#there's a running joke about Carpenter getting tossed from one to the other like a stress ball

[andsotheuniverseended]

Silt Verses office comedy about the gods

#Universe Ends Posts #the silt verses #i firmly believe the gods are all pretty chill with each other and i like to imagine them in an office setting #sorting through sacrifices and sending out miracles and bitching about paperwork #there's a running joke about Carpenter getting tossed from one to the other like a stress ball #the wound tree is a competing business that keeps stealing their damn clients (sacrifices + followers) #this is treated as a minor nuisance #'hey are you going to the office party for the birthing of that new god?' #'idk man the last like three times its been a bust with no new god doesnt it seem like a waste of time?' #'theres gonna be marble cake.' 'oh shit really? fuck yes'

[moonlightspencie]

only like you can

Description: based on ‘already over’ by sabrina carpenter— ex boyfriend!james and reader just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

Pairing: James Potter x fem!Reader

Warnings: some suggestive content (pg-13 pretty much), angst with a happy ending, lily evans is mean in this one for the plot

Word Count: 7.9k

A/N: aging them up to allow for the suggestive content. they’ll be 19 in this (first year starts at 14 instead of 11)

here’s the playlist

Running through the halls as a first year with your brand new group of friends, you never would imagine you’d end up dating one of them. You definitely never thought you’d have a break-up with one of them.

But, you just had to fall for Jamie in your third year. And he just had to ask you out in fifth. You were blindsided by his confession in the best way, and falling into a relationship with your closest friend was as easy as falling asleep.

Overexcited hugs after he’d win a quidditch game turned into kisses. Whispers of goodnight as you headed off to different rooms turned into sneaking into one another’s beds. The casual ‘I love you’ between friends turned into a kind of love that had both of you thinking about the future.

But, things changed again after a year.

Accusations started getting thrown around left and right. He’d say that you weren’t making time for him anymore. You’d argue that he seemed more interested in spending time with Lily. A back-and-forth would always spread like wildfire until you couldn’t breathe.

The break up was mostly mutual. You said you wanted it to happen, but you knew you were lying to yourself. He agreed, but it was only because he didn’t want you to know he was still invested. It left both of you putting happy faces over broken hearts, agreeing that you’d still be friends despite the fact that you knew you’d never get over him if he stuck around. But, never getting over him still felt better than losing him entirely.

You were sat in the common room, laughing over some dumb joke Sirius had made at Lucius Malfoy’s expense. The fire was blazing, keeping you all warm in the late-autumn that was otherwise freezing. You were next to James on the couch, Sirius was on the floor in front of the fire, and Remus and Peter were in a couple of chairs. It was nice. Cozy. But, coming down from your laughter, you let your head drop to the side, finding a familiar comfort.

Remus looked at you as you did, quirking a brow. You’d landed on James’ shoulder.

“You two back together?” he asked.

“Oh,” you said, quickly lifting your head again. “Sorry, Jamie.”

He shook his head. “It’s alright. Habit.”

You nodded. “Yeah.”

A tense silence fell over the small group. Then, James stood.

“I’m going to grab a sweater. Be right back,” he announced, walking towards the stairs.

You looked after him until he was out of your sight, turning your head to find three pairs of eyes on you.

“Love,” Sirius said cautiously, almost grimacing.

“I know,” you sighed, leaning back into the couch. “I know. I just— It’s hard.”

He sighed, moving from his spot to sit in James’ spot on the couch. He tossed an arm around your shoulders, squeezing you into his side a little.

“Might help if you two quit finding ways to be next to each other every time we go someplace,” he said quietly.

You nodded. “I know.”

“Why did you two break up if you both clearly want to be around each other all the time?” Peter asked, furrowing his brow.

“We weren’t good together.”

The three boys shot each other similar looks, knowing there was nothing they could say to help you in that moment. You merely sighed, staring into the fire as Remus tried to redirect the conversation.

James came back a minute later as they chatted over some fiasco in Potions class, a sour look on his face when he saw Sirius had taken his spot. His brow only set harder when he saw the arm around your shoulders. He sat in another chair, following your gaze into the fire, not wanting to look at his best friend and now-ex-girlfriend practically cuddling. It made him sick.

You didn’t feel much better, noticing him looking so downtrodden and being unable to kiss away that frown of his.

But you had to remind yourself of why you broke up in the first place. ‘It’s for the better’, you kept repeating to yourself in your head, trying to block out how badly you wanted to just talk to him. It was getting ridiculous, you knew that. It didn’t make it any easier, though.

“I think I’m ready for bed,” you mentioned after half an hour of sitting quietly.

A small chorus of ‘goodnight’ followed you to the stairs, and you trudged up to your room, feeling gloomy. You brushed your teeth, washed your face, and pulled on your pajamas. It was days like this that you were glad you got a single room for the year. You settled into your bed, cracking open the book on your nightstand to practice a little escapism. You were two chapters deep when you heard a knock on your door.

You crawled out of bed, rubbing your eyes as you went to open the door. When you pulled it open, your eyes went a little wider.

“Hey,” James said, looking shy.

You swallowed. “Oh. Hi.”

“Could we talk? Please?”

You contemplated it for a moment, trying to tell yourself it was a bad idea. But it was late. And you missed him. And you really didn’t want to turn him away.

“Yeah. Come in,” you said quietly, a small smile on your face.

He walked in slowly, unsure, as if he hadn’t spent the entirety of the past year sneaking in every other day. You looked at his back for a moment, noticing him with his hands up in front of his stomach.

“Don’t pick at your nails, Jamie,” you said, moving around him to sit on your bed.

He chuckled softly. “How’d you know? You couldn’t even see my hands.”

“How wouldn’t I know?”

His smile faded a bit at that. “Right.”

You sat quietly for a minute, practically hearing the gears turning in his head. He stared out the window in your room, his brows a little furrowed.

“What is it, James?”

His eyes snapped to yours. He sighed, looking at your bed.

“Can I sit?” he gestured next to you.

“Yeah,” you nodded, scooting to give him some more room.

He sat, looking around at anything but you.

“What’s up?”

He shrugged. “Uh, I don’t know. It’s probably nothing, you know.”

“You came to talk to me about it.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, chuckling to himself humorlessly. “I don’t want this to come across weird.”

“It’s fine, James. I’m used to you.”

He smiled, though it dropped quickly. “Is there something going on with you and Padfoot?”

Your eyes went wide, a laugh escaping you.

“Excuse me?”

“He took my spot on the couch. Kinda cuddling you.”

“James,” you said, getting his attention. “That’s insane. He sat with me because I was sad. He was being a friend, like every other time he’s hugged me or comforted me.”

He nodded, letting out a breath. “Sorry. Just got a little paranoid, I guess.”

“That’s okay. I get it.”

He swallowed. “Do you not want to be around me?”

“Why would you ask that? We agreed to be friends after…”

“I know, but I just don’t know how to act around you now.”

You took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to do this, either. We’re in a weird place, now.”

“Yeah,” he breathed out.

You looked at him for a moment, and he shot you another shy smile. It was strange to see him so timid, but you couldn’t help but smile back. Even acting so strangely, he was still the same old Jamie.

“Is that all? I’m pretty tired.”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah. That’s it. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s okay.”

He started standing, and you walked him to the door. He suddenly pulled you into a hug, holding you tightly to his chest. You leaned into him, relishing in that feeling while you could. He pulled away, opening your door.

“Night, Jamie.”

“Goodnight,” he smiled, not moving.

He quickly leaned down, just barely pressing his lips to yours, but it was enough to send your heart fluttering. He pulled back as quickly as he leaned in, muttering a quick ‘sorry’ before leaving. You shut your door, the tension in your body finally releasing. You fell into a restless sleep that night.

The following week felt as difficult as the first week after the break up. Sirius and Remus would try to comfort you, and Peter would offer silly jokes to stop you from looking so sad all the time.

You’d gone to dinner with Remus and Peter after they’d pleaded with you that night, figuring you still needed to eat despite your feelings. No sense in making yourself feel even worse if you could help it.

Dinner was surprisingly good. You laughed with the two boys, almost forgetting about your troubles as you chatted with them. Until you heard a pretty loud mention of ‘James’ coming from a few people down the table.

You paused, listening when you heard his name come out of Lily’s mouth. You focused hard on your plate, hoping she’d keep up her volume. Yeah, it was probably wrong to snoop, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care all that much.

“… Maybe this weekend,” she said, a few giggles coming from her friends. “He always goes to Hogsmeade on Sunday afternoons.”

“Now that he doesn’t have that girl hanging on him, you actually might have a chance,” one of her friends added in, to which you clenched your jaw in annoyance.

“Maybe. He’s been pretty off since they broke up.”

“Good,” another girl added. “It probably means he needs a reason to move on.”

You decided you’d heard enough, standing from your spot.

“Where are you going?” Peter asked, looking to Remus with a frown.

“Common room. I’ll see you guys soon,” you said, waving a goodbye to both boys.

You were fuming as you walked back to the common room. It hurt more than you thought it would to think about him with anyone else, but especially her. You’d never been too sure about her intentions with the friendship she had with James, and this just solidified your concerns. Not to mention, her friends clearly didn’t like you. You didn’t even know them, and they had to nerve to talk about you like you were merely an inconvenience the whole time. You were stewing in that feeling, trying not to let it affect you too much, and failing miserably. You didn’t even notice your name being called behind you.

“Y/N,” he called again.

You looked up, turning towards James’ voice. His face dropped when he saw you.

“Hey,” he said, rushing forward to you. “What’s wrong?”

You shook your head. “Just upset.”

“Why?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

He sighed, leaning over to catch your eye. You chewed on your lip, the pit in your stomach only growing. You couldn’t stop thinking about Lily’s plan for the weekend, especially now that you were face to face with him.

“It matters to me,” he said softly. “Please? I just want to help.”

“You can’t help, Jamie,” you shook your head.

He was silent for a moment, thinking. You fiddled with your hands, looking down at your shoes. He called your name again, quietly, to get your attention. You looked up, heart still fluttering when you looked in his eyes.

“How about we go steal some of Mooney’s chocolate and just sit for a while?” he offered. “Then, maybe we can talk later?”

You couldn’t help but smile a little at the suggestion. You didn’t even think it could be considered stealing anymore. Remus always stocked up extra on his desk, knowing his roommates were prone to grabbing some every now and then.

“I’m taking that smile as a ‘yes’,” he said, a smile growing on his own face. “Come on.”

You walked alongside him as you headed towards Gryffindor tower, holding yourself back from taking his hand. Particularly flexing your self-control muscle when his fingers would brush softly against the back of your hand.

“You know, he just got some with caramel in the middle,” James mentioned as you climbed the stairs.

“Yeah? Are they any good?”

“Mm,” he nodded enthusiastically. “Very. I think you’ll like them.”

You laughed. “Sounds like you do, doesn’t it?”

He snorted a laugh. “How’d you tell?”

“It’s my sixth sense.”

“Sure, it is,” he responded. “I always thought it was knowing when I was picking at my nails.”

“See, that’s just me knowing you after all these years. Bit different.”

He chuckled, saying the password to let you into the common room. The portrait swung open, and he snuck you up to the boys’ shared room.

“Here we are,” he said mischievously, walking towards Mooney’s desk.

You shut the dorm door, walking over as he handed you a few chocolates.

“Thank you.”

“Thank Mooney,” he said, smirking. “Let’s sit. Come on.”

You took a breath, sitting with him on his bed. It all felt okay, until you remembered why you were there in the first place.

You opened the wrapping on one of the chocolates, popping it in your mouth silently. James watched you, sighing softly when you didn’t say anything after a few minutes.

“Don’t like when you’re quiet like this,” he mumbled. “Scares me.”

“Scares you?” you questioned.

“Well, last time you were quiet like this, we had a conversation that…” he shrugged. “It wasn’t very fun, was it?”

You hummed. ‘Not very fun’ was an understatement. The day you broke up, you sobbed until you threw up.

“Sorry,” you said. “I could start yelling if you’d like?”

He laughed. “Don’t think I’d like that much, either.”

You smiled, though it was half-hearted. He could tell.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

You shrugged. “I’ll just have to get over it. I don’t think there’s much to talk about, honestly.”

“Alright,” he conceded. “Would it make you feel better to… I don’t know. Read?”

“You’d read?” you asked, amused.

“No, I’d made you read to me,” he said, nudging your shoulder with his.

“Don’t know if I’m up to that, right now.”

“Later?”

“When?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow?”

“What’s today? Friday?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

You considered it, liking the idea of spending more time with him despite how bad of an idea it was to be alone. Especially after last time.

Then, a worse idea came to mind.

“How about Sunday?”

He raised a brow. “Sunday?”

You nodded. “If that’s okay. I know that’s a Hogsmeade day, but everyone will be out of the castle. We’d get to sit by the fire in the common room. It would be nice and quiet.”

He cracked a small smile. “That does sound nice. Can I pick the book?”

“Of course,” you nodded.

You knew it was a little underhanded, taking him away from Hogsmeade for the day. It was really just a form of delaying the inevitable. He was bound to move on eventually. But why did it have to happen that weekend? He could wait a little bit longer, you reasoned.

Though, you still knew the real reason was that you would do anything to keep him from hanging off of someone else’s lips. You didn’t quite care if it was a bit selfish.

Saturday came and went. Sunday morning you woke up with a small smile on your face. Despite the fact that it may have been a bad idea to set aside alone time with your ex, especially just to get him away from another girl, it felt nice to relish in the familiarity of being with him.

Hours later you were curled up on the couch with James looking over your shoulder as you read to him. He’d make a stray comment here and there about the plot or laugh at the jokes, but was otherwise surprisingly tuned in. You were halfway through when he yawned.

“Tired?” you asked, pausing your reading to look up at him.

“A bit,” he shrugged. “Didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Oh.”

You furrowed your brow as you looked away, then glanced back at him.

“Everything okay?”

He nodded, a smile creeping onto his face. “Just too excited for you to read to me, I bet.”

You chuckled, ignoring the heat in your cheeks as you turned back towards the book, ready to start reading again. Then, he started shuffling around.

“What are you doing?” you asked with a sigh.

“Gonna lay down,” he shrugged, “Can I…”

He paused, scrunching up his face a bit. You watched him, questioning.

“Can you what?”

“Probably a bad idea,” he said shortly, shaking his head.

“Just tell me.”

He looked a little shy as he glanced at you. “Was gonna ask if I could lay on your lap.”

“Oh,” you said, nodding once. “Well, as long as you don’t try any funny business, I don’t see why not. It’s preferable to you putting your feet on me if you lay the opposite way.”

He laughed. “I suppose that’s true.”

He waited another moment, then started laying down, his head resting on your legs. Once he was comfortable, you started reading again. After a while, you weren’t even sure if he was awake anymore.

Even more time passed, and you heard him softly snoring, a smile on your face as you looked down at him, one of his hands having squeezed it’s way under your leg. You ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly, continuing your reading silently.

An hour later and you were finished with the book, your hand still brushing through his hair as a habit. You watched him for a few minutes, letting out a soft breath.

“Jamie,” you called quietly, the hand in his hair moving to brush across his cheek. “James.”

He stirred, groaning. “Mm?”

“You fell asleep,” you said with a grin. “I let you nap for a little over an hour, but if you want to sleep tonight you should probably wake up.”

He grumbled, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand. “Don’t wanna get up.”

“Always so grumpy when you wake up,” you mumbled, more to yourself than anything. “Come on, Jamie. We can go snag some tea or go for a walk or something.”

He sighed softly, stretching out a little bit before he started moving away from your legs, pulling his hand out from under your thigh. He started sitting up, not realizing he was terribly close to you until you were looking at one another, feeling his gentle breathing fan on your face. You swallowed, trying hard not to glance down at the lips you knew were soft and skilled.

He didn’t care to try so hard.

He leaned in before you knew what was happening, kissing you like it was the first time. His hand came up to cradle your face, tilting your head to allow him to deepen the kiss, his tongue soft against your lip as he waited for you to grant him access. It certainly didn’t take you long to oblige him.

He leaned his body into you, and eventually started pulling you underneath him, your head hitting the couch cushions as he settled in between your legs. It was all desperation and passion as his hand slipped up under your top, brushing over the fabric of your bra to squeeze gently at your breasts. You leaned into his touch, soft noises escaping you and going directly into his mouth.

You felt his chest heaving against your own as you kissed, his hips rolling against you, desperate for friction that he’d missed for so long. Desperate for you.

You bit at his lip, breaking away only to kiss down his jaw. He hummed softly in satisfaction, but grew impatient, moving to capture your lips with his own once again.

It was only when a real moan managed to leave you and linger in the air that his hand stopped groping at you. His lips slowed, and he finally broke away, catching his breath like he’d been underwater.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, the words rushed. “I shouldn’t have done that. Again.”

“Not your fault. I kissed you back.”

He chewed at his lip. “We should really stop this before it starts happening more.”

“We should,” you nodded.

He swallowed, eyes roaming over your face. You leaned up, capturing his lips again, this time gently. He allowed it, though this kiss lasted a much shorter time than the previous.

“Maybe we should take that walk,” you said, trying to break the tension.

“Might need to wait a few minutes, love,” he said, not-so-subtly glancing down at his pants.

You laughed, though you felt that funny feeling in your stomach when he called you ‘love’ again. You followed his gaze, raising your brows.

“Yeah. Probably don’t want to go around like that just in case. Not exactly hard to miss,” you snorted.

He rolled his eyes, sitting up straight. You watched him, moving to sit back up yourself. He stared ahead at the fireplace.

“Stop looking at me,” he said, not even glancing in your direction.

“What?” you laughed.

He glanced at you. “It’s not helping my little situation, you know?”

“Me looking at you is making it worse?”

“You existing is hard enough to ignore when I get like this,” he said with a laugh. “Not to mention when you can… You know. See it.”

“Well, I can’t exactly see it. You do still have pants on, you know?”

He chuckled, though he hid his face in his hands as his cheeks turned pink.

“Stop giving me ideas. It’s not fair, love.”

“Alright, alright,” you conceded, ignoring your own… feelings. “I’ll be quiet and look away.”

He nodded, shutting his eyes and letting his head loll back on the couch. You tried hard not to think about how effected he was, and tried even harder not to think about how effected you were. You stared at the window nearest to you, thinking about absolutely anything else. After a few minutes, he sighed.

“Okay. I think I’m good, now.”

You laughed, pulling him off of the couch and pulling on a sweater you’d brought along. You left the common room together, meandering in the halls talking about nothing. Before you knew it, more voices were joining your two in the corridors.

“Oh boy,” you said softly.

“What?”

You looked at James. “You really want to run into our friends right now?”

He hummed, then opened his mouth to speak. Only very briefly, though, as a familiar face came into view.

“James,” Lily beamed, ignoring your presence entirely. “We missed you in Hogsmeade. Why did you stay behind?”

James looked at you, quirking a brow curiously when she said ‘we missed you’. She’d never exactly been in the marauders group during Hogsmeade outings, and both of you knew it.

“Was just busy,” he shrugged.

“Too busy to hang out with us?”

“Who’s ‘us’?” James laughed. “Did you join in with the boys today?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Just… Thought it might be nice if you would have been around so we could have spent some time together.”

You held yourself back from rolling your eyes as she looked at him, twirling her hair almost cartoonishly as she spoke.

“Maybe some other time,” he said simply. “Had more important things to do today.”

“Aw,” she cooed, laughing to herself. “More important than me?”

You chimed in. “Ooh, with an ego like that, maybe you should try spending time with Sirius.”

James snorted a laugh, though Lily didn’t think it was quite so funny.

“At least I’m not hanging off my ex boyfriend.”

You furrowed your brow, ready to throw an insult right back at her.

“Why is that your business?” James said quickly. “We’re still friends. Friends are known to hang out, you know?”

She ripped her sour gaze from you, looking surprised that James would defend you. He didn’t give her time to reply, taking you by the arm and dragging you away from her before you did something he knew you’d regret. You huffed a sigh.

He started walking you towards the kitchens, you were sure, to get you some tea. You crossed your arms when he finally let you go, once again stewing in your annoyance.

“Trouble in paradise?” you asked, seemingly unable to hold your tongue.

“What?”

“Why did you defend me?” you asked. “I thought you and Evans were like… Involved.”

“Why would you think that?” he asked incredulously.

“After everything…” you stopped. “For one, she sure seems to think you’re an item. Or at least that you will be very soon.”

He sighed harshly. “I know you were always on edge about her, but you know I’ve never felt that way.”

“I was right to be on edge.”

“Why? I never would have done anything.”

You shrugged. “Freaked me out how much she liked you. And how much she hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you.”

“Yes, she does. Her friends all gossip about me, you know? Like I’m just some obstacle standing in the way of you two getting together.”

“I don’t think that’s—”

“I heard it, James.”

He paused before you entered the kitchens, his brow set.

“What do you mean?”

You let out a breath. “Promise you won’t be mad at me?”

He merely raised his brows in question, waiting for your explanation.

“They were talking a few days ago during dinner and thought I couldn’t hear them. They were saying that you’d be easy to bag now that I’m not around and you’re, like… emotionally compromised.”

“Emotionally compromised?”

“Not in those words, but… Yeah. That was the jist of it.”

He shook his head. “Why would they say that?”

“Because she’s always been into you, James. It’s why I didn’t like you guys together all the time, it made me feel really insecure.”

He had the decency to look a little guilty before he perked back up.

“Wait, why would I be mad at you for that?”

You sighed, wishing you could avoid this particular bit about what you’d overheard.

“She, uh,” you looked away. “She was planning on making a move on you today. That’s why her friends were talking about you.”

“And?”

“And, I might have asked you to stay behind today because I knew about her plan.”

The wall to the side of you looked very interesting in that moment. So interesting, in fact, that you didn’t notice the smirk on James’ face until he started speaking.

“You made me stay back to read with you so Lily couldn’t try to… what? Stare at me all afternoon?”

You frowned deeper seeing the teasing look on his face.

“She’d probably try more than staring.”

“Oh? What, like snogging on the couch and letting me feel you up? Didn’t want something like that to happen?”

You smacked his arm. “Asshole.”

He shook his head, tucking you under his arm as he ushered you to the doors.

“Can’t believe you sabotaged her.”

“So you think—”

“I think it’s kinda hot.”

You bit back a smirk, shaking your head. “Shut up.”

Almost two weeks later and you felt more down than ever. After your tea, you’d had another conversation about how you really shouldn’t be alone like that. You knew it was for the best, but it still hurt to reinforce the idea that Sunday would be nothing more than a post-break up slip-up. James himself started to say it was mistake. He only stopped when he saw your face drop, changing his wording, but still meaning the same thing. You tried shaking it off, but you couldn’t stop the memories of how it felt to be under him again.

Though, it turned out that James wasn’t having it any easier.

“What’s been wrong with you, mate?” Remus asked, walking towards his bed.

James turned his head to look at his friend, his cheek still squished into the pillow.

“I don’t know. I just feel awful.”

Remus sat on the edge of his bed. “You’ve been really off the past two weeks. Something happen?”

James shrugged, not responding.

“You know you can talk to us? Better than rotting away in bed all day.”

“I don’t know, Mooney,” James said, shoving his face back into his pillow. “I just miss her.”

Remus huffed a sigh, patting his friend on the back.

“I know you do.” He readjusted his seat on the bed. “Have you talked to her about, well, anything?”

“Yeah, we tried,” James replied, though he knew that it didn’t exactly go to plan when he did. “Doesn’t make it hurt less.”

“Do you want to opt out of the prank tonight? The boys would understand if you didn’t want to be around her.”

“No,” he said quickly, lifting his head. “No. I want to be there.”

“Alright. You’ll have to get out of bed for that, you know?”

James snorted, pushing Remus off his bed.

“Ah, screw off, Moons.”

Remus chuckled to himself. “Dinner is starting soon if you want to eat. She’ll be there, but we can keep you guys apart.”

“I don’t think being apart is helping.”

Remus looked on, disagreeing, but not willing to argue. “Alright. Well, get ready. I’m going to walk over in ten minutes.”

Remus left the room, heading off to wait in common room to give James some privacy. He was leaned against the back of a couch, fiddling with the edge of his sweater, when you slid next to where he stood.

“Hey, Mooney.”

He smiled. “Hey.”

“Are you going to dinner soon? I was thinking of heading down.”

He nodded. “Waiting on Prongs.”

“Ah,” you nodded. “He okay? He wasn’t in Defense Against the Dark Arts today. Not like him to skip that class.”

Remus swallowed. “He’s been a little under the weather.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.”

“Yeah. He’ll be okay, though.”

You sighed. “Is he coming tonight, still?”

“Mhm,” he nodded. “Just asked him.”

“Okay.”

“Is that… Okay with you?”

You looked at him with wide eyes. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

He gave you a knowing look, nudging your arm with his own.

“You’ve been a little sad lately. I can tell,” he said quietly. “Think I know why, too.”

You hummed. “I’ll be fine. Just difficult right now.”

“If you ever need anything…”

“I know,” you laughed. “Promise I’ll tell you if I do.”

He smiled, turning back forward and crossing is arms. You waiting in a comfortable silence, though you stood noticeably straighter when James came down the stairs. He stuttered in his steps when he saw you, a shy smile immediately on his face.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Jamie,” you said, returning his smile.

Remus looked between the two of you seemingly in a staring contest for a few seconds before clearing his throat. You both looked at him, clearly a little embarrassed.

“Ready, you two?”

“Yeah,” you said as James merely nodded.

You walked to the great hall in an obviously-tense silence. Remus was starting to regret getting James out of bed, the whole group feeling a little awkward as neither of you could keep your eyes off each other.

“Geez,” Peter started, clearly not reading the room. “You two didn’t stare at each other this much when you were dating.”

Sirius slapped him on the shoulder, shaking his head. You were hoping they’d eat a little faster so that you didn’t have to sit across from James anymore, even though you never minded the view.

Your wish came true, but you weren’t sure if you were in a better position, now. You’d gone back to the boys’ dorm to plan out the prank: turning the black lake blue. What you hadn’t anticipated in this plan was that one of the more uptight prefects would be wandering around the lake when you’d done your magic on it.

You were currently running through the trees, trying to get out of the sight of the boy. Though, at some point James had taken your hand, dragging you behind him. You chocked it up to a force of habit, as you found yourself doing quite often since you’d broken up. But you weren’t sure how much you could blame on habit as he pinned your back against a tree, staring down at you like he was going to kiss you again.

“Jamie—”

“Shh,” he shook his head, bringing a finger to his lips.

You waited in a tension-filled silence, hearing footsteps zoom past, just far enough where you wouldn’t get caught if you stayed still. You stood and listened until you were sure you were in the clear. But James didn’t move.

“He’s gone,” you whispered.

“Yeah.”

“We could go.”

“We could,” he nodded in agreement.

You looked up at him, admiring his features lit up in the moonlight. Your next move you’d blame entirely on gravity. It was magnetic, the way you came together. Neither of your faults, really.

Or so you told yourself.

You kissed him against that tree for far too long, feeling giddy and breathless when you finally pulled away.

“Bad idea,” you stated.

“Really bad idea,” he nodded. “Couldn’t help being alone this time, though. I don’t think it’s our fault.”

You chuckled. “You sound like me.”

“Not a bad thing, I don’t think.”

You shrugged, looking at him with stars in your eyes. You tried thinking of anything to talk about to keep your mouth busy.

“Full moon is coming up.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Mooney started feeling a little sick this morning. Probably’ll get worse the next couple days.”

“Right. You three going with him, again?”

“Yeah,” he nodded again. “You’ll be there to patch us up if we need it, again?”

“Always.”

He smiled, eyes flicking down to your lips again.

“Jamie, don’t do that,” you shook your head.

“Why not? I’ve missed you so much.”

“I know,” you melted a little. “I have too, but if you keep looking at me like that, we won’t just be kissing.”

He raised his brows. “I wouldn’t mind that.”

You chuckled, a smile on his face as he watched you.

“That’s the kind of bad idea I think we couldn’t bounce back from so easily.”

He hummed, jokingly discontent. Though, he did plan on keeping the thought of what could have been in his head for when he was alone. He moved away from you, holding out his hand.

“Let’s go back inside, yeah?”

You nodded, taking his hand and letting him lead you back towards the castle. That Saturday morning he’d come back unscathed from their time during Remus’ transformation. They surprisingly all had, much to your delight. All that had to be down was getting Remus into bed so that he could sleep it off as the morning came around.

You walked into their room that afternoon to find Remus, passed out, tangled up in his blankets. You smiled, leaving a fresh cup of water on his nightstand for when he woke up. All of them seemed to be asleep. It had been a long night.

You leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to Remus’ forehead, then turned to leave.

“Y/N?”

You turned back around, replying in a quiet voice. “Oh. Hi, Jamie. Why are you awake?”

“Dunno. Just couldn’t sleep since we got back.”

You hummed. “I’m sorry.”

“S’okay,” he mumbled. “You do the work for potions yet?”

You shook your head. “No. Not yet.”

“Would it be okay if we…” he started asking, looking at you fully as he sat up. “I don’t understand it. I could use some help.”

You smiled softly. “Of course. I can go get my stuff—”

“I could just come with you,” he said quickly. “Don’t want to wake the others, anyway.”

You nodded. “Okay. Yeah, that’s fine.”

He trailed after you sleepily, and you wondered why he’d want to even try to write an essay running on no sleep. It seemed silly at best, and was outright counterproductive.

He sat in your bed, rubbing at his eyes as he tried listening to you explain what you needed to do for the essay.

“Jamie, I don’t think you’re absorbing any of this,” you said with a light laugh.

He cracked a small smile. “Your bed is too comfy. I always wanna fall asleep here.”

You sighed. “Why don’t you take a nap, then? I can finish my essay and help you when you wake up.”

“You sure you don’t want to lay down, too?”

You snorted. “That’s asking for trouble.”

“Just for a little? Promise I’ll do the work later,” he said, giving you wide, pleading eyes. “You always help me sleep better.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

You set aside your work, laying next to him, pulling a blanket over both of you. He smiled as you snuggled into the pillow.

“What?” you asked.

He shrugged, the smile stuck on his face. “Nothing.”

You closed your eyes, feeling his arms pull you into his chest, but choosing not to say anything about it.

You woke half an hour later, and, as promised, James worked on his essay with you.

It became habit. Every Saturday you’d meet up to work on homework. A way to be together without being together. You mostly held back from kissing him, but he couldn’t always say the same. Then, inevitably, every Sunday you’d feel your heartbreak as you’d have the same conversation about how bad of an idea it was to keep doing this every week.

But you couldn’t stop.

Another weekend, another opportunity to pretend like you the study date in James’ room wouldn’t take a turn. You sat across from him on his bed, a book and some parchment in front of you.

“I don’t know why we have to write an essay on centaurs, anyways,” you huffed. “I feel like we’ve already discussed everything we needed to in class.”

James shrugged. “At least it’s only two pages. Could be worse.”

You grumbled your dissent, shutting the book after you’d written only half a page. He looked up at you, a smirk on his lips at your dramatics. He rolled his eyes playfully at you, shutting his own book.

“Alright. Do you want to go over the History of Magic assignment?” he questioned.

“Not particularly.”

“Good,” he said with a breath. “I really didn’t want to either.”

You snorted. “Why’d you ask then?”

He shrugged, moving both bits of parchment and the books off to the side.

“Trying to find a reason not to kiss you.”

You rolled your eyes. “We both know that’s a bad idea.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Hasn’t stopped us before, though, has it?”

You bit back a smile, not moving when he moved closer towards you. He reached a hand up, brushing his thumb over your bottom lip with the rest of his hand resting on your jaw. You watched him carefully, taking in the way his eyes sparkled as he looked at you in the warm lighting.

“Jamie…”

“Tell me you don’t want me to.”

You shook your head. “I can’t say that.”

He nodded, moving even closer, almost waiting for a sign that you’d push him away. That sign never came. He leaned in, ghosting his lips over yours until you took the lead, finally pressing against him. He pulled you into his lap immediately, arms holding you in like he was afraid you’d slip away from him if he didn’t. Your arms wrapped around his neck, one hand playing with the soft hair at his neck the way he always loved.

He smiled into your kiss, deepening it when you pushed up against him desperately.

Good things never seemed to last, though.

The door swung open suddenly, and you jumped away from James, clearly having been doing something you really shouldn’t have been. Sirius stared at the two of you, a look on his face that you seldom saw from him.

“We were just—” James started, but stopped immediately.

You were just what? There was no way to explain your way out of what Sirius had seen.

He shut the door behind him. Lingering near it with his arms crossed.

“Pads…” you said, unsure what you even wanted to say.

“You’ve got to stop this,” he said plainly, looking between you both. “Whatever this is, it needs to be done. The sneaking around was cute in the beginning, but I’m sick of it, now.”

Your stomach dropped, scooting even further away from where James sat stock-still on the bed.

Sirius sighed. “I love being your friend, both of you. But, Y/N, comforting you every time this happens is insane. Especially when you’re trying to pretend it isn’t because of you two holding on to each other when you clearly think you shouldn’t be.”

You nodded solemnly. He shifted his attention to James.

“I’ve had to listen to you cry yourself to sleep too many times, mate. It’s been months of this. You keep hurting yourselves and each other over and over again, and for what? An easy lay?”

“It’s not like that,” James said quickly.

“Then what is it?” Sirius asked pointedly.

You swallowed, turning to see James look like he was holding back tears as he stared back at his friend.

“I— I love her,” he said breathlessly. “You don’t know what this is like, Sirius. She’s my…”

You found yourself staring at him as he spoke, your heart beating out of your chest. You swallowed with a dry throat, unsure what to do. You felt frozen.

“You both agreed you couldn’t be together anymore, did you not?” Sirius asked, though not without a softness in his tone. “I’m sorry this is hard for you both, I am, but it’s been hard for the rest of us, too. We’re constantly wrapped up in trying to help you both out of this, but you keep going back behind our backs when you know it’s just hurting more.”

“I don’t know what to do,” James said, turning his gaze to you. “I don’t know what to do. I— I don’t know how I’m supposed to just be your friend. I don’t know how I’m supposed to pretend like I’m not in love with you. Like I haven’t imagined marrying you since we were fifteen. I don’t know why you wanted to break up.”

You felt tears sting your eyes. “You said you wanted to, too.”

“I lied,” he exclaimed. “I only said that because I was scared. I didn’t want to admit that I never wanted to leave you when you were telling me you didn’t think I was worth it anymore.”

Your mouth dropped open, tears falling down your cheeks. “I never said that.”

He opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it shut again. Before you had a chance to say anything else, he was launching himself out of bed, pushing past Sirius and out the door.

“Jamie—” you tried, though it fell on deaf ears.

You buried your face in your hands, letting your tears fall. You felt the bed dip next to you, Sirius’ arms curling around you and pulling you in. Your head fell on his shoulder as you cried.

“I didn’t know he didn’t… I thought he wanted things to end. I didn’t know he’s been so upset.”

His hand rubbed on your back. “You’ve both been holding onto this for too long. At this point, do you even want to be broken up?”

“We were always arguing together. The last two months we were together was nothing but going at each other.”

“What about now?”

You wiped your eyes, looking at him. “What do you mean?”

“Do you still think it’s for the best? Because you clearly can’t stay away from each other,” he said, then sighed. “Either you guys need to distance yourselves or get back together. I hate seeing you cry like this.”

“Even if I wanted to be with him, I don’t think it would work.”

“Why not?”

“He wouldn’t want—”

“He just told you he’s in love with you,” Sirius exclaimed. “He never stops talking about you and how much he misses you. He cries himself to sleep over you, and then dreams about you when he finally passes out. Of course he’d want to be with you, don’t be stupid.”

Your eyes widened. “Since when are you mean to me?”

“Since you started talking with no sense. You’re supposed to be the smart one out of all of us.”

You smiled, shaking your head as he laughed.

“Just, quit acting like you two aren’t crazy for each other. You have been since we were kids,” he said, shrugging in disbelief. “You need to talk to him. And I mean talk, not…” he raised a brow.

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

“You know where he ran off to?”

“Probably that silly tree of his in the courtyard?”

He nodded. “That would be my guess.”

“Thanks, Siri,” you said, hugging him before you stood. “Wish me luck.”

“If either of you comes back crying, this better be the last time,” he said, hiding a smile with raised brows.

“I’ll do my best,” you smiled, leaving the room.

You were right about where he’d be. You walked up to James as he sat on the ground under the tree, staying quiet for a few moments as you breathed in the cold air.

“Why are you here?” he asked, looking straight ahead.

“Sirius talked some sense into me. He’s being surprisingly mature today. It’s scary.”

He nodded. “He does that on occasion.”

“I’m sorry,” you said.

He shrugged. “S’fine.”

“It’s not,” you replied, shaking your head. “I keep hurting you, and I hate that. I didn’t know it was that bad for you.”

“How couldn’t you?”

“When we had that conversation, when we broke up, I thought you’d be fine. I was convinced you’d be better off without me, and I thought that maybe we’d be better as friends. We wouldn’t stop arguing over stupid shit.”

“We could have worked it out.”

“We never talked about it.”

He sighed. “I guess.”

You let a silence wash over you for a minute, feeling him moving a little closer to you.

“It’s cold out here. You’re not dressed warm enough.”

“I’m fine. Not cold yet,” you said.

He hummed. “What did Sirius say?”

“Thinks we should either stay away from each other or get back together. Really, he told me those were the two options.”

“So you came out here to let me down easy for the last time?”

You reached out, touching his arm. He looked at you, furrowing his brows. You smiled softly.

“I was actually coming out to see if you hated me. In the hopes that you don’t—”

“That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

His face softened. “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it. Please.”

“Jamie, I never stopped loving you. I shouldn’t have ever… I wish we would have just talked about everything. I hate not being with you,” you confessed. “Like, shit, James, we started scheduling study dates just to be around each other. I’ve never seen you so passionate about homework.”

He laughed. “It was never the homework I was excited about.”

“Me either.”

He watched you carefully. “You’d… You actually want to try this again? Us?”

“If you’d have me.”

He let out a breath, hands moving to your face as his lips pressed against yours. This time entirely uncaring if anyone saw you. He pulled away, pressing several soft kisses to your cheeks and forehead until you were laughing, pushing him away slightly.

“You really, really mean it?” he asked.

“Obviously we’ll have to talk about this. We need to make sure we actually communicate this time around.”

“Anything for you, love.”

“But yeah, I mean it.”

He smiled brightly. “Evans is gonna be pissed when she sees us snogging in Hogsmeade this weekend.”

#james potter #james potter x reader #james potter x fem!reader #james potter fanfiction #james potter fic #james potter angst #james potter fluff #james potter x you #marauders fanfiction #marauders fic #marauders x reader #marauders #hp fanfic #hp #hp x reader #luna still hates jk

[glassrowboat]

Our Adventure

Word count: 2400+

Authors note: Basically I've been toiling away in my head what would happen if a vision user was struggling to use their newfound gift and I wrote this :)

The wind had a habit of carrying many things along it's ever flowing breeze, from leaves to the sweetest of songs, from love confessions to the dandelion seeds that truly marked Mondstadt as a land full of endless wishes and freedom. Tonight, however, there was a cry, a wail that even a banshee herself would be incapable of making as it rang in the young bard's ears. This was how the archon had come to know so many secrets that lay in the land he called home, and this was how he ended up below a closed window with pebbles in his hand.

A small thud could be heard on the sill, bouncing off the wood as Venti tried his best to not get hit with the smooth stone hurtling back down to the ground. When no answer came from that still weeping woman another pebble was tossed.

What plagued her was already known by many, far too many if anything. Gossip spread fast in these stone walls. Drunkards would talk about how they came across a random patch of grass just outside the city's gates dried out beyond compression. The local carpenter would talk about how he had to chop down a tree that suddenly became too unstable to be allowed to stand any longer, only to find out behind the untouched bark the inside was lacking any moisture that was so characteristic of fresh wood. The most notable of all however was the knights who said they had to escort a young woman home, too weak to walk as she knelt down right inside a ring of brown blades too stiff to wave in the wind like the fields of green typically would.

(Y/n), a child of Mondstadt recently gifted with a hydro vision.

The very same person who was on the other side of that window was struck with knock after knock as she glared at it with pure contempt, nose still running even as she picked up a random shoe. A heel with its pointed end should do some decent damage, right? So she held it tightly in her grasp, that is until the window randomly opened as if Peter Pan himself was trying to sneak into her darkened room. No candle lit to truly brighten up the scene of a red shoe hitting a green figure square in the face.

“No, no, that's some vampire shit I ain't about. Go find some other woman to prey on I- I ate garlic bread for dinner ya know?” Even with your vision blurred by tears you quickly grabbed the other shoe, getting ready to throw this one too.

Vampires can't enter without permission, right?

Well nevermind to that idea as the green figure landed on the floor having successfully passed through what was supposed to be a barrier of protection. All the while he was beaming at you with a smile that would make anyone want to punch him, even with his hands up in the air.

“That's not allowed….”

“Hello to you too.” Ah, you recognize that voice. The little pest that would run around the cobblestone streets all the while humming a tune that would be running on replay in anyone's head for hours after. “Can you put the other shoe down? My face already hurts from the first one.”

“I think you deserved it, you oversized fly.” Letting go of the shoe you let it fall to the ground as you got back up from what was an admittedly cowering position on the floor.

“Come now, what happened to you calling me a grand poet the likes no one has seen in this modern age? Am I not the next-” and you ended up throwing the shoe at him in the end- “Hey!”

You just shrugged, hands raising in the air in what could only be described as a whatcha gonna do about it motion.

Venti looked down at the shoe for a moment as it fell to the ground before kicking it back over to you, giving you free ammunition. “You could throw that shoe at me again or you- I was joking about the shoe! Please, spare me.”

“Flies usually get swatted.”

“Okay….different approach then.” Sighing to himself Venti walked over to, hand ruffling with something in his pockets before pulling out a handkerchief. The white square of cloth held out to you as it swayed in the wind coming from that still open window. “A fair maiden such as yourself shouldn't be crying, so I offer you this: let the best bard in Teyvat whisk you away on an adventure for the ages. We can make our grand escape right away!”

That's a great way to have missing person posters plastered up right next to the ones of the travelers sibling, and how well have those worked so far? Therefore your answer was an obvious “fuck that.”

“Please, with a cherry on top? And sprinkles too.”

Grabbing the handkerchief, and half tempted to throw it right back at him, you brushed it against your eyes. The fabric is surprisingly soft for something a bard who can barely afford a drink would be carrying, yet the lack of an abrasive texture appreciated nonetheless. “Why are you even here?”

“Well,” with a giggle Venti held his hand up, like he was in a play about to recite a sonnet in the middle of a stage with hundreds of eyes on him and him alone. If it was any other situation it could be an amusing sight, but he's still trespassing. “Let's say the wind guided me to you.”

It was hard to pinpoint why it felt so off-putting the way he said that, wistful in a way, but you didn't really get the chance to think on it more as Venti opened his mouth again. “What bard can stand hearing a fair maiden cry and not try and cheer her up with a song or two? Certainly not this one.”

“The wind?”

“Yup. Or maybe even Barbatos himself.”

“Have you ever gone to a doctor to see if you're clinically insane? Or have you just been hanging around Barbara and her musings of the church doctrine too much?”

With that Venti leaned over, a hand held up right next to his mouth so he could whisper, “the results came out inconclusive.”

Wait. What?

“Now come on! We have to get going before the sun fully sets and we have no light to help us see.” After all, who would want to be running around tripping over the loose cobblestones in the streets? “Walking through the dark is only romantic on beaches and sneaking around back alley ways to meet your lover, you know.”

So, he is insane.

Yet here you are taking out the hand he was holding out to you, letting that bard whisk you away on this promised adventure as he drags you out the window. (Trying your best to pretend you didn't notice him grabbing the vision you had tossed on the bed as he did). So while you didn't trip over the loose stones, at least not this time, you did fumble over roots as Venti pulled you under windrise. Leaves occasionally fall down from the tall tree, flowing back and forth as the wind catches the thin object before it finally settles down amongst the grass you two were trampling over as he pulled you to sit down.

Your knees hitting the dirt right before the stream winding along the plains to the coast, water softly rushing past you both as the sound hits your ears almost like a melody. Though a certain drunkard would be aghast to hear you say you prefer this over the strumming of his lyre he'd be plucking at any other time, even if it was just as a joke. Though admittedly it was odd not to see the ducks wading around, having gotten so used to seeing them so often from past visits trying to steal your lunch when you weren't looking.

Pesky little things they were, just like this brat.

“So, what's with the field trip?”

“I can't just pull you along for a midnight trip to my favorite spot?” The answer was clearly an obvious no. Not without a reason of course. “I give, I give, just don't have to glare at me like that. I've heard around town that you had a little incident.”

Oh great, so the rumor mill was doing its thing. What a goody. Just the thought of that scene again, of the hydro vision being cradled between your hands as the grass beneath you withered away to the point a patch of dead, dried out flora has your nose wrinkling. Not wanting to go over the image that played in your head like a highlight reel. A movie dedicated to your own inability.

“Is this the part you impart on me some sage advice?”

“I can.” With the wave of his hand, or more like a flutter of the earth's breath itself as a breeze swayed past you both, catching his braids and making them dance, Venti summoned his lyre. A certain blue glow reflecting off the wood from the gem sitting between you both. “Or we can sit here while I play a tune. It's up to you, (y/n).”

“I'd pick the latter in an instant.”

“But?”

“But it won't get me anywhere.”

Somehow even just the gold encased vision (or maybe the casing was a part of the vision, you didn't really know much about how that all worked) had a certain aura about it that felt daunting. Just an item. Just something as useless as an accessory if it wasn't being used by its owner. It was like instinct to avoid it, just like when you were a child and you had to learn the hard way not to touch that pan that had just been pulled off the still burning hot stove. For the two instances to be so comparable was like a funny, passing thought, but to you it certainly wasn't.

How can one laugh at their own misery without doing so just to mask their pain?

“Venti, what was it like when you first got your vision?” It felt like a natural question to ask, but he didn't really give you much of a real response to that besides strumming that lyre. A tune playing between you that you had heard at the tavern a good handful of times before.

“Let's just say I have always been a natural.”

“So you're useless to me.”

“Sounds like it, doesn't it?” Reaching over Venti picked up a windwheel aster only a little bit away, close enough he didn't have to shift at all to simply pluck it from the ground. “Though I wouldn't call the company of a friend useless.”

You couldn't help but huff at his statement, annoyed by the fact he had a point. “Fine. Sorry.”

He nodded in turn, not bothering to say anything about your mood today. Not when you both knew why you suddenly turned into such a grouch. “I can still explain how it feels for me.”

“As long as you promise not to say something cheesy like I become the wind itself.” That would surely make anyone in your position a little peeved. A prodigy sitting before you who has the ability to so naturally have control of something that threatens to turn on you. The claws of a wild animal that one can never say for sure will come to you for help or to attack.

“I can try!” Holding the flower out, those same orange petals that had become second place in the walls of Mondstadt began to spin. Turning round and round as you were left to stare at the little demonstration. “Like freedom itself has graced me. I can feel wind under my fingertips just as easily as I do strings or this flower for an example.”

“(Y/n), you may not currently know exactly what melody you are trying to share with the world yet, and that's fine! We all have to start somewhere.” Giggles came out between his words, easing the tension you couldn't help but feel at being so blatantly called out. “But just like always, a tune will still play, or in this case the sound of rushing water will be the music you grace me with. Either way, I can't wait to see what you can come up with.”

“My, how sweet, I almost want to wretch.”

“Hey, I was being serious for once!”

That's why this entire interaction feels so wrong.

Still, you glanced back down at the blue gem, watching how it glows so the grass it lays on is tinted with its color. Would it do the same to your garments once you get brave enough to hang it from your clothes like you've seen Amber doing? It was still a burner after all, but even a burner will cool. It just takes time.

“I wasn't expecting to see this side of you today.”

“Like what you see, my lady? Next, all we have to do is throw you in the water and see what happens.”

“I swear to fucking god-” No, you are not down for being thrown around by his wind currents. Just having to ride down one as you left your apartment to get here was enough for one day.

“Easy! Easy! We won't go back to throwing shoes at me, right?” He asked, hands in the air. Already surrendering just in case. The flower hanging in the air between you both. His doing, obviously.

“You're infuriating sometimes.” With a huff you snatched the flower from the air, pulling it close so you could look at it properly. It still had life left in it, still had water coursing through that green stem.

Your eyes were so focused on the petals you didn't even notice the smile Venti was giving you, soft in nature as he watched you stare down at the gift with a pout. You didn't need to know that he was just happy to see you free from tears again, to no longer have you be locked up in your own room from fear of something new. As for Venti? He didn't need to know you couldn't help but think maybe Barbatos did send him to you.

No, not all.

So just like any silent night at windrise, or as silent as can be with you two mouthing off at each other, the leaves rustled as branches swayed back and forth, and a tune, for the wind had a habit of carrying the sweetest of songs.

#venti x reader #venti #genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #hoyoverse #x reader #fem reader #barbatos x reader

[starres-stuff]

FFXIV Writes 2023 | Day 18 | Fish out of Water

some adult humor/language contained within this post

Dimitri earns the nickname fish out of water

“Xixa what is this going to teach me?” Dimitri was supposed to work on fixing the stairs today, not that he had a clue how to actually fix stairs outside what he had read in the books that he borrowed from the Carpenter’s Guild in town. He knew he could have asked Laurent for a hand, but it was the beginning of the week and he would be preparing for another three-day duty. So instead he decided to learn how to be a handyman around his new home while letting Kit, his fox, run aimlessly in the falling leaves out in the yard. He soon found his plans dashed to pieces and his Fox wrapped around the Miqote’s pinkie finger as she was lavished with pets and good girls quickly turning her into a little brat or at least she would be later when he wanted to paint and she wanted to drape herself over his shoulder.

“It’s going to teach you to let me drink my tea for one, and for two how to focus that Aether of yours. You glow like a beacon across the road Sonny, need to tone that down before you piss something off. Not going to haul my old bones up here to save you every time.” a wide grin appeared on her face, the very grin he already came to detest because it always arrived right after she had either saved his arse again or knew there was no way for him to debate his way out of it.

“Xixa you are five cycles older than my partner. He walks malms a week without a complaint. Your bones are not that old.” He thought it sounded rational, until she threw her apple core at his head, resulting in a dead hit in the middle of his forehead. “OW FUCK” he yelled, only to find himself showered in acorns from above his head as if the tree was reminding him to watch his language or something.

“Your partner has a name, it is Laurent.” Xixa snickered, and then Kit snickered, even the fox was amused by the last few days a little too much and Dimitri felt betrayed because of it. This time he glared at the little creature who had captured his heart the day he met her and there she was sprawled across Xixa’s lap getting belly rubs, her tongue lolled out of her mouth.

“I feel like a fish out of water.” He grumbled as he picked acorns out of his hair and politely set them down on the ground. He had already been yelled at once for throwing them on the ground, and when he tried to toss them into the high grass the grass threw them back at him. He was beginning to wonder how generations of his family had managed to live here, with all the strange activity from the local spirits.

“Well, I’ll be damned, you do pay attention, look Kit he is setting them down carefully. By the way, you look like a fish out of water to me. Your sister didn’t look this bad when I first met her, did you? It is going to take me Moons to get the Sharlayan out of you. Shouldn’t be too hard at least, I’m sure Laurent knows ways to get it out of you.” She grinned at him again, this time it was even wider than the first time.

“Xixa! Must you?” That had been the other part of the three days her ability to turn anything into a healthy helping of innuendo. There were even tell-tale signs of pink in his cheeks and ears as Dimitri for all the bad flirting he had done in his day, and how sexy he found his partner still had not adjusted to open jokes about sex. It was just something that he had not experienced growing up or in Sharlayan at all.

“Well shit Sonny if you keep your panties in a bunch you are going to burn yourself out before you are my age. You need to learn to laugh at things as well.” She drawled out, then flicked a claw at a piece of apple stuck between two of her teeth. “This is the Shroud, not some stuffy City like the one I hear you are from. You can go on down to Druthers and know who is screwin’ who by supper. It’s normal! Hells bells it is healthy. There’s nothing to be afraid of, bet you’d be shocked if you saw your Laurent with the other Wailers wouldn’t you? We all grew up here! Most of us known each other since before I had tits.” she was about to say more when she saw Dimitri grimace again at her choice of words.

“Matron help this boy wedge the stick of cedar out of his arsehole? I’ve heard some fun things about stretching.” she paused, looked at Dimitri’s now red face, and then proceeded to add one “Never mind don’t want to ruffle your feathers again, Sonny. We’ll work on it. I’m pretty stubborn, you'll find not going to give up until you can give it back to me as well as I can put it out. Just have to get to the point that your mouth works before your brain. Life is too short for all that thinking. Live, Laugh and Fuck is what I tell my kids. Now let’s try that exercise again.” She quickly changed the subject, catching Dimitri so far off guard that the poor thing looked like he had whiplash.

“You are right.” The Duskwight hated to admit it, the words were so sour that he gave himself the shivers when he heard how they sounded. “I am a fish out of Water. I was raised in a very proper house. My adoptive parents certainly never told us to Live, Laugh and Fuck. I could not even tell them that I had very little interest in women or their life agenda for me. Which was Marriage, Children, Forum member by Forty. They have already sent people to look for me. My adopted Sister, Patience, is here somewhere in Eorzea. She has been calling my family linkpearl frequently for the better part of a week and a half. It is very likely she has one of my colleagues with her in case I have been led astray.” Dimitri wasn’t certain why it all came out, it just did, and when it was over he sat there looking mortified at the things he had said.

Xixa on the other hand looked as angry as one of those hornets he had been warned not to mess with. They were big things, with stingers that looked like they could pierce through your body before stinging you. It was said you died before you even knew you had been stung. “Over my dead damn body will you be going back to that. You are a grown man, Sonny, almost twenty-nine years of age. No one has a say in what or who you do at this point. You’ve found your birth family, their Sharlayan politics has no place in the Shroud and that is the end of that. Throw away that damned ear thingie of yours and forget those people even exist. Treatin’ people like property is a touchy subject around here. You even had a chance to talk to any of your roots yet? You think I can’t see the Duskwight on you? There’s things you need to learn from your Kin if any of them are still alive. I’ll sniff that out later. See who I can turn over in that part of town. Best part of being a Keeper, they tolerate us around here. Better than sending a Wildwood out to find out.”

Dimitri found himself flabbergasted by the woman, and then eventually he mustered the only word that he could: “Thank you. Vi hinted that my Father is still alive and here living in the Shroud, at least from what she read in Mother’s journals after her passing.”

“Tsk, don’t talk to me about your shrew of a Mother, Sonny. I was very close to your Aunt Doshaine. I know more about that woman than you think I do and I know damn well what wasn’t in that body anymore.” Another grin formed this one was filled with malice and then she pointed a bony finger at him.

“Let’s try the exercise again, and then I’ll make lunch, my little fish out of water.” To this, Dimitri tried but he soon returned back to what he had been doing before their conversation. His mind was still reeling from all that had been said.

#ffxivwrite2023 #ffxiv rp #my ocs #my writing #dimitri stories

[blorbologist]

41 AGAIN and a tad archaeological again but. Near Stonehenge is Silbury Hill, a historical mound originall probably chalk-faced. Some awful victorian thought it was a barrow full of treasure and dug a tunnel into it's centre and found... nothung. But this damaged it and a few years ago they did a rescue dig to fix it and get soil samples. From this they discovered that it was a series of mounds, built bigger on each other ... and there were ants trapped between two layers.

Ants have pretty specific life cycles, especially male ants which these were - these were winged young males, which meant they knew the specific season the second mound layer began construction - iirc spring.

Anyway if I may ask pretty please for perc'ahlia?

There are ants in the castle and Percival is just about to start shooting holes in the walls to get them out. 

Well. That would be counterproductive - the reason the ants are a problem at all is because they’re eating the wood. And the walls are stone, anyways, so he would just make a mess of things and ruin everyone’s day - insects and his own.

Carpenter ants. Fat, black and with massive mandibles for their size, the faintest of hairs on their shiny abdomens. He knows, having caught a few and peered at them through a few lenses of his glasses. Must have made him look so very alien.

As the name implies, they burrow through wood. Which means finding one, two in the kitchens, making off with crumbs, was a bad sign. And finding neat lines of them down corridors, vanishing here and there, was worse. 

These little - little invaders are running amok in his castle and he will not stand for it.

“They’re just ants, dear,” Vex had teased, late one evening. 

Percy couldn’t begrudge her the joking - she returned from her hunt to find him crouched and scowling at a little hole he had found, certain he had seen the distinct sawdust they discarded. Just investigating if this was an active tunnel - which meant folding himself under furniture on the ground, a candle near to hand to light the issue.

“Carpenter ants.” His teeth are grit not at her - gods no - but at the odd angle as he peers under the dresser. Raises his voice to carry out of this ordeal of his own making: “They’ll eat through the wood, dear.”

“Castle Whitestone is… stone, right?” He can hear her head cocking. 

Can’t sigh or it might disturb them. Come on out, now, just so he can know. 

“The walls, yes - but much of the floor and some walls have wood paneling. Not to mention the furniture, and simply how unsanitary it is to have them in the kitchen.”

The shift of clothing as Vex rids herself of her armor, comes to settle near him. “We could toss out anything afflicted, darling - it’s the best way to deal with an infestation. Surely local carpenters would appreciate the commission of new pieces.”

Now he really grits his teeth. “I can’t throw it all out,” Percy confesses. Quietly, to not disturb the ants. Quietly, to not disturb the memories. “It’s - they’re old, Vex. Older than I. These pieces survived them, too. Survived our antics, and father’s terrible choice in decor.”

“Oh.” 

There’s a tug on the back of his shirt. “Darling? Come on out of there - I can’t drag you.”

Percy obliges. It takes some wiggling, and perhaps a little writhing - the ants have it so easy - to back out of the space he’s crammed himself into. Find himself crammed into Vex’ahlia’s arms instead - kneeling next to him, pulling him into a hug. 

“I’ll fight for them,” she murmurs into his hair. She smells like living wood and living mosses and living waters. “I’m sure we can figure out something to get rid of these pests without damaging the furniture.”

“Thank you.”

Vex hums - he can feel her smile as he relaxes into her hold. “As Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt,” she says, “it’s my job to protect Whitestone from dangerous animals and the like. Ants count, if they’re threatening family antiques.”

(Send me a prompt and I’ll write a ficlet, a HC or an AU idea + share the science fact that inspired the prompt!)

#prompt #fic prompt #birthday prompt game #percahlia #perc'ahlia #percival de rolo #vex'ahlia #cr vex #tw: bugs

[heliads]

The Dare

It’s a boring, hot day at Hogwarts when your friends dare you to spend the night out of your dorm in the Quidditch pitch. Will you be able to make it without getting caught by Filch, especially with the help of one redheaded twin?

masterlist

It’s a hot, stuffy day at Hogwarts. You and your friends are sprawled out on a bench in an arched hall, close enough to the open windows to let the breeze wash cool air over your faces but treasuring the shade brought on by the roof over your heads. Black and emerald robes lie in puddles around the bench, tossed off to reveal the starched white shirts and black skirts beneath. 

At first, you and your friends had chatted exuberantly amongst yourselves, but as the heat of the day wore on, the conversation fell into a game you’d seen some group of Ravenclaws playing, Truth or Dare. You swapped out questions and challenges amongst your friends, laughing when brunette Lillian was forced to steal a quill out of a passing boy’s pocket and when a shamelessly grinning Rebecca did a backflip in the middle of the courtyard.

Now it’s your best friend Trin’s turn. You face her with a gleeful smirk when she chooses Truth. “Trin, who do you have a crush on? You’ve been checking around the courtyard for someone since we got here.” Trin looks at you pleadingly, but you’re unyielding in your question. She sighs, and looks at you through hands flung up over her face. “That Gryffindor boy in the corner. Next to Hunt and Carpenter.”

You and your friends erupt in giggles. “No! Not a Gryffindor!” Trin rolls her eyes, but joins in the laughter. Her grin only grows when she realizes it’s your turn next. “So, Y/N, truth or dare?” Not wanting to face scrutiny from any number of questions she could ask you, you choose Dare. Trin fixes you with a satisfied grin that makes you more than a little nervous. It looks like she hasn’t forgiven you for teasing her about her crush, and it seems as if you’re about to pay for that question.

“Your dare is going to happen tonight. I dare you, Y/N L/N, to spend the entire night out of your dorm and outside. I’m thinking somewhere in the Quidditch pitch.” You gape at her. “Are you out of your mind? How am I supposed to spend all night out there? Filch will kill me!” Trin just smirks. “I suppose you’ll have to figure it out. What, are you going to back down?”

You toss a glare her way. “I’m not your Gryffindor boyfriend, I don’t have to prove my bravery to you.” At the look of her triumphant expression, you keep talking. “That being said, I’m not going to give up. I suppose the Quidditch pitch it is.” Your friends cheer. “Oh, and by the way, we’ll give you a little truth spell in the morning. It’ll only last for one question, but we’ll know whether or not you were there the whole night, so I’d suggest you follow the dare. If you don’t we’ll just make you go again the next night.” You roll your eyes. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll have no problem with it.” 

The arrival of dusk and nighttime comes far faster than you had hoped. You groan inwardly as you slip away from the castle and into the cold shadows of the Quidditch pitch. Luckily, you had thought ahead and brought your warmest cloak, which you are grateful for now. Even though it was boiling in the morning, night has fallen, bringing with it a freeze that permeates the air. You shiver and wrap your cloak tighter around yourself, moving faster to stay warm.

You decide to head up to the stands, which are covered in thick cloth banners in preparation for an upcoming game. This will be a good place to stay the night- the cloth coverings will wrap around the wooden beams, hiding you from view from any suspicious caretakers who might otherwise see you. You make your way up into the top of the stand, which is still out of sight from the ground but open at the top, allowing you to see around you. You sit down on one of the seats, tucking your cloak in around you. Well, this is it. Better get comfortable- you’ll be here for a while.

You’re not sure how long you’ve been hidden in the stands- could be an hour or only fifteen minutes when you first hear a noise. You’re jolted out of your quiet stupor, sitting up and alert. There’s silence, then you hear the noise again. Worryingly enough, it sounds like it’s coming towards you. 

There’s no time to think- you stand up, rushing quietly towards the back of the stands and underneath the rows of seats. There’s enough room for you to stand, but will it be enough to obscure you from view? Come to think of it, how is there someone here already? Surely Filch wouldn’t be out here, not this early in the night. You know your friends wouldn’t have ratted you out to Filch, so could someone have overheard your earlier conversation and dropped an anonymous tip that someone would be staying the night?

That doesn’t matter now- the figure is drawing back the cloth coverings to the stands. You press a hand over your mouth to silence your breath, hoping against all hope that you won’t be found. The figure draws closer- you start to panic- then the worst possible thing happens. You back up involuntarily to hide yourself from view, and you bump into one of the rows of seating. It creaks. You’ve done it now- the figure spins towards you. As they start to walk towards you, they cross through a stray beam of moonlight shining down through the open top of the stands and you let your breath out in a sigh of relief as you recognize your face.

It’s not Filch- no, it’s another student. Tall, clad in black robes pulled around him, a ruby collar made just visible in the light. A shock of red hair frames his face, confused as he finally sees you and recognition flashes in his eyes. You step out from behind the rows of seating. “What are you doing here?” Fred Weasley dons a slight smirk. “I could say the same thing about you, L/N. Last time I checked Slytherins weren’t supposed to be breaking the curfew.”

You scoff. “Why does that matter? You’re breaking curfew too. Now, get out. This is my stand.” Fred raises his eyebrows. “I don’t see your name on it. Actually, I think this stand will be just fine for me. I’ll probably stay here.” You exhale sharply in indignation. “I got here first! Go find your own!” Fred glances at you, then chuckles softly and takes a seat on one of the rows of benches, casually stretching out his legs as if he always spent nights in the stands of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitches. “Nah, don’t think so.”

You glare at him for a second longer, then your anger turns to confusion. “Wait, what are you doing here? I mean, I was dared to stay the night by my friends, but why are you here?” Fred sits up slightly to focus on you once more. “I was also dared to stay here. Weird.” You frown, pressing your fingers to your lips as you think. “Do you think your friends heard my friends and made you come down here because of that? Like, is it a prank?”

Fred grins, teeth shining lowly in the moonlight. “L/N, nobody pranks me. I do that to others. And no, I don’t think so. Probably just a coincidence.” You nod slowly, then gingerly take a seat on a bench on the other end of Fred’s row. The two of you exchange pleasantries back and forth, but then Fred sits up, gesturing for you to be silent. “Did you hear that?”

Your head snaps up. “Hear what?” Fred gets up slowly, heading towards the open flap of the stand. “That sound. Like someone climbing up the stairs.” You look at him apprehensively. “I can’t hear anything. This had better not be a joke.” Fred glances back at you. “No, not a joke. Not this time. Look, there it is again.”

This time you hear it- a muffled stomping, growing closer and closer. You can also start to hear a faint metallic clanking, and there’s a muted glow coming from the stairs to the stand. You curse softly under your breath. “It’s Filch. That’s his lantern. We’re screwed.” Fred runs his hands through his hair, thinking. “We don’t have much time. There’s some storage closet back there- maybe if we hide in the back?”

You nod. “It’s our only option. Come on.” The two of you race over to the closet, careful to not make a sound. You duck behind a tall stack of wooden boxes, Fred hurrying over right behind you. You’re just in time, too- barely a few seconds have passed after you find a hiding place when you see Filch climb the last few stairs and appear on the main room of the stand.

Beside you, Fred sucks in his breath, waiting. Filch hoists his lantern high into the air, letting the light shine around him. He speaks to himself in a grunted whisper. “Could have sworn I heard voices. Maybe back there. Rotten kids, up to no good.” He stumps forward a few more feet, getting closer and closer to where you and Fred are hiding. Fred tightens his jaw, moving closer to you in an attempt to take up less space. As Filch draws nearer to the two of you, all you can do is silently beg him to leave.

It feels like you stand there for hours, hoping that Filch doesn’t notice you. Finally, Filch takes one last suspicious glance around the room and hobbles back down the stairs. You don’t dare make a sound or even breathe until the glow of his lantern and sound of his feet on the steps is gone.

You exhale slowly in relief. You open your eyes, and realize Fred is standing inches away from you. You back away hurriedly, hoping the darkness of night can help disguise the warm flush in your cheeks. Fred strides over to the far edge of the stand, peering out over the pitch through the open flap at the top. “Filch’s gone. He’s heading back to the castle.”

You nod happily, feeling your shoulders lose their tension. It’s smooth sailing from here- all you have to do is make it through the night. You shiver slightly as a cold breeze hits you. Now that the worry of being caught is over, the chill of the night hits you in its full force.

Fred, having turned back away from the window, looks up when you yawn. “What, tired already? It’s only midnight or so.” His joking grin makes you roll your eyes. “Maybe. I think I’m just not meant for late nights.” Fred smiles, but the mocking look is gone from his eyes. “Get some rest. I’ll watch out for any other people wandering in.”

You flash him a grateful look. “You’re the best.” You contentedly sit down on a bench, barely even noticing when Fred sits down next to you. All you can think about is how tired you are, and how comforting the darkness of the night is, and how….

You’re woken up by the first rays of sunlight piercing through the top of the stand. Groggily, you open your eyes, and yet another wave of heat rushes to your cheeks when you realize that your head had been on Fred’s shoulder as you slept, your sides pressed together. Had you really fallen asleep on him? You stay there for a second, just a second more, then force yourself to get up. He’s just starting to wake up too. Evidently the night watch didn’t last forever.

You stretch tiredly. Already you can tell that you’ll be stiff the rest of the day from the benches, but it doesn’t matter. You successfully completed your dare, and your friends will be impressed with you. 

As you start for the stairs to head out of the stand, you notice that Fred isn’t following you. “Planning on staying the day here, too?” He grins lightly. “No, I just figured that your friends wouldn’t want you to be getting help during the dare. If we go out at different times, they’ll never know a thing.” You turn back to him, smirking slightly. “That’s some forward thinking. Sure you weren’t meant to be a Slytherin after all?” He pretends to be repulsed, and you laugh before waving goodbye over your shoulder and making your way down the stairs.

Your friends are waiting for you in the courtyard, and they eagerly flock to your side. “Well, did you do it?” Rebecca demands. “How did it go?” Lillian wraps her arm around yours. Trin pulls out her wand, ready for the truth test, but she’s still grinning excitedly. She holds her wand to your throat, reciting the words for the truth spell to begin. “Y/N L/N, did you complete the dare and spend the entire night on the Quidditch pitch?”

You nod, wincing slightly as you feel the magic of the spell twist their way around your vocal chords. “Yes, I did it. Entire night, out there in the cold.” Trin beams at you, pulling her wand away and ending the spell. “That’s so cool, Y/N. How on earth did you manage it?”

You consider the question as you walk with your friends to the Great Hall for breakfast. Along the way, you pass one particular red-headed twin, and you flash him a grin. “Guess I was just lucky.”

#fred weasley #fred weasley imagine #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley imagines #harry potter #harry potter imagines #harry potter x reader #harry potter imagine #weasley twins #weasley twins imagine #weasley twins x reader #weasley twins imagines

[andcontemplation]

The Last Snowball

~or~

Why Joyce Hates Jim Hopper’s Guts (a love story)

--

December, 1964

--

"Skipping class again, huh?"

Jim Hopper thought he’d been busted, until he turned to see his tiny brunette friend cross the hall toward him with a great big smile on her face. He chewed slowly on the last bite of his second sandwich of the day as he watched Joyce flutter up to him like a little bird. 

"Did you run here to state the obvious?" he asked through a smirk and a mouthful of bologna. 

"What? No!" Joyce’s nose scrunched up and she quickly shook her head before the big smile crept back. "You weren't by the steps after fifth, and I was looking for you. I wanna ask you something!"

"Why are your cheeks all red then?" he asked. 

Joyce brought a hand up to her left cheek and stood on her tiptoes to look at her reflection in his locker mirror. Indeed, her cheeks were ten shades of crimson, and the blush only deepened when she saw it with her own eyes. 

Hopper swallowed and raised an eyebrow slowly. 

"What's up?"

Joyce sighed and fidgeted with the lock on his locker door. Then she repositioned the textbooks in her arms, looking anywhere but at him. She tried not to think about how hot her cheeks were getting under his gaze.

"Well -- I don't know if you noticed, but the winter dance on Friday is a Sadie Hawkins," she said holding her breath, before sneaking a peek at him with wide, worried eyes to gauge his reaction. But there was none.

He just kinda shrugged.

"Yeah, I know. Half the junior girls asked me already," he admitted, crumpling the empty paper bag that once held the rest of second-lunch and tossed it in the trash can over her head and behind her. Completely clueless, as usual. 

Joyce deflated.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, keeping the smile plastered to her face, desperately trying to ignore the heaviness in her chest at his words. "Who?"

Hopper shrugged again and turned back to the mess in his locker, getting ready to head out.

"A bunch of chicks. I told 'em 'No.'"

"Oh." The heavy feeling disappeared just as quickly as it came. "A bunch, huh?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"Uh… well, I don't know," Joyce sighed and trailed off. "I just thought, maybe…"

"Yeah?"

 "You and I..?" 

She didn't want to say it -- she couldn't possibly say it. The words caught in the back of her throat, but Hopper was getting impatient. 

"Well? Spit it out!"

Joyce took a deep breath. 

"Well, it's just that... it's the Snowball. And I wanted to see if maybe you wanted to go. With me?" 

She shifted her weight nervously as she waited on his response. It felt like forever as she watched his face change from clueless to amused, confused, and then back again.

"Hmm, no thanks," he said finally, coolly shrugging his hunter green plaid jacket over his broad shoulders. "I got plans." 

Joyce's face fell for real this time, and she leaned back against the lockers, letting his locker door shield her disappointment. Hopper was rummaging around his locker again, banging books around on the shelves and dropping his winter gear at his feet -- hat, mitts, a pair of long johns, and big woolly socks.

"Why don't you ask your new boyfriend?" he asked rather bluntly from behind the locker door.

"Who? Lonnie?” Joyce leaned forward to glare at him. “Lonnie's not my--" She bit her tongue and steered the conversation back on track, knowing the topic of Lonnie Byers was not a welcome one with Hopper lately.

"I wanted to ask you, dummy!" she told Hopper, feeling her mood start to sour. "Since you're like... I don't know? My best friend?"

"Aw," Hopper said, clutching for his heart and rolling his eyes. "Be still my beating heart. You make it sound so special." 

Joyce bounced on her heels in frustration. Sometimes she wished she was taller so she could properly smack him on the back of the head. 

"I just mean-- We went to our first Snowball together. Shouldn't we go to the last one too?"

"Uh, no?" Hopper said and then ducked out of her reach when she aimed for his arm. "What? I'm struggling to see the big deal here. It's just a dance!"

Joyce raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. What a stick in the mud!

"It's the last Snowball, Jim."

"And this is the last week I can bag a doe with my tag, Joyce."

He bent down to gather up the small pile of clothes on the floor and shoved them into his backpack. Joyce set her jaw, grimacing. 

"A deer?"

"A female deer," he grinned up at her.

Joyce clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"You're telling me you'd rather kill some poor, innocent creature than dance with your best friend all night?" Her voice trailed off, hopefully conveying the intentions behind the words --  I like you, you big doofus. 

But Hopper didn't catch on.

"Yes, absolutely."

He said it so abruptly, Joyce struggled not to look too offended. 

"Well, I… I thought you could only hunt 'til Last Light anyway?" 

Hah! She had him there -- according to Indiana fish and game regulations, he wasn't allowed to hunt after the sun went down. Honestly, she didn't know much else about hunting other than that small fact, but Joyce clung to it like a life raft. 

"Why don't you just come to the dance afterwards, then? Meet me there?" Joyce persisted.

"No can do!" He pressed his lips together, unapologetically. "I plan to be elbow deep in blood n’ guts after Last Light."

Her jaw dropped, and it made him smirk again. 

"That's disgusting!" Joyce said, horrified. 

"So's a Sadie Hawkins!" he exclaimed. "Girls asking guys? What's next? Cats chasing dogs? C'mon, Joyce." Hopper snorted at his own joke and stood up. 

Joyce tried to ignore the rude passing comment, even though it made her want to stab him with her women’s lib pin. Why was she asking him again? Oh right. Those pesky feelings... the same ones she'd been fighting for the last four years. Just when she thought she had them beat, making herself believe she only ever wanted to be just his friend, feelings would rear their ugly head again and make her act like a complete fool. Like right now, for example:

"But it's the last Snowball!" She tried with him one more time. “Come on, don’t be such a party pooper.”

Hopper slung his backpack over his shoulder and grabbed the last of his junk shoving it back in the locker, anywhere it would fit. He heaved a sigh.

“So? We had Homecoming last month. Prom's in spring. How many dances do we really need?"

Never mind that Joyce was helping Karen plan each of those dances and leading the Pep Club in decorating the gym for all of them too. Or that this was their last year of school -- ever! He knew perfectly well how much it all meant to Joyce and she couldn't believe he wasn't a being bit more sentimental about all of it. 

"It's our last Snowball." 

That's when Hopper finally got it. And then he rolled his eyes. 

"You realize that none of the guys are going, right?”

"Nuh-uh.” Joyce shook her head. “Not all the guys. Some of the seniors are going with the gals!" 

She didn't know exactly how many, and she left out the part where it was mostly the steadies going together, hoping to convince him.

"Well, none of the single guys are going," Hopper assured her again. "Trust me. We all have plans. Besides, that dance is only for the freshmen and middle-schoolers, now. Last year was so lame."

"Plans?" she echoed.

"Yeah. I told you! My card's punched all week."

"Heya, Hop!" Benny called out, interrupting them from down the hallway, catching their attention over the top of the other student's heads. He raised his .22 in his hand to Hopper like a chalice. "Hunting?"

"Hunting!" Hopper hollered back and turned back to Joyce. "See? Hunting."

Joyce rolled her eyes and let out a grumble -- at least his plan wasn’t Chrissy Carpenter again. 

"How many times can a man go hunting in a week?" she asked pointedly.

"Well, Beatles say there's 8 days…" Hopper started, slamming his locker shut.

"Let me rephrase that," Joyce interrupted. "How many times can a man go hunting in a week and bring home absolutely nothing?"

Hopper narrowed his eyes on Joyce and chewed his bottom lip, biting back what he really wanted to say. She knew full well he hadn't gotten anything yet this year, and he was quickly running out of time to prove his machismo to his pals. Now she was purposely rubbing salt in those wounds. 

"Look at you, being funny," he said flatly, moving her aside to follow Benny out the double doors. "Don't let me spoil your little party, okay? Slow dance with Karen if you have to," he added with a wink. 

"I hate you, Jim Hopper!" Joyce called out after him, meaning every word in that very moment. Just when she thought Hopper might change, here he was, being his same-old callous self. 

"Feeling's mutual," he chuckled over his shoulder. "See ya later!"

"Yeah, whatever, Captain Funwrecker." Joyce grumbled back as she watched him walk away.

Her spirit was crushed. 

Her crush? Crushed. 

Was it too late to bottle all those feelings back up? Swallow what was left of her pride and ask one of the shy, senior guys instead? At least, she thought, Bob Newby’s always a sure thing.

Lonnie was her original back up choice, but she already knew he'd laugh in her face too, just the same as Hopper had done. 

Lonnie wouldn't be hunting, though. Just drinking and partying at the quarry or whatever he and his miscreant friends liked to do for fun -- she still hadn't quite figured that out, though she was beginning to think maybe being a miscreant was more fun than it sounded. More fun than hunting poor innocent creatures anyway. Or playing lone wallflower at the dance again...

As the last bell rang, Joyce wondered why all the boys she liked had to be such jerks.

---

#jopper #young jopper #joyce byers #jim hopper #teen!jopper #jopper advent #day 23 #ficlet #on this episode of who crushed on who first... #silly holiday fluffy angsty nonsense for all you lovebirds out there!

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “Fright Night” (the 1985 version)

No I ain’t watching the remake with David Tennant.  ‘Cause I said so.

*does Borat impression while loading the movie on Amazon Prime*

“Sit here beside me on the veranda.”  Is this the... TV show scene?  The show with Roddy McDowall?

SCARE CHOOORD!

“So... luminescent.”  *laughs*

Those were some... horrible kissing noises

I like the out of context implication that as soon as the woman asks the dude to lay on her chest, Peter Vincent’s like “NONE IN THIS HOUSE!”

“IF SHE BREATHES...”

What idiot puts their smelly ass soccer cleats on their headboard?

“We’ve been going together almost a year, and all I ever hear is ‘Charley, stop it.’“  Well then maybe that’s a you problem

Also what the hell is that map thing next to Amy?

“Let’s get into bed.”  *bug eyes*

Amy, that is not the look of someone who is ready to have sex.

“It says right here that the divorce rate is 76% higher among couples who don’t argue before marriage.”  Shut up, Mom.

“Thank you [Amy] for helping Charley with his homework.”  ...I was gonna make a sex joke here but nah.

Oh I hate Charley’s friend in his movie.

Charley’s car, while super nice, looks like a sunburnt cow

“My luck.  He’s [the neighbor] probably gay.”  AAAAAHHH THEY EVEN SAID IT!

I really Charley to slap Teach [Ed] at some point but I know it’s never gonna happen.

For a moment, I thought that the carpenter dude partner was gonna be like Kenny from “The War at Home” but nah.  He probably just uses his teeth a lot.

*silently jamming to the background synth music*

*Charley spots a woman removes her bra in the window*  What was this rated again?

AN:  It’s rated R

*yells when Jerry looks over to see Charley through the window*

*Shot of Jerry’s hand pulling down the window blind*  That... is a lady hand.

AN:  They were actually extensions that Chris wore and he helped apply them himself so that he could just rip them off after a day of shooting

*Charley’s mom ruins Charley’s cover*  DAMN IT MOM

This movie is basically “Who Cried Wolf” but with vampires?

“I’m his roommate Billy Cole.”  Can you believe just that the fact that this movie was made in the mid 80s when the AIDS crisis in the US was getting ready to happen and director Tom Holland and the screenwriter went “YES they’re gonna be GAY and THAT’S FINAL”

“You actually saw the body, Charley?”  Uh doesn’t that tone raise any suspicion from the detective STANDING NEXT TO HIM?

*snorts in hilarity when Billy jokingly does the sign of the cross*

Charley, I would not trust anything Teach tries to tell you.

AND OF COURSE CHARLEY’S MOM INVITED JERRY OVER

OMINOUS SYNTH CHORD

My God, Chris Sarandon...

What’s with the celery?

Charley’s mom is the most oblivious character in this whole movie, I swear

FISH EYE LENS

I forget, do we ever see Jerry in vampire bat form or do we just see him as Chris Sarandon with fangs the entire movie?

Why yes, Charley, use your tiny crucifix.

Doesn’t the whole “enter with permission” count with bedrooms too or just the house in general?  If it counted with bedrooms, couldn’t Charley just put up a sign on his door that said “NO ADMISSION WITHOUT PERMISSION” and that would keep Jerry out?

Jerry is the most casual vampire I’ve seen so far.  Someone would just throw a chair at him and he’ll just No-Sell it like “Listen... I was just saying...”

There’s got to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing.

We just need a vampire that’s like Catherine O’Hara from “Schitt’s Creek”

I love how Charley’s like 80% out the window and yet he can still reach for an entire mug of pencils

NO WAIT WE SEE HIS [Jerry’s] VAMPIRE FACE NEVERMIND

Valium?!?

Christopher Lee!

THAT FRAMING [of Billy kneeling directly in front of Jerry’s legs] ISN’T OBVIOUS AT ALL TOM HOLLAND

The logic for this movie is something else.  Charley sees someone on TV perform a vampire killing ON A TV SHOW and thinks “YES I’m going to ask him to help me with this vampire situation!” 

This is like asking Drew Carey if he can assist in a vampire hunting

*imitates Peter Vincent shooing Charley away*

*snorts at Teach and Amy walking in on Charley setting holy stuff ALL OVER HIS HOUSE*

Also I absolutely forgot about the weird side plot with Amy being an incarnation of a past love.  What is it with this and Bram Stoker’s Dracula going this route?

Man, Roddy McDowall is just a masterclass in classical acting.  You can tell the different style between him and the other actors.

There’s a bust of Klaus Kinski’s Nosferatu in the glass box!

AN:  *in best Janet from ‘The Good Place’ impression*  Fun fact, Klaus Kinski was actually an asshole

I like the red and black plaid night coat

God, all those clocks going off at once reminds me of the scene in Pinocchio.  That would give me so much anxiety in real life.

WHO TOSSED JERRY THE APPLE?!?

OH AND THEY [Jerry and Billy] WALK OFF TOGETHER OF COURSE

*imitates Peter Vincent saying “Good evening good evening”*

*going through AO3′s Fright Night 1985 tag as Peter explains what he’s doing*  Wow there’s four pages.  I might have to bookmark some of these.

Ohhhh kay, nevermind on half of these.  Not into that.  Nope nope nope.

I forget, is Billy also a vampire?  Or is he like some ghoul?  Werewolf?

...Interspecies romance?

For a fact, I know that if CinemaSins covers this movie, they would award Jerry the “eating an apple because he’s an asshole” sin and I would laugh

Oh he’s [Jerry] gonna go for the hand kiss, isn’t he? 

OH GOD DAMMIT

*has to still register it*

Wait, did Jerry hold the bottle up in front of the fire in case there was actually holy water?  Would heating it up counteract the holy water inside?

WAIT DOESN’T PETER CATCH JERRY’S LACK OF REFLECTION IN THE MIRROR AS THEY LEAVE?

How did they do that?  Did they just... comp Chris Sarandon out or did they have him tuck out of frame but still say his lines?

AN:  Tom Holland originally goofed up the shot I guess but they ran with it

JERRY IS BI HEADCANON CONFIRMED

WAIT HE FOUND THE MIRROR SHARDS

The overhead tracking shot following Ed in the alleyway is actually pretty good.  And the way it slides to a normal shot is great.

Oh they do the creepy Dracula fog!

Wait, this movie came out the same year as Nightmare on Elm Street 2.  Dang.

And that movie also had a weird homoerotic tone to it.

You know what, the way Jerry offers Ed salvation only to attack him was actually pretty solid.  Just good acting from both of them.  I was sold.

WAIT IT’S THE CLUB SCENE!

*Peter presses a cross to Ed’s forehead*  Great prosthetic too, holy crap!

*jams out to the song playing at the club*

Why do Jerry’s dance clothes look like either my pajamas or really lame exercise clothes?

God, it’s [Jerry pacing back and forth watching Amy] like a cat stalking a bird holy crap

NOOOO I DON’T NEED TO WATCH THIS SHE’S LIKE SIXTEEEEENNNN

*jaw drops when Jerry runs his hand up Amy’s leg*  NOOOOOO

Not gonna lie, this song almost sounded like a remix of the Nightmare on Elm Street theme

NOOOOOOOO STOOOOOPPPP CEASE DESIST

Amy’s hair just gets wilder and wilder during this dance sequence

STOOOOOOPPPP

Quick, Charley, start a fight!  Just... punch someone!  Commotion!

*just yells when Jerry steals a kiss from Amy*

*Amy wakes up in a white dress in Jerry’s house*  NOPE

God and he [Jerry] took off his shirt too just *hides face in hands*

*covers mouth with hand in attempt not to say anything*

*Jerry’s dragging finger scrapes off wood on the banister*  Oh that’s just mean

*Jerry drapes his arms over the back of Billy’s shoulders*  HMM

They would be that duo who would pick up a phone and take turns to go “...surprise, Sidney...”

*A wolf walks out of Mrs. Brewster’s room*  WHAAAAATTT?!?

Dang they really just tossed a plushie wolf off the stairs

WAIT the guy that did the VFX for this movie also did “Ghostbusters” if I remember correctly

AN:  Yes

They are just... really dragging out Ed’s death scene

That kinda exasperated look Peter gives the smoking house is great

Wait is Billy a vampire too?  Zombie?  What is he?

I really just want Charley to reach out and just slightly poke dying Billy in the chest so that he crumbles backwards.  That would have been hilarious.

How long is Amy’s hair?

HE [Jerry] DOES TURN INTO A BAT!

Real plot twist would be that the bat bite also starts turning Charley into a vampire so Peter would have to kill three birds with one stone (heal Charley and Amy and kill Jerry)

Boss move:  Peter closing the coffin in front of Jerry

And it ends with the same shot as the opening!

“Oh, you’re so cool, Brewster.”  So is Ed alive?

#fright night #fright night 1985 #chris sarandon #roddy mcdowall #peter vincent #jerry dandridge #the blogger reacts #q post

[daretosnoop]

Lessons I learned from the Games

Most of this is just silly, some are actual lessons.

SCK/SCK2:

If you’re going to get murdered, get revenge by leaving clues to the blackmail you have on potential suspects and hope to god someone figures it out

If you’re investigating a crime, being a random transfer student at the end of the year is probably not the way to go, but no one cares because they’re too busy with college applications.

If your niece is coming to your place to investigate a murder and you’re not there, the least you can do is set up a cage to trap any possible break-ins.

Nothing beats being able to hold a gun to the murderer #whySCKremastered???

Teens dealing with pressures to meet college and parental demands

Teens resorting to drugs

Teens dealing with sexism that’s found in abundance in college and work environments

Teachers not giving a shit about what students are going through.

STFD:

If you’re getting death threats, play it cool. Keeps the perps unhinged

Toxicity of fan culture

Throw all CEOs into the closet

Nothing beats Jazz

If you’re going to commit crime in an actor’s community, you must do it with flare

MHM:

If you’re going to buy a Victorian mansion, the least you can do is check for ghosts. And also hire a carpenter beforehand

Never invest your life’s savings into anything

Treat those who help you with basic decency (my god Rose!)

If you’re snooping on someone, don’t give them any indication that you’re onto them

If someone slips a threatening message under your door, open the door.

Victorian houses have all sorts of booby traps, FIND THEM.

TRT:

Don’t trust anyone who’s eager to be your friend

Trust the weirdos and grumpy people

Learn French

Don’t leave incriminating evidence that reveals your lies

There is no such thing as too much food

Women in history have been badly treated by (male) historians.

It’s called the past for a reason

Turn a bad situation into an opportunity to learn

If you’re going to do crime, at least ensure you have an escape route that’s not blocked by the snow

Don’t date people who pressure you to marry them/ask you to prove your love for them

 FIN:

As a woman, if you want anyone to take you seriously and help, you have to be adamant, sassy, and everything men don’t like to see in women.

If you’re a POC, the chances of the police helping you decreases

Capitalism sucks

Police suck

Misogyny in capitalism

Old theaters are amazing

Don’t trust the person who’s trying to be your friend!!!!!!

Don’t talk to suspects about your case

Have confidence in yourself

 SSH:

Colonialism still exists in the form of capitalism

The art industry is completely profit driven

Mexico and America tensions

The Mayans

They never talked about what happened to the Mayans…..

Don’t deal with shady salesmen

Sometimes saving money contributes to a bad system

If you accepted a position, take your work seriously

Don’t trust the guy trying to be your friend!!!!

Master the art of amnesia should you ever need to use it

Even if you disband a group of art thieves, it’s best to be humble

No one in life is going to help you, even if you get pushed into a monolith

 DOG:

This game is why it’s important to put your dog(s) on a leash! (insert that dog vine: “it don’t bite. Yes it do!”)

If we didn’t have uptight rangers, the parks would be burnt to smithereens

Misogyny exists in the woods

People who are just trying to do their job always get a bad rap even though it’s because of them the park still exists!

Gangsters are bad, but also low-key cool

Get back at your enemies by making a fake grave of them

Old people have interesting stories

Gold can release arsenic into water

Always check well water before using

Wood mice are bad for health

If you’re going to get tied up and tossed into your tool shed, keep a scythe on hand

Go birdwatching at night

Torque is a fancy word for screw driver

If you’re a POC, people are most likely to suspect you.

CAR:

There is no job security if you end up in hospital

Sometimes you really need a 2000 calorie sundae

If you went to jail, people are most likely to suspect you first

Don’t spy on your co-workers

Don’t trust the person who’s trying to be your friend!

Don’t procrastinate on a job

If you’re miserable in life, maybe it’s time to sign up for some therapy

If you have a sad backstory, you’re automatically entitled to everyone’s sad backstory

Mental illness: depression

Health awareness: niacin, don’t eat junk food like a 2000 calorie sundae

Don’t dump someone just because they’re not able to give you a lavish lifestyle

DDI:

If you’re going to trash someone’s boat, don’t leave your business card behind

If you’re tired of small mindedness, it’s best to just leave

It’s always handy in life to know boating skills

If you’re trying to report suspicious activity, communicating by bottles is not the way to go

Don’t feed wild animals!

Capitalism sucks

Look carefully at your environment, you never know what clues are left behind

Always make a plan B in case plan A doesn’t work

Don’t be afraid to explore

SHA:

Never trust the guy who’s trying to be your friend!!!

Always trust the grumpy guy

Horses die easily

There is no such thing as over ripe vegetables

Sunflowers should be planted near gardens so that bees come

Respect chickens

Falling in love with a criminal is difficult when your dad’s a cop

It’s handy to know how to ride a horse

Ghost towns are terrifying

Farmers work hard and should be respected

CUR:

Don’t trust the person who’s trying to be your friend!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t be a negligent parent

Before getting married, make sure your partner has a good relationship with your child

Don’t trust creepy people

America and British will always oppose each other

Talking parrots are always handy

British aristocracy was supported through colonialism #got Loulou on his Travels, uh huh

If you’re a spinster, you’re going to be the mom of something

If you’re afraid of becoming a monster, best be dramatic about it

It’s really important to have good communication between partners

Don’t stick your new wife in a room that still has pictures of your old wife and where all the furniture has covers on them

If you have a manor, you better explore it before some 12-year-old gets hurt exploring it

don’t go to great lengths to protect a rock

calling something that skips every generation a “family tradition” is just rude and exclusive

don’t leave your child alone for so long. Don’t keep them away from people their age

don’t write memories, no one wants to hear your life story

CLK:

if you’re going to presume someone’s identity, you better nail the part down hard

don’t blow up the kitchen when there’s only three people in the house and you were the closest and last one in the kitchen

emotional manipulation

gas lighting

if someone mentions stolen jewellery, putting back what you stole just incriminates you

even if you have psychic abilities, don’t be an ass bout it

no one ever tips because no one like the system. Pay your employees what they deserve!

Even though the depression’s going on, people are still dumping money in psychic lessons and dress making

No one ever gives anything away for free

Even if you’re promised money, don’t put too much trust in the promises of others

Don’t be rude to the person who’s trying to help you

If your partner is demanding to be spoiled during an economic depression, find a better partner

People aren’t as smart as you, tell them straight where you left your will.

 TRN:

The dumb blonde joke is not funny

Cops are useless and unhelpful

People are more willing to listen to adults then teens/young adults

Celebrities are much different in real life then in their celebrity world.

Don’t steal someone else’s ideaà artist theft

Old trains are super cool

People aren’t as smart as you, tell them straight where you hid your treasure

Don’t dump someone just because people think they’re dumb

 DAN:

Capitalism sucks

The fashion industry is brutal

normal size representation

Boss’s can be crappy people

Don’t blackmail people

If you promised to do work, you better dedicate yourself to it

Having a healthy fear of giving away personal information is not a bad thing

Don’t aid stalkers

Covid-precaution: cover face with mask. Act erratic to keep people away from you

Concept of older men dating younger women is actually frowned upon

Love is mysterious

Flashlight on the many women who helped decode during WW2 but largely remain unrecognized by countries today

Forgery is okay sometimes

 CRE:

Indigenous cultures continue to be badly and negatively portrayed in media

Capitalism sucks

Environmentalism

Academia is not as research oriented as one wishes it was

Daddy-issues

Native Hawaiians forced to “work with” big corps in order to survive.

Tourism industry and its affects on the environment and native population

Sometimes an upgrade is not a good thing

ICE:

Animal conservatism

Capitalism sucks

International competitions suck

Running away from humans to hide in a cabin and bonding with a wolf is not a bad thing

Never enter a sauna alone

It’s bad business to kick customers out

If your customers are falling asleep everyday in a common room, it’s probably not a good sign of booming business

Don’t be chill over bombs exploding near your hotel

Always handy to know how to drive a snow mobile

Don’t volunteer to be a maid, ever

Cops are useless

CRY:

Don’t dump your job on your girlfriend

There’s nothing wrong with being emo

Men being emotional and desiring love and affection

Men being abused in relationships

Even if your relative leaves you a ton of money, it’s no excuse for not being a good guardian/parent

Don’t trust strangers. Don’t eat food from random people

Customer service is awful. Even when the customer is trying to instigate a horrible reaction in you, you got to put on a smile

Always trust the eccentric lady

Nancy’s sad backstory allows her to hear everyone else’s sad backstory, unless you’re a guy, I guess.

A date in the cemetery is not a bad idea

If your partner demands you to spoil them, get a new partner

People aren’t as smart as you, tell them where you hid your treasure

VEN:

Anyone can help out on an international mafia case

The mafia is very creative and artistic

Capitalism sucks

Assert your independence as a young woman by dancing in a cat suit on stage? I guess?

Money can be found anywhere

Eat the rich

Don’t trust the person trying to be friends with you

Possessive relationships are red flags

Don’t steal a cheap neckless if you’re a notorious thief

Cops kind of useful for once.

HAU

Don’t pull a prank on your partner before your wedding

Don’t invite someone who used to date your partner and still has feelings for them

If your partner is missing, actually look for them instead of sitting around

Crows are amazing

Fiona might have lost her parents at a young age and her life as a hermit definitely had its side affects, but she also saved herself from the misogyny women endured

RAN:

If your friend gets kidnapped, please, at least fake some concern

Don’t waste time with monkeys

The only other person on the island is probably the culprit

WAV:

Girl bullying can be worse than boy bullying

Don’t trust the person who’s trying to be your friend!!!!!!

  TOT:

Nancy’s sad backstory allows her to hear everyone else’s sad backstory, unless you’re a guy, I guess.

Academic institutions are struggling to fund research

Capitalism sucks

Even if you hate your lead, don’t sabotage the team

Communication is important

Even if you hate your job, don’t sabotage your team

 SAW:

People who resist to change just become boulders in the way of progress

Boomer mentality is soul destroying

Emotional manipulation

Gas lighting

Depression

Sometimes you have to cut away from those you love in order to maintain your sanity

Nancy’s sad backstory allows her to hear everyone else’s sad backstory.

If you have to give your partner a gift every time you fight, you might have relationship problems

Don’t be in a relationship just because you’re used to it

Don’t force someone to adhere to your expectations in life

If you’re unable to talk to your partner and so resort to haunting her inn, you probably have relationship issues

#nancy drew

[ansgar-martinsson]

Fair Winds and a Following Sky - Part 6

Ulrikagatan 20, Östermalm, Stockholm, 20 July

Anna’s backpack fell from her slack fingers, hitting the travertine floor with a definitive thunk. “What the hell...?” Her eyes blew wide, her mouth gaped as she stepped past him and into the entryway. “This is your place? Holy shit, Alan!”

“Ansgar,” he corrected. 

“Alan, Ansgar. Whatever,” she waved a hand dismissively. 

“No, not whatever. My name is Ansgar, and that is what you will call me.” He’d grasped her tightly by the upper arm, halting her progress into the expanse of his living room. “Do you understand?”

“Let me go... Ansgar,”  she spat, tugging against his grip. He held her tighter, his lip curling at the weaponized use of his name. In return, she glared at him, her previously tired eyes now almost aflame. “Ansgar. There, you happy now? Is that better?” She yanked back with a small grunt, freeing herself, and rubbed at her arm. 

“Much better,” he growled, peering fastidiously down at her. As suddenly as his pique came on, it vanished from his features, replaced by a tour-guide smile, an accommodating glint in the eyes. He gestured, indicating the various areas of his immense flat. “Living room here, reading nook and bookcase there, breakfast kitchen in front, main and prep kitchens are behind those swinging doors. Formal dining there,” he pointed. “Game room and gym toward the end of the left hallway, all four bedrooms, including mine, along the right. French doors lead to the patio, hot tub, sauna, and lap pool.” 

He eyed her sideways, gauging her reaction. She seemed, in his estimation, to deflate a little as he went on, the anger and fury dissipating, replaced by a reasserting fatigue, perhaps she was even a bit dumbfounded. “I will make no part of my flat off limits to you as you did me,” he said evenly, “but I only ask that you don’t touch my Steinway.”

“What’s that? I don’t even know what a Steinway is.”  

Ansgar stepped towards it, indicating the black and red piano that rest in an alcove just off the circular living room. “It’s a piano; a grand piano,” he said. “I just had it tuned and it’s... it’s something dear to me. Mine, you see, and I’m rather possessive of it.”

She shrugged, her eyes fluttering. “I don’t even play, don’t worry.” Her head lolled forward, but snapped back up, her face screwed up in a confused moue. “Wait. You... you play piano?”

He smiled and held his hands out wide. “Another surprise, ja?”

“I thought you were just a carpenter,” she shook her head, running her hand down her face.

“Well,” he turned his hand over, inspecting his fingernails. “I’m not, really just a carpenter. I have other skills as well. Besides, there’s no such thing as just a carpenter,” he quipped. “It’s a highly skilled trade, I’ll have you know, one that takes years of training to master. Come. Follow me.” He led her down the right hallway to the first bedroom. “You’ll take this room. There’s a full cadre of toiletries, a bath, and a shower in there. I suggest you use it. You look like you’ve been through the wars and you smell like a distillery.”

She frowned at him, affronted. “I do not smell! I haven’t had anything to drink since the flight here.”

“Suit yourself,” he shrugged. “But I’d say that’s part of your current predicament.”

“What is?”

“The booze. Believe me, I’ve been there.”

“What... what pre-pre-predicament?” A sudden wave of exhaustion, an almost blinding need for sleep crashed over her at the sight of the immense, white-linened bed, at the stack of pillows on it, at the very thought of a scalding hot shower, at the possibility of hours and hours of uninterrupted sleep - no fear, no worrying, no plane engines, no smell of rancid pot, or snoring, stinking teenage backpackers. She swayed where she stood, her eyes rolling back in her head. “I think... I think I need to lie down.”

“Christ, Anna,” Ansgar stepped quickly forward, catching her deftly before she fell. “Got you. I’ve got you. Up you get now, come on, darling.” He shifted her nearly dead weight, all but tossing her upon the bed. “Ups a daisy.”

“So tired. God, I’m so tired.”

“Not surprised,” Ansgar said. “Between whatever it was you had to... come on now,” he lifted her legs up onto the bed and pulled off one shoe, “whatever you drank on the plane, which was obviously quite a bit... that was your first mistake there, darling.” He continued to talk as he removed her other soft sandal, her necklaces, as he unclipped the turquoise and silver barrette from her hair, shifted the pillows, and pulled down the duvets. “One should never ever overindulge on a trans-Atlantic flight. Going east to west, perhaps, but never going west to east. The jet lag is murder in and of... there you go, tuck under there, yes... in and of itself, but add a few potent potables to the mix and you’re dead on arrival.”

“Mmm, okay. You still talk funny, though.”

He huffed a single chortle through his nose. “I’m aware. You get some rest now. You need it.”

She wriggled down into the sheets, turning herself on her side toward him, the blanket tucked up around her chin. “Alan...,” she muttered, and reached for him.

“Ansgar,” he corrected, more gently that time. 

“Ansgar,” she echoed muzzily, her voice muffled by the draw of sleep and the cover of the blankets. Her hand found his and she squeezed, weakly, but squeezed nonetheless. “I’m... I think... I think I’m gonna go to sleep now.”

“You do that,” he squeezed back, leaned over and brushed her hair from her forehead. “I’ll be here when you wake up. Then you can tell me all about why you’re here.”

“Mmkay,” she whispered. “Promise?”

“Promise what?”

“Promise...you’ll... you’ll stay. Not leave... not again.”

He chuckled. “I live here, darling. I’m not going anywhere.”

Nowhere, Oklahoma

“I’m just about finished with the repairs,” he reported, tipping his bowl to scrape the last drops up with his spoon. “Going to pick up the paint and rent the sprayer from the Farm Co-op after lunch, and I can get that done by supper, I think. If not at least by sundown.” He put on a falsely pitiful moue, held his bowl between his two hands and looked up at her, his voice a high-pitched imitation of a begging child. “Missus! Oh, Missus! May I have some more, please?”

Her back still to him, she sighed as she stirred the large pot on the stove. She swallowed, her heart squeezed tight. A breath, a nod, and she turned, her smile now bright, yet eyes slightly dulled. “Do you deserve it, young man?” she mocked back. “Only the best boys get seconds.”

He laughed as he pushed himself from the chair, stepped beside her and ladled out another serving for himself. “I fixed your barn, didn’t I? I think that makes me a very good boy.” 

She, too, laughed, but hers was tinged with just that amount of sadness. “Took you long enough,” she joked. 

“Not my fault your barn was full of dry rot, about to collapse on top of all your horses. And besides,” he sat back down at the table, garnishing his chili with a handful of shredded cheese, “three weeks is pretty damn good time for one man to practically rebuild a barn by himself.” To emphasize his point, he shoved a massive spoonful into his mouth, grinning up at her, closed-mouthed, as he chewed. 

Not enough time, she thought.

“So,” she brought her bowl to the table and sat beside him. She rest her chin in her hand, elbow on the table as she watched him eat. “You still plan on leaving when you finish?”

He nodded, swallowed, lifted his glass, and took a long ice-clinking pull of sweet tea. “That’s the idea,” he replied, licking his lips.

“Hm.” She took a deep inhale and blew the breath out on puffed cheeks. “I guess that was the idea, wasn’t it.”

He set his spoon down, and leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. “Why do you ask?” 

“I guess,” she sighed, setting down her own spoon, “I guess... I was hoping you’d stay... maybe... for just a bit longer.”

“Why, Anna?” He cocked his head, brow furrowed. “I didn’t think you even liked me that much.”

“Oh, I like you fine,” she replied. She bowed her head, idly picking dirt from beneath one of her fingernails. “I do. In fact, I... like having you around, there I said it. I don’t want you to leave. I... I like your company, that’s all.”

“My... company?”

“Yeah.”

“Just my company?”

“Yeah.”

“And that’s all you like about me?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“What about your husband’s family? Don’t you have them for company?”

She sniggered. “Come on, Alan, you’ve met them. They fucking hate me.”

He pushed his bowl aside, leaned forward and took her hand in his. “Maybe it’s about time you tell me why, hm? Why did Brian Travidge attack you last week? Why did that foul behemoth Will confront me at the Co-op yesterday? Why are you getting letters from your mother in law’s attorneys - and don’t lie to me, I’ve seen the envelopes on the table.... What is it that this family has against you?”

Her face hardened. “It’s not your business. Just... just forget it. Forget I said anything.” She pushed up from the table, but he immediately stilled her, keeping a firm grip on her hand. “Alan. Please. Forget it.”

“No,” he said, standing with her. “I’m not going to forget it. If I’m going to stay, I need to know what is going on.”

Tears welled, coating her brown, almond shaped eyes with a bright sheen of tears. Her face crumpled, and she sat down hard upon the kitchen chair. She dropped her head into the crook of her elbow, fingers digging into and gripping the crown of her dark hair. “They think...,” she began, her voice muffled, thick with sorrow, fear, regret, “they say that I killed Charlie, my husband. That he had his heart attack... that he... that he died... because... because of me.” 

#fair winds and a following sky

[queertazsecretsanta]

A gift for @motherfuckingmagicbrian, created by @one-true-houselight!

Title: Craft Night

Summary: It’s the last Queer Meetup on the moon before Candlenights, and the group is making ornaments! A healthy dose of happy queer people, a good splash of gentle ribbing, and a smattering of angst. Enjoy, and Happy Candlenights!

Magnus put a pile of meatballs on his plate before going to sit down across from Taako. Taako looked at the plate and snorted. “Think you have enough meatballs, Magnus?”

“Well, I was planning on sharing-” Before Magnus could finish, both Carey and Killian cheered and reached over and grabbed meatballs off his plate.

“Hey, throw me one,” Avi called from next to Taako. Carey grabbed another meatball and tossed it to him.

Taako huffed before saying, “Hey y’all, could we make a concerted effort to not throw saucy projectiles while we’re working on art?” He grabbed a napkin from the pile on the table and made a tent for his ornament with exaggerated annoyance.

Johann walked over from the food table and leaned over Taako’s shoulder. “Taako, you’re a wizard.”

“And?”

“You could clean it with magic.”

“Spell slots, my good man-”

“Isn’t the cleaning one a cantrip?” Taako glared as Avi tried (and failed) to look innocent. While maintaining eye contact, the wizard reached across the table, grabbed a meatball, and threw it at Avi, who caught it with ease and ate it while laughing. The others, including Taako, joined in. As they quieted down, Johann sat next to Avi and grabbed a paper plate.

The six friends sat in the middle of a long table with crafting supplies that were once neatly laid out down its entirety. The other members of the Bureau of Balance’s Queer Meetup sat on both sides of the group, laughing and working with the paint, markers, and other tools. The activity of the night was making ornaments for the fast-approaching Candlenights.

While everyone else started shaping their paper plates, Magnus reached into his pocket and grabbed a piece of wood that had clearly been made to be the base of his ornament. Carey looked over as Magnus reached for paint. “Man, that looks awesome! I wish I could work with wood like that.”

Magnus smiled as he mixed some paint on a piece of paper. “Thanks! It’s a labor of love.” He carefully took a thin brush and started to outline a bear’s head on the wood in purple.

“When did you get started with carpentry, Magnus?” Avi asked asked as he traced a cannon onto his plate.

“Well, I worked with a carpenter back in Raven’s Roost…” Magnus’ voice trailed off.

Avi’s eyes widened at Magnus’ hesitance, saying, “Oh shit man, I didn’t mean to bring that up-”

Magnus cut him off. “No, no, it’s fine. It’s not that, it’s… that’s the last time I really remembered learning carpentry, but I went into that job with base knowledge.” He shrugged. “I guess I just picked it up as I grew up.”

Everyone went back to work on their ornaments in silence for a few moments, letting the tension ease out of the space. Killian finished cutting out a heart, then handed it to Carey to cut in half to create their bases. Taako looked over at Magnus’ ornament. “Oh my god, you’re doing a bear. How did I forget to do our race animals?” He looked down at his ornament, a swirly rainbow pattern he had enchanted to sparkle. “How can I add in the noble mongoose?” The others chuckled as he grabbed a piece of paper and tried to draw the animal on it.

One of the guards further down the table perked up at the mention of the race. “I don’t think I’ve seen you guys since the race! That was so cool!” Magnus turned excitedly to them and started chatting about the race as he filled in detail on the bear.

“Well, of course we all know the most important player in that race.” Taako paused for dramatic effect. “Garyl.”

Avi and Johann, who had been thoroughly filled in on the race when the three reclaimers had returned, turned to have their own conversation as battlewagon talk swept over the whole table.

“Are you really making a cannon ornament, Avi?”

“Well, yeah! I putting it on the cannon, after all.”

Johann laughed. “Not on your, you know, Candlenights bush?”

“Nah, I want to spruce up the ol’ pea shooter,” Avi said with a smile. Johann watched as he seemed to trace something being shot from the cannon.

“That doesn’t look like a transport ball.”

“That’s because it’s not.” When Avi didn’t elaborate, Johann raised an eyebrow, much to Avi’s delight. “You’ll see when it’s done.”

Johann couldn’t help but laugh; Avi was a delightful person, and Johann was glad to be his friend, and to get to laugh at his jokes, and to talk to him about music, and…

“What are you doing? That’s a lot of black and grey, buddy.” Avi’s question snapped Johann out of his thoughts. Thoughts he should really dissect, but not tonight.

“I’m just doing the more neutral colors first, then adding the colors later. See, this is gonna be the ace and aro flags fading into a music staff, and I’m trying to draw a violin over here.” Johann pointed out the elements on his half painted ornament as Avi nodded. 

“Music staff’s what the notes go on, right?” Johann had been teaching Avi a little more about music; Avi not only wanted to be a little more musically inclined, but it meant he got to see the bard more often. Johann tended to be on the more subdued side, but when he talked about music, his eyes lit up. Avi loved it when that happened.

Avi’s thoughts drifted as Johann nodded happily, but they were brought to a halt as he looked at where Johann had indicated the ace flag was going. “Hey, uh, Johann?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you did the ace flag backwards,” Avi said while pointing at the ornament.

Johann’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding. I thought the black was on the bottom.” Avi shook his head. “Well, fuck.” He started laughing, and Avi joined in.

“I mean, you can just say it’s an artistic interpretation,” Avi joked through giggling.

“The most important rule of any artist!” Johann said with a smile, “Everything was intentional, even mistakes!” They both cracked up and continued decorating their ornaments.

“How’s your mongoose coming, Taako?” Race talk had died down significantly and everyone had gone back to quietly talking and decorating.

“Fantastically, my good man.” Taako held up the mongoose, which he was just cutting out. “It looks like it could come alive in my hands.”

“If that came alive in your hand, I’d run away screaming,” said Killian, who looked over from where she was drawing something colorful onto her half of the heart.

“Well of course you would, mongeese are formidable creatures!” Taako jokingly made the paper animal walk up to Killian and growl.

“Is it mongeese?” Carey asked with a frown.

“It sounds better than mongooses,” reasoned Magnus.

“But maybe it’s like moose, where it’s both singular and plural?”

“Carey, my dear,” Taako said, “I see your point, but how could you try to deprive the world of the joy that comes from the word mongeese?”

Carey cackled. “Fair enough, my dude.”

Taako grabbed the glue and looked over at Magnus, who had finished his bear and was adding in the colors of the trans and bi flags. For some reason as he looked at the former, he felt a tug at the back of his mind. Magnus looked up to see Taako staring at his ornament with an inscrutable look.

“You ok, Taako?” Taako seemed to shake himself back to reality.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s…nothing. Just my brain being weird.”

“Alright.” Magnus smiled. “Hey, our new digs have room for more decorations. Think Garfield sells pride flags?” Taako grinned.

“I bet he does! Or maybe he could order some.” Taako turned to Carey and Killian. “Hey, does Fantasy Costco sell pride stuff?”

“FANTASY COSTCO, WHERE ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!” Magnus suddenly yelled, making Taako wince. Carey, Killian, and some people from other parts of the table joined in for “GOT A DEAL FOR YOOOOOOU!” as Taako put his head in his hands.

“That jingle will kill me. I will die.”

Killian laughed, saying, “To actually answer your question, Taako, Fantas-”

“Don’t say it, he’ll sing again.”

“Ok, Garfield’s store does has some general stuff, and he’s said in the past he’d order things for people if they wanted something specific.”

“Yeah,” Johann piped up, “he’s ordering me some ace stuff. I’m getting socks!”

“Fantastic,” Taako said with a grin. “Our apartment will be popping.” He finished glueing his mongoose to his ornament, then held it up to show it off. The original sparkly rainbows worked surprisingly well as a background for the furry addition. He grinned at the chorus of oohs. “Thank you, thank you. Now, I would of course be willing to provide my expert advice to you all if you so desire.”

Johann and Avi had been chatting about Bureau business as they decorated, but a natural silence had fallen for the past couple of minutes. Avi looked over at Johann, who seemed to be staring into space. “Your ornament looks good, Johann.” Johann looked over at Avi and smiled before looking at his ornament. The flags and music staffs were finished, and he was almost done with the detailing on the violin.

“Thanks. I still can’t believe I got the flag wrong,” Johann said with a chuckle. “I guess I only found it recently, so it makes sense I would mess up.”

“Yeah,” Avi said, “yours isn’t like mine, where we get taught the order in school. ROY G BV!” Johann laughed and continued painting. He felt calm, but more of a happy calm than normal. Not that he was normally sad, but normally he was more…neutral, he supposed. His job sometimes got a little mundane when he wasn’t having to make the world forget him…he shook himself out of that. Dwelling on that fact wasn’t healthy.

“I’m glad you did find it though.” Avi’s suddenly serious tone brought Johann back.

“Found what?”

“Your flags. Everyone should get to be themselves, and get to celebrate it.” Johann smiled. While being asexual or aromantic wasn’t looked down upon or anything, it was still not as well known as other identities. Hell, he hadn’t heard of it until a few months ago, when he was hanging out with Avi.

Avi and Johann were laying on the quad, giggling and passing a flask between them. It was a late evening in spring, the slight chill in the air warded off by the flask’s contents.

“Hey Johann,” Avi whispered, “you ever have a girl? Or a guy? Or someone else?”

“Not really.” Johann spoke in what he clearly thought was also a whisper, saying, “I never really clicked with anyone, I guess.”

“Really? Man, whoever you like is really missing out.” Avi immediately blushed, but Johann didn’t seem to react to the comment, instead getting lost in thought.

“Whoever I like. Right. Here’s the thing…” Avi pushed himself into a sitting position to look at Johann. The bard had never mentioned his sexuality in the past, but had laughed at Avi’s near-constant gay jokes (mostly variations on “I can shoot this cannon straight, but that’s the only straight thing I can do!”), so Avi had always assumed he was queer in some way, but…

“I don’t know, man. I…when I think about relationships, I can see myself with anyone…kind of? But it’s not like I see someone and go ‘yeah, I want to do things with you!’, it’s more, like, I want to hang with people and talk but…I don’t know, I’m not making sense.” Johann finally looked up at Avi. Avi was surprised to see fear in his eyes.

“Hey, no, it’s fine. What you’re describing, I have friends like that.”

Johann’s eyes widened, and voice lost all pretense of whispering. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, it sounds like you’re ace. Maybe aro too.” Johann sat up and listened intently as Avi explained that yeah, some people don’t experience attraction, and he felt like a weight was lifting off his shoulders he never knew was there. As Avi finished, Johann felt like pieces were falling into place around him, and it was wonderful, but it was also so much-

“Hey, you ok?” Johann shrugged? “Want a hug?” The bard nodded. “Bring it in, my guy.” And the two sat next to each other, embracing, as Johann processed that there were words for him, that he wasn’t just off, wasn’t just missing something. It was a while before Avi spoke again.

“If you want, we could call some of my friends and you could talk to them too.”

“That would be great,” Johann said into Avi’s shoulder. He laughed. “But maybe not now. It’s like…” He tried to check his watch, but found it wasn’t on his wrist. “Shit, it’s, um,” he floundered before staring intently at the sky.

“Shit, dude, can you tell the time by the stars?”

After a long pause, Johann responded. “No.” Avi started laughing. “But I thought I’d try, I guess? Fuck. Well, it’s late, and I’m drunk and having life changing revelations. We can call them tomorrow. Tomorrow?”

“We should be able to do that.”

“Thank you, Avi.” Avi squeezed his shoulder, not trusting himself to speak as tears streamed down his face.

Magnus smiled as he carefully finished writing ‘Happy Candlenights!’ on a light grey ribbon. He checked his ornament’s paint to find it was still tacky, so he set the ribbon down and started to look at the other’s creations. Carey was detailing a line of rainbow daggers through the center of her half-heart, separating the words ‘Happy’ and ‘Candlenights’ written in a swirly hand. Killian was drawing simple ducks along the border of her ornament. She seemed to be letting a rainbow lollipop dry in the center.

From his angle, Magnus couldn’t quite see Avi’s or Johann’s, but figured they would show them off eventually. He sat back and gave a contented sigh. Taako looked up. “Everything ok, big guy?”

“Oh yeah,” Magnus assured, “I’m just happy. I haven’t been in one place long enough to be part of a Queer group in a while, and I’m just glad to be here with all of you.” He smiled at everyone as he continued, “I don’t know if I realized how much I missed having something like this. It’s…” He paused, trying to find the words. Finally, he simply said, “It’s hard to describe. Sorry for being sappy.”

“Nah, don’t apologize Magnus. This is a really positive space, and I’m glad you’re feeling it,” Killian said with a smile. She reached over and grabbed Magnus’ shoulder reassuringly. Across the table, Taako tried to wipe his eyes without people noticing. It didn’t work, and Carey passed him a clean napkin.

“I’m fine, really,” he said as he wiped his eyes again and Carey held his free hand, “Magnus just had to go and be emotional.” Everyone chuckled before Taako continued, “But, yeah. I, uh…didn’t exactly cultivate companionship as well as one might hope, before this. And it’s nice. It’s like it fills a hole I didn’t even know was there.” And Taako felt that peculiar sadness he sometimes got, but he also felt a peace, looking at the faces around him. “And as much as I love all my friends I have, there’s something about hanging out with people like me, at least every so often, that’s important.”

By this point, Avi and Johann had looked up and were nodding at what Taako had said. The six reached out and held the others-hands, shoulders, whatever they could reach-and smiled at each other, not really doing much about the tears running down their faces. After a bit, they mostly untangled themselves, and Avi spoke up.

“Hey, I need people who will appreciate my gay jokes!” As everyone laughed, he held up his ornament, which depicted the cannon. But instead of shooting out a transport ball, it was shooting out a rainbow flag. “See, it can’t even shoot straight!”

The whole table laughed harder. Everyone started showing off their completed ornaments as Magnus carefully glued his ‘Happy Candlenights’ ribbon above the bear on his own. Once they had all sufficiently appreciated their friends’ art, they all started helping clean up the table, stacking unused supplies to be put away, throwing away dirty paper, and washing paint brushes. Soon, the room was clear and people started plating leftovers to take home. The six friends waved goodbye and wandered back to their beds, ready to sleep. Their ornaments hung on their bushes (besides Avi’s, which hung off the main cannon), a testament to who they were and who they loved.

#motherfuckingmagicbrian #one-true-houselight #queercandlenights #taz #the adventure zone #taako #magnus #carey #killian #avi #johann #fic #submission

[abundantchewtoys]

HS Epi: Meat p12 reaction

Back to Earth C presumably.

I gotta say, I'm curious to find out the final page count of Meat. The way we liveblog, the experience is stretched out, so with theories surfacing and such, we might be caught off guard when things are really over. There's only so far that things will be taken, though I guess we're still in for those "original Male/Female characters", I guess. :P That shouldn't refer to the new Reload timeline John created, I think, with copies of all the people mentioned in the rest of the character list. So, uh, yeah, guess the reason Arquiusprite wasn't mentioned in there was because he remained unseen, voided out if you will. And I guess we shouldn't expect an alternate Equius to have a talking role, either?

---

==>

Well! Talk about jumping straight into the action, this page opens with a dialoguelog! Back to Dave, Karkat and if my eyes didn't deceive me, we'll get some lines for Jade, too! Supportive Jade will be supportive.

"hit jane right in her neoliberal austerity measures" ... Hah. Well, I didn't think that would get referenced again at all, but it seems after all these years since John's 18th birthday Dave still has issues with the ol' N.A.M. So, Jane's a neoliberal AND a fascist now, Dave? Is that... even feasible?

"DAVE: now shes gonna spin some shit about supply side economics but we cant let her control the narrative on that one cause the first thing thats gonna happen once she begins deregulating the baking industry is that some sweet dumb crocodile down in consort land is gonna start putting sparkle glue in the cupcake mix which isnt even the real issue thats just surface issues KARKAT: RIGHT. JADE: definitely" ... Like, Dave I admire you're getting so into this, but you realize they aren't following, right? Also, why would Jane want to deregulate the baking industry if she's the leader of the foremost power in said industry, as well as running for president? Plus, Jane can't control the narrative because Caliborn is already controlling it! :mspa:

"DAVE: i mean earth c has just been play acting capitalism the last five thousand years while we timeskipped ahead to live rad lives as gods without bothering with any of the boring shit that goes into making a civilization DAVE: which is fine i mean you cant really expect a bunch of teens who didnt finish middle school to set up a sustainable form of social democracy that isnt just blatantly ripped off whatever we incorrectly thought obama god rest his soul was doing back in the day" ... Gee, Dave's given this a real lot of thought. Props to him, but I hope that aside from becoming 'an activist' he's also got some legitimite action points to improve Earth C's situation.

Guess Sburb really does a number on players, huh? "Congrats, you won, you're all gods now, and also, here's this whole civilization on the brink of collapse, have fun with that. Don't mess this up, I need those people to start the apocalypse in say, 2000 years, k thx bye." (The fact that this civilization, being outside of the Green Sun's influence, may never implement Sburb, is a bit besides the point since I think the trolls would have had the same issue tossed onto them had they actually gone through the victory door.)

Right, but the trolls had their home planet already effectively run by children, I wonder if that will come again? Even though they had carpenter droids at their disposal to run some things for them, they might actually be a bit more self-reliant than the humans!

"DAVE: but janes got this old school mentality you just know she wants to restrict grist alchemy for the sake of “growth” and when that goes down itll take three seconds flat for some nobody in new dersetown to drop the earth c communist manifesto" ... New Dersetown, I like the ring of that. Would call it New Dersey for short, though. :P Again, valid points there, Dave! If any revolt started, it doesn't have to be in the troll community, it could just as much be an angry carapace uprising! They're only docile if there's no one to rally behind.

Blaperile has this idea that the new society in a universe is not supposed to be seeded with the remains of the session nor the universe that came before it. That's actually a valid point; the only reason this society got kickstarted was through the cloning apparatus that was on the meteor! The consorts and carapaces seem like they would be able to reproduce biologically though, so I'm not sure how Sburb normally ensures the planet is a clean slate for a new species to emerge. ... Okay, so the planet itself doesn't really need to be the place where a new Sburb-playing species rises, true. There's a whole new universe out there.

Maybe through "importing" old Sburb technology, the "alpha" planet designation went to Earth C automatically, though.

Or maybe First Guardians are expected to 'cleanse' the planet from outside influence normally, but since this society's outside of the Green Sun's influence, that ain't happening. And Jade won't be going Thanos on Earth C.

"KARKAT: OH YEAH. JADE: of course DAVE: are you two even listening or are you just making noises with your mouths" Dave realizing he's monologuing? What character development is this. :O

"KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M BEING ACCUSED BY DAVE STRIDER, REIGNING EMPEROR OF SPEWING ENDLESS VERBAL DIARRHEA DIRECTLY INTO MY INNOCENT HEAR DUCTS EVERY DAY OF MY FUCKING LIFE, OF MAKING THOUGHTLESS MOUTH NOISES. KARKAT: JADE, ARE YOU HEARING THIS? JADE: im scandalized JADE: especially when JADE: there are much better things we could all be doing with our mouths....." ... Jade, your animes are showing again. ... I think that maybe Jade doesn't want this relation to be going where Dave and Karkat want it to go.

"It’s been a really nice day they’ve been having, and then Jade had to go say something like that. The air in the hive changes in a way that is palpable, in a way that she can’t seem to accurately gauge despite having both superhuman and superdog senses." ... Ah. So I guess maybe Jade just can't get a lid on some of her more... canine inclinations, at time. Welp!

"Elements of her outfit resemble her god tier jammies: peasant skirt, sparkly flats, and a bold choice in striped tights." Nice! That's only the third person who created an outfit based on her god tier outfit that we know, aside from Meenah and Rose.

"the couch where she crashed last night, and the night before that, and the better part of the seven years before that." It would seem Jade has the wanderlust then, she's more like the vagrant dog that comes visiting from time to time? More GCAT in demeanor than Becquerel, in practice. Heheh. Good for her, after being isolated on an island and then a battleship for so long, she's finally going out & seeing things!

"There are other personal effects of hers in the living room too: plants on the windowstill, her bass guitar sitting in a corner" Cool, so when she comes over, she typically lounges here then. Guess the flute never made it over, though. :p

"a horrific-looking periodic table that Dave made her for her seventeenth birthday pinned above the stairwell. He typed it in Comic Sans, and then deep-fried it to oblivion with JPEG artifacts." ... Next up, on For Fans By Fans...

"And Dave, with his preternaturally perfect timing, sweeps a hand over his tablet to bring up a new PowerPoint slide on the TV. He returns to his Comic Sans-written political presentation, gruesome artifacts and all" Dave, Dave that isn't professional at all!

", with the grace and proficiency of a man who has diffused an awkward situation in his own household many times per day, every day, for many years." Well, okay, that is really mature. But when Dave is the adult in a situation, the situation is very awkward per definition.

"DAVE: alternia: brutal eugenics based space dictatorship KARKAT: NOT UNTRUE." Succinct, brutal, but not dishonest.

"DAVE: troll homeworld: lord of the flies nightmare scenario where kids murder each other just to get the chance to get to grow up and murder other aliens instead KARKAT: IT WASN’T THAT BAD." Karkat. Karkat that isn't a valid rebuke.

"KARKAT: YOU MADE THAT LAST ONE UP. KARKAT: ALSO, IT WAS DISGUSTING?? KARKAT: GROW THE FUCK UP, YOU UTTERLY CONTEMPTIBLE, POTTY MOUTHED *CUNT*." ... The irony is stark.

"JADE: also you know trolls dont actually have two dicks dave thats an offensive stereotype" Are we really doing troll anatomy? Well, I guess it's good to know that the fan theory about Sollux at least isn't applicable to the entire species.

"DAVE: trolls: literally ate babies KARKAT: ONLY THE DEFECTIVE ONES. DAVE: like you my dude KARKAT: ...YEAH. DAVE: so thats why our campaign can work" Yeah, Karkat ate grubs, though they weren't troll babies. Also, yeah, Karkat was a mutant, but I wonder if that would really help his case here.

"DAVE: btw im gonna be giving a long form exam at the end of this to make sure youre retaining info because this is only like the most important thing weve ever done collectively" Well he ain't wrong.

"KARKAT: ARE YOU ASKING ME WHETHER I’VE HEARD THIS EXACT SPEECH ALMOST WORD FOR WORD, INCLUDING REHEARSED VERSIONS OF BOTH THE COLORFUL METAPHORS AND “JOKES,” TEN OR TWENTY TIMES ALREADY? KARKAT: BECAUSE THE ANSWER WOULD BE KARKAT: YES, OF COURSE I FUCKING HAVE." Poor, poor Karkat.

"Karkat elbows Dave in the thigh, a move that is obviously meant to be an action of pure, brotherly jest. But instead it comes off as affectionate and overly intimate. Jade’s clever eyes don’t miss this. Her pupils follow the motion of Karkat’s arm, and then they follow the movement of Dave’s mouth as he smiles in what he probably thinks is a totally neutral expression that reveals exactly 0% of his true feelings toward Karkat Vantas. In reality, his veneer is as thin and transparent as cellophane. He is the only person who can’t see through it.

Jade does some calculations in her head. Two kinds of calculations, in fact: mathematical ones and personal ones." So, is Jade reading too much into their relationship, or are the dudes just... Both too shy?

"JADE: soooooo JADE: do you want a projection of her first years hit on the economy down to the decimal with a 0.3% margin of error JADE: because thats a thing i can do if itll make you stop talking about this stupid election for ten minutes" I didn't know that were First Guardian powers! :p I suppose it might be her natural intellect though, but we've only known her as the hands-on science type until now.

"She proceeds to dazzle the two boys with explications on complex math utilizing taxation rates, GDP figures, and some damned thing called the “Laffer curve,”" Dang, Jade is as much committed to this as Dave! (Or maybe she learned all this because it means so much to him, that could be it too!)

"The thing about Jade Harley is that she’s not as good at personal things as she is at other things. Like science, or mastering fraymotifs, or kissing, the last of which she has definitely put a lot of levels into over the past few years because, well, what else are you supposed to do with immortal godhood once you hit the age where the dog hormones start kicking into overdrive?" Guess for dogs, kissing isn't that personal. :p And well, I guess Jade's only now learning the real consequences of turning into a real-life furry. At least she won't have had lack of candidates to practice kissing with. She might even have become the Witch of Spacing Out Young Adults.

"Her high-prescription lenses make her eyes look anime-huge. They might literally be glittering, she’s so completely serious about the issue she is trying to stress." And the fan artists rejoiced for all the new descriptions they have to work with!

" JADE: im about to lay out some cold hard evidence so pay attention! KARKAT: OH, HANG ON, LET ME GET A PEN." You can't live together with Dave for years without learning when it's time to start taking notes and grab a fucking pen.

"JADE: evidence about..... JADE: our relationship! KARKAT: FUCK" Pfff, okay, never mind. I think Jade might have hit a wall several times over before, trying to either define their relationship or take it to the next level. These dudes are really sensitive about their feelings, after all.

But it would be interesting, learning Jade wants to know where they stand just as much as the outside world does.

"JADE: you let me live in your hive when im in town KARKAT: I CAN’T BELIEVE... JADE: im preeeetty intimately entwined in both your lives KARKAT: THAT YOU’RE JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS? JADE: AND you dont disengage from about 86.234% of my flirtations KARKAT: WAIT, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU KEEP TRACK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT? JADE: so....... are we doing this or not?" So, just like with taking on Lord English and acknowledging the lit fuse that is Earth C society, I guess the coming around of April 13th 2019 is when Jade had enough of all this silly business and wants to know what's what. (Also, I suppose the level of intimacy they shared on beforehand will be left to speculation.)

"KARKAT: DOING WHAT?! JADE: dating dummy!!!!!!!! KARKAT: OH. KARKAT: THAT IS KARKAT: THAT IS... A COMPLICATED TOPIC IN MY CULTURE THAT I’M NOT SURE HUMANS ARE EQUIPPED TO TALK ABOUT." Smooth, Karkat, real smooth. Maybe Karkat fears commitment will lead to some of their relationships shifting into other quadrants. And he wouldn't like to be moirails or auspistices with either of them.

"DAVE: also totally unrelated to the economy" ... Nice try Dave, but I think this can't be steered back into that track.

"DAVE: which not gonna lie is the only thing i want to talk about for uh DAVE: for however long it takes for this other conversation to stop happening JADE: so say no!!! DAVE: well KARKAT: UHHHHH JADE: im not just forcing this conversation for my sake! its for you two as well JADE: i mean after all this time have you two even kissed yet?????? DAVE: wha" I think Dave and Karkat might actually have been both content to stay uncommitted and fearful to put a label on it. Also Jade's question will presumably remain unanswered, it's already surprising it's confirmed she hasn't seen them kissing. And that is ignoring the matter of whether either Dave or Karkat kissed Jade before. I guess it's only fortunate for this situation that this instance of Jade never dated Davesprite, it would only complicate things further.

"DAVE: wha KARKAT: WH-WHY WOULD DAVE: uhh KARKAT: WHY WOULD WE KISS?? DAVE: thats KARKAT: THAT’S... YOU... I MEAN, HE’S... HE’S DAVE. DAVE: we KARKAT: AND I’M KARKAT." PFffffffff, hilarious! I can just see them blushing like tomatoes right now. Can't keep staying in denial bros!

"JADE: yes hes dave and youre karkat and everyone we know always calls you that JADE: “dave and karkat”" Hah! Yeah, but they also think you're part of the item, Jade. Care to shed some thoughts on the subject?

"JADE: i cant remember the last time i heard anyone mention one of you without the other JADE: the two of you have basically been together since your days on the meteor its SO obvious" Jade has turned this from a personal matter into a fandom matter. "Everyone and their dog knows you're dating, guys! Stop pretending otherwise!" It's interesting to note the different ways Dave has been seen handling relationships. When he dated Terezi in the GO timeline, it went south due her troubles in the black quadrant. When Davesprite dated Jade, it went south due to unresolved Dave issues, presumably having to do with his bros. With Karkat, Dave's been in a stable-ish thing for the longest time, though.

" KARKAT: VERY CLOSE FRIENDS WHO UNDERSTAND AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER ON A DEEP AND EMPATHETIC LEVEL THAT GOES BEYOND HATE OR PITY. YOU COULD EVEN SAY THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP... KARKAT: ...TRANSCENDS QUADRANTS." ... PFfffffff, so this could have been what it was like for the Sufferer and the Disciple, then! They were just never ready to commit? That would actually be funnier than it being this deep and fulfilling relationship. It would also make Doc Scratch' misgivings on the relationship even more hilarious.

"JADE: yeaaaaaah not gonna lie karkat but that sounds totally kinda gay KARKAT: UGH YOU HUMANS AND YOUR UNFATHOMABLE GENDER BASED QUADRANTS." ... Heh. Actually. Too trolls, the whole gender-based romance thing we have going must indeed be as unfathomable as leprechaun romance.

"Jade faceplams." Well that's a new verb. ;) What part of the body is the 'plam', exactly?

" KARKAT: ANYWAY WEREN’T YOU... DATING THAT CARAPACIAN COUPLE? LAST TIME WE CHECKED?" Lolwut. Jade. Jade are you... are you being a Ms. Casanova, a paramour or two in every city you frequent? If WV and PM turn out to be alive for the sole purpose of dating Jade, I'll choke on my drink.

" DAVE: wait you saying we arent fun JADE: whens the last time either of you left the house??????" I know Jade means it as in, she'd like to date them for keeps. But I also fulheartedly believe Dave and Karkat can sustain themselves on delivery pizza and chinese chow.

"In her other hand, she tries to grab Dave’s wrist, but he flash-steps to the other side of the couch." Well that's a new use of the power, guess Dave must really have felt alarmed. :p

"JADE: i wanna try dating for real KARKAT: HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED KARKAT: SORRY IF WHAT I’M ABOUT TO SAY TOTALLY BLOWS YOUR MIND KARKAT: DATING A SINGLE PERSON, FOR MORE THAN HALF A SWEEP, FOR REASONS OTHER THAN INITIATING THE CONCUPISCENT EXCHANGE OF FLUIDS?" Karkat is trying to throw the issue back into Jade's face by saying she should try dating for a longer period of time. But that's exactly what she's trying to do here! She knows who she wants that with! That poor little troll, he's not getting out from under this.

"JADE: third of all karkat arent you from a culture where people are expected to engage in romantic relationships with up to like five people at a time?? KARKAT: THAT’S NOT KARKAT: THAT’S NOT THE SAME THING AT ALL." If he's trying to avoid getting dragged into quadrants with people, he should stop upholding the validity of the quadrants to hold people off. :p

"DAVE: ok jade i think theres a flaw in your approach here cause you seem to think winning an argument on super clever logical grounds is gonna get a couple dudes to break down and fling themselves at you in like, a sexual way JADE: wellll it usually does ;B DAVE: oh my fucking god" So she swoons people by way of her big brain. Jade's got CLASS.

"This earns Dave a look. A long, sad one that has Jade messing with her glasses again so that she can peer right at him and apply some more of that faulty personal math to his facial expression." Just confirmation here that Jade isn't necessarily correct in all her assessments due to not being objective.

"JADE: dave are you in love with obama? DAVE: jade jesus where do you get this shit from JADE: is it about jesus then??????" Aaaaaand this has been derailed again.

"DAVE: no! DAVE: jesus wasnt even real JADE: i know he wasnt real! JADE: wait... JADE: are you saying JADE: obama was real? DAVE: ... DAVE: yes" Wut. Wai- I- Jade. Honey. Please. Guess for all her involvement in politics since, those isolated years on the island sheltered her WAY too much.

"DAVE: obama was real DAVE: he was the president KARKAT: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA JADE: all this time i thought obama was like JADE: an aspirational fictional character that you modeled your life after KARKAT: AHAHAHAHA I CAN’T AHAHA BREATHE... JADE: like snoop dog or nicolas cage" ... Jade. Jade no. You're just making this worse on yourself. For Jade, there would have been almost nothing in Homestuck she'd have seen as a reference to 'real life', would there?

"senary numeral systems that allow me to do complex equations in my head" ... Why is Base 6 good for complex equations? I'm probably not good enough at math to know.

"KARKAT: WHY IS IT LIKE SOME SORT OF *TRAGEDY* HOW SHE WAS RAISED? KARKAT: BECAUSE SHE WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL?? KARKAT: *I* WAS RAISED ALONE BY AN ANIMAL!" There! It's getting acknowledged again, how Jade's upbringing more resembles a troll than a human's! Becquerel the lusus.

"There’s a ripple in the room that makes it clear their god tier powers have just clashed against each other. He shifts his arm through time and Jade warps the space around them so that she’s the one holding the tablet. This is not the first time that they have rearranged the fabric of reality for a petty reason like this. Karkat has permanently sworn off playing board games with them." ... Lol. First real use of the god tier powers in Earth C, and it goes like this! Wait, couldn't Jade have snapped... Right, no, she actually wouldn't have First Guardian powers anymore now, I forgot. Still, what did Dave try to do, move the tablet to another point in the timeline?

"The moment Jade brings the paint program up on the television, Karkat stops laughing. KARKAT: NO!" Oh boy. Time for the Penis Quadrant scene, this time with three people. ... This would actually fall under both definitions of a "sketch", actually.

"He tries to grab the tablet from her, but she’s hovering well above the ground and he simply is not tall enough to reach. With a shit-eating grin and deliberate care, Jade begins to draw a grid." He's going to jump up to grab her leg, to disturb the drawing, isn't he?

"She gives Karkat a pair of fuzzy, angry eyebrows" Now I'm starting to think of the Karkat expressions in that one Paradox Space.

"all he accomplishes is turning the redrom trajectory between her and Dave into a redrom loop-de-loop." This is all I could want from a reprise of this scene.

"JADE: see me and karkat have great black chemistry! KARKAT: IT IS NOT BLACK CHEMISTRY YOU HORRID NON-CHITINOUS WINDBAG!" A+ denial there, Karkat, props on the response.

"JADE: and now that daves all chill hed make a great auspistice" Jade just wants all Karkat's quadrants filled by the three of them, somehow.

"JADE: because you and karkat are kind of like moirails DAVE: no JADE: and you and i JADE: well yknow its always been pretty flirty DAVE: jade JADE: EXCEPT!

Jade finishes drawing a shaky heart directly into the paint program. It’s so big and bright on the TV that it fills the entire room with red light." She's putting all these names and symbols to the relationship, it might just be too much for these poor boys to handle. :p

"JADE: i call this political arrangement: JADE: fully automated luxury polyamorous space-time communism!!!!!!!" That is not the shipping name I would've chosen, but it's the shipping name we deserve. And hey, communism! Get it? Cause Karkat had a sickle.

I wonder what Karkat's take on polyamory outside of the ashen quadrant is, actually.

"Jade rolls her eyes and tosses both the tablet and pen over her shoulder. Dave flashes across the living room to catch his very expensive computing device in both arms. The pen bounces off his forehead." This. Entire. Scene.

"JADE: i have to go talk to roxy and callie about the election anyway" Well, she's going to let them stew on this for a while. But I'm eager to find out who Roxy & Calliope would back. You might think Jane's a given, but if she's been busy maybe they have grown closer to Jade & Dave!

"Jade clicks her heels together to propel herself back into the air and actually winks at them before absconding through an open window." Think happy thoughts! Also, I just realized becoming a god sadly never gave Karkat the powers of flight.

"Dave and Karkat both stare after her, silently caught in their own private rationalization spirals.

Karkat needs to verbalize part of his out loud." Ah, but can they stay in that spiral or will they have no choice but to break out of it?

"KARKAT: WANNA PLAY SOME TROLL TONY HAWK? DAVE: hell DAVE: yeah" Yyyyyeaah, they are not going to have changed when Jade comes back, will they?

So even Karkat calls it "Troll Tony Hawk", not whatever absurdly wrong name it'd have on Alternia, and not whatever Tony Hawk's duodecimal name in Alternian would be. :P

#homestuck #homestuck epilogues #upd8 #reaction #spoiler alert #jade harley #karkat vantas #dave strider #homestuck liveblog

[symbolism-of-a-rose]

SO, again it is Rune Factory’s 12th anniversary weekend. And I finally pulled out my laptop, so here’s the beginning of a fanfic that I’ve started writing. I actually started this a while back, before the weekend was announced and... yeah. 

Behold, my theoretical plot for Rune Factory 5: The Wooly Revolution This is Chapter 1 (it’s unfinished, but getting there. I’m up to chapter 7 or so)

Spring 1, Year 1

I woke up to rain. It splattered across my face and dripped down my neck. The sky above me was a blurry blue-gray between the feathered foliage of overhanging trees. For a moment I just allowed myself to breathe. There was an ache in my head, near the base of my skull and crawling toward the top. The air was cold. It sat like the last dregs of winter in my mouth. The ground beneath my back made me shiver. Oddly, it was dry. Pieces clicked together. I must have been lying there before it started raining.

How had I gotten there? Had I meant to-

Blond hair and blue eyes suddenly popped into my view. “You alright?” a young man asked, his eyebrow quirked in a curious face of concern. A brown headband did little to tame the sunny spikes protruding from his scalp. He looked like a traveller of some kind. He offered a hand to help me up.

I took it, looking around at my surroundings. It was a forest, densely populated. I could hear birds, monsters, and other small animals rustling in the underbrush.

Oddly, though, it did nothing to remind me of how I got there. Or why I was there in the first place.

Or, I realized with horror, who I was.

“Can you talk at all?” the man tried again. Now that I was standing, I could see that he was shorter than I expected. He stood at least four inches shorter than myself. That wasn’t normal-- was it?

I blinked at him. “I-- yeah.” I ran through a few ways to broach the subject with him. Did he know who I was? Was I supposed to know him?

“Do I know you?” I asked finally.

The man smiled as if I had made a joke. “Hmm?” he shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I was just heading to Laine up the way and saw you here. Did you hit your head?”

I rubbed my head experimentally. Sure enough, there was a sore patch right on the crown of my scalp. I winced.

The man nodded sympathetically. “Let’s head into town together.” He shivered slightly in the cold. His head tilted to the side and he made a strange face. “Sounds to me like you’ve got some amnesia.” He smiled reassuringly at me. “But I’m sure there’s a place up ahead where you can live out the rest of your life in relative peace without anyone from your previous life ever showing up.” He started walking before I had a chance to figure out any of the words he had just said. Had he started speaking a different language while I wasn’t paying attention?

“Wait what?” I asked as I jogged to catch up with him.

“I’m Micah,” he said cheerily as he continued to walk through the forest. “Do you remember your name?”

“Uhhh….” Did I remember my name? “It’s Elle.”

“Elle? Nice name,” he said brightly. “And, if you don't mind my asking, are you a guy or girl?”

I made a face without thinking, starting at Micah in disbelief. “What?” He just stared at my face as calm as can be as if he hadn't just asked one of the oddest questions I had ever heard in my life.

Which, considering I could only remember the past few minutes, didn't say much. I sighed. “A girl.”

“Awesome!” He smiled. “Do you remember your birthday?”

“Ah…” no. I did not. “Maybe the beginning of winter?”

“Sounds good!” His smile broadened as he pointed ahead to a place where the trees suddenly cleared. “Look! There's Laine!”

We broke through the last line of trees. For the briefest moment, the world seemed to hang on a breath, my heart hovering between one beat and the next. Mist hung low over the rolling grasslands, leading down toward a small village near the coastline’s edge. A cluster of buildings were huddled together against the chill from a spring breeze carried from across the ocean. Some were small, homes perhaps. Others were robust and comparatively full of life-- smoke curling from chimneys and doors fearlessly tossed open in defiance of the chill.

“It’s beautiful,” I said quietly, my voice lost in a gust of wind.

I glanced at Micah at my side. His eyebrows were knit together in a look of confusion. “Something’s not right,” he muttered. He took off at a run down the path that led to the cluster of sea-worn buildings.

Without thinking, I followed him. What did he mean something wasn’t right? Did he live there? Were we about to run into a mess?

Probably. But I followed him regardless.

We arrived in the town, breathing heavy. I curled forward with my hands on my knees as I struggled to be able to ask one of the thousands of questions that were starting to bubble into my mind. Micah was looking around as if he expected to be greeted by someone or something.

When I finally thought I might be able to say something, a scream interrupted my intake of breath.

I turned my head this way and that, looking for the source. There were sturdy wooden structures like homes or businesses, but it took me a moment before I found the person who was screaming. It was a group of children playing outside the porch of one of the bigger buildings. About half a dozen of them were chasing one another. A small, dark-skinned boy was at the head of the pack, running away from the other five with a stick in his hand.

“Jerome! Get back here!”

“Big Bully- gimme back my stick!”

“Heeee~eey!!!! That’s not yours, it’s my turn!”

“Get him!!!”

The kids ran until they came running toward me. For a second I wondered if they would stop. They didn’t and my second of hesitation was a second too long. For the second time in all of the half an hour of my life, I found myself looking up at the sky with gentle water drops finding their way into the awkward crevasses of my neck.

“Ah now,” said a wizened voice, thick with sarcastic intent. “Look what y’all did. You nearly killed this poor girl.”

“It’s Jerome’s fault!” said a different voice. “He took my stick!”

I sat up, blinking and trying to again make sense of my surroundings. An old man, judging by the wrinkles in his skin and the white hairs on his head, stood with crossed arms and an expression that told me I was in trouble. He wore simple but hardy clothes, he looked like a worker of some kind, like a blacksmith or carpenter. He also had that air of authority that told me I should probably respect him or find myself in a world of social inconvenience.

But why the heck am I in trouble? I wondered. I’m the one they knocked over!

“Maybe less poor than just stupid,” the man said, nodding to himself. “That’s what you get for standing there like a gaping fish.”

Don’t agree with yourself! I thought bitterly, standing and trying, vainly, to brush the mud off my clothes. It occurred to me that I hadn’t noticed what I was wearing earlier. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to think about it now either.

“You alright, Elle?” Micah asked, seeming to have only just realized that I had fallen.

“I'm fine,” I said, not sure if I really was.

“Good,” he said. He turned his attention to the old man. “Is there a shrine or temple or anything nearby?”

“You need to make a confession?” The man squinted at Micah.

“Ignore him,” a new voice said behind us. We turned to the newcomer, an old woman was standing there with a small child on either side of her. She was elderly more than old. She seemed like the stately kind of woman who took charge of almost any situation. She wore a long green-gray dress with a high neck and long sleeves. Her hands were folded in front of her nicely. I envied the neat way she tied up her hair. My hair kept falling into my face no matter how many times I pushed it back.

“I tend the shrine here,” the woman continued. She shot a look at the old man and sniffed. “Rooty’s just a lazy sack of bones.”

I glanced at the man, wondering if this was normal. I didn't really have much to compare it to. But the words didn’t seem to sting their intended recipient.

The old man, Rooty, smiled sardonically in response. “Sally.” the way he said her name made me think they were probably old friends. “Wonderful to see your rheumatism kept you from bringing the kids on time.” He paused. “Again.”

“Old coot,” she sniffed. Gently, she nudged the children toward the building.

“In any case,” the woman said, keeping an eye on the children as they ran past me, Micah and Rooty. “If you need to see the shrine, I'd be happy to show you.” She bowed respectfully, finally turning her eye to Micah. “I'm Salina.”

Micah’s shoulders fell in relief. “Thanks a bunch,” he said as his face fell into a smile. He looked at me and gestured to Rooty. “You should probably stay here. I bet Rooty knows where the farm is.”

I blinked. “What farm?” I asked. Had we been looking for a farm? Was I forgetting something?

He laughed as if it hadn't occurred to him that this needed explaining. “The farm where you'll be living from here on out.” He waved as he hurried to follow after Salina, leaving me there with more and more questions by the moment.

I looked back at Rooty. He was scratching his head. He looked at me. “You're here to start a farm?” He asked dubiously. He eyed me in a way that said he didn’t think I was suited to the farm life.

I shrugged. “I don't know. He found me unconscious in the woods. I don't remember how I got there or where I'm from or anything else for that matter.”

Rooty grunted and started to turn back down the road. “Well, your friend wasn't lying. There's a farm just over that way that hasn't been tended to in years.” He turned back to see that I was following. “C’mon, follow me.”

“Waaiiitt!!! Jerome still hasn't given me back the stick! It's my turn!!”

Rooty turned sharply toward the child who spoke. “You had better get into Miss Charity. You know how she gets if you're late.”

All the children suddenly stiffened before taking off at a full sprint toward the schoolhouse. I wondered briefly what kind of woman Miss Charity was, but then Rooty was walking off again. I had to jog to keep up with him. How was an old man so fast?

“The farm's this way. There's a little house attached to it that no one’s using. I don't know if it has any furniture or anything but you're welcome to have it.” His words flowed so quickly I hardly had the brain power to interpret them. “The seed shop’s owner’s been out of town for a while. Their son is taking care of it for the time being. A no-good delinquent, if truth be told, but there you have it. Luckily he's got that girl keeping an eye on him, but she's as naive as they come. You’ll find the shop if you poke around town for a bit. The carpenter’s shop is open, but I don't know what services they're offering this time of year.”

He kept up a rattling account of names and shops and places in town with a solid complaint against each of them. Somehow, even though his words were harsh, I got the impression he was quite proud of his town.

“And if you know anything about monsters, then you’d be welcome to try to cross the forest. But if ya don’t then steer clear. It’s a dangerous place these days what with--.” he coughed suddenly, interrupting himself. “What with everything.”

“What do you me--?”

“And here we are!” he interrupted me, gesturing to a dilapidated shack beside a weed-infested field of stumps and boulders.

It struck me that the area outside of town, the way that Micah and I had come into the town proper, would be much better suited to farming, but I decided to say nothing so not to seem ungrateful. Rooty looked at me expectantly as if either waiting for my complete dismay or complete adoration. I settled for a half-hearted, “Wow.”

Rooty turned away, but not before I saw a smile form on his face. “This’ll be your home from now on. Take good care of it.” He started to return the way we had come. “If you need me, I’ll call ya.” He waved without looking back.

“Wait, what?!” I looked after him, rooted to the spot. He just kept waving and walking until he was out of sight. I looked back at the shack. A large blackbird swooped overhead and lighted on the crest of the roof.

“What?” I said, quieter, to myself. I stood there staring for a long moment. More birds flew around. My head began to throb painfully and I shivered with a cold breeze that tore through the dress I wore.  

I made my way to the little hut. At least the wind wouldn’t be able to reach me inside, right?

Surprisingly, the inside was much cozier than the outside might lead one to believe. It was only a single room with a small washroom attached to one side. There was a small space with a table and a single three-legged stool to the left of the front door. To the right, there was an old mattress on a wooden frame. A small apple crate was placed next to it with a single candle stub and a worn book.

I moved toward the book, curious. Inside was a diary belonging to someone named Cucumber who had run a farm there a long time ago. Without hesitation, I tore out the pages belonging to Cucumber and began to write my own entry, explaining everything that had happened to me thus far.

Just as I finished, my door was thrown open. The roof shuddered and dust flitted down from the ceiling. I froze, fearing that the house would fall down on top of me. Then I saw Micah standing there in the doorway, eyes wild and a giant grin on his face. “Holy Native Dragons, Elle, you’ve got to see this!”

He paused when he saw me with the open book in my lap. He grinned. “Oh, hey! You found the diary! So Rooty already explained everything to you about the farm, yeah?”

“Ah,” I closed the book, not wanting Micah to see my descriptions of him. “No, not really. But I think I’ve got the jist of this part at least.”

“Well lemme explain the rest reeally quick, then-- you’re absolutely not gonna believe it-- anyway--.”

He shot off in an explanation that was almost entirely lost on me. At first he said things like “check through your inventory with the [L] button” and then “equip with the [A] button” and “You can use it with the [B] button, but be careful because sometimes you’ll get stuck using a move and get killed by a monster mid-stroke.”

I stared at him blankly until he was done, physically feeling the words bounce right off my head. He finally finished miming a stroke from a weapon of some kind and put his hands on his hips. “Make sense?” he asked.

My head fell to my hands and I wished that I had never regained consciousness. “How did you make that sound with your mouth?”

Micah ignored me and turned toward a chest I hadn’t noticed against the far wall of my hut. “Oh, hey,” he said, moving closer to it, “I bet this has your farming equipment.” He opened it and started rummaging through it.

Horrifyingly, the sounds that came from it sounded significantly more echo-y than they should have for a container so small. I moved to examine the chest over Micah’s shoulder. My mouth fell open. Inside, the box was significantly wider and deeper than it should have been.

“How-?”

“I know,” Micah said in a tone of weary dismay. “But it’s always like this.” He pulled out an ax that definitely shouldn’t have fit inside the box, to begin with. He examined it and sighed discontentedly. “This couldn’t cut a twig, let alone a tree.”

I sighed, realizing I had expected his answer this time.

“Don’t worry,” he said, patting my shoulder as he misinterpreted my exasperation. “I’m sure the blacksmith in town can help you upgrade them eventually.”

I hummed in response, wanting nothing more than to sink into unconsciousness and hope that this was all just a bad dream. Micah seemed to notice my despair. He sighed, glancing out the open door. “Well, I guess it can wait until tomorrow,” he said. “Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll be back tomorrow morning to help you figure out the farming stuff-- heck, I bet I can find you some seeds from the shop in town as well!”

With that, he turned on his heel, smiling back as he shut the door softly. “Sleep well!”

I listened to the crunch of his boots against stone as he walked away toward town. Eventually, they faded into the cawing of birds and the whistle of the wind over my rooftop. Wearily, I turned on my bed so I was sitting on my knees and facing the window. I gently pulled the dusty curtain back, worried that the touch would cause the gentle fabric to disintegrate.

The scene outside was just as it had been when I’d first seen it-- bleak. From this angle, I could see the rickety wooden fence that marked the edge of the cliff. I made a mental note to never wander too close-- or fix up the wall later when I knew more about that kind of thing.

With the window open, I curled up on the mattress. It felt stiff and musty. As I closed my eyes, I wondered if maybe I’d regain my memories once I woke up. Maybe I’d know my way home. Maybe I’d remember my family…. Maybe I’d… Maybe…. Remember.

The sun’s fading light threw a perfect square of light into my face, waking me with some gentle warmth. I pulled the curtain closed, blinking until I could see again. The small room was a warm orange now. I noticed things I hadn't before: the small fireplace in one corner, the large mirror on the wall beside the washroom.

Slowly, I sat up. My head didn't ache as much, to my great relief.

Sadly, I still remembered nothing from before I woke up in the forest. The thought left me feeling somewhat melancholic. I took a deep breath. Better to mourn it now and accept my lot then let it fester for later.

I might have a family somewhere. They might come looking for me. Or they might not. I might have people waiting for me. Or I might not. In the end, whatever happened in regards to my past, this place was my new home. And I would make the most of it.

I recorded these thoughts in my diary. I didn't realize I was crying until the ink began to blur.

What made it all the worse was the fact that I didn't even know what I was mourning. I didn't know what I was supposed to be missing. I didn't know what home I had left behind or what friends I had now abandoned.

But all the same. All the same. I had a new life. New people. I could be happy here. I just had to try, right?

My stomach growled, interrupting my soliloquy. I winced, wondering where I'd be able to get food. The hut didn't look particularly well-stocked. I began to pat the sides of my dress. Maybe I had pockets and money inside of them.

Sure enough, I found a store of money in my inventory with just about three thousand gold pieces. I hoped that would be enough for a meal in town. And some seeds. Maybe tomorrow I’d be able to get a start on fixing the farm.

I stood and stretched. My back popped. I winced. Moving toward the washroom, I caught a glimpse of myself for the first time in my memory.

I was obviously a woman. Micah’s question came back to my mind and I made a face. The dress I wore was well-cared for if not just a bit dirty. I could see places where someone-- myself, perhaps?-- had patched the seams and tears. It fell past my knees where I could see my torn stockings. They were knit with some kind of twisting pattern around my calves. Boots that laced up just past my ankle were tied onto my feet. They seemed scuffed and a little worn, but in good condition overall.

“So that’s what I look like,” I said, finally looking up at my face. There were splotches where dirt had clung to the rain on my face. My hair, probably a dusty brown, was currently just dusty. It might have been in a braid at some point, but I looked a bit like a wild child.

For a moment, looking into my eyes, I thought there was something wrong with them. But the moment passed. They were a deep fuschia color. Pinkish, but maybe that was just the setting light.

I moved to the washroom to clean myself off slightly. Maybe even brush my hair. I found the room to be better stocked than I had first anticipated. There were even some old, worn clothes. They were cleaner than what I was wearing so I put them on. It wasn’t anything flattering, but it seemed that I might be able to sew, so maybe I could take them in a little to fit me better.

I set my dirty clothes aside with the intent to wash them later when I returned. My stomach hurried me along toward the town again. Feeling refreshed and ready to eat the best meal that a poor amnesiac could afford, I threw open the door--

Only to have someone knock against my forehead with a sharp knuckle.

I spluttered and ducked, rubbing my forehead.

“Oh, gods, I’m so sorry-- I didn’t-- gods--.”

“Ahh,” I hissed. This kid had the knuckles of a palm cat. I blinked at the wood floors beneath my boots. Did I know what a palm cat was?

“Are you alright?”

I finally looked up at the man on my doorstep. His face was golden with the setting sun. His hair was sandy, nearly blending in with his skin. His purple shirt glinted with silver threads. He was tall and reasonably built, not gangly nor threateningly large. All that being said, if he wanted to pick a fight, I was pretty sure I could take him.

“Mmm, yeah,” I said, straightening. “Er… Sorry about that.”

His eyes widened comically. “What? No, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have--- gods, I’m so sorry. I should have been paying attention.” He was waving his hands. I found myself smiling at him. He was cute.

A blush spread across his face. “Really, I-- sorry-- I’m here because Granny Sal sent me. She said you’d probably be hungry and Rooty forgot to feed you before dropping you off and she’s with the twins right now and Rooty’s at the orphanage, of course, and-- gods, I’m rambling I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright,” I laughed for the first time. I noticed the box in his hands. “Is that for me?”

“Yes!” he said as if he had just remembered. With his arms stiff as sticks, he extended the box toward me. “It’s a dinner-- and there’s probably enough for breakfast tomorrow as well.”

I accepted the box. “Thank you, I was just thinking I was hungry.” My stomach growled to emphasize my point.

“I- uh.” from his other hand he lifted a second box. “Sal gave me one as well, so that I could join you, if you don’t mind the company?”

I blinked in surprise. Given what I had seen of Sal-- well, I had only seen her for a minute. Maybe she made a habit of making sure no one ate by themselves. “Of course not,” I replied.

I didn’t need to glance behind me to see the dusty, unwelcoming interior of my home. “Shall we eat outside?”

“Sure!” he beamed, clearly relieved that I had accepted. “There’s a place over there--,” he pointed toward the cliff, “--where a lot of us like to come to watch the sea. It’s a nice spot, is it okay if we eat there?”

As nervous as I was about the cliff and the rickety fence, I followed him there. The fence was even more rickety than I had imagined. Pieces of wood were just a nudge away from falling to the churning water below. He led me past the fence, around to a little flight of stairs leading down to a large shelf of sand and grass.

“Sometimes Will comes here to fish,” he explained. “Juliette and I come with him every now and again. It’s also a great spot for the fireworks festival next month. We don’t talk about it in town though, Rooty goes off on us hard if we do. He doesn’t want the kids thinking that it’s okay to get this close to the cliff.”

I nodded as if I understood what he was saying while we found our way to a rickety bench against the cliff face. Then I realized I had no idea who he was talking about, apart from Rooty and the kids. “I’m sorry, who is Will and Juliette?”

The man, who still hadn’t introduced himself either, laughed self-consciously. “Right, sorry, I forgot that you haven’t met everyone in town yet.” He opened the box of his dinner and began eating as he explained. “Will, Juliette, and I all work at Charlie’s Inn. Will’s-- well, he’s supposed to be an entertainer, a juggler, but he’s more of a glorified waiter.” He chuckled again. “Juliette helps me with the music sometimes, but she’s more of a hostess. She’s kind of like the face of the Inn.”

“So you’re a musician?” I asked, not really wanting to take my attention away from the best meal I could ever remember having. If Sal’s cooking was this good, then I think any sense of melancholy would be lost with my expanding waistline.

“Mm-Hm,” he said around a bite. “I stick to the piano for the most part-- you should hear Juliette on the violin, though. She’s incredibly talented!”

I glanced at him. The tone in his voice, he was so proud of his friend. He also seemed the type to deflect any sort of compliment away from himself. Again, I wondered, how do I know that?

“I’m sorry,” I said suddenly, hoping to finally get his name. “I never introduced myself. I’m Elle.”

He blinked at me in surprise. “I knew--” his face changed suddenly. “Oh! I didn’t introduce myself either, I’m so sorry!” He shifted to turn toward me and bowed slightly. “I’m Hammond, it’s an honor to meet you, Elle.”

“You as well, Hammond,” I smiled at him.

He chatted more about the townsfolk. I heard another half dozen names that seemed to just slip through my mind without any sort of intention of staying there. He was very animated as he spoke, very enthusiastic about all the wonderful qualities of everyone in the town. His voice had such a gentle quality. It was pleasing to hear.

The sun sank past the horizon, setting the mist aflame as it said it’s final adieu. Hammond had been right, it was a very nice spot. The temperature was still chilly, but I could see the summers passing with townsfolk celebrating at the cliff’s edge. It was oddly… idyllic.

“I should probably get going,” Hammond said as the night began to settle in a fair shade of lavender. He collected both of our boxes (neither of us had left enough leftovers worth saving) and tucked them under his arm. “I’ll walk you back to your house.”

“Thank you,” I said. “And thank you for bringing these, the food and company were both much needed.”

Another blush formed across his face. “Ah! You’re welcome!”

I watched his retreating form disappear toward town again. I leaned against the bottom half of the door-- which Hammond had shown me how to separate. I wondered if the townsfolk really were as wonderful as he had painted them to be. I hoped I could see them as optimistically as he did.

#rune factory #rf12th #Wooly Revolution #RF5 ch1 #i'll likely post the rest to archive #lemme know if i should post a link #otherwise i'll just shout it to the void #again #not finished #but it will be eventually

[captainredtabby]

A Day at Lake Hylia

I discovered “A Tale of Two Rulers” by @figmentforms back in May and immediately and uncontrollably began shipping Zelgan.  From there I found @s-kinnaly and her AMAZING artwork of the zelgan babies.  I am by no means a writer, but I felt the urge to write a light-hearted piece that would take place after “A Tale of Two Rulers” and before “The legend of Zelda and Time Again” by DreamingoftheSea.  

All of the characters belong to @s-kinnaly except for Cian and his mother. :)

A Day at Lake Hylia 

“Yahoooo!”

Rinku’s voice could be heard over the roar of the wind and water. It was a beautiful summer’s morning and Rinku had taken Kanisa and Tebanam to Lake Hylia for sailing and water sports.

Rinku gave Kanisa a thumbs up.

“She wants us to speed up!”, Kanisa shouted across to Tebanam.

The two Dragmires were aboard the King of Red Lions boat, working the sails and tiller as Rinku skimmed along the water’s surface behind the boat on wooden skis.

The skis and tow-rope were handmade by Rinku and Ralnor with guidance from the town carpenter. The boat however, called the King of Red Lions, was acquired by Rinku while exploring the Islands of the Great Sea. She said that the people of an island called Windfall Island had given it to her because she was Hylian. Legend has it, the boat had once been alive, an ancient Hylian King in fact! The Windfall Island dwellers wanted her to have it and return the inanimate king to Hyrule. She was humbled and gracious to receive such a lavish gift. Along that trip she discovered her love of sailing and taught the skill to her siblings when she returned home that summer. She even shared the legend of the boat with her family which amused everyone except for her step-father. Knowing that he held the memoirs of hundreds of past lifetimes, she decided not to pry. Not many of her step-father’s past lives held happy memories.

Tebanam trimmed the sails and the boat picked up speed. He looked behind him to watch his sister glide outside of the boat wake and let go of the tow-rope with one hand and dip it into the water, causing a tail of water to spray up behind the outstretched limb. Kanisa expertly steered the boat in a wide arc, allowing Rinku the extra pull she needed to skid even farther away from the wake. The trio made several laps around the large lake, ensuring they stayed a safe distance away from the shallows and beach-goers. They had gotten in trouble earlier that year for not watching where they were going and almost running over a member of the court who was playing in the water at the beach with her family. When Rinku hand-signed that she had had enough, Kanisa steered the boat back towards the beach and curved it away again to give Rinku the momentum to propel herself towards the shore and shallows. Kanisa and Tebanam then slacked the sails and anchored the King of Red Lions near where Rinku had landed.

“Here you go,” Rinku passed up one ski, then the other, and the coiled tow-rope into the boat.

Kanisa leaned on the side of the boat looking at Rinku who was standing in shoulder deep water. “Teb, can we go in a bit closer to shore? I don’t feel like getting my hair wet to-“ SPLASH…. ”Hey! Cough, cough,” Kanisa sputtered, resurfacing from the shove overboard by her brother, “Not cool Teb! Now my hair is going to dry all frizzy.”

Tebanam laughed as he drew back a few steps, ran, and launched himself over the bow of the boat. “Geronimo!” he exclaimed, landing his cannon ball right between his sisters. This didn’t amuse Kanisa either.

“Oh Kani, stop your pouting,” Tebanam teased, “Your spending a day on the lake, what did you think was going to happen?”

Kanisa tilted her head back underwater so her long fiery locks were smoothened out behind her. This took little effort because she too was shoulder deep in the lake. At 16 years old, she was the same height as Rinku who was in her late twenties. She sank lower in the water and turned to scan the crowd at the beach. When her eye caught his, she blushed and spun back around to face her brother and sister. She had a feeling he would be here today.

Twin grins crept onto Tebanam and Rinku’s faces as they regarded one another and then back to Kanisa.

“Does my baby sister have a secret crush?!” Rinku teased a little louder than Kanisa would have liked.

“Shhh, please stop!” Kanisa whispered back, her colour turning a deeper shade of red as she sunk deeper into the water almost hiding behind the boat.

“Tell us who it is!” Tebanam pried, he was looking at the beach goers in the direction that had caused his sister to flush. “Girl? Guy? Noble? Do we know their family?” The questions didn’t stop there.

“Keep your voices down!” Kanisa pleaded, “I didn't want to say anything because I didn’t want anyone to fuss over it.”

“Too late now,” Tebanam crossed is arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow at her. He was one year younger than her but already stood much taller, and the way he raised his brow reminded her of her elder brothers and father.

Rinku climbed onto Tebanam and pushed herself into the boat. When she reappeared over the edge she waved a spyglass tauntingly. “Give us a name and point them out with this and we’ll drop the questions.”

“For some reason I don't believe that”

Rinku’s grin widened, “Good, hahaha, you shouldn’t.”

Kanisa sighed, “fine, give it here. “ She held up her hand to receive the spyglass, which Rinku gave willingly. She gripped it with both hands and ducked behind the boat. She beckoned her siblings to follow suit. No one from shore would be able to see them. Looking through the glass she spotted him again with three of his friends. He was sitting against a tree, playing lazy notes on his guitar, his brown hair tied up in low bun. Kanisa put the glass down. Her siblings were going to eat her alive for this. Without looking at them she flopped a hand over exposing the spyglass for whoever wanted to take a look first. “Brunette, sitting against a tree…with a guitar”

“Oohh Kani, a musician?” Rinku was quicker than Tebanam in snatching the spyglass. “Wait… he looks familiar”

Tebanam grabbed the apparatus from Rinku and laughed when he spotted the boy in question. “Cian? Really Kani?

Kanisa blushed and covered her eyes with her hand.

Rinku looked inquisitively up at her brother. “Refresh me.”

Tebanam placed the spyglass back in the boat, “Cian is Mrs. Glasba’s son.”

“Oh right!” Rinku snapped her fingers as she remembered. Mrs. Glasba was the children’s music instructor. She would often bring her own children to the castle for lessons with the Dragmires. “He was the middle child, right? I remember he barely spoke. A very small, shy young thing, and a few years older than you if I remember correctly.”

“That was ages ago Riri, he’s grown up quite a bit since then…” She bit her lip as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

“Some growing up, which you’ve obviously noticed.” Rinku gave Kanisa’s shoulders a squeeze, and winked at Tebanam.

“Well,” Tebanam began, “are you, or are you not going to tell us what’s happening between you two?”

The cat was out of the bag now, and Kanisa trusted Rinku and Tebanam to keep this between themselves. Besides, it was getting to the point where she wanted to tell someone about Cian… not that there was much to tell really. She lounged back in the water and stared up at the clouds, keeping herself afloat with gentle sculling of her hands. She took a deep breath, “Nothing is …happening. Honestly. Teb, you know how I’ve been spending more time with Mrs. Glasba, right?”

Tebanam nodded and Rinku interjected, “I didn’t! But I’m going to assume you are getting private lessons?”

“In a way. I’ve stopped learning the piano and harp like mama, and shifted my interests into singing and dance,” Kanisa explained, “When I first brought this to Mrs. Glasba’s attention – that I wanted to try something new – she was very happy. Apparently she’s the dance coach in town. I learned that she can sing, dance, and play all of mama’s instruments. She’s a very talented lady!”

“Okay, that’s nice, but where does Cian fit into this?”

“Well, this past month Mrs. Glasba hasn’t been able to make our practices. She has been busy helping her students in town get ready for the Summer Festival, and so… Cian has been tutoring me.”

“And?” Tebanam prodded for more.

“And nothing,” Kanisa shrugged. “He comes to the castle a few times a week for an hour or so. Usually he plays his guitar and we sing together…we sound really good by the way”, Kanisa’s eyes lit up at that and sat up. She saw that Rinku was now sitting on top on Tebanam’s shoulders, one arm draped over his head and the other propping her head up, elbow resting on the other arm.

Tebanam’s mouth fell open as his sister finished her story, “That's it?” he asked.

“Unfortunately.” Kanisa pulled her long hair over her shoulder and began playing with it. “We have fun together, that's all. But when I see him out of lessons I get nervous and tongue tied. Is that affection or silliness? Also, I don’t know if he feels anything towards me, and I’m too much of a cucco to ask.”

“Why don’t you go talk to him now?” Tebanam suggested, looking at the group of guys on the beach. “Tell him and his friends to come over and play…” Tebanam lifted his arms out of the water, grabbed Rinku’s hands from atop of his head and stretched them skyward. With one foot first, then the other, Rinku stood on her brothers shoulders, using his hands for balance. “Cucco! To help you stop being such a cucco”. He beamed at Kanisa.

“Bro, why are you flexing so much?” Rinku toyed. She knew that her youngest brother was interested in his own gender, even if he didn't say it out loud, and by looking over Cian and his group, it was no surprise they had caught his attention.

“It’s because you’re so damn heavy Riri!” he joked back and tossed her off his shoulders. Another show of strength, as it were.

“Yea, you know what, I will go talk to him.” Kanisa gave herself a little pep talk, “What do I have to lose? It’s just a conversation. It’s rude if I don’t say hello, right?”

“We will be over there for back up if you need us.” Tebanam pointed to a spot along the shore and dove over in that direction. Rinku followed and snorted when she saw Tebanam recline in the sand. Thanks to his genetics he was bigger than any Hylian 15 year old, and come to think of it, most Hylian adults. He was also at the I’m invincible stage and knew he turned heads where ever he went. Rinku sat beside Tebanam and watched Kanisa go over and talk to the small group across the beach. She gazed around the beach, to the boat, ending on Tebanam. “Do you want water ski after Kani gets back?”

“Yea, sure! That would be great.” Tebanam rolled on his side to face Rinku. “There’s something Ralnor and I have been working on that I want to show you when we get back home. It’s almost finished. I think we should try it next time we come here”, he smoothed the sand between them with his hand and started to draw using his index finger, “It’s like your water skis, except both feet are strapped onto one wider board. You would lead with one foot and use fins to guide the board’s movement behind the boat,”, he finished drawing the scheme in the sand, “What do you think?”

“I think we should try it. It’s a great design Teb, nice work!” She looked past his shoulder as tall shapes came into view. “Ah, speak of the devil… Ralnor, Covarog, Orana! Over here!” Rinku shouted and waved her hands.

The newcomers joined their siblings and sat down in the sand beside them. Ralnor carried a large bundle in his arms.

“Teb, don’t be mad”, Ralnor began, “I had to finish it. The conditions today are perfect for trying it and then Klinge said you, Kani and Riri were skipping practice to come to the lake –“

“Thanks for that by the way,” Covarog interjected with a smirk, “I was stuck facing off against Klinge all morning since you two and Kanisa didn’t show up.” He lifted his shirt over his head, “So now I’m in desperate need of a dip”

“Sorry! That was my fault,” Rinku said raising a hand, “I asked them to come sailing with me.”

“Here, check it out”, said Ralnor, pulling the sheet off of the object in his arms, revealing a finished board. “I added a water-proofing coat of varnish, and tweaked the foot bindings. Now they will be easy to slip in and out of.”

Tebanam’s eyes went wide. “It’s beautiful! Well done on the designs,” he said, gliding his hand over a wave of Hylian and Gerudo symbols that flowed across the wood. “I love it!”

“Hey Ri, Teb… who’s that lad Kani is talking to? That’s Cian, isn’t it?” Orana nodded her head in the direction across the beach to her younger sister.

Both Ralnor and Covarog turned around in the direction Orana had indicated, eyes squinting in the sun to see better. The elder brothers were very protective of their younger sisters, and felt they had the right to know everything they were getting up to. Especially if it had to do with guys their age and not their sisters’.

“You two can relax,” Rinku assured them. “It’s just a friend who’s helping her with her music.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that big sister,” Ralnor said

“Agreed,” Covarog nodded. “Ral told me he walked by the music room last week before Kanisa’s practice to find Cian alone working on a love ballad for her!”

“It’s true.” Ralnor confirmed”, He was figuring out how to ask Kani to go to the summer festival with him in song form. Super tacky if you ask me.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared in Cian and Kanisa’s direction.

“I’m going to go over there,” Covarog declared, standing up from the sand.

“You will not,” Rinku held a firm grasp on Covarog’s leg. “She’s old enough to make her own decisions. If this boy asks her to the festival, she has the right to decide for herself whether to accept or decline.”

Tebanam looked at Rinku, “You and I both know she is going to say yes—“

Just like that, Kanisa appeared beside the group. Her face was red either from sprinting down the beach to her family, or from containing her emotions. “You guys won’t believe what just happened!” she squealed.

“If you have an escort for the festival next week, I … I mean papa, will not be happy about it.” Covarog said, eyes still shooting daggers at Cian.

“An escort? No, no, no… Cian asked me to open the performances with him!”

A round of congratulations was earned from Kanisa’s five siblings and well as a sigh of relief from Covarog and Ralnor.

“And…” Kanisa continued, “after I said I would sing with him for the opening piece, he was so happy that… “ she looked between Rinku and Tebanam and clasped her hands together.

“Don’t say it”, Tebanam whispered in a warning to her, pointing his eyes up at Covarog who was still standing and listening very intently to his youngest sister.

“he kissed me!”

“I did not see that coming!” said Rinku, surprised. Before she could react, Covarog wrenched his leg out of her grasp and took of sprinting down the beach to a suddenly very frightened Cian.

#zelgan #the legend of zelda #rinku #kanisa #tebanam #ralnor #covarog #orana #funny #casual #kanisa has a crush #zelgan babies

[rowdyroewrites]

Insert Appropriate Title

It’s been five years since The Great Calamity. Five years since The Grand Companies of the Eorzean Alliance banded together to meet the garlean forces at Carteneau. Five years since the Warriors of Light gave their lives to protect the realm. The nations of Eorzea are still rebuilding from the ashes.   It is now, that a chocobo driven carriage enters into Central Thanalan, guards posted on either side of the carriage. Inside the carriage, some passengers awaited the arrival at their destination; Two elezen youths, twins, sat huddled against each other, the slow rhythmic breathing evidence of their slumber; an aged highlander male sat a ways from them, casually enjoying his bottle of spirits as he attempts to make small talk with one of the other two passengers, an Auri girl with pinkish blue cotton candy hair and tightly curled horns that could be likened to a sheep. who looked more interested in watching over her sleeping companion than entertaining the old man’s rambling questions. After awhile, the old man gave up and turned his full attention to his bottle, much to the relief of one Luna Cait, who turned more towards a sleeping Kana Dazkar, who was tossing every so often, but not enough to where she would fall off her seat. Luna sighed, she had a rather solid idea of what Kana was dreaming about, but contented herself with simply making sure Kana didn’t fall out of her seat.

Hear.Feel.Think.

“This dream? Again?!” Kana’s thoughts echoed in her mind. She felt disembodied as she peers at herself floating before a colossal crystal. Her body was adorned in regal white armor with blue accents and gold adornments, one of them a crown holding her mess of ice blue hair out of her face. In her gauntleted hands was a gallant broadsword and matching heater shield. With blade pointed at her foe, an ominous black-robed figure with a half mask covering his eyes and nose, leaving only a cruel grimace Kana felt as if this version of her was a last bastion of some sorts. After what seemed like hours, Kana watches herself propel towards the foe who was preparing a magical attack.  As the two clash and everything goes white as her dream ends.

“…na..”

‘…’

“…ana!”

‘That’s…Luna’s voice…I think…’ Kana thinks to herself as she starts to wake.

“Kana Dazkar, if you don’t wake up this instant, you are not going to be very happy with the consequences.” a voice that was indeed Luna said rather forebodingly, which rouses Kana to full consciousness. As Kana shrinks back from the annoyed look she’s receiving from Luna, she tries to think of something to say.  Pretending to be rubbing the sleep out of her eyes to stall for time, Kana sits up as Luna gives her room to do so.   After realizing that Luna was actually expecting some form of response from her, Kana smiled sheepishly and laughed a bit “Morning, Luna!” She tried cheerfully.

Luna sighed, realizing that she wasn’t going to get much better than that. She nodded to Kana before turning her attention to making sure her belongings were gathered together, spending a little time maintaining her weapons. At present, she was tending to the limbs of her ash shortbow, a gift from the guildmaster of the Archer’s guild in Gridania. The ash of the bow limbs gleamed as the harsh sun of thanalan shone upon it, reflecting the meticulous and tender care Luna had for her weapons. Next to the cotton candy haired Auri laid a modest knapsack for the rest of her belongings save for a wand, also made from an ash tree. The small flowers that budded whenever Luna held it in her hands spoke of her progress in the field of conjuration. While the caravan had originally been bound for Ul’dah, their journey was interrupted while the carriage traversed the Twelveswood.Though ambush was a better term. Bird-like beastmen known as the Ixal had ambushed the carriage in hopes of acquiring supplies and more than likely hostages to offer up to their, as the caravan driver had put it, “thrice damned primal”.  Thankfully, their plans were thwarted by a unit of Gridania’s own Wood Wailers which had been on patrol for such threats at the time.  Though no cargo or passengers were  lost, the carriage itself sustained major damage, having to be hauled into gridania and to the workshop of the Carpenter’s guild.

One of the passengers of the carriage was one Kana Dazcar, who was now stranded in Gridania for the better part of three weeks due to the Carpenter’s guildmaster rather threatening insistence that he would make an entirely new cart in that time.  Having no real recourse, Kana had enrolled at Gridania’s adventurer’s guild as a special case, through Kana explanation that she wanted to join Ul’dah’s branch officially, and joined the Archer’s Guild.  It was there she had met her fellow Auri Luna and the two became fast friends, especially after it was revealed that Luna also had queer dreams. When it came time for the carriage to resume its trip, Luna tagged along with her new friend, thinking it obvious that they should stick together to better find out the reason behind these dreams, and what it meant for the two of them in the long run.

Thinking back to the incident, Kana smiled, thinking the entire experience was very much positive overall, as she now had a friend, something she hadn’t had growing up. As she mused these thoughts, her hands picked up and caressed her own bow. Though ash like Luna’s hers had slightly longer limbs, increasing the draw weight. As a result of these modifications, Luna had the faster shot while Kana had more piercing power.

Luna either saw Kana smiling at her bow, or her curiosity got the better of her, as Luna asked what Kana thought to be a very pressing question on Luna’s mind. “So Kana,” Luna began as she set down her bow beside her before continuing. “I have to ask.   Why do you wish to ‘start your adventure in Ul’dah? Do you not like the Twelveswood?  Don’t worry, I won’t tell the elements if you don’t!” Luna added a bit of humor at the end to try and mask her growing curiosity.

Kana laughed at her joke, “Twelve forfend I don’t like the trees!  No it’s not like that it’s just something more… simple–” the sharp thud of an arrow embedding itself in the mahogany exterior of the carriage cut off Kana’s train of thought as all senses were placed on high alert and the carriage abruptly stopped, shaking awake the twins and nearly sending the old man sprawling onto the carriage floor. Unfortunately one of the man’s bottles hadn’t been so lucky, and his dismay at the fact would’ve made Kana giggle had she not been alerted by the carriage driver.

“Amalj'aa ambush!” the driver called back to his passengers, though Kana could have sworn he was grumbling something along the lines of “Twice in the same damn moon…” Regardless of that fact, Kana’s eyes darted to Luna, who met her gaze and the two nodded.   The pair grabbed their respective bows and jumped out of the carriage to join the guard in fending off the lizard man ambush.

As the pair quietly made their way around the exterior of the carriage, Kana called for a halt as she peered to survey the skirmish, an arrow already nocked in her bow. After a quick once over, it seemed like it was a scouting party, comprised of two cesti bearing Amalj'aa and one archer peppering the pair of guards with arrows.  As Kana turned to relay the information to Luna she instead found the patch of sand Luna had been crouching in moments ago and before the thought could even formulate in her mind, the twang of a bow nearby brought Kana’s attention to Luna’s new position was, behind a rocky outcrop. The arrow Luna had fired struck the archer’s forearm, interrupting the lizard man’s original shot. The archer grunted as he tore the arrow from his arm, painting the sand around him in spatters of crimson.  The archer then shifted and nocked the arrow to fire at Luna who had peeked to see if she hit her mark.  At that moment, Kana sprang up and stepped from behind cover and fired off her arrow before the Amalj'aa could draw back his bowstring.  Kana’s arrow embedded itself in the chest of the Amalj'aa which made him fall to his knees with a groan of pain and frustration as he clawed at the arrow in his chest.  Kana coldly regarded the archer, saying “It’s your kill, you shot him first.” as an aside to her partner as Kana moved to support the guards now. Neither side looked like it was really winning, the armor of the guards bearing some dents that would make even Kana wince and the Amalj'aa sporting wounds of varying depth, but none fatal.  ‘I need to get a better vantage point…’ Kana thought right as she heard the twang of Luna’s bow once more. Kana’s eyes followed the arrow to see it embed itself in the skull of the now dead archer.   ‘Looks like Luna just freed up my vantage point.  Kana made her way swiftly over to where the Amalj'aa corpse now lay, still bleed onto the sands. Kana knelt down , placing her boot of the corpse’s head and tugged free the kill shot arrow.  “Might as well conserve ammo where I can.” Kana muttered to herself as she knocked the arrow, dripping with blood, to her shortbow. Calling upon her reserves of aether, she allowed some to drain away in order for the bloody arrow to flash purple as the flesh ended, the tip of the arrow was purple, venom now dripping off into the sand, coagulating the blood that had pooled from earlier. Kana took aim and fired at one of the unsuspecting Amalj'aa. Her arrow found its mark in the lower back of the Lizard man that howled with rage, but fought on, regardless.

At least, for a few moments.  As the Amalj'aa chambered a punch, he convulsed as the venom took its effect. The convulsion stripped the Amalj'aa of its guard just in time for the guard he was fighting to run him through with her broadsword.  After seeing Kana, the guard nodded, wordlessly conveying her gratitude before joining her partner in finishing the other lizard man off.  With the combined strikes of both guards. The final Amalj'aa soon joined his brothers in death.

The guards laughed in celebration and Kana wanted to join them, if not for the sound of heavy footfalls from multiple directions. Alerting both the guards, they rendezvoused at the carriage, joined by Luna who looked like she was regretting leaving her wand with her pack in the carriage.  Before they could formulate any sort of strategy to fight off the next wave, a shout came from the direction of the city.  “Ho there!  The Brass Blades have arrived! We’ll cover you as you make a break for the city!”  the voice commanded.  Deciding it would be best leave this to the Brass blades, the four got back on the carriage at the drivers insistence as a group of Brass blades made their way past the carriage, one of the soldiers shouting “Good job, we’ll take it from here!” as they passed. Within moments the carriage was once again back on its way to Ul’dah.

Back on the carriage, the man who had lost one of his bottles was whooping and congratulating the four on their valor, particularly the two auri girls, though only Kana was really paying attention as Luna had busied herself with healing the wounds of their guards, much to their expressed relief. Kana did her best to humor the old man, but when the praise did not stop coming, Kana decided that she’d better try to silence him or she’d never hear the end of it.

“The two o’ you were just amazin’! I haven’t seen such teamwork since I was back with me lads I-”

“Mister!” Kana began, a couple octaves higher than she had intended, which caused Luna to chuckle slightly, “please for the love of everything just go back to your drinking! You’re embarrassing me with all of that praise! I did what anyone would’ve done! Luna and I are friends that why we work so well together, so I’m not sure what ‘you and your boys’ were!” Kana said, putting on her best disapproving look for the old man, who seemed a little taken aback.

“A-alright lass, take it down a notch, I’ll stop.   Though I have to ask, with skills like yers, why are you coming to Ul’dah? You could’ve made it just as well if not better back in Gridania!” The old man commented to which Luna flashed a look towards Kana as she responded.  Kana crossed her arms and looked at the ever approaching city.  “A dream…and a promise.”

Err…Hello! This is Penumbro! Or more likely to be known as Penums or Mike! To be honest, I just sort of lost interest in writing for quite a long time. Or, more specifically, publishing what I wrote.  A lot of stuff has happened since I last posted something here.

But onto the main stuff, you guys don’t want to hear a sob story! This idea was actually an inspiration from someone who I’ve come to consider a kindred spirit in terms of writing.  The one and only, Lunacatte!   Now some of you may already be aware of HER XIV story, but if you aren’t please go check her out! @Lunacatte is her twitter and from there I’m sure you’ll be able to find her story!

Shoutout aside,  I actually need your guys’ help.  So if you played or are playing XIV you kind of get the impression that you are the ONLY warrior of light  and everyone that you play with are just referred to as your “friends”. I don’t want this story to be about just ONE warrior of light, as evidenced by this chapter, and I don’t want to just stop at two!  I want a veritable company of warriors, I want it to be to the point where I can write diverging paths! So mess me up with them OC’s my readers!

To submit your warrior to be included in this story, you need only send me a message on my public twitter (@penumbro21) with the warrior’s name, a screenshot, and what you want their classes to be.  For my brain’s sake, I’d lake for the maximum of classes be three, though you can take all the crafting classes if you REALLY want me to write that kind of stuff.   Anyways, that’s all from me! I hope you enjoyed the story! I’ll try to have the next installment out by next week, hopefully with some of your characters in there!

-Stay beautiful, Penumbro.

#origin story #My Warrior of Light #lunacatte

[mastcomm]

In a Long History of Sexist Ads and Outrage, It’s the Apology That’s New

The commercial doesn’t have much to do with chicken.

A young woman in a low-cut top purses her lips and pushes up her chest as she checks her reflection in a car window. The glass slowly rolls down, revealing two young boys who had been ogling her. In the driver’s seat, a disapproving mom glares.

The young woman sheepishly grins, then asks: “Did someone say KFC?”

Fifteen years ago, the ad might have been seen as just another crass marketing pitch leveraging sex to sell a product. But when the commercial recently appeared in Australia, the backlash on social media denouncing it as sexist was so vociferous, it prompted KFC to apologize.

The quick retreat, just before advertising’s marquee moment — the Super Bowl — underscored how the boundaries of what’s considered acceptable are changing quickly in the #MeToo era. Advertisers who for decades relied on the objectification of women to sell products are increasingly wary of taking that approach, aware that many consumers will no longer tolerate abject sexism.

“They would have never apologized 15 or 20 years ago,” said Abhik Roy, a former ad executive and professor of marketing at Quinnipiac University. “It’s more because of social media pressure.”

While the #MeToo movement has used social media to push advertisers into withdrawing ads they deem offensive, they are building on the wave of earlier battles.

‘My wife, I think I’ll keep her.’

Before there was KFC and Peloton, the exercise company recently criticized for an ad, there was the vitamin company Geritol.

A gauzy 1972 commercial for Geritol shows a handsome, middle-aged man looking into the camera as his wife, perfectly coifed and smiling, leans her head on his shoulder. She remains silent as he describes how, thanks to Geritol, she has the energy to take care of their baby all day, go to a school meeting and make a delicious dinner.

“And look at her,” he drawls. “She looks better than any of her friends.”

He then looks back at the camera and says, “My wife, I think I’ll keep her.”

The ad infuriated leaders of the National Organization for Women, who called for commercials like it to be taken off the airwaves. The Committee for the Rejection of Obnoxious Commercials, which was founded by a Minneapolis ad executive in the early 1970s, ranked it one of that year’s worst.

The ad carried such resonance that 20 years later, the country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter responded with the song “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” about a seemingly happy wife who decides to leave her husband.

Geritol was eventually fined $812,000 by the Federal Trade Commission for flouting orders to stop running ads that promised boundless energy to anyone who took the supplement.

In an editorial critical of the company, The Berkshire Eagle of Massachusetts said the wife in that ad “does everything but curl up at his feet and purr.”

“Women’s Liberationists” were so enraged, the editorial said, “if they had their way, the fines would have been in the billions rather than the thousands.”

‘Choice feminism’

The decades that followed showed little progress in advertising tactics.

Take a Fuddruckers ad from the early 1980s that is rife with double entendres. At first glance it seems to be a cheeky look at men and women both lusting after burgers.

But it is the men who are allowed to ogle the “buns” and bite sinfully into the burger, while a woman who starts to marvel at the size of a beef patty is quickly shushed by her friends.

The ad is emblematic of the Reagan era’s “revival of conservatism on the social, political and economic levels,” said Carly Drake, a marketing professor at North Central College in Illinois. “Sex is shameful or, more simply, private and not to be discussed,” she said.

The decade would also start a trend of women “choosing” to be feminine, sexual and driven, but still not too threatening to men, Professor Drake said. She cited as an example an Enjoli perfume ad that portrayed a “24-hour woman.”

“There was this idea of ‘We’ve made it as women, we can make it on our own,’” Professor Drake said. “We don’t need feminism. So we want to be with the boys.”

That trend would continue well into the early 2000s, though some ads tried to deflect criticism. One 2003 Super Bowl commercial showed two women arguing over Miller Lite, then fighting, mud-wrestling and, finally, kissing.

The ad was framed as a spoof of two men’s fantasy — with two women listening, silent and disgusted — but Miller Lite was nevertheless accused of trying to get away with sexism by turning it into a joke.

At the same time, online retailers were creating a more competitive market, and advertisers started to sense a shift in how consumers saw commercials, said Paul Radich, a marketing professor at Catholic University who served on the ethics committee of the American Marketing Association from 2011 to 2014.

Advertisers began asking, “Are we appealing to their instincts and desires in a temporary fashion, or are we trying to engage them in a narrative about their own life and how we as a company can fit into their own life?” he said.

Many commercials moved toward absurdist humor — as with many of Geico’s ads — or appeals to family, like a 2016 ad for Honda in which a man gets home safely to his young wife and baby thanks to the reliable emergency brake system.

That commercial was a far cry from “Man’s Last Stand,” a 2010 Dodge ad that showed beaten-down men defiantly telling the women in their lives that if they have to comply with chores and other demands, they will buy whatever car they want.

The social media era

Outcry over objectification may be swifter and louder, but men are still more represented in commercials than women, according to a 2019 analysis by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a nonprofit started by the Oscar-winning actor.

Researchers for the organization looked at 2.7 million YouTube videos uploaded by advertisers and found that while there was some improvement in gender representation over a five-year period, male characters were seen 56 percent of the time, while female characters were seen 44 percent of the time. Male characters were also heard one and a half times more than female characters.

In Australia, the criticism against KFC itself drew abusive blowback, said Melinda Liszewski, a spokeswoman for Collective Shout, a grass-roots organization that campaigns against the objectification of women.

“I was surprised that our commentary on the KFC ad would elicit such vile, sexually explicit and misogynistic abuse,” she said. “Myself and my colleagues spent a number of hours removing comments and men from our social media pages.”

And there remains the question of how advertising will play out on social media platforms where users have more control and receive less scrutiny.

Nancy Van Leuven, who teaches communications at Fresno State, pointed to TikTok, where some teenage girls, eager to find new followers (and advertisers), dress skimpily, don makeup and toss their hair for the camera as they teach dance steps.

Their male counterparts on similar videos are often dressed in baggy clothes, their moves far less sexualized.

“Is that an idea of user-generated media that is reinforcing stereotypes?” Professor Van Leuven said. “I think user-generated content is the newer, unknown territory of whether stereotypes are reinforced or disrupted.”

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/in-a-long-history-of-sexist-ads-and-outrage-its-the-apology-thats-new-2/

#Business