#-- ''taking care of your family [brother] is more difficult than I thought'' She literally describes working for him as taking care of him

[alamwamal]

Tumblr has been inhospitable lately with all the blazing and the gaay/traans blazed at your face especially. Have you seen the offensive murder cat sticker ad? I've blocked the user and reported the ad as repetitive and as offensive countless times with no success.

It has been for a while with the whole P-bots before, the blazing was bad too. Part of the reason I was keeping away from Tumblr was that too, aside from the exams, I thought it was temporary experimenting and it'll get better, but now? it's unbearable.

And now I can't click to check the prev tags?

Tumblr is truly not worth it, I just don't have the energy at the moment to find it anywhere else. But I will asap.

#yes it's that bad #I've been considering going back to twitter lately #it's so insane there too that when I search izayyya/nammie on twitter i get the yaooii shippers adding nammie to their popular void ship #but on the fandom here on tumblr it's all mischaracterization plus traanz fever nonsense #I saw someone saying that iza is traanz and jealous of nam bc she's a 'real' female and makes her do ''demeaning housewife chores'' #like are you kidding me?! like as far as we know it's just cooking & canonically iza loves homemade cooking and refuses to eat junk food - #and he will only eat in fancy restaurants if he eats out -& don't get me start on iza as neglected child bc hs parents traveled all the tim #namie who complains about it tells his sisters when they were shocked by the amount he pays her that she thinks she's underpaid bc: -- #-- ''taking care of your family [brother] is more difficult than I thought'' She literally describes working for him as taking care of him #it doesn't have to negate your romances it can be siblings thing as a big sister taking care of her siblings but still annoyed by them #if you're going to slaughter the characterization I don't have to tolerate your stupidity #recently I've been rereading chaiiinsawman and i couldn't venture though the tags for days i start but I just had to stop #today I cleaned the den/powy tag from a certain gaay and practically peeddo ship and after blocking just 5 blogs i could see normal stuff #i think i'm going to block for pitiful reasons again until I find a way #to delete

[lovee-infected]

Husband!Leona x Housewife!Reader: Birthday surprise

As you have your birthday today, Leona has a plan to prepare a party for his one and only beloved wife; however, uncle Ruggie and your babies almost burn the house down to ashes when you're out...

Happy birthday @jessamine-rose !♡ Now suffer-

Warning(s): None, just a review on Leona's chaotic father experiment trying to babysit his neko babies.

Note: This work is the continuation of a personal au I wrote for @jessamine-rose s/o and Leona have 3 adorable kittens (babies) in this au; The elder two are twins , a girl named Kaede and a son named Haruki while the baby gremlin is a sweet but chaotic cinnamon roll girl named Lucy (Lulu).

At last, it's here: The big day. Not only Leona seems have been expecting this day to arrive for months, or perhaps, he's been waiting ever since you had your previous birthday last year.

Not that you thought previous birthday celebrations with them lacked anything specific or was incomplete in a recognizable way; but it didn't change the fact that you didn't seem to have enjoyed them either.

Leona is the prince of the afterglow Savannah, after all. As her wife your birthday was nothing less than a national holdiday and he always tented to prepare royal celebrations ever since you married him.

But for some reason, that formal and majestic aura seemed to bother you in a way; perhaps because you preferred to be actually spending time with Leona and your family instead of having to stay in the same spot for hours with your back straightened as you greet thousands of strangers and the rest of the royal family.

Not that you ever spoke of how uncomfortabe and annoying all of those birthday ceremonies were, but you almost let out a relived sigh when Leona tells he isn't going to put out another of those extravagant celebrations.

The night before your birthday, Leona comes to you and mentions hoe it's been a while since the last time you had some time for your own, and he's right: From the day you gave birth to lulu you've been awfully busy with housework and caressing your babies; not that your life could be any sweeter than it is now but you had to admit- You somehow missed the old days when you had more time to spend on your own...

Leona recommends you take a day off, as a birthday treat! You're free to go shopping, take a short vacation to the beach or simply go to your favorite cafe and enjoy your favorite drinks and beverages in peace, meanwhile Leona would take care of the house and kittens so you can have today for your own and all~

Of course you accept his offer, you give him a small kiss on cheek and thank him, the two of you head to your bedroom and you are given the opportunity to sleep on Leona's warm chest for the rest of the night.

Thus you leave the house the next morning after, and now it's time for Leona's secret plan. He's already prepared anything, your favorite flowers, your favorite desserts and food, a very expensive perfume you had liked before, color-matching costumes for both him and the kittens, tiny cute accessories to decorate the house with and at last, tens of gifts from different things he sure knows that you'll love.

Ruggie is charge of cooking, so he gets to preparing muffins and cupcakes while Leona takes care of decorations: Designing the entire house with flower petals, baloons and colorful ribbons would've taken him hours if he were to do that by hand, but using his extraordinary magic skills, the whole house is perfectly decorated and prepared in a second *Chef's kiss.*

Just as Leona is about to let out a proud smirk and return to kitchen to see how Ruggie is doing with he cooking, he hears a sound. He turns his head to find no one but baby Lulu, chewing the decorations.

He runs to her and takes the ribbons out of her mouth, opening her mouth a second time and carefully look through it to see if she's eaten any of them or not. Oh God, he promised that he'd take care of everything when you're out, he just can't let you return home and find out that your baby has swallowed paper, what will you even think of him? Irresponsible partner? Unworthy father? No, he must make sure that baby lulu would be all same and sound until you return home.

He hugs Lulu and puts her on a corner with several baloons to play with, far from anything dangerous she could chew but then baby Lulu discovers a new hobby: popping balloons.

Her tiny fangs have just popped out and her gums often hurt, so she just wants to get her fangies on anything she could chew or bite and wow, this baby is not only totally unaffected by the loud sound of balloons popping right into her face but also finds it quite amusing. Baby begins to laugh loudly and chase after more balloons to chew as she has discovered a new hobby, and before Leona could've stopped her, she pops 5 more balloons with just one bite-

Leona picks her up immediately because if Lulu continued to chew balloons like this nothing of them would be left until you get home-

- But all of a sudden, he smells something rotten, followed by a trail of smoke coming from kitchen. He immediately puts Lulu down and runs back to the kitchen to see what in the great seven's name is happening there-

Leona jumps into the kitchen- just to find Kaede and Haruki screaming and crying as Ruggie's trying to take the black-rotten cupcakes out of the oven. Leona asks what the hell has happened and Ruggie explains he was too busy separating the twins because they couldn't stop arguing whether their mama would like caramel syrup as the topping or sprinkles, so Ruggie totally forgets about the overcooked muffins and cupcakes in the middle of their arguments.

Leona tells him to pull himself and start over- But Ruggie aruges that he won't be able to concentrate on both babysitting and cooking if that's how it's going to be. Leona growls and tell Ruggie to stop being such a wacky hyena and just get back to work without messing up again- And Ruggie explodes.

He starts shouting, Ruggie legit starts shouting in a rare, angry tune which terrified everyone even Leona. He roars that he won't be doing shit until Leona actually pays him for once, and the two start arguing. Just as the chaos is burning the kitchen down, Lulu decides uncle Ruggie's leg looks quite delicious to bite, and in a matter of second Ruggie is screaming as the baby lion's fangs literally pierced into his flesh.

The whole house is filled with smoke, Lulu has taken the entire decorations down and Leona's trying to seprate baby Lulu's fangs from Ruggie's leg. Twins are terrified, so the silently sneak out of the kitchen to call the right person to come for help...

It's past 10 pm when you're done with your day off. You've been giggling over how a day off was just what you needed after a long time, you had told Leona to call if anything went wrong, and thankfully, you didn't receive any calls from him while you were out. Leona really seems to have toughed it out as a father, huh?

You knock at the door, waiting for someone to open it. After a 3 minute delay you take a small look through the house and realize the lights are off. You just get in using your keys and suddenly, a loud "SURPRISE!" makes you jump back and the lights are back on, revealing Farena, Cheka, your kittens and very, very very tired-looking Leona and Ruggie standing in front of you. Leona gives you a weak smile as your confused gaze meets him, at last, they managed to clean the mess up before you got home.

Twins welcome you with a warm hug as they lock their tiny arms around your waist, digging their faces into soft fabrics of your clothes as if they hadn't met you in days, and of course, 12 hours of chaos without mama at home is enough to make them want to never be left alone in the house with uncle Ruggie and dad again-

Ruggie is trying his best not to be rude but he quickly approaches you, wishes you a very happy birthday and excuses himself saying he really needs to be home by this hour. You question the bandages wrapped around his leg, asking if he's alright? Ruggie just- Gulps nervously before turning his head back and stare at Leona who is holding Lulu... Ruggie nods quickly and leaves your house asap, poor boy... maybe you should call him sometime later and asking if he's doing fine?

Back to the party, Farena chuckles as he tells you how his younger brother has been DESPERATELY making plans for his beloved wife's birthday for nearly two months-! Farena explains that Leona even refused to accept Farena's help when he was firstly coming up with the plans, but Leona insisted that he wanted to manage everything on his own.

Aaaaaw Leona's face is a must-see now, his ears dropped down in mild embarrassment and frustration, feeling like a silly child in front of you. Damn- If it was on him he wouldn't have asked for Farena's help once in a thousand years even if if Ruggie and him had ended up burning the entire house; but he must admit, he's glad that twins asked for his help because- It would've been impossible to manange to do all the work on time without his help.

Aaah at least your birthday party didn't turn out to be a horrible mess, but at what cost? Great seven, he was supposed to be your one and only man tonight but right now he's nothing but a fuzzy cat wanting to pass put on his bed.

Yet he still manages to keep his eyes open, at least until you're done with the birthday party and Farena and Cheka are finally out; leaving him alone with you. Gosh, he looks so- you can't even find tje right adjective to describe this but all you can say for now is that you've never seen him this tired before.

You gently take Lulu, who has already fallen asleep in his arms and take her to her bed, asking Leona if babysitting her was difficult by any means. Leona tiredly shakes his head in a no, saying how much of a wonderful girl she was when you were away, and you can tell how much of an awful liar he is.

When the kids are asleep, you come to sit next to a lifeless Leona on couch, damn, just what happened to this household when you weren't around?

Leona's too tired to explain, he just sighs and apologizes for your birthday not being even *close to the best it could be, just to meet your laughter.

Oh lord, he is being quite desperate at the moment ha? Leona was always the dominative and demanding one, to have him serve ypu on your birthday... Oh dear, isn't that already the best birthday gift possible?

You excitedly start to tell him how this birthday was just the best you could've ever asked for: Freedom, A golden time to be spent for your own desires and not anyone else, and aside all of these, you return home just to face a secret party waiting for you!

But most importantly: He had gone through all of these... for you, to make you happy.

You tightly hug him, wrapping your arms around his neck and bringing his face closer to yours. Aaaa he looks so cute like this, just like a tired pouty can wanting you to spoil him and to be honest, he's going to need you spoil him for a week at least for him to recovers from that 12 hours of chaos.

It's been a long day, for both you and him. So he just kisses your forehead and bridal carries you to your bedroom afterwards; wrapping his strong arms and thighs around you and jailing you in his embrace. You gasp at the warmth, truth be told having your face burried in Leona's firm chest like this was something you never got used to even after being married to him for years. Damn lion knew how to leave a flushed mess out of you, huh? You chuckle as you struggle to release yourself but hell, the jerk simply pretends that he's already fallen asleep.

Just as Leona's arms are jailing you into his embrace he wonders, today probably didn't turn out to be as good as he'd planmed but well... at least you're happy. That's what he wanted when he whet out of his way planning for today, after all. But he can tell the experiment made him come to appreciate you even more, thinking that you've been caressing all three of your babies for years all on your own while Leona wouldn't have even made it for half a day if Farena hadn't saved him...

#twisted wonderland #twst #leona kingscholar #leona kingscholar x reader #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #ruggie bucchi #f/reader #headcanon #Meh I was too lazy to proofread www- Will edit this later

[fatiguing-thoughts]

What's one common trope given to each of the wolf pack that you just dont vibe with?❤

Commonly Given Tropes That I Don’t Vibe With

ok but i went a little overboard with this and elaborated so much more than i needed to

Sam: Everyone hates him for being such a hardass and for what he did to Leah. And I get it, I do. But a supernatural change in your life at such a young age where nobody knows how to really help you is beyond difficult. He had to grow up like overnight, at 19 he became “pack dad” as he watched all these children around him go through what he did, but he didn’t want it for them either. And then to make matters worse, he imprinted on his girlfriend’s fuckin cousin. He loved Leah, and he still did after Emily. It was out of his control and it tore him up. It’s a shitty fuckin situation and I feel so so bad. 

Jared: Everyone thinks Jared is just such a smartass. I mean, he definitely was, it was well within his character. However, I think he has a lot more substance than that. He’s unwaveringly loyal. I think he values his relationships of all types more than anything. I just, I think this goes over a lot of peoples’ heads. He’s got a lot of love to give, I swear it. He may be a snarky boy, but he’d definitely do anything for the people he loves. I wish we got to see more of that, he is a character with a lot of substance. 

Paul: Don’t even get me started. Hothead. Hahahahaha, his only personality trait is that he has anger issues, so funny! Let’s be real here, he comes from a broken family at a young age. He doesn’t have a mother in his life and that is something that causes a lot of issues! Not to mention that being a teenager is hard in itself, your body is changing and things are weird. Now let’s take into consideration that these are no longer normal hormones, his body is basically changing overnight to let him transform into an enormous wolf that has to dedicate his life to killing vampires posing a threat to him, his friends, and family. Everyone on the reservation, even. Forks, too. He had to sacrifice his entire life to do this, and he wasn’t exactly even-tempered to start with, and it’s known this change totally ups your irritability, hell it even made Jacob angry. Let’s be real, his anger issues are something to be considered other than “oooh angry hot boi 😈” jeez 

Embry: Embry, bb boi Embry. I love his character so much. I think the whole thing about Embry is like haha Embry’s so funny and goofy but in reality the kid struggles a lot. He’s constantly fighting with his mom because he for whatever reason can’t tell her about the pack or anything. He’s grounded “until forever” and always feels like he’s disappointing his mom even though he’s really just doing his best but like in reality he’s always in trouble or “grounded indefinitely.” The transformation put a huge strain on their relationship. Now, on top of that, he knows now that one of his friends might be his half fuckin brother because he literally doesn’t even know who his father is because his mom won’t tell him. So he’s got not only daddy issues, now he’s getting some mommy issues. This kid has a lot going on and I’m sure he’s struggling more than he leads on. 

Jacob: Jacob. The sunshine. I will be talking about angel boy Jacob in New Moon. I hate that he’s only seen to be in love with Bella. I would rather see it as him being loyal, supportive, and selfless. He would’ve done anything to put a smile on her face, he was caring. Jacob would’ve done anything for his friends, it was so beautiful. He was described to be the sunshine, he was full of love. No matter how down he was, he was always there to be the shoulder to cry on, no matter how much he needed one. I love this Jacob, I just want to give him a hug and tell him that everything will be okay. 

Quil: Oh Quil, my boy Quil. I feel like everyone just thinks he’s kinda a dumbass for some reason. Like we don’t see much of him in the movies but I truly think Quil is actually super intelligent. I think he has more depth than he’s ever given credit for. Like when he told Bella that he was afraid to be next to be recruited to Sam’s “gang.” He knew he was next, he’s intuitive. I just wish more people saw Quil to be what he is, not just Jacob’s goofy friend. Well, he is Jake’s goofy friend but he’s a smart guy! I think he’s lowkey super intelligent. 

Leah: She’s known to be a bitter bitch. I can’t stand this and honestly I think she’s one of the most caring people in the series. I don’t care that she gave Bella the cold shoulder, in-fact I give her props. The love of her life left her for her cousin, now she has to share thoughts with him and the guys who give her shit for her feelings. I don’t blame her for being so displeased all the time. Like she keeps getting the shit end of the stick the entire series, it sucks. She tries to protect Jacob, but he hates her for it even though she’s right. She then has to protect Seth, because she loves him more than anything. Her father died and she had to deal with not only that but then her mother dating Bella’s fuckin father, Charlie, making Bella her damn step sister. Shit’s whack and I’m so sick of hearing people say that Leah was a bitch. 

Seth: Baby boy Seth, everyone’s favorite little ball of sunshine. I have an issue with the fact that Seth will always be portrayed to be perfectly bubbly, happy, and sweet. Sometimes, I just want to see him react to something. I feel so bad about his father passing, We only see him react minimally when it comes to Bella and the demon baby. I just would like to see an angry or frustrated side of Seth, a side that doesn’t forgive everyone for everything so quickly. I know deep down he probably struggles listening to everyone rag on his sister in the mind link. It’s probably conflicting to take orders from the man who broke your sister’s heart. I love that Seth is the nice, innocent boy but I know this kid faces inner turmoil. I just wish we got to see more of it.  

#twilight #twilight wolf pack #sam uley #jared cameron #paul lahote #embry call #jacob black #quil ateara #leah clearwater #seth clearwater #getting to know me #thanks for coming to my ted talk #i'm just saying how i feel

[devildom-dedicated-daydreams]

Cheating Bastard and Puppy Brother (Cheater!Lucifer x Reader x Mammon) Part 5

Part 4

“Mammon, you stupid idiot!” 

Asmodeus, Satan and Leviathan surrounded Mammon in the living room. The victim of a surprise smacking, Mammon rubbed the back of his head and sent a glare at the three.

“The hell is your problem?” He demanded.

“What’re you doing taking advantage of MC?” Asmodeus leaned over with narrow eyes. “She just broke up with Lucifer!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, I--” Before Mammon could finish, he was soon facing the news article with a picture of him and MC. 

“What’s this?”

“You tell me,” Asmodeus said as he almost threw the D.D.D. at him. “This is an all-time low, even for you. I can’t believe you would do this to MC--hey! We’re not finished!” 

The brothers tried to catch the fleeing Mammon but he was too fast for anyone that wasn’t Lucifer. In an instant he was banging on your door.

You opened up frenzied, wondering if there was some fire or other emergency. Mammon clamped down on your shoulders and pushed himself inside, “I swear I didn’t know!”

“Huh?”

“I was trying to help!”

“Mammon--”

“If I knew this was going to happen I would’ve been more careful, I’m sorry, MC! I’m really sorry!”

“Wait a moment, Mammon,” you sighed, holding onto his hands. He shut his mouth and took deep breaths. “Now,” you said, “explain everything carefully. From top to finish.” 

He described what happened but when you opened your D.D.D. you found the article has already been blocked through orders from the student council. You chuckled, “Oh, so it’s like this.”

“You’re not … mad?”

“Of course not. If anything, I’m amused. I’ve been here for some time now but it didn’t really occur to me how similar demons are with humans when it comes to gossip.” You gave him a reassuring smile.

“Y-you’re serious?”

“Yes, so you can stop worrying now.”

Mammon was relieved, but then he saw the ashen look on your face and he quickly spun around to meet his older brother’s rigid form.

Lucifer stood outside your bedroom door still in his R.A.D. uniform, presumably having just arrived from his meeting with Diavolo. Ignoring Mammon, he called out your name as he stepped inside, but then he paused and his eyes fell over. You realized that Mammon had grabbed your hand. Embarrassed, you gently shook him off. Mammon bit his cheek in an attempt to hide his hurt. 

“So it’s true …” Lucifer mumbled but it was too low for you to hear.

You wanted this over with so you cut to the chase and asked, “Did you need something, Lucifer?”

Lucifer stared at Mammon’s lonesome hand for a few seconds more before looking back at you. “We need to talk.” With his tone, the words sounded more like a command than the plea a cheater should have said. However, you were more or less used to it. 

Calmly and with your eyes meeting his, you replied: “Unless it’s an emergency, which I doubt, I’m afraid I have time to spare.” Your choice of words were polite but the two demons were taken aback by the mocking way they were delivered. 

Lucifer’s fists clenched by his sides. Mammon’s golden gaze stayed on his brother, his own limbs itching with anticipation. He couldn’t win against Lucifer but he could still protect you. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the House of Lamentation, the other five brothers waited with bated breaths. 

No one expected Lucifer to actually cut his meeting with Diavolo early, way too early for them to prepare reinforcement spells to keep the house in one piece. Just remembering Lucifer’s dark face and his silence when greeted nervously by the others had them shaking inside. Moreover, Mammon was with you in your bedroom right now. If it were days ago that would’ve been fine but now …

Satan rubbed his temples. Who didn’t know about Mammon’s feelings? That was a rhetorical question. Everyone knew. Well, everyone but the one person Mammon desperately wanted to know. You were too in love with Lucifer and Mammon never did make a move when he found out. Mammon was many things but he still cared for his family, Satan begrudgingly admitted. 

But now the situation has changed and their torpe brother decided to make a move at the wrong time, in the wrong place. 

“Can you hear them?” Belphegor asked Levi, who had been trying to listen in on the conversation with his magic.

However, the otaku shook his head. “Either Lucifer or Mammon is blocking me.” 

Beelzebub tore open a new bag of chips. He’d devoured all five boxes of Honey Buddha chips you brought from the human realm. Satan noticed that after Lucifer’s affair, your alleged breakup, and now Mammon’s “scandalous courtship,” served to increase Beel’s appetite to record-breaking levels. 

On the other hand, another person was nibbling relentlessly. Satan reached for Asmo’s wrist to stop him from eating more of his proudly painted nails. Satan thrust his thumb at Beel and said to Asmo, “If you want to bite on something do it on food.”

Asmo’s normally glowing face was drained of color and he said nothing as he took a seat next to Beel. 

The air around them was heavy and what’s worse was that they didn’t know what exactly they were afraid of. Brotherly quarrels were normal but with you in the picture … Satan sighed and flipped through his book of spells. They should start chanting protection spells on themselves and on the house. 

After a gruelling wait, footsteps were heard and you entered the living room with Mammon behind you. There were no signs of Lucifer, or a fight. The five breathed a collective sigh of relief. 

You cleared your throat. “I forgot to buy the ingredients for tonight. I’m sorry but you’ll have to wait a little longer for dinner, Beel.” 

Beel almost choked. Belphegor quickly stepped in and said, “It’s fine, MC. We can order something.”

“Or eat out,” Asmo suggested.

You strained a smile. “Don’t be silly. I thought everyone’s been tight on cash this week?”

Yes, because Lucifer has become twice--no--ten thousand times the Devil after your breakup, was what each brother thought.

“I’ll go buy groceries now.” You turned on your heel before they could protest. Mammon, as always, pratted after you. 

However, you stopped him as you reached the door. “I’ll be okay, Mammon.” The sentence had the underlying implication of: Don’t come with me.

“But it’s already dark out.”

“Thanks for the concern but … ” You tilted your head to face him, “I’ll be fine.”

He wanted to protest some more, but seeing the sheen of tears on your eyes, he relented and you left the house on your own.

You stuffed your hands into your coat, free to think without any distractions. But no more than two meters away from the estate, you stopped walking. You shouted upward, “I know you’re there.”

A strong, chilling wind blew past, almost knocking you off your feet. But you balanced yourself before you hit a familiar chest. You looked up at Lucifer.

His lips were a straight line but his eyes were drowning in all sorts of emotions. You sighed. You figured it would take more than a simple “no” and a biting retort to get someone like him off your tail.

“Let me talk, MC. Let me explain,” He said and you wanted to laugh, because for a long time now, all he’s ever done was tell you what to do. At first it was appealing but now his tone just grated you.

“Okay.” You stared straight at him before adding, “but I’m not doing this for you. I deserve an explanation. But first, I deserve an apology.” 

“MC--”

“I deserve an apology,” you repeated firmly.

He looked at you with those clouded red eyes. You used to think that you could read him well, but now you weren’t so sure. 

Well, that wasn’t entirely true, because as minutes passed in complete silence, you realized one irrefutable truth: you weren’t important. Maybe on some level you were, but not as a lover. Maybe you two would have been better off friends. 

Seeing that he wasn’t going to talk, you sighed and stepped forward.

“MC, wait,” he grabbed your arm. “I … that night I … I didn’t sleep with her on my own.” When he realized that you didn’t understand he explained: “She slipped me an aphrodisiac. I didn’t do it because I wanted to.”

Your heart dropped. But for different reasons than you expected.

“Is that true?”

“Oh.” You were speechless and you truly didn’t know what to feel. 

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I would never sleep with anyone who wasn’t my spouse, that’s a complete dishonor. Believe me.” His hold on you was almost painful but you had a difficult time paying attention.

“Lucifer, I … ” You choked. “I’m sorry that happened to you, I don’t know what to say.”

He exhaled, “Don’t fret, love. I’m all right.” He pulled you into his embrace. “But now that this issue has been cleared can we please make up?”

You were sorry about what happened truly but now that he was asking you to get back together, you were completely lost.

You stayed in his arms, motionless, before pulling away and meeting his gaze again. “I’m sorry, but we can’t.”

Lucifer’s entire body stiffened.

“We can’t get back together.”

“I deserve an apology.” When you spoke those words you weren’t thinking about the affair. You thought back to those lonely nights spent waiting for him only to fall asleep and wake up alone, you thought about sitting in a restaurant alone for hours on end only to go home hungry and with literal demons shooting you looks of pity. You recalled the myriad of excuses you thought of for him when he never even bothered to apologize or explain himself. 

You wiped your nose and said with the softest smile, “Goodbye, Lucifer.” And with that you walked away. 

Lucifer was too shocked to move. 

*

You paid the cashier and carried two heavy bags worth of groceries out the store, but surprisingly you felt like skipping. Your chest felt lighter than it ever had been for the past few months. Earlier you hid inside a the store’s public toilet and cried everything out. And truthfully, shopping was a good way to distract yourself. 

You were humming on the way back home when two serpents, both thick as tree bark and longer than 20 feet blocked your path. One of them, with beet-red scales slapped your bags away.

You wanted to cry out at the injustice. I splurged on those ice creams!

to be continued ...

Author’s note: Lucifer was raped but I didn’t focus too much on the implications of the assault, now that’s not to say that I think female-on-male rape is not serious, however, do remember the setting and the characters themselves. Canonically, it’s been implied that Mammon has been forced to serve witches in unsavory ways but it’s never given much depth and it’s almost played for laughs, but again remember: this is fiction and the characters are demons. Whatever the gender of the victim and/or attacker, rape is never okay. Please don’t think that because I didn’t delve in Lamia’s scheme that I take rape lightly. 

#obey me #obey me swd #lucifer #lucifer x reader #lucifer x mc #mammon x mc #lucifer x mc x mammon #lucifer x reader x mammon #love triangle

[foxanddragonbooks]

Witchshadow Review and Rating

★★☆☆☆

I have thought about this rating for a long time. This was my most anticipated book of the year and my favorite series. It hurts my soul to rate it low, but anything else would be a lie. There were just so many things I did not like. Of course, there were things I liked, the writing was beautiful as always, Stix’s arc, but unfortunately the positive couldn't outweigh the negative. And I had a lot of negative feelings while reading this book.

The first thing that didn't work for me was the nonlinear timeline. The prolog takes place a few days after the last book ended. That was nice. Then the next chapter takes place one month after that event. That is already too big of a time jump for my liking. Characters were in certain places already, and you don't find out why, how, or when until later on. Usually in a flashback scene. It was so confusing. I want to know why someone is at this place now and how they get there when it happens, not through a flashback. This type of storytelling might work for movies and tv shows, but it's really difficult in books. The flashbacks also felt ill-placed. We already knew this plan went wrong because if it didn’t the character wouldn't be in the position they are in now. It could have just been described in a few sentences, instead of flashbacks that took up several pages.

Second of all, one of the MAIN characters was completely absent. This just doesn't make sense storytelling-wise. At all. He still has so much left to do and there is only one more book left. One 500 page book that is distributed into 6 povs. I really can't see how that's supposed to work. I can see how that character had to be gone for some time, given the events of the previous book, but that could have been solved with the usual 2 week time jump between books. Keeping the main character away for a whole book/movie/series just never works. Remember when Game of Thrones left out Bran for an entire season even though GRRM said that he is one of the key five? This is what this book felt like.

Another main character was barely in the book either. He was there, but he was not himself. He was literally possessed for 95% of the book, so in a way, two main characters were not part of the book.

That brings me right to my next point. Way too much focus on side characters I couldn't care less about. This was supposed to be Iseult's book but it felt more like a Hell Bard book. Again, I don't understand why. They are side characters but they felt so present in the book while other characters that are much more important to the story were absent. I wanted this to be a Nomatsi book. A book about the history of the Nomatsi. Why are they hated? How did they live before they came to the Witchlands? I was so sure that all those questions would be answered in this book but all we got were a few folktales and a history in hell bards. This was supposed to be Iseutls book, not theirs. They are not even that important to the plot and a big chunk of their plot could have been given to maybe the two missing main characters. That would have been pretty epic. The hell bard loom was never mentioned before, Midne, the first hell bard was never mentioned before, but they take up such a big plot in ISEULT’S book? Why? It felt so random. Esme’s loom was important to the story in the previous book, but it was barely mentioned in this one.

And Esme, oh God. This was supposed to be this super powerful, badass villain, and then she is turned into a weasel just like that. It felt so off and weird.

Furthermore, at this point, Safi has more development with the hell bards, SIDE CHARACTERS, than she has with any of the main characters. She had 1 book with Merik, her love interest, 1 with Iseult, her best friend, and 0 with Aeduan, Vivia, and Stix. This is the second to last book. I really don’t understand how she didn’t get to interact with all these important characters more or at all so far.

Things also didn't add up. It's implied that Safi is 18 in this book when she has been 19 for the last two books. Leopold suddenly becomes younger too. In the first book, Safi says he is the same age as Merik, who is 20, now he is 18. Or it is implied that he is. It’s confusing. It doesn't make sense.

There is a very weird scene that borders on romance and made me dread reading further. It's said in the beginning of the book that these characters are thread FAMILY. Thread SIBLINGS. Yet one thinks about the other as very handsome and they are only inches apart and holding hands in a scene. IT'S WEIRD. If they are supposed to be family then why was this scene written? If you consider someone your sister or brother from another mother you don't do this kind of stuff. The Vivia/Vaness romance came out of nowhere.

The Vivia/Stix being thread siblings came out of nowhere and made 0 sense. They were supposed to be the mutual pining childhood friends to lovers ship, now they are family. Vivia was jealous in Windwitch when she thought Stix had slept with someone. This is not sibling behavior! The set up for Vivia/Stix was right THERE and so present! Whereas Vivia/Vaness came out of nowhere. I don’t understand what’s going on anymore. Please don’t foreshadow things that you don’t mean to go through with. I hate this.

To quote Iseult: “Nothing felt real. Nothing made sense.” That sums up the entire book for me. The characters felt so off to me.

Safi comes up with this ridiculous plan to noose the Emperor while kissing him, and OF COURSE, it goes wrong. It was such a stupid plan, and Safi at this part of the story would have never done this. It felt like a step back for her and made zero sense. She is supposed to be smarter than that now.

Iseult felt so off at the beginning of the book, I didn’t even realize it was her at first. She was all ‘I kill people and regret nothing, I am the badass puppeteer, don’t fuck with me’ and then she went back to her old self in like a blink and never returned to her ‘dark self’.

There is a scene where Safi walks into the Emperor’s room while he has sex with his mistress, IT WAS SO WEIRD and uncomfortable. Literally, why was this scene necessary. Like she wanted to steal something from his rooms but she could have done this at night while he was sleeping. While everyone was sleeping.

Safi’s original plan was also to noose Henrick during their wedding night. That was so weird and made me so uncomfortable. He is 3 times Safi’s age, please. Like I get that she honestly believed she would be forced to consummate the marriage, so she thought hmm might as well get my revenge on this bitch then. But when Henrick said he had no intention of taking Safi to his bed, she was not relieved at all? She was like no, no, no, you have to take me to your bed. It felt so unrealistic. Safi is literally a teenager. Any teenage girl would be glad to not have to sleep with a man old enough to be her father. She should have been relieved that she wasn’t forced to sleep with an old man, and glad that that would mean she had more time to come up with a more fleshed-out plan to kill him. And Iseult would have never let Safi go through with her original plan. Never.

This book felt so, so different from the other books of the series that I love so much, and not in a good way. I don’t think I have been so disappointed and upset since the last season of Game of Thrones aired.

I want to go back in time when the main characters of this series were still main characters. At this point, I have so little hope for the last book. Maybe I am wrong, I would be glad to be wrong, but this book feels like a bullet hole in my chest and I am not sure it can be fixed.

#the witchlands #witchshadow #witchshadow spoilers #review #book review #books read in 2021

[unaccomplishedwriter]

. THE HERO YOU NEED .

. Chapter Three .

. Chapter Two Here .

Merlin’s beard, you had no idea what was going on. As a fourth year, you were somewhat expected to know how Hogwarts worked at this point. That included finding your way to the very hard-to-find Potions classroom. Only after catching one equally late sixth year and asking for directions did you find out the elusive class was located in the literal dungeons on the other side of the school. No matter how quickly you rushed there you knew you would be late, and from what you’d heard from the Golden Trio about how strict Professor Snape was, you would no doubt face punishment for your tardiness. As you flew down the halls in a flurry, your first meeting with the trio overtook your mind.

“I can’t believe you’re telling me I have the meanest professor for my first lesson!” You whined to Cedric. He rolled his eyes at you, plopping down on a nearby loveseat in the Hufflepuff common room. Just a few minutes ago you’d learned that the place was connected to the Hogwarts kitchens, something that once again brought you back to your time at Ilvermorny. The kitchen staff in the American school was of the free variety, various creatures employed in order to serve mealtime for the school’s students. You and your group of friends had long befriended the head cook, along with the rest of the kitchen staff, and often snuck down for late night snacks whenever you needed to endure particularly long nights of difficult studies. The house elves of Hogwarts seemed rather sweet, but you couldn’t help but turn your nose a bit at the archaic and in humane form of “employment” as well. Though you were sure they were treated fairly, you kept the thought at the back of your mind that you’d surely offer one or two a scarf, though you weren’t quite certain it would work. “Snape isn’t so bad as long as you do what you’re told... and don’t look particularly lost. Or dumb,” Cedric sniggered, breaking you from your thoughts. You shot a pointed look at him, finding your place on the armchair adjacent to him. “Mind you, a dumb look on my face is the first thing people notice about me half the time,” you joke. He grins in response, and you’re once again charmed by how handsome he is. The boy seemed as if he’d stepped out of a storybook, the picture of the knight in shining armor or Prince Charming so often wrote about.

“He’s a fine teacher, just a bit cold is all,” he reassures. You allow his words to settle you into a tentative ease, though you feel it deep in your heart that your Potions class won’t go quite the way you’d like it to. As if sensing your unresolved tension, Cedric perked up, making a suggestion.

“I believe you share that class with a few Gryffindors in your year. We still have quite a bit until curfew. Would you like me to introduce you to some?”

You leapt at the suggestion, eager to make new friends. Specifically ones who could save you through the torture of weathering Snape’s class alone. Cedric guided you to a very specific portrait of a particularly large woman, where he cajoled some unsuspecting Gryffindor into sharing the password, allowing you entrance into the Gryffindor common room. As you expected, the boy was popular enough that no one seemed particularly bothered as you waited around for whomever he wanted you to meet. He easily slipped into conversation with those around him, and you were envious of his congeniality. You had expectations set upon yourself by your mentors and peers back in America to be something similar, though the effort for you was a lot more draining than Cedric made it look. For some reason, your mind drifted to the Malfoy boy, whom you sincerely doubted gave the time of day to anyone he deemed bothersome or not worth his breath. Despite this, he possessed a magnetism that allowed him to easily control whatever room he was in. You could admire that type of personality, though the narcissism and self-importance was something you could do without. It didn’t take you long to realize that the two boys each had traits that you could only hope to emulate, confidence and charm. Though it manifested in different ways for the both of them, you couldn’t help but be drawn in. If only you could find a happy medium between their two ideals.

“Oh, (Y/N)! These are the people I was telling you about,” Cedric started, getting up and making a beeline toward three students who’d just entered the common room. There was a rather cute boy with dark hair and round glasses, a distinct scar on his forehead. Even you, an American, knew who this boy was. The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter. His green eyes pierced through you, a curiosity settled deep that he couldn’t quite hide. Next to him was an endearingly cute red headed boy, shaggy locks being impatiently shaken out of his eyes. He seemed a bit standoffish, giving you the idea that he wasn’t much comfortable with those who’s motives he was unsure of. And finally, a pretty girl with curly brown hair stood to the far left, clutching a pile of books to her chest. She stared at Cedric rather crossly, a pout forming on her lips.

“Mr. Diggory, it is quite inappropriate for a Hufflepuff to be in the Gryffindor common rooms. Though, as you’re older, I’m quite sure you know this already,” She huffed, tightening her grip on her books.

Harry gave her an embarrassed shush before turning back to Cedric, nervously sticking his hands in his pockets. The redheads boy roll his eyes before digging out a bag of treats from who knows where, stuffing several into his mouth.

“Well get on with it then, Diggory. What do you want?” He said gruffly, crumbs flailing from his mouth. The disgusted look on the girls face coupled with the increasingly embarrassed look on the other’s drew out a giggle from you, until it was your turn to be embarrassed once their three pairs of eyes landed on you.

“I want you to meet someone,” Cedric exclaimed proudly, once again slinging an arm across your shoulders.

“It’s nice to meet you,” you said softly. “I’m (Y/N) Hightower.”

“Hightower?!” The redhead’s eyes bulged. “As in the American Wizarding family Hightower??”

“The very one.”

“Blimey! Well it’s nice to meet you. Ronald Weasley, by the way, but call me Ron,” the boy reached out a crumb-filled hand to you. You genuinely wanted nothing more than to laugh, his brashness setting you at ease. Harry seemed as if he’d rather crawl in a hole and die, while the girl could stare a hole into Ron’s head and it still wouldn’t be enough to describe how piercing her glare was.

“Excuse his manners,” she clipped, smacking Ronald’s hand down. “I’m Hermione Granger. A pleasure to meet you.”

You elected to shake her much cleaner hand instead, tickled by the entire interaction. Ron looked positively insulted by Hermione’s interruption, choosing to sheepishly wipe his hands on his pants in response. Cedric and Harry snickered at his misfortune, before each receiving a sharp look from Hermione in return.

“Nice to meet you too Hermione,” you greeted, clasping her hand. The girl gave you a tight-lipped grin, clearly not keen on warming up to you just yet.

“And you are?”

Cedric raised a brow at you as you turned to Harry. The two of you had touched on the topic of the infamous boy’s attendance at Hogwarts before, but if anything you could empathize with the annoyances that came with being high profile. The amount of times someone introduced you to yourself was astonishing. You much preferred giving your name yourself, thank you, and you were fairly certain it must be the case for the boy in front of you as well.

“I’m Harry,” he said shyly, gripping your hand. “It’s nice to meet you (Y/N).”

“Well, now that we’re all acquainted, let me tell you why we’re here,” Cedric drawled, once again placing his arm around your shoulders. It’s quickly become a habit of his, though you certainly didn’t mind. Your familiarity with Cedric was only growing stronger, the older student proving to be somewhat of a homing beacon for you in the ginormous castle. You’d felt guilty for taking up so much of his time, but he insisted that you weren’t a bother. You were excited to possibly make new friends so you could stop inconveniencing him.

“(Y/N) here is obviously new, and her first class is with you guys...which means Snape is the teacher. I trust you know what that means I’d appreciate it if you guys looked out for her,” he continued.

“I’m not a child, you know,” you huffed.

“And I am an excellent student. Snape will love me,” you sniffed, crossing your arms.

“What happened to “I heard he’s terrifying! Save me, Cedric!”” He mocked, ruffling your hair. You screech in response, tackling him to the couch. The other three watch on in amusement, entertained by your antics. After a few more moments of rib-aching jabs and pinched skin, you removed yourself from Cedric and rearranged your robes.

“I swear, I’ve known him less than a week and he already reminds me of an annoying older brother,” you apologize to the trio, smoothing down your hair. This elicits another wheeze from the boy, still clutching his ribs you spent so much time “taking care of”.

“It would be quite nice to make friends, though, if that’s all right with you.” You finished shyly. Hermione marched forward and grabbed hold of your arm, steering you back towards the door. Was she kicking you out? Was she that bothered by your presence?

Your mind raced along nearly as quickly as your heart as she ignored the calls of the boys behind you.

“We’re going to the library,” she called out, not turning around. “We need a break from you buffoons.”

The small grin on her face wasn’t lost to you, a matching one spreading across your as well.

“I actually brought a few copies of my favorite books from Ilvermorny about natural magic and rituals. I figured Hogwarts wasn’t quite as well stocked on American magical literature, Native or otherwise. Would you like to stop by my room to grab them?” You offered. Hermione gasped in response, excitedly chattering about how interested she’d been in magical practices from other cultures recently. As she continued on, you found yourself smiling again.

You supposed you made a new friend.

*

You and Hermione agreed that you’d meet her at the library once you picked up your books, as she wanted to stop by the owlry as well. You made your way down the corridors, walking slowly in order to take in the architecture of the castle. Hogwarts was definitely built beautifully, if not a little hauntingly. It much suited the castle to have a few ghosts flying around indeed! Your neck was bent back at an almost 90 degree angle as you stared up at one of the arches at the top of the wall.

There was a particular arch that didn’t align properly with the rest of the ceiling, and if you stared hard enough, you could see a thin line running from the arch all the way down the wall. Following the line, you didn’t realize that you were headed right for a group of students in front of you until you crashed into one of them, falling backwards.

“Watch where you’re going, filthy mudblood—” someone snarked, choking in the middle of their sentence. You look up from your place on the floor, not surprised in the least to see those same grey eyes you’d been thinking about so often once again staring back at you. Three others stood behind him, two hulking boys most certainly well loved by their mothers of their figures stood for anything, and a rather dashing darker skinned boy, who eyed you up and down. It was the first time you’d seen both disdain and interest in one facial expression, causing you to roll your eyes for the millionth time since stepping foot into Hogwarts.

“You want to finish that sentence, Draco?” You drawled, picking yourself up off the ground.

“W-well, blood traitor then.” He stuttered. “Anyway, watch where you’re going!”

“Or what?” You teased, stepping forward until you two were face to face. You could feel his soft breath on your lips, adding more excitement to the blood pounding in your ears. You don’t know what came over you, but suddenly you felt the urge to challenge the boy to his limits, just to see what he’d do.

It seemed as if Draco didn’t know himself, his hands nervously gripping around his robes. You smirked at him, backing off a bit.

“I’ll let the name-calling slide,” you offered. “But I expect you to be better than that. We aren’t controlled by our parents, remember?”

Your comment was in reference to the conversation you had with Draco on the train about expectations set on the two you.

“They act as if I can’t be in control of my own life,” he’d complained. “It’s ridiculous.”

You’d nodded along sagely, long familiar with controlling parents. “No matter what our parents say, we make our own choices. We decide the type of people we’ll be,” you reminded him.

A few minutes later, Draco indeed showed you who he was choosing to be at the moment, which was the perfect little prejudiced elitist his parents raised him to be. Nevertheless, as he stormed out of your cabin, you couldn’t ignore the spark of hope you felt that he would come to his own conclusions and change the ways his parents set upon him.

After all, Draco Malfoy was his own man, and with intelligence to match the ego on that boy, he was sure to find that out for himself one day.

“What would Hufflepuff trash know anyway,” he finally said. “You were all talk, but in the end you were afraid of your own power and chose to be a coward. Cowards do belong in Hufflepuff after all, I guess.”

You’d be lying if you said he words didn’t sting, and you felt a lump building in your throat. The train ride to Hogwarts had been a long one, and for some stupid reason, you confided in Draco more than you admitted to anyone else before. The ache in your chest had your nose starting to sour, unbelievably put off.

Initially you thought the two of you were kindred spirits, so you’d told the boy everything about your life, even your insecurities. So for him to use them against you in this manner...

“Everyone thinks so highly of my future. But when my wand chose me, some of them became...”

“Scared.” the blond finished for you. You nodded back sadly, clutching said wand between your hands. “My wandmaker’s creations have a propensity for dark magic. It made their owners powerful, but a lot of them strayed to the Dark Arts as a result.

“No doubt because people kept telling them that’s all they’re good for, like they’re trying to tell you!” Draco shot to his feet suddenly. You stared, dumbfounded, before he realized he was standing in the middle of the compartment awkwardly. His face turned scarlet as he slammed himself back into his seat.

“Sorry. It’s just, that Picquery lady, right? She made something good out of herself didn’t she?”

Excited that he’d actually listened, you didn’t realize that you had scooted yourself closer to the boy.

“Exactly! She’s my role model. People were intimidated by her at first, but then she made herself an indespensible figure of her time! And I’m certain she would have been sorted into Slytherin had she went to Hogwarts. But recently...” You felt as if your parents sending you to Hogwarts was counterproductive to the kind of witch they wanted you to be, but when you questioned them, all you got was silence in return.

“The Dark Arts have been on the rise again, especially here. And if I’m sorted Slytherin of all houses as well, I think..” you trailed off. Draco gloomily stared back at you, knowing exactly where you were going with this.

“You said you didn’t like people assuming the worst of you based on your wand, yet you’re doing the same thing for an entire House. You’re really going to deny who you are just because of the opinions of others?” He sulked, slumping back. You looked back at him in a daze, shocked to have someone spell out your internist thoughts so clearly.

“I guess you’re... right. But do I accept who I am, or do I place myself in the position to be the person I want to be?” You questioned, sulking as well. Draco studied you for a second, only just realizing how close the two of you were. He grabbed your hand, giving it a squeeze. “Well, I’d say we’re both bloody amazing, so we’ll sort ourselves out at some point, don’t you think?” He winked, laying on all the cheese in the world. You broke into a fit of giggles, utterly charmed.

And only a few moments later was the magic broken, when any previous talk about believing in each other was overshadowed by Draco’s own prejudices after he’d just lectured you about your own. How...

“Hypocritical. That’s not exactly the type of person we talked about being, was it Malfoy? But I’m sure you’re making your parents proud,” you seethed, forcing your way through his group. You’d had enough of the conversation, and had had enough of putting your hopes into Draco Malfoy.

Draco was completely floored at your use of his last name, and the utter disappointment dripping from your voice. It had been a full minute of him staring at direction you’d left in before he felt a harsh shove to his shoulder, whirling around to see an incredulous Blaise Zabini in his face.

“Who the bloody hell was that? You’re getting acquainted with Hufflepuffs now?” The other boy questioned, brows raised to his hairline. Crabbe and Goyle grunted in affirmation, looking to Draco for answers as well.

“No one of concern. She’s just a filthy blood traitor,” he spat, as if he had to convince himself of that fact as well. He tried to ignore the throbbing feeling he felt in his chest, becoming increasingly more uncomfortable as he friends continued to rib him for answers. He was used to disappointing his parents, but why did the thought of disappointing you bother him so much?

“She was pretty hot though,” Zabini sniggered, earning a sharp look in return. Officially fed up with both himself and his friends, Draco stormed off, his mind a flurry of conflicting thoughts and feelings.

~

Snapping yourself out of your memories, you’d finally made it to the dungeons. And when you flung open the door to the Potions room, the first thing you saw was the blue tie around the neck of a Ravenclaw student.

Sitting next to her was a Slytherin boy, who’s face was enough to give away that he was clearly unhappy with the seating arrangement. You stood in the doorway panicking, searching for the familiar head of curly hair wrapped in a red and gold scarf, only for your heart to drop as she was already sitting next to a girl from your own house.

Dying inside, you nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt something hard slam into your back, nearly knocking you off your feet. Indignant, you look up to once again see a familiar head of blonde hair and even more familiar grey eyes staring down at you, eyes wide in shock.

That shock quickly turned to apprehension as you heard heavy footsteps coming your way, turning back to see black robe covered feet stopping in front of you. And by the soft “shit” you heard coming from Malfoy’s mouth, you lifted your head, coming face to face with who you could only assume was one very disgruntled Professor Snape.

And, but of course, you were a couple of very late students.

* * * * * * * *

[Author’s Note: Keep in mind that I’m going to be making a few changes to canon in this story. I’ll give warnings and point them out as they happen :) Also, this was entirely written on my phone while drunk, so if there’s any errors of formatting issues just remember that my name is T-Pain :)]

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[adragonhoardingstories]

Of Blood and Bonds- Chapter 5

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On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

Happy New Year

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

Another day she had needed to spend with the idiots in her class. Once again, she felt like cursing her parents. 

Marinette was by all means done with Lycée, she was following University courses but after Tom and Sabine had disowned her in all but name, it's not like they knew that. Most of her old relations had no idea what she was up to and it suited her not seeing them ever again. 

But despite everything, the Dupain-Chengs she didn't consider herself one anymore did to her, they still didn't want her to dishonour their family even more so they made an arrangement with her and her Lycée.

She had to at least show up for the exams and any school functions and they would leave her alone to do as she pleased instead of sending her to a boarding school and well with all her responsibilities, she never really had a choice. 

Which brought her here - on the Gotham Field Trip. She really didn't know why they had even sent her here, they were only wasting their money and Sabine must have known that the chances of her meeting Bruce were high, especially since their activities were centered around Wayne Enterprises.

Today they were going to be assigned to one person they had to shadow all day - it was supposed to help them get some actual job experience. 

Marinette was chosen to shadow the CEO - how surprising - and it just so happened that today was one of the rare days Bruce Wayne was in the company so she would have the pleasure of helping both him and Tim depending on who needed her most - yay her. 

She was willing bet her future fashion empire that Bruce had orchestrated this in an attempt to get a chance to talk to her. 

However she had to admire that one good thing come out of this - Lila Rossi got served. 

Like she had mentioned it before, she didn't have anything to do with her past classmates except the bare minimum but it seemed even now the liar still felt threatened by her every time they met. And honestly, she couldn't care less except that wench was the reason her parents had turned against her and of course how could we forget the worse thing of all? That Lila Rossi was willingly working with Hawkmoth - a known terrorist. 

So the jobs had been announced and Lila has started her usual act and name dropping and oh there must have been a mistake, Timothy told me that I would be chosen to work with him since I'm already used to helping him. That had received a sharp look from the one delegating and a simple comment about Miss Rossi you are to report to our legal team, they have something prepared especially for you. Seeing Lie-La pale and shut up so yeah that had been the highlight of her day. 

But now, now she was most certainly going to be forced to speak to her father and she kind of wished that Lila had succeeded for once. 

Just as the lady she had grown to like was about to show her the way, her father magically appeared not really, she had seen him hiding in the shadows for the last five minutes and offered to guide her himself. 

As she predicted, he said nothing else, until they were in his office but once the doors were closed… 

"Mari-" He started to speak but then the doors banged open and a haggard looking Tim Drake stumbled in. 

"Nette, I heard I got you today. Thank fuck I didn't get one of the brats." He stumbled in on the couch, paying Bruce no mind and grinned at her. "Plus, I get sister bonding time so win-win for me."

Marinette looked from him to Bruce. "You have impeccable timing." She informed him. "So I'm going to make you coffee."

"You are an angel." He declared. "An absolute angel. Now I understand why Damian likes you so much."

Marinette laughed it off. "Damian likes me because I don't call him Demon Spawn Timbers."

"In my defense." He groaned. "He was a brat back then and now, well it's basically a nickname. Call it brother's privilege if you want. And he knows it."

Marinette smiled gently at him as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Bruce, and sat down drinking her own cup. "Does he know that?"

Tim blinked at her, a thoughtful expression taking place on his face. 

It lasted until he tasted the coffee, then it was replaced by awe. 

"This is so good, how is this so good, it's literally the same thing I drink everyday? Can you work for me permanently?"

She was amused and this conversation seemed to shock her father so it was a plus. "But Timmy, if I change my career how are you going to get your special MDC suits?"

That strangely made him go serious. 

"About that, I needed to talk to you." 

Marinette raised an eyebrow, this should be good. 

"What would you think if Wayne Enterprises becomes the main sponsor for MDC?" 

She leant back in her seat crossing her feet and took a long sip of her drink. 

"Now why would I agree to that?"

Tim looked surprised while she was careful to keep her own face carefully blank but he recovered quick enough and seemed to thrive on the challenge. 

Marinette could pinpoint the exact moment when he changed to his game face. "Why wouldn't you? This in the long term will benefit you especially when you decide to release your line or officially start your company."

"Who said anything about releasing a line? Right now I'm on a clientele only basis and the greatest thing about MDC right now is my anonymity. My business is flourishing and I'm on high demand, especially among celebrities so you can imagine the price I get for each of my works. Why would I want to change that?"

"While that is true, the novelty will eventually wash off. Your designs may be good enough for you to get some loyal customers but you won't be as you put it in high demand anymore. And I may have known you for only a while, but I doubt you haven't planned for the future."

Marinette could admit, she was a little impressed. "Also true, but I'm currently a millionaire and have more than enough money to launch a line by myself."

Tim opened his mouth to interrupt but she continues before he could.

"And yes, I do understand how accepting your offer will benefit me more but signing with you also means that will represent my brand and how can I - bearing my own interests in mind - accept knowing is publicly involved with Wayne Enterprises?"

He looked completely lost and Marinette was probably having more fun that she should with this. "I'm not sure I follow?"

"I mean that even if people don't outright state it, everyone knows that the Wayne finances and outfits the Gotham vigilantes."

"And your point is?" The poor boy was going to make her say it. 

"Your costumes are a fashion disaster Timmy, an eyesore if not a horror?" 

"They're not that bad!"

"Do not get me started on the first Robin's costume. Were you not in your right mind when you allowed it?" For the first time in the day, she spoke to Bruce. 

"Wait, you know?" She shot Tim a questioning look. Why hadn't told him, she figured it out? The boy just shrugged and she sighed. 

"It's not that difficult to figure out Bats. You and Mom literally met while you training in extreme martial arts and the way she described you doesn't match up with the idea the media has of you so I was already suspicious and then I met them and I saw them in costume, they have the same build and everything and their alibi was frankly terrible. Also the rate at which you take in kids matches with the appearance of each new Robin."

"When was the last time you got your IQ tested?" He demanded. 

Marinette elected to ignore that comment in favour of finishing her conversation with Tim. "So?"

"So if I get everyone to agree to a costume redesign by you, you'll sign?"

"I get to re-design and remake all of your costumes as well as become the go to for the family for all your events."

"That's a lot of conditions."

She shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "Those are my terms but if you'd like, you can consider the part about your costumes a favor to you sister so that she doesn't get a heart attack everytime she sees you suited up."

"I'll agree as long as you admit you're exaggerating."

Marinette gave him a deadpan look. "Have you ever seen the Red Hood helmet. I have nightmares about it."

He considered it. "Yeah okay that's fair. So should I start working on the papers?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm going to rebrand once and for all once I'm 18 along with my face reveal."

"Rebrand, why?"

"Like you rightly pointed out two nights ago MDC stands for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Well I don't want to be a Dupain-Cheng for longer than I have to. I'll be changing my name hence the rebranding."

"Would you consider Wayne?" Bruce asked softly. Marinette paused. She had been considering taking Master Fu's name actually. "I don't know B."

"I'll leave you two to talk." Tim said slowly getting up and she would have protested but she could not run from this forever and the Kwami pressing against her leg seemed to agree. 

"Yeah just…" She took out her phone and send him a contact. "That's my lawyer, you can send her the papers to review. I'll talk to her about it."

Tim checked his phone and went slack jawed. "Elle Woods. Elle Woods is your lawyer." He threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't know why I'm still surprised at this point but I'm gonna ask, how did you get her to work for you?"

"She's one of my regulars. "

"Of course she is." Tim muttered. Marinette watched silently as he went to refill his cup of coffee but ended up taking the whole coffee machine with him and walked out of the door. 

Marinette turned to Bruce. She was not looking forward to this but she sighed and got up. "I'm supposed to be working so give me something to do."

"I thought you agreed we need to talk Marinette."

"I never agreed to anything." She reminded him. "But yes we'll talk." She pointed a finger at him. "While I work. So, give me something to do."

"You need this to be on your terms." He noted. 

"I know you've researched what happened. After having been stripped from my senses and having my will taken away from me, yes I do enjoy being in control." She dared him to say something. "So. Give. Me. Something. To. Do."

"You can arrange the paper on the desk. According to the project names, put it in alphabetical order with A being on top."

Marinette set to work without another word. Bruce took that as his cue to start speaking. 

"You know about Batman. The year I stopped talking to you was when when I was assumed dead-"

"Then why?" She cut in sharply. "Did Alfred not even deign inform me that my father was dead? Or what about after you came back?"

He stayed silent. 

"The truth B is that even before that you were speaking to me less and less. Your phone calls, rare as they were, were always so short I was never able to tell you what i wanted." She gave out a humorless laugh. "You know I used to be scared that you didn't want me. I mean why else would you keep me a secret from your other children? So I didn't complain because I didn't want to stop having the little time you even gave to me. Guess, I was right in the end."

"No." He stood up and came to stand in front of her. "Marinette sweetie, please believe me. I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you. I've never not wanted you but my lifestyle was always very dangerous but I never realised how much it really was until Jason died and then shortly after I returned Damian died. Every child of mine has been traumatized in some way by my enemies. I didn't want the same to happen to you. There are villains out there who know who I am. I got scared Marinette, distancing myself from you was me trying to protect you. I know - I know it doesn't excuse me not being there for you but you need to know I am so so sorry. Please let me make it up to you. "

Marinette felt the kwamis on her person press against her, offering their silent support. 

"I'm willing to try." She said at last, finishing arranging the last of the documents. She looked up at him and could basically read the hope in his expression. "But you need to give me space. I'm not coming to live in Gotham nor am I going to defer to you. I've built my own life, you're not going to interfere with in. You can be in it but you don't get to try and change things."

"Okay, okay I can work with that."

"Then you've got yourself a deal." Marinette offered him her hand to shake and he did shake it but right after, he pulled her in a hug. 

Bruce realized his mistake when Marinette stiffened up but she relaxed in his arms and she slowly, almost hesitantly clutched his shirt, like a small child holding their dad's shirt, trying to hide in his arms. 

And a father's heart broke all over again.

#MLB X DC #maribat #platonic daminette #mentions of rape #torture #lila salt #adrien salt

[memory-hoarder]

WARNING (LONG POST AHEAD)

I turn off the lights, scrolled my phone and clicked the Spotify app currently listening to (calming acoustic) 10: 05 PM, best time to unleashed all emotions that piled up from nowhere. I covered myself with a huge blanket and placed the laptop on my lap and decided to visit my page. I know, I'm being inactive lately but I'm doing my best to update my journal publicly to remind me of my long absences.

Tonight, I decided to post the questions I received a night before my birthday celebrated. I kept this on my file for a month now. Admittedly, this is the huge decision I made on my birthday. So, I asked a random people on my messenger lists - some are my work colleagues while others are acquaintances. At first, I am hesitant to ask for favor to anyone but I did. Well, I guess it was successful though I received different reactions - some confused and thought I was making fun while others are game on to sent their questions. Obviously, it took days for me to answered cos it turns out that I wasn't prepared myself for few questions that somehow affects me literally.

The twist here is I am not allow to send my answer to their questions. However, I can answer it through this journal. Which I described as bravery.

Here are some of the questions:

How’s Life? How’s Life?

A question that been asked me twice. Well, this year was the great sadness of my life that challenged me mentally, emotionally and drained me physically. Sometimes a mere struggle on financially. I’m doing fine but lots of times I seriously breaking down especially the trauma of what happened 8 months ago. But today, I accepted the fact and slowly healing me and appreciate what really God’s intention and plan for my life.

Are you happy right now?

Not sure how to put it into words but there is no reason not to be happy. Right? If you just appreciate the life you are living right now or even the smallest thing that makes you smile or giggle I guess there is no reason to be sad at all. Although, lots of times I felt happy, sad, angry or lost. But there are still lots of reasons to celebrate or be joyful too. I juts let myself felt all the emotions that life wanted me to experienced to remind me that I indeed exist. There are people who could bring me joy and sadness at the same time but all I know they are all part of my journey.

Have you ever missed me before we lost our communication? Do you consider me as true friend?

Of course, I do. I miss the old you the person who I genuinely treasured during my college days. And, you are one of the reasons why I indeed survived college. I just don’t understand why we both let this friendship died. Was it because we no longer catch up? But, how I hope building friendship again will no longer hard as I imagined. But, please know that you became part of my story. I always count on you whenever I am sad and confused. I feel comfortable sharing my thoughts because I know you will never judge me. Hope to see you again soon. Take care of yourself!

Why there are times you don’t have the mood to talk?

Because, I read my surroundings and I feel comfortable being alone not to isolate but to process my own thoughts with myself which my normal thing growing up and I choose this way - became aloof at times not wanted to talk to anyone or go out. It makes me sad to think only few understand my personality. However, I can't just normalize this because of extrovert people I knew. I don’t have mood to talk and I push away people closed to me because I find a happy place being alone. Its not sad or dark what it gives me is peace of mind that no on can offer.

Would you like to change your past or stay on your present path? Why and why not?

I believed majority will choose the past, we all wanted to change one thing that we regret of doing - apologies, goodbye's, places to travel, opportunities we must have and other important things we slip away that is why I choose the past over my present. One thing I am eager to experience all over again is my mom's precious life, only if I had the power to bring her back. I was just 16 years old when she died, and I think the years of her being a mother to us will never be enough. However, her life is a blessing and all the valuable teachings that she imparted on me and to my siblings will remain on us forever. How I wish for her to at least see as growing up especially my brother that she spoiled a lot, and for us to give back all the things she deserved. I imagined date her on a restaurant, buy her clothes, treat her to the salon or accompany her on the grocery store. I also wanted to visit the past to catch up with my high school friends – Mira and Jeno, I will never forget how they literally brings me deep joy and the reason I am early bird during junior high because of the dare. I just missed the sound of Jeno's sense of humor, I treated her more than a friend rather a sister and it broke me when I received the news that he's gone. I was not there for him nor visit his and mom's grave for years now. I wanted to comfort Mira, but I am too far away and impossible to have my own money for my flight expenses. What I did is to cried and prayed for his soul. All of the good memories flashed back once more yet I realized God might took away two beautiful souls in my life but I am confident they watching over and guiding me through life.

I am or was curious regarding James situation, did it ever cross your mind you regret James being your boyfriend?

In all of the questions I received this one hits me hard to the core. For everyone’s knowledge James and I are in a relationship for over 4 years now. Just like other couples we did fight over little things yet we matured and grow together. One thing I really loved about James Charlie is how kind and pure his heart. He helps people as long as he can even himself are struggling to live. Not to mention his over confidence that I am jealous of. I guess, because of how friendly and inviting his amour. Also, a talented one he knows how to dance, sing and imitate different kinds of sounds, He’s grammar and vocabulary are lit. He can also play guitar very well, draw portrait’s and even writing a poems. He knew, he won my heart through his creative abilities. I was also surprised how he interested over history of aliens, bermuda triangle, mermaids and what I consistently heard of the Pyramid of Giza, life documentaries and other related history of it. I find him sexy whenever he talked about some of it. Our age gap is never an issue on our relationship and I am lucky that he guided me on everything, considered my opinions or thoughts and when I freaked out badly which occasionally happened he handle me perfectly and I appreciated his temperament level during my anxiety attacks or whenever I choose to isolate myself him being shut off. He understood me in my own terms and be myself. Yet relationship will test your loved from one another, there were also things that I don’t like of him doing however James does listened to me. He listens to advises either coming from me or from other people that cared for him. He is a vocal person, that one thing that I fall for him is his sense of humor. I guess talkative and being clingy towards person is his nature especially growing up in a broken family. Consistent communication is a key. I remembered he told me that I was different to all the girls she dated on his past life. That I am out of his league, he doesn’t know that he is of out my league too but when I know him deeply he taught me lessons in life and felt his warm love. Over the course of our relationship he respect the limitless of our love language and he accepted and understood the love without intimacy is a different level of love and respect and from his perspective I wanted everyone to know that James has a huge respect towards me, my beliefs and reasons. How someone could wait for something that he can easily took away something on his past relationship. Our relationship is somehow changed us individually into a better person. Getting older, he became dreamer and goal oriented. I witnessed all his hard work, that he celebrated through silence. He wanted to build home and think of small business that will be our retirement in the future. How many kids we wanted or how many dogs we will going to breed. I guess, some people misunderstood James for so long, how miserable life that no one to talk and curse during your victories or failures? Friends and addiction in alcohol and other stuff are his way of escaped, escape from the reality that lead him to take his own precious life once. I know how difficult life for him way back on his early 20’s that he fought all his battle alone and how he overcome his depression and addiction without someone to lean on. And nowadays, everything makes sense to me that I realize being independent sometimes is not a choice but more on a decision. decision and accepting no one will guide you through your journey so you have to do it alone either it brings you sadness or happiness in a process, not to count living alone and make money all by yourself. I agreed he might do bad decision in life but that doesn’t mean his life has no purpose at all. Instead, God is confident that he will win this battle not for everyone, not for the sake of me or our relationship but for himself. As for our current situation, I know being with him and fight through the end will inspired him a lot. Yes, he currently working on his self and will prove to everyone when the time comes that he will be able to regain his new

life and continue living.

We introverts, tend to think a lot, like really overthink a lot. What do you mostly overthink and how deep? Deep, like does it leads you to think more negatively resulting to depression? (mild depression, maybe).

I overthink some scenarios on my head when it really affects my whole being and when every time I think of it, obviously it trigger my anxiety not depression I guess. I can recall one or two hard situations that happened to me, and I know it wasn’t me trying to act that way. I even punished myself and literally breakdown trying to hurt myself, call me freak or whatever cos now I asked myself too how I even allowed myself to did terrible things, because anxiety creeping on me and telling me to do it. But, mostly I think of is my future and myself – deep that it scared me a lot. I have lot of questions of this world that I keep on searching by myself until now.

Why it took for you to share your problems?

Honestly, when I’m having a serious problem I am not confident to share to anybody except to my family who already knew. It took too long because advises no longer work for me, I listened because it was normal people do – advise and advise. Maybe, it was me who are picky to share my problem with, sometimes people listened but never in heart. Not all people deserve to know your struggle and during your lowest times, I have my own terms of coping so you do.

How do you maintain your petite body? If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?

Wow! I never see this coming. Well, I guess being fit is what I inherited on my father's side. They not so fat unlike on my mother's side. I have no limit on foods I intake in other words not your discipline person to look up to. I do eat carbs, junk foods and sodas is always on my list. I never worried if I am physically fit aside from walking Maxine during days off. I don't know how do I maintain this body I guess I'm never. Being fit actually is my insecurity. However, I do loved my body whatever what happen.

Well, if I had 3 wishes in life - first, to end this pandemic so that everything will back to normal. second, for James to have peace of mind and good health while waiting for the process of his case. And, lastly, for me to be strong, lasting patience and strong faith.

How would you solve your problems?

Problems is always part of lives. But, I believed it is always about the degree of the problem. Whenever, I had problem sometimes I resolved it in time but other times I need more time and space to think what will be the resort of it. And, pray for some guidance.

As independent being, how do you handle depression and anxiety?

Good thing to end all of this questions, I became independent when I graduated from college. I have to commute 131 kilometers back and forth from another city just to apply on my first job and the process is never easy at all. When you sent all of your applications form on each companies but never accepted It brought so much sadness, one point of my life I am eager to seek job because I used it as my coping mechanism to walked away from home which I did now, I walked away to protect my peace of mind especially having anxiety growing up and having this thing is hard as people imagined. You might only see darkness and feel of losing but for me, I guess for a year now I handled myself perfectly I never allow this condition to swallow me whole and affect my way of living. I reminded myself to keep strong and remain optimist and always protect my peace of mind at all cost.

.

I am 24 now strong and happy and leaving Haruki Murakami quote: "And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what storms all about"

#self love #journaling #birthday #24 years old

[justjessame]

First A Moses, Then A Cooper Chapter 1

Making dinner as my son and daughter fought over one of their many shared tech gadgets, I had to ask myself if Will and I were sane for wanting a third.  With him working constantly, and me doing the brunt of rearing our little demons, I had to think that a third child might be outside the realm of my abilities.  

“J, Mira, stop fighting!”  I snarled it, causing both kids to look up at me from their spot just inside the living room and I knew I had hit my limit and also stopped being the mother they knew and expected.  “Dad called and we’re having guests for dinner.”  I hoped that helped them understand, but they continued to stare.  “WORK guests.”  That got them moving, suddenly they were working to straighten the living room and they were miraculously using their inside voices.  “Thank you!”  I went back to working on dinner, trying to decide if the last minute additions were foodies, or if they’d make due with comfort foods.

“Honey?”  I heard Will’s voice, and sighed as I put the finishing touches on the table.  “Michelle,” and then his warmth was surrounding me and a ton of my extra tension started to relax.  How he could manage to do that would be a mystery forever.  “Something smells delicious.”  He was saying it into the side of my neck so I had no doubts that he didn’t mean our dinner.

“Yeah, is that pot roast?”  Another voice, bringing me back to the reality that we were having guests for dinner and that our kids would be in attendance.  Damn it.  “Sorry,” the man didn’t look sorry, he looked like he was holding back laughter at Will and I wrapped up in one another.

“Michelle, sweetheart, I’d like you to meet Frank Moses.”  My eyes widened, I couldn’t help it, I KNEW who this was even if his face wasn’t familiar.  Will moved on, introducing the two other guests who made up the ragtag band who would add to our table.  I barely listened, even though their names were known to me too.  None hit me like Frank’s.  “Honey?”  I looked up at my husband, seeing him staring at me with confusion.  

I shook off my look of amazement, and smiled reassuringly.  “Welcome to our home,” I offered to the trio as our kids joined us, clearly hearing the additional voices.  “This is our son, James and our daughter Mira.”  I saw Frank look at both my children and then back at me.  Clearly trying to place me, but he wasn’t having much luck.  And he wouldn’t, because my mother made certain that no one would ever know just who I really was.  I gave a silent prayer of thanks and told everyone to get comfortable at the table while I brought dinner in.  Will was on my heels, offering to help, but I knew my very observant husband had questions.  

“Chell?”  I smiled up at him as I handed him the lined bread basket that I filled with warm rolls.  “Honey, why did you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”  Licking my lips, I carefully arranged the roast onto a serving tray, then moved to grab the dish I had ready for the potatoes and carrots.  “Michelle -”  

“We have guests, Will,” I reminded him, swallowing the dry lump in the back of my throat because I HAVE seen a ghost.  Just one that I knew about while no one else in the house did.  “We can’t be rude.”  

Of all the men I could have married, I picked William Cooper, one of the most observant men on the planet AND one who had the most in common with my birth parents even if he had no clue about that.  He was studying me while I carefully filled the bowls with starches, then vegetables, then made certain the gravy boat was filled just full enough, adding the silver ladle my mother had gifted us with on our wedding day.  

“Michelle Cooper, we will be having a conversation about whatever it is that has you on edge as soon as our guests are settled in for the night-” Wait, what?  “It’s one night, sweetheart,” one night, I thought, feeling my tension ratchet up to a fifteen.  “I know they look like a -” he stopped, considering how to describe the mess of a trio he’d brought home.  “It’s one night.”  I nodded.  “A nice long, hot bubble bath with your husband should do the trick,” I smirked, and they said torture was outlawed.  “You and me, Mrs. Cooper, after dinner.”  

Will’s voice, when he wanted it to, could take on an octave that I swore could make me do things that nothing else could.  He would laugh and say I was being silly, but I’d squint and challenge him back with the theory that he used it to get sources to do his bidding in all manner of terrible and wonderful ways.  Since I didn’t have the type of security clearance that could either refute or prove my theory we would forever be at a stalemate on this particular argument.  

“Take the bread out and come back for another load, Mr. Cooper.”  My order was tempered by the lingering kiss I couldn’t help but give him.  “Our guests will be more likely to settle in faster with full bellies.”  

Surreal, that’s how dinner felt to me as I sat at the foot of our dining room table while Will sat at the head, J and Mira sat on one side and Frank flanked the woman he’d brought along - Sarah Ross - while Marvin Ross sat on her other side, the last to taste any of the food set before him - as if I’d poison guests in my home.  Frank Moses, a man I’d heard stories about long before I’d met Will - I tried to show no extra interest in the man, not with my overly observant husband keeping watch, but it was a difficult thing.  How would anyone manage such a task after the hero in their bedtime stories was plunked down to have dinner with them?  

Lucky for me, Sarah seemed as ill at ease as I felt, and while I grew quiet, she grew talkative.  

“So -” she smiled across the table at my children, both sitting straight and behaving as they were expected with people from Dad’s work in attendance.  “What grades are you guys in?”  

James answered first, his voice loud enough to be heard, but not too loud - Will’s pride shining as he listened to his son answer without faltering.  “I’m in ninth grade.”  He’d put his fork and knife down and was looking Sarah in the face.  Eye contact was important when carrying on a conversation, something we’d worked on after the bullying incident when Frank Moses had first come into Will’s orbit.  “I’m first string on the football team this year.” He was proud of that accomplishment, and so were we.  It had been a tough won feat, and J had earned it.  

Not to be outdone, Mira waited until her older brother finished, since we did have guests and etiquette was important, at least around strangers.  “And I’m in eighth.”  I smiled at Will, his eyes almost glowing across the full length of our table in pride.  “I prefer dance.” Her tiny chin went up a notch as if daring any of the trio across from her to argue that dance was a lesser endeavor than football.  

“Ballet or -” It was Marvin, not Sarah who asked the follow up and I shot a look his way to make certain it wasn’t coming at her in a mocking way, but he looked both sincere and interested - well knock me over with a feather.  

“I do ballet, but also tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop,” Mira’s smile grew as she spoke and so did mine.  I loved the passion that my children showed for anything - be it J’s football or love of drawing, or Mira’s need to move, watching them light up just from discussing it was enough to make me happy.  

“You’re quite the accomplished tiny dancer,” Marvin’s smile wasn’t one I might find safe if seen in the wild, but at my own table with my husband close at hand I found it kind.  

“And what do you do, Michelle?”  I wasn’t expecting it.  The question nor the person who asked it.  I know I flinched and I know that it wasn’t only caught by Will.  “I’m sorry, was that too forward of me?”  

“Not at all,” managing to find my smile again by focusing on J and Mira I turned to face Frank.  “I take care of my family, Mr. Moses.”

“She’s being modest,” Will cut in and my eyes flicked to him.  “She’s not JUST a housewife, not that there’s anything wrong with that.”  My eyes narrowed at the implication that anyone who made their family’s lives easier by being a homemaker was somehow less than, it was something Will had pointed out to me on multiple occasions.  “Chell writes.  She’s a published writer.”  His eyebrows rose as if to dare me to contradict him, but I couldn’t, he was telling the truth.  

“What have you written?”  Sarah, clearly someone who couldn’t stand silence - awkward or not - wanted more information.  “Maybe we’ve read it.”

“I’m sure you have,” Will’s smile was growing and my eyes were narrowing again.  The tease.  “She wrote ---”  And there it was, him literally removing my mask and letting these three know my nom de plume, my secret identity - I should have told him I was going to have to kill him.  

“Wow,” Sarah’s mouth dropped open and a large part of me hoped this meant she would be rendered speechless and dinner could go back to being eaten.  “That’s -”

“Impressive,” Frank’s eyes were on me, and I inhaled deeply and met his gaze.  “Where do you get your ideas?”  

Shit, I internally added money to the swear jar that we didn’t actively use anymore - and hadn’t for years now, but honestly.  Trust my husband to out me to this man, a man who he had NO idea was someone I’d known about for YEARS before he did, and now here were were face to face and HE wanted to now where I got MY ideas for books that - if someone wanted to hold a microscope up to them - bore a striking resemblance to a lot of what HE had a hand in over the years.  Fuck. 

“I have an EXCELLENT imagination.” I offered, thanking my genetics, my birth parents, and God above for the ability to lie the way I could.  

“Yeah, I guess you do,” he looked like he might believe me.  Maybe.  

I took a drink out of my glass of wine and swallowed carefully.  “Eat up, I’m sure you could use a good night’s rest.”  Because I sure as hell could. 

#william cooper/oc #red 2010 #alternative universe #after the film #slow burn #Frank Moses/oc

[jessmt]

Contact

a jesslake fic about insomnia and sweet kisses.

Summary:  It’s three in the morning, and Jesse can’t sleep.

AO3 Link

Whenever she slept, Lake used to dream of running.

Running from Tulip, running from the Flecs, running from the train, running from everything. As soon as she was out cold, her feet would hit the ground, and she would run as fast as her legs could carry her. Never to anywhere specific, just as long as she never looked back at where she came from. She could sprint, and sprint, and never run out of breath, or get stopped by some invisible wall or forced to the ground by those who were chasing after her.

It was freeing. It was exhilarating. And when she still worked as Tulip’s reflection, she slept any chance she could get. When she was sure Tulip was too busy working on her game to notice her reflection was missing from her computer screen, or any time she flicked the lights in her room off, Lake took what little chance she had and curled up to sleep until some rude Flec would come by and force her awake to work.

Sleep was the closest thing she could ever imagine that she’d have to escapism. She had no way of knowing that damned train would have a portal to the mirror realm in it, let alone that Tulip would even board the train and find her.

Even so, after she managed to escape, she couldn’t afford to let her guard down. The Flecs were after her, and she never had any way of knowing which denizens would promise to keep her location a secret and which ones would call the Flecs on her on sight. It was becoming increasingly more difficult for Lake to maintain her grasp on any sense of escapism, and even more so to find any opportunity to find sleep. 

Finding Alan Dracula was one of the best things that could’ve happened to her on that train. The fact that he could turn not only himself invisible but also those he traveled with made her feel safer than words could describe. 

Literally, Lake supposed, considering the fact that she fell asleep on him about ten minutes after meeting him.

It probably did wonders that he could also turn into a pile of pillows and comforters at will. 

Nowadays, ever since she’s gotten off the train, she’s had a regular sleep schedule for the first time in her life, and she’d be lying to herself if she tried claiming that it isn’t what she’s most thankful for. Now that she has nothing to run from, no need for escapism, Lake’s sleep is dreamless, and the most peaceful it’s ever been.

...Unless someone tries to shake her awake. 

“Lake?” Jesse’s raspy voice calls out to her, and he gently shakes her shoulders a second time. “Are you awake?”

She sits up, rubbing at her eyes. “I am now”, she replies, her voice equally as raspy as his. She has to squint, to really make him out, since it’s still pitch black in the room, and notices that he’s got a pillow under one arm and blanket under the other. “What time is it?”

“Almost three in the morning,” Jesse replies. “I couldn’t sleep.”

She raises an eyebrow at him, even though she’s sure he can’t make her face out very well either. “...and you decided the best solution for that was to…make sure I couldn’t sleep either?”

He shrugs as best as he can. “Well, I, uh, wanted to come ask you if it was okay if I came out here and slept with you, instead.” He rubs at the back of his neck. “I didn’t want to spook you, just sneaking out here and setting up camp next to you”. 

Okay, that gets a snort out of her. But she is sleeping on his couch in the middle of the living room, so it’s not like he hasn’t walked in and out on her while she was sleeping hundreds of times before. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah…” Jesse tries to dismiss the question. “I just...had a nightmare. I’ll be fine. I’ve just been having trouble getting back to sleep.” 

“Fair enough,” she replies, because if he’s coming directly to her about it instead of his parents then it probably had something to do with her, or the train, or the Flecs, and the last thing she wants is this long, complicated conversation about how yes, she could’ve died, yes, she can take care of herself, yes, he knows that, yes, it’s still scary, yes, nightmares are weird like that. And she knows that Jesse doesn’t want that either, because who would want to have that conversation at three in the morning? She pats at the seat on the couch beside her, pulling her blanket up to her chest to make more room for him. 

“Oh, thanks, but there’s no need”, Jesse grins, and drops his things on the floor beside the couch.

She folds her arms. “Jesse, I know I didn’t just spend two weeks trying to convince you to value your feelings over anyone else’s for you to tell me you’re fine with sleeping on the floor. I don’t care if you take up half the couch if you wanna sleep up here with me”. 

He shrugs, laughing. “Oh, no, I meant it like, there’s no need because I like sleeping on the floor. Reminds me of when my friends used to sleep over all the time when I was younger.”  He kneels down to fluff out his pillow, and crawls under his blanket as though it were a sleeping bag. “Matter of fact, sometimes when Nate and I stay up super late watching movie marathons, we just end up sleeping in here, since it makes less noise than trying to sneak back into our bedrooms.”

“Well, okay, but it’s your funeral,” Lake teases, lying back down herself. “But don’t come complaining to me tomorrow morning when your back hurts”.

Jesse pouts at her, and it’s a lot funnier than it should be, because his head is the only thing sticking out of his blanket. “Ouch,” he pretends to mope. “I guess I shouldn’t complain to you about my broken heart, either”.

Lake has to cover her mouth to prevent herself from laughing loud enough to wake everyone else up. “Go back to sleep, you dork, you’re gonna make me wake your whole family up”.

“Oh, but I can’t,” he mopes, sitting up to dramatically lay his wrist across his forehead. “However could I, with this sore back of mine”.

“Don’t make me throw my pillow at you”, Lake laughs, struggling to keep her voice below a whisper. 

“Fine, fine, you win”, Jesse replies in mock defeat, and lays his head back down on the pillow. “But I really can’t sleep”. 

Yeah, and I’m starting to think that I might never get back to sleep either. “Well, is there anything that usually helps you when you can’t sleep? Y’know, a cup of warm milk, flipping the pillow over, stuff like that?” 

“Well, yeah, but…” he brings his blanket up to his nose. “You have to promise not to laugh.”

“It’s three in the morning, Jesse, nobody can make that kind of promise”, she replies dryly, but she’s smiling, like she’s already struggling not to.

“Right….” Jesse sits up and turns towards her. “Anyways, what usually happens is that I go into Nate’s room and bug him until he wakes up.”

“Nate? Isn’t he your younger brother?”

He shrugs. “Yeah, but it’s all part of this deal we’ve had since we were little kids. Nate comes in and bugs me when he can’t sleep, and I go in and bug him when I can't sleep. We wake each other up, and we just…..ramble aimlessly, until we feel like we’re ready to go back to our own beds. I think when we were really little we thought that if we kept talking and talking, all of our thoughts would just spill out of our heads until they were empty, and having empty heads could help us sleep better.”

“That’s funny,” she snorts. “I thought your head was always empty”. 

“You wound me, Lake” he grips the chest of his pajama top. “Say what you may, but it always worked, so we never bothered breaking the habit.”

“Then what makes tonight any different? Why not go to Nate, instead of me?”

His teasing smile softens at her question. “Because you have interesting things to say”. 

Her cheeks tint a dark gray at the response, and he takes her lack of response as an invitation to keep talking. “I want to get to know you better. You’re my best friend, Lake, I wanna know everything there is to know about you. You’re always talking about how Tulip used to do this, and you hated it when Tulip did that, and I get it, maybe you haven’t been around long enough to know everything about yourself, but I wanna know about the things that you love. I wanna know about the things that make you tick”.

Her blush worsens, and she tries for a reply, but all her mouth is willing to do is open and close a bunch like some sort of dumb fish.

“...If you’re okay with that.”

That’s enough to break her, and she’s laughing again. “With talking? Of course I’m okay with talking, you dork”. 

“Oh, good, good…” he sighs, and if it weren’t pitch black in the room she could swear he was blushing too. 

“Well, what do you want to talk about? Everything about me is so much to get through, after all”. She smirks, resting her elbow on the armrest of the couch and resting her chin in her hand.

“Well…” he relaxes his posture, seemingly eased by her sarcasm. “I guess...the thing I’ve been wondering the most about you is what happened to you on the train”. 

She sits up, blinking. “What, you mean with Sieve and Mace? I thought I already told you about that”. 

“Oh, yeah, you did, but that’s not what I meant”. 

She tilts her head. “You’re losing me here, Jess.”

“I mean...you jumped off of a train, Lake. You dragged around half of Mace by your wrist for a few days, and put together he’s...what? Twice your weight? He was almost a foot taller than you, wasn’t he?”

“...Yeah? What’s your point?” 

“My point is...you’re the toughest person I know, but didn’t any of that hurt? I know you don’t like being asked reflection questions, and I promise I won’t push if it’s too personal, but…” he sits up, bringing his knees to his chest. “Can you...feel pain?”

Well that certainly wasn’t what she was expecting him to ask.

“I’m sorry,” he cuts in, like he’s suddenly gained the ability to read thoughts. “That was super out of place. I just...worry, sometimes.” He raises his hands into the air in defense. “N-not that I don’t think you can’t defend yourself, or anything, but I just…” 

“No, no, it’s okay” Lake sighs. “You’re actually not that far off. It was tough. It’s actually pretty sweet that you were worried.” She shrugs. “And yeah, to answer your question, I can feel pain. I’m not the kind of person who goes around looking for sympathy for anything, though. It’s just what I’m used to. If the Flecs get any whiff that you’re injured, or weak, or vulnerable for the taking, and they’re going to jump out from the next thing they can find and grind you down to dust.”

There’s a pause, and for a moment Lake is wondering if she went too far, until Jesse speaks up again.

“Well, in that case….” Jesse chooses his words as carefully as he can, “can you feel other things, too? Like, can you feel really cold, or get really hot? I mean, I know you can’t get goosebumps, and you can’t get really sweaty, but could you, hypothetically?”

She’s laughing again. It’s incredible, really, how quickly he can lighten the mood of a conversation. “You’re saying that like hot and cold are emotions, Jesse. I’m made of metal. Of course I can’t get hold or cold like you.” She pauses for a moment. “I mean, I guess in extreme conditions, I could probably freeze, and gather frost, or I could melt, if I were to catch on fire, or something, but no, as a general rule, I don’t really feel hot or cold”.

“What about...soft things? Can you feel those?” He asks, and stands from the floor to sit beside her on the couch. He rubs his hand along the end of her blanket. “This is the coziest blanket in the house. Mom looked for it in her room for almost an hour because I insisted on giving it to you.

“Hey, well now you’re not giving me enough credit”, she teases, and bunches the blanket up closer to her. “This blanket is wonderful. Give your mom my warm regards”. 

“Will do,” he smiles, and scooches a bit closer to her. There’s another quiet pause, and Lake notices Jesse’s hand twitching, and she’s sure he’s about to apologize for “the continuous pushing”, or something, but then he audibly sighs beside her, and there’s no way she could’ve predicted what he’s about to do. 

He reaches for her hand, and cups it between both of his own. “How about…” his voice cracks, and he clears his throat to correct it. “How about this?”

She can feel her cheeks burning again, and she’s never felt more grateful to be talking in a dark room. Wonderful. Fantastic. Home. 

“Warm”, she replies instead. “And soft”. 

He chuckles, lightly, and scoots ever closer. “Do you mind if I…” he starts, but his voice cracks into thin air before he can finish his question. He sits up on his knees to fit on the couch better, and slowly, but hesitantly, he reaches forward and places both of his hands on her waist.

The sudden gesture makes her jolt, mostly out of surprise, and he retracts his hands immediately. “Sorry”, he murmurs quickly, and turns his gaze elsewhere. But she shakes her head, takes his hands back in her own, and guides them back to where they’d been on her waist. He whips his gaze back towards her so quickly that she can feel a whiff of air swoosh between them. 

“It’s okay”, she whispers. “It feels nice. It just caught me a little off guard”.

“O-oh.” is all he can muster. “Sorry”.

She laughs, and she cups his face in her hands. “Jess, I just told you that it’s okay. You gotta learn to stop apologizing so much or you’re gonna end up on that train again”.

He giggles at that, and he moves his arms from around her waist to around her shoulder. “Sorry,” he whispers a third time to her, definitely just to screw with her, and she’s snorting in laughter again. Her hands slide from his face onto her lap, and suddenly he’s laughing too. It’s a good laugh, the kind that makes you grip your stomach and wipe at your eyes to stop yourself from crying. It’s messy, and it’s impossible to keep quiet, and when they can finally calm themselves to silent giggles they’re sitting closer than ever, resting their foreheads against each other.

“Could I try just...one more thing?” 

“Well that depends on if you’re gonna apologize to me ten seconds after you do it”.

“Don’t get me started again,” he says, jabbing an accusing finger in her direction. “I just got myself to stop laughing”.

“....Sorry”, she replies, in a barely contained snicker, but takes a deep breath so she can actually answer his question seriously.

“Yes”.

He sighs, and he places his hands onto her shoulders, gripping them lightly, and he leans in and gently presses his lips to hers. He kisses her softly, tentatively, like he’s never kissed anyone else before, and pulls away after the briefest of moments. It’s like that little peck awoke something in him, however, because the next thing she knows, Jesse’s closing his eyes against her, taking her cheeks in his hand as he leans in again, and kisses her twice more, on the edges of her lips. Once he’s satisfied there, he pulls away, but returns to kissing the center of her lips, just as softly, and just as sweetly, but this time with a bit more confidence. And though the whole ordeal couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, when he pulls away and opens his eyes to look at her she feels as though it’d been hours.

He swallows. “H-how about that?” 

“Mmm,” she replies, incapable of anything else. “Nice.” 

His eyes shine so brightly at that response that she swears she can see them sparkle. “Nice?” 

She nods. “Nice,” she repeats. “Kinda tingly, and fuzzy, and weird,” she shrugs, “but a good kind of weird”.

“W-well, can I…?” he fumbles, and she giggles.

“Yes.” 

“Good,” he replies, and he leans forward to kiss her again. It’s a bit rougher, this time, but it’s barely enough to notice. He presses a soft kiss to her lips, and another, before he moves onward to kiss her cheek.  He presses a number of short kisses to her cheek, and she has to repress giggles and snickers because it tickles. He grins against her, which honestly tickles even more, and she has to cover her mouth with one of her hands when he moves on to kissing at her jaw.

“Jesse-” she squeaks. “Jesse, I’m gonna wake your parents, or Nate, or-” she tries, but he ignores her protests, and kisses the space between her jaw and her neck. She bites down on her lip to suppress her laughter, but the more she seems to suppress, the more he seems to press on, leaving progressively more and more kisses around her chin, around her neck, and down towards her shoulder. It’s agony, and there’s practically tears streaming down her cheeks, repressing these fits of giggles, but he ignores her still, kissing his way back up to her face. 

“Jesse Cosay, I swear to god, I’m going to murder you as soon as I wake up tomorrow morning”, she attempts to protest, but all it gets out of him is a brief hushed laugh against her neck before she continues.

She realizes, far too late, that she can probably just push him off of her any time she wants, if she really wants him to stop. But she just can’t bring herself to do it, because the more she tries to get away, the more he kisses her, and the more he kisses her, the more she laughs, and it’s the happiest she’s felt in her entire life. And she’s sure that Jesse realizes it too, to some degree, because the more he kisses her the more he struggles to repress his own laughter. 

Gradually, but surely, his kisses dissolve away until he’s left laughing so hard that tears are streaming down his face. And maybe it's because she knows exactly how he’s feeling, or maybe it’s just because it’s so late, but it’s not long before Lake finds herself dissolving into silent hysterical laughter as well, curling up against Jesse to ride it out together until they exhaust themselves to sleep.

#my writing #jesslake #infinity train #fluff

[thebachelordiaries]

Clare seeks HIMBO: ‘The Bachelorette’ cast first impressions

The Covid-19 pandemic has been rough for the entire world, but Bachelor Nation faced some dark days too. Going eight months without a single new episode from The Bachelor franchise is something I would really like to not relive.

Fortunately, those dark days are over. Clare’s season has me sucked back in. 

The quality of this image is atrocious.

Most of these men—presuming they followed CDC’s social distancing guidelines— haven’t seen a woman in months, are touch deprived, possibly unemployed and contemplating moving back to their hometown while stalking the housing market on Zillow. Everyone’s desperate. That makes for some pretty good TV.

This season features men ranging from ages 26 to 41. We’ve got a boy band manager, a grooming specialist, several men who look like they masturbate in front of full length mirrors and even more who probably want me to join their MLM pyramid scheme. 

I’ve never been more ready to roast a bunch of men who have nightmares about going bald. It’s all I’ve wanted to do since March.

Let’s go:

AJ, 28, Software sales

AJ is the kind of guy who writes “Looking for the Pam to my Jim <3″ on his Bumble profile. His bio is generic and probably not reflective of who he is as a person. If I were Clare I’d swipe left.

Ben, 29, Army ranger veteran

“Ben's favorite indulgence is an ice bath.“ Well then.

Alexa, play “Run” by AWOLNATION.

Bennett, 36, Wealth management consultant

Bennett’s profile is the biggest red flag I’ve ever seen. This man says he is the total package but hasn’t always been "this successful and good looking.” But wait, there’s more: “According to Bennett, his high school girlfriend is the only girl he's ever had to work for.“

Can someone tell me what NYC neighborhood he lives in so I can blacklist it?

Blake M1, 31, Male grooming specialist

Blake’s just another stereotypical “29th round draft pick who sat on the bench of the practice team before getting cut, but claims he left the sport due to an injury on his own accord.” 

Blake M2, 29, Wildlife manager

This Blake is an outdoorsy Canadian who seems pretty genuine and cool. Unfortunately, he has the face of someone who’d get sent home on night one. I hope I’m wrong.

Brandon, 28, Real Estate Agent

Just another boring hot person. Nothing to see here.

Brendan, 30, Commercial roofer

Brandan, not to be confused for Brandon, “loves some good true crime, working out and hanging out with his friends.” I can’t even make fun of this man. We have the exact same interests. 

Chasen, 31, IT account executive

The Winklevoss twins are actually triplets and Chasen is their long lost brother. But more seriously, have you ever seen someone who looks more like their name than this man?

Chris, 27, Landscape design salesman

“Chris hopes to find a woman who is sharp and witty but also easygoing.” Chris, sweetheart, have you met Clare? Easygoing...? There’s still time back out of this before it’s too late.

Dale, 31, Former pro football wide receiver

Dale aggressively screams “Bachelor material.” I’d say he’s auditioning for that role but Matt James already scooped it up. Better luck next year, Daley.

Demar, 26, Spin cycling instructor

Demar is a “very popular spin instructor in Scottsdale and says he can get on that bike and spin to any beat thrown his way.” Imagine how many trophy wives Demar has f*cked? 

Eazy, 29, Sports marketing agent

Eazy is very similar to Dale on paper. Except his name is Eazy so he automatically loses that battle.

Ed, 33, Health care salesman

“Ed is looking to find a woman who has natural beauty without looking overly fake.” Ed deserves to die alone.

Garin, 34, Professor of Journalism

Garin’s bio is giving me hubby material vibes. And maybe a little bit of a “gets eliminated on night one” vibe too.

Ivan, 28, Aeronautical Engineer

Ivan, what are you doing here? We’re in a recession. Please go back to your normal job before it’s too late. 

Jason, 31, Former pro football linemen

“He is a former NFL offensive lineman who, after suffering too many concussions on the field, decided to prioritize his health and change the direction of his life.” A big, brawny HIMBO with CTE? I feel like he’s Clare’s type.

Jay, 29, Fitness director

There are too many things about Jay that I dislike and I’m trying to keep this brief. Jay says “it's time to take a break from worrying about others and focus on himself instead.” I am willing to bet money that this man has never made a woman c*m.

Jeremy, 40, Banker

Jeremy is the oldest contestant ever to come on "The Bachelorette,” which may seem like a monuments accomplishment but he’s literally only one year older than Clare. 

He also “hates Instagram models, both male and female,” so he should have a lot of fun here.

Joe, 36, Anesthesiologist

Before I even saw his profession and location, I thought Joe looked like a doctor I’d find on a NYC dating app...and...uh...I probably did see him on there now that I think about it.

Anyway, this man has apparently been through seven stages of hell while on the front lines fighting Covid-19 in NYC so I definitely think he deserves to find love. Someone marry him please.

Jordan C, 26, Software account executive

I can already tell Jordan is going to get the “I’m young but mature” edit which means he’s probably not going to be good TV.

Too bad someone a tad younger (like Tayshia) wasn’t the Bachelorette. I feel like they’d make a cute couple.

Jordan M., 30, Cyber security engineer

I was going to say something mean but Jordan’s into cyber security and I don’t want my blog to be deactivated, so never mind. Cast photos are historically bad so I’m sure he looks much better in real life.

Kenny, 39, Boy band manager

I could go for the obvious drags regarding this man’s profession (or his sh*tty chest tattoo, or his suspiciously boyish face relative to his age), but I like to think I’m more clever than that. 

I’d like to take this time to talk about men, who are obviously difficult people, who rant and rave about how they want an “easygoing” woman. Look into the mirror, bud. No, not the one you use to jerk off to your reflection; the mirror that looks into your soul. Out of respect for the rest of humankind, have some self-awareness. Or maybe just see a therapist.

Mike, 38, Digital media advisor

Mike is seemingly a decent catch, but I can’t help but wonder why he’s still single or how he never (accidentally or on purpose) impregnated a woman in his 38 years of life. 

And now that I’m thinking about it, do any of these men have children? I have yet to see any mention of it in their bios. But there are eight men left to review, so there’s still time.

Page, 37, Chef

I spoke too soon. Page is a father! He also hates football! I’m a fan of this man. I was initially going to drag him for his name and say that Page is not a real name. PAIGE is a real name. PAGE is a piece of paper. I’m allowed to say this because we have the same name except mine is spelled the correct way. Based on my (mostly positive) review of his cast bio, I have decided not to hold his name against him.

Riley, 30, Long Island City

Riley, once married with children, would like to go on a family vacation that consists of touring every single MLB stadium in the country. If i were his wife, I would simply never give this man children.

Robby, 30, Insurance broker

No more Robbys on The Bachelorette. Society has evolved past its need for more Robbys.

This Robby described his dream woman as: “Incredibly athletic and able to throw back a few beers with him after a day of hiking. She has a sweet personality and won't mind that he spends his Sundays on the golf course.”

Someone please give this man a sex doll. He just wants a hole.

Tyler C., 27, Lawyer

“Tyler C. is a badass lawyer who says he is a businessman by day and a cowboy by night.” How does that make him a lawyer? Does this mean he’s into cosplay? I’m confused.

Tyler S., 36, Music manager

Tyler makes an honorable living off riding his brother’s dick success as a country singer. “He just LOVES his job!” Uh yeah, I would too if I had a low-show, high-paying job off the merits of nepotism. It’s the American dream.

Yosef, 30, Medical device salesman

Another dad! He’s totally going to pull the “girl dad” narrative. That saying is kind of sexist to me but the masses generally eat it up, so I’m fairly confident Yosef will get the "sweet guy” edit he’s looking for.

Zac C., 36, Addiction specialist

“He loves Philadelphia sports and dreams of sharing a Philly Cheesesteak with his future wife while watching the Eagles win a Super Bowl.” This man is so South Jersey it hurts. 

On a more serious note, I don’t think anyone in recent history has spoken openly about their personal struggle with addiction on this show, so I hope Zac gets a chance to tell his story. 

Zach J., 37, Cleaning service owner

Zach is seemingly obsessed with Clare already and hopes to introduce her to his mom as his fiancée. Since Zach watched Clare on Juan Pablo’s season, you’d think he’d know that Clare would first meet his mom during the final four hometown dates. Assuming he makes it that far. My prediction is that he won’t.

Final thoughts

After eight long months Bachelor Mondays are back!!!

Uhh....wait.

Actually, we now have the less-exciting Bachelor Tuesdays. Yeah, it definitely doesn’t have the same ring to it. But I’ll take anything at this point.

Here are my final predictions:

First impression rose: Dale. It just looks like he can turn on the bullsh*t charm

Final rose: Jason. Clare wants a HIMBO I just know it.

Bachelor: nobody (Matt James is The Bachelor)

Most likely to get engaged on Bachelor in Paradise: Blake M2

Most likely to get canceled online: Bennett

Most likely to get sent home night one but deserve better: Chris

Who are your favorite men cast on this season?

#The Bachelorette #abc #clare crawley #chris harrison #photo credit: ABC

[ocular-intercourse]

@mangosandchili No.2 of (?), 14 questions Ace edition

🌲 What is the kindest thing your OC has ever done for someone? What is the kindest thing someone has ever done for them? On the flip side, what is the worst thing your OC has done to another person?

i.. I don’t know?? He just.. doesn’t deal with other people all that much. He’d probably consider it kind leaving other people be and not annoying them to death. I suppose his loyalty to his brother is rooted in kindness. Oh actually, it’s really less about what kind thing he has done as a singular situation, it’s more about his kindness potential. Given the situation he’d chose to do the kind thing, he’s just not quite aware of it cause he tends to stay away from situations, period. His misanthropy is very superficial. The other way around is pretty similar, people don’t get the chance to be kind to him very often. I guess Ben & later Ellie sticking around could be considered kind. The worst thing he has done would be just being purposefully difficult, pushing people away, building walls, being annoying and a little reckless. The curve is pretty flat in either direction.

🌳 What does your OC do when they see others upset or in pain? An upset friend? A stranger?

Look around if someone else is there to help, if yes, leave it to them, if no.. begrudgingly help. Depends on the situation too. If someone is physically hurt that would be easier for him than trying to console emotional distress. Once again, he would do pretty much anything for Ben, Ellie or his brother (pre attempted murder.. maybe a little bit after). But he really struggles with reacting to emotion, he would uncomfortably offer his presence and then not know what to do next, just sitting there, quietly patting backs.

🌿 What is something true about your OC that they refuse to admit about themselves? Is there any reason to this besides embarrassment?

He loves and he cares so much. He’s just, either trained or naturally, not really able to show it. Emotional constipation. He’d like to believe he’s as distant to things and people as he pretends to be, but he’s not. He just does not have the tools to communicate it to himself and others.

🍃 Describe a regular day for your OC. What is their schedule (if they have one).          

I think Ace feels like he’s a chaotic person, other people definitely see him that way, but he actually has his set routines, they just swap around sometimes. Generally he has classes in the morning, he’s late to them most of the time cause he has difficulties getting up and following authoritarian instructions. After that probably back to his room, dick around on the internet, make some music, just chilling, some swordfight training maybe. If it’s dark out you’ll more likely than not find him outside somewhere, on the roof, taking in the night.

🍁 What is your OC’s most traumatic experience? (If they don’t have just one traumatic experience either pick one or describe them all!)

Finding out his brother is part of some weird cult that is currently attacking and killing children and teenagers. Swiftly followed by said brother killing him when Ace confronts him about it. Or trying to kill him, more accurately. But the intention was there. Though Ace very much wants to doubt that. Traumatic event still pending: Finding out that he himself tried to join said cult to follow in his brother’s steps as he always has done but being rejected and his memory having been erased.

🍄 How would your OC react to the death of a friend/family member/loved one? Is there anyone they can confide in?

Hmm I don’t think Ace is equipped to confront that reality at all. Definitely not outwardly. He’s too good at bottling up stuff, he does not know what else to do with his emotions. He’d just quietly stew in it, refuse to talk about it. He won’t expect it to get better, it’s just part of his life now. But the grief is also kinda weirdly suspended by the whole underworld thing. So he’d just.. kinda ride it out till he can do anything about it. Action is much easier, he’ll focus on that. No idea what exactly he’ll be able to do, but the thought helps.

🌾 What would your OC be like if they were evil. Or if they’re already evil what would they be like as the good guy?

He’d just be the Ace he’s pretending to be most times. Not caring about the people around him, except maybe a few exceptions. Not actively cruel, but cold, calculated. Letting people suffer because it has nothing to do with him, it’s not his responsibility, even if it is right under his nose and he could easily reach out to help.

💐 How would your OC react to somebody telling them that they love them? (+ bonus give another characters/OC name!)

Oh, he has his mastered poker face it would be really hard to coax a reaction out of him. Ace and his brother are both the kind of people who would cloak i love you’s in jokes and irony and sarcasm, like proclaiming it cartoonishly and over the top so it seems like a joke when it’s really not. Genuine serious i love you’s would definitely catch him off guard. He’d still try to play it off with jokes, or react as if it did not faze him, just shrug it off. I don’t think he’d get himself to respond with his own feelings, at least not very often. That’s just too much, too intimate, too raw. He’d rather show his love than talk about it, and even that would be very much hidden and not talked about meaning-wise. He’ll leave the interpreting to others. When Ben or Ellie tell him they love him it’s like an ice cold hand squeezing his heart, and then molten lava in his belly. It’s not a negative thing by any means, and he will cherish a proclamation of love, cling onto it very much, but it is still very uncomfortable for him to hear.

🌷 What does your OC hate about themself? What lies about themself do they believe? On the flip side, What does your OC love about themself?

He hates this invisible wall between him and anybody else. He hates that he can’t figure out if he built it himself or if it has always been there. He hates that he does not know whether him not being able to tear it down is his own fault, or something he has no control over no matter how hard he tries. So he just blames himself, cause that’s most likely, believes that this is just himself being intrinsically bad in some way, at the very base. Something inside him must really not care, or else he’d be able to change things, right? If he really tried. Maybe it’s in the way his brother raised him, he never gave him the tools to socialize properly, and now it’s too late to change, if he can change at all. So he believes his own lie about not liking or caring for other people, about being emotionless. (ace really is the oc that gets all of my bullshit huh, sorry baby) Some parts of this he loves too. If he looks at people and the problems they create for themselves because of their emotions and ties to other people, how they hurt their own feelings over unnecessary things, he’s sometimes just really really happy to be able to distance himself from some of these things, of being able to not take things personally or interpret hurtful meanings into things other people say instead of just taking them literally and get on with it. He likes his humor and he is damn proud of his talents. He prides himself on his loyalty.

🥀 What is something your OC blames themselves for and is it really their fault? Does it keep them up at night and is there any lingering trauma?

I think the answer to this is mostly in the answer before this. He blames himself for some of his characteristics even if he has no control over them cause they are conditions he was born with. He feels inhuman sometimes, there’s just something other people naturally do that he can’t imitate and he can’t shake the feeling that it’s his fault somehow, or he’s just broken. It’s not, he’s not. He could have certainly gotten better help in accepting and dealing with these feelings, but really there’s nothing much he himself can do about it. It does not necessarily keep him up at night, but it’s definitely a pit in his stomach when he gets to a situation that points out this rift between him and others.

🌺 In what situation would your OC be pushed to commit an act of violence? Would they go as far to kill someone if they had to? How would this affect them and their relationships with others?

He is not somebody that would even show a reaction to being provoked, he’s too calm, too focused on controlling his expression and emotions. So you won’t see him tied into brawls or anything. He would however kill in self-defense, to protect himself and others (not just his loved ones, anybody in need). I think if there was undeniably the need to premeditatedly kill somebody to keep something bad from happening he might just be able to do that too, but only in a ‘no other choice this person is irredeemable’ kind of situation. I’ve mentioned it before, he has killed in self-defense, but that’s not necessarily unusual in his world. I don’t think people expect it to affect him very much, he sure doesn’t let it show. He is also pretty good at shutting himself off of any emotion he’s experiencing. People around him might worry a bit, about it affecting him negatively in the long run. Ben is mostly happy he has someone who steps in to do these things when he himself would rather not. Ellie has no problem killing, so she and Ace would just be in silent agreement about it not being pretty, but necessary.

🌸 What would your OC do if they were given god-like powers or the ability to change anything about the world for a whole day?

Ace would consider doing something ridiculous and stupid. Every person on the planet suddenly making clown shoe squeaky noises when walking.. But in a last minute kind of decision he’d suddenly realize he can use this to learn everything he needs to learn. About his brother, that organization, the gods, who killed JFK… He’d go on a wild conspiracy theory tangent, figuring out what’s true and what isn’t. Ace knowing the secrets of the universe…powerful, scary. He’d probably do nothing with it afterwards, just because that would drive people insane, knowing what he knows and not utilizing it.

🌼 Describe one of your OC’s worst nightmares.

Being truly, utterly alone. He puts so much into believing he could exist all by himself, that he would have no problem with nobody liking him, nobody caring. He’s just trying to prepare himself in case that fear ever becomes true, if he tells himself enough how he does not care maybe it will be true when he needs it someday.

🌻 What advice would your OC give to their younger self? What advice does your OC need now?

He would have to reach an especially enlightened mode for this but: Don’t be as exclusionist. Look out of the metaphorical window from time to time. Look at how other people live their lives, what they value, how they treat each other. There is nothing wrong with accepting the things your brother teaches you and live by your own rules instead of society’s generalized ideas of right and wrong. But there is value in comparison sometimes, to put things in perspective. Advice for now would be similar, but more in the line of: It is okay to recognize and admit that you have been hurt, that does not weaken who you are. Also: Don’ put people on pedestals as much, they are not infallible, believing so will only disappoint and hurt you.

#ocs #ace #two down #howevermany to go #mangosandchili

[thewritingstar]

Enchanted For A Moment: Reds

Pairing: Blossom x Brick (Reds) 

Fandom: PPG 

Rating: Teen and up..slight cussing

Royal Au

Im literally dying for this au and i dedicate this to all the lovely people in our discord and im in love with our fandom. 

I know I know ive been on a ppg high lately but im riding this one out for a long time. Also I did little to no research, idk the time period but its old so have at it. I hope that you enjoy!

Chapter One: Golden Doors and Spider Silk 

She hated this castle, this stupid kingdom and all above, her. Princess Morbucks. The girl was so spoiled that her father, the king, named his daughter Princess as if she wasn’t going to be addressed like that otherwise. She didn’t know why she kept coming back to teach her these lessons. French, English, History, she didn’t bother to learn or practice in the slightest.

“Princess, not many women know how to read and write. Imagine how extraordinary that would be to be such a diverse leader.” She had told her, but at last, she never listened.

The only thing that could interest her was gowns and gems and of course the many suitors who came begging for her hand in marriage. Pathetic. She never believed that a love like that could be real. Affection starved from greed and looks was not something she wanted, nor should anyone. Maybe that's why this life of luxury disgusted her. Yes living in a giant palace with the fluffiest pillows and the freshest fruit sounded lovely, beats her small bedroom that she shares with her sisters, but was it worth it? Okay maybe she would become a royal for the library, maybe.

Her thoughts came back to her as Princess slammed the book shut. If she bends that book I swear. “I am done for today.” She huffed.

“We started ten minutes ago.” Blossom sighed and smoothed the headache that was starting to form. “Let's do history, today is about the different types of clothes and fabrics. Maybe you’ll enjoy this.”

“Why would I?”

“Because if you see something you like, you can have it custom made, plus i'll tell you where the most expensive silk is.” Got her.

Princess stared at her. Even though she was older than her by a year, she seemed to resemble more of her students she taught at the schoolhouse. Aka she was a brat.

“Fine but make it quick, the newest batch of suitors is coming today and I want to see my options.”

Blossom rolled her eyes. Princess was turning 20. She should have been married off at 18 but after complaining about wanting to have a little more freedom, dear old king daddy gave in. She always got what she wanted, those poor men.

“Okay well. Let's make a deal. I’ll leave you these two book, don’t make that face they are mostly pictures, and I’ll leave you for today. However when I come back tomorrow, you better be able to tell me five different fabrics and where they are from and we won’t have class for the rest of the week that way you can focus on the ball that's been held on Friday?”

The smile that grew on Princess' face was wicked. “Deal!” She stood and took the books. “I’m just happy I won’t have to see that hideous outfit for the rest of the week.” She pointed at Blossom's gown.

It was a light brown skirt with  leather belt and a white blouse, Blossom thought it was rather lovely considering her little sister Bubbles had made it.

“Alright then.” She rolled her eyes, gosh she hated her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Princess was already out of the door before she could blink, but she didn’t care. She turned and placed the rest of the scrolls and books on the proper shelves of the private library. The king, who had never spared a single expense in his life, made sure that practically every title written was stuffed inside the room. And he gave Blossom personal access to any of the books since she was one of the few who could read and bothered to do so as well.

She skimmed the shelf, her fingers tracing over the many velvet blinds. So many stories to be read. She grabbed three different ones before slipping them into her satchel. She blew out the candles and pushed in the chairs before leaving the grand room.

The king had offered her a key to her own private quarters but she would rather stay with her father and sisters than let Princess yell at her at any hour she decided. Yes, much rather.

-- Princess could hardly contain herself as she stood next to her father in the courtyard. Before them,a dozen or so carriages were pulling up, each one containing a handsome suitor. Some are princes, others are men from rich families. Either way, they were all lining up to see the Princess and hopefully marry her.

“I don't know why we are here.” Boomer complained.

“Why the fuck do you care?” Butch asked. “You’re the youngest, you are off the hook.” He laughed.

Boomer laughed. The carriage stopped as it was in line to enter the gate. Boomer grabbed the handle and opened it up, ignoring the protests from his brothers. “Sorry boys but I’m going to ditch the collar and go see the local girls.” He winked and strolled off.

Butch propped his feet up on the empty space. “So big bro.” he slapped the back of his brother. “You think you’re gonna be the hot piece of ass to win the princesses heart?” He laughed. Brick rolled his eyes as the carriage rolled forward.

“She is rich.” he mumbled. “I mean I'm probably the best candidate.” Arrogant.

The carriage stopped once more and Brick looked to his brother who was impatiently tapping his leg. “You can go too. It's probably best that you don’t embarrass us and the entire kingdom.”

“Thanks bro.” Butch wiped a fake tear from his eyes. “My lady said she was docking at these ports so im gonna go try and get some by sundown-”

“Goodbye Butch.” And he was shoved out of the carriage.

Brick could finally take in the piece and quiet. They had only been traveling for three days and it was a miracle he hadn’t killed his brothers yet. Sometimes he hated this lifestyle. He was no prince but he and his brothers were adopted by an extremely rich guy who wanted to make a name for himself and create three prodigies. In the end he created a walking disaster who breaks everything and wolf whistles at anything with long legs and the other one is like a puppy constantly running around and yapping constantly. For Brick he is just an arrogant asshole who actually does what she's told, if there's something in it for him.

Which is why he was on his way to try and get married. He didn’t want to be because frankly, no woman ever met his standards. They could be beautiful and nice and chatty but there was something missing a certain depth. But with a princess at stake, he was hoping for a lady who was well off and smart.

--- He was wrong. She was nothing like he thought. Sure she was pretty but she was mean to her staff, which he understood cause he could be a pain in the ass. But her voice, that high pitched squeaking, he was sick of her already. The moment he stepped out of the claustrophobic nightmare of a ride, she was in his face already fanning over him.

Those bright yellow dresses clashed with her hair and the light beaming off of her crown almost took out his eyes. She had said about forty different things to him but he was done. He wanted to grab his brothers, turn around and escape this hell hole.

After a short conversation and her rushing to the next dopey guy, he was shown to his quarters, of course Princess, who names their child Princess? Was their tour guide.

“And this is the library. It's plain and boring but if you ever need a quiet space or to watch me brush up on my French, you are more than welcome to go there.” Her arm was looped between two men and Brick was happy he was at the back of the pack, what was there, twelve, ten boys? He was really doubting his chances but at this point, he didn’t care.

They began to pass those doors and as the last one there, they opened. The group ahead had turned the corner but he was taken down by that massive door. He fell with a thud and was about to scold the living daylights out of whoever dared to do that.

“What the hell is your-” he looked up. Pink. Vibrant pink like the sunsets and soft like a rose. He gulped as he lost his voice completely.

“Oh I am so sorry!” the woman said as she helped him up. “Usually no one was in these halls but perhaps I should be more careful.” She began to ramble.

All that hostile rage had dissipated as he watched her lips move. She was much different from Princess. Her hair was ginger like hers but it was softer and had more copper tones. She was taller than her too and matched his height better. Her voice, it was like butter and she spoke in such a way that he couldn't describe.

He looked down to see books laying there and picked them up, handing them to her. Why would she have books? Especially these titles, even from the looks of them they were difficult to read, even for him.

“Do you read?’ he asked. Of course she didn’t.

“Oh yes. I am actually Princess’s teacher.” She said but didn’t seem thrilled.

He was in awe. She was already something more than that damn spoiled brat. She didn’t wear anything special like the maids did. In fact they were more like commoner's clothes than anything.

“You don’t look like you belong here.” He blurted out and she scoffed.

“I beg your pardon.” She crossed her arms. She was used to Princess insulting her any chance she got but it would be a cold day in hell before she would allow someone else to do so. “Do you not think I could possibly be the royal teacher?” He felt her words like a threat.

“No it’s just, this is a high piece of literature.”

“It’s a simple book really.”

Oh. So she could read. Read well.

“Well yes but-”

“But nothing.” her words were like ice as she grabbed the books from his hands. Blossom looked at his badge. “I am so sorry I didn’t realize that you were a man of importance.” She sounded bitter. “I shouldn’t keep you. I wouldn't want the princess knowing that a peasant interrupted time with her boy toy.”

She turned and stomped off. Even as the pout sprouted onto her face she looked, dare he say stunning? The sophistication and elegance rivaled that of Princess and even though she had just destroyed his ego for a good few moments, he never felt more alive and thrilled. A woman standing up to his level when everyone was beneath him? Never heard of before but this new piece that has entered his game, he was loving every second of it.

He turned on his heel and found his way back to the group. He wasn’t here for the crown anymore.

-- Sometimes she wondered what would happen if she just left. Run away from this village and go see the world. Of course that's what her sister did. Kinda. She was a captain of one of the kingdom's ships, basically her job was to travel and trade with other places, she liked to call herself a pirate. Blossom gave up trying to change her mind.

She could join her sister but she hated ships anyways. Plus Buttercup had gotten hitched last year to some random guy she met at a port stop, Blossom had met him once before and thought she was crazy for marrying someone. But after a delightful five minute conversation, she decided that he was best for her. If anyone could handle her rebellious lifestyle and the seven seas, then he must be good.

She was thankful that today would be her last day with Princess, well until the next week, but she could catch up on reading and maybe take her students to the docks or the forest for a lesson. Her mind was wandering to far off places and before she knew it, she was entering the library.

She furrowed her brow as she noticed the chairs arranged facing her table. She dismissed whatever thought that was and began to set up Princess’s test as promised. She had pictures, drawn by Bubbles of course, and she placed them on the table.

“This should be easy.” And soon the doors opened. Blossoms eyes widened as the Princess walked in with that snobbish strut as a group of men followed behind. “Oh no.” Blossom whispered to herself. She agreed to test Princess, not the entire population of suitors.

“And this woman right here is my teacher. She's a poor peasant girl so ignore her scrap of clothing.” The room erupted in laughter as Princess’s annoying voice trailed through her ears. Princess was already testing her patience, who makes fun of someone with less money? An awful person that's who.

Blossom bit her tongue as Princess took her seat. The rows of men were now staring at them, whispering. She let her eyes rake over the small crowd when her eyes landed on a familiar pair. The man she hit with the door. She completely forgot that he was here for marriage purposes. Blossom shook her head and slammed a book shut, capturing everyone's attention.

If Princess wanted to be a bigger brat than usual, fine, she could play that game.

“Alright your majesty, are you ready for your test.” Blossom turned towards the group of men. “You see I believe it is important that a leader understands even the simplest things about other countries, especially the ones that could be potential partners. So this fine lad is incredibly bright so her test is simple. I laid our pictures of fabrics from many different places, some even from your own kingdoms. I have no doubt that she can match all twenty five.” She turned on her heel towards the princess who looked angry, good.

“You said five!” Her tone laced with fire.

Blossom was one good actress. She paused and took a step back, masking her voice. “Yes five for a warm up but you my soon queen, you must be able to name all of them right? I did teach you them after all.” She smirked. “But if you can't, that's okay, why don’t we do your five and the rest of these fine gentlemen can finish, after all, a leader should know these things.” If they wanted to be rude, then a challenge they must complete.

“Princess go ahead and match five and then will have the rest join.” She looked at the men. Scared looks were on their faces except for one, door man. He seemed relaxed and had a poker face on.

Princess huffed and walked up to the table. She recognized a few of the easy ones and placed them. Blossom watched as her hands shook and she looked up at her as she placed one down. Blossom saw she was moving to the wrong one and decided to play nice.

“Emerald kingdom is the same as the jewel.” She whispered and the princess moved the name towards the green one. She took a step back and smiled proudly.

“See easy peasy.” And she returned to her seat.

Blossom clasped her hands together. “Alright then, if any of you would like to try go for it, but if not, then you may be excused.”

None of the men stood and Blossom's polite smile fell. “Very well-” She watched as the door man, she should learn his name, stood and walked over.

“Quite a shame you could only name five your highness.” He said towards the princess who was now staring at him with a gaping mouth. Blossom raised her brows as she could not believe he would disrespect her like that. He quickly took the names and placed them in record time before their matching pictures.

He turned to see Blossom watching him. Her eyes held this twinkled that he couldn’t quite place and he made sure to switch two of the names last minute.

“Care to check my work Miss…”

“Blossom.” She finished and walked over to him. She stood next to him and looked over the table. She could feel his stare but unlike the others, she didn’t feel small or meak. She smiled softly as she picked up two of them.

“Very impressive but Camilla has velvet and Widows Valley has ivory silk.” Her eyes met his. She almost let out a gasp as she stared at a breathtaking deep red. She had never seen such enchanting eyes before.

“Silk like a spider. Forgive me for my mistake.” He took her hand and placed a delicate kiss to the top of her hand. She felt the flames rush to her cheeks and heard a gasp come from Princes mouth.

Her eyes shot open and she took her hand away fast and returned to her teacherly poise. “Yes well that is alright but very good. Princess you should learn something and apply yourself more, I'm not going to tell you again but a promise is a promise so i will be seeing you next week for your next lesson.” She quickly walked to the other table and grabbed her bag and shoved everything in it.

She knew the princess was going to throw a fit. How could he treat her like that? In front of Princess nonetheless. She was thankful to hear the sound of feet exiting. Someone had come up behind her and whispered in her ear.

“You’ll be lucky if you make next week you meddling whore.” Princess sneered and Blossom turned around to yell at her but the group of men were waiting by the door just watching to see the peasant girl slip up.

“I have no interest in your games Princess, maybe if you tried harder, you wouldn’t have to rely on your crown or body.” She could play dirty and the princess turned with a scoff.

“No man would ever love a woman like you, even if you can read, you are no prize.” She stomped off and let Blossom with a clenched jaw and matching fists.

The door slammed shut and now she was alone. “Stupid bitch.” She sneered. She rarely used foul language but in times like theses, she allowed it.

“She sure is.” Blossom dropped her book and her head snapped left.

Brick was still standing here as if he never moved but she swore she saw him leave. “I-I would never-” He held his hand up.

“I see the way she treats you Miss Blossom, it's okay to curse out the villain. And my apologies for causing such a scene.” He said bluntly.

“Somehow I don’t believe you.” She narrowed her eyes. “You seem like you know what you’re doing, no matter the consequences.”

He bit back a laugh and moved closer to her. “Oh I am. I have no interest with that spoiled girl. Not one maiden has ever impressed me enough to care.”

“How insightful.”

“That is until you.” he smirked and she felt her cheeks flush for the hundred times. He was showing his arrogant side. The one many girls fawned over because they mistook it for a form of lust but it rubbed Blossom the wrong way.

“Me correcting your simple mistake is not very impressive.”

“Who said I made the mistake? I know very well that Widows Peak is silk, that is my home base after all.” he stepped closer until he leaned on the desk with his arm. He peered down at her, almost like a challenge but she stood strong.

“Well unfortunately, I’ve never met a man who could qualify my own standards.”

“Never?” he leaned closer but she refused to give up. Their noses would touch if he came closer.

“Never.” She stated and they were now in a showdown. Red to pink. Pink to red. Never had the other met a more worthy opponent.

“Well Miss Blossom, I think that I should prove you wrong with a date.”

“No thank you.” He blinked. Wait what?

“Excuse me? Do you know-”

“No I don’t and I simply do not care.” She snapped.

Blossom went back to her bag. “Like I told Princess, I have no interest in any of these men. Especially not ones who would stand by and let another belittle another. No thank you, i am quite happy on my own but there are a bunch of other fine maidens who would probably love your company.” She passed him and he grabbed her arm and spun her around, dipping her. The bright red ribbon holding her hair into a fine bun had unraveled and now fell to a long ponytail. 

A small scream let her lips as she was now being held by her waist over the ground. “What are you.” Her eyes darkened.

“Brick. Call me Brick, none of that sir or lord crap either.” He brought her closer smoothly. His smile was large and his eyes narrowed as her cheeks puffed out and she looked a little angry. “You did hit me with a door and I don’t think the royal pain in the ass would appreciate it if she knew. So Miss Blossom, would you accompany me to the ball on Friday?”

No. no. no. no. Princess would kill her. Absolutely murder her with a strand of pearls. She could lose her job, her livelihood. The rumors she could spread. She would destroy her reputation for sure. Her mind was screaming telling her to push him away and tell him to go bother another lady.

“Fine but I demand to be wooed.” she spat and he smiled and returned her to the upright position. She felt flustered and in shock but also introduced. No one had ever dipped her or held her so gently.

“Oh you shall be wooed M’lady.” He winked and turned away to walk out the door.

She let out the breath she was holding when he was finally gone and pulled out her fan. “He is the...worst.” But she didn’t fully believe it. ---- Wednesday found herself in the school yard with her students. She was ecstatic to now have a bunch of little girls added to this year's class. After convincing many mothers that their daughters' futures could be brighter with some knowledge, they happily agreed. She was thankful that her own father taught her the basics and she tried to teach Bubbles and Buttercup how to read and write but you could only keep them interested before a pretty dress or a sailboat distracted them.

“Bye bye Miss Blossom!” Her students waved as they left the yard to return home. She loved and adored her students. Their bright minds and curious thoughts, she could never get sick of them and they were much better students than Princess ever was.

“Miss Blossom there is a fancy man in the classroom.” Robin's small hand clung to her dress.

“Fancy man?” She whispered to herself before sending Robin off towards her mother. She entered the room to find Brick leaning against her desk.

“May i help you?” She asked with her arms crossed. “I do believe Friday is the meeting time.”

He shrugged and handed her an arrangement of flowers. Her mouth fell open as she gazed at them. They were wrapped with a ribbon of fine quality, and was probably worth more than her own outfit.

“I am well aware of that but I never said i wouldn’t see you before.” he glanced at the flowers then back at her. “Have you never received flowers before.” he asked like it was a dumb question.

“Oh no.” She took them carefully and placed them in the vase that held a few flowers her students had picked, and they were dying.

“I'm genuinely surprised that men aren’t knocking on the door for your hand.”

He saw her eyes dull. “Not too many men are keen on a lady being smarter and taller than them.” She shrugged and for some reason that made him mad. She was a beautiful woman no doubt, her beauty could be that of a princess but she didn’t have that royal aura about her. No she was better but didn’t know it.

“A man threatened by a lady is no man at all. If he can not see that then he deserves nothing.”

She took in his words. Maybe this was his way of apologizing without out damaging his pride, she would probably do the same thing but she wouldn’t let him off so easily.

She hummed. “So Brick just the flowers or are you going to actually impress me?” She matched his cocky attitude and it has been a long time, or the first since he had ever felt frazzled by a woman. He was used to catching him off guard but even by her everything nice charm and sophisticated posture, he was certain that she would be the death of him.

Even though he had just met her, he was certain they were made for each other. Butch would kill him if he every said that out loud though. He smiled before taking her hand. “Then prepared to be impressed.”

--

I hope you enjoy and part 2 shall be up tomorrow 

#ppg x rrb #reds fanfic #reds #blossom x brick #blossom ppg #ppg fanfic #thewritingstar #thepowerpuffgirls #therowdyruff boys #royal au #enemies to lovers

[cmrp7]

FANFIC Sozin's Comet- Katara POV (zutara begins)

Hello there, I have always wanted to rewrite the story as I wish it would happen, I figure I share it for those Zatura shippers out there. This is the turning point for me, so this is when everything begins. Also, in my mind the gang is not the same age, add up three years to everyone. So Katara is 17, Zuko 19, Sokka 18, Suki 18, Azula 17, Aang and Toph 15.

.

The sun was already rising and I barely had some minutes of sleep. Today was going to be the day, by nightfall we either will be dead or we will have defeated the fire lord. I feel so tired and I haven't even fight yet. Where was Aang? Was he okay? He must be having a very hard time thinking he has to kill a man, he is very young, I know he is the avatar but it breaks my heart that he is facing such difficult choices alone.

"Katara, are you awake?" Toph whispered behind me. "I am" I answer letting out a breath, turning to face her.

"What are we supposed to do without Aang?" she asked, her arms behind her head, her empty eyes facing our tent's ceiling. We were given a tent by the Order of the White Lotus just for girls, Suki was here too but I heard her leave during the night, I am sure she is with Sokka, Zuko must be with his uncle.

"He will be back, but until then we must keep going. Let's hear what Iroh have to say before anything else, Zuko seems to think that he can help."

..............................................

"Today, destiny is our friend. I know it." General Iroh claimed I watch my brother one last time, Toph hugging him and Suki behind her. I nod, he nods back. I love you, brother.

Tears run down my cheeks as the Eel hound carry them away and Zuko pulls Appa's reins and we took to the sky.

The clouds seem to be tainted with blood, the air was hot and tick. Sweat running down the side of my face, I swallow a tick knot of feelings.

"What is going on thru your head?" Zuko asked to my left. I turn to face him, his golden eyes shining as never before, the air making his long hair move around his sharp edges.

I felt the need to touch his face, as I did once before…

"I cannot believe how many things have happened this year, here I am with you of all people, on Appa flying to your home to fight your sister." I said, turning my head to see the devastating landscape in front of us.

"I know, I cannot believe it either. So many things have happened. I never believed I would have the straight to fight the need to please my father or my sister, to be one of them, to be accepted." He said, I could feel his stare on me, but I didn't have the courage to face him, every time I think of his sister, I remember what happened in Ba Sing Se.

She KILLED Aang, every time I think in the possibility of what would have happened if I would have used the water of the Spirit Oasis to heal Zuko I want to vomit. Aang would be dead. Dead.

"You know," he said "I've been thinking of what happened in Lake Laogai when we were imprisoned…" that made me turn around to face him, but he wasn't looking at me. "I… I care about you Katara, I respect you, even before we were friends. You are very strong, fierce and at the same time one of the kindest persons I know. You have the power to hurt anyone you want, but you don't do it, even to those who deserve it." My heart was beating so fast, I could hear my blood rushing in my ears. He raised his head, and his eyes looked into mine. "I don't think that I would have been able to betray my uncle if you had been there, watching me do it. You are like a rock to me, a rock of my ideals, and it sounds stupid, and makes me weak I believe, but is the only way I can describe it."

I didn't know what to said so I said nothing, I don't know what he was implying. And honestly, I didn't have the courage to open that door right now.

"When I am with my father or my sister, something overcomes me…" he continues, his expression looks pain and I immediately want it to go away, "they are my family, I want them to love me, and I love them even though they do not deserve it. I don't know why, I want them so bad to accept me, and I believe that is the main reason of my behavior, the way to obtain that embrace, was getting back my honor, by getting my honor back, I would get the love of my family. That is why I asked you to help me, because even after everything that has happened, facing my sister is very hard for me, and having you there will make it way easier." He let out a very sad laugh "I sound like such an idiot."

I reached toward his hand and take it in mine, "You are not an idiot Zuko, you are a good person. Your heart is pure, that could only be a good thing."

He smiles at me, caressing my hand with his thumb. "You see, even after everything I did to you, you take my hand and make me feel better."

"Zuko…" I answered letting his hand on mine because it felt right, "I hated you, you know? I had so much anger after Lake Laogai, for your sister, for you. Aang died because of you, you betray ME, If I would have healed your scar, Aang will be long dead by now." I actually shiver at the thought. "Do you understand it?" I asked forcing all my feeling into my words, his eyes were hurt and he tried to let my hand go but I didn't let him, because I needed it. "Ang was really hurt, he took a long time to wake up, and every night I cry myself to sleep because it was my fault, and I talked to no one about it, it was eating me alive Zuko, everyone believed that I was sad, and I was, but more that everything, I felt guilt. I can't imagine how anyone stands me back then, I even punished my own father for my guilt. It was awful, I felt so useless... "

"I am sorry Katara, I don't know what to say I…"

"But you also understand me more than anyone else Zuko, you know who I am and accept me as such. I discover that when we travel to find the man who murders my mother, I was about to kill him in front of you, and if I would have you wouldn't hold it against me, I thank you for that. You have been to hell and back, turning the way you have is a testament of your kind heart, we are growing and learning, and whatever happened before it let is to this moment. Aang is alive, I am sure he is going to defeat your father, and you and I will defeat your sister, together.

Everything was happening so fast, words tumbling out of my mouth without even thinking of what I was really saying. I wanted to let that out for a long time, I felt lighter, the anger becoming acceptance of my path and a guide to my future.

"Together." Zuko said looking into my eyes, and a new determination was showing in there, we are going to build a new beginning, and today will be the day we will place the first rock.

Appa roar as we descend into the palace. A pit was forming in my stomach, anticipation, excitement…

People were gathered in the courtyard, a loud sound marked the beginning of the ceremony. Appa landed between two walls near the place, but not enough to be seen or heard. Zuko let a breath out and dismounted in one agile movement, I follow him, he looked at me, I couldn't understand what he was thinking.

"I better try this before I can't" he said closing the distance. He grabs my waist with one arm pulling me to him, grab the back of my neck with the other and place his lips on mine. My eyes went wide with surprise, but soon a warm feeling spread to my body and I was aware of his soft and warm lips on mine, I felt like someone punches me in my stomach, it literally hurt. Feelings, a mountain of them. His kiss deepened and I kiss him back, pulling him to me desperately. We pulled apart and look at each other, panting.

"I wasn't expecting that" he said, still so close that his breath caressed the tip of my nose.

Me neither, I was trembling, I am sure he is the one caring my weight.

"We need to go" he said, trying to pull away, but I grab on to him harder.

I didn't want him to go, I wanted to stay like this forever. What if we go and die? Panic begins to overpower my thoughts.

"Together, remember?" He smiled with full teeth, "There is no way we are not coming out of this one after this."

Hell yeah, we are coming out of this one. We smiled at each other like two maniacs, confidence shattering the panic and filling me with anticipation. I feel like I am drunk...

"Together" I reply, with a smile, and we run.

................................................................

"Sorry, but you are not going to become fire lord today. I am." Zuko declares as we arrived.

Azula rise with a scary smile "you are hilarious" she said. Stopping the man who was about to place the crown on her head. "Fine, let's settle this just you and me brother, the showdown that was always meant to be, Agni Kai."

Her hair was messed up, her eyes crazier than ever, something was not right.

"You're on" I heard Zuko answer, to my surprise.

"What are you doing? She is playing with you. She knows she can't take both of us." What about together, idiot?

"I know, but I can take her this time." He said looking at me, and my heart gave a jump of happiness. I smile at him, and nod. I trust him.

By the time the people left the sky was even darker, red shadows dancing above us, Azula looks awful, broken. I took my mother's necklace on my hand, and wait. He can do this, he can do this…

Their power was unbelievable, blue and red flames rising 30ft from the ground, the heat was unbearable. Zuko moved like never before, Azula getting more frustrated by the second, he was winning. Zuko made a fire kick that resonated 20 ft in front of him, making Azula stumble to the ground. I lean forward, trying to run but I stop myself. Not yet...

"No lightning today? What's the matter, afraid I'll redirect it?" Zuko taunted her.

I swallow, I don't think that is a good idea to play games with her right now.

"I'll show you lightning" She promised, her movements like a living nightmare coming to get you.

Zuko breathed, preparing himself to redirect it. His confidence is palpable.

Then I see it, at the last second. She was looking at me, my eyes widened and I prepare myself to move when I see Zuko placing himself in front of it. The monstrous lightning hitting him straight in the chest. I heard myself letting out a horrible scream. His body felt to the ground trembling with electricity, combusting in horrible angles.

I ran to him, but a holt of energy land in front of me. Azula was coming to get me. I looked one last time at Zuko, hold on, please hold on… I need to finish her first.

Fear becomes energy and will to survive, comet or no comet, I will stop her.

I glanced one more time at Zuko, and move just in time to dodge a bolt of blue fire. I could smell the heat roasting my hair. It made me sick.

Azula laughs wildly behind me, a predator hunting its prey. She was having fun. I could only run for now, she was behind me, she had the advantage. I move as fast as I can, bending ice to be faster I glance back at her, she was on the roof. I felt water nearby, move in that direction, and hide behind a pillar. Yes, water. I took a wave and blast it thru the roof, but she was gone already. I glance back once more and she burst out of now where, preparing lighting, that's it, if she hits me, I will die. I raise my hands, she was close enough, the water in her blood was mine and she stops, her eyes widening in complete terror. That's right you idiot. Her power was too great, I wouldn't be able to hold her one more second, the point of her fingers almost touching my nose, I will the water under us to cover us and support our bodies, I let out a breath, letting my body free and hold her with a chain I grabbed minutes before. I needed air. I finally let the water go, and we both fall to the ground gasping for air.

Zuko… I get up and run to him, my lungs still aching for air. His body was facing down, not moving. I was trembling as I kneel and turn his body, Azula was screaming like she was being tortured, his chest was badly burnt, I force the water to obey me and placed everything I have left in me to heal him, my fingers were shaking so bad. The water glowed and I feel his skin, his muscles, his organs… Please, please… I begged.

His eyes opened and looked at me, I let out a cry and hold him to me, I was crying tears of pain and happiness, my heart exhausted and bursting with joy. I kiss him, and our tears met each other.

"Thank you, Katara" he said, very softly.

"You are an idiot, don't ever do that." I threat.

He turns his face, hearing his sister's screams. I swallow and got up cleaning my tears with the side of my arm. I offer my hand and he took it, together we walked toward her.

Watching her like this bring me no pleasant feelings, she was crying with rage, pulling the chains, and spitting fire. Zuko's face was miserable, and my chest hurt for him. I surround him with my arm and place my head on his shoulder. He loves his sister, despite all.

"I am here for you, you will never be alone," I promise, graving his hand with my free hand, he looked at me and smile sadly.

"Thank you Katara," he said raising our hands and kissing mine, "thank you for being here with me."

Note: Hello, I wrote this because lately I rewatch avatar and I love them together. English is not my first lenguaje, if something needs correction please let me know♥

#zutara #fanfic #zutara fanfiction #avatar #katara #prince zuko #zuko #azula #avatar fanfiction #zosin #what would it be like

[seyaryminamoto]

May I ask - why Ozai likes Ursa more than Azula? Keep in mind you're not the only author who choose this portrayal and I'm as confused by it as Azula is

Oh, I know I’m not the only author who portrays it that way. These guys

did it too! :’D Though this guy

backtracked on it, to a fault, merely turning Ozai into someone who gives zero shits about anyone ever. Which means he gives the same amount of shits for Azula and Ursa. His Ozai is surprisingly fair on that front!

Alright, all jokes aside, the main reason many of us interpret Ozai’s relationship with Ursa as a little more complex than originally presented, it’s because of this shot: 

(Credit: former Piandao.org screenshots, now turned into a Google Drive folder)

That’s the same fountain-pond-thingy  where Ursa had been sitting in earlier flashbacks of that episode.

(Credit: same as above)

It’s such a small, simple moment that I suppose most Ozai haters would say it amounts to nothing, yet it actually speaks lengths about his character: why would Ozai stand here, melancholically, before a fountain that is no longer functioning (because in his screenshot, it’s not), a place where his wife used to sit, right on the morning after she left? This is a guy who literally just got EVERYTHING he ever wanted. He is Fire Lord now, thanks to the scheming and conniving and wicked plotting that took place over the previous day. He finally overcame his father and brother’s shadows! So… why would our first shot of a man who finally succeeded at everything he wanted be not a shot of said man rejoicing in triumph, but a shot of a man who is, by all effects, in mourning?

This suggests that Ozai may have cared about Ursa. The fact that we don’t see them angry, arguing or bickering through this episode also suggests that their relationship, while far from a lovey-dovey happy mushy thing, is that of two people who at the very least coexist peacefully. We don’t see any direct interactions between them, so yes, it’s possible they were far more troubled than the episode suggests (I, personally, interpret it that way), since everything in Zuko Alone is seen through Zuko’s eyes. But IF Ursa and Ozai were in such a bad place, to the point where he would have even convinced her to leave as he does in the Search… why would he do this? Why would he stand by that fountain as though honoring Ursa somehow?

All this being said, I personally find Ursa a much more interesting and dynamic character if her relationship with Ozai isn’t that of a victim and his abuser, but of a woman with such sharp wit that, even without being a bender, ergo, representing no physical threat to her husband, still wielded such authority that she could keep this fierce, savage man in check, capable of respecting her when she’s around, and even honoring her when she leaves. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: in my very humble opinion and headcanon, if Ozai ever got close to genuinely loving someone, it was Ursa.

As ever, disclaimer necessary: this does NOT mean Ozai was entitled to Ursa’s love in return, this does NOT mean Ursa is to blame for the man Ozai becomes, I’m not implying this is a situation where “love” would have absolutely saved Ozai from being the man we know him to be. While I do believe that if he had chosen her above his ambitions he might have been ~better~, it was Ozai himself who had to make that choice. I don’t blame Ursa for how her relationship with Ozai turns out, whether in canon or comics or Gladiator, NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT. Relationships like theirs are complex, difficult and not straightforward: both characters have faults, and both deserve to be held accountable for them. So Ozai deserves being held accountable for sacrificing everything for power, and that’s that.

But finally, getting into your question… why would Ozai like Ursa better than Azula?

Personally, in the way I want to portray them through flashbacks, it’s because Ursa makes NOTHING easy for Ozai, since day one. She isn’t trying to please him, she isn’t just a doormat waiting for him to stomp all over her: she has demands of her own, the first of them respect, and Ozai finds himself giving it, even if he doesn’t quite reason with why he’s doing it. He wants her to care about him, probably as starved for affection as his daughter is later on too, and whenever he made her happy, even if just a little, he would have felt a sense of accomplishment that was absolutely unprecedented for him.

Zuko canonically has described his family by saying they were “happy”, at some point. While no one can say for sure what time period he refers to (it could be the happy times ended when his mother vanished, or perhaps a little before that), I’ve always assumed he wouldn’t have seen Ozai and Ursa as they were in the Zuko Alone flashback and thought “wow my parents are so happy, look at their poker faces! That’s happiness!” So, I believe they actually were happy once, enough to make each other smile or laugh. There’s a simple scene in the first comic trilogy where they’re at the beach with their children, simply sitting together at the sand while their kids play in the sand and water: who’s to say those aren’t the kinds of moments Zuko refers to as happiness?

Compare that to the Ozai we meet in canon: do we ever see him happy in Book 3 about anything but his advancements and achievements? His smiles are always smirks. Every situation he’s in, he’s merely basking in becoming more powerful and fulfilling more of his often-pointless ambitions. While he seems to respect Azula to a fault (she interrupts Zuko in a war meeting and she gets no Agni Kai as punishment, Ozai is Mr. Hypocrisy Incarnate), did we ever see anything that suggested genuine affection for her? While I write him as directly involved in her training, canonically Azula has been trained by Lo and Li, two non-benders. Even a tiny canonical hint at how Ozai may have been involved in helping Azula reach her full potential as a bender could be, to a fault, interpreted as him caring for her a little more than he originally planned to, being invested in her growth for what it is and not only for what advantages it offers him. But instead, the entire extent of what we know about their relationship is that he sends Azula on missions, basically in the capacity of a military agent or leader: as much as this allows Azula to show she’s a badass, does it show Ozai cares about her? Do we have a single hint that he actually is emotionally invested in his daughter?

AT BEST… the lack of punishment for having lied to him about Aang’s death can be, somewhat, interpreted as unwillingness on Ozai’s part to punish Azula too harshly for a huge mistake. Even then, by the finale he outright yells at her before offering her an important “mission” that he can only entrust to her. And that’s their canon relationship, isn’t it? Missions, missions and missions. He hands her missions, she delivers. The consequences aren’t too steep if she doesn’t, but he might even yell at her if she tests his patience too much.

Basically, my take on Ozai respected Ursa, even though Ursa has no power of her own to threaten him beyond her disapproval and displeasure. Because she earned that respect, she was the only person he NEARLY considered an equal. He was willing to surrender if she was adamant about certain things (this is no spoiler, since chapter 9 we all know that, in Gladiator, Azula never learned swordsmanship with Piandao because Ursa didn’t want her to, and to Azula’s eternal outrage, Ozai gave in to Ursa’s demands, just like that!), he was willing to listen to her opinions on whatever was happening in the world, he would argue with her and they’d have disagreements because they were both stubborn as hell. All of this means Ursa’s opinions, beliefs and decisions mattered to Ozai, enough that he would sometimes back down and let her have her way.

Azula, however, has been his pet project, the perfect child, for as long as she has lived. He raised her to be his heir, to uphold his legacy, molded her after himself (even if the result wasn’t at all like him :’D), and Azula dreamt of following on his footsteps for a long time (until her own equal shows up and his influence serves to change the way she sees the world…). Azula, then, is his most loyal ally, and Ozai takes her for granted because of that. She will always be on her side because he raised her to be, and that’s that. 

Ozai’s first blast of reality that shows him Azula is NOT unbreakable, that she is NOT undefeatable and that he shouldn’t send into danger willy-nilly? It’s in the White Lotus Attack arc, where he finds her terribly sick in her room and she’s mortified that he’d see her that way. That was the first moment an actual surge of fatherly instincts came over Ozai since Azula was a very tiny kid.

Azula’s rebellions against Ozai in Part 1 are relatively small, and she’s constantly terrified to her very bone whenever she opposes him at something, as in her birthday. Ozai was displeased by it, and she was troubled and wondering how to improve things between them again later on. Pleasing her father is a behavior ingrained in her head from an early age. She wanted to make sure she was on his good side, even if she was growing much more aware of his mistakes, his shortcomings and everything wrong about him by then. Not being on good terms with her father was terrifying for her in those days, terrifying in ways it never was for Ursa: in Azula’s case, it’s learned behavior acquired mainly by seeing, through Zuko, what happens to someone Ozai considers unreliable and disposable. She absolutely doesn’t want to be that.

But it’s not until Part 2 that Azula outright starts to take a stand against her father. And yes, she was terrified too in the Festivals, but she went toe-to-toe with him in front of all his military leaders. Then she took his attempt to punish her, by forcing her to give a public speech she wasn’t ready for, and spun it on itself to both present herself as her father’s soooo loyal daughter while providing the entirety of the Fire Nation with new values to abide by in regards of how they treated slaves and honorary citizens. Ozai’s reaction that time was a petty, small revenge… but he actually was amused by what she’d done. And THAT… that was actual respect from Ozai, for once. He saw his daughter could stand up to him, and get away with it safely. Suddenly she wasn’t just his obedient child-soldier, which was what he had taken for granted that she was: she was a potential leader in her own right. At this point, their relationship changes.

That change takes a turn for the worse after she fails to convince him to carry forward her slavery laws project, and then she discovers Seethus’ assassination spree. At this point, the falling out between them is absolutely dreadful. Ozai doesn’t attack Azula physically, however: he argues with her, snaps back and does his best to convince her that he’s in the right, but she’s 100% certain of the opposite. By this point, Azula is behaving a lot more like Ursa than she ever had before: she defies him, stands up to him, and unlike her mother, she does have literal firepower to back her up. 

Point being: AZULA BECOMES A THREAT.

And while they’ve managed to kind of establish a low-key peace after that (though as you may imagine, this new arc is yet more trouble for the relationship between the Princess and her father), Ozai still sees Azula as a threat ever since. He’s willing to trust she won’t do anything too far out of hand, not as long as he makes enough concessions for her, not if he abides by her advice once in a while… but that makes her no less of a threat anyhow. He needs to make her a reliable ally again, and he can’t do that by wielding his authority over her head anymore. Not when she has already shown herself perfectly willing to ignore it.

And that means he respects her in an entirely different way than how he respected Ursa: he didn’t have any reason, Gladiator-wise, to think Ursa wasn’t on his side, they had disagreements but she was his wife and she supported him through thick and thin even in some REALLY shady stuff. Right now, Azula is starting to look like the entire opposite of that: she was the one he raised to be his wholehearted supporter. The one person who would only ever treat HIM as the hero, the winner, the good guy. And now she’s changed her mind about him, he knows it, and he’s worried about what that entails.

It’s ironic that it’s because of Azula’s rebellious bouts, and the cracks in her mask of the perfect daughter, that Ozai’s bottled-up affection for his daughter emerges. I won’t say that somewhere in the depths of his dark heart he loves her… but I will say that every time Azula rises up against him, he sees some of Ursa in her and he automatically takes her more seriously because of it.

Meanwhile, whenever Zuko stands up to him, he basically feels like it’s an ant shouting at the boot that’s ready to crush it. On a REALLY subconscious level, Zuko seems to embody Ozai’s weaknesses, the side of himself he would much rather pretend doesn’t exist. He despises Zuko for it all, because he’s a reminder of his own shortcomings and failures. And even when Zuko tries to rebel, Ozai continues to treat him as a weakling, unworthy of respect, that only warrants being crushed. He’d never be able to act like this with Azula or Ursa.

So, why would I say he cares more about Ursa, or that she’s his actual #1 while Azula is #2? Because Ursa was never a tool, never a source of self-fulfilment: she was someone who he wanted to impress, whose respect he craved and he offered her his own. He valued her, everything she offered him, even if things between them became complicated for an array of reasons. Ursa has always been a sort of blind spot for Ozai, the one person who made him happy in a sense that didn’t involve ambitions and advancement. She was a good influence on him, all around, even if he seldom knew how to react to her influence positively.

That’s not the bond he had with Azula. She was his perfect heir, and that was all he ever expected of her. Canon-wise, that’s all she is. Gladiator-wise, once she stops being ONLY that, Azula doesn’t simply become someone Ozai respects and approves of: she becomes a threat. She is the one and only person in the Fire Nation who can tear down everything he has worked for, and it sure looks like she wants to do exactly that. He has been molding her all her life, only to find she has become his worst possible enemy and now he has to be much more cautious about how he deals with her.

One day, maybe, once his characted develops some more… Ozai might start respecting Azula on the actual same level he respected Ursa. One day, he might realize that, while craving Ursa’s affection and love, he had already earned Azula’s but he threw it to waste. By then, it may be much more difficult to determine who is his #1 indeed… but until that point is reached, he will continue to hold onto the memory of his wife while ignoring that his bond with his daughter is what will determine if he can attain either true salvation or eternal damnation… :’)

#anon #ozai #ursa #azula #gladiator #theirs is a chaotic mess of a family #which is fun and horrible on equal measure #I honestly love Ozai's bonds with both of them Gladiator-wise #because they're a goddamn mess #but it's the most humane thing about him altogether #and that's fun #but he's still a shithead soooooo #yeah

[a-very-fond-farewell]

The forbidden crack! Untamed prompts: 18/?

University AU: “Negative Space”

[ok so, self projection is a bitch, but I am petty to myself on a regular basis so it’s ok]

[title is from the Japanese concept “ma”, which Wikipedia describes as:

“a Japanese word which can be roughly translated as ‘gap’, ‘space’, ‘pause’ or ‘the space between two structural parts.’ In traditional Japanese arts and culture, ma is more carefully defined as the suggestion of an interval. It is best described as a consciousness of a sense of place, with the ‘intervals’ suggested often being more than simple gaps, instead focusing on the intention of a negative space in an art piece.

Ma is not necessarily an art concept created by compositional elements, such as the literal existence of a negative space. Instead, the intention is often to create the perception of an interval in the viewer experiencing the elements forming an art piece, making maless reliant on the existence of a gap, and more closely related to the perceived experience of a gap.

Ma has also been described as ‘an emptiness full of possibilities, like a promise yet to be fulfilled’, and as ‘the silence between the notes which make the music’.”

Fun fact: “ma” also means “but” in Italian, which is what usually follows whatever intrusive thought may plague my mind. Eg: “I may be useless now, BUT just you wait until I get some dopamine to get me through this shitty times.”]

*

Wei Ying never asked for much in his life. He’s content with cleaning classrooms and toilets and nobody can beat him at wiping the marble floors if he works hard enough. Granny Wen, his supervisor, is slightly impressed with his ability to make the wood shine for ages to come. His nephew Jin Ling sometimes comes to check on him when he’s done with senior classes or cram school in the evening, and together they sit down and listen to whatever his older friends in music production came up with during the day. Jiang Cheng occasionally would ask him to keep him company while he grades papers and they bitch about ZiXuan and his inability to dote on their sister. The cafeteria ladies are always nice to him and they give him extra congee because they worry for his questionable consumption of spice products.

He’s fine, really.

So why can’t he stop wandering over to the science building these days? Looking for a clean board to use, for an equation to finally solve? Even if in the end he just takes the chalk in hand and simply stares down at the inky surface in front of him, unable to write. His mind working on a software too advanced for the hardware that constitutes his brain.

Thirteen years. It has been already thirteen years and yet it feels like yesterday, or like it never happened at all. Like it has yet to be. Time blindness is a bitch to deal with, yet dyscalculia and ADHD makes a joke out of you when you love math on a visceral level... but you burned too bright too fast and now you function on no data and with an even shittier signal. Having a burnout at 23 should have taught him humility instead of pride, but Wei Ying has always worked out of spite and certain habits are difficult to forget.

Couldn’t put the number in the right order, switching digits left and right since he was young? Fine. Numbers were concepts anyway, entire civilizations working their magic without even knowing what “zero” stood for. A brain steaming with a million ideas per second? Good. New connections brimming with ideas he could use to better the world.

It worked fine until he let himself down. Until he became a useless empty lighter, a wet match tossed out, carbon monoxide in the air.

Dropped out before finishing his very ambitious, highly dangerous for his psyche, thesis project. Aunt Yu never forgave him for that, not after paying for his advanced classes, not after trusting Uncle Jiang and supporting him despite his many flaws. What good is being first of your class every year, poster child of a teaching system done right, graduating bachelor at 21, if you can’t finish your master at 23 and get your PhD at 25 and start teaching by 27 and drive yourself insane in the process?

Wei Ying dropped out and didn’t finish his master, didn’t enroll in the teaching program, and let everyone down. His Uncle and Aunt looking down on him, whether out of pity or shame. Jiang Cheng may have been the one leaving him behind, but he used to be the one saying “you should have tried harder”. YanLi worrying over him when she should have focused on her career first. Jin Ling growing up with stories of his uncle “not being worth the money put into his education”, taught to not disappoint and make his family proud. The Jin side, that is.

And now the kid comes crawling in defeat to him instead of Jiang Cheng after bombing a test in high school. And they chat of what he would like to do and how much he likes sports and how much he despises the idea of getting a scholarship for that and being called stupid or something by his classmates. And he cries when he thinks Wei Ying cannot see him as he leaves the campus late at night.

Wei Ying didn’t even want to solve that impossible theorem he fixated on in his early twenties. His thesis project was inconsequential in the great scheme of things and his professor only wanted him to be his one trick pony in the end. No. Wei Ying wanted to teach math in elementary school, hell... even in kindergarten. He wanted to change the approach to the subject. Because numbers cannot be taught like language is and there are many ways to teach how to sum up digits and divide quantities and there are no rules on how to make sense of space either.

But how can he teach when even time eludes his senses?

Something that nobody can define, but certainly most perceive as linear... but not him. Not since his brain fried up in his attempt to function like a normal human being.

After thirteen years nothing has changed.

Until one day he hears something else aside from his usual intrusive thoughts and burdensome memories. A melody so quiet he almost mistakes it for the wind, coming from the music building.

He walks slowly, night surrounding him like the embrace of a friend as he makes his way to the traditional musical instruments room. The one where Jin Ling’s friends meet sometimes as they wait for the younger boy to join them. Wei Ying holds his breath as he spies through the gap of the door left ajar, neon light slicing his face like moonbeams as he peeks in and recognizes Jin Ling’s friends and another figure sitting on the ground, guqin on their knees.

But before he can lean in and breathe in the vibrant sounds all around, the door opens and music theory Professor Lan finds Wei Ying clutching his mop for dear life.

They said the man could see colors within the notes, that he despises language outside of his class or office and that only his brother, the history of art TA, could convince him to talk every now and then.

If numbers were created to measure space, Wei Ying firmly believed music had been invented to make sense of time and count its seconds in rhythm and notes, pauses and beats. Yet, time seems to stretch to a stop as the janitor focuses all of his attention on professor Lan’s stern face and his heart quickens its pace.

Wei Ying takes a rushed breath and dives right in with a weird sense of hope pumping in his veins. A small, timid voice whispering that life is not made to be atoned, but to move on and grow.

One step at a time.

“I’m Wei Ying, Professor Lan. May I listen while you play?”

Yes, maybe it will be enough just to let time flow at its pace.

Whatever rhythm that may be.

*

[some hcs down below]

WWX does not magically solve the math theorem. he may or may not help kids figure out how to use numbers on the long run tho. no, he will still work as a janitor and there’s nothing wrong with that.

yes, LWJ is autistic and stimms and finds WWX’s honesty soothing. yes, you can add your hcs on the matter. he has synesthesia, but more on the grapheme-color side of the deal than anything else and he sees certain letters/numbers/notes in different colors. people think he can see colors in music, but they misunderstood and thought he could recognize different hues while listening to music instead of reading it.

JC has grown since his uni years and doesn’t resent WWX anymore. he teaches astrophysics as a TA and doesn’t pressure his brother to pick his studies up anymore. WWX has mixed feelings about this: he feels he’s a lost cause, to the point not even his brother spurs him to best himself anymore, but he is grateful for the patience anyway.

LXC is the official LWJ translator of the campus along with their cousins SiZhui and JinGyi. he bonds with WWX and JC over how tired they are, seldom staring at flies roaming above them in the cafeteria bc none of them can even move. he lives on caffeine and regrets, but he’s getting better as he develops a love for his plant babies and tries to not let them die on a daily basis.

Wen Ning and Wen Qing are little overachievers and adrenaline junkies, hence their competitive streak on their way to their third master degree just for funsies. they scare people with how driven they are, but the juniors love them.

NMJ is the one to go to if you need to get away with murder, but JGY will actually be the one helping you dispose of the body. the fact that they both work in criminal law is somewhat both reassuring and disquieting. they hate each other and yet cannot stop hang out, they are close to 40 and need the rivalry to keep going anyway. nothing beats a good nemesis. not even sex. maybe.

NHS has failed his entrance exam to become a nurse too many times to count, but he is determined to see the end of it. even if he could potentially work in the family business, but he doesn’t know anything about managing an empire of bricks and he doesn’t care. if NMJ could run away, well, so can he.

MianMian is Wei Ying’s bestie and has the biggest crush on JGY’s sister A-Su the kindergarten teacher, but since they are childhood besties she doesn’t know how to approach her. she is Jin Ling’s idol and a certified boxer and refers to herself as a useless bisexual. Wei Ying boxes with her sometimes, she always win.

YanLi is an equestrian mum, but in the best way possible: she coaches children for shows and teaches them horses should be loved and feared equally and that if you want to shoot arrows from a running horse you should always, ALWAYS let go of the stirrups the moment the beast gets too unhinged to ride. JC fears her, WWX is only glad she didn’t train police dogs for a living.

ZiXuan actually loves his wife, but WWX and JC question his career choices and the fact that he’s a retired lawyer spending his family fortune while he’s a stay-at-home dad and does all the housework. WWX and JC believe he should give their sister a better life and work his ass off to deserve her, but he does make amazing rice cakes and keeps up with Jin Ling’s studies and is very supportive of his dreams.

A-Qing and Song Lan are siblings and sometimes bring JC food from the campus cafeteria where they both work at, while Xiao XingChen and his carer Xue Yang work with LXC for a project on accessibility for visually impaired visitors of the local museum. JC and LXC work to make Song Lan and Xiao XingChen fall for each other, but the youngsters are too protective to let them play matchmaker so easily.

[this is all for now. please, if you want, add your own headcanons!]

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs/au: modern #mdzs/au: uni #the forbidden crack! untamed prompts #nieyao #xicheng #wangxian