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albedos-little-helper · 3 years

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First Kiss

with Sugawara, Kenma, Tsukishima

warning: pretty much sfw, just kissing, maybe a little suggestive idk tho

Wc: 1,6k

A/n: Punctuation is hard and so is forming proper sentences. This feels really messy, but I’m also somewhat proud. My second work and I guess I’m getting more comfortable? Who knows.

Sugawara

Sugawara and you are classmates. You weren’t that close to be precise, but that changed when the two of you regularly meet up to have study dates.

He suggested studying together after you compliment the notes you borrowed from him. It was a kind offer, but a guilty feeling came up as you realised that you were the only one gaining from these meet ups. Telling him about your concerns caused him to get a little embarrassed and blush slightly, so he told you about his plans of becoming a teacher and that it was no problem at all.

After the two of you clarified things, you agreed and you finally meet up with Suga. For some reason you weren’t able to concentrate though. Maybe it was the bright sun and the high temperature, or maybe it was the fact that his hair looked so good when he brushed it out of his face, or maybe the fact that both of you are wearing less clothes than usual, or maybe the fact that he tends to groan out of frustration, due to the heat and those notices were ungodly.

Sugawara had trouble focusing as well. He tried to, but your sun kissed face and the red cheeks you got were too adorable. He really tried to, but the little drop of sweat that ran down your chest was too hard to ignore. He really,really tried to, but your sighs sounded too similar to other noises he would like to hear from you. Anyway, all of that distraction led to no process.

Things turned awkward quickly, it was obvious that both of you had no interest in studying, but nobody had enough courage to say it. Little things like patting your shoulder or legs touching under the table turned more frequent. At some point he wasn’t sitting across from you anymore but next to you.

He really tried to continue teaching, but he was too distracted by you so after a long silent break of looking into your eyes, because he waited for an answer that you couldn’t give he closed the gap between the two of you until your lips touched.

His touch wasn’t as gentle as you expected, it was more eager and yearning. It wasn’t unpleasant, but the kiss ended rather quickly. Suga apologies to you for not asking for permission and his inappropriate behaviour as your "teacher", but you told him that there was no need to apologise, because even though you never expected things to turn out this way you weren’t unhappy about it. He was visibly relieved.

After feeling a little unsure about the situation, he put on a bright smile and asked if he could kiss you again.

Kenma

Kenma and you used to be students at Nekoma and even though you both liked each other and friends tried to set you up it never led to anything.

Three year after graduating you randomly meet at the grocery store and the fact that both of you were alone made him more confident and after greeting you he asked if you wanted to accompany him on his way to the new bakery down the street.

You were caught of guard by his offer, but agreed as you noticed that he broke eye contact and his eyes shifted form yours further down to the ground the longer he waited for your reply.

He also offered to later drive you home so both of you placed your groceries in his car and on your way to the bakery you tried to fil the awkward silence with a little chat about the past few years. You proudly told him about your accomplishments and the new hobbies you developed and he listened keenly. He was quite happy that you felt so comfortable with telling him so much about you and when you two entered the bakery, ordered and sat down at one of the few tables you decided to ask how his past few years were.

Kenma stayed very vage with his answer. He told you that he is an university student and that gaming is still a big part of his free time activities, which wasn’t necessarily wrong. You two talked a bit more about his passion, volleyball and if you are still in contact with old friends. He still wasn’t the most talkative, but really tried not to seem rude or disinterested in any way.

Spending time with him was quite enjoyable and it felt so free of stress. You revealed to him that you think that it’s a shame that the two of you never had a proper conversation back in school. He sighs and furrows his eyebrows at your remark, what made you overthink your words at first, but he confesses that he wasn’t mature enough to build up a relationship with you, let alone talk to you. It just wouldn’t have worked with the person he used to be.

You made it clear to him that it’s completely fine and that the opportunity to talk to him now without any pressure is way better. After eating some cake slices and having a light conversation the two of you head to his car.

It wasn’t a long ride and most of the talking consisted of you telling him the directions, but out of a sudden he bluntly told you how much he actually liked you and he regretted not talking to you.

Stunned by his honesty, you didn’t know what to say and when the car stopped in front of the building your flat is in, you felt his burning gaze on you.

When you didn’t answer him he just continued and asks you out on a date.

You would be lying if you said you haven’t been interested in him since high school, but you were a too overwhelmed and the only thing you managed to give him as an answer is a slight nod.

That was all he needed to lean in and give you a kiss on the corner of your mouth. He told you a time and a day that he would come an pick you up. After that he basically kicked you out of his car to quickly drive home, because he was already hours behind schedule, but he finally got what he wanted

Tsukishima

You two are in the same grade, but not in the same class, so you basically had to admire him from afar.

You were regularly going to his volleyball matches, so he saw you before, but that’s about it. Of course he was quite surprised when you asked him if the two of you could talk after his next game. He wasn’t quite sure what you wanted from him, but it was something that kept bothering him throughout the match. So by the end of it he was quite stressed, disappointed by his mistakes and annoyed.

You waited for him at the spot you agreed on, ready to confess your feelings for him, but when you saw him from distance and could already tell how pissed he was, you panicked.

Forming a complete sentence became extremely hard and all the stuttering and mumbeling didn’t lift Tsukishima’s mood in the slightest. It was hard for him to stay patient and listen to you, but at the same time he was curious what was so important that you had to talk to him alone.

After your messy confession that almost lasted his entire break he was baffled. He couldn’t believe that this was actually happening, so he quickly covered his self doubts with a laugh. He asked weather you’re serious or not in a very condescending tone what made you even more insecure.

You didn’t expect things to go this poorly, but you insisted that your emotions are honest, what made him shut up for a second and study your hurt expression throughly.

He made up so many excuses in his mind, that you’re not being truthfully or that you only end up hurting him, but in the end he couldn’t bring himself to believe that when he saw your facial expression.

“So what now?”, left his lips before minimising the distance between you two. He didn’t expect you to answer, he only wanted to see how you react to his words. In the end he decided to have his fun with you and told you that he wasn’t so sure about this, but maybe if he would win the next game he would be in a better mood and think about it. It was important for him to win as many matches as possible in his last year so some extra luck would be very convenient.

Enduring all these negative emotions like embarrassment and devastation made you quite exhausted, but hearing him talk about something that could bring him luck you knew exactly what to do. There is no going back now anyway.

You reached for his collar and pulled him in a rushed kiss. You couldn’t shine with your experience, but the devastation and desire you put in the kiss caught him off guard.

You saw his reddend face after letting go of him and he pressed his lips together, processing what just happens. He knows that this is exactly what he suggested, but he never thought you would actually do it.

He quickly commands you to take out your phone to write down his number, before his long legs carry him as fast as possible to the toilet where he washes his face because he couldn’t let his team see him with such a heavy blush.

#haikyuu!!#haikyū!!#haikyu x reader #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi #kozume kenma #kenma x reader #tsukishima kei #tsukishima x reader #fanfic #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu ff

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ndconceptarchive · 3 years

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Interview with Nik Blahunka and Cathy Roiter

I don't have much to comment on here, just that I found an interesting interview with the respective writer and designer of these games circa (and I believe post) 2011. There were some images on the same page, but they're not visible as of now. (Or even on the WaybackMachine).

This was posted on the Dare to Play blog on March 9th, 2011 here:

We interviewed our game designer Cathy, and writer Nik!

Her Interactive: How do you come up with the game ideas?

Cathy: "We look at the recent games for the types of mysteries, characters, and locations used in them and then start to brainstorm ideas that would be a nice contrast or haven’t been done before. We also try to alternate spooky/adventure/mystery among titles, so if the last one was spooky, we don’t tend to pick a spooky one again. Then we’ll pick our crime and start building from there."

Nik: "We have a lot of material to draw from, and so many great ideas floating around the office that it’s less “Oh no, quick we need an idea!” and more “Which one should we do next?” At any given time we know what the next few games are going to be, and I can tell you honestly that I am really excited about the next couple of games, and I think you will be too. But for now, they’re totally top secret, my lips are sealed. I wouldn’t tell anyone, not even if he or she were to send a large box of chocolate addressed to “writer” to our offices. Not even then."

Her Interactive: As writer, what all do you write? (Characters, script, written assets, anything we wouldn’t expect?)

Nik: "As the writer, I write all of the dialogue and many of the written assets (the notes and letters you find while playing the game). The overall story of the game is a collaborative process. I bring my knowledge of how stories work, Cathy brings her game design experience and together we hash out the overall game. Throughout the entire process, we look to the office for input. If anyone has a good idea, it goes in!"

Her Interactive: How do you prepare in creating a new game? What are the early steps from inspiration?

Cathy: "Once we have our basic plot and rough character guidelines, my first step is always research. I’ll start online to get general ideas, then head to the library for more in-depth reference material. During this time, I’ll come across lots of great ideas and inspiration, both written and visual, that help build the world and the mystery. Those elements are then used as building blocks for the mystery to keep things real. For example, in ASH the gas chromatograph was a direct result of researching arson investigation techniques. I’d never heard of such a technique before then. And, fun fact, kept mispronouncing it for ages since I didn’t realize chromatograph and chromatography aren’t said the same way (turns out they’re like photograph and photography)."

Her Interactive: What are the steps in the design process? For the story?

Cathy: "We start with the high-level concept (eg. Nancy’s framed for arson) and rough characters. We’ll then start adding major plot points and choose our villain. The design and story are then further fleshed out with the minor steps needed to reach those milestone moments. Once the main outline is complete, puzzles start getting implemented and shortly thereafter script begins. To complete design, all the elements are combined in a logic document that maps out the entire gameplay."

Nik: "We usually start with a location, a theme, and one or two Nancy Drew books. Then we talk. And talk. And talk. And argue. And talk. And take hack breaks. And talk some more. Before we begin to flesh out the game, I like to spend a few weeks researching. Sometimes the research involves watching movies that have a similar feel to what we’re aiming for, sometimes I raid the giant stack of books on Cathy’s desk. Research can be the most fun part of the job, and it’s when I learn the most. For SAW, I spent a lot of time watching, Japanese horror movies since we wanted to have that same type of atmospheric scary feel in the game. But, since the game wasn’t just about the scare, the research didn’t stop there. I went to see a tea ceremony, read a ton about traditional arts in Japan, and got the chance to meet with a cultural consultant.

Once I’ve got all of the raw material for the story, it’s time to write. I know from peeking at the message boards from time to time, that many of our players love to write too, so I won’t go too far into something that most of you are very familiar with. In a nutshell, the process is best summarized as failing forward. The first draft is terrible and wrong. The second draft is hopefully less terrible, and less wrong. I keep this up until I end up with a draft that feels good. Writing is a lot like dying Easter eggs, if you quit after the first dunk, no one is going to respect your ugly egg. You’ve got to keep dunking and dunking until you’ve got a nice, richly colored egg that would be exciting to find hidden away on a bookshelf. This metaphor is not topical… okay, writing is like carving a pumpkin… it… umm, you put a candle… never mind, let’s just use that egg thing. I redraft often, and love getting feedback from around the office."

Her Interactive: What is your favorite step in the writing process or another task?

Nik: "Recording. The script isn’t done until it is recorded. The recording session is like a live, final polish on the script. We get to hear if the jokes work, and see if the story beats carry any emotional weight. When they don’t, we prod and poke at the material until it’s just right. We’re lucky to work with a pool of extraordinarily talented actors who are able to really make the lines come alive in ways that I sometimes don’t even expect. Recording Nancy is always a blast, as well. Lani, who plays Nancy, is hilarious and always full of great suggestions and Nancy-isms."

Her Interactive: What do you do when you hit a snag/error in the design?

Cathy: "First I have to identify the type of problem (missing object, infinite logic loop, story plot hole, motivation, etc.), then decide if it’s a small or large fix. The small ones are easy, but the larger ones have occasionally resulted in massive redesigns. In the end, it’s all about identifying the issue and finding the best solution for everyone involved, including our players’ experience."

Her Interactive: Have there been any characters that you found difficult to bring to life? Is there a character you would like to bring back?

Nik: "Yes. Every game has one character that I end up rewriting again and again. Miwako, Lukas, and Alexei frustrated me to no end when I was writing the drafts, but now they’re my favorites.

I don’t know about bringing characters back, I’m more interested with discovering new villains and pranksters and scientists and deranged librarians and mad scientists and robots and agoraphobic house painters… That being said, my favorite reoccurring character is Bess. (Spoiler alert – she’s coming back. Often 😀 )"

Her Interactive: What has been your most favorite puzzle to design? Which was the hardest to design?

Cathy: "My favorite was Bento. I love creating logic puzzles and Bento needed multiple levels using a really fun design. Plus, I got to look at a lot of amazing real-world animal bento while looking for reference images.

The hardest would be Raid. Not only did it have a computer opponent that needed the AI rules designed for how it played, but it was also supposed to be inspired by German board games/card games, which I’d never played before. Top that off with a deck of cards, and their balanced against each other power rankings, that also affected three other puzzles, and it meant one minor change to any element caused major trickle-down problems. But it was a great learning experience and I was quite pleased with the end result."

Her Interactive: Do you have a favorite written in-game asset you have done? Second Chance note?

Nik: "One of my favorite non-dialogue writing assignments was actually Yumi’s blog. At first, the idea of keeping up a blog for a fictional Japanese girl seemed like it was going to be a nightmare, it certainly was not something I’d ever imagined myself doing. But after a few entries, I started to have a lot of fun. I spent the month the blog was running keeping a camera ready in case I saw anything in the Seattle area that might pass for something you might see in Kyoto, I made bento in my kitchen (it was gross, but it looked… it looked gross, let’s face it.) By the time the blog ended, I was sad to wrap it up. My absolute favorite part of the blog was interacting with the fans. I was really surprised and excited that so many readers were willing to play along. Each day I found comments that showcased what a clever, fun-loving, and interesting group of fans we have."

Her Interactive: Have you read any Nancy Drew books? If so, do you have a favorite title or theme?

Cathy: "Yes. I’ll read the book that each game is based on and I read the Mystery Files when I was younger, along with the occasional old yellow back when I could find one. I liked the older books for their prevalent use of the supernatural and gothic, but they often felt rather dated, which is another reason I read the Mystery Files more frequently instead."

Thanks Nik and Cathy for taking the time to answer these questions and for giving us insight into the making of the games!

If anyone is curious, the old posts from Yumi's blog are still up on blogspot/blogger. Also, here's a related promotional post on the Amateur Sleuth blog that I found while looking for other behind-the-scenes things.

#misc #nancy drew games #interviews #behind the scenes #saw #interview

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burning-omen · 4 years

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Peace Was Never An Option

Request by @salc0re: aa, hi! I just read some your xmen stuff and it's so good! I was wondering if I could request something with needy Peter Maximoff but reader is busy and has been ignoring himso he's basically been irrating and teasing them all day? Smut or fluff, I don't mind! Thanks xx

Summary: Reader needs to work but Peter needs attention

Peter Maximoff x Male!Reader

Warning: Fluff with a lil angst

Peter wasn’t easily frustrated- Well, that’s not true at all but he isn’t usually easy to push to a point of extreme frustration.

He loves you, so he tries to be patient when you're working out of basic respect but after not saying a word to you for three days he didn’t think he could handle being separated from you any longer. So he went out and searched for you.

Running all throughout X-mansion before finally finding you in the infirmary, bandaging Remy’s left arm, an abundance of minorly hurt X-Men standing in a loose line all leading to the desk you and Remy were both leaning on. You looked up at him for a moment, flashing a brief smile before looking back down. You pushed the gauze down gently, making it stick to itself. Remy winced a bit, pulling his arm to himself quickly.

“Sorry, just making sure it stays..” you told him, patting him on the shoulder as he stood up and walked away.

Muttering a quick “Hey Peter,” as he slid passed him by the door.

Peter only hummed in response. Leaning against the door frame, his cheeks a bright red color as he watched you greet Scott as he sat leaned next to you, telling you about the stitches on his side coming undone again.

He grew more and more frustrated the longer Scott spoke to you. Peter doesn’t think he’s the possessive type but it’s been days. You’re talking to people you hardly know(that’s not true, you’re very accustomed to almost all of the X-men.) more than you’re talking to your own boyfriend. And he oh so desperately wanted to pull you away for his own selfish needs but you were busy and people were hurt.

So he watched as you took patient after patient, writing something he couldn’t see on a paper in between.

By the time you were done he was sitting on the ground with him back against the wall, staring lazily at you as you walked Bobby to the door, telling him to be more careful next time. He nodded, glancing down at Peter then up at you before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Peter stood in a moment, wrapping his arms around you quickly and resting his head on your shoulder.

“(Y/n), I missed you…” he mumbled quietly.

You smiled down at him, hugging him back tightly.

“I know I’ve been...absent lately, I’ve just been busy. I still am, I have a shit ton of paperwork to fill out-” you heard him groan into your shoulder, gently hitting his head against it. “-I know, it’ll only take a few minutes, 30 at the very most, can you wait a little bit longer? Please?”

He groaned again. Holding onto you tightly but not saying a word as he relaxed against you.

After a few seconds of quietly holding each other he spoke.

“Maybe… but I’m not going to make this easy for you!”

You grinned down at him, giving him a quick peck on the lips before letting him go and walking back to your seat. Peter followed after you, sitting on the floor next to you while resting his head on your thigh.

“Really, Peter?”

He nodded, gesturing for you to continue your work.

You rolled your eyes with a soft smile then looked to the list of names you’d created while helping the others. You needed to take a note about what was wrong with each of them so it could go in their files. Before you could even start the first one you felt a quick jolt against your leg, meaning Peter had gone, done something, and came back all in less than a second.

“Peter?”

He just hummed against your thigh.

“What did you do?”

“Just a little something to the cameras…”

The security cameras, they were in every public room, including this one. You looked up at the only to see them both horribly wrapped with bandages. You groaned then looked down at Peter, who was grinning up at you.

“Peter, I need those..”

He let out a quiet laugh but, surprisingly, said nothing.

You continued working, looking at the first name on your list.

‘Kurt Wagner: Sprain tail???’

You wrote down the things he told you and what you did to help on a blank sheet of paper before sitting it to the side. You repeated this process for the next 5 names and would have kept going if Peter hadn’t interrupted.

He stood suddenly, not saying a word as he turned to you. Before you could ask him what’s wrong he was in your lap, his arms and legs wrapped around your torso as he gripped your lab coat tightly. Only letting go for a quick moment to pull your coat farther around both of you. Not so effectively hiding himself in it. You could hear him giggling to himself.

He was warm, he always was. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, Peter was always warm. Sometimes unreasonably so. But not now. You missed him, a lot. You wanted to push your work to the side and just be with him but you couldn’t, you had to do the work now or you wouldn’t do it at all.

So instead of giving in to his warm embrace you readjusted so you could keep working. You could feel it, his unbridled frustration. Even though you couldn’t see him you knew he was doing his cute little angry face at you.

You got through a few more names like that, but his peace didn’t last long, especially when he was being ignored.

You didn’t get a chance to react to the frustrated groan he gave before you were suddenly being touched. Peter reached under your shirt and gently drew little circles on your back, then your sides but stopped at your chest. Placing his hand flat on you before slowly dragging it downward.

“Peter, baby, I’m still working..”

He placed a kiss in the center of your chest, the tips of his fingers tracing, just barely dipping under, your waistband. He pulled back, still holding your shirt up with one of his hands. He sighed softly, looking up at you with a flicker of desperation in his eyes.

“Come on, Y/n.” He muttered before leaving a long trail of kisses and small bites on your chest.

“Peter, just give me a few more minutes and I swear I’ll make it up to you.”

He sighed again, dropping your shirt and laying his head on your chest. He yanked your lab coat back closed, hiding himself again. You started writing again, Peter lightly tapping his feet against your back from the strange position he’d gotten himself into under your coat. When you were finally done you leaned back in your chair. Pulling your coat open you looked down at Peter and, just as you thought he would, he stared up at you with a clearly frustrated face. You grinned down at him, which only upset him further.

“Stop it..” he muttered, turning to hide his face in your shirt.

“You wanted my attention and now that I’m done, you have it.”

Peter immediately perked up, pulling back to look at you, a wide grin breaking out on his face.

“Really?”

You nodded and his smile only got wider.

“No secret, surprise extra work you’re not telling me about?”

“None, I’m yours and yours alone for the next few days.”

The way his face lit up when you told him that would stay in your mind for a very, very long time.

Hank would be taking over for you while you took a short break from doctoring to relax and spend some more time with Peter.

You hooked your arm under him and lifted him up as you stood. He was light, which was mildly concerning seeing as he definitely wasn’t this light last time you picked him up.

“You haven’t been keeping up with your metabolism, have you?” you muttered quietly in his ear.

He laid his head on your shoulder

“I’ve been busy.”

“Oh really? Busy doing what?”

‘Laying around your room, waiting for you to come back’

“...Nothing important..”

By the time you carried Peter back to your room (much to his embarrassment) you were ready to drop. Being one of the X-men’s only doctors was a tiring job and after having to sit in an uncomfortable and cheap desk chair the entire time you figured you were done for the day.

Kicking the door closed behind you, walked over to your shared bed and dropped him on it. You watched him squirm and roll around for a moment, he’d semi effectively covered himself up. You sighed, letting yourself fall forward, landing next to him on the bed.

After a few moments of silence passed you turned to him, resting your head on your hand.

“So..you wanna talk about what happened today?”

He turned to you, a confused look on his face.

“What happened?”

“You don’t usually mess with me while I’m at work. What changed today?”

Peter may be a troublemaker but he knew not to bother you at work. He knew he should’ve bothered you today, but he did despite his better judgment.

“I just…” he took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before speaking. “...I missed you. A lot.”

“Peter, I could be standing right next to you and you’d miss me..”

“No! Not like how I normally miss you! Recently it’s just felt like work has been the most important thing to you. You work all day and when you come home you're too tired to even talk to me. It’s like you're not even here…”

He stopped, pulling his cover over his head with a frustrated groan.

“Peter…”

He didn’t respond.

You moved so that you could wrap your arms around him, pulling him on top of you, you held him tightly.

“Baby, can you hear me?”

You saw the cover he’d swaddled himself in move in a way that looked like a nod.

“Okay, I know I haven’t said this enough recently but you are the most important thing in my life. You mean more to me than anything else in this world and on any other world out there. I know I’ve been busy and I know I haven’t been talking to you, it's why I’m taking some time off. I want to be here with you. I’m going to try and take a few less hours, alright? I’ll be less tired that way and I’ll have more free time. Then I swear that I’ll show you how much I love you.”

You felt Peter move on top of you. He stuck his head out of the blanket, staring back at you with a soft smile.

“Promise?”

You held up you hand, holding out you pinky to him.

He gasped dramatically.

“Pinky promise!?”

“Yes, this pinky is for you.”

He laughed. Wrapping his pinky around yours and shaking them before letting go.

“Now you have to, or I’ll bite off your pinky!”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Bet!”

With that he attempted to attack your hand, his attempts soon turned into a tickling-with-a-dash-of-biting fight which ended with all of you pillows and covers on the floor and you and Peter giggling happily at each other.

After you’d settled down you’d turned back to Peter, when he looked over at you you took this as an opportunity. Cupping his cheek gently you pulled him closer, laying a soft kiss on his lips. He kissed back, Finn feeling that gentle happiness he’d been kissing rise in his chest as he kissed you, again and again and again.

He felt content, and loved.

And after a moment of silently holding each other you asked him a question.

“So why did you cover the cameras in my office?”

He laughed. “I really, really didn’t want whoever was on security to see me attempt and seduce you into coming home with me..”

“Oh, and here I thought you were completely shameless.”

“I am...sometimes..”

“Yeah, I know..”

He sighed happily, finally settling in your arms.

After a long moment of silence he’d drifted off to sleep, you followed soon after.

#peter maximoff #Peter Maximoff x male!reader #quicksilver #quicksilver x male!reader #x male reader #male reader #fluff #mutant reader #X-men x male!reader #X-men #marvel #doctor!reader

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spine-buster · 4 years

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The President Wears Prada (William Nylander | Chapter 19

A/N: IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY BITCHES!!!!!

February 14th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was packing her tote bag.

Thankfully, the team had Valentine’s Day off. Over the past few weeks she’d heard the guys talking about their plans with their wives or girlfriends. John and Aryne were getting John’s parents to watch Jace while they went for dinner in Yorkville. Morgan was bringing Bee to Alo for dinner, in his crutches and all – he wasn’t letting his injury stop him. Jason was going to buy his girls each a bouquet of flowers and have a special night in with them and Jennifer. It all sounded very sweet, and she was happy that, after missing New Year’s with their families, they were at least able to have Valentine’s Day together.

Evan was coming over tonight and Kasha was cooking him a romantic dinner, so Aberdeen had decided she was going to camp out at her local Starbucks with her laptop and notebooks and work on her writing. It was when she was almost finished packing her tote bag did a text come through on her phone.

can u be ready in 15 mins?

Between William and Brendan, she’d just about had it with hockey players telling her to get ready in an absurdly short amount of time.

Why?

did u really think we wouldn’t celebrate valentines minskatt?

She almost dropped her phone on the floor. She had no clue what he was thinking. Clearly he wasn’t.

I don’t know what the custom in Sweden is, but usually you tell a girl if you’re going out on Valentine’s Day so she can look pretty

what’s the fun in that when i can surprise u with something plus u always look pretty its impossible for u not to

What if I already made plans?

Less than ten seconds later, her phone began ringing. She snorted before she picked up. “Hi.”

“You don’t really have plans, do you?” he asked, worry in his voice.

She looked at her notebook sitting on her bed, the one she was supposed to have packed into her tote bag before leaving for Starbucks. Where she should be drinking coffee and writing. Exactly like the stereotype. “Evan’s coming over. I was supposed to go to Starbucks and write,” she informed him.

William knew how seriously Aberdeen took her writing ever since she’d read a lot of it to him during their days alone during the All-Star Break, so he was genuinely worried. “Do you think you can spare a few hours for a Valentine’s Day date? I’m like two minutes from your place,” he said. “But, uh, no pressure. I mean if you want to write, you can go write.”

Aberdeen smiled, though she couldn’t see him. His anxiety was a bit cute, she had to admit. This was the first time in her life, she thought, that she made a boy nervous. The last time she’d tried to use writing as an excuse not to go out, Zane got annoyed and pouty and forced her out to his friend’s birthday party where she had the worst time. “I’ll meet you downstairs,” she said quickly before hanging up.

By the time the elevator took her down to the lobby, she saw William’s Volvo already waiting for her in front of the lobby doors. She slipped into the passenger’s seat quickly, closing the door and immediately noticing how already hot and cozy it was in the car. She looked over to William. “Hi,” she smiled shyly.

“Hi minskatt,” he smiled too, a soft, confident smile on his face. “You look beautiful.”

“Stop trying to butter me up.”

He leaned over the centre console and placed a kiss on her lips. It was supposed to be chaste – supposed to be – but he should have known better, because once his lips were on hers it was endgame for him, and he kept kissing her and deepening the kiss for as long as she’d let him. When she pulled away, she was smiling. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Willy.”

He reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling it over to his lap. “You’ll see, minskatt.”

Aberdeen digressed. He put his car into drive and turned the corner to rejoin Adelaide Street. He grabbed his phone carefully from the cupholder and handed it to her. “Want to play some music?” he asked.

Aberdeen arched her brow. She took the phone from his hands and began scrolling through his Spotify. During the All-Star Break, she’d added more songs to his “Minskatt” playlist, and they’d listened it as they sat around the apartment, or cooked, or did whatever it was they did for those three days – which was basically just eat and have sex. She noticed a couple of songs had been added by him since then, too: ‘Ageless Beauty’ by Stars, ‘Cold Feet’ by Loud Luxury, ‘Honest’ by The Band CAMINO. They all suited her and her taste in music so well.

But she had ulterior motives.

William waited patiently for a song to begin as he drove through the streets. Every time he glanced over at Aberdeen, he saw her smirk getting bigger and bigger. “What are you up to over there?” he asked. “Are you destroying the playlist again?”

Aberdeen giggled and tapped the screen dramatically. She waited.

When the opening notes of ‘Passionfruit’ began to play, William’s jaw dropped dramatically as Aberdeen burst into a fit of laughter at his reaction. “What the hell is this?!” he demanded playfully. “You roast me about my choice and now you play it?!”

“I never said it was a bad song,” she said through giggles.

“You are something else,” he said, pausing dramatically between the two words as he reached over and tried to pinch her on her thigh playfully. She yelped but continued to laugh, grabbing his hand and holding it hers, like she was holding a baby bird. “No extra meatball for you.”

Her eyes lit up at the mention of a meatball. “Sugo meatballs?”

“No,” he shook his head, bringing his car to a stop at the red light. He looked over at her. “San Remo Bakery meatballs.”

She gasped dramatically. “Willy, we’re going to San Remo?”

“Mhm,” he nodded his head. The famous bakery in Etobicoke clearly had her heart, and he knew it would. It was the first thing he thought of when he was planning tonight. “You’re gonna get us whatever’s good and we’re gonna eat.”

Aberdeen wiggled excitedly in her seat. She controlled the playlist and songs as William made his way to Etobicoke the long way – aka, not taking the highway. He was perfectly content with taking King Street and The Queensway the entire way there while maintaining easy, fun, and interesting conversation with Aberdeen, who was suddenly full of stories of other Etobicoke establishments she’d haunt during her high school days. She told stories of she and her friends packing themselves into a car to drive to San Remo Bakery in grade 12, making it back just in time for their afternoon class but smelling like freshly baked bread in the process. She told stories of running through the streets of The Kingsway neighbourhood throughout university when she would go on jogs to clear her head. She told stories of hiking along the Humber Marshes with her dad and traditional afternoon tea at the Old Mill with her mom and taking the subway back home to Royal York station after nights out with her friends in university. She’d memorized the train schedule and knew that the last train going westbound left at 1:52am. For all that she went out, she’d only ended up taking a taxi back home three times.

After every story, William would kiss her hand.

When they were on Royal York Road, Aberdeen became silent as she looked at all the storefronts on the way to the bakery. The sun was just starting to set, and even though it was the dead of winter in Canada, the night was clear and crisp, the sky starting to light up a mixed shade of orange and pink. She looked over at William, his eyes illuminated by the setting sun. For all her thinking half the time that he was so perfect she didn’t think he was real, she was reminded of his status by the beanie he was wearing on top of his head, the Maple Leafs logo glaring back at her.

He pulled the car over to the curb right in front of the bakery. Aberdeen could see inside, and it was pretty busy – like it usually was. She looked at him again. “Do you get recognized a lot when you’re out and about in the city?” she asked.

William shrugged. “Enough.”

She looked between him and the busy bakery again, biting her lip. “Then how about I go in and bring the food back,” she said sheepishly. “That way it’s not…I mean we’re not seen toget—”

“I understand, Aberdeen. It’s okay,” he said, kissing her hand.

“I’m sorry we can’t, like, eat it inside or whatever,” she said sheepishly, knowing that it was because of her anxieties about being caught that they couldn’t be seen in public together. Sometimes she wondered if he had the same, although she doubted it. He was an extremely private person and didn’t let the media know about one iota of his life or who he really was as a person, but he was so carefree with her that she wondered if he let his guard down because his love for her blinded him or something.

“Hey…” he said, leaning over the centre console again so he could give her a soft kiss. “It’s fine. I’m just happy to be spending the night with you. Now go.”

Aberdeen came back with a feast. A giant slice of lasagna (for him), gnocchi in a rosé sauce (for her, her absolute favourite), and two sfoglio cannolis. When she got back in the car, bag filled to the brim, William was smiling. The smell of all the food instantly filled the car and he almost melted right then and there. “God, that smells fucking incredible,” he said. “Alright, next stop.”

“What’s the next stop?”

“You’ll see.”

Aberdeen rolled her eyes again. She didn’t have to wait long, though, because within minutes – seriously, the food was still steaming – they’d arrived at Prince of Wales Park, a small park on the edge of the lake with an amazing and underrated lookout towards the Toronto skyline. The park was empty, with it being the middle of winter, and so was the small parking lot. William parked right at the end, facing the skyline as the sun set over the city.

Aberdeen and William looked at each other at the same time once he put his car in park, turning off the engine but leaving the heating on. “You were planning to eat in the car anyway, weren’t you?” she asked.

“Maybe,” he smiled mischievously.

She took out the food. William audibly moaned as he took his first bite of lasagna. Aberdeen lay her back against the door as she forked some gnocchi into her mouth, sighing at the taste. Between mouthfuls of gnocchi and lasagna and feeding each other little bits to taste, William began to speak, unprompted, just like she had on the way to the bakery. He spoke about growing up with his big family in Sweden and the United States, going back and forth every year. He spoke about skating on rollerblades in his backyard and hitting the corner of a barbecue while his dad chased him and needing three stitches. He spoke about his mom cooking traditional Swedish dishes and his dad being the master of pickled herring. He spoke about hockey and being drafted and moving to Toronto at eighteen. He spoke about having to leave his friends in Sweden but being able to see them every summer. He spoke about how much she would love Sweden, how he wanted to bring her there, how he wanted to show her their family place in Stockholm but also their secluded country house.

After every subject change, she’d lean in and kiss him, and he’d taste like lasagna and she’d taste like gnocchi and it was all just perfect.

When they finished the food, and had washed everything down with some water and put the empty containers back in the bag that Aberdeen tied up and placed at her feet, she looked at William once more. Although everything was sweet, and perfect, and lovely, and everything she would have wanted out of a Valentine’s Day date, the fact of the matter was they’d just had dinner in a car. Alone. Because they couldn’t spend it in a restaurant together. Because they were together, but they couldn’t be together – out in the open, at least.

“Hey Willy?” her voice was sheepish, her mouth speaking before her brain could tell her not to.

“Minskatt?”

“You uh, you know how we’re keeping all this a secret? Like nobody on the team knows we slept together last June, and nobody in the world knows we’re sleeping together now, and the guys on the team think it’s all like…I don’t know, like you having a harmless crush on me or whatever?” she rambled.

“Yes…” William was unsure of where she was going with this.

“So, um…what are we, then?”

He stayed quiet for a moment. “What do you want to be?” he asked.

“Nuh-uh. I’m not making the executive decision here,” she shook her head. “Either we make a decision together or that’s it. We need to define what this is because right now we’re in this weird friends-with-benefits stage even though we’ve already said I love you—”

“I want you to be my girlfriend,” he blurted out, interrupting her. “I thought…I mean, I’ve wanted you to be my girlfriend since the elevator. I thought you knew that.”

She had a hunch, but she needed it confirmed by him out loud so she knew her mind wasn’t playing games with her. “So…so we’re going to do this, then?” she asked timidly.

“Do you want to do this?” he asked, making sure. “Because you already know my answer. I think you’ve known it this whole time, you just hesitate to accept it because your judgement is clouded by the fact that we have to sneak around to love one another and be together.”

For Aberdeen, the answer was easy. It was wrong, and it was immoral, and it was a blatant disregard of the rules she needed to follow professionally and the rules she should be following societally, but it was easy. “Yes. I want to do this. You’re my boyfriend.”

“Then you’re my girlfriend,” William smiled.

“We have a bit of a problem though.”

“Besides the fact that this is against every company policy known to mankind and completely inappropriate?” he asked. It made Aberdeen giggle. “What’s the other problem?”

“Valentine’s Day can’t be our anniversary. It’s too corny.”

William giggled. He grabbed her hand and kissed it before he held it in his lap, his thumb gliding over her backhand tenderly. “When’s our anniversary then, minskatt?”

Aberdeen thought for a few moments before she came to a conclusion. “January 9th.”

William knew the exact date she was talking about and knew why she would choose that date to be their anniversary. “Alright then. January 9th it is.”

Aberdeen smiled, leaning back into the door, satisfied. They had an anniversary. They were official. They were on the same page, regardless of whether or not they liked that page – that page being not being able to share their relationship with anyone or anything. It wasn’t the best page. But they both knew there were better pages ahead.

A secret only they knew.

“What’re you thinking about?” William asked softly.

“You,” she replied. He smiled. “C’mere,” she beckoned.

“Come where?”

She abruptly opened the door, slipping out of the passenger seat and instead moving to the backseat. William watched as she did so, slipping out himself when he realized what she was doing. Once they found each other in the backseat, Aberdeen climbed on top of him and straddled his lap. “You’re being very bold, minskatt,” William smiled.

“Count your blessings,” she winked before leaning in and crashing her lips against his. He reciprocated readily, however ‘shocked’ he was by her bold actions. He was just as hungry for her as she was for him, and his actions showed that: his hands wandering along her thighs, grabbing at her waist; his tongue down her throat, biting her bottom lip. They kissed so much their lips were red and swollen; kissed so much they were fogging up the windows.

Layers. There were too many layers of clothing. It was winter, so they both knew there would be, but it made things annoying. They’d taken their jackets off long ago – William had his off when Aberdeen got in the car, and she’d taken hers off soon after, not bothering to put it back on when she ran in and out of San Remo Bakery – but now there was William t-shirt and hoodie to worry about, and Aberdeen’s sweater, and…

Aberdeen felt William’s hands go underneath her sweater and shivered.

“You alright, minskatt?” William asked as he felt her body shake at his touch.

Aberdeen nodded. She began kissing him again, grinding her hips against his lap, causing him to groan. His hands kept traveling higher and higher against her bare skin until he reached her bra. Aberdeen helped take off her sweater. William took his off, too. She could feel how hard she was getting as she grinded more in his lap, pressing her bare skin onto his and feeling his body heat. Eventually, he pushed her bra straps down, kissing his way down to her breasts before taking a nipple on his mouth. Aberdeen threw her head back. “Willy…” she sighed out, the feeling of his tongue flicking against her nipple making her shiver again. He switched to the other breast. “Oh, Willy…” she began to pant harder.

She dropped her hands in between them.

As Aberdeen stuck her hand down his pants, William stopped. “Ab—Aberdeen—”

“Willy please tell me you have a condom somewhere.”

He huffed, looking nervous. “I d…I don’t think I do—”

“What?”

“I wasn’t expecting this, minskatt. I swear.” Okay, so they couldn’t have sex. But they could still have fun, she thought immediately, because there was no way she was going to stop now. She was too far gone. “If you want to stop I underst—”

“We are not stopping,” Aberdeen said firmly. “I’m—I—help me pull your pants down.”

She started on her own, eagerly, but William helped. She saw how hard his member was and grabbed it. She noticed William’s sharp intake of breath. She began to stroke him, looking him straight in the eye. “D’you like that?”

William nodded. He pulled her pants down, too, and moved her underwear to the side. “I want to make you feel good,” he whispered.

“You always do,” she smiled.

He smiled back at her. He began teasing her core before slipping one finger into her. She gasped in pleasure, biting her lip as she moved her hips slowly. “That’s good?” William asked quickly, only for Aberdeen to nod her head just as quickly, letting out a sigh. She tried to steady her breathing as William’s finger began moving in and out of her slowly, curling every so often. For her part, she kept jerking him off too, his grunts her fuel.

“D’you like when I touch you like this?” she asked, mumbling against his lips, biting down on the bottom one.

He kissed her in response, sloppy and wet to let her know what he thought. He used his thumb to start rubbing circles against her hot core, and the sound of her mewling out his name over and over again was driving him absolutely insane. “More,” she whimpered. “More, Willy. One more.”

William slipped another finger into her easily and curled them both. “Oooooh, fuck,” Aberdeen sighed out, along with every other swear word in the book. She quickened her strokes of his cock and he grunted again, bucking his hips slightly. They kissed for a while longer, both their hands working magic on the other, until she felt him buck his hips again. “Are y’close, Willy?” He nodded, unable to form words. “D’you wanna cum in my mouth?”

Willy’s eyes bulged out dramatically. “You’ve gotta cum first.”

“Willy—”

“You don’t hav—you’ve gotta cum first,” he repeated more definitively, curling his fingers in her again, making her cry out.

“Don’t stop, then,” she bit her lip. “I’m so close.”

William leaned forward to kiss Aberdeen, and with a few more curls of his fingers and circles of his thumb, she began writhing and shaking on top of him, moaning his name over and over and over again as she rode out her orgasm for as long as she could. She buried her head in the crook of his neck as she came down from her orgasm, feeling his fingers slip out of her. She watched as he brought them up to his mouth and sucked. She was surprised he’d do something that bold, but then again, he had just fingered her in the backseat of his car after she’d initiated the entire rendezvous. “Fuck, Willy.”

“Felt good?” he asked quickly.

“Felt fucking amazing,” she responded, trying to suppress her giggle. With her hand still miraculously on his cock, she continued stroking, slowly at first. “You ok?”

He nodded his head. “You look so fucking sexy,” he mumbled, referring to how her bra was still pushed down and the red flush that had taken over her body after her orgasm. It was his favourite sight to see. “I love it when I hear you moan my name. I…fuck Aberdeen.”

“I love how good you are with your hands,” she smiled mischievously.

“I love how good you are with yours,” he giggled, sighing slightly as her thumb grazed over the tip of his cock. They kissed for a while as she continued to stroke him. “God, you’re so fucking good. I’m not gonna last much longer.”

“D’you want to cum in my mouth?” she asked again.

There was no backing out of the question now, but William didn’t know how to respond. Of course it would have been nice, but there was so much to consider. “You don’t have to. It’s okay.”

“But Willy—”

“—I haven’t even eaten you out yet and I don’t think it’s fair—”

“—But I want to, Willy,” she said, eyes wide and staring at him with a mix of fake innocence and real determination. “I want to.”

He didn’t say another word. Aberdeen kissed him a few more times before she shifted her position and took him in her mouth, sucking the tip of his cock. William leaned his head back and watched through hooded eyes as she continued to stroke and suck, leaving him utterly speechless. It was only when Aberdeen started to go deeper that he could feel his release coming, and he suddenly found his voice again. “Aberdeen—” he tried to get out, but couldn’t. She looked up at him with big eyes and he was ready to die right there. “Aberdeen, I—”

“Cum in my mouth Willy.”

With one last stroke and a buck of his hips, Aberdeen felt his hot cum in her throat. William moaned and repeated her name over and over, much like she’d done before, and tried to keep his eyes on her as she took every last bit of him. His jaw was practically on the floor as he looked down at her, and she up at him, until he couldn’t take it anymore. “C’mere,” dragged her up, planting a messy, wet kiss on her lips as they moaned together, William wrapping his arms around her protectively as he could feel his cock soften.

They kissed for what felt like hours again, kiss after kiss after kiss, until their pace slowed down and their breaths returned to normal and they realized what they’d just done, what they’d just participated in together, willingly, in a car sitting in an empty parking lot of a park overlooking the Toronto skyline. In about twelve hours, they’d be on a plane together en route to Ottawa, solely work acquaintances to everyone around them, keeping their secret close to their hearts.

“I love you, minskatt,” William mumbled, his head still a bit dizzy but his heart still full from what had just happened.

“I love you too,” she responded, her chest rising and falling with her breath, her head equally as dizzy and her heart equally as full.

***

William couldn’t keep his eyes off of Aberdeen, now that they were back in the driver’s and passenger’s seat, on Islington Road heading north to get on the Gardiner Expressway. She had a flush on her cheeks and a small smile on her face as she looked out the window. The night was completely dark now, with only the streetlights illuminating the road for them until they got back into the city. The playlist was playing in the background, but neither bothered to turn the volume up or change the song yet.

William drove slowly. To have more time with her.

“Minskatt?” he asked softly as they were stopped at a red light. Aberdeen turned her head to look at him. “Being with you feels right,” he told her, his voice firm and with conviction.

“Even though what we’re doing is wrong?” she asked.

William shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. I don’t care about the rules.” He considered her words – how she admitted it was wrong – for a moment and got nervous. “Does it feel wrong to you?”

“No,” she replied immediately shaking her head. “Not at all. But you have to understand that this…this is simultaneously the most wrong thing I’ve ever done, but also the most right. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I get it completely,” William said. “But I don’t regret any of it.”

“I don’t either.” Aberdeen surprised herself by saying those words out loud. But they were true. She didn’t. She didn’t feel any regret. “You…you know that right?”

William smiled softly. He was very, very well aware how much she was sacrificing to do this – to be sneaking around with him – and he was very well aware of how, for her, everything hung by a thread. Everything for her was on the line, everything, and she was willing to risk it all for him. That was why he was so protective. That was why he was so secretive. That was why he tried his best to keep everything so low-key, to not have people catch on, and if they did, to not take it too seriously. “I do.”

When she picked up his phone as he took the on-ramp onto the Gardiner Expressway, she chose another song, ‘In Your Eyes’ by the Weeknd. William recognized the tempo immediately and smiled. They moved along to the music, singing the lyrics together as they drove on the highway. Aberdeen danced in her seat and William grooved from side to side as much as he could while still being alert and paying attention to the road. Near the song’s end, Aberdeen grabbed his phone again and queued the next song.

When the familiar chords began to play, the synth coming in and the beat loud and strong, William looked over to her and smiled. “How did I know?” he asked.

“Did you expect anything less from me?” she asked rhetorically, giggling slightly.

Midnight… You come and pick me up, no headlights… Long drive could end in burning flames or paradise…

Hearing her sing was one of the best things in the world to him. Almost as good as hearing her talking about writing. Almost as good as hearing her read her own writing. There was such a lack of inhibitions in the way she sang and the way she moved, the way she didn’t care about facades or rules or appropriateness anymore, that made every lyric, ever hand motion, every movement and every head bop so endearing to him. When she took out her phone and began recording the lights on the horizon, all the skyscrapers lit up in the crisp winter’s night air, he reached across the console and held her hand. Hands that held the ring he got her on it.

Because he could now. Without any reservation.

And when Aberdeen smiled, all was right in the world.

When they got back to her apartment, Aberdeen was reluctant to leave. William had put the car in park but neither of them moved to say goodbye or do anything, really. They were lucky that her street wasn’t a main street; that it was residential and tucked in behind two other, more major streets, so that they wouldn’t be honked at or bothered.

“Have you packed for tomorrow yet?” Aberdeen asked, her voice quiet.

William shrugged. “Just gotta choose a suit, really. There’s nothing to it. You?”

“Yeah,” she nodded her head. “My suitcase is pretty much always ready to go nowadays. I’m uh…Brendan actually gave me lunch time off so I can meet up with Siena.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She’s even coming to the game. Not in the press box or anything but she’ll be in a seat somewhere in the arena. You might get to see her.”

William stayed silent for a few moments. “Did you like tonight?” he asked.

Aberdeen smiled. “Very much so.”

Some more moments of silence. It wasn’t until William leaned over to give her a kiss that there was another sound. “I love you, minskatt.”

She smiled into the kiss. “I love you too, Willy,” she said, for what felt like the tenth time that night. She put her hand on the door handle and pulled so the door would open. She knew if she stayed any longer, they’d be there all night, either kissing or just sitting there in silence. “Get home safe, okay? Text me.”

He didn’t want her to leave, but he digressed because they both had an early wakeup time tomorrow. He also knew that he’d be seeing her in a few hours again, anyway. “I will, minskatt,” he gave her one last kiss before letting her go.

When Aberdeen walked into her condo building, it was like the concierge was waiting for her. “Ms. Bloom?” he asked as she walked by the desk.

“That’s me…”

“This is for you,” he said, handing her a large manila envelope. “Courtesy of your friend,” he nodded towards William, still waiting outside in his car until Aberdeen turned the corner to get to the elevator where he wouldn’t be able to see her.

She furrowed her brows. When…? How…? “Thanks…” she took it from him, thanking him politely before making her way towards the elevator. Once she was in, she pressed her floor number and tore open the seal.

Inside, there was a valentine. A poorly made and executed valentine, but a valentine nonetheless. William had cut out a giant heart out of red construction paper. He’d glued googly-eyes on it to make a face, glued pipe cleaners and cotton balls and stickers where necessary, and had even used glitter. She laughed out loud – it honestly looked like a valentine made by one of her mom’s first graders. When she noticed it was a card, she opened it up. She saw, in William’s handwriting:

Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker

It was when she got to her bedroom that she punched in the words, with all their accents, carefully into Google Translate on her phone. Again. He was always making her translate things, although she highly doubted there would be a communication error this time around and think he was calling her ‘little shit’. When the translation came up, her heart skipped a beat.

I think about you when I’m not even thinking.

211 notes · View notes

dokifluffs · 4 years

Text

Relieving Stress | Makoto, Rin

Pairings: Makoto X Reader (gender neutral), and Rin X Reader (gender neutral)

Genre: (angsty to??) comfort fluff

Author’s Note: Cause the free fandom needs to be fed too plus I’ve been dying to write more free!

Makoto:

You couldn’t breathe through your nose, your nostrils completely blocked, your eyes puffy and red

Tear drops littered your notes and workbooks as you sat hunched over your desk, your hands holding the side of your head as you cried silently to yourself in the room, wanting to give up so badly but knowing you would feel too much guilt if you stopped

It was an endless cycle you wanted out of

Sitting in your seat had taken its toll on your body, your back and neck killing you from how much you had been sitting, your stomach hurting from how little you ate, not wanting to waste as much time as you did before

The college entrance exams were nearing and you were demoralized seeing the results of your mock

The worst of all was seeing the disappointment that was clear as day in your parents’ eyes when they asked about your results, the light of hope vanishing from their eyes

They didn’t say it but you could feel the disappointment, and you could still feel it

Your house was still and empty, excluding you. Your parents would be coming home late from work, saving every bit of money they could to send you to the school you wanted, hoping for you to get into Meijo Chuo University

A soft knock on your door pulled- no, freed you from your miserable studies

“Y/N?” The kind voice of your loving boyfriend Makoto sounded from your doorway as he peeked his head in through the door, his olive eyes widening seeing your crying face. “What happened?” He set the plastic bag filled with snacks and drinks down beside him as he knelt before you, taking your hand in his, cupping your face to wipe away your tears with the other

“Are you hurt?” He scanned your arms and legs, trying to find a source of the pain you were clearly in, finding none as you meekly shook your head, tears dripping off your chin

“What’s wrong, then?” You bit into your lip as you nuzzled into his touch, his warmth already melting away a slim fraction of the stress that was crushing you from the inside out

“Entrance exams,” your voice cracked as you felt a hot burn in your chest just thinking about it. You and tests were nowhere near compatible and you hated it- sitting in one spot for hours in complete silence, hearing everyone else diligently working while you sat there, feeling useless with your brain

“I’m not gonna get into Meijo Chuo and- and- I just want to skip this…” you spoke, your voice shaky, your breaths uneven as you continued to struggle to breathe through your nose, making it feel even more like you were suffocating

“Hey, shhh…” He pulled you into his embrace, your head resting on his shoulder, breath tickling his neck as he rubbed his hand over your back. “Don’t say you won’t, not now when they haven’t started yet. There’s still time.”

He knew the stress you were feeling over the exams. He felt the same but he thought you were in a better boat than he was since you actually knew where you wanted to go whereas he didn’t

The reason as to why he was actually here was because of your mother. She contacted him, worried you weren’t giving yourself enough breaks and she was right seeing the state you were in

“Let’s take a break, okay? Tell me why you think you won’t get in…” The two of you sat in the center of the room on your carpet. He handed you a refreshing drink, offering you some snacks he knew you liked

You told him abut your mock, which led to multiple branches of thoughts like what if you didn’t get in as the main concern, the guilt you felt toward your parents for working so hard for the sake of your future

It was all wrapped around the concern of not getting in

He listened intently, getting a feel for how you felt

He held you close, his arm wrapped around your shoulders, hand rubbing your arm as the two of you leaned back into the side of your bed. He wipes your tears away with his tissues, telling you all about the exam and how it really would go, explaining the curves every year, financial aid, the process of applying too

“We can work through this together,” he squeezed your hand in his

It sounded like a lot more but with the way he put it, it sounded achievable but it wasn’t enough to make all your stresses disappear into thin air

“I can come over again tomorrow and we can review together, okay?” He cupped your face and rubbed his thumb over your cheek, his gentle smile spreading on his lips, widening when he saw you smile for the first time today

He wasn’t able to relieve all of your worries completely, but he was able to lighten the weight of them, staying by your side throughout the entire process til you were accepted and he kept his word to you

Rin:

The chair creaked loudly in your ear as you leaned back into it with a heavy sigh, closing your eyes to massage them after burning holes into your textbook with them

They burned in the best possible way as you massaged them, closing your dried eyes after staring at the same text, taking in information you had learned in your lecture already, but just rereading everything from the beginning of the semester to make sure you had everything down

But it was a lot more now that you were rereading through all the chapters, some things felt like you were learning for the very first time yet they weren’t when you found notes you had taken

Sitting still in your chair, resting your eyes and body, which so badly wanted to collapse into the covers of your bed, you could hear the faint shrills of cicadas and chirps of crickets outside your apartment

You were getting lost in the sound, feeling yourself slowly fall asleep but you had to keep yourself awake, no matter how many cups of coffee, tea, or energy drinks you had to down, you had to stay awake and get through at least half of the reading you were forcing yourself through

Failing this final meant retaking the class next semester but it also meant losing money down the drain

The faintest sounds of keys jingling followed by the sound of your front door opening caught your attention

Turning your head, you saw Rin’s figure as he stepped through the door, tucking his keys back into his pocket

“Hey, what’re you doing here?” You turned your head back, resting your sore neck on the back of your chair, swaying side by side ever so slightly with your foot guiding you

“You haven’t answered me at all today and I wanted to see if you were alive.” He nudged your chair as he sat himself into the seat beside yours

“Oh, sorry, my phone was off like all day.” You had told quite a few people and your parents that you wouldn’t be available all day/ as well as basically this entire week until your final had passed

“Why? Also why’re you still up?” He poked his finger into your cheek, making you flinch, amusing him

“My history final is coming up and I’ve been basically cramming.” You drew your lips into a straight line, locking gazes with him as he read you, taking in your features

He could see the bags forming beneath your eyes, how disheveled your hair looked

“Come on,” he stood, opening his hand to you. “Let’s go.” He waited patiently for you to put your hand into his, wrapping his fingers around yours securely, hoisting you up from your seat

“Where are we going?”

“To bed.” You refrained yourself from yawning when you heard him say that, pulling back your hand where you stood

“I can’t, not yet at least. I have to finish reading at the middle so I can have enough time to review.” You pulled your body as he securely held your hand, pulling you toward your bedroom at the end of the hall, your bed calling your name

As much as you wanted to, you couldn’t not yet

“Y/N, I can physically see how tired you are, baby. Let’s just go to sleep. I can help you review tomorrow and all the way up until your exam. You know I make a great study buddy,” he winked, swinging your arms as he gestured his head toward your bedroom

You stood hesitantly, facing the table as you looked at your textbooks, little slips of paper and colorful sticky notes peeking out from the edges

“I know you want to,” his breath tickled your ear as you let out a groan, almost sinking to your knees when you felt his hands massage your shoulder and neck, your muscles stiff from being hunched over your book for hours on end

“You need so much sleep and relaxing,” he kissed your shoulder from behind. You leaned back and rested your head on his shoulder, sighing for the nth time all day as you went to war with yourself

“Your brain is a muscle and it needs to relax before you cram more, overworking it. It’s already late, sleep will do you some good,” he promised, finally able to lead you away from your table, switching off the light as he led you to your bedroom as you let out a big yawn, your body melting into your bed and his arms

~~~~~ Thanks for reading! Masterlist for more! Please do not repost anywhere else!

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that-scouse-wizard · 3 years

Text

David Willows MK 2

A/N: Just an updated version of David’s profile, complete with a few changes and a more in-depth description of certain characteristics. Hope you guys enjoy and if you’d like your MC to be friends with him, message me and let’s chat about it.

Some more things to note:

-Merula is not the mole.

-I’m using the female version of Rowan as David’s best friend because to hell with game restrictions. Also, she survives, at least... David’s Rowan does.

-Drastic alteration to the Quidditch storyline. Skye is in David’s year and a Gryffindor. Orion, Murphy and Erika are two years above David and are in Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin respectively. Also including Andre and Charlie while introducing Oliver Wood and Lee Jordan.

-It goes without saying but spoilers for my ideas. Some are kept deliberately vague and some aren’t covered entirely more so because I intend to write about it someday. Let me know what you guys think of those that are given though.

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

General Information

Name: David Owen Willows (Formerly David Owen Hall, changed to mother’s maiden name in 1982).

Gender: Male

Age: 11-18 (1984-91), 19-25 (1992-98)

DOB: 30/03/1973

Species: Human

Blood status: Half-blood

Sexuality: Straight

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Ethnicity: White-British

Nationality: English (maternal side of family is Irish, paternal grandmother is Scottish, paternal grandfather and father are English).

Residence: Liverpool/ Lancaster (during his Hogwarts years and depending upon who he’s staying with).

Wimborne (during his career as a pro Quidditch player)

Hogsmeade (final place of residence after becoming Charms professor)

Myers Briggs Personality Type: ENFP, The Campaigner

Character summary: Though he may come across as stand-offish at first, David Willows is a friend as loyal as he is bull-headed. A student of Erika Rath, he became known as Hound on the Quidditch pitch for his relentless pursuit of opposing players. A skill in duelling and the muggle martial art of muay thai (also a pair of knuckledusters) ensures David is a formidable opponent with or without magic.

Personality:

Aggressive: While he tries to reign in his anger, David is known to have a short temper when it comes to certain taunts. Chief amongst them, comparing him to Jacob. In his early years he was even willing to physically fight much older students despite the clear difference in both size and strength.

Aloof: For all of his first year and a good portion of his second year, David isn’t the one to initiate a friendship (except for Chiara but that was when there was no one else to really talk to while spending a night in the Hospital Wing due to the Devil’s Snare incident). However, while undergoing his first time as a quidditch player, he’s taught by Penny how to be a bit more social at pre and post-match parties.

Artistic: David was taught by his mother Rue to draw in greyscale sketches, something he improves on during his time throughout Hogwarts. In the midst of Jacob’s disappearance, his parent’s divorce and especially the stress that comes at Hogwarts, drawing provided an escape for him. His favourite things to draw are people and creatures.

Competitive: This aspect of David tends to come out the most when it comes to sport. With Erika as his mentor, he nurtures a healthy sense of competition as well as a determination to best the other houses and put Hufflepuff on top when it comes to quidditch.

Courageous: Largely as a result of his loyalty, David is willing to throw himself headlong into danger. The Sorting Hat didn’t nearly put him in Gryffindor for no reason.

Determined: When David sets his mind to a goal, he wants to accomplish it to the best of his abilities. In the case of finding Jacob however, it led to a sort of tunnel-vision, one that was finally broken when Chauncy and Philip succumb to injuries sustained under the sleepwalking curse.

Empathetic: Throughout his years at Hogwarts, David starts to empathise with people in his life. Even in the case of Merula, he sees how lonely she must really be and tries to reach out to her on numerous occasions. If he doesn’t fully understand it, he’d like you to share your feelings with him, at your own behest of course.

Loyal: In spite of a prickly exterior at first, once you win David’s loyalty, he’ll return it ten-fold. The type of friend who would take a bullet for you.

Snarky: David has a sharp tongue, preferably he tries to shut down an argument with his wits. Only going for duelling when he feels it necessary. That being said, he isn’t shy about getting petty in a verbal spar, for example his response to Merula when first being taunted about Jacob supposedly teaming up with Voldemort: “At least that’s just a rumour, can’t say the same about your parents.”

Stubborn: A self-described ‘stubborn git’, David is quite notorious for not budging from his position once he thinks he has all the facts he needs. If he’s being especially difficult, just get Merula.

Appearance

Face Claim: Dave Franco (as an adult at least).

Voice Claim: Paul McCartney.

Game appearance:

Physique: Athletic, broad shouldered and fairly bulky as a result of weight training with Erika.

Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Hair style: Chin-length (1st-2nd year), crew cut (3rd-4th year), short but long enough to slick back (5th year-present).

Eye colour: Dark brown.

Height: 5′11″ (as of 6th year)

Weight: Approx 80kg (when fully grown)

Scarring: A few small ones sustained during duels and the occasional mishap in quidditch, mostly on his upper body with a few on his legs. Sustains a burn scar on the left side of his waist during the battle with R.

Body modifications: Get’s the phrase “You’ll never walk alone.” tattooed on his right bicep at eighteen. Later gets a ram skull tattoo on his upper back just between the shoulder blades at age twenty. Finally, gets a shepherd crook just below the ram skull tattoo at age twenty-one.

Inventory: His wand, a pair of knuckledusters, a sketchbook, a pencil case containing stationary.

Fashion: He trusts Andre’s advice on what looks good on him though knows what works for him and what doesn’t. Partly influenced by his musical tastes (mainly punk, and rock and roll), has a love of leather jackets and slightly ripped jeans.

Background/ History:

Pre-Hogwarts:

-David was born in Liverpool, living in the suburb of Allerton. One of his favourite things to do was play football with Jacob and his dad.

-His mum would teach him to draw, most often on rainy days.

-Close to both of his parents as a result but it all changed when Jacob disappeared. He knew Jacob and his parents had arguments after being expelled but hadn’t heard any of it on account of the use of a muffling charm. Furthermore, Rue and Matthew were driven apart, Matthew blaming Jacob’s change in attitude and eventual disappearance on magic in its entirety.

-Sometime after Jacob disappeared and when the general shitshow stirred up by the Daily Prophet had died down, it was settled that Rue and Matthew would divorce. Given that David would go to Hogwarts as well, they thought it would be best for David to take Willows as his surname, hopefully not being recognised as Jacob Hall’s brother.

-This was fruitless, Rita Skeeter caught wind of the proceedings and sensationalised them, exposing the name change in the process. The stress and grief caused both parents to distance themselves from David in some way. Rue threw herself into work and became even more strict with David’s freedom while Matthew just left.

-David however, was fighting his own battles, it became known at his muggle school about Jacob going missing as well as his parents divorcing. This caused him to become quite reclusive from his classmates and would lash out at anyone who said a bad word towards him, especially if it concerned his family drama. He lost any friends he did have and refused to make any more.

During Hogwarts

-Year 1: He first meets Rowan, even being introduced to her younger brother, Alder (basically male Rowan).

David, Rowan, Tonks, Diego, Chiara and Penny first begin to form what becomes known as the Hufflesquad.

Also befriends Ben and Charlie.

Angelica Cole takes him under her wing despite not being in the same house and even shows David a group of trolls she’s been tending to in preparation for her apprenticeship in training security trolls.

Meets the Booths during the Christmas break and despite a rocky start, begins to develop a positive relationship with them even coming to an understanding with his dad.

During one of his expeditions with Angelica, he’s confronted by Needle, an acromantula that previously belonged to Jacob.

Finally stands up to his mum properly, resulting in him staying with the Booths for the summer in Lancaster.

-Year 2: David meets those who are involved in the Quidditch scene at Hogwarts, including Erika Rath, who he briefly develops a crush on until he’s let down gently at the end of Year 2.

He duels Merula for a second time, winning once more, which makes her cry albeit in private. This then results in having his first encounter with Barnaby Lee, who confronts David about upsetting Merula. David tries to get past but Barnaby wraps his hands around David’s throat. Not actually choking him mind, more to get his attention. David panics as it reminds him of the Devil’s Snare that wrapped around his throat and lashes out at Barnaby.

David puts Barnaby in the hospital wing, much to the anger of Liz Tuttle.

The last Quidditch match for the House Cup between Hufflepuff and Slytherin is interrupted by the spread of the cursed ice. Ultimately resulting in Gryffindor’s victory in the cup for that year.

Rue comes back, mentioning how Corey Hayden (David’s American cousin in this AU) would like to transfer to Hogwarts.

Year 3: Amelia comes to Hogwarts as a first year and gets sorted into Hufflepuff. Similarly, Alder starts at Hogwarts and is sorted into Ravenclaw.

Amelia brings Dusty, her cat, along with her. However, Dusty goes missing shortly after arriving at the castle.

Later, in a COMC class, Barnaby mentions that he found a cat matching Dusty’s description. Initially, David is very suspicious to the extent of threatening Barnaby if he harmed Dusty in any way. Barnaby refutes this and returns Dusty to him unharmed, causing David to apologise for both for the accusation and the events that happened last year. Eventually, he even befriends Barnaby.

In a similar vein, when tending to some of his creatures on the reserve, he bumps into Liz and winds up introducing her to Needle. The two get a friendship going, David admiring Liz’s passion for creatures and Liz appreciating David for not finding her weird when she rambles about animals. To the extent that they go out on a few dates.

Close to the end of the year, he rants at Merula. Effectively asking the question of why she seems to hate him. Yet despite the rant he closes off with how he understands Merula, he’s been that lonely kid lashing out at the world and it’s not fun. Despite her reluctance to admit it, Merula knows David is right.

He gets the chance to verbally unload on Rita Skeeter for the articles she wrote about his family when she comes to the school looking to interview an interesting student. Later, several of his friends plus Merula of all people step in to put Skeeter in her place when she successfully provokes him into a fit of rage to make him look bad. The situation is eventually diffused by McGonagall.

Year 4:

Corey officially transfers to Hogwarts from Ilvermorny after exchanging letters with David throughout third year.

Though David wasn’t particularly close to them, Chauncy and Philip (two of his dormmates alongside Diego) succumb to injuries sustained when they were attacked by a red cap under the Sleepwalking curse. When he learns the truth of what attacked them, David slays the creature.

David starts to realise he has a crush on Merula after assisting her in casting Expecto Patronum. Later in the year, he takes her out on a date to Hogsmeade, gets her a songbook for Christmas and even takes her out to the Celestial Ball.

Merula’s parents are freed from Azkaban by R, her mother even meeting Merula in secret throughout the year. During one of their meet-ups, she has a hunch Merula is starting to develop a crush on David (something which is true but not something she would admit it at the time).

In order to eliminate this apparent threat to her family’s blood purity, she asks Merula to bring him to her in the Forbidden Forest under the guise of allowing the two of them to join R like she has. Instead, she subdues David with Petrificus Totalus, attempting to convince Merula to leave him, that David isn’t worth it.

Merula sides with David even though it pains her initially. David stays with her over the summer, where they try to figure out... whatever the hell their relationship is at the moment.

Year 5: Throughout this year he dates Merula in secret until Valentine’s Day. It’s here that she confesses she’s ready to have their relationship out in the open.

One of the most major event for David is Rakepick’s betrayal, he had actually grown fond of her as a mentor. Being stabbed in the back wasn’t a good thing for him.

The second is Jacob leaving immediately after David finds him. It’s hurtful and David becomes a bit reclusive for a while. Finally, he’s comforted by Bill, Orion and Erika, the older sibling figures in his life.

Year 6: Jacob returns, under the watchful eye of Alastor Moody, acting as the DADA teacher for that year. Naturally, there’s tension between the brothers, which eventually resolves.

Jacob does join David for the Christmas break, where he gets along well with the Booths and reunites with his parents.

As well as this, R attempts to come after Amelia, resulting in the death of Alder Khanna. As well as being a devastating loss, it causes a rough patch in David and Rowan’s relationship when in her grief she winds up shouting “I wish I’d never met you, David Willows!” She only realises what she just said when the words leave her mouth but regardless, it causes a fracture within David’s larger circle of friends.

Eventually, the time comes for when David, Jacob and their allies take on the vaults like they had always dreamed of. Together, they face off against the guardian of the Sunken vault, an Ammit (based on the creature of Ancient Egyptian Mythology). Eventually the beast is defeated and they claim the treasure of the vaults, what seems to be the base of a necklace.

In a celebration at the Three Broomsticks, R attacks and murders Jacob. This sends David spiralling into grief, hitting his truly lowest point. He worked so hard, he rebuilt his family at home and forged a new one at Hogwarts, all the while hoping Jacob would be able to join them. And what was it all for? Nothing.

Before the school year is up... he snaps his wand and runs away from Hogwarts. Not to Liverpool, not to Lancaster, just anywhere but there. It will keep his friends and family safe or so he reasons. Deep down though, he thinks it’s cowardly.

During this time, he finds his way to Glasgow and starts sleeping rough on the streets all the while battling with grief, anger and self loathing. This goes on for two months before Moody tracks him down, apparating him to a secluded area of the Scottish countryside, kicks his arse and talks him down. Taking him to Grimmauld Place afterwards with the intention of formulating a plan to take the fight to R.

Where he finds most of his remaining friends waiting for him. At first he staunchly refuses their help, feeling he’s already put enough people in danger. Yet they refuse to leave.

This is actually the moment where the Circle of Khanna is formed, this time named for Alder. Reconciling with Rowan after a serious heart-to-heart.

Year 7: ...Let’s just say R is going to regret setting David Willows on the warpath.

R’s destruction becomes widely regarded news, however David allows Moody to take the credit for it. Frankly, by this point he’s sick of any attachment to the Cabal and just wants to play Quidditch.

He’s able to pass his NEWTS and win the Quidditch cup for Hufflepuff one last time, resulting in him being offered the position as beater on the Wimborne Wasps.

Post-Hogwarts:

David and Merula work things out, moving in together. Though it’s odd with David still keeping at his Quidditch training and Merula now working for Gringotts as a curse-breaker. After winning the British and Irish League for the Wasps in 1993, he proposes to Merula which she accepts.

In 1994, they have a wedding in the summer time with Rowan being David’s best woman. They did plan on having kids until Cedric’s murder at the hands of Voldemort. With Quidditch cancelled and Merula being affiliated to Gringotts, both are approached to work for the Order.

Though initially very hesitant, David agrees. Eliminating Death Eaters, rescuing their hostages and even fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts.

He returns to the Quidditch scene when it starts up again in 1999, helping the Wasps win the cup three more times. 1999 is also the year in which Merula and David have their first kid, Robin. After the latest victory in 2002 he discovers Merula is pregnant again, and his retirement from Quidditch is looming on the horizon. He’s convinced by Judith Harris (@judediangelo75) to teach for a few weeks over the summer at KC’s (@kc-needs-coffee) quidditch summer camp. It’s here that he develops a love for teaching. Getting in touch with professor Flitwick to work as his assistant before becoming the Charms professor.

In early 2003, he welcomes his son Nicholas into the world.

Family

Matthew Hall (father):

Face Claim: Ben Miller

A stern but fair man and CIMA-qualified accountant originally from Yorkshire, Matthew met David’s biological mother Rue when he was on a business trip to Dublin in 1956. Encountering her in a quiet pub being told “I’ve dealt with a real dragon today” when he asked if she was okay on account of how tired she looked. Matthew took it as a joke but Rue was being entirely serious. They struck up a friendship and began dating, eventually getting married in 1961 and having Jacob in 1964.

initially, he was fascinated by the existence of the wizarding world but soon came to fear it after Jacob’s disappearance. Divorcing Rue afterwards and cutting off contact from David aside from agreeing to send child maintenance. However, after being chewed out by his girlfriend Lyra, he all but begs David to come visit him in Lancaster over Christmas in 1984.

The reason being that Amelia’s magical abilities finally began to manifest, which became a cause of conflict between David and Matthew, largely from David thinking that was the only reason he was invited. Eventually, they come to an understanding and try to work on improving their relationship.

Rue Willows (mother):

Face Claim: Fiona O’Carroll

A dragonologist from Dublin in the employ of the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau. Though she was strict, she was generally attentive towards David, being the one who taught him to draw.

After Jacob’s disappearance however, she became very withdrawn and austere. It was her way of opting for a ‘tough love’ approach, thinking she had been too soft and in her misguidance tried to control David’s life. Even then, she still grieved, frequently getting into arguments with David about his behaviour at school, bringing up Jacob when David tried to make her proud of him and other such things.

During the start of the summer break between first and second year, David finally stands up to her properly. The words that get through to her are the following, “That stranger’s name is Lyra and she’s been a better mum to me in the weeks I’ve known her than you have for me in years.” and “I love you too mum... but I don’t know if I like you anymore.”

She does a lot of soul searching after that, staying with relatives in America for a year before coming back and promising to do better with her and David’s relationship.

Lyra Booth (nee Robinson) (step-mother):

Face Claim: Ruth Wilson

A muggle and CIMA-qualified accountant originally from London, left widowed in 1980 after her first husband, Peter died in a car accident. She met Matthew when working at an accounting firm in Lancaster shortly after his divorce from Rue. After a couple months of knowing each other, the two began dating, Lyra introduced him to her children, who he hit it off well with.

She knew he had a son who he sent child maintenance to but it wasn’t revealed until Amelia accidentally made a plant pot explode in a fit of frustration that Lyra learned the truth. Consequently... she blew up at Matthew for as good as abandoning as his son. Insisting on inviting him around for Christmas.

While David was prickly when he first came around, he eventually warmed up to her and the rest of the Booths, being a positive maternal influence on him.

Jacob Hall (brother) (deceased):

Face Claim: Tom Holland

David’s only biological sibling, a gifted though trouble-making student, first became interested in the cursed vaults during his first year when he was informed about the legend by seventh year Patricia Rakepick. In his sixth year, he stood up for fellow Gryffindor Angelica Cole when she was being bullied (at the time she was a first year).

His investigation into the vaults would put him into conflict with the mysterious cult known as R. A conflict that would put his family in danger and even cost him his life.

Alex Booth (step-brother):

Face Claim: Jody Latham

The eldest of the Booth siblings, Alex is a highly protective big brother and was worried upon realising his little sister was going to be part of a world none of them had any knowledge about. He tried to make David feel welcome despite the younger boy’s hostility.

When David attempted to run away during his first stay with the Booths, Alex caught him in the act and made a deal, get past him and he wouldn’t tell anyone he’d left. Though David was tenacious, Alex stopped him every time even pointing out the flaws in David’s technique if he tried to physically fight Alex. After David finally gave up, Alex didn’t breathe a word of his run away attempt to anyone. David would take up Alex’s offer to teach him muay thai during his first visit.

Sarah Booth (step-sister):

Face Claim: Emilia Clarke

The middle child of the Booth siblings and also the least welcoming, Sarah was most vocally against Amelia being part of the wizarding world. She treated David coldly at first, going on a grouse hunting trip with her friends the day after he arrived to stay with them for Christmas.

However, at some point, she caught him reading an old copy of a Shooting Times magazine and after some persuasion by Alex, took David clay pigeon shooting. Becoming quite impressed, and even a little endeared from how quickly he picked up shooting.

Amelia Booth (step-sister):

Face Claim: Maisie Williams

A muggleborn witch and the youngest of the Booth siblings, Amelia was surprised to realise she possessed magical abilities. Though was even more shocked to learn Matthew already knew about it.

When she was five years old, she was involved in the car accident that killed her father. Resulting in her being scarred with a gash on the right side of her forehead, a similar one on her left cheek and a larger one that cuts across from shoulder to her chest. Though she repressed the memory, she did indeed see her father die, thus Thestrals are visible to her. Another thing the accident did was give her motorphobia, though can tolerate it as long as she’s A) In control of the vehicle and B) It’s not motorised.

However, she does have a love of cycling, she was taught to do so by her dad before he died. Similarly, gymnastics helped her get some of her confidence back after the accident and still keeps up with it. A love of plants and animals prompts her to excel in Herbology and Potions, then later COMC.

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Affiliations: The Circle of Khanna, The Wimborne Wasps, The Order of the Phoenix, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Professions: Beater for the Wimborne Wasps (1991-95)

Agent of the Order of the Phoenix (1995 - 98)

Resumes position as beater for the Wasps (1999-2003)

Charms Assistant Teacher (2003 - 05)

Charms Teacher (2005 - present)

Hogwarts Information

Class Proficiencies:

Astronomy: E

Charms: O

DADA: O

Herbology: E

History of Magic: A

Potions: A

Transfiguration: E

Electives:

Care of Magical Creatures: A

Muggle Studies: O

Quidditch:

Hufflepuff Beater (1985 - 91)

Hufflepuff Captain (after Orion graduates) (1989 - 91)

Extra Curricular:

Duelling Club (Becomes known as one of the best duellers in Hogwarts)

Art Club

Football Club (Founder)

Apparition Class (in 1991)

Favourite Professors:

Professor Sprout, his head of house and someone he feels he can go to if he needs advice. One of several people who warned him about being careful with Patricia Rakepick.

Professor Mcgonagall, his Transfiguration teacher and head of Jacob’s house when he was at Hogwarts. Though they disagree entirely on him tackling the vaults, he always pays attention in her lessons as while she’s often stern she can be a great teacher.

Professor Flitwick, as his Charms teacher, David always found Flitwick to be respectable. David especially respects Flitwick for teaching him Expelliarmus, even after he was honest in what he intended to do with it (i.e. use it in a duel against Merula). Also came for Flitwick’s help in developing Cometa.

Least Favourite Professors:

Professor Binns: Finds his droning entirely too boring and really only passed History of Magic thanks to Rowan.

Every other professor he’s either neutral on (Snape and Trelwany) or he likes but aren’t his favourites (Kettleburn).

Best Canon friends:

Rowan Khanna

Diego Caplan

Nymphadora Tonks

Penny Haywood

Chiara Lobosca

(David plus the above five make up the original members of the Hufflesquad)

Bill Weasley

Charlie Weasley

Erika Rath

Orion Amari

Badeea Ali

Barnaby Lee

Liz Tuttle

Love interest:

Erika Rath (crush)

Nymphadora Tonks (first kiss)

Liz Tuttle (dated briefly in third year but broke things off fairly amicably when they realised they were developing crushes on other people).

Merula Snyde (began dating in fourth year, later marries David in 1994)

Best MC friends:

Judith Harris (@judediangelo75): The closest of his MC friends, David and Judith first get acquainted by being pushed into friendship... somewhat subtly by Penny Haywood. Both of them catch on when Penny mentions they should try out for the Quidditch team. Both of them still go for it, bonding over a shared love of martial arts and proving they have the potential to be fearsome beaters.

Throughout their time at Hogwarts, David and Judith would demonstrate a fierce loyalty to each other, being as close as siblings. David even becoming godfather to her children, Bakari and Kendrick.

Cato Reese (@catohphm): David was first introduced to Cato by Penny. The two find themselves sharing very similar values, having a great love their friends and absolute ruthlessness towards their enemies.

Like anyone involved in the Quidditch scene at Hogwarts, David has a bit of a rivalry with him. Tending to trash talk him (though with no real weight behind it), Cato understands that David doesn’t mean it.

Katriona Cassiopea (KC) (@kc-needs-coffee): The two of them are sports fanatics, they could talk to each other for hours about Quidditch. While David definitely knows more about footy, he’s eager to learn about any sport, such as baseball which KC is highly knowledgeable about.

KC would be one of the first to jump at the football matches David organises during his time at Hogwarts.

Lizzie Jameson (@lifeofkaze): Like David, Lizzie is an avid fan of LFC. Even meeting up at some point with their respective partners to watch a footy match at Anfield, where Liverpool were playing.

On the quidditch pitch, Lizzie is a chaser and knows she can count on David to keep the bludgers off her back.

If any of your MCs would want to be friends with David, let me know!

Rivals:

Merula Snyde (For most of his time at Hogwarts).

During Quidditch: Erika Rath, Skye Parkin, Andre Egwu, Charlie Weasley, Angelica Cole, Oliver Wood, Cato Reese and Katriona Cassiopea.

Enemies:

R (including Patricia Rakepick, Fenrir Greyback and Peter Pettigrew).

The Snyde family (minus Merula)

Voldemort

Death Eaters

Magical Abilities

1st Wand: Blackthorn, unicorn hair core, ten and a quarter inches, slightly springy and flexible. Snaps it in half shortly just before the end of sixth year, citing, “What kind of warrior can’t even protect his own brother?”

Blackthorn, which is a very unusual wand wood, has the reputation, in my view very well-merited, of being best suited to a warrior.

Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard. Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may ‘die’ and need replacing.

2nd Wand: English Oak, Dragon Heartstring core, twelve and a half inches, unbending.

A wand for the good times and bad, this is a friend as loyal as the wizard who deserves it. Wands of English Oak demand partners of strength, courage and fidelity. Obtained from Garrick Ollivander while being accompanied by Alastor Moody.

As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner. The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.

Animagus form: A ram, specifically of a Dalesbred Sheep. Rams symbolise determination, initiative and leadership, factors that are put to the test more than once during his time at Hogwarts.

Misc magical abilities: Legilimens, Rue informs him of potentially inheriting her legilimens ability between third year and fourth year when he tells her of his delve into the Vault of Fear. David prefers not using it on people, rather using it to see through the eyes of animals as his great grandfather Reuben used to do.

Occlumency: Snape, at Dumbledore’s behest begins teaching David the art of Occlumency in fifth year.

Non-verbal magic: David began learning the non-verbal use of magic in fifth year thanks to professor Flitwick. Becoming highly skilled in it by his seventh year.

Spell creation: Assists in the creation of Stella Cascadia alongside Badeea Ali. Given how dangerous the vaults could be, he begins to work on another spell inspired by Stella Cascadia alongside several of his friends, Cometa, the comet jinx.

Boggart Form: Initially, Jacob as a death eater after hearing about the rumours of him taking Voldemort’s side.

From year four onwards, himself as a dark wizard as he worries about the path the vaults will set him on.

Riddikulus Form: Death eater Jacob’s mask turns into a pie that promptly splats him in the face.

Later, his dark wizard self in the uniform of Everton Football Club with a blue clown nose and wig to match. Since he’s a Liverpool Football Club supporter, seeing himself in one his rival team’s colours as a clown is hilarious to him.

Amortentia (what do they smell like?): A sea breeze and heather.

Amortentia (what do they smell?): Freshly mown grass and clear air after a rainfall.

Patronus: African wild dog, a symbol of his loyalty and relentless pursuit of his goals.

Patronus memory: -Attending the LFC vs Nottingham Forest semi final match of the Football League Cup at Anfield on the 12th February 1980 with his dad and Jacob. They drew 1-1 and LFC didn’t get through to the final but David was still happy to be there with both them.

Mirror of Erised: Jacob being back, alongside all of his friends and family. All of them are safe and well.

Specialised/ favourite spells:

Cometa, a spell that David creates in sixth year with the help of Badeea Ali, Rowan Khanna, Merula Snyde, Diego Caplan and professor Flitwick. Inspired by Stella Cascadia, and using some principles from the Ice Jinx, the spell initially creates cricket ball-sized pieces of ice that explode into a mist when they impact against something. This makes it especially useful for blinding or disorienting a target. Later they develop the more-powerful Cometa Maxima in seventh year. Its main limitations are maintaining eye contact directed at the target (as is the case for all jinxes) and its general range is quite short (about twenty five feet) due to the “comet” (really a mix of ice, dust and gases) disintegrating quite quickly.

Protego Diabolica, A spell taught to him by Felix Rosier in sixth year, nothing says “Get away from my friends!” Like a massive wall of blue flame that incinerates enemies and leaves allies unharmed.

Expelliarmus, the Disarming charm taught to David by Professor Flitwick in first year is one of his go-to spells when duelling.

Protego, learned in order to protect himself from spells and other projectiles.

Healing spells: Largely taught to him by Chiara throughout their time at Hogwarts, healing spells have come in handy more than once when he needs to preserve his own or his friend’s lives.

Expecto Patronum, though niche, a spell that can get rid of a dementor is nothing to scoff at. Plus it’s a sentimental reminder of his friendship with Tonks.

Incendio, good as a fire-starter and a duelling spell, also reminds him of a time when Merula stood up to Rita Skeeter for him by burning her camera.

Misc Information

-David is a huge supporter of Liverpool Football Club (LFC), so much so one of his casuals is a club uniform.

-As well as Needle, David has other creatures on the reserve, Lucky (Knarl), Clop (Porlock), Bonita (fairy), Mori (thestral), and Chen (Chinese fireball).

#harry potter hogwarts mystery #hphm #jacob's sibling #david willows #hphm mc

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evandearest · 4 years

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The Garden of Eden Explanation

Series Masterlist: The Garden of Eden Series

Warning: Read After Part Two: Reflection!! SPOILERS AHEAD.

Hey guys, it’s Emilie (@evandearest)! So I’ve just decided to pop in here and make a post about my current James March x reader series, The Garden of Eden. This is just something that I’ve decided to do just to clear things up, both for any readers and for myself <3.

This series was requested by @etoile-writings , who is now one of my good friends here on tumblr :). This post will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t read part one and two I suggest you do! After I finish writing the entire series, I will do a separate review post to explain the symbolism and references in depth with the entire story. This post will just contain an explanation for the concepts and symbolism in the events so far.

JUXTAPOSITION:

The original request was juxtaposition, which is basically just an idea: the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect. It’s just simply a comparison - a contrast between two objects. In this story’s case, the two things are the reader and James. The contrast is revealed as the story goes, but it’s basically the fact that the reader constantly looks at everything in a religious view, while James is completely against religion, as we’ve seen in the show. This will get more prevalent in part three, which at this point in time is still being wrote.

READER’S DARKNESS:

As the story goes on, this will be revealed further, but there has already been multiple instances in which the reader has seemed passive towards violence/physical hurting, the seriousness of the situation seeming to go over her head; no empathy shown. This occurred in two instances: when James killed her husband, and when the man in the hotel was in pain. As I said, this will be explored further, but is to be kept in mind, as it ties in with the juxtaposition concept.

WHITE ROSES:

Now let’s talk about the flowers, which were included as part of the request as well. They mainly tied into the whole “Garden of Eden” biblical concept, which we will get into next. I specifically chose white roses as the flower of interest because of their symbolism:

“ White roses often represent purity, innocence, and youthfulness. White roses are sometimes referred to as bridal roses because of their association with young love and eternal loyalty. White roses can also symbolize a new beginning and everlasting love. ”

In part two, you find out the origin of James’ and the reader’s love; how it all started in the garden, with the roses. However, the roses are very prevalent throughout the entire story, as well as what the owner of the garden said about them: “if you kill the rose, the rose no longer profits you.” (keep that in mind)

They are what is known as a motif of literature.

The first and simplest symbolic thing about them is the fact that they are the readers favorite flower, which is explained in the flashback in part two. Since they symbolize purity and innocence, it’s only right for them to be the reader’s favorite flower, as she is the same symbolic representation.

So far, they have briefly appeared in part one when James arrives at the reader’s house, and then again throughout most of part two.

To recall to part one:

“ Before you knew it, the man you had dreamed of for so many years was standing before you. You gasped as your eyes met his, the same dark brown framed by his sharp masculine features. It was as if you had seen the sun after years in the dark. Your eyes took in his features before shifting to look at the object in his hands. A bouquet of white roses lay clasped between his hands; your flowers. He had remembered. He really had come back for you. Finally, you had your James again. “

Since white roses symbolize a new beginning and everlasting love, I thought it important and fitting to include them as a symbol of just that. James and reader have always loved one another; everlasting love. James has come back for reader and they are starting their relationship again; a new beginning. The new beginning symbolism also applies to when the reader and James first met, or began.

BIBLICAL REFERENCE:

Now here’s where ideas collide a little bit. The Garden of Eden idea intertwines both of the previous topics into one another. First I want to establish what the real Garden of Eden story from the Bible is for anyone who doesn’t know. (Disclaimer: There are many many many interpretations of this story, and I just tried to find the simplest one.)

The Garden of Eden was essentially paradise. God placed an innocent Adam and Eve in the garden and tells them that they can eat freely from all of the trees in the garden, except of a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When they are coerced by snakes of evil and eat the fruit, they gain the knowledge, and God banishes them from the garden as punishment for disobeying him. They were both sent down to Earth as God’s representatives. In some interpretations, Earth is often thought to be hell. So in a way, they were sent to hell.

That being said, here is how that fits into the story. James and reader meet in a white rose garden when they are young, which implements both the roses as a symbol of youthfulness and the innocence that is said to come with that, as well as a comparison between James & reader and Adam & Eve. When James and reader get older and gain more knowledge, they are forced apart, are no longer together in love, and their paradise is lost. This compares to Adam and Eve’s banishment to hell, when their paradise was lost. So in a biblical way, James and reader have been forced apart (losing paradise) to live in hell (which is just living without one another) as a punishment or consequence for gaining knowledge, or getting older. (Read that a few times to process it lmao)

As a side note, reader’s mother had also warned her of this. In the flashback, reader recalls her mothers words, “One day when all the distractions of young age are gone, you’ll realize why you need to be prepared.” You can assume that she had known that reader would be married off by her father, signifying that the same thing happened to her (it was common in the time), which ties into the “cycle of life“ concept (more about that down below). This is also basically saying that when you get older and become no longer oblivious (gain knowledge), you won’t live life the same carefree way. You loose your inner child. Reader’s mother was just trying to prepare her for that.

GOD CONCEPT:

Now we get to the reader and James’ new beginning, where all James wants is to recreate that paradise for the reader. The reader in turn views James as a God because of multiple reasons: he saved and freed her from hell, returned to her, he’s always been the one she can rely on and always loved (chose) her, made her feel like she was invincible when by his side, and also the fact that he went from being a poor boy to a rich man and built an empire (the hotel) on it.

And from here I’d like to talk about just a few more things; first being the last little bit of part two. I just feel like I need to explain the meaning of that part’s ending in conclusion to everything, to wrap everything up.

To recall once again:

“ You smiled once more at his words, thinking back to that day in the garden once more, and to your mother’s words. The feeling you had now was a reflection of the feeling you had then. He’d always made you feel so incredibly self-assured. You felt like no matter what happened to you and James, nothing could break you at this point and time. And your mother had been right: gaining the knowledge was important.

Now that you’d ate the fruit of the garden and survived hell, what could possibly stop you?

You felt invincible, so long as he was by your side. You no longer feared the past or the future; you were completely centered present, all cycles broken. And it had took James less than a day to make you feel this way. Your excitement soared as you thought about your future with James. You knew that so long as you had him, you were unstoppable together. You were gods.

You didn’t need the garden, after all. Paradise lost stood no match to you, because with James, you could survive anything. “

I’m going to specifically talk about the bold parts. Okay, so “eating the fruit of the garden” means gaining knowledge, as we’ve discussed, and for James and reader that represents their separation when they got older. So it’s basically saying that now that the reader and James have survived everything (from being separated to surviving without one another {hell} to then finding their way back to each other), what else could they possibly face that would break them? And the last line is similar: the reader realizes that they have survived so much already, and feels that they can take anything. They don’t need to “go back” to anywhere; they can survive in any circumstance; they do not need the garden or paradise.

More about the god concept: since the reader views James as a god, and then feels invincible by his side, she feels as if they are now gods together.

CYCLE OF LIFE:

The cycle of life idea was not apart of the request, but upon approaching part one, I just kind of threw it in, as it added to the story quite a lot. The cycle of life ties straight into the whole reflection part of the story, with the reader having flashbacks to the past events that seemed to almost mirror the current events. This happens mainly in the two situations in which it was pointed out: when the reader was being abused by James father in the past and her husband in the present, and the feeling the reader had when she first met James being the same as she feels for him now in this new beginning. It’s a repetition. In the beginning of part one, it also begs the question: do the lessons we’re really meant to learn in life recur without us noticing?

END NOTES:

And that’s it! I hope that cleared some things up if you were confused! Let me know any questions you may have and I will certainly reply as quick as I can! I’m so unbelievably excited to finish part three! Thanks so much to everyone for the support <3. Happy Holidays if you celebrate! Sending love to all~ xoxo

#the garden of eden series #james march #james imagine #james x reader #james march imagine #james march x reader #james march smut #james patrick march #james patrick march imagine #evan peters imagine #Evan Peters #evan peters x reader #ahs #ahs imagine #american horror story #american horror story hotel #american horror story imagine #ahs hotel #hotel

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homeformyheart · 4 years

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best vs. worst decision - m!raleigh x mc (plat)

author’s note: thank you for the ask @raleigh-edward!! i really do love writing these, even if they take me a while. this was partially inspired by that one scene in the SATC movie (i won’t spoil it). i hope you enjoy!

copyright: all characters owned by pixelberry studios. series/pairing: platinum - m!raleigh carrera x mc (cadence dorian) rating/warnings: 14+; descriptions of smoking word count: 1.3k

best vs. worst prompts / 6. best decision vs. worst decision

worst decision

cadence blinked once as fatima finished the final touches on her makeup before smiling at her reflection in the mirror. she took off her large emerald-cut diamond ring and placed it carefully onto a silver necklace chain. zadie helped clasp the necklace behind her neck so that the ring fell perfectly below her collarbone. she stood up and twirled around for her friends.

“you know, i am not a romantic sap by means, but cadence, you look absolutely breathtaking,” fiona smiled, nodding her head in approval.

cadence beamed. “that means a lot coming from you, fiona. are you tearing up?”

fiona glared. “you saw nothing. i’ll see you at the ceremony.”

zadie locked eyes with cadence after fiona left the room and they burst out laughing. “seriously though, how are you feeling?”

cadence smiled. “i’m so happy and excited, zadie. not even the least bit nervous.”

raleigh leaned over the balcony outside his hotel room, taking a long drag of his cigarette. he blew the smoke out and exhaled deeply, watching the smoke gather and then float away into the gloomy, overcast day. he looked down at the street below, empty of passersby because they got special permission to shut down the block for the day.

raleigh hated weddings. or at least, the idea of them. the entire wedding industry was just as bad as the music industry, full of fake people trying to take advantage of sappy couples. an industry fixated on curated, pictagram-ready, material things that don’t mean anything. an industry centered around decisions on things that don’t tell the guests why someone would choose to get married.

at the end of the day, it was just one big party. and raleigh had been to his fair share of parties, to say the least, but this one was an absolute circus. their labels had conspired and basically, in his opinion, coerced cadence into making the wedding into a huge event to cap off the end of her latest world tour. their labels promised to give them privacy and time off afterward, since fanfare around wedding details would be enough to keep the media frenzy going for a few months.

there was a time when he didn’t think there’d be a limit to what he would be willing to do for a semblance of privacy with cadence. he took another long drag of the cigarette before putting it out underneath his shiny black tuxedo shoe. he could see below that cadence’s black limo just pulled up in front of the hotel. he watched as she stepped out of the car, the beautiful white gown billowing around her as she waved to fans and the paparazzi camped around the barriers. he exhaled the cigarette smoke through his nose, relishing the burn. as he watched cadence disappear into the hotel, he realized he did have a limit.

* * * * * cadence felt her body freeze when she saw fiona walking briskly down the corridor with a frown on her face. she felt numb from head-to-toe as fiona explained to her that raleigh called off the wedding. that the man she loved changed his mind. she didn’t register her arms falling down her sides and her bouquet dropping to the floor as she picked up the skirt of her dress and turned to run. to where, she didn’t know; her brain was a foggy mess struggling to process what just happened and why, while her eyes were failing to blink back the tears streaming down her face.

she couldn’t hear fiona and zadie calling after her; she didn’t even register the sound of her heels on the sidewalk or the flashes of photography as she ran outside and opened the door to the limo. all she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her ears.

“cadence, wait,” raleigh said, grabbing onto her wrist. his touch seemed to snap her out of her haze.

“no, i don’t ever want to see you again. don’t call me, don’t talk to me. we’re done,” cadence snapped at him in-between sobs, yanking her necklace so the chain broke and throwing it at raleigh.

raleigh watched as the only woman to make him believe that real love was possible in a fake industry disappeared inside the car and drove away. he glanced down at the necklace and his heart sank when he recognized the engagement ring he had bought her. raleigh carrera had no shortage of stupid decisions he’s made throughout his life, but this one was the worst.

best decision

cadence had never seen raleigh so excited that he almost seemed giddy. a word that normally would be the opposite of what was used to describe him. but as he drove them in a rented convertible away from the tiny airstrip on the tropical island they just landed on, his grin was so wide that cadence felt like her cheeks hurt.

“will you tell me where we are yet? this place looks pretty deserted,” she remarked, looking around at what basically looked like a jungle. at least they were driving on concrete roads so there must be civilization somewhere.

raleigh just grinned and cadence rolled her eyes. “fine, but can we stop somewhere for food?”

an hour later and they were strolling hand-in-hand in an open market across the street from the little strip mall where they grabbed lunch. cadence kept squealing and dragging raleigh from booth-to-booth whenever something caught her eye, whether it was fresh produce or souvenir trinkets. her shopping antics would have annoyed him back home, but here, where they were on vacation, he only found them adorable.

they finally made it back to their villa after a few hours of wandering around and stopping at every market they came across during the drive. raleigh couldn’t bring himself to feel exhausted with how excited and animated cadence was. she seemed to skip across the foyer and through the dining room where there were doors that opened up to a deck and a private ocean view.

“raleigh, look at this!” cadence gestured wildly in front of her as raleigh came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“i know, why do you think this place is so far away from anything else? it’s very private,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

“how private? can i scream at the top of my lungs?” she asked, tilting her head so he could kiss down her neck.

raleigh chuckled and moved so he was standing next to her. “you could go skinny dipping and not worry about crazy fans or paparazzi, i promise.”

“how did you manage that?” cadence asked, curious. raleigh typically took them places where he could rent out entire properties to ensure some level of privacy, but they were still careful given long-range cameras could breach most advanced security measures these days. this next level privacy seemed almost too good to be true.

he glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “i, uh, bought it.”

“you bought the property around the villa?” cadence asked, only somewhat surprised.

“actually, i bought the island.” at that, her jaw dropped and she looked at him, stunned.

he regained his composure and gave a wicked grin. “so, you know you can scream as loud as you want,” he winked.

cadence laughed and reached for his hand. “then, i think we should take advantage, don’t you think?” she turned and led him down the steps towards the beach.

raleigh was definitely feeling giddy. while it had still been an impulse buy, it was already paying for itself.

* * * * * mentions: @raleigh-edward; @dulceghernandez; @freckles-spangledvampire; @thegreentwin; @kat-tia801; @kelseaaa; @otherworldlypresents; @brycesgirl; @robintora;

#choices platinum #reposting for new blog #raleigh carrera #raleigh carrera x mc #cadence dorian #raleigh carrera x cadence dorian #raleigh x cadence #choices #pb choices #playchoices #not twc #choices fanfic #choices fanfiction #playchoices fanfiction #my prompt fill #choices prompt fills #my writing #raleigh x mc #raleigh-edward

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thoughtsofanexcitedspacechild · 4 years

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25 more things I learned during a global pandemic from your Local Teenage Train wreck :) (Pt. 2)

1. Gaining weight is okay. Losing weight is okay. Bodies fluctuate and are inconsistent. Just make sure that you’re trying your best to be healthy, whatever that means for you.

2. School is hard, especially during a global. freaking. pandemic. Don’t beat yourself up if it’s harder to get up in the morning or your grades aren’t as high as they usually are. It’s hard right now.

3. You’re mental health comes above all. School, responsibilities, and personal projects are not worth your time if it’s affecting your mental health. If your gut is telling you to take a break, take a break!

4. If you feel lonely, get a plant to keep in your room. Do some research as to that plants do best with the type of lighting in your room, and figure out some basic care instructions. Have someone to take care of besides yourself. Name your plants, and take care of them.

5. Even if you’re not good at writing, I suggest you keep a journal during this time. It kept me sane over the summer, and even though I eventually stopped because of limited time with school starting back up, it helped to keep me sane in the worst of the pandemic.

6. If you’re spiritual (or even if you’re not) learn how to do shadow work. This isn’t anything that has to be spiritual or done in just one religion. It’s basically giving yourself a chance and a space to be open and honest with yourself and to learn what you might need to work on through writing. If you google it, you can find a more in depth explanation, and prompts to start doing it. You basically give yourself a prompt. They can be questions like “What’s the biggest lie you’ve told someone else or yourself?” or they can be a little less heavy like “What are five non physical things that you genuinely like about yourself?”. This can be pretty heavy, and can dig up some unwanted emotions, but that’s the whole point; to deal with the emotions you may have been repressing and letting fester inside of you.

7. On days when you’re not feeling well mentally, take a break. It’s okay to drop everything and get an extra hour of sleep, read, or do something else to make yourself feel better.

8. After hard days, I know the last thing you want to do is get up and continue on, but here are some ways to do it:

- lay out an outfit that’s put together, but not as over the top. No sweat pants or crappy clothes, but it doesn’t have to be your usual put together outfits with a full face of makeup. A nice crewneck and a nice pair of black athletic leggings can go a long way.

-wear your comfort jewelry. I wear my beaded necklace that I bought for myself, the silver ring my grandma gave me and the gold cross ring that my mom gave to me when I got confirmed.

-eat breakfast. A handful of cereal will do. Anything. But eat something. I like to make oatmeal. It sounds boring but if you make it right, it tastes just perfect for mornings when you don’t feel hungry but know inside that you are. Recipe is next on the list :)

-go to school. I know you want to lay in bed. I know the last place you want to be is a crowded building full of pubescent teens that aren’t nice, but go. Go to learn. Go to absorb knowledge like a sponge, and don’t worry if you fail and lose some of the water, because you can always soak it up later.

-if you have practice, rehearsal, a game, whatever, be gentle on yourself. Today might not be your best day physically, because the brain controls everything. Forgive yourself if you can’t land that double pirouette, get to the high note, or make that assist. You’re abilities are stagnant, and they’re going to change depending on how you feel

-When you get home, turn off your phone. Friends, social media, etc. can wait. Set a timer for one hour. Do work for just that hour. When the timer rings, finish what you were doing and then stop. Now have a 20 minute break and do something that’s not screen related. Read a book, draw something; heck, stare at the wall for 20 minutes and space out. When the timer rings, do another hour and repeat the same process until it’s all done.

-have a playlist you listen to to heal you. Sad boi hours are ok, just make sure to have a playlist of songs that get you moving again.

-Sleep. Even if that means putting off work for tomorrow. It’s ok. You really need it.

9. Oatmeal seems gross until you know how to prepare it. When you do, it’s revolutionary. It’s a high volume, low calorie food, so you’ll stay full for a while without overeating, all while consuming less calories than you would with a traditional breakfast cereal.

The right way to make it:

-measure out half a cup of old fashioned oats. Not steel cut. Those aren’t as good.

-MOST IMPORTANT STEP: add half a cup of water and half a cup of milk of your choice. I personally like almond milk because it’s kind of sweet already even when it’s unsweetened.

-SECOND MOST IMPORTANT STEP: add a pinch of salt, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and allspice, and a teaspoon or two of maple syrup. This is what makes it taste palatable. It’s less sugar than store-bought, and tastes amazing.

-Microwave that shit for one minute and stir. It should look kind of lumpy, but not a ton. Then, put another minute on. Stir at every half increment. (After 30 seconds, every 15 seconds, and then every 7) This is so it doesn’t boil over. Then, take it out, stir it one last time, and let it sit for a second.

-Wash up some berries to put in it. I love blueberries and or blackberries.

perfect oatmeal every. single. time. Feel free to add more toppings like nuts or if you wanna treat yourself chocolate or substitute the spices, but this is honestly one of my favorite breakfasts that keeps me full throughout the day.

10. Learn a new language. Yes, Duolingo is annoying, but do it. Find one that you’ll like to learn and that’s easy for you. Try them on like old clothes and find one that fits just right. For me, it’s French. Expose yourself to that language. Listen to music, read books (or try to) and watch movies with subtitles. Soon enough, you’ll be eager to learn more.

11. Learn how to use notion.com. It’s super amazing. You can literally keep track of your entire life there. It’s pretty fun to use as well. I made schedules for each day after school, a reading log, a want to read list, a personal habit tracker, etc, and they’re all extremely helpful.

12. Make a list of things you weren’t allowed to do as a kid and do one every day. Heal your inner child by finally itching the spot that may not have been scratched for years.

13. Learn how to make origami stars. They’re really easy, and I can’t recommend Maqaroon’s (Joanna’s) video on how to make them enough. Once you’ve got it down, get yourself a nice big jar and write down things you’re grateful for on the slips of paper you’re going to fold. Fill up your gratitude jar and make a wish once it’s full. It will come true.

14. Have 30 minutes a day to put your phone down and read. Yes. You will have to sacrifice something to do this, but it’s so important and good for not only information retention and learning, but for mental health as well. Even if you have to get up half an hour earlier to do it, it’s worth it.

15. It’s okay to be alone, but learn to recognize the difference between alone and lonely. If you’re lonely, here are some things to do:

-write a letter to a friend. It’s something nice you can do for yourself and others, and it’s not feeding into the toxic instant reply culture that we live in

-read a book or watch a show that gets you to connect with the characters, even if that means (I've said it before and I’ll say it again) rereading a favorite ya series or binging atla for the fiftieth time. It’s good for the soul.

-take a walk and smile at the people you see coming past. Again, it’s good for the soul.

-go to the coffee shop and ask the barista to make you a drink that tastes like “_____” (insert whatever you want there. It could be a color, song, feeling, etc.) It’s weird and uncomfortable, but it gives you a conversation starter and 9.9 times out of 10 a really good drink. (Also helpful for when you think the barrista’s cute)

-Reading in general. It opens up so many new worlds with the turn of a page.

16. Monitor your food intake. No, don’t restrict your food intake, monitor it. This means first seeing exactly what your putting in your body and altering it to gradually improve to a clean diet. Humans weren’t built to process all the preservatives, additives and sugars found in most processed food (cereals, chips, anything in a foil bag that’s either really sweet or really salty) and it’s important to cut down and if possible eliminate as much as you can of it out of your diet. Food is fuel, and you truly are what you eat. You’ll notice that by increasing your vegetable intake, reducing white processed sugars and carbs*, and cutting out sodas/extra sugars, that you’ll feel better. This isn’t a weight loss thing, but you may start to trim down a little bit once you go more intense with it. You don’t have to eliminate anything fully, and please enjoy your favorite “bad” foods! Everything in moderation is perfect! Just make sure that you’re getting the good stuff in there too! *Side note, do NOT cut out carbs! See my post on how I’m losing weight to get more into depth on this.

17. Buy fresh flowers for yourself. Who says that you have to wait for someone else? That’s completely false, and you should totally treat yourself to a nice bouquet on occasion, especially in the dead of winter.

18. The whole idea of self love is flawed. Loving yourself has nothing to do with the way you look. Loving yourself comes with genuinely loving your life. If you don't love the way you’re living, change it. Make and set goals. Fail at achieving those goals. Get back up and try again until you finally get it, but make sure that whatever you’re doing, you’re doing to love the life you live. Life doesn’t live you. You live life.

19. Have candles and incense. (Or a diffuser if you’re not allowed to burn stuff) Making your environment smell good makes a huge difference

20. Once you turn 18, get a tattoo. It doesn’t have to mean anything. Pick something small and get it behind your ear, on your ankle, wrist, fingers, whatever. You’ll love having the memory when your old.

21. Realize your worth. We often put ourselves down because we think that valuing ourselves is equivalent to selfishness. It’s not. At all. You are just as important as everyone else. Your voice matters too.

22. Go to art museums

23. Go to free concerts in the park

24. Expose yourself to new art, ideas, and literature

25. Life is gonna suck sometimes. It’s just how it is. That doesn’t mean a bad day’s gonna last forever. As cheesy as it is, keep your head up :)

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selkiewife · 4 years

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I know i’m late on this but I wanted to talk about The Dragon Demands videos based on the Game of Thrones Season 8 blue ray commentary and the original archived scripts for Game of Thrones, Season 8.

Basically, YouTuber, The Dragon Demands went to the Writer’s Guild Library where he was able to see the archived scripts of Season 8 of Game of Thrones. Both the archive scripts and commentary on the blue ray confirms that most of the destruction in King’s Landing was originally supposed to be caused by the caches of wild fire left by Aerys being accidentally set off by Drogon and not because Daenerys herself “went mad.” The script says that civilians being used as human shields are caught in the crossfire as Daenerys is targeting Lannister soldiers in a strategical maneuver right before she heads to the Red Keep to enact revenge on Cersei. However, Daenerys is never described as specifically targeting innocent civilians needlessly.

My thoughts under the cut:

I have to say, that this makes me feel slightly better in a strange way. I mean, it doesn’t erase the bad writing, the ridiculous way the war against the white walkers ended, the misogyny, the inconsistency, etc etc ETC... but this crucial plot point was the one I just couldn’t let go of because it was just baffling to me. With other controversial plot points, I would disagree with them, but I could at least understand what they were going for and what the motivations of the characters were. But Daenerys turning on innocent civilians was truly baffling to me because it comes out of nowhere, is entirely out of character, her motivations are incredibly unclear, and was not set up at all. But with all the fandom discourse, I had really started to think that maybe I am lacking comprehension skills or something. But no, there is actually a reason it made no sense. The “madness” plot line was added later. Emilia Clarke was never given the opportunity to portray Daenerys as mentally unstable. Emilia was portraying grief and revenge on Cersei (as the original script and directors told her to do) in contrast to D&D’s final editing which was portraying the “mad queen.” No wonder it came across as completely false and bewildering- before we even get into the discussion of whether or not this is in character or not.

I think this is definitely more than just a theory that the script was changed pretty late in development because of all the evidence- it is confirmed by Emilia’s commentary, the Visual Effects team member’s commentary, and also the original concept art. But even if there wasn’t all that evidence, there is also the fact that the original ending makes so many other confusing things in Season 8 suddenly make SENSE.

For example, when Jon confronts Daenerys in the throne room and he talks about the women and children that were burned, Daenerys responds with “She used their innocence as a weapon against me.” Which makes total sense for Daenerys to say if she thinks she is talking about civilians that were used as human shields that died in the crossfire. But it doesn’t make any sense if she carpet bombed the city- although it does make her seem delusional, which is probably why Dave and Dan kept those lines in- hoping it would make her appear “mad,” since Emilia was never actually given the opportunity to portray Daenerys as mentally unstable.

There is also the scene where Jon asks Tyrion, “Was it right?” to assassinate Daenerys and Tyrion responds, “Ask me again in ten years.” There is really no reason for them to have that dialogue if Daenerys really did target and massacre innocent civilians. That is the kind of dialogue they would have if they were discussing someone who had done something more morally ambiguous.

Then there are the lines that are out of place in the final version but that would have made complete sense in the original wild fire version, such as Jon saying “now and always” as he stabs Daenerys. “Now and always” as any Theon fan will tell you, is a phrase that belongs to Theon and Robb and what they said to each other when Theon was pledging loyalty to Robb. Having Jon say this to Dany as he is killing Daenerys represents the ultimate betrayal but also calls back to Theon’s struggle and how difficult it is to chose between loyalties- between families. In this case, Jon is choosing the Starks over the Targaryens. Kit Harrington even says that this is motivation in an interview he gave with winteriscoming.net. But given the fact that in the final edit, Daenerys massacred innocent children and civilians on purpose, Kit’s motivation for Jon seems like a relic of an earlier script:

Kit Harrington: “Jon essentially sees it as Daenerys or Sansa and Arya, and that makes his mind up for him. He choose blood over, well, his other blood. But he chooses the people he has grown up with, the people his roots are with, the North. That’s where his loyalties lie in the end. That’s when he puts the knife in.”

And Yara Greyjoy’s lines. She surprisingly remains completely loyal to Daenerys, despite the fact that she massacred the entire city for no reason:

Yara Greyjoy: I swore to follow Daenerys Targaryen.

Sansa Stark: You swore to follow a tyrant.

Yara Greyjoy: She freed us from a tyrant. Cersei is gone because of her, and Jon Snow put a knife in her heart. Let the Unsullied give him what he deserves.

This kind of conversation only seems plausible if they are discussing Daenerys taking out Cersei after she had surrendered and killing human shields in the process, something I can see Yara completely defending- since she was always in favor of attacking King’s Landing as seen during her war counsel scenes in Season 7.

There is also the Emilia Clarke quote in the behind the scenes video HBO put out after the episode where she explains that Dany was targeting Cersei herself:

Emilia Clarke: “It’s just... grief. It’s hurt. And she has this ability to make that hurt a little bit less just for a minute. And here she is, sitting on this ridge and there’s the emotion and there’s the feeling and the feeling is to fucking kill her.”

Note that she does not say “the feeling is to fucking massacre the city,” or “the feeling is to target innocent civilians.” She says “the feeling is to kill her” as in Cersei Lannister- who is responsible for the death of her dragon and Missandei- and who massacred countless innocents herself when she blew up the goddamn sept lol.

Not to mention all of the set up lines between Cersei, Tyrion, and Varys about Cersei using “human shields” which never came to fruition in the final edit, now make complete sense:

Cersei: Keep the gates open. If she wants to take the castle she’ll have to murder thousands of innocents first.

Varys: Tens of thousands of innocents will die. That is why Cersei is bringing them into the Red Keep

And yet, lol, we never actually SEE Daenerys attacking the Red Keep. We never see innocent civilians inside the Red Keep. We only see civilians being massacred in the streets.

I also remember people who had seen the post Season 8 Game of Thrones Live Concert saying that Ramin switched to footage of the other wildfire scenes in past Game of Thrones seasons during his Bells sequence, instead of showing the massacre of innocent civilians by dragon fire. I use to think he did that because Daenerys was his favorite character. But given what we now know about the original ending, he probably chose to show the wildfire scenes because that was what he had specifically written music for before it was changed- the destruction of Kings Landing by wildfire.

I really wish they had kept the original script the way it was. It still would have been an incredibly controversial ending. Daenerys still goes after soldiers and a Queen who is surrendering- and that action unintentionally leads to the destruction of the entire city. Jon Snow still assassinates his lover and betrays one part of his family for the other. But, it would have at least made logical sense. People would have gone back and forth over whether it was in character or whether it was a good ending. But it would have been something people would be able to actually debate on an intellectual level- the way we debate Daenerys crucifying the slavers (who themselves crucified children) or Jon Snow executing Olly... It is a very grey and tragic ending with a lot of moral questions. It still might have gone over like a lead balloon. But... the ending we have is so much worst because it’s nonsensical.

The only reason I can think that they changed it was to make Jon and Tyrion appear less morally grey for plotting Daenerys’ assassination. They probably knew that the ending would be very problematic and were trying to smooth that over by turning Daenerys into a super villain. Yet they did this too late in the process after already showing Daenerys to be heroic in fighting with the north and then having Emilia Clarke finish her filming still believing she was playing a complex and at times ruthless character but not “mad” or “evil.” And then, there is also the intensely problematic issue with them conflating mental illness with mass murdering super villain. Even if it had been clear throughout the entire season that Daenerys was losing her grip on reality and becoming more and more mentally unstable, it still would have been incredibly controversial and I am not entirely sure it would have made the men look any better anyway.

Even though it is tragic af, at least with the original wildfire ending, all of the characters are incredibly complex and morally grey and you can understand the motivations for everything they do, even if you don’t agree with them. For example, if Daenerys attacks Cersei after she surrendered, it is wrong, but it is also completely understandable. And in my opinion, it’s even more understandable when you remember that Cersei cannot be trusted. She can’t be trusted to send her armies to the north- why should Daenerys trust her to surrender in good faith? This kind of ending would also have said something very powerful about unintended consequences. Even though Daenerys did not intend for so many people to die needlessly, they did because war is horrific. And that message becomes even more powerful if her motivations are understandable. But yeah, this kind of ending would have still been hated and debated but... at least the debates would have been more about the story itself rather than everyone trying (and failing) to make sense of what the story even is.

#anti got #anti d&d #daenerys targaryen #game of thrones original ending #game of thrones #sorry for the double post #the original one wasn't posting #but now they are both in the tags #sorry!

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thankskenpenders · 5 years

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Yeah, this is the big one. Grab your popcorn

Sally finally gets a moment to talk to Sonic after being ignored all day, and tells him what’s up. With her being put in charge, and Sonic being her royal consort (basically, the guy who’s committed to marrying her someday but isn’t quite her fiance yet), Sally wants Sonic to stop going on away missions and lead Knothole by her side

Look. Let’s set aside all of our preconceived notions about what a Sonic comic should or shouldn’t be. Ignore the fact that we obviously want to see Sonic go on adventures. Forget it. Let’s look at it from Sally’s perspective for a second

Yes, this is the post in which I explain that “The Slap” isn’t that bad. It’s certainly not great, but it’s not The Worst Thing Ever like it’s been made out to be. I wish I didn’t have to spend my evening writing this, but 15 years of hyperbolic fan outrage (note: some Wikia rando added that “reception” section this year) have forced my hand

First of all, again, Sonic is formally committed to marrying her and ruling alongside her someday. This was established ten issues ago. He was already committed to this. Then, Sonic went and died. Sally still spent an entire year of her life thinking her basically-fiance was dead, and had to deal with shit in Knothole without him as things continued to get worse and worse. No one can just bounce back from that unscathed. After his return, she WANTED to help Sonic and go be a Freedom Fighter on the last mission, but her parents forbade her and the royal guards kept her in the castle. (That SUCKS, but is a whole ‘nother conversation.) She wants to fight by his side and keep him safe, but her parents are forcing her to stay home and be the princess, which only makes her more distraught. Last issue, she broke down into tears when she saw Sonic get shot by M over Eggman’s video feed, and her mother had to console her and reassure her Sonic wasn’t dead

Sally very clearly has PTSD over Sonic’s “death” a year ago. She doesn’t want to lose him again. She’s outright said as much

And also... when she says Sonic isn’t the only hero around, she’s got a point?Sonic barely did anything in the last arc! Tails was the one who outsmarted ADAM. Shadow dealt with Eggman. Bunnie did most of the damage to M and took out an entire fucking aircraft carrier on her own. Knuckles, the Chaotix, Rouge, and Amy took out the robot horde. All Sonic did was land the final attack on M--which, honestly, someone else could’ve done. And he got his arm injured in the process

Add on to this all of the chaos of the last few days. Sally’s barely had a free moment to see Sonic since she found out he was alive. They nearly got nuked by Eggman. They’re being harangued by the paparazzi. It sucks. And hell, it goes back WAY further than this! She spent years as a kid trying to save her parents, and now all they do is belittle her. She found out she had a secret older brother, and then her parents decided he was the more important child. She went through all sorts of relationship drama. She nearly died a few times herself. And now, her parents have decided to leave her in charge of their whole kingdom at a time of war, while she’s still a mess from the trauma of losing Sonic. The idea Bollers had was apparently that Sally had been bottling up her issues for years (which she totally had been), and this was just the breaking point

I know Sonic’s desire to keep being a hero is understandable. I know he’s right. That’s all he really knows how to do, and he feels useless in times of peace. And obviously, we the readers want to see Sonic go on adventures. But Sally’s concerns are valid. We don’t have to agree with her plan to have Sonic rule by her side for her emotions to be understandable

Sally’s been on the verge of a breakdown for who knows how long. She should be mad at her parents, but they’ve worn her down to the point where she thinks she’s unable to confront them. (It would be very, very easy to make a case arguing that Sally’s parents are emotionally abusive. Max especially.) She thinks that Sonic is the one person who will listen to her and have her back. They’re betrothed, after all. This is literally what he signed up for. After trying to get his attention ALL DAY, she finally gets a chance to talk to him. But he wants other things in life, and refuses. In front of a crowd, no less

So she lashes out at Sonic and slaps him

Then they both start yelling at each other and crying. Sally asks Sonic if she’s more important to him than fighting Eggman, Sonic can’t answer, and Sally runs away in tears. For all intents and purposes, Sonic and Sally are now broken up. (For now.)

Should Sally be lashing out at Sonic? No. Could this scene be done better? Oh, absolutely. This is not the direction I would want Sally to go in as a character, and if you ARE gonna have them fight, this wasn’t written with the care required to make fans sympathize with both parties. The fact that we’ve seen everything from Sonic’s perspective with barely any insight into Sally’s certainly doesn’t help. But as the several lengthy paragraphs above explain, this does not come out of nowhere. It’s easy to find lots of fans online calling Sally all sorts of names (sometimes very misogynistic or ableist ones) because they think she just flipped out on Sonic out of nowhere. But she didn’t. Sally having some sort of breakdown had been foreshadowed for several issues, and the reasons why make sense. No, she shouldn’t have lashed out at Sonic, but this isn’t just her going “Oh no, my period! Let’s nuke England!” as so many have made it out to be. (And hell, the comics already had a lengthy history of treating Sally even worse than this, with Gallagher making her the nagging girlfriend who bickered with Sonic all the time and Penders sympathizing more with her shitty dad.)

Again, this was supposed to be a turning point in which Sally bottling up all this crap and carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders finally leads to her breaking. It’s a dramatic low point to build back up from. The problem is that Bollers left the series only a few issues later, and Penders and “Chacon” never did much with this. So in hindsight, many view this as her randomly snapping “for no reason,” because the followup stories that would have explored how she’d been bottling up her feelings were never actually written. But it’s not hard to figure out what’s supposed to be going on in her head if you actually go back and look at the preceding Sally scenes

For the most part, this is just run of the mill relationship drama for Archie Sonic. You see this kind of shit all the time in serialized media. Characters date, but the writers need to keep things ~spicy~, so they break up, see other people... then inevitably end up back together, and the process repeats ad nauseum. You ever watch Scrubs? You know how JD and Elliot are obviously love interests from episode one, but they had to do that will they/won’t they shit for years and have flings with other characters to keep up ratings? Yeah, it’s just that. For Sonic, there’s also the added pressure from Sega, who never allowed Sonic to be in any stable relationship for very long. Several writers have talked about how this limited what they could do with Sonic and Sally. Do I like that this cycle of drama is the norm? No. But after over 200 of these comics, I’m used to it

(And hell, at this point in the comics, they had literally just broken up Bunnie and Antoine, and Rouge was starting to get in the way of Knuckles and Julie-Su’s relationship. Between Julie-Su and Knuckles’ first kiss and them actually dating, Penders had Julie-Su get mad at Knuckles and go out with some random other guy. They do this shit all the time)

The worst you can really say about this scene is that Jon’s art is a little too goofy and undermines the drama a bit. In his own words from his website’s FAQ: “I’m sorry. Like I said, I was an overeager noob and I drew what I was given.” But really, he had been drawing these sorts of exaggerated, frantic expressions throughout the entire issue. Not just with Sally. Look at all the panels of Sonic wigging out in the previous pages. I still think his work is fantastic. If anything, it was a bad call on Archie’s part to give this somber scene to a brand new artist with a very exaggerated, silly art style. He just drew what was in the script

You know what really blows about this whole thing, though? Jon Gray is still, to this day, over 15 years later, getting harassed for drawing The Slap

That is so utterly ridiculous and shitty. People have made up all sorts of conspiracy theories about the slap, saying that Jon had some sort of “anti-Sally agenda” and that it wasn’t in the script. (This is completely false.) People are so stuck in the past and bent out of shape over this one panel in a pretty run-of-the-mill Archie Sonic issue that Jon has to block people who come into his Twitter mentions accusing him of “sabotaging” the series on a regular basis. Y’all, Jon’s a good guy, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated like that

And lord. There’s so much nastier shit within this series. Penders hooking a 15-year-old Sally up with a dude in his 20s (and later saying that he wanted her to lose his virginity to said dude). Gallagher making Barby Koala have a creepy crush on Tails. Penders rephrasing a poem about the Holocaust to be about hedgehogs. Penders having Sally rationalize her dad’s attempt at genocide. (I could go on and on with Penders, can you tell)

This whole thing is just, so blown out of proportion. It’s not a great scene, but it didn’t “ruin” Sally’s character. Neither Jon nor Bollers had some sort of “anti-Sally agenda.” They weren’t out to ruin your fucking ship. And for god’s sake, quit yelling at them about it. This was 15 years ago and all parties involved have moved on. It’s just more melodrama in a series that’s always 90% melodrama

It’s a single panel in a comic about Sonic the Hedgehog. Can we move on

#StH 134 #tkp post #the slap #hall of fame

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ariannjs · 4 years

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FAKE HAPPY | A SasuSaku FanFic One Shot

So I recorded a cover for Paramore's "Fake Happy" (full vid here) last week and since my initial plan for #SasuSakuTwitFest2020's Day 2 is not yet finished, I thought of writing this fic connected to the song instead😬

For #SasuSakuTwitFest2020 Day 2: Connected

"You see it's easy when I'm stomping on a beat

But no one sees me when I crawl back underneath."

-Fake Happy by Paramore

Disclaimers:

-I do not own Naruto nor Paramore.

-Situations stated are based on general possible experiences of some people especially during this time, though most are familiar and personal to me also.

Trigger warnings: Anxiety Attack. Depressive thoughts.

Ending in angst is not my purpose for this, it's actually the other way around❤️ but if you think it would not be helpful for you to continue reading this fic at this time due to the trigger warning, it's definitely okay.

However, please do NOT miss the author's note in the end🤗

Much love,

P.S. Here's to the #FewButTrue people that see the signs and reach out to us at just the right time even though we look fine on the outside.

––

It was supposedly her rest day, the one thing that she has looked forward to all throughout her jam packed week. Yet much to her dismay, despite her body being rested, her mind had other plans. Sakura could barely remember the number of times she has thrown her phone on the bed in a span of four hours.

It was a lot to take in.

Earlier today, it was announced that the number of positive cases for the pandemic has skyrocketed in Iwa, yet the council has decided to partly lift the quarantine there, increasing the people’s exposure to the virus as they try to go back to their normal lives before all these. It didn’t make sense.

Few moments later, a short video went viral on Twitter, wherein civilians from Ame flocked in front of their Kage’s Tower to complain about the lack of relief goods distributed for them in the past month. A month! To think that all of the Hidden Villages had been under quarantine for three months now and there were so many people in dire need of supply for their basic needs. It didn’t make sense.

There was also a reliable national media company that was shut down by Kiri’s council, at such a time as this wherein a credible source of news and updates was a need for everyone. Sadly, many employees have lost their job in the process, amidst the uncertainty caused by the pandemic which was the main issue their council should’ve focused on to begin with. Again, it didn’t make sense.

What surprised her was the amount of facebook posts that disclosed irrational killings from members of a huge clan in the Sound, an issue that has been ongoing yet remained an elephant in the room for how many years. It broke her heart seeing the messages of relatives who were screaming for the justice of their murdered family member through typewritten words. Others even had videos of themselves with placards containing their stand on the issue. She couldn’t imagine how terrifying it must be to be there right now, what with the virus still lingering around them and the possibility of being shot on the spot just because you wanted to fight for your people. The Sound’s council continued to wash their hands. And yes, it didn’t make any sense at all.

But the last thing that struck her nerve was the decree that Konoha’s council of elders has released a few minutes ago, wherein any form of appeal or complaint by the people – whether via peaceful protest or a mere social media post – could lead to them being suspected as insurgents, which would then result to authorities having the right to detain them without a warrant of arrest.

And just like that, the fact that the entire world was facing a deadly pandemic has gone down the drain. Honestly? Sakura didn’t even know what else makes sense right now.

She screamed against her pillow and continued lying on her bed. Her head hurt. Her eyes were puffy. Her heart was palpitating. And her hands began to shake as she breathed heavily in the confines of her bedroom.

There were pain, frustration, anxiety, fear, anger, guilt, confusion, and so many other emotions bubbling inside her that they started to weigh her down even physically. Besides, it wasn't the first time that Sakura broke down during the twelfth week of quarantine. Everything externally and internally was just too much to bear these days.

She thought it would be nice to return to social media after being away from it for a week, leaving her stuck with the messaging apps that she kept active only because she needed them for work. But she was totally wrong on all levels.

It was nice that she became informed about the latest news, yet she now learned that indeed, too much exposure on social media wasn't helpful for her at all. She needed to take a break, or maybe lots of them.

It took a while before the tension in her body ebbed, and when it did, it was the best feeling in the world.

Still, extensive exhaustion filled Sakura from the inside out, leaving her with no more tears to shed as she sat up after a 14-minute nap. These days, naps kept her going, though they weren't really enough. She was glad the rampage in her brain paused somehow but she wished it could've been like that for hours. Well, it's better than not being able to sleep at all.

Moments later, her eyes widened due to the sudden vibration of her phone. There was an incoming message. And she couldn't help but feel on edge once more as she felt frozen in place.

Please don't let it be my boss. Please don't let it be about my presentation! Or wait, is it mom? Are they okay?

Sure, she could've stopped herself from getting her phone with her now sweaty hands and checking the SMS considering that it was her rest day, but the nagging guilt inside her about saying no to anything asked of her overpowered her senses. And there was also the thought that it could be an emergency, she didn't want anything to fail just because she didn't respond immediately.

With her decision being final, Sakura took three deep breaths before opening the text that she received, yet what she saw on her screen made fresh tears trickle down her face once again.

Sasuke Uchiha:

I'm just here, okay? Let me know if you want me to call you.

Sakura didn’t expect to receive such a heartwarming message at the exact moment she needed it. She hasn’t seen Sasuke ever since Konoha imposed a nationwide quarantine and they haven’t even talked online for weeks, but for him to suddenly message her with such reassurance as if he knew that she needed to hear it, it made her feel like they had no distance between them for months.

She read the message once more, and as she parsed the two sentences like it’s from a language unfamiliar to her, it slowly felt like the dark cloud above her head began dissipating somehow.

A part of her hesitated in responding to him. She didn’t want to sound needy. She didn’t want to be a bother, because for sure, Sasuke also has baggage of his own.

However, she realized that he was not the kind who would ever think of her that way. Never did he look at her with judgmental eyes, only with concerned ones. And that was enough for her to trust that it wasn’t something to be guilty about if she accepted his generous offer of being a listening ear that night.

Sakura didn’t bother typing a message anymore, instead, she scrolled through her contacts and called his number, fingers slightly twitching in nervousness. Because what if he's suddenly busy? What if he's not really interested in what she would say? And what if he would change his mindset about her after whatever she'd be able to share to him tonight?

Her mind was bombarded with tons of "what ifs," but when she heard a gentle "Hello?" on the other line, she was unable to stifle another cry.

"Sakura, how are—?"

Her sobs became a little louder, and she was worried that Sasuke would end up cutting the call.

"It's alright, Sakura. Go on, just release that. I'll stay here."

Yet he surprised her again. She didn't know how many minutes passed by as she just teared up with Sasuke silent on the other line. As her cries kept going, relief slowly entered her system like it was something she had never frlt before. She didn't know she needed to cry with somebody until she called Sasuke. She realized that it was so much different than when she was having a breakdown on her own.

"Are you feeling better somehow?" Sasuke asked when her muffled cries subsided.

"Y-yes. I guess."

"You know you can tell me anything."

She heaved a sigh, nodding her head as if Sasuke would see her. "Thank you, Sasuke."

"Don't thank me yet. What happened?"

And then Sakura told him everything, from the terrifying news that astounded her that afternoon up to the messy details of her hectic week.

She told him about how worried she was for her parents who were in the province, wherein the number of those affected by the virus was increasing day by day. And as much as she wanted to help them with their food supply, she felt helpless that she couldn't do much while she was here in the city.

She also told him about how she felt like she was merely moving in a tiny box instead of flourishing in her profession, how it seemed like she was going nowhere in life despite being at the ripe age of 27.

She mentioned regarding her presentation that she wasn't really happy about, because it wasn't something that she wanted to do. And even though she tried her best in working on it, she already knew that her boss would not even recommend it to be approved.

Speaking of her boss, she also expressed to Sasuke how the mere presence of her boss made her feel so small, like she was a physical representation of a failure. And just thinking about having no choice but to stay in that company, especially considering the pandemic situation, saps her of the little motivation in life that she has left.

Sakura still had a lot to say. But even she could not express and understand them yet. So she just ended her words with the truth that she has never felt so alone until right now.

That's when Sasuke spoke a full statement again other than his cues that he was listening earlier. "I'm so sorry that you are going through all these, Sakura. You're right, things could've been better so you didn't have to end up feeling the way you do right now. But you know that I'm here, right? And it's not even just me. The dobe is there. Also the rest of Rookie 12. Sakura, it may not feel like it but I want you to remember that I'm here. I never left and I never will."

Another stray tear escaped Sakura's eyes. "That means so much to me, Sasuke. That means so much. Thank you."

"Always." She could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm glad you were able to share all that with me. I hope it was helpful."

For the first time that day, Sakura found the urge to smile. "It was, really. I'm sorry it was too lengthy and messy, though. I...I honestly don't really know how to express everything. My mind's just so clouded right now."

"Hn. It doesn't matter, Sakura. It's okay if it's lengthy and messy, as long as you were able to let it out."

There was just silence after that for Sakura didn’t know what else to say. Even silence with Sasuke was comforting, so she just allowed that comfort to consume her continuously, never wanting it to end.

“Sakura?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re not weak.”

Gasping a bit, Sakura could feel the tears starting to brim her eyes again, but this time, not due to the negativities inside and around her.

Sasuke continued, “You’re not a physical representation of a failure either. You're made for so much more. I’ve seen you succeed in so many things, Sakura. And we all fail, but our failures don’t define us. Your failures or what you think as shortcomings don’t define you at all, you hear me?”

“Y-yeah.” She sniffed and wiped a tear with the back of her hand. “Sasuke, you’re making me cry again!” Sakura slightly giggled amidst her tears, and Sasuke could imagine that if he was beside her, she had probably slapped him hard enough on his arm while saying this.

He let out a chuckle. “Now look at you, you’re already laughing.”

“Your fault.” She huffed playfully.

“Not sorry at all, then.” Sasuke grinned on his own. For him, he didn’t even do much, but for Sakura, it felt like Sasuke had pulled her out of a deep trench by simply being there.

There was one question that lingered in her mind ever since she received his text message. And so she asked him before they even ended the call. “Uhm...Sasuke? How did you know? I mean...why did you message me? How did you get the idea that I wasn’t feeling my best this week?”

Quietness filled the other line for a few seconds. “Intuition, I guess. You’re like that with me also, aren’t you?"

It was true, there were instances before that Sakura was the one who reached out first, as if it was a coincidence that he wasn't at ease with something by the time she talked to him. The only difference was that, during those times, they saw each other often, unlike now.

Sasuke added in a softer voice, "This wasn't the first time, Sakura. Maybe – no – I believe it’s because we’re…”

Realization hit Sakura even though Sasuke didn’t even mention the word. And then she beamed, because honestly, she felt that too. They were connected, and no quarantine could affect that connection that they had.

Sakura muttered with a smile, “I believe that too, Sasuke.”

That night, she was able to sleep with a light feeling for the first time within the week. All thanks to Sasuke for reaching out when she started crawling underneath.

–––

June 2020 (c) AriannJS

–––

Hello. I don't know what this fic made you feel. But if you've made it this far, thank you. I'm proud of you, not only for reaching the end of this fic but also for surviving up until now❤️

I know it hasn't been the best time in the world, literally, but it is my desire and prayer to hopefully bring a bit of comfort to you guys while or after you read my works.

Here, Sakura had the assurance that Sasuke is there for her. For us, it's really amazing if we have a few trusted friends like that whom we could open up to, but sadly, some of us probably don't have anyone we're comfortable to confide with at all. But can I encourage you with this?🤗

Maybe your friends are busy. Or maybe your trust has been broken by so many people that you find it so difficult to open up now, but you also know full well that you kinda need a Sasuke to your Sakura especially these days. So let me share this with you...

"Cast (throw) all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7 ❤️

Here's a thing, God loves you and cares for you so much, and that's the reason why you could throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon Him. He will listen. He always does, even when at times it doesn't feel like it. And whatever it is that you would tell Him, it wouldn't change the fact that He loves you just the same🥰 So go, throw it all to Him now, I pray that you personally experience the peace that transcends all understanding once you do so❤️

On the other hand, I know some of us have diagnosed conditions and the situations around us are definitely not helping us recover further mentally. I'm not an expert but I really hope we could help one another during this time so here are a few reminders:

If you have medications, take them regularly and make it a priority. If needed, it's even better that you restock early regardless of the quarantine status in your place. I actually almost forgot taking my meds twice this week! Hahahuhu. But thank God I was working on this fic in the middle of the night so I still got to take it before sleeping😅

Make sure to take breaks even short ones within the day, especially during work days. Take a nap. Play an instrument. Eat. Read fics. Watch an episode of an animé. Anything that would fill your tank so you could be pumped up somehow as the day continues.

Lastly, don't hesitate to seek help from your trusted friends. Please, don't. You are loved. You are not a bother. You are worth listening to. You are valuable. You are made for so much more.

I may be a stranger but you can also contact me if you need someone to talk to🤗 I have the same username on IG and Twitter too! Sorry this was such a long author's note, but yeah, let's keep fighting one day at a time, alright?✊🏻

And if indeed you have a diagnosed mental condition, here's what my doctor has told me this week, you are not weak. Your condition is a part of you, but it is NOT all of you😭❤️

Thank you for dropping by. God bless!

-A

#SasuSakuTwitFest2020 #sasusaku #ss fanfics #sasusaku fanfics #sakura haruno #sasuke uchiha #ariannjfics

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ultrahpfan5blog · 4 years

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Rewatching Snyderverse Part 2 - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Before this movie came out, I was unimaginably excited. I am a 90′s kid, so I grew up watching BTAS and STAS and then Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. So watching Batman and Superman interact on screen for the first time was something I was so ready for. Plus, on top of that we had Wonder Woman in the movie as well. There was no way this movie could be less than awesome. I hadn’t loved Man of Steel, but I thought it was decent enough that Snyder could build on it if he kept his worst impulses a bit more restrained. Unfortunately what happened was that he just doubled down on a lot of things that I had a problem with in MoS and introduced a host of new issues as well. When I had initially walked out of the theatrical edition, I was desperately trying to convince myself that I liked the movie. It took a couple of more rewatched to get over my denial that I really didn’t like it much at all. I watched the UE much later and while its an improvement, it doesn’t convert it into a good movie.

Firstly the good parts, Ben Affleck essentially carries the film. When he was cast, I was indifferent because I hadn’t seen enough of him to have an opinion either way. But he was really good. He’s not quite Christian Bale, but Bale had the benefit of better writing. But he really delivers as the bitter and hardened Bruce Wayne/Batman. He carries off the charismatic womenizing business man side as well as the brutal Batman side of the character with equal ease. Jeremy Irons is also an excellent Alfred. I quite enjoyed how Snyder made the Bruce/Alfred dynamic more of two colleagues working together compared to the more father/son relationship of the Nolan movies, Irons really delivers the only bits of humor in the movie. Gal Gadot as WW was a surprise bit of casting. I didn’t think much of her as an actress from the F&F movies and sometimes her dialogue delivery is still a little suspect but she was quite a badass as Diana/WW. And her appearances and scenes, especially alongside Affleck, are pretty good. The visual aspect of this scene is impeccable. There are some glorious shots accompanied perfectly by the score. The shot of Superman saving the girl from a burning building and the people treating him like a god, the Superman memorial sequence, its all very well shot and composed. The entire opening sequence is glorious and you truly get the weight of the horror that regular people would have experienced when the battle of Metropolis happened. You can never make complaints of Zack Snyder as a visual director. The action is superb. The Batman warehouse scene might be the most badass superhero fight sequence I have ever seen, rivalled only by the Spider-man 2 train sequence and TWS highway fight. The Batman and Superman titular fight is also well done as is the final fight sequence. There are interesting ideas planted in this movie. The idea of a world grappling with the existence of Superman and how he fits within our society is genuinely fascinating.

But unfortunately, Snyder does a lot more wrong in this movie than he does right. Firstly, I just felt embarrassed for Henry Cavill in this movie. Any charisma and warmth he showed in MoS is just sucked dry by the layers of misery the film just piles on. Cavill spends the entire movie just scowling and grimacing and I don’t even feel I can blame him because that’s what Snyder has him do. Its just a royal waste of an actor who looks like he is the perfect casting for the role. Amy Adams has a reasonably substantial role and Lois and she’s fine, but it feels throughout that the film is trying to find a way to keep her relevant because they have committed to the idea of her being the key. There is an entire sequence where she throws away the Kryptonite spear, then has to retrieve it, and then almost drowns in the process. That’s where the film feels like its trying way too hard to give Lois Lane something to do. Like with MoS, I just don’t buy the Cavill and Adams chemistry and therefore its all the more difficult to accept the idea that she’s the key to Superman. Jesse Eisenberg is pretty terrible as Lex Luthor. I don’t know what Snyder was thinking. Again, I kind of have difficulty laying blame on Eisenberg because he gives a very Eisenberg performance, which is what Snyder must have been going for. It just doesn’t work at all. He just comes off as an unstable person right from the beginning. There are one or two scenes where he hits the right note, but otherwise its a very cringey performances and it really affects the film negatively. There is a whole host of talented actors who are wasted like Holly Hunter, Laurence Fishburne, and Diane Lane.

The film is just so over plotted. Its like 3 movies fighting for space in one movie and it works against each movie. There is a compelling Batman movie in here, along with a pretty dull Superman movie, along with a Justice League setup film. The theatrical edition had some terrible editing and there were subplots that just didn’t make sense. The UE is definitely a more coherent movie as it makes the africa plot make more sense and gives some of the scenes more room to breathe, but the truth is that I was bored for about 2 hours of the UE. So much of it is just dull conversation and posturing between characters. The only parts where the film comes to life is when Affleck and Irons are on screen. I have no problem with an action lite superhero movie, but then the dialogue and the situations need to be compelling and not so monotonous. The film also just does not have enough time to suitably come up with a reason why Batman and Superman would want to fight. I mean, I really liked Affleck but the justifications he comes up with to want to straight up murder Superman make no sense. He’s a bit of an idiot and gets manipulated by Lex way too easily. If you really pick apart the Lex Luthor plot, it would unravel so easily because it relied on some many things that were beyond his control. Superman’s reason to be against Batman has a bit more in the UE, but its still not enough. Then there is the completely ham handed Justice League setup. I mean, someone who has no idea of Injustice or deep DC mythology would have no clue what the Knightmare sequence was and what the Flash cameo meant. I now have more context having read what Snyder planned to do, but at the time it didn’t make any sense. We still have no clue why Bruce is having these future memory flashes/dreams. Not to mention the ridiculous JL setup videos, set with logos for all the heroes. The idea that someone at Lexcorp spent the time to come up with the superhero logos for WW, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg was just too funny. Its just the most lazy way to do a JL setup. Of course there is the infamous Martha scene which is a ridiculous scene no matter how you choose to explain it. I know what the point was. Doesn’t make the execution an less silly. Then on top of that we get thrown into a Doomsday/death of Superman story in the last half hour. Doomsday basically looks like a big mutated turtle. I recognize that Doomsday is not the most nuanced character, even in the comics, but surely he deserves better than this. There have been animated films and cartoons that have adapted Doomsday much better. Like with MoS, this film also ends with an three back to back action sequences with no room to breathe, though I admit that I enjoyed the action sequences here more than in MoS.

Anyways, the film ended up a big disappointment for me and a lot of my issues stem with decisions that Snyder clearly made with the characters and with the story. The UE was definitely better but not by a huge amount. The theatrical edition was a 3/10, and the UE was about a 4-4.5/10 for me. I have heard that ZSJL is the best of his DC movies. Hopefully that turns out to be the case.

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