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#singing than reading. but mostly! mostly it was just the whole idea of this piece: how skillfully it employs outsider pov to undercut our
silenzahra · 13 days
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Mario and Luigi: Musicians 🎶
Yesterday I came up with an idea: what would Mario and Luigi be like as musicians? I mentioned it here first, and then the amazing @itsavee4117 did some research and found out what instruments each brother can cannonically play, though they also added two more with which I totally agree. So here's the list:
Instruments that Mario can play: piano, guitar, synthesizer, xylophone, saxophone, timpani and trumpet.
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Instruments that Luigi can play: violin, acoustic guitar, ukulele and double bass too!
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With this, and with the ideas I had started cooking up yesterday thanks to my favorite band releasing a new album, I ended up coming up with three ideas! 😁 So yeah, this may end up being a bit long, so make sure to grab a snack or a drink before reading!
@vulpixfairy1985 @itsavee4117 @kelbreyworshipper @bberetd @pepperycar @peaches2217 @keakruiser HERE WE GO! 💖
For the first idea, since I was inspired by my favorite band (Estopa, a band formed by two brothers from a town near Barcelona), I'll be adding (mostly at the end of the first part) the links to some reference pictures so you can see where I got some of my ideas 🥰
Without further ado: let's go! ❤️💚✨
1. First idea: Band
Both Mario and Luigi have always had very good voices. Since they were little, the two would often sing for fun, and they continue to do so nowadays, especially when they’re cleaning. They put on their own concerts with their broom and mop and do their own dances. When they live in Brooklyn, their family often joins them, and they all sing together while cleaning, but Mario and Luigi's voices always stand out. In the Mushroom Kingdom, their neighbors Toads always delight in listening to them every time it's thorough cleaning day in the brothers' home.
They both start playing different instruments just for fun. Mario, being so frisky and energetic, wants to try everything, which is why he decides to learn to play not one, but several instruments: piano, synthesizer, saxophone, trumpet, electric guitar, timpani and xylophone. It seems a lot to take on, but all it takes is for someone (aka his father) to tell Mario that he can't play so many instruments for him to put all his efforts into learning each and every one of them. The result? He's pretty good at them all, with piano, electric guitar and trumpet being his main specialties. And his favorites, too.
In Luigi's case, he wanted to focus on a single instrument, his favorite: the violin. He started practicing at a very young age and has been practicing every day since then, only missing a few days for reasons of force majeure (a family problem, something that triggered his anxiety...). When he takes up the instrument again, however, he feels better and calmer, his anxiety and problems disappear with every note he plucks on its strings, and he always feels the music so deeply that he doesn't even realize that his melodies hypnotize and enrapture those who listen to them. He always ends up all flushed and overwhelmed when, after finishing a piece, he realizes that he’s the center of attention.
He began to try his hand at the guitar in his teens, after listening to Mario practicing with the electric guitar. He opted for the acoustic, however, softer and gentler, and has become a great guitarist. Also, for fun, he tried the ukulele and liked it quite a bit, and he's also made his first steps on the double bass until becoming very good at it. He's always open to trying new string instruments in the future. They're his specialty and his favorite.
At some parties and family events, the brothers have shown off their skills with their respective instruments. On more than one occasion, they have joined on an improvised stage, Mario with the electric guitar, Luigi with the acoustic, and have sung duets of some of their favorite Italian songs to the delight of their whole family.
Shortly after arriving in the Mushroom Kingdom, as soon as Peach finds out that both brothers are quite good musicians, she immediately asks them to play in some of the typical festivities of her kingdom. Both are reluctant at first, shy and insecure, but in the end, Mario, always willing to please his beloved princess, finally agrees. He brings all his instruments from home and dedicates a whole private session to Peach, wanting, without really realizing it, to impress her with all the instruments he can play. And Peach is indeed super impressed!
Luigi, being more insecure and not wanting to be the center of attention, is much less willing to agree to the princess' request, and she, always so kind, does not press him, respecting his shyness. Mario, on the other hand, tries to convince his brother: with a soft and comforting voice, he tells him that it will be just like changing audiences, since, instead of their family, they’ll have the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom being amazed by their music. And, of course, Mario will always be on stage with him, so Luigi can choose to stay further back while Mario remains in the spotlight. "If you want to, Lu," Mario tells him at the end, a warm smile on his lips. "We can do it that way if you want, but if you're still not sure, you can stay next to Peach and watch me play."
This causes Luigi to give him a sly look. "You just want the princess to admire you," he says with a chuckle, nudging him. Mario looks at him puzzled. "What are you talking about?" And Luigi, still laughing, eventually agrees. "All right, I'll do it. I'll play with you."
Before starting, since Luigi is very nervous and anxiety is eating at him, Mario stands in front of him, puts his hands on Luigi's shoulders and calls out to him in a low voice. He slowly lifts his brother's chin to get Luigi to look at him and, once he has his attention, looks him intently in the eyes as he rests his forehead on Luigi's. "It's going to be okay," Mario tells him. "We're doing this for fun, okay? We're in time to stop if you don't want to continue."
But Luigi nods, nervous but determined at the same time, and Mario, smiling proudly, places his index finger between Luigi’s eyebrows. "Focus," he whispers to his brother in a soothing voice. "All that matters is playing music and having a good time." Luigi, though somewhat taken aback at first, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, and, while Mario's finger is still resting on his forehead, Luigi reaches up and puts his index finger between Mario's eyebrows as well (reference image). They both smile with their eyes closed and take a deep breath before separating, and, with a smile and a nod, they get ready to start.
Thus begins what ends up becoming a habit: the brothers, armed with their respective guitars, get on stage together and sing their favorite Italian songs, but also different versions of various well-known and famous songs in Brooklyn (and in all of America). Peach, in time, also tells them about the most popular tunes of the Mushroom Kingdom, and they do not hesitate to incorporate them into their repertoire after rehearsing them.
As Mario suggested, he stands center stage, with all the spotlights on him. He plays his electric guitar and sings, and throws knowing glances at Luigi from time to time. His brother remains a few steps behind, standing in front of his microphone, playing his acoustic guitar and backing him up. Respecting his wishes, which Peach has made sure to communicate the Toads in charge of the lighting, only one spotlight is pointed at him.
Fortunately, once they start singing, Luigi gradually loosens up, letting himself be carried away by the music, and forgets his shyness. Therefore, both brothers end up singing equally and putting all their souls and passion into their songs. Mario, encouraged to see Luigi more devoted to music and less overwhelmed, dares to approach him. They play their respective guitars back-to-back, giving their best shot (reference image though Mario plays an electric guitar), and often share Luigi's microphone: Mario forgets his own and approaches his brother, and both, without stopping playing, look at each other while using the same mic, singing with all their will (reference image). More than once, at the end of a verse or a song, they quickly put their foreheads together before turning to the audience (reference image), a gesture that makes them feel more united and in tune, and also at peace, as they’re sharing their passion for music with their favorite person in the whole world.
I know the last picture wasn't really necesary, since we all know Mario and Luigi do the forehead touch all the time, but honestly, seeing my favorite band doing it too fills me with so much joy I simply wanted to include it 🤭🥹 A few more references:
-Mario and Luigi hugging like this at the end of a concert
-This is how I personally picture them singing on stage!
-Mario looking at Luigi proudly, putting his hands on his shoulders and then doing the forehead touch
-Mario grabbing Luigi like this to kiss him on the head
-Mario ruffling Luigi's hair lovingly
-Mario and Luigi doing a silly dance (jump to 3.37 to see it!)
So this is it! This is my favorite band and this is how I picture our beloved brothers being on stage 🥹 I think it'd be AMAZING to see them live! 🤩💚❤️
As for Estopa, in case you're curious, the older brother is David, the singer, the one with the goatee, and the guitarist is Jose, the younger brother. They're not twins, but in many interviews they've stated that they feel as if they were. They're just as close as Mario and Luigi are and I love them 🥹 (both Estopa and the Mario brothers!)
On to the second idea! ✨
2. Second idea: Classical Music
Since Mario and Luigi can play more instruments, Peach soon comes up with an idea where they can show off their other musical skills. When she organizes balls and receptions to strengthen ties with other kingdoms, Mario and Luigi are invited to liven up the evening, the former sitting at the piano, the latter with his violin in his hands. They usually start with a piano solo that gets all the applause from the audience, since Mario is really very good, but then Luigi starts playing the violin and everyone is spellbound by the sweetness and mastery of the youngest of the brothers with this beautiful instrument. Of course, Mario is always the first to acclaim him, full of pride, just as Luigi is the first to praise Mario with his piano solos.
Often, the two of them join both instruments and play beautiful classical pieces, both completely devoted to the beauty of the notes they pluck on the piano and violin. The audience is always bewitched listening to them, completely captivated, with Peach and Daisy being the first to deeply admire the brothers' artistic talents. The only bad part? That, since they’re the ones who are creating such beautiful music, they don't have the chance to dance to it with their respective princesses. Fortunately, Peach takes into consideration that Mario and Luigi will also want to enjoy the evening and not just enliven it, so she hires a talented orchestra of Toads so that both she and her friend Daisy have the opportunity to dance with both plumbers in the purest Pride and Prejudice style.
(None of the princesses knows what Pride and Prejudice is at first, but Luigi will be sure to explain to both of them what his favorite book is about, and Peach will end up reading it and loving it too. This will make both she and Luigi appreciate in greater depth every step they take in their dances with Mario and Daisy respectively).
Here, I have to say I imagine them playing a duet of Howl's Moving Castle. Yes, I know I also used that song for my Luaisy fanfic, but it's so beautiful I believe it totally fits! ✨
3. Third idea: New Donk City Festival
Mayor Pauline organizes an annual festival to commemorate the history of her city, and, since she’s not only the mayor but also a singer, she loves to sing and dance every year in front of her devoted audience. Learning of Mario and Luigi's musical prowess, she does not hesitate to invite them to join her for this year's festival, and Mario, seeing it as an opportunity to play more than one instrument, gladly accepts. Luigi, laughing at his brother's enthusiasm, agrees, again, to stay behind, this time switching between his guitar and his double bass, and also backing vocals for Pauline. Mario, for his part, asks to have on hand every instrument he can play while on stage.
Thus, when the night of the festival arrives, Luigi stands behind Pauline, with his guitar and his voice, and sometimes playing his double bass instead. Pauline often turns to him and gives him broad smiles with which she intends both to thank him for sharing his talent with her and to encourage him to keep it up.
As for Mario, he keeps switching instruments. Pauline has not hesitated to comply with his request, so Mario moves around the stage, and at each new song, he changes instruments. The xylophone, the saxophone, the keyboard, the trumpet... Mario is delighted to be able to show off such versatility and play each of his instruments according to what each song requires, and both Pauline and Luigi are happy to see him so joyful and enthusiastic.
In the last song, since Mario has already tried all his instruments, he gets carried away by the music and Pauline's voice and, still excited and energetic, runs to Luigi, takes him by the hand and drags him until they’re both right behind Pauline. Mario then begins to dance without letting go of his brother's hands, encouraging him to do the same, and Pauline starts to clap her hands while continuing to sing. Luigi, despite his initial confusion, eventually lets go as well, so that the two brothers dance together on stage while Pauline concludes the festival. The two of them, besides being good musicians and singers, are also very good dancers.
Here you can picture Mario dancing like he does in Super Mario Odyssey and Luigi dancing like he does in Luigi's Mansion 2 and 3.
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(Though without the scaried face 😂)
So this is it! 😁 These are the ideas I came up with for our favorite brothers being musicians 🥰 It's an idea I honestly love and that makes my love and devotion for the Mario brothers grow 🥹
I'll definitely be including some of these ideas in future fanfics! 😁 What do you think of all this? In case you'd like to create something related to this, be my guest! All I ask is to give credits, please 🙏💖
UPDATE: Please don't miss the incredible drawings made by the amazing @itsavee4117 to illustrate two of my ideas! 🤩🤩🤩 They're PERFECT and have me screaming! 👏👏👏
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dominophile · 2 months
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TW: suicide (the whole piece leads up to that), talk of infection, talk of blood, talk of decay, gun mention and use, just general angst
Also warning: some hinted at oc x canon. I know that's not everyone's jam.
This is a Trolls Infection au. This piece is the thoughts and actions leading up to my oc (Gizmo) taking his own life.
I think this is a nice show of my writing skills! (and maybe people will request stuff /j)
Please keep in mind this is an oc writing piece, it includes some characters that don't exist in canon!
Fiend belongs to @plague-doctors-tomato-soup
With all that said and done, read away! And if you see a spelling error no you don't 😊 /j
Trolls Infection: Gizmo's Chosen Fate
Gizmo sits on the grass, friends gathered around him making sure he's ok. He doesn't notice. He's staring at the blood soaked grass in front of him.
Why keep going when this fate befalls everyone he knows?
He already lost two of his best friends, granted one was still alive somewhere in the woods, just infected beyond recognition. But he knew. He knew it was her the moment they locked eyes before she sprinted off, protecting him just as she did when they were alive and well.
Why did his life matter so much, that even the decaying disease ridden body of his closest friend would care to save his ass again? Especially since that's what sealed her fate in the first place.
"Hey Gizmo, you ok...?" He snaps back to reality, hearing his name.
"...I'm fine Floyd. I just... I gotta stop wandering off I guess." He concludes. That wasn't the truth, and he was sure Floyd knew that. But he also knew Floyd wouldn't pry, not now.
There was at least a little truth to his words though. He had been wandering off lately. He wasn't sure why, but he just felt like... searching. For what he had no idea, just something.
He would often find himself deep in the woods, the sounds of creatures nearby, hidden by the inky black of night didn't scare him. After all, dying by the hands of a wild animal would be a mercy at this point. At least he wouldn't end up killing off his own friends like if he was infected.
He barely notices Floyd helping him up off the ground, just moving whatever direction he was pulled.
He walks back to camp in a daze. This couldn't go on, he couldn't stand living like this anymore.
He was useless in a fight, he knew he was dragging the rest of the group down.
He couldn't just run either, every time an infected came hear him, he was no better than a deer trapped in the headlights, knowing certain death was near but never moving to avoid it.
That started with Creek. For whatever their often strained relationship was worth, he had liked the guy. A lot actually. It was an added bonus to have someone who knew meditation and breathing methods too. He was calmer, for a while. He felt safe somehow. Maybe that's why he didn't run when he saw what had become of the other. Why he looked past the animalistic, murderous look in his dull eyes. Why Fiend wasn't here with him anymore.
Just him being here was causing so many problems. He didn't want to be a burden like that
His other option was being a coward, but he didn't mind. As long as he never had to see the last few people he cared about become infected.
So the plan was set.
Gizmo spends the rest of the day in high spirits. Singing duets with Poppy, scavenging with Branch, spending quality time with Floyd, whatever anyone in the group wanted.
When he has a moment, he digs through his bag, it holds some essentials, but mostly a few things he thought to be valuable to him. Sentimental value had kept him going at the start of all this.
He spends some time handing out his things to everyone in the group. Brushing off the concern from a few of them.
"It's nothing I just care"
"I was scared of losing it"
"this suits you much better"
Finally, he has two things left. His own personal choker, and his hug time bracelet.
The bracelet went to Branch. He didn't have his own, so Gizmo had a great excuse to hand it over.
His choker was another story, and he doesn't give it up until the sun begins to set
"Floyd, hey, can I talk to you?" He calls out, waving Floyd down and smiling brightly.
"What's going on?" Floyd asks, walking closer to the unsettlingly cheerful Troll.
"I have a gift!"
"A gift?"
"Yeah!" He takes the choker from around his neck, and places it in Floyd's hands.
Floyd looks at him, obviously confused, so Gizmo elaborates.
"It's to remember me by!"
"Remember you...?"
"Mhm! You never know what could happen, so when something does, don't forget me, ok?"
"Gizmo nothings going to happen to you, we all will make sure of that"
"I know I know just- please promise me?"
"But-"
"Please Floyd. Just promise you won't forget me. For my peace of mind please just promise me." The happy disguise falters, and he can feel tears threatening to fall if he's not careful to keep his emotions in check.
Floyd hesitates. "...Ok. Yeah I promise, of course I won't forget you. I could never."
"Good!" Gizmo brightens up again. "Now it's getting dark, let's get some rest?" He suggests, already walking back to the others who are settling in for the night. Floyd follows, but he doesn't say a word.
Time passes, everyone falls asleep, Gizmo is curled up like a cat against Floyd, but he's not asleep. His eyes are open, his vision blurry from the tears.
Eventually, he stands up, careful to not wake anyone. He sits up against a tree where the moonlight is hitting it just enough that he can see what he's doing. He pulls a piece of paper and a pen from someone's bag, and begins writing.
I love all of you. So much. Don't think my actions mean I don't. By the time you find this note, I'm hopefully long gone.
I don't have a place here, I think you all know that. I got my best friend killed, because I couldn't fight.
So with that said, don't any of you give up like I am. I'm a coward, I already know that. I always have been.
Stay safe, stay alive, find a way out of this. I know you guys can do it once I'm gone.
I'm sorry I couldn't handle this. I'm sorry I took the easy way out. I love you.
With all my love,
Gizmo
Gizmo looks at the note, cringing slightly at his own sloppy handwriting. It was readable, it's fine.
He reads the last part, wondering if who that's meant for will figure that out. He hopes not. In some sad way he's sure they already know what's going to happen, even before they'll read the note.
With a sigh, he takes the paper and places it under a heavy rock, making sure it's still visible.
He then rumages around quietly until he finds a small gun. He fumbles with it until there's only one bullet inside. No reason to take their supplies beyond what he needs after all.
He moves to his own bag, digging around the few remains of items inside and pulling out what Fiend left him. His only remaining possessions he didn't hand off to the others.
He puts everything on, takes a deep breath, and turns away from the group, walking into the dark forest.
He's searching again, but this time he knows what for.
He's looking for an end. His end. To finally finish this chapter and close the book for good.
He walks, taking in the sounds and smells of the forest. It was eerily quiet, almost like the forest itself knew what was about to happen, and was offering a moment of silence.
He finds a small clearing, surrounded by trees almost in a circle. To someone else, it would seem creepy, but he felt at peace. He knew everything would be ok again soon. It was almost over. He was almost free.
He turns back the way he came, looking out into the woods. He knew the camp was that way, where all his friends we're sleeping peacefully. He hopes their dreams serve as an escape from the nightmare reality has become.
He takes a shakey breath, absentmindedly setting the gun up to shoot. He doesn't move his gaze, instead holding the gun up and placing it against his head.
Then he smiles. Tears stream down his cheeks, but he's smiling.
"I love you Floyd" Is all he can think to say, not giving himself the time to think the words over before he pulls the trigger.
Boom.
A gunshot sounds throughout the forest, echoing around the trees and scaring the birds up into the sky.
The sound was louder than Gizmo probably intended, but he couldn't do anything now. His world was already faded to black.
Finally, he could sleep at last.
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Book Recommendations (from a lit grad student)
So, as I have come to the end of my MA in world lit, I thought I should give you a list of some of the best books I've read, or learnt from. I ignore established canon and give to you recommendations from across the globe and across all genres. Books that defined their genre, or made an impact, or are just really cool and enjoyable to read. This list is not all dead white men.
I have split the list by era/year of publication primarily for easy reading. A lot of the sections are arbitrary. Some of them are not.
Note: This list is not conclusive! This is based on my own readings, and my own, personal, opinions. You have the right to your own opinions and preferences. If you have any suggestions, add them on below.
Classic lit (pre-1700)
Aristole - Poetics (c. 335 BCE)
As much as I hate it...this one is actually pretty important. I know I said 'contributions to literary canon don't matter', and here I am, immediately doing the opposite. But! Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest treatise on literary theory that has survived to the modern day. You want to know where our ideas of comedy and tragedy come from? Poetics. Three act structure? Poetics. Plot and character? Poetics. Key terms like catharsis, hubris, hamartia? Poetics. We had to read this for creative writing, and did I hate it? Yes. Am I a better writer for having read it? Also yes
Plato - The Republic (c. 375 BCE)
Plato is quite easy to read, of the classical philosophers. His works are mostly dialogues between characters, which makes them more engaging that some other dry philosophy texts. I wrote out a longer post with an explanation of Plato's Republic specifically here.
Genji Monogatari (pre-1021)
The first novel ever! Originally written in Japanese, be careful of your translations because most are of questionable quality. I've only read the first one by Suematsu and that's uhhhhh Bad™ but I think the current waterstones edition is decent?
The Völsunga saga OR The Vinland sagas (early 13th century)
Ah, how to choose just one Norse saga? These are both pretty solid examples of their style, and short (always a plus). The Völsunga saga was the inspiration behind Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (famous for the piece The Valkyrie), and most likely Tolkien's works. The Vinland sagas supposedly have an anime/manga series inspired by them, though looking at the synopsis I cannot see where the inspiration was other than time period. Norse sagas - especially the Icelandic ones such as Vinland - are actually pretty good guides to real historic events, which is very cool. I could go on for hours about this, but I'll spare you the rambling.
Thomas More - Utopia (1516)
Lovely little sarcastic book about tudor politics and human nature all wrapped up in the original 'utopian text'. Surprisingly funny for something written so long ago, and very easy to read. I wrote a longer post about it here
Aphra Behn - Oroonoko (1688)
Hated it, but the themes are interesting and wow did the author lead an interesting life. Widely considered to be the first novel written in English, deals with colonialism, slavery, and honour, and Aphra Behn was a spy? I'm sure some of you will eat that up. Be warned, very 'noble savage'-y book, but less racist than it could've been so cool, I guess?
Early Modern Drama
Christopher Marlowe - Edward II (1592)
Gay. So gay. We're not supposed to call it gay (because of a whole host of reasons that I can and will explain if anyone shows up in my askbox complaining about academics) but it is a very very queer play and Kit Marlowe was too which is even better. Also our one and only history play on this list. Anyone who already knows how Edward II died (thanks horrible histories) do not spoil the ending.
Shakespeare - Twelfth Night (1602)
As with any Shakespeare, watch a performance if you can. I highly recommend the National Theatre version that was up on youtube in 2020. Very gay, no one is cishet. Lots of singing and dancing. Prime example of Shakespeare's comedies with added gender shenanigans.
Shakespeare - Hamlet (1609)
Yes I'm basic. Yes I like Hamlet. In the same way that Twelfth Night is a great example of Shakespeare's comedies, Hamlet is a good example of his tragedies. Mostly, though, I'm recommending this because the castle it's set in in Denmark (Elsinore) a) actually exists and b) does an amazing educational programme, with live actors performing scenes all across the castle! Watching the 'to be or not to be' soliloquy in the banquet hall just adds a whole other level to the experience of reading the play.
Shakespeare - Measure for Measure OR The Tempest
Shakespeare's problem plays. I couldn't pick just one, because they're both fantastic in different ways. Measure for Measure features what can only be described as the early-modern version of an ace protagonist - Isabella - who I adore. The Tempest has a really interesting portrayal of early colonialism and slavery. The reason they are 'problem plays' is they check all the boxes for a comedy...but they're not funny. At all. And they also check some of the boxes for a tragedy. They're certainly interesting reading
Ben Jonson - The Alchemist (1610)
Just a really good, solid play. Very funny. Bunch of con artists set up an elaborate scheme to rob rich people. Also very good for showing class structures of the time. Shakespeare gets all the recognition for this era but Jonson is just as good really, and definitely as clever.
Regency and Victorian lit (1700-1900)
Jane Austen
Literally anything by Austen. She is just so funny, so witty, and I wholeheartedly believe she'd be a feminist today. Master of the female gaze in literature, but beyond that she is basically credited with the invention of free indirect discourse, which is super cool. I have only read Pride and Prejudice, but I have heard good things about most of her books, so I don't feel bad recommending all of them.
William Blake
There's one poem by Blake about a London street urchin that breaks my heart every time I read it and that is the sole reason behind this recommendation I hate Romantic poets.
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein (1818)
You knew it was coming. First sci-fi, gothic horror, teenage girl writer. Gotta love Shelley.
Frederik Douglass - Narrative of the Life of Frederik Douglass (1845)
You know those books that are horrifying because they're real? That's this book. Doesn't shy away from the horrors of slavery and for a reason. This is an autobiography. It is not fiction.
Gowongo Mohawk - Wep-ton-no-mah (1890s)
My favourite play of all time. You will need to do a trip to either the British Library or the Library of Congress to read it because there are no other copies, but I did do a whole podcast episode about it because I'm apparently the expert? You can find it here.
Bram Stoker - Dracula (1894)
I know here on tumblr we adore Dracula, and for good reason. It's horrifying, it's got a blorbo, if you haven't read it already, go with a dracula daily read-through or @re-dracula for the best experience. (Re:Dracula also has episodes where they get scholars on to talk about things like racism and gender and queer theory surrounding the text which is SO COOL as an ex-lit student I love listening to those episodes.
Post-1900
Oscar Wilde - De Profundis (1905)
We had to read a snippet of this for A-Level and I wish it had been more because wow. Most lists like this will recommend Dorian Gray because it's a novel, but De Prof is so heartfelt and beautiful and sad and deserves to be read.
Baroness Orczy - The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905)
First masked vigilante/superhero! If you like comic books or superhero media, this is where it all started (funny how all the firsts so far have been written by women 🤔)
Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
If you only read one book in your life about WW1 make it this one! It is heartbreaking and beautifully written and makes you feel so many things. It was banned in...a lot of places for being anti-war (especially as WW2 came closer) and also because it was written by a German who was anti-war which was apparently impossible to comprehend. The prose is truly something to behold.
Modern lit (Post-war era)
George Orwell - 1984 (1948) OR Animal Farm (1945)
Which one you should read depends a lot on how long your preferred book is and how metaphorical your tastes are. Both are very good explorations of corrupt governments. Animal Farm is an easier read and shorter and is much more allegorical. 1984 is very in-your-face about how much authoritarian governments suck. Do not discount 1984 just because Winston is a terrible person. Everyone knows he's terrible. That's the whole point. He is a normal terrible person, not a cartoonishly evil terrible person, or an angelically perfect revolutionary. All the characters are realistic for their situation.
Maya Angelou - I know why the caged bird sings (1969)
Another one with some beautiful prose. She's a poet and you can tell. It's an autobiography, plus there's a lot of clever stuff going on with how it's written. You could write an essay about this. I did.
Ghassan Khanafani - Return to Haifa (1969)
A short story by a Palestinian author - we were given this by our Palestinian lecturer as an intro to the conflict and the terrible things that colonialism has done to the region. Additionally, there are notes throughout that help explain the significance of things and background and all that jazz. There is a play version that is probably easier to find because it was published more recently but it's not as good.
Ben Okri - The Famished Road (1993)
I did not read this book for uni and I think that may have influenced my opinion of it slightly but I still credit it as one of the reasons I got interested in world lit and translation. It's a really beautiful exploration of Nigerian mythological tradition and its effect on family and politics in this kind of fascinatingly weird style that's both magical realism and modernist? I hate modernism but love magical realism more so.
Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House (2019)
What a book oh wow. It reads like poetry. I cannot think of anything coherent to say my brain is screaming. The novel explores abuse in queer relationships, which is something people don't normally talk about, through some very interesting motifs and I love it so much. It is hard to read, but very rewarding.
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illfoandillfie · 1 year
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Kinktober Day 29: Dollification
Kinktober Masterlist | Regular Masterlist
Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader
Words: 2,716
Warnings: dollification - reader is the doll. hair pulling, kinda rough sex, sex toy (vibrator), cuffs
A/N: listen, Barbie Girl by Aqua is a very horny song and if you haven’t heard it in a while please go read to the lyrics. Anyone with a dollification kink is well within their rights to be turned on by it. Also I just love the thot of Ben getting a stiffy because of it.
When you and Ben had left the pub early it had been with the idea of fucking as soon as you got home. You just hadn’t expected to be playing a doll during it. Not that you didn’t want to. You’d discovered you were into the doll thing nearly as much as Ben was, but it was usually a little more planned. One of you would mention that you’d been thinking about it and you’d set aside some time within the next few days to play around with it. It gave you both time to get in the right headspace and decide on specifics of the scene before it began. But not this time. This time you’d been intending to just have some good old fashioned sex – maybe a bit of oral but mostly just missionary – until you’d been driving home and Barbie Girl by Aqua had come on the radio. You were singing along to the bits you knew, laughing when you realised just how suggestive, or indeed how downright dirty, some of the lyrics were. You pointed it out to Ben, realising he was blushing a little when you turned to him. And then you noticed the bulge in the front of his pants and it all clicked together. Of course he’d be turned on by a song where the one and only Barbie doll was singing about being undressed anywhere and begging on her knees.   “You okay there Benny?” you asked, trying not to giggle. He must have known you’d worked it out because all he said was, “Why’d you have to sing along?” as he less-than-subtly palmed himself. You couldn’t help but laugh at that offering him an apology through it, “I could make it up to you though, when we got home. If you wanted to...play it out...” “What, really?” “Mmhmm. I could be your Barbie for the night. You can touch, you can play.” “If I say I’m always yours?” You laughed again, “Well that parts implied.”
When you got home you told Ben to give you at least fifteen minutes to get ready. And then you ran for the bedroom, knowing the timing would be tight. But, luckily, you’d been planning a little something special for his birthday, and so a lot of what you needed was already there. You shut the door behind you and immediately began stripping off, even removing your underwear to make things easier. You slipped into a short black dress, one you knew would be easy for Ben to get off you but also would turn him on, and then pulled out two other clothing items, laying them out on the bed as if they were bonus outfits doll you came with. One was a cute, sheer babydoll that flounced around your thighs when you wore it. The other was a matching robe with fluffy cuffs. You’d bought them both in a sale, unbeknownst to Ben, because they seemed perfect for a doll to wear. Finally you added some high heels and touched up your makeup. A glance at the clock told you there was still time so you dashed back into your wardrobe to dig out a couple of extra items – a set of cuffs and your vibrator – laying them on the bed with the outfits. Unfortunately, your idea for Ben’s birthday included a lifesize barbie box for you to stand in and you hadn’t yet worked out either how to make it or how to hide something like that until you were ready to reveal it to Ben. So, in lieu of proper packaging, you scribbled a quick sign on a piece of paper torn from a notebook. It declared you were Nymphomaniac Barbie, that you came with three outfits and two accessories. And then, because you didn’t want to have to be silent the whole time, you added in that Nympho Barbie now came with three unique phrases. He just had to pull your hair to make you say them.  
The fifteen minutes was up but Ben must have decided to give you some extra time. You took a second to shake out your arms and centre yourself before sticking your head out the door to call out that you were ready. And then you dashed back towards the bed, settling into a doll like stance as you listened to Ben’s steps get closer and closer.   He groaned when he saw you, eyes darting from where you stood to what you’d laid out on the bed. Finally, he noticed the hastily scribbled tag. You watched as he read it, biting his lip, visibly melting a little when he realised what it all meant.   “You talk?” He asked softly, reaching up to give your hair a tug. “Harder Sir!” you said in your best bubbly Barbie voice. There was another tug and you said your second phrase, “Please Sir Please!” and then a third, “I love your cock!” For a moment it seemed Ben wasn’t sure what to do with you. He looked you over, letting the instructions float to the floor, and then suddenly he was making you sit on the edge of the bed. You were used to being moved and positioned whenever you played doll so it was easy to let him guide you to the bed, though you weren’t sure what to expect next.   Ben nodded when you were sitting and then moved towards you dresser, grabbing your hair brush off the top. He knelt behind you and began pulling the brush through your hair, working out the few little tangles that had been made during the day.   “Gotta make sure your hair’s all pretty so I can pull it properly,” he muttered to you. It was the last thing you’d thought he’d do, though remembering the song that started everything, you realised what gave him the idea. And it felt incredibly nice. You wanted to slump back, to lean into him, the brushstrokes so soothing and his hands so gentle. But you resisted the temptation, determined to be a good doll for him.  
The hair brushing didn’t last all that long but you felt surprisingly horny afterwards, wriggling a little in your seat as Ben put the brush away. But you were still again when he turned back, letting him stand you up and begin undressing you.   Ben let out another groan when he realised you weren’t wearing any underwear and couldn’t resist touching you. His fingers brushed over your breasts, tweaking your nipples and you shivered as he dragged his fingertips down to your pussy, lightly tracing your lips. He didn’t go further than that though, teasing you and then removing his touch to reach for the lingerie instead.   The soft material of the babydoll tickled your thighs as Ben pulled it into place, taking a second to admire you in it, before he reached for your accessories. There was some more manoeuvring so Ben could place the cuffs around your wrists and then guide you onto the bed. You felt a little bad about all the energy Ben had to put into moving you - pulling you around and straightening out your legs to get you to lay in the middle of the bed, your arms still stretched up over your head. But it all seemed to turn Ben on more so you couldn’t feel too bad about it. He had a raging hardon, clearly visible even though he was yet to undress at all. A hardon that only grew as he pushed your legs apart and saw that you were wet.   Ben gave a small tug on your hair.   “Please, Sir, Please,” you tried to get across how horny you were, hoping he wouldn’t tease too much before he actually fucked you.   “Good doll,” he smiled , pushing the lingerie out of the way so he could start fingering you.  
You were already wet and only got wetter as he touched you and talked at you.   “I was so excited to find you. Nympho Barbie is very rare but you’re in perfect condition. I can’t wait to test your capabilities.” He didn’t touch your clit, didn’t try to hit your g spot. He was focused on making sure you were wet enough and stretched out enough to take his cock. And every so often he’d pull your hair again, just small tugs to make you say one of your phrases, your voice getting whinier and whinier as you wanted him more and more desperately.   “Please Sir Please,” “What do you want Barbie?”   “I love your cock!” “Yeah? You want my cock? Want me to fuck you?” “I love your cock!” “Alright, doll, I think you’re ready for me.” It took all your willpower not to whine at the sudden loss as he pulled his fingers out of you, but you managed it.   Ben didn’t seem to notice your struggle as he undid his belt and then his fly, letting his pants drop to the floor. But you were watching him as closely as you could without moving, watching and nearly drooling as he stripped off the rest of his clothes, taking his leaking cock in his hand as he moved between your legs.  
Ben took a moment to adjust your legs, pushing them a bit wider and bending your knees to make things a bit easier for himself. He rubbed his length against you, sliding it through your folds, slicking it with your juices, before finally notching it at your hole.   You felt his tip press into you just a fraction as he leaned forward to pull your hair again, twice in quick succession.   “Please Sir Please, I love your cock.” you managed to beg. It was all he had needed to hear and he slid into you quickly, grunting as you clenched around him.   “Fuck doll,” he groaned, pushing himself deeper and deeper.   You tried to keep still and quiet. It was the hardest part of playing a doll but you were getting better at it, a couple of soft squeaks leaving you but nothing more.   Ben didn’t even notice, much too preoccupied. He held himself sheathed within you for a moment and then pulled out halfway so he could push back in. After a few more soft thrusts he reached for you hair again, probably just wanting to hear you say how much you loved his cock again.   “Harder Sir,” you groaned, wanting to encourage him to move more.   His pace picked up a little but it still wasn’t what you wanted. You waited for him to reach for your hair again, repeating your plea.   Ben adjusted his pace, “Tell me how much you love this,” his voice low and rough and he didn’t even bother to let go of your hair before he pulled it again. “Harder Sir!” was all you could say. Ben growled. It was a rare sound from him, and you shivered in response, his fingers digging into your skin as his other tightened in your hair, as he gave a rough thrust that made you moan. You hadn’t meant to, still wanting to play the doll properly, and pressed your lips closed to try to hide the sound.   “Living up to the name, nympho doll,” he grunted, fucking into you hard and harder still on the last two words.   Ben must have wanted a response because he pulled your hair again and you choked out, “I love your cock!” as he ploughed into you.  
It wasn’t Ben’s usual way of fucking you. On a regular night his thrusts could be fast or forceful but rarely both and not to the extent he could go in doll scenes. Something about the role play brought out a much more animalistic side of him. And you loved that. You wouldn’t want him so growly and forceful every night, and the unusuality of it made it all the better. You felt more like a toy when he got that way. Just a doll for him to use, to get off in. He was pounding into your cunt, his eyes following the movement of your breasts, one hand tangled in your hair – pulling it just to hear you babble about liking his cock or pleading please sir please, and for a moment you could have forgotten that you weren’t Nympho Barbie. The downside however, was that Ben wasn’t as in practice and couldn’t maintain the pace as long as he usually went. You were enjoying it and then suddenly he stopped, cock still buried deep in your cunt, panting for breath. He hadn’t finished, you were sure of that, but he had stopped, and you needed him to keep going.   “Please Sir Please,” you whined when he pulled out and tried to take his hand from your hair, tugging it more from accident than intention.   “I’m not done,” he rolled his eyes, and grabbed you, repositioning you so you were on your knees, resting on your forearms, wrists still cuffed together.  
Ben didn’t waste time making you beg for him again, he was nearly as desperate to continue as you were. There was a few shuffling sounds as he moved between your legs, hand resting on your arse as he guided his cock back into you. And then, with a series of grunts, he found his rhythm again. Only this time, his squeezed your hips under his palms and pulled you back to meet him, each thrust marked by the sound of his sweat slick skin meeting yours.   He leaned forward, forcing himself just a little deeper than before, and yanked on your hair again. And he didn’t let go, wanting to hear you say you loved his cock on loop. You gladly cried out, pleased you could say anything, moaning through the words when you weren’t gasping them as a hard thrust forced the air from your lungs. And it just kept going until Ben came with a loud moan, his hips jerking as he emptied himself into you.  
You slumped in place, shoulders falling when you realised he was spent. You’d have sworn you could cum too, despite Ben doing nothing to intentionally get you off. It’d felt so good, the angle making him hit the right spots. You’d just needed a bit more time. Ben kissed the back of your shoulder before he carefully pulled out and got off the bed.   You expected him to end the scene but instead he quietly said, “Now, doll, lets see what your other accessory does.”   You froze and let Ben manoeuvre you again. First he tugged you to your feet, slipping the robe over your arms, pressing his lips to yours as he did so. You wanted to kiss him back but he clearly still wanted his doll and you were curious to see what he was going to do, so you stayed still. He smiled as he pulled back and then made you sit close to the head of the bed, legs and arms outstretched. There was just enough space for Ben to clamber in behind you, tugging you back to lean against his chest, the vibrator clutched in his hand. He bent your legs and spread them wider.   There was the sound of him spitting into his palm, using the saliva to slick the vibrator before he got it wetter by dragging it along your cunt.   “Please Sir Please,” you whined when he tugged your hair and then the toy was sinking into you. Ben turned it on with his thumb and began thrusting it into you at a pace close to the way he’d fucked you.   You bit your lip to keep from moaning, feeling your orgasm rapidly approaching. The vibrations seemed to spread through you, pulsing out from your cunt, and that wasn’t even accounting for the quick thrusts.   “Y/N, cum.” Ben said softly against your ear. And you did. A moan caught in your throat and your feet slipped a little as you tried to meet the thrust of the toy in Ben’s hand. But his arm around you kept you tight against him and he kept pressing kisses to wherever he could reach as he worked you through it. “Fuck, Ben.” He just laughed, the toy still buzzing within you, “I think you deserve another one.”
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whetstonefires · 6 months
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💖🎶🛒
For the fanfic ask meme :3
💖 What made you start writing?
I...okay so there's a dumb literal answer to this I'm going to give first. My sixth grade English class was a two-semester-long creative writing seminar, where we were honestly taught almost nothing; the teacher just. Made us write things. Whatever things. For months.
She was incredibly patient with our baby shit, looking back, although when two of her students started writing execrable sixth grade poetry she set us on each other so we could get feedback without her, and managed not to make it obvious she was trying to escape the horror of sing-song childish scansion and the way kids that age take themselves horribly seriously and you have to not laugh.
Her name was Keely and I owe her, because up to that point I had refused to write my ideas down because if I slowed down enough to get a sentence written out I'd have forgotten all the bits that came after and the story was now dead and stupid and it was the worst, so writing was clearly not for me.
(I couldn't really type at this point, and didn't have reliable computer access anyway, and I'm left-handed, which makes writing longhand slightly slower and more difficult no matter what you do. Also you just don't write fast when you're ten.)
But Keely made me, for months, and it turned out this was a skillset I'd just had to work to acquire, and then I could do it and it wasn't a miserable soul-killing process after all. That's the first time I remember learning that lesson in life, and it's such a useful one. (Technically I went through a similar process with reading several years earlier, but that was partly because some very bad pedagogy put me off it at first, so it was less enlightening.)
Less prosaically, I got stuck on writing because I was a voracious reader and I kept thinking up stories, and writing them down was rewarding.
I find it's a great craft because you can get in all kinds of practice without actually doing it; you can string and edit sentences in your head when you have nothing to do or while doing something boring, and critique fiction you're exposed to, and try to understand literally anything you experience, and it's all applicable. As someone who gets frustrated with 1) materials consumed 2) skill plateaus and 3) having a Thing around after having made it, writing in the era of the word processor and cheap data storage is ideal, because it's both easier to keep my skills growing and harder to notice when they aren't than with most creative outlets, because I can store all the millions of words I've written in an object the size of my thumbnail, and because it's not supposed to do anything useful in the first place. If it does that's a happy bonus but if it doesn't I don't have to feel bad.
Fic is nice because it's got an audience to share the Things with, which makes it even better. And because you get to start at around the complexity level of a third or even fourth draft, skipping a lot of grunt work that I think is honestly overvalued--not that it's not valuable or important skill to have, especially if you want to be a novelist, but also there's a reason people on the whole mostly tell familiar stories over again, but better. The first go will suck in basically any medium. Insisting on starting there every time can lead to subtler skills getting underdeveloped.
🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?
Occasionally? Most of the time it would just be a distraction I'd have to work through, setting myself up for sensory overload and maybe a migraine.
But when I do it often is a single song on a loop, because the point is that I'm keeping myself suspended in a particular vibe as I pursue a specific scene or character relationship or something. Hasn't happened recently, but I should maybe pull that trick out and see if it helps with any of my stuck pieces.
I seem to recall writing something once to about 19 iterations of Dessa's 'The Lamb?' Oh and several passages of Angels Still Have Faces were written to the Sonata Arctica song I took the title from; it helped me get Angeal to the right state of repressed extreme melodrama.
🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.
Um. Food? Definitely food, between my strong opinions about subsistence informing social priorities and my personal sense that meals are both a major part of the daily pattern of life and very grounding in a place and body, I come back to it endlessly. 'Two people in a room (or other defined space granting privacy) trying so so hard to communicate' is, you know, pretty common motif but I go embarrassingly hard on it.
I'm a sucker for certain flavors of angst, and for when someone is very hopeless and then someone else gives them support. I think maybe people breaking down and asking for help and then actually getting it? And just how gross and messy it feels to be miserable and how much of it happens in the body.
What else? I feel like a third party would be better able to call me out on my patterns. A lot of them after all are the patterns of my thoughts, to a sufficient extent that I experience the universe in those terms by default and that's why it keeps being there.
When I describe hugs I tend to be very precise about where everyone's arms are because I feel like that's important. I try to be specific about features of nature like the species of a bird or tree or whatever, unless the pov character wouldn't notice such a thing, and even then I often know for the sake of precision. Lots of hand gestures, and putting of one's hands on pieces of scenery and so forth, that's my theater background coming through mostly. A tendency to emphasize the kinetic relationship between objects perhaps a bit more than usual.
If I'm describing a character that has an existing visual form, I drill in on the most distinctive details I can find; this is probably by way of mild face-blindness meaning I care a great deal about whether someone has a crooked eyebrow or distinctive dimpling or something, because I'm not going to learn their face fast enough to get away with not being able to id them and call them by name until then. It usually takes months.
Diana Wynne Jones advised making sure your mental image when you describe something, especially a place, is as precise as possible, so you won't decline into abstraction, and I've found following this advice to reliably net good results. If you only know about the things you actually mention, things get flat real fast.
(The trick then is not getting bogged down in deciding which things to mention.)
I dunno, what would you guys say are my signature moves?
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theseasideskies · 1 year
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My notes on The Dragon Prince S4 (spoiler bits will be beneath the cut if you just want a non-spoiler review)
In Summary: Returning to the world of Xadia after 3 years leaves me with the sense that I can no longer enjoy the show without also reading the books and comics. The gap between Season 3 and Season 4 leaves so much character development in the past that it feels like this is another Season 1 to a second half of the story. I can only hope Seasons 5-7 reach and surpass the heights of Seasons 2 and 3.
Let's open with the elephant in the room: The season that gets the special treatment of a subtitle, "Mystery of Aaravos", lore dumps his backstory by episode 4. While not necessarily a bad thing, there's still plenty of details we could learn about, a reveal like that really blunders the whole "Mystery" part of the title. And if the point of the story isn't learning about Aaravos and instead about how the protagonists deal with him, a title like "Aaravos' Gambit" would be a lot less disappointing after 3 years of build-up concludes a "mystery" like that.
As characters, our protagonists are little else but vessels to experience the story with. Ezran is seemingly over his anxieties as a child king and is always praised as wise beyond his years. Callum and Rayla are back to awkwardly walking around their feelings. An understandable development given Rayla's disappearance, but their troubles don't have enough depth and end up feeling like the same old same old. Ezran approaches an interesting arc, having to deal with integration of Katolis and Xadia while people are still rightfully angry, but is then literally told "but the world needs you" and puts that on pause.
Our antagonists end up even more disappointing in terms of character development. Viren opens the season with a potentially tragic story: a villain who's gone over the edge, died, and has come back disillusioned by glory and only sorry to spend time with a daughter who's been hurt too much and is now doomed to take his place. As the intro visualizes, his regret with his actions come only too late. He is now a frozen piece, moving Aaravos' great game along without concern for his feelings. But then he ends up as a mostly silent character for the bulk of the season and the moment he wields his staff by the end he literally reverts to the pale-skinned power-hungry folly he supposedly regretted.
Now I did actually like the B-plot with Amaya and Janai. Being predictable doesn't mean it's bad, and personally I think it was better paced than the main story. The Dragon Prince was promoted early on for its portrayal of messy race relations, and I felt Amaya and Janai's story took up that mantle while the main protagonists went on to have a pretty standard save-the-world adventure plot.
There were several points where the pacing felt especially stilted. The worst offenders all happen in the episode The Drakewood, funnily enough. Rayla declares "I have an idea", we cut to The Sunfire Elves for a bit, and return in the middle of the action without explanation for why Rayla has the Earthblood Elf's attention instead of him hunting for Zym. Soren desperately cries "oh no!" when he finally sees his dad is alive, only for him to appear next as completely ready lay his sword to fight for "the good guys". This is severely lacking the depth Soren had in previous seasons, where having to go against his family was especially painful despite knowing it's the right thing to do. And, I don't know, I'd have to imagine seeing your abusive father alive after 2 years would bring up some bad memories and potentially relapse his behavior (see: Zuko betraying the Gaang in ATLA at Ba Sing Se at the promise of his father's approval.) But we don't get to see if there was conversation, or Soren's internal dilemma, or even Viren berating Soren again and driving home that Viren is super ultra evil.
Zubeia, Queen of the Dragons, is honestly nothing more than a plot device that either explains things to our protagonists or saves them in the nick of time. She visits Katolis seemingly only so Zym and Ezran can reunite, laughs at people's antics, then carries the entire Katolis royal family away on a whim on an adventure only to be rendered useless for most of it and returns to the Storm Spire just to come and save the cast from Rex Igneous at the last minute.
I'm honestly at a loss as to how this season dropped the ball, especially when you can see hints of good storytelling and foreshadowing: That moment The Key of Aaravos shows Stella is connected to Startouch magic, and then later we see her randomly teleport a Moon Opal away somewhere? That was interesting! That had me instantly worried that Stella was actually a plant by Aaravos and Stella gave him access to a magic stone after so long in isolation.
And of course, none of this can be said without acknowledging the many books, comics, and other supplementary material released in the 3 years between Season 3 and Season 4. I did not have the energy to keep up with all those and I am aware some of those fill in gaps (especially the 2 year break between S3 and S4.) But honestly? I feel I shouldn't have to. The gap between ATLA and Korra is long and there are supplementary comics (and now a movie!) between the two time periods. But both work together even without reading the extended material, and Korra does not feel incomplete if one hasn't read the comics.
All in all, I feel disappointed. I have my hopes up, and of course there's seasons 5-7 to pick up the slack, but honestly why? In the end, Season 4 feels like another Season 1: a story just waiting for the gaps to be filled in to be truly appreciated. But why are we starting from scratch?
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mugsofrainwater · 1 year
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some vaguely incoherent thoughts on rings of power season 1 below (spoilers) 
okay so I LOVE the original lotr (was a super obsessed 10 year old when the first film came out) and I genuinely enjoyed this show. I have a few gripes, and I understand some of the discourse, understand the criticisms, but i had an overall good time watching it and i think if you don’t take it too seriously it can be fun so 
- honestly the story plot involving the harfoots and the stranger was by far my favourite and i would probably defend nori and poppy with my own life if necessary. I just love the harfoots so much. I’m so fond of their wandering carts and their cart-related sayings and all of the ever changing twigs and brambles and acorns strewn in their hair !! 
- although the whole ‘if you stray during a wandering or just plain cant keep up with your cart, we’re going to carry on anyway and leave you to fall behind but don’t worry we’ll remember you’ was absolutely savage wow. 
- I think it’s about 99% confirmed that the stranger is Gandalf at this point? which honestly makes my heart so happy if its true!! To think he was so fond of hobbits because a group of hobbit ancestors found him in his vulnerable amnesiac post-sent-to-earth state and showed him friendship and kindness and hospitality and even defended him against darker beings so much more powerful than themselves who would have taken him and twisted him into something harmful!! I don’t care if it doesn’t fit into the original lore just let me have this. 
- i tried so hard to care about bronwyn and theo and Arondir but i just didn’t. Theo mostly just annoyed me. Maybe I’ll grow to care more about them in season 2. also as much as I love the concept of girlpower and girls being in charge as much as anyone, i didn’t really think it made sense for the villagers to automatically look to bronwyn for leadership as much as they did? 
- although that said, i was super intrigued by the surrounding storyline with the orcs building tunnels under their village. absolutely did not see the eventual flooding of the tunnels coming at all and even though it was terrible for all the good characters it was such a borderline satisfying SO THAT WAS WHAT THEY WERE UP TO ALL ALONG OMG moment 
- just accept that the elves with short hair are going through their rebellious youth fashion phase and it makes it all so much better
- the concept of the dwarves singing to the mountain and the very rocks of its foundations to release dwarves who had been trapped by a mining rockfall ?? absolutely beautiful ?? and Disa doing the singing ??? INSPIRED. I mean I’m still sad we didnt get any bearded lady dwarves but I’ll take what i can get. 
- was super convinced that Halbrand was going to turn out to be one of the nazgul kings and i think that blinded me to the eventual Sauron reveal. 
- still struggling to wrap my head around Sauron / Halbrand’s master plan during this series though because ?? like most of where he ended up was accidental? I can’t quite piece together how much was plotting and planning on his end and how much was sheer dumb luck.  like how did he even know the elves were making rings at Eregion before he got there?? did galadriel let something slip that I can’t remember ??
- ngl i would totally read some galadriel x sauron nc-17 rated fic. 
- overall the music didn’t quite hit me like the original lotr trilogy (although maybe it will if i listen to it some more) but Poppy’s Wandering Song made me feel so many things 
- sad that we didn’t get assumed-dead isildur being rescued by his horse in this season, like aragorn was in two towers, but it’s gotta be coming in season 2 right? 
- all of the sets and costumes were absolutely STUNNING. it was cool to see Numenor in all its glory especially 
- also are we eventually going to get baby Arwen maybe?? I have no idea how old she’s supposed to be in lotr / when she would have been born, but it can’t be far off and i’m fairly certain Elrond hasn’t mentioned having a daughter yet 
- still super conflicted about having to watch this on amazon prime and tie my soul to amazon for as long as they keep making this and carry on giving jeff bezos money but this is the world we live in and so here we are
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lec743 · 2 years
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The Ocean’s Kindness (FNAF Fanfic)
Beginning + Ch. 4 + you are here + Ch. 6
Summary: You go on a date with Monty.
Note: Sorry if it felt like your surroundings weren't descriptive enough, but to be fair, your face is covered like 90% of the time while you're out on the town.
Word Count: 6098
I’m inspired to write this story by @bamsara, @paper-lilypie, and Chex_Nyx on AO3.
Don’t want to read on Tumblr? Well here you go then.
AO3
Fanfiction
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CHAPTER 5: NORTH SHALLOW’S ISLE
           It was two weeks of sailing before the Crusty Waters made it to Shallow’s Isle. During that time, you were quite busy.
          Now that you weren’t so apathetic about your situation, Freddy was a bit more brutal in your gun and sword training. Ended up with a lot of cuts and burn marks on your hands, but it was par for the course, according to the big orange/brown bear. You still didn’t like the idea of having to fight with swords, you kept imagining all the places you can get stabbed by the object and it ends up psyching you out. Gun practice was easier in your opinion.
          You also decided on doing your own type of training as well. Mostly just keeping up with your gymnastics and keeping yourself flexible. You may be small in comparison to everyone else, but you’d be damned if you didn’t try and make yourself as slippery to catch as you can get. You knew it was a losing battle when you ran away from Captain Moon that one time, but you were determined to give everyone a hard time back then.
           You also practiced an old skill of yours, pick pocketing/shop lifting. You haven’t used them since you were a kid/teenager, but you’re pretty sure it’s still in your wheelhouse of skills. Funnily enough, you learned that Bonnie knows how to pick pocket, so the two of you try to out pick pocket each other as practice and for fun.
          Your little stunt with the siren also made you a bit of a talk of the boat again, but at least people weren’t actively trying to grab at you like when you first showed up on their boat. You ended up hearing people’s tales of how sirens swarmed someone’s boat when they enter their waters. You heard how Foxy was the only survivor of the last ship he had been a crew of that actively hunted sirens. You heard tales of how a siren could scream loud enough to instantly deafen you and how they can eat you in one gulp and how they’ve drowned hundreds of lives at sea.
          The siren stories were scary and a few of them you could believe, especially the whole deafens you with a single screech thing sounded plausible. Especially considering your one encounter with D.J., but other stories sounded more like the sirens were protecting themselves or there was a misunderstanding or there was a piece of information missing that makes you suspect it wasn’t all you could know. Regardless, you understand that you ended up being very lucking to be alive in the end.
          You were also happy to note that, the animal people here were getting used to you being what you are. They were less awed or wary by your presence and started to act more open in a way. You supposed it also had something to do with your own attitude towards everyone, after a couple of days, your forced up-beat attitude became less forced and you were smiling and enjoying yourself again. You were singing more, you were laughing more, you were more playful and sassy.
          A part of you still misses your home and your parents and for as long as you are in this world you always will miss them, but the load on your heart is lighter than it was before.
          You were walking up the stairs onto the deck with Foxy as you two were discussing songs you knew when your conversation was interrupted by a gator hiss and a bear growl.
          Surrounded by bored crew members in the middle of the deck was Monty and Chip. The longer you’ve been here the more you’ve noticed the two have a bit of a playful rivalry with each other. They try to compete against each other in almost anything, be it cards, eating, finishing their respective tasks first, you name it. They will make it a competition. Sometimes it’s fun to watch them go at it with each other, but you personally weren’t in the mood, and you could tell Foxy was in the same mind set.
          The giant rust-red fox shook his head at the display of Monty and Chip acting like wrestlers in a ring and sighed.
          “Aye. Do they e’er get tired?”
          “I bet I can break it up,” you said.
          Foxy laughed. “I’d like ta see ye try.”
          You give Foxy a mischievous smile before walking to the small crowd.
          As you became a part of the crowd you waited for your moment. The two were wrestling a bit on the floor. Monty got Chip into a head lock, but Chip got out of it almost as soon as Monty put the hold on him. Then Monty did his little alligator hiss thing, and you made your move.
          Jumping into the ring you lamented, “Man I wish I could do that.”
          The dark green gator and the dark brown bear both looked up at you in surprise. The crowd had stilled now that you were in the middle of things.
          You do a poor imitation of a gator hiss, and you sigh heavily, “Hey, real quick, can you make that sound again. Maybe I just need to hear it again.”
          Chip is looking to Monty like he’s wanting to continue their playing, but Monty had his eyes on you. After a second, he did his hiss again. It made you smile, because you do wish you could make that sound but currently you were using your personal interest as a distraction.
          Squealing a bit, you then quickly compose yourself and try again, only to fail worse than your first attempt.
          That made Monty laugh, and he got up and walked towards you.
          “No. No. You’re using too much teeth. It’s more in the throat,” he elaborated by patting his neck.
          You sigh, then said, “Will you watch our approach to the isle with me? I need like an outside filter of some kind with your teachings. I feel like it’ll help.”
          He chuckled, then said, “Sure, Cher, I’d be happy to help. Learnin’ how to growl will make you more intimidatin’ and I’m the best at bein’ intimidatin’.”
          Monty placed a clawed hand in the middle of your shoulder blades as you two walked to the bow of the ship. You waved goodbye to Chip and to a few of the bored crew members who had circled around. They gave you annoyed looks like you ruined their fun, but that was fine, your just happy with the peace and quiet.
          As you walked with Monty to the bow, you could hear Foxy laughing loudly. His laughter made you smile.
          “What’s got him all giggly,” Monty questioned.
          You shrug and did the I-don’t-know sound. But you knew.
          The sun was halfway down to the horizon and the island was becoming clearer to see as Monty was trying to train you in making the alligator hiss. Sometimes you struggled because the boat bounced you roughly when you weren’t paying attention and sometimes you struggled just because it seemed like you weren’t physically capable of making the same hissing sound.
          Eventually the lesson dissolved into just talking about Shallow’s Isle and the Inn that Monty planned on taking you to.
          “When Bonnie passes out our pay, I’ll be sure to buy your favorite meal for you,” you tell the gator as he was describing how good his favorite dish at the Inn was.
          Monty leaned against the railing that you sat perched on as he waved away what you said, “What. No. There’s no need for you to do that.”
          “Dude. It’s my apology meal to you.”
          You’ve accepted that he’s forgiven you for how you treated him when you grabbed that baby siren out from under his tail, but you’d still like to do something for him just to solidify your feelings of apology.
          “Aaah, you don’t have to, really. You going to the Inn with me is good enough,” he said with a big toothy smile.
          You give him an annoyed look, but you don’t argue. You still plan on paying for his meal regardless.
          As the two of you continue to talk, you see Captain Sun walking around for a second like he was checking on things and going about his rounds, but then he saw the two of you and he made a bee line for you.
          “Hello Monty! Starlight!” Sun said your nickname in his special excited voice. Sometimes you wonder if anyone here actually knows your name at this point with all the nicknames you’re given. “Are you ready to see North Shallow’s Isle?”
          You opened your mouth to say yes, but then you closed it when you registered what he said, then you asked, “Wait? North Shallow’s Isle?”
          “Yep,” Monty said, “North Shallow’s Isle is one of the four more stationary islands that we have. It’s also the biggest isle/city of all Zulon.”
          “Oh…” You think a bit longer on what Monty said, “…Wait. Stationary? All islands are stationary.”
          “No… No, they’re not,” Monty said in confusion.
          Sun was watching the two of you converse as he rocked back and forth on his feet. His smile widening at the growing confusion.
          “Yes, they are. That’s what makes them an island,” you insisted.
          “Um. Islands float and move with the water,” Monty continued to insist through his growing confusion with you.
          You hop off the railing and said, “No! They don’t!”
          Before the confusion fueled argument could go on for much longer, Sun cleared his throat and said, “Have you seen Shallow’s Isle yet?”
          “I mean, yah. It’s kind of weirdly bumpy looking from where we have been but nothing I haven’t seen before.”
          Sun pulled out a spy glass from a frilly sleeve of his, “How about you get a closer look,” then he handed it to you.
          You were suspicious of how weirdly excited he was for you to see the island. You turned and pointed the spy glass towards your destination. In the setting sun’s dying light, you could see nothing but boats. Which wasn’t so surprising, but then the longer you looked, the more you realized that it was nothing but boats. Then a realization overcame you.
          “Land doesn’t exist on this planet… Does it,” you said still staring at your destination but with the spy glass down out of your eye.
          “Land? Like with grass and forests,” Monty asked, saying grass and forests with the same mythical reverence as you would when saying dragons and fairies.
          You dramatically fell to your hands and knees.
          You didn’t have to act this dramatic, but you felt the need to be, “Oh, god. I’m on some Subnautica bullshit world, aren’t I.”
          Both Sun and Monty stuttered at your defeated tone and crouched down beside you. You felt Sun rubbing your back in an attempt to sooth you.
          “I’m so sorry. Instead of surprising you, I should have just told you sooner,” Sun said, “I thought you’d have fun with it.”
          Monty was patting one of your hands to try and comfort you.
          You took a deep breath. Then you quickly sat up on your knees and flapped your hands at them to get them to back off as you cackled at them like a mad dolphin. Taking another deep breath, you covered your face with your hands and exhale while dragging your hands down your face.
          “I’m fine. I’m okay. I’m fine. I’m cool,” you groan out a sigh as you start getting back up on your feet while picking up the spy glass, “I was just looking forward to being on solid ground and just laying in some sand.” You hand Sun back his spy glass. “It really is cool that you all have managed to make civilization on a water world.”
          “It wasn’t always a water world,” Sun said as he took back his spy glass and put it up his shirt sleeve.
          “Oh?” You asked, leaning against the railing with Monty, ready to hear the story.
          “A long and far away ago…” Sun started his story.
          He told the story of how the planet once had rolling hills and mountains and trees half as tall as those mountains. Then one day a creature from another world, called the Agony, came to their world. The creature hated their world with all its heart and was determined to destroy everything in its path. Zulon, the planet, battled with the creature, Agony, and the ensuing battle caused so much damage that the lands of the world sank to the bottom of the ocean, leaving nothing but floating scraps and what survivors that could swim.
          You frown. Every time you hear a story about a creature from another world coming to this world, it always has some horrible ending to it, or they caused great harm in their story.
          “Man… It’s no wonder you guys were so scared of me when I showed up. You don’t think everyone still thinks I’m going to end up hurting people here, do ya?”
          “No,” Monty and Sun said at the same time.
          You were a little surprised by their combined intensity. You started to think that they may have taken your look of surprise as disbelief, as they started listing some of your qualities that they liked.
          Monty said, “You’re brave.”
          Sun said, “You’re kind and sweet.”
          “You have a cute little laugh.”
          “The way you dance while you sing is mesmerizing.”
          “You’re fun to be around.”
          “Your jokes don’t make since all the time, but they still make me laugh.”
          You have your hands up in a pleading manner as you said, “Okay. Okay. Stop, stop, stop, stop. You guys are making me blush.”
          Both gentlemen gave you a mischievous smile, like they were proud of themselves. You had to force yourself to frown in a way that made you purse out your lips as you glared at them. They smiled even wider at you as you glared at them. You roll your eyes then started walking away.
          “I’m leaving now. Bye!”
          Monty groaned at you leaving.
          “Don’t be like that! We literally have a diner date tonight when we hit port. I’ll see you then. Bye Captain,” you call back as you kept walking away.
          They bid you farewell, and you went to see what could be done in the kitchen to help.
          You grab a lantern, light it, then make your decent down the stairs.
          As you were making your way to the kitchen you ran into Chika.
          “Oh, there you are. Will you come with me? I think Roxy and I have managed to finish that cloak for you.”
          “That’s fantastic, yes. Let’s go,” you said as you shifted gears and followed her to the crew’s quarters.
          While the Crusty Waters was making its journey to the isle, you were busy trying to sew yourself a cloak. You wanted something to hide your form so that you wouldn’t be noticed. Granted, you didn’t know how common cloaking oneself was in this world, but you would be kidding yourself if you thought you wouldn’t standout without the full body cover.
          Your attempt at making a cloak was rough. Roxy was brutal in her opinions on your work, and Chika was kind enough to offer to help you out. Somehow, you also got Roxy to help make it. You’re not even sure what you said exactly that made her want to help you. You suspect that it was your complements to her own clothes style and your wish to look like her a bit, but you didn’t think it could be that easy.
          Regardless, you were grateful for the help, despite the ribbing at your sewing expertise.
          You and Chika make it to the crew’s quarters, and the room was dimly lit by the glow of Roxy’s lantern as it looked like she was sewing a patch into the back of the cloak. The dimness of the room was brightened when you showed up with your lantern, making the gray wolf look up from her work at yours and Chika’s approach.
          “Ah. Good. You found them.” Roxy took the string between her teeth and easily cut it away. Then she stood up with the cloak held out in front of her as she examined her work. “Hmmm. Yep. As usual, I’m amazing.” Then she threw the cloak onto your face.
          You sputtered as you blindly sat down the lantern you were holding, then you wrestled the heavy cloth off your face. Then you held it out in front of yourself to see the work better. Roxy and Chika both managed to make sure that it would fit you right, but Roxy took the extra liberty of sewing the ship’s flag onto the back of it.
          The back of the cloak had the image of a large eight-pointed star and on the left of it was a sun with a blue eye and on the right was a moon with a red eye.
          “You know, I get the sun and moon represents our captains, but what’s with the giant star? Does it mean anything?”
          “It’s a stickmen legend reference I think,” Roxy said.
          Chika hummed in agreement, “Yes. If I remember correctly, they told me once that the star is the heart of Zulon.”
          You tsk-ed but didn’t question it further. That would be a question to ask one of the captains for later.
          You slip the cloak on then you flip the hood over your head. The sleeves were long enough to cover your hands. The length of the cloak was long enough to be barely touching the floor affectively covering your bare feet and the hood came down and over your face, making it a bit hard for you to see, but you don’t plan on going anywhere without someone to hold on to, so you were okay with that. It was thick and warm, and you immediately plan on sleeping in this cloak as a type of blanket when you finally get your own bed.
          “Oh, fuck yah, this is amazing you two!”
          Chika’s feathers puffed out with pride and Roxy’s chest swelled with arrogant pride.
          “Of course, it’s amazing,” Roxy boasted, “I made it.”
          “We made it, Dear,” Chika playfully chided.
          “Okay. Yes,” Roxy agreed, deflating a bit, “But I’m the one who decided to put our flag on the cloak.”
          “Which was definitely inspired,” you tell the gray wolf as you take the hood off, “I’m distinguishable from a crowd with this bad boy on me.”
          “Yes. So Monty won’t lose you while you two are on your, date,” Chika said, saying the last word in a playful mom-ish way, like you’re a preteen going to the roller-rink with your crush.
          You couldn’t roll your eyes hard enough.
          Roxy snickered at your reaction.
          “Come on Chick-a-pea. It’s sweet that you two will be going out for the night. The last time our poor Monty went on a date he came back to us black out drunk and crying about how he thought his date was supposed to be the one and all that,” Chika stated.
          You and Roxy visibly cringed.
          “Poor bastard. His lady love couldn’t handle him being out at sea all the time,” Roxy stated.
          “If only you had the Internet here,” you said.
          Roxy and Chika both looked at you with questioning faces.
          You sigh, then you sit down on a random bed and said, “Okay. I’ll try my best to tell you what the Internet is but don’t ask me how it works, okay?”
          They nod, and you start telling them your story.
          Despite how much of a struggle it was for you to tell them what the Internet was, both women gave you their undivided attention. It was a relief for you when you heard commotion from the deck and people saying it was time to start the process of docking. The three of you made your way up to the deck to do what you could to help.
          You found Freddy and followed his lead as he pulled ropes and threw ropes and tied ropes. There was a lot of rope action when it came to docking an old timey ship. A bit hard to do in the dying twilight, but the lamps from the city and the lamps that were lit on the deck of the ship helped a bit.
          Once the plank was out and grounded against the dock, everything was ship shape and Bonnie started handing out pay. You got a little leather pouch from the purple bunny, and you opened the string purse and poured your money into your hand.
          This was your first time seeing the currency here. It was made out of a really pretty stone that had a white base but shined a pearly-green color in the lamplight. All the gemstone quarter sized disks had the image of a fish on one side and a dead fish of the same type on the other side. Your curiosity satisfied for the time being, you placed them all back into your little string drawn purse.
          You immediately drop your purse when you felt a scaley hand slap you hard on the back, “Whoops.”
          You gesture to Monty that it’s fine as you picked up your purse then tied it to the belt holding up your pants.
          “Ready to go? I hope they have lagoon striped fish,” the red mohawked gator said, smacking his lips in anticipation for his favorite dish.
          “Can’t wait to try it,” you say as you bring up your hood, then you hold on to Monty’s muscular arm.
          You heard Chika and Roxy ooo-ing at the two of you, and you sighed out a groan.
          “You two are just jealous that I have the best date,” Monty decided to say in response to their playful teasing.
          “Nobody’s better than my girl, Chika,” Roxy huffed at the gator.
          Before the two could fight any more, you let go of Monty to then push him down the plank towards the dock to get him to move faster.
          “Come on! I don’t want to spend the whole night arguing.”
          Honestly, you just wanted to get out of the situation as soon as possible. You’ve been on the Internet. You know about furries and monster fuckers and what have you. You already felt weird about the concept of that whole thing, and you’d rather not actually think about it when you’re just trying to be friends with these anthropomorphic animals… and stickmen?
          “Right. Right. Sorry Cher,” Monty said as he grabbed your hand and led you all the way down the plank and onto the dock.
          As you walked you kept a hold of Monty’s arm. You had to keep your head down to see where your feet were going and to make sure the animal people you passed couldn’t see your face, but every now and again, you’ve managed to peak out at where Monty was taking you.
          You two walked freely over the decks of different boats and over rope bridges. You saw a few boats with gardens of coconut trees and other plants. You saw a party going on, on one boat. You watched as a frog person was checking on the lanterns. You saw a yellow toad dressed in a robe of some kind shouting about the end of the world. You saw some gator people making rope together as they traded stories with each other.
          Actually, you noticed that a majority of the people at the North Shallow’s Isle were comprised of mostly gator and frog/toad people. Sure, you saw a few other types of animal people, like a few ducks and hippo people, and you saw one other stickman type person, but mostly it was frogs/toads and gators.
          “Did you grow up here?”
          “No. I was hatched here, but I wasn’t raised in the community pool like my parents were. My parents wanted to be out in the open ocean instead of being in the crowded isle.”
          You snicker at that. You remember how your parents always talked about moving to the countryside to get out of the city and maybe have some peace and quiet for once. They never could though… as far as you know at least…
          You sigh as you lean against the dark green gator.
          “Tada! And we’re here,” Monty said.
          You peek out from under your hood to see that you were standing in front of some stairs leading down into a rather old looking ship. Jovial sounds of people talking, eating, and drinking echoed out from them.
          You notice that Monty was waiting for a response from you, and you shake your melancholy off to say, “Sounds exciting. Let’s go!”
          He gave you his signature toothy grin, grabbed your hand, and lead you downstairs.
          As soon as you two reached the bottom of the stairs, Monty bellowed, “Ahoy, ya De’pouilles!”
          You lower your head even more as you slip your hand out of Monty’s grip to then hid behind him and grip the belt loop of his pants. What is he thinking? Does he want you to be the talk of the isle or something?
          The crowd cheered for him. Plenty of people called Monty out by his name in a happy greeting. You saw clawed scaley feet, and furry paw feet, and web toe feet surround you and Monty, and you felt the dark green gator being roughly greeted like family.
          You scrunched up on yourself when their focus fell on you.
          “Who’s this?”
          “Are you dating a frog now?”
          “What’s wrong with him dating a frog?” You heard a loud thud.
          “Ow! Nothing! I was just askin’!”
          You felt more people closing in on you and you pressed yourself against Monty’s side, trying to keep your face and any other part of you hidden.
          “Are they a new member of your crew?”
          “They’re a bit shy aren’t they.”
          “Come on now, we won’t bite.”
          “Not as hard as Monty probably does any—Ow! Quit hitting me!”
          “Quit saying stupid shit!”
          Despite your nervousness, you laughed at that. You keep yourself pressed to Monty though, and he starts to take the hint.
          “Okay! Okay! Everyone, back up! Give’em some room will ya!” He then told the crowd your name. “And yes, they’re a new member of the Crusty Waters.”            
          You watch as all the animal feet walk out of your line of sight, and you stand away from Monty a bit, only for him to wrap his arm around your shoulders and press you tighter to him.
          “I’ll be taking my usual spot, please and thank ya. Papere! Do you got that good shit?”
          An elderly voice spoke up, “I sure do!”
          “Make it two plates then,” he said as he tugged at you and you two started walking towards a table.
          You two make it to a little booth in a dark corner and once you were seated you whisper yell at Monty.
          “Look at me.”
          “Your hood’s kind of in tha way.”
          “Monty. Look. At. Me.”
          You lift your head up as high as you were willing to, and Monty rest his chin on the table to peer up at you.
          “What are you thinking? Did you honestly forget what I am?!?!” Your voice squeaks from the strain of your angry whispering.
          Monty gave you a sheepish smile, “Mmmaybe?”
          You glare at him from the shadow of your hood.
          He responded with a chuckle, and he patted your shoulder.
          “Hey, it’s fine. You’re fine. Even if they did see you, they wouldn’t freak out.”
          You glare even harder at him.
          “…Okay… So they’ll freak out a li’le bit. But only a li’le.”
          You respond by laying your face flat against the table.
          You felt him lift himself in a sitting position as he moved his hand from your shoulder to rubbing your back.
          You immediately sit up when you felt someone scoot into the booth beside you.
          “So Monty, is this your date tonight?”
          It was a woman’s voice.
          “Yep! Cher, my cousin Val. Val, Cher.”
          “Nice to meet you ma’am,” you politely say.
          “Oh, they’re so polite and quiet. You don’t have to hide,” she said, trying to comfortingly coax you out of your cloak.
          You grip your hood through your sleeves and curl in on yourself a bit.
          “Okay. Okay. You can keep it on. I’m not going to force you,” Val said.
          “Hey Monty! Think you can beat me in an arm wrestling match this time!” A gruff playful voice said.
          Monty immediately stood up and said, “You’re on Claw!”
          There was a moment of you wanting to hold on to Monty to keep using him as a meat shield, but also you saw your opportunity to pay for the meal before he could.
          Turning to Val, you said, “Excuse me, ma’am, but could you help me?”
          “With what?”
          Getting out your purse you drop half of your money into your cloth covered hand and said, “I’m here as an apology for what I did to him while out at sea. I want to pay for our meal for him, can you do that for me? How much will it all cost?”
          A low hissy-growl emitted from her throat as she asked, “What did you do to him?”
          “I grabbed a baby siren out from under his tail and invaded his personal space in the process.”
          There was a long pause then she asked, “The Crusty Waters survived a siren encounter?”
          “Yah.”
          There was another long pause. Then you saw a clawed, scaley green hand grab three of your gem coins and you saw her motion for you to put the rest away, “This will be enough for both meals. Papere will want to give you two a discount once he learns about this.”
          You put away your money. “Oh. That will be kind of him.”
          “You’ve got to tell me how you and the crew survived,” she said sounding eager.
          “Oh, um, I’m not much of a storyteller. You should ask Monty.”
          There was a sudden crash and a victorious roar as you peaked out from under your hood to see Monty standing victoriously on the table that him and Claw, a black bear, were arm wrestling on.
          Monty pointed at you and said, “That was for you Cher!”
          You giggle at his intensity.
          “Eh! Monty! You survived a siren attack?!” Val shouted as she moved out of the booth.
          Monty froze for a second, then he made a face like he forgot that he wanted to tell everyone about it, then he said, “Yah! And we survived because of them!” Monty hopped off the table to then point dramatically at you.
          You pulled your hood over your face quickly in anticipation of everyone looking at you.
          Monty then captivated the entire Inn with his story of how he felt the beast zeroing in on him and how he managed to get out of the water before he could be eaten, but then detailed how the siren followed him on board and how you bravely took the initiative. He said despite how roughly you treated him you still had the softest hands he’s ever felt, which made the entire Inn jeer and ooo at you and you wished you had something to throw at the gator.
          By the time Monty finished his story, Papere had finished cooking and was serving it to your table himself.
          Monty settled down long enough to sit by you again and you two began eating and the gator was right, this was a good meal. If you had to relate it to anything, it was like really good, cooked sushi, but without rice and more seaweed and other vegetables that you were unfamiliar with but still tasted good with the dish.
          Monty saw how you ate up the vegetables and tried to get rid of his onto your plate, but then Val scolded him, from across the room where she was standing with Papere, for being such a kid about not eating his vegetables. Which made you laugh. When Monty offered to take the food back you responded by shoveling the food into your mouth faster. Making him laugh.
          Even though you were scared out of your mind about your cloak being pulled back and being discovered for the weird creature you are, you still had fun. Monty acted more or less the same as he did on the boat, but it still felt different. Like his friends on the Crusty Waters were his family, but the people in this Inn were his family too. The best comparison you could think of was knowing both your mom’s side and your dad’s side of the family equally well.
          It was getting late, and you asked Monty to take you back to the ship.
          Monty agreed and attempted to pay Papere for the food and drinks.
          “Oh, there’s no need. Everything’s already paid for,” the elderly voice said.
          “What.”
          Now, you don’t know what it was about the way Monty said, what, and maybe you were a little too tired, but it sent you into a giggle fit.
          “Cher, I told you I was going to get it,” Monty said, sounding like you hurt his pride more than anything.
          You stand bow-legged and cackled, then you said, “I told you this was my apology meal to you. So suck it.” You felt a bit weird saying that to him while your face was covered and you couldn’t see him except for his feet, but you hoped your silly stance comes off as fun and not mocking.
          Val spoke up, probably because Monty was pouting at you, “Oh, quit it. Let someone take care of you for once you big hatchling.”
          Monty huffed but said nothing else about it. You watched his feet walk up to you and he grabbed you by the shoulders again, leading you out of the Inn. There was a choir of voices telling Monty goodbye and see you later and come back soon. Some of them were even directed at you, despite how weird they all probably thought you were.
          Monty stuttered in his step like someone was in the way of the stairs.
          A voice bellowed, “People of the Northern Isle’s! Heed the call! Pain and suffering are inescapable, but it doesn’t have to be in vain!”
          The crowd in the Inn seemed to collectively sigh, like they’ve heard this spiel so many times before.
          Someone shouted, “Get the fuck out of here man or shut up and buy a drink!”
          Another voice shouted, “I swear I’m just going to clobber you.”
          Papere said, “Easy, now.”
          The voice continued to bellow, and you felt something being pushed onto you, “Agony is all around us, but it will not be in vain! Let the end come and you shall be free!”
          In your hands was the stone carving of a rabbit skull. It was a bit distressing how exact of a carving it was. You also were too tired to deal with some weird, interdimensional, cult/religion thing. So you chucked the stone carving at the crier, and Monty pushed his way forward with you in tow.
          The two of you ran up the stairs and off the boat and kept running until the two of you felt safe enough to stop.
          Lifting your hood up to look behind you, you then turn to Monty.
          “What was that guy’s deal?”
          Monty groaned, “That was an Agony Cultist. I’m sure they call themselves something else but that’s what everyone else calls them. They’re just annoying downers. I was hoping we could avoid them while I was taking you out.”
          You drop your hood back over your face and said, “I’m pretty sure these Agony Cultists want to take everyone out.”
          “…Are you trying to make a joke?”
          “Baaa! If you have to ask, the jokes already ruined. That’s my bad,” you sigh as you grab his arm.
          The two of you walk the rest of the way to the docks.
          You were both silent, but you could tell the gator was a bit grumpy about the cultist guy showing up.
          “Hey, thanks for taking me to that Inn. I had a fun time, and your family is lovely,” you tell him.
          “Yah. They’re great,” he said, sounding bashful.
          “Next time we go, we should bring the whole crew. I bet that’ll be a rowdy bit of fun.”
          He chuckled and agreed.
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ravencromwell · 3 years
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“The Eighth Son Of Ganbataar” by Mary Soon Lee
Once, when I was a boy of seventeen, there came into the horse country a scarred king whose destiny was ordained by dragons.
When King Xau first arrived to summer with our tribe, I saw his scarred hands and pictured the two of us battling demons side by side.
Instead the king herded sheep. Badly.
Worse, girls kept riding over to meet him, sparing not a single glance on me, the eighth son of the horse lord Ganbataar.
Then, ten days into King Xau's visit, my younger sister Sarnai went missing.
Every man and every woman of our tribe, plus seven of the king's guards and the king's wife rode out at dusk to look for her.
King Xau stayed behind. As did i, left to help with the children and guard the camp, a decision I stridently protested, careless of the trust my father had placed in me.
The king sat cross-legged on the grass, not even seeing to his own children, leaving that to their amah.
I heated stew.
The amah and I fed the children.
Dark. The king still sitting on the grass, a strain on his face which I took for guilt. His two remaining guards standing either side of him, his guards who might have joined the search if only Xau had let them— miles upon miles of windblown hills where Sarnai might be lying, Sarnai, my little sister, fearless but reckless.
Most of the riders had returned when the king at last stood up, unsteady on his feet, his captain supporting him as if he were ill.
Out of darkness, a horse came to the king, unsaddled, unbridled, a wild horse, and the king laid his scarred hands on its withers.
Then noise, lamplight, people pressing about the king, his guards tacking up fresh horses.
Just before they set out, the king and his guards and my father Ganbataar, the king spoke: "Let her brother come too."
He dipped his head to me, and I, I did not know what to think. Hard to let go of anger, but I mounted a horse and rode.
And the wild horse led the king through darkness to Sarnai, her ankle broken, her horse dead beside her (she having slit its throat after it stumbled and broke a leg).
Small beside King Xau’s other deeds, finding one reckless girl, but she was my sister, and all the long ride back to camp I rode double with her, holding her safe in my arms.
--from Mary Soon Lee’s Sign Of The Dragon
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quindolyn · 3 years
Note
hi can i request the maurauders going to see the reader do a musical like heathers or mean girls and they are just confused and turned on bc they didn't expect it to be this dirty (can lead to smut or not). luv you and hope you are taking care of yourself, if not go get something to eat, drink some water, take a nap, or do somthing you enjoy. or dont not trying to be pushy :)
Creature of the Night || Poly!Marauders
Word Count: 3029 (excluding song lyrics)
A/N: I think I liked how this turned out? I didn’t make it smut but it’s certainly suggestive, I went with Rocky Horror, I know that the musicals mentioned in the request are more modern but I fucking love Rocky Horror and I think it works with the request. When I first read this request I smiled so much because I love live theater, I don’t perform as much as I used to because as I progress with my education I’m focusing more on the stuff I can use to pad my resumes for college and stuff but I still love going to see productions. One of the worst parts of the pandemic for me has been not being able to go see shows, I miss it so much.
Warnings: theatre enthusiast reader, erections, suggestive material, song lyrics, slight teasing, wearing very little clothing in front of an audience, I believe that that is it
Masterlist
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antici-
The magic of the stage was second to none. Sure, Hogwarts may have had witches and wizards, subjects like Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and ghosts that spent their time meandering about the halls but there was always a part of you that looked forward to the summer between your years at Hogwarts. Because no matter how magical Hogwarts was, the theater always made you feel completely and utterly alive. 
Every summer since the one after your first year at what all of your muggle friends thought to be a very prestigious boarding school up in Scotland, you’d taken part in your local youth theater’s productions. Your parents both being muggles thought that it would be a great way for you to be able to stay in touch with your muggle origins. 
The first year you’d been far too nervous to actually audition for a role, the very thought causing bile to churn in your stomach and threaten to make you sick all over your kitchen floor when your father first pitched the idea. So instead you’d done costumes and it was the most wonderful experience of your life. 
Who needed drugs when you had live theater? The hustle and bustle behind the scenes was electrifying but after two summers of costuming, of quick changes in the wings, learning how to use the ancient sewing machines they stored in the depths of the storage rooms, and pulling pieces for the actors to try on you decided that you wanted to try something more.
The moment you had stepped onto the stage it was like you’d come to life and you cursed yourself for not taking the risk earlier. You belonged on the stage, with the harsh stage lights on you and pounds of makeup plastered onto your face you could feel the magic thrumming through your veins and it was addicting.
If it was possible, you were even more excited to perform this summer, the previous school year you’d finally gotten together with your long time best friends the Marauders, turning them from friends to your boyfriends.
When your mother had sent word of the production being put on this summer you’d squealed while seated next to James and across from Remus, who had Sirius hanging off of his side. After explaining to them, mostly Sirius and James really, just what live theater was their first reaction was to ask if they could come see you perform.
“I don’t even know if I’m going to be cast,” You had explained gently, not wanting to get their hopes up in case you weren’t cast this year.
“Bull shit of course you’re going to be the cast,” Sirius had contested through a mouthful of jam and toast, waving his hand theatrically through the air, watching him that day was not the first time you’d considered how the way he acted often reminded you of an over enthusiastic theatre major.
Remus, the only one with any knowledge on muggle theatre had snorted, wrapping an arm around Sirius’ waist to pull him closer to his body, “She’s not going to be the cast Pads, she’s going to be casted,” He’d corrected gently, pressing a kiss into his long, dark tresses.
“Whatever,” The smaller boy had grumbled, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.
Which brought you to where you were right now, five minutes to curtain touching up your make up in the mirror of the shared make-up room.
“Hey (L/N),” One of your cast mates called settling into the makeup chair next to you as she plucked a tube of dark red lipstick from the small canary colored makeup bag she had previously abandoned on the counter, “Your boyfriends coming tonight?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
“Yeah, they are,” You responded, applying mascara to your lashes.
“Excited to meet them, that photo you showed us,” She smiled, fanning her face with her hand, “Smoking,” She smiled, making eye contact with you in the mirror.
Rolling your eyes you ignored her comment, “It’s five minutes to curtain, you’re just now doing your make-up?” You chuckled, noticing her black face.
“Oh, shove it,” She laughed as you pushed yourself from your chair, traipsing out of the room, giving her the middle finger on your way out.
“Break a leg!” She called after you as the door latched shut.
You weren’t usually this nervous before a performance but knowing that your three boyfriends were sitting out there somewhere in the audience had you pacing back and forth backstage wondering what they were going to think of the whole production.
“Rocky Horror?” Sirius’ confusion evident in his voice as he plopped down in his seat next to Remus, throwing his arm around the werewolf’s shoulders, drumming his fingers on his clothed shoulder hidden behind his knitted cardigan.
“Yeah,” James collapsed into his chair on the other side of Remus, tucking one leg under his body, “No clue what it’s about but I’m sure our angel will be wonderful. Can you guys see her?” He straightened himself up in his seat, craning his neck in attempts to catch a glimpse of you.
Remus being the only one with any ties to the muggle world knew a bit about the show and had to do his very best to suppress a smirk from overtaking his face as he knew exactly what he and your other two boyfriends were getting themselves into. 
“Just hush up you two, the show’s gonna start any moment,” He scolded, patting his large, scarred hand on James’ thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Rem,” Sirius whined, puckering his lips and closing his eyes, signaling to his boyfriend that he wanted a kiss.
“My needy baby,” He crooned, leaning in to connect his lips with Sirius’ in a quick liplock before pulling back, allowing Sirius to drop his forehead to smear against his shoulder.
“That’s mean,” Sirius murmured discontentedly.
“Poor baby Pads,” James cooed mockingly.
“Both of you,” Remus hissed as the lights in the theatre dimmed, “The show’s about to start, be good for me and be quiet yeah?”
Their response came in their silence as the crowd started settling down and the music from the orchestra pit began a voice coming from somewhere out of sight as it was played through the speakers,
“Michael Rennie was ill
The day the earth stood still
But he told us where we stand”
Not 20 minutes into the show all three of them were as hard as rocks, James had already made Remus check the playbill for the name of the character you were playing, not being able to remember what you’d told them as all of his concentration was focused on a certain place.
Janet Weiss.
Remus couldn’t remember either, but he was almost certain that’s the name he could make out in the dark theatre, printed next to a picture of your smiling face.
When you’d stripped down to your underwear the boys could barely focus on the plot line of the show, only being able to watch the way your bare skin shone under the harsh light of the spotlights. Watching as sweat glistened on your skin, making you shine as you moved about the stage. 
Enchanted by the melodic cadence of your voice they all felt a certain jealousy burning deep in the pits on their stomachs at the thought that there were dozens of other people packed into that theater, all observing you in your vulnerable state of under dress. Only they got to see you like that.
Sirius missed much of the first act glaring at members of the audience who he deemed as looking at you for too long for his liking, but if you were being honest a 4th year smiling at you in the hallway was sometimes too long for his liking.
It wasn’t like any of them had never seen you naked before, in fact they’d all seen you naked more than their fair share of times but something about you on that stage in a white bra with a matching slip was driving them all crazy.
Especially Remus, whose ultimate weakness was seeing you in anything white which was one of the reasons you’d been so excited to invite them in the first place, knowing that they would be horny messes the entire time.
On stage you did your very best not to look out into the audience looking for them, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to stop a ginormous grin from forming on your face and you couldn’t afford to break character. Not if you wanted the night to go your way.
As the opening notes to “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me”, rose from the orchestra pit you had trouble stopping a small smirk from pulling at your lips as you opened them, inhaling deeply before singing the first words of the song,
“I was feeling done in, couldn't win
I'd only ever kissed before”
Despite yourself you caught a glimpse of long dark hair in the audience, quickly taking a glance at Sirius’ face, eyes glazed over in lust, legs shifting uncomfortably with his mouth hanging wide open. 
Out of the corner of your eye you noticed another raven-haired boy’s mouth dropping as you shrugged off of your robe
“I thought there’s no use getting, into heavy petting
It only leads to trouble and, seat wetting
Now all I want to know, is how to go
I've tasted blood and I want more”
It was impossible to miss the way Remus’ jaw clenched as you laid your palm against Rocky’s chest, he was being played by your good friends who’d been working with the same theatre company as you since forever, he was like a brother to you. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t lay it on extra thick tonight with your boyfriends in the audience.
Tracing a dainty finger down Rocky’s chest you pushed your body against his singing out the next lyrics of the song,
“I've got an itch to scratch, I need assistance”
You turned you and your cast mate so that looking over his shoulder you were able to meet Remus’ eye, sending him a quick wink before focusing back in on Rocky.
“Toucha, toucha, toucha, touch me
I wanna be dirty
Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me
Creature of the night”
Pressing your back up against Rocky’s chest you guided his hands with yours to your breasts, squeezing them as you followed the choreography you knew by heart.
You ripped your slip from your body with the help of Rocky leaving you in only your white bra, matching panties and a pair of small heels as you paraded around stage, belting the suggestive lyrics into the theater.
“Then if anything grows, while you pose
I'll oil you up and rub you down (down, down, down)
And that’s just one small fraction, of the main attraction
You need a friendly hand, oh i need action”
You smirked, thinking about all of the action you’d be on the receiving end of later that night as you sunk to your knees in front of Rocky, your hands grasping his thighs. Deciding to tease them perhaps a little more than necessary as you went through the number, curling your leg around his and pressing your bodies together so that there was no space between your two questionably clothed bodies.
As the number was brought to a close it was impossible for you to ignore the excitement bubbling up inside of you as you continued your way through the show you kept throwing glances at your boyfriends, always finding their eyes already trained on you. More often than not, on some body part other than your face.
If your boyfriends thought that they had a bit of a problem before that song they were in a terrible predicament now.
Remus caught Sirius on multiple occasions trying to move the hand that he was holding to grope at his crotch as he tried to buck up into his boyfriend’s hand. And much to his own dismay, Remus would pull his hand away, thinking it probably wasn’t the best idea to give his boyfriend a hand job in a crowded theater. Knowing that he wouldn’t have to worry about James touching himself because he would never dream of disobeying him, Remus divided his attention between you on the stage and keeping Sirius in check.
Each of the boys were counting down the seconds until the show came to an end and they could get out of there and relieve some of their tension.  As the curtains were pulled closed they all breathed a sigh of relief before they reopened, leaving all three of them bewildered and slightly annoyed, even more so when they noticed everyone around them standing as they applauded the actors.
Remus forced both of them up when you rushed to the front of the stage, curtsying as the crowd went wild, your boyfriends most notably. As you took your bow you blew a kiss to your boyfriends taking note of the uncomfortable way they all stood, trying to adjust their erections to make them less noticeable while simultaneously applauding you.
As you cleared the stage after curtain call you took your time, doddling towards the dressing rooms where you had left the clothes you’d arrived at the theater in along with a special outfit you’d brought for after the show. Usually you were one of the first actors to clear the theater after a show but tonight you took your time. Hanging up your costume with more care than anyone really should treat any garment with and certainly more than what it needed. 
You smirked mischievously as you pulled the you’d brought outfit from your bag and shimmied it up your legs before slipping the delicate straps up your shoulders. You glimpsed yourself in the mirror, the red satin of the dress clinging to your curves in an attractive manner, short enough to display miles of legs and low cut enough to show off a decent amount of cleavage and perhaps a sighting of the matching red bra you were wearing beneath it.
Slinging the back of your black heels over the heel of your feet you snatched your purse from the armchair in your dressing room before striding out to go meet your boyfriends in the lobby, where you’d told them to wait for you.
Their heads all turned as they heard the clacking of your heels against the tile of the floor, “Boys,” You greeted as they unabashedly took in your new appearance.
As he most often was, Remus was the first one to collect himself, “Puppy, you were wonderful,” He praised, walking to meet you as you approached him, leaning down to smear a kiss against your cheek, “You did amazing up there, so proud of you,” He threw his arm around your waist as you walked towards Sirius and James.
“We got something for you,” He explained, his grip on your waist tightening, “Jamie give it to her, yeah?” 
“Oh yeah,” The smaller boy grinned, remembering the bouquet he held cradled in his arms as he handed it over to you, “Here you go angel.”
“Thank you Jamie,” You said as you took it from him, closing your eyes as you buried your nose in the sweet smelling flora. As you opened your eyes you made eye contact with Sirius, who stood across from you, practically drooling as he took in your appearance without any shame, “They smell wonderful.”
“You okay Si?” You asked, looking up through your eyelashes, batting them innocently.
“Like you don’t know exactly what you did up there to us (Y/N/N),” Remus whispered in your ear, pressing his nose into your temple.
“You guys are the ones who wanted to come,” You lilted, rubbing one of the velvety petals between the pads of your thumb and forefinger.
“Could’ve warned us,” James mumbled, his eyes not leaving your thighs as he licked his lips, if it were anyone else you would’ve been uncomfortable but you couldn’t help but feel flattered whenever any of them ogled you. 
“And what’s with the dress Pup?” Sirius nodded his head appreciatively towards your dress, obviously admiring the way it hung on your body.
“What, you don’t like it?” You asked with fake hurt in your voice, knowing that he more than liked it, he fucking loved it. 
“S’not that,” Remus mumbled, nosing at your jugular, “Just that whole show, got us a little bit worked up. We didn’t expect it to be so sexual Puppy,” He nodded towards James and that’s when you noticed the erection he was still sporting. 
“Got us really worked up, can we go home now?” James asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, trying to distract himself from his little problem.
“Jamie,” You whined, smiling wickedly, “I wanted to celebrate, I was thinking we could go eat somewhere, I was thinking maybe Thai food?”
You watched as Sirius ground his teeth, conflicted between needing to get home and not wanting to deny you from what you wanted. 
“Having fun teasing us Bunny?” Remus asked you with a sly smirk, knowing exactly what you were doing.
“M’not teasing,” You insisted, turning indignantly to your other boyfriend.
“Sure you aren’t,” He chuckled, “Thai sounds great (Y/N), wanna talk with you about the show,” The idea of teasing Sirius and James even longer was very appealing to Remus and he was ready to make the sacrifice of being teased himself, knowing that he’d be able to get back at you later that night.
“But-” James began.
“You wanna argue with me Jamie?” Remus challenged, raising a singular eyebrow.
“No,” He moped, “Of course not.”
“Good,” Remus said, nodding his head approvingly, “We wouldn’t wanna deny our Princess would we?”
James shook his head, eyes pleading, desperately seeking Remus’ approval.
“Pads?” Remus challenged, turning his attention to the other raven haired man.
“What? Oh um, of course not,” He agreed distractedly, dragging his eyes from your form to meet Remus’, his reluctance evident in his voice.
“Good,” Remus said pointedly, his eyes cold, daring Sirius to question him. When he didn’t the werewolf continued, “Let’s get going then, there’s a nice little restaurant a couple blocks away yeah?”
As you all hummed your consent you made your way to the exit, “Ten galleons if you can make James cum in his pants at dinner,” Remus whispered in your ear quietly enough so that  James and Sirius trailing behind you wouldn’t be able to hear you, you could hear the smirk in his voice as you exited the theatre.
“Deal.” This was going to be fun, you considered that you might have to invite them to come see the show again.
-pation
tagging: @randomoutsiders @weasleyposts @kittykylax @amourtentiaa @superbturtlemakerathlete
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honeypiehotchner · 3 years
Text
That’s When (Hotch x Fem!Reader) -- part three of Bye Bye, Baby
Part three has arrived! Guys, this was so much fun to write and this part made me so weepy. Thank y’all so much for reading <3
Loosely based on “That’s When” by Taylor Swift ft. Keith Urban xx
Summary: Juliet wants to meet Aaron, so you set it up. Things go better than you were expecting.
Warnings: angst, happy ending!
Word count: 3.7k this time EYE
Bye Bye, Baby (part one) || Don’t You (part two) || Hotch Masterlist
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You said, “I know,” when I said I need some time, need some space/to think about all of this
You pour the coffee Aaron got you down the drain. You took maybe two sips on your way home.
Juliet is still with Dannie, but she’s on her way now to drop her off. And once Jules is asleep, you’ll be filling Dannie in on everything.
Easier said than done, because Juliet all but refuses to fall asleep.
“Munchkin,” you sigh. “You have school tomorrow.”
“M’not tired.”
You give her a look.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” She asks out of nowhere. “You look sad.”
“I’m okay, baby,” you whisper, even though you nearly start crying. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
“French toast for breakfast?”
You chuckle, tapping her nose gently. “French toast. You got it.”
“Love you bunches,” she murmurs, already falling asleep.
You lean over and kiss her forehead. “Love you, munchkin.”
Juliet keeps her eyes closed as you stand and turn off the light, and you don’t doubt that she’s fast asleep by the time you pull her door closed.
Dannie is waiting on the couch, two glasses of wine already poured.
“You know me too well,” you laugh, taking your glass from her. “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me, it’s your wine,” Dannie grins.
“Right.”
Dannie watches you stare at your wine. Something you never do.
“How’d it go?” She asks. “It looks like it went bad.”
You snort. “Well, it wasn’t great.”
You watched me go/And I knew my words were hard to hear
“Oh boy.” Dannie shifts her body and faces you on the couch, her legs bent underneath her. “Go on.”
“His first question was if she’s his.”
Dannie scrunches her nose in disgust, an expression Jules has picked up from her. “What did you say?”
“That she’s mine, but he is her dad,” you exhale shakily. “I forgot she has his dimples, too.”
Dannie smiles sadly. “Honey…”
“Yeah, it was bad,” you admit. “It was so easy to forget all of that when I was angry and when I was too busy being pregnant,” you joke. “Seeing him just opened that door again.”
You swirl your wine for a second. “He said he wants to meet her. I told him I’d have to ask her first.”
“That’s good,” Dannie nods.
“How do I even bring that up?” You ask, defeated. “And what if she says no?”
“Then she says no,” Dannie shrugs her shoulders. “Then life goes back the way it was.”
You take in a deep breath. “Is it wrong that I kind of want her to say no?”
“I think that’s very motherly of you,” Dannie smiles. “You’ve protected her so well, I hope you know that.”
“I’ve tried.” You take a big sip of wine before your next sentence. “He asked me for a second chance.”
Dannie blinks. “Seriously?”
You nod.
“Did you tell him about the phone calls? He’s ignored you this whole time and now just because he realized he’s a father, he wants a second chance?” Dannie scoffs loudly. “Maybe I want her to say no, too. I hate men.”
You nearly inhale your wine in laughter. “You and me both.”
+++
As it turns out, bringing up Aaron to Juliet is easy. She asks you the next night why you still look sad, and you use it to bring him up.
“I’m not sad, munchkin, I’m just thinking really hard about something.”
Juliet furrows her eyebrows. “What?”
You slide off the couch to sit on the floor next to her where she’s coloring a picture of Elsa. “Remember how I told you that your dad and I don’t talk anymore?”
It was the easiest way to explain Aaron’s absence when Juliet started to ask about it. It was hard to think about because you and Aaron were never married, he didn’t die, and to make matters worse, he had no idea Juliet existed.
She nods, picking up a blue marker. “Yeah, you said adults have to stop talking to each other sometimes.”
“That’s right,” you nod. “Sometimes it’s better for us if we don’t speak. But sometimes, after a while, we can start talking again.”
“Okay.”’
“Well, your dad and I have started talking again,” you pause. “And he said he’d like to meet you. But only if you want to.”
Juliet thinks for a moment, then shrugs, switching to an orange marker. “Okay.”
“Yeah?” You ask, just to be sure. “Where do you want to go?”
“I can pick?”
“Sure can. Wherever you want.”
“Hmm,” she taps her chin for emphasis, and you try hard not to laugh. “What about McDonalds in the park?”
It’s a somewhat tradition of yours to get McDonalds, then go to her favorite park and have a picnic. It’s one of her favorite things to do, so you should’ve known.
“I love that,” you smile. “What about this Saturday?”
“Mhm!” She nods. “Can Dannie come, too?”
“I’ll ask her, but I don’t see why not.”
Juliet is completely satisfied with this answer and goes right back to coloring Elsa.
You chuckle quietly. Kids.
+++
It’s almost noon by the time you get Juliet in the car. And surprisingly, you were the one running behind today. Juliet was ready and sitting on your bed, watching you get dressed before you had even done your hair.
Now, though, you’ve picked up Dannie, and the three of you are headed to McDonalds.
Juliet hasn’t mentioned meeting Aaron once this morning, but she has talked about McDonalds at least four times now.
“How are you holding up?” Dannie asks while Juliet is occupied singing along to ‘Let It Go.’
“Nervous,” you admit quietly. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wouldn’t turn down McDonalds any day,” Dannie scoffs, then turns around to Juliet. “Are you excited?”
Listening to the two of them ramble makes you smile wide, and the drive to the park feels infinitely shorter.
You told Aaron you’d text him when you get there, so he can come over. He said he’d already be there, but for what reason you have no clue.
All you care about is setting out the blanket and getting Juliet to eat her food before she plays with her new Frozen toy.
Truthfully, you’re expecting him to text you and say he called on a case. Not that you blame him because you’ve been there, the BAU is unpredictable like that. But you wouldn’t be surprised.
However, you are surprised when Aaron jogs over.
Yes, jogs.
In shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers, with sweat clinging to his hair, he jogs over. And you lose all semblance of reality. There’s cotton in your mouth. Good fucking god, he looks good.
“When the hell did you start running?” It's the first thing that comes out of your mouth, and it’s complete word vomit.
Juliet gasps dramatically. “Bad word, Mommy.”
Dannie tries and fails to hold in her laugh.
“You’re right,” you chuckle. “Bad word.”
Aaron, with a smile, answers your question. “The BAU is having a triathlon. I’m training for it.”
“When is it?” You ask without entirely meaning to. You hate how easily you fall right back into conversation with him, how easily he makes you dumbfounded just by his looks.
“In a few weeks, so I’ve got some time,” he breathes. “Mind if I sit?”
You shake your head, scooting over. “Here, I got some nuggets.” You ordered enough for the two of you to share, mostly to save money, but now you’re realizing the implications of it.
You don’t have time to think about that, though, because Juliet has been staring at Aaron for a few moments.
“Munchkin?” You ask. Dannie nudges Juliet’s arm.
“Didn’t you hit us in the grocery store?”
Dannie bursts into laughter then, unable to control it this time, and thankfully, Aaron laughs, too.
“I did,” he nods. “I’m really sorry about that.”
“It’s okay, Aaron,” Juliet says, going right back to her nuggets, sandwiching fries in between two pieces of chicken.
His eyebrows raise and he looks at you.
All you can do is shrug. “She forgets nothing.”
From there, lunch is...uneventful.
Juliet is more focused on playing than she is talking to Aaron, but thankfully, she doesn’t seem upset by him being here.
Dannie asks him a couple questions, mostly standard ones. “What’s the BAU like? I bet the hours suck. You’re unit chief, too, right?”
Aaron answers everything politely, and seems mostly at ease.
After a while, you begin to relax, too.
You have no choice, really, when Juliet feels comfortable to ask questions like, “Are you really my dad? Why weren’t you talking to my mommy?”
Aaron handles the questions like a pro. “I am. Your mom and I needed some time to ourselves, so that’s why we weren’t talking.”
“Adults are weird,” she says, but she seems satisfied with his answers and even hands him her Olaf toy. “I’m gonna go swing.”
Aaron chuckles and sets Olaf in the shade of his leg. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t melt.”
Juliet tilts her head. “He’s a toy, he won’t melt.”
This time you’re the one incapable of holding in your laughter.
“Dannie, come on!” Juliet yells out, giggling when Dannie nearly trips over her feet to stand up.
As they run off, you start picking up Juliet’s trash and stuffing it back in the bag.
“Here, I’ll run it over to the trash can.”
You turn your head to Aaron with a smirk. “You’ll run it over there? Promise?”
He gives you a look.
He doesn’t actually take it over to the trash can because he goes completely still, then says, “She has my eyes.”
You take a deep breath. “Yeah. She does. Your dimples, too.”
He smiles. “Thank god she got your nose, though.”
“What?” You whip your head around. “She has your nose.”
“She does not,” he argues. “And as I said, thank god.”
“Oh, shut up, I love your nose.”
His smile is never-ending. “Really?”
You move on from it quickly. “Thanks for meeting us today.”
“Thank you for letting me.”
You nod slowly, deciding to blurt out what’s been eating at you. “You know, if— If you’re doing this just to get a second chance with me, please don’t.”
“I’m not.”
“Because I don’t need that kind of stress, and Juliet doesn’t either—”
I said, “I know,” when you said I did you wrong/made mistakes, and put you through all of this
“Y/N,” Aaron’s hand rests gently on your arm, getting your attention. He lifts it when you stop talking. “I’m not. I’m doing this because I want to be a part of her life, as her dad. I wasn’t there for her, or you, and I’m sorry. I just want to make it right. Let me make it up to you — to her.”
You stare at him closely, watching. “You mean that?”
He nods. “I do. And I’m so sorry my actions in the past made you think differently of me.”
“I just don’t want her to get hurt,” you murmur. “She’s my baby.”
“I know,” Aaron says. “I know.”
+++
Co-parenting with Aaron is surprisingly easy. Or maybe he makes it easy.
Every Saturday, you and Juliet meet him in the park for a picnic lunch after he’s done training for the triathlon. Sometimes you get there early — which happens nearly every week as Juliet becomes more eager to see him — and you get to cheer Aaron on as he finishes his run.
Dannie comes sometimes, but the few times that she hasn’t have been just as pleasant.
Aaron keeps his word. He does this to spend time with Juliet as her dad, and he doesn’t make any advances on you. The two of you don’t even hug at the end of the afternoon, but Juliet has taken to running and jumping in his arms.
She’s growing more and more attached to him every week, and you hate the dread that you feel. So far, you’ve been lucky. Aaron’s cases have been during the week, so he hasn’t missed a single Saturday — yet.
It’s one of the reasons you are grateful for your transfer at the time four years ago. If you had been in as unpredictable of a job as the BAU when you were pregnant, or when Juliet was born, you have no idea how you would’ve done it. Your job now is a perfect 8 to 5, sometimes 6, but that’s only been a handful of times in the past four years.
Juliet is used to you being there every day. And now, she’s getting used to seeing Aaron every week. You’re just bracing yourself for the time when he has a case and won’t be able to make it.
You try not to think that far ahead, but you can’t help yourself. You were once an agent under him. You know just how crazy the BAU can get. You know exactly what to expect when it gets busy.
Which is why you don’t understand the feelings that are growing inside of you.
You told him he wasn’t getting a second chance — at least not right now. Because you don’t have it in you, and you don’t want to do that to Juliet if it doesn’t work out.
But that was before things started working out.
And you said, “When can I come back?”
Before he never missed a single Saturday. Before he insisted on a birthday dinner when he realized her birthday was a few months ago. Before she started running into his arms. Before he started lifting her up and spinning her around, listening to her giggles as she squealed, “Mommy! I’m flying!” Before she fell asleep on the blanket in the park, and he moved over to shield her from the sun, all while still talking to you.
Now, you don’t know what to do. It sounds awful, but you didn’t expect him to prove himself this well.
You’ve always loved him. That is easy enough to recognize and admit. But you never imagined feeling this way again.
“Mommy?” Juliet pushes your bedroom door open a little.
You sit up, patting your bed. “Good morning, munchkin. C’mere.”
She climbs into bed and right to your side, and you spread the blanket over her, letting her snuggle into your side.
After a moment, you think she’s asleep, but then she whispers, “Are you and dad going to stop talking again?”
You freeze. Up until now, Juliet has called him “Aaron.” Obviously, she knows Aaron is her dad, but she’s never called him that.
“Why do you ask that, baby?” You murmur, kissing the top of her head.
“I don’t want you guys to stop talking again. I like hanging out with him.” She buries her head further into your chest. “He makes me laugh.”
Tears fill your eyes. “He makes me laugh, too.”
“I know,” she smiles into your shirt. “He looks at you a lot.”
“What?”
“When you’re not looking,” she whispers, half-asleep again. “He smiles a lot. He has dimples like me.”
“He does,” you smile softly, wiping your tears away.
+++
The day of the triathlon, Juliet is more than eager to get to the park to cheer Aaron on.
You, on the other hand, feel like you could throw up from the thought of it.
Aaron told you the rest of the team will be there, and you’re grateful for the heads up, but you’re also nervous as shit. You haven’t seen them since your send off party. You haven’t texted with Penelope and Derek in...probably two years now.
He said he didn’t tell the team you’re coming because he didn’t want you to feel pressured, but he also warned you that the team has been questioning him nonstop if he’s seeing someone. He said he’s told them that he isn’t, but of course, they think he’s lying.
Dannie comes with to the triathlon, mainly because Juliet asked her to. It’s been a few days since Juliet has seen Dannie because she was out of town for work, but now she’s back, so Juliet wants her around all the time again.
You’re grateful for Dannie’s presence once again to calm your nerves and offer distractions at every second.
Surprisingly, you don’t see the team anywhere when you arrive, so you, Juliet, and Dannie set up your chairs and blanket peacefully. It’s a while before Aaron will be over here for the run, the last part of the triathlon, so Juliet breaks out her coloring book at your and Dannie’s feet.
You and Dannie spend the wait while idly talking, and after about an hour, the first cheers begin echoing out.
Juliet perks up with the noise. “Is that dad?”
Dannie’s eyes snap to yours and she mouths, “Did she?”
You nod, smiling stupidly. It brings you way more joy to hear Juliet freely call Aaron her dad. Way more joy than you thought.
“Maybe,” you stand up and reach for Juliet’s hand. “Let’s go see.”
Juliet grabs your hand and starts tugging you toward the front, and Dannie follows with a laugh, watching you get drug away by a four-year-old.
A few runners are passing by, but none of them are Aaron. Juliet is watching impatiently, and squeals when Dannie lifts her up onto her shoulders.
“Can you see now, munchkin?” You ask, your hand resting gently on her back, even though Dannie is holding onto her ankles.
Juliet nods. “I see him!”
You look down the way, and you see him, too.
Your lips split into a grin almost immediately. His black shorts, black t-shirt, with his number pinned to the front. His hair is slick with sweat, and yet, you still have a burning desire to run your fingers through it.
Aaron moves to the side, running right next to you, giving Juliet a high five on his way by, and you, too, only when his fingers graze yours, he squeezes.
As soon as he crosses the finish line, Juliet is scrambling out of Dannie’s arms, and when she hits the ground, she runs.
You’re running after her, Dannie too, calling her name, because she really shouldn’t run off like that.
But your nerves calm down the second you see Juliet jumping into her dad’s arms.
Slowing to a walk, you shake your head with a smile as Aaron spins her around, squeezing her tightly.
“Hey,” he says when he sees you. “I’m glad you guys could make it.”
“Me too,” you smile. “She wouldn’t let me miss it,” you nod toward Juliet.
“You’re smelly,” Juliet says out of nowhere, pinching her nose.
Dannie laughs loudly at her comment as Aaron sets her down. But despite her comment, she doesn’t move from next to him.
“Is that who I think it is?” Derek Morgan’s voice floats through your ears.
You turn around to face him, putting your hands on your hips. “Depends, who do you think it is?”
Derek grins wide. “Come here, you.”
You hug him tightly, and over his shoulder you see everyone else, all with shocked looks on their faces. JJ, Emily, Penelope, Spencer, and Rossi, too.
After giving out hugs all around, you look back to see Juliet still clinging to Aaron’s leg.
“Who is this?” Morgan asks quietly, kneeling down to Juliet’s level. “Hey there.”
She eyes him skeptically. “Hi.”
“Munchkin, this is Derek. He’s a friend, too.”
Derek waves.
“Do you like Frozen?” Juliet asks.
Derek nods seriously. “I love it.”
“Hmph,” she wraps her arm tighter around Aaron’s leg. The sight makes you want to crumble. She looks up at Aaron, and says, “Dad?” To get his attention.
Everyone stills. Even Derek.
“Yes, honey?” Aaron replies, kneeling down, too.
“Are they your friends, too?”
He nods. “We’re all really good friends.”
She shrugs. “Okay.” She looks around at everyone, and gasps when she sees Penelope. “I like your bracelet!”
Penelope looks down at it with a smile. “You wanna try it on?”
Juliet practically sprints toward Penelope with a dramatic nod.
While the two of them are playing with Pen’s jewelry, everyone else is looking at you and Hotch with blatantly shocked expressions.
“We’ll explain later,” you offer. “But the answer is yes.”
Rossi, bless him, breaks the awkward, silent tension. “Is anyone else starving?”
You laugh some nerves away. “Yeah, I am. We just need to go pack up our stuff.”
“I can help,” Aaron says.
“Okay, yeah,” you nod, glancing over at Juliet, but her, Penelope, JJ, and Emily are now sitting in the grass, talking animatedly about Frozen.
“I’ll stay over here,” Dannie says, nudging your arm.
“Thank you,” you murmur, trying to hide your dumb smile at the thought of being alone with Aaron, even if for only a few seconds.
Regardless, you try to keep your cool when you turn back to him. “We’re just over here.”
“Lead the way,” he gestures ahead.
You ignore all efforts to hide your smile now as you start walking. He falls into step beside you, his sweaty shoulder brushing yours, but you don’t mind.
And against all of your better judgement, you slide your hand into his.
His surprised look is priceless, and you can’t help the snort of laughter that escapes you. “What? Am I not allowed to make the first move?”
You don’t know if the red on his cheeks is from running or blushing. “No, no, you’re allowed.”
“Good,” you murmur, walking a little closer. Your things are far too close for your liking. You want to walk with him like this for longer.
When you stop next to your chairs, you don’t let go of his hand. He doesn’t let go, either.
“Can I ask something?” He says, squeezing your hand.
“Sure.”
He steps closer, his toes nearly touching yours. “If you make the first move, am I allowed to make the second?”
You can’t help the violent swarm of butterflies in your stomach. “I think that’s how that works.” You pause, tilting your head, gesturing to how close your feet are. “Was that your move?”
He shakes his head. “No. This is.”
That’s when, when I saw your face/You let me in, and baby, that’s when
Aaron’s free hand holds your jaw as he kisses you in the same tender, gentle way that he used to, only this one has four years’ worth of apologies in every touch. You let go of his hand to smooth your hands on his chest, his neck, any place you can touch because it’s been too long. Way too long.
That’s when I want you/That’s when I love you/That’s when
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dystopiandilfs · 3 years
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Dream's discord podcast. Basically him answering questions for 2.5 hours. This will sort of be in order but I fucked up my notes so it might not be in order completely. (From 13th May 2021)
For reference the photos at the end are: A prototype of fidget spinner merch as loads of people asked, a reference photo of his favourite merch and a photo he sent of his hair to prove he wasn't a brunette.
•He said his teeth are mostly straight but he's thought about getting Invisalign. He's never had braces. He has a tiny gap in the left side of his mouth and his canines are longer and sharper (vampire arc). He's never had teeth surgery so has his wisdom teeth still.
•He thinks pineapple on pizza is good.
•He likes seafood like lobster and crab. He had crab made in an air fryer last night. He like peas. He thinks quesadillas are good and likes most food.
•He hates Coffee and most drinks
•The Dream Shorts team is Ken who is his personal reminder (Ken's main job is to spam him with texts so he doesn't forget things as he's got a habit of reading texts and not replying) and also comes up with a list of sets for Dream shorts. The builder is a friend and munchymc builder "his talent gets wasted on Dream's shorts but we pay him so"
•His editors are currently Dizzy, Firesale and Mjcr. Willz doesn't edit for him anymore
•The mask animation isn't done but Mask should be released May 21st. He wants to release them together as "the whole song is a double meaning and the whole nuance will be lost without the animation" but no matter if the animation is done the song is getting released on the 21st.
•He and Sapnap eat together often.
•He and Sapnap prefer medium rare Steak
•He wants a home gym it's something he's willing to splurge on. They currently have a weight rack but they haven't even set it up.
•"Eat the rich? Shut up shut up" - Dream
•Talked about money basically saying "Most people don't understand how money works I don't have millions in my bank account it's in assets like merch, land and warehousing for that stuff" (He's not in his landlord arc)
•He's been debating Pride Merch because of Rainbow Capitalism. He doesn't want it too be seen as a money maker and if he does most proceeds would go to charity. He's currently super busy merch wise with Sapnap joining and George in the middle of joining. He did say "Only if the LGBTQ+ community in this community wants it" He thinks he's going to at least change the merch website to a pride one. Sapnap wants to make pride merch including a rainbow flame on his.
•He wants to create a charity that's centered around helping LGBTQ+ one day because he thinks that there's a lack of them. He mentioned that creating a charity was expensive and took a lot and was a complicated process including a board of directors but he wants to do it someday.
•He wanted to buy a bunch of houses in Florida which was a service to house mostly LGBTQ+ youth and people stuck in abusive households for free to get them out of bad home environments. But he didn't because he didn't want people thinking he was profiting of of abuse victims and LGBTQ+ community.
•He said he's terrible with time management and replying to people which is why Ken helps him (and also helps George and Sapnap). He mentioned how Sam messaged multiple times and Dream just forgot to answer but felt bad "I feel like people think I hate them..... Cause I'd be mad if people did that to me"
•He tries to reply to a few texts a day (community number). He also can't do birthday messages everyday because you can only reply at certain times so it's not abusing the system so if you get one it's special. He said he does try but it's got a weird time gap.
•Him and the manhunt winner are trying to come up with a good time to film
•He wants to stream this MCC on twitch and says his team is good.
•He talks about why he's not partnered with Twitch. Basically Twitch has a lock rate (in which you make money) and you legally can't stream on YouTube. So legally if Tommy wanted to stream on YouTube he couldn't. Someone then mentioned how Bad is a twitch partner but still streams on YouTube "Bad streams on YouTube but he has for a while and I don't think that he cares" - Dream
•He likes to reply to every donation he gets on stream and feels bad when he doesn't so he'll turn them off when he streams and wants a platform deal where he can be payed to stream (not twitch). If he gets a streaming partnership he will stream a couple of times a week. He looked in to Facebook but they don't have an alias system meaning you can see everyone's actual Facebook account and personal info, he doesn't like seeing real names on Facebook so it would require a lot of altering if he was to stream there so he's thinking it's probably going to be YouTube.
•He was asked about if his demographic was what he expected and he said he went in with no expectations, he didn't even know what stans were, wasn't really on social media so he wasn't aware of the fan culture. "You guys are a handful sometimes but it's worth it"
•He also mentioned how he and the DreamSMP changed the twitch audience demographic. It used to be male dominated in both streamers and audience and now it's almost split which is unheard on.
•He has 5 fidget spinners in his house. Two in his bedroom. Two in his office. One in the living room.
•He likes his Minecraft skin as he thinks the arm is cook and you never see the rest of his skin really. He says it's unique and different and "me". Dream: You can't even tell half the skins apart on MC.
•He's not lost the motivation to stream. Most of the times if he wants to stream he gets George or Sapnap to do it and he just turns up. It's more beneficial to them as they have donos and subs on. (Don't we fucking know it "can you say hi to")
•He has listened to Lovejoy. Says the ep was great and they're very talented and awesome. Doesn't know what his favourite song is but probably would pick One Day because the chorus slaps.
•RIP to acoustic Roadtrip. He said instead of acoustic Roadtrip we get Mask so no losses today for Dream stans.
•"With Roadtrip I went to Parker and I said Hey I have a story I want to tell through music. I have no experience with that can you help me" He said sure. He crafted the music and melodies and how things are formed where it's catchy. I have less comfort singing that. I love the song and it's my song, it's very representative of me and I'm sure I could sing it but it's a song I'd be kinds of scared to sing live, with Mask I basically did everything. I sat there the entire time and maybe an hour out if the 100 I wasn't in the call. Dream came up with the lyrics and main melody for Mask (First one he's ever come up with) "That was just notes in my fucking voice memos"
•The clip we heard of Mask was a prechorus not the actual chorus. He thinks he'd be more comfortable to do a mask acoustic and it's more melodic than Roadtrip. The chorus also has a lot of instruments similar to Roadtrip. Mask starts of slow and guitar with minimal reverb and is more raw.
• He doesn't want music to be his main thing. It's something fun to do and he's passionate about it as it's a way to express emotions. He wants to release mask then go from there. He wants to release at least one more song but has nothing on his mind currently. His two ideas were Roadtrip and Mask.
•He wouldn't quit his job to become a pizza delivery man.
•His favourite features on himself are eyes or freckles and he also confirmed that he does have eyebrows.
•He was told that Parkour warrior would be bought back some time in the near future and he got excited for it. "Even if I don't win, which I will, it'll be fun"
•Went on about his MCC team but I'm not going to put that in as we should be getting them today. He did say he wasn't on Pink but he did sound confused. (For reference he's always in Pink as it's the last team announced and keeps the hype up by announcing the biggest streamer last)
•Said he and his mum had the Mr Beast burger. He recommends because he likes the avacado. He mentioned how Mr Beast uses "Ghost Kitchens" which is basically where he gives restaurants permission to cook his food so it's restaurant quality food.
•His favourite piece of merch is the circle smile. (The pool photo on Instagram). He said the quality was bad (he worked with a different company and didn't have his own company) and it was elasticy feeling and he's planning on re-releasing it again but with good quality.
•He's started to send merch out in custom packaging. So his bags have the smile and will mostly be green. Sapnap's has the flame and is either black or white. He's also trying to make it so every order has the sticker packs for both him and Sapnap.
•He loves the coins as it's cheaper than a hoodie but still celebrates the milestones and will last a long time. He mentioned how the old coins are getting removed off the site and how if you have any of the coins your special because only a few thousand get made. He's kept around 100 of each coin that he wants to give away in person.
•He wanted to have a cool store where you could access computers that give you access to the DreamSMP in spectator mode. But it's too costly and would require too much time and isn't safe fight now. He doesn't think it'd be worth it financially.
•Most of the hoodie are black instead of multiple colours because of limited supply and covid. Getting the colours are harder because if the pandemic which hopefully won't be an issue soon.
•He wants to do a short meetup tour with Sapnap and George with a few locations in the US (and if others nearby want to join like Quackity or Karl they can). He also wants to visit Australia, UK, Canada, Mexico and Philippines and do something like that there but definitely at least visit with George and Sapnap.
•He's never been to the Philippines but his mum has. He wants to set up a place in the Philippines where he can ship merch in bulk and it would help to reduce shipping. However it would probably be big milestone merch.
•He's not got the vaccine yet but will get it when he needs to. He doesn't leave the house so he doesn't see the point.
•He's the ideas man. George's footcam video was Dream's idea. The T-shirt video was Dream's idea. Most if not all of the Dream Team's videos are Dream's ideas.
•Said he's got a similar/the same hair colour as Froy (Dream buddy at this point the only difference between you and Froy is that one of you is dating Richard Madden /lh)
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ascendance - 04
PAIRING: mob!bucky barnes x reader
WARNINGS: abduction, age gap (reader is 23, bucky is 37)
A/N: hello!! i hope you enjoy this new chapter as i dive more into bucky’s past. italics in this work symbolise a flashback in case anyone’s confused. hope you enjoy it xx
> NEXT CHAPTER | MASTERLIST
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The entrance hall of the Barnes household was pilled up with people. Between his mum barking orders left to right and caterers bringing food in and out, the once silent room turned into a busy crossroads which meant James had retreated back to his room. He was sat down in his bed, cashmere black suit on and hair pushed back, Dead Souls opened on top his legs. He was lost in between the small black letters printed on the yellowing paper, so lost that the sound of his window opening went by him until a loud thump woke him up from his literary daze. Bucky looked up to see his younger sister, sat on the floor of his bedroom by the window with her dress partially on and hair messy due to the windy weather outside. He sighed, closing his book and putting it off to the side.
    - Can’t you climb into your own bedroom? - Bucky got up from bed, leaning down to help her back onto her feet.
    - Yours is closer. - she brushed the dirt off her baby pink dress picked by their mother. - Shouldn’t you be downstairs?
    - Shouldn’t you be in your bedroom? 
    - Touche. - she pointed. - Can you not tell mum? She’ll freak out if she discovers that I went out on dad’s big day. 
    - Go on, I’ll keep mum occupied while you sort out that bird’s nest hair. 
    - Thank you! - she smiled, giving him a short hug. - What am I gonna do when you go to Princeton? Who’s gonna cover for me?
    - I guess you’ll just have to form an alliance with the maids.
Y/N and Bucky were silent, barely speaking to each other if even looking into each other’s eyes. She merely remained there in her operatic costume, the corset doing the best of jobs at enhancing her female features and almost making her look like a femme fatale out of a classical movie in rich red and green fabrics decorated with what he guessed where heavy metal gold pieces resembling precious jewels and golden rings. He did not know which production they were putting on, he hadn’t even heard her sing before but she looked like she belonged in that stage, like she would have been showered in praise the moment the spotlight grazed her. 
She paced around the living room not exactly sure what to do, the beads which made up her skirt and would suddenly peak to show her legs making a slight rustling noise as her eyes studied the book shelf which was filled with tons and tons of books from the classics to mere economy books. Maybe she could read them whenever the tension between of them wasn’t so apparent. She couldn’t help but sometimes look at the badly fixed window and wonder if she could make it, maybe when he wasn’t looking, maybe when he was sleeping yet looking at him; tall, muscular, fast, definetely much stronger than her, she knew that even if she managed to get outside, he would easily get her back. Her mind battled her positive side as she wondered if this was it, if this was home now. Suddenly, her old flat no longer seemed old and she would give everything away if only she could go back, back to being told to do errands that really did not concern her, to stepping on bobby pins laid on the ground, to way too strong makeup which looked ridiculous in proper daylight. She would give everything, if she could go back to what her life had been. 
The man whose name he hadn’t even dignified himself to tell her yet was sat on one of the high chairs by the kitchen with his eyes trained on her. She briskly turned around, arms crossed under her chest with an almost child like pout of someone who had just been punished. In reality, I’m the one who’s being punished here, he thought to himself.
     - You could tell me your name. - she said, not looking into his eyes, instead rubbing her worn out ballet shoes against his hard floor. 
     - You don’t need to know my name. - he was quiet yet imposing. Y/N could not deny he seemed to have a strong presence despite barely raising his voice. It was almost magnetic as if he was made to be looked at, yet she felt he didn’t want to be seen. 
     - What if I need to call out for you? 
     - I would know. There’s no one else here, is it?
Y/N did not reply to this, instead rolling her eyes and sitting down on the couch. There was not much to do in the small one bedroom apartment other than pace around, eat and watch television. Her hand flew over to the remote, pointing it at the TV to turn it on which opened on the news channel. She guessed this was the way she had of now knowing what was happening outside the four walls she was being held captive in. There wasn’t much happening and even if it was, all the local news could talk about was about the upcoming mayoral election. It was a circus with advertisements and rumours flying around about each and every candidate and while it was almost painfully enjoyable to see men over thirty acting like gossip mean girls in school, everyone knew who was gonna win. 
She’d always been told that behind every great man, there’s a great woman and in this particular election it couldn’t be anymore true. The favourite candidate to win, Robert Moore, also known as Bobbie, was married to an senator’s daughter but not just any senator, Senator Barnes. She was too young to remember his policies or even his public persona, yet from what she knew, he had been a very well liked and well respected Senator, coming from a prominent family and building an even more prominent family. Being married to Rebecca Barnes, now Rebecca Barnes-Moore, was a one way ticket to a good career in politics. The two stood in the television screen, side by side in an almost JFK and Jackie Kennedy fashion with sunny smiles looking like the picture perfect Americana couple. It seemed all his ads showed him, his wife and their new born baby. High school sweethearts, it seemed.
    - Are you gonna watch that the whole day? - she turned her head around, looking at his annoyed expression, whiskey glass in hand. 
    - They look good together. 
    - It’s a circus. - he snickered, sitting by her side. 
    - What are you? An anarchist? - those words flew out of her mouth without any filter, mostly out of nuisance. - Her father was a great politician and he is young and likeable.  
     - Young and likeable ... sounds like great political traits. 
     - What do you know about politics?
     - What do you know about politics? Do they have a crash course in politics at whatever company you were in? 
She rolled her eyes, turning the volume up to listen to the broadcaster tell the love story of the future mayor and his wife. Her face softened as she heard what was probably a highly modified version of the actual truth yet she couldn’t help but slightly smile at the idea of it. They seemed in love and as someone who had a degree in pretending to be in love while singing, it warmed her heart to see it. She liked that idea, the idea of Ms and Mrs Americana, the idea of having someone to lean in. Well, she liked the idea of someone. Sure, maybe the man whose name she still didn’t know and was starting to believe was never going to learn was right, it was a circus, all elections are but she couldn’t help but be pulled by the myth of it, by the we against the world mentality no matter how morally wrong it was. 
She continued to watch the coverage of the election run as the man next to her got up from the couch to pick up a phone call. Her hearing slightly moved towards what he was doing, mind always thinking of escaping but even though he was talking on the phone, his gaze was trained of her as if she were his prey. He mumbled something on the phone before turning it off and moving his eyes to text someone yet after that his eyes were on her once more. 
    - Try not to escape for the next hour.
    - Do you have a nameless anarchy convention to attend?
    - Billy is coming to watch over you. No funny business. 
    - Will. - she corrected him. - He doesn’t like being called Billy. 
    - As long as you don’t pull a mission impossible on him, I will call him whatever you want. 
Will didn’t take long to arrive, dressed in a tennis-like outfit as if he had been pulled away from tennis which sounded like something he’d do. Bucky exchanged a few words with him before leaving the two of them together. He trusted Billy, or Will, was smart enough not to let her escape or run away. God, he didn’t even want to think about what John would do to him if she escaped, much less what he would do to her if she escaped. He made his drive to John’s condo in fifth avenue, parking his bike somewhere before making his way up. The condo was always weirdly filled with chatter talk yet he could see no people, it was as if the ghosts of the people he had taken out followed him in his own home and Bucky couldn’t say he pitied him. After all, he had his own ghosts too. 
He looked into John’s office where he was sat in the couch, the coverage of the election run on the television on low volume. John’s eyes immediately found Bucky’s figure looming at the entrance, never really entering, just standing behind the line which separated the hall from the office. 
     - How’s the roomie? - he motioned his hand for him to come in. - Still pretty?
     - What do you need?
     - I just got an invitation to a fundraiser. Zemo’s going so I want you to go. 
     - I can’t, I have her to watch over Y/N. She’s not very keen on remaining in the flat.
    - Chain her up for all I care. It’s in two weeks and I’ll be damned if I’m there by myself with Zemo. Besides it’s your sister’s fundraiser, I always love to see Rebecca. 
    - She’s not gonna be there. - his jaw locked. - A fundraiser for the mob? It’s mostly free alcohol and networking with them not showing up. 
    - Maybe you should bring your roomie. She’s pretty and if anything I’m sure she can sing and if not maybe she can entertain in another form. 
    - The NYPD is probably looking for her, it’s not wise ...
    - Do you make the rules? - John interrupted him, leaning against the couch with arms crossed. - You seem to have forgotten who makes the rules, soldat. 
    - I just don’t think ...
    - You don’t think. - he interrupted him once more. - This election is important and since I do not have the right person here to get ahead, I will make do with what we have. I don’t give a fuck about what you do when you’re at your flat but she is mine. She is my get out of jail card. Are we clear, soldat?
    - Yes. 
    - You can go now. - he dismissed him. Bucky turned around, eyes open wide yet emotionless face as if he were disconnected from his own consciousness. He guessed it was for the best to remain disconnected, to not know what was going on.
He drove himself back home, standing alone at night looking at his flat; the window still broken while the lights were flickering. He thought about running off, starting his bike and running off into the night and just drive until the tank was empty but he couldn’t. He had strings, strings which kept him tied to where he was right now. He guessed that now she was another string keeping him here. 
Bucky sighed as he walked back to his flat, opening the door to a rather serene sight. Will was by the kitchen watching the football game while Y/N was laid across the couch, book in hand which he recognised as one of his old ones. Her hair was different, she probably had taken off her wig and for the first time since those few minutes in the costume room. It looked soft, framing her face and getting in front of her eyes as she herself got lost in the room. Will excused himself, leaving just as he noticed Bucky before he could be yelled at by using his television. Yet again, Y/N and Bucky were alone in that small flat. She looked up from the book and at him before returning to read.
He left her with the book, walking to his bedroom which was probably now more hers than his to grab one of trousers and hoodies before returning back to the living room. Still reading. At least she wasn’t trying to break any more windows. He put the hoodie and trousers by her side, turning off the television as more screams for the football match came through. 
   - You can change into those. - he pointed at the clothing, getting her attention as she closed the book. - Those beads can’t be comfortable. 
   - Oh 
   - The bathroom’s there. - he pointed at one of the few doors in the flat. - You can shower too, there’s towels. 
   - Thank you. - she grabbed the things he had put out for her before leaving him in the living room by himself.
And then it was just him once more, alone, tied to this city which screamed everyone’s name but his.
TAGLIST: @lookiamtrying​ @buckyswillows​ @blossomslibrary​ @juliesland​ @iloveshawnieboi​ @unmagically​ @red-head011​ @poisonous00​ 
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jj-babebank · 3 years
Text
Camp Willowdale / JJ Maybank AU / PART 8
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Synopsis: Camp Willowdale is buzzing with new campers. It’s Caroline Windsor’s first year as a camp counsellor after attending the camp as a camper for ten years. Little does she know that this year Willowdale Lake is going to be a little different from what she is used to it being…
Warnings: future chapters may include curse words, mentions of drugs, mentions of alcohol, mentions of sexual activities, mentions of death.
Pairings: JJ Maybank x fem OC Part 1 ; Part 2 ; Part 3 ; Part 4; Part 5 ; Part 6 ; Part 7
Masterlist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 8 –
49 days of summer camp left
Caroline sat in her bed, hugging her knees against her chest. Her and JJ had the afternoon off and despite his attempts to lure her into hanging out, and her infatuation with the boy, she’d turned him down, wanting to spend a few hours alone with herself to compose her thoughts. It had been exactly two weeks since the night Madison disappeared. No one had bothered to mess with the campers since then, the bonfire area hadn’t been touched and no dead animals were found in anyone’s suitcase. To the rest of the camp, this seemed like victory; to Caroline – it seemed like the calm before the storm.
During their first day at Camp Willowdale, all of the counselors had been given a Willowdale-branded set of items they’d have to use during their stay. It came with the obvious STAFF t-shirts, sweaters and hats, but it also consisted of other things – such as the thermoses Caroline and JJ were still using to sneak whiskey into their daily routines, and notebooks in which they were advised to plan out their group’s daily schedules. Caroline however had been using her notebook for other purposes. She’d become so obsessed with Madison’s case, that every little thing that happened on camp grounds and seemed even a little out of the ordinary, immediately became a clue to her, which she’d hastily scribble down in her notebook. It had only been two weeks since the disappearance of Madison Hague and Caroline had already filled about a quarter of the pages of her hefty notebook with potential clues and leads. She kept rereading her notes, trying to think of something – anything – that they could do to help them solve the mystery, however nothing was coming to her. Ever since the dress incident, Caroline and her friends hadn’t found anything else that could relate to Madison, though Caroline was glad that none of them had given up on their mission.
Caroline was so deep in her own thoughts, she nearly jumped at the sound of a sudden knock on the door. She quickly closed her notebook and tucked it under her mattress and went to open the door, revealing a panting JJ leaning on the doorframe.
“Hey, C,” he breathed.
“JJ, what’re you doing here? I told you I -”
JJ cut her off by pushing past her and walking into her cabin, “Yeah, yeah, you wanna be alone, I know,” he sat on her bed, taking his snapback off, “but I was thinking… you’ve been so busy with the kids and with the whole Madison thing, and believe me – I really appreciate you for being like that, but -”
Caroline crossed her arms, “Where are you going with this?”
JJ sighed, “You’ve just totally forgotten how to have fun, C,” he said, “The primary reason that we all came here was to have fun and look at you – you barely eat, or sleep, or do anything other than your counselor duties and this whole Madison investigation thing…” JJ sighed again, looking at the hat in his lap and playing with its adjustable strap, “All I’m saying, C, is what if Madison really did go home and you’ve just wasted all this energy on nothing…Thing is,” JJ looked up into her eyes, “I miss you, the old you, and I know that that you’s still somewhere in there, it’s just this whole Madison thing blocking it.” he placed the hat back on his head and stood up, walking towards Caroline, “Hang out with me now,” he said, stopping directly in front of her and lifting her chin up so that she was facing him, “And I promise we’ll think about Madison later,”
Caroline couldn’t really process what was going on. JJ was touching her and standing in such an intimate distance from her, that she could basically feel his breath on her face. For a second she forgot all about Madison, and the dead owl, and the bonfire area. All she could think about was JJ Maybank, who had just told her that he misses her and wants to “hang out with her”. Caroline stood there, lost in thought. What if he was right? What if Madison really did go home and that dress never even belonged to her? What if it was Jenna Kinley’s all along and Sarah had just gotten the perfume wrong? What if JJ really did miss her because he liked her as more than a friend? No, no, that couldn’t be it. But what if –
“Um, Carrie?” JJ’s voice suddenly broke her out of her trans, “So d’you wanna do something together or -”
“Yes!” she said, a little too excitedly for her own taste, of course I’d like to hang out with you, JJ, she thought, “What do you want to do?”
JJ’s face immediately lit up at her words, “Well I was thinking perhaps a picnic?”
Caroline raised an eyebrow, “Don’t picnics require food? We don’t have access to anything unless it’s mealtime,”
“Yeah, but we do have whiskey,” JJ winked with a mischievous look on his face, walking towards the storage room of the girls’ cabin where they still had a few bottles of alcohol left.
Caroline rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless – this was going to finally be her first date with JJ Maybank. Well, sort of.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The afternoon sun was low in the sky, casting a beautiful orange reflection onto the peaceful water of lake Willowdale. Caroline and JJ had taken a seat on the lakefront, drinking their whiskeys and admiring the sunset, reminiscing the days when they were kids again.
“D’you remember that one summer when Rafe Cameron got food poisoning and ended up barfing on stage at the Will-all-hail banquet?” JJ laughed at the memory.
Caroline frowned, thinking about it, “Beats having Rafe Cameron as your counselor by a mile,”
JJ turned to look at her, eyebrows raised, “Rafe was a counselor here?” his tone almost sounding amused.
Caroline nodded, “Oh yeah,” she smirked, “For the same reason as Sarah – too stuck up for his own good so their dad shipped him over here as a punishment,”
JJ snorted, “I mean that family is pretty far up their own ass,”
“They have a sister too,” said Caroline, “I haven’t seen her around here though, so we at least know that one of them must be doing something right,”
The pair laughed at the thought of their spoiled friend and her older brother.
“Man, I missed this place,” said JJ suddenly, leaning back on his elbows.
His tone sounded different as he looked at the horizon and Caroline could sense that something wasn’t right, “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask -”
“Parents got divorced,” JJ quickly explained, “And unfortunately for me, my dad got custody,” he sighed, “Somehow my mom was deemed ‘incapable’ of taking care of me because she couldn’t financially afford to. Load of bullshit, if you ask me,”
“But my mom -”
“Yeah, they still talk,” said JJ, knowing what Caroline was about to say, “I still see my mom every other weekend, you know, it’s not the end of the world,” he smiled at Caroline reassuringly, “It’s just living with my old man meant working for my cut at home, which also meant summer jobs back in Kildare,”
“So that’s where you’ve been all this time…” whispered Caroline, mostly to herself, however JJ heard her.
“Yeah,” he responded, “Now that I’m old enough to be a counselor here and actually get paid for coming to summer camp I thought why not? Besides, your mom did tip mine off that you’d be here too,” he winked at Caroline, making her blush.
“Yeah, about that,” she said apologetically, “My mom likes to yap a lot, I wouldn’t take most of what she says seriously,”
“Well you are here, aren’t you?” said JJ, his face slightly leaning in towards Caroline’s.
Holy shit, this was it. Caroline was about to kiss JJ Maybank after a decade of fawning over him. Shit, shit, shit, she hadn’t really kissed anyone since that idiot from her class planted one on her at prom. What if she was a bad kisser? What if she’d forgotten how to kiss? As JJ closed his eyes and leaned even closer, Caroline decided to push the doubtful thoughts to the side as she closed her eyes too, leaning in towards him too. Their faces were inches apart, hearts pounding in their chests and, just as their lips were finally about to meet –
“There you are!” Sarah’s loud voice came from the hill behind them, startling them and making them both jump and immediately pull apart and straighten up. John B stumbled after her.
Caroline coughed awkwardly, trying to cover up the shame and embarrassment she was currently feeling, “Sarah… what are you doing here?”
With a knowing smirk on her face, Sarah put both hands on her hips, “Nothing,” she sing-sang, obviously finding the whole situation hilarious, “I’m sure it can wait,” she winked down at Caroline, while John B was waving around frantically behind Sarah at JJ, mouthing the words “DID YOU BONE?!” quite obviously.
JJ groaned as he stood up, helping Caroline up as well, “We’re all yours now, Sarah, what’s up?”
“Well me and John B had the afternoon free as well, so we went out front to his van and you’ll never believe what was taped to the door,”
“Wait, why’d you go to his van in the first place?”
Sarah rolled her eyes, “That’s beside the point now, Carrie, look” she shoved a piece of paper in the girl’s hands.
As Caroline unfolded the paper, the group gathered around her to look at what was written on it - 41° 56’ 54.3732” N, 87° 39’ 19.2024” W.
“I have no idea what that means though,” confessed Sarah.
“Looks like coordinates to me,” said JJ.
“Hey, that’s what I said!” gasped John B, “But Sarah didn’t want to believe me,”
“Does anyone know how to read geographical coordinates?” JJ looked at his friends.
“Do I look like Google Maps to you?” asked Sarah.
“You’re right,” Caroline said as an idea sparked in her mind, “We can’t read coordinates, but I know someone who can,”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
“I’m just saying, Miss P,” JJ spoke confidently once the group was inside Pricilla’s office, “Now’s about the best time to host the traditional yearly treasure hunt,”
Pricilla squinted up at JJ through her pink glasses from where she was sat at her desk, “Keep talking, Maybank,”
“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that it’s already been two weeks and none of these kids can read a compass yet?” continued JJ, earning a slow nod from the camp director, “Think about it, Miss P – Willowdale ain’t Willowdale without its treasure hunt,”
As JJ spoke, the rest of the group were silently praying behind him that his charismatic way with manipulating will work on Pricilla, giving them an excuse to ask her to decipher the mysterious coordinates they had gotten their hands onto. The old lady leaned back in her old leather chair and looked at JJ skeptically for a while, adding to the already built up tension.
“Give me a few days to map out the course and set up the coordinates,” she finally spoke, causing everyone in the group to silently cheer behind JJ. As they thanked her and turned to leave, she spoke up again, “Oh, and Maybank,” she called, everyone turning to look at her, “No funny business,”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Finally some normal camp activities. Thank you for reading so far, I would greatly appreciate you letting me know what you think about the story and the characters xxx
tags: @k-k0129 ; @hayleyy-l ; @marvellover04 ; @dumbasscorn ; @thrown-off-her-rhythm
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ramzawrites · 3 years
Note
Ah right sorry! I dont know how but my brain was like 'yes discord is exists in minecraft'- Yes of course I dont mind! You can do whatever you want with the request :) Good im happy to hear that! And Thank you!
Original Request: Could I request a shy and quiet reader forgetting they're on a discord call and starts to sing a song that they are listening to? and whoever is on call with them joins in? maybe with Tommy, Wilbur and some other characters you want to write for :)
Remember to eat and drink water!
Secret Singing - Reader Insert
GN
Pairings: none stated but can be read as Wilbur x Reader
Characters included: Wilbur, Tommy, Jack Manifold
Warnings: n/a
Series: a request <3
Summary: Wilbur was busy, but not busy enough to help Y/N set up their workspace at their favorite spot! Going off to fulfill his own errands only to come back to a nice and beautiful tune in the air. 
Words count: 2125
Authors Note: Lmao you are valid, I mean after all skype is canon in the dsmp 💔 Skype my abhorred 💔
Also adhd went brrr again, I tried looking over it a ton but there might still be a few mistakes!
“Oh, wow! Need any help with that, Y/N? That’s a lot of wool you got there!” Wilbur was running through L’Manberg to deal with some errands but stopped in his tracks, having to do a double take as he just saw a mountain of blue wool on legs walk towards his direction. Only then did he notice that it was Y/N who was holding on to a basket with the wool in their arms.
With a concentrated expression Y/N turned around a bit so they could look at him. Pieces of loose wool was laying in their hair or was stuck on their flushed face “Oh! Didn’t see you there! And it’s alright! I’m just getting it over to my bench!”
With their bench they meant the wooden bench they set up themself next to a small pond. They loved working close by it hence the bench to make it a bit more comfortable. It was also still a minute or two off and with the way Y/N was already struggling with the basket, Wilbur couldn’t just stand and watch. How could he hope to be a proper president when he didn’t help people who clearly needed it?
He shook his head with a fond smile on his face, stepping closer to grab the basket from them “Nope, let me help you. Not taking no for an answer.”
Y/N let out a few weak protests but ended up just pushing it into his arms, not wanting to accidentally spill the freshly treated wool unto the ground.
“Hey, um, be- bend down a little, Wil.” their voice weak and wavering like usual. Their shyness getting ahold of them again.
Not even thinking about why they asked this of him, he obliged. They then scoped up the top of the soft mountain so Wilbur had actually a chance to look across. He might be tall but that didn’t help when you held something big in your own arms.
With a soft satisfied smile they begun moving again and for a second Wilbur just stared as he readjusted his grip on the surprisingly heavy basket that Y/N probably made themself. Following after them and making sure that no stray pieces of wool would fall off.
“So, what’s all the blue wool for?” he asked.
For some reason this seemed to amuse Y/N “Well, a lot of our clothes use blue wool. The flag as well! I need some blue thread to either stitch some more flags down on clothing or when repairing them. Same for the flags flying about. General stitching. Besides can’t hurt to have some extra, might even sell some!”
In hindsight this made sense. When this whole L’Manberg situation started out Y/N offered to help stitch together their torn clothes. Over time they got really good at it and nowadays they have kind of turned into the resident seamstress.
Wilbur once apologized for pushing them into this profession only for them to vehemently shake their head “No! It’s fine! I- I enjoy it! It, uh, it also gives me something else to do than worry about our existence.”
He couldn’t argue with that. It was something that he lacked. Everything he did was dedicated to this new nation after all and he would lie, and he did, if this didn’t take a bit of a toll on him sometimes.
Once they arrived at the bench, Wilbur softly placed down the wool next to the seating area as Y/N carefully returned the extra wool back on top. They then sat down on the bench while taking out their tools out of their inventory to turn the wool into yarn or thread.
It wasn’t unusual finding them working here, especially when the weather was playing nice. Often enough sitting together with other people in sometimes comfortable silence or happy chatter. Either making thread, stitching or whatever work they had to do and could do outside.
“Thank you, Wilbur! I’m sure you are busy so I won’t keep you longer but you are welcome to join me if you are done with work before me.”
Wilbur picked some of the stray wool off his uniform and sighed, not particularly looking forward to the work “Yeah. I’ll come around if I can. I’m going to meet up with Tommy in a bit so he might join as well, not sure though.”
Y/N nervously chuckled “Yeah, don’t worry. I know.”
They then begun to set up their tools to start working. Not even looking after Wilbur who begun walking off again in a snail’s pace. He really wasn’t looking forward to his work at the moment but alas it was very important.
It took a bit, but he soon arrived at the building he and Tommy set up as something of a headquarter. It was basically just a room covered in maps, scrapped ideas, plans and a few weapon and armor pieces.
Tommy was already waiting inside for him. He looked a bit annoyed with his arms in front of his chest. Before he could complain to him though Wilbur already threw his arm around Tommy and led him to his latest sketched out plan for L’Manburg. Trying to distract him with work.
They were mostly discussing how to ensure the safety of the new nation and how to create a functioning system inside that would ensure that everything inside would move along smoothly.
Hours passed as they schemed and begun setting a few safety measures up or helped the residents of L’Manberg where they could. Jack Manifold later joined them as well. Helping and even offering ideas of his own to incorporate.
“I think that is all we can do for today. I’m getting seriously tired.” Jack sighed, cleaning the dust off his hands on his own clothes.
“You’re going home?” Tommy asked.
Jack crossed his arms, his eyes wandered off to the side behind his mismatched glasses as he thought for a second “Mh, I was hoping we could hang a bit, you know, outside of work. Haven’t done that in a while.”
“Oh! I promised to maybe spend some time with Y/N if they are still at their pond!” Wilbur suddenly exclaimed, remembering the exchange from a few hours ago.
A happy smile appeared on Jack’s face “Let’s go together then! I haven’t seen them in a while, and it’s been even longer that I hung out with them while they worked. It’s always very calming for some reason.” The last part he muttered but Wilbur caught it.
He wasn’t the only one who thought like this. Most of the people in L’Manberg were drawn to them especially in this chaotic time. It was nice having someone like that around.
“Guess I’ll come with you.” Tommy suddenly exclaimed, pulling Wilbur back out of his thoughts.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, why not. I need to ask them to look at my coat anyhow.”
With that the group begun moving, it was slowly getting darker, but it was still warm outside, so if they were lucky, Y/N was still out.
They were chatting about what they were planning to do next or in Jack’s and Tommy’s case what they have been up to only for them to get interrupted by a tune that the wind carried over to them.
A bit surprised Wilbur looked at the others, hoping to see if they too hear it and true enough, they seemed to be just as surprised as them. Someone was singing but he has never heard a voice like this.
Frankly, it was beautiful.
The tune was sounding sad and yet the lyrics that accompanied it were hopeful. Wishing for peace in a time of turmoil. Promises of a better time filled with a deep love via the voice.
It was a song that none of them ever have ever heard. An original song perhaps?
But what really surprised them was from what direction the music came from.
It came from the pond. From Y/N’s bench.
Almost as if they were worried to scare away a wild animal, they begun to sneak towards said pond. Staying off the path and taking a wild berth. Hiding behind the trees, trying to avoid that if their hunch were right, that Y/N wouldn’t see them approaching.
Wilbur pressed his index finger against his pursed lips as they got closer, motioning for the others to keep quiet. To which Tommy just rolled his eyes, seeing how this was obvious.
Jack slowly moved around the tree and there he saw it.
Y/N was sitting on the bench, their legs crossed with a piece of fabric in their hands that they seemed to stich another L’Manburg flag into. Slowly moving their head from one side to the next to the rhythm of the song.
Wilbur followed suit, using his superior height to peak his head out above Jack while Tommy crouched down to do the same.
They were still intently staring at their handiwork, pushing the nail and thread into the cloth only to pull it out again. Their mouth turned into a happy little smile as they sang this hopefully hymn.
“Wow, I didn’t think they could sing like that.” Jack whispered, looking up to Wilbur.
He nodded, his eyes continuing to rest on Y/N’s happy expression “Yeah. It’s beautiful.”
“I guess it’s fine.” Tommy just whispered back. Of course, he still had to put on his cool dude persona.
Wilbur flicked Tommy’s head “Just say for once what you really think!” He still made sure to keep his voice down, not having heard enough of the song and Y/N’s voice yet.
Tommy scowled and jumped back so he was standing at his full height again “What do you mean? I say what I think! The hell are you talking about!” He tried to keep his voice down but at the end he got louder which made Wilbur panic and clasp his hand around Tommy’s mouth.
Though Tommy saw this coming and dodged out of the way by ducking, resulting in Wilbur to fall over. Crashing into Tommy and pushing him onto the ground, both of them letting out a startled yell.
The singing immediately stopped.
“Ah! Look what you have done!” Jack whined, helping the two reluctantly up.
“Well, if Tommy would have shut his mouth!”
“You attacked me!”
“I did not! I was trying to shut you up!”
“Guys?” a soft and unsure voice broke through their argument.
All three men slowly turned around to see Y/N clutching the piece of cloth they had been working on close to their chest. Avoiding any eye contact. Their face covered in a deep blush. Chewing on their lower lip.
“Are you okay? I- I heard a thud and- I just- I wanted to make sure-“ they stammered.
Tommy seemed to be confused at that “What? No. You were singing though, right Y/N?” Getting straight to the point apparently.
“Tommy!” Both Jack and Wilbur yelled out in outrage.
Y/N’s eyes widened, and they moved the cloth up to their face. Effectively hiding behind it “No. I- uh. I’m sorry?”
“What are you sorry for? Your voice is amazing! Why haven’t you told us you can sing?” Wilbur stepped closer. His eyes wide as well but in amazement.
Though Y/N seemed to cower down even more the closer he got “Because- Because I can’t. Please just forget about it.”
Wilbur wanted to know more, hear more of their singing but they seemed panicked. Hiding away and trying to clearly get out of the situation and he had to take a step back. Guilt welling up in him.
“I’m sorry. We just heard your song, and it was beautiful. I have never heard this song. I guess we got enamored by it especially since your singing was really amazing.”
Jack put his hand on Wilbur’s shoulder and pushed him back a few steps “Come on let’s drop it. They are clearly uncomfortable. I’m sorry Y/N.” He then begun pulling Wilbur along, grabbing Tommy in the process as well who just yanked his arm away from him stating he could walk good enough on his own.
“Wilbur?”
He immediately turned around again to see the nervous Y/N with a determined expression on their face. The cloth now back down.
“The song! I mean, uh, my parent taught me that song when I was a child. Apparently, they wrote it.”
“It’s a really beautiful one. Your parent must be very talented. If you feel ever more comfortable enough I would love to hear the full song.”
Y/N took a deep breath in “I know how to play it on guitar and keyboard? I could, uh, you know. Teach it to you?”
Wilbur’s smile returned to his face “Sounds like a plan.”
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paintalyx · 3 years
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got a couple of extra headcanon asks on my zombie-mode art instagram from my irls. i'm rather happy with them, so i'll repost some here for the sake of archiving and an illusion of consistency. genshin impact round, here we go!
kaeya:
kaeya has dimples when he smiles. this is a hc that my brain came up with at like 4a.m. one night and i haven't been the same ever since. ugh.
self-proclaimed best emergency babysitter ever. he's only mildly better with younger kids (think klee's age) than teens. they think he's cool because of the whole pirate vibe he has going on and because he lets them do stuff other adults don't. he probably didn't get to goof off a lot as a kid, so he's just as excited to try out all the stupid and crazy ideas.
because his brother is diluc ragnvindr, who couldn't tell a lie if his life depended on it when he was a kid, kaeya honed the skill of crafting cover-up stories to perfection. my hc is that growing up, he was the more mature, responsible and cautious sibling, to contrast with diluc, who was kind of naive and reckless, prone to accidentally getting into trouble
he's never been on a proper date nor in a committed relationship (we relate to stan a king with commitment issues). rumours say that he's bedded at least half of mond and he's yet to disprove or confirm them. he tends to joke that it would be a crime to unfairly deprive people of *gestures* "all of this"
he and sister rosaria have a... very complicated relationship. on first glance, one would be forgiven to think that they are good friends. they drink together, talk about philosophy and conspiracies in-between ships of wine, and it seems like they have some sort of an unspoken understanding between them. and that's the thing! takes one to know another! they both have certain suspicions regarding each other, and as much as they find amusement in easy banter that goes on between them, both know that getting close would be nothing but danger
diluc:
jean and diluc had an unspoken *something* going on before diluc left the knights. was it just a crush? was it more? maybe less? they are on good terms even after crepus' death and they clearly still care about each other, but this *something* is always hanging above their heads when they interact
he has freckles!!! they were more obvious when he was a kid because he used to be out in the sun a lot, but you can still see some faint spots over his nose and cheeks (and arms, if he rolls up his sleeves while working)
though he's quick to deny it, he has a soft spot for venti after everything that happened with dvalin. he knows that the bard is sneaking into the winery to steal grapes, apples and wine, but every time he gets caught, diluc's threats sound more like an obligation. there is a lot of banter between, but it's clear that they enjoy each other's company. on rare, special nights, when either of them is feeling like it, they talk about the past.
going off from the previous hc, diluc knows a lot about mondstadt's history and culture. he probably had to learn about it when he was younger, but i like think that he's always been passionate about it. heck, he and jean were probably nerding out about it all the time when they were kids. when he became friends (???) with venti, he got to listen firsthand retellings of so many stories he read about and his love for them only grew
you know bennett, fischl and razor? benny's new (unofficial) adventure team?? well, yeah, they are diluc's emotional support children now because you can't be knockoff batman without knockoff batfam. fischl is his goth theatre daughter. razor is always free to crash at the winery if the weather is too bad for camping. diluc himself has no idea how's it come to this, but, frankly, he should've known what he was singing up for when he didn't correct bennett for slipping up and calling him "dad" the first time
bennett:
drawing your faves with freckles is good for the soul and i have no-self control. bennett is outside all the time, so they are kind of prominent. it adds to his charm!!! (though people keep mistaking him for being younger than he actually is, partially because of them)
he has good luck only in card and board games. but, like... ridiculously good luck. he is practically banned from playing ludo because he has all four figures out before some players can even roll their first six
he will inevitably start calling every older male that sticks around him "dad" sooner or later. he accidentally slips up in front of diluc once and that's so embarrassing, he wants to die— diluc is caught off guard and confused for a grand total of five seconds before he internally goes: "well. guess i'm a father now". almost everyone is surprised when it sticks
he's a surprisingly good writer! he never thought of it as something that he wanted to pursue, but venti's poem class was the kick he needed. early on, he's mostly writing poems and short stories on scrap pieces of paper when he's bored. it isn't until razor offhandedly tells fischl about the hobby and she insists that they need to get him a proper notebook that he starts taking it more seriously. maybe he'll write the next adventurer handbook one day?
he is the kind of guy who can get a crush on anyone who's remotely nice to him (someone tell this boy that standards are a thing). then he never does anything about it. ever. nope. taking it to the grave. he would be extra dense when it comes to romantic advances to boot, so who knows when he'll settle down?
(gotta love my irls. smooches for them. also here's venti headcanon batch in case anyone wants to see it)
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