#so it’s really really nice that they’ve finally got a team that can help them shine

[hazybisou]

ONE CHANCE

fic

reader x mark estapa

summary: for weeks, mark has been trying to get y/n to go out with him but he always got a ‘no’. that all changes one night when she admits she’s developed feelings for him after a game.

a/n: literally i got like four drafts rn so have patience with your girl here

you had been sitting in the same spot for 43 minutes and 32 seconds but who’s counting? obviously, you were. as much as you enjoyed your intro to business course, you were tired and were just yearning to go to your apartment. the idea of lying in bed and doing nothing but binge-watch “New Girl” and cuddling up into your blanket was sounding very, very tempting to you. god wasn’t on your side today.

you finished up taking the final bit of notes you needed before you closed your notebook with a sigh of relief. there was approximately 12 minutes left of class and then you’d be free. to kill time you had begun to scroll through instagram.

at the beginning of the year, your professor had gone over the rules and expectations. one of them included how if you were to finish early, for the reminder of class you could just hang out till you were dismissed as long as you wouldn’t distract your peers.

eventually you got tired of instagram which is when you switched to doodling on the back of your notebook. it was quite relaxing actually. to be able to do whatever you pleased. in between classes, you has always loved going into the courtyard and sitting under a tree, whether it be listening to music or drawing, you had found that time to be peaceful. just like now.

in the midst of sketching a rose, you felt someone tap your shoulder. you turned your head and were met with four grinning faces: johnny druskinis, luca fantilli, luke hughes, and mark estapa. they were known around campus for playing for umich’s mens ice hockey team. to many, they were considered to be royalty, but to you? they were just a bunch of childish men who thought way too much of themselves. so what could they want with you?

“can i help you?” you asked, clearly annoyed with the situation already. the boys all looked at each other before they all spoke in unison, “yes.”

“okay…what is it that you need?”

mark was the first to speak, “for you to go out with me.”

silence.

you couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. why the hell would some guy you barely talked to ever would want to go out with you? it made no sense. the most you’ve ever spoken to him was during your first semester and it was only to ask if you could borrow a pencil. even then, he wasn’t this weird.

“you’re kidding, right?” you really hoped they were. you hoped that this was all some sick joke.

he just shook his head, “no, i’m not.”

you squinted you eyes at him before slowly turning around and getting back to you drawing.

the fours boys looked at each other once again before one of them asked, “sooo is that a yes?” it was luke.

you turned your upper body toward them. “why are you asking me to go on a date with you if we’ve barely ever talked?” it's a valid question. no one goes up to a girl they’ve never had an interaction with before and just blatantly asks them out. unless you’re a cocky son of a bitch but other than that it has never happened.

“well first of all, i think you’re a nice person and second of all, you’re cute. ” mark stated.

you just stared at him for a good minute before turning around again. you tried to convince yourself that, that last comment he made hadn’t made you blush, but you could feel your cheeks get hot. “no.”

mark’s eyebrows furrowed before he turned to his teammates, “what do i do now? she said no.” you were still able to hear them but blocked them out as you continued to sketch the petals of the rose.

“man i don’t know! i’ve never had a girl reject me before, what do you want me to tell you?!” luca whispered-shouted and mark just rolled his eyes before turning back to you.

he had leaned forward and was right at your ear. “oh cmon, i’m not that bad of a person.”

you put your pencil down and just stared ahead before answering. “my answer’s still no,” you turned your head and that’s when you realized how close you were. you couldn’t help but feel the heat creep up to your cheeks.

mark had noticed as he had a small smile plastered on his face. “please?” he begged like a little kid when they wanted something.

“you just won’t give up will you?” you knew he would keep pestering you about it until you’d yes but that’s not like you. you weren’t going to go out with some random guy you just met and expect it to go good. you wanna go out with someone who you know and have had moments with. and mark hadn’t checked either of those boxes.

“nope.”

you just smiled before turning around. your professor had dismissed the class and you quickly picked up before walking out of there and heading to you apartment, wanting to forget about what had just happened.

he was cute but that’s all you had to say about him.

━━━━━━━━━━

it was finals week and you had a huge exam coming up. every chance you got, you’d be going over your notes, reading your textbook, highlighting and writing more notes down. it was a pain in the ass. which is why currently, you were sitting at a table booth in the far corner at some cafe near campus.

you had your headphones on, listening to your playlist you had created for occasions like this. you were singing the lyrics to yourself, not wanting to make so much noise as you were in public and it’d be embarrassing if someone had heard you sing. you were in the middle of highlighting a paragraph when you felt the cushion dip, signaling someone had sat next to you.

you grab your headphones and wrapped them around your neck as you turned to face the perosn who had decided to sit next to you.

it was mark.

you had no idea why you were even surprised. for the past month, he had been trying to get you to go on a date with him. always sitting near you in class, passing you notes as if you were in high school again and sometimes, he would even leave a flower bouquet on your doorstep with a little note. it always said something along the lines of, ‘beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl -mark’ and if you were to be honest, it made you feel something inside.

you tilted your head a bit as you looked at him in confusion. “what are you doing estapa?” you already knew the answer to your question. normally, you’d want the conversation between the two of you to end the second he’d start talking to you but today you felt like talking to him like you would with anyone else.

“sitting down to talk to you,” he answered before scooting closer and leaning forward to look at why you had been doing. he just raised an eyebrow before he leaned back to look at you. “finals?”

“yeah, it’s been a pain in my ass recently and if i don’t pass this upcoming test, my life is practically over” you remarked as you gestured to your stuff laid out over the table. “it’s just been a stressful week and i’ve barely has time to do anything but study.”

mark only smiled. “i know something that can relieve the stress.” mark noticed how you perked up at the statement.

“oh, please! literally anything would help all my worries go away.”

“tomorrow night, go out with me.” mark inquired. you should’ve seen it coming. at this point all conversations with mark had ended in him asking you out and you giving him the answer, ‘no’.

you sighed as you put your head in your hands. “mark,” you stopped yourself before you could go any further.

mark had turned his body towards you, “oh cmon y/n. just one chance, i’ll make it worth your while.”

“i can’t. i have to study and you should be doing the same.” you said as you picked up your highlighter again and began to resume your reading.

mark rolled his eyes at the mention of studying. “all you do is study. you know you’re allowed to go out at times, right?”

you ignored his comments and spoke up, “my answer’s no.”

“i won’t stop until you say yes.”

“then i guess you’ll be trying for a while.” you shot him a fake smile before returning to your reading.

he only shrugged, “that’s fine by me,” and with that he slid out of the booth and headed out.

what is it with this boy and insisting on taking you out? surely it was all a joke, a bet even, between his friends if he could get you to agree to go on a date with him or not. it had to be a joke.

━━━━━━━━━━

it was friday night meaning you had finished all your exams and were happily laying in bed, wanting to relax. you had ‘New Girl’ on and you were enjoying every second of it until your roommate aka your best friend, natalie, had barged into your room. you were pretty sure the door knob had left a hole in the wall.

“get up hoe, we have places to be.” she exclaimed as she began to raid your closet.

you sat up as you stared at her like she were a mad man. “what do you mean, ‘we have places to be’” you began thinking, trying to remember if you had something important to attend to. “did i forget about us having plans or something because i don’t-”

“no, we didn’t have plans but now we do. so get your ass out of bed and start getting ready.” she ushered you into the bathroom and she handed you a pair of light washed jeans, a white tank top and a maize zip up with a michigan beanie. now you were really confused.

natalie had taken out your makeup bag and began to take out your mascara, lip gloss, blush and many other things you didn’t even know you had. you grabbed her hands making her turn towards you. “where are we going?”

“to a hockey game.”

she can’t be serious.

“you can’t be serious.” she only smiled and shrugged before going out of your bathroom and into the living room.

“i’ll be waiting for you and you only have thirty minutes!” she shouted as she made her way to the couch. this bitch is crazy.

you had put on the outfit and began to do your makeup. you hair was already done from when you did it in the morning before your 8:00 am lecture. somehow it had stayed in tact, only a few baby hairs were sticking out but nothing you couldn’t fix with hair gel.

you finished up your makeup and started to put everything in the bag but you left it be as natalie had shouted you only have two minutes. it’d be cleaned up eventually.

you walked out of the bathroom and headed toward the living room where natalie was waiting for you. “can we go now?” natalie looked up form her phone and a grin spread across her face. she nodded her head and you both headed out the door.

on the walk to yost, you both had met up with some of the player’s girlfriends. you and natalie were friends with them and you all hanged out even if you have never been the biggest fan of the men’s hockey team.

a couple minutes later, you had all arrived to the arena and went inside before showing your tickets and heading towards the rink. you followed behind as you watched the boys warm up. you had thought you were to get seats up high where you could barely see the puck, but to your luck, you had front row seats to the game.

you all had began to talk when molly, adam fantilli’s girlfriend, spoke, “so y/n how’s your relationship going with mark?” all the girls turned towards you, some confused while others just had a smirk on their face. what relationship? you guys were just friends. well if you could call it that.

“our relationship?” you questioned. you weren’t even in one. although sometimes you wish you were. over the course of mark’s attempts to ask you out, you couldn’t help but develop some feeling for him. with the flower bouquets on your doorstep, the small conversations you’ve had with him, to him trying to sit near you in class, always staring at you, it made you feel things you’ve never felt before.

molly furrowed her eyebrows, “you’re not together?” you could only skate you head no, “that’s weird. adam keeps telling me about how mark wont shut up about you and how he can’t wait for you to go on a date with him soon.”

“i never agreed to go on a date with him.” you replied to her statement. had he been making up lies? “if anything, i keep telling him no whenever he asks me.”

“why?!”

“you should say yes!”

“he’s in love with you, you know.”

“you guys would be cute together.”

you just looked at all of them and playfully rolled your eyes. “i don’t know.”

“he’s always sending her flowers almost every day. we’re running out of vases to put them in.” natalie explained and they all started squealing, asking you about the whole situation.

you were too busy explaining the whole story from when mark first asked you in class till now that you hadn’t noticed a certain player staring at you from the ice.

mark couldn’t help but smile at the thought of you being here at his game. he was too busy staring that he hadn’t noticed that ethan and mackie had skated over to him when they noticed their friend had been in the same spot for a while. the pair followed his gaze and both smirked at each other when they realized who mark had been looking at the whole time.

ethan put a hand on his shoulder, “dude, you are whipped.” that seemed to snap mark out of his trance.

“what?” mark‘s face had turned a deep shade at red as he had been caught staring at you.

“are two dating or what?”

mark looked at mackie, “where’d you get that from?” he asked.

“for the last month, she’s all you ever talk about. kinda just assumed she was your girl.” mackie shrugged as he skated side to side.

“no way is that ever happening. i’ve asked her out more times than i can count and the answers always been no,” mark said as he moved to stand in front of the two, “i’ve given up hope at this point.”

“might as well try one more time.” ethan suggested as he looked over mark’s shoulder. “i mean she’s looking at you right now,” he pointed over to where you and all the girls were seated. mark turned around and you quickly looked back as you had been caught. “they’re giggling. and are back to looking at you.”

mark could only give him a look. “so what? that’s what they do.”

ethan and mackie looked at each other before they bursted out laughing. “what’s so funny now?”

“god you really are stupid.” ethan told mark who playfully pushed ethan. “she’s in love with you too.”

mark scoffed. “and how would you know?”

“because i heard her talking about you to her friends. she said how at first she was a little annoyed with you because she’d be in class and you would sit either in front or behind her just to ask her out. and then you started to send her flowers with a little note attached and you’d pass her notes in class telling her she looked pretty and how you loved her personality and shit and wow you’re in deep man.” ethan explained and mark got annoyed before gesturing for him to continue, “she couldn’t help but feel something inside. she started to develop feelings for you and now that she looks back at it, she wished she would have said yes to when you asked her if she’d go out with you-”

ethan couldn’t finish what he was saying as frank had called them over. mackie and ethan skated over to the bench, mark not too far behind.

throughout the whole game, mark kept thinking about you and what ethan had said. did you love him? had you said no all those times to avoid your feelings for him? many thoughts ran through his head. he had to ask you. just one more time and hopefully this time you’d admit your feelings to him instead of avoiding them.

━━━━━━━━━━

the boys had won and you were all waiting outside the locker room for the boys to come out. the group was talking about going out next weekend but you zoned out. the whole night you couldn’t help but think, ‘maybe telling mark no was a bad idea’ and you knew it was. when he came out of the locker room, you would tell him how you felt, no hesitation.

about ten minutes later, you could hear the boys all shouting and clapping. you all winced at the noise but soon it stopped and the boys had started to file out of the room, some saying hi while others just smirked as they passed by you. the boys went over to their girlfriends while you stood to the side, letting them have their moment when all of a sudden you heard you name being called.

you turned around and were meet with mark and the sophomores behind him. you were confused, majorly confused. “hi?”

“i’m only going to ask once. y/n will you please go on a date with me?” mark pleaded.

that was unexpected.

you stood there, frozen. you didn’t know what to say. well you did but with everyone around you just froze. mark waved a hand in front of you face. “y/n?”

“huh, what?”

he couldn’t help but smile, “will you go on a date with me?” you did the fist thing that came to mind, you went up to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. you leaned back and could see the blush on his face. “is that a yes or?”

“it’s a yes.”

everyone that was still there cheered and mark couldn’t help but wrap his arms around you as everyone had practically pounced on you both, celebrating mark’s success of you saying yes to a date.

“you know i like you right?” you broke the hug as you stared up at him. you nodded in response.

“i do mark. and it’s ok because i happen to like you as well.”

“i know.”

what did he mean he knew?

“what do you mean, ‘i know’?” you wondered as you pulled back.

“ethan told me earlier.” that little bitch.

you hid your head in his chest. “i’m gonna kill him.” you felt mark laugh.

“don’t be embarrassed. it’s okay. i mean i’ve loved you since i saw first saw you in class but was too much of a pussy to even talk to you so i just kept my distance. which is probably why you’ve always said no to all those times i asked.” mark said as you two began to walk out of yost behind everyone else.

“woah buddy, how about we keep the ‘i love you’s’ away until after that date.” you both chuckled. “i love you too. i have ever since you started sending over those flowers. and those notes you’d give me in class always made my day better. especially when i was having a shitty day which happened to be very often.” you both walked behind everyone. “i didn’t realize until a month later and now i wished i would’ve said yes sooner. it would’ve saved me all this trouble of denying my feelings for you when clearly i had loved you ever since you started to do all these things just to get me to say yes, which by way worked.” you smiled and he did too.

“i can tell. otherwise i wouldn’t do this.” he leaned down and pressed his lips to yours. your hands found his cheeks and his found your waist. you didn’t waste a second to respond. the kiss was slow but passionate. it was all you ever wanted. you pulled away and looked up at him. “i love you.”

“i love you too.” you leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before you heard mackie call out, “hey lovebirds, let’s go! we’re going to the bar to celebrate this win!”

you and mark laughed as he stared down at you. “this doesn’t count as our first official date, right?” he asked as you two caught up with everyone.

you shook your head, “no, not unless you want it to be.”

“good.”

the way i honestly got a little carried away with this and it somehow still turned out like shit. it’s fine. the last part was booty as i had gotten tired but at least it’s done. this took me two days to write and i promise all of my other fics won’t be this long.

#mark estapa #mark estapa x reader #mark estapa blurb #umich hockey #ethan edwards #luke hughes #mackie samoskevich #luca fantilli #frank nazar #johnny druskinis #isa’s works

[comradekatara]

okay i just finished reading the yangchen novels and i need someone to talk to me about yangchen/kavik 🙏 does it count as a rarepair because nobody has read the yangchen novels 😭

ikr there are like 5 yangvik fanfics on ao3 which is crazy you guys should be going insane over them. like it should NOT count as a rarepair it’s literally the central romance of these books and it’s hetero (hetroooo jessica that’s her name) how is it so unpopular. i mean kyoshi/rangi being popular is good tho bc i do love to see dykes winning but yangvik fucking rules i am sorry to say. like i think they might be more compelling than the lesbos i can’t believe i am saying that but.

they’re both so insane and in really similar ways (extreme younger sibling complex) and sooo smart and manipulative and scary it’s awesome. i love that yangchen is always making kavik her bitch and she refuses to admit that it’s because his skills are useful to her and she likes having him around so she’s always just like “im doing this to make you suffer >:D” and he fully believes her. and then once he’s finally fulfilled his contract (by literally getting stabbed for her) he’s like “ok well i think i am going to move back home and become a healer now” and she’s like “omggggg NOOOO you CANT go I NEED YOUUUU” like she simply did not consider the being nice and honest approach until she could no longer extort him to get him to work for/with her she’s so fucking funny for that. also I love the line where she’s like “well. he has nice teeth.” what a strangely horny thing to think about someone, like okay you dentally-minded freak.

meanwhile kavik is constantly oscillating between “she is the all-powerful avatar” and “she’s just a sopping wet poor little meow meow. why won’t anyone help her????” and that scene where he tries her tea and it has like. amphetamines in it is so fucking funny. he’s just like damn bitch you live like this???? also that scene where they’re playing sparrowkeets and yangchen is like “oh my god kavik is actually so bad at this game he totally oversold his abilities he’s literally a fucking fool and i was a fool to trust him” meanwhile kavik is sitting there like “wow this is so obvious and i am in complete control of the situation. i love how we are both on the same page about how i am totally fucking playing this guy rn :)” when he spins her around in the air and the rest of their team gets so fucking mad that he’s treating her like a girl and a friend instead of the supreme leader of the universe and they’re just like “um. what. we’re literally buddies. and yes we are also extorting each other. what about it.”

they’re so fucking crazy. and the fact that they never even so much as kiss is even crazier. kyoshi and rangi are like so much more confident with each other and yangchen and kavik (literal heteros) who are constantly dancing around their latent feelings and sublimated desires and for what. they’re both young and attractive the world is literally their oyster. what’s with all the fucking secrecy. oh right. they got that spy grindset. can’t even admit you have feelings because that’s a card that can be played against you. gotta act like you don’t even care about your best friend in the world because they’re a really good liar so what if they’re just faking their affection as part of a long con. never act on your feelings because that’s a weakness that can be exploited. they’re like the gay people of m/f ships but also what they’ve going on goes far deeper than that like they’re literally certifiably insane. both of them.

#creampuffqueen #asks #yangchen novels #yangchen #kavik #kavikxyangchen #I truly love them so much

[aclowntiny]

Hiiii!!! First I wanna say how much I really like your work! Also, I stumbled upon our Seventeen and Enhypen as Hogwarts students, but saw you didn’t have it for Stray Kids 😭 I know they’ve mentioned in 2019 what house they think they are, but you seem to have a much better understanding of the houses and I’m very curious to see what you would think their houses would be.

I was wondering if I could request a similar sort of headcannon for them 🥹 Thank you!

Heck yeah! Can't believe I didn't do this sooner tbh but I love this so here we are 😌 I agree, not necessarily that I'm the best at the job, lol, but that people just go for very generic ideas of the houses (Gryffindor is cool, Slytherin is evil, Hufflepuff is nice/silly, Ravenclaw is smart) rather than the true reflection of where they'd be hehe! Like Ravenclaw is actually also known for being artistic and eccentric, Slytherin for strong determination, Hufflepuff for acceptance and breaking tradition, Gryffindor for being the other self-sacrificing house. So sometimes people just say "I'm a Gryffindor because I'm a good guy!!!" anyway rant over here's the actual content we want🤣

🏰 Stray Kids as Hogwarts Students🔮

Bang Chan

☆ Some kids got sorted instantly, but with one Christopher Bang the Hat took longer. Muttered to itself a lot as it waffled between his qualities, dubbing him hardworking and courageous and ambitious and loving. He couldn't help but flush under the hat's words, almost not hearing when its voice finally bellowed "Gryffindor!”

☆ Being Pure-Blood was only ever a phrase on a family tree for Chris. Who one’s ancestors were, what they looked like, or how much money they had said nothing for their value- only their choices and character did that.

☆ It’s only a formal class for one year, but he adores Flying. The feeling of freedom and getting to have some time outside is heaven for him. Defense Against the Dark Arts is another favorite for the similar reason of being able to get active and challenge himself, even literally facing his fears.

☆ Astronomy is very cool to him, but he finds having to fill in the same charts week after week a bit repetitive and not the best use of his time, frankly.

☆ Gryffindor’s Quidditch captain! He plays Keeper, working with great patience and synergy with the rest of the team to keep the goals clear.

☆ Blessed is the only word Chris can think of when he realizes how many happy memories he can pull from- not everyone can say that. As the word comes to mind, his wand lights up, producing a shining silver wolf standing majestically, protectively, before him.

Lee Know

☆ "You're an interesting one," came the Hat's comment upon touching Minho's head, "you've certainly got your priorities...whatever those are. A unique mind for sure. Better be Ravenclaw!" Some of Minho's friends had teased him as a Slytherin, so he was a bit surprised. Not that he would let his house define him entirely.

☆ He hates the reputation and unnecessary pressure that comes with being a Pure-Blood. It’s stupid and not worth debating in Minho’s mind. The only benefit is just the resources and opportunities he might get, and it’s tempting to turn those down on principle. Money and status don’t matter to him at all and there’s a part of him that wants to ‘sully the bloodline’ just for the hell of it! Luckily his parents don’t care either.

☆ Potions whiz. One of the few who actually get it and enjoy the calm, precise art and its beautiful results and wants to go N.E.W.T. with it. He’s also great at Care of Magical Creatures, naturally focused on the well-being of animals and other living things over his own excitement or whims.

☆ Having a fear of heights, Flying is not it for him. No thanks. He passes, but barely, and in his mind it’s not a skill he plans to use.

☆ Naturally, Minho opts out of Quidditch signups, but instead joins the Gobstones club because he thinks spraying the losers with stone juice is funny. Also gets invited to the Slug Club for his Potions skills and influence.

☆ No one is surprised when Minho closes his eyes, focuses, and boom! Produces a little glowing cat bursting from his wand with a few swipes of its paw to groom its nonexistent striped fur.

Changbin

☆ "Quite a softie underneath it all, eh?" Beneath the weight of the tattered Hat, Changbin strikes a bit of a pose. "Got a lot of ambition, but you've also got a lot of...that. Hmmm..." The Hat muses for a few more moments. "At the end of the day, this one’s a Slytherin!” Pride flows through Changbin’s veins- he doesn’t care for the reputation of producing dark wizards, the potential snobbery. All he cares about is showing his ambition to be the best if he puts his mind to it.

☆ He’s a Half-Blood, but both of his parents are wizards so his familiarity is much more with the Wizarding World. He wants to understand Muggles better to connect with them, too, as well as Muggleborns.

☆ Taking Muggle Studies helps with this and learning about another culture is quite fascinating to him- technology especially is amazing, like that’s what people do instead of magic? Wires of captured lightning? Sounds pretty magical to Changbin. He gets into tinkering with technology because of this. Another class he enjoys is Defense Against the Dark Arts. Changbin loves feeling ready to protect himself and others, so that’s the class he spends the most time practicing and taking notes in. He always thinks of his friends and his sister as he does so.

☆ History of Magic is boring, though, Changbin wants to cast some spells! At the end of the day, where certain spells come from don’t matter to him as long as he can use them. However, the idea of showing up in a ‘great wizards’ history highlight one day is appealing to him…

☆ His strength comes in handy serving as one of Slytherin’s two Beaters. The other teams are lowkey afraid of the Bludgers Changbin sends their way because they know how hard he hits!

☆ Bets are flying on what his Patronus animal would be, a pig or a rabbit. Pig is the most popular choice, mostly in jest, but shushing them all Changbin focuses all the great joy he’s expressing…and out leaps a rabbit! Not just any rabbit, though, but the massive, fluffy form of a Flemish giant rabbit that has everyone laughing and Changbin grinning, reaching out to it.

Hyunjin

☆ Nearly the second the Sorting Hat rests atop his head, it's shouting 'Ravenclaw!' Hyunjin himself can't be surprised, really, not when he's heard talk of the great artists in that house. In fact, pride glows in his chest as he joins his table that the Hat could see that in him.

☆ The Hwangs are an old wizarding family. Hyunjin has a lot of opportunities because of this, but fights against the idea that he could be any better than anyone else because of a name. Rather, he is often seen lifting up Muggleborn classmates and highlighting struggled of other magical people.

☆ Ancient Runes comes naturally to Hyunjin, something about his eye for detail, symbols, and decoding. Language is an area of interest for him so that class is like a beautiful puzzle. Astronomy grants Hyunjin so much art inspiration as well as time to relax and appreciate the gifts of nature and their inherent magic.

☆ There's no one class he hates, but like a lot of students Hyunjin has a harder time focusing on all the information getting dumped on him in History of Magic.

☆ Hyunjin’s extracurriculars include the Muggle Art club where he hones his painting skills and the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, where he plays as the team’s Seeker.

☆ Expectations fly as everyone wonders what the next Hwang’s Patronus will be. Will he get a stag, the majestic animal associated with famous wizards? An eagle, symbolizing his house? Not at all, in fact what Hyunjin summons is a beautiful, delicate silver dove that lights upon his shoulder.

Han

☆ “Don’t be so shy, kid, you’ve got heart.” “Really? Thanks bro.” “Yes, that’s what I’m talking about,” the Hat chuckles, “this one’s a Hufflepuff!” Jisung’s eyes go wide. He wasn’t expecting to get Hufflepuff, but if the hat says so, well, who is he to fight it? It’s nice getting the kindest house, too- maybe he’ll make a lot of friends.

☆ As a Half-Blood, the heavy weight of prejudice never really fell on Jisung. Half-Bloods tended to fall between the cracks as having already been sullied, just middle ground. As he witnesses bullying more and more, though, his passion grows to somehow help others and remind people that nobody can help who their ancestors married.

☆ Charms are quick, snappy, spur-of-the-moment but effective in a pinch, and Jisung likes that. It's fun and he can cast charms as quickly as he cracks a joke or comeback! Ancient Runes brings him a lot of inspiration from history and other languages that he loves to bring to his songwriting.

☆ Flying, thank goodness, isn't enforced every year! It scares him, frankly, and he'd much rather stay on the ground where he belongs.

☆ Because flying isn’t his favorite, no way in hell is he doing it with giant leather and metal things trying to smash him. Nope. However he’ll happily watch and commentate, hence him taking the mic and giving very entertaining descriptions of everything that happens. He’s also in the Frog Choir, always trying to get them to perform one of his compositions.

☆ Jokes around that he’s going to get a massive Patronus animal like a bear or a lion, but once he sees the embodiment of his joy skipping from his wand as a little quokka, he can’t even be embarrassed, just smile!

Felix

☆ "Well, you're just a delight, aren't you?" Felix couldn't tell if the Hat was being sarcastic, but still he chose to respond in kind. "I try!" At that, the Sorting Hat chuckled. "Yes, this one's a Hufflepuff for sure!" His sister had told him as much, but Felix couldn't complain- he liked the idea of being a Hufflepuff!

☆ Felix is a Muggleborn, so he takes in every step of starting school with wonder…though it is a bit overwhelming feeling like everyone’s speaking another language sometimes. But then again, magic candy! Brewing potions!

☆ Absolute wonder at Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. Felix is so gentle and good with every living thing, they practically request he be the one to handle them and that makes his heart burst with joy and honor! He also loves Potions, thinking the idea is so classic and cool, plus despite what most students say it’s kind of relaxing to him.

☆ Transfiguration dropped lower on his list when they started using living subjects. Sure, the idea that anyone and anything can grow and change and exist in many forms is really inspiring, but those poor mice and birds!

☆ Slug Club inductee part two! Even though he’s a Muggleborn with no direct influence, Felix is such a good student and avid potioneer that he’s a shoo-in. He also plays Quidditch as Hufflepuff’s Seeker.

☆ Felix isn’t sure what animal he’ll get, but he certainly isn’t expecting multiple! The entire class is shocked when a whole brood of chicks tumbles forth from his wand, eliciting shock and charmed coos alike.

Seungmin

☆ "This one's a bit of a surprise now," the Hat commented upon being set atop Seungmin's head. Seungmin couldn't help wondering what that meant and if it was bad, how to prove the Hat wrong. "No, lad, all you just did was prove my point. Looks can be deceiving, after all. Slytherin!" He wasn't sure what he expected, but that might not have been it. Sort of made sense, though- he could have fun with that!

☆ He can’t help wondering if the Hat chose as it did because he’s a Pure-Blood, taking Salazar’s old favors into account. Then again, he did just throw a cheating Gryffindor under the bus in class…

☆ Thinking logically is no trouble for Seungmin, so Arithmancy isn’t a bad choice for him. Connecting relationships between numbers and their power just makes sense to him- eight is his lucky number, after all. He also frequents the Potions dungeon, but that’s mostly just to brew the photo solution that grants his personal art projects motion!

☆ Defense Against the Dark Arts is a fun and active class, but it's boisterous and people take the duels too far sometimes.

☆ Frankly, he didn’t have time to join the Quidditch team due to his other extracurriculars, being an avid Frog Choir singer and the Hogwarts paper’s photographer.

☆ Everyone is sure the student everyone sees as a puppy will get a dog for his Patronus. Imagine their surprise when he casts a tanuki! Cute and cunning, no one can deny it matches him perfectly in the end.

I.N

☆ He forgot the Hat could read his thoughts. “So you want a house where you can show your talents and look out for people, huh?” Flushing, Jeongin just nods with a faint, bashful smile. “Well, better be Gryffindor, then!” He’s surprised, thinking maybe he’d have gotten Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff- he isn’t particularly brave, is he? “Trust me, kid, you’ll find your way,” the Hat promises, and do its eyelike folds wink?

☆ As a Half-Blood, he has knowledge of the Wizarding World, but also life outside of magic. Having one Muggle parent means one person getting yanked into the world of wonder, after all! Jeongin is proud to understand both sides of his world and guide his friends on how Muggles really live.

☆ Details don’t escape Jeongin, so he loves drawing star charts for Astronomy. Transfiguration is another favorite of his for similar reasons: he enjoys the focus, the idea that he can reshape objects into something greater or something new. It feels symbolic, poetic.

☆ Potions stresses him out because it's so easy to burn things or measure wrong; even if little details usually fascinate him, he can be a bit clumsy with the required finesse.

☆ Joins the wizard chess club, art club, and plays Quidditch- what can’t our baby bread do? Jeongin becomes Gryffindor’s Seeker, one especially known for turning the tides of the game for his team completely!

☆ He can barely contain his excitement that day in Defense Against the Dark Arts when it comes time to cast Patronus charms! He wonders if his animal will look like him and he certainly gets his wish when a charming little desert fox pops forth.

#stray kids #stray kids imagines #stray kids reactions #stray kids x reader #stray kids scenarios #bang chan #lee know #changbin #hyunjin #han #felix #seungmin #i.n #hogwarts au #stray kids hogwarts au #ask #anon #requested

[playertwotails]

Headcanon time, or well this could be taken as just an interesting idea that’s been floating in my head.

I like the idea that Sonic is actually, legal documentation and all, Tails’ legal guardian. But how did that happen they’re both minors?

Answer: Vanilla helped them.

I just have this idea that when they first meet Vanilla shes working as the secretary at her villages town hall. And not like a take notes and get coffee secretary but a “your name may be on the building but I run this place” kind of secretary. We see this take charge side of when she waltz’s in and just runs the show for the Team Chaotix in Sonic idw issue 31, my girl just walks in and it’s her rodeo now. Plus in issue 37 after the whole White Park chateau incident Amy and Rouge are both kinda scared of her.

Back to topic though, when she first meets them Sonic and Tails are still pretty young. (My personal idea is that they met her when Sonic was 11 and Tails was 4 and by the time they meet her they’ve already been together for a while now, like months to almost a year) And at that point a lot of people have tried to separate Sonic and Tails and put them in homes cause they are so young. Neither of them were having any of it though and really how to you stop them from leaving? One can run faster than the speed of sound, the other can fly and they have a plane.

So they save her village but the last town they helped was the final straw for Sonic with people trying to take Tails away from him. So Vanilla seems nice enough to him and she works for the government so he asks her how he can make himself legally in charge of Tails so people stop trying to take him (mostly Tails the one that let Sonic know about kids needing someone older than them in charge of them legally and Sonic takes that and is like “well I’m older so I can be in charge of Tails, but what’s this legality thing your talking about Tails?”).

Vanilla at first is hesitant to help them cause she herself is a new mom at this point and these are two homeless orphaned children, surely they need some kind of adult supervision. But then she thinks on it and yeah it may not be 100% the best idea having two children running around with no adult but they clearly are a family and can handle themselves better than most adults she knows. And they are fighting Eggman, a literal terrorist and would be dictator, that no adults are seemingly capable of going up against. (plus best not piss off the only two people who are seemingly capable of taking him down)

So she helps them. She tells them about emancipated minors and Sonic wants both of them to have that. People are hesitant to let Sonic go through with it since he is 11 but kid fights Eggman so sure why not. But no adult can sign off on Tails, the barely not a toddler child, in good consciousness becoming an emancipated minor. So she gets Sonic squared away on being an emancipated minor, then she turns around and helps him legally become Tails’ guardian instead. Those in charge still hesitated but like I said she’s in charge of the place so she finally got them to do it.

She asks two things from them for her help with this though. 1) they just check in with her every once in a while so she at least knows they’re okay, letters or a phone call will do but please just let her know they’re alive. 2) They come and have playdates with her little girl Cream when they’re nearby so she can have some friends and she can sneakily check on if they look like they’re eating right. They agree since it’s not an unreasonable request and at this point Vanilla is a friend to them so they were gonna keep in touch anyways, plus through all of this they already befriended Cream so they were gonna visit regardless.

As the years go by people trying to get Sonic and Tails put into the system stops for the most part. It mostly becomes a problem when random people find out Tails’ age but when ever that issue pops up Sonic gleefully hits them, figuratively and literally, with the adoption papers. 

Idk just a fun little idea I came up with enjoy people.

#sonic the hedgehog #tails the fox #miles tails prower #idw sonic #idw sonic spoilers #kinda spoilers not really just tagging just in case though #they're brothers your honor #unbreakable bond #Sonic has hidden copies of the adoption papers all over the world so no matter when or where he can run and go get a copy #Random person that can't mind they're business: Tails is a child and needs an adult #Sonic about to hit them in the face at the speed of sound with legal docs: i'm about to ruin this persons whole career #long post

[chirpingfromthebox]

My favorite bits from Boston's post-game press interviews after PWHL Finals Game 3

You can find the entire video here! Be sure to give them some views/likes/nice comments, because her channel is great and the support helps more people find it.

At the table were Megan Keller, Hilary Knight, and coach Courtney Kessel.

Technically, my title here is a lie. Usually I just pick my favorite parts, but this is just all of them, because they only asked 4 questions. The whole video is only about 3 minutes long. It could be that the reporters just didn't have anything more to ask given the circumstances, or it could be that they were picking up the STRONG vibes that the Boston crew very much did not want to be there.

Hilary Knight especially looks like she would throw hands at anyone who asked an impertinent question.

Transcriptions under the break.

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

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

REPORTER: For any of you guys, given everything you have done this season so far to get to this point, what are the emotions to keep it alive for one more game?

COURTNEY KESSEL: Two more games.

REPORTER: Sorry! Two more games- one more win at least.

[for context, from the way it sounded I do believe this slip-up from the reporter was a legitimate mistake of phrasing and not a dig at Boston.]

MEGAN KELLER: I mean, I think all year long it’s been a journey for this team. We’re used to having to fight for everything. For every inch. Playoffs, this finals, it’s a series. So we have to find a way to turn the page here and learn from this game. We’ve got two more games coming up.

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

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

REPORTER: For Courtney, how would you describe—or for a player—just how difficult it was to get any shots net in the early goings of that second period?

COURTNEY KESSEL: I think Minnesota’s done a great job of setting up a trap after they score. They’ve done it in all three games. We’ve gotta find a way to beat it, to get pucks in with possession and not chase the game.

R: Maybe I’ll follow up, for Hilary, what do you think the forwards can do to get a little more space or generate more with what they’re giving you?

HILARY KNIGHT: I’d say that a lot of our forechecks are broken. So it’s just that second quick support and making sure that we’re placing pucks in a position to help us play into our speed that we have. We have a handful of talented players, so just having that disconnect has really bit us tonight.

[if you only watch one part of the video watch this one. To quote @hockeyisforwomen: “Knight is absolutely steaming.” I can't properly describe to you the levels to which she appears to be fighting to keep her cool. You can see it the whole interview, but here it's on full display.

Also note that she's been tapping her pointer finger the whole session, but by the end of the session she's switched to her middle finger. Just a coincidence? Or a message to the press? You be the judge!]

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

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

REPORTER: For Megan, how much life did you guys get from Alina’s goal there at the very end of the second period? Breaking the long shutout streak. Getting you on the board with just a few seconds left in a tight game.

MEGAN KELLER: Yeah, I think that gave this team a lot of life. You know, it’s fun scoring goals. Especially under two seconds. That’s happened quite a few times here. I think going into the third it definitely gave us some life. And just a few defensive breakdowns at the end there that kinda cost us.

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

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REPORTER: For Courtney, what’s you message, kinda, turning that page and pushing, getting ready for another one so quickly turnaround in this series?

COURTNEY KESSEL: I feel like our backs have been up against the wall for quite some time. We were down 5 points heading into that World’s break. I think the run we went on to get us where we’re at is something to- it’s an accomplishment for sure. So we know what it’s like to fight back and we’re going to continue to fight.

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

[End of Interview]

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

What I got from these interviews is that this loss seems to have really rattled Boston. They are either about to crack under the pressure or they're about to go absolute beast-mode on Sunday.

Personally, I'm hoping for the latter. As much as I want Minnesota to win it all, I love the Boston team. They've struggled a bit this season, but when Boston brings the heat? My gods, they bring the fire! And there's nothing better than best-on-best. If they can turn this loss into fuel for the game on Sunday the way they've been doing ever since the world's break? Oh my friends, it'll be epic.

#pwhl #pwhl boston #megan keller #hilary knight #courtney kessel

[centralperkchenford]

Fic prompt; first I love you but one of them says it really casually/don’t realise they’ve said it and the other one is like freaking out/giggling inside about it

Ahhhh this one turned from soft to angsty to fluff real quick.

Fic prompt; first I love you but one of them says it really casually/don’t realize they’ve said it and the other one is like freaking out/giggling inside about it

Love you to the moon and to Saturn.

4 times Tim + Lucy almost say I love you + 1 time they do.

1

Lucy thinks that she and Tim are in a secret competition to see who can say I love you first. It’s been at the tip of her tongue for weeks now but she can’t seem to get it out. She thinks he loves her because he shows her everyday in one way or another that he does. And she tries to show him too. It just never seems to be the right time, and Lucy doesn’t want to just blurt it out.

That is until she almost does.

They are at game night with Angela, Wesley, Nyla and James. And they are playing charades which Tim seems to be very good at. And of course she’s on his team so every time he gets an answer right she gets more and more excited. Finally with the two other couples grumbling about Tim and Lucy winning, Lucy basically crawls onto Tim’s lap and presses herself against him, almost forgetting where they were.

“Oh my god I lo-” She stops herself mid sentence when she looks at Tim’s face. His eyebrows are raised and he’s holding onto her back so she doesn’t tip over.

“You what?” He asks and he raises his eyebrows even more so they are now in his hairline.

“I’m so happy we won!” She says lamely. Tim tilts his head at her, frowning slightly and she slides off his lap and doesn’t look at him for the rest of the night.

Later when they are going home, Tim reaches over to place his hand on her thigh and he squeezes it gently forcing her to look at him.

“Lucy-” he begins but she shakes her head firmly at him. She really didn’t want to discuss this right now even if she really did love him. It just wasn’t the time, soon she thinks. Soon they would say it.

2

Tim has a feeling that Lucy was going to say the three little words to him at game night. He could read her better than anyone and the way she acted after was a dead giveaway. The thing is Tim wants to say those words too. But he can never find the perfect opportunity to do it. He could do it when they are laying in bed satisfied and relaxed. He could do it on the way to work, they usually ride in together now. But none of those feel right, and he wants it to be special because Lucy deserves it.

He thinks he found the perfect opportunity and it was all going right until it wasn’t.

It was date night, something they tried to have at least once a week. It didn’t always work with their busy schedules but they always tried to find time for each other. They were at a nice restaurant and Tim pulls out Lucy’s chair for her. She gives him a grateful look and then he goes to take his own seat. He sits across from Lucy who is reading the menu and biting her lip intently as if she’s really studying the menu. She looks beautiful like she always does, but there’s something about tonight that take Tim’s breath away. Her curly chestnut flowing down her back, her brown eyes sparkling. She has on a green dress that was cut low in the front. The necklace he got her laid in the middle. She looks at him and smiles softly at him. The smile that she reserves just for him.

“What?” She asks him. He shrugs his shoulders but he still is smiling at her.

“You look beautiful.” Is all he says and Lucy beams at him.

“You don’t look too shabby yourself Bradford.” She says and she slides her hand across the table to grasp his.

He grins at her, and squeezes her hand before pulling back. The waitress comes and takes their orders and then their evening is pleasant. They eat and talk, but Tim can’t help and just stare at Lucy. The three little words on the tip of his tongue.

“Luce.” He says quietly and she looks up and tilts her head.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say that..” He trails off remembering the time when he said this to her after their kiss in her apartment. “I lov…” He stops. “I appreciate you.”

Lucy face falls a little bit. Tim grimaces to himself cursing himself for not following through.

“I appreciate you too.” Says Lucy quietly and she reaches out to squeeze his hands.

He nods and sighs.

Coward he thinks. Just tell her you love her.

3

I appreciate you. Lucy hears Tim’s words rolling around in her head. I appreciate you too and then her own stupid words.

They were so close to saying it and yet…

Lucy sighs softly as she turns her head to look at Tim, who is still sleeping soundly. His large hand on her thigh.

She closes her eyes and turns her head away from Tim. She feels him shift and pull her closer.

“You’re thinking too loud.” He grumbles. “What’s on your mind?”

She turns so she’s fully facing him, her chest against his. “Do you really appreciate me or was that just-” She trails off unsure how to continue.

Tim’s blue eyes widen and he looks a little apprehensive. “No-no I meant that.” He says. “I did I just um-”

Lucy nods in understanding even if she really doesn’t understand. “Yeah okay.” She says quickly wishing she has never brought it up.

“Lucy listen-” Tim begins. “Don’t ever think that I don’t-”

“You don’t what Tim?” She asks. “That you don’t lo-” She stops just like she did last time but this time she doesn’t look at him.

She feels tears prickling her eyes and she is appalled that she’s about to start crying. There’s an awkward silence and then Lucy moves away from him swinging her legs out of the bed.

“Where are you going?” He asks her and this time she does look at him.

“I just am going to get some air.” She replies. “I’ll be right back.”

He nods but his eyes stay on the entire time, she’s pulling one of his T-Shirts over her head.

Lucy leaves the room, and heads to the kitchen. She wants to say I love you to Tim so bad. But some how she keeps chickening out and apparently so does he. She sighs and fills up a glass of water and takes a sip, glancing at the open bedroom door where the man she loves lays.

One of these days she’s going to tell him and it’s going to be so freeing.

4.

Tim walks into the station and he knows he looks grumpy and probably a little scary to the new rookies who are just staring at him as he stomps around but he could really care less. He goes over what happened this morning in bed when Lucy once again almost said I love you. And then somehow once again chickened out. It’s not her fault, he did tell her he appreciated her like she was just some coworker again. And not the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He sighs and he’s about to make it into his office when Angela steps in front of him with her arms folded crossed her chest.

“Timothy.” She says sternly. “What is going on with you?” Tim tries to push past her but she stops him.

“You have been stomping around here all day, with a grumpy look on your face. Did something happen with Lucy?”

Tim sighs and runs his hands down his face. “No we are fine. I just- she- we..” he trials off and Angela raises her eyebrows. “You just what?” She asks.

“I love her.” He says and he wishes it was this easy with Lucy. “I love her but I can’t get it out and she can’t get it out. So we are throwing other words around like I appreciate you.”

He sighs as he continues to talk. “I don’t know why..”

“Tim.” Angela placed her hand on his arm. “You will find the right time and you will be able to say it okay? Don’t put all this pressure on yourself, you will know when the time is right okay?”

Tim nods and runs his fingers through his hair. “I just want to tell her how much I love her. I think she knows but..”

“It will come to you Tim. I promise.” Angela says sympathetically.

Later Tim decides to show Lucy how much he loves her. And kisses her all over and she’s giggling and surging up to kiss him. And god she’s beautiful, he stares down at her and she traces her finger across his face.

“What’s on your mind?” She asks. He doesn’t answer just stares down at her.

“How about I show you instead?” He says smirking at her. She rolls her eyes but he can only hope she caught the meaning behind his words.

+1

Tim stands behind Lucy as she grips the steering wheel on the arcade car game.

“Go right!” Tim mutters as she barely avoids the guardrail. Lucy turns to glare at him and he reaches forward to get her back on the road.

“Focus Luce.” He says sternly in his best TO voice. “You can’t be running into cones.”

Lucy turns the steering wheel to the left sharply and hits a cartoon pedestrian.

“Whoops.” She says and Tim looks at her in amusement.

“Oops? You just hit a person and you say whoops.” He says and she turns sharply again finally getting back on the road.

“What?” She asks and she is actually focusing now which Tim finds adorable. He sits on the edge of the seat and scoots Lucy over a bit.

“Let me help.” He says and Lucy glares at him again. He knows what she’s about to say so he leans over to kiss her without taking his eyes off the screen. “Just so you don’t get last place.”

She sighs and let’s up on the wheel a little. “You are infuriating.” She grumbles.

“You love me.” He quips back, his eyes never leaving the screen. He’s up to 6th place now.

“I do love you but you are still annoying.” She says. Tim swivels his head to look at her. His heart pounding in his chest. He hears an explosion on the game but he doesn’t take his eyes off of Lucy.

She loves him! She loves him!

“Did you just say—?” He asks her tentatively. She looks up at him with wide brown eyes, she opens and closes her mouth realizing what she had just said.

“I.. god yes Tim. I love you. I love you so much I haven’t been able to say it. I chicken out-”

He cuts her off with a kiss and pulls her into his lap. She’s so close he can feel her heart beating against his.

“I love you too baby. I have been scared too but I love you so much. I am so sorry that I said I appreciate you, which I do but I fucking love you too.”

Lucy sighs happily and wiggles herself more onto his lap. They are on a seat made for one and it’s squished but neither of them seem to care.

“Why was that so hard?” Lucy asks and she’s peppering kisses all over his face. “It’s been on the tip of my tongue for months.. and I-”

Tim shrugs his shoulders because he doesn’t know why it was so hard. But now that he’s said it he knows he’s never going to stop.

“I love you.” He mutters as he kisses her again. She says it back softly and he sighs happily.

“Excuse me?” Tim looks away from Lucy to see one of the arcade employees standing there staring at them.

“This is a family arcade. And there are kids who want to play this game. So if you don’t mind…” He says awkwardly. “Uh but I am happy you guys love each other.”

Lucy huffs out a laugh and slides off the seat. Tim follows her and grabs her hand once they are side by side again.

Tim leads her out of the arcade and to his truck where he backs her into it.

“I love you.” He says quietly.

Lucy looks at him and smiles before tugging him down to kiss her again.

“Please never stop saying that to me.” She says as she looks up at him. “Please always tell me you love me.”

Tim just kisses her gently. “I don’t think I will ever be able to stop Luce.”

And she giggles happily. “Me neither.”

Tim grins at her and he reaches over to open the passenger door.

“Let me take you home to show you how much I love you.”

He steps back so she can climb into the truck, but not before she pulls him to her.

“I’m counting on it.”

And yea Tim does break a few speeding laws that night getting the woman he loves and who loves him back home.

#chenford #the rookie #chenford fanfic #tim x lucy #tim bradford #lucy chen #anon answered #chenford fic

[katlandry]

In honour of Noah getting the first 3 scripts for Season 5, this is my Season 5 bucket list (I may be very early so this is my early one) I’ll try to make it as realistic as possible 😭

- Nancy survives.

This is the number one thing I need to happen, I will not be able to handle it if she dies

- I’m also very much on the side of I want everyone to survive.

Stranger Things is very much about the relationships between all of the characters, and it might not be the main part of the show but it is an important one and it’s what makes Stranger Things so great. I think it would massively suck if they were to kill any of the Hopper-Byers family after everything they’ve been through and Hopper losing anyone would just confirm his theory that he’s a “curse”.

- Ronance hug.

I need this like I need air. Nancy Wheeler needs a hug and I need Robin to be the one to give it to her.

- More Ronance scenes.

I mean obviously I ship Ronance so of course I want more scenes of them together, BUT I also really love their friendship. After Nancy lost Barb, Robin is the first girl she’s befriended that didn’t have romantic intentions and I think their friendship is really something special.

- Nancy to finally get closure with Barb and realise it wasn’t her fault

I realise she kind of got closure in S2, but I don’t think she really did. She clearly still blames herself, and what happened shaped her into who she is today. And we know she never really spoke to anyone about what happened because when she tried to talk to Steve he brushed her off. So I think she needs someone to tell her it wasn’t her fault.

- Nancy/Robin/Jonathan/Steve/Argyle team up.

This would be the team up of the CENTURY.

- Nancy/El scenes

I’ve needed this since S1. I think they’re quite similar in some ways and it’d be so nice to see them have some scenes together

- Jargyle scenes

I mean… they’re literally hilarious together. Imagine Nancy, Robin and Steve having to put up with high Jargyle 😭

- Not St*ncy endgame

Okay. Don’t hate me, and I’m sure this is pretty well known by now but I’m very much anti St*ncy and I’m not even sorry about it. Those two getting back together would feel like ten steps backwards and a dishonour to both of their characters. Steve’s character for the past two seasons has revolved around finding a girlfriend and I think he needs to realise that he doesn’t need a girlfriend and it’s okay to be on your own. It would also be a very misogynistic ending for Nancy. I could talk about this forever but I’ll just leave it at that. 😭

- JOPPER DATE!

Pretty sure David Harbour already confirmed this but I’m so excited to see Jopper in a relationship!!

- Mike being a complete menace to society and Robin getting to experience it

I mean, Robin hasn’t spent much time with Mike yet and I just think him being the little shit he is would be so funny for Robin to witness. I can just imagine her turning to Nancy and saying “You’re related to him?”

- Will/Robin scenes

This is an obvious one, but I think talking to Robin would help Will a LOT. I don’t know how likely it is to happen but I think it’d be really nice for Will to know he’s not on his own.

- LUMAX DATE!

I NEED IT. They arranged it last season and Max DIED so it’s only right they get their date in Season 5!!

- More Erica

Not much to say about this, we all need more Erica.

- More Hopper-Byers family

El finally has a family and somewhere she belongs, Hopper just came back from the dead. I need this family to be happy more than anything.

- If not Byler endgame, I need to see Will accept himself (at least somewhat) and finally be happy.

I like both Mileven and Byler, and honestly my opinion on who should be endgame changes on a daily basis based on the fans lmao. It would be awesome to see Byler endgame, but I would like to see Will accept himself and maybe come out to his mom??

- Nancy & Mike hug.

This has to happen. It has to. And not right before one of them dies either. Give me more Wheeler siblings. Perhaps a parallel to S1 when Nancy rushes out of the Byers to hug Mike but this time Mike rushes to hug Nancy??

#nancy wheeler #stranger things #stranger things 4 #ronance #nancy stranger things #natalia dyer #robin buckley #st4 #robin stranger things #maya hawke #steve harrington #mike wheeler #will byers #st5 #joyce byers #el hopper #lucas sinclair #max mayfield #dustin henderson #this is all i can think of atm #i’m sure there’s more tho #i’m so scared for how it’ll end ngl #the way most of these are nancy related #I NEED HER TO BE A FINAL GIRL

[majimjam]

We're back, baby! Happy Screenshot Saturday!

Phew... it's good to finally be back!

Hi! It's been a bit of a hot minute, right? Thank you for your patience with me! After taking a break after releasing ​Meri's Cafe (which you can check out for free at https://majimjam.itch.io/meris-cafe​), getting a new job with more hours, and university starting up again, I've been preoccupied with a lot! Thankfully though, my life's stable enough again where I'd like to try and begin posting again!

Right now, we're filling in the back half of Chapter 1! During my break I realized there were parts of the game that weren't super satisfying both in terms of the narrative and gameplay, so I took some time to rework things! Now that the reworks are set on, I'm working with the team to make them! I wanna make the best game I can, so that DOES mean sometimes you need to take a step back and rehash something out to help it shine!

That means working on the environments! This little statue's set in the plaza of West Hyades, and is meant to commemorate the workers that hail from there... West Hyades is the most populated part of the city, and there's a lot of people from there doing lots of different jobs all over the city... So even if a lot of it is thankless work, at least they've got this nice statue! Right?

In case you want to refresh your memory on HYADES though, try the demo! It's free, playable for download and browser, has some cute wolf boys in it.. What more do you need? Check it out at:

GameJolt: https://gamejolt.com/games/HYADESRPG/415095 Itch: https://majimjam.itch.io/hyadesrpg​

Thanks for reading!! Once again, I really am happy to be back... For now then, stay safe, take care, and have fun!

#hyades #HYADESRPG #rpg maker #indie dev #indie game #furry #earthbound #pixel art #rpg

[positivexcellence]

Walker's Jared Padalecki Talks Finale's Killer Threat, Why He's 'Excited and Nervous' About Cordell/Geri's Future

TVLINE | First of all, congrats on the renewal! Thank you so much! Certainly a relief. We’ve all been waiting on bated breath. So to get that vote of confidence was a huge, huge deal. And [Wednesday was] Odette Annable’s birthday. [Thursday] is Coby [Bell’s] birthday. [Kale Culley’s] birthday is this month. So they were all kind of mentioning on the cast text thread like, “Best birthday present ever!” It was very awesome to be able to share that awesome news with the gang.

TVLINE | You planted a lot of seeds for next season, so thank God you got that renewal. Which storyline are you most excited for in Season 4 coming off the finale? Well, I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. I kind of tend to have a lot of interesting storylines that deal with the character having to confront past traumas. Obviously, I did that for many, many years on Supernatural as Sam Winchester. And so, the storyline of the Jackal, of this case that went cold that really consumed Captain James and Cordell Walker many years ago, the fact that that might be reopened is very exciting. We’ve seen Captain James be a stalwart for the whole Ranger organization and for his friend Cordell. So I think it’s nice that, hopefully next season, I’ll get to return the favor and be there for him when he’s kind of having to revisit some of his past trauma. So that’s, I don’t want to say No. 1 on my list, but certainly high on my list.

I also love the bombshell of August wanting to go into the military, and Cordell not knowing how to really approach it and going, “Well, I did it. So who am I to say, ‘Don’t do it’? I’m just saying, ‘Don’t do it just yet.'”

And I’m very, very excited about the Cordell/Geri storyline and seeing where they go. They kind of gave it a preliminary shot, and that didn’t stick. But now that their lives are different and that they’ve had some time to really think about it and digest it, I think they could make a good tag-team for Stella and Auggie

TVLINE | But between the serial killer and the FBI task force, how worried should we be that work is going to get in the way of Cordell and Geri’s re-sparked romance? Or are they finally ready to give it a real try? [Laughs] I think we can rest assured that it will get in the way, and that’s going to be the exciting part to explore and play and find out alongside the writers and the audience, to see just how realistic it is for Cordell to find love again and for Geri to find love again. Obviously, we saw Hoyt come back in Episode 17 of the third season, so we know that she’s been happy with somebody. There were asterisks, obviously, with Hoyt, and I guess there are asterisks with Cordell, as well, because his job is serious and can be dangerous and can, as we’ve seen, kind of bleed into his home, his family and all that. So I’m excited and… I don’t want to say hesitant. I’m excited and nervous to explore that with the writers next season.

TVLINE | He did ask her to stay with him for the summer. So can we at least assume he’s definitely not going to accept the FBI gig? Well, it wouldn’t start until after the summer anyways. And so, he’s going to have time to think about it, and he’s going to have to kind of measure whether it’s important enough. He doesn’t want to do a Rodeo Kings thing again. He doesn’t want to get caught up in something again, and I think he’s starting to really put roots down with his family and with the people he loves. I’m, obviously, not having any conversations with the writers right now because they are on strike, and I support them very much. But as soon as we’re all back in the pool, I can’t wait to see what their thoughts are on what Walker’s decision will be.

TVLINE | We also need to talk about Walker’s other kid because that cliffhanger with Stella was quite dramatic. And it was interesting that she chose to go to Liam, not her father, for help. Do you think that will cause a rift within the family? That’s a good question. I don’t think so. It’s possible. I can understand why Walker would be upset. And maybe this is unimportant or uninteresting, but the reason it happened the way it happened is because of location issues we had. So initially, Liam was just going to be the first person she ran into, like she was just going to see him while she was figuring out who to tell. And so he was the first person [she saw], and she wasn’t able to call her dad, and so she told Liam. But also, Walker presumably didn’t really have his phone on him, he wasn’t checking it a whole lot. He was helping with bacon and eggs at the Side Step for the after party. [Laughs] I think Walker always finds himself in the position — and God, I guess, Jared has found himself in the same position as well — of August went to Bonham to talk about enlisting. Stella seemingly went to Liam to talk about the crazy situation that she and Sadie find themselves in at the end of the episode. So it might give him pause, but I think he’ll ultimately understand.

TVLINE | I wondered if maybe it had to do with the fact that he’s an authority figure, he’s part of the police so to speak, so it puts him in an ethically compromised position, as well, if she goes to him. Yeah, you know, to that end, maybe it does upset Walker. Thinking about it now, now that I know we’re going to explore it next season, Walker would certainly feel kind of bombarded. He son is coming at him, saying, “Hey, I talked to Gramps about this,” and his daughter is going to ultimately have to admit, “Hey, I talked to Liam about that.” He might find himself in a position of like, “Whoa, what am I chopped liver? This is what I deal with, keeping my family safe, keeping the people of Texas safe as best I can. So why would you not immediately call me? Why would you not come to me?” I’m sure Walker will find out very quickly what happened, and hopefully he can focus on the task at hand and not get too emotionally involved with feeling hurt.

tv line

#walker #Jared Padalecki

[3xm-draconic]

Homestead. (werebat Cyris and astarion)

Summary: Astarion tells Cyris about the little community the spawn created in the underdark, Cyris decides to visit… 

As it turns out a giant 30ft brain is really, REALLY fucking hard to find…

They needed to deal first with Orin and then Gortash, to get their crystals so the Emperor (this mindflayer who wanted to help them out) could use them to stop the elder brain.

In the meantime though…they could rest and wait…

“So the spawn and some of your siblings made a little home in the underdark?” Cyris pondered as he and Astarion shopped around for supplies…well mostly groceries for tonight, Cyris was going to make red wine & blood tomato pasta.

Just because they were not…exactly “together” anymore did not mean he’d have to stop cooking for him…or treating him to nice things.

He does love him still…

“Yes, it’s a…lovely place” Astarion smiled weakly “it’s in a little ruin, in a secluded vail were hundred of bloodcrystals grow, bloodcyrstal vail they’ve been calling it… hence the name” he said as he picked out a few fresh tomatoes.

“Hmm…Perhaps I could visit, you could show me around?”, “that sound rather nice” Astarion hummed “they’ve been learning to live off the land, they have a few Rothe they’ve domesticated, rightnow there isn’t really enough blood to go around so they mix it with Rothe milk and mushroom flower to make a grule of sorts” he grimaced “gods…I wish I could help them more but…”

“But?” Cyris pondered as he gently placed a hand on Astarion’s shoulder, “I…I feel like there is not much I can do, they’ve been talking about hunting the kuo toa who live near the lake…gods I can’t have them falling into doing that, eating such things” Astarion sighed “I feel like they are basically back to starving”.

“Well maybe I can help, I was able to find us plenty to eat down in the underdark when we were last there, take me to them and I’ll teach a few tips and tricks.” 

“I also heard you got back in contact with your village, they got your letters finally!” Astarion beamed, Cyris smiled happily “yhea, they were pretty happy to hear from me…they even sent me a few care packages, just some cookies, blood vials and a blanket” he grinned.

The place was…a dump.

There were tents haphazardly set up, fires set in little alcoves, trash everywhere…

Jeez it was a mess, even the slums in waterdeep looked nicer…

“Starry you said this place was nice”, “well…it’s a bit of a fixer-upper darling” he chuckled nervously, “Greeting Cyris…Astarion” Sebastian said as he set down a barrel of dried fish “good to see you again”.

“Good to see you to Seb” Cyris smiled and shook his hand “I hear you needed a little helping hand around here, I came as soon as I could”, Sebastian cocked his head in confusion “what could you help with?”, “well for starters, food, you all need blood to really survive and there are plenty of sources besides Rothe and fish, I can help you find them. Then…I wanna help you clean this place up and set up propper houses, Astarion and I got in contact with Max and my village, they sent over some supplies, Starry can help everyone get started on that while you and me go hunting.”  

Sebastion blinked “you…you got us all this?...thank you!” he hugged him, “ah it’s alright, it’s the least starry and I can do” Cyris smiled.

The creatures of the underdark were fearsome but easy to track once you learned their patterns, a coordinated group of vampires using battle tactics surprisingly managed to take them out quite well.

A few Hook-Horrors were easily outwitted and outmatched by their little hunting party, they now had gallons of blood to drink.

“This is wonderful, Cyris!” Sebastian said as he licked the blood from his lips “at this rate we should be able to feed everyone”, “we ain't done yet Seb, I’am going to teach all of you cooking and preserving techniques to make this stuff last” Cyris turned to him as he hefted a barrel of blood over his shoulder.

At their camp Cyris showed his team of spawn how to cook and preserve blood.

Blood bread with mushroom flour was one thing and cooking it into sausages was another but they could let it congeal into a block, cut it up  and grill it on sticks or mix it with cave fruit into a pasty jam and turn it into a sort of blood-fruit leather.

 They could also mix it with alcohol…a very simple method of preservation and a nice drink, salting the congealed blood and letting it dry into a powder that could be rehydrated was however by far the best.

 “Amazing! Now it will last us weeks, MONTHS even!” Sebastian smiled “I was starting to doubt that Astarion really cared about us…I guess I was mistaken if he brought you here”, “Starry cares about you, all of you, he wants to make up for his mistakes and give you guys a second chance at things…like he now has” Cyris placed a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder.

“...I…don’t know if I can forgive him for doing this to me…but I can thank him for trying to make things right, to give us this chance at living again, even though Cazador escaped…I don’t think he will come after us, he is afraid of Astarion…of you and your friends. We have you to thank for our freedom just as much as we have Astarion to thank” Sebastian smiled.

“Wait? The bastard escaped?” Cyris worriedly looked at Sebastian, “yes sadly” he mumbled, “well…looks like I have another head to add to my hunt” Cyris growled.

 “There now THAT’S much better!” Cyris beamed as he and his troop brought their haul back to the now refurbished town.

There was no more garbage, little homes were actually built, a market was even set up with an alchemy shop, tailor, salon and, Cyris laughed “you guys really built a Tavern down here?”

“You’ll never believe what happened while you were away!” Astarion excitedly hugged Cyris, “well what happened?”, “some deep gnomes came by, they saw all the bloodcrystals we had and wanted to set up a mining outpost, they offered to trade gold and other resources, mostly more Rothe blood to us in exchange for some land and the bloodcrystals” Astarion hummed “so…yes we built a tavern so everyone could enjoy a nice drink now that we have more blood. A celebration is in order, I do believe?” he grinned, “Sounds good to me” Cyris smiled.

The wine, the food, the music… was decent. The tavern was pretty small and the bard they had played the accordion…but the candle light, the hearth and the atmosphere of merriment…that made Cyris happy.  

Cyris saw the deep gnomes who Astarion had talked about come in to have a drink with them, they had just gotten done mining…

Cyris could smell something…odd about them.

One of them sat down at a table next to his and Astarion’s, Cyris saw something on the gnome’s shoulder…a tattoo..

Black bat wings with a white crescent moon and a red 4 pointed star in them…

He then could smell it clearer…the familiar scent of…

The gnome looked up and sniffed the air…

They looked at one another.

“Are you?” Cyris pondered, “well bless my soul, another kindred” the gnome beamed happily, “another werebat!” Cyris smiled.

“Names Menphes, Menphes Gloombeard” the gnome proudly introduced himself, “pleasure to meet ya boy” he shook Cyris’s hand, “to you as well, the tattoo on your arm? You worship the great guardian bat as well?”

“You mean Entumbru? The spirit-ancestor of bats and the god of night? Why yes” he said “he goes by many names, that one I have not heard used before”, “Enthrumbu…” Cyris pondered…

Cyris and astarion left Bloodcrystal Vail and headed home, they settled down at Monty’s Chalice to enjoy dinner and sleep before heading out to hunt for Orin.

“Cyris…is it ok if..if we still sleep together?” Astarion softly asked him, Cyris scooted over on the bed, they…didn’t really cuddly like they did before but Cyris did keep Astarion warm. Astarion hated being cold…somehow?

 “How are you cold starry?”, “well, not..not physically…” Astarion laughed “I…feel…I feel less undead when Iam warm”, Cyris rolled over and wrapped him up in his arms.

“It’s getting cold outside…I better keep you nice and snug” he smiled.

#baldur's gate 3 #dnd character #werebat #dnd #fanfic #astarion x oc #baldurs gate astarion #astarion #baldurs gate #baldurs gate 3 #soft astarion #cazador's spawn set up a nice little home #fluff #sebastian baldur's gate 3 #vampire #dnd homebrew

[greentrickster]

Okay, so I’ve mentioned Cyrus encountering Akari, and Volo as a result, so here’s how I think it starts to go down.

I was leaning heavily towards @someoddmix‘s suggestion of having it happen due to Cyrus making deliveries via Giratina, but I think I’d like to make it a bit more accidental than that, at least to start with. Because I really, really like the idea of Akari getting antsy after being so used to being so highly active and involved in things daily back in Jubilife Village. Gonna say Cyrus been back about a year and ten months, meaning it’s been three months since it was decided he wasn’t going to be charged for his actions in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (so it’s known that he’s back by people in Sinnoh, but he’s off in Kanto so it’s not much of an issue for them), and Akari arrived home again from Hisui about one month after Cyrus got dropped on Red’s mountain, was back and dealing with the Melli and Ingo situation for the next eight months, and the rest of it has been her readapting to modern life. So that’s about a year and one month of being back in Sinnoh without anything particularly ground-breaking she needs to do, and it’s been great, she really needed this, but she’s bored now. She wants to be out doing something again, you know? (Also, I think all that works within the timeline, but I cannot be bothered to check at the moment, because this is an AU, not a formal fic, I can fudge the details a little, as a treat.)

Anyway, this is the point where Dawn mentions that Kanto’s Pokemon League season is about to start, why not get out of Sinnoh for awhile and give that a shot, now that she’s gotten so good with training? Plus, don’t her friends Emmet and Ingo go there sometimes? Why not visit some of the places they’ve been herself, that could be fun!

Things Dawn doesn’t remember at the time: Blue is still the head of Viridian’s Gym, aka the final stop for the Indigo League, and Cyrus currently works as one of Blue’s trainers (and sometimes assistant).

Things Akari flat-out doesn’t know: The same things that Dawn doesn’t know, because she wasn’t involved in the original Team Galactic shenanigans and at the time of Cyrus’s trial was busy with figuring out her life a bit more, therapy (because while she does have the usual protagonist trauma resistance package, that was still A Lot, and she needs some help processing it sometimes), and also off visiting Ingo and Emmet in Unova. Gotta visit the train fam, you know?

Thus, Akari doesn’t realize what she’s walking into until she’s halfway through the Viridian Gym and a trainer in a goldenrod baseball cap pulls out a crobat (Crobat and Gyarados are the only members of Cyrus’s team that are really native to the Kanto region, and Crobat fits inside the gym better, so Crobat tends to get used for Gym battles), and when he looks up suddenly Akari’s getting flashbacks because, um, Cyllene? What the heck?! Did you get dragged to the future by mistake too-?!???!

Cyrus: I think you’re confusing me with someone else, I’m Cyrus.

Akari: Cyrus? ...wait, not Team Galactic Boss Cyrus?!?

Cyrus: ...technically no but legally yes.

Akari: ...

Cyrus: ...

Akari: ...okay, I’m just gonna win this battle and get my Earth badge real quick, but then we’re coming back to this!

Cyrus: Why?

Akari: Because Dawn is my twin, Lucas is her friend-rival, and Barry is her friend!

Cyrus: (doesn’t fully remember who those people are, but is pretty sure she’s talking about the kids who were talked about during his trial) ...fine.

Akari: (...he’s an evil team boss who tried to pull a Volo and he has almost no facial expressions, he shouldn’t be allowed to be making me feel like I just kicked an eevee for saying we were going to talk later-!)

Also, once Akari gets to Blue, she very much gets a “Hi, nice to meet you, saw you talking to Cyrus, I know Professor Rowan personally, I know Dawn, I recognize you, if you try and mess with one of my trainers I’ll pull out my actual team instead of the one I use for gym challengers and I will Demolish You, and then I will call down Red to hide your remains for me. :D”

Blue grew up in the Team Rocket era, Blue does not play softball when it comes to people trying to cause shit in his gym, town, or region. Akari’s lucky that he knows enough that he’s aware she’s one of the few people who probably has the right to ask the questions that he thinks she’s going to, but he’s sure as heck not going to let her be a bully about it-!

And then Akari’s actual questions are more along the line of, “What the heck are you doing here, I thought you were in Distortion World? Lukas was very upset about that, and that made Dawn upset, they were worried about you! Did you tell them you’re back? You should tell them you’re back so they can stop worrying.”

Blue: (texting Red to get his rear down here and bring popcorn, things are probably about to get entertaining as heck)

#red blue and cyrus too AU #pokemon cyrus #pokemon akari #pokemon blue #arceus spoilers #bdsp spoilers #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon diamond and pearl #pokemon shining pearl #pokemon platinum #someoddmix #okay this is a start #posting this now before it gets any longer #we WILL get to Mewtwo #eventually

[captainsophiestark]

West vs. East

Daniel Sousa x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Agent Carter Bingo 2022! @agentcarterbingo

Fandom: Marvel

Square Filled: Game

Summary: Y/N is the LA SSR's new nurse, a position they finally realized was incredibly important to have around after a few near-misses during the Whitney Frost case. They've only been there a week, but an all-SSR picnic and "friendly" East Coast/West Coast competition will give them plenty of chances to make new friends and more.

Word Count: 2,436

Category: Fluff, Humor

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"Alright Agents! Welcome to the first official East vs. West SSR games tournament!" called Jack Thompson from the front of the picnic. Daniel Sousa, the other SSR Chief, stood next to him, looking less than thrilled to be the center of attention. "If you're competing, head to the field over there. Otherwise, come cheer on the New York branch."

He gave everyone a grin that had half the women swooning and the other half rolling their eyes, then moved to the games field. Chief Sousa, also a member of the eye-roll group, followed, along with a few of the other agents, scientists, and various support staff members who'd gathered for the picnic.

"You heading over there?" I turned to see Rose Roberts, the first friend I'd made at the SSR, joining me with a smile.

"I don't know..." I trailed off, watching the crowd gather. I'd just joined the agency last week, and I didn't really know anyone yet. I'd taken the job as the agency's nurse, a position they'd apparently just realized they needed. I wasn't part of the field assignments or spending time with the scientists as they worked, however, so other than Rose there hadn't been a lot of opportunities for me to meet the other agents.

"Come on, you should go," said Rose, giving me a nudge. "It'll be a good way for you to meet people. Besides, we're gonna need all the help we can get against Thompson and his crew. Especially since Aloysius insisted on competing."

We both turned to look at Samberly as he jumped around next to Chief Sousa, apparently doing his own version of warmups.

"Well... I guess it could be fun..."

"Of course it'll be fun! Now go! Come on, move it!"

Rose gave me a gentle push towards the competition, then kept pushing until I'd walked all the way over there. I turned to glare at her, but she just turned away and pretended to be innocent after shoving me straight into a conversation between the two Chiefs.

"...she's ours, Sousa, get lost. She still works for me, so she's competing for me."

"Jack, I think if you ask her Peggy would rather compete with my team-"

"Too bad, because she's on my team."

Another person sidled up to me as the two continued their argument, blocking out basically everything else around them.

"They are truly ridiculous, aren't they?" I turned to find none other than Agent Peggy Carter standing there and surveying the two men.

"I've only been here a week, but based on what I've seen... yeah, I'd agree."

Peggy snorted a laugh, then turned to give me a smile. She extended her hand, and I took it.

"Peggy Carter. Nice to meet you."

"Y/N Y/L/N, likewise."

"So, you're Daniel's new medical agent, correct?"

"That's right. Rose threw me into competing in the games today, but if Samberly pulls something with those warmups, I'll have to step out and take care of it."

We shared a laugh, then Peggy turned back to the Chiefs, who were still caught up in their argument.

"Well then, we'd better get this show on the road before he goes down." With that, she stepped up and got the attention of Chief Thompson and Chief Sousa. "Boys, enough. Daniel, I can't let Thompson represent the whole of New York. The city deserves far better than that."

"Hey!"

"So what, you're joining Thompson's team?" asked Chief Sosua, completely ignoring Thompson's outrage.

"Yes. But don't worry! I found you someone to take my place." With that, she turned back to me, a massive smile on her face. "Gentlemen, meet Y/N. The perfect person to represent Los Angeles with you, Daniel."

"Peggy, what the hell do you have against Los Angeles?"

Peggy ignored Sousa's question as she turned to Thompson.

"Are you ready to win?"

"Hell yes I am."

"Good. Then let's go."

With that, they walked off, everyone practically jumping out of their path as they went. From what I'd heard, they didn't work together smoothly very often. But when they did, they were clearly a force to be reckoned with.

Chief Sousa sighed and shook his head, then turned to me.

"Sorry you're getting dragged into the middle of this on your first week, Y/N," he said.

"Oh, that's alright. It's keeping things interesting," I said with a small smile. "Rose practically shoved me over here to join the festivities, but... I'd be happy to help represent for Los Angeles if you need it, Chief Sosua."

"Oh, please, call me Daniel," he said, quickly waving off the title. "And yeah, I'd be more than happy to have you. I need somebody for the pairs events that can help me hold our own against Thompson and Peggy, and my only other option is Samberly, so I'd say I need the help pretty badly."

We shared a smile, and my heart fluttered in my chest.

"Well, if you really need the help... then let's do this."

"Great. Peggy's one of my best friends, but we're about to crush her and Thompson into dust."

I held up my hand and Daniel gave me a solid high-five before we walked to the first event together, perfectly in step. Time for the West Coast to kick some ass and take some names.

****************

"Alright, this is it." I met Daniel's intense stare as he rested a hand on my shoulder. Our faces were so close together, and it was all I could do to focus on his words instead of noticing that fact. "We're tied with the New York office, which means it comes down to you and me. We've got this."

I nodded. The day had been chaos since the moment Rose shoved me forward, and it had only gotten more hectic from there. Daniel and I had held our own against everyone we faced, and the LA team had done a damn good job of doing the same. Daniel and I had yet to face Peggy and Thompson, however, and now it all came down to the four of us. Whoever ended up being the last person standing after a guerrilla-style water balloon fight would take home the victory for their team.

"Thompson and Peggy are going down," I said, leaning into Daniel a bit as we shared a grin. I'd been nervous to even talk to him at the beginning of the day, but that was completely gone now. Nothing like intense competition with another team to create some instant bonding.

"You're damn right they are," agreed Daniel. We stayed close like that, heads together, for a few minutes longer than we really needed to before Daniel cleared his throat and pulled away. "Uh, anyway... let's do this."

We headed onto the field together in-step and met Thompson and Peggy in the middle. The pair had clashed a few times over the day, but on the whole, they'd managed to work together annoyingly well.

Daniel and I planned to end that.

"Alright! Rules work like this," started Thompson, addressing me and Daniel as well as the crowd that had gathered to watch. "Each side gets a bucket of water balloons on their turf. Crossing sides is fair game. There are no boundaries. If you get hit with a balloon, you're out. Last one standing wins. Questions?"

We all shook our heads, and Thompson's face morphed into a terrifying grin.

"Alright then. Game on!"

With that, he took off for his side, Peggy right behind him. Daniel and I immediately ducked for cover behind some of the trees on the field and started making our way to our own bucket of balloons.

"Make sure I don't run into anything," I said, not bothering to explain before turning around to walk backwards and linking my arm with Daniel's. This way, I could see where Peggy and Thompson went, and we'd have a little extra warning if they started heading our way. Daniel's arm secured me, and he pulled me in a little closer as we made our way across the field.

We made it to our bucket of balloons safely and ducked down behind a rock for cover.

"Alright, I lost sight of them a few times, but I think their strategy is speed," I said, staring into the trees around us on high alert as I briefed Daniel. "They absolutely booked it to their water balloons, and last I caught sight of them, they'd split up and were making their way over here from the opposite side of the field."

Daniel nodded. "Let's stick together and take advantage of that, then. Did you see which side Peggy took?"

I pointed to our left.

"Great, let's start with her. She's a bigger threat than Thompson."

Daniel and I took a few more moments to strategize, then we were up and moving. We backed even further away from the midline before heading left, where I'd last seen Peggy. Daniel kept a constant, watchful eye on all our surroundings, and although I had nowhere near the level of training that he did, I tried to do the same.

After a few tense minutes, we managed to find Peggy. She quickly darted from tree to rock to bush, and she was incredibly hard to keep an eye on. Daniel gestured silently for us to split up and each take one side, so we could hopefully surround Peggy. By some miracle, I managed to get behind her without her noticing.

I saw Peggy grin as she caught sight of Daniel. I moved as fast as I could to seize the opportunity, but Peggy managed to get her balloon off just before mine. She hit Daniel square in the chest a moment before my water balloon exploded across her back.

"Dammit!" she yelled on impact, then whirled around to face me. After a second, the shocked expression turned into a smile. "That was actually quite impressive."

I smiled. "Thanks! I-"

I stopped short at the sight of Daniel waving frantically behind Peggy's back, gesturing towards where I'd last seen Thompson. Peggy was trying to distract me.

"I... gotta go," I said to Peggy, then turned and sprinted into the trees before she had a chance to respond. She and Daniel weren't allowed to call anything out to me or Thompson, and I knew they'd keep each other honest. Now, it all came down to me vs. the highly-trained Chief of the New York SSR.

I peeked out from behind the nearest tree, ears straining as I tried to catch any sign of Thompson. I got nothing. I stayed like that for a few moments, absolutely frozen, until I heard the rustle of fabric behind me. My heart stopped in my chest, and I didn't dare turn around. Without warning, I dove to the side, rolling on the ground and away from where I'd been.

Thompson's water balloon hit the tree a second later. I heard Peggy, Daniel, and everyone else who'd gathered to watch erupt into cheers, oohs, and ahhs, but I ignored them. Instead, I hurled a water balloon of my own back at Thompson. I didn't take the time to aim very carefully, but by some miracle, it just managed to clip the arm he was drawing back to throw his own water balloon at me. It exploded on impact.

I had done it. I had won.

"Oh my God!" I cried, shooting up from my kneeling position and laughing in disbelief. "I did it. I won!"

"Hell yes you did!" shouted Daniel from where he still stood to my right. He rushed towards me, and I did the same without thinking about it.

Daniel held his arms wide, and I sprinted into him for a long hug that almost took us both to the ground. Once he regained his balance, he lifted me off my feet in celebration. I'd just defeated a field agent, Chief of the New York SSR no less, and the adrenaline rush swept over me. As soon as my feet were back on the ground, I grabbed the lapels of Daniel's jacket and kissed him, hard.

After a second, I pulled back, suddenly very aware of everyone around us and what I'd actually just done. Horrifying embarrassment bloomed in my chest as I looked at Daniel's shocked face.

"Oh my God... I am so sorry, I just got caught up in the moment and-"

Daniel smiled and tightened his arm around my waist.

"It's okay. You definitely caught me off guard, and we're never gonna hear the end of this from Thompson now, but... I'm glad you did it."

"Really?"

"Really." We shared a smile, relief washing over me as Daniel continued. "So, I've been trying to decide all day whether or not to ask this, but considering you seem to be thinking similar things... would you like to go out to dinner tonight?"

I grinned, warmth blooming in my chest. "I'd love to."

We shared another smile, then quickly got dragged back to reality by our competitors.

"Damn Sousa, nurses must be your type," said Thompson, coming to a stop beside us. Daniel glared, and Peggy whacked Jack hard enough in the arm to make us all feel better. Then, the blond turned to me. "That was obnoxiously impressive. I'm starting to think you'll be even less responsive to this offer than I thought you'd be, but if you ever feel like making a move to New York, give me a call."

With that, he turned and walked off to rejoin the rest of the picnic. Peggy took a few backwards steps to follow him as she fixed us with a smile.

"Congratulations, you two. You make an excellent team." She shot us a wink, then turned, leaving just me and Daniel.

"Well... I guess we'd better go rejoin that picnic," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "We have a victory to rub in, after all."

Daniel smiled, then held out his hand for me. I took it, and we headed towards the rest of our friends and coworkers, ready to face the embarrassment together. I could already see Rose grinning at me amongst everyone else. I sighed.

I could get through this. It would all be worth it. I got to leave this picnic in a few hours, for dinner with Daniel Sousa, who I'd decided over the course of the day might well be the man of my dreams.

I'd barely been here a week, but these were already some of my favorite people on earth. I couldn't wait to see where the next weeks (and longer) took us.

#acb2022 #marvel #agent carter #daniel sousa #daniel sousa x reader #marvel fanfiction #marvel one shot #marvel imagine #agent carter oneshot #agent carter imagine #agent carter fanfiction #daniel sousa fanfiction #daniel sousa imagine #daniel sousa oneshot #1940s #SSR #chief daniel sousa #chief jack thompson #peggy carter #rose roberts

[bibatbrat]

TMA Season 4

I did take a hiatus for several months three episodes before the finale for unknown (depressed) reasons 🥲 But nonetheless, I stay silly

Oliver Banks relatable as hell for stealing a dead man’s identity to sneak aboard a scientific research vessel so that he can get some damn sleep

But also him laying out for John what’s happening and why and the choice he needs to make… and then John starting to breathe again…. God

Tim being the first one John asks about when he wakes up. Screaming and crying and throwing up.

And Basira immediately adding Daisy 🥲

He’s The Archivist now huh

I love Melanie so much, queen of having emotions that no one else will fucking acknowledge

Chelicerae and the story-spinner are so good, I’m 100% stealing them for DnD or something

John saying he wishes he could talk to his team and then acknowledging that he’s nostalgic for something that never really happened 🥺

Simon Fairchild is so funny, man just loves being spooky dooky

Civilian Casualties is very good. I don’t normally care that much for the Slaughter statements, but this one was tasty

Performing non-consensual surgery on your unconscious co-worker = hostile work environment?

Martin talking to the tape recorder is so fucking cute

Man, that coffin just fucking loves eating cops huh

John using his powers to track Martin down for a convo…. Gay as hell

Martin telling John that he won’t let him die again…. Gay as hell

The whole concept of “bias of survivorship” is so interesting… I know that John doesn’t want to access that knowledge, but I do

Personally think that the Flesh ritual should have been called “the Munchies” but that’s just me

Helen trapping Jared in a rat maze labyrinth is so funny, I love her

Self-harm in the name of seeking knowledge… yes 😌

Jared’s so funny for being an Avatar and nope-ing out of his Fear’s ritual. He simply did not feel like it.

ngl seems a little disingenuous to leave behind an explanation/apology to your friends for the stupid thing you’re about to do w the rib that you got yanked out of you for some spilled tea (a stupid thing to do)

*uses my evil magic powers to give my friend therapy*

Seriously though, Daisy and John have a… rocky relationship, but it was very nice for them to get some Comfort together in the midst of the Hurt

The Everchase is so good. They got the zoomies

T H E E X T I N C T I O N

Shoutout to the Web and the End for being the baddest bitches around

I do love the “protag works for the bad guys bc they’ve traded their service for the safety of the people they care about” trope

Martin putting a bunch of tapes on the coffin to help John find his way back 🥺

Very funny that the Dark’s ritual was like “what if we had a sun….. of DARKNESS 😈😈😈”

John being disappointed that he can’t watch the cursed Web horror movies… same, bestie

Gertrude saying that she cares for Gerard and doesn’t want to risk losing him stopping the Unknowing… makes me 🥺 but also lowkey makes everything so much worse

Elias telling Martin that his decision about joining the Lonely is “too important to interfere with” is so funny

Smirke’s statement is so interesting… it’s wild that someone who was so instrumental in the academia of the Fears would have a change of heart so close to the end. It’s also wild that he continues to trust Jonah despite it all. At least he got the quick death he prayed for.

The Desolation’s beef with Gertrude after Agnes is so tasty

And the way they create Agnes is so wonderfully fucked up and terrible

Agnes being destroyed by DOUBT. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

SHE MADE THEM HANG HERRRRRRR

John getting hurt when he tries to use his powers to Know what Peter’s plans are is very good

Can’t believe Mikaele Salesa fell for the old “one last job” trap 😔 we hate to see it

Gertrude intimidating Arthur Nolan…. What a fucking girlboss

V much like Arthur’s notion that the entities understand people as little as people understand them

And him talking about how he thinks they fucked up raising Agnes bc they treated her as their messiah and not as a child 🥺

Annabelle 💜

Basira beating the shit out of Elias is very funny

Cul-de-sac is so fucking good

Daisy saving John from Julia and Trevor… Hunter v Hunter shit is AWESOME

Eric’s statement makes me crazy… I love all of the old Institute drama and it’s so fucked up to hear him being so intensely focused on keeping Gerry safe when we know in the present-day that he’s dead

John going to Martin to suggest that they both blind themselves and run away together… Gay

Cost of Living is also fucking bonkers

Melanie ☹️

Peter thinking that it’s funny to jump out and scare Martin is so fucking funny

Adelard concrete-ing an avatar to death(-ish) is badass as hell

But also very funny to imagine him doused in gasoline and about to light the match when he’s like “oh shit!!!” and runs off to write the email real quick lol

Georgie and Melanie… love wins

I love it when John tries to compel another avatar and they get into a stand-off. I think he loses to Helen because he’s acting out of the very human emotions of fear and love. To do it properly, I bet he needs to lose more of his humanity

Peter mentioning Tim and Martin shutting him down… my heart…

Jolias…..

Gertrude challenging Elias to shut the fuck up or actually kill her and him shooting her in the heart before she even finishes the threat is so camp, I love him

Daisy letting the Hunt overtake her so that she can fight Julia and Trevor AGHHHHHHHH

Elias and Peter do have incredibly divorced energies and I love them for it

Peter taunting John in the Lonely while he desperately looks for Martin

Oh god and him coming out with the “you won’t be able to hurt anyone if you stay in here ☺️”

It kills me how readily Peter gives up his statement. Yeah he resists and yeah he’s compelled, but once John gets him started it all comes tumbling out so easily… something something ironic how an avatar of the Lonely jumps so quickly at the chance of being heard and understood, the most human connection of all

Absolutely fascinated by the Lukas family dynamics… need some more statements from those bitches

Gertrude fucking stops his ritual by cancelling him, I’m….

The parallels between John compelling Martin to see him in the Lonely to follow him out versus John compelling Tim to see the truth behind the Unknowing to stop it (by killing himself)

OH IT’S THE FUCKING MEME HERE WE GOOOOO

I love Elias so much, what a fucking bitch

What a fantastic villainous monologue 💜

Oh they are so fucking fucked

#live blogging #j listens to tma #tma

[astarion]

Liked the Nintendo Direct a lot! Plenty of fun games both previously announced and revealed here, and a lot of them are coming early on next year!

The announcements that got me the most excited were the new Fire Emblem and Octopath Traveler games, as well as Rain Code, though some other announcements were nice to see too (Tales of Symphonia remaster, Kirby WiiU return even if I’m probably gonna pass that one, and a new Theaterhythm). I have some thoughts on the big ones I mentioned.

First, Fire Emblem Engage. I love the series so I am really excited to that see a new one is being made, and will be out in just a few months! However, I have some mixed feelings about it. Specifically, on how it’s using bringing in protagonists from previous games in the series as a plot point and game mechanic.

Three times now there have been games in the series that have done this: the first FE Warriors, FE Heroes, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions. And each time they never really had much of an effect on the plot. Heroes and TMS downplayed the old series characters to tell their stories with the original characters. The most effect past protagonists had was with Warriors, but that also had the weakest story of the three and the least developed original character world.

So seeing this being brought in to Engage in a very significant way makes me a little worried on how it’s going to go. On the plus side, it looks like the older characters are being used not as full-on summoned to this world characters like the other examples, (so the new characters should still be the stars) but instead brought in as phantasmal beings in stat-buffing rings, and can even make fusion forms with the game’s new characters. This could be a fun spin on the gameplay and is honestly pretty cool. On the minus side, the balance between old and new could easily be tipped to put too much in a direction and lose what the game may be going for. If there’s too much emphasis on Marth and co., this could leave the new characters and world underdeveloped and unsatisfying. But if there isn’t enough emphasis on Marth and co., then that begs the question of why go through all the trouble with them to begin with? Would it just have been better to either not have this mechanic, or have it with original characters, past heroes of Engage’s own world, instead on relying on brand recognition from other games in the series? So I’m excited, but in a cautiously optimistic way right now.

Also, as a minor note, with Sigurd being featured, I haven’t played Genealogy yet, and I know his general story thanks to Heroes, but I would really like his story to be officially released or remade out of Japan to enjoy in full. The remake option worked great for Alm and Celica with Shadows of Valentia after all!

For Octopath Traveler 2, the game is looking to be a sequel that’s a lot like the first, only more. The trailer’s advertised interconnections with the heroes’ stories, but I don’t know if they mean that it will be like the first one, where there’s an underlying thread that comes out in the endgame after all stories are done, or if there is actually more interaction between the heroes this time around.

Either way, I am liking that technology is a little more present (there’s a train, and a factory that explodes!) and I’m eager to see how they’ve built on to this game after the first Octopath, since Triangle Strategy and Live a Live also used this engine.

As for Rain Code, seeing this coming from the team that worked on Dangan Ronpa has me very excited! I love mysteries, and also enjoyed Dangan Ronpa a lot, but if you’ve played V3, then it is pretty clear that V3 was very likely to be the final game of that type they would make (for a long time at least). So, seeing the mystery solving come back fresh as a full-on detective story rather than a high-school killing game, with that powerful, over-the-top flair that helped DR stand out, I am really excited to see where this goes.

#nintendo direct #fire emblem engage #Octopath traveler 2 #rain code #thoughts and stuff

[skylarmoon71]

Alexander (Grimm) Chapter 15

The chime of a door has you looking up. Now seated at the back of the cafe, footsteps approach, and someone takes a seat right in front of you.

“Hello Doctor.”

“Hi Alexander.”

There’s a strange warmth that comes with seeing him right in front of you.

“I was surprised when you contacted me. How did you know I was in Washington?”

“I didn’t. But I figured the council would be looking into this case.”

“So you’ve heard.”

“I have. A friend of mine brought me in to help with the case. He works with the FBI. Alexander, they still have four kids with them.”

“They’ve already committed a capital crime. The FBI has two of them in custody, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know who is still out there?”

“No. I haven’t questioned any of them. I was hoping for some help. That’s why I called you.”

“I understand. The council has a few connections in Quantico for situations like this. However your friend, which unit is he assigned to."

“Behavioral Analysis.”

He sighs.

“I was afraid of that. We can request an interview, but the case will not be transferred to our custody.”

“You won’t have to. Aaron knows everything.” Alexander looks surprised.

“Is he wesen?”

“No he isn’t.”

“So you just told him?”

“We have history. He’s on our side, trust me.” Alexander jaw sets, but he doesn’t comment on your statement.

“When will we be able to do the interview?”

“Half an hour if you’re up to it.”

“I think I can clear up my schedule.”

That’s what you were hoping he’d say.

~Quantico~

“So who is the woman that came in to see Hotch?” Morgan questions.

“Old girlfriend.” Reid states.

“I think we would have remembered her.”

The elevator opens, and in walks the very woman they were talking about. A taller man followed behind. Prentiss turns, recognition crossing her face.

“(Y/N)?”

Her call draws your attention, and your smile brightens.

“Emily!”

You move over to her excitedly and she hugs you the moment you’re within reach.

Morgan raises a brow.

“Am I the only one who is out of the loop.” You pull away.

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I’m (Y/N) Nebojsa. It’s nice to meet you."

Morgan shakes your hand, and Reid sends you a little smile.

“Nice to see you again Reid.”

“(Y/N)!” David comes from his office, with a grin.

“Now I really feel left out.” Morgan comments.

JJ is the last to join.

“Don’t feel bad. You were busy with Hank, remember. A lot happened in those four months." JJ greets you. Alexander stays at the back. It’s only when Hotch walks out that he drifts a bit closer. They both meet in the middle.

“You must be Hotchner.”

“And you’re Alexander."

They shake hands, and for a moment there is just silence. Everyone noticed.

“Thank you for assisting us in this case. The interrogation rooms are this way.” Hotch pulls his hand back, and Alexander nods. The rest of the team follows as you head down the hallway.

“Will you be doing separate interviews, or are you going in together.”

“We’ll do both of them together.”

Hotch nods.

“I’ve got you both clearance. You’re listed as consultants on the case.”

That worked great. When you get to the room, you stare at the man on the other side.

“His name is Jerry Keller. “

You look over at Alexander, and he nods, opening the door. You both enter, shutting the door behind you. Jerry straightens up in his chair. He looks fairly relaxed. Alexander inhales, turning his nose.

“Mauvi Don.” Alexander says solemnly. Neither of you take a seat, and Jerry looks a bit more guarded.

“Damn Pflichttreue.” Jerry snarls, then turns to you.

“What are you, his guard dog?”

You just circle him. With his wrist handcuffed to the table, there isn’t much he can do. You finally stop after you’ve made your assessment.

“Let’s go Alexander.” Jerry looks confused.

“Wait, is that it!”

You barely glance at him, and it infuriates him.

“Don’t walk away from me!!”

He woges, and the second your eyes connect, he rolls his head back, dropping into his seat. He looks a bit horrified.

“Shit..”

You can see the fear. When you move closer this time, he’s become quiet. His eyes trail to your neck, the piece of a tattoo peeking out.

“It’s you..”

Alexander is puzzled by the recognition the male shows.

“Tell us everything about your plan, or you being locked away in a cell will be the least of your problems. “ You know Hotch’s team is watching, you have to be careful with your words, and threats.

When you move closer Jerry pulls at his chains unconsciously. He gulps, and you sit down, reaching for his hands. You take it, and you can feel him hold his breath.

“Alright alright!” You release his hands.

“Where are the kids?”

“They’re at a farm. We took them to prove a point. Just like the others. We were all supposed to meet back up, but the cops snagged me and Jed. If we didn’t all come back in an hour then Mike is gonna ditch the kids.”

“Is he like you?”

Jerry nods shakily.

“I-I can give you the address and everything.”

Something still doesn’t add up.

“Why did you spare the children? All the others were killed within the hour of their kidnapping. You’ve had the children for more than five hours.” He looks a bit unnerved at the question, and he glances at the glass behind you.

“One of those brats..she’s a Grimm.” He whispers. Your jaw clenched.

“Mike wanted to kill her the minute he found out, but Jed and I talked him out of it. W-We didn’t want that target on our heads.” Your hand is clenched tight.

“I should kill you right here.” You seeth. He leans away, pulling aggressively at his hands as he tries to stand.

“G-Get me out of here!! She’s going to kill me!!” His ruckus caused Hotch to walk in. Morgan followed behind as he held another pair of handcuffs.

“N-No..NO!”

Jerry woged, snapping the restraints on his hands. He lounged for Morgan who had already braced for the attack. You intercepted, slamming your fist into his gut. His body skidded back, hitting the wall harshly. He coughed, changing back as he gasped, trying to gather his breath. Morgan pulled him off the ground roughly, cuffing his hands.

“He broke those cuffs like they were nothing.” Morgan muttered.

“What kind of drugs is he on?”

Alexander sent you a look as he walked out. Morgan was still watching you carefully. When he was no longer in the room, Hotch moved over to you, taking your hand.

“Are you alright?” He was inspecting it for damage.

“I’m okay.”

“I hate to break up this little party, but we have more pressing matters. “ Alexander looks agitated, but you brushed it off.

“He’s right, we need to find those kids. Then go after Mike. He’s a Mauvi Don. Bodies are going to start dropping wherever he goes. Even more now that he knows his partners have been caught.”

This was one of the moments where a happy ending was not promised.

#grimm #crossover #love #feelings #partners #care #fights #wesen #nick burkhardt #Adalind Schade #culture #fear #trust #bau #criminalminds/grimm #meetings #alexanderxreader #mystery #friendship

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Enjoying the festivities and the hustle and bustle of Adrikha City

Well, that tournament was an interesting ride! To be honest, I still don’t fully understand what happened at the end, but I still had a great time nonetheless. Connie and Pai were too busy so I didn’t get to really hang out with them. At least Connie had time to introduce me to a lot of their new traveling companions, and it was nice to see Sadiki, Layla, and Nahla again.

Adrikha City’s one of those places where it takes some getting used to because of the way the city’s built. In other words, it’s pretty vertical, so it takes time to figure out. Connie’s been here for a while and they still need to think about it when finding their way around as it’s pretty easy to get lost.

This year’s tournament was pretty special for various reasons, mainly because it means that things are finally settling down. A lot of changes have taken place in Dharma for the better ever since Nahla took over. I’ve heard from a lot of people that the environment over there is noticeably different - a lot less tense and cutthroat, which is a good sign.

I remember Nahla and Sadiki talking about addressing various problems with the institution over the years - exclusion and classism being one of the bigger issues. They have since then changed the admission process to make it less discriminatory and more inclusive. Obviously things were shaky for a while as there was a lot going on with people resigning and such, but they pushed through and it finally seems like their efforts are paying off.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, but at least now they can relax a little. The tournament’s something that’s held every few years, and so the timing happened to work out. I’m guessing the last tournament wasn’t too memorable based on what other people were saying. Part of it has to do with the fact that it was pretty much exclusively a Dharma event, which probably means it wasn’t a welcoming thing.

This time, they changed things up by not making it strictly academia based. The main event, the tournament, is the most academia you can get as only staff, alumni, or students can participate. It’s sort of a recruitment thing from my understanding, but it’s also like any other festival with the activities and such. As for the rest, like various stalls and some of the commentators, they’re not affiliated with the university, which was why Connie and Pai were asked to participate.

There’s six contestants who are part of the main event, each person being a representative for their department. Sadiki and Layla happen to be part of the competition and they both tied for second place. The winner was Talha, an architect and freelancer who declined the prize money for personal reasons, instead choosing to donate all of it to charity. Apparently, something happened that resulted in an ongoing investigation of a late researcher who might have been involved in unethical experiments, so if that’s the case, then that explains why they’ve been kinda vague.

Other contestants include Sadiki’s partner Nabil, someone who helped Connie out on numerous occasions and is an expert on the forest. Raniya, a professor and renowned researcher who’s sort of like a mentor to Talha, and is an expert on ruins.

And the last one is Nahla’s nephew, who everyone calls Astral. I barely saw him as he didn’t seem too interested in the competition and isn’t technically a student in the official sense. Connie mentioned that he’s someone who Nahla took in and he just stuck around. Pai said he’s kinda sus, but he probably won’t try anything as he seems to respect Nahla a lot. Sounds like he got involved in a lot of trouble and she’s giving him a chance to turn things around.

It was fun watching the competition and seeing everyone having a good time. The first one took place in the city, sort of a scavenger hunt thing. Sadiki and Nabil engaged in some friendly competition while Talha and Raniya decided to team up.

I got to meet the rest of Adrikha’s heroes when they overthrew pretty much half of Dharma’s staff, aka a lot of corrupt government officials. Co-commentators include a well know performer named Nilou, who’s affiliated with the local theatre, and Haitham, who’s part of the admin staff. I also finally got to meet Haniyya and Noora, who were invited to the city as special guests to represent their village.

While talking with them, we happened to run into Layla and Connie and witnessed Layla take second place when she completed her final task with a little help from Haniyya. A while earlier, Nabil just finished, and not too long after, Talha and Raniya got third place.

The next stage of the competition took place in the desert, right outside of Haniyya’s village. There was a bit of trouble when Nabil and Astral had to drop out due to heatstroke. Sadiki managed to redeem himself by taking first place, which he owes to his expertise in mechanics and elemental energy and familiarity with the area, despite leaving his post to check on Nabil. Layla once again took second place, which was remarkable considering she - and Astral - were not as familiar with the desert compared to the others.

Time ran a bit long as Talha and Raniya ran into some trouble. Connie and Pai went to check in on them as it was starting to get dark. Aside from Sadiki, who’s from here, Raniya and Talha were pretty familiar with the desert because of their work. Although they come from different areas of study, there is some overlap, so that’s how they became friends. Again, they worked together and got third place.

The final stage of the competition was supposed to take place the next day, but because things ran late and a couple contestants got heatstroke, they pushed it to the day after so everyone can rest. It’s just something that the organizers put into account and in most cases, that extra day is needed.

Connie and Pai finally had some time to rest so they finally gave us a proper tour of the city - at least most of it since there’s so much to cover. The university’s an open campus but with all the activity going on, it’s a little hectic over there. Still, it looks like a nice and fancy place that screams prestige but also welcoming, the kind of place I wouldn’t mind hanging out in if I had some time to kill.

Again, it’s a huge change from how things were before. I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about that. I don’t have anything to compare it to, so I can’t say too much on that, but I’m glad for the change. Academia can be pretty toxic so I welcome anyone who address and combat those issues of elitism and arrogance.

Nahla was obviously busy, but she made the time to drop by and show us around a bit. These days, she and Sadiki have been going back and forth between the city, desert, and countryside for work, which is part of the reason why Sadiki’s on paid leave. After all the hard work he put in, he deserves a nice, long vacation. Hopefully Nahla gets one too.

Pai mentioned that off duty Sadiki takes some getting used to as he gives off the impression as someone who’s super serious and unrelenting. He’s the kind of person who knows how to have a good time, within reason, of course. Somehow he gives off the vibe of being a loner, which obviously is inaccurate as he’s pretty well connected. He and Nabil have been together for several years and they have an adoptive sister, Amina, who’s kinda like Nabil’s student.

I recall Amber mentioning Amina a long time ago. She took her in after rescuing her during an ambush. Amina was said to have been kidnapped and raised by some shady organization when she was little. Then she was saved by Amber, who later introduced her to Sadiki and Nabil, and they took her in. A few weeks ago, the three of them actually came over to Bonsai to visit Amber for a short vacation.

Amina seems to be caught in the middle of a competition as Raniya’s trying to get her to become her student. According to Talha, she’s been looking for a successor with no avail, mainly because people are intimidated by her. Although they work together a lot, he wouldn’t say that he’s her student, but he respects her a lot. Amina likes Raniya, but like many others, she finds her a bit too much to deal with. Plus, she’s intimidated by her intelligence and expertise, especially since she only learned to read and write a couple years ago.

Sadiki points out that she’s made good progress to the point that Amina’s helping Raniya with a program to help people her age with low literacy skills. The problem is that there’s not enough resources for those around Amina’s age group - late teens to early twenties - as most of the material isn’t age appropriate or just doesn’t exist. Most of them already have the basics down, not to mention that they’re likely working, so that’s another thing to consider. They have made some progress on that, but nothing entirely concrete yet.

Talha, Connie, and Pai seem to be hanging out a lot. Amina, Sadiki, and Nabil say that Talha and Haitham have an interesting relationship. They tend to argue a lot, but they also seem to be close in the sense that they have history together. Nilou’s not sure what to think of Haitham as she tried to make small talk with him and has trouble responding to him. Talha told her that he’s messing with her half the time so she shouldn’t think about it too much.

I take it that Haitham’s kind of the oddball who just does whatever he wants, kinda like Astral, but less sus, I guess. Sadiki has worked with him, but it wasn’t until recent events when they went from being strictly colleagues to briefly acknowledging each other outside of work if they see each other. In other words, they aren’t exactly close, but they don’t mind hanging out once in a while.

Talha apparently has a lot to say about him as they used to work together when they were students, so I guess that means up and personal. Sadiki and Nabil kinda cut him off so I get the idea that there’s a lot to unpack and it wasn’t the right time for that, especially with people they don’t know too well. I’m sorta intrigued, but I still don’t know them too well, so I shouldn’t pry.

It was nice seeing Layla again and it seems like Raniya has taken an interest in her too. Raniya said that Layla’s been a bit intimidated by the competition, especially since she’s surrounded by people who are pretty well known while she’s only an underclassman. So she’s been going out of her way to help Layla feel relaxed and welcome, which I think has helped. No one’s gonna bite her head off - well, except maybe Astral, given his snarky attitude. He got in a bit of trouble earlier for saying some rude things to Layla when she admitted that she was nervous, but she said he didn’t upset her too much as Pai warned her about him earlier.

All Sadiki could say about Astral is to let him do whatever he wants. He admits that he doesn’t know too much about that guy aside from Nahla telling him and Haitham to make sure he stays out of trouble. He’s not even sure if Astral lives with Nahla, though he sees him at her place often. Nabil says that Nahla’s patient but also very strict, so it makes sense that she’d be able to put up with someone like Astral and keep him in line.

Amina mentioned she ran into him once and he claimed that he met her before, which kinda weirded her out as he seemed really smug about her not remembering. Apparently, he said something similar to Nabil, and he found that weird too. As we later found out, he seems to say things like that, probably to get some sort of reaction out of them. The more I hear about him, the more I agree with Pai that he seems sus - not in a dangerous way, more like just leave him alone because there’s no use trying to figure him out.

Even though everyone’s at the festival, the bazaar’s still full of activity. Nilou and Noora showed us around and we did a lot of shopping. Noora’s worked in the city enough times to be familiar with the shops and since Haniyya hardly leaves the village, she wants to make the most out of her trip. Good thing they saved up a lot money! I don’t know how they could walk around with all those bags and boxes, even if they are pretty strong.

As for Nilou, that’s where the theater is, so she pretty much lives here. Unfortunately, because she’s busy with the tournament, there’s no performances scheduled. There’s a reason why she’s the star of the show as her dancing is said to be mesmerizing - definitely a must-see when you’re visiting the city. Since she couldn’t treat us to a performance, Nilou decided to make it up by giving us a crash course on Adrikha’s street food.

Noora wasn’t kidding, it’s easy to get caught up in the bazaar. Nilou insisted on getting discounts for everyone, which means free stuff, which she didn’t have to, but turning down their generosity’s considered disrespectful, especially since it’s supposed to help them. Basically, the vendors try to be sustainable and not waste anything, especially when it comes to food.

Everyone’s so nice over there, kinda like one big happy family, as Nilou puts it. I find it hard to believe that she was once considered a threat when the arts weren’t respected for a time. Again, it’s a good thing Dharma was knocked down a peg because at the time they were trying to eliminate the arts completely. Nilou being asked to participate in the festival also served as an apology for how the theater was treated in the past.

The changing academia scene has been a hot topic, and for good reason. Nabil mentioned that he quit working for his alma mater because of the stressful environment, but didn’t cut his ties completely as he was and still is respected by many. He has no intentions to return, but he’ll help them out with things like assisting in research or giving lectures as long as their intentions are good.

Sadiki and Raniya note that with the staff, everyone seems a lot less uptight and more approachable. Everyone used to be divided, almost clique-like before, but now you’ve got faculty members from different departments hanging out, in and outside of work. Even communication as a whole has improved tremendously, especially with a lot of unnecessary barriers and red tape being removed. They admit, it’s still a bit tense and not always the most welcoming, but that’s just another thing they’re trying to work on. At least with certain people out of the way, it’s now more of an individual problem than a general thing.

Connie, Pai, and Talha were unable to stick around for too long when something came up and they needed to look for Haitham. Raniya let it slip that she’s worried about Talha, an observation that Layla agrees with in the short time she’s met him. In short, despite his fame and success, he’s had a difficult upbringing and has been dealing with personal problems for some time.

He mentioned that part of the reason why he joined the competition was because his parents participated when he was young. They didn’t win but they had a great time. Sometime later his father died and things weren’t the same between him and his mother, who later moved overseas and remarried. Maybe the competition was one of the last happy memories he shared with his parents, so it makes sense that a part of him wanted to revisit that.

With Haitham making remarks about Talha getting caught up in things and being easily taken advantage of, Raniya’s worries aren’t unfounded. Nabil and Sadiki said that he’s the kind of person who puts himself last, and has run into trouble because of that.  They all noticed that he seemed distracted in the last round, and Raniya said that something did happen that caused him to fall behind. If she hadn’t run into him and offered to team up, who knows how long he would’ve been stranded?

The day flew by pretty quickly while feeling pretty packed. Even though I was in a somewhat big group with people I didn’t know too well, it didn’t feel too exhausting at all. Because of the final stage the next day, we didn’t stay out too late, which was fine since we accomplished a lot. Nothing like sharing drinks at the tavern to unwind.

In the end, like I said, stuff happened behind the scenes. The last stage was a combat thing where they have to retrieve an object and put it in its rightful place. It was fascinating seeing them in action - even Astral was putting in a lot of effort for once. Layla was the first to get the jewel, only for Astral to jump in and later get cornered by Sadiki, Nabil, and Raniya. Somewhere in that fray, Talha managed to grab the gem and place it on the crown.

However, instead of lighting up, the crown started sort of glitching. Suddenly, the cameras cut out, and they chalked it up to be technical issues. I later found out that it was kinda true that the cameras were acting haywire, but there was a lot more going on as well. In short, Talha and Connie uncovered some things about the researcher whose inheritance was part of the grand prize that brings more questions than answers.

Nahla wasn’t too surprised at how things turned out as she had her suspicions, but it was purely circumstantial at the time. She actually met that researcher a long time ago, before he changed drastically, and had some reservations when his research was rediscovered. It didn’t seem like anything dangerous, more like something that can potentially cause trouble, so it makes sense that she’d want to take precautions without drawing too much attention to it. At least Talha dealt with the issue so there shouldn’t be anymore trouble and she’ll take it from here to close the case.

Despite the confusion, the tournament ended on a high note. Daisy Jane and I tagged along with Haniyya, Noora, Raniya, and Layla for dinner, where we happened to run into Sadiki, Amina, Nabil, Talha, Connie, and Pai at the restaurant. After that we did some more shopping at the bazaar and watched some street performances.

The past few days have been fun, but tiring, so I’m glad that we’re not heading home right away. In fact, Daisy Jane and I are staying in Adrikha a bit longer to hang around and meet up with some friends who will be visiting. Connie and Pai will be sticking around too, which is great since I rarely got to see them during the festivities.

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#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #diary of a junebug #headcanon ramble