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#You better know that all of the kids are extremely famous in their fields
meteors-lotr · 1 month
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Barduil fam movieset AU
Retired broadway star!Bard X Disgraced former diva!Thranduil, with their children Legolas the makeup artist, Sigrid the score composer, Bain the stunt man and Tilda the pyrotechnician
Additionally Gimli working in the prop department, Aragorn in costumes, Boromir as a fight choreographer, and the hobbits as interns
Éowyn and Éomer as animal handlers, Faramir as on set medic, Gandalf as a senior actor, and I can just keep going
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akitasimblr · 1 year
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orlando harper - dodo for short, (leonardo’s twin) is applying to kiss me in komoreby by @rainymoodlet. wish him luck! and oh dear he needs it… after the tremendous fiasco at emilee marsters’ simdr.
Name: Orlando Harper, but he prefers being called by his nickname Dodo.
Age: Young Adult (i have aging off but i'd put him on his 30s)
Traits: active, bro, overachiever (i changed his unflirty trait because it is quite troublesome in these kind of challenges), inspired explorer, gym rat, happy toddler, no sweat, morning sim, waterproof sim, high metabolism and people person lifestyle.
Aspiration: extreme sports enthusiast 
Height: 1.73m (8 inches or 5 feet)
Zodiac: Leo
World: He was born and lives in Windenburg
Skills: fitness, cooking, parenting, research & debate, charisma, mischief.
Likes/dislikes: likes fitness, mischief, kids radio music (!), singer songwriter music, tween pop music, photography, mischief, fitness, snowboarding, color blue and long hair; dislikes dancing, romance music, blues music and gardening.
Hobbies: jogging, watch sports tv and playing football. also, cooking!
Backstory: dodo lives and breathes for anything sports related and he is the real enthusiast! he followed his dad’s (paolo rocca) footsteps and joined the athlete career and he is a one-star famous athlete.
despite not having the ambitious and selfish nature of his twin brother and superstar actor, leo harper; orlando can be a somewhat attention seeker as well. after all, he likes to be admired… which athele doesn’t? but don’t worry, it won’t go to his head.
he has a very close relation with his niece, yvonne, because he was basically a second dad to her. as for his twin brother, orlando loves leo and there’s no other friend in the world that could replace him. after all, they are twins; they know each other better than anyone! so it's safe to say that dodo is used to stardom quirks and other self-esteem issues... don't worry, dodo got's you covered!
there’s nothing he loves more than to spend time at the gym or the football field. he's not the romantic type but he is looking for some meaningful relationship. he also has a art history degree.
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untilthenextencore · 9 months
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Of Hopes & High Grace Pt. 1: Clearly: Up in the Canyons~...
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Laurel Canyon, 1965~
Walking up the driveway into the house, from his tour around the grounds by the house's owner, Jimmy let his eyes scan the room. Turning left, he saw his date for the evening Jackie sitting in the pit - a sunken floor & seating area - chatting with one of their friends. He had come to the party with her that day. Jackie had been something of a regular or semi-regular presence in his life. They'd been on & off for a few months since working together both on her music, songs for others like Marianne Faithfull, or even his own attempts at solo work. Though the less said about that single, the better he figured now.
Turning right & taking a sip of his drink as he tried to clear that from his mind, he saw a bunch of kids dancing in the center of the living room. They weren't really kids, actually. Most looked about his age from what he could tell. They twisted & moved in front of large double glass doors that looked out on quite a view of the city below. The setting sun streamed in through the windows, starbursting over the dancing kids. One in particular caught his eye.
She was in a slim fitting sheath dress with a scoop neckline & a mottled shimmery watery blue & lagoon green print. The dress skimmed what he could surmise was a very alluring figure. Long dark hair flowing loose around her shoulders, tawny skin, a hint of cat's eye eyeliner framing two deep brown eyes. Full rosy cheeks. Even fuller berry rose lips. She laughed & clapped & spun about with an older male friend as the guitar in the song trilled.
Try as he might, Jimmy couldn't tear his eyes from her. She was lively. Spirited. Drop dead gorgeous. He simply had to get her name.
Nudging his host for the evening, he motioned to the dark sylph dressed in siren's blue & asked. "Who's she, mate?"
His host Tony turned to peer in her direction before smiling. "Ah, her? That's Mariella. She lives up here. Bought a house on Appian Way not too long ago. Made a few papers. Rather young for being a homeowner, she. Teenage homeowner. You know how papers eat that stuff up."
Jimmy nodded at that. He knew all too well. So she was a teenager, was she?
Tony explained further. "But she's more known for her music."
"Sings, does she?" Jimmy asked with a sip of his drink.
"Like an angel!" Tony nodded. "Though she sings mostly in Spanish. Mexican music & the like. Her father is a singer, too. A famous one in his field. Carlos Ignacio Alamilla. She sometimes used to tour with him. Now she goes between performances with him & her own local club gigs."
"I see..." Jimmy nodded, mulling over the many ways their similar lines of work might give him an in with her. "Mind introducing me then?"
To his surprise, Tony laughed.
"What's so funny?" Jimmy asked, half annoyed, half confused.
"Nothing. Except I feel I must warn you. You being new here & all you probably don't know. She's not too forthcoming with new people. Her father is extremely protective of her, with her being his only daughter. And even if you get past him, there's no promise you'll get anywhere with her. The running joke is that while most everyone's first word was "mama," hers was likely "no."
Jimmy snorted.
"It's true. Not to say she's mean. Just very careful in meeting new people. Wary even. Once you get to know her... If you get to know her... Once you get close... If you get close... You'll find she's a delight... Sweet girl... Just very shy I guess... Impossible not to love her, that one..."
"I see..." Jimmy breathed those words in a dragon's puff of cigarette smoke.
A delight...
Sweet girl...
Shy girl...
Indeed...
What's not to love?...
Jimmy contemplated everything he was told with another puff of his cigarette before asking it & announcing with a wry grin in yet another dragon's puff. "Well, now I have to meet her now don't I?"
"Alright." Tony drawled, placing a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. Don't say I didn't warn you. And don't be surprised if she's not as forthcoming with you. It takes her awhile to warm up." With that he led the way as he & Jimmy weaved their way through the crowd.
Each undulating body seemed to serve as a fluttering curtain. A momentary eclipse. All of it making it so as they neared Jimmy saw her move in sections. In snapshots. Rotoscope images that burned & swirled in his brain, searing themselves into the grey matter. Each fleeting glimpse only serving to intrigue & tantalize him more. The time it took for them to cross the few feet's distance they had to traverse, feeling like one long scene in slow motion. The music falling into silence. The silence cut only by the sound of his blood thumping in his temples. His heartbeat pounding like a drum of war.
Jimmy's mouth went suddenly dry. He swallowed hard. He could be wrong but he swore that lump he felt in his throat, if it wasn't his Adam's apple, might've been heart-shaped.
Just then, Tony's voice cut into his train of thought, slicing through the thumping silence. "Hey, Mariella."
Black hair fanned out as she whirled to face them cutting her dance short, before coming to rest framing her face as she turned.
Lovely face, Jimmy thought.
A look of confusion crossed her features before her eyes lit up in recognition. "Tony! There you are! I was wondering where you had gone off to!" She spoke in a bright voice colored with an indeterminate accent. "I knew you were here but I didn't see you. How are you?" She asked with a hug.
Perhaps, this would be easier than Tony said it would.
"Just fine, doll. And clearly you seem to be enjoying yourself too. Great mix of songs you brought this time as always!" Tony smiled & returned the hug warmly. "I've been looking for you too by the way. I have someone I want to introduce to you. He's a friend of mine."
"Oh?" She looked up at him with a curious pout.
"Mariella Alamilla may I introduce one of the latest English imports to hit our shores, A Mister James Patrick Page." Tony motioned to Jimmy, snickering at his own overly florid introduction.
She, Mariella, turned to face Jimmy, regarding him with the same curious pout. Indeed there was a touch of wariness edging those eyes as they scanned him guardedly. The young girl stayed close to Tony, anchoring herself to him amidst this stranger before her.
Now was the time.
Jimmy gave her his best disarming smile & extended a hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Call me Jimmy. And may I say you have a phenomenal taste in music. What's the name of the song if I may ask?"
"Pleasure's all mine I'm sure." Her voice was cool & soft as she placed her smaller hand in his lightly. Feathersoft. Fleeting, hesitant contact. None of that brightness & effusiveness that had been so evident in her chat with Tony. "And thank you. It's one of my favorites. It's called "El Boogie de la Guitarra" by Los Crazy Boys. Mexican Rock. Tony likes me to bring some music by artists he and the gang might not have heard of." She explained in a polite yet matter of fact tone.
Mariella had undergone a sudden transition. She went from alive & incandescent to hushed & removed. Her light still shone but now it flickered like a candle in a breeze. A light in the window of a tower, or at a high altar. Still burning. Still present. Still bright. Yet just out of reach. So near & yet so far.
So Tony was right after all! He WAS gonna have to work with this one. Interesting...
Bringing her hand to his lips he kissed the back, eliciting a jolt, soft gasp & the slight widening of eyes.
At least he could get some kind of reaction out of her. A delicious one at that.
Fighting a grin at the sight of her trying to reel in her reactions so & giving a soft curtsy in semi-formal / semi-playful response to his florid actions, he continued. "I hear from Tony you're in the music game too."
"Yes." She replied, still soft yet pointed. "I sing with my father at times & at other times do my own thing."
"Which is?..." Jimmy asked, maintaining his hold on her hand despite the momentary soft pull he felt. She attempted to retract her hand after the kiss, clearly expecting that to be it. Clearly, it wasn't though. And so her hand remained in his, his thumb rubbing the kiss-printed back as the rest of his hand swallowed hers whole & kept it there. Jimmy meanwhile did his best to distract her from this fact by adding. "Tony told me you sing Mexican music?"
"Yes." She nodded, swallowing hard herself. Clearly she was trying to ignore her nerves. Trying to ignore or quell the tremble in her hand that was locked in his. A fact he clearly reveled in. "I sing Mexicana with my older brother, father and his band. Banda. Boleros. Mariachi. That sort of thing. When on my own I sort of mix that with an indie kick. Maybe a little jazz. Maybe a little rock. Maybe something else. It all depends on my mood." Lifting her gaze from her hand in his & pinning him with a look that was at once both curious & cutting, she asked. "Do you sing too, Jimmy?"
He & Tony shared a knowing laugh. "Not really I'm afraid. I plan to stick to the guitar & maybe my art otherwise."
Tony nodded, explaining simply. "Jimmy went to art school before things really kicked off for him. He's now one of the most in demand session guitarists there is, doll!"
Jimmy did his best not to blush at the compliment. He didn't want to be too conspicuous. Though he had been content to remain silent up to this point, Jimmy saw that Tony's eyes had volleyed from Jimmy himself to Mariella and back like he were witness to the most captivating tennis match ever.
"Really now?" Jimmy heard the first lilt in her voice in what had been quite awhile. The light in her eyes flickered anew. The corner of her sweet mouth lifted as she asked. "That seems to be quite a frequent occurrence. Tell me, Mr. Page, do all you Englishmen flock to art school before you hit the music scene?"
Both he & Tony laughed again. "Boy if it don't seem like that sometimes, huh?" Tony nudged Jimmy, grazing him with an elbow to the ribs.
"Yeah it does. A lot of us sure seem to but it's not like a dead set rule or anything." Jimmy smiled as he met her gaze. His laughter crinkled eyes were met with a gaze that was still just as inscrutable as it was penetrating even as little flames of mirth danced in her eyes & in the corners of her soft, wry smile.
Where had he seen such a look before?
He couldn't put a finger on it.
Shaking out of that thought, he added with a soft pat to her hand, still locked in his, with his free one. "In any case I do hope I'll get the honor and pleasure to hear you sing while I'm here."
"Maybe you will." Tony smiled.
Though Jimmy's gaze hardly left Mariella, Jimmy could still catch the barest glimpse of him signaling to someone off to the side.
Another soft curtsy by the young lovely in the blue dress followed, recapturing Jimmy's full attention. "I hope you still find it such a pleasure afterwards if you do."
Jimmy was sure he'd indeed find her such a pleasure.
In more ways than one.
Just then Jimmy found his attentions pulled to his side as a certain familiar blonde, curled her way around him, linking arms with him.
It was Jackie.
"Jimmy..." She drawled, snapping her gum sharply. "Where've you been. I've been looking everywhere for you. And who's this?" He saw her eyes scan Mariella warily.
Mariella for her part barely flinched. Her features hardly changed. One eyebrow lifted in the barest perk as her head tilted slightly. "Nice to see you again, Jackie. How've you been? Haven't seen you since the last music show we did together. Hope you've been well." Her voice was as ever cool, controlled & polite. Where some would fight fire with fire, she clearly preferred to ice out the flames entirely. And rather aptly at that. Smooth.
"Oh hi, Jackie. Tony was just showing me around & introducing me to people." Jimmy explained as coolly as possible.
"I see..." She cast a nonplussed look his way before turning to regard the dusky brunette once more. "Ah, Marie-Ella..." Jackie cooed, breaking her name up in some sort of southern double name special like her own government name was. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was you!" Her voice was super sweet as she laid it on as thick as honey. Though try as she might she still came off as something a little short of genuine in her apology & attempts to ingratiate.
Had she always been this cloying?, Jimmy thought.
"Long time no see indeed!" Jackie giggled. "How's the eighth grade? Or is it ninth now? It's been such a long time I just can't keep track."
It was then that Jimmy & Mariella's hold on each other broke.
Eighth grade?
Ninth?
What was that in terms of forms again?
Jimmy cast a stunned look at Mariella who just shrugged.
"Actually I'm in high school now, thanks for asking." She replied matter of factly. Calm. Cool. Collected. Sweet & smooth. "How's the school of life treating you, Jackie? Well, I hope." There went that soft yet inscrutable stare.
Jackie just scoffed & smacked her gum again. "Well enough thanks." Then tugging on Jimmy's arm, she announced. "Jimmy let's go. I have some people I want you to meet."
Before he could think to respond with more than a mere. "Wait, Jackie. Wait..." Mariella gave him a playful salute with two fingers to her temple.
"See you around then. Bye you two."
And with that, she & Tony disappeared into the crowd as Jackie pulled him away.
~
As ever this is forever under construction~!
Hope you guys enjoy~!
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cctinsleybaxter · 3 months
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Misc f4rgo thoughts, typed up a few days before the finale and then edited accordingly in italics
Dot going from a morally dubious protagonist* to a truly heroic one is such a great play; blair @/commiegoth had pointed out that the first episode plays as a gendered inversion of the original '96 movie, and taking the series as a whole it also plays as as gendered inversion of Lester's character arc in s1. Juno Temple deserves a billion awards for that performance
The hangup I have re: Dot's escape is that it's inherently tied to finding the 'right' husband, the 'right' family, the 'right' take on Christianity. I wasn't expecting anything radical from Hawley here (the way he both films and talks about abuse is, for the most part, really progressive by TV standards and it's not like we were going to get family abolition), but at least give her more to do than vague allusions to volunteering. she needs hobbies!
(I'd prefer a scenario where she married Wayne solely for social and financial stability and fell in love after the fact. tbh I'd probably still be irritated and calling it half-baked, but I like it better)
(Knowing about Jon Hamm's personal history of racism and abuse also made this kind of an insane watch. It's a good performance but like.)
Ole Munch villain of ALL TIME are you kidding me?? I love the way he talks I love the way he's filmed to look bigger than he already is I love the 'fits, I... have extremely mixed feelings about the way his story ends (why did it turn into the fanfic where they were doing land acknowledgements!!! and not even for area-specific tribes!) Whatever. '500 years ago' smashcut you will always be famous.
I actually really, really liked Joe Keery as Gator as well. Hate seeing him all over the tag, but amazing job at portraying someone who's both a violent menace and a pathetic little boy. Could very easily see Hawley going the route of 'school shooters are insecure babies and deserve our pity uwu' and that's explored but then pity denied- it rules NEVER FUCKING MIND LMAO
Lorraine!!!! Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance grew on me over the course of the season, like, everyone is being very grounded and she is being a 40s actress; she's on another plane of reality and it's so, so good. Her first conversation with Roy is easily my favorite scene in the show and her last conversation with Roy my least favorite; I want Noah Hawley dead for this I'm not kidding
Danish. was there (jk he was also a favorite; great job imbuing what could've been a nothing henchman character with protagonist-of-his-own-story energy, Hawley and the actors he picks out are quite good at that)
(Speaking of, Indira and Witt had much more story in them since they were functionally in roles that had gone to main characters in past seasons. idk how to feel about it, I kind of wanted more of them but was also glad to see the guys on the sidelines getting a chance to shine) Edit: 😒
Mixed feelings about the music- heavy percussion as Munch's theme but then reused for the siege? The pop music? 'Whipping Post' and the cover of 'Toxic' felt especially egregious, but I liked more needle drops than not, and the overall themes were gorgeous
Hated the constant references to Trump. Not because it's out of left field for the show to be doing that, I remember Reagan fondly, but because it's so clear that this entire season is a direct reaction to the Trump presidency. We don't need to see him- let him loom silently in the background
Minneapolis doesn't have a zoo btw. if you even care.
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leggerefiore · 2 years
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Hello again👉👈
I love the Darling Escape so they rant about it on Twitter AU
Can you imagine the adopted father someone else who is also extremely famous like Leon or Steven their fans are currently at war with Submas fandom.
That's shit will be all over the news lmao.
Or hear me out:
Immortal!Volo
Back story
Ingo and his darling got Hisuied before they got together and Volo fell for his darling . And the feelings were mutual until Spear pillar.
After decades of a lonely Immortal existence Volo finds them again wandering the streets with a kid in tow... maybe Almighty Sinnoh is forgiving him
Ingo recognizes him from his Hisuian life and he is confused.
Oh! Emmet knows him alright...from all the stories ingo's darling and him have told when they were both in Hisui five hundred years ago.
Emmet's out for blood
Volo
i think it cut you off, friend
i think they fanbase wars would be a sight to behold. there's so many famous people they could date in the pokemon world too. piers, nessa, wallace, ect. general public discourse with extreme misinformation included about what happened between s/o and the train twins.
though... Volo would be an interesting choice. He could definitely keep them safe with his talents as a trainer and all the knowledge he would have obtained throughout such a long lifespan. When he sees you again, deep, complex feelings arise. It's worsened with small boy clinging to you, identical to the Warden. Volo was well aware of how toxic the relationship that was had between you and Ingo. Even without his memories, there was frightening nature to him that sought to hold you away from the world in his cabin; to have you as his perfect little partner. Volo offered an escape from that, often busying himself with whatever you were doing in order to ward off the Warden. It didn't always work, but the blond at least served as deterrent.
Volo and you had a secret relationship, not wanting to stir up any drama between the clans, the Ginkgo Guild, and the clans. Everything being very hush-hush and only happening out in the fields or in the privacy of your home. It made him feel awful for using you, but his goals were his main drive in his life. Surely, you would accept a place at his side when he became a god. That was never to be, the shock and horror on your face when he revealed his intentions. You were merciless in cutting him down and running away back to Ingo. It crushed him. He had never felt such strong emotions before and, just like that, you were gone from him. The curse of eternal life was punishment for his actions, forced to walk this earth until it finally ended.
You, on the other hand, returned to Unova with Ingo. Your life immediately took a down-turn as you both landed directly in front of Emmet as he left the station. His panic by having both his partner and brother seemingly just appear before him sends him directly into hysterics. You are both rushed away to his apartment. Ingo is sat down on the couch, while you are immediately bound to the bed. Tearing up, you beg from him to uncuff you, but he just shakes his head. He isn't losing you a second time. Ingo finds himself inclined to agree with Emmet's decisions. Memories slowly return to you both and realise just how much better it would have been for you to remain in Hisui. Neither will ever let you go, too lost in their sick ideas of devotion and love, with obsession and possession tossed in for good measure.
It is only after you have your son, do you finally feel confident enough for an escape attempt. It's successful. Free at long last, you managed to get a boat ride to Sinnoh from the ports in Castelia. Why Sinnoh? Well, something poetic seemed heavy in the air about returning to the place. You scrape by there, living a quiet, boring life while raising your son to the best of your abilities. His interest in trains unsettles you, but he's not his father.
During an outing to the market, you take him with you. It's there a familiar man comes into your sight. Long, blond hair tied back into a bun with stormy grey eyes, an amicable smile that seeks to hide more; there is no doubt in your mind that Volo stands before you. Centuries into the future, your past lover existed with you once more. He seems shocked to see you, too. His exposed eye travelling to your son. "Ah, I see," is all he says. He moves to leave, but you grab onto his coat. Desperately, you ask him how he's been. No words need to be spoken: you are no longer with Ingo.
He knows this, of course, because of the desperate posts to find you and the boy all over the internet. The blond allows himself to walk with you to the store, a casual conversation settling between you two with discussions of what had been doing. Wandering, mostly, Volo claimed. By the end, when you were supposed to part, he asks you, "Do you need help?" You swallow nervously, eyes moving to the small boy who stares back up at you. You nod. Volo will right the wrong he committed by you.
It's a strange role Volo settles into, fatherhood. The boy adores him like one, certainly, desperate for another parent. The blond sees how much he resembles Ingo but ponders whether the boy even has a clue of his parentage. He supposes not, when he earns the title 'papa' with ease. You settle into an easy, equal relationship with Volo. The love never truly leaving him towards you. You feel much safer, knowing that Volo and his pokemon are around to chase off any unwanted attention. Your life feels complete, a loving boyfriend and a child to occupy your time and heart.
Of course, the dark shadowed that loomed over you was still refusing to leave. A trip to Jublife City with the two brought horror with it. The twins were visiting a museum there, an exhibition about the Wardens of the clans catching Ingo's attention. The older twin stares at you and his son lovingly and sadly, his heart desperate to reclaim what was lost. Emmet looks vicious, glare firmly affixed to the arm around your waist. Volo stared at them curiously. What would they do? Make such a scene in a populated area? It would not end well, especially with Volo's connection to a certain champion. A single phone call could land the two in a world of trouble. Of course, all the needed to do with get you and your son out of Sinnoh for their victory.
Ingo tells Emmet, in terror, that it's him. He's the one who ripped him and their partner from Unova. That was Volo who stood beside you with an affectionate display. Emmet felt violent. This scum had already hurt him so much, yet he sought to do more damage. It was hard to hold himself back with their son looked up at the blond and asked him who those 'weirdos' were. He called him dad. A knife couldn't pierce the tension that lay heavy in the air around the five of you.
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6stronghands · 1 year
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FOOOOOOOD
yesterday my kid gave me cream filled milk bread, meat stuffed croquets (both were even better than they look in the baking videos, like genuinely wonderful baked goods, am now a bit obsessed with milk bread and croquets) and fried cheese curds and fancy tea (like extremely posh and gorgeous stuff, this kid worked in a tea shop for years and knows from tea yo) and our family friend (who is running a store but should be a highly paid locally famous chef, everything she cooks tastes like perfume, she’s incapable of making mediocre food; people think I’m exaggerating until they taste her cooking and then they freak out too, she’s that good) made one of the best cheeseburgers I’ve ever eaten (WITH a fried runny egg, good lord) and fried potato discs
AND my kid got a very decent job in their field!!!!! first real post college job (after a metric shittonne of gig work and like yearrrrrrs of HARD labor for min wage). this kid went through college slowly because we’re so broke, and has worked so hard for so long and they’ve been through so much family and personal tragedy, like the kind that’s so brutal you don’t talk about it much, if ever, and they’re gorgeous, literally, and brilliant, literally, but they’re really really quiet and calm and always serving other people, always propping up others, so they get overlooked A LOT alot a lot. this job is a big deal. they’ve been through so much, they’re afraid to be too happy about it but I’m freaking delighted for them, they deserve all the money and promotions and accolades, like allll of them i mean goddamm
and our chef friend GOT BEYONCE TICKETS and this girl lives and dies for Bey, she’s already planning her outfit and nails for the fall concert (there are going to be the most incredible Looks and Fan Homages at the shows, cannot wait to see all the pics)
food and job and tix, all on the same day 
this is a big deal for our friend, she loves Beyonce the way I love Keanu. I know everyone is suffering, but she’s an artistic genius who got a degree in business because she’s a first gen child of immigrants, so she’s running a grocery store in freaking lawrence kansas during the apocalypse. she’s always had to deal with racist and sexist shit but lately? if i could get her to wear a bulletproof vest to work, i’d feel a lot better. she gets all the bullshit and danger and none of the perks, literally none of them, not from her bosses or her employees, certainly not from abusive customers. getting Bey tix is like winning the lottery for her, it’s such a big happy thing 
everything is broken and hard and awful but there’s still incredible food and precious family and friends
feeling grateful, wanted to share because other folks good news feels personal and wonderful to me lately, like community victories, so am hoping my nice day is a good thing for yawl the way your personal victories and fun stuff is so lovely for me
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magicalgirllove92 · 9 months
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You know, the 11th season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life is almost here on the day after Labor Day and there's a new trailer.... Things will get heartbreaking and extremely ugly. My first thought of this trailer as Glenn Thore says goodbye his late wife Babs who passed away in December of last year but filmed a damn funeral for tacky reality TV show... That's disgusting, embarrassing, disrespectful, emotionless and super gross, I mean, come on. Funerals are for private used only just like my grandma's celebration of life when I went to Mexico for anniversary prayers to support my mom and also she's more mature than Shit Whit Thore, no livestream or shitty untalented reality TV show. Although they've should used filming butterflies or doves as of sign of Christian or Catholic human went to heaven but the goddamn casket. That's fucking gross and emotionless creepy. Even Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and 5-part John Aniston tribute episodes on Days of Our Lives is much better emotional than disgusting 11th season premiere of Warner Bros Discovery's worst show that has bad influence towards girls. Girls who was born in the late 80s and early 90s used to be huge fans of Whitney Thore but after that, they'll better off with their childhood heroines The Powerpuff Girls, Totally Spies or even Disney's action comedy Kim Possible, so was pop stars like Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Selena and Taylor Swift. The Thore kids decided to make her heartbreaking dad cheer up, an pick-me-boot adventure call bucket list. Just like the 2007 movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson various stuff from skydiving to tattoo which was wholesome. But from wholesome to trashy soap crap when Glenn is visiting a woman who is a daughter of Vietnamese woman he fall in love out of wedlock and. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ She's was the half-sister of Whitney and Hunter! Reddit users are having a field day to continue mocking her hugest fat ass until the show is over for good. My eyes are roll for this toxic cringe. 🙄 Shitney is bullying her faked friend who is 29 drinking his morning coffee. Glenn's bucket list when his kids and Shitney's friends are having a whirlwind trip to Switzerland and... I'm laughing at the cringeful moments possible because the trailer ends with dramatic music. 🤣🤣🤣 Poor little Whitney suffered an health issues all because of her obese bullshit (My message to her: don't blame PCOS) and the fucking helicopter fit for prissy narcissistic princess arrives at the nick of time as she went to Switzerland hospital. What the fuck!!! I thought the early seasons were decent but later.... drama bullshit about me me me and even toxic nonhealthly feminists are praised Whitney Thore while normal healthy feminists are scolded her (used to be fans of Whitney Thore but they've rage quit). After the trailer was online Whitney post it on Instagram either I'm laughing cringe or petty or felt bad but either way, I'm about to find out why. The answer is petty. Whitney's haters don't hate Glenn and Hunter, they hate her. Glenn answers it which was inaccurate. His late wife is an reality TV star while Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II is historical figures, he cannot compare famous figures to the hypocritical unlovable fatso's lovable mom. I'm afraid that the 11th season of My Big Fat Fabulous Life will be doomed to failure because it's on its last legs and used fans of Whitney Thore are done with her.
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whereareroo · 10 months
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VILLA FRANCA DEL BIERZO
WF UPDATE: DAY 6 (7/5/23).
With 5 full days under our belts (or should I say feet?), we now consider 15 miles to be a “short” day. I suppose that’s a good thing.
We’re in a real routine now. We had smooth sailing today:
• 6:40 a.m. : On the trail after a quick in-room snack.
• 8:45 a.m. : We’ve covered almost 5 miles. We stopped for a real breakfast at a cafe.
• 11:30 a.m. : We’ve already completed 10 miles. We grabbed a few groceries at a shop and had sandwiches in a park. The good news for GC1 is that the park had a swing set. For some reason, one of his “games” in Spain is swinging very high and jumping off. He rates himself based upon the distance covered and the maneuvers that he accomplishes during the jump. I keep telling him that his journey is over if he breaks his leg. He keeps telling me that he knows what he’s doing and that it’s a safe game. I’ve decided that the game is OK. After all, the kid isn’t complaining about walking long distances with an old man. If he wants to jump off a swing, who am I to stop him? Our lunch break was much longer than usual.
• 2:15 p.m. : With 15 miles completed, we arrived at our lodging for the night. We’re in a smallish town called Villa Franca del Bierzo. We were greeted by an extremely friendly host named Danny.
We immediately launched into our post-walk routine. I got the chores done. GC1 took a “chill” break. He is traveling with a little device called a Kindle Fire. Every night he loads a few new books, and he reads them the next day.
The first 12 miles today were fairly flat. We were headed uphill for most of the last three miles. We’re starting to get near Spain’s famous mountainous region, called Galicia. You’ll be hearing more about that soon.
During the last three miles, GC1 informed me that it was 85 degrees on his little thermometer. It was hot for about 30 minutes. Then, we were blessed with some cloud cover and a comfortable breeze. I’m not complaining.
Along the way today, we passed through seven little towns. For the first 5 miles, the little towns were connected by country roads. We walked alongside those roads, either on a sidewalk or on a dirt path. For the rest of the trip, the gaps between towns were vineyards. Grape vines were the only thing that we could see. At one point, we walked three miles on a path through the middle of a vineyard. Another time, we walked through a vineyard for more than a mile. We joked about the days of corn fields and sunflower fields.
We didn’t see many other Pilgrims today. That’s the way it goes on El Camino. The folks that we did see were new faces. There was a guy in his 80s and a woman in her mid-70s. They were both walking alone.
Yes, we did see Carlos. His feet are better, but he’s still having a rough time. He was only going 5 miles today. I was wrong about the arrival of his wife. She didn’t arrive today. She’ll arrive on the 7th.
This small town provides limited dinner choices, and there is no grocery store. Dinner is available at our hotel, but it doesn’t start until 7:30 p.m. That’s too late for us. At 6:00 p.m., we grabbed pizza (GC1) and pasta (me) at the bar across the street. (All small restaurants along El Camino are called “bars.”) We’re fully fueled for tomorrow.
Tomorrow is even shorter. Only 13 miles. Whenever I plan one of these trips, it’s always impossible to keep the mileage consistent. The location of the towns is haphazard . I don’t mind. The variation is fun. You can stay up late tonight. You have a short day tomorrow.
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digihindnews · 1 year
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Ben Affleck Net Worth 2023: Everything You Need To Know About Ben Affleck
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Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt, better known by his stage name, Ben Affleck, has achieved extraordinary success in the entertainment industry. Affleck was born on August 15, 1972, in Berkeley, California. As a child, Affleck relocated with his family to Massachusetts, thus he didn't grow up in the Golden State. Both his parents worked in the education field; she taught and he wrote plays. His father's drinking has kept him from holding down a job for quite some time. Throughout his career, Ben Affleck has been open about his father's struggle with alcoholism. The Afflecks eventually made Cambridge, Massachusetts, their permanent home. When he was 11 years old, his parents split up because of his father's alcoholism. Even as young children, Affleck, and his brother were already performing in plays and theatre. Ben Affleck uprooted his life and headed to Hollywood to fulfill his dream of becoming an actor. Let's dig deep into Ben Affleck's Net Worth.
Net Worth Of Ben Affleck
In Hollywood, Ben Affleck is a megastar who has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows. He is also an outstanding director and has received numerous awards for his work on a wide variety of films. In 2016, Affleck is recognized all around the world for his portrayal of Batman. He has achieved international acclaim for his roles in multiple Batman films. Ben Affleck's net worth is currently $155 million, which is an enormous amount of money. Everything you need to know about Ben Affleck And How He Achieve The Awards In his Career.
 Ben Affleck: Career And Awards
Ben Affleck has been acting since he was a kid. In his youth, he had several stage and screen appearances. The Dark End of the Street, Ben Affleck's debut film role, was released in 1981. After waiting a decade, in 1992, he released his next film, titled School Ties. He made his television debut in 1984's The Voyage of the Miami. When the sequel to The Voyage of the Miami was released in 1988, he was a featured player once again. The short film he directed in 1993 marked the beginning of his professional filmmaking career.
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Ben Affleck But in 1997, after his screenplay for Good Will Hunting was out, he became widely known. In the years that followed, Ben Affleck starred in dozens of movies and TV episodes, including Elektra, Feast, Gone Baby Gone, Justice League, Zack Snyder's Justice League, etc. 2016 saw Affleck's debut as Batman in the DC Comics universe. Ben Affleck has received a slew of prestigious honors and awards, including the Golden Globe, Academy, BAFTA, etc. You May Also Like the: - Sad News: Shanti Bhushan, Former Law Minister, Dies at 97 - 2k Arrests in Assam Prompt a Nationwide Child Marriage Crackdown Ben Affleck Education Since his early years, Ben Affleck has lived in a number of different places. Ben Affleck attended Cambridge Rindge & Latin School for his elementary through high school education. He eventually enrolled in Occidental College for dramatic training and majored in acting. After graduating from the University of Vermont, he uprooted to the City of Angels. Ben Affleck Assets Ben Affleck is a household celebrity in the United States thanks to his incredible acting in movies and television. Affleck is a famous actor who has amassed an enormous fortune and uses it to support an extremely lavish lifestyle. Ben Affleck has residences in multiple major cities, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, New York, and others. Ben Affleck takes tremendous pride in his automobile collection, which he drives frequently. Affleck has a wide variety of luxury vehicles, including Porsches, Mercedes, Audis, BMWs, and more. A Ferrari, the most exquisite vehicle he possesses, is also part of his collection. Conclusion To say that Ben Affleck is a sensation and a legendary figure is an understatement. Affleck has appeared in a wide range of films, and his performances throughout these roles have been consistently impressive. He has played a number of comedic roles, but he is better renowned for his dramatic and action ones. Read Next:> Raquel Leviss Net Worth: When Did Raquel Leviss Join ‘Vanderpump Rules’? He gained widespread acclaim and commercial success for his role as Batman. His work as a filmmaker is equally impressive. In numerous TV episodes and movies, he has played multiple roles. There are millions of people that are fans of his all around the world. Follow us on Twitter to check out our latest updates on our social media pages. Read the full article
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hadassahlowe · 1 year
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Reviews of the Top 5 Biker Dating Sites 2022
AfroIntroductions is part of the well-established Cupid Media network that operates over 30 reputable niche dating sites. There are dating sites on the web, which are exceptionally curated for the rich and effective individuals out there attempting to discover their accomplices. There are known processes which can result in incorrect isochron ages, and examples of each are known in the field. We know there are a lot of concerns people have before using Ukraine dating sites, but this one is legitimate and offers official services without anything suspicious. נערות ליווי ברמת גן The couples have diverse backgrounds and unique situations, but the one common denominator is that they aren’t close in age. Besides, they're ready to help with any issue you have - technical or whatnot. I'm not ready yet. Back in the day, you had to talk to someone face-to-face in order to score a date with them. So there’s nothing standing in the way of you meeting that next special someone.
Haha. I liked them way better when I didn't know them. I don't know what I would do. Mature daters know what they are looking for and yet are realistic about who they might date. You should also have an easy time reading reviews of previous users to help you know more about the site and determine if it will meet your expectations. A fully completed profile will help others find you a little easier as well as encourage them to send you a message. I checked her profile and was attracted to her. Another easy option for finding people to date is in areas of life where you're already involved. Get rid of all the awkwardness and stumbles that take place in your dating life and streamline it with Black Women White Men Dating! Whether it's more old-school or aligned with our current generation, it's time to take this dating personality quiz now!
To show off who I am now. I'd rather be with someone who doesn't love me enough. For example, you are less likely to meet someone in the wild who enjoys volunteering at animal shelters than you would be if you met someone while you were actually volunteering at an animal shelter too. Well, someone has to make money here, right? Well, they gave me advice, but I made the decision myself. It depends on the date. Whether these date ranges indicate a compromised sample, inaccuracy in the archaeomagnetic dating method, or post-Puebloan activity at the site is unknown; however, because no other evidence suggestive of post-Puebloan activity was discovered in the course of our research, the last explanation is the least likely of the three. In the course of this analysis, I identify ways in which individuals’ experiences are impacted by structures, relationships, and design decisions across IndieWeb’s community and larger infrastructures. Privacy experts question whether any company should be taking action against users merely because they are believed to have been at the Capitol on Jan. 6 - before formal adjudication or even arrests by authorities. But it’s always hard because you have to do the outreach and not everyone has a network that’s even interested sometimes.
Most of us have had past relationships that were filled with loving moments, tense arguments and self-growth. You might then go on classy dates, fall in love, get married and maybe even have some kids. Again—as before the testing of the wood from the tomb of Tutankhamen—I found resistance; some famous collections of Egyptological antiquities disclaimed possessing any organic material (wood, swathings, hide, seeds, papyrus) that could be sacrificed or even the very possession of such material dating from the Nineteenth, Twentieth, or Twenty-first dynasties. Even with the extreme demands of bcrypt, the case-correction is relatively fast. Only with the right person. Are you with anyone right now? Now sometimes, these types of people are much older. Self-esteem is important, but there's also such a thing as loving yourself too much. It's a good thing I can't remember! There is a good reason we are the number one company on the market for recurring payments - we understand that your success is our success.
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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years
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Nie Huaisang is the cutest thing monsters have ever seen, they can be yao dragons or giant turtles one look at nhs and they want to feed hug or kidnapt him nmj trainning involved recovering his baby brother from every monsters nest around qinge
ao3
“I’m sorry,” Nie Mingjue said, his teeth gritted together and his arms shaking from the strain of holding Baxia up. “He’s mine.”
The massive tiger glared down at him over Baxia’s blade, currently stuck in its teeth, and growled something.
“I know,” Nie Mingjue said. His legs were shaking now, too. “I know, trust me, I know! I’m human, he’s – young, yes, yes, I know. But he’s my little brother! I’m not giving him up!”
The tiger spat out the blade, knocking Nie Mingjue backwards on his ass.
“And when you change your mind?” the tiger demanded. “Will you abandon him then?”
“No!” Nie Mingjue exclaimed. “Never! He’s my brother!”
“Mark your words,” the tiger said ominously. “Or else.”
It turned and stalked off, its tail waving arrogantly in the air, until its towering white form disappeared into the distance.
Nie Mingjue sighed in relief. “Huaisang?” he called, and a small head popped out of the nest the tiger had started building, blinking owlishly at him. “Come on, come to da-ge. It’s time to go home.”
“But Master Tiger said we were going to play…”
“Yes, well, he wanted to play for too long,” Nie Mingjue said. “Only a few centuries, give or take. Let’s go.”
-
It started back when Nie Huaisang was born.
No, more accurately, it started when Nie Mingjue’s father fell in love with someone he probably oughtn’t have, which according to the sect was not a terribly uncommon problem for him to have, and decided to bring home a bride.
Nie Mingjue could still remember the first time he’d seen the Second Madame Nie. They’d all been lined up to greet her, all the sect and close members of the clan in rows according to rank, Nie Mingjue fidgeting in the inside of the house proper in his first tangle with formal clothing outside of the discussion conferences. She had come sweeping in with her head held as high as a princess, seductive and bewitching.
Every movement had been perfect, the eyes of all the men fogging over in lust and the women in admiration – or visa versa, depending on their personal preferences – and a wicked smile had lit up her face when she had stepped across the threshold, officially becoming the sect leader’s wife, and maybe everything would have gone along with whatever plan she’d had back then if she hadn’t next seen him.
“Oh, look at you,” she exclaimed, rushing over to pinch Nie Mingjue’s cheeks between her hands. “What a delectable little morsel you are!”
“Uh,” Nie Mingjue said, staring up at her with big round somewhat-worried eyes.
“You charming little dumpling,” she said. “You adorable mouthful of meat! Spoonful of egg yolk!”
Nie Mingjue cast his eyes around to see if anyone would be willing to help him.
“My eldest son,” Nie Mingjue’s father said, not without pride – albeit perhaps a puzzled sort of pride. “He’s probably just about old enough to come to the forecourt, if you don’t want him to live with you –”
“Oh no,” she said. “He’s definitely living with me.”
And so she stayed, and Nie Mingjue stayed with her, and she doted on him in a way he found pleasant if mildly disconcerting. Within a year, she was pregnant, and irritated with it; six months after that, she was round and complaining, even though Nie Mingjue solemnly assured her that she was as beautiful as ever.
“This is your fault, you know,” she told him, and he blinked at her. “It is! Don’t get me wrong, your father’s a charming bull when he wants to be, and of course he fucks like a champion stud, but I stayed here for you, my little cabbage roll, my charming chunk of liver.”
She patted her belly.
“That means this here is all because of you. So you’d better take responsibility!”
Nie Mingjue considered the issue for a little. The argument seemed plausible, so he raised his hands and put them on her rounded stomach. “I will take care and watch over him for all my life,” he vowed, and the baby inside kicked his hand in response, sealing the pact.
“Oh you are so cute,” she said, pressing her hands to her cheeks. “My darling pork bun! My little fish cake! I could eat you right up, if only you were just a little bit older!”
When Nie Huaisang was born, she disappeared in a welter of blood, but Nie Mingjue’s oath remained.
The trouble started after that.
-
“You can’t raise a cub like that properly,” the winged lion argued, bating its wings as if that would help it make its point better.
Nie Mingjue glared at him. “Watch me!”
“It’s for your own good, little human. He needs his own kind –”
“I’m not listening to a treasure-seeker!”
The lion scowled at him. “I’ll have you know that most humans think I’m good luck!”
“You’re not trying to steal most humans’ little brothers, are you?!”
The winged lion sighed, a deep sound, so very noble and long-suffering that Nie Mingjue couldn’t resist the urge to lift his foot and kick the lion right in the paw.
“Brat!”
“Don’t care!” he shouted. “You leave my brother alone! He’s my responsibility, not yours! Piss off!”
“You can’t even feed him properly -”
“I’ll figure it out!” Nie Mingjue bared his teeth and wished he was old enough for a saber.
“You little…fine. Fine! I’ll bring you a book on how to feed a huli jing kit, and you keep to it, you hear me?”
“I will,” Nie Mingjue said. “But don’t you even think of taking him away!”
“On your own head be it,” the winged lion grumbled. “Not everyone’s as understanding as me.”
-
“Why are you wet?” Nie Mingjue’s father asked him.
“Water monkeys,” Nie Mingjue said shortly. “There was a nest.”
“Water monkeys? Don’t they normally stay away from people…? Or, I suppose, were these ones feral?”
“Thieves.”
“Ah. Well, nothing to be done about it, I suppose…bad luck for you to run into them here, of all places. But good experience! How many people your age can say that they fought water monkeys?”
“Can we go home?” Nie Mingjue asked, a little plaintively, and rubbed his nose. “How much can you really have to say to the Jiang sect, anyway?”
His father chuckled. “More than either of us would like, unfortunately. But if you’ve had enough of water, which no one can blame you for, maybe you and Huaisang can go shopping in the pier instead?”
That would work, Nie Mingjue thought, and nodded happily.
(Sect Leader Jiang was extremely embarrassed about the ghostly rats in the night-market – he claimed they’d never seen neither nose nor tail of them before the Nie brothers had accidentally tripped over their trap and had to flee from the swarm...)
-
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nie-er-gongzi,” the white-clad cultivator from the mountain said, smiling broadly and saluting deeply.
Xiao Xingchen had made himself famous during his first half-dozen night-hunts alone for his extraordinary grace, bearing and strength, and he said he was on a mission to help the world. He was beautiful, virtuous, and matched each ideal of gentlemanly arts.
Sects throughout the cultivation world were drooling at the thought of enticing him to join them, fighting for the opportunity to put in a good word with him.
Not all sects.
Nie Mingjue stepped forward, purposely putting Nie Huaisang behind him.
“Don’t you even think about it,” he said, hand on the hilt of his saber. “Buzz off, birdbrain.”
Xiao Xingchen might wear white, but Nie Mingjue knew a zhuque chick when he saw one.
-
“I found something for my aviary, da-ge!” Nie Huaisang, seven years old and delighted with his clumsy autonomy, announced.
Nie Mingjue, less than a full year into his new role as sect leader, rubbed his eyes. “Oh?” he asked, only somewhat wanting to scream endlessly into the void, which was better than usual. “That’s nice, Huaisang…”
“Come look! It’s so pretty!”
“I’m a bit busy –”
“But da-ge!”
Nie Mingjue sighed and got up, following Nie Huaisang to the door only to come to a complete stop.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” he said to the fenghuang currently pretending to be a rooster in a cage, as if anyone would actually mistake phoenix flames for regular feathers. “Do you have no dignity left?!”
-
“You can’t adopt the bashe,” Nie Mingjue said to Nie Huaisang, who pouted. “It eats elephants; we’d be broke within three months.”
He turned to the giant python.
“You can’t adopt Huaisang,” he said. “I will literally murder you.”
-
“Why can’t I go watch the eclipse?” Nie Huaisang complained. “Everyone else is going!”
“I’m not risking a tiangou.”
“The…dog that eats the sun? Really, da-ge, is that even real?”
“You know what,” Nie Mingjue said, “you’re grounded just for saying that.”
Nie Huaisang grinned.
-
“Maybe I want to go and live among the qilin!” Nie Huaisang screamed, fourteen and hormonal about it.
“Well you don’t get a choice!” Nie Mingjue bellowed back.
“You’re not my father! I don’t have to listen to what you say!”
“I’m your fucking sect leader and yes you do!”
“I hate you!”
“I don’t care if you hate me! You still aren’t going to go live in a field with some magic pointy deer and that’s final!”
The qilin herd wisely chose to withdraw.
-
“Da-ge,” Jin Guangyao hissed, and Nie Mingjue looked up from his work at him – he hadn’t heard Meng Yao this upset since he’d shoved him into a closet to get him out of way during the whole dangkang boar hunt debacle. “Da-ge, there’s a dragon outside.”
“Again?” Nie Mingjue said, standing up to stretch and feeling oddly unbalanced. They’d just finished another session with the song of Clarity, so he really shouldn’t be feeling like this; he would need to write to Lan Xichen again about his fears that the treatment really wasn’t working. Lan Xichen would probably only say to give it more time, another chance, but still… “Let me go talk to them. Dragons are the worst.”
“No, da-ge, you don’t understand,” Jin Guangyao said. “It’s not a water-serpent or – or even a jiaolong – it’s a dragon.”
“A flood-dragon is a type of dragon,” Nie Mingjue said, following Jin Guangyao outside. “You know that, it’s in the name, what’s the big – oh, I see. It’s a celestial dragon.”
Jin Guangyao glared at him with an expression suggesting that he was under-reacting, but Nie Mingjue really didn’t have the capacity in him to reach with appropriate fervor at the moment. He and Nie Huaisang had been fighting a lot recently, every little thing escalating into a giant argument, and he was no longer sure if he was doing the right thing in trying to force Nie Huaisang onto the path of his ancestors. After all, unlike Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang had – somewhat different ancestors, on his maternal side.
And, he supposed, Nie Huaisang was old enough to decide otherwise, if he truly wished…
Still, Nie Mingjue was as stubborn as a mule and had no intention of giving up his baby brother without a fight, so he braced himself and went over to the frankly massive creature draped over the entrance gateway and much of the training yard that the entirety of the Nie sect was doing its utmost best to pretend that they weren’t seeing.
Nie Huaisang was sitting on the thing’s five claws – an imperial celestial dragon, apparently – because of course he was.
“Excuse me,” Nie Mingjue called up to the dragon, which turned its head to regard him, an entire production that took nearly a quarter ké to accomplish. “The brat there is mine, please return him.”
“Da-ge!” Jin Guangyao hissed again, but Nie Mingjue waved him away.
“You have raised him well,” the dragon said, which was…a good deal nicer than most of these interactions usually went.
“…thanks?” Nie Mingjue said suspiciously, ignoring Jin Guangyao’s splutters of “It talks?!” “I think?”
“I have chosen to grant you a boon,” the dragon announced.
“…right,” Nie Mingjue said. “If this ‘boon’ is that you’ll take him off my hands, I’m afraid I’m going to have to refuse. He may be trouble, but he’s still my brother.”
“Da-ge!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed, indignant. “Don’t be rude. I asked him for this!”
Nie Mingjue frowned at him, unable to resist the feeling of hurt even though he’d already told himself to expect something like this. “…you want to leave?”
“No, da-ge, don’t be ridiculous. I asked him to improve your health!”
Ah.
“Huaisang –” he started to say.
“Don’t you ‘Huaisang’ me!” his little brother shouted. “I know you’re trying to hide it, but it’s getting worse, isn’t it? San-ge told me so! He said I should get ready!”
Nie Mingjue made a mental note to strangle Jin Guangyao, who had no right to say something like that to Nie Huaisang even if maybe it wasn’t the worst idea in the world to emotionally prepare Nie Huaisang for the upcoming bereavement and inheritance he would need to face.
“Anyway, he said to get ready, so I did!”
“You can’t just ask a divine dragon to fix me, Huaisang. That’s not how this works.”
“Uh, it totally does, and I did, and he agreed. So there!”
Nie Mingjue crossed his arms and glared. “And what did he want in return?”
“The boon is a reward for your past merit, not a trade for the deeds of the future,” the dragon said, not even slightly hiding how its whiskers were shaking with suppressed laughter. “You have travelled a difficult road, and borne the weight of it well. And besides…”
“Besides?”
“If you were to die, he would undoubtedly petition the creatures of the underworld to return you.”
“Well, fuck,” Nie Mingjue said, having not considered that. “Fine. Whatever. Heal me and I’ll try to keep an eye on my health going forward.”
Maybe more Clarity? He could try to free up his schedule, get in a few more sessions…
“I just give up,” Jin Guangyao said behind him. “I just fucking give up.”
Nie Mingjue, assuming that he was talking about Nie Huaisang’s nonsense, agreed whole-heartedly.
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thejudgingtrash · 4 years
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Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.
YES.
That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!
Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.
And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.
But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.
Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.
This should count as a paper of its own.
Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:
Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.
Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.
Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.
The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!
To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.
The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.
The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.
We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.
People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me. 
There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.
I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).
The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.
The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?
If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.
People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).
And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.
That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).
Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.
This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.
People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:
You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.
Let me repeat that:
Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.
So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.
This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.
So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.
Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:
Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.
A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.
Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.
With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.
Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.
But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:
The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)
The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)
The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)
And these female characters only know three endings:
End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve
Get dumped into the hunt
Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something
We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.
Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.
But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.
I hope you people get my point?
Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.
TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.
Peace out.
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let-me-write-shit · 3 years
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You writing is soo cool, you're amazing! I don't know if you are taking requests, but what about a famous Y/N and meets professor Harry and he is like "I don't want to teach you, you are famous" and she is like "you are going to teach me and fall in love with me😏" and well, idk the idea just came to my mind and I thought of you to write it hahaha. Love your writing, keep doing it 'cause you are great!
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 Word Count: 9,443 LONG AS SHIIIIT
WARNING: FILTHY SMUT!!!!!!!! (I put ******** before and after the smut so you can skip if you’d like
A/N: Thank you SOO much to @mylittleangel9403 for this request and I’m SOOOO sorry it took so long. Turned out a lot longer than I anticipated. Not sure if you wanted this to be smutty, but I just couldn’t help myself. Also, shoutout to @gwenlovesharrystyles for the help on this imagine! Much appreciated!!Enjoy!
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Professor Styles
“Ma’am, respectfully, I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Harry leaned forward in his chair, fingertips pressed together, aware of the large presence that sat beside him, his voice almost a whisper. “We’re already several classes deep, and as you know, my class is very difficult. She’ll be at a disadvantage going in, not to mention the students already in my class. The distraction isn’t fair for them.”
“Professor Styles, I don’t need to tell you how much this means to our University. I understand your concern, and I have every faith in you to help miss Y/L/N catch up to speed and keep your students in-check.”
He could feel the eyes of the famous singer on him as she uncrossed her legs and sat straighter in her chair. In his peripheral, he could see her burly manager, who stood in the back against a wall, take a step closer behind them like a bodyguard waiting to pounce. But for some reason, Harry had the distinct impression that Y/N could do without protection. He thought she was tough enough.
“Sir,” Y/N spoke softly and respectfully. Harry turned, seeing a reflection of yellow in her eyes as the sun shone through the window onto them, and he couldn’t help but think she was putting on an act for the Dean. “I know that the circumstances are...unusual. But, I promise I will do everything in my power to not cause any distraction in your class. I’ll sit in the back if that helps. Whatever it takes.”
The young professor took a deep breath, taking in her words. He looked around the room in thought, feeling everyone’s attention on him all the while. Some of the rumors about her seemed to ring true. Y/N had this energy about her that made it difficult to focus or think straight. She hardly took her eyes off of him throughout this entire meeting.
Harry sighed in defeat and nodded, “Alright. I trust she’ll be given the syllabus and information on everything she’ll need for my class?” he asked the Dean.
But before the Dean could respond, Y/N chirped, “I’ve already gotten it and I’m prepared to start next week.”
“Well, that’s settled, then,” the Dean grinned, victoriously, “Welcome to our school, Miss Y/L/N. Unless you have any more questions, you are free to go.”
Y/N stood up with a smile, followed by the Dean and professor. She stuck out a hand and shook them, saying, “Thank you so much. I look forward to starting on Tuesday.”
Her burly manager opened the door for her and she began to make her way out. And as Harry collected his things to leave, the Dean quipped, “Oh, Professor Styles. Before you head to your next class, I’d like to speak to you for a moment.”
Harry watched as Y/N closed the door behind her, almost certain he saw a wink, before setting his things back down and taking a seat once more. He listened as the Dean encouraged him to do all that he can to ensure Y/N had a good experience here, explaining how big of a deal this was and how Y/N taking his class might encourage more students to enroll.
Harry listened, respectfully, but wanted nothing more than to roll his eyes. It annoyed him that he was expected to baby Y/N and bend to her will solely because she was a rich and famous singer, and he refused to play a part in that. If she wanted success in his class, she would need to earn it just like the rest of his students.
When they finished their conversation, he was already running late for his next class. Again, he collected his things and made his way out of the office. As he speed-walked through the administration, he was surprised to see Y/N still there, sat on a chair beside her burly manager, talking. When she noticed him, she instantly jumped to her feet and raced up to him.
“Hey,” she said, simply, keeping his pace as they continued out of the administration building and into the main campus.
“I’m running late to my next class, Miss Y/L/N. Did you have a question, or can this wait?”
Her voice was so flippant that it bordered arrogance, “Just wanted to thank you again for letting me join your class this late into the semester.”
“It’s not me you should thank. I don’t agree with it and I won’t baby you. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I suggest you start reading your books so you’re not lost in my next class. Your classmates have worked hard to get to where they are and I’d hate for you to be the reason for a halt in their progress.”
“I think you’ll find that not to be the case.”
She was so smug that it caught him off guard. The looming of her large manager two paces behind him as they hustled down the walkway was even more noticeable now, along with the many whispers and stares as they continued. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, perplexed.
He debated whether to ask, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. Not wanting to show any sign of weakness or that he’d entertain her malarky. But his curiosity got the better of him.
“Miss Y/L/N, why are you taking my class?”
“Why not?” she smirked in response.
He sighed, annoyed that he was even going along with this, “We both know you don’t need to go to school, especially for Advanced Musical Theory. Why are you only taking my class?”
Her voice was softer and more sincere this time as she spoke, “I’ve always been interested in Music Theory and wanted to take it before my career kicked off. And I heard you were one of the best teachers in your field.”
For a split second, in that moment of sincerity, he thought he might have just seen her, the real her, behind all the fame and money and act. But her innocence faltered as she quickly shuffled in front of him, making Harry fumble to a stop.
Her eyes were more seductive now as she hushed, “Besides, I heard about how hot you were and I needed to see it for myself. And I’m not disappointed,” she looked at him through her eyelashes.
Harry could feel the warmth rise to his cheeks, extremely aware of her manager’s presence behind him and the few students nearby, staring. He was sure his face was bright red right now as Y/N’s smirk only seemed to grow.
Harry was aware of his reputation around campus for being the ‘hot teacher’. He wasn’t a stranger to the gossip or the occasional student trying to make a pass at him. And, honestly, his ego enjoyed it. But he’d never crossed that line with a student before and she would be no exception.
He did his best to compose himself and continued past her, Y/N following behind, “I’ll ignore that and just give you fair warning,” he started, “My class is hard and you will not be given special treatment just because you’re famous. I promised the dean I’d get you caught up, and I will. Your class is every Tuesday, and you can meet me in my office after each lesson for an hour for the next few weeks until we get you up-to-date on what you’ve missed. I will not play into your games.”
“Yes, Sir,” she pouted, teasingly, and again, jumped in front of him, holding a hand out and smiling, “Looking forward to next Tuesday.”
Harry looked at her suspiciously, pausing for a moment before ultimately giving in and taking her hand in his. But before he could respond, she pulled herself closer to him. So close that she was practically whispering in his ear.
“But just to warn you, not only will I ace your class, but by the end of the semester, I’ll make you call in love with me.”
Her breath was so hot and her words were so unexpected that he stood there, stunned, while she pulled away, winked, and walked back towards her bodyguard, heading back from where they just came from. She waved to a few students that recognized her, and she looked back once to blow a discreet kiss before she rounded a corner and was out of sight.
Harry watched after her, stunned at her assertiveness while people were watching. But he shook it off and continued to his class, mentally preparing himself to break the news to his students.
The anxiety in the week leading up to the start of Y/N’s first official day in Professor Styles’ class was becoming more frequently accompanied by the Dean’s constant checking in on him to make sure everything was ready, more students visiting or showing up to class, and even more excited whispers. Harry, on the other hand, did his best to push it aside, not getting what all the fuss was about.
He had done his best to prepare his students for their newly joined classmate, even sending out mass reminder emails to those in his class to please be courteous and warning them to avoid distraction. But when he pulled up to the school that day, he noticed more students than normal just hanging around, scanning all over campus like they were scouting for something.
Harry quickly realized that they were waiting to catch a glimpse at the famous singer and he snorted, rolling his eyes. Kids were so predictable. He slipped his lanyard with his ID around his neck, grabbed hold of his coffee and briefcase, and got out of his car, heading towards his classroom.
The Professor smiled and nodded at the students that greeted him in the hallway, proud that he knew each of them by name, continuing to his class. He knew his students would already be there, by now. Harry was usually always a few minutes late and he assumed that it gave his students more than enough time to ogle their new addition to the class.
But, when Harry rounded the corner and saw Y/N leaning up against the wall, arms crossed and alone, his nerves increased.
“Harry,” Y/N beamed when she spotted him, practically skipping over to him.
Harry raised his eyebrows, clearing his throat, “It’s Professor Styles,” he warned, earning a sarcastic nod while he continued, “Why are you not in class?”
“I thought we could go in together since I’m new.”
“I’m your professor, not your babysitter. Go on in next time,” he said as they approached the door. Before turning the knob, he paused and faced her, “While you’re here, I’ll explain to you what I explained to them on the first day. I’m a pretty easy-going teacher because I know how hard this class can be. You can eat in my class, you can have your phones out, you can come in wearing pajamas, I don’t care. However, the biggest rule in my class is that you treat people with kindness. We do not judge in this class. We don’t interrupt people or talk over others, we don’t make others feel inferior. My class is a safe space for people to be their authentic selves and we respect that. Can you do that?”
Y/N’s stance softened and she grinned, nodding, “Yes. I can do that.”
“Good,” Harry nodded, “I’d like you to take a seat towards the back of the class for today if you don’t mind. I’d rather they pay attention to me than the back of your head.”
“Whatever you say, Professor,” Y/N exaggerated his title, her lips twitching up in a lopsided smile.
He looked down at her for a moment, narrowing his eyes, trying to size her up, before he gave in and turned the knob to his class. The buzz from his students loudly chattering amongst each other instantly stopped when he walked in, closely followed by the singer. Harry vaguely noticed that not only was every single one of his students present, but they all looked slightly more put-together than normal. He snorted under his breath, dropping his briefcase on his desk, taking a sip from his coffee cup, and placing that down, as well.
“Morning!” He called out, earning a chorus of greetings in return. He gestured towards Y/N who was making her way up the steps towards the back of the class, “I’m sure you all know who this is. We are incredibly lucky to welcome Y/N in joining us this year.”
Y/N stopped climbing the steps to smile brightly and wave obscurely at everyone, “Hi!”
Harry nodded towards her to keep moving. She rolled her eyes, playfully, and continued while he explained, “I know we’re all excited to have her here, but I want to remind everyone that while we’re in the room, we’re all students, and that includes Y/N. Let’s all focus on what we’re here for, so we don’t get lost when mid-terms get here, yeah?”
After another muttering of agreeance, Harry noticed Y/N getting settled in the back and he nodded, starting the lecture, “Okay, what I’d like to do is a one-minute warm-up on today’s exploration on duple and triple meter. So, I need everyone to stand up.”
The rustling of chairs echoed and screeched as students got to their feet. Soon, they were marching along to Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles, everyone laughing and feet stomping on the ground. He felt proud, seeing all the smiling, attentive faces in his direction and happy that throughout the lesson, nearly everyone had seemed to grasp everything that he was saying.
But, each time he glanced up in Y/N’s direction, he noticed that not only had she not even so much as picked up a pencil or opened her laptop, she had not looked away from him even once. He made a mental note to reprimand her after class and continued on.
When the lesson came to an end, Harry thanked the class for their cooperation and the students began to pack up their belongings. He watched as Y/N was met by a group of kids who were considered to be more ‘popular’ around campus. He saw her friendly smiles, but could barely hear her over the noise.
Once Harry managed to gather his things and toss his now-empty coffee cup in the trash, he approached the group, earning a pleasant round of hello’s by the students. One of the girls, Jesse, made sure to bat her eyelashes a little more and lean closer than necessary as she spoke.
“Great lesson today, Professor Styles. I did have a few questions about musical texture and was wondering if we could meet privately so I could get some more clarity on that?” she asked, twisting a lock of hair around her fingers.
Harry was used to Jesse’s incessant attempts at flirting with him and getting him alone, but he never took the bait, “I’m sorry, Jesse, I have no free office hours available, right now. But please shoot me an email with all of your questions and I’ll gladly help you out.” He heard sniggering from her friends as her face shifted into disappointment and he turned to Y/N, “Miss Y/L/N, when you’re done here, please meet me in my office so I can get you caught up.”
“Yes, Professor, I’ll be right there.”
He waited twenty minutes before he finally heard a knock on the door. He had half a mind to ignore it and let her stand out there, annoyed that he was wasting time trying to help an entitled celebrity who clearly had no interest in his class. What was the point? But, he thought back to the Dean, and reluctantly made his way to the door.
“Your students seem to really like you,” she confidently walked in, taking a seat on top of his desk and tossing her bag on one of the chairs, crossing her legs. “Especially that girl, what’s her name? Jesse?”
Harry blinked and slightly shook her head back before closing the door and rounding the desk she sat on towards his chair, not bothering to give the statement a response. But that didn’t stop her from continuing, “She’s like, in love with you. Well, maybe not in love. But you definitely make her horny.”
“Y/N!” You shoot back at the brassiness.
“She’s hot, I’ll give her that. But she’s definitely got that ‘daddy money’ vibe to her. She and her friends invited me to a party next weekend. And that kid, Mark, gave me his number. He’s pretty hot, too. Looks like some kind of jock.”
Harry nodded, shuffling his papers, “He’s here on a full-ride soccer scholarship.”
“Damn, I’m good,” Y/N leaned back, pressing her palms flat against the top of his desk, impressed with herself.
Harry looked up at her, an eyebrow raised. He wished he could say that her confidence astounded him, but honestly, he wasn’t that surprised. He could hazard a guess that her success was probably all handed to her. She joked about another student being given ‘daddy’s money’, but if he had to guess, she was probably the same.
He set the stack of papers down beside where she sat on his desk and looked up at her with a sigh, “Miss Y/L/N, my desk is not a chair. Please have a seat.”
She slithered down off the desk and plopped in a chair opposite him, scooting it closer and crossing her arms on the top, waiting for him to speak.
He relaxed his shoulders and continued, “You didn’t participate much in class today.”
“Well, you told me not to be a distraction.”
“Yes, but you’re still a part of the class. I expect more participation from you in the next class. And that includes note-taking. You won’t pass my class from memory. For now, I need to get you caught up.
Harry spent the next hour trying to get her caught up on the very first day of his class, which she interrupted every ten minutes, or so, going off-topic or asking very personal questions like ‘do you have a girlfriend?’ or ‘how many students have you been with?’ None of which he answered. When there were about ten minutes left in their time together, Y/N interrupted for the eighth time that hour and Harry groaned, unsure that she had retained any of the information he had provided her so far.
“What made you want to do this? Teach Musical Theory?”
He looked up at her and paused for a moment and she stared at him, her head cocked to the side. She looked genuinely interested, and it wasn’t often that he got asked these questions. He decided he’d entertain her, just this once.
Harry slid the paperwork away from him and sat back in his seat, “I’ve just always been interested in music since I was a kid.”
“Yeah, so have I. That’s why I became a musician. There are so many jobs in the musical field, why music theory?”
“Well, I am a musician. Not as big as you, obviously, but I have a small band and we play gigs around town. But the more I deep dove into music and the history behind it, the more I got into musical theory. It was a hobby and a passion before it was a career. And I guess I just wanted to show people how fun and interesting it could be.”
Y/N nodded, seeming content with his answer before saying, “Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’re a good teacher.”
“You’ve only been in one class,” he chuckled, sitting up again and straightening out his papers once more.
She giggled, “Yes, but it doesn’t take long to know when a teacher is good or not. I see the way you interact with your students and hear the way they talk about you. Everyone seems to love you. It’s part of the reason why I chose to come here.”
“My reputation precedes me?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Something like that,” she grinned, before softly speaking, “You know, we’re not all that different, you and I. I’ve been passionate about music for as long as I remember,” she laughed and said, “I remember when I was seven years old my mom took me to the library and I must have read at least six books, cover to cover, about Chopin. I knew everything about him and even named my pet rabbit after him. Everyone thought I was crazy.”
“Classical music?” Harry questioned, surprised.
She nodded, sitting up, “I’ve played piano since I was two.”
Harry pursed his lips, nodding his head, “Never judge a book by its cover.”
They stared at each other for a moment, silence filling the room. She looked more innocuous now; harmless as she sat with one leg crossed over the other. By this small conversation she had, she could see bits of himself in her eyes and it made him bring his guard down. For a moment, he was fascinated.
But her expression changed, more curious, as she asked, “So, how many lucky girls get the chance to have this one-on-one time with hottie Professor Styles?”
Harry sighed, rubbing his temples, “You exhaust me.”
“Or guys, I’m not judging,” she shrugged, “Though that would totally suck for Jesse. She’s really crushing.”
“I’ve never dated a student and I never will,” he said blandly.
“Never say never,” she smirked, “Why not?”
“Because they’re kids and it’s inappropriate.”
“Kids?” she snorted, “You’re barely four years older than most of your students. And everyone is of legal age.”
“I am not having this conversation with you,” he said, packing his things, “Our time is up. I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you in class next week.”
She grinned, gathering her things together and following him towards the door. As he reached for the door handle, she quickly put a hand on top of his, stopping him from turning it and making him look down at her as she said, “Don’t forget, Professor. Never say never.”
He watched as she opened the door and slipped out, turning her head once to wink back at him before she rounded a corner.
Harry found himself nervous and somehow anxious for the following week to arrive. It was the first time for years he had gotten there before any of his students. Every time the door opened and a student arrived, surprised by his early presence, he noticed he would jump and whip his head in the direction of the door. He tried to tell himself that he was just jittery or had too much coffee this morning, but he knew that wasn’t the reason.
When Y/N walked through the door, he felt his heart start to race.
“Good morning, Professor,” she smirked at him as she made her way up the steps towards the back of the class.
He nodded but didn’t respond. He felt stupid for not knowing what to say. There were so many options; hi, hello, how are you? Nothing. Harry watched out of the corner of her eye as she made a dramatic show of pulling out a notebook and a pen, sitting back in her chair and propping her legs up on the desk, making her short skirt slip up her thigh even more, waiting while she tapped her pen on the paper while the other arm was crossed over her stomach and her thumb grazed against her mouth.
He shook his head, pretending to search his briefcase for something as more students started to arrive, annoyed at himself for letting her get to him. In his four years of teaching, this had never been a problem before. How was she doing it?
Y/N waved as the group of kids she was seen talking to at the end of the last class squeezed in and they all excitedly waved back, making their way back to the seats in the row in front of her, spinning in their seats to talk. He wondered what they were talking about each time he saw her laugh or look down at him and hold eye contact.
The lecture started smoothly. He had them do another goofy exercise to get them ready for the class and was able to keep everyone’s attention as he explained notes and scales. Harry noticed the singer scribbling down in her notebook and was relieved to see she was taking notes this time. But what shocked him, even more, was her participation. The Professor, although known to make teaching and learning fun, was also known to ask a lot of hard questions throughout the class. Most, of which, the students rarely knew the answers to. That’s why he was surprised to see Y/N’s hand raised after nearly every question he asked, and even more taken back when her answers were right. Every single time.
Students began to become amused, automatically looking in between the two when a question would arise, and giggling at the incredulous expression on his face when she had, yet again, gotten the answer right. If he didn’t know any better, he would bet that by next week the class would turn it into some kind of a drinking game. He could have sworn he saw Y/N giggle under her breath and even blow a kiss.
After class, once again, Y/N was grouped on the steps by the rows of desks with Jesse, Mark, and their other friends. Y/N would twirl her hair and smile towards Mark and seemed to have him wrapped around her finger, but Harry also noticed how she’d look over Mark’s shoulder at him and bite her lip. She knew he’d be watching, and he hated himself for it.
Quickly, he packed his things and left the room, heading to his office to wait for her there, wondering what they were talking about. He closed the office door behind him, tossed his briefcase on the floor beside the paper shredder, and decided against turning the lights on. He blamed it on a splitting migraine, but it was really because there were too many intrusive thoughts running through his mind that he was doing everything he could to ease it, including pacing the room.
The attempts, however futile, were short lived. Minutes later there was a soft knock on the door and Y/N emerged, closing the door behind her, strutting right past him, and plopping on top of his desk again.
“How was that for participation, Harry?” she asked, propping a foot on the arm of his chair which made her skirt shimmy up her thigh just enough that if he were to look, he was sure he’d be able to see what she was wearing underneath.
He took a gulp and fought hard not to look down, lightly pushing her leg off of the arm of his chair so that both of her legs now hung down, taking a seat and crossing his arms, “It’s Professor Styles, and you did very well in class today, Miss Y/L/N.”
“Told you that I’d be a good student,” but her smile turned devilish as she spread her legs apart further and bent down closer to him, “But I can be bad if you’d like.”
“Please get off my desk and take a seat, Y/N. We’ve still got a lot of catching up to do.”
“Whatever you say, Professor,” she exaggerated, slowly slipping off of his desk and rounding to the other side.
Again, Harry tried his best to catch her up on lessons she missed, but it hardly seemed to get anywhere with Y/N’s constant interruption of inconsequential questions and arbitrary thoughts that seemed to almost pour out of her mouth without thought. He couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath a few times. She wasn’t boring, he’ll give her that much.
The more she fought against his attempts at teaching her, the more he realized that they weren’t going to get anywhere unless he gave her a little of what she wanted. So when she asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?” he sighed and ran his finger through his hair, giving in.
“No, I don’t. And why do you insist on coming to these meetings if you aren’t going to pay attention?”
“I am paying attention. You were talking about themes and motives of the piano and violin in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony,” she said, confidently, crossing her arms, “I just think that it would be easier to come to class and learn if I knew my teacher a little better.”
He rolled his eyes at this attempt, but a smile crept on his face anyway, “What do you want to know?”
She smiled, sitting up, eagerly, “Well, it’s good to know you’re single. When was the last time you were in a relationship?”
He sighed, uncertain why he was even taking part in this conversation, “A little over a year.”
“And you haven’t tried again since?”
He shrugged, “I’ve been busy.”
“Or you were heartbroken.”
The response stung a little. She was right. And that annoyed him even more. How did she do this? Get under his skin so easily? Instead of answering that, he retorted with, “Well, what about you? You’re obviously single, otherwise, you wouldn’t be flirting so much with your professor or the soccer star.”
Her smirk stretched wider, “Oh, are we jealous of Mike?”
He scoffed, grabbing the few pieces of paper off of his desk and attempting to organize it in the side filing cabinet, “No, I’m not jealous of a student.”
“Mhmm. Well, for your information we were just talking about the party they’re having this weekend.”
He tried his best to look confused, although he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that party since she mentioned it last week, “Is that so?”
“Yeah, it’s on Saturday. Not sure if I’m going yet. I’m sure my manager and PR would have my head if I was caught getting sloppy at a college party. Not good for the image,” she whispered, rolling her eyes.
He shrugged, “College parties aren’t all that great, anyway.”
“I’m sure,” she said sarcastically, “Anyway, I have a concert the night before, so I’m usually exhausted by the next day. You should come.”
“To your concert?” he asked.
She raised an eyebrow, skeptically, “Unless you don’t like my music?”
Harry shrugged, “I haven’t really heard much of it,” he lied, “but my sister’s a big fan.”
“Well, I’ll put you down for a plus-one. As long as it’s just your sister.”
Harry felt a lump beginning to form in his throat and he shook his head, “I already have plans for Friday. But thanks, anyway.”
She shook her head, nonchalantly, “Well, offer still stands if your plans fall through.”
He tried his best to reroute the conversation back on topic and was thankful that she seemed to finally go along with it. But as it neared the end of the hour, he felt her eyes on his face more and more. He looked up in the middle of his sentence and froze when he saw her eyes on his. She seemed entranced and almost out of it. And something seemed to pull him into the same trance as her.
It was the first good look at her that he had gotten since their first meeting. Her skin looked soft and her eyes sparkled when the sun’s rays shone on them at just the right angle. He hadn’t noticed until now that the bridge of her nose was slightly elongated and somehow endearing. And her lips. Those lips.
Y/N shook her head and stood up. It was the first time that she seemed to be caught off guard, and that stroked his ego a bit. He glanced down at his watch and noticed that they had run overtime and he gasped. She seemed to realize, too. Hurriedly, they both began to collect their things, but in the frenzy, she accidentally flicked her pen off the desk and it ricocheted on his side, landing on the floor near his briefcase.
“Oh!” he heard her mutter, rounding the desk where they both hastily attempted to grab it.
Harry was the first to grab it and as they both stood up, they were face to face with each other, inches away. They froze, again, unable to move. He saw something in her eyes that he hadn’t seen before; nervousness. Y/N was always such a confident force, and to see her any less than that admittedly made him gratified, like he had obtained a victory. But he, himself, was losing the battle. She was breaking him down one wink at a time, and he had never felt so weak in his life.
He could feel the strain of his desire pulling him closer towards her, the gloss on her lips looked enticing. If no one stopped him soon, he wasn’t sure if he could hold off much longer. He saw her eyes begin to flutter shut as the gap between them closed. Her sweet, minty breath swirled in front of his lips, he could almost taste it. And then a loud knock on the door echoed around his office.
Y/N flew against the wall while Harry awkwardly knocked his elbow against the back filing cabinet just as Jesse haughtily belted into the room. Her wide smile slowly screwed up into trepidation at the awkward tension that filled the room as the professor and singer avoided eye contact with each other.
“Jesse!” Harry quickly spoke, “What can I help you with?”
“I’m sorry, I thought you’d be finished. I just had a few questions about the essay, but I can just email you.”
“No, no, it’s fine, come in. Y/N was just on her way out.”
“Okay, cool,” Jesse smiled, stepping in further and placing her things on the chair opposite his desk.
Harry watched as the two girls exchanged friendly smiles, but he could see the slight embarrassment behind Y/N’s as she made her way towards the door.
“Don’t forget about this weekend!” Jesse called out after her, “I’ve never seen Mark so excited for a party before.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Y/N faked a laugh, sharing one last concerned look with Harry before closing the door behind her on the way out.
All week he found himself analyzing all of the occurrences that led up to him and Y/N almost kissing. He debated his sentiments, trying to logic every feeling of vulnerability and affection away with a simple explanation. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to pay attention to his work, constantly stumbling over his words of forgetting what he was talking about. When his class ended early on Friday afternoon and he sat in silence in his apartment, he stared at the blank television screen, contemplating whether or not he should take up her offer to attend her concert.
He paced the floor, opened and closed the fridge, tried to scroll through his social media apps, or read a book, anything to keep her mind off of her. He picked his phone up and stared at the home screen for a few minutes, constantly unlocking it when it got dark. With a final sigh, he opened it once more and dialed a number, putting it up to her ear.
“Hello, ya nimrod. What’s going on?” He heard his sister’s voice ring through the other end.
“How do you feel about going to a Y/N Y/L/N concert tonight?”
“You serious? Tonight? Bloody hell, yeah, I’ll go!”
“I’ll pick you up in two hours.”
Time only seemed to drag for Harry, left with nothing but his thoughts. It was enough time to go back and forth on whether or not he was making the right decision. Ultimately, he decided to go. He had already invited Gemma and he would feel guilty for bailing after getting her hopes up.
The sun was beginning to set and Gemma was singing loudly to Y/N’s lyrics in the passenger seat beside him. His palms were sweaty, gripped tight against the steering wheel. As the song ended, Gemma turned the volume down and turned to her younger brother.
“How did you get Y/N Y/L/N tickets, anyway? I didn’t know you listened to her like that.”
“I don’t, really. I mean, I’ve heard a few songs. But she’s my student and invited us to come.”
“She’s your student?” Gemma laughed, amused, “Cut the shit, Harry. How? Did you win them on the radio or something?”
“I’m serious. She’s taking my class.”
“What?” Gemma gasped, “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t think to.”
“You didn’t think to tell me that one of my favorite singers is a student of yours?” Gemma clarified. Eyebrows furrowed, she sat back and huffed, “Some brother you are.”
“Hey, now! I’m bringing you to her concert, aren’t I?”
The walk up to the ticket booth was one of the most humiliating things he had ever experienced as he uncomfortably explained who he was and that he was invited by the singer, herself. It took two people and a member of her staff to vouch for him before he and his sister were escorted through the venue and entered the pain event area through a private entrance that led them towards a VIP barricade towards the front of the stage. Thousands of screaming fans surrounded them, and Gemma looked around, shocked at the scene.
“This is insane!” Gemma shouted in his ear, bouncing on the balls of her toes.
Harry had to admit, it was pretty cool to see all of these people here for Y/N. He felt a sort of pride for her that he wasn’t quite expecting. And it didn’t take long for the lights to dim and the music to start.
He heard her before he saw her, and he felt his heart start to race again. He tried to play it off by the screams and the thumping bass, but when she finally came into view, he felt like he had been bolted to the floor, unable to move or talk or even smile. He was just stunned. Seeing her on stage was surreal. He knew of her, first, but it was hard for him to dissociate ‘student’ Y/N from ‘famous’ Y/N.
When they caught eyes and she realized he had come, a smile stretched across her face behind the microphone. He couldn’t help but mirror her, his shoulders relaxing as he managed a gentle wave. She walked closer to them on the stage, singing down at them, and he could hear his sister repeating ‘Oh my god, oh my god’ beside him as Y/N waved back in their direction.
Y/N was talented, there was no denying it. And the way that she interacted with her fans, you could tell that she was grateful for every second of it. It was touching. She was knocking down his assumptions about her little bit by little bit. He always thought that she’d be a spoiled, ungrateful celebrity, but that seemed to be completely false.
By the end of the concert, he had eased up and began to jump around, goofily, with his sister while Y/N watched, dancing around on stage, laughing and singing. Finally, the burly manager he had seen on the first day of their meeting with the Dean had approached him and his sister, informing them that they were invited backstage and to follow him.
His nerves began to rise in his chest again as they wove down several corridors until eventually, they stood before a door with Y/N’s name taped on it. The manager knocked loudly and waited a moment before they heard her voice on the other side call out, “Come in!”
With a turn of the knob, Y/N was now seen. She was in a new, more casual change of clothes and her hair was now up, but with visible beads of sweat lining her forehead and neck, she took a long swig of water.
“Hi!” she called, capping her drink and beckoning the two in, “Come in, come in! I’m so glad you came!”
“Hi! It’s so nice to meet you,” Gemma tip-toed closer to her, smiling coyly as the door was closed behind them.
“It’s nice to meet you, too!” Y/N grinned, giving Gemma a much-wanted hug, “Please tell me you’re Harry’s sister.”
“Yes, I’m Gemma, his older sister.”
“Oh, thank god. I was worried he’d bring a date,” Y/N said, boldly, “He’s been playing hard-to-get.”
“You’re interested in my brother?” Gemma asked, astounded, “You’re way out of his league.”
Harry’s mouth fell open as Y/N laughed, “Yeah, and you’d think that’d be enough for him, wouldn’t you? But apparently he’s got standards,” she hyperbolized, rolling her eyes.
For an hour, Harry watched and laughed as Y/N and his sister talked and got to know each other more. They made jokes at his expense, and exchanged stories from their childhoods, shocked by how similar they seemed.
“You grew up around here, right?” Gemma asked the singer, taking a sip from her second beer of the night.
Y/N nodded, “Yeah, about fifteen minutes from here.” Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, knowing the only residential area in a fifteen-mile radius wasn’t exactly known to be the best neighborhood. Y/N seemed to gather his thoughts, further explaining, “It wasn’t always easy. My siblings and I were cramped in a two bedroom apartment and we didn’t have our own phones until well into our teens. I missed out on a lot growing up, but my parents did their best. We had everything we needed. I was lucky to be able to get all this and get them out of that apartment. My parents deserved a big house and a yard. I owed them that much.”
“How did you do it? How did you get to this point?” Harry asked, astounded.
Y/N shrugged, “Right place, right time. I was found singing at the mall for a small gig at a Christmas event. The rest is hard work and history.”
Harry shook his head, speechless. He felt guilty for passing judgment on her before, assuming that it was all handed to her and that she had got her start because of her parents' connections. She was self-made, smart, and deserving of every bit of success that came her way.
After one more round of beers, it was getting time for them to leave. Harry could see the excitement in her sister’s eyes start to be replaced by fatigue, and as much as he wanted to stay and talk some more, he knew he had to get a jump start on grading papers.
He set his empty bottle of beer down and Y/N frowned, “Time to go?”
“Yeah, should probably head out,” Harry nodded, pausing for a moment and taking in the frown on her face. He didn’t have time to think before he blurted out, “Want to join us for the ride?”
Her eyebrows raised and her lips twitched up into a smile, “Yeah, sure.”
Gemma let Y/N take the passenger seat and Harry felt tense as he drove, hand shifting the gears right beside her leg. He smiled every time he heard her laugh, though he couldn’t quite pay attention to what the girls were talking about. He was able to gather that they exchanged phone numbers before he reached Gemma’s house. His sister gave them both kisses on the cheek before bounding up the steps to her home.
The silence was deafening and Harry was certain she could hear him gulp as he turned to her and asked, “Where to?”
He knew what she was going to say. He didn’t need to ask. But to hear it come out of her mouth was something almost too much to handle, “Your place.”
He reversed out of the driveway, barely croaking out, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” she asked, turning towards him.
“You’re still my student.”
“So? We can just talk.”
Harry turned and looked at her, giving her a knowing look, “You know it’s not to just talk.”
“Why can’t it be? You don’t have any self-restraint? Is it because you like me?”
Harry felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he fumbled out a, “No.”
“Well then, what’s the problem?”
“......Fine.”
There wasn’t another word uttered for the rest of the journey to his place and he began to overthink. Was his apartment clean? Had he done the dishes? How messy was his room? Did it smell? He knew he should have gotten that diffuser from the store last week.
His nerves rose as he led her up to his apartment complex, pushing the door open and flicking on the lights, breathing a sigh of relief to see that it was, for the most part, fairly tidy. Y/N walked past him, scanning the scene, and as he locked the door he also held his breath, waiting for her to say something.
“Nice view,” she noted, briefly looking out of the window before turning to face him.
He tossed his keys on the entry table and motioned towards the kitchen to his left, “Drink?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Tea? Coffee? Water?”
“Water’s fine,” she said, making her way towards his living room.
He took the moment to catch his breath, trying to regain control of his thoughts before joining Y/N on his couch, handing her the drink. They both took a swig and he felt her eyes bearing holes into him, again.
When he set his drink down, he turned to her, “You’re very intense, you know.”
She smirked, leaning into the couch some more, “Yeah. I just know what I want.”
“And what’s that.”
“You.”
The immediate response caught him off-guard, but he wasn’t surprised by the answer. At this point, he knew exactly what she wanted, and was only feeding his ego more. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued by her and hadn’t thought about the same, but a part of him liked the chase.
He chuckled, sitting back, “You’re my student.”
She moved closer to him, more energetic this time, “I just happen to be into Musical Theory, that’s all.”
“You’re still my student,” he grinned, amused, patting her leg.
“So, what if I drop out? Would that change anything?”
Harry’s grin faded and his hand stayed where it was, resting on her thigh. He stared into her shining eyes again, seeing the seriousness behind them, and he froze, unsure of what to say. Would it change anything if she dropped out of his class? He wasn’t sure it would even need to come to that if she kept looking at him like that any longer.
His eyes flickered from her eyes, to her lips, and back up to her eyes as she waited for a response. He debated whether or not to just give in and kiss her right there. She wanted it, he wanted it, why keep fighting it? There weren’t any rules against relationships with students at his University, not like they’d even fight him on this one; they’re the ones that basically told him to give her everything she wanted.
But when he didn’t respond, Y/N pulled back away. He slumped, kicking himself for not pulling a move sooner. And after a moment of silence, she asked, “Hey, is it okay if I use your shower, real quick? I’m still sweaty from the show and I feel gross. I can take an uber home afterward.”
A million thoughts ran through his mind. Was that a move? Or an invite? Should he ask to join her? Why did she have to leave? He could drive her home, she didn’t need to take an Uber. But the only thing that came out of his mouth was, “Uh, yeah, sure.”
He showed her to the bathroom and went to grab her a towel from the linen closet as she adjusted the knobs and stuck her hand under the flow of water, gauging the temperature. By the time he got back in, she seemed happy with the warmth of the flow and took her hair out of its bun, placing the hair tie on the edge of his sink. He hung the grey towel on the rack beside the shower.
“Let me know if you need anything,” he muttered.
She smiled, “Thanks,” and before he was fully out of the room, she began to pull at the ends of her shirt. Quickly, he scurried out of the bathroom and closed the door to give her privacy.
Once out, his hands shot up to his forehead and he crouched, mumbling to himself a frustrated, “Fuck! What the fuck is wrong with you? Idiot!”
He sat impatiently on his couch, waiting for her to finish. When he heard the screech of the knobs turning and the pressure from the water fade, he shifted his position and quickly forced his attention elsewhere, trying to act casual. But when he heard the creak of the door opening, he turned his attention to see Y/N standing in the doorway, bathroom light glowing behind her, hair rang out and damp, clutching the towel around her body.
His eyes widened a bit as she spoke, “Do you have clothes I can borrow? Mine are still covered in sweat.”
“Uh, yeah, probably. In my room,” he stammered, getting to his feet and leading the way to his bedroom.
She followed, her feet lightly padding the wood floors. He felt almost embarrassed to have her in his bedroom. He wasn’t sure why, it’s not like it was dirty and he didn’t have anything oddities displayed, still, it was an intimate space, and to have her there felt personal.
He opened the bottom drawer of his dresser where he kept his pajamas and motioned towards it, standing up straight, “You can borrow anything from here.”
She bent down in front of him to rummage through, giving him a better look at her back. It looked clean, soft, and supple as droplets of water still lined her back and dripped from the ends of her hair, getting absorbed by the thin white towel she had wrapped around her. When she stood up, he took a step back and she turned, holding one of his oversized white t-shirts and a pair of his plaid pajama pants.
He stood there, unable to move as she stared at him, raising an eyebrow. And still, as she tossed the clothes on the bed behind him, he found himself, once again, rooted to the spot. A smirk started to form on her face and her voice was soft and playful as she spoke.
“How’s that self-restraint going?” she teased.
He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just looked at her. And when her playful smile began to shift into something more alluring, he held his breath, watching as she untucked the towel around her chest and let it fall to the ground. His eyes instantly dropped to her exposed chest and he felt his heartbeat pounding rapidly in his chest as she stepped closer to him, barely twelve inches, refusing to take her eyes off of his.
“I know you want to,” she whispered, stroking his arms before taking hold of his hands, lifting them and placing them on her chest, “Touch me.”
He felt his erection becoming uncomfortable as he ran out of room in his pants for growth, massaging her chest. His attention roamed back up, locking eyes with her again. There was no stopping it.
************************************************** In a bout of passion, they threw themselves at each other, hungrily attaching their lips to one another, tongues circling and roaming the other’s mouth. Y/N tore fabric after fabric off of him as they spun, grabbing at each other roughly and without deliberation. Soon, they were both naked and knocking into walls and tripping over clothes.
Harry pushed her up against the dresser as she grabbed hold of his dick, pumping her hands up and down his shaft as he moaned into her mouth.
“Does that feel good, Professor?” she bit his lip with a smile.
“Ungh,” he grunted, pulling away. He spun her around so that her back was to his chest, and forced her down to bend over his dresser, propping one of her legs up on the top of it before he got to his knees, burying his face in her muff.
She cried out, “Yes! Teach me, Professor!”
He flicked his tongue inside of her, lapping up all of her juices while he rubbed himself. He could have kept going for hours, but he could feel her legs start to tremble. When he stood up, he slapped his cock on her ass a couple of times, swiping his tip against her entrance enough to get it lubricated before slipping right into her.
Y/N threw her head back, breathing, “Oh my god, you feel so good, Harry.”
He wrapped an arm around her neck while his other hand clasped over her mouth as he grunted, “Professor Styles,” before sucking on her shoulder blade.
When he loosened his hand from her mouth to take hold of her hip, she whined, “I’m so sorry, Professor Styles. I’m not always bad.”
“No, Y/N,” he pulled out of her, spinning her to face him, tempting her as he walked backwards towards his bed, “You’re my good girl.”
The back of his legs hit his bed and he scooched himself back, letting her climb over top of him, straddling his hips. She bent down, biting his lip again as she lowered herself onto him, gasping as her cunt swallowed him up.
She leaned back, letting him get a better look at her, breasts jumping up and down along with her. He ran a hand from her cleavage down to her navel, grazing her soft skin and watching as her mouth formed an ‘o’, scrunching up her eyebrows in pleasure as she called out his name.
“That’s a good girl,” he breathed, an arm behind his head as he watched, “Make me cum.”
She rode him faster, breathing heavier as he continued to grunt, propping himself up now and suckling on her skin. Her breaths became more shallow and her movements more rigid as she wrapped her arms around his neck, forcing herself onto him even harder. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her down onto him, even more, to go deeper. He could feel her throbbing around him, which only made him more aroused.
“Good girl, Y/N,” he breathed, “Cum on my dick.”
She buried her face into the crook of his neck, and with three more pumps she let out a scream as she said, “Pro-fessor Styles!”
He smirked, quickly flipping her on her back and pumping harder and faster into her as her legs wrapped around his waist. She panted, squeaking as he grunted into her. He looked into her eyes which were full of lust as she stared back into him and he could feel himself start to build up. Even faster now, knowing he was about to finish, he smashed his lips down on her quickly before pulling out and squirting his jizz on her stomach, letting her rub out every last drop.
*******************************************
He collapsed on the bed beside her as they panted, trying to catch their breath before he got the strength to reach down and grab his shirt for them to clean up the mess.
When he turned to face her, she smirked, “Do I need to drop your class? Or can we fuck in your office next time?”
He let out a breathy laugh and mumbled, “That depends. Are you going to the party with Mark tomorrow?”
“Do you want me to?” she retorted.
With a deep breath, Harry shimmied closer to her, nuzzling his head into her chest which made her wrap her arms around him, running her fingers through her hair as he whimpered, “No.”
She laughed, kissing his curly brown locks, “Told you I’d make you fall in love with me.”
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Taglist:
@odetostep @mylittleangel9403 @thurhomish @fallingfordolans @gwenlovesharrystyles , @harryswinterberries, @gucciboots, @golden-grande, @ilovedogs1989 @f4llingfairy
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r0zez-in-bl00m · 3 years
Text
~ 𝓒𝓻𝓾𝓮𝓵 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓭 ~
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Chaotic parents
🦇Lilia Vanrouge x fem!reader, WORD COUNT : : 2K
Description- Lilia's wife comes for a visit but leaves a trail of destruction behind.
Placed under the cut for length!
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It was yet another quiet day at the dormitory founded on the elegance of the fairy of thorns. The morning was greeted by Sebek and Silver’s bickering about whose training routine was better while Silver occasionally dozed off leaving Sebek to jerk him awake every single time with his thunderous voice. The dorm leader of Diasomania, Malleus, stared out of the window in the common room, finding the outside world much more interesting than the leather stiff book he had read a countless number of times or the ongoing talk across the room.
Yes, it was indeed another normal, boring day for the residents of Diasomania. Well, far too normal.
The one-sided quarrel between Sebek and Silver ended abruptly when the sound of an explosion came from the kitchens (did they even have that?), breaking the second-year’s slumber instantly as he looked around quizzically. “WHAT WAS THAT?!?!” Sebek thundered, the obvious surprise plastered on his face as he faced Silver. The second-year shrugged his shoulders as a response as he removed Sebek’s hand on his dorm uniform. “Maybe the old man is in the kitchen again,” Silver said, staring at the hallway to the kitchen worryingly.
Silver knew how experimental his father was in the field of culinary arts. The variety of weird, foul-smelling dishes he had tasted (and dreaded) as a little child was a prime example of it. As the knight had feared, not soon after, Lilia stepped into the common room, his clothes a little burnt, face covered in soot, with a burnt dish in his hands. “Oh my, this stew took longer than I had anticipated!” He said as he dried the non-existent sweat off his brow. Sebek retracted the moment the blasted dish’s smell reached his nose. That dish could barely be categorized as food, let alone be eaten under normal circumstances. Was the dressing covered in slime and worms?
“I-I see . . . it’s an excellent looking dish, Lord Lilia!” Sebek complimented, but his reaction betrayed his words greatly. “May I ask which stew is it?”
‘Better not ask if you don’t want to be the first victim Sebek,’ Silver thought but refrained from speaking it out loud. Sebek was always too fond of his seniors. The old fae, on the other hand, seemed giddy and unusually excited to tell Sebek about his extra special dish. “Well, it’s my specialty dish which I only make on the rarest of occasions, and mind you it’s really hard to persuade me to make this dish even if you ask a million times,” Lilia giggled while continuously shoving the otherworldly stew at Poor Sebek’s face.
Who would be in their right mind to actually persuade Lilia Vanrouge, the most horrible cook humanity has ever seen?
Lilia’s body shivered from giggling as Sebek guessed various stew names he had known. In defeat, Lilia finally disclosed the name, “It’s my legendary ‘slimy beef casserole’!!”
Silver almost choked at the name of the dish alone when he thought he was about to doze off again, finding it hard to breathe as he stared at Lilia as if he had grown another head.
Malleus, from his window, had his ears perked up as well at the unusual excitement. “Beef-Tomato stew?” Malleus questioned, “Don’t you usually make it for-”
POOF!
Before he could finish a puff of green smoke encircled the room completely. Silver’s dread turned horrendous as his aurora eyes traveled up to see the person coming out of the clearing green fog.
Those (e/c) eyes, that hair tied in a ponytail, and the familiar scent of raspberries. Hauling the heavy travel bag in her hand, the apparently young-looking girl smiled brightly and exclaimed brightly, “Family reunion!!” tackling Lilia to the ground, eliciting a chuckle from the latter. All the while Silver pinched the bridge of his nose in worry.
Indeed, it was going to be a long day.
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“All I had heard that it was a famous school for kids with magic, but I didn’t know that its campus was this big!!!” His mother chirped happily, skirting around here and there like a newborn baby bird. It had taken everything for Silver to not sink and die. To actually think that his own mother would show up at the school where he and his father were studying, and in summer clothes on top of that. That tank top concealed under a modest button-up shirt wasn’t doing her any favor. He had to persuade his stubborn mother to wear something modest enough to not get any weird glances.
Aside from Silver’s anxiety and protectiveness towards his mother, Lilia was extremely ecstatic.
“My sweet, you hadn’t mentioned that you had taken a trip to the southern islands in your recent letters,” Lilia said, strolling side by side with his beloved, arms linked and fingers intertwined. “Judging by your complexion you sure had a great time!”
(Name) giggled, “Of course, unlike you who would turn into a mummy just after an hour under the sun, I am always up for a swim on a hot summer beach and getting a tan!” She rolled up her sleeves and showed her changed skin color with pride, a smirk adorning her adorable visage.
Silver sheepishly scratched his head, “So, what made you come for a visit mom?” It’s not like he wasn’t happy, of course, no child could ever be sad to see their mother after a long time, but the question was- why now?
(Name) shuddered at the question, as if it was something too painful to talk about. Nonetheless, she shared her part of the story. “Staying in the Valley of thorns with nothing to do but tric⸺ I mean, play with neighbors was getting tooooo boring.” She said, twirling around in her summer dress, “That was when Sebek’s mum suggested me to go on a trip like old times! Gosh, I had missed the sights! But, traveling with my sugar daddy was much more fun, and I kind of started to miss⸺”
Silver’s eyes widened like two satellite dishes as he subconsciously cut of his mother, “Sugar what?”
He heard his father laugh heartily, smacking his arm slightly as if it was normal, “I told her to call me that, cool right?” Lilia asked, his lips occasionally curving upwards. Silver didn’t know what to do in this awkward situation. It was getting hard to keep a poker face when his cheeks were getting redder by the goddamn second. Unlike him, Malleus and Sebek were not even a little fazed by this.
“Nowadays people call their partners with such flowery nicknames,” (name) curiously reminiscence the one time she had heard someone calling their lovers in an odd fashion while at the beach. “Uh! Time flies by.”
Lilia chuckled at his beloved’s innocence, “Sweetheart, it’s good and all that you are learning new things and accepting the changing times, but” he gestured to Silver’s tomato face amusingly. “Other students will notice us, look, even our son is getting all embarrassed even after hearing our romantic exchanges a million times.”
Sebek, initially confused about what the great seven was happening, seeing his fellow guard show vulnerability, screamed at full-throttle, “SILVER!! Be ashamed of yourself!! It’s unbecoming of Young Master’s escort to show his blushing face in public!!!!”
Silver held the bridge of his nose for the umpteenth time. “No one hadn’t even noticed until you brought it up for everyone to hear.” He pointed out to the two first-year students who were curiously eyeing the Diasomania group, only to scramble away laughing when Silver had noticed them.
Pushing all the hue and cry away, the prince of thorns conversed with Mrs. Vanrouge, his eyes glimmering with child-like fondness. “How has everything been in the Valley of thorns, (name)? Well, I presume?” His questions were cute just like his expressions!
The female couldn’t help but smile giddily, “My Prince, it hasn’t been long since your last visit to the land. What more could change in a few months’ time?”
The old fae nudged the prince’s arm a little. “You know Malleus, sweet. Always insatiably curious, this young lad,” Lilia added, earning a glare from the dorm leader. Before he could retort and start one of his ‘I’m not a child’ monologues, (name) asked– “Where are Silver and Sebek?” The other two fairies looked behind them and found the two of them vanished from sight.
“They must have stopped because of their argument again, those two.”
“I’ll go look for them if you’d like,” Malleus offered, but the old man shook it off. “Knowing those two, it’s better if I come too, just in case Sebek takes it to arms and marches on to war,” Lilia said. “(name), could you please wait a minute over here?”
As if she was a child who needed parental consent, (name) pouted at the irritating behavior of her husband only to earn a million mandol smile in return. The promise of getting back in less than a minute had triggered a few options in the female’s mind, none of them were in goodwill. Would she actually be Mrs. Vanrouge if not as much of a trickster as her husband?
A devilish smirk appeared as soon as the duo’s backs disappeared from her sight. Cracking the knuckles of her hands, she gazed around the vacant vicinity.
“Sooooooooo, what to do next?”
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The half-silent walk towards the rendezvous point was broken when Lilia had opened up his mouth to speak- “It’s good that the two of you didn’t wander off too much, it would’ve been far too much troubling to search the entire school.”
“I DEEPLY APOLOGISE LORD LILIA!!” Sebek pleaded, or more like screamed for mercy, “If Silver hadn’t fallen asleep, we would’ve come back sooner.”
“And we wouldn’t have become lost,” Silver added apologetically. “It’s alright, it was all in goodwill and we found you in time before dinner,” Malleus reassured. Sebek seemed to calm down at his lord’s words but nonetheless continued to rant and reprimand himself for being an incompetent vassal and what not.
But it stopped the moment all of them found (name) to be missing. “Didn’t we leave (name) here?” Malleus asked, confused as to where she could’ve gone. “My little honey drop likes to play hide and seek a lot, surely she mustn’t have gone too far!” Lilia reasoned but internally dreaded inside. Something of a horrible memory was coming back to him but he couldn’t place his finger on it . . . .
“Father,” Silvers said, serious, “We need to find Mom before she gets herself into trouble.”
“Yes, Silver is absolutely correct, or have you forgotten what happened during the Queen’s birthday?” Lilia’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shaped as the realization dawned over him. “Right! How could I forget?” (name) had planted a party bomb inside the cake that it exploded and its contents spilled everywhere. It wasn’t that big of a prank but the look the Queen had thrown afterward spoke volumes.
“In that case, the sooner we find her, the better it will be.” At that, the group again moves out to search, the expectancy to loads of trouble ahead humming in their minds.
On the other side, many weird occurrences happened at NRC that day. Students found the cafeteria benches levitating in the air with Rosehearts screaming ‘OFF WITH YOUR HEAD’ at the anonymous person who had hanged him from the ceiling. The Lion of Savannah was in a sour mood all day after it took him 2 hours to remove all the girlish accessories which had magically adorned his hair and chased Ruggie to have the evidence removed from existence. The ever-charismatic Vil Schoenheit seemed to have wanted to pop a blood vessel in his body after finding that someone had let Heartslaybul’s Flamingos loose in the dormitory. The clean-up in itself was a big task, the aftermath even more terrible.
All the while (Name) treated herself to some roasted marshmallows (courtesy of the cafeteria ghosts who mistook her for a child). The female never quite understood why her husband detested such a delectable snack. At the thought of Lilia, she wondered if he was looking for her while she was creating chaos in the school. She giggled at the illustration of his panicked face came to her mind.
Leaving the train of thoughts, she turned her focus back on chomping down the white snack. “Oh, a child has wandered into the campus?” a suspicious voice came from behind her, a shadow looming over her and blocking the sunlight. (Name) immediately turned to see a man with a bird mask glowering from above. The female wanted to scoff at the impudence of the idiot in front of her. Child? She was even older than the ancestry line of the top hat he was wearing. But, still feeling a little devilish, she decided to go with the flow. The headmaster crouched down in front of her, “Are you lost?”
“KIDNAPPER!!!!!!!!” The scream was so hard that it had rendered his hearing senses, which was a first for him given that he had already heard a different variety of screams. “My, dear child you have a loud voice!” Crowley held his head, still trying to shake off the effect, “and I’m not a kidnapper. I may appear suspicious but I’m a very generous person and the headmaster of this school!”
Even more, fun to trick you then.
“Oh really! Then prove it, Mister Crow!” she said faux excitedly.
Crowley cleared his throat, finding the nickname to be cute, “Alright, Alright! How about some ice cream and a little tour of the school?” The female’s mouth immediately watered at the word ‘ice cream’. She nodded vigorously in approval. Suddenly, she felt glad that she came to visit. Having a delicious treat on top of that a good laugh was like icing on a cake. Maybe she could demand a cake too.
“Headmaster Crowley!! Right on time!”
Oh damn.
She dreaded what was about to come next. The sight of her beloved husband with a teasing smile on his face poured water all over her future plans! Goodbye ice-cream.
“Everything has been upside down today . . . . oh, who’s this?” curse his impeccable question ‘who’s this?’
“This is a child I found roaming the gardens,” Crowley explained. “And by what do you specifically mean by ‘upside down’, Vanrouge?”
“You’re requested in the cafeteria, there you might get what you need, for the time being, I can look over after the child,” The damned fae knew what he was doing and was enjoying every bit of it! He smiled, showing more teeth than required, his magenta orbs glowing, “We will have lots of fun, won’t we little one?” It sent shivers down her spine and marked as the queue that she had overstayed her visit and best be off now.
With a puff of smoke, she vanished into sight, leaving the headmaster confused as the green air cleared. “What just happened Vanrouge?”
Lilia smiled peacefully, exhaling a sigh of relief, and said, “Nothing, absolutely nothing.”
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“Father, you’re going to mail the stew?”
“Yes! She came for a visit but forgot her favorite dish. I hope that the Thorn delivery service can handle the stew, the worms bite a lot.”
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h03-ington · 3 years
Text
kj apa x gender neutral reader - tipsy & in love
wattpad drafts 1/4
A/N: i wrote this back in october, when i was madly in love with kj, but had it kept in my wattpad drafts, this was originally with my name in it instead of Y/N (that’s why this is very specific and extremely cheesy), but i replaced some words for your enjoyment. MORE & BETTER things coming soon xoxo
-
it was your birthday, on a breezeful summer night. you always hated huge parties, not only because they stress you out but also because you hate huge crowds.
and your boyfriend, KJ, understands you. completely.
for your 19th birthday, KJ had it all planned out. you two were going to have your own little party, where you drink and have fun together, just the two of you. he knew you would love it.
it was 6pm. you just got back from your exhausting work day. you worked as a librarian at a small library in the city center. you liked it and the job pays the bills.
one might've thought that KJ would go after another actor, or singer or someone famous; but he didn't. one day, he was going to the library to borrow a book for one of his friends. and that's how you two met. KJ kept going to the library to "borrow" books every week, just to talk to you. he finally got the courage to ask you out, and you started dating. he couldn't wait to surprise you tonight.
you opened the door to your shared apartment, and sighed, relieved to be back home. as soon as you turned around you saw KJ standing there, hands behind his back, wearing a button up and some jeans, doing his signature smirk. "hey" he said.
your face lit up from the shock and hapiness.
"h-hey.." you tilted your head and you were going for a hug, smiling.
you both embraced each other, like you haven't seen each other in god knows how long.
"happy birthday baby." KJ hugged you tightly.
you stayed silent and enjoyed the moment. KJ pulled away shortly after.
"i cooked dinner for us.." KJ said.
"since when do you cook?" you giggled.
"i had someone help me do this.. but i cook pretty well!!" KJ expressed.
"that's adorable... and no you don't" you smirked.
"yes i do!" KJ pouted.
"no you don't." you giggled.
"fine, you win.." KJ rolled his eyes playfully
"but this is good! it tastes good! try it" KJ said, slightly nervous.
"let's see..." you were heading to the chair to sit on it but then you felt KJ's hands on your shoulders and stopped.
"w-wait! let me help you!" KJ, pulled the chair back for you to sit.
"is big strong man KJ nervous?" you chuckled as you were sitting down.
"shut up!" KJ said in his cute accent and chuckled as he sat down in his own chair.
you giggled adorably as you looked down to see what's on your plate.
some spicy pasta in a lot of tomato paste, topped with some cheese and basil. classic, but just what you needed after a long day.
"impressive." you looked up at KJ, who had a worried look on his face, afraid that you might not have liked the food.
"you did this all by yourself?" you asked.
"with some help from my friend, yes." KJ said, proudly
you nodded, then grabbed your fork and started eating. KJ followed along.
"how was work today?" KJ asked.
"oh. exhausting! some kids came over because they were on a field trip. literally turned the whole place upside down." you ranted as he ate.
"oh really?"
"yep. it was a pain in the ass cleaning it up. there was also this book signing event-thingy or whatever. full of stuck up people who probably don't even read books!"
"huh."
"yeah! and on top of that, i had to be on my best behaviour with all of them staring at me and judging me."
"and all of this happened in one day! my birthday!" you sighed.
"sorry that happened to you.." KJ pouted.
"it's whatever. just work stuff. what did you do today?" you looked at KJ.
"well.. since they delayed the show, i don't do much.. but today i made this dinner for us!" KJ smiled.
"it's great. thank you for everything." you smiled along.
"you're welcome" KJ smiled, this time more brighter, proud of himself.
as soon as you both finished your food, you raised you glasses full of wine , clinking them together, laughing.
"to us." you both said simultaneously.
the next half hour was filled with you cracking each other up as you moved on the couch, having drunk way too much wine
"..imagine if they actually did!!!" you were laughing at one of KJ's jokes.
KJ laughed along and shortly stopped to look at Raul's adorable face.
you noticed him staring.
"w-what?" you said, still laughing.
"you look adorable..." KJ looked deeply into your eyes
you stopped laughing and looked at KJ.
"you're even more adorable"
KJ grabbed your chin and pulled you in for a slow and passionate kiss.
"..and hot." you said after pulling out of the kiss.
this drives KJ crazy and he grabs your face carefully, kissing you roughly.
you moaned quietly into the kiss, which drived KJ even more crazy, starting to unbutton his own shirt as he grinded against you.
"mm.. i fucking love you!" you moaned.
KJ pulled out of the kiss and stopped, staring at you, eyes wide. "huh?"
your eyes widen. you never said the “L word” before. never. to nobody.
"yeah! i love you KJ.." your eyes started to water
"fuck.. i love you too Y/N..." KJ gave a genuine smile
"never said that to anyone before...you're the first."
"i'm glad to be."
"i love you so much KJ.. you make me so happy. i love you! oh my GOD i love you."  you started to cry.
"i love you Y/N.. you make me want to keep going every day.. i've changed so much since i've met you. i love you so much."
by now, KJ was on top of you, both crying together happily soaked in each other's sniffles, tears and love.
you eventually fell asleep together.
967 words 🕸��
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Text
Storyline Study: Order Mentor
When you joined your Order at level thirty and met your mentor at level forty, each of the three was instantly revealed to be a different person altogether from the other two.
Tybalt Leftpaw, Lightbringer of the Order of Whispers, was on his first-ever field mission. He was very blatantly calling for you in a sort of undercover way, and simultaneously panicking when you tried to mention the full name of the Order. Your supposed mentor was as new to this as you, had a (sometimes very human-teenager) sense of humor, and had a rather sad backstory balanced by his good nature. You knew he liked apples.
Sieran, Magister of the Durmand Priory, was full of reckless abandon, disregard for authority, boundless curiosity and a heart for the little things. She was confident in her role and her ability, and unhesitatingly took you into dangerous places for the sake of exploration and adventure while brushing off rebuke like a tree sheds sap - even when it was heartily deserved. You learned to be rather frightened for her.
Forgal Kernsson, Warmaster of the Vigil, was an archetypal gruff, stern old mentor whose every drop of praise spoke volumes. But he also carried a sort of wildness to him, that rough edge from growing up a hunter in the Shiverpeaks, coupled with every willingness to say it like it was if it was true. He could be surprised, he could observe calmly when something was new, he could snark like the rest of them and even say things he didn't mean from time to time.
They all fought the dragons - they each more or less took it seriously. But Tybalt was a partner and friend, you were keeping Sieran in check, not the other way around, and Forgal trained you mercilessly.
You all grew together - they had each changed for the better by the time they died. Tybalt had learned that he was worth something, Sieran had learned friendship was worth everything, and Forgal had learned... well. He'd found a student to be proud of, a partner to fight with, a friend to trust... a child to carry on his legacy. But I'm not sure, exactly, what Forgal learned - what the point of his story was.
Sieran was more-or-less well suited to her role in the story; she symbolized innocence and cheer and optimism and the beauty of the world - so you could recognize what was being lost by the dragon's onslaught. Tybalt's story was one extremely well-suited to his character; he taught you that working together was vital to survival, even when neither of you knew exactly what you were doing - a valuable lesson as the story progressed. Both of their stories fit well enough into the three-mission story sequence concluding in their death.
But Forgal was different. He was the mentor who dies partway through. He was the one who trained you and taught you all he could, who died imparting one last gem of wisdom. Or, he should have.
I am not attacking Forgal. I am attacking ArenaNet. We had too little time with Forgal for the story Anet was trying to tell with him. He was like Obi-Wan but without showing up again as a ghost, without the prequels, without being able to send Luke to Yoda - without, most significantly, being able to explain why he'd said Luke's father was dead.
We don't know Forgal. We don't understand him. We only know his family died to Icebrood... but why is he with the Vigil, specifically? Why is he a good friend of Almorra's - allowed to butt in and insult a diplomatic ambassador with barely a reprimand? Forgal is the character that tells me the Vigil has been around decades, not a mere five years. Was he in another military? Forgal was over a hundred years old. You don't join a military at that age and, five years later, are a highly self-disciplined warrior such as he was. Maybe he was Lionguard? Hear this: Forgal is actually older than Lion's Arch. If he'd survived, he would have been old enough to bear witness to all three incarnations of that city. But, apart from being able to recognize the Orrian Scout on sight, this is only a trivial piece of lore.
After he judged us worthy, we should have had long training sessions with him - sparring matches wherein he would easily fend off our blows while simultaneously teaching us about the world, all the wisdom he'd gathered, expounding just a bit on the history of the Elder Dragons (perhaps customized for player's race!) - and then we go off and have a real Vigil mission. Perhaps remove the racial sympathy 'choice' and have all five! A sparring match before each one, with a different lesson (the racial sympathy missions were awfully short anyway). And if you want to keep the idea implied by the term 'racial sympathy,' you could change the tone of some of them, make the player more reluctant and Forgal more impatient, have a middle-of-mission lecture on why it's important to work with everyone - this way you joining an Order feels less 'oh you've always been sympathetic to other races' and more 'wait who are these people.' But you know the real kicker? These training sessions would have made us actually feel like we were a treasured part of his life, the kid he never had, that he takes the effort to train us and takes the time to correct us when we're wrong, that he shares his history with us.
And then, at Claw Island, he would place a hand on our shoulder and tell us - hey - don't worry. You did good. You tell my tale and you take my lessons and put them to good use, you hear me? Listen to Trahearne over there - I've told you a bit about him - he's a good kid, he's smart and he knows what he's doing. And - partner? Partner, I need you to put me down if that blasted dragon raises me.
And we're in tears and Trahearne standing there also puts up a fight and tells him not to go, but Forgal goes anyway, roaring his defiance at the dragon - and his famous line, "you may win the battle, dragon, but you will never defeat our spirit!" And maybe he adds - "you may defeat me, but I will be avenged!" like some cartoon villain only you know - you know that means you.
That is the storyline Forgal deserved. (I selfishly also fixed it just a bit with regards to Trahearne, but...) I don't care if we add an extra ten or twenty levels to the game to account for the four extra racial sympathy story chapters.
And see, now you'll argue that that's biased in favor of Forgal, to do all that with him but not the other two - and that's part of the idea.
Forgal isn't like the other two. He shouldn't be compared to the other two. The storyline we have is good for the other two. Extending their stories would feel... false. Yes, there are supposed to be parallels between the three Orders, but... in that case, ArenaNet should have done something entirely different with Forgal.
How about this: Almorra assigns us to someone else for a mentor, but we show such epic promise she switches us to Laranthir. His storyline? It's right in his idle dialogue at the Vigil Keep - he's always sought love. This puts his storyline on par with Sieran and Tybalt. What about Forgal? He's a Lionguard that all three Order mentors know well. We do racial sympathy with Forgal plus our Order mentor (doing those with only one ally is kind of absurd anyway). This can help set-up and foreshadow the tactical significance of Claw Island, too - and hey, maybe Forgal can even survive that! Or maybe he doesn't survive it but our Order mentor does! (Yeah, that fits better, since Laranthir is important in HoT.) And then, once the Pact is formed, their stories end more naturally without regard for the Order parallels, which would keep the story unique - where your choice of Order still matters even when it doesn't anymore. Tybalt didn't have to die - in fact, it's kind of absurd that he did since his story was about finding his own heroism, and then he dies. He can die later, perhaps, after he's thoroughly proved himself. (And hey, throw in an encounter with his old warband! Bonus lore points!) And Sieran 0 maybe Sieran could go through a heartbreaking transformation in Orr, the land of the dead - you see something far more heartbreaking than her death as she loses her spirit, and you and Trahearne both resolve that even if you're super-busy with the Pact, you can still cleanse Orr together to save Sieran. (This makes cleansing Orr a personal thing for you as well as Trahearne!) And Laranthir - well, I don't know what he was doing originally. Maybe he stayed back at the Vigil Keep to manage things, but you still see him now and then and he gives good advice and (since his storyline was about falling in love or something) you get to tease him about whatever's going on in his life, and then later he shows up again in HoT.
I'm going to stop - I already just presented a rough outline of a whole rewrite of core PS, I'm not going to step into HoT territory. (But since his storyline was about falling in love - ? Anything could happen really. Maybe his love died in the crash (we don't actually know of any characters who died in the actual crash. Awful shame) and that's why he takes the lead against Mordremoth. That would give him a cool motive.)
Anet I want this now.
I only wanted to say how unfair Forgal's story was to him, and then I came up with this whole thing - ? Some of it included a few helpful fixes for the Trahearne hate - this isn't something I can write out into a whole fic since I have a main fic and while this is a significant AU it's not quite enough for a whole fic but also far too much for just a headcanon - maybe I'll invent a new Commander.
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