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the-hot-zone · 4 years ago

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@agentcalliope THE REVIEW GOT TOO LONG FOR AO3′S REVIEW BOX AND WOULDN’T LET ME POST IT SO HERE IT IS. I’M SORRY IT’S SO LONG BUT I REALLY LIKE YOUR FIC SDKSDK

I mean firstly, the only thing I can say after reading this is, wow. Wow. Holy shit, wow. They way everything builds--the capitalization, the punctuation, the epithets, the prose--to demonstrate on both a subconscious and conscious level how Azula develops. The reader is comprehending these words, but also they’re registering the way you use spacing, punctuation, and capitalization, forcing the reader to slow down/stop/keep reading at certain parts, which creates a flow that a) sounds like Azula b) portrays her mental state and c) shows her development. It’s like a crescendo of writing conventions that never stops moving, and god I just. I’m fangirling a lil bit over your writing. There’s not a wasted line, space, italicization, quotation mark, period, comma, or word in this fic. Everything serves a purpose, and the way it builds--just. Wow. I can see the work you put into editing and revising this, and I want you to know that you’ve communicated your point extremely well. I’m moved. As a reader, I’m in tears. As a writer, I’m floored (and I’m taking notes.) God, okay, time to get specific.

The stylization. This is one of my fav writing styles--the blend of poetry and narration--that I don’t get to see a whole lot, and it’s hard to pull off. I really feel like you’ve used that style to its full potential; in your hands, it feels like that style was made to tell Azula’s story. I really, really like this, so I hope you don’t mind if I talk about why? Which means analyzing; analyzing is my love language, and I love your fic, truly.

In the beginning of the fic, she is “the girl;” she is “a princess,” not “Azula.” This shows how, with her defeat, Azula has lost herself completely (”someone is screaming who is screaming”). Ozai built her for a role she no longer has, so she has lost her identity, her sense of self. So, when she accepts the identity of monster, that is something she must unlearn through Iroh and for herself.

The first time the reader reads Azula’s name (as “azula), it’s isolated by a line break and positioned right after a long, run-on thought from Azula (”he doesn’t look quite...”) and before “the boy says.” This shows how Azula’s name, her identity, is separate from a) her inner monologue and thus her sense of self and b) how she perceives the world around her (outside of dialogue). And this further illustrates the importance of dialogue in this fic; dialogue is the connection from her inner monologue to how she perceives the world. Thus, later in the fic, when Iroh speaks the first line of quotation-mark-surrounded dialogue, it shows how he gets through to her. AH THE WAY YOU BUILD EVERYTHING UP. Also, her description of Ozai in this scene as “the person she knows to love” has so much meaning. It’s like a lesson she’s learned, a fact she’s been taught: to love Ozai. The way you inject so much meaning into line breaks, and the layers of depth you add to single lines. Immaculate. I can really describe it as masterful.

Azula finally refers to herself as “azula” once Zuko says “I will never give up on you” Not only that, however, but the first time she refers to him as “zuko” instead of “the boy” is also when he says “I will never give up on you.” Also, that same piece of dialogue contains “uncle never gave up on me,” which shows how Uncle’s patience connects both Azula and Zuko in their respective healing journeys. Which, oh my god, I love Uncle’s role in Azula’s healing in this fic. His remorse for leaving her with Ozai is so tangible and painful to read. I love how you portray his characters; he comes off the page as Uncle Iroh; his characterization is so strong.

But the scene after Azula finally refers to herself as “azula,” Suki comes in. For one, “zuko and katara beat you or did you forget?” is written with a question mark, showing the significant of that line and how it affects Azula, shown in “azula screams.” Azula connects the person who is screaming with herself; she is still fracturing due to her loss. (Because her loss of the Agni Kai is symbolic of like, her failing everything Ozai built her up to be: the opposite of Zuko.)

The scene where Aang comes is where punctuation in Azula’s inner monologue first appears: “the avatar’s gray eyes are soft and full of sympathy and it makes her angry.” I feel like this is her echoing Ozai’s sentiments, especially with “a princess is not pathetic.” Patheticness was something Azula had always associated with Zuko, so these lines sound a lot like Ozai to me. But “not made to be pitied” is next, without any punctuation. This is because pity is a new emotion for her to face, and she does not associate it with “a princess,” seen in the later lines “now the girl sees not pity but weakness” What’s important here is that Azula is “a girl” again. Aang’s pity is the antithesis to Ozai; peace where he sees bloodshed and war, and it blindsides her. Bro I just, the way you communicate Ozai’s presence so subtly yet so strongly... the talent.

Also: “it makes me feel sad for you the avatar answers“ Stop making me cry!!! THAT LINE WAS HEARTBREAKING. The snippets of Aang in this fic were lovely to read.

iirc, the first full line we get, capitalized, with punctuation, is when Toph is talking to Azula: “I just wanted to tell you that I know what it's like to have Expectations to have parents that expect certain things of you. It sucks. but you suck too. no wonder everyone hates you.”

THE LAYERS OF MEANING:

a) Expectations is capitalized, showing the significance of expectations to Azula; her mind latches onto it. (I love the significance of expectations throughout this fic and how the play into Azula’s sense of identity and healing jdkfkfAHH like with the TEA.)

b) This is where Azula’s “new” sense of self as “monster” begins to develop. “but you suck too. no wonder everyone hates you.” Both are short and with periods, showing the weight of Toph’s words.

When Katara sees Azula, iirc, we get the longest string of sentences with periods so far. Periods are becoming more common, showing how Azula’s identity is beginning to come together, but it’s an identity as monster: “your own brother. you’re disgusting. you’re a monster.” The repetitiveness and switch between your and you’re is almost like a rhythm, pounding “you’re a monster” into Azula’s head. After Katara leaves, we get the first full sentence Azula says: “I’ve never pretended to be anything else.”

Azula sees herself as a monster; she’s seeing the weight of her past actions.

When Iroh arrives, we get the longest string of sentences WITH capitalization in this point of the fic (I think): “It’s sweet. You have always loved sweet tea, my niece. A fascinating contrast.” And a new identity is introduced: my niece.

When Azula asks for Uncle after the nightmare, we get the first time a name is capitalized in the fic: Uncle. Not even Ozai has “father” capitalized. This shows Iroh’s significance in her healing journey. Not only that, but Uncle is the one that comes to her, not Ozai. This contrast between Ozai’s absence and Uncle’s presence is what begins to allow Azula to heal--and what ultimately helps her truly stay on the path of healing. I love how you build up the notion of Ozai not being there for Azula, not coming to get her. The way it culminates in the end feels like such strong, real development because of your build-up.

Once Uncle begins to visit regularly, your writing becomes more abundant with “proper” sentences. This is one of my fav examples of this:

“Uncle continues to bring her sweet tea. He talks to her. He sits next to her as she leans against the wall and speaks many tales of spirits and beautiful women. azula almost looks forward to his visits. Almost.”

Every sentence except the one that begins with “azula�� is capitalized. She’s not there yet, with her identity, but Uncle is there. And when Azula says “but I am a monster,” the fic gets its first line of quotation-enclosed dialogue:

“Oh, my dear. My beautiful niece. I don’t believe that.”

And then, right after that, we get “Princess Azula.” This is the first time Azula is capitalized, and Uncle says it. But Azula is the one perceiving the dialogue; she is accepting “Princess Azula.” Sure enough, right after that, we get this:

“Azula narrows her eyes suspiciously.”

The first time Azula refers to herself in her inner monologue as Azula. FINALLY. FUCK. This is one of the most satisfying developments in this fic, when Azula finally sees herself as “Azula,” even if she’s not all the way there yet. Your build-up makes this moment feel amazing.

Another thing I loved was how Azula is obsessed with getting the tea perfect; the tea is a reflection of herself; “She will make his jasmine tea, and she will make it precisely the way it is expected to be.”

HIS jasmine tea. Not HER jasmine tea. This shows that she’s trying to fit a mold she thinks Iroh has for her; she will make the tea as it is expected to be; SHE will be exactly as she is expected to be.

But when she fails, Iroh simply says “Let’s try it again.” When Azula fails to be “perfect,” pain and fear isn’t waiting for her. Iroh is. So when Iroh says,

“I am just an old man looking forward to trying his niece’s cup of tea, which she has worked hard on.”

This is so important. It is HIS NIECE’S (Azula’s) cup of tea, which SHE has worked hard on. In other words, it is Azula’s healed identity that she has worked hard on, and it is “one of the best teas I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing in my life.” Just. The symbolism. Fuck. So good.

Then, in the next scene, she tells Zuko to tell Aang she’s sorry. This brings back Sokka’s earlier words, “you won't ever apologize for what you’ve done or bear responsibility for your actions and we both know it.” BUT AZULA IS UNLEARNING, and that is tangible development, babey. In a way, Sokka was right, because the “you” he was talking to wasn’t the Azula that’s now wanting to apologize to Aang. Azula as “Azula” didn’t exist then; now she does. I can’t this fucking fic I am STUNNED. The way you introduce and maintain concepts to develop Azula’s journey... It’s amazing AH

“Azula cradles her own cup in her hands and breathes in the steam, letting it cling to her face.“ Bro I just wanted to say that this line gave me brilliant imagery. You perfectly described how it feels to hold a mug of something warm and breathe it in, like ahhh the sensory imagery was so VIVID.

“Zuko tears off a piece of bread, and places it on her palm. She looks down at it, her hand without crackling cackling blue fire. The only blue is the water, beautiful and clear.” Thinking bout the contrast, and how the color blue used to separate her from the world; now it joins her to it (turtleducks.) YOUR LAYERS. Another contrast I love was the one between “red drapes that used to block out the sun when it rises every morning” and “basking in Agni’s light.” This reminds me of the Sun Warriors and Zuko learning the true meaning of fire, as something full of life and light, not something that only burns. That was my favorite contrast throughout the fic, and the most meaningful to me.

Azula saying “Why not?” to Sokka was everything I need in life.

“Azula brings herself out of the palace, and back into the prison.“ Ozai is her prison. The wording. THE WORDING SAYS SO MUCH. The way she comes to Ozai--but. He never came for her. Uncle did. She has new experiences and a new sense of self; she’s not the Azula she was, and she’s not the Azula Ozai is expecting. So when you write

“Because he has made Azula into Azula, and he has done it well.”

and she walks away, it’s a defiance of everything she’s been, everything she was forced to be. Azula made Azula into Azula, and she understands this.

“This is not what she was made for.” is a recognition that Ozai forced her into a role that was never for kindness, for love, for acceptance, for change. As she learns and unlearns, unmakes her identity as a monster, she’s understanding that Ozai never intended for Azula to be her own Azula. And this means she sees the world through her own eyes, not Ozai’s:

“his eyes not wounded and sad but fierce and soft and she knows what he’s saying isn’t a lie.”

JUST. The way you built this fic. You saw more than words as your tools, and I am honestly in awe of the way you used writing conventions. This fic is so strong because you literally made everything about Azula; Azula is this fic. THE ARTISTRY. I really, really hope you’re proud of the story you’ve built. Thank you for writing.

(ALSO TOPH WAS EVERYTHING I NEEDED AND MORE.)

#avatar the last airbender #atla #agentcalliope #and it's my whole heart (weighed and measured)#fic reivew #analysis is my love language #y'all ever spend three hours on a fic review #and then get so hungry you gobble five chicken wings immediately after #me #SORRY IT'S SO LONG #sometimes you gotta review a fanfic instead of revising your essay about fanfic #thank you for writing

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my-faves-said-gay-rights · 4 years ago

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Favourite IU Lyrics

To celebrate iu’s 12th anniversary and give her the appreciation she deserves, here are 10 of my favourite lyrics that iu has written (in no particular order):

Note: iu has so many writing credits and so many songs that are strong as a whole that I don’t think I could ever choose my favourite lines from all of them or ever actually make an ordered list of favourite to least favourite. Also keep in mind that these lyrics and songs are open to interpretation so how I describe them may be different to what you think. I’m just doing this for fun so please don’t get mad at me if I don’t include your faves, and hey maybe I’ll make a part 2 someday

1. Bad Day

“I feel someone’s body heat on the empty playground bench

Why is this warmth making me feel even colder?

I bury my face in my scrunched up shoulders

My hands that I hid in my pockets get cold”

Bad day is such a special song to me. It was with this song that I realised there was something special about iu’s writing. I just love the whole metaphor of a cold room being used to describe a bad day. She took a relatable concept and was able to create an extended metaphor out of it that somehow describes the feeling so well, a feeling that some may struggle to put into words. I have mental illnesses and we know that iu has struggled with mental illness too, so this just feels like a very personal song and that just makes it better. You know that she felt these things and poured her heart into this song.

2. Ending Scene

“As much as you were lonely

I really hope you meet someone

Who will love you more than you

I’m sorry that it wasn’t me

It’s not easy to give

Don’t say those words, please

You know those words hurt even more”

I’m usually not big into love or break up songs, but something about this just feels so unique and heartbreaking. It’s not a bitter break up where they hurt each other, the other person is wishing her the best and admitting that they’re not right for each other, but that just makes it worse because they are clearly a good person who cares for her. It’s just so well written and a new perspective and that’s something I really appreciate about iu.

3. Can’t Love You Anymore

“Where are you?

Where are you?

I’m home

I’m in a cab

Are you almost home?

Oh, I’m sorry

For what?

Just, everything

Go home

I left my wallet there

Oh, hey

Never mind

No, what is it?

I don’t think

we’re in love anymore”

How could I not include the iconic back and forth with iu and oh hyuk? This again feels like a unique break up song in that it’s so chill. There’s no big reason for it, they just simply fell out of love and are now unable to be like they were before and are just tired of being together. I think this part shows that so well because not only are the lyrics great but the delivery of them as well. It just sounds great and is fun to sing along to (or at least try to sing long).

4. Eight

“So are you happy now?

Finally happy now are you?

I’m the same

I think I’ve lost it all

Everything comes on it’s own and leaves without a goodbye

At this rate, I don’t want to love anything”

Eight aka song of the year starts off strong and stays that way throughout (thanks partly to yoongi of course). IU has lost two close friends these past couple years, and from the mv it seems clear that the song is talking about her memories with them, as well as being another song that focuses on her age and how she’s growing up. For those reasons these lyrics just really hit hard. IU is such a strong woman and I hope that she is able to create more truly happy memories.

5. Red Queen

“Children obviously but adults too

Even the things that don’t have life

Everything fell in love, fell in love with her

Her heart was that beautiful too

Even when she gazed

At the tiniest, poorest of things

Those passionless, depressing eyes

Used to sparkle so bright"

This is another song with a connection to sulli. IU said that she was inspired to write the song because of a drawing sulli did, and the lyrics seem like they are telling her story of going from being loved to hated by the public, especially as after she passed away iu changed the lyrics at her concert to pay tribute to her. This obviously makes the song more touching now, but there’s even more to appreciate. I really love the structure of the lyrics, how it’s like she’s telling a fun silly story but underneath it’s actually very dark. This is helped even more by the instrumental and vocals, which shouldn’t be surprising because we all know iu is a musical genius. Red queen is easily one of her best songs.

6. Blueming

“I’lltextyouwithoutanyspacesIthinkthisislove

A hundred roses, wanna make them bloom with me?

Let’s color the flowers however we want

So it’s beautiful even when it withers”

It was really really really hard to choose my favourite lyrics because there is so much going on in this song, every single line has something to appreciate. I love when art can take something simple and make it poetic, and that’s what iu does well. The song as a whole is about texting your crush, and she describes this as creating flowers in their chat room, blooming flowers together as their relationship also blooms. It’s simple yet effective. Again I’m not big into love songs but I can appreciate poetry when I see it and damn do I see it. And can we just take a moment to appreciate how cool that texting without spaces line is? In the mv they type out the hangul without any spaces just so we can see that she really did that, wow.

7. Greedyy

“Girls be ambitious, own more, whatever it may be

There are so many things that are such a waste to give to others

Everyone tells you the same line as if promised, be good

If you don’t wanna you don’t have to, don’t have to”

Now we love a good bit of female empowerment. This song is actually by jea and moonbyul, but iu wrote the lyrics (moonbyul wrote her own I think). I think it says a lot that iu wrote a song for another female singer and she decided to make it about ambition and taking what you want. It honestly gives me cindy from the producers vibes. This song is very underappreciated so please check it out!

8. Through The Night

“Just like letters on the sand

Where waves were

I feel you’ll disappear

To a far off place

I miss you again and miss you more”

Through the night actually had to take some time to grow on me, but now it is one of my favourite iu songs ever. I don’t know why but this song often makes me cry, it’s just so full of love and admiration for whoever it’s about and iu’s vocals help put so much emotion into it. I think I cry because I make up scenarios in my head that make it more personal and hurt more, and I think you can do that with a lot of iu’s songs which really helps the listeners experience. I think with the palette album iu really hit something with her writing, it’s so full of emotion and poetic techniques. I’m so happy palette won album of the year and this song won song of the year because they both really deserve it.

9. BBIBBI

“Yellow C A R D

If you cross this line, it’s a violation, beep

Keeping manners stop here, it’s ma ma ma mine

Please keep the la la la line

Hello stuP I D

If you cross that line, I’ll get serious, beep

Stop it, keep the distance

Cause we don’t know know know know

Comma we don’t owe owe owe owe (anything)”

An iconic song. Bbibbi is a song telling the public to stop giving hate to celebrities and to stop invading their privacy, but in true iu fashion she keeps it upbeat and strangely polite. This got iu a lot of attention and I think that proves how good she is at writing. She did something new and empowering while still keeping in line with her image, and people really responded to this. This was another song where it was very hard for me to choose the lyrics. I went with the chorus but I also really love the pre chorus where she is repeating negative comments she receives, I just think that’s really cool.

10. Leon

“My heart used to be quietly asleep

But why did you throw a stone,

making me wanna dance?

Please hide my shaking eyes,

my black sunglasses”

Now maybe it’s just because films are my biggest passion in the world, but I really love this song. This part is sung by park myung-soo (iu still wrote all the lyrics) and is meant to be from leon’s perspective. I really like how iu took full advantage of this song being a boy girl duet because it allowed her to write from both perspectives and have fun with it. Something about it actually reminds me of red queen and I just really enjoy the vibe. I’ve noticed that korean people seem to really like leon the professional and I find that interesting, especially as it’s about the relationship between a 12 year old girl and a grown professional assassin man, but that’s a conversation for another day. As it is, this is a great song that was very successful in korea, and queen iu deserves all the success and praise.

If you somehow read all this, thank you so much and please stream eight!

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thecrenellations · 4 years ago

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Return of the Thief Notes, Part One: The Book of Pheris, Volume I

Notes from my first read, October 2020. (Part Two | Part Three | TaT)

Contents: "So, so, so” watch, Costis watch, swearing, trashing the king’s attendants, being objectively wrong, boundless enthusiasm and love

I promise I’ve had more developed thoughts since these often incoherent ones, but I’ve enjoyed having these notes to refer to - for sentimental reasons and for entertainment, so here they are, for others who enjoy liveblogs and/or being whisked back in time to their first read of this wonderful book.

Format: Page number. My thoughts (Context?)

Dedication, Table of Contents, Exordium:

There it is – to Sounis

Exordium – vocab #1

Interregnum?!? Alyta?

Pheris!!!

Yeah I love him from the first page

MOIRA

MOCKING COMMENTS HELP! Gen lives!

A new level of unreliable narrator

Moira, messages of Gods, Pheris, messages of __

Wtf is going on in this study? A zoo?

high king vs great king vs annux?

okie dokie dude

Chapter 1

1. Susa – Costis

2. Infirmity – who gets to be hero/tell story (I started reading right after the book launch, in which mwt spent some time talking about her writing influences and decisions connect to this question - Pheris isn’t her first disabled protagonist and storyteller, of course, but it was lovely to meet him properly directly after hearing her talk about it. Book launch foreshadowing part 1...)

Melisande?

Is this why he wasn’t taught to read?

3. Always the summer

Bees!

4. Hunting cat… hm…

Ok … shrine … 😬

5. Once again we start with a disaster or having to flee

Which Eugenides precipitated

Bite!

Little monster :(

6. Falling…

7. :( :( :(

His purpose? D:

8. YIKES

Chapter 2

9. Hello there! (Gen!)

Massive chair?

10. CRACKED WATER JUG (amphora motif???)

11. Triangle from seal!

Gen that’s rude to Pheris :( (“He will fit in very well with my attendants”)

Wait. This must have happened before ACoK! (nope)

12. :(

Xikander … never made an impression before

How old is Pheris? (lol)

13. Philologos come thru!

Royal closet reappears!

14. Hello weird secondhand scene!

He is Eugenides

Marina…

15. Petrus? GALEN? OH SHIT!

Is this why Galen was called? (nope)

16. Hell yea Petrus

Miras’ golden balls oh no

All these previously unnamed sucky attendants!

17. Ula – goddess of hearth and healing

Ok … Galen … or a god? Eugenides????? (why did these options occur to me before Mr. Shows Up At Your Bedside At Night himself)

18. Finally the attendant floor plans I crave + hunting scenes!

19. EXCUSE ME he slept through Sounis + Eddis wedding!!!

Again – high king!

20. So Ion is beautiful … hmm.

Yeah … Sejanus has facets. I like it.

21. Clearly no one would know what king would do … lol

Don’t mind me just sorting the attendants on a spectrum of awfulness!!!

22. SO SO SO – ION!!!!!

How many fucking attendants are there and how many are on my hit list!

Is “the necessaries” bathrooms or like … him stealing? (just the bathrooms ... the Gen-Pheris parallels were really getting to me at this point)

23. OH MY GOD THE UNIFIED CREST

Also … frogs. Frogs.

24. Big day for Gen huh

Definitely an aura of Something as he writes about Gen

25. HELLO EVERYONE

26. Sorry Kamet, Pheris does the physical descriptions better. They’re beautiful

I’m blacking out at Eddis and Sounis

27. Jesus Christ. The bear.

Cousin time!

Under the table is the new up on the roof!

Uh… twin imagery ….

Gen’s feet!

Jesus. The matching

28. Cleon … wtf? A cousin?

A trial for Sophos?

Show! Us! Sophos’s! Shoes!

29. If u throw things out the air shaft you might hit the king

Was it a chicken?

Lol nvm the guy at night is Gen. That is … very sweet

- Showing up at night

- Accent

- Complaining about Petrus

- Swearing

- One hand

I am judging Costis and Sophos for not describing the paneling in Gen’s room!

Chapter 3

30. Was it a chicken?

An earring huh, good hand huh

31. Literally screaming “NO!” at Gen. Don’t joke about dying! I am killed by Gen on annux day. This is. My boy. Yes he is perfect. Yes he will refuse to get up. I love him. I died on page 31

Philologos is still the best of them

32. Dancing bear indeed

Always the powdered gold

Ruby!!!!! <3

Aww a smile!!! <3

Pheris he likes you!

33. They both love invisibility and lost it … I cry

Erupt like the sacred mountain excuse me!

OR WORSE return to bed! Lol

34. He’s Eugenides when he’s talking to Attolia

Ouch hero talk

! from Irene!

My queen!

Hey Phresine!

They way we do <3 he’s hating it but he’s so comfortable with her

Sister and bro mention! C’mon!

I love them

EYEBROW

35. Honestly that’s a yes (“I have no idea what you mean, my queen”)

It’s so cute they hang out in the morning … like how long was it even since they’ve seen each other lol

:( tough walk for Pheris

Is it prophecy time?

Lol how long does this construction take?!

Also … she’s pregnant, huh? but no one knows (nope)

Is befriending someone weaponized as a prank count for Gen’s enemies to friends list?

Also SHOW ME the magus. I know he’s here!

36. Pheris excuse me, why not recreate this!

Lol cast off language of history indeed

Feel the thrum of the goddess!

EXCUSE ME… a minor goddess? Mystery goddess? Or Philia?

Oh Gen

37. Well, Gen, someone is having a worse day than you.

Damn, how far we come.

Aww Sounis, babe, I love you and so does Gen

[drawing of the four of them sitting in a row]

38. Artadorus???? Pomegranate?

39. HEIRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A friend! Also lol. Two smiles, for Pheris and Heiro..

40. Yesss Melheret joke in action.

Costis has left tho right?

Jesus, Melheret

SHE GAVE HIM A HORSE (I COULD NOT DEAL with this entire conversation, but then again I could not deal with this whole book.)

41. I love them all so much

“on that horse, you will look like a king” I can’t with her sense of humor

He sure did say that

I feel like I’m missing something with the fight on foot thing … remembering battles?

Helen called him Gen!

Sophos stop talking about yourself and bringing apricots into everything lol

Lol these bystanders don’t know how lucky they are. Nor does Pheris, yet

42. She’s protecting him

Also … Gen … you didn’t want to be a soldier.

43. Guards have capes

2 startled men … hm …

Oh Gen. The fucking brutal echoes…

44. :( :( :(

Gen tell your wife you’re sick!

The attendants are so dumb

45. So, so, so :(

Tell who? Petrus?

Wink!

Yes?

46. Bleeding! Salt! Lemon! Heck no! What is he, a piece of meat?

Oranges?

47. “savoring each bite as if it were my last” ... Same … but with this book

Hmm… Alyta! Goddess of the gentle rain! (despite this “hmm,” I did not put the pieces together)

48. Oh no Teleus! And someone?

Aw he realized <3 lemon water

49. Gen eat your broth lol

50. I love them.

Ion’s really trying to make up for what he did that one time

51. Without the approval of the great goddess HAHAHA

I love them. Cousin time! Growl?

Idk whether or not to be reassured, Gen.

Wow Cleon I do not like that. Also didn’t he die? (...)

Comma (“I am not, Eddis”)

Go smack him!

52. Gen I love you.

Helen I love you.

He’s so bad at self care but I love him

Chapter 4

55. love that our narrator just disappears and reappears

56. Attolia’s brother’s bedroom? Yikes. Ominous. A detail in a story we’ve already gotten, different every time <3

57. fucking attendants. 3 good ones. Medander you were beneath Costis’s notice before but I hate you. Costis didn’t have time for you or Xikos or Xikander and nor do I

58. interesting pawn talk!!!

59. <3 Pheris :(

The Gen comparisons though

:( :( :( :(

60. flamboyance <3

Cemphora bush

Bees

61. I love him

62. I love them

Also lol “Your majesty?”

63. Name … hm … (“I have deliberately omitted [my tutor’s] name here”)

64. more twin imagery I swear

WAIT … it was his birthday! Not just Annux day?!! Gen was born in late summer???

Attendant list thank you

65. laying it all out there, huh … (that one Gen quote)

Lol they’re the same but Pheris likes horses

66. Insellia! Hello nice to meet you

67. Gen that’s mean. (“He is hardly even half of one.”)

68. Coleus leves???

“I am Eugenides.” <3

Gen why

69. Gold cups???? Hmmmmm. Also lioness. Def invoking Costis. (they’re probably not the cups, but STILL)

Earth….

70. Moira! Hi!!! Rainbow shawl!

Like a rabbit!

Pester!

I’m … very sad he uses his Attolian accent with Helen

71. Aaah so good

Mortals

Moira knows another messenger?

Does he think he can’t die in battle?

72. hmm are they WRANGLING?! (Galen and Petrus and my Fire and Hemlock word association)

Kill that pastry Irene I love you

morning training with his … guard? (Is that the whole guard or a guard? Costis senses tingling once again.)

73. Oh gen.

Ouch! (“to send people to their deaths and not risk my own is contemptible”)

Is she implying he’s paying Therespides?

74. Interesting Cleon plan. So many doubles

OUCH. (“Only if he comes back from the dead.” I assumed Lader had died in the war; it’s a different ouch now. I love that they both accidentally say things to each other that poke old wounds, and it’s not a big deal but it’s also not dismissed! Their relationship has come so far, and I love them so much.)

75. Verimius – Lavia – Celia??? Somebody is queer in there!

A GUARD

This scene confuses me. Xortix? Layteres? Aris! but dice thing is less political … so maybe? (just wait....)

76. So many reasons to hate Medander

Hey Costis! You exist! KoA happened!

Gen is just … still so uncomfortable and miserable. He chose, he has people, but still.

RIP Clopius also WHAT

77. Lol Hilarion’s grand statements

78. Yorn Fordad Hello!

Luxurious mustache

The mighty Pents?

Besin Quedue – she’s coming 4 you watch out

79. RIP Baron Hippias

Chapter 5

80. Spring! Plays! Cenna!

81. Oh dear

Oh dear

At least they said he was pretty

83. ?!? :( wine

Uh oh. Stockpiling

85. What even.

AAAAAAAAAH COSTIS

86. Omg Irene. Hissing. I love her.

Also … Gen’s the viper

Also this scene was written by Pheris.

Damn.

87. oh no.

What better man

She fucking quoted Howl. I love them.

Also, bees (this scene killed me)

90. Falling?

Oh shit

Also … Juridius and Pheris, Susa and Costis (comparing demands for information)

93. oh my god (IT’S THE WINDOW SCENE)

Oh my god

94. She! Called! Him! Gen!

I love this and it scares me

Lol Chloe

Irene you learned from her though

95. D:

96. :(

97. water stuff

98. what the heck

OH NO (Quedue scene)

100. yikes

Omg

Wow.

102. yikes yikes YIKES

103. a blade has protruded from his chest (tbt to The Thief)

jesus

106. shit

Did Gen hit him?

108. lol Phresine

109. lol

I want genuinely every character’s reaction to this shit

Chapter 6

111. what the heck Gen.

112. like a god [crown doodle]

114. Perma?

116. Gen. Gen. Gen. Do not.

117. AAAA (god intervention)

122. Juridius to Dite

124. bye Iolanthe and Ileia! Tell us about Caeta and Silla.

125. did not expect so much Ion

Chapter 7

127. Fryst god of winter

She laughed!

They’re so married

128. OH SHIT (Costis ship is sighted and I remember what’s about to happen next)

Interesting timing

He rode the horse home?

131. Beauty and good, beauty and kind

134. The gods’ goodwill

Keep them safe <3

135. Is that his MOM?!! Wtf (it was!)

Pheris steal those earrings!!!

RING! SMASH BOX!

137. AMPHORA EARRINGS (and flowers)

138. I love Phresine

139. Why do I feel like all the game birds are pigeons

140. meanwhile Gen’s been hanging out with Kamet. Shit. I cannot.

WELCOME HOME BOYS!

HELL YEAH KAMET ATTEND THOSE MEETINGS!

RELIUS COME THRU

141. lethium soup! The reversal

Safe for you

142. of course he knew <3

143. Kamet time! I love him. We get to see Kamet!!!

Also … echo of Gen’s notes on Mede

145. very handsome. … gaycostis vindication (referring to @costis’s url at the time and this post. Little did I know what else was to come in the next chapter and then a few months later with the adaptation news...)

Do you know who I am?

Chapter 8

147. Of course he’s a cartographer

A favorite huh

148. of course she didn’t tell us his age!

149. the angsty window staring I crave

Music!

151. adventure, huh

I do have a soft spot for Melheret

152. concerned about amphora gift

153. Glad they can be well and united in spite!! (Gen and Melheret)

154. Pheris loves math and I love him

155. Hello Teleus. Hello olives

Lol Relius is not into math

156. pigeons. Inkpot!

157. yeah honestly. He tortures people. He was NOT tortured by the king

159. lol (“I have noted the elective nature of certain behaviors” ... I love Relius and Pheris.)

160. The Invitation! I <3 it

161. EXCUSE ME WHO

Legarus!

FOLKS HERE WE ARE (I cannot overstate how wonderful it was to read this page. I did not know who the poem was from, and “Someone loves me very much, even with all my faults” is even sweeter to reread, but it’s just ... his confidence is so different from the tentative consideration of a new philosophy of trust and love we see in KoA. And there is subtextual queerness in the books before this one, some more apparent and some more subtle (and what is obvious to one reader may be subtle or invisible to another, in these books especially), and there is the attendant love triangle a few chapters back, but HERE - here, Pheris acknowledges the real feeling and love in Legarus’s disastrous relationship and tells us directly that his lover was a man, here he seamlessly makes it clear how bi and poly Relius is, and he quietly ties these relationships and realities to his growing understanding of the world. It’s not subtext. And there’s a lot more to come, but this page really hit me, and sort of promised the “more to come” while assuring me that what had come before, more subtly, was there. I used to have heteronormative readings of both these books and myself, and when Thick as Thieves brought them crashing back into my heart after years away, I knew better about myself, and I saw that - or the possibility of that reading - reflected in the new book, and it was such a good surprise. It meant a lot, and this page meant a lot, and that is why I’m writing a small essay to accompany this note.)

Lol wow

162. Where are you traveling, man (this question remains)

163. Fuck you, Orutus

164. Stole an inkpot!

165. the map!!! (Kamet’s)

166. I love them!

167. The Math Master hmm

Am I an oracle (Nope! :) )

#there is SOME context #and some rambling #but i'm sure some of it doesn't make sense so i'm very up for explaining anything #return of the thief #the queen's thief #mwt #something i #rott spoilers #return of the thief spoilers

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sunflowergirl522 · 4 years ago

Text

Legally Blonde 3: Harvard Variations

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Just a legally blonde AU with you starring as Elle Woods. Based on both the movie and the musical.

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 1908

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

Pulling up to the school fills you with excitement. It’s a new atmosphere than it is back in California but you’re enjoying it so far.

“Oh, Rocket! It’s so exciting! Look, Harvard!” Rocket turns from the window of your convertible to you and gives back a small bark with his tail wagging.

The moving van pulls up right behind you when you get to your dorm building. Students begin to gather around and chatter amongst themselves about the scene in front of them.

“Well this is our home for the next three years, Rocket. Oh, are you thirsty? Let’s get you some water. Sweetheart, you just look parched. Here you go.” You pull out a collapsible dog bowl out of your purse and fill it up while placing Rocket on the ground. “Good boy, Steve’s gonna be so excited to see you. Guys, this way.” You walk into the building with Rocket and the moving guys right behind you, ignoring the comments a few people yell towards you. “Now, don’t be scared. Everyone will love you.” You look down and say it to Rocket when in reality you’re just trying to hype yourself up for this.

***

“Hi. Y/L/N, comma, Y/n.” The man behind the table looks you up and down before handing you your group of papers.

“Class schedule, map, book list.” He flips through his list of names to mark you off.

“Wait a second, my social events calendar is missing.” This causes him to look up at you, not sure what you’re talking about.

“Your what?”

“Social events. You know, mixers, formals, clam bakes, trips to the Cape.” He only chuckles and looks back down at his clipboard. “Okay. Has Steve Rogers checked in yet?”

“Um… No. You know, maybe you should check with the cruise director on the lido deck.”

You only hum to yourself before turning and walking away trying to ignore how the comment affected you. You pretend as if you didn’t feel a stab in your heart and a twist in your stomach. You just place a happy smile on your face ignoring the thought of what if you can’t do this.

***

“Hello, I’m Bucky Barnes, welcome to the hallowed halls of Harvard Law. I know first hand how hard you’ve all worked to be here today so let’s go around and say a few things about yourselves.” Bucky speaks to the three students on the bench in front of him.

“My name is Thor Odinson. I have a masters in Scandinavian Studies, and a Ph.D. in Theology. And for the last eighteen months I’ve been teaching self defense classes to those who need them.”

“Welcome to Harvard.”

“Tony Stark. I won a Fulbright and a Rhodes. I write financial software codes but that’s a challenge I’ve outgrown. How many yachts can one man own? Some say that I’m a pompous creep, somehow I don’t lose that much sleep. Why bother with false modesty? Harvard’s the perfect place for me.”

“Welcome to Harvard.”

“Hey how’re you doing, I’m Valkyrie. I got a Ph.D. from Berkely in Women's studies, emphasis in the History of Combat. I did the Peace Corp overseas, inoculating refugees in family clinics that I built myself from mud and trees. I fought to clean up their lagoons and save their rare, endangered loons.” Just as Bucky is about to welcome her she stands up and speaks again. Bucky just sits in her old spot. “But now I’m on the legal track, because this country’s out of whack and only women have the guts to go and take it back. We'll make the government come clean and get more people voting Green, and really stick it to the phallocentric war machine.”

“I love your top, it is so fatigue chic!” All of their heads turn to look at you when you speak. “So how psyched are you guys? First day at Harvard Law! My name is Y/n Y/l/n and this is Rocket Y/l/n.” You move in front of Valkyrie and shake her hand.

“Uh, we were just going around the circle, tell us something about yourself.”

“Me?” Bucky just motions for the seat between him and Tony and nods. “Okay, well I have a bachelor’s degree from UCLA where I was Zeta Lambda Nu sweetheart and president of my sorority, Delta Nu, and last year I was homecoming queen. Oh! Two weeks ago I saw Beyonce at Fred Segal, and I talked her out of buying this truly heinous cable knit tube top. Whoever said orange is the new pink was seriously disturbed!”

Bucky chuckles a bit at that more at the way you said it than anything else. “I did not know that.”

“Does anyone know where I can find Civil Procedures Class with Professor Fury?”

“Actually some of us are heading there, so I’m sure somebody would be happy to show you.” Bucky missed when everyone darted away. “Ah well it’s in Hauser, over there, second building on the left.

“Thank you.” You smile at him and get up to leave.

“You know, I don’t think dogs are exactly allowed in class.” Bucky stands and you turn towards him.

“Oh, Rocket’s not a dog, Rocket’s family. I’ll just drop him off in my room, he’d be happier there anyway. I’ll see you later then!” You give him a little wave before turning and leaving. Bucky just stands there for another minute with a small smile on his face.

***

Walking down the hall to your class you see Steve reading things off of a bulletin board. It stops you in your tracks. With a new found confidence you walk up and start to pass him.

Steve does a double take as you pass. “Y/n?”

You fake surprise as you turn to look at him. “Steve? I totally forgot you go here.”

“What are you talking about? I’m sorry. Are you here to see me?”

“No, silly. I go here.”

“You go where?” You can hear the confusion seeping out of his voice.

“Harvard. Law school.”

“You got into Harvard Law?”

“What, like it’s hard?” You completely down play all of the hard work you did to get here. “Oh, my gosh, Steve, it’s gonna be so great.” Steve’s mouth stays agape as he tries to come to terms with all of this. “Oh, uh, time to go. I have to go to class, but meet me after on the benches, okay? Alright bye!” You leave Steve behind with his mouth still wide open in complete and utter shock.

You sit in the front of the class and pull out your little notebook after seeing your classmates all on laptops ready to type notes.

“A legal education means you will learn to speak in a new language. You will be taught to achieve insight into the world around you, and to sharply question what you know.The seat you have picked will be yours for the next nine months of your life. And those of you in the front row...Beware.” The professor looks straight at you with the eye without the patch and your smile falls for a minute. “The law is reason free from passion. Does anyone know who spoke those immortal words? Yes?” He calls on the big guy you had seen when everyone was introducing themselves.

“Aristotle.”

“Are you sure?” Professor Fury approaches him and leans towards him.

“Yes.”

“Would you be willing to stake your life on it?”

“I think so.”

“Oh. What about his life?”

“Ow.” The man that the professor hit with a pencil ducks down.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I recommend knowing before speaking. The law leaves much room for interpretation, but very little for self doubt.” Fury takes the seating chart from in front of you on his way back to the front. “And you were right. It was Aristotle. I assume all of you have read pages one through forty-eight and are now well-versed in subject matter jurisdiction. Who can tell us about Gordon v. Steele? Someone from the hot zone. Y/n Y/l/n?” You look up and get surprised with him in front of you.

“Um, actually, I wasn’t aware that we had an assignment.”

“Peggy Carter. Do you think it’s acceptable that Ms. Y/l/n is not prepared?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Would you support my decision to ask her to leave class and return only when she is prepared?”

“Absolutely.” Fury turns to look at you expectantly. You close your mouth fuming over this and pack up your stuff before getting up and leaving. You go straight outside to the benches where you’re supposed to meet Steve.

Bucky looks up and follows you as you sit down before going back to his work. When you begin mumbling to yourself he begins to get concerned. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Ya. Do they put you on the spot like that all the time?”

“The professors? Yeah, they tend to do that. What did Fury kick you out for?” You haven’t looked up yet so it shocked you that the man speaking knew whose class you were just in.

“Oh hello again!” You smile at Bucky when you turn to see him behind you. “I didn’t know there was a reading.”

“He made me cry once, not in class, I waited till I was in my room but yeah. He’ll kick you in the ass. He’s tough, really tough.”

“Great.” You sigh and turn back around.

“It gets better though. Who else do you have?”

“I have Pierce, Hill, and McCoy.”

“Speak up in Pierce’s class. He likes people who are opinionated. And in McCoy’s class try to sit in the back. He tends to spit when he talks about product liability. And for Hill, make sure you read the footnotes, ‘cause that’s where she gets a lot of her exam questions from.”

“Wow, I’m really glad I met you.” You beam at him and Bucky likes you he can feel it.

“Hey, Y/n.” Steve comes up to you and your attention immediately goes to him.

“Hey! Thanks for all your help.”

“Good luck.” Bucky watches you get up and approach Steve before he gets up himself.

“Hi, Steve.”

“Hi. Uh, so… How was your first class?”

Oh, it was good, except for this horrible preppy girl who tried to make me look bad in front of the professor. But no biggie. You’re here now. So how was your summer?”

“Good. It was good.” Steve stumbles over his words, still not believing that you’re here.

“Did you do anything exciting?” It was at that moment when the girl, Peggy, comes up from behind Steve.

“Hey!” Steve chuckles nervously not sure how this will all pan out. “Have you met Peggy?”

“Oh, hi. Peggy Carter.”

“Do you know her?”

“Uh, she’s…”

“I’m his fiancee.” His grandmothers ring glistens in the sunlight.

“I’m sorry. I just hallucinated. What?”

“Yeah. She was my girlfriend in prep school. And we got back together this summer at my grandmother’s birthday party.”

“Steve told me all about you. You’re famous at our club. But he didn’t tell me you’d be here.”

“Boo Bear, I didn’t know she would be here.” Hearing him call her the nickname he called you was just a stab in the chest.

“Excuse me.” And with that last word you turn to walk away, tears in your eyes.

#bucky barnes au #bucky fic #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #legally blonde #legally blonde au #steve rogers

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nathalie-sancoeur-assistant · 5 years ago

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Miracle Queen

At long last, my late Miracle Queen analysis is here....I apologize for the wait, this would have been out yesterday but unfortunately I realized I had places to be.

As usual, spoilers are below

Marinette and Luka

DId anyone else take Marinette asking Luka about that “perfect tune” as a different take on asking someone out? Because she asked about it, but then Luka didn’t play it because she was still thinking about Adrien. Then at the end of the episode, he ass “Are you sure you want to hear it” after she was done thinking about what Master Fu said about life not always giving you what you want or expect but it not necessarily being a bad thing.

Low-key I interpreted the end of Miracle Queen being the start of a Lukanette relationship.

And he pulled a Chat Noir here.

“No!” for once when Adrien doesn’t want someone’s advances they actually stop. Kagami respect.

“I mean, yes!” This boy is so confused... I mean, clearly he likes Kagami. He could probably see himself being in a sucessful relationship with her but he’s so confused by his feelings for Ladybug, these surfacing feelings for Kagami and his repressed feelings for Marinette...poor kid.

“Your indecision is hurtful, Adrien” I like that she’s not pushing him, but letting him know that he needs to gather himself soon.

---

“For a moment there, I thought you only had to wear glasses to get a miraculous”

Hawkmoth and Mayura: Well....

“Dont know this one, he’s cute, but he gets his clothes from a dumpstser” Luka X Chloe has been canonically shot down.

Okay so...now Hawkmoth knows the identies of ALL the miraculous wearers outside of Ladybug and Chat Noir...what now? I mean, these all have to be people Ladybug knows and trusts right?- Hawkmoth now knows all their identities, so, he can find out what they have in common.

They all go to the same school. If he found that out, he could narrow it down to have Ladybug be going to their school as well.

Then, he could find out WHO they all have in common. Most of them are class mates, so it’s likely someone in THEIR class, but what about Kagami and Luka? The classmates all have relationships with their fellow classmates in common, but Kagami and Luka? Who do they have in common with the class?

Marinette and Adrien. If it weren’t for Kagami, Juleka. So this is actually kinda dangerous for Marinette if Gabriel and Nathalie followed that line of thinking.

---

Oh my sweet stars...

She’s going down

He’s yelling timber

No but like she was legit just falling down and he just

I don’t know I just get the feeling this scared him.She completely rag-dolled like on some of those video games, and his instinct wasn’t to just catch her either, no, it was to just completely wrap her up in his arms like a burrito.

Then he’s asking her forgiveness, like...he knows he’s in the wrong letting her use it even if she is willing to help him or not. But he can’t do it without her.

“Don’t blame yourself. From the very first day, I knew that I’d do anything for you.”

So basically what happened was, she was quite fond of Gabriel and loved his family before all of this. But as soon as he told her he was going supervillain, she got smacked in the face with something more because she got to see how much he was willing to do to keep his family intact.

And he pulls her closer

And then just absolutely melts into her hand

And I am here for it.

I love them and they love each other.

She’s so pretty. Now, that aside- she brought back Hawkmoth’s sentimonster. Is it a new one or the same one? It certainly looks the same...but what emotion has it been created from, exactly? Does that matter when reviving a sentimonster, assuming it’s supposed to be the same one? Or is it completely different aside from appearance? Her eyes are pretty in these shots.

I am in no way attracted to Gabriel but when we get shots like this I can kinda understand why Nathalie would be.

---

This positive reinforcement...absolutely wonderful. She already had a breakdown and was on the verge of another. Chat kept that from happening and did his job as her kitty to keep her grounded and focused. They’re starting to see each other in different lights, her opening up to him so much emotionally like that proves that no matter what they’ll always have an unbreakable bond. They’re literally each other’s pillar of support.

“Littlebug” I love it. Imagine if that’s what he calls his future daughter assuming they get together in the future? Adorable.

“No, its to dangerous! To many powers at the same time”- Master Fu has obviously been teaching Chat Noir too. He’s been getting all the info Ladybug has it seems, just from that line. I like that detail.

Sometimes I like to imagine Gabriel or Nathalie in place of Hawkmoth and Mayura and this started cracking me up because it reminded me of Simon Says. Flutter flutter. Flap flap.

Who knew snakes liked cheese?

Cutie. And I like how the second time Adrien got the snake miraculous, he was actually able to wield it as necessary because he wasn’t trying to impress Ladybug,

Okay so, I like how in this shot they didn’t have him breathing or talking and all the noise seemed to kinda stop. It’s realistic and I like that attention to detail.

Gabriel, honey...ily but you’re dumb. Ladybug is right there, her purifying that akuma before it even reaches it’s target was predictable.

Also when Chloe opened up there, and Ladybug’s face as she realized exactly what all of this was about- I think it hurt both of them. But Ladybug’s already explained herself. Chloe should have known that if she wanted her miraculous back from Ladybug it wasn’t going to be easy. She already told her so...yeah I understand though. She’s just hurt and let it get the best of her. Girl needs to get her emotions in check.

Sometimes you an really Tell Gabriel lives in the present without thinking much about the consequences of certain things. He looks so freaking happy about Chloe being so adamantly against Ladybug now and wearing all the miraculous, but how is she going to know what to say to transform before Ladybug gets the miraculous away from her? I understand the excitement of a new ally but “I don’t even need to do anything” Idk if you really want her to be able to use all the miraculous and potentially lose her mind as implied from Kwami Buster you might want to distract Ladybug and Chat so she can figure out the right transformation words.

“Checkmate, Ladybug!” I have little to say except I love it when villains say “checkmate” during battle. 10/10 dialogue.

He evil laughs so much in this sequence. I wonder if he’s practiced it? Has Nathalie ever walked in on him practicing his evil laugh in the mirror? and this...

Don’t say checkmate until the opponent has no more pawns to move, And the reactiosn the kwamis have? How many masters have they grown to love and admire that they lost just like that? Also I recall someone saying that this thing has a plot hole in it, but I think that Master Fu really was the true guardian of this particular box just from the backstory he has, he was given the miraculous box and grimoir by another master to protect. So he was in a way established as guardian of that box and so I see no reason why he shouldn’t be able to hand ownership over to anyone of his choice.

“Hawkmoth! Tell them to give me my box back!” Did anyone else find that hilarious? Like a spoiled child running to a father who has the backbone of a chocolate eclair.

Except in this case he has the backbone of like...a steel rod.

And then he just goes to scoop up Mayura.

“How disappointing...”

I like Mayura’s face here too. “Oh, he’s picking me up? Alright, okay I guess so, that’s fine.”

I literally slow down the playback scenes to watch these scenes go slower. It looks like their heads are touching.

That’s a whole mood. Me too.

“Im going to New York with Mommy!” Chloe you’re a comedian.

Wow, she really looks like she’s hurting.

“Oh my Nathalie...”

There’s not even a comma, he called her his.

“There are no words to express how sorry I am”

“No, not for nothing” she still remains the optimistic one. She’s comforting him when she’s the one in need. He obviously thinks she should be upset with him but she just continues telling him its okay. All she cares about is making sure he’s happy and doesn’t want him to blame himself for her choices. Gabriel get this woman a ring.

---

“Goodbye....Master”

I feel so bad for these kwamis. How long does it take before they break after watching everyone they love eventually just die? Have any of them ever emotionally distanced themselves from mortals to avoid the heartbreak when they inevitably lose them? And without Wayzz how long does Master Fu have left being almost 200 years old?

Chloe is really putting on her clown wig in this episode. Mommy is staying in Paris so she can’t go to New York now. Karma, am I right?

“Even if like doesn’t give us the gifts we were hoping for, the true gift is life itself”....And that’s why I think Lukanette is basically canon by the end of the episode. Master Fu’s words play out in her head as she sits next to Luka and she’s not stuttering around Adrien. Her ice cream changes, and I just can’t help but feel like the whole melody thing was symbolic of her accepting Luka’s love and deciding to move on.

They can finally be together...

“Thank you young lady, I will never forget you” if only he knew...

And the way it ended, the endcard...it was all just very sweet and fitting. I do hope Marinette and Adrien will be together by the time Miraculous ends (it’s obviously endgame) but them developing a strong, loving friendship that isn’t plagued with stuttering and stalking is going to be crucial for them to really have a chance at making it. Adrien and Kagami and Luka and Marinette do make sense as couples as we get to know Kagami and Luka more. Still though, I do hope that Adrien and Marinette find each other in the end. There’s to much symbolism pointing to them being (as much as I hate the term) soul mates for them not to.

And for the record, same with Gabenath imo. Gabriel IS losing his certainties, after all...

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alternislatronemhq · 4 years ago

Photo

Congrats, RALUCA, you have been accepted to AL for the role of EMMA VANITY (FC: Lily James). Wow, your app was TRULY fantastic! I was hanging on to every word, loving each bit. You’ve flushed Emma out in such a beautiful way, and I for one cannot wait to see how she progresses in this plot! Really well done, I’m so excited you’re here! Please send in your blog (no sideblogs for first characters, please) in the next 24 hours and be sure to take a look at our new player checklist. Welcome home (once again), we’re so excited to have you join the family!

OOC

name — raluca age — 20, but i’m turning 21 on the 15th of july pronouns — she/her/hers timezone — gmt+2

IC Overview

name — Vanity, Emma faceclaim — Lily James age — 25 gender — Cis-female. Women who would fan themselves endlessly while sipping her mother’s 5 o’clock tea would say female as if it were a barrier. They would point out that she was a lady, and that therefore, she should keep her back straightened, she should brush her hair, she should never say that word again out loud. Yet, her parents never asked Emma to put on a skirt because the Rowles are visiting. They never treated her like a little bird, like a future bride in training that they would marry off as soon as graduation. Her father had many faults, but never did he force Emma into the thin, cage-shaped stereotype that was female in their society. She was his heir. She learned to ride winged horses at ten years old. She was taken to saloons where men drank firewhiskey and talked business at fourteen. She wasn’t scolded after stealing her father’s cigars one summer at fifteen — she couldn’t escape getting enrolled among the Death Eaters as she turned seventeen. Therefore, Emma is a cis female, but the definition her parents taught her differs from the one used by her childhood friends.

sexuality — Pansexual. Her sexuality seeks personality more than anything else. She’s attracted to all those with a fire within, who inspire her to be worse, who make her laugh, who have something to say. Obsessive yet easy-going, she falls in love quickly and gives up hard. Whatever makes her heart beat change has claim over the said heart forever.

patronus — The memories she has lived are sprinkled with sheer happiness. Getting drunk and swimming in the Black Lake at midnight, winning the Inter-House Quidditch Cup while being Captain, getting a hundred galleons at the lottery all made her smile spread all the way to her ears, but nothing filled her whole heart with joy. She hasn’t even properly lived, in her opinion. Casting a patronus is a sensitive subject for a witch who always wanted to be first at everything, but finds it difficult to convert happiness into magic. However, if she were able to conjure a patronus, it would undoubtedly be a winged horse, namely an Abraxan Winged Horse. Abraxan Winged Horse - A breed of winged horse, gigantic in size and extremely powerful. They are selective eaters and usually require forceful handling. As a Patronus, they represent power, determination, and a free spirit.

boggart — This would be easier. In the past years, she ran on fear rather than happiness as fuel. These days, it would definitely be her father returned from Azkaban. She fears what life path he desires for her. She fears that disappointed look on his face when he notices her disgust for everything the war and the Dark Lord stand for. She fears the mental image of him destroyed by a soul-shattering prison, and, in few words, she fears him no matter if he dies in Azkaban, if he returns to make a Death Eater out of her again or if he returns to kill her for treason.

IC In Depth

personality traits —

(ambitious:) While other people have hobbies and interests, Emma’s only passion is overachieving. She became Quidditch team Captain seeking a title to differentiate herself from her mates. She learned to throw a Quaffle because someone implied she couldn’t, in the first place. Her collection of diplomas, piled up like fallen leaves in autumn, doesn’t matter for anything but her own ego, entirely fed by a lifetime of chasing after small prizes and insignificant victories. Nothing attracts her like winning, like coming on top, whether it’s about schoolwork, about silly bets or her own life choices. She has done questionable things to land on top before, only out of pride. Despite being passive in matters of blood purity and being too comfortable to actually want to fight a war (especially on the losing side), her ambition served as sole motivation to keep going, following her father’s wish to fight for the Dark Lord and make something out of a family name that hasn’t sat next to something worthy of pride in too long.

(fickle:) Easily convinced to doubt even the steps she takes on the ground, she questions everything, all the more herself, and is ready to turn on her heels and walk in the other direction at the first glare from someone else. Persuasion has her mind on strings, toying with it at free will, and Emma wouldn’t even notice, under the spell of every person who influences her in any way. Encouraged by peer pressure and naturally inclined to struggle until everyone liked her, she is often remembered by her worst, most impulsive decisions, executed because someone thought it would be funny. More importantly, her father’s aspirations for her left a permanent mark on her forearm, and she had no power fighting that decision.

(free-spirited:) While taking every piece of advice religiously, worrying that everyone’s mind but her own saw bigger truths that she was missing, she loves being in charge of her afternoons. She doesn’t want to be told what to do — not out loud and not consciously — because the peace and the quiet are her most comfortable state of being. She craves adventures and untied, tangled hair, spontaneous dips in stranger lakes and kisses from people she doesn’t know the name of. She despises cages and has a predisposition towards flying — be it on a broom or her favorite winged horse. Emma seldom knows what to do, what path to take and whether to trust her own mind or not — but she would rather cope with her uncertainties without having so many questions to answer and so many responsibilities no one ever wished for.

(chaotic:) An agitated daughter turned into a radioactive teenager turned into a messy young adult. Emma doesn’t know how to stand still, like she doesn’t know the first thing about order and stability. She learned how to run long before she could walk, and that shows in her behavior everyday. Wrong decisions made in the spur of the moment tie with some sort of natural, charming clumsiness — and these describe her to the last comma. She talks too much and most of her sentences don’t have an ending, because she never stops spinning infinitive ideas back and forth in her mind.

character biography —

Perhaps out of lack of blue blood in her veins, Emma never quite fit in according to the pureblooded standards. Her mother was thought to give birth to a boy up until the first time Emma opened her eyes for the first time towards the world. Due to health complications, it was said that she would never give birth again, let alone to a son. It took his father a bit to adjust and accept the imminence of not having a heir to pass on quite everything to, but he never loved Emma any less. He couldn’t have his own blood even if it spat in his face — but Emma wouldn’t gamble on that. The toddler with curious eyes never cried a day, with a childhood surrounded by majestic winged horses and an aunt that sang in the Leaky Cauldron, surrounded by pinkness and a loving family that, despite being preoccupied by tradition, never resented Emma for simply being born.

And so the child who tripped in ballet classes and couldn’t remember the word for anything, having to ask her mother, grew taller and taller everyday, as if warmth alone lifted her up. Despite not being a skilled pianist or a talented dancer, she excelled in the third most pureblooded occupation there was. When on a horse, nothing stopped her. Emma would often be scolded by a worried mother or by a half-amused father for speed, but she agreed she’d never slow down. Every chance to hop on a winged horse and ride was a chance to exceed her last speed record, and so she became competitive — by being in constant competition with herself.

Terrified to go to Hogwarts, as she feared she has never slept before without her mother’s daily kiss on her forehead, she learned that she loves large amounts of company quite soon. She would talk and talk for hours if she had someone to talk to, and strangers were her favorite interlocutors. For that, she made both friends and enemies, those who liked her guts and humor not necessarily exceeding those who wouldn’t find anyone more annoying than Emma Vanity. Still, her priority has always been to have fun, and her friends were grateful to have around someone as lovely, gullible and foolish as her. Quidditch was her biggest achievement, despite being a sport she didn’t have a passion for particularly. It just mirrored horse-riding enough to make her not miss home so much, so often. And the fact that it implied the biggest competition Hogwarts had to offer interested her even more. She became a Captain in her third year and was known not for being the most talented player rather the one who would never give up.

When the child with curious eyes turned into the teenager with desperate eyes, it was as if nothing could stop her anymore. Driven by endless ambition and no drop of shame, she was the only girl in her year who treated boys she liked as if they were the girl. Norms have never applied to her and she decided it was best if the boys feared her instead of the other way around. Never did Emma hesitate before asking somebody out on a Hogsmeade trip, but, for that, she encountered with a fair amount of rejection. Emma was unlike the rest of the pureblooded girls — not delicate, not sheepish, not elegant, not mannered — and she was unlike the other girls, but somewhere in the middle, she was sweet; like corn instead of candy. She didn’t fear labels from jealous wixen, she would argue with anyone spreading rumors… or even telling the truth about her, and conflict was never something she shuddered at the thought of. Until her father’s opinions concerning her became a problem.

Upon finishing school, she had no direction. Hogwarts, her friends, her team and even the dramas have been the entirety of her life for years, and now she didn’t want to become an adult. Yet, Mr. Vanity had big hopes regarding his daughter. As a supporter of Voldemort who didn’t stand out in any way: not being rich enough, not respected enough and certainly not having the strongest wand, he wanted to do anything to get in the Dark Lord’s good graces and it did flatter Emma that he immediately considered enrolling her. Except for the fact that Emma never wanted to fight to begin with. The cause itself preoccupied her less, even though something in her chest made her feel as if it wasn’t exactly right. Still, she complied with half a heart, only out of fear not to let down her father, who never wronged her in any way despite having many reasons to treat her as harshly as other fathers treated kids her age.

It was a relief when the Dark Lord vanished, and she was ready to take it without questioning whether it is a good or permanent thing. The only thing that mattered was that she was no longer a toy in somebody’s big hands and that the strings got cut off entirely. Her tattoo bothered her, but not enough to stop her from living a life filled with things that used to bring her joy before. It was going to take a while to rediscover them, but she was hopeful, for the first time. But that was before the aurors knocked on their door to arrest his father, letting her think she would be next. That didn’t happen, but the thought of her own father sitting blankly in an Azkaban cell made her skin itch and her head ache. She wanted him saved, but at the same time, she wanted her freedom too. Out of lack of skills regarding solving inner conflicts, she decided not to think much about that one. Still, even now that her wings are untied, she doesn’t know what to do with that freedom in the slightest.

plot ideas —

i. BLACKMAIL. People know of the mark underneath her robes. The long sleeves aren’t fooling anyone and the summertime catches her too distracted and entertained not to strip to skin with every occasion. Therefore, her prior alliance isn’t a whisper on a dark street, rather than the bitter truth she still didn’t gather up courage to swallow. The blackmail would have more to do with her official betrayal. Maybe she slipped in front of another Death Eater and confessed what is in her heart regarding the Dark Lord and her father’s say in her involvement, maybe someone observant enough read straight through her. What’s certain is that someone is using her weakness to threaten her into imminent death for her unofficial betrayal. Whether she knows this person’s identity or not, it’s open to interpretations.

ii. SPEAK NOW. It’s implied that Emma and Reginald, Mary’s husband, were romantically involved. Even if this were completely one-sided and if Emma was the only one to grow feelings for the other young man, it’s irrelevant in light of how she sees it. She sees it as a love story, beginning, middle and ending. No amount of cold water would help her wake up from the delusion that her friend — her good friend — led her on. The news about Reg’s marriage to Mary came in like a hurricane. Despite all that, it felt like a masterful idea at the time to interrupt their ceremony and voice her concern. She made a fool out of herself for this impulsive moment of unasked for truth. People still whisper about crazy Emma to this day and no hole is deep enough for her to hide whenever that particular memory resurfaces, but she’s learned to live with all of her collection of mistakes, no matter how sharp they still dig into their mind.

iii. PARTY GIRLS DON’T GET HURT. No one can brag about as many blunders as Emma, and her Hogwarts times are the golden ages of that. With a tendency to be the target of everyone’s laughter, it would only make sense that people in her generation wouldn’t think too highly of her, still remembering the girl who always tripped over her own feet after a couple of butterbeers. This plot bunny includes both people she used to be good friends with (but since adolescence is not a light summer’s breeze, they would have either fought passionately or fallen apart) and people who can’t help but scoff at the mention of her name. She wouldn’t necessarily be popular, but, as a dramatic and social person, it would only be natural that she made both pals and enemies at the age of sixteen.

iv. THE CLOAKED MEN. With a history of being on the wrong side of the previous war, aurors panic the hell out of Emma. She avoids them as if she has something to hide, but truth is, she just doesn’t want to end up where her father is. I would like a suspicious auror to seek her company purposefully and make her nervous in hopes of maybe learning something new about the Death Eaters. Getting under Emma Vanity’s skin is easier than ever when she is sweating and trying to nervously smile through that.

v. REDEMPTION. Maybe someone wants to fool Emma (see: possibly linked with the fourth plot bunny as well), maybe they want her to be well. What’s for sure is that someone is suddenly dragging her towards the light side — and she swings in between certainties without appearing to make up her mind any time soon. The promise of a clean future and better, less scary company is difficult to weigh in when, on the other side, her father’s disapproving eyes blink, in a frown, at her.

extra — I just feel like these grow from muse. I like doing edits (albeit not currently owning photoshop since I just bought a new laptop and don’t have anything on it), I think in songs and nothing’s as inspirational as a good quote, but forcing it would mean ruining it. But worry not, I will post, without spamming, plenty of those if I do get accepted.

#harry potter rp #hp rp #marauders era rp #marauders rp #al:accepted #emma vanity

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mattygraygubler · 5 years ago

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Y/N Stark, Ch. 1

Chapter one! Yay! Hope you guys enjoy this. It’s rather short, I wanted to get it out as soon as possible.

Warning: nothing, maybe binge drinking?

Your vision was blurry and the buttons on the keypad of the door to Stark Tower seemed to be moving and blinking.

You took a deep breath, trying to pick the right numbers. After what felt like an hour, you heard FRIDAY say “Too many failed attempts. Please confirm identity.”

“Stark comma Y/N” you slurred. FRIDAY scanned your face, and despite the heavy makeup the door unlocked and you pushed your way in.

It was nearly 3 a.m., so you tried to be as quiet as you could, but finding your way to the elevator was incredibly difficult. You made your way up to your room, putting on a pair of underwear and a tank top. No one should be awake, but even if they were, you didn’t care.

You stumbled out of your room, going to the elevator once more and finding your way to the kitchen.

You grabbed the bag of pretzels from the cabinet a chocolate pudding from the fridge, sitting on the floor and dipping the pretzels in the pudding like you did when you were seven.

It wasn’t long until you heard a crash and someone curse under their breath. You peeked your head over the counter and saw a hooded figure approaching from down the hall. You quietly grabbed a knife from the drawer and crawled around the island as the figure entered the kitchen.

You seemed to sober up instantaneously. Stark Tower may be filled with Avengers and superheroes, but who's to stay that would stop someone from breaking in and trying to kill you?

You steadied your breathing as the figure approached the fridge. If you weren’t drunk, maybe you would have thought that an intruder probably wouldn’t go straight to the fridge, but it didn’t matter.

You slowly got to your feet, approaching the figure who you now realize was taller than you. You held the knife, grabbed the figure by their shoulder, turned them around, pushing their back against the fridge with your knife pressed to their throat.

“WOAH!” the figure exclaimed with his hands up.

“Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here?” You said.

“Uhm I’m uh Peter Parker, I’m an Avenger, well I think I am, Mr. Stark hasn’t totally confirmed that-” “What?” You said. This person may claim to be an Avenger, but he couldn’t be more than 17.

“Y/N?” the boy said.

“Do I know you?”

“You’re Mr. Stark’s daughter, I’m Peter Parker,” “You said that, but I don’t know who the hell you are.” “I’m Spider-Man.” “Spider-Man?” “...Yes? You don’t know who I am?”

“You say you’re an Avenger?” He nodded with difficulty as your knife was still digging into his throat. “Prove it.” He lifted his hand and shot a white net-like material from his hand.

“Not what I meant, dumbass. Anyone can have superpowers these days. Tell me something only an avenger would know.” “Natasha’s favorite food is peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.” You processed this information, realizing he was right, and lowered the knife.

“Spider-Boy?” “Man, actually. Only Thor calls me Spider-Boy.” Your breath hitched when you heard him say Thor, who you’ve had the biggest crush on since he first joined the Avengers and made it thunderstorm one night to make you feel better. You loved thunderstorms.

“First Ant-Man, now you? How many insect hybrids are we going to get stuck with,” his eyes lowered when you said stuck with.

You backed up and stumbled over the bag of pretzels on the floor, still being incredibly wasted, you would’ve fell if Peter didn’t catch your arm and pull you up. You realized you were face-to-face, your bodies pressed against each other.

“Are you drunk?” He asked, his eyes widening.

“What do you care?” “You’re, like, 17! That’s super illegal.” You rolled your eyes, pulling your arm out of his grasp.

“So? If you’re hot, nobody cares how old you are.”

“That’s super problematic,” he commented.

“Whatever, I turn 18 in less than a month and then everything will be quite legal.” “Well, except the drinking.”

“Who gives a fuck? What are you doing here anyway?”

“Uhm my Aunt and her boyfriend were uhm being rather… loud. I figured I’d escape here but I forgot the door passcode so I just used the window. I didn’t realize anybody would be awake. Hey, are you ok?” You were swaying side to side, the effects of the alcohol taking control of your body.

“Don’t… feel good…” You stuttered before you collapsed. Peter caught you again, but this time you were completely unconcious. Peter cursed under his breath, not sure what to do. He was aware of how little clothing you were wearing, and how suspicious it would look if you were seen carrying Mr. Stark’s daughter to her room passed out, wearing nothing but underwear and a very see-through tank top.

Regardless, he swung you into his arms bridal-style as if you weighed nothing, just one of the perks of super-strength. He knew that your room was on the 14th floor, as Mr. Stark has reminded him multiple times that that floor is female-residence only.

It wasn’t long before Peter found your room, a sign that said “No supernatural beings allowed under ANY circumstances!” taped to the door. He pushed it open, layed you in bed, and covered you with a blanket. Worried that you would throw up in your sleep, he went to his room and returned in his PJs and with a blanket from his room, soon falling asleep on your floor.

----

Y/N woke with a pounding headache. The blackout curtains were doing their job, shrouding the room in darkness to the point where Y/N couldn’t see. You knew the path to the bathroom well enough, but as you made your way across your room, you stumbled over something large on the floor, falling on top of whatever it was.

Or, whoever it was, for the thing below you was clearly a body, a body that groaned with your weight on top of it, waking whoever it is up.

You told FRIDAY to turn on the lights, which blinded you for a second. Once your eyes had adjusted, you realized it was Spider-Boy, who had slept on your floor and now had his hands on your waist, his eyes staring into yours.

Once again, you were within kissing distance to this bizzare boy you had only just met.

“Good morning,” he said with a laugh. His voice was raspy, and for a second you thought it was sexy, but you quickly moved that thought from your head.

“Is there a reason you’re on top of me?” He asked, red creeping into his cheeks, and breaking eye contact with you.

“Is there a reason you’re on my floor? You know, I can’t remember last night at all, but if we fucked you could’ve done the normal thing and slept in my bed and left at the crack of dawn like a gentleman.” This made Peter’s eyes grow wide and he pushed you off him, sitting up and crossing his legs.

“Woah… Woah woah,” he said. “I didn’t - we didn’t, uhm, make uhhh I mean have-”

“We didn’t have sex?” You asked. He violently shook his head. “Good. You’re not my type. I would’ve had to seriously reevaluate my choices.”

“Uhm, wow, that’s… I’m not really sure what to do with that.” You shrugged, sitting up and facing him.

“I’m not your type?” He asked. You shook your head. “So what is?” Immediately the God of Thunder came to mind and you blushed. “Not you.” You said curtly, getting to your feet and looking around the room for sweatpants and a sweatshirt, as it was freezing in your room.

“So why were you on my floor?” Peter cleared his throat, getting to his feet, and once again avoiding looking at you.

“Well you were rather, uhm, intoxicated and you passed out and I didn’t want, you know, anything bad to happen.” “Bad?”

“Like choking on your own vomit or something. I heard that can happen.” You laughed, causing him to look at you perplexed.

“I don’t need some kid looking after me. I can very well take care of myself, thank you very much.” “Well you seemed to need help last night.” He said. You were taken aback, unsure where this confidence came from.

“Relax. It would not be the first time an Avenger found me passed out on the floor of the kitchen.”

“Well then,” Peter said, clearing his throat again. “I should, uh, go.” “Yeah, you should.” You said. This boy was very quickly starting to get on your nerves. Who does he think he is, taking care of you? You could very well take care of yourself, this wasn’t the 1800s. You don’t need some dumb super-boy saving you.

“Bye Pablo.”

“Peter,” he corrected.

“Like it matters.” You said with a snort.

#peter parker imagine #peter parker #spiderman #spider-man #tom holland #tom holland imagine

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haughtbreaker · 6 years ago

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Special thanks to @jaybear1701 who messaged me early this morning basically asking me what the hell I was doing with commas. Thanks to everyone who keeps reading.

** Companion song for this chapter is Lay Me Down - Sam Smith ... cause yeah I'm basic like that. I actually do have an in-progress Spotify playlist that I've been adding songs to as I post chapters**

Nicole looked around the party, feeling her body already moving slightly to the music that boomed from the speakers. She was exhausted from her shift at the shop but she was happy to be around friends.

"Nicky!"

Nicole smirked as she found Shae leaning against the couch, drink already in hand. She was waving her free hand to get Nicole's attention, even as their friend continued to talk to her. She detoured for a red cup from the keg station before moving to her girlfriend, capturing a hello kiss. "Hey." She turned to her friend. "Rosita, you're looking extra thirsty today."

"Fuck off, Red." Rosita gave her a rough shove. "You're late, as always."

"Some of us have jobs." Nicole took a long sip of the god awful beer before coughing. "Jesus, they could have at least sprung for the mediocre shit."

Rosita pulled a flask from her back pocket, waving it in front of Nicole. "It's a good thing vodka makes everything tolerable… if only I had a friend to share it with."

Nicole smirked, holding her cup out.

Holding out for just a few seconds, Rosita unscrewed the cap and poured a good helping into Nicole's cup. "You're lucky you're cute."

Shae laughed, reaching up to brush the back of her knuckles against Nicole's cheek. "She's okay." She tangled her fingers in auburn hair before pulling her forward for a kiss. It was needy and possessive, as if she had something to prove in front of even their friend. Nicole just went with it until Shae pulled away. She was used to her girlfriend's drunken shenanigans.

Some people might have been put off by it, frustrated by what seemed like a lack of trust Nicole just didn't care. She was used to it.

"I'm gonna get something else to drink." Shae commented before stepping away.

Don't let her go.

Nicole blinked against the sudden urge, reaching out, her hand closing around Shae's wrist. She felt like she was fighting against something… against instinct and fate.

Shae turned to look at her, confused.

"Here, take mine. I'm not enjoying it anyway." Nicole pulled Shae back to her. "Just… don't leave me."

Shae smiled. "Why would I ever do that?"

Nicole looked up as Rosita grabbed her arm.

"Let her go, Nicole." Her voice was stern, her grip firm.

"What the hell, Rosie, let go."

"Nicole!"

Nicole jolted up in surprise, her eyes bleary as she took in the still unfamiliar surroundings.

"Girl, you are one deep sleeper." Gus huffed as she picked up the extra blanket Nicole must have kicked off. "Isn't this Waverly's?"

Rubbing at her eyes, Nicole nodded, still slightly dazed. "She let me borrow it for now."

"Well, you best get a move on. Waverly won't tolerate being late. She cannot risk her perfect attendance." Gus's voice was thick with mockery, as if she'd heard it a million times which, having met Waverly, Nicole had no doubt about.

"I'm up." Nicole reached for her backpack, digging out her pills. Looking at the photo sitting on the nightstand, she sighed softly. "I'm up."

Nicole adjusted the bag on her back before taking a deep breath, looking down the hallway of the school. It was one building, much smaller than her old school. She looked over the schedule in her hand and the map in the other, trying to make sense of it.

The weekend had been… strange didn't seem like an adequate enough word. She'd stuck to what was now her room mostly, unpacking, avoiding the others. Wynonna had disappeared through most of the day hours, being dropped off by a red land-yacht of a car as the sun was disappearing below the horizon. Waverly stayed home most of the weekend but she had a friend stop by, a strange nerdy kid that looked like he'd been picked on most of his life. He'd stared at her with big, bright eyes the first time they met.

Jeremy.

Nicole blew out a large breath of air before returning her attention to the schedule. She had to somehow find her English class that looked like it would be her homeroom on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Canadian Geography would be Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"What's the damage?"

Nicole looked up to see Waverly standing in front of her, a big grin on her face. "Just your standard new kid in her senior year sort of damage." She'd thought, when Waverly disappeared after dropping her off at the front office, that she was going to fend for herself.

"Sounds like fun. Let me see." Waverly held her hand out, raising her eyebrows when Nicole hesitated.

With a soft sigh, Nicole handed the schedule over. If anything, at least Waverly would be able to point her to her first period.

"Oooo, we have first period together, Calculus, and Physics…" The smile turned into a disgruntled look. "And gym."

Nicole raised an eyebrow at that. "Not a fan of gym?" She wasn't a fan herself. It was usually just a place for stronger kids to pick on the weaker ones.

"I'm fine with gym, I just think it's a waste of time. I mean, I think if you're actually on a team sport, you should get credit for it." Waverly wrinkled her nose. "I'm significantly more active during cheer practice than I ever have been tossing balls back and forth in gym."

Nicole nodded. "Completely understandable." She watched as Waverly's eyes darted over the schedule. "So… we're in a lot of the same classes?"

Waverly nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah. And Jeremy too, but he has clearance from gym so not that." With a shrug, she handed the schedule back over. "It's Purgatory. Pretty much everyone in the same grade are in the same classes… with exception of math and science. We just lucked out, I guess." She smiled brightly.

Luck. Nicole wasn't sure of that yet. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that she wouldn't have much of a break from the youngest Earp, but she would probably find out.

"Come on." Waverly nodded down the hall. "It's not that far down the hall."

"So… where's this American?"

Waverly rolled her eyes as she sat down between her friends Stephanie and Chrissy. Jeremy sat across from Chrissy who he considered safer. "Calm down, Stephanie. I'm sure she'll be here soon." She peeled the top off her salad and shook the small container of dressing.

"Is it true?" Stephanie asked with a smirk. "That she's a lesbian?"

"Gotta love living in a small town," Waverly commented as she tossed her salad with the small bit of vinaigrette. She'd been friends with the two girls since they were toddlers and Stephanie could be a bit much sometimes.

"Holy shit." Stephanie uttered, her eyes on the doors of the dining hall.

Waverly looked up to see Nicole entering, her auburn waves covered by a red and black toque that matched her flannel shirt, her hands tucked into her jeans pockets.

"Yeah, she just radiates gay."

"I'm pretty sure that's not very PC, Steph," Chrissy spoke up.

Waverly's brows furrowed and she stabbed at her salad as she watched Nicole follow the crowd, getting in line to collect her lunch. "She's actually really nice when you talk to her."

"Sure, in the stoic and solitary kind of way," Jeremy remarked, peeling his orange. "But I guess when you're tall and gorgeous, you can get away with it."

Waverly rolled her eyes. She didn't think Nicole was all that bad. Or maybe it was because she knew the reason behind the withdrawn temperament. She hadn't told Jeremy. She'd learned her lesson that first night and didn't intend on spilling those particular beans. When Nicole looked her way, Waverly waved her over with a smile. It looked like Nicole was going to refuse for a moment before she started heading that way.

"Hey." Nicole smiled in an obligatory way as she sat down in the empty space across from Waverly.

"Nicole, you know Jeremy but this is Stephanie and Chrissy," Waverly pointed her friends out.

Chrissy smiled and waved. "Hi, hi. Wish we could chat, but I have a yearbook meeting."

"Nice meeting you," Nicole commented as she began to pick through the hamburger and fries she'd picked up.

"Nicole, huh?" Stephanie smiled a smile that could best be described as nefarious. "The American lesbian the school is all abuzz about."

Nicole froze, looking from Stephanie to Waverly and back to Stephanie again.

"God, Steph, can you not be an asshole today?" Waverly huffed. "Sorry, Nicole. It's kind of a small town and Steph has a weird habit of perpetuating every bit of garbage she picks up."

"Rude much?" Stephanie snorted.

Nicole returned her attention to her meal, tearing open one of the small packets of ketchup. "That's me. Technically I'm only half American but I'm all gay," she responded with half a smile. Picking up one of the ketchup covered fries, she popped it in her mouth before freezing, her face twisted in disgust. "What the hell is wrong with this ketchup?"

Waverly tilted her head in question.

"It's way too sweet." Nicole wrinkled her nose, offering the small boat of fries to Waverly.

With a shrug, Waverly picked one up and tasted it. It tasted like it always did. "It's fine."

"Yeah something's not right with it." Nicole sighed softly before pulling the soggy leaf of lettuce out of the hamburger, applying a very small bit of ketchup to the bun. "Maybe it's just a Canada thing." She gave Waverly a look with just the corner of her lip curling up. "Probably all the maple syrup."

"Wow, way to perpetuate stereotypes," Waverly commented with a chuckle before jumping as a hand landed on her shoulder.

"Who's the new girl?"A boy plopped down onto the seat beside Waverly that had been emptied by Chrissy, his arm slinging over her neck.

"Ugh, get off me." Waverly shrugged his arm off, pushing away from him slightly. "This is Nicole. Nicole, this is my ex Hardy."

Nicole rose an eyebrow as she ate one of the fries. "Charmed." Her voice was flat and unimpressed, bringing a slight smile to Waverly's lips.

"Sup! Everybody calls me Champ." He nodded his head at her. "Number one steer roper in the town."

"Nicole is from California, Champ. Not a lot of rodeo," Waverly commented, trying not to push him off the bench. She wasn't sure why he was there except to bother the shit out of her.

"Cali huh? You surf, dude?" He used a horrible accent you only saw in ridiculous beach movies.

Nicole gave him a tight smile. "Yes actually, but not many waves around here." She looked at Waverly and her smile softened. "Except the Earp variety, that is."

Waverly felt her cheeks growing hot and cleared her throat. "Ha ha." She looked at her ex who was looking at Nicole suspiciously. "Champ, what the hell are you doing here anyway?"

"I just wanted to see you." He leaned closer to Waverly, his attention on her now. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come over after practice…"

Waverly grimaced. "I'm sorry, did you forget that I broke up with you?"

He gave her a confused look. "Wait… You were serious? I thought it was like, that time of the month…"

"Yeah, no. Get the hell out of here." Waverly shook her head.

"What?" Champ blinked in disbelief. "But I thought we could get back to normal.. It's Monday and you know we would always…"

"Don't even finish that sentence," Waverly cut him off. She couldn't believe him. She needed him to just leave before he embarrassed her further. "Just get the hell out of here."

"God, you don't have to be such a bitch about it." Champ growled as he stood up.

It took everything in Waverly not to just punch him in the nuts as he moved away. She felt the sting of embarrassment in her cheeks as she let her eyes drift over to Nicole who was watching Champ leave with a look that was pure poison.

"I don't know why you dumped him, Waves." Stephanie shook her head. "He's so hot."

Waverly cringed. "I just… outgrew him I guess." Scrunching her nose, she looked up to find Nicole watching her. "I guess he's just not my type anymore."

Nicole tilted her head to the side before dropping her gaze back to her lunch.

"Oh Honey… he's everybody's type." Stephanie commented in disbelief.

Nicole sighed as she sat on the bleachers, watching as Waverly and the other cheerleaders practiced on the other side of the gym. There was a time she would have enjoyed the sight, cheerleaders moving to music, flipping through the air… but instead she sighed softly, taking out her cell phone.

I dreamt of you last night. She sent the text off with a smile. Being in a new school really made her miss her friends back home. As if on queue, her phone began to vibrate with a call. She quickly hit the talk button. "That was super creepy."

"Says the person texting me saying they were dreaming about me." There was a soft laugh before she turned serious. "Was it the same dream?"

Nicole took a shuddered breath. "Yeah." She didn't need to say anything else. That was something she missed about being home. She didn't have to answer questions. No one stepped on eggshells around her because they knew where not to step. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I fucking miss your dumb face, Rosie."

There was a soft sigh that came over the phone. "That's pretty gay, Red." There was a brief pause and what sounded like a sniffle. "But… I miss you too. It's so quiet around here and I keep bringing too much booze to parties."

Nicole snorted. "No such thing."

"Yeah for alcoholics." There was another brief pause before Rosita cleared her throat. "So, you gonna tell me about your new roomies."

"Well," Nicole watched as Waverly was tossed into the air easily. "Right now I'm watching one at cheerleading practice."

"Ooo. A cheerleader? I love cheerleaders. Is she hot? Can you describe the uniform to me? Well fuck actually send me a picture."

"You're a fucking pervert." Nicole could feel the day's worth of stress beginning to bleed away. "I mean… I guess she's cute, in the way too chipper kind of way." She shrugged as if Rosita could see her. "Maybe more your type - cute, straight, and ready to break your heart. " She didn't want to go into her own type really, because that meant thinking about Shae, and thinking about how right now they'd probably be hanging out in her room back home.

"Well then definitely send me a pic later. What about the other one?"

Nicole chuckled. "Wynonna? Definitely rough around the edges. Maybe a complete opposite of Waverly. Definitely some damage there." Blowing out a long breath, Nicole stretched her back a little. "It's so fucking cold here."

Now Rosita laughed. "It's a nice 87 degrees here. A nice swell came in Sunday morning."

"Fuck off." Nicole laughed.

"I think I might have gotten a sunburn," Rosita continued.

"You don't fucking burn," Nicole snorted.

"Whoa… language Haught."

Nicole jumped as Wynonna plopped down beside her. "God Dammit, Wynonna!"

"Oooh is that her. She sounds hot. Let me talk to her. "

"Shut up, Rosie," Nicole huffed. "I'll talk to you later." She didn't wait for a response, just hung up. She knew Rosita wouldn't mind. She was the closest thing to a sister Nicole had.

"You don't have to hang up for me,." Wynonna commented as she leaned back on the bleacher behind them, her eyes on the cheerleaders. "You spying on my sister?"

Nicole rolled her eyes. "She's the one driving us home," she answered matter-of-factly.

"And how was your first day of school?"

Nicole snorted. "New place, same shit." She toyed with the edge of her phone before slipping it into her pocket. "What are you doing here, anyway? You don't even go here anymore."

"Maybe I just came to watch my baby sister?" Wynonna's gaze wasn't on Waverly tho. Instead she was eyeing up the girl that looked like she was consulting with the cheerleading coach.

Nicole had watched the older girl as she began to help with the choreography. "Who's the girl?"

"What girl?" Wynonna pulled a flask out of her pocket and took a quick pull from it, not even caring that they were in a school gym.

"Tall, dark, and smokin'...if you're into the goth scene of course." Nicole leaned back against the bleacher as well. She was glad for the interruption and distraction. As much as she loved hearing from and talking to her best friend, it was the bridge that took her back to Shae and to the place she was before. "Ex girlfriend?"

"What?" Wynonna scoffed. "God no. Her and her perfect skin and amazing dancing skills…" She cleared her throat. "She's the ex of someone I…" She waggered her hand in the air, "am friends with?"

"Friends?" Nicole gave her a wry look.

"Look… some friends you go shoplifting with, and some friends you…," she took another sip from her flask, "get naked and bump pelvises with."

Nicole cringed. "Ew. Straight people," she said under her breath as she shook her head.

"Hey now…" Wynonna glared at her. "Watch who you're calling straight," she scoffed, standing up to stretch her back out. "Waverly's probably the straightest one in the house."

Looking over at the youngest Earp, Nicole pursed her lips.

"I need a ride back to the homestead, but I can't take this high school shit anymore. I'm gonna go pass out in Waverly's jeep," Wynonna huffed.

Watching her slip away, Nicole just shook her head before looking out towards the cheerleaders. She'd thought she felt something not-so-straight coming from Waverly over the weekend, and definitely during lunch, but maybe she'd been wrong. After all, her spidey senses weren't really in top shape these days.

Wynonna hummed softly to herself as she looked through the carton of records. All through dinner she kept thinking too much about the argument she'd had earlier that day with Henry. Their on again off again thing was starting to piss her off and while she knew it was mostly her fault, she really wanted to punch him in the face.

"She was really pretty." Waverly was sitting on the floor of the basement, staring at her cell phone.

Wynonna looked up from the stack. "Who?"

Waverly pursed her lips, her face illuminated by the light of her phone screen. "Nicole's girlfriend. The one that…" She let her voice trail off. "I guess her name was Shae."

Wynonna lost all interest in the records, scooting next to Waverly on the basement floor. "Are we stalking Nicole? I'm not against it but normally you are."

"I'm not stalking her!"

Wynonna looked at Waverly through the corner of her eye, trying not to laugh. "Ok, Baby Girl." She focused on the phone instead, seeing the girl with darker skin in a variety of photos wrapped around... "Damn. That's Nicole? She looks completely different."

Waverly nodded. "Totally. I mean… she looks the same, just… happy."

"Well I guess she's got a type."

Waverly sighed, scrolling down the photo feed. "What do you mean?"

"Well…" Wynonna shrugged. "Just something she said earlier today, about Kate."

"Henry's ex?" Waverly's brow furrowed. "Like you think she likes her?"

"She said she was hot, in that angsty goth way."

"Oh I bet that went over well." Waverly laughed, but it sounded a little empty. "I mean, she is kind of gorgeous…"

Wynonna rolled her eyes. "Whatever…" She looked at the screen as Waverly seemed to have stopped on one photo.

This wasn't the Nicole that lived with them. Gone were the sunken cheeks and dark circles. In it, Nicole was in a bikini top and shorts, her wet auburn hair that was much longer was half draping in her face as she had a smile on her face that reflected... genuine happiness.

"Nicole looks… really happy here."

"They probably just had sex," Wynonna joked crudely. The look Waverly gave her could no doubt kill someone at 20 paces and Wynonna physically leaned away. "Or they're just happy..."

Waverly looked back at the phone, a troubled look on her face.

Wynonna had to raise an eyebrow as she tilted her head, a suspicious look taking over. "Why are you so interested in Nicole's girlfriend, anyway?" The conversation she'd had with Nicole was still fresh in her mind.

"What?" Waverly looked up quickly, her eyes filled with guilt. But what was the look for, Wynonna had to wonder. Guilt for prying. Guilt for something secret? Something she wasn't able to admit? "I'm not," Waverly responded with indignance as she huffed, moving to close the app and freezing suddenly. "Oh my god." Waverly looked down at her phone in horror.

"What?" Wynonna looked over to see a bright red heart under the photo. She barked out an obnoxious laugh. She wanted to say she'd never done the same, but she'd stalked enough social media in her life. "Nothing like getting notifications for photos that are a year old."

Guilt turned to horror on Waverly's face. "She's going to know I was going through her photos." Out of panic, Waverly quickly unliked the photo, as if she could take back the last 30 seconds.

"What? No! She'll still get the notification. She's going to know you were trying to stalk her secretly now…"

"Shit!" Waverly quickly liked it again.

Wynonna rolled her eyes, snatching the phone away from Waverly. Her sister was such a flustered mess at the moment. "You… are the worst at cyber stalking." With an upwards flick, she closed out the app. "Well, maybe she doesn't have notifications turned on, you never know," she commented as she tossed Waverly the phone.

Waverly looked nervously at the stairs as if expecting Nicole to come running down the stairs to yell at her.

"Waverly's probably the straightest one in the house." Wynonna's own voice echoed through her mind as she watched her sister fidgeting nervously, eyes darting from her phone to the stairs and back to her phone. Wynonna hummed to herself as she returned her attention to the records, filing the information away for later.

#wayhaught #wynonna earp #we fanfic #wefanfic #pour me more

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belewitch · 7 years ago

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Get to Know the Author Tag

first of all thanks @dreamersdrivel and @three-seas-writing for tagging me!!

1) Is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason? yeah, I wrote a medieval, GoT-esque story that’s inspired by my family drama, but I’m waiting for my cousins to stir up more trouble and give me some ideas to before I continue lmao.

2) What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

when I was 13 I wrote a story called Bite Me, I’m Irish about an emo vampire who moves in next door to my self-insert character and we start dating and he turns me into a vampire while we listen to MCR.

3) What order do you write in? Front of book to back? chronological? Favorite scenes first? Something else?

I write in the most nonsensical order even I don’t understand what I’m doing.

4) Favorite character you’ve written?

I love all my characters but Quinn from my main WIP is basically my poor curmudgeonly son. my son who I love to torment.

5) Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

A total redneck who I originally wrote as a joke but I love him now.

6) Something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now?

Too many things, I’m getting overwhelmed just thinking about it. It just occurred to me a few days ago it might be good if I added more POVs and that’s stressin me.

7) When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write? Tbh I don’t know why but I never tell people, aside from my closest friends.

8) Favorite genre to write? urban fantasy and horror.

9) What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Listen to some bops and prowl around my city like I’m in a music video.

10) Write in silence or with background noise? With people or alone?

I usually write in Starbucks with my numerous playlists for every scene.

11) What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

I used to,put commas, like this,without spaces,after,words.

12) Your weaknesses as an author?

I would rather make playlists than actually write. And I’m always afraid of being unoriginal.

13) Your strengths as an author?

I really couldn’t tell you. :(

14) Do you make playlists for your current wips?

Too many as I’ve said.

15) Why did you start writing?

I can’t remember a time I wasn’t writing stories, even when I was little, but being a fan of Twilight when I was a preteen made me take it seriously to tell you the truth.

16) Are there any characters who haunt you? All those wannabe-Twilight romance story characters I wrote in 6th grade.

17) If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

Enough with the Snarky Bad Boys.

18) Were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they? I like to think The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller encouraged me to step up my prose game.

19) When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

I don’t. I’m hopelessly lost.

20) Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts? I write in short spurts, then fuck around, then go back to writing.

21) What do you think when you read over your older work?

Sometimes I like my older work and I get real interested in the story and I’m like “wow I wonder what happens next, I wish the author wrote more” and then remember the author was me.

22) Are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

Random but I don’t fuck with aliens or outer space. I used to have sleep paralysis episodes when I was a kid where I’d hallucinate aliens were abducting me and to this day I’m like nahhhh no thanks aliens, miss me! (I make exceptions for Ender’s Game and Doctor Who tho)

23) Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

my current WIP is heavily inspired by my Catholic childhood, my old neighborhood, and experiences with psychics trying to contact my dead grandfather, so yeah.

24) Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

No but I once held myself underwater in a pool so I could write a drowning scene.

25) Copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of.

I’m too scared to do this :(

tagging @writingwinterridge and @priyaele and @writebruh .sorry if any of you have done it already.

#get to know the author #writeblr

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bookishreviewsblog · 5 years ago

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Laini Taylor: Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) | Lara

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever. What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving? The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real? Welcome to Weep.

I'd like this book to give me back the time I spent reading it, but I don’t want to spend another five minutes thinking about the terrible time I had with it. You know the book is BAD when it starts throwing you into a slump – I was in such a mood for reading and then, next thing I remember I was forcing myself to get through every damn page of this cluster-fuckery of letters. Strange the Dreamer was an epic letdown, and, the thought of hating a book that everyone seems to love fills me with immense sadness. This book was, first of all, very hard to read. I can usually get through an impressive amount of bad characters and nonexistent plot if I like the author’s style and writing – which was not the case with this book. Taylor’s writing seems interrupted and disorganized with nonsensical POV switches in the middle of the sentence (this was like, a real thing, at the beginning of the sentence she describes Lazlo watching at the stars and skips to Sarai sleeping after the comma). Not to mention the everlasting note of monotony and indifference that made me genuinely disinterested in any aspect of this book. Taylor’s pacing was probably one of the worst things that had happened to this book. The tremendous amount of time that it takes to get to a point where things actually start happening made me realize how little fucks I give about characters and what is going to happen to them. It takes them almost 200 pages to actually get to Weep, and then they are practically doing nothing until the last chapter. When the action started happening and things got to the point where they were supposed to be interesting, I was so numb from wanting those terrible descriptions to be over that I couldn’t care less about the plot twists – which were actually good and ending that wasn’t so bad itself! When I put aside my hate for the writing, I see that I quite liked the worldbuilding and magic system. Weep is a city on the east, where two hundred years ago, Seraphim - also known as mesarthim, came down on Earth. They are godlike creatures with immense power who lived in a citadel that floats above Weep. For centuries, they tormented and abused people of Weep, stealing their wives and turning them half mad after taking their children, half-human, and half-god, also known as godspawns. Fifteen years ago, Eril – Fane killed every god and murdered their children to free people of Weep, but he never managed to get rid of the giant floating angel that shadows his city. Lazlo Strange is an orphan boy who likes nothing more than getting lost inside his own thoughts. He is a huge bookworm and has probably memorized every single fact about the mysterious city of Weep. The day when his craziest dreams come true is the day Eril-Fane asks him to come with him to an expedition to Weep. Lazlo is probably the most boring and personality-less character I’ve ever encountered. I mean, what does he do – he reads and dreams? Wow. Even that cool plot twist at the end couldn’t make his character less lame. Sarai has something more to her, even though I still found her pretty boring. She is whiny and lets herself be defined by others way too easily. Sarai is a daughter of Eril-Fane and goddess of despair – Isagol. Her gift is an ability to invade and control people’s dreams – but don’t worry, she doesn’t use it to do anything badass or useful, she’d rather spend some time in Lazlo’s head, creating the world’s lamest case of insta-love. “Minya hadn’t given up. She never would. Somehow, by sheer force of will, the girl had frozen herself in time—not just her body but everything. Her fury, her vengeance, undiminished in all these years. You could never win against such a will.” The only character worthy of my notice was Minya – a 21-year-old daughter of Skathis with ability to control ghosts, trapped in a child’s body until she fulfills her vengeance over Eril-Fane. She was the only interesting person in this book and I would like to thank her for making bearable to read.

#books #book reviews #laini taylor #strange the dreamer #fantasy #young adult #romance #fiction #high fantasy

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artificialqueens · 8 years ago

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Primary Care (a.k.a the Poundcake ficlet collection) 10/13 [Katya/Alaska] - Spoky

A/N: The obligatory filler chapter has arrived. Fillers are written for fluff, smut, drama and usually contain very little actual plot development. Exactly like this one. [Ok, there is SOME plot development. Some crucial plot development, because otherwise Ch11 will fall flat.] I’m blaming the song, it’s a filler song, so you get a filler chapter. Without Apatheticskeleton this chapter would have 34 typos, 15 missing commas, 2 unfinished sentences, 5 wrong pronouns and Brian written as Brain. xx

Beta’s note: Hi guys, Apatheticskeleton here! Just wanted to sincerely apologize for being so late with this, it’s totally my fault, my life is totally nuts right now! Spoky is a wonderful author and is so amazingly understanding, so be sure to send lots and lots of love her way!!! ((She was paid to say these things.))

Primary care (a.k.a. the Poundcake ficlet collection)

Chapter 10/13 - ‘Let’s Do Drag’

Put some makeup on my face, face Come on over to my place, place We done mashed, cooked, and baked, baked Shake and go, cut the lace, lace

Loud and trashy. Those were the words Brian would’ve used to describe the scene in front of him, had anyone happened to ask. ‘And it’s between ROLASKATOX!!’

‘Detox! Give it girl!!’

‘Hey! That’s not fair! She’ can’t just push like that!’

‘She already did, honey.’

‘Alaska is out! OUT! Lasky you’re out! Get out!!!’

‘ROTOX! ROTOX! ROTOX!’

‘Ouch! That must’ve hurt.’

‘Roxxxy! COME THROUGH!!’

‘Detox’s wavering again…’

‘Nonononono!!! NOOO!’

‘Roxxxy is out! OUT! OUT!’

‘And the winner is D to the E to the T to the O to the HOLD IT!’

‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’

‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ ‘X!’ Brian shook his head and laughed. It was amazing to watch. A group of drag queens and their friends in his currently way too small apartment. All on different levels of intoxication and drag. Detox was the only one in full makeup and heels, but it was her birthday, so maybe the others had toned their own appearances down in respect for the Queen of Neon. She was jumping up and down on the twister mat as the winner of the game. Jinkx was reaching to place a pink crown on her head, which Brian knew for a fact Jinkx has stolen from Trixie just a couple of minutes go. Sharon leaned to the wall next to Brian and glanced at him, amused. ‘Don’t you feel underdressed for the occasion?’ Brian chuckled and took a sip of the Becks Blue he was holding for Alaska, and had been holding for the past 30 minutes. It was amazing really how he always ended up holding drinks for the 49th state. ‘Too busy organising everything,’ Brian explained his attire, or the lack of it for that matter. ‘Or just too lazy to try,’ Willam drawled in his shirt and bowtie.

Roy nodded in agreement, but Courtney shook her head in disapproval: ‘It’s her birthday, you could’ve at least done your hair. Or shaved.’ Roy laughed: ‘He tried, it’s just not always-’ ‘- as easy as it looks,’ Tatianna continued and threw her hand over Courtney’s shoulders before continuing: ‘Also, I don’t mind him as a boy, much.’ Brian flipped her the finger. Courtney snickered. ‘Why is this party here, anyway?’ Courtney asked and the entire group fell silent. Because everyone knew, but no one was supposed to know and so everyone politely pretended they didn’t know. Collective denial. Courtney apparently had not been updated on the story. Brian sighed. ‘Because Alaska’s apartment is smaller and she and Roxxxy wanted to keep it as a surprise,’ Brian said and glanced back at Rolaskatox, who had been inseparable all evening. ‘That does not explain why here though, they could’ve rented a place,’ Courtney continued. ‘Alaska asked, and I agreed,’ Brian said and for him it had been that simple. A proper house-party, like the old times when not everyone had money for the entrance fee of a club; the days before RuPaul. That was the atmosphere Roxxxy and Alaska had wanted to create and Brian had to admit that thanks to the crowded, too hot, increasingly smelly apartment, that was exactly what they had been given. ‘First she uses your toothbrush, then your dress, then your apartment and before you know it, you’re tied around her little finger so tight your back aches,’ Sharon cackled. ‘It’s a blessing I’m very flexible,’ Brian noted and everyone in the group laughed, except for Courtney. ‘What?’ she glanced at Brian, then at Sharon, then at Alaska and the group could see the realisation hit her. ‘Oh my god! I thought I had seen that horrible dress she’s wearing somewhere!’ she exclaimed and pointed at the atrocity on Alaska: ‘And now I know where! Season seven!’ Tatianna laughed: ‘Yeah girl, ugliest dress runway. I wish I had been there, I have some really good stuff for that.’ ‘But, but,’ Courtney stammered. ‘Why didn’t anyone tell me?’ ‘Because everyone thought you knew,’ Roy sniggered. ‘Everybody knows!’ Courtney was looking around in the group, and everyone kept nodding.

‘Well, wow,’ she sighed. ‘Condragulations?’ she then added to Brian, who nodded awkwardly in recognition. He never had any idea how to react when people congratulated him for getting a boyfriend. It was weird. However, his awkwardness was soon replaced with amusement as Courtney glanced at Sharon, who was standing next to Brian, and blushed.

‘I, I didn’t mean…’ Cortney stammered, looked at Roy for help, who tried really hard not to laugh and then at Willam, who clearly indicated that she wasn’t getting any help from him either. ‘Don’t sweat it girl, we had it out at the back,’ Sharon grinned and wrapped her arm around Brian’s shoulders, who laughed and shook his head in amusement. Brian couldn’t imagine himself into a fistfight with Sharon. ‘Really? Who won?’ Tatianna asked before her brain caught up with her mouth. Roy burst out laughing. Brian looked up to Sharon, who met his gaze. They turned to Tatianna and said simultaneously: ‘I did.’ Everyone sniggered. ‘What’s funny?’ Alaska drawled behind them and Roy couldn’t help himself: ‘That you’ve picked a Russian hooker over the Devil herself.’ Alaska didn’t even flinch. Instead she lowered her gaze down to her nails, as if bored by Roy. ‘Some see trash, I see…’ she glanced at Brian, before continuing: ‘Potential,’ she drawled and then smiled at Roy, who burst out a laugh. ‘Potential garbage,’ Ginger commented behind them. ‘Now is this a birthday party or what? Where is the cake?’ ‘Oh, right! It’s in the fridge, give me a second,’ Brian realised. He walked through the group to Alaska, grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. ‘You’re coming with me.’ The group stared after them, and Willam was the first to break the silence: ‘You think they’re going to fuck in the kitchen?’ ‘Yes,’ Sharon and Ginger agreed in unison. ** Brian pulled Alaska into the kitchen and couldn’t keep his hands off of her any longer. ‘You’re such a fucking tease,’ he accused and pushed the tall queen against the kitchen counter. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Alaska drawled and enjoyed the kisses and small bites Brian was pressing onto her neck and collarbone. ‘No? Then let me elaborate,’ Brian said and ran his hands over Alaska’s sides.

‘For the past hour or so, you’ve been playing Twister. Which, on it’s own, is an incredibly innocent activity,’ Brian continued and licked Alaska once, from her collarbone up to her neck, tracing her jaw. ‘Then I noticed that somehow, Alaska, your ass is always up, pointed at my general direction. And this dress you’re wearing…’ Brian paused and massaged Alaska’s chest while continuing: ‘A dress which you by the way have no permission to wear – is way too short on you to hide anything relevant when you bend down.’

Brian grabbed Alaska’s crotch and squeezed. Alaska groaned in pleasure, closing her eyes.

‘So, I can only conclude from this, that either you are in need of proper spanking for acting like an oblivious whore,’ Brian murmured into her ear while massaging her ass, as if trying to decide where to land the first hit. ‘Or, alternatively, you have deliberately been teasing me, making me hard in front of our friends,’ he whispered and bit her neck while pushing his crotch firmly against her. Making sure she could feel the hardness of his cock against her thigh.

‘Now, which one is it? And don’t lie to me,’ Brian asked, holding Alaska firmly against the counter. Alaska pressed her lips together briefly before mumbling: ‘The second.’ ‘I couldn’t quite catch that?’ Brian insisted, even if he had made out Alaska’s reply well enough. ‘The second,’ Alaska grinned and bit her lower lip. ‘Thought so,’ Brian noted, grabbed Alaska’s waist and turned her around roughly, pushing her front against the counter. ‘And I bet I’m not wrong about this one either…’ Brian started as he lifted the dress hem above Alaska’s ass and stuffed his hand into Alaska’s tights and panties. ‘No, I’m not wrong,’ Brian concluded as he could feel that Alaska had prepared herself fully. She was lubed and inside her she held the tiny purple butt plug Brian had once used on himself.

‘So what is the fantasy here, that I would just fuck you in the kitchen when our friends party in the living room?’ Brian asked, half amused, half annoyed. He was hard and this bitch was making it incredibly difficult to calm himself down. Alaska nodded enthusiastically. ‘I don’t think so,’ Brian snorted, removed the purple toy and threw it at the counter. Alaska groaned disappointedly. ‘Unfortunately for you, I’m not in the mood of demonstrating first hand to over 30 people how fucking twisted you are,’ Brian snorted. ‘Because if you’re thinking that we wouldn’t get caught, you’re more delusional than I give you credit for. However,’ Brian continued and a small flame of hope lit in Alaska. ‘As you’re basically begging for it, you can carry this one around the rest of the evening.’ Alaska couldn’t see what Brian was doing, but could feel him inserting something approximately similar size as the butt plug into her. However, unlike the purple toy, this thing didn’t leave the uncomfortable feeling between her buttocks and the item seemed to have some kind of a string attached to it. Brian lifted her panties back up, placed something cold and round against her lower back and then pulled also the tights up. ‘That’s the battery, be careful not to break it,’ he informed her. Battery? Brian pulled the yellow dress down, kissed Alaska’s neck gently and then showed her the small black remote he was holding. ‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked. Alaska shook her head. Brian pushed the button and Alaska could feel the tiniest of vibrations inside of her. She turned to Brian in surprise. Brian chuckled as he could see the happiness on her eyes. Insatiable slut. He tiptoed up to kiss her. ‘It was really expensive too, it has multiple speeds on it,’ Brian smirked and pressed the button again. Alaska gasped loudly. The feeling was completely new. She had never felt anything like it, it was exhilarating but also little bit uncomfortable. ‘Now, why don’t you go change like you promised, and I’ll keep this,’ Brian said and slipped the controller into his pocket, turning the vibrator off. Brian didn’t wait for a reply and turned away from Alaska, only to be faced with Trixie who stood at the kitchen door. ‘Oh, hi! How long have you been there?’ Brian greeted her with a smile, grabbed the butt plug from the counter, threw it into the closest drawer and pretended it had never existed. ‘Long enough to know that you two fucking weirdos deserve each other,’ she said dryly, and shook her upper body as if she had just tasted something disgusting. Alaska laughed loudly and walked up to her, she placed her hands carefully onto her shoulders and carefully not touching her hair or makeup gave her air kisses on either cheek as a greeting. ‘Always so stunning, Trixie,’ she said, gave her an innocent smile and walked off. Trixie watched, amused as the Queen of Snakes walked back to the party. ‘How do you even – you know what, I don’t want to know,’ Trixie started, but decided halfway through that some things she just very much needed not to know. ‘I came to see whether you needed help,’ Trixie explained her presence in the kitchen. ‘Oh no, I can handle her. She’s very well behaved for her age, housebroken, doesn’t chew on things,’ Brian said while washing his hands. ‘With the cake, not with the Bitch,’ Trixie laughed at the inside joke.

Ever since Brian had started dating Justin, Trixie had refused to call the 49th state anything else except ‘the Bitch’. Not around her, of course, that would’ve not been lady like. Brian had asked her to stop, multiple times, but Trixie was somehow convinced that Alaska needed to have what she referred as ‘a probationary period’, and if Alaska was to pass, then Trixie was willing to forget what had been going on previously. Brian thought she was being overly dramatic, to which Trixie had exclaimed: ‘Bitch, do you even know me?!’ It was all jokes and fun after that and Brian could feel her warming up to the snake. Who wouldn’t? ‘Are you going to do the, I don’t know what to call it, thing?’ ‘Yeah, that’s the plan,’ Brian nodded. They had talked about it for weeks with Justin, how to handle the situation and to make some kind of a statement, to ask people for their co-operation seemed like the easiest and most reasonable course of action. ‘While she’s dressed up like that?’ Trixie joked. Alaska’s outfit did not seem to fit with what Brian and Justin had planned. ‘She has promised to change,’ Brian said and glanced at Trixie. ‘And you believe her?’ Trixie asked and Brian shook his head slightly, amused. Would Trixie ever let go? He raised his eyebrow at her. Trixie lifted her hands in surrender: ‘I know. I know, no Lasky-bashing. I’m over it.’ Brian sighed. He wasn’t entirely sure what would be required for Trixie to be convinced that Justin was not using him, that Justin was actually the one making more compromises for Brian and making sure that there wouldn’t be any extra pressure on the relationship. ‘She did apologise and she has been nothing but amazing since. You’re being a little unfair again,’ Brian said. ‘I know. I’m sorry, ok?’ Trixie huffed. Then she took a deep breath and continued: ‘The dress looks better on her than it ever did on you.’ The peace offering was thin, but it was there. Brian took it. ** Alaska placed the blond wig back on the shelf and reached for the makeup remover. She didn’t have a lot on tonight, just enough to make an impression and have fun. Which had, however, been enough for Brian to critique that she had promised. And truthfully, she had. Alaska could remember the conversation, and how Brian had carefully tiptoed around her before requesting her to be Justin for the night, asking him to be the man Brian wanted on his side. Alaska had agreed to the request, not only to please, but also because it made a lot of sense; to draw boundaries.

She wiped her face to the towel and moisturised. She undressed Katya’s dress and tights, but left the panties on, smiling. The mere possibility of Brian being able to use the controller made him excited. Pulling on a pair of black jeans he eyed the the T-shirt he had chosen to wear for tonight; one of the pink Trixie Mattel shirts Brian had had in his closet. The situation with Trixie was complicated. They were friends, but at the same time the Barbie had made it clear that Brian was one of her best friends and were Justin to screw him over, it was Mattel he would have to deal with it. Justin wasn’t entirely sure what that would entail, but he also had no plans of ever finding out – which was why he was now changing. It was up to Justin to prove, that he could be the man that Brian deserved, not only the other way around.

Justin sighed, fixed his hair and wore his glasses instead of the contacts he usually preferred. He was going to go out as himself, completely. If they really wanted to draw a clear line between public and private, Justin wanted to do it properly. All or nothing, and somehow the tiny details seemed to matter. If this was supposed to be about them, then Alaska really had to give space for Justin. In all of its complexities it made sense, but left Justin feeling little hollow. Brian wanted to appear as a couple among their friends, and Justin understood that, but Alaska was part of him and leaving her out felt… It felt uncomfortable. The decision, however, really seemed like the clearest and easiest way to avoid past mistakes, to do it differently, to draw a line. Justin ran a hand through his hair, slightly frustrated. Alaska was a big part of him and to stand completely without her made him feel naked. What he had shared with Sharon, Aaron, both, it had been a mix of them. Mix of everything, and in a way it had destroyed them. Now Brian wanted to draw a line that would not be crossed, and it made sense. Katya would never flirt with Alaska, never have a private show with Alaska, never appear on a stage with just Alaska, and never do a youtube series, a talk-show or a photoshoot with just Alaska. Brian drew the line at vague snapchat videos and instagram shots, anything that would keep the fans happy, but their private life private. The Russian hooker fucked anything and everything except for aliens. Those were the rules and Justin knew they made sense. It would be Justin and Brian, not Thunderfuck and Zamolodchikova, and maybe, just maybe, they could actually make it. Justin checked himself at the mirror once more. He felt so much more insecure as Justin than Alaska, and he had no idea how their friends would react. He knew that everyone already more or less knew about the relationship, at least on the level of a concept, but only Sharon and Trixie, and now of course Roxxxy and Detox, actually knew how serious they were. For everyone else it most probably seemed like they were just fucking. Justin sighed, better to just get it over with. He stepped back to the living room and was immediately faced with a surprised Jinkx. ‘Oh, Lasky, you changed?’ she purred, slightly tipsy. Justin chuckled and scratched his head. ‘Yeah.’ He didn’t really know how to explain himself. Jinkx detected the awkwardness and did something completely unexpected. She took a step to Justin and hugged him tightly. ‘I’m so happy for you,’ she muttered before releasing him: ‘And so jealous, bitch, he’s a keeper!’

Justin grinned awkwardly. ‘Thanks?’ Jinkx winked at him as he continued towards the kitchen and tried his best to avoid everyone in the crowded room. He spotted Brian sharing a conversation with Ginger and Adore near the hall and made his way to the group. He could make this a problem, or he could enjoy the fact that soon the entire room would know that he was in a magnificent relationship with the kindest, smartest and quite possibly the kinkiest man in the room. According to his personal unbiased opinion, of course. He was fucking lucky, and there was no reason to feel insecure. He walked behind Brian, wrapped his long arms around his shoulders and squeezed Brian’s back against his chest. ‘Hieee,’ he greeted the shorter man, who had startled at the sudden cuddles. Brian turned to look behind his shoulder and smiled widely. He then turned to look at Justin properly and looked slightly baffled. ‘Hi,’ Brian however greeted brightly, but kept eyeing Justin as if not really knowing what to make of him. Justin shifted on his feet. What was wrong? ‘Helloo, we still exist!’ Ginger distracted them with her fan. ‘The world hasn’t suddenly stopped turning.’ ‘Aww, look at them Minj, I think they’re in love,’ Adore noted and half hugged Ginger. ‘I know. How utterly disgusting,’ Ginger rolled her eyes. ‘You ready for cake then?’ Brian asked, and his tone was a little off. Justin had a feeling he had done something wrong, but what? He’d done everything exactly like Brian had asked. How they had agreed. ‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ Justin nodded, confused.

‘Well I know I am!’ Ginger noted. ‘You remind me of Kim Chi,’ Brian laughed: ‘It’s all about food.’ Brian excused himself and Justin to the kitchen, claiming to Ginger and Adore that they had everything under control and had all the extra hands they needed. He had then grabbed Justin’s hand and led him to the kitchen through the crowds. After they arrived Brian turned to look at Justin properly, concerned. ‘What?’ Justin asked, little annoyed. ‘You’re wearing your glasses,’ Brian said and Justin couldn’t read the tone at all. ‘Yes? So what?’ he asked, little defensively. He was getting frustrated. What did Brian want, what was wrong? ‘I asked you to leave her on the background, not try to get rid of her existence,’ Brian said then and Justin frowned. ‘What?’ Justin repeated. He wasn’t following Brian’s thoughts at all. Why was the man talking in riddles? ‘I said I’d like you to be you tonight, not that you have to get rid of every evidence of Alaska’s existence,’ Brian said, frustrated. ‘I said I wanted to be seen with you. You! And she’s part of the package. And this, this,’ Brian was pointing at Justin’s outfit. The black jeans, the Trixie shirt, the glasses, the black socks… The plainness of the look screamed fake and Brian hated it. It wasn’t Justin, not really, it was a display. Justin worried his lip and didn’t know what to do next. He knew he had screwed it up, but wasn’t entirely sure what Brian was saying or actually wanted. Then he felt Brian’s hands on his cheeks and closed his eyes just in time for the kiss. ‘I want you to be comfortable, and you’re tense as a Hitchcock movie,’ Brian whispered against his lips between kisses. Justin chuckled. It wasn’t quite that bad in his opinion. ‘But, I thought you wanted to draw boundaries?’ ‘I do! But that doesn’t mean that I’m trying to cut parts of your fucking personality out!’ Brian cried. Justin was confused. ‘So you’re saying you want me, and her? But not really her?’ ‘Yes,’ Brian started, but then shook his head: ‘No! I mean… I want you, as you, and she’s part of you… I don’t know what the fuck I’m saying. But you look miserable! Look at you, you look like someone just told you RuPaul’s Drag Race was cancelled!’ Justin’s eyes widened in surprise, but then he laughed. ‘I do not!’ he insisted, and through the amusement pushed Brian against the fridge, trapped him between his long arms and proceeded to kiss him senseless. ‘I think you guys have misunderstood the the concept of a kitchen.’ Justin smirked against Brian’s lips. Of course it was Trixie, it was always Trixie. ‘But I guess I should consider myself lucky, you both still have clothes on,’ Trixie continued and walked next to them. She looked at Justin’s T-shirt, snorted and smiled: ‘Nice t-shirt, I don’t think you’ve ever looked more beautiful.’ ‘See, Trixie likes it,’ Justin told Brian, who huffed in annoyance. ‘What’s the problem?’ Trixie asked, looking at Brian, who was frowning. ‘Brian thinks my outfit is… What, too Justin? Not Alaska enough?’ Trixie glanced at Brian.

‘Look at him! He looks so uncomfortable!’ Brian exclaimed. Trixie had to agree. Justin looked slightly uncomfortable, but when did he not, out of drag? Trixie worried her lower lip for a second and then made a decision. Brian was her best friend after all, and she really wanted to be friends with Justin. Good friends. And the man was clearly trying. She sighed and took off the big plastic ‘Barbie’-necklace she happened to have on and clicked it around Justin’s neck. ‘Here. You’re a Heather now, so cheer the fuck up,’ she snorted and then smiled at Justin, who was fiddling the necklace. Justin knew what the gesture meant, and he appreciated the sarcasm. ‘Party,’ he commented and burst out to laughter with Trixie. Brian rolled his eyes at them. ‘Sometimes, I don’t get either of you,’ Brian noted and shook his head, amused.

The trio proceeded to prepare the cake for Detox with dozens of candles. Justin went to grab Roxxxy from the living room and together the quartet had enough hands to carry the cake, a pile of paper plates, plastic spoons and a knife into the living room. Roxxxy shut the lights and called out Adore, who had been briefed to start the song. It was Adore’s voice alone that carried the first few notes of ‘Happy Birthday To You’, before others joined her as Justin and Roxxxy carried the cake to the table next to Detox. The Queen of Neon was glowing of happiness and grabbed Roxxxy into a tight hug before reaching also for Justin. ‘I know that Visage hated it, but I don’t know what I would do without Rolaskatox.’

‘Meth could be a decent substitute,’ Brian whispered to Trixie, who covered her mouth to prevent the laugh. ‘It means so much to me that you sluts went through all the trouble,’ Detox continued and squeezed the other two queens closer to her before turning to the other guests.

‘I also want to thank everyone for coming, this really has been amazing and none of it would’ve happened without these two cunts,’ she said loudly and once again squeezed Justin and Roxxxy. ‘Oh, I almost forgot, maybe I should thank Katya as well? Get your ass here, whore.’ Brian stepped out of the shadows and took the two required steps to reach the group. He stood next to Justin and grinned to Detox. ‘Applaud our generous host!’ Detox exclaimed. The crowd followed the instructions.

‘Thank you, thank you!’ Brian bowed and continued: ‘You are all invited to donate to the homeless hooker charity fund, just drop some cash or semen into anything that resembles a bucket. We don’t do credit cards or Paypal, and will find the donations during the following weeks thanks to the stench.’

People laughed, some shook their heads and Brian glanced at Detox. They had agreed earlier, that Brian and Justin could highjack her birthday briefly, to make a small announcement. She smiled and nodded to Brian - the universal sign to go ahead. ‘I have to admit I had some vested interest to host the party,’ he then continued and smirked to the crowd, that paid attention in varying degrees. ‘As many of you already know, I’ve developed a growing interest towards ophiology and hav-’

‘What’s that?’ Willam yelled from the crowd. ‘Scientific study of snakes,’ Roy answered, smirking. ‘- yes, thank you, Roy. So, I’ve advanced to an actual specimen study an-’

‘So it’s true, you’re fucking Alaska?’ Brian could hear Violet’s voice from the crowd. The room went quiet, anticipating the answer. ‘Well, technically, I’m fucking Justin.’

‘The difference being?’ Violet challenged. Brian wondered whether he had imagined it or if others could also hear the slight undertone of hostility. He glanced at Justin who shrugged. ‘The difference being that my dick gets these very painful purple rashes from other species, so I’m not doing that anymore,’ Brian joked, he didn’t know what else to say. He pulled Justin to his side and wrapped an arm around the small waist, while the taller queen placed his own arm on Brian’s shoulders, as Brian continued: ‘We’re telling you this because we’re trying really hard to avoid producing a second edition for the Needles/Thunderfuck-fuck-up, no offence Sharon, -’ ‘None taken,’ Sharon called from the crowd. Brian smiled at her and continued: ‘So, we’re trying to differentiate between private and public. And as we consider all of you our friends, family, we thought we could make a request. We are not asking anyone to lie for us or pretend for us, but we are asking that you could respect our privacy and not drag it into the shows or stages intentionally.’

Brian eyed the crowd and saw many understanding expressions, some people were nodding in agreement. Adore was staring at them, tears in her eyes, she really was emotional about relationships.

‘Wait! Does this mean I can’t read you to filth about your height difference or your obvious lack of common sense?’ Roy called and took a step forward. ‘Well, we’d appreciate if you didn’t, publicly,’ Justin laughed in response. ‘How about in relation to Katya’s disturbing tendency to fuck only the biggest brats of Drag Race herstory?’ Roy challenged and the crowd laughed. It was no secret among the queens that Brian and Violet shared history as well as Brian and Alaska. Brian and Justin shook their heads to indicate that Roy was not allowed to say that either.

‘Then how about Alaska’s clear fascination, not only with trash, but with absolute fucking garbage, huh, am I allowed to say that?’ Brian burst into wheezing laughter and before Justin had a chance to comment, Roy continued: ‘And trust me, it will be a Needles/Thunderfuck re-do before you know it – you bitches can’t even coordinate your fucking finances! One does not do paypal, while the other does only paypal, before taxes. How the fuck do you think it’s going to last, what are you, lesbians?!’ Roy cried.

The room filled with laughter. Brian was trying to compose himself and noticed by accident that Violet made her way out of the room, into the balcony.

‘How the fuck am I going to pay my bills if these two cunts deny me all of my material?’ Roy continued to the audience, who kep laughing. When the noise calmed down a bit Brian raised his voice: ‘Well, you could try reading Adore for once.’

Roy smirked and glanced at Adore, who looked beyond offended.

‘Got me there, Zamo, got me there,’ Roy noted and walked to Adore, in order to give her a well deserved reassuring cuddle that nothing bad was going to happen. The laughter in the room grew in volume. Justin took a seat at the table next to the birthday cake and grinned at Brian. It had gone better than expected. After the situation calmed down people made their way to congratulate Detox and get a slice of the birthday cake. Brian left Justin with Rotox and made his way to the balcony. He had a bad feeling about Violet’s reaction. When he arrived Violet was leaning to the balcony rail and looked pissed. Brian swore silently. He had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but apparently he wasn’t that lucky. He pulled the balcony door closed behind him, before walking next to the younger queen. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and lit one, offering it then to Violet. She glared at him but accepted it, only to drop it out of the balcony, to the ground.

Brian huffed, annoyed, and lit himself another: ‘You could just take it on me, instead of abusing the innocents.’ ‘Oh, I am taking it on you,’ Violet snorted, snatched the second cigarette out of Brian’s hand and let it fall after the first one. Brian followed the cigarette to the ground with his gaze and then glanced back up to Violet. He really did have it hard for the spoiled-brat-type, he thought to himself. Well, two could play this game. He took the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and dropped the entire thing over the balcony rail. ‘Happy?’ he then asked Violet, who just snorted and crossed her arms across her chest. ‘You’re being immature,’ Brian started: ‘A characteristic I never previously associated with you.’ ‘Immature? I’m being immature? And what does that make you? Huh? The cheapest fucking crack whore in town!?’

‘Meth,’ Brian corrected automatically. It was important to get the details right, and it wasn’t whoring if you never got paid. He didn’t say that out loud though. ‘Who the fuck cares?’ Violet snapped. ‘Lying piece of shit.’

‘I have never lied to you. Not once,’ Brian said firmly. He hadn’t really thought about how to handle Violet and he was quickly realising that he really should have. He should’ve actually talked to her before hand. She deserved better and Brian knew it. ‘Un-fucking-believable! Do you think I’m stupid!? Do you think she’s not going to find out?! We were fucking just a couple of weeks ago on that fucking table she’s currently sitting on!’ Violet yelled and Brian grimaced. ‘Six, six weeks ago,’ he corrected. ‘And you made it perfectly clear that I’m a B option for you. You come and go whenever you please, mostly when you can’t find anyone else to fuck you,’ he continued calmly but with a raised voice.

It had been six weeks, hadn’t it? It must’ve been, because Justin’s hospital visit had been over a month ago and Brian had gotten a visit from Violet on the preceding night of that episode. She had happened to be in town because of the show. Maybe it was just five weeks ago? Brian wasn’t sure. What he was sure about, was that he had fucked Justin on that evening in the same exact sheets Violet had left behind in the morning. The thought made him slightly nauseous.

On the other hand, how was he supposed to be prepared for something like that? That morning, they had been just friends, him and Justin. Additionally, they had been just fuck buddies, him and Jason. It was just that the 24 hours of that day had changed both relationships. The problem was that he hadn’t actually kept Violet informed about the change. He’d been so caught up with Justin that he had totally forgotten about Violet, and now his own stupidity was catching up on him.

‘So I mean absolutely fucking nothing to you!?’ Violet screamed and Brian flinched. Her voice was exceptionally high. Did Violet mean something to him? Well, she was a nice, easy fuck and extremely beautiful. Other than that, well, they were kind of friends? Brian didn’t think that was the answer Violet was expecting. ‘What do you want me to say?’ Brian asked, frustrated. ‘You appear to my door, uninvited, absolutely gorgeous, basically begging for it! What do you expect me to do in that situation?’ he asked and ran a hand through his hair, ‘Send you packing when you’re so fucking prepared I just have to bend you over the first flat surface and open my fly? I don’t think so!’

Violet slapped Brian across the face with force, causing Brian’s head and shoulders to jerk to the right as he hissed in pain. She clearly had experience as the motion was polished and her aim was spot on, exactly like her aesthetic. ‘Fuck. You,’ she said icily and massaged her palm with her other hand. It was that moment that Roxxxy opened the balcony door and peaked in, apologetically. ‘Um, no one put the music back on yet and the ventilation window is open. So-um… We can basically hear everything,’ she said awkwardly. ‘Thought you should know,’ she added quickly and disappeared, leaving the door little ajar. ‘Shit,’ Brian swore and massaged his cheek. Violet glanced at Brian, spat on him and walked out of the balcony. She stepped into the living room, where everyone were either openly staring at her or trying really hard not to even glance at her general direction in order to be polite. She eyed around the room and then looked at Justin, who was still sitting on a table next to Detox’s birthday cake. ‘You can keep that pile of shit. I’m done,’ Violet snorted at Justin and walked to the sofa. She grabbed her purse from Pearl, who was holding it, and then walked out of the apartment. People moved out of her way as she went. Everyone who knew her well enough could see the small faltering of her step and recognised the bitchy expression as a mask. Fame stood up and hurried after Violet, pulling Pearl with her.

After the trio had gone all eyes turned to Justin, and then to the balcony door, where Brian stood massaging his cheek. The silence was thick.

‘So, I guess it wasn’t just once, huh?’ Justin asked Brian. He really didn’t want to be in the spotlight, but the situation did not allow them an escape into privacy. If they didn’t sort this out right now, right here, the gossip mill would start on full speed. The only damage control Justin could do, was to have the conversation in front of over 30 other queens and their friends. Which was exactly what they had been trying to avoid, the spotlight and the drama. ‘No. No it was not,’ Brian admitted from the door. He couldn’t remember when was the last time he had felt equally conscious that people were openly judging him. He really should’ve talked to Violet beforehand. He looked at Justin, trying desperately to ignore everyone else, but failing. He was painfully aware of their stares. ‘And was it just her, coming to you?’ Justin asked next and Brian shook his head as an answer. Because it was true, there had been times when he had sought her out for an easy fuck.

‘Ok,’ Justin nodded. He knew Brian found Violet attractive, the man had said so himself. The question was whether he was fucking her and Justin at the same time.

‘And have you fucked her after we became an item?’ Justin asked and he swore he could cut the air in the room with scissors. ‘No,’ was Brian’s immediate firm reply. He took a step towards Justin, but was stopped by a pale arm that appeared from his left. Brian glanced down to the hand hovering over his chest and then up to the owner. Sharon. Brian sighed, he was so fucking fed up with Needles. He however halted and looked back at Justin. Justin glanced from Brian to Sharon and then back. The situation could get out of hand very quickly. Sharon was drunk, Brian was not. Sharon was also wearing high heels, whereas Brian stood grounded in sneakers. Sharon had always had an overprotective tendency, but it had only grown after she had found Chad and realised Alaska was struggling to find anyone. Justin thought over whether he believed Brian, and found to his surprise that he actually did. Brian had no reason to lie, and they had gotten together just a couple of weeks ago, so the timing matched. ‘Well, that’s fortunate. Because it means I don’t have to throw a tantrum as I still win on the scale on who acts more self-destructively in relationships – I fucking hate losing,’ Justin drawled and then smirked at Brian, who smiled in relief. Brian pushed Sharon’s hand out of his way and walked to Justin. Without a second thought he pulled the tall man into a hungry kiss as Justin wrapped his arms around Brian’s shoulders. There were some catcalls as they kissed. ‘I have, however, developed a sudden dislike for this particular table,’ Justin interrupted the kiss and tapped the surface he was sitting on. ‘It needs to be burned,’ he continued and made the entire room laugh. Brian replied by pulling a lighter from his pocket and smirking at Justin. ‘Not before this party is over! I promise you guys five minutes and you steal the entire motherfucking show!’ Detox exclaimed and wrapped an arm around Justin’s shoulders. ‘Though, I have to admit, with all the drama, I don’t think I could’ve organised it better myself! Now, who wants to play some poker?’

It was almost an hour after Detox had actually asked people to play, when they finally had gotten around doing it. Most people had left the party by then, either to enjoy the entertainments of the city or just gone home after a long day. It was only handful of people and some of their partners, who had made the decision to stay.

‘A pair of queens,’ Detox exclaimed and stood up. ‘Bow the winner! Bow the winner!’ ‘Yeah yeah, of this round bitch,’ Ginger snorted and threw her cards on the table. ‘Next! Roy, deal,’ she continued, clearly annoyed at the loss. Detox cleaned the table of money and accessories. Yes, the total was probably less than forty dollars but that wasn’t the point, the point was that they were having fun. Brian glanced over the table to Justin, who was sitting next to Detox and dangling his head in defeat, he hadn’t won anything on any of the rounds and had even played Trixie’s Barbie necklace, which now decorated Adore’s hair. Brian fiddled the black controller in his pocket and switched on the lowest setting. That should cheer him up. Justin flinched on his seat and his eyes shot immediately to Brian. Brian couldn’t read his expression, but figured the man was happy, as he corrected his position and smiled a little. Brian switched the egg to perform a sequence of different type of vibrations and watched in delight as Justin tried really hard to act normal. Roy dealt another round and they started to play. Based on her expressions Ginger was doing better this time around and Adore was looking at Roy accusingly. ‘You’re not going to get any if you keep treating me like this,’ she threatened and Roy laughed. ‘Watch it, or I might actually consider reading you for some quick cash,’ he shot back. Brian used the exchange to laugh at Justin, pretending that he was laughing at the interaction between Adore and Roy. ‘Lasky, what’s wrong?’ Detox asked suddenly and Brian glanced at the pair sitting next to each other, opposite of him. ‘Hm? Nothing,’ Justin smiled happily to Detox, who wrapped her arm around his shoulders. ‘You sure? You keep shivering. You haven’t eaten nuts or anything,’ Detox asked, slightly concerned. Sharon took one look at Justin and then turned to Brian, who was sitting next to him. ‘You sexting him or something?’ Sharon whispered. Brian was impressed that the Queen of Shadows could still read the snake so well. He shook his head, grinned at Sharon and then faced the group: ‘I call.’ Adore groaned in defeat and Roy laughed: ‘You’re the worst, it’s called POKER-face for a reason.’ ‘You’re obviously doing something. I know that look on Justin,’ Sharon insisted in a low voice, trying to avoid attention. ‘Leave it,’ Brian snapped, not unkindly. ‘What? What’s going on with Justin?’ Roxxxy asked from Sharon’s other side. She had obviously heard some of the conversation. Brian threw Sharon an accusing glare but the Devil just shrugged, indifferently. ‘What do you mean?’ Adore asked Roxxxy, who was looking at Sharon and Brian. ‘Sharon’s accusing Brian of doing something to Lasky,’ Roxxy explained. ‘It’s nothing, let’s play,’ Brian tried to escape the situation. Unfortunately for him, Roy was now also paying attention. ‘Now, that just proves it’s obviously nothing – jealous, Needles?’ Roy asked and was eyeing between Brian and Sharon. Brian could see Justin breathing heavily, trying to control his squirming. Detox was looking at him suspiciously. ‘No,’ Sharon said firmly to Roy. ‘Merely curious what he’s doing to make Justin squirm on his seat like he’s about to come,’ Sharon finished, looked at Brian and tapped his nails to the table, like expecting a prompt answer. All eyes turned to Justin and then to Brian. Justin kept his eyes firmly in the cards he was holding. Detox pulled her arm back, as if electrocuted. Brian was looking at the people, all of whom seemed to wait for his reply. The explanation, however, came from a source that until now had kept silent. ‘Justin has an egg vibrator up his ass and the remote is in Brian’s pocket,’ Trixie said easily and played her cards. ‘I want to raise.’ All eyes turned to Trixie, who smiled sweetly. ‘Thank you, Tracy, for the expedition, next time maybe accompany with a guitar?’ Brian said, but couldn’t keep his tone as serious as he would’ve liked. It was after all the truth and never in his life had he been embarrassed of sex. He was not going to start now. ‘Laskyyy?’ Detox asked, grinning. ‘Is that true?’ she drawled. Justin kept his gaze in the cards, but couldn’t prevent the blush creeping to his cheeks and neck. ‘Oh. My. God,’ Detox laughed, delighted and hugged Justin. ‘You absolute whore!’ ‘I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t come up with that myself,’ Sharon commented and eyed Brian as if trying to see into which pocket the remote was hidden in. ‘Your free pass to fuck Justin has expired,’ Brian laughed, which caused Sharon to throw him a challenging look. Brian answered the stare with a raised eyebrow.

‘Look at that!’ Roy whistled. ‘Tension much?’ ‘They should fuck to release it,’ Willam smirked. Sharon and Brian turned to Willam in shock and then to each other in disgust. ‘No,’ they said simultaneously. Sharon looked nauseated and brought a hand over her mouth, frowning. Brian made an actual retching noise and gesture. ‘Who would top, though?’ Adore asked, delighted about the possibility. Detox shook Justin’s shoulders gently. ‘Laskyyy, who would top, huh?’ The table quieted down, waiting for Justin’s reply. Brian and Sharon turned to look at Justin, expectantly. Sharon pointed at herself and mouthed ‘I would’ to Justin, while Brian crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back at his seat, like dearing Justin to say anyone else’s except his name. Justin looked across the table, between the two men and whispered: ‘Brian.’ Brian’s wheezing laughter filled the room while Sharon stood up and pointed at Justin. ‘He’s obliged to say that! He has a fucking vibrator up his ass! His judgement is totally compromised and there’s a clear conflict of interest!’ Brian reached to hug Sharon’s thighs and hips: ‘Oh, come on, I’d make it so good!’ Sharon was about to shove Brian away, but was interrupted by Willam: ‘Or they could just double team Alaska.’ Sharon froze and Brian’s eyes shot immediately to Justin, who had the nerve to actually look interested. Sharon bowed down to Brian, in slight shock at Justin’s expression, and said quietly: ‘That insatiable sex drive is your fucking problem now, I’m out. Chad, we’re leaving!’ Sharon shook Brian’s hands off of herself and left the shorter man frozen in place as he walked off to find his fiancé. Brian stared at Justin, who tried really hard to look apologetic, but failed miserably. In the back of his mind Brian hoped Justin was more interested in the concept of a threesome rather than Sharon actually being part of the picture. So he said as much. ‘I’m all in for a threeway, but the Devil is out, so are bats, vampires, zombies and dementors,’ Brian smirked and people around the table laughed. Justin’s quick wit did not falter. He glanced mischievously to Trixie on his right and licked his lips. ‘How about Barbie dolls?’ Justin asked and all eyes turned to him as he grabbed the blond next to him and planted a revenge kiss on her cheek, making a mess of her makeup. ‘Don’t touch my hair!’ Trixie protested loudly. ** It was a couple of hours later that Detox was finally leaving with Roxxxy. They were the last ones to go and Justin was escorting them to the door. Brian was cramming paper plates into the bin in the kitchen when he overheard Detox and Justin talking in the hall. ‘I can’t remember when I last saw you this happy,’ Detox slurred and Brian could recognise Justin’s laugh. ‘Yeah,’ Justin replied. ‘Really, Lasky,’ Detox continued: ‘I remember you with Sharon. You were so in love and I thought you would never find that again.’ Brian paused and tiptoed closer to hear the conversation better. ‘You’re drunk,’ Justin snorted, brushing Detox off.

‘I know, isn’t it great?’ Detox laughed. ‘But seriously girl, you deserve this. So, just, don’t fuck it up,’ Detox slurred. ‘She’s not going to fuck it up!’ Roxxxy defended Justin drunkenly. ‘Have you seen her? She might’ve been in love with Sharon, but it’s different this time around, isn’t it?’ Brian held his breath and could hear Justin chuckle. ‘Yeah, it is.’ Brian didn’t know what to make of that.

You say that you want it, say that you need it Say that you want it, that you believe it Say that you love it, say that you bleed it Tell me you’re mine, mine, mine, mine

—————— A/N2: Sorry for the long wait guys! Aren’t you happy to know that Ch.11 has already been submitted and should therefore be in tmr’s queue… ;) ( Because we would not want to leave you with a filler chapter for ages. xx)

#spoky #primary care #katlaska #fluff #smut #alaska thunderfuck #katya zamolodchikova #romance #hurt/comfort #rpdr fanfiction #canon compliant #poundcake ficlet collection

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bytrinaarmstrong-blog · 5 years ago

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Secure the Bag: Part.1

I am so excited to finally share Secure the Bag: Part 1 with you guys.

Here is a lil’ taste. I hope you enjoy. 😊

Chapter 1

“After tonight, my world will change forever!” My sister shouts from the sunroof of the stretch Hummer limo. She had get this bright ass barbie pink color as if a stretch Hummer isn’t big and obnoxious enough.

She's a little intoxicated, maybe a lot, and she feels the need to announce to the entire Vegas strip that this is her last night of singledom.

I'm happy for her. Although, I think she's rushing, at least the man she's marrying has a secure career.

In my opinion, she is too young. She's only twenty-five; her brain just stopped developing like three months ago. She's still learning and developing who she is as a person. But hey, what do I know? I'm not marrying some young, rich, tall basketball star.

I can’t even be mad at her decision to secure the bag. I just fear that she'll lose herself inside of her new husband and their marriage.

As far as I know, she wants to be a lawyer. Or at least she wanted to. Now, she's giving it all up to be one of those wives at the games. Not saying it won’t be fun. I'm sure it's plenty of fun to cheer from the sidelines, but how fulfilling can it be?

I can’t sit in the background and watch my husband live his dreams. Watching him do what he loves would push me even harder. But for my sister, I'm sure being a kept woman is her dream. I'm just glad that her dreams came true.

“Turn that shit up! That is my motherfuckin’ song!” My sister, Riley, shouts from the sunroof. The Pepto limo is thumping the hottest new song, "Jiggle Lil’ Booty" by Lil’ Trappah. I can’t lie, the beat is perfect to twerk too. I can hardly contain myself. I just wish I knew what this Lil’ Trappah person was saying. Only the words from the chorus are clear, and even those are questionable.

“Lil’ booties need love too! I’m talking ‘bout them butt cheeks not the baby shoes!” Everyone in the limo shouts clear as day.

These girls must have supersonic hearing or a lyric translator app. For the life of me, I don’t get how they understand these mushmouth ass lyrics. I guess it doesn't help that I'm a bit older than everyone in the limo.

I'm thirty years old, I'm in Vegas for the first time, and I'm going to make the best of it. I pinch the edge of my white bodycon dress, pulling it down the dress-hiking thighs my mama blessed with me with. I raise my hands through the sunroof, stand on the seat and look around in awe of the strip. There are lights everywhere: flashing, flickering, and glowing.

I know this night belongs to my sister, but she got hers. It's time to get mine, my money that is. I'm going to leave Vegas at least a thousand dollars richer. I don’t need the man to get the bag. I can't wait forever for these fools, and I don’t plan on it. I rather have my own shit anyway.

“Remi! You’re hogging the sunroof!” Riley pushes me to the side.

“Move! We both can’t be up here.” I groan as she continues to squeeze her big busted self through the sunroof.

“There’s enough space!” She lightly pushes me as a smile creeps onto my face.

“Did you have fun last night?”

“Last night was lit! Thank you for planning my bridal shower. I know this has been pretty stressful. I didn’t know weddings were so much work.”

“Girl, you’ve never watched a wedding show?”

“No. I don’t watch those boring things like someone I know.”

“I watch it for aesthetic purposes. I like to see the decorations and the color schemes they pick.” “It’s okay, sis. I know you take mental notes.”

“For what?”

“Your future wedding.”

“Please!" I suck my teeth.

"That’s the furthest thing from my mind right now. My mind is on my money and money is on my mind.” Riley waves her hand.

“Whatever you say.”

“Do you know where we’re going tonight?”

“Nia wants to surprise me.”

“Nia is going to surprise you with an oily stripper at the door.”

“She better not.” I raise my glass. “Well, here’s to another lit night.”

“May all our dreams come true.” Our champagne flutes clink in unison before we empty them. We sink back into the limo with the rest of the girls, anticipating the fun to come.

∞∞∞

The limo pulls up in front of one of the hottest clubs in Vegas. The music is right and full of bass. Even the people in line are dancing. I would dance too if I were standing in a line wrapped around the strip. Just the thought of standing in that line with heels irritates me.

The limo driver opens the door and holds out his hand to assist us out of the stretch Pink Panther mobile.

“Hope you ladies have a blast tonight.” The smooth-voiced limo driver smiles. He tips his hat, revealing the ponytailed locs underneath.

“Thank you!” We all say in unison.

“What’s your name again?” I ask.

He removes his driving gloves to shake my hand. “Amir Good.”

He has long, thick fingers with short, clean nails. His full beard fades at his sideburns connecting to a natural hairline that could pass for a shape up. He looks into my eyes as if he is familiar with them.

“Thank you for getting us here safely, Mr. Good.”

“No, problem—” “Remi, Remi Jones.” I reach for my purse to give him a tip.

He politely pushes my hand away. “Have a great evening, Ms. Jones.”

“Remi, come on!” Nia yells back toward the limo. Nia reserved our tables in advance, allowing us to skip the line altogether. It’s crazy how so many people can give a look of disdain all at once.

“I’ve been standing here for over an hour!” One woman shouts at security. She looks upset, and I know her feet feel even worse in those stilettos.

“I don’t make the rules, ma’am. Please wait in line as the club is almost at full capacity. Next time you should reserve your table like these lovely ladies.” The tall bouncer smiles as he let us in. “Have a good evening, ladies.”

Between the limo driver and the bouncer, I don’t know if going inside is the right choice. It seems like all the fine men are outside the club.

“Remi trying to get chose!” Whitney yells loud enough for the bouncer to hear.

“See, I was going to buy you a drink, but you play too much.”

“I’m just playing!” Whitney hooks her arm into mine, and we all find our way to our table.

More pink, yay! The love affair my sister has with this color is sickening. At least the shade of pink Nia chose is cute; soft powder pink balloons with rose gold accents.

“I love it!” Riley screams. She is going into pink overload. She grabs the bottle of Rose´ out of the ice bucket and puts it in the smoky club air.

“Here is to the rest of my life! May it be on and poppin’!” Riley pops the cork to the champagne, making it glide across the ceiling. We all jump from the loud pop of the cork but not far enough to not grab a champagne flute from the table. Riley fills our glasses, and we make another toast to a fun night. We waste no time downing our drinks and heading toward the dance floor.

“Hold up! All the sexy ladies in the house get on the dance floor right now! All di bad gals dem!” The DJ sounds off the reggae horns.

Before I know it, my body is moving to the beat. My hips roll like waves on the ocean water. I arch my back and rest my hands on my knees. I look back at it, only to see a smiling man towering behind me. His smile lights up the dark dance floor.

He leans into my ear. “Mind if I join you?”

“Looks like you already have.” I wind my hips as he stands behind me, watching and breathing down my neck. “Are you going to dance or just stand there?”

He strokes his goatee. “I think I’ll just watch.”

“Then why ask me to dance?”

“So, I wouldn’t seem like a creep while I stare.”

“That’s not weird. Nope, not all.”

“Let me buy you a drink.”

“Dance with me first.” There's no point in letting my song go to waste. I pull in Mr. Tall and Handsome, making him trail behind me. I rock my hips from side to side with the beat, leaving him no choice but to follow my rhythm.

“What’s your name?”

“Remi.”

“Like the rapper?”

“Like the rapper, like the hair, like the drink. I can keep going.”

“I like that. Come on, let’s go back to my table.” He takes my hand and leads me through the crowd on the dance floor. While holding his hand, my eyes land on the pinky ring that dons his finger. A cluster of diamonds sparkle under the flashing lights that make our brown skin look blue. My eyes almost pop out of my head as they travel from his large hand to the Presidential Rolex on his wrist.

This man has to be at least six foot seven, and his pockets seem to be just as long. Jackpot!

There is nothing like a fine man with commas in his bank account. Money can’t buy love, but as my mother always tells me, romance without finance is a nuisance. Mr. Baller takes us to his table which is already full of bottles.

“What would you like to drink?”

“I want to try some of that Ace of Spades.”

He nods his head and pours the champagne into a flute. “Great choice,” he says as our glasses clink. "What’s your name?”

“I’m surprised you don’t already know who I am.”

“Should I know?”

“It depends on what you’re into, I guess.”

“So, are you going to tell me or are you going to keep playing this guessing game? I mean, I can be like Nev from Catfish and do an image search.”

He puts his fist over his mouth and lets out a loud chuckle. “You got jokes; I like that.” He sips some champagne before setting his glass on the table. “I’m Trey Drayton.”

“Are you a basketball player?”

“I play for Utah.”

I turn my nose. “Utah? Ugh!”

“I know. As you can see, I’m trying to make the best of it.”

“You come to Vegas often?”

“I’m here for my boy's wedding this weekend.”

“He’s marrying my sister.”

“Wow, it’s a small world. I’ve known Khai since our AAU days. Your sister is in good hands.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

Trey's eyes scan over my dress. “I also think you’re beautiful.”

I blush as I flip my locs over my shoulder. “Thank you.”

“So, what are you doing later tonight?”

“I’ll be with the bridal party since the wedding is tomorrow.”

“You should chill with me. Let me get to know you outside of the club; somewhere quiet.”

“Somewhere private?”

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?” I knock back the rest of my champagne. It's been a year since I had any physical contact. Just the thought of it has my blood rushing, or maybe it's that third glass of champagne. Either way, my body is ready. Trey places his hand on my thigh, lightly brushing his lips past my ear. I damn near melt from the slightest touch. I can feel him inhaling my perfume, creating heat between my thighs. What are you doing, Remi?

I don’t know what I'm doing or why I'm so comfortable with Trey being so close. Trey's lips are soft, and so are his gigantic hands. I pull away and look into his slanted eyes; filled with the type of lust that fans my fire.

“I don’t even know you.”

“So, get to know me. I’m a basketball player. I’m from D.C., and I love beautiful, brown women like yourself.”

“I’m from Maryland.”

“See! We have that DMV connection.” He flashes his bright smile.

“You seem a bit comfortable,” I say while looking at his hand on my thigh.

"That’s how you make me feel. Are you comfortable?”

“Yes, thanks for asking.”

“So, do you want to go back to my suite?”

“It’s just that easy for you?”

“You can’t answer a question with a question, love.”

“As much as I would like to, I don’t think I’m about that life.”

“Take my number.” He pulls out his phone just before reciting his number out loud. “Call me.”

I hit the call button, connecting us in an instant. “It’s R-e-m-i.”

“Okay, Remi with an I. I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedd—” A waterfall of ice and liquor pours down Trey’s face. I look up to see a young, tall woman with anger painted all over her face.

“You’ll see her where? I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear what you were saying. Now, what did you say, Trey?!” Her voice elevates to a pitch my brain can’t compute.

“Baby, I can explain!”

“Baby?” She has to be at least six foot five, two hundred pounds of defined muscle. She's almost a foot taller than me, and she has a wingspan made for dunking.

“Yes, baby! Is there a problem, bitch?” She spews as her eyes pop out of her head.

“Bitch?”

“You seemed confused. Let me knock some sense into that empty brain of yours.”

“This is a major misunderstanding.” I stand up from my seat, adjust my dress, and hope and pray she takes her misplaced anger out on her man.

“The only misunderstanding is you throwing your pussy at my man. You’re just the type. Groupie ass bitch! Fucking thots stay plotting,” she yells loud enough to cause a scene.

The last thing I need is my sister flying across the room on the night of her bachelorette party.

“Trey?” I call. He shrugs his shoulders. I look back at her, hoping to calm her down, some way, somehow. “I honestly didn’t know he had a girlfriend.”

Girlfriend? I’m his wife; Dawn Drayton!” She waves her left hand, showing off her ring. I feel a bit dizzy from the drinks, and the air from her hands creates a light breeze on my face.

My eyes cut to Trey in disbelief. “You ain’t shit.” I tip the ice bucket on the table into his lap before dashing off as fast as possible. Hoping to find Riley and the rest of the bridal party, I run back to the dance floor.

“I am not done with you!” Dawn is right behind me. I'm not trying to fight in a Las Vegas nightclub with what looks like to be Wilt Chamberlain’s daughter. I pull out my phone and call the limo driver while heading toward the entrance.

"Touchdown Limos, Amir speaking."

“Come back to the club, please. Emergency pick-up.”

“On my way.” I end the call and pick up the pace toward the door. I already know that I have no dog in this fight. I'm not a punk, but homegirl’s reach is long enough to punch me through the crowd. Plus, my white dress is too cute to stain with blood.

The closer I get to the door, the closer she seems to get to me. Trey’s mute ass isn’t too far behind. A part of me wants to turn around and throw my shoe at his forehead, but I know that will only get the Mrs. more upset.

“Remi, wait!” I hear Trey shout. Trifling Trey is trying to get me killed. Thankfully, my phone vibrates, notifying me that my limo is out front. The bouncer at the door notices me speed walking and gives me a look of concern.

“Is everything okay, sweetheart?”

“Can you hold those Amazonian people behind me while I get in the car?”

“No problem.” The security guard tilts his head, relaying a message through his walkie-talkie. I rush out the exit to see the driver standing with the door open. I damn near dive into the back seat.

I look out the window to see security blocking Dawn and Trey from the exit. There are camera lights flashing and bystanders recording everything with their cell phones. The last thing I need is to be on the gossip blogs for being chased out of the club.

“It’s just you?” The driver asks.

I look back to see Dawn’s fist connect with Trey’s jaw. Ouch! “Yes, please go.” I have to get away from all of the camera flashes. Even though the windows are tinted, I duck down in my seat as far as I can. The limo pulls off with no destination in sight.

Read the rest here

#Secure the Bag #Las Vegas #Chapter 1

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 5 years ago

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Demon Slayer 21

Ooh, butterfly titlecard.

Well…at least we know Muzan…wasn’t always Muzan Jackson.

Can demons go to hell…?

Aw, seeing Rui become human again (at least in his head) was pretty cute.

Shinobu is off her rocker!!! (a continuation of a comment I made in the collab post for last ep.)

“…don’t forget about the other one!” – The other…what, exactly…?

This girl…is Kanao, isn’t it…? She’s the “other one”!

I was almost hoping Shinobu’s shoe blade would stab the crow…it ruined a perfectly good buch of Giyu reaction faces…

Ukogi! You came back to me!

Why can’t the girls wear trousers too…? (someone grumbles “Because that’s not in accordance with the times in the Taisho Era) I don’t care, let girls wear pants! This is not Strike Witches! Update: Shinobu wears pants, actually…*people collectively facepalm*

Kakushi means “hidden/to hide”. It makes a lot of sense, to be honest.

Given 7

I like the ambient sounds in this show.

If Akihiko learnt you thought something was wrong with him, he’d beat you up. Stat.

Haruki and Akihiko: masters of reading the room. (When they’re counted as a pair, that is.)

I just realised Akihiko is daling with Mafuyu because of Yayoi…Yayoi is what Kasai could be and Ugetsu/Akihiko is what Ritsuka/Mafuyu could be.

Dr Stone 8

Note Jasper says “baka musume” – he still acknowledges Kohaku is his daughter even after disowning her.

“We’re neither gods nor geniuses,” says Senku, a genius…hmm.

Suika has such a cute voice that it’s easy to guess her gender…*hint hint*

Was it “kitto” (certainly) or “Kinro” Ginro said in his sleep…?

I think the eyecatch might be iron sand (some form of it, at least).

Fruits Basket 20

(no notes here, sorry!)

Cop Craft 8

What was that black thing that appeared before the plane broke apart…?

Ohhhhhhh…kay. That was not something I signed up for…

Isn’t there some kind of magic Tilarna can use to get back into her body?

I find it ironic that Seven Miles (a place name, I presume) is 3 miles away…

Given 8

I never skip the OP…so I guess it helps that I found Marutsuke and Kizuato on Spotify. (<-Here you go.)

Indirect kiss…!

I’m reminded of what Boueibu said about umbrella colour being a reflection of your personality when I see Mafuyu with a disposable umbrella.

“Hiiragi Kashima wants to be forgiven” sounds like a LN title.

(I had some notes here, but I forgot them…such is the life of watching on phone but writing the notes down later.)

Demon Slayer 22

I LOLled when Tanjiro asked what a Hashira was…(does he know what it is…? Should we know at this point what it is, or did spoilers ruin it for me?)

Wisteria pattern!

LOL, I like Mist Hashira already!

Only Shinobu has a hiragana first name (out of the Hashiras)…hmm.

Shi-Shinazugawa…? Isn’t that the surname of angry-for-the-sake-of-angry mohawk guy from Final Selection…?

Tanjiro uses his head…once again. (That joke never gets old! What do you mean, you don’t like it…?)

Hashiras’ jackets say korosu (to kill) while ordinary slayers get horobosu (to destroy) and Kakushis’ jackets say, well, kakushi (to hide).

“I wonder if the sky is blue.” – Is this person (master of the mansion)…blind…?

The bandage-head Hashira who says “flamboyant” all the time…he reminds me of Senku…(in a bad way.)

I wonder if Giyu will be punished…? A few comments this episode have suggested such an outcome.

“…devours humans…”

Rengoku (flame Hashira)…I think I once saw him being referred to as “Blaziken Head” by someone on the ‘net…LOL.

How does the Master know this…? The Kasugai crows, right?

I just realised the love Hashira has a skirt…

Poor Giyu has his head turned away…he’s too embarrassed to even blush.

Fruits Basket 21

I noticed the fanclub only ever calls Hana “wave girl”…

I love how the narrator, a middle-aged man, has to voice the thoughts of a teenage girl.

Fruits Basket 22

(no notes, sorry!)

Dr Stone 9

H & N, huh…?

Astra 9

So…what is the sphere…?

Luca’s real dad vs. Quitterie’s mom = art vs. science, LOL.

…I almost cried when everyone started crying…

Uh…random question I didn’t think about when it was revealed, but should Luca invest in a bra…?

You can see Gruppies and waves on the wall while Kanata and Luca talk…and shrooms...and coral…

Wait, so these guys are all…aliens? Polina is the only one from Earth…? What about the sphere???

Cop Craft 9

Why did the intro get moved to the middle of the episode…? Also, I’ve noticed there’s a special episode next week…it means there really was a budget and/or scheduling stuff-up along the way somewhere, just like you can suspect with an anime that moves as terribly as this one.

There’s a strange dent in Kei’s leg…specifically, on his kneecap…

Astra 10

Guardian Enzo said no one’s mentioned the Astra crew never said they were from Earth before…now I’m noticing it too.

W-WHAT?! I was right????? (see this post for why I suspected Charce to be the culprit)

Demon Slayer 23

3 episodes until the end, huh…?

Why does Sanemi taunting Nezuko remind me of a sexual encounter…? (with the “You know you want it” etc.)…Uh, bad news, guys. Sanemi is 21 and Nezuko is 14, so no shipping unless you don’t mind 7 year age gaps and an underage girl, all in the one ship.

Mist Hashira? Using rocks to flick at the esteemed guest (Tanjiro)? Hmm, he ain’t quite my type after all…

This Kakushi that keeps punching Tanjiro seems to be a woman…or just a guy with very long eyelashes. Update: Nope, definitely a woman. The Kakushi dynamic almost reminds me of Jessie and James from Pokémon…

Heyyyyyyy! Don’t underestimate a girl!!!!!!!!!!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh nope. Nope. Nope. I was hoping we wouldn’t hear about how Zenitsu’s hands were the size of a KFC spork, but…eeeeeeeeeesh…

I never thought I’d be so happy to have Inosuke silenced by spider daddy…well, here we are.

“…I’ll become an old guy and die.” – Wow…even I don’t think of that stuff…

I wonder if Muzan had anything to do with why the Master’s head looks the way it is?

Dr Stone 10

(no notes, sorry!)

Given 9

I wonder if Akihiko ever liked Yayoi in the first place…

I noticed Ritsuka says “atarashii hito” which is translated to “someone else”…the English suggests more intimacy than the Japanese…hmm.

Mafuyu, my boy…! (I bet you could call all of The Seasons “my boys” now.)

I love how Take acts as Haruki’s straight man.

I was wondering why the ANN review was referring to Given as “Wonderwall” – that’s the name of the next episode.

Fruits Basket 23

“What are you doing?”

Astra 11

Only one ‘til the end…oh wow, where did the time go??? (Also, ep. 12’s title of “Friend-Ship” is terrible…a terrible pun…)

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuude, I saw the Seira = Aries thing right away…it’s exactly the same as what breaks Juuni Taisen for people…

Wait, but couldn’t Charce, as the king’s clone, becom the heir to the throne instead…?

Oh, that…that joke’s absolutely terrible…! *shakes head* Did you know I was holding my hand over my mouth for basically that entire climactic scene? I think summer might have a fighting chance in the end-of-year rankings for once!

Demon Slayer 24

I love how Tanjiro is “that headbutting kid” now.

There are cute little butterflies on the title card.

It’s good to see the return of Murata…and those transition faces.

Considering spiders are pretty gross if you think about it, both sides have a point…

Murata’s a more fun character than I thought a bit guy would be…in fact, that might explain why we learn his name, as opposed to being a nobody (like the female Slayer on the mountain that got killed by Spider Mama).

“I think we’re a lot better now.” – Aside from Zenitsu’s hands, that is…*makes disgusted face and thinks of KFC sporks*

Sleeping Ukogi is totes adorbs…*face beams with happiness*

Uhhhhhhhh…I reallllllllly dunno what to feel about Zenitsu’s love of girls. He’s no playboy, that’s for sure. Unfortunately (?), I do agree with Zenitsu on how Inosuke deals with girls though.

Zenitsu’s an M, I tell you! An MMMMMMM!

Wow, someone put real effort…into Zenitsu playing tag with a girl…sad life.

“A girl was able to do that to something that hard?!” – Nyeh-heh-heh-heh…call me dirty-minded, but…because this is blowing into a gourd we’re talking about, it sounds funny out of context.

Lemme guess…Aoi is this blue grumpy one. That’s why I dropped Divine Gate (since characters matched their colour schemes too well). Update: No, this blue one was talking when she mentioned Aoi, so Aoi is one of the three mini butterfly girls, I think. Update 2: No, the sentence was punctuated funny: “You’ll be up against myself, Aoi and Kanao there.” Turns out Aoi really is blue grumpy girl, because the sentence is missing a comma after “Aoi”.

“Please forgive me.” – Hey, Moya, you were right. Plus, that random Haganezuka appearance was funny – that’s been the first time in a while that I’ve laughed at Demon Slayer properly.

Apparently Shinobu and Tanjiro on the roof is a meme now. Now I see why.

“…with their instincts laid totally bare.” – I feel like slayers and demons aren’t so different, because even thought both fight for survival, slayers fight for revenge (in a sense, bloodlust) and demons for actual bloodlust.

“I feel like I can rest easy now.” – Sounds like an early death flag to me! (I may be an anime-only watcher at this point, but I encountered some spoilers that showed me Shinobu’s fate. Be mindful of that if it seems like I’m accurately predicting the future.)

Shinobu and Tanjiro…hmm, what a combo.

I love how the Zenitsu and Inosuke in the background react to crimes they’re being accused of in the foreground.

Cop Craft 10

Emails, emails…can’t anyone talk in person these days? (As much as I love emails, I gotta critique that.)

Hey wait. I thought their AI wasn’t so good…

Kei’s birthday is the 18th of June 1993…? Wow, I didn’t know he was 26.

New what now??? This really is straight outta Compton, if you know what I mean…

The march about aliens here reminds me of the climate strike the other day.

Given 10

Smol Ritsuka…

This show is hilarious when it needs to be. I’m really gonna miss it.

“Kedama” means hairball. “Tama” is a cat’s name, as implied here.

“Mafuyu” has “winter” in it to make a set of 4 seasons though…

Oh, so that’s why they’re – and this show is - “Given”.

Fruits Basket 24

Did Tohru vomit…or was she just catching her breath…?

“…when you are.”

Was this “monstrous Kyo” scene halfway through the manga or at the end? I don’t remember anymore…

Astra 12 (FINAL)

Hmm…I heard about gaman (“tolerance”, “persistence”…or maybe “working through hardship”…?) being a concept in the past few years and I think it’s very much embodied in the streotypical Japanese man…or just Kanata. Who knows?

So…what language are Kanata and co. really speaking? It seems like English, based on the spaceport screens (I rewatched ep. 1 today, I should know), but they’re speaking in Japanese for the sake of the fact it’s anime, right? Update: I also noticed quit a bit of the spaceport advertising is for Lucy Lum, while there is special attention paid to Aries’s eyes in ep. 1.

This is what they mean when they say “history is written by the victors”. To build from that, my idea is that the hegemonic idea becomes the truth, i.e. majority rules wins the ability to write history itself (e.g. patriarchal values, able-bodied people’s values etc. write history, not the minorities).

Aries may have eidetic memory, but she sucks at names. That’s consistent with ep. 1 too.

Oh, right! Kanata’s right arm is his dominant one!...I never knew such fond memories could be made of a single character’s appendage…who knew.

LOL, Charce brought out his sparkly face again.

Ooh, older!Ulgar is hot! Me likey!!!

Ooh, Funi’s star ornament. Ulgar still has one!

I swore that was Quitterie…turned out it was Funi. Oh well, Astra lied to me again. (I’m fine with that.)

You can even see Luca’s femininity for once…!

Ooh, red tulips = true love, white tulips = forgiveness/worthiness. Normally tulips represent “perfect love”. Perfect for Kanata and Aries, don’tcha think?

I was wondering why Kanata had a new black hand. (Maybe it was a glove or something.) Nope, it’s a prosthetic.

I don’t actually know how to say that joke about being a right-hand man in Japanese, despite hearing it from the show twice (I went back and tried to listen again). Somebody tell me, please!

I noticed one of the people in the cast list had an exclamation mark next to their name…well, that was funny for a second.

The one unrecognisable song was Astra-gou no Bouken (Adventure of the Spaceship Astra).

Well, that was a wild ride. I’m definitely sad that it’s over, but remember what they say in the show itself – look forward, not back. See you next time!

Given 11 (FINAL)

Come to think of it, if you interpret Kizuato one way, it means “Traces of Scars”, but this song’s title is in katakana so you can’t tell…

This is like a marriage proposal…

I’ve noticed something – ever since I started engaging with BL and yaoi in earnest, I’ve realised there’s this fear of “not being masculine” enough by both members of the couple. That’s probably what Ritsuka is going through with the box.

What did Ritsuka even bump into on his way out, though…?

Oh, science curriculum, huh? Me, I’m a student of the humanities, so I wouldn’t know about that feel…I was always average at English anyway after essays started coming in…

Oh, we’re back at Harusame. Didn’t think we would be.

I love how Mafuyu’s handle for the band is “Kedama”…the name of his dog.

Update: Turns out the SNS account for Given (band), as well as Mafuyu and Ritsuka, are real...on Twitter. I’d assume Haruki and Akihiko join them for the movie...?

Dr Stone 11

Ooh, lyrics! Finally!

I almost expected Chrome to go, “What’s soap?” – he’s never seen it before, remember?

Note Kaseki means “fossil” in Japanese and contains the kanji for “stone” in it.

Ginro just yelled the Weekly Shonen Jump motto…coincidence? I think not!

Team Shiny Spear Tips Forever complicates things for the crew.

#simulcast commentary #Dr Stone #Given #Fruits Basket #astra: lost in space #Kanata no Astra #Demon Slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #cop craft #Chesarka watches Furuba #Chesarka watches Given #Chesarka watches KnY #Chesarka watches Kanata no Astra #Chesarka watches Cop Craft #Chesarka watches Dr Stone

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lilysbook · 7 years ago

Text

Ramblings: Reflection

My 3 weeks of freedom is coming to an end in 3 more days.

The first week was filled with apprehension and anxiety as I busied myself with the thoughts of finding a part-time job right away before my internship officially starts. It seems that I had forgotten how tough it was to get a job. I sent several resumes and even had an interview however time was a cruel factor. After a few half-hearted attempt in securing a job, I realise that I would not get this opportunity again in the near future. The opportunity to just do nothing. To rest and relax after 3 years of monotonous and toxic environment, I can afford to rest for a mere 3 weeks, can’t I? So rest and relax I did.

In the second week, there were news of EXO’s grand comeback, and EXO’s official SNS were created. Rumors about teaser (and eventually official news of the teasers) started to arise. SM dropped individual teasers at 12am KST each night for their title track.

It was the beginning of my fangirl experience in comebacks. I was on twitter 24/7 and I think that I am an annoyance to my non-EXO twitter stans who had to see all my fangirling EXO tweets, so I am a little sorry about that. As this was my first comeback experience (EXO was my first ever kpop group I am obsessed with), I had no idea what to expect. So, I stayed up every night to wait for the new teaser alongside my twitter timeline that became frenzied every night an hour before it was released. The experience was in a word... fun. I had a sense of comradeship with my fellow EXO-Ls (although I don’t have any common mutuals -- I usually tweet and talk to myself loll). But I had a great time reading, liking and retweeting. The best part was 5 minutes before the teaser. Everyone in the timeline was filled with anticipation and excitement so it’s so easy to fall into the delirium as well.

Kai was the first member in the teaser. Even though I had been excited just a minute before, when the teaser opened with the catchy tune, my heart dropped. Kai had dreads. Disappointment mixed with adoration. Kai looked so cute as always but he had dreads. My stand on it is that it is cultural appropriation and that it is not right for those not in the African culture to have it. Some don’t share my view but I think it is still wrong. He had dreads during the Wolf era as well and he did not like it so why now? Many (including me) defended him saying that the stylist/SM were the ones who forced it upon him. However, now we know that Kai was the one who requested for the hairstyle which disappointed me even more. He needs to be educated about this and some EXO-Ls had planned to do so. Hope that the message will reach him and he will be more knowledgeable about it and hopefully he would stopped wearing that hairstyle.

Baekhyun was next. The first thing that I did was to laugh at his hairstyle. But as time goes by, I think he pulls off the mullet really well. I fell in love right away with the song in his teaser, Forever. Kyungsoo’s line “Don’t break my soul...” was a clincher.

There were many theories of whose teaser it will be the following night. Some said it was in alphabetical order, some said it followed the old songs order, some said it was the appearance in the teaser of the previous member. The last theory proved to be right (well, only for the first few nights). Chanyeol was the one to appear in the teaser. I loved his cotton candy hair. I love any hair that is bright. Chanyeol look so handsome in the teaser. The song Chill was awesome too.

Sehun came next and he looks good as always. He had grown on me over time. I always look forward to him when he is in variety shows. He has that natural entertainment sense. Anyway, he was amazingly badass in the teaser. His chest was covered with tattoos and his gaze was intense. I was like, woahhhh the maknae has grown up!

The next night was Suho. I love Suho and his awkwardness. But there were no traces of awkwardness in his teaser. He looks dashing even in the various weirdly-styled outfit and his centre-parted mob of hair; both fits him perfectly. Suho is very princely and he has that royal aura surrounding him. As expected, that is our leader with high ranked visuals.

We were left with my top 3 biases: Kyungsoo, Xiumin, Chen & Lay. I know now that Lay is not in the comeback, but back then, I still had that tiny hope that he would appear the last night or something. Anyways, I was still so grateful and happy that SM saved my favourite boys for the last.

The next night was Xiumin. Wow. I was so speechless by his ethereal beauty. Is Minseok even real? As I have posted often here on Tumblr (LOL), Xiumin is my bias wrecker. I just can’t keep my eyes of him in the teaser. He has that gentle and feminine look that I adore so much, yet he is manly (do I make sense?). He is just so so beautiful. His eyes is his best feature. With his black comma hairstyle, (let’s face it he can dye his hair in any colour and he still look gorgeous) he was the most good-looking out of all the members by far. Of course, EXO has no visual hole (everyone is so very extremely handsome) and this is just my personal opinion anyways. Xiumin is just so underrated sometimes and I just want to shake everyone and tell them to look at that beauty and talent and intelligent human being and stop sleeping on him. His vocal is one of the top in EXO but he was still overlooked. I’m so glad that SM gave him more chance to shine with Young and Free and also The War album. So proud of you my darling, beautiful Minseok.

Chen came next. Different from the other nights, I watched the teaser late because I was not home. The first thing when I got data was to check who was next HAHA. This level of dedication (or obsession) surprise even me. Anyway, it was the vocalist who slays high notes in EXO, Chen. I like Chen’s personality. He even bleached his hair for the first time just for this album. That is dedication. I always like idols with blonde hair as I find them good-looking and Jongdae was no exception. he looks so good in the teaser.

And then who do we have left? Yes, it is my ult bias in EXO, D.O, Do Kyungsoo. Out of all the members, I like his voice the most (yes I may be slightly biased). I like everything about him. I like that he is shy outside, but his stage presence is amazing. I like that he is passionate about both his singing and acting. I like that he is a man of few words, but when he talks, everyone cracks up. I like that even though he is physically small, he is a manly man. I like his smile, I like his hair. I like his loyalty because even though he has acting commitments, he drops everything for EXO. I like him so so much. In the teaser, he smiled so gently, it feels like he is my boyfriend. In this album, I like that he has a lot of parts because i like his singing voice. You know how you like someone and you like everything about them but you cannot also point out specifically what you like about them because you are afraid you will miss out on something? Yeah, that’s how I feel about Kyungsoo. I just... like him as a person. I admire him so much.

Even though I have biases in EXO, I love each and every member too. They are talented and popular, yet they remain humble and polite and down-to-earth. They were met with so many challenges but even so, they are still one. Their gratitude towards the fans are what made us EXO-Ls stay and what makes them still relevant imo. I hope Lay will join them in the repackage album!!!

I love stanning EXO.

Anyway, the group teaser of Kokobop was released night after Kyungsoo’s and then the MV the day after. I love the song. I love the whole The War album. I love how EXO feels so excited about this album because they were involved in the making thus making them attached to it. The MV itself needed some time to get used to because there were slight drug references in it. The first time I watched, I had already picked up on the not-so-subtle cues that they were high on drugs lol (don’t do drugs kids). But I may have overreacted and think too much as well. I don’t know. Baekhyun explained they were aliens sent to Earth (in reference to previous MVs). The filmography was amazing though.

They then had Vlive and everyone was so funny and cute omg especially Kyungsoo’s freestyle dance to Touch It. HAHAHA that ahjussi. The most exciting schedule that they have and that I am looking forward to would be their appearance in Knowing brothers. I am a Knowing Brothers maniac so having two of my faves set of people meet is the best thing a fangirl can get.

Their first live performance of Kokobop was just tonight and it was amazing. The dance, the vocal, the visual were top notch. I like the starting and the dance break part the best.

And they performed The Eve too. Wow. It has a sensuous feeling to it. HAHA. I am barely explaining it but the whole album is that way so yeah. (I want to see this live lol. I attended Exor’dium concert where they performed Artificial Love and woah what an incredible experience).

Anyway, my point of this entry (before I could stop myself from writing an essay about EXO) was that EXO unintentionally became my project during these 3 weeks break. I experienced how it was like becoming a full-time fangirl and it was an amazing and fun experience. I foresee myself not having the luxury of committing this much time and effort in the future due to internship and work commitment hence these 3 weeks had been an enriching and novel experience in its’ own way. I believe that everything happened for a reason. EXO’s comeback just happened to be at the time where I have no commitment and for that, I am utterly grateful.

I will be cherishing my last 3 days and giving full support towards my boys whose rival is their 2016 self (as wisely said by Minseok). I will be like them and constantly try to improve myself as well.

This had been really fun. I will miss this feeling.

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