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nickmaghighlights · 10 months

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Nick Mag Highlights - #20 April 1996

Greetings and various apropos felicitations. Once again it’s time for another issue of Nick Mag Highlights! Today we’ll be heading back to the 90’s and taking a trip through issue #20. Ready to see if this “Mega Movie Issue'' is really as mega as it says? Then let’s get on with the show!

Man, that cover is a blast from the past for me, and it might just be the same for some of you. I haven't seen the film adaptation of James and The Giant Peach ever since I was a kid. I forget how I even first experienced it, since I couldn’t have seen it in theaters and I never owned a physical copy. I think a babysitter put it on for me once.

Whatever the case, despite the time it's been I can still envision a smattering of visuals and emotions from the experience. So it must’ve been good if it’s managed to still stick with me positively all these years later. I guess a grade-a art style and memorable visuals will do that for a film. So as shallow as these behind-the-scenes “previews” tend to be when it comes to Nick Magazine, I’m still excited to go down memory lane and hopefully gleam one or two cool bits of trivia.

Beyond my nostalgia bias though I’ve gotta say I’m surprised by the lack of promises this cover is making. A preview of James and The Giant Peach and a “Special Flip Book” is all you’ve got to wow the proverbial audience here, Nick? Even issue #1 promised more content on its cover to grab your attention if Ren & Stimpy weren’t enough for you. Let’s hope 20 issues in they weren’t starting to struggle for content.

You can read along too, if that’s what you wanna do. The issue’s right here.

Alright, go ahead and roll your eyes, but I’ve got a thing or two to say about this Cheetos ad. Or rather, “Chee●tos”, as it's called here and would be titled as such until Frito-Lays dropped the hyphen from the name in 1998. Not the worst name change, if I’m being honest.

First off, let’s just bask in the moment for a second. This is a wacky snack from the 90’s, even a “spinoff snack”, if you will, of a still very popular snack brand… that hasn’t been brought back to capitalize on nostalgia!

Yes, Cheesy Checkers have yet to return to shelves since their discontinuation in ‘98. Suffice to say, I’m stunned. In a world where Ecto-Cooler returned from the grave, Trix Yogurt is still readily available, Boo Berry, Count Chocula and all those other monster-themed cereals manifest themselves every Halloween, and the McRib seems to come back whenever the heck it feels like, Cheetos Cheesy Checkers of all things is barred from re-entry into the mainstream to take advantage of your sorely missed childhood.

Guess they really just weren’t popular enough? You can’t capitalize on nostalgia if there’s no nostalgia to capitalize on, after all. And yet it seems like a foolproof idea for a snack if you ask me. Waffles and waffle fries have already proven that checkerboard patterns are naturally delicious. And on top of that it even had a rad commercial featuring an awesome Chester Cheetah puppet. What’s not to like? I guess 33% more cheese is crossing the line of “Dangerously Cheesy” into something more like… “Hazardously Cheesy”.

Oh, and by the way. I may have never had a bag of Cheesy Checkers, but I sincerely doubt the snack pieces were that big. You really want me to believe one checker is nearly 1/3rd the size of this magazine page? They don’t even look that big in the commercial.

Just like the cover said, this is indeed a movie-themed issue. And I’ve got good news regarding this: I actually know about movies! Well, I like movies, anyway. Okay, I know more about movies than I do about music, which should mean my dissection of the content at hand will be a little more thoughtful than my retrospective of the music-based issue from last time. Hopefully, anyway.

Can’t help but feel these jokes are trying a little too hard. I guess when you’ve got to come up with twenty and base them all off of movies and TV shows, it can’t be easy. It probably doesn’t help either that there’s only like, three or four good puns in the whole world to begin with.

Anyway, look. Bugs Bunny in Nickelodeon Magazine. Woah.

Well, it’s a little less surprising for those, ahem, in the know.

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Nickelodeon actually aired Looney Tunes shorts for more than ten years, from 1988 to 1999. Once Warner Bros. established their new kids’ entertainment channel, Cartoon Network, they were pretty quick to take back their old school cartoons to bolster their numbers a bit. Although even following the departure of the classic Looney Tunes, Nickelodeon would go on to license other Warner Bros. content for their channel in the following years, airing shows such as Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures in the early 2000s.

Oh, how convenient! Now I can prove my film expertise by trouncing this quiz and-

Hey! Some kid already answered two of the questions. Well now there’s no point in doing the quiz now. Its sanctity has been compromised.

But yeah, this book’s been written in just a bit. Sorry if that bothers you, but it’s not like I can clean the pages off. I do kinda wish the scan was totally clean just for the sake of archival purposes, but as long as the marks stay minor I’m not too picky. If anything I guess it helps make things a little more interesting. Kinda adds to the whole “time capsule” aspect of it, doesn’t it?

Shouldn’t be an issue so long as it’s not-

Ah, criminy! The kid got me again! Now this is stepping over the line. Answering a quiz question or two is one thing, but completely solving the hidden pictures puzzle promoting the home video release of Babe? That sours my mood. I don’t even feel like watching Babe now.

This a neat activity: a screenplay for two kids to act out and potentially film like a home movie. It actually caught me off guard with its originality, and in hindsight it seems like a no-brainer. Kids love to play pretend after all, and I know I certainly loved shooting little movies with my family’s cheap digital camera. Well, here kids, we came up with the story for you. Go nuts. Not to mention it's a good excuse to whip up a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches.

Here’s a nifty fun fact for you: The writer of this screenplay activity, David Lewman, has basically been on Nickelodeon’s speed dial since the 90’s. He’s written tons of Nickelodeon tie-in books, spanning a bunch of different franchises including SpongeBob SquarePants, Jimmy Neutron, Rugrats, among many others. If you’ve read a SpongeBob book before, I say look him up. There’s a good chance you were reading something of his.

Kind of nice of them to make a whole game out of their adspace, eh? I mean, I’m guessing the amount of people who played isn’t particularly high, but… uh… The art is cool!

Speaking of the art, you never see these mascots in 2D anymore. Which I find unfortunate because I think they look a lot cuter and tolerable here.

Also wow, you can see the orange and brown candies before their designs were finalized. Or before their transitions, either or. Very proud of them regardless!

Pretty awesome article here about some of the gimmicks that filmmakers tried out during the black-and-white days of cinema. Love a bit of history alongside my Nickelodeon.

While we’re here, I’d like to contribute my own similar black-and-white movie gimmick factoid that I find amusing:

In 1961, a film called Mr. Sardonicus featured a gimmick called the “Punishment Poll”, where each audience member was given a card to decide the fate of the titular villain, Mr. Sardonicus, by either showing the side of their card with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on it right before the end of the film. Once the total was tallied, the theater was supposed to show the ending with the most votes.

The funny part is that the movie only has one ending. The gimmick was just a total lie and the only ending filmed was the one with the negative outcome for Mr. Sardonicus, so I guess the director was pretty confident that potential audiences would mostly be comprised of sadists that want to see a bad guy get his comeuppance.

Speaking of the director, Mr. Sardonicus just so happened to be directed by a mister William Castle, who also directed four out of the six films listed in the magazine article here. Guess those gimmicks really were good for profits.

Imagine watching a whole movie while sitting in a pool. Now stop imagining! I don’t like that very much. Your eyelids would prune shut before you could even see the ending.

Man, all these movie gimmicks and funky types of theaters is making me wish I was around when movies were more of an event. Y’know? The movie theater experience has pretty much been ironed out at this point, so the idea of watching the big screen outside or with the looming possibility of a big plastic skeleton popping out and waving around is particularly alluring. Take note, modern movie theaters, this may be your way of competing with streaming!

What? No, it doesn’t bother me at all that whoever owned this magazine already filled out this Sanrio quiz advertisement. Why would I be ENRAGED and UPSET about that!?!? IT'S NOT EVEN A BIG DEAL!!

… Anyway this ad is weird. I guess they didn't know how to market Sanrio in the west yet*. Cause I'm not exactly the most familiar but I'm pretty confident blaring red and yellow colors and funky multicolor Wow! text isn't exactly befitting of the Sanrio spirit. Also there's not really any point to the quiz. It's not like you can mail in your answers and get a free Hello Kitty lunchbox or something. I guess they just figured that kids love quizzes and will always jump at the opportunity to do them, circling the correct responses in permanent pen ink, and causing them to not consider the possibility that someoNE MIGHT WANT TO READ THE MAGAZINE AD AFTER THEM AND WOULD WANT IT MAINTAINED IN PEAK CLEANLINESS FOR THE SAKE OF THE SANCTITY OF THEIR ONLINE BLOG i must calm myself.

*Which is weird to me, because Hello Kitty feels like one of those characters who’s always been popular. Like Mickey Mouse or Steven Spielburg.

Don’t mind me, just gonna insert this contest page here so that if I ever do the issue that contains the actual responses, I can link back to here and go full circle. Pretty excited to someday see the responses! I wonder what they could be. I also wonder why you had to include a phone number with your response. Maybe Tommy Pickles congratulated you on the phone?

Okay, so I think this issue might be missing pages. I can’t prove that exactly, considering I don’t have the real thing sitting in front of me, but the way this ad has text that’s oddly cut off on the right side leads me to believe this was a two page spread originally. Maybe not, maybe the magazine was really like this and it's a printing error, maybe they spilled juice on the design document for page two and couldn’t fix it in time for publishing.

Whatever the case, I really wish I had that Aaahh!!! Real Monsters hat.

A rather understated cover for this edition of The Comic Book, and I can appreciate it. Simple and effective bit of zaniness with a spin on the old “fake-can-with-a-scary-thing-that-pops-out-when-you-open-it” gag. This comes to us from award-winning illustrator Jim Woodring, who’s got probably one of the nicest websites of any artist I’ve mentioned on this blog so far, so kudos. I took a look through his gallery, and it’s a lovely trip, so go take a look if you want some eye candy.

Been a while since we’ve last seen the Southern Fried Fugitives on this blog, one of Nick Magazine’s earliest recurring comic series. Unfortunately they’re not exactly in top form here, I’d say, even as someone who’s not the biggest fan of the comic to begin with. This is essentially a bit of filler so they could make their deadline and finish up the next “all new real adventure” that this episode tells you of at the end. I mean, I get it, this comic usually spanned a full three or four pages, I’m sure they took quite a bit of time. I just don’t really appreciate being shown a gross naked stitched up chicken.

A great hidden picture puzzle here, I could see kids having a lot of fun with this one and just looking through all the art. I guess my only issue would be that none of the answers are exactly hidden, since almost every figure in the page is related to one of the film titles below. But that’s a small nitpick considering that for just one activity of a much larger publication, it’s still pretty entertaining and eye-catching.

And here we’ve got ourselves what the powers at be call Smudgy and Scribbly. A comic about two inventive robots that I thought were supposed to be pencil erasers at first considering their names. I’m not sure if these abstract little guys ever had more than one or a couple of comics, but I know they didn’t stick around forever, since this is the first time I’m hearing of them. They’re cute! They’re fun! They don’t have a lot of personality per se, but that’s okay, because they eat fruit cocktails. And that’s a lesson for the kids.

I’ve been really impressed with this issue so far! They’ve really been making the most of the movie theme, what with aforementioned stuff like the quality movie gimmick article and the nice hidden picture puzzle. And to top it all off now we’ve even got an interview with Siskel & Ebert, two of the most famous film critics of all time. I’m not even sure how many kids at the time would appreciate this sort of thing, but whoever did must’ve been pretty happy. Said interview was conducted about three years before Siskel’s incredibly unfortunate passing, and three years after being parodied in an episode of Doug.

Anyway, yeah the interview questions are really silly, but that’s pretty par for the course by now. I just think it’s just cool they’re even in an issue of Nickelodeon Magazine at all.

Talking about the calendar included with each issue has become a bit of a tradition for this blog by now, hasn’t it? Although I’m sure I probably forgot to mention it one time. Overall this one’s not bad, it’s chock-full of facts and the little set-up & punchline at the Charlie Chaplin section is a ‘lil funny. And I think it’s sort of themed around artisans, maybe? Well worth being pinned on your bedroom door if you ask me, the only problem is that you’d also be ripping out a page of the Siskel & Ebert interview that’s printed on the back of this. At least the kid who wrote all over the magazine showed some restraint there.

Oh come on… I spoke too soon about showing restraint. The kid ripped out the flip book! What a trick… now I’ll never know what it looks like. At least we have the instructions here, which also could be doubly used for instructions on how to make your own flipbook by following the format, which is cool. Sorry for anyone who clicked on this post because you wanted to see the flipbook specifically. Sorry to you.

Moving past a five page article about the history of movies and movie effects (which is solid but doesn’t have much for me to say about), we now come across the cover story: James and the Giant Peach. And this is an alright interview, but it’s especially good for Nickelodeon Magazine! The questions for the film’s director, Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, among others), actually allow for some pretty nice informative detail regarding the process of stop-motion animation and how aspects of it work. For an interview intended for kids, this is great, especially for ones with an interest in the medium.

Interviews, interviews, and more interviews! If you’ve ever wanted to learn all that you could ever want to know Kenan & Kel, these are the pages for you. It’s nice to hear that apparently these guys were good friends off set, I guess. But y’know it’s never really bothered me finding out that seemingly inseparable co-stars actually aren’t best friends in real life like it does for a lot of people, I can still watch MythBusters perfectly fine even if I know Adam and Jamie aren’t going to go get drinks together after they finish dropping a car off a mountain for science. Acting’s still a job and I’m not expecting people to become friends just because they both stand in front of the same camera.

But hey, if K&K really were as good of friends as this magazine says, that’s really cool for them. Pretty lucky too, since this was just mere months away from the premiere of their own All That spinoff show, Kenan & Kel, which ran for four years, and less than a year before the premiere of their own movie, Good Burger*, so being friendly must’ve helped when they were spending that much time together. Not to mention they’re getting back together for Good Burger 2, so I guess when your legacies are so intrinsically tied together, I guess you’re bound to find some things to like about each other.

*One of my favorite comedies by the way, and no I’m not sorry. There’s very few films that match its vibes.

Feels like I should mention the 9th annual Kids’ Choice Awards was just around the corner, which featured such notable moments like Jim Carrey taking home two awards for Ace Ventura and his performance in Batman Forever, alongside Free Willy winning “Favorite Animal Star” for his(?) performance (?) in Free Willy 2: Willy Goes to Chile*. That category in particular got pretty heated, considering he was up against fierce competition in the form of Babe from… Babe. “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio won best song. Although Brandy would beat out both Coolio and Michael Jackson for winner of “Favorite Singer”, so it wasn’t exactly a Coolio sweep, per se.

But of course, the real big winner of that night was Tim Allen, for winning “Favorite TV Actor” and being enacted into the Nickelodeon Hall of Fame (yes, for real). All while Home Improvement won ”Favorite TV Show”, which I find is an outright snubbing of the also nominated Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Again, just my opinion.

*(Okay, it was actually called Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, but I like my idea more).

Before we go, I’d just like to draw attention to this winner of a parade float idea contest held in a previous issue, finally presented in all its glory here. No offense to the kid who designed it but I can only imagine the type of child nightmares that could spawn from a giant Elvis making its way down the street, pulled along by his Elvis impersonating minions. Just a thought.

This was a really good issue, I’m actually pretty shocked with how much of it I found interesting and entertaining, even now as an adult. They really put their all into this one and I think the movie theme really paid off.

Some parts I didn’t get to were the aforementioned article on the history of film and film effects, which isn’t a bad read, especially if you’re into the good old days of practical effects.

There was an interview with at-the-time child star Michelle Trachtenberg, to promote the upcoming release of the Nickelodeon film Harriet the Spy, which featured her in the starring role. I partly didn’t talk about it because I didn’t think there was much to say, and partly out of spite because that movie was pretty bad. Also because I’m running out of available image slots on this post. But mainly the first two reasons! Sort of.

Oh, yeah, and that alien mongrel QZ made another appearance, answering kids’ questions and just looking gross as usual. Avoid page 52 at all costs!

So yeah, that’ll do it! I’m glad I got to tackle another 90’s issue. I’ve also been thinking about branching out a bit, maybe talking about other Nickelodeon books, or heck, maybe even doing retrospectives of some of their shows! If anybody’s interested or has any requests (Nickelodeon Magazine related or otherwise), feel free to let me know. Otherwise I’ll just keep using my little spinner board that I use to make all decisions related to this blog.

Until next time, have a good one, and keep on reading!

#nmh post #90s #1996 #nickelodeon #magazine

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abookishdreamer · 1 year

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Character Intro: Morá (Kingdom of Ichor)

Age- 15 (immortal)

Location- Hearthwood neighborhood, New Olympus

Personality- She's a true individualist! Despite her naivete, she's caring, playful, intuitive, & determined. While others may think of certain "traits" as hindrances or something to overcome, she views them as her strengths.

She has the standard abilities of a goddess except shapeshifting. As the goddess of babies & children, her other powers/abilities include limited vitakinesis (healing), being able to read babies and small childrens' thoughts (as well as telekinetically being able to communicate with them), inducing an illusion of renewed youth or energy in a person temporarily, and can make others fall asleep temporarily by singing a lullaby. It's often said that she gives off a scent of soap & warm milk- a similar scent to that of a newborn baby.

Morá lives with her mom Thilasmós (goddess of nursing) in a large farmhouse style home in the Hearthwood neighborhood. They own a wide array of cuddly pets like cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, a few pot bellied piglets, & three new recently aquired bearded dragons. Her bedroom has a kidcore aesthetic with the walls being painted in bright colors. Lots of various toys & stuffed animals lie on top of her bed. There's a second closet that's filled with other various toys (like dolls), puzzles, crayons, paints, markers, board games, crafts, & coloring books.

Her personal fashion style is also related to the kidcore aesthetic- different fabrics/materials, bold & pastel colors and patterns, high tops, denim overalls, puffy sleeves, & baseball tees. Morá's favorite fashion brand Kaleidoscope Lab contains many of these elements!

One of her favorite things that she likes to use is her deep amaranth colored weighted blanket (gifted to her by the hearth goddess). When she's feeling sad or having a bad day, she finds comfort in her blanket while her mom massages her scalp.

Some of her favorite things to eat for breakfast include Golden Kreme Crunch cereal, chocolate chip pancakes (drizzled in chocolate syrup), eggs (sunny side up), hash browns, kale-banana yogurt, & her ultimate favorite- her mom's breakfast pizza (topped with scrambled eggs, mozzerella cheese, sausage, sausage gravy, & bacon).

Morá cries every time a foster child leaves her & her mom. She wants her mom to formally adopt "an entire army of siblings."

She often times find it difficult to relate to or connect with her peers which is one of the reasons she feels a kinship towards babies and small children. Whether it's through babysitting, Morá feels like she's not putting on a facade- that she can authentically be herself without judgement.

She loves watching animated films & television shows!

Some of her favorite sweet treats to eat aside from candy include strawberry gelatin cups, vanilla custard pudding, and strawberry yogurt coated granola bars.

Morá knows how she's looked at by the general public & in the pantheon, often compared to Techne (goddess of arts, crafts, & invention) and Koalemos (god of foolishness) for being neurodivergent. She's proud of not fitting the mold for a "typical person" or deity.

In addition to her childlike mannerisms & proclivities, she's also dyslexic.

Morá is currently on break from school which she attends with other godly kids. Eleos (Ellie) (goddess of mercy, pity, & compassion), Eiresione (Ren) (goddess of offerings), & Philautia (goddess of self love) are nice to her and often say hi. She almost always spends her lunch with Koalemos as they get along great! Morá comforts him whenever he's in a bad mood or being picked on & they often have camp sleepovers in the livingroom of their houses. She also helps him with his homework sometimes if his aide leaves early.

Morá is a member of her school's cheerleading team, impressing the team's captain with her vibrant energy, flexibility, flips, & cartwheels.

Her favorite lipgloss shade to wear is Olmorfia's "Enchanted Candy", a light glittery pink color.

In the pantheon she really likes some of her mom's friends like Leto (Titaness of demurity & motherhood); who gifted her with a Diamond Ave. unicorn shaped clutch for her birthday, Apheleia (goddess of simplicity); who's Koalemos' mother, Hestia (goddess of the hearth); and her naturally warm hugs, Thalia (muse of comedy); is a fan of her comic books and animated TV shows, Eudaimonia (goddess of happiness), & Elpis (goddess of hope).

She can change a diaper in fifteen seconds flat!

Her all time favorite desert from Hollyhock's Bakery is the neopolitan cake (topped with vanilla buttercream frosting, chocolate ganache, and candied strawberries).

Her favorite thing to order from Olympic Chef is a cheeseburger with large waffle cut fries and a large strawberry soda.

Morá unofficially runs her own babysitting service! The only condition (set by her mom) is that she can't babysit no longer than 10 pm on weeknights. Most of the money saved up is going towards University, where she hopes to major in children's education. She has treated herself with buying a couple of Diamond Ave. clutches on her own (a milkshake shaped one and one in the shape of a piece of candy).

In her free time, she enjoys a wide range of activities like gymnastics (loves doing cartwheels & backflips), yoga, painting (her favorite being oil and watercolor), doing various craft projects, reading (listening to audiobooks), knitting, lanyard, playing video games, laser tag, cloud surfing, going to museums, and spending time at the park.

Some of her favorite meals include her mom's creamy mac n' cheese, Hestia's lemon-honey glazed fried chicken, white rice with sesame chicken meatballs, & ravioli casserole. Morá has started to learn how to cook, her specialty so far being moussaka egg rolls!

"Children have a different kind of wisdom."

#my oc #my original oc #original character #oc character #my character #my oc character #oc intro #character intro #oc introduction #character introduction #modern greek gods #modern greek mythology #greek myth retellings #greek goddess #greek goddesses

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parisiangiraffe · 5 years

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I kinda wanna ask all these numbers for Weiss, because i like your Weiss headcanons

You got it :^)

Which type of cereal is their favorite?I’m really sorry, but I just keep seeing her with Frosted Flakes---

What outfit do they wear when they need to feel confident?Some NICE HIGH HEELS brand new, polished, with a sword at the ready, hun!!!

Describe their dream dateShe WOULD enjoy a nice romantic dinner in a sectioned off area just for the two of them followed by a walk around a garden/park, but I don’t think she’d be too picky (although she’d pretend to be) :*)

What is their bath or shower routine?Definitely a bath with soaps of her favorite scents (I’m imagining lavender or a sea cotton scent?). There are days where she’ll do a full skin care routine and others, she just falls right asleep without doing any of it

What is their love language?I’m thinking acts of service- getting them food, taking them out for a breath of fresh air...just something to make their day easier :*)

What was on the TOP of their Haukkah/Christmas/Birthday/etc list as a kid?One of those bunkbeds that had a freakin slide attached. She never got that one---

What did their high school love letters look like?Fancy stationery, FRILLED EDGES with cursive writing. All sealed together with a wax seal YEP

What is their bedtime routine?Coffee (if she’s studying late), study/work, a nice bath, skincare routine if she still has that energy, maybe read a bit in bed/reading stuff on her scroll, yell at Ruby to CALM DOWN SHE’S TRYING TO RELAX, fall tf asleep eventually

Describe their happiest birthday.Shortly after her team and JNR reunited. They had a nice get together with a cake that Ren made (because everyone else woulda burned that shit) and she tried really hard not to tear up because it was the first time it was acknowledged in a long long time :*)

What makes them melt romantically?Ruby bein a FUCKIN DUMBASS

What is their favorite ride at Disneyland? Favorite food?She likes the tea cups but she LOVES just chilling by Cinderella’s castle. She asks anyone on the team to take #aesthetic pictures of her by it until she gets a good angle. And she loves the ice cream :*)

What craft do they learn to make for a gift? Who do they give it to?SCARVES. All for her team and their colors :*)

How do they like to provide for others?Always has good advice/great to talk to, WILL call you out on your shit and guide you in the right direction

What game do they always select for game night?Everyone starts fuckin GROANING when Weiss pulls out that Pretty Pretty Princess board game (Blake is secretly fuckin delighted)

What fandom do they write fanfic for? Give us a small sample.I’m not giving a sample but she’s written some mad shit on some Atlas boy bands....

Which household chore do they privately love?I’m seein her LOVING TO VACUUM for whatever reason

What sappy nickname do they give their loved one(s)?Deeeeffinitely sweetie, honey, darling, etc.

What is their favorite touristy thing to do when traveling?Takin pictures for the GRAM

Do they like to receive flowers? Give flowers? What kinds?BOTH. She’ll often give various white flowers, maybe lillies. But she has a soft spot for red roses (WINK)

How do they warm up when it’s cold outside?She huddles in a big blanket, we been knew

What makes them feel proud?Her development over her time at Beacon, her strength in fighting and her independence :*)

What is their usual Starbucks order?Peppermint hot chocolate with whipped cream~

How does this character indulge themselves?They all have chocolate in the dorm-- (But when she’s down, she’ll sneak off to dog shelters to see puppies)

Which sappy romantic movie is their favorite? Do they admit to it?She loves ANY bad romantic movie, but she won’t dare admit it

What brings them the most unmitigated joy in all the world?Her team :*)

#OKAY THAT WAS A LONG ONE #I won't do ALL of them for other asks tho #Anonymous

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colorofyourhair · 7 years

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Civic Duty

Prompt:

Prompt Rating: T

Note: Requests are currently closed. I will make a post with guidelines when they are open again. As tumblr is the only site that will let me list an individual rating per chapter I’ll rate them as content demands. However the larger compilation on both FFN and AO3 are rated M.

Also posted here:

FFN

AO3

She positioned her coffee cup as far away from her laptop as possible. Experience had taught her that lesson the hard way. Erza bit into her croissant and instantly wished she'd went with chocolate instead of plain. She opened the network's front page while brushing pastry flakes from her shirt. The bolded headline nearly made her choke.

E.N.N. CEO HAS PRIVATE DINNER WITH SENIOR COUNCIL MEMBER.

With a fifteen hundred jewel bar tab citizens can rest assured their tax dollars are well spent on burying murdered intern sex scandal!!

Erza glanced around the newsroom before taking another bite of her breakfast to hide her smirk. The headline may be sensationalist but it wasn't exactly untrue. For the last week, the news manager had been under increasing pressure to make the reports of Gran Doma's affair with a recently found dead intern go away. For his part, the news manager resisted but if the CEO had been bought and paid for, the story would very likely get buried.

Private dinners and money changing hands couldn't bury the growing public dislike of Gran Doma and his brand of authority, though. He'd filled the Council with cronies and government agencies with family members. Erza found it to be the worst kind of nepotism. She didn't doubt he had the reach to have an intern who'd become a problem murdered without ever getting his hands dirty. So far, though, solid proof of both the affair and involvement with her death had remained elusive.

“Wow, Erza,” Lucy said from behind her. “Looks like your hacker struck again.”

“It's not my hacker.” Erza muttered, stuffing the rest of her croissant into her mouth.

“It's your thing, though,” Lucy teased. “I'd love to know who he is. Got any leads for me?”

“There's no way of guessing who they are, and no I don't. I just fix the site when it happens and that's all.”

“Sure thing, Erza. You'd let me know if you knew anything, though, right?” Lucy leaned against the edge of Erza's desk. “You wouldn't give the lead to anyone else?”

Erza sighed. “Of course, Lucy. I'd give it all to you over any one of these testosterone slinging idiots any day of the week.”

“I'm just sick of the fluff pieces, you know? I want something juicy.”

“Trust me, I get it. I'd love to stick it to all the mansplainers in IT, too.”

“At least you were promoted out of The Dungeon.”

Erza nodded as her eyes began to scroll through the lines of code. The hacker had been clever this time and her eye twitched. Lucy was still talking.

“Though, you were probably the only reason the bottom floor smelled like anything other than scorched coffee and Axe Body Spray.” Erza half-laughed at Lucy's joke but her fingers were already clicking away. “Ooh, is that Makarov over there?”

Erza jolted and her eyes frantically swept the room. She didn't need the news manager over her shoulder – not that he could've seen over her shoulder anyway.

“I'm kidding,” Lucy said, nudging her shoulder. “You need to lighten up. You've been jumpy all week. Don't tell me this hacker is getting to you?”

“Not at all,” Erza muttered, glancing around the newsroom again. “Listen, I have to go fix that snag in the office chat boxes. Want to have lunch together?”

“I'm meeting Natsu. He's got a nightshift this week and I won't see him as much. Maybe tomorrow?”

“I understand about the nightshift. Jellal's been on the ER graveyard for what feels a month.” Erza stood and closed her laptop. She would leave it behind but definitely not open for prying eyes.

“I'll see you, then.” Lucy smiled and wove her way through the maze of desks.

The Dungeon was a term used to describe the rooms of servers and Tetris-like layout of cubicles used by the IT department. Erza used to have one such cubicle until earning a promotion to the newsroom floor where she personally managed the layout of the Era News Network's front page and oversaw bug reports that were sent to the IT group in The Dungeon. Most of the time her stress level was pretty low and that was mostly due to her new desk location. Despite her expertise and time with the network, certain male employees still failed to recognize her seniority.

Erza stopped next to Hibiki's cubical and he grinned up at her in a way that might have perhaps charmed someone who didn't know him as well. He was flirtatious in a mostly self-aware way.

“And what can I do for you today, Miss Scarlet?” Hibiki asked leaning back in his chair and linking his hands together.

“Can you handle the chat situation for me, please? It should be a simple fix, I just don't have the patience today.”

“Sure, it would be my pleasure, ma'am.” He suddenly sat up and grinned. “You've seen the front page, right? I bet they're having a shit fit upstairs.”

“I fixed the CEO headline but he fucked with the code this time. I have to go through and –” Erza sighed and flicked the fringe of hair from her face. “Anyway. If you can handle that, I'd love it.”

“No problem.” Hibiki's phone chimed and he nodded subtly to the elevator. “Ichiya's on his way.”

“Thanks, Hibiki. I owe you one.” Erza navigated the cubicles – shooting a sharp eye at Ren who wasn't even trying to hide the game on his phone – and quickly slipped through the door leading to the stairs. Avoiding Ichiya would be the pinnacle of her day.

Erza kicked off her shoes and gave Pantherlily a pat on his furry head before shedding her skirt and shirt on a bee-line for the bed. The sheets were still rumpled and a light steam rolled from the cracked bathroom door. Just before closing her eyes, Erza saw Jellal's open laptop on the edge of the desk. She rolled her eyes and pulled a pillow over her head.

A slice of periwinkle blue blocked her view and the smell of his soap filled the room. Erza tossed the pillow vaguely in his direction before rolling over to her back.

“Aw come on,” Jellal said softly. “It could've been worse.”

“I suppose I should thank you,” she sighed. “It got me out of spending my afternoon fixing a stupid chat bug.” Jellal laughed and stretched out in the bed beside her. His clean scrub top was still folded on top of the chest of drawers and the sleeves of his white undershirt hugged his biceps.

“Anything but a chat bug,” he joked, slapping hand over his heart. “The horror!” His dimpled grin faded. “You're wasted in that office, Erza.”

“I know,” she whispered touching his cheek with her fingertips.

“Am I making it worse?”

“You're doing the public a service.”

“Maybe it's selfish but I won't do it at the cost of your stress level or job.” Jellal settled onto the sheets next to her and Erza rolled to face him. She leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth softly.

“I'll survive. I look like a hero every time I fix it. As long as you use the backdoor I gave you, it's untraceable.” Erza swiped the remnants of her lip balm from his cheek with her thumb. “I'm more worried about you and your source.” She ran her fingers through his damp hair. “Are you sure this is safe?”

“As safe as I can make it, Erza. He's a cop and if Gran Doma's tentacles are worming around in law enforcement as well as the private sector and media, we're all fucked.”

“The sex scandal headline you put up this morning had over three thousand clicks before I took it down and the front page itself cracked ten.”

“Good.” Jellal's phone alarm shattered the quiet of the moment and Pantherlily perched on the edge of the mattress. He reached behind himself to grab the phone and silence the alarm. “I work until three this morning. I went shopping so there's plenty of stuff for dinner.”

“Oh, thank you. I'm so tired I was prepared to eat dry cereal.” Jellal laughed and leaned over to kiss her before standing and pulling on his scrub top. She blew him one last kiss as he gave Pantherlily a goodbye scratch behind the ears. Once the front door of their apartment shut and she heard the deadbolt latch, she pulled the cat onto her chest. He settled into a bun and purred loudly.

Erza woke to a gentle shake of her shoulder. Jellal plugged what looked like a flash drive into his laptop. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair.

“What's –” her words were cut off by a yawn. “What's going on?”

“This is a bunch of raw files from the EPD server. My source left it for me. You're going to want to have a look at this.” Jellal slid his laptop over to her. Erza's eyes widened as she flipped through the document previews.

“Wow,” she muttered. “This is – this is pretty damning.”

“Erza we're looking at original documentation of the body and the autopsy. This is ugly.”

“It looks like I'll have a story for Lucy after all.” Erza reached for her phone. Hopefully Lucy would be awake and ready for a bombshell.

#Fairy Tail #Jerza #Jellal Fernandes #Erza Scarlet #Prompt Requests

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