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cafedanslanuit · 3 years ago

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⌘ — pairing: armin x reader

⌘ — tags/warnings: +18, HEAVY SACRILEGIOUS CONTENT (mainly catholic), dom/sub themes, dry humping, a little bit of angst.

⌘ — a/n: happy easter, sinners. also, there's a bit more plot in here than usual, hope you'll like it <3

⌘ — length: 3.4k

⌘ — chapter guide

PART 4

If anyone had pressed their ear against the door of Armin’s study room, all that they could have heard were him quickly typing, followed by the press the backspace button for a few seconds, deleting everything he had just written with a tired sigh. He had been sitting on his disk for four hours now, and he was nowhere near finishing the report Father Louis had asked him to do.

It wasn’t the first time he had to write a couple of paragraphs detailing the progress a student had made at bible study. He usually focused on the person’s commitment: if they arrived on time, if they brought their notebooks and bible to every session and if they participated whenever he asked them questions. His reviews were usually pretty positive and encouraging since he hadn’t had any trouble with anyone that had joined his bible study.

That was, of course, until you took his virginity.

That wasn’t a problem in itself, he thought. If anything, he couldn’t stop thinking about it; your hands holding tightly onto him, your muffled whimpers, your blown-out pupils when you looked at him in the eyes right after were ingrained into his mind and the truth was, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He was obsessed with you, with the way the uniform clung to your body, the faint aroma of your perfume that lingered on the air after you had walked away and the way you tapped your fingers on your desk whenever a lesson had become too boring for you.

Losing his virginity to you, or more articulately, giving it to you was one of the few things he didn’t think twice in the last few months. He still had some qualms and felt a bit ashamed about a couple of incidents (for example, his cheeks always grew red whenever he looked at the cross at the university chapel), but that one afternoon inside his room? He would do it all over again. Never before had he felt such a strong, emotional connection to someone else and now he wanted to do everything he could not to lose it.

However, you hadn’t said a word to him since then.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t tried. He had called your name when you walked past him in the hallway, but it seemed his voice wasn’t loud enough for you to hear, as you kept marching forward. Then, he had texted you a few times, asking about your day or just saying hi, but each and every one of them had been read and ignored.

Was it something he did? Had you been disappointed after your sexual encounter? It wasn’t as if he even did anything, as usual, you had taken the lead. He still was new to everything, but by the sounds you made, as you rocked your hips over him, he thought you had liked the experience too. Or had you somehow ended up unsatisfied?

She has attended every one of the meetings, arriving at the designed hour and not leaving before our session was finished.

He wasn’t lying. After you had left his room that afternoon, you had been attending his bible study meetings. However, you wouldn’t even spare him a glance, not even when he asked you questions about any of the readings you were analyzing. Your eyes were glued to your bible as you said the words you thought we wanted to hear.

For once, Armin had hoped you had said something controversial, questioned one of the passings or even stated your own opinion. He would have had a reason to insist, to start a conversation with you, to demand that you finally look at him. However, playing the part of a docile lamb, you would repeat words Armin knew you didn’t believe in, giving him no choice but to nod, agree, and move on.

With a loud sigh, Armin closed his laptop. One good sentence wasn’t enough to finish the report. He had to send it out by six o’clock, and looking at the window, he could already distinguish some red and orange hues in the sky. What was he going to do?

His eyes fell from the sky to the parking lot in front of his building. It was almost empty, just as it always was. He wouldn’t have spared a second glance if it weren’t for your figure appearing out of the blue, walking in your uniform with a slight bounce on your pace.

What were you doing here? Armin stood up from his desk and walked closer to the window. Had you been trying to visit him? Had you knocked on the door and, buried in his own tribulations, he hadn’t listened? Maybe he could call out for you. Armin tried opening the window to no avail, as it seemed stuck. He looked and noticed the window was still locked on the top. As he stood on his toes to reach for it, he noticed a guy emerging from one of the cars in your direction. Oh, had one of your friends spotted you as well? You waved at him, so maybe you were going to make a short stop to greet him and―

You were kissing him.

Armin felt his stomach drop to the floor as the man in front of you put his hands on your hips, fingers shamelessly resting on your ass. You kissed him passionately, arms looped around his neck and body pressed against his, paying no mind to who could walk in on you. Armin’s couldn’t move as he watched you kiss him, his hands still on the lock while bile rose to his throat.

It didn’t get better when you pulled away from him. His hands were now fully on your ass and Armin could hear your giggles up to his room. Soon enough, you were getting into his car and the guy drove away.

For the longest time, Armin didn’t take his hand off of the lock. It was as if, somewhere inside his brain, he still couldn’t believe what he had just seen. He wanted to think it was all but a ruse. Sure, you hadn’t discussed boundaries, commitment or exclusivity but…

Armin’s arms fell to his sides, his blue eyes still fixed on the almost empty parking lot.

He should have known.

――-

“And that would be all for today. Thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule and joining us,” Armin smiled. “It’s always nice to have these moments with all of you. Let’s say a prayer before we leave.”

He opened his arms and, just like in each one of his bible study sessions, the students at his sides took his hands. Everyone formed a circle as they muttered Our Father. Even if he usually closed his eyes, Armin couldn’t help but look at you, who were holding hands with the students next to you, praying with your eyes closed. Your eyes were, as they had been the entire session, set on the little notebook resting on your thighs.

“...and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.” Armin sighed, giving everyone a friendly smile. “Have a nice day, I’ll see you all next week.”

The students nodded as just as they were standing up and gathering their things, Armin called your name.

“Could you stay for a bit, please? I need to discuss something with you.”

Armin noticed you freezing for a couple of seconds, before continuing on forcing your notebook inside your backpack..

“I can’t right now. Maybe next time,” you muttered. You closed the zipper of your bag and threw it over your shoulder. Only a few students remained in the room as you walked towards the door.

“It would be a shame if I reported your misconduct to Father Louis.”

Armin’s words were enough for you to stop in your tracks. He watched as the other students left the room and then slowly approached the door, closing it softly. He turned on his heel to look at you, whose eyes were squinting at him while your mouth was turned into an angry grimace.

“What?” you sneered.

Armin swallowed.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not avoiding you. I have a life, you know?” you raised an eyebrow. “I have shit to do and places to be. Sorry if it’s a broad―”

“Places? Like the parking lot?”

You blinked, confused. “The parking lot?”

“I saw you,” Armin insisted, his lips forming a tight line. “Last Friday afternoon. You kissed some guy and drove away with him.”

“Yeah, so?” you asked, crossing your arms in front of your chest. “What about it? What, are you jealous or something?” You let out a mocking, dry chuckle, making Armin sigh and walk to the desk.

Turning his back on you, he started putting the spare materials in order. He started gathering the blocks, the pencils, and everything he usually put on display for the rest of the students to use. Even if most of them brought their own notebook, like you, sometimes Armin would do writing exercises and had to hand everyone a piece of paper.

“Oh my God, you were jealous,” you said, amused, as you walked up to him. “Seriously, Armin, did you think we were together? I know you’re kinda naive, but still―”

“I did not think we were together,” Armin said, gritting his teeth, and stacking the bibles in a pile.

“Really? Then why did you just fucking threaten me to that old creep?” you asked, standing next to him.

Armin ignored you and started putting the pens and pencils into a plastic cup.

“Armin,” you insisted. His blue eyes were fixed on the desk, ignoring you. “Armin!” He picked up the erasers, putting them into a small container.

Without a second thought, you harshly knocked the stack of bibles over, making them fall all over the desk and floor. The noise echoed inside the empty classroom.

“Why did you threaten me, Armin!?”

“Because you were acting like a whore!”

Armin’s fists were closed with rage as he turned to you. His face was red and you didn’t think you had ever seen him this upset. You huffed, looking him up and down before biting your inner cheek.

“Yeah, okay,” you sighed. With a small jump, you sat on the desk and started swaying your legs. “I’m a whore now.”

Armin’s eyes widened, the weight of his words finally falling over him.

“Wait, I didn’t mean―”

“Oh, no, you did mean it,” you smirked. “You definitely did, Armin, and― help me out here, will you? I have a small doubt. Weren’t you also being a little whore when I jacked you off at the chapel?”

“Shut up,” Armin whispered, turning quickly to check if the door was in fact closed. He didn’t need to, you thought. You wouldn’t be sitting on the desk if there was a possibility someone could walk in.

“No, no, c’mon,” you pressured, a smile on your face as you tapped your chin. “Weren’t you also a whore that one time you begged me to come in this very same room?”

“Shut up!” he whined, now his cheeks painfully red.

“There you were, legs spread out, eyes closed and moaning: ‘Please, I’m so close, please let me c―’”

“Shut the fuck up!”

You laughed, watching Armin’s shoulder rise and fall along with his erratic breathing. His blush had crawled up to his nose and ears and you weren’t sure if he was about to cry or scream.

“Ooh, I don’t think I had ever heard you curse before,” you pointed out, balancing your legs again.

“Why are you being like this?” Armin asked, in a much weaker tone. You thought you heard a crack in his voice but decided to ignore it. “What are you getting out of mocking me? I know you don’t like me, you never did. But still, what’s your angle here? Why are you so mean?”

“You called me a whore,” you reminded him.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Even if you could see the remorse in his eyes, you didn’t let yourself fall for it. “I really am. I just… I like you. A lot.” Armin let out a dry chuckle, avoiding your gaze once more. “And I was stupid enough to let what I saw in the parking lot hurt me when it shouldn’t have. We aren’t… anything, really. I know whatever happened between us is over and it never mattered that much to you. But… God…”

Armin put his hands on the desk, on each side of your hips. His head hung low and you wondered why he was insisting on keeping the act. What was he getting out of this? Did your sexual encounters mean that much to him?

“I’m really sorry,” he sniffed. “I don’t know why I said that, I don’t think you’re a whore. I was so angry, and yeah― yeah, you were right, I was jealous. And I didn’t have any reason to feel that way because we’re not together like that.”

He finally raised his head and your eyes met his for the second time in the night. They were filled with tears that threatened to fall, making your throat tighten as you shuffled uncomfortably in your seat.

“I already sent out your report to Father Louis. I said you are always here in time and that you answer my questions about the bible passages we’re reading,” he confessed. “I just didn’t know what to say to get you to stay. And I’m sorry for that too. I will leave you alone from now on. I won’t say a word about what we did or―”

You pressed your lips over his.

Kissing you was like coming up for air after being underwater. Your hands were on each side of Armin’s face, holding him with a warmth he never thought he’d experience again. He took a step forward and stood between your now parted legs, his body pressed with yours as he kissed you back eagerly, setting the pace for the first time.

You slid your tongue inside his mouth, your body shivering when Armin moaned. You started pulling at his white shirt, while his hands roamed your back in a frenzy. At this point, you weren’t even trying to undress the other, both of you so desperate that you just wanted to feel closer.

Your fingers closed around Armin’s tie and pulled it harshly, making him lose balance and fall over you on the desk. Your back hit the sprawled out bibles on the desk, making you let out a small whine. Armin searched your eyes to see if you were okay, but you assured him you were in a string of hushed whispers. Your lips met again as your legs wrapped around his waist.

A sigh left his lips as his clothed crotch pressed up against your panties. You shouldn’t have been surprised by how hard he already was, knowing how easily excited he usually was. You rocked your hips under him, making Armin whimper inside your mouth, feeling himself twitch at your motion.

“Be quiet, or someone will notice,” you whispered against his lips. He nodded, and this time he rocked his hips forward, catching the way you sweetly gasped. You cursed under your breath as he moved again, this time making himself sigh, feeling his cock throbbing inside his pants.

You looked beautiful, he thought. Your pupils were dilated, looking at him like he was the only man in the world, the only one that truly mattered. Your hair was sprawled out over the desk, which was filled with the spare bibles you had previously knocked over. One of them had fallen open, resting next to your face, an image he knew would probably never leave his mind.

Armin rested his forehead over yours, propping one of his hands over one of the bibles as he thrusted against you, bringing himself closer and closer to the edge. How could it be that he was so close to finishing when both of you were completely dressed? Your fingers ran over his scalp, taking a few strands of his blonde hair and pulling them tightly, making him bite your lip as a response.

Sweat was gathering on your forehead as your thighs pressed against his waist tighter. Were you also as close as he was? He pulled away and started pressing kisses on your cheek, taking the chance to take a better look at you. He didn’t think he would ever get enough of your swollen and parted lips or the sharp contrast between your fluttering eyelashes and your sharp nails digging into his arms.

Armin buried his face on your neck, leaving weightless kisses all over your skin, intoxicating himself with the smell of your perfume mixed with your sweat. His lips fell upon your pulse point and he noticed how fast your heart was beating. Would it be too childish if he rejoiced in the knowledge you were just as excited as him?

“Don’t stop,” you whispered, making Armin realize he had gotten himself lost in his thoughts and forgot his pace. “Armin, don’t stop.”

Immediately, his thrusting resumed, both faster and harder. You gasped again, doing your best to hold back a moan. Your hips met his, and even if his pace was erratic and his technique evidently inexperienced, you could feel how wet you were. You cursed again, feeling your orgasm build up each time his erection frotted your clothed clit. You knew it wouldn’t be long until you came, and yet a part of you wanted the moment to last a little bit longer.

You grabbed Armin’s face, forcing him to look at you as both of you moved against the other. His eyes looked far too innocent for the way his hips were driving you closer to your release, and maybe that was exactly why you kept coming back. Maybe. You didn’t want to bother yourself questioning why you, in fact, kept coming back to him.

Your orgasm hit a few seconds before Armin’s, both of your mouths open, breaths colliding against each other as pleasure washed over your bodies. Armin let go of your hold to sink his face in the crook of your neck, letting you move your hips as much as you liked to ride out your orgasm, as he rested his limp body over yours. Tiny dots appeared in your vision as you came down from your high, rubbing yourself against the man on top of you to your heart’s content.

You weren’t sure how much time passed until both of you were still. Armin hadn’t moved from his position, and even if a part of you found it adorable, you made sure to check if he was okay.

“Hey,” you whispered. Armin turned his head your way, groggy eyes looking back at you as he rested his cheek on your shoulder. You couldn’t help but smile at his fucked-out expression. “You want me to bring you spare pants from the lost and found?”

His cheeks turned pink again as he realized you were right― there must be a stain decorating his uniform pants.

“Yes,” he muttered. “Please.”

“Okay. I got you,” you said, and Armin nodded.

Before you got the resolve to stand up, you took an extra moment to look at his eyes. His pupils were still blown out and you couldn’t shake the feeling there was nothing else in his mind but you. Smiling, you pushed a few strands of his blonde hair away from his face.

“Can I kiss you again?”

You swallowed, trying your best not to let your surprise show on your face at Armin’s sweet request.

“Nope,” you replied, a calm smile still on your face as you booped his nose. Did― did he just pout? You bit your lip, amused, before you pinched his cheek. “Maybe next time,” you added.

“Really?” he asked, his eyes full of hope.

“Well…” you started, shuffling to rest on your side. “I think we―”

A loud noise echoed in the room. Both of you froze for a second before you gestured for Armin to be silent and sat up on the desk. You looked around, but there were no signs of anyone being in the room, and the door was still locked. Your eyes fell to the floor, where you noticed one of the spare bibles wide open, making you realize you must have pushed it off the desk when you turned to your side.

Letting your head fall, you chuckled.

#snk x reader #aot x reader #armin x reader #armin arlert x reader #armin smut #armin arlert smut #snk smut #aot smut #tw sacrilegious #armin arlert #armin snk

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jamiemackenziefraser · 3 years ago

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All That Was Fair

Chapter 36: Mr. and Mrs

Summary: As promised… newlywed fluff

Read on AO3

Read on tumblr below the cut

Previous, master list, next

Chapter 36: Mr. and Mrs.

***

Claire was insatiable. The wee thing was on him every second of every day. She would do everything from pouncing on him when he unsuspectingly rounded a corner to jumping into the shower with him. Jamie was obsessed with it, certainly. He was completely besotted and happy to be under her enchantment. Still, he wasn’t always sure he could keep up with her.

It wasn’t even just the usual or expected touches either. Just when Jamie would begin to forget how strange his lass was— arrogantly thinking he knew her inside and out— she would go on being her quirky self in ways that took him by surprise.

One such example was the strange but endearing behavior that took place one cozy Saturday…

Jamie was sat on the couch while Claire was tried to wedge her way in directly behind him. Yes, indeed, she was trying to fit her body in the miniscule space between Jamie’s back and the back of the couch while the rest of the couch and numerous chairs— even Jamie’s lap, for crying out loud— were perfectly unoccupied.

“Claire, mo ghraidh...” Jamie chuckled as he was pushed forward by her body as she worked on wedging herself behind him, “what are ye doin’?”

“I’m trying to cuddle you, if you’d be so kind as to move forward a bit,” she huffed, struggling in her endeavor.

“Ye’re half my size and ye want me sittin’ in yer lap?” he laughed.

“Not in my lap. I don’t have a wish for my legs to be crushed, thank you very much. I just wanted to sit behind you so I could hold you for a bit.” Her voice was strained with the effort of her trying, and failing, to push him forward to give herself enough space to fit.

But Jamie was having too much fun to simply end it and scooch himself up like she wanted.

“Any particular reason why ye’re tryin’ so hard tae cuddle me, wee one?” he asked.

He could feel Claire shooting daggers at the back of his neck as she pushed against his uncooperating shoulders.

“Well, I like it so much when you come up behind me and hold me that I was trying to be nice, but if you’re going to be stubborn about it...”

Jamie laughed again and decided he’d better give her the space she needed to fit behind him before she gave up and left him alone altogether. He couldn’t have that.

Claire gave out a sigh of satisfaction as he moved forward enough for her to slide behind him. As she began to settle in, her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms came around his shoulders, and the front of her body pressed flush down the length of his back.

The cherry on top was when she began pressing kisses to the sensitive spot just behind his ear.

“Well…” he said, trying not to let on how much her kisses were affecting him, but his voice still came out breathless, “is it everythin’ ye imagined?”

She hummed against him, nuzzling her nose against the shell of his ear in a way that made his stomach tie itself into knots.

“It’s nice enough. A little cramped perhaps, but I like having you in my arms.”

“It was verra thoughtful of ye to offer to be the big spoon, sweet one,” Jamie chuckled, “but I think there are a few flaws in this plan of yers.”

He could tell he was riling her up. Her body went tense at his words, preparing for a battle. Jamie was torn between tenderness and playfulness— because truly it was terribly adorable that she wanted to do this for him— but he couldn’t resist the temptation to play with her. Now the die had been cast, and his words had alerted her to his feistiness… or maybe it was that she could sense his plotting. Damn empath.

“What might those be?” she asked warily.

“Well,” he began, keeping his voice very matter-of-fact, “there’s a few logistical issues. The first being that I’m twice yer size and it would be so easy for me to accidentally crush ye like a wee bug.”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, he let his body sag back against her as a dead weight. He crushed her down against the couch, and she let out a squeal.

“Jamie!” she yelped, her voice muffled where her mouth was pressed against his back as a result of her predicament, “ge’off!”

“The second issue is that the couch isna exactly the ideal spot. This kind of cuddling requires space, ye ken.” Even though she couldn’t see him, Jamie tapped his finger against his chin as if thinking hard, enjoying himself immensely. “Perhaps if ye cared to try the bed instead?”

Her hands— which had previously been wrapped around his shoulders in a loving embrace— were smacking at his chest now, no hint of soft affection from a moment before.

“Lemmeup,” came her smothered cry, “can’tbreathe!”

Smirking to himself, he leaned forward, releasing her.

“What was that?” he asked cheekily over his shoulder.

“Ye bloody bastard,” Claire was cursing as she struggled out from behind him. Her knees jabbed him in the ribs as she tried to unwrap her legs from his waist to get them back underneath herself enough to escape.

When she’d finally wrigged out from behind him, she popped out by his side and gave him a death glare.

“You’re a brute,” she pouted, glaring over at him with dark eyes.

“And ye married me. Ye canna take it back now,” Jamie said cheerily, answering her glower with a beam.

She crossed her arms, looking very much like a toddler who hadn’t gotten her way. Her lower lip was pushed out in a pout, and Jamie could barely smother the rising urge to kiss it.

“Just because I’m stuck with you doesn’t mean I don’t regret it.”

Jamie gave a playfully gesture of being shot in the heart. “Ah, mo nighean donn, ye wound me so.”

“And you crush me when I’m trying to hold you,” she shot back.

“Aww, I’m sorry, lass. Come ‘ere, I’ll make it up to ye.” Jamie opened his arms to her, his voice dripping with played up regret.

Claire stood abruptly, shooting him a smirk over her shoulder.

“I think I’ll go cuddle with Adso, thank you very much. Maybe then you’ll learn to appreciate what you have.”

“That’s yer choice…” Jamie dropped his voice to sound serious, “oh, and Claire? One other thing?”

She stopped in her tracks, turning back to him with a suspicion written clear over her face.

“What?”

Jamie stood, looking down at his fingers where he was playing with them in feigned innocence, “there was one more flaw in your plan.”

“What’s that?”

She took a step back, already suspecting his misbehavior.

“I like bein’ the one to hold you far too much.”

He lunged forward, grabbed her around the waist with both hands and tugging her body against him all in one smooth movement. She was giggling as he did, struggling playfully as he wrestled her to him and held her captive at his front. He walked them both backward until the back of his knees hit the couch and he was able to sit down, bringing Claire down along with him.

In order to secure her in his lap as she tried to wriggle free, he tightened his arms around her middle, trapping hers underneath. He grinned into her hair, squeezing her.

“Much better,” he said.

He pressed kisses down the side of her neck, letting out little hums into the skin until her struggling stopped and Claire went still. Curious to see what she would do, Jamie loosened his arms around her. Not enough to let her get up, but enough so she could maneuver a bit.

It turned out that what she wanted to do was turn and face him. She shifted within his hold so she straddled him, and the moment they were face-to-face, Jamie would see that her expression had grown soft and her eyes had that far away look in them that they got when she was particularly infatuated.

“This is rather nice,” she admitted in a murmur as she leaned in to press a kiss to his jaw. Then another.

Jamie nearly laughed out loud.

His wee faerie. So predictable. She couldn’t resist him holding her any more than Adso could resist the smell of tuna.

Her kisses were growing more insistent now, beginning to turn heated in a way that was sure to scramble Jamie’s wits at any second.

“So ye dinna regret marryin’ this brute after all?” Jamie asked, trying to keep up the show and keep his voice steady in the face of the magic of her lips.

She pulled back, making Jamie’s skin tingle in her absence. “Maybe not so much…” she relented, “I suppose you win this one, Mr. Fraser.”

“Victory is sweet, Mrs. Fraser.”

***

#a new chapter before my life gets crazy #all that was fair #update #claire x jamie #outlander fanfiction #outlander fanfic #fae claire

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klaineaddictsfanficrecs · 3 years ago

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Fic Name: Love Me Sweet

Fic Author(s):sunshineoptimismandangels

Fic Summary: GKM fill: Kurt is a 26-year-old virgin living in New York City and wanting to get rid of the virgin title, but not knowing how. He'd always thought he was waiting for love before he had sex for the first time, now he is tired of waiting. He decides the best thing to do is just hire a male escort for one night. Someone experienced that Kurt doesn't have to explain himself to or ever see again. He just wasn't counting on his escort, Blaine, being quite so perfect or so hard to give up.

Fic Trope(s): Escort Blaine, First Time- Kurt, Virgin Kurt, Alternate Universe

Fic Length (Word Count): 51,777 words

Fic Rating: Mature- NC-17

Fic Warnings or Triggers: Angst

Fic Status: Complete

My Review: Ok, so I've read this twice over the last few weeks, and I think this is brilliant. I'm going to take you a moment to tell you the reason that if you haven't yet read this, you should put it on your to-read list.

First and foremost, I love Blaine in this fic, despite the fact that I don't usually like reading out-of-character Blaine. However, the only thing that is occ is that Blaine is an escort. He's still adorable, sweet, loving Blaine. He has his reasons that he resorted to being an escort, and the author did a good job keeping Blaine's core character intact.

That leads me to Kurt. I like the way the author depicts Kurt as well. The author does a great job of allowing you to see inside his head and his heart. I'm reminded of season 2 Kurt when he's hesitant of sex, but at the same time, he's frustrated and wants to just get it over with. And then, feelings get mixed in, and things get complicated. And I love the character development we get to see.

The plot kept me completely wrapped up in the story. I've said that I've read this twice because as I started to review it, it was a little fuzzy, and so I started to skim it and got dragged into it once again. I couldn't help it. I had to read it all over again because it was so well-written and well-executed.

In closing, this is amazing. I have to admit that my own biases kept me from reading it sooner because I was hesitant to read a story with Blaine as an escort. I've seen the errors of my ways, and I hope that if you have skipped this in the past, you add it to your to-read list now.

Fic Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4631367/chapters/10560345

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imagine-loki · 4 years ago

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Between pages

TITLE: Between pages

CHAPTER NO./ONE-SHOT: One-shot

AUTHOR: fanfictrashdump

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki always carries a book. Not because he’s reading 24/7, but because he likes tucking flowers from the bouquets you make and leave in the shared kitchen in between the pages.

RATING: T

NOTES/WARNINGS: There is fluff in my soul and I will not apologize for it. Language, extreme awkwardness, and unlikely friendships ahead. Let Loki be soft 2020.

Loki, God of Mischief, Prince of Asgard, Rightful King of Jotunheim, Odinson was a master sorcerer. His talent was unmatched in the Universe, and he was capable of feats that were previously unheard of in all the Nine Realms. He could defy the laws of physics, of imagination. He could bend the very fabric of the Universe and arrive at a different planet with merely a step in any direction. He was awe-inspiring and nightmare-inducing in equal measure.

So, how in the fucking hell did some silly flowers become his ruin?

Groaning pathetically against the plumpness of his down-filled pillow, he contemplated escaping the Tower. He had run away from more dangerous places before. Surely, walking out of Stark’s prized building would be little more than child’s play to a sorcerer of his caliber. However, any time he reminded himself that he was, indeed, a sorcerer the wound on his ego would split and bleed fresh, once more.

It would have been so easy to explain away. There was a reason they called him the Silvertongue, but he just stood there. Like a moron. He just… he just handed it over, and now…

He groaned again, teeth bared in a half-snarl as the memories flooded his mind.

There were few things in this little, mortal trash heap of a world that intrigued Loki. The supersoldiers held his interest for a moment or two, until he had all but uncovered the secrets of their endurance and had promptly become bored. The spies were fun to watch, if only to watch Barton squirm under his intense gaze, thinking he had another plot to put him under mind control. Banner was… well, he didn’t mess with Banner. Or Stark, for that matter. They were on an unspoken truce upon which his very survival was pinned. After all, Loki was nothing if not self-serving in his quest for continued breathing.

Then, there was the mutant; the plant witch.

The five-foot-nothing little imp who he could not seem to put the fear of god in, no matter how much he tried. The mortal had talked back, disobeyed direct orders on the field, sassed, hugged, and blackmailed him over a hobby in the course of less than a year. Loki would be impressed at her ruthlessness of character if he wasn’t utterly annoyed at her existence.

Well, that, and the fact that he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out how her powers worked.

And that was the source of his current anguish.

Lily, the little mutant, had a predictable daily routine. She would wake up with the sun, make breakfast for the whole team, go to the gym and be back in time for the meal. Once she set the table, she would always conjure a handful of flowers in the vase in the middle of the table. It was never the same arrangement, twice, and it was never the type of arrangement the mortals would overpay for at the local flower shops. Wild variations of popular flowers, bits of flowering tree branches, weeds–wildflowers of all types that brought in butterflies from the open balcony windows and delighted all.

At first, he thought she simply picked them outside and coaxed them into bloom. It wasn’t until one morning, when he had been up uncharacteristically early that he had been proven wrong. He watched her kneel on a chair at the table, hands held aloft around the vase before every vein visible pumped a fluorescently-bright green. Like seedlings, the flowers grew from tiny roots until they overflowed from the jug. Loki had walked over, almost reflexively, watching how the petals bent under his fingers and how the cool stems still felt like they were thrumming with life as if freshly picked.

Fascinating.

Loki, while talented in his own right, had never been able to conjure a flower that looked so much like a flower. They usually looked too perfect, almost artificial–like a painting of a flower brought to life. He plucked a bud and tucked it between the pages of the book he had been reading (ironically, it had been Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman). He decided that he would study this specific specimen and figure out her secret. Surely, it would be easy to conquer the skill that a mortal wielded.

He had been horrendously wrong.

That first failed attempt at replicating her craftsmanship prompted him to grab a few more samples, the next day. And the next. And the one after that, too. After a while, he had all but given up on learning how to conjure these life-like flowers, with their slightly irregular patterns and charming blemishes. But the habit had stuck and he still collected them.

Every morning, like clockwork, he would go to the kitchen for a glass of water, pull a bloom and press it between Whitman’s promises to return to his beloved dirt. The team had started making jokes about his current inability to put down the poems book, everywhere he went. They wrongly assumed that he was simply enamored by the mortal’s views of humanity or that he was learning what being human really meant. In reality, all Loki was doing was carrying the vessel for his preservation and lying in wait for the opportunity to be all on his own to snatch another souvenir.

He’d be loathe to admit that his theft was now out of pure admiration. Flowers were always his mother’s thing and he never really cared much for gardening, but he could appreciate the intricacies of every subtly veined petal and rough leaf. His fingers often ran the length of the stems and leaves, gathering the light coat of dew that glistened on the greenery, smiling to himself all the while. He supposed he had never found the need to conjure a flower or anything of the sort meant to be a soft gift–it wasn’t really his style–but the fact only made him all the more awestruck.

“You like today’s bouquet, Lokes?”

He nodded, a little distracted, having just pressed the most perfect daisy, with a little notch in one of the petals into the book. The small, leather-bound tome rested beside him on the table, golden lettering catching Lily’s eye.

“Oh my gosh, I love Leaves of Grass,” she exclaimed, and Loki had mindlessly handed her the book for her to peruse before he even had the good sense to panic. “I know. Surprise, surprise, plant babe likes plant-themed title of book, but I truly loved it when I read it in high school. It’s sad, but a good type of sad, if that… makes… sense…”

It was her trailing voice that had made Loki blink away from the flowers. Green eyes trailed from the vase, to his empty floating hand, to the table. His book was no longer there… and he was the reason for that. When his shocked gaze flickered up to hers, he found her dainty fingers trailing over a perfectly dried dandelion that Loki had chosen because it had a singular freckle amidst a canvas of soft yellow.

Loki had disappeared before she even looked away from the keepsake.

“Maybe I should just take my chances in the dungeons. I’m sure Father dearest would rather see me in a cell,” he moaned petulantly before he stiffened.

There was energy crackling in the air, making it smell like ozone and magic. Loki sat up in bed, retrieving a dagger from under his pillow and noiselessly stepping onto the carpeted floor. Beneath his feet, the carpet felt odd. With a frown, he glanced down, finding the floor covered in green and yellow–a blanket of buttercups. By the door, Lily smiled shyly, her body slumping slightly against the wall as the green faded away from her veins.

“You’ve overtired yourself,” he remarked, drily, ignoring the fact that his cheeks burned in a way that told him that he was flushed crimson. His feet shuffled beneath him, grounding him to reality and allowing him to resist the urge to bend down and run his fingers through the blooms.

She shrugged. “I’ll feel better after breakfast.” There was a tense silence between them for several more seconds. Lily held the book out in her hand, but Loki hesitated crossing the landscape to retrieve it. “You always pick the iffy ones.”

His brow pinched in with confusion. “What?”

“The flowers. You always pick the ones that aren’t perfect. Spots, notches, missing petals or stamens–”

“It makes them real,” he interrupted. “The flaws make them real. Machines can make flawless flowers.”

“I agree. I just… didn’t peg you for the type who could appreciate that, y'know?” Lily sighed, trying to suppress a grin. “Then again, I didn’t peg you for the type who pressed flowers, either.”

Loki glanced at his feet with a frown. “Everyone likes flowers,” he muttered under his breath, just shy of defensive. He managed to will his feet forward, relieving her still reaching hand of the book without glancing at her.

He swore that he hadn’t been this pathetic before he moved to Midgard.

Lily cleared her throat awkwardly, tipping a golden flower back with the toe of her trainer. “Would it be OK if I brought some flowers for your room, every once in while?” She gave him a hesitant smile before adding, “I-I need the practice,” in a rush.

“Don’t you think the others would be more deserving of them?” Loki hated the fact that he sounded somewhat bitter.

She giggled under her breath. “The others won’t really appreciate them, will they?” Before he could offer a witty retort to try and dispel the awkwardness he felt, Lily had grasped his wrist and tugged him along out the door. “Come on, we’re late for breakfast,” she remarked, conversation already forgotten.

#Loki #Others #Submitted one shot #submission #between pages #Fanfictrashdump

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mint-yooxgi · 5 years ago

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{4} - Obsession

Yandere AU - Part of the EXO Obsession Series

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst

Pairing: EXO OT9 X Reader (with a particular focus on X-EXO)

Words: 2,939

Warnings: This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Next update is here!!! Ouuuu! I’m excited, and I can’t wait for you all to see what I have planned. I know I say that every time but I'm serious. I know the general direction I want this story to go in, but with each chapter, I can add something new to the plot line, and I really hope you all like it! Things are about to get heated, hehehe... As always, feedback is greatly appreciated, I hope you enjoy!

Previous ~ Next

The next few days at the compound pass by with slightly higher tensions than usual. Everybody is on high alert for any activity regarding the clones whereabouts and plans. You can tell your strike team is especially weary of you, them wanting to make sure one of them is with you at all times in case something happens.

It’s early in the afternoon when you’re walking back to your office from lunch. You can hear soft voices coming from inside your office the closer you get, and you tense slightly. The clones wouldn’t be dumb enough to come to you while you’re at the compound, would they?

Opening the door to your office cautiously, you feel your shoulders relax as you see Minseok, Kyungsoo, and Yixing all stationed around your desk, talking with each other.

“What seems to be the problem, boys?” You quirk a brow, shutting the door quietly behind you as you move to take your seat at your desk.

“They have some questions for you since I wouldn’t answer them for them,” Kyungsoo sighs, leaning against the table you have at the side of the room while both Yixing and Minseok take the seats on the opposite side of your desk.

“Yeah?” You turn your gaze fully to the men across from you. “What’s up?”

“Since Kyungsoo won’t tell us anything, or even comment fully on the matter, we’ve decided to come ask you,” Minseok begins.

“Ever since a few days ago, when you told us all about how the clones came to see you at your apartment, Minseok and I have taken the liberty to observe your strike team closely,” Yixing continues. “We’ve noticed some things.”

You nod, waiting for them to continue. If they can point out things you’ve yet to notice, that will be a great help to you in figuring out things, especially involving the clones.

“First, we’ve noticed how they all seem rather protective over you,” Minseok says, maintaining eye contact with you in hopes to gage your reactions. “If one of them isn’t with you, another will be quick to take his place. In fact, we were surprised when you entered your office alone just now, for we were expecting at least one of them to be with you.”

“Second, whenever two or more of them are in a room together with you, the one who is closest to you receives cautious looks from the others,” Yixing adds. “Sometimes said member will receive harsh stares, borderline glares, if they make you laugh or smile in front of the others. So far, the worst looks we’ve seen have come from Baekhyun and Jongdae.”

You hum in thought, slowly nodding your head along with what you’re being told. It’s nice to have an outsider’s opinion on how your strike team interacts with you. You can’t keep your eyes on them at all times, and it would be beneficial to have people you can actually trust looking out for you. There’s no three people you trust, or rely on, more than Kyungsoo, Minseok, and Yixing.

“At times it would seem as if they are jealous of one another,” Kyungsoo chimes in, arms crossed in front of his chest as his face reflects minor amusement. You two share a look.

“Exactly,” Yixing nods in agreement. “Baekhyun seems to tense the most when another person touches you. Chanyeol tenses when someone makes you laugh. Jongin when someone compliments you. Junmyeon when you call someone else’s name but not his own. Sehun scowls when you smile at someone who is not him, and Jongdae seems to not like it when you discuss strategy with others, though we’re still trying to figure him out. If any one of them is best at hiding their emotions it’s him.”

“Hang on, you just said he has some of the worst glares towards the others though,” your brow furrows in confusion.

“That’s true, his eyes can look quite deadly,” Minseok confirms. “However, he rarely shows them. Doesn’t make them any less powerful when he does, though.”

“Which is why we’re concerned,” Yixing continues to say, and you notice Minseok nodding along with him. “We’ve tried asking Kyungsoo what’s going on but he won’t tell us anything, and when we do get something out of him, he just tells us to ask you.”

“Hence why we’re here at the moment,” Minseok states, leaning forward in his chair to rest his elbows on his knees. “We need to know, is there something going on between you and your strike team that you’re not telling us? Cause from the looks of things, they all seem to be infatuated with you.”

“As your friends, and teammates, we’re concerned,” Yixing voices, brow furrowed in a slight frown.

You can see the concern etched onto both of their faces as they stare at you. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo just looks amused at this entire situation, lips quirked into a slight smirk as he continues to lean against the table. You let out a sigh.

“That’s the thing,I can’t give you a direct answer because I don’t honestly know myself. There’s nothing like that going on between my strike team and I, but I also have a hunch that they’re all fascinated with me in some way, and not in the traditional mentor-pupal way,” you say, leaning back in your chair. “I’ve already discussed this with Kyungsoo, but here’s everything you need to know.”

With that, you jump into the full explanation of what happened the other night at your apartment with the clones, as well as everything you’ve come to learn about them. Both Minseok and Yixing remain silent as you explain. You trust them enough to let them in on this, and to keep this to themselves.

“The only reason I didn’t tell you yet was because I didn’t want to get you guys involved in case things went south. So far, only the four of us know the full truth, and I’d like to keep it that way until I can figure out what to do with both my strike team, and their clones,” you explain, closing your eyes briefly as you rub your temples. “I don’t know what to expect from their clones, nor the lengths they’re willing to go yet. The last thing I need is to create more tensions between them, and have the squad fall apart.”

“I think we can help with that,” Minseok grins.

“How so?” Your eyes narrow slightly in curiosity.

“We’ll keep an eye on your strike team when you can’t, and then report back to you with what we find,” Minseok says, quirking a brow in your direction as he sees you thinking things over. “That way we can keep an eye on them for you when you’re not around, and possibly gather more intelligence on this entire situation.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” Kyungsoo voices, pushing himself off the table in order to stand between both Yixing and Minseok with his arms still crossed.

“We’d have to set up meetings to discuss this, maybe once or twice a week, so that way we can fill you in on everything new we discover,” Yixing adds, but before he can continue, you’re speaking.

“Let me think about it for a day,” you tell them, and visibly see them all furrow their brows in confusion. “Getting you three involved means putting you in danger, and the last thing I want is for any of you to get hurt because of me.”

It also mean admitting to them that you’re not staying with Kyungsoo at the moment, but you have a feeling they’ve already gathered as much.

“That’s really considerate of you, as always,” Yixing smiles.

“But we don’t want you having to handle this by yourself,” Minseok adds.

“Besides,” Kyungsoo hums, “you could use all the help you can get.”

You remain silent for a moment, mulling it over in your mind, weighing the pros and cons of them aiding you. Obviously they can’t be with you all of the time, but knowing that when you’re here at the compound, you have three extra sets of eyes watching out for you does lift some of the weight off of your shoulders. What do you have to lose?

“Okay,” you nod once, firmly. “I agree. It would be nice having some help figuring everything out. However, we still need to discuss when and where we’ll be meeting, since it’s risky always meeting up in my office on the regular, especially with everything going on.”

As if to prove your point, a faint knock is heard on your office door before Jongdae is peeking his head into your office. From the faint shadows you can see on the wall behind him, you can tell he’s not alone.

“Is this a bad time?” He asks, eyes scanning over each of your faces briefly before his eyes lock with yours. You can see the subtle twitch of his eyebrow in annoyance.

“No, not at all,” you reply, lips quirking slightly in a small smile as he pushes the door open to reveal both Junmyeon and Sehun standing behind him. You turn your attention back to the three men in front of you, “we’ll continue this discussion later.”

With a nod from the three of them, they begin to make their way out of the room, the new arrivals taking their previous positions in front of your desk. As soon as your office door closes behind the last person out, Junmyeon turns his attention to you.

“What was all that about?” He inquires, brow quirked in questioning.

“Oh nothing,” you brush him off with a wave of your hand. “Just talks about some equipment upgrades, is all.” You hear them hum, but you can tell Jongdae and Junmyeon aren’t convinced. “What is it you three wanted to talk to me about?”

The conversation with the three of them passes by fairly quickly for you, that you barely remember everything that was discussed. You’re a little frustrated that your meeting with Kyungsoo, Minseok, and Yixing got cut short, but you know there’ll be plenty more to come. You just need to figure out a way to meet up without it becoming suspicious.

You’re currently resting on your couch in your living room, thinking over different plans. You could have them meet with you at your house, for you know it’s not bugged, nor does anyone else know where you actually live. However, that means letting Minseok and Yixing in on your little secret. Meeting in a public place is too risky, plus you don’t want anyone overhearing the conversation. If you were to do it over video, there’s a chance of being hacked, too.

You frown, frustration clear on your features. You can’t seem to figure out what the best option would be, and at the moment, you’re leaning towards housing the meetings here, in your own home. At least you’d know nothing could go wrong, and you could always just move again if anything were to happen. You just hope that whatever you decide to do, is the right decision.

Peering outside your window, you see that the sun has long set. The only light in your house comes from the artificial glow of your lamps. Sitting up with a sigh, you figure you might as well try to get some sleep tonight in order to face the challenges you know will make an appearance tomorrow.

Moving around your house, you make sure to turn off all the lights and set the alarm for the evening. No harm in being extra cautious. Once you’re ready, you tuck yourself into bed, laying on your back and staring at the ceiling. You can tell this will be a restless night, for your thoughts are running wild. You have yet to fully accept the fact that despite them not being honest about it, your strike team fancies you, and you don’t know how to feel about that. One might say you’re in denial.

Soon enough, the morning rolls around and you manage to pull yourself out of bed after an extra hour of sleep. Some mornings, as captain, you’re allowed to come in later than everyone else. You’re just glad it’s one of those mornings now.

Grabbing your phone you see a bunch of missed calls and notifications from your strike team, as well as Kyungsoo, Minseok, and Yixing. Clicking on Kyungsoo’s messages, your brow furrows as you read them over.

Kyungsoo: (Y/n), there’s been an emergency at work.

Kyungsoo: Not a mission, but something bad happened overnight.

Kyungsoo: Call me as soon as you see these.

Without giving it another thought, you rip off your blankets while pressing to call Kyungsoo. You quickly move around your room to get ready as the call connects. It only rings once before you hear his voice.

“Where have you been, we’ve all been worried sick,” he scolds you, and you let out a small huff. You can tell he’s moved away from the others, otherwise he wouldn’t sound so worried.

“Good morning to you, too, Kyungsoo. I slept pretty shitty, thanks for asking,” you retort with a slight roll of your eyes before steeling your resolve in the next moment. “What’s going on? My phone is notification city this morning.”

“There’s been a break-in at the compound,” he gets right to the point and you freeze momentarily. “That’s all I’ll say for now, but get here as soon as you can.”

“Fuck- okay, I’ll be right there,” you respond, hanging up in the next second to focus on pulling on your clothes. You have a feeling this break-in relates to the clones, and an unsettling feeling builds in your gut.

Hopping into your car once you’re finished getting ready, you speed to the compound. You barely make it ten steps through the door when both Sehun and Baekhyun are surrounding you.

“Where were you?” Sehun asks, voice firm as he walks beside you.

“Yeah, and why weren’t you answering your phone?” Baekhyun reprimands you.

“I was sleeping in, I had a rough night,” you reply gruffly.

“We thought you would have come to work with Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol’s voice sounds from your left and you notice he’s joined the three of you.

“I told him to go ahead without me, but I didn’t think something like this would happen,” you sigh, shaking your head slightly.

Reaching the main area, the three of you quickly make your way over to where everyone is standing, looking over some files on the table.

“Brief me,” you command once you reach the edge of the table.

All eyes turn to you now, as you wait for someone to start speaking.

“The compound was broken into last night,” Junmyeon begins to say.

“Yeah, that much I know,” you nod. “What are the details?”

It’s at this moment that you notice both Jongin and Jongdae are missing from the table.

“It looks like both Chen and Kai broke in last night and stole some of our supplies,” Minseok says. “Both Jongdae and Jongin are in for questioning at the moment, hence why they’re not here.”

“Yeah, took my favourite pair of rapiers,” Baekhyun mumbles.

“Along with some tracking equipment and tech supplies,” Yixing frowns at him.

“You don’t think-“

“That’s exactly what we think,” Chanyeol confirms your thoughts by cutting you off.

“It’s what I would do,” Junmyeon admits, and you notice the other three nodding along with him in agreement. “Infiltrate and gather the best supplies to get the target.”

“What else?” You question, exhaling a long breath as you close your eyes briefly.

“They broke into your office,” Kyungsoo states and your eyes fling open.

“They did what?” Your harsh gaze meets Kyungsoo’s and he simply raises a brow at you.

“It doesn’t look like they took anything though,” Baekhyun adds, moving over to place a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

However, before he can make contact, you're turning around and speeding down the hallways until you reach your office. Flinging the door open you rush inside, the others following close behind. Rummaging through your bottom drawer, you pop the hidden compartment to pull out a small locked box.

You briefly make eye contact with Kyungsoo as you enter your code to unlock the box. Only two other people know the combination to this box besides you, and one of them is standing in this room.

You can feel the curious stares of your teammates on you as you take a deep breath, preparing yourself for the worst. You hear the lock click open.

Ever so slowly, you open the lid to the box and your breath hitches in your throat. With wide eyes, you pull out a small piece of paper.

Your hands are shaking a you slowly unfurl the note. Whether it’s from anger, confusion, or from being this upset, you do not know. Once it’s opened, your eyes scan the words written on the page.

We’re taking this to ensure your motivation. If you want it, come and claim it.

Throwing the note onto your desk, you stand up quickly, your desk chair slamming into the wall behind you from the force. Your hands grip the side of your desk so hard, you swear you hear the wood crack slightly from the pressure. There’s only one other person who knows of this box and of its importance to you. Your breathing picks up as a fire lights behind your eyes, his name passing as a growl from your lips.

Jongdae.

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jamielea81 · 5 years ago

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Just a Simple Lie

Chapter 1

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Description: Having worked on small independent films for the better part of a decade, your friend tells you about an opening for a script supervisor with a large studio. Wanting to advance your career, you apply and get an interview. The only downside, they prefer to hire crew who are married. It’s just a simple lie, right?

A/N: This fic is simply for fun. I know nothing about the personal lives of the two actors in this series and mean no harm. I am also totally guessing regarding the studio talk. This particular chapter is Chris light as it’s mainly a getting to know the reader. Chapters going forward will be heavy on the Chris aspect. Comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome. Tag list is open, please send me an ask.

“Do you have the ring?”

“Of course, I have the ring.” You let out a frustrated breath. “This is so silly.”

Joanna chuckles over the line. “Where did you manage to get a ring from anyway?”

“It’s my grandmother’s. I feel like I’m majorly disrespecting her by wearing it when I’m not even engaged. Not to mention I’ve been single for-ev-er.” You drawl out.

“Breathe babe. Just breathe.” She says softly.

You inhale deeply and exhale it slowly.

“Maybe don’t do that directly into the phone.” She laughs again.

“Joanna Elizabeth.” You growl. “Why am I doing this?” You ask catching a glimpse of your reflection in the review mirror. Running a hand through your hair, you see the diamond engagement ring on your left finger. It feels so foreign, even stranger seeing it.

“Because this is a great opportunity to advance your career. Stone Lite is a major studio, Y/N. You can’t keep working on those student films.”

“Hey! I worked on a couple of independent movies. One even showed at Sundance.” You defend.

“And that’s awesome. Really. But this could be your big in. You’ve been doing this, what, for ten years?”

She was right. Ten years and the majority of your income came from student funded films and slinging beers three nights a week.

“And by your silence, you know I am right.”

Smug bitch.

“Ahuh.” You sigh.

“Look, I know it’s not right, but if this increases your chances of getting hired, just wear the damn ring.” Joanna huffs out.

“Easy for you to say, oh, wise married one.”

Joanna previously worked for Stone Lite Studios before moving on to Sony. It was a well-known amongst the employees that if you wanted to get hired for any position that put you in direct contact with any of the actors, you needed to be married. The studio was concerned with fan girls and fan boys. As if adults couldn’t control their urges and not make unwanted advances. Not to mention, married or not, some people still have affairs. Now granted, not every person there was married, but you had a greater advantage to get the job if you were. Right or wrong.

You drew the line at saying you were actually married and settled on being engaged. Not wanting to worry about details like how you kept your last name and lying on the tax forms you’d have to fill out. Even though you’ve only worked on small projects, Hollywood was surprisingly small when it came to the industry. It would be a lot harder to explain a sudden husband versus a fiancé. With Joanna’s agreement, you took your grandmother’s engagement ring from your jewelry box and slipped it on your finger.

“I’m just saying, give it a shot and see where this goes.” She reasoned.

“You’re right. You’re right. I better go in anyway. There’s a golf cart that keeps circling around the lot. They’re probably getting suspicious as to why I’m still in my car.”

She let out a chuckle. “They’re going to give you a ride to the offices. Welcome to the big leagues baby.”

“Ms. Y/L/N, may I call you Y/N? Barbara Floyd, the interviewer and also the production manager asked.

The two of you had already gone over your previous crew history where you held a variety of positions including editor, grip, writer, and even wardrobe. On a whim, you took a script supervisor position on an independent short and really enjoyed it. The next job you took was on full length film in the same position, that’s when you decided that’s where your passion lied. Despite the copious amount of responsibility and that often brought on your anxiety, you loved the challenge.

“Of course, Mrs. Floyd.”

Her eyes went directly to your left hand. “That’s a beautiful ring.” She says.

Here we go.

“Thank you.” You stick your hand out for added affect.

“When’s the wedding?” She asks.

“Next year. We have a lot of out of town family. We just want to make sure they have time to arrange travel.”

Look at me lie. Maybe I should have tried acting.

“I’m sure it will be lovely.” She replies with a wide smile. “I’d like to introduce you to a few people. Please come with me.”

You received a contract via e-mail later that evening. They were bringing you on for one film with the option of three additional films after production. Granted, that’s if you didn’t mess up. Joanna was right, this is the big leagues. If you could make it through the next three to four months, you’d have a long term contract with a major studio.

The next day you received the script. Winter’s Sin was the working title. Whether or not the title would stick was anyone’s guess. You had worked with a few well-known actors, but more of the B list variety. Wonderfully talented actors, but they just didn’t get the parts or the recognition they often deserved. This film had a couple of big names, Keanu Reeves and Chris Evans to be exact. Maggie Jessup was this year’s it girl and rumor had it, this movie was going to launch her into stardom. Generally, you didn’t get star struck, but this was Keanu Reeves! You first fell in love with him when you saw Speed. And again, when you watched The Lake House. Too bad you were technically “engaged”.

Pre-production was set to start next week. This week would be spent going over the script a few times and creating notes. Some wouldn’t consider it the fun part of the job, but you loved diving into a script before it was brought to life. It was also a bonus that you generally liked the script. It was sort of a weepy drama with a love story tied in. But the main plot was between two friends, Milo played by Keanu and William played by Chris. You stayed up half the night and made it almost all the way through. To say you were invested was an understatement.

You read through the script twice more over the next few days and felt ready. Next week you would meet with wardrobe and the writers. The cast would be fitted and you would take photos for your own personal files to make sure styles remain the same for the shoot. Of course, this could all change the day shooting begins which is why you needed to be on your A game and get all the drinking out of the way tonight. You’d have Sunday to recover before starting at the studio on Monday.

Laurel Tavern wasn’t necessarily your favorite bar, but it had become the place to get a bite to eat and a few drinks. It was also the most centrally located place for you and your friends to meet. Joanna and her husband Ian picked you up on the way, knowing you wanted to drink to excess. The three of you along with Travis and Jemma were celebrating your new job tonight. The five of you often found reasons to celebrate whether it was finding a twenty dollar bill on the side of the road, not getting fired from a particular job you’ve been slacking at, for the record, that was Travis, or getting a full eight hours of sleep. Tonight, was really worth celebrating.

“What do you want girl?” Joanna asked, getting up from your usual booth. “First rounds on me. If you’re nice, I might even buy you a second.” She throws you a wink.

“Ummm. I’d like a margarita, hold the margarita.” You say in all seriousness.

“Tequila. Got it.” She says before turning away and heading to the bar.

“Extra limes.” You shout.

She waves her hand behind her head, not bothering to spare your table a look.

Travis joins your booth, a couple of pints of beer in hand. “Here, I brought you one.” Setting a pint of golden goodness in front of you.

You lean over kissing his cheek. “I feel so special.” You coo.

Travis wormed his way into your life seven years ago. He was a senior in college at the time, tall and lanky with hair that stuck out from under his hat. He was filming his final project before graduation. The two of you had a mutual friend in common, Jemma, who was an ex-girlfriend of Travis, how they stayed friends, was beyond you. You helped with directing, a little bit of script management, and even filled in for makeup on a few days. Anything to help a friend of a friend. Travis became your pseudo little brother, well, a brother that you kissed once. You had just broken up with Chad, never date a guy name Chad. Anyway, you had just broken up with Chad and were feeling down in the dumps about yourself. He fed you some bullshit about never being there for him when he needed you. You got angry, he got angry, and then he told you that you weren’t hot enough for him. Yep, Chad was a douche. Travis invited you over, feed you pizza and a ton of beers, then you kissed. He wasn’t a bad kisser, but it felt weird. He was five years younger than you, but it wasn’t just that, he was too much like a brother. The two of you agreed that it was a mistake and never brought it up again. Not even Jemma knew.

The five of you munched on burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Jemma bought you a margarita, even after you told her you just wanted the tequila. Her motive was to mooch some of the beverage off of you.

“I don’t want all of the calories. I just want to try it.” She grins. Big rosy cheeks and wild blonde hair. Her British accent on full affect after already consuming a few shots herself. She had lived in the United States most of her life, but when she drank, the accent became heavier.

She grabs your drink, taking a hold of the straw and consumes half of it in one go. If you didn’t love her, you would have ditched her years ago.

Pushing Ian out of the booth, you get up on wobbly feet and make the long twenty foot journey to the bar. “I’ll get my tequila myself. Thank you very much.” You tell the table.

It’s after midnight by the time you’re dropped off. Running a makeup remover cloth over your face and stripping down to a cami, you call it good enough and crawl into your cozy bed.

After a pit stop at Starbucks, you make it to the studio an hour earlier than you need to be. After parking in Timbuctoo, you graciously accept the golf cart ride from security.

One of the admins directs you to a small office down a long hallway with similar offices. There’s a laptop computer, various pens and notepads on the desk. You unpack a small plant you picked up yesterday after you dragged your hungover self out of bed and to the grocery store for food. There was no window in your office which you figured; a little greenery would liven the place up, literally.

An hour later, one of the producers, David, came by to introduce himself and walk you around the grounds and through the soundstage you’d be shooting on. Filming would take place on the soundstage for a little more than a month. Then everyone would move the whole operation to Vancouver. The movie was called Winter’s Sin after all and there wasn’t a whole lot of winter in Los Angeles.

Before stopping back in your office, David popped into the office across from yours. He knocked while walking in, apparently already comfortable with the occupant.

“Hey Monica. I want you to meet Y/N. She’s the assistant script supervisor I was telling you about.”

Assistant? What?

Monica got up from her chair to greet you. You plastered on a smile and stuck out your hand. She was around your age and seriously gorgeous. Beautiful thick brown hair with a touch of caramel highlights that hung just above her chest.

“Hi, Y/N. I’m looking forward to working with you. Would love to hear some of your ideas.”

“Same.”

What could you say? You weren’t told that you were an assistant script supervisor, you thought you had the position. Apparently, it was a shared position.

“Y/N will be working primarily with Chris and Keanu.”

Whoa. Well, at least there’s that.

Monica scoffs. “Really?”

Your eyes automatically go to her left hand. No ring. Of course.

“Yes, really. You’ve got Maggie. I think she can really flourish under your direction. Not to mention you have Hector, Tim, Daisy and Joe.

After the awkward exchange, you traded cellphone numbers with her and made plans to meet after the first read through with the cast.

Walking across the way into the safety of your office, you figured you might as well ask.

“I wasn’t aware that I was being hired on as an assistant script supervisor.”

David ran a hand down his face. “Y/N, listen. This is your first big film; you need to walk before you can run. Alright? If this goes well, you’ll probably get hired on as the lead.”

“Okay.” You sighed out

“Alright, I’ll see you later. Meeting at three on the soundstage.”

“Got it.” You replied, plopping yourself down in the desk chair.

David peeks his head back into your office. “You’ve got some visitors.”

“Thanks.” You call out, standing back up and pulling your door open wider.

Your heart stopped. At least you were pretty sure it did. Keanu and Chris were both in front of you. Yes, you were there to film a movie, but this felt like a freaking movie. The two of them, side by side, grins on their faces. Keanu’s hand outstretched while Chris’ hands were snugly in the front pockets of his jeans.

“Y/N, pleasure to meet you. I’m Keanu.”

You accept his hand but your pretty much speechless. You may have muttered “hi” but you can’t be sure. Sensing your nervousness, he gives you a smile and releases your hand. He looks to Chris and they exchange a silent conversation. Chris steps forward offering you his hand and once again you can’t breathe.

Has he always been this attractive? Apparently, I haven’t watched enough Avengers movies.

His hair’s a bit longer than what you remember from the one or two movies you’ve seen. He’s also sporting a full beard. Definitely something he can pull off.

You mentally slap yourself and pull your hand from his after you realize you hadn’t said anything.

“Um. Sorry. Haven’t had enough caffeine today. It’s nice to meet you both. I look forward to working with you on this shoot.”

“Nice plant.” Keanu says, pointing at the fern taking up the front corner of your desk.

You giggle. Like actually let out a giggle and you’re pretty sure your cheeks are flushed.

You’re a professional. Get your shit together.

“Well, you know?” Shrugging your shoulders. “Need to green the space up a bit.’

Chris nods his head and offers a closed mouth smile.

“Well, we won’t take up all your time. Just wanted to say hello.”

“Hello.” You reply with a wave.

Why am I so awkward?!

They both chuckle and Chris waves back at you.

Tomorrow you wouldn’t be so starstruck. These are just two men that you work with. Who cares that they both seem nice and are dangerously attractive? You’re an “engaged” woman who is also a professional. You can do this.

Yeah. I can do this.

If you are crossed out, I can’t tag you.

Tag list: @southerngracela @chrisevansforever @chrisevansfanfic @zsuzstyina @peach-acid @tanelle83 @pinknerdpanda @allaboutthebooz @estillion14 @panicfob@patzammit @heartislubbingdubbing @collinsstanharbour @twittytelly @thefandomzoneisdangerous @linki-locks11 @jennmurawski13

#Chris Evans #chris evans fanfic #keanu reeves #actor fic #Chris Evans Fan Fiction #just a simple lie #Chris Evans x Reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x y/n

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dreadnought-dear-captain · 5 years ago

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You Asked, I Told

(Note, if this post shows up twice or massively delayed or just looks weird, it’s because it was flagged for adult content [??!] because I had a picture of Willem Dafoe’s face in a gif. I am not even kidding. Do with that information what you will. I’ve removed it and I still don’t know if/when this can be publicly viewed, I’m kind of lolling. So if you see a blocked out photo that looks like porn in your post, I swear it’s just a gif from The Lighthouse!)

Hello, amazing people. This weekend, I’m putting the final touches on my last draft of Baghdad Waltz Chapter 39, which will then go to the beta for one more round of edits. I imagine I will have the chapter posted in 1-3 weeks, which is close to record speed for me, especially since it’s around 30k words. I’m going to be talking about my writing process (at unfortunate length) for one of the asks, for those who are interested.

Please forgive me. I’m feeling quite verbose and a little squirrely. I blame living alone during lockdown.

It’s also Memorial Day weekend in the States, which is when we are meant to honor those who gave their lives in military service to this country. This is often confused with Veterans Day (November 11), which is honoring anyone who has served in the military and is no longer serving. This gets further confused with Armed Forces Day (rotating date, May) which is to honor those currently serving in the military. I know, super confusing.

There’s a wide range of opinions on how Memorial Day should be commemorated, which often involves gathering with friends and family for a barbecue or some other social activity. It’s the first major holiday after a huge holiday drought throughout the late winter and spring, which often makes people look forward to it immensely. Some people feel it’s inappropriate to celebrate Memorial Day with barbecues and fond social gatherings because it’s dishonoring the memories of those who can’t be here, people don’t take time to remember those who have died, people have no idea what the day is actually for, etc. Others, even some very vocal veterans, maintain that people died so that we could be here to celebrate in freedom, so why not relish this life we have? Many offer the caveat that it’s appropriate to at least acknowledge the purpose of the day, even if it’s just in a few minutes of quiet reflection.

Anyway, I offer this as a little food for thought for this upcoming long weekend.

(And in case you missed it, I posted a BW Timeline for your reference.)

Contains spoilers through Chapter 38.

[Takes deep breath]

I’m so glad that you are enjoying the read and that you’re finding it inspiring for your own work. I think my dedication to research for BW is threefold. 1) As this story evolved, I decided that I wanted to create the most realistic depictions of military, civilian, emotional, and physical life that I reasonably could. I will fully admit to lapses in this, deliberate and unintentional, because sometimes the plot just needs to go and I can’t wait around for a year-long medical discharge process for my character. 2) I’m in an academically stringent occupation, and because research is such a prominent part of my work life, it’s bled to my hobby. (IS THIS EVEN A HOBBY ANYMORE?) And 3) I get very easily and passionately obsessed with things and delight in getting “into the weeds” with a subject. Almost every research divergence usually takes me off track for at least an hour. And you will never catch me without an MTA subway map open in at least one tab.

But that wasn’t even your question! Sorry. Are you beginning to get a sense of why BW takes me so long to write?? I cannot keep my shit on track. As for the bibliography, YES! I plan to include that in my author’s note at the end. I wish I had kept better track of all of my works consulted over the past three years, but I will definitely discuss the importance of some of the main ones. I’m so thrilled that you are interested, and I’m excited to share them!

Thank you. This is such a kind thing to say, and I’m humbled and delighted to hear it, especially because our fandom is so blessed with some AMAZING fics. And asks certainly don’t have to be questions! I appreciate them all (except the flaming bag of dog shit ones, which I haven’t had in a while, hooray).

(Re: Chapter 37) Good question! I imagine Claire would want to keep the 1:1 conversation somewhat limited, as she is treating the couple as a patient rather than them as individuals. If anything, she might have somewhat superficially checked in to see if he was okay rather than dive into anything regarding the relationship with Bucky not around. That could be seen as a betrayal of trust to Bucky and could be interpreted as favoritism, which Steve craves and which Bucky is probably terrified about.

I am always pleased when people re-read and enjoy it or get new things out of it, even if it’s sometimes a re-read is a function of my slow-ass writing. I really want a story with good re-read value.

You make an excellent point about Bucky’s relationships. His friendship with Jack also had no real closure. Sometimes this is a factor of circumstance and sometimes it’s because of his avoidance, like a self-fulfilling prophesy almost. He’s learned that people betray you, either by hurting you or dying, so he creates conditions sometimes (often unwittingly) for things to go sour and end poorly, or he will simply make himself disappear so that he’s not hurt and doesn’t have to wait to see if he will be abandoned or betrayed. He’s not a guy who is good with goodbyes.

As for Thor, I totally see how it would read that way. I think Thor started out fishing for longer-term possibilities in a romantic relationship but then realized Bucky is really not a guy who is comfortable settling (which, as we can see, is true). As for why it seems more serious, one thing is that Thor still wanted Bucky in his life as a friend, possibly one with benefits. They have a lot in common, and it’s hard for veterans - and, more specifically, special operators - to find people in their lives they can relate to with these very intense life experiences. I wanted this to be a real relationship, but maybe not necessarily one that was bound to become a RELATIONSHIP. I think Bucky was very intriguing and attractive to him, and he very well may have struggled with his own vacillation between whether to take it seriously or whether to remain friends+. This can lead to mixed messages.

And we also have to remember Bucky’s notoriously unreliable narration, where he will see what he wants to see. Our perspective comes from him. We see the details he zooms in on, miss the one he ignores, view the relationship through the lens of his own contentious desire for a real relationship, even as he consistently demonstrates the lack of capacity and his fear about getting serious. I imagine Bucky has having an extremely poor ability to distinguish friendship from romance, and why wouldn’t he, given the most recent bit of history we have learned about him with Jack? He’s had a series of friendships become sexualized, and I think this affects his capacity to be discerning. Bucky’s radar for relating, whether friendships, romance, or potentially dangerous sexual situations, is terribly mis-calibrated. How confusing for him and for the people in his life. Of course, everyone is free to interpret the dynamics of any relationship however they choose. These are just some of my thoughts.

I really appreciate observations from the re-read! Thank you!

I watched the video and you are right! This is definitely a Bucky song. Bucky’s sense of self is by turns profoundly distorted and lacking in grounding, especially now that he’s not in the military. He’s been in a low key existential crisis since he was a kid and has turned to drinking and sex and war to fill this horrible void, and although I can’t speak for what the artists here intended, I certainly sensed those elements here for sure. (Also, what an interesting choice for a music video…)

Thank you for sharing! I’ll add it to the unofficial BW playlist in the author’s note, which consists of various songs people have associated with BW and shared with me.

Good question! I started off this story picturing the actors who represent the characters in the MCU, because I figured we’d be picturing that when we read the fic anyway (though my beta told me she doesn’t see them as the actors, more like artists’ renderings of the characters, which I find interesting). So when describing their physicality, I tend to refer back to the MCU, since this is technically an MCU AU. But the longer I go with the story, the murkier the resemblance feels to me, especially when I think about Bucky, IDK why. I have also been considering doing something more with BW after I finish it (i.e., converting it into a proper not-bajillion-word novel, sunk cost and whatnot), in which case I would definitely change the characters’ appearance, names, cut MCU Easter eggs, etc. So when I try to think of who these people might be in future iterations of the story, things get even more blurred in my mind when I imagine them.

I wonder how other people see them??

So, with regards to PTSD clinical teams, there is some variation across VAs in the system. Some focus more on military-related trauma, whether it’s war, military sexual trauma, accidents, etc. as a way of concentrating their services and managing supply and demand. From talking with providers in these kinds of systems, sometimes you just NEED a military-related trauma, but you can be treated for, say, a childhood trauma if it’s more pressing. Other VAs are very open in their criteria, and you can see them for pretty much any kind of trauma that qualifies diagnostically for PTSD (or sub-threshold PTSD) without question. That’s why I love the expression “If you’ve been to one VA, you’ve been to one VA.” That said, it kind of doesn’t matter what kind of PTSD clinical team is at the VA in Manhattan, because Bucky has so much military trauma that he would very likely qualify to receive services in any PTSD clinical team. They just might focus on childhood stuff (if Bucky actually let them, which is another matter entirely).

This is a great question! Thanks for asking.

I love a snarky asshole Bucky so much, and I’ve tried to temper this version of him with enough hard-earned genuineness to offset it a little bit. It’s such a tender balance with him, because if you back him too far into a corner, he’s going to let you have it. But if you give him too much space, it’s hard to pin him down and wring something honest from him. He’s definitely learned to use humor and sarcasm to deflect from painful or uncomfortable situations, and it’s a very adaptive short-term strategy that makes him both endearing and infuriating to others.

But ugh, yeah, shit gets so rough around Chapter 28/29. I don’t know how to feel when people have really strong emotional reactions to this story, because one part of me doesn’t want to contribute to the crappy feelings people may already be struggling with — especially in the times of COVID — but I don’t want to be afraid to dive into the hurt these characters are experiencing. That’s why I recommend checking in with oneself before reading to get a sense of how much emotional bandwidth is available to manage the immense problems of two people struggling so much. I also think that for some people it can be cathartic or otherwise not-bad maybe (?), based on the feedback I’ve received. I also really try hard to balance out the painful stuff with growth, even though it can be terribly difficult to locate sometimes.

In comments to folks, and here, I often talk about adjusting the ticks on your measuring stick for progress, where instead of leaps of progress over feet/meters, we may be observing things on an inch/mm scale. This story is my most sincere effort at a “recovery is not linear” narrative, which I think is so much more reflective of real life for a lot of folks than a straight upward trajectory. Humans are such creatures of habit, and the lessons these characters have learned through their lives about themselves, trust, relationships, and how to manage emotions are very deeply ingrained — often through traumatic means. These are the lessons learned the hardest, with the greatest perceived consequences for change, and it takes real courage for us to be able to try new things even once, let alone to establish a reliable pattern of behavior. This can lead to a lot of frustration for us as readers/writer, and I come from a place of this being okay, because we are encountering a parallel process with the characters, who are frustrated with each other and themselves about the same things. I do hope the pain/progress/joy ratios are not horribly out of whack most of the time. That’s another reason I like long chapters, because if this was just blips of sometimes terrible episodes in shorter form, I think it would be very challenging to not lose hope entirely.

But I’m so glad you’re finding the read meaningful, even if it’s sometimes painful and difficult.

(YES.)

And FINALLY -- (this is all soooo long, I’m so sorry.)

Oh, thank you for this question! My spreadsheet ended up getting too difficult to manage, and I actually had a small crisis six months ago about how the fic was going to end, because it just didn’t feel right. I had to scrap it and go back to the drawing board and really ask myself - what would these characters really do? Naturally, as a factor of their psychologies and circumstances, how will they bring this story to an end? Some advice I once heard about a “satisfying” ending is that it’s the place where there’s simply nothing more to say about the characters. There’s no more story to tell. I had to abandon all of my desires and ideas for a particular ending or concerns about making people sad or happy or excited or disappointed. I know that the only ending that will be satisfying is one that makes sense for these people. Anything contrived or backward-engineer-y wouldn’t feel right to anyone. I do have a couple of specific character arc things I want to happen, so I set those down as touchstones and said, okay, what would happen next? What would Steve do with this? And what would Bucky do with this? And what would they do with the thing the other person did? I take a very psychology and prior-behavior-based approach to plotting, almost all character driven. The rest is just figuring out what is supposed to go where and how to organize it.

I’ve converted everything to a Google Doc and have a very basic outline where I write plotty-plot stuff. I also have a “garbage dump” doc where I write certain lines I want to use or certain details I want to include somewhere. When I get into a new chapter, I’ll check the dump doc as I outline and write to see if I want to pluck anything from there. I have my outline open regularly to add to it. Sometimes I write scenes out of order, dialogue first, but that’s only if I really am excited about a particular scene and cannot contain myself. Otherwise, I write completely chronologically and have no buffer. I post things as soon as I write them.

As for your specific questions, I do have a “process” for getting into my characters’ heads. It helps to know them so very well and to have a firm sense of their idiosyncrasies and patterns of behavior. As you may have noticed, they repeat their patterns all. the. time, as humans do, but I also want to have them change their behaviors a little as things go and they progress. So I may wonder what they could do a little differently, why they would WANT to behave differently, and imagine what they would need to do to change their behavior. Do they need to take breaths? Do they remember the last time some shit went down? I really try to think of the “how” and “why” of every single action - from big blowouts to eye rolls.

So once I’ve figured out what they are going to do, I try to pinpoint the associated emotions I want to highlight. This is a whole separate process, because I have to think also about their internal versus their external emotional states. Steve, for example, will often have a discrepant inside and outside, because one of the truths about his character is that he is a chronic suppressor. There is also the issue of unreliable narration and interpretation of behavior. Steve might do something in a scene, but that doesn’t mean Bucky is going to interpret it the way it was intended. I have to think about their individual filters, which often reflect their internal beliefs about themselves. Bucky is more likely to read Steve’s actions as reflections of how BUCKY feels about HIMSELF (e.g., he’s disgusted by me because I’m disgusting) rather than imagine what Steve is really thinking based on his own experiences and beliefs about Bucky. I also attempt to convey some of the more second and third layer emotions that people have in situations, rather than only highlighting the primary emotion. Sad things don’t always just make people sad. Powerful emotions, for example, might make Steve feel out of control of himself, which could generate secondary emotions for him like frustration because he’s losing control. Part of the process in the construction of the narrative is also scrubbing what I’ve written for POV, because Bucky’s word choices aren’t the same as Steve’s, and in order to try to preserve the “voice” of each character, I often have to change the words I’ve opted to use, as well as the syntax.

So, as you can see, there’s a lot of layering that is happening all the time. As for the dialogue, I have no compunction about saying the lines aloud, “acting” them to see how they sound, to get a sense of what tone I want them to say things in. Now that I think of it, I do a bit of movement-based stuff, thinking about how people sit and stand, figuring how many steps it takes to get from A-Z, what it would look like to lean against something, how it would feel on the body, etc. I try to get the most felt sense of things as I can. If I’m imagining a scene, I try to put myself in the shoes of the characters to the point where I feel the emotions, just so I can know how it reflects in my body and my mind and behavior. I have more than once gotten drunk and drunk-written drunk Bucky then gone to clean it up later, as drunk writing can generate some great content I never would have been able to come up with sober, but the form, grammar, spelling, etc. is often rubbish. I also talk a LOT to my beta about all of this stuff, and I have certain friends and acquaintances in the fandom who are my consultants for various things.

So, I’m somewhat method I guess?? Is that a thing?? I dunno. It’s not hard to do when you live and breathe a story. It’s required a deep level of interest in - quite possibly an obsession with - the characters and their lives. I adore my characters, not in a self-congratulatory way, but because they feel so real to me. So it’s a joy to plan and write -- though I do hate first drafts with a passion.

OH - I also sometimes fast-draft chapters, which I did for 39. That is, write as FAST AS YOU CAN with no regard for how shitty the writing is. I wrote 10k words in a week, which was a finished fast-draft for me, and thus I had a very good felt sense of what was going to happen in the chapter, which felt amazing. It requires intensive outlining before, and nearly every word had to be rewritten, but one of the greatest frustrations of a story for me is having blank space ahead. Re-writing is way more fun than first draft writing. I have fluffed it up twofold with higher quality content, which I did all in less than two months…!!

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

Well, this is surely my most unnecessarily yammering YAIT in history. But I hope it at least conveys my enthusiasm for these wonderful asks! It’s so lovely to hear from all of you, even if I take an eon to get back to you. Hang in there, everyone!

@grimshady @hutchhitched @b0n3l3ssm1lk

(And thank you to @bae-buckyaboveeverything for the shout out. You made my day<3)

#you asked #baghdad waltz #asks

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bbq-hawks-wings · 5 years ago

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Series Review Pt. 1/3

So, this isn’t even a YouTube video where you have the advantage of hearing a voice over a recording with snappy editing to lighten the mood or convey feeling; but believe me that there was a lot of earnest sincerity put into the review this time around.

But before I put the rest of it under the cut, there are some corrections/clarifications I want to put down about my last review that I believe we're significant shortcomings on my part.

My first, and probably most MAJOR goof was my choice of words in trying to describe the scene with Hawks and Twice at the end of 263 - “ he clearly hasn’t killed Twice yet, and we don’t know why, but if he has to he’s prepared to do so without hesitation or remorse.”

BIG OOF. I hadn’t even been looking much at others’ opinions and the common-enough impression that Hawks doesn’t care about Twice at all/is incapable of empathy/ONLY concerned with his mission from the Commission. When I looked back at my own review, though I didn’t have any indication anyone believed I was one of those people (“without remorse” being the problematic phrase in question), I could easily see how others could get the impression and decided to wait until the next review to do a better job instead of just saying I would. My views on that particular scene will be clear later on, but at least that’s out of the way in case that was keeping people from reading this in the first place.

Second, I failed to arrange my observation points in a more ideal order. If anything, the fact that we were seeing that last page from Twice’s perspective should have been the first point. This mistake made it sound like a neutral assessment of the situation instead of an observation through the context of Jin's feelings. This ended up confusing even myself, as someone who usually writes these reviews solo, into forgetting to factor in that Twice's perspective may be warping the perception of Hawks guarding him into one of intent to kill while forgetting that the Hero Code forbids killing others unless it's truly a necessary last resort. For some reason, Sad Man's Parade and Twice's two-double limit also slipped my mind which brings me to the last point.

Third, I rushed things. When I rush, I make mistakes, sometimes pretty sloppy ones. It has been a ROUGH couple of weeks to be a Hawks or villain stan, even more so if you’re both, so for some reason I felt like I needed to get my thoughts out there quickly. I don’t have any kind of real incentive to do so other than a faster response - I don’t make any money off this, don’t have any relevance algorithm to feed as if I was on YouTube or Twitter, and I’m not the only half-decently known blog to hold these opinions so I don’t know what I was thinking. That’s my problem, but that doesn’t mean I have to make it anyone else’s.

For complete transparency, I’ve been reading and re-reading through the entire series canon again, starting with Hawks’ manga debut, and reviewing the entire series’ events and in-universe history, and have been taking literal whole pages of notes and drafts since Thursday the 12th. I’m glad I did because it brought to mind things that often get left out of pockets of fandom discussion who hyper-focus on their circles of interest while forgetting that each individual section is meant to work with the whole.

That’s what we’ll be working with today, and additional thanks goes to @baezetsu and @dorito9708 for volunteering as proofreaders and editors to make this more focused and concise. If you’re interested please keep reading. A fair warning, this is what we in the professional field call a “long-ass post, no seriously guys grab a drink and a snack we’re gonna be here a while.” It's actually so long I have to split it up into parts because Tumblr Mobile is stupid and doesn't like making the "read more" function available to the mobile version.

So here we go, people, let’s try this again one last time…

Where we’re at in Chapter 264 (or at least, you know, ignoring literally everyone in the series that isn’t these two) is Twice and Hawks’ confrontation in the study room; but let’s put a pin in that for now and come back.

The biggest piece of information to keep in mind is that even though both these characters are currently front-and-center and have major plot and symbolic value in the series, they are still not the main characters. Their conflict is also not the central conflict. Let’s zoom out to the big picture and see what happens when we put everything together at the end.

The whole inciting incident of the series is when humanity began to display superhuman abilities in a few random individuals. These abilities are neither inherently good or bad - they are constantly intended as neutral with the potential being dependent on the user. Eventually these abilities began to be collectively termed as “quirks” - literally just a single facet of each person’s unique identity. From a social commentary standpoint, quirks have been used as a narrative stand-in for the unique situational circumstances or combinations of circumstances individuals may find themselves with that are either mostly or completely outside of their control like aptitude, physical ability, race/appearance, mental state, and inherited societal station. While more of these examples have been explicitly stated and inserted into the story later on, quirks still serve as the main catalyst and lens by which these topics are discussed.

Because of the initially new and unfamiliar nature of these abilities, people who possessed them faced descrimination and persecution despite having no say in whether or not they had them; and some who did possess these abilities began abusing their power. Taking advantage of this, a man calling himself One-for-All took unwanted quirks from people and redistributed them claiming to want to help others and bring about peace but merely wished to amass power and a following for his own gain. Morally upright individuals eventually rose to the occasion and placed themselves between innocent bystanders and evildoers, earning no official reward or compensation for their work, though eventually they became so effective that they became recognized and endorsed if they went through proper governmental training and channels. These endorsed specialty crime fighters came to be dubbed “heroes.”

All-For-One had risen to prominence by this point and his loyal following actively supported him in his now blatant criminal empire despite the morally reprehensible actions he committed which incessantly terrorized innocent bystanders - earning him the title Symbol of Evil or Symbol of Fear. Eventually a hero named All Might rose up to specifically deal with All-For-One’s reign of terror, having worked his way up from obscurity taking down criminals and saving civilians in unprecedented numbers, determined to create a world where everyone could feel safe in the face of danger. Though only succeeding in beating AFO into hiding All Might ushered in a new era of safety and prosperity earning him the title Symbol of Peace.

Therein lies the central message - “It’s not the situation you’re given that determines your worth or potential but what you choose to do with it” - and the main conflict is - “I want to use what I’ve been given for my own benefit" vs "I want to use what I’ve been given for others.” Deku and Shiguraki are merely the next generation iteration of this conflict distilled down to their simplest essence. Deku's desire is to save anyone who needs help the moment he realizes they need it. Shiguraki wants to remove people's sense of security regardless of their character or situation.

This conflict is initially framed as simple - a clear black and white/good and bad dynamic that’s easy to see from a distance; but as characters and groups developed over time it’s become more and more difficult to tell the two sides apart. It was not a coincidence that immediately after introducing the clear-as-day bad guys to the series we were presented with the idea that who we perceived to be “good guys” could be bad people doing good things or that people could do good things for the wrong reasons when we were presented with the personal conflicts that Bakugo, Shinsou, and Todoroki all faced at the Sports Festival that were either their internal struggles with the way the were perceived by others or were their personal struggles with the way they perceived themselves. Immediately after that, we were introduced to Stain's criticism of modern heroes and shown who would come to be the core members of the League of Villains.

At the current events in the series we’ve waded through so many shades of grey we’re expected to determine who’s a “hero” and “villain” not by what they say but what they do, how they do it, and why they do it. The individual members of the League of Villains touch on various ways a person might be driven to a life dedicated either to the pursuit of personal satisfaction with no concern to others or to the active pursuit of destroying others, and generally the villains are some of the most morally gray characters we have in the series, though not all of them - the two most notable morally gray “good guys” are Hawks and Endeavor.

There’s one last thing to note about how the series chooses to distinguish morally gray characters as “good” and “bad,” and that ultimately boils down to the choices they make with the hand they are dealt - that being to help or to harm others. This is not quite the same thing as a “hero” and a “villian” (I know, as if it wasn’t confusing enough), but the series has now gone to great lengths to make a clear distinction between the ideals of heroism and the institution of heroism.

Looking at the difference in institutions and ideals as the series presents them we get a better picture of the actual core issues the series seeks to address. The institution of heroism is a utilitarian approach to maintaining a sense of order and safety, and it does so by incentivising people to resolve as many public altercations as possible in exchange for wealth and fame. Criminals are those who break the law regardless of the motivation for the crime or its degree of impact. The institution does not take into account factors that may drive someone to commit a crime nor is it concerned with the core motivations of those enforcing the sense of order.

On the opposite hand, the ideal of heroism offers no reward, no recognition, may require some amount of suffering on the part of the hero, and never guarantees that the victim in question will be saved. Conversely, villainy/evil is any action taken for one's own gain with zero regard to the impact on others and/or is any action committed with malicious intent. These definitions are about moral obligation and human to human connection.

While having a strong correlation (helping others because it's right usually helps the majority in the long run, and doing harm is often ultimately bad for the majority) these two schools of thought are able to function independently of each other. In other words, a criminal can be a good person fallen on hard times (like stealing food to feed their family, but only as much as they need from someone who won’t notice it missing) while a “professional hero” can be an evil person doing good things for the wrong reasons (like obsessing over gaining wealth and popularity with no mind to collateral damage they may cause). Most characters are categorized and even described in-universe as morally aligning with the institution they associate with; but several have been explicitly noted as exceptions to the rule such as Gentle Criminal and La Brava, Endeavor, and Twice.

Are we properly confused yet? Great, because there’s one more layer to consider! What do we make of someone who is trying to do a good thing (like saving as many people as possible from a known threat) but to do so has to make a choice that might leave a few people in the fire? Which outcome do we use to decide if this is a good person or a bad one? Do we judge based on intent or on the outcome?

Now we zoom back in to Hawks and Twice, but we’ll pick that up in Part Two.

Part Three

#bnha meta #mha meta #BNHA Chapter 264 #MHA Chapter 264 #BNHA spoilers #MHA spoilers #long post

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kyndaris · 4 years ago

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A Single Step and Then Another

Writing is no small feat. Ever since I was bitten by the writing bug, I’ve struggled with keeping projects afloat and maintaining interest in blog management. Before Tumblr, I tried to start a blog twice on Blogspot (now known as Blogger). Much of that came from my desire to track my days. Like keeping a diary or journal. But interesting things were far and few between. The days of my youth largely blurred together and I could hardly find the time to sit down and jot down my thoughts on school or university.

During primary school, when computers were still churlish machines that chugged along at a snail’s pace, I tried my first attempts at writing fanfiction. I didn’t know what it was called at the time, but my curiosity led me to tease out what happened after the Happily Ever After’s that were promised in certain Disney films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As ever, I proved an astute business woman, selling my perfectly printed books that were stapled on one side on the market for $2 a pop.

Alas, the only person that bought my works of genius was my mother.

High school was when I rediscovered my hobby. I was already an avid reader. Writing, while a more difficult challenge, once more sunk its claws into me. As always, I wrote to entertain - imagining daring mercenaries in a fantasy world or anthropomorphic animals clinging to a dying kingdom. Most were inspired by the stories I read and the video games I played. Many of the characters were named after my friends or were poor caricatures.

There were times, however, when I was writing that I wondered if perhaps I was stealing too many tropes from such classics as Eragon and the Fire Emblem franchise. As such, I often hewed and hawed over many of my works. By the end of high school, I deleted the one major story that I had sitting on my FictionPress. Mostly because I had no proper idea of where I wanted the narrative to go. And I was just filling it up with utter nonsense.

Yet the idea of a mercenary and a hidden princess persisted. I tried to use it again in my next writing project. Still, the land of Thlandaris never quite reached my lofty expectations. Changing everyday animals into weird fantasy creatures with fantastical names also didn’t help.

And so my writing stalled once again.

It was not until I began working, however, that I found my way back again to the world of writing. Though I hadn’t opened up a blank Word page in a while (at least for anything other than a university assignment or a job application), ideas aplenty danced and tossed around in my head. That, of course, was when I decided to restart my attempts at keeping a blog. Yes, I knew it would never really transpire into something majorly popular (though the hope remained that one of my many articles would become viral and a newspaper would decide to feature it), but I thought it would assist with my attempts at writing.

The going, however, was slow when I began work on Divided We Fall. The story itself went through three drafts. With the last one being the most complete. And while I would have sorely liked to have edited it, it had taken a good four years to arrive at what I had been hoping for. Even during those gruelling years of crafting the characters of Feryden, Elisander, Kiralt and Lathin (who were based on many of my earlier characters), I was also tempted by starting up a new project. Like many before me, it was easy to simply toss away an idea that was taking too long and do something different.

Despite that, I decided to keep a record of my many ideas for future stories. After all, if I could just finish one, then surely I had accomplished something.

Back to Divided We Fall, I went. And gosh darn it, I finished it in 2018. Along the way, of course, I had written several short stories. And, I had also managed to be consistent with my blog updates. Yes, many were just impressions and reviews of the games I played - but churning out one a week was also nothing to scoff at.

But I still had ideas aplenty filling my head. While I was quite taken with the idea of writing a reinterpretation of Snow White, my dear friend Hayatedragoon convinced me to stick with my first idea. The one that I hoped would be published as a short series of books. The Adventures of Lacet and Idana.

Throughout the writing of my stories, there were many times when I wanted to give up or delete everything that I had written. As with most creative types with a hint of perfectionism, I was my own worst critic. No-one would like my characters, I said! My dialogue is atrocious! The singular starting sentence was not enough to capture the attention of readers!

With time, however, I managed to silence those thoughts (mostly). There are times, still, when I have wondered if it has all been worth the blood and sweat. It isn’t as if I have publishers and agents beating down my door. Nor do I have a thousand followers on FictionPress leaving me with positive reviews of the things I have written.

I will be honest, a part of me yearns for the praise. And my genius to be recognised. But to do so, however, would go against the very reason why I began writing. The reason why I wanted to write was to weave my own tales. To explore the stories of characters that do not usually get the spotlight. While Lacet and Idana follow many tropes that are stereotypical to the fantasy genre, I like to think I’ve subverted a few expectations. Lacet is no wise wizard. Nor is he young (and incredibly hot) upstart mage. He is middle-aged. His hair is balding and he has a bit of a stomach.

Of course, as more chapters of Wild Child are uploaded to my FictionPress, I cannot help but worry if my writing will fall into the trap that so many others have done. Will I have ruined the characters by putting too much of myself into them? Will they all become Mary Sues by the end of it all? Will I overcompensate and so they all become terribly unlikeable?

In other news, I finished editing Monsters Beneath My Bed a couple of months ago as well. Yet I’ve delayed uploading it until I’ve the entirety of Wild Child is up. And before I could even think to rest on my laurels, I began another short story (which is still in progress at time of writing up the blog post) and committed myself to another novel length story. This time, however, the genre is a departure from my usual stomping grounds. Forget fantasy. Let’s try and commit to a modern adventure/ thriller!

Already I am regretting my decision. Nothing seems factually accurate and I fear that my attempt might just be deleted given another month or two.

But I will persist. The key to forging ahead, at least for myself, is to worry not about how perfect the quality of the writing is. That is what the editing process is about. Of course, even after editing, slip-ups can still occur. But by carving out the crude gem can one polish it. Such is the process of writing. And if you think I’m talking out of my arse, well, the first few seconds of Neil Gaiman’s ad for his masterclass in writing also provided the perfect analogy of driving with one headlamp and hoping the editing will make people THINK you knew where the plot was going from the very start.

Getting caught up in the nitty gritty of the perfect prologue (for almost two years) did not allow me to craft the entirety of the story. Nor did it allow me much exploration of the characters and other important facets of the world.

So, for those that are thinking of trying to write their own masterpiece, all I can say is start it as soon as the idea comes. And never waver. Sure, it might not be as good as you hoped, but all of that can be fixed later on. Also, never be afraid to look up synonyms on Google (or a thesaurus).

But what I found helpful as well was to learn by reading widely. I mean, authors were published for a reason, right? Let them inspire you on your own writing journey. And question what you can make better.

#personal blog #writing process

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paellaplease · 5 years ago

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Firebird | Chap.2

Summary: 105 years before the hero’s resurrection, a young woman trained under ancient knowledge once forgotten- enchants her very first weapon. For the sake of research and in search of a warrior worthy to wield it, she is sent to Rito Village, immediately clashing with the local archer, Revali, a bird too prideful for his own good.

Surviving deadly road-trips, sudden drops, and a hand bearing a Sheikah rune with a penchant for catching fire, she slowly begins to uncover the secrets behind who she once was and the old evil that lies asleep in the mountains beyond.

Chapter 1 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 2: The Chief

Good news and bad news. Fate plots her course and laughs in her face.

The enchanted dagger hung heavy from inside its decorative scabbard as she ascended the multiple wooden steps taking her near the summit of Rito Village. Along with her backpack full of notes, books and supplies, she was also unnecessarily armed to the teeth, by her standards at least.

Teacher carries twice this many weapons to a village picnic.

Maiya felt silly, listening to the dagger at her hip clank noisily alongside the sound of her other sheathed throwing knives. She felt more like a bag of metal than a mysterious enchanter from a land far away. The thought made her snort.

The young woman adjusted her now shoulder length hair, tucking it underneath her newly acquired bandana. She quietly mourned for its comforting weight when it used to hang long and healthy at her waist. Brushing it out in the morning was one of her few indulgences, and now with it gone she felt an uncomfortable gap in her usual routine.

The bandana was yellow and scratchy, but it was cheap and did the job in hiding her lopsided haircut. This is your punishment for not paying attention to your surroundings.

Maiya shrugged, clicking her tongue and clutching the railing at her side with a bit more force than necessary. There were more important things to worry about.

It’s just hair.

Humming a cheerful old folk-song, she attempted to summon her final dredges of courage as the number of stairs left began to dwindle. She was nearing the top and getting closer to the Rito Chieftain’s office.

As much as she hated to admit it, the near second brush with death had rattled her enough to have cost her sleep the night before. And she found herself more of a nervous wreck this lovely morning than she usually was. Comfy and plush the bed may have been at the Rito Stable, she spent the evening tossing and turning, plagued by night terrors.

For a moment, she thought it was the same nightmare she usually saw. Skeletons on horseback, metal clashing on metal. Voices, so many voices, calling out for her to run .

However this time instead of a sword plunging into her gut as she turned away, it was an arrow, coated in blue feathers, soaring straight and true towards her, piercing her skull’s soft flesh just between her eyes.

Maiya had awoken early that morning, finding it difficult to return to sleep. She packed her things and tipped the stablemaster, setting out for the village which blurred the lines between earth and sky, and reaching the connecting bridge by early afternoon.

Anxiously, she flexed her gloved left hand, willing the aching buzz of energy emanating from the rune underneath to recede. The soft glow seemed bluer, it’s shine reminding her of the Rito she had met the day before.

Not all travellers that passed by the forge at Akkala were sunshine and rainbows. Some were quite icy, or downright uncivil, her mentor not wasting any time to throw them out should they had overstayed their welcome.

However…him. What was his name again? That Rito. He was rude, callous, and absolutely full of it. Which made his willingness to help her all the more suspicious and confusing.

Maiya half expected the oversized bird to lead her towards a bokoblin camp in revenge to her interrupting his target practice. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find that his directions were indeed correct, and that she found herself back onto the Highway within hours instead of days.

What a weird guy.

At her thoughts, her hand glowed brighter. Surprisingly, the usual accompanying pain felt dulled. Almost…non-existent.

She glared at her left hand, pulsing like a blue beacon underneath her glove. Hush , she thought.

Another worrying memory gnawed at her brain as she climbed the final steps, clutching the railing to catch her breath. Back there, faced with the threat of imminent death, the rune on her hand reacted accordingly, reaching out to neutralize whatever threat was heading towards its host.

In hindsight, the protective fire wouldn’t have made it anyway, and the arrow would have killed her instantly. But the memory of a glowing blue light and the confusion she felt at a heavily feathered something running towards her still remained.

Maiya grimaced, looking out at the bright, blue sky to her right. ‘Helpful’ as the Rito archer may have been, she wonders how friendly he would be if he finds out she nearly burnt him to a crisp. Good riddance. I hope we never cross paths again.

Three more steps, two, then one. She reached the entrance of the Chieftain’s office. What was a light breeze from below was now a strong gust of wind at the summit, playing with the wisps of hair that had escaped her bandana and making her clutch her brown traveler’s coat tighter as she suppressed a violent shiver.

The outside of the hut was decorated with colourful silks and cloth, all printed with a white symbol of an oddly shaped half-circle with two wing-like geometric shapes fanning out from either side. She recognised it from her history classes with her mentor, the sacred Rito sigil. An emblem that had survived centuries of history.

Along with the banners, shells and chimes were strung up and hung along sections of the hut. They danced merrily in the wind, creating soft music which worked well in reducing some of her nervous panic. She wondered where they came from, the shells in particular, some looked to be from mostly molluscs.

Someone to her left just cleared their throat.

“Uh…Miss? Are you alright?”

Maiya blinked, shaking her head and turning to whoever just spoke.

It was a Rito, clad in brown leather armour. He had piercing blue eyes, which stood out like two bright stars against the coal black of his plumage. The partisan spear gripped in his right wing, and the bright red sash with the Rito emblem secured neatly to his waist indicated that he was probably some sort of guard.

One second passed. Then another.

Oh dear.

“I was staring off into space again wasn’t I?”

Surprisingly, a small, shy smile graced the guard’s severe stony face. “Perhaps,” he said, shrugging awkwardly. “You looked like you were trying very hard to set that yellow cloth on fire with your mind.”

Maiya let out a shaky laugh. Yikes, bit too close to home, birdie.

“Sorry,” she said. Rocking back on her heels and scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. “Anxious habit, I guess I’m a bit nervous to meet your chieftain…”

“There’s nothing to be nervous about.” The guard smiled kindly. “Chief Kamori is a wise and just leader. He has been dedicating himself to our village since I was a chick."

He quickly surveyed her appearance. Though his gaze was purely calculating, Maiya still felt a tad self-conscious as his eyes took in her worn coat and old leathers. The guard seemed to understand where some of her stress was coming from, beak quirking into a serene smile. "He worries little about formalities, Hylian guest, so do not feel concerned over not packing your finest silks and messing up your curtsey,” he winked good-naturedly.

Thank Hylia .

The guard turned his head towards the Chieftain’s hut, “I’ve watched him govern our great village for many years now. He treats all that meet him with respect and honesty.” The Rito then stood to attention, stamping his staff on the ground and making Maiya jump.

“We only ask that you do the same.”

Filled with new understanding, Maiya’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s a reasonable request to ask for,” she smiled.

She stepped forward to the cloth door, “Oh! By the way,” she said. “My name is Maiya, what’s yours?"

"Talako,” he said. “Protector of the Chief and Guardian to the peoples of Rito Village."

"Thank you Talako, hope to see you around I guess?”

“I hope so too, Miss Maiya."

And with that, she pulled the curtains back and stepped inside.

The Chieftain’s office was small and humble. Minimally decorated save for the large oak table which sat at the corner of the room. Glass lamps strung with carefully woven rope hung from the high ceiling, swinging lightly in the breeze.

Tall windows surrounded her from all sides, all kept wide open as the cool Tabantha air danced and whistled through the room, carrying the sweet scent of flowers and fruit. Beyond was a stunning view of the snowy Hebra mountainside, with rolling hills and white capped peaks which disappeared into the clouds.

Finally, in the middle of the room sat the Chieftain.

The Chief’s eyes were kind. His right eye was a dark shade of green, the same colour of grass after rain in the lush fields of her hometown. It was relatively clear, unharmed, contrasting with the milky white of his left eye, a long, old scar running jagged across it.

He was a rather large Rito, widely built and towering over her by a fair margin. His brown feathers were fading to grey in his old age, with the ones that grew under his beak decorated with silver plates and beads, braided to resemble a three pointed beard.

She’d never met a Chief before. Maiya didn’t know what she was expecting. Someone grander maybe? A throne instead of a rocking chair? But a part of her felt relieved. This Chief looked understanding, fair. He was dressed conservatively in simple cream clothes, the only splash of colour being a green scarf printed with the Rito emblem tied neatly around his neck.

Maiya’s eyes continued to roam the room, noticing the tapestry that hung at the back wall. Shells and feathers were woven into the fabric, with splashes of beautiful colour laced into its intricate weaving and embroidery.

It depicted a surprisingly wingless Rito, golden light surrounding them like a halo. They were dressed in a red and gold robe, which fanned out dramatically across the tapestry like a crashing wave. Flying down from the heavens to meet the flightless bird was a giant serpent like dragon. Its scales were the colour of wildfire, with outstretched claws that gripped and curled around a snow-white mountain. The Rito was reaching an arm up, as if to grab the bright star which rested in the beast’s gaping maw.

It was beautiful.

The Chieftain held out a wing, "Hoo! Hello!” he gestured for her to step further into the room. “Come in, let me have a better look at you! These eyes aren’t the same as they used to be, more a bat than a hawk unfortunately.”

The leader of the Rito squinted his good eye at her as she approached, widening as she stepped into the light. The expression he had on his face was puzzling. Open, almost trusting. As if he recognised the person standing before him now. Which would be impossible as this was their first meeting.

Stop overthinking.

“Hoo,” he smiled, “Are you the young Maiya that Nisandrey has been telling me so much about?”

That caught her off-guard. It was rare that she ever heard her mentor’s name spoken out loud. Let alone so casually by someone she’s never met.

“Yes…that’s me. Do you know my Teacher well?”

“Hmm,” the Chieftain said, turning his head to the stack of letters on the oak table. One of them was still rolled open, her mentor’s signature in the bottom in her favourite red ink.

“She and I have been friends for a very long time, young one.” He breathed, voice as light as the wind around them. “She says that you are progressing well in your studies.”

Maiya felt her ears go red, biting her tongue and clasping her hands behind her back to stop her from yelling out and fist pumping in the air. HOLY SHIT! YES! Yeah! Woohoo-

Instead.

She bowed her head bashfully. “Thank you, Chieftain. That is good to hear, especially coming from her."

The wise Rito chuckled, "No need to be so humble, young Maiya.” He then began to sit up slowly, minding his back as his talons touched the floor. “Where are my manners? I am Chief Kamori of the Rito Village. But you may just call me Kamori if you wish."

He walked to the side of the room, pulling a chair towards his and gesturing to her with an open wing to take a seat. "It has been a long time since an Enchanter had stepped foot on this village.” She thanked him and sat gently into the plush chair. Rito furniture, there’s just nothing else like it!

“Hardly an Enchanter,” Maiya said, relieving her shoulders from the weight of her travel pack. “I was granted the title just a moment before I left.”

Kamori smiled, eyes far away. “Ancient tales say that to be called an Enchanter means to have endured years of hard-work and intense study.” Sadness seemed to mingle with his voice as he continued. “Regardless of when it was made official, you are what you are now, do not belittle the efforts which have brought you to this point.”

She gazed down at her left hand, wondering to what extent her mentor revealed to Kamori of her abilities. Enchanting was a science as old as ancient history, but the methods she used were rather unconventional. Moreso magical even- an opinion Teacher would never agree with. If she focused hard enough, she could feel the active hum of energy running through the veins and nerves underneath the lines of her scar. The rune on her hand made everything easier, but the pain and fatigue that followed almost always trumped the allowances.

Many evenings she wondered if it was truly her skill and knowledge aiding her, or the rune acting as a permanent crutch. She was happy with her accomplishment, she wouldn’t deny that, but making a point to constantly take credit felt wrong somehow. Like she was cheating.

Maiya’s lips curved, bitter. Pride was never her forte anyway.

A short pause settled between her and the Chief when she finally remembered why she was here in the first place. Business now, self-deprecating internal rant later. Quickly, she reached down to the enchanted dagger at her side, unbuckling the scabbard and presenting it to the Rito Chieftain. “It will not harm anyone while sheathed, but please still be careful not to touch it,” she said.

“There’s a defect I still need to work through. From what I gathered, the elemental energy infused within it is still tied to mine. Teacher believes the ancient masters met this issue as well in the beginning stages.” She frowned, shaking her head. Don’t think he would appreciate a lecture . “The dagger burns all except for me, a powerful enchanter, and…"

“The warrior you deem worthy to wield it,” Kamori finished, smiling knowingly.

Maiya’s shoulders dropped. There it is. “Yes,” she breathed. “And you probably know that’s the reason why I am here.”

“Hooo, you are correct child. Dear Nisandrey…”

Maiya shivered. Such an endearing term before such a terrifying woman’s name was so unnatural.

“…has informed me of the details. You are very lucky, we have already named the village’s most skilled archer and fighter a few years ago. During the time, Nisandrey was invited to survey our new line of lightweight armour and weaponry, but unfortunately she had to decline due to previously scheduled…appointments.” The way his voice rose and dipped at the word appointments in a rough imitation of her mentor’s own accent made her laugh in surprise. Kamori sat back in his rocking chair, pleased.

"I warn you enchanter, the Rito warrior is skilled, but young. He can be quite vocal of his achievements and I’ve been told this can be slightly off-putting at times,” He paused, deliberating over how he should salvage her opinion of their chosen after his quick admission. “However, he is inherently good of heart and extremely diligent. I’m sure you will both find a way to get along.”

A bell chimed in the distance, accompanied by the sound of flapping wings.

"Hoo! I believe that is him now.”

Maiya stood from her seat, sheathing the dagger and turning to face the mysterious Rito that had just entered the room.

“Welcome back home, Revali, Pride of the Rito.”

Growing up, Maiya never really had much in the way of an extended family, or friends rather outside from the other smiths who frequented the workshop.

Hence, she can’t say she’s ever had the honour of experiencing the specific, delicious concoction of embarrassment, anger, and surprise from being on the other end of a prank or practical joke. And for many years, she was happy to keep it that way. Till now.

This is a joke right.

Her eyes were wide. Scanning the newcomer in disbelief.

Jade anklets, blue feathers, a familiar scowling beak.

Haha…

I’m in danger.

The chair behind her let out a loud screech , and she belatedly realised that she was unconsciously backing away and towards the nearest exit, which in this case was a window opening up to an at least 30 story drop.

She could feel her heart galloping in her ears.

To make matters worse, in response to her panic, the rune underneath her glove started to glow once more, sizzling the leather. A trail of black smoke rose from the ruined material, making her predicament obvious even as she tried to hide her hand behind her back.

Across the room, the Rito known as Revali stood, royal blue feathers ruffling as he slowly began to process who exactly he was looking at.

“What are you doing here?”

Maiya raised her smoking hand and waved awkwardly, “Uh…hello again.”

'Idiot! You big dumbass! What the hell was that?’

I don’t know I panicked!

“Hooo,” Kamori smiled, oblivious to the heavy cloud of animosity that now hovered over the two. “It seems you both already know each other. Excellent.”

#revali #botw #breath of the wild #revali x oc #loz botw #legend of zelda #botw fanfiction #revali botw #rito #rito botw #botw fic #fanfiction #writing #enemies to friends to lovers #paellaplease #firebird botw #maiya botw

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venus-says · 5 years ago

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Kamen Rider Drive Movies and Specials

This is the end of the road.

To finally close the Drive chapter in this journey here we are with the post about the movies. And this time it's extra special because I'll be talking about some of the specials for once, I usually never do those because it's too much of a hustle to go looking for them and I don't have that much time to watch them either, but to download some of the Movie Wars movies I had to download them from TV-Nihon batches and they include the specials on them so I thought, why not? Of course I did that before I had watched Drive and I saw that I didn't like it very much but oh well, they're on my hard-drive already I must as well watch them.

Anyway, there's a lot of stuff to go through so let's get to that right away.

Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future

This movie... oh this movie... I feel like this movie doesn't work at all after you've finished the TV series. And even if you haven't finished the series I think it doesn't work very well either because they expect us to have some sort of connection to a character that hasn't been around for more than 15 minutes, and whatever connection we have with this character also dies very soon when the revelation that he's actually a Roidmude happen so... Again, Drive doesn't do family drama all that well. Also a lot of recycled things from the show, like another evil Drive? Really? And Shinnousuke apparently dying and the belt being destroyed again? How many times did that happen in the show again? Another thing that watching this movie after the show kinda ruins it is the treat of the Global Freeze because after we see the show it's obvious that the Global Freeze is useless, heck they didn't even care to explain what it is and how it works so seeing that being the treat was just irrelevant to me. Also that ending when they "revived" Krim was such a dumb Deus Ex Machina, I was just rolling my eyes at that point.

Well, at least Chase had a good bad-CGI scene where he destroyed a big thing that I don't even remember what it was. And Proto-Drive Chase or whatever it is called was kinda cool as well. But the rest? Pretty meh I'd say. Also, this movie had a Ghost cameo?? That really surprised me seeing that he appeared twice in the show?? it felt a bit excessive, but oh well... whatever.

Drive Saga - Chaser

THIS MOVIE. IT HIT REALLY HARD ON THE FEELS. And I don't if it's because is centered around my favorite character or if it's really that good, but I really loved this movie.

I think they've checked all the right boxes when making a story for Chase and it was very well rounded, if I had to say a point that they lacked I'd say it was in the action, but I feel like that wasn't really needed because this was so focused on working on the characters so, in the end, the only thing that comes as weird from this movies was the uncomfortable comedic close-ups, the weird erotic scenes, and Chase bleeding that much to remove the feather from his chest, I'm not sure if an android would bleed like that, but it doesn't hurt the experience.

But they do hurt your heart, because seeing Chase get close to that kid was really adorable and seeing that he doesn't remember it at the end HURTS and hurts A LOT. I felt sadder for that moment than I felt for Chase's death, heck this movie made me feel more things than in the 48 episodes and 2 movies I've watched at this point. Gosh, it's so good. I also like the villain they chose for this movie, Angel was a very interesting Roidmude, of course, I'd rather if she didn't look so psychopath right at the beginning so it wasn't so clear that she had bad intentions, but for a one-off villain, she was great. It was also very fun seeing a "softer" Chase, props to his actor he was so different but he still felt in-character, you know? It didn't seem fake or anything, it was weird at first of course, but It was really good. I bet his vocal cords also really appreciated the chance of speaking in a normal tone for a change. XD In the end, this was really enjoyable, Chase once again being the best thing of Drive.

Oh, I almost forgot, another thing that was really fun was seeing Ryu again, that was really great. It also makes sense that the rider who can transform into a bike made a cameo in a show where the theme is vehicles. You know, I didn't really like Ryu during W but everything else that he has appeared he has been so great?? That's so weird. Also apparently now he has a child with Akiko???? What???? You know, for all the crap I give to crossovers and such even I must admit that seeing Ryu and how his relationship with Akiko has been developing is really awesome. I still don't know why anyone would want to marry Akiko and build a family with her, but if he's happy, good for him. XD

Drive Saga - Mach & Heart

You know, this one was probably the one I was less excited about, and it surprised me, but it also got me very disappointed. This was totally a mixed bag. I wish these were more connected, for Heart's part to work Gou needed to be there and that worked really well, but aside from the villain Gou's part had very little involvement with Heart's part and it felt like a letdown.

Heart's part was quite good, the set-up was great, the story was pretty decent, and I really liked the payoff. As I mentioned in my posts about Drive I didn't really care for the Roidmudes or for the rest of the cast in the Special Crimes Unit, but seeing Heart and Genpachi work together was quite awesome, I had a lot of fun. I'm still kinda meh about that amalgam Roidmude being a thing, it is a good villain I'm just picky about how this guy appeared, and I'm not the biggest fan of Heart's rider design, but Heart's portion has enough things on there that make easy for me to overlook them and consider it a solid especial. I like that he came back as a fluke, and I like that he has Brain and Medic on his head too, I like that Shinnousuke appears because of the thing he had with Heart, and the emotional bits between him and Genpachi worked beautifully.

The same can't be said about Gou's part because they decided to make a love story, and they also decided to put family in the mix because Drive really knows how to touch in family discussions, and this was just underwhelming as hell. It gave Gou some development, and at least that's good because the show lacked a lot in that department, and it's always great to see Chase again even though it was just some weird supernatural thing, but I really couldn't care less about the other stuff going on. But if you like Gou maybe this will great for you because you'll be able to see the dude becoming happy, so...

Drive Saga - Brain

This one was surprisingly good, I don't know why but I came into this thinking this would be a serious thing, but I was wrong because this is a special for Brain so of course it would be a comedy. I thought seeing that it was just a comic thing would throw me off of it, especially because I wasn't the biggest fan of Brain in the show, but here it worked quite well. It still has the things I don't like about the comedy in Drive, but for some reason, they didn't bother me as much here. I think what I like the most is that it knows that is something ridiculous, and it owns it, like there's a moment during the fight in part 2 where one of the villains says "but this weapon ain't yours, it's just a recolor" and I cracked the hell up, I loved the joke that Brain has only 600 Giga in his hard-drive making him even weaker than my previous computer, and the fake-out he did on the final villain where his final blow was a headbutt rather than a kick was just marvelous. I got a few spoilers from villains of Ghost and Ex-Aid, but it was worth it. This was fun, Brain's design as a rider was freaking cool as heck, it's a shame but also very funny that the comedic rider got the best form of this entire season, and I like that this serves as either a prequel or a sequel to the Mach & Heart movie. If you want something quick and fun to watch go do it because this one is great.

Drive Secret Missions

So these secret missions are kinda whatever, most of them aren't that good, but also most of them aren't that offensive, they're pretty mediocre. I think from these 5 only 2 are worth watching. Type ZERO is kinda okay, it doesn't add anything new so it's not that necessary, but we get to see Proto-Drive properly and that's really cool, his design is awesome, but that's pretty much the only interesting thing it has going for. Type TV-KUN is like a prequel for Drives episode in Movie Wars Full Throttle and isn't that good. Type HIGH SPEED is probably the worst of them because it's one of those Hyper Battle DVDs who have no purpose at all and are very boring, this one is even worse I feel because they try to make a full-length episode out of it and there's no need for that. Type LUPIN is another Hyper Battle DVD and while I love Lupin's design this one was pretty underwhelming, I'd say it was completely unnecessary.

Type TOKUJO, though, was pretty good, probably the best out of them and maybe the only one worth watching. Honestly, this story is so good it should've been in the TV show, I mean this gives inside on why each member joined the SCU, it's a fun case (despite the resolution being kinda dub, again), and also establishes that Bannou was inside Brain's tablet so it would've been perfect for it, I'd take this over any filler plot in the entire run of the show. I had a good time with it.

And that does it for Drive! Wow, this was very long, thanks for sticking with me until this far. If you have any thoughts, don't be shy, share them in the comments, I'd love to read them. Drive is over but this "marathon" isn't, and if everything goes right, the post with Ghost's first episodes plus his crossover movie should be out a few minutes after Super-Hero time finishes on Saturday (or Sunday, depending on where you are in the world). Once again, thank you so much for reading, I'll see you all around. Bye~

#Kamen Rider Drive #kamen rider

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fyrapartnersearch · 5 years ago

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Chapter 1; In Which Death Awaits and a Plot is Hatched

“You’re fucking persistent, I’ll give you that,” Izar growled, planting his foot in the snow and pivoting around to face the wards. He slammed his hands on the wards, causing a deep resonance to sound across the snowy grounds.

He was lifted off his feet and sent flying. Izar clenched his lips together before he gave a delighted laugh, not even stopping as he was deposited harshly onto the ground. He spread his arms out around his body, making tracks in the snow beneath him. Odd… he never had made a snow angel before.

Izar leaned his head into the snow, ignoring the eerie quiet that reverberated across the grounds. The army was flabbergasted at what had just happened, Izar knew. Though, hopefully they were impressed, because he was even impressed with himself. Sadly, it didn’t take long for the fighting to continue for he heard magic and curses being passed back and forth between the crowds a few yards away from his current position.

Chaos would erupt shortly. The two groups were still in quiet surprise over the areas lack of magic. Soon, the students and the professors would either herd together inside the castle, escape, or join the fray.

Until that time…

Izar kicked his arms and legs out, creating a snow angel beneath him. His green eyes stared at the sky above him, observing the snowflakes as they slowly drifted into focus. Without the soft and yellowed glow from Hogwarts, the only thing left to light the grounds was the half moon and the curses being released from their owners’ wands. He smiled thinly, finding himself feeling rather numb despite the situation that transpired earlier.

He issued a controlled moan.

“What… are you doing?”

Izar gave the towering man a look of disdain. “Exactly what it looks like, My Lord.”

Voldemort’s lips thinned as he watched Izar create a deeper snow angel. “They did warn me that the insanity was strong within you. Obviously, I hadn’t given it proper consideration.” A pause. “Until now.”

While his Master’s tone was light in his mocking, Izar could see the man deeper than that. There was a knowing glint in the crimson eyes as they watched Izar in the snow. The Dark Lord believed Izar was averting his focus and attention away from reality in order to avoid thinking about his near-death experience.

Was he? Possibly… no, most certainly. He had almost been absorbed into the castle’s wards. Izar had been taken off-guard. There was this nagging feeling that Izar could have prevented everything that transpired in the last few minutes.

–

Chapter 1; In which Death awaits and a plot is hatched.

Did the above introduction catch your interest? I sincerely hope so. I also hope that, from there, your eyes continue on, trifling through this post, absorbing the information I offer and nurturing a growing interest that will lead you to my door.

Writing is not just a pass-time. It’s an adventure, an extravagant and deeply fulfilling world created for our very own enjoyment - this is the reason I am now here in search of partners. Optimistically thinking, I have not scared too many of you away with my mutterings and lavish vocabulary!

Let’s move on, shall we?

First and foremost, I am here with a particular request. If this does not interest you, but my extract above did - then please direct yourself towards the following sentence: “While I am searching groundlessly for a partner to investigate a specific plot, I am very open to ideas of other genres; drop me a message, and perhaps we’ll find another ground on which to muse”

Onto the important stuff!

Who Am I?

Arik is the name, roleplaying is the game (or something like that). Online, I go by the aforementioned Arik or Ari, Ariikos Melanthios for those interested in the more formal route (and if you can tell me what those names refer to, I will be thoroughly impressed). I’m an 18+ British roleplayer working a full-time job that is taking its toll. I’m a little eccentric, which you may have noticed by now, and an avid gamer who’s looking for a new muse to fill in the gaps in her days.

How Do I Roleplay?

Due to my nature, I am comfortable playing all kinds of characters, including genders and sexualities, as well as races and nature of minds. There isn’t anything I’m not open to trying (or at least, not so far), so I’ll most definitely be your hot stud to your M/M romance or the sweetheart girl across the street for your F/F and F/M. You get the gist, right?

My roleplay posts will always be on the longer side, depending on the complexity of the plot, and the situation I’m in when attempting to write a reply. At no point do I expect you to match these lengths, especially when I get carried away, however, I do require enough that I am not carrying the plot alone.

What Am I Looking For?

Now, this is where the fun begins.

I roleplay in both original and canon universes. We’ll start with the arguably ‘easier’ settings, shall we?

I play both OC and Canon characters, but will always choose to play an OC. Doubling is fine, but I’m only likely to wish to play a Canon to your OC or Canon if the plot is especially interesting!

Harry Potter; any era, though less preference towards next gen. AU’s and crossovers are absolutely and avidly accepted!

Dragon Age; huge nerd of this game, please send any ideas my way, including oscure settings in the general universe but separate from the canon storylines. All of the games are fantastic!

MCU; comics and films, preference towards X-Men but generally open to anything.

The Witcher; books, games or TV series!

Telltale The Walking Dead; a little more obscure, but believe it could make for an interesting take on the original story?

Star Trek; new or old generation, or our own take!

Resident Evil; preference towards the films, but familiar with the games too.

Sword Art Online

Doctor Who; any doctor, or our own!

Honestly, I’m missing so many here, but just ask and I probably know it! If not, I’m always willing to do the research and put in the effort.

Onto original plots - in general, I want to create a world with you!

Fantasy

Sci-Fi

Urban

Dystopia

Mythology

Medieval

Etc

I’m usually open for anything, though I’m not a huge fan of slice-of-life. Anything with action, and I’m in.

In particular, I have a world, and a set of characters and I’m looking for someone to join in on the fun. This world is set within our modern one, with the twist of fantasy being a common feature in day to day life (think Hellboy). For the most part, Humans ignore them and go about their day. What’s important though, that even in this mystical reimagining of the human realm, still humans continue under the belief that the Gods are nothing more than fantasy - and lets not even consider demons.

But what if they were wrong?

More explanations upon a promising start to our communication!

What Am I Looking For In A Partner?

Paragraph replies - the longer the better - and ability to reply a minimum of twice a week (assuming neither of us gets caught up in real life, of course) is also preferable. Please don’t ghost me! I’m here primarily because all my partners have slowly melted into the shadows :c

Finally, please be open to ideas! I wish to get to know you, to create a story of our own creation that will grow as we do. I want both of us to suggest ideas for development, to agree on scenes and scenarios, so on and so forth.

I recognise I am looking for a lot here in a single person, but in my mind, I see this as a long-term project between two people, and a possible lasting friendship. If you’re not interested in this particular original idea, then do not be afraid to still drop me a message, and as I noted in the beginning - perhaps we’ll find other common ground!

Find me @

Ariikos#3683

[email protected]

Please introduce yourself upon the first contact, letting me know what you’re looking for! If you can provide information about yourself, your likes and dislikes, and perhaps even a writing example (which I would love to reciprocate) then you’d gain extra points in my book! You will absolutely be judged by your introduction :P

Looking forward to hearing from you!

#independent roleplay #oc rp #multiple paragraph #long term #submission

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