#but I need to add things to the queue or I’ll go insane | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

northwestofinsanity · 3 years

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I was tagged by @ritchieblackless Thank you!

1. Why did you choose your url?

The “Northwest” comes from “Northwestern”. As far as that part goes, it’s a long, complicated story, involving a character from some original stories I used to write for my younger cousins when they were kids, and my favorite vessel on Deadliest Catch (it used to be a good show). “Insanity” comes from exactly what it sounds like. I’m never fully sane... but majority of the time, I’m not entirely insane, so I played a pun on what became my online name to suggest I’m just a little up the road to the north and west of true insanity.

2. Any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.

None so far.

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

February 2017... so that’s a little over 4 years as of now.

4. Do you have a queue tag?

No, and I don’t really use the queue. I’m not active enough on Tumblr to have much use for it, and I pretty much just post whenever the mood strikes me, and when I have time to search and focus on what my hyperfixation du jour is.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

The community I was in on DeviantArt (not band-related) was melting down in a really nasty way, and one of my closer friends there became abusive, so once I got everything I was in charge of there handed over, I abandoned my account. I was in some *intense* emotional pain, and I needed distraction, and distance from the fandom. I basically came to Tumblr to hyperfixate on my favorite bands more -it was something I’d considered, but didn’t have the time before that to commit to it.

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

My icon is Jeff Pilson and George Lynch. Dokken was one of the bands I was most hyperfixated on in 2017, and they, along with a friend who is also a fan of them, really were helping me get through that hard time when I made this account. Besides that, Jeff and George have a really wholesome friendship despite the turbulent history of Dokken. As for my pfp, I just chose generic guitars I found on Google Images to create a minimalist background. I have a tight data limit, and I tend to force every ounce of life out of my devices, so I make my own stuff as easy to load as possible, and most likely to function even if an outdated, semi-incompatible browser doesn’t format things quite right.

7. Why did you choose your header?

“Classic Rockhaven” (I assume that’s the header?) comes from my love for classic rock, and the idea of rock and roll being a safe-haven for me at the time. “Rockhaven” also closely resembles the name of a neighborhood a few miles away from my own in my hometown, so I knew it would flow right.

9. How many mutuals do you have?

I have 14 as of now. I’ve lost a few due to some people leaving, or switching accounts

10. How many followers do you have?

429. Some are unfortunately fomer-porn accounts I haven’t had a chance to weed out and block. A good number are just empty, lurker accounts as well, but as long as those followers are enjoying classic rock content, that’s fine by me. I’m grateful for the followers I have who do enjoy and interact with my posts.

11. How many people do you follow?

Officially, 38, but there are a good number of accounts I “unofficially” follow, by visiting blogs every night I have the chance. I’d love to follow more, and am looking to officially follow a few of those, since a few of the people I already follow have gone inactive or left. With my lifestyle, and data limits, I just have a hard time keeping up with my dashboard even with the tiny amount of people I follow, so I like to really get to know blogs first, and then slowly add them to my follow list so I don’t get overwhelmed.

12. Have you ever made a shitpost?

I believe so, depending on where you draw the line on that. (at least in my definition, I have). Do snarky posts about Tumblr’s glitches and that time I drowned my phone at work count? Or the crazy, crack-fic cartoons I drew in quarantine?

13. How often do you use tumblr each day?

On my weekends/off-days, whenever I want and can. On my 12-hour workdays, I check my dash before I leave home, once over data while I’m on my lunch break, and then at least once when I get home. If I’m getting home on time, and not late because the evening ran long, I’ll check on blogs I watch without following yet.

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?

Not that I’m aware of... I’ve made neutral posts discouraging other blogs from fighting though, because I’ve seen plenty of traumatic things internet fights can lead to in the events leading to me joining here, and I don’t want to see anyone go through that when usually, nobody wins. At best, I think I had someone misunderstand what I said on a post where there was affectionate teasing of a certain 80s guitarist, and I meant to play along with the joke to say “don’t tease him, he’s a nervous wreck” -and added some band history for any watchers who didn’t know the story behind why said guitarist is so nervous... but it didn’t come to anything.

15. How do you feel about "you need to reblog this" posts?

9 times out of 10, I agree with what they’re saying, but I don’t like reblogging these things, because it feels like it’s being crammed down everyone’s throat -I’m much more receptive to things that don’t feel forced, along with plenty others. To begin with, they’re not really what I’m here for. Tumblr is a place I joined for a mental escape from the world’s problems -not a place to ruminate on them. And when I’m seeing them when I’m half-mentally numb in the middle of a 12-hour shift with only 1 gigabyte per month of data to work with, or when I’m home after that day and dead on my feet, it just turns me off.

16. Do you like tag games?

I like doing them when I have the time at home to sit down and do them over Wi-fi. The only thing I’m iffy with is tagging others, because I don’t want to make someone feel pressured into doing it.

17. Do you like ask games?

As long as the questions aren’t about a certain few things I will not share about, I have fun with those. I just have to find one to reblog from someone I follow that comes up at a time I know I’ll have time at home to answer.

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I don’t know if anyone truly is, but @mccoys-killer-queen ’s sideblog is pretty well known.

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

No, but I do care for a number of my mutuals (including a couple I haven’t officially followed yet) a great deal, and can say I wish nothing but happiness for them, and if they were to leave, I would truly miss them (but also support it if they deemed it best -as I have with a few past mutuals).

20. Tags

Anybody who wants to!

#tagged #tag game

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slightlyrebelliouswriter23 · 4 years

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We’re All Mad Here | Jurdan College AU

Summary: Tenacious student, Jude Duarte, discovers a dark underworld in the very heart of RGU. It’s all just a game of Russian Roulette. Harmless, as long as you’re the one holding the gun.

Content Warning: Cursing, mild mention of panic attack (to skip, stop reading between the ~~~~~)

Part II | Masterlist | AO3

Part I- Slow Burn

I, Jude Duarte, third year at Royal Greenbriar University and soon-to-be reigning Top Scholar, am in a hurry.

It’s rush hour. The pavement is slick with sleet and packed with important people in fancy suits. They brave sheets of freezing rain that lash down from the angry October skies with an unending canopy of black umbrellas.

I don’t carry my own. Umbrellas aggravate the chaos of mornings in Insmire, and I don’t need to add another to the mix.

Luckily, I am short. Manoeuvring through gaps in elbows and shoulders does not take much effort on my part. It’s the briefcases and patches of ice which make running a bit of a challenge this morning—but then, I have always enjoyed a challenge.

As I tear through the crowded streets of Insmire, I only know one thing: No amount of wind or hail or people can stop me. And if anyone gets bludgeoned with my thirty-pound backpack as I weave through the throng, well, that’s on them.

Cold air slices through me with every heave of my lungs, every pounding thud of my boots on the sidewalk. My legs are sore from yesterday’s fencing practice, but I savour the sweet ache and forge on.

I am used to this rushing, for I am always in a hurry. It sometimes feels like I’ve been in a hurry from my very first breath. As if I’m constantly trying to catch up to something just out of my grasp.

My twin sister, Taryn, and I were born in a hurry.

So excited were we to join the ranks of men, we surprised our mother half to death by wandering into the world nearly four weeks early.

As a result, we spent the next several weeks of our lives as tiny things in incubators—a little sickly and terribly jaundiced. This was how our mother always used to describe it, at least.

Ever since then, I have been invariably late to everything. Mostly, I blame it on the incubators. And the jaundice.

If I’m being honest with myself, though, being always late is a trait I can only attribute to who I am as a person. It is as much a part of me as the tip of my left ring finger is not.

I sometimes wonder if that’s exactly the crux of it; that just like my fingertip, my punctuality has somehow been taken from me, too.

I have heard of twins absorbing their siblings in the womb. I can’t see why personality traits should be any different. Especially since Taryn and I had to spread them so thinly between two of us.

And Taryn is always perfectly on time.

I risk a glance at my watch. A tiny crack runs up the glass. It’s been there for ages, but I am still nettled by the sight of it and the unbidden memory it stirs.

It’s because of this tiny crack that the watch’s face is now fogged up from the inside. I can barely make out the three little golden hands racing each other toward my tardiness.

Seven minutes past eight.

I am really very late. Or, I know I will be, at least.

Technically, if I go straight to the Silhouette Gazette now, I will be right on time for my interview.

But I can’t go straight there. Not when I haven’t had coffee.

Without my fix, I won’t be able to string together even one sentence. Much less make it through an entire interview with enough charisma to snag the internship position I so desperately need. Since I am not very charismatic to begin with, I’ll need all the help I can get.

Everything depends on my getting this internship. If I don’t, there’s no way I’ll maintain my near-perfect GPA, no way I’ll graduate summa cum laude or Valedictorian of my class.

And then I’ll have to go into something boring. Like publishing. A shudder runs through me that has nothing to do with the cold.

I shove between two men wearing long coats and flat caps. They grunt in shock and disapproval. I hardly feel the zing of pain as my shin collides with something hard.

A briefcase flies out of its owner’s grip, crashing onto the pavement a few yards away. I don’t stop to apologise.

“Bitch!” One of the flat caps shouts after me.

Yes, I agree silently, hopping over the felled bag. I am very much that.

If I had the time and breath to tell the men just the same, I would. Instead, I flip them a rude gesture over my shoulder and don’t turn around.

I’m already ten paces away when a dull throbbing starts on my leg. It radiates from where I know there’ll be an unsightly bruise tomorrow. But bruises are a thing for future Jude to handle.

There is no way I will let what happened last year happen again. Second-year was a fluke. A one-time thing.

I will get this internship, take back my rightful title of Top Scholar, and keep it until I graduate—just like my mother did. I absolutely refuse to be beaten out by some preppy moneybags prick.

Or a bit of hail.

Before flying out the door of my flat this morning, I did a quick search on Google Maps, the results of which yielded the quirky little coffee shop I now see in my line of vision.

The White Rabbit sits mercifully in all its three-story glory right across the street from the newspaper’s office building. If luck is on my side, if I hurry, I should have just enough time to grab a cup to-go and make it with a minute or two to spare.

My thoughts are all jumbled as I barrel through the glass doors.

A white-haired barista stands behind the counter at the back of the shop, taking a customer’s order with an unbearable amount of cheer for a Monday morning.

The queue isn’t too bad, maybe three people long. I send up a quick thanks to whatever power of the universe might be in charge of coffee queues.

It smells miraculous in here—freshly ground coffee and something buttered and flakey. Suddenly, I am too warm.

I make a beeline for the back of the queue, shucking off my hat and gloves as I go. I’m unzipping my coat, a difficult task with hands full of knitted things, when a wall of black blurs into my periphery.

I don’t have a second to react before that wall smacks me right in the forehead. And collides everywhere else.

A scalding liquid sloshes down the front of my shirt. I stumble backwards, gasping at the pain.

There is a very loud “Fuck” followed by an equally as loud “Shit!”

I am not sure which curse fell from my lips, but I know it was one of them. All I can feel is this dreadful sting. It spreads like a wildfire across my chest.

Perhaps, I’d cursed both words. The pain certainly warrants it.

“Are you alright, dear?” a dark, silken voice asks. A pair of beringed hands steady me, grasping my shoulders with the barest of touches. As quickly as they appeared, like that they are gone. And then they are handing me a wad of brown paper napkins.

“Here,” the voice says.

I snatch the proffered napkins and look up at my assailant.

Perfect. Just perfect, I think with a scowl. Of course the person who spills their drink down my blouse has to be stupidly attractive.

The man before me is so beautiful it’s almost cruel.

A crown of crow dark curls circles his head, framing his oil slick eyes and sharp cheekbones. His is an unnecessary sort of perfection that sets my teeth grinding.

He’s clad in all black, save for his coat—a beaded brocade of black and crimson silk with quilted red lapels. From the breast pocket, a beaded scarlet brooch in the shape of a dahlia dangles in ostentatious splendour.

There is something familiar about him I can’t quite grasp.

For some inexplicable reason I amount to probable insanity, I cannot stop my gaze from flitting to his mouth.

Bad idea. Very bad idea.

His lips look like two full flower petals. I’m plagued by the inane thought that they might feel just as soft. If I can only reach out and—

I shake my head.

Concern creases the man’s brow now. To my horror, I realise I haven’t responded to his question. I’ve just stood here, dripping and sticky, for who knows how long. Staring. Like an idiot.

“I’m fine,” I grit out through barred teeth and my own mortification. I pat at the stain hastily with the wad of napkins. “I’m just great.”

It’s useless, of course.

The stain isn’t coming out, I’m late to my life-altering interview, and to make matters worse, I still haven’t had coffee. Not to mention, my chest burns in a way that makes me tempted to scrap everything in favour of a doctor’s office.

~~~~~

That’s when panic seizes hold.

A strand of pearls tightening around my throat. I am sure it means to strangle me because I cannot breathe.

My heart takes flight, battering my ribcage as if it intends to escape entirely. A trail of sweat trickles down my forehead.

I am going to be late. I am going to have this horrid stain on my shirt. I am going to fail this interview. I am going to fail this year and myself and my family.

There’s something heavy sitting on my lungs. I am both hot and cold, here and not.

Tears prick my eyes. I will them not to spill over, but of course, my body betrays me. I swipe furiously at my cheeks.

Everyone in the coffee shop plus one unfortunately attractive dude must be staring, watching as I teeter on the edge of full-blown hysterics.

“Hey,” Unfortunately Attractive Dude croons, but I don’t see him.

I try to draw even breaths. And fail. And fail again.

~~~~~

I’m barely aware of the hand that guides me to a corner of the coffee shop. It’s darker here. A bit quieter, too. I notice a large bookshelf obscuring the alcove from the main seating area. Away from prying eyes.

“Just relax,” the man says. “It’s going to be okay. Are you hurt?” He looks inclined to place his hand on my shoulder again but thinks better of it when he sees my expression.

I want to punch him in his stupid face. Maybe I should. It’s only fair, given the circumstances.

“Relax?” I scoff, hating the way my voice cracks. “Don’t tell me to relax. I’ve got an interview in ten minutes and I’m fairly certain my would-be boss won’t appreciate my being late. Or this sort of oversharing.”

I make a wild gesture at the stain on my chest, ignoring the slight tremor in my hands. I am acutely aware of the fabric’s transparency there. Today was not the day to wear a bright purple bra.

A moment passes before a smirk slips into place on Unfortunately Attractive Dude’s hateful mouth. He folds his arms across his chest, giving me a once over.

“You sure about that?” he drawls, and now I am positive I’m going to punch him. My hands curl into fists at my sides.

“You’re disgusting.”

“And you, sunshine, are no longer having a panic attack.”

Indeed, the tightening in my throat has waned. But as keen an observation as it might be, I would first run my hand through with my fencing sabre than admit he is right.

“I wasn’t having a panic attack,” I say too quickly. He produces a smug expression that is just as bewitching as it is infuriating.

He knows what I’ve said is a lie. I know it’s a lie, too. Very deep down. In some dark forgotten place inside me where things that don’t want to be admitted go.

The man grins as if I should be grateful. I am decidedly not.

“I don’t know who you think you are,” I say, taking a step toward him. “But don’t pretend to know me. Because you don’t.”

He lifts a brow—the worst kind of dare. “Don’t I?”

“No,” I say. I hope I come off more menacing than I feel with my tearstained cheeks and conspicuous underthings on display for all the world to see.

“Pity,” he says, still wearing that stupid smile. “You seem delightful.”

My face grows hot. Blood pounds heavy in my ears, and I feel like I’m running anew. I’m so angry I cannot think.

And apparently, I don’t think—because I take another step closer.

The rest of the world slides away. It’s just me and this loathsome beautiful heinous man in a secluded corner of a strange coffee shop.

He towers over me, lithe and angled, face limned in shadow. He’s unflinching and returns my gaze with equal distaste.

My heart skitters wildly, stumbling one beat over the next like it knows it's been spotted by something with sharp claws and jagged teeth.

In the unclosed space between us, a glittery treacherous thing ripples.

I am suddenly very glad for bookshelves.

I should leave. I should go to my interview before I do something I will regret. Before I ruin everything. I should walk away.

Then, I do the opposite of that.

“I’m the farthest thing from delightful,” I tell him, shooting a dagger-filled glare from beneath the hood of my brow. “Which is why I’d strongly advise against getting in my way again. And don’t call me sunshine.”

Something smells familiar; like a forest in winter. Like cedarwood and myrrh. With a jolt, I realise it’s him and dig my nails into the meat of my palm.

He chuckles, raising his hands in defence. “Fine,” he says. “Won’t happen again. But at least come with me. I think I can help.” He juts his chin toward the back of the coffee shop, presumably towards the toilets.

I wrinkle my nose.

This can’t seriously be some kind of come-on. I don’t have time for unsolicited advances right now. I don’t even have time for solicited advances.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I spit, and he flinches. “First, you give me third-degree burns. What’s next? Chop me up in the alley out back?”

The corner of his mouth twitches slightly. “As appealing as that sounds,” he says. “I’m shit with knives.”

“Oh, that’s a comfort.”

“Better with fabric, though.” He gives an unbothered shrug. “I was going to offer to get that out for you.” The man nods, seemingly unfazed, at my chest. Heat rises in my cheeks again.

“You’ve done enough already,” I snap.

Maybe I’ll just wear my winter coat through the whole cursed interview. Even that would be a better solution than this conversation.

I turn on my heel to leave, but the man catches my wrist.

Bad move, I think.

I’m contemplating dragging him out of this alcove by the ear so I can punch him in front of every customer in this coffee shop when, to my surprise, he lets go.

The man rakes a hand through his dark curls, heaving a great sigh.

“Wait. Just...” he starts. “Look, I feel bad enough as is. Let me make it up to you. It’ll take five minutes. You’ll only be a little late to your interview, and you won’t have to deal with a dry cleaner’s bill.”

I snort. I haven’t been able to afford dry cleaning since I stopped living in Madoc’s house two years ago. I will likely have to throw this shirt away if I can’t get the stain out with a good old-fashioned scrubbing.

“I’ll buy you a coffee for your troubles while we wait.”

I consider him for a moment. He seems sincere enough, though attractive people always seem sincere, even when they are truly not.

Now, though, I don’t really have much left in me to care.

I want the stain out of my blouse, a vat of coffee in my system, and a teleportation device that can transport me to the sixth floor of the Silhouette immediately.

If this man is a willing rung in the ladder to get me even two-thirds of those things, I will consider it a blessing.

“Fine,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’ll take a large cappuccino. Extra shot of espresso. And a shot of caramel. To go.”

“Wonderful.” The dazzling man smiles his dazzling smile. “Follow me.” And with that, he leads the way out of the alcove, a gleeful bound in his step.

I already regret my decision.

☽☽☽☽☽

Part II

Masterlist

AO3

Tag List: @the-mithridatism-of-jude-duarte @velarhysismine @knifewifejude

AN: this was originally sent to me as a request for the prompt “I’m running late to an important interview/meeting and you accidentally spill your hot cocoa all over my outfit” from a winter prompt list. but it spiralled into several chapter outlines and an almost fully-fledged plot so i’m rolling with it.

anyway, thanks so much for reading! hope you enjoyed :) if you’d like to be tagged in future updates for this AU, feel free shoot me an ask/message.

a few disclaimers:

1. i don’t think publishing is boring! i’m technically trying to go into publishing for my career so really just poking fun at myself. but i do think jude would find publishing (or any other office job) incredibly boring.

2. the depiction of jude’s panic attack is provided by yours truly, though i do not claim to speak for everyone who gets them, and am aware that they differ in both manifestation and severity from person to person. this just pertains to my own experience.

3. i was definitely listening to slow burn by kacey musgraves while writing part of this lmao (hence the chapter name).

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isthisthingeven0n · 5 years

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trying to stay private : m.k

brief summary: you’re a famous actress and are dating matt. you two have been together for almost a year under the radar and intend on keeping it that way. that is until david accidently captures you both and includes it in his vlog

word count: 1.7k requested: yes, by the sweetheart that is @florencxs - i hope you like it baby warnings: lotta angst, but a fluffy ending

* masterlistin’ / masterlistin’ 2.0

(everything on my blog is my own writing. if it is shared on another page or website know it isn’t me. all rights reserved. - i have to start doing this as I had some shit on my other blog with plagiarism)

***

It was always your intention to keep your relationship under the radar. Both of you were still enjoying the privilege of having alone time and it actually means you could be alone- as opposed to a series of paparazzi following your every move.

With Matt, you could forget that side of your life for a little while. You’re able to live in the moment instead of watching your every move. With Matt, you feel safe and secure knowing you can just be yourselves and not pose for cameras.

At least, you could until David found out.

He came over to film a bit for his vlog, that’s all it was supposed to be and you were more than happy to help. Since you met Matt, it meant you spent more time with his friends and slowly, they became your friends too. None of them treated you differently, you weren’t on a pedestal with them. You could simply be yourself without fear that one of them would capture a photo and post it.

David was filming his bit in your hallway, listening as you sang to yourself in the kitchen. “This is nice.” David mutters to himself, motioning to the shelf displaying various awards you’ve won over the course of your career so far.

Not long after the bit had been filmed, you heard the door open and Matt walked in. You let out a sigh of relief, knowing it was only him. “You’re not filming, right?”

Turning around to face you, David shakes his head as you relax in Matt’s arms. “I know the drill, don’t worry.” David states, holding one hand up as a smile crosses his face. “Like I get it.” He adds and you nod in response, feeling Matt squeeze you lightly.

“We can trust David, don’t worry Y/n.” Matt comforts you as he releases you from his embrace and wanders into the kitchen. “Are those cookies I smell?” He asks with a smile, glancing back as you nod along.

“Your favourite, of course.” You tell him as he spots them all laid out on a plate alongside another script.

As Matt picks a cookie up, his eyes wander to the script as he raises an eyebrow. “Another one, huh?” He asks you as David walks in, his camera in hand but he rests it on the counter- a sign to inform you he isn’t filming.

You run your fingers through your hair before you take a cookie, and David does the same as you take a seat opposite Matt. “Yeah, my agent thinks this one would be a good role.” You state half-heartedly. “I just don’t know if it’s for me.”

“What’s it about?” David speaks up in a muffled voice as he chews on his cookie, causing you to smile.

“I can’t go into detail, but my role would be the villain.” You say and you watch as their eyes widen. “I know, I know, so unlike me.” You laugh lightly and Matt shakes his head.

“Honey, this will be insane for you!” He cannot stop his smile from growing in excitement as his hand reaches out for yours. “It’ll make you a more diverse actress, how can you say no?”

You sigh quietly, glancing down at the script. “I’ll be away filming in England for a year.” You state.

Matt remains quiet, having heard the catch to the deal of a lifetime.

“I think I’ll leave you two to it.” David mutters as he picks up another cookie before grabbing his camera. “Thanks for letting me film, see you guys later.” He calls out as he lets himself out, leaving you and Matt alone to discuss this.

“I know what you’re thinking,” You speak up, lifting your eyes to see him focusing on the marble counter. “and I know, it’s a crazy offer but what if I don’t take it?”

“Y/n, you think I’m going to stop you?” He asks you sincerely. “I’m never going to stop supporting you, even if it means you’re in England filming. I’ll come and visit you because I know you’re doing something amazing that’ll impact your career.” He rambles on, unaware of how your heart is close to bursting out of your chest. “Honey, are you okay?” Matt speaks up, snapping you from your thoughts as you sniff lightly.

Rising to your feet, you walk over and sit on his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck. “This is one of the many reasons why I love you, Matt.” You tell him before kissing him softly.

“You never cease to amaze me, Y/n.” He says with a light laugh. “And for that, I’ll always love you back.”

You sit, watching the world pass you by as you sit back and finish memorising your lines. It’s hard to believe how quickly the time has flown by since you accepted the role to the directors wanting you to fly out. In a matter of weeks, here you are nearly landing in Heathrow airport.

As the plane lands and you descend from the plane through the airport, you’re met by your security. “Ma’am, I’ve been advised to tell you that you need to check your phone.” He states seriously, causing you to raise an eyebrow as you pull out your phone.

All you can see are thousands of notifications about Matt, all of them about you and Matt.

“Fuck.” You almost yell as you bring your hands up to your face. “How did this happen?!” You turn to your team, looking at them as they all share worried looks. “We were so careful, who leaked this?” You pull up the photo that caused this all.

It’s of you and Matt. You can tell them exactly where it is in your house. The shelf below your awards lies a shelf of photos of those you love. One of the photos happens to be of you and Matt during New Years just before the fireworks began.

“Y/n, you need to compose yourself because there are hundreds of paps waiting for you outside.” Your assistant, Tony speaks up. “If you need to know this very minute, David accidentally included it in a vlog.”

Your heart begins to break. “How?” You question bitterly, having felt all trust lost in a matter of seconds.

“In the vlog, he came to your house to film and included footage of your awards, how impressive it was. Obviously, some fans are super intentive and spotted the photo on the shelf underneath.” Tony explains as you groan loudly, crouching down to stop the tears spilling.

You take our your sunglasses from your bag, your team surrounding you. “Let’s just get this over with.” You tell them as you begin to exit the airport, ignoring the reporters and paparazzi as you reach the car and immediately dial Matt.

“Hello, Y/n?” He mumbles sleepily, the sound of his gentle voice capturing your heart in a cage. “Is everything okay?”

You sniff lightly, taking your glasses off. “Matt, everyone knows.” You tell him calmly, holding back your tears.

“What’d you mean, I, I how?” He stutters over his words, trying to comprehend how in the space of twelve hours everything has crumbled.

“David, he erm, included a clip where there was a photo of us in my hallway.” You state tiredly, feeling all of your emotions hanging by fine strings about to snap at the slightest disturbance.

“Fuck.” Matt mutters as you hear him shuffle from his bed. “Let me sort this out, okay?”

“What can you possibly do, Matt? It’s out, there’s nothing we can do to rectify this. My career is in jeopardy right now.” You’re yelling down the phone as tears fill your eyes. “I’m sorry.” You cry down the line, your body filled with exhaustion. “I’m just so tired and this is the last thing I expected to hear when I landed.”

Matt sighs quietly to you down the line. “Honey, it’ll be okay.” Matt tries to reassure you. “I love you, okay? Now, whatever happens, that isn’t going to change.” He tells you, causing a small smile to rise on your lips briefly. “Just, focus on work, leave this to me and David to sort out.”

“Are you sure, Matt?” You question, looking over at your team seeing all of them on their phones, dealing with being damage control. “My team has it under control for the best part.” You mutter to him, not wanting to interrupt them.

Sitting upright on his bed, Matt nods to himself. “I’ll speak to David, okay. Just, just go knock ‘em dead.” He tells you with a smile on his lips.

You laugh lightly down the line, wiping your eyes. “I love you, Matt.” You remind him, wishing he could be with you at this moment, knowing you want nothing more than to curl up into him.

“I love you too, Y/n. Now go on, I know you’ve got work to do.” He speaks clearly down the line as you glance out of the window, seeing rain gentle pattering onto the window. “Is that rain I hear?” He questions.

“Yeah,” You say with a half-laugh, “the first time I’ve seen it in months. More soothing than the California sunshine I’ll admit.” Your eyes don’t budge from the runs of rain connecting together, moving at a faster pace down the windows as you pass by queues of cars. “How is the heat back home?”

“Could be worse, but then again, you aren’t here to complain it’s too hot.” He jokes, causing you to roll your eyes and glance over at your assistant who taps her watch.

“Well, you better get used to me complaining it’s too cold and wet here without you, Matt.” You chuckle before you let out a small sigh. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”

“I’ll be ready and waiting sweetheart. Stay safe.” He speaks through a smile as he releases a heavy yawn down the phone.

“And you, speak soon.”

With that, you hang up the phone and shove it back into your bag as the car pulls up outside of the office. You can already see flashes from cameras and your name being shouted, but all you do is slip your sunglasses back on and wait for your cue to leave.

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softspiderling · 5 years

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five signs you’re too close to your boss | t.h.

anonymous said:

Hi may I please request a one shot of Tom with ceo au with this prompt “I’m your assistant and you just informed me that your entire family thinks we’re dating and you don’t want to let them down” please

Summary: you liked being the personal assistant of the CEO of Holland Enterprises. But sometimes you wondered if you were too close to your boss.

Pairing: CEO!Tom Holland x Assistant!Reader

Song I listened to while writing: If I can’t have you by Shawn Mendes

Author’s Note: I started out way different, and I was googling for some funny assistant/boss puns when I came across an article called ‘five signs you’re too close to your boss’ and I rewrote the whole thing. Hope I did your request justice, nonnie!

Warnings: the occasional fuck and shit

Word Count: 4k (this was not planned, I gotta be honest)

Masterlist

ONE: You call him by his first name

Balancing a tray with coffee cups, you knocked on the wooden door, waiting for a muffled ‘Come in’ before you opened the door with your elbows. You entered the room and were greeted by two men who sat across from each other at a desk.

“Good morning,�� you greeted them and placed their coffees on the table. “I’ve got your latte Tom and your americano, Harrison. Mark is waiting for you in your office by the way, and the meeting with the board members has been pushed up to three pm.”

“Thank you, Y/N,” Harrison Osterfield said as he reached for his beverage, grateful for your services even though you weren’t his personal assistant.

Tom Holland, your actual boss, accepted the cup you placed in front of him and grinned. “She’s a godsend, isn’t she?”

You made an offhand gesture and ducked your head at the compliment. “I just brought you your coffee.”

“And at the same time you told me about the changes for today’s schedule. Accept the compliment, Y/N,” Tom said and you rolled your eyes fondly. You were literally just doing your job. Sometimes you really wondered what Tom would do without you.

“Alright, I better go before my assistant sends out a searching party,” Harrison sighed and got up, his coffee in his hand.

“I’ll see you later T, thanks again for the coffee Miss Y/N,” he said in a teasing tone and left the office, his dress shoes clacking against the marbled floor, leaving you and Tom alone in his office.

“Is there anything else you need me to do?” you asked your boss and he pursed his lips in thought.

“Yeah actually, I’m planning to take my mum out to lunch. Can you make a reservation at The Clink?”

“Of course. Around twelve alright for you?”

He leaned forward and clasped his hands. “That’ll work. A table by the window would be amazing.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” you nodded and Tom gave you a smile.

“Thanks, Y/N, that’s everything for now,” he told you and turned to his laptop, dismissing you wordlessly.

You left Tom’s office and shut the door behind you, returning to your desk. Reaching for the phone, you dialed the number of the restaurant and waited for the line to connect.

“Hi, this is The Clink. You’re speaking to Lionel. What can I do for you?” a man said when he picked up the phone.

“Hi, this is Y/N, I’m calling to book a table for Tom-“ your eyes widened, before you cleared your throat. “Uh, for Mr. Holland. A table for two at noon, and preferably by the window?”

The other end of the line is silent for a few seconds before the man returned. “Table for two, at noon by the window. Got it.”

“Perfect, thank you so much,” you sighed, bidding goodbye before you hung up, leaning your face in your hands.

You’ve never realized how you always addressed your boss by calling him by his first name. It wasn’t something you did on your own, but rather a thing Tom insisted you doing when you first started this job.

You were pretty sure it wasn’t common for an assistant to call her boss by his first name. But as long as it wasn’t hurting anyone, it wasn’t a big deal.

TWO: His mother invites you along to private lunch dates.

You’ve been working on a few drafts of the invitation of the charity gala that was taking place in a couple of months, when someone approached your desk.

Looking away from your computer, you came face to face with Nikki Holland, Tom’s mother. “Oh! Mrs. Holland, hi,” you greeted her with a smile, giving her your full attention.

“You can just go right ahead, I think Tom’s still immersed in his work,” you said, gesturing to the closed office door.

“That boy is always stuck in work,” Nikki sighed with a headshake. “I’m glad you’re here to keep him from living at the office.”

You chuckled and ducked your head. “Just doing my job.”

When the door of Tom’s office opened, you and his mother lifted your heads to see him coming out, loosening the tie around his neck.

“Hi mum, have you been waiting long?” he asked and kissed her on the cheek.

“No longer than usual, honey,” Nikki sighed and he grinned, before turning to you.

“You take a break soon, okay?”

“Why don’t you come with us?” Nikki suggested and Tom looked at his mother in surprise, before nodding.

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.”

You shook your head, your cheeks flushed. “No, I don’t want to impose. I know you two haven’t spent that much time together. Plus I only booked a table for two.”

“I’m sure they won’t hesitate to add a chair to the table if I ask them to,” Tom pointed out with a grin and his mother smiled encouragingly at you.

“I insist. You have to eat anyways and you won’t impose, I promise.”

With narrowed eyebrows you looked between the two Hollands, who were looking at you with expectant eyes. A lunch at the Clink sounded really good right now, and Nikki was right, you did have to eat anyway.

“Fine,” you then sighed, the corners of your mouth tugging up. “I guess if my boss’ mother tells me to do something, I should do it, right?”

Tom snorted and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants.

“Don’t believe a word she says, mum. She never listens to me.”

“That’s because you make really dumb decisions from time to time,” you reminded him, grabbing your coat and purse. Nikki only laughed at the bickering, shaking her head fondly.

“You two can bicker over the most mundane things, it’s unbelievable.”

THREE: He asked you to be his date for charity events.

“You look lovely tonight, Y/N,” Tom whispered as the two of you entered the building, arms linked.

“You did buy this dress, you’re aware of that, right?” you asked with a raised eyebrow and he chuckled, shrugging with his shoulders.

“I know, doesn’t mean I can’t give you a compliment when it’s due, does it?”

You rolled your eyes fondly.

“I guess. Thanks for bringing me, by the way. I’ve heard really good things about this organization.”

The organization whose charity event you were attending was taking care of providing clean water for villages in South Africa and though you were glad to support this organization you weren’t a fan of the guests that used to attend these kind of events.

They were wearing expensive looking suits and dress. You didn’t really know how much the dress cost you were wearing, because Tom refused to tell you, but you were willing to bet a horse that it cost more than a 100 bucks (then again, 100 pounds probably wasn’t a lot when it came to these people).

Long story short, this wasn’t really your scene. Expensive champagne, rubbing elbows with wealthy people and tiny food portions wasn’t your style. But Tom had asked you to accompany him and it was for the good cause, right?

“I’m going to get us some champagne, I’ll be right back love,” he told you and unwrapped his arm from yours before disappearing into the crowd, leaving you all by yourself.

Slightly intimidated, you sought refuge at a vacant table and placed your clutch on it, looking around for Harrison, of whom you knew was also supposed to attend the event.

“Did I see you come in with Tom Holland?” an unfamiliar voice asked and you turned to see a blonde in a red dress looking at you.

The corners of her lips were curled upward, though the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Yes you did,” you replied, giving her a curt smile. “Why?”

She tapped her perfectly manicured fingers on the table.

“We had an nice… How should I put this delicately?” she trailed off, pursing her lips. “Encounter. And he hasn’t given me a call yet.”

You raised an eyebrow at her. What was this lady’s problem?

“If you’re trying to pick a fight, it’s not with me. I’m his assistant, not his date,” you clarified and her eyes widened slightly, before she let out a breathy laughter.

“Oh of course you are. I was wondering why he would be dating under his standard,” she chuckled and you narrowed your eyes at her, your cheeks flushing in anger.

“Excuse me?”

She smirked at you. “You can’t be surprised by this. You’re not exactly his type.”

You bristled at her insinuations and as you were about to open your mouth to rip her a new one, Tom joined you by the table with two flutes of champagne.

“Sorry that took so long, Y/N, the queue was insane,” he apologized, handing you a flute when he caught sight of the blonde, who turned her full attention to him.

“Hello Tom. Nice to see you again,” she said sweetly and you gripped your glass.

Tom gave her a polite smile, though you could tell he wasn’t too happy to see her. You were guessing that she was someone he picked up at a previous event and judging by his lack of interest, he had wanted it to leave it like that.

“Hello… Victoria, was it?”

“Veronica, actually,” Veronica pressed out through gritted teeth and you hid your smile, turning your head away.

“Right, Veronica. Sorry, must’ve slipped my mind. Did you need anything?” Tom asked and she fumed, though she raised her chin defiantly.

“Not necessarily, no. Just wanted to give the courtesy of letting you know that my father won’t be doing any business with Holland Enterprises. Have a good evening,” Veronica sneered and turned on her heel, obviously pissed off by how he was treating her.

“Wait, is she someone important?” you asked at the mention of her father and Tom shrugged, nipping on his champagne.

“She’s the daughter of Philip McAvoy.”

Your eyes widened and slapped his arm.

“McAvoy who you’ve been dying to get in contract?! Are you kidding me? That’s a big deal, why are you acting so nonchalantly about losing a huge client like that?” you hissed and Tom glanced at you, before he smirked.

“’Cause McAvoy signed the contract last night.”

You sighed in relief, shaking your head with a smile. “You’re unbelievable, Tom.”

“I am not going to let all the hard work go down the drain just because I didn’t give his darling daughter a call after an unfortunate night we spent together,” Tom smirked and you rolled your eyes at him, pulling a face.

“You’re gross.”

FOUR: He asks you to pretend to be his girlfriend in front of his family.

“You want me to do what?”

Tom sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

“I know it sounds like a weird request-“

“No, getting you sushi at nine in the morning is a weird requests, having me pose as your girlfriend in front of your family is crazy! How did you even come up with such an idea?” you asked. You hadn’t had expected Tom to ask you that when he called you into his office.

“I didn’t! My parents just assumed we were dating because of pictures they’ve seen of us at events. Especially at the office’s Christmas party,” he explained and your cheeks grew hot.

“You know I had too much to drink!”

“I know, Y/N. And I wouldn’t be asking you this if it weren’t so important to me. Please?” He looked at you with pleading eyes, clasping his hands together as if he was begging.

You gritted your teeth and rolled your eyes, before relenting.

“… Fine. But I expect a bonus,” you warned him and he beamed at you, nodding quickly.

“Of course, whatever you want, Y/N. Thank you so much for doing this.”

Two weeks later, you and Tom were standing in front of his childhood home and you were feeling like you were going to throw up.

“You okay?” Tom asked as you walked up to the front door.

“If by okay you mean currently freaking out about lying to my boss’ family about dating him, then yeah, I’m okay,” you muttered, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“You’ll be fine. They’ve always liked you, even before they thought you were my girlfriend,” he assured you and you frowned.

“I just don’t feel comfortable lying to them.”

“Then don’t,” he replied and you scoffed. “Just, stay as close to the truth as you can. We don’t want to get entangled in a web of lies.”

Tom pressed the door bell and you could hear footsteps from the other side of the door before you felt Tom put his arm around your waist, pulling you close. You barely had the time to react before the door was pulled open and you put up a smile.

“Tom! And Y/N! I am so glad you could make it,” his mother greeted you and Tom let go of you to hug his mother.

“Hi mum, happy birthday,” he mumbled and gave her a kiss on the cheek, handing her the bouquet of flowers. You smiled shyly at her and reached out to shake her hand. “Happy birthday Mrs. Holland. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Nonsense!” Nikki replied and swatted your hand away, pulling you into a hug instead. You yelped in surprise before you hugged her back with a laugh. “And please, call me Nikki. You’re part of the family now.”

“Oh, okay,” you chuckled nervously and Tom gave you a look.

“Alright, come on in you guys, you’re the last to arrive.” Nikki ushered you inside and shut the door after you’ve stepped inside

“You go right ahead to the backyard, I’m going to put these flowers in some water,” she told you and disappeared into another room, the kitchen you presumed.

With a hand on your lower back, Tom guided you towards the backyard. You were so nervous to face his family, you couldn’t even react to the countless pictures of Tom throughout his childhood. You made a mental note to make fun of Tom later, but right now, you didn’t have the nerves to do so.

As you stepped out to the backyard, you were greeted with a sight of familiar people. You were relieved to see that it wasn’t an understatement when he told you it was ‘a family-only event’.

“Hey guys!” Tom greeted his family, waving in the round.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” one of the boys said and everyone came around to greet you.

“Guys, this is Y/N. Y/N, you know my dad, Dom, my brothers Harry, Sam and Paddy. And Haz, of course.”

Your eyes widened slightly at the blond sitting at the table nursing a beer with a knowing smirk. That little fucker. He had to know all about the stunt, you were sure that Tom had a discussion with his best friend long before asking you to come to the party. You were not looking forward to the endless teasing you had to endure at work that following week.

“Hi everyone,” you waved shyly. “Thanks for having me.”

“Are you kidding me? I can’t believe we’re finally meeting you as Tom’s girlfriend. How do you actually stand being around this div during work and in your free time?” Harry asked and you shrugged with a grin.

“Eh, it helps that he barely acts like a boss. Usually I’m the one making the important decisions,” you countered and Tom’s jaw dropped while the rest hollered out in laughter.

“Wow,” Tom said, shaking his head with a grin.

“I knew there was a reason I liked her,” Dom said and smiled brightly at you. “Someone needs to put you in your place when neither of us are around, Tom. Can I get you guys anything to drink?”

Pleased at having received his father’s approval, you ducked your head. “A water is fine, thanks.”

“I’ll just have a beer, dad.”

Taking a seat at the table while Tom’s father poured you a glass of water, you nipped on it but not without sending a glare in Harrison’s direction, who was sitting across from you.

“Hey, where’s Tessa?” Tom wanted to know when his brother handed him a bottle of beer and Harry pointed towards the green bits of the backyard.

“She’s been digging for half an hour. Didn’t even hear you ring the bell.”

Tom took a big swing of his beer before letting out a whistle. “Tessa!” he called out and jogged towards the lawn, leaving you to fend for yourself with his family.

“So, how long have you guys been dating?” Sam asked as soon as Tom was out of earshot. You blushed a bit, and shrugged with your shoulders.

You internally cursed when Tom’s mother joined you, hoping you wouldn’t say anything that would make them suspicious.

“A couple months, give or take? I’m not too sure about it,” you replied, keeping it as vague as you could.

“I’m really glad you guys got together,” Nikki said and you looked at her in surprise. “He always looked at you like you hung the stars, it was really obvious that he fancied you.”

“Yeah, it was nauseating,” Harrison piped up and hid his grin behind his beer bottle while you narrowed your eyes at him. You weren’t sure if he was messing with you or not.

“You guys should have seen them at the office Christmas party. He was smitten,” he told Tom’s family, wincing when you kicked him in the shins.

“Oh we’ve seen pictures. That was why we pestered Tom about her and he admitted that you’ve been dating on the downlow,” Paddy said. “Though I don’t understand why he would keep that from us. He knows we’ve always liked you.”

“I think he was probably worried about what people would think if they found out he was dating his assistant,” you explained, defending Tom. You didn’t want his family to resent him for keeping a relationship from them if it wasn’t even a real one.

“What are we talking about?” Tom asked when he returned with Tessa by his side.

“About you being head over heels for Y/N, and not telling us you were dating until we asked you,” Harry teased and his older brother flushed.

“Well, I should be head over heels for her, she’s my girlfriend,” he pointed out and you opted out of the conversation by turning your attention to Tessa who sniffed curiously at your hands. She was the only member of his family you hadn’t met yet. You know, considering she was a dog she wasn’t really allowed into the office.

“Hi pretty girl,” you cooed to her, scratching her behind her ears. Tessa yapped and wagged enthusiastically with her tail, bumping your hand with her snout.

“She likes you,” Tom told you quietly, suddenly standing by your side. You glanced up at him before you returned your eyes to the Staffordshire.

“Everyone in your family likes me,” you pointed out and he gave you a look, crouching down next to you to pet Tessa.

“Maybe a little too much. I can’t believe you made fun of me with them,” Tom muttered and you snorted, rolling your eyes at him.

“Don’t be a baby,” you teased him and he looked at you with a soft smile. You’ve never noticed how much his eyes crinkled when he does that. And did he get more freckles on his nose?

“Jesus, you two are way worse in real life,” Sam commented and the two of you broke apart flushing. You hadn’t even realized how close you’ve been standing.

“See what I have to deal with at work every day?” Harrison joked and you and Tom glared at him.

“Shut up Haz.”

The rest of the evening passed in a blur, between having dinner, getting to know Tom’s family better and them teasing you and Tom mercilessly.

Their jokes got you thinking about the relationship you had with him. The work relationship, that is. You knew that you two were very close, maybe even closer than an assistant and their superior usually are. Sometimes you wondered if it bordered the line of being inappropriate, considering all they’ve been saying was somewhat true.

You found him very attractive and you liked him a lot. Even though he was in a higher position than you were (obviously, since you were his assistant) he still treated you with respect.

And since you were only human, you sometimes wondered what it would feel like to be by his side as something else than his assistant. Admittedly, you had a small crush on him. But who wouldn’t, right? A successful businessman, CEO of his own company, he achieved all of that in his twenties and he looked like that.

But you’ve always respected the boundary that was between you and him, allowing yourself the daydream now and then, but nothing more. But you never knew or even asked yourself, what he was thinking.

You knew about his occasional hook-ups, including Victoria McAvoy. But you’ve never heard of a serious girlfriend. At first, you’ve thought it was due to his busy schedule and the fact that he always threw himself in his work.

Now however, you weren’t too sure about it anymore.

It was later that night, when Tom was taking you home in his car. A comfortable silence was settled over you and you were leaning your head on the window.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” you suddenly said and he glanced over at you before turning his attention back to the street.

“Yeah of course, what is it?”

“Do you like me?” you blurted out and he swerved the car, cursing.

“Shit, Y/N, you can’t just ask me something like that!” he yelled and you stared at him, frowning.

“Why the tell not?”

Tom groaned and shook his head, pulling over. Turning the car off, he ran his hand through his hair before turning to look at you.

“Well?” you asked impatiently, narrowing your eyes.

He sighed. “I do like you,” he admitted and your eyes widened. You did not expect that.

“I didn’t want it to be weird for you, because I’m your boss and I don’t want you to feel like you’re obligated to date me, if you don’t like me back? I don’t know. It feels weird to have this kind of power over you which I don’t want to abuse that?” Tom groaned, hiding his face in his hands. “I guess I did pressure you into pretending to be my girlfriend in front of my family, but I promise I didn’t do it to make-“

Before Tom could continue to ramble on, you had dragged him by his shirt and put your lips on his, effectively shutting him up.

“Oh,” he sighed softly against your lips, his own curling into a grin.

FIVE: You almost fall off the bed at night.

You were still tired when you woke up, and judging by the darkness in the bedroom, it wasn’t time to get up just yet. Stifling a yawn, you reached for your phone that was charging on the nightstand to check the time, nearly blinding yourself by the brightness of the screen.

2:17 am

With a groan, you put the phone back down and wondered why the hell you woke up, when a nudge in your waist almost sent you falling off the bed.

Right.

Even though you’ve fallen asleep at your respective sides of the bed, Tom had somehow managed to sneak all the way over to your side and wriggled himself into your body, pushing you to the edge of the bed.

“Tom,” you hissed, jabbing him ribs.

“Wha-?” he murmured out, cracking an eye open just to frown at you.

“Don’t give me that face! What did I tell you about scooting all the way up in my space!”

His eyes fluttered close and he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“You’re comfy,” Tom mumbled and you sighed, shoving him a few inches away from you.

“You could pull me in your arms instead of pushing me off the edge,” you pointed out and snuggled up against him, smiling when he settled his head atop of yours.

“Shhh, sleep time now,” he said sleepily and you rolled your eyes, before shutting them to get some more sleep.

You really were way too close to your boss.

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queencarolinemikaelson · 4 years

Photo

After a solid number of years: Chapter Nine of care-bear-forbes and the-lonely-hybrid. You can read chapters 1-8 HERE on ff.

Caroline woke from her fitful sleep only a few short hours after falling into bed.

She honestly couldn't believe the night she had.

Surreal.

It was the only word for it.

Caroline knew she would have to go in to work at some point, but in that moment, she decided on some self-care. She rose briefly to make some breakfast and a cup of tea, before snuggling back bed to process what she was feeling.

Firstly, there was the opening party of her very own club! It was happening! All those years of planning and dreaming, coming to spectacular fruition. The next goal to focus on was the official first official day of regular trade, which was just four nights away, and there was still plenty to do to make sure they were ready.

Secondly, she met Klaus Mikaelson. Klaus Mikaelson; of all the people to attend a party she threw. That was a thing all to itself! Add the completely insane revelation that Klaus was actually her old friend Nik made it all the wilder.

Nik.

Nik, who she had loved and hated in equal measures, who both saved and damned her. She could hardly wrap her mind around the fact that he had been standing as close as two feet from her, mere hours ago.

She never thought her life could share so many plot points with a romantic comedy, but here she was.

Also, how the hell had she not noticed the similarities between Klaus and Nik? Surely she wasn't that dull. She had been blogging him like a maniac for years? Was she just blind, or just stupid?

Though, if the feeling she was experiencing right now was anything to go by, it was just too bizarre to reconcile the two as the same person. She always kept them so specifically apart from each other in her mind, so the connection was never obvious. Add the physical changes one goes through during their 20s, and maybe she was neither blind, nor stupid.

She took a sip of her tea, and let her head fall back onto her bed's headboard.

What on earth could she do with all this new found information?

If she was deeply honest with herself, Caroline knew her instinct was to run. Run away from the big city, back to her country town life. Where she could live away from this dread,and all the emotion being trudged back into her life.

But even as she considered it, Caroline knew she would never be happy if she did – as tempting as it was. She spent too long coming to terms with Nik's disappearance to let to control her life again. She also spent far too long working toward her dream business to walk away, for that matter.

As Caroline took another sip of tea, she realised that was what she kept coming back to.

Her life, her dream; that's what was important now.

She spent too long sifting through grief, too many hours crying, too many days of numbness to just forgive and forget. No matter how long Klaus promised.

The prize of his love may have been sweet, but to be swept up in grand romance… That wasn't who she was anymore.

A deep understanding settled over her, and it was terrifying to finally know what she wanted. To relinquish something she held so tightly, for so long.

But it nestled into her heart resolutely.

xxx

Klaus woke with a splitting headache. His metabolism was good, but it wasn't that good.

He was wrapped in a blanket on a semi-comfortable couch, far from his hotel bed, and Klaus groaned as he remembered his somewhat-drunken, extremely early visit to his sister. He also remembered drinking a little bit more after Rebekah went back to bed, to try and wipe Caroline completely from his memory

Fat lot of good it did him, though. Not only was his hangover worse, but he could still remember every detail of every moment of their conversation.

"Morning!" the cheery voice of his sister sang. "You look like absolute death, Niklaus. What sweet comeuppance."

"Thank you sister," he grumbled, immediately regretting it, as a wave of nausea hit him. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Uh huh, you do that," she smirked, in uncanny resemblance to her brother. "I'll make you something greasy when you wake next time."

Klaus fell back asleep almost immediately.

Why he'd insisted on stirring in the first place, he didn't know.

A few more hours passed before Klaus regained consciousness again. While he felt a damn side better this time, he was still feeling pretty rotten.

"He lives!" Bekah said, who was sitting next to him on the couch watching some trashy show on the television. "How about bacon?"

Klaus just nodded as he sat up, but didn't say anything.

Though, again, why he bothered trying to be awake was beyond him, because now, instead of waves of nausea hitting him, it was waves of utter mortification.

He would never admit it to anyone, but Klaus had imagined a reunion with Caroline many times. But none of them had involved him being slovenly drunk at 3am. How had that happened?

And to tell her he loved her and still did? What was he thinking!

Klaus sat in his humiliation silently, hoping it would relent somehow, until Bekah placed a steaming pile of bacon and eggs in front of him, as well as a very strong black coffee and a glass of water.

"So," she started, and Klaus just knew he wasn't going to be able to dodge these questions. "You met the love of your life."

"I did," Klaus said, forfeiting all pretext. It was Rebekah after all.

"And you told her you loved her."

"Yes."

"And you that you wanted to be her last love."

"I did," he said again.

"Very smooth," Rebekah said sardonically, inspecting her nails for non-existent imperfections. "Though, given the state you were in when you got here, I guess there's more to it than instant happily ever after?"

"I suppose," Klaus said, taking a big bite of bacon to save him having to respond more substantively.

"Oh, Nik," Bekah sighed. "Who even is this woman?"

"She's someone I knew a long time ago," Klaus said carefully, thinking it would be safe to answer that, given that Klaus barely told anyone about Caroline back when he knew her.

"Do you mean that online friend of yours?" Rebekah asked.

"How did you…?"

Rebekah just shrugged, innocently.

"You told me once about her, then told me another time you had a crush on someone who could never know the real you. Plus, you spent so much time on that website when you were a teenager," she replied. "Two and two."

"That's some pretty thin reasoning, Bekah," Klaus said, a bit defensive.

"Perhaps," she replied, coolly. "But your reaction confirmed it."

"It could have been anyone. It could have been Tatia!"

"Oh pish," Rebekah said, dismissively. "Tatia was a witch, and we both know it. All the women you've ever dated are not last love material, Nik."

Klaus shrugged, she was right of course. His track record with woman was visually stellar, but none of them were an epic love.

"Do you actually love her?" Rebekah asked, blunt as ever.

Klaus' cautious silence answered her question better than he could with words. Because the truth was, of course, how could he know he loved her?

Marshalling his thoughts into something resembling coherent, Klaus knew the major takeaway was of course he'd jumped the gun on telling her he loved her. He hadn't spoken to her in a decade. That kind of lack of communication wasn't a basis for love.

But he knew he wanted to try. Needed to try. Needed to see if she was what he remembered, needed to discover if his selfishness had ruined them completely, needed to understand the part of him that really was convinced he was still in love.

"I need to find out I do," Klaus said, for once, incredibly vulnerable.

But, Klaus realised he was always vulnerable when it came to Caroline. She was perhaps the only person beyond his blood that he volunteered his vulnerability to.

Perhaps that was why he cut her out so completely, because his reinvented Klaus Mikaelson was never vulnerable. A weakness like Caroline wasn't something he wanted the luxury of back when. He wanted the luxury of power.

"I best be on my way, little sister," Klaus said, as he pulled himself up from the couch, unable to sit still any longer. "Things to do. I suppose I have to make my way to the airport at some point. Thank you for breakfast, and the place to stay."

"Any time, Nik," Rebekah said, softly. "Good luck with everything."

He pressed a quick kiss to his sister's forehead, and slipped out the door before deciding where to go.

xxx

Two weeks later

Caroline sat in her office, staring at her paperwork.

She had been staring at it for days, really, and the more time separating her from her first encounter with Nik, the less she was able to push him from her mind.

It was now two weeks after the opening party. And nearly two weeks since they begun official trade.

Opening night, much like the party, had been a wild success. They had been at capacity for a few hours, and even had a queue for a while there, on a Wednesday.

And the days since had been exceeding what she had hoped for her first couple of weeks open. While there were some obvious kinks and stumbling blocks, as there was with any new business, Caroline let herself consider the idea that maybe this wasn't the completely crazy, doomed-to-fail venture others thought it was.

They were due to open for in a few hours, and she was excited. It really was exhilarating, running her own business. But, despite the success and excitement, Caroline was really struggling to the find motivation to do the pencil pushing part of her chosen business.

Because all she could think about was him.

In the two weeks since their encounter, Caroline had felt a myriad of things.

While she started off with whole-hearted conviction in what she wanted to say to him, after a few days, and some more lonely nights, she let herself imagine, wonder on all the what-ifs of life with Klaus. The life they could explore and discover together, what being his last love would be like…

Then she got mad. Filled with fury at the gall of him, after a decade to blind sight her with wild declarations of love, and empty promises of forever.

Then she was back to swayed by the romance of it all.

The underlying link connecting all her conflicting emotions was that it took a miracle for her not be consumed by thoughts of him, with work as the only thing that seemed to take her mind away.

But, now with opening day behind her, and a couple of weeks under her belt, apparently even that wasn't enough.

And so, she was back to being frustrated and upset with him.

Who the hell goes around saying I intend to be your last love and then vanishes.

Who the hell has the audacity to show up, after ten years, confessing an unending love, then doesn't even have the decency to provide contact details.

His complete lack of contact since he showed up out of the blue, solidified in Caroline's mind, that she was right. That her resolution to be frank and honest with him was exactly what she needed to do, even as much as she wanted to fall into him and never look back.

So imagine the storm of emotions she felt as someone tapped on the shoulder – hours after giving up on pretending to do paperwork, while gazing upon the second night of her dream – and she looked straight into the eyes of a man who never seemed to be too far from her mind.

"Klaus."

This has been such a long time in the making. Review HERE if you feel inclined. I’d love the feedback O:) and I love you all. Watch this space for part ten, which is written! So will not be another three years from now. Woohoo!!

#klaroline #klaroline drabbles #cheesecake's chook scratchings #what a TIME to be alive lol #klaroline fanfiction #klaroline fanfic

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cardandpixel · 4 years

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9 Board Game YouTubers I Follow & Why (plus a few others)

In the literal dim and distant past when I started boardgaming (honestly, the biggest threat was tallow wax on your board), the internet was still accessed by whatever IP address you could remember off the top of your head (there’s no place like 127.0.0.1 as they sayI) - and the only TikTok was the clock ticking, waiting for half of Louise Nurding’s left leg to download only to realise it was Anne Widdecombe and you’d hit the wrong link on a BB. Boardgames had some quiet and shady corners of the internet, in those same Bulletin Boards, there was one for HeroQuest and Space Crusade when they came out. But sadly, if you wanted to see a boardgame being played or learn the rules, you either had to go round to your friend Tim’s house where he had a new chits-for-days wargame going, or sit down and actually read the rulebook yourself. As a result, I bought some interesting games in my time, including a game called Operation Overlord - a mighty chit-tastic WW2 N African campaign monster that I bought in desperation from the Games Workshop in Manchester on the first morning that it opened in 1979 (?) as we were so far back in the queue that there wasn’t a space marine to be had for miles. But now, we have a plethora of kindly folk available on our blistering shiny Windows NT 486sx machines to inform and delight us in full 8-bit glory. Everything from reviews, buying guides, rules tutorials and even painting & crafting guides, we can be bathing in just about whatever aspect of board or wargaming we so desire in an effort to stave off the clattering realisation that it’s been over 3 months since we spent any quality time with another breathing soul outside our houses. The question gets frequently asked on boardgame FaceAche forums “What YouTube channels are worth my time and why?” so in an effort to throw my own towel into that controversial ring, here’s my pick of probably 9ish, maybe more by the end, but let’s start with 9 in no particular order..... 1) 3 MINUTE BOARDGAMES

One of the first board games ‘er across the table (TM) and I bought together was a copy of Gloom from a little games and comic shop halfway round the world in Hamilton NZ, Mark 1 Comics. As we were achingly close to moving to NZ a few years ago, we’ve kept up with many aspects of what might have been our life over there, so it was a delight to discover Jarrod (and now Stephanie) on YouTube, a friendly and familiar accent reviewing board games. But it’s not just the NZ vibe that I love, Jarrod does a great job of cutting thru the hyperbole and bloat often associated with trying to keep YouTube vids ‘long for the algorithm’ (ugh) and just gives very pragmatic reasons for a game either joining or leaving his collection. He has a great approach, and it’s nice to see him finally on camera instead of the disembodied voice. Great reviewer, and Stephanie is utterly hilarious. 2) THE BROTHERS MURPH

Mike & Nick are two of the most engaging brothers on YouTube let alone just in the boardgaming community. Their series on thrift shop finds has dredged up some hilarious and often tragic specimens from the grand days of Palitoy, MB and Parker Games. They are also masters at ‘speed reviewing’ often piling reviews of 50 or 60 games into the same number of minutes. I think I favour the ‘don’t outstay your welcome’ approach to YouTube in general, and the Brothers Murph are at great ease with this philosophy and yet they take on simple party games thru to the heaviest euros with the same distillation equipment, and yet their reviews are never trivial or throw away. We had the chance to chat to Nick at Airecon this year and he was a lovely guy, slightly blown away by the fact that people liked his channel. He’s also an awesome artist too.

3) ACTUALOL

There are many reviewers on the web who have cost me a fair amount of money, the worst being Zee Garcia, however, a close second is Jon Purkiss aka Actualol. Jon has a terrifying gift for finding games, and especially ridiculously affordable games, that I buy on spec and then end up absolutely loving. Jon has a light and breezy style which is instantly engaging - I also really want his comfy chair (surely in exchange for a nice review on here Jon???). His videos are tidy and concise and yet still convey a deep enthusiasm and joy for games. His reviews very clearly portray what the setting of the game is and what you’ll be doing, without getting embroilled in the rules. He always has great footage of the game on the table (please reviewers - look at the ratio of your face to the game you’re talking about - less than 10% game and i’m walkin’) and often favours the less pricey end of the market which suits me fine. Brilliant games I love thanks to Jon include: Second Chance, Magic Maze and Ninja Academy

4) OUR FAMILY PLAYS GAMES

There’s not much to be said about Mik & Starla Fitch that cannot be gained from watching a mere 3-4 minutes of their channel. For sheer exuberance aimed squarely at a love for bringing families together via our glorious hobby, you cannot top these guys. If you are ever - EVER - feeling slightly lacklustre about gaming or losing your mojo for whatever reason - heck if you are just feeling slightly down, treat yourself to 10 minutes in the company of these two excellent human beings. Their reviews and playthru’s have all the humanity you need in a game and after five minutes you are thinking “Is the US too far to go just for a gaming evening?” We’d both utterly love to sit across the table from these lovely people and just play, and I can’t say that about every reviewer, I’ll be honest. Their reviews are often centred around unloved classics (watch their vid dedicated to why they love Catan as an example - you’ll be clicking Buy Now before your know it) and also some great quirky unknowns that I’m trying to hunt down even now. They’ve just had a brilliant couple of boosts from both a spot of Good Morning America recently, and becoming reviewers for the mighty Dice Tower. I’m immensely grateful for a tweet by Rodney Smith for pointing me in their direction, my social media is a much brighter place with the Fitch family in it.

5) RAHDO RUNS THROUGH

“Heeeeey Everybody”. One of the first board game reviewers I ever caught on YouTube was the inimitable Richard Ham aka Rahdo. And I’m so glad I did. I would genuinely never sit down and try and learn a game from one of Rahdo’s playthrus, they are what I imagine being in a wind tunnel full of 50 tonnes of feathers is like. BUT and this is crucial - if I want an idea of what a game is going to feel like to play, there is no finer deliverer of the remote game experience than Mr Richard Ham. His unique ability to explain how a game is going to work, turn by turn; the decisions you will make; the things you’ll have to consider; the short and long term goals; are all brilliantly covered in one of Rahdo’s videos. His ability to make different choices for his ‘ghost partner’ Jen (who does exist in real life, we have bought jewelry off her, she’s lovely) also adds a real dynamism to the games, showcasing the flexibility in a design for different play strategies. Rahdo tends towards 2 player games and usually at the heavier end of the scale, but if there’s a game you are thinking of buying, check Mr Ham out first!

6) WATCH IT PLAYED

It’s often been said that Canadians are some of the politest folk on the planet, but when it comes to ranking Canadians, well, I’m sure they’d be too humble to rank each other so I’ll have to. Rodney Smith is the loveliest man in the world. There, end of article. But it’s true. We’ve been watching Rodney since we first got confused about the rules for Mice & Mystics (which we still got wrong but that wasn’t Rodney’s fault) and his ever chirpy, ever positive approach to his rules rundowns is utterly remarkable and frankly, enviable. And it’s his attention to detail and clarity for explaining rules that have rightly made Rodney one of the most important resources in the gaming hobby. If you have ever struggled over a rulebook and haven’t raced to Watch It Played, I will guarantee you will have spent far longer on that rulebook and lost way more hair than you ever needed to. We had the great honour of playing Rajas of the Ganges with Rodney at Airecon in 2019, and I mugged up on the rules sooo much. Regular imbibers of this rag will know my sloth for reading rulebooks is legendary but fortunately ‘er across the table (TM) loves them. But, for the 3 days running up to our trip to Harrogate, I did nothing but read that rulebook - this was THE Rodney Smith, you can’t get a rule wrong with Rodney. But of course, nerves kicked in and I could barely remember the rules of Snap, but the nicest man in the world could not have been nicer. Really, quantum mechanics has proved it. He was just the same man off the computer telly. Funny, engaging, warm and happy to chat as well as play (which I was also really nervous about doing!), if you don’t watch Rodney, are you really internetting?

7) TABLETOP MINIONS

“Pachow” From boardgames to wargames. As well as my slight addiction to cardboard, my other opiate overlord is 28mm plastic miniatures. Specifically those involved in tabletop skirmish games like Malifaux, 7TV, Fallout Wasteland Warfare, GuildBall and a smattering of others. Though recently more focused on the frankly insane amount of content being released by Games Workshop, Tabletop Minions is presented by the splendid Uncle Atom. (In fact, I identify his content so much as Uncle Atom’s stuff that I honestly had to double check the name of the channel for this article!). My plastic habit uncle (sounds so wrong, but so true) has possibly the gentlest delivery of anyone on the internet. It’s not so much content, as therapy. I know the net is awash with AMSR channels at the mo, but if you don’t want to listen to some overmonetized southern californian with some bubble wrap and a large capsule condenser mic, just hop over to TTM and listen to the Uncle for 5 minutes. He’s like a soothing bubble bath of content about painting figures, philosophy of the hobby, general art & design principles, and great life advice. He also wears a fez.

8) GIRL PAINTING

“Hello Tchoobies!” I painted my first 28mm figure when i was about 12ish - it was, ironically, a space marine of some sort - the old clunky Ral Partha ones. It looked terrible, but each model got a bit better till I stopped for some reason a few years later. When I got into Malifaux a few years ago (ie decades, several of them, later), I knew I was going to have to get back into painting; heaps of grey plastic does not a skirmish game make. (Little did I know I would have to revisit my microscopy days either when assembling damn Bayou Gremlins!) Two channels were recommended to me, the Esoteric Order of Gamers (more later) and Girl Painting. EOG put me on the path to believing I could paint again, but Alexandra at Girl Painting actually made me believe I could learn to do it well. GP’s approach to painting figures, terrain and vehicles is based on solid art theory. Her explanation of colour relationships and the colour wheel is something I can quote to this day. All of the techniques that I lean on so heavily in day to day painting both for table and display I learnt from Girl Painting. Correct use of washes, wet blending, non-metallic metals, shading, drybrushing, highlighting, model reading, all of it from studying intently, often with a brush actually in my hand while watching the channel. I cannot recommend GP enough if you want to put paint to plastic. Whatever your ability, you will learn something from this hidden gem of a channel.

9) ESOTERIC ORDER OF GAMERS

Another dang fine antipodean and another slightly unusual channel. I have a terrible, terrible memory when it comes to rules. In our early days, we also had a a lot of games with seemingly very over-bloated rulebooks - FFG games basically. I suddenly realised what I wanted was to lift the lid of a box and find in the lid, a summary of the important stuff i needed to remember about the game. Apparently I was not the only one. In 2013 a chap known as Universal Head started publishing an amazing series of rules summaries which condensed down some of the bloatiest rulesbooks down to often one or 2 pages of A4. It was a (pardon the pun) gamechanger for me. I can’t count the number of games in our collection that have a friendly sheet of A4 now as the first thing you see when you open the box. They are brilliant. And he’s still doing it to this day. I would argue that the more useful leg to his activities is the website rather than YouTube channel, but his channel does have the aforementioned brilliant figure painting tutorials, unboxing videos and some crafting stuff. The website is definitely the place for the rules summaries and also a fantastic resource for build-it-yourself foamcore box inserts. Though Folded Space have now made box inserts pretty affordable, there’s still no feeling like the satisfaction of building your own, and I would argue that some of EoG’s designs actually make more sense than some of the Folded Space ones anyway. AND THE OTHER ONES (Who probably don’t really need the exposure, but hey, only 11 people probably read this so......) Why aren’t these on the list above? Just because I wanted to highlight some of the more marginal channels above or more specialist rather than the pure reviewers. SHUT UP & SIT DOWN Possibly my favourite channel on YouTube, whose name sounds more like a menacing Yorkshire greeting than a boardgame channel. SU&SD seem to be a real Marmite issue on the board game communities. And I genuinely don’t understand it. Yes, their reviews are often really funny but honestly, if that’s all you take away then you are missing some amazingly detailed and thought provoking work. Quinns and crew’s reviews are some of the most measured and balanced reviews in the gameyverse. Their reasoning for the conclusions they come to are incredibly well thought through and often very surprising based on the tone of the rest of the review. They have steered me to some games I would never have looked twice at and steered me away from some very shiny games that I might have blown a lot of money on otherwise. Flagposting great alternatives is also a signature of their reviews, and that again has often lead me to some fantastic games. We don’t always agree (their recent review of 10 Oink Games was savage imho) but we always disagree for the right reasons. Again, I would argue their website is actually a better overall resource, especially their podcasts which are superb, but all their content is fantastic.

in a highly similar vein I would add NO PUN INCLUDED. Efka & Elaine produce some of the most thoughtful and intelligent boardgame review content today, and often for some of the deepest and most complex games. The joy of boardgaming is that it is highly subjective and there are lots of times when NPI like/dislike a game that I do/don’t, but they are engaging and warm enough as presenters to hit you with a gentle subtext that says “It’s ok - I know we like this game, we get that you don’t, it doesn’t make any of us bad people, just people y’know, have a sandwich with us” Efka criticising a game reminds me of when Dennis Healey once described an argument with Geoffrey Howe as being ‘savaged by a dead sheep’, though not in the cynical manner of the original. The criticism is loaded with that crucial dose of ‘hear me out’ that is sadly lacking in 90% of all other reviewers out there. Efka & Elaine are no GoggleBox reviewers, they are the real deal - they genuinely understand how games work and why. The sheer moral turmoil that Efka expressed over the cultural issues in Rising Sun was some of the most thoughtful YouTube content I have ever seen. I just wanted to do a little shout out to Johannes & Sunniva at BOARD GAMING RAMBLINGS - I don’t have as much to say as they are relatively new on my radar, but I have really enjoyed their content so far and find them to be like one of those adorable gaming couples that you might see every once in a while at your gaming group and have a blast with, and then not see for months and go “Awh - I really miss Johannes & Sunniva - where’d they go?” that feeling, you know the one. Adorable, with a hint of the esoteric. Also, a quick but important mention to the other titan of boardgame rules explanation that is Paul Grogan of GAMING RULES!. Like Rodney Smith, Paul is meticulous about rules explanation and is really clear and simple to follow, even for very heavy games, which Paul tends to do more of than Rodney, which is probably why I end up watching Paul slightly less, but certainly not for any less quality. Paul has such a reputation in the industry that he now works closely with many designers and publishers to help craft the best rulebooks around as a consultant. So that’s it - congrats for making it through folks. Didn’t think it was going to run this long, but turns out.... I quite like a lot of the YouTubers I watch - who knew? Until next time... happy gaming y’all.

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khookcreations · 5 years

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I’m a big fan of watching speedrunning – where video games are pushed to their limits and players beat games (that took me months) in a matter of hours. But I also love crochet. Why not combine the two?!

I started doing speedruns of my crochet work this year. I made it an incentive for reaching a fundraising goal for my Extra Life campaign; when I raised $250 I would crochet a Pokeball blind folded. It took me about an hour and a half, but that also included a few pranks courtesy of my husband.

Then I crocheted that Pokeball as fast as I could. I guesstimated it would take me under 20 minutes. It took me 19 minutes 3 seconds, whew!

You can see the whole video of that livestream here.

There have also been two crochet tournaments on Twitch, hosted by my friend Pawbu. The first one was in 2018 where 8 of us raced simultaneously to finish a Pacman ghost. Unfortunately we don’t have the whole video saved, but I won that race. I made this guy in about 45 minutes:

This year we did a tournament style race where we raced in pairs making various video-game-related amis until there were just two racers left, myself and Lineyatronic. You can watch that exciting championship here, but Lineya ended up winning that one. We do plan on making this a yearly event!

This was all so exhilarating! I love going fast. Maybe someday I’ll be the world’s fastest crocheter, like Lisa Gentry who can make 24 treble crochet per minute. Which is literally insane. But maybe, just maybe, with enough practice I could be that fast. I believe that crocheting, just like speedrunning is a learnable skill not purely an innate talent. Sure you might need to be a very patient person and have decent hand/eye coordination, but if you put in the practice you will eventually reach your goals.

So in speedrunning, there are different ways to classify beating a video game. Some you need to complete the entire game, that is usually called 100%. Some have no conditions other than reaching the end credits, usually called Any %. These are categories and this is how you compare your times to others’ fairly. If we are going to speed crochet together, we need categories too! I’m going to say it looks like this:

Title: Pokeball Amigurumi Categories:

30% (maximum 30 stitches around) – my personal best is 19:03

36% (maximum 36 stitches around) – my PB so far is 24:04

Blind-folded% (don’t peek!) – my PB is 1:20:10 etc.

Obviously, we’ll need a pattern so we are all making the exact same thing. Though hook size and yarn shouldn’t matter, you decide what you feel most comfortable with. It’s like choosing a controller; it doesn’t matter what you use to play, it only matters that you beat the game according to the category you’re playing.

Here’s the pattern I used for 36%. With my gauge, it makes a nice handheld size Pokeball.

Want to save this for later? Add it to your Ravelry queue or pin the image below!

Materials

Disclaimer: these links are affiliate links! Meaning I may earn a small commission from any purchase made. That being said, I use all these items daily and it goes a long way to support what I do.

Red, white, black yarn (I used RED HEART Super Saver Yarn)

Any hook (I used a Clover Amour 4mm)

Scissors

Yarn Needle

Fiberfill

Abbreviations & Notes

ss = slip stitch

sc = single crochet

inc = increase (2 sc in same stitch)

dec = invisible decrease (sc 2 together, watch my tutorial)

BLO = back loops only

FLO = front loops only

FO = finish off

Stitch counts are in ( )

If you need help sewing, see my guide here.

See how I do color changes here.

Pattern

Start in red – working in continuous rounds 1. Sc 6 in a magic circle (6) 2. Inc around (12) 3. [Sc, inc] x 6 (18) 4. [Sc 2, inc] x 6 (24) 5. [Sc 3, inc] x 6 (30) 6. [Sc 4, inc] x 6 (36) 7-10. Sc around (36) 11. Change to black, in BLO sc around (36) 12. Change to white, in BLO sc around (36) 13-16. Sc around (36) 17. [Sc 4, dec] x 6 (30) 18. [Sc 3, dec] x 6 (24) 19. [Sc 2, dec] x 6 (18)

Start stuffing.

20. [Sc, dec] x 6 (12) 21. Dec around (6)

FO, finish stuffing, and sew closed.

Button

Start in white – working in continuous rounds 1. Sc 6 in a magic circle (6) 2. Inc around (12) 3. Change to black, ss around (12)

FO with a long tail for sewing. Make sure to tie off at your color change and trim the other ends so you can hide them under the button.

To cleanly hide the join, take the yarn tail and bring it under both loops of the next stitch. Then bring it back under the back loop of the last stitch. This creates a faux stitch so you have a nice round button!

Sew button over the color changes and voila!

How fast can you follow this pattern? If you need help with a timer, let me know. You can use any timer, even the one on your phone but if you’d like to use the speedrunning timer I use, visit Live Split. Comment with your times if you decide to try!

Speed Crochet Pokeball Pattern I'm a big fan of watching speedrunning - where video games are pushed to their limits and players beat games (that took me months) in a matter of hours.

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axelsagewrites · 5 years

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Fred Weasley*Afterlife

Ship(s): Fred x reader, platonic!maruaders x reader

Request: nope

Warnings: Death

Masterlist HERE

Wattpad HERE

People were trickling in here one by one. Occasionally we’d have a bigger burst of them. The only job up here was too great them.

Sure, people die all the time but there are different sectors they send the newbies too. You can travel through the sectors but the older the sector the fewer visitors. They try to put you in a sector with people you mention in your paperwork.

Because of the number of people and sectors work was normally slow but I still preferred this job. I’m always meeting new people as a greeter.

Our sector is separated from the muggles and only squibs can visit with special passes. This meant when tragedies happened, we had less inflow than the muggle areas. Tsunami’s and other natural disasters cause a spike in numbers. The world wars must’ve really screwed the muggle sectors over.

Recently though we’d been hit hard. The wizarding war was going on. Voldemort was a prick and now he’s making the job harder. Every time there was a battle it was even worse. Luckily processing alerts, us when their queues getting long. Man, I'd hate that job.

The red light started flashing meaning we had a rush come in. the rushes normally lasted a couple days because of the paperwork and formalities. Someone told me it was a battle at Hogwarts or something like that. Everyone was scared and confused.

To get from processing to greetings they have to go through something like the floo network where they show at a random greeter in the sector, they’ve been placed in. I only had one more before a break. Thank merlin.

I sat in my swivel chair with my feet on my admittedly too messy desk when the fireplace lit up blew and suddenly there was Ia tall ginger standing in my office, gawking at everything. I kinda stared at him for a few seconds till he noticed me. Before he could say anything, I stood up “I’m (Y/N) and you are,” I held my hand up and his file materialised in my hand. He jumped, “Fred Weasley?” He nodded, “Perfect. Have a seat,”

“What is this place?” he asked as he took a seat at my desk.

Dropping his file onto my desk, I sat down, “They didn’t explain it to you?” I asked as I opened my computer. Thank merlin for computers. If I had to handwrite this id go insane.

“Well kind of but they were pretty um busy,” he looked down.

I nodded, glancing at the cause of death on his file, “Hogwarts?” I asked and he nodded, “Okay so basically you’re dead. Standard questions include, where am I? who are you? Can I go back? And what about my family? So basically, you’re in the afterlife. I’m (Y/N), I’ll be your greeter. My job is to make sure you understand, and things run smoothly. You’ll have a meeting with me about every two weeks for the first few months. No, you can’t go back. I’m not death, I don’t make the rules. And finally, any dead family members you can travel around the afterlife to meet and you can watch over the alive ones if you choose,” I said. His mouth was partly open, and he was just staring at me, “Simple really,” I said.

I turned to my computer since his e-file had shown up. “How do I know if my families alive?”

“I can look it up,” I mumbled as I filled some basic stuff in, “but we need to do some stuff first.” I went through a list of standard questions and organised everything. “Okay so we do give you a job assignment at first but that’s just to keep your mind off…other things? Either way, you do that, but you can quit after a month and then you can work or not. It's whatever really. you’ll be assigned a house or flat. You only get to move if you’re family size increases or you follow the standard moving system. The computers just generating your accommodation and you’ll get your job assignment some point this week. Understand?” Fred slowly nodded. “You’ll get used to it. Any questions?”

“My family. How do I- “

“I’ll pull it up,” I say as I click on the family section, “how many years do you want to go back?”

“Um, I don’t know. 10 I guess?” I nodded and typed in the information. “I have brothers and a sister. I wanted to check on them,”

“Coolio. Well, this is either good or bad news,” I said, turning to look at him, “They're not in the system.” I said which made his face scrunch up, “They’re alive. Theirs no parents either so they're alive as well. Only deceased people show up on this. I can look up any deceased pets and request for them to be sent over here,”

“No that’s okay,” Fred looked down at his lap. “Is it bad that I wanted one of them to be dead?” he whispered.

I took a deep breath, “I get it. I was 19 when I came here. Its been 20 years and I’m the only one of my immediate family. It’s hard because you want them to be happy, but you also want them here. There is a place for you to go watch over them but try not to get sucked in,”

“Can I go there? I-I want to see them.” Fred’s eyes were watering up. Most people were sad coming here but this time I completely got it. Id fell in that loop of endlessly watching my family. “Please?” his voice cracked.

“Okay,” I nodded, standing up. “Follow me,”

The standard viewing areas were normally extremely busy, but we had one in our office for newbies. Fred was hesitant to step onto the cloud floor “You need to trust me,” I said, stepping onto it, “See?” He nodded and copied me then we walked down the corridor till we found an empty section.

Once we got to a free one, I walked in and shut the door, Fred follows me. “This is your ID number and password,” I handed him a piece of paper, “Type it in there,” I pointed to the screen. He nodded, taking the paper and quickly punching in the numbers, “Okay now go to the menu, click watch, now you can scroll through and pick. Families automatically added but we can add more people at your request,”

Fred had already clicked on one before I could finish. “Why can’t I see anything?” He asked, frantic.

“Copy me,” I stepped into the screen. A wave of cold then a hot flashed ran over me then I was standing in a shoddy looking house.

A second later a pop was heard, and Fred was beside me. “George!” He said, rushing over to a boy who looked just like him? “Why can’t he hear me?”

“Because you’re not there. We’re watching,” I said. “He’s your twin?” Fred nodded, “Is this all your family?”

Fred looked around the room and nodded, “Yeah,” he gulped, “Mum, dad, Ginny, Ron, Charlie, bill…” he stared at one boy, “Percy. He finally was coming back,” he started to cry.

“I’ll let you be alone. I'll wait in that room okay?” Fred nodded.

Fred took a while, but I didn’t mind. When he arrived back his eyes were red and puffy. “How do you cope?” He asked.

“You just have too,” I shrugged, “this is it. You don’t get sick here, you don’t die here, I mean you can dream in your sleep,” I don’t mention ghosts and angels, not wanting to get his hopes up, “You kind of have to find a new family while you wait for your old one,”

“That’s sick,” he said, the words sounding venomous, “They’re my family,”

“And they're alive. And you're dead! If life isn’t fair death is a whole lot worse,” I snapped.

Fred went silent. “How long have you been here?”

“17 years,” I whispered.

“Your family?”

“Alive and well. Hell, even my grandparents are kicking it. One healthy family, I guess,”

“How did you die?” Fred asked. My eyes widened. “Sorry, it’s just I- “

“It's alright,” I said “People don’t normally ask. Have you heard of the order of the phoenix?” I asked and he nodded, “I was a part of that. my friends were in hiding and I had been on a mission. I got home early and wanted to surprise them. I was going to go to my family but-but I didn’t,” I took a deep breath, “but when I got to Lily’s the door was open. James was already dead. I went upstairs and everything went so fast. Lily hit the ground as I walked in., he didn’t see me at first. He was going for the baby. I did what I had to do- “I was rambling, “There was chaos for a few seconds then silence. My heartfelt like it had been stretched like gum and next thing I knew I was at processing,”

“I’m sorry,” Fred said after what felt like an eternity.

“It's not your fault. Hell, you were probably a baby,” I tried to chuckle, “For so long I regretted it. I wanted nothing more than to go back and tell myself to go see my mum. I ended up here every day for hours just watching. Watching is the bit that hurts. On birthdays and special occasions sure. I got to watch my brother’s wedding last week,”

“I-I don’t think I can do this,” Fred stammered.

“I still don’t think I can. But I do. I wake up every morning and I keep going. I’m here for you Fred. I will help you,”

Turns out I was there for him more than I thought. He moved into my apartment complex and was just down the hallway. He met my friends and it turned out he knew Lily’s kid. Sometimes the table looked quite awkward because of how the age system worked. Sirius and James didn’t look like a pair that would be friends.

Years and decades went on and Fred and I started dating, something I never thought I would do in the afterlife. We’d both died so young without partners that it made it easier. As years went on more people joined us. My grandparents, a couple of his aunts, even my old dog.

Fred, James, and Sirius were at work but had agreed to meet me and Lily on our lunch break. As we waited Lily broke into a smile. “What?” I glanced over my shoulder.

“That’s Molly,” She said, “I need to go say thank you. Come with me,”

“what?”

“Please?” She said, grabbing my arm.

I sighed, “Fine okay,” I followed her.

Well, this was one way to meet my boyfriends mum. She looked frantic and puzzled than she saw Lily, “Ginny? No dear what- “

It's Lily,” She cut her off, “It's okay. Sometimes faces get confusing when you first arrive.” Molly’s face crumpled, “It's okay. Ginny’s alive and well,”

“How do you know that?” She snapped.

Lily looked at me. I held in a sigh, “I saw her the other day while you were sleeping. Harry will be with her,”

“How do you know this? How can you see her?”

“Did processing not explain this?” I asked. She shook her head, “You had Karren, didn’t you?” Molly nodded. I turned to Lily “we have got to get her fired,” I whispered. Lily nodded profusely.

“What’s going on? Fired from- “

“Mum?!” I looked to see Fred, James, and Sirius. Fred rushed over, “Mum!” Fred wrapped his arms around her.

Molly engulfed him in a hug, running a hand over his hair, “It’s really you Fred. It’s you,”

“It's me, mum,” I could hear him holding in sobs.

Eventually, they pulled away, “You haven’t aged a day,” Molly said, wiping tears away.

“I did always want to stay young forever,” he joked. Molly laughed. Fred looked over at me, “Mum this is (Y/N). They work at processing,”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Weasley,”

“You too dear. How do you know each other?” she asked.

Fred put his arm around me, “We’re dating,”

“You can do that here?” she said.

I couldn’t help but chuckle, “Yes. Let us show you around. Their nothing to worry about,”

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dcsidcrium · 5 years

Text

Activity Update!

Hey guys! I know I’ve kind of poofed, but school has been keeping me insanely busy. It doesn’t look like it’s lightening up any time soon this semester either. I’ve got two term papers, plus a research project and the presentation and paper that go along with it. Not to mention exams and homework assignments in between.

I’m currently on spring break, and I now have Tuesdays through Thursdays off work. However, I’m using that time to get ahead and/or catch up on some things so I don’t fall super behind with my school work. Along with deep cleaning my apartment because good lord it needs it.

I did have some spare time to set up a thread tracker tonight, though! If I’ve got the brain power, I might try doing some things on here while I take breaks from school work and cleaning. You likely won’t realize I’m online though, as I’ll just be saving things into the drafts and/or queuing them. I’m going to try and queue things up in batches along with some general aesthetic/non reply things so there are posts being made.

I am always signed in on d/iscord and the t/umblr app while I’m not here if you guys ever want to talk! I’m always open to talking about whatever, or plotting things out/talking about our muses even if I’m not currently super active. I really appreciate y’all’s patience. I know some of you have been waiting awhile.

If you want to get a hold of me, the im’s are always open, or my d/scord is dcsdcrium#3346. Just shoot me a message with who you are when you add me!

Much love, guys! I’ll be on when I can!

♥ Kristen

#activity update!#;psa #eventually ill come up with a psa tag #;outofinstincts

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moonraccoon-exe · 5 years

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COON! You Play Horizon now? First DA:I and now Horizon? Ugh, all those awesome Gaming choices. I sadly didn’t play the game but I watched a playthrough and it is soooo stunning. I am so weak for games with such beautiful environments (one of the aspects why I love The Witcher). And YES for the badass female protagonist. Aloy is awesome isn’t she? I am glad that you are having fun after the initial problems. And i hope you‘ll be having a blast through the rest of the game. :3 -Peridot

PERIDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( ´ ▽ ` )

*SMOOCHIE*

HEWWO PERIDOT AKSJFKLAGDJGALKGDJ ZOMG HELLO I’M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AROUND AGAIN!!!

And hell yeah, I’m playing Horizong and I’m SO OBSESSED, YOU HAVE NO IDEA KLAJSKLGJFH. I’ve had a few days that I’ve stayed up past 1 am, which is like unusual in me because I love sleeping, just to keep playing. I haven’t gotten to play daily because my bro almost daily hogs the TV lmao, but when I do, dammit, it’s so difficult to take a pause! THIS ISN’T HEALTHY AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

And hell yeah it would be an awesome gaming choice. You’re like me and I’m like you just in different countries. The world was like “Yes, I will just copy paste this creature because Ive run out of ideas and just drop one here and the other across the ocean lmao what are the chances they’ll find each other” but the joke’s on the world because now we’re buddies lol

Honestly, the stuff you like is like. A mirror or like I ghostwrite what you tell me HOW DO YOU DO THAT. Or is it me who is a mirror and ghostwriting? HURRR e3e

But I digress ahahah

It’s okay to have only watched a playthrough! There’s people that do just that and that’s okay. Everybody experiences games in their own way, and not just as in their subjective perceptions of it, but also how they got into it in the first place! I’ve known people into the XV fandom that don’t even have a console, but that doesn’t make their experience any less fantastic!! Same for you, it’s okay to not have played it.

However, I do suggest it if you ever get the chance! I’m a little sad that I got it as second hand because I think “I know it’s just some miserable pennies to them but how I wish I could have helped with the popularity rating in the developers’ offices!”, that’s how damn good and incredible it is. Well designed, every single thing is where it needs to be, everything is so thoroughly thought through (oh my god so many tho’s), it’s absolutely gorgoeous. but I think you don’t need me to say that, you’ve watched the whole thing already and I’m just starting the climax!

Lemme add a keep reading right here, aye buddy? :3

So yep, big recommendation over here!!

I’m SO SO SO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO VERY WEAK FOR GAMES WITH BEAUTIFUL VIEWS AND ENVIRONMENTS TOO OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWDAKL SFJ DLKHAJ DLIFJA EGKLDJ BAKLDG

*EXPLODES*

SEE, PERIDOT? SEE? WE’RE LITERALLY THE SAME THING JUST SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, HOW DID WE STUMBLE UPON EACCH OTHER, this is like that one movie Parent Trap, and we’re the twins, except we’re not twins and you have your twin alskdjgk lmao why am i digressing so much today .3.

But really, I really really really love games with big and beautiful maps. It’s one of the reasons it saddens and frustrated me so much to be unable to play Breath of the Wild, I’ve heard the setting there is absolutely mesmerizing and stunning!!! But yes. Games with big beautiful maps and environments are the absolute BEST, they’re my jam, I could buy a game with the most horrible of plots just for the map and I’d LOVE it.

And the environment here in Horizon? Fuknin.g Spectalcular! OH MY GAWD IT’S SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL AND SOOOOOOOOOOOO STUNNING, I CAN’T GET TIRED OF IT IT’S ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC AND GORGEOUS AND SO BREATHTAKING.

There’s lots of snowy mountains and paths, too, which makes me so happy and comfy because I LOVE SNOWY ENVIRONMENTS. And I love climbing to high places to look around (you can tell I love finding Observatories aksldjlkg). I’m in love with ALL THE RIVERS HAVE YOU SEEN HOW MANY RIVERS HORIZON HAS? MANY. MUCH. VERY. LOTS. IT’S SO MUCH WATER I LOVE WATER BODIES AND SPECIALLY LAKES AND RIVERS AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

And all the nature all the plants and flowers and trees gawds fuck me I fangasm, such a BEAUTIFUL scenario!

HOLY HOH, THE WITCHER HAS A BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONMENT TOO HUH??? .3. I mean it doesn’t surprise me, it IS a fantasy plot and an RPG so naturally it has to have a BEAUTIFUL open world and wide map full of nature and gorgeous sights. GAWDS AKJFDG IKLJOLDKJFA GKLDJ KLJAD LK *GRABBY HANDS*

HELL YEAH ALOY IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FREAKING...SUPERB FUNKY LITTLE CREATURE, MOST FANTASTIC AND SKILLED AND STRONGEST BADASS BEING, THAT WONDERFUL AND AMAZING OH MY GAWD OH MY GAWD I FANGASM AGAIN MY LOVE FOR ALOY IS IMMEASURABLY INSANE AND HUGE GAWDS DAMN ME I LOVE HER SO MUCH ALKSFJ KHD JHKLGF

Gods, she’s such a gorgeous example of a badass strong female lead role. She’s strong and has her own personality and determined and gawds damn me oh my god I melt I LOVE HER SO MUCH

She as a child was adorable and I was like oooh okay I like this, and then in that montage where she’s training, and you see her give a roll when she’s a kid and when she lands she’s an adult? OH FUCK ME TAHT’S WHAT I WAS ARROWED OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD SHE’S SO B ADASS AND SO STRONG AND SO SKILLED AND OH MY GOD IT KILLED ME

I at first was afraid that I wasn’t going to do well with this game, because I’m not very good with technology stuff, and that still counts for in game things. Like, give me a sword and an ancient spell book, I catch my grip. But give me a...the triangle artifact she finds in the beginning? Not sure what it’s called in english. That thing that scans and analyzes, and codes, and metal things and I’m...hngngh...l os t. I can barely understand a smartphone, you can’t give me futuristic gadgets and expect me to do well XD

But I’m doing strangely phenomenal!! I caught my grip really fast and I’m doing fantastic with everything. Agaklsjggadk, the more I type, the more I want to leave to go game, ahaha!! Aaaahhhhhhh, but yes, I was a bit insecure at first but gods damn me am I obsessed now alksjdf dglkdj

I do am having a blast!! I’m doing as usual and going for all available sidequests before progressing in the story, so I’ve been walking around for a while before reaching the Carja place and meeting the sun king and stuff. Current mission of main story is cleaning 1 more corrupted area. EASY PEASY.

I’m surprisingly having more troubles with sidequests than main story actually ahahaha!! Like, “clean this corrupted area” yeah sure there you go. Sidequest, kill this one lonely machine that popped up from nowhere. Sure pal I’m- DEAD? WHAT DO YOU MEAN DEAD!?!? OH MY GO- OH MY GOD I DIED AGAIN STOP- HOW DO I HIT IT- NO- NO I’M DEAD AGAIN, OH MY GOD STOP!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Main story be like “go clean this corrupted area level 16″ pfff easy peasy. Sidequest be like “explode this zone level 8″ yeah okay OH MY GOD I’M DEAD, WHY, OH MY GOD THAT MACHINE IS GIGANORMOUS WHY IS LEVEL 16 FULL OF SMALL ONES AND THIS ONE HUGE IS- OH MY GOD STOP!!!!!!!!!!

Ahahahah but I’ve managed to clear sidequests! Some after many attempts, but cleared them. Gods is the explosive trap a miracle .3.

But anyways, that’s that dear Peridot!!! Thank you for whishing for me to enjoy the rest of the game, I’m SO sure I’ll have the blast of my life with everything yet left to do!!

I’m queueing this for an hour that suits you better, dear friend. Hopefully you’ll see this in your morning :)

Anyways!! Dear Peridot, that’s that about Horizon!! As always, it’s such a joy getting to talk with you. Thank you for dropping by, you superb muffin

Talk to you later, buddy!! Hugs for you!!

#Anonymous #Peridot #coonreplies

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jessicascontes · 6 years

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my rep tour/room experience.

HERE’S MY PHOTO.

so we went to both nights in manchester and we were so so lucky to be invited to the rep room on Friday night. under the cut, i’m going to put the entire story. if you’re mobile, i’m sorry angels !!

okay so,, basically, we went to the tour having zero idea anything was going to happen. our seats were block 128, and a lot closer to the stage than we were expecting to be honest. but, before the show had even started we managed to see andrea backstage and yelled to her but she didn’t respond, which was fine - we just assumed she hadn’t heard us. we sang along to all the intro videos that taylor played, and sang to the pre-show playlist. then we saw andrea again and waved to her and she waved back to us. we were also shown on the screen during camila’s set a couple of times which was insane because when we saw andrea in rep room she said that she’d seen that. after waving to her, we didn’t see her again until later in the show when she was taking people down to club meredith. we said hi to her and she grabbed my friend’s hand and we were all super excited. i told emma, that andrea had smiled at us and she reminded us not to get our hopes up because it didn’t necessarily mean anything, which is true. so we all just continued dancing an experiencing the concert, and honestly? it was probably the best concert i’ve ever been to and i’m not just saying that because taylor is a favourite but because you can tell the amount of effort she put into everything just for us. it was honestly my favourite show. by this point, we’d totally forgotten about the fact that we’d seen andrea a couple of times because we were just having so much fun. then, it happened. during this is why we can’t have nice things, andrea approached us from behind - so we had no idea she was even coming back to us and she grabbed my friend’s hand to get her attention. and that was it, we knew what was coming. the first thing she said to us? “i bet you girls thought i’d forgotten about you,” and that was it, tears started. emma? had no idea what was going on, she was still dancing around to TIWWCHNT. like, she’d came all the way back from club meredith on the opposite side of the stadium just to come and get us. i don’t remember most of TIWWCHNT on the friday night because i was just sobbing, my legs gave out and i was like,,, struggling to breathe. i’ve never had a panic attack because of excitement and happiness but that’s what happened on friday night. then the show ended and we literally ran to the opposite end of the stadium to the block where we had to meet taylornation. we went through the rules and filling iPads in and stuff, then it was time to head to Rep Room, and at this point; i’m literally shaking. walking in there was literally something out of a dream. i took so many photos of inside, i’ll probably add them at some point. they had pizza and drinks for us, but i literally couldn’t eat. i was so nervous, that i probably had like 3 mouthfuls and that was it. we took polaroids with the little instax things they had in there, we took them on the throne and with a friend that we met in there. and then, they asked us to move to one side of the room. and that’s when taylor and andrea walked in and holy shit, taylor is stunning. like, you think she’s beautiful in photos, but in person, she literally looks like a doll. she’s so so pretty, and she’s literally so tall. she was in a sparkly purple shirt, some shorts and her knee high boots. she like pranced through and was like “hi guys!! we’ll see each other really soon!” then went through the curtain to where we met her. and then, we started to queue up and got ready to meet andrea first. our conversation with andrea, still has me in complete awe. we all hugged her and told her thank you for choosing us and she said, “i knew i wanted you to be in here before the show even started. i saw the way you were dancing before charli or camila were even on stage. and i just knew that you needed to be in here.” we were all so surprised at this, and then she went on to say that she felt guilty for not telling us that we were getting rep room when she was taking people past us to go to Club Meredith. She said it was because they were only getting upgrades, but she knew she wanted us in Rep room that she didn’t tell us then. And honestly, I’m so so blessed that Andrea had known for the full show that she wanted us to meet Taylor. We took our polaroid with her and then it was our turn to meet Taylor. my friend Emma went in first, and Taylor laughed and was like “i guess you’re the brave one then,” and laughed. and honestly, her laugh, that close to me - made my heart like malfunction i swear to god. there’s an aura about her that doesn’t make you nervous, i felt so at ease in her presence. she called Lucy “buddy” and i’m certain that lucy nearly fell over when she did haha. then we all got hugs from her and she complimented my lipstick and told me that she was certain we have the same one and it’s the one she wears on stage. we all hugged her, and she squeezed me so tightly and i really needed that hug from her. it really does feel like she’s putting all your broken parts back together. on the friday night, she made a speech about the manchester attack so i thanked her for it. and the whole like atmosphere changed and she was like looking into my eyes, and she was like “i’m so glad you liked it. i just felt like i needed to say something. because this city is so brave” and then she started talking about how she knew this was the first show for a lot of people and she could remember waking up when it happened and being like “no no no no, this can’t be happening. this isn’t fair” and tHEN lucy told her that she understood because she’d felt like that because me and emma were there. and i was determined not to cry, but the whole conversation was just getting to me so i started to tear up and she fuckING GRABBED MY HAND AND STARTED RUBBING HER THUMB ACROSS MY KNUCKLES AS SHE TALKED TO US. she fucking looked me in the eyes, and told me “i’m so so proud of you for being here.i can’t imagine how hard it must be. it’s like getting your heart broken, and slowly opening yourself up to love again. you’re so brave,” and she squeezed my shoulder. and then the photographer was like “okay we should take your photo now” and i swear to gOD, TAYLOR GAVE HER THE STERNEST LOOK BECAUSE I DONT THINK SHE WAS READY TO STOP TALKING TO HER. but then we took our photo and i went on her right hand side, and like leant on her and she gripped my shoulder so tightly and squeezed it. i never smile with my teeth, but i was genuinely just so happy that i was finally meeting the woman that had gotten me through so many rough times in my life. she gave us all really big hugs again, and she like rubbed my back and squeezed me as she did. like, i can’t believe this really happened. as we were getting ready to go, i was like, “we’ll see you again tomorrow!” and she lit up and started jumping up and down and was like “oh my god, you’re coming tomorrow? that’s amazing. i can’t believe you’re doing that for me!” like,,,, taylor honey, i’d give you any of my internal organs if you needed them. of course i was going to try making it to both of your shows. then we got our signed 8 x 5′s and left. she told us she loved us as we left and honestly?? i’m still in awe that we got to have a conversation like that with her. and the fact that she told me i’m brave and she’s proud of me? that just,,,, that means everything. i’m so grateful to andrea, and taylor for this experience. i love her so so much. i guess i need a new 11:11 wish. @taylorswift @taylornation

#rep tour manchester #rep room manchester #mine*

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slightlyrebelliouswriter23 · 4 years

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Can you do 04 for the winter prompts x jurdan?? I'd love you forever.

so it’s been approximately 84 years since i received this ask, but it inspired me so much that it sort of spiralled out of control, and now it’s gonna be the start of a multichapter fic! thank you for your patience and for the inspiration 🖤💫