#also sorry this looks so crappy i was trying to go zoom zoom

[dpr-stay]

Through the years | D.K

Doh Kyungsoo x f1driver!Reader

Warnings: Swears, a lot of crack

WC: 9.1k (ik, kill me now)

Howdy Cowpeople! This one is... hefty. This wasn’t supposed to be as long as it was but when I get in a groove... I think I made it obvious but I just wanted it to be over L O L. This one is pretty niche, but hopefully it can be enjoyed by both sides as it is a driver!reader.

(I didn't edit this, whoops)

2015

“Can you explain this picture?” The reporter asks, hovering in front of you with a phone in hand. The crappy quality is amplified as they have zoomed into the point where the picture is unrecognizable. You squint your eyes to see it and can’t make out quite what they’re trying to show.

“Sorry, w-what is that?” You ask, drawing back and squinting your eyes, resisting the urge to close them from exhaustion. Whoever decided it would be a good idea to do interviews after nearly 100 continuous laps in some barely held together race car with no break was a sadist. No other explanation.

“Oh! It’s a picture of you in a car with a guy.” The reporter said eagerly and shoved the phone your way. You briefly looked at the camera, an unimpressed look on your face, before turning back to the phone and squinting again.

You paused for a minute and drew back, your face still scrunched up, and exhaled.

“Nahhhhhh.” The drew out word left your mouth.

The reporter’s head tilted and they frowned.

“But it is! It’s you in Seoul after the Japanese Grand Prix!” He continued, looking very determined. You plastered a confused expression on your face.

“I’ve never been to Seoul before.” His face dropped and he turned back to his phone, as though trying to rationalize what he was hearing.

“Have you just taken a picture of… two random people in a car? To me it honestly doesn’t even look like anything cause it’s so zoomed in but to each their own.” You finished your words with a shrug.

“No, my source told me that that was 100% you! They said they saw you get in the car at the airport.” He continued on, undeterred by your flat disregard.

“I hate to say it, your contact’s wrong. I’ve never even set foot in the country.” You shrugged before turning to your PR manager who was gesturing for you to leave, with rather forceful movements. That was to clue you in that you were in trouble. With her personally or with the boss man, you didn’t know.

“Lovely to see you again, though.” You smiled and held your hand over. The interviewer tentatively took it and you exchanged good-byes before you turned around and left to go onto more interviews. The glance you exchanged with your PR manager told you that you were lucky you had not been caught out on your multiple lies and you heaved a sigh of relief to yourself.

Being the only female driver in a heavily male dominated sport was incredibly stressful. Add to that the eyes of reporters trying to find you doing anything remotely weird to spin it into a scandal and you had a lot of things to worry about. Especially since you had just started a relationship with a highly coveted Kpop singer which you were determined to keep under wraps.

You both had a bet running with each other. The first person to reveal the relationship would lose. There was no consequence but your pride, something which both of you had a bit too much of.

And so, a game was born. It simultaneously made you more careful of revealing your relationship while also making it a fun game.

This also meant that you had to start constantly lying to reporters to get out of tricky situations. Surely nothing bad could ever come from this.

2016: 

“How does it feel to be a key contender for the championship?” Asked a reporter, directing it to, of course, Lewis Hamilton, who was sat beside Daniel in a panel of drivers. You were sat on the other side of Daniel, the small desk in front of you reaching for miles on either side.

As Lewis gave the carbon copy response that he had given to every interviewer so far, Daniel leaned over to whisper in your ear.

“I’m surprised they haven’t called him out on that yet.” He then reached for his plastic water bottle and took a sip. You considered this for a second before leaning to his side and answered, not turning your face from the crowd of reporters.

“I’m surprised they haven’t called you out on your disgusting trim.” He jolted forward at this unprompted attack on his hair and the choking sound he emanated drew attention from all in the room, all watching him with curious eyes as he tried to regain his breath.

“You alright mate?” Lewis asked, one of his eyebrows arching.

“Y-yeah I’m fine.” Daniel replied, waving his hand, eager to have attention off of his spluttering. It took a while but eventually all the cameras were aimed back at Lewis, so Daniel took the opportunity to elbow you hard in the side, your reaction being to topple off your chair dramatically. Usually one for the dramatics, you’re not sure you’ve ever seen Daniel want the cameras off him so much. 

Hidden behind a small desk, you could only hear the questioning tones calling out your name and see Daniel’s slightly panicked face urging you to get up and back on your chair. With one single hand, you reached for the desk and slowly pulled yourself up.

You released a deep breath as you hauled yourself into your seat and turned to face the crowd of reporters who were looking at you. With a grand hand gesture, you motioned for them to continue with their interviews and turned slightly to Daniel with a smile. He shot you back an exasperated glance before your name was called from the crowd of reporters. You looked towards the reporter and he began speaking.

“So, as you’re the only female on the grid I feel the need to ask, if you could date any of the drivers, who would it be?” The eager face he had contrasted with your entirely unimpressed face. You could hear Daniel begin to start speaking and you could feel the defensive energy emanating from the rest of the drivers on the panel, but before any of them could interrupt with scathing criticism about the misogyny that permeated the question, you replied to the reporter.

“Literally none of them, I’d rather die.” Your response was met with general silence before Daniel started laughing as usual.

“Really? You wouldn’t fancy any of them?” The reporter asked, almost in disbelief.

“No!” You said almost equally in disbelief.

“I’m fine with what I have at home!” You added on after a second.

“Are you saying you’re in a relationship???” The reporter was on the edge of his seat, others shoving their microphones and cameras trying to get a good shot. You dramatically pondered that for a second before replying.

“I wouldn’t say that, I just have other things at home.” You said that and then leaned back, shrugged, and didn’t say anything else into the mic even at the reporters continual uproar as they took in the implications of that statement.

You, luckily, were able to avoid the increasingly weird questions by just not answering and smiling. You weren’t as lucky to miss the smirks thrown your way by the other drivers.

2017:

“It doesn’t count!” You said in disbelief, aiming it at the microphone of your phone.

“Mmm I’d say it counts.” Kyungsoo replied back teasingly, his voice echoing into your AirPods. 

“You can’t go back on your word!! You said it was fine last year!” You were sitting at a table in your company's hospitality, having a conversation with Kyungsoo on the phone, blissfully unaware of the interviews going on outside the building which had a clear view into the small area. 

“Yeah but it’s been two years, one of us has to call it quits soon.” Your face contorted before Kyungsoo quickly amended his statement.

“The bet! The bet! Sorry, that came out the wrong way.” 

You just shook your head, a small smile growing on your lips.

“You bastard, you had me a little worried.” He scoffed in response. He had been speaking quietly into the phone as he was hiding in a closet in the SM building, taking a break from practice to talk to you. A true charmer.

“As if.” He replied shortly, a loud scuffling heard on his side.

“One second.” He said, as a banging sound came through into your headphones.

“Come on Hyung! Get off the phone and come back before someone else finds you!” Kai’s voice could be heard through the door. A pause before the banging started again.

“Also tell her I said hello!” You giggled at the younger man’s words and Kyungsoo’s sigh in response.

“I’ll call you after the race, do your best, I love you.” Kyungsoo muttered into his phone before shouting back to Kai something about respect and to shut up. It just made you laugh more.

“I love you too, practice well and I’ll call you soon.” You finally said in response after the yelling died down.

“Bye.” He said before quickly tacking on another “love you” and then he hung up.

After he hung up you just stared at your screen for a second with a smile you would 100% not call radiant on your face. It was quickly wiped off when your PR manager popped up out of nowhere and started talking about interviews, causing you to switch to English as you stood up and followed him.

However, the interview still captured your little moment and the conversation preluding it. You knew this because, when you went back to your phone after the race, Baekhyun had sent you a picture of your smile through the tinted glass with a smirking emoji as well as a picture of Kyungsoo on the floor in the closet in the dark talking to you on the phone, not to mention the hounding you got at the next press conference.

2018:

You knew it was risky to do a live in your own apartment, especially since you were in a completely different country than where you were claiming you were.

But your PR team wanted you to do it, and you couldn’t exactly tell them no, even if you were currently lying to them about your circumstances. You were a bit worried that something unexplainable might happen like the South Korean national anthem suddenly blaring but what you weren’t worried about was the person who you were living with coming back and interrupting your live.

Kyungsoo was at practice and, while you were ok with him skipping it to talk to you on the phone, you didn’t want him to skip it now, as you had been promised a few days without any interruption if he went to every practice. So he was at practice and you were fulfilling all your expected PR duties for the next couple of days, which included the live.

Regardless of your hesitations, you set up your phone on your coffee table facing the entrance to your home and sat on the couch before turning on the live. Immediately people joined, flooding the chat and making your phone vibrate.

“Uhhh hello everyone.” You awkwardly greeted as you tried to think of things to say. Kyungsoo would be fantastic at this, you couldn’t help but think, always having to do live’s with his members.

“How’s everyone’s days been?” You settled on and watched the responses roll into the chat. You noticed a few drivers had joined your live and even a few of the boys from F2 and F3 were watching, which you thought was pretty nice of them considering it was mainly you rambling for around 30 minutes.

Your manager wanted you to do an hour minimum for the live and the time seemed to stretch for years, you continuously making small talk and occasionally replying to comments. You even snuck in a few jokes for the other drivers before, around the 55 minute mark, a sound came from your end.

You furrowed your eyebrows as you wondered where the noise was coming from, looking around the apartment. Quickly standing up, you looked around the apartment, making a lighthearted joke about ghosts as you nervously tried to find the origin of the sound.

You realised that sound was the wrong key being put in the lock as soon as you registered the sound of the correct key being put in.

As Kyungsoo opened the door, you made the biggest leap you think you have ever made. It would’ve had to have been around 4 meters surely. Somehow you had leapt onto the coffee table, knocking your phone down. Kyungsoo was staring at you weirdly as you violently gestured at him to shush. He raised an eyebrow.

“Are you ok?” He asked, his deep voice sounding as lovely as ever. You took a second, contemplating your options in this circumstance before coming to a logical conclusion.

You started to scream.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!” Kyungsoo’s face shifted to one of confusion as yours was full of desperation.

“YOU CRAZY PSYCHO! GET OUT!!” You continued to yell in perfect English, a contrast from his peaceful question, and gestured for Kyungsoo to close the door, which he did, albeit very confused.

As soon as he closed the door, you maneuvered yourself so that you weren’t facing him and quickly picked up your phone from underneath you.

“Oh my god, what just happened.” You said, showing the camera your roof. You picked up the phone and started fidgeting with it.

“‘Are you ok?’ Yeah I’m fine, I just gotta figure out how to change the locks. I’ll uh.. I’ll get back to you guys. See you later.” You said absentmindedly, as you ended the live.

You paused for a second, sat back on your heels, and sighed, staring up at the roof. The sound of footfalls reached your ears and you didn’t react when Kyungsoo placed a hand on your shoulder.

“I’m not losing this bet.” You mumbled, staring at the ground. An incredulous laugh left him at that as he reached his hand further and brought your face to look at him. A smile that there was no other way to describe but goofy was spread across his face.

“You’re still thinking of that?” He asked and you nodded.

“I take our bet very seriously.” You said before he slightly shook his head, gave you a kiss on the forehead, and moved towards the kitchen.

You picked yourself up and moved to the dining table as he started work in the kitchen. And, as he made a delicious dinner that you both enjoyed, you started to field off your PR team asking who was in your house and ignoring the comments wondering why the guy was speaking Korean in the middle of England.

2019: 

It was approximately ten minutes before you had to be in the car and ready to go, and you were half-way there. You had your fireproofs and race suit on and you were being herded towards your car by a crowd of engineers. Strategies and specifics were being directed at you and you could only nod and act as though you were absorbing what they were saying.

Even after four years on the job some people felt they just couldn’t rely on you. Honestly, they should just let you do your thing, you knew what you were doing. 

No! God, ever since Kyungsoo had joined the military you’d been irritable and quick to anger on the track. Your poor engineers were trying their best to get through to you, likely because they wanted to keep their jobs, but you’d been incredibly closed off since after you got back from the honeymoon. 

Oh yeah, you got married. During a break and right before Kyungsoo was scheduled to start his enlistment, you got married down in a small courthouse with only a few people from either side. You had your family, a few close friends, and a few drivers while Kyungsoo had his family, a few close friends, and the whole of EXO.

It was very emotional and intimate, but that was how you’d describe your relationship so you were very happy with it. You were also extremely happy with the week get-away in the middle of nowhere in New Zealand that followed after, a week of people not recognising both you, farmers markets, and sheep. Lot’s of sheep.

But ever since he’d flown off to do his duty to his country (and shaved his head, no one should look that good with a shaved head) and you’d flown to your next race, you’d been incredibly… angry.

You didn’t know if it had to do with not seeing Kyungsoo for the better part of two years or having that split immediately after the wedding, but what you did know was that it was affecting your racing so you had to snap out of it.

Being dragged back to the present you quickly hopped in the car and performed all of your checks on the steering wheel and adjusted things while people flitted around outside the car, adjusting things and making sure the car was in proper state.

After a quick radio check, the call to start up for the formation lap (you were in P11 after a pretty dodgy qualifying) was relayed and all around you could hear car’s engines coming to life. You glanced at your engineers and snapped down your visor at their nod, starting the car.

Before you pressed the throttle something quickly came to mind. You rapidly gestured for one of your engineers to come close to you, incredibly conscious of all the cars revving around you. The poor engineer almost sprinted to you as you started to fiddle with the zip of your racesuit, the gloves you were wearing prohibiting you from unzipping it.

The engineer's face was comically concerned and he slowly reached forwards before you looked up and grabbed his outreached hand. His face immediately went to one of shock as you made his hand grab the zip and unzip the front part of the suit.

Choosing to ignore the cameras capturing this interaction you continued unzipping it till it lay around your collarbones, hoping the cameras don’t catch any of your naked shoulders. The engineer's face then relaxed as he saw the necklace around your neck and he quickly reached in, almost leaning over the car, to move your necklace around your neck till the latch was in front of him.

He cautiously unlatched the necklace before zipping up your race suit. You immediately relaxed as the pressure around your neck was relieved. Before he could retreat back to the crowd of engineers, you grabbed the hand that wasn’t holding your necklace and slapped it appreciatively with your other hand.

He retreated as you powered up the car and started to move it forwards, letting all the cars that needed to go before go before you started to move. 

Your team radio started up as you were leaving the pit lane.

“You all had us very confused there.” Your race engineer said as you started your cruise around the track. 

“Yeah, sorry I completely forgot about it. But I thought it was better to take it off.” You said, pressing down on the throttle. 

“He better not lose that though. I want that back at the end of the race.” You subtly threatened, suddenly thinking of the rings that were attached to the necklace. You hoped that maybe the cameras hadn’t seen your wedding and engagement rings but you knew there was no chance they hadn’t not captured it. Oh well.

“I don’t know if you’ll get it back by the end of the race.” Your engineer said, her tone almost sarcastic. 

“What’s that mean?” You asked, letting the car cruise.

“You’ll probably be killed by your PR team first.” She said bluntly. So bluntly it made you laugh. 

“I’ve got a race to focus on.” You reminded her, leaving out the part that you had a race to think of an excuse as to why you have two rings attached to a necklace around your neck.

And you did think of an excuse, wearing the necklace proudly during post-race interviews and saying it was a family heirloom that had been passed on to you by your grandma whenever you were questioned about it.

The moment still went viral though, people questioning the relationship between you and the engineer. It went viral enough to that you had to suffer through teasing by Daniel and his accomplice Max Verstappen (you didn’t know how the kid knew you were married but you suspected it had something to do with an annoying Australian) not to mention the shit being talked in the EXO group chat you were in.

I mean seriously, all of those guys are millionaires, does Chen have nothing else to do with his time than bully the wife of his bandmate?

2020: (sorry Alex)

Somehow you got signed to RedBull on a year contract. Not to say you weren’t grateful for the opportunity but you were definitely a bit confused. But anyway, you let bygones be bygones and now you had a 22 year-old dutch nuisance under your wing.

He was a great kid but god, was he traumatized. You were convinced he’d never seen a healthy family dynamic, so you were more than happy to let him see how you and Kyungsoo functioned. Or at least how you functioned when he was not in the military.

You kind of felt like a life coach for the kid, telling him when he was being taken advantage of or when he should continue with something. You’d been woken up plenty of times in the middle of the night by him drunkenly whining into the phone about wanting to go “home”, something neither of you commented on when he woke up on your couch the next day.

So, safe to say, you’d practically adopted a child without the permission of your husband.

This extended to on the track as well, you’d gotten into a few mild disagreements with Jos Verstappen after his cruel comments which often involved you looking at him angrily and him shit-talking you in interviews about you being a woman. You’d often have to refrain from saying that you’d always be more of a man than him, but alas, you didn’t want to get kicked from your seat.

You knew that Max was extremely appreciative of your dynamic, even commenting on it a few times during interviews, saying that he was very happy to have you as a teammate. After that interview you almost felt like you and his lover, Daniel, were able to give him some sort of an idea of what a normal family relationship should look like.

This sentiment was definitely reinforced when a loud knocking on your Monaco apartment door happened in the early afternoon. It was a weekend with no race, so you were soaking in relaxation. You were having a nice bubble bath after having read for the whole morning, so you were hesitant to hop out of the bath. 

The knocking persisted however, and with a sigh, you got out of the bath and wrapped a bathrobe around you before loudly yelling you’d be a minute. You tugged on some sweats which weren’t yours and put your hair in a towel before eventually making your way to the door. 

You might’ve taken more than a minute, but it didn’t matter when you opened the door and were greeted with the image of Max Verstappen on his knees, face pressed into the expensive hallway carpet. What a sight to see, the prodigy and most highly anticipated driver of his time, lying face-first on the floor.

“What the fuck?” You asked, immediately crouching down to his level after a quick glance to see that none of your neighbors had left their apartments to check on the banging (pretentious, self-concerned people). 

You rolled him over, your confusion doubling as you took in the remorseful look etched across the young man's face, almost tripling as you took in the barely concealed tears in his eyes. Your heart ached though and you pulled him up so that he was sitting on his knees.

“I’m so sorry.” He muttered as your face contorted in confusion. What had happened? “Come inside Max.” You said quietly, helping him up from his spot on the floor and leading him inside, locking the door after you both. Leading him to the couch, you left him after putting the throw blanket over his shoulders, and went to make both of you a tea.

You noticed your phone constantly vibrating on your kitchen counter and quickly chucked it on do not disturb, not checking the notifications because you were more concerned with your teary teammate. 

After grabbing the teas you made your way to the couch, setting them down on coasters on the coffee table, before sitting on the edge of the ‘L’ piece of the couch, so you were facing Max. You grabbed his hand from his lap where he had been nervously picking at his nail beds.

“What’s wrong Max?” You asked calmly, bringing his hand to your lap to stop him from hurting himself. He looked up at you, a few tears having rolled down his cheeks. 

Whatever had happened had fucked him up. You didn’t think it was a fight with his dad, he’d sadly become pretty unresponsive to those. You briefly considered him losing his seat but shook that off, he was doing exceptionally well. 

Maybe you’d lost your seat and he was sent to deliver the news. That would make more sense, especially as your phone was blowing up. You hadn’t been performing very well, but you didn’t think they’d drop you from your seat midway through the season, especially during a season as turbulent as this one.

It was the only reason that made sense though, so you prepared yourself for the news that you would be unemployed. Maybe you’d go back to F2 or maybe IndyCar? Or you could just move to South Korea and live there permanently, letting Kyungsoo fulfill his passion for acting and singing while you did a few kart races to occasionally quench your thirst for adrenaline. 

That actually didn’t sound too bad, though you’d definitely have to discuss it with Kyungsoo when he got back from enlistment, which meant around 5 months of unemployment. But hey, you had the money and so did Kyungsoo.

Max snapped you from your thoughts of the future by clearing his throat.

“You don’t know?” He asked, curiously glancing up at you. You furrowed your eyebrows.

“No…” You said, conveying your confusion. “Should I?” 

“Have you checked your phone recently?” Yep, you were definitely getting fired. You should probably start packing now. Maybe Daniel could get his seat back? You shook your head in response to his quiet question.

“I’ve just been reading all morning.” Max nodded, a small ‘ah’ leaving his mouth as he stared at the floor. He reached for his tea, his hand leaving your lap. You narrowed your eyes at that, following his movements as he sipped, a gasp immediately leaving his throat as he burnt it.

You immediately cussed and sprung up from your couch to grab a glass of cold water, running back to the couch and giving it to Max, watching as he gulped down the glass. When he finished he turned back to you and thanked you, before pausing for a second and bursting into another round of tears. You placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re really freaking me out Max. Can you please tell me what’s wrong?” You asked gently, trying to make him catch your eye.

“Promise you won't hate me?” His small voice asked and you internally crumpled at his vulnerable question. Honestly you never thought you’d end up gentle-parenting a teammate like he was a child of yours, especially since you were only like 5 years older than him, but here you were, caring for him like family.

“Yes, I won’t hate you Max.” You repeated as he finally caught your eye. He took a deep breath before starting to speak.

“I was doing an interview for the press and they started asking questions about other drivers and my relationship to them. They then asked about you and I said that I’m really close to you and etcetera.” Ok, seems pretty normal so far. At least you weren’t getting fired, hopefully.

“And they asked if I see you more as a mother figure or a romantic interest.” He said before quickly turning his eyes away. This confused you before you clued in.

“Oh Max.” You said quietly and he turned back to you. “I’m flattered you feel that way but I am married and I am loyal-”

“No, no, no!” He said, louder than he’d ever spoken in the time since he was on the floor. His cheeks had turned bright red as he looked in your eyes.

“No, I didn’t say that I saw you romantically!” He quickly amended and you breathed a sigh of relief, smiling.

“Ok, that’s good! I didn’t want our friendship to be awkward.” You said, looking at him for a response. He just grimaced and averted his gaze. You gestured for him to go on confusedly and he began speaking again.

“And I said more like a mother-figure.” A statement which made you feel positive things you don’t want to address. “Then I may have accidentally said that, even though I haven’t met him, I see your husband as more of a father-figure as well.” He quickly rushed the last part out and you sat, stunned. 

The room went silent while you processed what he told you. Fuuuuckkk. How much trouble were you going to be in? I mean the team knew, but this wasn’t something you could pass off as your grandmother's rings. This was undeniable proof that you had a husband. God press days were going to suck after this unless you could somehow make an excuse.

As time went on he seemed to collapse in on himself, the energy quickly switching to something you didn’t like.

“To be honest I thought you were going to tell me I’d lost my seat.” You said and Max’s head snapped up. “What?” He asked, disbelieving.

“Yeah I know, crazy.” You laughed, dragging out the last word, trying to establish a more relaxed aura in the room.

“No, why haven’t you kicked me out yet?” It was at times like this you really wanted to punch Jos Verstappen in the face. You made an over exaggerated confused face, hoping the fact that that had never gone through your mind was on display in your face.

“Max, why would I do that?” You asked, your voice very quickly becoming soothing.

“Why aren’t you mad at me? You’ve spent years hiding this! You should be yelling at me!” He said, standing up. You tried, in vain, to get him to sit down by gently calling him, but he started pacing.

“I’ve just ruined your chances at revealing this yourself, at ever having another peaceful day in your marriage, and all you can do is make a joke?!” He almost started yelling, clenching his fists. You got fed-up and yelled his name, calling his attention to you.

“You’re in my house as my guest. You will not tell me what to do or how to handle situations. Sit your ass down.” You yelled, your voice incredibly commanding. He followed your instructions and sat smally in front of you.

“Max. It was eventually going to come out. I don’t mind. I’d much rather it come off handedly from you than maliciously leaked by a random instagram page.” You said and he looked up, almost looking close to tears. You frowned before bringing the boy up into a hug. You stayed like that for a few minutes before you had to ask a question.

“You didn’t reveal who he was though, no?” You asked, still in the hug. You felt Max shake his head and you silently fistpumped behind his back. It wasn’t your fault, so it technically didn’t count and you hadn’t lost the bet.

You were right, by the way, press days were soon filled with questions about your mystery husband instead of your racing. But it was fine, you were somehow able to twist it as though you’d made a joke about having a husband and Max took it seriously.

Phew.

2021: (sorry latifi)

“And so today you will be reacting to fan edits of yourselves!” The lady behind the camera finished, prompting you and George to look at eachother. It was early in the season and, even though you’d raced together for a few years, you weren’t exactly close, being that before pre-season meetings, you hadn’t ever talked. At all.

This meant he didn’t know much about your personal life or the whole ‘husband’ thing. Which was fine, you’d tell him in your own time, when you felt your friendship was strong enough. He seemed to be a great kid, though you were determined to not adopt another grown child, especially after the look you got from Kyungsoo when you mentioned the fact you may have ‘accidentally’ had Christmas with Max Verstappen.

But hey, they had finally met during February and it was almost like a Dad saying that his daughter can’t adopt a cat while simultaneously cuddling with the cat. Kyungsoo, against his better judgment, had instantly attached to Max and now you were battling for the position of being his favourite driver. Which you were totally not bitter about (you said your favourite EXO member was Sehun in retaliation and he changed your mind very quickly).

Back to the present, the people behind the camera placed a tablet on the table in front of you. It was open on the photo gallery and you could already see some very flattering videos saved to the device.

“You wanna go first?” You asked, and George nodded before picking up the tablet and scrolling through the photo library. He closed his eyes and landed on one. Loud music immediately began playing from the device, you think ‘London Boy’ by Taylor Swift, and you both watched in varying states of horror as photos and clips of him flashed on the screen.

As the video ended you both accidentally made eye-contact. Now, as an almost 28 year old woman, the simple gesture of looking into your teammate's stricken eyes should not have made burst out laughing as hard as you did. But, god, George’s eyes were expressive. In fairness he also did laugh, though he probably was confused as to why you were laughing so much.

After you caught your breath you could only utter out,

“Your face...” Before peeling back into giggles again. He started laughing again as well before putting the tablet down. In doing so, he accidentally swiped the tablet and the Backstreet Boys started playing, an edit of the 2019 rookies playing as the video.

This chain event caused you to start gasping, the sheer ridiculousness of the videos catching up to you. George only took one look at the tears forming in your eyes before he was also wheezing out harsh breaths from laughing.

It took around 2 minutes for you to look at each other without laughing and, for you both to be able to pick up the tablet without giggling, it took another minute or so. You eventually began scrolling through the tablet, laughing at some and ‘aww’-ing at some of the sad ones. 

Eventually a video came up with the background music to ‘Give it to me’ by Sistar, an edit of you that was hot but had you gasping at the lyrics.

“What?” George looked over to you, curious as to why there was another noise that came out of your mouth than laughing or a strained ‘why?’.

“The audacity!” You said, as the music continued playing.

“What..?” George asked, more confused than previously.

“Do you want to know the lyrics they’ve just edited me to?” You asked, looking over at him, your voice pretending to be offended.

“What?” He said, his tone changing again to have a sort of goading lilt.

“Will I even get married before I turn thirty.” You said with an air of finality, turning to glare at the camera, your jaw dramatically hung open. George gasped mockingly.

“How dare they!” He said sarcastically and you nodded eagerly.

“I know right!” You responded beginning a stereotypical mean girl impression. “How dare they!” After that little fiasco, you both kept scrolling and laughing (a notable example of this being when an edit of George crying came up, him pushing your shoulders as you continued to laugh). 

Eventually the video was being wrapped up and George was preparing to do a sort of sign off when he paused and turned to you.

“I know we aren’t incredibly close…” He started and you prepared for a multitude of questions. You didn’t know him well enough to predict what he might say, so you went over your predisposed answers to questions in your head.

You knew he wouldn’t ask anything uncomfortable, like about your relationship status, or anything really weird, like how many socks do you wash at once. But that left a gaping probability for mildly-weird or mildly-uncomfortable questions. You hoped he wouldn’t ask that, but you were still prepared to be asked if you threw out your receipts or kept them.

“But I didn’t know you knew Korean. How did you learn?” 

Oh. Fuck.

You did not have an answer for that. How the fuck did you not have an answer for that? You definitely should have had an answer for that. Oh wait, you didn’t have an answer because you promised yourself not to tell anyone that you could speak Korean so that you didn’t get that question!

The real, close-friends answer was that Kyungsoo had taught you over a range of years and that you’d taken courses so that you’d be able to talk to his friends and family. However you didn’t have a PR approved answer because you’d never thought that you’d need one. Time to put your problem solving skills to the test. 

“Uhhhhh…” You said, staring confusedly at George, aware of the seconds that had passed while you were internally monologuing. You hoped your expression didn’t convey the level of gob-smacked that you felt but you think it did because George’s face contorted to be one of worry.

“If that’s a sensitive topic or something you don’t have to answer!” He quickly said as though he was trying to fix the situation. You’d later learn the George thought before your video that you were kind of ‘fucking terrifying’ (his words) and that he was scared he’d screwed up by asking you this and one of his ‘hero’s’ (his words) wouldn’t ever want to talk to him again. 

“Nah, nah. It’s ok.” You waved him off, desperately trying to think of something. Oh! You knew exactly what to say.

“Basically I just have this really good friend who is Korean and I asked him to teach me for fun.” You said simply, before realising that wasn’t good enough considering your reaction.

“I was trying to hide how good I’ve gotten to try and surprise him but I guess it’s ok.” You said, a small smile on your face. George relaxed from his tense state and nodded, a small smile playing onto his lips as well.

“Ah that’s cool. Sorry to spoil the surprise.” You waved him off again and he continued the video’s outro.

Another good save, you really oughta be hired to problem-solve. And by problem-solving you mean lying to the media. And George. Poor George. 

2022: (yeah the timelines don’t match, don’t call me out pls)

A loud banging sounded against your hotel door. You groaned, dropping the book onto your chest from where you held it up. Glancing angrily at the door, you rolled out of bed and stomped over to the entrance. You ripped open the door and prepared to start reaming the person on the other side before letting out a high-pitched scream.

You were in Japan for the Suzuka GP. You always didn’t like the Japanese GP because, even though you were incredibly close to Kyungsoo, your schedules never lined up so you could never see him. 

That fact really grinded your gears, but it’s what you get when you try to schedule something with SM Entertainment. A decisive ‘No.’ What a great company. To be honest, was Willaims really any better?

No. No they weren’t. That mere fact infuriated you enough to make you scream. However, it wasn’t the reason you were currently screaming. That was because, standing in your doorway in the middle of the team hotel, was Kai. 

You hadn’t seen him in a few months, you both had busy schedules, so the man appearing on your doorstep was miraculous. You didn’t think of why he was there, or how he got there. You just threw your arms around him and gave him a hug.

“Oh my god!” You screamed, before immediately regretting it and quickly pulling him into your hotel room before someone came out of their rooms and wondered why he was in front of yours.

“Hi!” He said, laughing as he let himself be pushed into your room despite the fact he could pick you up and throw you.

“What are you doing here?” You asked changing your pulling into a hug, squeezing the younger man as though he was your child. You had a serious problem with that, treating men almost your age as children. But Kai was more of a brother than a child, to be quite frank. That distinction just meant that he really really bugged you.

“I have a concert tomorrow and I thought I might just stop in.” He said, a smile on his face. “Though it is only me, sorry.”

“That’s ok!” You said, still in disbelief one of your closest friends was on your doorstep.

“Does Kyungsoo know?” Kai smirked in response to your question. That was answer enough in itself and you slapped Kai on the shoulder.

“You should’ve told him! He might’ve come.” Kai gasped in mock offense.

“What am I not good enough? Would you really prefer your husband that much?” He continued in mock offense and you dead-panned him. He just laughed in response.

“I did have to tell the company I was coming though, and they asked me to film a TikTok with you.” He quickly rushed out and you groaned, staring at the sky. What was up with all of these people wanting you to do TikTok’s?! You had all of your team's PR people constantly chasing you with a camera and now you had Kai asking for a video.

“Fine.” You ground out and Kai grinned, purposely ignoring your annoyance.

“Fantastic!” He said and quickly whipped out his phone, launching into his plans of what to film. Your only artistic input was that he had to cool it on the filters or else you wouldn’t film. 

The video started with the familiar sound of Peaches by Kai and a hand knocking on your hotel door, you opening the door curiously. As the chorus sounded, you recorded Kai dancing in your doorway, incredibly aware of the chance of any of your colleagues walking into the hallway and wondering what the fuck was going on.

The video continued after the chorus, Kai recording you slamming the door in his face with a confused expression. The video then ended with a still image of the both of you doing a heart together with your hands and you let Kai go rampant on the filters, hearts and sparkles flying around on the screen. 

When you watched it back, Kai waiting at your side eagerly to see your reaction, you did your best to hide the laughing fit you had in reaction to the monstrosity. You couldn’t quite hide the gasps that were leaving you though and Kai frowned.

“It’s perfect. I love it.” You said, through your giggles and he smiled.

“I know. It’s fantastic.” You only nodded because you couldn’t trust yourself to talk, a small whine escaping through your lips at the struggle of not laughing.

“Do you want to see the caption?” He asked and you violently nodded your head. 

“Please.” 

“P15 but still P1 EXO-L.” He read out and you just hung your jaw open. “You bastard!” You laughed out. 

“I put it in Korean as well.” Your only response was to hit him, hard, while still laughing and shaking your head.

“Should we run it by your PR team before posting?” Kai asked, taking a serious note. You looked to him and sucked in air through your teeth.

“Nahhhh.” You replied and he shrugged, and clicked post.

“I should probably tell Kyungsoo you were here before he finds out through the internet.” You said, reaching for your phone. Kai nodded vehemently.

One phone call later, an angry Kyungsoo and an apologetic Kai later, the TikTok was making its rounds and your phone was blowing up, your poor PR agent about to have a heart attack.

On that delightful note Kai left your hotel room, farewelled with a minute long hug and a well-wish for his concert, and you were left to phone your PR agent who just screamed into the phone for 10 seconds before actually speaking.

Of course, during the press releases for the rest of the season, you talked about how much of an EXO-L you were and how close of a friend you were to Kai. This didn’t come without dating rumours but, due to one poorly angled camera shot of your disgusted face when a reporter suggested dating to your face, that was shut down pretty quickly. 

Still no one had shipped you with the other EXO members though, so you weren’t even close to losing the bet. (Though you had been asked which EXO member was your favourite, which you responded to with a smirk.)

2023:

It was a good race, you finishing P4 which was a huge improvement since last season. Your team was on top of the moon as were you, smiling from ear to ear. You were currently in the press area, getting asked questions left and right about the car and your performance.

You were adequately responding to each question, sometimes looking questioningly your PR agent when you weren’t sure how to respond. A loud crash sounded through the area that drew the attention of most in the area as a reporters chair fell to the ground. They had jumped up at something on their phone and, like everyone else in the pen, you were wondering what had them so fired up.

Then their eyes darted up and made eye-contact with you. Your internal monologue quickly changed from questioning to a repeated loop of ‘Oh no. Oh no.’ as they advanced your way, moving like a predator stalks their prey. They thrusted their phone under your nose, the shitty little mic attached to it capturing every breath you took and the many cameras in the area capturing your wide eyes.

The reporter addressed you by name before starting to speak.

“Do you know of a man by the name Doh Kyungsoo?” They asked and your world cracked. What on earth had happened? How did they know? All you knew was that it was time for the one acting class your mum had made you take to try and sway you from racing to come to full effect.

“I think he’s from that band Kai’s in, yeah?” You responded after a second of fake pondering. The reporter's eyes narrowed like a hawk.

“You wouldn’t say you were close? Not close enough to get married perhaps?” The reporter asked, clearly trying to stir the pot. Oh my god, was this a prank? How the fuck did they know? How were you supposed to play this off? Would this jeopardize your career?

“Uhhm no…?” You said, incredulously, fixing them a scandalized stare. They sarcastically nodded.

“Oh really? Then what’s this?” They said and shoved their phone closer to your face till you saw a picture of you and Kyungsoo on your wedding day. How did they get this? Had one of your small circle leaked something?

You tried not to let the bewilderment you felt show on your face.

“I’m sorry? Are you trying to pass this off as real? It’s obviously photoshopped! I’m so tired of people trying to fabricate a story of me dating every person I’ve interacted with!” You finally snapped, letting a few years of pent up tension out in this moment. The reporter only continued to smirk.

“Oh really!” They said and you wanted to punch them and their snooty little face. To try and display this, your face fell into one of contempt.

“Is that why this image was posted to Doh Kyungsoo’s official instagram account with the caption ‘Sorry for making you lie to the press for eight years!’?” 

They got you there, dam.

Your jaw dropped open, the corners of your mouth rising at the pure hilarity of this situation.

“Excuse me?” You asked, grabbing the phone off the reporter and tapping back onto the post. They were right, Kyungsoo had posted to his official instagram that exact post. It was a carousel post with pictures taken of when you’d lied to the press about him, from the initial lying about being in Seoul to a picture of your ringed necklace to a picture of you smirking after being asked which EXO member was your favourite.

You couldn’t help but release a laugh, your hand traveling to cover your open mouth. Why did he post this? 

Wait.

This meant you won the bet. Your head shot up to stare at a camera.

“I won the bet.” You said quietly. The reporter snatched their phone back and stared at you confused. 

“What?” They asked and you whipped your head to them, a large smile spreading across your face.

“I won the bet!” You said eagerly, reaching out to grab their shoulders and rock them back and forth.

“I won the bet!!” You ignored how they shook you off, turning to your PR Agent instead and grabbing them and lifting them up. They hurriedly tapped your back as you lifted them, as though signaling you to drop them, but you ignored that and started spinning them around. 

“I actually can’t believe it, oh my god!” You snapped out of it and dropped your PR Agent, immediately running out of the media pen and back to your driver room, pulling your necklace out of your racesuit and pulling your rings off, placing them back on their correct fingers.

You quickly packed everything up, ignoring the ringing of your phone as your team tried to get you to go to more press conferences and briefings, and you got out of there, on the first plane to Seoul you could book.

When you arrived, after a long plane trip filled with excitement and pictures being taken of you, decked out in your team's merchandise as you sat buzzing in your seat, your phone was completely blowing up, messages from everyone in your contact list and more. You turned it off (you’d deal with it later) after calling an uber to your apartment.

You were jittery the whole ride, hoping that, despite the time of night, Kyungsoo was still awake. When you arrived outside your apartment building, you felt all the tension in your body ease, and you looked up to see the light on in your window. You smiled and took your suitcase handle in hand and ventured into the building, greeting the old lady at the desk.

Riding the lift up to your apartment nearly had you pacing and you almost ran down the hallway towards your door, quickly knocking. You felt the reverberations in the floorboards as Kyungsoo walked over to the door and a sense of euphoria filled you at the familiarity.

The door was barely open before you launched yourself at Kyungsoo, his heavenly laughter filled your ears as he caught you. You quickly found yourself in a kiss before pulling back and peppering kisses all over his face, finding his giggles more lovely than his singing.

You both pulled back just to look in eachothers eyes and you smiled simultaneously. 

“I love you.” You muttered, the happiness from the day finally catching up to you.

“I love you too.” He whispered, tilting his head before going in for another kiss. 

“You know.” He began later that night, when you were just lying in bed cuddling together. You turned your head from its position on his chest to look at him, his eyes remaining on the roof.

“I think I won in the end.” You immediately reared your head back, prepared to object at the sheer wrongness of his answer. He anticipated this though and dropped his hand from where it was combing through your hair to your mouth. He also dropped his head as to make eye contact.

“You stuck by me through everything. Even though you had to lie almost every day and had to listen to millions of rumours about me with other people, you still stayed with me. You learned a whole other language just to know people who knew me. Nothing I will ever say will ever put into perspective how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me. The way you’ve loved me will be comparable to nothing other than how much I’ve loved you.” His heartfelt speech made your head vibrate and a few tears left your eyes at his words, him kissing each one away. 

You whined deep in the back of your throat and he released a laugh at your response. 

“You could’ve just said ‘I love you’.” You said quietly.

“That’s true too.” He said, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

ahh it's over! dividers from this post btw, it's 11:59 pm let me sleep.

#f1 x reader #exo x reader #kyungsoo x reader #kyungsoo x you #kyungsoo x y/n #exo x you #exo x y/n #exo imagine #exo fanfic #kyungsoo fanfic #d.o x reader #d.o x you #formula one x reader #forumla 1 x reader #driver!reader #williams slander lol #f1 reader insert #exo reader insert #i am tagging everything i can think of #this shit is niche #formula 1 fanfic #kyungsoo oneshot #crossposted on ao3

[laoness]

Crowenture Day 6

Aah today was a good day! 

BTW!! If you wanna be tagged so you don’t miss any updates, please let me know!

I posted some pictures earlier today of the crow family that came to visit for lunch today. It was so sweet. I watched them from my living room and they came so close to my house, it was amazing. They might’ve figured out where I live. And tbh I’m okay with that. 

I think I’ve also started to figure out where certain crow pairs live. There’s one pair a little further away from my house than the rest. I’ve seen one of them sitting in this weeping willow they really love. Today I decided to leave a few peanuts there and some sunflower seeds. I stayed for a little while to let them watch me. But they weren’t interested in the food. Maybe later.

I walked to my usual spot with the dead tree. I sat down at a nearby bench first to see if there were any crows. One of them was in the tree, but flew away somewhere else. I decided that was a good time to put some some nuts and sunflower seeds at the tree. I smiled happily when I noticed they had found the nuts from yesterday as I could see the cracked open shells. What joy! I walked away form the tree, back to the path.

As soon as I turned around I already saw a crow flying into the dead tree. he was curiously looking at me and at the ground. Just a little later he flew down to the ground and accepted my peanut offering! It gave me such serotonin to see him knock the peanut at the ground to open it. I loved watching him.

(Sorry for crappy quality, I had to zoom in ALL THE WAY with my phone)

I stayed there fore quite a while watching him and another crow, probably the partner? Truth be told, I have no idea who’s the male and who’s the female. But  my guess is they are a pair.

I headed back towards the water, on the shore I spotted another crow. I had tried to feed them there yesterday too, but I didn’t see them eat anything I dropped. But they seemed like they recognized me this time and didn’t fly away straight away when I came closer. I dropped one peanut on the ground just to see and then walked away. Again, as soon as I turned around the crow walked towards the peanut and started cracking it open. Another crow landed there and was looking for some food as well. After some hesitation I slowly approached once more, head down, trying not to look at them, and drop some sun flower seeds.I think they were a little too small and too hidden for them to find right away, poor guys. But I stayed a little longer to observe them and they were definitely observing me too. Eventually I left.

I walked to the spot where I had fed some more crows yesterday and where I had seen them this afternoon. sadly, they weren’t on the ground. Funnily enough I heard some rustling above me and I think I spotted one in the trees. Still, I put some peanuts on the ground and looked around if any curious crows would come. But they stayed hidden. Then I returned home.

I think my efforts are really starting to pay off, I will continue to go on walks on my usual time and try to feed them consistently at the same spots. It’s very tempting to just feed any crow I come across, but sticking to the same spots is they key here.

If you have any tips/feedback for me, please let me know!

#crowentures #crows #erik befriends the crows #crowdad erik #crow diary

[dear--charlie]

Dear Charlie,

Today I had my first day of class. Because we are split between 3 countries now, we are only 10 in class, of which 2 joined online. So, today, we were 8. 

My axiety went over the roof because in the beginning nobody talked, or answered the teachers when they asked questions, so I did, because I hated that uncomfortable silence. Then, some more people joined in, but their sheer stupidity and self-profilation of those people has driven me nuts ever since I started this programme. One girl opens her mouth even she is not called upon, interrupting people, and looking more for showing how smart she is, than for answering the questions. Teachers sometimes try to stop it, but she just keeps talking. It is hell. One guy has opinions stronger than my morning coffee, but just as bitter. Another one cannot form a single sentence in English. Can you believe she has a scholarship? I'm wondering who writes her application letters, as she also got an internship 6 people dearly wanted. A research internship. In English. And she got the spot. I've seen her writing. It's crappy. Something is off here. Anyway, when I wasn't anxious about the quiet, I was anxious about speaking up, because I hate to be that student who talks all the time. So I was anxious about finding a balance and then I was anxious about what the teachers would think about me because I don't want to become the teacher's pet. But then in the second class, we had a teacher that I go by informal you with. She is from my country and we met a while ago. I was the one organising the zoom call for the 2 online people (cause who else would have done it) and so I had to stay a little longer after class. As soon as the last person exited, she switched to our common language and talked to me in a rather familiar way, which is fine, because we are informal, but everybody outside the classroom heard, and my friend gave me that look of wow, you're really trying to hard, and I didn't but I don't know. Everything scared me.  And then I came home and I was shaking. I need to work and go get a library card, but I am unable to. I just can't because the day was so exhausting. Tomorrow we meet the second teacher from today again. And I am dreading it. 

Additionally, this morning, one teacher told me something along the lines of Lena, it's so nice to see you participate so much, but i'd like to give the others an opportunity to say something as well. Nobody said anything. So she came back to me after 3 minutes that felt like hours. 

After class, I went up to her to ask if she could please not do that, that I understand that I can't talk all the time and I am completely fine with being ignored. If she looks at me, I know she saw me. No need to stress that she isn't calling me because that makes very very anxious. She apologised and told me thank you for telling me, but now I feel weird about because well... I don't know.

This letter is a mess, I am sorry. My social battery and brain battery are beyond empty and I can't seem to be able to recharge today. Tonight I have dance classes, and there will be so many more new people and I am not sure I can do it. Everybody looking and listening again and I am just scared.

And then there is another teacher. With that teacher things have been going great. We met last year, she will be my thesis supervisor, and I have my internship with her. Last time we met, she told me she really liked that I asked her for the internship spot and that she hadn't thought of it but will be delighted to create me a custom made internship. So much for not wanting to be the teacher's pet. And well, when I talked about a potential PhD and told her I already found a supervisor in my country, she offered to be my second supervisor. I like her a lot. And I look up to her. But I am so scared of disappointing her, or her growing tired of me or finding out I am not as smart or well-read as she might think. I am overwhelmed and classes have only been going for one day. How am I gonna survive the semester...?

To compensate, I am fixating on food again. I barely eat anymore. I have lost 6kg. Everything lastes like sand and even though I am hungry, food makes me want to throw up as soon as I smell it. Part of me is scared. Part of me is happy I am finally getting closer to the weight my mom always wanted to me. 

I dad is a toxic asshole. My mother is being strange. Everything is falling apart. My girlfriend isn't fine but I can't do anything about it because she doesn't want to bother me. I don't know how to tell my 5 flatmates that I need some space, because by social battery is low, and I don't want to disappoint them. I also want to spend time with them, but I somehow can't because even that makes me uncomfortable. Everything is so complicated and I am stressed to the bone, filled with anxiety. I keep repeating all the stupid things I said today and they don't seem to want to leave my brain. I can't even sleep. I haven't slept properly in weeks. I can't sleep until 2 and then wake up at 6. I am drained. Anxious. Depressed. Scared. Empty. It's so hard...

I really hope this will just be ignored. The letter is not even a letter, just a mix of sentences and nonesense. Sorry for that. I cannot believe I am still writing to you after all these years. The first time I wrote was 5 years ago. Time flies. That's another thing that scares me. Aaaa I'm a mess. Anyway. 

Thanks for listening. Please send help.

Love always, 

Lena.  

31.08.2022

#dear charlie #Lena

[carpisuns]

sus

#ml spoilers #ml wishmaker #wishmaker #ml #luka couffaine #alya cesaire #miraculous ladybug #ml season 4 #luka knows #i might do a part 2?? lol #also sorry this looks so crappy i was trying to go zoom zoom #and i am not good at all at going zoom zoom aslkdfjajsl #in fact i find it quite miraculous that i could do this in one night lol #luka #alya #mine #my art

[frangipansi]

Hi! If your inbox is open, I'd like to request a scenario with all (or any) of the demon brothers, + undatables reacting to a blind MC? Like, none of them expected to have a blind human and Devildom and they have to revamp everything to make it as safe for MC as possible. Can be she/her or they/them pronouns for MC. Bonus points if MC is extremely talkative and won't shut up lmao. Thank you!

OKAY! So, finally got this one out. I’m sooo sorry for the wait, but I wanted to try and do this right, not just some Daredevil nonsense, but I didn’t want to make the mistake of a ‘helpless blind MC’ either; because they’re not helpless.

I am also lucky enough to have a regular customer at my work that happens to be blind and she has been very happy to give me a helping hand to make this ask more real. She’s such a delight and her guide dog is beautiful and I could ramble on with our interactions, like one time she scolded us for moving the fixtures because she had just memorized the layout of the store then told her guide “you’ll earn that pay check today!”

SO! With her in mind, more so from her younger days that she reminisced with me; I have decided to work this piece around this customer’s condition specifically so I’m not just pulling shit out my arse.

To give you an idea, this MC suffers from Retinitis pigmentosa; their symptoms being tunnel vision and night blindness. So while they are legally blind, they can somewhat see. They use a cane when going out, use their hands and/or cane when inside a place knew to them – that happens to be in poor light (Devildom) – until they have the layout in their mind and move more confidently.

~

This also took a while because I couldn’t get a fic/scenario to work cohesively and hc was just not working either! But I’ve hopefully gotten it now, and I do hope you like it. I’ve also placed this under the cut because I’ve waffled on here.

Diavolo:

Interested. Anyone within the Devildom without eyesight, are generally the souls of the damned who aren’t permitted to move freely. Heck, he’s removed some of their eyes himself.

He wants to know instantly if there is anything he needs to change and improve to make sure MC’s stay is not only comfortable but enjoyable.

Absolutely loves how open MC is. He’s amazed at the resilience of humans; delighted to hear MC say how capable they are, though he does insist on one of the brother’s remaining her escort for the duration of their stay. Capable or not, he is well aware of how demons would use MC’s lack of sight to their advantage.

Really wants to ask how amplified their other senses are; disappointed to know most things depicted in movies are – for the most part – an over exaggeration.

Organises a tablet for them with all RAD textbooks uploaded so they have that ability to zoom in so they are able to read the text at their own comfort. Other systems such as braille, text to talk etc are also implemented if that is something MC prefers to learn by.

Lucifer:

Considers Cerberus as a guide dog? Impossible, the human would be eaten alive. Perhaps another smaller hellhound? Goodness no, they’d still be eaten.

Asks MC about their condition –on behalf of Lord Diavolo of course – so he is aware of anything that may help their stay in the Devildom.

Very pleased to see how receptive MC is, very talkative and informative about her condition; he’s surprised to learn the varying levels of visual impairment. Consults Diavolo on brighter lighting to improve her movements around RAD and already planning on improvements within his own home.

During MC’s first few nights in Lamentation, Lucifer appears on edge; always keeping an eye when they’re moving about on their own. Enjoys watching how they learn to memorize layouts, quietly telling themselves how many steps it takes from one room to another, touching hallway objects.

Ready to run to their side that one time MC walked into the wall; turning into the kitchen a little too soon; until he hear them chuckle to themselves and ran their hand along the wall until they found the doorway and walked through it. No damage done. He’s learning to leave them be, understanding that he doesn’t need to dote on them.

Mammon:

MC is blind? Ooh yeah! The things that boy could swipe to make some quick Grimm, and right under their nose. It was gonna be too easy!! Completely stunned when they still catch him out. “How’d ya know it was me?!”

Watches them narrow their eyes as if trying to spot him before coming up beside him and close the drawer he was just rummaging through. The nerve this human has to threaten The Great Mammon by saying they’ll use their cane to whack him.

Surprised at MC’s explanation on how they knew it was him. They recognised his scent; not only did he have his favourite cologne – which he didn’t think he wore that much of – they noted how he had a metallic smell, like the kind you get when touching coin constantly.

Likes to watch MC move around their room; at first using their hand to remember the layout and then moving as if they saw as well as he did. Considered rearranging things to see what would happen.

Okay, so MC isn’t helpless… but, other demons don’t know that. Considers using MC as bait; distract idiots so he can rob them and sell their things for a little Grimm. “I, The Mammon, am a genius!” “No, Mammon.”

Levi:

Couldn’t even imagine being in their position; all that manga he couldn’t read, anime they couldn’t watch… never knowing what Ruri-Chan looks like!!! Gasp! No way. Poor MC!

Really confused when he sees them one day, curled up on a chair in the common room, wearing a pair of glasses and a book in hand. Wanders over and looks over their shoulder before questioning what was going on; nodding when they told him that with reading glasses and preferably larger font, they could indulge in many a storybook.

As their relationship blossoms, he has a dedicated reading nook in his room for the two of them, including a lamp to brighten the area to help improve what sight they have. Likes that they’re happy to listen to him read to them his TSL series. He thinks about writing to the publishers for the next editions to have larger fonts; that way he could buy MC a set of their own.

He likes to sit and watch them bring things close to their face to inspect them better; his figurines which they – to his relief – handle with great care, or his manga comics to see which characters he’s fawning over.

He secretly loves that MC likes to chill by his fish tank wall. Why? They state that while there’s too much distortion for them to actually make anything out, they enjoy the ambient colouring and light; the two eventually just listen to music together like that as a means to relax.

Satan:

Of course he is utterly curious about MC’s condition and is glad to see how open they are to talking about it. He’ll look things up himself in his own time but nothing like hearing it from someone’s own experience.

Asks if those romance and crime novels are accurate; “so, do you touch people’s faces so you know what they look like?” finds it interesting that for the most part, this doesn’t happen; but it makes sense, he wouldn’t be too thrilled by someone he barely knows putting their hands onto him.

Writes down notes that he considers most important from the board during lessons and offers them to MC should they need them for their studies.

Another one who likes watching MC learn their way around Lamentation, like how they touch cupboard handles until they find the one they need while grumbling about how crappy the lights are.

Shared appreciation for just lying on the ground whenever a cat is near them, all responsibility out the window as number one priority is giving adorable little hellcats their undivided attention. Loves that MC is willing to con Lucifer into believing a cat makes a wonderful guide animal.

Asmo:

Oh poor MC, unable to see just how beautiful he is… Oh, they can kinda see? If he gets real close? Oh he can definitely do that! Bummed that MC promptly puts in some boundaries but once their relationship develops they do enjoy the closeness with him.

Learns – albeit slowly – that his looks aren’t going to win MC over, and instead begins to better understand the value of personality and getting to know a person. Should MC like Asmo, it’s because of who he is and not for all the fluffing he does with his looks.

Whenever he happens to be the brother escorting MC, just know he’ll always detour to the main hub; treating the two of them to manicures and pedicures, facials, all that fun stuff.

When shopping, he loves how MC feels the fabric of things he grabs for them and has an even bigger appreciation for how things feel on him. Absolutely enjoys offering explanations whenever MC would ask about colour or cuts if they can’t make them out should the lighting be too poor for them.

Will starting looking around for ‘fashionable’ canes. Yes, he knows it’s about practicality and he’s not going to take that away from MC, but what’s wrong with wanting to match their cane with that gorgeous outfit he’s picked out from them?

Beel:

Having no experience with a visually impaired human, he’ll ask MC if he should carry them places; it’s no big deal, they looked pretty light after all. Apologises if they happen to get a bit defensive so keeps close while they walk together, worried they may walk into or trip over something.

He’ll be curious about whether or not other senses are heightened due to the loss of another and is lowkey disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to hear someone in the kitchen stealing his food when they’re somewhere else in the house.

He loves cooking with them; the tastes of what he creates seem to be more balanced and they’re more than happy to sneak him a few snacks while Lucifer is occupied elsewhere. They’ll fool around, tasting things to see who can pick up more notes.

Things turn into a game between the two of them; if he spots MC in a room he’ll sneak up and try and get to them before they realise he’s there. “Too heavy on your feet,” or “you were giggling,” is something he hears a lot when trying.

Though MC can’t really see while he’s training or playing a game, he really appreciates that there still there to cheer him on; he’s taken to wearing a bright headband in hopes that they’ll be able to spot him out a bit better. They don’t half the heart to tell him they still can’t find him.

Belphie:

In the beginning, he’ll use MC’s lack of sight to their advantage; sly and manipulative to lure them in. Watches how they react to his voice, how their eyes or head move in the direction he’s in, learning how they work their other senses.

Tensions between the two would be tight after that moment and he’ll feel tremendous guilt for what he did to them; keeps himself at a distance, afraid they’ll recoil if they sense he’s too close and understands if they would.

Amazed that they find it in them to forgive him and help mend bonds between him and his brothers, and will spend whatever time he’s able building up trust with MC; whether that’s being their escort around Devildom or just being there for company.

He loves – when trust is established – that MC is just happy to lay with him while he star gazes and talks about what he sees, trying to paint a picture for them while they huddle up together in a fluffy blanket, sharing his cow print pillow.

Simeon/Luke:

They’re angels; their job is to look over and protect humans. So they are already well aware of how capable MC would be – Simeon more so than Luke since he’s younger and more interested in Michael – but they will still offer their assistance should MC need it.

They’re also the sort to take notes down during class that MC may not be able to see on the board; but they’ll ask before assuming.

Simeon has taken to writing a little bigger if it’s something he’d like MC’s opinion on his work; the two forming a bond through fiction and history. The two can be found losing track of time and just talking about any given thing.

Luke enjoys cooking with MC; asking them what they think of the taste of something he creates and asks how he can make it better. He’d love to be able to wow Michael upon his return to the Celestial Realm and MC will always critique his work rather than sugarcoat like Simeon would or just outright scare him like demons would. With a little push from MC, he takes lessons from Barbatos.

Solomon:

Quite unphased; he’s dealt with various impairments before seeing as he is still human despite being a very powerful sorcerer. He doesn’t offer assistance but will give it should MC ask him for help.

He has many a spell in his books that could quite possibly cure or ease symptoms of various impairments and is very tempted to bring this information to MC; but decides on holding back until he can figure out how to approach the subject. He’ll ask them how they feel about their situation and go from there.

Would also offer heightening other senses should MC want them; even temporarily if they’re just a little curious. “Let’s see what’s so crash hot about being Daredevil!” “My thoughts exactly MC.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie #obey me diavolo #obey me simeon #obey me solomon #obey me luke #obey me headcanons #obey me imagines #obey me gn!mc #obey me blind!mc

[five-rivers]

Long Night in the Valley Chapter 4

Trigger warning for suicide and suicide baiting.  Starts and ends at the * asterisks.  

.

There was something wrong with the school.  Other than it being entirely within Midoriya’s head.  It was… ominous.  Foreboding.  The way the walls joined together was wrong.  The colors on the posters clashed.  The incomprehensible background noise made by the bright blurs was jeering, mocking.

It reminded Aizawa too much of his old school, the one he went to before UA.  Of the looks and the hate he got just because his quirk frightened people.

But Midoriya had a straightforward physical quirk.  Correction: he appeared to have a straightforward physical quirk.  Even if he’d had the bone breaking problem, he shouldn’t have experienced anything like that.

Aizawa was shoved, hard, from behind, and that shouldn’t have knocked him off balance, but it did.  He tumbled, painfully, to the ground.  There hadn’t been anyone there to push him.

Except the blurs.

He cursed inwardly.  He had been too fast to dismiss them, he realized, as cruel laughter rose up around them.

“They can touch us,” said Aizawa.  “Be careful.”

“Yes, sir!” said Iida, sporting a black eye already.  “I apologize for my inattention.”

More laughter.  An older, but still indistinct voice rose above the sound, along with a taller blur.  A teacher.  The condescension in the tone made Aizawa’s teeth hurt.

He caught sight of Suzuki ahead.  “Come on,” he said.

“Let me try something, sensei,” said Todoroki.  He raised his arm, and ice filled the hallway, pushing out to either side.

The blurs ignored it.  The jeering increased in volume.  Aizawa could make out individual words, now, like ‘useless’ and ‘freak.’

“Good thought, Todoroki,” said Aizawa.  He tried not to let his trepidation show.  He had a feeling this was going to be difficult.

The children looked at him in horror.

“Sensei,” said Iida, “you’re being… encouraging?”

“Just follow them,” said Aizawa, pointing.  He wanted hazard pay for this nonsense.

“Yes, sir!” said Iida, zooming off.  He was immediately tripped again.

Luckily, Suzuki didn’t seem to be having much more luck.  The blurs, which Aizawa guessed were somehow Midoriya’s memories of his former classmates, were just as violent with him.  Aizawa couldn’t see Midoriya anymore.

Laughter.  One of the blurs scratched at Aizawa’s side and murmured tauntingly.  They passed a nurse’s office where nothing but cold words and cold winds emerged.  The hallways smelled like smoke and sugar and things that had to be related to quirks.

There was a loud ring overhead, and the blurs abruptly vanished.  Despite the burns Aizawa had suffered (when?) he forced himself to speed up.

He almost caught Suzuki before he entered the classroom.

Iida slipped on the tile floor, hitting him from behind, and all of them skidded into the classroom as a tangled mess.  Aizawa hadn’t been this clumsy since he was in middle school.  What was going on?

Midoriya was sitting at a desk, hunched over and muttering.  The desk was, to put it nicely, ruined.  Even from Aizawa’s current perspective, he could make out some truly hateful things carved into the wood and metal.

Aizawa dearly hoped that this was exaggerated.  Even so, he was going to seriously talk to Midoriya about therapy and taking legal action against this hellhole.

“What are you hiding?” asked Suzuki, roughly.

*

The classroom exploded into sound, blurs at the desks solidifying into outlines, into ghosts.

You’re also applying to UA, aren’t you, Midoriya?

Midoriya froze and buried his head in his arms.  Aizawa, halfway up with the intent to stop whatever this was, felt himself freeze as well.

This mindscape affected him far too much for his peace of mind.

The ghosts laughed, long and hard and cruel, the teacher did nothing to stop it.

Then Bakugou’s shade exploded.  Literally.  The smaller Midoriya barely had time to throw himself back, away from the blast.  Midoriya’s reflexes had much improved since middle school, but, honestly, even this much was impressive for someone of his age.

Come on, Deku!  Forget the crappy quirks, you’re totally quirkless!

… What?

Aizawa missed the next several sentences as his mind whirred, trying to comprehend what he just heard.  But then another explosion brought him back, and Bakugou’s next words were completely unmissable.

If you think you’ll have a quirk in your next life… go take a swan dive off the roof!

Just like that, whatever was holding them in place broke, the ghosts fading away entirely, leaving the classroom completely empty except for them and Midoriya.

Midoriya who was shaking, fists clenched, tears running down his face.

“Are you happy now?” he demanded.  “Are you happy?  Why couldn’t you just let me-?  Me being quirkless in middle school isn’t hurting anyone!”  He took several deep but uneven breaths, his shoulders trembling.

Uraraka stepped forward, and Midoriya flinched.

“Izuku?” she said, hesitantly.

Midoriya looked up, his expression guarded.

“The first thing I’m going to do when we get out of here is punch Bakugou.”  She said it cheerfully, one hand in a fist.

Midoriya gaped, but some of the oppressive, terrified, atmosphere dissipated.

Aizawa sighed to himself.  Now that the immediate danger seemed to be over, he moved closer to Midoriya.  He wasn’t sure if it was even possible to comfort a memory or a fragment or figment or whatever this was, but he wanted to be between Midoriya and Suzuki.  Especially given that Suzuki seemed to be able to manipulate the environment to some extent.

“Plus ultra,” agreed Todoroki.

“Uraraka!  Todoroki!” gasped Iida, scandalized.  “You can’t just punch a classmate outside of school supervised sparring!”

“I love you Iida, but you’re a bit of a hypocrite sometimes,” said Uraraka.  “Especially considering, uh…”  She gestured vaguely at Iida’s hands and then Midoriya’s face.

Iida turned a very funny color, then looked down at his hands.  “Oh my god, you’re right…”  He whispered, horrified.  “What have I become?”

“Besides,” said Todoroki, “Aizawa is like, right here.”  He gestured at Aizawa.  “We can ask him if we can—”

“No,” interrupted Suzuki, “that can’t be it!  Show me what you’re hiding!”  He started forward only to be jumped by three extremely annoyed hero students.  Just to be safe, Aizawa activated his quirk and kept it trained on the man.

“Mind the gun!” reminded Iida.

Ah, yes.  The gun.  Which the man may or may not have recovered at any point due to the impermanent nature of everything here.  Lovely.

“Midoriya,” said Aizawa, “he’s after you.  Get out of here.”

“Yes,” said Midoriya.  “Sorry, sensei.”  He bobbed in an incomplete bow and turned to the door.

And there was that stupid gun.

Aizawa wished he had his capture weapon back.

“What are you keeping secret?” demanded Suzuki, his voice echoing somewhat.

Midoriya clutched his head and screamed, falling to his knees.  His body vanished entirely, but the sound remained, somehow.

The classroom fell apart.

.

Very briefly, Tenya recognized Hosu.  The smoke, the alley, the distant, indistinct cries of Manual.  It wasn’t the alley where he’d found Stain standing over Native, however.  This was… this was Midoriya’s perspective.

The scene shifted again, rapidly.  They were now in the entrance tunnel to the sports festival arena.  The air smelled of smoke.  Todoroki startled, but—

It fell away.  A hallway in UA, the smell of coffee.  Then, one of the soundproofed conference rooms, papers on a table, the writing all blacked out.  Suzuki lunged for them, Aizawa punched him in the face.

Another shift, a dilapidated apartment with footprints on the walls and ceilings.  A microwave hummed in the background.  As soon as it dinged, they were elsewhere again.

Back on the beach.  The light was different.  A single car still remained and—

They were on a rooftop.

The wind blew mournfully.

Midoriya was standing at the edge, uniform in disarray, a burnt notebook clutched in one hand.

“Stop it!” he shouted, almost doubled over.  “Stop it, stop it, stop it!”

Tenya took a step forward before he could fully assess the situation.  If he tried to grab Midoriya now…  There was a good chance he’d go right over the edge.

“There it is!  That smile of his is just a mask—”

“Of course, it’s a mask, you idiot!” exclaimed Midoriya, angrily.

Angrily.

Midoriya rarely got angry.

“I am clinically depressed, and I have anxiety!  That doesn’t make me a villain.  Are you stupid?  Are you on drugs?  Is the whole commission on drugs?  All Might’s smile was a mask ninety percent of the time!  And don’t you dare try to tell me that Hawks’ smile isn’t a mask.  Do you do this to him, too, you sicko?”

Suzuki had gone very stiff.  “How do you know about that?”

“Because I have functioning eyes, unlike virtually everyone else, apparently.  What is wrong with you?”

“You,” said Suzuki, “are in no position to ask questions.  What are you hiding here?”

“You really want to know?  Do you?  Do you?  Huh?”

“Midoriya—”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up, I can’t take this anymore, this is so stupid.”

This Midoriya was… also not quite right, it seemed.  Beyond age.

“You want to know why this place is a secret?  Fine.  Fine!”  He threw his hands on the air.  “This is the first and last place I seriously considered suicide.  Happy?”  The last was said with such an incredible amount of venom that everyone took a step away from Midoriya.

“Suicide?” said Tenya out loud, unable to stop himself.

“I didn’t want to—Hero courses filter stuff like that out!  If they think you’re going to be a liability!”  He was breathing heavily.  “Are you happy now?  You have my- my deep, dark secrets!  You know what- what I was like before, and—”

“Midoriya,” said Aizawa, gently, “it’s fine.  UA doesn’t filter for that.  All you would have to do is attend extra counseling.”

“Really?” said Midoriya.

*

“That can’t be it,” said Suzuki.  “You…” He whipped his head around.  “There was someone else here.  Who stopped you?  Was this where All for One recruited you?”

“What is wrong with you?” demanded Tenya, activating his quirk long enough to skid to a halt right in front of Suzuki.

Suzuki looked past him as if he weren’t even there.  “Who was with you?”

A faint breeze picked up.  Without power, can one become a hero?  No, I should think not…

“All Might?” said Uraraka.

“All Might?!” repeated Suzuki incredulously.

The scene changed in a blink.  They were in a pedestrian tunnel.

Midoriya, as disheveled and tiny as he was on the roof, leaned up against the wall, clearly wary of them in general and Suzuki in particular.

First contact… whispered a voice that dragged across Tenya’s mind like the end of a silk curtain.

“First contact?” said Suzuki.  “What is that supposed to-?”

“Hey!”

They turned to see a figure standing beyond the tunnel’s mouth, in the sunlight.  They were tall and slender, perhaps as tall as Tenya, and wearing a hoody and disposable medical mask.  The voice sounded oddly familiar, but Tenya couldn’t place it.  It sounded like the owner was about their age.

“Ha!” said Suzuki.  “This guy definitely isn’t Midoriya!  You have to admit-!”

“Are these guys bothering you?” asked the boy in the hoody.

“Yes,” said Midoriya.

“Well, don’t worry now!  Because I am here!”

“Are you… a vigilante?” guessed Tenya as the unknown boy stepped into the tunnel.  Many of them had an appreciation for All Might.

“Sure!” said the boy, cheerfully.

“Mutation-based speed enhancement,” muttered Izuku, sliding across the wall towards the boy.  “Fire and ice user.  Five-point activation mass alteration.  Quirk negation with secondary minor telekinesis.  Some kind of thought or memory manipulation, possibly a form of telempathy that allows him to alter the local environment as a side effect.  May have a truth-detection component.”

A thread of ice wound down Tenya’s back.  Even if he didn’t believe that Midoriya was a traitor, that he was giving information about them so freely to this stranger, as if they were enemies, was chilling…  Even if it did evolve that this was just a figment of his imagination…

“Ha!  It’ll take more than that to get rid of me!” said the vigilante, pointing a thumb at his chest.

If Tenya wasn’t mistaken, however, there was a bit of a wobble in his voice.

“Mass alteration can act like freefall.  No conscious control of how much mass is altered, can only reduce mass,” continued Midoriya, now hiding behind the taller boy.  “Ceiling of absolute temperature alteration from average is lower for fire than for ice.  Speed enhancement can be used to power kicks.  Mind the capture weapon.  Scarf.”

“Gotcha!”

The vigilante lunged for Suzuki and threw him bodily into Aizawa.  While the adults were recovering, the students moved to flank the stranger.  He attempted to throw Uraraka in the same way, but she got him with her quirk and he floated towards the ceiling, which he kicked off, enough power in the movement to clock Todoroki in the jaw.

Tenya attempted to apply a kick at the vigilante’s exposed but still-floating back, but was nearly stabbed in the eye with a pencil by Midoriya.

“Sorry,” said Midoriya, breathlessly.  “Sorry.  I didn’t do this for real.  I thought about it.  But I didn’t.  Sorry.”

“You thought about stabbing me in the eye?”

“No.  Muscular.  The sludge villain.  I thought—Maybe I should have.”  His muttering rapidly became unintelligible.

Tenya was distracted enough by the muttering that he took a second longer than he should have to react to Midoriya going after his bad shoulder.  The tip of the pencil dug right into it.

“Sorry, sorry, this is a dream, I know it hurts, I’m sorry.”

“Disengage!” shouted Aizawa.  “There’s no point in fighting these guys!”

“The hell there isn’t!” said Suzuki.

“Dissension among the ranks, eh, villains?” asked the vigilante.

“Hey!” complained Uraraka.  “Don’t lump us in with him!”

The vigilante, somehow, got a hold of Aizawa again.  Despite his young appearance, he had a lot more skill than Iida, or even Midoriya.

Aizawa managed to get a blow across the boy’s face, knuckles knocking his hood and mask askew, and—

He would recognize that smile anywhere.  Even if it wasn’t paired with the floppy bangs they had all come to know.

“All Might?!”

.

Toshinori tried to ignore his growing headache as he laid out supplies.  Izuku was sleeping, and they were safe for now, but it would be foolish of them to assume that the Hero Commission would just let Izuku disappear.  The infinite variety of quirks in the world all but guaranteed someone with a tracking quirk would be after them, and soon.

Thus, it behooved them to disguise themselves.  

In this day and age, the easiest way to do that was to make it look like you had a quirk other than your own.  The bulky coat he had selected included a high collar and an apparatus that covered everything below the eyes, suggesting a disturbing or difficult-to-control mutation.   Of course, he’d also have to wear sunglasses.  His eyes were unfortunately distinctive.  The hair would have to go, too.

For Izuku, though, he couldn’t stand the thought of completely cutting his hair off—it would look strange in someone so young, anyway—so instead he had retrieved the hair bleach.  White hair, combined with a suit and properly worn tie, would make him appear older.  Lifts in his shoes would add to that impression.

The computer pinged.  Toshinori went to it and made a face.  He wasn’t technologically inclined at all, but Six was and had been a different story.  The computer was old, but Six was very good, and large organizations only rarely changed their protocols.

The commission had their tracker, a young rescue hero named Trace.  She was on her way to UA.  The details of her quirk…  Yes.  They could potentially even keep her away from the safehouse, if they took the opportunity to cross their paths…  But they would have to start preparing to leave now.

Izuku woke with a gasp and an anguished cry.  The pain in it was echoed by a spike in Toshinori’s headache.

Toshinori rushed to the room.  “What’s wrong, my boy?”

“They’re not in my head anymore,” said Izuku, knotting his fingers in his hair.

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” asked Toshinori, even as he knew it wasn’t.

Izuku shook his head.  “They’re not in my head anymore.  They’re in yours.”

#bnha #boku no hero academia #fanfiction #my fic #long night in the valley #also on ffn and ao3

[themonkeycabal]

Wandavision Ep 7 Spoilers

Spoilers below

Good morning. There's a guy power washing the sidewalks at 12:30 a.m., and the drone from the generator is drilling into my brain. So I will watch WandaVision instead of doing something I might regret.

Previously on: Wanda was getting sick of Pietro's shit. Vision knows/thinks his wife is behind all the creepy shenanigans, and he tried to escape the Hex, only to fly to pieces in the real world. I can relate.

Outside, Monica, Jimmy, and Darcy were banished from the SWORD circus by Acting Director Dick, because of course. They snuck back in, also because of course. Darcy hacked AD Dick's files and found out he's Up to Something. Then she ran to try and help Vision and got herself arrested and handcuffed to a jeep. Which is where the brave SWORD agents left her when they ran away as Wanda, attempting to save Vision, expanded the Hex, swallowing Darcy and the SWORD compound, turning it all into a sitcom circus. Well deserved. Well, not Darcy, but anyway.

AD Dick escaped. Unfortunately. But, so did Jimmy and Monica who were off to her mystery aerospace engineer friend to find a way into the Hex.

Also, Tommy and Billy have powers.  

The episode 7 summary is a delight: "Two super-powered beings living ideal suburban lives suspect that everything is not as it seems." You don't say, Disney+.

Wanda wakes, regrets everything, and hides under the covers.  Understandable. Cut away to her addressing the camera The Office style "Look, we've all been there. Letting our fear and anger get the best of us; intentionally expanding the boarders of the false world we created". (cut to screaming running SWORD minions lol).

The boys come to get her, their game is freaking out. The video game controllers can't decide what decade they're in and are glitching it up.

Billy says his head feels weird and noisy. Wanda isn't terribly responsive. Mommy needs some her time.

"As punishment for my reckless evening, I plan on taking a quarantine-style staycation. A whole day. Just to myself. That'll show me." lol

Wanda eventually rouses herself, goes downstairs in her robe and sweats, ignores the boys fighting over a video game controller, and goes for the sugariest cereal. The milk container keeps glitching, she tries very very hard to ignore that.

Interesting Office-style opening credits, where it's just her name on everything. Vision is only added at the end, with the tag "Created by Wanda Maximoff".

Out in the real world, what is the point of SWORD? Like how do they have jurisdiction? Where is SHIELD. Director Mack, wtf, dude?

Anyway, now that part of their camp has been swallowed by the hex, they're further out, staring at the angry glowing force-field. AD Dick is a dick. He wants to know what's happening with the broadcast. His little minion says the signal's gone. Ominously he says "we launch today". Mmmm, what delightfully heavy-handed dipshittery will we have to endure?

Back inside. Vision wakes in the field at the edge of town that is now a circus. And lots and lots of clowns. He gets yelled at by a strongman who seems to think Vision is the new clown and tells him he's late for rehearsal with the escape artist. Who is Darcy. lol

"I put in for the bearded lady. But this alabaster complexion wasn't fooling anyone."

Darcy is chained to a ye olde fire engine or tractor or something. Vision walks up to her making a weird face and kind of waving his hand back and forth between them.

"You don't remember me from last night? We locked eyes, there was an unspoken understanding." Darcy tells him "um, hard pass." lol She busts out of her chains and walks away, Vision chases after.

Back at home, Wanda wants to know if the boys have seen dad, they haven't, but Billy wants to know about that whole thing Uncle Pietro said about dad being dead again. Wanda says Pietro is not their uncle. The boys don't understand, and Wanda has a little rambling breakdown about how she has no answers and maybe there's no meaning to anything ha ha don't worry boys mommy's just having a little depression.

Agnes knocks and then, you know, strolls in, when Wanda magics the door open.

"Hi Agnes. I'd get up but I just don't, ahahahah, want to." If I was Billy or Tommy I'd mount a search for dad. Stat.

Agnes: "I think I got there in the nick of time, 'cause she was one split-end away from cutting her own bangs."

(It's 1 a.m. and I swear to God, that man is still power-washing the sidewalks.)

Agnes suggests the boys go with her and give mommy that 'me time' she so desperately needs. The boys are reluctant but Wanda is ecstatic.

Once alone with her certainly soggy cereal, Wanda settles back to watch crappy daytime TV. But, damn it, the furniture is glitching through the eras.

"I'm fine! I'm fine hahahah. *sigh* I'm fine. i'm fine. … I'm fine."

In the real world. Jimmy and Monica are still on the move. The file on project whatever it was from last episode (Cataract), that Darcy forwarded to Jimmy's email, has finally found its way to him. It's R&D reports.

Oh, that asshole, AD Dick was trying to bring Vision back online. Monica puts the pieces together "Heyward wants his sentient weapon back."

Jimmy says somebody has to tell Wanda.

Good thing they arrive at the other side of the Hex, I guess? Where Monica has another team waiting. An Agent Goodner. They brought her like some sort of big Mars rover thingy.

Vision is still trying to talk to Darcy. "You tried to help me." "Doubtful. I'm notoriously self-involved."

lol, some amusing back and forth. Darcy is an f'ing delight and I don't just say that because I am obviously hideously biased.

Vision distracts her with a mime and takes the opportunity to do his brain mojo on her, waking her up. "Part of me secretly wanted a guest spot on this show, but seriously that sucked."

"Dr. Lewis. I have questions." "I have answers."

And then they steal the funnel cake truck.

"Dr. Lewis, my questions. Are my children safe?" "That I don't know." "And who was that Pietro?" "Beats me."

Wanda is still working on her bowl of cereal. Give it up, sister. The house redecorates itself around her.

Uh-oh, in her talking head segment, about how she doesn't understand whats going on, the person behind the camera speaks, and asks if maybe it's what she deserves. "You're not supposed to talk."

Commercial time. For a depression medication. "Nexus, a unique antidepressant that works to anchor you back to your reality. Or the reality of your choice."

Back in Westview. The boys are hanging at Agnes's. Billy has a rabbit. As happens at your crazy neighbor's house. But, he says he likes it there, because it's quiet. "You're quiet, Agnes. On the inside." J'ACCUSE, AGNES!  

Back at Monica's backup camp, she's getting suited up in her SWORD astronaut suit. Jimmy's sad because Darcy's missing the fun. But, Monica will rescue her. SWORD is worse than SHIELD for slapping their name all over everything.

Monica and the little rover zoom off to the hex. Should she really go that fast? Maybe this is something to take cautiously? Oh, and look, she hit it hard and she's stuck. The Hex doesn't want to let her in, but she keeps trying. And now the Hex is eating into the rover — sorry, *re-writing* it. Well that was a dumb plan. Sorry guys, but come on.

Monica escapes, but the hex eats the rover and then spits it out, the front half transformed into a truck. Monica is shocked, Jimmy calls for a medic, and as they run forward, Jimmy, who has known Monica for like two days, recognizes she's got 'I'm a heroic dummy' face on and he's all "noooooo!". She runs for the hex and pushes her way in.

This is a really long sequence of her going through the hex. Like … too long. Sorry, but it is. There's a whole thing where she's hearing voices from moments in her life, and she hears Carol tell her how she's a tough kid, and now Monica is Filled With Resolve and breaks through the Hex, still in her Astronaut outfit, so like she resisted the sitcom wardrobe department.

I enjoy this show, but there are moments of hokeyness that I find very trying.

The hex rewrites you at a basic level as you pass through it. So, third time through and Monica's eyes are glowy blue and she can, like, see electrical currents, or electromagnetic fields (it looks like). Trippy. She can see power along the power lines, fields around streetlights. Closing her eyes and shaking her head makes it all go away. Of course.

Meanwhile, Darcy and Vision are on their slow-speed getaway in the Funnel Cake truck. She's trying to catch him up on what's happened since he's been dead. They keep hitting red lights and obstacles. Vision thinks Wanda's doing it to keep him from getting home. "I'm not amused," he tells the camera with a very not amused face on. lol

Vision is trying to understand what he is now. It's not going well. "My corporeal form was born from Ultron's plan for global genocide?" "Correct-o." Darcy might not be the best person to be explaining this to him.

"What am I now?" Poor Vision.

Darcy takes a deep breath. In fairness, she looks like maybe she'd rather not be the one doing the explaining, either. "Honestly, I'm a STEM type of lady, so I thought she just flipped a switch on your head and brought you back to life. What I don't get is why you can't leave the hex."

Vision is having an existential crisis. But, Darcy assures him that based on her week-long experience as a fan of WandaVision, he and Wanda do really love each other. So, there's that. "You belong together," says the shameless shipper.

Meanwhile, Monica has arrived at the Maximoff residence and busts into the house, breathlessly trying to tell Wanda it's all Heyward being a dick, but Wanda's stunned by the sudden entry and then too pissed to really listen. "The drones, the missiles, Pietro." "No, Pietro wasn't us." "All you do is lie." She's tossing Monica around with her powers.

Monica, friend, buddy, pal, was that really your plan? To barge right in and just … what? Talk fast and hope she didn't yeet your ass again? Okay, she didn't have a lot of time, I get that, but surely she could have come up with something. Like, she should have found Darcy and Vision first, and then the three of them could approach Wanda. But, no. Jimmy Woo would have a plan, Monica.

Well, fortunately for Monica she's been rewritten into Electricity Lass. She hits the ground with a staticky crackle and her eyes glow blue again. Wanda's all "bu-whu?"

"The only lies I've told are the ones you put in my mouth," Monica says all angry like. Mmmkay, I thought you were trying to help? Wanda does not care for this response. Because, no offense Monica, but the last time she heard your voice, she had a missile launched at her head.

Monica challenges her. "Do it then, take me out." Not an approach I’d go for, but it seems to work, and Wanda hesitates and Monica tries to warn her again, that unlike Wanda who isn’t actually violent and evil, Heyward will burn down Westview to get what he wants. "Don't let him make you the villain."

"Maybe I already am."

Next door, Agnes is looking out the window, watching them, with a considering look on her face. BECAUSE SHE IS IN ON WHATEVER THIS IS.

Monica is still trying to talk down Wanda. Agnes interrupts. Creepily. And shepherds Wanda away.

Vision and Darcy are thwarted in their journey again. "Oh come on! Kids? What's next? Puppies?"

Vision takes the faster way and intangibles himself out of the van and flies off, leaving Darcy at the endless intersection. "Go on! I'll just meet you there then?"

Back at Agnes's shack of creepy ladies who are freaking up to something. Where are the boys? Oh, Wanda notices the half-eaten PB&Js and the nightmarish kids' show on the telly. Behind her the bunny is in its cage. No sign of the boys. Agnes says they're probably playing in the basement.

Wanda wanders off to find them. But, there are no boys, only horror show creepiness. The basement turns into some weird sort of domed cavern with arches all around and in the middle a weird glowing rectangle.

Agnes comes up behind her. "You didn't think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?" I was wise to you, Agnes. Which, given she was a featured co-star, was probably no great insight on my part. BUT STILL!

"The name's Agatha Harkness. Lovely to finally meet you, dear." OH! LOLOLOL! OH, I didn't see that one coming. Wow, you got me, show. It never occurred to me for a second that it was Agatha Harkness.

And now a fantastic montage of Agatha doing tricksy things as Agnes through the series, with the best theme song ever "Who's been messing up everything? It's been Agatha, all along! Who's been pulling every evil string? It's been Agatha, all along. She's insidious. HA HA! So perfidious." Oh man, this is great. "And I killed Sparky, too."

LOL. Great ending.

Hey, an unexpected mid-credits scene of Monica trying to get into the house. Maybe Agnes's? Oh, yeah, she finds a storm cellar and opens the doors, to see a stone stairway with vines or roots growing all around it and zippy electrical sparks and such. Pietro appears behind her. "Snoopers gonna snoop."

Credits!

Well then.

I KNEW IT! I didn't know what I knew, but I knew I knew a thing!

#wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wandavision liveblog

[refinedbuffoonery]

I + Can’t + Lose + You (2)

masterlist. Read it on AO3. 

A/N: Did I take my time on this or what? Yikes. I’ll try to get the next update out much faster. Enjoy! 

*****

Riley had to admit, she was having the time of her life on this impromptu road trip with Mama. 80s music blasted from the truck’s speakers, and she and Mama danced in their seats. But Riley knew their fun was coming to an end the moment she spied the sea of brake lights in the distance. 

It took no time at all to catch up to the traffic. Every vehicle packed on the freeway sat at a standstill. 

“How do y’all live like this?” Mama asked incredulously. “There is no reason for this many cars to be on the road.” Riley chuckled. 

After another half mile of crawling through bumper to bumper traffic, Riley was finally fed up with it too. “Okay that’s it,” she announced. “We’re taking the back way.” 

LA streets were slow, but nothing was as slow as the 10 during rush hour, and they’d left right at the beginning of it. Avoiding the freeways like the plague, Riley wound through the city streets, flooring the gas through every yellow light. 

After a particularly risky one, Mama questioned, “Who taught you to drive?” 

Riley grinned ear to ear. “Jack.” Mama rolled her eyes and double checked that her seatbelt was buckled. Before long, they were back on the freeway, zooming toward the desert. 

In Indio, they stopped to get gas and use the restroom. From here to Phoenix, there was just a whole lot of nothing. Maybe some cactus, tumbleweeds, and the occasional Joshua tree if they were lucky. 

Although, Riley doubted her luck, considering she was driving to Phoenix in a truck with crappy air conditioning in the last week of July. She regretted not changing out of her favorite black Van Halen tank top into one that was a lighter color. 

By the time Riley exited the gas station’s convenience store armed to the teeth with snacks, Mama had finished filling up the gas tank and was now leaning against the tailgate, waiting. “You’re still driving,” the older woman said. Riley sighed. Of course she was. 

Riley jumped at the sound of a door slamming open behind them, almost dropping her armload of snacks. A guy wearing a navy blue hoodie sprinted toward an old Bronco, clutching something to his chest. He dove into the car and sped off. Riley and Mama winced at the squeal of the tires as he skidded out of the parking lot and back onto the road. 

The sole convenience store employee had chased after the thief to no avail. Dejected slump curving his shoulders inward, he stared after the long-gone car. 

Wordlessly handing the snacks to Mama, Riley cautiously approached the employee. He was just a kid, 25 at the most. “Hey, I’m sorry that happened.” She tipped her head toward where the Bronco had been parked. “Are you okay?” 

“Am I okay?” he asked incredulously. “Of course I’m not okay! That was the third one today and my boss is going to be fuc--pissed and it’s all because I can’t see in the back anymore because the first guy smashed the security camera with a can of Pringles which he then stole.” He had the wild look in his eyes of a furious customer service employee who was about to explode but couldn’t because they were, well, a customer service employee. Riley pitied him. 

“Well, I can’t do anything about the thief, but I think I can fix your security camera issue.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah.” Riley wasn’t totally sure she could fix it, but she’d seen Mac build and fix enough cameras over the years she figured it was worth a shot. “Can you show me where it is? I’m Riley, by the way.” 

“Marco,” he replied, holding the door open for her and Mama. Marco led her to the far corner of the store. Back here, everything a customer did would be completely concealed from the cashier. Mounted from the ceiling, the security camera’s shattered lens didn’t do much good. 

“Can I take it apart?” 

Marco looked skeptical, but he said, “It’s not like you can break it any more.” 

Riley unhooked it from the wall and began taking it apart. Aside from the shattered lens, it wasn’t actually broken. She could fix it if she had a camera. 

Riley froze. She did have a camera…

God, when did she turn into Mac? 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she muttered as she cracked her phone open. Riley didn’t bother checking to see if she had any notifications first. They were about to disappear forever anyway. Mama’s eyes widened, but Mac would’ve been proud. She held up her unusable phone and wiggled it. “In this line of work, always get the insurance.” 

“You’ve spent too long with that MacGyver,” was all Mama said, but Riley didn’t miss her impressed smirk. 

The hardest part was breaking her phone. Riley prided herself on having the lowest phone replacement rate, which she knew was only because mission success relied on her tech actually working. Mac only sacrificed hers when he had no other option. 

Riley also knew Mac picked which phone to sacrifice based on who would have the most dramatic reaction. So, she dutifully handed it over every time wearing a serious expression, refusing to give Mac the satisfaction of being annoyed. 

Connecting the phone camera to the security camera wiring was easy enough. The finished product looked janky as hell, but Riley was pretty sure it would work. “Alright, go check whether it works.” 

Marco wove his way back to the counter. A few seconds later, a shrill “It works!” echoed through the convenience store. 

Mama smiled. “Good girl. I’ll meet you in the truck.” 

A rush of pride filled Riley--the same one she got every time she MacGyver-ed her way out of a problem. Fixing the security camera hopefully would put an end to Marco’s shitty day. 

She met Marco by the exit. “Thank you!” the kid said, throwing his arms around her in an overenthusiastic hug. Riley stiffened at the contact and patted Marco’s shoulder. He let go, none the wiser to her discomfort. 

“You’re welcome,” Riley said. “Have a good rest of your day.” She exited the convenience store and walked back to the truck. 

**********

Mac was alone in the war room when Riley’s location disappeared off the map. 

Gone, in the blink of an eye. 

“No,” Mac said to himself, voice catching. Her location last showed her at a gas station in Indio, but she could be taken anywhere from there. There was a whole lot of nothing and no-man’s land for her kidnappers to make her disappear in. 

Watching the tracker cut out finally pushed him over the edge. Mac succumbed to all the worst case scenarios that were threatening to incapacitate him completely.  They know who she is, and they’re forcing her to hack something. Or maybe they don’t know who she is, what she can do, and they just grabbed her off the street because she’s pretty and...Mac couldn’t finish the thought. 

Without anyone there to stop him, Mac let himself get absorbed in his own head. I’ve lost her, for good this time. She’s gone. Riley’s gone.

Why the hell hadn’t she sent him a clue? Every time she got kidnapped, she always managed to give him a clue about her whereabouts. Riley was one of the smartest people he knew. How did this happen? Who the hell took her? 

I never told her I’m in love with her. 

God, what if he never got that chance? Or what if something really bad happens to her and he’s too late to stop it and she loses her faith in him? 

He had to find her. And when she was safe and healed and at home he’d tell her. Mac stormed out of the war room, nearly running Matty over on his way out. 

“Where are you going, Blondie?” she asked. 

“To get Riley back.” 

He didn’t stop walking until Matty said, in the gentlest possible voice, “Mac.” 

Her tone was the only reason he turned around. If she’d spoken in her Matty The Hun voice, it would’ve fueled him to keep walking, but something about the knowing gentleness made him pause. He turned to look at her, every emotion he felt about the situation and about Riley plain on his face.

 “Okay,” she said, giving him a small nod. If she didn’t know about his feelings for Riley before, she definitely did now. 

Mac ran to his truck and sped off. 

**********

Matty added Mac’s location tracker to the screen in the war room. Like a true Californian, he skipped getting on the 10 completely and stuck to the secret back ways he’d learned over the years. Like Riley, he sped through every yellow, but eventually he got stuck in a long chain of red lights. 

Despite the fact that one of her two best agents was MIA and the other was out of his mind with grief and fear, Matty smiled to herself. Mac would find Riley; they always managed to find each other, against all odds. And when they finally reunited...maybe some things would finally be put on the table. 

Good things, Matty decided. She’d always suspected their relationship might go down this road. For years, Mac and Riley unconsciously gravitated toward one another. They stood unnecessarily close together, they constantly flicked their gaze to the other, they kept tabs on the other’s emotions. 

Because of that, she’d rarely put them undercover together as a couple because of the romantic potential. If they were ever going to move past their obliviousness and develop feelings, Mac and Riley deserved for that to happen on its own, without a bunch of charades in the way. Although, given the details they’d both left out from their reports on the op in Monte Carlo, it might’ve been just the thing to finally push them together after all this time. 

All of the chaos of the last year must’ve brought new, deeper feelings to the surface, because after defecting to Codex, Mac and Riley grew closer, though they remained guarded with the rest of the team. Even if they didn’t recognize it, their relationship was changing, hopefully for the better. With the hands they’d been dealt in life, Mac and Riley deserved that kind of lasting happiness more than anyone else she knew. 

Eyes still trained on the screen, Matty whispered, “Go get her, Mac.”

#beth writes #i+can't+lose+you #macgyver #macriley #macgyver fanfiction

[sunflowerkiwi93]

Now That We’re Done - HS

All Parts: HERE

Summary: A twenty year old dancer, Elizabeth Payne, is recovering from a traumatic past with the help of her older brother, Liam. The two of them have been yearning for peace for quite some time, and when a good friend comes to live with them for the summer they start their journey towards finding it.  Through ups, downs, relapses, and two albums- Liz fights through her own mind to get better.

Warnings: There are mentions of abuse, PTSD, and anxiety throughout every part.  Also- mature content. One of the guys doesn’t turn out to be so great- this story is not intended to give him this image.  This is all purely fiction.

Part Five

Two days had gone by since I had to set up some serious security on my property.  I was keeping a close eye on my sister who seemed to be doing alright.  I had expected this to throw her off or trigger something in her but she was handling it well.  Kens called me yesterday to talk about Elizabeth and how she was doing, it was our usual every other day talk.  She told me I was doing well with the new rules we set between the three of us.

“This is funny,” I said to her through the phone, “Look who’s getting help now.”

I heard her laugh and take a deep breath.

“It’s quite normal in this type of situation.  You need to be alright to make sure she’s alright.”

I sat with my sister and Harry on the couch, we were watching reruns of America's Got Talent.  Elizabeth, lounging across the sofa with her feet in Harry's lap, and I were critiquing the contestants.  If there was a singer up I would have something to say and if there was a dancer Elizabeth wasn’t shy to shout out corrections.  We both laughed at each other the entire time.  Harry sat scrolling on his phone.  Elizabeth said something to him every now and then and he would just give her a word back, eyes still on his phone.

“Harry,” I said with subtle annoyance in my voice.

“Hm?” He questioned, eyes still to his phone.

“Harry!” I said again a little louder.  Elizabeth turned her head to me and sat up a bit, looking surprised.  Harry lifted Elizabeth’s feet off of his lap and came over next to me to sit down.  He showed me his screen.  He was scrolling through twitter.  There was article after article with our names in the headlines.  

I took it from him and he sat back putting his hand across his eyes.  I opened one that had a picture of my backyard on it.  I was swimming with Liz and Harry was sitting on the edge of the pool.  

My blood started to boil.  The article talked aimlessly about how Harry was here and around my sister and I.  Elizabeth's name was mentioned many times.  More pictures came through of us swimming, one zoomed in to me and one inappropriately zoomed in on my sister.  I cursed at it and shook my head.  

I looked to Harry quickly, his hand still over his eyes.  Scrolling down further I got to pictures of me going inside, coming back outside and going back in.  There were a few pictures of Harry and Elizabeth cleaning up then playing around chasing each other.  Beside the fact these photos were taken inappropriately it was nice to see her having fun from the outside.  There were a few pictures of them still running and then Harry caught her.  And then a photo of him holding her.  And then a photo of her turned to hold him.  And then a series of photos of them so close.  I scrunched my eyebrows together.  It looked like they were moving around the patio.  A photo of them looking at each other nearly nose to nose.  And a photo of them looking in the direction of the camera.  I stared at the second to last photo for a second and then handed Harry's phone back to him.  He didn’t look at me but he took his phone back.  I stared toward him.

“Hello?” Elizabeth asked, sounding annoyed, “I’ve been talking to you both!” Harry and I snapped our necks to her.

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled and I wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or myself.

“What’s going on?” She asked again.  I sighed.

“The pictures from the other night have hit the internet,” I said flatly.  Elizabeth’s eyes went wide and then she squinted at me.  My stomach turned for only a moment.  

“I don’t know how to feel.” She said quietly.

“That’s okay,” I said in the same quiet tone nodding to her.  Then I turned to Harry who was looking right at me with sorry eyes.  We shared a second, I took a deep breath and then I nodded to him, “It’s okay.”

Later that night after we finished dinner on the patio, Elizabeth asked to see the articles online.  I hesitated but knew I had to let her read it.  Pulling her phone out of my back pocket I gave it to her.  She unlocked it and I watched her tap away.  I looked out over my fence and saw some of Matteo’s team making a round around the house.  I never felt unsafe in my home, nor did I ever think I would need extra protection here.  My home was located in the most hidden hills where I couldn’t even see a neighbor unless I drove three or so miles out.  I had been racking my brain for three days now trying to figure out how that paparazzi had gotten here, knew where to go or how we couldn’t see or put together how he even got here.  There was no car or trace of transportation.

I brought my focus down to Elizabeth again who’s eyes were scanning the words and pictures.  Her brows were pressed together in the center of her forehead as she scrolled further and further.  I quickly looked to Harry who was sitting back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest as he watched her as well, very intently.  I still haven’t had the chance to talk to him alone about the photos or what went down that night.  I didn’t know whether or not I should even ask, it's not like anything had changed with their behavior.  Nothing was weird, nothing was different.  They act the same as when he had gotten here.  

Elizabeth slowed her scroll and her reading.  Her face relaxed and the corners of her mouth pulled up the slightest bit, almost nonexistent.  My eyes looked to Harry who had taken his bottom lip between his teeth, he was definitely fighting back a smile.  He quickly took a breath and shifted in his seat, his eyes looking away from her.  He directed his attention out over the fence watching the guys walk around.  

My eyes found Elizabeth again.  She locked her phone and slid it across the table to me, avoiding eye contact with her lips pushed into a fine line.  She moved only her eyes to look up to me sheepishly.  I didn’t change my expression.

“You can... take that back now,” She said slowly.  Then she looked to Harry hopefully but he wasn’t paying attention so she turned away.  We sat in silence for a minute.  “I think I’m a little scared.” She said sure of herself.  Harry's head whipped back to look at her.

“We don’t know... where that person came from,” She said shakily, “Or what he could’ve been capable of.”

“He was a forty seven year old loser-“ Harry started.

“Who could’ve done much worse!” Elizabeth raised her voice, “Who’s to say his only intention was photos?”

“Liz calm down-“ I reached out to her.

“No!” She shouted, “That guy knows we’re here!  He knows where we live!  Who else is he going to tell!” Her eyes brimmed with tears.  I pushed my chair back and came next to hers, putting my arms around her.  She latched onto my body and cried for a moment.  Harry was sitting forward in his chair now watching her.  I didn’t put together what else we had to worry about.  I was certain I only had to be concerned about my sister's anxiety and her feeling safe, but now I knew what else I needed to worry about.  This was our first altercation here at home with anyone from the outside who wasn’t Harry or security.  Elizabeth has only left the house, at max, ten times.  And most times she didn’t get out of the car.  She was only at the beginning of her healing process and it’s been two years.  She only felt better and superior and safe at home, it has been a struggle and a stepping stone process of going out with her.  Now suddenly that feeling of safety at home was being stripped from her.  

There was no part or thing in my house that was connected to him.  No part of him or our past came in.  It was a safe space, a new safe space that was only here for us.  In fact no one had come in besides Harry or security or our parents now and then.  Now that’s been tainted.  A part of that shield around us had been cracked.  I know where her mind has gone, and who has come in.  And he is not welcome here.

“The man was in jail for a day,” I said to her resting my chin on top of her head.  She quieted her crying but didn’t stop, “He worked for a small company not even close to the size of TMZ,” We all laughed once, “And so what the photos got out.  People will see them regardless, but you know who’ll be happy to see them?”

“Who?” She asked with a sniff.

“Your supporters.  Your fanbase you know you have but refuse to believe it,” She laughed again with more life behind it.  I could see Harry smiling, “They weren’t bad pictures.  They were pictures of you looking happy and having a great time with... friends,” I used the word lightly and Harry shifted in his seat again, “And who gives a shit what anyone, and I mean anyone, has to say about them.”

“Well what do you have to say about them?” She asked me, pushing herself out of my arms to look up at me, “Because your opinion matters.  And I’m sorry.” I shot her a confused look.

“Sorry for what?” I asked, wiping one of her cheeks, brushing the tears away.  She went to speak but only looked away from me.  She stared into nothing for a moment, then looked to Harry who was staring at her, then looked back up at me.

“Nothing,” She said.  I rest my hands on her shoulders.

“There’s nothing to say about them.  They’re some crappy pap photos.  I could’ve done better than him,” I stated making her laugh.  Harry laughed along with her.

“We’re going to be okay here,” He said, “Matteo is great.  I trust my guys to protect you.” Elizabeth smiled at him and mouthed a thank you to him before pulling me into a hug.

We made a point to show Elizabeth around the house and tell her everything she needed to know about the new system and alarm.  She was introduced to all of Matteo’s team, and I was worried about that. She’s not one to take well to new people, but she held her own and shook all of their hands all while holding onto one of mine.

Once she finally felt alright she said goodnight, kissed my cheek, hugged Harry and then went off to go to sleep.

Harry and I cleaned the kitchen up in total silence.  He washed the dishes and I changed the garbage.  I wiped the counters down and then sat myself on one of the stools.  Harry finished up drying the last plate and turned to look at me, leaning against the counter next to the stove.  A safe distance away from me.

“Liam-“ He began but I cut him off.

“Harry I could say a lot of things,” I said looking directly at him.  He bit his lip and knew to stay quiet.  “You’ve come here to stay for the summer, to see my sister, to catch up with me and to be here to support us through this awful time in our lives.”  He didn’t move.  

My mind went back to the year my sister lived with us in the Syco house.  The complete opposite feeling of her living with me now.  She was young and she was free from life coming to live with me and everyone else.  I told those guys to keep a distance.  We were all young and just over twenty.  Harry only nineteen.  We were at the height of our career, the fame and the money, the girls and the parties.  I was never one for that kind of life but I knew how to enjoy a drink.  When I knew my sister was coming I became the biggest big brother jerk.  I set my foot down to those guys and let them know their boundaries.  They all agreed, barely listening, but Harry sat there with a little devil in his eyes.  He knew how to get under my skin.  While he was the most respectful, the most polite and the least likely to bring a girl home, he was the biggest flirt.  And with knowing my sister would be living in the house, I had to push to the back of my mind the thought of him crawling over top of her.  As I left the house that evening to pick up my sister I had the wrong idea of who to worry about, and I didn’t know that until over an entire year later.  An entire relationship, the beginning hidden, then out in the open completely, changing my sister and who she was, and then the ending.  The majority of it hidden.  The horrific, disastrous ending that resulted in this life we live now.  

My fear and anxiety now comes from the unknown.  That relationship didn’t affect just my sister.  I should’ve protected her, I should’ve known.  But I didn’t.  And she was in danger.  With this space treaty between us in place I was scared to death.  I started calling it separation anxiety to myself, and I only said it to Kens once.

“My sister's life is the way it is now because I was in the unknown.  Because I was blind,” I said without breaking my eye contact with him.

“That’s not your fault-“ Harry tried to speak.

“Harry, listen!  Listen to me!” I shouted.  He jumped and folded his arms across his chest looking at me with wide eyes.  “I’m sorry,” I composed myself, “My sister's past has affected me in a great way as well.  Not as bad as her, of course, but I’m still living with pain,” Harry pulled a sad face, “I know you are too.”

“Not like you though,” He said quietly, “I’ve come here for more than just her.” I looked down to my hands.

“Kens changed our rules.  To give Lizzie more space.  More privacy.  And that scares me,” I looked back to him.  He nodded encouraging me to go on, “I’m really glad that you’re here, but please tell me what happened.”

Harry uncrossed his arms and came to lean his elbows on the counter closest to me.

“We danced in your backyard,” He said with a smile.

“You what?” I asked.

“We played around like kids, we talked, and then I sang to her as we danced around your backyard.”  

I stared at him, shocked.  Elizabeth hasn’t really danced in over two years.  She was on her studio’s traveling dance team, in their elite company and had the opportunity to dance on television but had that moment taken from her.  Since then she hasn’t thought about it.  I catch her every now and then start to move to music when it’s playing, but she stops as soon as she starts.  I’ve never seen her heart go out so big to anything but dance, and that’s gone.

“I started and she took over.  I’m honestly not even sure she realized she did, but we were moving.  She misses it,” Harry shrugged.

“Yeah,” I sighed, “I’ve talked with her here and there about it, but she won’t jump back in.”  Harry ran one of his hands through his hair, stood up straight and started to wander around the kitchen.  He was shaking his head, his body language turning to confusion.

“She should,” He said frustrated, “She was amazing.  She loved it and she was beautiful.” He turned to me.

“She is, isn’t she,” I nodded watching him carefully.

“She is and I wish she just understood that.  I wish I could make her see how truly fascinating she is,” He began talking with his hands, “How wonderful and exciting she can be, and how I... I just love her,” He hesitated for only a second, “That the part of her he took away... she needs to know she still has that.  It’s still inside her,” He paused to take a breath.  I sat still, in awe, and continued to watch him.  He ran another hand through his hair and then brushed both hands across his face and sighed.

“Harry,” I egged on.

“I heard it,” He said rubbing his eyes, “I... heard it.”  He lowered his hands and looked directly at me.

“I want you to know that I would never hide anything from you.  I swear on her life I will never ever hide anything from you,” He came back close to me and put his hands flat on the cold counter, “I will never hurt her.  I will never mistreat her.  I will never make her feel the way he made her feel.”

“We’ve said this before Harry, I know,” I said.

“No,” He nearly cut me off, pointing a finger to his chest, “I love her.” He pulled a sad face and shut his eyes.  I swore he was going to cry.

“I love her,” He opened his eyes to look at me.  I stared back not knowing what to say.  Part of me wanted to shut him down, but that wasn’t my move to make. 

“Do you know what affect that could have on her right now?” I asked him as his other hand reached for his face to hold his forehead.  His eyes closed as he rubbed it back and forth.  After some time he answered me.

“Yes,” He breathed, “I do, and I want you to know I had no intention of coming here to tell her,” His hand found the counter again, “You can tell me I went too far the other night, you can tell me I need to step back.  Please tell me what I need to do, but please know that I do not intend to tell her or sway her recovery in any way.”

“Her heart is only so big right now, and her world is so small,” I said watching his eyes look to the counter and he bobbed his head, “You’ve been out living your life, getting together with friends and traveling.  She’s been here with me.  She can’t go out everyday.  She’s begun to only know what this life is like.  She’s finally comfortable living this way and when it comes time to break that and move onto bigger steps... I have no idea what's going to happen or when it will happen.”  Harry stayed still, listening.

“What if it’s another two years?” I asked, “What if it’s two weeks?  No one will know and no one can tell when that’s going to happen.”  I reached a hand across to him and put it on one of his hands.  His eyes looked to me.

“I do know that having you here will help her a lot.  You bring out a side of her that I just can’t.  I’m extremely thankful that you can be here,” I smiled.  He pulled away from me, shaking his hair and adjusting his shirt.  A smile escaped from him.

“I want her to be better.  I want her to heal, and I’ll be there for her every step of the way no matter where I am,” He said.

“I can tell you that she loves you, too.  I’m not sure it's the same way, but she does.  And so do I, Harry.  We’re brothers,” I said to him with a grin.

“We’re brothers,” He held out a hand and we shook.

We pulled a few jokes and stories out of both of us about old times.  We sat there for another half hour before heading to bed.  I glanced into my sisters room before slipping into mine and I smiled.  She was wrapped in her sheets with the hood of her sweatshirt on, sleeping peacefully.  She was going to be okay, and I was going to make sure of it.

-

The door to my bedroom creaked open and light poured in from the hallway.  Glancing to my clock it read 4:26 a.m.  I sat up quickly to find my sister in the doorway barefoot with a blanket wrapped around her.

“You okay?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.  She nodded as her feet padded closer to my bed.  I pulled my covers down and let her hop in.  This is something we haven’t done in a while.

“I just want to lay here for a little bit,” She said laying down beside me pulling her blanket on top of her, “Is that okay?” I shook my head at her, confused.

“It’s always okay,” I smiled and laid back down.  My eyes got heavy again and I closed them.  I was just about to fall asleep until she spoke up.

“Is it true what Harry said?” Liz whispered from beneath her blanket.  My eyes shot open and I turned my head towards her.

“What are you talking about?” I asked at more than a whisper.  She peeked only her eyes out to look at me.

“Did he mean what he said about me?” She whispered again.  I sat all the way up and adjusted myself to face her.

“What did you hear from downstairs?” We were throwing questions back and forth at one another, “How much did you hear?” I tried to pull her blanket off her face.  She snatched it back immediately and kept her face covered.

“I got up to use the bathroom, I could barely make out words, but I heard him tell you we were dancing and then... I think he was talking about me,” She said, her voice still very quiet.  I looked down to my fingers and folded them together.  I shifted my gaze all around my dark room trying to find the words to say to her.  My heart was beating faster than normal and for once I didn’t know what to say to my sister.

“He said he loved me Liam,” She said so quietly that I would need her to repeat herself if we were anywhere else other than my silent room.  Looking down at her she had only her face out of the blanket.  We stared at each other for what felt like an hour.  

The one thing I didn’t want her to hear and she heard it.  The one thing I knew she would not be prepared for or ready to handle.  The one thing that shouldn’t be on her mind right now.  I had control over this one thing for only a small amount of time, and she’s heard it, and knowing my sister she’s not going to let it go.

At the Syco house I was an overprotective brother with barely any reason.  I tried to have control of it all, and I lost it.  My relationship with my sister was crumbling at that time, I was pushing her away as I tried to keep her close.  I didn’t like myself much then, and it sure was hard for anyone else to like me.  I wasn’t necessarily everyone's favorite person then, and I don’t want to be that person now.  I don’t want to stop her from venturing out into the world of love again.  I’m not even sure where she stands with it, but I don’t want to be afraid of it.   I most certainly don’t want her to be afraid of it either.

“Liam,” She broke the silence.  Neither of us spoke.  I nodded and encouraged her to go on, “Liam, I think I like him.” My heart fell into my stomach and it felt like electricity flew through my veins.  I closed my eyes and let a breath out through my nose.

“Are you sure you aren’t saying that...” I stopped myself before I sounded ignorant.

“Just because I heard him say it?” She finished my sentence and I gave her a guilty look.  I whispered an apology to her and she sighed.  “Harry and I have always been close since I can think of... Even at the start... We talk everyday and we get along super well and he’s so nice to me.”  I watched her as she spoke.  I poked her nose to tell her to continue.

“I feel like I’ve felt this way for a little bit, maybe when his album came out,” She said.

“Elizabeth then it's been a year,” I laughed pushing her forehead lightly.

“Yikes,” We both broke into laughter, “I guess I didn’t know I was serious about it until he got here.  He’s so much different from when I last saw him.“

“You last saw him just over a year ago I believe,” I said laying back down propping my head up on my hand to listen to her.

“God, Liam,” She cheesed for a minute, gripped the blanket and pulled it back over her face.  “He’s so amazing.  He makes me feel normal and so... confident.” Confidence is a word we haven’t used about ourselves in a long, long time.  Making a mental note to tell Kens immediately at an appropriate time in the morning.  Elizabeth pulled the blanket off her and turned her face to look at me.  She had no makeup on and her hair was a mess, fanned out behind her head, little curls forming beside her ears.  She had a couple freckles on her face from the sun and a dash of sunburn across her nose.  This was my baby sister.

“It’s a little scary,” She said, her eyebrows furrowed.  I answered her, copying her face.

“What is?” 

“Feeling this way about somebody,” She answered, “I know what I’ve been through in life.  I know what happened to me.  I’m not stupid and I can handle a lot more than I think some people give me credit for.”

“You talking about me?” I asked, jokingly sounding a bit offended.  She laughed.

“No, Liam.  I’m just speaking in general, and I may be trying to convince myself too.  I know what’s happened to me, and I’m finally understanding what I can handle and what I can’t.  When I read stories about women who’ve gone through what I’m going through, their recovery is not as long as mine.  Sure the therapy still happens and counseling of course, but they are out and about no issue.” I stopped her for only a moment.

“They are also not people like us.  They don’t live the life we do.” I said.

“Of course they’re not celebrities, I wouldn’t even consider myself one,” She scoffed and I rolled my eyes, “But they can handle so much.  I want to be able to handle so much.  I want to be a stronger person and feel better and do better.”

She rolled onto her stomach and squished the right side of her face into my pillows to look at me.

“I want to be back to normal, but I’m not entirely sure how to do that,” She sighed.

“Me either, Liz, but we can figure it out together,” I smiled tucking some her hair behind her ear.

“And Liam?” She asked, her eyes falling shut.

“Hm?” I answered.

“I want to love him,” She whispered, my breath hitching in my throat, “And I want to be loved by him.”

I didn’t answer her and she didn’t say anymore so I let her fall asleep.

I sat awake for another half hour trying to comprehend the conversation I had with my sister.  I went into her phone and found the stories she was reading about women in her situation and she was right.  Some women were back and up on their feet right away.  Some took a few months, but still got right back into the game.  Some were married and some had children.  There were only two around my sister's age, and they were out and about soon after.  She was completely right and I wondered to myself why it was taking so long to get through this.  I knew perfectly well this was not a magic fix and she would immediately be better, I know not all recoveries are the same and I know that PTSD shines through everything.  My sister was nowhere near perfect, but then again who ever is.

I closed out all of her apps and I caught a glimpse of her home screen before I locked her phone.  It was a selfie she and Harry took the day we were out by the pool.  She was smiling and he was pulling a face with his tongue sticking out.  I smiled at it and looked over to my sister sleeping soundly beside me.  I put her phone on my dresser and laid myself down yet again.  My clock now read 5:18 a.m.  I sighed deeply and closed my eyes hoping to fall asleep before the sun came up.

#Harry Styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry #styles #Liam payne fanfic #Liam payne fanfiction #fav oc #love lizzie #one direction fanfiction #one direction fanfic #post one direction #1d fanfiction #1d fanfic #1d #onedee #lizzie

[alifeingrain]

Do you have a camera rec? I really want to get into taking pictures, for myself mostly, but I have honestly no clue what good cameras are out there

Hello lovely Anons,

I hope you don’t mind but I took some photos of my cameras and explained them a little for you. Under the link!

This is my main camera. It’s a Pentax K1000 from some point between 1977 and 1990. I chose this as my first camera because it’s a completely manual 35mm: you’re in charge of focus, you’re in charge of winding onto the next frame, you’re in charge of exposing the picture correctly. I didn’t have any knowledge of photography before I came to shooting on this and I knew the best way of learning is to do EVERYTHING. It’s heavy and metal and I’ve had a few lumps on the head from beaning myself with it, but it’s a solid workhorse. It just doesn’t let me down. And you can usually find a decent one on ebay between £70 and £150. 35mm in camera speak is the size of the little rolls of film you saw your parents or grandparents use back in the 80s and 90s. It’s the size of the frame that you’re putting your picture on inside the camera! 3.5cm!

What I love most about Pentax is their range of top quality lenses. The glass is SUPERB. The lens attached to the camera in the picture is a 50mm 1:1.7 - what you would usually use for street photography. The small lens next to it is my main lens - it’s what I use for all the landscape photography in Wales and Scotland etc. It’s relatively rare - a 28mm 1:3.5 lens - and cost me more than the camera (about £150), but the sharpness is BRILLIANT.  The big, long lens in the picture is a 75-150mm zoom lens which I use when I’m travelling in cities. Being able to change your focal length in one lens is much easier than stopping to change lenses, but the downside is a loss of sharpness. For the most part, all zoom lens are inferior to prime (non-zoom) lenses in terms of sharpness but this one does well and only cost me about £75.

If you don’t know anything about focal length in lenses: the smaller the mm length (eg. 28mm) the wider the angle. Wide angle = good for landscape. But if you wanted to concentrate on portrait photography, you’d maybe go for a 105mm lens - this means you can keep a little distance from your subject but still have a nice, tight frame. This isn’t a hard and fast rule by the way! But it might help you decide on what lens you want to initially spend your money on.

This is my BEAST. It’s so bloody heavy. This is a 120mm (also known as medium format) camera - my Pentax 645. Because the size of the film frame is larger (120mm as opposed to 35mm in the Pentax K1000 above) it’s able to capture a LOT more detail. I don’t use this a huge amount as it’s so heavy, but its so fun to use. The sound of the shutter is like gunfire. It’s NOT for street photography as there’s no way you can blend in while making such a loud sound. If you’re looking to get into 120mm photography - this is a solid choice. Or if you have the money, its fancier, sharper sister - the Pentax 67.

This is my baby. I love it. I love just looking at it. I love the pictures it takes. It’s a Rolleicord Vb from the 70s. For a 50 year old camera it takes the most mouthwatering photos. Like the Pentax 645 above, it’s a 120mm (medium format) camera so it uses a larger film roll than the 35mm. Whenever you see a square framed picture on this blog, THIS is the camera that took it. You can’t change the lens and you have to look DOWN into the camera while holding it at chest height. You see the image through the top lens (the top round circle) and the picture is taken on the bottom lens (the bottom round circle). It doesn’t have a light meter so I have to use an app on my phone to get the right exposure.

This camera requires some thought when taking a picture - you can’t just snap away on it - but it rewards your patience like HOOOOOOO BOYYYYYY. Go have a look through my rolleicord tag - look how beautiful some of them are, particularly the landscape ones. If it’s ever out of focus that is because of ME and my crappy eyesight.

You can see I have a lens hood and the original box for it in the top picture- this blocks stray sunlight so I can try and avoid sun glare on the images. The little purple glass lens below it is what’s called a Rolleinar. I attach this to the camera lens and it changes my focal length. So I can go from landscape to portrait without changing cameras. The Rolleicord has a fancier sister - the Rolleiflex, which again has sharper glass but it comes with a bigger price tag.

I’d really only advise going for a TLR (Twin Lens Reflex) camera like my Rolleicord once you have some solid experience of working on a manual or semi-manual 35mm camera.

This is a lot of information, I’m sorry about that anons! But if you want a good starter camera for film: go for a Pentax K1000, an Olympus OM or AE1, or a camera from the Nikon FM series. All are good, solid cameras, with a nice range of lenses for not too much money on ebay.

If there’s any more questions, just let me know :)

Sx

#what's in my bag #sort of? #film photography #camera rec #anonymous

[alindakb]

Letters to my Parents - Sunday 24 October 1993 - by Alinda

Sunday 24 October 1993

Dear mom and dad,

So, this month it was me who ended up on the hospital wing. Hermione joked it looks like Draco and I are trying to set a record or something. I thought it was funny, Draco doesn’t really agree. I think he had a big freight when I fell off my broom. He yelled at me to don’t do anything that stupid again. And when he was done, Marcus came to yell at me some more for making us lose our first match of the season. He went on and on about that he was a fool to believe anything Terence would say. He stormed off to go and write to Terence about what a disaster our first match was. Adrian and Miles seemed happy to see that Marcus and Terence are communication this much. They say they used to be friends when they were younger and that it maybe will temper Marcus a little if they would start hanging out again.

Marcus really wants to win the Quidditch cup this year, since it will be his last chance to win it. It doesn’t count that he had won it already a couple of times in his younger years. He wasn’t captain back then, just a player. He’s really uptight about it. Blaming it all on bad luck, and stupid cancellation of tournaments because of some crazy snake. When he said that, Draco murmured in my ear that it was a bit more than a crazy snake. We both remember the massive Basilisk in the Chamber that had almost cost us both our lives. Of course, that made Marcus tell us off again for being a tacky couple and that we should leave all the lovely dovely stuff out of the team and focus on scoring points and catching snitches. That just made Adrian and Miles laugh, joking that Marcus wanted the impossible to happen. And we do keep the PDA down in public and during Quidditch practice, really. We both know that Derrick and Bole aren’t really a fan of the gays and we do have to play together with them. They are good beaters, well up to a good match against Fred and George of the Gryffindor team. So, Draco and I are good boys during practice and try to focus as much as possible on Quidditch and not on each other.

But back to me ending up in the hospital wing. It happened during our first Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. It was a dreadful day, with heavy rain and strong winds. Marcus was all worried about Hufflepuff’s new Seeker, Cedric Diggory. He’s a handsome guy, tall, strong and silent. I know a lot of girls like to look at him, and Draco and I would both be lying if we say we don’t appreciate the view.

On the day of the match, I was very nervous and woke up very early. I stayed in bed with Draco’s arms around me and tried to relax. I think I didn’t do a good job because I woke up Draco. We kissed for a long time until I felt a little better. We went down to breakfast and I just tried to eat some porridge, while Draco started to make us both toast. The rest of the team joined us not much later. Everyone was kind of nervous, which made me feel a little better.

At the Quidditch pitch the wind was so bad we all staggered sideways as we walked out onto the team, except for Derrick and Bole. They are so big, it was like the wind was no match for them. And only five minutes into the game I was already soaked to my skin and half frozen on my broom. I could hardly see my teammates, let alone the Snitch. The commentary wasn’t to be heard over the winds. My glazes kept getting clouded by the rain and I was glad when we had a short time-out. We were fifty points ahead. Draco complained that his hair was getting too long, that it was sticking to his face and getting in his eyes all the time. He used a small band to tie it at the back, but it kept slipping out. We’ll have to look into a way to keep it out of the way for the next match. I’m sure Daphne will be able to help with that.

For my glasses, Miles knew a nice trick. He used Impervius on them so they would repel water. And then we were off again. It was still cold and wet, but at least I could see more. Lighting started to strike around us, and I was desperate to find the Snitch and be able to go back to the castle and crawl into a warm bed together with Draco. And then I saw it, the Grim. It was sitting at the topmost row of the stands. It freaked me out a little and I almost slipped off my broom. When I looked back up the dog was gone and I had to race towards the snitch, that was hovering in the space between me and Diggory.  I zoomed towards the snitch and then the entire stadium went silent. I was like I was suddenly deaf. And then a cold swept over me, inside me. When I looked down there were at least a hundred Dementors beneath me. And then I heard the screaming again. It was a woman, pleading: ‘Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry! Take me, kill me instead.’

The next thing I know is waking up here in the hospital wing, Draco next to me, his trembling hand in mine. Marcus, Adrian en Miles from the team were also there, just like Hermione, Blaise, Greg and Daphne. I fainted again and had fallen to the ground. If the headmaster hadn’t slowed down my fall I might have died. Draco won’t leave my side at the moment. Even Madam Pomfrey has given up on trying to make him leave. He slept here with me last night. He had another nightmare about me dying. He’s really shaken up. I haven’t told him that I also saw the Grim, I think it would only upset him more.

And on top off all that, we also lost the game. Diggory had caught the snitch just after I fell. He hadn’t realised what happened and tried to call it off. He even suggested a rematch, but everyone agrees that they won fair and square. It’s why Marcus is a bit upset with me right now, and apparently with Terence.

Hermione said that Headmaster Dumbledore was really angry, furious even that the Dementors had come onto the grounds. He had slowed my fall and then magicked me onto a stretcher and walked me up to the school. Draco had run after him, just like Hermione, Blaise, Greg and Daphne. Greg said they were afraid they had to comfort Draco because they thought I was dead. His voice trailed off a little and I just squeezed Draco’s hand to comfort him.

I’m fine by the way. Madam Pomfrey said I’ll be allowed to leave before dinner tonight. I didn’t break anything or got hurt, I just fainted. The only reason I had to stay overnight is that Madam Pomfrey is worried about me since this is the second time I passed out because of the Dementors.

And today I found out that my broom is dead. Marcus came by this morning to check if I was okay, and to make sure we were both well enough to start training again on Tuesday. He went on and on about who has to lose and win games and with what kind of scores so we could still win the cup. And then he asked me if I would be able to buy a new broom. Both I and Draco looked at him confused. I hadn’t thought about my broom at all. But it seems the wind had blown it into the Whomping Willow and now it’s just a dozen bits of splintered wood and twigs. It’s like losing a very good friend. I loved flying on my Nimbus 2001.

But on more fun subjects, Defence Against the Dark Arts is quickly turning into my favourite subject. Professor Lupin is a very good teacher. We’ve studied Red Caps (little goblin-like creatures that lurk wherever there has been bloodshed) and Kappas (creepy water-dwellers that look like scaly monkeys) so far. Draco is a little bit shy in the class ever since the Bogart incident, but none of the Gryffindors says a word about it. I think Ron and Neville told them not to, I haven’t really asked them. We don’t see them that much lately, only in class. Ron and Hermione are not getting along anymore. I asked Hermione, and she just said that Ron is a stupid moron. Draco thinks she still loves him and that she wants him to take the first step, but Ron is clueless, so he doesn’t get that Hermione wants to be his girlfriend again. And their pets seem to be on a warpath too. Seamus said that a couple of weeks ago Crookshanks had jumped Scrabbers again. And when Brown got the news that her pet died, it even made Ron and Hermione fight a little until Professor McGonagall opened the door to her classroom and we could go in.

Professor Snape has been in a foul mood, we think it’s because of Neville his Bogart taking Snape’s shape and then getting dressed in Neville’s grandmother's clothes. The story has been circling the castle all month. And whenever anyone in his vicinity says Professor Lupin’s name Snape his eyes flash menacingly at them. I feel sorry for the Gryffindors in his class. Professor Snape is ducking them points all the time. I’m glad I have Draco helping me with my potions and all, otherwise, I’m sure he would be yelling at me all the time too. Neville is really having a hard time.

Hagrid has lost all his confidence when it comes to teaching. After the incident with Buckbeak, we’ve only learnt about Flobberworms. And let me tell you, those are the most boring creatures in existence. It’s really sad to see, and Nott and Crabbe like to point out all the time how crappy Hagrid is at teaching. Draco almost got into a fight with them last week. If Blaise and I hadn’t pulled him back to the castle I’m sure he would have been suspended to play Quidditch and that would make our loss even worse since Draco had scored all of the points we got that game.

Draco and I had a fight. About a week ago, a notice went up to announce the first Hogsmeade weekend for this coming Halloween. Draco wants to stay in the castle with me, and I told him not to be stupid and go with our friends and enjoy the day away. He thinks it won’t be any fun without me. And to be honest, I would like him to stay behind with me. I hate Halloween. I’m sure you understand why. But I don’t want to take away this experience from Draco. He deserves to have fun with Blaise, Greg, Daphne and Hermione. We didn’t agree on anything, just yelled at each other and then both sat on different sides of the common room until it was time for bed. For a little while, I was afraid Draco won’t come to sleep in my bed, but after a couple of minutes, he came anyway. He said he was sorry and that he loves me. I told him I was sorry too.

I know Draco isn’t feeling all that great. The Bogart thing freaked him out, he hates that everyone now knows what his biggest fear is. Also, it turns out that his father has filed a complaint against Hagrid with the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. All because of the silly accident during his lesson. Draco is fine, he was released from the hospital wing after only an hour and his arm is fine. You can’t even see where Buckbeak hit him. I told Miss Davis this, said that I was worried about him. But she just wants to talk about me, and how I’m dealing with lessons and stuff. I’m not sure why I still need to go there, I’m good. I’m happy and I don’t want to hurt myself anymore. Okay, I’m a bit sad that I lost my very first Quidditch match, but I’m fine. I really am and it would be so much more productive when I can use my free period to do some homework. It will make more free time I can spend with Draco on a sofa or bed, snuggling him. It’s something we do a lot when were alone. It’s the best past time in the world. I think I’ll go and snuggle a little just now.

Love you both,

Harry James Potter.

#letters to my parents #drarry #Harry Potter #Draco Malfoy #harry in slytherin #quidditch #dementors #AlindasStories

[shirtlesssammy]

7x14: Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie

Then:

Send in the clowns (much to San’s utter horror)

Now:

Our intrepid hero, Sam Winchester runs down a dark alley away from CLOWNS. And honestly, I can’t blame him. They are scary! A couple corner him in an abandoned warehouse while he mutters, "If it bleeds, you can kill it."

60:00:00 Earlier

Dean battles the germs of a phone booth to talk with Frank. He’s got, as Sam puts it, “dick on Dick”. Sam has a potential new case though, and since Dean’s just coming off of his Amazon baby mama drama, he swears this time there will be “No bars. No booze – no hot chicks of any kind.”

Wichita, Kansas

At the morgue they’re presented with a corpse covered in red boils. Apparently a Giant Pacific octopus did this to the man, in Kansas. The coroner surmises that someone staged the hickies and then bled the victim dry. “So what are we looking for? An octovamp? A vamptopus?” Dean wonders to Sam later.

They head to talk with the victim’s widow.

They ask her all the routine questions and she tells them they should talk to Stacy, the nanny. She was with him the night he died. The boys discuss why the wife would summon such an excessive monster while they leave the house. Dean heads to interview the “naughty nanny” while Sam stays to check out the wife’s house after she's gone.

At Stacy’s, Dean learns pretty quickly that the nanny mainly dealt with Deborah and that Stacy was working late because Brian was working late. It was their daughter Kelly’s birthday and the party was at Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie and Brian showed up for 5 minutes while Deborah didn’t show up at all. Another kid told Kelly that her parents didn’t love her. Dean asks the usual questions and Stacy admits that Kelly’s afraid there’s a monster in her closet.

Dean later calls Sam to see if he can interview the daughter. Sam gets in a brief conversation with Kelly where she tells him that she tried to warn her dad that the monster would get him before her mom calls her back inside.

At night, a man in a bathrobe runs for his life away from a galloping horse. He jumps a fence and rests a beat against the fence only to have a golden spire pierce his chest. He falls over dead while the camera pans over the fence to reveal a majestic unicorn. It’s horn is glistening blood and as it turns and speeds away, rainbows shoot out of its butt. (This REALLY has is it all.)

Now

Sam’s battling the clowns. He tries shooting one of the clowns but his gun only shoots glitter.

The clowns continue to laugh and mock him, and then start laying punches.

36:36:08 Earlier

Dean inspects the unicorn murder. After asking the victim’s wife some questions about their son, he learns that the father and son were at a friend’s birthday party. Dean calls Sam and asks if he remembers Plucky Pennywhistle’s. Sam’s face goes blank and he say, “No.” He quickly counters that when he admits that he hated them as a kid. Dean would dump him to go “trolling for chicks.” Dean made a connection to the place and the murders though and suggests Sam check out the local Plucky’s while he talks to the latest vic’s son. Sam hastily suggests he interview the kid. Dean laughs and wonders if this is about Sam’s “clown thing.” Sam weakly denies this, but Dean sees right through him and advises him, “If it bleeds, you can kill it” before hanging up.

Sam heads inside to face his nightmare.

(I’m sorry, but what’s with the skeletor clown in the front? How much fun did Jerry Wanek and Co. have this week?) He sees a frazzled mom working while trying to convince her son to just “stay sane for three more hours.” He sees a wall of “Draw your worst fear... Plucky will make your fear disappear” drawings. The manager, Jean, finds Sam. He asks about the drawings and she gives him the explanation that it’s supposed to help kids cope with their fears, otherwise they can affect kids well into their adulthood (*cough* SAMMY *cough*). Sam asks about the latest kid’s story and the manager tells him that the dad threw a fit about leaving early.

Sam is then approached by a skittish maintenance worker who tells him to come back after closing.

At the motel, Sam fills Dean in on the mean parent trend and the worst fear drawings.

Dean has some war flashbacks to fighting leprechauns. Dean then shows Sam what the boy drew --a unicorn impaling his father.

At Plucky’s, just as Saul, the maintenance man, is leaving for the day, Jean tells him that a kid puked in the ball pit. It’s gonna need a complete sanitization. And I’m sorry, but why are you waiting to tell him at the end of the day?! I’m side eyeing you HARD, Jean.

Saul is next in the ball pit, sucking the balls up one at a time (seems a tad inefficient, but then I have no clue how those places are cleaned. Probably aren’t --so, gross.) The camera pans behind him, Jaws-esque music starts, Saul cries out and reaches for his leg. His hand comes away bloody.

He’s then sucked under the balls. Welp.

Sam and Dean arrive to find the cops taking away the body.

*Classic Dialog Alert*

DEAN: Cops have a theory?

SAM: Yeah, they think the ball washer did it.

DEAN: The what?

SAM: The... ball washer.

DEAN: The what?

SAM: The ball –

Dean shows Sam the victim and they both agree that it was a shark bite. Dean knows a bit more due to his excessive Shark Week research. They head inside the darkened Plucky’s.

Inside, they stop by the wall of worst fear drawings. Sam notices that the shark drawing is missing this time. “Dractopus. Seabiscuit the impaler. Land shark – what's next?” Dean asks. (Seabiscuit the Impaler is my wrestling name.)

The next morning the waitress, Libby, pulls up to Plucky’s with her son Tyler. They’re both tense - the mom is late for work and the kid’s irritated and on his own to catch the bus. As they part grouchily, the camera zooms in on his drawing: a giant killer robot shooting laser eyes. Um. HERE FOR THIS.

Back in the present, Sam continues to get the glitter kicked out of him by the two killer clowns. (I find them far more annoying than frightening.) The only thing more aggravating than a villain with a smug grin is one with a grating chuckle.

Back in the past, Sam and Dean toss out theories. It’s time to put the hammer down on the investigation. Dean is SUPER excited to be given the job of the creepy loner dude hanging out at Plucky’s while Sam plays Fed. (But also, he really is?)

At Plucky’s, chaos reigns. It’s full of kids and the bloody murder ball pit is “roped off” for the day. Yikes. Dean spots a kid walk by playing with a giant slinky and suddenly all thoughts of the investigation leave him.

And immediately Dean WANTSES THE SLINKY. (Please imagine that I’ve just written eight tons of meta about Dean’s missed childhood wrought by his father and later, by himself.)

He asks to buy one at the prize counter, but the chirpy clerk tells him that he has to earn it - he can’t just buy one of the prizes. Dean heads off to ski-ball his way to giant slinky glory.

Meanwhile, Sam interrogates Jean about the guy’s death, spooking her and sending her running from Plucky’s. Dean demonstrates his adult priorities, ditching ski-ball to stalk his quarry. He discovers Jean’s terrible secret. She’s unwinding with a quick joint behind the building. So… not really a criminal magical mastermind.

Sam moves on to the cheerful clerk. “Special agent? Wow!” he says excitedly, while reading Sam’s business card. Sam scowls at Mister Sunshine-and-Light and amps up his bad-cop routine.

While Sam snarls at suspects, Dean teams up with Tyler to properly police the correct game-play of ski-ball. They bond over it and the kid’s mom arrives with a plate of greasy pizza for his dinner. Dean tells the frustrated kid to cut his mom some slack. His dad “hauled him places” too. (I mean, crime scenes, crappy motels, and monster dens, but sure.)

Dean notices Tyler’s killer robot drawing but before he has a chance to comment on it, the lion-costumed guy Sam was interrogating splits. After a harrowing chase set to 70’s style cop-show-music Dean pins him down. The guy sort of confesses to manufacturing meth in the past, but is also PRETTY SURE he hasn’t been using kids’ nightmares to kill people. (He sounds a little uncertain on that last point.) He mentions a sub-basement of the building with creepy sounds coming up from the boiler room near the vents. Well, we know that only good things happen in boiler rooms.

They head back to Plucky’s. Inside, Libby loses her cool. It’s time to leave but her son resists - someone stole his killer robot drawing. Dean immediately hones in on that. Awww yeah KILLER ROBOT TIME. (In a subplot, Dean communicates nonverbally with Tyler, encouraging him to communicate better with his mom, who in turn communicates better with her son. I’m glad we were all here to share this after school special.)

The sub-basement is eight levels of creepy, stacked with crap and featuring an open pit of flame. “Well, that’s perfectly normal,” Dean comments. And...yeah. The boiler room does appear to be problematic. Posted up on the wall are kid drawings and on tables, occult books. Dean examines a book and finds the missing robot drawing. He turns to find the chirpy clerk, Howard, training a gun on him. He orders Dean to drop his gun.

Dean compliments him on his magical prowess. It’s gotta take some serious mojo to make a unicorn. “There's power in fear,” Howard tells him. “And when a child draws what he's afraid of, a little of that mojo ends up on the page.” All of his victims deserved what they got, Howard maintains. He’s targeting Libby for sure, but tonight’s not the night for killer robots. Instead, his current target is Sam-the-Fed.

Cue the clowns!

Now that our timeline has nearly caught up, Sam stalks Libby and Tyler back to their house, only to be confronted by a creepy clown. Nooooooo!

While Sam gets beaten by evil clowns, Dean discovers that Howard is angry that he lost the management job to Jean. He’s deranged, and thinks all the kids are better off without various parents in their lives. Oh, and he’s got some fun buried trauma of his own. His brother drowned while his parents ignored (or didn’t take seriously) his cries for them to help.

Dean chucks Howard’s old drawing of the drowning into the magical fire, plus a clown statuette, and suddenly a drowned child appears, looking vengeful. Howard whimpers pleas for mercy to no avail. Before Dean’s astonished eyes, the clerk drowns in front of the phantom of his dead brother. Y I K E S. Destroyed by his own fear, anger, and guilt. (Looks directly into the camera.)

Elsewhere, Sam’s about to get clown sandwiched when they explode into harmless glitter bombs.

Welp.

Later, Sam pulls up to meet Dean. When he gets out, we see that he’s absolutely covered in glitter (and, apparently, seltzer from the clowns’ flowers).

Dean just about dies laughing at the sight. He then apologizes for “psychologically scarring” Sam, and ditching him when they were kids. Hey, all’s forgiven. Sam pulls out a present for Dean - a giant slinky!!!!

Dean is overjoyed. He gets out a gift for Sam as well - a clown doll.

Er. Thanks, Dean. Sam treats it with the appropriate reverence and gratitude.

_____________________________________________________

Everybody Loves a Quote:

So we got dick on dick?

You spawn a monster baby, see how quick you want to dive back in the pool.

If it bleeds, you can kill it.

So now unicorns are evil?

A whole week of sharks.

Watch out for evil lunch ladies.

_____________________________________________________

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#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 7x14 #plucky pennywhistle's magical menagerie #dean winchester #sam winchester #supernatural season 7

[queenmorgawse]

transmigration for dummies

chapter three. mdzs scum villain au. read on ao3 + end notes.  credit to @lee-luca, esp as another bit of the comic is mentioned here.  previous | first | next 

One hour, thirty minutes and two hundred rules into his punishment, Jingyi is as bored as he’s ever been in this life. To top it all off, the System isn’t responding to any of his pleas for company, only responding with oops ): something went wrong when he tries to ping it. Back home, this is about when he would have given up on homework and started scrolling through his Twitter feed instead, but there’s not much he can do without his phone.

Ugh, he’d kill for one of these crappy McDonalds games. Even a Kinder toy would make him happy right now. Instead, he doodles on his torn-up first drafts, on which the ink made blots from his clumsy first attempts to imitate the original text’s elegant calligraphy.

He silently adds bic pens to the ever-increasing list of modern appliances he misses.

When badly-drawn stickmen get boring as well, he starts to think about the original Lan Jingyi in his life. Maybe that’s how it works, after all. Mom sure would love someone who’d actually go to bed early when she tells him to. On the other hand, once he got over the initial shock of modern Jingyi’s life, he’d probably find it pretty dull. High school isn’t about to compare to flying swords and cultivation, that’s for sure.  

Opposite him, Sizhui is bent over his own stack of scrolls, poring over rows and rows of tiny characters and absent-mindedly running his fingers along the lines. From the way he hums to himself when he thinks Jingyi is too busy copying to care, he guesses they’re music sheets of some kind. Unlike Jingyi, he looks like he’s actually engrossed in what he’s doing.

Too bad. Jingyi’s reached that point of boredom at which he needs to talk to someone or else he’ll implode. ( Still, he promises himself he’ll stop if Sizhui shows even a hint of genuine annoyance. )

“Hey, Lan Sizhui ⎯ can I call you just Sizhui? Um, sorry I got you stuck here.”

To his relief, the other doesn’t look irritated, just surprised. “Sizhui is fine,” he ventures after a few seconds. A smile breaks out on his face. “That’s good. I was afraid you were still mad me, you’ve been so awkward all day...”

Wait, what? Who’s angry at you? Someone who kicks kittens for fun, probably.

Oh right, me. Maybe he’s the one whose brain needs a reboot. How does he explain that it’s not him who’s mad? Hell, he doesn’t even know what the original is supposed to be mad about. For some reason, it feels weird to ask, just because it seems important enough that admitting he forgot would be insulting.

“Anyway,” Sizhui continues after coughing into his sleeve, “it’s alright, you don’t have to apologize to me. I’ve got to go over these before tomorrow’s lesson anyway, I might as well do it here.”

“Inquiry?” Jingyi ventures, maybe-maybe-not because it’s the only title he clearly remembers from the ones canon mentioned.

“Oh, no. Asking very specific questions is still a bit out of my reach, but Fa...Hanguang-jun wrote down a list of phrases for me, so we’re going to try them tomorrow.” His face softens at the mention of Lan Wangji. If this was a fic, this would be when Jingyi keels over and presses his face into a pillow for a little while.   

The chat devolves into musical cultivation. Jingyi muddles his way through it the best he can, feeling like he’s bullshitting an essay out loud, but Sizhui doesn’t seem to find his vague answers all that off-putting. He still pointedly glances down at the stack of unfinished notes on the table from time to time, but since Jingyi’s calligraphy has been getting worse and worse the less attention he pays to it, maybe it’s for the better.   

When dinner time rolls around, they eat their bowls sitting on the steps leading up to the Library Pavilion, after Sizhui rightfully points out Lan Qiren would have their skins if they spilled even a drop of sauce on the sect’s precious texts. Gradually, Jingyi feels himself relax.

“So, are we chill?” he asks between two mouthfuls of rice.

Sizhui just stares at him.

Right. No slang. “...I mean, we’re doing good, right? We’re friends?”

Something complicated passes over Sizhui’s expression. It’s too fleeting for him to catch more than a glimpse of it, especially as it’s overridden by his usual calm smile before Jingyi can shove another rice ball into his mouth, but he could swear the other winced.

Well, ouch. It must show on his face, because Sizhui suddenly looks alarmed and adds : “Yes, yes, we are!” Another smile. This time, Jingyi can definitely see the strain. “We’re friends. You don’t have to doubt that.”

“Oh. Great!” Jingyi resists the urge to reach out and gently punch his shoulder. Who knows how it’d be perceived. “We’re gonna spend a lot of time together, if I’ve got to keep copying rules, so...I wanted to make sure.”

【OOC behavior detected : contradiction of backstory despite hints : -20 points. Current balance : 65 points. 】

Shut up! I want him to like me!

“We’re friends,” Sizhui repeats one last time, like he’s trying to convince himself. Then he reaches for Jingyi’s shoulder and gives his robes a tug. “We should get back in there. Two more hours before curfew, you can still get a few lines in. I won’t distract you.”

“Ugh.”

Jingyi makes a face. Sizhui laughs, and the tension from earlier dissolves. “Come on. The more you get done, the faster it’ll be over.”

-

It turns out they’re both severely underestimating the number of rules Jingyi can break without realizing, and therefore the amount of time they’ll be spending here.

Despite these setbacks, over the course of the next handful of weeks, Jingyi adapts to his new life the best he can. He finds out, with much relief, that even though he can’t access the original’s knowledge and memories, training since childhood pays off even after a body swap. He doesn’t have to think too hard about sparring, just keep a firm grip on his sword, and his muscles can apparently do the rest with minimal effort on his part.

It only works with the actual fighting, though. After going to bed feeling sore all over for a week straight, Jingyi gives up and gives the cold springs a shot. It freezes his limbs off, but the ache gets better after that. It even gets him about a dozen points, which he adds to the rest, gained through menial tasks across the Cloud Recesses and some well-timed mischief.

He also likes to think he gets some progress done with step one of his grand plan to survive this novel. There’s no undoing years of being a pain in everyone’s ass in a matter of weeks, but Jingyi still gives it his best shot - peppered with tasteful cursing at the System when it deducts points for actually following the rules or, you know, not being a dick to everyone he talks to. As a result, he goes from mostly being avoided by the other disciples to tolerated, even if no one but Sizhui goes out of their way to talk to him or invite him to join in on...whatever fun they have.

Jingyi doubts he’s missing out on much, at least where the Lans are concerned. But rumor has it some of the guest disciples snuck out into Caiyi to try some of the local wine, and he’s jealous of that, which is kind of irrational. He doesn’t even like the taste of wine that much, and besides, that may be too much of an infraction for a raised Lan, however prone to rule-breaking said Lan is supposed to be.

( He really can’t afford to slip up again. When he dared chop a solid forty centimeters off his hair after struggling to run a comb through it for the fifth time that week, the System’s alarm blared so loud he almost had an out of body experience. He’d felt the hundred points shaved off his score, though, even if he’d managed to negotiate half of them back. That was the spiritual equivalent of having a car zoom past right as you were about to cross the street, and Jingyi’s in no hurry to do it again...but with that said, it feels great not to have to deal with a bird’s nest every time he wakes up. )

-

Of course, he can’t just get comfortable with his new daily routine. Something has to happen. This time, said something takes the shape of a summon from Teacher Lan. Jingyi drags his feet over from the Library Pavilion and away from his sixth copy of Gusu Lan rules. His wrist is still complaining every time he bends it a little too far. Fuck corpse powder, it’s carpal tunnel that’s going to do him in.

Speaking of copies, maybe he shouldn’t slump this much. He’s fairly sure there’s a rule for that somewhere in the two thousand and nineties.

Given the circumstances, Jingyi fully expects another lecture from Lan Qiren the moment he sets foot in the communal hall, but quickly readjusts his expectations when he spots the small crowd of disciples gathered around their teacher. Most of them are familiar faces by now, except for the girls, who for some reason live in a completely different part of the Cloud Recesses. Still, he recognizes Lan Fan, the shimei who looks like she could bite your head off but actually gave him some pretty helpful tips on sword stances the other day, Tao Ming, the boy who’d seemed vaguely suspicious of him that first day, and of course, Sizhui in the forefront.

Lan Qiren narrows his eyes at him as he hastily joins the rest of the group. “Late again, Lan Jingyi.”

“Sorry, Teacher. This disciple was busy copying rules when he heard.”

A few of his companions snort, the noise quickly disguised as a sudden and collective bout of coughing. Jingyi can’t blame them ; if he’d heard the same words everyday for weeks on end, he’d be laughing too. Lan Qiren gives a long-suffering sigh, but whatever he’s about to tell them must take precedence, because Jingyi gets away with what might otherwise have been considered cheek.

“Madam Mo of Mo Village has sent us a request for assistance.” Given their teacher’s expression, he might as well said that she’d beaten down their door in the middle of the night and let a donkey loose in the courtyard. “From the servants’ description, it shouldn’t be anything more than a few walking corpses. Nothing a group of juniors cannot handle.”

Yeah, right. Despite knowing he’s supposed to let canon run its course, Jingyi still feels a twinge of apprehension. Why, you ask? He can answer that in two points.

Things Jingyi knows : mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.

Things Jingyi doesn’t know : how to kill zombies with swords.

In theory, he did spend the last few weeks training, and he didn’t slack off either, thank you very much. Doesn’t mean he’s ever gone up against a corpse before. He’s a coward, okay? Horror movie night was hell, back in his own world. He’s in no hurry to experience it in real (?) life.

“Lan Sizhui will lead the group,” Lan Qiren continues. “I expect all of you to keep your behaviors appropriate and not bring shame onto our sect.” To no one’s surprise, Jingyi thinks, and throws the interested party a small smile. To his surprise, Sizhui blushes and looks down at his boots, looking both embarrassed and pleased. It’s an unfairly cute look on him, but again, most of his looks are.  

Right on cue, the System wheezes to life like it just crawled out of a computer from the nineties.【Beginning stage checkpoint mission assigned. Destination : Mo Village. Mission : ensure the protagonist, Wei Wuxian, makes it to Mount Dafan to meet love interest Lan Wangji. Please click to accept.】

Jingyi mentally slams the Accept button.

Ding!  【Mission successfully accepted. Please read the file carefully for mission details and make appropriate preparations. We wish you success. 】

OOC function, here he comes!

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #lan jingyi #zhuiyi #transmigrator!ljy #kim's fics

[flying-elliska]

S3 Rewatch - Episode 2 - Vendredi 19h34 “Surprenant” 

I really was looking forward to see if I could write anything new about this scene and like ...of course I can, I could write a whole ass essay about it. So here goes. (it’s a long one sorry lmao)

The first few seconds set the scene perfectly. The scratchy white noise of the vinyl after it’s done ; the low golden lighting, the smoke Eliott blows in the air, the sated expressions on their faces - that feeling of perfect contentment you get when you are perfectly at ease being with someone, even in silence. Lazy afternoons where time just seems to disappear, the feeling of being high, skipping your obligations, taking time for yourself - makes the clip feel somehow nostalgic, timeless and expectant all at once. Something has happened in the time between last clip and now, because they’re suddenly much more comfortable with each other. The tension is of a different kind now. The short moment where they turn their heads towards each other feels almost too intimate to witness - we’ve never seen Lucas like that before, so comfortable, letting go of outside pressure. Then he gets up to change the music and vinyl is a great prop to use because it’s so tactile, as is the piano - the fact that Lucas is touching Eliott’s instruments is both a shorthand for their newfound closeness and umm...a bold move lmao not to mention the obvious connotation. (He doesn’t even put the vinyl back in its jacket that heathen...can’t see Eliott too bothered lmao). 

I laughed out loud at Eliott’s “I don’t want to impress you” because that is both a big fat lie and sort of true in the sense that he doesn’t want to intimidate Lucas but still wants him to think Eliott’s cool (and the two previous sentences were sort of a boast, still.) Beethoven and Star Wars feels like a very Eliott type of mix. Fur Elise is a sad but beautiful piece, that the compositor apparently dedicated to a female friend he proposed to but turned him down (?) That fits with Eliott’s tendency for pessimism and melancholy. On the other hand the Star Wars theme is playful and hopeful and geeky ; I looked up how it sounds on the piano and it’s absolutely adorable, like it was made to be a Porg lullaby. The way Eliott talks about it, slightly ironic (plus the Star Wars theme is pretty simple and Fur Elise is often played by dabblers) makes it sound like he probably taught himself a few pieces on a piano that was already in the house, as a party trick. I see Eliott appreciating this type of music, but maybe not having the persistence and discipline that getting actually good at classical demands. (And I don’t see his parents being around to push him either.) Maybe he tried and gave up or figured it wasn’t for him, which would give his admiration for Lucas’ playing a new dimension, like he knows how hard it is and brings him something he doesn’t have (but alright, I’m reaching a bit here). 

Lucas plays a few notes and Eliott teases him again about also having a triangle if he wants. Is he trying to find his bearings again after not having played for a while ? Is he also teasing ? Is he nervous, careful ? We can see him nod ever so slightly once he gets it and starts to play faster, like he’s happy to come back to this piece. The actual piece of piano by RIOPY starts fast right from the beginning but I like that they start slower here ; the whole piece is a beautiful metaphor for their relationship - starts hesitant and slow, withholding, and then the notes become deeper and the passion moves in all at once and it’s like he almost can’t contain it ? But you can also hear the effort it takes ?  The emotion is just perfect for the story and I am so impressed at Axel learning it from scratch. I wonder in what context Lucas learned it. With the title and the emotion behind it, was he dreaming of having someone to adress it to ? 

Then we have, for a brief moment, Eliott’s perspective as he sits up with a look of disbelief, amazement and then enthusiasm. And how fitting is it, really, that the first time we ever get his worldview is the exact moment he falls in love. Plus the perspective crossing adds to the impression of connection of the moment. And the way Lucas is framed from Eliott’s perspective - the light behind him gives him a halo. We go on this whole emotional journey in a few seconds with Eliott, falling in love with Lucas too. First it’s pure surprise as his eyes zoom in, like he’s just automatically drawn to get closer, to pay attention, cutting through the haze (of weed, but also his life). Then it’s awe as he just lets himself realize how amazing this boy he’s developped a crush on really is, and for a few seconds he looks almost fragile, almost like it’s too much. Then finally he smiles and it’s just the joy of the music and Lucas sharing it with him. Maxence just absolutely nails this crucial moment (and also this is the prettiest he is all season tbh fight me ; how fitting. Eliott is a ‘lover of life’ - love would make him the most beautiful, too.)

Why does this moment feel so special apart from how well it’s acted and filmed ? Well, from what we’ve seen so far from Lucas, it’s unexpected. We know that he’s clever, that he can be very manipulative, that he’s repressing his sexuality, and that he’s got trouble at home, that he’s closed off and trying very hard to pretend to be “normal”. Apart from that, there isn’t much to set him apart from the average teenage boy who likes to go out and drink beer with his mates and say slightly insulting stuff about girls and try a little too hard to be cool. So far, we can all empathize with him, but we don’t know that much positive stuff about him, to be honest. The piano scene is the first clue of how much there truly is under the surface. It’s a step away from the macho player image he’s careful to cultivate ; it’s a sign that he does have somewhat of an artistic, sensitive temperament. It’s the first revelation about him that feels wholly positive, unburdened by shame, and yet highlights how fake his closed off daily demeanour is. It’s a clue that he’s not only repressing the fact that he’s gay but a whole world of emotions, how caring and sensitive he can be - because of how rough life has been for him the past few years - social clichés, the pressure, the stuff with his family disintegrating, the homophobic jokes around him for not being masculine enough or liking ‘gay music’, how lonely and confused he must be. This season, in short, is not only about Lucas accepting he’s gay, but about himself opening up and growing into his own person, someone both strong and compassionate, bold and sensitive, defining himself beyond clichés or the heritage of his asshole father, stepping beyond his insecurities, to become his own man. That’s what the piano scene represents and why it will always be god tier.  Oh and also : it’s an offering for Eliott. He’s taking a chance here, too, and the joke he makes when he’s done...it’s almost he’s expecting to be mocked so he does it himself. I would bet that his piece of shit father probably said something about piano being too effeminate at least once. That’s kind of heartbreaking. It’s also a clue to how safe he must feel with Eliott, or at least how strongly he wants to, well, impress him to take that risk. He’s seen Eliott’s drawings and he wants to say hey me too I can be artsy !!! And his intuition is so spot on. We know Eliott’s been making drawings about them already, that he’s a romantic daydreaming about finding love stronger than fear. He’s a pessimist because of his condition and yet he really wants to believe that his emotions can be valid (that’s a key part of his arc in the season) and he can find love. So then he met Lucas ; it must have felt like love at first sight but he must also have told himself, what if this is fake, what if it’s just a random obsession, what if what if, he doesn’t even know him, what if he’s a crappy person, etc. So to discover that Lucas is actually so brilliant, and that they can connect over art, that they share this sensitivity about beauty and meaning, about wanting life to be more, and that Lucas is brave enough to reach out, and just the amount of feeling in that short piece...it must have felt so validating, and like destiny, too (we know it’s a word he will use for Lucas later). I think this is probably when Eliott really started to believe that Lucas could be his Polaris story. It’s already a ‘you’re not alone’ moment, too. 

So that scene is absolutely key in both their story arcs and their relationship. But it’s not over !  There is an awkward moment moment after Lucas is done because it feels like he’s given too much, too soon - but Eliott catches him like in a trust fall, he says yes, this meant something, it was amazing, it was surprising and I like surprising people - like I said, Eliott wanting to surprise people to test them and loving to be surprised in turn says so much about him as a character. And then the touch at the door, how did Lucas and we with him not collectively die on the spot. Because that was absolutely unambiguously a mark of interest. Love the idea that Eliott is trying not to kiss him but I also feel like he felt kind of bad for kicking Lucas out and he wanted him to know he was really interested and it was not just a buddy hang because like...in that particular context that’s just not something you do with a buddy aahhahaha. Love how the shot is framed with Eliott standing in the dark, Lucas in the light, and Lucas’ little shocked smile when the door closes. 

And then drama. Chloé is such an overdramatic teen, god - a guy she’s talked to twice stands her up and she’s like “men are trash” hgdfhgd...But it is an apt parallel with Eliott kissing Lucille. It is such a slap in the face after the earlier intensity but also like. Eliott is such a dumbass in that moment, how did he not see Lucas standing there ? To me, it means that in his head, Lucas and Lucille really are separated - Lucille is his safety net and he kisses her a little bit without thinking, automatically. The whole Lucas thing is in another world, scary and thrilling and uncertain and so he doesn’t want to give up his safety net yet. It’s ...not super healthy tbh. It’s kind of a pattern with him, of not being honest out of fear and i don’t like it, but at the same time, coming from his perspective, it is somewhat understandable. He just lives with a different set of stakes. I’m not excusing it, but yeah. Poor Lucas though. 

 Previous clip 

#skam france #s3 rewatch #it's overinterpretation time !!!

[mars-the-4th-planet]

Penny x Neo pt. 2

"You girls..." Ironwood said, shaking his head. "Come on you two, Penny stop tickling the poor ice cream producer."

Penny stood up. "I was only trying to cheer her up sir! Ruby always enjoys it!"

General Ironwood patted the little robots head. "I know. But this is supposed to be a punishment for her crimes not a sleepover."

"Oh we had those back in beacon with Neo!"

"You did?!"

Neo, who was silently giggling and rubbing her sock-covered feet together, nodded.

Ironwood sighed. "Beacon has a weird justice system... Regardless, come on you two. Somebody wants to see you Penny. Grab Neo."

"With all due respect sir," a soldier by Ironwood said. "this is more or less a sleepover with Penny for Neo."

Ironwood looked at him sternly and he shut up. "Lets go girls."

At a nearby Cafe they sat down.

"Welcome to Puffs!" Puff announced.

"Didnt you work in Vale?" Asked Penny.

"Yes but Ryan used the insurance money from you breaking that table for us to buy a spot here where the big business is! Plus we get to live on an awesome ship!"

"Insurance for a table? I dont think it works that way." Ironwood said.

"Oh we also burned down the place."

"You commuted fraud!?"

Puff sighed. "Do you want to order or not general?"

General Ironwood nodded. "Yes. I would like a Generals Stew, Penny here will have a bowl of animal crackers, Neo... What do you want?"

Neo couldnt say and had her hands cuffed, so she couldnt even signal to what she wanted. She just looked confused.

"Neo will have a burger I guess, although... Penny? Can you help her eat it?"

"We can remove the cuffs for the meal though?"

"No."

"But why?"

It zoomed in on General Ironwoods stern face.

"Okay..." Penny looked down.

General Ironwood was an experienced member of the Atlas military and he knew that criminals like Neo were crafty and swift and sneaky. If he gave her any opportunity to escape she would take it. It seemed like too much precaution to most people, but to him it was better to be safe than sorry.

Just then, Jacques Schnee and Weiss Schnee (or wife schnee to Ruby.) came in and sat down.

"Why did you choose this crappy place Genny?" Jacques asked. General Ironwood clenched his everything. "The food is mediocre, like commoner food. The waitress is in a god damn swimsuit. I am only glad I brought my daughter here, not my son! Can you imagine?"

Weiss stopped staring at Puff for a moment, blushing. "Yes...that would be bad, inappropriate even. My brother would ogle her no doubt. Boys, pff."

"Quiet Weiss, no one was talking to you."

"Hi Weiss!" Penny said, smiling at her friend. Neo was looking down. She felt weird around Weiss.

"Hey Penny! So THAT is where Neo went, you lil rascal! I cant wait to tell Ruby. She was so worried! We-"

"Weiss! What did I just say!"

"Relax Jacques, the girls missed each other. Let them talk. And regardless, you said no one was talking to her. Now somebody is."

Jacques glared at Neo. "Hang on... Thats the riffraff who stole one of my transports with that so-called white fang and Roman Torchwick!"

"Yes Jacques... Thats one of the reasons why she is in handcuffs... Obviously..." General Ironwood said exasperated.

Puff was coming back with food.

"Dont sass me Genny. I am here to discuss the Embargo. You need to lift it."

"Funny. I thought you were here so your daughter could meet up with Penny."

"We both knew that was coded language."

General Ironwoods face became even more stern. He hated this rich arrogant bastard so much. But unfortunately his military relied on Schnees for their dust supply. So currently he would have to listen to Jacques.

"Look, maybe we can lift the Embargo if you would improve conditions for your workers. Then Atlas citizens will be happy, more of the white fang will abandon the faunu-fascist idealogy Adam Taurus started, youll get your dust bought, and your workers will be happier. Win, win, win, win." He counted off a finger for each win.

(After the attack on beacon, many of the white fang members were turning against Adam Taurus. The attack was a failure in the main goal, lost many members, and the only thing they "achieved" were some teenager kills and a couple of teachers dead. Even though Adam personally did not order the attack, he was allied with Cinder who arranged it to rescue him.)

"Speaking of faunus riffraff..." Jacques glared at Penny. "You made... A faunus robot?! For shame."

General Ironwood just glared at him. "Penny? Care to explain?" he asked her.

"I wanted cat ears."

"See Jacques? She wanted them. Now about the Embargo..."

Jacques chuckled. "No can do Genny. No point in running a dust company if all the money goes to the workers."

"You make an enormous profit! You could give a living wage to all your workers for less than half of it! It is not 'all the money' and saying so makes you sound like a fool!"

Neo stuck her tongue at Jacques.

"I have had it with this constant disrespect! That is the last straw!" He knocked the burger out of Pennys hands as she was trying to get Neo to stop sticking her tongue out and eat. Then he tried to slap Neo herself, but she bit his hand. He roared.

"Neo, no! Let go of him!" Penny grabbed and pinched Neos nose to force her to open her mouth. Jacques quickly pulled his hand away.

"Amazing. You usually do not lose your cool Jacques. Schnees usually always keep their cool, but..." Ironwood smiled, implying he was not a real Schnee.

"This conversation is over! Come on Weiss!" Jacques snarled and grabbed Weiss roughly and dragged her out, enraged that his daughter had seen him lose control of the situation. He intended to punish her once they were in private, to make sure she knew he was the boss. He was of course, going to blame the whole incident on her to make her feel like she was the problem. At least he would try to. General Ironwood left without finishing his stew and told Penny to help Puff clean up.

So they did. But Penny was no planning to simply go back to her room. In fact, once she looked around a bit, she uncuffed Neo. "Neo, please dont tell General Ironwood but you and me are going to go help Weiss okay?"

Neo made a ^-^ face and nodded while rubbing her hands together. She couldnt wait to kick Jacques butt and steal his things. "This is awesome... I am so glad Penny took me here. Just wait until I see Roman! And show him my loot from Jacques! Aaaa this is the luckiest day ive had since he kissed me!" Neo thought excitedly and hugged Penny, who of course hugged her back. "Okay, lets hurry Neo! Cant let mean Jacques hurt our friend!"

To be continued...

#rwby

[springomelas]

Cute music store guy [Changlix]

Summary: Changnin vists the music store often too see the cute guy who works there, and one day he is luckier then other days.

Word count: 1,199 

Warnings: None (:

A/N: Changlix is still alive and well. (requests are open)

masterlist

     Changbin tried to convince himself every time he went to the music shop it wasn’t because of the cute employee, it was because they had a lot of G-Dragon albums, and even play lot of his songs. Yes, it is a far walk from his college dorm, and Yes, there is ones closer, but it was worth it because….well he hasn’t quite figured out the advantages yet. Today he had all of his dorm mates, all seven of them coming with him, so he will be dealing with complaining and teasing for a while.

“You know, we are going to discover why you always like to go to this specific store.” Chan said with an evil grin.

“There is nothing to ‘discover’.” Changbin said brushing them off and trying to convince himself the same.

“Oh really now. Changbin, you only go during the middle of the day, when schools are getting out. Are you sure this doesn’t have anything to do with a special someone?” Woojin asked bumping their shoulders with a laugh.

“Remind me never to bring you guys anywhere” Changbin spoke saying it mostly to himself but hoping they would hear.

“Let’s just trust him, if he is lying, we will get to see who stole our Changbin's heart.” Jisung said with a tanting laugh.

“Thanks?” Changbin replied in a questioning voice to his good friend.

“Any day” Jisung said grabbing onto his shoulder with a smile.

“Is it close, I’ve been dancing all day, and as much as I love you Changbin, I will lay on a bench in a park and wait for you guys if I have to walk another five minutes.” Minho complained and whined at the same time.

“Yeah, same here, I feel like my legs could fall off.” Hyunjin said joining in on the complaining and whining.

“Okay shut up, we’re here” Changbin said never feeling happier than ever to see the music shop, which is saying something.

“Thanks for taking us out, Changbin, I’ve been in training all day.” Jeongin said giving him a smile. If everyone else complained at least Jeongin was kind enough to thank him for dragging him out.

“No problem” he gave Jeongin a smile and stopped before they could all rush in and mess the place up. “Okay, before we go in I would like to say, there is a lot of high school girls, don’t flirt, they will lie about their age and therefore are most likely illegal. Second, don’t move everything, people have to put it back in it’s place after. Third, we won’t be in here for too long, maybe ten minutes at most, I gotta get a Red Velvet album then we out. Get it, got it, good.” Changbin let out and then lead them in. As expected high school girls were all around staring at the employee, but when the boys walked in they all turned their heads and started to drool.

Changbin left them to find that Red Velvet album, he listens to their music every once in a while, but he prefers boy bands, and it’s not just because he’s gay, it’s because girl groups usually have high pitch voices and are always in a cute tone, which he can take, but not for long. Once he found what he was looking for and the version he wanted he took it up to the counter, it had a line, but it went by pretty fast. He set his album down on the counter, and Felix’s eye’s traveled from the counter to Changbin’s eye’s and he gave him a bright smile.

“How was your shopping? Any problems?” Felix asked taking the album and being genuine. He had seen Changbin here a few times and he would buy something and leave, usually it was something G-dragon, who Felix also liked. Over time Felix started to admire him and would always ask the same questions, but Changbin would always give a different answer.

“It was good, the only problem I have is the weird stench of crappy perfume and all the girls flipping their hair in my friends faces. If they weren’t complaining about the long walk here, they're gonna complain about all the girls they missed out on because of my gay self.” He blurted out and instantly regretted it. Felix seemed unfazed while continuing to scan his album. He even looked up with a smile.

“Sorry about that,” Felix leaned in close and ushered Changbin to do the same, to which he did. “Boss has me work these hours because it brings in more customers, girls who are willing to spend money on an album they don’t like, just to take pictures of me, while I pretend to not notice.” Felix said then backed away, that explains why he’s always working the same hours. This was also the first time Felix had replied with a longer answer then 'okay, have a nice day’ or 'I will work on that sir.’

“It’s a little shame less but at least you have five minutes to yourself, my friends are stealing the show, better seven hot guys then one, right?” Changbin said again blurting and covering his mouth. Felix chuckled at his reaction to himself saying something he didn’t mean too.

“So, you got a punch card?” Felix asked, every time you buy anything you get a little hole on a card, and once you get nine you get a free sticker set.

“Oh, uh, yeah” Changbin said pulling out his wallet and handing the card to him. In one swift motion Felix took the card and put a hole in the last square.

“Well, would you look at that you get a free sticker set.” Felix said and reached down to pick something out from inside the little shelf under the counter. He pulled out a G-dragon sheet and laid it down making Changbin laugh. “This was what you were going to get right?” Felix asked already knowing the answer.

“Yes, I buy a lot of GD things, huh?” Changbin asked and Felix laughed, which Changbin couldn’t help but watch. There was so many different things he wanted to watch individually when the boy laughed, but he couldn’t zoom in and hit replay over and over.

“Well your total for the album will be $23.49” Changbin took the money out of his wallet and gave it to Felix. Felix cashed it in and brought out a dark black bag with white writing then put the album in the bag along with his recipient and free sticker set. Felix had Changbin’s old card next to him and he decided to be a little daring. He took the card and wrote his number down with his name under it. He then took out a new card for Changbin to use when he bought new things. “Here you go.” Felix said handing over the bag and both the cards.

“Uh, what’s this?” Changbin asked referring to Felix’s number.

“Oh, well that would happen to be my number.” He stated and shocked Changbin.

“Thanks” Changbin said and walked away from the counter with a deep blush, excitement, and a hot, sweet and cool guys number.

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