#two of my former students even dropped by and gave me gifts like i’ve only been a teacher for 2 years but this has been the best experience

[woodsy-hoe]

realizing today my students have saved my life/sanity more times than i can count like holy shit they really be helping me through this life lmao

[yourmidnightlover]

also.. fluff 10 and smut 5 maybe 😌

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: i LOVE fake dating.

fluff #10: fake dating

smut #5: first time (a classic)

CW: cursing, unprotected penetrative sex, fingering, oral (fem receiving), virgin!spencer, leaning towards dom!reader but not explicitly mentioned. *let me know if i’ve missed anhthing*

he needed something. something to make him seem less loser-y. he needed you.

spencer reid’s high school reunion was right around the corner. said high school reunion had all of the kids who would make fun of him, pick on him. the ones that stripped him naked on a pole. now he was 26 and in the bau for the fbi. he was successful. he made his mark. he saved lives.

but he still didn’t have a significant other. he didn’t have someone to come home to. he would have to go to his high school reunion with the knowledge that everyone was still more successful than him in the relationship aspect because he didn’t have that special someone.

“kid,” morgan intervened, “don’t let something like that make you not go to the reunion. you’re successful now. you’re pretty boy. that alone will rub it in their faces.”

“i know but everyone’s probably in a relationship now. they might even have kids and a wife or husband. i just... i want to seem like something to them,” he placed the lid on his coffee cup and began walking with morgan back to his desk.

“then ask someone to go with you. i know a little someone who wouldn’t mind posing as your girlfriend for a few nights,” morgan nudged his shoulder.

“morgan,” he rolled his eyes. “you know who i actually want to go with, which means you also know that she won’t want to go with me,” he finished explaining.

“y/n?” morgan whispered. “the girl who’s been fawning over you since she got here? the new liaison that’s been here for over a year that you still haven’t asked out?”

spencer turned his face to look at you through your office window. you were busy filing through cases, your head down in focus as you bit your lower lip while concentrating. your hair was crowding your face, obstructing the view of the beauty spencer has become mesmerized by.

“reeiidd,” morgan sang mockingly. “that just proves my theory. ask her out already.”

“i don’t want to ruin things, morgan,” he sighed as he sat down at his desk. “i wouldn’t even know how to ask her. i’ve barely kissed a girl, let alone ask one out.”

“you don’t have to ask her out, really,” he sat atop his desk. “just mention the situation and say she was the first person that came to mind, flatter her.”

“morgan, drop it,” spencer hissed as the bau filled a bit more.

“just ask her to go with you,” he said a bit louder.

“ask who to go where?” your voice rang through his ears, he liked up to see morgan smirking.

“uhm ask...” he ran his mind for another answer besides the truth.

“i know when you’re trying to come up with a lie, spence,” you chuckled.

“fine,” he sighed. “i wanted to ask if you’d mind going to my high school reunion with me?” he couldn’t meet your eyes.

“oh sure! that sounds fun,” you agreed. “why were you so nervous to ask?”

“well, you see,” he cleared his throat. “everyone in my class has a significant other and i just wanted to seem a bit less like a loser.”

“spencer you aren’t a loser,” you said sympathetically. “you save lives on a daily basis, you’re crazy smart, you have the sweetest personality, and you’re gorgeous. there’s nothing loser-y about you.”

“re-really?” he asked.

“of course, really,” you nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder. “and if you’d want me to pose as your girlfriend i’d be more than honored,” you added with a chuckle.

“thank you, y/n,” he smiled. “it-it means a lot to me.”

“of course. but for now,” you motioned to the files in your hand, “it’s case time.”

-

after a couple of months had passed, the reunion was finally upon the two of you. spencer had insisted on paying for your ticket to vegas because ‘he got you into this mess in the first place.’

you and spencer had to reserve one hotel room - courtesy of the school reunion. they just so happened to decide to allow the two of you to share one bed. it was reasonable, and cost efficient.

as the two of you entered the room, you were surprisingly caught off guard with not only the one bed in the room, but also with how nice the hotel room was. out on the balcony there was a jacuzzi that was covered by an awning. when you looked in the bathroom, there was a rather large tub and a separate shower adjacent to it.

“wow,” you awed. “this place is really nice.”

“i didn’t expect this,” he added. “i guess they saved the money from my actual high school years.”

you plopped down in the center of the bed, sighing as the soft mattress curved around your back, “i could really get used to this.”

“yea, me too,” he took the time to gawk at you as you seemed so peaceful, lying on the bed. “we uhm,” he cleared his throat, “we should probably start getting ready for tonight.”

“alright,” you groaned, slowly sitting up to prepare for the evening.

-

walking into his old high school, spencer felt a wave of nostalgia mixed with bile rising in his throat. this place was absolute hell for him. he was teased, ridiculed, practically tortured for being special.

“hey,” you squeezed his arm, which yours was wrapped around. “you’ve got this, spence. you aren’t the same defenseless kid you were back then,” you stopped him in the middle of the hallway and placed your hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them. “you are a successful adult with an amazing job and friends to support you. plus, you have a really hot girlfriend by your side,” you both chuckled at that.

“thank you,” he took a deep breath. “thank you for being here.”

“it’s my honor,” you placed your arm in the crook of his once more. “shall we?”

“we shall,” he smiled as you entered the gymnasium of his old high school.

spencer tried his best to avoid any glances or possible stares. it was nerve wracking, being here with his previous bullies. granted, with you by his side he was far less worried.

you had found a group of people he used to hang out with. he was never close with people in high school, but these kids at least didn’t make fun of him. they were all proud to see that the former child prodigy is now using his gifts for the betterment of their country. you had even seen his old math teacher that took a liking for him many years ago.

“spencer?” he heard a very familiar, chill-inducing voice. he looked up to see none other than her.

alexa lisbon.

“spencer,” she chuckled. “it’s me, alexa.”

he felt your grip on him tighten, reasonably so since you knew about what had happened.

“h-hi,” he stuttered out.

alexa wasn’t as beautiful as she was in high school. it’s true what they say about those who peek in high school, he presumes.

“how’ve you been? i heard you work for the fbi now?” she placed a hand on his shoulder, which he resisted swatting away.

“yup. the behavioral analysis unit,” he looked at you before wrapping his arm around your shoulder. “i actually met her there, at work.”

“...her? are you two...?” she retracted her hand from his shoulder as you curled into his chest.

luckily, you two had already worked out the kinks of your “relationship.” where you met, first date, how long, everything was figured out.

“yes. for six months now, actually,” he smiled and looked down at you. “it’s been an amazing time with her. i wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. i love you.”

“i love you too, sweetie,” you gave him a chaste peck on the cheek, noticing his blush once you retreated.

“well, that’s... nice,” she almost grimaced as she gazed over you. “how did he manage to get a girl like you?”

“like me?” you asked for clarification.

“y’know... beautiful?” she lent in towards you as if spencer wouldn’t be able to hear what she had said.

“excuse you?” you scoffed.

“you heard me,” she rolled her eyes.

“no, i heard you. i was just wanting to give you the chance to realize how incredibly dumb you sounded, but apparently you truly are just that. dumb,” you placed a hand on spencer’s chest protectively. “this is one of the strongest, smartest, and most brave men i’ve ever met. he protects our country every day by using his own intelligence, something you clearly lack. so next time you ever think about insulting him or me, i suggest you ask yourself whether or not your even deserving of talking to him.”

“i-i just-“

“just nothing,” you interrupted. “how about you go and annoy someone else with your lack of brain cells?” and she walked away with a roll of her eyes.

“i can’t believe her,” you scoffed, turning around to look directly at spencer.

“you uhm, you didn’t have to stand up for me like that,” he whispered.

“i wanted to,” you wrapped your arms around his torso. “she’s a bitch and it seemed like nobody has ever put her in her place. i’m glad i got the honor to do so,” you gloated.

“i know. but thank you,” he sighed, briefly looking over his shoulder. “i think she’s still looking.”

“do you trust me?” you placed your hands on the side of his face, drawing his attention to only you.

“always,” he nodded as you got on your tip-toes, gently pulling his face into your own.

he placed his hands hesitantly on your waist, helping to hoist you up to meet his own lips. it was better than he’d imagined - and boy, did he imagine this. you were gentle, and delicate but provided the passion that spencer shared with you, pulling his bottom lip between your own and gently nibbling it. he let one of his hands trail up your body, going to the back of your head to deepen the kiss. at this point, he had forgotten all about alexa and the other students at the reunion. it was just you and him.

“can we-“ you whispered softly to him, your forehead pressed against his, “can we get out of here?”

“please,” he breathed out as you grabbed his hand, pulling him back through the doors of the gymnasium to exit.

-

as soon as you opened the room, you were on each other. you nearly tore his jacket off of him as he worked on the dress you had worn. he wanted to take his time, to relish in this moment while it lasted, but his own eagerness betrayed him. he was far too excited to be able to slow down.

his hands roamed your body, pawing at the soft tissue of your breasts over your bra as you moaned into his mouth.

“take it off,” you sighed, allowing him to reach behind you and unclasp the clothing.

“fuck,” he awed upon seeing your bare chest, you giggled at his eagerness.

as he gawked at your chest, it was almost as if something had clicked in your mind. and he saw that it had.

“have you... done this before?” you asked, your hands moving down to his shoulders.

“like am i a... a virgin?” he bit his lower lip as he saw you nod. “... yes.”

it didn’t truly surprise you. he had never had a long term girlfriend, and as a child prodigy sex was probably pushed to the back burner.

“are you sure you want your first time to be with me? i’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be special,” you smiled half heartedly.

“of course i want to do it with you. was your first time special?” he rebutted, maybe he knew it wasn’t special ahead of time.

“you deserve for yours to be, though,” you tried to reason.

“it will be if it’s with you, please,” he let his hands trail to your waist as he gave you his best puppy dog eyes, pleading for you to keep going.

“and you’re sure?”

“so sure,” he whispered, smiling before connecting your lips once more.

you were content with that answer. he felt your hands wound in his hair once more, gently tugging at the locks to elicit a groan from spencer. you slowly pushed him back to sit on the bed and straddled his hips, his hands still firm on your waist. clearly, he still wasn’t sure if he was allowed to touch. placing your hands atop his, you trailed them to the front of your body, stopping them once they reached your breasts. he looked up at you with eyes seeking approval, which you granted in the form of a nod. he leisurely took one of them into his mouth, your head rolling back in pleasure from the feeling. his hand continued to work on the opposite side, tweaking the nipple when he took it between his teeth.

“so good to me, spence,” you praised from his lap, slowly grinding against his bulge to seek any form of relief.

you were both getting more and more eager as the time passed, evident by the groans and whimpers that left each other’s mouths. because if this, you ran your hand down his front and let it remain over the bulge before gently stroking it.

“y/n...” he murmured. “please, i-i need...”

“need what, baby?” you asked with a smile. “need my mouth on you? need inside of me? tell me, sweet boy.”

“anything,” he decided to go with. “i need anything.”

“how about i just...” you got off of him to remove your pants before looking back at the man sitting before you. “care to even the playing field?”

“ri-right,” he chuckled before standing up to undo his belt and throw his pants off, followed by unbuttoning his shirt.

“so fucking pretty,” you walked closer to him and slid off your panties. “do you think i’m pretty, too?”

“i-i- of course, i do,” he reached for your waist hesitantly, eyeing your now bare pussy, his nerves not getting the better of him.

“yea?” you straddled him once more but this time pushed his torso down so he was lying on the bed.

he felt your hand trace his bulge that was still trapped inside of his boxers. the light touch was enough for him to whimper. he wanted nothing more than to make you feel good, but he was too mesmerized by the feeling of you.

“morgan has a point when he calls you pretty boy,” your lips were now happily decorating his neck. “i’ve never met a man who i can confidently call pretty, yet here you are.”

“plea-please,” his hips bucked up before you reached inside of his boxers, pulling him out of the fabric.

“before we keep going,” you paused for a moment. “i have condoms in my bag, but i’m clean and on the pill if you’d want to...”

“... not wear one?” you nodded your head. “i’m clearly clean, too. and i just - i really want to feel you.”

“perfect,” you chuckled. “let me do the work, baby,” you sat up temporarily, placing his dick just below your center. “you feel that? how wet i am?”

“yes, god, yes. i feel it,” his hips bucking forward allowed his dick to rub between your folds.

“that’s from you, my sweet boy. all you,” you ground your hips against his member once more, sending his head flying back from the friction.

“please,” he breathed out with obvious frustration. “i-i won’t last long if you keep going.”

“alright, i’ve got you,” you finally rose your hips, reaching between the two of you so you could line him up with your entrance before slowly sinking down on him.

“oh my god,” he whimpered. “you’re-you’re so tight and wet and - god.”

“does this feel as good for you?” you asked as you stayed stationary on his lap, trying to let him soak in this experience as much as he could.

“probably better, if i’m being honest,” he let his hands grip your hips with a bruising touch, too eager to realize his own strength.

“i doubt that,” slowly, you rose your hips before dropping them back down.

spencer’s hands found their way up to your chest, gently pawing at them with fascination. his hips began to meet yours as you picked up the pace.

“fuck, it feels so good,” he cried out, placing one arm around your waist so he could fuck you from beneath.

“ditto, pretty boy,” you groaned as his hips picked up the pace. “so fucking eager, baby. you feel so good inside of me. cum whenever you need to, baby. i want you to cum inside me.”

“fuck - i’m gonna - i-i-“ his hips thrusted up one more time before spurts of his cum filled you up. “oh, fuck!”

“oh, you did so good, sweet boy,” you stroked his hair as he fucked his cum into you, trying to ride out his orgasm. “so, so good.”

you continued to rub his shoulders and stroke his hair as he came down from his high.

“you didn’t come,” he whispered against your chest.

“it’s alright. i still enjoyed myself,” you smiled at the sentiment. “sex isn’t always about coming. it’s also about the intimacy.”

“but i wanted you to come, too,” he nearly whined. “can i... can i make you feel good, too?”

“how do you wanna do that sweet boy?” you wanted to hear him say it, that much was obvious.

“you know,” he turned his head on your chest, placing a chaste kiss on your breast.

“do i?” you tugged gently at his hair to hear him whimper once more.

“please, can i...” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “perform oral on you?”

“oh, i love it when you talk dirty to me, doctor reid,” you sighed with a soft chuckle. “of course you can.”

you lifted yourself off of him before he slowly rolled you over, kissing his way down your body to meet with your center. he placed a soft kiss to your clit before licking a broad stroke up your slit, cleaning up the mess he made inside of you.

“fuck, good boy,” he moaned at the praise, wanting to hear more and more every day.

and he worked for the praise. he lapped at your center and sucked lightly on your clit, quickly building the tension inside of your stomach. once he entered his finger, unprompted, you questioned how experienced he truly was. he curled the finger inside of you expertly, trying to find your g-spot and successfully doing so. it was only a few stroked from inside of you and sucking on your clit for a few more seconds when you came on his fingers, tugging on his hair and digging your nails into his shoulder.

“fuck, spencer!” you moaned out, throwing your head back as he worked you through your own high.

once you had come down, it took pulling spencer up by his shoulders for him to let up on your pussy. that man might’ve been made to eat a girl out.

“you did so fucking good, spence,” you praised before connecting your lips, gently sucking on his tongue.

“that was...” he trailed off, trying to think of the right word to describe it. “it was enticing,” he settled on.

“yea?” you chuckled against his lips.

“yea,” he smiled back before sucking your bottom lip between his own. “thank you, for this.”

“thank you for trusting me with this,” your fingers twirled his locks between your fingers.

“i don’t know how this normally works but... i think i just really want to-i want to...” he squinted his eyebrows before ripping the bandaid off, not wanting to sound too squishy. “can we just cuddle? i think i need to feel close to you.”

“of course we can, spence,” you replied. “but first i need to pee. i refuse to get a uti,” you quickly got up and ran to the bathroom, returning later and finding him cuddled underneath the sheets, leaving space on the bed beside him for you.

once you had laid down, he laid his head on your still bare chest. he loved the closeness and intimacy being bare with you had, and he had never felt it before.

spencer knew he had chosen the right person to not only share his high school reunion with, but also share his first time with. perhaps you would be the first, and last.

[chaeiimimi]

02 𝖍𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖔 𝖇𝖆𝖇𝖞

Summary: you weren’t really sure how it happened, but an average student who wore glasses and spent all her extra time on bookstores and library managed to date your school’s volleyball club setter. On your 3rd year of law school, your ten years anniversary to be exact, he went home from Argentina and it was a week before he was going back, he broke up with you with the reason of he can’t handle long-distance relationship anymore despite being at it for two years. You didn’t cry, you stood there as he was sobbing in front of you, you held his face in your palms and offered him a gentle smile, gentle enough to let him know you’ll support him and will always be watching him, together with the child in your stomach right now, but he doesn’t need to know that.

chapters: prev//next

after feeding Hayato, you spent the whole morning preparing for your afternoon picnic with the boys, cooking up food, cleaning the house and preparing the picnic basket, it was your day off

by afternoon, Akira called you during their stopover saying she wants you to pick her up tomorrow morning which you agreed to do

it was a well-spent afternoon, you walked to the park, pushing twin stroller. 

you set up the picnic blanket and the food as you laid the twins on the blanket and almost immediately they crawled around the cloth giggling at each other while you indulge in a new book, a sandwich and an iced coffee

the neighborhood teenagers played with your sons (with your permission ofc) cooing at how adorable they were

you spent a good four hours in the park, it was already getting dark when you decided to go home, you kept your stuff and journeyed back home , dropping by the grocery store in front of your place to stock up on your food and your babies’ food 

the store was owned by two lovely old couple who were always happy with having you come by, they would give you coupons for baby food and offer to take care of the boys as you shop, it wasn’t only the elderly couple who loved the boys, your landlady who got divorced the same year you gave birth to your kids also loved them and brought fruits for you during her visits, the couple and their three-year-old son next door loved inviting you every so often, the lovely flower shop owner down the streets gave you flowers on mother’s day when she saw you were pregnant even the Thai food restaurant owner and his daughter loved giving you discounts on takeout with the promise of bringing the twins with you the next time you come visit

you were truly blessed to have such an amazing and friendly neighborhood 

when you arrived home, you quickly put the groceries to their rightful places, gave the twins a bath and tuck them in and then finally eating dinner

you were now standing in front of the airport, waiting for your best friend to arrive, you left the twins in the care of your parents

“besstiieeee” the shrill voice of your bestfriend invaded your ears as she ran towards you and gave you a tight embrace which you reciprocated

damn you missed this woman so much

“oh my gosh I missed you, you crazy woman” you rolled your eyes at her but there was a happy smile on your face

“where’s your hotel? let’s take your stuff there” you suggested

“oh no don’t worry about that, my assistant already took care of that”

sometimes you forget that your best friend was now a world-renowned photographer 

you nodded silently 

“let’s go shopping for clothes to wear tomorrow” she squeals enthusiastically

“oh yea sure i’ll accompany you, I have clothes at home-”

“oh no girl, we are glamming you up” you looked at her with a deadpanned expression

“what? i haven’t seen you glammed up, since- i don’t know High School Prom? pleaaassseeee” and then she hits you with her puppy dog eyes 

you just sighed knowing you were in for a shopping spree that lasts for an eternity 

“Asahi-san” 

you tilted your head in confusion as you walked in a fashion store owned by  Karasuno’s ace?

“hello to you Akira” he said in a gentle voice 

the first time you talked to him you were actually shocked at how gentle his voice is, he always seemed so...intimidating?

“can you pick an outfit for my best friend? we’re attending a high school reunion” 

he looks at you and offered you a small smile 

“alright, this way ladies”

you were now standing in front of the venue, wearing a tight gray dress with a white long sleeve kind of see through material underneath and some black heels (this) while Akira stood beside you in her pretty red velvet dress

your heart was thumping really hard against your chest, it felt like it was about to break your ribcage, you wanted to back out right then and there 

“let’s go?” Akira asked patting your shoulders as you nodded nervously 

you entered the venue and saw a lot of familiar faces, you were not very friendly during high school and you were either known as “Oikawa’s girlfriend” or “Akira’s bestfriend” 

but you did greet the people who greeted you and exchanged smiles with some people often

you even met Kyotani, Yahaba, Kindaichi and Kunimi at the bar as they greeted you and Akira 

you gave them a “good evening” and a smile

unlike you, Akira was a sociable person, that’s why you were left in a table alone while she greets her old friends, you even had to assure her that you were fine

“Y/n” you turn your head to the direction of the familiar voice

“Iwa” you smiled at the former ace 

“it’s been so long, how are you?” he asks as he sits on the chair beside you

“I’ve been good” you smiled 

there was silence for a while when he suddenly spoke up

“how are they?” he asks 

“they grew up healthy and happy” you tensed up a little bit

“did you receive my six-month gift?” he asks and you chuckled

“yes Iwa, the stroller was very convenient, thank you” you gave him a smile 

“are you planning on telling him?” he asks

you gave him a sad smile

“being in the same industry, you know fully well that now’s not the right time” 

he nods at you silently, yes he knows, but he can’t help but feel sad for his bestfriend, he was missing out on a lot, he also can’t help but feel sorry for you, you were only in your mid twenties yet you are carrying such a heavy burden

raising a child isn’t easy, let alone raising twins, parenting and finance are no where near easy tasks

“iwa-chan you-”

that moment, your breathe hitched, the pounding of your heart muffled the music blasting, your throat started to tighten and there were tears ready to form at the back of your eyes

you wanted to run to him, hug him tightly, tell him everything you’ve been going through since he left, tell him about his sons and how they resembled him so much

but you were stuck in your seat 

“hey”

“hey” 

still kind of surprised that some people liked this story tysm <3, you can send me a dm or an ask if you guys want a tag on every chapter update, I’m also open in accepting requests

Reblogs and comments are appreciated😊💖

[dragon-fics]

(The Dragon Prince) A Different Life (Mentor!Aaravos X Apprentice/Reader)

Online classes had me very bored, so I started to think back to my original prologue of HA and here is the basic Idea I had, in first person.

This is partially based on @kurizeria‘s OC Naymora and her story with Aaravos.

Chapter summary: You are Aaravos’ elven apprentice in a time before Dark Magic, the Mage Wars, the division of Xadia and, Aaravos’ imprisonment.

Prologue, Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3 , Pt. 4, Pt. 5, Pt. 6 , Pt. 7, Pt. 8, Pt. 9, Pt. 10, Pt. 11, Pt. 12, Pt. 13, Pt. 14, Pt. 15

Centuries before Aaravos’ imprisonment

“Master? Where are we going?” I whined, chasing after him.

Aaravos sighed. He’d started to do that a lot recently. Was I becoming annoying because I was a teenager?

He spun around, his dark cloak whipping behind him. “(Y/N), we’re going to Elarion. Like I said this morning?” he said, as if he were trying to jog my memory.

I placed my hand on the strap of my satchel. “You didn’t mention anything this morning,” I muttered, “you just said it was time to leave.” He had become very forgetful recently and almost presumed I had telepathic powers like dragons do—and I am not a dragon.

Aaravos pinched the bridge of his nose. “Right... I’m sorry. I’ve just been very busy with Ziard’s project.”

We started walking again. “The ‘project’ he so desperately needs the Archmage to help him with? Why can’t he just do it himself, if he wants the ‘project’ finished so badly?” I was becoming irritated with this human ‘mage’. He visited almost every day and made demands about the project, asking Aaravos to have it done quickly, when he had done all but nothing to aid its completion—whatever it was. And every time he’d visit, he’d eye me disgustedly and insist I leave, even if it was in the middle of a lesson.

He drew in a sharp breath. “(Y/N), you need to calm down. Once the project is finished, Ziard will be out of our lives, I promise.”

Crossing my arms, I said, “I don’t like this, Aaravos. I can see such darkness in him. Whatever this project is, I hope it doesn’t bring more harm than good.”

“That makes two of us.”

I glanced at him. Was that regret in his voice?

“So, what is this project?” It was a question I had been wanting to ask for months.

Aaravos hesitated. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

He glanced at the long object on his back, wrapped in burlap and string. “It’s best you don’t know.”

I looked at the path ahead of us, Elarion was just beyond this hill, I had travelled enough times to the city with Aaravos to know where it was from here.

Aaravos looked up at the hill and reached inside his cloak, pulling out a small bag of coins. “Go to Elarion and find somewhere to eat, I’ll catch up with you later.”

I followed his gaze. “You’re meeting him here?”

“Just take the money, (Y/N). I’ll see you in Elarion.” He placed the coins in my hand and started up the hill.

I frowned and did I was told, tucking away the bag under my cloak.

*-*-*-*

Aaravos’ stead galloped ahead of mine as the moon lit our path dark overgrown forest path.

“Master, what’s happening?” I called out. He had woken me up in the middle of the night in a panic, saying someone was coming and that they knew everything. He muttered about his regret in making something and making something for ‘him’.

He said nothing, just kept moving.

“Aaravos!” I called.

“The Mage Council is hunting me,” he shouted above the steads’ hooves and the sounding his cloak.

“Why?”

He didn’t respond. What had he done?

I reined my mount to a stop. He released a snort of displeasure.

It took Aaravos several moments to notice I was missing. “Why did you stop?!” he demanded, turning his stead around and rejoining me.

“What have you done?!” I retorted. “What have you done that has not only placed you in danger, but me, your apprentice, your child?!”

Aaravos hung his head in shame, something I have never seen him do before. “I’m sorry.”

“What. Did you. Do?” I said, irritated.

“Ziard is dead. Before Sol Regem killed him, he told Sol Regem that I had given him the staff. The staff was his project.” He looked up at me.

“You started all this? The Dark Magic, the humans being banished, the Mage Wars! You...” I paused, unsure what else to say. “You created that... weapon.”

“(Y/N), please... It was supposed to be a gift, and act of equity from us to humanity.”

I held my face in my hands. He had talked of this ‘act’ since I was an elfling and I knew very well he had never meant to hurt anyone or bring such destruction and hate.

I lowered my hands and drew in a breath. “So, what are we going to do now?”

“Hide.”

“They’ll find us, no matter wh—.“

“You. You need to hide,” he said solemnly.

“What about you?” I moved my stead closer to his.

He raised his hood and looked back at the trail, to the sound of heavy paws and shouting coming closer.

“No! I’m not leaving you to them! They won’t hesitate to—,“ I cut myself off, unable to finish my sentence.

Aaravos placed a hand on my cheek and kissed my brow. “I rather you be safe.”

“They won’t stop at you, they’ll think I’ll know something as well.”

He paused and turned his mount around. “You’re right. So,” he turned to face me, “are you with me?”

“Yes, Master,” I breathed.

We started off again, but our steads weren’t as fast as the hunters’. With every second they got closer and our path was getting harder to traverse.

“Can’t we teleport?” I asked over the hoofbeats of our steads.

“No, they’re too close and we’re moving to fast and the search parties are everywhere right now.”

I looked on at the path ahead. There had to be some way to get rid of them.

But then they yanked me from my saddle and pulled to the ground. I yelped and grunted as I hit the ground. I looked at my arm, a metal whip was wrapped around it.

“(Y/N)!” yelled Aaravos.

“Keep going!” I shouted.

He hesitated for a second before his stead ran off.

I was about to draw a rune to cut the wire when they pulled me up onto another stead. I elbowed the rider, but they drew a sleep rune and I fell limply into their hold.

*-*-*-*

It had been centuries since I had last seen Aaravos.

And now he had been captured.

I followed my new master, and Aaravos’ former master, Kalani. An elf so tall and old I was sure he was older than the eldest tree in all of Xadia. He had the most beautiful pale skin and horns that shown like gold that were as large and as detailed as a moose’s, just more curved and elegant looking. A mass of blue robes that faded from pale blue to the darkest night sky, hung on his body with such a long trail that I often tripped on in—and often his hair as well.

We were beside the Moon Nexus, on a full moon, surrounded by dozens of Moonshadow mages.

“Are we ready?” Kalani asked the master Moonshadow mage.

“Yes, Archmage.”

The name he gave him made my hands curl into a fist. How dare he call that arrogant elf that?!

But I stayed as stoic as I could until Kalani turned around. I mimicked his action.

“Bring him here!” he ordered. They pushed a mirror towards us, it was bronze and gold with runes around the glass. Some hunters came forward, their weapons nudging forward... Aaravos.

I looked down, forcing myself away from his bruised and cut face, torn gown and damaged jewellery. He was leaning forward, his hands bound behind him.

“Kalani!” he growled as they pushed him forward. “Why am I here?” His eyes drifted over to me, and I forced myself to look at him. I wanted to rush over to him and heal him, but I couldn’t.

His ears dropped. “(Y/N)!” he forced himself upright and turned to Kalani. “Why is he/she/are they here? He/She/They shouldn’t be punished for my mistakes.”

“I’m perfectly aware of that, and he/she/they have been an excellent student,” he twirled a lock of my hair. “So, he/she/they won’t be joining you in your prison, Stella Carcerem,” he looked to the mirror.

Some mages pushed Aaravos towards it and began chanting, as did Kalani. The runes on the mirror glowed, and the glass looked like it was made of liquid. I forced myself to watch as a yellow hue left Aaravos’ body and was pulled into the mirror. His spirit.

He fought it, standing in a meditative state to keep his spirit inside him. But to no avail. Before the last of his spirit disappeared, he opened his eyes and gave me a small smile. And he was gone.

The runes on the mirror faded, and the glass became solid again. “It is done,” Kalani said.

I stepped forward, looking at the mirror; it was blank. Kneeling by it, I placed my hand on the glass. “I’m sorry, Father.” tears spilled from my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

The mages slowly dispersed and left me with the mirror.

“We’ll meet again, Master,” I whispered. I softly chanted a reincarnation spell, one that would allow to meet up with him again and free him. My skin became luminescent.

“I’m sorry future me, but you need to do this. For Aaravos,” I looked at my reflection, though I thought I could see Aaravos looking at me before my body flashed.

And then—

Darkness

[demig00ddess]

Sleeping Beauty

Charlie Weasley x MC

A/N: I’ve rewritten this chapter several times, and I still don’t know what turned out.

————————————————————

CHAPTER THREE

TIMELESS GIRL

       1998.        Ginny sat in the Potions classroom and drew diagrams for her Quidditch practice on a notebook. The arrows crawled slowly across the paper, intersecting with each other.        At first, she tried to help Slughorn and Hermione with the potion, but when the professor started talking about the fact that a natural-born potion master Harry Potter could easily cope with this potion, Hermione began to chop the dittany with such anger that Ginny decided not to get in the way. Now Ginny was throwing sympathetic glances at her friend and wondering how to get around the Ravenclaw’s defenses. The red circle with little G that marked herself couldn’t reach the rings at the other end of the field.        “Oho! Anderson, think of it!” Slughorn patted his round belly, sniffing at the potion. “Of course, I’ve heard a lot about her. I once taught her father and older brother, he was a very gifted young man. No, no, two drops will be enough, my dear! It’s a pity I left the teaching post before her studying, I would like to gather their whole family!”        Slughorn was in a rather talkative mood, talking incessantly about his former students. Ginny made a face at Hermione, it seemed to her that they were back in the Slug Club.

       Slughorn’s story about the popular Quidditch player Ethan Parkin, with whom he still kept in touch, was interrupted by an embarrassed first-year girl. She looked around the office and, not noticing Ginny sitting on the desk, turned to Hermione.        “Excuse me, are you Miss Weasley? Professor McGonagall asked to tell Miss Weasley that her brother has arrived at Hogwarts, he is at the Great Hall now.”        “Finally!” Ginny jumped off the desk, startling the girl. She squeaked in surprise and nearly fell onto the ingredients cabinet. Ginny grabbed her at the last moment.        “Professor, can I go?” she wasn’t sure whether it was necessary to ask permission and decided not to upset the professor.        “Yes, yes, of course, go! We’ve got the potion almost ready, I’ll send Miss Granger to the hospital wing with it,” Slughorn said good-naturedly, stroking his walrus mustache.        Ginny grabbed her things and ran to the stairs, nearly hitting the unfortunate first-year with her bag. She couldn’t wait to see her brothers. She looked forward to their reaction, because even she wanted to see Emma. Descending from the sixth floor didn’t take long, a lanky figure with hair gathered in a ponytail loomed in front of the doors of the Great Hall.        “Bill!” Ginny flew up to her brother, hugging him.        “I asked off and came as soon as I could. It’s true?” Bill looked Ginny in the eyes, as if not believing what was happening. Ginny smiled and nodded at him, noticing her brother’s relief.        “We found her.”        “Mr. Weasley, here you are,” Professor McGonagall hurried to them. “Is the potion ready yet, Miss Weasley?”        “Yes, Hermione should have carried it in by now.”        “Fine,” McGonagall nodded and began to say something to Bill. At this point, Ginny was distracted by Jimmy Peakes, a fifth-year Gryffindor Beater.        “Ginny, hey! What’s with tomorrow’s training? Coote said you were preparing a new strategy.”

       Ginny lingered (Peakes couldn’t figure out why she wanted training early Saturday morning) and lost sight of Bill and Professor McGonagall. She caught up with them only at the entrance to the hospital wing, they were fiercely arguing about something.        “With all due respect, Mr. Weasley, I intend to speak to Miss Anderson myself first.”        “With all due respect, Professor,” Bill held back with all his might not to rush into the hospital wing right now. “When she wakes up, she will need friends, not conversations and inquiries!”        “What do you think you’re doing, speaking to me like that?”

       The squabble was interrupted by a frightened squeal from Hermione outside the door. The three of them burst into the hospital wing, wands ready. Hermione huddled against the wall by the screened back bed where Emma lay, and held her head with both hands. Ginny rushed to her, helping her up, and Bill ran to Emma’s bed. Emma was unconscious and tossed about as if in a fever.        “Emma, this is Bill, please listen to my voice…”        Ginny and Professor McGonagall led Hermione to a nearby bed.        “She was in my head!” shrieked a trembling Hermione.        “Eat this, dear,” Madam Pomfrey handed her a piece of chocolate. “Eat, eat, it helps not only from the Dementors.”        “Poppy, what happened?” McGonagall looked worried.        “It looks like the girl is — ”        “Legilimens. Emma is Legilimens,” Bill came out from behind the screen. “She calmed down, now she is sleeping. Hermione, how are you? Sorry, she didn’t mean to hurt you.”        Hermione nodded softly, taking another bite of the chocolate.        “If she’s a born Legilimens, it could be a defensive reaction,” Madam Pomfrey said. “I gave her the first portion and asked Miss Granger to look after her. I walked away literally for a minute.”        “She started tossing and turning, I wanted to help, but as soon as I touched her,” Hermione spoke in a stronger voice. She waved her hands as if reading an invisible book. “I felt her in my head, she seemed to rummage through my memories. I couldn’t do anything! And then — ”        Hermione frowned and fell silent as she shoved the last piece of chocolate into her mouth.        “You will be alright,” Madam Pomfrey nodded busily. “However, Anderson needs a second portion.”        Professor McGonagall cast a hesitant glance at the screen, which didn’t hide from Bill.        “You want to keep her like this just because you’re afraid of her?” Bill spoke calmly, but his clenched fists betrayed him.        “I just think we should take some precautions before Miss Anderson harms anyone else,” McGonagall said.        “Harms?” Bill snorted. “Professor, you know Emma.”        “She went into Miss Granger’s head in an unconscious state, who knows what she’ll do when she regains consciousness. Waking up will make her extremely receptive and impulsive,” McGonagall said anxiously. Ginny knew the professor was floundering between pity for her former student and fear for her current students.        “Therefore, there must be a friend nearby. I won’t let her “harm” herself or anyone else. Please, Professor.”        McGonagall sighed heavily and looked behind the screen as Madame Pomfrey poured Emma a second shot of the potion.        “Fine, Mr. Weasley,” McGonagall nodded, pursing her lips. “But I want to talk to her when she’s stronger."        “Thank you,” Bill instantly returned to Emma, McGonagall watched him go and walked away.        “How are you?” Ginny and Hermione were silent before, watching Bill and McGonagall.        “Harry said that occlumency is difficult, but I couldn't believe that blocking thoughts is so hard,” Hermione spoke a little distantly, thinking about something else. “I need to check something in the library.”        “I’ll come with you,” Ginny said.        “I’m fine, don’t. Go to them, there you are more needed now,” Hermione picked up her heavy bag and headed after McGonagall.

       Bill sat motionless on a chair by the bed. For several minutes that seemed to last forever, they were both silent.        “Why doesn’t it work?” Bill muttered to no one in particular.        At that moment, Emma sighed heavily and opened her eyes with a slight groan. Bill jumped up and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked relieved and scared at the same time. Emma raised herself slightly and narrowed her eyes in displeasure.        “Merlin, what happened to me? Have I been drinking?”        She looked around and frowned at Bill sitting next to her.        “Bill? Am I in the hospital wing?”        “Eh... yeah,” Bill said in a voice hoarse with excitement. Ginny noticed that he had turned to Emma with a side where his scars were not so visible.        “What I’m doing here? Wait, what are you doing here? Oh, Merlin,” Emma blinked frequently, still half asleep. “Head is splitting, I don’t remember last evening at all.”        “Emma,” Bill tried to get her attention. But Emma cursed and sat up abruptly in bed.        “We’ll miss the train! What time is it?” she looked at her wristwatch, frowned and tapped it with her fingernail. “Damn, the watch’s broken.”        “Emma,” Bill called out to her again. Emma gave him a more attentive look now. “Listen…”        “Your hair,” she pointed to his hair pulled back into a ponytail. “It's longer.”        Emma sat up more comfortably in bed and turned to see Bill’s face. She gasped and raised her hand to his scars, but didn’t dare to touch them.        “Bill, what happened to you?” her gaze ran over his face, noticing more and more changes. Bill placed his hand gently on her arm. Emma flinched slightly, as if a complete stranger was sitting in front of her. “Bill, I don’t understand…”        “Emma, it’s not about me. The thing is, you slept for seven years.”        Emma laughed hysterically.        “Very funny. Whose idea is this? Tulip, Tonks?” hearing the last name, Ginny, who had previously been unnoticed by the wall, sighed sharply, attracting Emma’s attention. “Who’s that?        “I’m Ginny. Ginny Weasley, remember me?” Ginny took a step forward, resisting the urge to run away and leave Bill. Emma looked closely and shook her head sharply.        “Gin?” Ginny smiled and nodded, only Emma called her that. Emma looked from Ginny to Bill. “I don’t understand. This is the most stupid prank ever. You brought Ginny here, gave her an Ageing Potion. You even shifted my watch. Is Charlie also involved?”        “Emma,” it hurt Bill to look at her, but he spoke very seriously. “You know I never lied to you. Besides, I would never trick you like that. And now I ask you to believe me. You have an infallible way of checking that I’m telling the truth. Emma shook her head and looked at him with resentment and even anger.        “I promised that I’d never do it with my friends. I won’t get into your head! This is stupid!”        “Please,” Bill said quietly. “Just a couple of memories. Trust me please.”

       Emma’s cheekbones twitched and she nodded resignedly. She looked into his eyes intently, after a couple of moments her gaze defocused. Bill staggered slightly and clutched at the blanket. It all lasted less than a minute, but it looked pretty creepy. Ginny had never seen anyone use Legilimency, especially since Emma did it without a wand and spells. She had heard about Legilimency from Harry, and before that, as a child, some legends. It was said that natural-born Legilimenses could communicate with a person, even if the interlocutor didn’t utter a word.        Ginny didn’t know what kind of memories Bill was showing, but when Emma finally broke the connection, she looked shocked and panted.        “So, yesterday was seven years ago,” she said, as if she’d been doused with cold water.        “What’s the last thing you remember?” Bill asked softly.        “Charlie. I remember Charlie. We parted and I went to the bedroom to pack my things. And I found there — there was — oh Merlin… there was a black feather, a message from R,” Emma put her head in her hands and sighed tornly. Bill didn’t rush her. She looked at him intently, a single tear streaming down her cheek. Emma’s nose was twitching, as if she was not letting emotions spill out, her voice became deep and hard. “It is true, isn’t it? Those bastards finally got to me.”        Bill nodded very slowly, not taking his eyes off Emma, and took her hand in his. Emma sighed again heavily and hid her face.        “Seven years,” she muttered. “Seven years…”

       Ginny felt a heaviness in her heart, it seemed to her that she was meddling in something too personal. She stepped imperceptibly behind the screen and sat down on the next bed. Bill was talking to Emma in an undertone. It seemed like an eternity when Ginny heard Emma laugh. At that moment, the door of the hospital wing opened and George came in, out of breath. Madam Pomfrey glanced discontentedly out of her office, but said nothing. George was wearing his trademark Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes robe, with a dark smudge of soot on his cheek.        “Bill sent a message. Did you really find Emma?”        “They’re talking now. Charlie’s not with you?” Ginny tried to wipe the soot off her brother’s cheek, but only smudged it harder.        “He’s not here yet?” George raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I thought he’d be the first to come.”        Ginny put her head behind the screen.        “What do you think?” Bill showed Emma his earring.        “Oh, it’s terrible! I like it!”        “Can we join?” George leaned out too, smiling broadly. “Someone said our old friend has been found! So which of us is little one now?”        Emma looked closely, trying to determine which of the twins was standing in front of her. Her gaze ran over his slightly narrowed eyes and freckled face.        “Georgie!” she smiled happily and opened her arms to embrace him. “You're all grown up so much.”        “Hey, whitehead!” George hugged her back. “Ron and Percy say hi, but since they are big dummies, they won’t be coming.”        Emma laughed out loud, which Ginny thought was a little forced and unnatural, and finally noticed George’s missing ear.        “Damn, you didn’t take care of yourself at all! Well, then you and Fred will now be easier to distinguish,” she smiled again, but the corners of her lips quickly crawled down when she noticed their faces. “By the way, where is Fred? Didn’t want to come too?”        Ginny’s heart sank. George opened his mouth, but only a gurgling sound escaped from his throat, and he fell silent. Emma looked at them uncomprehendingly.        “Fred died in the war,” Bill said quietly, squeezing her hand. Emma gave a nervous laugh and shook her head.        “No,” she covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed. “No. Oh Merlin, why…”        Bill put his arm around her, stroking her shoulder.        “I’m sorry,” she whispered, wiping the tears running down her cheeks with her sleeve. She lifted her head, looked into George’s eyes and said again, “I’m so sorry.”        George nodded gratefully. He understood everything she wanted to say with this short phrase. Ginny thought he would have understood Emma without words. Over the past four months, each of them has heard a lot of condolences, people made long and meaningless speeches, clapped on the shoulder, shook their heads. People felt they had to say something to ease their pain. But the pain did not go away, it remained a huge wound, and any memory made it bleed. But Emma didn’t try to comfort them, her gaze seemed to say: “I know that you are in pain, and it will hurt for a very long time. And I’m sorry about that”.

       Suddenly Emma frowned, looked at Bill, Ginny and George in turn, cast a frightened glance at the empty chair by her bed. Her eyes filled with tears again.        “And Charlie — Is Charlie too — ” a trembling voice broke and Emma began to shake slightly.        “No! No, no, no!” Bill grabbed her again, hugging her. “Charlie’s fine, he’ll be here soon! He’s alive, Charlie’s alive, Charlie is alive…”        Bill repeated this, rocking the trembling Emma, who was shaking her head lightly, as if trying to push away the reality mixed with her fears. This was the last straw of emotions overwhelming her. All this time, she hadn’t let them get the better of her, but everyone had weaknesses. Charlie was Emma’s weakness, and Ginny knew for a fact, Emma was Charlie’s main weakness. Tears rolled down from her eyes like a hail, she was sobbing and hungrily gasping for air, unable to stop the hysteria.        “Emma, drink this,” Bill’s voice sounded soothing and quiet, he handed Emma a glass of calming potion. “You need to get some rest.”        But Emma didn’t seem to hear him, her trembling fingers slid over the glass and fell helplessly. Bill, holding her head, helped her take a couple of sips and put her to bed. A minute later, Emma’s breathing evened out, her face took on a serene look, she fell asleep. Bill carefully wiped the tears from her face, straightened her disheveled hair and covered her with a blanket.

       They stood in silence for a few minutes, then finally Bill carefully got out of bed, trying not to disturb Emma. He looked at George and Ginny defiantly, as if expecting taunts, but they both stood with mournful faces. Ginny brushed away the tears that had come to her eyes, only now beginning to realize the nightmare that Emma was in. If her return was a miracle to her friends, it was more of a curse to herself.        “I think I’ll go,” George said awkwardly, Bill nodded.        “I’ll go talk to McGonagall. I want to take Emma to Fleur and me when she gets stronger.” Already on the way out, he muttered under his breath, “Where the hell is Charlie?”

       Ginny was left alone in the room, looking at Emma. The sun was shining through the windows in rare rays, shadows lay like wrinkles on the tear-stained face of the sleeping girl. It seemed that Emma had aged in a moment for the seven years that had disappeared from her life. Ginny tried to imagine what it would feel like to wake up a few years later and find out that her friends had grown up or died in the war. What it’s like to not belong to this time, and not be able to go back.        She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice how time had passed. Madam Pomfrey clinked some jars and Ginny, throwing another glance at Emma, headed out of the hospital wing.

[allmygyus]

＊*✩Unrequited Love✩*˚＊

I don’t want to talk (27/?)

[ prev : masterlist : next ]

wordcount: 1,383 words warnings: im not sure :<

After running around the building in search for your best friend, you finally found him; sitting against the wall of the building with his head up to the sky. You wondered whether he was angered or hurt by seeing his former friends again. Quietly, you make your way to him and sit down.

“Found you,” you say lightly. He stayed silent. Something you weren’t used to.

What you didn’t know was that Soonyoung had various emotions running through him. Excitement from dancing with you in front of everyone and enjoying the time you performed together. Fury from seeing the past members audition again. Was it to mock me? To show me pity? Did they really think I was doing so poorly without them that they felt the need to audition again? He thought. But, he was also hurt. He was hurt because every time he saw them, he was reminded of how they abandoned him to pursue their own ways. But despite it all, he missed them. He missed seeing them dance and missed spending time with them. Especially Jihoon. Before starting the podcast, Soonyoung would annoy Jihoon by randomly visiting his studio and messing around with his things. He even made a song.

Not knowing what was going through his mind, you silently sat there by his side until he was ready to talk about it or go home. Soonyoung played with a piece of rock in his hand and threw it at the nearby tree, causing some leaves to fall. You look at him and do the same but being you, you missed the tree and broke a lamp that lit a small area around the tree. Soonyoung chuckled and leaned his head on your shoulder, making you feel less tense.

“Y/n,” he whispered and linked your arms together.

“Hmm?” you hummed in reply.

“Before we we’re friends,” he saidz “I already knew Seungcheol, Joshua, Jeonghan, Jihoon and Seokmin.”

“I heard.”

“We were friends in highschool and we always talked about going to the same university and starting a club together or just doing something aside from studying. Dancing was something we all enjoyed. Seungcheol, Jeonghan and Joshua graduated first from highschool.” He told you about how the older ones got acquainted with the university and they learned about they all could start a dance crew. And they eventually did. After He Seokmin and Jihoon graduated, they got into the same university made Soonyoung the team captain and co-founder as well as Seungcheol.

Soonyoung then went on to tell you the story in detail, from his point of view. For one year, they ended up having a great time. Soonyoung and Seokmin also met you and Mingyu when you were all freshmen and ay that time they waited for the right time to introduce you to his other friends. Then came second year. The three older brothers and Jihoon wanted to do something else outside of dance and it hurt Soonyoung because dance was all he ever wanted to do. But he would never try to get in the way of his friends’ goals.

“As time passed by, they never came back to the practice room and I stopped dropping by Jihoon’s studio. I would try and reach out but they were so busy with their new lives and goals that eventually we all just drifted apart. Except for Seokmin, he’s always been by my side. We were thankful enough to have met you and Mingyu at the beginning of our first years.”

It now made sense. When you were getting acquainted in your first year with Soonyoung and Seokmin, it was always Seokmin who approached you and Mingyu. It was always Seokmin who initiated conversations and hangouts, but you were too immersed in doing well with your academics back then to notice.

“I’m thankful too, look at us we’re in our third year now and the four idiots are still staying strong,” you smiled and patted his hands. “But have you ever considered trying to talk to them again? Maybe ask them why they auditioned?”

“I dunno, Y/n,” he sighed. “There are times where I feel like I’ve gotten over it but every time I see them or hear about them. It still hurts. I looked at them as if they were my brothers. I’m happy that they’re being the best versions of themselves but I wished that they didn’t leave Seokmin and I behind during the process.”

“I know its hard, but maybe this is them reaching out to you,” you say. “ The way Seungcheol speaks fondly about you shows me that he still cares. I know they’re sorry but they must have their reasons too. Give them a chance.”

It was silent for a while before Soonyoung spoke again.

“When you told me you were his PA,” he sighed. “I was angry at first, but I had no reason to be. You hadn’t known about what happened to us and I was in no position to tell you what to do.”

“I didn’t tell you and Mingyu what happened because I just wanted to forget about it and I’m sorry,” he confessed and faced you. The two of you now sat cross legged in front of each other. He took your hands and held them tighter. “But a part of me was also scared that I would end up losing you. And I just couldn’t handle losing another important person in my life.”

“Hey. There’s nothing to be sorry about, Soonyoung,” you say softly. “An you won’t lose me, ever. I’ll always have your back no matter what.” You smile at him and he stares at you. Then and there, he realized why he would get upset when you were alone with Mingyu or Seungcheol. He realized why he wanted to always be by your side and why he was afraid to lose you. Everything was made apparent, his feelings for the person he called one of his best friends, you, were clear. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you,” you tell him.

As for you, your thoughts and feelings were in complete disarray as the silence lingered. Why did you feel as if your stomach was in knots? All you could feel was the heat that rushed from your head to your finger tips. Maybe it was because this was the first time, in a while, that the two of you sat down and displayed complete vulnerability in front of each other. Maybe it was something else? But you just couldn’t figure out what that ‘something else’ was.

“Y/n I-,” he says while lifting his hand to place on your face before getting interrupted.

“There you guys are!” A worn out Mingyu says with a small bouquet of flowers in his left hand. He had been running looking for you only to find you and Soonyoung oddly close to each other. “What are you guys doing?” You stand up abruptly and so does Soonyoung.

“Nothing,” you say. “We were just talking.”

“Oh,” Mingyu says while staring at the two of you suspiciously but dismisses his suspicion after remembering his gift for you. Your heart’s beating grew faster as Mingyu made his way towards you with the bouquet in his hand.

“Y/n, I-uh,” he chuckled. “I got you these as a congratulations gift for doing so well.”

You hesitantly take the bouquet and smell the fresh roses and daisies. Is this what friends would normally do? Probably, right? Thoughts spiraled in your mind. His action just made your already perplexed emotions more fazed.

“Th-thank you,” you stutter and smile at his sweet gesture.

“Mingyu I told you to tell them to come back,” Seokmin yells from behind the tall male.

“Guys,” Seokmin pants. “Its 9:30 we gotta head out now.”

“Okay. Let’s walk Y/n home together,” Soonyoung says and looks at you for your approval.

You all nodded in agreement and made your way back to the auditorium to grab your things. While walking to your dormitory, you stare at the flowers Mingyu gave you and the back of the person who became so vulnerable in front of you and you alone.

What was this feeling growing inside of your chest and who was it truly for?

Summary: ⤑ Soonyoung, Mingyu, Seokmin and y/n. It’s always been the four of them and y/n wouldn’t have it any other way. Y/n loved the three of them but she loved one differently. It’s their third year of college and y/n’s been debating whether she would tell the one she loved how she truly felt but would it be worth risking their friendship over? Along the way she struggles to realize what it is she truly wants.

Pairing: ⤑college student y/n x ??

taglist: @sunshineshouchan @dy-mglzz @suhfluffy @muhanuibean @itsdnguyenxoxo @unmanageable-day @ash-moon8 @444wjh @fluffyhyeju​

[max-is-tired]

bad things happen request: A1 + roceit? -ren

Remember me (for centuries)

Pairing: the AU is queerplatonic Roceit and romantic Analogicality, but the ships are not very prominent in this installment

Characters: Roman Sanders, Janus Sanders, Remus Sanders, Patton Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Logan Sanders

Words: 3.835

Warnings: superhero AU, implied morally grey Janus, Remus and Roman, superpowers, swearing, a muzzle is used, fighting, there’s a character (OC) that has very black and white views and definitely goes too far because of it, if I need to add anything else please tell me

Notes: guess who’s back babey!!!!! After two months of writer block, I’ve managed to churn out this little monster in less than 3 days and I’m honestly lowkey real proud of it sjkcndjkscn it’s inspired by this idea I had the other day and after I remembered this specific prompt I just went full feral writer mode. I even have a few ideas for a sequel, so there’s that I guess!!

First fic for the @badthingshappenbingo!! The red squares are prompts that have already been requested, feel free to send more in though!! I don’t know how long it’ll take me to get to them but hopefully you won’t have to wait too long. Hope you guys like the fic!!!

Commission me!!  Buy me a coffee!! Join my Discord server!!  AO3!!

Once upon a time, there was a King.

He was as regal as he was mysterious, powers so strong he might as well have been able to make literal mountains kneel before him. Everyone knew of him, from the filthiest criminal to the richest man. He saw everything, heard everything, nothing and no one could escape his power. He was the judge and the executioner, protected the city in the way he saw most fit with the Puppeteer and the Duke standing at his sides.

The government called him dangerous. The people secretly called him a hero.

Once upon a time, there was a King. Until one day, he was no more -exactly how Roman had wanted it to be.

+++

Parting ways with Janus and Remus hadn't been easy. They'd been at his side since the very beginning, from the first appearance of his power to his decision to do whatever it took to protect those who couldn't.

"I'm always down to fight the government," Janus had said with a smirk, easily slipping into his Puppeteer alter ego as Remus simply swung his morning star around with a feral grin.

In the end, though, the King had had to go, and even then those two had supported his decision. What Roman had done to deserve his brother and his partner, he still had to understand. And besides, it wasn't as if he had had to cut them out of his life or anything! They still hung out lots during the day, either at the twin's apartment or at Janus' penthouse (being the only heir to a very rich family could have its perks, he supposed).

But at the end of the day, when the sun left the sky and the cover of the night fell over the city, it was the Puppeteer and the Duke who patrolled along the dirty rooftops, taking on those crimes Lady Justice seemed to overlook -Roman was nothing but a college student now and could only watch from afar, some part of him stubbornly longing for days that had since come to an end.

Or at least, that had been the plan. Then, well, Patton had happened.

They had met during a Psychology class they were both taking -for Patton, it was for his major, while Roman was just there for the credit. They had hit it off almost immediately, the both of them bonding over the pain that were morning classes and bemoaning how much money they were probably going to spend at the local coffee shop in order to survive the semester.

As much as he prided himself of being way smarter than people gave him credit for, Roman couldn't say he had figured his classmate's secret identity out immediately. It had taken him a few weeks and even then, he had needed Janus' help for his brain to click the dots into place.

Well, actually, it had been thanks to the recordings of one of the Puppeteer and the Duke's patrol sessions, during which the two had managed to stumble upon the new ragtag trio of superheroes, Storm, Heart and Logic, taking care of a small robbery downtown.

Janus and Roman had been analyzing the video, with Remus unhelpfully chucking pieces of popcorn at the back of their heads, when video-Heart had thrown his head back and laughed, grinning from ear to ear as Logic seemed to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Roman had frozen, the laugh ringing clear as day in his head as the last piece of a puzzle he hadn't known had been there slid into place -he knew that laugh, heard it every Tuesday and Friday morning before class as he sipped at his coffee and watched Patton try to fit as many puns as he could into a single sentence.

Patton was Heart. His friend was a superhero. Well, shit.

So yeah, Roman had figured it out and immediately started panicking about the newfound information. Janus and Remus, of course, had found the entire thing hilarious, teasing him about having somehow managed to stumble upon and befriend a superhero without even knowing it.

In the end, though, what exactly could he do? Roman was only a college student, and it wasn't like Patton was doing this alone -he had Storm and Logic by his side, keeping him safe and watching his back. His friend would be fine.

Then, of course, in came Virgil and Logan, the infamous roommates Patton had wanted to introduce him to since day one. In less than an hour, Roman had managed to help Pat gently bully Virgil out of his binder for the night and start a debate with Logan about the scientific accuracy of Elsa's powers and just how theoretically powerful she could have become based on the abilities she had showed in the movies.

(Olaf's existence had sparked a whole other tangent about conscience and the existence of souls on a metaphysical level, but Roman was not going to think about it lest he ended up having another existential crisis).

The real plot twist had happened much later into the night, when Roman had woken up to frantic whispering and soft rustling coming from somewhere to his right. Still keeping his eyes shut, he'd managed to catch the words "robbery" and "be careful" before hearing one of the windows gently slide shut.

Making sure to not alert anyone about his eavesdropping, Roman had waited until all he could hear was steady, even breathing before quietly sitting up, eyes shining gold into the darkness for a second before spotting Logan and Patton's figures on the ground -as for Virgil, he seemed to be nowhere to be found, the apartment being completely silent beside the two sleeping soundly beside him.

Roman had a suspicion. A very nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that was probably going to bother him until he got to the bottom of his. So, in the morning, he'd said goodbye to his new friends and headed to Janus' place, pondering over alternative explanations on the way over. Not that it would have been of any use since Janus did confirm that a robbery had taken place the night before, and that it had been halted by no other than Storm himself.

So. Virgil was Storm. Which, by taking the most logical leap, meant Logan was no other than Logic. Cool cool cool. No doubt no doubt no doubt.

… There was no way Roman could sit back and watch, was it?

And so, Prince stepped into the light, flames dancing on his fingertips and on the blade of his katana -a gift from Janus, who had reacted to Roman's sheepish smile with an eyebrow raise- and a bright red sash crossing his chest.

Logan and the others had been rather welcoming to the new superhero amongst their group, if not a little skeptical about his motives -Roman could not quite tell them he was doing all of this to give them an additional layer of protection, since he knew from experience just how dangerous the superhero gig could be. They thought all he wanted was to protect the innocents like a knight in shining armor, and he just never bothered to correct them. It wasn't like that was a lie, anyway so he didn't really feel guilty about it.

… Okay, maybe he felt a little guilty about keeping his former identity a secret. So what? It wasn't like he could go to his new friends and say "Hey, remember that one dude that scared the shit out of everyone? Yeah, that was me, fun times am I right??". And besides, it wasn't like King was going to do a comeback anytime soon, if ever. Right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong.

+++

It had started as a normal night-time patrol around the outskirts of the city. Roman had been joking around with Virgil, jumping easily from rooftop to rooftop as they exchanged dry remarks and teasing nicknames with Logan and Patton watching on in amusement.

Then, suddenly, an explosion.

They'd all frozen, exchanging quick glances as a cloud of smoke started to rise into the distance. Without a word, the four had bolted, the easy atmosphere that had surrounded them up until that moment gone in an instant as they prepared themselves to deal with whatever was expecting them.

They reached the plaza in a few minutes, immediately setting out to assess the damage. Strangely enough, there didn't seem to be much out of order -there were no civilians around, the few that had been around at that time of the night having been probably startled away by the explosion -which had probably gone off at the center of the square, judging by the debris and fairly-sized hole. Though the cause of it didn't seem to be anywhere to be found.

At least, until an amused chuckle resounded from behind the four.

They turned around, ready for a fight, only to be met with a grinning Nautilus.

"Oh, how nice of you guys to drop in!" the hero chirped, his grin only widening even more -Roman did not like the crazy glint in the other's eyes, his hand moving to hover a little closer to the hilt of his sword as a bad feeling started to pool in the pit of his stomach.

"Hello, Nautilus!" Patton greeted, his smile now a little tense around the edges -Roman couldn't help but feel glad he wasn't alone in his distrust, not missing the way Logan and Virgil also seemed to be a little more on guard.

It wasn't like Nautilus was a villain or anything, at least not for the public opinion. He meant well, Roman knew that, but the way he viewed the world -black and white, good vs evil with no space for anything else in-between those extremes- was something Roman just couldn't trust, knowing all too well how such a way of thinking could very easily skew someone's morals way too close to ruthlessness and self-justified cruelty.

So yeah, Nautilus might have been a hero, but Roman wouldn't trust him with the life of the most innocent of kittens.

"Nautilus, do you know the cause of that explosion?" Logan spoke up, his expression unreadable.

"Oh, that was me, nothing to worry your pretty brain about my dear Logic," Nautilus responded, waving the concern away with way too much nonchalance for Roman's liking. "I was just taking care of some little pests, nothing to worry about."

"By making the fucking square blow up?" Virgil asked, scoffing.

The other simply shrugged, once again dismissing the remark. "Sometimes you gotta do some harsh things to get rid of a problem, don't you agree?"

Oh, Roman did not like that smile one bit.

"What do you mean?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his voice neutral as his grip on his sword tightened.

Still smiling, Nautilus snapped his fingers, a water tendril appearing from behind him. And in its grasp, a familiar figure uselessly struggled for freedom, brown eyes glaring daggers at the hero's back. Faintly, Roman could easily picture the snarl currently adorning the Puppeteer's lips.

Lips he could not see, because Janus' mouth was currently being covered by a muzzle.

"Pretty cool right?" Nautilus grinned, stepping onto another tendril to let himself be carried at Janus' level. "A friend of mine made it, perfect to stop our local charmer from using his nifty powers."

Ignoring the way the other heroes were staring at him in various stages of horror, he grabbed Janus' chin, tugging his face forward until they were barely inches apart.

"Not so cocky without that silver tongue of yours, uh?" he purred, before pushing him back. "It's high time you face the consequences of your evil doings, you slimy snake."

But the Puppeteer's eyes were no longer glaring at Nautilus. No, they were trained on Roman's form, on his clenched fists and the way his eyes kept flashing a familiar golden color.

"Well, look who's gone and fucked up!" a voice chirped from above, attracting everyone's attention to the top of one of the surrounding buildings. The Duke gave the heroes a toothy grin and waved, legs swinging into the air with his signature morning star resting idly on his shoulder.

"Ah, the Duke," Nautilus hummed, crossing his arms with a cocky smirk, "I was wondering when you'd show up. Are you here to rescue your dear teammate? Please, do try, I'd love to bring down two villains in one day."

For the surprise of almost the entire square, the Duke let out a hearty laugh, throwing his head back as his whole body shook with the force of his cackles.

"Oh, please! As if I'll need to do literally anything," he said, amusement lacing every word. "This is your funeral, dude. You really angered the wrong royal."

Nautilus frowned, opening his mouth to reply -probably to ask what in the world the other was talking about- but all that left his lips was a startled yelp, fighting to keep himself steady as the earth started to rumble and shake beneath his feet. Because of the sudden distraction, all the tendrils of water broke off, included the one holding the Puppeteer. Without missing a beat, Remus jumped down and grabbed Janus before he could pummel the ground, holding him bridal style while sporting his best shit-eating grin.

"Told ya!" he sing-sang, sending Nautilus a mocking glare. Not that the hero was looking at him, mind you. He was more focused on his fellow "hero" standing just a few feet to the center of the square, his eyes blazing golden.

"Duke," called Roman, his voice clear and authoritative as it carried all around the plaza, "get him out of that damned muzzle, would you?"

"Aye aye sir!!" Remus chirped, easily ripping the piece of metal away. "Do you think you could leave a few bones intact for me to break? I wanna have some fun too!"

"Sorry, Duke-" the other chuckled, the sound sounding almost haunting to everyone else's ears- "but I don't know if I’ll have enough self-control left to do that."

A circle of golden light appeared at Roman's feet, rising up in the air and enveloping his body as it went. And then it was gone as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind a vision no one had ever thought they'd see again.

Bright, golden eyes. Hair as dark as the night. The uniform of a royal, a burgundy sash crossing his chest from shoulder to hip. In his hand, a familiar sword glinted under the artificial light of the street lamps, the hilt the same golden as its owner's irises.

The Prince was gone, lost in a circle of golden light. And at his place stood a very angry-looking King.

"That- that can't be!" Nautilus exclaimed, taking a step back. "You're gone, you can't be here!"

"Can't I?" The King -Roman, the King was Roman- asked, cocking his head to the side. "Who are you to tell me where I can and cannot be, Nautilus?"

"I'm a hero!!" the other snapped, his words laced with the desperation of a man who is standing face to face with his impending doom. "I'm a hero, you rotten king, and I after tonight I will be remembered as the one who wiped you and your villainous reign out of this city!"

Roman hummed, looking absolutely unimpressed as he calmly inspected his sword.

"You call yourself the hero… and yet, you are the one using downright torture-like methods to try and squash down those who don't fit your narrow view of good. All the Duke and I did was rescue our companion form your grasp. So tell me, Nautilus -are you really sure I'm the one you should call "villain" here?"

The hero growled at those words, eyes flashing in barely contained rage as tendrils after tendrils of water rose up behind him. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging for forgiveness at my feet."

"Oh honey," the King drawled, lips stretching into a feral grin, "at the end of this, I won't be the one begging for their life."

And off they went, crashing into each other in a whirlwind of water and metal.

Taken as they were with each other, the two supers barely spared a glance to the huddle of five people looking on from the side of the square.

"What the fuck." Storm whispered, staring shell-shocked at the scene in front of him. "What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck-"

"I know, right?" the Duke exclaimed, completely ignoring the hero's obvious growing panic.

"Duke, play nice," the Puppeteer drawled, with the heat of someone who had had to deal with the other's antics for way too long to really care anymore.

"Storm, please take some deep breaths for me," Logic said, stepping into Virgil's line of sight. "Do you remember your breathing techniques, yes?"

Storm nodded, visibly trying to get his breathing under control to do just that. Heart, obviously worried, moved to sit beside him, resting one hand on his shoulder to tap a regular rhythm there.

Virgil looked up at him with a small, grateful smile, raising his own hand to cover Patton's before closing his eyes to focus on his breathing.

Once it was clear Storm's panic wasn't going to advance any further and risk affecting his powers, Janus let his eyes wander towards Logic's standing figure, the hero's gaze fixed on the ongoing fight.

"You don't seem too fazed with the revelation," the Puppeteer pointed out, arching an eyebrow. "I mean, it's not every day you find out your teammate is actually the very ex-vigilante that used to terrorize the city."

"If I remember correctly, the people targeted by the King's actions were almost all corrupt politicians and crooked cops," Logic pointed out, turning his head to look at the vigilante. "And besides, I already had my suspicions."

Janus couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle. "What was it that tipped you off?"

"Honestly, I started growing suspicious during the Prince's first day on the field," the hero shrugged, pushing his holographic glasses up his nose. "He looked way too familiar with fights involving supers to be a newbie. Add in the pseudo he chose, plus the somewhat similar outfit… once the doubts started creeping in, it was relatively easy to connect the dots."

"Roman," the Puppeteer piped up, "I know you guys know him outside of the mask, so we can use his name -all the royal pseudonyms can get real old real fast."

Logic gave the vigilante a long look before nodding, letting out a soft sigh. "I suppose that makes sense, since you all were allies prior to the King's disappearance. I suppose you won't be sharing the reason of that, by the way?"

Janus shook his head. "It isn't my story to tell -I'm a keeper of many secrets, Logic, and I'm not about to go divulge them without a valid reason to. If he wants to tell you, he will. In his own time."

"Normally, I would point out that we cannot be sure that Roman will even be able to tell us, since he's currently going against one of the heroes with most raw power," Logan pointed out, "but I have heard enough stories about the King's power to be fairly optimist about his odds in this fight."

Janus chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"Case in point-" he said, gesturing back towards the square- "it looks like the winner has just become clear."

Just as he finished speaking, Nautilus came skidding on the pavement towards them, bruises and cuts covering his whole body as he struggled to get up again.

"Told you I wouldn't be the one praying for mercy on my knees, hero," the King drawled, his uniform looking barely crumpled by the fight.

"I will never bow to you, villain," Nautilus growled, fighting to keep himself upright.

Roman arched an eyebrow, an infuriatingly amused smirk tugging at his lips. "Are you sure about that? because you look just about to fall over."

"You may have defeated me, but soon the entire world will know the truth!" the hero shot back. "Their beloved Prince, hiding such a rotten secret… how do you think they will react? Every hero will not rest until you and your companions are locked shut behind bars. Your time is coming to an end, King, and I'll make sure to save myself a front-row seat for the day you'll finally be kicked down from your throne of evil."

"A very poetic imagery, I'm sure," the Puppeteer drawled from behind them, gathering everyone's attention on himself, "though I'm afraid you won't be able to reveal jack shit, you pompous asshole."

Nautilus frowned in confusion until he felt a slight tugging at his hand. Eyes widening, he snapped his head down, eyes zeroing on the yellow string wrapped loosely around his wrist.

"Sleep now, and forget," Janus ordered, eyes flashing bright yellow, and down Nautilus went, knocked out cold.

Silence fell, only interrupted by the faint sounds of sirens approaching from afar. After a few seconds, Heart went to open his mouth, hand outstretched towards the King's back, only for the vigilante to suddenly bolt without a single word and disappear into the night.

Janus and Remus exchanged a look, obviously debating something between themselves without using any words.

"Go," Logic called, catching their attention. "We won't tell, we promise."

The two vigilantes looked at the trio, watching as both Storm and Heart nodded in agreement. Then they smiled, saluted, and took off.

"Do you think Ro will come back?" Heart asked worriedly, eyes traveling from the direction the three had taken to the quickly-approaching blue and red lights in the distance.

"He better, or I'll go and find him myself," Storm muttered darkly, biting at his thumb.

"Only time will tell, there is no use in worrying about that now," Logic sighed, just as the first police car drove into the square. "For now, we better come up with a believable story. They'll want to know what exactly caused the square to blow up in the first place."

"Why lie?" Heart asked, giving his friend a small smile, "after all, Nautilus was the one who did it, wasn't he?"

Logic smirked lightly, nodding. " I suppose that is true."

"You know, sometimes I forget just how much of a little shit you can be," Storm commented, tone laced with amusement. "Then you go and pull things like this, and I get reminded all over again."

"Kiddo, language!" Heart gave an exaggerated gasped, eyes twinkling in mischief. "I just don't like lying, you know that."

Logic watched as the two snickering heroes approached the police, shaking his head with a small smile. Tonight might have raised quite a few questions, but he had no doubt the answers would come, eventually.

All in due time, he supposed.

+

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[diaryofabeautyfiend]

Small Time Witch (15)

The water in the stream lapped at its banks swelling from the melting mountain snow. You and Bethany brought out sand bags and placed them around the perimeter of the house. How high the water rose depended on the snowfall. It always flooded in the bend of the stream which is why you never understood why Helene built here. “Rushing water holds energy. It amplifies everything we do.” It also amplified the chance that you’d be redoing the floors in a few weeks.

“Why can’t your mother just use her powers? This would be a lot easier.” Bethany would ask as she dropped another bag.

“Because there are consequences to us using our powers which is why I was shipped off.”

“And here I thought it was so you didn’t face prosecution for almost killing Bobby.” You flicked mud at her.

“I didn’t almost kill him. He was fine.” She threw mud back.

“He pissed himself. Charles Xavier had to tell everyone he had a seizure.” You both laughed.

“Girls! Get cleaned up for dinner.” Helene called from the porch.

“Yes, Aunt Helene” you said in unison.

“Why can’t you stay? We miss you.”

“You know it’s for all our own good, Bethy. I’m the only one with a dangerous power.”

“Hey! I can freeze stuff!”

You giggled, “Yeah only if everyone is real quiet and you are well hydrated.”

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕

You often dreamed of being back home but it was rare they were good dreams. Mostly you had nightmares about the day everyone died. Rarely did you have dreams when you felt happy.

You woke up a little misty eyed. Goodness did you miss your family. You were so lost in thought that you didn’t hear Steve calling your name. “Earth to Y/N. You ok?”

“Yeah. Bad dream.” You got out of bed and started getting ready for your day. He watched you smiling as you hummed your way through your morning routine. You were not in your usual work attire when you finished.

“Where are you going today?” he asked confused. “Aren’t you usually a little more put together for work?”

“I have the day off. I have Strange all morning and then off to Dr. Calloway.” You wrapped your arms around his waste. He hugged you back.

“Will you tell your doctor about your bad dreams? You looked so lost this morning. I hate seeing my girl that way.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“I am not your boss. I am not giving you orders. Just the concerned boyfriend.”

“Yes. My very bossy boyfriend. I’ll tell him. It’s not like he ever really explores anything. It’s all ‘how does that make you feel?’ and ‘Let’s up your anti depressants.’”

“Does that work?”

“Would work if I was actually depressed. I think I might stop seeing him after today’s session.” Steve’s whole body got stiff.

“Why? Since you’ve been seeing him you haven’t accidentally shocked anyone.”

“That wasn’t his doing. I didn’t shock you in Germany did I?” No. Loki taught you how to control yourself. He would scoff at anti-depressants. Nothing was wrong with them if they were actually doing anything for you. They just dulled your senses and made you feel nauseous. “Well. I have to get going.”

“No breakfast?” You smiled at him over your shoulder.

“I’ll grab a banana on the way out. Love you!”

“Love you too. Hey! We have a mission briefing at four. Don’t be late.”

“Yes, sir.” They asked you to run point on an operation in Alaska. It was dealing with enhanced people and there was some intel that said they were a lot like you. That was the only information they gave.

Steve waited until he saw your car drive down the road before he called Tony. “We have a problem. She’s talking about leaving Dr.Calloway’s care.”

“Shit. Ok. I’ll call and give him a heads up. She cannot stop taking those meds, Steve. Not until we can convince Strange to bind her powers.”

Steve squeezed his eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Are we sure we want to do this? Maybe Strange is right. With the proper training she can control it. She was doing well with Loki. She never hurt me again.”

“Cap, maybe one day you’ll be on our side. I read her SHIELD file. Fury was right. The girl is a nuclear bomb with a short fuse. This Alaska thing is huge. We need her to control herself. A lot of lives are at stake. Get it together, Steve.” With that Tony hung up.

Steve felt nauseous. He hated doing this to you. He adored you. If you found out he was lying to you...he hated to think what you’d do. He’d deserve it. He picked up the phone and called the only person he believed would be able to guide him.

“Professor? This is Steve Rogers. I’m wondering if you would have some time talk to me about one of your former students. I can be there within the hour. Thank you, sir. I’ll see you soon.” He grabbed the keys to his bike and headed to the school.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

You made it a few minutes early to Doctor Strange. You were spooked every time you went to the mansion on Bleeker. Wong greeted you at the door and said Strange would be meeting you shortly. You browsed the volumes on the bookshelves. You selected one that looked tattered but well loved. When you opened the pages it blinked out of your hands and was replaced by a cup of tea. You actually liked the tea.

“That is not for you. Let’s get started.”

“What’s that one about? Transfiguration? Can I learn that?”

“Not today. Focus, Y/N.”

Strange was always a bit terse with you. He had absolutely no patience. You wished someone else was teaching you. You received no feedback unless you did something wrong. He didn’t tolerate chit chat or small talk of any kind. At least when you worked with Wong he gave you treats when you did something well. The only consolation you got was that you knew he was looking out for you. That meant sometimes he told you things you wished you didn’t have to hear.

“Your boss came to see me yesterday. He asked me to bind your powers. I told him to fuck off.” You felt like the air left your body. You knew Fury had secret plans for you but Tony? He was supposed to be a good guy.

“Did he say why?”

“Yes. Some crap about you killing a kid when you were younger. That attack at the school. I know what happened that day. You don’t have to worry about me. Just saying watch your back. They are escalating from the Wolfsbane.”

You wanted to ask if Steve knew but you were sure he did. Tears started flowing down your cheeks which made Strange uncomfortable. “You are doing well here, kid. We can be done for today. See you next week.” Before you had a chance to say anything he shoved you through a portal.

“I know how to use a door!” You shouted towards the house. You shot Steve a text letting him know you were done a little early if he wanted to have lunch. When he didn’t answer after a few minutes you decided to completely blow off your doctor’s appointment and go shopping instead. It’s pretty rare when you had time to yourself these days so you decided to take advantage.

Escalating from the wolfsbane. It was entirely possible that your boss and your boyfriend knew they were poisoning you. It was also possible they didn’t if they were fed wrong information. There were some studies that showed Aconite in low low doses can help with anxiety and in rare cases heart failure. You had to know how to handle the herb correctly. Even the most practiced healer would try a thousand other herbs before this one. Dr. Calloway didn’t seem like he was on the up and up from your first visit. When you read the label on the medicine bottle you decided not to take it because you knew what it was. You showed it to Strange who suggested you call the police since you were being poisoned. “He’s clearly not a licensed medical professional. There are hundreds of safe drugs on the market to handle anxiety. This will kill you.”

The two of you compounded an antidote for the medication. You tell Steve it’s vitamins. The little person in your head was frantically waving red flags at you. Not a good sign that he watched you take the pills every day. Not good at all.

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

The first time walking into Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters was intimidating. It sat on a large expanse of land which was crawling with children. A few of the younger kids ran up to Steve marveling at him. “It’s Captain America!” They shouted. He gave high fives and pats on the head. Ororo greeted him at the front door.

“Captain Rogers. Nice to meet you. I’m Ororo Munroe. I am an instructor here and I work directly with Professor Xavier. He’s just finishing up a class. I’ll show you to his office.” Steve shook her hand. He was mesmerized by the crystal blue of her eyes.

“This is a cool operation you have here. Not unlike the Avengers compound except we only house adult children.”

“Trust me we have several of those ourselves. Tell me, the Professor said you were inquiring about a former student. I’ve been here for quite some time. Perhaps I can help.”

“Sure. Her name is Y/N Y/L/N. She’s working with us on a operation in Alaska. She also happens to be my girlfriend.” Ororo paused for a moment.

“Of course. How is she doing? Terrible what happened to her family. She was a great student. What kind of mission are you going on that you’d need that kind of fire power?” Steve stayed quiet until they were sure to be away from tiny ears.

“She’s doing well. Her power is what I wanted to talk to Professor Xavier about.”

A voice came from out of nowhere. It was gentle tinged with a hint of amusement. “Y/N is quite a woman. Your team is lucky to have her at your disposal.” Steve shook his hand and sat in the chair across from the large desk. Ororo and a few other X-men protectively flanked the Professor.

“She is, sir, though I may be a bit biased. The reason I’m here is because members of my team have expressed some concern about the strength of her power and her inability to control herself in times of great stress. She has been taking a medication called Aconite prescribed by a Dr. Calloway to help with stress and anxiety....”

A woman whom he did not immediately notice spoke up, “Aconite is Wolfsbane, Captain Rogers. It’s poisonous. It also strips powers. Why would she ever agree to that?” Based on your description Steve guessed this was your Aunt Agatha. The tension in the room grew considerably. He was unaware that he was poisoning you.

“You must be Aunt Agatha. I’ve heard a lot about you....” Steve stood to shake her hand when another woman interrupted.

“The doctor told her they are anti-depressants. I’m Jean Grey. Don’t get up, Captain Rogers. They lied to both of you. Stephen Strange will never agree to bind her powers. Not against her will. You people are unbelievable.” Steve’s jaw clenched. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. The Professor saw him getting overwhelmed so he ordered everyone out except Agatha.

“Captain Rogers, Y/N is quite capable of controlling herself. There were a few incidents when she was younger but she’s come a long way. From what we hear she is doing quite well under Stephen Strange’s tutelage. Why bind her now?”

“I agree. There are those who don’t. I’ve read her SHIELD file. She killed a kid on these grounds under your care. For the safety of this mission we need her to be in as much emotional control as possible. We are working under SHIELD on this one so I’m afraid any details are classified.” He tossed the folder on his desk. Xavier and Agatha read over the incident report.

“This report is inaccurate. We were under attack on the day in question. As an older student she was charged with getting younger students to safety. This young man was too severely injured. He died in her arms. She was able to absorb his power of empathy. It took several months of therapy and training to cope with the gravity of this new skill.” Xavier looked away from him as he recalled the day. It was obviously very painful.

Steve grew more agitated. It was clear someone was lying to him and now he was an accomplice in poisoning you. He thanked the Professor for his time and decided to take the long way home to cool off. “Captain Rogers. Fear of our unique abilities is what started the war all those years ago. You need not fear what you don’t understand.”

“I love her, Professor. I’m not afraid of her. I’m afraid of what other people want with her. I’m not going to let anyone use her anymore. You have my word.” The only thing Steve wanted to do was get to Tony to find out why he was pushing so hard to bind you.

“Scott, find out what interest the Avengers have in Alaska. Why are they being sent there?” The Professor sent out a team to do some reconnaissance work. Perhaps the X-men would join the Avengers on their trip.

[sxfterhearts]

22. [4:22 pm]

“That’s all for today, good job everyone on your midsemester exams, and don’t forget to submit your assignments by midnight on Saturday.” Loud rustles echoed around the room as impatient students began to pack up their things and leave. “See you next week, class.”

Even before you dismissed your tutorial class, nearly three-quarters of the room was already vacated. As the last few students got up and bid you goodbye, a few of them stayed back to ask you questions about the midsemester exam you just reviewed. Being an experienced tutor for this unit, you listened intently to every single one of their questions and worries, providing them with answers to the best of your knowledge. It was common for you to get held back for nearly fifteen to twenty minutes because the unit you tutored was known to be difficult yet essential for all students from your major. You remembered taking this unit yourself two years ago and all the grief it had caused you, hence you fully empathised with your students.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted a familiar blonde-haired boy leaning against a table and browsing casually on his phone as you placed all of the midsemester exams back into the cardboard box, along with your stationary and other tutorial material. He was the last student left. “Bambam,” you called the boy. “How can I help you?”

“What are you doing after this, Y/N?”

You tried your best to resist the strong urge to roll your eyes. Bambam had been over the moon when he found out that you, his former class president from high school, was assigned to tutor his class for the entire semester. Ever since high school, he had made countless futile attempts to get closer to you. Most girls back then would have been flattered by the vice president of the student council’s undivided attention – he was always trailing around you like a lost puppy, offering to help you with tasks that you were fully capable of handling, or leaving you small gifts like chocolate and miniature wooden figures from his Woodwork class.

Undeterred, you never caved to his advances, for many reasons. For one, the two of you were polar opposites. The only similarity that you shared was that you were both teachers’ pets who sat on the student council. Anything beyond that, such as your personalities (you were the studious, quiet type; he was popular, smart and sporty) and your interests (you loved escaping to the library and reading; he practically lived on the basketball courts) were miles apart. Secondly, you absolutely loathed all the attention he gave you. You disliked his grand gestures that quickly became the talk of the school. There was so much unnecessary gossip surrounding you due to Bambam’s actions and you hated it when people talked behind your back. Some girls even started sending you anonymous threats on social media for being the apple of Bambam’s eye and for rejecting his heart. It was just too much for you and you decided that you wanted nothing to do with him.

Things were much more different now, of course. Most people mature when they enter university and thankfully the students who used to harass you either studied elsewhere or lost interest in the situation completely. You had enjoyed your peace and quiet without him in your first year when Bambam had decided to take a gap year, but he had since returned from his worldly travels. You rarely came in contact with him in your second year as you had completed a year of studies abroad, but this year, by some twisted stroke of luck, you had been assigned as his tutor.

He was the same old Bambam, always so persistent, but a bit more mature in his approach. He would ask you the same question every other week, about your schedule, and whether you were free to ‘catch up’, but he knew how to stop and wish you a good day once you rejected him. You always gave him the same answer, a polite “No, thank you,”, before parting ways with him. That is, until last week.

It was the week of midsemester exams. Due to the exam timetable, the exam of the unit you tutored fell on a Monday, four days before the exam that you had to sit which was on the Friday. Normally, this would be an ideal timetable, however another one of the tutors came down with a serious case of the flu and the professor assigned you to mark her load of papers by Friday. By Wednesday afternoon, you were marking papers in an abandoned corner of the cafeteria, running on a lack of sleep and an astronomical amount of caffeine in your bloodstream. When Bambam walked up to you and sat across you, spouting his usual questions, you just lost it. “No! I have nearly two hundred papers to grade and a difficult exam to study for. No, I am not free, so leave me alone!” You yelled at him, nearly on the brink of tears.

Bambam was clearly taken aback by your outburst, of course. You were soft-spoken and demure, never one to raise your voice in a public place. He could see the resemblance between the woman before him, struggling to hold back the tears, and the girl he saw hiding in an abandoned classroom three years ago, bawling her eyes out as she crouched amongst a sea of books and papers. He remembered that you never really dealt with academic stress very well.

On the surface level, Bambam seemed the stereotypical rich boy on campus, shooting hoops with the boys every day while playing with a different girl every night. It wasn’t true, though. There’s more than meets the eye.

You learned that when he had respectfully asked whether he could stay with you, and if he could bring you somewhere to take your mind off things. Suddenly exhausted, you finally gave in to him, watching him tidy up your things and place them into your bag. You figured it was about time you took a break from this madness anyways. He led you towards the footpath by the riverside across the road from your university campus. The two of you walked in silence, with nothing but the sound of waves crashing against the bay filling your ears. He took you to the far side of the bay which you rarely frequented and sat on the bench facing the river. There were many more yachts docked nearby, their periodic swaying therapeutic to watch, and the occasional dog would pass by, wagging its tail in greeting. Being in nature was calming, and you felt yourself relax in his presence.

“Hello, earth to Y/N.” Bambam waved his palm in front of your face. “Are you alright? You spaced out there for a sec,”

You swung your backpack over your shoulder and picked up the heavy box filled with stacks of paper. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Did you miss my question? I asked you about your plans after class.” The blonde boy reminded, walking side by side as the two of you exited the tutorial room.

You were still somewhat shaken by the flashback you had. It left a deep impression on you, and casted Bambam in a completely different light. “Uh, yeah, sorry.” You readjusted the box in your hands. “I’m just dropping these off at the professor’s desk.”

“Wait, did you just give me a proper answer?” Bambam wondered aloud, clearly taken aback by your less-than-usual response. I’m making progress, he thought. “Can I come with? I was hoping you’d be free after that too, I wanted to take you out for a coffee.”

“Why?”

“Well, see, I wanted to talk to you about last week. You know, when-” He was interrupted by your soft wince as you readjusted the box once more. “Do you want me to carry it?”

You shook your head adamantly. “It’s not heavy.” You shot him a pointed look. “I’m stronger than I look.”

Bambam stifled a laughter at your determined expression. “Yeah, I have no doubt about that.” He quickly stole the box out of your arms and cut you off before you could protest. “You know, Y/N, you don’t have to act so strong all the time. Let others help you once in a while, no one will think any less of you for sharing your burden.”

“I-”

“Ah, Y/N!” Your professor exclaimed, stumbling upon you on his way to meet a colleague. “Are those the papers?”

You and Bambam bowed in greeting. “Yes, sir.” You answered, taking the box away and handing it to your professor. “One of the students had their marks calculated wrongly, I’ve already sent you an email with his student number and the new score. I’m really sorry for the mistake, sir, I promise-”

“That’s fantastic, Y/N. Always so efficient and meticulous. There’s really no need to be sorry! As humans, we are bound to make mistakes. What’s important is how we fix them and how learn from them. Thank you for your hard work, Y/N. You’ve done a good job.”

You turned your gaze downwards, slightly shy due to his kind words. “Yes, sir. Thank you.” You replied softly.

“And who is this young man, Y/N? Are you getting him to do all your dirty work? I saw him carrying the box earlier. It is heavy, though, if I do say so myself.” The professor extended his hand in a handshake, to which Bambam responded with a bright smile on his face.

“My name’s Bambam, sir. I’m doing your unit too, and Y/N is my tutor.”

The professor’s eyebrows quirked up in interest. “Oh? Is this something I should be worried about?”

“Sir, what does that mean?” You asked hurriedly.

He laughed boisterously in response, his half-moon glasses nearly falling off the tip of his nose as he did so. “I’m just joking, you two. Tell me, Bambam, how is it like being tutored by your girlfriend?”

“What-” You shrieked.

Bambam denied hastily. “Girlfriend? She’s not-”

“Sir, this is a misunderstanding, he’s not-” The two of you were gesturing and shaking your heads in unison, denying the professor’s words profusely.

“Ah, young love.” The professor readjusted his glasses as a knowing smile graced his lips. “Listen, son, I’ve known this young lady for two years now and I can assure you that she’s one of the good ones. Treat her well, she’s hard to find and hard to keep.”

Bambam flushed pink at his words. “You can say that again, sir.” His eyes met yours as he flashed you a bashful smile. Little did the professor know that he had been chasing you for the past six years, since the first day of high school.

(And little did you know that, indeed, opposites do attract. Seems like the blonde boy had a soft side that he kept hidden under that goofy exterior of his.)

(Of course, a few months down the road and a dozen coffee dates later, he would ask you to be his girlfriend.)

(And you agreed.)

[bluejeanlouis]

COMING SOON: The Yellow Roof, 1970s AU by kiddle

Louis is a gifted musician spending his days on the wrong side of a drive-thru window. Harry is the lead singer of a band in need of a little talent. Their big break is a thousand miles away. 

Preview under the cut:

With a deep sigh, Louis leaned his chair on its back two legs, propping one of his feet up next to the till in front of him. The sun was blinding between the trees of the neighbourhood across the street, striking his eyes through the drive-thru window. He yanked the blind closed even though he wasn’t supposed to when the Fotomat was open. But there was no one around and his ability to give a shit had decreased significantly today. Slurping on the can of Coke he brought with him, he pulled out his lyric book.

Louis was not a poet. In fact, the pretentious and dull poetry class he took in his second semester at college was detrimental in his decision to drop out a year later. He didn’t like the confusion of poetry and the rules despite being an art form that claimed to be free of them. Don’t get him wrong, he was confident in his own writing, he just didn’t want to be taught how to do it.

But one look under the cover of that notebook would reveal pages and pages of poetic garbage. Some of it was great, and a couple had even ended up as actual songs back when Louis was performing solo at bars before he gave up on that too. Most of it was scribbled chicken scratch. That was just his process.

He held the notebook against his knees, tracing dark lines across the last words he wrote last night with his pen. It was some bullshit angsty heartbreak harnessed from his high school first love mixed with the anger of being sacked from a band that he was the best instrumentalist in. Sometimes that kind of emotion makes for a perfect writing session, and sometimes it’s a diary entry you never want to see the light of day.

Louis bit the end of his pen, rereading the words on his page. ‘Heart’ had to be the most overused word in love songs, and he had it down in every verse and the chorus. Love songs weren’t even what he wanted to write about. It wasn’t the only feeling out there. It sure as hell wasn’t the most predominant one in his mind.

A loud and abrupt knock on the window made Louis nearly leap out of his seat. His notebook and pen tumbled to the ground as he dropped his feet from the desk. He yanked on the string to make the blind spring back up, knocking his Coke over in the process. He picked it up just as quick, groaning at the mess it made. All the commotion caused the stack of pickup envelopes next to the widow to splay out over the desk in front of him. Now that the customer could see him, he tried to push him all out of the way before he slid the window open.

“Hi, welcome to— Shit!”

One of the envelopes had landed in the small puddle of spilled Coke. He tried to wipe it off on his jeans as quickly as he could before returning it to the scattered pile with the others. Once he finally composed himself, he tried to greet the customer properly.

But then his face fell to disgust.

“What are you doing here?”

“You left so quickly yesterday, we didn’t have the chance to talk,” said Harry, the lead singer of Louis’ former going-nowhere band. Harry had one hand casually rested on the steering wheel, the other elbow poking out the window, and sunglasses sitting low on his nose. Louis hated how effortlessly cool he could always look. It made him the perfect goddamn lead singer.

Louis rolled his eyes. “What did you want me to do? Beg for you to let me stay? ‘You’re out of the band’ was pretty loud and clear.”

“I mean, I thought we could have a discussion about it.”

“So you showed up to my work to have a discussion about it?” He hunched over so just his head was sticking out the window, his fist squished into his cheek to hold his head up.

“You wouldn’t answer the phone last night.”

“Take a hint,” he snapped, then slid the window shut with enough force to make it bounce halfway open again. He pushed it the rest of the way closed in a huff.

But Harry hadn’t driven away yet, so Louis slumped over in his chair and refused to look in his direction. Why the hell would he show up here? Just to rub it in his face? The new guy always loses the band argument. Louis was over it, and he had the faint remnants of a hangover to prove it.

He took a swig of his Coke that was now almost empty. No one ever left any napkins around here, but a few tissues seemed to do the trick to sop up that puddle. As he tried to avoid getting sticky hands, Louis could see Harry getting out of his car in the bottom corner of his eye. Then he heard the window opening again.

“Louis, listen to me,” Harry pressed. He had his hand in the way so Louis couldn’t shut it, but it did cross Louis’ mind to crush his fingers just to get him out of here.

“Go away,” he stated, pulling the roller blind between them. If only it was soundproof.

The blind sprung up again, revealing a wildly frustrated Harry on one side and an indifferent Louis on the other. He was pretending to read a copy of Vogue that one of the girls from the after-school shift left behind last night.

“We have a meeting with a record company in L.A. and they’re expecting a four-piece to show up. There’s no time to find a new bassist, so you’re back in the band.”

Louis folded down one corner and peeked his eye over Carrie Fisher’s head.

“How’d you get a meeting? The band sucks.”

Harry stared at him, angrily chewing on his lip, then turned around with a huff. “Fuck you,” he muttered, opening his car door.

Louis waited for him to start the engine and leave, but then the words “L.A.” and “record company” flashed with lights and sirens in his mind, and he imagined this opportunity driving off and never looking back.

“Wait!” Louis called out, tossing the magazine to the side and launching himself out the back door. He ran across the front of the car and slammed his hands on the hood so Harry couldn’t move the car an inch further. They eyed each other, and when Louis trusted that Harry wouldn’t speed off the moment he moved, Louis ran around to the passenger seat and got in.

Harry shook his head, both hands gripped tight on the steering wheel. “I’ve been dealing with your bullshit for ten years, man,” he said.

So maybe Louis wasn’t being totally truthful about what happened with the band.

Louis met Harry in his first year of middle school. They ended up in the same gym class, which was hell for every twelve-year-old, but for people like Louis and Harry, it was just a little too much to bear. They found skillful ways to ditch whenever possible, especially when it came to running the mile. Sometimes they’d hang out near the back of the group when everyone was filling out the gym doors, then slip out the side and circle the building before the teacher saw. The equipment closet was full of plenty of hiding spaces that begged to be taken advantage of. The best days were when they had a substitute who wouldn’t even notice that they never came back from a bathroom break in the change room.

In high school, they drifted, hanging out in the same group of freaks and burnouts, but not often with each other. They’d find themselves at the same parties and bickering in the same cars full of friends, but that initial bond had faded. Once college rolled around, they weren’t surprised to find out they’d be going to the same state school, but discovering their dorms were across the hall from each other was quite the shock.

They had become inseparable again, except for the inevitable monthly fights that left them not speaking to each other for days at a time. That went on for about two years until Louis dropped out and Harry continued with his literature degree. During that time, they hardly saw each other at all. Louis began to wonder if their friendship had only ever been one of convenience. But just as the year of 1972 was beginning, Louis got a phone call from that on-and-off best friend of his asking if he wanted to join his band.  

Harry and Louis fought from day one, but just as much as they hated each other’s guts, they loved each other too. Louis would still consider Harry his friend, but he would have no problem telling him what an insufferable bastard he was right to his face. It was a brotherly bond. Sort of.

“How’d you get the meeting?” Louis asked, turning sideways in his seat. “When is it?”

“We sent in our demo and they want to talk to us. That’s it,” he said. “The meeting is next week and they want all of us there.”

“Me included?”

“You’re on the demo.”

The demo was pretty shit if you asked Louis, but he decided to keep that to himself. They recorded it at their old college in the crummy basement studio run by students, and you could guess that by the first listen. Louis looked out at the empty parking lot ahead of them. He had memorized every detail of this parking lot. It had become the scenery for his life. He couldn’t wait until he never had to look at it again.

“Do you actually want me back in the band?” Louis wondered, sincerity in his voice for once.

“I—” Harry started, but didn’t look him in the eye. “I want to be at a place where you could be in the band without the two of us constantly at each other’s necks.”

“That would be nice, yeah,” Louis sighed.

They sat in silence, Louis weighing his options and Harry wondering if he really should’ve taken that ignored phone call as a hint.

“So, what, is this to discuss an album deal?” Louis asked, hoping more detail might help his decision.

“It’s to discuss our potential. They didn’t tell me a whole lot, but if they want to spend their time on us then they gotta have some hope.”

A car horn blared loudly behind them, an impatient customer waiting his turn to desperately develop the photos from his five-year-old’s birthday party, surely. It startled them, but that was Louis’ cue to get back to work, he supposed.

“Can I think about it?” Louis asked. He was already halfway out the door.

“Not for too long. We meet them next week.”

The horn blared again.

“One second!” Louis called out. The guy in the car flipped him the bird and Louis wasn’t hesitant to send him one right back.

“What’s the label?”

“CBS,” Harry said.

Shit, Louis thought. CBS was no joke.

“Move your fucking car!” the guy behind them hollered out his window.

Harry glanced at the angry face in his rear-view mirror, then ignored it completely. Louis looked like he was about to leave, but Harry grabbed his arm to stop him. “Before you go, take this.” He dropped a roll of film into Louis’ open palm.

Louis looked at it curiously, his other hand on the door handle. “What’s this?”

Harry laughed. “Photos I need to get developed. This is a Fotomat, is it not?”

“It is,” Louis said slowly.

“I’ll be back in twenty-four hours,” Harry said, plucking his sunglasses off the dash and sliding them onto his face. “For those photos and for an answer.”

[tibby]

If you think that gifted kids are only upset because no one wants to see them as special anymore, you don't know anything about former gifted kids. Do you know how it feels to be treated like scum whenever your grades slipped a little? Do you know the guilt of not raising to ridiculously high expectations? To have no social life because you can't allow yourself any distractions, in fear of punishment? To not be able to look your teacher in the eye when you get a C? To enter deep depression the moment you fail and never feel like you're good enough? To not be able to sleep for days because of panic attacks caused by fear of failure? To fail because you showed up to class after being awake for 50 hours? To realise you don't know who you are or what you want, because all of your life, you did what was expected of you? To feel incredibly guilty because you would rather die than disappoint your parents even more? To not have money to go to therapy because your parents are poor and you can't get a good job before you graduate and you still haven't graduated at 21 because you can't even decide on a major? Want gifted kids to go to therapy, well pay for it then, because I don't have 50 dollars for one hour of consultation. I don't even have money to eat for the next week, and I can't ask my parents for money, because they barely get by and they already supported me for 18 years.

as a “former gifted kid” who struggles with mental illness that caused me to feel suicidal over bad grades, who still stresses about not being seen as the golden child by their parents despite the fact they’re 22, who nearly dropped out of university due the fact my brain tricked me into the mindset of “if you won’t be perfect, don’t bother trying”, who is currently unemployed partially due to a pandemic but still feels like this wouldn’t have happened if i pursued a more stable career instead of wanting to do what i wanted to do, i think i know a little bit about the struggles of gifted kids.

however, i have also hit a point in my life where i realised that i had to move on from that label, and put in the effort to still achieve things instead of expecting the world to cater to how special i am. i’m not ignorant to how mental illness and social class and pressure from adults can severely impact your well being and growth, particularly when it comes to education. i’ve been there, i’ve experienced it, i still have a desire to be perfect and a lot of self hatred to work through regarding not Being The Best. but i also realised that sitting around and feeling sorry for myself was not going to help me in any capacity, and that i had to push through and find a system that worked for me. i had to get over the idea of being a “gifted kid”, and accept that i’m average at best but if i put the work in, i can achieve so much more.

my criticisms of the gifted kid culture are not directed at people who have been fucked over by the education system and don’t have access to the help they need to get through it. my criticisms are directed towards the people my age who can get help, who can put the effort in, who can still do whatever they want to do, but refuse to do so, because it’s easier to cling to the idea of being a gifted child that the world doesn’t understand. it’s directed at the 25 year olds who complain about how they “never learned how to study” because they were so smart as a child, and refuse to acknowledge that it’s a basic life skill that they need to teach themselves. it’s directed at the people who think that being called gifted as a child means they were the only people fucked over by the school system, without any regard to their fellow students who weren’t seen as gifted for whatever reason, or who had learning disabilities that made it harder for them. it’s directed at the people who genuinely believe they are impossibly smart and it’s the world’s fault for not seeing it and catering to them. it’s directed at the people who refuse to see the inherent classism and racism in most gifted kid programs, because they need to believe these programs have a lot of merit, because otherwise, what is their identity based on?

i am truly sorry you’re struggling and that you don’t have the means to support yourself through it. i’m being genuine when i say i’ll happily paypal you some money to get a consultation or two so you can start figuring things out. i’m well aware that there’s a lot of nuance to this issue, and it’s a problem that can’t be fixed by discussing it on tumblr.

but honestly, and i say this with care, you - and so many others - need to let the gifted kid label go. not overnight, and not in a way that will demean your self worth, but you need to move on from it. you’re never going to be able to find happiness with yourself if you continue to cling to a meaningless label that’s given to children. of course, it’s easier to move on from it when you have the support and means to do so, and i don’t want to demean your struggles or experiences. but basing your value entirely on a label that a teacher gave you when you were young is not healthy. it’s not something you can easily let go of, but i firmly believe you will be so much happier once you do.

[popculturebuffet]

Jake Reviewcaps Stuff: X-Men Evolution: The X-Impulse

Two of the series most popular characters, and one of its’ more popular ships: Jean and Xavier try to lead kitty away from charming asshole Avalanche whose trying to use her for crimes, but have trouble due to having taken stupid pills before this episode. Meanwhile Kurt and Scotty follow Logan as he confronts Sabertooth for the first time and gets cars thrown at him. No really. Abusive Romance, Flying Cars, and probable Gilmore Girls refrences under the cut. 

So yeah i’m doing another one already. This pace MIGHT slow eventually, as I want to get through the show faster.. but this episode gave me a ton of material to work with so I wanted to strike while the iron was hot. So as I mentioned last time the show started with slowly shoveling characters in one at a time, giving each time for focus and to breathe a bit. So with Nightcrawler and Toad out of the way it’s time for Shadowcat and Avalanche.. who happen to be one of the biggest ships for this show.. and also one some don’t like. Me, i’ll form an opinon as I go as I don’t remmeber much of them together other than him trying to join the x-men in one episode, so we’ll see. For now it’s time for some X-Impulse. Wait isn’t impulse dc? Is there a marvel character named that too? 

Yup there is! Two in fact, but somehow one is x-men related. This is impulse a member of the Shiar imperial guard I entirely forgot about because there’s like 40 or 50 diffrent members and he’s not one of hte more promeinet ones. For those who’ve never heard of these guys there the elite superpowered muscle for the Shiar Empire, an intergalactic empire whose former empress Charles Xavier dated for a while after dethroning her brother and who serve either as allies to our heroes or people for them to beat up depending on if someone sane is in charge that day or not, and who often have members killed to show off some new baddy, hence why there’s been three impulses apparently.

 Their based on the less military, more heroic and more fleshed out if still hugely sized,  legion of superheros from dc, which Guard co-creator David Cockrum was one of the  most famous artists for and originally actually CREATED Nightcrawler as a legionnaire, but he was rejected for being too demonic and thankfully recycled into the rougish religious elf we know today. The Guard were as far as I can tell made as a wink and a nod toward that and a gentle jab at the competition and is far from the first or last time either side would make characters based on the other side. I also bring up the Shiar because despite being a sizeable part of the X-Men mythos in the comics.. they’ve BARELY been used outside them. Cartoon wise only the 90′s series used them, though to be fair....

Given Evolution had both hinted at exterterstials apparently, and was planning on doing the Phoenix Saga in season 5, so they MIGHT have used them eventually, but I somehow doubt it and WOlverine and the X-Men didn’t live long enoguh to even consider it. As for the movies they were considered too ungrounded for them and thus were basically exiled from appearing on film for 20 years. Now the Shi’ar aren’t perfect characters, the fact before he took the throne himself Gladiator would just obey whatever assshole took the reigns due to some misguided loyalty didn’t help, but they could be used intrestingly and the guard are at least intresting in a fight, so it is a shame they couldn’t be used till recently and hopefully with the fox merger the mcu will put them to use at some point. Also for those curious if they showed up in any other cartoons.. nope. According to wikipedia, their mentioned in Avengers; Earth’s Mighteist Heroes (Which will also be covered here some day) and Legion (probably too though also probably not episode by episode if I do), and show up in two of the video games, with Ultimate Alliance being the biggest role outside of the 90′s cartoon from the looks of it, having the well, alliance, head to shiar space to get the mkrann crystal and battle with the guard and deathbird. Anyway, i’ve spent enough time on this weird sidebar, let’s get on with the actual episode!  We open with a pretty good scene. We meet Kitty Pryde, your average teen whose having a weird flying nightmare.. emphasis on weird as it is a bit wonky, but the idea is fine enough.. as is the result where she finds herself having fallen to the basement and FELT it, her panicked parents coming down and Kitty only being able to sob about having fell, her mom putting it off to sleepwalking.. until her dad notices her pillow and blanket fused into the celing above, which only makes the poor girl more upset. It’s a good, tense scene and a reminder that wether your mutant powers are benign or not.. having them awaken can still be traumatic as hell, and uses this world NOT having them be a public concern well: Kitty has NO IDEA what’s happening to her, no one to turn to and is understandabily terrified. For all she knows her body is breaking down and she might not be tangible again, not an unresonable fear given her comics counterpart once ended up in that very situation due to taking some heavy damage in battle from an energy charged harpoon.. from a guy named harpoon because even Claremont had an off day with names sometimes. My point is it’s a very good scene. Naturally Charles notices from cerebro.. and with a weird computer thing that somehow fully researchs who she is because tha’ts not creepy, but It is somewhat understandable. Cue the credits.  We then get a REALLY pointless throwaway scene with Kurt, now having’ been at school for long enough to be late several times apparently, late again and running into Mystique, in her guise as principal before Scott thankfully rescues him. Why Mystique is confronting her son like this I dunno, but what I really don’t is why this scene is here at all. It could’ve easily been replaced with a throaway line about Charles only wanting to have one student miss midterms or not wanting to arouse too much suspcion with the facultiy by taking too many of the kids out of school. Instead we just get this scene to establish their home. And yes they could’ve just needed to fill out the episode.. but there’s plenty of ways, that i’ll mention later, this minute of screentime could’ve been used better and we really didn’t need a whole scene of them to set up that they’d be home for their subplot this episode.  Back in scene’s that actually matter, Kitty is trying to sneak off to school but her mom stops her, with her family apparently having agreed to keep her home but Kitty just wants some normalcy and her family won’t even talk about it, so her mom relucntantly agrees. I can’t blame Kitty: even if it’s a terrible idea to go to school while she has no idea what’s happening to her and can’t control it as far as she knows.. she’s also a scared kid whose body is changing in ways she can’t fully grasp, and unlike puberty, which mutation is a mild metaphor for, there’s no deep years of study on it or how it changes a body: she has no idea what’s going on and just wants to grasp onto SOMETHING normal while she’s clearly not. It’s some well done character stuff.  Meanwhile  Jean and Chuck are on their way to what i’m assuming is that same old place, sweet home Chicago since that’s where Kitty is from in the comics and they had to fly there anyway. Jean questions why her.. out of the three junior x-men so far she’s the least intresting. Charles explains he thinks she can reach Kitty which.. makes some sense. Jean is uber popular at school, easy to get along with and endlessly nice, so she’s a good choice. Another likely part of it, and why not scott, is scott’s powers: it’s a lot easier to sell her parents on powers doing good with someone who can lift objects versus someone whose constantly cursed to never open his eyes, and this way kurt has his buddy back home so he dosen’t feel lonely his first time without his new dad. Now granted I question why STORM didn’t come with them, as she seems like a good choice and it’d be a nice nod to her bond with kitty in the comics, but I suspect it was simply easier to just have two x-men to focus on. Maybe she was busy getting Evan for two episodes down the line...

So then we get.. Charles being really, REALLY dumb.. like out of character dumb. See in the comics when the X-Men came to recurit kitty, they all came in civlian clothes, though ironically Jean wasn’t with them for the initial meeting because even more ironically she, Scott and Kurt were split off into their own group to try and recruit Dazzler, and Charles was nice and polite about it and promoted the school as well. a school. Granted Kitty’s parents didn’t know about her phasing here and Emma Frost was also trying to recurit kitty for HER school for gifted youngsters.. but still, there’s NO reason for Charles not to use that sort of pitch to get into the door, especially since as we learn in the scene after this Kitty’s a straight A student, retaining her deep intelgence from the comics, so there’s an easy foot in the door before he drops the mutant part in. Instead he just casually mentions he tracked her that he’s diffrent and comes off really fucking creepy and naturally they say fuck no to that. LIke.. how do they know he’s not with the goverment or forming a teen militia or just a pedophile who happens to be a mutant.. they do not and their already scared. So chuck gets a well earned door to the face. And thus I get to introduce a new running gag: The Chuck, you Blockhead, Count,. Now granted the obvious name may be the xavier is a jerk count, which i’ll probably also do but that’s more for being an asshole, like he often is due to poor writing or currently pragmatisim in the comic. No no this is for when Chuck is just out an out an idiot. Plus I love a good Charlie Brown refence so Chuck,  You Blockhead Count: 2 It’s at 2 since we also have last episode where Toad showed up with his own uniform, and attacked kurt.. and Charles did nothing and questioned nothing about that. And now I mentioned that other count Xavier is Jerk Count: 1 The Scott thing is more in character but for having his test be.. have a grown woman chase a teenager with Lightning. Storm was involved too but I doubt she’ll be an asshole as much so she’s safe for now. So having throughly botched it Xavier decides to have them split up, gang: Xavier will go to social services to find out more about lance since he’s an orphan, while Jean will infiltrate the school. Now while watching this I questioned why no one in school at all questioned a random teenager they never met roaming the halls.. but odds are jean just used her telepathy to either make anyone who saw her think she belonged there or masked her self from them seeing her, the latter being a signiture move of both jean and her teen self brought to the present because complicated bollocks, so fair enough. I also thought charles was just fucking off but accoridng to the wiki he was at social services, so he avoids another count and was doing something useful, checking on lance before he tries to offer him a spot: both to make sure he’s a good fit after last week’s debacle and figure out the best course to legaly take the boy in if so, and if not knowing charles still find the kid a home anyway because even if he’s not x-man yet, he’s still a child in need asshole or not and Charles is a good man. Such a good man he had to be told 9 timelines ended in utter disaster and ruin for mutantkind for him to even humor breaking from his dream according to recent comics, and according to Moira’s notes STILL took a good 15 years in universe of attempted genoicdes , 1 actual genocide and his people being reduced to a nub to finally cave and even THEN he admits he still loves humanity and wants them to be better. While I did put up an xavier is a jerk count just now at his best Charles Xavier is a good if flawed man who, while prone to ocasionally making utterly terrible decisions, loves both humans and mutants and just wants peace in our time and only created the x-men to foster it.  Meanwhile back at the ranch her mansion, Logan.. senses sabertooth.. I mean even with Logan’s adept sense of smell, I question how he could smell him over the exaust of Sabertooth’s goofy metalic penis, aka his own motorcycle, but it IS part of his mutant powers. Either that or they just have a magic force bond like Rey and Kylo Ren in the sequel trilogy.. minus the sexual tension and forced face turn for the latter.. maybe just minus the forced face turn. So Logan prepares to go fight his rival, and suits up for the first time. and while it’s in a black void for.. some reason it looks REALLY badass and really gives gravatas to seeing wolverine in costume for the first time. And since he’s one of ONLY two looks to look at this episode, since Kitty and Lance don’t get their uniforms this episode, let’s talk about it. 

I fucking love it. Like Kurt’s it’s basically his comic’s costume but slightly modified.. but unlike Kurt it’s a diffrent costume than last time, going with his cool brown look that he wore for quite some time in the comics, though made a bit more orange. However it honestly STILL looks fantastic and I get wanting to go with a color that’s a bit more eyepopping in the more muted tones of Evolution. It just looks fantastic and i’ts nice to see a cartoon use an alternate costume for a character as their main look.   Logan passes a returning from school Scott and Kurt, who decide to follow him and after debating which car, Scott gestures them to his.. which is scott’s sports car from bot the previous series and the comics. Why a 17 year old has this, I can only assume because Chuck is a really good dad, really rich.. and likely knows having a bunch of teenagers around means if one of them DOSEN’T have hteir own car they’ll be borrowing his rolls royce all the time and this way he can have his nights after training free to smoke a blunt with logan while they watch the next generation and eat a pile of cheeseburgers the children dropped off while crusing around out of his lack of hair, you know why you give your teenager a car in the first place. 

Anyways while Kurt and Scott buddy up and go on an excellent adventure, with Kurt even bamfing inside and god I love this dynamic. So fucking adorable. But anyways while that’s going on, Kitty is at school being mocked by two alpha bitches for being sad despite her grades then is shoved in a locker. When then meet Lance, soon to be known as avalanche and the other mutant at school who decides to graffito tag the place.. in the laziest but somehow still coolest way possible by just taking his spray can and spraing one long streak along the lockers. Not as neat as doing an actual tag but it does more petty dumbfuckery faster so fair play to him.  Kitty begs him to let her out.. before her powers trigger again. She tries denying it when he comments on them being cool.. before he shows off his own, making the earth move under his feet, though not the sky tumbling down a tumbling down.. that’s Storm’s job. It shakes the lockers and Kitty rather than be impressed, runs like hell. But yeah, I get the feeling, even with him having evil plans for her right after.. that he does feel some attraction to her here. And as I made clear i’ts not shipping goggles.. the way he acts.. he’s elated to meet someone else with powers, to after likely being pinballed around foster care and treated like shit by his piers over it and then finding out he has a special power but is still seen as a weirdo even by his minons.. he’s elated. It’s what draws him to her: that for once he’s NOT alone, and there’s someone else to revel in the sheer power and joy he feels using his powers and even though she runs he vows he’s gonan rock her world.  Since we’re where a commerical break would be, I figure now’s a good time to talk about Lance. In the comics he had a diffrent name entirely, and avalanche was more of a one note villian who later became a retired bar owner. Here he takes bits, the long metal hair and love of his powers, from Rictor, a more heroic mutant in the comics who only started out doing crimes because he was forced to and quickly joined the original x-men’s class of mutants the x-terminators before joining the new mutants and later x-force. He’s also , as you probably know, one fo the x-men’s most prominent gay mutants, but while hinted at in comics made before this series was fully canonized years after, and like iceman who came out even later, there was no way of knowing that at the time, so it made since to use him as partial template here. It also makes sense not to use the rictor name as while it makes more sense given the earthquake motif, Avalanche is an actual villian.. and you know the obvious fact that Lance is white and Julio Richter.. is not.  Granted they COULD’VE made him latino, and used sunspot for spike to ballnce it out representation wise, but this was the early 2000′s and they cared about as much for repesentation as Jeph Loeb does. Hopefully Rictor gets an adpatation at some point outside of Logan, but I get why not here. 

On with the show. Kitty shows up late for track due to thing one and thing two, and has to run first and trips, while on the nearbye rooftops Lance and his two goons try to break into the administration building to get test answers. They don’t as Lance notices an alarm, and while one of his goons asks why he dosen’t just quake a hole in, Lance points out the obvious: If there’s obvious tampering they’ll just change the test answers.. and since he knows about kitty now, he has a better way and when questioned rather than explain her powers, he just shakes rattles and rolls. He also makes one of Kitty’s bullies trip but it only scares her further. I”m getting. serious heathers vibes here jesus.. I mean Lance isn’t nearly as bad as Jason Dean but still jesus. I need to listen to more of that musical good stuff. 

Kitty retreats from her admierer/stalker to teh autitorim, where Jean finds her.. given Jean again slipped in here without no o ne noticing and no one came after kitty , i’m thinking she use her telepathy to mask anyone from seeing Kitty come in and seeing Jean at all so she could talk in private. Granted Lance shows up right after, but odds are Jean didn’t notice him and thus didn’t think to shield him and probably isn’t up to Charles level where he can create a psychic blindspot in an entire crowd. Anyways Jean tries to comfort kitty who’s still angsting about her powers and again hard to blame her when the only other mutant she’s met is a budding psychopath whose idea of a romantic gesture is injuring one of her enmiies for her. Jean does try to calm her down, first showing she’s a mutant and admitting she was freaked out too when she got her powers.. and given most depcitions of jean getting her powers are far from plesant that tracks. She does however make the mistake of telling Kitty, already figuring this is some sort of trick and jean will throw a puppy across the room to also try and get in her pants or something, that she’s a telepath and Kitty screams at her to get out of her head. Jean truly is taking after her mentor in thef ucking up department. Lance then shows up as I mentioned earlier, and tells Jean to backoff and that’ she’s mine and you get it. Oh and as a side note Jean DOES admit to having read Kitty’s mind so she CAN read minds, and likely has gotten a surface level look of duncan’s thoughts which I feel go a little something like this mnus the actual context of when the song’s going on. 

Lance then finds kitty, whose changed into her regular outift and promises not to use his powers this time, admitting he too felt lost and scared, and wants to help her take control and help her.. and while it is partly for his own petty scheme.. I do genuinely think he means part of that, that he does genuinely wnat her and want someone like him by his side.. it’s just in his warped head doing crime and whatever he wants is the right thing to do, that control means using this power to knock down whoever’s in your way and TAKE what you deserve. 

Jean instead phones xavier and both agree that if lance fully gets his hooks in her they might never reach her and Xavier tells him to stay on her and that she can overcome lance as an obstacle.. and then bemoans that some obastacles are more annoying than others as the social services building has a large stone staircas,e a nice quip and they beat the ulitmate universe to that joke by a few years. 

Meanwhile our two best buds track Wolvie to a car park because fuck if I know why he decided to make his stand there. Probably because the writers had a cool action scene in mind as we’ll see, but it still comes off dumb though given how every other x-man has been acting this episode it tracks. Anyway Sabertooth strolls up on his demonic wang-shang-a-lang, 

Seriously I mocked it before but it bears repeating. While Wolvie has a normal looking, if still badass, bike Sabertooth’s.. looks like something Skeltor would ride after he man. It Looks like warlock is horribly stucki n the form of a motorcycle. It looks like the kind of bike on some random asshole the bikers from sons of anarchy would beat up forposing. It looks like he stole it from the biker mice from mars. It looks like the polution from it’s exaust alone is the reason big bird die. it looks like Creed just brought it off the joker and remonded it. It looks like something the battletoads bought and regretted. It looks like ghost rider’s first trike. it looks like Tooth lost his dick in a horrible acciden tand is compensating with theree metalic ones. It looks like something the BAND creed sold to victor creed here. It looks.. bad is what i’m saying.  As for his actual outfit.. it’s okay,b asically his movie outfit with osme of the skin missing. That look isn’t my faviorite of his but it works to sell him as a savage monster and fits good with the more tactical less comic booky looks of this shows costumes. 

Creed, the man not the band though  he does look like the lead singer of creed, charges at Logan who simply pops his wheel while tooth falls off the roof.. and then the most rediculous and awesome part of the episode starts.... right after Scott’s car gets hit with the bike because what else did he think was going to happen when the fighting started.  Sabertooth , who apparently has really good super strength in this universe, starts CHUCKING CARS UP THROUGH THE ROOF OF THE CAR PARK UP AT LOGAN. Points to the team while the setting for this fight is nonseical, it is WORTH IT for this, with great action as Logan dodges the cars bursting through the roof. it’s rediclous, over the top.. and UTTERLY spectacular and not just in a so bad it’s good way. Logan eventually slips through a car hole, a sentence i’d never thought i’d say mostly becasue that’s the moe syslack approved term for garages but it works well here too, and into the garage before sabertooth RAMS him with a car, ranting about it’s their “destiny” only one is left. Which seems like some weird “applying highlander logic to former goverment weapon mutants’ bollocks, but instead is foreshadowing for the end of the season. Nice touch. Scott and Kurt arrive, in uniform since even if he’s a bit more personably here, Scott still is no dummy, and they sucessfully save Logan, whose pissy about it because it was his buisness and all, but Kurt thinks he secretly loves them and Scott sarcastically agrees. Not a bad subplot and it makes up for a weird choice of battleground on logan’s cart iwth utter insanity. Fun stuff.  Back at not so fun stuff, Kitty finds lance outside the office and takes him up on his offer, and he admits they ARE outsiders, there is something wrong with them.. but instead of moping about it, they can do something about it and revel in it. It really ties into Lance as a character: He’s probably felt, due to being an oprhan and not having a stable home life likely buffeted around foster care and acting out as a result, that he really is an outsider and his powers not only proved it.. but finally gave him POWER over all the people that cast him out. The power to take what he wanted and return what he got. The power to move you. He finally had power and he was going to make them pay for making him feel like he had none and wants Kitty to join him. And for a moment it works, kitty joyfully breaking in with him and actually enjoying her powers for the first time. Meanwhile kitty’s parents showed up, Jean having called them and somehow got them to listen.. and this is what I meant by that one minute earlier. We COULD have built up Kitty’s parents guilt and fear by having Charles approach them again.. and with them panicked over her not returning from school, have him explain what happened and help her father see how wrong he’d been to hide from it or had her argue with her dad then storm out. Instead they just show up here for the first time in almost 20 minutes so we could get a filler scene of kurt being late. 

Anyways inside Lance steals the answers and Kitty is horrified to find out that “Gasp” the juvinele delinquent who hurt someone to impress her is doing BAD THINGS. Lance tries to change her grades but she refuses.. and then Jean and the Prydes show up, with Kitty’s dad admitting he was wrong, he shouldn’t of hid fro her power and shoudl’ve been a better parent.. better than her comics dad who got in bed with gangsters i’ll give him that. But Lance not wanting to loose his new sorta girlfriend knocks a bookcase on kitty and abusively tries to drag her with him.. while jean says if you go with him now, her powers will be a curse like she thought earlier... even though Kitty’s pretty terrified of lance right now and dosen’t actually want to go with him.  it comes off like this bit from final space played entirely seriously

So yeah apparently I need this too...: God Dammit Jean Count: 3 The other two are for the telepath thing earlier and the duncan thing last episode. And given the duncan thing is going to be going on till season 3 yeah i’ll need this. I’ll probably also need a WHAT DOES SHE SEE HIM HIM COUNT, but i’m playing that one by ear. But yeah kitty does the obvious and breaks it off and phases out and Lance takes it well.. by trying to destory the entire school.. my god this really is heathers! Did .. did lance kill some popular kids before this? I have questions. Jean struggles to hold things up and worries about kitty, who falls under some ruble but charles assures her to focus: She can do this.. and as we seen Chuck likely sensed kitty who phases out and reuintes with her parents before rescuing them all. Kitty realizes her powers are a gift after all and says the x-men have her best intrest and heart and Charles finally decides to have an actual discussion with the prydes which had he had one might’ve helped this episode go faster.  We then end on Lance, angry and hurt starring into the distance, when Mistque approaches in her principal disguise, saying there may be an opening for her and transforms ending with a great line “I have much to teach you, my avalanche”. Which ihs a better code name than Rictor when put like that credit where it’s do. And we’re out. Final Thoughts:  This one was a bit of a step down as you could tell: The main core of Lance and Kitty IS really strong, being a good way to breifly touch on toxic relationships. If this gets better in season 2 I have no idea but it’s a compelling dynamic here, with Kitty being terrified of her power while Lance loves his and both are what prop this episode up alongside the fun car park fight and great dynamic with Kurt and Scott. HOwever what drags the episode down is EVERYONE but Kitty and Lance, who act in character, and Scott and Kurt, who had no idea logan was going into combat and were just curious what their cool teacher was up to acts like a fucking moron: Logan, rather than pick a fighting ground where he has an advantage chooses one where sabertooth can easily use stealth and gives him an opening too as well as a garage full of weapons that nearly ends him, Xavier decides just randomly revealing he knows where they live wiill impress scared parents, Jean decides telling someone she’s in their head is a great idea, Kitty’s parents think not talking about the thing tht just happened will make it disappear, which is at least realistic if nothing else, and Sabertooth thought that was a valid choice for a motorcycle. The climax is good but feels unearned and overall this episode could've neen fantstic but is bogged down by bits of stupid, but is still enjoyable thanks to it’s emotional core. Next time, whenever that is, another popular charcter arrives as we go Rogue. Until then, follow for more reviews, like this if you enjoyed it, send asks iwth suggestions for more shows and episodes to cover and until then, stay safe and stay mutant and proud. 

[dreamyyang]

To All The Boys I’ve Hated — 02

Summary: “What starts with ‘f’ and ends with ‘uck’? Firetruck! Welcome to Camp Firetruck, we hope you aren’t carrying any carrots because the demon rabbits will attack you.”

Three weeks of summer camp with the seven boys you hated the most was a clusterfuck of chaos waiting to happen.

Genre(s): crack, angst, summer camp!au

Warning(s): themes of bullying, behaviour that should not be condoned, crack, cursing, a lot of questionable life decisions, weird animals and even weirder camp counsellors, author has never been to camp so spare her if she fucks up

A/N: this part is where the plot really kicks off and I just want to mention that I am not accusing the idols of such behaviour. This is purely a work of fiction.

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Narae was one temperamental bitch. Er, mare. It baffled you that the pregnant mare was still used for horse riding lessons. Actually, it baffled you that she was still pregnant. Almost every summer you’d spent at Camp Firetruck, you remembered Narae being pregnant. You sighed; even a mare had a better love life than you.

You couldn’t tell if the horse hated you or was trying to be friendly — she was either nuzzling you or dropping dung on your shoes and smacking you with her tail. Either way, it was getting annoying. What you could tell however, from the cheeky grin on Huang Renjun’s face, was that he was enjoying the show. And of course he would. He was your rival in school and you didn’t expect camp to be any different. Lucky for him, Lee Donghyuck happened to be with him so you didn’t have the courage to counter the jokes he made at your expense. Like Jaemin, Donghyuck scared you, though not as much as the former. The two boys were gifted with making you feel insecure and their friends seemed to enjoy exploiting the fact.

Your shoulders were tense as you did your best to ignore them, choosing to focus on your riding instructor. The tension only grew when the instructor left to speak with another counsellor. The campers were free to do as they pleased, even take their respective horses for a ride, until the instructor came back. Renjun and Donghyuck were making their way towards you so you looked away, preparing to mount your horse and get away from them. They didn’t terrify you that much but you didn’t want to talk to them.

Of course you, being the lucky one you were, slipped on Narae’s dung, accidentally kicking some of it behind you as you grabbed the horse for safety. Startled, Narae pushed you away, right onto Donghyuck.

You heart clenched and your mouth felt dry as the boy pushed you off him with a glare. You quickly stood up, turning around to apologise when you noticed that quite a bit of the dung had hit his clothes. Renjun was having the time of his life as he watched the events unfold.

“You know, if you smeared some of it on your face and smiled, you’d literally have a shit eating grin.”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes and stood up, still glaring. You pursed your lips, afraid of what he was going to say, you weren’t exactly a fan of public humiliation. To your surprise, he said nothing. He simply turned around and left. Renjun snorted in amusement as he watched his friend walk away in a huff. He glanced at you once more, giving you a smile, “We just wanted to say that we’d be hanging out more often since you’re sharing with Jaemin and Jeno. See you around, y/n.”

With that he walked away, towards his own horse to mount it and take it for a ride. You exhaled with relief, nothing bad had happened yet, though you were still dreading the next time you ran into Donghyuck. Narae began nudging you with her muzzle, drawing your attention to her.

“Yeah these next few weeks are gonna be a mess, aren’t they?”

You sighed, “Well fuck, you know you’re a loner when you start talking to a horse.”

You forgot how much you hated the smell of the mess hall. It reminded you of your grandmother’s refrigerator — the odours of all the different dishes mingling with each other to create a smell that tasted sweet, bland and bitter at the same time. Yes, the smell was so strong that you could taste it. You involuntarily shuddered as you realised that the smell had actually gotten worse than you remembered it. Trying hard to breathe without smelling the mess hall’s scent, you walked towards the tables furthest from the food.

Sitting alone didn’t bother you, you just wished that you’d carried a book to keep yourself preoccupied. You sighed as you plopped down on a bench, your mind trying to conjure up something to think about.

The phrase ‘be careful what you wish for’ popped into your head as, minutes later, Jaemin slid onto the bench, sitting next to you and wrapping his arm around your shoulders. He gave you his signature grin as Haechan sat down in front of you. You throat began to dry, as it usually did when you were around either of the two. You seemed to have angered a greater divine being. There was no other explanation for why you were being bombarded by the twin devils’ presence.

“My lovely roomie, how’s your evening going?” Jaemin had adopted the fakest sweet voice and it made you cringe.

Your hunched your shoulders uncomfortably, trying to push his arm off, “Please leave me alone.”

“Oh, but we don’t want to,” Donghyuck said with a smug smile, clearly noticing how uncomfortable you were.

“Roomie, I thought we were friends,” Jaemin pouted.

“Uh-Uhm.”

You weren’t sure where the conversation was going but you were scared. You weren’t hungry anymore, you just desperately wanted to run someplace else. Donghyuck and Jaemin seemed to be well aware of your discomfort and were loving every second.

“So y/n, I’m not very happy about what happened this afternoon,” Donghyuck said in a mock upset tone.

“That’s not how you treat friends, now is it?”

When you didn’t respond, Jaemin leaned in closer. He grabbed your chin and forced you to look at him, “Don’t ignore us, y/n. We’re already unhappy with you.”

You wanted to yell at them to fuck off, to get away from you. The way they spoke to you in their mocking tones felt humiliating. Something was wrong with you though, you couldn’t bring yourself to stand up to them. Your situation was pathetic honestly. Like a coward, you were too afraid to tell them off. You hated how weak and small they made you feel. The smell of the cafeteria, though you’d managed to get used to it in a few minutes, had suddenly become more nauseating. A dull ache began to creep into your head.

Suddenly, a girl spoke up from behind you, “Why the fuck are you guys talking like that?”

Both Jaemin and you turned around to see two campers your age — Shin Ryujin, the one who’d spoken, and another girl who bore a striking resemblance to Hwang Hyunjin from your riding class.

“None of your business, blueberry,” Donghyuck answered with a bored look.

“Well, y/n is our friend, so it just happens to be our business,” Ryujin said, glaring at him.

Jaemin scoffed, “Right. Get lost, we’re having a conversation here.”

Ryujin looked unimpressed as she pushed a few strands of her blue hair out of her face, “They’re obviously uncomfortable with you guys, how about you leave them alone?”

Both boys were about to retort when Jeno walked over to the table, “Just stop being little shits for once. Come on, your dinners are already attracting flies.”

Jaemin sighed as he pulled away from you, him and Donghyuck following Jeno back to their table. The other girl smiled at you, “Come sit at our table, those dipshits will leave you alone.”

You smiled gratefully as you picked up your tray and followed them to their table. They had actually joined two tables since they were a pretty big group. There were about ten of them — Yeji, Jisu, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, Yuna, Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin. They happily welcomed you and, thankfully, didn’t ask why you were suddenly joining them. Not even Yeji nor Ryujin wanted to know what was going on with Jaemin and Donghyuck. Which was a good thing because you were in no mood to delve into your past with those two and their friend group.

You weren’t sure what you were expecting when you showed up at Felix, Seungmin and Han Jisung’s cabin that night but you certainly hadn’t expected Chenle and Park Jisung to be there. Well them, also, Jeongin talking to a lamp.

“Tell me your secret,” He said dramatically, gripping the lamp with both his hands.

The others burst out laughing while you stood at the door, confused, watching the scene unfold. Chenle was in the midst of laughing when he noticed you, offering you a friendly smile. You smiled back awkwardly before quickly averting your gaze. You weren’t in the mood to talk to him but apparently, his plan seemed to contradict yours. Chenle had walked up to you before you could move elsewhere.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“Oh, well, uhm… We’re friends now,” you fumbled with your words in a manner that was near comical. You mentally rolled your eyes at yourself, cursing your asocial nature.

Chenle grinned, “We are?”

“Uh, no, I meant them. Your cabin mates and the others.”

“Ah, the JYP students. Yeah they’re pretty cool.”

You nodded, “Yeah. Well, I have to talk to Ryujin so, um, bye.”

As you tried to walk away, Chenle grabbed your arm and sheepishly smiled at you.

“What I said earlier, about wanting to be your friend, I meant it. I wanna make friends since I’m technically new and well, it would be great to be friends again.”

“We weren’t really friends in the first place, Chenle,” you answered, confused.

“Oh.”

His arm fell back to his side, his smile turning weak, “I see.”

“But we can be friends now,” you wanted to say. For whatever reason, you hesitated. Chenle had already walked back to Park Jisung and you were unable to get it out.

“Another time, maybe,” you mumbled to yourself while knowing full well that you might not try to bring it up.

You didn’t have much time to regret your decision though, Yuna was already pulling you to the haphazard circle that the others had created. You turned around once more to say goodbye to Chenle but Park Jisung and him had already left. You turned back to find everybody looking at you.

“What?”

“What were Na Jaemin and Lee Donghyuck doing at your table, y/n?”

[gascon-en-exil]

I'm genuinely curious about your "Black Eagles most to least favourite" list.

Here you are.

#1: Hubert

Could there be any other? I remember back when there was a promo introducing the house retainers (well, Lorenz for the Deer) and everyone was saying that Hubert looked so obviously evil that there had to be some deeper explanation, that someone who took design cues from a two-dimensional villain like Fates’s Iago couldn’t possibly be Edelgard’s retainer. Then the game came out, and we all realized that Hubert was exactly as advertised and then some: a cold and calculating murderer and war criminal with his fingerprints all over almost every terrible thing that happens over the course of the story, as comfortable with chloroform and a razor as dark magic and down to perform unspeakable experiments on innocent civilians to turn them into war machines and then backstab his co-conspirators because he will suffer no rivals for his title of the Most Evil Man in Fòdlan. And yep, he looks like Dracula and Severus Snape had a one-night stand and their mpreg love child went to an anime convention...but when Ferdinand looks at Hubert he sees Mr. Darcy and the Phantom of the Opera and Edward Cullen/Christian Grey, and soon enough that snake in Hubert’s breeches will be singing quite the aria indeed. You do you, Ferdinand.

Ok, I’ve already rambled at length on Hubert’s bisexuality and the interesting things it reveals about both him and his two primary love interests, but I do also have to admire the sheer audacity both of Hubert as an incel/Nice Guy-flavored romantic false lead for Edelgard who never had a serious chance because of the self-insert fantasy and of the decision to follow that up with a trope-laden queer romance that perfectly counterbalances Hubert’s attraction to Edelgard and puts Ferdinand firmly in the place he was destined to occupy by choosing to side with the Empire. It’s nearly as outrageous as just how casually evil Hubert gets to be, as well as the immense potential for dark humor that lies with that. You have to bend over backwards to say that Hubert isn’t unapologetically, irredeemably evil, and if you try there will be significantly more fans just waiting to tell you that you’re wrong - myself included. He’s the Manfroy to Edelgard’s Arvis but so much than that, and I look forward to the point in the CF postgame where he effectively takes over the Empire in true evil chancellor fashion and unleashes the full extent of his horrors upon Fòdlan. He somehow got even better in the DLC too despite being absent from CS and getting no new supports, because the Abyssians in CF just can’t stop talking about his nefarious antics down there. I just can’t get enough of how good this guy is at being bad, and I love that FE gave us exactly what was advertised here.

#2: Ferdinand

Now here’s a case of the opposite, where what’s on the packaging didn’t prepare me for what was to come. If I remarked on Ferdinand at all during pre-release it was only to think that he might be part of a Christmas knight duo with Sylvain since the game looked like it wouldn’t have one of those. Early on there wasn’t much else to be said about Ferdinand; he was like Claude in that his popularity ran off a meme (except just the one rather than several), and in appearance and personality he was basically Lorenz with less ridiculous hair. But then came his supports, and his post-timeskip look, and suddenly Ferdinand blossomed into the subtext-laden fem with very bizarre taste in men - see above - that he could have only dreamed of being if he’d stuck to such well-trod ground as the Christmas knight archetype. We learn of his love for opera, his complicated relationship with his father, his worship of the hot mess diva Manuela and how he learned swordplay specifically to imitate her roles on the stage, and - yes - how some backhanded compliments and expensive gifts of tea turn him into a blushing Regency heroine. It all casts his unusually rote romances with women in a performative light (as opposed to Lorenz who is similarly performative but seems genuinely interested in the marriage market), to say nothing of his one-sided rivalry with Edelgard that brushes against jealousy over Hubert’s devotion to her more often than against romantic attraction to her, and that toys around with gendered behavior in a manner complementary to Edelgard’s own bucking of the gender status quo.

And while not to the same extent as Felix, I do appreciate that Ferdinand has two distinct arcs depending on the route - and unlike some who feel that one or the other detracts from his character as a whole I personally find that they complement each other well. In SS and if recruited to AM and VW he makes the hard choice to oppose his homeland, spending the timeskip waging a solitary battle against the Empire with his private militia and then joining back up with Byleth’s army at Garreg Mach because he knows Edelgard is in the wrong even as it pains him to depose the Adrestian emperor and leave his own status uncertain...not to mention fight Hubert, which merits a curious boss conversation as well as some extra lines in SS (plus the infamous Huge Hole™ remark that I will never stop referencing because it is hilarious) that, while not elevating Ferdibert anywhere near the level of Dimidue in terms of cross-route canon endorsement, nonetheless are suggestive of something deeper between them that exists even if they find themselves on opposite sides of a war. In CF by contrast Ferdinand gives into his craving for the title and holdings that Edelgard has just stripped from his father and embraces nationalism and his long-held ideal of what the office of the prime minister should to do as a means of justifying the Empire’s conquests. Of course in the process he also succumbs to Hubert’s, er, charms(?) and becomes the charismatic bureaucrat who is presumably saddled with the task of putting a positive spin on the Empire’s dystopian atrocities while Edelgard and Hubert do all the actual work...and Hubert does all the actual actual work, which includes a lot of murder and kidnapping and all manner of other things that he doesn’t share with his pretty lover and about which Ferdinand quickly learns not to ask. Two Jewels of the Empire, indeed.

#3-4: Edelgard and Dorothea

I go back and forth on these so I’m not going to bother putting them in a definitive order, particularly because I like them for very different reasons that are difficult to compare. For Edelgard, it would be most accurate to say that I enjoy her potential much more than her execution; she gets some meaty material to work with as a lord and as the driving antagonist of the whole game outside of CF, and while I still prefer Micaiah for female lords there’s something darkly satisfying about her need for control and domination and her utter refusal to compromise or remain stagnant...except where Byleth is concerned, and Edeleth drags her down so badly that it would be painful if I cared more about that type of strong female character. Had the game axed the self-insert obsession (even if that meant axing her bisexuality along with it) and focused on her experiences during the Insurrection as the source of her worldview and motivations I’d be inclined to like the final product far more, because that’s a hell of a lot more in line with what she actually does and conveniently also maps to the life of a real world ruler with whom I’m relatively familiar and whom history regards in appropriately ambivalent terms.

Dorothea on the other hand is someone I can relate to on a more personal level, mostly as a sex worker. She’s similar to Primrose from Octopath Traveler, both of them prostitutes and playing coy with the implications of the RPG dancer class archetype, although Primrose hits a few more of my buttons for being former nobility and being motivated by revenge. Then again, I fully understand Dorothea’s anxieties about growing old without a man to take care of her, even if she loses me (and Yuri picks up from where she leaves off) when she dips into lesbianism as an alternative option. She’s got her ups and downs for me - I love that she brings up incest kink with Caspar as opposed to this series’s usual outright incest, while I love less her strange Ferdinand supports that are suspended oddly between friendship and romance and...something else undefinable - and I don’t have much to say on her life as an opera diva except that it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that she’s been turning tricks on the side and even got a sugar daddy to pay her way into the academy. Theatre and sex work have always gone hand-in-hand like that.

#5-7: Linhardt, Caspar, and Petra

This is why I couldn’t make up a list like this for the Lions or Deer, because most of their students would be in big clumps like this. I have no strong opinions on any of these characters; they each have their moments, but not enough to elevate them to where I actively like them or drop them down into real dislike. I suppose you could say I’m disappointed by how Caspar and Linhardt are visual allusions to Ike/Soren who do absolutely nothing else with that similarity except eloping in their paired ending...which is preceded by virtually nothing in the way of real chemistry. If I enjoy them for anything in particular it’s Linhardt’s wit and Caspar’s occasional bouts of emotional vulnerability, like his mini-arc in AM where he has to deal with his feelings surrounding Randolph’s death and then later gets an apology from Dimitri for it.

Petra is awkward all around as the game dances around her delicate political situation, and I also happen to agree with the VA who (if I recall) thought the character should have some sort of accent but wasn’t allowed to do one. (If anyone is wondering, based on her last name and Brigid being an island nation I headcanon it as a Celtic-derived culture, but as with my personal reading of Dedue and Duscur I know that doesn’t play well to the fandom at large).  All in all Petra feels like a more self-aware rendition of the exotic swordswoman archetype begun by Ayra in Jugdral, but there’s clearly still some work to be done on that front.

#8: Bernadetta

Ugh. With apologies to @capriciouscorvid for explaining how even unintentional disability representation can be taken as a positive, I just don’t see how Bernadetta’s character could possibly be considered a good thing when she’s so grating in almost all of her supports and most of her story and exploration presence outside of CF. All the screaming and high-pitched pronouncements of impending death get very old very quickly, and the part where she’s meant to be romantically appealing in her neediness and isolation is as lost on me as it would have been had it stemmed instead from a massive rack. Her supposedly sympathetic backstory doesn’t help much either, as it leaves me mostly with the thought that her father is an idiot because his methods obviously did not make her suitable to be a good wife. I also don’t care for how she’s one of several characters used to soften Jeritza (and that the way she does so is I think rather insulting to people with social anxiety, to liken it to a compulsion to commit murder), or even worse that people point to her Hubert support to try and say that he’s not such a bad guy and they’d be total besties just like Ferdinand and Dorothea (another pairing that doesn’t exactly scream BFFs). I mean, really....

[atreefullofmonkiesonnitrous]

Double Blind

Day 10 - Silver and Gold Newt was clattering away in the kitchen, getting Christmas dinner ready for a party of 13.  They were eating rather later than normal with all the teenage guests, and one preteen, showing up for their second Christmas dinner in one day.  Truthfully he was glad of the extra time to cook, as this was a far cry from his usual cooking for two.  He could hear his wife on the phone in the next room as she was finishing up the decorations.

"Yes, I'm sure.  It will be fine."

"He is going to love it."A longer pause.

"No, we've been over this. It's perfect.  I don't care if gold is more traditional, he always wears silver, and when has he given a toss about tradition?"

"Now you are just being ridiculous." 

"The book stopped at Armageddon, you are on your own, but don't worry."

"If he's stuck around for 6,000 years already I am fairly sure you are stuck with him."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"I won't."

"I will."

"Look I have another call, it will be FINE." 

Newt was at least 75% sure he knew who the new call would be.  It stood to reason really, which was about the only thing about this that did.  

"Yeah?"

"I was just talking to him."

"I'm absolutely sure he has no idea."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"No, I am NOT saying he won't be interested."

"I can not over state how sure I am that it will go well."

"No."

"Drama Queen."

"Shut up, you love me."

"Unhun, fires of eternity, got it.  So you don't want my help anymore?"

"That's what I thought."

"Okay, that is definitely not going to be the problem."

"First of all, can you really imagine him being that materialistic?  Secondly, gold is not boring, it's traditional.  He adores traditions."

"I know the plan."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"It's already in place."

"Just get yourselves here in one piece."

"Okay, bye."

Newt came out of the kitchen and handed Anathema a glass of sherry that she tossed back in one go. "Were those two conversations what I think they were?" He asked.

"Most likely, you're a clever fellow."  She smiled at him.

"I can't figure out if knowing Heaven and Hell are real, and full of such absolute idiots is comforting or terrifying," he said.

"Let me know when you figure it out." Anathema laughed.  "I can't tell either, especially since, from what I've heard they are pretty competent, comparatively."

"Terrifying.  Definitely terrifying."

Christmas dinner was a genial and raucous affair.  The Them had not settled at all despite having attained the lofty status of teenagers.  Pepper's seven year old sister tended to be an instigator of mischief, mostly to keep from being ignored.  Adam and Warlock were whispering in a corner, which never boded well for anything.  The former Mrs. Dowling, now Ms. Carpenter, was keeping an eye on them, in the vain hope of getting in the way of anything too disastrous.  Marjorie was telling a heavily edited story from her days as Madame Tracy, while Shadwell was snoring in his chair having eaten nearly his weight in dinner. 

Crowley and Aziraphale were both distracted and fidgety, and were the only ones in the room not to notice how nervous the other was.  Anathema was also fidgety, and they were both shooting her warning glares by turn.  It was nearly killing her to not start giggling like mad.  Eventually, the last of the mince pie was eaten and the brewing disaster in the corner was headed off by poppers and promises of presents.  Crowley was even prevailed upon, by virtue of Aziraphale's pouty face, to wear his paper crown, but only after the bright blue had been traded for red.  

Anathema declared herself "Father Christmas" and passed the gifts out to their intended recipients.   The children got theirs first and were thus distracted with new electronics while the adults did their exchange.  Warlock stayed while Crowley and Aziraphale opened a hand drawn book about a snake and a rabbit that raised a baby crow, that brought tears to both their eyes.  When there were only a few gifts left Newt dragged out a large box in front of Aziraphale and Anathema brought a large flat box to Crowley.  

"Crowley, you go first," she said. 

 Crowley tore the brightly colored paper and gaped.  All anyone else could see was the wooden outline of a frame. 

"How on earth did you find this?  I thought it had been lost!" His voice was almost a whisper."

A cousin of mine is an art historian.  He mentioned it to me.  Apparently it's a highly debated piece, because it looks like a Da Vinci, but there is no signature, so no one can be sure if it's his or a student's."

At Da Vinci's name Aziraphale's head snapped up.  He looked over at Crowley.  "Is that…?"

Crowley nodded.  "It's a real Da Vinci, I remember sitting for it."  He turned the painting around.  It was two smaller paintings framed together, though it was clear they were meant to be seen as a pair.  Anyone who knew them would recognize Crowley and Azirapahle, Crowley holding an apple and Aziraphale holding a scroll.  Each of them had their hand on half of a book that transitioned between the two paintings.  Aziraphale's eyes were misty again.  

"I remember as well.  It is truly remarkable that you found it."  Before they could start tripping over themselves with thanks Anathema chivied Aziraphale to his own present.  Inside that paper was a box holding ten identical books.  Aziraphale lifted one out.  "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - 2nd Edition - Annotated."  He looked in astonishment at Anathema.

"We reconstituted it from the family collections of index cards.  It's all there along with family guesses about various prophecies and notations when they happened.  These ten, plus one for the family, are all that we printed."  She grinned.  "You now own the rarest books of completely useless prophecy in the world."

"My dear, this is a priceless gift! It's far too generous both of these!  Now for your gift!  Come here and give me your hands."  She did, looking confused.  Crowley got up and came over laying his hands on Aziraphle's shoulders.  "My gift to you, Anathema, and Newt will benefit by it too, is my blessing, for the very best of health for these next eight months.  Nothing will harm you and everything will be as easy as possible.  Though I do advise leaving the sherry go for a bit, even so."  She stood looking at him confused for a minute until the implications of his words sunk in, then she pulled her hands to her mouth to cover her happy shriek and turned to Newt who had also just caught on and swept her up and spun her around.  When they calmed down a bit Crowley spoke up.

"And I promise that you will have without a doubt the most experienced midwife on the planet.  Always felt guilty about the whole business, so I've gotten very good at it."  He came over and gave her a hug before going back to his seat.  Everyone else had to give their hugs and congratulations to both the parents to be as well.  

"Oh!  There are still two gifts left!" Anathema went and took two small boxes from under the tree, and handed one to Aziraphale and the other to Crowley.  They each gave her a LOOK but she just smiled at each of them.  They each unwrapped the small box. 

"Anathema, I think you got them backwards."

"Oh dear, this one isn't for me."

Aziraphale and Crowley look at each other, both hesitating, but Crowley moves first, crossing the room and holding out the box.  "Aziraphale, this is for you," as soon as he gets close he drops to one knee.  

"You are the light of my world, my angel.  We have been through everything together, and together is the way I want to continue.  The worst thing that ever happened to me, is the thing that led me to you, and I would Fall again, to be able to be with you.  I know it's a human thing, but we've decided that humanity is our side, so Aziraphale, will you marry me?"  

Aziraphale looked down at Crowley, the box in his hand held a golden ring shaped like a snake swallowing its own tail.  Its eyes were sapphires and tiny chips of clear stones studded its length. He shot a glance at Anathema, then he also knelt down, even with Crowley and rather than taking the box, held out his own.  

"Crowley, beloved, you have been my guide and guard for longer than I ever realized.  You have shown me what it truly means to love unconditionally, for you have always been to me, patient, kind, generous, humble, selfless, forgiving, and  possessing a faith in me that I can only hope to be worthy of.  There is nothing I want more in this world than to have the singular honor of calling you my husband."

 He took from his box a ring of moonlit silver etched in the shape of a feather.  The tip was curled around a deep red ruby and the shaft was inlaid with onyx.  They each slid their rings on to the other's finger, then leaned in for as deep a kiss as the present company would allow.  Everyone was laughing and clapping.

"That was the gayest thing I have ever seen," Adam said.  Pepper shot him a horrified glare.  "What?  Double proposals are peak queer culture!"  That sparked another round of general laughter.  

Crowley stood and helped Aziraphale up as well.  He kept his arm around his fiance(!) as he looked at Anathema."You knew, this entire time, didn't you!"

"It was so hard not to say anything," she wailed.  "You each had almost the exact same plan! And you were both such nervous wrecks over it.  The wedding really is going to just be a formality, you two are already the most married beings I have ever met!" 

They couldn't even deny it. 

For @drawlight‘s 31 days of Ineffables Day 10, Silver and Gold

Thanks to @waywren for the ideas for Warlocks gift to them and Anathema’s gift to Crowley.  For those who don’t recognize it, it’s the painting from the Ineffable edition a description of which can be found here

[liloelsagranger]

Viridian Love Story - Chapter 3: Hold on to the memories? #newchapter

Hello my dear friends! After so many weeks of complete silence, I’m finally back to update my newest fanfiction “Viridian Love Story”. Thanks for your patience. Hope you enjoy it! @ndbern-rocketmonsters @ndbernarts @jessicarocket @estrelarabyss @prepareforetrouble @masterstarpikachu @tothestarsabove @teamrocketfanart @thelovelyjessie @webelieveinlovepower @chaosandhope @james-team-rocket @danadiversity @krazy-holly @keksrocket @harmonyrocketeeveon Chapter 3: Hold on to the memories?

Jessie stayed behind, frozing to a pillar of salt. His words were still resounding in her ears. «Because I don’t want to fall in love with you». A wave of anger and disappointment overpowered her. She wanted to run after him and confront him, talk turkey and once and for all get things straight, but she drew in her horns, too proud, and too timid to hear the truth. He didn’t love her, he didn’t even like her, he was still a prisoner of his past. The wounds and scars reminded him of dangerous feelings, feelings from which he had to isolate himself. Even though it was years ago since he last saw and met Jessiebelle, she was still intimidating him to this very day. Jessie was without a chance, neither her beauty, her loyalty nor her charisma were able to bring James round. Her hand wandered up to a tiny star-shaped pendant, it was a gift James gave her back in Kalos. A reminder of her willpower, intransigence and combative spirit… Flashback: «Turn around, Jess», James ripped the necklace out of his pocket, a piece of jewellery he had stolen from Team Rocket’s lost and found. Gently and very carefully he put the golden necklace around her neck. His fingers ran down her shoulder blades. Feeling her soft skin underneath his fingertips, he imagined more intimate touches. But he was shy, he was reluctant and marked by bad experience. Nevertheless, the urge to kiss her neck and nibble on her earlobe outweight his fear of shame and pain. «James, what are you doing?» She felt a rising heat, goosebumps all over her body. His kisses aroused hidden wishes. He was so cautious, he didn’t want to hurt her. «Jessie», James whispered into her ear, «you’re already my queen, no matter how many times you win, no matter how many times you lose. Take this necklace as a sign of my deepest devotion, devotion from a true fan and supporter. Show them who belongs on the throne. Make us proud, my girl», he kissed her once more before letting her get ready for the upcoming showcase performance. End of flashback… «Never mind,» Jessie snorted contemptuously at her memories. After collecting herself and having gained new courage, she decided to leave the empty classroom and gathered with other students on the sports field. A young woman caught her eye. She remembered her, remembered her outstanding performances and close ties to her Pokémon. «Serena», Jessie had to dress up. She couldn’t afford any mistakes, for the sake of her trio. She quickly hid in the changing room, slipping into her old wardrobe. Taking a deep breath, she marched couragously towards her former biggest competitor. « Nice to see you, girl », the disapproving tone in her voice could hardly be overheard. « Jessilee », Serena bowed politely, « what are you doing here ? » she asked her. «I want to challenge you, how about a quick duel ? » Jessie looked at the now grown-up brat and noticed the embarrased look on her face. « I’m sorry, Jessilee, but I’m not really in the mood to battle you right now » a sigh of despair escaped her mouth. Jessie cocked an eyebrow. « What’s bugging you ? » Serena shrugged her shoulders. «I guess it’s what you call a cracked heart, not completely broken, but ruptured ». Jessie had to stifle a pejorative smile. « Let me guess, men are causing trouble, right ? » She sat down next to Serena, clubbing her leg over the other. The young woman nodded her head. «Tell me more, did he betray you, did he abandon you , did he exploit you, dropping you like a hot potatoe afterwards ? » Jessie could sing a song of unkind romances. She was used to men messing around with her, making her believe in true love only to bring her back down to earth in the most miserable way possible. «It’s just, forget it. I have to handle this on my own», Serena was already on the move when Jessie pulled her back. «Listen, girl. I give you a free advice. Let no man ever destroy your dreams and let no bloke ever take the crown off your head. Live, love and fight!» She winked at Serena, putting a faint smile on her face. «Jessilee », somebody with a rough voice cleared his throat. Jessie turned around, gazing into two dark brown eyes. « Yes?» The man seemed totally intimidated. «I just wanted to tell you that I’ve been a fan from the very beginning. I didn’t miss a contest, I cheered you, I supported you and I’ve always voted for you. Your grâce, your devotion, your temper make you one of the most outstanding showcase performers under the sun. May I be so impudent and ask for an autograph?» he bowed down in front of her, giving her the feeling of royal authority. Jessie laughed out loud. «You may, Sir» she snatched the pen from his hand, wrote down his name on a yellowed greeting card, placing a tiny heart in the right corner of the ornate writing. « Here you go, » pressing her lips onto the card, she left her unmistakable mark. The man thanked her many times, even shedding tears. Jessie didn’t know that James had observed her the whole time. He could have slapped himself for rejecting her. Rejecting the woman of his dreams by repressing the nightmares from memory, but he was a coward, a wimp. He wasn’t worthy of a queen… « Jessie », he whispered, « I’m losing you… » Meanwhile, Ash, Misty and Brock were diligently working on a project. A set case full of vitamins should help them decide which composition was most suitable for water type Pokémon. Misty was an ace in that field. The trio finished the task before all other students, receiving highest praise from their professor. «Misty», Ash broached  the subject once more, « did you give up looking for your parents ? » his friend paused to hold. « Listen, Ash. If there were any hints, even the tiniest clue, I would most definitely resume searching, but there’s absolutely no evidence and we should probably leave tings at a rest». Ash was about to start an answer when the doors swung open. «Ash!» Serena came running for him. She linked arms with her boyfriend, ogling at him. «Will you accompany me to prom night?» He was visibly irritated, not only because Ash wasn’t a fan of dancing and kitschy schmaltzes, but because he noticed the somewhat disappointed look in Misty’s eyes. «Sure» , he swallowed hard, avoiding Misty’s gaze. Serena clapped her hands and pressed a kiss on his lips. «Make sure to get dressed up!» She left the classroom like a twisted whirlwind. «Sorry,» Ash whispered, but Misty dismissed his apology with a wave of her hand. «No problem, Ash. I’m sure Brock is more than happy to join me as my dancing partner, right ? » Brock was completely over the moon. « Really, Misty ? Are you serious? You asking me on a date?» She slapped him. « It’s not a date, idiot. We’re just two good mates respecting the friendzone ! » Later that evening, Team Rocket called Giovanni to submit their plan. The phone rang nerve-wrackingly long until their boss picked up. «What do you want?» he was bored by their streak of bad luck, their faux-pas and the three unearned wages they cut off from Team Rocket every month. Jessie saluted into the camera. «Boss, I think we’ve worked out the perfect raid», she sounded so self-confidently, but her knees were shaking. «Let me hear», Giovanni was nervously tripping his fingers on the tablet, yawning provocatively. He was longing for a snatch of sleep, because in his dreams he was rarley plagued by the unsuccessful escapades of his three employees. « Sir, prom night is almost here, a big party where man and Pokémon celebrate. And by Pokémon we mean every single creature on the campus. Me, Meowth and James will organize this event, we’ll figure out each and every escape route and how we can smuggle in the grunts. One bang, one fright, abducting the Pokémon into the night.  What do you think, Sir ? » they were eagerly awaiting his answer. Giovanni sighed, chaos was already pre-programmed. «Don’t disappoint me! This is your last chance. ! » He ended the phone call without further instructions, leaving Team Rocket with an almost impossible task.