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imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters · 1 year

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Chapter 7 Revenge

I do not own Harry Potter or the Characters created by Rowling

So...when I first wrote this...I don’t even know how long ago, it was low *cough* highkey crappily written and the chapters were much shorter. This was originally 2,343 words. Now it is 3,031 words. That means I wrote an extra 688 words.

Anyways, this is also posted onto my Tumblr account imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters and my Wattpad somekindofmagic1 so you can check it out on there too!

But anywho, hope you enjoy!

Love Z <3

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The last couple days of break went by in a flash. Albus assumed it was because he and James hardly saw one another. And he spent most of his time talking with Lily. And when he wasn’t doing that, he was staying in his room, placing some small things that he could in it in order to make it more...him and less what he thought he would be.

He had even brought the subject of repainting and changing up his room to his parents. Both of them told him that if it was what he wanted, they could do it this summer. So that was something that he knew would help it get through this second half of the year.

He just hoped that it would go by faster and without many incidents, but he knew the likelihood of that happening was slim to none.

Albus sighed as he listened to Professor Patil drone on about the duel between Albus Dumbledore and Gerrit Grindelwald. He didn’t really care about something that happened over a hundred years ago. Especially when it had to do with one of his namesakes. He felt Annie nudge his side. When he looked over to her, throwing a ‘what-the-hell?’ look, she tilted her head to Professor Patil, who was looking at him expectantly. “Mr. Potter, are you going to answer my question?”

“May you repeat the question?”

She sighed, “20 points from Slytherin due to Mr. Potter not paying attention in class.”

He held back the eyeroll, “Can you please just repeat the question?”

She crossed her arms, “I said, what year did the duel happen?”

He smirked, ever so happy that Lily was once obsessed with this time in Wizard History. “It depends on which duel you are speaking about. The one that ended with Dumbledore's sister’s death, then the answer is 1900. However, if it was only involving Dumbledore and Grindelwald/the one that landed Grindelwald in jail, then it is 1945.”

She gave a look of surprise over the fact that not only did he know the answer, he gave two different ones. He continued to resist the urge to roll his eyes, “Well...I guess I will take those points back, 20 points back to Slytherin.” Now he did roll his eyes as he heard the obvious annoyance in her voice. “This marks the end of class for today. I will see you all on Thursday, have a good rest of your day.”

Everyone got up and left the room. “Everything okay, Al? You never look so out of it in class.”

Albus looked over at Scorpius, “I guess I’m just tired, y’know? And besides, History of Magic is boring and Professor Patil hates me because, apparently, she’s bitter over how my dad treated her at the Yule Ball back in the 4th year.” He sighed, “Or at least that’s what James always said. And we all know that we need to take everything he says with a grain of salt.”

“Well one, that’s pitiful. And two, are we supposed to believe what James Potter says?”

He nodded, “I know, but hey, better than hating me for a real reason, isn’t it?”

“True there Albus.”

Annie shook her head and muttered a simple, “Boys.” As they entered the greenhouse for Herbology.

“--Well maybe you shouldn’t be such a dick James Sirius Potter!”

Albus stopped walking back to his common room when he heard a girl's voice yell his brother's name. “I’m just being honest! You’re a lousy and horrible kisser!”

He heard the girl scoff, “And that gives you the right to cheat on me?”

“That’s not what I meant?!”

“Then what is it?!”

Before he allowed it to go any further Albus walked over to where he heard their voices. In a mocking voice he spoke, “Yeah Jamie, what was it?”

Jame’s head snapped towards Albus, “Stay out of this you snake!”

The girl only glared at James, “And is that any way to speak to your brother? I have a sister in Slytherin! They aren’t as bad as you think!”

James turned to the girl, “He’s friends with Malfoy and Green! They’re horrible people!”

The girl scoffed, “My sister is dating a Green and he is nothing but nice to her!” She crossed her arms, “And that girl your brother is friends with? I’ve met her and she is the sweetest kid ever!” Albus held back a scoff with that. He wouldn’t deny saying Annie was sweet, but the sweetest? That was stretching it a bit. “And as for him being friends with a Malfoy? So fucking what? Why does it matter? At least he isn’t a dick to everyone who isn’t in his house!” She turned on her heel and started to walk, but before she disappeared from behind the corner she turned back to James, “We’re through Potter. And I never want to see you anywhere off of the Quidditch Field.”

After she was gone and out of sight, James turned back to Albus, his face was red with fury. And Albus began to walk back slowly. “How dare you! How dare you get into business that didn’t involve you! How dare-”

Albus stopped for a second, anger filling him as James got angry at him. “How dare I what James? How dare I be a Slytherin? How dare I make friends with my housemates? How dare I agree with a girl that you’re a horrible person? How dare I be different from my brother? How dare I be me?”

James shook his head, “No. I say how dare you call me your brother. Because as far as I’m concerned, all I have is a little sister.” James turned and began to walk away.

And Albus just stood there, unable to move, unsure of what to say. He couldn’t move. He didn’t dare to. Scared to move his legs. Scared to do anything. He wasn’t even sure how long he just...stood there. But soon he heard the familiar voice of the Headboy and Annie’s older brother, Aidan Green. “Potter! Curfew for you is in 10 minutes. Get back to the common room.” Albus slowly looked over at Aidan. Albus didn’t know what his face looked like, but from the way that Aidan’s face went from looking like an authority figure to looking like a concerned brother, he knew it probably betrayed his thoughts. “Hey kid, everything okay?” Albus nodded and started to walk towards the dungeons, “Hang on, just in case you’re late, lemme walk with you.” He didn’t say anything and just continued to walk to the common room.

The entire walk was silent. Neither one said a thing, so when they reached the wall that let them enter their common room, Albus nearly jumped at Aidan’s nearly booming voice. “Quidditch.” As he began to walk into the room, Aidan stopped Albus and spoke, “Are you sure you’re alright?” Albus nodded silently before throwing Aidan his best fake smile and slipped into the common room.

But, almost as soon as he did he heard the ever worried voice of Annie, “Albus? What happened? Why was Aidan walking you in?”

“Nothing, honestly.”

“Okay,” He knew she was unconvinced, “I guess if you're sure.” She sighed, “You were late, imagine if you ran into Dominick or another house prefect? Imagine what could’ve happened. You really are lucky it was Aidan that you ran into.”

Albus just shrugged, “I probably would have earned a detention and lost us some points.”

“Yeah Potter, how ‘bout you don’t do that-”

“-We do it enough.”

Annie rolled her eyes at Liam and Randolph, “With how often the two of you get caught, I’m surprised that you haven’t gotten suspended or worse, expelled.”

“We just haven’t laid the correct prank yet.” Randolph nodded at his twins’ statement.

She scoffed, “No, you’re just lucky that for your whole time at school that at least the Headboy or Headgirl has been a Slytherin.”

Liam smirked, “That to sis.”

But instead of listening to the conversation the siblings were getting themselves into like he usually would, Albus walked over to the stairs to his dorm room. Opening the door he walked over to his bed and fell face forward onto it. Without changing out of his uniform, he soon felt the comfort of sleep wrapping around him.

When Albus awoke, he was surprised that his curtains were closed. He however, wasn’t surprised that he woke up sore. After both of them were up, he asked Scorpius why his curtains were closed and he just shrugged and replied saying, “You passed out and I figured that you would feel better with them closed.”

He wasn’t surprised, however, when he saw his parents' owl that morning too. ‘Cause even though she didn’t directly say, he knew Professor Patil was going to write to them. That was how she was. She wrote to your parents if she had taken points away or she had given you a detention, which she did. Often. Especially to Slytherins. If he was to be honest, sometimes Albus questioned who hated Slytherins more, her or James.

And with James on his mind, he never told Scorpius or Annie what happened that night. But he knew that they noticed how there was so much more tension between him and James. But neither commented on it. The girl, who had learned was Amy Way, Castanova Way’s younger sister, a 4th year Ravenclaw, had begun to make up this wild story about how James had attacked her. She even got away with it as she went to Professor Patil with fake injuries. Albus suspected that she either gave them to herself or had used something from Weasley Wizards Wheezes. No one commented on it and besides, James was on thin ice after getting in a fight with a group of Slytherins while on the train back to Hogwarts after break.

Albus groaned and laid his head on his Transfiguration textbook, “Why are teachers loading us with so much homework? Exams aren’t until another...4 months!”

Annie rolled her eyes, “It’s not that bad Al, lemme see what you’re doing.” She grabbed the textbook from under him, causing him to slam his head down onto the table. “Albus Severus Potter! This was due today! It’ll be late when you turn it in!”

He threw his hands up in defense, “It’s not my fault you got sick and couldn’t help me!” He wasn’t wrong, she had gotten sick and had to stay in the Hospital Wing for a few days.

“I’m not your mother! I don’t have to do anything for you!”

“But you do! And I’m not complaining.” He joked.

She scoffed, “Well it’s not my fault you’re bloody stupid!” She angrily slammed her book close and got up, beginning to walk away.

“Where’re you going?”

She turned back to the two boys, glaring at Albus, “Somewhere away from you!”

She stormed out of the room and the two boys looked at each other. “She needs to sort out her priorities.”

Scorpius hit Albus over the head with his Potions book, “No, you need to not be a git.”

Albus raised an eyebrow at Scorpius. He didn’t get it. He was joking. What happened? What did he say wrong?

Anne ignored Albus and Scorpius for about a week. When they were asked why she was, they said that she and Albus got into an argument and to talk to her about it. And she just said Albus was being a stupid git. Only talking to them again after Albus talked to her and apologized (even though he didn’t fully know what he was apologizing for).

However, as it was nearing March, the temperatures were rising and so the three 1st years were just chilling outside. Most of the 3rd years and above were out at Hogsmeade, so most of the students were first and second years. The boys were laying on the grass near the black lake. Under an old tree. While Anne was laying in the tree. She had a copy of Quidditch Through The Ages in her hand while Albus and Scorpius were talking about the Arrows last quidditch game. “He caught the snitch way too early. They should’ve waited until they were at least 100 points ahead. They barely even won!”

Scorpius nodded at Albus’s comment, “Honestly though, I think he caught it so they wouldn’t embarrass themselves any further.”

They saw the upside down head of their friend before she spoke, “Are they having a bad season or something?”

Scorpius scoffed, “They haven’t had a good season since Baley became the manager.” She nodded and flipped herself out of the tree. “And since Baley makes the plans, he also controls who can join the team. Then he added Johnson and my god, Johnson is the worst Seeker ever! Even you could play better than him, Anne!”

She laughed as she sat down next to the boys, “That says a lot if you believe I would be a better player than him.”

“Exactly!”

“Hey snakes!” The three kids looked over and saw Jason Bell-Wood, Fred Weasley II, and of course, James Sirius Potter stomping over to them. The three 1st years stood up and got ready to grab their wands. Even though they all knew that it would be useless as the three Slytherins didn’t know half as much as the three Gryffindors did. “Go tell that Way girl to give us our points back!”

Anne scoffed, “You assholes deserved it! You beat up a 12 year old who did nothing!”

----

Everyone in the Slytherin common room ran over to the young Avery girl. Her strawberry blonde hair was clinging to her face most likely due to the obvious amount of blood trickling down her face. She was limping in, clutching her side, Blood, not only seeping through her fingers and onto the floor from her side, but from her nose too. Her elder siblings, Oliver and Olivia, reached their sister quickly. Headgirl and 7th year Prefect, Castanova, not far behind them.

Murmurs began to go around, people asking for what happened, others asking if she was okay. She didn’t say anything besides three last names. Bell-Wood, Weasley, and Potter. Castanova looked to the Avery girl's siblings, “Take her to the Hospital Wing, I’m going to pay those Gryffindors a little visit.” She turned to Aidan, “Go tell Professors Slughorn, Longbottom, and McGonagall that those three students beat up a first year.” He nodded and ran out the door after the Avery’s left with their sister.

Albus and Scorpius were just coming down the stairs and saw the hoard of Slytherins near the door. Anne ran over to them, “Holly, got beat up by Bell-wood, Potter, and Weasley.”

“Jason, Fred, and James?” Scorpius inquired.

“I guess, obviously yes for Potter, but for Bell-Wood and Weasley, I assume. He hangs around them the most.” She looked at Albus, this time he knew he had a dazed look on his face, “Al? You okay?”

He nodded. He knew James was a horrible person, but he never thought he would beat up a defenseless kid.

----

“She’s a snake just like you three! She didn’t have to do anything for us to have a reason!”

“You beat up a kid who is now too terrified to speak to anyone!”

“Oh how about you shut up Green! You’re just like your brother! You don’t know how to shut your mouth!”

“That’s rich coming from you Weasley.”

“Oh yeah? Well, how about this, Langlock!”

When she tried to speak, she couldn’t as her tongue was glued to the top of her mouth. “What the hell did you just do Fred?!”

Fred didn’t say anything, instead it was James. “You should know that spell. After all, it was created by the person you’re named after. Severus Snape.”

Albus clenched his fists before raising his wand, “Slugulus Eructo!” A jet of green light hit Fred and soon after he began to vomit slugs.

James glared at Albus, “You’ll pay for that!” He turned back to Fred and helped him up, “C’mon let’s get you to Madam Pomfrey.” The two 3rd years carried their friend up to the hospital wing. Some students were watching in wonder, others in disgust.

Albus turned to his friend, “Let’s take her to one of the older students, I don’t want Pomfrey to ask any questions.” They nodded and walked down to the dungeons, stopping at the opening to the common room, “Salazar Slytherin.” The wall opened and they walked into the room, immediately seeing a group of 7th years sitting at a table. “Castanova?”

The blonde haired girl looked over and smiled, “Hey kiddos, what’s up?”

“Do you know the counterspell to Langlock?”

“Langlock? I’ve never heard of it. You guys?” The other 7th years shook their heads, “What does it do? Maybe I can use a different counterspell.”

“Her tongue is glued to the top of her mouth.”

“Okay, Anne, come here.” The younger girl walked over, “Now you understand that if this doesn’t work it could cause you some severe damage?” She nodded, “Okay.” She muttered a counterspell, “Now try.”

“That was rather uncomfortable.” The other students smiled, “It worked! Thanks Cassy!”

“No problem, always glad to help you out darling.” She brushed some of her hair out of her face, “Now do you three have anything else to ask?” When they all shook their heads no, she nodded, “Good, now you kids go and run along.”

The three first years nodded and walked away. “That was exhilarating, wasn’t it?”

“Exhilarating?” Scorpius breathed out, “I was scared you’d never be able to speak!”

Anne rolled her eyes, “Oh please Scorp, do you really think that would have happened?”

Albus shrugged, “I won't deny, I was a little nervous too.”

She scoffed, “You two are hopeless.”

Albus laughed softly and wrapped his arm around her, “Excuse me for actually caring about you.”

“Oh wow, who knew that was possible. Someone should alert the papers. Albus Potter cares about Anneliese Green.”

Albus rolled his eyes and pushed her to the side slightly. Merlin did he love his friends.

#harry #potter #harry potter #next #gen #next gen #harry potter next gen #harry potter next gen fic #harry potter oc #harry potter next gen oc #oc #albus potter #scorpius malfoy #easy to hate #easy to hate chapter 7

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poppywrites41 · 2 years

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Kingdom of Lilies Ch. 10 (King! Eren x Fem Reader)

Hellooooo! I'm back! Sort of lmao. Sorry this is a short chapter but I really needed to do at least a little bit of writing and I felt bad for saying I would get a chapter out when I didn't. I'm currently working full time for my parents and my mom won't let me have my space at home bc I'm the oldest and she misses me when I'm at school. sooo ill probably be writing and posting at times like this again💀😂

Anywhos, even though it is short, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

MDNI 18+ ONLY

The artwork is mine

Masterlist

Chapter Warnings: Language?, preggy time, a LOT fluff, Eren ranting about a book

Disclaimer: I do not own any character from the AOT universe

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Eren didn’t expect his wife to be so fast. By the time he made it to the kitchens, Y/N was sitting at a small table, humming in glee as she at some warm oatmeal.

“What happened to the cheesecake?” Eren huffed as he sat across from her.

“Well, I was about to ask for some when I saw the kitchen staff eating oatmeal and it just smelled so good,” she sighed, taking a bite, and smiled, “Eat with me.”

Eren chuckled at his wife’s silliness and went to grab a bowl of oatmeal from the staff. Two ate in silence, Eren happy that Y/N was eating something more fulfilling than dessert.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, breaking the silence.

“I’m fine,” she hummed.

“You didn’t seem fine yesterday, with everything that happened.”

“Well, I’m fine now. What are your plans for the day?”

“I sent a message last night before I arrived back to Eldia requesting that Pixis bring some of his troops and come to Marley so that we can leave tomorrow. It’s the week of my anniversary as king so you and Armin still have some planning to do and I would like for us to be home for that. We heard back from him so I am going to see about his response, then I’ll probably take the Scouts and secure the perimeter around Marley.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Y/N hummed, “I’m going to take it easy today and relax.”

“I’ll have Mikasa be with you. Just in case.”

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“Hey Y/N?” Mikasa said, pausing her painting. Y/N insisted that Mikasa also relaxed with her, hence she had them painting together.

“Yes?” Y/N replied, still focused on her art.

“Eren told me that you refused the breakfast he gave you this morning.”

“Oh yeah,” she chuckled, “It tasted weird.”

“And that you wanted cheesecake.”

“Now that I think about it, that sounds ridiculous!” Y/N said with a laugh.

“Y/N…” Mikasa hesitated, “Have you seen a doctor recently?”

“No. Why?”

“Do you think you could be…pregnant?”

Once the words left Mikasa’s mouth, the brush fell out of Y/N’s hand, paint spattering all over her canvas. Y/N stared wide-eyed as the paint from the brush seeped into the colors of the flowers she made. Pregnant? Could she really be pregnant?

“Y/N?”

Y/N looked up at Mikasa, eyes still wide, “I need to see a doctor.”

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Y/N waited impatiently, hands fidgeting while the royal physician checked her body and asked her questions about how she was feeling. When she was done, she looked up at Y/N with a smile, “Congratulations, you’re highness! You are indeed pregnant!”

Y/N gasped. She didn’t know what to think. She was pregnant with Eren’s child. Eren, who she loved and he who loved her. She looked over at Mikasa who gave her a big smile, “Congratulations!”

“Shall we tell the husband?” the doctor suggested.

“No,” Y/N said with a shake of her head, “I think I should surprise him with the news at the ball.”

“That would definitely make his day,” Mikasa agreed, “And it would take his mind off Zeke for a while.”

“Please don’t tell anyone else,” Y/N told the physician.

“My lips are sealed,” the physician smiled.

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By the time Eren got back, Y/N was reading a book in bed.

“How was your day? Relaxing?” he asked, shedding his clothes, and changing into more a more comfortable attire.

“It was indeed relaxing. Mikasa and I went for a walk in the gardens, read some books and even did some painting!” she smiled.

“Mikasa painted with you?”

“Yep! I accidentally spilled some paint on mine so that was ruined,” she huffed.

Eren chuckled as he got into the bed next to her, planting a kiss on her head, “What are you reading?”

“It’s a book about humanity struggling to survive against giant monsters called titans who try to eat them.”

“That’s morbid.”

“It’s so good though! The people think that they are the last of humanity, but they really aren’t. There were two kingdoms at war in the past, you see. One conquered the other with the power of a titan. The titan was a slave who made a deal with the devil to inherit those powers. She brought the kingdom who enslaved her so much wealth and power. She and the king bore three daughters who ate her when she died, inheriting her powers. Then their children ate them and so on. There were nine titans all with their own special capabilities. But soon the people of the kingdom were driven out by those who they took land from and exiled themselves on an island. 2,000 years go by and no one remembers anything. That’s because the original titan, the Founding titan wiped the island peoples’ memories. Then- am I talking too much?”

Eren smiled at her fondly, kissing her arm, “No, not at all. You look so happy. Keep going. Tell me all about it.”

Y/N blushed at his words “Okay. So, the book is mainly about a boy and his three friends…”

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“And that’s how the book ends!”

“Wait so the drunkard that was in love with his mom the whole time sacrificed himself to save both of them? Then he can control titans all of a sudden?! And the small titan leaves with the Armored and Colossal Titan, leaving the girl she loves behind? What about the basement?! All they talked about was the fucking basement!” Eren ranted.

“That’s in the next book, silly!” Y/N laughing at her husband’s frustration, “There’s four books. This was the second one.”

“Ugh” he huffed, “Why not just make one book?”

“You seem so invested now. You can read them if you want to find out what happens.”

“No. It’s not the same as listening to you.”

“Then you’ll have to wait until I finish them.”

“How about you read them aloud and I’ll listen?”

“Will you be able to stay awake?”

“To your voice? Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll grab the other books before we leave to go back home,” Y/N said as she placed the book on her nightstand.

“Oh yeah. We are leaving tomorrow. Pixis said he will come watch over Marley. He should arrive in the late morning.”

“That’s good,” Y/N yawned.

“Tired?”

“Mhm” she replied as she snuggled under the covers.

Eren smiled, placing another kiss on her forehead before he got under the sheets. He pulled her body close to him.

“Goodnight, my love.”

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Hope you all enjoyed. Again, i apologize that this one was short again😫😫

#attack on titan eren #eren jaeger smut #eren yeager x reader #eren smut #eren x fem!reader #eren x you #eren yeager #eren x reader

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livexdolan · 3 years

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The Cage - Part One

A/n: so hi! This is a UFC based fic about Grayson Dolan. This is an AU with an OC. There is no face claim as of now but they might change idk. I’m not going to ramble lol I’m just very very nervous. Anywho please enjoy and let me know what you think! There will be many parts to this series by the way lol so this part is kind of slow but just wait aha

Word Count: 5924

Warnings: fluff, mentions of death, explicit language, and triggering topics (maybe?) mentioned

“I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to be famous- never telling anyone but I’ve always wanted to know- wanted to get in the head of someone famous and see what they go through- but I could’ve never guessed this was how I was going to find out.

It all started when I was 22, fresh out of college, with a crappy assistant job at a publishing company in Los Angeles, California. Having been stuck at this job for almost three years and never even having my articles read, I was starting to lose hope that I would never be more than an assistant. Until one day…”

“Lily! Get in here! And bring me a coffee!” I scurry to Mr. Lane’s office, clutching the coffee I had just gone and grabbed for him, stopping by my desk to grab my notebook and pen.

I opened his glass door and put his coffee down on his desk, pushing up my glasses as I opened my notebook and clicked my pen, looking up at him expectantly, waiting for him to say what he needed me to do. He looks at me, his eyes bright at first but quickly losing their color and he sighs as though he’s already exasperated, “What is this?” He holds up a copy of a story I had put on his desk.

Oh jeez, another rejection. I push my glasses up again and start to stutter out an explanation in a quiet voice, “Well, I-I heard you talking to some of the reporters about need-needing a new story for next week's issue and well, I-I already had an idea so I thought I’d-” He cuts me off with a quick raise of his hand and a stoic look on his face, giving nothing away.

“Look,” he sighs and rubs his face with both hands before continuing, “It’s not a bad story, but it’s a half-baked idea. That’s your problem. That’s why you haven’t gotten a byline yet- you can never deliver a full idea- let alone a full article, do you understand?”

I look down, refusing to let him see my cheeks burn red and my eyes water. This is what he says every time I give him an idea. “Do you want to be a journalist?” He questions.

I make eye contact with him quickly lifting my head and squaring my shoulders to try and seem more confident, “More than anything, sir.”

“Well then, I have a proposition for you.” He gets up from his chair, his tall, lean body going to perch on the corner of his desk as he looks up at me his blue eyes sparkling with a mischievous glint, “I’ll give you a lead, and if you can follow through and get me a full 12000-word article by Monday, you can keep your job and I might throw you a lead here and there. But if you fail to deliver…” He pauses momentarily, thinking over his next words carefully, “you lose your job.”

I gasp and try to reason with myself for a second, making a mental pro-con list before replying quietly, “What’s the article on?”

He shakes his head and smirks lightly, filling my stomach with more unease, “No, you have to agree to the proposition. Then, I will tell you the story.”

Can I do this? Can I risk everything? I mean, that’s what my life’s been so far, a lot of risks and sacrifices. But is this a sacrifice I’m willing to make?

What would mom do? I sigh, “O-ok. Okay, I accept. Now, what’s the story?”

He claps his hands together excitedly and looks up at me with a boyish grin, he moves swiftly behind his desk and grabs an envelope, handing it to my shaky hands, “Grayson Dolan, he fights tonight here at the arena, go with a press pass, get an interview with him and ask him a couple of questions. Oh, and make sure we get a quote.”

I stare at him open-mouthed, frozen to my spot, “What? The Grayson Dolan?! You and I are both very aware that he refuses to do interviews. This isn’t even possible.” I say without trying to raise my voice too much.

Jace just leans back in his desk chair, lacing his fingers together and putting them behind his head, “Not my problem- it’s yours now. If I don’t have that story in my hand Monday morning, just pack your things up and leave, got it?” He smirks up at me.

I just silently walk out of his office and back to my desk, sitting down and putting my head against the cool wood surface. I don’t know if I want to cry or punch myself in the face.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“And then he told me that if I accept- but fail to give him a story- I lose my job!”

“Wow! I never liked that guy, you know. He gives off such- such a douchebag vibe.”

I can’t help but chuckle at my dad’s voice dropping a little, he hasn’t been big on cursing since mom passed. At first, it was weird because both my parents cussed when I was growing up. But after mom passed, dad decided that, ‘there’s enough hate in the world’ and that he’s not going to add to it with foul language.’

“I know Dad, but what am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t accept it! You should never risk your whole career on whether or not some guy is feeling up to an interview!”

“Ok, one-” I start, “it is not just some guy! This is Grayson Dolan! And two,” I lower my voice and chew my lip, a bad habit I picked up in middle school, “I already agreed.”

“Of course you did!” he sounds exasperated and I pull my phone away from my ear a little out of reflex, “You are just like your mother, you know that?” he sighs and the line goes quiet.

“Daddy?” I whisper into the phone. He stays silent. It’s my turn to sigh and fall back onto my couch. I mutter into the phone, “He wouldn’t tell me the story until I accepted. I have to go get ready, I’ll talk to you after the match. I’ll be sitting ringside so look for me, ok?”

“Ok, I will. I’m still not happy about this.”

“I know Dad, you’re not happy with two-thirds of the things I do.”

That gets a reluctant chuckle out of him, “I guess you’re right. Good luck, by the way. If anyone can get an interview out of Dolan- it’d be you. And if you can’t, your childhood bedroom would love to have you back.”

“Ha-ha. Thanks. I love you.”

“Love you too baby, I’ll see you soon?”

“Dad,” my stomach drops at his hopeful voice and I can’t bring myself to tell him the truth, “Maybe, bye.”

I hang up the phone before he can say anything and I sink into the couch.

I wake with a start, my neck sore from the back of the couch. Oh no. I grab my phone in a haste, I turn it on and my whole body sags in relief when the time shows up; 6:45.

I have about an hour and a half to get ready, that’s enough time!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Wrong. Very wrong. I feel a wave of heat wash over me, igniting my anxiety as I look at the time on my phone; 7:45.

I quickly put on my normal, light makeup consisting of moisturizer, skin tint, blush on my cheeks and nose, giving me an almost sunburnt look. I shape my eyebrows a little, fix my glasses, and put on my chapstick. I quickly brush out my short, wavy hair and clip back the front parts. I shake my head slightly to get my bangs in place and do one last check in the mirror before heading to my closet.

Too pink. Too casual. Too tight. Too- ugh where did I even get that from? I start moving the hangers faster, getting frustrated with my lack of options. I move past a pastel purple dress- wait. I go back to the dress and grab it off the rod, holding it up in the light.

When did I buy this? My eyebrows furrow as I look at the beautiful and delicate dress that I must’ve forgotten about. I pull it off the hanger and slowly put it on, saying a silent prayer that it fits.

I smooth the soft material out and look in the mirror. I’m pleasantly surprised by how the dress fits. It’s silk with spaghetti straps and is a lilac color with little flowers all over it.

I don’t have time to overthink my outfit now. I throw on my roommate’s white Timberlands, grab my black purse, making sure my ID, wallet, and phone are all tucked safely inside. I grab my press pass and put the lanyard around my head carefully.

Taking a deep breath, I walk out to the living room where my roommate is sitting waiting for me to come out.

I clear my throat and try not to look too awkward. Ryan looks up from her MacBook and gasps, tossing her laptop onto the couch next to her, she moves over to me, her long legs gracefully walking around the coffee table.

She investigates every part of my outfit, making me feel small and self-conscious. Before I can stop myself, I start rambling in a quiet tone, “Is-is this too much? Do you th-think it looks okay?”

She grasps my shoulders and a wide smile makes its way onto her face, “Of course, you look amazing!” I smile at her and she winks at me, “When that pretentious ass sees you- he might want to do more than just let you interview him.”

I snort and roll my eyes and she laughs, “Yeah right,” I mumble.

She walks over to our coat rack and pulls off a small black cardigan, “Here, I know it gets cold in there,” I smile gratefully and take it from her, folding it over the crook of my arm and taking a deep breath.

I start to walk towards the door and she calls my name, I look back at her as I open the door, “You look hot Lil- knock ‘em dead,” I smile at her and nod, walking out before I get sappy.

I pull into the busy parking lot of the arena and gulp down my bubbling anxiety. I find a parking spot, towards the back of the lot seeing as I don’t get bothered by having to walk a little. I go up to the line, seeing a sign that says, ‘PRESS ENTRANCE HERE’ I smile at the worker looking at me and pointing to the Press sign and then at my pass hanging around my neck, he nods.

I go towards the other entrance and show a different security guard my pass and he opens a door for me, I smile up at him, “Thank you-” I glance at the small name tag, “Don.” He blushes slightly and coughs.

I blush too and walk through the door quickly. I realize that I’m ‘backstage’ and can hear the fans cheering for one of the main card fights happening. I check my small watch and see that it’s going to be another hour or so before Grayson Dolan fights.

I take another deep breath and start walking forward, trying not to look like a lost puppy and failing when a man wearing a UFC crew shirt comes over to me with furrowed brows, “Who’re you looking for?”

I look at him, his deep voice vibrating against the walls, “Grayson Dolan,” I answer back.

He gives me a once-over and I try not to make a face when he meets my eyes and smirks, “Oh, he’ll like you.” I furrow my brows but decide not to question it as he points down a long hallway, “Four doors down, take a right, then the last door on the left is him- the one that’ll say, Grayson Dolan.” I thanked him even though he was a bit rude, and made my way down.

Once I turn down the hallway I see someone sitting outside one of the rooms on a single chair. I make my way closer and my heart drops into my stomach when I see it’s a girl sitting outside Grayson Dolan’s room, “Hello? Are-Are you okay?”

The girl looks up at me from her phone and gives me a once-over, except it’s different from the way the worker did- she looks annoyed with me. She stands up, her high heels making her about an inch or two taller than me, “Who are you?” She asks, crossing her arms over her chest, pushing her cleavage up.

I cough to clear my throat a little, taken back by her abrasive tone, “I’m a reporter- Are you okay?”

“I’m perfectly fine, and if you’re here for Grayson Dolan- he won’t talk to you.”

“I- I’m sorry, why do you say that?” The woman steps closer to me and I try not to gag at the smell of her cheap, overused perfume. I step back from her and she straightens up slightly, glowering at me.

“Just run along, maybe you’ll understand when you’re grown,” She says, looking back at her phone, when she glances up and sees I’m not leaving she rolls her eyes, “Grayson Dolan doesn’t talk to reporters. I wouldn’t be surprised if you weren’t actually a reporter anyway, you’re probably just here to fuck him, huh? Get in line,” She laughs.

My whole body feels like it’s on fire. I don’t understand why she’s being so rude and malicious towards me but I have to get this interview. I can’t let people like her bring me down anymore. When she gives me a fake smile and sits back down, I decide to be the bigger person. Not snapping back at her and ignoring her. Because she doesn’t know me and she doesn’t know what I’ve been through.

The door opens before I can say anything anyways and we both look over, startled. A man looks over at us, then turn and glances back inside the room before he nods, looking at me, and asking what my name is, “Lily Taylor, here with Ace Publis-” I try to tell him but he cuts me off opening the door wider and my eyes widen as he tells me to come in. I try to keep from laughing when the girl asks if she can come in but he just shakes his head at her, I turn around quickly before he shuts the door, “If I were you- I wouldn’t lie to others and say you’re around his age, it’s very obvious that you’re old enough to be his mom,” And the door shuts on her shocked face.

I realize my heart is pounding in my ears and that is probably the meanest thing I’ve ever done, “I should probably apologize,” I whisper to myself and jump slightly when I hear a deep chuckle.

“What can I help you with, Ms. Taylor?” My shoulders tense at the familiar voice and I turn around slowly, facing a couch with a very amused Grayson Dolan sitting on it.

“I- I’m so sorry for being so rude to her. I didn’t mean to be.”

“Why do you think I’d care about her? She’s been sitting out there for two hours,” He laughs and I think he caught the raise of my eyebrow but ignores it, “I asked you once, Ms. Taylor, I don’t like repeating myself.” He reminds me of his question.

I square my shoulders, “I’m here with Ace Publishing & Co., I would love if you could answer some questions for me,” I smile at him, trying to come off as friendly.

His amused expression drops and he scoffs, “You’re one of them? God- here I was hoping you were a die-hard fan. Was going to make you feel very special,” He smirks at me and I scrunch my nose out of habit at his gross words. I quickly stop, realizing I need this, “Frank- show Ms. Taylor out please,” He sighs, and my eyes widen and I stick my hands out and Frank stops moving for a second.

“Wait! Wait! Please I-” Frank huffs at my refusal to move and grabs my arm as I move closer to Grayson, “Please. I wouldn’t be this adamant if I didn’t need this. Please. My career is counting on this moment. Please, I will get down on my knees and beg if I have to, please,” I put my hands in a pleading gesture, hoping he’d take pity.

He holds his hand up to Frank and he lets go of my arm, I sigh and straighten up a little, hoping to gain back some of the dignity I seemed to have lost, “What do you mean?” He cocks his head to the side curiously and I blush, glancing at the ground.

“My boss he uh- he told me that if I don’t get at least a quote from you I can kiss my job goodbye and well, it’s not the best job but I’ve worked my ass off to get where I’m at and he’s being unfair and I understand that this isn’t your problem and I understand why you don’t like to talk to interviewers-”

He cuts me off, “You know why I don’t talk to interviewers?” I look up at him and nod meekly, “Why? Explain it to me,” he crosses his arms and I think he might be upset with me.

I look back down at the ground and take a breath, glancing back up at him through my lashes, “You don’t do interviews because doing an interview is personal and revealing. You’re scar- scared to let the world see who the Grayson Dolan is because you don’t think they’ll like you as much.”

He cocks his eyebrow and uncrosses his arm, sighing, looking away from me to the wall, his tongue pressing against the inside of his cheek as he contemplates for a minute, “You got like 20 minutes to ask me whatever you want, and no stupid questions that all the interviewers ask, okay?” I nod and move to sit in the chair next to the couch.

“Do you mind if I record this? I’d like to keep this paper-free, meaning I don’t have a notebook out and try to write everything down. We’re just going to have a conversation and let it flow. I can stop recording at any time if you say something you’d like erased. I’m not here to expose you, just here to get to know you. As a person. Not as a fighter. I’m not going to ask you anything about how being a fighter’s been or what your inspiration is. I’m going to ask you about you. As a whole. Because the UFC is not your personality,” I explain to him, pulling my phone out and pulling up my voice memos app and looking back up to him, waiting for an answer.

He stares at me until finally, I say his name quietly, hoping he’s okay, he blinks and flushes, shifting, “Sorry, y-yeah, that’s okay. I just- I didn’t expect you to be like- acting like a human.”

I laugh and start recording, “Maybe that means I’m a bad journalist? I don’t know- I feel like it’s easier to connect and get the questions in without papers and cameras and all that other stuff.”

(this part is going to be a dialogue as though we are just listening to the recording)

“That makes sense, and no I can tell you’re going to be great, you treat me like I’m just- a guy, which doesn’t happen often.”

“I bet, you don’t deserve that though. Okay, I’m going to start us off with some icebreakers- so tell me what your childhood dream job was, your favorite ice cream flavor, and 3 things you do on the weekends.”

“Oh, jeez, what is this- first day of 6th grade? Fine- Uh, I always wanted to be a pro wrestler, that was my dream job as a kid. My favorite- vegan- ice cream flavor is probably mint chocolate chip. And, uhm, three things I do on the weekends...okay okay I got it; eat, sleep, workout. Now you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you, Miss Reporter. If you want this to flow you gotta participate as well.”

“Okay, fine. Uh- as a kid I always wanted to be a veterinarian, and then when I was like 10 I realized I wanted to be a writer. My favorite ice cream flavor is probably mint chocolate chip as well. And on the weekends...I’d probably say; read, watch fights with my dad, and drink tea with my best friend at a cafe.”

“Every single weekend?”

“Yeah, my dad lives on the other side of the country so we do a FaceTime call and watch UFC together. My roommate has a job that takes up a lot of her time during the week so we go to this small cafe by our house every weekend.”

“Wow.”

(this is where the rest of the interview would be but, for later in the timeline, we aren’t going to cover every question she asks him :))

“Okay, now tell me about your family. Where you grew up, were your parents married, did you have a dog, and how do you think this all helped make you the man you are today?”

“I grew up in New Jersey; my dad left when I was 10. I’m allergic to dogs and cats, so I have a parrot named Gizmo. My mom never remarried and my sister lives with her. My brother and I moved to LA when we were 18, with no money, no job, just hope. We went to a gym and asked them if they’d train us. The next thing I knew, my brother was getting a job working at the gym and becoming one of my trainers. I learned how to fight and used my wrestling experience and worked my way into the UFC.”

“You didn’t answer my last question.”

“Yes, I did.”

“No, you told me how you got started in the UFC. I don’t want to know about that- everyone knows that story already. I want to know how you think the things you went through as a child have shaped you as a person.”

“I- I guess- I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t think much of who I’ve become so that question is hard to answer.”

“Why do you say that? You are one of the most accomplished men in America.”

“To others, but this- I wasn’t supposed to be a fighter. Everyone sees me as accomplished but I just feel like this was an accident. There was no great event in my life that caused me to become an MMA fighter- it just happened.”

“You don’t believe in fate, Mr. Dolan?”

“No, I don’t. Do you, Ms. Taylor?”

“Yes, I believe that we all have a path we are meant to follow and that everything happens for a reason.”

“Why?”

“Because- I don’t know- it’s nicer than the alternative to me, I guess. I don’t want to live in a world where nothing has a reason behind it. We’ll move on to the next question. You don’t disclose personal information; relationships, family, children, etcetera.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Why is that? Are you afraid?”

“Afraid? Of what?”

“The same reason I said earlier as to why you don’t like interviews; you are scared people will see the real Grayson Dolan and not like you as much or think you’re different.”

“Are you like- a profiler or something? Why do you think that?”

“I’m not a profiler- I’m a journalist. It’s my job to look for clues, pick up on the small things about someone no one else would notice.”

“Ok, I’ll accept that. Is it my turn to ask you questions?”

“No that’s not how this works.”

“You said you wanted this to be like a normal conversation, did you not?”

“Yes, I did say that, but-”

“Okay, well, I don’t know about you but normally when I’m getting to know someone- I get to ask questions just like they do.”

“Fine. What do you want to know?”

“I want to know...if you’ll go out with me?”

“What? Like on a- like on a date?”

“Yes, a date, Ms. Taylor.”

“Uh- I don’t know, maybe, I-”

“30 minutes to the fight, Dolan! Gotta get you warmed-up!”

(the story is back to normal now)

“So?” He questions as he stands up and I try to gather all my stuff. Trying to push down the butterflies while I stop the recording. I just continue to get more flustered, especially when he puts his hand out for me and I shyly take it, he pulls me to my feet and I stare at him through my lashes.

“I- sure. On one condition,” I smile slyly up at him and he raises an eyebrow at me, I ignore the unfamiliar feeling between my thighs at the look on his face and continue quickly, “You have to win this fight. I’ll be in the front row watching. If you win- I’ll go out with you.”

He smiles and then chuckles, “I thought you were going to make it hard? I could win this fight in my sleep baby, I’ll let you know the time after the fight, just stick around, yeah?”

I snort and roll my eyes, ignoring the pull on my heart when he calls me baby, “I’ll be there,” He smiles at me again and I jump a little in surprise when I feel his warm, large hand on the small of my back, he opens the door for me and leads me into the hallway.

I try not to laugh at the face of the Instagram model when she sees Grayson’s hand on me, “I’ll be looking for you in the front row, just so you know.” He teases.

I smile at him and kiss him on the cheek, “I’ll be the one cheering the loudest. Knock Em dead!” I walk away quickly and glance back seeing him standing there, his right hand gently going up to touch the spot I kissed and we both blush. My heart drops into my stomach when he looks over and sees the model. I have to turn the corner and get to my seat so I don’t see how he reacted. He wouldn’t sleep with her right after asking me out, would he? My subconscious snaps back; you barely know the man! Maybe he does this all the time! I push her down and ignore the bad feeling in my gut.

As I sit down in my seat, everything that just happened hits me and I slouch into my seat, what. the. fuck. I’m going on a date with Grayson Dolan! I got an interview with Grayson Dolan! I kissed Grayson Dolan on the cheek! I bite back a smile and take out my phone, taking a video showing me smiling at the camera, then flipping the camera around and showing off how close I am to the octagon. I sent it to my dad quickly.

He responds almost immediately.

*From Daddy: Wow!! So cool! Have tons of fun! Not too much though! Not ready to be a grandpa...yet ;)

I snort and roll my eyes, responding and then turning my phone off when the lights in the arena dim.

*To Daddy: Lmao, shut up. I’ll try to have fun though! The main card is starting! I’ll talk to you later, love you <3

After I watch a few of the fights before Graysons’, I take some pictures and jot down some information about the fights and who won, knowing it’ll add more substance to my piece.

I watch as the whole arena transforms and the whole place is bursting with barely-contained energy and the place goes dark. Suddenly, lights start beaming and music starts playing, I smile at the Kid Cudi (each fight he uses a different Cudi song) choice for tonight- Enter Galactic as it blasts through the speakers everyone goes wild, Grayson moving swiftly to the octagon with his head low and singing the song softly to himself. I can tell he’s not the same Grayson I was talking to, he has flipped the switch- as he told me he does- and is now The Grayson Dolan- UFC Fighter and Champion.

He takes his shirt off and I blush at his tan skin, the rippling muscles making my brain go straight in the gutter. The ‘doc’ pats him down and puts vaseline on his face. I try not to laugh at how weird he looks with his eyebrows slicked down.

He makes his way into the octagon and I see him scanning the front row when his eyes land on mine. I smile at him but he just gives me a curt nod in response before turning away. I’m taken aback by his attitude but I know he has to stay in his fighter mentality.

The other fighter, Dominick Reyes, comes in and he has a good amount of people cheer for him but the majority of the arena boos when he comes out. I know that having some of how this fight goes in my article will make it look better because it’s such a big deal, so I jot some notes down, some about Grayson and some about Reyes.

I subconsciously chew on my nail, scolding myself when I realize what I’m doing. He’s going to win. I tell myself to calm down, I’ve never been to a fight before so the chaotic and anxiety-filled energy around me must be getting to my head.

The ref announces them both, and then they go to the middle, Grayson goes to touch Reyes’ fist, but Reyes pulls back and smirks at Grayson, “C’mon pretty boy,” he sings.

Grayson’s jaw clenches and he starts moving around the octagon, Reyes slowly falling into a pattern of chasing him around. Grayson continues to step to the right until suddenly, he moves to the left, and Reyes doesn’t see it. I watch in astonishment as he puts all of his power into the punch, hitting Reyes perfectly on the temple. Reyes drops to the ground and Grayson’s about to follow him to the mat but the ref stops him, officially calling the fight. Grayson looks over at me, my mouth hanging wide open and he smirks, winking at me.

That asshole just winked at me.

I stand up quickly, cheering loudly with everyone else and he shakes his head, turning back to his team as they run into the octagon to hug him. Once Grayson is done with everything and the crowd starts shuffling out, Grayson comes over to me, “D’you see that?” He smiles and I smile back.

“Yeah, yeah, I saw,” He chuckles and grabs my arm pulling me into him.

I gasp as I hit his hard, sweaty chest, “You’re sweaty,” I scrunch my nose up and try to pull away but he tightens his grip, staring down at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“You owe me a date,” He responds and I roll my eyes, ignoring the hammering of my heart at how close we are to each other.

“What time and where?” I say, acting bored.

He chuckles down at me, “I’ll pick you up at 5:30. This Saturday. Just bring your beautiful self and don’t worry about anything else.”

“What’s the dress code?” I raise my eyebrow and he shrugs.

“Whatever you want to wear, although I’ll tell you right now they might frown upon you wearing lingerie or something like that.”

I snort and as he moves away from me a little and we start walking behind his team I realize that I’m a lot colder than I realized, rubbing my arms subconsciously and realizing that I left my sweater in the car damn it.

Grayson notices me rubbing my arms and bumps my shoulder, “You cold?”

“A little. I have a sweater in the car, I’ll be fine.”

He frowns as he opens the door to his dressing(?) room, “I have a jacket you can wear.”

He goes over to a chair in the corner and grabs a big, soft black jacket with DOLAN on the back and the UFC and Reebok logo on the front. I shake my head, “No, r-really it’s- it’s okay,”

“Just take it, you can give it back later, s’not a big deal, I don’t need it. I’m way too hot right now.”

He hands it over to me and I look down at it in his hands and then glance back at him, crossing my arms. He rolls his eyes and comes over to me, putting it on my shoulders and looking down at me, “Just wear it. Please?” He whispers and I flush, seeing that if I moved too fast our lips would be touching.

I nod softly and he steps back. I take a deep breath and put my arms through the sleeves and the jacket immediately warms me. I relax into the warmth and pull it tighter around me and he smirks, “Like you in my clothes.”

I blush and look down, “I- I should be goi-going,” I point my thumb at the door and he bites back a smile.

“Yeah, I’ll see you Saturday then?”

I nod and stutter out a response as I walk back to the door, “Y-yep! 5:30! Wait- I didn’t give you my address o-or my phone num-Ow!” I yelp in surprise when the door handle digs into my lower back and he can’t hold back his laugh as he walks over to me, trapping me between him and the door.

I swallow at his large frame covering me up, his arms resting on each side of the wall by my head, I can see his large biceps and the veins running up his arms in my peripheral vision. He smirks and leans down, “Check your pocket,” he says softly and I look up at him with furrowed brows.

I slowly move my hands to the jacket pockets and after digging around a little I feel a small piece of paper in the right pocket. I pull it out and open it up. I glance up at him in surprise at the digits scribbled onto the paper.

“H-How did you- why-” He cuts me off by moving away from me, my body on fire from how close he had been to me.

I move off the door when he motions for me to move and he opens the door, “Ms. Taylor,” He says, trying to hide a smirk.

I scoff incredulously and walk past him, stopping outside the door in the cold hallway, I turn back to look at him before I walk away to go have a panic attack in my car, “Mr. Dolan.”

A/n: okayyy so I know it’s bad and I’ll be editing it soon but I’m posting this on an ipad lmfao so please cut me some slack.

Tag List:

@pineappledols @episkygrant @georgia302 @dolan-habits @leahs-existentialcrisis @persistence-ofmemories @bubsdolan @ohdolans @vinylhazza @vintagedolan @astrodolan @zeusgrayson @deeperdolan @blindedbythelightt @dolsobsessionz @evergreendolan @dicedols @plantbasedgray

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hawthorne-house · 2 years

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Hello! May I have a a Hawthorn House After Hours reading? My statement is “Something in your soul is shining so bright and it makes me want to know you better” and my question is what does my soulmate look like and what can I expect from my romantic life in the near future? Thank you

Hello there, welcome to Hawthorne House. I'll be happy to do your reading for you however with some stipulations. I'll only be able to give you what I get and that means it's unlikely that I'll get looks specifically pertaining to this life or at all. If I do get anything of that sort I'll definitely share it but please take it with a grain of salt. I also don't really do soulmate readings so only take what you can or find viable to you and your situation that you can. "It's like trying to dress in the dark." As Aaloqui says. Well shit, I guess there is something to say about it.

You have the Lovers card coming out right from the start here so I'd say your romantic near future at the very least looks interesting. You could have a choice to make here soon to come out of your shell here with the Hermit also appearing with the Wheel, two of Wands, and Chariot. "Be careful what you wish for." Is coming through, not ominously but as something to be mindful about. "Ask and you shall receive but be sure you know what you're asking for." You have the Ten of Cups, The Seven of Cups, The Emperor, and the Nine of Cups at the bottom of the deck. I don't know if you just lucked out in your timing in asking this question or you had a feeling that something was coming but I wasn't expecting such a full on "Yeah that thing you're waiting for/looking for, that relationship you've been wishing for? It's coming and when it gets here it is going to flip your world upside down and push you forward into a future you hadn't even imagined." Or maybe changing things in a way you hadn't even anticipated.

With the House, the Garden, and the Key here. This is definitely giving me the energy that it's going to start at a social event, somewhere close to home, this could be a friend of the friend, friend of the family, a siblings friend maybe. It feels like someone close to you "Someone close to home". So you won't have to travel far yourself but you have the Ship at the bottom of the deck so I definitely think you will travel. For a very specific bit that may or may not apply. If you live in the states (American US) there's a lot of red white and blue imagery here and I heard fireworks. You might even meet this person at a fourth of July event if you go to or celebrate those. A light show and backyard grilling. It could happen that fast, that soon. This could also be at the beach or a pier or sailing with the Ship card coming in. And when I initially saw the lovers card I got something about a tattoo, a blue flower tattoo. Maybe a lily, lilies are coming up a lot today. Blue flowers and peacock feathers. Anywho! I hope that this was interesting, helpful, or affirming to you in some way. Thank you for visiting Hawthorne House. If you enjoyed this reading and want to check in on your may energy you can look at our youtube channel. Some of the signs this last round of readings had heavy romantic implications for the near future. Yours might have been one of them. Have a lovely weekend! Yours, Aria

#witchblr #divination #tarot community #free reading #free tarot #divination community #tarot reading #aria speaks #oracle #channeling #tarot #Hawthorne House After Hours

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sirrriusblack · 4 years

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it’s so funny to me that we’re mutuals even tho i’ve completely switched fandoms, but it makes me really happy 🥺 can i have some of your favorite headcanons for the marauders? 👉🏻👈🏻

honestly i love seeing my mutuals freak about the things they love even if i have no clue what’s happening lol, tis adorable :)) and yesss yes yes, you most certainly can

they have a handshake. it’s complicated as all heck because they’re dorks and they need to make sure no one else can get it but they stayed up all night working on it in first year and they know it off by heart

james is the mum friend and he’s constantly making sure they all eat enough and get enough sleep (he has to go to great lengths to get moony to sleep. lengths that include lots of threatening in regard to moony’s chocolate)

they have a homework system: they go to james for transfiguration and arithmancy, remus for dada, muggle studies and potions, pete for history of magic and herbology and sirius for care of magical creatures, charms, astrology and ancient runes

they all hate divination (although sirius likes to quietly believe in it)

they aren’t the popular group everyone thinks they are, they’re total dorks and hardly anyone outside gryffindor knows them beyond ‘those kids mcgonagall yells at all the time’

they made friendship bracelets in second year and none of them take them off ever

they make bets on everything and everytime something remotely interesting happens you’ll be able to catch the boys slipping coins, chocolate or random things in their pockets to each other (and every now and again someone will show up to class with green hair or the like)

sirius speaks french and remus speaks welsh which means the four of them will curse in the middle of class in one of either languages and get away with it

they go and chat to moaning myrtle sometimes, just to check up on her

they have cuddle piles. a lot.

if one of them can’t sleep for whatever reason, someone will sneak down the kitchens and come back with a shit ton of food and they’ll set up a fort on the floor and eat and talk until they all fall asleep

sirius, remus and pete all completely deck themselves in gryffindor colours when james has a quidditch match

remus somehow gets roped into giving the three of them piggy backs all the time

when they get bored sometimes they’ll just wander down to hagrid’s hut for tea and wait for him if he’s not there

they all equally s u c k at talking to their crushes

none of them except for remus can handle alcohol at all

peter can get them out of any kind of trouble they’re in, or at least get them a lesser punishment

they most certainly hold traits of their animagus form; james will eat grass sometimes, peter prefers just sitting in the dark and in enclosed spaces and sirius is very,, energetic to say the least

only one teacher ever finds the marauders map before filch obviously and that’s professor minerva mcgonagall. she knows better than to trust that it‘s just joke parchment and so she confiscates it for further investigation. she gets in and sees the map. she sees the skill that went into creating that map and decides to give it back, telling them that she couldn’t find anything wrong with it

when they graduate from hogwarts they all get a matching tattoo: messrs moony, wormtail, padfoot and prongs all stacked like a list on their wrists

at first they all move in together in this crappy three bedroom flat yes wolfstar shares a bedroom

in that time they discover james is extremely good at baking, sirius is extremely good at cooking, no one ever taught peter how to do the dishes and remus most definitely took advantage of the house elves at hogwarts and does not clean at all

james moves out, ready to take the next step to move in with lily, and pete decides he wants to live on his own, which leaves sirius and remus all by their lonesome ;)

they still have a weekly movie/game/designated hanging out night, despite always being at each other’s houses throughout the week anyway

they all helped sirius work on his motorbike and by ‘helped’ i mean they all stood around and talked shit while he was doing it

at james and lily’s wedding, remus, pete and sirius were the flower girls. they also managed to convince james to wear a purple suit. marlene was there for damage control though and james made it out looking quite handsome if he did say so himself

when harry was born, he got spoilt rotten by them all

sirius got harry a tiny leather jacket, remus got him a photo album full of photos from the marauders’ years at hogwarts and peter got him the coolest pair of baby shoes one ever did see

i think i am going to have to stop there otherwise i’m afraid this will get sad

but anywho i love my boys so much, they are precious and they most definitely lived forever and ever and did not die early deaths :)

#asks #eheh #thank #marauders headcanons #marauders era #sirius black #remus lupin #james potter #peter pettigrew #the marauders #mwpp #:))

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somegirlsnerdywords2 · 4 years

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Anime i’ve Watched

That begin with a N (Part 2)!

Yep this is how i’m going to bring over all the anime and manga i’ve watched and posted about on the old blog. It’s not so detailed but it will have to do. Anything new I watch or read from this point on will have their own posts.

Net-juu no Susume (Recovery of an MMO Junkie):

Genres: Game, Comedy, Romance, ONA

Synopsis: For the first time since graduating high school, 30-year-old Moriko Morioka is unemployed—and she couldn't be happier. Having quit her long-standing job of over 11 years, Moriko quickly turns to online games to pass her now-plentiful free time, reinventing herself as the handsome and dashing male hero "Hayashi" in the MMO Fruits de Mer. With the pesky societal obligations of the real world out of the way, she blissfully dives headfirst into the realm of the game, where she promptly meets the kind and adorable healer Lily. Befriending each other almost instantly, the two become inseparable just as Moriko herself becomes more and more engrossed in her new "life" as Hayashi. Eventually, Moriko adopts the reclusive lifestyle in its entirety, venturing out from the safety of her apartment only when absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Moriko, a timid 28-year-old corporate worker named Yuuta Sakurai has also logged onto Fruits de Mer from the other side of town. Coincidentally bumping into each other at the convenience store one night, both write off their meeting as no more than just another awkward encounter with a stranger—however, fate has more in store for them than they think. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2017 with a total of 10 episodes

My Thoughts: The male lead wears glasses! In case that’s something anyone but me cares about... Aside from that I can’t remember much about this one which is never a sign of an amazing anime so it’s up to you friends! Will you watch it or leave it?!

Nijiiro Days:

Genres: Comedy, Romance, School, TV Short, Shoujo, Slice of Life

Synopsis: Nijiiro Days follows the colorful lives and romantic relationships of four high school boys—Natsuki Hashiba, a dreamer with delusions of love; Tomoya Matsunaga, a narcissistic playboy who has multiple girlfriends; Keiichi Katakura, a kinky sadist who always carries a whip; and Tsuyoshi Naoe, an otaku who has a cosplaying girlfriend. When his girlfriend unceremoniously dumps him on Christmas Eve, Natsuki breaks down in tears in the middle of the street and is offered tissues by a girl in a Santa Claus suit. He instantly falls in love with this girl, Anna Kobayakawa, who fortunately attends the same school as him. Natsuki's pursuit of Anna should have been simple and uneventful; however, much to his dismay, his nosy friends constantly meddle in his relationship, as they strive to succeed in their own endeavors of love. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2016 with a total of 24 episodes. Each episode running about 13 minutes in length.

My Thoughts: Love the manga, which I keep meaning to finish because it is a completed title... and I should probably finish it before manga gets even harder to find online with the way things are currently going...

Anywho, the anime! Pretty good. The episodes are about half that of a normal anime but you have a 24 episode count so it’s basically the same as having a 12 episodes run with the usual running time! I’d watch it is you want more content after the manga, but keep in mind that the anime does not cover the entirety of the manga!

No Game No Life:

Genres: Game, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Ecchi, Fantasy

Synopsis: No Game No Life is a surreal comedy that follows Sora and Shiro, shut-in NEET siblings and the online gamer duo behind the legendary username "Blank." They view the real world as just another lousy game; however, a strange e-mail challenging them to a chess match changes everything—the brother and sister are plunged into an otherworldly realm where they meet Tet, the God of Games. The mysterious god welcomes Sora and Shiro to Disboard, a world where all forms of conflict—from petty squabbles to the fate of whole countries—are settled not through war, but by way of high-stake games. This system works thanks to a fundamental rule wherein each party must wager something they deem to be of equal value to the other party's wager. In this strange land where the very idea of humanity is reduced to child's play, the indifferent genius gamer duo of Sora and Shiro have finally found a real reason to keep playing games: to unite the sixteen races of Disboard, defeat Tet, and become the gods of this new, gaming-is-everything world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 7/10

Finished airing in 2014 with a total of 12 episodes.

My Thoughts: I have a laundry list of things i’m meaning to watch, read or do. Watching the No Game No Life movie on Netflix is one of those things. Anyways! I recall this one being alright, nice art/ animation/ character design and an interesting premise but too short and underdeveloped. One of those animes that may have benefited greatly from a longer run or second season.

No.6:

Genres: Action, Sci-fi, Mystery, Drama

Synopsis: Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect... at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—gained a new perspective on the world he lives in, thanks to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi. Nezumi turned out to be just one of many who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. But despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences: because of his actions, Shion and his mother lost their status as elites and were relocated elsewhere, and the darker side of the city began to make itself known. Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2011 with a total of 11 episodes.

My Thoughts: Just read the manga and watch this as extra, I can’t remember if the anime covered the entirety of the manga’s story but either way check out that source material first! The manga series is also completed which is a huge bonus. High point: The relationship between the two leads.

Noragami:

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Shounen

Synopsis: In times of need, if you look in the right place, you just may see a strange telephone number scrawled in red. If you call this number, you will hear a young man introduce himself as the Yato God. Yato is a minor deity and a self-proclaimed "Delivery God," who dreams of having millions of worshippers. Without a single shrine dedicated to his name, however, his goals are far from being realized. He spends his days doing odd jobs for five yen apiece, until his weapon partner becomes fed up with her useless master and deserts him. Just as things seem to be looking grim for the god, his fortune changes when a middle school girl, Hiyori Iki, supposedly saves Yato from a car accident, taking the hit for him. Remarkably, she survives, but the event has caused her soul to become loose and hence able to leave her body. Hiyori demands that Yato return her to normal, but upon learning that he needs a new partner to do so, reluctantly agrees to help him find one. And with Hiyori's help, Yato's luck may finally be turning around.

My Rating: 8/10

Finished airing in 2014 with a total of 12 episodes.

My Thoughts: Yes! Watch it! Love it! And also read it. Big downside: The updates for this manga are slow and the story is unfinished obviously. Upside: Two whole seasons of anime goodness, and if we’re really lucky we’ll eventually get another? Ok maybe not... but a girl can dream! Also this anime has one of my all time favourite opening themes! Amazing!

Noragami Aragoto:

Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Supernatural, Shounen

Synopsis: Yato and Yukine have finally mended their relationship as god and Regalia, and everyone has returned to their daily life. Yato remains a minor and unknown deity who continues taking odd jobs for five yen apiece in the hopes of one day having millions of worshippers and his own grand shrine. Hiyori Iki has yet to have her loose soul fixed by Yato, but she enjoys life and prepares to attend high school nonetheless. Taking place immediately after the first season, Noragami Aragoto delves into the complicated past between Yato and the god of war Bishamon. The female god holds a mysterious grudge against Yato, which often results in violent clashes between them. It doesn't help that Bishamon's most trusted and beloved Regalia, Kazuma, appears to be indebted to Yato. When lives are on the line, unraveling these mysteries and others may be the only way to correct past mistakes. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

My Rating: 9/10

Finished airing in 2015 with a total of 13 episodes.

My Thoughts: Another amazing opening theme! Seriously this series really knew how to pick them! Also have crushes on a solid chunk of the cast... so there’s that.

#Ona #anime #net-juu no susume #recovery of an mmo junkie #nijiiro days #tv short #no game no life #no.6 #noragami #noragami aragoto

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ravenclawfury · 4 years

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First spiritual experience with Hades and my best friends thought I was dying

Yes. This happened. Yesterday. And the experience was so deep and real that I wanted to write about it here. Prepare for a longgggggggggg post.

So! Necessary background about me. I live on a mountain. I live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. It’s a tiny little town in rural Virginia, population about 250. We have one grocery store and three restaurants, the fanciest of which is a Subway. Apparently, the fire department finds it necessary to sometimes to controlled burns in the forests on some of the mountains. I only found this out as I was driving home yesterday and saw the mountains smothered in smoke. It was very alarming to see until I found out what was happening.

I work an hour away from Tiny Rural Town because there’s hardly anywhere to work and I’m sure the pay sucks, so I drive an hour into a larger city to work at a Walmart. Anyway, I had just finished an eight-hour shift and had driven home.

Background on my relationship with Hades-- I have been getting signs from Him all over the place but He hasn’t really reached out to me the way my other deity (Loki) has so I’ve been feeling discouraged and wondering if it’s even Him reaching out, much less if I’m just seeing signs that aren’t there. I’d asked verbally and telepathically if He could appear in meditations and dreams since that has been pretty much the norm for most people I’ve read about (I know that every person’s individual-deity experience is different but I figured “most likely” is the thing to try first) and He hadn’t. I had tried meditating a bunch and I always ended up falling asleep-- although one time I did start to get into it and I had a couple visions of a shelf filled with scrolls and a wooden box with a sticker that said something about green tea. I think that probably had something to do with Him, like I was peeking into His office but he decided then wasn’t a good time.

I’m rambling. I had gotten up that morning and found my paycheck had come in but it was a bit larger than normal, and with my tax return sitting in the bank my account was looking lit. So I decided to attribute it to him (god of wealth and all) I wanted to do something nice and get Hades a proper offering. I picked out a nice bottle of wine (I think it was called Apothic Dark? It was only 10 bucks and it sounded very Him) and some pretty flowers (roses and purple lilies? purple somethings). And then I drove home.

But my best friend wanted to have dinner and offered to pick me up so I didn’t have to drive back into town. I agreed and popped open His wine while I got dressed so it could breathe. I estimated my friend to be about 20 minutes out and it was sunset so I poured a hefty glass of it and took it outside. I looked around for a good spot to sit down and offer the wine and while I was looking I looked up through the trees and saw the fires.

The controlled burn was happening on the mountain across from ours, but until then all I had seen was the smoke. Now that it was dusk, I could see the flames raging across the mountain and I just kind of froze. I stood there for a few minutes in the cold before I sank down to my knees, still watching it. It was a fairly uncomfortable position (I was in a dress that I believe Hades likes) and I heard a voice in my head tell me it was okay to sit down and get comfortable.

Now, I have a godphone and I’m used to Loki regularly chattering away in my head so I knew what this was. I sat down and just watched the fire and I even teared up a little because it was beautiful but sad. I even got sort of a Pompeii vibe because the fire looked like lava flowing down the mountain and that’s just what came to mind. I subconsciously thought a couple times about going to get my phone to get pictures because it was so pretty and every time I felt a nudge to stay put, and then when I asked in my head if I could go get my phone, I got a verbal “No, just stay here in the moment. This is not something to trap in a photograph, just be here.”

Anyway, once I felt like I was ready, I started giving this little sort of speech for the offering, using Hades’ name and asking him to accept it and stuff. It was more a prayer than anything.

Anyway as I was talking I heard this rustling in the woods. It sounded like someone was walking up the mountain onto my property so I froze. It was getting closer but it wasn’t moving all that fast and it would quiet down every so often so I would try to start talking again, but I would get distracted as the leaves rustled. Eventually, I figured out it was a few deer moving up the mountain, picking their way through the forest, so I remained silent.

I listened to the deer and tried to pick out their movements in the darkness and after a while I got a gut feeling it was time to tip over the glass of wine without any further ado, so I did. The whole thing was just very spiritual and it was the first time He had really talked to me so I was very happy.

I went inside and checked my phone (since my friend was on the way) and there were about 6 missed calls from each of my best friends (one of which is my crush) and our group chat was blowing up. Long story short? She saw the controlled burn driving into town and panicked, thinking it was my mountain. My friends thought I was dying while I was giving Hades an offering xD xD xD

Anywho, I’m very very grateful to finally have a little confirmation (after all, I need all the reassurance in the world) and I really appreciate the experience. So, thanks, Hades.

#hades #hades deity #witchcraft #witches #witch #witchblr #wicca #magick #magickal #spiritual #spiritual experience #theoi worship #theoi #hellenic polytheism #hellenistic polytheism

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thetreeshavenotongues · 5 years

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Gajevy Week ‘19 Prompt: You’re Beautiful

So,I haven’t really kept up with the prompts, and I have a half-written fic for each one that I just haven’t gotten around to finishing, whenever that does happen it’ll probably go on my AO3 account though - no offense to Tumblr, i just actually know how to maneuver Archive and every time I post a fic here I feel like I’m doing something wrong.

Anywho, this is inspired by one of Rboz’s works, my story is very different, but I love her council Gajevy stuff so, any council works I do for them is heavily inspired by her comics.

Beautiful

They were everywhere. Around every corner and down every hall. Tittering behind their hands and gnawing at her sanity.

It was an infestation, and God how Levy wished she could just swat them with a newspaper.

“So, Levy-san, what was it like? You know… working with him.” The words were a conspiratorial hiss over the stacks of files on her desk, and, unsurprisingly, did little to help Levy’s mood.

Honestly, she wanted to throw her hands up, roll her eyes to the heavens and possibly light the end of the annoying chit’s uniform on fire; instead Levy only sighed and kept her eyes on the mountain of paperwork in front of her.

“It was fine.” She grumbled, hoping the curt words would be enough to shoo away her annoying assistant and her even more annoying questions.

Over the few months that she had been at The Council, Levy had grown all too used to this vein of conversation, and her day to day mood had suffered dramatically for it. She had been accosted in hallways by dithering coworkers, they had swarmed around her in the cafeteria, and one obsessive soul had even waited for her outside the bathroom door to ask if Gajeel wore boxers or briefs.

It was as if none of the women at The Council had seen a man until the iron dragon-slayer had shown up, practically oozing the type of masculinity that sent them all into a mating frenzy the likes of which Levy had assumed were limited only to nature documentaries.

Of course, Gajeel’s blasé attitude, new rank and the fact that he looked positively sinful in The Council’s uniform didn’t help matters much either.

“Oh, come on Levy-san, you’ve got to tell me more than that,” her assistant pressed, plopping her bottom on the desk and disturbing the organized stacks that had just been placed there – Levy scowled and felt her pen poke a hole clean through the paper she had been working on. “He barely talks to anyone but you and Lily-san. He’s just so mysterious and broody… and have you seen those arms! I mean, he just so….so….” the woman pulled in a deep breath and released a strangled sigh, “ya know what I mean?”

Yeah, Levy knew. She knew all too damn well. When he would stomp down the halls, wearing those shirts that looked like they were painted on, with his jacket held onto his shoulders by some sort of magic she couldn’t quite comprehend and acting for all the world like he owned the place, even she found herself dry mouthed and weak-kneed. Still, she wasn’t about to stoop to the point of agreeing with the woman nor would she offer her two-cents regarding Gajeel’s appearance.

Not that it would matter much anyway.

When they had first arrived at The Council and Gajeel had claimed his spot as a favorite obsession of the fairer sex, she had been subjected to an onslaught of questions – “are you dating?” “Have you slept together?” “Do you like him?” “Does he like you?”- and, in a move that she would forever regret, she had vehemently denied them all and stupidly claimed they were “just friends.” Unfortunately, this had only served to make her the go-to person for all questions relating to and requests for the dark-haired man.

What she wouldn’t give now, to be able to go back in time and tell them all “yes! He’s mine!” Even if it was a bald-faced lie.

She sighed again and pulled herself out of her thoughts, only to realize that the woman on her desk had yet to stop talking. “- each other in the hall yesterday and I swear he checked me out.” It was all Levy could do to keep from rolling her eyes. “So, do you think, that maybe,” Levy groaned, “well, could you ask him if he’d-“

“Sara-san,” Levy cut her off, finally pulling her eyes from her papers to level the woman with a hard stare, “if you’re interested in Gajeel, then go tell him, but right now, we have a report due by Friday for Jura-san and you were sent here to help me. So, can we please get this done?” A pointed look at her backside currently resting on some treaty copies had the girl blushing crimson and sliding off the desk.

“Oh,” she mumbled, looking properly contrite, “sorry.” For a moment Levy was relieved – forgiving, even – but the next words out of the other woman’s mouth had her seriously contemplating how quickly she could send a small fire spell at the end of her coat. “So, you really think he’s interested in me too?”

Levy groaned, it seemed like it was just going to be one of those days.

The sun was already setting when Levy finally left her office. Normal business hours had ended, and while she could hear the echoed shuffle of distant feet down the wide marble hallway, she was relieved to find The Council, more or less, empty.

All she wanted to do was make it to her little apartment and take a long, hot bath, read a book and forget all about her day. But even as she made her plans in her head - ticking off everything from the type of tea she would have in the bath to the name of the book she wanted to read - her shoulder ached under the weight of her work bag, a nagging reminder of what really awaited her once she got home.

“I guess there’ll be time for that after I get this done,” she mumbled to herself as she readjusted her bag and rounded a corner, her mind heavy with drafts of reports that had yet to be written. When her nose crashed into a familiar wall of iron muscle however, she knew that even those plans were about to be shot to hell.

“Took ya long enough, Shrimp.” Gajeel’s gruff words were offset by the two hands that reached out to steady her and the almost playful smirk that pulled at his lips.

She took a step back and rubbed her nose, using the time to discreetly look over the man. He was outfitted in his usual sleeveless forest green shirt and wide legged white pants tucked into a pair of black boots, his Council jacket, however, was nowhere to be found, so she could only assume that he had already gone to his apartment and came back to fetch her. “C’mon, Lil’s outta town and I’m cookin’ yer favorite.”

“Gajeel,” she sighed “not tonight. I’m heading home.”

Gajeel’s arms folded over his chest and he gave her the kind of look that told her this would be an uphill battle. “Ya couldn’t feed a mouse with what you’ve got at yer place, Shorty.”

“I’ll pick up something on the way,” Levy replied, side stepping him to continue on her way. She was unsurprised when his heavy footfalls fell in step behind her, she sighed. “I’ve got a ton of work to finish up for Jura-san and after that all I want to do is sink into a warm bath and go to bed.”

“Last I checked there’s a bath and a bed at my place. Not to mention all that damn clothes you made me clean out a draw-“ The little mage spun around and slapped her hand across his lips so quickly that Gajeel barely saw it coming.

“Gajeel!” She hissed, her cheeks a fierce red as her eyes darted around the empty hall. “Shush!”

His fingers wrapped around her wrist, and when he gently pulled her hand away his mouth was already twisted up in a predatory smile. “What’s the matter, Shrimp?” His words were practically a purr as he stepped closer, still holding her wrist to ensure that she stay put – not that he thought his little Shrimp would ever back down from a challenge. “Scared someone’ll think we’re shackin’ up?”

Her eyes narrowed in a glare that was almost threatening, were it not for the red that clung to her cheeks in the cutest way.

“Gajeel-!”

“- Gee hee,” he backed off and released her hand. He knew she would take it as some tactless joke - as she always did when he put forward these clumsy attempts at flirtation – and, for now, that was best. “C’mon, I’ve got work to do too. Let’s have a quick dinner, finish this shit and go to bed, yeah?”

Levy sighed, and shamelessly let her eyes run over his frame. He looked tired – not just from his work and ladder climbing at the Council – but from all of this. And, dammit, so was she - from her aching head to her sore feet to the emptiness that had wrapped itself around her soul for nearly half a year now. An emptiness that was slightly less intolerable in the presence of this emotionally stunted, red-eyed man who did live 10 minutes closer to The Council than she did.

“Fine,” she breathed out, “but if I find out that you’ve just collected scrap metal instead of real food, I’m going home.”

He grinned, “why would I do that when I have you and yer amazing iron around?” Something about the words had Levy’s stomach doing flips and she was all too happy when he sauntered ahead of her, oblivious to the renewed flare of red on her cheeks.

She shook her head and quickened her steps - honestly, the man was turning her into Juvia.

They had just made it out of the winding, cavernous halls of The Council’s main branch when she became aware of his eyes on her. The look was hard and calculating, complete with furrowed brows and pursed lips, and just when she was about to ask “what” he shoved his hand towards her and said “hand it over.”

“Huh?”

He wiggled his fingers and frowned. “The bag, Shrimp. Give me the bag. It’s too heavy for ya.”

She scoffed and pulled the strap a little higher on her shoulder. “It is not.”

“Yer steps are off, I can hear it.” He knew she could be stubborn, more so than him sometimes, and from the hands she had just crossed over her chest and the pout she was sporting, he knew this was going to be one of those times. He dropped his hand and sighed, “you can glare at me all ya want, Lev, but ya look like you’re about to break in half carrying that thing. So,” he stopped walking and turned to face her fully, he bent at the waist and brought them almost nose to nose, meeting her defiant glare with an insidious smirk, “you can either give me the bag, or I’ll take it. Yer choice.”

Her obstinate gaze didn’t so much as flicker and his smirk only widened. “Fine,” he leaned back and shrugged, “you asked for it.”

He bent low, wrapped an arm around her legs, and before Levy could fully register what was happening, he had her slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“What the hell, Gajeel?!” Her small fists pounded on his back, but she received little more than a “Gee hee” from the man in response.

When he started walking again, showing little sign of putting her down anytime soon, she relented on her abuse and settled into a more comfortable position.

“So,” Gajeel was the first to break the silence, “gonna tell me what’s got yer panties in a twist today?”

Levy huffed, “my panties are not in a twist.”

Gajeel scoffed, “Gimme some credit, Lev,” his words came with a gentle squeeze on her thigh and she couldn’t help but sigh.

“It’s nothing serious,” she mumbled, doing her best to ignore the warmth of his large hand on her leg, “just a bit annoyed. I wanted to finish these reports today. I mean, I don’t mind the work or anything, but I haven’t had a night where I didn’t have to take something home with me in so long.” Gajeel grunted, he knew all too well what she meant. Levy had become a fixture in his life over the years, and when they joined The Council, she quickly became a fixture in his home as well, so he had been there on countless occasions, watching her scribbling away at his desk until the wee hours of the morning.

“Maybe if ya didn’t keep sending yer assistants to be reassigned, yer workload would be a little more bearable.”

Levy stifled a groan “I though Lily was out of town, how did you hear about that already?”

Her answer came in the form of his trademark laugh. She didn’t have a response, so she settled for pouting as she rest her cheek against his shoulder blade.

From her place on his back, she had little else to look at besides his boots and the floor, so when the pavement started to change from the pristine white of the area surrounding the Council, to the dark grey of the city proper, she noticed immediately. Half of the reason she hadn’t put up much of a fight when Gajeel had picked her up was because she knew that at this time the streets around the Council would be deserted – security had been tripled when they rebuilt after the Tartaros incident and the whole surrounding area was off limits to all non-members – the streets of the city, however, were a different story entirely, and there was no way she would allow herself to be carted through the bustling streets ass first.

She sighed, “Gajeel, if I give you my bag, will you put me down?”

He stopped and hummed thoughtfully, “I dunno…I’m kinda enjoying the view.” He squeezed her thigh again and laughed when she released a surprised squeak.

“Gajeel!”

“Yeah, yeah.” He lifted her easily and placed her down.

His hands lingered a moment too long on her waist, and she found herself missing the warmth of his palm on her thigh.

She cleared her throat and he stepped back. “Here,” she offered the bag and muttered an almost shy “thank you” when he took the bag.

“Jeez Shrimp,” he feigned a show of weighing the bag in his hand before easily tossing it over his shoulder, “what’d yer assistant do that made bringing half the library home a better idea than having her help you?”

Levy scowled and dragged the toe of her boot along the pavement before she grumbled out a response, “she was a little too focused on a Department Head to get any actual work done.”

Gajeel’s brows drew together and his nose scrunched in that way that Levy knew meant he was really trying to figure out who she was talking about. Not for the first time, she wondered if this level of obliviousness was some sort of dragon-slayer specific trait. “That frog guy?”

She rolled her eyes, “you, you dummy.”

For a moment Gajeel looked genuinely confused - his eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline before descending back into a frown - but his confusion was brief, and before Levy could blink his features had rearranged into an expression of such smugness that it had her groaning before he even spoke. “So, you were jealous?”

“I was not!” Levy sputtered, “It’s just unprofessional is all.” She sniffed indignantly and folded her arms across her chest. “Besides, I told her if she was so interested, she should talk to you herself.”

She threw a glance his way trying to see if the words would garner any reaction, but aside from the disappearance of his grin he was impassive. Two seconds ticked by before he offered a grunt and started walking forward. An awkward silence settled between them.

Levy frowned - after all this time, she still found that she had difficulty reading the man and it irked her to no end. There were moments when he was an open book and they could practically share a conversation with a glance, but then there were still times like this, when he would close himself off completely and even she had no idea what was going on in his head. Was he just intent on getting home? Was he mulling over the possibility of a date with that woman? Or was he upset that she had told Sara to approach him?

She was more than a little ashamed to admit that she hoped it was the latter. She’d hate for him to be upset with her, but at least then she would have a better idea as to where he stood with their…whatever it was they had. But those thoughts were selfish, and she wanted to kick herself for entertaining them at all.

Even with all they’d been through and how close they were, she knew it didn’t make them a couple, at least, not really. Yes, they spent a lot of time together, but aside from the time he had almost drowned, they had never really kissed, they didn’t whisper sweet nothings to one another, they hadn’t so much as held hands in public. But, whatever they had, labeling it as “friendship” also just didn’t seem right – she had lots of male friends, and never did she ever feel for any of them what she felt for Gajeel. It was a little before Tenrou Island that they began to grow unexpectedly close, then the feelings just kind of snowballed from there until they had landed themselves in that strange “not quite a couple” but “more than just friends” grey area.

It was this undefinable something between them that kept them together after the guild was disbanded. Yes, they couldn’t put a name to their relationship, but neither of them had even entertained the thought of going separate ways; so they traveled together, and somehow along the way whatever it was only grew.They ate together, trained together, depended on each other, and when she woke up panicked and crying from the shock of losing her family, he was there, pulling her into his arms and stroking her hair until she fell asleep next to him – a habit which stuck even after the nightmares had stopped coming.

When they found themselves settling down at The Council, propriety dictated separate apartments, but the transition had been a strange and wholly unwelcome one for her. A week after their arrival he had slid her a key to his place over breakfast, and while the gesture wasn’t grand – it was Gajeel after all, the key had been sent her way with little more than a “here, this is yours, Lily’s making Stroganoff tonight,” – it still warmed her heart to know that maybe he missed her constant company as much as she missed his. It wasn’t long before she would have a toothbrush in the bathroom and a drawer in his bedroom and her favorite blanket decorating his bed, and almost overnight her apartment became a place she visited more than lived in.

Still, a conversation about what everything meant eluded them. The topic had never come up even once, and beyond her presence at his apartment nearly every night, they had never actually done anything even remotely coupley, and Lord knew there were plenty of opportunities – they did sleep in the same bed after all. But, aside from the occasional innuendo and the heavy, pierced arm slung over her waist every morning, he had never made an actual move.

On more than one occasion she had attempted to screw up the courage to just bring it up and see things through once and for all; but then, something would happen, he’d make some crack about her height or one of the girls at work - one of those taller, prettier, chestier girls - would come to her for advice about how to get his attention – and whatever resolve she had mustered up would just fade away. It was beyond frustrating and it was probably one of the reasons she was in such a funk after today.

Levy was so lost in thought over the matter that it took a moment for her to realize that Gajeel’s heavy footsteps no longer accompanied the light tap tap of hers on the cobblestone street. When she looked around, she found he was standing some feet behind with a light frown pulling down the edges of his lips.

She closed the distance in a few quick steps and met his hard, red eyes with her curious brown ones. Before she could ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue he asked one of his own. “Why?”

“Why?” She repeated, her brows drawing down in confusion.

“Why’d ya tell her that?” The words were curt, but lacked any actual malice, nonetheless, Levy was not a fan of this avenue of conversation and shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

“Well, you are, you know,” she hesitated for a moment, as if the next word was some sort of curse, “single.” She fidgeted again, “And I just assumed – well - she has a thing for you, and I’m sure you’ve noticed all the girls following you around, I mean, she is pretty and –“

Gajeel’s hand landed on her head lightly, startling her into a blessed pause from her ramblings. At some point she had dropped her eyes to the floor, but the surprise of his touch brought them back up again. He was staring at her intently, his expression was a jumble of emotions, but at the forefront was confusion and a tinge of disbelief. Then, in a move she would never have expected, Gajeel actually threw his head back and laughed.

“Jeez, Lev,” his shoulders shook lightly, but his laughter had almost completely subsided by the time he spoke again, “and ya say I’m oblivious.”

Levy puffed up, ready to deliver a scathing remark, when the hand atop her head moved. His fingers tangled gently into her blue locks before sliding down to cup her cheek with a tenderness that had her at a loss for words.

He bent down and brought his forehead to rest against hers before closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, “Why the hell would I want “pretty” when I already have the most beautiful girl in the world followin’ me around?”

He opened his eyes and moved back, taking the warmth of his hand from her cheek, then he stepped around her and continued on his way home.

She was left dumbstruck for a moment, her mind reeling and her jaw slack. Gradually his words sunk in, and when they did, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to stop the grin that pulled at her lips even if she wanted to.

It wasn’t a love confession, it wasn’t even a kiss, but it meant more to her than she had ever expected such simple words ever would. She turned to look at his retreating back and felt her grin grow even wider. He didn’t care about those other girls, because he thought she was beautiful and–

Wait… she replayed his words in her head one more time and her smile dropped like a lead weight.

“Gajeel!” She yelled at his back, “I do not follow you around!”

He was already smirking when he turned to look at her stomping her way up the street towards him. “I dunno, Shrimp. Looks like yer following me right now.” He threw a laugh over his shoulder before speeding up into a run. “Gee hee.”

She faltered for half a step, blushed and sputtered before picking up her pace, yelling at his back as she went. “I- you- ugh! Gajeel, you dummy!”

As she raced to catch up with him, she couldn’t completely hold back the smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth. They still weren’t a couple and she had no idea when they would ever figure that out, but it was fine. He thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world, and right now, that was all she needed to know.

#gajevyweek #gajeel redfox #levy mcgarden #council gajevy

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thefantheorist · 5 years

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Hook isn’t the Villain?

Hello all my fellow Fan Theorists! Okay, so... I know this is a Peter Pan theory. I also know it isn’t a super popular movie anymore or anything, but just bear with me here. So we all know the Disney classic Peter Pan, most remembered for its infamous scene with the Native Americans because...

How on Earth could you forget this scene? Anywho, despite the movie’s pratfalls, it was entertaining enough to be a comprehensible, well told story, where the characters are likable and none of them are too annoying, except for maybe the lost boys at times. Also, the fact that this movie decided to make a major character be completely silent (and by silent I mean speaks no words) is actually pretty commendable. But this isn’t a review, this is a theory, and on that note: what if I were to tell you that the actual villain of this story, is Peter?

So keep in mind, the roles of “antagonist” and “protagonist” do not necessarily mean bad and good, respectively. The protagonist is just another word for the main character, while the antagonist is just the person who opposes the protagonist, neither of them have to be good or bad, they just need to contradict each other. That said, let’s take another look at this story. This story is told from Wendy’s perspective, meaning that all the information that Wendy has on Hook, and all the other characters save for her brothers for that matter, has been told to her by Peter. Ergo, the stories about Hook are being told the way Peter wants them to be told. He tells these tales of swashbuckling adventures, battling the evil captain hook and saving fair maidens, and people seem to believe him. The mermaids, for one, find Peter and his past deeds so intriguing that they are literally willing to drown Wendy to keep Peter to themselves. Tiger Lily (pictured above) is actually willing to die in order to keep Peter’s location secret. What? Why would she do that? Especially since Peter and the lost boys seem to have no prior relationship with the Native Americans, actually, Peter even tells the Lost Boys to go pick a fight with them. Why would you do that to the peoples of the girl that you are romantically interested in? Unless, Tiger Lily has heard of Peter and his deeds and wants to protect the “hero” despite not knowing him personally.

Want more proof? The beginning of the movie starts with Wendy telling stories about Peter Pan, probably ones that she heard from her mother or ones that she just made up. And I imagine that there is a slight air of truth to those stories, if her mother did in fact visit Neverland when she was a child. But she barely even remembers her adventures, so it’s safe to say that those stories aren’t all that accurate. But later on in that beginning scene we meet Peter, who we learn likes to go to Wendy’s window and listen to her tell those stories, many of which Wendy seems to have told pretty often. And why does Peter want Wendy to go back to Neverland to be the Lost Boys’ mother? Oh that’s right, to tell her stories. If those stories about Peter were in fact true, then why wouldn’t Peter just tell the Lost Boys those stories himself?

After Peter, Wendy, and the brothers make it to Neverland, Tinkerbell tries to shoot Wendy out of the sky, which is not a good thing, but you notice how quick Peter is to condemn Tink and not take any responsibility for himself? Maybe he should’ve been like, “Sorry that I abandoned you and left you to take care of yourself in a world you know nothing about where you aren’t a very capable flyer, just so that I could go taunt my arch nemesis?” Instead, Peter literally forgets all about it mere minutes after it happened.

Oh and speaking of a nemesis, let’s talk about Hook for a second. Hook is clearly not a good guy. He threatens to kill multiple children, is mean and cruel to his crew and his partner Smee, and he straight up murders someone within the first 20 minutes of the movie. However, he has clearly suffered a traumatic incident, one that left him in constant fear for his life, one that could be triggered by the sound of a ticking clock, one that left him an anxiety ridden mess. The incident, getting his hand fed to a crocodile by Peter Pan, was the whole reason that Hook was out to get him. This is treated as a serious condition in the movie. And yet, our charming protagonist Peter uses that memory to taunt and mock Hook, only fueling the fire.

Peter Pan is expressly a child, the boy who never grew up. He behaves like one too, acting petty and making rash decisions without understanding consequence, but he also doesn’t know when he has taken things too far, just like any child. He cut off Hook’s hand because he thought that it was part of a game, and like any child, he gets upset when anyone interrupts his fantasies, like when Tink tried to kill Wendy. The story of Peter Pan isn’t one about embracing your childish wonder and taking it into adulthood, it is a cautionary tale about how not having the guidance of a parent or other to help you grow into a healthy adult is incredibly dangerous, a detail that Wendy echoes.

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Peter Pan tells the story of a boy who never properly let go of his childhood and didn’t develop into a healthy adult, which is why he acts so poorly in the movie. While Hook is by no means a Saint, he’s not even a good person, Peter is the story’s villain.

Hello all and happy Monday! I’m eager to hear what you guys think about this post, even though this isn’t one of the more popular Disney movies and it certainly isn’t gonna get a lot of notes. So next week, I don’t want to spoil anything, but it is gonna be epic, so check back next Monday at noon to see what’s in store for you Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful week.

If you want to check out some of my other Disney theories, here ya go:

Cinderella Theory: The Prince Isn’t Blind! Why the Prince from Cinderella (1950) didn’t recognize the love of his life.

Frozen Theory: Who is Hans? The symbolism of reflections in Frozen.

#disney theory #disney theories #peter pan #tinkerbell #wendy darling #john darling #michael darling #captain hook #disney's peter pan #disney classics #fairytales #pixie dust #mr. smee

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ppeachlily · 2 years

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I’ve been gone for 3 yrs and I’m sorry

Hemlossss

^^✋Peach Lily here🤚^^

SOOOOOO- Here me out!!!! Animal crossing… right? - it took over my life + daily check ins are just apart of my routine right now. (If you’ve played the game, then you know the addiction)

I only have so many hours in day as of late and work + friends (no offence, i love you guys to bits) aren’t giving me a proper break - and so begins our 2 yr burn out journey. A lot of trying to catch up on manga series and trying to catch up on sleep. Hence I’ve been in the ether for tooo long - I got to comfortable in that dark space! Overthinking, crying my self to sleep and repeat. But there comes a time when it’s okay to do that for a while but not forever you know- which is why I started drawing again and working properly to keep my mental state, steady.

And Yeah I still have some days where I wanna throw my self off a building from time to time but I’ve realized one thing for sure- if your mental health isn’t good then your self isn’t good. It just isn’t, it stops you from just doing anything really. Gotta take alot of breaks if need be to keep going.

Anywhos I’m back now - here to revamp the Alter to its full glory!!! Heheh, I’ve also been practicing on Procreate - so you’ll get to see some new arts (prints, maybe keychains?? )

Glad to be backkkk

🥺👉👈

Thanks for coming to Ted talk and remember to take Necessary breaks

Now on with the regular programming

KOMPAIII!!

#personal rant

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the-domestication-of-the-dog · 4 years

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The 10th Annual L.A.O.K. Awards

Wow. Ten years of the Layokies. What a trip. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to all five of my faithful fans for your readership over the years. In my first ever Layokies post, I named it the “1st (Possibly) Annual L.A.O.K. Awards.” I had no idea how long I’d be working at the Academy, let alone living in LA, but here we are. I bragged about seeing 180 movies that year. I just checked my Letterboxd stats for this year and it turns out I watched...180 movies. However, this year I hit a new personal best for new releases: 125. While this is about half as many as some people I know, some of the first Layokies were based on a field of 60 or 70 movies, so I’ve doubled up on my old self. Funny thing is, I can still look on other year-end lists and find many films I haven’t seen, and even some I haven’t heard of, so the field of films I’ve added are probably in the middle to bottom range of the pack. But someone out there has to watch Tolkien, Gemini Man, The Goldfinch, and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?, so it might as well be me.

In all honesty, my absolute favorite thing about living in Los Angeles and working at the Academy is access to watching movies and being around the general cinephile community, and even a bad couple of hours in a movie theater beats a lot else. Over Christmas break I saw Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Shawnee, OK’s own Cinema Center 8.

It was quite a trip going back to this theater after so many years and to think of the love of film that was fostered there. Alas, the picture was pretty muddy, and I’m almost positive they showed it in 2k. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Now, in penance for naming The King’s Speech Best Picture in my first year (lol), I give you five real good’uns for 2019:

Best Film The Farewell The King Little Women Parasite Uncut Gems

Sometimes I touch on a year being good or bad for film in general. Not sure about the whole, but I’ll call 2019 a real SEC year (aka stacked at the top and mediocre to poor the rest of the way down). While I would probably only give one title on this list must-see status (Parasite), these are all definite should-sees. The Farewell made me laugh and cry and cringe. One might even go so far as to say it “gave me all the feels.” The King gave me actual siege warfare and period-accurate haircuts. Little Women hit me with that structure, and at first I was all “hol up,” but then I was all “OK I see you.” Little Women also made me cry because I cry in movies now. (A quick aside, because while I absolutely loved Little Women, it’s not really going to come up again. If you liked the movie and haven’t read the book, please do yourself a favor and make it the next one on your list. You can’t know how great this movie is unless you know how good Beth is. Beth kind of got lost in this one, and you need to know Beth.) Parasite blew me away through its normality (who, having seen The Host, Snowpiercer, and Okja could have guessed that it wasn’t about some actual alien parasite??). And Uncut Gems was exactly as perfect as I expected it to be. And the Layokie goes to... The King

Faithful readers will know that one of my absolute favorite genres is ‘discreet conversation behind castle walls,’ and The King absolutely nailed it. It has everything: leadership position foisted on a worthy but flawed character who doesn’t want it, conversations in tents about battle tactics, love built on almost nothing but mutual respect, and most of all, Robert Pattinson doing a funny accent (it’s just a French accent, but he makes it quite funny). I would have already watched this again five times on Netflix, but I’m hoping and praying for an Oscar nomination that will never ever in a million years come in hopes that I can see it again in the theater during nominations screenings.

The Next Five Six 1917 Honey Boy The Laundromat The Lighthouse Marriage Story Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Best Actor Timothée Chalamet - The King Adam Driver - Marriage Story Paul Walter Hauser - Richard Jewell Joaquin Phoenix - Joker Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems

Another super stacked category this year. You might even say they’re *puts on sunglasses*...Stacked Actors. (<-- This is a really good joke for anyone whose favorite band from 7th-8th grade was The Foo Fighters.) These are all kind of obvious, so I’ll take a second to comment on Paul Walter Hauser and the fact that I gave out a very specific award last year titled “Refuse to Watch - Any More Clint Eastwood Movies” after trying and failing to watch The 15:17 to Paris on a plane (one of the worst pieces of filmmaking I’ve ever witnessed). Then this year Richard Jewell was getting such good buzz, and it seemed like such a good cast, and it was such a low-risk watch (on my second screen at work while doing spreadsheets), that I decided to shamefully renege on my earlier pronouncement and give it a shot. And...it was great pretty good! What is the deeal with Clint Eastwood?? He’s made some of my least favorite movies of the decade (Gran Torino, Invictus, Hereafter was a particularly awful stretch, Sully was pointless, and even parts of American Sniper, which was otherwise tolerable, were absolute cringefests). Anywho, I was very impressed by Paul Walter Hauser’s understated but perfect performance, in which he gets one good chance to blow up and yell at people--which you know I love. I hope he gets nominated, because it would be a great Oscar clip. (My ultimate dream job would be to pick the acting Oscars clips and I would be very very good at it.)

And the Layokie goes to... The Sandman (love that everyone is calling him the Sandman again)

I touched on Adam Sandler “A” in the Best Supporting Actor section of my 2018 Layokies post regarding his performance in The Meyerowitz Stories, lamenting that he hadn’t taken more dramatic roles after Punch-Drunk Love and hoping that good writer/directors would keep casting him. One more wish granted by the Safdie brothers. Adam Sandler’s talent is undeniable. He is truly one of the Great Actors of his generation. I really hope this is a respected-actor-making turn for him, but the upcoming roles on his IMDd--Hubie Halloween and Hotel Transylvania 4--don’t give much hope for the immediate future.

Honorable Mentions Taron Egerton - Rocketman (but only for the phone booth scene) Shia LaBeouf - The Peanut Butter Falcon Noah Jupe - Honey Boy Robert Pattinson - The Lighthouse Jonathan Pryce - The Two Popes

Best Actress Ana de Armas - Knives Out Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story Elisabeth Moss - Her Smell Florence Pugh - Midsommar Saoirse Ronan - Little Women

Found out last night from my resident celebrity expert Bridgette Smith that Florence Pugh is dating Zach Braff and it absolutely crushed me.

And the Layokie goes to... Elisabeth Moss - Her Smell

Her Smell was the last 2019 film I watched before writing this post, and I was really just looking for something to pass the time. I had been wanting to see it for a long time and noticed it was on HBO, so I pressed play and planned to work on this post while I watched. I couldn’t. I was riveted. The writing, score, and sound design are incredible, but it’s all tied together by Elisabeth Moss’s performance. She’s excellent at being revolting but still has all of those qualities that made her Peggy. You can’t not like her, even though you fairly hate her.

Honorable Mentions Awkwafina - The Farewell Cynthia Erivo - Harriet Lupita Nyong’o - Us (You know I love weird voices, you know I love actors doing weird voices and faces, but this was a bit much even for me. Reflective of Us on the whole, which I thought was interesting but really missed the mark.) Charlize Theron - Bombshell

Best Director Ari Aster - Midsommar Bong Joon Ho - Parasite David Michôd - The King Benny and Josh Safdie - Uncut Gems Céline Sciamma - Portrait of a Lady on Fire

And the Layokie goes to... Benny and Josh Safdie - Uncut Gems

Wired: New directors Tired: Old directors

Boy do I not understand the love for The Irishman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I’m not totally against boring movies if there’s a good reason for it (Midsommar was actually quite boring), but these were some of the least compelling films I watched all year. On the other hand, you have these young directors coming out of prestige horror, Ari Aster, Robert Eggers, and to a lesser extent David Robert Mitchell and Trey Edwards Shults, making some of the most dynamic films out there. Reminds me of Roger Ebert talking about early Scorsese in Life Itself (which I can’t find a clip of). Then you have Benny and Josh Safdie doing Scorsese better than Scorsese with literally breathtaking shots like the one below. How they construct such amazing edits out of such disparate takes as the one in the still above is a wonder. They’ll go from five extreme close-ups in a row to a jaw-dropping shot of the inside of a jewelry store zoomed in from across the street. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg on what makes them the best filmmakers working right now.

Honorable Mentions Noah Baumbach - Marriage Story Robert Eggers - The Lighthouse Claire Denis - High Life Greta Gerwig - Little Women Alejandro Landes - Monos Sam Mendes - 1917 Alex Ross Perry - Her Smell Joe Talbot - The Last Black Man in San Francisco Lulu Wang - The Farewell

Best Supporting Actress Laura Dern - Marriage Story Lena Headey - Fighting with My Family Lee Jung Eun - Parasite (The housekeeper) Meryl Streep - The Laundromat Shuzhen Zhao - The Farewell (Nai Nai)

And the Layokie goes to... Laura Dern - Marriage Story

Here’s one for the Laura Dern stan accounts: There’s no question that Noah Baumbach is a talented director of actors, but Laura Dern makes so much out of seemingly not a lot in this role. She truly embodies a wholly unique and three-dimensional character that could have extremely easily been one-note.

Honorable Mentions Lily-Rose Depp - The King Florence Pugh - Little Women Margot Robbie - Bombshell

Best Supporting Actor Timothée Chalamet - Little Women Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse Shia LaBeouf - Honey Boy Al Pacino - The Irishman Robert Pattinson - The King

And the Layokie goes to... Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse

For being all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT7uR4wNMJs

Honorable Mentions Bill Hader - It Chapter Two Tim Heidecker - Us Sam Rockwell - Richard Jewell Song Kang Ho - Parasite (the dad) Lakeith Stanfield - Uncut Gems

Best Original Screenplay The Farewell - Lulu Wang Her Smell - Alex Ross Perry Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach Parasite - Bong Joon Ho Uncut Gems - Benny and Josh Safdie

And the Layokie goes to... Parasite - Bong Joon Ho

Another genre we don’t get nearly enough of: comedies of errors. A script like this is as sophisticated as any mystery, political thriller, or...some other sophisticated type of script, like uh, I don’t know, they usually just say Chinatown or Witness. I did think it lagged a bit in the third act, but everything that came before it was so tight. Twist after turn after twist, so funny, so shocking. This is such a rare prestige crowd-pleaser that it really does harken back to Hitchcock; if a wide audience can get over watching subtitles, this has to have one of the lowest barriers for entry of any foreign film in a long time. Here’s hoping for a Best Picture Oscar nomination and a wide release. Uncut Gems played at Shawnee’s other theater (titled simply Movies 6), so it’s not that far out of the realm of possibility. But I know people in LA, even that work at the Academy, who won’t watch subtitled films, so getting people to actually go see it is another question.

Honorable Mentions Peterloo - Mike Leigh

Best Adapted Screenplay Jojo Rabbit - Taika Waititi Joker - Todd Philips & Scott Silver The King - David Michôd The Laundromat - Scott Z. Burns The Two Popes - Anthony McCarten

And the Layokie goes to... The King - Joel Edgerton and David Michôd

It wouldn’t be the Layokies without me championing one film that no one else cares about. I just really really liked The King. Timothée Chalamet is so hot right now! How did this get so overlooked?? 😭

Best Documentary Apollo 11 Honeyland It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It Maiden Mike Wallace is Here

And the Layokie goes to... Maiden

As I’m in the process of producing a documentary right now, it pains me a bit that my top two picks in this category are almost entirely archival. I thought Mike Wallace is Here was so well done, and the director did some amazing things playing with aspect ratio. But Maiden came into port first. What is wrong with people who don’t appreciate sports? This xkcd comic (who I usually appreciate) makes me so angry. Tell the women who worked their asses off for years to claw their way into this male-dominated space and literally made the world a better place that their efforts were no more than a weighted random number generator on which to build narratives! Clearly the narratives are there, but it rarely has as much to do with the result of the competition as it does the effort that it took individual human beings to get there. See also: Undefeated (currently streaming on Netflix).

Honorable Mentions Fyre They Shall Not Grow Old Satan & Adam

Best Foreign Language Film Duh Parasite

Biggest Missed Opportunity Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (How the first live action Pokemon movie should have happened)

Not Even Close to Enough Monsters Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Most Unbelievable Cosplay Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers

Absolutely Crushing the Sensitive Dad Roles Billy Crudup in After the Wedding and Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Good in Everything Too obvious, but Florence Pugh - Fighting with My Family, Midsommar, Little Women Robert Pattinson - High Life, The Lighthouse, The King Adam Driver - The Dead Don’t Die, Marriage Story, The Report, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Destigmatizing Fatness Award Dolemite is My Name The Laundromat Skin Almost Hustlers but then not (Lizzo got what, 30 seconds of screentime??)

#WasteYourAudience’sTime2019 The Souvenir The Proposal

Didn’t Actually Deserve to be Driven into the Ground Dark Phoenix The Kitchen

Just Plain Liked It Triple Frontier

Most Forgettable Tie: Tolkien and High Life (not for me, but it took me a full 10 minutes to convince Becca that she watched this, and I had to describe the masturbation chamber aka fuck box in a lot of detail before she got it, and I’m still not totally convinced she remembers it)

The Something Award Motherless Brooklyn

The Nothing Award Judy

Worst Movies 1. Rambo: Last Blood 2. Between Two Ferns: The Movie 3. Abominable 4. The Lion King 5. Godzilla: King of the Monsters 6. Wine Country 7. Jumanji: The Next Level 8. Frozen II 9. The Goldfinch 10. Pet Semetary

Best Scenes

Avengers: Endgame - The hammer, the portals, all the nerdy/normie BS, what can I say call me a basic bitch but there were some genuine holy schmoly moments in this that made it a really fun movie to experience in the theater

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - When Mr. Rogers uses the puppets on Lloyd

Captain Marvel - When she went full shit on ‘em

Climax - The opening dance sequence (the only thing that made this movie worth watching)

The Farewell - Too many to choose from, but I think my favorite moment in this movie was when they were taking photos of the fiances and another couple stumbled in on them, claiming they were lost. That couple leaves and we never see them again. These are the kinds of details that make movies come alive. Absolutely brilliant.

Gemini Man - The motorcycle chase (a rare scene actually made better by the high frame rate)

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum - The knife fight in the knife store

The King - The conversation between Hal and Catherine

Knock Down the House - When A.O.C. debated the incompetent proxy

The Last Black Man in San Francisco - Skateboarding into town

Little Women - The “break-up” scene between Jo and Laurie (not a spoiler)

Midsommar - The drug trip scene (not that I’ve ever done drugs but this was the most accurate drug trip scene of all time) and the Ättestupa ceremony. Also found out in the video linked above that Ari Aster pronounces it Mid-SO-mar?? I thought that was the dumb way to pronounce it but apparently I’m the dumb one. Also also, another amazing detail worth mentioning: I absolutely loved that every time they were in their community sleeping barn, there was a baby crying somewhere on the second floor that we never see. Such a perfect way to put the characters and the audience on edge and indicate that there’s something wrong here.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - While I didn’t care for this movie, the scene where Brad Pitt went to the movie ranch and when he fantasized about going to the film set were absolutely dripping with tension, which made them as just as riveting as the rest of the movie wasn’t

Parasite - When the other family comes home early

The Peanut Butter Falcon - The scene after they come out of the corn field and share one of their first genuine moments

Uncut Gems - *Sarah Palin voice* All of ‘em, any of ‘em. But seriously the finale with the Celtics game

Us - The initial home invasion and the visit to the Tylers’ home (Tim Heidecker and Elisabeth Moss)

The A.V. Club also does a best scenes list at the end of the year, and I love writing mine first and then seeing what they came up with. I’m always surprised at how many we match on. Just goes to show that a good scene is universal. I also enjoyed some of theirs that I overlooked here, including from Her Smell, Bombshell, Ad Astra (I almost included the moon chase myself and thought the baboon scene was equally compelling), and Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Stupidest Scenes Every other John Wick 3 scene

Deserves Discussion The Dead Don’t Die

This movie was a lot of fun. But then it also completely sucked? Not really a Jim Jarmusch fan in the first place, but this had so many awesome elements to it: a great cast, great soundtrack, really fun and unexpected ways of breaking the 4th wall, but then it was also pointless and boring. I would love for someone to tell me why this is a good movie after all, but judging by its complete absence from the end-of-the-year discussion (or any discussion), I’m guessing no one cares enough to mount that challenge.

Best Visuals Alita: Battle Angel Aquarella A Hidden Life Honeyland Midsommar Monos

Many LOLs It Chapter Two Jojo Rabbit Parasite

Best Song Ready or Not - The Hide and Seek Song (why was this not submitted?)

youtube

Best Soundtrack Waves - Never have I already known so many songs on a film’s soundtrack; it’s almost as if Trey Edwards Shults is another white guy around my age with the same interests as me...

Worst Accents Midway

Started But Never Finished Cats Cold Case Hammarskjold Genndy Tartakovsky’s ‘Primal’ - Tales of Savagery The Highway Men High Flying Bird Queen and Slim Spies in Disguise

Didn’t See Ash is Purest White Atlantics The Beach Bum The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (still really want to see this one) Clemency Diane Invisible Life Luce Shadow Synonyms Transit Woman at War

Absent on Purpose Pain & Glory Ford v Ferrari I think these are the only two contenders that I’ve seen and haven’t mentioned. I actually liked both of these movies quite a bit. Just didn’t stand out for me in any one category I suppose. But then also: Booksmart Brittany Runs a Marathon Just Mercy The Mustang

Hah!

0 notes

imnotobsessedwfictionalchracters · 2 years

Text

Chapter 5: Speak And You'll Choke

I do not own Harry Potter or the characters created by Rowling.

So...when I first wrote this...I don’t even know how long ago, it was low *cough* highkey crappily written and the chapters were much shorter. This was originally 2,989 words. Now it is 4,468 words. That means I wrote an extra 1,479 words.

Anyways, this is also posted onto my Fanfiction.net account SomeKind0fMagic and my Wattpad somekindofmagic1 so you can check it out on there too!

But anywho, hope you enjoy!

Love Z <3

Prev Next

Albus awoke very slowly and quietly. The sun was barely coming through his maroon curtains, he yawned and pushed himself off of his bed. He sat on the side of his bed and looked around. He didn’t really look around at it when he got home the previous night. He had almost forgotten how...Gryffindor it was.

With the dark red walls and his white desk and bookshelf. Maroon curtains that let little light in. It all just felt so...not him. At least not him anymore. He shook his head and looked over to the alarm clock on his desk. He sighed when he read that it said 8:30. Merlin he wished that he would have woken up later. He wanted to get more sleep during the break.

But he knew his mum was about to come and see if he’s up anyways. Not that she would wake him up, she would just check on him. He yawned as he got up, he glanced down at his leg and saw his pajama pants had scrunched up at his knee. He shook his leg, making the pants leg fall down. He opened his door and walked out of his room. The door across from him was still shut, telling him that James was still asleep. Albus silently thanked Merlin for that. He looked down the hall and saw that Lily’s was open, as he walked past, he heard her in there talking on the phone.

He yawned as he walked down the stairs, trying not to trip on his pants. He silently walked into the kitchen. He was surprised to see his dad dressed for work. It was a Saturday and he rarely worked on the weekend. Plus he usually was off today. Tomorrow was literally Christmas Eve. “Morning.”

His parents, who had been talking with one another, both looked at him in surprise. The surprise quickly fell from both of their faces and a smile fell on his mums. “Morning sweetie, how’d you sleep?”

He shrugged, “It was alright. Weird that I woke up so early. Guess I’m used to having to be at breakfast at this time.” He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab a water.

“Didn’t you have to be at school by 8:30 before?”

Albus stopped and thought about it for a moment. His dad was right. He turned back and shrugged again. “Well...I was wanting to ask you two something?” Both of them hummed in response. Albus bit his lip before he asked, nervous on if he should. But he did. “I was curious...if I could...could I invite a friend or two over? Or maybe go to one of their houses?”

He watched as his parents looked at each other and then back at him. His dad cleared his throat. “Which friends?”

Albus sighed, he knew that he would ask it. So Albus sucked in a breath before saying their names. “Scorpius Malfoy and Anneliese Green. Annie was the one with me when I came up to you guys yesterday.”

Albus stared at his parents. His dad looked wary of it but his mum just gave him a soft smile. “I have no issue with it. I should be home most of the break anyways so they’re welcome anytime. And as long as it is okay with their parents, you can go over.”

Albus looked at his dad and watched as he sighed, “I guess I don’t see why I would say no. Just let us know a day beforehand.”

Albus smiled widely and hugged his parents, “Thank you!” He pulled away and ran up to his room. He grabbed a paper and something to write with and started the notes to his friends. He started with Scorpius because he knew how to fill it out.

Scorp,

Hey, it’s Al, I wasn’t killed haha, I asked my mum and dad and they said you could come over as long as your parents are okay with it. Just let me know, I hope it’s the same day as Annie comes over too. To me it would seem weird not having both around. But still, like I said, let me know so I can tell my parents. And my mom said the same about me going over to yours

Of course, he wrote practically the same thing to Annie. Only difference was that he sent it out to different people. He got up from his desk and walked downstairs and to the snowy white owl that his dad had bought when he was about 7. “Hey Frost, can take these to Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire and Green Manor in Wales?” The owl blinked as an understanding and flew off out the window. Albus watched as Frost flew away. Only looking away when he was so far out of Albus’s sight.

Albus turned around and walked out of the small room. He walked back into the kitchen and saw that his dad was now gone, but his mum was making something. “Hey mum, I sent Scorpius and Annie the letters to tell them that they can come over.”

She didn’t turn around and continued to cook, “That’s good that you sent them, your father left for work by the way. And I’m making pancakes.” She sighed and turned back to him, “Could you get your siblings down?”

Albus nodded and left the kitchen. He stopped before he walked up the stairs, he hadn’t spoken to James since the argument. So he already knew James’s opinion on Slytherin House. So he knew James’s views on him. But Albus shook his head and walked up the stairs, he stopped at Lily’s room first. Mostly since he crossed it first. “Lils?” She looked over at him, the phone against her ear. “Mum wants you downstairs. She said she’s making pancakes.” She nodded and he heard her say something about having to go to whoever she was on the phone with.

But then Albus walked out and down to James’s room. He moved to open the door, but then he suddenly froze. He couldn’t do anything. He just stood there. Doing nothing as his hand was hovering over the door handle. But, even while he wished it didn’t happen, he was thankful that before he could open the door, it swung open.

The two dark-haired boys stared at each other. No words were spoken. And Albus felt like he would choke if he even tried. But he knew that James knew that he couldn’t start a fight, unless he wanted to get in trouble. They both knew that, unlike at Hogwarts where he can get out of it as teachers have faith in him, their mum didn’t. So all that did was just ram himself into Albus’s side and since he was so much bigger than Albus, it caused him to fall back. But instead of getting up, Albus stayed on the floor for a few seconds. After a moment, he shook his head and pushed himself up and walked down the stairs, back to the kitchen.

When he got downstairs, James and Lily were already sitting and eating. He sat down in his usual seat and grabbed a few pancakes. They all ate in silence for a few. Until his mum spoke. “Albus, what was that thud a few minutes ago? Before James came down? You took a little to come down after him. Was everything okay?”

Albus glanced over at James, who was staring at him. Almost daring him to tell their mum the truth. Albus looked back at his mum. And for a brief moment, he thought about telling the truth. But he didn’t. “Oh, I just ran into the wall. Nothing really.”

She looked surprised, “Oh. Well, are you okay?”

Albus nodded, “Yeah.” He laughed, “Trust me. I’m better than Anne ever is.”

His mum raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

He laughed more, “Yeah. She’s always running into something! Don’t think she can go a day without getting a new bruise.”

His mum laughed, “Sounds like someone else I know.”

“Hey! I haven’t gotten injured in forever! That’s not fair!”

“Didn’t you just run into a wall, Al?”

“Shut up, Lils.”

“Never.” Lily sighed, “Mummy, can I get a new backpack? I noticed mine has a hole in it and the left strap keeps breaking.”

He watched as his mum held back a groan. “Lily, you could have told me when we were at the store earlier?” She ran a hand through her hair, “I’ll get it when I have the time.”

“Hey mum?” It was Albus’s turn to try not to groan. He wasn’t excited to have to hear whatever it was about James.

“Yes dear?”

“I was curious if I could invite Oliver, Frank, and Jay over?”

Albus looked over at James as he said the names. Oliver Creevy, Frank Longbottom, and Jason Bell-Wood. James’s three closest friends. Oliver was the son of Dennis Creevy, his younger brother, Colin, was named after their Uncle who died at the Battle of Hogwarts. Frank was the son of Neville and Hannah. And Jason was the son of the famous Quidditch players Oliver Wood and Katie Bell. James, Frank, and Jason grew up together while they had met Oliver their first year. Albus remembered when it used to be James, Frank, and Jason against the world. Then Oliver and Jason had joined Quiditch with James their first year and Frank fell to the back. And Albus had never really noticed it until this year. Frank was almost like a lost puppy. Following behind the other three.

“Well...I don’t see why not. I told Albus he could invite his friends over. Just the same rules apply. Your dad and I would prefer it if we have a few hours notice beforehand.”

Albus tried not to notice the glare James sent his way before he went to all smiles. “Yeah, of course. They may be over later today if their parents allow it.”

“James!”

“They’ll call before, mum!”

“You should have asked us last night! You had more than enough time!”

“I’m sorry, mum. I will next time.”

“Good. Now just let me know who all will.”

“Of course.”

Albus rolled his eyes before standing up, “I’m done, mind if I head up to my room?”

“Yeah, go ahead. Maybe go on and pack your bag for tomorrow. Just so we have to worry about less when we all wake up.” His mum turned to James and Lily, “You two as well.”

Albus nodded and, after putting his plate into the sink, he ran upstairs and to his room. He silently shut his door and laid down on his bed. He had forgotten about Christmas at the Burrow. All day with his family. All day with those who may just hate him now. He sighed and thought back to the Platform when he got back. At least he knew his Uncle George would make him feel better with some jokes.

--------

When James’s friends came over, they didn’t stay for very long. So Albus was thankful as he didn’t have to put up with them for very long.

--------

Albus ran down the stairs as he heard his mum yell his name. “Yes?”

She turned and handed him a letter. “Says it’s from Annie. Can I call her that? Or would she prefer me to call her Anneliese instead?”

Albus shrugged, “I’m not sure. I know that her mum is the only other person who calls her ‘Annie’. But I know everyone else calls her Anne. So I think that would work.”

She nodded, “Okay.”

Albus nodded and opened the letter.

Al,

Sorry for replying so quickly. I’m rather bored here, even with a full house. Anyways, my mum said that she was fine with me going to your house at any time, as long as it’s after tomorrow (and vice-versa to you coming over). I’m going to see him tomorrow, so why don’t I ask him when would work for him, if he is able to (and hasn’t written to you already).

In other news, how how your break been already? How is your ferret? And sister? Is she being as insufferable as mine? They all keep asking me questions and I’m sitting here and questioning if I was this way (and according to Aidan, I was).

Anyways, I better go know, I talk later

Annie

“What did she say?”

“Oh, just that her mum is okay about her coming over and me going over.”

His mum nodded, “Well, just keep me updated. Have you got your bag packed yet?”

No. “Yes.”

“Go do it.”

He sighed, “Of course, mum.”

--------

Albus didn’t do it that night.

But, he finished packing his bag before he was yelled at that they had to leave. Of course, that easily could have been because he had decided to just pack 2 pairs of pants and shirts (plus some socks). He was putting small things that were going to keep him occupied when there was a knock at his door. He yelled for them to come in and he soon after he heard the door opening and his dad's voice following soon after. “Your mum wanted me to come up and check on you kids. And it seems like all of you left your packing to the last minute. Didn’t she tell you all to pack last night?”

Albus rolled his eyes, “Yes, she did. But, I actually am ready. Just adding some things.” He wasn’t lying. It only took him around 30 minutes after I woke up to get everything packed.

His dad nodded and sat in the chair that went with Albus’s desk. “I never got to ask you yesterday, do you know when your friends are coming over?”

He nodded, “Annie said her mum was alright with whenever, as long as it’s after today. And she should be seeing Scorpius today and she’s going to ask him. But, I got a letter from him too this morning and he basically said the same as her.”

“Well, alright.” Albus continued to add things to his bag. When he finished he closed the bag and his dad spoke up. “Listen, everyone is surprised with you being in Slytherin, and I won’t lie, while I don’t know what is exactly being said, I know some have said some...questionable things about you being in Slytherin. But just know that your mum and I don’t care, neither do your grandparents, your Aunt Fleur was actually happy and she said something about how maybe you’ll get better fashion.” His dad stopped for a moment and laughed at that. And funnily enough, Albus joined him. Once they both calmed down, he dad cleared his throat and stood up, “Well, we should get going. We’re Flooing this year, your mother doesn’t want to apparate. Especially since we don’t have Teddy to take you, James, or Lily.”

Albus nodded and grabbed his bag before following his dad out of his room. He flicked the light off and shut his door. When they made it down the stairs, his mum sighed in relief. “Good, I was just about to call for you two.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Let’s get going, I don’t want to be reprimanded by my mum again for being late.” She motioned between James and the fireplace. “James, you first.”

James walked over to their mum and took the floo powder and walked over to the fireplace. He lifted his arm before yelling, “The Burrow!”

When the fire died down their mum motioned for Lily to go and once she disappeared into the flames his mum turned to him, “Albus, I know things are tense with you and some of your family, but please interact with them. Even if it’s just your younger family members. I do not care. I just don’t want you to isolate yourself. Understand?”

“Gin-” His dad started but Albus interrupted him,

“No, it’s okay and I will mum. Now may I go?” She just nodded and he grabbed the powder from the tiny pot. He noticed the look his dad was giving his mum when he turned around in the fireplace. “The Burrow!” Albus said it loud and clear and immediately felt the green flames engulf him and soon enough he was spinning.

To no surprise, he fell forward when he landed at the Burrow, but he felt someone grab him. “There you are!” He was engulfed into a hug, due to the person being around his height he knew it was his cousin Dominique. She pulled away from the hug and he noticed her strawberry blonde hair was longer than the last time he saw her. “How has Hogwatz been? I heard you were put into Zlytherin.”

He moved out of the way from the fireplace and over to the couch and shrugged, “Alright, I guess. How has Beauxbatons been?”

She smiled softly, “Oh, it is so beautiful there, the uniforms are very zoft too! Silk is what it is made from.”

“It sounds wonderful.”

“By the way, I am happy that you got into Zlytherin, it makes you much more unique.”

“Thanks Dom.” And he had planned on just leaving it there, but something pushed him to ask the question. “Hey Dom?” She nodded at him to continue after he froze. He sighed before continuing. “When you...when you were told I was in Slytherin, what was your reaction?”

She looked at him surprised. “Oh! Well, I think if I remember correctly, I just smiled and said something about it making you unique.” She moved some of her hair behind her ear, “Why do you ask?”

He shrugged, “I was just curious.” She nodded as an understanding.

“Well well well, if it isn’t mini Harry Potter, except this time he didn’t beg to not be in Slytherin.” Dominique and Albus turned their heads to their Uncle George. “How’re you doing kid? Make any friends?”

“I’m doing good Uncle George and yeah, I’ve made a few, but really only 2 good ones.”

George nodded, “That’s good kid, good that you have friends who don’t care and good that you’re doing good.” He turned to face Dominique, “And how about you miss I-have-decided-to-live-in-France-for-about-9-months-of-the-year-rather-than-in-Scotland-for-that- long?”

Dominique laughed at her Uncle, “Good Uncle George, how about you?”

He smiled widely, “Amazing, business is great, my kids are happy, and my wife still loves me.”

“That’s good Uncle George.”

As the night progressed, Albus mostly talked to Dominique. But he slowly learned that his cousins Lucy, Louis, and Roxanne didn’t care much about him being in Slytherin. Hugo, on the other hand, was a little iffy about it. But it didn’t surprise Albus too much. His Uncle Ron did talk the most crap about Slytherins. He learned that for the most part, the adults didn’t care. Or at least not enough to make it known to him. Hell, his Uncle George made quite a few jokes about how unlike his dad, Albus didn’t say no to Slytherin. And even though he was trying his best to hide it, Albus knew that his Uncle Ron just chose to pretend that Albus wasn’t a Slytherin.

--------

It was probably midnight, all the other kids were asleep but Albus just couldn’t. He sighed and turned to his other side. Making him face the kitchen. And it seemed like when he did that, he was instantly privy to the conversation that was going on

“--Harry, are you really not worried about Albus? He’s friend’s with a Malfoy and--”

“How many times do I have to remind you that Narcissa Malfoy saved my life, Ron? And honestly, I credit her for being part of the reason we won the war. But I get it, you don’t trust them. But what I can’t possibly understand is that you are assuming an 11 year old boy is a bad person just because of his family! And it feels as if you don’t think I can have trust in my son's judgment of people. And Ronald, if you want to say anything, at least he didn’t attack his cousin for no reason!”

“Harry’s right Ronald, yes, I was a little wary because he’s friends with a Malfoy. Purely because of all of the bad things from the past. But once I got past that, fairly quickly mind you, I realized that it doesn’t matter! Scorpius, Draco’s son and Albus’s friend in case you didn’t know, isn’t Draco or Lucius. He is his own person. And in case you forgot, Draco has done everything he possibly could and more to put the Malfoy name into a positive light. But if you can’t see that, then I don’t know what to tell you!”

Albus squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to hear anymore. He flipped back to the other side and tried to sleep. And it took a while, but eventually he was finally able to fall asleep.

--------

He was one of the first of the kids to wake up. And when he did, he got up and walked into the kitchen, where all the adults plus Teddy, Vic, and Dominique were. Albus kept his eyes away from his Uncle Ron’s gaze and sat next to Teddy. Almost as soon as he sat down, a plate was sat in front of him by his grandmother. And he heard her say something along the lines of ‘do you even eat there?’

“Trust me, she does it to everyone during their first Christmas back. You’ll be good next year.”

Albus looked at Teddy and nodded, “I’ll remember that and hold you to it.”

“I bet you will.” Teddy sighed and took a piece of bacon off of Albus’s plate. “How has school been? Heard you made friends with Scorpius Malfoy and Anneliese Green. Knew her brother Aidan a little.”

“You know Aidan?”

“Only slightly. Mostly due to him being on the Quidditch team, and a good player, and him being the Slytherin Prefect in Vic’s year.”

Albus nodded, “And school’s been...okay. Annie and Scor make it tolerable.”

“Ah, already of the opinion that school sucks? Think you beat James’s record then.”

Albus let out a stale laugh, “I guess. Mostly just the things I’ve dealt with this year that has made it annoying.”

“Albus?” He looked at his Aunt Hermione. “Your Uncle Ron and I--”

“Albus stopped her, “Please, I don’t wanna hear an apology from you guys.” Especially since he knew his Uncle’s may not be genuine. “I just want to forget the situation. Okay?”

“Of course.”

Albus nodded and went back to his food. And he wasn’t lying. He did want to just forget about it. It happened. So what? He didn’t care really anymore. He just wanted to go on with his life.

A few hours later at around noon, Albus was playing a game of wizards chess with Lily. “Albus? You have a package and two letters.” Albus looked over to his mother, “Says they're from Scorpius and Anneliese.”

He called off a place as he checked Lily’s Queen. “I’m done, I can’t beat you.” Lily said with defeat ridden in her voice.

Albus laughed before getting up and walking up to his mother, “Thanks mum.” She nodded and handed them to him. He walked back over to the spot where he had been and opened the letter from Scorpius first.

Al,

Yeah, I know I’m probably gonna be seeing you in a few days but I wanted to go ahead and send this. I have no clue what you wanted so I just bought you this. I remembered you saying something about needing a new jacket so I got you one. Hopefully it fits you.

Scorp

Albus turned to the package and opened it. A green silk jacket sat inside. He pulled it out and saw that it was stitched together with grey threading and had ‘Potter 06’ on the back. Since it was Christmas Day he wasn’t wearing the sweater his grandmother made for him, but instead it was a long-sleeved dark blue top. He slipped the jacket on and smiled as it fit him. And it felt nice. He moved the box away and looked at Anneliese’s letter.

Hiya Al,

Heard Scorp say he was getting you a jacket and I sat here in my room trying to figure out what to get you. Then I decided to get you this, it’s called a hematite ring, it’ll help to absorb negative energy and should calm you when you’re stressed or worried. It’s also a very protective stone and is great to carry to help you stay grounded in many situations. I know you get worried and stressed easily so I thought you could use it. It’ll mold to your finger.

Annie

He looked at the ring and slipped it onto his pointer finger, he watched as it molded to his finger. He smiled, but then stopped when he realized that he hadn’t gotten them anything. He made a mental note to ask his parents if they could go and get them something.

Albus waited as his mum and dad said their goodbyes to his grandmother and grandfather. He was standing there awkwardly, he had felt like anything he did was awkward since he'd woken up. “Are you ready to go, Albus?” Albus broke out of his trance when he heard his mum’s voice, “Albus? Are you okay?”

He looked around and saw that his siblings and dad had left. “Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, just spaced out.” His mum nodded and handed him the floo powder pot. He took some and walked into the fireplace. “Potter Manor!” He felt the green flames engulf him and almost immediately felt himself falling onto the floor. He pushed himself up and off the floor, grumbling to himself.

He tried to walk up to his room but he heard his dad's voice, “Albus, wait a minute. Your mother and I want to talk to you.” Albus tried not to groan, sometimes he really hated his dad. When Ginny arrived she immediately turned to Harry, telling him to start. “I don’t think that--”

Albus didn’t even let him finish, “I know. I should have just let them apologize. I just...I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. Alright?” He sighed, “Now I’m going up to my room and going to bed. Goodnight.”

He didn’t even give his parents a chance to say anything. He just ran up to his room, the room that, ironically, belonged to Sirius Black when he ran away from home. He tossed the bag across the room and fell onto his bed face first. Just wanting to go to sleep, and surprisingly, sleep wanted to take him.

0 notes

lotrewrite · 7 years

Text

As a comment on the general theme of the moral greyness/quandary of time travel and changing time I think at this stage since we have all the episodes now and can see what has progressed in terms of conversations/themes, we need to be careful about repetition (I mean this for all of us writers, and the people who volunteered to beta). I’ve seen in crop up in a few episodes, so I’ll think we’ll all have to be careful about over-discussion of this and other topics.

Also, a note to all writers, at some point are we dealing with/acknowledging the fallout from Rip’s actions in shooting everybody across time at the start of the season/trauma from being hunted/brainwashed/his actions whilst brainwashed? Not to mention we may need to insert Queen B in a few extra places, since she seems to disappear for multiple episodes at time, and pin down when exactly O!Len joins up with L!Len.

We also need to better balance the character attention since some episodes focus a lot on certain characters and then others get left behind overall (I think pretty much all of us have an unabashed Mick and/or Len bias lol). But these are all things that’ll get sorted out by the next draft. :-)

LOTREWRITE: Agreed on many points! We definitely have some repetition issues and need to hammer out how the character plotlines will develop. I think the only thing that I feel strongly about is that O!Len leaves to join L!Len in episode 16 (the maze) and returns in episode 18 (the republic) because the main purpose of him "leaving" is so that he can learn his lesson about how he's not actually as evil as the rest. (We definitely need more Queen B involvement - I think people ended up dropping her out because they weren't sure if we were using her or Merlyn or what.) Anyway - thank you for the comments! As always, very helpful and insightful!

Anywho:

Episode 13

- There’s a good contrast between Episode 11 and this episode, in that 11 was a quandary about changing something that would have a big effect, and 13 is changing something that would end up having no effect at all. It ties in well with the melancholic ending you’ve set up here – the Legends will be finding that there’s no perfect answer, no certainty, and this is the life they’ve chosen.

- Just a suggestion, maybe finish on a slightly more decisive note than just leaving the team kind of wallowing in their own uncertainty. Like Mick or someone says something like: “Well, maybe that’s why ‘Legends’ have always sounded more right than ‘heroes’.” It also ties in with Sara’s lessons in what it takes to be a captain, Ray’s lesson about what it means to be a true hero and all the messiness that comes with, etc…

- I like the premise overall, and that it’s a new setting entirely instead of the well-known ones that are usually represented (however badly – I’m looking at you, LOT S1 Ancient Egypt…)

- Good point on Ray not being automatically good at researching, that shit takes work

- I like this dark side of Rip (even though torture is bad ofc!!)

- Doesn’t Rip already know that Firestorm can transfuse things, so he wouldn’t be surprised?

- Although I do like seeing Firestorm use this ability, it’s seriously underutilised!

- Love Queen B and Amaya interacting, it’s gonna be so tense :-)

- Do we see Legion!Len’s reaction to Mick at any stage? :3

- I like the idea of Mick having to use his experience as Chronos to treat Rip (I like it on two fronts: firstly, in that it causes my favourite character angst, and two, it gives him a chance to face up to what happened to him and turn it into something useful/positive), although since it was Queen B who did the brainwashing we may need a bit of a handwave on Time Master technology vs magic technique (maybe Mick and Amaya work together on this?)

- I also like that people check in with him afterwards

- Could show a little bit of tension between Rip and the others – Rip because being un-brainwashed is unpleasant, and the others because although they’re glad to have him back, he did a lot of damage when he was under the influence of brainwashing – it also mirrors Mick in season 1 (and it parallels Len’s amputation/Sara’s shooting; both serious injuries)

- On that note I like your point about Rip ‘rejecting family-ish/team dynamic’ contrasting with Mick becoming more accepted/accepting

- Really melancholic ending, A+

- I like the way the Legends get Rip back, I like seeing the Legion concede the planning to Len, Queen B and Amaya potential drama, and the team’s interactions with Mick

- Nice work, thank you!

Episode 14

- Oh god I love this era. Can’t wait for this episode.

- Yep, I like that there’s a conflict in Rip without him realising it yet; he’s verbally relinquished control but still has the knee jerk reaction of needing to be the one who gives the orders. As a suggestion, if episode 13 progresses generally as was set out, you could have Sara still feeling the aftershocks of the uncertainty of the mission and the morals from that episode, and is looking for clean answers, which Rip professes to be able to provide, as someone with more experience. So he says he’s got a plan, and Sara agrees to follow it. He’s offering under the guise of friendship and altruism, but subconsciously he just wants to find his footing again after the Legion awfulness and the role of captain/leader is all he knows.

- I cannot wait for everybody dressed up in Tudor gear. This is gonna be awesome. I can only hope there will be fanart.

- What’s their cover story/way of getting into court? They might be able to sneak in, but going unnoticed might be more difficult given the fact that all those nobles are all basically interrelated lol.

- Maybe at first they could sneak in during a masque! Henry threw those all time, especially when he was trying to impress Anne. And that gives us awesome costumes. Or they can claim to be French relatives of some noble or something, since France was all in fashion then.

- Speaking of, as a suggestion, instead of placing it at a time when Henry and Anne are about to get married perhaps place it at the start of their courtship, making the prospect that Henry will lose interest more easily if Anne and he quarrel since he’ll still have wandering eye syndrome and won’t have been sucked into his creepy version of courting just yet. This makes his attentions to Sara much more pressing, since they can see time already changing the longer the courtship remains uninitiated.

- On that note, whoo boy, Sara is gonna have a helluva time getting him to stop sniffing around her once he’s got the scent.

- Personally I think there’s a line to tread between reminding Rip of the good he’s done and accidentally just enabling his behaviour. There were so many moments in S1 I felt could’ve been improved by Rip just clearly saying ‘I’m sorry, I screwed up, and I’ve learned something from this’ – but instead he reiterates his mission or his lost loved ones and goes doe-eyed and teary and says something like ‘So you see, this is why it’s so important blah blah blah’…he never really says sorry, or at least without adding something on to lessen the blame against him. So I’d like Rip to have an epiphany, and Stein and Ray there to not so much remind him of the good he’s done, but the good he’s capable of doing, if he works with them and understands what it means to truly be part of a team, because that’s what they’ve had to learn too.

- That bit with Legion!Len, Mick, and Oculus!Len is really really really good, I like that a lot

- I can see Mick shaking his head and just being a bit sick of it all at that point, constantly seeing Len everywhere – yeah, he’d wanna burn something

- Frikking love that ending.

- I really like this episode and I’m looking forward to it!

Episode 15

- Oh man I love Hex, I like the idea of opening with him

- I like the suggestion that L!Rip visited him earlier so Hex reacts badly – I think this does several things: 1) it shows that L!Rip wasn’t just hanging out with the Legion, he was an active member while brainwashed and he might not necessarily remember everything he’d done whilst under the influence 2) It gives Hex a good reason to give his friend (whoever it was) the spear piece, once he clicked that L!Rip was evil and looking for it, which leads into 3) it wasn’t just the Legends being unlucky with their timing, there’s a reason they visited Hex and now there’s a lead on reason for why they’re going to NYC

- Good link up with Stein and Lily and his motivation for taking the spear piece for himself

- I cannot wait to see the individual reactions of the team when they’re searching a brothel

- I like the idea of seeing Lily again, she was a pretty cool character and we could always use more women. Also the next episode uses Lily throughout, I’d consider working her into the episode somehow? She could always stay on the ship while the actual riots are ongoing and help coordinate efforts

- I adore the idea of Carter showing up in a past life (but just mind the Irish brogue part…Hollywood has corrupted our accents, as they’ve done with so much. If you want help with the Irish accent/slang part – since dialects differ from suburb to suburb, never mind county – just hit me up, I’m Irish).

- I really like scene 4, very heartache-y.

- Good build up to the riot

- Great interaction between Legion members (nice throwaway line about Merlyn!!)

- I like how Carter seems like less of a dick in this (I confess, I never really liked his character)

- Great escalation to the riot, and showing how easy it is to start and how difficult it is to finish

- Love the show of strength from the neighbourhood, being directed by Mick and Carter

- I like the moments with Ray in this episode – seeing all kinds of heroism, and getting through his residual feelings for Kendra

- I like the ideas for conversations between the crew you’ve had in scene 13

- Overall this episode builds up really well, though from the outline it wasn’t clear what the actual ending of the episode was (I’m sure we’ll see that next round!)

- Thanks!

Episode 16

- I love the idea of this episode

- With Lily, we may need to look at the previous episode to work in a conversation about how she’s an aberration and Stein makes a mess of the explanation, so that she’s still annoyed and upset with him in this episode – Stein’s learned a few lessons along the way, so ‘she’ll get over it’ will probably be said in a pessimistic tone of voice, instead of a dismissive tone

- Some of the characters’ reactions don’t mesh well with what we know now having seen all the episodes together – Ray has already seen lots of kinds of heroism and Rip is learning how to gracefully let Sara take the lead. So instead of being sulky, perhaps they’re willingly staying on the ship? Ray is still trying to figure out how best to be his kind of hero and Rip will be reacting against his instinct to take the reins and will want to give Sara room to work.

LOTREWRITE: This is definitely something we should discuss - depending on where they are in their story arcs, they could be in the middle of the learning process or they could be rejecting the learning process (i.e. depressed at not getting to the end result they want fast enough) But hey, that's why we did draft outlines!

- Love the idea of the hosts obnoxiously reciting the titles!

- I think there’ll be a line to tread between Stein’s development earlier on in the series and this one where he seems to fall back into his privilege/arrogance – maybe play up the Lily+Stein relationship here as his reason? (i.e. he knows the team can take care of themselves, but now his daughter’s safety is on the line and he won’t trust anyone but himself to lead them to victory – which leads to him saying some hurtful/obnoxious things)

- Monty Python reference, love it!!!

- The way Sara, Lily, and Queen B escape is actually so hilarious to me

- I love the idea of a grudging truce between Queen B and the others

- I love trial 4 interactions in particular (small typo lists two trial 4s, I mean the first one)

- Flash museum reference, thank you

- I love the idea of meeting future incarnations of the personas (CC, Heatstroke, MM), but did you mean that they’re actually the police? Is this a comics thing? I’m not sure about the way they’re introduced, it’s a little confusing

LOTREWRITE: I think in the comics they are actually some sort of organized police-ish force? It can definitely be made more clear.

- Good move with Stein and his humble pie, and the Legion abandoning Len

- “What is Batman’s real name?” nice

- (And in my head I immediately heard Mick say: “Who the hell is Batman?”, since I don’t think we have a canonical Batman yet, aside from S1 Rip saying vaguely “I’ve seen dark knights fall and men of steel something something…”? lol)

- I can very much imagine O!Len being disgusted by a cop CC

- I sense that this episode has the potential to be very confusing and could stretch out as quite long, so we’ll have to keep our eye on the pace and editing of it (but that’s what betas and proof readers are for!) - I’d suggest a magic number of three trials before the big finale, just to mind the pace a bit.

- Overall it’s a mega fun, filled with potential episode and I’m really looking forward to it

- Thanks!

Episode 17

- I can’t express how delightful the image of the team taking Jax out for his birthday is to me, especially a team member accidentally flirting with his mother omg

- I have no ideas for potential girl character Jax gets talking to, but I definitely think it should be an Easter egg or something

- I know the Legion are the bad guys, but in honesty the torture scene is just a bit jarring to me, unless we specify who it is – maybe a former Time Master turned Time Pirate that the Legion are interrogating for intel on potential spear pieces? Merlyn always struck me as the resident sadist, I never really thought that Dahrk could be bothered what with his magic, and Queen B can just brainwash people into telling her what she needs.

LOTREWRITE: This is a good point, though I think it might work best if we seeded more references to their cruelty and sadism earlier it would work better than watering the scene down now - Darhk certainly likes killing people just because (in canon it was actually Merlyn who kept trying to make him choose NON-murder alternatives, such as in their bank heist scene), Queen B we can characterize at will, and we know Eobard's a cold-hearted psychopath, so if we play up some of those traits, we can definitely set it up well.

- I can see the Legion turning on Len at the drop of a hat though, yeah, and I like the image of Len running for his life from his former allies

- Oh my gosh they made Jax a cake

- Dibs on Mick making it since he likes sweets so much (“Dude! You made this?” “It was from a box. Don’t get emotional about it.”)

- I love how the Legends are actually having quite a peaceful, happy time of it – meanwhile, the Legion are undergoing civil war lol

- DUN DUN DUN ending indeed!!!

This is getting kind of long again so I’ll cap it and continue onto the next and final part of my commentary, which I’ll get done today or tomorrow. Hope this was okay and I’m not stepping on anybody’s toes or anything. Thanks for all your hard work!!

#commentary #submission #episode 13 #episode 14 #episode 15 #episode 16 #episode 17

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