, she’s kicking back with her cats - one of whom seems determined to disrupt Music Week’s interview by “stampeding” through at every opportunity - and ready to talk business.

And for Swift, business is good. The impact of her joining streaming, and the decline of traditional album sales, may have prevented her from posting a fifth successive one million-plus sales debut, but Lover still sold more US copies (867,000) in its first week than any record since her own Reputation. It’s sold 117,513 copies to date in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company.

Even better, while Reputation - a record forged in the white heat of a social media snakestorm over her on-going feud with Kanye West - was plenty of show and rather less grow, Lover continues to reveal hidden depths. Reputation struck a sometimes curious contrast between the unrepentant warrior Swift she was showing to the outside world and the love story with British actor Joe Aiwyn that was quietly developing behind closed doors, but Lover is the sort of versatile, cohesive album that the streaming age was supposed to kill off.

It contains more than its fair share of pop bangers (You Need To Calm Down, Me!), but also some gorgeously-crafted acoustic tracks (Lover, Cornelia Street), some pithy political commentary (The Man, Miss America & The Heartbreak Prince) and the sort of musical diversions (Paper Rings’ irresistible rockabilly stomp, the childlike oddity of It’s Nice To Have A Friend) that no other pop superstar would have the sheer musical chops to attempt, let alone pull off.

“Taylor’s creative instincts as an artist and songwriter are brilliant,” says Monte Lipman, founder and CEO of Swift’s US label, Republic. “Our partnership represents a strategic alliance built on mutual respect, trust, and complete transparency. Her vision is extraordinary as she sets the tone for every campaign and initiative.”

No wonder David Joseph, chairman/CEO of her long-time UK label Virgin EMI’s parent company Universal Music UK, is thrilled with how things are going.

“Love Story was a fitting first single release for Taylor here - she’s loved the UK from day one and has engaged so much with her fans and teams,” says Joseph. “She really respects and values what’s going on here creatively. To see her go from playing the Students’ Union at King’s College to Wembley Stadium has been extraordinary. Taylor is an artist constantly striving for perfection, and with Lover - from my personal point of view, her most accomplished work to date adore working with her and whilst it’s been more than 10 years this still feels like the start.”

And today, Swift is keen to concentrate on the present and future. She has a starring role in Cats coming up (and a new song on the soundtrack, Beautiful Ghosts, co-written with Andrew Lloyd Webber) and, after a spectacularly intimate Paris launch show in September, festival dates and her own LoverFest to plan (UK shows will be revealed soon). Time, then, to tell the cats to calm down and sit down with Music Week to talk streaming, contracts and why she’s “obsessed” with the music industry...

Unlike with Reputation, most of the discussion around Lover seems to have been focused on the music... Absolutely! One of the ideas I had about this record, and something I’ve implemented into my life in the last couple of years is that I don’t like distractions. And, for a while, it felt like my life had to come with distractions from the music, whether it was tabloid fascination with my personal life or my friendships or what I was wearing. I realised in the last couple of years that, if I don’t give a window into distraction, people can’t try to look in and see something other than the music. I love that, if you really pour yourself into the idea that an album is still important and try really hard to make something that is worth people’s attention span, time and energy, that can still come across. Because we are living in an industry right now where everyone’s rushing towards taking us into a singles industry and, in some cases, it has become that. But there are still some cases where clearly the album is important to people.

Does it matter that some new artists won’t get to make albums the way you always have? It’s interesting. Five years ago I wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and said, maybe in the next five years, we would see artists releasing music the way that they want to. I thought that each artist would start to curate what is important to them, not just from an artistic standpoint but from a marketing standpoint. It’s really interesting to see different release plans, if you look at what Drake did and then what Beyoncé does, incredible artists who have really curated what it is to drop music in their own way. We all do it differently, which is cool. As long as people dropping just singles want to be doing that, then I’m fine with it, but if it feels like a big general wave that’s being pressured by people in power, their teams or their labels, that’s not cool. But I do really hope that in the future artists have more of a say over strategy. We’re not just supposed to make art and then hand it to a team that masterminds it.

Were you worried about putting an album on streaming on release day for the first time? Well, there are ways that streaming services could really promote the [whole] album in a more incentivised way. We could have album charts on streaming. The industry follows where they can get prizes. So you have a singles chart on streaming services which is great but, if you split things up into genre charts for example, that would really incentivise people. It’s important that we keep trying to strive to make the experience better for users but also make it more interesting for artists to keep wanting to achieve. But I really did love the experience of putting the album on streaming. I loved the immediacy, I loved that people who maybe weren’t a huge diehard fan were curious and saying, ‘I wonder what this is like’ and listening to it and deciding that they liked it.

You’d resisted streaming for a long time. Have you changed your mind about the format now? I always knew that I would enjoy the aspects of streaming that make [your music] so immediately available to so many people. That’s the part of it that I unequivocally always felt really sad I was missing out on. There wasn’t ever a day when I woke up and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m really glad that multitudes of people don’t have access to my music!’ So I always knew that streaming was an incredible mechanism and model for the future but I still don’t think we have the royalties and compensation system worked out. That’s between the labels and their artists and I realised that me, to use a gross word, ‘leveraging’ what I can bring to cut a better deal for the artists at my record label was really important for me.

How big a factor were things like that in you signing to Republic/Universal? That’s important to me because that means they’re adopting some of my ideas. If they take me on as an artist that means they really thought it through. Because with me, come opinions about how we can better our industry. I’m one of the only people in the artist realm who can be loud about it. People who are on their fifth, sixth or seventh album, we’re the only ones who can speak out, because new artists and producers and writers need to work. They need to be endearing and likeable and available to their labels and streaming services at all times. It’s up to the artists who have been around for a second to say, ‘Hey guys, the producers and the writers and the artists are the ones who are making music what it is’. And we’re in a great place in music right now thanks to them. They should be going to their mailbox and feeling like they’ve got a pension plan, rather than feeling like, ‘Oh yay, I can pay half my rent this month after this No.1 song’.

Did you have more creative freedom making Lover than on your previous albums? In my previous situation, there were creative constraints, issues that we had over the years. I’ve always given 100% to projects, I always over-delivered, thinking that that generosity would be returned to me. But I ended up finding that generosity in a new situation with a new label that understands that I deserve to own what I make. That meant so much to me because it was given over to me so freely. When someone just looks at you and says ‘Yes, you deserve what you want’, after a decade or more of being told, ‘I’m not sure you deserve what you want’ - there’s a freedom that comes with that. It’s like when people find ‘the one’ they’re like, ‘It was easy, I just knew and I felt free’. All of a sudden you’re being told you’re worth exactly, no, more than what you thought you were worth. And that made me feel I could make an album that was exactly what I wanted to make. There’s an eclectic side to Lover, a confessional side, it varies from acoustic to really poppy pop, but that’s what I like to do. And, while you would never make something artistic based on something so unromantic as a contract, it was more than that. It was a group of people saying, ‘We believe in what you’re making, go make what you want to make and you deserve to own it too’.

You’re obviously not happy about what’s happened at Big Machine since you left. But will the attention mean artists don’t find themselves in this situation in the future? I hope so. That’s the only reason that I speak out about things. The fans don’t understand these things, the public isn’t being made aware. This generation has so much information available to them so I thought it was important that the fans knew what I was going through, because I knew it was going to affect every aspect of my life and I wanted them to be the first to know. And in and amongst that group, I know there are people that want to make music some day. It involves every new artist that is reading that and going, ‘Wait, that’s what I’m signing?’ They don’t have to sign stuff that’s unfair to them. If you don’t ask the right questions and you sit in front of the wrong desk in front of the wrong person, they can take everything from you.

Songwriters are in dispute with Spotify in the US over its decision to appeal the Copyright Board decision to boost songwriting royalties. Do writers need more respect? Absolutely. In terms of the power structure, the songwriters, the producers, the engineers, the people who are breathing magic into our industry, need to be listened to. They’re not being greedy. This is legitimately an industry where people are having trouble paying their bills and they’re the most talented people we have. This isn’t them sitting in their mansions going, ‘I wish this mansion was bigger and I would like a yacht please’. This is actually people who are going to work every single day. I got into writing when I was in Nashville and it was very much like what I read about the Brill Building. You would write every day, whether you were inspired or not, and in the process I met artists and writers. Somebody would walk in and someone would say, ‘Oh, he’s still getting mailbox money from that Faith Hill cut a couple of years ago, he’s set’. That’s not a thing anymore. Mailbox money is a thing of the past and we need to remember that these are the people that create the heartbeat that we’re all dancing to or crying to.

You were clearly aware of music industry machinations from a young age... Reading back on the journal entries, I forgot how obsessed I was with the industry as a teenager. I was so fascinated by how it works and how it was changing. Every part of it was interesting to me. I had drawn the stages for most of my tours a year before I went on them. That really was fun for me as a teenager! A lot of people who start out very young in music, either don’t have a say or don’t have the will to do the business side of it, but weirdly that was so much fun for me to try and learn. I had a lot of energy when I was 16!

Are you doing similar drawings for next year’s LoverFest? Definitely. And that’s why it’s still fun for me to take on a challenge like, ‘Oh, let’s just plan our own festival’. Let’s create a bill of artists and try and make it as fun as possible for the fans. I’m so intrigued by what that’s going to be like.

Finally, when we last did an interview in 2015, you said in five years’ time you wanted to be “finding complexity in happiness”. How has that worked out? That’s exactly what’s happened with this album! I think a lot of writers have the fear of stability, emotional health and happiness. Our whole careers, people make jokes about how, ‘Just wait until you meet someone nice, you’ll run out of stuff to write about’. I was talking to [Cats director] Tom Hooper about this because he said one thing his mother taught him was, ‘Don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t make art if you’re happy’. I thought that was so amazing. He’s a creator in a completely different medium but he has been subjected to that same joke over and over again that we must be miserable to create. Lover is important to me in so many ways, but it’s so imperative for me as a human being that songwriting is not tied to my own personal misery. It’s good to know that, it really is!

364 notes · View notes

bellemorte180 · 5 years ago

Text

Wanderlust Chapter Four

It was a quarter past twelve in the afternoon when Klaus pulled up outside Caroline’s small house. When he stepped out of his temporary vehicle, he took in the sight of the house. When he was there the other day to evaluate her kidnapping, he never took the chance to really admire the home. It was small but it fit Caroline’s personality. It was only one story, had white siding with big windows and a black door that he knew lead into the home’s open floor plan. While small, he could tell that it was not exactly inexpensive. Then again, Caroline was frugal and due to her successful job, it was not surprising that she would have splurged on a nice home. He could see Caroline living her day to day life in that house, cooking, cleaning and playing with Enzo. Mentally, he calculated the distance between Mystic Falls to Washington D.C. but scolded himself.

Klaus was not there to pursue anything with her; even if the drive between them was only an hour and a half.

Caroline had called asking if he could come by that afternoon. Her message was vague and did not say why she wanted to him to come over. There was no urgency in her voice nor was there any fear to make Klaus concerned for her safety. He knew that over the last three days, both Liz and Bonnie slept at her house, ensuring that she was not alone. The few times he spoke with Caroline told him she was both thankful and annoyed at them both.

Typically, Klaus never got attached to victims during investigations; mainly because by the time he got involved, all the victims had been murdered. Although, during the few times that he dealt with living victims, he did what he could to be sympathetic and meet their needs, but he kept them at arm’s length.

But there was something different about Caroline. Perhaps it was her strength or the light that she seemed to have within her; despite the darkness that had touched her soul. Maybe it was the darkness; a darkness that only few could truly understand. While the thought of her being harmed in anyway, drove him into a frenzy; knowing that she would be able to understand his own darkness was appealing, and he hated himself for the thought.

Shaking himself from his feelings, he strolled up the brick walkway and onto her small porch. He raised his hand to rap his knuckles against the wooden door. Through the windows on the door, he could see a hazy view of her living room but could see nothing clearly. It was only seconds before the door opened but it was not Caroline on the other side.

“Good afternoon Ms. Bennet.” Bonnie smiled at him, unsurprised by his presence. She stepped aside slightly, allowing him to enter. Enzo quickly padded over to him, his tail wagging as he did so. Klaus bent down to pet the dog behind the ears. Enzo rolled over, exposing his belly to Klaus and the former couldn’t help but reach out and rub it. He laughed at the dog’s antics before gazing at Bonnie. “Where is Caroline?”

“Dr. Fell stopped by. They should be done shortly.” Bonnie replied, pointing at the closed bedroom door; before sitting down on one of the bar stools that was pushed into the kitchen island. Klaus nodded, taking in the other woman’s appearance. She appeared tired; the bags under her eyes told him that she had slept very little. Her short hair fell flat around her chin and due to its damp nature and the sofa’s apparent disarray, he assumed that Bonnie had stayed the night again. “Caroline mentioned she called you and asked that I wait in case you came.”

“Of course.” Klaus replied nodding, still rubbing Enzo’s stomach. Enzo scampered off and grabbed a toy dragon, bringing it back to Klaus. The agent chuckled, grabbed the toy and gently tossed it across the room. Enzo took off after it; only to bring the blue dragon back to Klaus, urging him to play. “How is she?”

“She is being the same old, Caroline. Putting on a brave face but I think it is bothering her more than she is letting on.” Bonnie replied, watching Klaus play with Enzo. Bonnie typically was not one to betray her friend’s confidence and Klaus knew not to pry more. The last thing he wanted was for Caroline to lose trust in another friend. “He likes you.”

“Enzo?” Bonnie nodded and Klaus smiled. Klaus sat down on the ground and started playing tug-of-war with Enzo, never breaking eye contact with the playful dog. “Perhaps I’m just likable. That and dogs can sense things that most people cannot. He knows that I am here to help. Plus, I like dogs more than most people.”

“I suppose in your line of work that makes sense.” Bonnie muttered. Klaus wanted to agree but Caroline’s bedroom door opened. Caroline and Dr. Fell stepped out and by the annoyed look on both their faces told Klaus that the appointment did not go well.

“At least get them filled, Caroline. That way you have them in case you need them.” Dr. Fell asked, trying to hand her a piece of paper that Klaus assumed was a prescription. Caroline shook her head and crossed her arms.

“I don’t need them. I’m fine.”

“No. You’re not.” Dr. Fell’s tone held both equal measures of harshness and compassion. “You’re not sleeping. Given what you’ve been through, I think you should still be in the hospital, but I know you’re going to fight me on that. If Ms. Bennet did not call me this morning, I would not have known that something was wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong. The shakes and chills have stopped. My feet feel fine and once I get this cast off, I’ll be good as new.” Caroline replied and yet not a single person in the room believed her. Klaus could see Bonnie roll her eyes. She hopped off the stool and walked over to the doctor and Caroline. She took the paper from Dr. Fell’s hand and gave Caroline a wide smile.

“I’ll make sure this gets filled.”

“Thank you, Bonnie.” Dr. Fell turned back to Caroline. “Take them. They will help you sleep. Call me if you need anything or you feel that something is off. Okay?” Dr. Fell pressed and Caroline nodded. She turned to leave the house and nodded her head towards Klaus in greeting. “Agent Mikaelson.”

“Dr. Fell.” Klaus watched as Dr. Fell left the house, shutting the door tightly behind her. Enzo was still nudging Klaus with the dragon, hoping that he would toss it across the room again. Instead, he just started petting Enzo; his gaze focusing on Caroline.

Much like Bonnie, she looked as though she had a rough night. While he saw no bags under her eyes like Bonnie, he could tell that she looked exhausted. She wore a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a floral tank top. The bruises on her arms seemed to have healed slightly; only leaving a few yellow patches where he knew the needle marks would have been. She wore no shoes and had no problem walking around her kitchen counter, telling Klaus that her feet have healed enough for her to walk comfortably; that and seeing that she was able to run out of the police station the other day.

“I’m mad at you.” Caroline muttered to Bonnie, pointing her finger at her with narrowed eyes. The latter just snorted; not caring about Caroline’s anger. Caroline turned to Klaus, who pulled himself from the floor and patted Enzo on the head. “Thank you for coming Klaus. I am making a cup of coffee; can I get you anything?”

“Coffee with be fine, thank you. Black.”

“Are you taking off?” Caroline asked, directing her question to Bonnie; who had grabbed her purse. Klaus noticed she put Caroline’s prescription into it before slinging it over her shoulder. While Klaus felt more comfortable with someone being with Caroline constantly, he understood that the rest of the world needed to continue on with their lives. Out of curiosity, Klaus peaked out the window to ensure that a police cruiser was still stationed across the street.

“Yes. I am going to stop by the shop and make sure Anna is able to fill the orders.” Caroline smirked at that and a look passed between the friends. Klaus was unsure who Anna was but whomever she was seemed to be a running joke between the two friends. “I will get your prescription filled and Liz mentioned something about cooking some pasta dish or something.”

“Spaghetti. That’s all she knows how to cook.” Bonnie snorted and Klaus chuckled. After spending a good portion of his days in the sheriff’s presence, that bit of information did not surprise in him the slightest. “You don’t have to stay over.”

“Yes, I do. Now, no more arguments.” She walked over to the front door and turned before letting herself out. She pointed between Caroline and Klaus. “Let me know when you’re done. Okay?” Caroline nodded in agreement as Bonnie left the house; closing the door behind her. Klaus turned to Caroline, raising his eyebrow at her in question.

“I’d ask how you are faring, but I think I’ll just receive the answer of ‘fine’ and we both know that is a lie.” Klaus could not help at the scowl that took over her lips. He sat down at the island while he watched Caroline pull two mugs while the coffee brewed. “I take it that neither Dr. Fell nor Ms. Bennet believe you, either? Do you need help?”

“No, I got it. And no, they don’t.” Caroline replied with a heavy sigh. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out a container of Fat Free French Vanilla coffee creamer. “I mean, I get it. They are worried and just want to show they care; but I’m not a child. I don’t need constant supervision or to have my hand held. I just feel a bit suffocated, that’s all.”

“You nearly died Caroline. Them being here, taking care of you, is just their way of ensuring themselves that you’re okay.” Klaus thought back to all the times during his teenage years when he felt hoovered over and smothered. At the time he hated it at the time and knew that as an adult, he still would. However, he could understand the sentiments. “I do understand where you are coming from. When I was fifteen, I nearly died. My family hoovered over me constantly and I wanted to throttle each and every one of my siblings.”

“I’m sorry.” Caroline whispered. Klaus could tell that she wanted to ask what happened to him, but she wouldn’t. She was curious but Klaus was able to tell that she was not one to press him; at least not right now. “I know they mean well and don’t get me wrong, Bonnie has been my rock these last few days. Without her, I probably would have gone insane.”

“She seems like a good friend.”

“She is.” Caroline replied as the timer on the coffee maker went off. She pulled the coffee pot from the warmer and poured the two mugs full of Klaus’s favorite liquid. She handed him his coffee before adding the creamer to hers. “Especially since Elena clearly is not.”

“Ah. Yes. That.” Klaus brought his cup to his lips, hoping to hide the amused smirk that was crossing his lips. As a bystander, watching the small-town drama of Elena and the Salvatore brothers unfold was amusing, although he would never tell Caroline that. Not to mention it distracted everyone temporarily from Caroline and gave her some space. “I hear the younger one, Stefan, kicked Elena out of their apartment?”

“And called off the wedding. She moved back in with her aunt and uncle for the time being. Bonnie said that she felt that moving in with Damon would not be a wise idea.” Caroline said in a tight voice while Klaus just tossed her a questioning look. “Elena has been blowing up my phone, but Bonnie has been intercepting the calls; because I don’t feel like talking to her and apparently that makes me the bad guy.”

“She slept with her fiancé’s brother, who is also your ex and your abuser.” Klaus told her in a calm tone. “Sweetheart, if anyone is the bad guy in this situation. It is her. Not you.”

“Thank you!” Caroline exclaimed. “She just doesn’t seem to understand why I’m upset or irritated with her. She just keeps saying that this has nothing to do with me. Like, I’m sorry but I just kind of went through a traumatic experience and to find out that one of my best friends has been sleeping with the man who, once upon a time, used me as a punching bag feels like rubbing salt into a very open wound.” Caroline scowled and ran her uninjured hand through her hair. “Anyway, I didn’t call you over here so you can listen to me rant about Elena and her never ending drama.”

“Even if you did, I wouldn’t mind.” Klaus’s tone was low, and it caused Caroline’s face to flush. While it was completely unprofessional, and he knew that, Klaus could not help but enjoy seeing her be affected by his voice. She bit her lip and looked at him through hooded lashes. “Why did you call me?”

At first, Caroline did not respond, and Klaus was not about to push her. He slowly drank his coffee and patted Enzo’s head absentmindedly, while he waited for Caroline to sort through her thoughts. He had all day if Caroline needed it. On a normal case, Klaus would not spend so much time with a victim, but he could not help but make an exception for Caroline. He had a drive to find who did this to her, but he also wanted nothing more than to ensure she was healing.

“I’m having nightmares.” Caroline whispered and Klaus nodded. It was not unexpected and when Dr. Fell mentioned that she was not sleeping, he suspected as much. Caroline gave another heavy sigh and walked around her counter; sitting on the stool next to Klaus. “Most of the time I’m back in that cellar, being held by him or worse.” She looked down at her hand that was covered by a cast. Klaus reached out and took her other hand; squeezing gently. Caroline laced their finger’s together, terrified that if she let go, he would vanish. “But last night was different. I was running through the wood and I was being chased.

“By who?”

“I don’t know. I kept going over and over the dream this morning and I remembered something.” Klaus sat up straighter, his eyes widening and completely focused on Caroline. “I’m a runner. Always have been. In high school I would run through the woods. I know those woods like the back of hand. I know where I was being held.”

“Where?”

“It’s hard to explain but I can show you. If you’re up for a hike?” Klaus nodded and all but jumped from the stool and pulled out his phone. If Caroline could lead them to where she was held captive, it could lead to a breakthrough. He dialed Marcel quickly and re-laid the message when he answered. He turned to Caroline, asking for a location for them to meet. “Um, about two miles down route 30. Just outside the town boarders, near the Mystic Falls welcome sign.”

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Klaus asked as he hung up with Marcel. She nodded and pulled herself from the stool. He watched her enter her bedroom and return with a pair of socks, boots and a light jacket. After she slipped on her boots and jacket, they left. The drive took about fifteen minutes and for the most part, the drive was silent. Caroline found herself lost in thought as she watched the scenery fly past them. Klaus wondered what was going on in her thoughts but did not want to push her. Instead, he left her alone to her thoughts, not wanting her to feel as though he was also smothering her.

She was pulled from her musings when the car started to slow and pull up beside another black SUV that was parked on the side of the road. She looked over her shoulder and she could see the sign welcoming her to her hometown. Klaus reached across her and opened the glove box; pulling out his government issued handgun. Klaus watched Caroline take a deep breath, before opening the car door. They both stepped out in time to see Marcel exiting his own SUV.

“Caroline, this is Special Agent Marcel Gerard.” Marcel held out his hand for Caroline to take. She took it with her good hand and smiled politely at him. “Marcel, this is Caroline Forbes.”

“Good afternoon Ms. Forbes. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.” Caroline nodded in agreement; her eyes looked around at the trees. Route 30 ran directly in the middle of the forest that surrounded Mystic Falls. Klaus could see her unease and he placed his hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze. “Is this the right place?”

“Yes.” She took a deep breath and began to focus. “I remember stopping for a second once I hit the road. I remember looking at the sign. I never was so happy to see that sign in my life because I knew if I ran through there.” Caroline pointed to the trees on the other side of the road. “I would come out near the police station. I knew my mom would be there, waiting for me.”

“She was. She refused to leave. She had faith that you would make it.” Klaus whispered to her and she couldn’t help the tears that began to slide down her cheeks. She takes a moment and then shakes her head. She takes a few deep breaths and wipes the tears away from her cheeks.

“Let’s go through here. It will take a bit to get there and unfortunately cars do not exactly fit.” Caroline whispered and headed into the woods; Marcel and Klaus following behind her. They were silent for the first twenty minutes, simply following her as she retraced her steps; waiting to see if something new came to her. Klaus could not help but imagine Caroline running through these woods, barefoot and terrified. It made his blood boil and he wanted nothing more than to take his frustrations out on something. As though, she could sense his anger, Caroline ended the silence in a chipper voice that none of them believed. “So, partners huh? How long have you guys worked together?”

“I transferred into the unit three years ago.” Marcel replied and threw Klaus a cheeky smirk, hoping that lightening the mood would ease Caroline’s tensions. Caroline looked between the two of them, wearing an amused look on her face. They continued forward, listening to the leaves crunch beneath their feet. “I was trained by the Queen himself.”

“Yes. Well, someone had to teach you some manners, you bloody colonial.” Klaus tossed back, stepping over a stump. His smirk was wide, and his dimples pronounced; his mood completely shifting from anger to amusement. “Seeing that I’m still stuck with you, obviously they are not sticking.”

“It is more likely because no one else can deal with your temper tantrums and therefore upper management refusing to give me a new partner.” Marcel replied in a sing song voice and Klaus just rolled his eyes at him. Caroline’s eyes bounced between the two of them. She could see the obvious friendship that developed over the years between them.

“How long have you been with the FBI?” Caroline asked, turning to Klaus. The smile that he was wearing slipped ever so slightly and took a deep breath. Caroline wanted to back pedal, realizing that she touched a nerve, but Klaus spoke before she could retrack her question.

“I joined the Bureau directly after graduating uni. Recruited actually. I worked in human trafficking for a while before transferring to the Behavioral Analysis Unit six years ago.” There was a shadow in his eyes when he spoke of his job. It was not that he hated his job, there was just only so much death and destruction one could deal with in a lifetime.

“Recruited? Wait. How did a British citizen join the FBI?”

“I went to college in the States. NYU actually. I worked out of the New York field office at first.” Klaus replied but said nothing more on the subject of his work experience. “In truth, I choose to study in the United States because it was far away from my siblings.”

“There are a lot of you Mikaelson’s running around.” Marcel muttered. He tilted his head down to Caroline and whispered to her loudly; holding out his hand in order to help her step over a tree that appeared to have recently falling “Can you believe he is one of five? Let me tell you, I’ve met almost all of his siblings and they are a bit much to handle. I would have fled the country if I was him too.”

“You have four siblings!” Caroline’s eyes went wide. She “And they all still live in England?”

“Yes. I do and for the most part. My younger siblings have a tendency to be a bit nomadic.” Klaus shook his head at Marcel. He narrowed his eyes mockingly at Marcel. “And don’t let his descriptions fool you. He is only stating that my siblings are too much to handle because he had a thing for my sister Rebekah, and she broke his heart.”

“Your sister is a brat.”

“Which I told you before you started dating her.” Klaus shot back, not really angry over the failed relationship between Marcel and his sister. The banter would have continued to go on, but Caroline stopped abruptly, causing Klaus to almost run into her. His eyes darted up and down Caroline’s figure, searching for injury. “Are you alright?”

“Yes.” By the tone of her whisper, Klaus doubted her sincerity. Her eyes were trained in front of them, looking at a pile of rocks that seemed almost man made. She lifted her good hand and pointed. “Up ahead. Those rocks. There is an old tunnel underneath. I was held there. I’m certain of it.”

“Can you do this?” Klaus gazed down at her, worry evident in his features. Caroline shook her head but reached for his arm. She linked her good arm with his and dug her nails into his skin. He did not even flinch but instead, was willing to let her reach for him; giving her comfort. Slowly, the three of them made their way towards the rubble and once they reached it, Klaus could not help but inspect it. “This appears to be man-made?”

“Yes.” Caroline could not tear her eyes away from the stone. The stones surrounding it were small and a set of stairs could be seen, descending into the ground. The entryway was tiny and appeared to be covered in dirt and leaves. “These are the old Lockwood tunnels. They were used during the civil war to funnel slaves to and from places. Overtime, the tunnels were closed up and buried. Whoever did this, had to of opened it up.”

“Do many people know about these?”

“No.” Caroline replied in a monotone voice, still unable to look away from the stairway. “Most people don’t. If Tyler never told me about them, I wouldn’t have known. Like I said, they are typically covered by dirt and grass. Whoever did this, he knew about them, and uncovered it; only to bury it back underground once I was inside. I had to dig myself out.”

“Caroline?”

“I can’t go down there!” She started shaking her head and backed away. Her eyes grew wide and her breathing began to pick up. She could feel her chest constricting as she tumbled backwards. Klaus caught her easily and pulled her against his chest. “Don’t make me go down there. I can’t! I thought I could but can’t. Please don’t make me go down there. Please. Please.”

“You don’t have to go down there.” Klaus whispered. He placed his hands on the side of her face. He turned her head gently enough in order for her to look away from her the place that was once her prison and into his eyes. “Caroline, look at me. You never have to go down there again. I promise you. If you do not want to do down there, you don’t. Okay?”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Klaus whispered back to her. “Now, take a deep breath. Breathe in and out. Slowly. There you go. Keep breathing. Focus on me.” Klaus’s voice brought Caroline back to the living. He could hear her breathing begin to slow and her trembling stop. Klaus pulled her close, minding her cast, and just held her. “I will find him, and he will never hurt you again. I promise that I will never let anyone hurt you again.”

“Thank you.” Caroline’s voice was just a whisper and Klaus had to strain to hear her. He just held her close for a moment, looking over her head towards Marcel. He was taking photos with his phone but sneaking looks at them. Klaus could see the questions burning in Marcel’s eyes. He was going to hear about this later but feeling Caroline in his arms, even in though she was completely terrified, was worth whatever lecture he was deemed to get from his partner.

“Feeling better?” Klaus asked as she pulled away. She nodded but refused to look at the rubble again. Instead she turned her back and looked into the woods; feeling the afternoon breeze on her skin. Klaus kept a hand on her shoulder, rubbing small circles hoping to bring her some sort of comfort.

“Caroline?” Marcel walked around Klaus in order to stand directly in front of her. He noticed something; something Klaus missed. His eyes were gentle, and Klaus knew he had a question that he needed an answer to. Klaus was torn, part of him wanted Marcel to back off and give Caroline space while the other part, wanted to push this investigation forward in order to find the bastard who hurt her. “Did you say that the these were Lockwood tunnels?”

“Yes.”

“Is this Lockwood property?”

“Yeah. I think so.” Marcel sighed and looked at Klaus. They both knew what that meant. If this was Lockwood property, then technically they could not go down there without permission or a warrant. While an argument of probable cause could be warranted, neither Klaus nor Marcel could guarantee it would hold up in court. “Why?”

“To go down there, we would need a warrant.” Klaus replied gently. Marcel nodded, still eyeing the interaction between Klaus and Caroline; especially how Klaus still was touching her back. Caroline leaned into him again, resting her head against his chest. “Why don’t we head back, and we will call one in once we get to the car.”

The three of them headed back through the woods. Unlike the time before, Caroline found no reason to disrupt the silence. The walk lasted about a half hour. Neither wanted to push her or make her uncomfortable but Marcel kept looking down at their locked hands; Caroline refusing to let go and Klaus wanting to hold on as tightly as he could.

When they reached the two black SUV’s that were still waiting patiently on the side of the road, Marcel immediately pulled out his phone. Caroline let go of Klaus’s hand and followed suit, pulling out her phone in order to send a one-handed text. Klaus, giving her privacy leaned against the car, listening to Marcel speak to one of the two judges in Mystic Falls. When he was finished, he hung up and turned towards Klaus.

“The warrant will be ready first thing in the morning. He said we could go down now, but I figure it would be best to get a forensic team down there too.” Klaus nodded in agreement. “I’ll call Vincent and have him send a team over.” Marcel’s eyes flickered over to Caroline, who was still looking at her phone but appeared to not really see what was in front of her. “Why don’t I take Caroline home. You pick up something from the Grill and meet me back at the motel.”

“Marcel.” Klaus narrowed his eyes and all but hissed through his teeth. Marcel held up his hands. “She is comfortable with me. I’ll take her home.”

“Fine.” Marcel replied, knowing full well that this was an argument he would not win; and it would not be wise to have it in front of the woman in question. “I’ll grab dinner from the Grill. Meet you back at the motel. We’ll get a game plan for tomorrow. It’s going to be a long day.”

Klaus nodded in agreement, watching Marcel walk around his SUV and climb into the car. He walked over to Caroline as Marcel drove off. He could already hear the speech he was bound to get once he reached the motel. Not wanting to dwell on that fact, he focused on Caroline who was indeed staring at her phone that had gone into sleep mode.

“Caroline?”

“I heard them.” Caroline whispered and Klaus looked at her confused. “My mom told me that when she found the bodies, they were doing a late-night search party for me. She couldn’t wait till the next morning.” Klaus could see her begin to tremble, he opened the passenger side door and helped her sit on the seat. “I was handcuffed to a cell door that was falling apart. I was hazy and out of it, but I heard them yelling my name. I screamed. I screamed so loud and they didn’t hear me. But I knew that they were looking for me and that gave me strength.”

“I know I’ve said this to you before, but you are strong Caroline. You walked into those woods knowing what you would find.” He leaned in closer, his nose inches away from hers. “It takes a special kind of person to be able to stand on two feet after everything you went through. In a year or two from now, you will look back and wonder how you survived this. You will realize how resilient you are.”

“And in a year or two, you’ll still be out there; looking into the worst of humanity, solving their mysteries?”

“No.” Klaus shook his head and Caroline gave him a quizzical look. He hadn’t said this out loud to anyone, not even Marcel or his superiors. The only person who knew the truth was his brother Elijah; who had been trying to convince him for years to follow through. “This is my last case. After this. I’m done. I can’t do it anymore.”

“It eats at you.” Caroline reached up and placed her hand on the side of his face, tracing her thumb across his cheekbones. The way she looked at him made him feel as though she could see inside his soul. Her touch made him melt; his shoulder’s sagging in relief that he did not realize he needed. “I’m so sorry. For whatever happened to you, I’m sorry.”

Klaus leaned in and rested his head against her forehead. Their eyelashes fluttered, neither willing to break eye contact. Their noses touched and their breath mingled together. Klaus tilted his head and Caroline leaned forward; bringing them closer together. Their lips graced each other ever so slightly until…. a faint buzzing of Caroline’s phone in her lap pulled them apart quickly.

Klaus jumped back while Caroline quickly grabbed her phone. Her skin was flushed; redness covering every inch of her face. He coughed lightly, running his fingers through his sandy blonde hair and thinking on how their lips touched for a second before her phone buzzed in her lap. He shouldn’t have almost kissed her, but he could not bring himself to regret it either.

“It’s, um Bonnie.” Caroline said in a hoarse voice, still looking at her phone. She peaked at Klaus slightly before returning to her phone. “I sent her a message that we were finishing up here and that I would be heading back to the house. She said she would meet me there.”

“Good.” Klaus agreed, nodding his head. “Then we should get going.” Caroline bit her lip and turned so she was facing forward in the seat. Klaus shut the door and he walked around the front. He climbed into the driver’s side and out of the corner of his eye, he could see a small genuine smile on Caroline’s lip. Knowing that he put that smile there, Klaus could not help the grin that spread across his face.

The drive passed in relative silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. The silence wasn’t filled with tension and the air did not hold lingering depression. If anything, it was a mutual understanding that passed between them. Knowledge that there were parts of themselves locked away; built behind solid walls waiting for the other to chip away at. Klaus could see himself allowing her behind the solid stone that he encrusted around his heart. Caroline was the light in the darkness that he had been searching for yet never finding. His only regret was meeting how they did.

Klaus pulled up to her house and parked on the curb; directly across from a police cruiser that had a deputy whose name Klaus did not know sitting inside. He made a mental note to learn all the officer’s names that would be guarding her home. Bonnie was out in the front yard, playing with Enzo. The dog in question lost his mind and started barking insanely when he realized that Caroline was inside the car.

“Can I ask you something?” Caroline turned to Klaus, her hand on the door handle. Klaus nodded and looked directly at him. There would be no almost kiss or promises to see each other soon. Caroline’s eyes, that once held desire to feel his lips against hers was replaced with concern. “This job tears you up inside. I can see that, and I understand why. But, if you hate it that much, why have you continued doing it for so long? Six years. That’s an eternity when all you deal with is death.”

“I don’t know.” Klaus’s reply was unbelievable and they both knew it. Caroline said nothing but just tilted her head and gave him a withering look. “I guess, I was punishing myself. Or I don’t know. Trying to find answers to something that will never be answered.”

“Whatever it is Klaus, whatever you feel is your fault or whatever answers you’re seeking, you can’t continue to punish yourself for it.” Caroline leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. The light touch of her lips caused him to give her a sad smile in return. “All that being said, I’m really glad you’re here.”

Caroline turned away and opened the door, sliding from the car. Enzo’s barking awoke Klaus from his stupor and watched as Caroline greeted her dog most enthusiastically. She picked up the toy he had been playing with and tossed it towards the house. Klaus glanced at Bonnie who was staring at Caroline with a slacked jaw. Her arms were crossed, and she was pointing towards the car that Klaus still sat in; ignoring Klaus completely. Bonnie said something and all Caroline did was shrug in reply. Caroline headed inside and Klaus could see Bonnie yelling after her.

At least he was not the only who would be grilled.

Klaus drove through town, having learned the streets well enough to not need his GPS. He pulled into the only motel that was on the outskirts of town. It was cheap, run down, and made Klaus want to shower every time he slipped between the sheets. The government was paying and therefore they were not about to splurge on expensive accommodations.

He ran up the metal stairway and passed the doors that knew were being used for people to get high in. Even small towns had their secrets. Klaus would not be in Mystic Falls if they didn’t. He reached the hotel room that he was sharing with Marcel and let himself in. Two takeout boxes sat on the small table by the air conditioner. By the steam that fogged up the mirrors and the fact that Marcel was already in his pajamas told Klaus that it was going to be an early night. Something he anticipated, since they were going to be spending the early morning hiking through the woods.

“Thanks.” Klaus stated as he sat down at the table. He grabbed one of the takeout boxes and picked up a file that was stationed beside it. Marcel sat down across from him, grabbing his own box. Neither spoke while Klaus looked at the pages in the file that both knew he was not reading. Klaus picked at his fries while feeling Marcel’s eyes on him.

“Okay look. I will only say this once.” Marcel sighed and placed his elbows on the table; linking his fingers together. “What I saw today between you and Caroline is…. concerning.” Klaus moved to interrupt him, but he held up his hand. “No. Listen. I get it. I get why you would be drawn to her. She is beautiful, lively and is probably stronger than most men who have completed the academy.”

“You’re point?”

“My point is that she just suffered what will be the worst experience of her life. I hope anyway.” Marcel muttered. “She is vulnerable and latching onto anything that would bring her comfort. And, she is a witness. If you get involved with her, it could jeopardize this case once it goes to trial. A good defense lawyer would pick apart any relationship you tried to build. And it could also affect your career.”

“Marcel, I know what I’m doing.” Klaus replied and they both knew that was a lie. Klaus was lost at sea when it came to Caroline. There was not a single precedent he cared for and the entire rule book was flown out the window when he looked at her. “I can’t explain it but there is something about her. I look at her and I just lose all…she makes me feel like a better person.”

“Christ. You have it bad.” He shook his head and ran his hands over his face. “Okay, I won’t say anything but for Christ sake, keep it in your pants until this is all done and over with. Okay? Focus on catching the bastard that did this to her and then romance her. Sound like a plan?”

“I’ll do my best.”

#klaroline fanfiction #klaroline #Wanderlust

34 notes · View notes

kittyanonymity · 5 years ago

Audio

Hi yes, I KNOW this isn’t one of my OTHER projects, but this song gives me major Damian and Adrien vibes. I like to think Adrien and Damian could bond over shitty parents, Damian about his mom, and Adrien about his dad. Managed to get this typed up between breaks on ALiG; chapter 6 is making steady progress finally lol This would be a Daminette/Jondrien fic, with Damian and Adrien Bros.

It won’t let me post the whole song on tumblr for some reason?? So here’s a proper link.

More below the cut about the particular AU this spawned, as well as the lyrics.

(also this whole album/band kicks ass, I highly recommend)

((ALSO ALSO this is actually a Brucelie -BruceXEmilie-fic too))

tw for casual weed smoking mention I guess? and abuse themes definitely

I am your son, you are my mother I'm on my own, you're not my lover Don't tell me how to live

I am your son, you are my father You led us like lambs on our way to the slaughter Who do you think you are?

One, two, three I know you lied to me I can see Now that I'm free

It's me and the black roses X6

I am your son, she's not my mother You think she's perfect, to me, just another Do you think it's okay?

But I am your son, for worse or for better Despite the fact that you a homewrecker I guess that's who you are

One, two, three I know you lied to me I can see Now that I'm free

It's me and the black roses X18

SO the idea here is this.

Obviously the parts in the beginning about the mother are from Damian’s point of view, and about the oppression he dealt with while in her care. Talia for those who aren’t as into DC is just, WOW levels of awful. She’s controlling, and very much trying to map out all of Damian’s life; and when Damian’s young, he’s fine with this. It’s kind of a classic case of ‘mother knows best’, but at its absolute worst. This starts to change once Damian goes to stay with his father in canon of course. Age Range for Damian: 10 to 12 or so?

The next three lines of lyrics are more from Adrien’s/Chat’s perspective; the ‘lambs led to slaughter’ are Adrien and the rest of the Miraculous team, and it really is about how angry Adrien is at his father for what’s he’s done to his family, and his friends. I imagine in the background during this part Adrien realizing his father is Hawkmoth during the final altercation; Gabriel will try to Akumatize him, and before Ladybug can step in, Chat cataclysms the butterfly, and just starts. BEATING THE HELL OUT OF HIS FATHER. They’re like 18 at this point, and his transformation wears off as he goes to take the Miraculous, and once it does, Gabriel kicks him off. The fight gets ugly, but Ladybug had managed to before this fight, fix the peafowl miraculous. And when she heals Emilie while Chat’s fighting, the woman wakes up in time to see her son go flying. She beats his ass with the assistance of Ladybug. It’s gonna get sappy after that. Ages for this Adrien/Mari: 18; they’ll leave paris 4 years later, to Gotham.

Following that, the next four lines I generally see being from both boys; Damian, once he’s embraced living with his father and brothers, and becoming Robin, reflecting on how his mother was wrong; and Adrien, once his father is in prison and he moves to the states with Marinette, Chloe, and his mother and begins to find peace without the overbearing nature of his father. Maybe there will also be some true Felix and Adrien bonding?? Amelie will definitely show up cause like, holy shit, hr sister is back???! Once again, here’s ages: Mari/Adrien: 22, Damian: 23, Jon: 21

The ‘Black Roses’, for me, can be interpreted in a couple different ways. One, both boys hail from wealth; Adrien as a model, and Damian as both an Al Ghul, and the Wayne heir. Canonically, we know Bruce cultivates roses, and I’d imagine they’re grown in grief; much the same for Adrien, as his father didn’t much care for any flowers until his mother ‘died’. Two, it could just symbolize both boys breaking away from, and grieving, what they never really had; albeit, a bit angrily given the tone of the song.

And following the first chorus, we dive a little into how Damian feels about Selina, initially. He doesn’t trust her, doesn’t want her around his family, and certainly not around his father, who is, disturbingly, the more stable parent (we all know how fucked up Brucie really is, poor man) the boy’s had. And he maybe resents Bruce a little bit, cause like, why couldn’t he have loved Talia? Why this woman? When Selina and Bruce break up, he’s even more angry because he’d been starting to like Selina and seeing them both hurting is annoying for him. It does pass of course, like things usually do. He’s shocked when Bruce introduces Emilie. It’s hard not to like her though. Selina and Bruce break up when he’s 15, and he meets Emilie when he’s 23.

The next Few lines are once again more Adrien focused, his own reflecting on how he’s his father’s son. By this point in the lyrics, he’s met Jon, and he’s terrified of hurting him how his father hurt Emilie; he doesn’t want to be anything like Gabriel, but the media has done a bit of a number on him the last few years. This is where he and Damian also start to find they have a bit more in common than they thought.

I like to imagine the last bit of the song is these 2 blessed boys bonding over trauma slowly but surely, feat. Adrien teasing Damian over Mari (because she’s literally everyone’s crush!!), and Damian hissing half threats back to tell Jon about the hearts in Adrien’s notebook. With a guest appearance from!! Overprotective Bros Damian and Adrien with a Visiting Nino, who’s really just happy to have a Third Bro, and So Stoked to be Here. Chloe and Marinette are wondering where they went wrong. Damian teaches Adrien how to deal with trauma in a Better Way, and Adrien teaches Damian how to Be Silly.

(Three Older Robins are S C A R E D )

AND THIS ISN’T EVEN THE PROPER OUTLINE.

Ages by the end are all about 23 or so, one moment, math time....

Ok, yeah, 23 or so. As fun as it is writing teenagers again, I love writing them as adults because it opens up the door for deeper character introspection, and i am A SLUT for that shit! Plus that means Jason and Tim can smoke weed and no one can tell me otherwise. OOH AND I’M SO EXCITED FOR EMILIE AND ALFRED BONDING!!! THEY’RE BOTH PEACOCKS! I do NOT need another story to write but wow this idea is really growing on me I tell you what.

And this doesn’t even hardly TOUCH on what Marinette and the girls have been up to in the background because holy shit. A team made of Mari, Chloe, and Emilie with Alya as back up when she shows up, plus Amelie; add in the Wayne girls and it’s CHAOS.

And Bruce, well.

He can’t remember a time when the manor was so lively; and he surprisingly wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I might put together a proper outline at some point but who knows lol It’s taken me ages to get the will to type this out; I’ve had this in my head since like October of 2019 I think?? so a few months

also I totally blame the inclusion of Brucilie on @kandoesfanfics-writes or littlekittykanny over on Ao3; I’ve absolutely fallen in love with the way they write Bruce and Emilie and it found its way in there! Thank you for introducing me to this beautiful ship!! <3

see you guys soon hopefully! <3

small tag list cause I think you guys might like this idea :3

@casualdarkness @northernbluetongue @2sunchild2 @ivymala07 @chez-pezeater @persephonebutkore @weird-pale-blonde-person @crazylittlemunchkin @thequestionablyhuman @da-tasuky @vivilakitty @zerotosiki @mikantsume @fandomkitty8 @miraculous786

#maribat #mlb x dc #daminette #jondrien #I've had this stewing in my head for MONTHS btw #I like the idea of Adrien and Damian being bros #eventually #adrien is still sunshine and damian is still grumpy #but ya know #traumatized versions of that i suppose #maridami

55 notes · View notes