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sasa-slayer · 3 years

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Obey me! Brothers x Bipolar! Gn! reader Headcanons

In honor of mental illness awareness month, here are the obey me boys with a bipolar reader! I am a person with Ultradian rapid cycling bipolar condition, and the thought of these demon boys understanding and helping me through my struggles turns me into a happy blob.

Trigger Warnings: mentions of eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and, and sexual content, though not explicit.

Lucifer:

Helps in the most subtle way out of all the brothers. You won’t even notice unless if you pay close attention, and even then, you don’t see all he does for you.

Spreads out your schoolwork to fit your moods. If you are in a productive mood he might give you a little more to make up for the days where you don't feel good and he lessens your load.

Controls your sugar intake. You might think he’s just being a strict father figure, but sugar can be addictive and make your emotional state more unstable.

So in reality he is looking out for you, he just isn't the best at doing so without looking like the bad guy.

Gives you small gifts to brighten your day. They range anywhere from a key chain to a devildom rose.

Compliments you a lot, though often subtly, and means every single word he says.

Is always surprisingly patient and understanding of your mood swings and will calmly listen and talk to you through it all.

If he sees any scars from cutting, he’ll feel a blow to his pride, though he’ll immediately shake away those thoughts because this isn’t about him.

He’ll confront you about it but won’t pressure you to tell him anything. He tells you it's not something to be ashamed of, it's proof that you survived, and are fighting to live.

He’ll make sure you stop though and comes up with plenty of ways for you to release stress and feel alive without hurting yourself.

Such as singing, sports, art, and playing games with him and his brothers.

Mammon:

Honestly, when your with Mammon you usually end up buying a lot of things on impulse, and he doesn’t try to stop you; however, he always makes sure to help you feel good about your purchase.

Like it’s already done over with, so he’ll make sure you don’t lose any sleep over it, but if it still bugs you, he’s more than willing to pick up a part-time job with you to help you earn back the money you spent.

Experiencing mania and can’t seem to shut up? Never bothers him. He listens and hangs on to your every word with a love-struck look on his face.

Don’t feel like talking? That's alright, he’ll talk twice as much and ramble on about random things while slipping in a few comments about how amazing you are.

Plus he’ll never get angry at you for zoning out while he was talking, he’ll simply repeat what he said; but if you still aren't paying attention, he’ll just stop, grab your hand and smile at you as you both stare at each other in silence.

He is someone who rubs his thumb over your knuckles.

If you ever mention your suicidal thoughts, this boy will instantly panic in the best way possible.

Like he freaks at first, but immediately calms down because he knows how hard it is to open up about such a vulnerable topic.

He’ll listen to everything you say and makes sure you know you can always come to him to talk about these things and how your life is very precious.

Not just to him, but it is precious in itself.

Levithan:

Games with you if you had a stressful day.

You’ll come home and he has prepare junk food and snacks to fit your tastes and cravings, sets up an anime or two, and has your favorite game already on the loading screen.

You both stay up late ranting and getting deep in conversation as you play away at your favorite video games.

He never gets mad at you for raging, even if you squeeze a controller a little too tightly for his liking because he knows he can always replace a controller, but can’t replace the good relationship you have with each other.

He used to get mad about this, but he’s super patient and lenient about it now, and just tries his best to calm you down.

Finds animes with protagonists that have, struggle with, and overcome mental illnesses, or animes with uplifting plots in general; because let’s be honest, animes can help inspire and comfort you.

Makes sure to tell you the possible triggers in things he wants to watch with you and makes sure you’re comfortable with the contents.

Even if you said a trigger didn’t bother you in the past, he’ll still ask because he knows you might not want to watch something with that trigger depending on your mood.

Buys a bunch of plushies, crystals, and fidget toys to help ground you and have something to absent-mindedly play with as you do everyday things.

Satan:

This man respects you so much. He knows how hard it is to control his wrath and he can’t believe you have to control all of your emotions!

He thinks you’re so strong, even when you don’t feel like it, and he admires you for it.

Makes tea and reads to you to help ground and calm you.

Stressed out? Bam! Kava, or Mint tea.

Having trouble sleeping? Bam! Lavender tea.

Having a lot of anxiety and/or all of the above? Bam! Chamomile tea.

Sits and chills with you in his room.

The calm, yet the chaotic atmosphere in his room is just so comforting to be in whenever you’re feeling stressed out.

He takes you bowling to help you release your anger.

There’s just something about throwing a heavy metal ball with all your might that helps release that intense rage.

Makes a conscious effort to never yell at you; because he knows it will (A) aggravate you until you start yelling back at him, (B) make you sad and scared as you tremble, or (C), possibly his least favorite, make you turn indifferent and zone out.

If something does happen and he accidentally raises his voice, he leaves and comes back and apologizes as soon as he has calm down.

Meditates with you regularly, especially before bed. Teaches you breathing techniques, and walks you through them when you are stressed.

Never leaves you alone too long during a depressive episode, because he knows how evil the mind can be and how convincing its lies can sound.

He’ll make sure you never listen to the stupid voice in your head that says your “undeserving”, or “a waste of space”, and other ridiculous lies.

Asmodeous:

Self-care queen.

Feel bad or self-conscious? Be ready to be pampered. You’ll be taking a relaxing bath, be lathered in your favorite scented lotion, and afterward, he’ll do your hair (if you have any that’s long enough to comb/brush), nails, makeup, as he tells you how beautiful you are and how much he loves you.

Always reminds you that the makeup and products he puts on you are just to have fun and enhance the beauty you already have.

Feeling so stressed and overwhelmed you don’t get up out of bed? He’ll do everything to help you. He’ll pick out your outfit, do your hair, wash your face, literally anything that won’t chip his nails.

He’ll not only pick out your outfits based on how good they look but also what will help you feel comfortable in your current mood.

Feeling ugly? He’ll pick clothes that compliment your body type and help you feel confident.

Feeling hot and sexy? He’ll want you to enjoy those good feelings to the fullest, and put together a sharp-looking outfit to fit your style.

Feeling anxious and have a habit of fidgeting? He’ll pick a long sleeve or some gloves so you don’t scratch your wrists, a metal necklace to fiddle with, and some rings to twist and turn.

When you came to him the first time while having a sexual impulse, he was super excited but refused because he noticed you were acting unusual.

He asked about it later and you explained how you sometimes had sexual impulses due to your mental condition.

He immediately asked you what you were comfortable with, and if you were okay with him helping you out during those impulses.

If you said yes, then you better believe you got every single one of your sexual, and affection desires in general, filled.

If you said no, he will respect your decision and promise to never cross your boundaries, but still will always be there for you.

Beelzebub:

This demon makes sure you never overeat or undereat when stressed because he knows how much it’ll upset you later.

At first, he thought it was cute when he saw you come back from RAD and immediately eat a bunch of junk food, but then the next day he saw how much you beat yourself up for it.

He doesn't understand why since the food didn't change anything, much less your beauty, but he doesn't question it too much.

When he sees you stress eating, he’ll let you have a few bites, before he swoops in and finishes all your food.

If you get upset, he’ll pick you up and carry you to your room to cuddle and watch movies. He doesn't like upsetting you, but he knows he has to so you don’t regret your decisions tomorrow.

if you tend to under-eat. This guy will do everything in his power to get you to eat.

He’ll say affirming words to convince you to eat and offer to get/make you anything you want.

He makes sure you eat, even if it's just something small, and hydrate regularly, and rewards you with cuddles and head pats when you do.

Loves to work out with you.

Manic episode? Okay, use that energy and rush to work out and hang with him.

Depressive episode? He’ll take you to work out since he knows working out can make you feel better.

If you don't want to go, he won’t make you and will stay behind to hang out and do whatever you feel like doing; including doing nothing.

Gives the best massages after a stressful day, or any time at all.

Is hesitant to give you massages because he is scared to hurt you, but he never does because he is extra gentle.

Like so gentle it should be impossible with how strong of a demon he is.

Belphegor:

Believe it or not, Belphie is the one who helps you with your sleep cycle.

If you have trouble sleeping at night, then he’ll drag you to the comfort of the attic, surround you with blankets and pillows, and cuddle into you in hopes that he, the literal Avatar of Sloth, can put you to sleep.

If this doesn’t work then he will lay his head in your lap and listen to you talk about whatever you want to, and if you don't want to talk, that's fine too. Belphie just loves being in your presence.

If you struggle with staying awake in the day, then sorry, but he doesn't help you stay awake; however, he will help you get rid of those guilty thoughts.

You get upset at yourself for dozing off? He’ll correct you and say it's completely alright and it’s not your fault.

If you fall asleep somewhere like the planetarium, he’ll pick up your head and place his cow pillow under it.

In exchange for using your lap as a pillow of course.

He’ll cuddle with you and take a nap saying that he’ll help you study or do whatever you need help with tomorrow.

Never snaps his fingers in front of your face when you zone out. He’ll simply nudge you with his shoulder, or just lay his whole body weight on top of you.

Let's you play with and braid his hair when your feeling unstable to help distract you from your overwhelming thoughts and emotions.

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themonotonysyndrome · 3 years

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The Queen’s Lynchpin

We’re getting to part 3 of the ‘Successors of the Future”! This week has gone back to being hectic so I could only write this part here and there for only a few hours. Still, I’m happy that I could finally finish it.

And we have the names of MC’s and Yandere!Malleus children as well as his second wife and the other prince! Any piece of info from @tri3tri Second Wife AU is always fun to read! With that said, I’ll be adding their names into the 2 previous oneshots after this is posted so it’s all align. If you want to know more about this AU, please drop by at @tri3tri blog. Their content and drabbles are amazing!

Lastly, I think it’s alright if I don’t add the link and summary of the previous oneshots of this series in every new piece. The intro is just gonna be super long otherwise. But if you guys think that a link and summary it’s a good, please let me know I’ll be sure to add them in.

“Uh Mama? Have you been hearing... noises in the middle of the night?”

“You mean your sister talking to her mirror in her room in the dead of the night? Then yes, sweetie.”

MC smile, deeply amused, when her son let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just her talking to Ren.”

“I’ll tell her to keep it down if she’s talking to Renata at night, don’t worry.” MC assured him with a pat on his head.

“Thanks, Mama. Say, do you have any plans for today?” Lucien’s sudden question was a little odd to MC. The three of them have been staying in the house - only going out for a grocery run - lately, and she didn’t have any plans to change it.

“Not really. I was thinking to catch up with some leftover work from the office before Monday comes. Why? Do you want to go anywhere?” MC inquire curiously.

Lucien is quick to shake his head. “Oh, no, no. Umm... Mama, you often look so sad lately. We know that having Ren away at Twisted Wonderland has been hard on you, so I just thought maybe we could all do something to help make you feel better.” He explains with a bit of hesitance, wringing his hands. It’s clear to MC that this is one sensitive topic that he didn’t want to unintentionally hurt her with.

MC couldn’t help but smile at how thoughtful her little one is. Really, all of her children can be rowdy in their own way but at the end of the day, she always noticed that they tried so hard not to make her worry. But as the parent, it’s her honour to protect her children - not the other way around. Which is why seeing the hesitant expression on Lucien’s face tugs her heart.

“Oh, Luci. I didn’t mean to worry you and your sisters. It’s just that...” MC paused for a moment to think on how to properly express her feelings. “None of you has ever been separated from me. The issue with your father is one thing, but I can’t help but fret about your oldest sister. Is she eating well over there? Sleeping early on a school day? Oh, but then again, she does have a habit of waking up around 2 in the morning looking for a snack if she sleeps too early.” MC bit her lower lip, she should have told Renata during their last talk to keep some snacks in her room in case she gets hungry.

Ever since Renata had first contacted Sherrie and taught her the communication runes and she in return, taught her and Lucien on how to draw them on any mirror in the house, they all have been talking to Renata through the large, hanging mirror in the living room every day.

“We can ask her if she’s been waking up in the middle of night after our dinner, Mama.” Lucien assured their mother. He took her empty tea cup and pour some tea from the still hot pot and push the porcelain cup back to her. They were having tea and a light meal in the kitchen after he had woken up from his nap.

Sherrie passed on their invitation since she’s too busy livestreaming her latest game in her room. From below, they could hear her muffled voice.

MC took a sip and hums thoughtfully. “You’re right, Honey. I’ll be sure to do that. Anyway, you mentioned a family activity - what do you have in mind?” Perhaps a distraction is just what she needed to get her mind off Malleus and the inevitable danger he’ll bring.

Lucien’s eyes brighten in delight. Happy that he could do something to cheer her up.

“I found this recipe recently and I was hoping that we can all cook together? It’ll be fun I promise!” He pleaded. Among all her children, Lucien is the only one with the knack for cooking. Sherrie can make simple meals whenever she wants.

Renata, however, needs to be supervised even if she wants to boil a pot of water.

“Sure! I’d love to. So what’s this recipe you want to cook?”

Much later when it’s almost dinner time and Sherrie wrapped up her livestream, MC and Lucien are already in the kitchen preparing to cook. Curiously, she glances at the list of ingredients and steps for dinner that was left on the kitchen counter and her eyes bugged out at what they were going to make.

“I feel like there are things that mankind should never attempt lest the price be their sanity. And this? This is it!” Sherrie shrieked, flapping the flimsy paper incredulously at them. MC is preparing the dough while Lucien makes sure they got all the ingredients out and ready.

“What? Boba pizza sounds delicious!” Lucien rebuke with a small frown. “And beside, you won’t know if you like them if you haven’t try.”

Sherrie just slap her forehead at his words, as if she couldn’t believe this. “I know you’re pretty crazy for boba teas but this is ridiculous! Pizza dessert for dinner? Can’t we have something normal, Mama?” She pleaded their mother.

MC toss her a playful smile as she rolls the dough. “Well honey, it does sound pretty exciting when you said it. Pizza dessert!” When Sherrie’s face scrunched up in disgust, she tries to coax her daughter, “Aww, c’mon, honey. Look, you can order a delivery for yourself but come have fun with us! I’ll even let you toss the dough if you want.”

Sherrie folded after that. Honestly, making pizza - of any kind - is always messy process, but her children are having fun with smudges of powder on their faces and MC felt her heart lighten just hearing them laugh. Dinner might be unconventional tonight, but it was worth it to see Lucien enjoy eating his pizza and Sherrie reluctant admittance that it tasted alright, if a bit weird.

Once the kitchen is all cleaned up and their stomachs full, they settled in the living room. MC and Lucien watched as Sherrie used her old, red lipstick to draw the runes on the mirror. The surface rippled once, sinking the runes and reveal Renata in her pyjamas beaming at them.

“Good evening everyone! How are ya’ll doing?”

“Hi sweetie. We just had dinner.” MC said, glad that her eldest daughter still looks healthy and happy.

“You wouldn’t believe what we had for dinner.” Sherrie interjects dryly. The 3 of them are sitting on the couch with MC in the middle. “It’s so weird!”

“But you liked it!” Lucien countered with a smug grin before turning to his oldest sister. “We had boba pizza! It was amazing!”

“Boba pizza!? Nooo! I can’t believe you all ate them without me! I’ve been wanting to try them!” Renata whines. “I wish we can pass stuffs through the mirror. Wait - I might be able to do something about that actually.” She goes on to mutter about needing to bully the headmaster again.

The family traded what they did during the day, Renata assuring them that yes, she had a storage full of snacks in her room and that her favourite lesson so far is Flying class. Once that’s out of the way, MC asked her daughter, “How are your assignments? Is Leona-senpai’s son helping you out?”

When Renata told them that her History’s assignment partner is none other than Leona’s son, MC was a bit worried if he carries his father prejudice against Malleus towards her daughter, but Renata assured her that other than his funny attempts at posturing and warning growls, Bakari Kingscholar has been nothing but civil and helping out with researching and editing their papers.

“Yup! We’re nearly done with our homework and I think we’re friends now? He’s a bit of tsundere which makes teasing him so much fun!” Renata giggled. “You know, just today we decided to have lunch together after our assignment and when I went back to my room and check my bag, there was a candy bar inside. He must’ve slip it in when I told him that I snacked often.”

Sherrie immediately drop her phone. She was mindlessly browsing through her Twitter account while they talked, but her attention perk like a hound dog. “Whoa, whoa wait - he bought you food when you told him that you eat often? Me thinks he might like you, dude.”

MC’s eyes widen and Lucien gape. Could that be true!?

But Renata just rolled her eyes. “Oh please, I think he was thanking me for not making him do all the work. You know those tough guy acts? Yeah, it’s nothing special.”

Sherrie tilt her head, clearly not believing it, but keep it to herself for now.

“Being the only girl in a school for boys must be tough.” Lucien mused sympathetically. “I’m glad that you have a friend with you, Ren.”

“Well, Diasomnia students has mostly been friendly yet distant with me so far. Probably because of this,” Renata twirl her fingers beside her horns to emphasise her point. “But it’s cool. So far, no one tries to bully me or anything. And by the way, I’ve been staying out of trouble, Cherry. I haven’t even landed myself in detention so far.” She proudly announced.

“Yet.” Sherrie snickers.

Lucien frowns at her. “Ren has been working hard, Cherry. She’s been sticking to your plans, right? I seriously don’t think she will mess it up.”

“Nah, it’s all cool Luci. I’ve mostly been blowing off steam during Magishift. It’s super fun! I wish you guys could play too.” Renata said and then proceed to explain to her siblings what Magishift is all about.

That’s another thing that MC had picked up as Lucien grew up. Despite how close her daughters are, they do bickers as sisters tend to and Lucien usually act as the mediator and peacemaker between them when things get too heated.

MC couldn’t help wonder if her sweet boy would ever be like this if he was raised in Malleus’ castle.

The family talked a little more until it was getting late. After bidding each other goodnight and MC telling her daughter to keep herself safe, she ushered Lucien and Sherrie to their bed and tucked herself in.

That night, she dreamt of a past memory. However in her dream, all 3 of her children are laughing and free as they grow in her world.

Now that Lucien thinks about it - he doesn’t really know what Sherrie plan is exactly. He’s aware that they’re doing their best to help Renata avoid being discover by their father as long as they can and Mama told her to make friends with the children of her old friends since they helped her out a lot during her school life in Night Raven College but other than that? He doesn’t know what they would do once father found out about their oldest sister.

That particular though came back in his mind when he woke up from his sleep because he heard Sherrie giggling in her room. With blearily eyes, he checked the time on his phone and groan.

It’s 3.15 in the morning.

He push himself out of his warm bed with great difficulties and slowly padded towards Sherrie’s bedroom.

He knocked twice and groan, “Sherrie? It’s seriously late. Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

“Shit, Luci-chan? Sorry, did I woke you up? You can come in if you want. The door is not locked.”

With a tired grumbled, he swings open the door and zombie-walk to her sister who is sitting in front of her vanity table, talking to Renata.

“Hey Luci! Sorry that we woke you up!” Renata apologised quickly, guilty that they’ve disturbed their little brother. “I was just reporting to Cherry that I found several hidden and unmarked paths that connects to father’s castle and to the outside world of the Valley of Thorns. I thought it might come in handy so I wanted to share it with her.”

That sounds interesting to Lucien. He’s a little more awake now. “Did you use your spells to scout the area?”

“I sure did! Haven’t been caught by anyone or any bat so far.”

“What... what does father’s castle look like?” Lucien couldn’t help but asked. It’s hard to believe that he and his family are actually royalty. That his Mama and sisters used to live in a castle.

It’s still hard to accept that he’s actually a prince.

“Gloomy.” Was Renata immediate reply. All her previous good humour vanishes and her hard glare surprises him. “We hardly get any sunshine because father controls the weather with his temper tantrums.”

“Not to mention that we had to live with basically strangers.” Sherrie added. “I never really feel comfortable around the castle’s staffs. Sure we got the family wing all to ourselves but we still had to deal with them.” Both Lucien and Renata understand her unspoken words: having to deal with judgemental strangers is difficult.

“What are you going to do once father founds out you’re in Twisted Wonderland, Ren? Are you going to go hiding?” Lucien asked.

It’s Sherrie who answered him, “No. We’re going to make sure that he can’t forcefully take Mama or any of us back to the castle. I just need a little more info and we can act once the 3 of us are in Twisted Wonderland.” She explains.

“We suspect that once Cherry hits sixteen, the Ebony Carriage will also pick her up and by that time I’ll be in my second year as a student here. If that’s the case, we just need you here and then it’s the second phase.” Renata took over explaining here. “Rumours spread fast in Night Raven College, but it’s not going to reach to father. He’s in an isolated country. Well, not until he’s here.”

Lucien blink, now lost. “He? Who’s he?”

“We have a halfbrother - Victor. He’s the same age as you, Luci-chan. Looks like father didn’t waste any time getting his second wife pregnant.” Sherrie said with a smile that honestly send cold shivers up his spine. It’s sweet with a poison laced underneath. Lucien seen this smile only once. A girl from school tried to blackmailed and bullied her into doing her biddings.

He heard that the girl was transferred to another school in a different state soon after when news broke out that she was selling drugs with her boyfriend to the students.

Lucien would like to believe that the incident had nothing to with his sister, but he’s seen what she does for Renata whenever she lost her homework or to the English Literature teacher that had an issue with her.

So Lucien needed to asks this. “Are you... are you going to hurt him?” His voice is soft and careful.

Through the mirror, Renata eyed Sherrie in which his second sister leans into her chair and relaxes. “I won’t, don’t worry. After all, he’s not at fault.”

Words are Sherrie’s favourite playthings and at that moment, Lucien hopes she means it.

Funny enough, I’ve been calling S/N (Lucien) as Luciel because it means light and I HC that MC sees him as the unexpected light that Malleus gave her. Her daughters are a treasure but Lucien serve as MC’s light. It’s fate!

So far for Lucien, my main reference for him are two people actually. Dead Master from Black Rock Shooter and Nisha Labyrinth from Elsword!

Will expand more on them as I continue to write. Also, I’m shit when it comes to timeline and ages so here’s my rough idea so far:

Renata = 16 years old (first-year student)

Sherrie = 15 years old

Lucien = 13 yeard old

I’ll change the kids’ age if Tri reveal them on their blog.

#twisted wonderland #fanfic #twst mc #malleus draconia x mc #twst kids #Malleus and MC kids #yandere malleus draconia #Draconia Family series #Second Wive AU

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alyasgf · 3 years

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Reveals?

Part 5 of Everything’s Gonna Be Okay || Masterlist

Word Count- 2615

AO3

Notes- Crazy how I’ve had this chapter drafted for the longest. I went through a spout of hating all of my writing so I wasn’t really motivated. I pretty much just wrote Alyanette until I felt confident enough to continue this so,, yay here we are a couple months later, sorry for the wait.

Begin

She’d never say it aloud, but she adored her partner. She admired him for his optimism, loyalty, and how stupidly brave he could be during battles.

As she detransformed on her bed her mind also wandered to Adrien. It did that a lot recently, flipping back and forth between both blonde boys. It confused her heart, but still she knew it belonged to Adrien, as it always had, as it always would. With his soft laughs and softer smiles, Marinette couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to have him.

She laid there, staring up dreamily toward the night sky and holding her hands to her heart until a shadow obscured her view.

She heard a small knock and smiled. Did this stray ever go home?

She opened her sky light and stuck her head out.

“To what do I owe the pleasure savior of Paris?”

In the dim moonlight she could see Chat’s eyes crinkle as he smiled.

“I request your company, and perhaps some sustenance?” He said in an overly formal tone as he kneeled before her.

She laughed before inviting him in.

As he climbed down into her room she could see the glow in his eyes. Something about him was different, he seemed happier.

Most of the times that he would come Marinette could see a lonely sad look break through when he thought she wasn’t looking. It’s not that she minded of course, if she could be a form of comfort for Chat like he was for her she’d take it in a heartbeat.

“I have some chocolate pastries here, although they aren’t too fresh.” She offered him as he crossed the room over to her desktop. She didn’t normally make a habit of keeping food in her room, but Tikki had been snacking. Hopefully she wouldn’t mind too much if Chat stole a few.

“Sounds great Marinette.” He called over his shoulder as he sat in her desk chair and sat in front of her computer.

“What do you say we find some two player game on here and- oh.” Chat stopped mid-sentence and Marinette turned around from grabbing a pastry to see what had happened.

Apparently she forgot to close out the folder of Adrien’s ad photos she had saved on her computer.

She turned bright red as she ran over to the computer and quickly closed it out.

“That’s uh... research! Yeah research on some Gabriel designs!” She lied, facing her back towards Chat so he wouldn’t notice the blush now spreading down her neck.

“Right, well if it were research on Gabriel designs, why only have pictures of Adrien? Other models wear Gabriel brand clothes.” She could practically hear the teasing smirk on his face.

She turned to wack him softly on the shoulder. “Keep on this topic and I’ll make you watch me eat the pastries right here!” She threatened.

Chat held his hands up in mock surrender. “Woah so sorry Adrien Agreste fan #1.” He teased again.

In response Marinette took a large bite out of the pastry she had planned to give him. She made sure to make a show of it, with accompanying sound effects and an exaggerated sigh after she finished chewing.

“Marinette you wound me!” Chat whined, crossing his arms in a dramatic childlike fashion.

Marinette stopped to think about how adorable his pout was before she laughed and went to grab the second pastry.

“Test me again and there will be no more sweets when you come over.” She bluffed.

Chat practically snatched the snack from her hands.

“Then I’d have no reason to come back.” He said through a stuffed mouth.

“No, I think you enjoy my company too much.” She gloated before pulling up a chair beside him. “Now what game did you want to play?”

They spent the next two hours playing fireboy and watergirl, where Marinette was shocked to find they made an incredible team.

——————————————

The akuma was hard, there was no denying that. The akuma called itself Obedience. Anyone struck with its ray was forced to do what ever it said, as though playing a game of simon says with dire stakes.

Marinette regretted staying up so late with Chat the night before. How he managed to have the amount of energy he did was astounding.

Chat had already used his cataclysm and Ladybug had used her lucky charm to set up a trap, all they had to do was lead Obedience into it.

Unfortunately, they needed to charge up before that, seeing as the beeping of their miraculous was giving its final warning before it was going to give up.

They landed on a distant building and de-transformed behind opposite sides of a pillar.

“M’lady do you have any extra snacks? Plagg ate up all his cheese before the battle and I didn’t have time to restock.” Chat called from the other side of the stone divider.

Ladybug giggled. “Looks like you need to learn how to control your friend Chaton. Here.” She reached out with a macaroon for Chat to take.

Her curiosity got the best of her and she couldn’t help but admire his hand as he reached over to take the sweet.

Soft and flawless, other than the messy blue nail polish that glowed in the sunlight. At first she didn’t think anything of it.

“Going for a new look kitty?” She asked lightheartedly as Tikki refueled.

“What? Oh you mean my nails. Well, I had someone paint them for me yesterday and I guess I distracted them too much and they made a mess.” He replied absentmindedly.

Wheels began to turn in Marinette’s brain, but unsure as to why, she didn’t try to make them stop.

“Oh, someone painted them? They look cute, did someone finally take in this alley cat?”

“For someone who hates puns, you really do use a lot of cat related metaphors toward me bug. And as a matter of fact I do, and she’s my girlfriend.” He bragged. “Plagg claws out!”

Ladybug transformed as well and was going to make a joke before a few dot connected before her. Messy blue nails. A girlfriend who painted them the day before. That nail polish looked all too familiar. She tried to push it down, but the dots were already connected.

Suddenly she flashed back to Chat Noir seeing her folder of Adrien photos last night and she felt sick to her stomach.

“Hey bug? You ready to kick this akuma Chat style?”

Ladybug snapped out of her trance. Even if everything that she just thought of was true, there was still an enemy to defeat. She could fully panic later.

“I think you mean Ladybug style. Now let’s go.”

They only just managed to get to the Eiffel Tower before they heard her again.

“Where are you Ladybug and Chat Noir? Don’t you know good children come when they’re called?” Obedience sang from a few streets over.

Chat strode over to lure her to the trap.

“Well maybe this kitty needs to be put in time out.” He replied leaning on his baton juvenilely.

“Oh no sweet boy, bad children must be taught better!” She pointed cane at him and an array of vegetables began to shoot out at him.

“Oh no! I’m afraid already perfectly healthy ma’am!” He leapt and dodged as he lead her straight to Ladybug.

As he turned the corner, there she stood, hands defiantly on her hips a couple of feet away. He scampered around a very large pool of a certain substance that was hardly noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for.

He took his side beside his lady as Obedience followed behind him.

“I’ve got you now tomcat!” Obedience turned the corner too fast and slipped straight into the street filled with a ridiculous amount of oil.

She screamed as she slid, and in her fall her cane flew from her fingers. It’s momentum led it straight toward them. Ladybug stopped it with the bottom of her shoe, and stomped on it with a satisfied grin.

Once she let the akuma go and threw the now empty bottle of oil to reverse the effects of the akuma, she turned to Chat.

“Pound it!” She said it with her usual confidence, but Chat could see something else lingering in her eyes.

But he was supposed to be practicing piano at the moment so he didn’t exactly have too much time to question her about it.

“Pound it.” He replied, touching his fist to hers.

————————-

“Tikki spots off.”

Ladybug de-transformed in her room and immediately began pacing.

“Crap crap crap crap! Tikki I accidentally figured out his identity! How could I be so careless as to look at his hands? Why did I care that much.”

Tikki sighed as she sat on Marinette’s desk. Sometimes it was best to let her get it all out.

“Well obviously I cared that much because Chat Noir is my recently established boyfriend! God he’s going to get such an ego boost when he finds out we’re dating.” Marinette threw herself face first into her chaise.

“So you’re going to tell him?” Tikki zipped over to hove beside her holder’s head.

There was a muffled response from the chair.

“What was that Marinette?”

“No, not yet. First I want to see how much he knows, if he knows anything at all.” Marinette rolled over on the chaise, laying as though she were at a therapists appointment.

“Tikki do you think this will effect our relationship? Will it put us in danger?”

Tikki’s little heart warmed.

“Marinette, you guys will be fine. If anything I think this would bring you closer together. If it puts you in any more danger you’ll handle it together, like you always do.” Tikki flew closer to hug Marinette’s cheek and Marinette let out a deep sigh as she brought a hand up to hug Tikki back.

“Thanks Tikki. You’re the best kwamii anyone could ask for.” Marinette said as the stress melted off of her.

“And you’re the best Ladybug I’ve ever known.” She replied warmly.

Of course things would work out. This was Chat she was talking about, Adrien. There wasn’t a problem he couldn’t help her solve, with or without the masks.

————————-

After going over Tikki’s advice for what felt like hours, Marinette came to a conclusion.

She would tell Chat Noir (Adrien?) who she was. It was only fair, considering she knew his identity. She wouldn’t have came to this on her own, so for the millionth time in her life she thanked Tikki.

But first, she needed to have a little fun. She noticed how Adrien would tease her lately for how flustered she got around him, so she figured the least she could do was use this moment to get revenge.

Too excited to sit still, she transformed to confront her boyfriend.

———————

Adrien was laying in bed reading manga when he heard a tapping at his window. He looked over in shock to see his lady waiting outside.

“Ladybug?” He nearly stuttered out.

She was glowing in the moonlight, backlit in all her glory. She had a playful grin in her lips that made Adrien uneasy.

“Hey pretty boy, mind if I pop in?” She asked casually, as if it were totally normal for Adrien Agreste to have a spotted heroine outside of his window.

He calmed his heart, remembering this was his dorky girlfriend and invited her in. He had to remember to act friendly, not like he would with Marinette, nor like he would as Chat Noir. This wouldn’t be easy.

“Your nails look cute.” She offered casually as she sauntered over to sit in his desk chair.

Adrien froze. Ladybug had noticed Chat Noir’s earlier too.

He quickly pushed that thought away. Marinette had been oblivious of his identity up until this point, even after the thousands of clues he’d managed to drop. He wasn’t exactly concerned anymore.

He decided to take advantage of the chance to compliment his girlfriend without her being able to completely reject it.

“Yeah my girlfriend painted them! She’s so cute and sweet and pretty.” He replied dreamily.

He could see Ladybug’s eyes widen and her blush grow. This was going great.

“Did you need something?” He asked innocently.

“I- uh-“ Adrien laughed, his girlfriend really wasn’t too different outside of the suit. Flustered and flushed, she was still Marinette.

Suddenly something in her eyes changed. One second they were wide and almost panicked, the next they were full of suspicion.

“You know don’t you!” She accused more than asked. She stalked over and jabbed a finger lightly into his chest.

Now it was Adrien’s turn to panic.

“Know what?” He asked, hoping to play dumb.

“You do!”

So much for feigning innocence. Instead he opted for begging for forgiveness.

“Marinette, i’m so sorry! It’s just I knew you’d panic if I told you when I found out and it’s not like I tried to figure out your identity! It’s just that you put so much effort into the whole kwamiibuster scheme-“

“You’ve known since kwamiibuster?!” She practically shouted.

“-and you looked so cute.” Adrien added still trying to lighten the blow. “I didn’t tell anyone and I’ve known for a while and nothing bad happened so I figured-“

Ladybug cut off his rambling with a kiss.

Adrien was stunned at first but then ultimately sighed into the kiss as he leaned into her touch. His arms looped around her waist as he pulled her close, hands tracing patterns into her spandex covered back.

He pulled pack slightly, noses still touching. He could feel her breath ghost his lips.

“So we’re okay?” He asked hopefully, eyes looking deep into hers as they caught their breath.

“Of course, minou. I just wish you would’ve told me before you saw that embarrassing folder on my computer.” She blushed.

“Oh? But then I wouldn’t be able to tease you about it. Tell me, which one was your favorite? Do you think the greens really brought out my eyes?”

“You’re the worst!” She exclaimed, attempting to pull from his embrace. Adrien’s arms held her fast in place.

“You love me!” He announced proudly as he pulled her into a tight hug. “Ladybug is dating Chat Noir!”

“Would you be quiet! I don’t want to have to explain to Nathalie why Paris’ superhero is standing in your room.” She giggled into Adrien’s shoulder.

“Ladybug is dating Chat Noir” He whispered, this time softer as he nuzzled her neck.

“Yes she is.” Ladybug sighed, resigning to Adrien’s touch.

“Now,” He released the girl as he turned and clasped his hands together. “de-transform. We’ve had plenty of date night in your room-“

“Those weren’t technically dates” She interjected.

“-And not enough in mine.” He gave her a pointed look as he continued. “Of course, since it’s my room, I have full say in what we watch.” He could hear Marinette’s pout as she de-transformed. “But I’ll take suggestions.”

Marinette crossed over to where Adrien was pacing in anticipation and threw her arms around his shoulders from behind. She placed a quick kiss on the base of his neck.

“New Girl again!” She said excitedly.

“No.”

#adrien and marinette #miraculous marinette #adrien agreste #ladybug and chat noir #marichat #miraculous adrien #miraculous ladybug #chat noir #miraculous lb #mlb marinette #mlb identity reveal #mlb fic #miraculous fanworks #miraculous fic #miraculous fanfic

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cookiedoughmeagain · 3 years

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Haven DVD commentaries: 5.17 - Enter Sandman

Notes on the commentary for 5.17 with Lucas Bryant (director for the episode) and Shernold Edwards (writer for the episode)

This is a fun one and is by far the highest serious-to-ridiculous ratio from Lucas I have ever heard. Really lovely to hear him talk about how much he loved directing this episode. (As always this is not necessarily direct word-for-word quotes but hopefully captures the nature of the conversation.)

SE: So this was fun. I didn’t think it was going to be fun, but it was. LB: Wow - you were scared? SE: I was nervous! Because you’ve been working with this character for much longer than I have, and you guys are so tight you know your characters so well, you know the show. I was a fan of the show before I started, but you guys are /inside/ the show. LB: Right, interesting. SE: So I was writing it for you and I wanted it to be good. And I wanted it to be emotional but also I felt like it was a bit of a departure. LB: Totally. SE: And I was nervous too that the fans might be upset. LB: Right. Well personally this is one of my favourite episodes ever. SE: Oh me too. LB: Not necessarily because of what I did, but just reading it, it was fan-freaking-tastic. SE: So this [dream!Audrey on the phone] was one of the first shots that came through in the dailies and I looked at that and I was like; Lucas is a director! Look at the window, and the view, and she looks great. And we had looked at wardrobe and decided the short jacket looked great. And then seeing this I was like; That isn’t the short jacket I picked! But then I was like: Ahhh what a good choice! Because it flows! LB: Oh I didn’t know that I was breaking the rules. SE: No, you weren’t. I thought the short one was pretty but you made a better choice. LB: Oh good. I’m glad you think so.

LB: So this scene [Nathan finding Audrey on unconscious on the classroom floor] we actually shot this with the previous episode that was directed by Rick Bota, and thankfully he let me shoot this scene together with the end of the last episode where Audrey finds Grayson unconscious. SE: So how long before you guys did that did you know that you were going to have to shoot this scene? LB: It came up in scheduling, just because I thought it made sense because we were going to be in there already and set up to shoot a similiar scene. And it actually was awful because I was working that day, shooting - I mean working as an actor - and then I knew that this was coming in the afternoon. And it was totally sort of frazzled, and I was back and forth between planning the shot and being in the shot. And it was totally uncomfortable and awkward and weird. And I remember thinking, I do not want to have that experience for the rest of this thing, so it was great to get that out of the way. Because that happened, it happened for like an hour and then it was done and I got a couple days to think about what had happened and what I could do better and everything. So it was this sort of perfect trial by fire. But then at the same time I had Rick there to watch when I was on screen. Because that was the worst, I think, trying to do …. SE: Yeah like in the thing and watch the thing LB: Yeah. SE: So I’m sad because I love Kris Lemche [who plays Seth]. LB: So do I. SE: He’s so awesome. I think he just got cast in a CW pilot playing a role that’s very similar to this. So I’m just going to go on record and say that Kris Lemche should be thanking Nick Parker who originated this character. But I’m sad because I wrote this whole thing about his lustrous hair that ended up getting cut out. And I just thought somebody should pay homage to the lustrous hair. I tried but, the scene ran long. LB: I know, it was so good. It was funny and it was great, but that was part of the sad reality I realised of doing this - because it ended up running long, then any piece of anything that could possibly get taken out, got killed. SE: Yeah, I know. And it’s usually the fun stuff. LB: Yeah. SE: But a lot of the fun stuff did stay in this and I’m so glad. And I’m so glad you directed this one. But I wanted to ask you, because it feels like you didn’t have a lot of lead up time, between knowing that you had to shoot that scene that you were in and actually doing it. LB: Right, it didn’t. SE: So was that weird? Did you have to block yourself? LB: Yes. So we, Rick and I were shooting in that location the week previously, so thankfully I had a bunch of time between scenes to walk around, so any time I wasn’t shooting I go and nervously write things down. So I talked about it with Rick, and he told me what he was thinking, and I decided that those lines - those visual lines - could work for where our characters were going to be. SE: Oh yeah of course becuase that was a direct follow on from the previous episode LB: Yeah because Audey comes in the room, so I was like; Well Nathan can just come in the same way so we don’t have to light that again, we just do the same thing. SE: So going in to this I was aware that you were going to be directing and that we’d want to lighten you up as an actor LB: Yes! Thank you! SE: But I was also sad about it too because scenes like this one between you and Charlotte, we don’t get to do that a lot. We’ve got all this mythology stuff that needs to come in and case of the week stuff LB: Right. SE: And the fans, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, kind of like your face. And when your face is not on screen I kind of feel like they blame me. *Some joking around about who is actually in charge of the show and who’s fault it therefore actually is* SE: When this thing airs, I’m taking my name out of the phone book LB: Everyone - Shernold did all of us a favour by keeping my face out of this a little bit, so dial back the hate mail. SE: Goodness, and then also upset at Audrey even thinking about marrying anybody else. I’m going to keep my dog inside, and close all my windows, and hunker down. LB: It’s a TV show, people! Everyone knows the love story, the true love story, OK? It’s just … give Shernold a break? SE: Yeah let’s give Shernold a break. OK this guy [playing Sandman/Henry] was awesome. LB: Amazing. This whole experience was the coolest thing in the world for me. I absolutely loved it. And I got incredibly lucky in so many ways, it felt like it was divine at every turn. The actors, the guest actors; Rossif [Sutherland who plays Sandman] is a fantastic actor and was totally game for everything, I think he was incredible. Tim Beresford who plays Grayson I thought was fantastic. SE: Yeah he was really good. He’s a friend of yours, right? LB: Yeah, he is. And Emily and Laura and everyone who had to go into this illusion just went in, really went for it. SE: Yeah they all totally went for it. And - our show is always very emotional, and serious things go on too so there has to be a level of seriousness to it. But I feel like because we got to do dreams, that we got to go in a different direction. LB: Totally. SE: And I don’t think I’ve ever seen Emily, or the Audrey character, as relaxed, or as buoyant, or affectionate - I mean there’s obviously a lot of affection between Audrey and Nathan - but as affectionate or unencumbered, as unencumbered-ly in love with someone. But I think a lot of that came from you. LB: Hmmm. Well. I think it came from you, from what you wrote. Because Audrey Parker is always encumbered by the weight of the world. She has all these things to deal with; her identity, her lack of identity, what is going on, saving the world. So for her to get to play a woman who doesn’t have a care in the world, this is the most perfect life possible. I think that she just embraced that. And it wasn’t a vapid character, because that was a concern. But it was really amazing. When we first see them together in that world, it made me - this whole experience made me love actors so much more as well. Because so often when I’m acting, you feel sort of powerless, you feel like this meatpuppet in many ways, you’re being told what to do. And a lot of times you feel this frustration of not being able to really have this voice that you think you should have. Now, getting to watch actors, as the director, I was like; That is so freaking not true. And I am going to try to never feel like that again. Because from the moment that I said ‘Action’ until ‘Cut’ we were completely in an actor’s world. Like there would be scenes where I’d be thinking; I don’t even know how I’m going to do this or what I’m going to tell them. And they would just come in and bring it to life. And it was joyous to watch. To the point that there’s all the stupid pictures of me with my mouth so wide open leaning in at the monitors like a freaking idiot. SE: I think you should post those because I think people will want to see those. LB: *laughs* But I was really just so joyously appreciating getting to watch these performances. Because when you’re in it, it doesn’t feel good, it feels yucky. I mean these guys are fighting about the loves of their lives or potential deaths and imminent doom … SE: This guy [Sandman] is scary as shit LB: … so it was such a nice experience for me. SE: I have to say, this was one of the times where I regret not going up to set this season. Going up to set is not easy, because everyone works really hard, we have long hours, and we’re away from a lot of the amenities of the city, it’s not easy. What makes it good is the great people, the Haven crew (and the delicious food we get to eat.) The bugs, I’m not into. The ticks, I’m not into. LB: Yep. They’re lame. SE: The heat and the cold simultaneously, I’m not into. So, I wasn’t heart-broken when we were told that writers wouldn’t be going up to set for season five. Except for this episode. I wanted to be there for this.

LB: So this week, those first couple days, thankfully you kept me mostly out of this and the way it worked out schedule-wise was that other than that first bit that we shot a couple days earlier with Rick, I got to just direct for the first four days. SE: Oh that’s awesome. LB: So it was three days at the mansion, in the fantasy world, and then one day at the school where it was all Dwight and Sandman stuff. So for the first four days I didn’t have to put on any make up or get out of my own clothes. So I just got to focus on these guys. So this, look how gorgeous this is [as Audrey and Henry greet Grayson in the dream world]. And a couple days before this, it was freezing. And a couple days after, it was freezing. And when Emily first came out in the dress later on, it was so stunning. And we were outside and she had this wrap on, and we were thinking it would be nice if she took the wrap off, but it’s so cold out here. So I’m like; Great, I’m now the guy that gets to go and talk to her and ask if she’ll take the wrap off. And I’d been out there days before and it was freezing. Initially we wanted to put her on the dock, but I was just like; That’s going to be awful. So she said she’d try it. And it was like as she removed the wrap, the sun came through the clouds and I swear it was like 12 degrees warmer, the wind died, and we got this amazing shot - you’ll see it later - where the sun’s directly behind her, and it just seemed like we had done the best planning you could ever do. But we just got totally lucky.

SE: This was one of my favourite scenes [where Duke first gets Seth to remember Haven]. Kris is so funny. And I loved those words when they were on the page, but the little pauses that he puts in, in the delivery. LB: Yeah, he is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. SE: And so nice. It sounds really cliche, but this dude is really nice. LB: Super sweetheart. Fantastic actor. Hilarious, lovely person. And the two of them together [Kris Lemche and Eric Balfour], it was like, again, I just watched. And laughed, and enjoyed. And I was like; I don’t have anything to tell you guys, other than; you’re awesome. And one of these scenes with them - or maybe they got cut in half, but one of them was like four and a half pages or something. It was a pretty long scene of the two of them going back and forth. So I was like; Do you guys want to rehearse one? But they were like; Let’s just shoot it. And I swear to god, the first take, boom, they had everything down. I was like; Thank god. And that’s when you really see the difference between what makes a pro actor. Because you don’t have time for someone to be; Sorry, what was that? And that’s me, all the time, forgetting my lines. Thankfully Nathan doesn’t say much. SE: Which is not my fault either. Nathan is a man of few words. LB: I actually usually ask for less. Like; Can I not say that? SE: You do! Can I do that with a look? Can I just frown at that? Can I convey all that with just a frown? And then you do. LB: Right. Let’s just let Audrey talk, and I’ll observe her. But yeah when you have those huge scenes which Kris and Balfour did that day with those big scenes just the two of them, they just killed it. I had to do nothing.

[As Charlotte is talking to Sandman] SE: This scene was fun. We don’t usually get much sexy on this show. And I like how you’ve got Dwight there [through the window behind], looking in at his lady. LB: Yeah this was a little sexy. And she totally went for it. SE: She did. And that squeal that’s coming up? I didn’t think I was going to be allowed to do it. LB: I know, I remember we were sitting in this office, having that conversation. I think you wrote it in the script as ‘sorrority girl squeal’. And I was like ummmm, is that for real? But then I got on board, and we were like; Let’s do it and see. And she did it and SE: And she did it, but I thought for sure it was going to get cut out. I thought it just wouldn’t make it - at every turn. I thought the network would cut it out, I thought the studio would cut it out. LB: I think there were a couple voices that were wondering about it but I think the amazing thing about this episode was you could say, well, it’s an illusion. It’s not real. That was just a really good go, if someone was wondering; I don’t know if in Haven, we should …? It’s like; You have to remember this is an illusion. SE: Yeah, this is not Haven. [Charlotte doing her sorority squeal] SE: Oh Laura Mennell, you make me so happy. And then Emily’s face lights up as well. It’s just nice to see that character, even though she’s completely in a place where she shouldn’t be - if she had any power over herself she wouldn’t even touch another man except for Nathan - but to see her just being so free, and happy.

[Charlotte helping Henry with his cufflinks] LB: I thought he was hilarious in this scene. And when he tries to snap her back .. when he … SE: You’re still directing! Oh my gosh, you guys couldn’t see but Lucas was looking at Laura Mennell’s close-up, going; Oh there’s a thing there … LB: When he’s calling her back to the illusion here I love this. So again, we had zero time for these scenes because this was six days, this episode. SE: Oh yeah, you had to do this in six days! LB: So Eric Cayla, who is amazing and held my hand through all of this and was incredibly supportive and insightful. SE: He’s the most manly gentle man, and he’s a gentleman, but I mean he is gentle, and yet so macho at the same time. LB: He is, absolutely. SE: Like standing on set eating a wheel of expensive delicious cheese with a knife. LB: Yeah, that he takes out of it’s own holder. But so, I wanted to do something visually special for the illusion that differentiated it from the world of Haven, so part of it was in the colour. But we were also talking about frames; like frames within frames within frames. So you’ll see a lot of square symmetrical shots, or like this [Grayson coming to see Audrey in her wedding dress] through doorways SE: That was kind of menacing [Grayson’s hand on the door handle], I didn’t intend that. LB: Because you don’t know who’s hand that is SE: Yeah. Nice work! And look at that [wedding] dress. That was the first choice, right? That was the first dress any of us saw. LB: Yes, and I was like: Oh god, they’re going to go try on wedding dresses, this is going to be the biggest shit show, the decision of which dress to wear. SE: Yeah I thought it was going to be a hideous conversation. LB: And so I thought I would defer to the ladies and just shut up. So they sent out five pictures, and I think every single one of us picked the same one. There wasn’t even a question. SE: I think it’s one of the only unanimous decisions on the show. LB: Ever.

SE: So I had suspected it watching the dailies, but then also I was talking to some of our production managers up there and, the entire crew came together for you. LB: Yes they did. SE: In a way that was just special. LB: It was so special. SE: Everyone wanted you to do well, everyone was trying their best. And it worked. And I know you brought 80% of it, but I think if you weren’t the kind of person that you are, and the kind of professional that you are then people would have been just like; … yeah good luck LB: Well yeah totally. They could have completely sunk me. And I can’t say it enough, I spent basically two weeks on the verge of tears, just from pure joy. It was so incredible. And every single step from you guys here in LA, the production team in Nova Scotia and all of the crew - every single person totally supported me. Told me that they were going to support me. Made me feel supported. It was incredible. And then to see what a group of 150 people working together can do in 10 minutes? It’s amazing. SE: Yeah I mean I tried to write to the six day schedule, but I was not convinced. I was not sure it was going to be possible to get all that done in six days. LB: I think that’s just the way TV is going now that people are just squeezing more … Oh this is a nice shot of the two of them [Henry and Grayson] silhouetted in the doorway. It was all so beautiful and I was so freaking lucky. It was overwhelming, the love and support. SE; That was great! [Grayson’s body disappearing from the dream world] That was terrific!! LB: Oh good. SE: I hadn’t seen that but that is exactly how I had written it. Thank you! LB: Oh no, thank you. Although we should thank the post production people. SE: That was great that was the first time I’ve seen that. LB: Oh good.

LB: So a lot of trying to get through those days of blocking and scheduling stuff in the dream sequence in particular was we were trying to find lighting set ups, or share locations. And I’ve got to give it up to these guys [Adam as Dwight and Rossif as Sandman in the principal’s office] because I think this was the fourth day of shooting and it was all these two, all day. SE: Did you do it chronologically. LB: Yeah they went chronologically and they went from the first scene to the last scene non stop SE: No way. LB: Yep, so we would sit on Adam and he would do …what is it, 12 pages? SE: The whole thing? What! LB: Yeah. A 22 minute take. So to the camera guys; Thank you, and, I’m sorry. Because they were like; If I didn’t like you, you would be fucking dead right now man. Because it was hand held. So they’re holding the camera and shaking. They did an incredible job and it was just about letting these two guys go for it, and they wanted to. It was totally awesome to see, It was like theatre, we would watch it for 20 minutes.And again, totally pro. And Adam who only started being a TV actor a couple years ago, came and did this super professional badass shit. I was so blown away by him. I think he is excellent in this episode, I loved directing him, and he yeah, would go from start to finish, 20 minute take, killing it every time. Amazing. SE: That’s incredible. I had a lot of fun writing those two. One of my favourite things to write, for some reason, is a grumpy white guy. And that was a lot of fun, these two guys threatening each other. And for this two [Charlotte telling dream!Audrey about the Troubles]. I’m always interested in our Troubled people, but can’t always spend that much time with the Troubled people because they’re not the stars and they’re not what people want to see. But because of the way this was structured, and because you were directing and didn’t want to be on screen all that much, then I got to spend a lot of time with Dwight and our Sandman. LB: Totally. And I loved how he got a really character-y episode.

SE: Look at that hair. LB: He’s got good hair. SE: Beautiful LB: Are we talking about Balfour’s hair? Or Lemche’s hair? SE: I take the fifth on Balfour’s hair but he’s a handsome man. LB: I like that hair. And Lemche does ...- I missed the mustache though.

SE: Hey, did our crew make that? LB: Yes, that is fake. We are standing in front of the studio, we were in the parking lot of the studio for this whole day. So yes that entrance there used to be a … SE: And the gas thing and whatever? LB: Yes, that is a fake gas thing, no gas comes from it.

LB: I love this; it’s a very loud van [Seth driving away from Duke claiming the engine’s too loud to hear him] I apologise for letting them, but I let them ad lib whatever and whenever they wanted. SE: That’s fine. They were funny.

SE: Oh and this is the shot when the sun came out? [Emily sat on the bench in the wedding dress] LB: This is when the sun came out. And I wish, ideally my hope for that sequence was as a much longer shot that started further back and would go super slowly up towards her. But the constraints of the fact that we can’t just let it be an hour and ten minute episode meant that had to get trimmed. But yeah it was just so stunning. SE: I’m not a big wedding person, but I was wildly invested in that tiara. LB: I remember SE: I was a bit of a beast about the tiara LB: You were totally serious. You were like; I am talking freaking Cinderalla, with the white gloves, the tiara, the whole thing. SE: I wanted something with height. And to Joanne I have to say, you do a beautiful job, and I know you resisted, and I will say - you were right. We did not need a tiara that was a foot high.

SE: Oh I hadn’t seen this [montage flashback of Naudrey moments]. This is cute! The feels! Oh you guys can’t be mad at me, look at all this Nathan/Audrey stuff. Stop tweeting me! LB: I don’t think people will be mad. This is one of the coolest Nathan and Audrey … SE: Wow! That [montage] was longer than I thought too. LB: And that was one of those things that was conceived in editing, really. Because we had talked about the possibility of some flashback moments here. And Shawn Pillar was instrumental in creating that.

[Seth driving along rocking out to the radio] SE: Look how cute he is! LB: It’s hilarious. SE: It is really funny. And look we’ve got foliage finally. LB: Yeah, the colours [on the trees[ SE: We got to shoot in fall! LB: I saw a bit of the next couple episodes when it’s full on fall. I just did ADR SE: Oh is that the one where they’re outside LB: Yeah and the yellow house.Stunning. The fall was beautiful. I mean, it wasn’t that fun shooting, but I knew at some point it was going to look totally gorgeous. SE: I’m looking forward to seeing that one. I haven’t seen much at all from 5B because we were writing like demons and everything so it’s going to be all new to me.

[Audrey and Henry talking on the bench and he puts his hands to her throat] SE: Woah. When you did that, I was like; Whaaat?! That’s powerful. Because I thought, is he going to strangle her? And how can she be so calm. LB: Well he started doing that, because he started touching her and holding her face. And there was something sinister about it, so I was like, yeah, let’s go there. SE: Yeah and I mean normally - I don’t know I didn’t even intend this - but what I’m thinking is that because we’re still partially in the dream world. Because I think normally in that situation Audrey would be like; What? Get your hands off me! Punching him in the face LB: Absolutely SE: But this is a little different, this is still so intimate. I mean she’s not feeling it, obviously, because it’s all Nathan for her. LB: But she’s still not completely out. She’s still not Audrey Parker yet. SE: It’s really powerful. LB: Yeah it was an interesting line to try and figure out. Because yeah, when she remembers is she herself again? But she’s still in this world, he hasn’t fully released her.

[As the dream world starts to fracture around them] SE: That’s really cool. That’s what I pictured when I said it turns into a bit of a nightmare for him. That’s really good. LB: Good. SE: And I didn’t really expect this from the actor either. Because I think I put something lame in there like; ‘He screams in frustration’ or something. Which I know no actor wants to do but I had to put something in there for people who read scripts and don’t necessarily know what it’s going to look like when it’s done. LB: Totally. And that was just him in front of a green screen by himself. And he just went for it. And Emily wasn’t even there. He was just standing there doing those final moments on his own and I just let it go, and let him do it over and over. He did like 20 different takes, but so beautifully vulnerable and angry and lovely and lost. And that’s what I thought was really wonderful about his performance that you ended up carrying about him. And this song [that’s playing as Audrey and Charlotte wake up] Adam turned me on to it a long time ago and told me; Whenever I hear this I always think of Audrey and Nathan. SE: Ah that’s so sweet LB: So when it came to my episode I listened to it again and thought we’d throw it here in the end. SE: That’s a lovely image [Henry on a bench in the empty dream world]. I wasn’t quite sure what that was going to be like with him alone. I never really settled on what I thought that should look like and I think you made a good choice. It’s nice to see these two [Audrey and Charlotte]. What’s fun for me is that we didn’t have a lot of just Audrey and Charlotte stuff, even though we knew that they were mother and daughter. So I tried to use the dream sequence to bring them closer. LB: Yeah, I think that really worked.

SE: This was fun LB: It was! SE: You did a good job man. LB: Thank you.

#haven syfy #haven dvd commentaries #5.17 - Enter Sandman #haven maine #lucas bryant #shernold edwards

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years

Text

Survey #400

“it’s an age-old story: the first will be last, and the last will be kings / the small will be great, and the great will be weak”

Who was the last person you sincerely thanked? My mom; I thank her every time she cooks for me/us, and I really do mean it. What’s the longest you’ve ever stayed as a guest at someone’s house? Somewhere around a month. What was the last thing to really surprise you? My brother has a fiancee and is having another son! :') Have you ever found out that you have been sleep walking? No. Have you ever tried making something from one of those short cooking videos? How did it turn out? No. Have you ever written a review for a product you bought online? No. What was the last thing you had the urge to do? Idk about anything notable. Is there anyone you feel that takes you for granted? No. What is the last thing you had a craving for? A donut. Do you ever read the comments on social media posts? Sometimes. What was the last thing you felt like you wasted money on? It's so rare that I buy things with my own cash that I really don't know. What was the last thing you wanted to buy, but couldn’t afford? Venus' terrarium on my own. Mom has to help me with buying it. What is a recipe you’d like to try to make for yourself? I don’t cook, so. What goes through your mind when you look back at old photographs of yourself? More than anything, I get sad over how much weight I've gained. I was so healthy once upon a time. It also just makes me miss my childhood. What was the subject matter of the last email you sent? I believe it was about setting up an appointment with my therapist. How do you get your news? Facebook articles, really. What do you think about lizards? I love them! I was that kid that always tried to catch them when I saw 'em. Now I just observe because I don't want to terrify them by trying to pick them up. Have you ever done consumer testing (testing products before they come out on the market)? If not, would you ever want to? No, but sure, I'd do it. Have you ever received anesthesia or morphine? Both. The time I received morphine, it did jack-all for me. If you had to choose which video game to be in, which would it be? Hmmm... I would say Azeroth from World of Warcraft, but too much shit goes down, ha ha. Perhaps the top of the temple in Shadow of the Colossus? So long as I could have someone I love with me, I'd be in Heaven. Although... I doubt there's WiFi there, so I might drop that answer, lmfao. I really don't know. Between the two, would you rather live in a place where it’s only night or where it’s only day? Day. I need the natural light of day sometimes, and if I wanted to sleep, I could just find shade. If you had to be an actor/actress in a movie, what genre of the movie would you be best at? Fantasy. Out of fire, earth, water, wind, light, and dark, which element appeals the most to you? Dark. What’s one thing that you wish was real? Friendly dragons, haha. Is there anything (show, comedian, etc.) that you constantly quote or make references to? No. What’s your favorite Disney Channel movie? I have absolutely no idea. I don't even remember almost any of them. What’s your favorite holiday? Christmas. Do you ever have to do yard work? No. Do you have any live versions of songs in your music software? Yes. Did/do you listen to Britney Spears songs? Yeah, sometimes. I genuinely don't mind her. Do you still make Christmas lists? Yeah, because I'm asked to. Do you watch the show Dexter? Never seen it. Which musical instrument do you think sounds the prettiest? I'm torn between the violin, harp, and piano. Is your mom or dad the older parent? Mom, by a year. Do you and your parents like any of the same bands/singers? A lot, actually. Is there any food in your bedroom? What? I have these tictacs I keep in my purse in case of a dry mouth. Medication makes me have that severely, and my psychiatrist recommended me to always have a hard candy available to suck on since it forces salivation. Do you know anyone who has road rage? Who? My younger sister, badly. How far away do your grandparents live from you? They're all dead, but they lived in far away states. Do you know anyone who wants to be the president one day? No. What kinds of chips are in the cupboards? None. It's a bad idea to keep chips in this house, haha. Do you have your mom's or dad's hair? Well, I was born with dirty blonde hair like my dad, but my hair is thick and more similar in color now to my mom's before the cancer completely drained the color. If you were going out with your celebrity crush, what would you wear? OH MY GOD LA;KSDJFAKLWJE I DON'T KNOW I LOOK AWFUL IN EVERYTHING. Have you ever cried when a teacher retired? Teared up, yes, multiple times. Do you swear and yell while playing video games? I might swear under my breath, but that's the extent of it. If you were adopted, would you want to know? At this point in my life, I don't really know. I kinda find myself leaning towards no. Has a best friend ever ditched you for a girlfriend/boyfriend? Pretty much. Do your pets chase after bugs? Roman sure does. When’s the last time you were so excited you couldn’t sleep? Why? I want to say that was the night before I was getting my tattoo redone. Do you own any flip-flops? Yeah, considering they're like... all I wear, ever. Did you ever really believe that the stork brought babies? I don't believe so, no. Have you ever had a dream about sleeping with a celebrity? (You don’t have to give details.) It was the only lucid dream I've ever had and I'm not complaining about it lmao. Have you ever had a dream that upset you or made you cry? Oh I'm sure. Has anyone ever told you that they needed you? Do you think they meant it? Not to my recollection, no, and I don't believe you should ever adopt that mentality and say that to someone. Do you own a laser? No. Is there anything you like to put on a sandwich, that some might find odd? Nah. I do enjoy a layer of potato chips on some sandwiches, like ham and cheese, but I know that's like an actual thing some people just like. What colour are the shoes you wear most often? They're black flip-flops. When was the last time you were required to put on a mask? In the morning when I go to the TMS office. And what colour was the last mask you wore? It's one of those normal blue and white medical ones. The last time you were in a queue, what were you waiting for? To see the woman who would give me my APAP mask. Have you had your Covid vaccine yet? Which one, if you have? Yes, Moderna. If you've had your vaccine, did you experience any side effects? None for the first shot, but my second shot bruised badly and I felt seriously shitty the following day. I was perfectly fine afterwards, though. Can any of your friends sing well? Which one has the nicest singing voice? Sara has an AMAAAAAAAAAAAZING voice. When was the last time you wore make-up, if ever? What shades/colours? I don't even remember, but I'm sure it would've been black. What is something that seems popular, but doesn't interest you personally? Fashion, various TV shows, etc... Are you clumsy or graceful? I am STUPID clumsy. Like it's just ridiculous. Do you like gloves? I like fingerless gloves. Does your sibling(s) have braces? My older sister did as a kid. Do you ever say "OMG" in person? No; it's a random pet peeve of mine, "Internet talk" irl. What was the last thing your parents got mad at you for? Dad, no idea. Mom, uhhhh. Not "mad," but "annoyed" probably better fits how she felt about me leaving the heating pad I use for my cramps on the floor. Do your pets have favorites? I'm definitely Roman's favorite seeing as he is my literal shadow, and I'd assume Venus trusts me more than anyone else, but realistically, she's in contact with almost no one else, so. Who was your first boyfriend/girlfriend? Why did you break up? The first guy to have the title of "boyfriend" was Aaron, and I broke up with him 'cuz I just wasn't as romantically into him as I thought I might be. It was puppy-dog love, and I feel I knew that. My first *real* boyfriend was Jason, who broke up with me because my mental illnesses began to affect his wellbeing. Which I now accept is fine, but he seriously coulda gone about things differently... When was the last time you got a new bed? Is your bed comfy? Late into my teenage years; idk the exact age and don't feel like doing the math. Teddy kept peeing on the bed to where it was just unrecoverable and needed to be thrown away. My current bed is comfy enough. What kind of games did you play on the playground when you were younger? My absolute favorite was digging tunnels in the sandbox, pretending to be a meerkat. The only trend I ever created, haha, seeing as my classmates got into it with me, allowing us to make huge tunnel systems. It was really cool. I also liked playing 4 Square (which I now don't even remember the details of) on the basketball court. Do you remember the first time you ever drove a car? Who were you with? Yeah, my driver's ed instructor and the guy who was on the same route as me. What’s your favorite thing to do when drunk? Would you do this sober? N/A Are you a fan of dogs? Do you have any as pets? I'm picky with dogs. I like interacting with any dog, but I don't plan on ever owning another. I don't like how hyper they can be, and I prefer more independent pets, like cats. Basically, I'll be hyped to meet a random dog on the street and give it some loving, but I don't want to take it home to be my own. Are you an elitist (even a little bit) when it comes to anything? What? No. I cannot stand elitists. Is just being fond of something enough, or does it take more than that to be a ‘real fan’? And I hate gatekeeping in fandoms even more. There are varying intensities of "being a fan," but regardless, if you like something, congratulations, you're a valid, "real" fan. What type of fabric is most comfortable for clothing? I don't pay attention to this, honestly. If you wear one – bras with or without a wire? I'll wear either, but without is way more comfortable. If you wear one – are you able to find cute bras in your size? God no. What length do you like your shorts to be? I don’t wear shorts. What was the last disappointing movie you saw? Warcraft, but not because it was bad. I've talked before how in the theater, the orcs' voices were just so fucking baritone that I couldn't understand almost ANYTHING they said. Kinda ruined the experience for me. What was the last disappointing book you read? Don't recall. Do you ever watch compilation videos? Of what? Very rarely. If I do, they're mostly of animals being silly. Favorite Disney character who isn’t royalty? Probably Dory, but idk. There's WAY too many options to fish through.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''this is the kingdom'' by skillet

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shnuggletea · 4 years

Photo

So I’ve decided to put this on FF. I’ll do it later today but yeah, it’ll be there soon-ish. Anyway, here’s Wrath! I hope you have all enjoyed the sinning going on this week so far. There’s a lot more to come!

If you can’t find the other stories (heard there was some issues?) click here to enter the collection. This chapter is live on AO3 and my Patreon!

Art by the lovely @clearwillow, event by the astounding @neutronstarchild and @lemonlushff! So if you’re really enjoying this event, you know who to thank along with the authors!!!

TAG WALL!!!!!

@underwater0phelia@lavendertwilight89 @mamabearcat @nartista @nopenname22 @echobows@superpixie42 @smmahamazing @redflamesofpassion @jme-chan@cstorm86 @cicleydark-light @ruddcatha @lavaffair @kirrtash @sistasecbhere@inusgirl @obsessandfangirl @britonell @lordofthechips @mcornilliac@faolenwolf @classyhumanathletepalace @keichanz @phoenix-before-the-flame @artisticloveexpressitsall @lamuertadehambre @noyourenotreal @mitty-san @thenoammonster @little-deeluna @royaltrashpanda @sailorbabydoll92@storyweaver2017 @malditamigs @adorabubblesblog @lilms-obsessed@petri808 @anniehcresta @fan-dumpp @itzatakahashi @utakuprincess@theschultinator @all-too-ale @little-inukag-obsessed @theseagullqueen@queenofthesquirps @inusgirl @jolinaaa00 @knowall7k @neutronstarchild@fawn-eyed-girl @eringobroke @sapphirestarxx @clearwillow @dangerouspompadour @anxietyaardvark @bluejay785 @arcprz @whoisresponsible I feel like I’m forgetting someone.... To be added or opt out, let me know!!! Otherwise, I’ll keep bugging you with tags or leaving you out.

“But of the seven deadly sins, wrath is the healthiest - next only to lust.”

― Edward Abbey, Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast

Thirty minutes into this date and I wanted out.

Tinder had matched us but the guy had lied on every part of his profile. Including his picture. And continued to lie to me when we chatted to set this up. He was easily ten years older than he said he was and he wasn’t a personal trainer. Unless he had been unemployed for a while.

I’m not that vain, the guy was decent looking. But I hate liars and I dislike boring people even more. This guy… I could hear my vagina boarding up as he spoke about his fantasy football team.

My phone rang and I had to force myself not to jump on it. It was Kagome. Emergency or not, I was thankful for the call. “I’m so sorry but I have to take this.”

He didn’t look surprised. He knew the date wasn’t going well. His chances were low in the first place, picking a lunch date. A real man would have asked for dinner or drinks.

Leaving the table far behind, I brought my purse with me and I didn’t care if it was rude. I was already shuffling out the door when I answered the phone.

“Where are you?!”

She couldn’t see me so I rolled my eyes hard at her. “I’m out, I told you this…”

“You need to get back here, now!”

“Wha...why? What’s wrong?”

She huffed and it came out as a squeak. Kagome was scared. “Naraku went nuts!”

I laughed. “Is that it? Just lock him in a bedroom or something. I’ll be there soon.”

She gave another squeak and I cut her off. I should have known better. Neither Sango nor Kagome knew how to handle a man. It was up to me to take care of this. And probably all the men we conjured.

oOo

Kikyo left. She left! And her man Naraku was still here, slumped on the couch! I wish I could say I was surprised. Half of me expected her to take care of this man but, of course, she left it all up to us.

Even the man she created was fodder to her.

Naraku didn’t look phased in the least. So we had that. I still didn’t know what to call my creation and Inuyasha had his head buried in Kagome’s side like a sad and tired puppy, looking for snuggles. It made me regret not choosing a dog as my octopus wrapped his tentacles around my waist again.

Fucker couldn’t get up off the couch but he could grab my thighs, ass, and back.

Getting my freedom for the thousandth time, I glared down at him. “Can you stop that? I just want a moment to myself without your hands all over me!”

He pouted but dropped his hands to his lap. Kagome sat comfortably in Inuyasha’s hold, giggling at my creation. “He reminds me of Myouga. Remember him?”

“Oh my gosh, YES!”

“Maybe that’s what you should name him?”

We both looked down at the man who was grimacing back up at us. “I don’t think he likes it.”

I was seriously considering it though. Just to teach him a lesson. But I never liked Myouga so I didn’t want to use the name when calling my so-called mate to me. “There used to be a monk… in my village…” my mate began and we were all silent in shock, “Miroku. I would like the name Miroku.”

Slowly, I found myself sitting on the coffee table. It squeaked but didn’t take any attention away from Miroku. “You used to live in a village? I don’t understand, you were an octopus…”

“The village was next to the sea. He came to the edge of the cliff to meditate and teach the children. My cave was right below.”

“So you were animals before?” Kagome asked, her glance shifting from Miroku to Inuyasha and back.

“Yes and no,” Naraku answered, drawing all our attention, “you called us here and yet, you have no clue what you brought?”

“There are many different types of demons, dear Sango. We were always demons. You gave us a more… human form with your spell.”

Miroku’s hand had found its way to my knee but I was too engrossed to care at the moment. Inuyasha had flopped, leaning against Kagome’s side and smelling her again. She wasn’t bothered in the least, petting Inuyasha’s hand. “Did you know this?”

She shrugged, “I didn’t fully understand the text. But now, it makes more sense. Because it said, “bring to life” and “give human breath”. I thought we were making animals human using demon souls to change them.”

“Instead, you gave demons a human form with your energy.”

Naraku had shifted his head to stare right at Kagome. “Me?”

He nodded but left it at that. Kagome had been the one to perform the spell so it made sense to me. Looking her over, I was now worried about what damage bringing three full-grown men to life did to her body. And her soul.

“Maybe you should go see a doctor?”

Kagome grinned broadly, “and leave you here alone with these guys? I’m fine. Really.”

I nearly lost it when Inuyasha whined up at her. Lost it in a freaked out kind of way, not a fun one. Because his actions reminded me the most of an animal, only further proving what Naraku and Miroku said was true. We had brought demons from wherever they were hiding and gave them human bodies.

No way this would turn out well.

The boys were still practically lifeless on the couch and I was thankful it was the weekend. What the hell were we going to do Monday? Call in sick? Or hire a babysitter?! Wait, that reminded me.

“What are you doing?”

I was crouched before the television, pulling wires around, “Remember that guy I dated who I dumped when he ditched me for some gaming convention while I buried my mother?” Kagome grimaced and even Inuyasha and Miroku stuttered. I probably sounded a bit scary just then, but Kagome nodded so I let it go. “I got all this gaming shit to try and connect with him like he wanted then didn’t touch it again. Maybe it could at least entertain these guys?”

There was only one game and it had been years since I used the system. I barely remembered how to set it all up. But I got it running after some trail and error and Kagome stopping me from throwing it all against the wall. I never liked video games. They were fun but a distraction. I’d rather kick someone’s ass for real in the dojo than press buttons to do it.

The game now alive, I handed remotes to all the men. Naraku took it reluctantly while Miroku just started at it for a moment. Inuyasha plucked it from my fingers and then went to town. Maybe they had game systems where Inuyasha was from? There was no telling what life they had before this.

Kagome sat on the arm of the couch for a moment longer but once Inuyasha was fully engrossed, she moved away and the two of us stood behind the couch to watch. Inuyasha was kicking both Naraku’s and Miroku’s ass at the game, a fighting one with silly characters that didn’t bleed. Just bounced off the walls when hit hard enough.

“What should we do?” I asked and Kagome kept her eyes on the men and the screen. “They still can’t seem to move.”

“This is helping. I think it was a combination of exhaustion and strangeness. They’re not from this world and their new to their bodies. But fighting seems to be aligning their…” she paused to search for the right word and then looked at me with a smirk, “Chi.”

Kagome continued to smirk through my glare at her. She knew I believed wholly in things like Chi. She was using that against me now to get me to stay calm. But it did make sense and for some reason, the game was energizing the three of them. Kagome was right, it was aligning them to this world or something.

Which I thought was a good thing until Inuyasha slayed them all again and laughed heartily. There was nothing wrong with it, he wasn’t being a good sport but it was a dumb game. Miroku wasn’t bothered but Naraku was, throwing the remote so hard it lodged into the wall.

“Hey!!!” I yelled but was ignored.

Naraku jumped up from his seat, fully energized, and glowered down at Miroku and Inuyasha. I really didn’t know what would happen if they fought for real and I didn’t want to find out. Neither did Kagome, running around to get in between before anything else happened. Now, Inuyasha was on his feet but more so to push Kagome back and keep her out of it. Miroku glanced my way and when I didn’t move, turned back to Naraku.

“This game is ridiculous.”

“Then why are you so mad?” Kagome countered and Inuyasha pushed her back a little further.

Naraku looked through Inuyasha to scowl at Kagome. “Because it isn’t a real show of strength. If it were, then I would be victorious of any and all challengers.”

Miroku huffed from his spot on the couch and my heart leapt into my throat. I didn’t like the closeness of Naraku to him or the daggers Naraku shot at Miroku with his eyes. “It’s not very becoming, being such a sore loser. And in front of our makers…”

“My maker isn’t here.”

“But Master is.” Inuyasha countered and Naraku’s attention flew back to Kagome.

Nope. Didn’t like this at all!!

“How about you all calm the fuck down and sit?” I yelled but was ignored.

Naraku had his eyes boring into Kagome still and Inuyasha at least moved to block it. But then the dumbass spoke again. “She is far more kind than your maker and devoted. That is what really pisses you off. That your maker could care less…”

“Shut your mouth, Mutt!!”

Everyone was silent but the bomb was already lit, Naraku stomping over to our dining room table and flipping it up into the air. Hands grabbed me and pulled me back before it landed heavily on my leg, Miroku grabbing hold of me again. But this time, I didn’t fight him, I let him coil around me and protect me. It was unnecessary, Naraku’s temper tantrum was over.

He just walked right out the door.

oOo

I was still shaking when I hung up the phone. Kikyo being on her way didn’t really comfort me like I thought it would. I was thoroughly freaked out. We had created… monsters?! If I went by Naraku we had fucked up. But as Inuyasha ran a hand up and down my spine, it was hard to see him as a mistake. He was far too sweet.

Miroku helped Sango turn the table back onto its feet. It wobbled a little now but was otherwise fine. I left Inuyasha’s touch to pace, pacing that only increased when Kikyo arrived. Who knew where Naraku was now?!

“FINALLY!” Sango screamed, not giving Kikyo a chance to sit, let alone speak before turning her around.

We all walked along the lazy street beside us. It was the first time Miroku or Inuyasha had been outside our apartment and it showed. At least they had their energy back, Inuyasha pulling at my hold on his hand a few times to take a closer look at something.

“How are we ever going to find this asshat?” Sango asked all of us.

Inuyasha perked up. “I could sniff him out?”

“Really?” I did nothing to hide my excited relief and Inuyasha’s ears twitched. “You can do that?!”

He shrugged and turned, keeping a tight hold on my hand that tightened with my words for some reason. “I will do anything to make my Master happy.”

“You should really just call me Kagome, Inuyasha.”

Over his shoulder, he gave me a broad smile. Then winked. It had my knees going weak for a second. He was too gorgeous for me.

Sango and Kikyo were staring as he sniffed the air then turned, moving hotly down the street. It didn’t take long for us to find that Inuyasha could, in fact, follow someone’s scent.

Because Naraku was standing above a small crowd, using a statue in the middle of a small park as his stage. As we walked up, he was ending whatever his tirade was and people were leaving quickly.

“I will lead you all! You should all follow me!”

“Why?” A smart man in the crowd offered.

Naraku zeroed in one him and growled. “Because I am superior in every way.”

What was left of the crowd laughed without fear. And why wouldn’t they? They didn’t know he was a demon put in a human body. Inuyasha could sniff a person out who knew what Naraku and Miroku could do?!

I was pushing through the crowd, trying to get to Naraku before anyone got hurt. A tugging at the back of my shirt told me Inuyasha was right behind me. I didn’t look back to confirm but I just knew it was him without a doubt.

Naraku’s face was blood red with fury and I swear his eyes were red too. Or was that my freaked out brain making me see things? Either way, I wasn’t going to make it. The crowd wasn’t that thick but we were still a good distance away when the anger began to swell in Naraku. Inuyasha knew it was a lost cause, ripping me back by my shirt and into his protective hold. Sagno stopped short a second later right beside me, Miroku holding onto her arm tight as her excuse. We were all standing there helpless when it happened, Naraku’s flaming scowl opening up to enact his attack.

“Squawk!!!”

I blinked, reaching down to pinch myself to make sure I didn’t pass out. Then I looked at Sango who had her face twisted in confusion. Looking above, Inuyasha had his head tilted to the side like a dog trying to understand what he heard. We were all trying to understand.

“Oh god, not again.”

We glanced at Kikyo who already had her face covered with her hands.

“Squawk!!!” Naraku took a step closer to the edge of his stage and the man backed up, only to have Naraku jump to stand before him. “SQUACK!!!”

“What the fuck? Your crazy man!”

The man backed up and Naraku followed, raising his arms and flapping them. “SQUAWK, SQUAWK, SQUAWK!!!!”

Naraku kept backing the man and anyone who came near up. Flapping his ‘wings’ and squawking like a bird or something. Sango looked over me to Kikyo with an amused glower. “Just had to pick a Raven.”

Kikyo was purple and silent. All while her mate accosted multiple people. “Kikyo, do something!”

“Me?!”

“You called him here! He’s your responsibility!”

She rolled her eyes at me, “I didn’t ask for a pet I have to control. I wanted a man!”

“He is confused on how the world works.” Miroku added softly. “He was never introduced to humans before as a Raven. They’re solitary and independent creatures…”

“Exactly! In-de-pen-dent! Meaning he can take care of himself!!” Kikyo shouted, turning on her heel to leave and officially declare it our problem.

Naraku was alone, a circle of people keeping their distance. But he was clearly confused and upset. He just didn’t understand.

I took a step but was instantly yanked back, Inuyasha holding on even tighter than before. “Don’t go, Master.”

I sighed, mostly because of the name he used but also because I didn’t want to go and deal with this but Kikyo left me no choice. “I have to go.”

Looking upside down at each other, I swore I saw a flash of red in his eyes like I saw in Naraku’s now. But it was so fast, it had to be my imagination. He slowly released me and I carefully approached the crazed man. He took one look at me and softened but still squawked at my approach.

This was going to be a long day.

That’s what she said!!! Working on getting more for you tomorrow! Wish me luck!!!!

#inuyasha fanfiction #inuyasha sins #sinfully human

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thgfanficinspo · 4 years

Text

Fear of the Water - Ch. 7

AO3 LINK

Annie + Finnick Origin Story set during/after 70th Hunger Games

masterlist

(ANNIE)

It’s almost impossible to sleep. Not that I normally sleep well anyway. Still.

I have one of those dreams that’s only two minutes long but actually lasts for an hour or two in real life. Finnick’s in it. He doesn’t do anything. Doesn’t even look at me. He’s just there. And it’s nice in the dream but it’s sad when I wake up.

I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do now. Keep moving? Stay put? I unpack my things and lay them out again. I get one deep sip of water cause I have to be careful about saving it until I find a source (maybe that’s what I’ll do today) and I eat one slice of dried apple. And then I notice the dirt and the blood under my fingernails and my hands start shaking.

My mother, she butchered me . . .

Shut my eyes. Don’t want to see the blood, see the boy exploding, feel hot drops of blood splatter against my face. Take deep breaths through my mouth to keep from gagging.

It’s a long time before I feel okay again. I’m just opening my eyes when a cannon goes off. I clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming.

I count the bricks in my little cave to calm down again but I keep losing my place and have to start over.

I don’t think I’ll finish counting before the sun goes down. I’ll have to wait to look for food and water tomorrow.

(FINNICK)

My patron last night bought me and Cashmere as a set; I think it’s easier to deal with when there’s another victor with you. Misery loves company, as they say. But it’s also fucking awkward. Plus, it’s ridiculously expensive to buy a night with one victor, so buying two on the same night practically never happens.

We stay in the lady’s apartment long enough to see our tributes onscreen and make sure they’re still alive before making our way back toward the training center. Shine, Cash, and Piers are sorting out supplies and making a plan of attack. Annie is nibbling at some dried fruit.

We stop off at a coffee place on the way.

“That lady was disgusting,” Cashmere says as we wait for our orders. She pulls two blackberry-flavored cigarettes and some matches out of a pocket I didn’t know she had and lights them.

“Mm,” I hum in acknowledgement. She really was gross but I don’t waste my time thinking about her and what she wanted. I never do. When it’s over, it’s over, and there’s no point in reflecting on the experience.

Cashmere hands me one of the cigarettes. “Thanks,” I say. We smoke silently for a little while, watching all the Capitol citizens walk by. Girls giggle when they see me; men wink at Cashmere. It’s nothing new. “Who’s your favorite to win?”

She taps the excess ash from her cigarette on the ground. “I like my girl’s chances. But that pretty one from District Nine is one to watch. You?”

I shrug. “Don’t know.”

This is what conversations are like the day after you see a patron together. You’re too embarrassed about everything we did to look each other in the eye but we can’t ignore each other without being crushed by the silence. Plus, we have to look fun and flirty for the people that walk by.

My awful attempt at small talk is interrupted when a female tribute gets stuck under falling bricks from a decrepit building nearby. Her lower leg breaks with a loud snap as a particularly jagged stone lands on her shin. She barely has a chance to scream before a larger rock rolls onto her stomach and starts to crush her. It takes about a minute for her to die.

“That’s thirteen gone,” Cashmere says absently. “Eleven to go.”

The Avoxes are the only ones in the common area when I get back to the training center. They’re cleaning puke up off the rug; I assume it’s Broadsea’s.

“Did I miss anything important?” I ask, nodding at the television. There’s nothing interesting going on right now, so Caesar Flickerman is interviewing a Gamemaker named Seneca Crane about the inspiration behind the arena’s design.

It’s more elaborate than usual this year: it looks like an abandoned city that nature has reclaimed. It rains perpetually, and no place is completely dry. There are a handful of high dams, but in heavy rain they overflow somewhat. There’s nowhere to swim, so Annie and Piers don’t have any advantage there.

Somes points at the chalkboard; Girl 10 has been crossed off the list. Greer makes a few gestures to let me know that both Annie and Piers are still alive.

“Thanks.”

I sit down on the shower floor like I always do and lean my head back against the wall.

My arena was a heavy forest dotted with swamps.

There was this endless chorus of crickets and cicadas – it never stopped. Not to mention all the other damn bugs that would fly right into my eye or buzz around in my ear. All the bugs bit, but some of them carried diseases. Tributes bitten by the disease-bugs got sick and a few of them died.

There were these mutts in some of the swamps – gators, I think they’re called – that would come out of the water at night and attack. One of them killed Tethys, my district partner. It took her foot first. I couldn’t get to her in time to stop the bleeding or distract the mutt before it circled back for her. It took a while for the gator to kill her, but I doubt she could feel anything except the cold, dry sensation of losing blood.

Most of the water was unsafe to drink, and a good amount of the tributes died from dehydration or infections they got from drinking the bad water. The Careers and I were sure to boil our water to kill any germs. We didn’t have to worry about whether or not someone would see our fire – no one in their right mind would attack the Career pack.

And then one day at breakfast this enormous parachute came floating down from the sky and landed in front of me. A trident.

I knew in that moment that I would survive. I could use spears and knives as well as anybody, but I grew up with a trident in my hand. I knew I had lots of sponsors – they sent medicine when I was injured, fresh bread when I was hungry, even a sliver of soap to wash myself off – but this told me just how many there really were. But a trident?! Weapons of any kind were unheard of, but this?

It took two days for my allies to turn on me. They didn’t consider me much of a threat at first, since I was only fourteen and no one under sixteen, no matter how skilled or sponsored, had ever won. I defeated them allies fairly easily; I’d been expecting an attack and I knew what their fighting styles were. It only took another two days to find the remaining tributes and kill them.

I had it easy compared to some of the others. Most of the others, actually. I considered myself lucky for the first few days after I won. Thank God I didn’t have to deal with some of the shit the others had to. It evened out in the end, more or less.

Caesar Flickerman is talking as I exit the bathroom. Something menial. “Is she counting?”

“It looks like it,” Claudius Templesmith replies. “But I’m not sure why.”

I start rifling through the clothes in my closet.

“She’s most likely in shock,” Caesar says. “It happens from time to time.”

I don’t really pay attention – why should I? – until I catch a glimpse of Annie Cresta from the corner of my eye. It’s only for a millisecond; the feed switches to more entertaining footage of the boy from District 6 climbing to the top of a massive barebones building at least eight stories high.

“Shit,” I hiss under my breath.

Tributes go into shock pretty regularly; someone cracks up at least once every other year. I’m not surprised that it happened. But it bothers me that it happened to Annie. She was a bit weird to begin with, so I shouldn’t be shocked, but it’s still unpleasant.

Shit.

Piers probably should have killed her at the bloodbath – or at the very least, let the boy from 3 finish the job. The Games have barely started and I’m already so tired; I don’t know if I have it in me to watch Annie get herself killed in some awful way.

I avoid Mags for most of the day because I just don’t want to face her right now.

I eat dinner with Blight and Gloss at a popular restaurant, which we pretty much shut down for the night because so many of my adoring fans would otherwise flood the place. They cluster outside instead; Peacekeepers have to come in to keep them all in line. I’d really rather eat alone in my room but the president likes for his victors to be seen enjoying all the pleasures that the Capitol has to offer. And I hate to admit it but the food is actually good.

Blight brings the new kid with him. Timothy Something-or-other of District 6, victor of the 69th Hunger Games. I feel obligated to make a lot of sex jokes because it’s 69 and I’m the Finnick Odair.

Timothy doesn’t talk very much, nor does he make much eye contact. Blight and Gloss start filling him in on things he doesn’t ask about – the annoying victors, the protocols for being out in public, the politicians and socialites who get handsy when they drink.

“Brutus sucks, Gaius sucks,” Blight says as he pours us each a fresh glass of wine. “They’re both from Two. Actually most of those guys are awful.”

“Broadsea and Eefa fucking suck,” I add.

“And Leetha. Leetha is the goddamn worst,” Gloss says, shaking his head.

Timothy’s voice is scratchy. “Which one is she?”

“The redheaded lady from District Five,” I answer. “Thinks she’s the smartest person in the world. Don’t ever have a conversation alone with her. You’ll try to pull your ears off.”

Timothy swallows hard. He looks twitchy and hungry and tired. Bet he’s already addicted to something – alcohol maybe, or more likely morphling, since that’s the drug of choice for his fellow victors from 6.

The rest of dinner passes without anybody saying anything interesting. I trudge back to the training center and pray Mags has gone to bed already. I just don’t want to see her.

No such luck. She’s sitting on the couch facing the television when I come in. She smiles. “I haven’t seen you all day.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” I mutter. She pats the seat beside her, silently asking me to sit with her. But I don’t want to I stand by the couch with my arms crossed over my chest and my eyes pointed straight ahead.

Then she asks the question I’ve been dreading all afternoon. “Have you seen Annie?”

“Yeah.

We watch the Games in silence for a long time. There’s nothing going on this late; most of the tributes have gone to sleep. But I keep watching.

“What do you think?” Mags finally asks.

“I don’t think anything.” I try not to be snappy but it still comes out with some aggression. She must know I don’t want to talk about this. “I’m going to bed.” I give her a kiss on the cheek as I leave to show her that I’m not really mad at her. But she knows that already.

“Good night, Finnick.”

“Good night, Mags.”

I don’t have any dreams tonight.

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psychedelic-platypus · 3 years

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Poor Food: A Gentleman Jack Fanfiction Column - #1, The Adventures of Anne and Sam Lister

By Joni Catt, aka “Platypus” 10.21.2020

[1805, East Yorkshire...]

Her feet jaggedly dance across the slick cobblestone street, darting in a stumble to catch her balance.

‘Thew darts out of the bar door, charging, with a slamming fist once more.

She falls onto the street, scrambling back up into a boxer postion, her back-tied dark hair disheveled, dirt and scrape on her face. “You want to have another go?” her eyebrows tight, panting.

They breath a visible mist into the cool, damp air.

She false jumps for his face and punches his stomach, then spins to the side, elbowing his jaw, knocking him out of balance.

The other two boys rush, filtering out of the bar, circling in the street.

“Don’t interfere.” Shawn tells Rufus holding him back. “Guys, stop it! Break it up!”

They lock each other with their arms, Anne Matthew’s head, and “Thew” around her waist, clumsily limping through the street fighting for control.

Young Hardy comes back, (he was told during the game only to watch, that he couldn’t play because of his young age, but he ran out the door when the scuffle between found-out Lister and his brother ensued) rushing down the street with a taller, older boy at his side.

“Stop it!” Anne hears a heart-familiar voice from yards back.

‘Thew throws her off his grasp, knocking her out of balance and throwing several punches in a row as she staggers back, blocking them.

“Stop!” Sam calls, ramming into Matthews chest, Anne on the ground behind him.

‘Thew clamors, punching the side of Sam’s face, before he grabs his arm, restaining him and looking firmly into his blue eyes.

“Stop”. He says, sterner, but quieter.

Matthew shakes viciously, before tiring himself out, and with calm hope, Sam lets him go.

They stagger back from each other, Sam paying a glance to Anne, getting up behind them before turning back to him. The other boys stand on the sides of the street.

Matthew pants, looking, before slowly singing a breathy tune, “Samuel Lister...has a sister...”

“Her name was little Anne!” Rufus shouts from behind.

“What are you doing?” Shawn turns to him.

Anne lunges. “I’m not little!” Sam, holding her back.

“Anne, don’t.” he says.

She sniffles, angrily staring at ‘Thew, who pays his blue gaze back, and wipes her knuckle to her nose.

“You’re right.” she says. “He isn’t worth it.” Then turns around to start walking off. “Come on, Sam.”

But he’s still staring at Matthew.

“Stay away from my sister!” he spits with a sharp step forward. “Or you’ll have to mask your face for the rest of your life!”

“Sam!” Anne whips around.

He stumbles off with her, and they walk side to side.

“Hey, Lister!” ‘Thew calls. “How big is your cock?”

Rufus laughs, Shawn snickers. Hardy only watches in terrified silence.

Sam begins to turn around, parting his lips when Anne cries--

“Bigger than yours!”

“Ooooh!” Rufus goes back with a deep, hard cackle, pointing at ‘Thew.

He frowns, immediately whipping around to pay a sharp look.

Shawn wanders back inside, with Hardy quick to follow.

Anne and Sam, jaggedly walking down the street together.

She feels him turning to her.

“You want to tell me what happened?”

“No.” she says sternly. “And I didn’t need you to jump in.”

“Sure.”

“Who called for you anyway?” She whips to him. “I’d taken the necessary of making sure you wouldn’t show up.”

He chokes on a laugh. “Like I wouldn’t know where to look for you.”

She turns her gaze to the ground. “It was a different bar.” she mumbles.

He turns his gaze as well as they walk.

“Anne, what happened?”

He looks forward.

She sighs. “You do know that I’m older than you, right? I think you forget. Sometimes.”

“How would you let me.” he mutters.

“So if anyone has a right to be overprotective--” She continues. “It’s me. And it will always be me. You understand?”

“I think I’m getting the feeling of why he punched you.” he smiles at his joke.

Anne stops, quick to elbow him, before they continue on their path.

“I thought I’d go over to play cards.”

Sam glances at her, up and down. “Let me guess, and you thought you’d be a lad?”

“It wouldn’t work any other way.” she says, swinging her arms continuing. “Anyway...I think Shawn noticed partway through, but didn’t have the guts to say anything. That, or he didn’t care to. ‘Thew looked me in the eye and called me out for it...”

“These the names of your new friends?”

Anne rolls her eyes. “Keep making snide comments. Anywho, you remember ‘Thew! He was the kid passing by our house about...what is it, a week ago? The one with the blue patch sewn on his vest...”

“Anne, how many young people pass our house?”

“Anyway,” she continues, “he must’ve recognized me, that sneaky bastard. And wasted no time in exposing my true identity.”

“A bullfrog.”

“You’re a bullfrog.”

They stagger down the street.

“We can’t go home like this.” Sam says.

“Why?”

He looks at her. “You’ve got blood on your nose and lip! Father won’t be--”

“That’s too bad.” she says. “It’s too bad if his daughter comes home with a bloodied face, and it disturbs him. It’s too bad if mud gets on the floor. It’s too bad Sam, because unfortunately I can’t have much capacity to care.”

They keep walking, their footsteps crunching against a few leaves, and sliding through shallow puddles, the sound residing between their silence.

“Mum isn’t well, Anne.” Sam gently speaks. “And father’s trying to contend. He’s...relying on us.”

Anne sighs. It doesn’t take long for him to witness the sadness, but more the guilt, riddling his sister’s face. She takes a turn, changing the course, as they walk to the town water pump.

---

Anne sits in the kitchen chair, a peice of wood carefully fixed in her hand, focusing the blade up and down it’s soft edges.

She stops midway, looking up and forward, before turning to acknowledge young Marian who she’s felt staring at the side of her face for a strong minute.

“What are you looking at?” she says through her teeth.

Marian blinks, still watching her.

“Shut up!” Anne yells.

“I haven’t said anything!”

“I don’t care!” Anne throws the piece of wood, and it bounces off the table, Marian, dodging it’s trajectory.

“Girls, stop!” Sam enters the room.

“Marian was bugging me!”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Enough.”

Their father stands in the doorway. He glances up and down at Anne and Sam’s stained clothing...Anne’s muddy boots, her in her trousers and vest. Their expressions and gestures. He looks at all three of them now. Their hair, Anne’s and Marian’s dark and Sam’s a bright blonde. Their eyes and faces, images in his mind, so familiar for his heart. He knows too well, the way a father knows.

“You children are ridiculous.” He steps in.

“Paint it on our graves.” Sam walks to the kitchen.

“Carve it.” Anne corrects. “In the stone.”

“Anne Lister”. He spreads his arms. “I can just see your funny name, spread out on a tab.”

“Right next to yours.” She says.

“You really think so?’ Sam asks, then looks in thought. “Yeah, you’ll be buried fine enough near me.”

“Samuel Lister...” she begins with a playfully stern eye. “You listen to me, and listen carefully. I have every right to die first. Do you understand?”

“Of course.” he complies. “And I shall have the privilege of witnessing it.”

“Indeed you shall.” Anne says, then spreads her hands, “and it’ll be an extraordinarily legendary death. Only to go with all my other accomplishments.”

“Naturally.” Sam says.

“No one will forget Anne Lister.” she says. “I have a fair plan...here’s how it’ll play out--”

“You’re planning your death?” Sam asks.

“Well, I have to have a little bit of infrastructure to make sure it all plays out.” She says, then begins, “I’ll get into a well equipped sword fight...”

Their father rolls his eyes.

“...it’ll be heroic, obviously. He’ll be some capital villain. We’ll be really fencing it out--”

“Lemme guess”, Sam joins, “And he’ll slash your head off, and it’ll go rolling across the floor.”

“No, no--” Anne stops him. “Not yet. We’ll be battling on a royal ship--”

“Does the ship have a flag?” Marian leans intently, a deep gaze.

“Why does it matter?” Anne asks.

“It does.” she says. “The flag is crual.”

“You mean ‘crucial’.” Anne says. “And yes, of course it has a flag. It’s a royal ship. Anyway, we’re fighting, and there’s a whole crowd on the cliffs watching--”

“Anne! Anne, I was talking!” Their father shouts.

“Stop interrupting me.” she simply says.

He sighs, glancing to where Marian mouths to him.

“She’s getting to the good part.”

“Sparks fly as our swords bat at each other. And it’s just now, right before this moment of parting, that I feel...infinitely alive.”

“And then what happens?” Marian bounces in jittery excitement.

She looks at her, with a wide grin. “And then, Marian...I lead him into accidentally knocking the lantern down from the mast of the ship, and it falls, breaking, igniting fire!”

“Wow!” Marian gasps.

“He screams as his leg catches fire, and in that moment--”

“Boom.” Sam blatantly says.

“Exactly.” Anne points.

“Wait,” Marian asks, “Why was he bad again?”

“I don’t know...” Anne says, then scrambles for a resolving answer. “He was a thief? No, a murderer.”

“He was both.” Sam says.

“Yes.” Anne nods. “He was both.”

“And he ate children.” Sam throws.

“And he ate children.”

“Now I’m fascinated.” their Dad says.

“Wait...” Sam begins. “But that doesn’t explain how you die.”

“Yes, I was getting to that.”

“Does he stab you last minute?”

“No.”

“The ship sinks?” Marian asks.

“Not yet”. Anne says. “It bursts a bright beautiful flame as it sets sail on the horizon!”

“That’s preposterous, Anne.” Her father scoffs. “Why didn’t you just jump off?”

“I would’ve drowned anyway.” she says. “We were too far from shore. No. This way, I embrace the flame and it embraces me--and my spirit is freed...into the sky and ocean.”

“Wooow!” Marian gasps in awe.

“Great.” their father says. “Now that we’re done with your little story, Anne, let’s get back to--”

“It was Anne and Sam, Papa!” Marian says. “They were out.”

“Yes, I know, dear.”

Anne turns. “Yes, Marian, he was talking to us. Surely, his precious little girl could never do anything wron--”

“Anne!” he shouts.

She turns to him and he feels the blazing of her gaze.

“Can you ever just--” he stamps. “You’re my eldest. And my daughter. Why can’t you ever just own some...dignity for yourself.”

“I have dignity!” she yells, her voice cracking.

“Oh, I know.” he says. “You’re so full of it aren’t you--”

“Oh, you mean be like a lady, all little and quiet in frills--”

“Anne!” he shouts. “Yes! You are a lady! In case you’ve been too blind to realize!”

She whips around, retreating in steps against the wood.

“Oh, you want to be whipped?” but he’s fading in his determination as she escapes. “Take off your boots!”

Sam looks at him in his green gaze, before walking and following his sister.

He chases her, trying to catch up, but she’s already made her way up the stories of the house.

He stops in front of a small wooden door, gently knocking his knuckle.

No reply.

“It’s Sam!”

Quiet.

Then her voice sounds from inside. “Sam? Sam who?”

“Samuel Lister!” he goes along, talking in a stronger accent. “The tall gentleman who lives just a couple houses down, madame! Come to see Anne Lister!”

“Which gentleman?”

“Oh, the blonde with rogue green eyes and an impossibly handsome face!”

“Oh--you mean Samuel Lister!”

“Yes, ma’am.” he sings. “‘Tis I.”

“The prick”

He rolls his eyes and leans against the door.

“Could you just let me in?”

He waits, picking his fingernail.

“It’s already open, you nitwit.” Anne teases.

He gently opens it, and steps up inside, looking to where she’s leaned upside down against the wall, closing it behind him. He frowns at the dust on the floor.

“Why’ve you come up here?” he asks. “To the attic?”

She has a book propped in her hands, concentrated on the page. Finally, she answers, “I don’t know. Might as well get used to it.” Then she brings her legs down off the wall and turns over on her side. “They’re just drawn to me.” She cheekily smiles.

Sam lies down, head towards the wall beside her. “How so?”

She sighs, closing her eyes and looking to the ceiling. “They’re the place of my confinement.”

Sam looks down to the floor, as she then pulls a card from the pocket of her vest. He glances at it, the corners, the shapes, an the man illustrated in the middle.

Jack of Hearts.

“Did you steal that?” he asks the obvious question.

Anne doesn’t answer, simply sliding it into place, fitting the spine of the book as a mark for her place and closing it, setting it to the side. She leans back on the floor, placing her hands on her stomach and knitting her fingers, staring at the ceiling.

Sam looks at his sister.

“So why today?”

He asks.

She stares upward still.

“Hmm?” She barely turns.

He shifts on his elbow and reaches to fix a loose strand of her hair as she swats him away, then he moves to adjusting the lapel of her vest.

“Why the little outing? You were just aching to play cards?”

She doesn’t answer, still just gazing carefully at the knots and marks in the wood on the ceiling. The little paintings they paint. She thinks she sees a shape that looks like a lion, running through a field.

“I just wanted to...go out.” she breathes. “And thoroughly enjoy this day in purgatory before I travel back to hell tomorrow.”

Sam gazes. “Surely, it can’t be that bad.”

She knits her eyebrows, “It actually isn’t. I mean, besides the poor cuisine, or the attitudes of most of the professors and peers, the place is actually quite enhancing.”

“Yeah?” he asks.

“I mean...” she continues, lifting her hand, “they have a fine selection of books. The library is definitely one of my favorite haunts...that is, the days when Priscilla Wood and her friends haven’t decided to inhabit a place...”

“She your nemesis?” he asks, moving from his elbow and laying on his back to stare at the ceiling too.

“Oh, she’s terrible!” Anne exasperates. “So set back in her ways, and makes it her point to just minimalize me...I mean, she could be sitting at the table on the farthest side of the room, and she still gets to me!”

“I get it.” Sam nods.

“But...other than that, the library is a very nice place. I mean, I would consider a different option for the decoration, but the room and it’s very soul is just...uplifting.”

There’s a silence.

“Oh, and the literature teacher isn’t quite bad...actually fairly intelligent. I do believe she also may acquire some geography and a little knowledge of mathematics.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.” she says thoughtfully and soft.

They sit in the floating dust of the attic, reflecting against the little sunlight that pours in from the window as the sky begins to carefully dim.

The sound travels easy in the house, mildly grand as it is. There’s the muffled sound of Marian and John laughing, and in an entirely separate room their mother coughs.

They look at the ceiling, like they’re cloud watching, or two campers gazing at the stars. Dreamily.

“I don’t want to go.”

Anne swallows. Her voice soft.

“I’ll miss you.” Sam softly speaks. “I always do.”

He pauses in a gaze for a moment.

“You know Marian doesn’t sleep at night when you’re gone?”

“Did Marian ever sleep at night?”

They lightly laugh.

“Even when she was a little baby.” Anne begins. “She’d cry throughout the night.”

“Tiny little baby Marian.”

Another short silence as Sam shifts to get comfortable.

“I think she just misses you, too.”

“What, and John doesn’t? Typical. I’ll have to talk to the little bugger.” Anne jokes.

“No, he does.” Sam says. “I suppose it just gets to Marian...I know you may often think she hates you, but I think she looks at you in a different way.”

“What?”

“You know...” Sam continues, stumbling for words. “You’re her big sister.”

“And what does that mean?”

“She looks up to you a bit. In a certain way.”

Anne just quietly stares at the ceiling.

“I don’t know, Sam.”

“It’s okay.”

They quietly dream in the ceiling.

#gentleman jack #gentleman jack fanfiction #gentleman jack fan fiction #gentleman jack fanfic #anne lister #lister #gentlemanjack #gentleman jack hbo #gentleman jack bbc #sally wainwright

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creednight · 4 years

Text

No Place Like Home

Yes, you read that right. This is Chapter 11. Chapter 10 here. Don’t get too excited I’m just getting back into this. So have a filler.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

You wake with a start and glance at the clock next to your bed. “It’s 6 in the morning!”

The door creaks open and you hear Connor’s laughter. “It’s spring break, I’m back. Let’s go.”

“Where?” you sit up and ruffle your hair. “And why so early?”

“I have lots of stuff planned,” he kneels beside the bed and places a hand on it. “The Jeep is all packed, I made some snacks, everyone else will join us this afternoon. But this morning is you and I.”

“Oooh,” you wiggle your brows at him. His face reddens and he uses his hands to cover his cheeks. “I’m kidding!”

“I’ll be waiting downstairs,” he gets to his feet in seconds before dashing out her door.

A smile grows on your face at his antics. You fall back on your bed with a happy sigh before rolling out of bed and getting ready for the day. You sort through your closet pulling out clothes for all situations. Since it’s supposed to be hot out, you pull on your bathing suit under some shorts, a loose tank top and a light cardigan.

You grab a beach bag from below your bed and fill it with clothes, socks, sandals, sunscreen, your water bottle and anything else you deem necessary and head out.

In the kitchen, Connor avoids eye contact but slides a plate with half a large breakfast sandwich on it and nods at you to take it. He holds up his to yours before taking the biggest bite you’ve ever seen.

“Where are we going first?” you ask as he grabs his keys and marches towards the door. You notice he doesn’t look tired and it makes you frown. “Why are you used to waking up so early? Do you ever sleep in?”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” he replies between food.

You stop in your tracks, as funny as you think it is, for some reason it hits you harder than you expected. In the doorway, you watch him hustle down the steps wondering why it bugs you. He pauses at the bottom and turns back, his dark eyes light and playful turn serious when he sees the look on your face.

He’s back in an instant. “What’s wrong?”

“I-I don’t know,” you blink at him. “Sorry, I got sad all of a sudden.”

“I was kidding,” he brings to fingers to pretend to pinch your nose. “I won’t die on you, (y/n).”

You blush at your overreaction. “I know. Come on, let’s go already.”

He grins, takes your bag and jogs over to the car. You follow him with a little more pep in your step and climb in the passenger side without a care in the world. Connor takes the driver’s seat and off you two go. He plays the radio and time seems to fly by, one second it’s 6:30 and the next it’s 8 and you’re staring at the most beautiful mountainside.

“You want me to hike?” you groan as he opens your door.

“It’s a short hike,” he laughs.

You can’t help but laugh as well and follow his lead as he pulls on his hiking pack and marches towards the trail. The sun shines down on the two of you as you watch the scenery change and grow bigger. Animals skirt the edges of the dirt trail, birds cry out overhead and you hear the sounds of a river nearby.

After all that excitement, fresh air makes you feel lighter and happier. Connor tells you about the land, teaching you tricks to find your way when you’re lost and how to pick trees that are easy to climb. He passes you snacks along the way and stops for water breaks every half hour until you reach a spot with a gorgeous view.

“Whoa,” you whisper as trees fill your vision and a lake gleams in the distance. “This is so beautiful.”

“I like to hang around out here sometimes,” Connor digs around in his pack. “Stand over there, I’m going to take a picture.”

“Only if you take a selfie with me,” you retort.

“Yes ma’am,” he responds with his camera ready.

He gets his photos and you pulls him to your side and hold up the phone. You twist and turn it, trying to get his large frame in. “Why are you built like this? Were you a large baby?”

He bursts out laughing and takes your phone from you. “I’m not telling.”

His angles work much better and you guys head back down the trail. With the day just starting, you find yourself smiling bigger and bigger. He takes you kayaking around in a large lake, another walk and then to town for lunch. By the time it’s 1, he finally takes you in the direction of the beach.

“The others have a spot, they’re excited to see you,” he explains.

“You mean, Ezio and Jacob are excited to see me,” you laugh.

He rolls his eyes. “And Evie, and Arno.”

“It’s going to be great!”

“(y/n), love!” Jacob waves you over to their line of towels. “Get your clothes, we’re going to play volleyball.”

“That’s not how you get a woman’s clothes off, you animal,” Ezio glares at Jacob. He gets to his feet and trots over, giving you a full view of his delicious body. “You have to do it like this.”

Connor steps in front of you, blocking the italian from getting to you. “Let’s just have some fun, right? No need to get (Y/N)’s clothes off.”

“But that’s part of the fun!” Arno hoots while holding up a volleyball. “Who’s playing?”

You’ve never seen so many grown men try to outdo each other so hard in your life. All the muscles attract hordes of people to the match as they run around and smack the ball. Ezio and Jacob strike the most ridiculous of poses to get you to look at their bodies for as long as possible. Connor is a beast at the game, he stands at the height of the net and blocks any attempts of a spike.

You and Evie dip out an hour into their repeated challenges and head into the water. It’s so nice to feel the waves push and pull around you. Evie stays close and then tugs you along as the men arrive to cause a commotion.

“Gotcha,” Ezio pulls you close and hoists you above his shoulder. “I got her boys!”

“Hold up,” Jacob comes up and pulls you from Ezio onto his shoulder after a nice shove to the chest. “I have her.”

“No, no, no,” Arno walks up and pinches Jacob’s nipple. While the british man is in pain, he picks up (Y/N) and holds her bridal style. “Come with me.”

He turns around and you bump into Connor. His dark eyes gleam in the sunlight as he glares down at Arno, arms crossed over his toned chest. You giggle as Arno places you in his waiting hands. Your skin, already on fire from being handled by everyone, turns electric as Connor holds you in his embrace.

“Actually,” Evie taps Connor on the shoulder. “My turn.”

He tenses at her icy stare and passes you with no argument.

A blush forms on your face as Evie’s arms hold you with surprising strength and she presses a kiss to your cheek. “There we go.”

The boys start a playful brawl in the water that leaves you drenched and feeling weaker than ever. Eventually the sun starts to go down so everyone starts to pack up. Connor gets your things situated while you change into comfy clothes and buys you a fruity drink from a stand.

Dinner is a breeze of laughter and stories you can’t believe happened and how any of the people, Evie included, are alive. Your eyes begin to droop and one by one your roommate head out to their cars. They give your cheeks a peck as they walk by Connor’s Jeep, Jacob tries to prolong it, but Evie pulls him away to have her turn. Ezio winks after his and Arno goes for your forehead.

“They’re really testing the waters,” Connor comments while opening your door. “Come on, you look like you’re about to pass out.”

“That was so much fun today,” you slur while climbing in.

Connor buckles you in, as if you were a child, and rounds the car to get in. “I’m glad you had fun.”

“I still have a week of break left, you know,” you remind him with a yawn.

“Today is all I had,�� he laughs.

The drive home is a blurr for you. Connor plays gentle music in the background and hums along while you fall in and out of sleep. Once home, you feel his arms encircle you and lift you out of the car, again like you’re a child, and takes you into the house. Murmurs sounds from all around, but you can’t tell who is who.

Finally you feel the warm gentleness of your bed and you smile. “Connor?”

“Hmm?”

You sit up, waving your arms at him to come closer, and grab his face. You peck both cheeks and smile. “Thank you so much.”

“Anything for you, (Y/N),” he whispers back and you feel some warmth on your cheek. “Get some rest.”

You think you say something but you’re passed out by the time your head hits your pillow with a smile on your face.

#No Place Like Home

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supergraphicultramoderngirl · 5 years

Text

the inexhaustible variety of life

summary: Cyrus Goodman has isolated himself from the rest of his prep school, but will an easygoing transfer student manage to crack his shell?

pairing: tyrus

word count of chapter: 1,514

first chapter, previous chapter, next chapter

—————————

chapter 6: connections

After clinging on to someone for so long, it was hard to get used to talking to no one again.

In reality, it hadn’t even been that long, but Cyrus felt as though TJ truly understood him better than anyone else. He didn’t believe all of the shitty rumors against him, and wanted to be his friend regardless.

But now, Cyrus has shoved him out, and he would probably never talk to him again. He just proved all of the rumors right.

Luckily enough, he would be leaving within the next month to visit his parents at home for a week, so he decided to get a jumpstart on packing to get his mind off things. Off TJ.

(Although, it seemed to be practically impossible.)

Cyrus began yanking his suitcase off the top shelf of his closet in order to put a bit of his things in there, but with his luck, the suitcase wouldn’t budge. “Come on, little fucker, there’s only room for one thing stuck in the closet,” he muttered angrily.

He pulled harder, which succeeded in getting the suitcase down, but also succeeded in knocking the shelf over and making the suitcase fly at his face. “Shit!” he exclaimed, falling on his ass.

Three seconds later, he heard a knock on his door. He sauntered over to open it, expecting to see Reed taunting him again, but was instead surprised to see the curly haired girl and the pixie cut girl from the basketball game that seemed to be forever ago now.

“We heard a loud noise while going to visit our friend, are you good in here?” the curly haired one asked.

Cyrus gave them a tight lipped smile. “Yep, I’m good, just trying to pack some stuff up. My suitcase, though, is not a fan.”

“Oh! Do you need help?” the pixie cut girl volunteered excitedly.

“Andi, what about Amber?” the other one mumbled to her.

“She can wait, Buffy,” she— Andi— mumbled back, turning to face Cyrus again. “Really, we’ve got nothing going on for a while, and could use something to occupy our time. We don’t want anymore falling suitcases, do we?” she joked.

Cyrus shrugged. “I guess I could use the help. Come in,” he said, widening the door for them to pass.

After they were in, he added, “Oh, and I’m Cyrus, by the way.”

Buffy hesitated. “As in Cyrus Goodman?”

Cyrus scoffed, quirking an eyebrow. “So you’ve heard about me.”

•••

For someone who used to talk to no one, it was surprisingly difficult to avoid Cyrus Goodman.

Don’t get him wrong, there was nothing TJ wanted more than to spend time with the boy, but he figured that after the outburst on Saturday, Cyrus would want to be left alone for a while. So, TJ tried his best to give him space.

That is, until he realized how many classes they actually had together.

(Nearly all of them.)

He had to practically pry himself away from Cyrus, trying to not ask him for help with math notes or make sarcastic comments in their literature class. Which, granted, was easier to manage, considering they sat further away from one another. The worst part of it all was that in their history class, Cyrus’ assigned seat was directly in front of his. AKA, the ultimate test of TJ’s patience.

He succeeded, though. For a whole week. But then, it was Saturday again.

Cyrus wouldn’t want him there yet, would he?

Not even trying to go up and ask him, TJ made his way to the library, picked up the school’s copy of The Glass Menagerie which he needed for his next assignment, and plopped down into a seat. He flicked through it for a few minutes, making his way through the pages. He was just getting invested when he heard a voice behind him, one he expected never to speak to him again.

“Time is the longest distance between two places.”

TJ jumped slightly, turning to face a mildly disheveled and obviously tired Cyrus who leaned his weight on the shitty library chair with his hand. “Oh, hey. Nice quote,” TJ replied, feigning nonchalance but missing by a long shot.

“Nice choice of play,” Cyrus gestured toward the book, playing along.

“It’s for class.”

“Right.”

A beat of almost unbearable awkward silence fell over the two boys, and TJ was almost prepared to get up and leave when Cyrus finally spoke.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you like that, I’ve just... I had a lot going on.”

TJ leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, concern apparent in his face. “It’s okay, do you need to talk about it?”

“Um, yeah, actually,” Cyrus mumbled in reply, pulling over a plastic desk chair to sit in across from him. “I, uh...” he started, cutting himself off with a deep breath.

“Take your time, Cyrus, it’s okay,” TJ reassured him, placing his hand on his knee.

Cyrus gave him a small smile. “Thanks, I just don’t know where to start.”

“Wherever you need to.”

Cyrus breathed heavily, then began, “I used to have this one best friend. Granted, it probably wasn’t healthy, considering he’s the one that got me the rep I have now, but we were practically inseparable. We talked about everyone together, and we did a bunch of stupid shit that I guess was fun at the time, but I kinda regret it now. I trusted him with my life, though. So, when I wanted to tell him one of my deeper secrets, it was only natural that I would end up doing that.” Cyrus’ eyes were misty at that point, and TJ rubbed circles with his thumb to try and comfort him in anyway he could. “He didn’t take it so well, and he cut ties with me at the end of the school year last year.”

TJ furrowed his brows, concern, bewilderment, and a dozen other emotions running through his brain. “How bad could that secret have possibly been to make someone cut ties with you? That’s ridiculous. Whoever this guy is, he’s an idiot, because you’re one of the best people I’ve met and I know for a fact that some secret isn’t gonna change that.”

Cyrus flushed a bit and looked down at his shoes, but TJ just chalked it up to lots of emotions and deep conversation at once. “Thanks, it means a lot, but that doesn’t change the fact that he still isn’t okay with it, and recently he’s been bugging me more about it, teasing me and implying he’s gonna tell people.” Cyrus looked up, directly into TJ’s eyes, and whispered. “I’m just so scared, TJ.”

TJ removed his hand from Cyrus’ knee and placed it on his shoulder, his grip firm but reassuring. “Hey. That’s completely valid, okay? But we can make it stop. We can go to the principal, make sure he doesn’t bug you again, alright?”

Cyrus nods, then shakes his head. “But if we go to the principal, he wins, doesn’t he?”

“What?”

“Then I’m the wimp.”

TJ pulled his arm back to his side. “Getting help to get out of an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation doesn’t make you a wimp, Cyrus. It makes you brave,” he said, instilling a sureness in Cyrus that he hadn’t had for a long time, and unfortunately reinforcing his crush on the blonde.

“Okay. Okay, let’s do it. Now,” Cyrus said, standing up, TJ following a second after.

“There is one thing, though,” TJ added as they began walking towards the office.

“What?”

TJ sighed. “There’s a chance Metcalf might not budge if he doesn’t know what your ex-friend is threatening to tell everyone, so you might have to tell him your secret. Do you think you would be comfortable with that?”

“I’m going to have to start telling people at some point, anyway, so might as well,” Cyrus replied with a sad shrug.

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, it might be best if I start with telling you, since you already know me better than most people,” Cyrus reasoned, mostly to himself, leaving TJ standing confused next to him.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, Cyrus,” TJ replied.

Cyrus stopped walking as he responded, “No, I want to, I think.” He took a quick yet stabilizing breath and looked directly into TJ’s green eyes, noticing the golden flecks for another countless time. “TJ, I’m gay.”

The contact was sudden, but certainly not unwelcome. TJ’s arms wrapped around him quickly became one of his favorite feelings as his heart began to speed up and his arms slowly rose up to reciprocate the hug. TJ murmured into his ear, “I’m so proud of you for telling me, Cy. I know how hard it is. And your ex-friend is a total asshole, by the way.”

Cyrus chuckled. “Yeah, he is.”

They pulled away after another beat and continued making their way towards the principal’s office, while TJ tried not to overthink the way he’d never wanted to let Cyrus out of his arms.

#andi mack #tyrus #tj kippen #cyrus goodman #the inexhaustible variety of life #my fic #fic #my writing

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kaleidiope · 4 years

Text

Story pitch for the drawings I’ve been doing.

Heads up! This is long, and i'm so sorry!! It won't be about things that go on in the story, but things about the story. If that makes sense? (Also, I apologize if there’s spelling errors. I’m not the best with spelling.)

(And some of this might change closer to completion. A lot of it isn't set in stone. So, even though I've started writing it, it still might change a bit from what it is. It stands at roughly 10,000 words right now, and we're not even half way yet.)

This story has been in my folder by the name of, "OUL". (Don't ask!) XD And it will be on a site called, "Quotev."

Thus, that's what i'll most likely refer to it as. It will get a name, but I want to name it when it's closer to being complete. I think I've talked about it twice before? But this has been my main focus story. I've been working things out with it since, I believe it was February? A lot of it has changed, some has been the same, I've mulled over many ideas for it. And it's fantasy. No getting around that! XD It makes no sense in some parts. I find some bits of it to be silly now. But I don't like the idea of changing them.

I also took different ideas from games, and i'll referencing those games to try help get a better idea of what I mean? If you guys remember me saying it's like One shot and Borderlands. That's because there's not much more of a, (Setting? Theme? Atmosphere?) I loved more than One Shot!! I loved that game's feel! Which is why I've based it around the same kind of feel! No sun, it's sandy, so on, and such. And the two main cities, are based like the,"Refuge" (Jade), and the "Glen/Barrens" (Beryl). (The Barrens works better for the out-skirts, though. See what I meant about it being like One-shot? I kind of feel bad about it now!) And Borderlands, because those two cities remind me of "Hyperion", and "Pandora". Two cities, Well...those aren't cities...But they do kind of hate one another. And one's powerfully ruled by someone kind of bad, while the others a bit...shabby? And Borderlands just reminds me of how the out-skirts would be like! XD (That's horrible!) And no sun due to the moon, so it's like a twisted, "Majora's Mask" Moon now? XD (Sure, why not!)

So, lore of the world. I like to consider this a whole new different place. I've called it 'Hanabano". Before, but i'm not completely sold on the name? And the moon has blocked the sun. A presumed eternal eclipse.

Now, and I quote from the story:

"A world, Hanbano. Presumed to be, once a world of beauty, now a world of sand and sea. The small planet's moon was large enough to block the sun for decades. If not far longer. An eternal eclipse. Leaving the world to adapt to it's new conditions. For better, or worse. The world fell apart. But as all things will do, the world adapted. The people made the best of what they had. And the world didn't leave the people, truly, in the dark. "Starworms." A type of glowing water dwelling bug with bioluminescene, rumored to have magic inside their shell's, due to the evidence of life around the ponds they inhabit. They live in the water, and in the water far beneath the ground. Along with the "Starworms of the sky". A flying bug with a far fainter glow. rumored to be the souls of the dead. Other than stars themselves, they were the world's only source of light. "GlowCo." A company made for harvesting the Starworms. GlowCo took the Starworms and turned them into lights. GlowCo knew the world relied on their lights. Crazy with power, GlowCo charged great deals of pearls for their lights. Some people seen the damage it was doing, to the world, to the people, to the starworms themselves. And retaliated. They started wearing masks on one half of their face, so when there was no light, one eye would be adjusted to the darkness. The people who could afford lights rejected those with masks, and started calling them, "Off Ones". For they're seemingly "Off" logic. The Off Ones relied on the many small bodies of water about the world for light. Along with the deemed, deadly source, that was fire. The people lived in one city, but not together. Most "Without Masks" were anything and everything they dreamed of, while the Off Ones often became merchants. GlowCo was not fond of the Off Ones, They decided that if there is no natural light then they too, would have to buy their lights. GlowCo destroyed the city. And everything around it. Many things relied on the Starworms, they depleted too much, too fast. And destroyed that portion of the world. Those Without Masks moved on, and made a new city. While the Off Ones stayed. They wouldn't let GlowCo win. They stayed in and throughout the chaos. Their masks let them see, they weren't afraid to use fire as light. Both something GlowCo couldn't do a thing about. With a old city in ruins and a new city on the rise, The two groups got farther apart with growing darkness in the world. And in their hearts."

So yeah! :D I'm going to talk about the characters now. And then i'll try to describe some things about the world.

Crimson, Cyan, and Umi aren't really in it a lot. If at all. Also, Maskless/ Without Masks, are in Jade. Off Ones are in Beryl. Jankers are in between the two cities, the out skirts, if you will.

To get a better idea of what the characters look like, I've mulled over the idea of ages for them. I've thought about making Pax young, around 11. But I feel that's quite young for what's going on in his life. I know things can't always be good. But I've thought about bumping it up to 12, or even 15? But since I've been thinking having Umber as 16, and Eben as 14. And I want an age gap between them. I don't like the idea of bumping it four years. She'd then be 20, and I do want them to be young, not kids, but, young? I just don't like the idea of those three being adults? And that Umber and Pax are around the same size, despite the age gap. Pax is a bit shorter than Umber. But I do like the idea of them being around the same size. I once, (apparently? I found it in my drawings drawer.) that I wrote down heights. But I've completely scraped that idea, because I didn't like it, and it would never come up. Thus, no need to work it out in numbers?? And it's fine just saying they're about the same size??? Just like the currency???? Since it's only mentioned once?!?!? There's a currency?!?!?!? Why did I make a currency?!?!?!?!?But all this is just one of those things i'm not sold on, but don't really like the idea of changing!

Also, Those three are the only confirmed kids? Tal, i'm thinking about 17, 19? 15 would be nice, but I don't want him that young for what he does. Pax being 11 works pretty well for him, Tal I feel needs to be a bit older. I think of Indigo being 26, 28? And Cyan being 32, 36? Crimson has the same deal as Tal, so 17, 19-ish. And Umi doesn't ever show. Tobias I think about 23, 25-ish. I haven't thought about it with them as much. But I do know Indigo's a pretty tall guy, like, ridiculously tall. :\

Eben, Umber, and Pax are the only ones in this story that aren't merchants. (Well, Eben and Pax are, but not professionals.) And the only ones without a full face mask. Tobias isn't an Off-One. So he gets his own look to him. Full face masks are worn my traveling merchants to hide their identity. As for, they go back and fourth from Beryl to the out-skirts of Jade to sell whatever it might be they have. (Every Merchant specializes in a different skill.) So, Cyan, Indigo, and Crimson (And Tal, too!) have full face masks and tend to wear a kind of cloak? While the others wear a kind of sweater? I consider this world to be dusty and windy, so those masks protect their eyes, too. Those masks I feel would have one lens a solid color, so you couldn't see out of it, and one clear, so you could. (Because a colored lens would be a bit hard to see out of in low light?) And some of them would have an animal element to them, like ears. Also, the odd designs "Sigils"on the masks work kind of like a family crest? Anyone in the same family will have the same mark.

PAX: (Paxton Loi) Knowledge merchant. Lost his Parents at a young age. They worked for GlowCo and died in a harvesting accident. The People of Beryl called it, "Devils work" and kind of resent Pax for being the, "blood of such horrible people!" In an attempt to make a new name for himself. He became a Knowledge merchant. (He keeps records of things. Buys and sells stories and information.) He has short-ish? light blue hair. Brown eyes. Light yellow-ish colored skin. Can be a bit cold towards people. More as a defense mechanism than anything. Even though he can be overly blunt and cold, and a bit sarcastic. He's a sweet kid. Even when he's being cold, I feel he would be saying it in a more of a questioning tone of voice? like, he's blunt, not mean. Has a hard time showing what he's really feeling, and things can come out not as intended. He has a green sweater, and a red scarf. With a half face mask.

UMBER: (Umber Ozu) Student. Was never told about her Parents. (Presumed, and confirmed dead.) Lives with her Aunt Umi. Was always being yelled at for never paying attention in class. Always messing with creations instead. When she made her light, GlowCo heard of it. Got angry. Decided to try to buy her light. To destroy it. She seen through their plan and refused. Umi didn't care, and wanted the money they were offering. And made a plan to sell it without Umber knowing. She found out. And on the night of the trade, she left Jade and ran off to the out-skirts of the city. Found a Merchant cart getting ready to leave for Beryl. Thinking of the years long feud the two cities have, she decided the news of her would never reach Beryl. And took a chance. Umber has dark purple hair, and eyes to match. Her skin is a bit of a deeper yellow tone. She's smart, and knows just what she's doing and how. Pretty friendly, and speaks her mind on most things. Fairly proud, and doesn't like losing or being wrong. Gets sad when she makes a mistake. She wears a Light purple sweater, and the full face mask with a green lens on the right side, and rabbit ears. It gets broken later on, which is why she has a bandage on her cheek later on.

EBEN: Apprentice. The daughter of Cyan. She was working to become a knowledge merchant like Pax. But over some family matters, she decided to stop and be where she's needed most. (Her Grandmother got sick and now she helps her mother take care of her. Along with her father with his work.) She has a lighter colored green hair, blue eyes, and very light skin. She's very bubbly and can come off as rude. Can cut people off mid sentence and is a bit childish. Will pout if she doesn't get her way. But only around the people she knows well, she won't do it to strangers. Knows when to be silly and what kind situation require a silly charm. Will try to make light of bad situations. She wears a dark purple sweater, and a half face mask.

(These other characters might change, as for, they're still in development. And i'm really fighting with Crimson's design, It's just, whatever I do, doesn't feel like it fits him?)

INDIGO: Traveling merchant of tools and other things of the sort. Also the guardian of Pax. (As instructed by Pax's parents.) He's very tall, with green hair. With indigo colored eyes. And a more neural skin tone, not dark, not light. and a bit of stubble on his chin, not a beard, but not a 5 o' clock shadow. (Since he does have a full face mask, and a cloak, a large part of him will be hidden. I've thought about giving him a small crack in his mask, reveling his eye and part of his skin. But at the same time, I don't think Cyan would allow him to continue like that. Though, I do imagine him having a half mask for home use. With a dark purple lens on the left side.) Due to a past accident, he has a bad knee, the left one. And should be using a cane. But he doesn't like looking like an old man. He has demons that follow him. Due to the lies he keeps. He hates it, but he's grown numb to the feeling, thanks to the help of his liquid spirits. He's the kind of Person that will always tell you what he's thinking. A bit of a joker, and enjoys teasing people. No filter on his mouth. Is very insecure of Taking care of Pax. Doesn't believe he does a good job at playing a fatherly role in Pax's life. He wears a deep, dark purple/red colored cloak. With a blue sweater.

TAL:(Talos)(My newest lil' guy!) Janker. He hates working with Jankers, but a job is a job. And you can't really get out of what you're born into. But don't judge him by the company he keeps! He's a great guy! Takes a lot of risks to help people unlucky enough to get caught up in the group. He has short grey/blue hair. and eyes to match. With a a bit of a tanned toned skin. He let's people sneak off, gives them food, really cares about them. He can be pretty cheeky, can and will talk himself out of any tough situation. More up beat, and friendly than Indigo, but both get along and can act the same from time-to-time with their joking personalities. But is well aware when I situation needs to be treated serious and knows when to hold his tongue. He wears and full face mask with cat/fox ears, and a light purple lens on the left side. He has a light purple band around his head, and wears a light purple sweater along with a deep, dark blue cloak.

CRIMSON: Knowledge merchant. Low-key villain? (Kind of. Works along with jankers, and is a puppet for GlowCo.) Pax's rival. Has little to no talking part. Is mainly only mentioned and comes into it only once.(For now.) He has bright red hair, and deep light blue eyes. And a tanned, darker colored skin. (Full-face mask and cloak, too.) And a deep blue lens on the left side. Despite being a "Bad guy". He doesn't act like a bad guy. He's just trying to do his job. (Too bad it's a horrible one.)With a deep, dark blue cloak.

TOBIAS: The Villain? (Kind of. He's the head of GlowCo. Need I say more?) Yet, he isn't in full charge. He's the next in line to take over the company. ( Can't say too much without giving away too much.) He has dark, kind of black/blue, colored hair. Light blue eyes, and VERY light skin. Almost white. He's a very cunning, and a bit charming. Can easily make people do what he wishes. Far too street, and book smart to be trusted. He wears a white, and light purple trimmed cloak. I can also see a cut on the bottom left side of his cheek.

(These guys will not have drawings with them. I'm sorry. It's just, how I imagine Cyan looking, is out of my skill league. I can't draw men. At least not manly looking men. Indigo was pushing it!) XD

CYAN: Eben's father and mask merchant. He's the one who made Umber's mask. (And is the reason Indigo won't be having that crack in his mask.) He's also the main reason Indigo is insecure. Cyan doesn't believe that he can take care of himself, let alone Pax. Though, the two of them go way back, and are good friends. They just don't always see eye-to-eye. (He has a full face mask, and a cloak, too. With a Cyan colored lens on the right side. But I imagine red hair, even though his name's Cyan. His eyes would be a cyan color, though! And his skin would be like Eben's since he's her father.) He's a very serous guy, and only wants the best for everyone. Can be very ruff and rude. But he always has the best intentions. He has a brown cloak.

UMI: Umber's aunt. Never shown, nor does she have talking part. (Yet, may change?) Most likely would look like an older, more mature looking Umber? I feel she'd have a tight bun on the top of her head. Along with a few others that haven't been named yet. I know I want one to be called mauve, but that's only if I don't change what i'm planning. :P

Now for the main look of the world! :D

The world it'self isn't something I've thought a whole lot about. I've sketched up a few things in the past, but i'm not sold on a good portion of it. But there are elements I know I like and want to keep in it. Like starworm lanterns and fire glasses. So, still something I need to think about. Mainly, how to put what's in my brain, into words. XD

I see this world to be really sandy, dusty and windy. And kind of bare? Maybe some dead trees, like really big logs that just haven't rotted through the time yet? (Because no one really knows when it went dark, or should I say, when the eclipse started?) With a lot of small ponds and such around with Starworms swimming about inside. Like tide pools? (Except in Jade, because GlowCo would have harvested all of them by now.) I've always thought of the starworms to give off a light blue glow. But it's pretty bright? And firefly type things that float about in the sky, varying in size. But they have a very faint glow, which is why GlowCo doesn't care about them. But it's a light blue type of color, too? And that starworms are also found underground. In caves. Water caves. But the light Starworms give off can allow some plants to grow??? And that the bug it'self is told to be magic??? Rumors? Or truth? Duh-duh-duhhhhhh!!!! XD

Also! Since there'd be no light pollution, the sky would look B E A U T I F U L!!! Just think! It'd look like some galaxy wall paper for a computer screen!

And then there'd just be a large black circle! That's just the moon, chilling out in-front of the sun, blocking it and the stars from view!! XD (Oh my goodness!!) XD

The biggest issue is, I find how I word things to be silly? But a large part of this story is dialogue. And if I don't give the characters their own way of wording things, it'll become dull. And it's something I'm finding a bit hard to do. My favorite style of writing is narration, and I feel when it's not dialogue, i'm just writing out the obvious? I don't know.

It feels a bit redundant at times. But I also have to realize, that I know what I mean, but the reader will not. I know what the place looks like, but the reader does not. So it might not be as silly as I feel it is? There will be mentioning of alcohol, death, and a lot of joking about random stuff. I hope not to go over anything more than a PG-13 type writing? But let's be honest, Jankers are the kind of people you call if you want someone to disappear! XD I mean, they do work with GlowCo from time-to-time. (They work for no one. Only themselves, but will work with others for a small price.)

And as most can also guess, there won't be curse words. I don't curse myself after all. Though I don't mind curse words, it's not a problem with others saying them or with the words themselves. (It's just I feel weird saying them? It feels wrong to say or even write them for me? I don't know why...)

I hope whoever has stayed this long to read my future story is having a great day and enjoyed! Also, I'm more than fine with questions. They can sometimes help me work things out. (But there’s no need, if you don’t want to!) Also, there's no such thing as a stupid question! I mean it! This story doesn't make perfect sense. Trust me.

Also there is some things I just can't talk about. Well, I mean, I....COULD....But....That ruin the story plot! XD So, i'm really sorry about that!

#Story pitch

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queeniewriteshockey · 5 years

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Can you write an imagine or hc (It's up to you) where you are Nolan's girlfriend, and when Carter joins the team he has a crush on you

Nolan would not be a fan of this if he knew what was going on.

My Best Friends Girl - Carter Hart/Nolan Patrick/Reader

Word Count: 814

Carter tries so hard to hide it. Because he knows it’s not really okay. But, to be fair, when he met you at the rink the first time, he didn’t realize you were Nolan’s girl. You were just a pretty girl in the hallway, waiting for practice to get over. He hadn’t really been around much and was the first one out of the locker room. He said hi to you out of habit but also because you were pretty and just kind of standing there. He asked if you needed help because he’d never seen you before and you told him you were just waiting for someone. He should have left but instead, the two of you struck up a conversation and like really got along.

At least he thought so, but then Nolan comes out and wraps his arm around your shoulder, pulling you into him in a bit of a defensive and protective move. Which is not out of the ordinary but a little odd considering its in response to a teammate. He didn’t even respond that way when TK was flirting with you. Admittedly that was more to annoy Nolan than anything. Carter takes the hint and scoots out of there, he’s not playing a game with Nolan, he’s not that kind of guy.

He talks to you a few times here and there when you run into him, but for the most part, he gives you a decent amount of space because he really would like to see his little crush go away. It gets to the point though that if you’re around he’s not and its starting to bug you. You liked him, thought maybe you could be friends but he’s like actively avoiding you. What are you 5? This is ridiculous.

Even Nolan is noticing Carter’s unwillingness to be around when you’re around and that really PISSES him off. He doesn’t catch Carter’s glances at you when no one is looking. He misses the little sighs that Carter does when you leave. He’ll poke that bear, though, unlike you. He’ll demand Carter explain why he has an issue with you, but Carter doesn’t really know what to say so he just tells Nolan he doesn’t have an issue.

Nolan does not believe him, not at all, but also fine. You want to lie, I’ll drag it out of you one way or another. So, Carter, who doesn’t have an issue with you, according to him and Nolan, is being forced to spend the day with the two of you.

Poor Carter.

He doesn’t want to do this and it’s clear as day on his normally overly excited and happy face. You’ve literally watched him go from the sweet and friendly guy you met that first day to a guy who doesn’t smile or interact when you’re around. Of course, it has to be something you’ve done. Nolan vanishes for a bit, into some video game store, leaving you and Carter to talk.

He’s on his phone the second Nolan is occupied. Anything to keep him from interacting with you. It’s really starting to get to you that he’s so standoffish and distant. You’re the only person he acts like this with. You can’t take it any long and you snap.

“Did I do something wrong?” You ask. Your voice is small, sad. You really did think he was sweet. You could have been really good friends.

He looks up from his phone, eyes wide with shock. You’re talking to him and Nolan isn’t around and he might be panicking a little. “No. Of course not.” He doesn’t elaborate.

“Then… Why do you hate me?” You’re a little angry at him, now. He keeps saying one thing and doing a completely different thing. You don’t get it.

“I don’t hate you?” He’s almost confused by your implication and you want so badly to hit him.

“Right, sure. You just treat everyone you like, like they’re infected with an incurable disease.” You cross your arms over your chest and turn your back on him, trying not to let the anger get the better of you.

“Ones I like that are dating friends of mine, yes.” He says quietly, fingers tapping on the glass screen of his phone again. He doesn’t look at you, but his cheeks are pink. He knows you heard him.

“You…” you pause, collecting your thoughts and restructuring his behavior in your mind. You get it now. Why he distanced himself. “You should go,” you tell him.

He swallows hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yeah, I should. Tell Nolan I’ll see him at practice.” His phone slides into his back pocket and he’s walking away before you can even say anything.

You don’t know what to do with the information you now have, but you watch him walk away. A weird feeling nestling in your chest.

#carter hart imagine #nolan patrick imagine #c.hart: angst #n.patrick: angst #nhl imagine #Anonymous

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riverforasong · 4 years

Text

Climbing Through the Wall

TW: Self Harm, Weight issues, and family instability, oh and nudity, I guess. It’s a non-fiction thing so if that’s not your bag, thanks for coming anyway!

It’s never really been a secret, per se, but I’ve only just now started to freely admit to people that I’m a nudist. Be it out of fear of how people would react, or embarrassment stemming from a, now that I think of it, weirdly conservative upbringing, I never talked about it. I would drop hints here and there, but never much explicit, even with super close friends it remained a non-topic, despite the fact that it was, and is, a very big part, and honestly, fundamental part of my life. Hell, I’m literally naked right now (Probably, depending on when you’re reading this and what time of day it is, I could be at the store or at work or something, but it’s like a solid 90 percent chance). When the topic does come up, especially with people just learning about it for the first time, I get a lot of questions about it, which is absolutely to be expected, and I don’t mind it one bit, mostly because I love talking about this kinda stuff. One of the questions that always trips me up a little bit though, is “Why?” Why choose to go naked all the time? Which seems like an easy answer, being naked is awesome, it’s more comfortable, it releases stress, and makes it easier to sleep, and it honestly baffles me why anyone would choose to wear clothes if they didn’t absolutely have to. For me at least, it’s the only time I’m ever really comfortable, clothes and I just never really gelled. But it wasn’t until recently, and I’m talking within the last 3 months recently that I realized how important it was to me, and the recovery of my self image. My self esteem has always been low, and a lot of that stems from how I physically look, but it goes even deeper than that. From here on out this story gets kind of intense,TW: Self Harm, Weight issues, and family instability, oh, and nudity I guess, but you should have figured that out by now, so if you’re not into that, maybe skip to the last paragraph? Or you could bail out here, the whole gist of it is being naked makes you feel better about yourself, you and your friends should give it a try sometimes. Got it? Good, and here we go.

I’ve always been the fat kid, right from the get go, in school that’s how I was pegged. Like a lot of fat kids, we learned to be the funny one in the group, because humour is a damn fine way to mask any and all insecurities you’re hiding within yourself. I’d always told myself that it doesn’t bother me, people are gonna say what they say and you can eiher take it personally, or let it roll off your back and make a joke about it, and that’s what I always did. Or at the very least, tried to do. It worked, or so I thought, but I’d be lying to you right now if I said it never got to me. Late night when no one was listening, it would replay over and over in my head, about how that’s the only thing people ever see in me. That’s always going to be their first impression. I will never be loved if I look like this. Now this is a batshit crazy way of thinking in retrospect, but that’s how m'brain works when it’s back on it’s bullshit. Later in life, what I now know to be an anxiety issue and mental illness, went unchecked for too long. In my family, I always had to be the level headed one, parenting the parents so to speak. My brother had sever Social Anxiety Disorder and would lash out in increasingly terrible ways that he can talk about in his own damn story, but my parents were not… I dunno, mature enough? No that seems silly, equipped to? Equipped to take care of this in the way it needed to be. Yelling begat more yelling, violence begat more violence, you see how things roll. I would always have to step in and make sure things don’t escalate any further than they already had. Taking pieces of myself and shoving them in the holes of the levee to make sure the whole place doesn’t flood. It would work, things would calm down and merrily we’d roll along until the next disaster hit. This worked for them. It didn’t however, work for me. Being the person who took care of these issues took a toll on me that I didn’t expect. See, I was just as sad and angry as everyone else, but I couldn’t express it in any way, because I needed to fix the issues before they became worse, but unlike everyone else, I had no one to check on me. No one to make sure that I was doing okay enough to function, which as it turned out, I was not. The anger and the sadness and the overall negative emotion swelled inside of me and remained bottled up until it could no longer stay. I began to cut myself to release it. I couldn’t find someone to help, and I couldn’t take it out on anyone else, so I took it out on the person who mattered least in the house, myself.

Still with me? If so, here’s a puppy.

youtube

Cutting may have relieved the emotional pain and stress I was feeling, but it also left something in it’s wake. Big, obvious, ugly, red scars. Crisscrossing my arms and legs. New ones would pop up every couple of days or so. A couple people would ask about it, I’d tell them it was my cat, which if you knew my cat made sense, ‘cause that little thing’s kind of a bastard, and the situation would be left alone. This went on for a while, longer than I’d like to admit, but the important thing was I got help. Help from friends who are truly invaluable to me in ways I could not possibly convey because I don’t know that many words. I’d love to say it got better immediately, and I never even thought about doing it again, but shiiiit, you know that’s not how life works. I still struggle with it to this day. I was however, on the road to healing, both physically and mentally. The problem remained though, these scars would be with me forever. You can still see them if you look close enough at my arms, and it’s been a solid ten years or so since the first major incidents. Now, as someone who already had a pretty low vision of himself, this did not help at all. I hated going outside, I hated putting myself out there in the world. I hated what people might think, might say, might point out. It was an awful ouroboros of thoughts leading to actions leading to thoughts leading to actions. I was disgusted with who I was and what I looked like. From the fat, to the scars, to the fact that I thought my head was too big, and my feet too small. Now, as a guy, you don’t know that you get to feel this way. We don’t talk about how men can obsess over their looks and how it makes them feel as much as we really do. There’s not a lot of self help books for that kind of situation, or if there is, I sure didn’t find any. Mostly 'cause I didn’t look that hard, mostly because I was afraid to ask for help, mostly because I didn’t know I was allowed too. There’s that ouroboros again.

This is where the whole nudist thing kicks in. See, my whole life, I always kinda hated clothes, getting dressed, shopping for them, gah, I just hate it. I was always more comfortable naked than anyway else. My parents on the other hand, wanted no part of anything like that. I remember as a 4 year old getting told I was too old to walk around without being fully dressed. Socks, Pants, Underwear, Shirt, the whole 9 yards. I remember bring up the subject to my mom, who was so horrified at the concept of me being a nudist she actually started yelling despite herself. We once watched a documentary where one of the characters was raise in a nudist family, there weren’t even on screen, and my parents would rally against them, talking about how it’s sick and why have these people no shame? I always gave a half-harted affirmation, but on the inside, it was killing me. I never drank, did drugs, had underage, unprotected sex, got into fights, that wasn’t really my thing. My rebellion was being naked. Naked inside, outside, sometimes with friends, sometimes in public, for as long as humanly possible, down to the last millisecond I could. But during the rough patch, I hated how I looked so much I stayed covered up, to a ridiculous degree. I’m talking long sleeve shirts in summertime, wearing shorts in the bathtub kind of covering. It was a mess. I figured the whole thing was a phase and it was time to outgrow it. It was time to repress some feelings and urges, and get back shoving my emotions and feelings of inadequacy back down my own throat.

I know it was a stupid idea. I’m also in the future.

This went on for a while, although I can’t remember how long. I felt miserable, and couldn’t figure out why. I kept wearing increasingly baggy clothes to hide what I though deserved to be hid. But I wasn’t getting any better internally, it just looked like it. I didn’t feel any better about the way I looked, I just stopped looking. I don’t know what changed, eventually. Something did though. Maybe I just cracked through the shell I had formed around myself. But for the life of me, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I may have hated the way I looked, but I hated clothes more, I guess.

When you’re naked for a long amount of time, a few things happen. At first, you’re highly aware and tactile about every single thing around you. You’re aware of every imperfection on your body, from love handles, to acne, to scars, to weird ingrown hairs, to what you need to shave, to how dry your knees are. Everything, Every. Damn. Thing. And then? You forget about it. You focus on something else, you watch TV, you play video games, you clean the house, you check your garden, whatever it is, and you forget about what little things bug you about you. When you do it over and over again, that first part where you obsess about everything becomes shorter, and shorter, until it eventually disappears altogether. Nudity helped me come to peace with who I am, and what I look like. I may not like a lot of the things about me. But I don’t obsess, it doesn’t ruin me, it doesn’t encapsulate all I am anymore. The biggest change was seeing it happen to other people, the first time I ever went to a nude event, it was the Portland Naked Bike Ride in 2016, and you realize how diverse we all really are. I saw fat people, skinny people, trans-gendered people, men, women, children of all shapes, sizes and colours hanging out and talking to people. I was horrified about what they would think about me when I came walking in, but no one batted an eye. We talked, we laughed, we shared stories and jokes and videos about whatever. I finally realized that the only person saying these terrible things about me and they way I looked, was me.

Whenever I finally tell people that I’m a nudist, I get one of two reactions. One is always someone showing a ton of interest, but not wanting to admit it, so they ask a lot of questions, but try to do it superstitiously, and two, people who say stuff like “That’s so cool, but I could never do it myself,” and that one always bums me out. We have taught people from the time that they’re born to the time they die, that being naked is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing, and is only to be reserved for taking a shower no longer than ten minutes, and having sex in the missionary position only for the purposes of procreation after marriage, and for the love of all that is holy never speak of it, or practice it outside of these two times. It’s terrible to shame someone for something so simple and natural and helpful. To tell people right out of the gate that their body is shameful and should be hidden away because “No one wants to see that.” We kick their self esteem in the chest before it even has a chance to get started

I’m getting kind of soapbox-y and that’s not the point I’m trying to make. The point is, I fully believe that nudism saved my perception of myself, and I feel like people need to give it a chance. Separate it from it’s sexual connotation and invite your friends over for a naked movie night or something like that. I even ran a naked DND session once, and it went over like gangbusters. It helps folks who t think they’ll be uncomfortable for the first time focus on something else, and realize life is just that much better. Getting people naked and watching their faces go from assuming it’s going to be awkward to genuine fun and comfort is one of my favourite feelings in the world, because we stop putting so much pressure on ourselves and what we wear and what we look like, when no one has anything to hide..

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