#obviously no guarantees that i will be confident enough to draw any of these or that i'll enjoy them all but i just... am considering it? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mcyt-imagines · 3 years

Note

I loved your "dating tommy includes" hcs! Could you do a dating ranboo includes hcs please? 💓💓

This request was super fun I got a little carried away with it though! Hope you enjoy regardless :)

Ranboo Dating HCs

This boy is an absolute cuddle bug! (Once you guys have dated for a little while first, of course, he needs a little bit of time to feel comfortable enough) But once he’s decided he’s comfy enough around you, you won’t be able to pry this lanky boy off of you. However, every once in a while, he’ll distance himself a little, as if he’s worrying he’s being too clingy. But with some convincing and reassurance from you, he’ll be back to begging for cuddles in no time.

He adores both being the big spoon and the little spoon. The idea of you feeling safe in his arms when he’s the big spoon always makes him feel strong and confident. But feeling so content and relaxed in your arms when he’s the little spoon is something he loves just as much.

This boy isn’t great at remembering dates. So whenever your anniversaries come around, if you don’t remind him, he will forget. So his usual methodically planned out dates are cast aside when he’s on a time crunch, he instead finds himself on BuzzFeed's Top 10 Romantic Destinations In Every City’ or some other dodgy/trashy teen website. They’re still fun because you’ll be with Ranboo, and the spontaneity of them is a welcome breath of fresh air for you, Ranboo not as much, but you do your best to reassure him and curb any of his fears.

Ranboo is the kind of boyfriend who has you at the forefront of his mind, most of the time. This leads to him bringing home countless little trinkets or articles of clothing that reminded him of you. It’s never for any special occasion, he just thought you would like it and so he wanted to give it to you. He will also gift you any sketches he draws that he actually ends up liking, that’s usually only like a fifth of them but he will always cherish your compliments and critique. Mainly because he actually cares about what you think, and knows you’d be honest with him if his drawings were as bad as he sometimes thinks they are.

If you and Ranboo ever fight while you’re together, which seeing as how non-confrontational he is, I can’t see it happening very often if at all. But if you do, he is likely to apologise first, and very shortly after the initial argument. It’s not that he’s a pushover and can’t stand up or himself, he just doesn’t see the point in arguing about something stupid or unimportant, so he’ll encourage you to hash it out with him quickly and with little fanfare. However, if the argument is over something important like morals, he will use his apology to try and reach a middle ground with you. By letting some time pass since the initial argument, he knows both of your minds are clearer and less clouded by emotion, allowing for the two of you to come to a peaceful agreement or disagreement.

Ranboo likes to have you in his stream room whenever he is streaming. If you’re busy with something else he won’t stop you and drag you into his stream room, but you do notice his demeanour change when you’re there or not during streams. He is always quite upbeat but the cute way he looks back at you every few minutes always guarantees a blush to rise to your cheeks. His happy grin contagious even as he looks away and back to chat. You usually will make Ranboo something to eat whilst he’s streaming, especially for lore streams as they’re usually longer. He has accidentally announced it to chat several times having meant to mute himself before speaking, he always gasps too. “You made me lunch! Thank you, but you didn’t have to do that. How about I make dinner tonight for you, huh?” His chat will race by as you press a kiss to his cheek, and he takes the plate from you. “Guys my partner made me luuuuuuunch. I bet you guys are all super jealous.” He smirks, the chat hears your soft laughter in the background as you return to the comfy spot you had been occupying before you left to grab Ranboo some food, munching on something you’d grabbed for yourself.

Ranboo always insists that you do chores together, even if it isn’t the same chore. You can see him vacuuming from across the house as you’re emptying the trash. And of course, loud music is playing during this, chores must be done whilst jamming out. Ranboo is a strong believer in that philosophy.

Ranboo also tries to get hands-on in the kitchen whenever he can. He cooks most of the meals simply because he can be a bit of a picky eater, and thus you both decided it would be easier if Ranboo cooked more often. But there are days where you must cook and you try your best to make the meal as inoffensive as possible for Ranboo, he knows it’s a pain and always thanks you profusely for it. He’ll usually hover whilst you’re in the kitchen asking if he can help dice the carrots, mash the potatoes or stir the bubbling pot of pasta and you usually end up having to dance around the gentle giant as he fumbles his gangly self around your very small kitchen. This has led to some small accidents in which both of your outfits have gotten completely ruined, but you’ve never held it against him no matter how much he blames himself for it. The first time an accident like that happened Ranboo baked cupcakes for you the next morning as an apology and almost burnt down the place because he was so lost in his sulky and broody thoughts, he didn’t hear the oven timer go off.

Ranboo isn’t the kind of boyfriend to get jealous or possessive. This isn’t because he doesn’t care, it’s simply because he trusts you. He has no reason to worry, even though he does, but he refuses to let that interfere with you having some fun with your friends. However, if some person is making unsolicited advances towards you, and you’re looking and obviously feeling very uncomfortable he will not hesitate to step in. This boy may not be confrontational, but he knows when he needs to step up to defend someone, he knows you can defend yourself, but if he can stand in between you and that person he is more than willing to.

At parties together Ranboo sticks to you like glue, he’s not a huge fan of the combination of loud music, flashing lights and crowded people. You know this, and so you keep to the outskirts determined to keep your boyfriend feeling content and make sure he enjoys himself a little too. You don’t go to parties often with Ranboo simply because he doesn’t adore them, but if it’s an important event for you or himself he will begrudgingly go. However, he never dares to complain only pleading with his eyes to leave after a few hours. And usually, by that point, you’ve shown yourself around to the host and whoever you needed to see, so you usually just slip out the entrance with little fanfare. Eager to get home and into your pyjamas for a late-night movie, some cuddles and then passing out on the couch.

Ranboo talks in his sleep. Mostly gibberish, but sometimes he will string a couple of sentences together. They’re usually questions directed at you or part of conversations you’ve already had with Ranboo the previous day. They rarely wake you up, his voice being quite soft, barely mumbling. However, every once in a while, you will humour him, and yourself in the process. Continuing a full conversation with him whilst he sleeps, and sometimes you directly impact his dreams. One night you mentioned cinnamon to him as he slept and the next morning, he said he had been craving Cinnabon’s in his dream, and now that he was awake, he wanted one 100x more. Thus, the two of you made some that afternoon to cull his craving. You made a mental note to keep your effect on his dreams a little secret to yourself.

Ranboo can have difficulty conveying his emotions to you the way he wants to, struggling to find the right words. But when he does, he screams them from the rooftop. Once he confesses to loving you, you hear it often. Whether it’s just a ‘goodbye love you’ on the phone or a heartfelt ‘I love you’ as he holds your face in his hands as you lie awake late at night in each other’s arms. This also is the case with compliments. This boy showers you with compliments, if you’re insecure about a certain part of your body you best bet, he will be putting plenty of focus into making you love that part of yourself just as much as he does. Which is a lot. In turn, it leads to him simply talking about you a lot, you’re on his mind almost 24/7 and he makes sure everyone in his life knows it. Seeing as his family and friends adore you, they don’t mind it too much. This boy adores you with his whole heart and he wants to make sure every single person he ever runs into, knows it. No matter how long you’ve been together, that will never change.

~Requests are always open!~

#ranboo x reader #mcyt #mcyt x reader #x reader

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intheticklecloset · 3 years

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My Hero Academia Sentence Starters #41-50

A collection of the MHA sentence starters I’ve done, compiled for the sake of ease. These are all stand-alone stories.

~~~

41) Lee Kaminari, Ler Ojiro

“And where are you going?” Ojiro wrapped his tail around Kaminari’s waist, dragging him back to his chest, reaching to scribble in his exposed underarms. “I didn’t say you could leave yet.”

Kaminari squealed. The only reason he didn’t double over was because of Ojiro’s tail around him, but he still wobbled on his knees a little and tried to push the extra limb away, giggling and wiggling all the while. “Nehehehehehehe! No, Ojiro, stahahahahap!”

Ojiro grabbed his wrists and held them firmly while maneuvering his tail to brush lightly along Kami’s stomach and sides. The blonde burst into a fresh round of giggles at the contact. “You can’t walk away from me before I’m done with you, sparky.”

“I’m sohohorry!” Kami pleaded. “Let me gohohohohoho!”

“Nope. Now you face my wrath.” Ojiro kissed the back of his neck gently, knowing the feather light sensation would drive his boyfriend crazy. “My tickly wrath~”

Kaminari gave up the fight and simply giggled hysterically, squirming in Ojiro’s strong grip, his body lighting up with ticklish shock after ticklish shock as that soft tail dragged its way up and down each of his sides, fluttering in his underarms, catching the sliver of bare skin where his tank top had ridden up.

Ojiro chuckled at the sudden lack of protesting. “You like it, Denks?”

“Shuhuhuhuhut up…”

“How rude.” The tail hero’s grip tightened as he let his tail drift down to the hem of Kami’s shorts. “But I don’t mind tickling you into submission, if that’s what you want.”

Kami’s heartrate sped up ten times over. “No! Plehehehehease, not thehehehere!”

But the tail was already brushing, already tickling, already drawing out his most genuine laughter. Ojiro smirked. “Too late~”

42) Lee Shinsou, Ler Deku

“You’re not going anywhere,” Deku murmured softly, leaning over Shinsou’s trapped form beneath him with an easy smirk. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”

Shinsou quirked a brow at him, smiling to cover up the frantic racing of his heart. “Do you, now?”

Deku – thinking the smile was a challenge – didn’t reply. Instead, he gripped Shinsou’s wrists tighter and began gently kissing along his neck.

Shinsou gasped, trying to curl up but only succeeding in brushing his knees against Deku’s back. “N-Nohohohoho, wahahahait, please – thahahat tickles!”

Again, no reply.

“Plehehehehease, Midoriya!”

Deku pressed his lips to the shell of his left ear, and a squeal broke free from Shinsou before even he had a chance to register it.

“Ehehehehahahahahaha! Nohohohohohoho!”

“You’ve got ticklish ears?” Deku teased, kissing the lobe. “That’s so cute~”

“Plehehehehease, stohohohohop!” Shinsou begged through his unstoppable giggles, kicking his legs in the air behind Deku. “I cahahahahan’t – I can’t tahahahahake it – please!”

“Really ticklish, huh?” Deku’s voice was still teasing, but he stopped, grinning down at the purple-haired boy’s now flushed pink cheeks and disheveled look. “That’s adorable.”

Shinsou averted his eyes. “It’s not.”

“Of course it is—”

Shinsou’s uncertain gaze suddenly became a confident smirk. He gently pushed the now controlled Deku away and rolled him over so their positions were reversed, then let him go, giving his boyfriend the chance to register and understand what had happened.

Deku’s eyes widened.

“So,” said Shinsou, leaning down so their noses were practically touching. “What was that about having me right where you wanted me?”

43) Lee Deku, Ler Shinsou

“I’m not sulking!”

“You sure?”

“I’m not!”

“Okay.” Shinsou dragged a fingernail down Deku’s bare sole, watching as the green-haired boy dissolved into giggles at the light touch. Shinsou then scribbled all five fingers across the arch and up to his toes. “Well, you’re definitely not now, are you?”

“I wahahahahasn’t to begihihihin with!”

“Oh? So I guess being pouty all day because I won that Mario Kart grand prix this morning wasn’t sulking?”

“Nohohohohoho! Y-Yohohohou sahahahaid yourself it was pohohohohouting!” Deku tried to tug his foot away, but Shinsou only held him tighter and kept scribbling. “Plehehehease!”

“Ah, yes. Pouting. I suppose I did say that.” Shinsou then switched tactics, grabbing Deku’s foot with one hand and scribbling his fingers along his ankle with the other. “All right, so you’ve been pouting all day. Either way I’m here to put an end to it.”

“By tihihihihihickling me?!”

“Obviously. How else would I do it?”

“Thehehehere are other wahahahahays!”

“Yeah?” Shinsou shot him a suggestive smile. “Have any ideas?”

“M-Maybe…a few?” Deku stammered when the tickling came to an abrupt stop, followed by Shinsou leaving his feet alone to crawl up to his upper half.

“Like what?”

Deku flushed dark red. “Y-You know…things…”

Shinsou smiled, leaning down to kiss him, letting him think he was safe for all of five seconds before Deku wrenched his mouth away and shrieked, laughter exploding from him. “NAHAHAHAHA HITOSHI NOHOHOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHEHERE!!”

Shinsou kissed him again, muffling his laughter, grinning as he kneaded his thumbs into Deku’s hip bones. “Nah,” he mused, nibbling on his neck as well, making Deku give up the fight and surrender to his laughter completely. “I’d rather keep tickling you.”

44) Lee Bakugou, Ler Todoroki

“Did…did you seriously eat my cereal, of all things?” Todoroki asked incredulously, looking over at his boyfriend, who lounged lazily on the couch in the next room over.

Bakugou didn’t reply right away. “Uhh…no?”

“You’re lying to me.”

“I didn’t know it was your cereal,” the blonde protested, turning to face him as well. “I thought it was ours. You know, to share?”

Todoroki set down the now almost-empty cereal box and entered the living room. “Apparently I need to just keep buying that chocolate churro stuff you can’t stand. That way I’m guaranteed not to have the sanctity of my breakfast violated.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “Chill. Just write your name on the box next time and I’ll leave it alone.”

“Will you?”

“Yes.”

Todoroki plopped down on the couch next to him, grabbing his side. “Will you really?”

“Y-Yehehes!” Bakugou sputtered out a giggle, reaching to push him away, but Todoroki quickly snatched both of his wrists and held them while he dug into the blonde’s belly button under his t-shirt. “Agh – ahahahahaha! Stahahahahap!”

“Quit stealing my cereal,” Todoroki half-demanded, half-teased, grinning at how his normally grumpy partner couldn’t help but smile and giggle now. “Or next time, I’ll have to tickle you to death for it.”

“S-Stohohop! Todoroki!” Bakugou knew his face was turning pink from all the giggling, but he didn’t entirely care. This was his boyfriend, after all. “Plehehehease, Shoto!”

Todoroki smiled. “Come on, Katsuki. You know you love being tickled here.”

“T-Thahahat’s not the pohohohoint-!”

“Fine.” Todoroki finally stopped, releasing his wrists before leaning down to kiss him. “But I’m serious. Quit stealing my cereal.”

45) Lee Aoyama, Lers Kirishima and Todoroki

“You’re acting really weird,” Kirishima hummed, watching Aoyama closely.

The blonde looked offended. “What? I am not.”

“Why do you keep stretching like that, then? You know we can see your stomach every time you do.”

“And my stomach is such a horrible thing to see.”

“No, but it’s going to tempt some people in the room.” Kiri glanced meaningfully over at Todoroki, who – sure enough – was staring at Aoyama’s midsection with a tiny blush.

“No, I…I’m fine.” He cleared his throat, turning back to his manga. “Just fine.”

Kiri rolled his eyes knowingly. Seeing an open ticklish spot like that was like candy to Todoroki, but the poor guy had too much self-control to act on his urge to do anything about it without blatant permission. So Kiri decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.

The next time Aoyama stretched like that, Kiri leapt out of his seat and hooked his arms under Aoyama’s underarms, keeping him trapped. “Here you go, Todo – he’s all yours!”

Todoroki glanced up, saw the now helpless Aoyama, and swallowed. His heart raced. He could see a sliver of the blonde’s tummy, and it was really tempting…

“Well…all right,” he said at last, getting to his feet. The only thing that might have stopped him now was Aoyama’s protests, but surprisingly, the blonde didn’t say a word. He merely watched as the half-and-half hero approached him, then dissolved into giggles when fingers spidered up and down his sides. Todoroki’s hesitation melted away, and he smirked with a sudden surge of confidence. “Does it tickle, Aoyama?”

“Oui,” the blonde giggled, squirming but not really fighting back.

Kiri smirked, too. “Is this what you were doing? Trying to get us to tickle you?”

“N-Nohohoho, of course nohohohohot!”

“Hmm…I think he’s lying. What about you, Todo?”

“Perhaps so.” Todoroki scribbled up into his underarms, making Aoyama squeal and giggle even harder. He smiled. “Well, I’m more than happy to give him what he wants.”

46) Lee Uraraka, Ler Momo

“Well, Momo, there’s one thing you can’t make!” Uraraka said proudly, smirking at her friend. “You can’t make me laugh!”

Momo looked at her, frowning. “What? Of course I can. Why would you say that?”

Uraraka hesitated. She’d said it as a joke, but now seeing how hurt the taller girl looked, she thought maybe she’d gone a bit too far. “Come on, Momo – we all know your jokes aren’t really the best. They’re kind of funny, but…”

“I can make you laugh.”

“Yeah? Prove it, then.”

Momo lunged, pushing the smaller girl onto her back on the ground and digging into her ribs just enough to draw out some light giggles. “There, see? You’re laughing.”

“I’m nohohohohohot!”

“Hmm…I suppose these are more like giggles, huh?” Momo contemplated for a moment, then grabbed one of Uraraka’s arms and pinned it above her head, scribbling her nails into the exposed armpit. This time, Uraraka did laugh. “Ha! There we go.”

“Nahahahahahaha Momo! Stahahahahahap!” Uraraka laughed helplessly, rolling around on the ground but going nowhere fast. “Okahahahay, okay, you wihihihihihin! You mahahahade me laugh!”

Momo grinned, releasing her and sitting back. “Is that proof enough for you? I can make anything, Ochaco.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Uraraka beamed, reaching for Momo’s sides. “You’ve certainly made me want to get you back for that!”

“No, wait – Ochaco wahahahahahait-!”

47) Lee Kirishima, Ler Bakugou

“Man, you really can’t move around that much, can you?” Bakugou chuckled, watching Kiri’s legs kick frantically as he gently traced the lightest, most torturous circles into the redhead’s thighs, dragging his fingertips from the insides to the backs, making his friend squeal with laughter.

“Bahahahahahahakugou, plehehehehehehehease!”

“Please what?”

“It tihihihihihihickles so bahahahahahad!”

“Not my problem.” Bakugou was straddling Kiri’s torso as the redhead lay on his stomach, focusing his attention mostly on the boy’s lower back and thighs, as both of these were spots he’d learned recently that could turn the normally strong, confident Kiri into a pleading, babbling mess in no time.

Bakugou let his fingers trail back upwards, tugging Kiri’s shirt out of the way enough to lightly drag his fingernails along his lower back near his hips, and Kiri let out a small whimper as his body shuddered from the contact.

“Oh?” the blonde smirked. “Here?” He did it again, and again, and again, and soon enough Kiri was giggling helplessly into the floor, pleading for mercy under his breath. Bakugou smiled. It genuinely made him happy to see Kiri having so much fun like this, even if his “fun” was getting lost somewhere between pleasure and torture like he was now.

Still, he couldn’t help but be a little mean. “Tickle, tickle~”

“Nohohohohoho,” Kiri whined, kicking his legs again. “Dohohohohohon’t…”

“Don’t what?”

“Tehehehehease me!”

“Tease you?” Bakugou grinned, focusing on a tiny spot right above his hips on his sides that made Kiri jump and dissolve into hard giggles that bordered on laughter, pinning him in place so he couldn’t move. “If you insist~”

48) Lee Tokoyami, Ler Kaminari

“Wait a second, you giggle?” Kaminari laughed, kneading his thumbs further into his victim’s hips. “Oh, this is too good!”

Tokoyami clenched his teeth in an effort to stave off said giggles, but it was useless and he knew it. He shook his head desperately, grabbing Kami’s wrists, digging his heels into the floor behind the blonde’s straddle. “Plehehehehease, gehehet off…Kahahaminari…!”

“Tickle, tickle, Tokoyami~” Kami teased, igniting his tickle shocks just slightly to watch the boy beneath him twitch and screech before finally giving in and letting out a stream of high-pitched giggles.

“Ehehehahahahahaha! Nohohohohoho!” Tokoyami squirmed helplessly, giggling like a child, unable to do much more than weakly grasp his assailant’s arms and beg. “Plehehehehease, no! N-Noho tihihihihickling!”

“Why not? You seem to enjoy it~”

“I dohohohohohon’t! GAH!!” The bird boy suddenly bucked his hips and arched his back, giggles turning to laughter. “NAHAHAHAHAHA KAMINARIEHEHEHEHE!!”

Kami beamed, pleased to have found a new spot to have fun with. He dug even deeper into Tokoyami’s belly. “Ticklish here? Does someone have a ticklish tummy? I think it’s you~”

“PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!!”

“Tickle, tickle, tiiiiickle~”

Tokoyami collapsed on the ground in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, shaking his head as little chirps and tweets started spilling past his lips as well. He even stared to blush; Kaminari almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Aww, is the little birdie ticklish? Yes, he is! Tickle, tickle, tickle little ticklish Tokoyami!”

“STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!” Tokoyami pleaded, practically wheezing now. “I GIHIHIHIVE!! I GIVE – PLEHEHEHEASE DEHEHEHENKI!!”

Kami grinned but finally slowed to a stop, patting his friend’s chest reassuringly. “All right, no more, I promise. But seriously – hearing you laugh like that was the best thing that’s happened all week!”

Tokoyami groaned, but his lips were still pulled upward in a traitorous smile. “I hate you.”

49) Switches Momo and Todoroki

“Sorry, what was that? I can’t hear you.”

Momo struggled in Todoroki’s hold, but his grip on her was firm and his fingers in her side were even firmer. She giggled out her reply as best she could. “I s-sahahahahaid you – yohohohohou hahahahave a c-cuhuhuhuhute lahahahahaugh! Plehehehehease!”

“Do I?” Todoroki couldn’t help but grin, holding her with ease despite her squirming, loving the reactions he was getting from her. “Well, I hate to disagree with you, but I think your laugh is cuter.”

“Is nohohohohohot!”

“Do you really think you’re in a position to be arguing with me?” Todoroki murmured in her ear, sliding his hand to her hip and squeezing. She jolted and laughed. “No? Didn’t think so.”

“Stahahahahahahap! Plehehehehehease!” Momo kicked and squirmed, but his grip was unwavering. In a frantic, last-ditch effort to be free, she blindly grabbed for his thigh and squeezed it, making him yelp and release his grip on her just enough for her to break free and turn the tables on him, pinning him down and going straight for his underarms.

“PFFT-NAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Todoroki tossed his head back and laughed openly, clamping his arms to his sides and kicking his feet in the air behind her as she moved to straddle his waist. “AHAHAHAHAHA NO FAHAHAHAHAHAIR!!”

“No fair? How?”

“YOU KNOHOHOHOHOW I’M MOHOHOHOHORE TIHIHIHIHICKLISH THAN YOHOHOHOHOU!!”

“And?” Momo laughed, raking her nails down his torso to his hips and grabbing his thighs again, watching him buck and thrash in satisfaction. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE, MOMO!!”

“Please keep tickling you?” she beamed, winking at him when he looked up at her with panicked excitement. “You got it, Shoto.”

50) Lee Kirishima, Ler Bakugou

“Again,” Kiri pleaded, his eyes shimmering with mirthful tears and his chest heaving, but obviously having the time of his life.

Bakugou stared for a moment, then shook his head with a laugh. “Wow, Kiri, I knew you liked it, but you sound like you’re dying and you still want me to tickle you?”

“Please!”

“All right…” The blonde pinned his arms by his sides and went back to nibbling his ribs like he had moments ago, sending Kiri into another round of shrieking giggles. When the redhead sounded like he was gasping for air, Bakugou let up, allowing him a moment to breathe. “You doing all right?”

“I – I love it,” Kiri said between breaths, still smiling like an idiot. His eyes were kind of glazed over; it was clear he was reaching some kind of otherworldly plane from all of this intense tickling on his worst spot.

Bakugou hesitated. “Pretty soon you’re not even going to know where you are. Are you sure you still want-?”

“Yes, yes,” Kiri affirmed emphatically, nodding. “Make me forget. I want to forget everything but this.”

“Heh…you really love it, don’t you?”

“I’ve only told you like a million times now.”

“Fine.” Bakugou gripped his arms tighter and leaned down again, smirking at how his friend’s eyes lit up. “Buckle up, buttercup. Because this time I’m not stopping.”

And Kirishima giggled his way into a happy, ticklish oblivion.

#fanfiction #tickle fic #tickle drabble #compilation #quick prompts #boku no hero #my hero academia #bnha #mha #sentence starters #shindeku

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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#5: The One With Astruc's Self-Insert

In my introductory post, I said the main inspiration for this blog was @hypocrisyofandrewdobson. For those who don't know, Andrew Dobson is an infamous webcomic artist known for drawing webcomics that tend to demonize people he's come across in public or people who disagree with him online (either critical of his art or his political views), while portraying himself as the victim or wise man calling them out on their differing beliefs.

If you want to learn more about this guy who I consider to be far worse than Astruc, check out the blog in question. And no, I don't know why he draws himself as a blue bear.

Why am I talking about this? It's one thing for some schmuck on the internet to use his work to respond to criticism, but the creator of a popular animated series dedicating an entire episode to attacking his critics and trying to get others to feel bad for him is another story.

The second episode of Miraculous Ladybug's third season, “Animaestro” served as a wake-up call for fans (myself included) to make them realize how immature Astruc could be. The plot centers around the premiere of a movie about Ladybug and Cat Noir directed by Thomas Astruc, who voices himself in the original French dub.

And this isn't just a brief cameo like what Stan Lee did in the MCU. Astruc is the Akumatized person this episode, so there's naturally a lot of focus on him. Throughout the first half of the episode, Astruc portrays himself as this timid man who nobody recognizes or respects, like this idiot who doesn't know what animation is.

Doorman: This is a private event, sir.

Astruc: Huh? Excuse me? I'm Thomas Astruc, the movie director.

Doorman: You filmed Cat Noir and Ladybug? What are they like in real life?

Astruc: Er, it's an animated movie. It's all cartoon characters. We don't actually film anyone. See, there's this whole team that draw the chara—

Doorman: Whatever. Who would want to see Ladybug and Cat Noir as cartoon characters?

Get it? Wasn't that meta joke hilarious? This is how much I was laughing:

youtube

And Astruc continues to get about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield when he interacts with other characters like Jagged Stone and Chloe.

Jagged Stone: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie!

Astruc: Well I—I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak.

Jagged Stone: Oh, so you're the one who created the story?

Astruc: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits.

Jagged Stone: Oh, okay. So you did all the drawings?

Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings.

Jagged Stone: So what do you do then?

(Later on...)

Chloe: So you're the one responsible for this movie?

Astruc: Yes, yes! Exactly! That's me!

Chloe: Then you were the one who left Queen Bee out of the trailer. You're lame, utterly lame.

I can't believe Astruc had a scene where he interacted with Chloe and didn't insult her at all.

The episode is determined to make the audience feel bad for Astruc. Nobody respects him and what he does. Isn't that saaaaaad? Nobody cares about animated film directors like Walt Disney or Tex Avery anyway. Not even these stupid children understand how hard Astruc works.

Several Children: Ladybug! Where's Ladybug?

Astruc: Hey there, kids!

Teacher: Ladybug isn't here children. We came here to meet the director of the movie. Children: (frowning in disappointment) Aww.

(Astruc looks visibly disappointed.)

Way to insult your primary demographic, Astruc. I thought you said kids have a better understanding of these stories when people criticized the writing of a certain episode (It's that scene in “Puppeteer 2” if you're curious/don't value your sanity).

It's almost like you're using that as an excuse to half-ass your work while still getting to claim this show is so groundbreaking.

In case you can't tell, “Animaestro” is one of those episodes. The ones where the showrunners decide to dedicate an entire episode to attacking critics of the show in a blunt fashion. Whenever a show addresses criticism, they either create an obvious strawman character to parrot the opinions of fans who don't like their work, or have someone defend the show and insult the critics directly.

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The problem isn't that they're ignoring criticism. It's their show, and they aren't obligated to listen to critics or fans who don't like the direction the show is taking. On the other hand, they aren't obligated to fight back like this and treat their audience like crap. Any show that does something like the three clips I showed you usually comes off as petty and immature because they dedicate so much time to insulting the critics.

Even during the Akuma fight, Astruc has to call out Ladybug for having problems with his movie in-universe, obviously representing critics of the show Astruc claims have no right to criticize the show while it's still airing.

Ladybug: What's with that trailer too? I am not scared of cats, at all.

Astruc/Animaestro: You haven't even seen the movie and you're already slamming it?

Cat Noir: He does have a point, you know.

Ladybug: I wasn't slamming it. It's called constructive criticism!

Yeah, how dare Ladybug be angry that this movie is portraying her as a powerless coward dependent on Cat Noir as opposed to a confident and brave superhero. She just doesn't understand the genius of Thomas Astruc!

And of course the character Astruc claims is “perfect” is the one to take his side.

And that's another problem with this episode, the metatextual references. Before he gets akumatized, Astuc says he spent three years of his life working on his movie. I get that time in this show is weird (we somehow had episodes taking place on the first day of school, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the first day of Summer), but how did Astruc's self-insert work on a movie based on a superhero who has only been active for a year? Meta-wise, it's an obvious reference to the scorn Astruc has gotten from fans after working so hard on his show, but the only people who would get that reference are the ones who are aware of Astruc's reputation online.

Self-Insert aside, I actually think the titular Animaestro is one of the more visually impressive Akumas featured on the show. Animaestro takes on several forms based off several different forms and eras of animation, like flash, anime, rubber hose, and they all stand out. Granted, some of them are obvious parodies of other characters like Goku or Sailor Moon, but the actual Akuma fight is fun to watch. According to the Mexican Miraculous Ladybug Twitter account, this episode took two and a half years to create, and it shows. It's too bad the story behind it is completely insufferable, almost like the cartoon equidistant to Pixels.

But then comes the part that honestly makes the episode worth it, mainly for how unintentionally hilarious it is. Do you want to know what Animaestro's weakness is? Do you really want to know?

Animaestro is physically incapable of moving unless someone is watching him. I am not making this up.

Ladybug and Cat Noir literally defeat Animaestro by getting everyone to stop paying attention to him.

I could make so many jokes with this, but I can guarantee you're already thinking of something just as good, if not better, than whatever I write.

And there's the end where Astruc gives Marinette his ticket to the movie, which prompts Marinette to kiss up to him for no real reason.

Astruc: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either.

Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc, the movie director!

Astruc: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me!

Nothing happened to make her change her opinion on the Ladybug movie, she didn't really say anything to him earlier in the episode that connects to this exchange, and outside of a few lines Animaestro said, she doesn't even know why he got akumatized (even though ironically she and Chloe accidentally contributed to it because of the awful subplot involving Kagami I talked about last time). If anything, it comes off less like she actually appreciates Astruc's work, and more like she's stroking his ego just to keep him from getting akumatized again.

So yeah, this episode is awful, and the fact that it came out right after the controversial “Chameleon” only proved to show what kind of direction the show was taking this season.

But honestly, even if Astruc still wanted to make about how he doesn't get enough respect the episode could have potentially. All he had to do was make a simple change: Instead of making it about validation for Astruc as a creator, make it about validation for animation in general.

It's a common misconception that animation is only used for shows and movies aimed at children, so the episode could reflect it. Instead of the huge turnout where several celebrities appear at the premiere, instead, the turnout could be a lot smaller, with the media dismissing it as some stupid kiddie flick. Instead of getting akumatized because he gets humiliated in public/getting no respect from anyone else, Astruc gets akumatized because he sees the audience didn't go wild for the movie after the premiere. All he can hear them say is that it's just “kids stuff”.

So when Astruc is Animaestro, he goes on about how important animation is. How it's helped produce propaganda since World War II. How it helped improve special effects in big blockbusters. How the medium is used to create movies that simply can't be filmed on a physical set.

After defeating Animaestro, Ladybug shows up to talk to him. She had seen the movie earlier, and actually enjoyed it. She had a few problems with the story, but they were just minor nitpicks and inaccuracies Astruc wouldn't know about, and she was blown away by the animation. She tells Astruc not to be deterred by his critics, and continue to do what he does. As a designer in her civilian life, Ladybug knows the joy creating brings her, and both she and Astruc want to spread that joy through their work.

Back at the premiere, Astruc thinks about what Ladybug said to him when he sees some kids reenacting a scene from the movie. Astruc walks over to them and asks what they thought of the movie. They said they loved it and how energetic it was. When he tells them he is the director, the kids' faces light up and they say they want to do what he does when they grow up, bringing a smile to Astruc's face.

Isn't that a much more humble approach instead of what we got? It would have helped Astruc come across as more sympathetic, especially with animation fans. But instead, we got an entire episode of Astruc whining about how misunderstood he is.

And you know the footage used for the movie at the beginning? Remember that, because I have a huge rant about it saved for a later post.

For now, here’s an example of a creator appearing in his work done right.

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acciocriativity · 3 years

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The bet || Harry Potter

Pairing: Fred Weasley and George Weasley x Platonic/Reader (Tiny not so tiny George Weasley x Reader)

Summary: You had a normal life at Hogwarts, until the Weasley twins decided they weren't going to leave you alone anymore, and what was the reason? You would give five galleons to anyone who knew the answer.

Word Count: 4,0k

It was still early, I was walking through the corridors towards the Great Hall when two red-haired figures appeared in my sight.

"Hey Y/N!", one of them waved cheerfully at me, I still had no idea which one. "Why do you suddenly look tall today?", the other said with a smile, which made me want to punch him.

"Why are you suddenly more annoying today? It sounds like a serious illness, so excuse me, I don't want to catch this", I walked as fast as I could so they couldn't keep up with me.

I could hear their laughter behind me and the whispering but decided not to pay attention to what was said, that would bring me more calmness.

And why do I basically run away from them? It is very simple.

One day I was just another Ravenclaw student, and the next day I had the attention of the most popular twins at Hogwarts.

They liked to tease me about absolutely everything, no matter if I was just sitting down reading or trying to concentrate in a class, one of them would find a way to annoy me.

I never tried to differentiate which was Fred and which was George, it made no difference, they both seemed equally annoying to me and knowing who is who was not going to guarantee me anything.

"Hey, wait. We have a deal for you", the tallest of them spoke with a grin plastered on his face as he walked up to me in stride.

"And why should I agree? Anything coming from you guys is pretty suspicious", I replied with my eyes screwed tight and crossed my arms.

"Because you can have your quiet time again, we won't tease you anymore as far as possible", the other said with a small smile and I stopped to think for a few seconds.

"Well, that sounds good enough, and what do I have to do? You're going to have to get something out of this, obviously", I still remained in the same position analyzing the two, who seemed to be enjoying themselves more every second.

"You'll have to guess who is who at the end of the day", one of them started and my face dropped at the same moment."Since we're nice, we'll just say it once", the other added.

"What if I don't succeed then? If there's a prank, I'm out."

"There won't be anything out of the ordinary, just an extra dose of us", I took a deep breath just imagining what my life would be like with these two following me around the castle. "So are you going to accept or not?", he raised an eyebrow.

I took a deep breath and looked away, a good opportunity had fallen into my hands but I would have the rest of my peace lost if I didn't win, which would be no small thing but a part of me was just screaming to accept it at once, the competitive part, the part that was going to win this little challenge.

"I accept, it won't be that hard", I replied with a smile, a wave of confidence built up inside me and I really thought it wouldn't be a problem at all.

"Okay then", they just walked past me and kept walking and if I could see my forehead, a big question mark would be hanging there, "Hey? You still have to tell me which is which, it was part of the deal", I said, taking a few steps behind them but they soon stopped and looked at me.

"Oh, you're so confident, do you really need us to tell you who's who?", I clenched my hands tightly to hold back the urge to kill him.

"Of course I don't need to but... HEY!It's not polite to leave a person talking alone", they had the audacity to walk off and wave at me on top of that.

7:30 a.m.

I wasn't going to get any help from them, why did I expect to get any? Obviously they don't want me to win but I will and they will have to swallow that. That's my new goal today, screw the herbology paper.

But now it would be more difficult, few people would know the difference, I would have to ask one of his friends or one of the other Weasleys who studied at Hogwarts.

I wasn't intimate with any of them but I had classes with some, we never spoke but I will change that today.

I just hope they actually tell me something useful, one of the twins could have easily told no one to help me and made everything even more difficult.

8:25 a.m

"Hey Kate, what's up?", I said with a smile just as she was about to pass me down the hall, it was really worth it to eat fast or I wouldn't have made it in time.

The expression on her face already told me everything, the same gleam in her eye that twins have when they are disturbing me, why do I get the impression that it won't be so easy?

"Good morning Y/N, do you need anything?", she said leaning against the wall with a mischievous smile that I chose to ignore. "Actually yes, you should already know, the Weasleys challenged me to set them apart and you as a friend should know how, anything is useful, anything really", I liked that she was direct because I could be too. I don't like wasting time with small talk, especially when I don’t have too much time.

"They actually told me it would happen, but they didn't tell me more details, what happens if you lose? Some kind of prank I bet.

"They will annoy me twice as much as they already do, I don't know how you manage to be friends with them, she stared at me for a few seconds and then grinned. "What?"

"I'll help you since you're asking me but maybe you'll soon see that it wouldn't be so bad to lose", I just nodded without really believing it would happen. "Fred is louder and generally more annoying, George is quieter and more careful. You can find out more by noticing for yourself, I'm going to get going, I want to practice a little before class begins", she pointed to the castle entrance.

"Thank you so much Kate, I'll owe you this one. See you later", I smiled and waved as she walked away from me after waving as well.

Now I know the basics but they might try to trick me, switch places or pretend to be the other one. I have to be prepared and there is only one way.

9:00 a.m

The bell rang and the halls filled with heads hurrying not to be late, especially the poor first year students heading for the dungeon. I could see some shaking on the way out of the Great Hall but my destination was completely different, I headed up the stairs along with the other forty years to Minerva's class.

There was no sign of any of the twins, if they had decided to skip this class my plan was destined to fail.

The class was about to start when the two of them entered without any hurry and I smiled internally for having kept an empty chair next to me, just in case.

"Are you gentlemen having a problem with your audition? The bell rang five minutes ago. This kind of behavior is not tolerated, Mr. Weasleys. Minus ten points for Gryffindor", her angry voice boomed, and no one seated dared to breathe.

"It won't happen again, professor", I was surprised not to hear any funny remarks as a comment and I'm sure she was too but didn't show it.

"Sit down and open your books, let's move one more step forward from yesterday's lesson...", she continued talking but I barely paid attention after one of them sat down next to me.

"So, you're George, you can tell me now that I already know", he looked a little surprised for a few seconds but soon regained his posture.

"How did you guess it? I didn't even say anything", he said looking at me intently and I just shrugged, I wasn't about to say since this is clearly a plus for me.

"That's a secret that will stay with me, it wasn't that hard", I commented, dipping my quill into the ink to start writing what Minerva was going over on the blackboard.

Behind us it was possible to hear Fred's excited whispers that I had learned to ignore after all these years. Now it seemed so much easier, it's not as if I hadn't noticed them both all this time, it's a bit impossible since they make themselves present everywhere.

We remained silent, since this is the only way I can concentrate. I even mentally thanked him for that, but it didn't seem to do any good today. My attention kept being drawn to the red-headed boy next to me, I couldn't help it.

Internally I blamed it on my will to win, because to do so I would have to pay more attention to him, that's all my body wanted to do, focus on George Weasley.

I only realized that I was crossing the line when I noticed that his cheeks started to take on a reddish tint and a shy little smile appeared. To make matters worse, there was Fred's giggles, who was watching everything with the best view; there was no way I could get away with this.

After this awkward moment, I forced myself to pay attention even though my desire was to get out of there, since he now decided to start watching me not as discreetly as he thought he was being. I was much better at that.

"Is there a problem?", I mustered up the courage to ask when it was already 15 minutes before the bell rang again.

I noticed him bite his lips and crack a small smile before looking forward again, "why would there be a problem?"

"You were looking at me", I answered quietly so as not to draw attention from the other students and especially from Minerva who was passing between the desks checking to see if everyone was practicing the spells correctly.

"You were looking at me before that, discretion is not your specialty, you know?", I was a few seconds without knowing how to answer that and in the meantime, I could see him savoring the fact that he had left me speechless.

"Yes, I was watching you to differentiate you better from your brother, and why were you looking at me?", I spoke in a direct tone looking him straight in the eyes and the other redhead's laughter sounded behind us and George gave him a nonchalant look, as did the woman, who had just passed us.

"Is something wrong Mr. Weasley?", she asked and of course, everyone around us had to pay attention too, because they had nothing else interesting to do.

"No, I just remembered a joke I heard, I could tell you if you want. I assure you it is very funny", he assured holding back the urge to laugh even harder.

"Your little jokes stay outside the room Mr. Weasley, and you all, if you haven't perfected today's transfiguration can get back to work", she caught everyone's attention and continued walking peacefully.

We ended up getting distracted from the main subject, he obviously took the chance of not answering me and just kept on training as I did.

12:00 a.m

We had the next 3 classes together and I stayed close to them and their friends as well. As I imagined everyone was very nice to me, we could have become friends much sooner if we weren't stuck in a fixed group of friends.

Some things had become much clearer in my head and others even more blurred. They didn't seem to be picking on anyone but me, although it hadn't happened all day. Then why? I was going to find out.

"Will you come sit with us today?", Katie said with an arm around Angelina's shoulders, both looking at me with a smile that wouldn't let me deny them anything.

"Sure, I'd love to. It's kind of funny that we have more things in common than I expected", I remarked as we walked slowly, with the hasty crowd in front of us. I would usually be with them but it's much better this way, time is not as important as catching up with everyone.

"I had no idea you liked quidditch, have you thought about joining the Ravenclaw team?", Angel, as she asked to be called, inquired and at that moment, I should but I didn't notice her gaze leave me and go to the twins, several times.

"I'm not as good at playing as I am at watching, so I prefer to stay in the stands", I replied with a small smile until I noticed everyone in that small group communicating with their eyes, which I chose to ignore.

"So Angeli, since when did you start playing?", I started the subject that was going to last throughout the entire lunch hour and it couldn't be better.

Everyone had some story to tell, I must admit that Fred's and George's were the funniest. At no time was there any kind of awkward silence, or a moment when I was not included in the conversation. I did notice that some of my classmates were surprised that I sat there, but in general they were looking at us because of the noise. Their special talent was talking, which I found refreshing since I could hear more and talk occasionally.

The worst part of it was that I ended up not paying as much attention to either George or Fred as I had planned, although now I know a little more about both of them and my new friends.

3:00 p.m.

After two classes of Aritmancia, I had a free period and many homework assignments to do and as I walked to the library, a familiar voice called out to me.

"Y/N!", I turned around and was faced with George and his broom near the stairs, not so far from me, "We are going to practice a little, do you want to come too?", I was about to say no, as I was already busy but then I remembered, I still had to guess who was who at the end of the day.

I had really forgotten and started to enjoy their company, I had to remind myself that I wanted to win and that it made perfect sense to spend some more time with him, if it meant that I could guarantee it. Or at least, I tried to convince myself of that.

"Sure, who else will be training?", I asked as I walked over to him and then we walked together to the castle entrance and towards the field. "Just Angelina and Fred, the others have classes or something to do," and I just nodded in agreement.

We hadn't spent any time alone since Transfiguration class and I didn't know what to say, as did he but I didn't feel uncomfortable, just lost in my own thoughts.

"You came to watch half the best quadribol team play today. You won't regret it," Fred was the first to speak up as soon as we arrived and I could only laugh, how could one person be so confident? I needed some tips.

"My expectations are higher than you Weasley, you better not let me down after that speech," I wasn't trying to be funny but I heard a chuckle come from the redhead next to me. "You're not out of it George, none of you. But remember, no pressure. I'm only going to judge a little bit," I said smirking, not really taking any of the words I said seriously.

"Go sit down and prepare to be impressed," the black haired girl gave the last words, grabbed her own broom and flew to the three right hoops as I hurried to the stands.

Luckily, I didn't miss much and less than 5 minutes later, I could tell with certainty how good the three were. They took turns as goalkeepers for Angelina, even though it wasn't really their position in the game.And after 15 minutes, the dynamic changed for the two of them to try to hit her, one at a time, for them to practice as beaters.

But honestly, I paid much less attention than I normally do. I couldn't tell them apart from so far away, and this realization made me face the shameless excuse I had created for myself. I just wanted to be there, and the reason for that I wouldn't say out loud.

More than 30 minutes later, the three of them instead of landing on the ground, came flying towards me and stopped by my side.

"So you can talk about how impressed you are now", I pretended to think for a few seconds and the indignation on his face was so funny I almost didn't say it but after such an arduous training like that, they deserved it.

"You guys were amazing, if someone from another house could watch the official training sessions I would really come to see more", I smiled and it was extremely adorable to see George's already red face redden even more after my compliment.

"You already know you can't watch the official practices, we are finally starting to understand each other", Fred said and took a step to hug me and I immediately took one back. "You're soaking wet Fred Weasley, don't even think about it. This is not the time for hugs".

"But I think it's a good idea sweetie, you can't hide from a Weasley, so just accept it", he said with an evil grin on his face and I was ready to run, I hated sweat especially when it wasn't mine but his long legs came into action once again.

"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever experienced, so you have something to be proud of after all", I complained, pulling away seconds after he had cornered me in the hug, which wouldn't have been so bad if it had been any other time.

"If that's the grossest one, you really don't know what's waiting for you honey. This is just the beginning," Angel said with a satisfied smile on his face. "But we better go now, I need a shower and we still have one last class today," she added and flew out of there after waving to us.

"Yeah, I need to take a shower too, I'll see you guys later," Fred said before getting out of there as quickly as possible, leaving me alone with George again.

"Well, do you want a ride? It's much quicker to get down that way," he smiled slightly at me and I agreed without a second thought.

I held his bare arm, because I thought it was better than hugging him and regret appeared immediately because I always had some issues with flying. It wasn't the worst thing in the world but it was far from being one of my favorites.

All I could do was close my eyes as we crossed the field, my hands automatically closed around his arm, the weather was windy and I could feel the shivers that went through his now red skin as well as mine.

It was a few seconds if I'm really honest but it didn't feel like it to me, I've never picked up a broom other than for classes and it's been a long time since I stopped having fun in those classes.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I felt my feet on the ground again.

"I'll see you later then, I haven't forgotten about the bet. You better be prepared," he gave me a beautiful smile and the consequences of that is the only thing I wasn't prepared for.

5:00 p.m.

There are those moments when you have to stop and ask yourself, what the hell is happening to me? For countless reasons obviously, and it was my turn. I didn't come up with any answers that made me blind to reality, which was really frustrating because that way it would be easier for me to just ignore.

But nobody told me it was going to be easy, which is a shame because I would have someone to blame.

All this played out in my head before I received an owl from them, telling me that I could go to the Gryffindor common room to finish our bet, along with the password for the day. I was prepared after being warned by basically all their friends, all I could think of on the way there were some spells, mainly revenge because I wouldn't let it go if there really was a prank.

But what happened was quite different, the place was quieter than I imagined, although they had many people sitting and talking normally including Fred and George.

"Oh hello stranger, you have finally decided to give us the honor of your presence, I can say for everyone, we are all grateful," I had barely stepped into the room when Fred spoke up with the most sarcastic smile I have ever seen, should I be confused?

"If I get all this reception every time I come here, I will definitely come back more often. Thank you, I feel very welcome," I said with an equally big smile, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Okay smartass, it's time for your answer," he continued speaking, the same voice but now that I was close, in front of them, I noticed that there was something very wrong there.

"Why are you talking like that George?", was my only thought, they were imitating each other, the voice was extremely similar, I could never tell the difference just by that, but looking at him, it is impossible to be mistaken.

Their expression dropped on the spot and I realized that there were more people watching me and maybe they knew the plan, because everyone was a little shocked too, was it that simple?

"That's impossible, who was the snitch that told you? Whoever it was, you're going to have a tough future," Fred even stood up and didn't bother to do another voice, he spoke and I was sure I won.

"Nobody told me, I didn't need much to realize that you guys were faking it. He spent the whole conversation scratching his arm, it's been like that all day," I pointed to George who had not taken his eyes off my person so far.

At that moment they looked at each other for a few seconds and then back at me. I should be happy but I wasn't. Even if I wasn't going to admit it out loud, they just proved to me how amazing they are and I wasn't going to lose that.

"Now that I've won, I want to change my reward. It's very simple, I want to reverse the reward and the punishment. I want an extra dose of Weasleys," I had to get a certain amount of shyness out of the way to say this but it was worth it.

It was worth it because I could see a sparkle in both of their eyes that went beyond a successful prank, it was worth it because I had the best years at Hogwarts with the best friends I could ever want. It was worth it because I found the best boyfriend in the world that day. I never thought I would be so grateful for a silly bet.

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manggaetteokkie · 4 years

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Why 2HA adaptation might not be as bad as we think...

Okay so BL novel “The Husky and His White Cat Shizun” (chinese title: “二哈和他的白猫师尊”) aka 2HA is getting a live adaption which will be called “Immortality” (“皓衣行”). I know that usually, fans of original works are less than excited about this kinds of news and with good reasons. The issue is that those who buy the IP rights to a novel simply see its popularity and think that they can profit off of it without actually trying to understand the reason behind its popularity. Too often, BL fans see themselves forced to endure any of the following: 1) sex change of one of the male leads, 2) creation of a random female love interest, 3) turning a happy end into a bad end, 4) adding a bunch of scenes unrelated to our main pair that ends up dragging the series, 5) turning romance into brotherly affection... the list goes on and on. Sometimes, companies think that as long as they film any two guys together and sell a bit of physical touching here and there, fans will jump on it like rabid dogs which... is kinda stupid because, y’know, we have eyes (and standards) too.

So obviously, with the unprecedented popularity that came with the release of The Untamed, even more producers are starting to see the potential of danmei (BL) novels and with it came an onslaught of IP rights being bought and adapted. The list is pretty extensive, with some big names that I’m sure anyone who’s even slightly in the Chinese BL novel community has heard of before. Of course, included in that list, with the casting for the leads done and filming underway, is 2HA.

Quick overview of the story for those of you that don’t know: the story is set in the POV of the “gong” (top), a character named Mo Ran (also known as Mo Weiyu) who is the disciple of Chu Wanning, the “shou” (bottom) of our story. In his original life, Mo Ran had become the Emperor of the cultivation world through slaughter and tyranny, with the only one ever coming close to stopping him being his shizun, Chu Wanning, who eventually lost his life trying to stop him. After achieving the top by committing pretty much all crimes and sins known to men, weary and tired, Mo Ran decides to take his own life and ends it all. Unexpectedly, instead of dying and going to Hell, he transmigrated to the first year he became a disciple. As a thirty-something man in the body of a teen, he decides to do things right this time around and save the one he couldn’t save the first time around. As he goes through life a second time, truth after truths reveal themselves, with the biggest surprise being that the Shizun he hated so much in his previous life, and who Mo Ran thought hated/scorned him, actually turned out to be protecting him the entire time.

Mo Ran, in his past life, was powerful, cruel, merciless and arrogant. There was nothing he could not obtain and he knew it. He was cynical, had a very jaded view of the world and was kind of unstable (lots of mood swings and temper tantrums). After his rebirth, he still maintained some of the arrogance and cynicism, but is more mischievous, confident and cheeky. He is very much like a husky, looks kind of scary and big, but can be extremely loyal to the ones he recognizes and can be a bit dumb sometimes. Chu Wanning on the other hand, is an unflappable person with a frost-like exterior, but a heart of gold. Basically, he cares a lot but it’s easier for him to look like he doesn’t than to voice his feelings. He gets embarrassed easily and covers his embarrassment using anger. He is extremely strong, likes peace and quiet, and always abides by the rules.

Their relationship is kind of complicated. Initially, Mo Ran was in love with a fellow disciple called Shi Mei (despite the word meaning junior female disciple in Chinese, it’s actually the name of a male character). In the original timeline, Shi Mei died and that was the start of Mo Ran’s decline. After his rebirth, Mo Ran decides that he will do everything in his power to prevent Shi Mei from dying again. Don’t be mistaken though, Shi Mei is NOT the male lead. You’ll see as you read more that despite being in love with Shi Mei, Mo Ran is pretty obsessed with Chu Wanning because their relationship was kind of... complicated in the original timeline.

This is pretty much the premise for the story, but do be warned that it goes much deeper and darker than what you might expect (it’s rated R-18 for a reason). So why exactly am I writing all of this? To put it simply, I just kind of want to hype up the series and its adaptation a little, or at least, pique enough interest to give the live action adaptation a chance. Not gonna lie, when I heard 2HA was getting adapted, I was pretty skeptical because how. Mo Ran and Chu Wanning had a pretty physical relationship in the pre-rebirth timeline and that’s partially where the obsession that Mo Ran feels towards Chu Wanning stems from. There’s just basically a lot of unresolved sexual tension between them throughout the novel that I simply couldn’t see getting adapted. However, after thinking about it and reevaluating things from a low-expectations-standpoint, I think it might actually be possible to film something close enough to the original work. Here are some of the factors that influenced my opinion:

First, the series is set to air for 50 episodes (just like The Untamed). Why is the number of episodes important? Because it will determine how closely the adaptation will follow the original story and how much random stuff they can fit into it. Let’s take a step back and evaluate: 2HA’s novel has 311 chapters + extras while MDZS has 113 + extras. Obviously, people might have an issue with the number of episodes (”How are you going to air the same amount of episodes for a series that’s thrice as long??”) but I think it’s a good amount. Why? Because it pretty much guarantees a solid pacing that’ll keep the story moving forward without stagnating. I don’t think there is too much to worry in terms of too much source material being cut because quite a few chapters are R-18/romantic lining scenes that would not have gotten adapted anyways. Once those get deleted, I think 50 episodes is an acceptable amount.

Second, the entire production seems to be solid. The rights were actually bought by Tencent who, if you forgot, was also responsible for The Untamed. With prior success, I believe that they now have a pretty solid idea of how things should be run. Also, the CGI and world-design team is the same one as for Ashes of Love, which has me pretty stoked because while CG in chinese dramas has always been a hit or miss, Ashes of Love is definitely amongst some of the best I’ve seen (see below for examples). (P.S. there are also rumours that Lin Hai, the one responsible for The Untamed’s OST, might be working on 2HA but this is mere speculation at this point.) Overall, 2HA is looking to be like the most high-profile and expensive BL adaption yet.

Third and finally, the casting.

Holy.

Okay.

This is what has me the most hyped.

Let’s start with Shi Mei, who will be portrayed by actress Chen Yao (or Sebrina Chen).

I know I’ve said that despite the name, Shi Mei is a male. As it turns out, likely for censorship reasons, “Immortality” could not escape from the clutches of the dreaded sex change so they went ahead and turned him into a girl. While not ideal, in my opinion, it actually works out pretty nicely here. In this case, it means that Mo Ran is in love with a female character which would further draw censorship’s attention away from the fact that Mo Ran really has a thing for his beautiful shizun. While it would have been perfect if everything could go according to source material, the fact that it’s Shi Mei that went through a sex change actually works pretty favourably in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention the actress set to play Shi Mei has some good experience acting similar roles so overall, I say that I trust her.

Next, we have Chu Wanning who will be played by Luo Yunxi (or Leo Luo).

For this character, I have no worries whatsoever. If you’re unfamiliar with this actor, I highly recommend you give Ashes of Love a try. He played the 2nd lead and ugh. He’s so good at playing beautiful and elegant characters that are forced to undergo a ton of suffering and pain. Luo Yunxi used to be a professional ballet dancer so he moves with grace and his fight scenes are amazing to watch. Also, he has great control over his facial expressions. He’s able to act out characters that suffer a lot without making them seem weak or powerless. Even the way he cries can be considered both beautiful and heartbreaking.

Finally, we have Mo Ran who will be portrayed by Chen Feiyu (or Arthur Chen).

Mo Ran is an extremely complex character. From pre-rebirth’s insanity and arrogance, to post-rebirth’s hope and reservation, to post-revelation’s love and devotion, the actor’s going to have a lot on his plate. Originally, when I first googled him, I thought that while he’d manage to pull off post-rebirth teen!Mo Ran fairly well given how clean and refreshing his face looks, he’d have a harder time pulling off pre-rebirth’s arrogance, craziness and general “hardness”. However, after seeing some costume designs and makeup edits, I think that the boy might just pull it off. Also, while the actor is nowhere near as solid as Luo Yunxi is, it seems that he’s willing to put in extra time and effort (as seen by his Weibo post about how he’d been studying the source material) to make up for it. I think that with enough dedication, he might just be able to pull it off.

(Psssst! By the way, keeping this strictly between you and me, another reason why I’m such a fan of this pair is because of the height difference. I mean just look at this?? Their height difference is pretty much bang on with the novel height difference after Mo Ran grew past Chu Wanning’s height. Not to mention, don’t tell me you see this and don’t automatically picture a the big dorky puppy following his reserved and cool master around?)

So yeah, all of this just to say that it might be okay to kind of have some expectations for 2HA. I really want to keep my own expectations down as low as possible given the amount of times we’ve been burned but I want to remain hopeful that, with the success of The Untamed, it can pave the way for better and more faithful danmei adaptations, with 2HA being one of them.

#the husky and his white cat shizun #二哈和他的白猫师尊 #2ha #immortality #皓衣行 #haoyixing #luo yunxi #chen feiyu #chen yao #leo luo #arthur chen #sebrina chen #chu wanning #mo ran #mo weiyu #long post #talking with zb

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phantomphangphucker · 4 years

Text

Ectober Day 14: Haunt - No Vacancy

Danny’s a protective guy, and an especially protective ghost. There’s no way he’d let someone potentially genuinely dangerous stay in his town. His ghost side especially won’t.

Danny knows what he has to do with this situation, he doesn’t like it, but it has to be done. It’s his job and this is his home, so he’ll handle it. Sighing, steeling himself, and phasing through the classroom door. Watching the teacher grading papers for a small while, “why are you here?”.

She doesn’t look up to him, “I’m grading papers. No I haven’t gotten to yours yet”.

Danny narrows his eyes slightly, “that’s not what I mean, and I know you’re aware of that”. So far things haven’t gotten violent and she wasn’t yelling or freaking out, so he feels slightly justified in hoping this goes well.

She sighs and looks to him, “and why can’t I be here? What? Do you think you get to pick and chose who’s allowed to be here?”, and bares her teeth at him slightly. Well... there goes being completely non-confrontational.

Danny crosses his arms, “actually yeah, yeah I do. I don’t know if you remember this or not, but I protect this town. Have for years. And I definitely do not let anyone I think might be even slightly dangerous stay here. Visiting is one thing. Passing through. Tourism. But that’s clearly not what you’re doing here. Considering”, uncrossing his arms to point at the stack of homework and recrossing them. He’s not going to give her an inch, considering how easily taken advantage of doing that could make someone. And protecting his town, his lair, his haunt, isn’t something he’s about to compromise because someone else has issues with it. Ghost or human.

She stands up with a scowl, clearly attempting to make him feel small by looming over him. He just floats higher of course which makes her scowl deepen. He knows doing that makes it clear he isn’t intimidated or interested in backing down. “I am doing my job. What I’m meant to do-”.

Danny cuts her off, “then do it somewhere else. Someplace meant for you”, and hoping his meaning will clue her in, put ideas in her head and draw her away. Whatever it takes to get her gone without getting physical or violent.

She practically roars at him, “NO. This is my classroom and has been longer than you’ve been in this town, Phantom. How about you get out of my classroom”, and moves to swipe at him.

Danny sighs, uncrossing his arms to catch her wrist. Of course she was genuinely attached. She wasn’t just here out of familiarity. But still. “You’re weak. Newly formed. This isn’t a fight you can win. And this classroom is part of what’s mine, and has been long before you formed. You do not have claim, I do”, and pulls her wrist making her smack into the whiteboard; clearly she doesn’t have a grasp on her abilities yet. Expected but it does make this easier. Driving off the young was much easier. He does feel slightly bad, but his feelings change nothing. Turning in the air to look down at her, “look, I get it. But this’ll hurt less the sooner you leave. The Realms will form you a perfectly fine lair”.

She snarls at him, eyes flashing orange, “I don’t want that. I already have what’s mine. I already have my lair. Now get out!”, and lunges at him again; Danny simply going intangible and grabbing her back as she passes through him, pinning her to the ground.

Danny sits cross-legged on her back, her snarling and trying to scratch at him all the while, “you can’t form a lair in someone else’s. That’s not how things work. Especially not with me. If you were stronger maybe, but you're not. In this situation, I am a wolf and you are a little pinned baby rabbit. I am giving you the option to leave. I am being nice. Normally I’d just capture you-”, readjusting to avoid her arm as she clearly is starting to get a handle on body manipulation, “-but you haven’t connected to the Realms proper yet. You haven’t formed an actual lair there. You’ll be destroyed if I capture you. Even I have a lair there, it’s not so bad”.

She sneers and snarls at him, trying to push up off the ground but unable to, “then why don’t you screw off to the Realms and leave me alone!”.

“Because here’s my primary lair and I have no reason to leave it. Even if that wasn’t the case, I am the stronger older one here. And I have more claim to any section of the Mortal Realm than any other ghost”, sighing and adding off-handedly, trying to keep a handle on his aggression, “except Wisconsin, but if you want to fight with the ghost whose lair is there, be my guest. He won’t hesitate to destroy you. Eat you”. He wants her to get that that is a serious threat. She is not staying. He is not allowing that. She is nothing short of lucky that his halfa status gives him better control over his ghostly nature. Otherwise, he probably would have already torn her to shreds.

She turns her head around, “I am not moving my haunt, now get OFF!”, and tries biting his knee, he goes intangible but her teeth connect anyway. Her smug look disappears when he doesn’t so much as wince.

Danny forcibly phases his fingers through her teeth, easily overwhelming her energy that’s trying to fight him, and pries her mouth open and off him. She’s starting to get on his nerves and poking at his protectiveness; and his possessiveness, “lady, you are not staying here”, leaning his mouth closer to her ear and pressing her into the floor a bit harder, “you will leave. I do not care if you want to claim this school or even this single classroom as yours. It is not yours. It will never be yours. You are in my haunt, my lair, without my permission and you will get out or I will eat you”, pressing her down a little more and flaring his eyes, “let me reiterate. If you do not leave. If you do not go to the Realms. If you even try to stay here. In my lair. Around my humans. Within what I haunt. I. Will. Eat. YOU”, his pitch rising and reverberating enough to shake the walls.

He can feel and see her watching his teeth as he snarls at her, making sure every single one of his fangs is on display. “You are a child ghost, but that does not change that you are a threat to what’s mine. GET OUT”.

She claws at the ground a little before whimpering when his energy nips at hers for a little added encouragement. Though if he’s being honest with himself, he hadn’t done that entirely intentionally. Her glancing at the desk, “can I... finish marking first”, and whimpers again when he presses down on her again.

Him snarling, “NO. You lost that chance”. He immediately chomps on part of the ecto-energy that makes up her hair and tears it off when she starts up protesting him again, “but-“. So long as she hasn’t connected to the Realms proper she won’t be able to reform or replenish her ectoplasm and energy. And he knows on a primal level that she can sense that just the same as him. That makes her prey to him, and he twitches harshly from trying to not act on that predatory feeling.

“GET OUT. NOW”. Grabbing her head and roughly forcing her to look at him, her ectoplasm splattered and smeared on his face will hopefully be enough.

“I- okay”, her voice is a little shaky, “okay. I’ll- I’ll go. Just... get off me and- and don’t take anymore”, the last bit coming out almost pleading.

He frowns, teeth still bared. Shoving her head to get out a bit of aggression before pushing himself to sit up on her back again, watching her, “give me a second. But if you move, I will bite you again”. He needs to calm down, or he’s going to lunge at her the second she starts moving around.

“Okay”. He feels slightly bad but also unpleasantly pleased over how pathetic that sounded. He had asserted his dominance and ownership, and she had bent a knee.

She seems to regain a bit of her confidence while he’s sitting there breathing, “will the lair the Realms forms me be like... here”. He can feel the struggle there to avoid calling ‘here’ her lair; which he’s certain he would have harmed her for.

“It will be exactly as you need it to be. What will let you satisfy your Obsession perfectly. That’s how Ghost Realm lairs work. It may resemble here. May. But I make no guarantees”.

“Does... yours there have somewhere that resembles here”.

Danny sighs, he knows she’s not asking to move to his Ghost Realm lair. She’s asking if it looks like Amity, his Mortal Realm lair. “I am different. My lairs fulfill different needs. We aren’t comparable”.

She snaps at him, “why the Hell not”, which he pushes on her back for.

Snarling slightly, “because you’re a normal ghost. I am not. The one I have there was conquered from another ghost who was ultimately weaker than me and threatened my lair”, sighing and breathing, “unlike you, the Realms will not form me a lair. And Mortal Realm lairs do not reform, if it were not for my conquered one then if this one were to get destroyed then I would be without a lair. Hauntless. Understand?”. He knows that was part of the reason for his overprotectiveness, the fact that his Obsession was protection only exacerbated that.

She stares off into space a little before shivering, obviously picturing what it would be like to simply not have a haunt. “Oh”.

Danny snarks a little, feeling a little more like himself, “yeah. ‘Oh’”. Shifting a little before pushing himself to float up off her. Her eyeing his hand as he holds it out to her and she turns over to sit up, cautiously standing. He sighs at her paranoia, understandable as it was, “you’ve agreed to leave. So I’ll help you to do that. The way from here to there lies with ghost hunters. It’s not the safest trip”. Continuing when she glances at herself, she was a rather human-looking ghost, “they have equipment that can tell”.

Thankfully she takes his hand, him transferring over enough energy to her for her to float and to turn her invisible and intangible. Her looking mystified as he pulls them up through the ceiling. That manages to get a bit of a smile on his face as he flies them off to FentonWorks, child ghosts could be cute; especially newly formed ones.

Danny parks her on the roof, “stay. Or else”, flashing green stained fangs for emphasis, and phases inside to check that his parents are gone. He’s very thankful they are. He can’t deal with them right now.

Floating back up, pleased she’s stayed put instead of making a run for it. He must have given her a decent scare then. Her taking his hand again without prompting this time and them heading to the lab.

He leaves her standing in front of the portal as he goes to active it, the doors clanging open and bathing the room in a toxic green glow. She fiddles with her fingers and glances to him, “do I have to?”.

Danny glares and hisses slightly, “yes”, and licks off a bit of the ectoplasm from his face.

“Will it hurt?”. He softens at that and shakes his head, sticking his arm through, “no. Don’t worry. I and plenty others pass through here all the time. And you’re not the first newly formed I’ve had to give the boot”, Sam and Tucker had asked the same before their first trip.

She nods and swallows a little, still practicing the lingering habits she had as one of the living. “I... thanks for not eating me”.

“Don’t mention it. But you can repay me by leaving”. Thankfully that’s enough prompting for her to walk through on her own.

Danny sticks his head through purely to check on her after wiping of his mouth properly, grinning at the Ghost Realms ectoplasm wrapping around her and pulling on her, urging her towards the lair that was already forming. At least things go right and she can feel the pull properly, clearly wants to follow. Turning her head to him, “I think this time I actually mean it, but thanks”.

Danny chuckles, “expected. Ghosts aren’t supposed to have lairs amongst the living. It’s unnatural. A haunt maybe, but not a haunt that’s a genuine lair”.

“Then what’s so special about you?”.

“Ah that’s simple. I’m still alive”, and pulls his head back through the portal. She'll hear about halfas soon enough. For now, she’s got a lair to focus on and he’s got his to get back to guarding.

End.

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clean-bands-dirty-stories · 4 years

Text

Unhelpful ~ S.E.

A/n: Tried not to get too triggering with this for my own sake, so I hope it still delivered the characters

Request: “...Could you do a book on Samuel Emerson, Where her mother hate Samuel, and doesn't want her to see him but Y/N meets him when he does his Shakespearean plays, and he walks with him until her mother sees him with Y/N and there is a really big argument with her mum, and Samuel's dad joins in and then it doesn't help at all.” by @disneyqueenpixar63 (for some reason it won’t let me tag you, so I’ll just message it to you when I’m done)

Word Count: 1700+

MASTERLIST

Love was hard enough without life and difficult parents getting involved. It was hard enough when you had to struggle for food and to keep your place in your home, let alone trying to fit some sort of romance in the spare moments there were between the panic and sleepless nights worrying and handling the pressure of a dad that was more a burden than anything.

It was hard enough to live with a mother who could never approve of your even if you were perfect, let alone trying to get her to approve of a boy as well. It showed when Y/n brought her boyfriend Samuel home. He'd needed a moment away from home and Y/n had been confident her place would have been better. Her mother had quickly dashed that idea by running Sam out and spending hours and hours after he was gone screaming at Y/n for anything she could think of. It didn't matter that Y/n and Sam weren't having sex, or that they'd been sitting int he living room and in plain sight and just talking and obviously not up to anything questionable at all. Y/n had made the decision to give her heart to Samuel Emerson, so her mother disapproved and she was having absolutely none of it.

That, of course, didn't stop them from seeing each other. They'd avoided Sam's dad knowing about Y/n thus far and were keeping it that way. They wanted their parents part of their relationship as little as possible - especially after Y/n's mom's reaction.

So they were apart at nights, unless they snuck out to meet in secret, which was rare and only in dire circumstances when one absolutely had enough and needed the other. Most of the time they met when Sam was performing. It was where they had first met, so it felt fittingly poetic to do so again and again when they were supposed to be banned from doing it at all. Y/n was in a similar situation that Sam was in, except her mother wasn't addicted to alcohol but men. Thankfully the men came with money, but not enough to keep them fed, so Y/n spent time doing small jobs like mowing lawns and babysitting and dog walking. It was a celebration when she'd turned 15 and had been able to get a job at the car wash. All these things helped her to stay out of her house as much as possible and earn money to pay for food and even save some. Her mom handled the rent at the very least.

After Y/n got off her shift, Sam was wrapping up his performances as the sun began to set and the traffic died down and it was therefore useless to perform. There was no crowd. So, he waited for Y/n and then they'd walk home together. Or, as far home as they could get without being seen. Sam had gotten used to taking an alternate path as not to pass by Y/n's house. They'd at first found it amusing that he had walked past her house on his way home every single day without even knowing the other existed, but now it was just annoying and inconvenient and another thing on a long list of things that had been ruined for them by their parents.

Today, Y/n was having a rough day. She was more relieved than usual to end her day, but only because it meant seeing Sam again. That short walk was most of their interaction, though if Sam could pull off taking a break from performing when it was Y/n's break they would often take lunch together as well. Recently they hadn't been able to pull that off and they'd had to rush home a lot because Y/n's mom was needy and Sam's dad was irritable. Tonight though, they took their time.

They defied their parents the best way they could: despite everything, they allowed themselves to be happy. They walked and they held hands and they enjoyed the cool night air and they just talked and nothing could stop them.

Perhaps that was why Sam missed his turn. Maybe that's why he got too far, walking too long with his girlfriend without realizing where he was and just letting his feet take him down the path both his mind and heart wanted to take. The path that he had taken for years, memorizing as a second nature. The path that would give him more time with Y/n, which is what he wanted more than anything.

The walk ended abruptly when Y/n's mother saw the pair walking up to the hose, smiling and holding hands. She wasn't just impossible to get approval from - she was also bitter. She was the kind of woman who saw other people being happy where she was miserable and refused to tolerate it. Usually she just had to walk away. Today, she could lash out.

"Y/n." The world of light shattered for Y/n when she heard her mother's voice. Any good feeling she had withered and weeds of terror grew in their place.

Slowly the young girl looked over to the woman who had birthed her, and Sam watched with a terrible feeling in his chest as Y/n's face drained of color and her hand clung to his like if she let go, she would be pulled into oblivion still kicking. He wanted to make that smile come back to her face but... he knew first hand that lashing out at a nasty parent only got worse results. So he stayed quiet and vowed to make it up to her tomorrow. Perhaps he'd go a bit longer and perform her favorite poem so she could hear it.

That was tomorrow though. Tonight was already bad, and it had only just begun.

"Mom." She swallowed, blinking as she tried to orient herself. "Hello."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Hello?" There was a threat to her voice that made Sam seize. The teenagers clung to each other, unsure how to undo this disaster. "I told you, Y/n. I TOLD YOU-" She began to approach them, shoving a finger in Y/n's chest so hard that Y/n had to take a step back, wincing from pain. The girl's free hand rose to rub the spot. "What did I tell you?"

Y/n looked at Sam for answers and then saw the boy breaking down. She saw the fear that had been taught to him by situations just like this with a much more dangerous man involved. She saw his fear and helplessness and she felt herself switch from cowering to protective. She stepped forward, drawing the attention to her and away from Sam. "You told me not to see Sam. Why? You never told me why."

"Because he's a boy," Her mother spit. It obviously wasn't the real reason, but as Y/n's mother had been trained to hate men after a life of being only abused by them, it wasn't far from one of the truths she believed at least.

"Sam is different," Y/n insisted. When her mother went to talk, she spoke louder. "He's different! And I know I'm young and it probably won't last because nothing ever does with our stupid species, but he's a good boy and he likes me and I like him and I think I've denied myself of things I want long enough. He makes me happy, and why would I stop that? Just because in the future we might break up?"

The older woman considered that. "I'm just trying to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" Y/n demanded. "Failure?"

"Precisely," the woman responded firmly.

Y/n rolled her eyes. That was not the correct response. Her mother got visibly agitated, but Y/n wasn't done yet. "Well it's not a guaranteed failure, and if you stop me from that then you also stop me from possible success. I'm allowed to make my own mistakes."

The woman scoffed. "Oh, so now you know everything? PLEASE forgive me for trying to guide and love and protect you." Her eyes drifted to Sam and then light with an emotion that Y/n didn't like. "Look at how much he's changed you already. Look at you acting all big and tough and putting on a show for a little boy who can't even defend you. Look at him cower! He's pathetic!"

Their voices had elevated enough that lights had begun turning on. In the distant Y/n heard Sam whimper and it was just enough to draw her attention to what was behind her mother's shoulder.

A man who was unmistakably Mr. Emerson. And from the sway in his path as he walked, he was intoxicated. Y/n made herself bigger as best she could, shielding both adults from the boy who had migrated behind her at this point.

"You talking about my son?" His voice was low and gruff and already aggressive.

"Dad-" Sam began, but he was cut off by Y/n's mother.

"What if I am?" She sneered. "I can't believe this boy you raised is such a coward. Aren't you ashamed of yourself for raising such a wimp? What kind of man raises such a child, who can't even stand up for a girl he's stupid enough to stay with even though I've told her not to be around him. He's okay with the action but not the consequences. He'll never be a man like that."

Sam's dad did not seem pleased by that. "You want to blame me for how he turned out?" He scoffed. "Parents can only do so much. Not my fault if he can't speak up. Though with the likes of you, you're not worth his time and effort."

Very soon, it escalated. Soon it became too much and Y/n turned to Sam and pulled him after her, running off into the darkness.

Tonight they'd be together. On the streets perhaps, but neither could go back to those houses where more arguments would ensue. If they came back tomorrow instead, they wouldn't have to deal with the anger. Their parents would have calmed and after the argument, Y/n's mom might have even moved on and lost interest and let Y/n make her mistakes or whatever. Things would be different tomorrow. Different than tonight.

It was worth sleeping on the streets for one night, so they did. Wrapped in each other's arms, it was far less than it would have been int heir houses, or alone. They could be okay with this. After all, it wasn't anything new. Just another day, another problem. One of many they would handle together.

#samuel emerson #thomas brodie sangster #thomas sangster #my left hand man #phantom halo #samuel emerson imagine #samuel emerson x reader #thomas sangster x reader #thomas sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster x reader #my left hand man imagine #phantom halo imagine #phantom halo x reader #my left hand man x reader

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gumnut-logic · 4 years

Text

The Fight (Bit 18b + Epilogue)

Bit 1 | Bit 2 | Bit 3 | Bit 4 | Bit 5 | Bit 6 | Bit 7 | Bit 8 | Bit 9 | Bit 10 | Bit 11a | Bit 11b | Bit 12 | Bit 13 | Bit 14 | Bit 15 | Bit 16 | Bit 17a | Bit 17b | Bit 18a | 18b + Epilogue

It’s finished! All 18,380 words of it :D Writing every day before work and at lunch seems to work well :D Though I usually need a weekend to wind up the ending - needs more concentration :D

So many thanks to the wonderful @onereyofstarlight for all her help throughout this fic and for a final read through of this bit :D You is amazing and wonderful.

Also, so many thanks to everyone who has commented and liked and cheered me on. You guys keep me writing these crazy things. ::hugs you all so much::

From here, it is onto the Kermadec fic ahead of Fandomversary ::eyes the date:: Oh dear, I better write fast. It will be a miracle if I finish it before 17 July.

As for Anna....I don’t think this is the last we will see of her :D This is the second story in a new series, apparently. :D

-o-o-o-

“There were some concerns regarding the MacIntyres and their connections to organised crime.” Jack’s voice was matter of fact. “You are a witness and/or a victim of both incidents. The Tracys were concerned for your safety.”

She hadn’t noticed anybody following her. Of course, she had considered the possibilities. Thoughts like that had kept her awake at night. But her conversations with the police had been reassuring.

“The police said there wasn’t anything to worry about. That the MacIntyres were in custody.”

Scott’s voice was quiet. “We have traced a connection to a worldwide crime ring. John, in particular, is concerned.” He held out a mobile phone. “We would like you to have this.”

She reached out and took it from him. Latest Tracy phone, worth a couple of thousand dollars. Completely outside her price range.

She looked up. “Why?”

“It has a direct connection to Thunderbird Five and we will be able to track you.”

“You could follow me?”

Scott’s voice was quiet. “Yes.”

He left it as a simple fact.

“Why?”

“For your safety.”

“What could you do from space?”

“We have security in the vicinity and can respond immediately.”

“So, you are following me anyway.”

“Yes.”

She held his gaze.

“We protect those we care about and Alan cares about you. Virgil, in fact, threw a fit after you left the hospital. He demanded we provide security.” A snort. “If he had given me a chance to answer, I could have told him that I had already spoken to Kyrano.” He didn’t look away, his eyes as challenging as hers. “The threat is there. We want to negate it.”

She hadn’t seen any security following her. She hadn’t seen Kyrano since the incident. Not that she had been looking. The thought that there were people watching her, hiding behind buildings...

“You should have told me.” An indrawn breath. “I work in a school surrounded by children. If I am a danger to the kids...”

“You’re not.”

“How do you know that?”

“We’re monitoring the situation-“

She shot to her feet. “How can you possibly guarantee that nothing will happen?!” The thought of a MacIntyre with a gun in her classroom was absolutely terrifying. “I have a responsibility to my students. How could you let me return to work when you knew that was a possibility?”

Scott stood up, his hands out obviously in an attempt to placate her. “Anna, you are not a danger to your students. Kyrano has you under surveillance, you’re safe.”

“I’m safe? Like Alan was?” The words were out of her mouth before she could think and she regretted them immediately as the man in front of her paled.

“That hole in our security has been plugged. I’m sorry we were unable to prevent that incident.” His voice was still strong and determined, but there was an uncertainty, a guilt in his undertones. This was a man trying to do the right thing.

“An apology is not necessary. That was not your fault. The point I am trying to make is that International Rescue is not omniscient. If there is a threat, I should not be in this school. How could I face the parents of my students should something happen? How could you?”

She grabbed the paperwork on her desk and shuffled it into a pile, her mind going through all the things she would need to do to resign from her position. But then, where would she go? Where would she be safe? She found her handbag in her hands and stared at it a moment. Looking up, she found both men calmly staring at her.

“Anna, I’m sorry.” And there was the young man who had lost his father only a matter of months ago. The suit suddenly seemed too big for him, the blue in his eyes just that touch unsure.

The door to the classroom was pushed open, no knock, no hesitancy. Kyrano strode in as if on cue. Dressed in loose black pants, a grey polo shirt and runners, his hair tied back at the nape of his neck, he appeared insignificant, a dad at the school to pick up his kids.

Only the sharp green of his eyes betrayed that he was anything but.

“Ms Kent, you and your students are safe. You have my word.”

He spoke as if his word was a certainty.

Anna sat down, thoughts swirling around her head, her whole body wilting. “How can I risk it? With so much at stake?” Her career, her life, was not worth those that filled this room, this building, on a daily basis.

And her family...De, her partner, hell, even the dogs. Her flatmate...

Her elbows hit the desk and her head fell into her hands.

The scuffle of footsteps. A tentative touch on her shoulder. She looked up to find Scott crouched down beside her, blue eyes intense. No longer towering above her, now looking up at her. “You are safe, Anna. I promise.”

He held her gaze. He was the commander of International Rescue. He was asking her to trust him.

Trust him.

“You. Are. Safe.”

So many questions. How could they monitor her at all times? Her family? Her friends? Her students? It wasn’t humanly possible.

But this was International Rescue, they dealt in miracles, they made things happen.

A lump caught in her throat.

Voice small. “Okay.”

Those eyes softened just a little and his hand squeezed her shoulder.

His voice was gentle, no doubt the same voice he used on frightened people he was rescuing.

She was frightened people.

Could she be rescued?

A flicker of steel in those eyes answered that question.

“Kyrano is in charge of your security, John is monitoring from orbit and Jack is tackling the legalities. We will find those responsible and remove the threat. International Rescue has resources across the globe and we are mobilising. You need us, that phone will have a Thunderbird on your doorstep in minutes.”

She stared at him. “All for one small town school teacher.”

He unfolded and straightened up to his full height, looking down at her. The confident and certain young man returned and steeled his stance. “It is what we do.”

A blink and she found herself believing him. It was little more than faith. Hope.

“Okay.” This time her voice was stronger. “Tell me what I need to do.”

That suave smile curved his lips again.

-o-o-o-

Epilogue

“Okay, class, pull up page 58 in your grammar text and read the first two paragraphs. I want you to write an expressive piece using first person and present tense. One hundred words minimum.”

She didn’t miss the twin groans from the holoprojector on her desk. She had to smile, they often forgot they were in a class of twenty-odd students and their reactions were obvious. “Alan and Rory, I heard that.”

“Sorry, Ms Kent.” Alan had his head in one hand and appeared thoroughly bored. Rory didn’t even bother to answer. He was doodling on his tablet.

An arched eyebrow. “Alan, I didn’t say what the topic had to be. Perhaps you could write about flying a rocket into space?”

That caught his attention. “I could?”

“You could. And if you finish quickly enough, you could illustrate it.”

Gemma was bouncing in her seat, her hand in the air. “Ms Kent, can I write about a rocket, too?”

Anna smiled. “Of course, you are all welcome to write about subjects that interest you. You have the next forty-five minutes to complete the exercise. Make it yours, make it into whatever you want.”

She didn’t miss the grumble from Jonathon about making it into a way to get out of here. He was overdue some special attention. She wrote a note on her tablet.

All the heads in the room bent down to read.

All except Rory.

She eyed her dejected student who was still doodling. A touch at her own screen and she pulled up what the boy was drawing.

A number of words scattered over his screen, all angry and understandable, interspersed with abstract figures and angry lines.

He was having one of those days.

A sigh and she touched her headset to confine his audio to her alone. His holofigure was removed from the classroom and confined to her screen.

She didn’t miss Alan’s sudden raised eyebrow as he looked up from his work.

Rory received the notification that he was on privacy mode and looked up at her sullenly. “What have I done now?”

She suppressed another sigh. Voice quiet so the class couldn’t hear. “Nothing, Rory. I was just going to suggest that you could write this piece of text using whatever is on your mind today. You don’t have to present it to the class, it can be a private piece.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Her lips thinned. Definitely one of those days. “Do you need a break? Should I speak to your mother?”

“No!” His eyes were alarmed. “Leave Mom outta this.”

Her heart lurched. There was only so much she was capable of doing to help Rory. But she would use what little reach she had to do the best she could. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

Still doodling. Apparently, he had forgotten she could see what he wrote on his tablet. Bloody leave me alone was certainly clear enough.

“Okay, Rory, try to write something. It might help.” So much anger. Understandable, but it needed to be managed. She would speak to Rory’s counsellor later today and see if there was another strategy that could help. Rory was slowly working through it all, he just needed a little help.

As for her other long distance student...

“Gordon, getoff!”

The class burst into laughter as Gordon Tracy suddenly appeared in Alan’s stream and gave the younger boy a thorough noogie.

It didn’t last long, as a red flannelled arm reached into the feed and yanked the fish out of receiver range.

Alan, hair now sticking up at all angles, glared at something the rest of the class couldn’t see. “Serves you right, fishboy!”

Blue eyes widened as Alan reacted to something Anna couldn’t hear, but its contents were obvious as the eleven-year-old snapped back to attention, guilt under her gaze. He hurriedly returned to reading his tablet.

Someone in the class snickered.

Anna raised an eyebrow at the room and all heads ducked back to work.

Rory started writing a story about a boy who was scared.

Alan was describing Thunderbird Three...another paper she would have to save to the locked server John had provided for all such possible technology breaches.

The wind rustled through the rosemary bush outside the schoolroom window.

Her phone flashed up with an apology from Virgil regarding Gordon. Apparently, he was sentenced to cleaning the bilge pumps of the family boat. An unusual punishment task, but then the Tracys were an unusual family.

A glance at the room’s security camera. It had become a nervous habit.

An internal sigh.

Unusual indeed.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds #Alan Tracy #Scott Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Anna Kent

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stillchaoticlogic · 4 years

Text

Descent: Chapter 1

Leon only thought he was the most powerful trainer in Galar...

He never battled you though.

Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Hole

You can hardly believe your eyes the first time you see him at the arena. Surely this is some kind of mistake. The Unbeatable… well formerly unbeatable… now dethroned Champion Leon.

The first few times he came he just watched and you just watched him. Your curiosity getting the better of you, besides if rumor has it, he’s looking for you.

Tonight as he steps into the ring there is a tension in the stagnant air. The old warehouse that is playing arena this month rife with the smell of sulfur and dust. The abandoned warehouse is old and in disrepair, but not old enough to become home to Pokemon or not be able to handle the battles. After all, these weren’t League battles, these were something else entirely. A high chain link fence goes up almost to the rafters of the old building. Spotlights shine down with a yellow light and makeshift stands were brought in. The betting pool is where the real fun is though. Everyone is betting against him, this isn’t his usual crowd.

These are rejects of the League, the dropouts and unsponsored. They hold no love for the champion of a sport that rejected them. However, they still love the thrill of battle, that’s what draws them here.

Leon only thought he was the strongest trainer in all of Galar.

He has never battled here.

He has never battled you.

“What does our former Champion want?” taunts the Five of Clubs.

He’s new meat, just beginning to make his way up the battle ranks. He’s progressed fast and he shows promise. That cocky attitude of his is to be desired though.

“I want to battle the strongest trainer here.”

“The Queen doesn’t take challengers that haven’t proven themselves worthy.”

“I’m the Champion!”

“Former Champion.”

Leon grits his teeth and lowers his head to hide his face under his hat.

“Still! Isn’t that proof enough? I was the Unbeatable-”

“We know! We know! The Unbeatable Champion!” interjects the Knight of Hearts. Her shrill voice cutting through the air like a siren.

“To answer your question, no it’s not enough. This isn’t your precious League. That would be like one of us walking out onto your pitch and demanding a battle from you. You haven’t earned the right to battle The Queen yet.”

“What do I have to do to battle her?”

“Move up the ranks, this isn’t playtime and you aren’t the king anymore.”

There is a chorus of cackles that go up from the crowd and Leon accepts the challenge with false confidence. He’s three battles in when he falls.

You watch emotionlessly as the Three of Diamonds’ Machoke slams his Charizard to the ground and Leon panics when he doesn’t get up.

“Charizard! Buddy?!” He rushes towards him and cradles the fire lizard’s massive head in his hands. You’ve never seen such a sight in your life.

“Deal with your teammate Diamond,” you mutter as you glance over to the young woman to your left.

“What?” she asks with faux innocence, “He knew what he was getting into!”

“You know they went harder on him than was appropriate. If something happened to his Charizard I’m going to have to deal with it. Don’t make me do that.”

“You got it Majesty!” She says in a mocking tone.

You roll your eyes at her as you leave your place on the upper level. Heading down the stairs you can still hear Leon’s panic over his friend. The crowd parts for you, but he doesn’t even notice your presence until you are right next to him.

“He’s going to be okay. Let’s get you two out of here.”

He whipped his head around to face you with fire in his eyes, “Don’t touch him.”

His voice is cold and hard. You put your hands up in a surrender position and stand up before backing away.

“You need to get him to a center. The angle that he hit the ground could have seriously harmed him and the faster you get him treatment the better.”

“You don’t think I know that?! I know how to take care of my team!”

“Then perhaps you should stop panicking and get moving.”

You feel his glare more than you see it as he returns his partner and rushes from the arena. You can hear the jeering crowd as he rushes out the door.

“It’s weird not seeing him in that stupid cape…” One of the cards says.”

You pay him no mind as you return to your place to watch the rest of the battles.

A week goes by before you see him again. He’s standing in the crowd watching the battles take place before he challenges one of the contenders.

“Look, we humored you the first time, but this is serious shit okay? I got rent to pay and I can’t do it if you don’t let me do my thing.”

“What you don’t think you can win against me?” Leon challenges.

“Listen Ace, you need a team to endorse you. One of the Kings or Queens have to let you on their team, once that happens you battle up the ranks. Once you’re a rank that is of any kind of importance then you can challenge royalty. Until then…. you’re a Joker. Jokers gotta prove themselves worthy of challenging those on a team by an elimination tournament. Only the top four competitors get the chance to be chosen for a team and that’s only if one of the royals likes you enough to pick you. No guarantees.”

“What makes this any different than the sponsors then? You’re still excluding people.”

“Anybody can join the Tournament of Fools, only the strongest get chosen for a team. The Kings and Queens have standards and you have to meet them. That’s the rules.”

Leon has a fire in his eyes you’ve never seen before, so you aren’t surprised when he asks.

“When’s the next Tournament of Fools?”

“Two weeks.”

“I’ll be there.”

With a roll of your eyes, you watch as the former champion leaves the arena. There is only one person you know that may have the answer to what’s going on.

Spikemuth feels like home as you walk through the neon-lit streets. When you get to the arena and you see Piers up on stage you lean back against the wall to watch the set. It’s a few songs before he notices you, but when he does he puts a halt to the practice.

“What have I done to warrant a visit from her Majesty?” he asks in an almost mocking tone. You know better though, you can hear the underlying nerves from a life he’s left behind.

“Absolutely nothing, I figured you may be able to help me through… It seems a former champion intends to join the Tournament of Fools in a couple of weeks.”

“Leon? In the Underground?”

“Yes, and I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“They’ll eat him alive…”

“They already have and he’s coming back for more.”

Piers looks away from you, “I’ll go talk to him…”

“That’s a good idea.”

“If I can’t convince him though…”

“You know there is nothing that I can do Piers.”

“So you won’t even try?”

“I can’t just scoop the former champion up in order to protect him… You of all people should know this. I got you out Piers, now I need you to keep him from coming back.”

You don’t see Leon over the next two weeks, and you believe that Piers got through to him. It’s not until the night of the tournament that he returns. You notice among the crowd Piers and Raihan obviously trying to keep their friend from making a big mistake, but he doesn’t seem to be listening.

The crowd is rife with anticipation and as Leon walks up to the sign-in sheet you can hear the whispers go up among them. They can’t wait to watch him fail.

“You have all heard of the Four Royals of the Underground, but now it’s time to see them with your own eyes! We have the King of Hearts, and his specialty is Fairy Types! Don’t let their innocence fool you! You will fall in love just for him to break your heart!” A tall man with dark hair swept back neatly stands up. He’s wearing a black suit with a red shirt underneath. The mask covering his eyes is white, he winks flirtatiously at the audience.

“Next, we have the Queen of Diamonds! Her exterior isn’t the only thing icy about her! Her team will freeze you in place and shatter your chances of victory.” Diamond stands up with her icy blonde hair down in loose curls. Her white dress is long and form-fitting shimmering in the light. The smirk on her face is haughty as she regards the crowd.

“We can’t forget our King of Clubs! This master of street brawls will put any and all dojos to shame! One right hook is all it takes for his killer team to take the win!” Clubs stands up and cracks his knuckles while he regards the audience with a sneer. He’s wearing a pair of ripped jeans with a black shirt and black leather jacket.

“And finally, last but certainly not least, the Queen of Spades! She may let you pick your poison, but that doesn’t mean you can take it!” You stand up in your black pants, combat boots and long black coat cascading down behind you. You regard the crowd cooly as you give a smirk and a wave.

“Alright contestants! It’s not only your job to win, but you have to impress royalty as well! Better bring your A-game. Only four of you have a chance at getting chosen tonight. Let’s go!”

The battles begin with four on four battle royals. You aren’t surprised when among the amateurs Leon shines. He wasn’t the Unbeatable Champion for the last few years for nothing, and despite his previous losses, he isn’t weak.

“Leon’s doing pretty good… I may just recruit him so I can break him a little bit…” Clubs chuckles as he glances over at Diamond. She snickers before she turns back to the battle. There is no love for Leon here. He represents everything that most of the trainers in the Underground hate. He succeeded where they couldn’t and now he’s infringing upon their territory.

When the battles are over Leon stands victorious over all of the competitors. You had hoped he would be ignored regardless of how good he is and be turned away, but you know that’s not the case. You know what you have to do even if you hate it.

“Our reigning champion will be choosing for her team first. Your Majesty.”

You watch as Leon’s eyes zero in on you as you stand up and regard each of the trainers. You know you’re who he has been searching for.

“Leon,” you announce in an almost bored tone.

The crowd is silent as Leon makes his way to your team. You can feel the eyes of your rivals and they are rife with hostility.

“Someone is going soft…” mutters Diamond.

“I literally destroyed you last week… you sure?” you ask as you turn towards her with an arrogant smirk.

She huffs and looks away.

You regard Leon as he walks by you to sit in the only vacant seat on your team.

“You know Spades… If you didn’t already have a target on your back, you do now. Sticking your neck out for the former champion… bleeding heart ain’t ya?” Clubs drawls from his seat.

“If I couldn’t handle a target on my back I wouldn’t be the High Queen, would I? Do your worst Clubs… it still won’t be good enough.” you murmur almost innocently.

“Now… now… this is supposed to be a fun event! You’re all so serious!” Hearts interjects with a pointed look at Clubs.

He just sneers at the two of you before he turns to evaluate the rest of the candidates. The other royalty chooses their teammates quickly and the teams welcome their new Aces to their teams. Once the formalities are over everybody heads out to go to a party in the warehouse. Before Leon can leave you whip your head around to face him, “You’re coming with me… we need to talk.”

You lead him into your makeshift office before you round on him, “I hope you know precisely what you’ve gotten yourself and me into.”

“Look! I just want a chance to prove-”

“What? That you’re the best? The most powerful? News flash. You’ve never been the best or the most powerful, there is always someone better and more powerful. Victory is fleeting and now you’re a target. They want to destroy you.”

“It’s nothing I can’t handle!” he says clearly offended.

“Like you handled it the other night?” he looks away from you.

“Look… I feel for you,” you continue, “but you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“It’s just a battle league!”

“It’s way more than that…”

Before you can explain Piers and Raihan burst into the room and you roll your eyes at the pair.

“(Name)! You chose him!”

You glare over at Piers, “You didn’t do your job…”

“I tried… it’s not my fault he didn’t listen…” he says with slight annoyance.

“Wait. How do you two know each other?”

“We used to battle together, we went up the ranks together.”

“Piers… you were in the Underground League?”

“Yeah… I had to make money somehow and this was the best way. When Marnie got older I got out, but it wasn’t easy. If it wasn’t for (Name) here I would still be in the League.”

“Doing what?”

“Whatever I needed to do.”

“Getting out of the League isn’t always easy. Sometimes you just have to retire otherwise, you have to be released.”

“What do they do if you aren’t released?”

“They pretty much destroy your life.”

“Destroy your life?”

“Look it’s all fun and games for the most part, but there is a market for illegal Pokémon here. That’s where the Underground comes in.”

“You steal Pokémon!?”

“No! We aren’t Team Rocket! We catch them, some of the more esteemed are breeders. No body’s abusing Pokémon here, but if you want a Pokémon that isn’t exactly supposed to be here, we have our ways. For this reason, it’s exclusive. I don’t even know how you found out about us let alone found us.”

“Some guy just told me about you all.”

“What guy?”

“I don’t know his name… maybe if I saw him I would recognize him?”

“That’s not good… It sounds like a trap…”

“Why would that be a trap?”

“Because this is an underground league with illegal side work and you’re a celebrity. What makes you think this isn’t a trap?” you in annoyance.

“I didn’t know you smuggled illegal pokemon!”

“That’s because you aren’t even supposed to know we exist!” you snap.

“Well what do we do now?” asks Leon.

“I don’t know… but you have to get stronger, they are going to be coming for you.”

He frowns at you but nods, determination in his eyes, “What do I need to do?”

“We’re going to the training ground tomorrow.”

“Where’s that?”

“Oh, you’ll see…”

Notes: I know this is something a little different, but I wanted something edgy. I’ve been playing with this idea for a little so I hope you all like it! Please Comment!

#pokemon leon #leon x reader #champion leon #champion leon x reader #pokemon #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon scenarios #pokemon imagines #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #sword and shield fanfiction #swis fanfiction

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thebombasticbooky · 4 years

Text

Flouted Traditions

I actually wrote genuine fanfic I feel confident sharing and it’s Fire Emblem. The heart cannot be controlled. Summary: Hilda's been looking forward to the Garreg March Ball year, and she is going to enjoy it. Dancing with the guys, getting favors set up for the next month, getting spoiled and adored... It's going to be perfect. And this time, she's definitely not going to get distracted by Marianne. Definitely.Probably.But she really shouldn't be standing off to the side all alone like that...Or; Hilda gets distracted by Marianne at the Garreg March ball. Very late to playing Three Houses, and probably late to this idea. But I got to the Garreg March Ball, and had the perfect storm of circumstances of seeing their supports, making Marianne a dancer, and Hilda saying she loves dancing, so this kind of just fell out. Might do more of these two expanding on some things if the mood strikes, but for now, enjoy.

AO3 FFN

This was supposed to be the most exciting night of Hilda’s month. No, year. No, life. It was everything she’s wanted! Dancing, beautiful clothes, even better looking guys… It was the annual ball! She should’ve been flying high! She should’ve been delirious off of all the boys falling at her feet eager to please, and racking up bodies for the next six months of chores. And it wasn’t like all that wasn’t happening. Even without it being tradition and all, the guys would’ve been lining up to dance with her. And she was getting helping hands for chores. She was just off her game- so far she only had enough for three months. She was distracted, and her distraction was a blue haired noble wallflower named Marianne von Edmund. True to her word, Marianne was watching from a distance. Hilda noticed her from the corner of her eye lingering in a corner of the dance hall. Her eyes were downcast, her head low, and she seemed to be so much smaller than she was, folding into herself. Hilda had to admit, had this been the start of the school year, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed her. The spell Marianne cast to blend into her environment was practically magical for how potent it was. Even as the winner of the Heron Cup, a position that would’ve guaranteed any other girl- like, say, Hilda- a legion of adoring suitors, only a few managed to find her, and all were quickly turned down. Clearly, Marianne didn’t want to be noticed. So Hilda just shouldn’t’ve noticed and gave her what she wanted. It was being courteous, really. She pulled her eyes away. Some guy was looking down at her adoringly, ready to be twisted around her finger. Focus on that.

She shouldn’t have noticed Marianne pecking away at some buns as adorably as one of the birds she was always talking to. Marianne thought she was being so subtle! Like there was some sort of subtlety to her rapid bites just because they were quick, but there was so many of them, and the dear is obviously just so hungry. It really was just like one of those birds, hopping and fly around with such grace and then just throwing all that grace away to scarf down their pieces of bread. It was so cute!

Gah! Stop noticing! I shouldn’t notice! She tore her eyes away, wondering when they even drifted over, as she switched from some guy for another guy. Nice muscles on this one… he could carry a whole section of the library for her. Not like Marianne. She’d have to lean over Marianne’s shoulder, faces inches away from each other, guiding Marianne’s trembling hand under her own to the shelf and feeling it still and relax in her grip… Marianne’s fingers looked so pretty tonight. Hilda was proud of her work. Marianne at least let her pretty her up a little before the dance, and she found the perfect blue shade that matched Marianne's hair perfectly. Wait. She was noticing again. When did that happen? She should’ve been focusing on this guy, on the dance. She just. Shouldn’t've. Noticed.

But.

This wasn’t the start of the school year. There had been too many hands brushing against each other as they sorted books and sending a nice little jolt through her system. Too many times Marianne jumped back and leaned into her for comfort at another bottle dropping in the infirmary. Too many hours spent practicing dances for the Hereon Cup, just the two of them, Marianne’s fingers on her hips as electric as any Thoron spell. Too many close calls where she was hurt and Marianne’s magic and gentle touch sent warmth trough her body, her soul, and out to her fingertips. What did this even feel like? Nothing. No jolts, no comfort, no electricity, no warmth... nothing! This guy… goddess, she didn’t even know his name… he wasn’t half as beautiful as Marianne. And yet, for all that beauty, Marianne was just letting the night- this night- pass her by. No. That just wasn’t right. If the Heron Cup proved anything, it was that Marianne was made to shine.

And that it was Hilda’s job to bring it out of her. Like it or not. Which, make no mistake, she did not like. Hilda never met a job she did like, and she wasn’t starting now, just because she was throwing away the dances she dreamed about all year… to go to Marianne instead… and do the work of drawing her out… oh, shut up, brain, you made your point.

She gave Some Guy The Third- goddess, did she switch a partner again without noticing?- a polite, apologetic smile as she told him she needed a break.

“Do you need to sit down? Lay down? I can grab a chair, or three, or a couch from the commons?” Or three? A couch? “Maybe you need to fuel up? I’d be happy to serve you as you regain your strength.” Handfeeding? Ughhh, did Marianne even know what she was giving up right now!?

Still, Hilda laughed with a charming lilt. “No, no, I’ll be fine. Please, just have a good time.” He nodded and went off to find a new partner, as Hilda went off to find hers. Marianne. Not ‘her Marianne’, her partner. Dancing partner! Shut up, brain!

“Marianne!” she greeted, with a smile. Marianne looked up, like a deer caught in an archery course. She obviously wasn’t expecting any attention tonight, which was ridiculous. If she wasn’t trying to hide, every eye would be on her. She looked even more surprised than she usually would be, though, and her next words confirmed why.

“H-Hilda? What are you doing here?” With me, was left unsaid, but to Hilda, it echoed off the walls. She turned up her smile, trying to radiate safety.

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” “...B-because there’s gentlemen? And dancing?”

A remorseful sigh escaped her lips, try as she might to hide it, and judging by Marianne’s little giggle, she failed. Still, the sound lessened the sting somehow. “Don’t remind me…” In an instant, the smile was back on. “But I’ve danced enough with them! I’m allowed to check in on a friend, aren’t I?”

Marianne’s smile alone made the detour worth it. “I suppose…”

“It’s the Garreg March Ball, Marianne. And you’re the winner of the Heron Cup! So I know you can dance, especially after all my expert tutoring.”

Her eyes darted away, and a blush spread through her cheeks, even brighter for how pale her skin was. She fiddled with her dress as she answered, “There’s no boys I want to dance with,” and there it was. Hilda was going to have to take the lead again. What was it about Marianne that brought out this side of her? That made her do things against her very core? Hilda did not work, not when she didn’t absolutely have to. Hilda did not go the extra mile- the extra foot- to spoil someone else. Hilda was the spoiled, the chased, the one to be worried over and taken care of. That was a fact, a Garreg March tenet. And yet, somehow along the way, another fact was established.

Hilda does the work for Marianne. Hilda takes care of Marianne.

Ah, well. It was what it was. No use fighting it now.

“And what did I say, Marianne? If a boy asks, you must accept. It’s polite.” “I-I know, I’m sorry, but…”

She sighed, fondly, as if there just wasn’t any other choice in the matter, and held out her hand. “Dance with me.”

Marianne’s eyes were even wider than usual, her blush even deeper. “E-eh? B-but I said I’d watch…” “And you said that about dancing with boys. I’m not a boy. Obviously.”

“...B-but tradition…” “It’s tradition, Marianne, not a rule. Heck, just look at Dorothea and Mercedes, they’ve already made their way through most of the girls. I’m a little offended they haven’t gotten to me,” she grumbled to the side, affronted, before fixing the charming smile back onto place and aiming it at Marianne. “C’mon!”

“…” Marianne’s eyes met hers with a surprising strength, and Hilda was short of breath all of a sudden. “You don’t have to. D-do something you don’t want to. I know you were looking forward to this, so you don’t have to waste time helping Marianne again. You do that so much already, but tonight… t-tonight should be for you.” Oh… oh, sweet thing… that was sweeter than anything any of the guys had said to her tonight. She really thought this was just an obligation for Hilda.

Hilda let her smile soften with her tone, and tried to convey just how much she genuinely wanted this. “Marianne. I want to. I promise. It’ll be just like I said before you danced in the Heron Cup, remember?”

‘…” Marianne nodded, and recited almost blissfully, “’Imagine I’m dancing with you. Just like our lessons. Just the two of us, nobody else, and you’ll do great’.”

“And you did! This time, I’ll actually be dancing with you, too. It’ll be nice to have a partner with talent this time…” Marianne looked at her for just a moment more, as if scanning for any sign of pity or hesitance. And then… then the little witch smiled, mischievous, a twinkle in her eye. “I-is it still rude to turn down a girl? If we’re already flouting tradition?”

Hilda gasped, playfully, hand to her chest, and the delight in Marianne’s laugh was worth a hundred chairs Some Guy the Third could’ve brought her to lounge on. “Marianne! That’s it, now you don’t get a choice.” She grabbed onto Marianne’s hand, and took a moment to note how much better theirs fit together than any of the other partners she’s had tonight. She began dragging Marianne to the dance floor.

“H-Hilda…”

“I’ve got you. Remember,” she assured, with a little quirk of her lips. “Just the two of us.”

And Marianne nodded, slowly. “Just the two of us.”

Then, effortlessly, the dance began. They already knew each other’s movements, their grips, so well after those hours of practice for the Cup. Hilda was shocked, and honestly a bit offended, when their professor chose Marianne over her. She was the best dancer in the house, everyone knew it. Then Marianne had come to her room, hair frayed and sweat pouring down her skin, begging for help. Like always, Hilda couldn’t say no. And the thing Hilda learned in those lessons was… Marianne listened. So many dancers want to enforce their will onto the dance, make their own rhythm, and drag their partner along. But Marianne went with you. If you stepped a little too early, she’d adjust effortlessly. If you lost your balance a little during a twirl, she’d support your weight and guide you to the landing without a second thought. And with a little of Hilda’s confidence and experience, Marianne swept the cup.

She wondered if the professor planned for Hilda helping. Not just for Marianne becoming such an incredible dancer, or for getting her moment to shine and bask in a win. That alone would’ve been good enough- she still remembered Marianne telling her, breathless and disbelieving but so overjoyed her voice was laced with it instead of anxiety for a change, “I... I still can't believe it. How could someone like me have possibly won?" But the way Hilda’s heart soared with pride seeing Marianne up there, and how Marianne’s eyes looked for her in the crowd- not that she was hard to find with how loud she was cheering- and she broke into the softest smile Hilda ever saw… it was their moment. A moment between them, just like now. She wondered if the professor planned for that. It wouldn’t surprise her; it seemed like the professor thing to do.

“Are you… having fun?” Marianne asked, with a touch of concern. It was so sweet of her to check in. Talk with the boys had been so one note, almost like a script. A flutter of the eyelashes here, a compliment there, oh someone like you would be such a big help for that… same script, different guy.

“It’s the annual ball, of course I’m having fun!” She definitely was now. This was more like she dreamed. The perfect dance, the perfect partner… for dance...

“Oh. You just… didn’t look it before…”

Geeze. Even Marianne could tell, huh? “I didn’t?”

“N-not that you have to explain anything to me! Just… it looked like you were going through the motions…” It was so sweet of her to care, to worry over her.

“I’m having fun now,” she amended, and Marianne’s smile deepened as they danced.

Goddess, this felt right. Hilda took the lead, like always. Marianne’s hand on her shoulder… hers on the curve of Marianne’s back… those light brown eyes looking just a bit more vibrant, all for Hilda… It was just like practice, but even better. The romantic lighting, the swelling music, and Marianne, happy, for once, for just a moment or two. Because of her. Screw tradition. Let everyone see Hilda passing up the perfect chance to dance with every boy from every house, because all she could see was the quirk of Marianne’s lips, and the spark in her eyes, like the ripple of life in a quiet pond.

Emphasis on the ‘all’, because she got so caught up in the Marianne of it all, she could feel her feet slip. Whoops. Ah well, what was a little embarrassment on the biggest night of the year? Marianne’ll probably be more mortified than she would be. It was going so well, too. She closed her eyes and prepped herself for a fall, and… nothing.

She opened her eyes to find Marianne, peering down at her, resolute. Her hand had slid down in an instant and was on her back with a certainty like Hilda had never felt from her before. Just as the song had ended too. That was her partn… her dance partn… her Marianne for you. Always listening. And here she was, holding her up.

Taking care of her.

“I’ve got you,” Marianne whispered, without a stutter, without a trace of doubt or hesitance, like this was the one thing Marianne was absolutely sure she could do.

Oh.

She was blushing, wasn’t she? She was blushing so hard… As Marianne pulled her back up, there was some clapping from the other dancers. Hilda cleared her throat, straightened her hair, and tried to get back some control. “G-guess it’s not the two of us now, is it?” she got out, with a forced casualness. Goddess, now she was stuttering. At least Marianne was looking her usual anxious self at the attention, and that brought a resurgence of Hilda’s confidence. It was Marianne’s turn to be taken care of. “You know, a dip like that isn’t exactly traditional…” she teased.

“O-oh, I didn’t… I wasn’t…” So. Cute. How could Hilda resist? Fortune favors the bold, right?

She leaned in and gave Marianne a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry,” she reassured, lips mischievously curled, “I liked it.”

Marianne seemed to blank for a second, face now brighter than any of the lights. Heck, it’d give the sun a run for its money. For a moment, Hilda thought she went too far, and that Marianne was about to bolt. But instead, she swallowed, and managed an, “O-oh. Good. I wanted…” Her hand squeezed Hilda’s even as her eyes stayed on the floor. “I wanted you to like… at least my dance tonight… i-if that’s not egotistical to say…You deserve the night you were hoping for... ” Hilda could put it together. While Hilda was trying to make this good for Marianne… Marianne was trying to make this dance better than Hilda’s others too. She was trying to spoil her. Was that why she said yes? For Hilda’s sake, as much as Hilda asked for hers? Hilda couldn’t keep herself from grinning as she started to drag Marianne once again, now to the food table. “C’mon! I want some of those buns you were digging into.” Marianne was still red from before, so this just wasn’t fair, but Hilda couldn’t help such prime opportunities to tease. “Y-you saw…” “Marianne von Edmund. I always see you.” She beamed at her, and after a moment of staring at Hilda, jaw dropped, Marianne beamed back. “Now, let’s eat up. We have to refuel for our next dance. I think you should take lead next time.”

“N-next… B-but you said it’s tradition not to dance with the same partner…”

Hilda smirked. “What’s one more flouted tradition tonight? It’s just us anyway.”

Marianne chuckled, lightly, and gave her the softest smile Hilda had ever seen. Lindhart’s pillows would envy this softness. “Just us.”

“Right. Now…” She held out a bun to Marianne’s mouth. “Say ‘ah’~”

And as Marianne actually took a trembling bite, both of their faces radiating more steam than the sauna, Hilda couldn’t help but think:

This was the most exciting night of her life.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #hilda valentine goneril #marianne von edmund #marihilda #my posts #my writing

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argylemnwrites · 4 years

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Fight or Flight - Chapter 4: Commitment

Pairing: Drake Walker x MC (Riley Liu)

Book: The Royal Heir (canon divergent from the end of book 2)

Word Count: ~3900

Rating: PG-13 (brief language)

Summary: Two and a half hours since The Walker Absconding

Author’s Note: This series follows the Walkers, their friends, and Cordonia as a whole after they flee the country with their daughter during Barthelemy Beaumont’s attempted coup. To catch up on this series, check out it’s masterlist. (link can be found via my bio - sorry, Tumblr is once again not putting my posts with links in tag searches)

Drake paced along the gravel at the side of the road, glancing over at Riley frequently. She was hunched into the back of the town car, the back door left open as she used the back seat as a makeshift changing table.

He felt sick to his stomach. Everything was going wrong. He was surprised he hadn’t thrown up, to be honest. Olivia’s warning made everything ten times more real. And things had already felt pretty damn real.

They were a dozen or so kilometers into Greece, but he wanted to go back to Cordonia. Getting charged with treason… the thought was so upsetting. And yeah, he wanted to be there to support Liam through this crisis, too. If they all worked together, they could stop the coup and stop the threat of Bridget being taken from them at the same time. But Riley didn’t want to hear any discussion of turning around and returning from Greece. The second he’d mentioned needing to make a decision after Olivia had hung up the phone, she’d gotten defensive. Raised her voice. Told him he never should have come along if he was just going to change his mind, because her plan was final.

They hadn’t been screaming or anything, but they’d both gotten loud enough to wake Bridget, and she’d started doing enough screaming for their entire family. She was hungry, antsy, and probably a bit crabby from sensing their frustration with each other. After several minutes of her wailing, Ray had pulled over to the side of the road and rolled down the privacy divider. He’d offered to walk into the nearest town, which was only about a kilometer away, to pick up a couple of bottles of water so that they could prepare Bridget some formula, as well as some dinner for the three adults. Drake suspected he also was trying to give them some privacy as they discussed next steps. He had to have heard Riley and him getting louder with each other. It’s not like the divider was completely soundproof.

But instead of having the conversation they needed to have, Riley was essentially giving him the silent treatment at this point. She’d taken Bridget from him when he ducked behind some bushes to relieve himself, and since he’d returned, she hadn’t said a word to him. He was at a loss as to how to handle it. He knew she was panicking. He knew she was terrified. He knew she was just focused on keeping Bridget safe. But she wasn’t thinking clearly. And if he couldn’t make her see that, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

After a few moments, Riley scooped up Bridget, tucking her against her hip as she stood up, stretching her back and twisting her neck from side to side. Drake knew he had to broach the topic again.

“Look, Riley, I know you-”

“Drake, I do not want to hear this. I told you already - Bridget and I are not setting foot on Cordonian soil until we have confirmation that no one is scheming to take her.”

Drake ran a hand over his face as he let out a massive sigh. He’d never struggled this much to get through to her before. Even in those early days, when most of their conversations were all snark without any underlying friendship or affection, he’d always felt like she was at least willing to hear him out, even if she’d thought his warnings had been over dramatic. It’s weird how he was now the one arguing the opposite position, trying to convince her to put her faith in at least some of the Cordonian nobility.

“Riley, can you at least explain to me why Olivia’s plan is something you won’t even consider?”

She shot him an annoyed glare and rolled her eyes, but then she said, “If Barthelemy takes over Cordonia, Olivia is not going to be able to protect us. How can you not understand this?”

“Olivia will still be the Duchess of Lythikos, no matter who is acting as monarch. If she wants to offer us amnesty there, that is well within her capabilities.”

“But how do we know that she will be allowed to keep that title? Don’t Cordonian monarchs have the power to strip nobles of their titles if there is suspected criminal activity?”

“What are you talking about? How is Olivia a criminal?”

“I’m pretty sure aiding and abetting traitors and kidnappers is a fucking crime, Drake.”

“But Riley, we’re only going to be charged with those crimes if we flee the country. Or I guess if they figure out we fled the country at this point. If we go back now-”

“Yeah, I’m sure Barthelemy will just accept us keeping physical custody of Bridget if we go hang out in Lythikos. No way we can get charged with kidnapping her there if he decides he wants to take her and we say “no,” because being on Cordonian soil will magically protect us.”

Drake paused, rubbing the back of his neck. She had a point there. If, god forbid, Barthelemy’s plan was successful and he was able to get himself named king-regent, the issuing of treason charges for the two of them would probably be a matter of when, not if. As long as they insisted on keeping Bridget with them, which was obviously not up for debate, they likely would be charged and named as enemies of the state whether they were in Cordonia or in Greece.

“Okay, let’s say there’s no way to prevent us being named traitors. I still think it’s worth considering that if we stay in Lythikos, we have a support system. We have a roof over our heads. We have food and clothing and money. We have friends who will help us. We don’t get anything like that if we stay in Greece.”

Riley shot him a look that was so withering, he wished he could crawl out of his skin. “And how do we guarantee that Barthelemy won’t freeze Olivia’s accounts and strip her of her title unless she turns us, known traitors and criminals, into his custody?”

“Again, she’s a duchess and head of one the the five major noble houses. Why are you so convinced that he would be able to have so much control over her legally guaranteed powers?”

“Because of what happened with Godfrey when we confronted him about Eleanor’s death.”

“He wasn’t just accused, Riley. We know he killed Liam’s mom.”

“But he wasn’t found guilty or anything. The king’s accusation was enough, right?”

Drake frowned and tried to remember the details of how things worked. He’d never bothered to pay that much attention to the intricacies of the nobility’s power structure during his schooling. After all, it was never going to matter to him. “Actually, I’m pretty sure the reigning monarch can strip any noble of their title for any reason. The noble in question can challenge it if they gain the support of the majority of the major houses, if I remember things correctly.”

“That makes it even worse, Drake! Are you telling me that Barthelemy, if he’s acting as king, could just strip Olivia of her title simply for not supporting him?”

He shook his head. “No, that would be unlikely. The Nevrakises can trace their lineage back past the birth of Cordonia. They are the longest standing major house, and they have made sure their family is well protected by the law. I can’t see Olivia losing her title.”

“But you can’t promise that she’s safe!”

Drake wanted to roll his eyes. The thought of anyone attempting to take Olivia’s title from her and walking away without serious bodily injury was laughable. But he knew that Riley was dangerously close to spiraling into a panicked mess again. So he tried to keep things steady.

“Riley, do you picture Olivia just sitting back and letting someone take Lythikos from her? I am sure her title is safe. Like I said, there are a lot of bylaws and exceptions that protect the Nevrakis family. Besides, a no-confidence vote in Liam is going to draw criticism from a decent amount of the people. He’s not an unpopular king. If Barthelemy removes a monarch and a duchess from a major house in quick succession, he’s going to risk a citizen uprising. Particularly in Lythikos.”

“But that won’t happen instantly, Drake. And Barthelemy could spin this, make Olivia look like she’s a traitor.”

“The citizens of Lythikos won’t buy that.”

“So what? Our plan is to count on a civil war where the citizens of Lythikos are willing to fight for Olivia’s right to shelter us? That seems like a far worse plan than just hiding out in a different country.”

Drake tried to suppress a sigh as he shook his head. “I think you are getting way ahead of yourself, here. We have no reason to believe Olivia will lose her title.”

“And again, I’m telling you that’s optimistic bullshit. Unless I just hallucinated Liam stripping Godfrey, a member of another major house, of all of his Cordonian titles when he was accused of a crime. Guess I got confused while I was almost dying while having to deliver a baby with almost no medical attention in a frickin’ palace bedroom.” Riley sank down on the side of the back seat, a hint of exhaustion noticeable behind the fire in her gaze.

Drake didn’t like to think about those hours before Bridget was born. He’d been scared shitless, trying to keep it together as it seemed more and more likely that there would be no medical care and that Riley or his child… or both might die as a result. They were some of the darkest hours of his life. He’d honestly had no recollection of slamming Bradshaw against the wall when Olivia had mentioned it hours later, everything just a giant blur of fear and anger and desperation, all without wanting to make things worse for Riley by letting her see how stressed he was.

But then Dr. Ramirez was there and in the blink of an eye, Bridget was crying in his arms, and Dr. Ramirez was acting like Riley was out of the woods. The earlier fears and struggles seemed so inconsequential as they held their daughter close. Saw her face. Wrapped her up and held her tight. And maybe naively, Drake had assumed with everything Riley had physically been through during her labor and delivery, that she’d kind of forgotten how dicey it had been since everything turned out okay. But hearing her now, it was clear she carried a lot of pain and fear from that time, even if she never had mentioned it before.

“Riley…” he started, crouching down in front of her, bracing himself on the open car door as he gently placed a hand on her knee, “I’m sorry.”

“It wasn't your fault,” she said with a little shrug.

Drake nodded, “Still, you should have never been in that position.”

“We should have never been in that position, Drake. Maybe you’re just blinded to how fucking bizarre this all is, because it’s all you’ve ever known, but half the things that have happened since I’ve been here are insane. And while delivering her in a palace under lockdown was one of the scarier ones, it isn’t the only time I’ve been in a position that I shouldn’t have had to handle.”

He knew she was right. Assassination attempts, photographers paid to catch her in her underwear, marriage alliances. All of it was kind of bullshit. But they’d always gotten through things together. He didn’t understand why this time she wanted to run and refused to face the problem head on. He didn’t know what to say, so he just gave her knee a squeeze he hoped was comforting and pushed himself up to standing, leaning against the side of the car next to her.

Riley bit her lip, bouncing Bridget on her lap. Bridget was getting crankier. Drake could see it clearly. They’d given her some of her rice puffs, the only snack they had in the diaper bag, which had helped placate her a little, but she was still obviously hungry. Add to the fact that she had been confined to their arms for hours, and it seemed like she was teetering on the edge of a total meltdown. She wanted to be set down, to crawl around and explore. She had no patience for being on the lam.

“Do you want me to take her?” Drake asked, holding out his arms, but Riley shook her head.

“No, I’ve got her.” Her arms tightened slightly around Bridget as she responded.

Drake frowned. Part of him was scared that if he pushed Riley any further right now, she might just bolt. But a bigger part of him knew that if they didn’t address this, that it was only going to get worse. And if they decided to stay in Greece, they were only going to have each other. Not trusting each other fully wasn’t an option.

“You don’t trust me with her.”

Riley swallowed slowly before glancing up and looking at Drake. He hadn’t exactly phrased his statement like a question, but Riley treated it as one anyway. “You’re oversimplifying things. It’s not that straight forward.”

He just shook his head, pushing off the car and resuming his earlier pacing. “It is, Riley. If you can’t answer ‘yes’ to that, well then you obviously don’t trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you with her,” she said, her voice cracking slightly, “If you want to, you can hold her.”

Drake let out a sigh. “I’m not trying to turn this into a power struggle over who gets to keep her in their arms. That’s not… You’re acting like you’re the only parent here. You’ve decidedly unilaterally that our child has to leave the country. And that’s not fair.”

“You want to know what’s not fair, Drake?” Her voice was high pitched and fragile sounding, but her words were sharp and clear. This wasn’t her panicked ramblings of a couple of hours ago. This was a speech she’d held in her heart for a long time. “What isn’t fair is that your best friend showed up on our honeymoon, asking us for a wildly inappropriate favor with a heavy dose of guilt thrown on the side. What isn’t fair is that you agreed to it before even speaking to me about it. What isn’t fair is that if I hadn’t agreed to it, I would have been the bitch who rejected a guy when he was down on one knee and then forbid the guy I married, his best friend in the whole world, from helping him out.”

“Riley… I-” Drake wanted to try and soothe her, to acknowledge how much rougher everything had been than he could have envisioned when Liam showed up, solemn and resigned, with his request on that beach. But Riley wasn’t done.

“You called it an honor, Drake. That was how you phrased it. Tell me, was it an honor watching the press hound me for months, wanting to know every detail about my body? Was it an honor having to fend off two foreign powers who wanted some archaic marriage alliance with your unborn child? Was it an honor to feel backed into the corner and agreeing to one of those alliances to save my life? To save Bridget’s life? Was it an honor dragging her to balls and galas and events when she wasn’t even vaccinated yet? Because as I see it, this whole scheme has brought our family nothing but struggles and stress and sadness.”

“Of course all that shit sucked! But you don’t get to sit there and act like you are not complicit in almost every part of it. You agreed to it. You don’t get to blame me forever for a choice we both made.” Drake knew his phrasing was harsh, but it wasn’t fair for her to act like he’d forced her to do anything. If she had given him a firm “no” back then, that would have been that.

“You’re right - I should have fought you on this earlier. But I’m not going to just continue to roll along with it when it keeps hurting my child over and over again. So, I’m taking a stand now. I’m saying enough is enough. I’m done. I am not going to keep quiet about it anymore. I should have never agreed to name her heir. Hell, I should have never accepted the duchy.” There were tears trailing down her cheeks, but she held his gaze, steady and sure of her decision. Her arms locked tightly around Bridget as she squirmed on her lap, but she wasn’t distracted.

“Riley, if you had just told me-”

“Drake, I was clearly a reluctant participant from the start. Anytime I started to voice concerns, you just reassured me over and over. You never wanted to hear it.”

It was like the wind was knocked out of him. She really thought he was ignoring her serious objections intentionally? As far as he’d been able to tell, she had just wanted reassurance that she was still a good mom, in spite of all the royal pomp and drama. “Why was this the one fucking topic you decided to be coy about? Literally anything else on the planet you’ve always been blunt and direct with me. You’ve never beat around the apple tree. You called things as you saw them, at least when it was just the two of us. How was I supposed to know you were suddenly shy and reserved when it came to the biggest decision we have ever made?”

“I was afraid,” she said with a little shrug, her face downturned as she dropped a kiss to the top of Bridget’s head

“Of what?”

“Of making you choose between me and Liam.”

Drake let her words wash over him for a few moments before he responded. “Afraid about making me choose or afraid of what my choice would be?”

Her eyes flitted upward as she blinked out a few more tears. “Both, I guess. I felt bad enough that I was this… elephant in the room when it came to your friendship with him, but… I guess part of me was always a little worried that if I really drew a line in the sand, you would feel like you had to stick with him.”

Her words hurt. There was no point denying that. But at the same time, he understood. Not that he thought he might have ever picked his friend over his wife, but that feeling that others would always be more important, the fear that everyone would always just focus on Liam? Well, he got that feeling better than anyone, probably. Combine that with all her fears of abandonment, and he understood how she could have gotten to that point.

“Riley, if I wanted to put Liam’s needs first, I would have proposed to him, not you.” She let out a watery little chuckle at that, so Drake kept going, hoping he was on the right track. “You are my family. You are my whole world, okay? Bridget is the only one who’s as important to me. I love Liam like a brother, but I didn’t exchange vows with him. If you tell me you need me for something, that’s it.”

Riley tucked Bridget back against her hip with one arm and reached her other out towards Drake. He grabbed her hand and tugged her up to standing, wrapping his arms around her and Bridget tightly as she looped an arm around his neck and tucked her face against his shoulder. They stood like that for nearly a minute before Riley loosened her grip and let her hand slide down, her fingers playing with the collar of his shirt.

“I get why you want to turn around and go back, but it doesn’t feel safe to me,” she said, her eyes focused on his shoulder. “We don’t know if Barthelemy has power or not. If he does, we are going to be labeled as traitors anyway, and Olivia’s protection might not be enough to keep our daughter safe by our sides. I can’t knowingly take that gamble, Drake. I just can’t.”

Drake nodded, sliding a hand up to the back of her head and holding her even tighter against him. “You know that we are taking the much more difficult option here, right? We could probably go back and renounce our titles and Bridget’s claim to the throne without any of those fears coming to pass.”

He felt Riley nod against his shoulder. Her voice was muffled as she said, “But do we even have the power to essentially abdicate for Bridget at this point? We were included in that no-confidence vote along with Liam.”

Drake leaned back slightly, needing to look Riley in the eyes. “I don’t know, Walker.”

She bit her lip and nodded again. “Then I can’t take that risk. I would rather face a crazy uphill battle as a family than watch her get ripped from our arms surrounded by Liam, Hana, Maxwell, and Olivia.”

“We’ll stay in Greece, then - on one condition.” Riley frowned at him, so he kept going quickly before she could imagine up all sorts of horrible restrictions he could throw at her. “From now on, we decide our next steps together. If we’re doing this as a family, you and I have to be on the same page. Because Riley, I don’t think we can count on anyone else’s support going forward. And this is going to be hard enough without us doubting and second guessing each other.”

He didn’t bring up the issue of trust again, knowing it would be a moot point. She was going to have to learn to not let her fears override her trust in him, because going forward, there wouldn’t be another option. Hopefully, he would be able to show her he meant what he said by sticking by her side.

They held each other for a few more moments, but then Bridget started doing her crabby, whiny babble, unhappy with not only being forced to stay in their arms, but even more confined between both their bodies. So they broke apart, but Riley clutched his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you, Drake.”

He nodded at her, keeping his hand locked on her hers. Squinting, he thought he could make out Ray, coming back down the road, a shopping bag in one hand. “We should probably come clean to him at some point.”

Riley followed his gaze and sighed, but nodded. “How pissed is Olivia going to be?”

“I think she already suspects we crossed the border. But as for us not turning around?” Drake started, but his thought was interrupted by a buzzing in his back pocket. With his free hand, he tugged out his phone. “Well, I think we’re about to find out,” he said as he showed Riley Olivia’s name across the screen.

He took one last deep breath before swiping to accept her call. “Hey, Olivia.”

“It’s just me and Hana here,” she said, not sparing any time for pleasantries, “so you need to honestly let me how stupid you guys were. Did you guys leave the country?”

“Yes. We were already across the border before I called Liam.”

There was a brief pause before Olivia continued, “And what’s your plan now?”

He locked eyes with Riley and nodded at her before he responded, “I’m sorry. But we aren’t risking coming back.”

Permatag: @walkerswhiskeygirl @riley--walker @bebepac @ravenpuff02 @oofchoices @octobereighth @drakewalker04 @kimmiedoo5 @mfackenthal @thequeenofcronuts

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir: @ao719 @mskaneko @katedrakeohd @jovialyouthmusic @marshmallowsandfire @axwalker @kingliam2019 @sirbeepsalot @texaskitten30 @princessleac1 @ladyangel70 @dcbbw @yaushie

Drake x MC: @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @iplaydrake @gibbles82 @drakewalkerisreal @notoriouscs @drakesensworld @drake-colt-lover-99

Fight or Flight: @masterofbluff @burnsoslow @bobasheebaby @shz256 @iaminlovewithtrr

#drake walker #drake x mc #trr au #trh au #trr fanfic #trh fanfic #trr au fanfic #trh au fanfic #choices fanfiction

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cowtale-utau · 4 years

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Can I call it CowTale? Please?

So names are still not all settled. But, I thought if I started fleshing out everyone’s roles, and a little bit of personality, maybe that’d help. So here’s what I’ve got so far. Undertale Sans - Ace. The skelle in charge, a job he isn’t always fond of, but handles well enough. He makes the final decision on when they move and where they go. He has the last word in inter-camp conflicts. Occasionally he’ll disappear for a day or two, needing to get away from the responsibility he’s been saddled with. His return is always just as quiet and unacknowledged. He never wanted this but hes doing his best to handle not only the surface but also keeping track of all his and his brothers alternates. He tries his best to settle things peacefully, but isn’t afraid to use force if needed. Undertale Papyrus - Lief. Charming and friendly, hes the one who secures their place in any given location. They try to stay settled as long as they can in one camp, and he’s very good at becoming a quickly beloved member of the nearest town. Getting an in with all the locals, and making them less likely to flip should the law come looking. In camp he helps keep the peace between the various conflicting personalities. Rival gangs and law enforcement tend to underestimate him because of his kind nature, this allows him to play “hostage” until the perfect moment arrives and he is more than willing and able to strike, and he always hits exactly as hard as he means to. Underfell Sans - Chisel. At first glance, he’s just muscle. An enforcer of sorts. He can come off brutish and careless, but like his counterparts is actually highly intelligent. He keeps everything with moving parts working properly. From wagons to weapons. Everyone handles their own basic gun maintenance, but any alterations or customization is usually run by him. He’s unafraid to get his hands dirty, by any definition, and so takes on a lot of the work the others might balk at. A social creature at heart, he can often be found in saloons, bars, and inns, and while he might seem to be a drunken layabout, its rare anyone moves through their area that he doesn’t know about. You hear a lot when people think you aren’t listening. Underfell Papyrus - Spur. Cut throat and ruthless. Or at least, its how he often presents himself. Being around him often feels like being around a sleeping mountain lion. Elegant and dangerous. He can be quite charismatic, and falling into the role of “the gentleman” is easy for him. He draws people in with an easy confidence but it always feels like you’re taking a risk. One wrong move, one poorly chosen word, and its over. He’s damn quick in combat, choosing not to draw things out. Hit them fast, and hit them hard. Put the enemy down as quickly as possible, not out of any dislike of combat, but rather a learned caution. Underswap Sans - Scout. His name really only partially covers his role. He’s fairly small, and physically and mentally quick. Sneaky and perceptive he can suss out exits/entrances/who’s where when, without ever being noticed. He also makes an excellent “scout” out of the wilds as well. Much like Lief, hes sociable and easy to like, but also quite a bit more manipulative. He resents being considered childish or cute, but knows how to play a role to get what he wants. Many assume because of his smaller stature he’s a stealth combatant, or stay out of fights altogether but Scout is a powerhouse front-liner, never afraid to dive right into the fray. Underswap Papyrus - Piper. You would think with how much he despises liars that he himself wouldn’t be one. You’d be wrong. A smooth talker, this skelle can spin a story like no other. There’s a good reason for any and everything, and hes quick to provide one. His lackadaisical nature makes him easy to underestimate, but he’s got a quick hand a quicker mind. If there’s a chance for the gang to talk their way out of an altercation he’s the one handling the talking. Has a side gig as a writer for several publications. He does mostly fiction, all written under a pseudonym. There’s a “monster only” publication that hes done a good bit of writing for as well, guides and warnings to help others navigate the surface. Swapfell(Red) Sans - Whip. A master manipulator with a strong understanding of the law. He knows the laws, down to finest detail, not that it usually means much. But on the gang ends up dealing with the courts, and not outright corruption, he’s the one to get them out of it. He can twist anything too his favor, and isn’t afraid to play dirty. He’ll gas-light, triangulate, and manipulate to get his way. While he knows when to take it seriously, he has been known to “play” a bit when fighting. Taunts and tricks are his bread and butter. He’s extremely confident, and has the skills to back it up. Swapfell(Red) Papyrus - Coyote. A hunter by nature and training. He can find damn near any one and anything. Whether this is fresh meat for the camps dinner, or a person of interest needing brought in, or even something someone lost, he’s got it handled. When not working he prefers to stay close to camp or in the wilds. Crowds make him uncomfortable when he doesn’t have his mind set to “work mode”. As a combatant he prefers to stay at the fringe, picking off anyone who thinks they can slip away. Horrortale Sans - Tender/Ten. Minds the camp and animals. Horses, any livestock they may have, even a bit of gardening if they settle for that long. He gathers wild plants as well, though he tries not to wander too far if they're fairly new to an area. His memory isn’t the best these days, but Cook helps him keep track of what still needs done each day. He struggles to sleep at night so usually takes at least a partial watch role, stalking the edges of camp to keep himself alert. Tries to stay out of combat as much as possible, as it is very much a trigger for him, and the only one guaranteed to be safe if he frenzies is his Papyrus. Horrortale Papyrus - Cook. Rarely leaves camp. His appearance is... Jarring to most, and he hates making people uncomfortable. His social nature has been tempered by his past, so he tends to be more cautious than his “classic” counterpart. He does however still enjoy a more quiet social interaction, a light conversation while doing the washing or gentle chatter while he cooks. He handles most of the cooking for the camp. A few of the others enjoy jumping in when they get a chance, but are often busy with other their tasks, leaving the bulk of the work to him. It took him awhile but he’s gotten comfortable with handling meat again, so long as he butchers it himself. There’s a sense of discomfort that lurks in the back of his mind, but he can push through it so long as he has certainty exactly what meat it is and where it came from.

Swapfell(Purple) Sans - Doc. An absolute control freak. Took a bit for him to accept that, no, hes not the head honcho here. Once he settled though he found himself easily sliding into something of almost administrative role. He keeps track of the camps supplies, who has what, who needs what, what needs doing. While he may not make the orders, he sees to it that they get done. He’s also the primary healer of the gang, although most try to avoid needing it as his rants are near legendary. Swapfell(Purple) Papyrus - Flint. Finds most of the jobs for the gang. He always keeps a metaphorical eye and ear out for ways to make more money. Is also a cutthroat loan shark. Knows how to navigate the underbelly of society and a master of playing people against each other. While he’s certainly more than competent in a fight, don’t be surprised if he didn’t poison everyone at the poker game before hand to get that leg up. His movements are always economical and every attack carefully calculated to do the most damage with the least effort. Fellswap Gold Sans - Haze. Is rarely seen with the gang. He handles the gentry side of things. Playing politics and working to keep the authorities off the gangs back. Politics and diplomacy are his bread and butter, though it tends to be a darker kind of diplomatic. Threats and blackmail are common, but often unable to be traced back to him. He’s highly intelligent and manipulative, he has something on everyone and knows exactly what to say when. Its often hard to read the true intent of his words on the first pass. Because most people are clueless as to who’s really pulling the strings, he is well loved in high society and moves in important circles. Fellswap Gold Papyrus - Cirrus. Mostly kept out of things. His brother is more than a little overprotective, and prefers to keep him out the fray. He doesn’t mind this much, as he has severe anxiety and is highly introverted. This does mean, however that it is very rare he is recognized. He fades into the background easily making him excellent at stealth work. This often used by him acting as something of a “runner” between his brother and the rest of the gang. He’s also unmatched as a sniper, but it is extremely rare he is ever called on for it, as it is heavily emotionally taxing for him. Underlust Sans - Mab Underlust Papyrus - Calico These two almost always work as a pair. Often posing as prostitutes, they can run several cons this way. Get ‘em drunk and rob ‘em blind is pretty common. They also work well as the “designated distraction”, and its a job they greatly enjoy. They’re both a quick hand with knives and tend to prefer ambush combat.

This got... long. Any thoughts or opinions are welcome. Obviously there’s still a few that need a bit of work. I really hadn’t originally wanted a cast this large but I’m a sucker for Skelles. Its my own fault. A few got names from their roles, but there’s still several I need to work on.

#mine #Undertale #Undertale AU #UTAU #UT AU #UT!AU #Undertale MV #Undertale Multiverse #UTMV #UT MV #UT!MV #multiverse #cowboys #wild west #old west #outlaws

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100storiesin2020 · 4 years

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a Chainsaw in Fox Tower: Chapter 5

Ronan watched Adam sleep from the corner of his eye as he drove. Adam had spent much of his time catching up on lost sleep at the Barns this summer, and had developed a habit of falling asleep at any chance he got. Ronan figured that years of sleepless nights would take years to catch up on. He didn’t mind it, really. Adam was so beautiful asleep, with those high cheekbones and slender fingers, almost delicate and ethereal. How Ronan had won a love from such a man, he still wasn’t sure, and he was afraid, sometimes, that it would burn him alive.

Ronan nudged him as they passed the road sign for Palmetto. Adam opened his eyes, and looked at Ronan, and it was new all over again.

This love would burn him, all right, but he didn’t mind the flames.

“We’re almost there,” Adam observed, looking out the window. Campus was just off the freeway, and the next exit took them straight to it. Fox Tower was only a few turns away. They arrived, pulling into a parking spot next to the Pig as Gansey unloaded boxes. He looked up, smiling as they got out.

“Parrish! Lynch! You’re just in time!” Gansey said. “Blue is on her way down to help us, since she is already moved in.”

“Waiting for her to come do the heavy lifting for you?” Ronan jabbed. Adam laughed as Gansey pouted.

“I can do my own heavy lifting, thank you! I was hoping she would help me decorate the dorm.”

“What do you mean, help /you/ decorate the dorm?” Ronan asked.

“What do you mean?” Gansey looked very confused.

Adam gave him a stern look and answered the question. “Monmouth was yours to decorate. Fox Tower is ours. That means we get as much say in decorating as you do.” Gansey opened his mouth and Adam cut him off. “We do this together, as equals.”

Gansey nodded slowly. Considering the conversation over, Ronan moved to the backseat and unbuckled Chainsaw from her harness. She had been surprisingly quiet on the drive over, but that was never a guarantee for her, and so Ronan kept her tied to the seatbelt to prevent any road incidents sparked by a flying bird in the vehicle.

Chainsaw immediately took the air, calling /Kerah, kerah/ as she began to explore her new surroundings. After a few quick laps around the tower, she settled on Ronan’s shoulder just as the front door of the Tower opened, revealing Blue.

Blue walked over to them. /Walking/ wasn’t something that Ronan would often describe Blue as doing. Generally she was /pacing/, or /striding/, or /stalking/. Walking was a bit too tame for her. Something had upset her, but drawing attention to it was the worst way to get information out of her. Also, it would ruin Ronan’s terrifying image.

“Hey, maggot, come to make yourself useful?” She laughed as he handed her the largest box from Gansey’s trunk. She was so small she couldn’t see over the top of it, but she hefted it like it was nothing.

“Is that the best you’ve got, asshole?” There. Blue was back to herself, at least for a little bit. Ronan gave her a ferocious grin as he put another box on top of the one she was already carrying.

Adam stacked two of the smaller boxes and picked them up. They were full of books and probably the heaviest things there. “Don’t hurt yourself, Parrish,” Ronan drawled.

Adam just gave him that /look/ and turned to Blue. “You’ve been here a bit, can you lead the way?”

As they started into Fox Tower, Adam called back. “Grab the small box first, Lynch!”

Ronan growled and put the suitcase back, grabbing the small box instead.

“Why does it matter?” asked Gansey. “Isn’t it all going upstairs anyway?”

Ronan didn’t bother replying. He hauled the box of dreamstuff into the Tower and up the stairs behind Blue and Adam, Gansey in tow with suitcases and Chainsaw still on his shoulder. Blue was telling Adam about how she had decorated her part of the room, and some of her observations of the new teammates. He tuned it out, concentrating instead on the muscles in Adam’s back, his soft hair and quiet laughter. As they arrived at the right room, Blue pointed out her room just two doors down. They opened the door (Gansey had handed Blue they key) and walked into a very blank living room. As Gansey closed the door behind them, Ronan shoved his small box into Adam’s recently-vacated arms. “Here’s your precious plants, Parrish. I need a nap.” Adam looked at him, head slightly tilted to one side. A silent question. He sneered back in a silent answer and continued on his way. Now was the true test of the Palmetto leyline, and he needed to do it alone.

Ronan didn’t bother to shut the door to the bedroom. Chainsaw hopped from his shoulder to the bedpost, and then started to explore the room. There was a set of bunk beds and one lone bed on the other side of the room. He took the lone bed, knowing it was the safest option should he dream something unintentional. He laid down and relaxed as he heard Adam and Gansey arguing about where stuff should be placed in the living room.

“Do we really need so many plants, Adam? They take up so much space.”

“They’re more useful than your Glendower papers are now,” Adam replied. Fuck, Ronan liked this confident version of Adam. “Also, if you brought your little Henrietta please do NOT put it near the window, I need that spot.”

“Oh no, Gansey,” Blue laughed. “Where are you going to put little Henrietta?”

“I left it at Monmouth, Jane.”

“Oh thank god,” Adam and Blue said in chorus. Ronan drifted to sleep to faint chirps of /kerah/ as they started to squabble over how the cupboards would be arranged.

He didn’t dream of a forest today. He was standing on a short clif, looking down at a fast-moving river. The other bank of the river was a flat plain, giving a good view of the many switchbacks and curves in the more distant parts of the river. The cliff went all along this edge, but it was not sheer, and stout trees grew out of the side of it. Ronan walked along the cliff until he came to a dip, an almost-trail, leading down to the river, and descended.

The water changed as he approached, not uncommon for a dream. It went from a deep greenish blue to completely transparent, as if there was no water at all. Ronan picked up a rock and launched it into the river. It splashed, and ripples of silver spread back to the edge on which he stood.

This was not Cabeswater, but it had the same feeling of home, and Ronan knew what he needed to do.

He took a step.

The water was warm and soothing, cleansing his feet. He didn’t have shoes anymore, which was as it should be. He took more steps, the water remaining clear as ever, now without even ripples to distort the riverbed below him. He whispered to the water, /show me what I need. Something for Blue. Something to make this home for her./ He took another step, and then he saw it below him in the river. It was perfect. He dove in a pried it from underneath a rock, then sat down on the riverbed to look at it. Breathing was not an issue here.

He woke, frozen to his bed as always. He could feel the smooth wood of a picture frame beneath his fingers. Fuck, he was cold. He’d forgotten to get out of the water before waking himself up, and he was soaked to the bone. Even his socks were wet, though his shoes were dry. Go figure.

He slammed his feet onto the floor and stomped back to the living room. He saw everyone freeze and turn towards him as he entered. Adam had his plants spread in the various corners, and Blue had set up a trellis so the viney one could stretch itself across the wall. Gansey was putting pots in the cupboard, and Ronan noted that they were a mix of Adam’s shitty stuff from thrift stores and new stuff which Gansey had obviously procured. He would have to go through the kitchen later and see what was missing so he could dream it up.

“Catch, maggot.” He tossed the picture at her head and stomped off to the bathroom to take a warm shower. Fuck, he was going to have to be careful to dry off if he ended up dreaming the river again.

*****

Blue caught the flying object out of reflex as Ronan stomped off. The bathroom door slammed shut behind him. Turning to the others, she asked, “Do you think the leyline is strong enough for him?”

Adam smiled softly, still looking at the space Ronan had just occupied. “I think if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t have had that for you.” He eyed the object in her hand.

“I’m rather concerned about him being soaking wet,” Gansey interjected.

Adam shrugged. “He was probably underwater when he woke himself up. It’s happened before, though rarely. It always pisses him off.”

Blue was delighted. “And you would know this, how, exactly?”

Adam glared at her. “What did he give you?” he asked, ignoring the question.

Oh, right. Blue looked at the thing she had caught. It was a picture in a frame that felt wooden under her fingers but seemed to actually be made of silver. It seemed to be a traditional photo, at first, but then it was an oil painting, and then watercolor, before shifting to a pencil sketch and back to a photo. It featured her and all her Raven boys. She was in the center, with Noah on one side, arm over her shoulder, and Gansey on the other side holding her hand. Beyond Gansey was Henry striking a wild dance pose. Adam and Ronan were on the other side of Noah, standing shoulder to shoulder and leaning on each other a bit. Behind them was the Pig, and beyond it was Cabeswater. It was perfect.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at Noah. She missed him so much.

At Gansey’s questioning look, she handed it over. Adam peered at it over his shoulder, and they were both obviously touched.

Gansey stared at it a little too long, transfixed. The smell of warm earth and leaves filled the room, and Blue saw shadows of tree branches in the corners of her vision. Gansey was still as a statue, looking very /otherly/ at that moment.

“Earth to Gansey,” Adam said, plucking the picture from his fingers, and the tree branches seemed to /snap/ away as Gansey came back to himself.

“Oh, my apologies,” he said. “When are we, Jane?”

“It’s our first day in Palmetto, it’s 4 o’clock, and we should probably start making our way to the court for our first official team meeting.”

Gansey nodded. "Then we will go as soon as Ronan joins us."

#a chainsaw in fox tower #all for the game #the raven cycle #aftg #TRC #pynch #chapter 5 #blue and ronan are bros

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pens-swords-stuff · 5 years

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How to gain attention in the Writeblr Community

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this lately, so instead of replying to each one, I decided to make one large post. Please note that these are based off of my personal experiences, and how I run my writeblr. This is what worked for me, but you might run your blog differently, you might post different things, and that’s perfectly fine.

Post Frequently

If you don’t post, people won’t be able to find your blog! Try to post as often as you can so you’ll pop up on people’s dashboards, and remind them what a cool Writeblr you are.

Obviously real life comes first, and you should never feel pressure to continue posting if you don’t want to. Breaks are absolutely okay and understandable, but if you feel up to it, try to keep your blog going! Use the queue, schedule some posts if that will help you.

They don’t all have to be original content either — reblogs work too, and in fact, probably work better because I know how difficult it can be to come up with original content everyday.

Make your original content when you feel like it, and use reblogs to keep your blog alive and active!

Be smart about your tags

A quick rundown on how tags work

Only the first five tags will show up in tracked tags. (i.e., if you tag your post #writeblr, and I’m following the tag #writeblr, it might pop up on my dashboard even if I’m not following you.)

Only the first twenty tags will show up in tumblr search.

Reblogs will not show up in tracked tags or search.

That’s a lot to remember, are you still with me? The most important thing to remember about tagging your work is that the first five tags are the most important. You want to use your biggest, most relevant tags in the first five. All of your organizational tags for your personal blog tags (i.e., I use #undine writes stuff to organize all of my original writing) and all of your fun tag comments should come after the first five at the very least.

So you know that the first five are most important, but what tags should you use? What tags are the best?

Here’s what I usually use and though I don’t know if they’re particularly popular or not, but they’ve worked for me just fine.

A basic guide on what tags to use

#Writeblr and #writing for any writing-related post that you make. I also sometimes include #writblr because some people use that tag instead.

#creative writing, #amwriting, #original writing work really well for your original writing content.

#WIP and #OC are also popular for your WIP and OC posts.

I’ve written a more in-depth guide on tagging, and what to use here in my “How to use tags effectively in the writeblr community” post! Please check it out if you want more information. It includes a more comprehensive list of what tags to use for what posts.

Engage with the community

When people ask me how to gain attention on writeblr, I often feel like they’re expecting me to have some magical solution that will make them popular.

Well, that one magical solution doesn’t really exist, but engaging with the community is the closest thing I’ve got for you. I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough.

At its core, this is a community; a way for writers to find and support each other. If you ignore the community aspect, you are not utilizing a vital part of Writeblr, and you will probably not gain a whole lot of attention and support.

The absolute best advice I can give you is this: If you want attention in the community, you have to start by appearing in people’s notifications.

It is the one guaranteed way to make sure that you’re on people’s radar. That’s really valuable because the writeblr community is massive and it’s really easy to get lost in the shuffle. The more people that notice you, the more likely they are to gain an interest in you.

For example: I don’t know who all of my followers are, and I don’t know who all reblogs and likes my posts. However, if someone is consistently popping up in my notifications, I take notice. I recognize who they are, I’m grateful for them (and probably consider us friends, honestly), and I’ll check out their blog since they’ve been such a massive supporter of mine. Then I decide to follow them and we become mutuals because I’ve noticed them, and I’m now interested in what they do. Then, because I follow them, I’m more likely to reblog their posts because now they pop up on my dashboard.

This is how it works for the majority of writeblrs; we follow people that have supported us, so we can support them in return. It’s a win-win situation, really, so you should really take advantage.

So reblog and comment on people’s stuff consistently! Send them asks, slide into their DMs, tag them in stuff! Become friends with people! Participate in their ask games! Send them things that you think they’d like!

Doesn’t it feel great when someone reblogs your posts and writes a nice comment? Isn’t it wonderful when someone is genuinely interested in your stuff and sends you an ask? Be that person for other people! It’ll benefit you in the long run, I promise.

Don’t be shy; Kick down the door and barge in!

I get it — It can be really frightening to talk to people, especially on the internet. But like I said, Writeblr is massive, and it’s not that people don’t want to notice you, it’s just that there’s so many other things going on that they might not see you. So assert yourself! It’s okay to message your favorite writeblrs, it’s okay to reblog and comment. Make sure that people know you exist, and that you’re awesome!

As a bonus: It’s easier to talk to people who talk to others publicly and visibly. By having conversations with other writeblrs on your blog, and interacting with others, it shows your followers that you are open to conversation, and that you are accessible, and they will be more likely to engage with you.

A lot more important advice under the cut! Be sure to keep reading!

Make writeblr friends

If you make a friend, you guys can both support and promote each other! It’s also really fun to have a writing friend to talk to, and talk about writeblr things. Some of the closest friends I have were made on the internet, and they can be a huge support system, and your biggest fan.

Participate in tag games

If tag games aren’t your thing, you don’t have to participate in them; that’s fine and it’s your choice.

However, writeblr tag games are a fantastic way to engage with the community, post about your WIPs and OCs, and make sure people see your content, all in one.

A lot of tag games involve talking about your WIPs and OCs, and you can directly tag other writeblrs without being annoying and invasive! I’ve gotten a decent number of followers, and people on my tag lists because I tagged them in a tag game, and they liked what they saw!

Even if you aren’t tagged any, if you see one you like, go ahead and participate! Tag your favorite writeblrs and ask them to join! By actively participating in tag games and tagging people, you’ll get tagged more often in them as well. It’s a great way to jump in if you’re a little nervous about tagging people!

Reblog your own posts

There are a lot of reasons why you might not be getting notes, and one of them might be that people just haven’t seen it. Time zones, and when people are active, the other posts on their dashboards, maybe they weren’t even following you when you posted it — they all contribute.

So reblog your own posts every so often! It’s okay, it’s not as annoying as you think, and a lot of new people will see it every single time.

Especially reblog your WIP posts!

Promote yourself; Be your own biggest supporter

No one wants to read things if they’re bad. So saying stuff like “It’s not very good, my writing is bad,” isn’t going to make people want to read it. Learn how to sell yourself! Try to be as confident as you can — fake it if you aren’t!

Talk about how much you love your WIP, sell people on it. There’s a lot of other WIPs people can be reading on tumblr, why should they check out yours? What are your strengths? Really push those forward; talk about yourself as if you were talking about your favorite writer.

Be confident! Confidence will bring people in.

Keep talking about your writing, keep posting about where you can read it, keep reblogging your favorite posts. People will take notice eventually, and you’ll find your audience!

Build up your followers with non-WIP content

It’s an unfortunate reality that it’s really difficult to gain interest and followers by just posting about your WIPs and OCs alone. Is it impossible? Absolutely not! A handful of Writeblrs have found success doing this, but realistically, it doesn’t happen very often.

So my very realistic and cynical advice to you is: reblog a lot of other posts. Reblog writing advice, memes, something that’s popular in Writeblr right now, etc., to draw people in initially. They can all be stuff that’s popular, but also make sure that you want to reblog it! Make your blog your own, and unique, don’t force yourself to reblog things that you don’t want to. But if you like it even a tiny bit, consider reblogging it.

People are more likely to reblog things that they can relate to like writing memes, and writing problems. People are more likely to reblog positivity, than they are WIP posts. If that’s something up your alley, try making some posts like that!

By building up a bigger follower base with non-WIP related stuff, you can make sure that more people will see it when you do post about your original content.

Other things that work really well, it following other writeblrs and posting stuff like “Reblog if you’re a writeblr, and I’ll follow you!”, “Looking for more mutuals, I’ll follow anyone back”. (Make sure you actually follow people if you say this though!). I cannot think of a single writeblr that won’t reblog these posts, because we all want followers. And a lot of people will follow back, and be a new mutual, which means a bigger audience who might be interested in your WIPs.

Also you’ll find a lot of awesome writeblrs to follow, and that’s a win in it of itself.

Gaining attention takes time and won’t happen immediately

I know how hard it is to feel like you’re shouting into the void, and no one cares. It really sucks to post something you’re proud of and have it get maybe two likes at most. I’ve been there — I’m still there. It’s a struggle that I think every single one of us here can relate to.

Realistically, overnight successes are something that probably won’t happen to you. Even the biggest, most successful writeblrs have started out with less than a hundred followers, and they slowly, painstakingly increased their audience one-by-one over a really long period of time.

You can get there too, if you keep at it. I know it’s hard when you feel alone. I know it’s discouraging, and I know how disappointing it is. Take a break if you need to, but there is no magical way, no quick solution to being a popular writeblr. You have to work at it, and revel in the small victories as you slowly grow.

You’ll reap success if you keep at it, I promise.

Here’s a post I wrote about how to deal with not gaining follower and notes if it ever gets really hard.

Be a writeblr for yourself, not to gain attention

At the end of the day, there is absolutely no guarantee whether you’ll gain followers or not. You can try things, but ultimately it’s out of your hands.

The best way to deal with that hard truth, is to be a writeblr for yourself. Do what you want, run a writeblr because you want to, and it’s fun. Don’t expect notes, instead let every note you get be a pleasant surprise. Run your writeblr to engage with an amazing, kind community, not to be popular. Have a writeblr so you have a place to talk about how much you love writing, not so other people will love your writing.

Don’t tie your self-worth and measure of success into your writeblr, because you are so much more than note counts and follower counts. Your writing ability is not measured by your popularity, and it’s important to remind yourself of that every now and then.

It’s just like writing, write for yourself, and the audience will follow. Run your writeblr for yourself, and your supporters will follow.

It’ll be a lot more fun that way, and a lot more genuine.

You can do it. Don’t get discouraged, and keep at it! Remember that it’s okay to take breaks if you need to, writeblr should not be your entire life. You’re a great writer no matter what, and I really hope that this will help you gain some new friends!

If you’d like to ask me for advice on writing or running a writeblr, please check out my Ask Guidelines and FAQ first.

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#writeblr #writing #writblr #writing advice #writeblr advice #how to gain attention #writers of tumblr #undine speaks #undine gives advice #pens swords stuff #long post

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