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gb-patch · 3 years

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Ask Answers: May 15th Part 1

It’s been longer than usual since our last answer session, so I’m answering a ton of questions today! It’s so big I split it into two parts. Thank you for the patience on getting a response to these.

Thanks for reaching out to us with your questions and kind words ^^!

Sorry if this has been asked before or isn't something you can say but is there anyway for Cove to confess in step 4? I wanted him to confess in step 3 and followed all the steps to make him do it but ended up texting my family instead of Cove at the end.

Yeah, Cove can confess in Step 4!

Hello! I heard that Cove is on the spectrum, albeit undiagnosed. As someone who is ND, this makes me UNBELIEVABLY happy. I literally was brought to tears! Thank you for that!

Out of curiosity, will Cove be diagnosed in Step 4? I have a strong feeling y’all won’t make it a HUGE deal/make it out to be negative, so I’m not worried about that whatsoever! I’m just curious just he’ll off handedly mention it? Or will it just not be touched upon at all (which is ok!)?

Either way is ok, I’m just curious!

I’m happy it made you happy! Admittedly, Cove simply being someone with autism that grew up not being diagnosed was something I included for myself. I didn’t really think anyone would notice or ask about it, aha. But players did start to have questions about his traits, so I started to talk about it outside of the game. It’s great to see it get such a positive response and now I do feel like having it be a non-topic may have been the wrong choice and bringing it up would’ve been good in terms of having positive representation for that. I don’t know if I’ll find a way to mention it in Step 4 now, with how far along the game is, but I am at least thinking about it when originally it wasn’t something I really even considered.

Hey! Just wanted to say thank you for Our Life. It's been a bright spot and a needed escape in what's otherwise been a crummy year. I know you just did a Q&A post but I figured I'd ask anyway. Was just curious about Step 4. Will it be similar to the other Steps in that it consists of several different moments or will it just be one long sequence?

Step 4 is shorter than the prior Steps because it’s just an epilogue rather than a full arc of a story. It’ll consist of scenes that all happen in a set row one after the other. There won’t be a collection of Moments to choose from. But it’ll still be very sweet and fun.

¡hola!, you see, first I want to say that I love Our Life! (°◡°♡) and I have 2 important questions, would Cove cry watching titanic? and what is the saddest part according to him? (sorry for my english)

Titanic would make him cry. He’d probably think the parts showing people who aren’t able to make it to the life boats/are choosing to stay and go down with the ship were the saddest.

Hello, I wanted to ask how much you earn with creating games? Like is it possible to make a living? Thank you >< <3

How much I earn varies a lot month to month based on Steam sales, Patreon backers, and how many projects are in full production at the time. It’s also hard to say how much I make historically, since that also changes dramatically year by year. But I do earn enough to work on these games full time! I really appreciate all the support that allows me to do that.

Hey!! I was wondering for the 18+ Our Life moment, will there be an emphasis on safety/comfort for all involved? I feel like there would be just going off of what the rest of the game is like, but I wanted to ask

Yes! Cove is a nervous boy himself and also super cautious about doing anything the MC doesn’t like, so clear consent from both is absolutely needed for anything to happen. It’s a conversational sexy times Moment with stops/starts so the two can talk about how they’re feeling, rather than a heat of the moment just going for it kind of thing.

Hey!! I was wondering how long the wedding dlc would be? Will it be broken up into moments, or just one big event?

It’s one long series of scenes all in a row rather than a collection of Moments to pick from. It’s the shortest and the least expensive of all the DLCs. It’s not super crucial to get and those who aren’t into big weddings can totally skip it without worry.

HELLO AMAZING DEVS 👋 i am hopelessly in love with the worst guy ever (jeremy king) and because of this i have a really stupid question: does he really hate people who are nice to him? TvT he’s too cute to be mean to istg it’s a miracle JB held the urge to be consistently nice to him bc just look at his FACE he is so cute! thank you for jeremy’s route it’s so lovely (and awful bc he’s scum 11/10) it gave me so much laughs LMAO i hope you guys have a good day!!

Haha, thank you. He doesn’t hate them but he’s certainly not pleased with them. Jeremy is either uncomfortable with or annoyed by people being sweet on him, depending on how they approach it. He’s far more comfortable with jerkiness. It lets him relax and he can be himself without it being a problem, since he’s also a jerk. He feels a level of guilt being such a little punk to kind people, not enough to be a better person but still.

Has Cove dated or been interested in someone other than MC?

Nope! He stays single over the course of the game if he’s not with the MC.

Is Step 4 more mature? Or it's gonna be set in similar atmosphere as Step 3?

Step 4 is a similar atmosphere as Step 3. Though, it’s actually kind of less mature-topic heavy than Step 3 since it’s just a ‘hey, let’s check in on the gang to see what they’re up to’ style epilogue rather than a story arc with serious issues.

will there be new music for now and forever?? or will the old our life music be reused?

It’s gonna be a brand new soundtrack. We’ll be opening up a job position for that soon.

Hi, is it okay if we use the assets in Our Life (like the sprites) for fanworks or fan content content, like edits?

Sure! Just as long as you don’t use the assets made by those artists to make money.

Quick clarification on Step 3 choices: I hope I didn't come off rude (because I LOVE the game, really!!), I was just curious because the intro threw me off at times. For example, you could choose how you felt about Elizabeth in Step 2 (Dinner), but during the Step 3 intro, it says that you got closer to Liz and I didn't get a choice in it.

For the example, it can’t be helped that you’re closer to Liz in Step 3 than you were in Step 2 because she’s inherently closer to the MC regardless of whether you liked her or not in Step 2. Her feelings are out of your control and the game isn’t so dramatic that you can push her affection away and not let her bond with you, haha. But ‘being closer’ can still be relative. For some people maybe that means you’re best buds now and for others it might just mean you’re not fighting all the time any more. If there’s other parts you want to mention, feel free to let us know.

Did the illustrator for Our Life change?

We have many OL artists! The main artists who set the game’s style haven’t changed, but there’s multiple other artists who help finish assets.

So Miranda's type is confident and outgoing, huh? So...does that mean Terri's her type?? 👀

Haha, sorry for the late reply on this. As you might’ve seen in our post yesterday- yeah that is her type.

Hey! First, I just want to say I've really enjoyed how detailed OL got with gender identity and sexuality and how respectful the topics were handled! It's been so wonderful to play since the experiences could be close to my own (I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up at parts). Second, I was wondering, would future games explore the topic of polyamory? I'd love to see more visual novels allow room for that and I saw you've explored the topic before.

Keep up the amazing work! ♡

Thank you! We do want to include polyamory in at least some of our future projects. Floret Bond, which might be what you’re referring to when mentioning how we’ve explored the topic before, is on hold unfortunately. So right now I’m not sure when something might release or what will be the first game of ours to come out with poly relationships (we might do something else before FB is done). We’ll have see how things ends up coming together.

Hey um. I feel like im not allowed to ask this on the private discord cuz people will yell at me but why is there so much focus on OL2 and not finishing OL1 stuff? I like the new people but i kind of want to finish cove's story and get derek and baxter stuff first. didn't people pay for it?

I’m sorry, I don’t understand entirely what’s making that situation a concern. There’s a channel in the discord for critique where no one is allowed to comment back. People can voice things they’re worried about without any way for others to push back on it. And the two teams working on the OL games are different. We try to post pretty often about how we’re hiring brand new people to start on Our Life: Now & Forever. The OL1 team is all still working on OL1 like normal. There’s only more updates on the Patreon for OL2 because the expansions to the first game are mostly script-based at this point while OL2 is just starting to get all its art, which means there’s a lot more to show off as previews.

Also, there was a Kickstarter for the first Our Life, if that’s what you mean by people paying for it. But one of the stretch goals was to start Our Life 2 early, before fully completing Our Life 1, so that the new game could be out sooner. It wouldn’t make sense to stop doing OL2 work because that would be going against what backers were promised. Maybe you didn’t get the full story before and hopefully this clears it up!

Hello! I know it's up to every player but.. What is your recommendation for playing order? Did you ever had any timeline events planned?

I didn’t make the events with a planned timeline. The events got made simply as I had ideas for them and then I just kind of organized them from left to right on the screen in an order to space out more dramatic ones between more lighthearted ones. Any order the player wants to go with is totally valid!

Hi! It's Step 4 a paid dlc or update? And how long it's planned to be? Ps. Love the game!

The Step 4 epilogue is free! The Cove Wedding DLC does cost money, though. Those are planned to be shorter than the usual Steps/DLCs.

Will we have options for what sort of job the MC might have by the time step 4 takes place?

Yeah, you can. It’s not super exact or detailed, but there are options about it.

Is there a pandemic in Our Life world, or is it just in a better timeline with no pestilence?

Our Life is pandemic-free! That didn’t exist when we began working on the project and it’s not something we’d like to feature in this story now that it has unfortunately come along, aha.

Hi, you said that you can play tic-tac-toe or hangman with Cove in Boating if you're sick/scared but I keep getting tic-tac-toe. Am I doing something wrong?

After being sick/scared you have to continue to be upset/unwell. If you calm down and decide to just chill you’ll end up playing tic-tac-toe.

Hi, GB Patch! Since Lee was initially commissioned to only appear in two Steps does this mean she won't appear in the Wedding DLC? I really like her character so it'll be a little weird to not have our cousin at our wedding, aha.

She is gonna be in Step 4/the wedding DLC after all! We’re still working with her creator to make sure it fits with what they wanted.

Is Sunset Bird based on a real place? Asking for a friend, not trying to move there or anything. 👀

It’s based on small beach towns in So-Cal, but not one specific town you could go see in real life, I’m afraid. It’d be nice if it was real, though.

—– —– —– —–

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

#our life #Our Life Beginnings & Always #Our Life: Now & Forever #ask #gb patch #gb patch games #xoxo droplets

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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volturiwolf · 3 years

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The Volturi Princess - A Felix Volturi x fem!Reader Story (part 3)

No of Words: about 5313

Mentions of: Abandonment, Abortion, Anxiety, Blood, Bruises, Coma/Comatosed State, Death Emotional Abuse, Emotional and Physical Pain, Gaslighting, Greece/Greek Language - with translation, Heartbreak, Italian Language - with translation, Manipulation, Murder, Pain, Panic Attacks, Pregnancy, Suffering, Suicide/Suicidal Thoughts, Swear Language, Throwing Up/Puking, Witches/Wizards/Witchcraft

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part 1 part 2

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"The Volturi Princess " Tag List (reply if you want to be tagged or removed):

@felixvolturisprincess @singerj2002 @mrtony-stank1 @ikissedthescarsonherskin @alecvolturiswifeforever @hshehdyhd

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Felix’s POV:

We have been traveling for over a year now, Demetri tracking Carlisle and us following behind him. Demetri located him across the Atlantic, so we swam across the ocean to reach him. Almost a year and a half after leaving Volterra, we tracked Carlisle while he was working as a doctor somewhere in the northern United States. He was surprised to see us, but we kept our austere facade to maintain our sovereignty towards him. He welcomed us gladly in his small house.

It was a two-story building, and it smelled of old wood and mold, but I guess that was the best he could do for now. The living conditions around here did not seem to be ideal. Apart from the Volturi and the Egyptian coven, no other vampire lived comfortably, in castles, mansions, or even big houses; most vampires were nomads, traveling around and living by hunting whenever they could. So, Carlisle actually living in a house, even if it looked like this, was way better than living the nomad life.

“Jane, Alec, Demetri, Felix. To what do I owe this pleasure? Can I offer you anything?” Carlisle had always been one of the kindest of our kind, too compassionate for a vampire.

“No, Carlisle, thank you, we’re good. We are on a mission, and we have a few questions for you.” Jane took it up to herself to start the conversation.

“Please, sit down so we can talk.” Carlisle offered us to sit around the table that was in the middle of the ground floor. We each took a seat at the table. “So, may I ask what it is all about? I don’t think I have personally acted in a way to upset the Volturi.”

“No, indirectly, you haven’t.” Jane continued. “We wanted to ask you a few questions regarding (Y/N). We think that you may have heard by now that she has left Volterra.”

“Yes, word came around. I met a few nomads from Europe some time ago, and they told me that (Y/N) left Volterra, probably permanently.”

I tried to suppress a sob that was fighting to leave my throat. Carlisle knew that (Y/N) left, everyone knew that (Y/N) left. They didn’t know she left her mate behind, and they shall never find out that she was my mate. I didn’t even want to think about the possibility of (Y/N) being in danger if anyone found out that we were mates. I had too many targets on my back to risk anything happening to her.

It was my turn to intervene. “Have you seen her? Has she ever come around here?”

Carlisle turned to face me. “I did. Once. She stayed with me for about a year; that was about 6 or 7 years ago. She tracked me through her memories. She has become quite skilled at that.” Demetri and I looked at each other confused. (Y/N) could track as skillfully as Demetri now?

Carlisle continued. “Anyway, she seemed concerned. She told me she had been traveling for quite some time, but she felt like she was missing a piece of herself, of her past. For a few months, she wanted to learn more about me, my job, how I was doing with the whole “animal blood” diet, simple curiosity really. She had been training herself to abstain from human blood, so it was easier for her to go hunt with me. She told me..”

Carlisle turned to look at me now. “She told me about your bond, Felix.” So, she has felt our bond, too! “She told me that she was scared for you, for your safety within the Volturi. She was worried about all of you, but particularly you, Felix. Being her mate means you are basically a target for anyone who wishes to harm (Y/N). She told me she ran away to protect you. As long as no one knew of your bond, you were safe. The traveling and meeting the world was just an extra benefit for her and her gift.”

“Her gift?!” We all exclaimed in unison. (Y/N) never claimed a “gift”, so how could this be possible? Did she lie? Did she even know about her gift?

“Before you say anything, she didn’t even know what her gift was. It is way more complicated than you think. I guess she’d appreciate it if I gave you an idea about it.” Carlisle paused for a few moments. If my heart was beating, I swear it would have stopped by now.

“You know how, for example, Jane, you can induce mental pain, or you, Alec, can restrict anyone’s senses?” The Twins nodded at Carlisle. “Well, (Y/N) can do both, and so much more.” We were kind of shocked. No one has ever had a gift similar to the Twins; that’s why they were in the Volturi. Because they were unique.

“(Y/N)’s gift is copying others’ gifts. That’s why she could also track me; she had copied Demetri’s gift.” Carlisle pointed at Demetri, who looked utterly shocked now.

I would lie if I said I didn’t feel the same way or scared even. I was not scared because of (Y/N); I was scared for (Y/N). This newly-found discovery meant she would be way more important to Aro than we ever thought. He wouldn’t just let her go - not that this was his intention before, but now, she would be even more precious to him and his cause; she would now be the perfect weapon for him to use against other vampires. I had to find her and warn her.

“Do you know where she is now?” My voice came out more stern than I intended it to be.

Carlisle nodded his head slightly. “I may know where she is now. Before she left, she was trying to find out as much as she could about her parents. I assume that was the “missing piece” she was referring to? Anyway, she may be after her parents. I mean they do know her nature better than any of us does. Don’t forget that (Y/N) is half-witch. No one could ever teach her how to be one; only her father could be the one to do so. So, if I stand corrected, she is looking for them. And there’s only one place that (Y/N) has ever linked to her parents.”

“Greece.” Demetri stepped in. Demetri was the only one who could understand (Y/N)’s connection with Greece; it was their birthplace, their origin, their true home.

“Exactly. If you find her parents, you’ll most likely find her. Even if she’s not with them, it will be easier to track her if you have her parents’ assistance.”

We nodded and we stood up. “Thank you for your help, Carlisle. You were most helpful.” Jane spoke for all of us.

“It was my pleasure.” Carlisle led us to the door, but before we left, Jane turned to him one last time. “We think we can trust you that this conversation stays between us.”

“Of course, Jane. Have a safe trip and take care of yourselves.”

“You too.” Alec smiled at Carlisle.

What Carlisle said at the end had me worried for (Y/N). “I hope you find her soon. Her parents never had the best reputation around.” What kind of people was (Y/N)’s family anyway?

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Tracking (Y/N) proved to be way more complicated and debilitating than we thought it would be. We assumed that the closer we were to Greece, the easier it would be for Demetri to pick up her tenor. We were wrong; we were going around blindly, not a clue about (Y/N)’s whereabouts. Even when we finally set our feet on Greek ground, we still didn’t know where to start looking for her. Nobody had a clue where she could be; we didn’t even know her birthplace.

Demetri took it upon him to start his research in a place he knew well enough: Athens. Athens was the capital of Greece’s civilization for many centuries, but, at the time of Demetri’s birth, during the Byzantine times, Constantinople emerged as the center of the Eastern Byzantine Empire, while Rome remained the center of the Western Byzantine Empire.

Athens was not regarded as highly as it used to, during Pericles’ “Golden Century”, as the 5th century BC was known. It still was an important and historical city, but it has lost its title as the “capital” eons ago. The city was taken advantage of by both “allies” and Ottomans and seemed to have lost part of its previous glory. Still, it was beautiful; I may have been quite “old” myself, but I could still admire the history around me.

It reminded of (Y/N)’s stories and books; knowing Ancient Greek history was one of the first things she took an interest in. The fact that she was able to travel to Athens, with or without Aro, quite a few times also developed her fascination regarding the Ancient Greek arts, philosophy, and overall way of living. Of course, it wasn’t easy being a woman then, or ever really, but she was more financially privileged than the average Athenian - vampire wealth had always been an actual thing, and Aro always prided himself to be a “collector” of wealth (and talented vampires for the matter).

We arrived in Greece at a transitional stage; the country has been experiencing a war against the Ottomans for a few years now, and it was evident around the city of Athens. There were many casualties during the war, many damages around the streets, the houses, and there seemed to be a climate of misery and decline.

Yet, the country had recently elected a prime minister, who declared Nafplio, a city in Peloponnese, as Greece’s capital. That was our next stop, as we couldn’t find anything in particular that could indicate (Y/N) being in Athens. Apart from the poor living conditions, the country was experiencing a plague pandemic wave, which killed even more people, but authorities worked hard on containing the cases, and it seemed to have been working.

Still, without a single clue about (Y/N)’s location, the only thing we could do is go around searching for any possible information. We could only travel at night, and hide during the day; Greece, just like Italy, had always been blessed with sunny days, for the majority of a calendar year.

It wasn’t ideal with us being vampires, but Volterra was an ideal strategic location for the Volturi to travel across the vampire and human world, rule, and impose their laws whenever it was needed. Just like always, we now also had to be secretive about our existence.

I thought about how lucky (Y/N) was in that situation; being a non-fully vampire, she didn’t “glow” in the sun like us. She had a more healthy-skin-like glow, a healthy and subtle glow that made me even more attracted to her - if that was even possible. That basically meant that she could technically go anywhere and everywhere; the weather did not affect her, the sun did not affect her.

I started getting frustrated and disappointed. It wasn’t only (Y/N) I had in my mind; apparently, during the years of the Greek Revolution, many vampires, Greek or non-Greek, started secretly fighting to claim territories for themselves.

We knew that it wasn’t part of our duty, but it wouldn’t hurt if we could actually claim Greek land for the Volturi. Having both Italy and Greece under our control could mean more power, more resources, more blood. It only seemed natural; the three Volturi kings were born in Greece, all three of their wives were born in Greece, Demetri and Chelsea were born in Greece. (Y/N) was born in Greece.

Greece could easily become an extension of our territory - Italy was already ours in its entirety - and it would only be the start. It would be easier to control and deal with any possible riots from other covens - the Egyptians and the Romanians in particular. We didn’t fear either of them, but the Romanians have been holding resentment towards the Volturi for a couple thousand years, so anything could be expected from their side at any moment.

I shared my thoughts with the Twins and Demetri. They all agreed that it was a plausible plan; it would show others that the Volturi are still as powerful as they have ever been, and should be feared. Besides, we knew that just the four of us would be able to subjugate any vampire that crossed our paths. With the Twins’ powers, Demetri’s tracking skills, and my strength, it would be impossible for others to resist or challenge us.

We started interrogating any vampire we found wandering or hunting at night; none of them worthy enough to fight us or even gifted enough to join the Volturi. It was quite easy to find the leaders of these “newly-made” covens, or alliances, as they seemed. Because none of them inspired loyalty to each other; none of them was a coven in the sense the Volturi were. They were more like vampires who came together to fight for territory control; I doubt if they would even manage to stay together for one more day. They did not only lack loyalty towards their "leaders", but also discipline, principles, and basic rules of survival and solidarity towards the other members.

It was quite easy to take over any “coven” in Southern Greece, including the island of Crete. We started moving north, taking over the territories of Thessaly and Epirus, something which the Greek humans did not manage to acquire from the Ottomans yet. We were to take over Macedonia and Thrace next, but we were met with an unexpected obstacle.

Every vampire we would interrogate regarding these two territories would say the same thing: none of them knew who owned them, but whoever tried to claim the territories never returned back, dead or alive. The mystery that surrounded the person or people behind the leadership of these areas made their skin crawl; they all refused to “help” us any further, no matter how much Jane, Alec, and I tried, which made me kind of worried, or more like curious, but I didn’t want to show any weakness or let them question my effectiveness.

Every one of them was just a “normal” vampire; we were better, stronger, gifted, and we have proved that we can bring results every single time. No other vampire has ever dared go against us; we wouldn’t allow them to question us now either.

We continued traveling up north, determined to face whoever it was behind the territories there. I didn’t pay attention to the slight pain in my guts as we were traveling through the country, but it was becoming more and more intense as we continued going north.

We didn’t know how we would find the vampires behind this “operation”, so our plan would be to act in any way possible to provoke them into coming out of their “hiding spot”. For a few days, we were rummaging any small village we could find, killing the villagers and draining them of their blood - not a very “Volturi tactic" may I say. We were supposed to hide our existence, not challenge our luck by killing so many people; yet, this was the only way we thought that could possibly lurk the vampires out of their “comfort zone”.

As we were traveling through Macedonia, we came across a rather developed town, compared to the villages we have seen before. The city was surrounded by tall stone walls. There were a few rivers on its western side, forests and mountains on its northeastern side, and swamps and marshes on its southern side. We couldn’t hunt freely here, at least not during daylight; there was no way we would go unnoticed if we started hunting anywhere in the area. We decided to run through the forests, see if there was a place we could stay for a while; if there was a human or more we could feed off of; if there was a sign of the vampires or (Y/N).

During the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking that our mission has been more about expanding our power and influence, and not as much about locating (Y/N). Actually, it felt more like locating (Y/N) was more of an afterthought now. We lost the purpose of our mission; the reason we came together all along.

It wasn’t as if we would actually be directly benefiting by the territories we claimed; we were still working on behalf of the Volturi. We didn’t ask the kings to claim Greek territories; yet, we did, because we felt obliged to consider their own good once again, this time at the expense of finding (Y/N). Once again, we became the victims of the influence they had on us, and we played their game.

“Why are we even doing this?” I yelled frustratedly. My friends turned to look at me.

“What do you mean, Felix?” Jane seemed slightly annoyed. “We’ve come here to claim the territories, to show these savages who the boss is here.”

“No, Jane, they are not savages, we didn’t come here to claim territories, and we don’t have to show them “who is the boss”. They already know that the Volturi rule the vampire world. No. No. We came here to search for (Y/N). Not to “claim territories”. Not to “show them”. We came here for (Y/N). We..We lost our purpose. We lost the true meaning of our mission. We just started claiming the land for the Volturi, for Aro. We..We forgot about her.”

My eyes were stinking with venom. I felt weak, I felt as if I betrayed her. I promised to myself that I would bring her back home, that I would protect her. It’s been so long and we still haven’t found her. We just kept wasting time on things that shouldn’t matter to us. We should not care about expanding our influence, our territory, our power. We should care about bringing the Princess back.

Jane lowered her head apologetically. “I’m sorry, Felix. I didn’t know you felt this way. I have to admit it though; we did lose track of time and we forgot about the actual purpose of this mission. We once again forgot that (Y/N) has always been way more important than any power in the world. I’m sorry. We all are. I promised you we’ll start searching for her right away, okay?”

I nodded affirmatively. We had to find (Y/N) as soon as possible. We were not only running out of time but also out of hope that (Y/N) was in Greece or anywhere else, that she was alive. We got so distracted by our conversation that we didn’t notice we were being watched until we all started screaming in pain. I fell on my knees, the pain on the back of my head unbearable, and that’s when I blacked out.

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I didn’t know how much time passed being unconscious. It felt like a new sensation to me; being a bit over 2000 years old, I haven’t lost my senses once - except for the times Alec liked to play games on me. I didn’t feel like myself; it didn’t feel right. I didn’t like being restricted of my senses, especially now, especially here, in an unknown place. My mind was blurry and I couldn’t see anything distinct around me; I couldn’t see almost anything. I tried to move my hands around but I couldn’t as if the tightest rope in the world was holding me in place.

“No need to fight, sweetheart.” I heard a woman’s voice. “There is no way to escape.”

“Who are you? Why am I here? Where are the others?”

“Felix? Is that you?” I heard Demetri’s voice on my right.

“Demetri? Is that you? Where are Jane and Alec?”

“I am here.” I heard Alec’s voice on my left.

“Me too." Jane replied.

“Alexandre, please, I cannot start with this again.”

Suddenly, I could see again. I was still physically restricted, but my eyes could see them crystal clear and my mind was in order once again. The woman in front of me was very imposing, though of average size. Her long, curly hair framed her face beautifully and her piercing red eyes were piercing through my soul. The man standing next to her was only a few centimeters taller; he had short, straight hair, and his eyes were looking between the four of us sternly. Who were they even? Why were we even here? Why us? As if she read my mind, a woman spoke to me.

“Oh, deary. We’re not going to tell you who we are. But you are going to tell us what you, Volturi guards, are doing in our territory!”

“How do you know who we are?” I exclaimed. Of course, everyone knew the Volturi as the authority of the vampire world, but not all vampires around here have ever met us specifically, or any other member of the coven for the matter.

“Your crest, dear. I have known that crest for far too long. Way before you were even born. I see that dear Aro never changed it. He does like to remain in his same, old ways after all. Never changing, never moving forward, still imposing his “laws”, I’m assuming?” The woman seemed to know way far about the Volturi and Aro. She became a danger for our coven, from the moment she and the man abducted us. She should have never done that; they both would be punished for their actions.

“Dear, I won’t get punished..for anything. You, on the other hand, are in a pretty difficult situation. You see, my husband and I are not going to let you get away until you tell us why you are here.”

“Pain.” I heard Jane saying. The woman turned to look at her but she didn’t even flinch. I heard Jane screaming in return.

“Oh, sweetheart. Your powers won’t work on either of us. You see, I am a shield, so don’t even try to hurt us. On the contrary, WE can hurt you just as much, if not more.” The woman smiled evilly, while Jane was writhing in pain.

“Please, stop hurting my sister.” Alec pleaded, unable to use his gift against the couple.

“So, you are the “Terror Twins”. Alec and Jane, I see.” The woman knew their nickname? “Oh, yes, I do, dear.” She turned to look at me. “You see, I was once part of the Volturi. Technically, still am. However, I left, way before any of you joined the coven. To put it into perspective, I was there when Didyme lived but I left way before she was killed. Dear Marcus has never been the same ever since. I still feel somewhat of a connection to the coven, though I am able to make my own decisions because I managed to escape them. We were actually passing by Volterra a few times. I wonder how you never noticed us, though our powers would practically make us mentally invisible from Demetri, over here, or any other vampire, really.”

She knew Demetri, too?

“Felix, dear, I know all of you and about you. You see, my dear daughter has a special connection with all of you, a kind of friendship neither my husband, nor I quite understand. It wasn’t easy for her to keep her memories secret; though she is an amazing shield - which makes me so proud, she is kind of “vulnerable” when she is sleeping. And my husband’s magic is quite strong and easy to penetrate her mind and memories when she does eventually sleep.”

Her daughter? Could that be…?

“WHERE IS SHE?” The question slipped out of my mouth without even thinking about it first.

My anger could not be controlled right now. I was pushing myself to my limits to break my fetters, to no avail. Were that woman and that man (Y/N)’s parents? I started making some connections here and there; they looked similar to (Y/N), though so different at the same time. Their immortality, their red eyes, their confidence, and their aggression did not remind me of (Y/N). She had a pure face, a face of kindness, she was not like them.

“You think so? Alexandre, can you please call (Y/N), agapi mou?” The woman turned to the man, and the man started moving his fingers in front of him, creating some sort of a wave around him.

Within a few seconds, the door burst open and the first thing I saw was a red silky fabric flowing around the air. When the fabric settled down slowly, I saw her for the first time after so long. She has changed..a lot. Her (Y/E/C) eyes were replaced by piercing red ones, with a slight hint of (Y/E/C) around the pupils. Her eyes apathetic and stern; her facial features more defined; her hair reached a little below her shoulders, straight and shiny, like her father’s. She still looked as beautiful as ever.

She stared at us, focusing her eyes mostly on me. Her heartbeat sounded steady and strong. I was relieved; she was still human, they had not turned her fully vampire yet. She took a few steps farther into the house, her feet bare but surprisingly clean, no dirt, no grass had stained them. She stood right beside the woman, who I now knew was her mother and Aro’s daughter.

“What are they doing here?” Her voice came out stern, yet it was music to my ears.

I missed her voice so much. I missed her so much. Our mate bond, weakened by the distance and time spent apart, slowly started forming again. I felt it; I felt my existence becoming meaningful again. I felt my breath hitching in my throat, her presence provoking so many different feelings and emotions inside me. However, she still seemed cold and distant, and I couldn’t quite read her face. Did she not feel the same? Has she forgotten me? Does she hate me now?

I saw her gaze getting softer, even compassionate? She approached me and bent down slightly, placing her left hand carefully on my right cheek. She stared deeply into my eyes and I closed mine, leaning on her touch. It was the purest moment I have experienced in my 2000 years of life.

I opened my eyes and stared at her. I saw golden flakes scattered in between the red in her eyes. Once again, she took my breath away. It felt as if I fell in love with her all over again, a unique feeling of refreshment. We were lost in our own little world. She smiled slightly at me, the first time she did after such a long time.

“Enough! (Y/N) get away from him, now!” (Y/N) was forcefully removed away from me by her mother. She was looking at me pleadingly and then turned to look at her parents with such hatred. I’ve never seen her like this ever again, not even with Aro.

“YOU. WILL. NOT. TELL. ME. WHAT. TO. DO!” If looks could kill, (Y/N)’s parents would be dead by now. Her hands started lighting up, bright purple flames rising up. She was trying to intimidate her parents, but neither of them looked concerned in the slightest. She turned to us and with a dance-like move of her hand, we were finally freed of our fetters.

It was her father’s turn to speak. “(Y/N), let’s take this outside.” With a jerking motion of his hand, we all found ourselves, outside, in their house’s front yard.

“They’ve come to take you back to Volterra, back to Aro! Don’t you see it? They don’t care about you! They just want to please their master.” The words came bitter out of her mouth. She had a clear resentment towards the Volturi. “I will not let them take you away from me! Not again!”

“I know, mother, I’ve read their minds, too. Yet, I don’t see why YOU seem to think that you can make the decisions for me. I am my own self. I can make decisions for myself. And I get to choose what I do with my life.” (Y/N)’s voice was certain, powerful, in control. “They are not bad people, mother. They just have to follow orders, just like you followed Aro’s orders, just like I followed yours. That’s not going to happen anymore. I am taking control of my life!”

The sweet, little girl I got to see my whole life was becoming a strong, powerful woman right in front of my eyes. She was radiating power; she was taking control of her life. She was..my everything. She was becoming independent, her own self. To say I was proud of her, would be an understatement. She has always been special, but this newly-found power has clearly given her way more confidence and trust in herself.

She would finally be able to rule the Volturi. If she decided to come back to Volterra, she could definitely take over the coven. No one would be able to resist her or her gift. My thoughts were quickly interrupted when her dad started shouting in Greek.

Demetri, who was standing right next to me, saw the look of total confusion in my eyes. “I’ll translate for you.” I nodded at him. “So, her father says: Enough with this nonsense, (Y/N). Your place is here, with us. You owe us; we taught you what you needed to know about your magic. We taught you how to use it, how to develop it. You didn’t know enough to defend yourself back then.”

“Now, (Y/N) says: I don’t owe you anything. Yes, you did teach me how to use my magic, which I inherited from you. But, you gave me away to Aro. You couldn’t defend me or yourselves against him. You just offered me to him, as if I was a present for his birthday or something.”

“Now, her mother says: You, at least, owe it to yourself to get away from these tyrants. You know they don’t deserve you, so why are you still defending him? It’s that man, isn’t it? Now, (Y/N) says: That man has a name. Now, her mom says: You know, his name means “lucky”, "happy" in Greek. Yet, he hasn’t been that lucky or happy at all, has he? We read his mind, (Y/N), he’s not worthy of you.”

“Now, (Y/N) says: Guess what? I have also read his mind, and I have also read the two of you, as well. Don’t you think that it is only you who can read my mind while I’m sleeping! I’ve been reading your minds any chance I get! I know how you’ve been planning to use me, as a weapon against the Volturi! Guess again! I’m not going to let you manipulate me anymore! And that man deserves EVERYTHING in this world!”

“ENOUGH!” Her father shouted and threw a dark red glowing sphere, hitting (Y/N) and knocking her on the ground. My heart dropped at the sight, but she quickly stood up and gathered so much energy in her own hands, attacking her father with a powerful hit.

He got wounded, his face slightly cracked from his forehead to his jaw, yet he didn’t give up. He was about to attack her once again when his wife stopped him. She was looking at me and nodded to her husband. I heard (Y/N) screaming, but I didn’t make out what she was saying, as I started screaming myself and felt myself getting tossed in the air. Then, everything went black once again.

#felix volturi #felix volturi imagine #felix volturi x reader #volturi #twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight post #demetri volturi #alec volturi #jane volturi #the cullens #the denali coven

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chocochar · 4 years

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Hallooo :) I must ask bcs' I need some fiery sugar....would you consider doing headcanons about, (yes you are reading it correctly 😂😂) ENDEAVOR. Like he on a first date with his s/o 🔥

HOOOOO boi I haven’t ever written for Endeavor, I’m gonna be 100% with you XD so I really hope this is okay, sorry it took so long, I rewrote it a few times and I’m sorry ahead of time if he comes off as OOC! TuT (btw i loooove your Midnight Stalker fics, had to add that, okay onto the hc’s!)

🔥 Endeavor is, well, not the best person socially. In fact to most people he’s hard to get along with, so finding someone who cares for him despite this the older man wasn’t expecting.

🔥 (F/n) is quite a few years younger, but doesn’t seem to mind the gap in age, being in their 20′s. Having started working at his agency as a secretary (F/n) proved themselves quite efficiently, which that along with their looks and attitude Endeavor couldn’t help but start to watch them, glancing and feeling a softness in his chest that he’s never experienced. They didn’t show fear of him, even if he got mad they’d simply fix the mistake and even tell him to calm down.

🔥 Endeavor never planned to ask them out. The #1 hero dating a secretary? To him at first it was an embarrassing thought. Plus his track record with relationship is... not good and scarce. But as time went on and the hero slowly began to change inside inch by inch since becoming the big #1 that thought started becoming more appealing, even if Endeavor wouldn’t admit it.

🔥 It was Hawks who set up the date (kind of, he helped push it, and nearly lost his feathers for it). He saw the light blush dusting the fire users cheeks when (F/n) came up to them with documents, and he was quick to ask if they’re single and looking.

🔥 Endeavor tried to hide his interest when (F/n) said yes to both, but his flames burst high when Hawks grinned and asked,”Oh yeah? Well, are you interested in hot heads?” as he visibly gestured at Endeavor.

🔥 (F/n) understood, and glancing at Endeavor they were reluctant to say so at first, but once they saw the way the hero was eyeing them they blushed, turning back to Hawks and saying,”... Yeah, I actually am.”

🔥 Smiling they figured Endeavor may get mad, after all he couldn’t possibly be interested in them-

🔥 “Soooo how about dinner with Mr. Hot Head here?~” Hawks grinned, jutting a thumb at the red head standing beside him stiffly.

🔥 (F/n) was surprised, but replied,”I mean... I suppose yes-”

🔥 Hawks grinned wide and added,”Alright, I’ll set it up, don’t worry you two awkward love birds, it’ll be great.~” Endeavor hadn’t said a word the whole time, dumbfounded it seemed, not knowing what to say.

🔥 Hawks left. When (F/n) looked at Endeavor he was already leaving, but stopped with his back to them.

🔥 “Meet me at the address I’ll give you through text, at 8 PM Saturday. You have it off, correct?”

🔥 “Uh... Yes.”

🔥 “Good, don’t be late.” He left once he’d said what he needed to, (F/n) was shocked but smiling they go back to work.

🔥 Boooi (F/n) isn’t prepared for the expensive dinner waiting for them

🔥 They aren’t dressed up super fancy, they did their hair nicely and made themselves look presentable at least! After all, they’re going on a date with the #1 hero! And he definitely seems like an ‘appearance’s type of man from just working with him

🔥 The place is nice, and (F/n) settles in feeling a little out of place. Enji got them flowers and looks incredibly handsome in his tailored suit, the scar across his left eye not bothering them a bit even when he received it. His face looks red too, and they wonder if his heart is pounding a million beats a minute like theirs

🔥 “I’ve heard really good things about this place, have you been here before?” (F/n) breaks the silence that settles over them

🔥 “Yes, a few times,” he starts, going on to explain (in sparse detail) about the hero parties held here that he only came to due to his position as #2, now #1

🔥 Silence sits between them again after (F/n) replies, and they’re racking their brain for more to say

🔥 “You... Look nice tonight,” he says out of nowhere, catching the secretary off guard as they look taken aback, cheeks going red. “This isn’t too... Awkward, is it?”

🔥 Again fairly surprised by his sudden shyness (F/n) blinks before smiling. He is a socially awkward kind of guy, so shaking their head they decided to take the lead for the date, at least for now.

🔥 “Not at all, it’s nice,” they reply. This seems to put the #2 at ease as he nods and clears his throat, looking over the menu. (F/n) rests their chin on their palm and asks,”So, um... Enji, Tell me about yourself.”

🔥 It’s a simple request to help break the ice although (F/n) is already well aware their boss isn’t very forthcoming with information about himself. But this doesn’t change anything, after all they did come to dinner with him with this fact in mind. Enji cocks a brow, meeting their (eye color) orbs with his cerulean.

🔥 “Such as?”

🔥 “Y’know, favorite TV show, what you do in your spare time, do you like cats, etcetera, just some stuff so I know my date better, right now we’re more than just boss and secretary after all,” (F/n) winks, this gaining surprise from the normally uptight man. He brings the scowl (which he’s trying to reel in for tonight) back but he seems to be fine letting them know some answers. Not everything, he keeps the more personal aspects of himself under wraps for now, after all it’s only a first date, but the secretary across from him seems appeased and even smiles at the answers. “I see, I’m fairly surprised but you seem kinda normal.~” They tease, Endeavor averting his gaze.

🔥 “And you?” It’s his turn to learn about them more. Granted, he’s studied them, he knows some things but learning more never hurts.

🔥 “Well, I love to (hobby) and (hobby), my favorite show is (TV show), I’m probably more of a dog person, I am definitely a (night owl, morning person, etc), I like to make sure I’m always on time to things,” they start to tell him, answering any questions he has. Even if it’s a mundane conversation he is surprisingly taking every piece of information in and locking it up in his thoughts. That way, he knows for later. To be honest, he’s intrigued. (F/n) laughs lightly and finishes with,”Sorry, sorry, I was rambling, haha!”

🔥 “It’s fine.” Endeavor responds, telling the waiter what he’ll have. “I find you interesting, different compared to others I’ve met.”

🔥 “Is that a good thing?” (F/n) laughs, smiling warmly lifting their brows.

🔥 “Yes, very,” he replies, and even gives a small smile himself, although it’s easy to miss.

🔥 The two start to eat once their food is brought out and while they eat they talk, discussing not only more about themselves but Endeavor’s jobs, (F/n) plans for something at work, and more. Soon enough they’re done and after paying Enji takes (F/n) home, the drive even holding it’s own conversations. Enji surprisingly seems to have been brought out of his tough as steel shell although it’s only with (F/n), and (F/n) is content in his company, seeing the normally scary boss is surprisingly softer inside, under all the layers of anger and pride.

🔥 Reaching (F/n)’s address Enji parks and turns his gaze to the secretary, who’s getting ready to leave but stops to look at him.

🔥 “Thank you for dinner, Enji, it was delicious,” they sigh happily, smiling and he nods, (F/n) unbuckling and about to get out but stopping.

🔥 “Perhaps we can do it again, I enjoyed your company, (F/n),” the fiery red head admits, (F/n) nodding.

🔥 They surprise him with a kiss on the cheek before getting out of his car and peering back in at the blushing, taken aback older man.

🔥 “Of course, you have my number so call me and we’ll plan another date~”

🔥 The (brunette, blonde, etc) shuts the door and waves as they head inside their home, Enji not leaving right away as his heart pounds. Clearing his throat he watches them go in and shut their door before leaving, already planning to ask them out again (and keep this secret from Hawks lest Enji listen to the feathered annoyance tease him about)

AHHHHHHH I hope this was okay!! I kinda struggled with Enji so I hope he wasn’t too OOC QwQ thank you for the request!

#endeavor x reader #endeavor headcanons #bnha heroes x reader #bnha x reader #bnha headcanons #mha x reader #mha headcanons #i'm sorry if it's ooc #i'll try to write endeavor more to get used to him quq

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cancerbiophd · 4 years

Text

How I landed an industry job straight out of my life sciences PhD, without doing a post-doc

In less than 7 weeks I’ll be defending my dissertation as a final step in my PhD in Cancer Biology, and yesterday I accepted a Scientist position at a local biotechnology company. And best part: I didn’t have to do the dreaded post-doc first! Which is pretty rare for our field (but I hope it’ll be more and more common for PhD’s going into industry).

I promised I would talk about the process here, and I hope that anyone who’s aiming for the same path can walk away with some tips or at least with a familiarity of the process.

The main points I want to get across:

Network network network. You can probably just stop reading here, because this job came about all through networking. I was basically head-hunted--someone in my network (a program alumnus) contacted me on LinkedIn to ask if I wanted to apply for a position on the team she directs. So set up your LinkedIn account, keep it up to date, and use it to actively network. At the very least you should connect with the alumni in your program as you all have something in common already, and since they’re out and about in the field they would be great resources for informational interviews and job referrals.

My expertise and career goals matched the position. No brainer, of course. Even if I wasn’t contacted by the company, I would only be applying to companies I qualified for (so companies dealing with cancer since I’m my PhD is in Cancer Bio). My lab mate, for example, was finishing up his PhD in Nutritional Sciences but was applying to cancer companies with no result, because it just wasn’t the candidate those companies were looking for. My expertise was also probably what got that director’s attention in the first place and the reason she reached out. She was basically willing to wait 7 months for me (from job posting to my final start-date) because I was her ideal candidate, and not just based off my expertise alone, but our personalities matched too. She told me “we communicate well” aka our work personalities match. I know you can’t change who you are obviously, but getting along with your manager goes a long way.

That being said, employers/PIs are flexible with start dates for PhD candidates. I applied to this position 6 months before I had my defense date set and when I only knew a ballpark of “sometime in the summer”. And then during my interview process I had to keep pushing that potential start-date back and back and back. But the company understood this. So as a PhD candidate you could start applying 6 months before your expected end-date (even if it’s still a moving target), or even months earlier for post-docs (which are much more flexible than industry positions). In general, you should start looking 1 year before your finish date to see what’s out there.

It was also good luck/timing. If I had graduated earlier than the job posting, then I never would’ve had this opportunity. I also only added her to my LinkedIn network because I went to a lunch seminar where she gave a talk about working in industry. So small things that ultimately made a huge difference. Some you can’t control, but some (like going to that lunch) are definitely opportunities to seize.

I was low “flight risk”. Companies are always afraid their employees will leave the company/city for greener pastures, and that’s more common in “less popular” places to live, like the southwest desert where I’m located. But I’m from here, my grad school is here, my family’s here--so the company is making the assumption I’m not going to just up and go any time soon. You obviously can’t control where your family chooses to settle down, but you may be able to strategically choose your grad school based off of its proximity to potential companies.

And lastly, in my experience, PhD’s with no post-doc in biotech industry should expect an annual salary somewhere between $75-95k (depending on the company and cost of living), with benefits.

Ok, my full story under cut if you’d like to know more about the process I went through:

It all started when a program alumnus (or alumna, if you’re picky about your latin) named RF talked at a lunch seminar to students in my program in Feb 2019. I was really interested in her company and knew she would be a great network to have, so I emailed her later to thank her, and then added her on LinkedIn.

Fast forward to January of this year (2020) when RF messaged me on LinkedIn out of the blue asking me how close I was to graduating and if I would be interested in a position at her company. I think she wanted someone asap (so not me, I thought), but we talked more about my project, and she said she’d keep in touch. In February, she messaged me again saying a position opened up on her team and she wanted to see if I would like to apply. I said heck yes (or the more formal version), and sent in my application, with the expectation that I would be defending sometime in the summer. I also put her as my job referral and messaged her afterwards to let her know my application went through (with the hopes that maybe she could fast-track it through HR, which I think she did).

In the meantime, I messaged (also on LinkedIn) another program alumnus I knew (our time overlapped a few years) who currently works with RF and we chatted on the phone about what he does at work, how he likes it there, etc. Basically an informational interview (and also to catch up as colleagues). I was also hoping he’d put in a good word for me with RF and can attest I’m a decent human being and all that.

2 weeks later, I had a phone interview with RF, and I was super nervous going into it. I even practiced pages and pages of answers of common interview questions for a week straight. But to my surprise she opened the call with “I already know a lot about you from your CV, LinkedIn profile, and also your PhD training because we’re from the same program, so this is your chance to ask me questions!” And I was like, uhhhh awesome! The only thing she wanted to know about me was when I could start, and at that moment in time I was gunning for a July/Aug defense date.

(I also emailed her and HR afterwards to ask them whether they could match my salary expectation, which I had researched well beforehand for what was common in the field for my position and experience, and they said they could.)

We then set up the next round of interviews for April with a colleague of RF’s who used to be in the same team but now directs her own, and RF’s boss (these would have normally been on-site, but I did them over the phone bc Covid). I again messaged my friend at the company asking if he had any tips.

And then disaster struck! The company’s HR called me a week before those scheduled interviews to tell me the company had ordered a hiring freeze due to Covid and the effect it was having on the economy. Absolute bummer :( :( :(

So I then applied for a few more positions here and there, including some post-docs (which I really didn’t want to do). I got 2 rounds of interviews for a Scientist position at another local company, and as of today I still haven’t heard anything from them. oh well.

Then in June I finally heard back from RF’s company saying the hiring freeze has been lifted and whether I’m still interested? Uh, heck yes! So we continued with those 2 phone interviews I had originally scheduled back in April. They both went really well. But I still continued to apply to other positions in the meantime because I wanted to have as many options as I could.

Then 2 weeks ago (July 7) I got THE call: they wanted to offer me the position! :D

Only problem was, we needed to settle on a start-date. They of course wanted me to start like, yesterday, but my PI wanted to push back my original defense date of Aug 28 one more week to Sept 4, and also wanted me to focus on any dissertation edits for 2 weeks after that. So my earliest start-date would be Sept 21. If you remember, my defense date shifted from “sometime in the summer” to “July/August” to now September, so I was really worried the company wouldn’t accept this. I nervously waited 2 weeks for someone to call me back, and in my head I kept thinking, “I blew it I blew it”. I even sent in a job application to another company in that time.

But RF finally called me and said hey, no problem, we can do that! She told me she was willing to wait because I really was her perfect candidate (I had all the experience she wanted, and she said we communicated well aka our work-personalities matched). She had also just recently hired another graduate from our program, who is also a friend of mine, so she knew we would all mesh together very nicely.

And that’s the story folks! I’ll be starting the position remotely until it’s safe to return to the building again. They’re also working with my husband to see if he’s a good candidate for some of their other open positions (we’re both in the biotech field). We’re both super excited about this new chapter in our lives.

All this because I attended the lunch seminar RF talked at all last year and then added her on LinkedIn. When people talk about opportunities lurking behind every corner, they really did mean that.

#job advice #gradblr #sciblr #m

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angstymdzsthoughts · 4 years

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1/ >mpreg< wrh won the sunshot campaign, but both his sons still die, so he wants to be repaid. he demands a chosen bride from each sect for his harem and so nhs, jgy, lxc, and even jyl (who is married and left jl as an orphan bc jzx died during the war) and wwx.. he especially wants wwx and so he keeps him separate from the rest, seals his power and brainwashed him, turning him into a pliant bedwarmer whose only job is to provide wrh with more children.

2/ >mpreg< wrh made sure to control his new harem with a tight leash, going so far as to damage their golden cores to weaken them. lwj is going mad bc not only his brother but also his beloved wei ying were taken away to serve wrh. he tried to reach out to other sects, asking them to cooperate to take their hostages back but none of the sects were brave or strong enough to go against wrh, especially after the devastating war.

3/ >mpreg< after thirteen years of gathering intel and strength as well as countless failed infiltration missions, lwj has had enough of it and decided to sneak into nightless city himself. he managed to find his brother and nhs but there were no signs of the others. it broke his heart to see the swollen stomach of his brother as he told him that none of them had seen wwx since he was first taken in. wwx is wrh's favorite, birthing the most children for him out of all of them.

4/ >mpreg< nightless city was crawling with children who look like wrh. lwj told lxc that he's making a plan to help all of them escape. lxc was scared for his children, but didn't object. wrh found out abt lwj sneaking into his castle, but kept hush abt it bc he wants lwj to suffer more. he threatened lxc to act like he was going along with the plan and telling wrh everything or he's going to kill their youngest toddler. he could just put a new one in him, anyway.

5/ >mpreg< lxc just prayed lwj would have enough time to escape when their escape plan fail later. after about a week of hiding in nightless city, lwj stumbled upon a restricted area. he managed to sneak in and he was horrified to find wwx inside, heavily pregnant, but without an ounce of discontent on his face, in fact he looked overjoyed. the man was calmly combing his hair while humming to himself. lwj was so shocked he accidentally made a noise that alerted wei ying of his presence.

6/ >mpreg< "who's there?" wwx immediately grabbed a hairpin for self defense but relaxed when his eyes found it was just lwj. "oh hi lan zhan" he was smiling but it was so unsettling. "why do you hv to sneak in like a mouse? my a-yuan can do better than that when he was five" lwj couldnt move, couldnt say anything. "lan zhan? what's wrong? we haven't met for many years and the first thing you do is sneak into my room and frown at me?"

7/ >mpreg< "wei ying. have to get you out of here" lwj finally uttered. "what? why?" lwj couldnt believe his ears. "why would i want to leave master ruohan and our children?" lwj wished he could just die on the spot. "but- he forced you and the others-" "forced? what are you talking about?" lwj saw wwx was getting agitated and it unnerved him to no end. "if youre coming here just to disturb me then just go!" wwx's voice was getting louder and lwj has no choice but to leave before he was found

8/ >mpreg< a couple weeks later, lwj finally managed to get the last of his plans taken care of. he made a huge distraction that allowed wrh's harem to flee to their designated meeting spot (they came right back in after but lwj never knew that). they could bring the smaller children with their mothers but they would have to leave the older children behind since wrh had had his influence on them already. the only one left was wei ying. he had to get wei ying back no matter what.

9/ >mpreg< lwj didnt care if he would only be able to take wei ying or if wei ying was going to hate him. he couldnt let wei ying go again. he inched closer to wwx's living quarters and he barely got a greeting in before the maidservants announced wrh's arrival. wwx immediately told lwj to hide in his room. wrh came in and wwx all but jumped into his arms. lwj could see everything. he could see wrh kissing he face he dreamt of kissing for so many years, touching the body he dreamt of touching for so many years.

10/ >mpreg< lwj ended up hiding for a good portion of the whole day, trying to close his ears as he heard sounds he once dreamt wei ying would let out only for him. swallowing his own tears as wwx begs wrh to ravish him. wrh didnt leave until wwx woke up from his nap. when he deemed it safe enough, lwj sneaks back out, still wrecking his brain trying to think of ways to convince wwx to leave with him. "wei ying, come back to gusu with me, please" wwx pouts, shaking his head. "im not going anywhere, get lost!" "wei ying please" lwj tried approaching wwx, but he just kept backing away. "get lost!"

11/ >mpreg< lwj kept pushing, maybe if he could just touch wei ying, he could identify and undo whatever spell wrh did on wei ying. wwx kept backing away, replying to all of lwj's pleas with 'get lost'. he wasnt going to let this man who he hadnt seen for so long take everything away from him. soon, there was no more space for wwx to retreat to, trapped between lwj's approaching form and his vanity table. he grabbed a hairpin and swung, slashing lwj's perfect face. blood dripped on the floor, but lwj couldnt care less, not when wei ying is inches away from him. he had to have wei ying back.

12/ >mpreg< lwj was prepared to just hit wwx's pressure points to render him unconscious and carry him outside, his pregnancy be damned, but before he could, wei ying was already screaming. "a-yuan!" it took mere seconds before the door slammed open, revealing a teenager with a sword in his hand. he had wei ying's eyes. he could recognize that shade of silver anywhere, but the glint of malice there was unmistakably wen ruohan's. the teenager charged at lwj, who was caught off guard and it took no time before lwj was subdued and bleeding, kneeling by wwx's bed with the teenager's foot keeping him still. "scum! you dare try to harm my mother?!"

13/ >mpreg< "would never try to harm wei ying.. only want wei ying back" lwj croaks. "preposterous!" wei ying's son (a-yuan, lwj's mind provided) barked. "who do you think you are, to boldly lay claim on my mother? you deserve death for this!" lwj didnt respond. he was focused on wwx sitting in front of him, caressing his baby bump lovingly, creating an image of heavenly bliss, but everything in lwj screamed that it was wrong- wrong, wrong, wei ying is "lan zhan" lwj's world stopped.

14/ >mpreg< wwx looked at lwj in the eyes. his eyes look sad. disappointed. at wangji "why do you keep antagonizing me? back then you kept telling me that i was wrong, kept telling me how i was supposed to be. i know you didnt like me before and i left you alone. now youre here pestering me, as if i have no mind of my own to think and feel. and you ask me to leave with you?never," wwx's eyes hardened with grievance. "i suggest you leave immediately and maybe you'll get to keep your life" lwj's eyes widen. wei ying misunderstood, must tell him- "no, wei ying, youre under a spell. wei ying would never-" lwj wheezed as a sharp kick hit his back. "shut up!" wen yuan growled, "if i hear you speak rubbish one more time i would-" "a-yuan" wwx interrupted. "wen yuan, my beloved firstborn, it's okay. mother's got this," he gave his son an assuring look. then he shifted his gaze back to lwj. "lan zhan, im not under any spell. i really do belong here. you can check" wwx held out one hand for lwj to touch. lwj desperately took the hand. he wanted to relish in the softness of skin at first, the warmth he longed for, but quickly decided something was more important. he checked wwx's meridians, his qi pathways. lwj paled. he could feel nothing.

15/ >mpreg< "why" all the breath left lwj. "wei ying, he- he made you birth so many children, kept you locked here-" wwx's brows arched. "i love my children. i have always wanted a house full of children. master ruohan gave me what i wanted. i bear children for him because i love him" if this was heaven then lwj would rather go to hell.angstymdzsthoughtsOofWas that the last part?reblog-monsterno hold oni have like 1 or 2 moreangstymdzsthoughtsOk

16/ >mpreg< wei ying, his wei ying, his heart, his soulmate, loves-? "i love master ruohan, the father of my children. if he wants me to stay, i will stay. if he wants me to go, i will go. but you, you dont get a say" lwj heaved as wwx pulled his hand back, his heart too heavy and his head too painful. "ah, my bad" wwx gave lwj a side eye. "you know to much now" lwj swore he could saw wwx smirk at wen yuan but nothing mattered anymore. lwj gasped when a sword pierced his chest but it was a welcome pain to numb his aching soul. "just so you know," wwx's eyes glinted with glee as he bends down in a mock attempt to whisper into lwj's ear. "i love being pregnant. i beg master ruohan to breed me again even a few weeks after giving birth. im never going to stop, i cant stop," he giggled and lwj was somehow relieved that wwx's laughter was the last thing he heard before everything dissolved into nothing.

[ending notes] back in gusu, just as everyone was busy with the absence of their sect leader, only a letter came a few days later with a familiar red seal and a bloody headband. someone tried to violate a member of wen ruohan's harem and the perpetrator has been dealt with accordingly. their sect leader never returned.

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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queen-rogah · 5 years

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Chasing Dreams - Part 7

Part summary: You and Victoria went around Kensington. Freddie knew that you’re writing your own songs as he reads over your journal. Roger heard you sing your own songs, a mild confrontation of you and Rosalie again. The Saturday pub gig came, you’ve met Smile’s enemy and the night ended with something worse…

Warnings: PURE ANGST, mild fluff, mild violence, strong language

Word Count: 6.1k+ words

Note: I will be updating each chapter summaries from now on :) This story isn’t chronologically accurate in the real Queen timeline (bc we all know their band name Queen is used in 1970, but in this story which is set in 1971, their band name is still Smile) so I hope you guys understand :)

*MASTERLIST*

♡♡♡ PART SEVEN: “FLOTSAM CHAOS” ♡♡♡

You and Victoria spend time from each places she showed you around in Kensington. She showed you where she worked as a local dressmaker and let you look at her custom dresses she made for the past four years. Victoria is a actually a sweet lady, just like Freddie that’s why they’re made for each other. She pointed out the record stores, establishments where they buy clothes, food and other needs. And then the pub where they are performing on every Saturdays.

“This is Flotsam, or also known as Dixon’s for us. The boys perform here every Saturdays and they have this band enemy everytime they will perform on stage.” Victoria said as you both stood just right outside the pub.

“Freddie told me about that, the Neon Youth right?.” You replied.

“It’s not the whole Neon Youth who hated them, only the lead singer of that group. Lola Kinsley. A total demon spawn.” Victoria said as she pulls out a cigarette and light it up.

“Why would she hate the band? That’s just so mean.” You said.

You heard her clicked her tongue, “Well, Lola’s band is actually the first one to conquer the stage, but when Smile came in and lots and lots of people loved them. She grew jealous, that’s why she despise them so much. Especially Brian.”

“Brian? She despise him more than the others?.” Your eyes widened.

“I don’t know why but we knew that Lola have feelings for Brian before when they are still new in the pub, but Brian turned her down because she isn’t his type and that’s why she hated him, just wanted to forget how he turned her down.” Victoria explains and that made your mouth fell agape a little bit.

“That’s just so tragic. I guess Brian found his perfect girl, my own sister.” You chuckled.

“Wait…Rosalie is your sister?.” Victoria asks as you nod your head in response. “No offense to your own sister but I actually don’t like her, I have this negative aura around her. But since she’s making Brian happy, then I’m happy as a friend.”

You want to smirk in delight that this woman who is Freddie’s girlfriend also don’t like Rosalie. You didn’t liked your own sister at all, “No it’s fine, me and my sister aren’t that close so you can tell what you feel against her, I won’t tell a single soul about it.” You smiled.

“You’re far more better than her. She’s just so desperate of Brian before.” She mumbled, finishing off her cigarette and flick it off her hands, stomping on it.

“What do you mean?.” You asked as you both walk away from the pub and back to their place again.

“The first time that Rosalie found the pub, Roger was actually the first one to make a move but she wanted Brian to do that and rejected blondie. I felt so bad to Roger that night.” Victoria snickers.

“I didn’t know that Roger was the first one who made a move.” You replied. When you two arrived back at their place again, you heard some voices inside, knowing that the other boys visited.

“Yep. Now you know.” She said as she opens the door for you go inside and she followed suit. You see Brian and Roger sitting on the sofa, John is sitting beside Freddie who’s in front of the piano, playing some random tunes. “Hi everybody!.” Victoria hollered in the room as they set their eyes on you and her.

“Done showing her around?.” Freddie asked his girlfriend, watching her walk towards him and gave him a kiss again then nodded at him that she had showed you around.

Your eyes dropped on Brian without Rosalie by his side, so you have a questioning look at him. “Where’s Rosalie?.” You asked.

“Oh. She’s out for a job hunt.” Brian replied, smiling at you. You are tempted to seat beside him in the sofa but you saw Roger scooted on the vacant space between them and let you sit beside him. You thanked him and puts his arms behind you on the sofa. The sofa was small, that’s why his thighs are in contact to yours, trying yourself not to blush hardly beside him. Freddie is only the one who notices your flustered self beside the blond drummer. So he just look away and played the piano again.

“What brings you here?.” You asked them.

The bassist replied your question, “Honestly, we don’t know why we’re here. Why are we here Fred?.” John asked the singer who stopped on playing the piano again.

“I need some help for the songs I’ve wrote, maybe rate it or something.” Freddie said, getting the papers on top of the piano and gave the paper to John. John approaches you all here as he gave the papers to Roger and Brian.

“I like this song you wrote, maybe we’ll record this soon.” Roger said as he pointed on the paper with the song called Liar.

“I’m actually planning on an album. We really should think big already.” Freddie said.

Then there was silence.

“We can’t afford an album.” John spoke through the silence.

“He’s right. We should wait for the right time.” Brian said.

Your mind circulates around their small argument because this is what a rising musicians wanted, an album, and what John said, making an album is surprisingly expensive. And what if the people won’t like the album? That would be a waste.

Freddie just sighs and look away from the boys again, playing a tune on the piano again. His urge of wanting to record their songs in a recording studio is also the same feeling as yours wanting to be a performer. You and the boys want the chase your dreams without limits. Life has just those damn limits, but it still carry on. Maybe later on it will happen.

…

You brought out your journal with the songs you’ve been working on through the years. You have wrote over 8 songs, but you haven’t sang a single one of it. You have worked on the melodies of it, already had some guitar chords along the words in the pages. You took your guitar again and started strumming silently, since it’s already 10 in the evening. You’re alone here in the living room where the pull-out bed was, only the small lamp on the desk beside the sofa was lighting up this room. You hum the tune of the song you worked on before and then you scanned the pages again, finding the empty page again and you want to write another song again.

And so you did.

You wrote the words that are preserved inside your brain and add more sentences about the things you’ve been thinking about lately, especially your feelings towards Brian and to Roger too. You still haven’t made up your mind what the hell have you brought yourself into. Brian was taken, by your sister but Roger isn’t taken. It’s just so wrong that Brian was one of the people you wanted to spend more time with you.

Then you stopped writing when you saw Freddie stepped out the their room as he snap his head at you, “Hey, you still up. You need to sleep, tomorrow’s the big day again at Dixon’s.” He said, making his way towards the kitchen and drank a glass of water.

“Yeah, of course. I’m just…finishing something.” You gave him a small smile as you closed your journal, putting it back in your bag again and set your guitar down on the floor.

“You writing something?.” He asked.

You sighed and smiled, “Yeah. But it’s no biggie because I’m not actually performing my own works. It will be so embarassing.”

Freddie approaches you as he reach out his hand, “Give me the notebook, I’ll read some.” He nicely asked.

Your eyes widened, “That’s really a bad idea Freddie. I won’t show you anything.” You nervously chuckled.

“Let me Y/N, maybe it’ll take my breath away.” He grins, still had his hand reaching out for the journal hiding in your bag. You pout your lips and just move away your bag from him, never taking him the chance to look over to your journal.

“It’s already midnight Fred, tomorrow’s your performance in the pub right? So you need sleep and energy, just all of that.” You rolled your eyes and lay down on the bed, wrapping yourself up in the duvet.

“You’re no fun Y/N, I’ll take a chance on it soon.” Freddie chuckles. You look over to him, still pouting.

“Never.” You giggled. Watching him swat his hand away to you and left the room for you to sleep. You sighed deeply and just stare at the ceiling, replaying the words you’ve wrote on your journal. You are thinking about showing it to Freddie, maybe soon.

…

It’s gone.

Just this early in the morning.

By the time you flutter your eyes open when you felt the sun rays through the thin curtains of the room. Your body leaning over to your side where you put your bag, your eyes widen to see it’s zipped open. You quickly sat up the bed and look through your bag, knowing that your journal is already gone. You took a deep breath when you heard Freddie’s mumble of voice from his room as you stood up from the bed, not caring you’re just wearing a huge shirt with just your knickers underneath and socks. You lean on the door frame to see him reading your journal, smiling at it.

You cleared your throat to get his attention, “I thought we’re over this Fred. Ever heard of the word never?.” You crossed your arms.

“Like I said darling, I’ll take a chance and so I did.” He replied, going back in reading the journal. You can’t believe yourself you’re not mad, so you just entered the room and sat beside him on the edge of the bed. Looking at the page he’s reading. It’s the song you’ve made just the night where Brian went to your house, heard him and your sister doing their business next to your room as you blast out the songs from Hendrix. You remember writing that song with the inspiration of finding true happiness. And that you formed it into poem then to a song.

“You like it?.” You asked him and he look at you with a warm smile on his face.

“Very much. You’re a great song writer actually and the way you already write the chords for the melody. That’s talent.” He compliments. The red shade on your cheeks appeared again since no one aside from your father and Jonathan compliments your own songs. They are the only ones who have read your journal and no one else.

Now Freddie came in.

“Thanks.” Your voice came out as a shy mumble and sighed. “Freddie?.”

“Yes darling?.”

He closes your journal as he listens.

“Should I…start performing my own songs now? It’s been years that those songs are sitting there, waiting to be sung. I have never played those songs in full version.” You asked. Freddie clicked his tongue as he thought of a reply.

“You know what, fuck those bloody inhibitions about your own writings Y/N. No one will ever stop you from writing those. Songs are meant to be sung, you won’t know what’s ahead of you. If you just need some help in performing these masterpieces, you have us.” He replied.

A smile crawled up to your lips, reminiscing Brian’s words from the pub days ago and how he also said that nothing would go wrong if you perform your original songs. That was one of your biggest fears, but through their words to you, maybe that fear is already fading away.

Freddie gave back your journal as you look down on it, just laying on your lap. You have been deciding if you want to sing this or else nothing will happen spectacular in your life.

…

Roger and John arrived at Freddie’s place. Your eyes never leaving the blond drummer as he shot you a smile before he approaches you, giving you a kiss on your cheek. His hair is getting longer, even John’s too. Their performance at Flotsam will be two hours away from now, Freddie is telling them their set list. Roger sat beside you on the sofa, leaving John and Freddie talking in the kitchen. He saw you writing away on your journal again, never missing out any song ideas. Sometimes you just ran out, and sometimes those ideas are bursting out in a never ending rate. It was annoyingly amazing.

“Hey there.” Roger said. You didn’t even notice him sitting beside you because you’re too focused writing. So when you heard him greet, you immediately closed the notebook and smiled at him.

“Hi.” You squeak.

He let out a chuckle. You smiled as you blushed.

“So you write your songs too? How many by now?.” He asked.

You sighed, “I don’t know and it’s just too many. Some aren’t finished yet and some are already. This journal is just a one huge nothing, Rog. It’s nothing important.” You said, babbling your mouth like it’s just nonsense to you. But it’s not.

“Written songs aren’t nonsense, what are you talking about? That’s an art.” He said. It’s too much compliments in a day to your original songs.

“Thank you, I guess. Freddie’s been asking me if I want to sing some of my songs. Well, me as a stupid fuck, I’m still doubting myself.” You said.

Roger was stunned in what you’ve said as he shakes his head. You followed his movements as he took your guitar and sat beside you again, “Doubting is just a waste of time. Play something for me.” He commands.

“What?.”

“Play something for me, from what you’ve created.” He said, giving you your guitar. You want to decline but you mentally cursed at yourself, grabbing your guitar from him as you scanned the pages of your journal. You stopped on the song you’ve wrote back when you’re 18, it’s about William, even though you’ve hated him of what he’d done, you thought that this song is one of your favorites. Your feelings and emotions have been poured out into this song.

And so you started strumming, playing the chords.

The soft and pop melody made Roger tap his fingers on his lap.

The first verse. The chorus. The second verse. He seems to enjoy it.

You have a smile on your face as you sang your own song, in front of somebody. Roger felt special to hear you sing to him, watching you sing with your heart is making him happy. But then someone interrupts the little performance. You both look over to your left to see Brian and Rosalie entered the place.

“I never thought there was a secret performance here.” Brian teases.

You blushed. Again.

Roger was pissed because you haven’t finished singing.

“I didn’t see you there.” You smiled, standing from the sofa. Roger doing it shortly too.

“Where’s Fred?.” Brian asked you, not setting his eyes on Roger. You have told that they are in the kitchen, he made his way there and even Roger followed too. You sighed, sitting down on the sofa as you close your journal.

“So? You and Roger? Did something clicked?.” Rosalie suddenly asked.

Your cheeks heaten up again, “No, there’s nothing between me and Roger. No…” You replied.

“You sure sis?.” She teases. Nudging your sides.

“I’m very sure. I don’t know if he have feelings towards me or…something.” You laughed.

Wow. You laughed with your sister who hated you so much.

“Oh you don’t know Y/N, some things will happen unexpectedly.” She said, “Just like me and Brian, it’s unexpected.”

You rolled your eyes, never caring what she’ll say about their relationship, “Yeah. Good for you, but I’m not like you Rosalie who gets the man that fast.” You replied.

“Why? Want to be me so that you’ll get Roger whenever you want?.” She asked.

You fume in annoyance.

“No thanks. I’m not desperate to have him actually, not just like you. So excuse me, I have to get ready for tonight.” You snapped as you left your sister sitting on the sofa. You smirked to yourself that you didn’t became weak to her, finally standing up for yourself to have that platform rising.

Rosalie was beyond pissed.

…

The drive from Freddie’s place to Flotsam was only minutes away. Roger’s van was used because they have their equipments inside. He parked it at the back as you all helped one another in bringing out their instruments, Freddie’s microphone and the tambourine. You’ve felt so relieved when Rosalie isn’t tagging along with you all tonight since something came up at her work that is urgent.

Once you stepped out of the van, done with helping them. Brian suddenly approaches you. “Hey, you seem tense.” He asked. Still a bit tense from your small argument with your sister.

You’re tongue tied in front of him, “I uh, I’m fine really. Haven’t slept that much last night.” You lied.

“Oh. Okay, but if you need something, just approach us okay?.” He said. You nod as you stood beside Roger with Freddie as you all entered the pub. It was jam packed, people are already watching the band performing on stage. This place is far more larger than your father’s pub, seeing the audience swaying and dancing with their music in all shapes and sizes.

“Neon Youth.” Victoria suddenly spoke beside you as she pointed on stage. “Always comes first to get the attention of the people, not wanting the band to outshine them.”

You watched the lead singer Lola sang their music as she played her white electric guitar that matches her white velvet flares. Their music was surprisingly good, more like the taste of Pink Floyd and a dash of Hendrix too. Since Freddie described their music was Hendrix on serious drugs, maybe he’s wrong. Maybe.

“How are you all tonight?.” Lola spoke through the microphone with her thick British accent. The audience roared as you heard Freddie snicker from your left side.

“Come on darlings, it’s already their last song.” Freddie said and you moved by the side of the stage, your eyes never leaving Lola performing their last song. With only your eyes on her, you suddenly tripped on someone’s foot but both of your forearms were caught by also both by Roger and Brian.

“Be careful. The crowd’s getting thick.” Brian said, dangerously close to you as the people here are arriving more and more. So your bodies came in contact. You gulped as you nod at him, but Roger suddenly pulled you close to him, letting his hand intertwine with yours. You’ve felt nervous between the both of them as Brian finally lets go of your arm, letting you go with Roger.

Now things are getting weirder again.

But Victoria is a life saver when she finally asks you to come with her by the bar so that the boys can get ready with her performance. Roger lets you go with Victoria as she dragged her by the end of the room, lesser people are here. She ordered drinks for you and her as you both sat on the stools, overlooking the stage.

“You and Roger…” Victoria spoke while you’re drinking. You stopped on your tracks. “Is there something going on with you and him?.” She smirks.

“Oh no, no. There’s nothing and there’s no way. I just met him days ago, so if you’re thinking something different. It’s way out of the line.” You said with a chuckle.

“I’m not thinking something different Y/N, I just thought you and Roger are good together.” She said.

“Oh.” You mumble. “But I don’t think he likes me, we’re just friends…”

“Friends always turn into lovers. Or maybe someone is just distracting you from Roger.” That smirk of her returned on her lips again as she finishes her drink.

You fell into silence when she said that, looking by the stage to see Roger and Brian talking to each other. You don’t know what to feel, because everything will go down in flames if you’ll just do one stupid move with your feelings. Life isn’t treating you well, you hated it. Everything has it’s own consequences.

Lola’s group finally ended their performance as they move out of the stage, seeing her bump shoulders with Brian, never cared of saying sorry. You glared at her as you watch her meet up with other people in this place. But then your eyes followed to Freddie’s direction who’s already standing on stage, calling out the people.

And they sang the first song of their performance.

…

Victoria went out in the bathroom as she let’s you go alone here. You’ve stopped drinking since you’re too scared to be drunk again. Two more songs until they conclude their performance for tonight. You’re proud that people are enjoying them, clapping their hands with the beat of the music. You also heard some women shouting with Roger’s name, trying to get his attention.

“You seem new here.”

You look over to your side to suddenly see the one and only Lola standing before you. She’s alone, leaning her back on the bar counter as she watches the boys.

“Yeah. It’s my first time here actually.” You replied to her.

“I saw you with them, so I guess you’re some kind of a groupie or something. A fuck toy of the group.” She snickers. Your heart fell in what she just said about you.

Now that’s beyond rude. And where’s Victoria anyway?

“I-I’m not…I’m not a groupie.” You stammered. Brows furrowed as she tilt her head to you, those eyes full of eyeliner looking dead straight at you, then rake her eyes up and down your body.

“Sure looks like it.” She said.

“If you’re just here to insult me or Smile, I guess you better scram.” You threaten. She lets out a laugh and now stood before you like she owns this place, threatening you too.

“Scram? Darling, you’re just new here. I guess that you’re the one who better scram.” She argues.

People are already witnessing the argument. Your hands are forming into fists.

“Why don’t you just admit what I say about you? Am I right? Huh?.”

“And why don’t you just shut your goddamn mouth?.” You snapped. You don’t care if you’re making a scene here, all that you have to do is to stand up for yourself.

“Oh. Feisty, I like it.” She smirks.

“Now quit judging me or Smile, or else. I don’t want to make things wrong here.” You glared at her.

And just in time Victoria came over, noticing Lola here with you. Her eyes widen as she stood in front of Lola, “What’s going on here? And what in the bloody hell are you doing here Lola?.” Victoria asked, crossing her arms.

“I’m just talking to your friend Vicky, I’m doing no harm.” Lola said with sarcasm in her voice. You scoff, rolling your eyes at her.

Then Victoria look back at you, “Is she telling the truth?.” She whispers. You glared at this bleached haired bitch before you who’s looking at her nails then flirts with some random man.

“Just leave her be.” You mumble, going back at the bar, looking away from Lola. You heard Victoria spoke to her before she came walking back to you, ordering another round of drinks again. “What did you say to her?.” You faintly asked.

“I told her to fuck off, what else could I say to her?.” Victoria replied, stuffing her cigarette on her mouth as she lights it. “Smoke?.”

You shake you head, “No, I don’t smoke.” You said with a small smile.

“Oh. My bad.” She chuckles, putting the pack inside the pocket of her jacket and drank what she ordered. The drink and the cigarette in the same hand.

You turn your look at the stage again, Freddie is already singing the last verse of their last song. Roger banging the drums with much energy, John works on the bass to give more beat, Brian gives the song more rock and soul and then Freddie, giving all his best for this gig. And they ended the song, the claps of the people increases as they said their thank you’s. They left the stage, disappears in the thick crowd. You don’t know if there are already a hundred of people in this place. It’s just getting too crowded by now.

“Hey ladies.” You heard Freddie’s voice behind you to see him, John and Roger altogether. Brian isn’t with them, maybe he went to the restrooms.

Victoria compliments Freddie and the boys with their performance while you just stood there feeling empty again, feeling a bit odd with Brian not around. It made you think of Lola and what Victoria had said to you yesterday. Where she and Brian had a thing before but Brian just turned her down, maybe that’s why she just randomly charges you with those words coming out of her mouth.

“Earth to Y/N?.” Your train of thoughts fades out when you heard Roger’s voice from beside you. “Are you okay?.”

You sighed, “Yep. I’m fine Rog, I just…I have to go to the restrooms for a bit yeah?.” You said with a smile.

“Come back as soon as possible, I don’t want you be lost in this crowded room with someone else.” He smirks as you let out a chuckle, nodding in response. A blush created around your cheeks again.

You walk away from the bar and towards the restrooms. You groan when you suddenly see a line for the ladies room, that’s why you rolled your eyes, making your way back there again but you stopped when you heard indistinct shouts from outside. It’s coming from the back entrance of this pub, so you guess it’s just some couple fighting but your curiousity tingles inside your bones as you quietly push the door to see what’s happening.

Your eyes widen to see it’s Brian, arguing with Lola. She’s fuming with anger and Brian, this was the first time you ever heard him scream.

“And so you think I’m dumb?! I’m not dumb Brian! I know you’re with her! You’re with that fucking groupie inside and I know you still want to fucking erase all what I did to you before. I loved you Brian! And this is what I just get in the end? Seeing you with more girls while I’m just laying like garbage before you? I always forgive you! Well what about you? Always making the same bloody mistakes!.” Lola shouts. You expect as tears pouring down, but none did. Maybe she’s already tired crying to him.

“How many times will I have to tell you that we’re not together Lola! All that you’ve been thinking in your mind is wrong and she’s not a groupie! She’s a friend and nothing but a friend! And are you hearing yourself? You loved me?! That’s bollocks Lola! All that you just need before is attention, because your bloody band is dying out and we revived it like some kind of a Frankenstein fuckery. And when I turned you down before, now you’re seeking for revenge. All that you’ve been doing is bullshit and immature and–”

“–no! It’s not bullshit or immature or anything that irritates you! It’s called a fucking comeback May. A comeback that will burn down your career into many pieces, I don’t care if your little band will also be connected. All that I care is to see you feel the sufferings I’ve been through when you turned me down.” She angrily spats.

Brian looks so done.

“You’re a psycho Lola. You’re a goddamn disgrace and a bad influence to everybody. I did the right thing that I turned you down.” The guitarist said, now turning his back at her as he walks away.

But you see her breathe angrily as she wants to hurt him, and that’s the time when you barge out of the door then shouts at her, “Hey!.” You shouted.

They both turn their heads at you as you stood before Lola who has her hand into fists, ready to charge Brian from the back. You suddenly pushed her away from him, the guitarist was shocked that you’re here, trying to protect him.

“She’s coming to the fucking rescue huh? Well that’s just sweet.” Lola sarcastically said as she suddenly pushed you away too. “The groupie came to the rescue.” She laughs.

“Bloody hell Y/N, why are you here?.” Brian asked you.

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s literally going to hurt you right here!.” You replied, pointing at her fists. Lola’s veins are pulsing in anger when you just caught her about to do something so wrong.

Brian returned his look on Lola, he was horrified but somehow mixed with anger at her. “I don’t have any intention on hurting you physically Lola, never. I don’t think I could ever forgive on what you just did.” He said.

“It’s all your fault…” Lola said to you. Your heart began to race, but you stood on your ground.

It’s only been two days since you arrived here in Kensington and now someone already hated you, for no reason.

“It’s all your goddamn fault!.” Lola screamed as she suddenly swing her fists at your direction, hitting on your left cheek. Brian immediately pull you away from Lola, but you break away from his hold, also giving her a hard punch that made her drop on the ground.

“I didn’t do anything for you to hate me! What the fuck is your problem to him?!.” You shouted at her, still on the ground with her hand on her nose, slowly bleeding out.

She didn’t respond.

You touched your cheek as you flinch in pain, feeling there’s a bruise forming already. Then tears fell down from your eyes, Brian again pull you away from Lola as he drag you back to Roger’s van.

“I’m going to call the others, just stay here for me okay? Stay here and don’t move.” He all said that in one breath as he closed the passenger door, watching him run back inside.

You can’t imagine yourself hurting someone until now, and you have a bruised cheek. Your father would kill you if he finds out about this.

Paranoia.

You heard their voices approaching, “Why did you just let her hurt Y/N?! Are you fucking stupid Brian?! Where is she?!.” Roger shouted at the guitarist.

Brian looked guilty. Then said that you’re inside the van. Roger was the first one to run towards the van and opened the door, seeing you still drowning in your tears and you cheek covered with a bruise.

“I swear I did this so that she won’t hurt him, don’t blame Brian on this. It’s not his fault…” You cried but Roger just hushed you, as you left the van, hugging the blond drummer.

“C'mon guys let’s bring her home and give her some medicine.” Victoria said. Roger helped you get inside the van again as let John and Freddie sit with you since he’s driving. Brian hasn’t said a single word, he just look over to you if you’re still okay.

On the ride back to Freddie’s place, you head rested on John’s shoulder. Tears stopped pouring down as you felt more okay that you’re with the people that cared about you.

…

“I will be the one who’s going to help to clean her up.

"No, I’ll be the one who will. I was the reason behind this.”

Roger and Brian kept arguing over you who’s just sitting on the sofa with a pack of ice pressed against your cheek, Freddie and Victoria are sitting beside you, also listening to them arguing in the same room. Now their argument became worse when Brian brought up the topic that he should be the one to blame about what happened tonight.

“Hey! Can you both shut up already? You’re both not helping. I’ll be the one who’s going to help her, end of discussion.” Victoria stood between the two as they both fell in silence. She helped you stood up, her hand on your back as she led you to the bathroom. You heard the water running from the bath, Victoria pushes off the shower curtain. Seeing you still standing in front of the mirror.

She stood behind you, looking through your reflection, “You have to take a shower Y/N, then I’ll give you another pack of ice again.”

“She wants to hurt Brian earlier and I’m just the one who witnessed their fight…” You mumbled.

“Fight? Lola and Brian are fighting again?.” She questioned.

“It’s about their past, she’s hurt. Really hurt on what happened between them and I was the one she’s been blaming on Brian. She thinks me and Brian are together…or some sort.” You answered.

Victoria sighs, “I swear that girl is too possessive and she put a bruise on your pretty face…”

A smile appeared on your lips as you look down on the ground.

“Bruises will go away. Don’t worry about that…” You silently chuckled.

“Well, you should hop in the bath already and we’ll put another pack of ice there, so that the bruise will go away fast.” She said, leaving the bathroom just for bit until she came back with your towel and clean clothes. Giving it to you.

“Thank you Victoria.” You smiled.

“Call me Vicky.” She chuckles then closed the bathroom door.

…

Freddie and Victoria offered their bedroom for you tonight. You’re already inside room, lying in silence as you kept remembering what you’ve did earlier. Then Lola’s words to Brian, Brian’s reply. Just their whole argument in general. It was so bad. Maybe their relationship before is a bad relationship, that’s why he ended things with her. You’ve seen what would happen if Brian is still with her, not with Rosalie.

You sat up on your bed when someone knocks on the door, “It’s open.” You said from the bed.

The door opens to see it’s Brian.

You fell silent.

“Are you feeling okay Y/N?.” He asked, taking a seat at the edge of the bed while you’re sat up against the headboard. Only centimeters away from him.

“Physically, yeah. Emotionally, I don’t think so…” You replied. Your voice came into a whisper.

“I-I’m so sorry about Lola. She’s…unbelievable. I can’t believe she did that.” He said.

“Well if I wasn’t there, you’ll be hurt. I swear she’s about to pounce on you in a second when you turn your back at her…” You said. Hands gripping on the bed sheets.

“But you’re the one with the bruise, not me. I should be the one who have that, I deserve it. From her.” He stated. You watch his hands–those boney hands, reach out to you and cupped your bruised cheek. You hiss in pain when he accidentally brush over the bruise.

“I did this to myself, I’m so sorry. You tried to stop me, but I just…I hurt her too.” You felt bad again. Even though she threw the first punch.

“Come here.” He whisper. You hesitate at first but you see his arms open for you, you got in his embrace. So warm. So comforting. “Don’t blame yourself, okay? It’s not your fault.”

You didn’t say another word as you lean on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.

_________________

And I imagined Debbie Harry as Lola (I love herrrrr but I’m sorry that she had to be a bad guy here haha) And her band Blondie as “Neon Youth” (my brother suggested that name sooo don’t hate me on this)

*TAGLIST:

@lilytalebi @luvborhap @ziggymay @kiwithekiwi @imgonnabeyourslave

IF YOU WANT TO BE IN THE TAGLIST, LET ME KNOW!

#Brian May #brian may imagines #brian may x reader #brian may x you #brian may x oc #queen band #queen imagines #queen fic #queen fanfiction #queenrogah's fic #freddie mercury #John Deacon #roger taylor

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immovable-force-archive · 5 years

Text

send me a ship // @motherfucking-username (I’m doing both but I’m gonna do ‘em in separate posts)

1- Who is the most affectionate?

Connor.

2- Big spoon/Little spoon?

Kisama prefers being the big spoon, but I know Connor likes being able to look at/hold Kisama. Honestly I’m not sure they’re big on spooning when they could just hold each other face-to-face instead. When they do though, they probably trade off.

3- Most common argument?

Probably something about Kisama working too much or not telling Connor things. Kisama keeps a lot of secrets and that’s a main source of friction between them. They don’t ‘argue’ about that much exactly but it does come up a lot.

4- Favorite non-sexual activity?

Cuddling. Although Kisama loves taking Connor just about anywhere outside of work, showing him anything is super cute.

5- Who is most likely to carry the other?

Hmmmm... It’s close, but I think I’m gonna say Kisama. Which is funny because Kisama tries not to-- Connor weighs over 300 lbs and casually picking him up requires his super-strength. At the same time though, I can totally imagine Kisama carrying Connor to bed bridal-style, or lifting him up and spinning him around when they get home from work. (These two are disgusting ifya haven’t noticed.)

6- What is their favorite feature of their partner’s?

Kisama’s favorite is either his eyes or his hair. He really loves that tuft Connor has that never stays up.

7- What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

... Everything? They realize it when Kisama is still in Detroit, and has to reconcile that they have about 2 weeks before Kisama heads back to Naobi, basically for good. I’m sure their entire work dynamic changes for a start, though. A lot of looks and pining, Kisama wishing he could just stop working and make every second count before time runs out.

8- Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate?

'Darling’ would be Kisama’s favorite for Connor, which is something he heard his parents (his dad, specifically) call each other a lot. But Kisama’s fond of other pet names too, like ‘sweetie’ or ‘honey.’ He’ll also call Connor ‘Officer’ at work, and jokingly outside of it.

9- Who worries the most?

God, that’s a tough one. They both worry way too much, can I just say both? Maybe Kisama just barely edges it out because he’s always worrying about Connor leaving if he finds out his secrets, or if he’s protecting Connor too much/not enough at work. Wouldn’t be surprised to see @motherfucking-username disagree though.

10- Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?

Connor. Seems like the sort of thing he’d memorize.

11- Who tops?

Kisama because that’s what he prefers, but if Connor wanted to give it a go, Kisama would (eventually) try to bottom instead.

12- Who initiates kisses?

They both do, although I think Connor does a bit more often once he gets more comfortable with it.

13- Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

Connor.

14- Who kisses the hardest?

Connor, probably? I think they both get pretty into it though.

15- Who wakes up first?

Connor, because he doesn’t sleep--

16- Who wants to stay in bed just a little longer?

Funnily enough, I think Connor again. Kisama is used to getting up early and going straight to work, and I could see Connor saying they have a few minutes to spare to cuddle before getting dressed. (And like backing it up with an exact time of how long it takes for them to get ready, just to sound super convincing.)

17- Who says I love you first?

I think Connor did, in a roundabout way. He admitted feelings first, at least. Kisama might’ve been the one to actually say ‘I love you’, although now I’m not sure.

18- Who leaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does it usually say?)

God, Connor would pack lunches for Kisama, wouldn’t he? Maybe gross, sappy, cute things (hearts, short quotes/poems about love, random things about Kisama that he likes, etc.) because these two are disgusting trash--

19- Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Connor tells Hank everything-- Hank actually knew about Connor’s feelings before Kisama did. Kisama tells no one anything ever, although his bodyguards/Axa inevitably find out.

20- What do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Kisama’s bodyguards (Andrew and Yuuto) are initially in disbelief, and Yuuto is pretty disgusted with it, but they ultimately come to support Kisama because of how happy Connor makes him. (Having spent so much time with Kisama, and seen a few of his bad moments, they know he really needs more people in his life to support him.) Axa Pfertun, Kisama’s secretary/second-in-command, also starts out as extremely against the relationship, and believes Kisama can’t afford to be anything less than 100% professional at all times, or it will be used against him. She also comes around at some point during the time Kisama and Connor are separated.

21- Who is more likely to start dancing with the other?

Connor.

22- Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?

Connor on both counts, although I could see cooking together becoming something they do for fun at home.

23- Who comes up with cheesy pick up lines?

Both of them. They’re losers.

24- Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times?

Kisama likes to compartmentalize his life as a way to cope with stress, so he has a ‘work life’ and a ‘home life.’ Things at work stay at work, and only work things are allowed at work. So I could see Connor whispering things to him at work to try and get him riled up, since he wants to bone in Kisama’s office so bad--

Real answer: They both do, Kisama’s not innocent of this either.

25- Who needs more assurance?

God, both of them again, they suck. Maybe Connor?

26- What would be their theme song?

My ship tag for them is Style by Taylor Swift, although I don’t think that’s a great one aside from a couple lines. First ones that come to mind that I like (as in, first ones I saw after looking through my Youtube likes) are This Feeling by The Chainsmokers, and Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler.

27- Who would sing to their child back to sleep?

Kisama. Unless Connor wants to sing Tequila. Or just like open his mouth and make Baby Shark play, like a speaker.

28- What do they do when they’re away from each other?

Work, mostly. That’s the main thing that keeps them apart, and these two both love diving headfirst into work to try and distract from The Gay Thoughts.

29- one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart.

The fact that Connor will outlive Kisama even in the best case scenario is pretty heartbreaking, along with the fact that Kisama doesn’t think he’s going to make it there. He’ll probably die young, just because of who he is and what his job is. It’s also heartbreaking that Kisama knows there is, technically, a way to bring him back indefinitely via Devil Contracts, and Loqero would be 100% down to help Connor with it. He just doesn’t want this to happen because it basically requires killing someone each time, and Kisama hates the idea that Connor would consider sacrificing innocent people if it meant bringing his boyfriend back. It’s something he never wants to confront, and will probably never bring up as a result.

30- one headcanon about this OTP that mends it.

Kisama having to take a meeting over the phone while they’re home and it’s running long and Kisama’s pissed about it. Connor walking over and touching his phone to make it shut off, then taking Kisama’s hand and going “Oh no your battery died :) What a shame :)” And then they smooch bc screw running a country when you can be gay instead

Also Kisama at work with Connor sitting in his lap, “””making sure Kisama gets work done””” when they’re actually just snuggling.

#;memes #motherfuckingusername #So many questions aaaaaaaa #:protect the innocent (musings)#[S] KisaCon : When we go crashing down we come back everytime / 'Cause we never go out of style #long post #I really wanted to do art of Kisacon and Hankew for these posts but that sounded like effort so bleh

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sulkybbarnes · 5 years

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Ok so I watched endgame on friday and basically I was so disappointed with what they did to bucky/steve and how they literally had one (1) second together onscreen and it was like they were saying goodbye for an hour not that buck knew steve was leaving forever??? also idk if I believe that he'd abandon his best friend to go back and marry peggy because she already had a family? Basically I'm just upset they didn't do justice to bucky/steve...but I'm curious - what did you think of the film??

ENDGAME SPOILERS AHEAD (AND IN THE ASK, so don’t read it either)

Hey anon! I stared at this for a good ten minutes before deciding how to answer it, and settled on keeping my answer under a read more so here we go:

Let me start by saying that I haven’t seen a Marvel movie since Captain America: Civil War (with the exception of Black Panther) and I haven’t been to see Endgame myself nor am I going to. But I got a play by play of the movie from close friends, read multiple articles, and heard every opinion before reaching the conclusion that I was very right in deciding not to watch the movie bc I hate what they did with it, and I would have fumed even more if I had to sit through it in a cinema. Let’s break down what I think about it and clarify some things first though.

The whole time travel plotline with Steve was shitty writing that left a lot of people confused, but basically there are supposed to be two versions of Steve by the end because he created a new branch in time. Basically, one Steve did go into the ice and live out his life until the moment he went back in time and created the second Steve that lived out life with Peggy in the new branch of time. This supposedly means that Peggy’s family wasn’t erased (even tho I personally still don’t get it lol) but I have read like five different accounts on whether or not this makes sense, and to me that means that the movie failed spectacularly. If you need article after article and essay length explanations for your audience to understand what you did post-movie then you didn’t do your job right. Here are two articles on the time travel and you can decide which one you agree with: article 1, article 2.

Now let’s leave the technicalities of it behind and focus on characters. Steve Rogers has meant the world to me for a long time and I adored his character. He and Bucky got me through a tough time in my undergrad uni so they mean a lot to me, yes, but I want to point out that my opinion isn’t solely formed bc I shipped them together but because I truly believe the ending Steve was given ruined his character. Like listen I am bitter that they threw away the only love story that made sense to me in MCU (Steve and Bucky) but this isn’t about that. The fact of it is that the same writers who made Steve kiss Peggy’s niece at her funeral in Civil War and said it doesn’t matter because Peggy was a one month thing to Steve are the ones who wrote endgame and decided that Steve’s love for his friends who are a found family, his best friend, this new world and new life he has, and everything he built basically didn’t matter just bc he didn’t have a romantic love interest and that.. really grates on my nerves with the message it sends.

This message is also reiterated with them killing off Nat. The fact that they killed of Nat bc she can’t have children and doesn’t have a family sends the same message. Once again Marvel says that unless you follow certain heteronormative criteria then life isn’t worth living or having. They sent Steve back to be stuck in his past and walk away from his family and future, and they killed Nat off in the spirit of the same underlying message of unless you have Het Love and a family then whatever else you have doesn’t really matter. And I truly despise that. This post explains it well I think.

As for the Steve/Bucky part, which yeah kills me too.. we all know that had one of Steve or Bucky been a woman then they’d be played up to be Marvel’s greatest love story ever written. I never hoped they’d let them be together bc I knew better but still… sending him to be with Peggy (who I love, this isn’t anything against her I swear) when he knew her for so little and they had no more than a fling, and making him walk away from everything else he has is the epitome of them doing one last hurrah to prove he’s in heterosexual love with someone. I just find it so insulting bc they mocked his and Peggy’s relationship before to justify him kissing Sharon and it’s adding insult to injury.

I wanted Sam to get the shield (only good thing that happened) and I wanted Steve to walk away and have a life… hell, fine what fucking ever give him a new blonde girl as a love interest but. Not this quick-fix poorly thought out ending that negates everything Steve stood for. Him walking away from the best friend he fought the entire world for, and the other best friend who fought the world with him and became a brother for someone he knew for a month in the 40s… who moved on and had her own life and children (and deserved way more than being an afterthought fix-it in this stupid movie) makes me really angry and sad to think about.

My last point is their well known queerbaiting which they did once again here. They queerbaited saying there’ll be a gay character you’d never expect in Endgame, and it turned out to be a nameless background character who’s in the scene for like 10 seconds. That lgbt representation! Side note: I will forever be bitter that marvel queerbaited the shit out of Stucky. Remember when they released an entire alternate universe comic promising Steve and Bucky will be together by the end of it then killed Bucky off at the very end? Yeah lol I will never forgive them that one.

I also heard they put Thor in a fat suit and made a bunch of jokes about it???? Which is seriously disgusting, I don’t even have words for it.

Anyway, in conclusion: Fuck Marvel.

#I..... wrote you an essay #lmfao sorry #asks #mara talks for ts #***#****#endgame spoilers #avengers endgame spoilers #spoilers #endgame #at this point if you get spoiled it's on you lmfao #Anonymous #mcu #marvel

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milesgonzalomorales · 6 years

Note

1-50 for studyblr (all or nothing motherfucker ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

I owe you my life anon I wanted to answer these

What year are you?Third-year as of summer 2018

What’s your major/what do you think you want to major in?Double major in Political Science and History

If applicable, what is your thesis about? n/a

Do you think you picked the right major? For sure. At first I was uncertain in my choice bc I switched quite a bit in my first/second year bw English and History, but then I realized that English classes were making me dislike my relationship w/ literature. I love my poli sci and history classes

Ultimate educational goals? Getting my PhD in International Relations but i have no job to pay for it

Career goals? Working with an international organization like the UN or the IMF

Do you think your goals are realistic? Certainly. They may be difficult to reach, but they are within my grasp so long as I keep working towards them.

What classes are you taking right now? Canadian government/politics, introductory political theory and a comparative history class on race relations in the US and SA

Favorite class out of everything you’ve ever taken and why? Introduction to international relations parts 1 and 2, I took them both in my second year back to back (one in the fall, the other in the winter) while I was still in the political science minor. I loved this class for several reasons. First, the content was so interesting that reading the textbook was never a chore and I was always in the first row of the lecture hall ready 15 minutes before classes even started. Another reason I liked this class was bc I had a really good experience with the ta who was my tut. leader in both semesters - there is only one other ta that I’ve had who has been that phenomenal in their teaching. This ta along with another prof have been really influential in my learning and I don’t think thank you will ever be enough for what they both did. It was actually through these classes that I decided to major in poli sci bc I loved it so much.

Least favorite class ever and why? An Ancient Greek history class bc it was at night and the prof had us read exclusively from a sourebook and his slides sucked.

Current favorite class and why? Canadian government, I’m learning a lot of cool stuff about my country that high-school teachers never did justice to. Also the prof is really enthusiastic and it’s contagious.

Current least favorite class and why? Political theory… it’s not that I hate it, but some of the texts are really difficult to read at times. Lectures are fun though, the prof really knows how to keep an audience engaged.

Favorite STEM field? I took an anthropology class in first year and loved it, the tutorials were really interesting bc we actually got to handle bone material!! It was nothing like humanities tutorials where you discuss and debate. A fun experience overall and I loved learning about the science parts too even if it was a little complicated sometimes…

Favorite humanities subject? Political science, hands down.

Class that you’ve always wanted to take but never had the chance? I want to take a class on ethnic conflict and security, but it’s a 4th year class and i don’t have the prereqs (yet!)

Do you use caffeine and if so how much daily? Never, unless Coffee Crisp counts

What’s your preferred method of taking in caffeine? ^ see above answer

Have you ever tried study drugs? Nope, not a huge fan of supplements like that.

Are you a homework-in-the-morning kind of person? Homework whenever I can type of person

Do you listen to music while you study? Used to, but now it distracts more than anything so I’ll put on some ambient noises or just work silently.

Crowded area or quiet place? Quiet place, but one that has people in it so I feel obligated to work

What’s your preferred writing implement? bic gelocity 0.7 black and blue pens. i cannot write w/o them but they run out so fast.

Do you need to work out before you can study well? work out??? haven’t heard that term in years

Describe your perfect study environment. Idk the specifics, but good lighting, nice temperature, a rolling chair and a high desk i guess?

Are you procrastinating right now? Not really, I have time before assignment deadlines roll in.

What was the last thing you procrastinated? Reading Thomas Hobbes Leviathan, the language was too complex and I shied away from it

Are you a perfectionist? Not really, you make a mistake and you move on, I find that studyblr aesthetic notes are counterproductive

Do you like easy classes or do you feel bad if you’re not working hard? I don’t think there is such thing as ‘easy’ classes, it depends on what an individual’s strengths and weaknesses are. That being said, I had a light course load for a first year class where the prof felt bad for assigning us 10 pages of reading a week when another prof was assigning 80-100.

Are you a good test taker? Most of the time, but with essays, I need to write outlines or I lose my train of thought and get frustrated and anxious about the time and my argument.

What are you the proudest of out of all the assignments you’ve ever had? A paper I did for my critical writing for history class 2 semesters ago, I contacted that professor regularly and was in her office all the time working with her to keep making it better and when I saw my final grade of 38/40, I cried with happiness.

Do you talk to your teachers/professors a lot? Oh yeah, I’m that student who stays after class, spends half the time at office hours, asks questions during class, you name it. Professors are people too, just really accomplished people. Also they’re pretty cool and they want to see you succeed.

Describe your favorite teacher/professor and why you like them. Okay again not a prof, but this person is training to become a prof and i truly hope he’s successful for several reasons. He has a lot of cool book recs both academic/non-academic, calls out the bullcrap that is academic writing, genuinely goes above the paygrade to make sure that students succeed and most importantly, is enthusiastic about the content himself. (press f to pay respects)

Describe your least favorite teacher/professor and why you dislike them. Hnghhhh there was these 2 profs who taught intro ir part 1 and one of those guys was an absolute loser, he constantly made holocaust jokes and other tasteless comments and when i went to talk to him about my final paper, he told me that i’d look like someone who might like to write mine about is/s like ://. never told that prof anything about my academic interests so shut your mouth

Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher/professor? A few times, but I don’t think I could do it. I’d be one of those rambling profs who never end up finishing their scheduled content.

Most profound thing ever said to you by a teacher/professor? Not a prof, but a ta once said that my ideas were worthy of respect and that i shouldn’t feel the need to apologize for contributions (ta: you are valid me: holy fuck i’d die for you)

Best feedback you’ve ever gotten on something academic? Best feedback I’ve ever gotten was on a paper I wrote for my ir class in the first semester where i had a lot of pitfalls in my argumentation style so when i wrote one the next semester w/ the same ta marking it, i got a better mark bc i incorporated that feedback.

Worst study habit and how are you working on it? My worst habit is lacking discipline and I’m working on it by trying to stick to schedules so I can fall back into routine and ultimately be on top of things

Are you an in-class fidgeter? moment of silence for all the pens i’ve dropped while twirling them/taking them apart.

How’s your handwriting? pretty neat, not to brag. but apparently my f’s are jumping off the lines practically.

Write “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” and post a photo. sorry, too late for that I’m headed to sleep soon.

Neat or messy notes? A weird combo?? Like messy enough that you have arrows sticking out from all corners and sometimes things are disorganized, but the writing itself is usually very neat unless i’m tired.

A lot of notes or the bare minimum? A lot, for me, the slides are the skeleton and the meat comes from the prof’s mouth.

Post a photo/scan of your notes from your favorite class. I think I uploaded them to my side blog?? anyway it’s late now so can’t do that

Are you a doodler? I used to be, but I cut the habit bc sometimes I miss key info if I’m not paying attention.

Post a photo of your doodles if you have any. lol i used to post a lot under the tag naailah draws

Do you have pre-test rituals and what are they? Making sure I have more pens than I’ll ever need and checking the ink refills to ensure there’s enough.

Are you a tangent-question asker? Yup, there’s no such thing as a dumb question. Unless it’s answered on the syllabus. That’s a dumb q.

Do you make jokes in class? Sometimes. I’ve cracked some awful puns in my comparative poli class once and the prof’s mic picked up on it bc i sit at the front so you have a room of 200 or so students hearing me laugh about poverty and i swear it sounds bad but it was not as bad w/ context.

How many hours do you spend on academics per day? A lot… most of my time is spent on studying/procrastinating on it

What’s something more important to you than school? Life after school and making a real impact in the world, whether it’s small-scale or large.

#Anonymous #naailah receives an ask

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sunnysidewrites · 7 years

Text

Flower Boy!Jeonghan

Requested by anon: Flower boy Jeonghan!!

HEY HEY HEY GUESS WHO FINALLY PICKED UP THE SLACK AND WROTE THIS AFTER AN ENTIRE WEEK OF PROMISING TO :))) I’m so sorry yall this was supposed to be part of Jeonghan’s bday present but rip!!! THANKS TO @kakaotaeks FOR HELPING ME OUT WITH THIS!! who knows where this would be if i didn’t use the flower boy cafe au yIKES!! happy belated bday my angel + devil!! happy reading my children!!!

warnings: i still have 1 last super angsty piece for jeonghan, so i tried to make this p fluffy :))) and who knows when i’ll even finish that piece so :))) hang on tight to this fluff while you can! and also jeonghan is a cheesy goofball who’s bad at literature

This was originally gonna be Florist!Jeonghan but thank the heavens y’all don’t have to read the lame idea I had before elena came up w this

Shoutout to my b!!!

BASED ON OURAN KISS KISS FALL IN LUV

tHIS IS SO CUTE OK OK LETS GET 2 WORK

You’re in your usual literature class lecture hall and you’re sitting a few rows behind,,,,

The one and only, Yoon Jeonghan

Campus heartthrob

With looks like that though??? Can scREW ME UP

You’re staring at the back of his fluffy blonde locks as he studiously scribbles down his notes in his beaten torn notebook

Every time you try to refocus on the professor, your eyes just drift back to his short hair that looks a little too tempting to run your fingers through

By the time you prep yourself to focus on taking notes for the twentieth time that hour, everyone is packing their things and you’re like n OO OO NOT AGAIN

“Let me guess: Jeonghan?” Your friend nonchalantly brings up as they’re stuffing their folder in their bag

You sigh and get up to pack your things along

“I don’t even know why he’s so distracting… just something about him”

They’re shaking their head and smile knowingly bc it’s just so damn oBV I O US WHY

“You know that hot cafe that just opened everyone’s been raving about?”

“The Diamond? What about it?”

They smile even wider and are like, “do you know who got a job as a cute waiter?”

“,,,,,,,,,,,,What are you trying to say”

“Maybe you can finally get that number you’re always babbling about?”

And you’re like oh my god pl S STop but you’re right tho :/

You finally have some time off from your schedule to swing by the cafe down a few blocks from your dorm

You’re out on a lovely Saturday morning stroll and the strong scent of coffee beans wafts out into the streets

The cafe has only been open for an hour but there’s already a huge line

And if it weren’t for your curiosity, you would have just been like Gotta Go Fast

But you figured you would do yourself a favor and begrudgingly hold it out in the line that extends to almost the end of the street

Think of this as a cafe version of Ouran!!

Except add 7 more (excluding haruhi bc you take the protagonist’s place)

The cafe is so full that it makes you wait for the servers to take you to a table like in restaurants so it’s THAT big

No matter what time of day it is, it’s always co m ple te l y paCKED

8am when it just opens? Looks like a concert venue

Half an hour until closing time? All the tables are entirely occupied

It’s predominantly females but evEN GUYS SWOON i mean who wouldn’t tho???? When you have 13 pieces of f I N E????

Anyways when you finally reach the front of the line after 38 years, you’re like finALLY MY LEGS :((

And the bubbly little host is dressed in actual 5-star restaurant attire and he’s looking back at you like :DDDDD!!!!!!!!!! And you’re like :ooooo!!!!! :DDDDD!!!! What a cutie pie!!!!!!!

“Hello, and welcome to The Diamond! I’m Chan, your host, and I’ll be your go-to if your main server is unavailable! We’re currently waiting for a table to open up, so please be patient!” he perfectly recites and you’re just like clutching your heart bc of hoW CUTE HE IS!!!

Around 10 minutes pass and he’s notified that a table has been opened and you’re like okay,,,, this is it. This is where My Life Changes

He leads you to a cute little corner that gives you a nice little window view of the bustling streets

He gives you a menu once you’re seated and he’s like, “Okay, this is where I take off!!! Your main server will be with you shortly! If you need anything, just tap on this little bell!”

As he scurries away you’re just like :(((( why can’t you be my waiter flfjdldfskj wait I’m here for Jeonghan!!

You’re browsing through the menu and you’re appreciating all the aesthetics from the tableware to the graphics on the menu

You hear how the other waiters interact with their supporters customers as you’re waiting for yours and you could have sworn you heard Jeonghan’s name floating around

“What’s the special for today?”

“It’s the double chocolate cheesecake, honey~~”

*SCREAMS* me 2

His favorite pet name to call his supporters customers is “honey” uM IM WEAK B YE

And people seem to be ordering devil’s food cake a lot what a coincidence lmAO

A few minutes pass and you feel a presence nearing you and you casually brush it off as just a waiter passing by but oh boy!!!

“Hi honey~ What can I get you for today -- wait, Y/N?”

You’re about to chOKE ON YOUR SPIT

You look up from the desserts page and see the face that you’ve been mustering up the courage to talk to for months

“J-Jeonghan! I didn’t know you worked here!” the classic sentence starter

He lets out a small laugh in disbelief and you’re like aaaAAAA SO CUTE ST O P I T THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR MY HEART

“I haven’t seen you around here before. Is this your first time today?”

And you’re lowkey highkey blushing bc he,,,, noticed you?????

“Yeah,,,, it is,,,,,,, what do you recommend?”

He hums in thought and turns back to you, “We have the Devil’s food cake that seems to be really popular whenever I serve customers for some reason,” he chuckles and he grins that angelic yet mischievous smile

And you’re like huh :))) I :))) wonder :))) why :)))

You tell him you’ll try it out with a latte and give him the menu as he elegantly exits and leaves your heart painfully wanting to leap out of your chest

Some time passes and you’re taking in the decor and the view of the streets when he returns promptly with your food and drink

“Here you go, Y/N :)” he smiles and gently places the plates down in front of you

But honestly all you’re focusing on is how clOSE his face is when he did that

Do you imagine him to smell really nice?? Bc he probably smells like clean laundry and just fRESH AND SOFT AND--

Ahem

Little did you know his little fleeting glances at you to check your reaction of the mouthwatering sights in front of you!!!

Am i talking about the food or am I talking about Jeonghan always looking like a meal???? Guess we’ll never know

He nervously giggles and runs his fingers through his hair and you can’t help but to eye his movements bc,,,, those luscious locks,,,,

He’s like well!!! Try it!!! And you’re like ughsldgkdglh in front of you??? Right now????

He doesn’t seem to be budging anytime soon so you’re like rip ok guess so

You take your first bite and your eyes are about to bulge out of your sockets bc how in the name of the heavens can chocolate cake bE SO!!!!!!! GOOD!!!!!!! (spoiler alert: it is)

You’re looking back at him with widened eyes and a chocolate caked mouth as you’re mumbling,” ish sho gud!!”

And he’s like lmAO YOU’RE SO CUTE-- I mean,, yes,,, yes it is

And he gestures at your mouth and says “you have a little something uh,,,, everywhere LOL” and you’re like lsdjdfljd oh god i wanna dig up a hole and bury myself forever!!! And you hastily grab the napkin and wipe the chocolate crumbs off

And you two are so off in your own little world that both of you fail to notice the attention the other customers are directing towards you

Because Jeonghan nEVER, and I mean NE V ER, acts that naturally to a customer

It’s all a bunch of his favorite pet name, “honey,” and some winking tossed in his light flirting

But laughing? Having a really good time? Acting like friends? Joking? Not once!!!

And everyone is like Who Are You And Tell Me Your Secrets

He strikes up a conversation with you so easily and you’re so taken aback bc why would he be talking to an invisible soul like yours??? What’s happening with the world???

“Did you ever get the project turned in?”

And you’re really confused like,,,,, yes??? What???

And he sheepishly smiles, his ears a little red iM YODELING

“I just,,, overheard you worry about how much your partner was slacking off when you were talking to your friend that day,,,, that really sucks :(“

And you’re just like o H!!! Omg

“It’s all taken care of, don’t worry!!! At least i hope so,” you mutter

And you can feel his hesitance and you’re like ???? what is it??

“Maybe you need a new partner for a change? Our professor mentioned our next project can have us choose our own partners,,,, and you seem to be really good at this class,,,,,”

And you wanna laUGH bc you’re literally just there to stare at the back of his head

But he’s like you always know the answers whenever she calls on you????

“It doesn’t take a genius to know what the types of irony are, Jeonghan”

“hEY IM TRYING MY BEST THAT’S WHAT MY NOTES ARE FOR”

And you’re like,,,, do you need a tutor???

He lights up and his cheeks are stained a light pink aND IM CRYING IN THE CLUB

“yES! I mean, yes. Yes. Please. Here, I’ll give you my number”

What you feel: IM SCREAMING INTO THE ABYSS AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I JUST GOT YOON JEONGHAN’S NUMBER, AN ACTUAL ANGEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What you say: Oh, sure!

You both do a number exchange and literally everyone in that cafe is just on the floor like hOW DID YOU????? WH A T????

And Chan calls him and he not-so-subtly hints about how he’s been talking to you for way too long and everyone in line is complaining LOL

He regretfully looks at you and you nod sadly in understanding

“I’ll catch you later this week,” you say and he’s about to turn around when he stops and turns back

“Are we meeting for a study da-- sESSION?”

And you’re like what did you say--

“I said study session”

“.....I’m free Saturday”

“I’ll meet you at the library,” he gives you one last grin before winking and walking away and you’re like eXCUSE ME WHAT DOES THAT MEAN SIR

You shake your head but you can’t suppress the gigantic smile that your lips involuntarily make

You take the mug in your hands and you notice the latte art is a picture of a heart

You’re like scREAMING BC ITS SO CHEESY BUT YOU LIKE IT

And now you finally have a reason to pay attention in your literature class if you gotta tutor a potential college bf in your study da--session!!!!

#my post #write-svt #seventeen #seventeen jeonghan #jeonghan #seventeen imagines #seventeen scenarios #seventeen headcanons #seventeen au #jeonghan imagines #jeonghan scenarios #jeonghan headcanons #jeonghan au #flower boy au #flower boy cafe au #flower boy!jeonghan

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spacyparker · 7 years

Text

Unborn

MASTERLIST - PROMPT LIST

Request : “If you’re still taking requests could you do 27 and 33 with Tom?”

+ “Hey can you do a fic with #5 and #10 from your prompt list where Tom is the reader’s hubby and away on a press tour or something and she realized that she’s pregnant so she starts wearing his shirts he left bc she doesn’t was the media to find out before him?“ @karamelblobber

+ “ooh prompt 10 with Tom?“

» “Does he know about the baby ?“

» “You’re paying a small price compared with what she’s going through.”

» "Is that my shirt?“

Characters : Tom Holland x reader

Word count : 1.9k

A/N : I know one of the prompts is missing but its only because I will put it in part 2 (if you guys want one I mean ???). This is my longer imagine so far and it’s 1:00am and I’m tired so sorry if that’s kind of shit ! I hope you like it though !!! Don’t hesitate to send me asks or come talk to me, requests are still open. THANKS LOVE YOU

Keeping a secret was hard for you, especially when you were the only one knowing it, not having anyone to talk with about it. The more the days passed, the more you were desperate. And also the more your secret was becoming visible. You were expecting a baby, and it weight heavily on your cosncience. Hiding it to Tom was really hard, he had the right to know since he obviously was the father, but it just always felt like the wrong time to finally spill it. He was away for a couple of months now and you promised yourself you'd wait him to come back to you to tell him the great news.

You took a deep breathe before opening the front door. Going outside was always such a hard thing, you were always worried about what the paparazzi would get on their photos, a gust of wind and a good angle and your baby bump would be exposed in a few seconds. That's why you wore Tom's shirts since few weeks, it was large enough to not reveal your new curves. If he heard the news from magazines and not you, you didn't know how he would react. You knew it would be some sort of treason.

Paps' flashes were focused on you and you could barely see the way to your car. You tried your best not to put your hand on your belly, it was a reflex you started having since you knew you were pregnant, but doing it in front of these vultures was breaking your cover. You made it to your car, hoping none of the paparazzi got a revealing photo. Then you went to work all stressed as always.

Few hours after you came home from your day, ready to go to sleep and wrapped in your sheets, the reason of your stress called you on Skype. Tom's face appeared on the screen and you immediately smiled knowing it was hard for him to take time for you during his press tour.

“Hello darling.” He smiled at you and directly his dark circles became more visible. Your heart broke seeing him so tired, but his morning voice gave you goosebumps and the only thing you wanted was to wrap him in your arms to take a nap. “I thought I could say hi since I have few minutes before going back to work. How was your day, love ?”

You two were married for few months now, and you'd still blush each time he'd give you cute nicknames. “I worked all day, nothing interesting. Tell me about your days, they might be so much more exciting than mine.”

You saw Tom shrugged, his eyes focused on his screen seemed to read something. “Yes, I love learning about new cultures, but I hate that you're not here to learn with me.” You were going to respond but he cut you before you could. “Is that my shirt ?”

You instantly frowned. “Uhm, sorry what ?”

“There are pictures of you leaving the house. You look stunning but I look better in this shirt, sorry not sorry babe.” He giggled. Actually, his heart was warmed up by the fact you were wearing his stuff. He wasn't used to it, you only wore his clothes as pajamas, when no one was looking at you but him. Seeing you out in his shirt made him proud, and he was glad you did so. People wouldn't forget you were his.

You blushed, forced to lie. Well, it wasn't all a lie, because you felt that way, there were just some parts of the truth hidden in what you told him. “I've been missing you so much I wanted to have your smell wherever I'd go...”

Tom suddenly pouted. “Give me my shirt back you thief.” He joked. “The world needs to see how better I wear it.”

You laughed at him being such a little dork. You loved him, especially when he was starting to act like that. He seemed so vulnerable and childish. The man you fell in love with. “I love you even if you think you're better than me.” You admitted.

“I love you too. And... I already need to go. I'm glad I saw your face, darling. Can't wait to come back home !” He sent you kissed, and after new “I love you”s he hung up.

The day after, you took a deep breathe before opening the door. It was for sure a daily routine you couldn't wait to end. But now wasn't the time. Not having to go to work today, you decided to go on your yoga class. You joined the club few weeks ago, thinking you were stressing too much and knowing it wasn't good for the baby. When you'd found this class specialized for pregnant women, you didn't hesitate.

This lessons helped you very much, and if you could you'd go every day. You felt good there, not thinking about the reactions of everyone when they'd find out, plus you made some friends, which you were lacking of lately. Every woman was inspiring, with their own stories. It was really supportive to meet them once a week. You couldn't handle alone all of the stress you were getting from being pregnant, always asking yourself when to tell Tom since you didn't want him to worry about you and the baby while he was away. Anyways having a baby was the next step of your relation, you both never seriously talked about this before, you just jnew Tom wanted some kids, it wasn't surprising since he was from a happy loving big family. It was just that you were still young, he was always travelling for his work and you weren't sure you could take care of thebaby all by yourself.

You took care of keeping your secret in front of the paparazzi and reached your yoga class, saying hello to your friends and already feeling relaxed just by being there. 2 hours after you were home again, searching baby stuff on your laptop.

A Holland was on your screen again, but this time it was Nikki on your phone. You took it as it started vibrating.

“Y/N ! I heard the news ! Why didn't you tell me about it you secretive little thing !” You froze, there was no way she was talking about something else than your pregnancy, right ? “Congratulations sweetie ! I'm going to be a grandma thanks to you ! Oh my God, I just can't wait ! How long have you been keeping the secret ?!”

“What the... Where.. Where did you see that ?” Your voice was shaking of terror. If Nikki saw it, then the entire world could see it, including your dear hubby. “It can't be possible, you kidding right ? Please tell me you're kidding Nikki it can't be real !”

A silence took place between the two of you. You didn't mean to explain anything, Tom's mother immediately understood what was going on. “Does he know about the baby... ?”

“I'm so sorry Nikki.” Tears started falling down your cheeks. You told her everything, you told her the truth you were so afraid to admit to the world. Nikki didn't hesitate, she drove straight to your apartment as soon as she knew, glad she didn't call Tom first.

“I just couldn't tell him. You know how he is, he would... Nikki, I'm so sorry. It just never felt like the right time, I wanted him to be home, rested.” You couldn't stop crying, your hormones making matters worse. You were feeling like it was the end of the world. “He would have been worried, and now he's going to be both worried and mad at me ! I fucked up real bad, there's no way I can fix it !” “Well he's going to be a father, I hope he has the right priorities and will be more concerned about that than the fact you hid the truth from him.” Nikki's hand was on your shoulder, rubbing it to comfort you. She'd sometimes hug you, making you cry even more. She ws such a sweetheart, but you knew deep down she was mad at you too.

“He's so tired Nikki, I swear there's no way I can do well. He's all grumpy these days.”

“Anyways I'm here for you honey, if you need anything just ask. Thanks for carrying my grandchild, Y/N.” You nodded, and soon she left.

It didn't take long before your phone started vibrating again. You were in your bed, wrapped around your sheets, crying to death, but you managed to grab your phone. Without any surprise, it was Tom. You picked up the phone, shaking. Did he know ?

“Hey babe.” His voice seemed a little bith harsh than usual. Something was totally going up in his mind. “Is this for real ?” Your heartbeat suddenly stopped. “Are you really pregnant ?” He insisted on the last word, you could tell he was mad, and you figured he was creasing his nose while talking to you, trying not to explode.

“Tom.. Tom please listen I-”

“Listen to what, Y/N ?!” He cut you, understanding the rumor was true. “You lying to me again ? It's not the first time you hide such important things from me ! Haven't I told you to stop already ? I'm concerned ! I'm so fucking concerned, but it always looks like you put me off the important stuff when I'm away.”

It was hard to hear him say those things to you, acting like you didn't care about his opinion or like he wasn't anything to you. “Tom, darling...” Your voice was as shaking as your hands. You were so scared, scared of him being too mad he'd leave you. “I just wanted you to stay focus on your job...”

“And I wished I could have been here for my fucking baby ! Now tell me who knew.” Strict, he was so strict. You could tell your behaviour touched him deeply, his heart was broken because of you, because of your choices. Were you a bad person ?

“No one. It was only about me, Tom please, honey, don't be mad at me. Please I wanted to tell you myself, I didn't want it to happen this way.” Begging was the only think you could do now.

“I can't believe you hid it from me, Y/N ! You lied to me, you could have told me so many times but you prefered lying, again and again ! Seriously, Y/N, fuck you, you really ruined it all this time !”

You whined. What did he mean by that ? Was he leaving you ? You wouldn't be surprised if so, you felt like all you deserved was to be left. “Thomas, I'm sorry, I'm sorry !” You couldn't just let him go after that. “I'll make it up to you, please my love, please, I'll take the next plane si we can meet !”

There was silence before Tom talked again. “I don't want to see you right now.” Then he suddenly hanged up.

PART TWO

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nikadd · 7 years

Text

thanks to @demizouie for tagging me in this like 3 weeks ago and i completely forgot about it whoops

1. if you were able to travel the world, where would you go first? i’d go on a tour around europe so to hit as many places as possible, but also to new zealand and would also love to visit kyrgyzstan

2. do you prefer driving or being the passenger? i don’t drive nor do i want to, and shotgun place is perfect bc you get the same views as the driver but with less Anxiety

3. what is your dream job? why? film producer/director so i can create things i love and share with other people!!!

4. do you have a favorite or go-to outfit? usually it’s whatever fell out of my closet but i really love this one red jacket/sweatshirt(?) i have

5. what would amortentia smell like to you? petrichor, fresh dough, jasmine

6. what web browser do you prefer? chrome

7. tell me about your dream house. oooooh lots of open spaces, big windows, cozy sofas and windowsills, walls of bookshelves, a huge bath, somewhere where it feels like you are in your own world while still being in the middle of a big city

8. do you have any pets? what are their names? not currently, but used to have a cat named Masha and two hamsters, Sonya and Borya

9. describe your ideal date (platonic or romantic). OHOHOHOOHOHHOHOHOHHO ok so a romantic date at an amusement park would be gr8

10. what is your favorite quality in a person? least favorite? when they get really excited about something and their whole being lights up!!! when they ignore me

11. do you have any hobbies? what are they? i like writing poetry and songs, and also researching stuff about tropes

12. Fave book series? probably harry potter. but i also love the russian parody of it called tanya grotter and the spin off called mefodii buslayev

13. Fave name? If that’s a thing... hmmmmm i like the name Alexis and Diana

14. Most recently watched movie and your opinion on it? wonder woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

15. Most recently added song to your playlist? devil in disguise by opia

16. Fave/best meme? all of the memes that came from vine, take a fucking sip babes, any memes that get combined... tag yourself meme is also a Good

17. Weird fact/story you read or heard of? it snowed a couple of days ago in moscow

18. A memory that makes you feel good? dramafest in my freshman year

19. A quote. Any quote. “FOXFIRE NEVER SAYS NEVER” - Joyce Carol Oates, Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang

20. Preferred subject or topic in school/uni? i really like math!!!!! and next year in college i will be taking a freshman writing seminar about gay subtext in movies

21. Preferred hair color? If any. on me, natural. on other people, in terms of me being attracted to that person, i generally go for people with dark hair, but for whatever reason whenever someone likes me, they are blonde.

22. Something you are looking forward to in the near future? graduating week from today!!!!

23. beach or mountains? beach

24. space or ocean? space

25. what’s your worst nervous habit? overthinking ha

26. who’s one of your best friends and why do you love them? @hellhounds-and-goldink bc she is one of the very few people who can deal with my shit lmao

27. what’s in your ideal sandwich? ok ok oko ko k ok okok so idk the names of types of bread but it’s like. going to be a panini sandwich so the one that works with that. ok so. chicken, onion, cherry tomatoes, pesto, mozzarella, cucumbers, some kind of sauce idk the name of.... probably honey mustard, that’s a Good one

28. pick one song you like for the lyrics and one you like for the music. hohohohohohohohoohhoohoh ok so there are Lots of songs but lyrically i Love where it all goes by lostboycrow so much!!!!! and musically hmmmmmm any of the marian hill songs are Lit musically but if i had to pick one i’d probably pick talk to me.

29. name a few people/places/things that inspire you. hmmmm whenever i go trident bookstore & cafe i get inspired to Write and it’s also a v Good place i highly recommend. zendaya is v inspiring also!!!! and that wonder woman film was so inspiring bc it was also made by a woman!!!!!!

30. think of a person you haven’t talked to in a long time. write something you wish you could say to them. im sorry for not reaching out to you and for forgetting you even exist

31. what’s something that always makes you laugh? that vine that’s like kermit the frog sitting in the car and i don’t mind by usher is playing. gets me every fucking time

32. everyone has that one food place from their hometown that is nowhere else and it is to die for. what’s yours? hmmm well i honestly dont remember what’s there in bishkek but im 100% sure lots of food way better than here

33. what’s the video game you’ve probably logged the most hours on? either the sims or spore or one of those barbie games i had

and here are my 11 questions:

34. silk or velvet?

35. lace or leather?

36. gold or silver?

37. favorite season of the year?

38. list 5 fictional characters who you identify with.

39. list 5 fictional characters whom you would 100% date.

40. who is your favorite superhero?

41. what is your favorite number and why?

42. what is the name of the song that reminds you of the better times?

43. what is the name of the song that reminds you of someone you love? (platonically and/or romantically)

44. what movie do you not get tired of watching over and over again?

45. if you were to direct a film adaptation of any book, what book would it be and would you change anything in your adaptation?

im tagging @hellhounds-and-goldink @magbeth @dantesaristotles @black-dashed-apamea @plvsmid @driftwood-xv @taahko @uranowitz @wedge-antilles

(answer the given questions and come up with 11 new ones!!!)

#it's valeriia talking #ask games

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talysalankil · 7 years

Note

what happened with laci gr/een?

okay so i have an incomplete timeline at best because i don’t exactly follow her assiduously so i only became aware of it recently when she posted a video about it but

from what i’ve been able to reconstruct, and not necessarily in chronological order

the dating thing

she started dating an a/nti-s/jw & al/t-ri/ght guy, this guy. which…I guess is fine in and of itself? like I agree she gets to pick who she dates. it only becomes relevant when it gets pretty clear she didn’t date him in spite of that in hindsight. but it gets really obnoxious when people telling her “hey, you’re…dating a member of one of the worst political movements ever, did you consider what message that was sending re: your feminist activism” and she went “how dare you shame me for who i’m dating you’re clearly all fake feminists and hypocrites!” [note: i’m obviously paraphrasing]

the stream thing

she did a stream with another notable an/ti-s/jw (she literally labels herself “an/tifem/inist” in the description of that stream’s vod). now, I don’t really have 2.5 hours to spend watching that, but considering everyone who has said that la/ci gre/en herself said a bunch of things that are used by people to justify things like tra/nsmis/ogyny. This argument in particular is important because it seems credible considering her own history and what comes next.

the first video

in may, she posted a video with an intentionally provocative title, and…well, the title is an exaggeration. at least from her pov. she mostly means she’s anouncing that she will engage with an/tis more regularly because she feels it’s a healthy way to advance the debate. sounds legit, right?

Yeah…that’s only if you pay attention to the message and not the phrasing. I’m going to use my own comment on that video as reference bc i don’t feel like rewatching it so…

"What's the goal? Is it that only a specific perspective can be heard?"

See, she paints it as a “two equally valid sides of the issue” debate, which…is basically playing into one side’s hands. You know, the side whose “valid opinion” is that women don’t deserve equal rights, that other genders are fake, and trans people are either mentally ill or lying.

This message bleeds throughout her entire statement, and lo and behold, who felt empowered to run amuk in her comments but actual na/zis? Literally the top comment thread at the time I watched was people “joking” about how they couldn’t like that comment anymore because it had 1/48/8 likes and that’s a literal ne/o-na/zi symbol.

the backlash

naturally, people (read: femi/nists) didn’t like that. some voiced that more publicly than others.

la/ci’s reactions amounted to “it’s MY choice to engage”, which…it is. But no one told her not to do that. Basically she was missing the point of the criticism aimed at her…which is a common an/ti-s/jw tactic, but then again, it’s also one she herself has used a lot in the past, so i’m not really sure who’s to blame here.

very shortly afterwards she tweeted she wouldn’t listen to any criticism anymore (i assume from the s/jw side, and yes, she literally used that acronym as a pejorative).

the second video

because ofc it didn’t stop there. her followup is arguably worse, since now she’s acting like “s/jw” (again, using that term/phrase) are an unreasonable extreme who don’t understand “real femi/nism” and make all femi/nists look bad.

oh, instead of say, apologizing for her tran/sphobia (something she has kind of done in the past, but looking at this video, didn’t mean a word of), she came up with her own version of the “down with cis” bus story about some tra/ns activists harassing/assaulting her at a convention. which i won’t claim is false, because 1) no victim of assault deserves to live in a world where any assault is ever doubted as the default reaction and I actually hold to my femi/nist principles and 2) it’s not really an argument to say she doesn’t need to apologize for transp/hobia?

speaking of which, in this video she also acts like she was “forced” to “bend science” in her sex ed videos by acting like male and female are valid scientific terms and not…you know, an outdated binary model that doesn’t work on top of being inherently tran/sphobic. literally she acts like she was doing “s/jw” a favor by not equating male with penis and female with vagina.

the last few days

this is all pretty recent and i wanted to just go from memory but then i figured “hey let’s just go through her twitter feed at this point” (which you shouldn’t do if you like not being angry)

she compared this whole story with leaving morm/onism, which…wow, way to claim you’re still a femi/nist if you’re comparing femi/nism with that fucking church AND comparing this experience with LEAVING that church

she also literally compared femi/nists to the villains from 1984

she reached out to te/rfs (she said ra/dfems but as lind/say el/lis pointed out not all ra/dfems are te/rfs, yet that’s the definition la/ci seems to use) and is now using distinctly ter/f-ish language. also she said a “really interesting” question from that thread was “what does it mean to be a woman without using gender roles” which is literally te/rf rhetoric 101. (to be fair, she did say in other tweets on that thread that non-ra/dfems were allowed to chime in, but since it was in a reply to someone it’s not even likely to reach most people so…good job on asking for a non-biased sample, ms “i love science”)

still on that topic, about a cana/dian bill (c/16 if you want to look it up) that would grant tra/ns people rights, she went “lol tumblr genders” and supported the american use of psycholo/gists as “experts”, which totally never resulted in the abuse of tra/ns people (this one is kinda unrelated to the whole story but since every time i bring up her tran/sphobia people tell me “bitch where” i figured i’d stash this one receipt here, and this is just from the past couple of weeks)

she also reached out to an/tifemi/nists for “summer reading”

she claims s/jw are making out “everyone they disagree with” to be na/zis or al/t-ri/ght (even when there’s evidence) which is exactly the strategy of those groups

and then in general, she made about a million comments about how this was a long time coming, and she’s long been hesitant to “call out” all the wrongs of femi/nism but was “afraid” to speak out. i guess all it took was finding out the goldmine that was the an/ti-s/jw crowd to comfort her?

finally, someone do/xed her, and she immediately claimed (without proof beyond being “pretty sure”) it was someone from the “s/jw” side. i don’t condone that, but at the same time, way to be mature about that reaction.

(and speaking of mature reactions, the an/ti-s/jw who usually revel in femi/nists being do/xed cf ani/ta sark/eesian were here all commiserative and “curse those s/jw” like they don’t use the exact same tactics, but clearly we’re the hypocrites)

tl;dr

I don’t support harassing her but outside of the doxing, most of the “abuse” i’ve seen were people 1) telling her she was not behaving like a femi/nists (which she’s not) and/or that she was empowering the worst of the worst (which she is) and 2) on the subject of her boyfriend, that she was dating a pretty bad person. which she decided to phrase as “reduce [her] opinion to ‘money’ and ‘dick’” even though i haven’t seen anyone say that.

personally…honestly i don’t even think her bf “converted” her. and i doubt money had anything to do with it. i think, looking at the evidence (not just all this but her long, long history of nonsense) that she just finally realized for herself that the femi/nist community wasn’t for her because, aside from a belief in sexual and reproductive agency for (cis) women, she doesn’t have all that much in common with us. but instead of just leaving gracefully, she has to smear all of femi/nist activism past what she agrees with (i.e. most of third wave) just so she appears to be on the right side, mostly because she’s siding with the wrong side.

Okay hopefully I did the tumblr voodoo slashes thing regularly enough that tumblr’s cursed algorithms will not send people my way to harass me again, but if not…come at me, I’ll just block you all like the previous couple of times.

#Anonymous #ask

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stillgeekingout · 7 years

Text

iiiiiiit’s time for another chapter of the ultimate aaron milverton crossover fic!

this one got obnoxiously long but bear with me. also, you have to have read part 2 of shannen’s secret santa fic for rachel for parts of it to make sense.

previous: 1 here, 2 here, 3 here, 4 here, 5 here, 6 here

A week after returning to DC, Zoe Lasnammer got a phone call from a girl.

“Hello?”

“Zoe! Is that you?”

It wasn’t Hera-- they hadn’t actually exchanged numbers, and Zoe had decided not to stalk her on facebook (no sense getting a crush on a girl who lived so many states away). So she had put away the pink ladies jacket, a keepsake from an enjoyable weekend and nothing more.

“Sorry, who is this?” Zoe asked. The girl’s voice sounded familiar, but she talked to a lot of people because of work so that didn’t help to narrow anything down.

“It’s me! Violet!”

“Violet…?” She tried to rack her brain for someone she may have talked to recently.

“Violet Hunter! Remember? I saved your life from a bus?”

“Wait--the alien girl?” Zoe couldn’t believe that this girl she barely knew would actually be contacting her two years after their brief meeting.

“I told you I’d call if I was ever in DC again!” Violet sounded excited. “Anyway--”

“How did you get this number?”

“I just moved here with my wife and husband,” Violet went on as if Zoe hadn’t said anything, “and I was thinking we should get lunch or something!” Zoe vaguely remembered the girl telling her something about a proposal in the works. Must’ve worked out, she thought.

“Violet, listen, I… enjoyed meeting you but I don’t know if--”

“How about tomorrow? I’ll meet you on your lunch break. You don’t have to bring the aliens.” And with that, Violet hung up.

Zoe stared at her phone, unsure what exactly had just happened.

------

To: Aaron Milverton

Subject: Checking in

Hey bro, how’s everything going? I haven’t heard from you since the con, I want to know all the awesome stuff you and your chapter are achieving!

-Chad

The email from Chad came almost exactly one month after Aaron realized he had feelings for him. It had been a month of moving forward, of settling into his brand new Orlando B4B chapter, and most importantly, of attempting to distract himself from thoughts of Chad. He had almost started succeeding at it, too, before Chad apparently felt the urge to “check in” with him. Which meant that Chad was thinking about him. Which meant that of course Aaron would have to spend the rest of the day thinking about Chad thinking about him. All that progress, right down the drain.

It wasn’t like he had intended to cut Chad out of his life. But how was he supposed to carry on a friendship with Chad if the whole time he was thinking about how pretty (and unavailable) he was? How would he even go about starting that conversation? Hey dude, sorry I acted so weird before, it’s just that every time I see you or think about you I get all flustered and have to lie down. But it’s cool, what’s up with you? What a disaster.

Now, though, here was Chad breaking the awkward month-long silence. He had cared enough to reach out to Aaron and ask about his life. Even with romantic feelings set aside, Aaron found it reassuring that he hadn’t been imagining Chad wanting to be friends with him beyond just organizing the con. If only he could get over himself and enjoy that friendship for what it was.

He decided to text Kate. Ever since she found out that he hadn’t told her about his correspondence with Chad the first time around, she had been giving him a hard time about keeping secrets from her. Maybe she’d have advice. Either way, it’d make her feel like he was including her.

so chad emailed me

?????????

aaron you can’t just say that and not follow up with details

hellooooo

he just said he wanted to “check in” on my new chapter

idk what to say back

talk to him!!!

ok but. how.

tell him about the chapter you dork

He started typing “why, it’s not like that’ll change his mind about anything” then deleted it. Then he typed “idk if I really want to be friends with him when I’m finally starting to” and stopped again. Starting to what? Get over him? Stop thinking about him? Both of those went out the window as soon as he saw that email. His phone vibrated as he was typing his third attempt.

stop overthinking it bc I know that’s what you’re doing

Aaron smiled.

can’t help it

I know.

I think you’ll regret losing a potential friendship

but idk, if you really don’t think you can handle it maybe just break it off

that makes me sound so fragile lol

um, are you not?

shut up

stop texting me and write the damn email aaron

He sighed and tossed his phone aside.

Chad,

He watched his cursor blink on the screen for several minutes, then closed his email and opened a word document. He had seen enough movies to know never to write an “I’m not actually going to send this” email somewhere it could be sent accidentally.

Chad,

I don’t know if I’m happy to hear from you. I keep telling myself you’re just a crush and I’ll get over it soon, but it feels like more than that sometimes. I’ve had some weird dating experiences in the past… or I guess just the one. I told you a little about my ex-girlfriend (who I usually try not to think about) but what I didn’t tell you is that she was involved in my cousin’s murder, and she was basically using me to investigate him. It’s a long story, but I really liked her and it was hard to move on from that knowing that I never meant anything to her except evidence. So anyway ever since then I’ve just been extra cautious, I guess.

It’s kind of scary to like someone again, and I’m not sure if it makes it worse or better knowing ahead of time that the person in question isn’t going to want to date me. It does make me feel better that you’re not dating anyone, not just rejecting me specifically. I don’t know if I ever stood a chance with you, or if you even like guys, but I selfishly don’t want to have to imagine you with someone else.

That sounds really creepy. I’m sorry. It’s a really good thing I’m not actually going to send this.

Anyway, um, give me some time to decide if I still want to be friends. I do, logically, but we’ll see if I can stop thinking about your eyes and hair and smile and voice every time I’m reminded of you.

Time to write my normal email that I’m actually gonna send.

-Aaron

He closed word and opened his email again, feeling like he had gotten all the hard stuff out of the way.

Chad,

So good to hear from you-- thanks for following up! We’re doing really well here, we just started a beach clean-up project along with a few high schools along the coast that already have cleaning days set in place. Also, B4B is a registered club at UCF now so we’ve teamed up with them for some new initiatives…

He went on to describe everything his chapter had been doing since the con, taking care not to get too personal in case Chad really did just want to check in from a service standpoint. He finished the email with “what about you, how are things on your end? -Aaron” and sent it before he could over analyze it too much.

------

“Zoe! Hey, Zoe!”

Zoe was greeted at the steps of her job by an excitedly waving Violet Hunter. She sighed. She knew Violet’s heart was (probably) in the right place, but she didn’t overly feel like befriending this girl who was convinced that Blair and Alex were aliens (and who had stalked her to the point of finding out her phone number, the location she worked and the time of her lunch break).

“Hey, Violet,” she said. “I guess I won’t bother to ask how you found me.”

“You could,” said Violet proudly. “I did it alone, Sherlock lives here now too but she never helps me with this stuff.”

“Okay?” Zoe didn’t know who Sherlock was, and she didn’t actually want to know how Violet tracked her down.

“So, lunch?” Violet said brightly. “Sorry Eliza and John couldn’t make it, I wanted them to meet you. That’s my wife and husband.”

“Um, right. Hey, congratulations on that,” said Zoe, suddenly feeling very single next to a girl with two spouses.

“Thanks! I still wish we could’ve had Blair’s alien fountain magic for the proposal but I’m mostly just glad I didn’t have to do it.”

“There’s a sandwich place around the corner,” Zoe said, not wanting to talk about Blair with Violet.

“Great!” Violet started walking, and Zoe had to skip a little to catch up.

“So, what brings you to DC?” Zoe asked, figuring if Violet was going to insist on hanging out they might as well get to know each other.

“John and Eliza are working at the Smithsonian. And I’m sort of helping Sherlock.”

“Oh, ok.” She didn’t know where to go from there. She still didn’t know who Sherlock was.

“How are Blair and Alex?” Violet asked, narrowing her eyes. “Are you still their companion?”

“Again, I wouldn’t phrase it like that… but they’re fine.”

“And how does your family feel about you living with aliens?”

“Um, it’s just my mom. And she doesn’t know.”

“Ohhhh,” Violet said, then whispered, “Would she compromise the mission?”

“What? No,” said Zoe. “There is no mission.”

“Riiiiight,” said Violet, and winked. “Ooh, is this it? Yum.” They had reached the sandwich shop.

Zoe made small talk for the rest of lunch, but she was distracted by what Violet had said. It was a bit odd, she realized, that she had been living with Alex and Blair in DC for over two years and her mom still thought they were humans. Zoe had introduced them a couple times when her mom was visiting, but she never let them interact with her for long and she made sure Alex used the same human form every time. Her mom had a hard enough time figuring out “they” pronouns, how would she process the truth about Zoe’s godly friends?

But on the other hand, Zoe was used to telling her mom everything. This was such a big secret, one she had gotten used to keeping, but would she just continue it for the rest of her life? It was bad enough being so far away from her mom. Not being able to share every silly thing her friends said or did without heavily filtering her stories was draining after a while.

Zoe couldn’t believe it had taken a very confused (but well-meaning) conspiracy theorist stalker to make her see sense, but she resolved to tell her mom the truth while she was home for Thanksgiving. And at the end of lunch, she found herself agreeing to meet up with Violet again later that week.

------

Aaron,

Sounds fire! I’m really happy for you that you found a good group of people. We’ve been so blessed throughout this whole thing. I feel completely sure now that Blair is watching over us and that she’s proud of us. You indirectly gave me that knowledge through holding the con, and I continue to be grateful for it.

Anyway, enough about B4B, how are you? How’s Kate? How are your parents and Madison? Do they miss you?

-Chad

Aaron read the email several times. Chad continuing to thank him was silly. He owed Aaron no thanks, considering he had started everything in the first place. None of them would have been able to meet Blair, let alone know who she was, without his dedication. More than that, though, it struck him that Chad remembered not only Kate but his little sister’s name and cared enough to ask about both of them.

This time, he didn’t feel the need to write a fake response.

My family’s doing pretty well, I think. I’m going to visit for Thanksgiving so that should be good. Maybe they miss having me around but honestly Orlando is closer to Jacksonville than Doyle was. Maddie keeps saying she wants to come visit me so she can go to Disney World. I don’t think she gets that it’s not cheaper just because I live here now.

He went on to talk about his parents a little more and how he was sure they would buy Disney tickets for winter break to see the Christmas decorations even though they knew it would be miserable and crowded. Then he told Chad about Kate and her latest endeavors.

I’m really grateful to have her to talk to… it gets a little lonely here sometimes. The other members of my new chapter are really great but I don’t know them too well yet. It does make me miss my SACU group. We still talk a little and I’m always happy to hear from them but it’s just hard not to have that dynamic that I got used to over the past couple years, you know?

Chad’s response:

I know I can’t replace your school friends and I know you can still rely on Kate, but I want you to know I’m here for you too if you need someone else to talk to. I care about you, bro.

It was more than Aaron could handle. He shut his laptop and took deep breaths.

Over the next several weeks, they continued emailing back and forth. Sometimes Aaron confessed his true feelings in his secret word document, other times he texted Kate in frustration, but mostly he savored every time he saw that Chad had replied. He had tried to look at it as an opportunity for friendship, but it was futile. With every email he fell for Chad more and more.

Why did Blair have to encourage Chad’s sworn singledom? Would Chad be interested in something beyond friendly email correspondence if she hadn’t? Would that even matter, considering they didn’t live in the same place? Why couldn’t Aaron move on?

------

“Let’s go over it one more time,” said Zoe, putting her van in park in her mom’s driveway. “You guys don’t say anything until I bring it up. Then Alex will change forms, but only when I’ve said that it’s ok, and then--”

Blair sighed from the passenger seat, absentmindedly fiddling with the necklace she always wore. “Zoe, honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. I told your mother we were gods years ago.”

“And then we’ll explain, but just the basics, and nothing about all those people you vaporized,” Zoe finished, ignoring her. “I don’t want her to think I’m living with serial killers.”

“Alex has never killed anyone, have you Alex?” Blair said, as though cutting it down to only one serial killer was helpful.

“Nope!” Alex said brightly. “Well I mean, unless you count the people in the fire…”

“No bringing up the fire either. No murders, no accidental arson, just two benevolent gods who happen to like living with a human… because she’ll believe that,” Zoe said, doubting her whole plan. “Agh, why didn’t I do this sooner? Now she’s going to know I’ve been lying to her for years.”

“It’s ok,” said Alex. “She’ll understand. And we’re here for you no matter what.”

Zoe took a deep breath, then unbuckled her seat belt. “Okay,” she said, exhaling. “Let’s do this.”

------

Hey bro, would you believe I have a layover in the JAX airport on my way to Miami for Thanksgiving? Made me think of you.Too bad I don’t have enough time to come visit, that would’ve been sweet. But dude, we’ll be in the same city for a few minutes at least. Kind of a nice thought.

-Chad

If he didn’t want to actually kill Aaron, Chad was going to have to stop being so cute. It was too much to deal with.

Chill, Aaron told himself, you’ll be in the slight geographical vicinity of each other for like, half an hour. Big whoop.

He managed to talk himself out of several hastily-concocted reasons to be at the airport on the same day as Chad’s layover; it wasn’t like he would get past TSA without a flight anyway. He attempted (unsuccessfully, for the most part) to push the email out of his mind.

Being home for Thanksgiving was a welcome distraction. Between helping his parents clean the house for guests and hanging out with his little sister, Aaron was almost busy enough to forget about his loneliness and his unrequited crush and all the other things that were bothering him. Key word: almost. He couldn’t help but occasionally remember that he and Chad would be in the same city and not be able to see each other.

On Tuesday morning, he and Madison were watching Moana on the couch when he got an email notification.

Hey dude! Hope your break is going well. Funny story, my second flight is majorly delayed so I’m stuck in Jacksonville until tonight! I don’t know how close you are to the airport or if you have stuff going on with the fam but did you want to get lunch or something? Btw, I’m realizing email probs isn’t the best for making plans- text me if you see this.

And then Chad had given Aaron his number.

The very first thing Aaron did was text Kate a screenshot of the email with many exclamation points. Then he opened a text to Chad and wrote “bro it’s aaron, omw to the airport now :)” Then he took off the smiley face, added an exclamation point, and sent it.

“Hey Maddie, I’ll be back later, okay?” he said, standing up. “I’m going to get lunch with my friend.”

“But you’re gonna miss away away!” Maddie said. “Away away” was what she called the song that the explorers sang in the flashback. Even two years after the movie had come out, she was obsessed with it. Aaron had already heard the soundtrack at least three times the day before.

“We can watch it again when I get back,” he said. “Promise.”

He told his parents he was meeting a friend from B4B who’d had an unexpected layover, then drove to the airport as fast as his law-abiding self would allow. As he was pulling into the pickup/dropoff section of the airport, his phone rang. He answered, not stopping to look who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”

“Kate, chill,” he said. (Of course it wasn’t Chad.) “We’re going to lunch, it’s not like it’s a date.”

“I maintain my ‘aaaaahhhhh’,” Kate said. “Are you on your way to the airport?”

“Pulling in now, yeah.” He realized he hadn’t texted Chad to tell him where to go.

“Are you gonna eat there? Or are you going somewhere? Did he say anything else? Are you--”

“Kate!” Aaron cut her off. “I don’t know where we’re going. I have to tell him I’m here though, so--”

“Oh of course, I don’t want to hold you up!” But she kept talking anyway. “Aah I can’t believe he’s going to be in your car! Ok well remember every detail, I want the full story when you get home.”

“Obviously,” he said. “But nothing’s going to happen.”

“Mhmmmmm,” Kate said. “Ok, love you.”

“You too. Bye,” he said, and hung up.

Aaron texted Chad to tell him that he was outside and what his car looked like. Then he sat and waited nervously. Since the last time he had seen Chad, his feelings had only grown stronger. It was one thing to reply to emails where he could take time to compose a response. It would be quite another thing to carry on a conversation with Chad in person, something he had failed at every time he had attempted it so far. Not to mention they would be alone in his car.

Just then, he spotted Chad walking towards his car. He was exactly as gorgeous as Aaron remembered, even after being on a plane for several hours.

Be normal, he thought. You guys are friends. He doesn’t have to know about the rest of it.

He got out of the car to help Chad with his luggage, then wished he hadn’t because he felt silly. Not knowing what else to do then, he waved. “Hey, Chad!”

Chad caught sight of him, and his face lit up. “Aaron!” He rushed over to the car, setting down his bags and giving Aaron a standard one-arm frat boy hug, which Aaron tried not to make weird.

“Hey,” Aaron said. “Good to see you, man.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. As they got in the car, Aaron was glad that he was driving so it would be easy to resist looking at Chad too much. He didn’t know what he would do once they got to lunch.

“So, there’s a Chick-Fil-A we could go to, I don’t know what you’re in the mood for,” he said.

“Oh, um, actually I’m a vegetarian now,” said Chad. Of course he was.

“All right… Denny’s?”

“Fire,” said Chad. They drove in silence, which was awkward, but Aaron didn’t know what to say.

They had been seated at the restaurant and still hadn’t said anything. Aaron was wracking his brain for any conversation starter, but Chad talked first.

“Denny’s reminds me of college,” he said. “We had one on campus and we used to go there when we got hungry at 2 AM.”

“Same,” said Aaron. “I guess it’s a staple of the American university system.”

“True that,” said Chad, and the ice was broken. They went on talking throughout the meal as if nothing was strange between them. Aaron tried to enjoy it while he could, and also spent a lot of time looking down at his plate so as not to accidentally stare at Chad’s smile or his eyes. He kept repeating to himself that he and Chad were friends, that Chad wasn’t interested in him romantically, and that it didn’t matter either way because Chad had sworn off dating. He didn’t want to delude himself into thinking that his feelings could be reciprocated. Was an unrequited crush that you knew was doomed from the start better than uncertainty?

“Not to make light of your inconvenience, but I’m really glad you had that delay,” Aaron said when they had finished eating and were waiting on the check. “I’m glad we got to hang out.”

“Me too, bro,” said Chad, and he reached out and put his hand over Aaron’s, which was resting on the table. Aaron suppressed a nervous laugh, willing himself not to meet Chad’s eyes. He couldn’t help it-- he felt a little glimmer of hope bubbling up in the back of his brain.

“Chad…” he started to say, but the waiter showed up with their checks and Chad moved his hand away. Aaron would have left his hand under Chad’s for another hour if he could have. Pathetic.

Chad cleared his throat and blinked several times as if nothing had happened. Aaron hastily changed the subject. They left Denny’s and started heading back to the airport, Aaron wishing for something to fall in the middle of the road and stop them from getting there. He wanted to pass the airport and keep driving all the way up into Georgia and beyond. He never wanted to let Chad leave his car. Who knew when the next time they would see each other would be? But alas, they reached the airport with no problems.

They sat in the parked car for a few long moments. “It’s been really nice seeing you, dude,” Chad finally said.

“Yeah,” said Aaron, looking over at Chad and accidentally meeting his eyes. He thought he felt something shift in that moment, like there was some kind of possibility that maybe his bubble of hope hadn’t been completely unfounded. He leaned towards Chad an infinitesimal amount, and he couldn’t be sure, but he thought that Chad did the same. They stayed that way for another long moment before Chad suddenly cleared his throat again and jerked away.

“Uh, I need to go,” he said. “I don’t want to miss my flight.” He started to get out of the car and reach for his luggage in the backseat.

“Right, right of course,” Aaron said. As Chad said goodbye and walked away, Aaron felt all of his brief optimism leaving with him. Well, he would have a lot to tell Kate.

#I have Fully Accepted the violet stuff into my canon for this fic #this took so long to finish lol but I'm very excited about the next chapter #which won't be for another month so don't hold your breath or whatever #tajwash #blairgp #mine

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