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rwbybutincorrect · 3 years

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I have some suggestions for your RWBY pokemon AU

I think Absol makes more sense as a pokemon either for Ruby, or, what I think is more fitting, for Qrow. Absol in the pokemon world is considered a harbinger of disaster because of its ability to sense oncoming calamities, and Qrow considers himself a bad luck charm and his weapon is called Harbinger, so I can imagine it being like, his signature pokemon, and maybe Ruby, wanting to emulate her Uncle, catches one for herself.

I also think Ruby and Yang's starters make more sense swapped around, Blaziken fits more with Yang (a hot headed fighting type) rather than Incineroar (a Dark type meant to emulate Heels in wrestling I.e the bad guys). Incineroar also fits better with Ruby's v1-v3 colours, though I also don't think a fire starter would fit Ruby, I think Sceptile fits more, as it's a fast pokemon that uses its leaves on its arms as blades, which I think fits Ruby better.

I'd also pick Rosarade over Florges but that's just my purrsonal preference.

Now for Weiss, my only suggestion would be changing Corvinkight with something else, and I'm thinking Glaceon. I love the idea that Weiss as a child finds an injured Eevee in the large family garden and secretly takes care of it, but her father finds out and forces her to take it back to the wilds, but while out there it saves Weiss from several Beowolves and in the artic climate evolves into a Glaceon which Weiss then adopts.

Blake, id replace Absol with Greninja for aesthetic, but otherwise I would change Gallade's past, Ralts' only show themselves to trainers with strong positive emotions, so I can't see Adam ever having one, but I like the idea of maybe Blake and Yang being helped during the forest exam at Beacon by two Ralts/Kirlia's who they then take (Yang saying its the sign of their new partnership), and otherwise I would change Gallade for Gardevoir for Blake and have Gallade be Yang's pokemon, since it's a pokemon with strong morals and I feel fit Yang better.

Now for Yang, and other than the previous suggestions of Blaziken and Gallade as hers, I would replace Tyrantrum with Hitmontop, storywise I'd say that, when she's recovering post Beacon and on her way back from visiting Summer's grave, she encounters a Tyrouge rushing headfirst into fighting a stronger pokemon and getting seriously hurt, so Yang saves it and takes it home to recover. Despite all its injuries it still insists on training, Tai seeing this starts encouraging Yang to train with it, hoping it'll help her out. As both Yang and the Tyrouge bond and train, learning not to rush headfirst into battles and to adopt a more balanced fighting style, it evolves into Hitmontop to symbolise Yang's recovering and training.

And thats just RWBY, I have plenty of suggestions for JNPR, Sun, Ilia, Adam, Salem's forces, STQR, the Ace-Ops, Happy Huntresses and Neo~

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submitted by @ladydevoir thank you :EYES:

[for reference, this is about this post]

treating this like an ask because i assume that's why you submitted it, because of the text limit but :EYESY:EYES:EYES

my choice of absol for blake is because i knew about the lore implications of absol and thought it would be a tragic detail if an absol appeared before her trying to protect her from the travesties she's repetitively had to face. i might give one to qrow anyway because I'm not afraid of duplicates!!! i didn't think about any supporting adult pokemon teams quite yet!

i will be honest, the blaziken choice for ruby was mostly self indulgent :3 i love chickens and blaziken's aesthetic. notable moments in the anime stuck with me, like during xy's series when there was a vigilante "blaziken man" protecting luminous city - that's a big reason why i chose it for her, that kind of over the top kind of heroism i thought worked. as opposed to incenroar who fights dirty. early in rwby, yang is a very backhanded and not exactly noble kind of hero. just look at the "yellow" trailer, fucking shit up for self motivated reasons (good for her.) i thought it fit her! --- but i can absolutely see what you're saying with sceptile, that is another favorite of mine and i'd love to see her with a sceptile that could mega evolve!

roserade, yeah i can see that fitting too! i forget it exists sometimes- my bad - and i like the grass type a little bit more to some extent than the fairy type because ruby has less of an association to the balance of nature~ that fairies do

i like the glaceon idea a lot too!!! the concepts of potential and direct reflection of her cold home - not to mention it's my second favorite eeveelution :D corviknight, yeah, it's my weakest link and i wanted to add it purely on the basis i'd like the snow queen to have her knight - but i think a glaceon would be much cuter, considering she already has plenty of stand ins for her glyphs!

I'm also interested about the greninja for the aesthetic! I'm not all that attached to the kalos starters so i tend to forget about them a lot more, i leaned on the "dark" type for blake but definitely didn't consider the. actual ninja pokemon. but i also tried to hold off on giving her a proper starter because in this little hc concept of mine, starters come specifically from pre-huntsmen schools (like signal in yang and ruby's case). i liked having the narrative of some students being "othered" by lacking starters - a visual tool when displaying their teams that they didn't have the opportunity to start where others did. not to say greninja couldn't have been a wild encounter or something else - fun to think about and really fits!

i DID not know about the kirlia lore though, i thought it was pretty weak when i was coming up with it and that is so interesting to know. i enjoy the idea of a pokemon switching allegiances from adam to protect blake but with this new information, I'll probably rewrite it in a way where the bee duo's ralts evos are more exclusive to them :3 i do like your idea of switching them, though, i tried to switch them to divert expectations, right (yang being a bit more masc than yang yet having a gardevoir, blake having the more showmanshy evo) but i might switch them. or i can just say the pokemon are practically shared and will switch up who they're paired with by their own choice. gf things <333

the hitmontop concept is really interesting for yang! it really does fit her - and i never paid attention to the line because, i will be honest, it never aesthetically pleased me, but narratively it works super well. i liked tyrantrum because i loved giving yang dragons and i also thought if she restored a tyrunt herself, it would be a nice indication of yang's genuine intelligence and wisdom. i don't like people boiling her down to a bimbo, haha funny stupid lesbian, but i feel like people also fail to recognize her genuine technical and social intelligence that she's portrayed throughout the series. then again, a hitmontop could show that emotional and protective instinct and intelligence she carries. it's sweet!! I'm torn!!!

AAAAANYWAY LONG STORY SHORT thank you so much for your opinions!!! i love the feedback and second opinion. i did a little bit of brainstorming with few friends in our discord server and its nice to hear an unrelated voice's takes!

feel free to send us more ideas if you'd like!!! :D as of right now I'm working on (the original) jnrp's post, and have penny, oscar, roman, neo, emerald, mercury, and cinder's teams planned! (I'm not sure how to section them off atm so their posts are coming later!) I'm curious to hear your ideas for when i get around to these other characters

#rwby pokemon teams #rwby #submission #jinn's answers #petal burst #im tagging these things for mysake <333 #thank you #talk to me about pokemon @ everyone #mod weiss doesn't understand my pokemonwords enough #and i get judged for team planning when i should be sleeping!!!!#long post

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is0gild · 4 years

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 9

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 6,398

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

“What’s with the sour face? I know your idea of fun on a Friday night is locking yourself up alone in your room all by yourself, but come on! Going out with a few peeps for a night on the town ain’t gonna kill ya!”

I heaved out a sigh as Anna turned us into the same parking lot we’d just seen Xion’s car go into. “It’s not that, I just… I thought it was only going to be the two of us tonight. We haven’t seen each other since… well, you know… and so much has happened and I just wanted a nice evening, just you and me, talking and catching up.”

“And we can still do that,” she nodded, pressing a couple buttons on her dashboard. As the convertible’s top started to rise and all the windows slid back up, she parked in an open spot right beside Xion’s little blue Prius and powered down the engine. “But now we get to party at the same time! Besides, this way I can meet all of your new friends too!”

Snatching my Ice Palace cap off my head and tossing it into the back seat, I gave a tiny huff. “These people aren’t my friends.”

A couple of loud thuds against the left side of the car made us both jump in our seats before glancing to the source. Roxas and Xion had smooshed their noses up against the door windows, mouths wide open, lips suctioned against the glass and cheeks puffing in and out as they made funny faces at us. Anna snorted then burst out laughing, asking me, “Do they know that?”

“I wasn’t talking about those two. Lea and them are my friends. Well…” I snagged a pale tendril of my hair to twist around my finger as I worried my bottom lip between my teeth. “...sort of…it’s all still very new...” Then I shook my head and tightened my ponytail. “In any case, I meant everyone else that’s going to be at this thing. They’re not my friends because I don’t know any of them.”

“So this is how you get to know them,” she grinned, nudging her shoulder into mine. “Come on, sis, this’ll be fun! I promise!”

“Don’t go making promises you can’t keep,” I grumbled.

Just then, we watched Lea go sliding across the hood of Anna’s Porsche in one smooth motion, bringing him to my side so he could open the car door for me. He bent into a half-bow, sweeping one arm out with a smile, “M’lady.”

Anna giggled. “Ooooo, such a gentleman! I don’t believe I’ve gotten your name yet.”

“Lea,” he leaned into the car, stretching across me to shake hands with her. Once again, I caught the faint whiff of cinnamon and had to resist the urge to squirm at his closeness. He smirked at her and winked, “Also answer to Mr Hottie-With-A-Body.”

...so he had heard that.

Great.

Just dandy.

My kingdom for a rock to crawl under right now.

“And you would be the sister, I take it?”

She grinned, “Anna. I’m thinking I like you already, Mr Hottie-W-”

I discreetly pinched her arm, shutting her up.

He didn’t seem to notice as he looked past her to where the other two were still making like a pair of pufferfish against the glass. “And those gremlins out there are Xion and Roxas. They’re harmless, just don’t ever feed ‘em after midnight. Hey!” he raised his voice so they could hear him. “Knock it off already, twerps!” They both pulled away, Xion hiding a snigger behind one hand while Roxas razzed his tongue. Shaking his head, the smile returned as Lea at last backed out of the car to straighten up again, “Well then, shall we?”

To my credit, I only hesitated for a second before exiting the vehicle, tugging at the hem of my skirt slightly as I stepped out onto the asphalt. Ugh, I hadn’t even had a chance to change out of my work clothes before getting sucked into all of this, so I didn’t even have the small consolation of being dressed comfortably. My eyes followed Xion and Roxas as they ran ahead to 7th Heaven, or so the gigantic, yellow neon sign hanging above the door proclaimed. It was a rustic, wooden building with a small set of stairs leading up to the wraparound patio. There was a warm glow coming through the fogged windows and muffled music could be heard from within.

Anna pushed a button on her key fob and the Porsche beeped as all its doors locked. Then she latched onto my arm, practically skipping as we made our way to the entrance. Lea dashed out in front, taking the steps two at a time and holding the door open for us. As we climbed up onto the deck as well, I could now hear the murmur of voices and laughter coming from inside as well. I gulped, my stomach sinking.

If it weren’t for Anna clinging to me like a two ton anchor, I’d probably have made a break for the hills by now.

And she knew that, which was exactly why she was doing it.

Traitor.

And so it was that I, with little choice or say in the matter, was dragged by my sister into the dreaded bowels of El Diablo.

...I’m not sure what I’d expected to hear upon descending into the terrifying Underworld, but it certainly hadn’t been the perky pop beat of Barbie Girl.

A strange, but oddly fitting soundtrack for eternal damnation.

The music was coming from a small stage all the way in the back of the place where some young woman was badly singing karaoke under spotlights. Between us and her was a massive, dimly lit room packed with tables and people cheering her on as they drank their presumably alcoholic beverages. Off to one side was a long bar, crowded with customers and tended by a brunette who, ahem… could only be described as the very epitome of the term ‘one busty babe.’ The wall opposite the bar was lit up with flashing lights from a row of retro pinball and arcade machines.

“We usually stake out one of the back corners for ourselves and spread out from there,” I barely heard Lea say over all the noise. I glanced back at him to see him squinting as his eyes scanned the darkness before his face brightened and he pointed off to our right. “Over there! Follow me.”

Anna gave my arm a reassuring squeeze and I replied with a thin, shaky smile.

There were just... so… many… people.

We navigated through the throng behind Lea, his blazing hair like a guiding light in the shadows, showing us the way. With every step we took, the knots in my gut pulled tighter and my knees grew numb. This was it. It was time…

...to mingle.

(Shudder.)

The three of us came to a stop at a large table. Half the people seated were all still in their work duds too, making me feel a little better about my attire, but not by much. Everyone looked up to warmly greet Lea before all eyes turned to me and I resisted the urge to shrink behind Anna. “Hey guys!” Lea shouted over the roar of the pub. “This is Elsa and her sister, Anna! El here is the newest scoop slinger at Ice Palace, so you’ve probably already seen her around.”

“So you’re the fresh meat,” one woman smirked at me. I recognized her from the greek food place that was Ice Palace’s neighbor. “Pleasure. Name’s Megara. My friends call me Meg.”

“Tiana,” the girl sitting next to her in a cute green dress smiled.

“She’s a server at that lil Cajun grill also in the food court,” Lea supplied before cocking his head at her. “Boyfriend couldn’t make it tonight?”

She immediately frowned and averted her gaze. Meg gently pat her on the back, shooting him a tiny scowl, “Smooth move, ya knucklehead. They broke up.”

“Oops,” he chuckled awkwardly. “Hey, don’t sweat it, Tiana. You know what they say - gotta kiss a few frogs and whatnot.” Crickets from the table. “Heh, get it? Cuz you work at… aw, too soon?” He cleared his throat, “Oookay, moving on! Next, I’m sure you’ve seen these three over at Lucky Cat.” He waved a hand towards a familiar blue-haired chick, her stocky coworker with slicked back, chocolate locks, and what I was guessing was Roxas’s doppelganger, not Roxas himself. Lea pointed to each in turn, “Aqua, Terra, and Ventus.”

“You’re the place with the super sweet tabby I got to cuddle earlier!” Anna said excitedly.

Aqua laughed, “That’s Chirithy, Ven’s pet. He likes to bring him into work sometimes. The cat’s so well behaved, management doesn’t mind.”

Ventus scratched the back of his head with a lopsided grin. “Yeah, I’m lucky. He’s sorta become the unofficial mascot of our café.”

“Then Grumpy-Pants over here is Squall and-”

“That’s Leon,” a guy with a scar slashed across the bridge of his nose corrected with a growl into his beer.

“Riiiiiight, forgot you were rebranding,” Lea snerked. “He works over at Buster’s Swords, the replica weapon shop in the mall. And last but most certainly not least, this little one here is Naminé,” he indicated a petite blonde sitting between Ven and Leon, who gave a shy wave. “When she’s on the clock, you can find Nams at The Crayon Box for all your art supply needs.”

“Lovely to meet you both,” she nodded at us. “We’re currently rooting on our friend Ariel,” she pointed to the stage. It was only now upon second glance that I recognized the girl up there currently murdering Barbie Girl as the redhead from the fish store.

Lea winced as a particularly bad note was hit before he snorted. “Girl’s usually got a voice that’d put mythical sirens to shame, but she’s just getting over a cold. Couldn’t talk for three days. Now that she’s started getting it back, there’s no keeping her away from the mic. RIP eardrums.” Then he clapped his hands together once, “Alrighty, on to Table Numeros Dos!”

...numeros dos?

As in more than one? As in this wasn’t it? As in more people?

If I survived this night, it’d be a miracle.

At least the first table hadn’t been too bad. Everyone else had done all the talking, which was a-okay by me.

...unless… crud, did they think I was boring now? Or worse, that I was sticking my nose up at them? Well I wasn’t! Trust me, there was absolutely zero nose sticking up going on here! My nose was down! Way, way, way down! So far down, it was past the secret civilization of mole people and halfway to China by now!

Dammit, only five minutes in and pretty sure I was already screwing everything up. And I hadn’t even done anything yet!

Lea shifted a couple steps over to an adjacent booth against the wall and Anna followed, tugging me into a stumble after her. Grabbing the attention of this new group, he announced, “Yo, everyone! I’d like ya to meet-”

“Elsa?”

I locked eyes with a golden gaze I knew all too well at this point and blinked. “Rayne?”

She scrambled out of the booth to hurl herself at me and I staggered to stay upright under the sheer might of her hug. Then I heard her gasp, “Anna too?! Get in here, girl!” I grunted as Anna dogpiled into the embrace. “Haven’t seen you since you were an ankle biter at summer camp! What are you doing here?! In fact, what are you both doing here?”

“What are we doing here?” I repeated incredulously as we all pulled apart, my eyes flicking down to her belly then back up. “What are you doing here? Did you forget you’re, uh… drinking for two now?”

A squeal from Anna, “Oh my gawd, Ray-Ray, your friggin’ preggers?! Congratulations! Who’s the lucky stud who knocked dat fine ass of yours up?”

My sister, ladies and gentleman. Ever the classiest of dames.

Rayne turned, yanking her husband out of the booth and onto his feet beside her. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she smiled smugly. “This is Riku. Riku, meet Anna, Elsa’s little sister. And don’t worry,” she turned her attention back to me, rolling her eyes, “all my drinks are virgin.”

“Though Ray is what you might call an empathic drunk,” Riku snerked, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

I quirked an eyebrow, “A what?”

“The more people get liquored up around me, the drunker I get without sipping a single drop. It’s an odd phenomenon, I don’t do it on purpose, but not complaining either. All the perks of intoxication, none of the hangover!” Then she furrowed her brow at me, “But no, seriously, what are you doing here? This ain’t exactly your scene.”

“I kinda kidnapped her,” Anna hummed out a tiny, evil laugh. “She’s my hostage tonight. She’s gonna have fun whether she likes it or not!”

I was firmly in the “or not” camp.

Rayne grinned at her, folding her arms together, “Then that brings us back around to what you’re doing here… where did you even come from?”

As the two of them began to catch up while Riku listened in, Lea snagged my elbow, pulling me over closer to the booth once more.

Oh. Right. Socializing. I’d almost forgotten.

Ahhh forgetting. T’was a better, simpler, blessed time. Now, as I was presented with another small horde of new faces, I felt my heart rate spike and my chest tighten as the butterflies battled for dominance in my stomach again.

So be it. Once more into the breach! Come on, Elsa, you can do this!

“Now then, before I was so rudely interrupted-”

“Shove it, Red!” my roommate snapped.

“Screw off, Raindrop!” He stuck his tongue out at her, then sniggered to me, “Remember, verbal abuse says you care! Anyway, I’m sure you’re already very familiar with this mall rat we all know and love, given he’s almost a big an ice cream junkie as I am.” Sora beamed up at me from his seat. “But have you met this half-pint’s amazing, intelligent, beautiful and might I add way out of his league girlfriend, Kairi?”

He was gesturing to a pretty redhead dolled up in pink who smirked around the straw in her drink as she glanced out of the corner of her eye at Sora beside her. “Any comment to that?”

He shrugged, leaning back as he laced his fingers behind his head and his already impossibly huge smile somehow managed to get even wider. “Can’t argue facts!”

“She, like her boy here, is also a local mall rat, but we take pity on these poor schmucks who have nothing else in their pathetic, empty lives and let them hang out with us cool kids whenever we all get together like this,” Lea teased.

“Hey now, ex-mall rat!” she harrumphed before proudly puffing up her chest. “You’re looking at Mickey’s newest hire as of today!”

Lea arched an eyebrow, “No shit, really? Congratz, princess! Welcome to the crush of the daily grind. It sucks! Enjoy!”

Kairi snorted. “Please, it won’t be all that terrible. I’m gonna work a counter in the jewelry department. I can already tell my favorite part’s gonna be helping customers with the charm bracelets. Look!” she jangled the band she was wearing around her wrist before lifting up one of the little trinkets dangling from it. “This one looks like a thalassa shell star from my home, Destiny Islands!” Then she narrowed her eyes at Sora, one corner of her lips quirking up. “Now if only this lazy bum would get a job too, we’d be set!”

“Gimme a break, Kairi, I’m working on it!” Sora half whined, half laughed.

“Uh oh, do I smell trouble in paradise? We’ll leave the two lovebirds to it then,” Lea then turned my attention to a slender chick with short black hair sitting next to Kairi, who waggled her fingers at me with a crooked grin. “This is Yuffie! She works with Squ- ‘scuse me, Leon over at Buster’s Swords.” He lowered his voice to a whisper behind his hand, “She likes to steal the merch for her own personal amusement.”

She scoffed, “You shut your whore mouth, I don’t steal! I just… borrow for quality testing! I’m doing a community service here, really!”

He shook his head, “Uh huh, sure, whatever you say. So what’s on the menu for today?”

Couldn’t tell from where exactly, but she suddenly pulled out a pair of ninja stars as her lips curved wickedly. “Shurikens!”

“Nope!” Leon pressed one hand to the edge of his table, leaning his chair back onto its hind legs so he could stretch an arm across the booth and snatch the weapons from her grasp.

“Hey!” she lunged after them but only ended up faceplanting into her own table. “Give those back, jerkface!” He ignored her, just taking another swig from the bottle in front of him. “Wow, rude much?!”

This place was an absolute madhouse.

“Oof, that’s rough! Better luck next time,” Lea consoled her before pointing to the next person wedged into the booth, a girl with a blue bow tying back her brown hair. “And here we have Belle! Total bookworm, so no surprise her nine-to-five’s at Enchanted Castle Books.” She didn’t acknowledge us, just stared dreamily off into space while absently stirring the liquid in her glass with a straw. Lea sighed, “Yeah, she’s a real head-up-in-the-clouds sort.”

“I got this,” Yuffie chimed in before using a hand to shade her gaze as she raised her voice, “Hey, is that Gaston I see?”

Belle snapped out of it, eyes round in horror as she gasped, “Where?!” before ducking down to use the table for cover.

As Yuffie cracked up, Kairi swatted her in the shoulder, “Mean!”

“Gaston’s the local musclebound, meathead neanderthal who’s set his sights on Belle as his next conquest,” Lea explained.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Yuffie’s eyes gleamed as she produced a third metal star. “I’ll make sure he never bothers you again.”

“For the love of- another one?!” In a quick blur of movement, Leon had once again confiscated her toy, much to her dismay.

“Finally,” Lea jumped in once again, clapping his hand down on the shoulder of a carrot-top sitting on the end with giant purple headphones covering his ears, “this regular chatterbox is Neku, who gets his paycheck from Towa Records, the lil music store around the corner from the food court.”

Yuffie huffed, “I dunno why Orangeylocks even bothers to show up to these things since,” she leaned across the table to lift up one of his hulking muffs and yell into his ear, “he never bothers to take the stupid ‘phones off!”

He slapped her hand away with a glare and said nothing, simply crossed his arms and slouched further down into his seat.

Still I hadn’t said a word to anyone besides Rayne. Partly because all the anxiety was squeezing my throat shut - trust me, the terror was real. But even if I had been brave enough to actually make small talk with this pack of total strangers, it was impossible to get a word in edgewise. It was all just happening so fast. But hey, maybe I could get away with the whole not talking thing. This Neku guy seemed to be and he was getting along just fine. Maybe the secret was in the headphones.

Note to self: look into the possibility of purchasing ear buds with first paycheck in the hopes of avoiding human interaction at all costs.

“Okay, almost done, just one more table to go,” Lea chirped.

Hearing that was both a relief and a minor heart attack all rolled together. The good news: one more table, woo! The bad news: one more table, ugh!

As Lea led the way once more, I snagged Anna by the elbow. It was her fault I was in this mess, so there was no way I was letting her abandon me. She was my security blanket, dammit! She managed to get out a hasty “we’ll talk more in a minute” to Rayne before staggering along behind me. We were brought to the neighboring booth which took up a corner so it was slightly bigger. Thankfully, that didn’t equal a larger group seated here. Even better, I already knew two of the faces.

“Rox! Xion!” Lea grinned down at them. “So this is where you guys got to. Was beginning to think I might have to send out search parties. I-”

“Kristoff,” the name escaped my lips before I’d even realized it as I locked eyes with my coworker.

Make that three faces I recognized.

His eyelids drooped before he looked away with a harrumph, taking a deep drag from his mug.

Well fudge. Guess he was still mad about the phone.

This night just kept getting better and better!

“Brr, did it just get a few degrees colder in here? Ah well, forget it, just leave Lord Sourpuss here to his brooding,” Lea snerked with a roll of his eyes. “For the rest at the table who haven’t already had the pleasure, this is Elsa, the Ice Palace newbie, and her sister Anna who tagged along for funsies.”

He tossed a hand towards a guy with amber eyes, messy raven hair, and was the poster boy for goth fashion. “That ray of sunshine over there is Vanitas - living, breathing proof that all our moms were always right: your face really can get stuck like that. Wow, misery really does love company, huh? Just look at those identical scowls.” Both Vanitas and Kristoff looked highly unamused with Lea. He responded with a smirk, leaning down to bring his face closer to Vanitas, “What’s with the pout, widdle man? Did one of the other kids steal your binky?”

“Bite me, jackass,” he deadpanned.

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Lea waggled his eyebrows as he straightened back up. “Anyhoo, as you might’ve already guessed by just taking one look at the edgelord, Vaniboy here works at Halloween Town.”

“Halloween Town?” Anna echoed, tapping a thoughtful finger to her lips. “Isn’t that the line of shops that are kinda like Hot To-”

“Say that knock-off, poser, wannabe of a store’s name and die,” Vanitas sneered.

Lea said, “Don’t mind him, he’s just cranky cuz he missed out on afternoon naptime.” Vanitas flipped him the bird, which went totally ignored as Lea shifted his gaze to the other side of the table. “Woah, talk about a mismatched set. What are you two doing hanging out with Mr Negativity here?”

He was now addressing a sweet-faced brunette with bright green eyes and the boy beside her with sandy blonde spiked hair, a skull and crossbones printed on his shirt. The girl chuckled, “Oh come on, Van’s not that bad.”

“Yeah, once you get past his personality,” the guy sniggered. Vanitas just looked away with a soft tch.

“Meet Olette and Hayner. They- wait...” Lea glanced around the table a second time with a frown, “There’s usually one more of you. Where’s Pence?”

“Couldn’t make it,” Olette sighed, plopping her chin in her palm. “Had to finish his programming project for his Computer Sciences course. Said he’ll be at it all weekend.”

“Bummer,” Lea shrugged. “In any case, these two plus their missing amigo wait tables at Le Grand Bistrot, this hoity-toity restaurant on the opposite end of the mall from the rest of us. Though didn’t you guys get shut down recently for a rodent infestation?”

Hayner banged a fist against the table, “Ugh, will people stop talking about that already? We didn’t get shut down, it was one rat and it was just that klutzy garbage boy’s pet, got it?!”

A snort from Roxas. “Sounds fake, but okay.”

“Can it, pizza boy!” Hayner shot back.

“Touchy, touchy,” Lea tsked before his eyes made one more sweep of the surrounding tables. “Anyway, looks like that’s everyone! How ‘bout it? Got it all memorized? If not, don’t sweat it, it was a lot. And even more might show up later, who knows, these things are always sort of a random grab bag but that’s half the fun! In any case, feel free to take a seat.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “I’m gonna go order a drink from the bar. Did either of you want me to grab you anything while I’m over there?”

“Is this a menu?” Anna picked up the glossy, colorful sheet of plastic from the table, looking over the list printed on it with a low hum. “I think a basket of the Cactuar Fries would be good for starters. As for drink, hm… Ooo, the Golden Chocobo sounds amazing! What about you?” she tilted it to give me a better look.

I shook my head, “Just water for me, thanks.”

Her tongue blew a raspberry, eyes returning to the menu. “That’s no fun. Lessee here… aha!” She smiled up at Lea, “She’ll have a Shiva, heavy on the rum.”

“I will most certainly not have a-”

“Got it!” Lea darted off across the room, cupping a hand to his mouth and calling out, “Oh, Tifa!”

Anna then proceeded to flump down into the booth next to Kristoff, giggling as she peeked up at him. “Hi! You’re cute!”

He blinked at her, all traces of the previous doom-and-gloom wiped clean off his face as it reddened slightly. “Uh…?”

She wiggled in closer to him, which seemed to fluster him more as he scrabbled over into Vanitas, who elbowed him back hard for making him almost spill his drink. Oblivious to the domino effect she’d created, Anna whipped her head back around to me and patted a hand on the space she’d freed up at the edge of the booth. “Whatcha waiting for, Sis? Sit!”

I stared blankly at her. She beamed back at me. I glanced over to everyone else. Everyone else watched me expectantly. I then flicked my gaze down to the open seat. It just lay there, being a cushion.

...psssst, dummy. Her telling you to sit? Was your cue to actually sit!

Still my feet didn’t budge an inch. Instead I looked over my shoulder back towards the door leading outside. So close, yet so far.

Clearing my throat, I took a small step backwards and held up a hand, “A-actually, you know what? I think I, uh... left something... back in the car! Yeah, that’s it! So I’ll just, er… I’ll go get-”

“I said sit!” Anna grabbed my wrist and jerked me down onto the plush bench beside her.

Well then. I guess I was sitting.

I suddenly felt a light brush of something against the back of my head and I twitched away, looking behind me. Rayne was leaning over the divider between our two booths, hands outstretched, apparently with the intention of petting both Anna and me. “Pretty,” she cooed in delight. “Pretty, pretty hair. So soft!”

From somewhere beyond the separator, I heard Riku mutter, “It’s starts.” His voice was muffled. I suspected due to facepalm. Taking a small bundle of my hair and tucking it between her palm and two little fingers, Rayne then set the other three fingers and hand to work unraveling one of Anna’s pigtail braids.

Anna didn’t seem to mind, instead just turning her gaze to the rest of our booth and flashing a smile big enough to rival one of Sora’s. “It’s so great to meet everyone! This is super exciting! Isn’t is just so exciting?” she asked me. I opened my mouth, but Anna was already gushing once more, “And oh my gawd, so, so, so, sooooo much fun! I’m already having a blast! Are you having a blast?” Again, this question was aimed at me. Again, I didn’t even get so much as a peep out. “Aaaah, lookit her, she’s having a friggin’ blast! This is awesome! So how long have you guys all been getting together like this? Who started it? Was it just a small group at first? Were you guys always friends even before these Friday nights began? Do you ever change it up, get food and drinks somewhere else? Or is it always the 7th Heaven? Why is it called the 7th Heaven anyway? What’s the story there? What’s the food like? No, what are the drinks like? Did I pick good ones? I hope I picked good ones! And I just love that they have karaoke here! Anyone else going to be singing later? Ooo, here’s an idea! We could all go up and sing one together!”

Typhoon Anna had struck again, leaving round eyes and silence in her wake.

I was guessing most everyone else at the table hadn’t even caught half of that, the torrent of words had been coming out in such a rush.

The hush over the table stretched until Vanitas at last broke it with a flat, “Yeah, no, I’m out. I’ve had about all the pep I can stand from that pack of idiots,” he flicked a wrist towards the half the table taken up by Xion, Olette, Roxas and Hayner, “without having to deal with… this,” he cringed, gesturing to Anna. Then he downed the rest of his beverage. “Later, losers.” And with that, he vaulted himself over the table, shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and slinked off.

“So…” Anna dragged out the syllable, “...he’s pleasant!”

Certainly one word for it.

“Vani bail early?” Lea rejoined us. “No shocker there, he usually does. He's always been more of a lone wolf. Make room, Fun-size!” he looked down at where Xion was seated at the opposite end of the booth from us. She scooched to clear a spot for him and he plopped on down, setting a full, opened bottle on the table in front of him bearing a red label that boasted the title Ifrit Amber Ale. “Ladies, your drinks n’ fries are gonna need another minute. Someone’ll be by to drop them off when they’re ready.”

A small smile braved my lips, “Thanks, how much do we owe you?”

Or rather, how much did Anna owe him? Since A, she was the one that’d ordered it all and B, I’d yet to earn a single cent to my name.

Soon though. Payday was coming.

He batted a hand, “Don’t worry about it, my treat. And, uh,” he snerked, “you might want to keep a closer eye on what Raindrop's up to over there.”

I blinked. I had been feeling a faint tingle in my scalp as Rayne had continued to play beauty salon back there this whole time, but I’d just been ignoring it. Now both Anna and I turned to discover she’d weaved locks of our hair together into one thick, auburn-and-platinum braid. “I made a pretty!” Rayne giggled, punctuated by a hiccup.

Biting back a grin, Xion called, “Hey Riku! Control your woman!”

A hand shot up and grabbed Rayne by the scruff of the shirt. With a squeak, she disappeared behind the booth separator.

“So,” Olette shook her head, one corner of her lips tugging up, “how are you liking it over at Ice Palace?”

...shoot, she was talking to me, wasn’t she?

I was so not prepared for this.

Glancing up from where my fingers had already begun disentangling the braid Anna and I shared joint custody off, I pursed my lips to one side. “Hmm, well… it’s pretty good actually. This is my first job ever, so I was a bit anxious.” Understatement of the millenia. “But it’s been going well. And I like the people I work with and get along with them and uh…” I eyed Kristoff out of my peripheral, who still seemed rather dazed by Anna and the apparent lack of the phrase ‘personal boundaries’ in her vocabulary, “...and they like me and are very kind and welcoming and… certainly not mad or anything at me for, oh I don’t know, hypothetically lobbing and busting their phones, like I would ever do something so silly as that, why would I even mention such a thing, that’s so random,” the jumble of words finished in a weak chuckle.

It was beginning to become clear to me that the tendency to babble might run in my family.

Only mine was of the nervous variety, whereas I don’t think Anna had a nervous bone in her body.

At last sensing my gaze on him, Kristoff shook himself out of his stupor and looked back at me. Then he frowned, narrowed his eyes and stared down at the table, nursing his drink once more.

“Oh yeah,” Xion snorted, “I can definitely feel the love simply overflowing from that side of the table.”

“Sounds like a sweet gig,” Hayner chimed back into the conversation with a smirk as he crossed his arms. “But then, anything’s gotta be better than working at some lame dump of a pizza place.”

“Ouch, shots fired.” Lea cocked an eyebrow, “What’s with the drive-by, my dude?”

Roxas snickered, “Ignore him. He’s still just sore about the whole rat thing.”

“There wasn’t a rat thing! I told you already, it was just some dumb pet so it doesnt count!”

“Sure,” Roxas sighed, “Just keep telling yourself that, man.”

“That’s it!” Hayner snarled, slamming both hands down on the table as he rocketed up to his feet. “It’s time we settle this like men!”

Olette groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Tell me you did not really just say that, you total caveman.”

Hayner stabbed a finger towards Roxas and growled, “You.” Then jerked a thumb into his chest, “Me.” He pointed at one of the arcade machines, “Struggle 9000. Loser buys rounds for the table for the next five Fridays.”

“Come on, you two,” Olette interjected, “is this really-”

Lea clamped a hand over her mouth, one index finger held up to his lips, “Shush, I want free booze.”

“You’re on!” Roxas shot back, eyes flashing. Then the both of them were ducking down and crawling under the table to exit the booth before dashing over to where the video games awaited them, elbowing each other the whole way.

“Wanna go root the boys on?” Olette asked Xion.

“Pfft, root nothing. I’m taking on winner and curb stomping his ass. Play my cards right and I’ll have them both buying our drinks for weeks to come.”

As Lea slid out of the booth so the two of them could get up and leave, Olette laughed, “Oh, I bet Hayner would be simply thrilled by that prospect.”

“Please, you think that bonehead’s gonna come out the champ?” Xion scoffed as they walked off. “Rox has got him beat, no contest.”

“Wanna bet?”

That was the last thing I heard from Olette before a happy shriek barely an inch to my left drowned out anything else that might have been said.

Gee thanks, Anna. Really, who needs hearing in both ears anyway?

Our order had arrived, which apparently was what had gotten her so excited. A heaping bowl of shoestring fries now steamed in front of us, covered and smothered in some chunky green sauce. Anna’s drink started out orange at the bottom and faded into a yellow at the frothy top where in the absence of one of the standard teeny decorative umbrellas, it was instead garnished with a fluffy, yellow feather. My drink was a chilly, neon blue color and served in a tall, skinny glass with wafting mist and a frosted rim.

“Bottoms up!” Anna singsonged, clinking her beverage to mine before chugging down half of it in one go. I pulled a face at her, scrunching my nose with a grimace. She puffed out a content sigh as she put the glass back down at the table. “Ah, that’s good!” Then her eyes darted between me and my drink a couple times. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get your drink on, gurl!”

“No thanks,” I nudged the Shiva away with a fingertip. “Someone has to drive us home, so I guess that someone’s going to be me.”

“Pssh, details,” she waved a dismissive hand while she tested out one of the fries. Eyes lighting up, she shoveled a couple more in her mouth before pushing my drink back towards me. “C’mon, one sip won’t kill ya! Besides, you’re hurting Lea’s feelings over there, he spent his hard earned munny on it just for you!”

“Nah, it’s cool,” he shrugged and grinned. “You do you, El!”

“Dude, work with me here! You’re supposed to back me up on this, I-” Anna cut herself off in a gasp. Seemed there had been a lull in the karaoke, so someone had kicked on the big vintage jukebox off to one side, which was now pumping regular tunes out of the overhead speakers. “I love this song!” Her hand clamped down around Kristoff’s wrist, “Dance with me!”

“Wha-?!”

I was all but shoved out of the booth as Anna bolted off, dragging a wide eyed and stumbling Kristoff behind her. I watched her go, shaking my head with a tired smile. Anna would never change. But then, who’d want her to? She was kind of perfect the way she was, chaotic energy and all. Sighing, I took a seat again and looked up.

That’s when I froze.

Because that’s when it hit me.

Somehow, my booth had gone from being packed to being empty. Well, almost…

There was still me.

And there was still a certain redhead.

And to be fair, my plan had been to spend the evening with a redhead. Just said redhead was supposed to have been petite, female, and my sister. The redhead before me now? Checked off none of those boxes.

So instead of the night of sisterly bonding like I’d been looking forward to, I’d somehow wound up in a bar.

At a table.

With Lea.

By ourselves.

Just the two of us.

Alone...

Help! SOS! Frantic smoke signals! I was not mentally or emotionally equipped to deal with this situation!

Commence cardiac arrest in three… two…

Author’s note: Hi, yes, welcome to Cameo Palooza, where we got references coming out the wazoo! This chapter and events in next chapter were originally all supposed to be one chapter, but the references just kept going and going… I honestly didn’t expect them to go on for as long as they did, but here we are xD Not gonna lie, I took an odd amount of pleasure in giving Lea and Elsa drinks to match to their respective elements/summons. Also lil fun fact: There are real alcoholic beverages out there called the Shiva and the Golden Chocobo, just google it if you’re curious and I think the recipes should pop up like the did for me! Also, there are in fact green Cactuar Fries out there in the real live world too - I’ve seen foodies post pictures!

Next chapter… how will Elsa deal with this latest challenge in human interaction she’s come face to face with? Will this be one step closer to strengthening the bond of her new friendship with Lea? Or will it all end in utter catastrophe thanks to her awkward penguin ways? Will we ever find out the secret of the Cactuar Fries’ green ooze? Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to any new followers out there (howdy! :D) and to those of you who’ve liked and reblogged previous chapters, seeing that always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

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ab-memoria · 5 years

Text

Long post-

Hey guys...(J&D Fandom)

... I like all the AU's and UA's so many of you have come up with so I came up with one too!! Anyone think brainwashed KG!Keira would dope?

Heartache for days ya know!!!... 😢 AND because I love to suffer I figured I'd share my AU idea with all of youuu!!!

****

So for this idea Jak would be pretty much be the same except along the way to getting revenge on the Baron he has to face off against his long lost friend Keira a la Bucky Barnes style. -

Dark Eco Warrior vs. Mind Controlled Super Solider kinda deal!!!!

Ok since Jak's been on a one man campaign to take on the Baron and Erol, he hasn't looked for Keira or Samos at all. He has no idea if they are alive or dead but hasn't given up on the idea of finding them one day. Daxter hasn't seen Keira or Samos either but he knows they have to be alive somewhere and that they'll find them when the time is right...

Then while getting set up for a new mission Torn reveals that the KG have a strange and powerful fighter in their ranks and while Jak is initally dismissive his interests are peaked at the prospects of facing a new enemy. Whoever this new fighter was Jak was going to make them regret messing with him if they decided to do so...

Some time passes and while on a different mission for the Underground to destroy a secret supply line Jak accidentally meets the mysterious new fighter.

... And his heart sinks at the revelation that it's his missing friend. He recognized those eyes the very moment they locked onto his. Why the fuck was she working for the Guard!!!

Jak's pissed, the sweet and sassy girl from the village was gone and had been replaced with some kind of solider, this wasn't the girl he knew but he has his orders and... he can't. Not her - anyone else would be easy to kill but not her...

So while our darkboi is having a quiet mental breakdown Keria raises her weapon at her target and sends out several shots... Quickly recovering from his shock Jak goes down to face Keria then all hell breaks loose they have themselves a good old fashioned gu ...?!?!?Channeler battle!?!?

``````

So our boi Jak isn't going to be able to mentally deal with the reality that he might have to kill the girl he spent his entire childhood playing with. And that's unfortunate because Keira isn't going to give him much of a choice. She is Alpha now and her objective is clear. Take out Subject Delta - the only survivor of the D.W.P. and then destroy the Underground once and for all.

Lol So pretty much our fav tech head is gonna be an experimental soldier created in secret to take on Jak, she was made as a back up plan to the D.W.P. which would have been a solid idea if the Baron was wise enough to have done it.

But as for the inspiration it was a tie between the Underground!Erol tag and the cutscene in Daxter with Erol and Veger about how everyone except Jak died from Dark Eco that made me think about an alternative warrior.

So our villain in the AU is going to be Veger because of course, he has his obsession with light eco and not liking the D.W.P. to begin with. That alone would give him a reason to have a back up plan in case Jak failed. To show Erol up and to have his own solider at his beck and call.

My plot plan was that he found Keira through some old security camera recordings. He was trying to look for the missing Kid by retracing his steps but he accidentally saw Keira be spat out from the blast that Jak also came from. So Veger had his goons look for her to take in. She was in the process of rebuilding the Rift Rider at the Stadium so Veger has his lackeys take that too and even if she can't channel he know she can be broken enough to be of some use.

It's a win-win for him.

The Underground deems her a high level threat at some point and they want Jak to take her out. But Jak can't disconnect the girl from the solider. And Older Samos can't find it in himself to have his own daughter killed. So it leaves them at a stand still on what to do about the girl which is perfect for the Baron because he isn't going to lose his newest and most effective solider anytime soon.

Then Ashelin gets put with Keira for some time and it quickly becomes apparent to Ashelin that something isn't right with her new squad memeber and she begins to investigate Keira's origins. After a short time the red head finds secret documents through an old corrupted computer server detailing parts of Keira's creation. It becomes a moral dilema to Torn ... Can he order the execution of a 16 year old brainwash girl?

Unfortunately Veger isn't stupid enough to leave anything incriminating that would lead back to him so for a while he's not suspected of anything.

But he's not without a plan in case Keira also fails.

Several Key Phrases have been ingrained in Keira's mind to keep her under control but there is also memory wipe code that will partially remove traces of the solider program so she won't be able to recall anything from before she was taken. It's a fail safe incase anyone thinks about using her with the current codes. Her mind can be reset with new codes and phrases later on.

----

Her powers might be Light Eco based or the original red, blue, green, yellow set with advanced powers I'm not dead set on it cause I'm trying to figure how much plot I can take from Jak 3 for this.

Maybe Seem found an opened Light Eco vent at the Monk Temple and Veger used that to create his own light warrior or that Veger discovered that the four colors combined make a synthetic light eco type?

And apart from being Veger's new toy she also creates weapons for the KG and the Baron. So the new armored Hellcats, guard armor, and mini deathbots were made by her in this AU which would be cool as heck.

So these were my thoughts and if you wanna talk J&D with me you can totally message me here. ❤

#jak and daxter #keira hagai #jak mar #KG!Keira #AU's and such #ab-memoria #plot buns and such #just an au idea i had #pls let me know if you think its a fun story idea :D

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lespetitesmortsde · 5 years

Note

I work at home and I haven’t left my house in a while and you think I’m dead in my house beca's the one at home chloe finds her somehow

As requested, lovely anon.

“I need three more hours, Theo, and then it’s good to send, alright?” Beca says through speakerphone, fingers moving dials across her mixing board, one earphone off her ear just enough for her to make out what the guy’s saying.

“Beca, the deadline is in thirty minutes and you’re supposed to be here to present it to the artist!”

Beca pushes one of her equalizer bars half an inch too far, curses under her breath, and then fixes it. “Theo, just tell the client the truth – I’ve been sick and things are taking me a little longer than usual, but it’ll be there. Once they know I might be contagious, they won’t want to see me anyway,” she says confidently, adjusting a lever to correct the timbre.

“Beca,” he says, and she rolls her eyes at his exasperated tone.

“I’ve never let Timberlake down before, he’ll understand.”

“But–”

“Theo, do we have to go over this every time? Who. Is. Your. Boss?”

She can hear grumbles in the background as she hits pause on the song and slips her earphones down to her neck. “I couldn’t hear that?” she prompts.

“You are,” he finally says, begrudgingly.

“Right, so you’re going to do what?” she can’t help a small smirk from crossing her face envisioning his pained turtle expression.

He audibly sighs. “I’m going to tell Justin Timberlake that we need to postpone our meeting by two and a half hours and that you’re too sick to come in. I will also say that we are sorry, but you’ve been sick and haven’t been able to work quite as quickly as usual.”

“Good.” Beca’s finger moves to hover over the “end call” button on her phone. “Bye.” It slams onto the screen.

She puts the phone off to the side, gives herself a little shake, and then stops because it sounds weirdly like someone is knocking on her front door.

Why is this weird? Because she has a small red indicator light on her porch so her friends and family know when she’s busy and they can either leave her alone or enter the house using the passcode they’ve been assigned. She’s given a different one to each person and a message telling her who’s here flashes across the bottom righthand corner of her computer screen.

Everyone who could possibly visit her knows not to bug her. So who’s at the door?

She pulls her blanket tighter around her red panda onesie and walks over to the little CCTV display in the corner of her recording studio. It’s not someone super familiar to Beca; it takes almost ten seconds of staring for her to recognize the redheaded woman as one of her neighbours. Beca shrugs and goes back to her booth.

Two hours and fifty-two minutes later, she drops the song file onto the record label’s secure server and slips her earphones off.

“Riot,” she says, and her phone flickers to life. “Text Turtle.”

“Texting Turtle.”

“Boom! It’s uploaded.”

“Texting Turtle, ‘Boom! It’s uploaded.’ Do you wish to send?”

“Send.”

“Message sent.”

She smiles triumphantly and pulls off her headphones. She stretches her limbs out and gets up, fixing her blanket as she goes. At the door she flicks off the studio light and exits into her hallway.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Bloody hell,” Beca mutters as someone continues to tap on her door. She’d been hoping to boil some water, make some tea, and then crawl into bed for another week. She smiles wistfully at the thought of having Theo cancel her week’s appointments.

Instead of curling up in bed and texting him her plan, she veers toward her front door instead. The camera display in her entrance hall shows the same redheaded neighbour. Beca grumbles, unlocks the door, and pulls it open.

The woman stares at her in shock.

Self-consciously, Beca wraps the blanket more securely around herself.

“Oh my,” the woman says. “Are you alright?”

“No,” Beca says. “This crazy lady’s been banging on my door for the past, like, three hours.”

Blushing furiously, the woman says, “In my defense, after I knocked the first time I went home for a bit and only just now came back.”

“Okay, but no offence, why are you here?”

The blush only deepens.

“Okay, so I know this is going to sound, like, totes stalkery, but I haven’t seen you in like two weeks. Usually I see you every afternoon holding a takeout cup of coffee from Swan’s Beans because I teach piano lessons and my piano is in front of my living room window. And, well, I haven’t seen you for a long, long time so I thought maybe something had happened to you and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

Beca blinks a couple of times in rapid succession at the spiel the woman before her has churned out. “Right, so I’m Beca… What’s your name again?”

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, it’s Chloe,” she says and it seems like maybe she’ll leave it there, but instead she continues, “and now that I know you’re alive, I will totally get out of your hair.”

Beca opens her mouth to say goodbye, but all that comes out is a violent series of coughs that she barely manages to direct into her elbow before doubling over to wheeze.

A hand rubs the middle of Beca’s back and Beca’s coughing subsides. She straightens up only to face an inquisitorial squad, population Chloe.

“Do you have enough tea? Have you been consuming enough liquids? What have you been eating? Have you been getting groceries if you haven’t been leaving your house?” the questions come rapid-fire, making Beca’s head spin.

“What?” Beca asks, dumbfounded.

“Okay, I can whip you up a soup in no time, my mom passed down a great recipe, let’s just get you some tea and then I’ll go home and fix it up and bring you some.” Chloe steps into the house, gently pushing Beca back into her home.

“Dude, I’m fine!” Beca protests, catching her blanket once again as it tries to fall off of her.

All Chloe says is, “Cute onesie,” but her step never falters. “Where’s your kitchen?”

On auto-pilot, Beca gestures to the right, and Chloe keeps shepherding them both there. She makes Beca sit at one of the island chairs and then looks around for a kettle. A box of lemon ginseng green tea is open on the counter beside a bowl of lemons, half a lemon on a juicer, a tub of honey with a spoon sticking out of it, and the kettle.

“Perfect, this stuff should really help your throat,” Chloe comments as she starts making Beca tea.

“Dude, what is happening right now? I’m fine, you can just go home.”

A brief flash of hurt crosses Chloe’s face, and Beca almost feels guilty, but almost as quickly as it appeared, it vanishes. “You’re sick, you’ve been sick for, what, two weeks? You need some help.”

“I do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not!”

Chloe rolls her eyes. “Well, you’re getting some anyway, sweet cheeks, so deal with it.”

Beca mumbles under her breath.

“What was that?” Chloe asks as she opens various cabinets. Finally, she pulls a mug from the cabinet beside the fridge.

“I could get my security team here in ten minutes and you wouldn’t be able to escape the law.”

“That’s cute, sweetie, but I’m not going anywhere until I make you a nice pot of tea. And then I’m coming back with soup so that you actually eat something.”

“I’ve been eating!” Beca says defensively.

“Oh yeah?” Chloe challenges, raising an eyebrow. Like she has a sixth sense, she heads straight for the trash bin. “And you think eating a dozen packages of instant cheese ramen is going to cure you, do you?”

Beca blushes. “I – they’re easy to make and the freeze-dried vegetables inside don’t suck like most other instant ramens I’ve tried. So I won’t die of scurvy which is at the top of my to-do list, and it has a nice little spice kick at the end to help my sinuses.”

Before Beca’s even done trying to justify her major cheese ramen kick, Chloe’s shaking her head. “You need fresh veggies and vitamins, some protein wouldn’t hurt, and some people find dairy – if we can call this dairy – worsens cold and flu symptoms.”

Blinking widely, Beca says, “Okay…?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it. You should go up to bed and try to sleep or at least rest. I’ll bring your tea up, head home and make some soup, then bring you some dinner in a couple of hours.” Then she turns around, expecting Beca to just acquiesce. A rookie mistake.

“Dude, I don’t even know you!”

Chloe turns back around, “My name’s Chloe Beale, I live across the street, we’ve been neighbours for like two years, I went to Barden University and co-captained the all-female a cappella group The Barden Bellas, I had a 3.7 GPA in education, and then moved here and became a piano teacher. My favourite colour is orange, “Titanium” is my jam, and I love to give toasts at group events.” She smiles. “Now we’re friends and you know all about me, so please go upstairs!”

“You know ‘Titanium’?” Beca asks, totally distracted.

“Have I been living under a rock? It’s great. The song really builds.”

“Yeah, he’s really good at incorporating those rises and falls,” Beca comments, almost absently.

“Go!” Chloe demands again as the kettle clicks off. “I’ll bring this to you, just go rest; you look kind of awful.”

“Thanks, you forgot to mention you’re really nice in your elevator pitch,” Beca grumbles, but starts walking upstairs anyway.

“I’m making you soup and tea – it’s implied, Beca!”

When she gets upstairs, Beca pulls open her thick duvet and climbs in, still wrapped up in her onesie and extra blanket. She burritos under all her layers as best as she can. It takes a few minutes of turning and adjusting, but she eventually discovers that if she props herself up on a couple of pillows and rotates slightly so her head is on an angle to allow sinus drainage, she can almost breathe normally without triggering her cough too much.

Chloe appears in the doorway a few moments later, carrying a mug which she sets down on the coaster on Beca’s bedside table after picking up an old mug.

“Oh, thanks,” Beca says quietly.

“You look pretty snuggly,” Chloe comments, surveying the very large pile of blankets. “Are you warm in there?”

“Not really.”

“Alright, I can help with that,” Chloe says as she walks around to the other side of the bed.

“Wait, what?” Beca says as her eyes follow Chloe’s movements. It takes much longer than it should for Beca to put two and two together, and Chloe is already sliding under the covers towards Beca when Beca says, “Dude, what are you doing?”

Chloe just smiles in what Beca assumes Chloe thinks is a reassuring way. “You’re never going to get warm, even with all these blankets, if you’re cold. The blankets just insulate the temperature. Yes, they can help trap heat, but you need heat to get that started. I, as a healthy normal person, am quite warm in this pseudo-tropic you’ve designed for yourself, so if I can help warm you and your little cocoon, you might actually feel warm for once since nothing else is helping.”

An arm wraps around Beca’s waist, on top of the blanket she’s wrapped up in under her duvet. And, as much as it might pain Beca to admit, even to herself, it’s kind of nice. And that spot actually does feel a little warmer. Her eyelids start drooping a little.

“Okay, fine, but no copping any feels, ginger,” Beca says, her words already blurring at the edges with sleep.

“Scout’s honour!” Chloe promises.

It’s mumbled and very quiet, but Beca manages to get out, “I doubt you were ever a scout,” before drifting off. Chloe laughs softly and inches forward to cuddle Beca better.

“Good guess,” Chloe comments, and then despite her plans to go home and make Beca soup, she finds herself acquiescing to the soporific atmosphere, and falling asleep too.

#bechloe #fanfic #52fics #lespetitesmortsde #ask #anon #fic request #bechloe fanfiction #beca mitchell #chloe beale #pitch perfect fanfiction

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kurt-nightcrawler · 6 years

Text

Mystique’s Magnificent Part 1

Plot: Reader goes on a date to their favorite restaurant with their neighbor, Peter Maximoff. Catch? Peter doesn’t know it’s the Reader’s favorite restaurant

Warnings: Mentions of the police. That’s it I think??

A/N: This will only be two parts

Jubilee had been working at Mystique's Magnificent Burgers as a waitress for almost a year. She needed an easy job that paid well and could be flexible with her hours. This is was it.

Jubilee’s best friend, (Y/N), loved Mystique’s. They ate there or got food-to-go whenever they could. If (Y/N) wasn’t ordering food they’d hang out at the bar and talk to Jubilee or another worker. (Y/N) became friends with the owner’s son, Kurt, as he visited quite a bit.

(Y/N)’s neighbor was a wild boy always on the run. (Y/N) had seen him a few times, and he wasn’t bad looking. However the cops were at his house quite often, so they figured he did drugs or something stupid. That didn’t stop (Y/N) from crushing on him.

One day, (Y/N) saw her neighbor outside. He seemed to be waiting for someone.

“Hi.” “Oh, hey. (Y/N), right?” They nodded, “And you’re… Peter, right?” He nodded, “That’s me.” “Nice.”

It was silent for about five seconds until Peter spoke up, “I was wondering, um if you wanted, you don’t have too, but would you uh, like to go on a date with me?” “Only if you want to.” He quickly added. “Yeah. Yeah, I would. That sounds great!” “Wow. Uh… okay. How does Friday at 6 sound?” “Works for me.” “Okay. Do you want to meet at Mystique's? I hear they have amazing food.” “Mystique’s works.” “Alright. I’ll see you then.” “Yep. See ya Peter.” (Y/N) went inside her house. Anxious to tell Jubilee what just happened.

“You come in here almost every day. Hell you’re besties with Kurt!” “Who isn’t? He’s so sweet and innocent. He’s the brother we all need.” “True, true. But how are you not going to make him feel weird?” “Whaddya mean?” Jubilee set the clean glass down, “I mean, you’re friends with all the workers here. Even the manager Erik likes you! And he doesn’t like anyone! Peter has never been here once, I just think it’s going to be a bit weird.” (Y/N) shrugged, “So? Jubes you need to go on weird dates. I’m a weird person. And besides it’s only a first date. You can like serve us or something if you think it will go bad.” Jubilee’s face suddenly lit up, “Yes. Yes! YES! I am so serving you two. I’ve never officially met Peter, I’ve only seen him through your bedroom window with you when he’s changing-“ “Jubilation Lee! That is private information!” You hiss. “Okay, okay. Just saying, he looks nice but looks can be deceiving. Hasn’t he gotten in trouble with the cops before?” “They just showed up at his house a few times. It could be him, his mom or one of his sisters.” Jubilee gave a sideways look, “If you say so.”

Friday came, and (Y/N) waited for Peter at Mystique’s. (Y/N) was anxious, changed their outfit four times, and got a pep talk from Jubilee just ten minutes before.

Peter showed up right at six. He had on his signature silver jacket, but he looked slightly different. “You cleaned up nice.” “Oh uh… Thank… Thank you.” He stumbled a little with his words. <i>’I guess I’m not the only nervous one,’</i> (Y/N) figured. They entered and were taken to their seats by Scott, a fairly new employee at Mystique’s. His brother was the assistant manager, until he left for college. “Your server will be with you shortly.”

“Hello. My name is Jubilee and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. What can I get you started with to drink?” Peter looked at Jubilee, “I’ll have water.” She wrote it down, “Water, and for you dear?” (Y/N) had to hold back a laugh, Jubilee’s acting was good, but since (Y/N) knew the situation they wanted to laugh. “I’ll have a Pepsi.” “Alrighty then, water and pepsi. I’ll be right back with those.” She stuck her pen and notepad in the pocket of her apron and walked off.

“She seems familiar.” “Who? Our server?” “Yeah. Jubilee’s her name right?” You nod. “I can’t place it, but she seems familiar. She doesn’t live in our neighborhood does she?” “I don’t think so.” Jubilee lived near Scott in Metalwoods. It was one of the main neighborhoods in town, the other one being Charles Burrow. Peter and you lived in Charles Burrow, but Jubilee and Scott lived in Metalwoods. “Hmm.” Peter mused, “I know I’ve seen her before.” (Y/N) was extremely confused by Peter’s certainty, Jubes and Peter had never officially met, and Jubilee only saw him when they were stalking watching him from their bedroom window.

(Y/N) pretended to look over the menu a bit, already knowing what they’d get. The perfect date food, nachos. They were easy to eat, and wouldn’t be messy as wings, a burger, or a salad. That’s what Alex had told her before he left.

“I don’t know what to get.” “I mean the ‘Guest Favorite’ looks good.” The guest favorite was something Jubilee made for (Y/N) towards closing time using whatever screw-up orders were left over. It was a BLT, but instead of bread it was made with waffles. Similar to chicken and waffles, but different at the same time. (Y/N) loved it so much and ordered it so often that it was finally added to the menu. If Peter seemed interested in it he could be scoring himself a second date. “Oooo, like chicken and waffles, but special just like the guests who come here,” He said reading the meal description, “Why are they so cheesy?” “I dunno.” (Y/N) didn’t know. The servers would give their short review on how well they liked the meal. However, (Y/N) and Jubilee didn’t know who gave the description for guest favorite. They thought Alex, but he said it wasn’t him. He didn’t like waffles. So they left it a mystery.

In the kitchen Jubilee was talking to Kurt, “Oh my god! They’re super awkward together! Like he’s cute and probably (Y/N)’s type but I dunno.” Kurt nodded, “Doesn’t he have a police record?” Jubilee nodded collecting the dishes for another table, “Pretty sure. (Y/N)’s in denial about it, but they can’t deny the evidence.” “Which is?...” “The cops have been at his place too often. Plus he skips school a lot. He didn’t even recognize me here, and we have three classes together!” Kurt looked at Ororo, “Got the salad?” She nodded, “Right here. Hand it to Jubes.” “Thanks.” She took the salad and placed on her tray, “But, if (Y/N) is happy and he doesn’t hurt them I guess he’s okay.” Jubilee picked up her tray and exited the kitchen, “I guess so…” Kurt mumbled.

Jubilee made it back to the awkward couple’s table, “Have you decided on what to get?” “Yeah.” “Yep.” “Alrighty then, for you?” She asked (Y/N). “I’ll take the Party Time Nachos, no black olives.” Jubilee gave (Y/N) a slight raised eyebrow, (Y/N) never gets the nachos. “Nachos, no black olives. And for you?” “I’ll take the Guest Favorite.” “Guest Favorite. And are fries okay for your side?” “Fries are fine.” She quickly scribbled down their orders, “Alright those will be out soon.”

Jubilee put their orders into the machine and then went into the kitchen, “They’re getting nachos! Nachos!” “So?” Scott asked, filling up drink cups. “They don’t always have to get the same thing you know.” “But (Y/N) never gets nachos!” “Alex said they were the perfect date food the menu offers,” Ororo cut in. “See?” Scott says, happy to have someone backing him up. “Whatever. I just don’t want (Y/N) to turn into a completely different person when they get a boyfriend.” “They won’t. Trust me.” Ororo says, preparing the nachos.

“What do you think about Eurythmics?” (Y/N) asked, knowing they were Peter’s favorite. “Oh my god! They are the best! I mean Pink Floyd and Rush are also there so they’d all be my top three, but Sweet Dreams (Are made of This) is one of the best albums ever.” “It’s not bad. Jennifer and Sweet Dreams are my favorite songs on them.” “Sweet Dreams is literally the best. It’s super motivational for me.” “That’s really cool!”

Peter and (Y/N) went on with small talk until their food arrived. “One Guest Special and one Party Time Nachos.” “This looks amazing!” Jubilee smiled, “Is everything good? Need anything else?” “No, we’re fine.” Jubilee looked at (Y/N) with some concern, “If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate.” “Oh, we’re fine. Thank you though.” Jubilee nodded and walked off.

“She seems a little… Odd.” “Jubilee? She looks around our age. Probably just wants a nice tip.” “She scares me a bit.” (Y/N) smiled to themselves, ‘If only you knew.’

The rest of dinner was filled with small talk and the two eating their meals. (Y/N) didn’t eat much, as they wanted to take some food home, as they wouldn’t be coming later to collect leftovers with Jubilee. “You didn’t eat a whole lot.” Peter commented. “First date nerves I guess.” Jubilee came back with a small plate with something on it, “And this is for you dear, it’s on the house.” It was a muffin. “Oh! Um… thank you! I don’t know what to say-“ “It’s not from me, but it’s on the house so you may as well enjoy.” She sets the bill on the table, “Whenever you’re ready.” “Thank you.”

“I think Jubilee is hitting on you.” “Didn’t you hear her? This wasn’t because of her. Someone else wanted me to have this. I don’t know who or why.” But as she unwrapped the muffin and ate it, she realized. It was a blueberry muffin.

Peter walked (Y/N) to their car. The sun was starting to set. “I had a good time.” “Me too.” “Would you like too uh, go on a second date? Only if you want. Like it’s totally up to you.” “I dunno Peter. I’m gonna have to think about it.” (Y/N) joked. “I’ve got all the time in the world babe.” (Y/N)’s eyes widen at the remark. “Sorry! Sorry! Was that too soon? It was too soon. I am so-“ Peter was silenced because (Y/N) put their lips on his cheek. His skin was soft and he smelt nice. “Okay. Great. I’ll uh, see you around. Goodnight (Y/N).” “Night Peter.”

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bibliophilicwitch · 6 years

Text

Alright, enough of you would like to see my likely long rambly post about my 3-day weekend away so let’s do this.

About a month ago a friend of mine connected with me and asked if I would be interested in a girls’ weekend because there’s a loud music festival that happens practically in her backyard every year and she didn’t want to be in town for it. This friend lives in Appleton nearly 2 hours away from me and we rarely have reasons to be in each others’ neck of the woods anymore so I don’t really visit with her much anymore. So when she asked I really wanted to say yes, but she just so happened to be suggesting a 3-day trip the same month as my 6-day vacation to travel to North Dakota to see family and attend my cousin’s wedding. We planned a budget accordingly and I just gotta be conscious of money the next couple of weeks.

The music started on Thursday and ideally we would’ve left town that evening, but I ended up being scheduled to work until 9 PM closing time at the pharmacy that night… of course. We had plans already scheduled for midday on Friday, so I had to pack everything before work and then left immediately from work for my nearly 2 hour drive and arrived at her house at about 11 PM. I listened to some of the first campaign of Critical Role - time well spent.

So our Friday morning was spent running a few errands and finishing prep to leave Appleton before heading out to Milwaukee including running her pup to a friends’ house, getting groceries, and picking up coffee to fortify ourselves. We headed out around 11 AM I think and arrived early for our massage in a Milwaukee suburb with time to spare. It was my first massage and it was pretty good other than too much on my neck which led to a light headache. I really should’ve said that it was hurting too much, but I wasn’t sure if it would or would not be beneficial as I had never had a professional massage before.

Our hotel was in Wauwautosa and we arrived a good two hours before check in so we went and got food at Dave and Busters which, for those that don’t know, is an arcade for adults - meaning there is a bar. It was fun, but 3 of the 5 games we played didn’t work correctly or at all and then it was time to head out. Kinda wish we had had the opportunity to go back for another hour since I had plenty of credits still and would’ve really liked to play Mario Kart and check out one or two more games. I did play a Star Wars game with the wrap around screen which was pretty wicked cool.

That evening, after we checked into our hotel and washed off our oils from the massage, we went to a suburb to participate in a Paint and Sip class - this one was a paint your pet class and they even had little gift bags with goodies for you pet. I picked a picture of Binx that was low lighting which they oversaturated so you could see both his eyes, but since they oversaturated the picture he no longer looked like a true black and white tuxedo but like he had shades of grey and black all over which would not have been my kitty. Since I was not following the picture exactly it was proving impossible to distinguish his features, so I gave up and just used my time to fill in the areas I knew I could and plan to ask another of my friends, who works with me for the library Paint & Sip classes, to help me finish it some time. No idea when that may actually happen since she is super busy, but I have plans that meant I was okay with my experience. Not thrilled since it was a $35 class not including our wine, but eh. Meanwhile my friend was frustrated because even though she asked a few times for help with colors she never got close enough to be happy with her picture. On top of that she had chosen a picture of her goofy dog with his tongue lolling out of his mouth, but they CUT OFF HIS TONGUE and then didn’t make the picture as large as they could’ve so she had a lot of negative space. She was unimpressed to say the least. At least our wine was good. Really the class should’ve had prerequisites such as having participated in their other classes to be sure customers would get the best out of their experience. They did see that I had not finished and were offering a free session to join their free paint classes for help finishing… which we couldn’t do since we both live too far away (in my case a good 4 hours). I do really wish it had been a more standard paint class with the fast blended background and straightforward foreground. Ah well.

We finished day one at the Cheesecake Factory, a first for me! My friend commented that she was never very impressed by their food and she wasn’t surprised do be unimpressed yet again (though I didn’t mind my food at all), but we finished off with cheesecake, obviously, and that was delicious. Unfortunately I forgot my leftover cheesecake at her house in Appleton.

Saturday was our busiest day. We started at the Milwaukee Public Museum which was excellent though it really is a whole day affair not the two hour filler we planned for it. About halfway through my friend started to get anxious about her car and concerned it had a ticket or had been towed and I think she was also just getting tired of being on her feet. I think I was overall more interested in the exhibits too and she seemed to only be truly interested in specific things. I’m also a reader and wanted to actually read some of the shit while she just breezed through exhibit after exhibit. Like I said, we really didn’t have the time, but it was disappointing to be rushed so much.

Then we went downtown to The Safe House which she had wanted to check out. She did not realize it was literally right downtown and there was some anxiety, but we made it! For those that have not heard of Safe House, it’s a restaurant where the servers are in-character as secret agents and guests are also secret agents. There is a password to get in and if you don’t know it you have to prove you aren’t a spy by acting out some silliness. The interior is a wild and zany pieced together hodgepodge with references to spies in popular culture. Guests are given a list of missions (clues) to wander about and try to figure out the password. If you figure it out you are able to get a discount on their merchandise.

It was more confusing than my friend was expecting and not as engaging as she had expected either. She was pretty sure she figured it out, but neither of us were really worried about the merchandise, so we just didn’t even bother. They had a pen listed that we both kinda wanted, but they didn’t have any in stock.

After that we went to the North Point Lighthouse which is a lighthouse museum and I really enjoyed that little attraction. After that we finally headed back to the hotel for a short break and to get bandages because she wore strappy shoes that were trying to eat her feet. We discovered there was some sort of convention going on so the hotel was packed and TOO busy for only two slow elevators.

Next we went to Water2Wine, a winery in a suburb that imports their grapes and then makes their own wines in house. It was cute and pretty decent, but we weren’t overly impressed tbh. Next door to the winery was a Half Priced Books which my friend suggested instead of going to Barnes and Noble in the mall. So we wandered around, which was the first time I’d been to a Half Priced Books, but she got bored relatively quickly and dragged me out well before I would’ve like saying I could go to Barnes and Noble instead and then if she got bored she could wander the mall. So then we ended up at the mall and I was ready to settle into browsing for nearly an hour before wandering around the rest of the mall until close, but again she dragged me out likely because it isn’t that fun to wander by yourself. I did pick up a book at both places, Of Fire and Stars and Spinning Silver. I could’ve stayed in the bookstore all evening and likely only bought the one book, but nooooo, I ended up in the game store and bought an expensive gorgeous metal dice set. Pft. I also bought macarons which I had never been able to try and the ones I got were disappointingly too sweet for me to enjoy. We were both ready to be done, so we grabbed Chipotle, another first for me, and just curled up with a little TV before bed.

Sunday we got brunch at the ludicrously hipstery Cafe Hollanders. Very good and excellent atmosphere, but I couldn’t get over how chique it was being. The cafe was located in this ritzy area filled with high end stores that neither of us could afford, but we wandered around and gawped at insane prices before heading out to the Milwaukee County Zoo which I have WAAAY too many picture of to share here, so just check out my Instagram. I mentioned a few times, because I was seeing merchandise, that we hadn’t seen the red panda and my friend said she thought it might be a seasonal exhibit. After I was home I checked… it wasn’t. We literally missed it and I kinda wanna cry tbh.

We left Milwaukee around 4 and I ended up home around 7:30, but I tossed some gas in my car, washed it, and ran to the grocery store first so idk exactly how long my drive was. Though not everything was amazing I still had a pretty damn good time, my friend on the other hand seemed to get bored and/or impatient and/or disappointed/frustrated on a regular basis and I swear she didn’t enjoy the trip nearly as well as I did which just makes me sad. I also realized that since the last time we had really hung out we have both changed. Whereas I am online a lot and am fairly socially conscious she was not and she made a few borderline racist jokes (okay, not really borderline at all). Nothing nasty, just those ingrained stereotype jokes that are just not funny when you recognize how hurtful they can be. It also became more apparent that our interests do not overlap much at all. Which is another post to ramble about later. I loved the lighthouse and the zoo and wish I could’ve had just a bit more bookstore time and arcade time. It was nice to get out of town and not think about work while getting to catch up with an old friend though.

#text #personal #general related #milwaukee trip

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amemixfan · 6 years

Note

"You're always on my mind" Renzei

A little more explicit than I’m used to. Name used here is Valkyrie. ——When Duke had suggested a meal at his place as a team bonding exercise, I had not been expecting this. The breakfast Duke lays out for us in his apartment is worth more than what I make in a month. Every ingredient looks like it has been imported from countries I could never hope to find on a map, and the scents dance around the room promising something entirely new and foreign. I am both in awe and intimidated by the sheer luxury of it all. Andi lets out a shrill whistle, excitement in her gaze, and reaches for a plate. She snags a crepe loaded with fruits and snatches a muffin that looks like it had been purchased from a high end bakery I could never even afford to breathe in. “This is quite the spread, Duke, are you trying to impress us?” Andi tilts her head and pops a piece of the crepe in her mouth, “Because it’s working.”Duke lifts his coffee to his lips and shrugs. He looks utterly nonchalant at the meal as if used to eating like this all the time. And if his net-worth online is anything to go by, he probably is. “I just wanted to make sure everyone would enjoy a meal. I invited Bat but he sent me a string of mad emojis and complained that I was discriminating against masked people,” Duke admits. I make a sound at the back of my throat to feign listening and lean back in my chair. Everyone around me is utterly at ease. Duke rests back on his chair with a coffee mug in his hands, Lorelei picks out an assortment of fruits on her plate, Andi babbles on about a new SnapShot event upcoming while piling her plate with more sweets than what I could eat in a month let alone a day-And Renzei looks at me while filling his mug with coffee. I bristle at him and forcibly tear my gaze away from him. I am still mad from our argument last night and want nothing more than to forget about his existence. My fingers drum on the table and I busy myself chasing a grape around with my fork. “Did you make these yourself?” Lorelei voices out. She sits next to Renzei and cuts a delicate piece from a sausage. Duke admits he did and seems flustered by the attention. He begins to talk details about his cooking while Renzei reaches out his leg. His shoe bumps mine underneath the table lightly and he gazes me. His face is impassive to everyone yet his voice sounds pouty in my head. ”Are you still mad at me, Val?” He inclined his head to one side and takes a long drink from his cup. I pretend not to hear him, hard to do with my powers, and busy myself folding my napkin in my lap. “They’re good, Duke,” I hold up a sausage with my fork and pointedly avoid looking at Renzei. Duke nods, a fine dust of pink on his cheeks, and changes the subject to something he is working to unveil at his company. I listen for half a second before Renzei’s voice comes back on my mind. ”Val…I’m sorry.”I hum and continue to ignore him. My fork stabs a piece of egg a little more forcefully than necessary. Andi finishes her bite of crepe before reaching for another one. “I wish SnapShot added some of the emojis ChatSphere has. Who designed them?” “I have a team in charge of the design…” Duke begins to list off some names and I feel Renzei’s shoe bumping mine again. ”Talk to me?” He meets my gaze evenly and there’s a little glimmer of something in his eyes. I bite my lip and turn my body to face Duke at one end of the table yet direct my thoughts at Renzei. ”There’s nothing left to say,” I make my voice sound final. Renzei isn’t giving up without a fight. He also turns his body towards Duke, feigning interest, and projects his thoughts to me. His calf rest against mine under the table to serve as a tether to my powers. ”I thought about what you said, and I’m sorry. I was out of line. Forgive me?” His eyes meet mine for half a second and he gives me a pleading look. He is remorseful, I can tell. I’m not sure I want to let him off the hook so easily. ”So now you want to think about me? Now you care?” I forcibly kick his shin. He doesn’t react to the pain aside from biting down on his fork a little harsher than necessary. I have to suppress my smirk. “What bakery are these from?” Andi brandishes a crepe. “It’s a few blocks from here. I recognize the taste. I don’t have a sweet tooth but I enjoy their pastries,” Lorelei answers her. Renzei settles his leg back against mine. ”You’re always on my mind.”I bite my cheek. “These are really good,” I hold up a piece of bacon. “It’s from Italy,” Duke shrugs nonchalant. I nearly spit it out in shock. Renzei curls his fingers around his own piece and holds it up to the light. “I won’t even ask how much it cost.” His gaze turns back to mine. ”But I will ask you how I can make it up to you?”“You don’t want to know,” Andi chirps. I mimic her. ”You don’t want to know.”Duke looks confused, used to eating like a millionaire no doubt, and frowns.“I just like Italian bacon better. The ones from here are good, but nothing compares to these,” he sounds defensive. “No one is judging you,” I clarify. I try and tap Renzei’s leg from mine again to cut off our bond. It’s the equivalent of trying to move a rock. ”What if I take you to lunch at that place you like?” Renzei tilts his head. “I’m getting full. Thanks for this Duke,” I smile at Duke but aim my words at Renzei. Duke shrugs and sips his coffee, Renzei bites his lip. “I have a bottomless stomach,” Andi smirks. She’s on her third crepe now and it really looks like she can go for three more. I envy her. “Which is why I ordered extra,” Duke’s lips quirk up at Andi. ”Movies then? That new one, Starship Comet looks good,” Renzei tries again. At this point, I’m no longer angry but it’s interesting to see him try. I try and tune in to Lorelei’s talk about a new project she’s working on while directing my thought at Renzei. ”Saw it last week with Robin. She gets with the badass, super-soldier.” I purposefully send him a memory of the main character kissing Nova. Renzei groans at the spoiler in my head and sends me a dirty look. I ease back in my seat content with the mental quiet. “…still drawing it out but I think it’ll look good. For some reason, gothic homes are coming back into fashion. Maybe I can add a few tweaks to make it more modern,” Lorelei concludes. She traces her fingers on the table’s surface as if sketching out her new architect project. “That sounds great,” I encourage. Renzei continues to be quiet, probably giving up on ways to atone, and moodily picks at his napkin. He’s silent for about two minutes before new inspiration shines on his face. Over the rim of his coffee, I can see the corners of his mouth tilt up in a smirk. ”I know how I can make it up to you then,” he all but purrs in my ear. I narrow my eyes at him and pass Andi a napkin. I am both concerned and excited by the mischief shining in his eyes. Renzei’s leg moves up to my shin and he sends me a smug smile. He looks like he’s paying attention to Lorelei, but his mind is definitely on me. I don’t like this, feel more than a little suspicious, and kick at his shoe inquisitively. ”There’s so many ways I can make this up to you,” Renzei purrs in my ear. I feel his mental confidence in every syllable. Before I can ask what he means, he shows me. His thoughts flood into me so suddenly that I can’t guard myself against them. I can see us at Renzei’s apartment. He is behind me, pressing into my back, and his mouth is right on my ear. His breath is shallow and his body is shivering against me. My hands work slow on him, teasing him, and my own heart is racing. In the bathroom mirror, I can see us. Renzei is pressing behind me, gray eyes half lidded in utter pleasure and teeth grinding. He is shirtless and his belt is undone to grant me access. He presses me into the sink so that I can see my reflection clearly. My hair is a mess, my teeth are digging into my lower lip, my face is flushed, and one hand holds me steady against the sink while the other reaches back behind me and-I jerk away from the memory and slam a mental door on Renzei’s thoughts. My face feels hot and I have to wipe at my mouth with a napkin to hide it. None of the others have noticed but Renzei looks a little too innocent in his seat. I send him a mental image of my finger. ”Stop it. Ass.”Renzei raises an eyebrow at me, still feigning angelic innocence, and leans back in his chair. He picks a piece of sausage from his plate and holds it up to his lips. “There’s a new book I’m reading. It’s number one on the New York list.”He chews on his meal as an excuse not to continue verbally. Instead, his voice is a satisfied smirk in my head. ”You didn’t like that one? Fine. There are other ways to make it up to you.”I bite my cheek and try to resist his next mental image but it’s too strong.This time I’m at a restaurant booth and am pressing into the wall. Renzei has sat next to me as opposed to opposite of me and has one hand on my lap. He is talking to the server about a menu item he saw that he wants to modify for his order. With one hand, he animates his talk with the waiter about adding some spices while, with the other, he works a line against my thigh. My lips are pressed tight to avoid making a sound and my nails are digging into his wrist as a warning. A part of me is mortified that we’re in public and the waiter could see if he looked down rather than at his clipboard, but another part of me really doesn’t want him to stop. My breath begins to hitch as his fingers work higher. His nails skim the bottom of my skirt and teasingly ghost underneath. My grip on his wrist tightens and I try to use the table mantel to cover our laps. Renzei continues his talk with the waiter, this time ordering an expensive drink, and looks completely normal. He taps at a wine on the menu with his right, and his left hand ventures to the one place I really want him to go to. My breath begins to hitch and I have to bite down on my lip to keep quiet-I tear away from the second mental image and glare pointedly at Renzei. My face is really burning now and I am grateful Andi is the center of attention as she tells us about her day. My fingers shake as I stab my eggs. ”We’re in public, Renzei.” I mean to hiss it at him, scold him for misbehaving, but it comes out breathless. My mind is a muddled mess and it shows. Renzei’s smirk grows. He makes a noise at the back of his throat like he is agreeing with Andi and swirls his tongue against his fork to clean off the last of his meal. I burn at the sight and train my eyes intently at my plate as a distraction. Nevertheless, Renzei is back in my head. ”Then be quiet,” he purrs. I jolt as another memory floods me. This time I’m in my own apartment and am spread on the couch. Robin is in their room, I can hear them playing a game on the television. Renzei is on top of me, hands pinning me down on either side, and his lips are working on my neck. My heart is pounding and I am trying not to make a sound. My fingers shake against his jacket collar and I take a fistful of fabric to steady myself. “Robin is in their room,” I hiss it under my breath and accidentally let out a small pant as he finds a spot beneath my ear. Renzei draws away and there is a part of me that really doesn’t want him to. His hands move down to my sides where he lifts my sweater up. His fingers skim my skin and his lips brush past mine. “Then be quiet,” he whispers. He is so close his mouth tickles mine as he talks. I draw away, body quivering, and bite down on my hand. Quiet is something that doesn’t exist in that moment. Every part of me is burning like a supernova and I really, really am trying to keep my breaths even, yet it’s not working. Renzei rolls his hips forward and it is all I am not to make a sound. He seems to be enjoying the effect he has and moves his head from my chest to my stomach. His fingers are already starting to wander further south. I bite down on my wrist to the point of almost breaking through the skin. My room is so close from here, we could go there instead. When I float the idea to Renzei, he shakes his head and smirks. “You’d never make it there,” he murmurs. He’s right. My limbs already feel like jelly and walking takes effort. I clamp my mouth down on my hand and squeeze my eyes shut. Robin is still playing their games oblivious to what is happening right outside their door. I wish they would close it all the way so that there would be no risk of being found out-A hiss escapes my mouth as Renzei’s mouth moves lower. My fingers grasp at his hair and I clamp my other hand over my mouth to muffle my breaths-I jump in place and my fork goes skittering away. It clatters next to Andi’s foot and I become the center of attention. Lorelei and Duke, previously in conversation, stop and stare. Andi raises an eyebrow and Renzei hides his smirk by wiping at his mouth with a napkin. “Sorry,” I apologize. My breath comes out a little uneven and I am embarrassed further. Andi bends down to pick up my fork as Duke raises an eyebrow. “Are you alright?” I try to remember how to form coherent thoughts. Renzei, the asshole, looks like the picture of innocence in his seat. His eyebrow is raised in concern and he looks as baffled as everyone else. I clench my jaw and accept the fork from Andi. “Fine. My finger slipped.”Duke waves the fork away and passes me a new one with the explanation that the old one touched the floor. I take it from him and try to hide the fact that my fingers are shaking. If he notices, he decides not to comment on it. After another pause where the Syndicate each levels me with concerned stares, Lorelei launches back into her conversation with Duke. I jab my new fork into my toast and all but glare at Renzei. ”Fuck you,” I hiss. Renzei raises an eyebrow at me and looks amused. He busies himself folding a napkin into an origami shape. ”You already have.”His tone is extreme amused and mischievous. I all but melt as his thoughts prod at me again. This time, we’re in his bedroom. His full weight is on top of me and his breath is right in my ear. I can hear each shallow paint and groan as it leaves his throat. My nails claw at his back, mouth moves with his name, and body jerks with every movement. He once told me he’d make me loud, and he is a man of his word. His name spills from my lips like a prayer but there is nothing holy about what he’s doing to me. The headboard clangs with every movement and I am sure we’ll get a noise complaint soon. My own voice rises in tone and I feel him shiver with energy. My body is aflame and my mind is melting. I open my mouth and his name falls out in midscream. I hear my own name in his mouth, taste it as he presses his lips to mine in an attempt to muffle it, and he presses deeper. The bed creaks with every movement, my mind explodes with fireworks and flames, and his body begins to grow more frenzied. I begin to scream and his once quiet breaths turn into guttural pants and then forceful groans. He grows more impatient, moves faster so much so that I worry his bed will give way, and his body jerks erratically. My head lolls back and I take in the sight of his face flushed, eyes half lidded in ecstasy, and sweat forming on his brow. We’re both so close. I can feel it. He jerks forward again and he brings us closer. And closer. And closer. And closer-I force myself out of the memory with a jerk. My leg moves away from his to sever our connection and I slam my mind shut. I freeze him out as my heartbeat pounds in my ears. Renzei looks like the paragon of innocence and almost has a halo above his head. I shake with frustration and grit my teeth. Fuck him. Asshole. I aim a hard kick at him-And Duke jerks up instead. His knee bumps the table and he jerks at me. He stops mid sentence and glares. “Valkyrie!” His voice is harsh but there is more confusement than anger. I stammer, realizing that I have kicked him rather than Renzei, and press a hand to my knee. “Muscle spasm,” I gasp out. I rub at my leg to make it look convincing. Andi nearly chokes on her pastry and Lorelei narrows her eyes at me. Duke turns his icy gaze on me longer. And Renzei looks like the cat that ate the canary. He presses a hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter and gives me a triumphant smirk. I can almost feel the satisfaction and mischief rolling off him in waves. He reels it in after a pause and sits upright in his chair. “Are you sure you’re alright, Val? You look red,” he manages to sound entirely concerned. I debate on kicking him again but Duke is still rubbing at his calf and I decide that might not be the best course of action. Instead, I glare at Renzei and clench my jaw. “I feel fine. Sorry, Duke.”Duke waves away my apologies although he is still pressing his hand to his leg and motions for Andi to continue whatever question she was going to ask. I clench my fingers around the napkin in my lap and glare at Renzei. He has accomplished whatever goal he set out to do and is now paying avid attention to Andi. I can’t let that go. I decide to play his little game and feign finishing up my coffee. I direct my thoughts at him and put them on blast. His hands are at my hair and his breath is shallow. He’s louder than I’ve ever heard him before and his entire body is quaking. I’m so used to seeing Renzei composed and sure of himself that it is a pleasant surprise to see him come undone like this. His mouth is in a perfect ‘o’, his eyes are squeezed shut, his hands are guiding my head into a rhythm, and his entire face is flushed. It is a very welcome sight and I focus all of my attentions on getting him to that finish. He’s so close now, I can tell. His hands are becoming more frantic and his voice is raising in volume. My name spills from his lips like a mantra and I try not to let him spill from my own. His excitement is almost palpable and he’s so, so close. He’s teetering over that edge, ready to fall apart. I move my head one last time. Just as he gets that release-I cut off the transmission. Renzei, previously poised to ask Lorelei a question, cuts himself off with a gasp. He drops his coffee cup suddenly and it goes flying down. He manages to catch it with his wind powers moments later but the liquid spills across his front. Lorelei and Duke bolt upright. Some coffee has spilled on the table top and Duke dives for the napkins. Andi jumps from her seat. “Oh my God! Are you okay?” She moves to help Renzei and shoves napkins in his hands.The coffee has spilled on his front and some steam is curling up. It had to have hurt when it splashed. The liquid was piping hot. I almost feel guilty until I remember how much he has teased me today. I get up from my seat and go around the table. Renzei is wiping at his shirt although his hands are shaking. Duke and Lorelei move the plates from the table before any more liquid can seep into them. Andi goes for more napkins. “What was that?” Lorelei aims a look at Renzei. I come up from behind him and give him my own innocent look. “Are you feeling okay?” I echo him from earlier and reach over him to get him more napkins. “I lost my grip on the cup. Sorry,” Renzei aims the apology at Duke. The coffee has made a mess of things and has even splashed on Duke’s sweater. He shakes his head and dabs at the tablecloth with a napkin. It’s a futile attempt. The fabric is soaked and ruined. “Do you need a change of clothes? The coffee was hot,” Duke eyes Renzei’s front. Steam is still rising from where the coffee has spilled everywhere. For some reason, Renzei jerks forward into the table. He lifts the tablecloth up and bends his body forward as if to shield something from view. “No. I’m fine.” He doesn’t sound fine. Lorelei and Duke move away and tug the tablecloth up. Renzei is forced to let go although he doesn’t adjust his posture. “Your clothes are soaked. Just borrow a sweater from Duke,” Lorelei scolds. Renzei shakes his head and remains adamant. He yanks his jacket off and moves to tie it around his waist. When he moves to stand up, I realize why he was shielding himself earlier. My little retaliation has gotten to him more than I thought. His excitement level is up-And it isn’t the only thing up. I bite my laugh back and press my hand into his back. He rises and turns around to hide himself from view. Thankfully, Duke, Lorelei, and Andi are too busy cleaning up the mess to notice. Renzei sends me a look that promises to get back at me tenfold and I blink innocently back at him. “Perhaps I should take Renzei home. He needs new clothes,” I suggest. The others agree and I guide Renzei out. He apologizes to Duke for the mess again but doesn’t turn around. This earns him confused stares but no one asks anything. We reach the front door to Duke’s apartment and I guide Renzei out. As soon as the door closes behind us, he whirls on me. “The coffee was hot,” he hisses. He lifts his shirt away from his skin and I can see the redness of his stomach. I smirk. “Not the only thing about you that is hot right now.”I turn to walk away and hear the growl in his voice. His fingers catch my arm and he dives for me. His arm presses me into his side and his lips go for my ear. I can feel his excitement and anger. “Tease,” he breaths out, “Are you still mad at me?”I think on it and pretend to be nonchalant. “Mm…no. But you still need to make it up to me.”He glares. “How?”I smirk and let my hand drift to what he tried to use his sweater sleeves to hide. When I find my target, I hear his hiss of breath and feel him tighten his arms around me. I lower my breath into a sultry whisper and give him a burning look from the corner of my eye. “I have a few ideas.”Renzei’s lips quirk up and he leads me away from Duke’s apartment. By the looks of things, he likes my idea. Breathless and more than a little excited, he smirks. “Deal.”

#renzei feng #lovestruck voltage #voltage amemix #villainous nights #request

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reinalowellwrites-blog · 6 years

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college and hotel AUs

so I just started living on campus at uni and I work in a hotel, so I made a list of writing prompts with my best friend @scubadiva that we would really like you all to use and play around with however you want. Make a short story, make a scene, write half a scene and give up, write a full novel, do anything! Just make sure to copy & paste or link it down below because we reallyyyy want to read them. So, without further ado...

College AU prompts:

“Hey you’re in my class and you’re always the smartest and most organized, but now you’re sloppy drunk in this club and grinding on a stranger, also what do you mean we have two tests tomorrow????” au

“I’m the shuttle driver and you’ve been riding around campus with me for three hours in silence so I finally asked why and you said your roommates hate you and want to fight with you and you don’t have a car to drive away in so now you’re doing your homework in this now-empty shuttle with me which is totally not creepy because I swear I won’t invade your personal space, but you should know I’m missing my break for this so now we’re going to a drive-thru do you want a cheeseburger” au

“You’re the shuttle driver and I don’t have the heart to tell you that you missed the last two stops—mine included—because Mr. Brightside distracted you, but I really need to get to class and wtf are you crying?????” au

“I met you waiting at the shuttle stop while checking my mailbox and stopped to talk to you because you’re really cute but you should know that it’s Saturday so the shuttle doesn’t run today and also can I have your number????” au

“You’re a really cute RA and I’m super into you and I can’t tell if it’s mutual or not but please come over every day so I can ask you questions I already know the answer to also I genuinely don’t think this key opens any of the mailboxes what is it for” au

“I woke up after a college party in a locked building I don’t recognize and hello stranger I think I kissed last night, do you know how we got here or how we escape because I'm scared????” au

“Our college has a game where each student has to find the student they’re assigned to “kill” and everyone who gets a kill takes their victim’s assignment and I’ve been the champ for a while but now there’s a new streak-winning killer on the loose and no one knows who it is and I’m probably about to make out with you at this party when you try to kill me but I catch you before you can because I have your name too and uh oh now what” au

Hotel AU prompts:

“I’m sorry I banged on the wall between our rooms and then also your door so loudly, I thought you were having loud sex but it’s actually just you rocking against your headboard and sobbing are you okay???” au

“You’re the night housekeeper and I’m a guest and I thought you were super cute so now I’ve asked for like four microwaves even though I don’t have any food because I want to see you again and I think you’re starting to realize that I’m not actually having trouble with any of them so hey let’s go eat dinner sometime maybe????” au

“This hotel has a make your own pasta bar and you’re the chef making the pasta and I hate everything you’re recommending but I can’t say no to those beautiful eyes and now you want to watch me take a bite but I’m literally so allergic to dairy and gluten so I’m just gonna box it up and say it’s for my brother when in reality I’m going to go to my room and beg my parents not to kill me for doing this like eight days in a row” au

“My family came on this vacation to explore the town, but I twisted my ankle so they left me behind and my ankle is better now but please don’t tell them because I’d much rather be here on the balcony where I can spy on you every day while you work at the pool” au

“You’re the room service boy and we were flirting earlier but now I’m sulking in my room after my parents embarrassed me in front of you when I hear a knock on the door and I didn’t order room service and it’s just a flower and a note and omg it’s from you” au

“You’re a massage therapist and I’m your client and you haven’t done anything unprofessional but you’re so good at your job and so sweet and cute that now I’m in love with you and I’m definitely coming back to see if you remember me tomorrow because if you do then I’m asking you out” au

“I’m a chef and you’re the room service attendant and we’ve got a full house of people with special dietary needs so they keep sending you here to yell at me or something but you’re being really nice to me and now everyone is staring because I haven’t threatened to kill you with my favorite cleaver yet but it’s because you’re really cute????? fuckin marry me, you little shit, wHAT DO YOU MEAN THE THIN CRUST IS TOO THICK” au

“You’re a server and it’s so late that you forget yourself and sit down at my table, but it’s so cute and I feel so bad for you that I let you stay and you say the candlelight makes this seem like a date and I don’t have the heart to tell you I think I just got stood up and oh nvm here is my asshole bf and you definitely don’t like it but you leave and the next day I get a note at breakfast from you saying thank you and oh great now I’m feeling feelings I gtg jk a snowstorm has come to trap all three of us in, thanks bomb cyclone” au

“You’re simultaneously setting up my sister’s wedding and counseling her and her husband through their first big fight and I’d hate to add more to your busy schedule, but I’m in love with you for reasons I don’t quite get yet and I want to go out with you asap but you’re super busy so I guess I gotta bring you lunch on your break do you like Panera???? that seems pretty grown up and you’re pretty grown so” au

“We both work night shifts in the lobby, you’re at front desk and I’m guest services, and I definitely want to make out with you after last year’s ~close encounter~ but I’m scared you don’t feel the same but then one day a coworker backs out of coat check with you and I’m filling in and it’s so late and we’re basically in a closet without a camera and idk if you remember, but night shift means no rules so let's just kiss and see what happens” au

“You’re the engineer’s apprentice and I’m the guest whose thermostat won’t cooperate and the hotel is too full for me to move rooms so I’m just gonna have to call you for help every day oh well so hey do you like cookies because I bought some to thank and maybe seduce you idk I’ve never done this before pls just don’t laugh at me” au

“You’re the engineer’s apprentice and I’m the guest who’s broken two microwaves, a shower wall, and a lamp, but now I’ve clogged the toilet and as it turns out, the plunger I ordered on prime now is useless because I refuse to admit it’s my fault and I told you it’s my friend’s, but you don’t buy it at all and now I’m blushing red as fuck pls stop laughing okay yeah I guess it’s kind of funny do u wanna get dinner” au

“all available staff is staying overnight bc of the inclement weather protocols and we somehow got adjoining rooms and I knocked on the door between us to tell you to shut up and when you opened your side I saw you shirtless and wtf why are you so hot this does not fit with your job here also did I just agree to sit with you at dinner tonight“ au

I’ll be adding to this post in the future if I think of any more. For now, please enjoy the fact that these are based loosely on things that have happened to me and scubadiva irl (except the first one, which is from one of our friends’ stories about uni (she’s the organized/sloppy drunk one lol)).

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ilvsyzj · 3 years

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Chapter Eight: Orientation Part II- Power Granted and First Kiss.

11/30/2020, 2:30 pm, Monday

King You: Okay. Before we end today’s Orientation. Everyone is to go into a large room. Don’t worry. No one is going to get hurt. The Oracle himself just want to see you all before your training actually start. After the Oracle is done you can all go home.

Everyone: Understood.

King You: Okay. Counsel anything else?

Counsel: No Sire.

King You: Okay. Oracle! The new team is ready for you.

Voice: Thank you, Sire. Right this way young ones.

A mysterious door appeared and opened. Sky, myself and the rest of our team got up from their seats and went through the door. After a few minutes the mysterious door closed behind us. We were in a dark room and a few minutes later the lights came on and in the middle of the room stood the Oracle.

Oracle: Come. It’s okay. I don’t bite. Sit.

Everyone: -sat down-

Oracle: Today, we are going to see what kind of powers you will receive.

Everyone: Huh?

Oracle: I see that you young ones don’t get it. Special werewolves that join the Royal Court now call Royal Mythical Court gains super powers. Today, we’ll see what kind of super powers you all will be getting. :)

Everyone: Oh.

Oracle: Let’s start with your captain. :)

Sky: -getting up- Okay. Where do I go?

Oracle: Just go to center of the room. Sit down. Cross your legs. Close your eyes.

Sky: Basically, mediating.

Oracle: Mhm.

Sky did what the Oracle instructed. Sky began mediating. 5 minutes later there was a light blue glow coming from Sky. The next thing we all know snow started falling from the ceiling.

Oracle: Nice. Sky’s super power is ice. Very nice. :) Next is our lovely co-captain.

Sky and I switch places. I did the same thing as Sky and in 5 minutes my super power came to me. My super power is fire. The Oracle called Sky to the center of the room, and he told Sky to old my hand to see what our combine power was. And to everyone surprise it was wind. With our combine power we can be a very dangerous couple. Because you can do a lot of things with wind. Sky and I can create all different kinds of weather. When Sky was holding my hand I felt a strong electric energy flow through me. This feeling was very different.

Oracle: Woo! You two make me sweat. Strong couple. :) I see good things from you two in the future. :)

Sky and I sat down. I was was still blushing and so was Sky. The next pair to go up was William and Phil. William’s super power is wood and Phil’s super power is water. The rest of the team’s powers are very interesting. We got an animal teleporter, strength, invisible, sharp shooters, hunters, spirit whispers, and silencers. Only four of us have element powers. And everyone are non-elementers. Which is good because we can’t just rely on the elements. Elements are good for long distance fighting and everything else is short distance.

Oracle: -clapping his hands- Woo! Powerful team. :)

Everyone: Thank you.

Oracle: That is all for today. Be safe. May the Goddess be with you.

Before we can even say anything to the Oracle. We been teleported back to the Orientation room. We went to our seats.

King You: One last thing we need to do is swear an oath. So everyone stand. And repeat after me. “I promise to protect all the citizens of Mythical Kingdom. I promise to do no harm to others, and I promise to heal everyone from hurt and pain.”

Everyone: I promise to protect all the citizens of Mythical Kingdom. I promise to do no harm to others, and I promise to heal everyone from hurt and pain.

King You: Good. Dismissed.

Everyone got up and left the Orientation room. We went back to the main floor. The King went to his work, the Counsel left, and the rest of my team went to their girlfriends. Everyone knows to leave Sky and I alone. Because everyone in the Mythical Kingdom knew that Sky and I are in the Friendship Phase. This is an important stage. The Friendship Phase is the building blocks of a good relationship. I was about to ask Sky why everyone left in such rush, but he read my mind and explain it to me. Our teammates was giving Sky and I some privacy. Standing by my car Sky suggested we go to his favorite spot. But he ran back into his house. 2 minutes later he came back out.

Sky: Let’s go.

Jazzy: Why did you run back into your house?

Sky: Because I have to feed someone.

Jazzy: Who? -getting into the car-

Sky: I got a kitten yesterday. -getting into the car-

Jazzy: I didn’t know you were into animals.

Sky: I do love animals. Cats, dogs, whales, bunnies, and etc. :)

Jazzy: Same here. :) Where we going?

Sky: We are going to my favorite spot. There is a small restaurant that I love to eat at. It’s called Meadow Spot Restaurant. It’s 45 minute drive from my house.

Jazzy: Okay. You lead the way.

Sky: Mhm.

During the drive we talked and got to know each other better. I found out that Sky is very sweet, gentle, and caring person. He got me a jacket since I forgot my own jacket. When I was backing out of the drive way, I saw that there was a jacket in the back seat. I knew it was his because I recognize his scent. Sky smell like honey with a little bit of peppermint. We finally arrived to Meadow Spot Restaurant. Sky grabbed his jacket and handed to me.

Sky: I know werewolves don’t feel cold. But this place is different. The wind spirits is different, and they like to play tricks on others for fun. Also, the jacket will protect you from the wind spirits. :)

Jazzy: -putting on the jacket- I can hear them laughing at me. -getting out of the car-

Sky: Mhm.

Sky and I went inside the restaurant. The wind spirits try to rip my clothes off of me. That’s how strong wind was. I was pretty light weight so the the wind spirits try to carry me off the mountain. But thank the Goddess Sky grabbed hold of my hand, and walked us into the restaurant.

Jazzy: Woo. Windy.

Sky: Mhm.

Staff: Mr. You, nice to see you again. Who’s this?

Sky: This is Jazzy Tam. She is my girlfriend.

Staff: Nice to meet you. I’m Stacy Wu the manger of this little restaurant. :)

Jazzy: Nice to meet you. :)

Stacy took us to our table and gave us our menus. She told us that our server would be with us shortly. After she left us. I can sense that Stacy was heartbroken when she heard that the Royal Prince was taken. I also know that Sky told her that I’m his girlfriend because he wants the other single females to know that he is taken and not to get too close to him. I like that. Sky is telling people that he is taken and until he becomes single again, single females don’t dare to flirt with him. 20 minutes later our server came to take our order. Then we went back to 20 questions.

Sky: Do you have any hobbies?

Jazzy: I do. I like to read, swim, run, and vlog. What about you?

Sky: I like compose my own music, watch movies, and run.

Jazzy: One of these day we should go running together.

Sky: Mhm. I’m a fast runner. I don’t think you can catch me.

Jazzy: -laughing- You want to bet?

Sky: -laughing- You’re on. Tomorrow. What time do you get up?

Jazzy: 5 am.

Sky: That is early.

Jazzy: Where do you usually run?

Sky: In the gym. At night. Where do you usually run?

Jazzy: Outdoors.

Sky: Oh.

Jazzy: I sense that you don’t like exercising. -laughing-

Sky: I don’t. To be honest. -laughing- But if I have to run because I need to keep fit. If I don’t keep fit, I become fat.

Jazzy: You’re very fit. Eat as much as you want.

Sky: I can’t do that. I don’t have self-control. When I want to eat and I don’t tell myself to stop, I can finish everything on the table. It’s kinda scary. How do you have self-control?

Jazzy: I have a very sensitive stomach. So if I eat too much oily foods, I would get sick. Basically, I would puke or have diarrhea. I trained myself to eat until I feel full. When I’m full I stop eating. Because if I continue to eat after I feel full I will feel nauseous. I would basically be burping every few minutes. To help with my nauseous I have to drink sparkling water. So, my advice to you is when you feel full stop eating. It’s going to be hard in the beginning, but just tell yourself if I eat any more I’m going to have to do more exercising.

Sky: Make sense. Will you help me? My brain isn’t that great. I can be forgetful. -laughing-

Jazzy: Mhm. :)

Our server came with our food and drinks. We were having our dinner and continue to chat. I realized that when Sky doesn’t want to do something alone, he’ll turn pouty and in a sad voice will ask someone to join him. I find it cute. I won’t mind companying him while we exercise. It’s good for the both of us.

Jazzy: What kind of movie do you like to watch?

Sky: Horror. Do you like watching movies?

Jazzy: Yes. But I’m a chicken when it comes to horror. -laughing-

Sky: Me too. -laughing-

Jazzy: If you’re afraid then why watch horror films?

Sky: Because it’s fun to watch it. :)

Jazzy: You’re so weird. -laughing-

Sky: -laughing- What kind of you movie do you like to watch?

Jazzy: Comedy, Rom-Com, action, and animations.

Sky: Really?

Jazzy: Mhm.

Sky: Do you have any favorite anime character?

Jazzy: My favorite anime characters are Toothless the dragon and Stitch. :) I also love Pikachu. :)

Sky: -laughing- Pikachu is also my favorite. :)

Jazzy: -laughing- I wonder how many things we have in common.

Sky: Let’s find out. -laughing-

Jazzy: -laughing- Okay.

After dinner Sky paid the bill. We left the restaurant and we went for a early evening walk. It was very beautiful and I recorded everything that we pass by with my phone. So I can remember this moment and have something to look back on. As it got darker I noticed Sky was looking up. I looked up to see what he was seeing. And I noticed that he love admiring at the stars. I took a picture of him looking at the stars, and I noticed how peaceful he looked. I smiled to myself.

Sky: You took a picture of me didn’t you?

Jazzy: Mhm. -blushing-

Sky: Can I see?

Jazzy: Sure. -showing Sky the photo that she took-

Sky: Not bad. At least you didn’t zoom in on my head. -laughing-

Jazzy: Why you say that?

Sky: Because if you zoom in on my head I will get mad. I hate when people zoom in on my head. It makes my face look huge. And I don’t like it. -laughing-

Jazzy: Oh. -laughing- I get it. The camera does add 10lbs.

Sky: It does.

After our walk under the stars. We went back to my car and I drove him home. During the 45 minute drive back to his house, I noticed that Sky was trying to hold my hand. So, I made it easier. I took my right hand off the steering wheel and offer my hand to him. Sky look at my shyly. I nodded my head to let him know that it’s okay for us to hold hands. Even though, we are still in the Friendship Phase. Sky took my hand and for the rest of the drive he didn’t let go of my hand. When I stop in front of his house, Sky didn’t want to let go of my hand and he didn’t want to get out my car.

Jazzy: Sky, we will see each other tomorrow. You can continue to hold my hand tomorrow. -laughing-

Sky: -speaking softly- I know. But I want to hold your hand for a little longer. Because tomorrow I might not be able to hold your hand.

Jazzy: Where in the hand book that said we can hold hands?

Sky: It’s not in the hand book. But it’s a unspoken rule. Because my father has spies all around this place. When we are at the HQ we can’t show any PDA. Hand holding isn’t even allowed.

Jazzy: Not even combining our powers?

Sky: When we combine our powers, we have to telepathically. -making a pouty face-

Jazzy: -laughing-

Sky: Why are you laughing?

Jazzy: Because, you’re very cute when make that pouty face. -blushing-

Sky: Like this? -making his pouty face-

Jazzy: -laughing and nodding my head-

The next thing I knew. Sky leaned in and kissed me gently on the cheek. When he kissed me on my cheek. I felt fireworks going off inside my body. Then Sky kissed my hand. He really didn’t want to get out of the car. We stayed in the car for a good 30 minutes. During that 30 minutes Sky never let go of my hand. We talked and look at the stars and the moon. Holding hands with Sky felt very comfortable.

Sky: I can stay here forever.

Jazzy: I know the feeling. But we have things to do. We can’t stay in my car forever. -laughing-

Sky: -making a pouty face- But I want to.

When I saw that cute face expression. I couldn’t help but lean in and kiss him on his cute pouty lips. We didn’t make out but we did kiss. Our kisses gentle and sweet kisses. With no tongue. Sky was very satisfy and so was I.

Sky: -sighing softly-

Jazzy: Mhm. :)

Sky: Thank you, for an beautiful evening and wonderful ending to this evening.

Jazzy: You’re welcome. :) I had a wonderful time as well. :)

Sky: See you tomorrow. Sweet dreams. :)

Jazzy: Sweet dreams. See you tomorrow. :)

We kissed one last time. It was very sweet and gentle. When Sky left my car and went inside his home. I felt very lonely. When I got home that night I did something I never do before. I texted him letting him know that I got home safely. 2 seconds later he texted me back, “Sweet dreams, my love. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Reading that text I had a smile on face. I went to bed happy and so did Sky.

-End of Chapter Eight-

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inchancesreallifebmoc · 7 years

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Chance!Cinderella story part 1

Word count: 2,475

Paring: Chance Perez X reader

Inspired by the Cinderella story movie like the Hilary Duff one lol

A/N: sorry if this sucks I’m new to writing and it’s my first time writing Chance also there’s going to be more parts posted !!!!

Warnings: none it’s pretty chill

I’m miserably mopping the floor of the diner again, hoping I’ll be done before my stepmom gets back here. I really don’t want to have to hear her face I can’t handle her bitching anymore it’s too much for me to deal with. Jenny (my stepmom) is the kind of person who is never satisfied with anything. Jenny also despises me, I’m not being dramatic since she married my dad who passed away a few years ago she’s had it out for me. I know it’s cliche to have a wicked stepmother but it’s my reality, and I even have the evil step sisters Brianna and Gabriella. “Y/n are you done yet?” I hear the door to the diner open and my stepmother asks me this angrily “Just finishing up Jenny.” I say from across the diner “Well hurry up you need to pick up the girls dresses from the alterations shop in half an hour and their shoes and masks from downtown after that.” She barks “I’ll leave in 5 minutes.” I tell her “Hurry there’s gonna be traffic and they’ll be closed soon.” She says and walks out the diner. *********************

It’s 45 minutes later and I’ve picked up the girls dresses and I’m on my way to pick up their masks and shoes, I’m about to walk in the shop when I literally bump into someone. “Watch where your going freak.” The person shrieks in a high pitched voice I look up and see it’s Anna Snow. She’s one of my schools elite, literally I go to a super expensive private school and her dad makes so many donations he might as well own it. “Sorry Anna.” I say and go to open the door of the shop quickly trying to get away from her on top of being rich popular and gorgeous she’s also a mega bitch. “You should be why are you even here don’t tell me your going to the masquerade ball tomorrow.” She says angrily. “No just picking up Brianna and Gabriellas stuff.” I tell her quietly avoiding eye contact I don’t fear her the way half the people at school do, or worship her the way the other half does. I simply don’t care about her and try to keep our interactions to a minimum. “Well you should go I hear they’re short handed and and could use another server and that is what you’re know for diner freak.” She says and pushes past me and and walks into the shop. I go in and walk up to the counter a very good looking guy is standing behind the register. He has dark hair and dark eyes and tan skin and a smile that’s got me feeling some kinda way . I recognize him from school his name is Chance Perez and he’s absolutely beautiful and even tho we don’t speak much he always seems pretty sweet. He’s also Anna’s boyfriend, I have no idea what he sees in her besides obviously her looks. “Hey I’m picking up an order for Jenny.” I tell Chance and look down embarrassed that I’m still in my food and bleach splattered clothes from the diner. “Uhhh yeah I got that right here.” He says and turns around to grab 2 bags then returns to the register and hits a few buttons. “Only 2 masks and 2 pairs of shoes?” He asks. ��Ummm yeah why?” I ask him “Well aren’t there 3 of you guys your Brianna and Gabs sister right?” “Step sister but I’m not going tomorrow I have to work.” “That’s a bummer I’m sure the dance would be more fun.” “Yeah well tell that to my stepmom.” “That’ll be $174.36” he says and I hand him Jenny’s card. “Eyes off my boyfriend loser.” Anna says coming up behind me. “Come on Anna don’t be that way.” Chance tells her. “I’ll be whatever way I want to be and you’ll not talk to whoever I don’t want you to why are you so interested in diner freaks life anyway?” She asks angrily. Chance hands me back the card. “Actually Anna I’ll talk to whoever I want to and you’ll go to the dance alone we’re done.” He says then hands me my recite and 2 bags. “Have a nice day Y/n.” He says and smiles at me. So casual like he didn’t just break up with Anna Snow in front of me. “What do you mean we’re done? We can’t be done we have to go to the dance tonight I can’t show up alone!” She yells and I actually laugh out loud. “Get out of here freak! ” She screams at me and actually sounds like she’s trying not to cry. I take my bags and head out not wanting to witness the rest of this. Anna probably already wants to kill me for what I’ve seen today.

****************** It’s the next day at the diner I’m working here until midnight tonight Jenny’s orders. She wants to make sure I don’t get to go to the dance because maybe I’ll enjoy myself and how dare I do that. “I still don’t get why those two get to go and you can’t.” Kat says to me when I tell her I’m upset that I can’t go tonight Kat is manager of the diner and was my fathers oldest friend. “Why do I have to work and they don’t ?” I sarcastically ask. “They’re her daughters and I’m trash. That’s why.” I say “Why don’t you just go sweetie you never do anything for your self or get to enjoy yourself.” Marie one of the waitresses here tells me. “I can’t Jenny will pick up the girls at 11:30 and be back here at midnight and she’ll expect me to be here mopping. I don’t even have a dress or shoes or a mask so I really don’t see it happening guys.” I tell them then the diner doors open and I see my best friend y/bff/n walk in dressed in an amazing red gown and beautiful red and black mask,she looks amazing. “What are you doing here you’re going to be late for the dance.” I ask her and see she’s holding a large black bag. “I’m here for you, you’re going to the ball you don’t have a choice. I’ve bought you a dress, shoes and a mask you’re going to come to my house to get ready and I’ll have you back here before the step-monster realizes you’ve been gone.” She says it all so confidently and serious and it sounds wonderful I almost agree then snap back to reality. “Look it’s crazy that you got all that stuff for me and I love you for it but I can’t what if she stops by and I’m not here.” “I’ll cover for you.” Says Kat “Kat you can’t it could cost you your job.” “I don’t care you need to get out tonight go have fun I’ll handle the bitch if she comes here.” She tells me. “Come on you don’t get a choice.” y/bff/n says and grabs my hand and before I can say no she’s pulling me out the door.

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

It’s 20 minutes later and where at y/bff/n’s house and she’s doing my makeup. “You’re so pretty, you’re going to look amazing.” She says and applies blush to my cheeks. “You didn’t have to go through all this trouble for me.” I tell her “Yes I did you never have fun and tonight you’re going to. We only have one more year until graduation and we need to spend time having fun together.” “ You’re the best y/bff/n.” “I know, now let’s get going.” She says and we get on our way.

******************* Chances P.O.V. “Why would you break up with Anna now of all times dude. I mean I know you haven’t been into being with her and she’s kinda evil, like I get you breaking up but why before this ball thing? ” My friend Devin says to me. We’re at the masquerade ball and neither of us has a date. I guess it’s my fault Dev lost his date he was going with Anna’s best friend who cancelled on him right after I broke up with Anna. “Look I’m sorry about Ally canceling on you but I just couldn’t handle Anna anymore, like the older we get the more shallow and selfish and rude she becomes, I can’t believe she’s the same girl I started dating in middle school she’s changed so much.” I tell Devin. “Dude it’s been 7 years people change you’re better off without her, maybe you don’t see it but you changed a lot too the last 2 years you’re more serious, you’ve seemed to get your head on straight and started caring about what you’re gonna do after school, and all Anna cares about is high school. I think she’s getting harder to be around and acting the way she is because she knows that after we graduate she looses her control over everything. High school is her domain she knows when it’s over she’ll have nothing.” Devin tells me and what he’s saying makes sense. “You’ve gotta point and we’re at a place where we’ve out grown each other.” I tell him. Suddenly it’s like time is standing still I see an incredibly beautiful girl walking down the stairs of the entrance way, she’s wearing an elegant black gown that hugs her so well and makes you realize what a woman she is. She’s also wearing probably the most elaborate black and gold mask at the ball. She is absolutely breathtaking. No joke like I literally took a deep breath after looking at her. “Who is she?” Devin asks me as he openly stares at her in shock. “I have no idea but I’m going to find out.” I tell him and go to find my way to this girl who has me shook.

“Hello.” I say and go to grab her hand I place a kiss on the back of it and then look to her face “May I have a dance?” I ask her “Yes you may.” She answers and laughs. Another girl comes up behind her “Hey what do you- ” she stops mid question and looks at the 2 of us probably 3 times over. “Oh well never mind your with a nice looking guy I’ll check in later.” She says and walks off. The unnamed beautiful girl laughs, and says “Sorry about my friend.” “Not an issue.” I reassure her and take her by the hand and lead her to the dance floor, happy together by the turtles begins to play when we find a spot on the crowded floor to dance. I place a hand on her waist and keep my other holding on to hers, touching her even though it’s only a small amount of contact feels like fire. She then places a hand on my shoulder. “Chance Perez dancing with me at the ball what a surprising turn of events.” She says as we sway to the music, it’s then that I realize my mask really only covers around my eyes. “Good surprising or bad surprising?” I ask “Not sure yet I’ll let you know.” She tells me as she leans in close to my ear. I smile down at her “So you know who I am do I get to know your name.” I ask “No it’s a mystery tonight I’m not myself and I could be anyone.” She says and her pretty lips form a smile. We continue to dance and it’s wonderful she’s wonderful and I can’t place her but she’s so familiar. Even though I don’t know her name it’s like she’s someone I’ve known for years.

Your P.O.V. ****************** Chance and I are now taking a walk outside the school, he reaches down and grabs my hand and I feel a shock of electricity. He looks so handsome in his black suit, white shirt and black mask. “So do I know you?” He asks as we’re heading towards the green house “Well I guess technically you do but we never really talk.” “I just can’t believe we’ve met before and I can’t recognize you, you’re so beautiful it doesn’t make any sense.” He says. “Okay so how long have I known you?” He asks “Well we’ve gone to the same school since 7th grade, but I don’t think we’ve really spoken until the last year.” I answer him then laugh “How many questions are you going to ask me Chance?” I ask. “As many as it takes for me to figure out who you are.” He says as we enter the green house. “Okay enough questions for now dance with me mystery girl.” He says and turns to face me. “There’s no music though.” I tell him, then I get pleasantly surprised to hear him starting to sing earned it by the weekend. I can’t help but smile and take his hand. His voice is amazing, his hands go to my waist and mine to his shoulders. We’re swaying to the sound of his voice and this moment is enchanting, it doesn’t feel real. We continue to dance as he sings, then he turns and dips me like a legit movie style dip, then he leans down to where I am and presses a kiss to my lips. I feel like I’m being lit on fire. We return to a standing position and he kisses me again, this time the kiss is deeper, hungrier and well hotter. One of his hands comes up to cup my face and the other moves up and down the curves of my back it feels like nothing I’ve felt before. RIIIIINNNG and with a ring of my phone were interrupted. I really don’t want to ruin the moment but I realize it’s probably y/bff/n so I pull away. “I’m really sorry Chance but I have to get this.” I say and answer my phone. “Hey we gotta get back to the diner like right now before Jenny gets there.” She says “Shit shit shit I’ll meet you at your car.” I say and hang up on her. “I’m really don’t wanna go but I have to leave Chance.” I tell him. “What is it like curfew or something can’t I take you home?” He asks pleadingly. I lean it close to him and whisper in his ear. “Tonight was good surprising to answer your question.” I say and with that I turn to exit the greenhouse. “Wait do I even get to know your name?” He yells as I’m almost out the door, I just keep walking he wouldn’t want me if he knew who I was anyway.

#chancesavocado #chanceperez #chanatics #chandom #boyband abc #boybandabc #chance perez imagine #chance perez fanfic #chance Perez x reader #chance Perez Cinderella #boybadimagine #boybandfanfic #chandom devin hayes hayzers dance #devinhayes #hayzers #dance #dancer #dancers

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daisy-daisyy · 7 years

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AFTER 7 MONTHS, GOD GAVE ME THE JOB

the following is a timeline/testimony of my 7-month journey of faith, prayer, patience, and trust in the Lord for a job. I’ve also included in bullet points journal entries/prayers I’ve written from my devotionals where I felt the Lord was ministering and speaking to me regarding the job. I know it looks like a lot but I tried my best to make it as simply and straight-forward as possible loolllll. Thank you in advance for taking time to read through all this!! :) xx

January 2017: I walk into Classics to buy myself flowers (though I ended up not buying any) and hear the Holy Spirit prompt me with “Why don’t you go ask and see if they’re hiring?” I get excited at the thought of working there and proceed to ask the owner if they’re hiring. She tells me that they have some positions open and asks me to fill out an application. I AM VERY VERY SUPER DUPER EXCITED AND HOPEFUL.

February 14th: Valentine’s Day lollll. I go in to buy MYSELF flowers and also drop off my resume.

January - March: Made phone calls every week to follow up on my application, only to hear every time that the owner will call me back. The phone calls I made every week slowly turned into every other week, and then every 3 weeks.

March 21st: Holy Spirit tells me to go visit the store, so I go. I buy myself flowers and re-introduce myself to the owner, telling her that I applied 2 months ago and ask if there’s still any openings. She asks for my availability and tells me that there are morning and afternoon shifts open. I eagerly tell her I’m free & she says she’ll contact me.

End of March - Mid April: More follow-up phone calls lollzzz

April 13th: Holy Spirit tells me to send the owner an email this time - no more phone calls. I send her an email following up on our last conversation in March and pretty much ask for closure lolll. I asked if I could get a confirmed response within the next week on whether or not I’ll be hired. I was getting very impatient because by this time I’ve been unemployed for almost a year and I wanted to get a job/$$$ asap. I desperately needed closure so that I could start applying at other places if I wasn’t gonna get the job here.

April 14th: (SHE REPLIES THE VERY NEXT DAY OMGOSHHH) “Hi Grace, I have really been considering you for a position here at the store. How many hours a week are you looking to have?”

!!!!!!!! I AM SOOOOO HAPPY AND EXCITED AT THIS POINT AHHH !!!!!!!!!!!

I respond with my availability and schedule.

April 18th: Okay backstory: from October 2016-January 2017 I interned at a non-profit jewelry company called Purpose Jewelry. Although my internship finished earlier this year, I still made myself available to volunteer for events if they needed help. On this day, I came in to pick up equipment for an event I was volunteering for and got to catch up with my old manager. She asks me for life updates & I tell her I’m trying to get this job at Classics. Her eyes grow wide and tell me that she JUST started collaborating with them & that Classics actually carries Purpose Jewelry at the shop now!!! IDK ABOUT YOU BUT THE CHANCES OF THIS HAPPENING ARE LIKE....NOT VERY HIGH LOL. I am 100% sure that this was a sign from God.

April 19th: At this point, it’s been 6 days since I sent the email and 5 days since she’s responded. Only 1 more day to make it a full week to give me closure/lmk if I’m hired or not. I am v nervous and worried. Also on this day, I attended a conference at HROCK that a friend of mine invited me to. During ministry time, I was worshipping the Lord and I hear these words from Him: “You will receive an email tomorrow.” My heart became excited and full of peace <333

April 20th: It’s been exactly 1 week that I’ve sent the email. AND SHE REPLIES JUST AS THE LORD SAID <333

“Hi Grace, I truly appreciate your patience in obtaining employment here at Classics. At this time though, I might not be able to give you 20 or more hours a week. It might be about 15 hours. Let me know if you are willing to try and we can go from there. Thank you so much!”

At this point, I am sooooooo soooo happy. I jump to conclusions and share a testimony at our church’s Bible study that i got the job lolllllll. After all, the Lord spoke to me about it and this email made me so sure that I was gonna get it!!!!

I respond saying 15 hours is perfect and ask to continue discussing the next steps.

April 21st - May 6th: No response back from her. I send 3 more follow-up emails. I am very confused & discouraged.

May 7th: “Hi Grace, I would not be able to offer employment to you at this time. I thank you for your time and patience. Some of our employees are going to be out of school soon for the summer break so I would like to offer them more work hours instead.”

My heart dropped...like is this for real?????? I seriously thought I had it,..

I remember sitting on my bed after reading the email, completely stunned, saddened, and especially confused. I pray to Lord about it and receive comfort and peace. I reflected on the 5-month journey thus far and came to a realization: THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO FREAKIN WAY THAT GOD WOULD DO THIS TO ME LOL. There is no way God would tell me to apply for a job, speak continuously to me about it, give me signs, and not give it to me. God doesn’t do that - He wouldn’t “lead me on.” There’s no way He would make me go through all this JUST to test my faith and patience...for everything to come to nothing. There HAS to be more to it. There HAS to be something in the end. So I continue praying & believing for the job despite getting denied by the owner.

May 17th: I send ANOTHER email asking her to reconsider lol i’m so annoying

June 10th: I’m driving home after dropping Trina off at work. Holy Spirit tells me to stop by Classics. I’m like HECK NO and drive past it. I get to the intersection of my house and feel convicted, so I turn around and drive back to Classics. I walk into the store and ask one of the employees if the owner is there and she says that the owner actually JUST LEFT (ughhhhhh I SHOULDA LISTENED TO HS RIGHT AWAY). HOWEVER...the employee recognizes me and and asks if I’m Josh’s sister. Her name is Hannah and she is Josh’s friend’s cousin lolll. Josh has been texting her here & there, asking her questions about employment to help me out. We both knew of each other though we’ve never met. We talk for a little bit & I tell her about my situation & she lets me know that she’s actually leaving the company to pursue an internship out of the country. She says to keep trying & good luck. I leave feeling really encouraged & hopeful!

June 27th: HANNAH TEXTS JOSH AND ASKS HIM TO ASK ME IF I’M FREE TO MEET UP!!!!!????!?!?!?!?! I eagerly accept and meet up with her that day. Hannah tells me that the owner asked her about me, but she only met me once and doesn’t know me too well. Hannah asks the owner if she would like for her to meet up with me and get to know me, and the owner says yes please. And that’s why she wanted to meet up 😭😭😭 so sweet 😭😭😭 She tells me that she’s leaving the country for her internship in 2 weeks and that the owner is looking for someone to hire, so she wanted to take time to get to know me so she can refer me to the owner. She gives me tips & pointers for the job and tells me not to worry & that she’s going to refer me <3

July 3rd: I text Hannah asking if the owner has said anything and if I should contact the owner & follow up. Hannah says she hasn’t heard anything about it yet but to just wait for the owner to contact me.

July 27th: It was the last day of Summer camp with our church and everyone is sitting in silence with the Lord. I think about the life I have to go back to and become discouraged at thought of STILL being unemployed. But the Lord responds to my thoughts by saying “Don’t worry. You will get the job.”

Later that day when we get home, I check my email: *sent Monday, July 24th “Hi Grace, I would like schedule am interview for the job opening on Thursday or Friday from 1 PM on. Please let me know your availability. Looking forward to hearing from you.”

My heart is bursting with joy and excitement. God is SOOOOOOOOO GOOD AND FAITHFUL TO WHAT HE SAYS <333333

July 28th: I go to the shop for an interview!

July 29th:

“Hi Grace, Thank you so much for coming to the interview with Jorge! After careful considerations, I have decided to offer you a position here at Classics. Are you available to start on Monday at 9AM? Let me know if that works. I think that you will be a great addition to our team!”

July 31st: My very first day working at Classics 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

It’s been a little over a month since I’ve been working here and wow....I am sooooo in love with my job. I applied for a simple position of a barista/server (why fight so long & hard for a job I can get at Starbucks or anywhere else you may ask), but God has already opened so many doors for me here 😭❤️ If you know me, I am absolutely head-over-heels IN LOVE with flowers. They are beautiful & delicate & one of God’s many ways of telling us “I love you.” I also have lots of experience with Social Media marketing and it’s something I really enjoy doing. The Lord has opened doors for me to do BOTH 😭😭😭 Although I have NO EXPERIENCE WHATSOEVER in florist design, the owner gave me a chance to do floral work a few weeks ago, saw that I somehow did a good job, and started training me to do work on the flower side. Earlier this week, she gave me the PW to their Instagram and allows me to post/do whatever I want. THIS IS ALL GOD 😭😭😭 I remember starting in middle school, my ultimate dream job was to be a florist. It wasn’t ideal or something I took time to pursue because I felt like it wouldn’t be stable, but God literally turned that dream into a reality for me. I definitely can feel His amazing love through this job. After every shift, I leave feeling so full of joy and gladness.

These past 7 months have NOT been easy....NOT EASY AT ALL lolll. There were soooo many times I wanted to give up and just apply somewhere else. There were so many people in my life that I love & cherish who told me to move on, apply somewhere else, that I deserve better than this, that God has another job in store for me - all out of love & care for me. But the ONLY thing that kept me going was the Lord Himself. Yes, He gave me signs and specific words about the job, but the main anchor to my faith were those scriptures that He spoke to me week after week, day after day in my devotions. Through His word, He kept telling me to keep the faith, be patient, trust in Him, ask and you shall receive, and obtain the promises He has for me. Thank you also to everyoneeee who encouraged me & stood with me in faith! I don’t know if I would have made it through if it weren’t for your prayers & words of faith <333 God is soooooo sooooo good and faithful 😭 His timing may not be in line with our timing, but wow it’s soooo worth it. I am sooo, sooo incredibily thankful to the Lord for this journey. I learned so much about faith, patience, and trust in the Lord. I’ve neverrr been tested like this before but the Lord came through just like He always does. All glory, honor, and praise to God! HE IS AMAZING AND SOOOO GOOD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I pray & hope you are encouraged in your journey of faith & patience to obtain all the promises He has for you!! <333 He is faithful!

JOURNAL ENTRIES

February 25th:

“He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” Romans 4:20-21

When it comes to the promises of God, believe and be strengthened that it will come to pass in FAITH. Be fully convinced that God will fulfill His promises; do not waver through unbelief! Strengthen your faith daily through the word.

April 4th:

“Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by brining a bad report of the land, those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord.” Numbers 14:36-37

Been learning a lot about the power of our words...when you use your tongue to bring an evil/bad report about the things/promises of God, it is very displeasing to Him. May I remember to not speak death or discouraging words regarding God’s promises - that they’re too good to be true, or doubt what He has promised. When God has proven and shown me His goodness and promises, I should never doubt His plans and future promises. I must trust in Him, never doubt Him, listen and obey His voice so I can receive His promises.

April 5th:

“But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’” Psalm 31:!4

Psalm 31:4

Even when David was persecuted and hated by everyone around him, his trust in God kept him going. He acknowledged the Lord as “his God” and trusted in Him despite what his eyes and ears were receiving from the world.

April 10th:

O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!”

April 15th:

“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13

May 23rd:

“’Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease?’ And the Lord said, ‘Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand.’” Judges 20:28

The Israelites inquired of the Lord what to do in battle 3 times - the first 2 times being that they lost many men in battle, wept, came before the Lord, fasted, and gave offerings. And when God told them to go to battle a third time, they didn’t hesitate to obey Him and came through victorious. With my current job situation, I’ve allowed my soul to be discouraged because I obeyed the Lord and did not receive the results I was expecting. However, this passage encouraged me and the Holy Spirit showed me that just because I obeyed and didn’t get the victory, doesn’t mean the victory hasn’t come yet - it’s all trust, obedience, and faith in the Lord and His timing.

May 30th:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened...how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Matthew 7:7-8;11

God has sweetly reminded me that He hears me and the desires of my heart, and He will give to me what I ask in His will <3

June 4th:

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” Psalm 34:8-10

June 6th:

“But when he saw that the wind was bolsterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’″ Matthew 14:30-31

Peter sank when he based his faith on the things seen, on the natural. When he saw the heavy winds, he became afraid, his faith decreased, and he began to sink rather than trusting Jesus when He told him to come onto the water and walk. “Little faith” and “doubt” is caused by what we hear/see in the natural. Faith & confidence is caused by Jesus’ word and the unseen. Don’t base things on the natural!!

June 7th:

“For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’” Matthew 15:4

“Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” Matthew 15:25

This morning I was feeling confused and discouraged about the job situation once again. And I asked God if perhaps something was blocking the blessing? And He put on my heart that regarding my love and honor for my parents, it’s been lacking. So reading “Honor your father and your mother” in today’s reading is no coincidence. He reminded me that it’s not based on works, but it’s the heart. I must reconcile myself to them and forgive them and walk in love towards them. Also, He’s recognizing my great faith and says “Let it be to you as you desire” regarding my job <3

June 9th:

“So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief, for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’” Matthew 17:20

June 16th:

“Yes, the Lord will give what is good; and all land will yield its increase.” Psalm 85:12

The Lord is encouraging and speaking to me again about His provision for me with the job and finances. He gives what is good and will cause increase in my land <3

June 19th:

“Our father trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not ashamed.” Psalm 22:3-5

“Those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever!” Psalm 22:26

I trust in the Lord, cry to Him, and seek Him, and He sees all of it. What I do is not in vain. He has delivered me and caused me not to be ashamed. God is telling me that I have been seeking Him because I praise Him. He put on my heart to seek Him first this year, and I feel that He is confirming with me that I have been seeking Him because I praise Him. My provision and job is coming...”and all these things shall be added to you.”

June 20th:

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:3-5

June 25th:

“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” 1 Timothy 6:17

“And now, O Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be establisehd forever, and do as You have said.” 1 Chronicles 17:25

As I put my trust in the Lord, the living God, He gives me richly all things to enjoy. I believe He is speaking to me yet again about His promises and that I am to pray as David did regarding His promises and provision for me. God has spoken to me that He will give me the desires of my heart, that He shall supply ALL my need, that whatever I ask for, I will receive, and so I must pray and proclaim that this word has been established forever and He will do as He said <3

July 5th:

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8

July 12th:

“There has not failed on word of all His good promises, which He promised through His servant Moses.” 1 Kings 8:56

All the promises God has promised, He keeps them ALL. Whatever He has promised will come to pass in my life. His promises never fail <3

July 13th:

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23

July 14th:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of the things not seen...By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11: 1,3

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

Father God, Thank You for Your love, thank You for reminding me to keep the faith and keep believing for my job at Classics. Although I do not have the job in the physical realm, I’ve already received it in the spiritual because You’ve promised and given it to me. I sure am learning faith and patience. Your timing is perfect. I receive my job according to Your will and timing. I trust in You, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

July 17th: “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:3-4

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Father God, Thank You for Your great love reminding me to keep the faith and be patient. My faith has definitely been tested regarding the job and it has produced much patience. Let patience have its perfect work in me and I pray against any doubt in my mind and cast it down. I am a woman of faith, not doubt. I trust in You with all my heart and acknowledge You in all my ways. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

#me

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defunctblogtobedeleted · 5 years

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9/8/19 8:15pm - Another Weekend Update

So! I just waited through 2 hours of queue, had some nice sush for dinner (just picked up a salmon cut from H Mart, nothing fancy lol), got ahead on my work for the night, and then the server for WoW went down so I guess it’s a sign that I should be doing an update.

I’ve had one hell of a week, actually. It’s only been 9 days but god damn do I have some story updates. First off, my car is still beautiful. And I’m starting to sit a little pretty myself, just made it to 168.8 lbs. So I’m kinda comfortably below 170 now. :3 Finally went running for the first time since wow came out the other day so hopefully I keep that up lmao. I guess I’ve been out walking around town and dancing and shit too though. I also got my hair dyed blonde again! I originally got it cut to look like Brad Pitt from Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, with just a little bit of highlighting, but Maya wanted me to go Full blonde again and I was about it. Checked with a bunch of people and they all said I should, and people are loving it lol.

The first night I had it done when I went to karaoke I got asked by a 40 year old woman if I was a model. As if he heard my ego inflating, this big hulking navy dudebro came up to me within 30 seconds of the compliment, got my attention, and asked “hey. I need to settle a bet. Are you a man or a woman?” Like jesus fucking christ lmao.

Anyway. Karaoke was fun, but there were a lot of birthday parties so it was kinda busy and I went off to Circa to hang out with Jacob. We hung out til like 230 talking about shit and then Jill had me over to crash and fuck.

Hung out with Jill a bunch this week. Accidentally made her oversleep for work one night and she didn’t even care lmao. Our sex has gotten a little better, but she’s still someone I really need to work around which is frustrating.

There was one kind of cool position I wanted to remember, she was laying flat on her belly, left leg cocked off to the side splayed out at a comfortable ~right angle. Having sex with her from behind I was in like a push up position, only using my right arm so that my left could be focused on playing with her pussy. In this position you have sooo much more access to her pussy, it’s not like doggy style where you feel like you’re really kind of stretching awkwardly to get to rub her off. Just takes a little bit more effort holding the position than doggy obviously.

Okay so backtracking to Sunday though, holy shit lol. I spent the whole weekend playing WoW. Like I think a ton on saturday, and then I woke up early and was playing on sunday and considered not even going out to boxcar because I knew maya was out of town. But then Manu hit me up and said him, pacos, christina, and vita were going so I was like oh fuckkkk yes. Went to boxcar, found out they were actually at a different bar, while I chugged down the full bottle of champagne I had bought I talked to this guy about smash bros, and then ran through the rain to go see them and it poured all over me lol. We drank a bit there for a bit, they tried to get a tattoo but couldn’t, we went back to boxcar, had More champagne, I ran into this girl Chelsea that dakota used to go out with at the frat parties who was kinda cute and we talked for a sec, and we’re sitting there playing some foosball when this other girl taps me from behind and says hey how are ya gives me a great big hug, we talk for a few seconds and she walks outside.

I turn to pacos and I’m like “I have no idea who the fuck that is.” So we wrap up our game and I tell him to come outside with me to investigate. Now, I had a pretty simple strategy. I went up to her and asked some basic questions like “hey, so how’ve ya been haven’t seen ya in a bit.” and then she was like “yeah I mean I’m fine haven’t really been doing anything.” and I’m like [shit that doesn’t give me anything to go off at all] so I follow up with “so where are ya living these days?” I don’t know why That’s where my immediate follow up was. Clearly I was predisposed to thinking I was just going to continue running into people from Chapel Hill all night. But she says to me “wait what? I live in Raleigh, we talked about all this like... last weekend.” and I’m like

oh.

shit.

fuck

me.

Because now it clicked into place that the girl standing in front of me who had gone out of her way to say hi to me was none other than MJ, the girl from the party that I was talking about. I had texted her asking her to come out to karaoke and shit but she hadn’t been able to do anything. Maybe work. Maybe not interested. But she would always respond to my texts quick and then nothing would ever work out on her end. But here she was! Staring me in the face and I didn’t even recognize her lmfao. Luckily she was like “I mean we were pretty fucked up that night, it’s fine.” but goddamn I’m an idiot. I kinda like just was facepalming too hard internally to even carry out conversation after that so we split. I tried saying hi to her later when I bummed a cig but she wasn’t very responsive. I was so frustrated with myself that I had blown it so hard that I nearly made myself sick. Or maybe that was the drinking two bottles of champagne plus beer on top without having anything to eat. Who knows, really. After hanging a while at boxcar we grabbed a hotdog and ended the night at Raleigh Times to eat a little bit before splitting. So good chilling with them. Spent some time nostalgiaing with them and telling stories to Peter who had met up with us. And had a sweet waiter who convinced me to not overeat and save my diet. Lol it was a neat day. Idk. Plus I got to go to Jill’s afterward and hook up with her, so that made up a little bit for fucking things so hard with MJ.

Honestly though, despite what the quick responses would suggest, I think she’s not really interested. I mean she definitely isn’t NOW lmfao.

Mon I was supposed to hang with Melanie but she had to flake because of her mom being in town, so I hung out and played a fuckton more wow. So I got my hair done, did karaoke, went to work, played a bunch more wow, and I’m up to lvl 30. TECHNICALLY halfway but like... effectively maybe a quarter? tops?

So this weekend was Hopscotch. Krey. AND it was the weekend that hurrican Fish$ came through. So Thursday just in case shit hit the fan work pushed all my patients to weds/fri and cancelled. Fucking sick.

I got to see my karaoke bartender Tyrone play with his band The Black Surfers that afternoon, went to another band called Illuminati Hotties and they were super cute. Was feeling pretty beat so I went home to nap and play melee and chill for a sec. Met up with Dar to have dinner with her and her friends since they were evac’d from southport. Then for the first time I got to go to Night Rider for karaoke, which I had been recommended like a dozen times but haven’t been able to go since it’s on thursdays.

It. Was. Incredible. Oh my god the vibe is like Emo Karaoke+. Like all the same crowd of non-normies that would go to emo karaoke and all the hype of people screaming for you, but none of the tackiness and forced playlist and overcrowdedness that comes with it. Not that I hate any of that about Emo Karaoke, I love it to death, but it’s amazing for that to happen more naturally. I was expecting to just go and hang out alone and do a few songs, but my new buddy Matt actually recognized me from emo karaoke when I was walking in. I stopped to talk to him and his buddies steph and brie, and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night. These two other girls Terri and Que (I think), and this guy Pharaoh also chatted with us and it was hilarious. We were talking about weird sex shit and furries and porn and all sorts of weirdness. Terri asked me and Pharaoh if we were on Fetlife, which made me amazingly happy and no longer embarrassed that I made an account on there about a year and a half ago. She told me that I really needed to try to go to this Fetish Night at Legends, which I had actually seen a post about but wasn’t sure if I’d ever do it because it happens once a month on wednesdays. But after she told me that I got her number and then shot my coworker a text to switch days so I’d work sunday and not wednesday (which is why I’m in right now). Terri’s this beautiful short black girl with bright shiny purple hair. It’s totally gorgeous. We’ve been texting the past couple days about weird kink shit. I’m really excited to see her there on wednesday. I bought a pair of supreme cheetah print boxers to match the shirts I have, gonna cut a hole out to stick my tail out through and go in just that and ears. It should look incredible. Especially with my new hair being dirty blonde to match the cheetah print. MMMmmm i just hope everything comes in the mail on time.

Anyway, so I had a blast. They were amazed that I was 27 (most of them were 21, matt’s like 32), and I was told “I hope if I grow up to be your age I look as beautiful as you do.” mmm so kind. Actually it’s like the first time I’ve heard that and not that I was babyfaced or that i’ll look good when I’m old so I’lllll take it. Also everyone loves my hair.

AND since I was with my emo karaoke buddy and everyone was seeming like they were into a pop-punk vibe, I did some Blink182 and MCR. Finally busted out I’m Not Okay after practicing it for forever, and I fucking KILLLLLLED it. People cheered the fuck out of me afterward. I felt like I really needed to impress the gang I was with (especially Terri) so hopefully it worked lolol.

Went to Jill’s at 1am, I’m so fucking glad she’s down to chill at night after I’m done doing shit for the evening. It’s really the most low key fwb thing I’ve ever had in my life I think. So cool. Actually she made me wait to bake these brownies when I got there so I passed out lmfao. But we had sex twice on 9/6, my third favorite day of the year so nice lol. (the first being my birthday, and the second being 6/9 lol.)

Saturday I got off work, played wow at home a while, went to hopscotch at like 2. Got to see my karaoke dj Sam’s band play, he was stoked that I made it out. Hung out with brandon going around town for the day. Saturday the main event was chk chk chk, phantogram, and chvrches and I fucking died it was so good. chk chk chk was inspiring, the dude was mooooving despite being a pot bellied 46 y.o. lmao I loved him. Phantogram was gorgeous and had the best underboob I’d ever seen in my life. Chvrches played mostly new stuff and only a few of their hits, but I love them to death so it was still wonderful. And the best part was that me being me I wiggled me and brandon all the way to the front row of the show, we were dead fucking center, practically against the rails. Technically there was one person in front of me but holy shit it was fucking lit. The bass for chvrches was so loud it practically destroyed my ear drums lmao. Gotta get earplugs for next time.

and despite it being 11, that was practically just the beginning of the night lol. Brandon and I met up with Sam for this last concert, but I was pretty drunk and totally exhausted. It was in an indoor amphitheater so as soon as I got my ass in a chair I passed the fuck out for the whole show. They tell me it was incredible. Idk. The sleep was perfect.

Then we started to go to after parties. Brandon and I got a hot dog to sustain ourselves a little and walked over to this place Five somethingorothers and saw the guy from Sylvan Esso playing some club music, but decided it wasn’t our vibe. He decided to go home, and I ran off to meet up with Sam. We went to slims and I met this girl taylor, we talked about flowers or something, and then a big group of us went to this Ruby after party at a big warehouse building that they had rigged up with music equipment and had a fuckton of kegs to supply drinking for the night. I danced and drank til like 6am it was pretty righteous. Well drank til like 5, until the alcohol ran out. We also ‘broke’ into this dilapidated building to the right (it was open) and gave ourselves a little tour lmao. And it seemed like EVERYBODY that I’ve met the past couple months out at bars and stuff were there. It was so much fun seeing everyone. Alex was there, too, and MJ even showed up at 4am! This time I actually remembered her and said hi first so that was good lmao. She gave me some tequila from a flask but we didn’t really talk much. She was mostly chatting with other guys so I guess she’sssss not really into me. Shame. But whatever so it goes. I’ll just stop hitting her up and see if we keep bumping into each other enough to do something one day, probably the best call. But what was excellent was getting to hang out with Sam and his girlfriend Taylor so much last night. It was so excellent

Now Terri and I, I hope that turns into something weird and beautiful. She just told me she’s into pegging and all sorts of lewd stuff I’m so excited.

This wednesday should be a blast. Idt I have much coming up other than Chris’s wedding in a couple weeks though.

Oh yeah I managed to buy two of my 3 supreme things! I got the jacket and the shirt, just need to get the matching hat and I think I might be done with blowing money on clothes lmfaooo. I guess I need to get khakis for the wedding, and maybe a new pair of shorts or two but that won’t be too much. It feels so nice throwing money around on cool shit and going out drinking and shows and good times lmao. Life is so fucking good right now.

Hope everything keeps staying as interesting, I’ll keep ya posted.

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bigevidence · 5 years

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The Picture

Browsing Reddit I stumbled upon this image of Room 100 of the Central Building in the New York Public Library. Its catalog details are dateless but the clothes, hairdos and office equipment seem to place the moment in the teens of the 20th century.

My New York chauvinism presumes this was state-of-the-art in the go-go days of early modernity. Room 100 would have been its brain, the system’s central processing unit with its card catalog system indexing a vast database of manuscripts, objects and books.

I count thirteen women and six men, a healthy two-to-one ratio. This suggests, anecdotally, the early days of information management system culture were dominated by female knowledge workers. Then I see a guy, that stern-looking guy in the back. His hands clasped behind in the classic pose of ready reproach. This is the boss. Some things in business change more slowly than others, and males dominating the management class remains infuriatingly one of them.

We Were Warned

Aldous Huxley, writing in 1932, imagined his Brave New World of techno-dystopia as a huge card catalog index. He might have guessed wrong on the storage media, but his prediction betrays an insight: library sciences in the early 20th century was the innocent precursor for the Wild West information economy we inhabit today.

So, how did we get from that mostly girl-powered Room 100 to the brave new marketplace of facial recognition and black-box algos? In less than a hundred years we galloped from an open-access, community-financed, human value-add information culture to something Huxley basically nailed: a violent chaos of data energized by the cold logic of value extraction - a surveillance economy.

Boys and Their Toys

History’s short, brutal arc from our image above to that touch-screen you’re staring at this very moment has a defining characteristic - phallo-technic. An insurgent whiff of testosterone infuses every leap beyond the analog. Turing’s machine thinking starts sparking early innovations like Colossus, the mighty Allies’ crypto-breaking war machine. From there, the guys blast genius paths to stored memory on tubes instead of cards, and by the 60s they came up with microprocessors and CPUs. Big businesses formed around these break-throughs - companies like Sperry Univac, IBM and Intel all laying claim to the emerging frontiers of cutting-edge tech. Then the 70s happened, and the soon-to-be unholy trinity of business, government and academia spawned the defining product Eisenhower warned us about - Messrs. Cerf and Kahn’s development of TCP/IP and the birth of ARPANET. Recognizing early they had a naming issue, somebody in the vast military-industrial complex had the branding smarts to re-christen their new everywhere machine, the Internet.

The battle matrix for humans versus machines was locked and loaded. If only there was a simple way to connect it all. Thinking through the problem of what regular people might be able to with all those connected servers, Tim Berners-Lee came up with the protocol for the World Wide Web. The lowly but lovely browser was born and released into the early 1990s world with the promise of a “free and open” web for the world.

And so began the most fertile, frenzied fifteen business years the planet has ever known. A handful, you guessed it, of guys puttered their way from garage labs to an almost total takeover of the Web. Today was born, the state of human affairs defined dystopically by the *FAANG-ilization of everything. Huxley, dude – how did you know?

Theft as Gift

If there’s a key to understanding how we got here it’s the human data-theft at the heart of our devil’s bargain with the FAANG/BATs* (*adding the emerging Chinese tech conglomerates Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.) A theft calculated by the imbalanced exchange of our data for their “free” services, utility and content. The swindle sealed by a brilliant if insidious deception, that what was sensed as newfound control turned out to be full frontal surrender.

This human data theft premises, privileges and permissions the dominating platforms to treat this new connected culture lab as their shareholder piggy bank, ringing up billions in $s, ¥s and €s each hour with its super-efficient violence of value extraction by-design.

Capital’s OS

There’s nothing new about the insight connecting the human male with aggression. The history of everything – science, philosophy, art, sport, invention – has always been told through the muscular narrative of men on the march. Business and its platform of capital perhaps even more so. But the 20th century’s technological advances, along with their owners, sponsors and profiteers were definingly male, fueled by states, their militaries and compliant academic accomplices.

Marx in all his prescient insight about how capital morphs and snakes through a social system couldn't have predicted such omnipotence. No one (if only Huxley’s insight was more economic) could have imagined how capital might behave when unleashed across the digitally collapsed frontiers of nations, markets and human autonomy itself.

But here in the teen years of the 21st century, capital has found its most perfect operating system. Essentially owned and operated by the FAANG/BATs, finally exceeding states' powers to regulate by cutting them in on the deal. The merits seemed obvious, for a few cycles. But now the darker downsides unsettle, even if muted by the seeming benefits. All we have to do is lean forward, accept the terms of service and enjoy the pleasing haze of surrender. Or not.

Fork You

One of my more unlikely sources of insight is Audre Lorde. In the late 70s, in her call-to-arms for a broader reset of culture, politics and governance she suggested, “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house”. Lorde added a caveat to her provocation – “in the long run, anyway…”. I take her qualification as inspiration for an alternative path to our shared futures together.

Lorde understood that, in the near term, sometimes the fastest and most efficient way to ignite change was to borrow from the master's tool-box. So, from our reigning overlords of the technosphere I borrow a term – forking. Originally coined by application engineers working in the early Unix operating system, it describes how a system makes a copy of itself in order to launch a new program or procedure.

It’s useless to ponder what if we hadn’t succumbed so completely to the current techno-economic regime. But it’s not crazy to suggest an act of shared re-imagination about what’s next – and doing something about it. Given the choice and taking the chance, ask ourselves what a more equitable human fork beyond this replicant economy might look like.

Look at Me... I matter!

Fredric Jameson and Slavoj Žižek lay equal claim for musing, “it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism”. We won’t be solving for capitalism, but it’s certainly within our imaginative grasp to re-engineer a fresh fork in the fabric of our shared technosphere.

Our first leap together is the toughest, but everything depends on it. We must re-imagine a reward incentive to replace the predatory value extraction at the heart of the current model. Imagination without insight is an empty exercise. The stakes are too high and the opportunities too sweet. We arm ourselves with an insight grounded in the ancient core of human need: recognition and affirmation.

This is the essential human insight driving our behavior together since we sat around communal fires 50,000 years ago to tell stories and share things like food, heat and protection against the forces from without. It’s the insight we’ve been baking into our creative briefs for a more radical marketing for the past twenty years.

It’s also an insight we’re all intimately familiar with, given our newfound togetherness on socially connected devices. Whether you’re a lurker, a poseur or somewhere in between, that feeling you get when someone likes your lunch picture or comments on your pithy comebacks is a pleasing if minor reward. A gift minted in a scalable social currency of affirmation and recognition.

If we need an insight to spark our imaginative leap into a different future of everything, I’m going with - “Look at me... I matter!” The challenge remains what we do with it to disrupt the disruptors out of their ubiquitous ownership of our 24/7 lives.

The Big Lie

Our primary solve for applying this insight is cost. The cynical lie at the heart of the surveillance economy is that the companies who give us all this free stuff – image storage, social connectivity, email and massaging, document management, navigation tools, video services – need to pay for them with advertising.

I’ve been in the global advertising and marketing racket for over thirty years and I can tell you, as we say on Madison Avenue, this is absolute bullshit. From the radio soap operas of the 1930s through to the sitcoms of the current twilight of linear TV, the default economic model was to exchange content costs with eyeball reach.

But advertising is an increasingly moribund model when it comes to getting and keeping customers. Brand marketing teams, agencies, publishers and broadcasters have known this for the past several years and are frantically trying to figure out alternative models. Don’t expect what they come up with will have you the human at the heart of its value equation.

Note well: if we’re imagining a more equitable human technosphere, someone will need to pay for it. The shareholders of the FAANG/BATs – full disclosure that includes me – aren’t candidates. We, and that includes everybody, will need to be ready to offer up some value in exchange. This new currency of exchange, unlike the attention we spend under today’s regime, will be something quite different.

Identity and Attention

Under the dominant rules the most valuable asset we control is not our attention. It’s our identify itself.

In the past fifteen years Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Apple and LinkedIn (the shortlist) all have aimed for a lock on owning and managing our identity. Each developed APIs and competed for publishers to offer their credentialing service in return for reducing the friction of visitors to their sites or apps to register. This was a brilliant strategy for aiming to "own" human identity on the Web. The winners would become the custodians of our identity, allowing them to monetize our attention and continue gathering our personal data trails, even when we were off their sites and networks.

We underscore this founding and enduring connection between identify and attention, and the pair's critical role in the business model of platform value extraction. Pundits coined the benign term the “attention economy” to sugar-coat the brutal mechanics of the emerging surveillance economy. But what we thought we were so freely exchanging wasn’t really our attention. That was simply the metric (see views, impressions) of their very last-century media model. What this economy was actually based upon was the signs and manifestation of our identity itself - our behaviors, our transactions, our attitudes and our fears, our desires and our demographics. Our human identity data serving as fuel for all this perfidy.

If identity is how we signal our authentic and autonomous presence, attention is merely just one of the things we do with it. With our forking leap grounded in the human desire for connection and affirmation, human identity is a critical first principle. Our digital, just like our IRL identities, must be integral, persistent, authentic, privately and personally owned and controlled. Unlike the current mess we’ve surrendered ourselves into, it must be ours. Identity has been the golden goose of the surveillance economy’s value model. We want it back.

For several years infosec geeks, technology activists and a handful of marketers and payment solutions companies have been talking about the personal information economy. There is much to be inspired about here. But we can’t kid ourselves about the daunting task of challenging the profit at stake in the walled gardens of the hegemonic platforms.

The Diamond District

To the platforms, attention was always a zero-sum competition. Ever wonder why links are rare on Instagram or why those redball notification counts are so addictive? The platforms engineered everything they could to keep you on their sites and apps when you got there and get you back soon and often when you left.

There’s a problem with this idea about attention being zero-sum – it isn’t. Yet, in order to more fully monetize our identity through our attention, the platforms and the complicit brands they've duped all had to believe the same things about human desire, value exchange and the very nature of competition. They got all three wrong.

I teach a graduate course in Competitive Strategy at NYU. On the 19th slide of tonight's first lecture deck are three words in 90 point type – FUCK THE COMPETITION. The insight here is one you won’t get from traditional business theorists (99% men by the way). They advise we obsess over the competition, so to better annihilate them. This defensive zero-sum thinking informed the product, interface and technical design strategies for all the big box platforms. Hold that thought.

For evidence to support my profane advice, I suggest my students take a walk down 47th Street between Sixth and Fifth Avenues. If you know Midtown New York you know that block is crammed with jewelry stores selling ~$400 million worth of diamonds every day. Each one of those shops is competing with each other. Observer’s intuition tells us this is dumb. Why would all these competitors within a single category put up their shops next door to each other. The answer is because this is where the customers are.

Each of those stores is forced to compete for customer attention, dwell-time and purchases in one of capitalism’s most Darwinian exercises imaginable. Here’s the insight: this commercial system is the anti-thesis of zero sum. Everyone’s a winner, but mostly the customers who know exactly where to go, how to compare and who to buy from when they’re diamond shopping.

Better Business Building

The key that connects our forking strategies to these gathering insights is value. Our brief is bold: how do we enable humans to come together with each other in their shared worlds – cultural, social, commercial, political, economic, aesthetic – in moments of mutually satisfying value exchange. And, when the moment presents, get and keep them as customers.

I have a disclaimer which my cowardice can no longer contain. I’m a selfish business strategist (if a slightly more interesting value marketeer). My aim of strategic attack remains true: mine and articulate fresh insight powerful enough to be transformed into value. Value first for humans and then, the selfish part, the businesses who hire me. My call for forking radically from the predatory platform models of today isn’t altruistic. It’s good for business. Better business, different business. Sustainable and organic business.

Recent business history is rife with inspiring cases…

One of history's most commercially disruptive business models exploded at the heart of technology itself, the open source software initiative. Launched in 1998 it was intended to foster a community of creators, software developers, around the principles of free speech. The software wasn’t meant to be free, but its collaborative creation and distribution was. Within ten years of its founding the reigning software industry incumbents Microsoft and SAP were forced to succumb to variations on its themes, or become marginalized and irrelevant.

Wikipedia was founded in 2001 on the same principles of collaborative value creation, or in the words of its Wikipedia entry (as meta as you wanna be...) - “based on a model of openly editable and viewable content”. Within four years, independent comparative reviews of the quality and extent of its entries against the dominant incumbent encyclopedias essentially put those publishers out of meaningful business.

Bandcamp is another business model based on the refreshing new rules of respectful mutual value recognition and exchange. It’s counter-intuitive post-platform axiomatic confounds Hayekians fully: the pricing posted by musicians for purchasing their music is set as a floor, and 40% of the time customers choose to pay more. Music and media critic Steve Smith suggests Bandcamp’s growth and popularity is due to its “responsible and ethical business model more equitable to artists than any other retailer of comparable size, but also a savvy grasp of social media’s power of peer-to-peer persuasion, implemented through public-facing “collections” meant to function as virtual record shelves to be pored over and emulated.”

Another jewel in the crowd of emerging better businesses is GitHub. Launched by two developers in 2008 it was acquired by Microsoft in mid-2018 for $7.5bn because, well, the Internet… More specifically, like other companies forged upon the exponential power and value of community, GitHub offers its code repository and hosting services absolutely free. As long as you’re cool with all your work being public. This is a lower barrier than you might imagine. According to this paper analyzing its business model, “GitHub currently hosts millions of free repositories, including many powerful projects like MySQL and Ruby on Rails used by GitHub themselves to power the platform.” Italics added and you can see why.

Each of these modestly alternative businesses share at least five key characteristics, distinguishing them from the reigning predatory models.

They leverage community to scale contributive value through collaboration.

The rewards reaped by all participants are either symmetrically aligned, or equably unbalanced to the mutual benefit and happiness of all involved.

The core behaviors of value exchange are essential public acts of private production.

The exchange of products and services generate uniquely exponential surplus value. One plus one isn’t three – but, potentially 3 million (see characteristic number 1).

Although none rely on decentralized technology a la blockchain (that’s another chapter…), both trust and authority exist within and emanate from the contributive crowd.

It’s Tomorrow Again

In 2009 Google sent a crew of corporate flacks into Times Square to ask people “what is a browser?”. The self-serving video they promoted elicited the desired response. People thought of their browser as their search engine. Lol, what sweet dear idiots. In retrospect, Google’s stunt seems more strategic than mean-spirited. Exactly a year before wading into Times Square, Google launched their own web browser Chrome, and it wasn’t yet ripping commanding market share from the then dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Google’s insight from their video was used to ignite a market-share grab that soon proved those poor misguided people were actually right. Today, Google enjoys almost 70% of the browser market and over 90% of the search engine market. And we don’t even have to trouble about going all the way over to google.com to search --- just pop those search terms into your browser’s URL box. Combining these two interfaces and offering both ‘free’ remains the founding act of the extractive surveillance economy. An economy that generated about $120 billion for Google in 2018 – nearly 33% of all the advertising income cashiered globally.

This sort of commercialization of online attention through the primary entry-point into our connected world probably wasn’t what Tim Berners-Lee had in mind when he founded the W3C as a not-for-profit organization in 1994 to release his invention of the World Wide Web to the world, “available freely, with no patent and no royalties due.”

But it most certainly was a factor inspiring Berners-Lee (TimBL to the digerati) to found another organization, the World Wide Web Foundation in 2009. At the time, he announced the move as a necessary step to, "advance the Web to empower humanity by launching transformative programs that build local capacity to leverage the Web as a medium for positive change."

TimBL was making a point. The “positive change” he had imagined was not about the unimaginable market cap realized by the surveillance platforms who have been monetizing his invention since he went all pay-it-forward and gave it the world “free” twenty years earlier.

I say we have a winner. Our pivot model is Tim Berners-Lee and his founder’s intent for what was to be done with his invention called the Web. We don’t need to fork from the chaos of extraction dictated by the FAANG/BATs of today. Philosophically and strategically we aim our imagination and make our fork from the same ethical, technical and social location Berners-Lee set the damn thing free in the first place.

Real Feels

Here on the edge of the 2020s the digital fumes of a pervasive, violent system of connected platforms sicken our lived experiences on the planet. Recall the data theft and value extraction at the heart of its formula for exchange. We’re proposing to subvert, reject and eventually replace that life-negating technosphere with the more touchy-feely kumbaya model as imagined by Berners-Lee and his fellow do-gooders from the World Wide Web Foundation.

Go ahead, place your bets. But then hold my beer…

Reconsider the picture atop our wandering manifesto. Imagine yourself one those primeval knowledge workers. What got you going each day? My guess is it was a passion for knowledge and a love for sharing it. Here’s another question - don’t you think they would’ve wildly embraced Berners-Lee’s quixotic quest to “empower humanity by launching transformative programs that build local capacity… as a medium for positive change”?

Me too.

The reason 40% of music purchasers on Bandcamp pay more than the musicians ask is because they love their music and it makes them feel good to pay more. They will never forget that feeling of munificence, of genuine generosity. It makes listening to that music, and the emotional relationship to its producers, different and special.

How about those developers giving their code away on their no-charge GitHub because, what the hell: maybe someone can improve it, do something with it I might not have done. Better together rules.

How about all the thankless hours nameless Redditors spend moderating their subreddits or Wikipedia editors competing to nurture their entries. I imagine they'd all say it was time well-spent.

We improve each other when we share and give. And that, if you’ll pardon the warranted exuberance, feels fucking great. It’s a little bit vain sure. It’s a little bit self-serving, adding to the bank of our social currency among communities that matter to us. Communities of people – customers, employees, partners, clients – that matter to my happiness.

There’s a final insight we can lean on to inspire us to start building and sharing things differently, whether it's products, services, companies or communities. Importantly, it’s the same insight about why we spend so much time on social networks and what we get and give in return. Belongingness. We gather in these communities to affirm our place in the world. To prove to ourselves we matter. We belong there, here among the like-minded, like-employed or like-impassioned.

Passion. That’s the thing we’ve got to bake into the core of our replacement formula for value exchange. The passion to create, to nurture, to add not subtract to something of minor meaning in the world. Feelings, real feelings, are the domain where the rewards for this work are both sown and reaped.

But is it possible to imagine, never mind develop, a candy brand, or clothing brand, a soap brand or a pharmaceutical brand inhabiting the marketplace under such a feeling-based regime? Well that’s the job at hand. So we’d better figure it out.

For inspiration, we take one more loving look at those long-gone library staff. They showed up to contribute. Their work gave them worth. Their service was of a particular and very special value. Their passion for helping knowledge sustain and spread was a potent and positive force in the community of their customers, users - humans.

Not bad poster-children for a brazen fork towards a world of humans, brands and the technology that connects us all.

This article is adapted and excerpted from Kennon’s upcoming Madland: A Radical Marketing Manual to be published in the Fall of 2019.

http://www.freeradicals.marketing/2019/01/31/real-feels/

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georgebenjiart · 5 years

Text

NANOWRIMO

Okay, so I only got 2,599 words. lol. This is a story that I’ve been working on and crafting for 3 years now, with the help of my older sibling who isn’t on tumblr. At one point I had 10k long novella written out for it. There’s also a 2nd 10k long novella from another character’s perspective as well. This is most likely going to be the first chapter, and I’m sorry that it’s really rough. This story doesn’t have a name, but at one point it was known as How I Lived, so I’ll be referring to it as HIL until I decide on something better.

HIL-

(if you’d prefer the google doc link to read it, dm me)

Words- 2599

Summary- A world where your chest glows a color when you’re near your soulmate, Heath, a boy who doesn’t believe in soulmates, or love, gets the biggest surprise. (note: only about half of this is in the story so far lmao)

Story:

My brother always tells me that waiting is even better than the reward, but to that I say bullshit. That’s all we do, right? We just sit back and wait. We wait until it’s time to talk to our friends, we wait until it’s time to go to sleep, to wake up, to go to work, to go home. Loops and endless waiting. My brother will die on a hill claiming that the wait is the best part. Personally, I think he’s just looking for an explanation as to why he hasn’t found his soulmate yet.

Like clockwork, Mel knocks on my door at six-forty-five that morning and I’m out the door, a quick goodbye to Onus and my backpack swinging onto my shoulder.

“Alright, spill. Jungle Blitz 4 demo, promising or no?” Last night we were up on a voice call waiting for leaks of the newest demo of the next game in our favorite video game series. Mel had to go to bed before the demo dropped.

“Depends. Do you like good games or not?”

“Oh God. That bad?”

“Think Kingsley has a kid.”

“So… good then?”

“Continue thinking, Lane is canon.”

“Holy shitting fuck. No.”

“Yes.”

Mel squeals a little bit and I know she’s going to be smiling about this for the rest of the day. “I can't believe the audacity of them to release the demo on the first day of school.”

“Oh, come one, it was world wide, they didn’t do it just to spite you.”

“You don’t know that, Heath.” Mel wiggles her finger at me and I can’t tell if she’s completely serious or not.

We continue our conversation as we make our way to school and as we pass through the student parking lot, a group of jock-ish seniors slow their conversation to glare at me. Mel just kind of glances my way and we don’t say anything about it.

“Alright, your first period is Mr. Long in room 105? Algebra 1?” I flip my hair out of my eyes and Mel laughs just a little bit.

“Get a haircut, and yeah. Well, yeah and no. Mr. Long in room 105, yeah. But it’s for Algebra 2.”

“How in the- That’s… I’m only in geometry you smart bitch.”

“Yeah! Remember, I was ahead of you in middle school too.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I walk her to her class and hug her goodbye. “Good luck, sorry you’re like ten minutes early.”

“Eh, it’s the first day, who cares?” Mel shrugs and her jackets make a sound.

As soon as Mel enters her class, the first bell rings and I head to the stairs. On my way up, I spot a very confused and short freshman gripping their class schedule.

“You need help finding your first period?” I’m afraid my voice scared the poor kid.

“My.. My brother said that he would… he would walk me to my first period.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t… know.”

“I can help you in the meantime, can I walk you to you class?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Okay, coo. What’s your class?”

“Room 105.”

“Hey, I just walked my friend Mel there. She’s super nice, and a freshman like you.” I turn around and motion for them to follow me. “So what’s your name?” After a beat, “And pronouns.” They look very feminine, short bleached pigtails, blue tips, very big, bright blue eyes, a small button nose, and a thin pink jacket.

“Naomi.. And uh.. She/her.”

“Okay, cool. I’m Heath and I use he/him.” I smile at her, but she still looks like she’s ready to explode any second. “So what are you into? Do you play video games or anything?”

“Um… Kind of, not really.” We get to her class and I point at Mel, who is sitting at a table by herself.

“Go make sure Mel makes at least one friend, please.”

“Sure.. thing…” Naomi then rushes into the class, her tiny backpack bouncing with her.

When I finally get to my class, I choose a seat towards the back of the class, having not recognized any friendly faces in the crowd. My first four classes go by slowly, my teachers discuss silibi and give us “peer bonding” assignments to get to know the classmates we’ve known since freshman year. Lacking as that sounds, it’s still stressful and by the time I get to lunch, I’ve forgotten that Mel and I have the same lunch.

“Heath, I’ve been texting you. What the heck?” Mel sits down next to me, startling me from the astral plane my soul had traveled to.

“Oh, sorry, I was spacing out.” I check my phone, sure enough there’s five unread messages about lunch.

Then Naomi sits down next to Mel and gives me a little wave.

“Hey, you have lunch with us!” That gets a simple smile from Naomi. I pull a piece of bread from my backpack and begin to chow down.

“You cannot be serious.” Mel glares at me, her glasses slipping down her nose.

“What?” I ask, my mouth full.

“That’s your lunch?” Mel has pulled out a sandwich and soda can, while Naomi has a bag of chips and a salad.

“Yeah. I slept in this morning and Onus forgot to make me lunch.”

“Oh for christ’s sake, here,” Mel pulls out a second sandwich from her bag and hands it to me.

“Ohoho, thank you!” I kiss Mel’s hand begin to chow down a second time.

Just then, a loud bang sounds and we look over from our cafeteria table near the double doors, to see none other than Ronnie fucking Yule, their face pressed against the glass. “Let me in bro,” they mouth.

“Who’s that?” Mel asks.

“Ronnie, they’re in our discord server. You’ve talked to them before.” I open the door for then and they join us at our four-person table.

“My little brotato chips, what is cracking?” I can just feel the cringe radiating off of Naomi and I’d be lying if I said the only reason why I wasn’t cringing as well was because I love Ronnie with my entire fucking heart.

“Not much, just my bones.” And then I crack my neck.

“Oh, yucky. Hey, who’re you, you little carraromo?” Ronnie is talking more so at Naomi, rather than with her. That’s just a thing that they tend to do tho.

“I’m N-Naomi.”

“Sweet! Hey, so say you’re not just Naomi, but also a sister. Would you be having a brother who is on the football team?”

“Uh… Yes…?”

At this point in the conversation I’ve spaced out again and only really care about my sweet sandwich. I wait for lunch to end. Then I wait for the day to be over and I walk home with Mel.

I ask her if she plans on joining any clubs, she says no. I ask her what she thought of Naomi, she tells me Naomi is pretty cool so far. I ask her how her day went, apparently okay. I ask her if she wants to hang out at my house to play Jungle Blitz, she says yes.

My house isn’t much to look at, to be fair I’m surprised we still have it. It’s a mobile home, and a very homely one at that. It’s painted a perfect suburban beige on the outside, and a sickly sweet yellow on the inside. Our kitchen and livingroom are mostly connected, but there’s still a breakfast bar separating the two. We have fairly lights up in the living room year round because one reason or another when Onus and I were younger. The house always smells like either musty old books or whatever was most recently cooked, usually pancakes or spaghetti.

I sprawl out on the couch, Mel takes her place on the floor, leaning back on the couch, and she starts playing the third Jungle Blitz game. “I need one of the achievements still.” I fall in and out of sleep, watching Mel play. We hold a running commentary on events of the game, events which I am so well in tune with that I’m able to talk about them in my sleep apparently.

Mel leaves after a few hours, and I’m free to sort out the stack of silibi and other assorted papers I need my mom to sign. I leave them on the couch and I head to bed.

The next day of school is the first day of one of the three clubs I’m a part of (I know, social butterfly Heath), which is the first thing Onus informs me of when he hands me the stack of papers my mom signed sometime during the night. The next thing he tells me is that he’s made pancakes. I’m out of bed, ready for school and pounding my fists on the table within the next four minutes.

“Calm down, bro. I have a headache.” Onus serves me the pancakes and it takes everything in my not to eat the plate with the pancakes. “Didn’t put butter on-” I take a bite out of the stick of butter on the breakfast bar. “No. No, jesus christ, not this early in the morning you fucking gremlin.”

“Awugh c’mon O-nie,” I spit some crumbs his way and he rubs his temples.

“How old are you? Six or sixteen?”

“As if a six year old could be as funny as me.”

“Fucking Hell.”

“I have club today?”

“Chew your goddamn food. Yes, you have GSA today. Tomorrow you have DnD.” Onus reaches into his backpack haphazardly lain on the kitchen counter to pull out a textbook and a bunch of papers.

“What- that?” I swallow my food between words.

“Just some biomed bullshit. Doesn’t really matter.”

“Ah.” Just as he spreads his papers out to start working on them, there’s a knock at the door, and I’m stuffing my papers in my messenger bag and sprinting out the door, tugging shoes on as I run.

“Guess who got breakfast this morning!” I brag.

“You, for once?” Mel yawns and clearly would rather be in bed.

“Haha! Onus is the bestest brother in whole entire wide world ever!”

Mel yawns in agreement.

Similarly to yesterday, when we pass through the parking lot, the group of seniors hanging around some small sports-ish car all stare at us, mostly me, and glare. One of them laughs a little bit. When I glance over, usually I ignore them, I realize that I do, in fact, recognise most of them. The one laughing is Calvin James.

Calvin James sure is a character, or something like that. I’ve never spoken to him, but I’m certain he’s spoken about me. Not that his friends are horrible and the worst people in the whole world, but they sure don’t like any of the trans kids who go to school here. Including me. And probably Mel is they ever get close enough to her to know that.

“I need a haircut still,” I whine as we enter the school. Calvin James is the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. “This sucks!” I flip my hair out of my eyes and my glasses almost fly off my face.

“Get one then.”

“I need Onus to take me, but he’s busy with, like, adult stuff or some shit.” When we get to Mel’s class I walk in and sit with her at her table.

“Do you think my parents could take you?”

“Um… Maybe?” I think about this for a moment. “Wait- new topic, are you going to GSA today? Please say yes. You have to say yes or I’ll cry.”

“Bitch.”

“Fucker.” We makes hearts with our hands to really get the fact that we actually hate each other across.

While we’re having our chat, Naomi joins and we welcome her, there’s a brief exchange in which Mel agrees to go to the club after school today, only if Naomi goes too and Naomi agreed to because it beats just watching the football team practice while she waits for her brother to drive her home.

I only get a few complaints from teachers about the crumpled papers, it’s mostly just jokes though. At lunch, Ronnie joins us again.

“Heath, you need a snake?” Ronnie offers an applesauce cup to me and I oh so humbly accept it from them.

All but inhaling the applesauce, it’s gone sooner than anyone can start a new conversation. As I slam the empty applesauce cup onto the table, a group of preppy-adjacent freshman girls pass by us and sicker to each other, pointing at Naomi.

“I can beat them up for you,” I offer, wiping applesauce from my face.

“Haha, n… no. That’s not… needed.” I’m just now realizing that Naomi might not be stuttering from anxiety and she might actually just have a stutter.

“If you say so.” I shrug my shoulders and start a conversation with Ronnie about our Dungeons and Dragons characters, before moving on to talk about how GSA is meeting after school.

After lunch, my next three classes are boring and nothing particularly happens in them. At the end of the day, I head back to my art class where GSA meets.

“Hey Heath!” I’m greeted by Jae, who is in conversation with a freshman, who must me new this year.

“‘Sup.” I start moving some of the tables together so there’s a large table for about twelve people to sit around. “We’ll be starting soon, probably. Take your seats, please.” Jae and the freshman sit down at the other end of the table, soon Ronnie joins, then three small freshman, then Mel and Naomi. “Okay, we’ve got mostly everyone who will be showing up today, and it’s about time to start.” We start with check ins, which consists of stating your name and your pronouns?

“I’m Heath, this club’s president, and I use he/him pronouns.”

“Ronnie, I’m the vice president, they/them.”

“Mel, she/her.”

“Naomi, she/her.”

“Christian, he/him.” The freshman with Jae.

“Jae, the secretary, he/him and they/them.”

“Felicity, she/her.” One of the three freshmen.

“Alex, she/her.” The next freshman.

“Kali, she/her.” The last freshman.

“Okay, thanks for coming, everyone, today we’re just gonna set some stuff up for the rest of the year…”

The meeting goes well enough, the three freshmen mostly just whisper and giggle to each other, but other than that nothing goes wrong. I walk home with Mel after the club and I eat dry cereal out of the box as I do homework in the living room.

Mom doesn’t come back home that night, and I feel sorry about how many hours she’s currently working.

The next morning goes business as usual, except for the fact that I didn’t get any sleep at all. Onus arrives at the house, makes me a pancake, packs me a lunch and does does homework while I get ready for school. I leave the house with Mel, we walk through the school parking lot.

“School parking lot” is where things deviate from business as usual. As we’re walking by the regular group of jock-adjacent kids, they snicker at me and I turn to them.

“You’re just gonna do that everyday, huh?” I shout. The morning is bright, cool and the perfect time to throw some hands.

“Keep walking, girl,” one of the guys, a taller, lankier one, who isn’t even facing my direction just kind of shouts back out of the side of his mouth.

“Keep laughing, asshat.” I tiptoe my way towards them, and I can feel Mel plant herself in the pavement.

#GAB #gab writing #my wriring #nanowrimo #unfinished #novella #my writing

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