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mosh-4 · 4 years

Text

“we’re really funny” pt. 2

harry styles imagine

“we’re really funny” pt. 2 - the aftermath of the tiktok

“we’re really funny”

you woke up the next morning to your phone blowing up. you rolled over to grab your phone from your nightstand. you had notifications from practically every social media app you had and text messages from almost all of your friends and family. you had multiple texts from your cousin.

(y/c/n): im so sorry

(y/c/n): that was such a bad idea

(y/c/n): shit

(y/c/n): i think some of the fans followed my Instagram

(y/c/n): i posted those pictures from your wedding

(y/c/n): it’s all good now. i made my account private

you let out a sigh and rolled back over to face your sleeping husband. you drew your attention back to your phone and replied to your cousin.

you: it’s okay. don’t stress.

after you hit send, you opened your Instagram. you were thankful for your account being private, but now you had thousands of follow requests. they must have gotten your Instagram from the pictures on your cousin’s account that you were tagged in.

you scroll down to the picture from your wedding.

you smile at the picture. thankfully, your cousin hadn’t tagged you or Harry. you laughed to yourself at your comment on her post. why had you decided to wear those gigantic heels?

Harry stirred next to you before turning to face you with his eyes barely open.

“good morning,” he mumbled still half asleep.

“good morning, lovie,” you reply admiring his sleepy appearance. his hair was disheveled with curls all over the place.

“hmmm,” he hummed opening his eyes to look at you. “so what’s the damage?”

“i haven’t really looked. (y/c/n) said a bunch of fans followed her before she could make her account private.”

Harry reached for his phone on his nightstand. his thumbs tapped over the screen for a minute before he spoke up. he got on twitter and looked through his mentions. some of the pictures of the two of you together were already circulating. they were pictures that the fans had already seen, yet now they had paid more attention to your presence in each picture. some fans had theories that you two were together. others thought you were just a friend.

the pictures they had taken from (y/c/n)’s account added fuel to the fire. she had posted pictures of the her, you, and Harry from christmas and thanksgiving. he was also seen in the background of some pictures. the picture from the wedding seemed to be the most popular. even though he wasn’t featured in the picture, fans were trying to connect the dots between the you and Harry. if you were married, did that make Harry just a friend? the fans didn’t know what to think, which really fueled their speculation and theories.

“i got a few messages from Jeff and Grimmy,” he said breaking the silence. “Jeff wants to know if we are going public, and Grimmy said if we were going public, he wants us to come on his show.”

you were silent for a minute. did you want to go public? so soon? yet, there was no purpose of keeping it secret anymore. you were married now. nothing was gonna change that.

“should we?” you ask him.

his eyes moved to you before placed his phone on the bed and turning fully toward you.

“do you want to?”

“i’d be okay with it,” you said. “it’s not like they would know every aspect of our lives. they would just know about us.”

“you’d be giving up your privacy though,” he said. “i can’t ask you to do that.”

you sat up. the sheets pooled at your waist as you did so.

“hey dingbat,” you started. “i married you. i knew what i was getting into. i’m okay with it.”

he laughed at you. you only called him “dingbat” when he said something stupid or idiotic. you had a habit of calling the people you love by insulting names. it was one of your ways of showing affection. he never really understood it. maybe, it had something to do with growing up with your older cousins who would pick on you, but he wasn’t sure.

“i know. i just worry about you. you could get mobbed by fans or paps. you are going to lose part of your freedom of flying under the radar,” he said taking your hand in his. “i just want to keep you safe.”

“and i will be, haz. i’m always cautious.” you place your hands on his cheeks. “we’ll be alright.”

Harry was silent for a beat. you could tell he was contemplating the pros and cons of the situation.

“so we’re doing it then?” he asked. “you’re absolutely sure?”

“yes. i am absolutely sure,” you say dropping your hands from his face. “i think it’s time we let a few more people into our little world.”

Harry sat up with you reaching for his phone.

“and by a few, you mean a couple thousands, maybe millions?”

“sure,” you shrug.

he gave you a goofy grin before he began typing on his phone.

“how should we do it?” he asked looking to you. “should i post something? or tweet something?”

“you could post pictures from the wedding, and i can make my account public. i have wedding pictures on there.”

he nodded before his gaze was fixed on his screen while he scrolled. he started to smirk.

“you’re gonna have to help me pick. you’re so beautiful in all of these.”

you gave him a goofy smile before tucking yourself under his arm. you laid your head onto his chest so you could see his phone screen.

Harry sent a text to Jeff and Grimmy letting them both know that they were going public before he went back to the wedding pictures. you both scrolled through them remembering the day.

“i love this one,” you said stopping at the picture of the two of you holding each other. you could only see the back of your dress and hair with his hair and hands. it was beautiful and perfect for posting on his Instagram. it was intimate, yet there wasn’t a lot of PDA.

“i do, too,” he said. “should i use this one?”

“yeah, i like it. it’s perfect.”

you watching him as he uploaded the picture to his Instagram. he captioned it with your wedding date before posting it.

“you should post one, too.” he said looking down to you. “we are doing this together, after all.”

you laugh.

“okay,” you picked your phone up from the bed. “help me find a picture. we should do a different one than the one you posted. the fans are going to want more content.”

“i swear to god if you weren’t married to me, you’d be one of them,” he laughed.

you sit up a bit leaning up to look at him with a shocked face placing a hand on your chest.

“excuse me,” you scoffed. “i may have matured a bit, but i am still a fan of one direction. i know my people.”

he laughed before placing a kiss on your forehead.

“yes, you do, love. yes, you do,” he murmured into your hair.

you scrolled through the rest of the pictures until you got to the fun ones taken at your reception. you both laughed at the pictures of your brother and cousins attempting to dance as if they were in a nightclub. there was one of you and your cousin in the middle of your secret handshake while you were dancing with Harry and she was dancing with her boyfriend. you finally landed on another one of your favorites.

“ooo,” Harry said stopping you. “i like this one.”

it was a picture of the two of you dancing with you looking up at him laughing and him smiling down at you.

“me too,” you hummed in agreement. “should i post it?”

“yeah, i love that one. it’s got your smile.” he wrapped his arms around you a bit tighter.

“you’re a sap,” you said laughing.

“hmmm. i know.”

you entered your Instagram, and you made your account public. you uploaded the post and began to write your caption before you posted it.

you both laid back in bed while you scrolled through the comments and tweets about the two of you. you watched the chaos of your husband’s fans, and you laughed together at some of their tweets.

you both sent messages to each of your families letting them that you announced it to the world and that it was safe for them to share it as well.

Grimmy sent Harry another text.

grimmy: so will i see you on radio 1?

Harry turned to you.

“Grimmy wants to know if we’ll go on his show,” he said.

you looked up from your phone.

“the both of us?”

“yeah, you up for it?”

“hmmm,” you hummed while you thought about it. “i guess so.”

“it’s Grimmy. what’s could go wrong?” Harry shrugged.

you sat up.

“literally everything. literally everything could go wrong. have you met him?” you joked.

he laughed in agreement. Grimmy was a friend, but he did have his way of embarrassing the both of you.

“i’ll tell him we’ll do it,” he laughed while typing on his phone.

“mkay,” you said laying back down on Harry’s shoulder.

you scrolled through the comments a bit more laughing at your friend’s and cousin’s responses and reactions. you were glad that you went public. you got to share your love with the world, and it was so refreshing.

you were so grateful for that damn tiktok.

hope you enjoyed! feel free to send requests - mosh

#harry styles #harry styles imagines #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #harrystyles #harry styles x y/n #one direction #onedirection #one direction imagines

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ambivalent-anarchy · 4 years

Text

Star Wars 101

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Warning: None

Reader has never seen a single one of Peter's favorite movies.

A/N- I really need to stop making new series lol, I swear this is the last new one for a while, at least until I finish some other ones.

Hope you like it!!!

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"In case I don't see you... good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!"

Peter watched you intently as you stared, wide eyes glued to each and every movement on the screen, even sniffling a bit when the credits began to roll. Really? The Truman Show was making you tear up?

"[Y/N], really?," he snickered lightly, wiping one of your cheeks and then showing you the wetness on his finger. He gave a teasing smile as he moved to take the DVD out. "I understood when you cried during the Titanic, but this is just The Truman Show."

"Don't judge me!," you scolded, cheeks quickly becoming red with embarrassment. "It was frickin' sad! The dude's been stuck in a tv show his whole life and he didn't even know it! That's freaky!"

"It's a Jim Carrey movie," Peter laughed. "How can you cry at a Jim Carrey movie?"

You rolled your eyes and turned away, trying to hide your growing grin. Who was Peter Parker to judge you on how you react to movies anyway? At least this was just a movie. Peter got flustered with everything in real life!

"-And a movie as crappy as this particular Jim Carrey movie too!," he smirked.

You turned around with a loud, overdramatic gasp. "What was that, Parker? Did you just call one of my favorite movies CRAPPY?!"

Peter turned from the DVD player with a small, innocent smile and nodded his head vigorously before sprinting away as he predicted that you would chase after him.

He was right.

"How dare you!," you yelled, quickly jumping into action. "Jim Carrey may be a bit of an overacter, but he's still AWESOME!!"

You were high on adrenaline, running after him with all you had, but it didn't take you long for you to realize that chasing Peter in his own house was a bad idea. It was his home. He knew it like the back of his hand. And you, however, did not.

You bumped into every other corner. The more you ran the more bruises you were probably getting. Until finally after hitting your hip on the kitchen counter, frustrated, you squeezed your eyes shut tight and yelled out, "YOU DON'T HEAR ME JUDGING YOUR CRAPPY STAR WARS MOVIES!!!"

You hadn't seen where he came from or how he got you, but in an instant, Peter was smack dab in your face. "What did you just say?"

Quickly coming to a stop, the corners of your mouth twitched upwards, knowing you'd just hit a nerve. "I said, you don't hear me judging your crappy star wars movies."

He stared, stunned, for a second. ".. you did not just say that," he whispered, more to himself than to you. He turned towards you. "You did not just call one of the best franchises in the universe crappy."

You turned away with a smirk before he gently grabbed you by your arm and whirled you back around. "[Y/N]. Star Wars is ICONIC!"

You rolled your eyes with a light giggle and turned to walk away before you were whirled around again. His eyes looked right into yours, his face holding an extremely serious expression, which of course was nothing but hilarious to you. "Dude, I'm NOT letting you leave this kitchen before you give me a valid reason why Star Wars is bad to you."

You sighed loudly. So he's holding you hostage now, is he? Well, two could play at that game. "Not until you tell me why The Truman Show was so bad," you shot back.

Unfortunately for you, Peter was ready with his reasons.

You stared, dumbfounded as he read them off. "Predictable. Took too long to get where it was trying to go. When it finally got there, it didn't give an actual satisfying ending! Did Sylvia find him after that or not?! And what point was the movie trying to make about the world anyway? That really wasn't clear. Also, I couldn't tell whether some parts were funny or them just trying too hard to be serious. Should I go on?"

"N-no no, you're good," you chirped, your voice cracking a bit. "Didn't know you were such a harsh critic, Pete."

"And your reasons?," Peter asked with a shit-eating grin. He knew you didn't have any.

You scrunched your eyebrows together and stared up to the ceiling. "Umm," you mumbled before you blurted out. "It just seems like classic NERD crap, honestly okay?!?!?!"

Peter dramatically threw his hand to his chest, as if he'd been stabbed. "Ah, you hurt me, babe. How could you?"

You rolled your eyes. "Can we just go back to watching movies, Pete?! My hip frickin' hurts." You shifted slightly while rubbing the your hip with your hand, trying to relieve the pain. Peter noticed and immediately the previous topic of conversation was dropped.

"A-are you okay?! C'mon, let's go sit down.."

You breathed a breath of relief. Thankfully, a dumbass situation stopped due to Peter's relentless helpfulness and need to be a gentleman.

An hour later and you were watching Mean Girls now, something both you and Peter could agree on, especially after he'd told you he'd never seen it before.

And how could he have never seen Mean Girls? It was ICONIC!

"Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen. It's NOT going to happen..."

"I don't like this Regina character," Peter mumbled as he reached for more popcorn.

"You wouldn't," you chuckled softly.

Peter Parker was a sap and an overall nice guy. Regina George was probably not a character that he would be caught fanboying over.

"I mean," he started again, squinting his eyes at the character on the screen. "Villain characters are supposed to be BADASS. She's just rude."

You threw your head back and laughed, ruffling his hair. "Only you would think that way, Pete."

"And this Cady character," he continued. "She can't honestly think she's doing all of this and is still a good person. How is she a proper protagonist?"

You rolled your eyes and smiled. You hadn't noticed until actually watching a few movies with Peter how much of a movie critic he was. And he took it seriously. "Okay, that's enough rotten tomatoes for one movie, Pete."

Peter shrugged, rolled his eyes, and laid back on the couch. "I'm just calling it like I see it."

He kept quiet after that, just giving grunts, hums, and muttering things at choice times.

When your favorite part came along, Regina getting hit by the bus, you bit your lip with a smile. "Oooh, wait for it," you said lightly slapping Peter's shoulder excitedly. "She's gonna get it."

"So don't act all innocent! You can take that fake apology and shove it right up your hairy-"

Just as the part you were waiting for came, Peter paused the tv.

Quickly, you turned to him, eyes wide. "What'd you do that for?!?! She was gonna get smashed!"

He turned towards you, narrowing his eyes slightly. "So you've never watched Star Wars before?"

You turned to face him. "What?"

"What you said earlier... You said that it seems like nerdy crap," he explained, piecing it all together. " Seems! Meaning that you don't know for a fact meaning that you haven't watched it!"

"Are we seriously still on that,?!" you teased, your smile widening. This whole thing was beyond frivolous to you.

"Well yeah, because it's one of the greatest series ever!"

"It's predictable!"

"It is known for one of the biggest reveals in cinematic HISTORY!"

"What, the 'I-am-your-father' scene? Yeah, totally predictable."

Peter's jaw completely dropped. "Wha- how?!"

"Y'know Vader in German means father, right?," you snickered. "His name is literally Darth father." You picked up a soda, shaking your head slightly. "But yeah, if you must know... I haven't seen Star Wars."

Peter stopped responding. He just stood up and stepped away silently.

"Are you seriously mad over this?," you yelled out, watching him with a frown. "It's just a movie..."

Was he brooding right now? Over something as dumb as Star Wars? Well, you certainly weren't gonna be the person to go after him.

You whipped your head back to the screen in front of you and unpaused the movie, waiting for your friend to come back to sit next to you. It was official, Peter Parker was a nerd bitch.

As the movie went on, eventually you'd forgotten that Peter was even gone.

"The limit does not exist!"

It sucked that he left, but still though, you wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Surrounded by popcorn, pretzels, fruit, fruit roll ups, and practically any snack you could think of. Endlessly watching movies on a Saturday morning. Well, technically it was the afternoon now. But you'd lost track of time by about the sixth movie.

However, there was only so much movies could do for you. As time passed on, it started to weigh on you. You'd come there to see Peter, not Mean Girls. But if there was one thing to get on a nerd's nerves, it would be Star Wars wouldn't it?

Ugghhhhh.

After much anticipation, you finally decided to go up to his room and talk to him.

You turned to walk up the stairs and was immediately collided with a big wall.

Well not a wall, Peter.

And not just Peter. Peter with a gigantic box in his arms.

"Sorry it took me so long, didn't mean to leave you waiting. I was just just trying to find this," he said, tapping the cardboard box with his fingers. "So did you finish the movie?"

"Yeah," you said, looking at the box. "What's in it?"

"Guess I'll finish it myself later then..." He pushed past you and sat the box on the couch.

"What's in the box, Peter?," you repeated, trying to get a good look at it.

"Oh nothing," he said dramatically, taking the Mean Girls DVD out of the DVD player. "Just what will soon be the best 25 hours of your life.."

"25 hours?"

Peter smiled. "That's how long the entire Star Wars trilogy is." He picked up the box cutter. "24 hours and 52 mintues actually, if you're doing the original editions of the original trilogy instead of the special edition." He turned back towards you. "You need a movie-cation and I'm gonna give it to you."

"A movie-cation?"

"Movie education, [Y/N]."

You held your head back and laughed. "Oh my God, Pete.."

He was on his knees in front of you in a second. "C'mon!! Please, it's the best. I promise you won't regret it!"

Ugh. This was it. You were gonna do this. Force yourself through 25 (24: 52, but who's counting?) hours of boredom just to please some guy that wasn't even your boyfriend. I mean, he was practically begging you. God help you.

"Fine! Fine.. I'll watch your lame nerd movie."

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@underoosjae @spn-assemble-seven @of-your-eyes-begonia-skies @parkerpeter24, @audreylovespidey706

#avengers #marvel #peter parker x yn #marvel fanfiction #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fic #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker #peter parker fluff #peter parker imagine #peter parker oneshot #marvel fandom #marvel x you #marvel x reader

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kingofthewilderwest · 5 years

Note

All aboard the hype train! What were your top 3 most stand out moments from THW? (in no particular order)

Hype hype! My list of three will be a little different than the raving I’ve seen many fans do. For me, my top three stand out scenes are:

There were dragons when I was a boy. I have the opening of Cressida Cowell’s book memorized. I about screamed when I heard, in the trailers, Hiccup saying its first line. But my heart has, for over five years, yearned for Hiccup to say not just that line, but the whole speech. For him to talk about “great, grim, skydragons that nested on the cliff tops like gigantic scary birds” and “little brown scuttly dragons” and “preposterously huge Sea Dragons.” The opening to the first How to Train Your Dragon book is simple, eloquent, emotive, poignant magic, and there was nothing I wanted more than for the DreamWorks films to give us a chance to hear that aloud. Did I expect to hear it? Not really, not fully - maybe a modified version of the concepts.But we got that word-per-word moment! Not every word on the page, but a good chunk nevertheless. I flailed in theatres. I remember hearing about Spielberg crying through reading the last page of the THW script; I know now it had to be this quote. I find that interesting and ironic, because while that story got stocked up as Dean DeBlois working writing wonders, the tears are really to the credit of Cressida Cowell. These are her words, integrated into both the book!verse and the movie!verse; they sing whichever How to Train Your Dragon story you put them in. I for one am a fan that we could get this adapted to screen, so that all HTTYD lovers can get this bittersweet speech.The combination of the lines plus seeing Hiccup with his family, reuniting with Toothless, was rather well-done, and certainly one of the best moments of the film.

Save him. It’s easy for your breath to catch. For a gasp to slip out from your lips. For your heart to skip a beat. Hiccup literally lets go and falls, sacrificing himself with the intent for Toothless to live. Hiccup plummets from the sky, Grimmel ripping his dragon scale armor suit to shreds, while the Light Fury flies off to catch Toothless’ fall. The sound editing was perfect, sudden muted silence, a sense of surrealism as we watch what could so easily have been Hiccup’s death. It’s a moment of ultimate sacrifice, of both emotionally and literally letting go, for the sake of someone else’s life. What a moment. What a moment.Not going to lie, I lowkey wanted him to die in this moment, it was so damn cool.

The opening fight. What a fun adventure! This scene hits multiple things close to my heart. First: the gang dynamics. We got Snotlout setting his butt on fire (hello ROB/DOB reference), Hiccup being mistaken for a demon, the twins heckling each other constantly, and more. Character dynamics like this are my favorite thing about the DreamWorks Dragons show, and character dynamics tend to be my favorite thing about any franchise that does them well (VLD, ATLA, ST:TOS, LOTR movies, etc.). They’re so… mmmm… vibrant and rich… when everyone shines individually and bounces off one another for a greater whole. I could write essays on it.Then we got a battle - complete with Hiccup sword fighting. Since reading the HTTYD books, I have been in love with every second I see Hiccup holding a sword. Granted, I’m a huge sap for swords period, but Hiccup with a sword is such an aesthetic! Such a mood! Watching everyone run around in a dramatic action moment like this was a treat I can’t put into words. They literally combined character dynamics, which I’m a sap for, with characters fighting with swords dramatically, which I’m a sap for.On top of that all, we have amazing dramatic lighting (the deep haze??? the fire??? the darkness??? SO GOOD) which created such an AMBIANCE. And when they flew to Berk, both my friend and I in the theatres gasped the same two words at the same time: “Holy shit.” I’d seen what Berk looked like from previews, but nothing prepared me for seeing the detailed magnificence and ridiculous visual appeal on an enormous theatre screen.The opening sets up what so many of THW strengths are: the character interactions, the unreally beautiful animation, the high stakes action. It also pulls in the crux of the plot. Other people might not see this moment as spectacularly as I do, but for me it was a real treat. A REAL treat.

#httyd 3 spoilers #THW spoilers #httyd3 #httyd 3 #How to Train Your Dragon 3 #THW #The Hidden World #analysis #my analysis #ask #ask me #awesome anonymous friend #Anonymous

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elvenadora · 6 years

Text

They’re all in the Holt household, around a table in the den. It hadn’t been easy, not by a long shot, but the paladins had made it back to Earth, landing in a field close to the Holts’ house and far from prying Garrison eyes thanks to a satellite engineered by Matt and Commander Holt. Shiro’s sandwiched between Keith and Matt, all of them happily crammed around a table meant for four. He’s in the middle of listening to one of Lance’s anecdotes, involving Kaltenecker, a pit stop, and an alien who didn’t understand the concept of “not for sale” when he hears the front door open. Lance barrels onward, as always, so Shiro doesn’t think anything of it until a familiar voice nearly stops his heart.

“Takashi.”

He looks up, and it’s like the breath gets sucked out of his lungs.

There’s a man standing in the doorway. He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks, glasses askew, one trembling dark hand pressed to his mouth. He’s shaking. Shiro’s never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

He’s out of his seat in a heartbeat. He thinks he knocks over a chair in his haste, but it doesn’t matter because Adam is moving too, Adam is crying and flying forward to meet him and Shiro catches him like he’s weightless, even with one arm, and he’s breathing, burning, falling, flying, alive, alive, alive.

“I knew you were alive, I knew it, I knew they were fucking lying to us, I- fuck, Takashi, I’m so fucking sorry-” Adam is babbling into Shiro’s shoulder, one hand fisted around Shiro’s shirt, his other arm wrapped around Shiro’s neck. Shiro can’t even speak at first, clutching Adam to his chest like he’s all that’s tethering Adam to the earth. A wave of emotion crests in his lungs, threatening to pull him under. He can’t catch his breath. He buries his nose in Adam’s hair, taking in that same old smell of pine shampoo. Shiro doesn’t even realize he’s crying until he sees his tears drip down Adam’s temple. He kisses it away, saltwater tingling his lips, and sets Adam down gently, leaving his hand cupped around the back of Adam’s head.

“You know, you’re gonna break your glasses if you’re not careful,” Shiro says, smiling through his tears. Adam laughs, more like a sob, and sets his glasses down for a moment to wipe his eyes. When he’s done, Shiro takes him by the hand and leads him to the table. At some point, all of the other paladins had quietly left the room. He’s grateful for the privacy.

Adam squeezes Shiro’s hand before he speaks. “I came the second I heard,” he says, voice raw. “I knew that you had to be out there, somewhere, but I had almost given up hope I’d ever see you again. Then Sam came back, and it was like- it was like seeing the sun for the first time in years.” He cuts himself off suddenly, looking pleadingly at Shiro. His grip on Shiro’s hand tightens as he begs, and he might as well be gripping Shiro’s heart. His expression is broken glass.

“Takashi, I am so, so sorry for everything I said,” he says, voice breaking a little more with every word. “I was afraid, and I didn’t want to lose you, but I was being stupid and awful and I didn’t mean any of it, I swear, I just- I could barely live with myself, knowing those were the last words I ever said to you, and that I might never get to- to- fuck-” he chokes on a sob, hands flying up again to cover his face. “I didn’t even say goodbye-”

“Adam. Hey.” He pries Adam’s hands away and cradles Adam’s cheek, forcing Adam to look at him. He smooths away a stray tear with his thumb. “I was never angry, okay? Never. It’s okay now. None of that matters anymore.” Adam blinks at him, once. His shoulders still hitch slightly and his face is a swollen, tear-streaked mess; Shiro is certain he doesn’t look any better himself. He ignores the tears that stream down and the way his voice cracks as he says, “And I always loved you. I never stopped.”

Adam’s face screws up again at that, because he’s a sap, and this time Shiro pulls him into his shoulder to cry himself out silently. He almost smiles to himself as he runs his hand up and down Adam’s back. Adam’s always been a crybaby, despite all his tough guy posturing, for as long as Shiro has known him; it’s nice to know that some things actually never change, even with his very universe turning upside down.

At long last, Adam sits back up with a drawn-out, shuddering breath. Shiro keeps stroking his back as he cleans himself up, wiping at his face with a nearby napkin. “Okay,” he breathes.

“You good now?” Shiro teases, softly. He’s holding Adam’s hand again. He never wants to let go.

Adam grins in return, though it’s still a little watery. “Yeah. Really good.” His face softens, and he reaches out to run careful fingers through Shiro’s hair.

Shiro stiffens a little despite himself. He’s had a lot of time to come to terms with how he looks now, and the fact that he’ll never be able to look in a mirror again without a stark reminder of what his time in space took from him, but it’s different now that Adam’s here. He pictures himself through Adam’s eyes: the shock of white hair, the deep scar running across his face, the cold metal stump where his arm used to be. The ghost of his hand itches more than ever. He swallows nervously.

“Space, uh... really messed with my beauty routine,” he jokes, weakly. Adam runs his hand through Shiro’s hair again, considering. Shiro can read the pain in his expression in the tightness around his eyes, the set of his shoulders, as hard as he tries to hide it.

You couldn’t have stopped me, Shiro tries to say. The words lodge in his throat, burning. Adam’s thumb grazes Shiro’s eyebrow, almost reverently.

“You looked worse when you were trying to write your thesis,” Adam finally says.

They both laugh. Then, slow and careful, Adam leans forward; this time, it’s his hands, cool like water, that frame Shiro’s face as he presses a feather-light kiss to the bridge of his nose.

“You’re perfect,” Adam murmurs. There’s not an ounce of insincerity in his voice. Shiro loves him so desperately he thinks it might swallow him whole.

He pulls Adam’s glasses off tentatively, setting them on the table before leaning back in, and Adam surges forward to meet him. He still kisses like how he flies, after all this time: confident, assured, like there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing in the world. His hand is a reassuring weight on Shiro’s nape, stubble rough but not uncomfortable against Shiro’s face. It’s soft and sweet and tender yet somehow quietly ferocious: this is a kiss that vows protection. Shiro makes a small noise and buries his hand in Adam’s hair, losing himself in the familiar push and pull, the sear of Adam’s mouth on his. Adam’s taking it slow, gentle, but Shiro still feels he might fly apart at any given second. Adam pulls back with a faint sigh, resting his forehead against Shiro’s. Shiro blinks back tears. The ache in his chest is so deep it could rip him apart.

They stay like that for a moment, drinking each other in, before Adam melts back into Shiro’s side. Shiro wraps his arm around him, intertwining their fingers. There’s no need for words, for a while; just Adam tracing Shiro’s knuckles with his thumb, Shiro pulling Adam in closer, closer. He raises Adam’s hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss there, before dropping their joined hands to his lap.

“How did you know I was alive?” Shiro asks, breaking the silence.

Adam shrugs as best he can. “I didn’t, really, before Commander Holt came back. Not for sure. I just… I felt it,” he says quietly. “And I was sure I was right. Left the Garrison over it, actually.”

Shiro cranes his neck to stare at him. “Wait, really? Why?” How many people left the Garrison when I was gone?

Adam smiles a little, looking down at their hands. “They kept trying to tell me you were dead. Refused to expend any resources looking for you. I wasn’t thrilled about that. But now you’re here, so it looks like they’re gigantic assholes and they were wrong,” he says, vindictively.

Shiro snorts at his tone and Adam laughs with him, the sound rumbling through Shiro’s chest. There’s a pang as he realizes all he’s missed out on. There are years he’ll never get back, but now there’s something he can do to try and fix it. He rests his cheek on top of Adam’s hair.

“Can I ask you something?” Adam hums affirmatively, so Shiro continues. “When you said you didn’t mean any of it, earlier, were you being literal? Like... including the part where you said the engagement was off?”

Adam leans back to squint at him, his mouth slightly agape. “What?”

“I still want to marry you,” he says, looking deep into Adam’s eyes. “If that wasn’t clear.”

Adam’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline, his indignant expression contrasting nicely with the flush making its way up his brown skin. “Takashi- okay, yeah, I got that, thanks, but you are ridiculous, and I’m definitely not doing this now.”

Shiro tilts his head. “Is that a no?” He suddenly feels like he could take on the world.

“It’s not,” Adam concedes, putting his glasses back on primly.

Shiro perks up. “Really?”

“But I’m not talking about this now,” Adam stresses. “We both need to get some rest before anything else.” His mouth quirks upwards. “Besides, we’ve got a lot of time to talk about it now, right?”

“Mhm.” Shiro can’t help himself. He presses another kiss to Adam’s cheek, loving how Adam’s smile spreads across his face, the sun chasing away a storm. He has no idea how he survived this long without it. Nothing matters more.

“Plenty of time,” Adam repeats, maybe to himself, so he’ll finally believe it. He shifts, and at last Shiro sees some of that old fire in his eyes. “Okay. Let’s go home.”

#shiro #adam #takashi shirogane #adashi #shadam #vld #voltron #I DID IT I WROTE SOMETHING #I....... I FINISHED SOMETHING?? HELLO???#that's the power of gays baby thank you shiro and adam for my life #this is the first thing i've completed in months. YEET.#I'M SO IN LOVE WITH THEM ALREADY #THEY'RE SO IN LOVE......#THEY'RE GONNA REUNITE AND GET MARRIED AND THAT'S CANON FACTS I SPEAK IT INTO EXISTENCE #mine #vld7 #mutuals please clap kdsfjdklfsdkljf #OH AND SHOUTOUT TO FRANCE FOR BETA SKILLS I LOVE U FOREVER

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ENMY Chapter 79 - Cloak and Dagger (Part Two)

Chapter Synopsis: As Yang and Emerald discover the truth behind Remnant, the shadow of Salem’s Grimm army looms close to Vacuo. The Kingdom that has remained passive, now enters the stage of the Second Great War.

Series Synopsis: Team RWBY is disbanded, and Yang must find herself new allies. For her, that might very well be yesterday’s enemies. Joining up with the likes of Emerald, Mercury, and Neo, the four will comprise Team Enemy(ENMY).

Links to read the series: Ao3 or FF.net

Or hit the jump below

Cloak and Dagger (Part Two)

“Why?”

That’s what they asked me.

It’s what I asked, too.

But when I posed myself that question, I got an answer I didn’t expect.

It’s amazing how easily it came.

I could only think:

“How could it have been anyone else?”

My only regret is that we didn’t realize our feelings sooner.

Yang closed Summer’s diary with a breathless sigh.

She just finished reading the recount of how her two mothers came to be. They were teammates, best friends… then after a time, enemies.

After Raven changed sides, there was no end to the reasons why Summer should have severed ties with her.

Even so…

“How could it have been anyone else?”

Yang echoed the words Summer spoke so long ago.

It touched on something, a crack in her heart that had been widening for months. Her mother’s words set something free. Her mind was made. Her doubts dispelled and her fate was decided. Yang wanted to return to Vacuo as soon as possible.

“We have to get back to Vacuo as soon as possible!” Emerald yelled, as she and Professor Oobleck ran into the private reading room.

“What’s up?” Yang asked.

“Mercury just sent me an encrypted text. Salem’s made her move on Vacuo.”

“Crap!”

The three made their way to the upper floors of the Tower. They ran past several piles of books, knocking them over without a second thought. It was imperative they find Papyrus.

“How bad is it?” Yang asked.

“Don’t know. Merc didn’t exactly send me pics. But apparently, it’s a gigantic army of Grimm.”

“Like, Battle of Dracul?”

“Probably bigger, MUCH bigger.”

“And Vacuo still has their Cuckoo problem.”

“Yup! Which is why, we need to haul our ass back, like, yesterday!”

“But that’ll take days!!!”

“You think I don’t know that?!”

They stopped at the top floor and spotted the record keeper furiously writing at a study table. Oobleck picked up the latest page freshly written and read it aloud.

“’Ferocious beasts bore hungry maws at what they thought was dinner! But lo’! They were caught unawares by what they thought was easy prey, was in fact an esteemed Huntsman!’”

“Is that… Professor Port?” Yang pointed curiously at the document.

“Yes, it appears Papyrus is recording the current events via Peter’s diary entries!”

“Oh! I get it! So, you guys arranged this beforehand so you could keep tabs on current events!”

“No, not at all. Peter just likes to write in his diary constantly.”

“In the middle of battle?!”

“Yes. He’s very good at keeping accounts of his exploits. I often wish I had his ability to put pen to paper, irregardless of the harrowing situation!”

“Uh…huh.”

The three started pouring over the notes Papyrus previously wrote. In it, they found bits and details between Professor Port’s grandeur embellishments, that painted a picture of the situation.

After Temujin threw the first “gauntlet”, the forces of Grimm and Vacuo clashed. Although the Kingdom’s military had never faced such a sizable host of monsters, the battle seemed to be go in their favor. Vacuo’s warriors were well-versed in dealing with the varied species of Grimm. They also demonstrated an organization that rivaled the most disciplined armies.

“Hm…” Emerald glared at the most recently recorded books. “The librarian doesn’t just record Vacuo’s side either. Take a peek,” she shoved a blank covered tome in Yang’s hands. “Inna and Bean are here, too.”

Yang skimmed through the information like a starved bibliophile.

“Bean’s commanding the armies… He wants to hunt me down… Adam’s here too… Someone named Jupiter Black? Isn’t that—”

“Mercury’s cousin and president of the douchebag assassin society.”

“This is… This is Blake’s diary.”

“Yup!” Emerald shouted, while picking up another book. “With any luck, we can figure out what the other side is planning. Meanwhile, the Professor can keep a pulse on how the battle is going.”

“But we need to get back there now!”

“One problem at a time, Yang! You said it yourself, it’ll take days to get back! We need to play the smart game here. If we find something crucial, our messages might do more help than us actually being there.”

Yang heard the reason in Emerald’s argument and agreed. But somewhere deep down, all she could worry about was Neo. She knew her partner could handle herself, but it wasn’t enough to abate her fears. The fact that they were separated by such a distance, in such a dangerous time, drove her mind to conjure things she never wanted to see.

Yang watched Emerald shuffle through another mound of papers in frustration. Her leader wasn’t as composed as her words let on. No doubt, Emerald was just as concerned about Mercury.

“As soon as we find what Salem’s planning, we’re out of here!” Emerald shouted without looking at her.

“Yeah. Yeah, alright!”

Yang dove back into the haystack of information with gusto.

Just be alright, Neo.

Please, be alright.

X X X X X

Neo threw her parasol into a row of Grimm, corkscrewing them all through the chest cavity. With a wave of her hand, her weapon swooped into a u-turn and flew safely back to her hands. She opened the umbrella to let out a small spray of black blood, causing her to lick her lips with a depraved look.

She gave a small inward thank you to Ruby, who made a few upgrades to her weapon.

Mercury soared above her with a number of Vacuo’s airborne fighters trailing behind. After activating his Semblance, he kicked up a sandstorm in the middle of Salem’s army. Rough debris and jagged rock wore away at the more durable species of Grimm, while lighter ones were caught up in the tornado.

Throughout the battlefield, soldiers exercised their specialized roles. If they fulfilled a long-distance position, they fought safely from the backlines. The more hands-on of the fighters took to the vanguard to face the brunt of their opposition. Some fought together, some separate. And then, there were berserkers, who traversed wildly into the chaos of being surrounded by enemies.

Chain Nai’s blue ringed skin glowed with a dark sea hue, as he clamped a Jester’s hyena mouth between his elbow and knee. The force caused the front half of the skull to cave, but it was the warrior’s poisonous Semblance that put the creature to death.

Not too far away, a shining warrior faced a unit of Moredread knights five v. one. The monsters boasted a heavily reinforced armor composed of dense bone. Their medieval style appearance added with the giant buster blade they hefted overhead, made for daunting figures. Yet the lone fighter stood, unfazed by the challenge.

When their swords fell like a waterfall of guillotines, the man bat them away like they were sheets of cardboard. The last one, he caught in a single, gold and black gloved hand.

“Compared to Qrow and Athos, you might as well be using toy swords,” Taiyang taunted.

With a flick of his wrist, the Moredread he caught the sword of, was twisted into the air. With his free hand, he loosed a soft palm strike on the Grimm’s bony helm. The Aura infused into the technique transposed through the armor and exploded within the knight’s vulnerable brain matter. Before the corpse fell and the other four Moredread could react, Taiyang was on them.

His fingers became pointed to align with his forearm. An upward thrust sent a spear-like hand under one of the Grimm’s armpits, where the armor was weakest. The ligaments connecting the Moredread’s limb tore like tissue paper.

With Taiyang’s hands still formed in a straight edge, he sent a chopping fist through the neck of two others.

The sword knight Grimm were classified as A-Class Grimm individually. But against a fighter of their complete counter and high caliber, five had fallen within mere moments.

Bean saw through the eyes of the dying Grimm and decided to take a different approach. His army was never meant to fight on even ground. They were meant to abuse their numbers andabuse their numbers he did.

The young boy directed a pack of fast moving Jesters Taiyang’s way and a Deathstalker towards his back. He didn’t expect them to win, but sap away at the martial artist’s stamina.

Just when they reached combat distance, a rain of icy shards fell on the area, including on the man himself. Though, the attack only seemed to shatter against Taiyang’s now tattooed skin.

“Huh. Will Tai take no offense to that?” Minerva asked from a fair distance.

“He’s used to it,” Glynda answered, before casting another icy hailstorm over a different area. “Is it me, or is this battle faring a little too easily?”

“I am of the same mind. Salem has yet to play any of her proverbial trump cards.”

“Our casualties are also low, not that I’m complaining.” Glynda pushed up her glasses before manipulating a small herd of stampeding Goliaths and diverting their charge into its allies. “The longer this battle goes on, the more disadvantageous our position.”

“Agreed. What do you suggest?”

“I’ve been trying to discern where the commander of this army is located.”

Another group of Grimm rushed their position, but Glynda levitated them into the air, while Minerva waved her wand to cause an explosion, incinerating them into pieces.

“Going by the way the Grimm are directed, I can only assume whoever is in control, is commanding them from there!” Glynda pointed her riding crop.

Minerva paid attention to the direction and saw a number of Grimm waiting on standby. Some would now and then, breakaway for a maneuver, but were swiftly replaced. The behavior was almost unnoticeable in all the chaos.

“So, we will have our troops advance there.”

“No,” Glynda shook her head. “There’s too much ground to cover and they’ll see us approaching almost immediately. If we can take them by surprise, we stand a chance at ending this battle prematurely.”

“…I’m not fond of the tone your suggestion is taking…”

“My Magic has a wide area of effect. If I can get close enough, I can trap them in the middle of it.”

“That is a fool’s gambit, Glynda.”

“Yes, but it’s better than waiting until Salem is ready to activate the Cuckoos.”

“…”

“There’s no other way!”

“Wait!”

Without another second, Glynda bolted for the enemy commander. She ducked and rolled between her enemies as well as her allies. Short-ranged Magic darts repelled any hostile Grimm out of her way. The Huntress made rapid progress towards her destination, but eventually, the beasts around her took notice.

They swarmed from the land and sky. Flying Preyer Mantis Grimm swept low with their scythe-like forelegs. Some of the Moredread lumbered in her direction in a joust. Glynda cast a shield around her, but it was quickly being whittled away.

If she could only make it a few more meters, she knew she could invoke a storm large enough to encompass the commander’s surroundings. She didn’t even need to live to maintain the spell to its end. Just starting the incantation would be enough. Just emptying her Aura for all its worth would be enough.

Then, she heard her barrier break and her riding crop shorted like a bad fuse. Glynda didn’t know where it broke from, there were too many possible angles. She could recast it, but by that time, it would be too late.

As a Jester pounced from behind her back, a pair of fingers thrust into its eye sockets. The hand gripped the top of its cranium and swung it into another pack of hyenas, knocking them over like bowling pins.

The man body-blocked Glynda from the attacks coming from outside her peripheries. His diamond hard skin deflected any harm and reflected the impact of others. Claws and fangs shattered on contact with the hard surface.

“This is a bit reckless for you, don’t you think?!” Taiyang shouted.

“I knew you would be there,” Glynda replied.

“Yeah, well, you know I can’t keep this up forever!”

“I know, Tai. But I also know you can keep it up for long enough.”

“It’s tough being reliable,” he said, with a smugness trying to hide the strain on his body.

“Hmhmhm!” Glynda chuckled in a slightly flirtatious way.

She refocused on the task at hand and saw the assumed Grimm commander and its escorts retreating back. But by now, it was already too late. She was well within the optimum range.

Glynda stabbed her riding crop to the sky like a divine sword. Clouds formed to her summons. A large violet insignia pulsated as the weather became shaded with a low rumble. Bright veins of light flashed within the swirling veil like outlining blood vessels.

Not another second passed before pillars of pure, electric destruction descended on Salem’s army. They traced the ground, gorging through the earth like a scroll saw. All the Grimm the light touched were instantly burned into a crisp.

Glynda was elated at the success, but stopped herself from getting too carried away. She dealt a heavy blow by conjuring the thunderstorm so deep into enemy lines, but that was not the main purpose of her stratagem. She watched the other Grimm outside the storm to see if her gamble paid off.

There was no change at first and it made her heart freeze up. But sure enough, the creatures gradually lost a sense of focus. A few breaths later and they began to scatter in retreat. Countless legs trampled and stumbled over each other, while Vacuo warriors pressed forward to slay any stragglers.

Glynda’s knees gave out, and she sat in a manner that betrayed her usual stringent demeanor.

“Wow…”

She turned a sly eye to the awestruck Taiyang.

“What are you so surprised about?” Glynda asked.

“I sometimes forget how scary you can be.”

“Really?”

“It doesn’t happen a lot, cause you know, you’re constantly reminding everyone. But times like this really drive it home.”

“I’m flattered.”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’re right. I’m not.”

“Issss this a bad time to say, I think I’m in lo—”

“Don’t finish that sentence, Tai.”

Glynda got to her feet and started making her way back to Minerva.

“Or else I’m liable to cast a second thunderstorm.”

X X X X X

At the top floor of the Tower, Professor Oobleck set down the latest copy of Professor Port’s diary entry with a serious look.

“It appears, thanks to some brave heroics on Glynda’s part, the battle of Vacuo has reached premature conclusions.”

Emerald breathed a groaning sigh of relief before falling on top a nearby pile of books. She even thought about taking a nap, before noticing Oobleck’s tenseness unchanged.

“…? Okay, did I miss something, or did you just say the battle was over?”

“I did,” he replied.

“So, are you one of those people with resting angry face or…”

“Salem did not appear on the battlefield, nor did any of her named associates, save the individual Glynda forced to withdraw. The majority of the opposition Vacuo waged battle with were Grimm, and not the Nightmare Class we know to have joined her fold.”

“Probably conserving them. This was only the first fight.”

“A plausible theory.”

“Yeah! So, no time to waste, Prof. We need to blow this joint, not that I don’t love the smell of old books and ancient-lost-forgotten-knowledge.”

“You don’t have to be sarcastic.”

“Who’s being sarcastic? I’d spend my whole life here if I could. Think I might ask Masa to build me one of these. But we’re on a time crunch and we’ve got a long ass drive ahead of us. Hey, punchy! That means you, too!”

Emerald strode over to Yang sitting cross-legged, and kicked her boot. Though, the kick registered, the girl seemed completely immersed in what she was reading.

“What? Find something new in your mom’s diary?”

“No… Something’s off,” Yang shook her head. “Blake, or well, Salem, keeps talking about this ‘Cloak and Dagger’ plan. She has to know we’re at this Tower, right? I mean, she didn’t see us at the battle, she’s gotta have some idea.”

“Yeah, that tracks. What are you getting at?”

“She’s probably keeping watch of whatever everyone’s putting on message, but I’ve been piecing together the clues we do have. Some texts between Bean and Jupiter Black, along with some other assassins the guy brought along.”

“And?”

“They don’t line up. The timing for their plan sounded like it was set for the battle. They kept sending updates to each other. ‘Are you in position?’, ‘Yes’, that kind of thing.”

“It could be nothing…” Emerald felt paranoia creep in. “But when is it ever nothing with Salem?”

The girl paced the room a bit. Professor Oobleck also had his own doubts prior to Yang’s. Emerald started biting her thumbnail as she walked in circles. Now, she was sure something was wrong.

Salem’s associates.

The first battle lost.

A battle lost prematurely?

Did they throw the fight on purpose?

‘Cloak and Dagger’.

Emerald stopped in her step.

“Shit…”

“What? Did you figure it out?” Yang jumped.

“It’s in the stupid name! Salem’s such a pompous asshole! But, shit. We’re the only ones who know about it, and we’re too far away to make a difference!!!” Emerald shouted, while pulling out her scroll and typing as fast as she could.

“What is it, Em?!”

“Cloak and Dagger, Yang! If that whole fight was the cloak…”

Yang’s eyes widened with realization.

“Where’s the dagger?”

X X X X X

As Temujin made her way back into the throne room with tired steps, she was helped by Mouse and Knives Rakis into her seat.

“Hoh hoh,” she planted herself with a shamble. “I really am getting old. Hardly lifted a finger and all these bones start creaking like thin leaf plywood.”

“I wouldn’t really call firing a couple airships and spears the size of most people ‘hardly lifting a finger’,” Mouse smirked.

“Oh, then you should have seen me back in the day. Riding my motorcycle into battle with hell’s fury at my beck and call. It would’ve made today’s display look shameful in comparison.”

“You’re still plenty strong.”

“Peh!” Temujin brushed it off. “No, most definitely not strong. But perhaps a tad shrewder in my age. I mostly get you youngsters to fight my battles for me now—to my regret.”

At that moment, Knives brought a freshly steaming cup of tea and set it on Temujin’s arm rest. The elder was about to drink it, before she pulled back.

“Knives, this is much too hot. Can’t you bring me a cooler cup?”

The two siblings gave a momentary pause.

“A gentle reminder for you to slow down and take your time,” Knives replied smoothly.

“Take any more time and I might right die of old age.”

“Enough of that. For now, Mouse and I will handle the logistics of the aftermath. We’ll report when everything is summarized.”

“We suffered very little casualties…”

“Yes, we did.”

“…That doesn’t sit well. Victory never comes so easily.”

She stared into the sibling’s pairs of silver eyes and saw they reflected something far-off in the distance. Not just the distance, but also maybe the future.

“Be vigilant, children. And Knives, thank you for attending to the other matter.”

“Of course. Please, take this time to enjoy your tea.”

With Knives’ parting words, the siblings left the room. Temujin was left to stare at her tea cup with her lower lip sticking out in a sort of pout.

“How am I supposed to enjoy it if I can’t drink it?”

The drink still had a thick haze of steam swirling from its surface…

—until the steam suddenly wavered.

…

“Ah… I really am getting old.” Temujin gripped her cane tighter. “To think I didn’t notice an assassin until they came this close.”

From an open window, Vulcan Black leapt in with his giant maul in hand. The head of his hammer torched with the flame and lava of a volcanic eruption. A heavy cloud of billowing smolder trailed from his downward swing.

“Cheeky brat.”

Temujin tapped her cane once against the stone floor and activated her “territory”. Vulcan was less than five paces away from letting his hammer fall, when his body faltered in midair. The assassin’s large stature then, crumbled as if under its own weight. He immediately started choking for air as his vision blurred. It was as if the atmosphere itself was trying to kill him, rejecting him like a bacterial infection.

Temujin stood from her seat and bade her teacup one last glance.

She thought about how the Rakis twins were acting, and how unusual Knives was about bringing her a drink much hotter than her usual brew. It was a subtle ploy to warn her.

They must have used their Semblance to foresee this.

No wonder she gave me an especially steaming cup.

How nice it is to have such thoughtful children…

Temujin made her slow way to Vulcan, who was nearing unconsciousness.

“Huh. Never met an assassin as bulky as you. In my prime days, I have no doubt we would have enjoyed a grand battle. Alas, I can’t really act that way anymore. My days of fighting head on, facing my foe blow for blow!” she pumped her fists, then went into a tired lament. “Long past, I’m afraid. I’ve had to resort to much shrewder methods with my seniority.”

Vulcan concentrated all his focus into moving his arm. It reached for his trusty maul that fell just a few millimeters from his outstretched fingers. He could almost touch it, when Temujin’s foot rested on his knuckles.

“Still haven’t given up on killing me! My respects!”

Vulcan was practically frothing at the mouth. Nothing but his rage and anguish kept him alive.

“It was sore luck you were contracted to kill me. I doubt there’s ever a worst target in all of Remnant for assassinations than myself.”

The giant assassin was now shaking uncontrollably.

“Well, may you have peaceful passage into the afterlife knowing you were defeated by the strongest Aura Skill practitioner to ever exist.”

At some point, Vulcan stopped resisting. Something of a quiet acceptance started to seep into his soul.

“My apologies, young pup. But this is death.”

Temujin honed her cane to a sharpness with Aura Skill, before plunging it swiftly through Vulcan’s back. The blow came quick and merciful and painless.

A heavy silence filled the chamber.

“The greatest shame for an assassin having failed their mission, is a corpse left behind. I shall endeavor to preserve your dignity as much as possible. An unmarked grave in the middle of the dunes, where no one will disturb you or uncover you. I suppose I owe you that much for my disgraceful methods.”

Temujin tore down one of the large tapestries hanging from the walls and threw it over Vulcan’s corpse.

“Now, that I think of it, I never asked your name.”

“I suppose that too is a preservation of dignity for an assassin.”

X X X X X

A far distance away, three figures laid on their bellies, peeking just barely over the crest of a tall sand dune.

“Curious…Very curious…” one of them muttered behind his intricately silver designed magnifying glass.

Bean and Inna, who watched the same scene play out turned to him with expectation.

“You’ve discovered the method Temujin employed against Vulcan?” Bean asked.

“You didn’t?” the man asked back.

“Reason unclear. Vulcan… collapsed without any point of contact or visible action. Your theory is required, Professor Moriarty.”

“Elementary, young man. But I must say, her Semblance is more flexible than I would have guessed. But these eyes see, this brain knows,” the man tapped his temple. “My Semblance learns all secrets.”

“Explanation required,” Bean repeated.

Moriarty gave a dark chuckle

“The old bat used her Warsmith’s Semblance to ‘weaponize’ her surroundings. Atmospheric pressure, temperature, I’d even include the gravity—all of it came under her control. She can make her environment literally a weapon. How fascinating.”

The young boy went into silent shock before speaking again.

“Conclusion drawn: close combat deemed impossible. Only viable avenue is long-range methods.”

“It’ll be tough to catch an Aura Skill user like Temujin from long-range,” Inna added her input. “But if anyone can do it, I can.”

The girl nodded her consent, but Moriarty gave them both a dismissive look. He stroked his thick broom mustache in thought.

“Not necessarily. There appears to be a weakness… For now, we should regroup and report to Salem. Our other cohorts should be carrying with Dagger Phase as we speak.”

“…Agreed,” Bean answered. “The second wave must be prepared.”

The three left their hiding spot and made for the mountain ridge they made headquarters.

On the way back, Bean glanced to the Haven Professor seemingly doing a multitude of calculations in his head.

“Probability of Dagger Team’s success?” the boy asked.

“85% by my observation” Moriarty replied easily.

“…And success of eliminating the main targets?”

“Hmmm. Four of the six objectives should be met, if we are to include Vulcan’s failed mission, though, that was within expectation.”

“And the other failed target?”

“Chain Nai will likely survive. He is an exceptionally formidable one. The rest of the targets will not.”

Bean went silent. He felt a pinch at the edge of his heart.

He didn’t know them well, or particularly liked them. But there were two individuals targeted for elimination in Dagger Phase he felt some bitterness towards.

Bean muttered quietly under his breath,

“Sorry, Yang.”

X X X X X

In the aftermath of the battle, the Black Iron Road had all its furnaces fired immediately.

They didn’t know when the next battle would break out and many of those who took part in the fight, needed repairs to their arms as soon as possible. This also held true for those with prosthetics.

As a result, a long line of patrons in queue were lined up outside Brigid’s workshop. All her apprentices were working around the clock, dashing back and forth between stations. They ran out to exchange parts they were low on with other shops. And among the chaos, Brigid received her next patron with a certain grin.

“Mercury!” she bellowed. “Take care of this one here!”

Mercury quickly put the finishing touches to a Faunus’ ear in time to clear a seat.

A boy, a bit pockmarked in the face and some bloody scrapes, sat down on the stool in front of him. The young boy looked a little worse for wear, but he didn’t act like it. Instead, he beamed with a pride only the young and boastful could have.

“Can’t believe your old man let you join the aerial unit at the last minute,” Mercury shook his head, and began disassembling the damaged parts to Icarus’s wing.

“I only worked support mostly,” he replied shyly.

“Uh huh. And you get these scrapes only working support.”

“Well, when the main units were busy somewhere else, they needed us to hold the lines on another front. We couldn’t let any Grimm pass the wall, after all.”

“How many did you get?”

“About… five.”

“So, two. Pretty good for a kid with a new prosthetic.”

“I said, five!”

“I saw two.”

Icarus blushed with embarrassment.

“You were watching me?”

“Yeah. Only cause you were watching me.”

“That was cause you were so cool! How did you make a storm by yourself?! Can you teach me to do that?!”

“Maybe. Probably should check with your dad first. Where is the hard ass, anyway?”

“He’s right here, cousin.”

Mercury heard the poison in that voice and turned with an indescribable feeling of dread.

Not too far behind Icarus was Daed. But behind the father was a cloaked figure wearing a steel mask. The assassin had a knife tucked just barely visibly under his hostage’s throat.

“Jupiter…!” Mercury growled.

“So, glad you remembered me. I’d thought you’d all but forgotten your debt unpaid.”

“Let him go!”

“Tsk tsk tsk. Well, that would entirely defeat the purpose of a hostage now, wouldn’t it?”

“Goddamn it! Goddamn you, Jupiter!!!”

“Temper, dear cousin. If anyone should be angry, it should be me. You killed Apollo and Diana.”

“They got themselves killed!”

“And now, I have two less assassins under my management. You and your precious little friends are going to suffer for that. No hard feelings, mind you. Simply professional. I have a reputation to uphold.”

Mercury was about to leap at him, when Jupiter twisted the knife, causing some blood to drip from Dead. The threat made Mercury freeze instantly.

“See, that is the difference between you and I, little cousin. We are assassins, but you lack the actual principle required by our kind.”

Mercury was practically burning with anger, doing everything to check his impulse.

“Life is fleeting. It giveth and it is taketh.”

“You want me?! Then come and get me! Leave them out of this!!!”

“Attachment to it in any shape or form, even your own—”

“JUPITER!”

“—Is weakness.”

X X X X X

In the dark alleyway, Adam’s slash caught nothing but air. His target had ducked at the last second and slipped close in the next.

Neo twisted her body with a quick torque and a snap to unleash a vicious uppercut kick that connected with Adam’s jaw. Once her opponent was floating midair, she readied to transition into the follow up. She didn’t want to allow him even a single chance to touch the ground again.

Just then, a violet light drew from the shadows and sliced at her midsection. Neo had no choice but to back off and teleport away.

During her retreat, something odd happened. Her Semblance didn’t grant her the smooth passage it usually did. Instead, her body was flung upside down through a nearby store window.

Neo didn’t understand. She scanned her surroundings, but it was nowhere near resembling the location she wanted to warp to. Something interfered with her Semblance. When she finally looked down at the wound she received, Neo knew the cause.

In addition to the blood draining out, a cursed black mist billowed from the opened flesh. Neo then, heard the snapping of glass as her two enemies caught up to her.

Blake and Adam approached like a pack of hunters cornering their prey.

Neo could only curse silently as she took up her fighting stance once more.

“Tonight, the monster finally dies,” Blake gloated. “And once you’re gone, Yang will be mine once again.”

“…!”

“Face it, Neo. It never would’ve worked out. Yang and I were made for each other. She knows it, I know it, everybody does. Hahaha!”

Neo growled mutely.

“Even you! You just don’t have the courage to admit it.”

Neo summoned an army of shimmering glass weapons, but they were blown away by the simultaneous wind slashes of Blake and Adam.

“You never had any hope. No salvation.”

I’ll kill you!

“See? How could Yang ever love such a monster, like you? A murderer and a psychopath? She’s a good girl. Too good for you.”

I’LL KILL YOU!

“I mean, I suppose there are a few fans of the deranged kind, who love to see the brave heroine corrupted by a lunatic’s cruel whims. But I was never fond of it myself.”

I’LL KILL YOU UNTIL THERE’S NOTHING LEFT!!!

“Very unhealthy, I think. No, I much prefer the romance between the kind-hearted, well-meaning, but tragic beauty and her brave, fiercely, sexy warrior. Now, that—”

SHUT UP!!!

“That is a ship I can get behind.”

#Blake Belladonna #yang xiao long #neopolitan #bumbleby rwby #Baked Alaska #ENMY

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demialwrites · 6 years

Text

Kitty Kompanion Ch 10

The day for your cesarean arrived and Genji still hadn't come home. You were strangely calm. You discovered a reserve of nerves that you haven't had to use before. Angela prepped you with serious, but soft, words. What you should expect if everything goes well.

"He's out there, hoping you're safe and well. Remember that," she said.

You had an attentive nod for everything she said, but you didn't feel or react any more than that.

"I'm going to put you under now."

You squeezed your hand into a fist, flexing your arm, and glancing at the IV attached there.

"It's going to be fine," Angela reminded you one last time. She smoothed her hand over the tight bulge of your pregnant stomach.

You had a few moments of panic--Wait! Wait! Wait!--before falling unconscious.

-----

The senior Overwatch members knew where Genji was being held. That wasn't the issue. It was the beefy security. Piles upon piles of Talon underlings patrolling key parts of the base. Overwatch was still small. Too small to take them all on if the alarm was raised. The only former Blackwatch agent was McCree, and that wasn't enough. So they were in the planning phase.

Hanzo couldn't wait for this. He informed Dr. Ziegler of where he was going. Then he left.

Sometime the next day, Hanzo slipped inside the Talon base. He spied on the security camera room and discovered where they were keeping Genji. His brother was laying on the floor of his cell. Hanzo noted that Talon chose to go with the sound-proofed walled cell, to keep tortured prisoners quiet. He moved with greater urgency.

Talon also chose to use identification chips implanted on the inside of the wrist. He tracked down the guard of the appropriate rank and took his life without a sound. He then discovered that this guard (and probably a lot of the others) had cybernetic arms.

How convenient, he thought.

Hanzo removed the arm with the implant and took it to Genji's cell. He waved the man's arm over the door mechanism. The door slide open. Hanzo stepped inside, allowing his footfalls to be heard.

"Hanzo...?" Genji croaked, his throat sore.

"The very same. I am here to drag you home," he says. "Like usual."

Genji dragged himself partially up onto his forearms. His face plates are missing, but those can be replaced.

"Tch, I am not the only fool in this family," Genji says. Hanzo starts to argue, but Genji yells above his words, "Do you know what they will do to an intact member of our clan?!"

The implication is obvious to Hanzo. He came arrogantly without backup. If he is caught, there will be experimentation, and without regard for his human rights. Talon will dissect him and use the knowledge to enhance their soldiers.

"I am here now!" Hanzo yells back. He quiets down to speaking angrily through his teeth. "I can't very well leave without you. Your mate awaits."

"I suppose there is wisdom in those words."

Hanzo helped get Genji out. Genji couldn't move without flinching or groaning in pain. Hanzo had to help him walk. Hanzo kept it to himself how frustrated he was about it; they would be caught and returned to Genji's cell if they couldn't move more quickly.

With Genji limping beside him, Hanzo asks, "So, what happened?"

Genji takes a laboured breath.

"Sombra hacked my body. I made a mistake. I was tired. I let her get too close, and she disabled my body. Even you, with your lack of enhancements would have fared better than I did."

Hanzo glared at Genji for the implication that Hanzo was weaker with his human body. His attitude was unbecoming of someone who should be grateful for being rescued.

"Can you stow your pride for a moment?" he growled.

"Can you?"

"Tch."

Hanzo quietly seethed.

"We're both fools," Genji said softly.

Hanzo glanced at Genji's weary smile. He cracked and smirked back.

"I will get you home. You can get some sleep and stop being grumpy at your older brother who just saved you. Heroically."

"Sounds good to me."

They eventually did escape, but not without attracting some attention.

-----

Robbed of the energy you had before you went under and momentarily unsure where you were, you woke. You glanced around blearily. You felt the comforting warmth of home in your chest a split second before you recognized that it was Genji's back facing you on the bed next to yours. Hot tears of relief streamed down your cheeks. You couldn't hold them back if you wanted to. Your exhaustion was too great.

"Dr. Ziegler," said Athena's even, reassuring voice, "the patient is awake."

Genji rolled over towards you so fast that he fell over the edge of the bed with a "whoa!" and fell from your sight.

You tried to laugh, but it came out as a repetitive croak. You sniffled. His tail rose into view with an under curl.

"Land on your feet?"

Genji chuckled from the floor. Your voice was scratchy, because you needed water to wet your throat.

Your feline love was appearing in a more upright manner next to your side when Angela greeted you with a cup of water, matching her namesake. You don't know what you would do without these two angels. When it was proven you had the strength to hold the glass of water--and down the whole thing--you wiped at your wet eyes and runny nose. You took your hands away, and Genji bent down to kiss your cheek and then press his own cheek to it. You longed to run your fingers through his greying black hair. Instead, he gave you a playful headbutt with the forehead of his helm, and you pushed him back, muttering, "Goddamnit." What a sap.

Yet, the taste of affection squeezed your heart and reminded you that you had missed him deeply. You needed more than a taste to be reassured that he was really here and not about to disappear again.

"Hold my hand," you said, your voice cracking.

He gave you his hand. You took it to your face and kissed all over it, wordlessly communicating your feelings. I missed you, I miss you, I missed you. Then you remembered Angela was still there and stopped. She was pink in the cheeks from having witnessed your private affections.

"I'd give you some privacy, but we need to discuss things."

"I agree," Genji said.

You turned your attention to her.

"We have good news," she began. You groaned in disgust at the cliche. "And we have bad news."

"Okay. The good news. Please," you said. "I can't handle bad news right now."

Genji's thumb pet the back of your hand.

"The good news is both your babies are healthy. The surgery went well."

"Thank you, Angela," Genji said.

"Of course." She gave you both a small smile. The doctor explained that the younger baby boy, Ichiro Peter Shimada, was in observation for being slightly underweight and just needed time and extra care. His older sister, Sae Eilene Shimada, was perfectly healthy and waiting to see her mom. "Now for the bad news," she said, a hand on her hip. "Both Hanzo and Genji returned alive but gravely injured."

"I'm fine," Genji whispered to you, in case you started to panic.

"Yes," Angela echoed, "the nanites in Genji's body took care of his wounds within a matter of hours. Hanzo, however...we didn't have enough money left for the same amount of nanites for him. He will heal. But it will take some old-fashioned time and rest."

You perked up with what little energy you had when the doctor said she would bring your baby boy. Genji slipped out of the room apologetically, promising to return very soon.

"I want you to feed your youngest first to make sure he puts on weight. If you run out of milk, we can give formula to the girl." Angela brought fists to her cheeks and grinned widely. "She's so darling!" she exclaimed.

To you, your breasts were gigantic by now. You didn't see how you could run out of milk. Angela gingerly passed the little boy to you and gave you some alone time. You looked over his fat, squished little newborn baby face. He already had black hair on the top of his head. Instead of blue-black ears, your baby had dark teal fur on his ears. It was wondrous how you managed to birth such a cutie.

Ichiro stared sleepily back at you with round, brown eyes, probably preferring to go back to sleep. You kinda just stuck your boob in the baby's face at first, assuming he would find the nipple. This was one of the baby's few jobs. Ichiro managed to miss every attempt at first. He cried out softly in frustration.

"Hey, it isn't my fault you can't find the nipple," you chided gently. "The areola has only doubled in size, my little dude. Like a giant target."

Ichiro seemed to take offence and cried harder, hurting your ears.

"Oh, jeez, okay. My bad."

You remembered that you loved these tiny humans and drew some patience from that. As much as you longed to hold them, you wanted to go back to sleep. Ichiro eventually got the idea, and he started to feed. His round little eyes closed.

"This is the one time you can use the excuse you that you were born yesterday," you told him.

Genji came in. He whispered in awe, "Look at him," and sat next to you on the bed. He cuddled up next to you, curled his tail around his thigh, and reached over to run his thumb on the baby's chubby cheek.

"There's none for you," you tossed at him without looking up.

"You are a grumpy mama."

"I'm tired." Your stomach growled angrily. "And hungry, apparently."

Genji got up to get you some food.

"Anything but bananas, please," you begged.

When Ichiro got his fill, Angela came with Sae so you could feed her next. Ichiro was put in the wheeled crib next to your medical bed, and you put your baby girl to your chest. She latched onto your nipple with ease and looked up at you with attentive, dark eyes.

You reached over to the crib and pulled it closer to place Sae in it.

"Did you burp 'em, yet?" said a rough voice.

You glanced at the foot of the bed to find a pair of hardened, wary eyes staring back at you.

"It's her first day as a mother, Torbjorn," said the doctor, appearing in the doorway. "Give her some slack."

"Nonsense! I can help. She can sleep. She'll need it in the coming months."

You were torn. On one hand, those were your babies Torbjorn was wheeling away in the crib, with Angela following. On the other, he was so right. You fell back asleep before deciding whether you wanted the help or not.

#the cesarean is written incorrectly on purpose #genji x reader #kitty!genji #female reader #light angst #comfort #my shit

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hopeishappinessff · 6 years

Text

Holding Onto Hope: Chapter 22.2

Hope

And so there I stood… staring foolishly at this girl who I’d grown annoyed by all thanks to Chris, who by the way stood off in the corner of the room near Destani with Jaylen cradled in his arms with perhaps the most shocked expression in the room. And of course because she was well aware of exactly who Tawny was thanks to seeing her all around campus, Destani too sat on a loveseat beside her mother looking just as stunned as myself as her eyes darted back and forth between Tawny and I.

Tawny… my sister.

Tawny… the girl that’d become oddly close to my boyfriend, the cheater.

Tawny… the girl who was somehow friends with the one girl, that I knew of, that my boyfriend cheated on me with.

Tawny… my half-sister.

She seemed to be just as caught off guard as I as she sat there staring up at me with her lips slightly parted without even bothering to blink. But no one other than her, Chris, Destani, or I seemed to catch on to the unspoken exchange and I attempted to quickly regain my composure to avoid any looming questions from anyone out of the loop.

“I kind of wanted this to be a surprise for you girls. I purposely didn’t speak a word of it to either of you because I wanted you both here in person for this moment. I hope that I haven’t caught either of you off guard or anything…” My dad rambled while I continued to stand there looking from him to Diana to Tawny.

“Um… uh…” Tawny began to stutter awkwardly, nearly annoying me, but again I regained my composure and smiled warmly at my dad then turned to share that same forced smile with Diana.

“No… you haven’t. This is a… a pleasant surprise.” I said, with my eyes discreetly glued menacingly to Tawny.

“Good, good. I’d like to get with you girls a bit later to, you know… just talk a little. Hopefully sometime before you both head back to school.” He said.

“Oh girls,” Ms. Chipper Diana quickly chimed in before anyone had an opportunity to utter a word in response, “I’m absolutely thrilled to have you both here together finally. I’ve waited years for this very moment.”

From the moment I met Diana, I got a good vibe that she was a pretty dramatic woman and this moment… definitely proved me right. The lady started to cry right on cue and being the overly sympathetic and understanding woman that she is, my aunt almost immediately hopped up from her seat and fell into place consoling her tearless self. With not a word else to say to my dad about the situation, I politely plopped down on the couch beside Tawny and with the happiest face I could possibly conjure, I mistakenly locked eyes with Chris which was very much of a huge mistake because I could feel myself frowning almost instantly. I blamed him entirely in the situation. It was his fault that I’d just found out that I was related to a girl that I wasn’t even sure I liked. If it weren’t for their little newfound “friendship” I wouldn’t even know about Tawny and perhaps I would be some sort of excited about finding out that I had a long lost relative. But no… instead, there I was sulking and no longer looking forward to the remainder of my break because I was stuck in a house with a boyfriend that I was beginning to regret being with and a sister who I somewhat disliked.

Chris

Well… how fucking awkward was that? I was seriously starting to regret coming to Hope’s dad’s house to begin with because for one, she didn’t seem to wanna have shit to do with me and not to mention I overheard her telling Destani how she didn’t even know if she wanted to be in a relationship with my ass anymore. How was a nigga supposed to feel after that? And two… Tawny was her damn sister! What… the… fuck! I just knew somebody had to be playing a prank and I was waiting on someone in the room to hop up and yell “punk’d” but of course… that never happened. All the adults in the room burst into the liveliest bits of conversation amongst themselves while me, Dez, Hope, and Tawny all sat there like a bunch of children in timeout. They were just way too excited about the whole prospect of Hope being related to the girl I’d oddly grown so close to in the past few months and I didn’t really know how the hell I felt about that. But I will say one thing… maybe, just maybe, that could explain why I felt such a strong urge to be close to Tawny all the time without actually having the urge to have sex with her. I don’t know… at this point, I was really beginning to believe anything was possible.

Conversations continued to flow for a while until my mom, Ms. Maddie, Ms. Cynthia, and now this new lady Ms. Diana all agreed to go huddle up in the kitchen to join together to make a grocery list for their fun filled journey to the supermarket early tomorrow morning. While everyone moved about in the room, Hope took that as an opportunity to hurdle the fuck outta there, I’m guessing to go hide out in her guest room, and of course Destani went trailing along right behind her. Which left Tawny, James, and myself together in the family room. James’s overly happy go lucky ass stood from his seat with a huge grin and looked from me to Tawny then right back to me.

“Well Chris, let me run to the restroom really quick then I’ll show you to the room I have set up for you and little man. I think you’ll get a kick out of it.” I smiled a tight-lipped smile at him and nodded, watching as he grinned excitedly at his daughter and sauntered off outta the room.

“Well what a way to start our break, huh?” Tawny mumbled from her seat across the room. Some type of noise flooded from my nose, maybe a laugh or something, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to smile and really even look at her for that matter. I was still way too thrown off by the abrupt news of her relation to my girlfriend and I wasn’t really sure how to feel about her at this point.

“And I guess this is what you meant by spending the break at your girlfriend’s dad’s… surprise!” She giggled uneasily.

“Yeah…” I huffed, again, with some odd noise through my nose.

With a sigh, I heard her grunt softly as she pushed herself up off of the couch and from the corner of my eye I could see her slowly making her way in my direction. I nearly held my breath with fear as the girl eased closer to me and I had to force myself to calm the hell down. I was getting entirely too worked up over a situation that ultimately had nothing to do with me and I didn’t wanna let the awkwardness of it all cause me to act any differently toward Tawny because truthfully, she did nothing wrong.

“So this is the little cutie pie from your background screen, huh?” Her voice was soft and gentle as she moved closer to me and kneeled to get a good look at Jaylen’s now sleeping body as I cradled him lovingly in the crook of my left arm.

“Yep. This is my mini… lil Jaylen.” I said with a proud smirk, momentarily forgetting about the whirlwind of issues in my life.

“My God Chris, he’s even more handsome in person. He’s beautiful… just perfect.” She whispered as she lifted her right hand and ever so softly raked the back of her index finger over Jay’s plump little cheek.

“Thank you.” I said, making sure to keep my tone just as low so as to not disturb his slumber.

“You know, maybe me, you, and Sy’Diyah should all get together and talk later.” Tawny said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, doubt that.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I told you Sy wasn’t gonna wanna have anything to do with me anytime soon Tawny. This situation ain’t gone make her wanna talk to me anymore than she didn’t wanna talk to me before.” I explained.

With a sigh, she twisted her lips to one side and dropped her gaze down to the floor. It’s like realistically she knew there was no chance in hell her new sister would want to sit and talk to me let alone the both of us about this sudden revelation her dad dropped on the both of them, but in good old fashioned Tawny nature… she had to at least remain optimistic about it. But I knew she meant no harm and just couldn’t help herself.

“I’m really excited about this Chris.” She said softly a few moments later.

“Excited about what?” “About having a sister… or, having Sy’Diyah as my sister. I really like her, you know. I’m not sure if she feels the same about me, but… I don’t know. I have friends, but there’s no one in my life that’s absolutely real and genuine and there for me when I need them other than my mom and dad… and you.”

I couldn’t help but smirk at her. She was just so cute and sincere and the sudden blush in her cheeks was just a reminder of the innocence that I adored about her.

“Well lil TT, I’m glad I could at least be all that for you. I’m hoping your sister can do the same plus more for you… because I know you deserve it. She’s a really great person and whenever she does open up to you, which I know she will, you’ll get that awesome friend that you deserve… trust me.”

She raised her head and eyed me for a moment before her face contorted with a goofy little smirk and she reached up to nudge me softly in the side of my head.

“You’re such a sap Brown.”

“What the hell!” I chuckled, “How am I a sap because I’m tryna help you get a friend?”

“You’re a sap for Sy! You brag about her in any way you can, don’t you?”

“Oh… well when you word it that way, yes… I’m a big ole, gigantic sap for her ass.”

We both shared a bit of soft laughter for the sake of Jaylen’s napping self and James finally emerged back into the family room after his bathroom break.

“Well Chris, are you ready to see your sleeping quarters for the week man?” He asked cheerfully. Yeah, I could totally understand exactly where the hell Tawny’s over bubbly ass personality derived from.

“Yes sir.” I made a move to stand from the couch, but Jaylen stirred slightly in the crook of my arm which forced me to sit back and quickly pray that he wouldn’t wake up.

“Here, I’ll take him.” Tawny offered the moment she caught the distressed look on my face. I glanced at her briefly as she leaned forward to slip him from the crook of my arm and watched as she maneuvered him with ease until he rested peacefully against the right side of her chest. He shifted a bit, but eventually found himself a nice comfortable spot where he curled into his favorite fetal position against her and clutched at her shirt with his right hand.

“Thanks Tawny.” I whispered with an assured smirk. Finally I stood to my full height, which left me towering over James by a few inches, and did a quick stretch before turning to follow him out of the family room and down a short hall to the right. He led the way to a door just before the kitchen and once he opened it, he walked inside and began to trek down a flight of stairs. I was skeptical, to say the least as I trailed along behind this man. I didn’t wanna have to drop kick Sy’Diyah and Tawny’s dad if he was leading me to a damn dungeon or some shit. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised when he flipped on a light switch at the bottom of the stairs and revealed a fully finished and furnished basement… that I really wouldn’t even call a damn basement. The space looked like a complete condo! On one half of the room was a huge suede beige sectional sofa with a matching chair and ottoman off to one side of it. The couch and the chair faced the most beautifully, enormous television I’d ever seen and I could see that there was a projector up on the ceiling across from it, making it the perfect space for an in-home movie theater. There were a few regal looking columns in the center of the room to separate the sitting area from the game area and at that point, I really couldn’t figure out which half I would be spending more of my time in!

My kid in a candy store looking ass damn near forgot all about James as I roamed behind the sectional sofa and made my way near the huge ass bar where a beautiful mahogany pool table and an air hockey table sat close by. I tried not to put too much focus on the actual bar, but man was it hard not to at least glance over at the full bottles of every type of liquor you could think of. I mean dark, light, beer, wine, champagne… like what the fuck did this man do for a living to just have this shit like it was normal! Okay, so last but not least over in the corner of the room adjacent to the wall with the magnificent television, was a door that led to the actual bedroom which I quickly made my way into. It was like… the dream bachelor pad and for a moment, I seriously contemplated the idea of paying James to live in this bitch and just commute my ass to school. There was what had to be a California king size bed in the middle of the room underneath a huge six pane window which sat high up on the wall and flowed seamlessly with dark wooden beams that lined the vaulted ceiling. This window was curtainless and faced some sort of exotic brick siding of the house, but it really was a sight for sore eyes. No lie, if I wasn’t in Hope’s dad’s house I would certainly be tryna figure out how to get her down here so I could seduce her with that window. The entire space was so big, there were two different sitting areas in the room and of course there was an en suite bathroom off to one side, but before I could make my nosy ass way in there James finally caught up with me and stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Ah, I see you like it!” He laughed.

“Aw man… I love it sir, this is really nice.” I said just to avoid sounding crazy… because what I really wanted to blurt out was that this got damn basement was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen in my fucking life and that I loved him dearly for letting me stay down here!

“Yeah, well… you know… it’s a lil sum’n sum’n.” He said. He glanced at me and I looked over at him and we both bust out laughing because we both knew damn well this basement was way more than a “lil sum’n sum’n.”

“Since you’re the only other guy here in the house for the week, I wanted to make sure you were especially comfortable. I know how it can get being stuck around the girls all day, so I figured you’d get a kick out of the man cave.” He explained in that same laughter filled tone.

“I mean, I honestly would have appreciated an air mattress in the family room… but this will definitely make due.” We shared a hearty bit of laughter and once that died down, a nice little awkward wave washed over the room and I tucked my hands down in my pockets out of habit as I waited for him to speak up.

“Well son, I have a straightforward and honest question that requires an honest answer.” He blurted with no hesitation. I maintained a poker face as I looked him in the eye awaiting his honest question… but internally I was shitting bricks! I was [b]not[/b] prepared to be interrogated by Hope’s dad, at all, and I just knew this man had buttered me up with this fabulous ass man cave just so he could bulldoze my ass with twenty-one questions. I silently stood there thanking God for the hat that still sat perched on my head… I was sure I’d just broken a sweat right across my hairline and I didn’t need James to see how rattled my nervous were.

“Do you drink?” I was still stuck on how terrified I was to be questioned by him that I totally missed the question and had to do a double take when he grinned at me and shook his head, “It’s alright Chris, I’m not going to grill you about my daughter… yet. I’m just asking if you enjoy a drink now and then?”

“Oh… oh, um… yeah. Yes sir, occasionally.” I stuttered like a fool.

“Well come on out here and share a drink with me.” He said. So I wasn’t exactly sure if he knew how old I was or if I should tell him, but at the same time I didn’t wanna disrespect him by not following his orders, so hell… I followed him out to the bar so we could share a drink! There was no harm in that, right? Once we got back out into the basement, he made his way around behind the bar and reached beneath the bar top to pluck two glass cups then he looked up at me as I claimed a stool seat.

“What’s your preference?” “Um… Hennessy on ice.”

“Aww, good man.” I watched as he turned and went right for a half bottle of Hennessy on one of the several shelves behind him. There must have been a full ice chest back there too because he used a little silver scoop to drop a few pieces of ice into each of the cups just before filling them both just above the ice with the brown liquor. Once he was done, he capped the bottle and put it back in its rightful place on the shelf then slid me my cup.

“We do indeed have quite a bit of catching up to do, you know. I don’t know much about you nor do you know much about me,” He said after a sip from his cup, “But we won’t get into that now. From what I can see and do know about you, I like you… and I know my daughter really cares about you, so that’s all I need to know… for now.”

I nodded and took a sip from my own cup then reached up to adjust the brim of my hat.

“So, what are you currently in school for?” He asked.

“I’m a business major right now sir.”

“Before you go on, please… stop with the sir. You’re aging me here Chris,” He chuckled after taking another sip, “James will do just fine.”

With a smirk and a nod of my head, I licked my lips to rid them of the numbing taste of the alcohol.

“That’s quite a handsome little man you got up there.” He noted with a warm smile that left me smiling broadly my damn self. I never grew tired of hearing anyone compliment my baby boy.

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.” “Sy’Diyah told me he’s about eight months…” “Well he’s nine months now… as of November fourth.”

“Aww, don’t they grow so fast?” He chuckled with a shake of his head, “Well congratulations. He’s a good looking little one, if I do say so myself.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

“You’re pretty young, if I’m not mistaken. How old are you exactly?”

“Um… I’m nineteen.” That uneasy feeling of rattled nerves hit me again and I gave him a hard stare as I waited to see where he was going with this. He only nodded his head though and gulped down a good half of his drink.

“Nineteen. I was around that age when Sy’Diyah’s mother and I had her. Eighteen or nineteen, give or take. I was nothing but a weak and struggling boy at that age though and knew not a damn thing about taking care of a baby. I was young and dumb and reckless,” He paused briefly to shake his head and finish off his beverage then he placed his cup down in the sink below the bar and sighed, “But I see something different with you. That baby is upstairs sleeping. He’s right here in this house with you, which means you didn’t abandon him… which means you understand one of the most vital things that every young black man should know. You understand what it means to be a father… and I admire you for that.”

I’d finished my drink in the midst of his speech and he reached across the bar to retrieve my cup and placed it down in the sink alongside his. Though I was sure I wasn’t ready to embark on a conversation with James about my relationship with his daughter, I also wasn’t quite sure if I was ready to discuss his relationship with her… or lack thereof… either. Maybe it was something he felt better talking about with another guy, or another father… I didn’t really know what prompted him to open the topic for discussion, but I guess I had no choice but to be all ears for him.

“Just, whatever you do, make sure you do everything you can to be there for that child and show him that you are the greatest father he could ever ask for. That’s what every single child on this planet deserves and every time I look at my child, I regret each day that I left her behind and turned my back on her.” Sooooo at this point I was beginning to wonder if maybe he was a lightweight and perhaps he’d mistakenly gotten a little too carried away with his drink and now it was making him get in his feelings. Like, I really didn’t know what was going on because I swear this guy went from zero to a hundred real quick and I was not prepared for that. If it weren’t for the sound of Diana calling for us from the top of the stairs, I really think James would have started crying right there in front of me.

Within the blink of an eye, he was smiling from ear to ear again and he’d straightened his posture and stared at me through bright eyes, which I noted to be the exact same color as Hope’s.

“James… Chris. I know you boys are down there getting carried away in that man hole or whatever you call it. Come on up here and get washed up for dinner. We’re having pizza!”

James eventually made his way around to my side of the bar and he stood his slightly short frame beside me and clamped a hand down on my shoulder “We’ll have plenty of time to really chat. Let’s head on up before these women have our heads on that table for supper.”

Together we laughed and trailed along up the stairs to the first floor of the house, but in the back of my mind I was caught somewhere between horrified by what I’d just witnessed in the basement from this… scorned man. And thrilled because from what I could tell, I’d just scored major points with my girlfriend’s dad!

#chrisbrown #chrisbrownff #chrisbrownfanfic #jasminesanders #chrisbrownfanfiction #jasminesandersff #teambreezy #teambreezyff #fanfiction #fanfic

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deardudley · 7 years

Text

dream come true (sirius x reader); 1/3

you & sirius go to hogsmeade together bc remus is a mess and james/peter are just. really sleepy. sirius ends up being a total nerd, and a sap for a bit. it’s cute. stuff gets awkward. the usual.

Word Count: 4775

Genre: fluff

Warnings: cussing, sirius black being a total and utter nerd, talking about drowning people in hot chocolate?

A/N: honestly this is just me living out my deepest sirius black fantasies but for the entire internet to have access to so yes please enjoy the first installment of this super lame fluff. i didnt even proofread this so its probably trash but im trying to avoid doing my summer homework so here y’all go anyways.

Your nickname: submit What is this?

The first Hogsmeade visit of the year was always a cause for celebration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Even first and second year students felt the excitement fluttering through the school, and for good reason; they’d get the common rooms to themselves for the majority of the day and likely would spend it huddled in front of the fireplace, playing games of Exploding Snap and Wizard’s Chess. And of course, the older students would be able to splurge on Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Cauldrons, and Dr. Filibuster’s Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks.

Much to your happiness, said Hogsmeade weekend was soon approaching. You were running low on ink and some other basic supplies — Marlene’s cat had a habit of getting into your bag and chewing on your quills.

Every year, Hogsmeade visits tended to be both the most hectic and the most enjoyable days you spent with your best friends. It was always the five of you: yourself, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Even though the boys had the tendency to be massive idiots and always got you in an endless amount of trouble, they were your best friends. You did almost everything together, from attending classes to causing mischief across the castle (much to the chagrin of the general Hogwarts population). But that’s why Hogsmeade visits were your favourite. It was you and your mates, goofing off and spending an unnecessary amount of money on sweets and Zonko’s products.

On the long-anticipated morning of the visit, you woke up to the sound of Lily and Alice chatting and changing out of their pajamas. It was 7:00 AM, and you got dressed as quickly as you could while joining their conversation about Flitwick’s weekend homework. You elected to wear a simple ensemble of hiking boots, jeans, and a Gryffindor Quidditch shirt (a Christmas present from James you’d received a year prior). Before leaving, you stopped for your daily obligatory petting of Marlene’s cat.

With almost childish energy, you bounded down the dormitory staircase. The Common Room was empty — breakfast didn’t start for another 15 minutes — and the fireplace crackled in the background. You briskly made your way up the boys dormitory stairs and arrived at the door in record time. Your smile had already been wide in anticipation, but it widened even more when you knocked and heard the groggy call of “Come in!”

You opened the wooden door with renewed gusto. All four boys were still snug, wrapped under the heavy sheets, and Remus and Peter still seemed to be asleep. Their chests rose and fell with their heavy breaths, and Peter was snoring. Sirius, on the other hand, was staring at the ceiling with his eyes open, and James’ head was turned towards you.

Remus had already decided that he wasn’t planning on going to Hogsmeade. The latest full moon had taken its toll on him, and he was still recovering from the combination of his transformation and loads of homework. The stress was quite visibly apparent, too. He was jumpy, falling asleep in class, and the bags under his eyes were pronounced like never before.

He planned on spending the day catching up on schoolwork and getting some well-deserved sleep. You didn’t blame him, either — running around as Animagi during the full moon was exhausting for you and the boys. You could only imagine how difficult it was for Remus.

The rest of you had all offered to stay behind and spend the day with him, but he declined. Thoughtful as ever, Remus had reasoned that he didn’t want to ruin your day. Though, you had all rebutted saying that you’d prefer to make sure he was healthy, rather than meander around the grounds in the cold of November.

Though James had already been looking at you, Sirius turned to face you as well, and they both grinned.

“Hey, (Y/N/N),” James said through a yawn. “What’s up?”

“Not you guys, that’s for sure,” you replied, earning you a chuckle from Sirius and a glare from James. You crossed your arms over your chest and continued, “Why are none of you out of bed?”

“Peter and I are staying behind with Remus. We shall be personally catering to his every need,” James spoke with a wiggle of his eyebrows. You felt a strong urge to hit him with a pillow.

“In other words, they’re going on kitchen and library runs,” Sirius joked. This earned him a halfhearted glare and a middle finger from James. “We can still go to Hogsmeade if you’d like, (Y/N/N), but it would just be us…?”

You could tell that James was hiding a smirk, and he sent you a knowing look with his hazel eyes.

The boys had been your best friends since you’d met them on the Hogwarts Express in your first year — but if there was one thing that you wished they didn’t know about… it would be your gigantic and embarrassing crush on Sirius Orion Black. They had only found out because of a game of veritaserum-induced Truth or Dare. You’d played when Sirius was serving a detention for McGonagall, luckily. You’d made them swear not to tell, but that didn’t stop the relentless teasing you’d endured for the greater part of two years. They kept their word and never told the black-haired idiot, but they still made fun of you whenever possible.

“I’m sure our lovely (Y/N/N) would love to go,” James replied for you, not missing a beat.

You made a mental note to proceed and hit James with a pillow whenever possible.

“Yeah, sounds fun,” you chirped. “As long as we go to Honeydukes first, and we buy some stuff for Remus while we’re there.”

“But of course, m’lady,” Sirius joked with a thumb’s up directed towards you. “Allow me to get ready and we can be on our merry way!”

He flipped his covers off and stood whilst rubbing his eyes in tiredness. Lazy as always, he took his wand from his nightstand and flicked it at his trunk seated at the foot of his bed. It flipped open and Sirius went over, picked out a jumper and jeans, and went for the bathroom.

As soon as he closed the door, you stomped to his bed and took one of his pillows. You then turned around and whacked James with it. Hard.

“Ow!”

“Serves you right, you wanker.”

You moved to have a seat on Sirius’ bed, bringing the pillow back with you and setting it in its rightful spot.

With a sigh, you pulled your wand from your back pocket and twirled it between your fingers. It was a nervous habit you’d picked up from your parents several years ago. James turned to the other side (likely to try and fall back asleep) and you continued with your fidgeting and tiny sighs.

Sirius soon left from the bathroom, eyes bright and hair disheveled in a somewhat pretentious manner. Your heart practically skipped a beat at the way he smiled at you. God, that smile was just infectious — you were certain that the boy would never have to learn a defensive spell. He would only have to smile at someone and they’d be disarmed from the sheer beauty. Bloody hell.

He walked to his trunk again and pulled a pair of socks and his trainers. Soon enough, he was adorning his signature black shoes and socks. He looked back at you after pulling them on, but he frowned at you instead of flashing you his normal grin.

“Something wrong?” You asked, tilting your head to the side and scrunching your eyebrows. The boy seemed to be lost in thought, his eyes raking up and down your figure in a way that made your (already uneasy) stomach churn.

“Well, love,” Sirius said while crossing his arms over his chest, “it is the middle of November, after all. Don’t you think that shirt is a little thin? We don’t want you getting sick.”

You frowned, looking down at yourself. The material of the shirt was quite flimsy, and the sleeves were rather short… Perhaps he was right.

“Maybe,” you acquiesced with a pout. “But I don’t want to go all the way back to my dorm and change…”

The laziness was overwhelming.

Your declaration had Sirius rolling his eyes in a dramatic, Sirius-like fashion. He grumbled something under his breath and opened his trunk again, rummaging through it until he had found what he was looking for.

Before you had time to react, he threw something at you and it smacked you right across the face, then fell into your lap.

You gave Sirius a malice-filled glare, to which he replied with a sheepish grin and a thumb’s up. When you looked at the object in your lap, though, all anger disappeared immediately.

It was a jumper.

If you wanted to borrow a jumper from someone, Remus was always the first to offer. He had taken up a habit of keeping an extra one in his bag during winter for you, and they were quite possibly the warmest, fluffiest jumpers ever . They also smelled of him — of chocolate, old books, and the cologne you’d bought for him as a birthday present in your third year (he had begun regularly buying it ever since). While sometimes Peter and James lent you some as well, Sirius never seemed to wear them.

Seeing him in one was rather new, but the fact that he had at least two… bloody hell, it was time you started borrowing his instead.

“You’re lazy, but you should be glad I’m such a good friend!” Sirius declared. You grabbed the pillow from next to you and threw it at him in response.

“Hey!”

“Wankers. The whole lot of you are ruddy wankers, honestly.”

Sirius pouted in response, but then ushered you into the bathroom to change.

Not long afterwards, you stepped out of the room with your Quidditch shirt in hand, Sirius’ jumper now in its place. The wool was soft against your skin, and you were very pleased to notice it smelled of him: a strange but comforting concoction of vanilla, sandalwood, and myrrh.

“Lovely!” he said as soon as you’d emerged from the bathroom. You could’ve sworn his cheeks had tinged pink, but you assumed it was just your imagination.

He took the Quidditch shirt and tossed it onto his bed so that you could grab it upon your return.

“Bye, Prongs,” you spoke in unison. James grunted in response as you headed for the door. You left the 3 sleeping boys alone in their dorm.

“Bloody hell, Sirius, let go of my arm!”

Breakfast had been uneventful; Sirius had shamelessly flirted with Marlene, much to your disappointment, but Marlene had fired back with her trademark sarcasm and snark. Lily had gotten into an argument with Dorcas over whether a half-mangled Cornish pixie or James Potter was more attractive (they unanimously decided the Cornish pixie won). You made fun of Sirius for grabbing a glass of pumpkin juice while ranting about how disgusting pumpkin juice was. So, all in all, a regular day at the Gryffindor table.

You all stayed at the table for a while longer, and only left once students from the other tables started filtering out of the hall.

Excitement renewed, you all but grabbed Sirius’ arm and dragged him out of the Hall. He had laughed and tried to keep up with your rapid maneuvers through the corridor. Though he’d never admit it, you saw him stumble a few times over his own feet.

“Merlin, (Y/N/N),” he whined as soon as the village was within your field of vision. You’d returned to a walking pace, and Sirius was just slightly out of breath. Slightly. You let go of his arm before you stopped talking, a tinge of embarrassment settling in your brain like the fresh, crisp snow that had begun to coat the grounds of the castle.

“You could at least warn me before you take off like a bloody startled hippogriff!”

“But that’s boring,” you complained in response. Sirius nudged you with his elbow but said nothing back.

However, as soon as you saw Zonko’s in the distance with a few third year students already gathering near the entrance of the esteemed joke shop, you knew you were in deep, deep trouble.

Sirius turned to face you with a wicked grin, the excitement obvious on his boyish face.

Without another word, he grabbed your arm the same way you’d grabbed his back in the Great Hall and starting dragging you towards the shop, running even faster than you’d been running earlier.

You screeched in a combination of fear, surprise, and irritation. Of course, you made a note to smack him with a pillow as soon as you could.

“What in the name of Merlin’s beard happened to warning people!?” you barked at him. You could barely even able to keep up with his ridiculous pace.

“What’s the fun in that?” he yelled back over his shoulder, eyes bright and grin wide.

“Bloody hell, Sirius, let go of my arm!” You scolded the boy, but that seemed to only spur him on, if anything. He ran a smidge faster and it took all your willpower to not stop him in his tracks and hit him in the arm. Hard.

Soon enough, you’d reached the store, and your idiot of a crush best friend slowed to a stop with a chuckle and a gentle squeeze of your arm. He let go of you, and you took the opportunity to kick him in the leg and scowl.

“You, Sirius Black, are a wanker,” you deadpanned, opening the door and walking in without another word. Of course, you weren’t actually angry with the boy, but you had to at least give him the impression that you wouldn’t forgive him immediately… right?

You went straight for the explosives aisle, as you knew James would want some more of his beloved fireworks. Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed that Sirius was trailing behind you with a pout. You just rolled your eyes and kept walking.

As you meandered through the store, he kept following you, not even looking at the various products on the shelves. You’d bought fireworks and a variety of other explosives, Sugar Quills, Hiccough Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, and other items you and the boys used for pranks. Sirius hadn’t picked any of them up. Instead, he resigned to following you around with a small frown on his lips.

When you stepped up to the cashier with your basket of items, you were surprised when Sirius stepped forward and wordlessly paid for your items before you had a chance to even reach for your coin purse. He took the bagged items when the cashier was done, holding them in his calloused hands.

A little stunned, you exited the shop and stopped walking about 15 steps from the door. Sirius walked into your back on accident, and you stifled a giggle.

You turned to face the downtrodden boy with an eyebrow raised.

“Sirius, why are you following me like a lost puppy?”

His pout deepened and he brought a hand up, scratching the back of his neck and diverting his eyes.

“Did… did I make you angry, love?”

Your heart almost broke at his meek question.

With a smile, you shuffled forwards, resting your head on his chest. He set down the bags and his arms tentatively came up and wrapped around your waist.

“Oh, you bloody idiot,” you sighed. “I could never be angry at you, Sirius. I just like pretending to be angry with you. It’s a lot of fun.”

He pinched your side, and you shrieked and jumped away, swatting at his arm.

“Oh, bloody hell!”

He snickered and picked up his bags, back to his usual self.

You gave him time to pick the bags back up, then dragged him off towards Honeydukes.

“Oh, bloody hell, there is no way James is prettier than a Cornish pixie!”

“Half-mangled Cornish pixie, (Y/N/N).”

“Yeah, but he isn’t prettier than a regular Cornish pixie, either.”

You sat with Sirius in The Three Broomsticks. Your several bags of sweets, pranks, and stationery were under the table of your booth, and you sipped on butterbeer in the midst of your conversation. Out of boredom, you’d restarted Lily and Dorcas’ debate from breakfast; Sirius had taken Dorcas’ original side, and you were on Lily’s.

“They’re… they’re just short blue house-elves with wings!” Sirius declared, gesturing wildly to demonstrate his point

“House elves are cute, though,” you rebutted. “Like, with their cute ears and everything… Every girl loves house-elves, Sirius. Not all girls love James. Therefore, house-elves are objectively better.”

“But we’re arguing about pixies, love, not house-elves!”

“You’re the one who said they were practically the same!”

“I said no such thing! I said that they look the same. Cornish pixies are bringers of evil and they’re just full of bloody spite, (Y/N/N). House-elves are nice! They make hot chocolate! Cornish pixies drown people in hot chocolate!”

“Are you claiming that Cornish pixies are drowning people in hot cocoa, Sirius?”

“Well, I mean — it’s not like they’re doing that now, but if they had enough hot chocolate, they’d definitely be drowning people in it.”

“Where in the bloody hell are they even going to get the hot chocolate? This plan is downright awful, Sirius.”

“This is all hypothetical! If they could drown people in hot chocolate, then they would! They’re evil, ugly little buggers.”

“Then why aren’t they just going to the house-elves and asking for a bunch of hot chocolate? Then they could drown people in it.”

“That’s an idiotic plan, (Y/N/N).”

“You’re the one who suggested pixies drowning people in hot chocolate, Sirius. I’m just explaining the logistics. I’m not sure why you want to drown people in hot chocolate, though. That’s rather sadistic, you know.”

“I’m not going to drown people in hot chocolate, love.”

“I never said you were going to. I said you want to.”

“I don’t want to!”

“Then why’d you suggest it?”

“I didn’t! I just said that pixies would do it, not me! I’m not a pixie!”

“Oh, you’re not? Huh. Could’ve fooled me.”

“Really?”

“Well, you say that James is prettier than a pixie… that means you’re probably a pixie or something, yeah?”

Sirius glared at you for a brief moment with a scowl.

You both dissolved into a fit of giggles not even ten seconds later. Your butterbeer sat forgotten on the table.

You’d returned to the castle not long after your ‘debate’, still giggling and joking about the logistics of drowning people in hot chocolate. It earned you several judging stares in the corridors, but you were both too involved in the conversation to really care. Or notice.

Upon returning to the Gryffindor Common Room, you agreed to go up and visit Remus, James, and Peter in their dorm. Sirius carried half of your bags and you carried the rest, lugging them up the stairs to the dormitory they all shared.

Sirius opened the door, stepping inside with a smile.

He greeted them with a pleasant “Hello, lads~!”

“Hey, Pads,” Remus greeted with his groggy voice, smile weak but genuine. His eyes were a lovely and deep shade of brown, and able to comfort you as soon as you looked in them. They had an immense calming effect unique to none other than Remus John Lupin.

“Hello there, boys,” you said, following Sirius into the room. “Remus, are you feeling better? Did you get enough sleep?”

“Yeah, (Y/N/N), I’m okay,” he chuckled. “I took a nap for a while and got all of my homework done. You don’t have to worry about me, y’know.”

You frowned at Remus, and he raised an eyebrow at you in response.

“Of course I have to worry about you, Rem. You’re my friend, after all.”

You didn’t give him time to argue — instead, you trudged to Sirius’ bed, dropped your bags at the foot, and flopped down onto his mattress. You buried your face into the covers with a muffled sigh. Sirius, unbeknownst to you, froze in his place for a moment. His face turned a soft shade of pink as he stared at your exhausted form sprawled out on his bed, but he soon shook his head out of his short trance and made his way to the bed after you.

“Comfortable?” He joked, placing the bags he held next to the ones you’d set down already.

You grunted in response.

Careful not to disturb you, Sirius snuck his way onto the bed as well, leaning against the headboard and pillows.

He nudged you with his foot and raised an eyebrow.

“You can move closer to me, love. I won’t bite you. Probably.”

Even though he couldn’t see you, you rolled your eyes and scooched closer to him. Your head found a place in his lap, and his hand — as if on impulse — moved to play with your hair.

At first, you tried to fight off the overwhelming desire to sleep, but when Sirius murmured “I know you’re tired, (Y/N/N). Take a nap,” you couldn’t help yourself, and you let the sleep cradle you away.

Sirius had let you sleep on his lap for about two hours, and you’d only moved because you woke up (just in time for dinner, much to your happiness). The entire way to the Great Hall, you scolded him for allowing you to just sleep for two hours straight. James, Peter, and Remus followed close behind, inevitably making fun of your insignificant argument.

You trailed off in the middle of your sentence when you pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. After all, who wouldn’t rather eat than carry on a meaningless conversation?

You all found your usual seats near the girls from your dorm, and Sirius almost immediately resumed his teasing flirting with Marlene. The rest of you were used to this, and you began interrogating Remus on what he’d done that day, and making sure James and Peter weren’t being total doofuses like you had expected them to be. Remus assured you that he’d completed all of his classwork and slept for a few hours — not to mention that James and Peter managed to find a book he’d asked for with only a minor setback.

You turned to ask Sirius a question, but you didn’t even get a syllable out when he let out his loud bark of a laugh at something Marlene had said. Biting your lip, you looked back at James (of whom was sitting across from you) and ignored the sympathetic look he and Peter had given you.

Lily was seated next to James (much to her disappointment, it was the only seat left when she’d entered the hall after you guys), and she noticed the looks you all exchanged. She sent you a concerned look, but you just shrugged and hoped that she wasn’t suspicious of anything.

Next thing you knew, she leaned in to Marlene and whispered something to her while Sirius was talking. You watched as Marlene looked at you with wide eyes, and an uneasy feeling settled deep in your gut.

She looked back to Sirius, giggled at something he said, and bid you all adieu. All of you watched as she got up and moved down the table to sit near a boy in your year. You couldn’t quite remember his name, but he was in the same Ancient Runes class as both you and Remus, and he always sat a few tables away from the two of you.

Sirius frowned at her sudden disappearance but turned to face the rest of you anyways, joining you in making sure Remus was okay.

You didn’t know if you were thankful or upset towards Lily.

Dinner ended soon, and you all retreated back to the Common Room. The seats regularly shared between the five of you were unoccupied when you arrived, so you all huddled around the fireplace on your usual 3-seater couch and a loveseat. Embarrassment creeped up your neck like a spider when you realized you were still wearing Sirius’ fluffy jumper.

Your conversation was casual and uncharacteristically quiet. Either way, you were all exhausted; Remus was still tired from the full moon, James and Peter had been running around all day, and you and Sirius spent hours of your day in Hogsmeade. You were about ready to fall asleep right on Remus’ shoulder.

“Hey, (Y/N/N),” he murmured to you, shaking you awake. “James and Peter went upstairs, and I’m about ready to head to bed too. You should probably go up and get some sleep, kiddo.”

You smiled, weak, and sat up with a groan. You stopped to rub your eyes before you stood, and Remus followed suit.

“Night, Rem,” you said in the midst of a yawn. He gave you your usual hug goodnight, and you smiled into the fabric of his jumper.

“Goodnight, (Y/N/N).”

He left you standing there. Sirius was still on the couch and seemed to be lost in thought as he stared at the fireplace.

You shuffled over, poked him in the shoulder, let out a loud yawn.

“Sirius? Pads, you okay?”

He jumped, eyes wide, and stared at you for a second before relaxing.

“O-oh, yeah. Sorry, love, I was just thinking.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” you joked. He just laughed at your joke, smiling when you extended your hand out to help him up. His calloused fingers laced around your smaller ones, and he stood; the thing that made your stomach churn, though, was that he didn’t let go. As you walked towards the two dormitory staircases, he held on. His grip was loose but it made your heart pump out of your chest.

When you reached the point where you went your separate ways, you let go at the same time, and turned to face each other. His face was again tinged pink, but you assumed it was just from the red decorations littering the room that made everything seem a bit redder. It was a stretch, and you recognized that fact, but there wasn’t any good reason for him to blush. He could probably date any girl in Hogwarts if he wanted to, and you were just a friend he made on the Hogwarts Express on his first day of school.

“I had fun today, y’know,” you said, smiling notwithstanding your tiredness. “Even though you’re a right moron, it was fun.”

“Good!” Sirius said. You could hear the exhaustion in his voice.

He stepped forward to hug you, his arms finding their natural place around your waist with a quiet sigh. Your forehead settled on his chest, near his shoulder, and your arms came up to wrap around his neck. When his chin settled on the top of your head, you had to hold back a laugh.

“G’night, (Y/N/N),” he mumbled, and you smiled.

“Night, Pads.”

The next moment, almost in the blink of an eye, turned into a moment you knew you’d regret. As soon as you carried out the seemingly insignificant action, the remorse crashed over you like a wave; you felt it in your bones before you fully even thought it through. Oh, you’d regret it for sure. For days. Weeks. Months.

You said the words.

You said “I love you.”

Even if the boys would always and forever be your best friends, that was one thing you’d never said. It was a sort of line — a boundary none of you had ever thought to cross because you were friends, and considering how bloody close you all were, it didn’t need to be said. You reserved it. Had the three-word phrase tucked away for any potential relationship you might find yourself in. Hell, you didn’t even think you meant it in a romantic way when you said it; it was just a small schoolgirl crush, after all! You didn’t love Sirius Black any more than Peter did, James did, Remus did. You just had a little… extra set of feelings for him. But your idiotic ass said it anyways.

You could feel his stare on you like lasers on the back of your neck. You mumbled something incoherent and turned away, walking up the dormitory staircase without another word.

#sirius black #sirius black fluff #sirius #sirius x reader #sirius black x reader #sirius black x reader fluff #harry potter #marauders #marauders era #marauders imagine #marauders x reader #harry potter x reader #hp fic #hp x reader #sirius orion black

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judetdesign · 5 years

Text

Storytelling basics and writing the story

Basics of writing a story:

Stasis (Everyday life, setting of the story)

Trigger (Something happens outside of control of protagonist, beginning of rising action)

Quest (Rising action, direct result of story’s trigger)

Surprise (Unexpected events that occur during quest, challenges or obstacles that prevent protagonist from completing quest, unexpected for reader)

Critical Choice (put in position where they must make critical choice, decision is key to story, reveal protagonist true character)

Climax (point in story with highest level of tension for reader)

Reversal (Outcome of critical choice and climax, typically results in major changes for characters.

Resolution (Protagonist reaches new stasis, characters have evolved, ending)

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/eight_point_arc.htm

History and Folklore

Tomatoes are native to South America, their name comes from the Nauhatl word for them, Tomatl

The botanical name for tomatoes means “edible wolf peach”.

Tomatoes are native to Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador where they have been cultivated since time immemorial. Common folklore says that when Christopher Columbus first landed in South America he decided the Orinoco River in Venezuela (where he discovered tomatoes) was the gateway to the Garden of Eden.

Tomatoes were once considered a powerful aphrodisiac and associated with the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden. Their French name, Pomme d’amore (apple of love) and the Spanish name poma amoris, reflect this. Hungarians called it paradice appfel (Apple of Paradise). The Greeks called it pomadora, Golden Apple, and associated it with the Hesperides and the golden apples of Hera.

At any rate, it was about 150 years after their discovery before Europeans considered them safe for civilized consumption and even then they were only suitable as ingredients for sauce. Those who weren't afraid they would succumb to uncontrollable lust at the taste feared their teeth might fall out.

In 1820, Robert Johnson of New Jersey announced that he was going to publicly eat a tomato. People came from miles around to see what they were sure was a foolish act that would end in a horrible death. He, of course, survived.

http://www.witchipedia.com/herb:tomato

Writing the story:

*The botanical name for tomatoes means “edible wolf peach”

*Names are named after tomato varieties

*Amarok: Gigantic wolves that stalk and devour any person foolish enough to hunt alone at night.

*Aralez: Wolves with wings that have been granted the divine power to purify and resurrect with their licks

Once upon a time there was a small kingdom that loved and worshipped tomatoes. In return, the Tomato God, Heinz, blessed their lands with endless nourishment that would produce the most delicious tomatoes.

The kingdom thrived for two whole generations, and all was well until Prince Brandy was born. Prince Brandy was a smart boy, but he refused to eat tomatoes. Brandy says, “Tomatoes are the most disgusting food ever! It’s slimy and squishy, smooth and glossy, I hate it! I don’t care about Heinz!” King Caspian was anguished by Brandy’s animosity towards tomatoes, and was wondered if there was still hope for his son. King Caspian suddenly remembers, his ancestors told him that ‘Heinz is the answer to all, it has to be Heinz!’ With desperation, King Caspian went on a quest hoping there is a way for his son to find his faith in Heinz.

Legend says that Heinz lives in the Peach Hound Forest, protected by amaroks and arelezs and he will only show himself in front of ones with tremendous faith. King Caspian puts trust in his devotion in Heinz and sets foot in the forest.

Amarok: “I smell heresy, I’ll end you before you blight this sacred land!”

King Caspian: “Wait! I’m I am faithful to Heinz, you must believe me! I am here to save my son!”

Amarok: “We shall see then. If you truly are devoted to Heinz, on this sacred land, your blood will turn into tomato sap, your corpse to the flesh of a tomato. But either way, you won’t live to find out!”

*Amarok swipes claw deeply across the kings chest*

*King Caspian bleeds to death*

*Heinz reveals himself in a ray of light and smoke with an aralez*

*Aralez licks King Caspian’s corpse. King Caspian resurrected*

Heinz: “Say no more, my fellow believer I know why you are here. Take this, it is a sauce potion that will restore his faith in me. The aralez’s saliva holds the knowledge of recreating the sauce. It is up to him what he decides to do with the knowledge. Now be on your way.”

*Heinz opens the flask lid and aralez secretes saliva into it*

*King Caspian heads back to the castle.*

*Feeds Prince Brandy the sauce potion*

*Brandy becomes blessed and faithful and decides to share the knowledge of how to create Heinz Ketchup to the whole nation*

#D&AD #DandAD #practice #context

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ruffsficstuffplace · 7 years

Text

The Keeper of the Grove (Part 49)

“That was the most disturbing but delicious thing I have ever eaten in my entire life...” Weiss muttered as she and the others sat in a triage tent, their stomachs being scanned by Penny and other menders.

“Same, and I have eaten some weird shit in my life,” Qrow said. “I'm talking take out at the Dark Side of Candela!”

<Why was it so delicious...?> Blake murmured as she stared at her distended stomach. <Why...?>

“Man, we should have bought some salt-bread rolls first, those would have been awesome with it!” Ruby said.

“Ditto that!” Nora chimed in. “Hey Weiss, can you make some more of that cheese? I can pay you to make it! Well, actually, Ren will considering he handles our money!”

“I'm afraid Weiss will not be making anything until we get to the bottom of this mystery,” Glynda said as she came up. “Penny, will they have to be confined for further observation?”

“Not at all, ma'am!” Penny chirped. “My scans show that the magical essence animating the cheese has long dissipated into all of their systems, either transforming into nutrients or stimulating taste and pleasure receptors more strongly than regular cheese.

“Save for the animation, intelligence, and its strong desire to be eaten, it was no different than other elementally-enhanced foods!”

Glynda nodded. “Any potential side effects?”

“We'll have to wait and see to be sure, but honestly, we'd be very surprised if it's anything other than indigestion from having consumed too much.”

“Good. As soon as you and Weiss are able to, please proceed to the Heart of the Maker's Forge immediately. Further instructions will be waiting for you there.”

“Will any of us be coming with her, Elder Goodwitch?” Ruby asked.

Glynda shook her head. <You, Blake, and Qrow stay here. If you'll excuse me, I need to finish up the rest of this investigation...>

After she was engrossed with the supervising watchers and the weavers, Weiss discretely asked Ruby, “Why would she want to send me there?”

Ruby shrugged. “Don't know, but you’re definitely going.”

As the watchers were dismissed and headed home and the weavers began to set up surveillance equipment and mana detectors in case more magical mishaps happened, Penny and Weiss went off through the Tubes and to the Maker's Forge.

Weiss had to stop and stare as she and Penny stepped out to the Heart.

Steam whistled and erupted from the geothermal vents that powered most everything. Water was constantly being piped in at near-freezing temperatures and being siphoned out lethally scalding hot. The carved rock walls and millenia old machinery were cast in a warm, orange glow as sounds echoed all throughout the facility: metal being pounded, liquids bubbling, and the work songs of the makers sweating and labouring at the assembly lines.

Elementals abounded here, creatures of pure fire and lava torching huge batches of raw ores and other materials to be smelted; titans of rock and metal lumbering right on through the thermal vents, unharmed by the blazing hot steam; intelligent gusts of air with ribbons and other identifying markers floating within their centers whisking away the worst of the heat and guiding it into the turbines or the exhaust vents; and beings of water and ice walking around, putting out uncontrolled fires, cooling and freezing items for tempering or storage, or just giving cold comfort to tired workers, sapping the excess heat from their bodies, and chilling their beers or other drinks of choice.

Weiss noticed giant slabs of enchanted rock posted all over the area, numbers and words on them. <Days Since Last Accident,> she read, as the Actaeon was simple enough, and the logo of a calendar and a maker looking at where their arm used to be was very telling.

The number was currently at “0,” with an image of Weiss' barrel of moonshine, with written details.

If it was any comfort, the times for the other most recent incidents were “362 Days” “237 days,” and “5 Seconds.”

“So this is heavy industry for the Fae?” Weiss as they walked, raising her voice over the din.

“Exactly!” Penny replied. “This is where we produce most common consumables like ammunition, and refining raw materials for further processing. It is also the biggest research laboratory in the Bastion, where we constantly develop and improve our current technology and methods, to keep up with the constantly evolving flora and fauna of Avalon, and within this millennium, the much more rapid advancement humans are capable of.”

Weiss noticed some of the makers had prosthetic limbs similar to Penny's; instead of energy, however, most of them were connected by plants or miniature trees growing from where the originals had been severed, or had taken root in the rest of the remaining limb for extra support.

“Is this where you were made?” she asked.

“No,” Penny replied. “Aside from the fact that I was made outside of the Valley, the Fae are quite against automation and fully independent AIs, both for cultural and practical reasons. Though initially, golems might surpass the strength and skill of a Fae, over-time, the natural development and the unique symbiosis of the latter with Avalon will allow them to far surpass the capabilities of both our and you humans’ technology, not to mention other beneficial phenomena.”

“So where we you made, and who did, if Fae are so against golems?”

Penny smiled apologetically. “I am not allowed to answer either of those.” She got a far off look in her eyes. “What I can say is that my creators were very lonely, and wished to have more company than each other.”

“And the Council took you away from them…?”

For the first time since she met her, Penny looked angry. “Absolutely not!” she cried, her green eyes glowing ominously.

Weiss flinched.

Penny sheepishly looked away. “It was my own decision to leave...” she said, just loud enough to be heard. “We had access to both the Codex and the Info-Grid, you see, and well… I wanted to see Avalon with my own optic sensors, than through the Trance or Honey Dreams.”

“And they let you?” Weiss asked carefully.

Penny nodded and smiled at her. “There were parents and grandparents before they created me. In one of their words, 'Well, kids gotta leave the nest some time, right? Might as well do it now, before she decides to run away and leave us heartbroken twice over.'”

They stopped as they reached their destination: the Thumper.

It was the Forge's internal transportation system of elevators and trains, because the plants that composed the Tubes couldn't survive at the Heart's extreme temperatures. Instead of water, it was powered by steam, pressure gathering up before the “shells” were sent rocketing off to their destinations, stopping using the power of incredibly strong magnets and prayers.

As they waited for a free shell—essentially a giant bullet that could fit Fae, humans, and equipment being transported—Weiss observed the life-size statue of Talos before the Thumper.

He was 7'4 feet tall and 6'8 without the gigantic horns curling back over his head. He was built like a mountain, broad-shoulders, massive limbs, rock-solid muscles bulging underneath his robes—the prototype for the maker's robes used in the present, with only very few modifications since. His entire body, horns included, was covered in belts, pouches, and straps for holding tools and materials: hammers, saws, surgical equipment, a protractor, scrolls with charcoal, brushes, and pots of paint, the ancestor of the present-day Fae-firearms, pots and pans, utensils, binoculars, rolled-up maps, nails, screws, pieces of scrap metal, wooden 2×4 planks, hanging crystal arrays and beads, incense burners, a massive tank filled with a liquid that had a tube leading to the side of his mouth with the words <BLACK MOSS TEA> inscribed on the side, and no shortage of what looked like squares of parchment with handwritten notes attached wherever there was space in-between.

And Weiss had to admit, that was one very impressive beard.

At the raised base of it were these:

A sign saying <In Case Of Emergency,> with holos of the current shift supervisors, and a tablet for calling them.

Another saying <In Case Of Catastrophic Emergency,> with a holo of Glynda over it, also with a tablet for calling her.

A third sign saying <In Case We're SCREWED,> with holos of evacuation routes, a stack of enchanted paper with templates for last wills and testaments, and an inscription of a prayer to Talos.

If Weiss had to guess, the first line was “Talos Help Us All” in Actaeon.

A free shell arrived, and they got into it. Unlike the Tubes, the safety measures for these were stasis field generators, magically freezing their physical bodies in time and space. Weiss had to wonder just what necessitated the use of these as the pressure began to build up above them.

THOOM.

Down they went, dozens of miles below the surface of Avalon.

The shells were featureless inside, except for a panel in front of them that displayed a peaceful beach with a calm sea stretching to the horizon, written words on it being spoken out loud over and over again by a soothing, female voice:

<Don't panic.>

Weiss' could only scream internally, as she her unmoving, unblinking eyes stared at the scene.

Five seconds later, they stopped, dipping down a foot lower than intended, before the magnets got a good grip and gently shifted them back up.

Weiss gasped as she Penny were freed from stasis, shaking and woozy from the disconnect between the pandemonium in her brain, and her body still as calm as it was when the field was created. Eventually, she recovered, and the two of them stepped out to a laboratory, very different from the rest of the Forge.

For one thing, the floors were hardwood.

The interior looked like an aristocrats' mansion, a love letter to Victorian Era design with ornate crown moulding, simple but elegant patterns on the wallpaper, brass sconces on the walls, the furniture mostly made of wood with elegant gold accents, with Persian rugs, elaborate tapestries, and curtains with tassels completing the look. There were painted portraits and landscapes all over the walls, though for obvious reasons most of the subjects were Fae and the scenes were from the Valley.

Weiss looked at one of the few humans in the portraits, standing beside one of the former Keepers, the two of them clearly good friends. He had a goofy, confident grin, a top hat that had seen much better days, and a friendly aura that made you want to trust him implicitly, or at least know he was of absolutely no harm to anyone.

She was starting to wonder just who that could be, and why he was so familiar, when he stepped in.

He had changed since the portraits were painted, his body now mostly made of the same organic prosthesis as the makers back in the Forge, not to mention the four spider-like limbs growing out from his back, tools and claws at their ends. His face had turned wrinkled, his skin had mottled with age, and his eyes had long been replaced with glowing crystals like Penny's optics, but that smile, that aura, and that iconic top hat stayed.

“Greetings, and a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Weiss!” he trilled, tipping his hat to her. “Maker Abner Jordan Ignatius, at your service! Please, call me Maker Abner, or just Abner.”

Weiss blinked, her memories going way, way back to a shadow puppet play, the one that had caused Winter's lifelong phobia of the Keeper. “Wait, Abner? From the ‘Terrible Tale of the Keeper of the Grove?’ The story was real...?!”

Abner chuckled. “Mostly! I'll explain later, we musn't dawdle! Penny, please do escort your friend to the Magical Resonance Chamber for testing! We must hurry, before it's too late!” he said, hurrying off around the corner.

“Right away, Maker Abner!” Penny said, reaching out for Weiss’ hand.

Weiss pulled it away. “I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me what the hell is going on!”

“We're testing you for the Gift—if you’re a Weaver, in other words!” Abner called from further in. “Assuming your result is positive, we simply can't risk you being at the peak of your power on the Eve of the Ether whilst you have no knowledge nor control of your abilities!”

“What abilities?!” Weiss cried as she followed him and ran through a hallway littered with doors and more paintings. “Humans haven't been able to use magic without technology for centuries!” she added as she came to the end, into a massive room littered with all manner of strange equipment.

Abner looked back from where he was operating the terminal of giant chamber lined with carved crystals and metals. “Oh! You mean you weren't authorized to know?” he asked, before he shrugged. “Huh... well, I guess that's not too surprising, in retrospect!”

“Authorized to know what?!” Weiss snapped. “Someone tell me already!”

Penny caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Weiss, would you like to sit down before I tell you?”

Weiss spun around and face her. “No. You tell me right here, right now.”

Penny paused for a moment, looking uneasy and conflicted, before she said it:

“Weiss… you're a Fae/Human hybrid.”

#white rose #rwby #fanfic #the keeper of the grove

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networkingdefinition · 4 years

Text

Maple Quotes

Official Website: Maple Quotes

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

• A lone maple leaf resting on sand Have you ever been out for a late autumn walk in the closing part of the afternoon, and suddenly looked up to realize that the leaves have practically all gone? And the sun has set and the day gone before you knew it, and with that a cold wind blows across the landscape? That’s retirement. – Stephen Leacock • A river is the most human and companionable of all inanimate things. It has a life, a character, a voice of its own; and it is as full of good fellowship as a sugar maple is of sap. It can talk in various tones, loud or low, and of many subjects grave and gay…. For real company and friendship there is nothing, outside of the animal kingdom, that is comparable to a river. – Henry Van Dyke • A sad sort of vulnerability was wafting from her, making the night smell like maple syrup. – Sarah Addison Allen • A solitary maple on a woodside flames in single scarlet, recalls nothing so much as the daughter of a noble house dressed for a fancy ball, with the whole family gathered around to admire her before she goes. – Henry James • A withered maple leaf has left its branch and is falling to the ground; its movements resemble those of a butterfly in flight. Isn’t it strange? The saddest and deadest of things is yet so like the gayest and most vital of creatures? – Ivan Turgenev • After the keen still days of September, the October sun filled the world with mellow warmth…The maple tree in front of the doorstep burned like a gigantic red torch. The oaks along the roadway glowed yellow and bronze. The fields stretched like a carpet of jewels, emerald and topaz and garnet. Everywhere she walked the color shouted and sang around her…In October any wonderful unexpected thing might be possible. – Elizabeth George Speare • Again the blackbirds sings; the streams Wake, laughing, from their winter dreams, And tremble in the April showers The tassels of the maple flowers. – John Greenleaf Whittier • And again it snowed, and again the sun came out. In the mornings on the way to the station Franklin counted the new snowmen that had sprung up mysteriously overnight or the old ones that had been stricken with disease and lay cracked apart-a head here, a broken body and three lumps of coal there-and one day he looked up from a piece of snow-colored rice paper and knew he was done. It was as simple as that: you bent over your work night after night, and one day you were done. Snow still lay in dirty streaks on the ground but clusters of yellow-green flowers hung from the sugar maples. – Steven Millhauser • Anne reveled in the world of color about her. “Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill–several thrills? – Lucy Maud Montgomery • Around in silent grandeur stood The stately children of the wood; Maple and elm and towering pine Mantled in folds of dark woodbine. – Julia Caroline Dorr

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Maple', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_maple').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_maple img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • But truth be told, I’m not as dour-looking as I would like. I’m stuck with this round, sweetie-pie face, tiny heart-shaped lips, the daintiest dimples, and apple cheeks so rosy I appear in a perpetual blush. At five foot four, I barely squeak by average height. And then there’s my voice: straight out of second grade. I come across so young and innocent and harmless that I have been carded for buying maple syrup. Tourists feel more safe approaching me for directions, telemarketers always ask if my mother is home, and waitresses always, always call me ‘Hon. – Sarah Vowell

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling]

• Catch a vista of maples in that long light and you see Autumn glowing through the leaves…. The promise of gold and crimson is there among the branches, though as yet it is achieved on only a stray branch, an impatient limb or an occasional small tree which has not yet learned to time its changes. – Hal Borland • Consider the many special delights a lawn affords: soft mattress for a creeping baby; worm hatchery for a robin; croquet or badminton court; baseball diamond; restful green perspectives leading the eye to a background of flower beds, shrubs, or hedge; green shadows – “This lawn, a carpet all alive/With shadows flung from leaves’ – as changing and as spellbinding as the waves of the sea, whether flecked with sunlight under trees of light foliage, like elm and locust, or deep, dark, solid shade, moving slowly as the tide, under maple and oak. This carpet! – Katharine Sergeant Angell White • Do you think I’m wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why? Because so many girls are wonderful. I imagine hundreds of men have called their loves wonderful today, and it’s only noon. You couldn’t be something that hundreds of others are. – Jonathan Safran Foer • Everyone had a Japanese maple, although after Pearl Harbor most of these were patriotically poisoned, ringbarked and extirpated. – Barry Humphries • For anyone who lives in the oak-and-maple area of New England, there is a perennial temptation to plunge into a purple sea of adjectives about October. – Hal Borland • For hours she had lain in a kind of gentle torpor, not unlike that sweet lassitude which masters one in the hush of a midsummer noon, when the heat seems to have silenced the very birds and insects, and, lying sunk in the tasselled meadow grasses, one looks up through a level roofing of maple-leaves at the vast, shadowless, and unsuggestive blue. – Edith Wharton • For watching sports, I tend to drink Guinness; early evenings always begin well with a Grey Goose and tonic with plenty of lime; and on a cold winters night, theres nothing quite like a glass of Black Maple Hill… an absolute peach of a bourbon. – Martin Bashir • Freezing concentrates sugar (maple sugar), alcohol, and salt solutions as efficiently as heating distils water or alcohol from solutions. Open pans of maple sugar can have the surface ice removed regularly (each day) until a sugar concentrate remains. Salts in water, and alcohol in ferment liquors can be concentrated in the same way. – Bill Mollison • I always feel at home where the sugar maple grows…. glorious in autumn, a fountain of coolness in summer, sugar in its veins, gold in its foliage, warmth in its fibers, and health in it the year round. – John Burroughs • I always go to the lowest common denominator for that ingredient. So if I think squash, I try to think what it means to me — and if it doesn’t mean anything to me, I’m not gonna do well when I cook it. So [squash] means to me: fall, maple syrup, cinnamon, and things just come into your head so you can narrow the vortex and make it a bit smaller and you go with something because there’s no time. – Geoffrey Zakarian • I always have a good quality extra virgin olive oil. A cheap quality oil will end up cheapening your dishes. And I love sweetening my dishes with maple syrup. It has a bit of a bitter kick at the end that works wonderfully in savory dishes. – Nadia Giosia • I am passionate about tea, running, the idea that we are bound only by the limits of our imaginations, and maple syrup. – Misha Collins • I ate breakfast in the kitchen by candle-light, and then drove the five miles to the station through the most glorious October colouring. The sun came up on the way, and the swamp maples and dogwood glowed crimson and orange and the stone walls and cornfields sparkled with hoar frost; the air was keen and clear and full of promise. I knew something was going to happen. – Jean Webster • I drink maple syrup. Then I’m hyper so I just run around like crazy and work it all off. – Rachel McAdams • I grew up trying to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, not Team Canada. Didn’t even know it existed. – Adam Oates • I happen to know everything there is to know about maple syrup! I love maple syrup. I love maple syrup on pancakes. I love it on pizza. And I take maple syrup and put a little bit in my hair when I’ve had a rough week. What do you think holds it up, slick? – Vince Vaughn • I have a maple leaf tattoo over my heart, quite literally, and my two favorite things on Earth are being in Canada and making movies. – Jay Baruchel • I like Toronto a lot, it’s a good city. The only thing that really annoys me about Toronto is that you’re turning Maple Leaf Gardens into a grocery store, which is absolutely nothing short of disgusting. – Rick Wakeman • I remember it as October days are always remembered, cloudless, maple-flavored, the air gold and so clean it quivers. – Leif Enger • I sit where the leaves of the maple and the gnarled and knotted gum are circling and drifting around me. – Alice Cary • I think maybe, if I could be a Canadian super hero, I’d have some kind of freezing power and some sort of maple syrup weapon. Could be a little sticky. – Nathan Fillion • I thought of my mother as Queen Christina, cool and sad, eyes trained on some distant horizon. That was where she belonged, in furs and palaces of rare treasures, fireplaces large enough to roast a reindeer, ships of Swedish maple. – Janet Fitch • I used to go to Maple Leafs games all the time when Nic shot To Die For here in Toronto. This is a great city. I love it here. – Tom Cruise • I was cutting and threading pipe in the tunnels to get water into the shower rooms for athletics. I was repairing old metal windows, fixing cement walls where rain was coming through, and drying out the maple gym floors in hopes of removing the warping. – Tom Baker • I was just getting acquainted with the wood. I wanted to see if it was maple or pine. – Kurt Rambis • If it’s not 100 per cent pure maple syrup, it can’t be called ‘pure maple syrup. – Nancy Greene • If you’ve only got one day to live, come see the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’ll seem like forever. – Pat LaFontaine • I’m not from a maple producing area and so my maple syrup credentials are very much of the eating side. – Nancy Greene • I’m very proud to be wearing the “C” for the Maple Leafs. It puts a smile on my face everyday – Mats Sundin • In New York and New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making begins forthwith. The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for two or three days before it takes visible shape before you. – John Burroughs • In spring when maple buds are red, We turn the clock an hour ahead; Which means, each April that arrives, We lose an hour out of our lives.

Who cares? When autumn birds in flocks Fly southward, back we turn the clocks, And so regain a lovely thing That missing hour we lost in spring. – Phyllis McGinley • In the long dusks of summer we walked the suburban streets through scents of maple and cut grass, waiting for something to happen. – Steven Millhauser • It is a poor observance of our first century as a nation if we run up a flag of surrender with three dying maple leaves on it. – Charlotte Whitton • It is a vast wilderness of rocks in a sea of light, colored and glowing like oak and maple in autumn, when the sun gold is richest – John Muir • Leaf fans loyalty is unshakeable. The fans keep coming back and it hurts, I have been there. I have lost in game six to go to the finals with the Maple Leafs, against Carolina and what a great final that would have been. – Curtis Joseph • Lyric night of the lingering Indian Summer, Shadowy fields that are scentless but full of singing, Never a bird, but the passionless chant of insects, Ceaseless, insistent. The grasshopper’s horn, and far-off, high in the maples, The wheel of a locust leisurely grinding the silence Under a moon waning and worn, broken, Tired with summer. – Sara Teasdale • Many of the artifacts of my house had become potential devices for my own destruction: the attic rafters (and an outside maple or two) a means to hang myself, the garage a place to inhale carbon monoxide, the bathtub a vessel to receive the flow from my opened arteries. The kitchen knives in their drawers had but one purpose for me. – William Styron • Maples are such sociable trees … They’re always rustling and whispering to you. – Lucy Maud Montgomery • Maple-trees are the cows of trees (spring-milked). – Henry Ward Beecher • Much can they praise the trees so straight and high, The sailing pine,the cedar proud and tall, The vine-prop elm, the poplar never dry, The builder oak, sole king of forests all, The aspin good for staves, the cypress funeral, The laurel, meed of mighty conquerors And poets sage, the fir that weepest still, The yew obedient to the bender’s will, The birch for shafts, the sallow for the mill, The myrrh sweet-bleeding in the bitter wound, The warlike beech, the ash for nothing ill, The fruitful olive, and the platane round, The carver holm, the maple seldom inward sound. – Edmund Spenser • My end goal in the piano is to play Scott Joplin’s ‘Maple Leaf Rag. – Miranda Leek • My first semester I had only nine students. Hoping they might view me as professional and well prepared, I arrived bearing name tags fashioned in the shape of maple leaves. – David Sedaris • My love of maple syrup. I’ve been known to knock back a can over a couple days: A swig here, a swig there, and next thing you know it’s gone. It’s a habit I have to stave off. I don’t want to lose all my teeth. – Rufus Wainwright • My uncle, Mr. Stephen Maple, had been at the same time the most successful and the least respectable of our family, so that we hardly knew whether to take credit for his wealth or to feel ashamed of his position. – Arthur Conan Doyle • No clouds are in the morning sky, The vapors hug the stream, Who says that life and love can die In all this northern gleam? At every turn the maples burn, The quail is whistling free, The partridge whirs, and the frosted burs Are dropping for you and me. Ho! hillyho! heigh O! Hillyho! In the clear October morning. – Edmund Clarence Stedman • October turned my maple’s leaves to gold; The most are gone now; here and there one lingers: Soon these will slip from the twigs’ weak hold, Like coins between a dying miser’s fingers. – Thomas Bailey Aldrich • Oh! to be a child again. My only treasures, bits of shell and stone and glass. To love nothing but maple sugar. To fear nothing but a big dog. To go to sleep without dreading the morrow. To wake up with a shout. Not to have seen a dead face. Not to dread a living one. To be able to believe. – Fanny Fern • One day the ‘Maple Leaf’ will make me King of Ragtime Composers. – Scott Joplin • Our lives are like islands in the sea, or like trees in the forest. The maple and the pine may whisper to each other with their leaves … But the trees also commingle their roots in the darkness underground, and the islands also hang together through the ocean’s bottom. – William James • Spring has many American faces. There are cities where it will come and go in a day and counties where it hangs around and never quite gets there. Summer is drawn blinds in Louisiana, long winds in Wyoming, shade of elms and maples in New England. – Archibald MacLeish • That`s a maple leaf, Canadian, not just for being too European but too Canadian. Not so subtly putting [Ted] Cruz`s face inside that maple leaf there. – Chris Hayes • The approach to that movie wasn’t, ‘Lets make this movie about Amsterdam and maple syrup.’ The concept was, ‘Lets go to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is fun.’ So we flew to Amsterdam with our cameras and we saw what happened and then we got back and we sat down and we said, ‘What’s the movie here.’ That’s when we realized that the movie was ‘The Maple Syrup Saga’. – Casey Neistat • The ash her purple drops forgivingly And sadly, breaking not the general hush; The maple swamps glow like a sunset sea, Each leaf a ripple with its separate flush; All round the wood’s edge creeps the skirting blaze, Ere the rain falls, the cautious farmer burns his brush. – James Russell Lowell • The food that’s never let me down in life is porridge, especially with milk and maple syrup, which is delicious. Paris isn’t a porridge place, but I can buy it in London when I’m there and bring it back with me. – Marianne Faithfull • The gaps are the thing. The gaps are the spirit’s one home, the altitudes and latitudes so dazzlingly spare and clean that the spirit can discover itself like a once-blind man unbound. The gaps are the clefts in the rock where you cower to see the back parts of God; they are fissures between mountains and cells the wind lances through, the icy narrowing fiords splitting the cliffs of mystery. Go up into the gaps. If you can find them; they shift and vanish too. Stalk the gaps. Squeak into a gap in the soil, turn, and unlock-more than a maple-universe. – Annie Dillard • The morns are meeker than they were, The nuts are getting brown; The berry’s cheek is plumper, The rose is out of town. The maple wears a gayer scarf, The field a scarlet gown. Lest I should be old-fashioned, I’ll put a trinket on. – Emily Dickinson • The rinsed foam swirled into one drain that always clogged come October when the maples dropped Canadian propaganda over everything. – Daniel Handler • The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry Of bugles going by. And my lonely spirit thrills To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills. – Bliss Carman • The spirit of the year, like bacchant crowned, With lighted torch goes careless on his way; And soon bursts into flame the maple’s spray, And vines are running fire along the ground. – Edith M. Thomas • The stripped and shapely Maple grieves The ghosts of her Departed leaves. The ground is hard, As hard as stone. The year is old, The birds are flown. – John Updike • The sugar maple is remarkable for its clean ankle. The groves of these trees looked like vast forest sheds, their branches stopping short at a uniform height, four or five feet from the ground, like eaves, as if they had been trimmed by art, so that you could look under and through the whole grove with its leafy canopy, as under a tent whose curtain is raised. – Henry David Thoreau • The summer ends and we wonder who we are And there you go, my friends, with your boxes in your car And today I passed the high school, the river, the maple tree I passed the farms that made it Through the last days of the century And I knew that I was going to learn again Again, in this less hazy light I saw the fields beyond the fields The fields beyond the field – Dar Williams • The very uprightness of the pines and maples asserts the ancient rectitude and vigor of nature. Our lives need the relief of such a background, where the pine flourishes and the jay still screams. – Henry David Thoreau • The wilderness is near as well as dear to every man. Even the oldest villages are indebted to the border of wild wood which surrounds them, more than to the gardens of men. There is something indescribably inspiriting and beautiful in the aspect of the forest skirting and occasionally jutting into the midst of new towns, which, like the sand-heaps of fresh fox-burrows, have sprung up in their midst. The very uprightness of the pines and maples asserts the ancient rectitude and vigor of nature. Our lives need the relief of such a background, where the pine flourishes and the jay still screams. – Henry David Thoreau • The woman is not just a pleasure, nor even a problem. She is a meniscus that allows the absolute to have a shape, that lets him skate however briefly on the mystery, her presence luminous on the ordinary and the grand. Like the odor at night in Pittsburgh’s empty streets after summer rain on maples and sycamore. – Jack Gilbert • The world of life, of spontaneity, the world of dawn and sunset and starlight, the world of soil and sunshine, of meadow and woodland, of hickory and oak and maple and hemlock and pineland forests, of wildlife dwelling around us, of the river and its wellbeing–all of this [is] the integral community in which we live. – Thomas Berry • There is a beautiful spirit breathing now Its mellowed richness on the clustered trees, And, from a beaker full of richest dyes, Pouring new glory on the autumn woods, And dipping in warm light the pillared clouds. Morn on the mountain, like a summer bird, Lifts up her purple wing, and in the vales The gentle wind, a sweet and passionate wooer, Kisses the blushing leaf, and stirs up life Within the solemn woods of ash deep-crimsoned, And silver beech, and maple yellow-leaved, Where Autumn, like a faint old man, sits down By the wayside a-weary. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • There were so many miracles at work: that a blossom might become a peach, that a bee could make honey in its thorax, that rain might someday fall. I thought then about the seasons changing, and in the gray of night I could almost will myself to see the azure sky, the gold of the maple leaves, the crimson of the ripe apples, the hoarfrost on the grass. – Jane Hamilton • There’s nothing people like better than being asked an easy question. For some reason, we’re flattered when a stranger asks us where Maple Street is in our hometown and we can tell him. – Andy Rooney • This fastest of all games [hockey] has become almost as much of a national svmbol as the maple leaf. – Lester B. Pearson • This hill crossed with broken pines and maples lumpy with the burial mounds of uprooted hemlocks (hurricane of ’38) out of their rotting hearts generations rise trying once more to become the forest just beyond them tall enough to be called trees in their youth like aspen a bouquet of young beech is gathered they still wear last summer’s leaves the lightest brown almost translucent how their stubbornness has decorated the winter woods. – Grace Paley • To her bier Comes the year Not with weeping and distress, as mortals do, But, to guide her way to it, All the trees have torches lit; Blazing red the maples shine the woodlands through. – Lucy Larcom • We don’t want you convicted for condiment theft. You go to that prison, you’ll meet big-time operators. Maple syrup stealers. – Deb Caletti • We must keep these waters for wild rice, these trees for maple syrup, our lakes for fish, and our land and aquifers for all of our relatives – whether they have fins, roots, wings, or paws. – Winona LaDuke • We would much prefer to see ownership in the hands of the Maple Group, if only because we would much rather see Canadian ownership of our stock exchange. What we are first of all interested in is making sure that Montreal is able to preserve that niche or expertise. – Jean Charest • When April winds Grew soft, the maple burst into a flush Of scarlet flowers. The tulip tree, high up, Opened in airs of June her multitude Of golden chalices to humming-birds And silken-wing’d insects of the sky. – William C. Bryant • When you were a kid, if you went to the Montreal Forum or a hockey game at Maple Leaf Gardens, which I did, there was a great feeling. The new stadiums don’t have it. Why don’t they have it? Building codes. – Frank Gehry • With the fans and the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, the way I’ve been treated here has been awesome. – Mats Sundin • Writing an informative yet compact thriller is a lot like making maple sugar candy. You have to tap hundreds of trees – boil vats and vats of raw sap – evaporate the water – and keep boiling until you’ve distilled a tiny nugget that encapsulates the essence. – Dan Brown • You cannot imprison me!” He bellowed. “I am Hyperion! I am-” The bark closed over his face. Grover took his pipes from his mouth. “You are a very nice maple tree. – Rick Riordan

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equitiesstocks · 4 years

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Maple Quotes

Official Website: Maple Quotes

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flicksnfilms · 6 years

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Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Writer: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Stan Lee, Jack Kirby (Marvel comics), Jim Starlin, George Pérez, Ron Lim (comic book story) Cast: fucking everybody IMDB | RottenTomatoes | Official Site

Watched: on 25 April, at the IMAX cinema, and 28 April, and 01 May

Reaction: ± Thanos demands my silence. I will say that i wasn’t half as prepared as i though i was. I'll edit this in like a week with my actual reaction since i assume by then it'll be far enough down any follower's (who hasn't watched - IN A WHOLE WEEK AFTER RELEASE!) dashboard to not be seen unless you're looking specifically at this blog.

Memorable aspect of the movie: + So many things. (Soon.)

Would I recommend it? > Fuck. Yes.

[EDIT:] So, reaction. After more than a month because i haven’t been on in a while, and under the cut because it’s hella long (like, super fucking long) and rambling in my geeky joy. :D It’s in 3 parts, from the three times i watched it.

[Take 1] ± It was an EXCELLENT, WELL BALANCED FILM. They have the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula down pat of comedy and drama, action and reaction. It’s so perfect and fun to watch. They were able to give the gigantic cast fairly equal screen time as well as balancing the personalities on screen. [See bonus content at the very end.]. That they split up the teams and threw them with other franchises was a great choice for both balance and dynamic. The visuals -- cinematography, CGI, costume, make up, set design --, as always, are a feast, with the coloration of the film striking a balance between all the different tones from each individual franchise.

[Take 2] Memorable [aspect] moments of the movie: + D: “I am Loki, Prince of Asgard... Odinson.” + XD “I’ll get you a metaphysical ham on rye.” + Doctor Strange and Tony’s interactions. It was interesting repartee and good chemistry. + Stark-raving Hazelnut and Hunka-Hulk-a Burning Love. I need to try these flavours, and also i need to know the flavours for every other Avenger. + <3 Tony brings the stupid flip phone around with him! AND there’s a message!! + XD “Squidward” + XD “Dude, you’re embarrassing me in front of the wizards.” + XD Bruce trying to beat Hulk out. + “Wong, you’re invited to my wedding.” + XD The singing. Mean faces. “Language. ... Ever since you got a little sap.” OMG. You GOT a little sap. Oh, puberty. “ XD “He is not a dude. You are a dude. He is a man. A handsome, muscular man.” “It’s like a pirate made a baby with an angel.” “God man.” + XD Mantis’s attack form. + XD Quill’s jealousy and mimicking. + “All words are made up words.” Well, that’s actually a good point. + “Is there a 4 digit code? A birthday perhaps” Thor’s really gotten into Midgard culture eh? (Which is a good carry over from Thor: Ragnarok.) + XD Rabbit. Tree. Morons. Ah, Thor’s nicknames. It’s fun, cause he doesn’t mean them maliciously and he says them with such regal diction that they feel kind of acceptable as nicknames. + The intro sequences for the rogue Avengers. STEVE!!! <3 And Sam! And Nat!! The whole fight sequence too! + D: “Where to, Cap?” “Home.” !!! (ESPECIALLY IF YOU REWATCH AGE OF ULTRON AND SEE HOW STEVE REACTS TO SAM SAYING “Home is home,” AT THE PARTY. TT_TT ) + “The kid watches more movies.” Well, that’s a good enough strategy. + “WHAT ARE THOSE??” The two teenagers use the same (meme) phrasing. + “Doctor. Do you concur?” + <3 “I’m not looking for forgiveness. And I’m way past asking permission. Earth just lost its best defender, so we’re here to fight. If you want to stand in our way, we’ll fight you too.” ICONIC. STEVEN FUCKING ROGERS, EVERYONE. + <3 The reunion greetings with Rhodey.” + XD “This is awkward.” + XD “It was an elective.” I NEED TO KNOW WHAT OTHER ELECTIVES THEY OFFERED ON ASGARD, PLEASE. + “I am Groot?” Evidently translates to: Are we there yet? The question of all kids in travelling vehicles everywhere. + D: “What more do I have to lose?” + Giant Peter Dinklage. So weird. + D: Quill and Gamora. + Quill actually got Thanos’s approval. So like, thanks, dad? Hahaha. + “We don’t trade lives.” + Nebula. What a badass. + XD “Blanket of death” + XD “Where is Gamora?” “Who is Gamora?” “Why is Gamora?” + “You’re from Earth?” “I’m from Missouri.” “Missouri is on Earth, dumbass.” + XD “Kick names. Take ass.” + Tony’s face. He’s so done with everyone. + Rhodey & Bruce. Ahh, what are friends for. XD + Steve & Bucky. Both of you are “hundred year old, semi-stable soldier”s. + Shuri! Wakanda! Man, i love this place. It’s great. + D: Gamora!! + “Get out of the way, Sammy.” SAMMY! + Thor jumping onto and then sitting on the pod. What a cutie. + “It’ll kill you.” “Not if I don’t die.” “Yes, that’s what killing you means.” + XD “Magic! More magic! Magic with a kick!” + Bucky & Rocket + “New haircut?” “I see you’ve copied my beard.” This is SO MUCH better knowing they ad-libbed it. + “This is my friend, Tree.” “I am Groot.” “I am Steve Rogers.” Of fucking course. Such a polite cutie pie, this guy. + XD Okoye’s reactions, and the “Why was she up there all this time?” + “She’s not alone.” FUCK YEAH. LET’S GO LADIES!! + “Oh, screw you, you big green asshole. I’ll do it myself.” Banner is super funny, situationally in this film. + “Tony Stark.” “You know me?” Hell yeah, you deserve to be acknowledged all over the universe, Tony. + The power of Doctor Strange and the mystic arts. SO COOL. + Tony ran out of nanoparticles! O_o + D: Wanda & Vision + “Steve?” TT___TT D: Bucky! Sam! My King! “Steady, Quill.” “I don’t wanna go!” TT__TT FEELS.

[Take 3] ± The familial hits get me more than the romantic ones. My reactions per viewing gave me three different experiences; It was personal, then intellectual, them empathic, in that order, for me. There are some moments i paid particular attention to, for a few characters:

Loki gets to come full circle with the “We have a Hulk,” line along with his redemption arc continuing on in from Thor: Ragnarok. Thor is an odd amalgamation of Shakespearean proper and slangy modern. “A little bit.” “So cool.” “I bid thee farewell and good luck, morons.” “Bye.”

The interplay between Tony and Strange. Excellent. It’s a real battle of egos at the beginning which turns to a mutual respect. Tony is a true leader. He intuits other people’s emotional reactions and attempts to keep them in line long enough to complete the goal.

A lot of shots in the Avengers compound are just Steve’s reactions. What bearing will this have? How does he feel about the cost?? Are they showing how tired he is from paying for his decisions?

The kid’s all heart. The first thing Peter does, once their plan goes awry, is try to save everyone even if he can’t remember their names. Okoye is a warrior to the core. She refuses to attach even these fuckers from behind. Bruce is such a goof and it shows now that he can’t disappear mid-scene. “Oh, you guys are so screwed!” And all the talking-to he gives Hulk.

Thanos’s voice really goes soft for Gamora, as a child, and the “I’m sorry, daughter.” “Tony Stark. ... You have my respect. I will wipe out half of humanity. I hope they remember you.” That’s amazing. The cost, the deterioration, is up to his arm and his neck. That’s an interesting detail which kind of implies that the Infinity Gauntlet (in the MCU at least) can only be used for something of this scale a few, if not only one, times.

I love that Marvel is really invested in antagonists that aren’t villains purely for the sake of being evil, but are fleshed out beings with emotions and purpose and passion, even if their goals are morally misguided. They have complex backstories and three dimensional personalities. Their goals are logical and intelligent, if a little beyond what’s reasonable. Their thought processes within the realm of imagination but a step too far for civilians and heroes.

The ending of this film is superb. I’ve seen many a peer say they think it’s too short or unresolved but i think they fail to appreciate the story. That sometimes the “good guys” don’t or can’t win (for now). That there are outcomes we’d rather not fathom and costs we’d rather not pay. But they happen. And the MCU gets this. That things happen and there’s a balance to it. There’s collateral and there’s gains and losses. And not just for the protagonist. (But for every character.)

Thanos achieved his goal, but at great personal cost. He won but lost all at once. Likewise, Killmonger achieved some of his goals but failed at others, died but did it with dignity in his eyes; Hela brought was released from her bonds and gained power but didn’t wind up ruling Asgard as it was swallowed by Ragnarok; Zemo sowed discord and ripped the Avengers apart from the inside, but was prevented from shooting himself and joining his family.

[BONUS:] In some of my movie reviews i talk about the characters and their stories in relation to Joseph Campbell’s Heroic Monomyth. And, i dunno, i suppose it my complete emotional roller coaster watching this film along with all the geek out moments, i completely missed its inclusion in this, given that the beginning of the monomyth takes place before the beginning of this film. I was delighted to find it pointed out to me in this post by The Screen Junkies - The Dailies Facebook. It’s a really good breakdown of the way the writers (maybe intentionally) incorporated the Heroic Monomyth in Infinity War despite it featuring like 7000 characters and all of Hollywood. :)

#films i watched in 2018

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