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k7l4d4 · 3 years

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Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 7 Part 1

Hello all, today I bring you my adaptation of Lost In Language, through the world of Midnight Striga! Everybody Clap Your Hands!!

“So then,” Luz casually stated, looking over the stacks before her. “You want me to return these books for you, eh?” She glanced over at King and Eda, the two doing their best to follow her instructions in gathering their mana. King was admittedly doing better, and it honestly had nothing to do with him having more experience with Human Style Magic (she should think about getting that name trademarked). Eda just so severely chafed against any and every attempt to define what she could or couldn’t do that whenever she tried to focus and meditate, she would squirm, and growl, and complain. If it weren’t so utterly Eda, Luz would’ve found it exhausting.

“Yup.” Eda tersely replied, forcing herself to keep her eyes closed and her mind centered; it wasn’t going too well. Feeling her will waiver, Eda cracked an eye open, and just barely kept her eyes from snapping open incredulously; King was absolutely focused, a visible aura of energy surrounding him, resembling grey-colored rings rippling off his form. Screwing her face up, Eda did her best to center herself, “Those have been sitting around enough that I’ll probably need to do some sweet talking the next time I go back, and it gets you out of the way while King and I practice.” It came out harsher than she intended, but Eda was dead set on figuring this out with as little help as possible. The fact that King was somehow rocking at this just made that determination stronger.

Luz snorted good-naturedly; she completely understood where Eda was coming from, and didn’t begrudge her for it. “Alright then. It gives me a chance to see what passes for quiet entertainment around this place, and maybe find something new to read. Heck, I might even get a chance to organize my collection of… ‘borrowed’ books and scrolls!” She casually detailed, slinging her pack over her shoulders, the stack of books swiftly stored within. She shook her head in amusement at Eda’s answering grunt, walking for the door. Opening it, she noticed Hooty’s odd smile; following his downward gaze, she instantly spotted what had caught his eye. While a bit confused as to why he hadn’t tried to eat it, Luz hunkered down, pulling the note placed on top of the basket left on their doorstep. “‘Take care of my child till morning. Yi yi.”

“Nope, not happening. Babies are awful, and I’m busy trying to figure this whole, *Shudders* meditation thing out.” Eda groaned, not wanting to deal with the new interruption.

Luz rolled her eyes, but continued reading, a smirk crossing her face as she did so. “‘You will be handsomely rewarded. X-O-X-O-X-O-X. Bat Queen.’” She knew there was no chance of Eda saying no now, her love of rewards was too strong. Plus, the canny witch had more of a soft-spot than she was willing to admit.

“The Bat Queen!? The most influential and wealthy demon on the Isles?!?” Eda demanded, twisting around to look in Luz’s direction. Glancing around briefly, she huffed, pulling herself to her feet, and strolled over. Taking the basket, she glanced inside, seeing a baby inside. “Ugh, now I can’t say no! If I do, BQ will have my head on a platter, and for once it won’t be while I’m alive. Aw well, at least kids are easy- Why are you speed walking away!?” She demanded, even as Luz booked it before the fireworks started, laughing her head off. Glancing down, Eda was caught off guard as the baby burst into screaming, startling the prematurely aged Witch. “Gah! How are you so loud!?” She demanded, completely unprepared to deal with the noise. Glancing back, her eyes widened in shock. “And how are you not affected by this!?” She shouted at King, still meditating away.

Luz chuckled to herself, a slight skip in her step as she wandered through town. Eda was definitely in for a rude awakening, though Luz herself had once made the same mistake when she had to babysit kids, and she could honestly look back at that moment and laugh at herself over it. Glancing around, she idly noted the whispered mutters surrounding her, the way that parents pulled their kids aside as she walked past, though this time they weren’t as blatantly fearful of her presence at least, just more… hesitant. Luz shrugged, unwilling to begrudge the mild shift in treatment, as even a slight improvement was still an improvement.

“Luz!” Gus’ voice called out. Glancing ahead, she was pleasantly surprised to see Gus and Willow waving her over. Cheering up slightly, she hurried her pace, closing the distance between them. Reaching out, she pulled the two into a one-armed hug, smirking at their embarrassment at the affection. “Ah, please let go!” Gus comically begged, feet dangling below him. With a smirk, Luz released her grip, Willow stumbling slightly while Gus plopped to the ground.

“Please don’t do that so suddenly.” Willow said flatly, a look of good-humored warning in her eyes, prompting a chuckling Luz to raise her hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay, just a little joke.” Luz said calmly, lowering her arms, idly noting the increased fervor of the whispers and mutters around them. Tuning them out, she asked, “So, what are you guys doing in town?”

“Eh, Principal Bump has been having teachers give out more combat-based homework, and we decided to find somewhere we could practice in peace.” Willow replied, giving a shrug.

“Cool. I’m looking for the library to return Eda’s overdue books.” Luz stated, patting the pack on her shoulder.

Gus beamed. “We can show you where it is!” He shouted exuberantly, prompting Luz and Willow to trade amused looks at their friend’s eager nature. Shaking their heads, Willow and Gus casually followed behind Gus as he ran up ahead. “Come on!” he called.

As they walked forward, Luz’s attention was drawn by a figure ranting to a small crowd nearby. She slowed, Gus and Willow pulling up next to her.

“And I’m saying that this is ridiculous!” The figure shouted, scaly head scrunched up in outrage. He glanced over his muttering audience. “How can we honestly say we trust the Emperor’s Coven when they let themselves get slaughtered by those damn humans!?” He shouted, a small smirk playing across his face at the sounds of agreement started cutting through the crowd.

“But they couldn’t have known the humans would’ve attacked!” One brave fellow called out, only to reel back at the glare the speaker up front sent his way.

“That shouldn’t matter! The Emperor’s Coven say they’re the best of the best, but they got butchered like Beast Demons!” The speaker rebuked, flames barking out of his throat. “They say they can protect us, but they can’t even protect themselves! They say they’re the strongest, the best, but they’re just a bunch of thugs and goons! Look at their leader, she had to cheat her way to where she got!! How can we trust them to keep us safe from those monsters!?” The rumbles of discontent and agreement at his words grew louder, the speaker basking in it all.

Gus and Willow exchanged nervous glances, while Luz just watched on, an inscrutable look on her face. “We should get moving.” Luz finally said, quickly walking away, the two Witches nodding in agreement, following after. None noticed as the speaker followed them with his eyes as the guards forcibly started breaking up the crowd, the audience noticeably less frightened about it as they normally would be, with a few even glaring at the guards openly. The speaker glanced at his nascent flock. It wasn’t much… but it was a start. He smirked.

King easily tuned out the shouts and screams around him. It wasn’t hard, seeing as he was screaming himself raw inside his own mind. In his mind’s eye, he glared hatefully at that damn pig who had dared to humiliate him. He was a King, no matter what anyone said, and a King protected their own. He had failed to protect his own; he had failed to help Eda. He growled internally, sinking into a stew of resentment. Luz had given him a gift, a way to regain his power and prestige as a fierce and powerful ruler, and he had been squandering it. He… felt small, weak, helpless like nothing else had managed.

Breathing deep, he felt the magic building, pooling in his throat, his lungs. He racked his brain, forcing it to recall more details from the book Luz had shown him, her words and lessons.

“So, what can I do with this?” He asked, glancing up at a smirking Luz.

Luz kicked back, leaning against the wall. ‘I honestly can’t say, really. At its most basic, that book will let you solidify sound and attack with it, but how far it can go is up to you.” She stated matter of factly, even as King squealed in rage.

“That tells me nothing!” He shouted, stomping his foot. He flipped through the book, eyes glazing at the words and odd depictions.

Luz shrugged, unconcerned. “Sorry, but magic is a personal journey. Education can give you a place to start, and a way to profit off of it traditionally, but to truly wield magic, you have to figure out what you want to do with it, and go from there.” She finished, clapping him lightly on his back, walking away.

“Hmph! What do I want? I want to be a powerful ruler, to make others bow before me!” He shouted, slamming the book down. “If I can use my magic to bring my enemies to my knees, I need nothing else!”

‘Making others bow didn’t work the way I wanted it to.’ He grunted internally, shaking off his reverie. Forcing himself to calm down, he recalled his fight, if you could call it that, with that annoying pig. He had left himself wide open, and nearly suffocated when the jerk bum rushed him. He could almost taste the idea on the tip of his tongue, could see the pictures from the book shifting into something new, something that would be able to wipe that smug little sneer off that pompous prick’s face.

He was a King, nothing would EVER change that. And he would not fail again. He forbid it.

“Late.” A librarian droned, passing Eda’s books through a magic circle. “Late.” He grabs the last one, quickly flipping through it. “Coffee, grass and bloodstains?” He glanced at Luz almost balefully. “These are Eda’s, aren’t they?”

“That was a wild night.” Luz sheepishly admitted. The librarian sighed, pulling out a scroll.

“I’ll just put it on her tab.” He muttered, quickly writing it down. “Just to let you know, we’ll be closing up early today for the Wailing Star meteor shower.”

Luz cocked an eyebrow, intrigued. “Wailing Star, eh? I’m gonna need to look that up. And speaking of Eda’s tab,” She pulled out a sack of assorted treasures she had… ‘borrowed’ over the year, “do you think I can pay some of it off with this?” She asked.

Blinking in surprise, the librarian quickly schooled his features, easily moving through the contents of the bag, sorting them with a clinical and considerate eye. Without missing a beat, he pulled the scroll with Eda’s tab listed on it, moving down and striking off bits and pieces as he scanned each jewel and bit of jewelry in the bag. Finishing, he sent the scroll away, giving Luz a grudging grin. “That should cover about four ninths of Eda’s tab. Thanks for that, not many people pay their tabs, and I can’t remember that last time anyone thought Eda would ever clear out part of hers. Keep your nose clean, kid.” And with that, he walked off, Luz heading into the library proper a second later.

She glanced about, and noted how similar, yet different, it was from the libraries back home. The kids were sitting at desks with crystal balls in front of them, which Luz had begun equating to Archive Terminals and Lacrima Receivers back home, scrolling through whatever mundane bit caught their eye, with a few seeming to actually be working on scholastic details.

Ducking quickly, Luz just barely avoided being brained by a flying book, grumbling at the unnecessarily dangerous methods the Isles used for almost everything. Spotting a nice table, she plopped herself down, sighing to herself. Without any form of prompting, she quickly pulled out the reference texts she would be using when she finally started her job, carefully monitoring each and every volume, eyes roaming the texts for damage.

“Man, I wish Gus and Willow didn’t have to head off.” She sighed. Technically, they said they didn’t want to spend their day in a den of nerdiness for fun. She just laughed, understanding not everyone would have similar interests as her. Carefully arranging her texts, she stood up, heading over to the stacks for anything that could be of use for explaining her subject matter to her students, and wasn’t THAT still a weird thought!

Casually leaning forward, she grasped a book, “Basics of Bile: A Studying Tool for Understanding Magic,” only for another hand to grab it at the same time.

“I believe my hand touched the book first.” A male voice said next to her. Turning, she shot the Witch boy an unimpressed look. A surly gaze stared back from tired looking red eyes, blond hair swept back, a small scar on his cheek. He cocked an eyebrow, a note of frustration entering his voice, “Are you just gonna stare, or are you gonna let go?” He challenged.

Luz blinked, stumbling back slightly. “Oh, I am so sorry.” She blustered, internally kicking herself. Normally, when she was analyzing someone, it was during a fight or from a distance. She had forgotten how off putting it was up close for others. “Just… looking into the basics, you know?” She shrugged.

The boy scoffed. “Yeah right. Considering what you did at the Covention, I doubt you need brushing up on the basics, particularly of magic you can’t use.” He marched off, throwing one last glare her way, an almost envious look in his eyes. “If you’re gonna lie, at least plan it out a little.”

“But I wasn’t-!” She started, only to trail off as he rounded a corner. “Lying. Ugh!” She groaned. Hopefully, she’d never see that guy again. He already got on her nerves.

#the owl house #fairy tail #owl house au #fairy tail au #owl house crossover #fairy tail crossover #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #bat queen #king the owl house #hunter the owl house #willow park #gus porter #magic

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cosmic-coyote7 · 3 years

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• My first posted jatp fic!! The idea came to me because I thought opening s2 with a flashback from one of the boys' pov would be interesting, so I picked Alex! This is his pov during the emotional third act in episode 9.

I hope y'all enjoy. ♡ •

~☆~♤~☆~♤~

This Family is Back

Not having control over your own body while being thrust before a crowd was the most terrifying experience Alex had ever endured. That was saying something because he vaguely remembered dying, but at least that had been quick.

This extended music number was agony. Even though the crowd before them was happily watching, dancing along, and enjoying the nightlife of the Hollywood Ghost Club, he was feeling quite the opposite.

His hands were moving and controlling his drum sticks as he struck the drums and tapped the symbols, but it was not because he wanted to. He was planted to his stool, unable to do more than watch in horror as the band around him danced and played their instruments with smiles glued to their glossed lips.

What was worse was seeing the faces of his bandmates.

Reggie looked terrified as his body jerkily danced across the stage, his fingers moving automatically on his bass guitar, but he was nothing more than a puppet on strings. He had zero control of his own body.

Luke was clearly fighting the hold of the puppeteer. His feet dragged even as his hands shredded cords on his electric guitar. His face was the picture of furious with his turned down brows and slightly bared teeth. He was fighting hard to break free, but was unable to.

They were all strong spirits in their own way, but the one who commanded them was stronger.

Alex strained against the invisible bonds that kept him planted behind the drum set and playing so mechanically, but it was hopeless. Caleb had his hooks dug into them, and the jolts had weakened them to the point they couldn't fight back.

Reggie had frustrated tears in his eyes as he too struggled to throw off Caleb's spell, while Luke looked ready to punch the magician square in the face.

Alex felt like that if he wasn't a ghost, he would be sweating from the effort of trying to regain control.

When the song ended, the playing stopped but they were all trapped on stage. The crowd applauded, blissfully unaware of the torment the band was enduring for the sake of entertaining them and keeping Caleb wealthy. The whole situation was enough to send Alex's brain into a panicked spiral.

Reggie had stopped playing and was looking around at his two friends, his legs locked in place but his arms trembling. Luke was in a similar state, but while Reggie still looked shocked and scared, Luke just looked angry.

Their second chance at performing at the Orpheum and their path to potentially crossing over had been blocked by a conniving and wealthy ghost. The man in question stood front and center stage as he bowed and took in the storm of applause for him and his new band.

People were cheering their names, including some lifers they had all spoken to the first night at the Hollywood Ghost Club. They waved cheerfully at them as they clapped.

Applause shouldn't feel this terrifying.

Alex's eyes swept the crowd, searching for not a lifer but a ghost who he wanted to make sure was okay. Willie had sacrificed so much just to get Julie and the Phantoms on stage at the Orpheum, and now he was nowhere to be seen.

Had Caleb done something to him? Maybe the evil magician had discovered that Willie had gone behind his back and was now punishing him. Caleb was the type to throw pain at others if he didn't get his way.

More panic made Alex tremble. He and his friends were in the grip of a crazy performer, and a guy he had started to harbor feelings for was missing.

It seemed so hopeless.

Then, just as a new song was starting up, Alex felt a weird tugging sensation in his chest, like an invisible hand were pulling on his shirt. His skin warmed, and he felt as if a crack had formed in the controlling spell.

"They were my friends... my band... my family."

The words were true. Alex knew that. Even if he had difficulty figuring out whose voice it was at first, the words themselves made sense to him.

They drew him in, stronger than Caleb's hold and like a light at the end of this tunnel of torment.

Alex held onto those words because he now knew who had uttered them.

Julie. Julie was talking about him, Luke, and Reggie. They were more than dead bandmates to her. They were her family.

Alex gripped onto that thought like a lifeline. The warmth from her words made it easier to push back against Caleb's hold. The more he thought about Julie, the easier it was for him to force himself to stop playing.

He thought of their rehearsals; of goofing around with Julie and the other two when they took breaks; of writing songs together and figuring out what melodies worked; and of just being around their lead singer. She was like sunshine: radiating her warmth and brightness wherever she went. She was brave, smart, compassionate, and she loved them. She loved them like family.

No sooner had Alex let this thought take a hold of him did he hear Julie's voice again, this time singing. She was belting out lyrics for a song they had all written together.

Whatever happens

Even if I'm the last standing

Ima stand tall

Whatever happens

Even when everything's down

Ima stand tall

Alex followed her voice in his head and focused on poofing. He needed to get to Julie. That's all he could focus on was finding her. They had a show to do - the most important show of their lives.

Ima stand tall!

Suddenly, Alex was rushing away from Caleb, the controlled band, and the cheering audience was replaced by a smaller one.

He could move his hands freely again! He began banging on his drums and smiling brightly as he caught sight of Julie. Her eyes were bright with tears as she smiled at him, just a few feet away at her keyboard.

Alex beamed at her, no longer feeling the strangling hold that Caleb had on him. He was free!

The icy bonds melted away as he played alongside Julie who was singing more confidently now.

Then Reggie appeared, playing his bass with more fluid and natural movements as he grinned at a very relieved Julie. They had made it!

Well, most of them...

Luke was struggling. He was striking out and was using all of his energy to stay here with them and leave that trap of a ghost club behind.

He flickered in and out like a bad signal, his angry expression replaced by true panic. Alex couldn't do more than watch and hope against hope that Luke pulled through.

All the while, Julie sang, coaxing Luke to her and the rest of the band with her powerful voice. And it was if she herself gave him strength because just a moment later, Luke appeared fully and began to sing along with Julie, his toothy grin in place.

Julie hurried over to him, a look of intense relief on her face as they played together once again.

As they performed, Alex could no longer feel the effects of Caleb's jolts. He felt stronger and now had control over his own movements.

Reggie jumped around with his usual energy, while Luke only had eyes for Julie as they sang a song they all wrote together as a band.

Everything was just as it always was until Reggie and Julie strutted down the stage side by side. Reggie smiled at the crowd with his characteristic energy and dorkiness while Julie's voice intermingled with Luke's in the vocals.

Then Julie leaned back with her mic, and Reggie did the same with his guitar. Instead of Julie leaning through Reggie and showing they were masquerading as holograms, Julie's shoulders appeared to touch Reggie's.

Alex stared at this, but they pulled away before he could be sure he saw what he thought he did. Maybe he was a little delirious from the jolts.

Then Luke stepped back from his mic, and it was time for Alex's solo. He had been a little nervous about doing a solo again - not having done once since "Now or Never" back in 1995, but he knew he could do it. His bandmates, his family, were here backing him up and giving him all the support he could handle. Their presence gave him the courage to belt out his solo:

Whatever happens

Even if I'm the last standing

Ima stand tall

He grinned as Luke and Julie looked back at him with bright smiles, all traces of their exhaustion and tears gone.

Reggie took up his solo, then Alex joined him, and they jumped into the chorus along with Julie and Luke.

They were all using different instruments and moving in their own ways, but performing the song made them feel like a single entity moving in tandem.

Then the song was ending, and all four of them were walking to the end of the stage to take their bows.

Alex gripped Luke's hand, a feeling of relief flooding through him mixed with sadness. Yes, they had fulfilled their dream of performing at the Orpheum, but this meant they would cross over and leave Julie behind.

She would go far, Alex knew that. Her star shone too brightly for her not to. He and the other boys didn't know what their next step in their journey would be, but if they left Julie with a new sense of courage and reassurance in her abilities, then it was all worth coming back for.

Alex swallowed and braced himself. Any moment now, he, Luke and Reggie would poof away and crossover. Where they would end up, he didn't know. He hoped somewhere happy and together. They'd been through too much now to be separated.

Their instruments had stopped, so they poofed out, ready to embrace the feeling of maybe floating up into the air and finally crossing over to a peaceful plane where they could play music together. Being with his best friends and enjoying their time together sounded like paradise. He couldn't wait to watch TV with Reggie; write more songs with Luke; jam out for other spirits if they met more like them…

But his dream was shattered as he felt another jolt tear through his chest.

Alex cried out and collapsed onto a cold hard surface that ended up being the alley behind the Orpheum where they had taken their last walk 25 years ago.

Luke grunted as he landed beside him. A second later, he gasped when Reggie appeared and cracked heads with him.

That had to hurt.

"What the-!" Luke sat up slowly and looked around, panting and shaking. "Why are we here!?"

"Why didn't we cross over?" Reggie asked weakly as he sat up, too, and rubbed his chest where the jolts were zapping them. The drained look to their skin had returned, making them all look like they had the flu.

"I don't know," Alex answered, fighting to get to his feet. "Shouldn't we have after playing the Orpheum?"

"Unless that wasn't it," Luke growled bitterly. His voice was hoarse like he was struggling not to break down. Alex didn't blame him. He himself was only ever really calm when others around him panicked.

"Then what were we supposed to do!?" Reggie demanded, his voice cracking. "After all that we went through and worked to get here-"

Another jolt went through them, effectively cutting off Reggie's sentence.

Alex gripped his stomach and panted. "We guessed wrong."

"Can we not stay here?" Luke said as he helped Reggie stand. They leaned on one another for support as if they wouldn't be able to stay upright without the other. "I don't wanna zap out in this cold alley."

"I wanna go back to Julie's," Reggie said before Alex could come up with a different idea. "I'd feel better if the garage was the last place I was in…"

Alex frowned. "Julie might go there when she gets home."

"Nah. She looked pretty drained. She'll go right to bed," Luke said confidently.

He didn't think so, but Alex didn't have the energy to argue the point. He was so exhausted and ready to go to sleep.

Reggie nodded and held out his hand to Alex. He took it, and they poofed together to the Molinas' garage.

It was pitch black, but the boys didn't get a chance to flick on a light because another jolt sent them all to their knees then flat on their backs.

"That was the worst one yet," Reggie panted from somewhere to Alex's left.

Luke groaned and shifted closer. Alex felt his shoulder brush his head, and he knew he was looking for physical contact. "We had a good run, didn't we, boys?"

Leave it to Luke to be so optimistic. Reggie normally was more on that wavelength, but pain was making him less enthusiastic.

"Yeah…" Reggie murmured. "We rocked the socks off the Orpheum."

"You could've worded that differently, but yeah… we brought the house down. I hope that performance helps Julie's career." Alex sighed and rested his head against something he thought was Reggie's leg.

Luke sighed then swallowed audibly. "She's gonna be a legend in a way we never got to be… I'm so proud of her."

"Me, too," Alex murmured at about the time Reggie said the same thing.

Another jolt made Alex arch his back and yelp. Reggie was right. The jolts were getting more painful.

There was a moment of silence as the three of them struggled to catch their breath (metaphorically speaking).

Then Reggie whispered, "I'm gonna miss them… Julie, Flynn, Carlos, and Ray… I know most of them never saw us, but…" His breathing got heavier like he was choking back tears. "They're family, too."

"Yeah, they are, Reg." Luke sounded close to crying, too, but Alex saw in a small patch of moonlight Luke reached out to put his hand over Reggie's wrist and grip it. "I'll miss them, too."

Alex scooted over just enough to touch the other two on the hand as well. Their grip on each other was weak, but it was more assuring to touch like this. He didn't feel so alone.

"D-Do you think once we disappear, Julie will forget us?" Reggie choked.

Where in the world did he get an idea like that? Alex wanted to snap both from the ridiculous thought and from just being in pain, but he forced a calmer tone when he murmured, "Of course not. Julie loves us. We're her family. She said so herself."

"I thought I heard her," Luke said, sounding pleased. "At the Ghost Club on stage. I heard her calling us her family. It's what gave me the strength to fight off Caleb."

Reggie coughed then blurted, "I heard her, too! I thought I was losing my mind." He shivered. "I think her voice saved us from playing at that club for all eternity."

Alex couldn't believe it. Their bond with Julie went deeper than he could've imagined. All three of them had heard her and found the strength to break free and appear at her side. Where they belonged until now.

"Super Julie," Luke murmured randomly. He chuckled weakly, and this was enough to get the other two snickering a little.

Until another jolt promptly shut them up.

"I wish we could've told her goodbye," Luke said once he could talk again.

"Same," Reggie agreed. "But… at least she can think we've crossed over and not worry."

"Yeah, about that," Alex said as he turned his head. He saw lights move over the garage windows like search beams. "They're home now. If she comes in here, keep your mouths shut."

Luke held onto their hands as yet another jolt shot through them. "I don't want her to see us like this."

They fell silent as they faintly heard Julie and her family singing "Stand Tall" as they made their way up to the house. For a moment, Alex was convinced they would pass by the garage and go inside. They could just vanish and not have to worry about hurting Julie further.

But then he heard footsteps approaching, and he knew he could put money on who it was.

Luke swore softly and twitched behind him.

"Be quiet!" Alex warned quietly as they heard the lock click and the doors pull open.

Alex could just make out Julie walking into the garage. Her small form was framed by the moonlight coming in through the windows, making her look a little otherworldly.

He felt Luke tense under his fingers, able to determine it was him because of his bulkier rings.

Alex shut his eyes and hoped she wouldn't turn on the lights. Julie would be so heartbroken and traumatized if she had to watch them expire like this on her garage floor.

Then she spoke, and he felt the chill inside of him warm the smallest amount.

"I know I already said this but, uh… thank you, guys."

He fought the tears threatening his eyes. Julie had brought them back to life as much as they had for her. They had helped each other grow, get over fears, grieve their loses, and chased after their dreams. Even though three-fourths of their band was not alive, they had made it work. They were a family…

Then Reggie opened his big mouth.

"You're welcome," he blurted in that tactful and thought-out way of his.

Alex sighed loudly in exasperation as Luke hissed, "Dude!"

Julie moved back and flicked the lights on.

The boys grimaced from the light, but the burn in their eyes was nothing compared to the jolts they had been experiencing all day.

"What are you guys doing here? I thought-"

The boys gasped as a shock wave scorched their chests.

Reggie started to cough, and Luke's chest heaved as if he had just run dozens of miles. Alex felt light-headed and sick. If he had had a stomach, he would be puking all over the place.

Julie was voicing her belief that they had crossed over, and Alex replied with what he had suspected when they poofed into the alley first.

"I guess playing the Orpheum wasn't our unfinished business," he said as he struggled to sit upright.

This was all a mess, and now Julie knew they weren't safe and crossed over like they had all hoped would happen once they took their final bows. Alex had wanted to save her the pain of seeing them die a second time, but now here she was with tears sparkling in her eyes and looking on the verge of breaking down.

"Point: Caleb," Reggie said bitterly. The magician had warned them that playing at the venue they just missed out on when they were alive wouldn't necessarily be their unfinished business.

None of them wanted to believe them because a) they were desperate and b) they hadn't been able to come up with any other options.

Luke sat up, and Alex saw clearly that his eyes were red from crying. "We wanted you to think we crossed over, so we pretended to," he said in a thick voice with his focus on Julie. And again, save her from having to see them like this: weak and on the verge of disappearing for good.

"We just… we had nowhere else to go," Luke added, shaking his head slightly.

This is our home, too.

The words weren't said, but Alex saw it in everyone else's expressions. If they were going to go down, they wanted it to be somewhere they felt safe. He was annoyed Reggie had given them away, but having their lives end here in the place where they made music together was a comforting thought as opposed to going out in that dank alley… or really anywhere else.

When Reggie said something about believing Julie wouldn't come down here and go straight up to her room, Alex sighed again with his irritation flaring.

"Well, I knew she would come out here but nobody ever listen to me-"

Their chests sparked bright blue as the third jolt in less than five minutes hit them.

Soft groans escaped them as they struggled to stay on their feet.

"You have to save yourselves right now!" Julie said through her tears. She began begging them to leave and join Caleb so that they didn't have to just be erased from existence, but Reggie shook his head.

"We aren't going back there," he choked.

Being Caleb's puppet for all eternity sounded like hell on earth.

"No music is worth making, Julie, if we aren't making it with you." Luke's voice shook with suppressed sobs.

Alex's heart ached more than those jolts could ever hurt because they were all in pain and scared. Julie didn't want them to go anymore than they wanted to leave, especially not like this.

Julie stood on her toes and threw her arms around Luke. Alex froze because now he was sure that Julie had touched Reggie on stage when they were out on the platform. Still… there was something very sweet about their embrace.

"I love you guys," Julie whispered.

Then Luke started to glow. It was if Julie's touch had lit up a beacon inside of him. As they watched, the pale tinge to Luke's skin vanished, and his swollen eyes softened as he smiled down at Julie.

They murmured to each other, and for a moment, Alex felt like he and Reggie had turned into third wheels.

Then Luke turned to them, holding Julie's hands, and said, "I feel stronger."

Julie called Alex and Reggie over, and the pair of them stumbled over to Julie's side. They walked into a group hug, Julie's arm around his waist and Luke's just about hers.

As they touched, Alex felt as if he had taken a sip of hot tea that trickled through his body and warmed his insides. The chills and aches from the jolts draining his energy vanished, and he felt even stronger than he had before.

They slowly pulled back from the hug but kept their arms around one another.

"I don't feel as weak anymore," Reggie murmured as a few tears trailed down his flushed cheeks.

Alex agreed fervently before his anxiety kicked in and he added, "Not that I was ever weak."

Then the purple stamps that Caleb had given them just days ago appeared on their skin before peeling off like an old sticker and vanishing into thin air.

Alex felt a sigh of relief escape him as if his chest as if a heavy weight had been lifted from it.

"I think the band's back," Luke said with a shaky grin.

Alex asked if they could try hugging again, and the others chuckled before moving in for another group embrace.

There was a warmth coming off of Julie that they were all taking in and finding strength from. She was their light in life, the spark that had brought them back to do what they loved most in life (and now in death) - play music.

Laughing, they jumped in a circle as Julie cried happily, "We played the Orpheum!"

As they all leaned into each other, exchanging smiles and basking in the fact all four of them could touch now, Alex agreed with Luke's words: the band was back.

Their little family was back.

#jatp fic #julie and the phantoms #alex pov #jatp found family #stand tall

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hecohansen31 · 5 years

Text

Preying On You:

(Vampire! Sojourn! Michael+Reader):

(A/N): Hello lovelies!

I have a lot to say before this fic so please excuse my sorry ass, for blabbering and let’s get this over with!

First of all this fic is dedicated to the lovely @sojournmichael (she is literally the sweetest person ever, and like I believe that humanity has a chance because she is alive) since she is actually a fan of vampire Michael so... hope you’ll enjoy this babe!

(Also big shoutout to @moonanonwriting who ispired a lot of vampire asks, Eva’s page, she is amazing and an aesthetic goddess, so be sure to check her out!).

(And also to @dyns33 who has a vampire foursome which is *chief kiss*, love you babe!).

Now personal thing: PLEASE DON’T LEAVE YOU FRIENDS ALONE AT NIGHT (both males and females)! I have been left a shit ton of times by my friend alone and although I am still here to tell the tale, it costs you nothing to accompany your friends and avoid them being alone and you might save a life.

Also the vampire society in this fic is inspired to the one of “The Black Dagger Brotherhood” (those are my favorite vampires books, highly suggested, if you are looking for smut and hot males!); if you need any more info on this world, please let me know both in asks or DMs.

I would love if you could leave an heart or a reblog (mostly because lately my fics are dying so...) and if you ever want to talk with me about it, my DMs are eternally open and my asks can also be anonymous, I love my shy babes!

Hope you’ll enjoy this!

SUMMARY: What was supposed to be a girls’ night out turn out much more bloody than what ou expected, but there might be some advantages to meeting a vampire...

WORDS: 6,6 K

WARNINGS: Unprotected (DON’T FORGET CONDOMS, KIDS), Rough Sex, Dub-Con, Blood Consumption and Blood Kink (THERE WILL BE BLOOD, KIDS!), Oral Sex (Female Receiving), Kidnapping (and mention of sexual trafficking, alongside use of drugs to kidnap), Michael being a bit of a stalker...

She wasn’t supposed to be alone on her way back to the train station, after her girls’ night out she had had.

Her friends had promised her that they would all be taking the train and then go back at home, at a decent hour of the night.

But what actually happened was that her friends actually leaft her alone, because of boys they had just met.

She had thought that the magical experience of fucking somebody at a beach party would be less entertaining than actually bringing your friend, safe and sound at home, avoiding her the walk of shame, between drunk and high people, not to talk about the perverts that without no alcohol would have taken her in an angle and pushed an hand over her mouth…

She tried not to think about what might happen to a girl in a party dress, a bit too short and provocative (still she was sure she could have worn her most conservative dress and she would have still gotten idiots whistling at her) with nothing in her little purse (she damned the choice, certainly comfortable for dancing but she could have barely fitted inside the little clutch a little bit more than her ID, a box of tissues, her keys and her phone) that she could use as a weapon.

At first she had tried to beg her friends but they had just waved her away, a bit plastered from all the alcohol they had in their veins, clinging to the guys they had chosen for the night, exchanging glances which clearly said “we are getting laid, tonight”.

“Girls, I seriously don’t feel like I can go back to the train station, alone” she had tried to insist, pleading with her eyes her friends and their one-night-stand, trying to do her best to get them to understand her own worries…

… but apparently being drunk took all the compassion away from your soul.

They had denied immediately her request and the two guys had told her to “shoo away” and find herself somebody, which she wouldn’t do, since not only she had some respect for herself but she didn’t feel attracted by any of the guys there, alongside being unable to enjoy herself at those parties.

But she had decided to give it a chance after her friends had begged her to go, calling her “an asocial dumbass” and she had decided to try it, just to make her friends happy.

Now she realized that the next time she would have closed the door in their faces gladly.

…if she lived to see another day.

She knew she was being dramatic: nothing would be happening to her.

But still she didn’t feel, safe in the slightest.

The journey was in plain light and it was barely ten minutes if she walked fast, alongside being crowded because of all the clubs in it.

But she still felt threatened by even the slightest smile sent on her way, judging it was better just to fake being on her phone with her headphones on.

She was halfway through a very serious recount of her day to her imaginary friend, when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

She honestly didn’t want to turn around, expecting it to be either some guy wanting to flirt with her, or some drunk guy asking her if he had seen his friend, when he was right behind him.

But she reasoned with herself too late and as soon as she got all those ideas on who it might have been, she just turned around to be met with an elegant middle-aged woman, sporting grey hair and wearing an elegant vintage outfit.

She seemed so out of place, both for the fact that she was much older than the guys she was with, but her entire outfit gave the idea that she wasn’t there to dance the night away.

She had this dark and off vibe that clearly shouldn’t have belonged to a middle-aged and smiling woman, but she blamed her paranoid brain for that sensation (she had even felt like a tree was threatening her with its shadow).

She smiled shyly at the woman, who instead was extremely open and straight up assumed the lead of the situation, grabbing gently her arm.

-I am so sorry to bother you, but my dog has run away and won’t come back to my car… so I was thinking that you might help me with guiding him back to it…- although it seemed ridiculous the lady smelled of dog, and she looked over her car, which was right in front of the crowded club she had been stopped at.

It didn’t seem a dangerous situation, in the slightest, mostly because she tried to release any tension in her body, thinking she was just being too paranoid.

Nothing would happen… and even if it would… she had her phone, she was in crowded and illuminated place and her attacker was an old lady, which she could easily overpower if she turned out to be a drug-dealer.

-… oh ok, but…- she looked at her phone to check the hour, realizing she could spare only five minutes for the “dog mission”, since she wanted to arrive at the train station a bit early in order not to miss the last train of the night -… I am a bit … late to a thing-.

-It will take you just a minute! – the old lady smiled, pleading her with her blue eyes -… and I will be eternally grateful to you for saving my little Dahlia-.

She just took a deep breath and followed the woman which swiftly walked over to the next side of the road, meanwhile she kept on checking her phone and she was immensely relieved to see the dog, a small white poodle, who looked more scared than her, and which immediately the woman tried to calm down.

The woman moved on his other side, meanwhile signaling to her to keep her position, trying to distract the dog from her, and when the dog started slowly barking towards its owner, happily and with too much energy, she snatched him up, almost dying under its weigh.

The poodle might have seemed small, but it actually weighted much more than she had imagined.

But thankfully the woman, its owner, was in front of her, holding out her hands in order to make her leave there the puppy which, although moved a bit, clearly uncomfortable, seemed unthreatening and didn’t try to escape again in her owner’s hands and neither to bite her.

She smiled at the old woman and made to turn around, but the woman just grabbed her arm, this time more roughly and immediately she felt the bad feeling in her gut return.

-Would you stay for a few minutes? Just to make sure that Dahlia won’t run away- she mumbled, meanwhile smiling gently at her, easing the bad feeling in her stomach, which got her to nod, since she was already in time to arrive early at the station, and moved on the other side of the car, the dark one, near the bushes, to open the door and let the woman put the dog in its cage.

The music was a bit too high and the choruses of drunk people didn’t help: she herself found at unease and a bit hazed by the entire atmosphere so she didn’t see the hand that came to her face with a tissues smelling weirdly.

It suffocated her immediately and she wasn’t able to do anything else but try to fight weakly, but quickly darkness took over, all of her senses shutting off and she fell in her worst nightmare.

As she woke up, she soon realized two things: she was blindfolded and naked.

Perfect: now old ladies were kidnapping people for sexual trafficking.

Was she on a “Law & Order SVU” episode?

But most importantly… was she seriously humoring this entire situation?

She had just been kidnapped and worst of all she would probably be used for sexual stuff she had seen on TV, and she was restrained to something which looked like a bed, without the mattress on it, since the coldness of metal bit in her skin.

She started hysterically crying, alternating it with laughs, at the absurdity of the situation and damning herself for not having trusted her guts.

If she ever came out of this, she would absolutely only trust her damned gut.

After the hysterics downed, she started trying to test the restrain, trying to do the movie thing of thrusting up her hands, but she immediately realized that they weren’t chained with rope, but with metal again, trying the same with her legs, which were more powerful but she was only able to thrust up a bit.

After this, she tried getting her hands out of the handcuffs but she was only able to scratch her skin.

This got her to stop anything and go back to her crying, immediately falling down the rabbit hole of overthinking, completely losing her mind, and tears spilling over her cheeks, her make-up ruined, meanwhile she tried to at least to avoiding sharing her shameful naked state, clinging her legs closer, and trying to crunch herself on her side, to ease her breathing.

She was just a few step away from a panic attack.

And then it all got worse, because she heard voices outside the room she was in.

She immediately got quiet, pushing up her ears in order to listen what was going on, thinking it might help her.

“My lord, the girl is waiting for you” perfect she was in a high-end brothel…

“Madeline, I already told you…” the tone seemed annoyed and tired and she almost cheered at the thought that he wouldn’t maybe… do what he was supposed to be doing with her…

“I know!” the tone of the woman was clearly saying that she knew they already had this conversation, but she wasn’t done “… but you will grow more and more weak if you don’t feed”.

Wait! Feed?!

Where the heck had she ended up being at…?

Was this a cannibal family?

She honestly preferred the high-end brothel option…

“I… am scared…” he mumbled shyly, almost childlike “… I have never done this before, with an alive being and not a blood bag”.

This was getting even more creepy.

She tried to close her eyes and repeat continuously “I am going to wake up… I am going to wake up… I am going to wake up…” but she didn’t open her eyes in her bed, and the feelings of the metal burning in her legs and hands hurt her, meanwhile the roughness of the blindfold pinched her and irritated the skin of her lids.

She couldn’t see much with the blindfold but the room in which she was in was immersed of red light, which brought her back to the hypothesis about it being all an high-end brothel… for clients with peculiar taste.

“She is restrained, my sweet boy, she won’t hurt you” the woman seemed to have moved closer to the boy, who instead just yelped softly “… just go and satiate your need, my lord”.

And with this being said she heard the swishing of the door and the soft steps of the old lady, Madeline and the stumbling of the boy, who quickly came in front of her, since his breath seemed closer.

She heard him take a deep breath, after having sniffed for a bit the air in the room (she was sur it was pretty stinky because she had sweated off all her anxiety and body liquids).

“I can see that she is to your liking” mumbled the woman, proudly and she just felt even more ashamed by the entire thing; she was almost angry for being treated like an object, being judged in her most vulnerable form by two strangers “… I thought you would have loved such a virginal look”.

Hadn’t she thought it was better to be unresponsive and hadn’t she been restrained she would have gladly fought against the two of them, for that treatment.

“Madeline, leave us” his voice from bothered and childlike had grown much darker and deeper and she couldn’t help a thrill from disappearing under her skin.

The worst thing was that she didn’t know if it was because of fear or arousal, which had started growing between her legs.

Perfect timing.

She heard the door closing and almost wanted to scream for the lady to come back, knowing perfectly that nothing good would be coming.

He moved closer to her on whichever surface she was propped on.

She immediately shrank away from him, pulling on the restraints, to push herself away to avoid any contact with him and he sensed it, an hand swiftly pushing herself on her face, caressing it gently to calm her down, but she just started sobbing, feeling like it might just make the things seem just worse.

-…. I am not going to hurt you, little thing- he mumbled, his hands moving gracefully, his other one joining his twin on the other side of her face, cupping gently her cheeks, as if he was trying to take a good look at her face -… you are so beautiful-.

She tried to take deep breaths, but the constriction of the restraints made her feel too caged to breath properly, meanwhile a panic attack was shaking her body, colors exploding under her eyes and she scrunched them closer, trying to avoid taking a glance to her assaulter.

-… but the fact that you are scared is making your delightful smell appear much more bitter, and I have a sweet tooth-.

How could he joke on something so dangerous?

This got rage coming oozing from her.

She fought, twist her hands and crunching her legs closer so that she might hit him with them, but nothing seemed to work, his hold became powerful, squishing her cheeks and he maneuvered himself so that he could stay on her and stop all her possibility of movement.

-… and now rage… it has a salty smell- he mumbled, meanwhile he tried to restrain her more softly, noticing (or maybe smelling?) her discomfort -… we need you to relax, little bird-.

-Don’t call me pet names- she gritted between her teeth, spitting out, thankful they hadn’t shut her mouth, although she feared he might after her little stunt.

-I don’t think that you are on the position to make demands- he intimidated her, his body suddenly being pushed on her naked one, the soft fabric he wore gently tickling her body and again… arousal shot through her veins -… much better, little fledging, I like the thought of my preys being in the throes of pleasure, meanwhile I feed from them-.

-Whatever you have in mind dirty bastard, I will make your life a living hell, when I get out of here- she pushed again, the chain not relenting, but he gently very gently moved some of her hair away from her face, a gesture which took her breath away.

-I am not the bad guy here, pretty girl- his tone had lowered an octave -… I don’t intend to make you feel bad in the slightest, I want you to actually enjoy this-.

-Untie me and let me kick your balls- she ordered her voice becoming much more high-pitched, hearing a laugh rumble on his chest which was pressing against hers -… that would make me feel much better-.

-That seems pleasurable only for you, my dear- he was now completely laying on her, his body pressing softly into her, with much more insistence than she was used, but her body didn’t seem to mind it, her entire features relaxing under him -… and I am actually working on our conjoined pleasures-.

-I am restrained, taken here against my will and scared as fucked- she replied, her hands making compulsive moves to accentuate her situation -… I don’t know how I can enjoy any of this-.

-Some people enjoy restraints- he said with a tone which said that he clearly did, and a smirk she could hear hinted in his words -… and I assure that no harm will come to your way, and to prove this I will unlace your blindfold, so you might calm down a bit-.

-What about my handcuffs? – she tried, smirking slightly or trying to, unsure of what getting her blindfold off might mean; he could try to kill her now that she knew his face, but also it brought some relief to her panicked state, although she wasn’t sure that she wanted to see whatever her assaulter looked like -… you are not going to kill me if I see your face?-.

-I stated that no harm will come your way and I will swear on anything unholy I know in my heart- except the “unholy part” of the discourse, everything seemed honest and sacred, enough that she let herself trust him, since her body was already on its way to succumb to him.

He unlaced the knot behind her blindfold, which she soon realized was just a rough piece of fabric, but she still kept her eyes closed, breathing slowly, trying to regain her composure and finally face him.

Her eyes slowly opened, adapting themselves to the soft red light in the room, which filled the room, sculpting even more his elegant traits.

Because what she had in front of herself was a god.

Perfectly soft blond hair, which gained a strawberry dye in them thank to the red light, meanwhile his face was elegantly sculpted, with traits soft and sharp, highlighting its perfect skin, smooth enough for her to want to touch him, her hands pushing against the chains, and he smirked at her impatience, his plump mouth immediately coming to her focus.

-You have the prettiest eyes- he breathed out, and a gentle kiss was pushed between them and she mumbled dizzy, on the affection he was showing her, cradling her gently:

-… you are so handsome- had she been drugged?

Her voice had come out in a rough gasp, arousal in it.

His eyes, two pool of azure eyes, famished and hurt, looking at her as if she was his only source of hope, the intensity in them made her blush and coat her thighs even more with her arousal.

He lowered himself and gently he kissed her.

Apparently his assaulter had a sweetness to himself she didn’t believe in, grabbing her face, being so careful that she might break and his lips gently caressed hers, just a little pressure, leaving here asking for more and as soon as he pushed himself away, she pouted up her lips to ask for more, hearing a giggle being pushed on them.

-… see… you are enjoying it- he laughed, before grabbing her legs gently, caressing them from her calves to her thighs, just a breath away from the true center -… and it will be only better from now on-.

-I’d still prefer to be free, and not restrained- because she couldn’t seriously deny what her body was asking for, and somehow his promise seemed genuine and true.

-As much as I believe that you would be on your best behavior if I release you from the hold of the chains…- his tone was joking and everything in him was teasing her, coming closer to her neck -… I don’t believe that would be a good idea for me-.

He dosed kisses on her neck, giving her collarbones special attention, nibbling on them, meanwhile she moaned softly, her nails biting in his skin, meanwhile he slowly became more unhinged, bites being laid out and his clothed manhood pressing against her center, which had slowly started to leak on him.

-… but I feel uncomfortable- she complained, but the last part was quickly turned into a moan, when he started sucking on her neck, before his light stubble brushed over it and thrills started shrinking on her spine.

-I will make you feel much better soon, angel of mine- he promised, a kiss being laid on her forehead, before gently his nose started moving down her body, his lips marking each space he liked (which was anywhere) before he just stopped over her little Venus mound, staring at it with an intensity that made her close her eyes and whimper, unsure of herself.

Till she saw his amazed face, like a kid put in front of candies.

His tongue darted out between his lips, flicking teasingly between her folds, just searching a tiny taste of her, which brought immediate ecstasy to him, scrunching his eyes closer and smiling gently, as if he hadn’t expected less from her: sweet outside and inside.

And she gripped the chains to get some balance, unprepared for what his tongue promised and kept doing as soon as he got the hint that she enjoyed it.

He pushed himself closer to her, his tongue gently mapping her out, avoiding carefully her pearl of pleasure, and just exploring her folds, collecting the wetness on it, before laying gentle wet kisses on her thighs, letting her enjoy a moment of peace.

-… feeling better? – he looked slowly better at her, between long lashes, and she couldn’t help but feel a mess, tears and red cheeks on her face, not to talk about the state of her hair, which had brushed ungracefully against the surface, but he just looked at her as if he was seeing a masterpiece -… because you just made me even more hungry for you-.

And to point it out, he sucked a hickey on the frail skin of her inner thigh, his teeth pushing and pulling on her skin.

He then breathed on her pearl, delightfully engrossed, pushing through her folds and revealing itself softly to her assaulter, who then latched himself on it.

He started sucking and gently his hand reached out for her right nipple, twirling it between his fingers, pulling it and pulling out a moan, from her.

Then his tongue moved between the folds , again, patterns being delicately described on them, before he just started licking as if he was following his own pleasure and not hers, feeding himself on her excitement and ambrosia, and she pushed and pulled on the chains, just to get her hands in his soft hair to pull them and push him away, her sensitivity increasing with each step that brought her closer to her orgasm.

And it was in this situation of extreme pleasure that she was brought back by a sudden bite down her left inner thighs, almost as painful as the prick of a blood test, but a finger pushing on her clit brought her back in an ecstasy state again, although she wasn’t in the hazy atmosphere of the pre-orgasmic pleasure.

She tried to push herself up to understand what was going on, but the hand on her nipple, pushed her back, keeping her anchored down, but she soon heard other than the prick, sucking on her thigh, different from the one that had left the hickey, as if he was sucking something out of her.

She lost all her breath as soon as this sensation moved from pain to pleasure, with the lazy stroking of her clit and the kneading of her breasts, and she closed her eyes, to focus on the sensation, trying to understand what was going on between her thighs, mostly because the sucking was becoming more violent and she was slowly slowly feeling tired, although soft adrenaline run through her veins.

She was sure that five minutes had passed when he broke away, a kiss delivered on the sore pace on her thighs, a gasp and whine of pain leaving her mouth, meanwhile he gently breathed on the bruise, bringing some relief, before moving closer to her, and when she came face to face with him she saw that his teeth and lips were smeared with blood.

The sight terrified her, but also a part of her wanted to lick off the blood on his lips.

He had a crazy light on his face and he looked at her with the biggest smile she had ever seen, and although she knew it was crazy, she smiled back, meeting him halfway for a kiss, blood being smeared on her face and the tang of iron immediately stuck out in her mouth, meanwhile it all smeared on her lips as a messy lip-gloss and from the face she got…

… it turned him on.

-Look at you being all messy, angel of mine- and he licked her blood off her lips, much to his gluttony than to clean her.

She honestly wanted to think this was all fucked up, but… also… she just felt too excited for any thoughts that didn’t involve him and pleasure.

He had also proven himself unable to cause her true pain (the bite to her thigh only proved to be a precious aphrodisiac) so she somehow trusted him, fascinated by the damnation of his beauty and now that they were closer she saw that his eyes held a blunt hurt.

Tiredness satiated by her and adrenaline swiftly came over him and she soon found her legs around his waist, meanwhile he disrobed himself of his slacks.

She gently spread even more her legs, making sure to make him accommodate much better between them meanwhile she helped him out of his silk shirt, pushing it over his head, a joking smile being passed over his lips, immediately matched by hers.

When he was equally as disrobed as her he gently teased her folds with his manhood, spreading slickness around it, before pushing inside her unkindly, but it didn’t hurt for more than a few minutes, when he started moving savagely in her, a rhythm she had never had in her and a length which hit points she never knew she had.

He pushed an arm on the side of her face and the other tangled in her hair, pulling her head up to meet in a kiss, meanwhile she tried to grasp better her legs around him to secure herself better on him, in order not to lose her grip so easily as she was doing, bucking up at its pushes.

Her hips trying to follow his patterns, in order for him to brush against that special spot which made her gasp in true pleasure.

And he found it… again and again…

Which got her screaming of true pleasure, meanwhile he growled in her ears, before pushing his mouth on her neck, again something sharp on her neck and she slowly turned her head to it, finally understand what the pain was about…

… fangs were piercing her neck.

And the pain and the true madness didn’t hit her till that moment.

She came with a loud scream, fear pushing her over, but it didn’t end up there, he kept pushing in her, meanwhile he pulled out blood from her till she felt too dizzy to do anything and soon… blackness welcomed her, but only after her third orgasm of the night.

When she woke up, she was clothed in what looked like a silk slip and although she was still restrained, she wasn’t chained to a platform, instead her hands were “just” tied back, meanwhile her legs were gently linked together with a silk ribbon.

She was able to wriggle in order to get her back against the wooden headboard, meanwhile her eyes gently adapted themselves to the soft dark, much healthier than the red light in which she had been immersed for her nightmarish (although she could also swore that it had all been a very interesting and confusing wet dream) night with a vampire.

She immediately recognized a room which wasn’t hers, but it had such a good taste that she couldn’t help but take a second look to stare at everything, from the elegant shelves full of books to the curtains of a dark royal blue, velvet and heavy enough to avoid sun filtering there.

Was this another dream?

Or had it all been reality?

She was scared to discover more.

… but it wasn’t her decision to make.

A little cough alerted her that she wasn’t alone in the room and soon her eyes met her assaulter’s, the vampire’s eyes, which got her immediately shivering in her place, moving away even more in the bed, which only got a soft chuckle from him.

But now that adrenaline didn’t cloud his eyes, she could see that her rejection took a toll on him.

-I didn’t harm you before, and I won’t harm you now- he repeated, watching her as an annoying and never-learning child.

-Oh yeah… your bites were the softest thing my skin has ever experienced- she screeched back, feeling the place on her thigh, where he had bitten her, immediately become sore and aching, a bruise blooming on it, meanwhile his neck was extremely stiff.

And through it all, she felt tired.

But she was keeping on utter anger.

-… I didn’t think you minded the pain, little angel, when you were coming around me, with those delicious mewls- he retorted back and she was the closest to punch him, but also his face looked so sad and destroyed, definitely tired that she…

… she somehow wanted to hug him, bring him closer…

… maybe closer between her thighs and push him…

-I really hope that you didn’t continue fucking me like an animal, after I passed out- she just mumbled, getting a little smirk from him who immediately raise from his place on the armchair to come closer and although she shrank out of fear, something in her told to lean closer, follow him -… and I hope it wasn’t some stranger who put me into this thing-.

The tiny slip of silk looked, now that she had just taken a good look at it, pretty expensive and not of her time, clearly a bit old style but she enjoyed the way it flowed around her, and she knew he felt the same about it, by the way he looked at her.

But it seemed there was much more: it was… as if she could sense it…

-I personally cleaned you, after you passed out; I took too much… I am sorry- he seemed sincere, and as soon as he was close to her, he gently pushed a kiss on the side of her legs, electricity being pushed in her entire body -… but… you taste so good-.

She couldn’t help but piece up all those pieces together to one single conclusion, the one she knew, but scared her:

-You are a vampire…- although she said it, she didn’t sound even in the slightest confident in her solution, knowing how crazy it sounded.

-… do you want me to start sparkling? – he smirked, confirming her words, meanwhile she just glared at him, seriously trying to free herself from the rope’s hold.

-Please don’t joke on this! – she choked on her own words -… this is all so scary! And new! -.

-Would you prefer an explanation? – although he was teasing her, there was some truth behind his affirmation, and she could see in his eyes the wanting and willingness to share his burden with someone else.

-That would be nice- she pressed her lips together to assume an even more serious tone -… I have been nothing but manhandled this entire night, so some explanations are much needed-.

-Well I am indeed a vampire, I have to confirm your hypothesis- he assured her as if it might bring her some comfort -… we are real, but we don’t hurt people… usually…-.

-Oh yeah, tell that to my thighs-.

As if to apologize he gently caressed her bruise, but she could see he was somehow proud of having left a mark on her.

“What an egotistical bastard” she found herself thinking, with a light smile.

-… we don’t feed straight up form humans, usually… blood bags are preferable, but the person who brought me my blood bags is actually dead… so… I don’t have that option anymore- he looked truly sad at that mention, but tried not to let it show too much on his face -… usually vampires have mates; mates can be romantical partners, but usually it’s just a blood thing; any other vampire’s blood might kill another vampire, unless they are your mates, bringing nourishment-.

He could see that she had been shocked by it, no matter the fact that she tried to hide it.

-I know that it might not be… believable… but… I felt that I owed you an explanation-.

It could all be a crazy idea of a crazy man, but she somehow trusted him, even after he had taken her blood without her permission.

-It is crazy, but somehow… believable- she honestly would have accepted anything those angelic lips might have delivered -… so will I be kept there as your blood bag? -.

She was a bit scared about the prospect, but her assaulter seemed interesting and if she would be getting a mind-blowing orgasm, each time.

-… no, tomorrow you will go back home, with no memory of it- he replied, again his face becoming sadder, as if during that night he had grown fond of her.

-And what will you do? – she asked, not really out of curiosity, but a strange jealousy brewing in her chest -… kidnap another girl? -.

-Are you jealous, little angel? – he immediately caught up her annoyance, and she rolled her eyes, to hide her embarrassment -… because I don’t think that I would want another other than you after tonight-.

-Then… how? – she honestly didn’t see many options and didn’t understand why he couldn’t be a bit selfish and just use her.

Had she honestly thought that?

-Blood bags- he mumbled out, and she understood that clearly they didn’t satisfy him enough -… this was mostly to show the new people I am with that I was able to use my fangs still, they see the usage of blood bags as… -.

-… you being weak? – she honestly couldn’t believe that he could be mistaken for weak or anything else in that department with his slim but strong arms and thick thighs.

-Kind of… and don’t tell anybody…- he leaned down to whisper with conspiration in her ear -… but I am supposed to be the boss here-.

-You certainly know how make a girl feel special- her nose slightly brushed against his.

-… I thought the first orgasm was enough for that- he made her blush and she honestly couldn’t help but feel like she might have enjoyed this entire atmosphere, had she not thought about the fact that he was a vampire…

And he immediately pushed himself on the bed, again between her thigh, a place he liked enough, and she couldn’t help but feel like he might just belong there.

-… I can give you some more convincing, favorite angel of mine- he mumbled meanwhile he raised her slip -… just one last kiss and then I will tell you goodbye-.

She woke up the following day in a hospital bed: no memory of the previous night, if not a few sparks of that bloody night being shot under her pupils, soft bites on her skin and soft words, including the imaginary whisper of “angel”.

So, when she woke up, nothing made her feel nervous or anything, unlike her friends, sitting on those uncomfortable hospital chair next to her bed, immediately getting up with her and immediately they breathed for the first time, during that long night.

They later explained to her that last night she had gone missing; they had felt bad for letting her go alone and expected to find her at the station, but not only she wasn’t there but she wasn’t also picking up her phone, and this had gotten them worried enough to immediately search for her in each place of the small center, before moving to the nearest police station.

They had found her later in the morning, passed out, her arms and legs a bit scratched by what looked like rope or chains, burning soft marks in her skin, but nothing broken.

She just wasn’t waking up.

“We were so damnably worried, (Y/N)!” had almost screamed Layla, meanwhile she had cried.

“,,,where have you been for the entire time?! What happened?!” Kathryn, her other friend, backed her up, but she was unable to answer in any way, knowing only that she hadn’t been hurt, something was instilled in her brain about her having been safe the entire night.

Her friends had insisted that she did a rape test, mostly because of the bruise on her thigh, which couldn’t be mistaken for anything else, but she had wanted to avoid the entire thing, since it seemed like she had nottrauma and she felt a little voice in her mind telling her not to look into it too much.

So, she tried to forget, although in dreams she sometimes heard loud gasping and something piercing her skin meanwhile she was roughly hoed down, something pushing in and out of her, bringing pleasure, meanwhile she breached the highest of ecstasy, waking up with arousal between her thighs.

She honestly felt curious about all those ideas, but every time she tried to look into those memories she started panicking hard, her brain stopped working and she just started feeling bad, enough that she stopped working on it, focusing on moving on with her life.

But she just couldn’t help but feel like something was lurking in the shadows, waiting just for her, preying on her.

And she wasn’t wrong…

Michael Langdon had said he would have let her go, but he hadn’t mean it.

He had never meant it, since he had first tasted her blood.

But he hadn’t been able to keep her when she had so many links in the human world; she wouldn’t forgive him, no matter her begging of staying with her, after he had told her he would make her forget about it all.

“If you knew about us, you might be a hazard to my community” he had explained, softly watching her bright eyes become dull with pain, meanwhile endless tears spilled from them.

He knew that exhaustion and the blood bound between them brought those emotions out of her, intensifying anything she felt and making her feel more and more attached to him, which made him seem a true bastard, since he had taken advantage of that drunken stupor.

He had longed for her, the moment after Madeline had taken her back where she had found her, after he had gently cleaned up each inch of her skin, to make sure nothing of his would be staying on her skin, although the police would without a doubt not find his fingerprints.

And he still longed for her, but there was no use into crying on spilled milk and slowly he had started elaborating a plan on how to get her back.

Because, although for the moment she belonged to the human world, she wouldn’t be there for much more time, had the revelations he had found about her been true.

He had felt in her blood something different from human blood, swiftly realizing that she was a bit like him, and that was why her blood sang to him: she was his mate.

She was a half-blood, she had a clear vampire genealogy in her blood, and swiftly he had made sure to discover more about it, till he was sure that that vampire blood in her veins might be enough to make her turn, had she wanted it.

And he was waiting for just the right time to claim his rightful mate, slowly spying on her and checking that no harm came to here, spying her meanwhile she turned in her bed, her fingers between her legs, trying to satiate the arousal between them.

But he knew already that she never would…his own hand didn’t help him in the slightest.

He had just to have faith in the plan.

After he had lost Mrs Mead he had thought that he would be forever alone…

… but destiny had brought them together, destiny had given him a mate.

And now he was preying on her.

---

I really hope that you liked it and in the future, there might be more chapters of this, since me and Michael aren’t done with reader...

And here it is all the lovely people who wanted to be tagged!

@emmyrosee @blakewaterxx @1-800-bitchcraft @rocketgirl2410 @so-langdon @ladynuwanda @lovelylangdonx @babydollcake @eternalnostalgia @drama-penguins @dramapenguinthe3rd @dyns33 @orwellbradburylovecraft @no-need-for-rules @blackandwhitejoker @ccodyfern @hplotrfan @mournhubdotgov @mazionluigi @gold-dragon-slayer @venusbloodlust @evcnpeterz @ beautiful--kkryptonite @maginemarvellove @ moonagecordelia @ happypyromancer @supanatural101 @yourfavoritefairy @ brieababy @angsty-otters-blog @jazzcowgirl @awesomemarmaid @ kaigitana @queencocoakimmie @mega-combusken

If you haven’t been tagged, and liked the teaser, let me know (sometimes tumblr is stupid) and if you want to be added to my tag-list, just send over a DM or an ask!

Love you, lovelies!

-Heco Hansen.

#vampire michael langdon #vampire michael #michael langdon #michael langdon reader #michael langdon fem reader #michael langdon x fem! reader #michael langdon smut #michael langdon imagine #michael langdon fanfic #michael langdon fan fic #Michael Langdon Writing #Michael Langdon Story #Michael Langdon Moodboard #American Horror Story #AHS #AHS imagine #AHS apocalypse #AHS 8

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codevassie · 4 years

Text

Code’s Top 5 TS Fics

[***Let me know if I’ve missed anything on the Content Warnings!]

[**Do Not Ask Authors for Updates!]

[*Leave these authors Comments, please and thank you!]

The Consequences of Sound by Acantha_Echo

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary: Anxiety hurts Thomas. It's just what he does, what he has always done. It's not what he wants. He only wants to protect him but that is easier wished for than done. When the opportunity to prove himself opens up to him, he grabs it, for once not caring about the consequences. Things go downhill from there. The fall, rise, fall (and rise again) of Virgil.

Relationships: Prinxiety, Platonic LAMP

CW: Toxic Friendships, Headaches and Migraines, Anxiety Attacks, Manipulation, Depression, Unsympathetic Deceit, Unsympathetic Remus

My thoughts: This fic is So Freaking Good, my friends. It has real estate in at least 86% of my brain. I love going back to reread my favorite parts, and sometimes when I’m rewatching episodes I’ll catch myself thinking of the fic. Right now it’s the Christmas episode bc I’m in big time daydream mode about what the current arc is going to bring. It’s got big Found Family energy, and I eat that stuff right up. It is so heart-warming to watch Virgil grow closer to them. And, yeah, the Prinxiety owns my ass. It is some real Slow Burn shit, and the little glances and soft interactions.... oh goodness. And there’s suspense too, with all the barriers Virgil has built, and the secrets he keeps. For the love of everything, give this fic a try.

To Build A Home by AValorousChoice

Status: Completed

Summary: "There was a long silence as Virgil processed the words, his eyes darting between the pair of them. “Y-You-” he swallowed heavily. “You want to adopt me?” This was a joke. Surely, it was a joke. Nobody ever wanted him. Nobody had ever shown the slightest bit of interest in adopting him. Virgil never believed he was good enough for a loving family until the day that Patton and Logan walked into the orphanage.

Relationships: Logicality

CW: Child Abuse, Alcohol and Alcoholism, Panic Attacks, Car Accidents, Swearing, Homophobia, Minor Character Death, Animal Abuse, PTSD, Violence, Murder, Attempted Murder

My thoughts: Another Found Family for y’all. So this one is a kid!fic, which I don’t read a lot of, but have found some Really Good ones over the years. I grow really attached to characters when it feels like I’ve watched them grow up. Probably has to do with my love for character development, though not every kid!fic will have that. This one, actually, takes place over the course of less than a year of Virgil’s life after Logan and Patton adopt him. It deals with trauma and finding a place Virgil feels he belongs and is equally full of hope as it is fear. Again, watching Virgil grow close to his family - Patton, Logan, Roman, and some marvelous OCs - is so precious. And shout-out to Roman in this one bc he is the cutest, weirdest freaking kid you will ever read, and I would protect him with my life. The next one in the series is actually all about him and advances forward to when they’re teens (at which point I come across a lot of moments where I’m like “omg they’ve grown so much my heart”).

(i’d never) want once from the cherry tree by ace_corvid

Status: Completed

Summary: Of all the notable Youtubers active today, none are perhaps as popular as Roman Prince, beauty guru extraordinaire. From small beginnings, rising popularity from his vlogs brought him to the fame he never doubted he’d relish in. But also on the up and up is the conspiracy theory and cryptid lover known by his online alias ‘Virgilant’, who reveals little about his personal life and shies from the spotlight.Despite clashing fandoms and their own preconceptions, they're dragged into a somewhat whirlwind collaboration between channels. Sparks fly, but with Virgil desperately afraid of coming out and pining for his room mate, can anything really happen? With Logan, Patton, Remy and Deceit along for the ride, watch as fear of being who you really are blossoms into something new… With more than a little romance along the way.After all, is there anything more terrifying than showing the world who you are? Alternatively; a meta media fic following the journey of Youtubers, who just so happen to be characters we know and love.

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality

CW: Anxiety over Coming Out, Fandom Discourse Commentary

My thoughts: The funniest thing in my GD LIFE. Get this; they’re all in character, but the author has amped up their chaos levels times 100. They are undeniably themselves and it’s to an extreme. I freaking love it. And the multimedia style is so entertaining. It keeps the story at a fast pace and creates a great setting and diverse character interaction. That interaction includes banter and absolutely absurd and relatable content. Everyone’s friendships are undeniable bc they’re constantly roasting one another but you can tell they’d kill for each other. So good. This fic is so good. Please go read.

lavender for luck by lovelylogans

Status: Completed

Summary: Virgil's uncle can cast spells, and read fortunes, and hear houses talk through their noisy creaks. Virgil's father had, too, when he was alive, and their mother before them. Virgil was born with the family's tawny eyes, the family's pale skin, and the family's magic. And the people they fall in love with—or, at least, the ones who love them back—all die, which is why Virgil knows he can never take the chance of having that for himself. A Practical Magic inspired au

Relationships: LAMP

CW: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Parental Death, Spiders, Animal Cruelty, Swearing, Arguing, Physical Confrontation

My thoughts: Magical realism, secrets, excellent characterization. The border between reality and magic in this AU is seamless. I love the normality of magic in these types of stories, and this one didn’t even have magic as a Thing for most of the world. Magic wasn’t a regular thing, yet the author made it so normal to Virgil’s life... it was phenomenal. And the character interactions... they are so sweet on each other omg. And it isn’t really rushed either. There is time skips, but they don’t break apart the fic too harshly, instead enhancing the time they’ve gotten to know one another. Deceit’s character is so much fun too. He doesn’t take shit, but he also really cares. And the whole uncovering Virgil’s life is so interesting, both what we know and the characters don’t, or stuff we don’t know and Virgil won’t talk about. It creates excellent tension. So I guess I have to go read Practical Magic now (which this fic is based off of) and you have to go read this.

dreams are the second form of reality by Flooftheriver

Status: Incomplete, Work In Progress

Summary: Roman’s creative capabilities stretch further than anywhere any of the sides realise he can go- sometimes even Roman himself. He can craft intricate worlds from nothing, invent people out of mere whispers of an idea, all for the purpose of filling the night with adventure. His dreams are so strong in fact, that they can unknowingly pull others in, bending them to the will of the story he is creating. So what happens when he dreams up a Prince, and finds he needs somebody to play the role?

Relationships: Prinxiety, Logicality

CW: Possible Character Death, Weird Shadow Monsters, Minor Violence, Blood and Violence

My thoughts: So it’s set in canon in place of AA. Which means we get some lovely angst in the form of Virgil thinking everyone hates him. And I’m super stoked to watch him get that Acceptance he deserves. You know what we call that? Growth. Let’s get that character development y’all. For now, however, he’s in Roman’s dreamworld and trying to make sure Roman doesn’t realize it’s actually him or he’ll get kicked out of the best thing in his life. So we have secrets, which creates great tension, and things going... strange in the dreamworld. Also, the Prinxiety is cute as heck - loving that slow burn holy crip - alright go read it.

#fic recs #ts #sanders sides #prinxiety #ts lamp #february fic recs #friday fic recs #thank you authors for tagging your CWs and making my life easier #listen i know tagging can be hecka difficult #i am constantly afraid i'm not tagging everything i should on fics and fic recs #but just this much is enough to help me not go bananas #the BF rec list was so difficult #thanks TS authors i love you #i digress #next week is aph!

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1dfangirls35 · 4 years

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Voir Dire- N.H.

A fake dating OU about contracts, soulmates, and risking it all for love.

Story Masterlist // Talk to me

eleven

warnings: some language and mentions of infidelity

They say that social media is both a blessing and a curse. To Kelsey, this statement had never been more true.

With the release of his newest single, "Put A Little Love On Me", Niall had spent weeks traveling around the world, doing all sorts of promotion. Including plenty of pap shots with Krystal. At the start of the promotional run, Becca, her resident aspiring entertainment journalist, had introduced Kelsey to both the blessing and the curse of Niall Horan fan accounts. In some lapse of good judgement, Kelsey had followed such accounts on Instagram, resulting in a flood of Niall pictures daily. Although she loved to see pictures of Niall when he was out and about promoting, it was his other companion who she was less than thrilled about seeing.

Niall had been good about preventing Kelsey from being caught off-guard. Whenever he was set to make an appearance with Krystal he gave her a heads up, letting her know exactly where and what they'd been papped doing. And he was always right, with those pictures popping up on the internet later in the day.

Kelsey had quickly learned that social media was not ideal when you were watching a guy you were see date another girl in front of the camera. She soon discovered that the best way to move past the fact that Niall lived a completely different life in person than he did with her was to simply avoid social media. If she didn't see it, she didn't have to think about all the comments saying how perfect Krystal and Niall were together. She didn't have to be reminded that she wasn't getting to walk the red carpet with him or hold his hand as he walked through crowds on the way to his hotel for the night. She could, quite honestly, pretend that Krystal didn't exist.

But today, Kelsey was particularly bored laying on the couch. She'd had a long shift at The Manhattan the night before, and she'd decided that today was just going to be a day of relaxation. Niall was coming over later this evening and until then, she had nothing to do but rewatch old Grey's Anatomy episodes.

So when she picked up her phone and the glowing purple and pink icon of the Instagram app caught her eye, calling out to her on the bright lit screen, she couldn't help but click on it. Because what harm would a little mindless social media scrolling do?

She almost didn't recognize what it was when she first scrolled past it. A blingy new ring seemed to be a weekly occurrence for at least one of her friends. But then it hit her. Like all of a sudden she'd been hit by a bus.

Kelsey looked at the ring again. It wasn't small by any means. It's exactly the one they'd admired on Pinterest boards for years in college. It's the same one they'd looked at in jewelry cases at the mall just for fun. But when they had done all those things, Kelsey never would have imagined that the giver of that ring would be him. But then again, there's a lot of things that a year ago she never would have imagined happening.

Kelsey swiped left and there he is. His smile bright and his eyes crinkled on the sides like they used to when Kelsey made him laugh. His face pushed up against hers showing off the ring in her hand. Kelsey felt sick to her stomach. A year ago, Jessica was trying to get hints from Sam as to when he was going to propose to Kelsey and now...Jessica and Sam are engaged.

Her eyes become fixated on the photo. A picture that less than a year ago likely would have consisted of her face instead of Jessica's. Staring at it felt like Kelsey was holding her hand over an open flame; but yet, she couldn't seem to bring her eyes away from it.

She thought about the night at the beginning of senior year, when Sam had walked in on her dabbing her eyes at a wedding video on Youtube. He'd laughed at her at first, wondering how she could possible be growing so tearful from watching a video of two complete strangers. But then he'd crawled into bed beside her and clicked replay and they'd watched it all over again, this time with his arms wrapped around hers and her head resting on his broad chest.

"How're you going to make it through our wedding without crying if you can't make it through this babe? You know I'm gonna write vows a million times better than those," He'd said with a grin; the one where his eyes crinkled on the sides.

They'd spent the rest of the night critiquing the weddings of complete strangers. Laughing, crying, deciding that when they got married it would be in the fall because that's when the leaves were the prettiest and the air was cool enough that Sam wouldn't sweat through his tux, and that if they were going to have to have cake at their wedding (for tradition of course) it was going to be red velvet, because that was the only kind Kelsey would eat. Kelsey had warned Sam that when he proposed it better have meaning. It had to incorporate some piece of their relationship. Something that showed the journey they'd had together. No crazy flash mobs or impromptu dance numbers allowed.

And that's what really got her: thinking about the proposal she'd always dreamed about. She hadn't thought about Sam this hard in months. She'd said she had moved on, that he meant nothing to her anymore. But her she was sitting on her couching, staring at his stupid, crinkle-eyed smile and remembering every stupid little detail of the fairytale romance they'd planned out. And that almost stung more than him cheating on her with her best friend. Almost.

The tears began to swell in Kelsey's eyes, but she tried to hold them back. The last thing either of those backstabbers deserved was a single ounce of liquid to be shed in their name. Because she was happy right? She'd moved on.

Kelsey tried to scroll, as fast as she can to get to something, anything but the picture of her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend happily engaged. It was only bad luck that she would happen to land on a picture from one of the Niall fan accounts, but this time, instead of a charming photo of Niall it's a picture that had been manipulated into a wedding photo of Kelsey and Niall. Taunting her as if Niall is just the next man on her list to lose to someone else.

Kelsey threw her phone to the other side of the couch where it lands with a thud. She didn't want to look at it. She didn't want to think about Sam and Jessica. She didn't want to think about Niall and Krystal. Was this what her life was coming to? Always being the other woman?

So Kelsey did the only logical thing she can think of. She grabbed a bottle of cheap Moscato from its place on the top of the refrigerator and pours herself a glass. And then another. Until slowly, she started to feel numb.

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

Niall could tell something was wrong the second he walks into Kelsey's apartment. He spotted the empty bottle of wine before he spotted her, laying on the couch with a bag of popcorn and The Notebook playing on the TV. He knew a woman with an empty bottle and The Notebook was almost never a good sign.

Becca cleared her throat loudly as Niall entered, gesturing for him to come towards her. He slowly crept towards her, his brain racing through trying to think of what he may have done that would have sent Kelsey into such a downward spiral.

Becca didn't say anything to Niall. Instead, she held up the same photo that Kelsey came across hours before. To Niall, it looked like just another engagement photo at first glance. But judging by the way Kelsey was laying on the couch like she just went through a bad break-up, he could put the pieces together of whose engagement this was. It had to be Sam's, the guy that broke her heart.

Niall didn't know much about Sam other than the obvious. But judging by the empty wine bottle sitting on the glass coffee table, there was a lot more to the story than Kelsey has ever let on.

"She's probably nowhere near as perfect as you," Niall said as he slides onto the couch next to her. He hoped his words would give her some consolation, a little reminder that she was far better than any girl her ex-boyfriend could be engaged to.

But Kelsey's eyes didn't fill with relief or reassurance. Instead they shifted towards the floor as words are muttered from Kelsey's mouth that Niall never saw coming. "She was my best friend."

Niall turned his head to look towards Becca for confirmation of this new revelation. Kelsey's best friend engaged to her ex-boyfriend was a more complicated story than he initially thought, and it definitely explained the messy state that she seemed to be in. But Becca has seemingly vanished, leaving Niall to pry the details from an intoxicated Kelsey all on his own.

"I..." Niall wasn't sure what to say. Should he ask for more details in hopes that maybe with more information he can provide some comfort to her that it would all be okay? Or does asking questions just bring up old wounds, wounds that in the few months that Niall had known Kelsey, she had kept hidden? Should he instead keep quiet, knowing that she would tell him in time if she wanted to?

Niall didn't have to make a decision though because shockingly, for both Niall and Kelsey, she began to speak. "They'd never really been close you know, in fact when Sam and I first started dating, Jess hated him."Once the words left Kelsey's lips she couldn't take them back. It was like the wine has opened a gateway into her inner monologue and Niall was about to hear it all, whether she wanted him to or not.

"I was hopelessly in love. The butterflies in my stomach, heads in the clouds kind of love. And I thought Sam was too. There was never a bone in my body that doubted his love for me," Kelsey said slowly, and Niall can sense the ache in her voice even with all the alcohol.

Niall didn't say anything, instead watching as Kelsey shifted her gaze from the window to her nails, bringing her fingers to pick at the edges as she began to speak. "It was a few weeks into second semester. I'd been studying non-stop for the LSAT, partially because it was two days away and mostly because after the news of my parents divorce I needed something, anything to get my mind off of things. I'd told Sam I'd be in the library all weekend studying. But I felt guilty that we hadn't spent much time together recently. So I decided I'd surprise him. It would make both of us happy, giving me a much needed break from studying and him some extra time with me that he'd been complaining about missing out on." Kelsey paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "And so I went to his apartment, all dressed up. He didn't answer the door when I knocked, and I figured he was either sleeping or listening to music, neither of which was abnormal for him."

Kelsey noticed that her voice was beginning to shake. It's the first time that she'd told the story, the whole story, to anyone out loud. Niall seemed to sense her hesitance, reaching his hand to grasp hers, and offering a reassuring squeeze.

"So I let myself in," Kelsey continued. "And I walked to his bedroom, pushed open his door and found my best friend naked on top of him." The image still bore through Kelsey's mind. The guy dropping, chest stabbing feeling she'd had that day lingering now. "Nothing prepared me for that. Nothing prepared me for finding my best friend on top of my boyfriend." Kelsey looked at Niall, her eyes beginning to water.

"Sometimes I wonder, what would have happened if I had not just let myself in. Would I have found out some other way? Or would I still be living in ignorant bliss, working my ass off in law school while he fucked her on the weekends?" Kelsey spat.

"And the worst thing of all was that he knew what I was going through with my parents," her voice grew more angry. "He knew how fragile I had become, how much distrust I had in love. And then he went and shattered me while I was already broken. I couldn't come back from that, not for my LSAT that Monday, not for anything."

Kelsey began to sniffle, wiping a stray tear that had escaped from her eye with the pad of her finger. Niall instinctively wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing her towards his chest and rubbing her back in a smooth, rhythmic motion. They stayed like that for a moment, Niall not sure what he could possibly stay and Kelsey still trying to find her words while keeping her emotions in check.

"I searched the deepest corners of my mind for some red flag I missed, some sign that they'd been doing this all along, that I'd just been oblivious to their love. I spent nights laying awake running through every moment I'd spent with the two of them for any signs of attractions, I tried to recall every time that Sam had been late to answering my texts or hadn't let me know where he was. But I couldn't find anything, I still can't find anything," Kelsey said with frustration.

"But now," she began sitting up and wiping her eyes once again. "Now, they are engaged and that's the end of that," she smiled, but it's a smile Niall can see right through. It was one of those smiles you used to try to mask the fact that you were an emotional wreck. The kind that you think might make yourself feel better even though you feel like absolute shit. Those smiles never worked, and it didn't work for Kelsey in that moment either.

The truth of the matter was, whether Kelsey was ready to admit it or not, the roles of those two people, arguably the two most important people in her life just over a year ago, was over. There would be no glorious scene where Kelsey rushed into their wedding, shouting that this was a mistake and Sam suddenly realizing that it was Kelsey he had loved all along. Similarly, there would be no scene where Jessica came begging for forgiveness from Kelsey, and Kelsey would accept, realizing that what Jessica and Sam had was unlike anything Kelsey and him could have hoped for.

Kelsey began to think that maybe this utter despair, this feeling of rock bottom, this ache in her chest like her wounds were reopened, would catapult her into a place of healing. A new journey. Or maybe now she noticed all the scars she'd been holding onto for so long. Maybe her wounds were still there, and maybe this was simply making her realize just how fragile she was. Nothing in her life was certain. She didn't have her career path solidified, she didn't have her family, and did she really even have Niall? Or was that just a mirage as well? "What are we doing?" Kelsey said suddenly.

"What do you mean Kels?" Niall asked, taken aback by the sudden change in subject.

"I mean what are WE doing?" Kelsey said again, gesturing between the two of them. "What are we Niall? Just messing around for the fun of it? It's not like we can ever be something with all this sneaking around." Kelsey didn't intend for her words to come out so harsh, but it was what she was thinking. It was what she questioned to herself every time she came across a photo of Niall and Krystal.

"We're getting to know each other Kelsey. We both agreed to take things slow, and you know I like you. I really like you..." Niall looked at Kelsey, his brows furrowed. "Is this because of the engagement?"

"Yes. No. I don't know," Kelsey threw her head into her hands. "I just," she paused again, her mind searching for the right words.

"I just think about how I'll never be able to post a photo of us snuggling on the couch, or how we can never go out to dinner or walk on the beach hand in hand. And I just wonder if this is even something. Or is this just us being stupid and foolish and thinking that this can go somewhere with all these limitations stacked upon us." Kelsey feels her cheeks begin to grow wet. Again. It had got to be the wine, because Kelsey didn't feel sad about this. She felt frustrated.

"And god, I just have this idea in my head that keeps playing over and over. And all I see is you and her and you telling me that you realized it wasn't all fake with her," she let out, her voice beginning to crack. She didn't know if she could do it. She wasn't sure she was strong enough to find herself in the position of the other woman once again.

"Kels," Niall said softly, running his fingers through her hair. There was a phrase on the tip of his tongue. I phrase that involved the word falling and was almost as terrifying to Niall as being trapped in a small space for hours on end. So he pushed the words away, instead taking the tip of his finger and wiping a stray tear from Kelsey's eyes.

"You've went through a lot today, you're hurting. And honestly, I don't know if anything I can say right now is going to make you feel better. But all I can tell you is that I would never hurt you in the way that they hurt you okay? And this thing we are doing? This is more real than anything I've ever had. Okay?" he looked into her eyes, they're red and puffy, but they were still the most beautiful things he'd ever laid eyes on.

"Okay," Kelsey replied. It was no answer. It was no solution to all her doubts and fears. But for tonight, and for her wine-influenced mind, it was what Kelsey needed to lay her head on Niall's shoulder and drift off to sleep.

Tag List: @awomanindeniall @ihearthemcallingforyou @niall-is-my-dream

#who am I updating twice in like four days?!#voir dire #writingby1dfangirls35 #niall horan writing #nh #1dff #niall horan #niall x ofc #fake dating #secret relationship #pr relationship #niall horan fanfiction #niall ff #one direction fanfiction

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heatherofthenight · 5 years

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Reaction to Ghost

I think my brain exploded.

Although I usually focus on D&A this episode calls for a reverse approach. It’s (almost) all about Smurf, baby. I avoided all post episode internet doings so this is 100% from my twisted brain. You know, the one that exploded last night.

Smurf’s Wild & Crazy Journey

If I’m pulling a big job (okay, for me pulling a big job does not consist of committing a crime but having to speak in front of people) I don’t party hearty the night before ala Smurf. That was my first clue something was up. I also couldn’t figure out why she left the oxycodone spilled across her vanity—that was the first time I gave a verbal WTF so the SO walking by the room thought I was 1) talking to someone I had smuggled into the house or 2) hallucinating—but wow, talk about long range planning. And she totally nailed it (Julia, dear, I’m not sure using Smurf’s bath is smart, especially since she might be returning to the house).

What Does One Wear to a Funeral?

I know anything goes these days but I thought wearing all white was an interesting fashion choice—the better on which to see the blood?

Baked Goods

The coffee cake disposal! That made me laugh. That’s a level of hatred I’m not sure I’ve ever attained. No one was going to bake anything for her boys in her house. Angela’s look of disbelief on seeing where the coffee cake ended up was wonderful.

Driving Ms. Smurf

Smurf’s conversation with J in the truck on the way to chaosville was entertaining and scary as she doled out orders. Get Craig a book on parenting. What kind of name is Nick? She clearly isn’t a fan of Renn’s although when you can’t even remember the name of your grandchild it seems like you don’t have room to criticize. And, the pièce de ré·sis·tance (I just pronounced that with my horrible French accent): After telling J that Adrian’s been talking to the police, a lot, which wasn’t even in regards to The Codys but Smurf never met a truth she couldn’t twist to her liking—I don’t think Deran’s strong enough to handle this, do you, baby? Again, she’s taking down another obstacle between her and her boys even though she’s not even planning on being around to see the fruits of her labor. And here I feel accomplished if I remember to make lunch for the next day.

Jed You Are a Truly Twisted Man & Laney You’re a Hero

Baby Smurf was definitely smart to sleep with a gun in Jed’s house. I’m not going to lie, watching Jed chase down the super preggers Smurf was difficult. Laney knew she was going to get a beatdown for intervening but she did it anyway. And she’s a midwife on the side. Viva la Laney!

Walk Down Memory Lane

I loved Pope’s reaction to Smurf asking Jed to show her some goods—his WTF are you doing look was pitch perfect. It was especially heart breaking because Pope seemed to know nothing about his dad and here was his uncle (skanky, gross and horrible but still someone who knew him) sharing some history and Smurf was going to make sure Pope wouldn’t get more. Of course, at this point I thought her plan might be to take out all of her boys but Pope sure as hell didn’t know she was going to try to punch his number specifically.

The Queen is Dead, Long Live J

With the way the boys were standing post shoot-out, I thought J was the one in a position to take Smurf out and he didn’t disappoint. He was a stone-cold killer although I’m sure he would argue that he did it to save his uncle. He was the only one who could comprehend that Smurf had planned this as her farewell bash and since Pope wouldn’t fall in line J stepped up. I was definitely talking to the TV at this point. You know the writers have done a good job when I was thinking poor Pope when Pope has spread mayhem and violence wherever he goes.

Hello, Indonesia?

So. Deran and Adrian. Deran seems committed to getting them out of Oceanside—Indonesia, Syria and Angola don’t have extradition treaties with the US and they also have hella good surfing?—and when Adrian (who sleeps a lot for someone whose life is falling apart) asks if he’s okay post job, Deran decrees: We’re getting the hell out of here and we’re never coming back.

Magic 8 Ball

Methinks the best-laid plans on fleeing the country so I’ve used my Magic 8 Ball to generate a possible resolution to Adrian’s dilemma. Please keep in mind that I’ve been correct zero times this season (except for Colby but I think everyone called that one) but I’m still going to share my zany idea: Deran has the number for the doctor who will doctor the death certificate for Smurf so what if he offers that doctor money to do a death certificate when he fake kills Adrian? I’m sure Deran will receive some sort of inkling that J is going to take care of ‘the Adrian problem’ so he’s going to be extra motivated to do something (perhaps Indonesia, Syria or Angola no longer appeal) to save his precious. We see a tribute on the sidewalk in the on the next Animal Kingdom scenes but what if it’s for Adrian, not Smurf? I mean I would leave flowers for the hot surfer guy before I would for witchy Smurf, wouldn’t you? Having Deran fake Adrian’s death would allow Adrian to live (a must since I’m super invested in this fandom) and propel storyline for Deran. Because if Adrian dies? I think Deran will completely lose his shit and there isn’t room enough in the story for three off-the-rails characters (I’m counting J and Pope in this category). What does your Magic 8 Ball say to my theory--reply hazy, try again?

#deran x adrian #Adrian Dolan #deran cody #(shallow) review

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dragonofyang · 5 years

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From the Sock Puppet’s Mouth

Well folks, good news and bad news.

Good news: the ABTV interview on March 4th confirmed for us that WEP is the reason for the last-minute changes and that certain things were fought tooth and nail for until they came down and axed it.

Bad news: WEP is still using the EPs as their meat shields to hide behind, and despite not being really able to refuse, Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery still said some fucked up shit in this interview and the one before. And we probably should gird our loins for the next interview with Let’s Voltron!

But Yang, why in the fuck are we not going after the EPs, then?

The answer to that and why this is happening is three little letters, my friends.

NDA.

Non-disclosure agreements.

AKA the bane of your existence. And ours. And almost certainly JDS, LM, voice actors, animators, and literally anybody who has to comply with the season 8 we got back in December and the resulting fallout.

These are fairly standard in lots of situations where you’ll be working with confidential material, stuff like stories, military paperwork, movie production, that sort of thing. They generally tell you that you can’t spill the beans until a certain date when the contract expires, or when the information becomes public knowledge and the need for secrecy is lifted. Pretty standard in the entertainment business, keeps people from getting spoiled to trade secrets or important plotlines and ensures that you can trust your employees with whatever you need done for the project in question.

One other thing that these pesky little pieces of paper do is give your employer (say, the owner of a franchise or a superior officer), the ability to order you what to say just as easily as what not to. Don’t believe me? Look up interviews with the people who were in The Last Airbender (yeah… THAT movie). During production and when it was new, they all said how excited they were to work on the movie and be a part of it, but once those magical dates came by to free them of their legal obligations, they spilled more tea than the American revolutionaries did back in Boston. As soon as they wouldn’t get sued, they changed their tune about working on TLA.

Sometimes you just don’t like a project, sometimes your boss is a dick, whatever, but the fact is, if you sign one of those little things titled “Non-Disclosure Agreement”, you are bound by law to say whatever your boss tells you to. It’s very much a “they say ‘jump’, you say ‘how high’” situation. The only time this sort of shit doesn’t apply is if it implicates you in a crime. So like, your boss can’t embezzle money and then tell you to say you did it, or that you helped, or whatever. If it means you’ll get pressed charges, then you’re free to stand up and say “fuck this noise” and leave.

But JDS and LM aren’t being forced to admit to a crime, as heinous as some of what they’ve said in the past two ABTV interviews was. I’ll admit, I saw red the first time I heard the interviews on February 25 and March 4, but ya know fuckin’ what? That was the goal. Those interviews were meant to be a targeted blow against those of us in the VLD fandom who want the real s8 and for the characters to get their stories told correctly, rather than the slipshod stoic nonsense that ultimately created a story with zero meaning.

WEP/World Events Productions/Bob Koplar holds the Voltron intellectual property. JDS and LM are their puppets right now because unless they’re ordered to admit to a crime or otherwise break the law, they could be ruined legally, financially, and closed off from their trade. Would it be nice if they stuck to the scruples they displayed back when the show first started? Fuck yeah. I’d love it if they said, “screw it, here’s the real s8 with the heroine’s journey and the parallel storylines and the ending you deserved to see and get catharsis with.”

Fact is, they can’t, but we, who have never signed an NDA with WEP, DreamWorks, or Netflix or whoever the fuck else is involved, can.

They’re lying, yes, and they said despicable things that would make anybody’s blood boil, but the fact is they’re just the unfortunate human shields that will let WEP get away scot-free and it sets a very dangerous precedent about what happens when a story is being told and someone up top doesn’t like what they see. The narrative LM and JDS are being told to spin is that when the writers left, they went ham and ruined the story and that the real season 8 would be worse than the concoction we got on December 14. LM and JDS have said awful shit as WEP tries to demoralize fans and chase them off from going after the original season 8 and deflecting blame off where it should be aimed. But why would they have to write a story that’s animated and would have been completed before the writers left? LM said it herself that animation is extremely ahead of schedule compared to releases, and if you’re a fan of HTTYD like myself, you’ll know that the third movie’s release date had to be pushed back multiple times to account for the animation schedule because they failed to accurately project when it would be complete, and so pushed it back as opposed to releasing a shoddy product.

It’s simple enough to realize that the story being spun is just logically fallible and factually untrue, but because so much of what’s been said has been attacking the fandom, it’s easy to believe it. I almost wanted to believe that, too. It’s easy when there’s already a face and a name to blame. It’s harder to dig through stinging nettles, even if you know there’s a pot of gold under it all. Luckily I brought work gloves and have friends who know how to wield gardening shears.

We knew before that there was last minute edits to season 8, and @leakinghate did an excellent breakdown of that here in case you want to settle in for a nice read to see what should have been. But the interview on March 4th confirmed multiple times that the problem with the changes and story didn’t come from the EPs or even Dreamworks. The pushback came from the IP owners. JDS says so right toward the beginning, about 12 minutes in when he’s talking about Adam and Shiro’s romance. JDS and LM both discuss how it was the IP owners who gave the order to change an already-storyboarded and approved plotline for Shiro, which directly negates their tweet on March 1 claiming that the store has no creative control and the letter Bob Koplar wrote to a few fans, also written March 1, which claimed the same thing and seemed intent on absolving him as a responsible party for s8. Sure, the person tweeting and the person handling orders might not have to approve things, but that account and the store are both owned by WEP, which is easily proven if you dial WEP’s number. But the IP holders got discussed multiple times throughout the entire episode, more towards the first half than the second, which is when what they’re saying gets really screwy in terms of logic and what they’ve said before and general bullfuckery. Until JDS and LM are thanking the hosts for the unprecedented two hour interview and JDS says, “I don’t agree with myself” at 43:03, they were thanking the fans and apologizing for what happened and explaining that it wasn’t them or Dreamworks, but rather the IP holders who were pushing back.

Don’t believe me?

Click to 12:10 of the March 4 interview. JDS talks about Adam and Shiro’s relationship and how it was originally meant to be portrayed, and at the 12:50 mark he says that they got pushback about their relationship, not from Dreamworks, but from “other controlling parties with Voltron.”

Click to 18:52, where JDS mentions how they didn’t have the position as being creators of the IP. He also points out that, “We were, for all intents and purposes, like, started as a show for boys 6 to 11 to sell as much toys as possible.”

Does that phrase bother you as much as it bothers me?

Because it should.

Ever since VLD ended and the fans started pushing back against what got published as season 8, the EPs have been silent, at least for the first two-ish months. They didn’t say a word anywhere publicly about the show or if they liked it, because their NDAs probably had an “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” clause. Generally, that’s the case because part of your job is to build good PR and hype up your project. Don’t believe me? Look at how they were after literally every other season, they came out immediately saying how much they loved it and how much they hoped the fans would too, and when there was pushback about Lotor’s abuse and the colony plot they were like, “please trust us, we want to do his story justice” even when it probably would have served them better to remain silent.

Not with S8.

Until these interviews, nobody talked. And when they finally did start talking?

They all kept saying the same things.

“This is a show for boys and their dads” and “this is a show meant to sell toys to little boys.”

At no point before this did anybody on the production team say anything even remotely related.

You can look for yourself, but I guarantee you won’t find anything. “Boy toy show” has been the go-to phrase for everybody ever since the silence around season 8 broke, and it’s not their words.

It is, without a doubt, from the IP holder.

We were promised that Lotor’s arc would continue and that “there’s a lot that is at play in his brain and his mind,” in the GeekDad article about him. Narratively, Lotor and Allura were meant to foil Zarkon and Honerva/Haggar. We should’ve gotten an alchemist-versus-alchemist showdown and a cool Lotor and Lance arc. Many things that were built up in seasons 1 through 6 were dropped, and if you refer back to Hate’s meta “Seeking Truth in Darkness”, you’ll find her analysis on what was cut, why, and the plot she pieced together based on the inconsistencies in the details of the season 8 that got released. In the latest interview, JDS said, “We were just trying to break the trope, our own trope. You know what I mean? Like Voltron was its own trope and the sort of little nook that we inhabited was, like, sort of boys toys was its own weird tropey situation.”

And despite all this talk of family and love and complexity and breaking barriers, we received two things from December 14 and on: VLD season 8, and silence.

Complete and utter silence.

The VAs were trotted out to face the wrath of the fans at SAC Anime 2019 and there was nary a word to be heard from the EPs, Dreamworks, WEP, Netflix… Nobody had anything to say about the final season of Voltron. The VAs even commented that there were things they were and weren’t allowed to say. And if they wanted to say anything, their NDAs and general social etiquette prevented them from saying whatever was actually on their mind, because I guarantee you nobody happy about the season would have kept silent. Even when all the season 7 backlash happened, JDS and LM asked us as a fandom to please wait and see, because there would be narrative payoff.

Which is why the latest two interviews with ABTV are all the more rightfully infuriating.

In the February 25 interview, LM specifically says that the initial pitch was to kill everybody, everybody would die and that would be the end of it, and that they had to back off from that. After the broken promises of season 8, that’s pretty damn believable to a fandom who’s rightfully hurting and grieving what could have finished a great show. But then with this March 4 interview, she says that she wanted to go Sailor Moon with it and have Allura come back as a baby after sacrificing herself. Kind of hard for those two stories to mesh when the person LM says would raise Allura would also have been one of the ones to die in the initial pitch.

So what exactly is the truth there?

Frankly, I think neither of those ideas is the truth. At least completely.

Why? A) It sounds like a super early pitch idea and B) because their general behavior disagrees with every interview leading up to season 8. Because if LM and JDS were proud of this product that got released, they would have said so and behaved as normal, if maybe a little more reserved due to fandom backlash. Because they wouldn’t be silent and only coming out with interviews after two months and several of #TeamPurpleLion metas that poke massive holes in what exists of season 8, CallVoltron has been sending letters, and #FREEVLDS8 garnered over 30,000 signatures. WEP has been trying to do damage control ever since we as a fandom started putting two and two together about where these disastrous last-minute changes came from, and only when the petition got updated to include WEP as a point of focus did WEP start trying to discredit the fans and meta writers who were coming too close to the truth. Here is a complete list of everything that’s happened since December 14, to give you an idea of just how wild of a ride this has been.

One main consistent thing throughout everything that’s happened since season 8 dropped is that everybody from the EPs up is lying, whether by omission or outright or through someone else, people have been lying like mad. WEP doesn’t want you to know that they own the IP and have strong input, despite confirming it by liking a tweet on February 13 and how you can be directed to their store if you call WEP’s phone number. WEP doesn’t want you to know that they gave the original season 8 the axe. WEP got scared that we got close and so they trotted out their EPs after two months of silence to try and break those of us hunting for the truth. These two interviews, which, mind you, came after what was scheduled to be the last one.

The official story continues to fall apart with every word of these last two interviews, too. JDS says that they were crafting the epilogue for season 8 during the aftermath of season 7, but according to him they completed season 8 back in June.

Again: which is the truth?

I stand with @leakinghate and the rest of #TeamPurpleLion and think that the original season 8 was completed back in June, but that the backlash from s7 and the general disapproval of a story of empowerment caused the truly-eleventh-hour edits to s8. The EPs are being forced to lie to you due to their contracts, WEP wants to keep hiding and lying and calling their customers liars and mocking them. But the funny thing is that the more intricate the lie, the harder it is to keep it straight versus the truth, as evidenced by how JDS and LM seem to be confusing what was in s8 versus what was pitched versus what they were told to say.

So what’s it all mean, then?

It means you should be watching and writing letters and calling WEP and calling them out publicly whenever WEP and Bob Koplar lie to the consumers and customers that express dissatisfaction with their service and their products.

WEP forgets that there is more to fandom than diehard dads and young boys.

The more they ignore the majority of their consumers, the more money they lose, the more faith they lose, and the less people will want to follow their future projects (like if they decide to do an MFE spinoff). Let’s Voltron is coming up with a new episode with JDS and LM, and they’re hoping to get it up soon. I’d just like to remind y’all that it’s scripted and pre-recorded, it’s not live, and it benefits from being the official Voltron podcast and has to keep good relations with WEP in order to retain that status. So don’t stop calling, write letters, hell just leave a Facebook or Twitter review of the business to express your satisfaction or lack thereof with how WEP treats customers and its show and everything. After all, the road to s8 is paved with honesty.

@felixazrael @leakinghate @crystal-rebellion @voltronisruiningmylife

#dragon's ramblings #vld #voltron: legendary defender #TeamPurpleLion #FREEVLDS8 #free vld s8 #vld meta #strafe

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douxreviews · 5 years

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Star Trek: The Next Generation - ‘Interface’ Review

Geordi: "Until I see some hard evidence, I'm not going to give up hope."

By nature I love brevity: A rather decent emotional story that was undercut by the final act. Strong performances, though, and some good material earlier on.

The first thing you notice about 'Interface' is its odd sci-fi premise: Geordi hooks himself up to a probe that feeds him sensory information so that he can perform missions too dangerous to risk an away team. This is somewhat interesting, sure, and the fact that it allows Geordi to receive visual information makes those sequences entertaining enough to keep me watching for the first few minutes. But it's not even close to some of the interesting premises that TNG comes up with, and it only really serves as a vehicle to present the emotion and character in the story.

The central premise of this half of 'Interface' revolves around the disappearance of the ship Geordi's mother captains. Everyone, including Geordi's other family members, has given up hope and has begun to mourn, but Geordi refuses to accept it without hard evidence. Unless he can see the wreckage, he will continue to believe his mother is still alive.

This is where 'Interface' begins to deliver its best work. Some well-acted scenes between Geordi and Riker, along with a touching effort by Data to comfort his friend, give it weight and impact with the audience. It becomes very clear very quickly that Geordi is just in denial, and that his friends need to help him accept that his mother is gone. That's when he encounters her on one of his trips with the probe.

The resulting sequences are heartbreaking to watch, as Geordi goes from denial to outright fantasy as his crewmates frantically try to keep him from hurting himself even more. He pushes the probe to its limits trying to save his mother, injuring himself over and over again. I think the episode could've used a little bit more variety here; it gets a little old seeing Geordi get injured in a very similar way, and then watching him get examined in the same corner of sickbay, as Doctor Crusher explains similar information to Captain Picard. Still, it does serve to show us Geordi's journey towards false hope. It helps as well that the episode makes it clear Geordi's theory is theoretically possible. As a result, we don't know when Geordi returns to the crashed ship whether his hopes will be vindicated or dashed.

This is where the episode takes a sudden turn, copping out and doing neither of those things. Geordi's vision of his mother turns out to be neither real nor a hallucination. It's an out-of-left-field alien species that's trying to manipulate him. Not only did I see this coming from the very beginning, I actively hoped the episode wouldn't use that twist. It dodges the consequences of the story and lets the writers have their cake and eat it too; now Geordi can be wrong about his mother but also not crazy for hallucinating her presence on the ship. To make matters worse, the reveal that she is an alien comes as a result of an action she takes that is completely inconsistent with her goals. Her plan was to lure Geordi into bringing the ship down to the surface of the planet so that she could get her people off of it. But instead of continuing the ruse, which was working, she puts her hands beside his head and does something to his brain. This immediately tells him that she isn't who she says she is, and also simultaneously prevents him from doing what she wanted him to do. The twist isn't even a unique one - TNG has done this reveal in other stories countless times before – and it's a shame it had to mess up the good story they had going for the first four acts.

Strange New Worlds:

The planet featured in this episode, Marijne VII, is a neptune-like gas giant whose unusual atmosphere causes subspace distortions.

New Life and New Civilizations:

The species of noncorporeal beings that imitated Geordi's mother are the latest in a long line of noncorporeal aliens in TNG. Their communication methods killed any humans that experienced them.

Pensees:

-What is the probe doing when Geordi bends down and checks people's pulses? Is it scanning them for life signs? How does it know what sensory information to give him?

-On the same note, how does moving his foot have anything to do with his height on the ladder? The probe seems to float in midair. For that matter, how is it ascending or descending with the ladder in the first place?

-Data is such a good friend. He knew Geordi needed this in order to have his closure, and he knew if he didn't help, Geordi would be in more danger. It both makes logical sense and is touching, just like Data's actions should be.

-Great performance by Jonathan Frakes when he told Geordi about his own mother.

-Robert Wiemer's direction is dynamic or subdued at the appropriate times. I appreciate it.

-It was during the production of this episode that Producer Ron Moore realized that TNG was running out of ideas and needed to end.

-Ben Vereen, who played Doctor LaForge in this episode, played the grandson of LeVar Burton's character in the show Roots. Madge Sinclair, who played Captain LaForge, was also on the show as the wife of the older version of LeVar Burton's character.

Quotes:

Data: "The ancient Doosadarians. Much of their poetry contained such 'lacunae' or empty spaces. Often these pauses measured several days in length, during which poet and audience were encouraged to fully acknowledge the emptiness of the experience." Geordi: "I can remember a few lectures from Starfleet Academy that seemed that way."

Data: "You may experience the emptiness with me if you wish."

Riker: "They told me it was important to accept the fact that my mother was dead and that she wasn't coming back and all the hoping in the world wouldn't make it so. In my mind, that was the day my mother actually died."

Geordi: "You know, we could both get in a lot of trouble for this." Data: "There is a high degree of probability that you are correct."

3 out of 6 lacunae.

CoramDeo doesn't mind; the thing that bothers him is that someone keeps moving his chair.

#Star Trek #Star Trek The Next Generation #TNG #Geordi La Forge #Star Trek Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

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youropiniondoesnotmattertome · 7 years

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A Note To Myself

What am i going to write here is a voice on my own of which your remarks,judgment,thoughts and opinions are not necessary to me. Every soul has its own story and journey to tell, so if you are thinking i am just overreacting and being such a drama queen...then i can just tell you to...FUCK OFF! Thank you.

This note is written by me to myself if i ever get out of this messy current situation I’m having..So, in 5 years time...dear me, please take a look at this note again and evaluate yourself.

Dear N******,

22nd March 2017, 11.22pm.

I never feel such a total wrecked as what i felt today. Waking up today feeling quite miserable after receiving a phone call from a headhunter saying my application could not be entertained because i was not qualified for it.(they didnt specify it in their advertisement anyway...so not my fault)

Feeling a little low while the morning is still early then i decided to go back to sleep...i didnt sleep quite well though..even had a dream about my ex/bf, Afiq.

The morning didnt go quite well...feeling depressed starting to consume me..so i’ve decided to take my little sisters to House of Cats...maybe that will distract my mind a little bit..it does but not for long...once i reached home...the pressure starting to swell up inside me...I received an email from a potential employer but turns out the location is just beyond considering..so i have decided to decline although i am entering the ‘desperate’ phase of searching my job...Then its where i’ve started to feel my pressure and stress reaching its maximum point.

I didnt do anything. I just lay on my bed. Tears started to flow over.Prayers didnt help. I was gasping for help..but there was no one.None. I never felt so alone and helpless in my life.I reached Afiq but i know he is so occupied with work.He didnt say much.A sign that i am just a disturbance in his life at the moment. My friends? They are all friends during easy times. Its true when they said what matters are those who stick by you through your hard times. But they weren’t there. None of them even remember my birthday after 8 years of friendship. But i try to forgive all of them by thinking everyone has its own issues..but i will always be there for them, in a bit...why cant anyone be here for me?

Lessons Learnt During The Hard Times.

1. Depression

When you are jobless or dont have any purpose of life, you will start losing yourself. It might be okay for some, but definitely not for me. I am not able to utilize my brain. I am not able to make use of my *** degree after years of hardwork. It will consume you day by day. I was so much worse now compared to my DAY 1 of jobless. I am now in my DAY 41 of jobless and i am like piece of shit.My advice to myself is always secure a job before resigning.But in my case, I didnt resign because of no reasons, i resigned because i have to.

2. Fuck your, dear former boss.

I was employed for 1 1/2 years. I like my job. I can handle the pressure. Some even looking down on me because they think my job is easy. But try running the firm on your own (while you are still lack of experience), making decisions on your own, clients looking after your boss but because he never came to the office so you have to face them instead. Try having your office being splashed by red paints by gangsters because they are looking for your boss but he was never around and you yourself have to go to the police station and lodge the report. Try having being paid late for every single month. Try not getting your last month salary because your boss is fucking mean and want to have revenge on you. Try having keep begging your boss for your last salary amounting RM4K+++ because you are in desperate need of money and your boss just laughed it all out. Everyone keep saying, you should have left earlier...i want to but because of considering that my boss has to work alone, i dont have the heart and look how he repays me.Dear Mr.**, i hope you rot in hell and may your life never be at peace for all the wrongdoings you have done.

3. Broke

My bank is empty. My wallet is empty. I have my savings.But you shouldnt touch that, arent you? That is for the house deposit money i’m planning to buy by the age of 30 since i am not going to get married, so i will buy the house using my own hardwork money. I am going to buy a house, stay on my own and probably getting a cat. Until i die. Might opt for free sex if my faith is so shaken by then, who knows. I want to adopt a child and i will raise her on my own. I will be a good mother, thats one thing i know for sure despite of my depression. Looking at a young child’s face soften and melt my heart. So yeah, i am broke. And seeing everyone having such a good life didnt make any easier. I restricted myself from going out..restricted myself from buying food i want. Restricted myself from buying or going anything/anywhere.

4. Family

Broke.No friends. Boyfriend out of picture. I just have my family. My family. I wouldnt say they are my safety net but they are all i have now when everyone left. I know my parents will be there for me. But for how long? I should be the one taking care of them and not the other way round. I want to take care of my family. But now it seems they are keeping a big fat old maiden pig in the house.I tried to help as much as i can.Cleaning, washing, cooking, being driver to my sisters. I’m trying everything that i can. But sometimes, i know i do disappoint my family.

5. Afiq

My boyfriend? My ex? I dont know. We fight a lot.Like really a lot. Depression starts to sweep in and he is the one that i can talk to.But he said he is getting tired with all the whining. Somehow job didnt just landed at your feet. So it has jeopardized our relationship. And he seems to drifting away too. Not sure if there’s a new girl in town. So we fought again last week. Very big fight until i dont think our relationship can work out again. Its just seem done.I met one of my dlsa classmates yesterday, and she was asking how are we? are we getting married soon...I just dont know what to answer...its really heartbreaking.

Dear *****

1) When you are depressed, you tend to be over sensitive. Over sensitive that no one talks to you, your close friends didnt wish your birthday. You tend to get very emotional about it.

2) Understand that everyone has their own issues. You are not the centre of the universe. But i didnt think its too much to ask for someone just asking how are you...just listen.

3) Friends come and go. Although you are truly hurt by their actions, learn to forgive and takpayah layan dah.

4) When you are at your lowest you will see who will be by your side. For me, I have my family and Afiq. But Afiq is just a stranger. His patience has limits. As much as he said he loves you or want to stick with you till the end of time crap, he has no responsibility towards you. Thats why next time if you ever fall in love, Love moderately or better if you dont fall in love at all. They will leave. They will all always leave. Think about it, why do you want to be stucked in a relationship with a depressed girl when there are plenty dozens of more emotionally stable girls outside??? Think. And you have seen the signs that his love towards you is deteriorating. I can foresee another heartbroken episodes coming.Honestly, i dont know if i can handle all of this.

5) Appreciate your family. Thats all you have. Money cant buy families.

6) Learn to forgive.

I am mad at my fate.I am mad at my boss. I am mad at Afiq. I am mad with everything.

7) Suicidal has always been on your mind. I keep imagining knives and knives. I was stung by a bug yesterday. It was painful. My hand was numb temporarily. Now i wish the bug was poisonous.

8) Your faith will deteriorating.

You tend to be angry at Him. Dont believe in Him. So mad at Him more than anything and start to question where is just in all of these shits? Why me? I was a good student..a good friend.. a loyal girlfriend...why everything didnt work out. I never missed a single prayer eversince i was in primary school..obedient to my parents...my friends some i know didnt even pray..had fun with their boyfriends more than it should...but they are all having a good life..married. While i am still here..broke..jobless..and no chance of getting married soon. I questions a lot till my faith is shaken. I tried to do the daily prayers with pure heart...but sometimes i failed. Prayers seem to be just like a daily routine. Afiq told me to Sabar..sabar...sabar.. but have you ever feel that you just cant handled it anymore..that you feel the pain stucked in your throat while your tears keep flowing..Yes. Sabar and Sabar...now everyone has left me. Maybe this is one way for Him to teach me that you should only rely to Him and not humans. So that is why I am on Tumblr...i motivate myself by reading all the Islamic quotes from Quran and Hadith. I should be thankful for this test. After all, we are all His creations.

9) Wait and Sabr.

Cry all you want. Never missed your prayers. Read Quran everyday. Be good to your family. And forgive.

Ya Allah, i hope i pass this test well. Please don’t let my faith slipping away.

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emotten · 7 years

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Writer Questionnaire

Part One: The Writer

· Do you use a pen name? Explain why you chose it. I use my initials: E. M. Otten. I do not particularly care for my first name, and that’s really the only reason I went with my initials instead.

· Describe your writing process using just one word. Chaotic.

· What genre do you write most often? YA Fantasy

· Who is your favorite character that you’ve created so far? I really like Flip, a new character who will be introduced in Shift: Abomination. He’s a wild and fresh addition to the story. But, as far as characters I’ve already introduced, I am I big fan Adam Bliss (from Crooked). His story was really fun to tell and I love the friendship that blossoms between him and his partner in the book.

· Are any of the characters you write based on people from your real life? Explain. Not really. Certain mannerisms or things a character says are inspired by the people in my life, but I would feel too strange basing a character off of a close friend or family member.

· What is the most important thing that becoming a writer has taught you? I’ve learned a lot about myself, who I am and how my experiences have shaped me. I’ve learned about a lot of mythology and lore than I never knew about before, so that makes research fun. And, of course, I’ve learned that this is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life; writing.

· If you weren’t a writer, what would you be doing? Acting? Trying to direct? I don’t think I could dream of doing anything outside the entertainment industry.

· How do you choose character names? Something I look up names by meaning if I want the character to have a certain type of symbolism. Other times I’ll hear a name or see a name and use it, and then look up hundreds of surnames and their meanings and say the names out loud to see if they fit together. It’s actually one of the hardest and most tedious parts of my process.

· Do you prefer typing or hand writing? Typing, only because my brain works faster than my hand can write. Typing allows me to keep up with my thoughts faster. But there is something special about handwriting.

· Describe your work space. I have a portrait of Deadpool next to my desk, and lots of trinkets to inspire me; jars full of pens and paintbrushes and twigs with fake birds on them… A lot of weird stuff.

Part Two: Books

· What is your favorite book? This is a hard one! There are so many. But the one I pick up the most is my collection of works by Edgar Allen Poe. I read a little from this book almost every day, and I try to create a visual story in my head as I read. It’s a sort of creativity and adaptation exercise for me that freshens up the jumbled thoughts already in my head

· Who is your favorite author? James Patterson is the author I own the most books by. But I’m not sure I’m ready to clai a favorite author just yet.

· Do you remember the first book you read that meant something to you? Explain. When the Wind Blows, by James Patterson, was given to me by my dad when I was young, and I just remember feeling so connected to the character of Max. (She was like eleven years old, her physical description matched mine, she had a heart of gold and a sarcastic defense system that worked quite well.) That book drew me into a whole new world of fiction and opened me up to new book genres.

· What genre do you read most often? YA Fiction, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery.

· Who are your favorite characters from a book? Why? One of my all-time favorite novel characters is Will Herondale of Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices series. He’s funny, handsome, and charismatic, but he’s also kind of an asshole at first. His journey is one I’ll never forget.

· Who are your favorite villains/anti-heroes in a book? Why? I don’t think I need to explain why Severus Snape of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is one of my absolute favorite novel anti-heroes.

· Do you remember the first book that made you cry? Explain. Ugh. I read The Kite Runner in school and it really wrecked me. I remember sitting in the quiet classroom, trying my best not to sob, but it was too much. That book is rough.

· Do you have a “guilty pleasure” book or series? Explain. Not really. I display all my favorite books with pride! I do get shit from my friends sometimes about the abundance of YA vampire fiction that lines my shelves, but hey, everyone has their own thing, right?!

· What’s your favorite novel trope? I love when the hero of a story comes from a small town or something like that. Plain, un-special protagonist somehow discovers they have what it takes to save the world.

Part Three: Film

· Does film sometimes inspire your writing? Yes! Sometimes it helps me break free from bouts of writer’s block.

· What is your favorite film genre? Why? I love thrillers and horror, but I also adore comedy. The best for me is when a movie contains both terrifying suspense and witty, well-timed comedy.

· List three to five of your favorite films. Scream; Fight Club; For a Good Time, Call; Choke; Stuck in Love.

· Who is your favorite character from a film? Why? This is a hard question to answer. But the first character that I thought of was Fred in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto. There’s just something about Fred that makes him interesting and intriguing and you want to know more. He’s totally nuts, and clearly has some deep issues, but his issues are never really explored and his insane behavior serves as a really unique source of mystery and intensity for this otherwise pretty calm film.

· What’s your favorite film trope? Has to be the old horror trope when playing “guess the killer” and it ends up being the guy who they said in the film was definitely not the killer.

· Who are your favorite villains/anti-heroes in film? Why? I will always, always have a place in my heart for Billy Loomis and Stu Macher of the first Scream film. First of all, two killers? That was a big mind-f**k for me as a kid. And the way these characters are portrayed is just perfect.

· If you had to write the reboot for any film, what would you choose and why? I suppose if I had to, I would choose something really, really old but not all that popular. There’s this old Martin & Lewis film, At War with the Army that I have loved since I was a kid, and while I don’t usually like “war movies,” anyone who’s seen this knows it’s a lot different. So if I HAD to do a reboot, I would want to bring the genius of Martin & Lewis into the modern era and introduce younger people to the classic comedy I grew up with.

Part Four: Television

· What television genre do you watch the most? Why? Fantasy, Drama, & Comedy.

· Do you have a favorite television show? If so, what is it, and why? I have a lot of favorite TV shows, but if I had to choose one I’d have to go with American Horror Story. There’s just nothing like it out there and every season is fresh; new characters, new story, new shocking scares.

· Who are your favorite fictional television characters? Why? I really love the cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There’s nothing more to say.

· What’s your favorite TV trope? The love triangle, of course!

· Is there a character death/departure that still haunts you? Jon Snow, of Game of Thrones; even though he ended up coming back to life, it was the TV death that rocked my world. I think my neighbors probably thought someone was actually dying inside my house the night I watched that episode. I screamed, I cried, I threw things.

· Who are your favorite television villains or anti-heroes? Why? The Vampire Diaries had a few anti-heroes and villains that really stuck with me. Klaus Mikaelson and his family of Original vampires struck fear and worry into viewers for multiple seasons. They were so well created, and their story was so intricate, that they got their own spin-off show! Kai Parker was another incredible villain on the show; a sociopath with the ability to absorb magic from others and use it against them. He was a true baddie, with no weaknesses and nothing to lose.

· If you had to write a reboot of a television series that was on air the year you were born, what would you choose and why? Ha! I was born in 1989 and most of the shows on TV back then were cheesy family sitcoms. However, Cheers was also on air, which is an incredibly underrated classic coke-bottle show that I love and adore. I’ve always wanted to create a new, modernized version of Cheers, and maybe someday I will.

· What’s your go-to series to binge watch? Usually I’ll choose a comedy series or something I have watched before, because chances are, if I’m bingeing, it’s because I’m sick or hungover or something and I’ll definitely fall asleep. That being said, I usually go for something funny like Always Sunny, Parks & Rec, How I Met Your Mother, or 30 Rock. If I’m in more of a drama mood, I’ll stick to my old favorites like Dawson’s Creek, The O.C., The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Being Human, Teen Wolf, or Buffy.

#writer #questionnaire #questions for writers #amwriting #get to know me #author #author questions #writer questions #asktheauthor #tv #film #books #writing #television #movies #entertainment

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sportinnovation · 8 years

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A day in the life of Eddie Izzard

They recognise you everywhere and expect you always to be funny. From interview to interview, they whirl you. People tug on your patience, but you never get angry. For a day, we walked in the footprints of Eddie Izzard: comedian, actor, marathon runner, and charity patron.

Aliens, giraffes, and slapping people in the face with fish – it’s half six in the morning and Eddie Izzard is serious.

As he pecks away at a breakfast of sausage and scrambled egg, Eddie digests as much information as possible. In an hour, he will appear on BBC Breakfast to speak about sports volunteering and Join In’s BigHelpOut campaign and he needs the message settled in his head.

Pale blue eyes stare into nothing as he listens to the plan. Seven out of ten sports clubs need more help. We aim to get 10,000 new volunteers by Christmas. Somehow, he must thread these stats seamlessly into his couch-side chatter.

This is not the Eddie Izzard you expect. On screen, he seems frantic and scatty. In person, he is understated, pensive, and particular. Everything is on point. Not a hair on his blond head rests out of place. The eye makeup, suit jacket, tight jeans, high-heeled boots, and handbag all marry tidily.

Fingernails clack on the table. Each is painted burgundy, except for two: a fingernail of Union Jack and another glossed in the flag of Europe. After several minutes, he has digested enough. Eddie is ready. And when he speaks, everything changes.

He goes from studied to theatrical in an instant. Richness comes to his voice. Hands flutter by his face. Like a gymnast on the parallel bars, his rhythm builds. With every passing second, he becomes more fluent. Funnier and funnier – until his speech is alive with 10,000 volunteers, giraffes, the Big Help Out, aliens, and fish-slapped faces. So that is what all the fuss is about.

Portrait of a patron

Indeed, fuss follows Eddie wherever he goes. Even when he’s inside BBC Manchester at half seven in the morning, the buzzing is never far away. There’s a film crew, snappers, campaign managers, pens wittering, and gawking – lots of gawking.

You can measure the madness of his morning by counting his spare moments. In a two-hour period, he spends a minute staring at Boris Johnson on the TV and a few moments skimming the paper. The rest is spent in the eye of a storm, starting with breakfast-time TV.

When the first questions come, he is well prepared – the minutes spent ironing the creases serving him well. This time there is no need to limber. From subject to subject Eddie flits in a blurring 10-minute journey.

He talks greed…

‘I was a kid. You were a kid. You’re greedy. But as you get older, you get this wonderful feeling when you give.’

…the devilry that is refined sugar…

‘I lost more weight by dumping refined sugar than by running 43 marathons. No animal eats refined sugar and they’re fit, fit, fit, fit for life. We think that fitness is a running around kid thing and then you let it go.’

…before, inevitably, moving onto aliens…

‘Volunteers can be all ages, all colours and creeds, even from different planets. Anyone. Giraffes.’

In these few, short minutes we see why Eddie Izzard has endured where other have faded. The absurdism, the scattershot delivery, and playful charm make him unique.

But that isn’t all of it. Watch Eddie for a while and you realise that he is a technician. The hand movements, the way he hangs on some words and rambles through others, the bits and bobs from of his day that re-appear later on stage – none of this is accidental.

It goes well. The country loved it, yet this self-awareness follows him outside the interview. For a moment, he seems troubled. Did he speak too fast? Because he needed to, he said, for his intonation.

But he doesn’t dwell on it, nor does he seem bothered by the scrum that greets him when he leaves the studio. Social media folks take pictures of him and a camera’s unblinking eye captures it all for a behind-the-scenes film. Eddie quite literally takes it all in his stride, answering questions about the time his toenails fell off as he is whisked away for his next appointment.

When Eddie’s face turned cola brown

In a room full of BBC employees, Eddie is bellows master, whooshing the laughs out of his audience.

You get the sense that he could be in his living room. One minute he talks about his favourite footballer – former Crystal Palace, Arsenal, and England left back Kenny Sansom – the next he recalls the time his face turned Coca-Cola brown after taking cholesterol pills.

You notice also that he polishes and repurposes a couple of jokes that worked well earlier. Other snippets from his day are pasted into this lunch-time Q&A. Like corks pushed into a wine bottle, phrases and subjects stick in his head and do not leave. Once, twice, we hear talk of disposable time, the volunteering bug, and his emancipation from the wicked world of refined sugar.

Then he is freewheeling again. First, he lilts into a Belfast accent before pondering aloud this year’s marathon undertaking: 27 South African marathons in 27 days, one for each year Nelson Mandela spent in prison.

Combine the standup comedy tours, acting career (he recently ate his own leg in an episode of Hannibal), political work, marathon training, and charitable endeavours, and you wonder how much time he has for anything else.

Yet there is no mention of a holiday. When his manager heard about the 27 marathons in 27 days, she pled with him, “Why don’t you take a month off,” she said, “and not die?”

The toll of time and tiredness

You can be forgiven for forgetting that Eddie Izzard is 53 years old; but as day meanders into evening, the schedule weighs heavily on him.

Two more engagements follow the staff Q&A: an interview for a news feature and 90 minutes spent cooped inside a tiny sound-proofed studio (or giant coal bunker) spreading the volunteering gospel to 11 regional radio stations.

Despite the demands placed on Eddie’s time, he never once complains, though he does come close. The moment arrives on a picnic bench in Trafford Athletics Club, as he devours a salad and listens to the itinerary.

During the course of the evening, he will act in a dozen short pieces to camera in various volunteering guises. The crew will film him shooting a starting gun, making tea for club members, raking a long jump pit, and dipping for a photo finish with former 5,000m world record holder Dave Moorcroft. These he expects.

And then he is told about a 45-minute newspaper interview. This he does not expect. His head twitches and his eyes flash like blown embers. An interview? For how long? You can hear the strain in his voice and a flash of the eyes. For a moment all is silent, and then he nods... and goes back to his salad.

As he eats, Trafford Athletics Club comes alive for the evening’s Grand Prix. An hour earlier rain peppered the track, but now there is a brightness to everything. Runners jog and chat and stretch along a track hidden by towering trees. The waft of frying burgers and chips lures the less active to the yellow-white clubhouse.

People pour through the gates, gabbling as Eddie rises to stretch. A light blue running jacket and shorts have replaced his suit. Vigorously, he shakes out his limbs as if tricking his body out of tiredness.

He is not built like a runner – too much sturdiness around the shoulders and arms, not enough of that willowy long-leggedness; and yet Eddie owns an athletic feat that few on the planet can match: the running of 43 marathons in 51 days.

Ten minutes later, he sits on a hurdle in the middle of the track with a mic hovering by his head. A camera lens points two feet from his face and a crew fusses. But he doesn’t see them. Once again, the cheeks lift and his eyes brighten as the camera rolls. “We’re here today,” he says, “thanks to plenty of blood, sweat, and volunteers.”

Dapper as an Italian policeman

There are scripts for each film, yet he sticks only loosely to them, allowing space for his fluid streams of consciousness. The pace, however, is relentless. After 12 hours of non-stop talking, Eddie’s brain is slowly starting to scramble. Tiredness slithers among his sentences. When he speaks, words slur and clash against one another.

Hands flitter by his temples in a frantic moment, as if he is taking several imaginary throw-ins. ‘There are so many things in my head,’ he says. Around him, the ground swells with athletes and well-wishers. For Eddie and the film crew, it will only get busier – and noisier.

For a flawless half minute, he delivers a piece to camera as 20 club members wait on him. To be a film extra is a novelty in the beginning, but the shine quickly wears off. A bird’s squawk interrupts him. For how much longer, you wonder, will these club members sit easily? Eddie resumes. An aeroplane whistles overhead. Unruffled, he says something to make them laugh and starts again.

Sometimes you forget that he is in his habitat. The speed of thought – the ability to work a crowd – he has been doing it for so long that it flows. Like when he is mid-monologue and a baby gurgles. He pauses and speaks to the infant. ‘Indeed,’ he says, and keeps going as if it is all part of the script.

And yet, as with most of us, Eddie is not easily read. He seems to love entertaining strangers and conversing with an easy charm, but he can also be detached. A vacant, pensive air comes over him as he stares for a minute at an athlete’s footwear or wonders aloud about why he never had a BBC sitcom, talking as if to no one but himself. Finally, the evening reclines into shadow. Eddie’s day – this marathon day – is almost done and everything is winding down.

The camera crew fiddles; the campaign folks discuss the script; and the club members watch the most magnetic event of all: the 100 metres.

Eddie stands with his little blue jacket perched on his shoulders, ready to take it off when it is time to film. But then a change comes over him. Suddenly, the jacket is alive on his shoulders. He turns to the lady beside him pretending to be an Italian policeman in love with his own uniform.

He smiles. “There could be a bank robber going by and he would still be admiring his uniform.” She laughs and Eddie Izzard seems happy. At the end of the day, he’s still doing what he does best.

Making people laugh.

Eddie’s day in numbers

18 – hour working day

2 – salads

10 - films

11 - regional radio interviews

1 – TV interview

10,000 – the number of volunteers he is trying to get into local sport

£0 – how much he gets paid for all of this

#Izzard #eddieizzar #volunteer #sport #spoty

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cynthiajayusa · 6 years

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Chaz Bono: Acting Out

As a radical right-winger on last year’s American Horror Story: Cult, a far cry from his own liberal leanings, Chaz Bono had his breakout role at the age of 48. Why did it take so long for Bono, who just happens to be Cher’s transgender son, to make his mark as an actor?

Because Bono was often in conflict with the female gender of the person he was playing but didn’t know why.

At least not at first.

Then, suddenly, his interest in male roles changed more than just his acting career – in 2009, the activist transitioned from female to male. Years later, in 2016, Bono followed a recurring role as Reverend Rydale on The Bold and the Beautiful with a foray into Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology, first on Roanoke and then on the prolific TV creator’s grisly Trump-era Cult.

Here, Bono opens up about why understanding his gender identity was the long first step to acting again, the “bizarre” possibility of working with mom Cher and what he’s learned about LGBTQ representation from trans youth.

One of my favorite parts of you starring in American Horror Story: Cult was reading your mom’s tweets about the show.

You know, she gets confused a little bit. (Before I was killed off) she was in Vegas, and she and her best friend Paulette did a binge of the show, but they didn’t know I had gotten killed already, so I think that was a realization. She tweeted me about that and was like, “Was this on yet?”

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What was it like to be part of a show that is steeped in total conservative radicalism with a cast that is so LGBTQ-oriented? The contrast is so ironic.

Yeah, it was interesting, ’cause I would say, for me, I had two very distinctive experiences on the show. The first part of it was what you just said: very steeped in a lot of people in the community, and then those who are just incredibly open-minded. But then all of these guys come in and I started spending all of this time with all of these young actors and extras, and it suddenly became a different experience. That was the first time for me that I started to feel like I was in a cult, and started to experience what that feels like and the comfort it brings.

Are you saying you could understand the appeal of a cult?

I could understand the appeal a little bit, yeah. I’m somebody who keeps up with the news obsessively, but there was something really nice about when I’d go to work, turning my brain off and being with a bunch of younger actors who were really exuberant, like this full-on, testosterone-driven experience of all of us hooting and hollering and just waiting on every word that Evan (Peters) would say as (cult leader) Kai. That group mentality is very – I understood how it could be very seductive at certain times.

I found it seductive too, but I couldn’t figure out how much of that was because the guys were so hot.

(Laughs) Well, yeah, that didn’t really do it for me, but some of the guys were really great actors. We got along really well, because I’ve done a lot of theater and I’ve been at my acting studio for five years now. I’m used to being around younger actors because I haven’t been incredibly successful in my career, so I’m around young actors all the time, so I feel very comfortable and know what it’s like to be the new guy, because that’s how I felt last season (on Roanoke). We kind of all bonded (on Cult), and it was just this really strange experience, like this group mode mentality. And you know, we were obnoxious. It definitely became a presence on set – and, I mean, I think I was maybe less obnoxious because I’m 48. (Laughs)

Why have you purposefully avoided playing trans roles?

It’s really a twofold thing. First of all, I really consider myself a character actor, and I really like playing parts that are very different from myself. That’s what I enjoy about acting, that’s what’s fun for me, and I think it’s what I’m really good at.

I don’t really have any interest in playing a trans guy because I don’t want to play something that’s close to me. If I wasn’t trans, I probably would wanna play a trans person because that’s the kind of actor I am, but it doesn’t interest me that much because I’ve seen so many actors that I know who are trans playing trans parts and I wanted to try to establish myself as not that. I wanted to show people that that’s just a ridiculous thing and I didn’t want to get pigeonholed, so I just waited and took small stuff here and there that wasn’t that because it’s just not the career that I want.

While working for GLAAD as entertainment media director in the ’90s, you were a consultant on Ellen DeGeneres’ sitcom, Ellen. Considering the show’s lead, Ellen, is gay, what did it mean to be a consultant on that show?

I looked over scripts. I was doing a lot with them as far as – there was a tremendous amount of press and hoopla around the coming out stuff. We were working to coordinate a lot of that stuff for her, and then doing a lot of press because she did so little. So, picking up a lot of slack. I was actually on one of the episodes right after the coming out episode, which was fun, and just kind of there for them. It’s so long ago that I just remember always being there and always organizing shit around that.

She’s a lesbian, so she knows how to portray that (laughs). But there were other questions that came up about other stuff related to the community and little specifics here and there about being a lesbian. You’d probably be surprised to find out that – because one of my good friends is the guy who handles all trans stuff for GLAAD, and so I know this – about the number of calls that he gets from actors, writers, producers and people who want to get it right.

You hear stories from celebrities who don’t necessarily want their child to go down the same showbiz path they did. Was that the case for you growing up?

No, not at all. My mom was actually the one who got me into acting. I was 14 and a really miserable kid in middle school, not relating to other kids at my school and just really unhappy, and my mom made me go to an acting class. I was kind of like, “Oh god, why do I have to do this?” and I ended up totally falling in love with it. Then, I auditioned for a performing arts high school and got in and moved to New York, so yeah, my mom has always been incredibly supportive of creative endeavor.

Regarding your sexuality and gender identity, I know you’ve gone through a lot with her.

She has evolved a lot!

WATCH:

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She’s getting the pronouns right these days?

She does get the pronouns right. Now she just gets mixed up and calls me my brother’s name. (Laughs)

Ha! Well, every mother does that.

Yeah, right! But yeah, she’s been supportive. For me, I didn’t know that I was trans at the time, but it was the issue that made me stop acting. I knew that I couldn’t play women. And I didn’t really know why at that point. I chalked everything up to being gay and masculine.

When did you come to the realization that you couldn’t play female roles?

I was 18. I was a senior in high school and I got cast as a male in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, our big senior production at performing arts, and it was the first time that I really felt like I knew what I was doing and felt comfortable and was really good. It was like, “OK, why do I have a handle on playing a middle-aged man? Why is that easier than playing a teenage girl?”

Did you process this on your own? Did you talk to your mom?

No, I didn’t process it on my own. And I couldn’t – I wasn’t out to my mom. My mom did not handle the coming out thing well, so no, trans wasn’t there yet and what I knew was, OK, clearly as a working actor I wouldn’t be able to go out for these parts. But this was the first time I really loved acting and it didn’t feel like a struggle. It was fun and joyous and “wow.” Honestly, it didn’t really strike me until I started to realize I was transgender and looking back over my life for evidence when I was in that fact-finding part of the journey of trying to figure it out.

It’s a weird thing, because on the one hand I try to emphasize that being transgender doesn’t affect my acting at all, which it doesn’t – I’m just an actor who happens to be transgender – but what it did affect was that, unfortunately, I started doing what I love so late in life because it happens to be a profession where you have to be comfortable and in the right body to do it.

I imagine now you’re hustling for roles.

Always hustling.

What’s next for you acting-wise? Will we see you on this year’s season of American Horror Story?

I don’t know. I mean, yeah, I’ve got little projects and stuff that I’m working on, but that kind of stuff takes forever. I’m hoping to have a better pilot season than last year and, yeah, we’ll see.

Are you interested in self-financing and self-directing? Have you collaborated on any projects with your mother?

No, I haven’t collaborated with her. Yeah, that I would probably do. That would be so bizarre, but I think she’s very talented (laughs). But I don’t have any interest in directing. I’m just not a very visual person, but I do have an interest in getting projects off the ground and producing. I produced a play out here – a Lee Blessing play called Down the Road – and I would probably do more.

As GLAAD’s former entertainment media director, are you encouraged by the increase in trans representation in media? What do you see as far as trans representation goes?

It’s really interesting because I facilitate a group once a month with a bunch of other people for an organization that I’m on the board of. It’s a big organization with lots of moving parts, but I facilitate a group for trans youth, and so we had a conversation recently and all these trans kids – basically middle school through college – were talking about representation. It was interesting to hear from them, because as an adult with a long life growing up in the ’80s where there was – forget about no trans representation, there was no gay or lesbian representation – my feeling is, “Wow, we’ve come so far.”

But, listen, these kids they were like, “God, why am I not seeing X,Y and Z? I’m not seeing this, and I’m not seeing that.” It was a really interesting perspective to see because, yeah, we’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go. And the people who need to see themselves reflected in media really badly are not getting their needs met. The number of trans youth just seems to be growing vastly and they are not seeing themselves represented, and when they are, it’s the same story. It’s always about figuring it out and transitioning and they’re like, “I don’t want to see that anymore. I want to see a trans person in sci-fi. I want to see a trans person in fantasy. I want to see trans people represented in the kind of stuff that I like. I’m not seeing that.”

Is that something you want to see as well?

Honestly, it’s not something I think about that much. My life is so much about my acting career, and so what I want is to just get more work (laughs), so it’s hard. And when I think about politics or that kind of stuff, there is, to me, just so many bigger fish to fry. It’s been so long for me since I needed to see myself reflected in anything that you forget, so it was an interesting lesson. Because I don’t need to see myself reflected. I don’t need to relate to a character because they’re trans. If I were to say all of the things that I am, trans is at the bottom of my list, so it doesn’t affect my life in any way. It’s just a thing. It’s not a part of my identity at all.

Does the fact that last year we elected trans officials, such as Danica Roem of Virginia, excite you?

Yeah, totally, that was amazing. That was awesome. That was a little bit more exciting, but I have to say I also get excited about any person that is a minority – that is the first person to get, in this climate, ahead.

So, any people of color, people of Muslim faith, anybody who is marginalized. Because at this point in my life, I see us all as the same thing. I really don’t differentiate. To me, I’ve evolved to the point where we’re all the same, and I think if everybody could get there we’d be such a very large, strong majority. So, I was really excited by all the women who took office, and there was a woman of color who got elected where that had never happened before, so all those milestones were exciting for me.

source https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2018/02/07/chaz-bono-acting-out/ from Hot Spots Magazine http://hotspotsmagazin.blogspot.com/2018/02/chaz-bono-acting-out.html

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ranabowbrite · 7 years

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Much of sabbatical is about trade offs. To begin with, we traded some retirement savings and discretionary spending to make our sabbatical possible. And on sabbatical, we’ll be trading our current routines and habits for new ones that reflect different priorities.

A large part of my personal journey is to focus on thoughtfully feeding and nurturing my soul for a year, with three priorities in mind: Us (my marriage), Body (my physical health), and Mind (my creativity). That means that I’ll be making some changes because for a long time now my priorities have looked more like: Work, Decompress, Work.

Decompressing on the weekends and after work hours is a far cry from really living for a living. In fact, decompressing pretty much means I am not focusing on Us, Body, or Mind. Decompressing is a lot more like disconnecting and intentionally turning off my brain and my body, and it doesn’t usually result in personal growth and development, which is what has been missing for me. I’ve had lots of professional growth and development thank to the focus on my career, but I need some me (and us) time.

So, here’s a list of some of the things that I am most excited to be “trading in” over the next year. You may notice that there aren’t as many things listed in the “US” category. That’s because Trent and I will be spending A LOT of time together over the next year. The creative and physical adventures we will have that will nourish our minds and our bodies, we will have together. We will grow closer largely through these shared experiences, so “US” is pretty much built into everything. In fact, I’ll be searching for the ways in which we thoughtfully spend time apart on sabbatical so that we don’t overdo it.

Priority Alignment: US

Time with my work husbands/wives/brothers/sisters for time with my actual husband

Like many working women, there are many weeks that I spend more time with my boss and my colleagues than I do with my husband. I am looking forward to getting to know Trent all over again and deepening our connection as husband and wife. We did a values exercise at work several years ago, and I recently did it with Trent. It was a great way to connect and get to know and understand each other on a deeper level. If I know my colleagues’ values, I should certainly know my husband’s. Read more about that values activity and try it out at work and home!

Work husbands and wives and brothers and sisters

Actual Husband

Donating our money for donating our time together (see my post on charitable giving and why it’s important to us)

One of the things we are most looking forward to is finding ways to give back to community throughout the year. While we travel the country, we’ll be looking for opportunities with the Natioal Parks Service. And in Thailand, we are researching lots of opportunities to volunteer our time, including at elephant rescues, in schools, and in mountain villages. Stay tuned for more blogging about this!

Priority Alignment: BODY

Morning commute for morning hike, bike, walk, run

One of my personal goals for sabbatical is to get in great shape. Although I’ve been doing 30 minute workouts three days a week with a personal trainer for years, I need to do more. And I’m holding myself to that. So, I am literally trading in my morning commute for a daily morning workout activity. I won’t have consistent access to the gym since we’ll be on the road and then out of the country, so that means really challenging my body in the great outdoors.

There’s really no excuse in Colorado given all of the beautiful natural workout facilities that surround us, but my excuse has been time. I won’t have that excuse any longer and I won’t find other excuses. By making our sabbatical largely about outdoor experiences through our camping and the adventures we are planning in Thailand, it will be hard to avoid physical activity even if I wanted to!

Heels and suits for leggings and flip flops (and chucks and hiking boots)

Ladies, I don’t think I need to explain this one. Men, talk to the ladies in your life. This one’s all about putting my physical comfort first. A year with only elastic waist bands? Do I dare dream?

Complaining about winter for enjoying a year-long summer

Colorado is wonderful because it has all the seasons, including a nice long winter with plenty of snow (you wouldn’t know it lately). However, winter means that some of our favorite activities, or ones we are looking forward to making our favorites, aren’t always feasible for 4 or 5 months each year. We won’t have that problem on sabbatical since it will be summertime weather everywhere we are all year long. I used to make fun of the “snowbirds” who fled New England each winter for Florida, but now I totally get it.

What are we looking forward to most?

Camping

Kayaking

Long bike rides

Hiking

Running outside

Long walks with the dogs

The beach

Sitting outside drinking

Expensive eating out for cooking healthy meals at home

We won’t be able to afford eating out all the time while on sabbatical, so that will be helpful, and we’ll have more time than we currently do to spend on meal prep. While in Thailand, the foods we will have easy access to are simply fresher and healthier than what is readily available in America. I can’t wait to blog about my Thai eating experiences…

Priority Alignment: MIND

Back to back meetings for back to back naps

It’s rare that I take a nap these days without a feeling of guilt–I should be doing something else! Funny, I have the same feeling during a lot of meetings. I’m sure no one relates to that. So, I’m trading those meetings for guilt-free naps whenever I want! Naps restore mental and physical health, but for me this is more about relaxing my mind.

Tucker knows how to nap

Fear of failing for the pure enjoyment of new experiences

I’m going to conquer all kinds of fears in this year of freedom (there’s a post for that too!). In fact, fear is one of the things that most impedes our personal freedom, and it’s gnarly, because it works from the inside out. It’s completely up to us to let go of the fears that hold us back from reaching new levels of personal growth. I plan to do all sorts of crazy things on sabbatical that fear holds me back from now.

Watching TV for thinking and writing

I used to write poetry a long, long time ago. And short stories. And plays. And I journaled almost every day. Once I began focusing on my career, those creative outlets dried up because I stopped nurturing them.

I’m a creative spirit by nature, and I am so excited to have more time to explore that side of myself again. No more coming home from work and turning to the TV because I need to turn my brain off and decompress from a stressful day. I’m loving writing this blog, tapping into my voice, and expressing my thoughts, however mundane they may be sometimes. It’s an active process of self-entertainment, one that nourishes my soul instead of sucking it dry like the television can do. But I don’t plan to give up Survivor. Not after more than 500 episodes. I’m all in on that one.

Spending money on things for spending money on experiences

This is a big one. We are transitioning from buying the latest gadgets, designer clothes, and whatever strikes our fancy to put on a shelf, to spending our scrimped and saved dollars on experiences. That includes trading hotels for pop up camping in the U.S. (Check out our Freedom Machine!) and low-budget beachside huts in Thailand. Instead of buying new clothes, a new iPhone, and the new cookware I really want, we will be paying national park entrance fees, visiting wildlife sanctuaries here and abroad (elephants here I come!), and renting inner tubes to float the Guadalupe River in Texas.

Reading about the demise of our country on Facebook for experiencing the beauty of the countryside as we take to the open road

As I’ve talked to friends, family, and strangers about our plans, one thing has been consistent. They all say that I have to disconnect from the news and the political drama that is dominating our social media, TV screens, and conversations these days. The majority of Americans agree that the things happening in our country right now are pretty messed up (I’m treading lightly here), and I agree. Like many others, I’ve been pretty consumed by it. But I know that I have to take a step back if I am to enjoy this year, truly experience the kinds of transformational experiences I hope to have.

It won’t be easy, and I may falter occasionally, but I am going to do my very best not to stay tuned in to the madness. I have to hold myself accountable for my goals and priorities, and to do that, I must hold at bay a lot of the negativity and downright depressing news that surrounds us all as of late.

Instead, we are embarking on a year-long adventure where, certainly there will be conversations with strangers both here and abroad about the state of our democracy, but I’ll have those conversations from an authentic place rather than a hyped up, fear-laden, knee-jerk response which is what most of us have these days because it’s what has been stirred up around us.

Please don’t take this as a sign that I don’t care. It’s actually quite the opposite. But I have to find hope and opportunity again through my own experiences so that I can refill my cup and keep working for social justice.

I ordered 500 of these postcards, and I plan to use them up before and after sabbatical, just not during.

Sabbatical Life: Trading This for That Much of sabbatical is about trade offs. To begin with, we traded some retirement savings and discretionary spending to make our sabbatical possible.

#featured #priorities #sabbatical

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