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ayamturd · 3 years

Text

bisexual│mcyt hc

warnings: small mentions of hate, fluff

prompt: (requested 1 & 2) “Hello uh I saw one of your posts about the dream smp reacting to you coming out so I was wondering if you haven't already done it can you do dream smp reacting to you coming out as bisexual?”

“Hello yamturd so I was wondering if maybe you could do tubbo, Tommy and Ranboo reacting to reader coming out as bisexual or lesbian if you haven't already done it :)”

pairings: irl platonic! dream, ranboo, tommy and tubbo ; c!technoblade

a/n: if i offend or misinterpret anything in this hc, please feel free to message and correct me otherwise. i will always try to correct or delete this post if asked so <33

sending my love to all those who identify as bisexual <33

wc: (1.5k) - m.list

dream -

considering his prideful personality sometimes, you probably wanted to play with his ego and drop subtle hints

not anything too obvious, but enough to make him kick himself when he realizes

though it was admittedly difficult since he plays into the dnf ship so much that he thinks you’re also joking more than half the time

imagine you two were in a voice call one evening and randomly discussing the recent fanon and what would be funny to turn into canon (to mess with the fandom)

you’ve been recently shipped with two other content creators, both of opposing female and male gender, separately and together

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind hitting that.” “Which one?” “Both.”

He’d laugh, but you didn’t.

“Wait, you’re serious? You actually identify as…?” “Bisexual. Yeah, I’m pretty sure anyway.” “Y/n, that’s amazing.”

takes pride in the fact that you trust him, but would feign being upset that you messed with him for as long as you did

be jokingly offended if he found out someone knew before him

“Wait…” “Yes?” “You told Bad??” “Yeah, he was one of the first.” “W— Why??”

It was your turn to laugh while he gawked in disbelief.

“It’s Bad! Of course I told him.” “… Fair enough.”

hate is a given, and he’ll always be there to support and defend you

he’ll always ask your permission before taking any action, however, because he respects you too much and knows you can fight your own battles

dream is someone will show relentless support, whether that be through words or moral support, he’ll always be there for you

c!technoblade -

i honestly feel like you never officially came out to techno

as you began to recognize yourself as bisexual, you slowly expressed yourself around him more openly to the point where he unconsciously knew

it’d probably would have hit him in the most random moment after months of assuming he knew

imagine you’re in the midst of battle when techno paused entirely with wide eyes

“Y/n!” “What!?” “Are you gay??”

you would tease him when discussing your love life in one-sided conversations with him; him basically choosing to ignore you when you talk to him

“Honestly, Techno, how could you not want to hit that?” “Please, just stop.”

(i’ve written this before but will stand by this that) he truly doesn’t care for your sexuality

you’re a friend, someone he trusts and relies on, he doesn’t need to consider who you’re attracted to since he sees you for your skills and friendship

the only, and only time he is mindful of your sexuality depends on others unnecessary comments about it

the smp is a known judgement free land, but there will always be someone with ignorant opinions that he is always quick to shut down (or kill)

nothing much can be said besides the fact that you’ll always be y/n to him: a loyal friend and someone he would fight the world for

ranboo -

oh sweet ranboo, dear ranboo

considering how openly supportive and kind he naturally is, you didn’t question the idea of telling him

i’d like to imagine that unlike most where you planned or waited to tell, the moment you knew, he would know soon after

imagine you called him before he began his lore stream to hype him up

you both were talking about more mundane things to calm his nerves as people joined when you brought it up

“Oh actually, before you start, I wanted to tell you something.” “Sure, what is it?” “Well, I— I’m Bisexual.” “…You’re tELLING ME THIS WHEN I’M ABOUT TO START MY STREAM??” “Y/n! I’m so happy for you, that’s amazing!”

he’s incredibly patient concerning how you wanted others to know or when you were ready to be completely out

similar to c!techno with the same beliefs you’re still y/n, and nothing has changed besides you coming out as yourself

he’s your go to when days are rough, because he knows how to help you understand you’re still loved as the same y/n and nothing less

“Hey, hey, listen to me. I love you, y/n. We all do, and you’ll never be alone when things get rough, alright?” (love /p)

knows how to silently deal with hate in his chat unless it becomes evident enough to address it (doesn’t want to bring attention to meaningless words until it becomes serious)

ranboo’s your rock and makes show that he’ll never believe anything other than that you deserve love

tommyinnit -

as someone who took pride in defending the LGBTQ+ community, you had no hesitation when coming out to tommy

if any, your reluctance would come from accepting yourself to the point to be open with other people

it’s not as if he didn’t accept you, he could never imagine doing so in the slightest, but he probably wouldn’t know what to say initially

imagine you both were in the midst of playing bedwars together in a recording for a video

he had been busy gathering emeralds while you remained at the base, and the comforting silence gave you the confidence to blindly address it

“Hey Tommy?” “What, y/n? I’m in the middle of something right now.” “Oh, um, I’m pretty sure I’m bisexual.” “…” “…Tommy?” “…” “T— Tommy?”

it’d be dead quiet for a few seconds before you heard the noise of him rustling in realization

“Wait wait wait, you’re serious? You’re bisexual?” “Haha yeah, yeah, I am.” “WHA—!”

he was happy for you, to say the least

tommy loves to joke, and one he loved to make would be your attraction to both genders

you like women? pog!

you like men? a shame, honestly

if you were publicly out, his favorite bit would be to include you in his obnoxious swooning

imagine he was streaming while talking about his love for women

“Boys, honestly, the ladies just can’t resist me.”

The ding of discord notified you entering the call, the sound of your laughter immediately coming through.

“I agree, Tommy, I definitely agree.” “Y/n! You are attracted to women, and I am also attracted to women. You can agree women are amazing, yes?” “I can, Tommy. Women are indeed amazing.” “Good lad!” “Tommy, you do realize I’m not only attracted to w—” “Shush, we don’t speak of that.”

he showed his support by normalizing your sexuality, his acceptance quick and easily integrated into your lives

(this is getting long but—) tommy was well aware he lacked some knowledge when being in the LGBTQ+ community, but openly voiced his ignorance as a sign of awareness itself

he was always quick to correct either himself or others, he refused to accept slander of any type in his streams

would probably try to keep it light heartedly, but scold nonetheless

tommy was your figurative cheerleader, always there to include and uplift you, whether that be through the smallest gestures or loudest cheers

tubbo -

poor tubbo

since he wasn’t the most careful with secrets, you probably withheld telling him till you were ready for most to know

this isn’t to deter anything of not trusting him, he’s still supportive and loving tubbo that wouldn’t dare do anything purposeful against you

if anything, you might have forgotten that he didn’t know when you were casually taking about it within a group

imagine you and Ranboo were trying to get him to sleep one early morning but gave up

you started talking about personal stuff and the topic of your love life came up, specifically the attraction to someone of the same gender

“I don’t know, Ranboo, I mean, I think I like them but at the same time I’m not sure.” “That’s fai—” “Wait, y/n. You’re gay??” “Bisexual, actually.” “WaAA—”

his very sleep deprived state was extremely happy and emotional for you

he’s like the little duckling with a knife, like he loves you completely but will try to hurt anyone that offends you

like tommy, he has no personal knowledge when being in the LGBTQ+ community but will solely learn for your sake

whether you’re younger or not, tubbo never fails to remind you that he looks up to you

he gives his all and won’t hesitate to provide in any way he can if needed

“You matter,” he’ll always say, “you’re important and no one else’s opinion matter.”

is proud to be your friend and expresses his platonic love in full, for you’re you and are so brave to be yourself despite all

choosing not to tag my usual taglist just cause its a headcanon with a specific request <33 (huge ty to @basilly and @inniterhq though for the advice/motivation to finish this)

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handsoffmyfriends · 4 years

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Alrighty for Bakugou fluff, can I request a scenario where he wakes up but he's still REALLY sleepy so he actually thinks he's still dreaming so he goes downstairs for breakfast in the dorms, kisses the reader and hugs them while getting food, just the two of them. Only the reality is he never confessed to his crush yet, the bakusquad is there and he burns his tongue on his coffee thus waking up and grasping what he just did. EMBARRASSMENT GALORE

LUCID DREAMING

— bakugou katsuki was one of the few people who experienced very lucid, very life-like dreams. usually, he was pretty good at telling when he was dreaming and when he was awake. usually.

PAIRING: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

WORD COUNT: 1,099

WARNINGS: second hand embarrassment, bakugou swearing, distressed denki noises

A/N: HELLO THIS WAS THE FUCKING FUNNIEST THING OF MY ENTIRE LIFE i seriously could not stop giggling over this for a solid 5 minutes !! anon i am BEGGING YOU turn on your location, you deserve all the recognition for this HILARIOUS prompt nhfdsjklhgkjfds

You were in the kitchen, preparing another round of coffee for the squad. It was Sunday and you all agreed to do nothing except indulge in caffeine and watch shitty movies with shitty snacks. Bakugou had yet to weigh his opinion on the matter, but considering he was still in bed - at the righteous hour of 8am, no less - he had waived his right to an opinion.

“Think I should make Bakugou one?” you called out.

The resounding “NO!” from every single person stopped you in your tracks.

“Bakubro is really particular about how he likes his coffee,” Kirishima explained, leaning back over the couch to look at you. “It’s so manly.”

“You mean insane!” Kaminari corrected, voice high in distress. “Have you actually seen how he makes it?”

“It’s a crime against coffee,” Shinsou added sleepily. “He doesn’t even use real coffee.”

“Jokes on you, buddy, but Y/N isn’t using real coffee, either,” Sero teased.

“Y/N doesn’t burn the shit out of it, though,” Shinsou shrugged. “Speaking of which, can you hurry up? I’m gonna pass out over here.”

“Be grateful!” Mina snapped, lobbing a pillow in Shinsou’s direction. “Y/N, don’t make his anymore! He doesn’t deserve it!”

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll take that back right now, Pinky,” Shinsou snapped.

You laughed at the squad’s banter, tuning it out as you continued to prepare coffee for everyone. Shinsou included, since you didn’t have a death wish. Excluding Bakugou, since Kirishima was right. He was picky when it came to what he put in his body. You doubt he would appreciate the gesture if you fucked up his first coffee of the day.

Speaking of the blasty boy, he finally made his appearance. You’d never seen him look so exhausted, you were actually kind of concerned about him. He was always the first one awake, banging on your door to drag you down for morning training. Sometimes he would try Kirishima, and he knew better than to try getting Kaminari up early. Shinsou was a lost cause. Having him practically drag his feet across the room was a sight you never thought you’d ever see.

He paid the rest of the squad zero attention as he made his way into the kitchen with you. “Good morning, Bakugou,” you greeted, though even to your own ears it sounded like a question. “Did you... sleep well?”

He grumbled as he dragged himself over to you and— wait, what!? You flushed red instantly as he slung an arm around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest. You were compliant since you didn’t know what was going on. Why was he—

Your brain shut down when he planted a sleepy, sweet kiss to your cheek and said, in a gravelly voice, “mornin’ babe.”

He pulled away as if everything was fine, as if kissing you like you were a couple was a normal thing to do. Sure, you might have harboured a secret crush on the guy, but you were friends first! He never showed any indication of liking you back, so you never pursued anything. So... what the fuck!?

Should you say something? Was this a thing that was going to happen now? You wouldn’t exactly be unhappy if that were the case, but... it wasn’t supposed to work like that!

The rest of the squad looked on in stunned silence. Of course, they’d seen.

(Unbeknownst to you, the squad had managed to wrangle some of Bakugou’s more personal feelings from him, several months back. It had taken a lot of bribing, and he only ever said it once. That Bakugou Katsuki had a crush on you. They’d all been sworn to secrecy, lest he turn to villainy to murder all their asses.)

No one knew what to say. No one dared break the silence. It was so surreal, it felt almost dream-like in the absurdity of it all.

You just watched as he milled about in the kitchen, making his famous shitty coffee with nothing but boiling water. You’re sure he forgot to add something cooling. Before you could warn him about scalding his entire tongue off, he tipped his head back and took the most daring chug of boiling bean juice you had even seen.

It ended up exactly how you’d imagine it would. He sputtered it all out with a series of curses, nearly throwing the offending mug across the room.

And then he froze. Abruptly, as if he hadn’t even been aware of his surroundings, he looked around to see the squad all leaning off the edge of the couches, to see you standing there entirely red faced.

His face went deathly white for a second before all the blood came rushing back, his face flushing even redder than yours in undeniable embarrassment. “Holy fuck, I’m awake.” He sounded so mortified, wide eyes flying to you and then locking onto your friends.

The silence lasted exactly three more seconds before Kaminari burst out laughing. “So bold, Kacchan!”

“That was so freaking manly!” Kirishima praised with a tear of pride.

“It’s about time Bakubabe made a move,” Mina squealed with excitement.

“Bakugou really is an all or nothing guy, huh,” Sero nodded, vaguely impressed.

“I’m never going to get my fucking coffee,” Shinsou groaned, curling up on the couch and burying his face into the cushions. Through some other worldly powers, he was out like a light, fast asleep despite the ruckus going on around him.

The squad roared with laughter. There was no stopping their whooping and hollering, both cheering and teasing Bakugou.

“Shut the hell up!” Bakugou shouted, hands sparking off. That just made the idiots laugh even louder. He felt embarrassed, he felt humiliated, and he wanted nothing more than to blast the smug faces off his dumbass friends but you were there, looking at him with a mix of your own embarrassment, confusion and concern. It was enough to pull him back from his murderous rampage.

“Bakugou...” you started, but he interrupted you.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it, Y/N. I thought I was dreaming.”

Wrong choice of words. Your face turned sweet, your smile like sunshine. “Aw, you dream of me? Bakugou, that’s so sweet!”

If it were even possible, he went redder in the face. Your group of friends laughed even louder.

Feeling bold, you decided to tease Bakugou just a little more. You stepped up close to him, mimicking his moves on you earlier, placing a chaste kiss to his cheek. “You could have just said you wanted a kiss, Kacchan.”

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ouyangzizhensdad · 3 years

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Do you think LWJ took the advantage of being a Young Master of a prominent clan to publicly display the people he hates? (We know who that is) I saw someone claim about it and It's haunting my head.

Hi anon,

I’ll start first by saying that I think the novel does, to a degree, understand that there are people who have, to use Bourdieu’s terms, forms of ‘capitals’ that others do not and integrate that into the narrative and character dynamics. LWJ has not only capital due to his position as a gongzi and the son of a Leader (then later, as heir-in-line) to one of the prominent clans, but also due to his stellar reputation and fighting abilities (and to a degree, the fact he is a man). All this allows him to have a wider range of actions that are considered ‘acceptable/legitimate’ versus another person with different or lesser forms of capital--think for instance of the reaction and consequences when LWJ challenges what powerful men are saying (making up) about WWX versus when daughter-of-a-servant MianMian does the same. However, I find it weird to frame that as LWJ “getting away” with something--with his character, it’s more like he is able to have an opinion or stand up against injustices with less chances of getting punished and ridiculed for it.

Now, if it is about Jiang Cheng, it is kind of a myopic argument to be saying that LWJ “gets away” with “publicly hating JC”. First because by that point JC is technically even higher in the social hierarchy, being a literal Sect Leader. But it’s also weird to phrase this as “publicly hating JC”: LWJ is not running around badmouthing JC or the Jiang sect--the pettiest we see him is when he doesn’t silence LJY when he engages in gossip about JC. Instead we see LWJ standing up against JC when the situation calls for it, which is not the same. Of course, as JC does, it can be considered as an inherent ‘insult’ since it makes JC ‘lose face’ but I think there is a difference. And it’s not like JC does not get away with being impolite towards LWJ and the Lan sect, something we see at Dafan Mountain.

We know with the MXY altercation that JC was ready to kill him on sight for using modao (”Do you have any last words?”/“Break his legs? Haven’t I told you? If you see this sort of evil and crooked practice, kill the cultivator and feed him to your dogs!”). After LWJ intercepts, we have this exchange showing JC being impolite to a degree that prompts LJY to call him out for it, only bringing more disrespect for the Lans from JC:

He raised one brow and spoke, “Hanguang-Jun, you sure live up to your reputation of ‘being wherever the chaos is’. So, you had time to come to this remote area today?” [..] Right now, Jiang Cheng really didn’t seem too polite as he said the words in such a tone. Even the juniors who came following Lan Wangji did not seem comfortable hearing it.

Lan Jingyi spoke straightforwardly, “Isn’t Jiang-zongzhu here as well?”

Jiang Cheng replied grimly, “Tsk, do you really think that you should butt in when your seniors are conversing? The GusuLan Sect has always been known for its respectful conduct. Is this really how it teaches its disciples?”

It is imo more true to say that, due to LWJ’s higher and respected position in society, JC is not able to use his usual means of responding to someone challenging his decisions and thus making him lose face.This is again something we see during this altercation.

LWJ silences JL after he dismisses his mistreatment of other cultivators with the deity-binding nets. LWJ destroys the entirety of the diety-binding nets JC and JL were using to give JL an advantage over the other cultivators competing, something they were only able to do because of the Jiang and Jin sects considerable power and wealth. Is it daring of LWJ? Sure. Would he be able to do so without consequences if he was someone else? Probably unlikely, especially when we’re talking about JC. But is that ‘getting away’ with something? It’s literally the opposite scenario: LWJ is using his own status and capital to make it so that JL (and JC) are not getting away with what they are doing (although there are, in actuality, no consequences for their behaviours; they are just forced to give up on JL’s unfair advantages. Hell, LWJ even offers to pay for the nets he destroys, which I guess can also be taken as a baller move). What’s more, the novel even takes the time to point out that, if LWJ were not such a strong cultivator, JC might have pushed aside the risks of offending LXC and physically confronted him (let’s appreciate how this also serves as well-integrated exposition for their weapons).

Jin Ling’s grim expression was exactly the same as his uncle’s, “What can I do? It was their own fault for stepping into the traps. I’ll solve everything after I finish capturing the prey.”

Lan Wangji frowned. Jin Ling was about to speak again, but he suddenly realized that, shockingly, he could neither open his mouth nor make any sounds.

[...]

The man spoke in a low voice, “Not long ago, a blue sword flew over and destroyed the deity-binding nets that you had set up.”

Jiang Cheng glanced at Lan Wangji harshly, his displease plastered all over his face, “How many were broken?”

[...]

Although four hundred deity-binding nets were a whopping price, it wasn’t too much for the YunmengJiang Sect. Nonetheless, losing the nets were a small matter, but losing face was not. With Lan Wangji’s actions, Jiang Cheng felt a whirlpool of anger at the bottom of his heart, rising higher by every second. He narrowed his eyes, his left hand casually stroking the ring on his right hand’s index finger.

[...]

However, after stroking it for a while, Jiang Cheng compelled himself to restrain his hostility.

Although he was displeased, as the leader of a sect, he needed to take more things into consideration, which meant that he couldn’t be as impulsive as Jin Ling. After the fall of the QingheNie Sect, among the Three Great Sects, the LanlingJin Sect and the GusuLan Sect were quite close due to the personal relationship between the two leaders. By leading the YunmengJiang Sect alone, he was already in an isolated situation among the three. Hanguang-Jun, or Lan Wangji, was quite a prestigious cultivator, while his elder brother Zewu-Jun, or Lan Xichen, was the leader of the GusuLan Sect. The two brothers had always been on good terms with each other. It was best to not openly dispute with Lan Wangji.

Also, Jiang Cheng’s sword, “Sandu (三毒, Sāndú),” had never made actual contact with Lan Wangji’s sword, “Bichen,” and it was not yet decidable whose hands would the deer die on. Although he owned the powerful ring, “Zidian (紫电 Zǐdiàn),” a family heirloom of his, Lan Wangji’s guqin, “Wangji”, was also known for its abilities. The thing that Jiang Cheng hated the most was to be disadvantageous during a fight. Without complete confidence in his success, he would not consider fighting with Lan Wangji.

Now if it is about Su She, again what does LWJ truly do?

He silences him in the Demon-slaughtering cave? Although we’d be hard-pressed to believe LWJ respects Su She after what he’s seen him do in the Xuanwu Cave, the guy is literally trying to get everyone there killed and being a smartass to WWX while at it. And if it had been extremely disrespectful of him, LQR could have lifted the spell--something once again that the novel points out. When it dissolves into a game of calling out between the MolingSu sect and the GusuLan sect, LWJ does not say anything, even if, as LJY points out, Su She was imitating him. It’s only when WWX starts going that LWJ takes part by acquiescing to the truths WWX lays out (which are, yes, damning for the Su She and the MolingSu sect). But again, there are layers to what WWX is doing: he’s not only trying to expose what is going on, but anger Su She into revealing he still has his spiritual powers as proof of what he has worked out. So while WWX and LWJ are being by some measures disrespectful, there is a point to how they are going at it.

Touching his chin, he grinned, “Well I was worried that you’d get mad if I asked him too many things in front of you, wasn’t I? But since you’ve told me to ask him already, I’ll go ahead and ask. Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji, “Mn.”

Wei Wuxian, “The MolingSu Sect was a sect that branched off from the GusuLan Sect, right?”

Lan Wangji, “Mn.”

Wei Wuxian, “Although it branched off, the MolingSu Sect’s techniques still used the GusuLan Sect’s techniques ‘as reference’, right?”

Lan Wangji, “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian, “One of the GusuLan Sect’s techniques, the Sound of Vanquish, has the effect of exorcising evil. Amongst them, the seven-stringed guqin was the most powerful, and so there is the greatest number of people who cultivate through the guqin. The MolingSu Sect did the same, and the guqin is the most common in their sect as well, is that correct?”

Lan Wangji, “That is correct.”

Wei Wuxian, “Although the MolingSu Sect’s leader left the GusuLan Sect with knowledge of its techniques when he founded his own sect, is own guqin skills weren’t anything special, and the disciples he taught often make many mistakes too, right?”

Lan Wangji answered with honesty, “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji went on back and forth, speaking as though nobody was around. More and more people realized that they weren’t only mocking Su She, but rather taking something apart. Thus, they began to listen more carefully.

Next, Wei Wuxian slowed down, “… And that means, even when a section of the battle melodies that the MolingSu Sect played when killing corpses on Mass Grave Hill was wrong, the GusuLan Sect wouldn’t find it unusual, and only think that they made a mistake because of their inferior techniques and remembered the sheet music wrong, not taking the time to notice whether it was an accidental mistake or a mistake on purpose. Is this the case?”

Hearing the last question, Su She’s pupils shrunk. The hand he placed on the hilt of his sword was suddenly lined with veins. The blade of the sword was already half-an-inch unsheathed. On the other hand, Lan Wangji lifted his eyes at the same time. Both Wei Wuxian and he saw the sense of understanding in each other’s eyes.

He stated one word at a time, “This is the case.”

Su She unsheathed his sword with a clang. Wei Wuxian moved the blade of the sword to the side with two fingers and smiled, “What are you doing? Don’t forget. You’ve lost all your spiritual powers. Would threatening me like this do anything?”

Sword raised in his hand, Su She could neither attack nor put it down. He clenched his teeth, “Aiming at me for so long—just what are you trying to imply?”

As much as we love to talk about LWJ’s hidden sass and pettiness, he does not seem to ever be disrespectful without a reason, and it’s usually in the process of standing up for others. Reading his character as an illustration of a man in a position of privilege and power getting away with things is a little bit of a reach--particularly when JC is literally right there.

#mdzs meta #lwj #jc #mdzs

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fanmoose12 · 3 years

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A scenario about an unlikely meeting between the three men, Moblit, Onyankopon and Flegel in a bar one day please. And how they realized that they share something in common: the fondness and affection towards a certain survey corps leader. After getting drunk, they start rumbling about how dense Hange is when it come to romance and how she unknowingly rejects their attempts to ask her for a date (for valentines). This three men end up declairing how much they care and treasure Hange.

Unknowingly for this trio, on the counter sits Levi and also... Hange. Who heard everything. Levi decided to be honest with his feelings as well. He also made sure Hange realized that he is her number one fan.

In Moblit's personal opinion, there was no better way to spend an evening after an exhausting week than in a small pub with a pint or two of cold, delicious beer.

As he took his first sip of the evening, swallowing the bitter liquid, his lips curled into a happy smile.

Truly... there was nothing better than this.

His bliss, unfortunately, was short-lived. He was only finishing his first pint, his eyes already looking for a waitress to ask for another, when a man with red slicked back hair joined him at the table. His appearance seemed overly familiar, but in the semi-darkness of the pub, discerning his features proved to be quite a task.

"Hey man," he clasped Moblit on the back, almost knocking the air out of him. "I know you, don't I? You're the guy who always follows Hange, right?" Ah, now, Moblit remembered where he had seen this man. "M-mobit."

"Moblit," he corrected. "Yes, that's me."

"I knew you were familiar!" the man guffawed. "Don't know if you remember me but I'm-"

"Flegel Reeves," Moblit smiled forcefully. He looked at the man closely, studying his face. He didn't seem that drunk. Then what did he want from him?

"You remember me! Sorry for forgetting your name," Flegel rubbed his neck, looking away in shame.

"It's okay," Moblit assured him. "We weren't properly introduced after all."

"Yeah, it was hell of a situation. Besides, with Hange-san around-"

"It's easy to get lost in her shadow," Moblit nodded.

"Hey!" Flegel protested. "I wasn't trying to-"

"Like I said, it's okay," Moblit's smile became warmer, as he saw how genuinely distressed Flegel was. "Do you need something? Is police causing you problems again?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I just- well, wanted to have some company? You know, beer tastes better if you drink it with a friend."

Friends? They weren't friends, they've met only a couple of times and barely exchanged more than a few words with each other. But, maybe, there was some truth to Flegel's words. Spending his Friday night, getting drunk in a pub all by himself sounded a little too depressing even for Moblit.

"So?" Flegel looked at him hopefully. "You don't mind keeping me company? If you don't, then the next round on me."

Well, that made all of Moblit's doubts disappear without a trace.

"Let's get the night started," he replied, earning a wide grin from Flegel.

***

"Can I sit here?" a couple of minutes later, Moblit and Flegel were approached by an unfamiliar, dark-skinned man. "I wouldn't like to impose, but all other tables are taken."

"Join ours then, friend!" Flegel exclaimed, slumming his hand on the table. "The more the merrier! I'm Flegel!"

"Moblit," he smiled, shaking the hand of the newcomer.

"Onyakopon," the man returned the smile easily, showing small dimples. Moblit frowned slightly, muttering the name under his breath. He'd heard it somewhere, he was sure. "Again, sorry for the intrusion."

"Don't you worry!" Flegel clasped his back and Onyakopon winced ever so slightly. Moblit gave him a sympathetic look. He knew from experience just how strong Flegel's arm was. "Just drink and relax!"

"Next round is on him," Moblit whispered to Onyakopon. "So drink as much as you want."

Onyakopon chuckled. "Seems like I've chosen the best table then."

***

"So," Flegel sat with his chin upon his hand, staring at Moblit with slightly unfocused eyes. "How is she doing?"

"She?" Moblit repeated, hiccuping.

"Yes, she. Your boss. Hange-san," his eyes lighted up as he pronounced her name. "How is she?"

"You know Hange-san?" Onyakopon jumped from his place on Moblit's shoulder.

"You know Hange-san?" Moblit and Flegel asked in unison.

"Our paths... crossed a few times. I worked with her, when she was studying abroad."

"I knew your name was familiar!" Moblit cried out triumphantly. "You're Onyakopon, the guy who helped Hange with her thesis!"

"She didn't really need my help..." Onyakopon smiled shyly. "With the exception of those times when she got lost in our campus. But we were good friends back during our collage days. How do you know Hange?"

"She helped me once," Flegel said. "And this guy," he gestured to Moblit. "Is her ever loyal assistant. Where Hange goes, he follows."

"It's not like that at all," Moblit mumbled into his drink.

"You work with Hange?" Onyakopon's eyes widened. "Oh, mate, I envy you so much! She's brilliant, isn't she?"

"She is," Moblit agreed with a soft smile.

"Hange is really one of a kind..." Flegel added, a dreamy look appearing on his face. " I say it warrants a toast!" he lifted his glass, Moblit and Onyakopon following after him. "To Hange!"

"The most extraordinary person I've seen!" Onyakopon declared.

"The kindest and most selfless person I've ever met." Moblit said.

"To Hange!" the three of them cried out together, clicking their glasses.

"We need more beer," Flegel announced, already calling the waitress.

Moblit and Onyakopon nodded in agreement.

***

Two rounds later, Moblit was sitting without a jacket and with two top buttons of his shirt undone. Onyakopon was leaning heavily on him, his tie hanging loosely around his neck. Out of the three of them, Flegel seemed the most sober, still sporting the same satisfied grin.

"Hey, Moblit," he kicked him under the table. "Have you ever- well," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "You know."

"I don't," Moblit shook his head, lifting the glass to his lips.

"Have you ever," Flegel began again, dragging the last word. "Thought about asking Hange out?"

Moblit chocked and then snorted, spluttering his drink all over the table. "What? Of course, not."

"Liar," Onyakopon hummed under his breath.

"I'm not!" Moblit protested, offended.

"What? You really have never thought about it? Never-never?" Flegel gawked. "Not even once? Not even hypothetically?"

Well, Moblit would be a liar if he claimed that he had never thought about it. And he would be a liar if he claimed he hadn't had a crush on Hange. But he knew Hange well enough to know that it was never meant to be.

"Hange-san and romance don't go together," he said, wiping the spot on his shirt he stained with spilled beer.

"Maybe, you're right," Onyakopon rubbed his chin. "I once asked her out to watch the fireworks. What could be more romantic, right?" Moblit and Flegel nodded in agreement. "She spent the whole evening, marvelling at the mechanics of said fireworks. It was interesting, endearing even, but," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I don't think she ever realized it was a date."

Moblit and Flegel squeezed his shoulder in sympathy.

"I gave her flowers once. It was a really nice bouquet, I picked the rarest flowers I could find," Flegel said. "Hange really liked them, her smile was so wide! So pretty too!"

"She does have a pretty smile," Onyakopon agreed softly.

"And beautiful eyes," Moblit added.

"I thought she realised my intentions! She even offered go out for some coffee, I was sure it was a date. But Hange spent the whole time, gushing over the flowers. She gave me a full lecture on the reproductive process of each flower in the bouquet. And after she finished, she left with some short guy with the fiercest glare I've ever seen."

"Short guy?" Moblit stirred. "Levi?"

"Levi! I've heard of him!" Onyakopon nodded enthusiastically. "Hange talked a lot about him. Are they a thing then?"

"Hard to say," Moblit gloomily drunk from his glass. "Like, really, really hard to say. Hange is a bit of a weirdo, but Levi is even more so."

"Oh, tough," Flegel said. "But they look cute together."

"Yeah," Moblit smiled. "They really do."

"To Hange and that Levi fella then?" Onyakopon offered, raising his glass.

"To Hange and Levi!" Moblit and Onyakopon joyfully agreed.

***

Watching Hange hide her face in embarrassment put a smile on Levi's lips. Maybe, he should go and thank these men. Shake their hands, tell them how much he appreciated what they did. It was good to see Hange being flustered for a change.

And it felt good to know she was so adored by those around her. Hange needed all that reassurance and praise. And she more than deserved it.

"Don't you dare say even a single word," she hissed, raising her eyes to glare at him.

"I wasn't going to," Levi shrugged. "But you have lots of admirers, it seems."

"Shut up," Hange grumbled.

At the table at the opposite side of the pub, Onyakopon, Flegel and Moblit raised their glasses for yet another toast about Hange. Hange groaned, as her cheeks became even redder than before. Levi couldn't resist a chuckle.

"Maybe, I should go to them? Tell them that I've heard everything?"

"Don't," Levi shook his head, drinking from his glass. "You'll embarrass them to death."

"Speaking from experience?" Hange raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"What are you getting at, four-eyes? I never feel embarrassed," Levi easily retorted.

"Sure," Hange sang playfully. "Say," she elbowed him in the side. Levi didn't like the knowing look in her eyes one bit. "Are Moblit, Onyakopon and Flegel my only admirers?"

"Of course, not," he replied without missing a beat. Two could play this game. "I think Armin and Kirshtein are your secret fans as well. Probably the whole bunch of those brats adore you."

"Are they the only ones?" she repeated her question.

"Erwin and Mike like you too..."

"And?" Hange pressed. Levi was ready to crack, she could feel it.

Levi turned his face away, crossing hands on his chest. She was really going to make him spell it out, huh? What a bother.

"I like you too actually."

"Oh?" Hange kept her face neutral, feigning disinterest. "You do?"

"Yeah, even more than those losers over there."

"Really?"

"Uh huh, you can even say... I'm your number one fan."

"Levi!" Hange jumped onto him, almost knocking him off the chair. He caught himself at the last moment and already opened his mouth to scold her, but Hange kissed his cheek in that moment and all coherent thoughts left his head.

"I'm your number one fan too, shorty," she confessed, ruffling his hair. "Well, maybe after Eren," she added with a chuckle.

Levi pushed her off himself with an annoyed grunt. What a way to ruin the moment, he thought darkly. He was almost ready to confess.

Well, there would always be another time, he guessed.

He just had to hurry, so no members of Hange's fan club would beat him to it.

#anon i really really want to kiss you because this prompt lifted my mood after long and exhausting studying session #i had so much fun writing it!#and yeah onyakopon is british in this one #also he and moblit went home together that night lmao #levihan #onyakopon #moblit berner #flegel

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tazwren · 3 years

Text

My two cents on the devolution of fandom spaces...

As a former mod of a fandom space and a woman of colour, I do not feel safe.

Seeing what has been done to so many in this fandom, by a particular group of white American women, in the name of moral policing is both abhorrent and demoralising. As it also is to repeatedly see the same narrative being shoved at everyone as the gospel truth.

A narrative that very conveniently either becomes about fic or has nothing to do with fic, depending on how people want to swing things. A narrative that will accuse a person of Jewish heritage of anti-Semitism, a person of colour of racism, a practising Muslim of being an Islamaphobe. A narrative that will define for you and me and all of us comprising this myriad of multitudes in the world what generational or personal trauma includes and what induces the same.

Those of you who know me, know what I’ve been dealing with the past few days & why I haven’t spoken up before now. Before I logged out a couple days ago, I saw what looked like more of the usual nonsense by the same group of people I’ve kept my distance from once their true colours were revealed. What I didn’t expect is that they would think themselves so above the norms of human decency and accountability that they would go after not one but two women of colour this time around in their rabidity. And many others who spoke up, as it turns out.

It hurts to see what these women, that I know of, have had to endure and to see the passivity of the community, save for a few voices, in sitting back and letting the circus rampage through town. It hurt when I was at the receiving end of it and it hurts now.

Why? Because it shows me a microcosm of the world that I don’t really relate to, that makes no sense to me with the values I was brought up with, and which reduces basic human decency to a commodity to be trampled upon and for you to be seen as weak for having. Because people who willingly laud you for your art / writing / wit, meet you with effusive claims of love and affection and friendship, who have no qualms in taking your help when it suits them, will throw you under the bus and let the wolves ravage you when it doesn't.

Before I get into that, let me talk a little bit about what has transpired over the past few days to a week, and what has been systemically taking place over perhaps the past year in this fandom.

One thing is that everyone who makes a statement about anything suddenly has people in their mentions demanding they show what gives them the right to hold that particular opinion. A critical thing people forget about fandom is that it is a place where people hide their identity for a variety of reasons, all valid, and this approach to fiction and conversations where everyone has to reveal every part of their past and identity as a means of establishing their "credentials" in order to present their views comes in direct contradiction with how fandoms operate. It violates people's rights to privacy.

The other is that there has been an increase in the voices that purportedly stand up to “speak for” the marginalised, the abused, those discriminated against and those who belong to minorities who “need to be protected / kept safe”. An admirable sentiment, to be sure. If it weren’t for the fact that none of these groups of people needed saving, speaking for or the protection of this particular group of voices.

Voices who only want to define and use these people as "model victims" to hurt other white women and establish their supremacy over both them and other POC. Voices that will present their "truth" as they see fit and sans context or present you with screenshots of snippets of conversations held in supposedly secure spaces that they have no qualms in violating in the interest of the "greater good" and claim offense / silencing if the misdemeanour is pointed out or action is taken against them, Voices that will conveniently categorize you as a "token POC" or "white adjacent" when you do not support or align with their narrative. Voices that belong to a predominantly white American group of women, whose real agenda, as is evidenced by their modus operandi, has nothing to do with real altruism or a drive for justice or indeed to right wrongs.

No, their agenda is purely power.

To hold sway over groups of followers, to shepherd them as though they are sheep who cannot think for themselves, and to set themselves up as white saviours who call out those who step out of line, or are deemed to be problematic and toxic and unsafe. To be the owners of the only "safe spaces" in fandom and to drive other groups and spaces to be boycotted or worse.

Now, I've long wondered, who indeed are these women to decide that for anyone? In a world comprising multiple cultures, religions, groups, subgroups, genders and which contains multitudes, who are these women and what gives them the right to foist their puritanical standards on everyone, very conveniently disguised as concern for the moral well being of everyone and the consumption, of all things, of fiction?

Certainly, there are many things in this world that people regard with justifiably equal dislike / horror / sadness. At the same time, there is much that is not shared, that is particular to a culture and to a person’s background. There is a multitude of perspectives that make the whole. And the white women of the United States of America have not cornered the market on what those are, or indeed even own any curatorship or censorship of the same. They cannot, because each person’s culture and background and joy and trauma is their own, as are their ways of dealing with it all.

That being said, let’s talk about their pack behaviour and the devolution I’ve witnessed on social media as basic human decency is bartered for clout.

I’m all for standing up for someone who doesn’t have a voice or a platform, or maybe afraid of repercussions to voice dissent. I’m all for being there for our fellow human beings as they face struggles of often unconscionable and unfathomable proportions. I’m all for holding people accountable for their negative behaviours as they impact the larger community.

What I am unequivocally NOT for is treating such situations as an opportunity to preach, to virtue-signal, to shame and to put on blast the alleged wrong-doers. I say alleged because that’s what most accusations are on these platforms—allegations to do with things that disturb our sense of balance or make us wrinkle our noses or that we deem bad, and therefore make the accused deserving of the full force of the community’s misbehaviour and censure.

I ask you if you were found guilty of a crime in real life—you know, the one away from your phones and keyboards—would you not have an opportunity to retain a lawyer, to plead your case in a court of law, to acquit yourself? Or, if found guilty, would you not have the opportunity for correction and rehabilitation? Yes, you say? (If you say no, then that explains the spate of state-perpetuated injustices across the USA, but that is a different matter).

Why then are people treated so abhorrently in this court of public opinion? What gives you, me, any one of us the right to judge people so vilely and with a metaphorical gun to their heads? What gives anyone the right to say you better agree with everything I say, retract everything you said and grovel for it or we will eviscerate you in public, shame you, force you to change or delete the content that offends us and still ostracise you and in some cases even threaten you with bodily harm or death, or doxx you?

Why is there no grace in how people are approached or dealt with? Whatever happened to allowing people to learn from their mistakes, where applicable, or hearing them out and giving them a chance to explain their side of something we may not fully understand?

Why is there no accountability for such behaviour on the part of the accusers?

What makes the rest of you sit back and allow this to happen? What makes you think this is in any shape or form okay to watch? Today, it is a virtual stranger at the receiving end, one you can distance yourself from quite conveniently saying Oh, she just mods a group I am in, or I only read their fics a couple times or I only followed them for their art or jokes or whatever flavour of excuse you choose. Tomorrow, it will be one of your own - or it may very well be you. And you'd better hope there's someone left to speak up for you.

The irony is you will have allowed it to happen by letting the wolf in the fold. By letting these white women manipulate you, and the community you claim to be a part of, so unapologetically, so maliciously and so unashamedly that before you can do anything about it the cancer has taken hold.

If this was happening in the world outside of social media, they would have to follow due process, to present real evidence based on facts (not based on emotions, rumours or perceptions) and would have to allow the person they are accusing to present a counter-argument, to defend themselves or be defended. Failure to do so is a miscarriage of justice and, depending on whether this is a professional or legal proceeding, they would either seriously risk their jobs or have the case thrown out of court. If not face action themselves for attempting to derail the process of justice.

Why then are they permitted to range so freely through the landscape of fandom, snarling and biting at who they please, or who displeases them?

I have no shame in saying I was at the receiving end of their behaviour for defending a friend they put on blast and I will tell you right here and now, I am a woman of colour who feels unsafe and attacked by these so-called self-appointed white saviours of your social media experience, these so-called upholders of the common morality—whatever that means—who will fight for you the evils of problematic and toxic writers who dare to have an opinion not aligned with theirs and who do not bow to their clout. Not that they care, so long as they can ignore this fact since it doesn’t fit their narrative. So long as they can ignore what has just been done to so many people in the name of cleansing the fandom.

If any one of these women were truly interested in alleviating the troubles and pains of the discriminated, the marginalized, the trauma-affected, I invite them to please come roll their sleeves up and help in the multitudes of troubles that wrack this world, not just in the backyards of their minds. My country is amidst a struggle for the basics of human life in this horrific pandemic and, prior to that, for basic constitutional rights for religious minorities. Do not patronize me and lecture me on trauma and racism and discrimination. Do not marginalise me in your attempt to pontificate and set your pearl-clutching puritanical selves above the rest, or assuage your white guilt.

A largely American audience or fanbase in this fandom is purely a function of access and interest—other cultures have vast followings for things you couldn't begin to fathom—and it doesn't mean you are entitled in any shape or form to be spokespeople for the rest of the world. We have no interest in being colonized again by white oppressors.

If you disagree with what I have said, I congratulate you on being a part of their coterie and wish you much joy in being the sheep in their fold. Kindly unfollow or block me on the way off of this post.

#fandom #fandom culture #bullying #gaslighting #gatekeeping #minorities #people of colour #real talk #toxic people #problematic behaviour #problematic authors #problematic fiction #fanfic #reylo #reylo fanfic book club #reylo fic recs #trauma #safety #accountability

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alatismeni-theitsa · 3 years

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(1/2) I know this is some controversial topic and that you sometimes cover US politics, but what do you think the american left needs to improve to reach to more people and be taken more seriously?; It's unbelievable that in the very 2021, apolitical folk are still fallin into the whole "the leftist are a bunch of crazies" narrative, we may do some pushback the last three years against conservative politics.

(2/2) But it's still not enough; on your personal opinion, what fundamental core value needs to be changed to engage to these apolitical people and that leftist want politics to improve the quality of life of the population without being labeled as a "petulant, whiney children" There's some greek-flavored advice that we can apply to our discourse? Thanks in advance :)

========================== END OF ASK ======================

Ooooo… Great question! And by “great” I mean “Do you want me to go down in flames and get cut a thousand times with pitchforks??” xD But it’s very interesting so I will answer it! And you will be subjected to an essay of 3.200 words 😘💅 (I want to be meticulous, don’t come at me)

Please assume the tone is light and conversational. I am not in a very serious or dramatic mood, and I don’t want to estrange any group by assuming the role of an all knowing tutor or someone who always has the high moral ground. This is just 1am blabbering.

I am not against leftists. On the contrary, I know their side so well that I think I have a solid opinion on its flaws. (I have friends who are left- okay I’ll stop xD) Needless to say, the right side also has flaws and the two sides often share flaws. But right now, we are only talking about the leftists. And of course, #notallleftists xD I recognize that leftists are ordinary and diverse people with empathy and capability of critical thinking and problem-solving (Did I mention I have friends who ar--) Jokes aside, I think my following is quite left leaning and I am not bashing them here. I am criticizing the movement as a whole and trying to see where it can be improved.

***** Anyways, I will generalize the bad traits for the sake of everyone’s time, it’s what I am saying! So, when I say “they” I will probably mean “some” or “the bad apples” etc. *****

To begin, US leftists don’t want to, but they are accidentally imperialist xD Unfortunately, they don't know much about other countries, and they don’t usually have knowledge of countries they are talking about if they don’t have an immediate connection to them. Not knowing things is fine, but when people on this site are like “ugh Americans” this points to an ignorance and a sort of entitlement that doesn’t occur this often in other countries. My internet cycle is overwhelmingly leftist and yet I continue seeing willingness for ignorance all around - and when I check it’s not by conservatives.

Leftists think their (social and not) politics apply to every country and culture, that people in different countries classify themselves as they do in the US. And when people from those countries talk about their problems, there is always an American that wants to give input based on American politics, and without knowing the situation in this other country they want to talk about. Ironically, the last one is a behavior of conservative politicians. Conservative politicians and citizens sometimes think it’s fine to intervene in other countries for “the greater good”. Well, leftists do the same but on the internet. It stalls conversation and makes it messy and force foreigners to apply to American standards.

Because leftists don't understand social differences between countries, they project their own politics, and that can make them seem obsessed with skin color and blind to cultural diversity. They act like only Americans or certain countries have every lived through colonialism and suffered slaughter and slavery. (Because they don’t feel the need to study and learn further.) To an American that might not be the case, but when Americans converse with foreigners about foreign issues, they seem to have a blind spot.

They act as if only white, cis, straight people can be perpetrators of imperialism. Booyyy I have news xD Yes, of course white, cis, straight people can be perpetrators of imperialism, but the attitude that they are the first to blame, always, it’s faulted. I have many experiences, but let’s start with a very simple one, of an Indian American young woman who thought only a lota can clean you with water in the toilet, and that Europeans haven’t heard of bidets or any other means of cleanliness (or that they have the bathtub RIGHT THERE xD) One of the highlights was a Black woman insisting “Medusa was Black because my grandma told me” despite what Greeks were telling her.

Another thing that stuck with me was the case of a Greek who wanted to write about the people who happen to be a minority in the US (you would call them poc I guess). Many people from those countries were enthusiastic about the project and aided the writer as much as they could, sharing culture and realizing how many things in common they had. But it was from same populations in the US that the writer found people who blamed them for daring to write something outside of their culture. (To explain, most US Americans were fine, but only in the US were some who were hostile). Or, I have seen Chinese Americans being offended by a certain thing (I think it was something about fashion) saying “this is an offense to Chinese culture” meanwhile Chinese people from everywhere else in the world (99% of Chinese, I’d say) said “I don’t understand… this is fine!”

Many US American poc categorize all light skinned Caucasians of the world as White Americans and the rest are the “cultured” Black or Brown people. US Americans are now learning that Slavic cultures exist and it’s… something else to watch leftists realizing light skinned people can have great embroidery and they are not actually stealing Mexican traditional clothing xD (reference to an obscure “calling out” comment on tik tok).

I don’t specifically target US poc here, I am just mentioning that everyone conveniently forgets them as if they are untouchable and never said anything ignorant, while they are as active on social media causes as other Americans. In fact, if most poc are aligned to a side, that would be the Left. They are a very big part of the progressive movement – and that’s why I am giving so much space here for them – but then it seems they can’t have a share of the “bad” things of the leftist movement, only the good. Which is humanly impossible, to be always correct.

That’s one of the problems of leftism, that in a way pardons certain minorities and by doing that it not only lets the problematic bubbles grow but also infantilizes those minorities because it passes the message that “they can never do anything wrong”. While background matters when having an opinion, I see that skin-color goes ridiculously above opinion on these matters, which is not very egalitarian. When I argue with a person, the last thing I see is the person’s skin color. When someone says “ancient Greeks were actually a Black nation ad then they became White” I don’t care how this person looks like. No matter your skin color, you must take responsibility for the misinformation you are spreading. I won’t assume that because someone is a poc that they can’t study and learn more about the matter of discussion.

So… the “issue” doesn’t come from being white, cis, straight etc but from being raised as a US American. I don’t imply by any means that being a US American is bad. The last thing I want to do here is enforce guilt. (If you are feeling guilty already I must be mistaken in my wording so I am sorry for that). I am talking about certain beliefs that come with raised as a US American. Similarly, many beliefs a Greek can have are because of their environment. Everyone is affected by their background in one way or another.

American leftists believe that even the piss poor British farmers benefited from colonialism – and still benefit perhaps on a systemic scale. So, with the same logic, even the lowest layers of the US American society benefit from imperialism and war crimes overseas. (Truth is the quality of living in the US is great and extremely progressive compared to most of the world, because of the US’ politics. I had analyzed this in a previous post). But American leftists never mention that when it comes to THEIR case, because it doesn’t give them an advantage.

To tie it up with how American leftists see the world, there is youtuber I like, who is a US American woc and one time she said “My country is bombing Brown people” in an annoyed tone and it just sounded so offensive I closed the video. It’s obvious the youtuber doesn’t support the bombing, but it was just the phrasing which left a bitter taste in my mouth the whole day. It was the fact that 1) she could make a statement in an annoyed/joking tone 2) people in those countries don’t identify as “Brown” outside the US (and you are talking about them now) 3) your country is indeed bombing them so maybe at least categorize them as they wish?? They have a certain ethnicity, so mention that and stop categorizing them like dog breeds! They already have the bombs, do you want them to hear Americans categorize them like that?

Moreover, many US leftists think they care about other countries while, in actuality, they don’t. They just want to make other countries have the exact progressive US politics - because that’s the only “correct” political system they know. That shows even in kind of superficial matters. In a movie about Greek mythology, they will make sure there is an American Arab, an American Black person, an American East Asian person etc (which would be a cast that would reflect American diversity, not Mediterranean) and are hesitant to cast Greeks or ask Greeks how the portrayal of the story and figures could be better and respecting.

Another thing, they take everything too personally. They think success and failure of a movement is highly dependent on them as an individual. It’s difficult for them to approach a harsh past or present situation in a levelheaded manner because they don’t realize this situation has been universal. So, they feel a special kind of guilt and that makes them over apologetic but also overzealous (like a righteous self-flogging zealot) and that is what drives people away. They combine that behavior with ignorance about the rest of the world, and you can see why a non-US American might want to keep their distance.

I had some Americans apologizing to me because their ancestors did something to Greeks and just… don’t. I know you have the best intentions, but it makes everyone – even me – feel bad. There is no need for apologizing because 1) you and your family did nothing wrong 2) it was centuries ago 3) this bad shit happens/happened literally everywhere. You might as well apologize for your people knowing how to cook. It’s FINE, really, it’s FINE. For instance, do you think I have a grudge on YOUR people running a slave trade six centuries ago while there was dozen active slavetrades in the area, and while Greeks of the Byzantine empire probably bought slaves some decades before they were sold to slavery themselves? Do you see what a mess this is? Not only it doesn’t fix anything, but you also put unnecessary weight on yourself, as an individual. It’s fine to be aware and trying to fix past mistakes - if it’s possible - but there is a certain delicate process that must be followed. Not… whatever this is.

To continue on the extreme individualism, leftists think it's the end of the world if they have done or said something controversial (and that's also because they have cultivated a culture where any small transgression is a potential danger to the whole society :p aka "the left eats itself"). Around them people feel they must tread on eggshells just in case they phrase a thing wrong or post something that could be linked to a person the Left doesn't like.

The left is also on the extremes, so I have to put 1000 disclaimers every time I say something. (I guarantee that the example with the Chinese people will be translated by some Americans like “Theitsa promotes Asian hate!!”) Do you know who doesn't annoy me if I don't put 1000 disclaimers? Certainly not Conservatives. I had more harassment from leftists than I had from actual nazis, even though my blog is not conservative or (god forbid!!) supportive of nazism or any type of supremacy. Even nazis completely understand my beliefs before they send hate. (It might be odd but I never had one not understanding my point xD) But the leftists who sent hate misinterpret stuff, or they don’t bother reading actual posts. The funny thing is that I usually agree with these progressives in 99% of issues but they don’t care asking or learning, they just decide our morals are opposite. I mean they don’t have to like me, but many leftists don’t even read the basics.

On top of that, leftists rarely want to have a conversation with a conservative. I don't say go and AGREE with a conservative, I say just talk. (see? I feel the need to clarify here because many leftists might say “Theitsa wants us to go and AGREE with conservatives! Does Theitsa want us to become nazis and homophobes???”) How does one feel they have to be sooo righteous and then cauterize every member of society who disagrees with them? Why do leftists rarely want to have a conversation? Some people were ready to attack me for referencing a meme which referenced Steven Crowder, as if that shows I am his supporter 😩 (Guilty by association is strong on the leftist side and it’s very reminiscent of authoritarian tactics, another thing that needs to be improved, to my opinion.)

I don’t support Crowder (I know Crowder has done awful stuff) but I shouldn’t be scared to admit I like the “change my mind” episodes. (Flash news, leftists, you might like a part from a person’s work and not 100% support that person!) I like the episodes because both sides are heard, the conversation is civil (for the most part xD) and I can see the thought process of the two speakers as they explain their worries and what solutions are out there.

Most of all, in those episodes I see how BOTH sides CARE about the SAME problems, it’s just the perspectives that differ. And those conversations highlight the issues the left hasn’t studied very well, so it helps the leftists understand what they need to learn in order to better society. But where the “immaturity“ of the leftist side can show is in the unwillingness to approach the “opponent“ as a human just like them.

(They might instead prefer to call Mexicans white supremacists and claim that “whiteness” has no color because quite a few poc voted Republican, as some leftist news sources have stated)

What is more, is it just my idea or conservatives understand leftists better than leftists understand conservatives? Of course both sides jokes about the other one but I am talking about the serious talks. Leftists just describe conservatives as horrible people who want all minorities to perish and we must not talk to them while, surprisingly, the conservatives are the ones who stereotype less the opposite side. (I am talking about the normal, moderate people). From what I have seen, most simple people who are conservatives DON’T want the US’ ethnic and sexual minorities to perish. They are worried about problems they don’t have a good understanding about. And the only way to make them understand it’s to… talk to them, show them what good the left to offer.

Some leftists think conversation is “emotional labor” but 1) that applies to actual labor as in… jobs, so stop invalidating doctors, nurses, teachers etc, 2) yeah, sorry, sometimes things get difficult and you have to explain your side. (As non US-Americans endlessly have to do for US-Americans). That was, is and will be life until the sun swallows us all. You can’t be THAT militant on social media with 100 posts per day and remembering 50 different campaigns about social issues but the moment someone genuinely asks you for directions on your side you shut them off with “why do you demand labor from me? Do your own research” (hint: most likely they have done their research, but they are stuck, and you don’t help them like this).

If you are very tired and don’t want to explain (as it is your right) you can be polite about it and not blame the individual about their circumstances when they are trying to learn. If you DO want to explain but you get tired, be more organized. Have posts and F.A.Q.s ready, or send them to someone else (a friend, a blog, a youtube channel, an article, whatever). Instead of leftists arguing their positions, sometimes they are like “Do more research and realize I am right.” Yyyeah the other person is not gonna do that – especially because you haven’t pointed them anywhere or supported your position with arguments. Moreover, leftists can have the attitude of “I stand for PROGRESS, how can I ever be wrong??” Weeell things are not black and white and me, you, everyone has the potential to not have a not that beneficial to society position at some issues no matter where we stand on the political compass.

For the “petty whiny children” thing, I believe a lot of people might think that because the youth is usually making noise about progressive issues on social media. It’s true that oftentimes in social media discussions their emotions get the best of them (it’s happened to everyone) but combined with the lack of life experience they may have about the world, the argument sounds silly. (I heard one leftist university student say that the US shouldn’t have borders because borders are bad but then they realized they don’t want people to come and go as they please in the US, so she said there should be SNIPERS in the borders to shot everyone who tries to get in…….)

And, as I mentioned, the leftists are very quick to cancel and attack for the slightest transgression so people prefer to deal with the conservatives who can, at least, take a slight misstep, than meddling with people who are going to cancel them for doing or not doing a small, insignificant, but not ‘woke enough’ thing. Leftists are constantly checking each other to see if they are doing better and better (even in silly issues) and that can be intimidating to someone who is new to politics.

Some leftists get REALLY turned on by righteousness (Frollo villain style) and instead of trying to unite the society, they aim to divide it further. They don’t want to create bridges but burn them and find themselves on the “right side“ of morals.

And, last but not least, they don’t realize leftist propaganda is a thing. Malicious people are EVERYWHERE and they don’t just magically avoid the left. Leftists are not automatically super virtuous people. There are some manipulators and bullies around, so one has to be cautious even with leftist sources. (Cross-examine stuff, always. You might have the best intentions but accidentally share something nonfactual because you trusted a source).

Ok that was all, I think. To anyone who comments, PLEASE keep the tones down, have a conversation, take it slow, remember it doesn’t help us being hateful towards each other. (And causing serious friction wasn’t the purpose of this post). Oh, and if you need a clarification on something I said, before gossiping with your friends about how awful I am, do me the courtesy of first asking me what I meant xD

#answered #leftism #leftist #us politics #progressivism #progressive #long post

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athenril-of-kirkwall · 3 years

Note

"OC telling LI about their past" with a pairing of your choice for DWC? :D

Here you go, enjoy! Hopefully!

Solavellan, “Reminisces and Fables” (AO3)

Rivka stood over the map in the meeting room, with all its little counters and symbols, in particular the two which were lain over Redcliffe Castle, and the other on Therinfal Redoubt. As she looked from one to the other, deciding which course of action to take as concerned closing the Breach, she felt her fingertips stroke the long scar running down her temple, ending shortly above her right eyebrow.

So deeply engrossed in thought was she that she hadn’t heard Solas walk in, only noticing his presence when he spoke.

“Forgive me for interrupting,” he said, “But you appear as though you might need some advice, or simply to talk about your impending decision.”

“Solas,” she said warmly, looking up to greet him, “I suppose I do. Incidentally, just how long have you been standing there, watching me stare at tokens?”

“Not very,” he answered, “Merely long enough to note your tic.”

“My tic?”, Rivka asked.

“Merely that whenever you are deep in thought, you touch your right temple, and when the problem is of a specific nature, you run your finger along it,” he explained.

Rivka crossed her arms, asking, “Interesting. How often do you look at my right temple and my fingertips, Solas?”

Some colour rising in his cheeks, he defended himself, saying, “Only…often enough to notice that it is a habit of yours. May I venture a guess, seeing as that is hardly a fresh one ascribable to your encounter with the Breach, or our exploits since then?”

“You hardly need to, Solas,” Rivka said. “I must’ve forgotten who I told it to before, but I simply fell on a riverbank whilst gathering herbs one day—”

Solas shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. “A just-so story, and one that pins no responsibility onto anybody except your own childish clumsiness. If you’d allow me to give my opinion…”

Her eyes flashing with anger, Rivka turned to fully face Solas and closed the distance with him, spitting, “I beg your pardon?”

“Its origin is one of your most formative memories, Rivka,” he explained, “Which guides your thoughts so strongly that I could not help but catch glimpses in your restless sleep those few days after your recovery from the initial attempt to close the Breach.”

“You dare—”

“I did not wish to pry, but I could not simply stand here and accept the sanitised version of your story,” Solas said, standing firm. “I can guess from how you touch your temple whenever Ser Rutherford enters your vision or when you consider even the possibility of going to Therinfal Redoubt, or you might wish to save some time by clarifying its meaning.”

Her heart still thundering with rage, Rivka collected herself with several deep breaths, before saying, “Fine. It seems to me that keeping secrets from you is a pointless exercise. Just know that this anecdote has never travelled beyond my clan before.”

“I understand, and I apologise for asking you this so forcefully. I merely thought that vocalising your thoughts might help you resolve your current dilemma.”

Sighing, Rivka sat back on the table. “I don’t know, maybe you’re right. Where to begin…? Well, I think I’ve mentioned before how as a First-in-training I was basically tending to the children, right?”

“Yes, hence your skill at telling the old fables.”

“Yeah, that,” Rivka said. “Once, about five years ago, I was trying to keep them occupied whilst the clan was out hunting when Templars from a nearby city came on a raid, hunting apostates or maleficars or whatever the shems call mages they don’t like. I told the children to run for the hills whilst I occupied one of them. He didn’t like that at all, and tried to kill me, spitting every curse he knew as he tried to carve me in two.”

Solas cast his eyes to the ground, saying, “Forgive me. I sensed the fear and pain in your memories of that scar, but hardly knew…”

Rivka shook her head. “It’s alright. It was a long time ago, and I suppose I’m glad I can finally tell someone here about it before getting corrected on how they must have been exceptions, or particularly ignorant, or whatever. I was still very raw as a mage back then, and could only put up a barrier a couple of times before he got in range, and we tumbled over the edge of a riverbank—that much is true about the version I tell people—and that’s when I struck my head against a rock.”

“I’m so sorry,” Solas muttered.

“It’s not as though you were him, Solas,” she said, continuing, “When I came to, I was being forced underwater, with my face up, thankfully. He was trying to drown me, probably while he was searching for his sword to finish the deed, but that didn’t last long at all—thank the Creators. The hunters from my clan had returned, and one of them got an arrow through his neck, and another one killed him. As that Templar fell down and I got my breath back, his helmet came off and I saw his face.”

“Oh?”, he asked, wondering what that detail’s significance was.

Rivka choked, holding back tears, before finishing, “He couldn’t have been a few years older than I was. He was barely a man, and whatever Circle he reported to had turned him into a zealous mage-killer—I don’t think they taught him the epithets, but at least most of the people spewing them aren’t killers. I want to tell that story to everyone I meet who thinks that the Templars can go back to doing good. It’s not even as though I harbour any resentment for Cullen in particular, I just hear it the most from him.”

Sighing empathetically, Solas stepped closer to her, saying, “You can imagine with the life I’ve eked out for myself that close encounters with Templars are no stranger to me either, although my experiences are perhaps not as vivid or perilous as yours.”

Looking up at him as she wiped her eyes dry, Rivka said, “Thank you. You were right, Solas. It did feel good to get that off my chest.”

“And you are truly remarkable,” he said in return.

“What do you mean?”

Stroking the underside of his lip, he said, “The man was trying to murder you, and to this day you still feel sorry for his life…and his death. That takes a compassion scarce few people in this world have.”

“I think you give me too much credit,” she said. “It just seemed like such a waste. In another world he could have been here, at Haven…or maybe one of the hundreds we’ve killed in the Hinterlands…or in Therinfal right now. I don’t want to imagine, sometimes.”

“At any rate, this goes a long way in explaining your reluctance,” Solas said.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Rivka said, “Am I allowing my own personal experience to colour my judgement like this? Maybe Cullen’s got a point, but maybe he doesn’t.”

Thinking hard, Solas said, “Perhaps I might be able to help you there a little, with a story of my own.”

Perking up, Rivka asked, “Oh? What would that be?”

“Well, a parable told of Fen’Harel at any rate,” he said, smirking, “Who seems to be fast becoming your favourite stock villain.”

“I didn’t know you paid those fables much heed,” Rivka said, her curiosity piqued.

“They serve their purpose,” Solas said, “As do all stories, in their own way. Forgive me if my retelling isn’t quite as entertaining as yours are.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” she said with a smile.

“Very well,” he began,

“The Dread Wolf had been feasting well upon a flock of august rams, but to his regret, he swallowed one’s remains rather too quickly and a small bone became caught in his throat. He was in pain and discomfort, being unable to eat or drink, and went from animal to animal to help his suffering, but they simply laughed and left him to his plight.

“Finally there was a heron by a riverbank, who asked him to promise her a reward should she help him, and he readily agreed, his pain being so onerous that he would do anything to alleviate it. She used her long beak and reached down his throat to fish the offending bone out, and having completed her task, turned to Fen’Harel and asked for her reward.

“Fen’Harel said to her, grinning with his teeth bared from ear to ear, ‘Your reward? Is it not enough reward that you have had your head between the jaws of the Dread Wolf and lived to tell the tale?’”

Rivka’s brows pinched towards each other, as she said, “I think I’ve heard that one before. Is it not the moral of the story that the heron’s being greedy for what should ultimately be an act of charity?”

Solas clasped his hands, leaning by his side on the table. “That certainly is a valid interpretation. But consider this other one: The powerful have no reason to reward the weak for their help with such inconveniences, terrible as they may be, once it is lifted and their power is restored.”

Casting her gaze at the marker which lay atop the Templar stronghold on the map, she asked, “Are you likening the Templars to the Dread Wolf then?”

“Hardly,” Solas said casually. “Merely that there is no guarantee that there will not be another Templar like your assailant, nor an elf like you at his mercy, ten or even twenty years down the road, regardless of what course of action you choose.”

“Is your opinion of them that low?”, she asked.

“Low?”, he retorted. “I think that’s positively optimistic. It appears, however, that by dint of your mark that the decision falls to you and who can help seal the Breach more effectively…well, I must have taken up far too much of your time by now.”

“Not at all,” she said, returning to his gaze. “Thank you, Solas. For hearing me out, and for your advice. I think I know what to do.”

“I’m very happy to hear that,” he said, departing the chantry.

Rivka turned back to the table, sweeping some of the tokens off it and peering at the one marking Redcliffe Castle with a new determination, making her decision.

@dadrunkwriting

#rivka lavellan #solas #f!lavellan/Solas #solavellan #dragon age #dragon age inquisition #aether effect #ao3 #prompt fic #fanfic #athenril-of-kirkwall #tevivinter #dadrunkwriting #da drunk writing circle

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licenselesswriter · 4 years

Text

Ten Duel Commandments CH2

Grab a friend, that’s your second.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Maya slowly walks towards Smackle and sits next to her, "How are things today?" she asks her.

Isadora shows a sad smile without taking her eyes from her tablet, "Well, as you can see, same as the last month, the same three sides of this, my dearest one on bubbles' side, Isaiah is on Lucas' side," she explains.

Maya let out a sigh, "And you're mediating, I suppose," she says.

"Correct," Isadora concedes, "I guess you're going on Bubbles' side?" she asks.

Maya gives Isadora a sad smile, "Nope, I'm gonna be Switzerland," she says, making Isadora adjust her glasses, "What?" she asks.

"Interesting," she comments, "Well, if you're Switzerland, then I guess I'm the Pope mediating between them," she adds.

Maya softly laughs, "Isadora Smackle, the superior brain, cutie with glasses, supreme pontiff," she says.

"Sounds really good, to be honest," Isadora says before turning to look at her friends again, "Think someday things would be back to what they were?" she asks.

Maya gives her a sad smile, fueled mostly by her guilt, "Don't know but doubt it," she sincerely answers.

"The main problem here is that Bubble's hasn't noticed that Lucas is in love with someone else," she explains.

Maya looks at her, surprised, "I'm sorry, what?" she asks.

"How I put this correctly," Isadora starts before looking at Zay and Lucas and privately points at them, "Lool at Lucas," she says, "See how his skin is cleaner? Or his hair?" she asks.

Maya takes a look at her boyfriend before mentally hitting herself in the head to start making the skin and hair routine with him, "Yeah, why?" she asks.

"I know for a fact that Lucas always turns down Isaiah when he suggests he takes more care about his grooming process," she explains.

A bit nervous, Maya tries to drop that idea, "So, because he's hotter now, he's in love with someone?" Maya asks.

Isadora smiles, "Not only that, suddenly, Isaiah stopped asking him to take care of his grooming, but he's getting better looking with the time, and yes, I know he drinks a lot of water, but that skin doesn't get like that with only water," she adds.

"And that means?" Maya asks.

"That means Isaiah must know something, since he got what he wanted, Lucas taking better care at his grooming, but for some reason, Isaiah acts like he doesn't know about it," Isadora continues.

Maya felt like all her alarms were triggered simultaneously. For the first time, she feared her friend's analytical capacity, "Maybe he doesn't have someone, maybe, he just wants to have one," she replies before looking at Riley and Farkle.

"Maybe, but I doubt it," she replies.

"Doubt that he wants a partner?" Maya asks.

"Doubt that I'm wrong," Isadora answers with a smile.

"That's my girl," Maya replies and hugs Isadora.

Harper writes a few names on the blackboard, "Ok, so, for your next assignment, tell me, what these names have in common?" she asks.

Isadora raises her hand, "Fictional characters who have secrets, and by keeping them, they think they are doing the greater good," she explains.

Harper smiles, "Correct," she says, "Now, what are those secrets?" she asks.

Farkle raises his hand, "Eddard Stark protected his nephew from being killed by Robert Baratheon," he answers.

Zay looks at him a bit mad, "Dude, spoiler alert," he says.

"Got over it, it's been more than a year," Farkle replies.

Lucas raises his hand, "Batman designed contingency plans to neutralize the Justice League," he says, only to be fastly stared by Zay, Farkle, and Maya, "What?" he asks.

Maya smiles at him, "Since you're all Texan cowboy goody-good boy, I imagine you would relate more with the honorable Lord Stark," she teases him.

"Says the woman who read three books in a row and texts me at four in the morning," he replies before pulling out his phone, "R+L=J," he teases her, reading her text.

"That's private, asshole," Maya recriminates him.

Harper fastly cut both of them, "Ok, ok, we get the point, Lucas likes Batman, and Maya likes A Song of Ice and Fire," she says, making sure to keep the peace, "The point of this is, the motives they have to do what they do and if in the end, was the appropriate solution to the problem?" she asks, "Four pages minimum," she finishes, making Maya groan in pain.

As soon as Harper's class ended, Farkle fastly gets out of the room, being followed by Lucas.

"Hey, Farkle, can we talk?" Lucas asks him.

"No, have a good day," Farkle replies before leaving him alone in the hall.

Riley looks at him, sad about what just happened, "I'm sorry," she apologizes.

Lucas gives her a sad smile, "Don't, he's his own person, if he wants us to end like this, nothing I can do to change his mind," he explains.

Riley looks down, "Sometimes I wish I never said anything," she adds.

Lucas puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, "Please Riley, never stop speaking your mind, that's one of the few rights we still have in this 'Democracy' our older folks choose," he replies.

Riley looks at his eyes, blushing, "How you expect me to not fall for you over and over again when you're like this?" she asks, half-joking, half-serious.

Lucas just stood there before looking at Zay, "I'm gonna go grab lunch, ok?" he says before leaving Riley alone in the hall.

As soon as he left, Maya walks to Riley, "Can we talk?" she asks.

"About?" Riley asks back in a severe tone.

"Well, about how things seem to end between us," Maya answers.

"Maya, I think that day, we made very clear what we think. I don't think there is something for us to talk," Riley replies.

Maya felt really uncomfortable after hearing those words come from her best friend's mouth, "Wow, so that's how things are gonna be," she says.

"That's how you let things end," Riley says.

"Just because I'm not on your side once?" Maya asks.

Riley takes a second to think, "I would love to say that, yeah, it's just for that, but since we argue, you seem to adjust to his side very easily," she adds.

"I said it once, and I'm gonna repeat it, I'm neutral about this whole thing," she defends herself, knowing that was a blatant lie.

Riley takes another second to think, "What you want me to say?" she asks, "You may say you're a neutral party, but that doesn't show," she adds, "And yes, I know you have been spending time with Zay and Lucas," she adds like she was close to solving a mystery.

Maya felt cornered by her words, but fastly she recovers her composure, "Maybe if you stop pushing me away for having a different opinion, I would be back to spending time with you and Farkle," she argues, "I miss you guys, but I'm not gonna compromise with something I don't believe," she adds, hiding her true motives.

Riley gives Maya an uncomfortable smile, "Well, we talk, and I think enough for today," she replies before start walking away from Maya.

"Fuck," Maya says, looking at her best friend walk to the cafeteria.

Maya walks towards Lucas and Zay, having their lunch close to the baseball cages, "Silent treatment too?" she asks.

"Yep," Lucas replies before putting a kiss on her hand.

"What we discuss about PDA?" Zay complains.

"Chill out, it was only her hand," Lucas defends himself, "Also, you're safe harbor," he adds.

Zay gives Lucas a soft look, "I'm the safe harbor?" he asks, really happy for being acknowledged as that.

"Well, you're the only one who knows about us, so yeah," Maya answers, "Also, we have done worse, and sweatier, than this," Maya adds, making Lucas blush.

Zay looks at his best friend in disbelief, "For real? For fucking real? And you hide that from me? How dare you, how dare you," he says, in a fake offended tone.

Lucas just laughs, "Well, now you know, and you need to keep the secret," he replies before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Once school ends, Lucas, Zay, Isadora, and Maya walk outside school.

"So, any good plans for this Tuesday night?" Zay asks.

"Peaky Blinders," Lucas fastly replies.

"Still with Peaky Blinders?" Zay asks.

"It's a great show if you enjoy mafia shows," Isadora answers, "It's not The Sopranos, but, well, nothing will be like The Sopranos," she explains.

"See, Isadora gets it," Lucas says.

"Please stop, I have a boyfriend," Isadora replies.

Lucas keeps walking, a bit surprised, but he already knew how she was, "I don't know what to say," he replies.

"Then don't, flirting it's not gonna work with me," Isadora says, making Zay and Maya laugh.

"Yeah, Huckleberry, leave her alone," Maya teases him before looking at her phone, "Well, this was nice, but yours truly, has homework to do," she adds before taking a little jog, separating herself from the group, "See you tomorrow," she adds before leaving them.

"She's not gonna do her homework," Isadora states.

"We know," Lucas says, making Zay laugh, "Call you tonight for some CoD?" he asks.

"You know it," Zay replies.

"Ok, see you all tomorrow," Lucas says, following Maya's steps.

After a few minutes of silence, Isadora stops walking.

"Something wrong?" Zay asks.

"It's her," Isadora says, realizing the truth.

"Who it's her?" Zay asks, hoping for being wrong about what he was thinking.

"Let's go for a cup of coffee," Isadora says before dragging Zay to a Starbucks.

Forty minutes later, Lucas opens his apartment door, only to be attacked by a tiny blonde, "Hard day?" he asks.

"Asshole move to expose me like you did," Maya says before kissing his lips.

Lucas lifts her before deepening the kiss, "A little payback," he replies, caressing her lower back.

"Your Mom?" Maya asks while she kisses his neck.

"Working," Lucas replies, taking off one of his sleeves.

"Funny," Maya says, helping him get rid of his shirt, "Let's finish homework," she adds, taking off her shirt.

"God, I love you so much," He says and kisses her deeply.

"Ok, we finished 2 weeks of homework," Maya says, gently putting her bra, "Hook it please," she asks Lucas.

Lucas kisses her back and very lovingly hooks her bra, "You have the weirdest ways to name sex I've ever heard," he says.

Maya chuckles, "Yeah, like you had someone to compare me to," she says.

"Ah, touche," Lucas replies before pulling her back to his bed form her waist, "But in that case, you also have nobody to compare me with," he adds.

"So?" she asks, "I'm pretty happy with what you carry and how you use it," she says.

Lucas smile and takes a deep breath of her hair, "If you're trying to seduce me with compliments, I'm gonna warn you, it's working," he adds, before sneaking his hand between her legs.

"Look, Huckleberry, no matter how much I enjoy our homework sessions, we need to get our real homework done, I need better grades if I want to apply to some kind of scholarship," she adds before turning to face him and gently caresses his manhood.

"It's hilarious how you can say completely serious while you have my cock in your hand," he jokes.

"Well, there is a certain pleasure on getting your secret boyfriend hard with only your hands," she says before putting a peck on his lips, "Makes me feel powerful and in control," she adds.

"It's funny how I can dominate a bull, but against you, I'm just a puppy, and not even a Pitbull or a Doberman, I'm like, don't know, a Pug," he comments.

"Well, you're one hell of a cute Pug," Maya says before getting up from his bed again, "Now, seriously, I need help with my homework, the school one, so please, help me," she asks him.

"Fine," Lucas says after a few minutes, "So, Math or the Essay?" he asks while he puts his boxers.

"Essay, for some reason, I don't feel good thinking about that Essay," she says.

"Yeah, me too," Lucas says, "But this is not about us, this is about fictional characters who hide things," he adds before kissing her cheek.

"Don't you feel bad for her?" Maya asks him, "I mean, she is your ex," she adds.

Lucas takes a deep breath and puts his shirt over, "Can I be frank with you?" he asks.

"Please," she says.

"It's hard to feel bad for her when I'm this happy with you," he says before picking one of her hands and put a soft kiss on it, "Yes, I do care for her, and for her feelings, but I'm happy, even when I have to be happy inside one of our homes and for a certain amount of time," he adds.

Maya gently puts her hand on his cheek, "You have to be the compensation God send me for being abandoned by my father," she jokes.

Lucas looks at her seriously, "You know I hate when you joke about that," he says.

"Sorry," she apologizes.

"Don't," Lucas replies, "I know that's how you deal with my sappiness," he adds before kissing her, "So, four pages Essay," he says.

"Here," Zay says, giving Isadora her coffee.

"Thank you," she says before taking the lid and pouring three sugar bags.

"So, what do you need for me?" Zay asks.

"Just to confirm a few things," Isadora answers.

"Well, hope I can help," Zay replies.

"I have to warn you first," Isadora says before mixing her coffee, "Everything we're gonna talk here, will never leave my mouth, so please, be honest with me," she adds.

"Ok," Zay says, a bit nervous, "Seems serious," he adds.

"It is," Isadora replies, "First, did you notice that Lucas has a clearer skin, right?" she asks, setting a statement.

"I know where this is going," Zay replies, giving her a nervous look.

"So, it's true," Isadora says.

"Can't confirm or deny anything," Zay replies.

"I asked you to be honest with me," she says, appealing to his words.

Zay puts four bags of sugar in his tea, "Honestly, I don't know what you want me to tell you," he says, focusing on his tea.

"Till when you're gonna protect everyone from the truth?" Isadora asks.

Zay looks at her, a bit mad about her attitude, "Why you talk like I'm the bad one in this movie?" he asks, "Suddenly, I'm a bad guy because I want to protect my friend and his right to choose?" he asks.

"You're not bad for doing that, you're 'bad' because you're keeping everyone in the dark," Isadora answers.

"That's when you're wrong," Zay says before taking a sip of his tea, "I know exactly where my loyalties are, I'm not keeping nobody in the dark, or lying to anyone," he adds.

"Bubbles is in love with Lucas," Isadora argues.

"So?" Zay asks, "Just because she's in love with him, he's forced to be her partner?" he asks this time, "Forgive me for my manners, but that's complete and utter bullshit," he answers his own question.

"But she's our friend, she deserves the truth," Isadora keeps pushing.

"I agree, it's our friend," Zay concedes, "But you're dead wrong if you think I'm gonna put her over Lucas, not now, not before, not ever," he states.

"Wow, who might think your guilt might drive you this far for him," Isadora says.

"Guilt, friendship, sense of making us even, call it whatever you want," Zay says, taking another sip of his tea, trying to keep his composure. He keeps silent for three minutes before breaking it, "I might be friends with everyone here, but don't forget that above all of that I'm still Lucas best friend," he adds, "And if he didn't want to tell me, his best friend, probably the only person besides Maya who will have his back no matter what, who am I to reveal his secrets?" he asks.

Isadora takes a sip of her coffee and stays silent with Zay for a few minutes, "Bubbles, she's gonna be crushed," she says.

Zay takes a deep breath, "What you want me to tell you?" he asks, "Do I feel bad for her? Yeah, I do, but keeping her safe it's not my job," he states, "Hell, it's not even your job, your job it's to protect your strongest link, and that's Farkle, not me, not Lucas, not Maya or Riley," he explains his point of view, "I should be having this conversation with Farkle, not you," he adds.

"Why?" Isadora asks, "Just because it would make it easier to lie to him?" she asks this time.

"Yeah, sadly, he's too naive and too good for this world, people lie, even his friends," Zay says.

Isadora and Zay keep silent for a few more minutes. Isadora finally breaks it with a chuckle, "I can't believe you will throw every one of us under the bus to save Lucas," she says.

Zay chuckles at her affirmation, "I'm his best friend, I owe him," he says.

"To heartbreaks," Isadora says, lifting her paper cup.

"To heartbreaks," Zay replies.

Zay is and will always be Lucas best friend, you can’t change my mind.

#Lucaya #Lucas x Maya #Lucaya Fanfic #GMW Fanfic #Ten Duel Commandments

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halothenthehorns · 3 years

Text

TLTNL- IN THE HOG’S HEAD

James gave the book an easy toss to Sirius, who caught it while still eying Harry, waiting for some kind of que from him to say he wanted to keep going and wasn't lost in thought. He came out of his reverie by gazing at them, and then plastering a smile in place as he demanded, "was it really so preposterous I could be a teacher?"

"Did I not make it clear how painful to my legacy it would be for someone of my last name to hold any such position!" James said dramatically.

"James, he wasn't awake for that part," Lily reminded him.

"Oh yeah," he thought back.

Sirius quickly said though, "hey, if you end up being the new DADA teacher and break that stupid curse, more power to you pup! I'll be happy to hear it, just, you know, it'll be a shock is all. You've yet to show any kind of want for the thing."

"We were just as surprised as you," Lily agreed, "but if it's something you think you'll enjoy doing for your friends, I know it'll be fun to hear."

Harry beamed now, thoroughly distracted and eagerly waving Sirius on as he thought to himself they just might enjoy these next few months of his school, for the first time in this book it seemed hoping he was going to enjoy this feeling he was getting.

Hermione made no mention of Harry giving Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons for two whole weeks after her original suggestion.

"That's got to be some kind of record for her, I was under the impression she always spoke of what was on her mind." James chuckled.

"Have you forgotten her third year, she did a pretty good job of avoiding them and not talking about things when she sets her mind to it," Remus shrugged.

Harry's detentions with Umbridge were finally over (he doubted whether the words now etched into the back of his hand would ever fade entirely);

Sirius tensed with disgust, his lip curling as he glanced again at those words upon Harry. Though faded like an old scar, he truly did wonder how long he'd suffered to gain them this level of permanence. He did not see the Umbridge situation getting better anytime soon, so he dared not even ask if Harry had to live through the problem again.

Ron was getting better as Keeper by the practice, and their classes were going much more smoothly now that they had time for them as well. It wasn't until the day before the Hogsmeade trip that Hermione tentatively asked him in the library if he'd thought anymore about the subject?

Harry snarked of course he had, with that toad at the helm.

Hermione persisted her and Ron's, though a panicky look from their friend made her correct herself, her idea about him teaching.

"She really does do that a lot," James rolled his eyes, "what's she always trying to say her and Ron instead of just her for."

"Keeping his attention I suppose," Remus shrugged.

Harry didn't answer at first as he thought it through. He had been thinking about it, and at times the idea seemed just as ridiculous as when he'd first heard it, and then others he found himself preparing lessons.

Lily hummed at the idea before nodding to herself and saying, "you really do seemed to have taken a shine to this then."

"I like the idea of helping my friends out like this," Harry agreed, a small smile still in place, "though I still can't wrap my head around the idea of teaching Hermione anything she doesn't know."

"Same reason she attends classes instead of thinking she can learn better from her books," Remus shrugged, "she has acknowledged she's not the smartest person ever, to those who deserve it."

He finally began to answer when he could no longer feign interest in his homework,

"A feat I can not comprehend," Sirius deadpanned.

he admitted he had been thinking about it, but when prompted, he also admitted he still wasn't sure on the idea.

Ron said he'd thought it a good idea, now clearly okay throwing his opinion when he realized Harry wasn't going to start shouting again.

"That was almost sad," Lily frowned, "he really shouldn't be that scared to say his opinion around you-" she cut herself off when she saw how depressed Harry was at the reminder his best friend had been so tiptoeing around him of late just so Harry wouldn't randomly start shouting at him.

Harry still tried to remind them of all the things he'd done, and how much luck had been involved in that. Hermione gently reminded not all of it, even Viktor had said-

Ron cut her off in disgust of what Vicky had to say?

Hermione rolled her eyes for the tone but kept saying that even in his final year at Durmstrang Harry seemed better than him with his knowledge.

Ron didn't seem impressed, as he asked if she was still in contact with him?

"Because that was a relevant part of that statement," Sirius snorted.

Hermione shrugged so what if she was, she enjoyed her penpal.

Ron corrected he'd wanted to be more than pals, but Hermione ignored him now and again asked Harry to teach them.

Harry gave in, he would for just her and Ron.

Hermione started to look both anxious and eager as she began for Harry not to go freaking out about this,

Harry had to fight hard against the urge to put his face in his hands in shame, that he'd been going off on his friends so much of late that Hermione had to say that at all over some stupid little thing. What was wrong with him lately?

but she really wanted to invite more people, anyone who wanted to learn.

Harry reminded no one else was even likely to come, Harry was currently a nutter.

James made a pfft noise straight away, while Sirius rolled his eyes and immediately began ticking off, "the Weasley's already account for four, than that Luna girl, that Ernie prat, I am positive there are even more, oh that stalker kid Colin, um I'll bet his brother too, don't remember his name off the top of me head, I'll bet Cho would even ask for private lessons-"

Harry picked up a pillow and tried to press it against Sirius' face, the two wrestling this way for a moment before Sirius finally won by ducking away and smoothing his hair back, telling Harry wickedly, "didn't hear a denial on your part for those," then immediately began reading loudly before Harry was too tempted to start again.

Though Hermione said he'd be surprised how many people were interested in this seriously.

"Everybody's always interested in what I have to say," Sirius smirked.

"Not always," Harry grumbled, ignoring his twitching smile for that recurring joke.

Hermione just asked him to show up for the meeting she wanted to set up for tomorrow in Hogsmeade.

Ron asked why outside of school, and she reminded it wouldn't be a good idea for Umbridge to be walking in on this.

"Oh really? I thought she'd let you use her office and everything?" Remus chuckled in agreement.

While Harry was looking forward to his trip out of the castle, his worry had grown every day at the event. What if Sirius ignored his warning and appeared anyways, perhaps right as Malfoy came around as well?

Now it was Sirius' turn to scowl at Harry. Despite his deep set worry for his inevitable future mindset, he actually had been offended by Harry's lack of faith in him doing his part to keep his own arse covered, happily telling him as much, "first of all, exactly how stupid do you think I am? Hogsmeade is my home turf-"

"I just-" Harry tried to defend, but Sirius waved him down with a roll of his eyes, though his tone hardly lightened, "yeah, yeah, you're worried about me, but can I get just a little credit I know what I'm doing?"

Harry gazed at him with nothing but worry, there wasn't a trace of him showing he thought for even a second Sirius' words had given him comfort, and for a moment Sirius' cockiness started to ebb and he was getting worried just what had Harry so adamant about this, but he brushed that off and rolled his eyes, turning back to the book and just hoping he'd prove to his godson this was unnecessary.

When Harry confessed his worries to his friends, Ron was sympathetic in saying he'd understand if Sirius did such a thing, all he had was that ghastly elf for company.

Sirius gazed pitifully at that, looking hopefully at Harry to see if his best friend stating his exact problem had gotten through to Harry at all, but if anything it made his face draw tighter with worry. At least Harry grasped his problem, even if he still wasn't ready to concede there had to be a solution.

Hermione scowled at Ron, but otherwise ignored the slight on Kreacher.

"Because that was the important part of that statement," James scowled hatefully for Hermione's priorities.

Hermione instead said that even after V-Voldemort, she had to struggle for a moment to say it only to turn exasperated when Ron flinched anyways,

"She's only said that three times and now she can scold him for not saying it?" Sirius scoffed.

came out into the open it would take some time for Sirius to get his freedom back. They'd have to start rounding up true Death Eater's and then they'd realize the difference between them and Sirius, for one he didn't have a Mark.

"She was on a good track there for a moment," Remus said forlornly, still bitter that no one, especially not himself, had done anything to get Sirius' name clear before the Pettigrew scandal had been revealed.

"That last bit wasn't relevant though, considering no one knows about the Dark Mark," Lily sighed.

Ron kept up the hope Sirius wasn't stupid, Dumbledore had told him not to and even when Sirius didn't like what he was hearing, he still listened to Dumbledore.

Sirius grumbled something that was as close to acknowledging this to be true as was going to happen.

Harry still couldn't shake the worry, so Hermione told him to try and think of something else, he had enough categories besides his godfather. Harry vaguely agreed, his mind still on Sirius.

"I should feel privileged I take up so much of your time," Sirius rolled his eyes.

She was right in saying Harry had other things to keep him occupied, he was still struggling daily to keep up with his homework even if it was more manageable now, and he had it easiest, as Ron still had a few prefect duties to worry about, and while Hermione was taking more classes than both of them she was still knitting.

"Hermione is a magic unto herself," Lily said wistfully, wishing she could ask that girl for her study habits as even out of school Lily still felt bogged down at work.

She was getting better every time, it was now almost always possible to distinguish between the hats and the socks.

"Important distinctions she might have to teach Harry," James snickered in remembrance.

The day of the Hogsmeade visit they passed Filch as always checking names against the list of people who were allowed to go.

"It would be a easier to check against the ones who couldn't go," James snorted.

"I think Filch does it this way to purposely annoy us," Remus reminded.

With a slight pang, Harry remembered that if it hadn't been for Sirius, he would not have been going at all.

"Finally some acknowledgement I can be happy about," Sirius smirked, though there was a sour edge to it.

As Harry passed the caretaker, he was sure Filch gave him a sniff before waving him on, something Ron noticed.

"Obviously it was because he was trying out a new-" Remus elbowed Sirius before he could continue with the dumb joke.

Harry admitted he'd forgotten to tell them about the Dungbomb thing.

"I don't care how pretty Cho is, I find it really hard to believe that experience skipped your mind," James shook his head.

When he was done explaining Ron asked who would have set all that up? Harry shrugged off it had probably been Malfoy trying to have a laugh. Hermione was intrigued by the whole thing, finishing skeptically that didn't seem likely as they continued their walk to the village.

Harry wanted to chuckle as that look of confusion crossed them again as well at the reminder, but the laughter died before it could even get started. Still, he had no more clue than them what the whole instance had been about, and he had no want to make his head burst from this tiny detail.

Harry switched topics to asking where this meeting was, the Three Broomsticks?

Hermione said no, it was too noisy,

"But that would have made it perfect," James blinked in confusion of Hermione's logic. "You could get together and be at a perfectly normal volume and still not be overheard."

she'd instead set up the meeting in the Hog's Head. She'd heard rumor it was a bit dodgy, but since hardly anyone was known to go in there they wouldn't be overheard.

"I can see her idea though," Remus said fairly, "out of the way where no one goes, so even if some passerby had heard a snippet, well this just erased that problem all together."

"Still, the cover of a crowd beats how suspicious that will look," Sirius shrugged.

They walked down the main street, passing along the common sights of Zonko's and Dervish and Bangs, but quickly turned off a side road to a musty little place that had a creaking sign swinging about with a butchered hog's head upon it.

Hermione led the way in, where the place seemed coated in dust and smelled strongly of goats.

Harry felt his nose crinkling in distaste as he remembered the smell, helping to distract him from remembering why goats should mean something in particular about the barkeep he remembered seeing.

Harry remembered the place once being mentioned to him by Hagrid, whom Harry had been skeptical of at the time for his friend playing cards with a man who would not show his face. Now Harry saw this seemed to be a fashion choice in this place,

"Really gives the place its own feel," Remus rolled his eyes.

as there were two women in the back corner speaking in thick Yorkshire accents with baklavas on their faces, a man at the bar wrapped head to toe in thick white linen taking shots, and a woman in a veil in the back corner.

Harry frowned as the image back played, like he was sure his mind should linger on this for a moment longer in recognition of something, but that was ridiculous, how could he begin to know anything about some random man under a veil, err, woman.

Harry muttered his unease to Hermione, keeping an eye on the veiled witch,

Harry's skin twitched even harder at staring at her even longer in his past, yes he was quite sure he was right to think that was-

saying that could be Umbridge.

The thought was gone as he sighed, knowing without a doubt that hadn't been the answer, and now utterly confused what he'd been trying to think of at all.

Hermione disregarded this at once, saying even if Umbridge were to be here for any reason, they weren't doing anything wrong, they were only meeting up for a study group.

Harry said back this wasn't exactly a wholesome homework chat.

"What on Earth could you be speaking of?" Sirius cast the most innocent and mischievous gray eyes any person could have. "Surely what you're about to discuss is covered in Slinkards book."

The barkeep came out of the back then, and even his face was indistinguishable while hidden under his thick gray hair and beard, though with a vaguely familiar lean build.

Harry felt that spike of unease return, though he was now convinced he'd mistaken the veiled person for this barman as the person he should be having some vague connection with- but Sirius kept reading, and Harry had no hope of keeping such a flimsy train of thought that only increased the pain always present right behind his eyes when he tried to remember something.

He gave them an unfriendly greeting as they requested three Butterbeers, to which they paid for and then found seats in the back corner, little puffs of dirt clotting their feet as they walked.

Ron had to wrench open his musty bottle, took a swig, and then noted he bet he could go up there and ask for a Firewhiskey instead, the man surely wouldn't mind-

Hermione hissed at him he was a prefect, act like it.

"And?" Remus asked with a little smile.

"Please don't tell me-" Lily began with an honestly amused smile at the three of them.

"We would never try such a thing," James said at once, while Sirius didn't even bother and said, "yeah, but he still turned us down."

Ron pouted but gave in, Harry changing the subject and asking who all was supposed to be coming then?

Hermione gave an anxious look to her watch as she vaguely said a couple of people.

Harry felt a frown appearing on his face, as for some reason he didn't like Hermione's use of the phrase 'a couple'.

She was sure they all knew where this place was, and even as she spoke the door opened again and a whole crowd entered. First Neville, Dean, Lavender, the Patil twins,

"I thought Hermione had said Lavender and Parvati didn't think much of your story," Lily said story with pure acid.

Harry shrugged without comment, he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer of what had changed their mind.

then Harry's stomach did a mini flip as Cho and one of her usual friends entered,

"So the important people are there then," James smirked at Harry's suddenly red tinged face.

then looking so dreamy she could have come in by accident, Luna came along with Katie, Alicia, Angelina, the Creevey brothers,

"Whoa, what's Dennis doing there? He's two years below Colin, and he's a year below Harry. That puts him at a second year," Remus counted off.

"The things you remember," Sirius rolled his eyes for this detail being spotted.

"I am positive Fred and George told him how to get into Honeydukes the moment the younger Creevey made the desire of wanting to come," James grinned, "they'd help along anyone who wanted to hear this I'm sure."

Harry paused, cocked his head to the side and seemingly flabbergasted he hadn't burst this question out sooner, demanded, "how do the tunnels in and out of Hogwarts work?"

"What do you mean?" Remus asked. "They extend to fit someone, we mentioned that. What's that got to do with this?"

"I just realized," Harry shook his head as he explained, "that when Hermione and I first went in, we had to crouch, but when we were all coming back, no one was and in fact it was a lot bigger." He hated having to bring up that time, of such a moment where their entire life had been flipped upside down, so maybe it was best he'd waited.

James' eyes flipped to a near ghostly hazel as he clearly recalled the same setting, but he still answered, "it just enlarges to the capacity needed for the occasion. You just needed to get there in a hurry the whole time, it was only that size. You needed three people to fit in side by side, at least two of them adults, it compensated for that. Magic really does have a mind of its own." He finished with a mutter.

Harry swallowed hard, now regretting bringing it up altogether as he still hated to see his dad acting like this because of something from his past, and so let the matter go entirely.*

Ernie, Justin, Hannah, a blond with a long plait Harry didn't recognize, three Ravenclaws he only vaguely felt the names of were Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, and Terry Boot, along with Ginny,

Harry frowned, as something of those four together really struck a nerve in him, but surely he was being ridiculous and Ginny just hadn't wanted to come in with her big brothers so had chosen a random group of students or some such to sit with...

a guy with an upturned nose Harry had never met, while Fred, George, and Lee came in last holding a Zonko's bag.

"I would just like to take a moment to applaud all of them showing up at once like that," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"That many people are never that punctual," Remus agreed, "I imagine the houses all came together and waited outside in hopes others would show, and the congregation grew on the outside until they realized no one else was coming, then most likely the twins told them all to get a move on inside."

"You lot think way too much about things," Lily giggled.

Harry watched the crowd in horror before turning to Hermione and demanding a couple of people!

"I think I counted twenty five total," Sirius said cheerfully, "that falls under a couple."

"A couple is two!" Harry protested.

"Maybe even Ron and Hermione didn't know," James said with faint amusement, "and word spread a bit."

"That didn't make me feel better," he protested, but was ignored by Sirius continuing.

Hermione seemed happy at the turnout, as everyone pulled up chairs, though Fred went up to the barkeep first and asked for twenty-five Butterbeers.

"You cheated," Remus accused at once, "you skipped down and read that number, not kept a count."

Sirius kept reading as if he hadn't heard that too.

The barman glared at him for a moment before throwing his rag irritably as though he had been interrupted in something very important and started passing up dusty Butterbeers from under the bar.

"That's hardly very good customer management," James chuckled at this display.

"I really can't imagine what his problem is," Lily agreed a bit more curiously, though they were likely to never get the answer other than a grumpy old man.

Fred turned back to the crowd and told them to cough up to help pay for this, and then once everyone had a drink they all sat around Harry. It occurred to Harry he may be expected to give some kind of speech to them, and he quickly rounded on Hermione.

"Honestly, public speaking is an actual form of torture," Remus agreed, "just what did Hermione get you into?"

Demanding to know what they were expecting of him, but Hermione promised she'd speak first. Neville caught his attention by calling a friendly hello to him, but while Harry tried to say something back, he couldn't seem to find the words. His gaze flickered over the rest of the crowd, catching on Cho, who smiled, and Cho's friend who had curly reddish hair and an expression of deep dislike speaking volumes of what she thought about attending this.

"That's not an encouraging start to something that shouldn't particularly be going on," Lily murmured with discomfort, as a scorned girl could cause problems, but Harry had never done anything to this one, so she had no clue where this was coming from enough to be worried about it.

Hermione took to her feet and began in a high voice of stress about Harry's- err, her idea she quickly corrected at his look, about learning some proper Defense Against the Dark Arts, not that rubbish Umbridge was pretending at, her voice just a bit stronger at the end.

Sirius snickered a bit as he read that, it was very true insulting others had a way of bolstering one's self.

She'd decided it was time to take matters into their hands, by learning defense themselves.

Michael Corner asked slyly she was also interested in passing her OWL.

Hermione agreed that was important, but not the reason she felt this was necessary. They needed to do this because Voldemort was back.

The reaction was immediate and predictable. Cho's friend shrieked and dropped her drink, and many others around the table twitched or spluttered in some form.

The four of them had rather amused smiles on their faces. It was rare indeed to find individuals who had not inherited the panicky trait of not being able to hear Voldemort's name as if a curse had not been set upon them, but they'd certainly never tried it on a full group before, and the range of reactions amused the mind.

Then all gazes fixed on Harry. Hermione still kept attention though, saying anyone who wanted to join should-

but was cut off by the blond Hufflepuff with the upturned nose Harry didn't know demanding where the proof was You-Know-Who was back?

"Does he want a film of the event?" Lily snapped.

"I'd be happy to let him play the role of Malfoy already," James grumbled in agreement of this little comment that was unneeded in their opinion, why be there if you didn't believe it?

Hermione reminded what Dumbledore had said, but the boy insisted Dumbledore said because Potter said.

Ron demanded rather rudely who this guy was?

"He started it with that tone," Sirius snapped as if anyone was arguing against Ron right then.

The boy proclaimed himself as Zacharias Smith,

Lily frowned as that last name struck a chord as Alice's maiden name, wondering if this was some relative of hers that had lived past her friends life. Such little things like a name kept managing to strike her the hardest.

and he decided they had a right to know what exactly made You-Know-Who back?

"And what right is that?" Remus demanded. "Dumbledore's given the account, if that isn't good enough for him I hope the door hits him on the way out."

Hermione tried to intervene this wasn't the point of this meeting, but Harry finally cut in while meeting the boys glare. It had occurred to Harry why this group was here, they were all hoping to hear his story firsthand.

Lily groaned miserably that's all her son ever seemed to be, a spectacle. Still, she tried to at least remember that wasn't all of them, perhaps just the unnamed children Harry had never met properly, he must have more people on his side like Neville.

The whole room had gone silent, Harry was sure even the barman was listening since he was wiping the same dirty glass with the same filthy rag and only making both dirtier.

"An impressive skill," Sirius muttered absently while he flipped the page.

Zacharias dismissed this as evidence though, the only thing he had proof of was Potter coming back with Diggory's body, they hadn't gotten details.

"And there it is!" James sneered. "The details, because everyone wants to know what the body looks like until they get a peek."

The haunted look on his and all of their faces convinced Harry without a word he would not be asking for details of them anymore than he'd wanted to be asked that day in the Hog's Head.

Harry had to try very hard to stop himself shouting if that's all he'd come for he was going to be disappointed, Harry wasn't going to be talking about Cedric Diggory! He cast an angry glare at Hermione, feeling this was her fault for setting him up like some kind of freak show.

Sirius winced in disgust having to say that, but gazed sadly at Harry as he disagreed, "I don't believe that, and neither do you. She was just trying to help."

Harry merely rubbed at his scar in answer, his lip trembling with words he could not speak. It became clearer every day he had refreshed of this school year, every minute he learned something more of his fifth year, and yet with every flip of the page he knew more with every word he did not want the answer to what problem revolved around his scar, that had him thinking such things about his friends on such a regular basis.

No one left, not even Zacharia. Hermione's voice was pitched with concern again as she forced herself to go back on topic, saying they should meet up once a week-

but was interrupted again by the blonde girl Harry didn't know asking if he could do a Patronus?

Harry agreed defensively, before she prompted a corporeal Patronus?

The word choice pulled at Harry's memory before he recalled and asked if this girl knew Madam Bones?

"Harry," Lily cracked an honest grin finally now that the immediate tension began to dissipate. "That's the normal term for what animal your Patronus takes."

"I associated the word with the first person who I heard say it," he shrugged without much defense.

The girl agreed that was her aunt.

They all shared a surprised look at that though, before Remus began humming 'It's a Small World After All'. Sirius ignored him, mostly because he didn't recognize the tune.

Her name was Susan Bones, and she'd heard all about his stag Patronus.

Harry agreed this was true, and Lee looked deeply impressed, saying he'd never known that!

"How could he not know that?" James snorted. "He commentates on the Quidditch matches, he'd have seen it clear as Remus that day."

"Professor Lupin never said he saw the animal," Harry thought back, "just complimented what it did. Maybe it really hadn't taken shape yet and was just large and powerful. I don't really think it took the stag until, err, later."

Fred told Harry their mum had told them not to spread that around, Harry got enough attention.

Harry agreed she was right about that.

The veiled witch in the corner shifted in her seat,

That caught all of their attention, wondering why Harry kept noticing such a thing, but Harry himself hardly paid it much mind this time, now thinking back on memories he'd rather forget again.

as Terry Boot asked about the sword in Dumbledore's office, if that was really the same one he'd used to kill a basilisk?

Harry agreed, watching the awe on everyone's faces except Cho who he couldn't bare to look at.

"You're missing out on the best face then," Sirius pouted he couldn't have a few more fun pokes at Harry for his crush, who was now just as determinedly not looking at his godfather.

Neville reminded them all about their first year and the Philological, though Hermione corrected Philosophers,

"Close enough," Remus chuckled.

stone.

Cho did pipe in then, causing Harry's stomach to do a somersault,

Sirius cracked an evil grin and at once turned to say something else to Harry, who hissed back, "I'll make you do a somersault if you don't keep going."

"You're getting more violent by the day," Sirius approved as he did indeed turn away, though hardly looking very concerned at the threat.

about all the things he'd done during the Triwizard Tournament last year.

There was a general murmur of approval and awe over those remembered feats as well, causing Harry to almost not want to say what he'd come in here with every intention of saying.

"I'm sure you can throw in a few hints of how hard pressed it was doing those things while telling them it wasn't a big deal," Remus chuckled.

Still he began he wasn't trying to be modest

"But that's exactly what you're doing," James snorted.

Harry shrugged and still muttered how true it was none of that had been all on him. He was in turn ignored by the others, who were never not impressed Harry had reached his current age.

by saying he'd had help with all that stuff, though Michael Croner reminded not the dragon, that had been a seriously cool bit of flying.

"I had nothing to do with that," Sirius batted his eyes innocently, and Harry wasn't so against him he didn't chuckle as always.

Harry began to agree, before reminding them it sounded great when you stacked it all up like that, but his point was-

Zacharias cut in to demand if Harry was trying to weasel out of showing them how to do anything?

Ron snapped at him how about he shut his mouth?

"Thank you Ron," Lily nodded, some people needed a good tongue sticking charm now and again.

Zacharias wasn't deterred, saying they'd shown up to learn from him and now he was saying he couldn't really do anything.

"That's not remotely what he said," Remus frowned.

Fred snapped that wasn't what he'd said at all, while George threatened to clean his ears out with a long metal instrument from his Zonko's bag. Fred chiming in they'd stick it anywhere he needed, they weren't choosy.

Sirius gave a fantastic snort while James nodded, clearly liking to the idea at once if only in his imagination.

Hermione hastily tried to move on from that,

"No, no," Remus pouted, "some things need to be lingered on."

"This isn't one of them," Lily couldn't stop a chuckle as she tried to convince Sirius of this.

saying the point was everyone here agreed to take lessons from Harry. Everyone now nodded agreement except Zacharias, though that may have been because he was busy keeping an eye on the instrument George was holding.

"That's a terrible idea," Sirius gave a wolfish grin.

"He's leaving himself open to attack from the other," James mimicked the look.

Hermione looked relieved something had been resolved, saying they really should come up with a place to start this once a week- but was cut off by Angelina saying this couldn't clash with her Quidditch practice.

"Priorities."

No one could tell how much sarcasm James was saying that with, or if indeed there was any to be held.

Both Cho and Zacharias agreed with that statement, and Hermione impatiently agreed they'd find a schedule for all three teams to work with, but this was a bit more important than that wasn't it. This was about defending themselves against Voldemort's Death Eaters.

Ernie barked that was well said. Harry was more surprised he hadn't spoken up before now.

"He has been rather quiet from what I remember of his nature," Remus randomly agreed.

Ernie kept going then, saying this was more important than their OWLs or anything. He waited for a beat, as if expecting someone to exclaim how ludicrous that was, but then he kept going how stupid it was of the Ministry to assign them a teacher who refused to acknowledge the existence of You-Know-Who.

Hermione cut in to tell them all of their information about the Ministry doing this to them because of their fear about Dumbledore starting an army against them.

Everyone looked stunned at this news,

"It really is a moment where you stop and evaluate how stupid the mind can get," Sirius agreed.

except Luna, who said this made sense as Fudge had his own army.

"Now this I want to hear," James smiled openly, though there was a small hint of something else in there Harry couldn't identify.

Harry looked completely thrown at this news, while Luna continued with tranquility about his army of Heliopaths.

"Now those I've heard of," Remus said before Sirius could ask. "Old Scottish legend if I remember correctly, though it was never proved as more than that."

"Apparently, Luna thinks otherwise," Sirius shook his head with an indulgent smile, Harry unsurprised but still confused he had that same small tick to his mouth his father had. It wasn't quite mocking, but...

Hermione snapped back he had no such thing, while Luna didn't seem very concerned by the tone as she said yes he did.

Neville asked what that even was, and while Luna began to explain they were flaming creatures that could gallop-

Hermione cut across they didn't exist, there was no proof.

"She really can't be so naïve to think we've discovered everything there is to be?" Lily sighed for Hermione starting this fight.

Luna said there were plenty of witnesses, just because she was so narrow-minded she had to have everything under her nose before she understood the same-

James let out an impressed whistle for Luna giving such a sharp return, maybe he had her pegged wrong as just some girl with fantasy ideas. She clearly had a spunk to her.

Ginny cut in by mimicking an identical cough to Umbridge's, hem, hem, causing several people to startle in concern before giving uneasy laughs.

"This seems to be a full blown Weasley trait of good imitators," Sirius grinned at this even small resemblance to his own acts.

Before Ginny reminded they were supposed to be coming up with meeting places?

Hermione forced herself to get back on track and asking for any ideas.

"You didn't discuss this before you showed up with the idea?" James chuckled.

"Have you heard us do any such thing?" Harry shrugged, his mind currently vexed on the issue, though he had a funny feeling he'd like the end results of this.

Sirius offered, "Why not the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Um, the little problem that there's a basilisk corpse down there," Harry told him like the thought was obvious.

"I don't know," Sirius shrugged, " I think it kind of sets the mood."

"Plus," Remus agreed, "only you can open it, what with the Parselmouth door and all."

Harry shook his head furiously and said, "How would we get back up that giant slide? Plus, can't the teeth still kill you? Should we really be playing with that?"

"You're turning into your mother," Sirius told him, "and being a killjoy."

"Hey!" Lily and Harry both snapped, both giving Sirius the stank eye for his innocent joke.

James personally didn't want to think about Harry back down there again for any reason, he'd already had a few vivid nightmares about that place, and so instead offered, "they might be able to use the Shrieking Shack."

"Not sure if that's big enough," Remus disagreed, "certainly not for the lot of them at once."

The boys remained stumped, and rather miffed they were coming up short with this idea.

Sirius begrudgingly turned back to the pages, though he knew whichever student offered up something they hadn't thought of would still irk him.

Katie offered the idea of Library.

Sirius chuckled out the answer before anyone could respond.

Harry disagreed Madam Pince wouldn't be thrilled with that.

Dean suggested an unused classroom.

"Not secure enough," Remus dissed, "Umbridge could walk right in on that, which means you'd need a guard and all sorts of get away plans, that's pretty elaborate and I'm not sure how long term it would work for such a huge group."

Ron liked the idea, saying McGonagall had let them do this last year, but Harry felt their head of house wouldn't be so keen on this more rebellious idea.

Hermione said they'd brainstorm and get back to everyone once they found a place.

"You've half your goal accomplished at least," Lily praised.

She hesitated only a moment more before pulling a long sheaf of parchment out of her bag as well as a bottle of ink and telling before they departed, they should all write their names down on this as an agreement not to tell Umbridge or anyone what they were up to.

Harry felt an odd smile light his face for some reason, though he had no clue as this seemed innocent enough and surely Hermione was still just nervous with so many people looking at her.

Fred took it at once and signed with gusto, but as he tried to pass it along to Zacharias the boy hesitated and said he was sure Ernie could just tell him whenever meetings were.

"It's a test, clever girl," Remus chuckled, "I'd be sure not to pass along when the next meeting is to anyone who doesn't sign it."

Ernie didn't look much for the idea either though, saying that as he was a prefect, well if this list was found...

Harry reminded Ernie had just said this was the most important thing he'd do this year.

Ernie hesitated in still saying yes, but Hermione got snappy as she asked if he really thought she'd be leaving this lying around?

Ernie's anxiousness died down as he said he'd sign after that.

"If that's really what he was anxious about that I'm a little insulted for Hermione," Lily rolled her eyes. "She was the one who just said to keep this business quiet."

"Least it got the loudmouth to agree," James smiled, "between him and the twins, that should convince the lot of them there's no harm in agreeing to this."

Nobody protested after that, though Cho's friend gave her one more haughty look before putting her name down. There was a heavy feeling while Hermione slipped it away, as if they'd all signed a contract.

Harry felt a slight giggle escape him he had no name for, though he was confident it wasn't too far off the mark.

The twins decided to break up the group, declaring they had other things to get doing as they left with their friend, and thus began the others leaving in two's and three's as well. Cho was the last to vacate, she seemed to be having trouble with the catch on her bag and kept chancing glances at Harry, but her friend kept making impatient noises so Cho left with her.

"Well that was just rude," Sirius pouted, his smile widening when he saw Harry looked a bit disappointed as well that more people hadn't stuck around to talk to him. "Her friend clearly isn't a fan of you, why bring along that one?"

"Same reason you brought me along that time you asked out Christine Palish. You didn't actually want her to say yes, you just wanted me there as backup in case she did," Remus rolled his eyes.

Sirius just nodded in agreement, he still regretted taking his fellow Quidditch player up on that dare of asking out the girl with the then seventh year boyfriend, but Moony was always good backup, and the end results of the escapade had been worth it.

As they left Hermione seemed happy with the day's events, though Ron grumbled who'd invited that Smith guy along.

Hermione agreed she didn't think much of him, but he'd caught her talking to Ernie and Hannah and seemed interested.

"It was good of her to give him a chance," Lily said grudgingly.

"But this proved to me he's not worth keeping in this group, he's too unpredictable," James agreed suspiciously.

Hermione wasn't displeased though, the more people the better. Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have come at all if he wasn't dating Ginny.

Harry jolted so hard he looked like someone had literally yanked on his leg as he snapped, "she what?"

All of them couldn't help chuckling at such a vivid reaction, though Harry still looked more annoyed like they imagined Ron would be at having this news dumped on them. Harry had been fidgeting with his hands so much of late, none of them noticed the little twist he gave to the gold ring on his finger.

Ron, who had been draining the last few drops from his Butterbeer bottle, gagged and sprayed Butterbeer down his front.

"Please tell me Hermione timed it like that," Remus muttered to himself, causing Sirius to snicker harder as he kept going.

He kept sputtering in outrage with his words about how his sister was what?

Hermione didn't seem very interested in the topic, explaining they'd met at the Yule Ball last year and hit it off. Then she spotted a quill shop and decided to pop inside.

"I do adore how casual she is about all this," Lily's shoulders were still shaking.

"Poor Ron, and Harry," James kept smiling as well at the peeved look on his son's face that hadn't lessened much as the news sank in. James was once again grateful he nor any of his friends had younger sisters. One little brother amongst them had caused enough drama in their group.

Ron demanded which one was Michael Corner?

"I would not answer that," Remus said at once.

Hermione gave a vague description, which Ron at once stated he hadn't liked that one.

Sirius rolled his eyes at this display even if he kept laughing more loudly with every line that Harry's pout kept increasing. Harry had known he had a bad feeling about him, yet it hadn't been very dominant at the time, what had changed?

Ron still couldn't wrap his mind around this idea, saying he'd thought his sister fancied Harry.

"Did he expect her to live on that crush forever?" James asked with honest interest.

"I'm starting to wonder if he was even hoping for it," Remus grinned, "least Ron knows Harry, may not be such a big deal to him."

"Nah, Ron knew Harry would never reciprocate so his baby sister would always be far away from any romance," Sirius snorted.

Harry forced himself to remain quiet and out of this conversation, now playing with his ring more than ever as something pressed heavily on his mind for this topic. Lily noticed him doing this, but she thought it was merely the idea of his wife's commentary on this and still realized she had not an actual clue of who the girl could be.

Hermione agreed she used to, but she'd moved on from that ages ago, not that she didn't like Harry of course, she finished towards him. Harry gave a vague nod, though he wasn't really listening, still seeing Cho waving good bye to him in his head.

The lot of them giggled at that, thinking that's what had kept him so off this topic now, but Harry was surprised such a thing hadn't crossed his mind since Hermione had brought this up, so Harry was left more confused than ever what was going on.

It did make Harry realize something for the first time, as he spoke in surprise she'd been talking to him lately.

"It took you quite some time to realize this," James chuckled.

"Well I'm sorry if those kinds of details don't keep my attention," Harry managed an eye roll and a friendly smile, though for some reason he'd noted every time Ginny had spoken to him while revisiting these memories...

Hermione chose her quill and made to leave the shop, but Ron was still breathing down her neck for more, causing her to snap at him this is why his sister hadn't said anything about it, she knew he'd harp on this.

Ron snapped he wasn't harping on anything all the way up the street.

"Oh yes, he's calm as a hippogriff on fire," Sirius snorted.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him while turning to Harry and saying at least he should have enjoyed himself.

Harry asked in surprise what that could mean, his face burning with embarrassment if he'd been caught staring at Cho the whole time.

"Oh I'm sure you weren't that bad," Remus tried for sympathy, failing as spectacularly as Sirius' disbelieving snort. If Harry was anything like he was in here, that had been a lost cause on the kids part.

Hermione told him with a grin Cho hadn't taken her eyes off Harry the whole time.

Sirius was still chuckling happily as he passed Harry the book.

HPHPHPHPHP

* I've actually been sitting on this one for ages, and yeah I really did want to bring it up in that moment in three, but it just never felt right considering everything else that was going on. So I tacked it in here rather awkwardly instead, better to have a random pop up question than ruin tension, so here it will sit.

#The LIfe that Never LIved #Harry Potter #fanfiction #reading the books #HP #OotP #Marauders #Jilly #James Potter #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #Lily Potter

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greekletters · 4 years

Text

... I'm alive, promise!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates/posts. I recently adopted a puppy and she takes up a large chunk of my free time. But I have finally finished another prompt!

I’ll Never Unsee That

“Oh! I have an idea, let’s play truth or dare.” Ruby suggests. And Blake feels the hair on the back of her neck bristle up.

“YES!” Nora is suddenly incredibly invested in truth or dare, and no longer in the bowl of popcorn in front of her.

“I’m game to play. But only if we do dares only, truth is always so boring.” Yang smirks and joins the group in a circle on the floor.

“I think it’s a childish game and don’t see the appeal.” Weiss sticks her nose up but sits down anyways.

“So that mean you’re in, ice queen?” Yang shoves Weiss’ shoulder, almost knocking her over.

“Of course I’m in, you brute.”

Blake silently takes a seat across from Weiss. Not really enthusiastic about playing, but everyone else had committed and she didn’t mind being able to look at Weiss for a while. Not that anyone would ever know that.

“I haven’t played this game in so long. This should be fun.” Pyrrha’s enthusiasm on the other hand, was palpable.

Clearly, she’d never played this game with Nora and Yang before.

“I’ll go first since it was my idea to play. And Blake, since your are sitting to my right, you get to ask the dare.”

“Lovely.” She takes a deep breath. “But I want to establish the ground rules. First, no naked dares. I can’t take another month worth of Goodwitch’s detentions.”

Yang and Nora audibly groan. But Blake continues on.

“Also, no dirty dares. If I have to explain to Ruby what a lap dance is one more time, I’m going to need therapy.”

“I still don’t really get it.” Ruby mumbles.

“Oh come on, Blake! If we can’t do any of the fun ones then what’s the point?” Yang crosses her arms in disappointment.

“I guess you will just have to use your brain and be creative then, huh?” Weiss jabs at Yang, which gains a snarl from the blonde.

“Now, now, let’s play fair. Blake, go ahead and start.” Pyrrha is still way too excited.

“Fine. Ruby,” Blake looks around for ideas. Eyes coming to rest on the items on the kitchen counter. “I dare you to eat a spoonful of mustard.”

“That’s it?” Clearly offended, Yang rolls her eyes.

Ruby hops up from her place next to Blake and moves to grab a spoon.

“Did I say spoon? I meant the soup ladle.”

“That’s more like it.” The smirk on Yang’s face is telling.

“What if it makes me sick?” Ruby can’t help but ask.

“If you throw up before you finish it all, you have to complete a second dare.” Blake clarifies as Ruby squeezes the yellow mustard out of the bottle and into the soup ladle.

“Okay. Ready?” Ruby asks the group even though it doesn’t really matter how ready they are. But they all nod in confirmation, Pyrrha giving a supportive thumbs up.

After the first bite, Ruby visibly gags but keeps her mouth closed.

“Get it together Ruby, it’s just mustard.” Weiss offers up her version of support.

“I’d like to see you eat it then.” She shoots Weiss a glare before taking her third bite off the ladle.

“Lick the spoon! Lick the spoon!” Nora chants after Ruby finishes the final bite, shaking off a chill at the same time.

“Yeah no thanks.” Ruby leaves the spoon in the kitchen and comes back and takes her vacant place in the circle.

“Alright, your turn Ruby.” Blake says, looking at her expectantly.

“Okay, um, Nora.”

“Yes!” Nora throws her fist in the air. Overzealous as ever.

“I dare you to eat a whole piece of paper.”

“Easy.” Nora scoffs as she gets up and grabs someone’s notebook off the desk and rips out a fresh piece of paper.

“Are you going to rip it up or just eat it whole?” Weiss looks absolutely horrified.

“Does it matter?” Yang says eagerly as Nora crumbles up the piece in a ball and puts it in her mouth.

“Fascinating.” Pyrrha says, unable to take her eyes off of Nora as she chomps on the paper repeatedly.

Taking a huge gulp, Nora swallows the mouthful of paper in one go.

“Like I said, easy. Who wants to go next?”

Yang starts beating her hands on the ground. Wanting to get picked, knowing Nora is her best chance to have something completely ridiculous to do.

“Alright, Yang. I challenge you..” she walks over to the kitchen and grabs a bag of grapes from the fruit bowl and comes back over to the circle “to put as many grapes as you can in your mouth.”

Yang catches the bag as Nora tosses it her way and sits back down next to Weiss.

“Piece of cake. Or should I say, piece of grapes.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

“You make no sense, ice queen.” Blake rolls her eyes as Weiss and Yang go back and forth while Yang starts shoving grapes in her mouth one after another.

After a minute or so, Yang has put nearly twenty grapes in her mouth. She looks like a chipmunk.

“Nineteen. Come on Yang, I bet you can do another few grapes.” Pyrrha claps her hands together excitedly as Yang keeps going.

“Roh kay. Ron morh.” The five others watch eagerly as Yang puts one final grape in her mouth.

As soon as the final grape is in her mouth, Yang raises her hands in victory and yells triumphantly. The force of her yell causes the grapes to shoot out of her mouth. One of which hits Blake in the side of her face.

“Oh sick.” She wipes what she assumes to be spit off the side of her cheek.

After she wipes her mouth and collects the rolling grapes off the floor, Yang pops one in her mouth and starts to eat them.

“Foul. Vile. Putrid.” Weiss still disturbed by Yang’s behavior. Yang seems unbothered by Weiss’ opinion.

“Alright.” Tossing another grape in the air and catching it in her mouth. “My turn. Blake, you’re up.”

“Can’t wait.” Her monotonous voice drips with sarcasm.

“Since you were easy on Ruby, I’m going to do you a favor.”

“So kind.” Blake rolls her eyes.

“Take your socks off.”

“That’s it?” Weiss’ voice is shrill from the surprised tone.

“With your teeth.” Yang smirks, knowing Blake can’t stand feet. “While you’re standing up, can’t make it too easy.”

Blake shrugs and stands up. How hard could it be? After a minute or so of struggling, hopping on one foot, Blake learns this may be harder than she thought.

“Quit hopping around and focus.”

“Weiss, I don’t need any tips. I know what I’m doing.”

“Is that so? Because it looks like you’re about to-“

Before Weiss can finish, Blake slips and tumbles to the ground, biting onto the end of her sock as she falls.

“HA!” She says proudly as she holds the sock between her teeth.

“One down, one to go.” Yang says.

“You can do it Blake! Don’t fall this time though, that looked like it hurt.”

“It did.” Blake groans as she stands back up. This time, easily pulling the second sock off her left foot. “Is it my turn again?”

“Yup.”

“Okay, um I guess I’ll pick Pyrrha.” Noticing that Pyrrha looks way too eager to play this game, Blake decides to take it upon herself to take that excitement down a notch.

“Oh excellent. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“How are you excited when you don’t even know what I’m going to ask you to do? Wait, never mind. Doesn’t matter.”

“Cut to the chase, Blake!” Nora is bouncing up and down in her seat.

“Go lift up the cushions on the couch. And you have to put whatever you find in your mouth for ten seconds.”

“Savage.” Yang nods in approval.

“Ew.” Ruby grimaces.

Pyrrha walks over to the couch and begins to lift up the cushions one by one, noticeably more skeptical.

“Oh! That looks gross. Get that one!” Nora shouts as Pyrrha lifts up a cushion, uncovering what appears to be an old potato chip.

Hesitantly, Pyrrha leans over and grabs the chip in her hand and eyes it suspiciously and opens her mouth.

“Pyrrha, please don’t Yang and Jaune sit on that couch. Gods know where it came from.” Weiss all but begs her not to eat it, as Pyrrha closes her eyes and pops the chip in her mouth.

Blake’s eyes go wide, Weiss’ mouth falls open and Ruby covers her eyes. Yang stands up and claps, Nora cheers.

As soon as her ten seconds is up, Pyrrha runs over to the trash bin and empties her mouth, and subsequently her stomach into the container below.

“I’ll never unsee that.” Weiss looks away, disgusted.

After rinsing her mouth out in the sink, Pyrrha takes her seat next to Weiss once again.

“Trust me, you weren’t missing anything.” She looks around the circle to see who should go next. Only one person was left. “I guess I have to pick you then?” Looking over at Weiss.

“I suppose.”

“Make it something good Pyr, she’s the last one.” Yang leans over and bumps shoulders with Pyrrha.

“Alright then. Um, Weiss, I dare you to..” Weiss looks like she’s holding her breath and could pass out at any second “send your crush a text and say that you love them.”

“Cold blooded.” Blake murmurs, looking to the side, not envious at all.

“Well at least we know Jaune won’t be getting a text from Weiss.” Nora rolls onto her back in laughter.

“Hey, that’s not very nice. Jaune is a really nice guy.”

“We all know you got a thing for mop head boy, Pyr. But I highly doubt Weiss is about to send Jaune a message.” Yang looks across Pyrrha, over to Weiss. “Right?”

“If I refuse to complete the dare, what are my options?”

“You can’t refuse, it’s the rules.” Ruby says defiantly. “I had to eat an entire soup ladle of mustard, you can send a single text.”

Weiss looks to the floor and wrings her hands uneasily.

“It’s easy Weiss, you don’t even have to tell us who you send it to.” Blake tries to make her feel better. “I mean, it could be someone’s lucky day.”

“Exactly. You could make someone’s dream come true. Maybe they feel the same way. You never know.”

“Okay, okay. Hush. All of you. I’ll do it.” She pulls her scroll from her pocket and holds it in her hand.

After a moment of staring, Weiss begins to navigate to the correct app and quickly types out a message. Reading it over a few times before taking in a deep breath and hitting send.

“See? That wasn’t that bad, was it?” Yang teases.

And Weiss looks across the circle and catches Blake’s eye, but the expression on her face is hard for Blake to read. It’s somewhere in between scared and sick.

“Weiss, you alright?” Blake asks, but before Weiss can answer, Blake’s scroll makes a noise on the floor beside her. Letting her know she has a message.

She picks it up and unlocks the screen, eyebrows furrowed as she reads the message on the screen. After about the third or fourth time her expression softens and she looks back up at the girl across from her.

“Weiss?” Blake now shares the same look on her face as Weiss.

Yang looks back and forth between the two of them until she realizes what happened and her eyes go wide.

“No fucking way..”

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

Here is a puppy pic, just because. Her name is Luna. : )

#rwby monochrome #rwby checkmate #rwby fanfiction #Blake Belladonna #weiss schnee

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trensu · 4 years

Text

Episode 4: or the One with that Many Minutes of Wangxian Screen Time

Not too many long wangxian scenes, my friends, but let’s hit the highlights

MOMENT 1: wwx catches lwj’s eye during class and gives him a cute little grin paired with an equally cute little wave and duck of the head.

But LWJ IS NOT CHARMED! Not our precious ice prince. No, this guy gives him a cold, immediate shutdown because LWJ is a Disaster Gay™ at this point in his life. Also bc the only reason he noticed wwx here was because wwx was whispering with nhs

He’s very annoyed. Because wwx is being rude in class. Not for any other reason.

Boring lecture happens, boring plot stuff happens, blah blah, wen chao exists suddenly and we all hate him blah blah

Okay, one non-wangxian note here because i just noticed this: LWJ WAS READY TO THROW DOWN WITH WEN CHAO. LIKE, HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR LECTURES??

THAT'S WHAT GETS YOU RILED UP, LWJ?? REALLY?? INSULTING YOUR STUDY MATERIAL???

LWJ IS SUCH A NERD LOLOLOL

Okay, Moment 2: outside of class, wwx says hi to lwj loudly and with biggest most sunshiney grin to have ever existed, waving his arm all big and exaggerated to catch lwj’s attention because lwj is walking purposefully to somewhere, who knows/cares where

HE’S SO ENTHUSIASTICALLY SAYING HI TO LWJ?? LIKE SO EXCITED!! LIKE SOMETHING THAT’S NOT A PUPPY BC DOGS, AS WE KNOW, ARE HORRIBLE (according to wwx; i have no strong opinions on dogs. I’m a cat person)

I cannot emphasize enough how adorable wwx is here.

LWJ just Nopes right out of that greeting, tho

He was hit full force, point blank with that sunshine smile and storms off at a different direction than what he was originally walking towards (which happens to be opposite of where wwx is)

And he’s so angry about it too? Like, his expression doesn’t change but it definitely radiates annoyance

“I HATE THIS STUPID AWFUL PRETTY BOY WHO STOOD UP TO WEN CHAO, THE GUY I WAS GONNA SUCKER PUNCH FOR INSULTING MY FAMILY’S ANCIENT FANTASY CHINA SUMMER SCHOOL.”

“GOD WHAT A NUISANCE HE IS. IT’S DEFINITELY HATE THAT I’M FEELING. LOATHING, EVEN.” *insert Wicked the Musical reference here*

This all happens in like, the span of a minute, btw. That’s the entire length of the wangxian moment here. We’re getting table scraps and it hurts

Lol, WWX immediately decides that LWJ must have bad hearing bc who on earth would ignore him, the ever so charming and handsome wwx?

Also, can i just say that the blue sash wwx has to wear for their school uniform IS UNSeEMLy?

YOU CAN’T JUST DRAW MY ATTENTION TO WWX’S ITTY BITTY WAIST LIKE THAT

MY NERVES CAN'T TAKE IT.

I’M NOT AS REPRESSED AS LWJ. I CAN’T JUST IGNORE IT.

mOVIng ON

Moment 3: TURTLE TIME. WWX, that rapscallion, pins a hand-drawn cartoon turtle on lqr’s back. Which ofc mortally offends LWJ, who shoots him a glare that can level armies as he snatches the drawing and disintegrates it with the weight of his Disapproval

Almost immediately after this, we get...

Moment 4: OUR FIRST PAPERMAN (okay that's a lie bc we saw a type of a paperman in ep2 but this one is the first one in his chronological life time and DEFINITELY the first wangxian paperman)

Cute little red paperman that wwx sends to CLIMB ALL OVER LWJ

Like, NOTICE ME LWJ LOOK AT ME LWJ LWJ LWJ LOOK I’M HERE

Little Red Paperman makes it to LWJ’s shoulder before LWJ heartlessly grabs it and crumples it into a little ball of Repressed Gay Rage

Okay, so Moment 5 is actually a series of stolen glances .

Lqr calls on WWX to answer some questions in that way teachers do when they think you’re slacking off and not paying attention.

LWJ starts sneaking looks at the first correct answer WWX gives, like “oh, he’s clever??”

WWX ofc is preening at each question he gets right

LWJ sneaks another glance, Grudgingly Impressed.

LQR then calls on LWJ to answer a question that stumps WWX so ofc LWJ shows off his brain for a bit too. He’s all smug about it, like so what if wwx is clever, i’m smarter and therefore superior to him

BUT THEN WWX challenges LQR with a question of his own (it’s foreshadowing, but whatever we don’t care about that rn)

And SHOCKINGLY LWJ cuts off his uncle to righteously answer WWX’s question (I’ll SHOW HIM TO ASK WEIRD QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT MAKE ME QUESTION THE WAY THE WORLD WORKS)

LWJ then sneaks ANOTHER look at WWX because HE CAN’T KEEP HIS EYES OFF HIM FOR SOME MYSTERIOUS UNKNOWN REASON

The only reason he stops sneaking glances is bc his uncle kicks wwx out of class, thus ending Moment 5

But then lqr immediately gets the ball rolling for Moment 6 by sending LWJ after WWX to make sure WWX doesn’t skip out on his punishment (writing lines, no kinky sex stuff)

Moment 6, our last wangxian moment of the episode: Sword Fight by the Waterfall.

Okay, maybe fight is too strong of a word. It’s more like LWJ startles WWX, who is in deep thought for plot-related reasons, so WWX whips out his sword to attack before he really thinks about it

LWJ blocks it (gracefully) and pulls out his sword as well. There’s a couple of sword clashes (against A GORGEOUS BACKDROP IN THE FORM OF A WATERFALL, LIKE SERIOUSLY EPIC ROMANCE LEVELS OF BEAUTY)

And the episode is over.

Like, okay, there’s Six Moments of Wangxian content but they’re all, like, barely a minute long?? Except maybe for Moment 5, but that’s because i squished together several tiny moments of stolen glances

SHOW, WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WHY ARE YOU NEGLECTING MY EMOTIONAL NEEDS. THIS IS A HATE CRIME, I’M CALLING THE COPS

Return to Masterpost

#WangXiantics #the untamed #wangxian

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potatoofpotato · 3 years

Text

Offended.

Everyone has gained a skin of wet tissue paper. People are floored by the simplest statements and go crazy over every single thing. Yes, people have been absolute jackasses. People are jackasses. Some people are terrible miserable people who actually say awful things. But people get so absolutely upset over the slightest of things that int he long run, genuinely don’t mean much. People complain about pronouns, people complain about what colors you should like and dislike, people get offended over videos that they actively have to search for and STILL get upset over. People get offended over a character pose in a video game. People get offended over a character’s gender. People get upset over gender not being represented. People get upset over a certain person being given more attention over another. Frankly? I’m so tired of this cancel generation and so tired of everyone having such a ridiculously thin skin that every person has to be so careful on what they say and how they say it otherwise they’ll get the “cancel”. This is absolutely ridiculous that no one sees how much we’re surrounding ourselves in our bubbles. Anything that even remotely comes close to even touching the bubble much less bursting it, we leap and cry and rage at the top of our lungs like spoiled children. Yes I agree, there are people who have said things that they should lose their jobs over. What comes to mind is Gina Carano and the statements she made on social media. Yeah, those words are words that should not fly. They’re completely inappropriate and should have be tolerated. And I’m glad that they weren’t. Do you remember the infamous, “Nappy Headed Hos” statement? “ On the April 4 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning, host Don Imus referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team, which is comprised of eight African-American and two white players, as “nappy-headed hos” immediately after the show's executive producer, Bernard McGuirk, called the team “hard-core hos.” Later, former Imus sports announcer Sid Rosenberg, who was filling in for sportscaster Chris Carlin, said: “The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the [National Basketball Association's] Toronto Raptors.” That? That was a genuine, absolutely, offensive statement that to this day shocks me that he stated this ON TELEVISION. That is a statement, that cannot be argued. Any person, male or female would and SHOULD be offended over that kind of statement.

But this is the type of statement that got attention. The lack of respect that turned heads. These are the types of words that should offend you. Nowadays? We as humans have softened up to the point where the slightest opinion ruffles feathers. “People get addicted to feeling offended all the time because it gives them a high; being self-righteous and morally superior feels good.” ― Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life “The only real conflict you will ever have in your life won’t be with others, but with yourself.” ― Shannon L. Alder “Right now we live in an age of extreme Political Correctness. It has gone way too far. I hope it's just a phase. Political Correctness is now just a fancy word for censorship. It's no longer about protecting the weak. It has become an excuse to persecute others, because persecuting people is fun. Don't you dare say or think the wrong thing, or a Twitter mob of angry villagers will come after you with digital torches and metaphorical pitchforks.” ― Oliver Markus Malloy, Why Creeps Don't Know They're Creeps - What Game of Thrones can teach us about relationships and Hollywood scandals

“Whenever you speak the truth, someone will be offended.” ― Laurence Overmire, Report from X-Star 10 “You can be hurt, not by what others think of you, but by what you think of what they think or you think they think of you.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana I’m certain someone is going to read this and take offense to it. Maybe someone is going to type up a 50 page retort (not really) about how people should take more care into the feelings of others. I will not respond. I don’t care. The only thing I’ll say to that and any other person who’s offended by this is, thicken up your skin.

#offend #i'm so offended #offended #rant

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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 4 years

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Let’s Get Lost (Chop and Change, Part 3.)

Series descriprion: Twenty years ago, you’ve given a promise to a boy who claimed to imprint on you. Against your will, you decided to keep it and to visit La Push just to see if anything has changed.

Part summary: Everything seemed to be going well... To well for your liking. Of course there was a slight road bump waiting for you.

A/N: I think I just stan Emmett being dudebro with Jake and thus having his place in the Qiuleute family, dragging the reader along on his adventure. Also, yes, I firmly believe that vampires can cry and their saliva, in fact, isn’t that venomous, since Edward didn’t seem to be poisioning Bella while kissing her... So... Excuse me why I’ll be altering the cannon.

Warning: It’s highly recommended to read the Football Time miniseries first since this contains an unlike pairing which is explained in the series, also the circumstances are given there.

Word counter: 5 K

Tagging: @nemodoren. @missdictatorme

Spotify playlist: ✨ Twilight Crackheads ✨

Series masterlist: H E R E

GIF SOURCE

It was hard to resist... But giving in to the rush was more fun, wasn't it? It felt good to feel a bit younger, as you'd say. To feel more alive for a few minutes. Yes, you gave into Seth's tries, various looks, and daring smiles. And dear Lord did you enjoy yourself as you yelled words that didn't even go with the song. It was an amazing singing along session, to be honest. First, he thought you might not give in - but then you asked him to put your CD back in, so you could show him how it's done. And fuck, you delivered just as you planned.

I must admit, I can't explain... Any of these thoughts racin' through my brain, it's true - baby, I'm howlin' for you.

So far, it seemed that Seth was enjoying himself as your shoulders moved to the rhythm and he was making various weird faces. Sure, you met some cars here and there, but most of the people already met him and knew what he was like. And what did they think of you? Why would you care? All you wanted to do at that moment was to have fun. For the most part, you both succeeded. - "For a fossil, you're not that bad." - Seth said all of a sudden, waiting for your reaction. With an appeal of laughter, you opened up your mouth and your expression was honestly the funniest Seth had seen until that day. - "I will pretend I didn't hear that you sneaky... Fuck, no-one ever called a fossil." - With that, you turned on another road leading directly to Sam's house. - "I was called old, elderly, but a fossil? Wow." - "I didn't mean to offend you, it was a joke." - Seth said more carefully, yet as you turned your head at him, he realized you're joking as well.

"Can I ask you something?" - Seth mumbled when you lowered the music as the car rode into an area that was already inhabited. There was this huge house, an even bigger sty, and one big campfire place bounded by logs, implying that this is yet another place where the wolves and their families gather to share stories and legends of their tribe. It was magical for you. - "Shoot." - You mumbled from parking your car, watching a huge group of people in front of the house, gathering and chatting about things. The only two you could recognize were Sam and Embry, but you were sure that other names will cross your mind once you join them. - "Why did they call you the Canadian the last time you and the Cullens hung out here?" - "Ain't that pretty obvious from my accent?" - Sure, now you let the damn Canadian accent slip through. It was impossible not to catch it once you were living in one place for such a long time. - "I'm living there for a long... Long time. Possibly the last two centuries, if my calculations are correct. And because most of the vampires at least try to move around the globe, it became quite infamous. It's just a dumb nickname." - With that, you dismissed the whole topic and leaned into your seat. The engine was already turned off, but you couldn't move as you watched the group of people.

There was a lot of them. More of them than you recalled. Was is a good idea to come there after all, even though you've been welcomed to visit now? Sam told you that the presence of such a little number of vampires shouldn't cause any unwanted transforming, but... What if it will? You wouldn't be able to take such a responsibility on your back. - "What are you stressing about?" - Seth asked after a moment of watching you staring at the kids and their parents. Of course, he noticed that you're nervous. To put it nicely, the boy was obsessed with every small flinch in your face, it was logical he would notice.

"If you think they won't like you, you're right." - This boy could be so sassy at moment, you swore to God. With another snicker, you turned at him as well while still holding the steering wheel in your hand. - "They'll love you. I'll make them." - "Is that your attempt to flirt?" - Well, this was just a plain call out from your part. But honestly, it didn't make Seth even flinch. Because yes, that was exactly what he was trying to do. Maybe, he'd try to talk back just to see what your reaction would be like, but at that moment, Emmett's face appeared behind you. The huge, curly-haired vampire pressed his face into the glass, smiling at both of you.

Now, when Emmett was there, no-one would stop him from dragging you by. He and Esme never made anyone shift since their rather frequent visits - why would you make someone shift? You weren't that special for a vampire and making the shifting genes work inside a wolf certainly didn't belong to your hidden abilities. Bullshit meter? That was still in question since Edward still didn't deny or confirm the fact. You were safe for them.

And dear Lord, these people were pumped to see you coming for the said visit. Some of them, you already met two days prior at the First Beach where Seth was telling his stories. Aside from Emily, Sue made it as well, so there were four women in the kitchen. There was the second of Sam's twins, Ellie, who didn't turn to a wolf. No-one knew if she has the genes, but not even something as dramatic as her sister's suicide didn't make her turn - whereas, for Seth and Leah, it was Harry's heart attack. Most of the Uley's now assumed that she simply wasn’t a direct sucessor of the wolf thing. But Sam had a smaller son, named Billy, after Jacob's father who was likely to be a wolf once his time comes.

When you were in the kitchen, helping Emily to prepare all the food necessary, you understood why Jake warned you about staring at the twins' pictures. Ellie was looking precisely like her sister; they were both pretty after their mother. Emily herself was an amazing woman. She has a wicked sense of humor, yet still had all the motherly love and instinct. To your surprise, since the first moment you walked in front of the house and got a hug from Emily, there was the feeling that you're included under the wings of her endless love. Which, even if you were a few centuries older than Emily, was lovely.

Sue was fine with you as well. Of course, she knew who you were. She knew it when you visited her with Emmett at Charlie’s, she knew about the imprinting ever since it happened - it wasn't Seth's mistake this time. Leah couldn't keep her mouth shut and of course, she had to tell her mother about her small brother imprinting into a fucking vampire. But Sue's reaction was far from what Leah had expected to happen. She just said "And what do you think your brother can do about that?" instead of being mad. It was making her worried, yes, but when she met you in person, the fear disappeared from the bigger part. There were still worries, but these were just caused by the fact that Seth was her child. This was a plain thing to understand.

"Should I put the potatoes into the water?" - You asked nervously and looked at both Emily and Sue. These women were teaching you how to cook and to be honest, they were quite enjoying themselves. If you ever cooked something, it was back in... Sixteenth, maybe the seventeenth century. A lot of time passed since then. And that was a lot of time in which you fed by animal blood, not by cooking. Ellie was sitting at the dining table and watched you do your best while failing miserably. Sure, she knew you were a vampire, but this was hilarious in her opinion. The girl quite liked you, which was a pleasant surprise and a change from all the young girls you've met on the beach. - "Sure, they won't cook if you'll be just staring at them." - "Maybe I have laser eyes, don't be so sure." - You answered back to Emily with a daring smile, rolling sleeves of your t-shirt up. Both women furrowed and waited for what you'll do with the said potatoes - and even Ellie's eyes widened in horror as she watched you stick your hand into the huge pot of boiling water, putting the potatoes there one by one.

All of them were so shocked that you put at least five of them onto the bottom itself before they at least blinked at the scenery; all you could feel was a slight tickling on your skin. As you noticed that they're all silent, you looked at them with a slow-witted face. - "Did I do something wrong?" - You asked, still standing in front of the pot with your sleeve rolled up. - "You know... We usually don't stick our hands into boiling water. We do this." - With that, Emily pushed you from the counter and showed you how to carefully put the potatoes in. Suddenly, your cooking lesson was interrupted by Emmett, who had around four kids hanging from various parts of his body. To say he wasn't bothered was an understatement. The vampire probably didn't even know about them. And of the said children was Sakari, which heavily implied that Jacob and Jean arrived. Or that Jake was here alone.

"How's the food looking? They sent me here as a spy." - Emmett said playfully, winking at you with that. - "They sent you in because you won't eat any of the food we're cooking." - You answered quite swiftly. Before the vampire answered, he bowed to pick up a child hanging from his leg and swung them over his shoulder like a sack of wheat. Something was telling you that while this wasn't what you were supposed to do with kids, this was exactly why all the kids from La Push adored him. - "Whatever, boomer." - Emmett muttered out, looking at Emily for answers. But he wasn't about to wiggle so easily out of the situation.

"What did you just say?" - At that, you rolled the sleeve back down and stood up directly in front of the man. - "Look me in the eyes and tell me again, come on, do it." - For people who didn't know your friendship with Emmett, this could be viewed as a potentially threatening situation; while all you were doing was that you measured your egos. - "Do you want me to spell it out for you?" - Emmett asked back, straightening up even more despite having all these kids still hanging from him. - "I don't think you're that good with the alphabet."

After another few seconds a verbal shootout, which was carefully observed by all of the Uley women, you decided to solve the manner in your typical fashion - by a super dumb competition which was also extremely dangerous. This time, you decided to chop wood with your bare hands. And if wood couldn't resolve your small problem, rocks were about to do the trick. By theatrically seizing most of the men and kids that were there, you gave the women at least some time to catch a breath.

It took almost half an hour and a huge pile of wood until you simply couldn't chop a huge log anymore... It wasn't even a log, it was a whole-ass stump of a tree. For now, it was Emmett who had the upper hand - yet you knew that as soon as you will have some more agility-based ego measuring, you'll kick his ass. So, for the rest of the day, Emmett has earned the right to call you boomer whenever he felt like it. Yet he didn't use it in front of the kids so you wouldn't be only called boomer, because that would be disrespectful. And no matter how much Emmett loved to poke fun of you, he never intended to be strictly disrespectful to you. That wasn't what friends did.

And even after you lost the competition, there was Sakari and Paul's little girl, who came to talk to you. - "That was so cool!" - Sakari yelled out with giggles, catching your palm to hers. The other girl did so as well, but she stopped when she realized... - "Is something wrong with you, auntie? Are you sick? You're cold as ice." - At that, you stopped and smiled at the girl with an uncertain emotion inside you. Fuck, there was so much wrong with you. Every literal thing about you could be considered as inhuman and wrong. But Seth to the rescue. - "She has some problems with blood circulation, you know? That's why she has cold hands." - The man smiled at the girl, watching you leading both the kids back to the table. Problems with blood circulation. Of course. While it was only partially correct, it still sounded better than just saying 'yeah, kiddo, I am a vampire'. What was sweetest, the girl didn't even stop to think about that - she just nodded and started to talk about something else entirely.

"Not gonna lie, that was impressive to watch... And I'm scared of you a bit." - The man mumbled when the girls finally let go of you, running to the other kids who were running around the table. - "That was the point. Scaring you away." - It almost sounded serious, until Seth turned his head at you and saw you grinning at your joke. - "Okay." - He just agreed. Was that emotion in your eyes or was Emmett going blind? Maybe the shine in your eyes was making him blind. All he knew that it was very sweet and that as soon as he gets the chance, he'll at least text the Cullens about that. - "Can you give us a hand in here?" - Emily cried at you suddenly, once again stealing the possibility of deepening the flirtation from Seth. Of course, you ran there immediately.

Both you and Emmett helped them carry hoards of food onto the table outside, helping them with loads of dishes, making sure everyone has some. Even though the wolves were super-strong when they were actively shifting, it was nice to have two helping vampires just waiting around to do stuff when asked. Especially when it came to carrying around super-heavy stuff since you didn't even seem to be bothered by the fact.

The late lunch was fun through and through. Everyone seemed to be interested in you - but in a good way. Was this Seth's doing? What the hell did the boy tell these people about you that made them so interested? This, of course, caused another wave of intense staring on both sides. Maybe it wasn't staring, you tried to keep it in the quick-gazes thing as you chatted with Paul and Embry, but Seth was completely lost in all of it. Emmett was just quietly observing everything. He couldn't stop the widening grin growing on his face.

To your surprise, when it was time to leave, you didn't want to leave. You wished you could spend more time with Sue and Emily, chatting with them about nothing and everything at the same time. More so, you wanted to learn more about cooking human food. The activity, no matter how tricky it could get for a vampire, was fun to you. There was still so much to talk about with Paul, Embry, Sam, and their other friends - it was so much it wouldn't get into one evening.

When you spaced out on Seth once more, you noticed a small, almost invisible drop of sauce on his chin. But you knew about the drop and it was irritating the living hell out of you. You could tell him to wipe it off, yeah, but you did something completely different. Without thinking about it, you just walked to him and cleaned it up... Whilst he was in the middle of a conversation with Jacob. It was about his extempore at the workshop. Jacob didn't try to hide the knowing grin on his face. Seth's head was empty within seconds as you then turned away and walked to Sam to talk with him. - "Wow." - Jacob got out voicelessly, turning on his heels as he didn't know what to do. Then he turned back to the boy while biting on his lower lip.

Seth was still spaced out, smoothing over the spot where your ice-cold palm touched him. The man would swear that his body was about to explode with happiness. Was it possible for his heart to beat as fast as it did or did he pass out some time ago and this was a fever dream? This could be counted as clear progress. - "I have a good feeling about this." - Suddenly, Emmett jumped into the conversation with Sakari hanging on his forearm. - "I've never seen her so soft around anyone."

If this was all false hope, it was nothing but cruel. But if it wasn't...

On the other hand, the thing flew out of your head almost instantly. You were walking with Sam to the car where you were about to wait for Sue since you offered her a ride home. - "You can always come for another visit." - Sam told you with both his hands in his pockets. - "You know, I heard that you hated vampires before. And that the last conflict didn't end up so well." - You started carefully, but Sam just smiled and nodded. - "I learned how to appreciate some of the Cullen's qualities after meeting the Volturi." - "You met Aro and his underlings?" - That was new information for you. You've heard about the Nessie problem countless times at that point, you knew that Jake and his pack were there - but you didn't know all the Quileutes came to defend the Cullens. - "Not so fun bunch, I tell you that." - Suddenly, your liking for Sam Uley grew even more. You hated Aro for some time and he detested you as well. You've been there and done that. - "We can agree on that." - With that, you went for a quick hug, promising him to stop by as soon as you'll be able to.

Driving Sue home was more or less a nice while when you chatted about Forks and the surroundings, the woman told you about a lot of nice places to visit - since you were allowed to the reservation, the spots were all over the Olympic Peninsula. You appreciated everything she had told. When you dropped her off at Charlie's, Seth climbed to the front seat since you were about to drive him back home before departing to the Cullen residence. To make his mood a bit better, you chose to play the CD he had given you. But there wasn't much talking done throughout the journey. Seth was trying to figure out what to do next, the fear of you leaving was now more and more real inside of him.

"Is everything okay?" - You asked suddenly. The sky was getting dark and since it wasn't cloudy that night, the stars were slowly starting to shine on the night sky. This was certainly one of the few rarest nights out there, where it wasn't raining like hell. - "It can't get any better." - Seth whispered, more likely to himself than to you, but you didn't let it slip past your radar. It made you smile for a second, but you didn't show that to the man.

More importantly, the closer you got to his home, the slower you wanted to drive the car.

Jacob told you that imprinting is usually about finding the perfect match, right? Sam had found and settled down with Emily, with who he had a beautiful family. Leah moved out of Forks with Samantha, living her best life somewhere out there. And since you stopped resisting, at least partially, you seemed to be giving in so easily you almost felt ashamed. But... It wasn't that hard. Sure, there was still the terror of not being alone, but there were moments where you could look past that. And this day was one of them as a whole. For Seth, to give him a real chance, you were willing to create another of those. And maybe more of them. - "I enjoyed it today. Your family is amazing." - There was nothing but admiration in your voice as you mentioned them.

"I noticed mom liked you too. Except for when you stuck your whole arm into the pot. That freaked them out a bit." - Seth admitted with a chuckle, making you growl in shame. - "You heard about that?" - This was very embarrassing for you. Sticking your arm into a pot of boiling water... Yeah... Who would've thought about that? - "Ellie told us when you and Emmett had the small show-off." - With that, Seth smiled at you. - "I think it was pretty badass even if you lost." - And there was pure admiration in his voice as well. He shouldn't be as admiring of you, because maybe that was the rock of the problem. This was maybe freaking you out. And also you knew he can't do a thing about that.

It got kinda uncomfortable when you both got out of the car in front of his house. Both of you wanted to say something, but you just kind of looked at each other for too long. Then you noticed the slow steps Seth was taking towards you. First, there were gentle touches on your forearms which you noticed only because his skin was much hotter than yours. The man did his best not to jump in too fast. And indeed, it felt almost agonizing until he smoothed your upper arms, caressing your shoulders as well. When his palms gently caught your neck, as if you could break under the touch, he saw you smiling and closing your eyes. Seth was close. Your body could feel the natural heat coming out of him, you could feel the blood rushing in his veins, the manic rhythm of his heart, and the way his breath fastened.

Jesus Christ, it would be so easy to just let go and to give in. If you'd lost head here and there, you'd just drag him inside, and... But you didn't want to do it like this. So in the last moment, just when you felt him breathing to your face, you put your palm on his chest, pulling him a bit further from you. Seth wasn't mad of weirded out by the last moment bailout. At least, he palmed your jaws, since you seemed to be more than comfortable with the closeness. You were so comfortable that you put your palms on his sides, sending him another crooked smile. - "Too soon?" - The man asked simply, making you nod. - "I need time to know that I'm not acting out of remorse or hormones." - "Vampires have hormones? That's a new one." - Seth smiled, making you snicker as well. - "Shut up." - You answered only. - "As you wish, ma'am. Should I ask about the remorse?" - At that, you just shook your head.

Damn, you would be able to spend hours solely by staring at him from that angle. But he, unfortunately, needed to sleep, eat and go to the toilet. So that was a no-no scenario for you. - "What if I take you out?" - You asked suddenly. At that, Seth rose his eyebrows. - "Go on." - "Well, for starters, you, me, Port Angeles, movies and dinner. My treat." - "I don't want you to spend money on me. It's dumb." - At that, you gently pinched the skin under his sweatshirt, laughing unbelievably. - "But if you'd ask me out and pay for me, that would be a-ok, am I right? Last chance, take it or leave it." - Of course, Seth agreed, even though he imagined he'll be the one to ask you out. - "Call me." - You whispered in the end, getting on the tips to at least treat him with a simple kiss on the cheek. Even this small gesture made him stay in front of his house with shining eyes as you drove off into the night.

That happened three days ago. When you told Emmett, who immediately texted to the family group, you placed a bet on when Seth will call you. He was guessing the night when you asked him out - you bet on the following day. But he hadn't called you. He hadn't texted you. And even if Emmett was taking you to all the spots Sue told you about, there was still a huge part of you which was slowly descending to madness again. There were all of those dark scenarios playing out, one after another.

You didn't do anything bad. Yes, it was too fast for you, but you've told him not to push it and Seth seemed to be okay with it. He was willing to wait a bit longer, a few days were nothing against twenty years, right? But what if he jumped to conclusions too fast as Brianna did? What if he hurt himself or worse? All the horror scenarios came to you once more - Seth being crushed by a tree, a rock, drowning... Fuck, why did he have to be so fragile? Sure, against a normal human being, he wasn't fragile at all, but next to you...

On the third day of silence, you knew you couldn't do it anymore. Suddenly, you ran out of the residence while Emmett watched you through the window. You could run to Jacob's house, sure, but you'd get lost on the way again - driving a car whilst knowing the communications around Forks was safer and quicker at that point. Once you passed Forks, you sped up beyond limits with tears in your eyes. One of the songs Seth picked out for you was playing on repeat, yet it was ignored by you. Your breath was slightly hitching as you tried to focus on the road, your knuckles were getting paler and paler. At one point, you had to stop flinching your fingers because you almost broke the steering wheel. It was evening, so Jacob was home at that time. First, you wanted to ask him and then, you planned to drive directly to Seth's house. You couldn't get less fuck about anything at that time.

Jacob ran to your car through heavy rain, since he heard the loud tunes playing. He stopped himself at the sight of your appearance. Even though your eyes were showing that you're not lusting for blood just yet, there were deep dark circles under your eyes to the point you almost seemed to be sick. To amp it up, even more, you were crying. And shaking. - "Where is he, Jacob?" - You walked straight to the man, not stopping at the fact that he's a shapeshifter - you simply caught his shirt in your palms, raising him to the air like a goddamn toy. Sakari and Jean were both standing at the front door, watching the sight. - "And don't make me repeat myself."

Jacob did his best to stay calm. You were a friend and he understood that something must've happened. He didn't want to transform and to hurt you by any possible means. Gently, Jake put his hot palms on yours, hugging them. - "Put me down, Y/N, come on." - After a moment, you blew angrily, but did as he asked. - "Is something wrong with Seth?" - The man asked right after. Slowly, the previous furiousness was replaced with fear and anxiety once more. - "I don't know. I thought you might know... He was supposed to call me, but he didn't. I hadn't heard of him in three days." - Jacob nodded, trying to find the best solution. - "Listen, try to go to him for a visit, maybe he's just taking his time and you've freaked out absurdly. Okay? Okay. Give me a call once you'll know something."

You drove to his house as if he was about to die any minute. There wasn't a time where you'd try to slow down the machine or anything, you just pushed forward even more. This time, you tried knocking and calling him on the phone once more, but as soon as you realized he isn't picking up, you did as you told him previously. Once more, you broke into the house through an opened window.

For a minute, you listened to the dark house, trying to catch any signs of life. And soon, you did. He was breathing... But something was wrong. Very wrong. And when you stepped into the bedroom once more, you almost couldn't breathe for more than ten seconds before you pulled yourself together and dialed Carlisle's number.

#howlin' for you #the black keys #the twilight saga #twilight saga #twilight crackheads #twilight renessaince #seth Clearwater #jacob black #embry call #emily uley #sam uley #we stan a pack #a big family with a big heart #and i think that sam learned how to appreciate cullens and the similar vampires after meeting the newborns and volturi #elso vampires cannonically break into their partner's house #yas queen

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