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youunravelme · 1 year

Text

slowly, then all at once

author's note: i'm going through some shit and needed to alleviate it with fluff and also it's mat's birthday (or at least it was when i started this)! EDIT: this takes place in an alternative TATGYLB universe bc went an ENTIRELY different direction with this series (because i don't plan well lolol). (stole the title from the fault in our stars because that book had me in a CHOKEHOLD at 14)

pairing: mat barzal x reader

warnings: none? cursing?

summary: the stages of mat falling in love with you

mat saw how you were with ella, the way you'd smile and talk to her like she could hold a conversation. or the way you never chided him or condescended to him when he did something completely stupid.

which is more than what he could say about his teammates.

so when he heard your piece of shit boyfriend screaming at you over the phone? or when he showed up unannounced and trying to "win you back?"

mat was livid.

he was sure jason had never hit you, because if there was any indication of that, mat would be all over it.

so while he's sure jason never inflicted physical harm, he saw the way you kept to yourself and even the way you looked surprised at his invitation to lunch or the game.

it broke his heart a little, to think that you'd never once considered yourself now a part of his life. when, in fact, the second you agreed to watch ella, it was like he'd pulled you into the fold.

he was on a mission to prove it to you.

inviting you to his game was the first step in his original plan.

well.

it was the first non intimidating step. (tito mentioned that maybe meeting his mom and sister after only knowing him for like a week was not the smartest move he'd ever made.)

you still looked out of your element when he asked, but he's positive that it was his own enthusiasm that convinced you to say yes.

and he thought it was a great idea! he got you and jason tickets, thinking that maybe you'd be more comfortable with having him around. and perhaps that was true at some point, but when he saw you, standing with only ella and sydney with water lining your eyes, something in his chest twisted.

you looked shaken, like someone had stuck you in a blender.

"where's jason?" was apparently the wrong thing to ask because sydney changed the subject almost immediately.

you wouldn't even look at him.

and when you told him about your piece of shit boyfriend leaving you?

mat wasn't prepared for the burning in his chest. no one got away with treating a friend of his that way, but seeing as you just avoided the topic altogether, he dropped it.

until you went upstairs to your apartment and didn't text him. tito would say he has a habit of hovering at times and maybe he never really agreed until five minutes passed without a word from you.

if you asked, he would've denied the intense concern growing in his chest. but how else was he supposed to react when you seemed so dissociated the rest of the night?

thankfully, you picked up almost immediately.

"hello?"

mat cleared his throat. "hey, you never texted me to say you got in alright. you okay?”

now it could've only been a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime before he heard your voice.

“keep the car running, i’ll be down in a few minutes.”

mat was ready to grab ella and head upstairs, car be damned.

he couldn't hear what else really happened on the phone, he only knew that you came downstairs, empty handed, and frazzled. the sight alone had him contemplating going into your apartment to figure out exactly what was going on, but he knew the best decision was take you back to his place.

he'd figured it out when jason showed up with his daughter's car seat screaming at you for wearing his clothes. screaming at you like you were somehow in the wrong, like he wasn't the one who cheated on you.

you.

who had to be the most selfless person he knew (don't tell his mom).

you.

who had readily agreed to take care of his daughter on a whim because he was insanely scared.

you.

who was one of the only topic of conversation his mother wanted to discuss. it used to just be hockey and how he was doing. now the thirty minute phone calls turned into hour and a half long facetimes where ella and you are regular topics for discussion.

mat couldn't comprehend how someone could look at you and want to tear you down, but after you officially broke up with jason? he was determined to show you how much you deserved.

exhibit a

"it's five sugars, right?" mat called over his shoulder once he heard your footsteps coming into the kitchen.

you paused in the doorway. "what?"

mat turned around, two mugs of coffee in his hands. "you like five sugars, right?"

ella sat on your hip but didn't seem to give a flying fuck that he was in front of her.

"you--you remembered?" you tilted your head. "you only made me coffee like once?"

mat's face heated up at the implication but smirked anyway. "i have a great memory!"

"could've surprised me from the amount of times you get hit."

mat shrugged, still not completely used to the idea of you watching his games, even if they were just highlights. he held the mug out to you in exchange for ella.

"you wanna come to a game again?" he offered.

you looked at him before breaking eye contact and sipping your coffee. "i don't know if that's the best idea after last time. i don't want to embarrass you again--"

"woah woah woah," mat sat his coffee mug on the island before holding a hand up at you. it didn't sit right with him to see you so ashamed of something someone else did. "what happened at the game was not your fault. it was his, okay? you weren't to blame."

"you weren't even there to see it--"

"and i don't need to, okay? i know you." he meant it. but seeing as the conversation was getting a little too heavy, he changed the subject. "just think about it! and let me know what game you want to go to."

you didn't say anything, but just gave him a small smile and nodded.

he'd count it as a win.

exhibit b

it'd been about four months since you'd started working with mat, three months since you moved in.

not that he was counting.

there were things that were harder with having you around. mainly remembering to wear a shirt when he wakes up in the morning, or to not adjust his junk until he was in the bathroom or his bedroom.

but--

there were many more things that were significantly easier (and better) with you in his life (and apartment).

sleep training ella was easy as hell

keeping an eye on ella who was walking now

the apartment actually smelled nice? not that it smelled bad before, but now it smelled like a home.

and who knew decorative pillows made a difference?

but his favorite thing recently?

grocery shopping.

he was currently pushing ella around in a shopping cart while you scrolled on your phone through the list.

"so what do we need next?" he asked.

"if you'd give me a second, i'd have the answer for you," you snipped.

by now, mat was used to your snide comments, knowing that you were just a bit quippy when you were focused.

"ella, is your nanny being a little cranky?" he joked, ignoring the glare you were shooting his way.

you rolled your eyes and tossed a bag of bread at his head that would've hit its mark had he not had the reflexes that gave him a professional hockey career.

"excuse me?" an older woman spoke up from behind him. "as cute as your little family is, can you move out of the way? you're clogging up the aisle."

mat blinked. time froze. he'd never fully considered the implications of the three of you out in public together. but being the comment of you, him, and ella being a "little family" had his heart stopping in his chest.

"oh of course!" you spoke up and grabbed mat by the arm. the feel of your touch alone had him directing his attention to the physical contact.

he looked at you instead of the woman, watched as you mumbled to ella as you pulled all three of you out of the way. his brain went on overdrive.

god he never wanted you to let go of him ever again. he would give anything to just be able to hold onto you a little longer.

and he must've been thinking for too long because you were snapping your fingers in front of his face?

"mat? you okay? did i lose you there?" you had a cute pinch between your brows and a small frown on your face.

that wouldn't do.

so he smiled and nodded. "sorry, just thinking about something."

you.

exhibit c

you went out for the night with sydney while he hung out with tito and anders. initially, you said you'd look for a sitter to cover you, but mat laughed that suggestion off.

he didn't say it, but you were no longer a nanny to him anymore. and you deserved a night off without the stress of finding a replacement. anders and marty suggested a babysitter that he hired for the night immediately.

"are you sure you don't want me to wait until she gets here? i can help explain ella's routine!" you said.

mat rolled his eyes as he herded you towards the door. "i'll be fine, go have fun!"

you let him gently push you out of the door but turned around and looked at him. "if you need me, text me."

mat smiled. "if you need me, call me."

the babysitter arrived five minutes early which meant mat could spend that time kissing ella's cheeks and reiterating her schedule to the sitter.

he was the last person at the bar, anders and tito were already sitting in a booth, each with a beer in their hands, an extra one on the table for him (he assumed).

"didn't wanna leave ella?" anders asked.

tito scoffed. "more like he didn't wanna leave mama bear." mat rolled his eyes while anders cackled in response.

"shut up, beau."

"ah! but you didn't deny it!"

mat shook his head and took a seat in the leather booth. "what's there to deny? we're roommates and she watches ella all the time. we're friends."

tito made a noise in the back of his throat. "you and i are friends, barzy. you make goo goo eyes at her when you think no one is looking."

"no i don't."

anders piped in. "you nearly ran into me on the ice because you were staring at her wearing your jersey."

"no," he defended. "ella was making a really cute face!"

anders blinked at him before rolling his eyes. "sure, barzy."

mat grumbled under his breath and chugged half his beer.

two hours or so had passed with the three of them talking shit about other teams. anders had hinted at leaving, checking his phone just to make sure grace didn't text him. mat found himself doing the same thing to make sure the babysitter hadn't said anything, or maybe to see if you had.

tito didn't seem to give two shits about his phone. and why would he? he was the only one without kids.

they were in the middle of a conversation about the upcoming devils game when mat's phone started buzzing.

sydney martin.

mat picked up the phone, albeit a bit confused. "hello?"

"mat! hey!" sydney greeted. "are you busy?"

mat glanced at tito and anders whose brows were furrowed. "no, why what's up?" his swore his heart stopped in his chest when she said your name. "is she okay? what's wrong?"

"she's a little drunk and crying and asking for you. i don't know if you're sober enough--"

"i'm sober," he said. "only had one beer." he was already reaching for his keys in his pocket. "what's she crying about?"

sydney sighed through the phone. "we saw jason and her old roommate out at the bar tonight. he made a few comments."

mat's jaw clenched. he forced words out through his teeth. "what did he say?"

"mat--"

"no, if he said some shit, sydney, i need to know."

"no," she corrected. "what you need to do is get over here and take her home."

mat was already standing. "i'm on my way."

sydney hung up.

"everything okay?" anders asked.

"probably something to do with mama bear," tito commented.

mat sighed. "she ran into her piece of shit ex and is now inconsolable. i have to go pick her up."

anders snorted. "right. 'have to.'"

mat ignored the comment and said goodbye, already rushing out of the bar to get to you.

it was another ten minutes before he saw you, standing outside a bar with sydney. he could see your tears from the car.

mat jumped out and hurried towards you. sydney all but pushed you into his arms.

and it felt like the world made sense again. you fit perfectly in his arms, against his chest, head tucked into his neck.

"mat--" you sobbed. "i--i can't--"

he kissed the top of your head. "let's get you home, okay?"

exhibit d

ella was saying actual words now like most babies her age. mat used to look at anders, marty, and other parents a little judgmentally, he'll admit, because while babies learning to do things was incredibly cool, he didn't fully understand the hype.

until she said dada for the first time.

it damn near made him cry.

and like for all of her other milestones, you were there beside him with your phone recording the moment. you almost missed it, but you had a sixth sense for those things, figuring out when ella was going to do something incredible.

that was two weeks ago and it still never got old to hear her say his name when he came home or rounded the corner.

he'd been known as mathew, mat, barzy, barzal, gary, and a slew of other names, but dada had to be his favorite. to belong to someone who needed you so wholly was the best feeling in the world.

that and seeing you smile at him.

he'd accepted it now, there was no denying it, not after half the team was on his case about his feelings for you. and how could he not fall in love with you? you were gentle and kind and handled the shittiest situations with so much grace (he wasn't joking, he'd wanted to fight jason the second you came out of your old apartment looking like you'd seen a ghost).

you handled his friends with ease, never letting tito's teasing affect you. you handled the "mama bear" nickname with ease, even laughing at it at times.

you just made his world so much better just by existing in it.

which is why he gave you the day off while he and tito took ella around the city.

ella was fine for most of the day, though she kept glancing around.

"probably looking for mama bear," tito guessed. "i would be too if you were the one looking after me."

mat flipped him off behind ella's back. "i'm not an idiot."

"before you met mama bear, you kinda were."

he rolled his eyes. "sorry for not knowing how to take care of a baby as soon as i find out i have one. most people have nine months to prepare for the arrival of a child. ella literally showed up on my doorstep."

truth be told, he was parroting the words you'd said to him a week ago when the guilt settled in about how much of a shitty father he was. you were quick to correct him, saying the exact things he told tito, that for a man who found out he had a child only a few months ago, he was doing a great job, and he was even better than some other fathers who left the parenting to their partner.

"i'd never leave you hanging like that," he'd said to you.

but you shrugged off his comment. "it's a little different when it's my job to take care of your kid, mat."

"you've done a great job, barzy," beau said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "there's no doubt about it. you can tell because she loves you."

ella smiled at mat and pushed his cheeks together.

"what do you say we get back to mama bear, huh?" he asked his daughter who only seemed to smile wider at the mention your nickname.

it was another fifteen minutes before they were home, rowdy and disturbing the peace and quiet you'd created for yourself.

"we're back!" mat called as tito shut the front door behind him.

they were setting things down on the floor by the door when you walked out in sweats.

"mama bear!” tito cheered.

you smiled and mat couldn't breathe. "how was my baby?"

mat was embarrassed to say he almost answered for himself. "she was great," was what he said instead. "isn't that right, ella bean?"

ella was reaching for you, making grabby hands in your general direction babbling something he couldn't quite make out.

"what'd you say, baby?" you asked.

"mama," she said.

and the room went silent.

mat's eyes kept darting from ella to you like he was watching a game of olympic table tennis. ella kept reaching for you until you finally gave in and held her. it was then he saw the tears streaming down your cheeks.

mat immediately went into defense mode.

"i'm sorry, i promise i didn't teach her intentionally, she probably picked it up from us calling you mama bear all the time and--"

you shut him up by placing a small kiss on his cheek and squeezing his forearm before turning on your heel.

"let's take a nap, ella bean."

mat couldn't speak, not even when you left the room. tito clapped him on the shoulder before heading towards the kitchen.

"you're so gone for her."

exhibit e

"are you sure about this?" you called from the other room. mat was in the living room adjusting his tie in the mirror on the wall while the babysitter was playing with ella on the floor.

to be honest, when he was complaining to beau about not having a date to some charity event the islanders were hosting, he wasn't expecting beau to suggest you. though, given how beau kept winking and nudging him after every time you and mat so much as made eye contact, it shouldn't have been surprising.

it wasn't that he didn't think of asking you, it was more like he didn't think you'd actually say yes.

"sure about what?" he called back.

"bringing me."

"i've never been more sure about something in awhile."

"you're so dramatic," you laughed.

mat would give anything to bottle up the sound.

"does this look okay?' mat turned when your voice sounded closer than it was a second ago.

he couldn't breathe.

god you looked beautiful.

"oh," you said softly. "your tie matches my dress."

if he could've he would've looked down to confirm your observation, but he couldn't take his eyes off you. your hair was perfectly styled, your makeup, flawless. the navy of your dress was perfectly matched to his tie and pocket square, something that shouldn't matter as much to him as it did.

but it was you.

so it meant the world.

you looked like you were his.

"yeah," was all he could say.

"you never answered my question," you said. "do i look okay? because if it's too much--"

"perfect," he said. "you look perfect."

you smiled. "sydney picked it out." thank you sydney. "you look handsome too mat, though, your tie..." you gestured to his neck so he turned around to see it crooked still. "do you need help?"

"yes please," he sighed. "i've looked up videos, but tito usually helps me do it."

"aw," you cooed. "you looked it up? that's so cute!" your deft fingers began undoing the knot and redoing it way better than he could've.

"how are you so good at this?"

you shrugged. "when i was fourteen, i read a book where a girl tied her husband's tie and i wanted to be able to do the same for the love of my life one day. so i asked my dad to teach me. i'm a bit of a hopeless romantic."

the love of your life.

god he'd give anything to be loved by you.

and it would be so easy just to lean forward a couple of inches and kiss you.

right there.

give in to what he'd been feeling for months.

but the babysitter rounded the corner with ella who was chanting mama and dada which somehow ruined the mood and made him want to kiss you even more.

"be good, sweet girl. we'll see you tomorrow." you made your way to the front door while he kissed his daughter on the head.

"i'm not sure how long we'll be out, but i'll keep you updated," he told the babysitter.

the babysitter nodded, which to be honest, he barely noticed because his attention was back on you and how your dress, while it had sleeves, had a dip in the back. he didn't know that skin could be so alluring, but maybe it was the fact that it was you.

mat cleared his throat and bid the babysitter and ella goodbye before ushering the both of you out of the door.

the drive lasted longer than he wanted it to, mainly because he couldn't wait to get to the event just to show you off.

was this how he was supposed to feel with all of his other exes? the desire to show the world you were his?

"you okay? you're quiet, it's unlike you," you said.

mat shrugged, mainly so he didn't immediately profess his feelings. "just a lot on my mind."

"uh oh. that can't be good," you joked. you leaned over the console and placed your chin in your hand. "you wanna talk about it?"

mat's hands on the wheel tensed, mainly to keep himself from leaning over and kissing you immediately.

"i'm good, maybe we can discuss it later."

you shrugged. "if you say so."

the both of you arrived at the event shortly thereafter with mat passing his keys off to the valet. "stay seated," he told you before getting out and rounding the car to open your door.

"you didn't have to--"

"i know," he smiled. "i wanted to." mat offered you his arm and you took it, wrapping your hand around his bicep like it belonged there.

the two of you spotted marty and sydney first; the latter all but shrieked when she saw you.

"you look amazing!" she said before tugging you out of mat's arm and into her own. "i told you this dress was the one."

"you didn't say i would've matched mat," you mumbled, though he still heard it over the buzz in the room. he was always listening to you.

marty nudged him. "you seem pleased with yourself."

mat smiled. "i am."

you were laughing at something sydney said when tito came up and clapped him and marty on the shoulders. "let's get you a drink, barzy. you look thirsty." he leaned in. "in more than one way."

mat shoved him off and leaned towards you, gently touching your arm. "i'm going with beau and marty to get a drink, but i'll be back."

you smiled and nodded. "okay, don't worry about me, mat. i'll be fine in your absence."

he let himself be whisked away from you and towards the bar where a drink was placed in his hand pretty quickly.

"so," tito started. "you two match."

"it was syd's doing," marty explained. "she orchestrated the whole thing. picked out the dress based on the tie mat wears every year. it was her new project."

mat flushed but did his best to brush it off.

"i don't know how you did it barzy," tito continued. "she looks good. if i were you i would've--"

"watch it, beauvillier."

"i was gonna say--"

"i don't care what you were gonna say, i probably wouldn't have liked it."

"well then, maybe you should take a chance and ask her out finally. the pining was cute at first, now it's bordering on pathetic."

mat rolled his eyes while marty laughed into his drink.

"look, you have a good thing going, you brought her here as your date, ella calls her mama, you two are as good as locked in and committed. you just have to do the hard work of officially asking her out!"

his gaze travelled to the other side of the room where you were laughing along with sydney and grace. you looked like you belonged in his world.

effortlessly.

mat made a move to go over to you, but marty caught his arm. "this is not the place to ask her out," he said. "as much as you want to, you don't want her thinking it took a pretty dress to get you to take her out."

"that's not the case here--"

"does she know that?"

mat rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink.

it was another thirty minutes before he made his way back to you. he found you standing alone on the balcony with a glass of champagne in your hand.

"you okay?" he asked. "no one's bothering you or anything, right?"

you looked over your shoulder and snorted. "i'm not important enough to be bothered by the donors, mat."

"don't say that. you're important."

you rolled your eyes. "not what i meant, mathew."

god he loved it when you said his name.

"i just meant that the donors don't really pay attention to me, so i've just been hanging out with the wives all night since my date ditched me," you teased.

"okay to be fair, tito pulled me away, i would've stayed with you all night if i could've."

you blinked. "really?" you asked in a small voice.

he nodded until he found the words to speak. "i love spending time with you. you're one of my favorite people."

within a split second you were closing the distance between the two of you and wrapping your arms around his waist. your arms snuck under his coat so that the only thing separating your skin from his was the thin material of his dress shirt.

it only took him a split second to react to the hug and wrap you in his arms.

you mumbled against his chest. "you're one of my favorite people, too."

in conclusion:

in the end, there was nothing special about that day. it was a saturday in the middle of july back in coquitlam. by the grace of god, he'd convinced you to come to canada for him, not that you could really refuse as he was the one signing your paychecks, you'd joked (though he made it clear he'd continue paying you even if you didn't go).

and maybe he regretted it a little bit, seeing you bond with his family was another nail in his coffin of falling deeper in love with you. there was no way out now, not that he'd ever want one.

it was one particularly hot day in the summer that mat dragged you and the rest of his family to the beach. and maybe that was a mistake (seeing you in a red bikini in public should be illegal).

you sat in the sand with ella building castles, or at least attempting to, while he tried to drown liana in the water. it wasn't until liana finally dunked him, that he trudged back to shore, bent out of shape and irritated.

"you can dish it out but can't take it?" you teased as he plopped onto the sand next to you.

mat glared instead of saying anything mainly because ella was starting to pick up more and more words and she'd say "fuck" too many times thanks to his mouth.

speaking of, when she saw her dad, ella immediately called him before throwing herself into his lap, completely forgetting about you. it was funny to see mainly because it was a new trend of ella's, ditching you for him. it was even funnier because how put out you'd be about it.

just like now with your lip poked out and your eyes rolling.

"oh don't be a sore loser," mat said. "she used to love you more than me."

"well that makes sense, i'm way more likable than you are."

"i can't argue that."

liana came running into their direct line of sight with a polaroid camera in her hand. "i wanna get a picture of the happy family," she said as her explanation. "say cheese!"

mat froze but you didn't bat an eyelash at the idea of being called family. sure, he'd considered you a part of his ever since you agreed to watch his child, but he didn't know you felt the same.

"smile, mathew," you nudged him in the ribs.

he turned his head towards you, ignoring his sister's groans and chirps. he ignored the sound of a camera clicking and the subsequent flash that followed.

his focus was on you.

"mat, what're you looking at?" you asked. he could vaguely register liana walking away as your eyes searched his face for any hint of what could be going on, but all he could think about was you.

you wearing his jersey and holding ella at the stanley cup finals.

you in a few years with a ring on your left hand that he put there.

you with a newborn baby that was the perfect mix of the both of you.

you, old and crinkly, holding his hand on the couch as you told your grandkids stories.

you.

before he could even stop himself, he leaned forward and captured your lips with his.

you responded not a beat later.

and maybe it was embarrassing, how eager he was or how his hand felt like the perfect fit against your cheek. but he couldn't give a shit.

not when he'd waited so long for something like this. for someone like this.

and when you both pulled away, much too soon in his opinion, your eyes were wide.

"why'd you do that?" you whispered.

he shrugged and adjusted ella in his arms. "because my life is better with you in it. because i love you." he cleared his throat. "why'd you kiss me back?"

you smiled and leaned into kiss him again. this time though, instead of pulling fully away, you stayed close so that your lips brushed his. "because i love you too."

#mat barzal #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #tatgylb #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal x reader #my writing

950 notes · View notes

lewisinho · 2 months

Note

as the anon that asked for the race list: thank you!

now this is totally up to you if you have the time to spend on this, but this is my first year watching the races, and while I've been doing some background research to get up to speed, there is still a lot i don't know. i trust your judgment so what are some races and/or f1 adjacent things i should look into? i'm going through your McLaren list and have watched the last 4 seasons of dts and the brawn documentary. are there any other books/ documentaries/ races (especially seb's) / old youtube videos that are lost in the void that i should also check out?

again no pressure and thank you!

no problem!

(and btw welcome to f1 and the world of watching some glorified hot wheels every other sunday 😁 it’s great!)

i completely get how daunting it can be as a new fan in the sport. when i was getting back into f1 it also took me some time to get back up to speed with everything, especially all the techy stuff; i honestly learned the most through just watching the races (old and new), bc you get to see all the strategies play out, the pit-stops, the overtakes etc. and the terminology just becomes much easier to understand through sheer exposure. there are also some really cool f1 data analysis blogs you might want to follow on twt/x if you want some more detailed tech analysis and graphs if you’re into that sort of thing: (x)

as for seb, oh there’s a whole arsenal of recs i have!

monza 2008, rise of torro rosso wunderkind; i presume you already know the lore with that one but ig you can never get tired of it.

abu dhabi 2010, world championship no.1 “du bist weltmeister!”

interlagos 2012, the infamous one. this one’s a rollercoaster, chaos everywhere and the manifestation of murphy’s law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. amidst a title battle against nando, seb was fighting the weather, bruno senna’s front wing, a damaged side-pod, no radio, and somehow managed to claim p6 to win the championship

malaysia 2013, multi-21 (iconique), he was faster, deal with it. 💅

singapore 2013, domination masterclass from quali to the race. (also just all of his singapore wins...lion of singapore and all that)

india 2013, title no.3 secured, changed tyres on lap 2 and came out p17, was third by only lap 13 and then won the race by nearly 30 seconds. it was also his sixth win in a row. he went on to win three more. speaks for itself. also this:

malaysia 2015, first win with ferrari, can't forget that one, also features sewis’ gay knee-touching on the podium.

germany 2019, CHAOS, in which merc got bewitched by the special livery curse 😅, with crashes, spins, 50-second long pit stops, and also features one of seb’s best drives from p20 -> p2

i also highly recommend watching Floz's fan-made docus on youtube about 'the silver war' (there are also docus for the 2014 and 2015 seasons) as well as the merc v ferrari (lewis vs seb) 2017 fight and 'fight for five' in 2018, they're so much better than dts and actually give a full run-down of what happened during the season, with all the action on-track, with interviews and providing all the context! it's so well-edited as well (you literally feel like you're watching a movie about all of the seasons) and they are just incredibly fun to watch.

in general, i love rewatching races from 2017/18 (literally my comfort seasons), personal favs include spain 2017 (strategy galore and lewis v seb), baku 2017 (for obv reasons), austin 2017; and basically the 2018 season in its entirety...

as for books, there are many driver autobiographies e.g. jb (he’s even got two lmao), mark webbah etc. but i think the best f1 book out there is adrian newey’s memoir ‘how to build a car’ if you want lore + great insight into cars!

i’d also recommend watching some older races (i could do a separate post on which ones are my personal favs) but it’s all up to you in the end! go digging, look around on yt for some highlights and just keep exploring! 🫶💜

#hope this helps!!#sebastian vettel #asks #anon

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booktomoviebrawl · 7 months

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We are not judging how bad the movie is, we are judging which adapted the book the worst. There are good movies that are bad adaptions.

Propaganda below the cut (spoilers may apply)

The Giver:

Completely changed the book making a story with great characters and subtle themes into a generic ya dystopia with stupid teen characters and no themes

They turned it into like this teen angst dystopia that missed all the nuance and love that poured into the original book. They were clearly trying to capitalize off of Hunger Games/Divergent and failed miserably. The original book was a message on totalitarian governments and how history repeats itself. It's so frustrating to see movies strip away messages like that and just make it a cash grab.

Shallow interpretation, tried to please everyone, also Taylor Swift was there?

Persuasion:

They massacred my girl!! That is not Anne Elliot!! The whole point is that she's beaten down and thinks she's missed her chance at happiness and is bullied by her family, not making mean and snarky nods to the camera :( They completely missed the whole point of the dynamic and it's SICKENING! They also cut Mrs Smith who is arguably one of the most important characters as she highlights Anne's lack of focus on title and rank and her family's comparative obsession with it + it's only through her that Anne learns about Mr Elliot's true nasty nature. Also they cut the 'I am half agony, half hope' line from Wentworth's letter at the end so what's even the POINT of adapting it if you don't have that!! Oh my god!! My poor favourite Austen novel :( (I do want to make it very very clear that my issues with the movie come from the writing and adaptation and not in any way from the race blind casting. The casting is superb and I'm genuinely so disappointed that they got such a bad adaptation bc so many of the cast are literally perfect)

Where do I even start? They tried to 'modernize' both the protagonist and the love story and managed to take out everything that made it good in the first place. Anne Elliot in the novel is quiet and good and helpful, full of regret. In the movie, she constantly turns to the audience to mock everyone around her, feeling so much better than everyone, to the point where nobody understands why Captain Wentworth would still be in love with her, or have fallen in love with her in the first place. Eight years before the plot starts, she broker her engagement to him because she was persuaded by a family friend that it was a bad idea. No way would movie!Anne have let herself be persuaded. They just tried to do a Fleabag/Emma type of thing without understanding what made either the novel or those two things work and thereby ruined it completely

Whoever made this didn't understand the point of the novel at all. They completely screwed up the character of Anne Elliot (the protagonist), which in turn screws the rest of the movie, as the original story only works because Anne is the way she is. Also, it's a period piece but the characters are talking in modern slang the entire time. And not in a clever way but in a very cringey one. If Jane Austen knew, she'd probably turn in her grave, and rightfully so.

Maximum Ride:

The storyline makes absolutely no sense, and the movie is nothing like the book. You could've given the movie an entirely different name and and keep the plot I wouldn't bat an eye

the movie's just bad mate

Horrendous low budget netflix movie with effects so bad they make me feel physically ill and acting so wooden the cast is in danger of being attacked by lumberjacks. The story already wasn't the best and the film somehow made it worst. I came in with nostalgia for my dear kids with bird wings and left never to be the same again.

#tournament poll #persuasion 2022 #persuasion #the giver #maximum ride

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readingcircletemple · 1 year

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Hi,

First of all, thanks for the podcast. It's great to hear someone discuss my favorite books!!!

Going by how you were discussing chapter 4 of The Will of the Empress, I think you never came across the movie "Little Darlings" from 1980 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081060/)?

It explores the topic of teenage girls and sex in a funny, emphatic and layered way. What's making me confused and sad is how it seems the backlash between then and the time you were in your teens was so bad you are not even aware stuff like this ever existed (and was part of mainstream culture at that time, Kristy McNichol also starred in the popular show Family, which, from the dub I remember, was about as American you could get in the 1980s).

I put this on anonymous bc I don't want to out myself as 50+ to the tumblr world.

Hello!

You are correct. None of us have seen Little Darlings, though Molly thinks the title sounds vaguely familiar. That counts, right?

It is always sad when progress is cut down by a backlash (which we're unfortunately seeing a lot of today), though it seems we're reading the perfect book to talk about it! This kind of backlash seems to occur due to people being afraid of change and refusing to communicate with one another--the two main problems our characters in The Will of the Empress are facing. Though their backlash is a microcosm, this can be seen in lots of real world settings (Molly always likes to talk about 1920s Afghanistan), including our political climate today.

In regards to sex positivity in particular, it seems there is not only a generational backlash, but other cultural elements at play. As she says on the podcast, Britni grew up in a purity culture, but Molly grew up in a pretty sex-positive household. In fact, since she had a literal picture book called Where Did I Come From? she never needed "the talk." On the other hand, aside from learning about puberty, she had no form of sex education in school. There seems to be just as much (if not more) backlash these days toward sex-positive thinking, but we hope the pendulum swings back again because even if we fear our bodies (or those of our children) changing, it's going to happen. And if we don't communicate with them about it, we'll leave them as angry and frustrated as the circle kids are without their siblings.

Thanks for writing in! One of our favorite parts of podcasting is getting to converse with other people, no matter what age they may be. (And thanks for the movie recommendation. Looks like we have a movie night ahead of us.)

#ask us anything #sacred reading #sex positivity #purity culture #Little Darlings #The Will of the Empress #Circle of Magic #Tamora Pierce

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justbreachedcuntainment · 2 years

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The dragon prince season 4 rant(spoilers from like line one)

There's a lot of ppl complaining rn about aaravos only getting one scene but I think this was very well done for two reasons. One is fandoms love puzzles. Finding all the pieces, seeing what goes together and figuring out what the final picture is. But once they're done with the puzzle they move right onto the next thing to solve. They'll either not appreciate the work the crew puts in after solving the puzzle(I've done this in the past with shows like gravity falls- trust me I know) or just treat it as another show and move on to the next hyped up thing. There's also fans who's reviews/ reactions I've seen on yt and LITERALLY IN SEASON 2 they said "this guy's cool but once you know the mystery and big reveal he's kinda boring" IN SEASON 2!!!! SO YEAH NO WONDER TDP CREW ARE ONLY GIVING HIM SO FEW LINES.

Secondly the show is titled "mystery of aaravos" not "discovering aaravos" or "all about aaravos". "Mystery of aaravos". What kind of mystery reveals itself at the start of a new chapter in the show? And yeah yeah it's season 4 but season 3 wasn't "mystery of arravos" it was the dragon prince. We didn't get most of tdp clues until the end of season 3 / during the hiatus excluding maybe things like the elarion poem? Idk when that came in could've been season 1/2 as that was when we first saw the ancient book I believe right? Correct me if I'm wrong I need to rewatch the show. Also side note the show is definitely not a long show. I work full time 10-6 night shifts Mon to Fri and I still binged it all in 8 hours the Sunday after guy Fawkes night. So yeah even if aaravos only gets one scene so what? It's not like we're sitting through 40/50 min eps to get a crumb of hot elf man.

Oh right yeah tdp is made by a lot of atla crew so they know what they're doing when they only keep the big bad in one major scene (which he slayed in btw) it's not just fanservice

As fun as the fanservice is Aaravos' tiny scene is a great display of his power(which we've seen little regarding the extent it can go btw esp with a non consenting host) and raises many questions for us to theorise on(like is Aaravos' a monster fucker?/j... Unless). The crew knows how to stir the fandom and indeed were probably predicting this dissapointed response when they made Aaravos' scene. Yet they kept it this way bc that's how you reel in the old fans and even viewers. With puzzles and mysteries and hidden clues. It's also a good way to keep casual viewers who may miss the hidden clues on their toes. Even if most of the hints and clues fly over their heads they'll still think "why is this guy fallen?" "What does he gain from manipulating people this way?"(which is a whole debate of its own after elarion's poem).

So tldr: the breadcrumbs we get of aaravos are intentional and a lot of people don't get that

#the dragon prince #tdp fandom #tdp crew #tdp aaravos #aaravos #elarion #tdp elarion #did aaravos fuck a dragon???#tdp rant #rant post

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llycaons · 2 years

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FORGOT A TITLE UHHH STOP READING SHITTY BOOKS

CW: misogyny, wh*rephobia, anti-Rromanyism

in the episode, a previously he/him host is now a he/they. so congratulations on the pronouns

they talked a lot about the magic system here which I barely remembered and didn't find very compelling

unlike the hosts I just don't care for magic systems that try to break your brain. I get the appeal but I like to understand things

our PhD candidate is very earnestly trying to connect a later scene of mass production of magic lamps to adam smith's theory of political economy. idk what he's talking about but the other hosts assure him PR isn't that clever

so like we said before our main guy is....every type of guy. and REALLY dramatic about it too

theater kid kvothe?

so he's an unreliable narrator, I guess?

hmm so yeah there's a lot here about wh*res and how horrible it is to be a sex worker and how a gentleman shouldn't call a wh*re a wh*re because "you don't want to remind them of how terrible their job is" even though they're still thinking about these women in this derogatory way? why can't you just treat these people respectfully because they're people?

also PR is apparently an epic atheist (TM) and religion plays a very minor role in this story

also there's a myth where a there's man who's abusing his unfaithful wife and it's treated like "oh they deserve each other because they're both doing bad things" ??????

so PR is an abuse apologist now ig along with being misogynistic and wh*rephobic and anti-Rromani AND according to what I remember vaguely homophobic as well?

HOW did this asshole get his reputation for being progressive again???

so anyway there's a ton of irrelevant lore that none of the hosts care about because it.s boring, none of the characters seem to believe it, and it literally never comes back so it seems pointless

also, NONE of the things kvothe bragged about in his intro speech ever happen in these books? I'm taking it on faith but I don't think any of them do which means book 3 is going to have a LOT of work to do

one of the hosts posited the idea last episode that PR doesn't seem to understand the concept of character development bc 1. none of his characters in this story seem to undergo genuine change or self-reflection and 2. in his goodreads reviews apparently he's always saying shit like 'hmm, most mysterious how this character started one way and then ended up a different way"

one of the hosts described this book is a fine pinterest board or a really nice tumblr gifset but it has no actual....story

so the women in this section. kvothe's unnamed mother and the sexy contortionist. doing great pat

also kvothe's dad apparently seduced his mom, who is not originally a member of their tribe...okay leaning into some other stereotypes I see

the hosts conclude that women exist (go queen) but they only exist...so men can love them

DOES PR know they're people? difficult to tell

a note: when the chronicler came in initially to be like "oh you I want your story" and he said no the guy was like "I heard...there was a woman involved" and apparently kvothe went sicko mode and in the end was like FINE I SHALL TELL YOU MY TALE

this isn't original, obviously, but it's not even original to redhaired fantasy protagonists of the last 20 years. this is literally a watered-down version of how rand al'thor acts because he's incapable of being normal about women

I remember reading this book and being very creeped out by the objectifying way all the men in the inn would talk about women

so there's some disabled kids in the city with him on the streets which is interesting to one of the hosts because you don't see that a lot but nothing really was done with them so like many things in these books they're just there for the sake of...being there

one of the girls gets her own spinoff book. and its title...now tell me this, whoever's reading. what does the phrase "The Slow Regard of Silent Things" mean to you?

honestly I like how it flows and I'm not opposed to using unusual adjective/noun combinations, but this doesn't really say anything concrete so much as give me a vibe of...reflection. this is a hallmark of PR's writing, where there's not many concrete things explicitly described but more often just the general energy to it. this isn't a bad thing, but I'm not reading that book and i have no plans to. it sounds very...transparent, like there won't be much to it.

but like, he goes on and on about storytelling so much that he never actually tells a story. like he's so up his own ass about how clever he's being that he doesn't actually accomplish anything

oh also this dude our mc who's telling his life story, he's only like in his early to mid twenties. which is actually quite hilarious and a detail I find genuinely interesting. so apparently he was this great legendary figure and did all this stuff and he retired at 22 to be depressed and run a bar? I mean. mood. that's great

anyhow I guess he has this old mentor who's teaching him stuff back before his family was attacked? super original pat 🙄 the wise mentor is a staple of western fantasy. not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's annoying after hearing him talk about how this is such a totally unique story when it is SO generic is so many ways

so in his backstory, our legendary mc's family entire was murdered, he spent some time along in the woods, he came to the city and immediately became a street urchin, and then he went to magic school and was so genius and good at everything, prompting one of the hosts to observe that he "has every single backstory an adventure/fantasy protagonist could possible have"

hm...you know who has a backstory just like that and is also an unparalleled genius and legendary figure who left the world in his early 20s and who is also full of himself and who also has killer monologues about himself and whose character arc is also rife with romantic tragedy and who's also a musician and who also has a sick title the world knows him by and WHO ALSO showed up his teacher in a supernatural-adjacent school? that's right! mfing!!!! wei wuxian babey!!!

but unlike kvothe here he doesn't fucking suck because he's well written and his story has actual themes and a plot and he undergoes character development and has real relationships with people

in conclusion

watch the untamed

#esp if you are or were a fan of the book it does the same things but actually pulls them off #and not to rank character by power levels but wwx could end kvothe #kkc lb

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smireyac · 5 months

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hey hey hey it's that time of year again 🎇

oh look an emoji in the title... nature is healing

so it's 9:30... 2023's been... alright, ig? like it feels like things are finally getting back to "normal", whatever that looks like right now... i stopped wearing a mask this year, long after most people ik already did (though considering SOMEONE in this house has covid right now, maybe it's time to buy more kn95s...) and i didn't feel debilitating anxiety being in a crowded indoor space so that means something, right?

once again, these last couple months haven't been so great, personally or globally, and with 2024 being an election year, the state of things feels... uncertain to say the least...

but we're here to look back, not forward (not yet anyway)! SO according to my goal list last year, did i accomplish much?

read 12 books? ✅ i read 20 actually! and not one of them was a graphic novel! ok i lied, ONE of them was a graphic novel but the rest were novel-novels! sure most of them were romance novels but that doesn't take away from the fact that i surpassed my initial goal so!! hooray 4 me 😁

write more? ✅ well, not more than last year but i think keeping up with writing anything still counts !! and i published another fic so!! hooray 4 me 😁

apply to transfer to university? ✅ hell yeah i did !!! and because I'm poor i got 4 free apps to UC and CSU schools!! i applied to UCSD, UCI, UCLA, UCSB, SDSU, CSUSM, and CSULB! i'll get responses back in mid-march/april... i don't wanna get my hopes up for anything... but i am excited to go to actual university, even if it won't be like my peers/the movies... yk bc im a transfer and i'll be 26 by the time i'm actually attending classes instead of a bright-eyed 18 year old, ready to take on the world... we'll see... i'll make this my extremely goofy movie moment if i have to lmao so!! hooray 4 me 😁

do stuff with friends? ✅ while i didn't do all the things i mentioned, most significant things i did this year were with friends!! i went to NYC with remi, and went back to little tokyo with annie and gnat so!! hooray 4 me 😁

make new friends? ✅ i did!! make at least one new friend 😊😊😊 and im very glad for it so!! hooray 4 me 😁

all major goals accomplished!!! ✅✅✅✅✅

hooray 4 me!!! 😁😁😁😁

also of the movies i mentioned that i was excited for, the only one i still haven't seen is the transformers movie lmao 😆 i will eventually

speaking of movies,,, i want to be more into movies this year 🤔 like i watched a number of awards season contenders this year and i kinda wanna be able to make my own oscar predictions this year? I'm also toying with the idea of defending my "movies of all time" list on letterboxd 🤔 (i say toying bc i literally just came up with the idea yesterday lmao) im putting this in writing bc if i don't then it makes it easier for me to not follow through on them, yk? also i have no idea what that "secret writing project" i talked about last time even was lmao

this is all related to my latest existential crisis re: what i wanna do with my life lmaoooo (when aren't i tho frfr) like going to university is the next big step in my life right? and when i tell people that i'm getting an English degree (tho i should rlly start saying literature now) the first thing they all ask is "oh do you want to be a teacher?" which is a HUGE pet peeve of mine because no!! i don't wanna be a teacher!!! that's not the only reason someone would get an English degree!! not that there's anything wrong with teaching, i just don't feel like i... have the right temperament? (tho if i'm being honest, i do have a fantasy of taking over as the film strand teacher when pike retires [but i think that's happening this coming year so that fantasy will remain a fantasy lol]) most recently, i've started saying i want to be an editor but even that feels like a commitment to something idek if I'll be able to achieve (am i commitmentphobic? more at 11) so like !! then what ??? i could try to go further up in the library ? go for a leadership position ??? its stable it has health insurance and a pension... smart things to keep, things i shouldn't disregard frfr i could have a CAREER with the library... but at the same time, i'm like... do i wanna get stuck here? like me and brenden were talking once about how long some of the people working at the library has been there and how most of them are tired and burnt out and

like what if i want to do something else?

my initial plan was to stick with the city for 10 years so i could qualify for the pension and they i might be able to do smthg else with my life while having that pension for later on and who knows? maybe i'd feel like coming back to library when i'm older and wiser??? since i've been here 5 years i thought i just needed 5 more TURNS OUT the 10 years only counts when you became BENEFITED and it only COUNTS YOUR WORKING TIME so even tho i've been here 5 years, im only like 8 months into this pension bullshit bc i got benefits a year and a halfish ago and IM ONLY HALF TIME!!!!!!

[sigh]

so idk!! shit's weird and idk what im doing!! i'm gonna go to school for literature and see what happens while i'm there; i hope i won't have to quit my job but i also wonder what it would be like to go to school full-time, like god intended... i've also considered master's and doctorates but like i feel like i shouldn't worry about that until i at least get through the bachelor's lmao 😆

i could go on (and i might tmrw tbh) but it's also 2am and i haven't even gotten to my goals this year

SO GOALS:

🎇 so first things first: we're keeping up the reading goal! we'll raise the stakes to 20 books since i know i can do that now

🎇 other goal related to reading: i want to read some non-fiction books this year; specific items include kitchen confidential, what we don't talk about when we talk about fat, and any/all of the miami history books i've checked out from the library b4

🎇 ik that my life will get very busy when i get to university so I'm hesitant to have a lot of stuff "to do" but i thought about trying to learn a new skill, specifically blender? bc im obsessed with bigtop burger lmao bc idk i still love animation and it just sounds fun!!

🎇 watch more movies? to do the awards szn thing? like im gonna try for the golden globes in fIVE DAYS? SHIT... well if not the globes then the oscars for sure but man... here's a secret career dream hidden in a goal: film critic? i think that's cool but like what does that even mean for me lmao ANYWAY WATCH MOVIES

i just wanna see where life takes me this year

maybe i'll figure some shit out along the way lol

happy new year babes 💖🍾🥂🎆

EDIT: I HAVE MORE GOALS I MIGHT WANT TO SET

🎇 make a content ? oooo scary ik we hate the word content but i feel like im finally confident enough in myself that i don't feel the excuse "im not good enough" is valid anymore? And sien has been asking to for forever and i think i was supposed to help her do it for her birthday ?? So ive been LACKING lmao

🎇 DM a DnD sesh frfr you've been wanting to for years but u always chicken out bc ur scared well ur reblog all those posts do it scared right? DO IT

🎇 go out to events ? like the poetry reading u were invited to and like u see those posts on insta so like maybe go to them? andMAYBEtrythatspeeddatingtypething???MAYBE.....

#omg i talk #happy new year

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girlsexbattle2 · 1 year

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The road is a depressing book about why we live life and is poorly executed. if one may deal with thoughts of suicide, may wanna skip this post. oh and canabilism. lots of it

my goal is discussion so have literally the slightest thought cross your mind please tell me about it. i will steal it for my essay (i will credit if asked to)

the books ending is shit. not in the 'oOOO oo emotions' way but bad writing way. the man dies to illness and the boy is on his lonesome for like two days until a deus de machina comes and gives the boy a chance at a new life. and the overall message is like supposed to be life moves on even if you dont(?) or maybe that our lives maybe shit but we have the ability to help it so we must live. ignoring that they really do fuck all to make their lives feel like they are worth living. idk man it feels stupid trying to analyze the plot when the setting is the main focus. like the reason mcarthy wrote the book wasnt to tell a story about characters but to show a desolate post apocalyptic america. i am supposed to question the idea of 'good vs evil' and its dichotomy.

my first thing to say is there are no good guys. not like the boy and the man evil but neutral. grandpa too. just living to survive with no greater purpose. simply walking an uncertain road to oblivion. okay ill mention the on the nose theme of the road is life and youll meet all types of people but they all leave at some point and leave an impact on you in some way. the depiction of the road as cabalistic also an on the nose dog eats dog world.

(great point of idea over execution. dog eats dog world -> man eats man-> man eats man!! fr!! thats a fun little detail but that leaves us with no real reason for canabilism. like i think they mention crows at some point? not the best option but better than newborn.

'oh theres no plants' okay fuckwad why do they have trees? and apples? our duo find a doomsday bunker intact which proves that there is still places unscavenged not saying it would be easy just there are ways to live without eating human flesh. actually htf does the settlement at the end of the book survive? they have to eat something. thats a big detail i dont think carthy would miss that im probably forgetting.

just canabilism aspect doesnt sit right with me. would it be too twitter of me to say this book realizes on a white suburban view of life? cause like native americans didnt live here for fucking centuries as stewards of the land and with mellow cultures for you to say that all society would collapse. like yes the upper middle class up live cushy lives and probably never have killed an animal bc of thier own need of food but others in poverty already live in some [i am white upper class and have no balls to say all] of these conditions. is the road an analogy of poverty? like it would be the end of the higher class but not all of us

actually i really like that point. this is only a horror/sad story for those of us fortunate enough not to live it. we are cooing at the preventable corspe of our fellow man with the smoking gun still in our hands.)

okay idea three(?) would be idea one remixed. the man is the stand in for the older generation or for my purpose the 'current' generation. boy likewise is the to-be inheriters of the current generation title. The man is cautious of people and holds no sympathy for 'others' but he still willing to go into the old world wreckage to scavenge. the boy is opposite, empath but terrified of the world that came before him. good and evil would have to rely on the characters morals. and the focus shifts from the man to the boy when he inherits the current generation title. could be the theme of 'the world is seen through the procived majorities eyes.'

i think i deleted the part that says 'keep living by obligation' which mcarthy fails to make this interesting. like the plot being because dad says so isnt inspiring. okay a realistic life is lived by obligation but thats not a good story motivator. i did what i always do which is watch a video essay about the topic bc im cool like that and he said that the point is to ask the question 'is there a reason for anything?' which yeah interesting question hard to execute in a meaningful or memorable way. or if there is it definitely isnt the road. im a hudge bitch when it comes to stories that make my class have discussions on whether suicide is the answer and seemed to genuinely go to yes. that was the moment i felt most kindled by the duo bc my god mcarthy you better prove them wrong or ill cry. not bc of you unique writing style but because these fucks deserve better. i deserve better.

the man and boy should share more moments being genuine with eachother. no one ever breaks down and like expresses shit to work through it they just crack for a second then go back to surviving cause boys dont cry. like its obvious that the man loves his son. but does he love the person? does he love the boy beyond the title of kin. same thing in the other direction too. cause i really dont think these characters do. and that could be interesting if you explored that but thats not mcarthys goal!! so they are just bland tear fodder. like i think the goal was 'the road is worth walking with loved ones' they lack any attributes so the reader can imprint whatever ideology onto them. Thats lazy. These arent people. Fucking Sun Wukong, representation of the human mind, one of the most varried things in existence, has enough character that the duo would turn to ash in his presence while being a damn fine metaphor (even if it doesn't encompass everyone)

im expected to give them pidy on the idea that they are human and trying to survive in a world hell bent on killing them and just like. yeah man that sucks but me too. and then we both continue living our shitty depressing lives and never do jack shit to help ourselves. well i guess the entire book is to get to a better place. but what happens when they get there that couldnt happen in rock city? what changes because of this. i know i know the winter. i feel unsatisfied. okay so thier goal is to keep living in the world where they reside. not im going to stop this. which is boring i can go talk to any bitch out on the street and get the same life story eachtime. i dont care anymore.

I get thats not the point. that not everything must be a call to action. that this is a fiction book desperate trying to presist thats its real. not like those other books but this is my tumblr blog so im going to say i hate that. i hate the idea that this is it. theres no hope here. go outside and weep if your looking for that. dont require me to read in class a story where nothing is accomplished. where the main take away is our lives will not impact the universe and therefore are meaningless.

okay tldr: the roads all like 'life is meaningless monotonous mess' and i think thats a really boring topic. with out agency your novel is shit. i dont really care about these characters at all bc they arent characters. they are muses for the reader to view how they like. which did not work in this book.

#the road by cormac mcarthy #discussion #spoilers #essay but yknow written on my phone in an hour and published to tumblr #suicide mention #ramble #irl #english class shit #canabilism #i used the word empath ironically. thats not a real thing #book review #i wish i could turn this in for a grade #infanticide

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gayforclout · 2 years

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hey hey hey !!! I read you like philosophy !!! well that's great bc I have to do an essay about a philosophical question/phrase. what do u recommend me? :) have a great day

hmmmmm my absolute favourite is probably "a bike is not a bike, it's an arrangement of bike parts in the shape of a bike, and a bike part isn't a bike part, it's an arrangement of smaller things in the shape of a bike part, ad infinitum." i first heard it at a talk given by a buddhist monk like seven whole years ago in high school of all things, before i ever got into this sort of thing, and it stuck with me so much that later on it was partially responsible for me initially looking into buddhism and so moving from my 'extremely cynical teenager' phase into one that embraces kindness and personal truth more. it's about perspective, and how our reality is shaped by it, even though that does not mean it is an objective reality. i haven't read it yet, but i would be surprised if 'zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance' doesn't touch on it. obviously a lot of philosophy is about the definition of truth and reality etc, but i think it's a good way of remembering that something that is a hard, objective truth to you is still extremely mutable. if you took a car part out of a car and asked me what machine it came from, i would start pointing at random stuff near me until you got sick of it and walked away, but a mechanic would probably be able to name it immediately and tell you what it did. doctors sometimes forget what normal lay person knowledge is, because they have spent at least close to a decade absolutely immersed in it all, and their day to day is so far from, say, the mechanic's.

'when things fall apart' by pema chodron wasn't my favourite book, but she had a huge focus on the necessity of feeling comfortable in uncertainty, which, if you are considering an objective reality, is the only honest way to do it. 'the courage to be disliked' by ichiro kishimi and fumitake koga doesn't really have a huge focus on objective reality, but i find it an excellent supplement. the title of the book comes from the idea that whether or not people like you is not, really, your problem, because it has nothing to do with your behaviour, if you are living your honest life. your actions will be observed through other people's own perspective, and you just can't control that, so you may as well do your best with the information you have available, and if it leads to people disliking you, so be it.

another book that informs my philosophy is 'the elegance of the hedgehog' by muriel barbery. it's a fiction book, and actually has a bigger focus on the importance of finding beauty and pleasure and happiness in the world, rather than focus on all the (still extremely present) nastiness. but it does touch on reality, and a quote i enjoy is "We have to live with the certainty that we'll get old and it won't look nice or be good or feel happy. And tell ourselves that it's now that matters: to build something, now, at any price, using all our strength." i used to think about the first sentence without the sentence, which is really just betraying the source material.

i hope this has been helpful and you also enjoy the concept of the bike, otherwise i'm sure this has been super useless lol 🙃 also sorry there's not more traditional philosophy texts here; i find strict philosophies like stoicism and nihilism a little... well, restricting. so much of philosophy focuses inward, but i've done quite enough of that, i think. i'd rather focus outward, trying to expand my perspective, and share things in common with everyone in the world. good luck with your essay!!

#i'm sorry this is so long #later i may try and put it under a read more but idk how to do it #i'll also go back and check for typos etc but i need to meet my sister soon #here's another objective reality: my family never show up early when meeting me bc they know i will probably be late #sigh it's a good thing they love me or i think they would hate me #anon

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maburito · 3 years

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What IF do u recommend? 👀

ALRIGHT so since i keep falling on new if games and have a lot on my to read list I will make a second part of this list ozijfazorgj. But for now here are some of the IF games i highly recommend!

The Wayhaven Chronicles : First I'm starting with the obvious (that I've already recommended before i know shut up) Wayhaven Chronicles! After a strange murder in the usually tranquil town of Wayhaven, the newly appointed detective (aka the MC aka you) is gonna have to work with 4 beautiful vampires to "solve" this mystery. It currently has two books with a complete demo of the third book available. Honestly if you have followed my blog recently you saw me scream about this game cos I am obsessed and seriously i really recommend it, even if vampires aren't usually your thing.

Fallen Hero Rebirth : Oh boy, Fallen Hero, literally everything is in the title, and not at the same time. Basically you play as a former hero who's decided to become a villain for reasons i will absolutely not spoil bc it would be criminal. But know that this story is glorious, you can choose what kind of villain you would be (from an anarchist/anti hero type to a full blown heartless villain, everything is possible) and choose how your villain costume looks like. And of course you have different love interests all of them super interesting (tho i am very soft for Ortega, the Doctor and Argent but mostly the Doctor got me like 🥺🥺🥺 ). It currently has one book out with the second book demo almost all out called : "Fallen Hero Retribution".

Mindblind : Alright this, made me cry. Like actual tears came out of my eyes and i hate it ezokrafoprkg. In a world where the majority of people either have telepathy and other mental superpowers OR at least enough mind defense to not be too affected by those mental superpowers, your MC is the only "Zero" who's mind is basically an open book and a possible puppet for anyone with mental superpowers. Sucks even more when the MC family are basically renowned superheroes. For now only the demo is out and honestly i can't wait for the full book because this story has me hooked!

Speaker : Once again, a supernatural story because i can never get tired of them okay??? This time you can play as "a Speaker". Born from a generation of Seers, you went to the world a few seconds after ur twin sister, which means she got the traumatising visions while you're the only one who can "understand" them somewhat. Or at least try to make sense of them. But of course everything becomes troublesome when visions get more frequent and violent. Great premise, Lovable LI's (looking at Az, Rory and Kana 👀👀) what more could you want?

When It Hungers (formerly Smoke and Velvet on dashingdon) : First just so you know, the game is currently on dashingdon as Smoke and Velvet but will be moved to Twine with the title as "When it hungers" (u can go see the author tumblr if u curious). Anyway, as a lover of horror stories i can't wait to see more of When It Hungers, even if i made the mistake of reading this at night the first time 😔. The coolest thing ? You can choose to make your MC in three different monster : Basilik, Hellhound or a Haunted Doll, and each of them have a different past based on that choice.

A Tale Of Crowns : Basically A Tale of Crowns is a story based on a fantasy world (inspired by the Middle Eastern) where the big ruler aka The Crown is sorta chosen by the gods and can only be recognised by their golden eyes. Except that usually future crowns are found years before a current crown's death, and your character has been running away their whole lifes. I honestly don't even know how to begin to tell you how much i love this story. The universe built around it is just so well done, the love interests are all interesting for different reasons and i feel transported every time i read it. Even now saying this feels like too little but as usual im not good with english, but yeah just trust me it really deserves more than one look.

The Hunt : Demon Eyes : Just like When It Hungers, this IF is still on dashingdon but will be moved to Twine just so you know opzeakfaz. Anyway the premise is basically you play as a hunter, as in a hunter of supernaturals, whether you think all supernaturals are bad or think there are good ones is up to you, though u know, most of the love interests are supernaturals pzokfga. BUT! One day u end up possessed by a demon you were hunting and only break free TWO YEARS later! So u gonna have to try and find out what the hell happened all this time. There's not much out yet but im already really intrigued by the premise!

Bloodmoon : Who doesn't love a good story about werewolves? If you don't then im sorry you have such a lack of taste 😔. A story which updates every full moon (literally) about a clan of werewolves who just moved into a city, and unfortunatly it doesn't go as well as it could. Honestly between all the unique RO's (Vicky is my personal favorite even if Carrie and Shawnie also got me heart), the twist on the relationship between the wolves and the moon, and the whole story and dynamics between all the characters, Bloodmoon is a delight to read. And yeah i definitely re-read it way too many times oiajgfaoiej.

The Exile : Are you tired of fantasy stories? Well too bad here's one more because i love them!! And boooy this one got me obssesed. Playing as a former commander who was once admired by the kingdom they had vow to protect, they are now a fallen hero due to a tragedy that they cannot even remember. Between new encounters and former allies, trouble just keep finding them no matter what. Sorry for the bad summary but honestly the demo of this story got me so hooked!!! And you can basically choose what kind of "semi magic creature" your mc is! (werewofl, phoenix, etc). Seriously give it a go you won't regret it

#askxaquestion #Anonymous #thank you for the question anon! AND SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG IM A PIECE OF SHIT #PopkopKOPKG #god im gonna have to tag all this....#TWC #Fallen Hero : Rebirth #Mindblind #Speaker #When it hungers #A Tale Of Crowns #The Hunt : Demon Eyes #Bloodmoon #The Exile #also idk if you noticed BUT IM REALLY SHIT AT SUMMARISING #LIKE SERIOUSLY #THAT SUCKS

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blackswaneuroparedux · 3 years

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Anonymous asked: I love your long posts which make for great reading and I wish you could do more because you’ve got such a range of astonishing interests. I’m hoping because you’ve served in the military you would have studied military thinkers. Do you think the Art of War by Sun Tzu is way overrated by everyone? I studied him a bit for my masters but I still couldn’t get my head around him. Interested to know your thoughts. Thanks!

“To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear." - Sun Tzu's Art of War, Chapter IV - Tactical Disposition, Clause 10.

Sounds cool, doesn’t it?

But what the hell does this quote really mean? Do you know what it means? Can anyone else tell me?

Look, I enjoy a good Sun Tzu quote as the next person. Only recently I was exchanging thoughts with a fellow blogger whose studying Thucydides, Clausewitz, and Kissinger for an advanced course at the US Naval War College. Even he prefers Sun Tzu over Clausewitz. I can see why too. If you can make sense of chapter one of Clausewitz’s tome On War you deserve a Nobel Prize.

Unlike my very learned fellow blogger, there are lot of folk who don’t know Sun Tzu at all. They can quote him, but almost certainly out of context. As someone who partly grew up in the Far East and even learned Chinese and Japanese (a pitiful but functional degree of fluency) I’m embarrassed (not hard since I’m English) when I hear other Western compatriots romanticise and elevate Eastern icons to mythic status that the Chinese themselves have never done.

I am even more bemused than embarrassed after having hung up my military uniform for ‘civvy’ corporate clothing at how badly abused Sun Tzu’s book is in the corporate world. In my workplace I grit my teeth at corporate high flyers who mistake a balance sheet for a real battlefield by quoting Sun Tzu out of their arse, and then as self-styled ‘corporate warriors’ work themselves up in a lather of testosterone induced self-importance to crush their corporate enemies into the dust.

This is why the The Art of War by Sun Tzu has invited a jaundiced eye roll. And rightly so. I can see why many view Sun Tzu as over-rated because many easily impressed people go all woo woo over anything ancient and Eastern.

It’s become a familiar trope to say the art of ‘strategy’ as a science began 2,500 years ago with the writing of The Art of War. I would dispute this. Not that the writing of Art of War was the earliest written but whether I would call it a manual of strategy per se - more on this below in my answer. However you rate or overrate the Art of War it’s important to have perspective and remember this book is written in 512 BC. Other than the bible and some religious books, there are not many books that can survived thousands of years and still remains a steady bestseller and enjoys a wide influence in military academies and army staff colleges today and even as far into board rooms.

The question behind your question is just as interesting to me: why did Sun Tzu and his Art of War gain such traction in the West?

Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) wrote the original text of The Art of War shortly before 510 BC. During most of the past two thousand years, the common people in China were forbidden to read Sun Tzu's text. However, the text was preserved by China's nobility for over 2,500 years. The Chinese nobility preserved the text of The Art of War, known in Chinese as Bing-fa, even despite the famous book-burning by the first Emperor of Chi around 200 BC. The text was treasured and passed down by the Empire’s various rulers. Unfortunately, it was preserved in a variety of forms. A "complete" Chinese language version of the text wasn't available until the 1970s. Before that, there were a number of conflicting, fragmentary versions in different parts of China, passed down through 125 generations of duplication.

Indeed at the beginning of the twentieth century, there were two main textual traditions in circulation, known as the (Complete Specialist Focus) and (Military Bible) versions. There were also perhaps a dozen minor versions and both derived and unrelated works also entitled Bing-fa. Of course, every group considered (and still considers) its version the only accurate one.

When I last visited China before the Covid pandemic for work reason, I had time off to go to a couple of museums that housed the fruits of a number of archeological digs uncovering the tombs of the ancient rulers of China in which sections of Sun Tzu’s works were found. These finds have verified the historical existence of the text and the historical accuracy of various sections. I understand new finds are still being made.

The first complete, consistent Chinese version was created in Taipei in the 1970s. It was titled The Complete Version of Sun Tzu’s Art of War." It was created by the National Defence Research Investigation Office, which was a branch of Taiwan's defence department. This version compared the main textual traditions to each other and to archeological finds and compiled the most complete version possible.

This work was completed in Taiwan rather than mainland China for a number of reasons. Mainland China was still in the throws of the Maoist Cultural Revolution, which actively suppressed the study of traditional works such as Sun Tzu. The mainland had also moved to a reformed character set, while Taiwan still used the traditional character set in which the text was written. Only today is the study of Sun Tzu in mainland China growing, interestingly enough, through the translation of Sun Tzu into contemporary Mandarin. Based on the archeological sources we have today, we are reasonably certain of the historical accuracy of this compiled version that is the basis of what most people use today.

Surprisingly, the Art of War only came to light in the West around the 18th Century.

Historians believe it was first formally introduced in Europe in 1772 by the French Jesuit Joseph-Marie Amiot. It was translated at the time by the title “The thirteen articles of Sun-Tse”. Joseph-Marie Amiot (1718-1793) was not just a Jesuit priest but also an astronomer and French historian, as well as fervent missionary in China. He was one of the last survivors of the Jesuit Mission in China (he died in Beijing).

Many of the historical problems with understanding Sun Tzu's work can be trace back to its first Western translation in French. A Jesuit missionary, Father Amiot, first brought The Art of War to the West, translating it into French in 1782. Unfortunately, this translation started the tradition of mistranslating Sun Tzu's work, starting with the title, The Art of War (Art de la guerre).

This title, copied the title of a popular work by Machiavelli (a criminally underrated writer on military strategy), but it didn't reflect Sun Tzu's Bing-fa, which would be better translated as "competitive methods."

We cannot say what effect being translated by a Jesuit priest had upon the text. It was unavoidable that the work's translation reflected the military prejudices of the time era when war was both popular and Christian. It was also unavoidable that most future translations would reflect some of the first translation's prejudices. However, war was on the verge of becoming much less Christian in the West since this time was the era of the French Revolution (1789).

The work might well of slipped into obscurity after its initial publication, but it was discovered by a minor French military officer. After studying it, this officer rose to the head of the revolutionary French army in a surprising series of victories. The legend is that Napoleon used the work as the key to his victories in conquering all of Europe. It is said that he carried the little work with him everywhere but kept its contents secret (which would be very much in keeping with Sun Tzu's theories).

However, Napoleon must have started believing his own reviews instead of sticking with his study of Sun Tzu. His defeat at Waterloo was clearly a case of fighting on a battleground that the enemy, Wellington, knew best. Wellington’s trick at Waterloo was hiding his forces by having them lie down in the slight hollows of this hilly land. This is exactly the type of tactic Sun Tzu warns against in his discussion of terrain tactics.

After Napolean, Sun Tzu's theories made their way into western military philosophy. Many of his ideas are reflected in the ideas of work of Carl von Clausewitz. who defined military strategy as "the employment of battles to gain the end of war."

The first English translation of The Art of War is less than a hundred years old. Captain E. F. Calthrop published the first English translation in 1905. Lionel Giles, an assistant curator at the British Museum and a well-known sinologist and translator, attacked this early translation, and he published his own version in 1910. It soon began to be read alongside Clausewitz’s 8 volumes of turgid German military prose.

It wasn’t long before military thinkers were ditching Clausewitz for Sun Tzu because no one could get past Chapter One of Clausewitz’s On War. The “Clausewitz is dead, long live Sun Tzu” school was first championed by the influential British military theorist B.H. Liddell Hart in the 1920s. Basil Henry Liddell Hart (1895-1970) was a captain in the British Army. He was a very influential military theorist and historian, and author of several books such as The Future of War (1925) and Strategy (1954). Having witnessed first-hand the mechanised onslaught of the Great War, Liddell Hart sought a philosophy of warfare based in the prudent use of technology, psychology and deception - and the avoidance of the 'total war' catastrophes of preceding decades.

The main idea of Liddell Hart is to bring the set of principles of warfare in a so-called ‘indirect approach’ to the enemy. His advocacy in his scholarly work of an ‘indirect strategy’ over direct, frontal operations, was a reaction to the high casualties of the Western Front in the First World War. But his ideas were not simply about physically outmanoeuvring an opponent. Instead he pushed for a psychological scheme: to strike from unexpected directions, to generate strategic dissonance, and to induce paralysis. Hart’s well-known thoughts are “Only short-sighted soldiers underestimate the importance of psychological factors in time of war”, “Originality is the most important from all military virtues”, and “The principles of war could shortly be condensed in a single word: concentration”.

Liddell Hart believed that distilling historical insights of strategy and operations would offer the chance to avoid the costly disasters of modern war and ensure a more cost-effective route to success. He imagined technological solutions in the form of air power and mechanised land forces outflanking and shocking an enemy at the tactical level. This would be complemented by taking indirect strategic ‘ways’. Like his contemporary J.F.C. Fuller, Liddell Hart considered concentrations of air and armoured forces driving deep into enemy territory to destroy their ‘nervous system’. The psychological aspects of this were central, since acquiring an advantage demanded moves that were unexpected, with precise attacks at the most vulnerable points. As the most influential military writer of the modern age, revered and reviled by three generations of strategists, armchair and armipotent, his controversial theories of armed attack laid the foundation of the famed German Blitzkrieg.

Hart’s championing of Sun Tzu’s work as articulated through his own works got a new lease of life as the world gingerly settled into the ice bath of the Cold War. The rise of Communist China, against all the odds having defeated the well disciplined nationalist armies of Chian kai-Shek, was a wake up call for the West. There was a general befuddlement among western military analysts to explain the secret of Maoist success. There was an intellectual inquest in the 1950s and 1960s for some way to explain (and, it was hoped, learn to counter) Maoist military doctrine. Sun Tzu was seen as one of the historical and cultural sources of some particularly Chinese or Asian way of war, and his work made its way into Western discussions of counterinsurgency and asymmetric warfare.

Into the breach - and with fortuitous timing - appeared a new translation of The Art of War that was to become the defining translation right down to our day. Liddel Hart provided the foreword to Samuel Griffth’s 1963 translated copy of the Art of War. It was to quickly become a key text in US war colleges and this version is still to this day favoured by most of these institutions. We also studied Griffith’s translation at Sandhurst alongside Liddell Hart’s ideas.

There is no question that Griffith’s translation has become the standard go to translation to this day in military circles - that is until James Clavell’s more populist and looser translation came along in the 1980s. One can see why. Griffith’s translation provided a number of historical Chinese commentaries on the text. It should also be noted that Griffith’s strengths was his immense experience in the military and knowledge of military history as a brigadier general in the U.S. Marine Corps.

However, this was also his version's greatest flaw. Like many other critics I have the impression that Griffith did not really believe or understand all of Sun Tzu. Indeed he would often explain away Sun Tzu's direct statements without making it clear that this was his commentary and not what Sun Tzu wrote. The other main criticism and this one is stylistic and therefore just my opinion, Griffith was also not much of a writer. By our standards today, much of Griffith’s language can seem awkward and dated.

Looking back it feels ironic of the US military were wrapping their heads around Sun Tzu as way to get inside the Chinese communist mind (of Mao the military strategist especially). Unknown to them Mao had desperately tried everything to get hold of a copy of the Art of War from the Chinese Nationalists. Cambridge historian and doyenne of intelligence history, Christopher Andrew in his book The Secret World: A History of Intelligence, wrote that the theory that Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was critical to mastering contemporary warfare is propagated through the use of a tantalising anecdote: “During the civil war between Communists and the Kuomintang regime [Mao Zedong] sent aides into enemy territory to find a copy of it.” The ancient text, ostensibly, was of such vital importance that Mao was willing to risk men’s lives to obtain it, while Chiang Kai-shek vowed to protect it all costs. It’s a questionable anecdote at best as there are no historical evidence of it.

We can say that the notion that Sun Tzu’s slim treatise is considered both potent and slightly dangerous - providing the master key to unlocking victory in war through the ages - is a compelling myth that refuses to die. Mao most likely never ordered a clandestine operation to pilfer the text, nor did Chiang Kai-shek give any thought to shielding its contents from prying eyes. Both men certainly read it long before the start of their civil war, both most likely had ready access to it during the conflict, and neither man won or lost based on adherence or divergence from its teachings. But undoubtedly it set the hearts of Western military theorists aflutter in trying to unlock the secrets of Eastern military thought.

Sun Tzu and his ideas in a reincarnated form took hold of the wider public imagination in the 1980s. The 1980s was synonymous with Japan. With the perceived rise of Japan as a global economic power and the changes in post-Mao China, there was a Western (meaning American) search for more explanations. What was the secret of Asia’s rise? How were Japan and China ‘doing’ this?

In Western business circles it was for a time trendy to read it because of the perception that it was part of what made Japanese businesses so successful during the 70s and 80s. Management gurus and other corporate consultants certainly latched on to it and touted it as a way for Western businesses to re-orient their entire management and business philosophy. I don’t know if that ever actually was the case in Japan - my father who worked in both China and Japan in the corporate world at a very senior level said it wasn’t - but what is true is that in the West as the Japanese economy languished into the lost decade of the 90s so too did interest in Japanese business practices, and thus Sun Tzu.

The idea that The Art of War was a kind of how-to guide to ‘strategy’ was made especially popular by Hollywood in the 1980s. Oliver Stone’s iconic film ‘Wall Street’ seemed to typify the ‘greed is good’ New York capitalist scene of the 80s and 90s. Hollywood mirror imaged the rise of the corporate raiders and junk bond kings like Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken. Hollywood sent thousands of American businessmen off to read Sun Tzu to look for ‘leadership secrets’. This is part of a general Western fascination with ‘timeless Asian wisdom’, the American idea that ‘the mysterious East’ is possessed of secret knowledge. American and European businessmen were enamoured of the idea that “a battle is won or lost before it ever begins”, a saying that reinforced traditional American business attitudes about a winning mentality and a ‘can-do’ spirit being two keys to success.

Because Japan and China were trendy in the 1980s and 1990s it also influenced Western popular culture, not just fashion (think Kenzo) but also comic books (manga) and anime. In this Eastern friendly climate it led a number of popular fiction authors to release their ‘own’ versions of the work to capitalise on its newfound popularity. These versions were more about the pop culture of the era than Sun Tzu. Unfortunately, though popular, none of these versions took advantage of the work completed in Taiwan creating a definitive version of Sun Tzu's text by this time. These versions were based either on old English translations (the Calthorp and Giles versions) or incomplete Chinese sources. However, all of these versions remain popular today, despite their questionable sources and poor quality of translation.

In 1983, James Clavell updated The Art of War translation of Lionel Giles and published it in a very popular version. This started a very common practice in English translation: creating a ‘new’ version from other English translations instead of going back to the original source. Authors today continue to follow this practice, which only perpetuates and exaggerates the problems with early translations.

Thomas Cleary, another well-known author, did his own The Art of War translation with historical commentary in 1988. Again, his name recognition did much to increase awareness of Sun Tzu, even if his work did nothing to improve the general quality of the translation.

Looking back the whole Sun Tzu as a business model fetish in the 1980-90s was really pretty silly, rather like 80s shoulder pads. Of course, there are some similarities in leadership regardless of profession, but the basic goals and working environments of war and of business are so wildly different that applying Sun Tzu to business is superficial at best.

So to me the problem is not that Sun Tzu is ‘overrated’ per se, the problem is that every half baked author out there try to apply its principles to every problems that mankind have. The Art of War, as the title suggest, is not The Art of Managing your Business, the Art of Winning in Competition against your classmates, The Art of picking up Women, The Art of Living Life to the fullest. It is, and only is, The Art of War. It is ‘overrated’ only if you expect it to answer every problems in your life.

The Art of War is not the word of God. It is a war manual advocating common sense with pithy aphorisms - and a very good one.

It’s not that I think the Art of War is over-rated it’s that the more common problem is that many people vastly under-rate Sun Tzu. By misreading Sun Tzu thoughts and ideas, I believe many are in effect under-rating the problems which Sun Tzu is addressing, namely war, or the continuum of conflict resolution where divergence in interests of multiple parties extends to the possible use of lethal force on a massive scale. A lot of people trivialise this problem with idiocies like “what if someone threw a war and nobody came” (clue, they would win, then hunt down and enslave or kill everyone too foolish to contest the issue, as has happened countless times in human history) or “ban war” (said ban apparently enforced by throwing flowers at soldiers).

Understanding that war is a very real and intractable problem is necessary to fully appreciate the genius of Sun Tzu’s work, especially where it avoids fixed and easily definable tactics specific to the Warring States period and instead illustrates timeless concepts of out-thinking the enemy at every level of conflict. That the text is still mostly readily applicable or at least reasonably insightful after thousands of years is a testament to the inability of humans to push warfare beyond the fundamental aspects of conflicting interests and continuum of forcible resolution Sun Tzu addresses.

Still, the particular translation matters far less than having an appreciation that, in war, you have an active opponent who is trying to out-think and counter any moves you make, and having an appreciation of non-dualistic philosophical reasoning more characteristic of Chinese classics generally. The classic symbol of Yin-Yang (and a number of derivative versions) illustrates apparent dualism as being a part of a deeper structural unity which does not permit a fixed division into separate parts.

Hence the difficulty of applying the principles of the Art of War to artificial ideas of “winning/losing” (or war/peace, right/wrong, us/them) as categorical absolutes rather than negotiated possibilities in a continuum of desirability/costs. And it is very difficult, no one should sugar coat that. Humans sort and construct their perceptions of reality by appeal to such gross simplifications. Binary logic is an immensely powerful tool in many areas because it leverages the ability to simplify complexity and then build valid inferences based on fixed premises. But at some point you have to go beyond that to have a more fluid response to reality as it is. Which Sun Tzu does for the reality of war.

I would recommend anyone to read it. At the end of the day it’s a book of highly general aphorisms that effectively synopsise the essential insights that apply to all kinds of human conflicts. Turning an enemy's flank has the exact same effect in 2500 B.C. and in 2000 C.E. and it has the same effect in the boardroom, or public market as it does on the battlefield. Deception and intelligence are still used in exactly the same way, whether conquering foreign lands, or stealing market share from a competitor. It's a book about common sense; but common sense must seem profound to those who have none.

Overall, I think Sun Tzu’s Art of War is a worthy read and not overrated because in our society of over educated achievers, common sense is in as short of supply as it has ever been; if this book can provide the meaningful framework for educating very bright people in down to earth common sense, that can only be a good thing.

The value of the book then is to drive home the fact that, in human conflict, there really is Nothing New Under the Sun (Tzu).

Pardon the pun and thanks for your question.

#question #ask #sun tzu #military history #book #philosophy #china #culture #the art of war #war #military #warfare #strategy #society #literature #america #britain #japan

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mgsapphire · 3 years

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My K-drama recommendation master list Part 2

You can find part 1 here

Look, you gave us relatively new recommendations, what about ones older than 10 years? I'll give you my top 5

Princess Hours (2006) Is a modern Cinderella story. It's 24 episodes long. Available on Viki.

Personal Taste (2010) Honestly, problematic plot if you put your mind into it, but entertaining nonetheless. It's 16 episodes long, each one lasting a little over an hour, available on Viki.

Cinderella's Sister (2010) You hate every character, but there's still something that makes you watch it. Available on Viki.

Thank You (2007) was ahead of its time, it's about a single mother with a daughter who has an HIV+ diagnosis. 16 episodes long, each one lasting a little over an hour. Available on Viki.

Stairway to Heaven (2003) for a good melodrama.

What about romantic fantasies involving fantastic beings?

Guardian: The lonely and Great God(2016) A classic of the genre. It tells the story of a God who was once a man, and is being punished by immortality, unless he meets his bride, who just so happens to be a high schooler centuries later. Available on viki. 16 episodes long with 3 specials, all lasting about 75 minutes.

Hotel Del Luna (2019) it would be unfair to talk about Goblin, without talking about this other masterpiece about a being cursed into immortality and granted special availabilities along with it, but a curse is still a curse, and she must run a hotel meant for ghosts, where after centuries of being, meets a young man who is alive. Availability on Viki, 16 episodes long and each one lastz about 75 minutes.

Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020) You get to see Lee Dong Wook as another mystical being, and Kim Bum is his half brother. 16 episodes long and one special, each one lasting about 65 minutes. Available on Viki.

My roommate is a Gumiho (2021) what's up with gumihos? It's still airing. The title is self explanatory. Available on Viki and Qiyi.

Angel's last mission: Love (2019) is a cute and sad story about an angel who is about to ascend and a ballerina who has a cynical view of the world. Available on Viki. Each episode averages 30 minutes, with 32 episodes.

Doom at your service (2021) About to finish airing. It tells the story of a dying woman who wishes doom upon the world, and the doom who answers her plea. Available on viki, 16 episodes long, each one lasting about an hour.

The Scholar Who walks the night (2015) another Lee Joon Gi entry, but I swear all of his works are great, it's a period drama that tells the story of a scholar who is a vampire and the young bookseller he meets. It's 20 episodes long, each one lasting about an hour. Available on viki. Also, if you've liked Lee Soo Hyuk in Doom at Your Service, I advise you check this one out.

Tale of Arang (2012) two Lee Joon Gi entries in a row? Girl, you have to stop. Anyways, this one is another period piece of a magistrate who can see ghosts and the ghost of a young woman who doesn't remember her life, nor the cause of her death. Available on viki, it's 20 episodes long, each one lasting a little over an hour.

Look, those are fine or whatever, but I started as a K-pop fan, where can I see some idol dramas? Don't worry, I came prepared

Full House (2004) with Rain as the main character is the og idol drama in my opinion. Available on Viki. 16 episodes long, each one lasting about 73 minutes.

Imitation (2021) is currently airing, and it's literally an idol drama about idols. You can find a looot of idols too: Jeong Yun Ho and Park Seong Hwa from Ateez, Chani and Hwi Young from SF9, Park Ji Yeon from T-ara, Lim Na Young from I.O.I and Pristin, and although Jeong Ji So is not an idol, she is the main lead, and I absolutely love her, she's also in Doom at your service. Available on Viki.

Miss Panda and Mr. Hedgehog (2012) features Donghae from Super Junior, and if I'm going to recommend a Super Junior drama, I would rather recommend one featuring him over Siwon.

At a Distance the Spring is Green (2021) is currently airing too, and only has four released episodes, but I've liked it so far. Featuring Park Ji Hoon, and Kwon Dun Bin. Also, I have a lot of opinions about this show. Available on Viki.

I was going to put an IU drama but, all her dramas are good, so go and watch them all, the woman has range.

Dream High (2011) is the king of idol dramas, in my opinion. It talksa about a high school for people who want to be idols. Another one with a long line up of idols, so let me start: Suzy, IU, Taecyeon, Nichkhun and Wooyoung from 2PM, Ham Eun Jung from T-ara. Leeteuk (SuJu and Chansung (2PM) make cameos. Similarly to Imitation, Kim Soo Hyun is not an idol, but he's the main lead. It's 16 episodes long, each one lasting about 65 minutes. Available on Viki.

Wow, quite a few, but they all seem rather popular, do you have some underrated gems? I'm going to have to go down memory lane, but I do

The Queen's Classroom (2013) This one feels like a fever dream, because I'm aware it exists, I watched it back when it first aired, but I can't find it anywhere now. It's based on a Japanese drama of the same name. It's about a strict but warm hearted teacher and her students' lives and struggles. 16 episodes long. DM me if you find anywhere to watch it.

1% of Something (2016) is a really cute drama, the chemistry is off the charts, and if you're looking for skinship, this one is the one for you, underrated arranged marriage kdrama, I'm telling you. It's 16 episodes long, averaging 45 minutes, and it's on Viki.

I'm not a Robot (2017) has a really cute plot, not underrated per se, but not hyped enough. It's 32 episodes long, each one averaging 30 minutes. Available on Viki.

Do you like Brahms? (2020) is a music themed kdrama, really cute and wholesome. If you like 2setviolin and watched their critique on their YouTube channel, let me tell you, the cast actually knows how to play violin and stuff, and there's an actual child prodigy in there. It got so much hate bc of that one yt video. It's 16 episode long, each one lasting about an hour. Available on Viki.

Solomon's Perjury (2016) a good reflection on youth and the pressure society has. 12 episodes long, lasting about 63 minutes each. Available on Viki.

The Greatest Love (2011) is a super entertaining TV show, and just supper funny and cute. 16 episodes long, each one lasting around 65 minutes. Available on Viki.

Two Cops (2017) if you like Kim Seon Ho, I think this was his TV acting debut. It's a hilarious action comedy TV show. 32 episodes long, lasting around 30 minutes. Available on viki.

Do you have any recommendations where time traveling or time is central to the story?

Alice (2020) look, I can't give you a full explanation because it's too mind bending. Let's leave it at detective meets his mother. Available on Viki.

Signal (2016) The premise is similar to that of the movie Frequency (2000) in which there's communication between the past and the present via technology. The plot is based on the real Hwaseong serial murders. Really interesting. Available on Netflix. If you like the premise of communicating with the past via technology Call (2020) is a Korean thriller movie available on Netflix.

Chicago Typewriter (2017) this one is about reincarnation but we get to see both timelines. Available on Netflix.

Tomorrow with you (2017) Time-traveling but make it ✨depressing ✨. The story of a man who time travels, and how that ability messes with his marriage. Available on Netflix.

What about historical dramas? I don't really watch those, but here are some I liked

The Moon Embracing the Sun (2012) is one of the few I've finished. It's really good, it follows the love story of a king. Available on viki. 20 episodes long, each one lasting about an hour.

Gunman in Joseon (2014) Am I recommending you this one because of Lee Joon Gi? Maybe. It has 22 episodes, each one lasting about an hour. Available on Viki.

The Crowned Clown (2019) a story of the Prince and the Pauper if I must give you a description that is relatable, but if you know the book titled Skogland, it's closer to that. It's 16 episodes long, each one lasting about 80 minutes. Available on Viki.

I'm a little ashamed to say this, but do you have any BL? I do, I do

To My Star (2021) is a story about an actor and a chef, and how they learn to cohabit after the actor is forced into hiding. You can watch either the movie version or the drama version, both available on viki.

Color Rush (2020) is a modern romance fantasy about people called Monos who can't see any color unless they meet their Probes, however this may turn dangerous as the Monos may experience obsessive behavior, so what happens when a young high schooler meets his probe?. You can either watch it on its drama or movie version. Both available on viki. By the way, if you're a long time deobi and was wandering what happened to Hwall, he's one of the main leads.

You Make Me Dance (2021) follows the story of a university dancer who is in debt and his debt collector. Available on viki in both versions. The movie is 107 minutes long.

Just Friends (2009) is a short film, but ahead of its time, if you can't tell by the year it was released on. It's a cute story about a man who visits his boyfriend in the military. I found it in dramacool.

That's all from me, if you have any specific genre or them you felt I didn't add in, do feel free to tell me.

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reidgraygubler · 3 years

Text

out of the ordinary (chip taylor/reader)

Title: Out Of The Ordinary

Request: no

Couple: Chip Taylor/Fem!Reader

Category: smut/angst

Content Warning: SEXUAL CONTENT (penetrative sex, fingering, oral (fem), sex while someone is injured, breeding kink, groping, praise kink, multiple orgasms, hair pulling), swearing, blood and other bodily fluids, graphic descriptions of violence(!!!!), mentions of sexual acts, 68 Kill Spoilers, mentions of a dead partner, mentions of drugs (unknown), guns and gun violence, talks about kids (in the very far future),

Word Count: 9,562

Summary: Reader works at a hotel where she sees a lot of things out of the ordinary… Including a man running across the parking lot wearing nothing but a small towel around his waist. If only she knew her day was about to get weirder

A/N: day three of what might have been the biggest mistake of my life. But i had fun! Idk how april does it bc i was struggling. Anyways, here is some chip smut. I didn’t edit this too super well, so please pardon any of the editing errors/grammatical issues. The next ones will/are beta’d and edited… thank you so much for sticking with me on this! Tomorrow is something i had a lot of fun writing! Here is the masterlist for 7days 7fics! And here’s my main masterlist! Thank you all for the love and support!

{***}{***}{***}

I wish that even though I lived in a small town, in the middle of butt-fucking nowhere, I would see normal things. You know? Things that happen in small towns in the middle fucking nowhere. But, because it’s in the middle of nowhere, and the highway goes right through the middle of our town, we get a lot of… interesting guests. Which makes my job a little entertaining, sometimes.

Sitting behind a window at a tiny, run-down hotel early morning to mid-afternoon was what I did for a living. 90% of the time I spent my time just sitting there, reading a book/magazine, messing around on my phone, or working on an assignment for my class. That other 10% is checking people in or out of their rooms.

My day was so close to coming to an end. 11:30… I just needed to be here for one more hour, and then I can go home and go to bed. And, surprisingly, nothing weird had happened. It was a successful day, praise the fucking Lord or whoever is watching down.

Until, I jinxed myself…I thought I had hit the one allotted out of the ordinary thing for the day. That was until, as I was finishing up this essay, and I heard something from out in the parking lot. When I looked away from my laptop to investigate. And what I saw was not what I was expecting, at all.

A tall man was running across the parking lot, coming right towards the check-in/out window. Now, you might be wondering why this was out of the ordinary. Well, you see, he was running across the parking lot wearing nothing but a face washcloth around his waist. Let’s just say it left little to nothing to the imagination.

“H-hey! Hi,” he spoke, coming right up to the counter. I was more than happy that there was a counter and window between the two of us. I’m happy he was attractive, in all sense of the words. He was very attractive. “Do… Do you have a phone… That I could borrow?” he asked, looking at me with actual worry and terror in his eyes and face. I stared at him with a raised brow.

“What happened to the one in your room?” I moved away from my laptop and leaned on the counter beside it. He looked over his shoulder at the room he stayed in. I cocked my head to my shoulder and stared at him. “What room number are you?”

“Uh, that… That doesn’t really matter? Um, I’m running late,” he cringed as he looked back at me. I blinked slowly before looking down at the clipboard with the most recent check-ins.

“Sure,” I looked right at the last name and noted the time he checked in, “Mister Delacroix?” I slowly looked back at him.

“Chip,”

“Well, listen, Chop,” I paused my words as I walked over to the door to let him in. I was just happy he didn’t correct me when I called him the wrong name. I could have corrected myself, but I was just annoyed that I’d probably have to take care of the mess in his room.

“The owner’s son texted me, telling me that the people in your room had a rager last night… So, if I have to go clean that room and see cum and piss all over the room, and a coke tray on the counters, I’m charging you double,” I looked up at him as he entered the office. He was a lot taller standing in front of me. I don’t know why I thought he was shorter. Maybe its because he was standing on lower ground and I was inside.

“I… Rager?” He stared at me with a confused crease in his brow. I stared at him before slowly nodding. “Do… Do you know who came over? Do you know who it was?”

“I… Uh, I’ll have to ask the owner’s son. But, by the sounds of it, it was a little rough. I’m surprised you’re still up and walking without a limp,” I chuckled. I slowly looked up and down his body, taking in how he looked. He was slightly muscular, and though he had abs, his tummy was slightly pudgy. Which I could get with. I could appreciate a bit of a tummy on a guy like him.

“Listen,” he started, his words showing more urgency than before. I looked up, away from his body and at his face. It was probably his urgency that got my attention because I definitely almost went a little lower than the towel. “I need to know-Do you have any clothes? This is slightly distracting,” he looked at me. I wasn’t too sure if he was talking distracting for me, or for him. But I do agree, it was very distracting.

“Uhm,” I furrowed my eyebrows as I pulled my stare off him and went to look for the lost and found box, “There’s not much in here, but I’m sure there’s something,” I glanced at him as I placed the box on the counter.

“Right, thanks,” Chip looked at me before going to dig around in the box, “Do you know who came to my room last night?”

“I think… Hold on,” I muttered before rushing to the counter, shuffling some papers to find a random sticky note with some sloppy hand writing, “Christ, I forget he doesn’t speak english,” I shook my head as I stared at the writing. “Some goth chick and her boyfriend, or whatever. Uh, yeah, he told me about it this morning before he left. Like, 6 other people I think,” I swallowed roughly and shook my head, “It sounds like they roughed the place up?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” he looked away from the box for a brief moment. I watched as he pulled out a white and red t-shirt (that was left behind by a group of younger women) and a pair of sweat-shorts. “Great, now I gotta go back to that fucking gas station. Fucking fuck,” he muttered to himself as he dropped the towel to the ground. I widened my eyes and couldn’t help but stare at his ass.

“Gas station?” I asked, keeping my eyes on his body as he turned to face me. That was when I got a view of the full frontal package. I swallowed roughly.

“Are… Are you going to turn around?” he looked at me with nervousness in his eyes as he held the pants and shirt close to his body, lower towards his crotchal region. I smirked, raising an eyebrow and cocking my head to the side.

“Nope,” I looked up at him with a smile. When I noticed that he wasn’t going to move to get dressed, I dropped my shoulders before turning around.

“Which gas station are you talking about?” I asked, looking at the ground. I wasn’t entirely sure why I asked which gas station it was he was talking about. There was just one gas station in the whole town, and I knew he was in a bit of trouble.

From behind me, I could hear Chip muttering strings of profanities to himself. Part of me wondered if he needed help with anything, or if I was just a disposable person in his day. Probably the latter.

“The one down the street,” his voice was low. I wondered what he was thinking about and what his urgency was all about. “You can turn around. Can I use the phone,” he asked as I turned to face him. I looked at him and held back a laugh. Which, in turn, earned a glare from him.

“Yeah, yeah, you have to dial 1 before the number you’re calling,” I went to move the phone closer to him, nearly pushing/pulling everything off the counter.

“Thanks,” he looked over at me before picking up the phone and dialing his number. I watched as he turned away from me. He wasn’t on the phone for very long, and it didn’t sound like it was a good call.

“I… I gotta go. Can I use your car?” Chip asked as he looked out at the only car in the lot. I followed his gaze at my shitty 2001 Saturn. I furrowed my eyebrows before looking back at him.

“I can just give you a ride, you know… And, it’d probably be better if you had a partner with you. That phone call didn’t sound good… At all. And, no one will take you seriously dressed like that,” I nodded at his attire. He looked down at what he was wearing before looking back at me. “Back up just in case? No one will notice I’m gone,” I let out a dry laugh.

“It’ll be dangerous,” he looked at me with worry in his eyes. I shrugged before looking at the ground.

“I could use a little danger in my life,” I laughed before looking back at him, “I’ve been sitting in this stupid office, doing this stupid job since I was 16. The hundreds of people I’ve seen is crazy. This job is boring, I need something risky.” I explained when I noticed he needed more information.

“You could die,” he pointed out. I shrugged like it was no big deal.

“I could die just sitting here. Let me help you,” I stare at him with wide eyes. He looked at the ground and sighed. I could tell he wanted to fight with me, to get me to stay. But I could also tell he really needed help, and really needed to get out of this stupid town and state.

“Fine, you can come. But, you can’t ask any questions,” he pointed at me. I smiled before closing my laptop and grabbing for my car keys.

“Fine, let’s go,” I looked at him before pushing past him and leaving the office.

Chip was close behind me, still muttering to himself. From what I did hear, I heard the number 68,000 and then the word dollars. 68,000 dollars??? And he’s in a shit town like this?! What the fuck? What the fuck am I getting myself into? Fuck, this is a mistake… Fuck.

The ride to the gas station was quiet. Chip must have been thinking of what he was going to say or do when he got there. Let’s just hope it wasn’t Monica there. Bitch is crazy.

“Stay here, I have a feeling what I need isn’t here,” he muttered as he got out of the car. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“W-w-wait, you don’t want me to go with?” I asked as I slipped out of the car too, “Listen, I know the family that owns this gas station. They’re crazy. They’re nuts.”

“I got it. Just… just wait here,” he looked over at me one last time before going in. I stared at the door that he disappeared into before slamming the door shut. I leaned against the side of my car, patiently waiting for Chip to come back out.

I don’t even know how long he was in there for. But, it was a very long time. Worry took over as I began to overthink things. That dumb bitch probably killed him.

My worry melted away once he stepped outside with nothing but shame on his face. I raised an eyebrow, watching as he walked closer to me and my car.

“You look like you saw a ghost or something,” I chuckled as I pushed myself off my car and back around to the drivers’ side of the car.

“No, no it was much worse than a ghost,” he muttered before getting in the car himself. I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked towards the doors of the gas station.

“Whatever,” I shook my head before slipping into the car, “Where to now? Monica’s trailer?” I raised an eyebrow as I glanced over at Chip. I watched as he pulled something out of his mouth and wrinkled his nose.

“Yeah, yeah,” he looked over at me before looking around my car.

“Do you have a plan? Or… Or a gun?” I asked as we got closer to the trailer park. He looked at me with a little terror in his eye. No plan or gun? Seriously? Good thing there’s a gun in my glove box. “You can’t go to these guys with just luck, Chip. That’ll get you killed,” I glanced at him as I reached over for the glove box, pulling it open and pulling out the gun.

“What the fuck! Where did that come from?” he asked, watching as I placed the gun on my lap. I glanced at him as I pressed down on the gas, speeding down the highway. “Jesus! Slow down,”

“You’re the one who fucking lost $68,000 to fucking Monica! You go in and get her money-”

“It’s not her-”

“It’s her money now, Chip. Jesus, she stole 3 of my bikes when we were little,” I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Chip looked at me again and nodded. “You’re lucky you have help,” I muttered as I kept my eyes on the road.

“You know this bitch?” Chip stared at me. I swallowed roughly and nodded.

“She’s my, like, second cousin. My Dad’s niece’s kid,” I shrugged before shaking my head, “She’s a cunt. A fucking cunt,” I scoffed as I remembered my childhood with her. Chip was silent as I pulled into a driveway and parked the car.

“Oh good, looks like there’s a metal baseball bat in the yard,” I smiled at him. Chip looked at me with wide eyes, actual terror sitting in his eyes. I watched as he unbuckled his seatbelt and rested his hand on the latch to my car. He stayed still for a moment before turning to face me. I could tell that there was a moment of hesitation. I don’t blame him, do be honest. I hesitated to bring him here. Taking him here is basically signing his death warrant.

“Stay… Stay here… If I’m not out in an hour… Call the cops,” he looked at me before slipping out of the car. I watched as he walked up the driveway, picking up the metal bat, and walked towards the door. I almost got out of the car and went after him, but I didn’t. I’ll listen to him. He must have a plan worked out if he didn’t need my help yet.

I swallowed roughly, watching him knock on the door and wait for it to swing open. And when it did, a familiar looking guy stepped out of the trailer. It was obvious he was sizing Chip up, mocking him as he spoke. Chip looked over his shoulder at me, silently pleading for help of some sort. I shrugged, pretending like I didn’t understand what he was asking for.

A bell ringing came up the driveway and passed me. A familiar blonde riding a bike rode up the driveway.

“Oh, you again,” Chip spoke out loud at the blonde woman. Amy… Of course. Of course she shows up. She’s probably the one who told him where that bitch, Monica, even lived. I was just happy she didn’t even see me when she rode past me. I didn’t want to be a part of any of that bullshit.

Then he was pulled into the trailer.

“Fuck, this… This isn’t going to be good,” I muttered as I slouched down into my seat in the safety of my car. I wished there was something more that I could do to help him. Because just sitting here for an hour and waiting to call the cops won’t help me or him, specifically Chip. Fucking around with Monica and her… I don’t even know what to call the people she hands out with.

I grabbed for my gun again, pulling out the magazine and looking at how much ammo I had. Just as I put my hand on the handle to get out, a loud bang came from near the trailer, causing me to nearly jump out of my seat. I sat, frozen, paralyzed in my spot, staring at the trailer. They’ve just killed Chip. Or, Chip just killed them

“I don’t know what… What do I do…” I whispered to myself as I stared at the door from the safety of my car. I wasn’t prepared for this at all. What I should have done was follow my own advice to Chip and come up with a secondary plan… I can’t exactly go in there guns blazing… Unless, that’s exactly what I do. They won’t expect Chip to have a partner with him.

Okay, that’s it… That’s my plan… Bust into the trailer, and just go for it… But, I think… Should I wait the hour Chip told me to wait? What if he’s in trouble? Who am I kidding, he’s totally in trouble.

{***}{***}{***}

I just wish I hadn’t fallen asleep. Because, the next thing I knew it was morning and Chip was still in Monica’s trailer. Chip was still in danger.

I quickly fumbled my way out of the back seat and into the front. It was even worse as I rushed to get out of the car, my body nearly falling to the ground. When I was finally out of the car, I recollected myself, hyping myself up as I walked towards the trailer.

I had my gun tucked into the back of my pants as I walked. I didn’t want to be quick, but I also didn’t want to be slow. Chip could be in danger, and it was a little bit my fault. He’d be out of that situation if I hadn’t fallen asleep.

My fist carefully knocked on the door, hoping someone would answer sooner rather than later. When the door flew open, Monica was standing in the door frame, looking down at me with slight disgust.

“We don’t want girl scout cookies,” she looked down at me. I swallowed roughly and nodded.

“Good thing I’m not a girl scout, Monica,” I took a deep breath before pulling the gun out from my pants. I lifted it up and pointed it right at her chest. “Where’s Chip,”

“You want him?” Monica asked, cocking a hip as she leaned against the door frame. She wasn’t even bothered by my weapon being pointed at her chest. It was like she was used to it. “He brought you as back up? Oh that poor boy?” she looked down at the gun. I took a deep breath as I stared at her.

She knew I wasn’t going to use it. She knew me well enough to know that I just had this stupid gun for looks, and that I wasn’t going to shoot anyone. But, what she doesn’t know is that I’m not afraid of her anymore. She may have tormented me when we were kids. But I’m taking it all back now.

“Where’s Chip and the money, Monica,” I spoke, my voice low as I spoke. I slowly cocked my gun as I stared at her.

“Oh, you know about the money too?” she asked before looking into the trailer at her friends and, I’d assume, Chip. “Did you hear that? This slut knows about the money,” she spoke, looking at everyone. I swallowed roughly as she looked back at me, “Is she replacing that other slut we killed last night?”

“Just go! Get out of here!” I could hear Chip yell from somewhere in the trailer. Monica stared down at me, watching me as my hands shook with the weapon in hand.

“Too afraid to use that gun?” she mocked in a whiny tone. I blinked slowly as I moved my finger to the trigger. Everything happened so fast, when I opened my eyes, Monica was stumbling back, her hand over stomach where blood was spilling out. Blood was being coughed up as she fell against the couch, looking up at me with wide eyes. “You actually did it,” she coughed, staring at me terror in her eyes.

“I’m not scared of you anymore, Monica,” I spoke as I stepped into the trailer. I smiled as I looked down at her, cocking my gun and pointing it down at her again, “You terrorized me when we were kids… But not anymore… No,” I took a deep breath before as we made eye contact.

“You don’t have to do this,” she whimpered, looking at me, struggling to move as I got closer to her, “Listen, you can take Chip, and… and the money and go… I’ll leave you alone now…”

“Sorry just isn’t going to do it, Monica, not this time… Not ever,” I shook my head, “You can burn in hell for all I care,” I scoffed as I stared at her. Blood was dripping down the sides of her lips as she pleaded with me, but at this point I didn’t care about anything she was saying.

Chip called my name, causing me to look over at him. They really did a number on him. I wonder if they would have gotten this bad had I actually called the cops and did something last night.

My hands and shoulders dropped as I looked at him. I didn’t even bother with the others around me, I’d take care of them after.

Or, so I thought… One of Monica’s friends stood up and charged after me. I stumbled back, fumbling to cock the gun before pulling the trigger at him, getting him right in the head. He fell to the ground with a thud, a slab of meat just on the floor.

“Anyone else?” I looked at the others around me, really feeling my sudden anger and annoyance come through for everyone. The people around me backed away from me. I looked back at Chip, appreciating the way he was looking up at me. Just as I went to my knees to help him, the sound of a shotgun being cocked came from behind me. I froze as the barrel of a gun was pressed right to my head.

“Whatcha doin’ there, Sweet Heart?” a woman’s voice asked from behind me. I took a deep breath as I dropped my gun to the ground. I looked back at Chip and noted how the adoration he had in his eyes slowly turned into terror and fear. “Where’s my money, Chip?” the woman asked. There was a certain fakeness in her words that scared me a bit.

“I… I don’t have it!” Chip shouted as he struggled to stand up. I cringed as Liza pushed the barrel into my head a bit more. I swallowed roughly as I looked at Chip.

“L-liza? H-h-how did you… How did you find me?” Chip exclaimed as he looked past me and at the woman.

“I told you, Chip, I always know where you are,” her fake sweetness really struck a chord in me, pissing me off more than I was before. “Now… Where’s my money?”

Someone from the sidelines jumped to their feet and instantly charged at Liza. It was terrifying how quick Liza was to turn and shoot the gun at the man. I quickly moved away and grabbed my gun from the ground. I felt a little bad for moving behind Chip, using him as a shield from this new woman.

“You’re so quick to move on, Chippy,” Liza spoke as she looked back at me. I appreciated that Chip actually covered me instead of cowering away like I half expected him to. “First the whore from last night and now her?”

“I’m not a slut or a whore,” I stared at her. She cocked her head as she looked over at me. Yet, again another one of Monica’s people came after us, only to be stopped by a different person, their arm being sliced off in one swift motion. If you blinked you would have missed it.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” one of the three girls shouted front he couch. Liza turned to face the person behind her before saying something else.

“What… What do we do, Chip,” I whispered as I tugged gently on his shirt. He looked over his shoulder at me before lifting his finger to his lips. I stared at him for a moment, watching as he thought of a plan. The level of chaos in the building was starting to stress me out. I wasn’t expecting two terrifying people to show up at an already terrifying place.

“Go have fun with that one, Dwayne-y,” Liza pointed towards one of the girls on the couch. The guy looked over at the girl before grabbing her and pushing past Chip and I. I fell against the wall and blacked out for a moment.

When I came too, Liza was standing in front of Chip, talking to him about something. It was eerily quiet in the trailer now, other than Liza and Chip’s voice. My guess was Liza took everyone out. But, why’d she keep me alive? Chip probably bargained for my life. I’m honestly just a bystander in this whole thing, wasn’t I?

“You can let him run away… you can hunt him down, and kill him… Or… Or you can discipline him.. Teach him to heel or whatever he’s supposed to do,” Liza cocked her head as she looked at Chip. I took a deep breath, looking at the ground and noticed the gun on the ground right behind Chip. “So, Chip, what option do you want?” her tone was filled with that sickening sweetness, and it made me want to beat the shit out of her.

“Violet said there’s always another option,” Chip spoke softly as he looked at Liza. I carefully moved and grabbed the gun.

“Oh, she… She did? Well, I don’t see her here… Because she’s dead, Chip,” Liza scoffed. I took a deep and shaky breath before moving around the chair and aiming the gun right at Liza. “Oh, look who’s got the balls now,” Liza looked past Chip and at me. I stared down at her, feeling nervousness in the form of bile rise up my throat. “Are you gonna shoot me? Baby’s gonna sho-” her statement was finished short by a bullet to her head. I closed my eyes and looked down at the ground.

“Jesus Christ!” Chip shouted as Liza’s body fell to the ground. I took a deep breath before looking down at him. “She’s dead!”

“She was going to fucking kill both of us, Chip!” I shouted back, looking at him with wide eyes. Chip looked up at me as he stumbled to his feet.

“Okay, okay,” Chip looked down at me, placing his hand on my shoulder to steady himself. I looked up at him with wide eyes. “$68,000… My clothes, and then we fucking ditch this fucking place,” he pointed towards the door where the creepy man from before dragged a girl. I swallowed roughly as I looked towards the door.

“Here,” I handed him my gun before nodding towards the door. Chip looked down at me, a slight glare in his eyes before he took a step forward. I followed behind him, staying close to his body. He pushed the door open and immediately fired the gun, killing the guy instantly.

“I’m never going to sleep again, holy fucking shit,” I muttered as I looked at the horrors in front of me. He fucking ripped the girl a part.

“Stay here for a minute,” Chip muttered before stepping away from me. He didn’t seem bothered by everything. I was impressed that he was able to step into the room more and move stuff around. One he found what he was looking for he came back beside me.

“Let’s fucking go,” he muttered, holding a shoe box under his arm. I looked at the box as I followed behind him. I could kill him right now, and take that 68grand. I could start a new life on my own…

“Yeah, let’s go,” I looked down at the ground, “Shouldn’t we clean up the place first? Our fingerprints and DNA is all over the place,” I looked around the trailer and at all the dead bodies. Is it bad this didn’t phase me at all?

“You’re right. Hold this,” he muttered as he shoved the box into my hands. I looked down at it with wide eyes before looking back at Chip. He had a bottle of straight whiskey in his hand and was splashing it around the room, going into the other rooms before coming back. “You think this will be enough?” he asked, looking down at me with a certain exhaustion in his eyes. I tried to look past all the injuries he had earned, but it was hard when they covered his whole face.

“Hopefully,” I shoved the box back into his arm before leaving the building. I waited just outside as he lit a lighter and tossed it to the floor, causing the whole building to be engulfed in flames.

“Where to?” Chip asked as we walked back to my car. I looked over my shoulder at the blazing trailer and shrugged.

“Somewhere away from here. But first, we should get you a first aid kit,”

{***}{***}{***}

We drove for a long time. A very long time. I think we both wanted to make sure we were away from Monica’s trailer before we rested for the night. Which also meant we had to wait a long time before Chip could get the proper care he needed. It wasn’t fair to either of us that this was the case at the moment. I wasn’t ever expecting this to be what happened to me the other day when I woke up. I was just happy that after the second day of driving, he was actually okay.

“I’ll go get a room, you stay here,” I looked over at Chip. It looked like he was asleep, which I was expecting, so when he lifted his head and looked over at me I was a little confused.

“No, no let me,” he mumbled as he fought to get his seatbelt undone.

“Chip, you look like you just got out of Fight Club… Let me go get the room,” I placed a hand on his to stop him from moving anymore. He looked up at me with a little bit of terror in his eyes, “I’ll be right back, I promise,” I kept my voice low as I spoke to him.

“Okay, you’re right,” he mumbled before moving his hand away from the buckle. Chip rested his head against the head rest before closing his eyes lightly. I sighed deeply before sliding out of the car and towards the entrance of the hotel lobby.

I kept my voice low the entire time as I spoke to the front desk manager. It was hard when I also looked like I just got out of a war and the manager kept looking at me like that was the case. When they finally handed me the room key, I let out the deepest sigh of relief and returned out to the car.

“We have a room… Two days…” I looked over at Chip as I drove to a parking spot near our room.

“Two days… Nice, nice,” he murmured and nodded. I looked over at him and watched as he slowly unbuckled.

“You go into the room, I’ll grab the food and first aid kit,” I handed him the key before we both got out. Chip nodded before leaving and going towards the room. I made sure to be quick as I grabbed the stuff from the back.

“Should I shower?”

“No, no, let me clean your wounds up first,” I nodded towards the bed. Chip looked over at the bed before going to sit on it. I was relieved when he laid back on the bed like nothing mattered in the world. He opened his eyes and looked at me.

“Are you going to play nurse with me?” he asked, looking at me with a playful smirk on his lips. I laughed and nodded as I approached the bed.

“Unfortunately, I think I’m all you got,” I laughed as I sat on the bed beside him. He sat up and moved closer to him. We were both quiet as I pulled out alcohol wipes and gauze. I looked at his face, trying to figure out where to start. Thankfully the swelling in his eyes went down, but I cracked an ice pack to help.

“This is gonna sting,” I looked at his face as I lifted the wipe to his face. He winced as I began wiping the wounds on his face.

“Are you okay?” I looked up at him as I carefully placed butterfly band-aids and regular band-aids over the wounds. He looked back at me, a certain softness in his eyes. I was happy that he’d probably just need a few band-aids on his face instead of gauze and stitches like I’d thought. We both didn’t want to go to the hospital…

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” he whispered as he tried to not move away from my touch. I frowned looking at his face. “You didn’t have to do this, you know,” he added. I looked down at his hands and nodded.

“Did you want to go to the hospital and tell them the truth?” I raised an eyebrow as I shifted closer to him with an alcohol pad. He cringed as I pressed it to the open wound on his hand. “Sorry,” I cringed as he flinched.

“You’re right, though… I don't think I could make up a believable lie in the hospital,” he looked at me, watching me clean the injuries..

“Was it worth it?” I asked, feeling a small smile grow on my lips. Chip shrugged a bit like he wasn’t too sure what I was talking about.

“Was… Was what worth it?” he asked, trying not to furrow his eyebrows. I laughed lightly and shrugged.

“The 68 grand that you risked your life for, Chip,” I laughed as I grabbed a bandage and picked it open, “Is it okay if the band-aid is pink with butterflies?” I held it up to show him the design. He swallowed roughly before nodding.

“Yeah, it was worth it,” he whispered, causing me to look back at his face. I furrowed my eyebrows when it became my turn to stare at him. “Because if I didn’t lose the $68 thousand... I probably wouldn’t have met you… And you saved my life,”

“Oh please, don’t compare me to Violet,” I laughed and shook my head. I felt a little bad for bringing up his dead friend, but I personally felt like he was comparing me to her. Just a little bit.

“I’m not,” he looked taken aback by my sudden statement. I shrugged, not entirely believing him. He knew that too. I looked at him, noting the cut and bruise across his nose. Who knows how long that was going to take to heal, but I hope it didn’t hurt him too much. “I’m being serious,”

“That makes me feel better,” I smiled as I began cleaning up the first aid kit we had bought when we pulled into a new town, “I should probably let you go your own way, come morning. I don’t want to get in the way of you while you’re trying to flee everything” I laughed as I clicked the first aid kit shut, “I’ll let you have my car,”

“Please stay,” he whispered, watching as I stood and walked across the room. I almost didn’t hear him. But I was preoccupied with my thoughts, trying to figure out how I’d get home if I had given him my car to leave. I was 2 days away from home… That’d be a long way back. “I probably would die if you didn’t come with me,” he added as I turned to face him.

“I’d be pretty useless if I came with. Is your life always like that, Chip?” I asked, placing my fists on my hips. He stayed quiet. “Because if it’s always like that, running from danger and shooting guns…”

“You’ll go back home, I get it. What happened the other day was-”

“I never said that,” I cut him off, “Yeah, what happened the other day was terrifying, Chip. But, I don’t think I’ve ever had such an eventful day in my entire life. I just don’t think I would be able to do that again. That parts gotta go,”

“Consider it gone,” Chip shook his head, watching as I slowly walked back over towards him. I looked down at him, appreciating the way he looked back up at me. “Forgotten. We can… We can buy a house in… In Iowa. Have kids, have a family. Get as far as we can from that place,” he moved his legs and allowed me to stand between them.

“Iowa?” I scoffed, wrinkling my nose at the thought of moving to Iowa. “And… You want to have kids? After everything that happened? You want to bring kids into this world?” I sighed deeply as I looked down at him. I left out the part of how we just met 4 days ago. He doesn’t even know me.

“Yeah, but if you were their mother, I think they’d be pretty safe,” Chip laughed as he reached up to grab my hand. I stared at him, feeling my heart swell in my chest.

“You don’t even know me, Chip,” I laughed lightly. He furrowed his eyebrows before shrugging. “And you already want to have kids with me?”

“I don’t think… I don’t think it matters. You saved my life,” he pointed out. I bit my lower lip as he brushed his thumb across the back of my hand.

“Yeah,” I paused, taking a deep breath as I stared at him, “You saved mine too, Chip,” I smiled at him, “I think Liza might have killed me if it wasn’t for you,” I laughed lightly out my nose. And, it was true. She probably would have killed me after she knocked me out...

“Well, good thing Dwayne was easy enough to take care of,” he returned the laughter, “Can’t believe I dated that bitch,” he sighed as he looked up at me.

“Yeah, I was about to say…” I smiled softly. Chip smiled as he carefully tugged my hand so I would fall forward slightly.

“Kiss me,” he whispered as I braced myself on his shoulder with one hand. I furrowed my eyebrows, looking down at his lips. The cut on his upper lip had thankfully stopped bleeding.

“Is that a good idea,” I pulled my hand off his shoulder and gently held his face. He wrinkled his nose and closed his eyes. “Chip, I’m serious,”

“I am too,” he begged as he looked at me, “I could di-”

“You won’t die tomorrow. You’re safe now,” I smiled softly as I looked at him.

“So, what’s stopping you from kissing me,” he asked, pointing out the fact that there was indeed nothing stopping me from kissing him.

“Why you gotta be like that?” I asked, moving my hand up his face. I carefully brushed the wound on his temple before carding my fingers through his hair.

“Be like what?” Chip asked as I pushed my hand through his hair and rested it on the back of his head.

“You’re so… nice. You’re not like other men, the ones who look at women like objects,” I laughed and shook my head, “You wouldn’t even hurt a fly.”

“You do know I killed, like, bunch of people yesterday,” he asked. I smiled and nodded. He pulled his hand from mine and rested both his hands on my hips. I furrowed my eyebrows as I looked at him.

“Okay, yeah, that’s fair…” I sighed deeply and cocked my head, “You won’t regret it, will you?” I asked, my voice hardly a whisper.

“Regret what? Kissing you?” He asked, his thumbs playing with the hem of my shirt, just barely touching the skin of my hip. I nodded lightly. “Why would I regret kissing you?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time a guy regret kissing me,” I whispered as I looked away from him, “The last guy I dated… He dated me as a joke… It wasn’t till after we… Well, we did a little bit more than kissing, did he tell me that it was all a joke,” I whispered before looking down at the ground.

“Nothing about me asking for a kiss is a joke, I promise,” Chip replied, his voice causing me to look back at him. He lifted a hand and rested it on my shoulder. “We don’t even have to do anything… You don’t have to ki-”

“I do… I do want to kiss you, Chip,” I whispered softly, “I’m just scared, that’s all,” I stared down at him.

“You don’t have to be scared,” he smiled softly, running his hand down my arm before grasping my hand. I swallowed roughly before moving to straddle his legs. He took a sharp breath as I adjusted myself on his legs.

“Sorry,” I cringed as I tried to get off his legs. Chip looked at me before resting his hands on my hips, keeping me in place on his lap.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, bringing a hand back to my face. I stared at him, feeling a small smile grow on my lips.

After a moment of just staring at each other, I moved forward, closing the space between. Our lips connected, and it was the softest, gentlest kiss ever. Although my lips were still dry, his lips felt dry, drier than the sand on the beach. The blood that was on his lips dried slightly, but it didn’t bother me at all.

Chip placed his hand on my lower back, moving me closer to his body. My arms wrapped around his neck, my body willingly moving closer to him as if it couldn’t get enough of him. I could tell that he craved me too, his other hand moving hastily around my body.

“Is this a good idea?” I murmured against his lips. I was careful as I pressed my forehead to his, feeling a small smile tug on my lips. “You’re like… Seriously…” I stopped myself from saying ‘seriously injured’.

“I’m okay. I’m fine with it if… If you’re fine with it,” he whispered, his hands going back to the hem of my shirt. I closed my eyes and let a deep breath of air out my nose. A small smile grew across my lips as his hand finally slipped up my shirt and up to my bra. “Please tell me your fine with it,” his voice wavered slightly with his words. I swallowed roughly and nodded, our noses brushing together as my head moved.

“Yeah, yeah it’s… I’m fine with it…” I nodded, taking a deep breath before opening my eyes, “I’m more than fine with it,” I whispered as I looked at him.

That was when he kissed me again. It was different than before. Because, before it was gentle and soft, like he didn’t want me to melt away. But also it was soft because we both had mild- not so mild injuries, and I knew he didn’t want to hurt me. The differences between this one and that one is, fervent and passionate, it took my breath away.

Chip’s hand on my back fiddled with my bra as he tried to unclasp it. I couldn’t help but laugh as he began to struggle. It was clear he was getting frustrated with the struggle, so when I went to help him, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he fought to pull my shirt off. I laughed and shook my head.

“No, it’s okay,” I whispered before lifting my arms in the air. Chip smiled before pulling my shirt over my head and tossing it somewhere behind me. I sucked in a sharp breath as the cool air hit my bare chest. Chip was careful as he pressed his lips back to mine, then on the side of my mouth, before trailing down my neck. It was gentle, and soft, but it was enough for me to notice him sucking soft spots on my skin. My hands went back to his head, carefully pulling at the hair on the back of his head.

My head tilted to the side the further down my neck he went. A small gasp fell from my mouth as he attached his lips to my breast. My fingers gently pulled his hair, causing him to hum lightly. It was hard not to react to him and his touch. I needed him more than I needed air.

“D-don’t stop,” I whispered, my words wavering with each syllable. It was so hard to concentrate on anything as he placed his lips around my nipple. A shiver went down my spine, causing me to arch my back into him more.

Chip stood up, causing me to latch on to him so I wouldn’t fall, before turning around to put me on the bed. I looked up at him, my breathing picking up slightly as he stared down at me. His lower lip was pulled between his teeth as he looked at me.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” I whispered, lifting a hand to his face. He could hear the worry in my words as I spoke, letting his lower lip fall from his mouth. “Your lip is bleeding.” I left out that it was only bleeding a little bit, but it was enough to notice the red.

“It’s fine,” he whispered, bringing his hand to rest on my cheek. His thumb brushed against my lower lip. My body shivered slightly before I opened my mouth slightly. He smirked before slipping his thumb between my lips. I swirled my tongue around his thumb as I stared at him.

“Good girl,” Chip hummed, resting his other hand on the mattress by my head. I swallowed roughly before grabbing his shirt and pulling him down to my face. He moved his thumb from my mouth and looked down at me.

“Please don’t make me ask more than once,” I whispered, releasing my hand from his shirt to lift it to his face. He flinched away slightly as my hand barely touched his face. I could feel my face soften as I looked at him. “I won’t hurt you, Chip. You’re safe now,” I whispered as I moved my hand from his face.

“I know, I know,” he shook his head before lowering his face to mine, lightly pressing his lips to mine. I hummed, wrapping my arms around his neck again. “You won’t have to ask more than once,” he murmured against my lips. He looked down at me before pressing his lips to mine again, slowly kissing down my neck and chest.

Although he was quick to move down my chest, he was slow once he got to my hips.

“Hold on,” he stepped away from me, rushing to the bathroom real quick. I sat up, resting back on my hands, as I waited for him to come back.

“What… What are you doing, Chip?” I asked, my patience starting to wear thin as the seconds ticked by. I swallowed roughly as he stepped back out of the bathroom.

“Cleaning my face a little bit more,” he looked at me with a small smile on his lips. I furrowed my eyebrows as he came back to stand between my legs.

“I-I’m confused,” I looked up at him. Although, I really shouldn’t be confused. I’m the one who said ‘Please don’t make me ask more than once.’ and he obviously wanted it as badly as I did.

“You know,” he smiled as he lifted my hips a little bit before pulling my pants off my body. I suddenly couldn’t control my breathing anymore, and I was left trying to control myself. “Wouldn’t want to get blood everywhere,” he looked up at me as he dropped my pants to the ground.

I stared at him watching as he lowered to his knees between my legs. He was gentle as pressed his lips to the soft skin on my inner thigh. I took a deep breath, trying so hard to regulate my breathing. My elbows and arms gave out, causing me to lie back hard on the bed.

“So beautiful,” Chip whispered before blowing softly at my core. I gasped and pressed my head into the bed beneath me. My hands and fingers got knotted up in his hair again, slowly pulling his head closer to my body.

Chip laughed at me before peppering butterfly kisses over my pussy. I gasped, tugging lightly on his hair. He looked up at me before grasping both of my hands and holding them down on the bed.

“Ch-chip, don’t stop, please don’t stop,” I whimpered pulling at his hands. He hummed before licking a stripe right up my cunt. I swear, I couldn’t even breathe. He squeezed my hands as he kept licking at me. After a moment, his lips attached around my clit, sucking softly at the sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Fuck,” I cried out as he pulled a hand from one of mine. I didn’t even notice that he pushed a finger into me. My free hand went over my mouth as a moan fell from me. Chip obviously enjoyed that sudden reaction, causing him to moan too. The vibrations from him caused me to moan again.

“ ‘m so close. Please, Chip, so close,” I moved my hand to his hair and pulled on it a lot harder than before. It was like I couldn’t breathe, the wind being knocked from my lungs like I was punched in the gut. “Fuck, Chip,” I moaned, my hips jerking at him. He pulled his hand from mine and placed it firmly on my stomach, holding me down.

“You’re doing so good, Princess,” he murmured against my body. I cried out when he pressed his lips back on me.

My mind went fuzzy and my vision turned white. I could feel my toes curling against the rough, scratchy comforter beneath me. My hands gripped his hair and the blanket so tightly I was sure my knuckles would blanch. And the only thing I could say was his name as I came.

My chest heaved as I tried to breathe. When I opened my eyes, Chip was back over me. He smiled, clearly enjoying what had just happened.

“That was… That was good,” I laughed lightly. Chip returned the laughter before pressing his lips to mine. I hummed following after him as he pulled away from me.

“That was, like, barely the pregame,” Chip laughed as he looked down at me. I furrowed my eyebrows and smiled softly. “If at all the pregame,”

“Well are you going to get started on the actual game or just leave me alone?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow as I stared at him. Chip laughed again before standing up right to rid himself of his jeans. I quickly moved so I was lying up by the pillows.

“Are you sure this is okay?” He asked once he was back over me. I swallowed roughly and nodded.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m positive. If I wasn’t… I wouldn’t have let you eat me out the way you did,” I laughed as I brought my hands to his face, “I appreciate you cleaning your face a bit before you did that though. I don’t really want the staph infection or STD,” I laughed harder than I should have. But that in turn caused Chip to glare at me.

“Well, now I don’t think I want to have sex with you,” he looked away from me before sitting up right. I stopped laughing before sitting up to look at him.

“C’mon, Chip, I was just joking.” I moved so I was closer to him, “I’d love to get a STD from you,” I bit back my laughter as I looked at him. He glared at me again.

“Shut up,” he muttered, looking down at the bed. I smiled before lifting a hand to his face.

“You’re the one who wants to fuck the girl you just met 4 days ago,” I pointed out as I moved to straddle his waist. He looked at me as I sat on him. “But, to be fair, I also want to have sex with the guy I met 4 days ago so it’d be a little hypocritical of me to judge you,” I shrugged. I tried really hard not to look at his cock, but it was right there… It was obvious that he was painfully hard. “Use me, Chip,” I swallowed roughly as I looked up at his face. His eyes were scanning my face as his hands were resting on my hips. I could feel his fingers digging into my skin, and I was more than happy to let that happen.

What he did next surprised me. He lifted my hips up so I was hovering over him, before slamming me on his cock. A shout came from my mouth as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I pressed my face into his shoulder as I tried to breathe properly after the sudden intrusion.

“Fuck,” I panted before looking up at him after a moment. My muscles clenched around him as I slowly got used to his size. Chip pressed his lips to mine before carefully thrusting up into me. My hips slowly moved, meeting him at the perfect spots. His lips hardly left mine, and when they did it was only for a few moments.

“Gonna fill you up,” Chip mumbled as he pressed his lips to my neck, “Gonna put a baby in you,”

“Please! Don’t stop, fuck,” I cried, rolling my hips against his. My mouth opened around his shoulder, my teeth carefully sinking into his skin. “God,” I whined looking back up at him, “Do it, please, do it,”

“Yeah? You like that?” Chip groaned as he brought a hand to my chest. I let out a shaky breath and nodded as he massaged my breast. “Being filled with my cum, carrying my child,” he looked up at me. I pressed my lips together and nodded, feeling myself get closer to the edge.

“Fuck, Chip, please,” I placed my hands on either side of his face and pulling him closer to my face. I pressed my lips to his as he pulled me closer to his body, my chest pressing against his.

My breathing grew raged as he picked up his pace. His hand dropped to where our bodies met, his finger encircling around my clit. I was pushed right to the edge, calling out his name as he called out mine. His hips faltered slightly as he filled me with his essence.

My head dropped to his shoulder and my arms wrapped around his chest. It took a while for either of us to move, the intensity of the moment catching up with us. Although, the last few days in general were catching up with me.

“I gotta clean you up,” Chip finally whispered after a moment. I swallowed roughly before I struggled to get off his lap.

“You really do want to have kids with me,” I laughed as we finally broke a part, “I mean, yeah I want kids too. But not for a while,”

“I told you, we gotta get to Iowa first,” Chip looked over at me as he got off the bed. When he noticed that I was a little nervous about that, he came over to my side, “We don’t have to go to Iowa,”

“No, no, I know… It’s just… The thought of leaving… And going with you. The other day was terrifying, with everything th-What if I just left?”

“I know you're nervous. You have every right to be nervous. If we leave, we can get as far from that place as possible. We can find a safe place and be safe… Together,” he knelt on the ground beside me. I looked down at him and nodded, “Besides, you had the most boring life in that stupid motel,”

“True, true,” I laughed and shook my head, “You’re not going to, like, murder me… Are you?” I looked at him as I carefully grasped his hand.

“No! I wouldn’t do that! After the shit I just said to you with my cock in you? You think I’d kill you?” Chip nearly fell back on the ground, causing me to laugh again. I smiled and nodded.

“Okay, I… I guess if the worst thing you’ll do to me is get me pregnant… Then I think I’m safe.” I looked at him with a small smile, “And that’s not even bad,” I shrugged as I looked at the bed in front of me.

“I won’t murder you if you won’t murder me,” he spoke, lifting his hand and showing me his pinkie. I looked back at him and nodded.

“Promise,” I whispered before interlocking my pinkie with his.

if you want to be a part of a taglist or have any comments about this one shot, let me know here

#shadow writes stuff #shadow posts stuff #masterlist #chip taylor one shot #chip taylor smut #chip taylor x reader #chip taylor x you #chip taylor reader insert #68 kill one shot

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mai-sau · 3 years

Note

Prompt "give me attention" for kidnap family?

"haha, im gonna take it easy with prompts this time around, only a few hundred words -" cue spongebob title card "2.3k words later"

seriously tho thank you for the prompt!! (and sorry about the wait!) i had fun working on this one bc well i love any chance to write about this lil family of murderers and tiny bois :') hope u enjoy!!

Prompt: "Give me attention."

“Nelyo.”

“Ne-”

Thump. Maedhros slammed his book shut. A puff of dust wheezed out from the crusty pages; Maglor could make out the swirl of particles flying about in the dim shafts of sunlight peeking into his brother’s study from windows that he was sure were clean at some point in their existence.

Said brother tossed a glare over to Maglor from the other side of his desk.

“You’re allowed to be here. Quietly.” Maedhros threw a pointed look towards the abandoned scroll in Maglor’s hands.

“But I’m so very lonely, Nelyo,” Maglor pouted, and dropped the scroll on the desk. The parchment rolled out towards Maedhros, whose face was fast approaching the same shade as his hair. “Besides, I’ve already taken care of all my correspondence for the day. Nothing much else to do, really, but seek out the company of my darling brother.”

“I’m older than you,” Maedhros grit out, rubbing his temple in terse little circles. Which one of them he was reminding Maglor couldn’t say.

“Only by a few years,” Maglor teased. He let the corners of his lip curl up - he was well aware this made him look like “a cat about to feast on the fattest saucer of milk it’s ever conned” according to his brother, and that was why he did it.

On top of that dusty old book, Maedhros’ fingers twitched. Got you.

“Come on, Nelyo,” he whined. “Give me attentiooon.”

Maedhros threw him a positively hateful look, but Maglor knew he wouldn’t throw him out just yet. By this point, Maglor liked to think he knew his brother well enough.

There were some things he didn’t, of course, and this was fine. When his brother would wake and traipse out to the courtyard in the dead of night, staring at the moon hungrily for hours and hours as if he would never glimpse its light amidst the pitch dark again; when one of the many elves around Amon Ereb would do something wrong - not when one of their craftsmen made the same excited little exclamation as Curvo used to, or hunters fletched their arrows just how Tyelko did, Maglor understood these, at least - but a request phrased too sweetly, an abrupt movement, a smile too wide, and Maedhros’ throat would tighten, his words clipped, before excusing himself to go lock himself in his room for an hour, or two, or three: these parts of his brother Maglor may never know.

But he knew much, or at least enough. A few months after they’d taken in the twins, Maglor had just finished mopping an explosion of jam on the dining floor and sweeping up the shards of what was once the hefty jar that contained it. He’d first gently let Elros know that if they wanted food, they need only ask; he’d then let him know that no, of course they wouldn’t cast him out for breaking the jam jar, with no small amount of tears or internal panic on either end of that conversation.

By the time Maglor slunk into Maedhros’ study that evening to go over reports from around the fortress, he was maybe a bit tired. When Maedhros told him to wait for just a few minutes while he wrapped something or other up, Maglor might’ve let slip a touch of petulance and no small amount of theatrics into his voice when he asked when his dear Nelyo could spare just a moment for his poor baby brother, simply wilting away from the neglect.

Maglor had frozen, fearful of what his second-most severe brother would have to say in response to - well, whining. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d let himself do so. Oh, he’d been quite the brat in Valinor, and used to be quite proud of that fact, thank you. Each and every one of his brothers’ last nerves practically had his name on it. But it seemed ever since they arrived here, it was as if they simply couldn’t afford the waste of time. Ribbing was a favored pastime of his in Aman, but Beleriand offered no such frivolities.

But living with the twins, putting on playful words and coaxing laughter from two young faces that Maglor couldn’t bear to see two seconds from breaking anymore, had apparently loosened his discipline.

He’d thought Maedhros would treat him to one of his signature frowns, barking at him that neither of them had time to make things any harder for each other, but instead he’d… laughed. Just the slightest huff of air, yes, but a laugh nonetheless. Maglor hadn’t heard his brother laugh since…

Well, if anything, he was honoring his cousin’s memory.

So Maglor experimented over the years, let a few more teases and whines slip into his day-to-day interactions with Maedhros. His brother had since mustered a valiant effort to act annoyed, but Maglor could still catch a muffled chuckle or smothered grin here and there.

So. All in all, he’s sure he knows his brother pretty well at this point, and Maedhros was not troubled (bad), just bothered (good).

Which, of course, meant they could continue to play; Maglor would show no mercy.

“Please? Please, please? Just a smidgen of tender love and care from my dearly beloved big brother?” Maglor asked, eyes wide and pleading, hands clasped in front of him as he leaned over the desk. His hair, inky black, spilled all over his scroll.

Maedhros’ nose twitched. His right ear flicked. Oh yes. He was close to a chuckle now, he could tell. His dearly beloved big brother stood no fucking chance.

“Oh dear Eru, let my brother pay attention to - MANWË’S TITS!” Maglor shrieked, springing up from his seat after spotting a dark shadow peeking through the window.

His brother whirled around. Quick as a viper, his hand darted out to grasp the hilt of his sword. Despite this, Maglor could hear a choked noise he was more than halfway certain was the chuckle he had so desperately hunted. Oh well.

A chubby face stared right back at them, eyes round as saucers. Wait, make that two faces.

Both Maglor and Maedhros sagged with relief.

“Elros, can you please come in?” Maglor croaked, feeling five feet to the left of his physical body. “You too, Elrond.”

The two of them nodded bashfully, heads bobbing as they fumbled over to the glass. And they were… flapping. Each twin sported small brown wings on their back, looking much like the falcons Tyelko used to play with as a child. Maglor supposed, thinking of a great bird soaring away over the sea with light itself clutched tight in its talons, maybe they should have expected this one in particular.

Elros pushed once, twice at the windows, tiny arms straining against the pane and looking more panicked by the second. Behind him, Elrond simply pointed to the - oh, the window latch. Yes.

Maedhros stood up and flicked it open. Elros came tumbling through, nearly bashing his skull on the desk before Maedhros caught him midair.

Elrond flew in smoothly and landed on Maglor’s empty chair, wings neatly folding in. Maedhros dumped Elros on his own chair. His wing smacked Maedhros’ arm by mistake.

“We talked about this. No new shapeshifting without me or Maglor there,” Maedhros said, fixing each of them with a stern look.

Both the twins looked down at this. Elrond wrung his little wrists.

“We’re sorry!” Elros burst out, tears welling up in his eyes. “We won’t do it again, promise!”

“That’s what you said last time, sweetheart,” Maglor told him.

“And the time before that,” Maedhros grumbled.

“What we’re saying, dear, is that we understand that you’re sorry. But keeping your word has to take first priority,” Maglor explained softly.

Maedhros coughed.

“Or, er, not doing it again,” Maglor corrected. “That’s what counts.”

“We understand,” Elros sniffled. “It’s just, we wanted to hear, but you weren’t there to check with, because well, you were here, and, well, um, yes -”

“Bringing us to the next point of order,” Maedhros rumbled. He raised a brow at both of them. “Eavesdropping. We have also been over this.”

Oh dear. Elros looked like he was about to drown in a puddle of tears. Maglor rubbed a hand between his shoulder blades soothingly, careful of the new feathery appendages.

Thankfully, Elrond stepped in. “We remember, it’s not nice because we like to be in private sometimes and it’s not fair for us to not let other people be too,” he recited shyly. “Um, we just… we know you both meet up a lot like this, and we know it's important… but… um…” His lip trembled; his voice cracked. “Do you... talk about us? Do you not want us to hear because it’s bad? Because we can do better!” He promised quickly, eyes wide and wet. “Elros is getting really good at his music lessons, he’s practicing a lot! And I’m working on my writing lessons every day!”

Something in Maglor’s chest twisted. “Oh, honey, no -”

But his brother beat him to the punch. Striding out from behind the desk, he knelt down in front of Elrond. “Can I hug you?” he asked very quietly.

Elrond bit his lip and nodded. Without another word, Maedhros wrapped him up in his arms.

They stayed like that for a moment, Maedhros’ hulking frame wrapped around Elrond’s body, like a drape of russet locks, leather and rich furs. When his brother finally pulled away, he gave a heavy look to both children.

“We will never give you away because you’re not good enough. Alright? You will always be good enough. Both of you,” he told them. He reached out and covered Elrond’s tiny hand with his own, fingers curling around and intertwining. “And not because you’re caught up on your lessons, or do what we say.”

“Though those are certainly nice,” Maglor added. He flashed them a teasing grin before taking care to soften his expression once more, and laid a gentle hand on Elros’ shoulder. “You will always have our love. And nothing, not even the worst jam spill, or missed harp lesson - don’t think I didn’t notice that last week, dearest - can ever reach in and steal it. It is your’s by blood and birthright.”

“Love you,” Elros sniffled. Elrond echoed him, voice no less wobbly.

Maedhros gifted them with a small smile. “Love you both, starlights.”

“And -” Elros started, hiccuped, and continued. “And same for me too. Nothing can change that! I’ll always love you two.”

Maglor felt a pang of sickly guilt invade his chest and looked away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maedhros stiffen.

“Me too,” Elrond said, voice suddenly clear. Maglor glanced at him and met a gaze that seemed years ahead of its time; he froze, rooted to the spot. “We’ll always love you no matter what you do.”

“Well -” Maglor started. “That’s…”

“No need to worry about us,” Maedhros recovered quickly, waving his hand. “Now then, it’s nearing bedtime, hm?”

“But wait!” Elros cried. “What were you two talking about then?”

“Yes! We saw Atya going like this,” Elrond clasped his pudgy hands together and shook them. “And his voice sounded all funny, and then he prayed to Eru about Atar paying more attention to Manwe’s t-”

“ALRIGHT!” Maglor yelped, clapping his hands. His face must’ve been steaming, his cheeks were burning, oh stars - “Bedtime!”

“But we want to know why you were saying all those funny things,” Elros complained loudly. His voice slipped into a high pitched whine, dripping with petulance. “Nelyo, Nelyo, give me attentioooon -”

“I do not sound like that!” Maglor gasped, scooping up a giggling Elrond to be carried to bed.

“I do not sound like that!”

Maglor turned around, gaping. That was not Elros’ voice.

Maedhros stared back. His eyes glinted with mirth and the most shit-eating grin curled his lips. In his arms was a starstruck Elros, who looked no less shocked than if the clouds themselves had just burst into song and danced a lively jig. And quite frankly, Maglor would be less surprised.

Maedhros dealt him one last smirk before twirling on his heel and walking out of the room to go deposit one elfling in his bed. Maglor still had the other, who poked his cheek.

“Atya? Are you okay?”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Maglor felt a smile grow across his face. His eyes stung with tears. He quickly wiped them with his sleeve before they could fatten and spill over his cheeks and probably make Elrond worry even more.

“Wonderful, dear.” He frowned for a second, considering. “Although I think there is a dreadful amount of mockery in my future.”

He looked down at Elrond. His son merely tilted his round head, offering a blank look. Maglor sighed happily. “But that’s okay.”

XXX

In time, it became clear that there was no need to worry about the looming threat of brotherly teasing paid back in full; Maedhros may have been looser with his laughter, but even this was a rare occasion still. Maglor did not mind, for any time he saw his brother’s eyes alight with anything other than fatal passion was a gift.

The true threat that lurked within Amon Ereb made itself known eventually.

Two weeks later, Maglor was scurrying to meet up with one of the smiths to discuss pending repairs but stopped short in front of a small figure in the courtyard blocking his path.

“Not now, sweetheart, Atya’s very busy,” Maglor told Elrond, harried, ready to flag down someone on the way to attend to whatever his son needed.

And then it happened. Elrond’s face crumpled just so. His eyes widened: big, round, and wet. His lip wobbled. When he opened his mouth, his voice took on a tone so absolutely, horribly pitiful that Maglor half-suspected the echo of Lúthien herself lived in his words.

“Please, Atya,” he begged, every word a death sentence. “Give me attentiooon.”

Oh Eru, Maglor despaired, even as he opened his arms for an evil little elfling to leap into, repairs forgotten. I’ve made a monster.

#this was also my first go at writing more humor #but the hurt/comfort managed to sneak in #kidnap dads #kidnap fam #maedhros #maglor #elrond #elros #my writing #writing prompts #fic #jaz-the-bard

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ginnyweasely · 3 years

Text

ONLY GOOD THING [DRACO MALFOY X READER]

pairing: draco malfoy x reader (fem!) warnings: swearing, drinking (sort of), a bit angsty!!, but MOSTLY FLUFF!!, draco is a bit ooc but that’s how i like it bb! summary: draco seems to be super curious of the reader who has trust issues and has a hard time opening up. word count: 7.3k+

A/N: I know this is very loong but bare with me bc i sort of kinda love this one!! This is heavily inspired by one of my own very old imagine but i changed up many stuff, ALSO!! i’m gonna start making my own gifs for my writings so if you do take them PLEASE please do not claim it as your own and feel free to give credit! happy reading :) also remember feedbacks are alwayss welcomed with luv and hugs!!

MASTERLIST TAGLIST

Y/N groaned at the sound of her stupid alarm clock, her hand sluggishly and lazily trying to stop the stupid machine from making anymore loud noises, failing so, she groaned loudly as she opened one eye to stare at the clock, spotting the stopping button and pressing it more like crushing it.

She groaned as she got out of her bed, realizing she had much time left before she actually had to go to class, causing a feel of calmness in her. She liked being right on time or just being ready way head of time, otherwise being late made the girl filled with anxiety.

Sighing, she messily spread her bedsheet on her bed, not caring enough nor having the enough energy in her to make her bed cleanly.

She looked at her school clothes that were hung by the door, all ready for her to just slip on to her body.

Her head popped around the room as she searched for her roommates, a breath of relief left her mouth as she realized they were nowhere to be seen, she found it better to be just be on her own, getting ready while people were around made her feel weird and uncomfortable.

She got her clothes and slipped into her clothes quickly, admiring herself in the mirror as she put on her robe, her outfit now matching. She brushed her hair to make it look of a messy wave, quite liking having her hair like that, which made her feel a lot more confident.

Y/N was rather a quiet girl who kept most thing to herself, by quiet it’s not as if she was shy or self-conscious, she just liked being alone, didn’t trust people enough, in fact she knew nothing about anyone, as no one knew anything about her.

She liked keeping things that way, as it was easier for her to communicate with people, she was not anyone’s best friend, she was simply friends with everyone, she hung out with people from her house, maybe sometimes with a few of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws too, but mainly from Gryffindor, and she didn’t know why but she didn’t know anyone from Slytherin.

Mainly because she didn’t care to know, Slytherins always seemed too much for her, she barely knew anything about the students at Hogwarts, soon realizing that she preferred it that way, hell she barely knew anything about the “friends” she hung out with, Ron,Hermione and Harry.

She knew she didn’t used to be like this, but with each time more and more people seemed to be breaking her trust, the girl decided that she was better off to keep her things to herself.

She was more than happy to just be with herself, she liked being that way, the only one who couldn’t hurt her was herself, sure she felt lonely at times, but she liked it, she’d rather be lonely than be hurt.

Y/N looked at herself in the mirror, admiring her face, she sighed softly as she noticed how pale she had been looking, so she softly pinched her cheeks to rise some color into them, happy with the results she smiled to herself in the mirror.

She slowly got up as she quickly got her books, stuffing them into her bag, and sluggishly putting it around her shoulders and getting out of her dorm.

She was walking down the Hogwarts corridors, trying to make her way into the Transfiguration class, walking through the empty corridors gave her joy, she finally got where the Transfiguration class normally was, and entered the room but to her surprise the room looked a bit different, it wasn’t the transfiguration class. It was something else.

Confused and distracted she headed to the exit and as she did so, her body collided with a boy’s, books falling to the ground as the weak girl fell from a little bump.

Y/N groaned as her bum hit the ground and she didn’t know if her head or her bum hurted more. “Watch where you’re going!” The boy snarled as she chuckled in distaste.

“Me? Your stupid big head almost destroyed mine!” She protested against him as she rubbed her head. He scoffed at her response but as he looked around the empty classroom he had the same question in his mind as hers.

“Where is everyone?” The platinum headed boy turned his head to her as she was trying to fix her skirt. “That’s my question as well. Isn’t this the transfiguration class?” She said as confused as the platinum headed boy.

“Did they like move classes?” Y/N questioned as Draco shrugged he was as clueless as she was.

Y/N was about to open her mouth but was interrupted as someone else came into the class, looking at both of them weirdly as Y/N sighed “Let me guess, you’re here for the Transfiguration room, too?” She didn’t mean to sound annoyed but clearly to the girls response she was.

“Uh no? This is Defense Against The Dark Arts, Transfiguration moved next to the Potions yesterday, Dumbledore announced it at dinner.”

A simple ohh escaped from the both clueless Draco and Y/N’s mouths as they slowly exited the room, walking towards to the new room, which made Y/N groan because it was all the way over to the end of the castle, causing her to get anxious about being late.

Being so into her thoughts she totally forgot the boy that was walking next to her, she realized they had been awkwardly walking in silence, Y/N sighed as she hated situations like this and was mentally cursing until her thoughts were interrupted with Draco’s voice.

“What’s your name?” He asked as he tried to keep up to her fast walking pace, “I’m Y/N, Y/L/N.” she replied softly, then added “And you are?” The boy chuckled at the question as Y/N stared at him in confusion.

“You don’t know who I am?” He questioned shocked as he realized she was serious, “Was I supposed to know?” Y/N asked as sarcasm was dripping from her mouth.

“Well, of course. I’m Draco Malfoy, son of Lucious Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy, the most respectable wizards in the wizard history.” Draco said proudly as Y/N just looked at him awkwardly.

“Uhm.. okay?” She replied in an uninterested voice which the boy took offense to and had a hard time not believing in how she didn’t have a clue of who he was.

Frustrated he spoke up again, “If you must know they call me the Slytherin Prince!” He added in order to impress her but in return she just cackled at the name, and even though she tried her best to brush off her cackle it just seemed to anger the boy.

“What’s so fucking funny!” He grunted, as the girl opened her mouth to speak “It’s just you Slytherins have so much confident in yourselves, and it makes you guys extremely cocky, it’s both a good and a bad thing, really.” She smiled and in return Draco smiled back.

“So I take it you’re a Gryffindor?” She nodded “How did you know?” “Well, you stood up for me, that’s courage and well, your robe..” He pointed and she chuckled at her stupidity.

“Right..” She said still walking towards the corridors, but now they were enjoying their conversation so her pace was much more slower. “You could have been a great Slytherin with that sarcasm though..” She chuckled as she brushed off his comment.

Y/N was about to make a joke about his “Slytherin Prince” title but she froze as her eyes met up with the light brown eyes of the guy in front of him, she mentally cursed herself, wanting nothing more than just to disappear at that moment.

Draco quickly noticed the change in her and was baffled at first, but he slowly eyed her movements and looked up, seeing the infamous “Golden Boy” of Hogwarts in front of him. Cedric Diggory was standing there as Y/N stood still.

He scoffed at the sight of him, his attention slowly turned back to Y/N who seemed to be stunned by Cedric, as the boy curiously wanted to know why the “Golden Boy” had such an effect on her.

Cedric smiled at Y/N softly as Draco saw her give him the weakest smile ever, as her face seemed to falling apart, her pace quickened by the sight.

“What was that?” Draco questioned curiously as a hint of worriedness could be heard in his tone. “Nothing, let’s just go to class.” Y/N said hurriedly as she brushed him off and their quickened pace arrived them quickly to the class,

“Uhh, do you wanna sit with me?” Draco murmured as he tried to sound confident but nervousness could be read from the boy’s face, “Yeah, sure!” Y/N replied rather quickly, washing away Draco’s worries as she smiled at him and they took their places in the class.

Draco seemed to be confused.. by many things, his mind quickly started to wander off. First of all, why was he sitting with a Gryffindor, that he specifically asked for?

Second of all why did Y/N froze at the sight of Cedric and lastly but the most important, why did he actually like spending time with Y/N? His mind went fuzzy with the stupid questions the entire class, trying his best to focus but unable to. Then he did the worst possible thing he could do, he gently turned his head around to look at Y/N.

His distracted mind was now a mess, staring at the pretty girl next to him made him feel fucked up in his stomach, he closely eyed her movements, but sooner or later realized that staring this much at her could draw her attention so he tried his best to observe her by the corner of his eye.

He wanted to study her fully, he wanted answers to the questions in his mind, he certainly liked that she didn’t know about him, it was a greater change that he could finally meet with someone unaware of his reputation, because people either hated him for it or loved him for it, there was no in between.

Y/N didn’t seem to be the sort of person that cared a lot of what people were doing, at least that’s what Draco thought as the girl had no clue he even was. To him she seemed like a pretty normal person that stayed out of people’s business.

So the question of why she of all people would have a problem with someone like Diggory was a whole puzzle for him to figure out, meanwhile Y/N was lost in her own thoughts, trying to get the stupid Diggory boy out of his mind, feeling ever so stupid for even thinking about him.

Time passed as the pair sitting together were both in their own thoughts, minds fuzzy with questions, which caused the class to end abruptly.

A sigh of relief leaving Y/N’s mouth as it did so, causing her to act quick and packing her books even faster, getting up as soon as she got ready and muttering out a quick Bye! to Draco and quite literally vanishing.

Draco’s attempt at acting quick and trying to keep up with the girl simply failed as the girl was nowhere to be seen, causing an annoyed sigh come out of Draco’s lips because of her unreasonable stand off-ish personality, the hopes about hanging out with Y/N and maybe even being friends with her were instantly crushed.

Draco clearly needed a friend like her. But it seemed Y/N’s mind was more busy with other things. Her mind was fumbled in other classes too, not to put all the blame on the Diggory boy, she was just a distracted, messy girl is all.. She would write everything down and take notes of everything, but she couldn’t listen to the classes, her mind would be all off.

She got out of her classes and went to supper, her eyes searching for Hermione as she tended to sit with them on lunch, even though lately she felt weird sitting with them since their relationships where causing drama.

It was pretty messy, but all too simple in Y/N’s mind. It seemed that Harry was into Ginny, and Ginny was into Harry but they both didn’t know, and on the other hand Ron and Hermione were into each other but they were both dating other people, the whole drama thing was nice to watch from outside but Y/N didn’t want to get involved, she didn’t like being in people’s business, so she tried her best to stay away, but still sitting with them tended to create some awkward moments.

To be perfectly honest, she didn’t really care, she never was the person that was full of emotions and could open up easily, but after Diggory, she became more and more secretive, more stand off-ish.

She felt emptier inside, she was less focused and more all over the place, even though it seemed they weren’t best of best friends, even the Golden Trio took notice of Y/N’s changed actions, they even tried to help her once or twice, but Y/N made it look like she was super strong and didn’t need anyone, that part wasn’t really true, but Y/N always hated seeming fragile or weak so they dropped it, leaving the girl alone as she liked it.

She didn’t like opening up to everyone. She couldn’t blame all of it on Diggory either, nor Potter for setting them up, she was also one to blame, she should’ve distanced herself from him, she should have known better but she just didn’t.

When she met Diggory, he wasn’t the “Golden Boy” of Hogwarts, he was just a kind lovely kid who had taken an interest in Y/N, and of course Y/N was stunned by the boy, he was gorgeous, kind and was overall lovely... or that’s what she perceived him as…

Their relationship wouldn’t exactly count as perfect, she could very well admit that, but she always thought they connected on a level that she felt she had never connected with anyone, and she truly cared for the boy and wanted to believe he felt the same for her, it was a huge disappointment to discover that her feelings were not mutual.

Their relationship wasn’t as public as Y/N thought, a few of their friends knew, rest of the school didn’t care much about it, she never realized not being too much in public with him would be the cause of their break up. There wasn’t a particular problem in their relationship it was all sweet and lovely until the Triwizard tournament, Y/N never thought that Cedric joining the tournament would change him, she never thought that it would end their relationship, but it fucking did.

It all happened when the arguments started, when Cedric was becoming too cocky because of his “Golden Boy” title, he would constantly have girls throwing themselves at him left and right, and he would never do enough for Y/N to feel comfortable when those girls were all over him, making Y/N burst into tears as soon as she was left alone.

Too much tears shredded for a boy who didn’t deserved them. Sooner or later Y/N did suspect somethings about the boy and all the girls around him but she never wanted to believe or egg on her suspicions, she knew she was fooling herself but she was trying her best to not get hurt even more, but boy did that fail miserably.

It happened on the second task, she remembered the moment so vividly. Y/N was on her way to the second task, to support Cedric, she slowly took a place as she stood there cheering for his boyfriend.

Feeling an enormous joy filling her entire heart, only then for her heart to be crushed miserably in a matter of seconds. Y/N’s huge smile slowly faded as it took the form of a frown, her lips now formed in a shut line.

Tears threatened to leave her eyes at the sight in front of her, the realization of what the task was about and who Cedric was with hit her later than she ever realized.

The task was about them saving someone they cared about, and Cedric got out of the water with Cho, whom Y/N heard rumors about that Cho and Cedric hooked up a week ago, a rumor that Y/N now had no heart to ignore.

A soft sob escaped Y/N’s lips that day as she exited the arena, rushing over to her dorm as quickly as possible, she didn’t know whether to be mad at Cedric or herself for being this fucking gullible.

Soon enough though, when all the tasks were over, Y/N broke up with Cedric in the coldest way possible. She thought hiding her feelings from him would make her feel stronger, but it didn’t, she cried herself to sleep that night, and maybe even more nights following that night.

Y/N couldn’t believe she was fooled by his charm, she felt stupid. She hated Cedric because of that, and because of the fact that just today the arse smiled at her in the hallway, as if nothing had happened between them, as if he was smiling at her out of pity, she hated it.

And even more so she hated the fact that she returned it, she mentally cursed herself and groaned at her own actions as they replayed in her head.

She was snapped back to her senses when her horrible memory flashback was over, and her attention was back to the Gryffindor’s chatting at the table, she tried to join in once or twice but failed to look interested, she took one more bite of her food and excused herself, to get some fresh air and be alone with her thoughts, and her mind.

She got out of her chair and collected her books, slowly walking towards to the entrance of the castle, she quickly hurried over to a quiet place as she took a place on the grass her slowly laying out her books on the ground, as she picked one of the books to read it.

Her hands slowly gazed over the book as she started reading it quickly, wanting to off her mind. Y/N’s focus was fully on her book and was devouring the pages quickly, but a nudge on her shoulder startled her as a small squeak came out from her mouth.

“Blimey! Relax Y/L/N! It’s just me!” Draco said chuckling at the girls reaction, as Y/N softly gasped at him and playfully hit him in the arm with her book chuckling “I almost died you arse!”

He smiled as he kneeled down next to her, tilting his head so he could see what she was reading, “What in Merlin’s beard is that?” Draco asked confused.

“It’s a muggles mystery book, you git!” Y/N said smiling. Draco made a nauseous face. “Oh come on! Just read it and you’ll love it! This is the second part of the book series, I actually have the first part in hand, and you can read it and we can discuss!” She gushed as her hand reach out to her stack of books handing it out to Draco.

Draco would never admit this out loud but he found your gushing over a stupid muggle book so cute that he realized he could not refuse.

He groaned slowly “Fine, but in one condition!” he smirked “And what is that?” Y/N asked confused her eyebrows furrowed softly, he did his best to not find the pretty girl in front of her cute at all times but she made it impossible.

“You have to go to Hogsmeade with me!” Draco exclaimed as Y/N was even more confused now, not expecting an offer like this from the grey-eyed boy, she was silent for a second as that made Draco almost die from embarrassment, but seconds after she washed away Draco’s embarrassment as she happily agreed.

They spent the next day with each other, both didn’t know what the day was supposed to be like was it a date? Or just as friends?

It seemed though that Draco wanted it to be a date, and maybe even Y/N did too, but she didn’t know if she was ready for a relationship, she made a deal with herself, more like a promise, a promise that she wouldn’t date guys until she was sure of them, and it had to be nice guys, like the nicest of nice guys, that had no bad intention with her, just overall really great guys.

She didn’t know much about Draco, he seemed nice and he was quite gorgeous, but in order to trust him for even a little ounce, she needed to be sure he was a nice guy. She still seemed to be pretty scared about trusting anyone, she never thought about opening up to anyone ever again, and just the thought of it scared her.

They spend the entire day together, Y/N was surprised she could finally be close to someone, at least in a friendly way, of course there was some flirting going on because Draco did not stop complimenting her the whole day, making heat rise up to Y/N’s already rosy cheeks each time he did so, giggling like a flirty girl at his stupid jokes, Draco took her out to get some deserts as the two chatted up.

Making Y/N feel extremely comfortable around him while Draco felt so happy to be in the girl’s presence, even feeling comfortable enough with her that he opened up to her a bit about his life.

As Y/N listened to him cautiously and attentively while supporting him graciously, Draco felt extremely grateful for her, but he wanted her to feel the same, feel the same comfortableness he felt, so she would be more open with him.

It seemed impossible, he wanted to know about the “Diggory” incident, but also was scared that she would either get mad at him or she would brush it off and not hang out with him again, and he didn’t want that at all, he just wanted to get to know her.

The whole friendship/flirty relationship between Draco and Y/N continued for weeks as they enjoyed each others company more than ever, he liked having her around and so did she, giggles would always fill the room the pair was in, they were always complimenting and having fun with each other, it seemed that everyone else noticed them hanging out, even her friends.

So when she went to lunch one day and sat down, her friends looked at her as if they were about to have an intervention with her any moment, she felt as though she was pitied, “What?” She asked softly as she took a piece of her bread, chewing and then swallowing it happily.

“Y/N uhmm.. we noticed you hanging around with..” Hermione started nervously. “Draco.” Harry finished her sentence abruptly. “Soo..?” Y/N asked confused but wanting to know more, “He’s not a good guy Y/N.” Harry announced as Y/N’s smile was now met with a frown.

Anyone could tell that her entire face fell at the information, but she wanted to know more. “He literally fucked all the girls in Slytherin and left them, he uses girls...” She furrowed eyebrows confused and her frown intensified as her eyes were filled with a dash of anger.

“Why the fuck should I care? I’m not his girlfriend.” Y/N snapped without meaning to as Harry and Hermione stared at the girl with guilt visible in their eyes.

Y/N sighed softly as she quickly muttered out a simple apology her heart breaking at the information, she slowly nodded for them to continue.

“He also is a bully.. well he was.. he bullied almost entirely everyone at one point Hermione too..” Y/N’s face was scrunched up with disgust as she gasped at the information, she looked down in disappointment as Harry continued.

“Look we just don’t want Cedric Diggory 2.0 to-” Just as those words left Harry’s mouth, Y/N’s disgusted face was now filled with anger and it was aimed at Potter.

“Don’t Potter, don’t fucking go there..” she said slowly as a tip of annoyance and anger could be heard in her voice.

“Look… I’m sorry but we are just saying watch out and be careful okay? Malfoy is bad news. We just don’t wanna see you hurt.” Y/N just nodded slowly as she sighed.

“It’s fine, I’m.. I’m sorry for snapping it’s just uhh.. didn’t expect this, but thank your for informing me, I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

She said as she got out of her seat in anger, quickly grabbing her books, she started walking around as her eyes were vigorously searching for the particular Platinum Headed, grey eyed “Slytherin Prince.”

When Y/N got out of the Great Hall and started wandering out in the corridors, she finally spotted him and her eyes finally landed on the boy fully, who was chatting with his friends, and as he turned around he saw Y/N and smiled but his smile was quickly erased after he saw her disappointed expression.

His eyebrows arched up in confusion as he slowly watched her storming over to him, “Can I talk to you?” Y/N said as her voice sounded firm as ever making Draco’s entire face wash with worry.

“What’s wrong?” Draco asked with a hint of worriedness in his voice. “I heard some things about you, Malfoy.” Y/N said abruptly as she crossed her arms against her chest. “What things are you talking about, princess?” He said in a gentle voice concerned, “About you fucking every girl you see and leaving them? Using them and throwing them away as If they were fucking garbage?” Y/N scowled, making Draco taken a back little.

“So?” Draco said as Y/N could notice the change in his tone and expression. “So?” Y/N mimicked him as she chuckled sarcastically. “Is it true?” She questioned the boy, he nodded firmly, “Is it also true you bullied people?” He nodded again as she chuckled bitterly annoyed.

“Why do you even fucking care Y/N? It’s not like we’re fucking dating!” Draco now snarled at her out of anger.

Y/N shook her head as she chuckled bitterly, “I fucking care Draco, because you’re not a nice person! You’re not a nice guy! I don’t want to hang out with bad guys! I don’t want to be friends with bad guys!” She bitterly scoffed.

“And you know what the worst thing was? I actually thought you were a nice guy, I genuinely thought you were someone I could finally hang out with, share some stuff with, I thought you were different then all the stupid boys in the Hogwarts, but boy was I wrong.. you’re just like every other guy on Hogwarts.”

She added as she looked into his big grey eyes that were now washed over with sadness, as hers were filled with rage and sadness at the same time, Draco wanted to open his mouth to say something, anything, but no words came out as Y/N’s disappointed look in him was an image that was never going to leave his mind.

She scoffed as she quickly turned around, leaving the boy there all alone.

Draco never seemed to understand her, he thought of her as a very complicated person, mainly because he didn’t know too much about her, perhaps this “nice guy” thing was about Diggory. He wanted to uncomplicate her, get to know her, he seemed to be absolutely fascinated by the girl, she seemed to challenge him in ways he never was challenged, she didn’t know what his reputation was like, well until now…

He really seemed to have taking a liking to the girl, but it seemed that he ruined everything because of his stupid stubborn and angry self, and well partly because of his stupid past, too.

He had lost her, just like that. If he had maybe given her a some sort of explanation, maybe she would have understood, and he wouldn’t be feeling like he was sick to his stomach at the very moment.

Y/N was very understanding and a really great listener. But Draco didn’t have the guts and had too much of a pride to do something about her.

He wasn’t the person she perceived him as, yes he bullied people and he got with girls just for sexual activities, but it was before it was just in the past. He simply wasn’t like that anymore, it was just his act.

And it was not who he was anymore, he just wished instead of being stubborn with her, he would have just apologized and explained but he was too much of an arse to actually do that.

He went back to his common room as so did Y/N going to the Gryffindor common room, days went without neither talking to each other, they both felt empty, and they clearly craved each other very deeply.

The realization hit Draco that he was being extremely stupid, and Y/N just missed being with him, hanging out with him.

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It was a Friday morning as Y/N and Hermione got out of their class, Hermione was trying to force Y/N to a Ravenclaw party at the room of requirement, but Y/N was not having it, afraid he might see Cedric and Cho or maybe just Draco. But Hermione wasn’t letting go of it, forcing Y/N to say yes.

Eventually Hermione finally got a muttered out “Fine!” From Y/N and she got all excited, throwing her hands up in air as if she just won something and then kissing Y/N on the cheek, surprising Y/N as she did so, and then happily leaving to go to class as she finally achieved what she wanted.

Y/N huffed at the girl as she slowly walked down the corridor to go to her own class, her hand was securely wrapped around her books as she was walking her attention still on the floor as she did so.

Footsteps could be heard from the opposite side which caused Y/N’s head to pop up immediately, her eyes softly met with Draco’s grey eyes as he is walking towards her, she simply froze for a second as she didn’t know what to do.

Y/N soon enough kept her walking pace as she was trying her best to avoid him, she slowly felt him coming towards her and she mentally cursed herself for taking this way to her class.

Slowly but surely he made his way over to her, his hand falling heavy on her shoulders as he lightly pushed her against the nearest wall, causing Y/N to look up at him stunned as she was surprised by Draco’s sudden movements. A dash of glimmer was seen in his eyes, as Y/N just couldn’t bare to open her mouth to say anything.

“Are you going to the party?” Draco’s firm voice rings through her ears as his grip on her shoulders loosen up and gets closer to her, Y/N’s skin burning with tingles just as where Draco touched her.

Suddenly feeling a sort of pit in her stomach, filled with nervousness, she still managed to open her mouth to speak. “I.. What?” Y/N asks in a soft, shaky voice.

Draco’s eyes glimmer at the gentle girl in front of him once again, he softly clears his throat as he slowly lets go of his grip and slowly backs away from the girl.

Y/N’s mind is fuzzy at his movements and her brows furrow in confusion “Why do you care?” Y/N replied coldly, now feeling less stunned and more towards angry.

“Are you going to the stupid fucking party, Y/N?” Draco repeats his question more firmly as Y/N nods slowly, “Good, see you then.” Draco murmurs rigidly as Y/N takes a deep breath and rolls her eyes at him.

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The audacity of that boy had Y/N raging, her mind was racing about him as she was in her dorm trying to pick an outfit for the party, she knew she had to look her hottest tonight, so she picked out her red dress that she was sure of that would leave Draco with his mouth open, she applied some make up on her face too, enough to go with her red dress.

Y/N also helped Hermione too as she helped pick her a gorgeous dress and did her make up in a way that she probably otherwise would never do.

The two of them took a look at themselves at the mirror one last time as the girls couldn’t stop complimenting each other, Hermione thanked Y/N gently as the two finally head off to the party.

The dress Y/N wore was complimenting her body in every way possible and displaying her body for everyone to see, it looked absolutely gorgeous on her body.

As they arrived to the room of requirement, Y/N felt nauseous to see Draco and Cedric, but tried her best to shake it out of her mind, when they entered the room of requirement, Y/N still felt absolutely sick to her stomach, while Hermione was genuinely enjoying the attention from every guy and girl around them.

Y/N slowly took notice as a smirk played onto her lips as she turned to Hermione “See!” She giggled as Hermione wowed. Y/N immediately went to the drink stand, because she knew she couldn’t make it through the night if she was sober. She got herself some disgusting alcoholic liquid and downed it quickly.

“Hey Y/N” a voice caught her attention as she turned around smiling and she greeted the boy happily.

“Heyy Neville!” Y/N said kindly as Neville eyed her up and down “You look amazing! Super pretty and gorgeouss.” She giggled at the boy’s slurred words as it seemed that he had a bit much to drink.

“You wanna dance?” Neville asked sloppily as Y/N chuckled, nodding. Just as they were about to go to the dance floor, an angry voice interrupted the two.

“You have 5 fucking seconds to get the fuck away from her.” Draco basically growled as Y/N’s attention turned to him as she muttered out a simple “Fuck.” “But she just agreed to- ” Neville opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted again by a jealous Draco.

“If you don’t fucking leave her right this second, I’m gonna hex the fuck out of you!” Draco almost yelled as his eyes were now filled with rage and jealousy, as he caused Neville to walk away quickly, “Sorry!” Y/N yelled out at the boy sympathetically as she angrily turned around to Draco.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Y/N scowled. “Me? You should see yourself, why the fuck were you flirting with that git?” Draco questioned angrily as jealousy was dripping from his mouth. “It’s not like we’re dating so why the fuck do you care, huh?” She mimicked the boy’s words as she chuckled bitterly.

Y/N was about to continue but was interrupted by someone bumping into her, “Watch where you’re fucking goi-” she stopped mid sentence as she saw Cedric, as Cho was stuck next to his side, his hand stuck on to her waist as if it was glued.

Y/N’s eyes widened quickly as she immediately stopped herself from saying anything else and simply walked away, Malfoy was bewildered again as he just followed behind her, calling out for her name as he picked up his pace, but it just caused for her to run faster away.

She ended up going to the Astronomy Tower, in which Draco was right behind her, she turned her back to him as choked out sobs were slowly escaping from her mouth.

Draco’s confusedness was now washed away with worry, Y/N didn’t seem to care that Draco was right there, as if she was comfortable enough around him, it brought some warmth to Draco but he still couldn’t handle seeing Y/N like this.

He could feel his entire body fill up with rage and also worriedness, because somehow and for whatever reason the stupid git Diggory was making you cry, and a little pissed because Neville was flirting with you.

Draco gently approached her as if he was scared to hurt the fragile girl in front of him.

“Y/N, love please talk to me..” Draco started softly as Y/N’s choked sobs were now mixed with her softly breathing, Draco took a. deep breath as he got closer to the girl. “Look princess, I’m here for you okay?” Draco said softly again as Y/N slowly tried to wipe her tears. “Let me help you..” Draco said delicately, turning her around to face him, taking her hands off her face to see her gorgeous face filled with tears.

His hands traced down her cheek, wiping away the girl’s tears. The two of them standing closer than ever to each other, a pit of nervousness both appearing at their stomachs as they were now inches away from each other. “Tell me about Diggory, okay? I… I just want to listen and I want to be there for you.” The boy said in the most genuine way possible and Y/N sighed.

“Uhh… god okay.” Y/N breathed once more as words slowly started pouring out of her mouth.

“When I met Cedric, he seemed like a nice guy, he had everything, he was gorgeous, he was kind, nice, he was amazing... He seemed perfect. We flirted for a while and he was great and all then we started dating, we weren’t really that public about it and I thought that we really worked out really great as a couple, but then the whole Triwizard Tournament happened and.. and..”

Y/N’s breath hitched as Draco gently put his hand on top of hers in reassurance, he held her hand as he stroked it softly with his thumb, telling her that it’s okay and wanting her to tell him more.

“Um you remember the second task?” Y/N asked as Draco nodded still attentively listening to the girl as Y/N softly took a breath.

“Yeah um the one where they have to save who they care about, well that day Cedric saved Cho, and that’s how I found out about him fucking cheating on me with Cho- god.” She said as her eyes filled up with tears again. And this time Draco couldn’t help but pull her into a tight hug.

His whole body relaxed as he hugged the broken girl in front of him, also feeling the tense girl relax up under her touch, his hands slowly travelled to her hair as he started stroking her hair delicately, “Baby, it’s okay, it’s fine...” He said softly as she pulled away from the hug.

“I trusted him and he fucking broke my heart.. I just hate him so so fucking much. God- Draco.. then… and then I met you, I met someone who I felt like I could trust again, I met someone who I wanted to hang out with, but then your reputation, I found out about your reputation, for the first time since Cedric I finally liked a boy, I genuinely liked a boy… and wanted to open up to him, but you broke my heart, you crushed it, I thought you were like Cedric, I really fucking liked you, Malfoy and you devastated me.”

She muttered out as her heart ached. And so did Draco’s but at the same time he was happy about her revelation “You- you fucking like me?” Draco stammered as Y/N nodded.

Draco’s grey eyes glimmered with happiness. “Fucking hell, Y/N I liked you from the moment I fucking met you.. You have been quite literally the only thing good thing in my life as soon as I bumped into you in that bloody class..” Draco exclaimed as Y/N chuckled softly.

“The whole reputation thing was in the past, I was too much of a dick in the past but I’m not like that anymore, I promise, I wanted to explain that to you but when you came in so angry, I got angry and acted like an arse, instead of being reasonable with you, I.. I’m sorry.”

He said as he pulled her into a hug again feeling comfortable holding her and as she felt safe under his touch.

Draco’s tight hold was released from the girl as the two pulled away from the hug, as they did so they finally realized how close they had been standing to each other, as they were both gazing into each other’s eyes, both waiting for the other to make a move.

Draco’s arms were still snaked around her neck, and his soft touch on her neck was bringing Y/N closer and closer to him, but it was so painfully slow that Y/N couldn’t take it anymore.

She huffed as a sigh came out of her pursed lips, she felt as though she could not spend any more minutes without having his lips on hers, so she groaned as she quickly but harshly smashed her soft lips onto Draco’s plump lips as a whimper of satisfaction finally escaping her lips as she did so.

Draco was absolutely stunned and shocked by the girl’s motions and as soon as the realization of what was happening washed over him, his mouth reacted very quickly to hers, a low groan coming out of his mouth.

He absolutely adored the feeling of her lips smashed against his, as her lips felt incredibly soft and plump. Draco deepened the kiss as Y/N slowly parted her mouth, and Draco’s tongue harshly and quickly entered her mouth without any resistance as she parted her mouth ever so willingly, a small hint of redness arose to her cheeks.

His tongue slowly but surely experienced her mouth, it evoke feelings and tinglings in Y/N’s stomach that she never felt before, Draco was in a euphoric state as he was happily exploring Y/N’s mouth, his hands slowly stroked her hair, then they travelled down to her face, slowly caressing her cheeks, then it finally landed on her waist, having a quite harsh grip on it, Y/N could feel the imaginary fireworks exploding around them as their kiss deepened even more, Draco slowly bit her bottom lip, earning a low groan from the girl.

Then after what seemed like a long time, Y/N pulled away as she earned a soft groan from Draco causing her to giggle shyly, “We can continue that later.” She exclaimed as a smirk played on her lips and in return Draco licked his lips seductively as his mouth quirked up into a smile.

“I do have one question for you though.” Draco said softly as a hint of firmness and seriousness could be heard from his tone, which caused Y/N’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion as he looked up to the boy’s grey eyes in confusion, her face washed away with a hint of obvious worry.

“When do I get to hex the fuck out of Diggory?” Draco said as Y/N playfully hit him on the shoulder and giggled at the jealous boy. The two spent the entire night talking to each other, joking around and maybe even making out a little more.

But one thing was for sure, they both felt so lucky to have finally at last that they found each other. They finally both had what they needed, someone to talk to, someone to listen to, someone to hang out with and someone to love.

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