#you know it’s bad if I’m defending EUROPE

[anonymous-dentist]

My big Hm is how the server is going to treat the Germans considering they’ve been completely sidelining Europe since the French joined

[wearebarca]

2. Captured // // Alexia Putellas x Original character

Part 1 Part 2

synopsis: Rosalie has never stayed too long at the same place. When the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself critical moment in her life, the photographer decides to once again leave behind what she knows and joins the staff of Europe's best football team.

word count: 5,7K

18 + (eventually)

A/N: Currently procrastinating instead of finishing my thesis on "The methods of repression used during the first Christian Inquisition" Spanish is from google translate so please be nice. French is my first language so all should be good on that part. Enjoy.

As soon as the words left her lips, Rosalie knew that she would be in for a world of teasing from the two women who still stood behind her. She had hoped that even with the few years she had spent playing in France, Lucy had not picked up enough French to understand what she had said, but the burst of giggles that was heard quickly killed all her hopes. The confused look plastered on the Catalonian made the French-Canadian turn an even darker shade of red. 

“ Perdon? I am sorry I do not understand,”

“Oh no I’m sorry, I got my languages mixed up. I’m Rosalie” She extended her hand for the captain to shake. 

“Rosalia? It is nice to meat you, I am Alexia, Welcome to Barcelona ,” Her hand was much bigger than her own, calloused from all her training. The blond never broke eye contact from the smaller brunette who did not dare to look away. 

A cough finally broke the girls from their interaction. Lucy and Keira were still there, but another woman had joined them. “ We hope you enjoy it here,” Alexia let her hand go and made her way back to Mapi, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a cheeky smile hovering on her lips, which earned her a loud smack behind the head. 

“ Hola chica, I’m Sara, one of the coaches, welcome to the team,” she hugged the Canadian like she had known the woman for years, “we just wanted to tell you that if you would like, we could go over your training together! We’d love to help if you need.” The woman’s enthusiasm made it hard for the photographer to refuse which led them to set up a time the following week for a run together. It was indeed a good proposition since her marathon was quickly approaching and a professional opinion on her training routine wouldn’t be a bad thing. 

Soon enough, all the introductions were made and Rosalie was left once again alone with Lucy, who was still giggling about her friend’s encounter with her captain. Seeing as the girl was showing signs of being a little overstimulated, she decided to drag her to the locker room. Once inside, she shoved Keira’s spare boots in her hands and pushed the younger girl back to the pitch. Back at England’s national camp, especially during the last one they spent together, whenever Rosalie felt like the world was spinning too fast around her, Lucy would pull her aside and pass the ball with her. This would always  relax the brunette and help her talk about whatever was on her mind.  

« Are we even allowed to do this” she asked as she kicked the ball right at Lucy’s feet.

“We have twenty minutes before the end of training and I am not going back in there.” She said wincing “ And don’t worry, the staff does this all the time” she kicked it back to Rosalie, the ball flying to her chest, absorbing the shock before falling to her feet.

“Your captain seems intense”

“ oh oui madame elle est très intense.” The younger woman's  eyes rolled so far she would have caught a glimpse of her frontal lobe

“ Got you a little nervous didn’t she”

“ Don’t even start Bronze” While she was distracted, Rosalie stole the ball from Lucy’s feet and sent it to the top right corner of the goal. A few cheers could be heard from the gym where a few players had gathered. 

“Some defender you are” the younger woman said as she started to walk toward the building. She turned around just in time to see Lucy lunge towards her and grab her by the waist to hoist her on her shoulder like a potato sack. 

Lunch arrived soon after and everyone made their exit towards the cafeteria. Rosalie sat at the table with the rest of the media team whom she hadn’t had the chance to meet yet. Everyone was very welcoming, especially Marcello who was one of the marketing guys and Isabella who is the head of social media and the face of barça’s media. Marcello is a very laid back guy with an easy laugh while Isabella was a whirlwind of colours, energy and excitement. The both of them together completed each other and quickly included the Canadian in their conversation, speaking in English and slowed down Spanish for her to understand. 

Even with the cacophony of voices and constant back and forth between tables, at the other side of the room, Alexia seemingly could not take her eyes away from the brunette who’s bright green eyes had not left her mind. A sharp pinch on her arm pulled her from her day dream. “ If you stare harder she might combust, you know.”

Mapi had watched her friend stare for a good ten minutes before feeling bad for the brunette across the room. « You can talk to her you know, you’d like her she seems like a simple girl. »

« Mhm »

« She’s gonna fit well here, have you seen her instagram? She is very talented and obviously very beautiful and… » The blond captain tuned out her friend who she knew was going on one of her rants and didn’t need the blond's participation in this one-sided conversation.  

The truth was that the catalonian did not know how to feel toward the new photographer. She had never been a big fan of the media team. She knew that they were simply doing their jobs but she had always hated this part of professional football. The eyes constantly watching her, her private life exposed for profit, she simply wasn’t comfortable whenever a camera was near. 

She didn’t hate the previous head photographer, but she never bothered to be more than courteous towards her. For some reason, this time, there was something different, she was curious about the canadian. 

The afternoon went fast for Rosalie. An official meeting with the media team, more documents to sign and more hands to shake. The brunette was itching to take her camera and go down to the pitch to start on some training pictures, which she did as soon as she was free to leave management’s office.

 It was now around two in the afternoon and the sun was shining bright on the training pitch. The whole team was out and playing a practice game and the photographer took this as an opportunity to take a few shots. She had heard Spanish football and how different but these girls were definitely on a different level and seeing them in action for the firing time was truly impressive, the woman thought as she watched the ball fly towards the goal, the shot so precise and powerful that Sandra Paños had no chance to block it. 

It did not take long before she was running around the pitch with her camera in hand. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she could feel her baby hairs stick to her forehead. The heat was getting to the photographer who had rolled the sleeves of her t-shirt and was currently cursing her choice of pants. Heat wasn’t her cup of tea. Even after a month here she still wasn’t used to the temperature. She was Canadian after all, the cold was more her element. Even under the unforgiving sun, her eyes were glued to the viewfinder, her mind set on the scenery around her and  the heat wasn’t even an afterthought.  

Rosalie  managed to get a couple decent shots of the girls in action that she ended up showing to Mapi and Patri who kept shouting something about who was the hottest one in Spanish. 

Everytime her eye left the camera, The brunette could feel a piercing gaze stuck on her, the eyes belonging to none other than Barcelona’s captain. Even though she had caught her staring, Alexia’s hazel eyes wouldn’t stray. The French-Canadian would send a shy smile her way which would break her trance, and then the blond would simply go back to the game without acknowledging her even the slightest.. By the third time, Rosalie simply stopped acknowledging her and just focused on her work. If the blond didn’t bother to be polite, then she didn't have to be either.

After an hour outside, she finally decided that she had enough material and headed back to her office. She made a stop at Martina’s office to discuss which pictures would go in today’s post and ended up agreeing to go get coffee tomorrow morning before work. The rest of the afternoon was spent on editing the pictures she had taken and working on some more from the night before. She had had an idea during her little meeting with the media team. A project that would serve as a thank you for the never ending support of the Barça fans and she was really excited. This project would take up a lot of her schedule, but after only a month in Barcelona, she had seen how spirited and dedicated the fans were and she thought it was important for them to know that their club was infinitely thankful for them. 

A knock on the door pulled her from her work and her eyes quickly shifted to the door.

 “ It’s half past five, why are you still here?”

Keira was standing in her doorway, changed and bag in hand, ready to go home after a particularly demanding training day. She half thought that the younger brunette would be gone by now but she wasn’t surprised when she saw her still at her desk, ready glasses low on the bridge of her nose, completely focused on her computer screen. 

“ I just want to finish these for tomorrow, it has to be perfect.” Her eyes strayed back to her computer but she could still hear the other woman walk around her desk and lean over her shoulder. A picture of Alexia standing on the sides lines, arms crossed and face scrunched up in a concentrated expression was currently in the process of being reframed and adjusted. 

“These are good.”

“Thank you,” she scrolled on the lot to show her more, “ Everyone looks so happy, besides..”

“It’s normal, you won’t catch her smiling, especially these days” she said it so casually, Rosalie  felt bad for the woman.

“Pressure?”

“Most likely” she said “ Come on, we’re coming over to your place tonight, you gotta prepare.”

“Says who?”

“ Your big sister, we know you’re far from unpacked. We’re coming to help.” She said, grabbing Rosalie’s bag on her way out. 

“We’re bringing take out” That was all it took to convince the Canadian to put away her laptop and follow the woman out of the training grounds. 

She had not realized just how badly she needed a night like this. The last time she had spent the night goofing around with her best friend was almost a year ago during international break and she had missed her friends dearly ever since. As the brunette had predicted, the couple arrived shortly after her, still in their training kits, claiming that this was as much their apartment as Rosalie’s which meant that they had the right to shower here if they pleased. While Lucy was gone, Keira had set up the kitchen island as a table while Rosalie was busy rummaging through her boxes to find two additional plates and cutlery. 

“ How long have you been here? A month? And you still have this many boxes lying around?”

“What can I say, all I really need is out and the rest could wait… indefinitely.” She ducked fast enough for the placemat to miss her head by an inch.

“ By the end of the night I’m telling you, you’ll be all set and you’ll owe us a round at the pub.”

By the end of the night, they had managed to take care of most of the boxes and made a list of what items were missing for this palace to become a real home. The couple ended up staying late, and would surely regret this at training the next day. It was truly like no time had passed since they had last seen each other. The evening was full of laughs and stories shared but the girls on their respective journeys since they had last been together. Rosalie would not admit it, but she truly needed a night like this. She felt so happy to finally be surrounded by her family, and the prospect of being able to see them a lot more often made this place feel like it could finally be somewhere she considers home. 

The rest of the week was more or less the same. Rosalie started her days by going to get coffee with  Mapi and Ingrid, who quickly became good friends,  or Martina. She loved the woman’s constant smiling and contagious energy and quickly found out that the head of social media was the woman to go see if you wanted to know the latest gossip amongst the Barcelona team and staff members. 

Friday was her last day of the week at the training center and was scheduled to be a very busy day. The morning would be filled with meetings and a presentation for the special fan project she had come up with. Then she had several shoots planned with the girls that would take place in her office. This alone would take the whole afternoon and Rosalie knew that when she would leave for the weekend, she would be exhausted. She knew that she would need all the energy she could get which is why she was currently on her way to the coffee shop with both Ingrid and Mapi by her side. 

Upon entering the shop, the girls beside the photographer both stopped in their tracks and turned towards the counter. A tall blond woman was currently leaning with her back against the counter and her hands in her pockets. The shop was almost empty so the three girls entering made enough noise to pull Alexia out of her thoughts. She recognized easily the voice of the tattooed woman and the Norwegian but, the third voice sent chills down her back and the woman froze, keeping her eyes on the floor, half hoping that the trio would make their way to the register without noticing her. But of course, as if the universe was against her, her name was called by the barista.

“Alexia, chica, cómo estás?” Mapi made her way towards her captain, leaving the photographer and Ingrid at the counter. 

“ Bien, ¿Por qué estás aquí tan temprano?” Usually on fridays, training started a little later, so the blond did not understand why the couple was here so early instead of relaxing at home like they usually did. 

“ Ambos tenemos fisioterapia esta mañana, pensamos que tomaríamos un café con Rosalie antes de nuestras citas.”

“ Ah si, fisoterapia,” Eversince the photographer’s arrival in the small shop, the blond was hyper aware of everything happening around her. The sound, the wiring of the espresso machines, the sound of spoons hitting the rim of the cup, the shuffling of sneakers on the hardwood floors. When a delicate smell of coconut and argan oil came to her, she did not need to turn around to know that the reason for her nervousness was standing next to her.

The photographer was just as nervous as the footballer. All week she had seen the captain’s behavior change every time she would walk in a room or on the pitch. The captain would either avoid the brunette and stare from afar or simply leave the room she was in. At first, she thought it was simply because the woman was shy and needed time to warm up to new people, but that theory quickly fell once she had seen the taller woman interact with journalists and strangers. Now standing so close to the woman,the French-Canadian did not know if she should ignore her or try to engage with the mysterious woman.

Surprisingly, it was Alexia who made the first move. “ I heard you will have a big day today with the annual team shoot.” 

“ Oh oui, it’s going to be a busy one I'm afraid, but I’m excited to work more closely with you all, I never get to see you guys outside of training settings so this should be fun!” She said, clearly excited to get to do a little studio work. The clear happiness on the smaller girl's face made the blond smile slightly. 

“ I do not know if you will still be happy once you have a bunch of children running around in your office.”  

“ Hey! We are not so bad.” Mapi said, hitting her friend on the shoulder.

“I love you darling but yes you are.” Ingrid had her arms crossed and was smiling fondly at her girlfriend who was pouting slightly. 

Silence fell on the group as they watched a mother and her little girl entering the shop. Sensing that the atmosphere was starting to be a little awkward considering no one was going to talk, Ingrid decided to steer the conversation towards something she knew would appeal to everyone. “ Are you guys excited about the match next friday”

The team was playing Sevilla next Friday and this would be Rosalie’s first away game. She had a feeling they would ask her to join the team to see how it usually goes. As the head photographer, she would usually not have to make the trip every single time but shetought it was important that for the few next away games, she would come along and experience the whole ordeal herself. 

“ Sevilla is always entertaining to play. Besides, we will get the whole day after the match to go around the city.” The blond responded. “ You will come with us, I heard.” She added turning slightly towards the brunette.

“ They haven’t told me anything yet but I can only assume that if they told you I was coming then it means I’ll be there.” At that, the blond catalonian let a small smile graze her lips. The sight made the photographer melt a little on the spot. 

« Good, it will be a good game » an awkward silence fell on the  little group.They were all waiting on Alexia to add something but the woman stayed silent, staring down at the smaller girl. From closer, the Canadian realized that in order to look Alexia in the eyes, she had to tilt her head up quite a bit. Combined to her intense gaze, the height difference made the blond Catalonian look even more intimidating which added to the Canadian’s inability to speak at the moment.  Thankfully for both, Alexia’s name was called once again by the barista which allowed the smaller brunette to relax while the captain went to finally pick up her order. She quickly walked back to the small group and handed Rosalie a cup that smells exactly like her favourite coffee. 

«  te veré en el entrenamiento chicas » she said, quickly exiting the shop without sparing another glance towards the confused photographer. 

« What did I do? »

« What do you mean? »

“She must hate me to act so weird when I’m around » She said as she took the coffee that she had ordered herself the counter, Ingrid trailing behind her, carrying her own order and Map’s since the woman had ran out after Alexia. 

« She’s very closed off. It’s always been hard when newcomers arrive in the team. '' She said, while staring down at her feet. “ She did get you a cup of coffee so I don't think that she hates you.” She added. In her mind, it was clear that the Norwegian was keeping something from her just by the way she would not meet the photographer's eyes while talking.

“ Speaking of coffee, how did she know my favorite?” 

“ Martina” 

“ Mais quelle fouineuse celle-là”

“ What?” 

“Oh nothing,” 

When they arrived at the center, the Spanish women were near the entrance, deep in conversation. The rapid spanish rambling was completely lost on the French-Canadian who was starting to think about asking about those intensive lessons management had offered her. She made a mental note to ask later today and decided that she had had enough awkwardness for today and wanted to save the small amount of energy she had left from her first week to focus on the day ahead. She would thank the captain for the coffee when it would be her shoot in the afternoon. 

Just like she had predicted, Rosalie’s day started at a hundred miles an hour with multiple meetings. One of them being an update on the fan project she was currently working on. She also met up with management about the game on wednesday and got the travel details. She would travel with the team and be seated with the girls on the plane and bus so she would be able to capture as much content as she could during the trip. She would be the only member of the photography team to go since the rest was working on a side project that involved the second team and youth club, so for the sleeping arrangements, she would most likely room with a random coach or therapist but nothing was sure yet. Being the only photographer on the trip meant that Rosalie would have twice as much work as usual which put her on edge a little but nonetheless, she was excited at the prospect of her first trip with her new team. 

 The meetings ended up taking up the whole morning and finished only when lunch started. The photographer still had to set up her office for the shootings and had to skip lunch in order to have everything ready for the first group. The day before, when she received the backgrounds management wanted her to use, she had almost laughed in front of them at how cheesy it looked. They were a dark navy blue with red and white stars all around. Someone who did not know Barça’s colour team would have probably thought this was an american themed photoshoot. The brunette had decided to lean into the cheesiness of the backgrounds and picked up some props that would go well with the vision she had in mind. 

The first ones to arrive were Lucy, Keira, Mapi and Ingrid, which eased the Canadian's nerves a little. With the help of the people she knew best in this team, she was able to pinpoint what worked best and test out some poses she had thought of. Alexia had been right. As serious and focused these girls could be on a football pitch, whenever they were out of training settings, they turned into a bunch of children, which made the photographer laugh a lot, and their happiness and childish energy showed in the pictures. 

Most of the girls were easy to work with, not being shy in front of the camera and understanding quickly the directions the brunette was giving them. But some, mostly the younger ones, weren't very familiar with all media related things and had a hard time relaxing. Rosalie prided herself in being able to charm these girls into forgetting they were in front of the camera by distracting them with music and making the shooting as casual as she could. Seeing the girls in smaller groups allowed her to get to know them a little better and when the last group came around, she was confident that these girls had accepted her in the Barcelona family. 

The last group consisted of Irene, Fridolina, Marta, Panos and Alexia. Knowing the girls, this would be the calmer group and she wasn’t mad about it. She was definitely feeling the exhaustion of the day toppling over her and adding to the week’s worth of stress and overall tiredness. The brunette was ever grateful for her extra cup of coffee, which sat, cold and half empty on the corner of her desk. Unfortunately, the photographer would not get the chance to thank the captain just yet because the blond was not in the group that had just entered her studio. 

“ Hola chica,” Sandra exclaimed, hugging the smaller brunette. “ Alexia will be running late, she is with the physiotherapist for her knee. I’ll be just the four of us for now.” The French-Canadian would be lying if she said she wasn’t all the more stressed at the prospect of having to have a solo photoshoot with the woman that rendered her a nervous mess, but she put the thought aside and got to work.

The girls ended up being the one that worked the quickest, being used to this sort of duties, but they were certainly not the ones who looked the most at ease in front of the camera. Irene in particular looked comically angry in certain shots where she was meant to look like she was celebrating a goal. Overall their shoot ended quickly, without Alexia ever showing up. 

“ If you want, I can go see what is taking so long and fetch her for you,” Irene said, lingering in the door of the studio. 

“ Oh no, don’t worry. I don’t want to press her, she can come to me when she’s done, I’ll still be here editing the photos till pretty late.”Answered the brunette who was already settling down at her desk. 

“Alright as you wish. Thank you by the way, you’re really good at what you do, it was fun, for once.” The tall woman said before leaving. The statement put a smile on the brunette’s face before she put on some headphones and dived in the multitudes of shots taken during the afternoon. Whenever she works on editing, Rosalie usually completely loses track of time, being pulled into her own little bubble and forgetting the world around her. She was so focused that she did not even realize it was well past her usual work hours and supper was rolling around the corner. Hunger started to make itself known but the photographer was dead set on at least finishing first three groups before leaving for the weekend. Her shooting with Alexia had completely slipped her mind, which made the brunette even more confused when a polite cough pulled her from her work. 

The Catalonian had been standing in the threshold of the photographer’s office for longer than would admit, but the way her reading glasses were placed low on her nose giving her a little secretary vibe, or the way the small brunette would scrunch up her nose whenever she wasn’t certain about a specific angle or even the smile smile that would stretch across her features whenever she would take in her work were simply too enticing for the blond. The only reason Alexia finally made her presence known was the bag containing the paella from her favorite place. Lucy had texted her that the brunette most likely would have forgotten to eat and the football player decided to get something for the photographer to thank her for her patience.

“Hola Rosalia,” 

“ Alexia, hi!” The brunette said, taking her glasses off and getting up to greet the blond. “ How was the physio?”

“ Good, they said everything was stable,” Alexia had just recently been back on the squad after her knee had relapsed, so she had frequent visits to the physio’s office and was very careful during training and games. 

“I’m glad to hear that,”  As the photographer got closer to the blond, an amazing smell reached her nose and reminded her that her last meal had been breakfast. “ Did you bring food?”

The pure excitement emanating from the smaller woman was enough to break the nervousness that was clawing at the captain who smiled and finally stepped in the room to go put down the bags of food on the small coffee table in front of the couch. She pulled out a plastic container filled to the brim with fresh paella and motionned the woman to come sit next to her. “ I did not know what you liked so I brought you my favourite.” 

The smell alone was enough to make Rosalie drool. She sat down and quickly picked up the plastic fork. The blond was looking at her, seemingly waiting for her to take a bite and tell her what she thought. The face and sound that came out of the photographer at the taste made the blond blush furiously which prompted her to turn around to try to hide her reddening cheeks. On the other hand, the other girl seemed completely unaware of what she had just done and simply kept eating the delicious food. 

“ Are you not eating anything?” The brunette asked after a moment.

“No, no I will eat at home.” The truth is that Alexia had simply forgotten to order anything for herself, too worried about making the photographer wait any further. The brunette got up and reached in one of her drawers and pulled out a fork that she then offered to the blond.

“Here, we can share,”

“ No I got this for you, as a thank you for waiting so long.”

“You already got me coffee this morning, thank you by the way, I would not have survived my day without it.” She said smiling, “ Besides, I won’t be able to finish this on my own and it is too good to waste.”

The blond hesitated a moment and then reached for the second fork. They both ate in silence, too absorbed by the food to say anything. Once the plate was empty and the trash disposed of the girls drifted towards the studio part of the room and Alexia, who previously seemed relaxed enough, seemed to tense at the sight of the set up in front of her. 

Rosalie, after a week of observing the team interaction had quickly realized that Alexia, even if she was a seasoned player that was no stranger to the camera, was still incredibly uncomfortable when she was the target of the lens. Seeing the way the captain went rigid when she reached for her camera, the photographer decided that her traditional distracting methods would not be the best way to go about in this particular case.

“ Would you mind grabbing the speaker for me please?”

“ Si,” While the blond was gone, Rosalie rapidly prepped her camera and left it on the side in order to adjust the lighting so it wouldn’t be as harsh for the eyes and wouldn’t blind the football player. 

“ Here, you can go on Spotify and put on anything you like,” She said, handing the captain her phone. 

“What do you usually listen to?” 

“ Anything really, but I wanna know what you like, surprise me.” This made the blond relax a little as she searched for the songs she had in mind. As the photographer was finishing setting up the equipment, she created a small playlist with her favourite songs at the moment and hit shuffle. The first few notes from “Provenza” started playing and the photographer started to sway a little while trying to select the right lens. “ This is nice, very… Spanish.”

“ Wow, how perceptive of you,” The brunette laughed at the comment and turned towards the blond who was standing awkwardly next to the lights. 

“ Can you tell me why you are so tense?”

“ I don’t like pictures.” The answer was short, delivered hastily, making the photographer almost regret asking in the first place, but she had a plan, and she was determined to get some answers out of the captain. 

“ And what don’t you like about them?”

“It is not the pictures I guess, but the camera,” she said with a certain disgust, “ It’s always looking, it’s like you are never really alone, someone is always watching.” 

“ It must be hard, not being able to go out without people pulling out their phones or cameras to catch a glimpse of you. I am sorry there are people who have so little respect for privacy.” The blond offered the photographer a small apologetic smile and took place in front of the background. 

“ How do you want me,... I, I mean where,... Wait, what should I do,” Rosalie brushed off Alexia’s stammering, thinking it was just the nerves and stepped away from her little station.

“ We’re just talking now, you can relax,” 

“ Si, thank you,” 

“How’s the light, are you blinded at all, can you still see me?” 

“ Si, it’s all ok,” the blond shuffled on her spot, “ Have you visited the city a bit since you moved?” 

The brunette was slightly surprised by the blond’s curiosity but gladly answered, taking this as a sign that Alexia was slowly getting more comfortable with her. 

“ Unfortunately not a lot, no, besides the streets around my apartment and the more touristy places, I haven’t seen much, I haven't even seen the beach yet.” A gasp almost made the woman drop her camera on the floor.

“ This is a crime. How could you not? You have to see the sunset, go take pictures, you'll see it’s beautiful.” The expression on the players face was too cute not to capture and the brunette took advantage of the moment to snap a picture of the awe displayed on the taller woman’s face.

“You’re gonna have to show me the good spots though.”

“Si si, Ingrid knows all of them, I can ask her to bring you..”

“ I didn’t ask Ingrid.” The captain instantly blushed at the comment and smiled big. A clic was heard and Alexia’s featured switch to indignation.

“You are distracting me!”

“ Guilty, I'm afraid, now cross your arms and spread out your stance a little bit for me please.” They stayed silent for a moment, the photographer trying different angles and Alexia holding the position she was currently in, harbouring a serious expression, as if ready to take on a whole team alone. Once the brunette lowered her camera Alexia decided to ask the question that had been on her mind since she had set foot in the studio

“ Why photography?”

[iateyourparents]

fOoL fOr YoU | c.b.

pairing: colby brock x singer!fem!reader

summary: fate has its own ways to connect people who are destined to each other, even after breaking them apart at some point in life.

warnings: kinda short, use of y/n, bad writing and grammar(i’m sorry but english is not my first language)

an: songs used here are fOoL fOr YoU by ZAYN, My stupid heart by Walk off the Earth. Album used in here - Lover by Taylor Swift.

pictures are from pinterest:)

“Come on guys, let me hear you! I know you like this one!” you said to microphone before continuing the song “Cause I’m a fool for you and the things, the things you do…”

You heard crowd clearly and loudly singing with you your debutant song and you couldn’t feel more proud.

Even though since realese of this song you made two whole albums it still was most of your fans’ favorite song, and to be honest, it was yours too.

It was song about your teenage love, how you felt about that one boy that you aren’t even in touch anymore. You wrote fOoL fOr YoU while you still were a lovesick teenager but before you were able to present it to your former muse from these times, you were broken up.

Then, years later you met that amazing man, Charles, who took you under his wings becoming your manager and helped you with realesing your debutant single - fOoL fOr YoU.

And that’s how you became pretty famous and now, here you were playing all around the world for your “we’ll never be the same again” world tour, promoting your newest album.

“Alright, that was so good! Thank you!” you took a break to take a sip of water and then you were back in front of the chanting crowd “Okay, so I wrote this one about my ex who was absolutely awful experience but also taught me a lot.”

You could hear loud screams from a crowd which already knew what song you were about to sing so you just laughed and started singing, crowd following also started shouting lyrics.

“My stupid heart don’t know, I’ve tried to let you go so many times before…”

After few more songs you bided your goodbye to the crowd promising you will be back someday and you got off the stage and met Charles on backstage.

„How was it?” you asked with smile, sipping water.

„That was great!” you could say he was proud „And you were worried you wouldn’t be able to play on arenas.”

„That’s a big step!” you defended yourself with smile „I can’t wait to take a shower, I stink.” you grimaced.

„I won’t disagree.” he laughed and hugged you „Go relax a little before we have to go to tourbus.”

„You too Charlie, I know that you are secretly almost ripping off your hair.”

Now you were supposed to head to Los Angeles where you would play two concerts and then you would have a month long break before starting last part of the tour - Europe.

|||

You were currently sitting at the vanity in your changing room. Your make up artist, Sarah, was doing your make up for your last performance before a break when Charles came into the room.

„Hi” he started.

„Hi Charlie, what’s up?” you could tell he had some offer for you.

„What do you say, you, me and your band go to some club after you come off the stage to celebrate successful tour?”

You looked at him in the mirror and smirked at him.

„Sounds great to me.”

|||

You and your crew sat in some club. You weren’t drunk but it felt good to feel more easy with alcohol in your system after stressful couple of weeks.

„My forever favorite moment is when this one fan threw his boxers on scene and they landed perfectly in front of y/n. Her face was priceless.” Mark, the drummer, laughed. You loved talking about memories from the tour but that memory actually was traumatizing since it was the first time ever when something like this happened.

„I felt attacked.” you joked and took a last sip of your sweet drink „I’ll go order next one. Somebody wants something?”

You heard chorus of no’s and assurances that they have almost full glasses so you just walked towards the counter and waited for a bartender to end taking someone else’s order.

„Your concert was awesome.” you heard next to you. When you turned to the side you saw someone you thought you would never see again in person.

Infamous ghost hunter, your ex and an old muse of yours.

Cole Brock.

Or rather, Colby.

„Thank you” you smiled „Fancy seeing you here.”

„I live in LA.” he explained „I liked this one song, what was it? Fool for you?”

You smirked and shook your head „Yeah, I like it too.”

„So, was I good muse?” he winked and you laughed. Of course he would know it was about him. You’re pretty sure that when you were together you were sometimes telling him parts of this song.

„Excellent, thank you.”

„I’m always happy to help, so if you will need some new music, here’s my number.” he handed you a piece of paper with some numbers.

„I’ll make sure to call if i’ll need anything.” you winked at him and he laughed.

„I hope so.” he looked behind his back where a blonde boy, Sam, called him „I have to go but i’ll be waiting for your call.”

|||

If some days later you actually called Colby, nobody have to know. And if that meeting ended with him tangled in your sheets, also nobody have to know. And if this was more than one time occurrence then also nobody have to know.

And if your next album called ’Lover’ was about him and everyone knew it was about him, then it’s okay.

And if you both tattooed ’fOoL fOr YoU’ on your hips on the day of your wedding, then it’s great even if everybody knows.

You two really were like lovesick fools.

[daegu-based-terrorist]

hi! i was about to say i'm from russia but then remembered my username lol. anyway i saw someone reblogged one of your posts of photos from dprk and you have the best username ever! i love dprk and never believed the propaganda bc i know it's all the same shit that was said about ussr (minus the racism bc westerners think everyone in russia is white). plus seeing dprk is like very warm and nostalgic to me bc it makes me think of ussr (i was born at the very end of its existence alas, like less than a month before the end). anyway sorry long introduction! i am wondering, esp since you've lived in both dprk and rok, what is the attitude of rok people about the country being divided? do they believe in the same type of western propaganda? do many/most have family there? i have wanted to ask some friends (from south korea) about it but i don't want it to be taken wrong. also i hope to visit korea next year! do you think it is good for tourists to visit?

sorry this was so long, hope it is not weird.

No not to long or too weird don’t worry. Sorry I took so long answering this I was working and I have no paid breaks (kill all small businesses owners istg)

Thank you!!! I actually love your user name I came across it in reblogs I think a couple of days ago and was like “damn I wish my username was that cool.” I’ve actually been fighting with myself as to whether or not my user name is too clunky and should be gotten rid off so nice to have an outside opinion.

Also weird but I had the same situation but opposite. When I was like 7 and 8 and in my first years of South Korean schooling we would do trips to museums and those museum trips ALWAYS had a communism = bad section and they talked about the dprk and the Soviet Union back to back and since they were lying about what happens in the dprk I assumed they were also lying about what happened in the Soviet Union (unfortunately also past tense, I’m a 2004 child) and whenever we did class debates about the history of Europe and got to Eastern Europe I was always the annoying person on the other side of the classroom defending the USSR with my LIFE.

Anyway on to the meat of your message: the majority of people want the dprk and the rok to be united under the rok, a minority (lets go communists!) want the rok and dprk to be united under a reformed dprk or a entirely new communist Korea. There are some stragglers also believe in an entirely new Korea but capitalist… God knows why. And then there is like roughly 20-30% of the population who are heavily against reunification and either want a deescalation of this weird Cold War thing we have going on or just don’t particularly care for politics but are super pessimist about the situation.

Yes unfortunately most believe in the same western propaganda and I’d argue it’s worse here. North Korean voices are actively silenced if they don’t agree with the established narrative (funfact the reason people are so familiar with “defectors” is because they are the ones that are the most pushed by South Korean and western media, the majority of us left not for political but totally mundane reasons like poverty. My family left because the North Korean health system sucks ass and I’m genetically predisposed to the illness that killed my father <3) the Korean Wikipedia is so biased you wouldn’t even believe it, like if you thought English Wikipedia was biased talking about North Korea just wait until you see Korean Wikipedia. People will generally believe all sorts of bullshit and talking positively about North Korea at all is either punished legally or socially pretty severely. Today I had the reruns of the mixed table tennis on the TV at the store I worked at and was harassed into turning it off because people didn’t want to watch North Korean athletes… exist? Idk

There is a lot of discrimination against North Korean refugees and our children in the south. I think it was polled that like 50% of us have experienced some sort of discrimination but I think it’s higher. A lot of other North Koreans I speak to are, like me, planning on moving to China or going to the west. A lot of us plan to go to China because with Chinese citizenship you can regularly and easily visit North Korea. I think it’s getting worse as the years go on, North Koreans are becoming even more “other” to South Koreans and they don’t even really see us as one ethnic people anymore. I have pretty brown skin, even for your average North Korean and alot of my childhood bullying involved people asking me if I hadn’t taken a bath since I crawled across the mud border (alot of South Koreans have this weird view of the border as trench warfare for some reason) and other things that tied my features to my skin colour. Like big lips weren’t popular in Korea when I was growing up but in the north people do usually have bigger lips and people would ask stupid questions like if the puffiness of my lips came from eating rat poison 💀 but that’s all mostly (physically) harmless childhood bullying, but employment and housing discrimination towards North Koreans is a big problem here. It’s very hard to leave the house that is assigned to you by the South Korean government because nobody wants to house North Koreans and nobody wants to employ us either. My mum has a very strong Hamgyŏng accent and people would be excited to interview and probably hire her until they heard her accent and realised where she was from.

Older people definitely still have family across the border, personally all of my family are in North Korea or China but alot of people fled in either direction north or south during the end months of the Korean War or due to occupation by either military force. So folks that were young during the Korean War tend to have cousins across the border but there has been two, three generations since the end of the war and a apathy has developed among people my age. I knew a girl who’s grandma had left her brothers behind in the city I was from, Hamhung, but she personally believed that North Korea should be bombed to oblivion and taken by force.

And on a much lighter note: yes! South Korea (I’m assuming you mean South) is amazing to visit. People are friendly and the food is good and there is times of attractions for tourists. No matter where you go you’ll have a good time. Of course I personally recommend Daegu, it’s a really good city if you want to escape the tourist overcrowding of Souel and see how us everyday Koreans live without getting lost in the rural Chungcheongbuk-do or something. https://tour.daegu.go.kr/eng/index.do

Also if you get the chance, VISIT THE NATIONAL PARKS!! You will have the absolute best time and it’s such a nice escape from how overcrowded and overstimulating urban South Korea is. Seoraksan National Park is always full of tourists but still worth it. Biseulsan Provincial Park is my personal haunt because I live somewhat nearby and it has amazing views. There is also Palgongsan mountain and the Palgongsan Olleh-gil trail which is a really great place to go hiking.

Anyway you should definitely visit South Korea

[bohnsky]

You guys. I might just be the happiest person alive right now. When I started getting into F1 a few months I decided for whatever reason (the reason being Charles Leclerc) to support Ferrari. I quickly learned that being a Ferrari fan came with lots of downs and very few highs, but today I learned that the highs can be so high that you want to die on the spot because there is no way life could get any better.

You can guess how I feel about Carlos winning today. In Monza I got a Chestappen podium, now I got a Carlando podium. What’s next? Strollonso? Sewis? (thinking about it, Seb’s going to be in Suzuka, maybe we’ll actually get Sewis content, not a podium tho)

Also I didn’t expect to see Eric Nam at F1. Never in my life would I have expected to watch Eric Nam shake Carlos Sainz’ hand. Like wtf?

And that last grill the grid episode killed me. As someone who is interested in geography I can say that some of their answeres were catastrophic. It was hard to watch at some points. (Like wtf do you mean you have to find Europe first?)

So here are my favorite drivers four months and a week into liking f1. This time I decided to do a top five because my top three haven’t changed in ages:

1. Alex Albon

I love him, his voice, his face, his goofy laugh, his personality, (his girlfriend ahem), his driving, his everything. Please marry me. The marketing short film with the Albon pets, I mean come on. Alex and cats is everything I need in my life. And the other drivers with his shoes, that’s so cute.

The weekend was not optimal for Williams, but tbh I didn’t really pay much attention to them because I was a little distracted by Ferrari and Red Bull.

2. Sergio Perez

Okay hear me out. I love Checo and I feel bad for what I’m about to say but I was so happy that Red Bull had a bad weekend. I like Max and I love Checo but it felt so good to see someone else win for a change. Although I would’ve loved to see Checo in front, because I always do.

3. Charles Leclerc

My little Ferrari heart was so happy this weekend. And I think that Charles should have pitted for mediums in the end there and maybe we would’ve gotten both Ferraris on the podium. Charles did some incredible defending and keeping the Mercs behind him to help Carlos. Afterwards he seemed a little bummed out, but happy enough for the team and Carlos.

Also he’s just the cutest on grill the grid, always looks so confused. And his laugh, I can’t with him.

4. Lewis Hamilton

This is probably no surprise to anyone, because I keep debating if I should put him or Charles on third and Charles always wins. Lewis is great and he deserves the podium. Although I do think that George should have gotten it.

Also I just found out that he has an Extreme X team. With Christina Gutierrez. How cool is that please? (Not as cool as Carlos Sr. with Laia Sanz my love my one and only, but still)

5. Carlos Sainz

So this is where it gets intresting, because I had Lando and Lance on my list for fifth as well, but lately I have become somewhat obsessed with Carlos. I’ve always liked him, but now I love him. He has become one of my favorite drivers (otherwise he wouldn’t be fifth lol). He is funny, smart, seems like a very nice guy and doesn’t take himself too seriously and I love that. I guess you can imagine how I went feral several times this weekend. The fact that he kept Lando close enough so he’d be in his DRS zone. I mean sure it was strategy, but still. I like to believe that he did it solely to help his Lando.

Honerable mentions:

Lando. Of course, what a great race and I can’t with all of this Carlando content. They deserve the world. But damn just let Lando stay home when you do geography with grill the grid. It hurts us all, not only him.

Lance. I really don’t know what it is about him. He took my heart. Every time I see him, I just want to squeeze him. I was super happy about all the Lance content we got from grill the grid, but then quail happened. I just hope he is okay and recovers quickly. That crash was insane, but luckily security got better over time.

Fernando. First it was all fun and games with Strollonso and all, but I’ve somehow started to actually get attached. He makes me happy, or in this case sad, because the race sucked for him. Not a good weekend for AM. Also Fernando with Alex' shoes. Loved it.

Max. I feel bad for him. I am happy that the Red Bull reign is over (for now) but he deserves a good car, because he’s just such a good driver. Also he really impressed me in grill the grid.

George. I shouldn’t be mad at him for being good, but I am. But at the same time I’m happy for him. He’s a great driver and damn what a race today, he really should have stood on that podium. But he ruined a Ferrari front row by being good so I am allowed to be mad.

Esteban. First of all, happy birthday my man. The race sucked again, but at least this time there was some coverage of him and we didn’t have to assume that he got abducted by aliens. And again, I love his accent way too much.

Liam. I had the time of my life watching his quail. I might have celebrated a little too much when he kicked Max out, but oh well. And he got his first points, which is great for him. I hope he gets a permanent seat soon.

Daniel. I had to include him just so I can mention Taylor Swift. My man singing Our Song was the best thing ever.

[evansbby]

I was there too with my older brothers and cousins, it warmed my heart seeing so many people in support of Palestine. I also saw a lot of Jews there and I think people forget that there’s a difference between a zionist and a Jew. As a Palestinian muslim woman myself I spoke to a few of them and they explained that they do not support the actions of Israel and that it’s against their religion. When I was younger I was always mad at the ‘jews’ for taking over my country and that I got called a terrorist and they didn’t when they clearly killed many innocent lives. I also tried to talk to Israeli people but when I told them everything Israel did to Palestine and how it was wrong they would call me antisemitic and get mad. I was like 16/17 when I finally realized that I should leave the faith of Palestine in Allahs hands and not get kind of mad when people tell me they’re jewish, because I always thought that automatically meant that they were zionists😭 I always felt this survivors guilt, I was born in Palestine but my parents moved us to London when I was 2, but I still have some family there and it’s awful for them. Like why do I get to live in a safe environment when they can’t? I’m 20 years old now and my cousin had it way harder growing up than I did, thankfully she also made it out, but I just feel bad when she talks about her childhood knowing that I didn’t have to worry if there would be Israeli soldiers outside on my streets. I’ve seen pictures of our neighborhood before it got destroyed and it was so beautiful, my grandma would tell me stories about how she and my grandpa would walk to the markets and now it’s all gone. Alhamdulillah they’re safe now.

I’m honestly so happy to see many people support Palestine, thank you to all who protested and constantly donate to help the people in Gaza🇵🇸🩷

Also so real for that Rishi Sunak comment because who told him to open his mouth😭😭😭 Every time I see him I get so mad omg💀

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me 🥺🙏🏼🇵🇸

Sooo many people from different religions are conditioned to hate other religions. I know so many people who were raised to hate Muslims, who were raised to hate Jewish people etc etc. It’s just up to us, as we grow up, to combat these views and stereotypes, speak to more people, understand situations and see that there is good and bad in every religion.

I can’t even begin to imagine how you feel, with Palestine being your homeland and yet you moved away so you are safe from the war and yet your people are suffering so much 🥺🥺🥺 It’s heartbreaking and I can’t even imagine, the fact you have family there as well, going through such atrocities.

I just watched a video on tiktok of a man from Palestine who said that a dog in Europe lives a better life than a Palestinian human being in Palestine. Because at his camp, they are waiting for water. A dog on Europe has access to water and the Palestinians do not because Israel cut access bc of course “they have the right to defend themselves!1!1” How a nuclear state cutting water and electricity access from innocent people is helping Israel defend itself, I won’t understand lmfao.

Honestly, this is at the end of the day not a war based on religion at all. No one cares what religion the Zionist alt right government of Israel are… we only care about the 28282992 war crimes they are committing as we speak.

But it’s still great to see Jewish people supporting the Palestinian cause—and the fact there is so many of them! ALSO a lot of Israeli people supporting Palestine shows that there is hope.

I hate Rishi Sunak. This man went to Israel and said “I hope you win” and “the uk stands with Israel” meanwhile there are protests pro Palestine protests here every other day.

[jahayla-parker]

Crushing Plans : Peter Parker x Reader

Part Three

Description: 5.8k Crushing Plans part 3, y/n has a crush on her bestfriend Peter but he’s interested in their friend MJ. Meanwhile Peter and Y/n have to decide if they want the responsibility that comes with their powers (while also trying to keep these powers a secret). To make matters worse, y/n’s powers are impacted by her emotions; including jealousy. How will their class trip to Europe go with all of this going on?

Warnings for series as a whole): Mention of injuries, villains, far from home spoilers?, evil, witches, magic, powers/abilities, jealousy, hurt-comfort, I think that’s it!

Series Masterlist (5 parts plus the story continues in Bewitched Love (No Way Home wip w/ the same characters as a story continuation)

“No mom, I know, I promise, I’m packing right now” y/n sighed, throwing her dress into her suitcase.

“We’re just worried dear” her mother defended softly.

“I know, and I love you guys, but I’m okay” y/n assured her, phone pressed between her left ear and shoulder as she packed her carry-on items into her backpack.

“Your flight is tomorrow, yes?” Her father asked.

She hummed, “tomorrow evening. Soonest we could get on such short notice”

“Understandable given everything happening over there,” her father remarked.

“That’s all being taken care of” y/n stated.

“Not by you. Y/n. Correct?” Her mother's voice chided as y/n threw her passport into her backpack.

“No mom, not by me. I wouldn’t be much help anyways” she groaned, the last part a faint whisper as her eyes fell upon her spell book.

Not hearing the last comment her mother’s tone softened, “good. Now, that text you sent your father, you said you’d explain the sudden interest. I know you’ve been busy, but you’ve got time now, Hmm?”.

Y/n groaned again, holding her phone to her ear as she flopped onto the bed, using her free hand to pull her book to her lap.

She really didn’t want to think about any of that.

Especially not now.

She was already stressed out to the max as she worried over Peter and this mysterio guy.

She didn’t need to get back to worrying about Agatha.

Y/n knew she’d need to address it at some point but she was naively hoping Agatha would stay in Europe when y/n returned to the US.

“Oh, just uhh… you know, things are so old over here” y/n lied, “so I came across some myths and legends and wanted to know the real stories is all”.

Her mother huffed, “don’t believe those lies, as you said, they’re myths. You do not descend from any of the dark families. You needn’t worry about your heritage or what you’re capable of”.

Y/n thanked her mother and made up an excuse to end the call.

She loved her family, she really did.

And they trained her as best as they could on her abilities.

But she always seemed to be needing more than they could teach.

Her parents felt bad, having known since her conception that she was going to out power then with ease, but not having been prepared for it to be so soon.

After all, the prophecy suggested their daughter would be one of, if not the, most powerful of their kind.

They’d just hoped by the time that came that their daughter would be an adult and have embraced her identity and maybe have met another powerful witch who could help her train skills far beyond that of her ancestor’s capabilities.

Yet, her parents’ frustrations and visible concern during her training sessions with them made y/n conclude that she was failing at meeting her responsibilities.

She couldn’t stand adding the weight of those thoughts onto her already clouded mind, so she stated she was needing to sleep and ended the call.

However, even without her mother's voice in her head, she felt miserably weak and useless.

After all, she couldn’t even help Peter or her friends without having to cowardly hide from their sight.

Sure, Peter wore a mask so he could hide.

But, y/n hadn’t even thought of doing that for herself.

She never wanted to become some hero, join the Avengers, or any of that.

Y/n wanted to simply live her life and maybe confess her feelings to her crush.

That is, before she found out about her crush liking someone else.

Although, lately she wasn’t even sure if she truly knew how he felt.

She was supposed to sense these things easily.

Sure, she, like most people, could read facial cues and interpret them.

But, emotions emit different frequencies and interact with cosmic forces in unique ways.

Yet, she wasn’t able to do more than register the facial cues everyone else could.

She knew some people would plead for her powers, take Agatha after all.

Agatha…

Y/n knew Agatha was a dark witch… a true evil witch… one who would turn against their own kind for their own selfish reasons and pursuits.

One who would destroy the world and everyone in it if they simply had enough power.

That was the true reason she didn’t let Agatha convince her to hand over her abilities.

She honestly wasn’t even sure if she could do such a thing and survive it; given part of her life force was made up of cosmic plasma.

Nevertheless, if she were truthful about it, if a good witch, someone she could trust, or simply someone who could remove her power but not use it (nor give it to someone who could), had been the one to offer the bargain to y/n that Agatha had… she probably would have taken it.

At a minimum, she would have deeply considered the deal.

Even knowing that Agatha’s intent could be nothing less than wretched, she still slightly regretted passing on the offer so quickly.

I mean what was the point of having powers when she didn’t want to be a hero, and even when it wasn’t left to choice, she couldn’t stand up to the challenge?

Instead, she was lying in her hotel room, in the middle of Europe, on a school field trip she didn’t really get to experience, worrying about her unrequitedly doomed crush on Peter and feeling sorry for herself.

Y/n had enough of the vast and dark void her mind was spiraling into.

She slid on a pair of converse and grabbed a hoodie before exiting her hotel room.

“Y/n, it’s time to rest, big day tomorrow, we don’t need to have more angry parents. Stay in bed, oh, and have you seen Parker?” Mr. Harrington asked.

“Oh, I know I’m just… grabbing some water and a few snacks from the lobby… you know, didn’t get to eat much with everything going on “ y/n fibbed, a fake smile on her face.

“As far as Peter goes, Ned told me he was already fast asleep Sir. But he’s a light sleeper, so I’d keep your voice down or he might wake up and get bored again” she lied.

“Yes, he does seem to wander when he’s bored. Glad to hear he’s asleep” Mr. Harrington said, scratching something on a crumpled paper he had wedged under the metal clip on his clipboard.

“Mr. Thompson, did I not tell you no more international calls, you should be-“ he added, walking off towards the other end of the hall.

Y/n smirked and pulled her hoodie up as she dipped out of the hallway and slipped through the lobby out onto the streets.

She realized she had to trust Peter to have the whole Mysterio thing handled, after all, he was with Fury by now and Fury was more than capable of handling any situation.

Yet she still desperately needed fresh air.

As nice as this hotel upgrade was, the room felt stuffy.

Especially tonight for some reason.

She took in a deep breath as she turned her chin up to the sky, enjoying the cold tinge in the air entering her throat and hitting her lungs.

She told herself she’d allow no more than fifteen minutes outside alone before heading back in.

Witch or not, powers or not, self-defense training or not, at the end of the day y/n was a teenage girl in a foreign country.

She didn’t need to add to that by being alone outside for too long in the middle of the night.

Y/n had no luck clearing her mind as she strolled the pathway from the hotel to the small water feature down the road.

If anything, they somehow got worse.

It felt like at this point, she couldn’t even control her own thoughts.

Usually, she could redirect her attention to something else, think of the silver lining, go through the statistical probability of her concern happening, etc. to calm down.

It only occasionally wouldn’t work.

However, tonight it wasn’t even that it wouldn’t fix the racing thoughts.

Instead, she couldn’t even actually do it.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t hear anything but the dark, depressing, negative, and hopeless voice in her mind.

It kept nagging at her, pointing out all her failures, giving reason after reason as to why she shouldn’t have her powers.

Ironically, it often came back to her inability to keep her emotions at bay.

She couldn’t disagree with the thought, she did struggle to keep her powers from activating when she became very emotionally troubled.

But the irony was that she was doing this to herself in this moment.

She was digging herself into a grave of despair and self hatred while simultaneously scolding herself for feeling that way.

It was insanity.

She truly felt out of control with herself and her mind.

It felt like someone was playing puppeteer with her thoughts and emotions.

Y/n felt dizzy as she tried to slowly head back to the hotel, hoping to try and sleep it off.

As she tripped over a loose stone in the path, she felt someone brace her.

“Thank-“ y/n drawled, lifting her heavy head up to see the person.

She lost her balance completely, scuffing her pants as she fell backwards to the rough ground with a powerful force that had been driven by her shock.

“W-wh-“ y/n mumbled, her mind racing more.

At least this time there was more variety to her thoughts, instead of the same lines over and over.

That’s when it clicked, it was Agatha.

She wasn’t actually torturing herself in a sickeningly ironic manner.

Agatha had been toying with her mind.

Manipulating one’s mind was something her mother prohibited y/n from ever trying and refused to subject her to it during her trainings despite her father's comments about her needing to be prepared.

For once, y/n wished her mother let her father increase the intensity of the trainings.

Maybe then she’d have noticed what was happening earlier.

Maybe she could have known how to stop or even prevent it.

But, she wasn’t that lucky.

Y/n tried to scramble to her feet as she realized the dizziness and headache she had were the physical manifestations that were the consequence of Agatha’s digging around and poking at her brain.

It didn’t help that today was already mentally and physically exhausting.

Agatha smirked wickedly as her target struggled to find her balance.

“Why?” Y/n choked out as she tightened the muscles in her shaky legs.

“It’s your fault hun. I offered to do this the easy way” Agatha tsked.

Y/n glanced around and noticed there were far too many evidently clueless people nearby for her to use her cosmic energy.

She could usually rely on her knowledge of spells to come to her defense when too tired or physically unable to use her plasma.

However, Agatha had confessed that she could read y/n’s mind days ago without y/n noticing and clearly had the ability to drive her into an abyss of toxic thoughts mere moments ago.

So, y/n worried Agatha would see through any spell y/n cast before she could even utter the first syllable.

“You’re a fast learner” Agatha teased, and with a flick of her wrist, y/n and her were suddenly in the sky.

Y/n gasped, eying the distance from the ground they now were.

“Oh hun, you have no clue do you?” Agatha sighed in irritation.

“Excuse me?” Y/n asked, her voice strained a bit from the change in elevation.

Shaking her head with a rage-filled glare sent y/n’s way, Agatha scoffed, “someone like you should’ve had me pinned to the wall or burned to ash within seconds”.

Y/n stared back at Agatha, her own anger showing through her confused eyes.

“But you’re ashamed” Agatha snapped, “you’re ashamed of yourself, of who we are!”

Y/n shook her head, she wasn’t ashamed.

No, rather, she was scared.

Scared of what her life would become if she embraced it.

Scared of how others would react.

Scared if she could ever live a normal life again.

“You know it’s not worth it to resist speaking to me aloud when I can hear your thoughts” Agatha rolled her eyes.

Y/n glared harshly at the woman across from her.

“Your fear limits you” Agatha groaned, “which is a real shame because I’d find it rather amusing to watch a young girl such as yourself run this place. It could all be yours. At the snap of your fingers. And yet you hide from it”.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about” y/n argued, trying to clear her mind from any thoughts by mentally noting every item she could see.

Agatha smirked, “not a bad trick. But I don’t care for the insult hun. The prophecies have never been wrong, nor have I”.

“Prophecies?” Y/n asked cluelessly, the word echoing in her head.

Agatha bent her head at an angle as she looked over y/n, suddenly laughing mockingly.

“Oh sweet child, I see I’ve gone about this all wrong” Agatha remarked.

“You think?! We’re floating miles above a popular street corner that’s flooded with people who will be hurt should we fall!” Y/n shouted.

She watched as Agatha’s features softened and her gaze became almost... comforting.

The thought alone disturbed y/n.

Not wanting to aggravate her foe, y/n quickly refocused on her concern for the people below them.

“I can fix that, hold on hun” Agatha smiled, wiggling her left pointer finger.

Y/n wanted to flinch at how caring Agatha managed to make herself seem.

Was she in y/n’s head again?!

Suddenly y/n lost all trains of thought as wind whipped against her already cold face.

She tried to keep her eyes open enough to see where they were going.

Not that it mattered, she couldn’t see anything as Agatha had a haze of dark gray and black cloud-like material surrounding them.

Y/n wasn’t fond of the idea of Agatha taking her somewhere unknown.

Plus, she now had no idea if anyone was around.

So she allowed herself to convince her own mind to use her cosmic powers to defend herself.

Y/n squinted against the mist as she tried to think about something else, anything else, so as to not alert Agatha to her upcoming actions.

Agatha already knew who Peter was, so it was safe to think of him.

She focused on keeping her mind on Peter and his tasks for the night, knowing they’d be of no interest to Agatha while also being of no distraction to herself since thinking of Peter was almost second nature.

She subconsciously told herself to picture Peter fighting with movements that she herself planned to do; allowing her to plan her actions without Agatha being aware.

She wasn’t sure how she was able to tell herself that without Agatha knowing, but it felt different..., as if the thought was being directed at a separate section of her mind.

Not having time to contemplate that, y/n pictured Peter curling his fingers towards his palm to start his web shooters.

Y/n in sync with the image of Peter's movements, guided herself to copy the motions, with slight positional changes to use her own powers.

As she imagined Peter slinging his webs, y/n took a breath and used all her might to direct a powerful surge of energy toward Agatha.

She wanted to cheer for herself when Agatha was stunned and stopped their flight.

Agatha spun around in midair, shock displayed through every aspect of her body.

As Agatha’s mouth parted slightly from the unexpected attack, y/n felt herself smirk.

She hadn’t truly used her powers in a fight before, at least not a fight she was an active part in.

Much less in the defense of herself and no one else.

Now if only she could stop carrying about people seeing her.

“What prophecy?” Y/n demanded, voice far more confident knowing she caught Agatha off guard.

Agatha smirked, “eager now, huh? Good, use that. It’s a shame your parents hid your true background from you”.

“Excuse me?!” Y/n asked, her conscious mind focused on picturing Peter preparing to use his web shooters as she held an orb of cosmic plasma in her palm and glared at her enemy.

“My sweet child, your parents taught you wrong. They lied to you” Agatha began.

Y/n growled as she brought her hand back in warning.

Agatha gave her a devilishly sweet smile, one y/n would normally have fallen for had it not been that she was questioning everything after the whole Mysterio betraying Peter and misleading everyone thing.

“You surely learned about the origins of our ancestors, and of your direct family’s line of descendants?” Agatha asked, hands up as if feigning innocence.

When y/n merely nodded, eyes still scrutinizing Agatha, the woman continued, “yet, you don’t know illa propehetia de illa caeruleum venefica.”

Y/n tried to recall any mention of such a prophecy or any details of her family line she might have skimmed over as minor details in the past.

When she frustratingly came up empty handed, she found herself even more on edge.

“My family doesn’t waste time learning and repeating legends and false stories” y/n defended despite the doubt she felt in her stomach and chest.

Some weird, almost warm, sensation had hit y/n’s muscles and soothed her previously lingering headache the instant Agatha uttered the words illa propehetia de illa caeruleum venefica.

Y/n wanted to conclude it was a spell Agatha used against her, but she knew better.

While she didn’t know every spell there was, nor had she even completed this volume of her spell book collection, she knew it wasn’t one.

She was fairly fluent in Latin, something her parents instilled in her to help her learn spells easier.

Most witches didn’t bother learning Latin as it was now considered a dead language.

But, y/n found it helpful as the English translation for the terms in the spells usually hinted (if not directly stated) the intended goal or purpose of the spell.

As such it was easier to recall and recite spells or form the right words to generate a spell.

From her understanding, spell generation was only possible for minor spells/actions like object levitation; or the way she’d removed the door from behind her when corned by Agatha last time.

It was not supposed to be possible for witches to generate their own spells to do things bigger, such as controlling other living creatures or using multiple channels of energy at the same time.

Because of this knowledge, she knew the words were merely the title of the prophecy; although she didn’t bother taking the time to dissect and translate the title.

“It’s not a legend y/n, it’s a prophecy. Prophecies never lie” Agatha pointed out.

“What about it?” Y/n asked, refusing to concede outright that she hadn’t heard of it.

“Sweet child” Agatha sighed, pretending she actually cared about y/n, “you must comprehend that there’s surely a reason they didn’t want you to learn of the prophecy”.

Y/n rolled her eyes as she tried to ignore the anger she felt towards her parents in the moment.

She should have known the prophecy. Minor or not.

Why hadn’t she been taught it?

She had every other prophecy drilled into her, even those that already panned out eras ago.

So why not this one?

And what did it have to do with y/n?

What did it have to do with Agatha?

How did it relate to Agatha wanting the Darkhold?

So many related fears and questions floated through her head but y/n pushed them away to focus on the current moment.

However, Agatha had taken advantage of the momentary lapse in y/n’s control over her own thoughts and noticed the intrigue and anger the girl felt.

Smiling with pretend delicacy, Agatha sighed loudly, “I’ve been telling you that you don’t deserve your powers. I said that under the assumption that you’d learned of the prophecy and chose to not utilize the honor bestowed upon you by it”.

Y/n couldn’t control her thoughts as the realization that Agatha was implying y/n was the result of this unknown (to her at least) prophecy.

Agatha once again picked up on this and remained calm, hoping to convince y/n to comply with her wishes through 'kindness' instead of force.

“I don’t believe you” y/n lied, masking her thoughts as she began thinking about the way her body felt upon simply hearing the name of the prophecy.

“You will sweet child, you will. That anger I can feel in you, the anger over having been lied to, let that fuel you” Agatha suggested.

“You are embarrassed about being a witch because you see yourself as just that, merely a witch” she shook her head, “once you learn the truth, you’ll see the strength you truly hold over others”.

“I don’t care about strength or power” Yn barked.

Agatha sighed, “while I would think you’d at least want revenge or retribution against your own parents lying to and belittling you, I believe that statement to be true”.

“So it doesn’t matter what the prophecy says then” y/n remarks, despite knowing she would be diving headfirst into researching the subject as soon as possible.

“If you chose not to utilize it or live up to the potential, you’re correct” Agatha stated, slowly shifting towards breaking down y/n’s self-confidence as discretely as possible.

“Having seen your memories of all your countless failed trainings and failed efforts to grow in your powers, I can understand your frustration. But surely given dedication and time-“ Agatha offered.

“Stop” y/n cut her off, “I’m not interested in your backhanded comments or advice”.

Agatha hummed and nodded slowly, “fair enough child. But just know that one way or another, it’s you or I. If you don’t capitalize on your powers, it’s my responsibility to make sure they don’t go to waste”.

Y/n scoffed and rolled her eyes, letting the still-surging orb in her palm slowly dissolve into thin air.

“You mustn’t believe me, child, in fact, pray you don’t, it’ll be much easier that way” Agatha winked.

Y/n realized there must be some part of the woman that feared y/n already, even though she allegedly didn’t know her own prophecy or potential.

Otherwise, if Agatha wasn’t already fearful, there’d be nothing stopping her from attempting to take her powers at this exact moment.

As if reading her thoughts, which y/n realized likely was the case, Agatha glared harshly and the air around them seemed to thin.

Y/n gasped for air, her brain panicking futilely as she tried to think of a way out.

She shot weak blue rays of plasma across the short distance between them.

They all but bounced off Agatha’s cloak making her laugh.

As she felt the air pressure steady, she noticed Agatha was now switching tactics.

Instead of literally suffocating y/n more, she seemingly was going to capitalize on y/n’s weakened state and disorientation by leeching power from y/n.

As y/n gazed at the soot black fingertips on the woman before her, she laughed in delirium.

Her mental processes severely lacking and body feeling limp if not completely disconnected from herself, left her loopy.

This made her giggle at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Here was this strange woman trying to take the very thing that y/n despised having.

Yet, y/n was refusing to give it up.

It wasn’t even so much that she was afraid that doing so might literally kill her in the process, or them both, but rather she didn’t want her power being used for evil.

The only reason she despised her abilities was because she was ashamed of the stories about witches using their powers immorally and causing massive harm to others.

She couldn’t blame people for fearing witches after those stories were echoed generation after generation.

But she also refused to believe those stories.

Sure, some were true, but even those were dramatized over the years.

Even though there weren’t many of her kind left, she knew far too many good witches to see her kind the way others often did.

Therefore, she refused to let another witch, especially one already corrupted by their obvious past attempt at containing the Darkhold, destroy that image.

Y/n knew Agatha would do just that if given the chance.

She still doubted that she was of enough skill to make that possible, but she wouldn’t risk it.

Even if she didn’t want the responsibility of using her powers routinely as a hero, she had learned how to.

Her lessons weren’t just in self-defense like many of her kind were as of late.

Instead, to the surprise of both her parents and herself, y/n had long ago asked to learn how to help others.

You see, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to help people or protect them.

It was that she hated the weight of that responsibility falling on her shoulders, hated the idea that people would be looking up to her as a hero when she didn’t even believe in herself.

But none of that mattered in this moment.

Because right now what mattered is that she escape and recover.

She wasn’t naive enough to think she, nor any level of witch, would win this fight without first healing.

She could ignore her self-doubt for the sake of a battle, but she could not do that while also struggling to breathe or move properly.

She needed to escape and fast.

When her breathing was stable, although certainly not deep or refueling, y/n could literally see her power leaving her body.

All around her rigid body were auras of various shades of blue, everything from a rich royal blue to faint powder blue.

She screamed into the otherwise empty sky as she willed her mind to focus back on her body.

As her brain regained its connection with her form, she felt the almost too intense torment of the cosmic energy being withdrawn.

Y/n wasn’t sure if the pain was Agatha’s intent or merely the response to losing a part of herself.

Either way, she wasn’t going to survive much longer if her mind lingered on the pain.

So, instead, she let her mind repeat the only words she could think of.

Murus ignis.

Murus ignis.

Murus ignis.

…

She wasn’t sure how many times her mind chanted the words her lips couldn’t.

She didn’t bother wasting any remaining physical strength or mental stamina on counting the phrase.

It wasn’t even a true spell.

It was a literal translation of the only thing she could see in her mind, a wall of fire.

The image of an actual wall of fire was very faint as it was, her subconscious having to desperately fight with the other regions of her mind to recall it.

It was the only thing she could think of to stop Agatha in the moment and sever the tortuous connection to y/n’s being.

Her subconscious seemingly had recalled her lessons on the ever-so-famous witch hunts and witch trials.

While most of those stories were not related to true witches but rather were the result of zealous religious genocide, there were plenty of actual witches that were caught in the process.

This and centuries of other attempts at the persecution of witches produced weeks' worth of study materials and documents on what did and didn’t work.

The notion of burning a witch at the stake wasn’t far fetched.

It did require a bit more than that simplification, but the premise remained true.

After an unknown number of repetitions of what she viewed as a weak attempt at making up a spell, her pain suddenly disappeared entirely; now leaving her with aches in the aftermath.

But aches y/n could handle.

As the pain went away, her eyelids flickered open, y/n just having realized she’d closed them; the colored auras having continued their mocking display in her mind even after she had apparently closed her eyes.

When her eyes adjusted to the bright sky, she felt another small wave of pride and confidence.

For, Agatha was holding her scalded hands as she floated on the other side of wall of cosmic energy.

Y/N’s eyes narrowed and noticed the way the rays of energy curled, danced, and raged against each other.

Was it truly a wall of fire?

She did that; y/n actually did that.

Even without verbalizing the made-up spell, she managed to conjure the power to make her abilities comply with her desires.

As she looked at the fire, sensing she was missing something, she beamed to herself.

It was truly a wall of fire.

But it was blue.

The wall of fire was burning azure; caeruleum.

It wasn’t even just any blue, it was the color of the energy inside her; her color.

She noted the way her lungs seemed to finally suck in enough air to truly fill them as her chest rose with her sense of achievement.

It was as if this was what she’d been trying to achieve during all those failed attempts to please her parents in her trainings.

While they were literally floating for who knows how long by now, y/n suddenly felt as if she were on top of the world.

The ripples of the fire rolled as she basked in her unexpected pride for a few seconds.

Bringing her ego back down, but no longer underestimating herself, she hummed blissfully.

Y/n curiously lifted her right hand, her pointer and middle fingers bent slightly.

She watched as the wall grew at the command of her hand.

Smirking ever so faintly, she lowered it back to it’s starting position and instead thought of raising the wall.

Once again, it raised, a little slower this time, but still, it rose at her non-verbal command.

Agatha starred in disbelief and blatant contempt, a deep scowl on her face.

Y/N’s body still ached and she knew she needed to utilize her chance to flee.

She pleaded with the azure wall of fire to stay in place as she tried to figure out how to lower herself.

Agatha was trying to say something, but y/n drowned her out.

Instead, focused on envisioning a ledge under her feet.

As she felt the soles of her feet press to the soles of her shoes, she looked down and saw she was once again successful.

Her descent began slow as she hesitantly lowered her left hand, palm side down.

She wasn’t sure how long she could do this, or how long she’d be able to maintain both defenses simultaneously.

Trusting the shelf of solidified plasma under her feet, she kept her eyes on Agatha glaring down at her from the sky that was now above y/n.

She soon struggled to hold the fire steady as Agatha composed herself enough to try and manipulate y/n’s energy that was forming the wall.

Due to her lack of concentration and sudden fear, y/n felt her body plummeting toward the ground as the shelf under her dissipated.

She gasped as her heart raced, having also dropped the barrier between her and Agatha in response to her fall.

Y/n first formed a, now shaky but still manageable, shelf under her feet once again.

As she felt her heels strike the solid surface, her already weak knees buckled upon impact.

Resuming her hurried -but once again controlled- return from the sky, her mind calmed enough for her to check on Agatha.

She peered up and bit her lip as she saw a cocky grin on the woman’s face as she dove through the sky between them.

Unable to think of anything else worthy of risking in an attempt at forming a spell, she mentally chanted murus ignis.

But as Agatha got closer and y/n’s body tired from the battle and sustaining a safe descent; her doubt crept back in.

Her self-doubt soon became a self-fulfilling prophecy as it only caused the shelf under her to once again snap.

She felt the air leave her lungs as she frantically shot her hands out to her sides and envisioned blue waves of energy surging from them as she lowered herself back down.

It was a rocky ride, but it was working.

Every time her trust in herself faltered even slightly, she could feel her power lessen.

Finally understanding the driving force behind her skill level, she tried to remind herself of how much she accomplished today.

Her tired eyes gazed up at the woman chasing her and closed in frustration at how much progress Agatha’d made.

Replaying her own successes from moments before, y/n took a deep breath and shouted out “longa mora”.

The simple spell was meant as a way to slow an event or day down.

Its impact only lasted as long as the person could concentrate, and even then it only worked on weaker subjects; but Y/n didn’t know what else to try.

Agatha laughed loudly, her mocking tone causing y/n’s plasma bar to thin.

Y/n pleaded her mind to focus on something else, but she knew she had replayed the same scenes so much already that they didn’t generate the same ego boost they initially had.

She needed a new tactic, needed to try something in hopes of blocking contact from Agatha’s nearing figure and to remind herself of her capabilities.

Clearing her mind from any and all expectations and predictions of outcomes, y/n held up her hands, palms facing Agatha and imagined pushing back against the other witch’s cosmic presence.

The sky between the two witches turned a darkened blue as y/n’s energy held firmly against Agatha’s, occasionally even making small but noticeable cracks in Agatha’s energy, hence the darkened shade of energy in the sky.

While it was soon enough to halt Agatha’s journey closer and a needed boost to y/ns confidence, she could feel herself tire dramatically.

.........

See series masterlist link for next part(s)

SERIES MASTERLIST/NAVIGATION

PETER PARKER MASTERLIST/NAVIGATION

TOM HOLLAND MASTERLIST/NAVIGATION (INCLUDING CHARACTERS)

MY MAIN MASTERLIST/NAVIGATION (ALL MY WORKS)

Peter Parker Taglist (comment here to be added): @galaxyholland @fishingirl12 @raajali3 @justapurrcat @natswife-marvelicious @directioner5life @ell0ra-br3kk3r @theslayerofthevampires @skcj24

[hp-fanfic-archive]

Remus/Sirius Hurt/Comfort Masterlist | Works With Less Than 5k Words

find the full masterlist directory here

last updated: 09/10/24 | links last checked: 09/10/24

And look where it got us by Zoeff [G, 1k]

Sirius pressed his lips together. “I don't want him at school at all to be honest." Remus barked out a laugh. “Excuse me, who are you?” “What!? Look at the track record of this kid! Year one: Willingly fights his way through hundreds of dangerous tasks to end up nearly getting killed by You-know-who in an attempt to save a bloody stone!” “First of all, it was not 'hundreds of tasks' and secondly, that 'bloody stone' happened to be the Philosopher's stone and if I recall correctly you threw Harry a 'Congratulations, you're a badass' – party when he came home.” Wolfstar raising Harry AU in which Sirius worries and Remus has no idea who he is talking to.

Apollonian and Dionysian. by rearwindow [G, 2k]

“Yeah… Well, it’s like I’m light and you are darkness.”

Bad Day by orphan_account [G, 1k]

Professor Remus Lupin's day had been one of the worst. All he wanted was a nice relaxing bath and a few moments to forget. Luckily he's got a very doting husband who can help him do just that.

Boys by oliverdalstonbrowning [G, 2k]

Remus is reminded of the truth and Sirius plays Space Oddity.

Common Cuddles for a Common Cold by LadyAmina [G, 1k]

Most of the student body has fallen ill with a common cold. Sirius is just feeling it a lot louder. But Remus helps.

Flannel by victoria_p [M, 1k]

The knowledge that only two thin layers of flannel separates them is driving Sirius crazy.

Have a BEARY Happy Valentine's Day by Amuly [T, 1k]

Valentine's Day during MWPP's 4th year happens to fall the day after a full moon. But it's Remus and Sirius' first Valentine's Day as a couple, so Sirius is determined to make it memorable.

He Was Theirs by orphan_account [G, 1k, James/Regulus]

Coming home from a frustrating day, James Potter seeks comfort in those who love him most.

*Heat by LadyAmina [T, 2k]

The summer air is too warm. The campfire isn't helping. Neither is Sirius's head in his lap. Neither is the burning blood in his veins. Remus is overwhelmed and something has to give.

Life Affirming by WolfstarPups90 [E, 2k]

Remus just sat there, still shaking, staring at his lover and replaying the scene in his head. Sirius knocking him out of the way. Sirius successfully casting a killing curse to protect him. Sirius falling down, hurt. He needed to feel and taste and smell Sirius surrounding him. He needed the memory of his lover’s body falling lifeless on the ground like a puppet who’s strings had been cut to be wiped away and replaced by memories of heat and passion and love and sex. He needed to know how alive they both were.

My Faithful Handyman by softiejace [T, 1k]

non-magic au in which Sirius gets harassed for putting on make up in the men’s room and Remus defends him

Night: Shadows from Five Billion Trees by Amuly [E, 3k]

Every childhood is filled with magic – school of witchcraft and wizardry or no.

Punk Rock Suburban by GoldandScarlett [G, 3k]

Sirius follows Remus around all summer because he is his screwed up self, James is touring Europe, and no one actually likes Peter.

*Soul Signs by cottonpadenthusiast [G, 1k]

Everyone has a Soul Sign; the Patronus of your soulmate painted on your skin. Everyone is destined to find love. Yet Remus seems destined for someone who doesn't have a soulmate at all.

The Pitch by KinugoshiDofu [T, 1k]

Remus is not into Quidditch at all, but when you have a secret boyfriend that plays, there’s not much to do but watch and pray to Merlin you won’t have to see him crash. And when he does, there’s nothing left to do but kiss the booboos.

Thicker Than Blood by Thistlerose [T, 4k]

James has tried to be reasonable about his best friends’ relationship, but he’s not comfortable with it. Then something happens that helps him put things into perspective. (Sequel to Midnight Conversations #1)

*To Want for Nothing by oxfordlunch [T, 2k]

There are no family members singing, no happy returns. Nobody tells him to make a wish. He thinks of one anyhow. He closes his eyes and pleads silently to whoever could possibly listen that he might be taken away from this. He wishes for red and gold and warm, clean air, and for someone to sing on his birthday.

*Unified Theory by montparnasse [G, 3k]

New Year's, 1982. A house, a bed, a room at the top of the stairs. A lever, and a place to stand. (podfic available)

Where Rain And Smoke Mingle by smallestbird [T, 1k]

It doesn't matter if they've disowned you, they're still your family. It doesn't matter how often you walk away, it still hurts.

Winter and Happier by orphan_account [T, 2k]

Spending a weekend house-sitting for James' parents, the two couples have some plans. But when Remus is given a slight set-back, Sirius is determined to make his boyfriend feel valid, and very loved.

*denotes personal favorite

[lordisitmine]

TTNBD BLOG: PART TWO

Welcome once again, to the extended author’s notes! That’s kind of how I’m thinking of these posts. This post covers the details of chapter two of the story, (chapter 3 on ao3 if you’re just looking at the numbers), entitled What a Tangled Web We Weave. So, spoilers if you haven’t read that yet.

HISTORICAL ACCURACY

In this week’s retrospective, I’d like to talk a little bit about historical accuracy. If you’re anything like me, you like watching and reading a lot of things that take place in past eras. If you’re like me, you hate when something- be it a phrase, an outfit, a hairstyle, or a reference to people/events- is egregiously incorrect to the time period being portrayed. Big anachronisms drive me crazy.

However, there’s a level of inaccuracy that I don’t actually mind- if it helps better the story without taking me too much out of the fantasy, or if it adds something to the setting while not detracting from the believably- I’ll allow it. Basically, what I’m saying is that, like a lot of other aspects of writing/art, historical accuracy is about finding the right balance. Or, getting as close as you can to the target of perfect. With fanfiction, I think the margin is even wider- I try not to take this medium too overly seriously, especially when I’m reading and enjoying something someone else has written. I’m a little tougher on myself, though I hope not too tough.

I like to call what I do “movie-accurate”. A lot of my favourite period films have things in them that just aren’t correct, but because I love those movies so much, and because the overall vibe is close enough to what I know about history, I let it slide.

For example, in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice, the hairstyles of the young women, as well as some of their dress styles are quite off from what women’s fashions were actually like at the time in which the novel/movie was set. The 1995 BBC miniseries adaptation is far, far more faithful in terms of aesthetics. However, the 2005 film is incredibly beloved by a lot of Jane Austen fans, despite its inaccuracies! Because it’s a fucking good movie, which sells the characterization and romances so well that you can sort of excuse the “dumbing down” of the details. It’s one of my favourite period films, and films, period.

Obviously there are bad movies that don’t even try to be accurate, but when I say “movie-accurate” know that I’m talking about the good ones.

During the course of Though the Night be Dark, I’ll be making a lot of references to/descriptions of outfits and hairstyles, because I’m pretty sure I was a fashion designer or personal stylist in my past life, but not all of them will be totally accurate to the years 1899/1900. That goes for stuff like technology, too- it won’t ever be over-the-top (i.e. they’re not gonna have television in the year 1900) but if you notice stuff that seems just a little out of place, know that I felt it was necessary to fudge the numbers, so to speak, in pursuit of the characters, the romance, and the story itself.

This same sort of “movie-accuracy” applies to the settings. I’ve never been to Paris or London in my life- I’m broke and there’s a whole ocean in between me and Europe. I do my best to research and reference actual places and landmarks, but if you do live in either of those places and what I write seems fantastical or inaccurate, I am sorry, believe me. Please forgive me, and do your best to imagine these as like, imaginary versions of these places.

I don’t know why I’m defending myself- most people probably don’t mind, and some probably don’t notice things like this. But it’s important to me to be as accurate as I can be within the scope of my ability, and it’s important to me for people to learn about my process if they want to. I digress.

CHAPTER TWO: WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE

Sometimes I pick titles because they’re references to things, and the words/themes of the things in question closely fit the character and the story. For example, To the End of Everything is a lyric from the Adam Lambert song Sleepwalker, which was on my SebaCiel playlist back in 2014 when I was first writing it. It fit the story of the end of Ciel’s life, and the end of his contract with Sebastian, and it’s such a nice set of words to say out loud and look at on a screen.

The first chapter of this fic, A Far, Far Better Rest, is a reference to the final line from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Two cities, London and Paris, both of which are the settings for TTNBD. Not a super deep reference, but there’s a reason for it.

What a Tangled Web We Weave is also a reference to something- part of a famous line from am 1808 poem Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field by Sir Walter Scott. It’s set in the time of Henry VIII and tells the romantic and ultimately tragic story of some rich guy and his affair with a woman. The full line is what a tangled we weave/when first we practise to deceive.

I picked this title for three reasons: one, because it has the word web in it, and Claude is a spider demon. Two, because it’s about lies, and lies are the basis for some of the upcoming conflict in this story. And three, and most chief among the reasons: it sounded cool.

What can I say. Sometimes I write/use things are deep and profound, and sometimes I just use things I think are kinda neat. I try, as always, to strike a decent balance.

Alright, let’s break this chapter down.

We started off with a remix of a scene from the second season of the Black Butler anime. It’s a little infamous, to be sure. I’m speaking of course about the scene where Alois shoves his finger into Hannah’s eye socket! I know that in the original scene he doesn’t actually pull out her eyeball, but I wanted to go whole-hog, I think it’s just extra insane and I wanted you to know what kind of Alois Trancy character I’m playing with here. He’s an adult here, whereas he was a kid in the anime- I don’t know, I just thought the increased level of brutality suited him.

I pulled actual dialogue from the scene and repurposed it, which I love doing and have done many times in my fanfic writing career (side-eye at my Supernatural fics). I wrote it from Claude’s POV because I love that outsider POV in a scene. I also wanted to establish his thoughts and feelings about Alois right off the bat.

Cards on the table: I haven’t watched the second season of the anime in a very long time. I watched the first few episodes some time last year I think??? When I was deciding to write this story, just to get a feel for their characters/relationship again. I’ve seen them portrayed in fanon as everything from a toxic couple to a couple who are more actually in love, like Ciel and Sebastian- I very much don’t see that for these two. Their tension is different, and in the context of this story, it’s been years, and that tension is heading towards a boiling point.

What I’m saying is that I’m sorry to any real die-hard Alois and/or Claude fans in advance if I do stretch them too far out of the OOC allowance margins… but also no I’m not hehehehehe.

Claude mentions Alois reading penny dreadfuls. Penny dreadfuls were these cheap little serialised fiction zines you could buy for a penny, hence the name. Every volume was like, an 8–16 page chunk of a story. The dreadful part comes from the fact that they were highly sensationalised and sometime salacious stories about murder and highway robbery and pirates and stories of real-life criminals doing heinous murder and such- sometimes sold at public executions! Overall, these things weren’t considered Proper English Literature. Which of course meant that they were VERY popular. Mostly in the early to mid 1800s. As far as I know, they started to lose ground in popular culture by the turn of the century, but they existed, I think they were cool, and therefore I can include a reference to them!

Penny dreadfuls weren’t really about romance or sex but they were super popular among young people, and the idea of Alois reading trashy romance novels in general is just hilarious to me. And like I said, I just really wanted to reference something so undeniably Victorian.

And yes, for the purposes of this story, he does in fact know that Hannah is a demon. Did he know that in the anime? I think maybe he did, but like I said, it’s been a while, and I don’t remember. I could go back and watch it again, but I don’t want canon to mess up my fanfiction. Anyway, the fact that Alois knows Hannah is a demon will become relevant and important as the story continues, so I won’t say too much more about it.

Back to Paris- it’s time for more Lizzy content! There’s quite a bit of that in this chapter. Originally, this chapter and the next one were originally just supposed to be one chapter, but the whole thing got too long/had a natural breaking point in my mins, so I split it up.

These parts of the story are more difficult to write- they involve the OCs a lot, and there’s lots of things to establish. It’s hard to do that without getting to in the weeds or being really clunky, but on the other hand, I can’t forget that anything outside of canon references is in my brain and no one else’s, so I have to make sure to cover the important stuff.

This is my first time writing F/F romance! That’s not quite true. I’ve been writing original stories with F/F romances in them for years and years- this is my first time writing an F/F romance that other people are actually going to read. Thankfully, being a lesbian, I have actual experience falling in love with women, so I have lots of real-life stuff to draw from. I didn’t realise how much of my own past and current crushes and preferences wormed their way into the Lizzy/Sybil dynamic. I’ve read posts before about how romance/sex scenes are always revealing of the author’s preferences/feelings/kinks, and I was like “not me haha I am Unknowable” but I guess I can’t say that anymore oops.

When it comes to labels for fictional characters, I don’t like to use them/talk about them unless it’s been explicitly stated in canon. For example, I would never say a canon bisexual character is exclusively gay, that would be bi erasure and we don’t do that shit here. This is especially relevant when it comes to time periods where terminology was different, and labels hadn’t been invented yet/didn’t mean the same things.

I’m trying to write Lizzy in a way that the reader can interpret any way they want! If you want to read her as bi or as a lesbian, that’s fine, I have no hard opinion on the subject! I think it makes a lot of sense that she’s bi, I think that there’s a case for her being a lesbian who’s had to deal with some hardcore compulsory heterosexuality.

However, Sybil is my character and therefore I do get to say what she is, and she is a lesbian. Stone cold homosexual. Again, not that it matters, I just like saying it.

Lizzy and Sybil’s romance isn’t a full-on slow burn per se, but I’m really enjoying building it up here brick-by-brick. At this point, she and Lizzy have been friends for a long time and already know each other really well, so the “to lovers” part can kind of come into play early, but I’m not going to give it all away at once- where would the fun be in that?

Let’s talk about Verity. Madame LaChance if you’re nasty. Verity, of course, means truth, and la chance is French for luck. I kind of wanted her to be straight up called “Lady Luck” but that was a bit TOO hokey, even for me. I wanted there to be an auntie-like side character, and I said to myself, what if there was a character who was like, all the good, lighthearted parts of Grell and Madame Red without any of the “oh btw I’m insane/also a serial killer”. I thought it’d be funny if she was sort of a go-between, having friendships with both Sybil & Lizzy as well as Ciel & Sebastian without any of them being aware of it. She became a bigger part of the story than I’d originally intended- she sort of stole my heart, maybe she’ll steal yours too.

She’s a little mysterious, but I can promise you she is a normal human. She’s just very… unique, I guess you could say. No more spoilers.

I’m being sort of vague about the club and what it’s called and what it looks like, there’s a lot more about it in a future chapter, don’t worry. Also, Madame refers to Ciel as Monsieur Phénix and Sebastian as Monsieur Corbeau. That’s French for phoenix and raven respectively. Stage names. Code names. C'est très dramatique. (No, I don’t actually speak French, beyond some very basic words and phrases.)

I hate to admit it, but I felt woefully out of my element while writing this part and I'm not 100% happy with how it came out I knew I wanted to have some reason to show Sebastian and Ciel going about their day-to-day lives, but I was also struck by the lack of, like, drama or action so far in the story. I fell back on the old adage of “write what you know” and had the boys not solving crime per se (there will be time for that later) but perhaps avenging somebody. I don’t think Ciel will ever give up his vengeful nature, whether its on his own behalf or someone else’s. And for Sebastian, it’s just bad business, and we can’t have that, can we?

There are a whole two paragraphs from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott in this next scene. I don’t know if that book is meant to be sad, but it made me terribly melancholy when I read it as a kid. Also, there I go again referencing literature. I pulled the same trick in next week’s chapter too, which I didn’t even realise I was repeating until I’d already done it. Oops.

“-And nobody saw Beth wipe the tears off the yellow keys, that wouldn't keep in tune, when she was all alone. She sang like a little lark about her work, never was too tired for Marmee and the girls, and day after day said hopefully to herself, "I know I'll get my music some time, if I'm good."

"There are many Beth’s in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”

I wanted Lizzy to be reading aloud in this scene and this reference jumped out at me when I was trying to think of books that existed at the time and that characters this age might have access to. Beth of course is short for Elizabeth, and Lizzy’s arc in this story is about her becoming her own person in a lot of ways, or like, realising who she is, and this quote about Beth feeling like she’s in everyone’s shadow and only exists to do things for other people seemed really appropriate.

There’s a little more insight into Simeon- I drew the photograph described in the scene so you could get an idea of what Simeon looks like. I really like writing Simeon. He’s such a Good Dad. I mean, he’s bound by his word to be a good dad, but he really loves Sybil so much and wants her to be happy. But there’s also so much going on beneath the surface. I know most of you have figured out his true nature by now, but I hope that I still have the ability to surprise you in the long run when it comes to him.

Once again, thanks for reading! Comments and questions are always welcome, and I’ll see you all again next week! Special shout-out to vandorttranslations, who is translating this story into Russian as we go! It will never not be amazing to me that someone feels strongly enough about my work to undertake such a task!

-lord_is_it_mine

[daisyvisions]

speaking of their popularity there’s a part in me which kinda content with how they are doing.

(sorry for bringing up and this is not an unhealthy comparison in any way) i’m also a carat and it’s undeniable how much seventeen has grown in the past years. I want to go to their concerts so bad i’m literally working 2 jobs to save up for tickets and not even for food. but after the merge into hybe and the fans they’ve gained it seems impossible for me to see them (plus i’m in Europe i want to kms). also the fact that it would be hard to see them full as a group due to you know what (IM SO SORRY).

legit i’ve never wanted to gatekeep any group like I do with tbz. At the end of the day tho I would still be front in line bragging about them, defending them against all the hates and I REALLY FUCCKING REALLY hope that they would excel one day, passing the milestones (1m copies sold, digital charts, etc.) with their talents and fucking amazing songs they deserve so much more i love them sm 🫂

It's okay babe I completely understand how you feel! Tbh before tbz, I was really into (and still into) GOT7 and they were under the same shit, big company turning them into something they weren't. But when they got out of the company and did their thing that's when they fully shined. All that to say is, not all groups have to be in big companies to make it big because sometimes the big companies make them shittier.

For tbz's case it was during the transition to IST but the moment ROAR came out and the fact that they're working with their old team before im honestly happy with how they are now! (again, cant really say a lot since im a fairly new deobi)

I think one day they WILL excel in the charts. ROAR was just the beginning, let's hope that the next comeback will really push them to the right direction and where they need to be both as a group and as individuals!

[perfectlyvalid49]

Hey, I don’t mean to come across as confrontational or rude at all. I am not Jewish or Palestinian, but I would like to know a bit more about what you mean by “I’m a Zionist depending on your definition” thing.

As far as I’m aware, the definition (or at least a piece of it) is someone who thinks Israel is a valid country and that we shouldn’t bring back Palestine as a country. I also am very aware that many Jews who aren’t Zionist have been accused of being so by people who are upset about the Jews defending themselves from antisemitism.

So, I wanted to know what your definition of Zionism is and if you are a Zionist by your own definition. Just because I’d like my context on what you’re trying to say.

Again, not trying to rude and I’m really sorry if I ever came off that way in this ask. I also know that some anon asks are often cowardly, so even tho I didn’t mean anything bad by this ask, I’m also not doing it anonymously.

I hope you have a wonderful day and please, don’t rush to answer this, I understand you probably have a lot on your plate right now between usual responsibilities and the antisemitism that’s been going on

This did not come across as rude or confrontational at all, so no worries there! And I’m always happy to share information with people, so I like answering things like this.

There are a few problems with defining the word Zionism. The first, as you alluded to, is that some people will use the word “Zionist” to mean either, “Jew I don’t like,” “Jew who disagrees with me,” or “Jew who complains about antisemitism.” This is not what the word actually means, and I want to be clear, when it is used in this way it is absolutely a slur.

The other is that Zionism is a political ideology with a lot of sub-branches. Different branches hold different beliefs, so some Zionists are in favor of a two state (Israel AND Palestine) solution and some are not. It’s kinda like leftism that way – you can be an anti-capitalist leftist, a post-colonial leftist, an anarchist leftist, etc. People ascribing to those different types of leftism will disagree on a lot, but they’re all still leftists.

But that doesn’t give an actual definition of Zionism. I would say that to start, we should look at the origins of the political movement. You say that you are not Jewish, so I’m going to get into some history here that you may or may not be familiar with. I apologize if you know this already, but I don’t want to assume. I’ll keep it high level and you can google or ask me if you need more info.

Antisemitism has historically ALWAYS been a problem for the Jewish people. Sometimes it meant that Jews were treated as second class citizens, and sometimes it meant that Jews would be rounded up and killed. Back in the late 1800s things were getting particularly bad across Europe. In particular there were a series of pogroms against Jews in Russia, and there was the Dreyfus affair (basically a Jewish army officer was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, and when evidence came to light that he was innocent, he was re-tried and *checks notes* found guilty again. Don’t worry, he was declared innocent 12 years after the original trial) in France.

Jewish intellectuals in Europe responded to all this by forming some new political ideologies. One was Bundism, which basically said that if we assimilate hard enough into the culture of the countries we live in, then they will stop bothering us. It was a very popular movement in Russia, Poland and Germany, but lost steam for some reason in the 1930s.

The other major Jewish political ideology formed at that time was Zionism. In its original form, Zionism was simply the belief that Jews should have their own state – a place where Jews could live with a guarantee that there would be no state sanctioned violence against them for being Jewish. And if you look at all the different sects of Zionism, that’s the one idea that they all have in common. Originally the Jewish state being in what is now Israel was not included in the definition of the movement, but it was added not too long after.

As for my definition of Zionism? I would say it goes something like, “The right for Jewish self-determination in their ancestral homeland.” And by that definition, yes, I am a Zionist. Having said that, I also believe that the Palestinian people also should have the right for self-determination in their homeland. The fact that these homelands overlap means that these two peoples will have to find a way to share the space – that’s the only way for a real, meaningful peace to be achieved.

[handsofdarkness]

Within Temptation’s Sharon den Adel Discusses Touring With Iron Maiden + More

Within Temptation lead singer Sharon den Adel was the latest guest on Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show. Earlier this fall, the Dutch symphonic metal band band opened a North American leg of Iron Maiden's "Legacy of the Beast World Tour," so there was much to talk about.

A new Within Temptation album is expected in 2023. Since 2019's Resist, the group has shared several new singles, including this year's "The Fire Within" and "Don't Pray for Me," both of which are expected to appear on the forthcoming effort. Read the interview with den Adel below.

Tell us what it was like to be on the road with Iron Maiden.

It's been such a pleasure. We've been playing with them before this tour, actually. A few festivals, but we've known each other — actually, we did the first show together 15 years ago in Paris. And that was really cool. And since then, they kept on asking us, so probably we did something right. There was a mutual kind of good vibe going on.

We've always loved Iron Maiden, so for us it's been a pleasure always. … They still love music as much as the first time they started it, actually. I think if you still have that after so many years, then you really did it the right way. For me, that's the most important. To stay in love with music because then I can continue it. But the way they do, it with the same kind of, I don't know, wonder and surprise. … It's like, this is Steve Harris, you know?

Within Temptation have always been musically adventurous, often outside the box of traditional genres. What different musical elements and ideas are influencing the music that you're making right now?

It's several things. We're always searching for what's new that inspires us. … A lot of things from the past that inspire us. But we also try to stay true to a version of ourselves in 2022. And that's what we are always hoping for, at least. The aim is to surprise ourselves and to keep inspired with new music every time.

[On the lyrical side] I think as an artist you have the privilege to talk about the things that touch you and worry you and those kind of things. And in the past we didn't do that that much. We did it a little bit like in metaphors. Nowadays, we're just very open about what we think. I think it's necessary as an artist in a way.

There's a new album expected next year, but already you've been releasing singles. How do you ensure an album is a full self-contained listening experience when a good number of songs are individually familiar?

Well we don't know yet. It is for an experiment and, you know, a lot of other musicals genres already have done it this way. For us, it was an experiment before [COVID-19] even started. And when it started, we were really happy that we took this path and to keep ourselves busy, but also for the fans, it was really nice.

And and now it's like we have to see how this develops and how it will be in a good way or a bad way that we do it this way. But there are still gonna be a lot of songs on the album that people have not heard beforehand that weren't released beforehand, of course. So yeah, I just hope they will like it and that's all we can do.

"Don't Pray for Me," your latest single, is timely, especially here in the United States because it references people imposing their beliefs on others. What upsets you most about people being so forceful about their viewpoints?

Well, that I think because not in your country only, it's also in Poland in a lot of countries in Europe as well, where we have the same development going on. And what I find so sad about the whole thing is that as I'm looking mostly to kids who can't defend themselves and the more very pure in what they feel and who they wanna be that they are so already told what to be and not to be and you know not be able to find their own way in life and their own adventure and their own, you know, just love the, you know, I think it's really sad that people are trying to take away their chances in a way to discover themselves in a natural way instead of trying to be something they're not or maybe living a life they don't want to live.

You know, like also abortion laws and those kind of things is, for instance, Poland. Even in with cases of incest, you're not allowed to have an abortion anymore, at least that they're making these these laws now at the moment, sexual education is forbidden in Poland nowadays. So these kind of things are development of the current government they have. So things in Europe are happening the same, in the same way, more or less, and it's because it's religion that combined with politics, which is to my opinion, the wrong way to have politics.

Iron Maiden is one of the most influential bands of all time. What does it say about Within Temptation that your compatible tour support for a band revered so much as Iron Maiden?

Well, maybe I'm just guessing what I think is a comparison maybe is we have a lot of epic songs, you know, we've always been very much in the past, especially inspired by history and I think it's, those songs are an adventure on its own. I think that's something that's maybe similar to Iron Maiden and a little bit of fear. It's fair we love and they have that a lot. They were like, wow, you know, they were an inspiration for so many bands doing what they do. So I guess, yeah, we got maybe also an inspired in a way how to do that in our own way, of course.

Growing up, you were almost nomadic, traveling and living in numerous countries. How have those experiences benefited you most as a touring musician?

Well, I think you can hear it sometimes in the songs. I've lived in Indonesia, Yemen and [other places]. Sometimes, like I'm dancing on stage with my hands like this. [Laughs] And if you go to Bali in Indonesia, you have these dancers. These female dancers always moving around with their hands. And I think I adopted that when I was a kid. Like, oh my God, that's so amazing. And now when I dance, I just automatically take my hands with me and move along. That's one of the things.

And I think with I also like Arabic music and sometimes we have a little bit of influence in our songs with that Arabic kind of notes and stuff. I love that very much. So I think those kind of things I integrated and also how I look, I look on the world and how different cultures are. I think that really made me as a person, and eventually also helped me become a certain kind of musician.

Sharon, it is so great to catch up with you. Congrats again on the Iron Maiden tour and all things to come. What can we expect for 2023?

Well, there's going to be another single. At least one, maybe two, and a new album. So yeah, a lot of things to look forward to. A lot of festivals. We're maybe coming back to America at someday very soon, I don't know. There's so many things being planned in the background at the moment. I don't know what it is going to be. But there's a lot of things cooking.

[audrinawf]

I don’t care what anyone says but as an European I’m so tired of the American slander. It’s one thing to criticize America as a country but it’s not okay to just be bitchy towards American tourists, okay cause I’m looking at you French and Italians especially , y’all insist on speaking French when you come to my country and Italians y’all come to the most reserved country in the world where people will rather stand on the bus than sit next to a stranger and then you touch people when you talk to them or invade their spaces but you guys wanna talk about how annoying Americans are for being loud? I could literally say this about any European tourist, like British people…y’all are not perfect either. You guys think it’s okay to be dry and sarcastic and witty towards service workers when you visit a country, where people know minimal English and you think that that’s okay cause that what you do in your country but then you have so much to say about Americans…

I don’t know why I’m defending Americans with my life right now but I think it’s because I feel so bad when I see those nasty TikTok’s where Europeans start filming American tourists and shit on them. I just know if I was American I would not want to go to Europe, my anxiety could never handle that.

I understand why europeans feel this superior complex because of their culture and country but you guys need to stop acting like your parents built rome or something. Just cause you’re history is rich doesn’t mean that that says anything about your accomplishments as individuals. The arrogance and just plain shitty attitude I’ve experienced from other Europeans and also every time I’ve been to Italy is crazy. I’m not saying that they exclusively hate on Americans, oh no try being a brown or black tourist in Italy, not fun.

[thenightling]

The Casual sexism in the Wednesday Hate

 There is a large faction of people who react negatively the moment something appeals to teenage girls.   I'm not saying Twilight is great literature (not by a long shot) but you see it a lot with the Twilight hate.  half the things they hate about it contradict themselves.   For example:  "Edward doesn't act like a vampire!"  immediately followed by "He watches Bella sleep. It's creepy."  Yes, vampires tend to do that. Do you know how many depictions of Dracula and Barnabas Collins do that?  Angel in Buffy did that, no one made a fuss.  Or how about "Edward's too old for her!" Yeah, I will reference you back to Angel from Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Also even the romantic depictions of Dracula.  He's five hundred years old and Mina is usually depicted between the ages of seventeen to twenty-one at the oldest. Again, I'm not saying Twilight is any good. Hell, I hate that when wounded they crack or shatter like porcelain plates.  But when you start to notice the contrary complaints you start to realize it's not even really about the content.  It's because it's something popular among teenage girls so that "Must mean it's bad!"       Getting back to Wednesday, Most of the complaints are strawman at best.  Either saying things like "Wednesday wouldn't do that!" (with the Piranha). The Hell she wouldn't!    Or "Wednesday wouldn't defend Pugsley from bullies. She'd join in."  Someone ACTUALLY said that to me!  There are DECADES of depictions of Wednesday taking on bullies who go after Pugsley because "No one hurts Pugsley but me."  That's actually an old line.   It's not new.  Even Cain has said it in regard to Abel in at least one of The Sandman spin-off comics.     Or "They made it woke. Wednesday was never woke!" clearly that one has never seen Addams Family Values or the Thanksgiving Pageant.     Or "There was never anything supernatural about the Addamses."  Yeah, uh, huh.   How many times are we told Grandmama and Aunt Ophelia are witches?   And about about Thing and Lurch and Cousin it?   Or how about the fact that Uncle Fester has controlled electricity since the 60s?   Or It's from Tim Burton. He hasn't do anything good in years.  No.  He hasn't.  But this was actually really good.   This was the best thing he's done since 2005's Corpse Bride.  Or even the self-righteous "It's racist because the black characters are antagonists."  Once you point out they're really not you get a "Yeah, but it looked like they'd be antagonists and that's problematic in and of itself.  Meanwhile it's a who-done-it.  And everyone looked antagonistic in the first episodes, even Gomez!    Or the other self-righteous "It isn't queer enough!"  Eugene has two mothers and Enid's mother wanted to send her to "conversion therapy camp."   It wasn't overtly gay but it's a gay metaphor.  And there will probably be openly gay kids. There's a lot that hasn't been explored yet.   So far we've only seen two characters struggling with romances.  Give it time. Someone commented about Wednesday and how unrealistic it is for girls to fight each other for popularity or over boys.  Umm...That's not in there... At all... No one fights each other over boys in this.  There's no competing for a boy's affection.  And the only time Wednesday fights the popular girl it's a duel in the Fencing class.   The popular girl is actually nice and saves her classmates in the final episode.    And of course "It's just a rip off of Harry Potter." or "Riverdale" or "Sabrina" and pretty much the only similarity is "There's a school!  And Supernatural stuff!"   Yes, The Worst Witch beat you to it, and even Dracula made reference to Scholomance, a mythical magick school in Eastern Europe.  It's okay to dislike Wednesday.  But I think some of the hate is nothing more than "Eww, teenage girls like it so it must be bad." or you assume it's only for teenage girls, never mind that Tim Burton's work has always transcended demographics.

[blackink-onpaper]

The Descend and the Resurface

Damian Hart (Beyblade) x OC

Summary: OC comes from a complex background, and in the midst of trying to save it all and help her family she enters a strange arrangement, which will change her life forever.

Masterlist 🖤

Tags: Beyblade, Beyblade Metal Masters, Julian Konzern, Jack, Damian, OC, Gingka Hagane, team Starbreaker, team Excalibur, dr. Ziggurat, Hades Inc.

A/N: Hope you enjoy!

Also, please let me know what you think so far! It means a lot to me!

Chapter 6

“They would pay you? How much?” My dad asked over the speaker. Even though it was evening for them because of the time difference between Europe and the US, I called both of them on Face Time to tell them about the proposal, because I felt like I needed some adult perspective on the issue.

“They said that I can name the salary” I was combing through my hair: “but I’m assuming that doesn’t mean I can ask for, like, a million dollars”

“Of course not, that would be distasteful” my mom added. She was looking really beautiful today because she’s been tanning in our garden lately, and the slight glowing tan was starting to show: “But why did you say no then?”

“Mom did you not see what happened to Julian? It was all over the news”

“So? It’s not like Julian wouldn’t have done a similar thing had he had the upper hand.”

“I agree with Cami that the American was ungentlemanly, Julian was raised better, but I do believe it is just their profession.” My dad added, he always defended foul play because he strictly believed business was business and that no personal feelings should be attached to it.

“I think you should accept the job” my mom added: “you just have to be polite for a few weeks, get the money and come home. What do you think she could ask for?” My mom looked at my dad:

“Hmm… I think go for 50,000 because they’ll try to lower it down, and then settle for whatever they say. Especially if they cover your expenses and you live there.”

“Yes very good” my mom nodded: “we could really use the money, Camila.”

As much as I knew our situation, I felt like I was being sold off. When I was with Julian, he and his family provided a more indirect help to my family by giving them the society exposure that leads to opportunities, but this is different.

“Dad, how’s the company doing?”

“Ah you know dear, the first year is always financially hard but we hope to make some revenue soon” he smiled, as he always did when he spoke of business: “In fact, I’m trying to get Carlos to recommend me to his Dutch clients.”

“That’s great” I sighed, unsure of what he said was good or not, or had any meaning whatsoever because of all the failed businesses in my dad’s portfolio.

“Honey, take the job.” My mom assured me: “it cannot be that bad, and for the money, I mean, you won’t even be working hard.”

“Yes, and caro if they will be disrespecting you in any way you can always leave. It’s not like they are holding you hostage!” He winked at me.

“Okay” I complied: “I’ll text the assistant now.”

Later that afternoon, Ziggurat’s paperwork on a new prototype was interrputed by a knock: “Sir, miss Casilarghi confirmed her employment with us.” The blonde assistant stated, before checking her tablet one more time: “She required a salary of 50,000 dollars, and she can start whenever.”

“Good” Ziggurat smiled: “give her 60 and tell her she starts tomorrow. Prepare a room for her in the Starbreaker wing.”

“Yes sir. Will that be all?”

“Put that gift we discussed in her room as well, and tell the boys to come in here.”

She took some notes on her tablet: “Sir, it seems Zeo is having his physical examination, but I’ll send Damian and Jack over immediately.”

“Ah Zeo, it’s always something with him” Ziggurat sighed and pinched the area between his eyebrows in annoyance: “tell dr. Roth to increase his Ativan prescription, we can’t have him missing any more battles because of his imaginary problems.”

“Yes sir, immediately. Jack and Damian are on their way.”

The evening went by slowly. I packed my bags immediately, as Ziggurat’s assistant informed me I’d be picked up at 10am tomorrow, but I was just feeling mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the money is great and I’m helping out my parents, but I couldn’t help feeling like something was not right. Julian and the rest of the Excalibur team didn’t text or call me back, but Julian’s mom did reply to my text saying they’re involved in getting him the help he needs and that I don’t need to worry. She was always very kind to me. I decided to do a face mask before bed in an attempt to calm my racing, conflicting mind.

Morning came, and even though it was a cloudy day it was very warm and humid. Mindlessly, I chose a very oversized white button-down and paired it with regular jeans. No effort for Ziggurat today, or anybody else for that matter. I left my room after thorougly checking if I took everything, because I had a looming feeling I was forgetting something, but it was probably just nerves. The driver was on time, picked me up and dropped me off at the same spot as last time, but rain began to drizzle just before our arrival. At least it will stop being so humid, I thought to myself. Two tall men and Ziggurat’s assistant awaited my arrival and helped me with my suitcase. This time, we took a different elevator, exiting into a long and empty metallic hallway with no distinctive features whatsoever, other than two other elevator doors, which I thought we were going to take before the assistant walked into an elevator hidden in the wall at the end of the hall. It was concealed so well I would have never found it on my own, which must be a really good strategy for intruders. This elevator took us to another floor, which was locked, so when the elevator arrived the door didn’t open, and the screen spelled out “unauthorised”

“Where are we?” I asked, even though I knew it probably sounded completely daft.

“We are in section 2, floor 36.”

“Noted…” I said, but I had no idea this complex was so… complex.

“This is your room” the lady applied a black matte card to the screen, which turned green after a second and opened the door: “Your key is on the desk.”

I thanked her while the two guys brought in my suitcase. The room was very bright and white, with a massive frosted glass window accross from the door, with a flat white curtain drawn all the way to the floor. I suppose the frosted glass was for privacy.

“Do you need a moment or would you like to receieve a tour immediately?”

“Yes yes, we can go immediately.” I snapped out of my thoughts: “I don’t want to waste your time, it’s a working day after all.”

She smiled at me, and we first dropped off the male assistants to a lower floor, before she took me to a higher floor of that same building. The elevator door opened into a huge, circular room with a conversation pit in the middle; the floor-to-ceiling windows spreading through the entire room except for three separate patches of walls, which were for displays of medals and awards, and one massive poster of team Starbreaker.

“This is the Starbreaker common room” she guided me through the space: “only a handful of people, you included, have access to it, so please take good care not to lose or damage your key. If it has any authorisation problems, let me know.”

“Are the boys here, or..?”

“The boys have a very dense schedule of sleep, nutrition, physical activity and arrangement systems” she explained, and then checked the smart watch on her wrist: “but I see their collective free time will start in an hour”

“Why is their schedule so strict?” I asked, assuming she will tell me some nonsense about how they are basically athletes and how living like a robot is the best thing for amazing performance.

“Because of the arragement treatments, their day needs to be scheduled around the times when they have energy to perform.”

I did not expect this answer: “And what are these arrangements?” I asked, while she fixed her hair, and checked something on her tablet again: “Unfortunately, I am really unable to disclose that information myself. Only doctors related to the program and patients of the program are allowed to speak about it.” She smiled, and quickly continued her prepared tour speech: “the boys’ bedrooms are on the three separate levels that under and over this room, but we do not have authorisation to enter those floors.”

We returned to the elevator, and went to floor 32, which appeared to be three floors of different gym equipments and obstacle courses that looked very high-tech. All of the floors were packed with groups of boys and a handful of trainers, all of them so focused on their work they didn’t even notice us looking at them through the glass wall:

“This is a two-way mirror, so they can’t see us” she explained: “this is one of Hades Academy’s training facilities.” She then proceeded to show me all the facilities of the Academy, the private gym meant for guests, the office spaces and meeting rooms. The most interesting office was definitely the marketing and PR department because the employees worked more lively than others I’ve seen, but only because there was apparently a PR “fire” to be extinguished. Their livelyness dimmed down when we entered the room, as I could see most of the people in the office recognised me.

“Miss Gould” a tall, slim woman with exotic features and lush black hair approached, acknowledging us. She was wearing a light grey suit very similar in style to what the blonde assistant was wearing, but this one suited her stature better.

“This is Miss Blake” the assistant introduced: “the is the head of this department.” I smiled and shook her hand: “nice to meet you”

“Nice to meet you too, but I’m afraid I’ll have to call you Camila because I don’t know how to pronounce your surname” she chuckled to herself: “you were quite a sight at the last match.”

I really wasn’t sure if this was a positive or negative comment, or what to say to that. Especially considering the number of Starbreaker posters around the room, and the building in which we were now standing: “Thank you?”

“No no, I really mean it” she said: “we take PR very seriously for Hades and Starbreaker separatly, you’d be a great attribute to our plan.” Before I could say anything, she proceeded by looking at my face more closely, with a smile: “Drop by sometime, we can always use an insider”

After this she took me to my room: “Miss Gould, could you please write down important floors I should know, I got a bit confused.” I admitted, better be a little embarrassed than get lost in the building.

“There is a smart watch next to your key, which has an interactive map of the complex on it. That is also how we communicate when on the complex.” I thanked her, and she left me to rest for a bit before meeting the boys. On the desk there was also complimentary chocolate, very welcome from my part, and a famously familiar black box. Inside the Chanel box was a dainty gold necklace with an interlocked CC logo at the front, there was also a card:

Just a small welcoming gift, enjoy

Dr. Ziggurat

Even though this was undeniably generous, I snorted to myself because I knew this was a choice because of my initials. Julian bought me similar items in the past with the same idea, but I don’t like to wear them that much because they make me feel fake, considering my parents and how they like to distribute their money. I chuckled to myself thinking how Ziggurat must feel so proud of his creativity. The smart watch turned on on its own while I was trying it on, letting me know it’s been five minutes since the boys’ free time started, so I quickly brushed my hair and applied a tinted lip balm to look presentable, before leaving my room to go upstairs.

[finallydelight]

Jennyyyy not you shit-talking Americans bc same 😭 I literally live here and this country is ASS. No healthcare, no access to abortions in some states, your education is being taken away, and so much more. I hate it here. I mean I shit talk people in Europe but only when they say crazy shit ( and I mean the actual fucked up things ). I also just love the accents — two people in my gc loves mocking British people accents and slang 😭 it’s not even a joke atp.

You won’t catch me defending this country unless you’re talking about things the citizens ( only the good ones 😭 ) cannot fix. Atp I’m getting up and moving. Where? I do not know☺️

I mean europe isn’t perfect either, but I don’t have to worry about healthcare or student loans, I can get an abortion here (or literally go to our neighbor country and get it there) - me and my dad always say how the us seems so like “detached” from the world and it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but that’s the best way I can describe it

I love doing a British accent 😭😭😭😭 it’s so much fun help

move in with me 😘 I’ll treat you right babe