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geducation · 1 year

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Knowing your onions

I think that on reflection, I began my teaching career at a pretty defining moment. My NQT year coincided with the launch of the very first National strategies - the Literacy hour and the Numeracy hour. I can vividly remember them arriving at school having been dispatched by the powers that be in these easy to carry lunchbox things with a handle on the top. For those colleagues out there who are too young to remember, they were essentially an idiots guide to teaching English and maths, and apparently we were idiots. Rooted in the belief that prior to this, primary teachers had no clue at all about how to teach reading, writing and maths, the government came up with a plan. To be honest, it probably wasn’t a terrible idea. I think I learned to read thanks to Roger Red Hat and Percy Green in their weird three-cornered village. I’m not sure there was any great plan, but I read the books and it kind of happened by osmosis. In maths, I can remember doing some work books, but if I’m honest, I mainly copied off a boy called Peter who was a lot cleverer than me. I’ve also got a lasting memory of an entire half term we spent writing about squirrels because the teacher had seen one on her way to work and decided it was a good thing to write about. It wasn’t.

The literacy hour and numeracy hour brought a level of rigour that had undoubtedly been missing in the pre-strategy squirrel days, and with it, came an unprecedented wave of new subject specific vocabulary that we needed to adopt and use with our children.

As a Year one teacher, one of the documents we had to get to grips with was called ‘Progression in phonics’. It was a spiral bound thing - I think the junior teachers had their own version - something to do grammar. One of the first things that hit us about the new strategy was that it had words in it that we didn’t fully understand. This caused a bit of consternation with some of the more experienced (old) teachers at our school because they couldn’t get their heads around why it was necessary to overcomplicate things with additional nonsense like ‘phoneme’, ‘grapheme’ or ‘di-graph’. As a newcomer, it didn’t really bother me - I was up for learning new stuff, and the ‘teaching them nonsense’ argument didn’t really stack up given the fact that they seemed perfectly at ease with delivering a phonics scheme that was thought up by someone on a bucket-load of acid. (I don’t want to name the scheme for legal reasons, but each letter had a phrase for the children to remember - like ‘Harry hat man’, ‘Lucy lamp light’ or ‘Dippy duck’, and they all lived in a land. A land of letters. Or a letter land.)

In the end, it turned out that there wasn’t a choice, and even the most reluctant of staff had to ditch whatever they’d done before in favour of technical accuracy - it was the new norm.

What surprised me about the whole thing, was just how quickly the children picked it up. Only days after having learnt the stuff myself, the children in year one seemed to have nailed it. Words like ‘phoneme’ or ‘clause’ were lapped up and over time we all became fluent.

Now I’m not suggesting for a second that this new level of prescription wasn’t without its problems. Arguments around the stifling of creativity have definitely got some substance, but there’s no doubt that we quickly became much more knowledgeable about phonics and

the structural aspects of writing - our understanding of English as a subject discipline was better than ever before.

The same thing happened with maths. This began with the numeracy strategy, and has continued with the acceptance of mastery as an approach to curriculum. In recent years, I’ve witnessed heated discussions between teachers over whether we label a column ‘ones’ or ‘units’ when teaching place value, and you’d be thrown out of the profession if you let the word ‘borrowing’ slip out anywhere near a column subtraction calculation. In short, we’ve become knowledgeable to the point of pedantry, and I say that with my head held high.

This kind of knowledge and understanding doesn’t come without effort. I’ve had to work hard throughout my career to develop it. In reality, the pressure that came from knowing we had an inspectorate who were only really bothered about English and maths helped things along nicely, and as a result, for years, professional development focused on just two subjects.

But now it’s different. Now the wider curriculum matters. I mean, it’s always mattered, it’s just that now, the people who judge us have said so.

When we first caught sight of the draft version of the National Curriculum, we had the same feeling that most schools did. It was challenging. There was a definite leap in expectation. And what became apparent as we began to develop our curriculum, was that it wasn’t just a challenge for the children, it was also a significant challenge for us.

It turned out, that beyond English and Maths, we didn’t really know our onions. There were some pockets of expertise - we had a teacher who’d once played the recorder so she did music. We also had someone who’s other half was into that weird historical re-enactment stuff, so she did history. Beyond that, we just divvied up the rest of the subjects based on who shouted the loudest. It’s not overly strategic, but given the previous lack of focus on curriculum, it didn’t really matter. We all had subject leader folders, and we all had action plans that spoke vaguely about having a staff meeting at some point next year. Job done.

Generally, the result of working like this is a patchwork of staff meetings that are allocated on a first come first served basis by teachers who are operating within their own little silos. The geography subject leader chips in with a staff meeting about map skills, the next week it’s the turn of maths, the week after that it’s art.

Whilst this is a much better use of professional development time than wasting a staff meeting by banging on about administrative rubbish, it really only ever papers over the cracks when it comes to deepening our knowledge of different curriculum areas - take the mapwork example mentioned above.

Our geography subject leader realised that map skills were probably a bit lacking across the school, and so via a staff meeting, a message was relayed to staff about the importance of using a range of maps as sources in geography. After a few weeks, we had another staff meeting that checked in on how things were going. One of our KS2 classes were looking at rivers, and specifically the River Don in Sheffield. The teachers described finding a map of the Don that showed the path it took from the hills around Sheffield to the estuary at Hull. It was one of the first that came up when they’d googled it and it looked decent so it was printed off and given to the children.

In the lesson, the intention was that the children would analyse the map in order to deepen their knowledge of the river. That was the intention. The reality was bit different. First of all, the children got that the blue line represented the river, but that was about it. Some of them said that it ‘looks like the river goes to the right and up a bit to get to the sea.’ Others said that they thought it looked like the river was about 10cm long. This is despite there being a compass point and scale in the bottom corner of the map.

It’s one of those moments where you want to pull your hair out as a teacher - it’s all there, yet they still stuff it up. When we started to talk about it a bit more though, it became obvious that there were clearly some bits of knowledge missing. If the children had learnt about compass points, beginning with four point and then moving to eight point, they might have responded differently. They could have described the River Don as appearing to move in a north-easterly direction towards the estuary. If they’d have learnt about scale, then they could have estimated the length of the river in kilometres. They didn’t because they didn’t have the knowledge in their heads.

This is when things got a bit heated. Nobody was entirely sure where compass points or scale sat in our curriculum and so accusations started flying around. Ultimately, when it all died down, we decided that we were actually in the midst of a really important and useful conversation. Clarification around compass points and scale led into other questions - who first introduces keys? What is the difference between a key and a map legend? Who introduces maps with more complex or multiple keys? What started as a quick fix developed into a terms work. We started to think much more carefully about the kind of sources we were presenting to the children - a quick google search no longer cut it - we thought about exactly how we’d want the children to respond to them, the precise language we wanted them to use, and then worked backwards to give them the building blocks of knowledge they’d need in order to be successful.

This whole staff, focused approach to getting just one thing right at a time was incredibly effective. As adults, we started to feel like we were actually understanding geography as a subject discipline for the first time. Obviously, map skills are just one aspect of geography, but it felt like we’d stumbled across a threshold concept - we started to think and act like geographers.

Over time, we then applied exactly this model to other previously neglected aspects of the curriculum. During our work on art, our subject leader was modelling how to analyse an artwork - and the example she used was a Frida Kahlo self-portrait. One of the aspects of analysis we were encouraged to think about was ‘How is the artwork created?’. We were actually pretty confident with this one - it was obviously painted. Some of the sharper (smugger) members of staff suggested that it was made with oil paint on canvas. Beyond this though, we didn’t have anything to say. It didn’t occur to us to discuss any of the seven elements of art: line, shape, space, value, form, texture or colour. It didn’t occur to us to talk about composition, symmetry or perspective. The knowledge just wasn’t there. Again, it became the start of a committed piece of work. We worked at it until we tipped over the threshold. We started to think and act like artists.

With both of these examples, the subject leader was part of the process, but the benefits of working as an entire staff meant that there was a collective responsibility. Developing subject expertise shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of one person - it’s on us all, and maybe there have been times when we’ve shirked that responsibility. It’s highly unlikely that we’d admit to another professional that we don’t understand the detail and mechanics of sentence structure or place value. It seems much more acceptable however to say openly that we don’t really know what we’re doing in art, design and technology or music - after all, we can’t be specialists in everything. Well, actually, we can, or at the very least, we can strive for it. Not being able to know everything, shouldn’t be an excuse for knowing nothing. And rather than attempting to build expertise across the entire curriculum, choosing a place to start, then committing to it across the school seems an excellent place to begin.

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wizkiddx · 3 years

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hiiiii i love your stuff - could u do one where the readers ill but they have stuff to do and tom has to look after her. maybe if they were just friends before too but both pining? thankuuuuuuuuu

should I be writing this instead of revising? clearly fucking not. Did I make this little blurb req ridiculously long purely to procrastinate? Of fucking course.

but also this was v cute! I assumed u meant famous!reader, sorry if that's not what u were after at all anon x

summary: Tom Holland turns into the readers knight in shining armour when they get ill during promo

warnings: fainting / feeling ill

///////////////////

It couldn’t be today. Of all days, why today? You’d been at home for two weeks doing absolutely nothing, before this trip. And yet it’s when your itinerary is packed to the brim, people moving heaven and earth just speak to you. Two weeks of unrelenting press for Marvels next big ensemble movie.

Your manager was speaking to you, reeling off a run down of todays activities but instead of listening you nodded along blankly - head rather cloudy with this heavy mist that was not shaking off, no matter how hard you tried.

“You got that Y/n/n?” Lucy pointedly spoke, eyes almost physically knocking you backwards as if her eyeliner was battery rams. Fumbling with your thoughts, your answer wasn’t particularly cohesive earning you just a disappointed head shake.

“I um… yeh I think. Who-who did you say I was paired up with?”

“Y/n please for the love of god. Tom, like I said the past fifty times.” And to be fair to Lucy she wasn’t wrong. It was the first major major promo tour for the both of you and after just two days so far - you were both exhausted. She was more than allowed to be a bit short tempered.

“But we-we hardly know each other? The chemistry won’t be there and-“

“As I said, I tried to re-jig it but Kevin is of the mind that acting is your job.” Her tone was sharp but as she glared across the opposing seats, in the little mini van Marvel had hired for you as transportation, her eyes softened. Lucy had been so wrapped up in her own stress she may have overlooked quite how gingerly you were sitting. By the time she had arrived at the hotel, your stylist had already managed to half save your ghoulish looking face, with sunken under eyes and tired skin, so it wasn’t so blatantly obvious how crap you were feeling. “Is everything okay with you?”

It felt pretty puny to say that the jet lag from flying to Tokyo had been weighing you down further than you wanted, or that the local cuisine top chefs had kindly prepared for you last night wasn’t siting well in your stomach. To be honest, even you thought it was just your body being a bit overdramatic. So in response, you put on your best happy-go-lucky face feigning a smile.

“No no I’m fine, just want to give the best interviews I can and you know…. I’m awkward as hell as it is, then pair me with the most talented actor that I share about two minutes of screen time with…it’ll be interesting.”

The way Lucy reacted with a weird slow nod, eyebrows furrowed, meant it was quite apparent you had perhaps overplayed that one. Had you not been so over the day before it even began, you would’ve tried again to give a more believable act. But as you were, you turned your attention back out to the bustling streets of Tokyo and the high rise buildings bordering each pavement.

You didnt have a problem with Tom, far from it in fact. Tom was hilarious and the times you had met him, you’d both built up this weird and sarcastic competitiveness with each other. It was a game of who could get the last laugh, each of you pushing each other with the Mickey taking just a little further. Of course, not in a malicious way, just the way you’d both lived pretty similar but parallel careers - when everyone drew comparisons between the both of you, it was nice to make it a joke.

Like Tom you’d also started out on stage, had a ‘big break’ movie as a kid and then spent your teenage years on and off film sets - till marvel happened. Then everything blew up to epic proportions, changing your life forever. Actually, it was so similar to Tom’s story, plus the fact you were also from the south west of the UK. It was bizarre your paths hadn’t crossed more - He probably could’ve been a useful ally in the the whole ‘becoming famous’ thing.

And yet, you could probably count on two hands the amount of conversations you’d had with him.

Now that, that was the issue. Right from the beginning you learn what the press want and when you are publicising a movie you cater into it too. They’d all be asking for the insider scoop on set; what pranks you’d pulled on each other; what was the most annoying thing about each other. Which is hard if you’d only had 5 or 6 days actually on set together.

By the time the cab had wormed its way through the Tokyo traffic and you arrived at the PR hotel, it was already 9:30 - making you 15 minutes late (blame it on the traffic). Instantly then you were ushered straight to the interview room for the evening, no chance of green room chat or grabbing a drink before. The place was stuffy, everything was draped with black curtains except the poster board that Tom was already sitting infront of.

He’d scrubbed up well, no doubt about it. He was wearing statement-ish burgundy suit trousers, teamed with a black knitted but collared shirt thing - that was clearly tailor made for the man. As soon as he noticed you scurry into the room, his face broke out into a warm smile, jumping up to greet you in a friendly hug. It was brief, and as you pulled back you accidentally bumped your head on one of the overhanging lights. No doubt someone had spent a ridiculous amount of time configuring them so they were positioned perfectly, which you had just ruined with your big head.

“Oh shit!” Tom just laughed in response, shaking his head slightly as he lead you the two steps across to your pre-positioned seats.

“Making an entrance as always I see!”

“Yeh, you know me, a bit of chaos just to keep everyone on their toes.”

“Oh is that why you’re ‘fashionably late’” With a playful wiggle of his eyebrows, you just rolled your eyes, fidgeting on the chair to find a position that didnt aggravate your stomach so much.

“I’m ready now though! What did I miss? Just having to pretend to be your friend for 15 minutes?” You stressed the words as though the thought of conversation with Tom was the absolute worst thing in the world - which you definetly didnt think. Scowling like you’d insulted his dog Tessa, it was almost visible how the cogs were turning in his head looking for a comeback. Unfortunately for him though, he was quickly shut up but the organiser bringing the first interviewer in .

For what would, no doubt, be a long day.

////

Everything had started off so well, the banter was flowing between you and Tom, no major spoilers revealed that meant Marvel would have to make the journalist disappear. It was once you hit an hour of back-to-back interviews that everything started to crack bit. Because yes, it had only been an hour but that was enough to exhaust you on this particular day. When Tom joked around you got slower and slower, similarly the energy was zapped from your own answers. It’s not very compelling when someone says ‘you have to watch this movie’ in a monotonous voice with sullen eyes.

As the interviewers were swapping in and out, Tom actually lightly nudged your shoulder.

“Everything alright? We’re trying to sell tickets and you’ve got a face like thunder.”

“Oh no-no sorry I just, I-um.”

“You want some water?” Now looking at your with more concerned eyes, as if he was just nervous he’d actually offended you for calling you a boring bastard. And you would’ve picked up on it and alleviated his concerns, if it weren’t for the fact your eyes were glued on the water bottle he was holding out to you. You were thirsty. You knew that, that wasn’t the conundrum. What you weren’t so sure about was whether your stomach would accept it, or more violently reject it. In a very non ‘we’re-trying-to-sell-a-movie’ style.

But the lightheaded fogginess in your brain won out, as you nodded jerkily, taking the bottle and taking a little swig - too cautious to take anymore.

Now concerned with how Tom thought you were being a Debby-downer too, you managed to perk yourself up for the next four interviews. They were easy, asking questions without any activity and though you did rely on Tom beefing out and adding to your answers, it was okay. Then the next interviewer came in, who you recognised as being from the BBC, Ali Plumb, that had interviewed you a number of times. From the way Tom jumped up to give him afirendly bro-hug, you guessed he also was familiar with him. As soon as he took a seat the cameras were already flashing with the red light, demonstrating his 7 minutes had already started.

“Guys! It’s been a while.”

“How are you Ali?” You started it off with the pleasantries, Tom echoing, before the speccy dirty-blonde asked his first question.

“So the last time I spoke to you guys the universe was in chaos, Peter Parkers on the run and Aurora Blake was trying to strip her own powers, so I guess my first question is how are you both doing? We can use this as a therapy session if you guys need.” His very typical nerdy joke made Tom laugh, nodding as he leaned forward and repositioned a bit.

You didn’t share the same humour though, more focused on this invisible blanket of stuffiness that seemed to have been thrown on top of you. It made you feel groggy, incredibly hot and so unbelievable nauseous. The lights weren’t helping either, it felt like you were pouring with sweat from your forehead. You thought Tom was answering Ali, even if you couldn’t really hear - everything had merged into a deafening roar. Adrenaline coursed through your veins, unconsciously making you fumble yourself to standing, desperate to get somewhere with fresh air. The last thing you saw before your vision tunnelled into darkness was Tom, reaching out to try and catch you.

Because next thing you knew, you were on the floor, wires from all the cameras and lights digging into your back as you looked up to see Tom on one side and Lucy on the other - both wearing a similarly panicked expression. You knew you hadn’t been out long, seconds if that, going by the fact everyone else was in the ‘oh my god’ phase of panic. It was a bit weird how calm you where, but then again all your life you’d been the ‘class fainter’. Waking up on the floor was something you were long since used to.

“Y/n? You awake?” Rather stating the obvious Tom asked the question as you bent your head up - allowing you sight of all the concerned facing oggling you. With a defeated sigh, you flopped your head back.

“If this is a dream then it’s a real bloody nightmare.” This time Tom didnt seem to appreciate your joke, looking at you without almost dumbfounded eyes, as you blinked repetitively and groaned.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Lucy appeared to want to lecture you, which to be honest wasn’t the most time appropriate. You were still on the floor, legs crumpled up under you, so ignored her. Instead you pulled yourself up into a sitting position, taking a moment to blink away the blotchy haze that threatened to takeover your vision once again, whilst the pair above you both cautiously rested their palms on each of your shoulders -trying to be useful. The room still felt cramped and stifling, as everyone around were no doubt looking at you.

It took a few minutes but your body seemed to get over itself, sitting up normally and trying to make small talk with Ali - who, by the way, was still sat awkwardly in the chair. Still nestled on the floor, your back up against the chair you had been siting on as you raved with Ali of the Harry Potter theatre show. In a natural lull in conversation, Tom perked up - from the door where he’d been muttering with the organiser as Lucy bit her nails nervously.

“Y/n you need to go home.”

All of you knew what Tom said was impossible. Not being egotistical, but you were too important. Although you hadn’t been paying masses of attention for Lucy’s run down of your itinerary - you knew it was packed.

So you just looked up and rolled your eyes at Tom, earning yourself a strong glare, before locking the organiser in eye contact.

“How many have we got till lunch?”

“Um this gent here” He gesturned toward Ali, who was almost squirming in his seat now “then two more.”

“And then lunch?”

“Yes, then you have a personal appearance at a dinner, so transport will be coming to pick you both up.” This poor guy seemed obsessed with the clock and his timetable, looking at your with a mixture of panic and frustration. You should know this stuff, you should’ve listened to Lucy.

“How fars the drive?”

“At this time probably an hour and a half.”

The plan was clear in your head, you’d sort yourself out in the car and be fully fine by the afternoon and evening engagements. Plus you felt almost fine now. So with a sigh, you hauled yourself up onto the chair, patting for Tom to sit back down.

“It’s half an hour and then I’ll sort myself out at lunch - come on their waiting.” The way Lucy pouted showed she disagreed somewhat, except a stern look kept her from protesting, as Tom walked toward you.

“Are you sure you don’t loo-“

“Let me stop you before you insult my appearance.” Snickering slightly at his worried face, you laughed it off , knocking his side with a gentle murmur of ‘don’t worry about me’.

In fact after that little episode you did feel a little recovered, which meant you were properly noticing the change in the boy sat next to you. Throughout the remaining three interviews he’d done a complete 360 from earlier. Rather than trying to get little digs at you, he had become fiercely protective - jumping in if a questions wasn’t particularly appropriate or relevant to the movie ( meaning when an awfully crap man asked what underwear you’d been able to wear in your suit) ; taking the heat of the conversation as well as just watching you like a hawk. Each time you answered his beady brown eyes were watching you from the side, you got the impression it wasn’t only just because of the risk of spoilers.

Quite remarkably, you survived the rest of the day pretty well, after a power nap in the car on the way over - even if it was a bit difficult when you had your manager watching you like a hawk from the seat across. It was as if Lucy had never seen anyone ill before, she seemed concerned that you were going to spontaneously stop breathing and die at any point.

Though by the time all the official business at the dinner was done, your body and willpower had reached the end of their tether. You and Tom were both on a round table, surrounded by 6 CEOs and execs of what seemed to be a multimillion pound business enterprise. With the language barrier meaning you had to speak through the two people on the table who were fluent in both japanese and English, the conversation was already pretty jilted. Though to be fair, the six did seem to be enjoying the evening - something you werent able to reciprocate. Thankfully, five minutes after the main course dishes had been collected, Tom spoke up from his position opposite you.

“This has been lovely and we really appreciate your time and generosity but me and Y/n have a really early start tomorrow so I think we should probably get back to the hotel.” You swore in that moment you could’ve kissed him, and it looked like Tom could tell - by the way your shoulders sagged and you let out an exhale of pure relief. Apparently even if you’d managed to convince the hosts you were enjoying the evening, Tom easily saw through the performance. After some hurried goodbyes, Tom led you out of the hall with his hand hovering over your lowerback, trying to make sure your exit was as discreet as possible.

Away from the bubble of chatter and activity, in the deserted hallway, Tom stopped you - lightly holding both hands on each of your arms.

“Wheres your team?”

“Um Luce is back at the hotel, she was trying to see if she could reschedule any of my stuff tomorrow.” You winced at the way he sighed, realising you were all on your own in some random business event hall in Tokyo.

“Harry -my brother- is waiting in the car at the front - is that okay?”

“No Tom, don’t worry abo-“

“Yeh well I am and I think you feel ten times worse than you’re letting on.” He spoke harshly, like a school teacher telling you off - except the hint of a kind smile at the end was a dead giveaway.

“You sure?”

With a relieved nod (Tom had thought you might be a bit more stubborn - you obviously were really really ill) he wordlessly shrugged his suit jacket off, wrapping it round your shoulders. He muttered something about not wanting you to catch a chill but to be quite honest you were a bit distracted by the woody cedar smell of Toms aftershave that enveloped your senses. Maybe it wasn’t so bad being fussed on by him? To be fair he wasn’t wrong either, you were in a strapless evening dress - you would’ve preferred to be in joggers, but Marvels press team had other ideas.

After a quick pit stop at the toilets, the two of you managed to make an unnoticed escape out the building - into a big SUV which had seconds prior pulled up onto the steps. You literally melted into the nearest window seat, body hunching over as you probably crumpled Tom’s jacket beyond belief. 2 seats along from you, a frizzy haired boy gave you a sympathetic smile, which you returned weakly whilst muttering a ‘hi’. Meanwhile, Tom pulled the sliding door shut, sitting across from you.

“Oh Y/n this is Harry and Harry this is Y/n.” In unison both of you replied with an ‘I know’ eye roll. Your response was somewhat more shocking to both Holland boys, you could tell from the way they had this whole nonverbal conversation with their eyes - they were very clearly brothers. Needing to explain you continued. “I like to keep tabs on my castmates, I’ve seen you on Toms instagram.” That had both boys smirking, Harry presumably just because you knew who he was; Tom more smugly, you’d just given away you slightly stalked him on instagram.

Silence reigned for a moment, as the driver put his foot down slightly.

“How you doing?” Tom asked.

“Mhm…” you thought for a second, how to eloquently describe the sensation.

“shit.”

Both boys chuckled a little and even though you had closed your eyes in an attempt to dull the throbbing behind your temples, you could feel the eyes on you.

“You want the music off?” Harry asked, referring to the indie-rock coming quietly out the speakers of his laptop, which was resting on his lap. With a shake of your head you refused, even if really silence probably would help your head, you were already causing the two Hollands enough trouble - no need to bore them during the journey back into central Tokyo, especially when you weren’t the most enthusiastic company ever.

Thankfully the music stayed on a low volume, whilst the car seemed to settle into a comfortable silence. With a long exhale you fluttered your eyes open, seeing Tom focused on his phone, before you rested the side of your head against the black-out glass. Taking some relief from the cool glass, you huddled further into the corner of the car against the door.

Floating in the space between sleep and wakefulness, you were kind of aware of your head occasionally bobbing and jerking about - but really didn’t have the energy or willpower to do anything about it. Instead, the thing that perked your attention was hearing some supposed-whispering from inside the body of the car.

“I know she said she didn’t care but she was clearly lying-“

“Like you know! You’ve been desperate to try and spend some time with Y/n- maybe you poisoned her just so you could be all knight-in-shini-“

“Turn. The. Music. Off.” Tom sounded scathing now, and with a grumble from your other-side the cheery drum beats ceased.

“Happy now?” …and Harry was sarcastic.

“Swap places with me.”

“What?”

“Just do it.”

“Why?”

“So she can lie down.”

“Well no because you would still be in the way if we swapped.”

“Yeh but she can lie on my lap idiot.”

“She can lie on me.”

“She doesn’t know you!”

“Well for 1, barely ten minutes ago she said she did know me. And 2, she doesn’t know you any better!”

If this was their version of whispering, you would love to hear what volume ‘shouting’ was. There was no reply for a short while, you imagined the two brunettes locked in some intense staring match.The next time Tom spoke he sounded more defeated - almost begging.

“If I admit you beat me at the driving range the other day will you-”

“I KNEW IT!” Harry yelped, the volume making you jerk, eyes flying open before reflexively closing because the light was too bright. There was a little mutter of an apology, then silence again.

Once agin you must’ve drifted off because it felt like absolutely no time had passed when a firm but gently hand on your shoulder nudged you awake.

Sure enough the boys had swapped position, Tom now sitting along the seat from you, Harry looked a little sulky from across the way. It was Tom who was reaching over, a gentle and peaceful smile on his face.

“You wanna lie down? Don’t want you to strain your neck.” He wasn’t wrong, adding to the throbbing headache, the cloudiness in your brain and the unsettled feeling in your stomach… now your neck hurt. Just bloody great.

Had you been your normal witty and perceptive self, you might’ve teased Tom as to why him and his brother had done a switch - but everything hurt and all you wanted to do was sleep for a hundered years. So with squinting eyes you jerkily nodded, missing how Tom chuckled to himself. The guy undid your seatbelt, then sat back to let you balance the back of your head on his thigh, looking up at the roof of the SUV. Already your eyes were closed again, you kicked off your slip-on heels and bent your legs up to lean against the backrest - occupying the position you had been sat in before hand. You felt his hands reposition the jacket, pulling it round so it was now like a blanket tucked under your chin.

To be fair it was much more comfortable than sitting up and you weren’t even aware of how quickly you dropped back into sleep.

Though it wasn’t quick enough to miss Harry’s very sulky sounding comment, presumably meant only for Tom’s ears.

“Still think you’re being fucking creepy bro.”

<33 lemme know what u think! (would make me feel less guilty for not doing all the work I rlly should be doing aha)

tagging : @hallecarey1 @crossyourpeter @hollandfanficlove

#tom holland x reader #tom holland #tom Holland angst #tom Holland fluff #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x actress!reader #tom holland x famous!reader #harry holland #tom holland request

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sgtbradfords · 3 years

Note

Sorry your getting a ton of prompts off of me 🙈

Can you write a version of SE2E11

But slightly different

Caleb is a tech wiz and hacks the police computers

They think Lucy is just running late, they’re in roll call and the screen flickers on and it’s a live video of and unconscious Lucy strapped to a table getting her Day of Death tattoo

And basically it’s plays out similar, but they see her nearly escape they see her being forced into the barrel, and they have the live feed of her inside the barrel

Alright anon, first off thank your for your patience the past couple of weeks. I hope this does your request justice. Enjoy! :)

The only thing that Lucy Chen wanted to do was go home, unwind and crawl into bed. But according to her training officer she needed to go out, blow off some steam, in order to forget about the long and restless day they had endured. She thought over his words as she changed, reluctantly deciding he was right as she fished her phone out of the front pocket of her jeans, pulling up her social media messaging app, scrolling through before finding who she wanted, pressing his contact.

“Hey.” She said into her phone. “I know it’s late, but do you want to go get a drink?”

“I’d love to.” He said with a smile in his voice. “Want to meet back at Las Torres?”

“See you in twenty.” She told him, hanging up.

Caleb Wright was someone that Lucy never expected to stumble upon, let alone a person who found her somewhat worthy of being flirted with. It started when she met him while waiting at the counter of the bar, words and flirtation coming easily. Though she was not very forthcoming until the last minute about her occupation, she found him to be intriguing, and was surprised when he showed up at the station just to give her his number. She spent days playing the should she, shouldn’t she game which resulted in Lucy cyberstalking him on his social media pages.

Tim scolded her for not being on task as she sat next to him in the shop, scrolling through his Instagram and scoffed when he caught her later in the day watching a video of him playing with his dog, making sure to tell her that it probably wasn’t even his dog as she rolled her eyes at him. But, her training officer was also the first person to officially meet him, Tim going as far as to intimidate and question Caleb when the man visited the precinct, before he reluctantly handed over the number he had taken out of Lucy’s hands.

---

“Hey, have you seen Lucy?” Jackson West asked John Nolan as he walked out of the locker room. “She didn’t come home last night.”

“She’s a grown woman. Why, you worried?”

“No. Yes. A little? It’s just- she didn’t come home last night.”

Thinking that their friend may just be running late, the two rookie officers headed to roll call, taking their seats at the front.

“Where’s Chen?” Tim asked as he walked into the room, noticing his missing boot.

“We don’t know, she had a date last night and never came home.”

Alarm bells began ringing in Tim’s head as John turned around in his chair, asking his training officer, Nyla Harper if Lucy was in the locker room. The detective’s response sent chills up Tim’s spine. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts to find hers. The phone ringing continuously before going to voicemail.

“Something’s not right.” Tim said, hanging up before quickly walking back out of the room and into the bullpen. “Sergeant.” He said as he approached their superior. “Chen’s missing.”

“What do you mean Officer Bradford?”

“My boot is missing sir. Nolan and West have not been able to reach her, and I just tried her cell myself.”

Nolan spoke first. “She had a date last night.”

“And she never came home.” Inputted Jackson.

“A date? Did she go out with that guy, the one she met at the bar?” asked Tim. “Caleb… Wright, with a W.”

Jackson recalled her plans. “Yeah, she was headed to meet up with him when we walked out together last night, about 8:30? We haven’t heard from her since.”

“If she comes in late and we sound the alarm, she’ll be in more trouble than what it’s worth.” John pointed out.

“Her phone could be dead.” Mentioned the Sergeant.

“No.” spoke Tim, shooting the suggestion down. “I just called it and it rang before going to voicemail. She also keeps it fully charged with a charger in her bag.”

“She could be stuck in traffic or maybe she’s overslept and is still at his place.”

John and Jackson spoke together. “No, Lucy doesn’t do one-night stands.”

“This guy, Caleb Wright, he came by the station yesterday, gave her his number.” Tim told the other officers.

“What else do we know about him?”

“Nothing.” Said Jackson.

“I met him yesterday, he told me he works for a medical supply company. She watched a video of him playing with a puppy.” Tim told them as they gave him an incredulous look. “Chen was checking out his social media page.”

Grey shifted on his feet. “Bradford, take West and go run this guy’s name through NCIC and LAPD’s database, see what you can find, warrants, tickets, previous charges, anything before we go knocking on his door.”

“I can run a trace on Lucy’s phone, get her into MUPS and NaMus systems.” Nyla told her commanding officer before walking away.

Tim moved quickly, beckoning Jackson to follow as he approached an available computer terminal, sitting down behind the desktop as he began his search.

“What do you think?” Jackson asked as he pulled up a chair to the terminal.

Tim worked on punching in what he knew about Caleb. “I think that we’re working a serial killer’s case and that given the circumstances, it’s not looking good.”

“She’s going to be ok, right?”

Tim continuously glanced at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, watching as the numbers for the minutes went up.

“Officer Bradford. Officer Nolan said you were looking for me?” Detective Nick Armstrong asked as he stepped into the room.

“Lucy Chen is missing. No one’s had contact with her in close to thirteen hours and Harper just sent me a text that her phone is turned off and that the GPS has been disabled.”

“And you think it’s connected to Rosalind.”

“I think that there’s no such thing as coincidences.”

“Do you have a name?”

“Yes, Caleb Wright.” Said Jackson. “But we’ve gotten no hits on any database.”

“Any social pages?”

“He has something, but we haven’t started a search.”

“May I?” he asked gesturing to the chair. Tim stood, moving out of the way as Nick sat down. “Name?”

“Caleb. Wright, with a W.”

Nick began punching the information that was given to him.

“Huh. And you’re sure that he’s on the internet?”

“Yes.” Tim told him, pacing.

“That’s weird because Caleb Wright doesn’t seem to exist.”

“What?” he said as he rushed over. “That’s impossible I seen him playing with- with a puppy on it yesterday!”

“Well, whatever it was on, it’s gone now. He must have deactivated it.”

“Even if he deactivated it, we can contact the company and-“

“On what grounds? We have nothing to back up what is being implied Officer Bradford. If he is our guy, he’s already faked one identity.”

“Bryan Coleman.”

“Exactly. This guy stole Coleman’s life to gain access to the old zoo, where he used the isolation to kill his victims.”

“He’s already got fresh blood, now he’s going to need new killing ground.”

“He already has it. If we can find the land, that’s where we will find Officer Chen.”

“We don’t have a picture of the guy, how are we supposed to find him?” asked Jackson.

“West, you work on pulling the security cameras from the front desk and the back hall. I am going to go sit with Isaac downstairs and see if he can compile a sketch from what I remember, it will be better than nothing.” Tim instructed as he quickly made his way downstairs.

Thirty minutes later, Tim was taping up the sketch of Caleb onto the whiteboard at the front of the room as Nyla worked on putting up the necessary information.

“Officer Bradford.” Jackson said walking into the room, lingering by the door. “A word.”

Tim walked over, crossing his arms as he stood in front of the rookie.

“We have a problem. There’s no footage.”

Tim looked at him in disbelief. “What do you mean there’s no footage?”

“The footage from yesterday has been wiped.”

Tim shifted on his feet. “Wiped.”

“Yes sir, I checked the timeframe that you told me he was here and all the footage, an entire hour is nothing but static.”

“Son of a bitch! How did he- when did he-“

“What do we know?” Sergeant Grey asked, walking into the room, Detective Armstrong trailing close behind.

“Any footage of Caleb inside the department yesterday has been wiped.”

“He hacked our servers so we can assume he’s very good with technology which is why we were unable to find any social media pages.”

Nolan spoke up, raising a hand. “If that’s true then he has access to anything we have on Rosalind.”

“Not everything.” Pointed out Armstrong. “Almost all of our findings from her earlier kills have never been scanned into the system, those reports are all still on paper.”

“Who has those?”

“They are locked up in storage in the basement which you have to sign out but you’re in luck, I’m old school. I happen to keep a paper copy of all my cases, for if and when technology fails us, and those copies? Are in my office.”

“Get them.” Ordered Grey. “In the meantime, we do have an update.”

“The bartender at Las Torres recognized Lucy and Caleb.” Detective Armstrong stated, pulling up the security feed onto the smart TV. “The good news, there’s a security camera in the parking lot so we know that they left at 9:05. The bad news is that the angles on the camera are shit which means we are unable to confirm faces.”

“He knew where the cameras were.” Stated Nolan from a table in the middle of the room.

“Correct Officer Nolan. Now, we were able to obtain footage from a neighboring business and have footage of this car driving by four minutes later,” Armstrong told them as he played the footage on a loop. “the plates are missing but it matches the description of a car that was reported stolen yesterday morning.”

“Now, Officer Chen’s car was found in the alleyway where she left it last night. Unfortunately, the amount of evidence that we have discovered gives us every inclination that Caleb is Rosalind’s protégée.”

The sounds of the room came to a halt as the words sunk in. They had all thought it, but no one had uttered the suspicion.

“Officer Chen is one of our own, and I know how upsetting this revelation is, but we have to remain focused. We owe her that.”

Tim closed his eyes, clenching his fist as he fought the wave of nausea that sat in the pit of his stomach.

“Nora was abducted two nights ago and we found her eighteen hours later, already tattooed and about to be put into a barrel to be suffocated. We believe that Caleb’s timeline from abduction to death to be twenty-four hours.” Nolan told them as he took over.

“Officer Chen has been missing for almost fifteen hours now, giving us approximately seven hours to find her.”

“Unless the timeline is wrong and she’s dead already.”

Tim stood from where he was leaning on the table. “You’re wrong. Chen, she’s not like the rest of the victims, she’s a fighter.”

“I haven’t known Lucy as long as the rest of you, but Bradford is right. She’s going to do everything that she can to stay alive until we save her.” Spoke Nyla, gaining a nod of appreciation from Tim.

“I’ve issued a BOLO to be broadcast for Caleb Wright and Officer Chen all over LA and surrounding counties, so I will need more officers answering the tip line as the phone calls come in.” said Grey addressing the group of officers before he began to call them out by name, giving them their tasks, leaving the close knit group of officers in the room.

“Detective Armstrong?” the officer from the front desk asked, knocking on the glass door as she stepped into the room. “Someone dropped this off at the front desk for you.” She told the group, extending the hand holding a manilla envelope.

Nick reached out, grabbing the envelope, observing the information on the outside, finding his name printed on the paper. “No return address.” He stated, looking up at the officers around him.

Tim reached into the pants pocket of his uniform, pulling out a black pair of gloves, slipping them on before he reached out a hand to take the possible evidence. He carefully undone the metal clasp, using the flashlight from his duty belt to peek into the open package. Tim looked around at the faces of the other officers that had gathered around, carefully shaking out the contents, a lone USB drive falling out.

“What the fuck?” he mumbled under his breath.

“He’s playing with us, just like Rosalind.” Armstrong said as he ran a hand over his head. “We need to plug it in, see what’s on it.”

Tim picked up the stick, palming the drive in his gloved hand. “And what if it’s just another game?”

“And what if it’s not.”

“I’m not going to let my boot become another one of their casualties!” Tim told Armstrong, his voice raising with every word.

Sergeant Grey sighed. “We need to find an unsecured computer, one that is not attached to our servers.”

“I can help with that. I’ve got my laptop in the truck, Lucy made flashcards for us to study on the internet, and we were planning on studying after shift.” Offered Nolan.

“Get it.” Grey instructed as he pulled out his phone.

Nolan walked away quickly, returning just as fast with a bag in hand. He pulled the device from the bag, powering it on as Tim connected the USB drive, a lone URL link popping up on the screen as they crowded around.

“Click it.” The sergeant ordered as words began scrolling across the screen.

‘Detective Nick Armstrong. Let it be known, this one’s for you.’

The room was silent as they read the scrolling words on the screen before they disappeared, a video popping up in its place.

“Oh my god.” John said in shock at the video before them.

“Is it live?” asked Tim, his voice cracking with emotion.

“I don’t- it doesn’t-“ Spoke the rookie, stumbling over his words.

“Is there audio?” Tim demanded, his voice raising.

Sergeant Grey placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder, grounding him. “We have to assume it is. She’s not in the barrel yet so she has to still be alive. Officer West, assist Detective Armstrong in going over the files he has. I want you to check out every file that has Rosalind’s name on it, in it, attached to it. I want history, financials, background, anything that may help us get a location. Find me something Nick. In the meantime, let’s get someone from IT up here to find us a location. Officer Nolan, you stay on the computer and if she wakes, Wright shows up or anything on that screen changes, you let me know immediately. Harper, contact her parents, don’t,” he said hesitantly. “don’t give them the full rundown of what’s going on but make them aware and that the LAPD is doing their best to find their daughter.”

Each officer went out the door, heading their separate ways as they went about the task they were assigned.

“Sir.” Tim said moving to the door, towards where his superior was walking out. “And me?”

Wade glanced over Tim’s shoulder at Nolan who was intently watching the monitor.

“She’s your boot Bradford, you know her better than anyone. Stay with Nolan and watch the feed.”

“But sir-“

“Watch the feed Bradford.” Sergeant Grey commanded as he left the room.

Tim sighed, running a hand over his face. He pulled out his phone, dialing the one person he knew he could rely on. “Hey, Lucy’s been taken. I need you.” Was all he said, hanging up the phone, clenching the metal device in his hand before stepping back into the room.

“Get Grey back in here, she’s waking up.”

“Hey Sarge!” He yelled out the door, running over to Nolan and the computer.

-----

Lucy Chen came to in a daze, her head throbbing, her mouth dry and her left side was burning. She knew what had happened as she glanced around the bare room, the realization that she had become one of them hitting her full force.

Instinct told her to pull at the restraints, the tape around her wrists not budging, making her realize that she wasn’t going anywhere, at least not until her numb body became more aware. She took in her surroundings, noticing the blinds we’re drawn, the sun filtering through, the wooden entertainment center and desk to her right, both covered in dust.

“Rise and shine sleeping beauty.” He spoke from behind her, his footsteps heavy as he walked into the room she was being held in. “I’d offer you some, but it’s better if your stomach is empty, for you know, later. All the screaming and lack of air tends to make you-“ he said before pretending to gag.

She glanced around the room, looking for anything that could potentially give her a clue as to where she was being held, spying the bottle of water on the wooden table.

“Can- can I at least have some water?” She asked, remembering that water is more sustainable, no matter the circumstance.

“Oh, of course.” He said as he moved over to the table, reaching for the bottle. “I’m not a monster.”

Caleb sat his plate down as Lucy took the time with his back to her to further observe her surroundings for the split second she had, before he turned back around, twisting the cap off as he walked over towards her. She opened her mouth, taking any water she could get. “Ah, don’t get greedy.” He chastised as she swallowed the sip he had allowed her.

“Is this why you hit on me in that bar? Why you asked me out? So you could make me a victim?”

“No! Not at all!” he told her as he took a bite of the apple from his plate. “Though, I see the confusion. You weren’t the target Lucy, you were just an opportunity. I was there scoping out Armstrong. Honestly, I don’t know what Rosalind sees in the guy. But who am I to judge, we all have our fetishes.”

Lucy swallowed harshly, “Are you gonna bury me in Rosalind’s third unmarked grave?”

“You know, that was the plan. I was gonna put Nora in there, but then your friend screwed that up.”

“Why are you doing this?” She asked, her voice raising.

Caleb smirked, “You know, that’s more of a second date question. And we’re just not gonna get there. I’m sorry.” Lucy could feel her heart stop as his words confirmed her fears. “Now, I’ve got a lot to do before I put you inside-“

Lucy panicked as he began to walk away, she needed to know, she deserved to know “Wait!” she yelled, causing the retreating man’s steps to faulter. “Why- why the tattoo? Is it… some display of ownership? Knowing that you have the ultimate control over a person, deciding when they die?”

“No.” he huffed a laugh. “It’s not for me, silly. It’s for you, to force you to face the truth of your death. It is the gift of something we rarely get in life, clarity.”

“Did Rosalind teach you that?”

“No.” he said, his voice raising as his tone became irritated. “That’s mine.”

“Rosalind is your mentor, is she not? So that would-“

“No!” he interrupted. “No, It’s not like that. We are equals.”

“Does she know that?”

Caleb laughed. “You’re good Officer Chen. But I would think carefully of how you want to proceed, because this, I’m going to enjoy this.”

________________________

The room was quiet as they watched Caleb’s retreating back, the conversation they just witnessed settling in. “The window to the left of the screen is obscured, so there’s no way to find out where she is. Dammit.”

“How long till IT gets here?” Nolan asked grimly.

“Soon. Officer Nolan, I want you and Harper to assist West and Armstrong, the more eyes we have filing through the paperwork, the better chances of finding where this house is.”

Nolan stood, walking out in search of his training officer.

“Officer Bradford, I need you to stay here and monitor the feed, she may not know of the camera but look for any identifying characteristics in that living room that could point us in the right direction. If he comes back, notify me immediately.” The Sergeant instructed before walking away.

Tim sighed sitting down into the seat that Nolan had vacated, watching as his boot took in the details of the room, her fingers twitching against the wooden arm rest. “We’re going to find you boot.”

Twenty minutes later, the sound of two pairs of footsteps walked into the room, dragging Tim’s focus away from what the IT analyst, Marcus, was working on on a second computer. “Hey. Thanks for coming in.” He said standing as Angela and Wesley walked in.

“Of course. What are you working on?”

Tim clenched his jaw, extending a hand to show what was on the screen.

“He’s recording her?” Wesley asked in disbelief.

Tim nodded his head, “We think the camera is hidden so she’s not aware that she’s being watched. Day off?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Wesley said as shared a glanced with Angela. “Can I help?”

“What’s your tolerance level for cranks and asshats wasting your time?”

Wesley couldn’t help the smirk on his face. “I’m a public defender.”

Tim rolled his eyes as they walked out of the room. “There’s an empty spot next to West so help yourself to a notepad and a phone. Besides, nothing says we’ve got squat like listening to the public.”

Wesley sat down as Tim began walking back to the room, Angela walking beside him as he took large steps. “This is useless. We should be out on the streets, kicking down doors.”

Angela placed a hand onto Tim’s arm stopping them in the middle of the pen. “Whose doors Tim? They wouldn’t be able to tell us where he is keeping her.”

“I don’t know.” He said shaking his head. “I-I can’t just sit here Ang.”

“I get that, but you’ve got to get your head in the game.” She told him as she pulled him to the side.

“I don’t need a pep talk Lopez.”

Angela searched his face. “Then why’d you call me? Because clearly, you need to get something off your chest.”

Tim looked away, glancing around the room for possible prying eyes and listening ears before he looked back to his friend, letting out a sigh. “Look, she- she wanted to go home. Okay? Go to bed. And- and I told her that she should focus on something else. She went out with Caleb because I told her to Angela.”

Angela Lopez had been witness to the many emotions of Tim Bradford over the years that she had known him, but the one he was displaying now, was one that she hadn’t seen in a long time. “You couldn’t have known.”

“But I should’ve! I’m a fucking cop.” He told her, his voice raising with every word as he stepped closer to his friend, lower his voice. “I was standing this close to the guy. Okay? Right across from him, and I never saw him coming.” He vented, his hands returning to his duty belt as he quickly got himself in check. “But she did though. She- Some part of her didn’t feel right about this whole thing. She hesitated and I-I pushed her right into him.”

Angela stood there, her mouth opening and closing as his admission of guilt left her speechless.

“Sergeant Grey!” exclaimed the voice of Marcus, as he stuck his head out of the door of the room.

Tim snapped his head towards the trembling voice as his feet quickly carried him, Angela hot on his heels.

Tim immediately went to the computer, finding a empty and broken chair on the screen. “Where the fuck is she?”

Marcus hurried back in, quickly pulling up footage on the second computer. “She escaped.”

Tim felt his eyes grow wide as he watched the recorded scene play out before them.

Lucy saw the opportunity, having previously checked the stability of the wooden chair by wiggling the pieces ever so slightly to find the weak spots, she waited for the best moment to make her escape. The chair was wooden, making it easier to break, and as soon as the front door closed, her knew it was time. As hard as she could, she pulled her right arm that was strapped to the wood, the wood splintering as she moved her wrist to her left hand, undoing the duct tape before removing the tape from her right wrist and then both of her calves.

She never heard the door open again, her hands shaking with adrenaline as she moved quickly to the back wall.

“Okay. We are ready to go.” Said Caleb as he walked into the room.

Lucy pulled her arm back and threw her punch as he walked into the room, knocking him to the ground as the force and lingering drugs forced her unsteady body to the ground. She quickly got to her feet, running towards the door as Caleb gasped in pain on the floor.

“Where did she go?” Sergeant Grey asked, his voice tainted with excitement of her escape.

“There’s no other cameras so we can’t- Shit.” Marcus cursed under his breath, typing furiously into Nolan’s computer. “He cut the feed.”

“What do you mean he cut the feed!” asked Tim, moving closer, finding a black screen in front of him.

“It’s gone, it’s still broadcasting but he must have turned it off.”

Tim ran a hand through his hair as he stepped back.

“What about a trace on the broadcast?”

“The signal is being run through an anonymizer, meaning that each time I try to back trace a location, the ISP is in a different location. He’s keeping it local to LA and the surrounding counties but it’s going to take time that we don’t have to get a better trace.”

The shrill tone of Angela’s phone broke the tension in the room. “Hey. What? He may, let me find out and I will get back to you.” She said ending the call. “That was Nolan, we may have a lead.”

Angela informed the group of Nolan’s suggestion, gaining approval from Sergeant Grey before she made her way to Wesley.

“Hey.” She said as he hung up the phone. “Do you have any clients at the Central California Women’s Facility?”

“Sure.” He said running a list of his clients through his head. “Three, I think.”

“They need to tell you who’s running contraband into the prison.”

“Okay, but I can’t do anything that would incriminate a client.”

“No one cares about black market cigarettes. Getting the smuggler might be out only hope at finding Lucy before it’s too late.” She urged.

“Okay.” Wesley said, picking up the receiver. “Let me make some calls.”

Thirty minutes later, the feed was back online, the screen showing the dirt on the ground, as faint voices could be heard in the background.

“Can we make it louder, hear what their saying?”

Marcus shook his head. “No, this is as loud as it gets for the real time audio.”

A loud rustling could be heard before the image on the screen became distorted, showing Lucy sitting in the barrel.

“So I can watch.” Caleb’s voice came through the speaker before he placed the lid onto the barrel, positioning the camera in Lucy’s face.

“Can you go back?” Grey asked as Nolan’s computer continued showing the live events.

Marcus pressed a variety of buttons on his computer, going back to when the camera showed Lucy sitting inside the metal barrel.

“Slow it down. There.” Grey pointed out. “That tree in the background, if we can get a location...”

Tim’s eyes stayed trained on the live feed, watching as Lucy began panicking. The nauseousness that Tim had felt all morning intensified as he witnessed his boot being sealed into the container, her fate being decided. He couldn’t stand there and watch what was about to happen, watch her- he walked out of the room, heading straight for the locker room.

Angela gasped as the clack of the lock snapping into place echoed through the metal, Lucy’s breaths becoming shaky as a loud thud and tumbling could be heard before coming to a stop, dirt settling around the barrel as Lucy let out a whimper.

“Mute the computer.” Grey instructed somberly, knowing what was about to come.

“Sarge?” Angela whispered.

Wade turned away from the screen, “Did Wesley get anything from his clients?”

“I.. Let me go check.” She told her commanding officer before walking out of the room, returning five minutes later with Wesley in tow.

“Benjamin Lassie. He’s who you want.”

Sergeant Grey turned towards the couple. “Start pulling everything we can on him, if you see Bradford and West grab them, we could use the hands.”

Angela nodded, walking out of the room and towards where she thinks Tim may be.

“Hey.” She said noticing him walking out of the men’s locker room. “Come on, we’ve got a name from Wesley’s client.”

Tim walked ahead of Angela, flexing his left hand, the motion not going unnoticed by the officer, but Angela chose not to comment as they walked to the closest computer terminal.

She worked on pulling the information about their lead, finding out that the low-level criminal had recently been paroled. “He’s on parole, Officer Scott Francisco.”

Tim and Jackson were able to easily find the man, making a traffic stop, obtaining the name and information that they needed.

Jackson glanced at the superior the entire ride back to the station as Tim made the appropriate phone calls, acquiring a no-knock warrant from a more than happy judge and the Mid-Wilshire’s SWAT team. The two uniformed officers parked a block away, staging as SWAT suited up and went over the plan for the breech.

Tim could feel their moods tumble even further down as their promising lead turned into a bust. “Caleb used Jerry’s identity to get into the prison, get close to Rosalind.” He realized, staring down the man sitting in the floor. “And you were our last shot at saving her.”

He stormed out of the house, throwing his gear into the back of the shop as before slamming the hatch closed. He wanted to lash out, yell at someone, chase down every lead they could grasp. But Tim Bradford was slowly giving up hope.

“Hey, check it out.” Jackson said, pulling the older officer out of his pity.

“What’s that?” he asked solemnly, gesturing towards the folder in the rookie’s hand.

“Copies of every credit card statement from the card that Caleb used in Jerry’s name. He may be good with tech but even when you steal someone’s identity, you can’t erase what’s been bought.”

Tim stood, pulling the folder out of Jackson’s hand. He glanced over the statements, a hopeful smile taking over. “There could be charges in here that leads us to Caleb. Let’s go, we’ve gotta get back to the station, get everyone on it.” He said in a rush, closing the folder as he hurried to the driver’s side of the shop.

Jackson pulled out his phone as he sat down in the passenger seat, hitting the contact for the person he needed as the phone began ringing. “Hey, Caleb stole Jerry’s identity just like Brock Coleman’s. Jerry had copies of every credit statement and gave them to us, we’re on our way back.”

“Good, we’ve got a lead here too. Wesley has been going over some of Rosalind’s biographical data, if we can cross-reference those statements with the data, we can find where he’s keeping Chen. Wesley thinks it’s somewhere that’s near and dear to Rosalind’s heart.”

“We’ll be there in ten.” Jackson told her, hanging up the phone, reaching for the file that was haphazardly thrown onto the dash, scanning through the documents.

True to his words they rolled into the parking lot ten minutes later, both walking quickly into the bullpen, finding Sergeant Grey, Angela and Wesley gathered around a table.

“Hey, hey, we’ve got something. Caleb used Jerry’s identity to rent a post office box in Kern County near the prison. But, he kept it up even after he quit. Stills pay for it, so there must be a place close by.”

“Wait, Kerns County?” Angela asked, digging through the piles of papers in front of her. “Rosalind’s family – her trust owns a farm there.” She said handing the paper over to Tim.

Tim grabbed it, looking at the information as he let out an incredulous laugh. “Son of a bitch.”

“Sergeant Grey!” Marcus huffed as he ran to the table. “She’s not got much longer.”

Sergeant Grey stood, pulling out his cell phone, scrolling through his contacts as he delivered orders. “Call Nolan and Harper, get them headed in that direction.” He instructed before speaking to the other person on the phone. “Hello Sir, we believe we have found Officer Chen. Yes Sir. Thank you.” He said as he ended the call. “Chopper will be here in five. Let’s go.”

The four officers stood on the helipad, Jackson keeping an eye on the live feed with his phone. Angela was on the phone with Kern County Sheriff Department, giving instructions to the other person on the line, telling them about the situation and where they were heading, requesting local backup.

“It looks like she’s talking to herself.” He mumbled, moving the speaker of the phone next to his ear, listening to the quiet melody coming from one of his closest friends. “Oh my god.”

“What?” Tim asked, turning to Jackson.

“She’s- she’s singing.” He whispered in disbelief, pressing the volume button of the already maxed out device as a chill went through his spine.

Jackson pulled the device away from his ear, handing it over to Tim who held it up to his own ear, hearing the soft voice of his rookie come through the speaker.

‘Say nighty-night and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me

While I’m alone and blue as can be

Dream a Little Dream of Me’

Tim knew his rookie’s voice, whether it was sitting next to her for hours on end in the shop or listening to the hours long recording of her reading sentence after sentence to help him prepare for his Sergeants exam, he knew her voice. He had heard her sing before, quietly under her breath as she sung along to the song playing on the radio of the shop or her mumbling the words of the song stuck in her head that she had heard on her drive to work that morning. But he knew those words, the melody of the song that he was hearing her softly sing, would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The LA police department helicopter landed on the helipad as Tim stood frozen in place, his rookie’s oxygen deprived voice ringing in his ears.

“Bradford.” Jackson said questioningly. “Sir? Are- are you ok?”

Tim absentmindedly handed the owner of the phone their device back, the wind from the blades of the chopper hitting him, pulling him out of his trance. “Yeah.” He said clearing the emotions that were held his throat. “Let’s go.”

“She’s lost consciousness.” Spoke Jackson through the headset over halfway through the flight. Tim leaned his head back onto the metal wall, silently saying a hopeful prayer as a sense of dread overcame him.

Thirty minutes after takeoff, the helicopter was beginning its decent into an open field when something out of the corner of his eye, caught Tim’s attention.

“A tree.” He said pointing out the right side of the aircraft, remembering the piece of wood from a different perspective. “That’s the tree from the video.”.

The chopper landed, the passengers aboard hastily making their way out of the aircraft as they met the local deputies.

“If our calculations are correct, we’re out of time. Bradford, Lopez make your way up there to the tree, look for fresh dirt. Sheriff, Officer West and I will take your SWAT team and head towards the house where we believe our suspect to be.”

Tim took off in a run, Angela along with a few sheriff deputies following hot on his heels as they quickly approached the hill, scaling it with ease, swiftly reaching the top. He made his way towards the dead tree as Angela instructed the other officers to spread out in different directions in order to cover more ground as he walked the parameter around the dead tree, hoping to find something as he looked for any signs that the ground had recently been disturbed.

The late afternoon sun casted a glow onto the panoramic views around him, showcasing the dry California land that leaves everything in its path tarnished. But the burning star proved to be a blessing instead of a curse as the flash of something metal reflecting the sun’s rays back towards him, gained his attention.

He ran, stumbling over his feet as his knees slammed into the ground. A ring. And not just any ring, it was one his subconscious was familiar with, having seen it adorn her finger a countless number of times.

He picked it up, palming the warm metal holding the opal that was glinting in the sun. ‘She’s close.’ He thought as he stood, looking down at the ground around him before he began to stop on the ground, listening for anything abnormal.

It didn’t take long. “I’ve got her.” He yelled as his voice cracked.

Tim pocketed the ring, calling out once again, louder and more frantically as he fell to his knees, his voice echoing as the footfalls of Angela and the local deputies hurried over. He used his hands, moving away as much of the loose dirt that he could as other hands joined the effort, one of the deputies using an expandable shovel, casting it behind them.

“Come on.” He chanted under his breath as the metal lid of the barrel was exposed. He reached over, undoing the metal clasp as someone shoved the metal of the shovel under the lid, lifting the piece off in ease.

“Lucy.” He sighed as his arms reached in for her slumped form. “Help me get her. Let’s get her.”

“We need medical.” Someone said in the background, speaking into their handheld.

“Lucy.” He said once they extracted her as they laid her down.

“Is she breathing?” Angela asked as he glanced at her chest, finding no movement as his fingers went to her neck, feeling for a pulse.

“No, I’ve got no pulse.”

Tim leaned over, pinching her nose, giving her two rescue breaths as Angela moved beside him, counting out as she performed the thirty compressions. Tim giving her another two breaths, “Come on Lucy.” He whispered.

“Suspect had been neutralized.”

“MedEvac is five out.”

“Dammit Chen! Not like this.” He cursed as Angela counted to thirty once again as he leaned over, once again breathing for her. “Switch.”

Angela moved back and into Tim’s previous position as he laced his fingers together, pushing hard and fast into her chest.

“Tim…” Angela said worriedly.

“No!” He said in between counts. Angela was prepared to give another round of rescue breaths when a gasp came from before them.

“Holy shit.” Angela cursed, letting out the breath she had been holding.

Tim huffed out a laugh, smiling. “Lucy.” He breathed as both her arms rose, preparing for a fight. “Hey, hey, hey, you’re ok. It’s me.”

Lucy looked around with hooded eyes, as her head lulled to the side, staring at Tim as reality settled in, the tears escaping as she began to sob. He leaned over, pulling her into him, mindful of her injuries.

“I’ve got you Lucy.” He mumbled into her hair as her shaky hands grasped onto his uniform for dear life. “I’ve got you.” He repeated as she sobbed in his arms.

The next few hours passed in a blur, the medical helicopter flying in, loading up Lucy and taking her to the closest hospital.

“I’m going with her.” Tim sternly told the flight medic on board as they went to stop him from getting aboard. The medic knew then not put up a fight, watching as the officer climbed aboard, sitting next to his patient.

Soon they were in the air, Lucy holding on to Tim’s hand as the medic began their assessment. Her grasp never waned from his, even in her altered state of consciousness as he ran his free hand over her hair. He stayed by her side, never leaving her until they reached the awaiting staff of the emergency department.

“Sir, I know that she’s your partner, but I’m going to have to ask for you to leave.”

“I’m not-“

“We need to assess her injuries Officer Bradford.” The nurse stated firmly. “And in order to do that, you need to leave.”

“I-“ he hesitated as all the fight left him. “Ok.” He sighed, letting go of her hand. “Just let me- I’ll be back boot.”

Lucy sleepily smiled at his words.

He did come back, never leaving her side for longer than what he deemed necessary, keeping her unconscious form company as he sat at her bedside. They were two hours from home, affirming his decision to not go, at least not until he knew that she was ok. Wesley drove from LA, picking Angela up from the farmhouse with a change of clothes in the trunk, stopping by to give Tim his own fresh clothes and the emergency bag of clothes Lucy kept in her locker.

Jackson showed the next morning, giving Tim a break though he only left to stretch his legs before returning to the room. They sat in silence, Tim filling out his reports as Jackson scrolled through the apps on his phone. Around noon, Jackson stood mentioning going out to grab something to eat from the mom-and-pop burger stand that just so happened to have a second location nearby, Tim giving the rookie some cash and reciting the two orders he knew by heart.

He kept an eye on the clock, knowing that Lucy’s parents were due to arrive at any moment, Tim personally keeping them updated throughout the night on any improvements. There was none as the doctor chose to keep her sedated, but it was the thought that counts.

Tim was sitting on the doctor’s stool at her bedside when she came to, pretending to read a magazine as he watched her wake up. Lucy knew he was fooling no one as she chuckled.

“What are you reading, Teen Rebel?”

Tim looked at her with a teasing grin as he rolled over to her. “They actually have some really insightful political articles.”

“Mmm-hmmm.” She said not believing him. “Oh. Which BTS member is your soulmate? It’s gotta be Suga, right?” she asked him as she leveled a look.

“Totally.” He agreed shaking his head as he skimmed the questions, not clear on what she was talking about. “What’s a BTS?”

Lucy laughed, a bad decision as her broken ribs protested at the movement. “Oh God.” She cried out in anguish as she took a steady breath, breathing through the pain.

Tim watched her with concern, masking it as she turned to him with a smile.

“Have you been here all night?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“No.” he denied, shaking his head as he forced out another no, repeating the word as he looked away from her stare.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “Mm-hmm.” She said about to call her training officer out on his lying capabilities when a knock sounded at the door.

“Hey.” Nolan smiled as he walked through the door. “You’re awake.”

Lucy turned her head, changing her posture in the bed as Jackson walked through the door, carrying a bag. “Hey. Is that food?” she asked excitedly, causing the men in her life to chuckle. “What, I’m starving ok?”

“I would wait on the food Officer Chen.” A quite voice said as they walked into the room, knocking on the door. “Doctor Allison Rivera. And you, Lucy Chen are one very lucky lady.” Lucy nodded absentmindedly at the words, she didn’t think herself to be lucky.

“You have several abrasions and a few stiches throughout, as well as a slight concussion along with two broken ribs and moderate dehydration.”

“Does that mean I’m going to be in the hospital for a while?”

“I believe that you can be discharged tomorrow. Your body is dehydrated, and I want to make sure no other complications arise.”

She turned her head, looking towards Tim. “How did you guys find me anyways?”

Tim opened his mouth to speak when Nolan interrupted. “It was all of us. I talked to Rosalind, Jackson found the credit card statements, Angela found the farm, Wesley talked to some of his clients and Tim made all the connections.”

Lucy nodded her head appreciatively. “Thank you.”

“Oh!” Nolan said removing the item from behind his back. “I brought you something.”

She smiled, laughing at the enormous pink teddy bear that was in his hands. “I can see that.”

“It was the biggest one I could find.”

“I would hope so.” She gingerly laughed once again. “Oh my god, I’m going to need a bigger apartment.”

“I think we’ll be just fine Lucy.” Jackson told her, smiling as he rolled his eyes.

“Thank you Nolan.”

“Hey!” Jackson weakly protested. “I brought you food! Besides, he cannot stay in my room.”

“Well, he is a she, and she is going to be sleeping with me in my bed, since I am clearly never going on a date again.”

“I’m not sure that should be your takeaway.” Doctor Rivera said from the foot of the bed, watching the interaction.

“Oh, hang on.” Nolan said looking at the doctor. “Statistically, that’s actually pretty safe.”

Tim quickly glanced at Lucy before looking away, nodding his head. “Definitely should.”

“Wow, so is this the kind of support and understanding I can look forward to from now on?” she asked as she looked around at each of them.

“Yes.”

“Pretty much.”

“Oh definitely.”

Lucy chuckled at their responses. “That’s great. That’s really good.”

“You hungry?” Tim asked her before looking at the doctor.

“You can eat, just keep the portions small and non-greasy for right now.”

Lucy nodded as she opened the Styrofoam container in front of her. “Wait. Is this- is this a veggie burger and fries with extra pickles?” she asked, looking at Jackson.

“Don’t thank me, it was all Bradford.”

Lucy picked up a fry, turning her head and smiled. “You know me so well.”

Tim laughed as she let out a sigh, chewing the greasy potato. “Too well.”

“Well, I’ve got other rounds to make but I will be back by this evening to check in on you. A nurse will be by shortly to take vitals and give you some medicine for the pain.” Doctor Rivera said, dismissing herself.

“Your parents called me on the way up and said they’re on their way, I’m gonna go meet them downstairs. Come on Nolan.”

“Oh great just who I wanted to see.” She mumbled, rolling her eyes as Jackson left.

“I’ve actually got a date with Grace in three hours, so I’ve got to head back to LA. But I will swing by your apartment tomorrow with pastries.”

Lucy’s face lit up at the word pastries. “Make sure there’s a bear claw!”

“For you, I’ll make sure there’s two.” He smiled, saying goodbye as he walked out of the room.

Lucy sighed, leaning her head back, closing her eyes. “Are my parents seriously coming?” she whined.

“Yes.”

She let out a groan, opening her eyes as she reached for the burger. “Don’t get me wrong, I love them, most of the time- but after all of this, I just don’t-“ she sighed, her words drifting off as she took a bite.

“You’re their only child Chen.”

She swallowed the bite. “I know, but-“

“Give them thirty minutes and then tell them you’re tired.”

Lucy turned her head. “Is that not the equivalent of going to the bathroom on a date and not returning?”

Tim shrugged before hesitantly speaking. “How are you?” he asked, his tone low and laced with concern.

“I’m-“ she began before letting out a sigh “I’m alive.”

He nodded at her honesty. She wasn’t ok, he wasn’t ok, and they both knew it.

She moved her left hand to the edge of the bed, leaving her palm up. “Thank you.” She whispered. “I don’t-“ she began, choking on her words as tears welled in her eyes.

“It’s ok Luce.” He whispered back, placing his hand in hers. Lucy relished in the feel of his hand in hers before a knock on the door tore them apart, her mom rushing in.

Tim rolled the chair away from the bed, wordlessly reminding her of his suggestion as her parents began speaking rapidly. Lucy looked past them towards Tim, her face pleading for help. He chuckled, shaking his head before moving silently towards the door. They weren’t ok, but with time (and a lot of therapy) they could be.

#tim bradford x lucy chen #the rookie fic #chenford fanfic #chenford fic #chenford #fanfic

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rosalyn51 · 3 years

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Rosalyn51 Note: This article contains SPOILERS. The film will have its World Premiere at Toronto International Festival on Thursday, September 16. In theaters and streaming on AMC+ this December. Also worldwide. Stay tuned.

Female Filmmakers in Focus (TIFF Edition): Director Camille Griffin on Her Feature Directorial Debut, ‘Silent Night’

The British writer/director talks about making an apocalyptic black comedy set at Christmas.

Although ‘Silent Night’ is her directorial debut, British writer-director Camille Griffin has worked in film for over 25 years. With her husband, cinematographer Ben Davis (‘Eternals,’ ‘Cry Macho’), she is mother of actors Roman Griffin Davis (‘Jojo Rabbit'), Gilby Griffin Davis and Hardy Griffin Davis. Blending pitch black comedy with holiday cheer, ‘Silent Night’ is an apocalyptic twist on the ensemble Christmas comedy with a killer ensemble cast that includes Keira Knightley, Roman Griffin Davis, Matthew Goode, Lily-Rose Depp, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Lucy Punch, and Ṣọpé Dìrísù.

As friends and family gather on Christmas Eve tensions rise - but not for the usual reasons. It’s slowly revealed that the end of society as we know it is nigh. As a poisonous cloud descends upon the United Kingdom, petty differences are worked through, grievances are aired, and despite it all, love remains all around them.

Griffin sat down with Moviefone ahead of the gala presentation of ‘Silent Night’ at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Moviefone: How did you first decide to combine a holiday film with an apocalypse film?

Camille Griffin: First of all, I'm the annoying person at a dinner party who wants to talk about real things, and I get on people's nerves, because I'm not talking about nonsense. And I've noticed that a lot of people don't have the tolerance or the energy to always have big, dramatic conversations. And I don't mind having a polite argument or something and then like having a drink. I like having difficult conversations. But I know that a lot of people don't. So that, for me, is why I tried to make a comedy because I wanted to talk about important things, but make it entertaining, and not lecture or be a bore. I thought if I have a load of great actors playing great characters and great dialogue and funny moments, then I can maybe get some important points across. I just wanted to ask questions with the film. I'm not trying to give the answers obviously, you can obviously have a clue and insight into my political values. I sound very middle class, I was brought up middle class.

I used to get very sentimental at Christmas. You miss the people you haven't spoken to, your friends that you've fallen out with, or your family. That dodgy brother or sister who annoys you. There's a sentimentality about Christmas, and relationships and friendship. And I think as I've got maybe weller, emotionally and psychologically older, I've become less sentimental. But there's something so profoundly powerful about the sentimentality of Christmas, and how we want to be with your loved ones and friends and family.

MF: Was the Michael Bublé song ‘Christmas Sweater’ written for the film? It's used very uniquely three or four different times.

Griffin: Matthew Vaughn, who was my original producer, and still producer, but then he brought on Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler. Matthew is a great entrepreneur. Other than being a filmmaker and producer, he has his hands in many creative pockets. He was tinkering on his piano and came up with this Christmas song. He took it to Gary Barlow, from Take That. He's an amazing songwriter. They've written songs before, and they came up with this. Our composer Lorne Balfe, he only admitted to me last minute that he also worked on the song.

Matthew said we need to shoot a beginning where they're all on their way. I said, so they can play your Christmas song? And he said yes. So then the song had to then be brought into the film and became part of the storytelling. But it didn't originate from me, and it didn't originate from my film, but I did take the song. And I love that you notice that it has an unusual usage. He asked who do you want to sing it? I said, it's got to be Michael Bublé, Michael Bublé is Mr. Christmas, you know? And then he was like, I've got Michael Bublé!. I said we have to integrate throughout the film.

MF: How did you cast this large ensemble? Did you have any of them in mind when you were writing?

Griffin: I thought I was going to make the film for no money. Because I have been writing screenplays for an awful long time. So I came back from ‘Jojo Rabbit’ because my son was in ‘Jojo Rabbit’. And I saw Taika [Waititi] using comedy. And I thought, God he’s very clever to use this comedy idea. I'm going to use comedy, I'm going to write comedy. I'm going to write a really dark comedy, because all my stories were kind of melancholic and challenging. And I thought, okay, I can use comedy that's going to make it so much better. Or when I make my movie, that's a very rich person I know for money. And I went to Matthew Vaughn for advice. And he said, I'll make your film. I'd written it for my friends who are actors, because I used to be a camera assistant for many years. I've worked in the industry for a long time, and I've accumulated friendships with some actors. I wrote it for people who are my age. One of the first things Matthew said was, Oh, we got to cast much younger, we're old Camille. It really hit me, hearing him say we're old, actually really hit me because I've never had a problem with age. I have to be honest, I didn't write the film for that cast, because I wrote the film for a much older cast.

But as soon as he had that conversation, I was like, okay, well, wouldn't it be amazing to have Keira Knightley play Nell? Wouldn’t that'd be fun, like, this whole kind of Working Title beginning and the idea of perfection and Christmas happiness. And I was like, we've got to get Keira. She’s Miss Perfection and sweet. Audiences think of her as like the perfect British jewel. We had a causal conversation right at the beginning of our development process, then months later he said Keira Knightley had read the script and wanted to talk to me. So it all starts with Keira, and she loved it. We had an amazing conversation on the phone, then we met in person and I fell in love with her. And then people wanted to work with Keira, but we were very careful with who we cast because everyone in the film is a version of who I'd written it for originally, if that makes sense.

They're exceptional. There isn't one person that I'm not so grateful to because they were really up for playing. They were up for being extreme. They were all up for trying things that weren't comfortable. I was so lucky. I had to cut a few times because I couldn't stop laughing. I couldn't believe they had this endless pit of delivering brilliant performances.

MF: Keira’s boys in the film are played by your sons. How did you decide to cast them?

Griffin: So the three boys are mine and Davida McKenzie is a friend of ours. She's Thomasin McKenzie's little sister. The boys had become close to her on ‘Jojo Rabbit’. It wasn't that I just wanted to cast my kids, I obviously wrote the part from Roman and Roman and I had been on a long journey together with him wanting to act way before ‘Jojo’, and thank God for ‘Jojo’ it changed his life. But I knew that the kids were going to be part of a big gang of actors, and that the characters were going to be subjected to a certain amount of trauma. We did meet some kids because Davida lives in New Zealand, she's bloody miles away. I kept saying, I want Davida, but she's in New Zealand, we can't afford to bring her over. We did audition other actresses, but they just didn't have what she had. The kid needs to feel safe, because she's bullied through the whole film, and if she's got her friends, Roman, Gilby and Hardy, they're all friends, she’ll feel safe.

Also, I don't want to kill other people's kids, I'd rather pretend kill my kids. They're going to be fine because they know it's a conversation, it’s a metaphor. But I didn't want to do the same to someone else’s child, who then didn't feel safe. My kids and I had these, we have quite an extreme family, we're quite volatile and passionate and loving. So I just thought it'd be safer for them as children if they were my children and our friend.

MF: What do you hope people feel after they've walked away from this film?

Griffin: I don't want to hurt anyone because I know the film is upsetting. I've cried a lot myself through the film, because I care about those characters. They're also very dysfunctional characters, they’re very flawed characters, but I cared about them because they became real. I think we all believe that there should be a slight trigger warning in the film. I don't want the audience to be angry or hurt, which is why it's important that they're not tricked. I’m very grateful there's a slight warning that, you know, it's a dark comedy, and there's death in it.

I do want people to think, you know, how do we treat our younger generation? Do we allow them to ask questions? Do we listen to them? Do we allow them to challenge us? They're going to have to inherit a damaged planet, they're going to have to inherit a damaged society. I also think, fundamentally, do we give a shit about each other? Like, I care? Am I doing enough? I'm not doing that much, because I've got three kids to look after. And if I think I'd like to leave the world a better place, but I’m feeding and cooking and helping them. But because I think okay, well, I want to be a filmmaker, and I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker since I was a young child. So maybe if I can ask the questions in cinema, and we can walk away and go, well, Jesus, that was hard, that wasn’t easy to watch. It’ll make us think, are we doing enough? Are we recycling enough? Are we paying enough taxes? Is our government making the right decisions? Are we getting vaccinated? Do we care about our neighbor? You know, how do we care about racism? Are we going to change our political view? The characters say, we should have voted Green. It's like, yeah, maybe we should all be voting Green. So I like to think that, you know, Trump’s gone now, thank God. But there's a lot of recovery from the mistakes my government has done and the American Government's, certainly. That's what I'm trying to achieve with the film.

MF: Could you recommend another female filmmaker that inspired you who readers should seek out?

Griffin: I think the interesting thing is there's a lot of women writers, there's a lot of women, cinematographers, there's a lot of women actors, and I think they’re all artists. Recently I’ve been recommending a film called ‘Polisse’, not because I'm saying it's one of my absolute favorite films, but because it's a film I saw at the Cannes Film Festival many years ago by a filmmaker called Maïwenn, who had been an actress. It was an extraordinarily powerful film about the French police system and children. And I remember just sobbing and sobbing and for weeks I was obsessed with her film and obsessed with her as a filmmaker. It's not easy. I don't have easy conversations. So if someone wants something fun to watch, they shouldn't watch that. But it's called ‘Polisse’ and it was breathtaking.

'Silent Night' premieres on September 16 as part of the Gala Presentation series at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.

#matthew goode #keira knightley #annabelle wallis #lily rose depp #silent night (2021)#roman griffin davis #sope dirisu #kirby howell baptiste #lucy punch #davida mckenzie #camille griffin #michael buble #tiff 2021 #toronto international film festival #new film

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janesramblings · 3 years

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Could you do a one shot based on @aceandnancy 's drabble prompt where their daughter asks when they fell in love with each other and it's the same moment?

oooo i love this!! I saw that prompt and i think jane was going to write something so if i stole her thunder,,, oh well too slow I guess.

“Mom how do you know when you’re in love?” Kate asks her mother over dinner. Nancy sighs. Her twin daughters (Lucy and Kate, named after Nancy’s mothers) were suddenly both very invested in love and romance.

“You feel like you’re hit by a truck,” Nancy says dryly as she spears a potato with her fork. Lucy and Ace are out of town at Lucy’s swim meet, so it’s just the two of them.

“Mom I’m being serious!” Kate objects.

“As am I,” Nancy says, pushing the plate of asparagus towards her daughter. Kate huffs. Unlike Lucy, Kate is very vegetable adverse.

“Okay, so if it feels like being hit by a truck, why do people always want to be in love?”

Nancy considers this for a moment. “Well, maybe not like being hit a truck,” she admits. “It’s more like a really surprising realization, and then you carry on from there.”

“You’re not being helpful here Mom,” Kate says. She got her attitude from her mother.

“I’m taking a leaf out of Grandpa Ryan’s book,” Nancy responds, unaffected.

Kate rolls her sharp blue eyes. She tugs on her coppery red hair, a few shades lighter than Nancy’s. “Okay, well, when was the moment you fell in love with Dad?”

Nancy pauses. Of course she knows the moment she fell in love with Ace, but she’s not sure how to explain why the circumstance came around. Kate and Lucy know their parents are detectives at the Horseshoe Bay Police Department, but they don’t know that Ace and Nancy’s specialized department focuses on the supernatural, a department that came about after Ace and Nancy’s dabblings with ghosts in their teenage years.

“Mom?” Kate prompts.

“Oh right, well, when I was taking my gap year after Grandma Kate died,” (The girls knew about Nancy’s adoption, and they seemed to take it in stride. Their only complaint is that the have three living grandfathers but only one living grandmother), “my friends and I got into a sticky situation.”

“What kind of sticky situation?”

“Well, we angered someone from Aunt Bess’s family, and we were trying to make it right. And your father got mad at me for angering the person in the first place.”

“So you fell in love with him?” Kate wrinkles her pointed nose the way her father does when he’s confused.

Nancy smiles, feeling a rush of affection towards her daughter and the antics she got from her father. “No honey, I realized that I was very unhappy when I didn’t have your father to talk to. Which then made me realize that he was practically the only person I wanted to talk to when I had a problem. Or when I was happy. Or, whenever anything happened really.”

Kate stares at her for a moment. “Okay. That’s cool.” She nods her head once. “May I be excused?”

“Sure, come back if you want to talk or have ice cream with me.”

“Okay,” Kate says, sliding out of her chair. Nancy shakes her head at her daughter as she goes.

Kate runs up the stairs, sliding down the hall until she barges into her room and grabs her phone from her bed. Just asked, she types, it was a rly weird answer, u ask now. She sends the text, drops her phone back onto her bed, and heads back downstairs. Ice cream really didn’t sound that bad now that her mother mentioned it.

The text Kate sent is received by Lucy a few moments later. She looks down at her phone from the front seat of her father’s car. He keeps glancing at her every few moments to make sure that her soaked blonde head doesn’t soil the upholstery of his vintage car. Lucy reads the text, smiles a little, and shifts in her seat to turn to her dad. “Dad?”

“Yeah?” Ace glances over at her to make sure her head is off the headrest.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course. But if you’re asking about your meet again, you did an amazing job, you don’t have to beat your PR every time.” Nancy’s competitive nature is frustrating enough in Nancy, but when it comes to his daughters, Ace feels completely out of his depth. He often laments to Nick that his daughters ended up being mini-Nancys, something that did not vibe with his pacifist nature.

“Oh, well, it’s not about that,” Lucy pauses. “Even though you’re wrong and I failed spectacularly.”

Ace rolls his eyes as he changes lanes. He grips the steering wheel tighter in anticipation for whatever was about to come out of Lucy’s mouth. “When did you know you were in love with Mom?”

Oh. That’s a pretty reasonable question, especially from Lucy, who at one point was determined to to put mayonnaise on the floor of her room so she could slide around like she once saw in a cartoon. “That’s a good question Luce,” Ace says, tapping his fingers on the wheel as he thinks.

“I know,” Lucy says.

He doesn’t answer until he takes the exit off the highway for Horseshoe Bay. “I think it was when your mom took her gap year after her mother died.”

“Adopted mom right? The one Kate’s named after?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Well, your mom angered some person in Aunt Bess’s family-”

“Who?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Why?”

“Because they forgave us, so.”

“How’d they forgive you?”

“Lucy do you want the answer?”

“Right. Sorry. Carry on.”

“Thank you.” Ace smiles a little as he drives past The Claw. “It was actually in The Claw when I realized. Your mom had gotten us into a pretty bad situation, and I was angry at her.”

“Really? You’re never mad!”

“Exactly. So your mom pointed it, and I told her I was really just scared. It took me a little while to forgive her. And in my anger, I thought about why I was mad in the first place.”

“Wow, I would never think when I’m mad.”

“I know,” Lucy really was just like Nancy. “Well, I was sitting after work and Aunt George came over to ask my why I was sitting like a useless rock.” Lucy giggled. Aunt George’s sharp tongue never dulled, but Lucy and Kate, along with the Nickerson - Fan kids, are never really affected. The same can’t be said for Bess and Lisbeth’s adopted daughter, however. “And I told her I was mad at Nancy and it was killing me. Do you know what she told me?”

“What?”

“That I was scared for her because I cared about her. Well, actually, because I loved her. So yeah,” Ace pulls his car into the driveway behind Nancy’s car. “That was the moment I realized I was in love with your mom.”

“That’s cool,” Lucy says as she jumps out of the car. “I’m gonna shower!”

Ace shakes his head at his daughter as he follows her into the house, pausing on his way to the living room to hang up Lucy’s discarded coat and put her gym bag in the laundry room. He finds Nancy curled up on the couch with a tub of ice cream when he enters the living room. She silently hands him a spoon and the tub. Ace sits, leans over to kiss her, and takes the dessert. “You know Nance, Lucy asked me a really weird question today.”

“No weirder than Katie’s I hope.”

“Well, I’m not sure about Kate, but Lucy wanted to know when I fell in love with you.”

“Really? Kate asked the same thing.” Nancy takes the tub from him, scoops out a heaping spoonful, and hands it back.

“What did you say?”

“What did you say?” Nancy counters.

“I asked first,” Ace points out.

“True. It was when you were mad at me for dragging everyone into the aglaeca stuff.” Ace smiles at his wife. “What?” she asks.

“I said the same thing. I realized that I was scared to lose you because I love you.”

It was Nancy’s turn for a goofy grin to overtake her face. She pulled the ice cream out of Ace’s hands and snuggled up next to him. Ace wrapped his arms around her and kissed her nose, smiling when she wrinkles it. “I realized that I can’t spend a day without you,” she admits. Ace’s smile grows. He knows that saying this out loud is taking a lot of effort for Nancy, so he doesn’t respond. He just pulls her tighter against him and rests his head on hers.

“I love you Nancy Drew.”

“And I love you Ace.”

#nancy drew cw #ace nancy drew #nace #ace x nancy #nace fanfiction

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anarmorofwords · 3 years

Note

The Merry Thieves and Lucie trying to be so well meaning but chaotic in their support of Matthew recovery is so freaking sweet. Like yeah, I want that, that’s wholesome. Like they don’t keep grape fruit around cause they heard once that it causes the effects of some drugs to be nullified and went “cursed fruit be GONE” like that kind of “stupid but also like, they are trying.”

They just want their friend to get better.

Like out of all of them, Lucie tries the hardest to be the one who has to give “tough love” to Matthew and not ignore it but she’s also 16 and like bad at what she’s trying to do? If that makes sense like that scene in Choi where she’s like “why is he so sad? He has nothing to be sad about.” And Cordelia is like “well…that’s just sorta how depression works,” I mean Cordelia has the whole story but like I think, she like James, is slowly moving towards a very scary realization that he’s just kind of always been…this way it’s just gotten worse and not better. (Honestly Cordelia explaining the concept of depression to lucie was lowkey fucking funny in how sad and true to life it is when you discuss mental health issues in real life like it hit me in a PLACE)

I'm legit gonna have to include that at some point, it's just so sweet and also realistic as hell? someone kick me so I write my wips

I can also imagine Kit researching the shit out of addiction/depression recovery and trying to lecture the others, and it's just A Mess™, because 1) they don't really follow his smart brain 2) he's done plenty of research, but also came across contrasting info and has no professional background/training to properly apply/understand some of that, which, understandable, but it leads to plenty of chaos and hilarious interventions

Yeah, tbh Lucie's attempts at addressing his problems (the one you mention, or the "you're constantly drunk and I'm worried about James" ) were awful, but it's to be expected, considering, well, everything?

I definitely think Cordelia realized how severe his problems are already, and Lucie,,,, well, Lucie was much more sheltered than her, and she kinda lives in her fictional world a lot, where things need to make sense - and clearly, to her, it doesn't make sense for a boy who supposedly has everything to suffer so much. Which, fair. It's XX, and even today people don't get that.

the whole "buT wHy" in regards to mental health issues is a super common thing, even well meaning people just can't grasp that there doesn't have to be A Reason.

#tw addiction #the last hours #tlh #the merry thieves #matthew fairchild #lucie herondale #ask answered

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obxlife · 4 years

Text

Empanadas and Alfajores (JJ x Latina!Reader)

A/N: Yes finally a Latina reader. I am so excited about this! I’m going to be writing with a lot of Spanish in between but the most important parts are going to be in English. Also I got super carried away with this but I just love it!

Pairing: JJ x Latina!Reader

Word count: 5,843

Request: Heyy!! Could you do one with JJ where she id new yo de obx and she talks spanish and ks very sassy? I don't know If It makes sense. Ty♥️

Warnings: Swearing (both English and Spanish) and a lot of FLUFF

EMPANADAS AND ALFAJORES

The Outer Banks did not have many Latino families. You had investigated this before moving, and you were sure that, due to the fact that there weren’t many of them, discrimination towards your family was sure to come.

You were moving to the Outer Banks from South California due to your father’s job. He worked as a lawyer, and he had heard about a job opportunity on the islands.

This was what brought you here. To Kildare County.

You hated it. Leaving your friends behind and submerging yourself into a community that was sure to not treat your family well. From what you had seen during the drive to your new house, most of the island’s residents looked pretty conservative.

You were worried about your parents, mostly. You and your siblings could speak English almost perfectly, but your parents still had accents that proved that they were immigrants.

Along with the fact that your family was bilingual, you were pretty sure you looked Latino as well. All of you had skin that was naturally tan, and dark brown hair that was long. You just felt as if people could tell you weren’t truly from the United States, and that would often make you nervous.

You envied the Latinos with white skin. The ones that were descendants of Europeans and had adopted the Latino culture. They were just as Latino as you and your family were, but they didn’t suffer from even half of the harassment you had to endure.

Despite all of the discrimination you had lived because of your origins, you liked being Latina. It defined you. And it was something you would never change about yourself.

The car parked, and your younger siblings, which were triplets and a nightmare, hopped out of the car in front of the one you were seated in. They had been excited to move, and couldn’t wait to explore the new house you were all going to live in. Your father had been the one to sacrifice himself and drive them, while you and your mother were driving behind him, alone in the smaller car your family owned.

Your mother sighed, not wanting to deal with the three small children yet. So, she turned to you. “Mi amor, I know this isn’t what you wanted, pero te prometo que it will be okay.”

You only nodded, pursing your lips together and twiddling your thumbs. “Can I go out and just walk around or something? Puedo volver before it’s late.”

Knowing how much the move was taking a toll on you, your mother nodded her head. Then she exited the car and began to scold your siblings, yelling at them in fluent and angry Spanish.

“¿Cuántas veces les tengo que decir que se comporten? ¡Lucy, vuelve ahora! ¡Diego, Lucas, no la empujen!”

Rolling your eyes, you reached for the handle of the car and left. You pulled your hair into a ponytail before heading down your driveway and towards a restaurant you had seen on the way.

********************************

‘The Wreck.’

That was what the sign of the restaurant said. You imagined it was a hit with the tourist, seeing as it was strategically placed between two beaches which were filled with people. You spared a look inside and noticed that the restaurant was also packed. However, there was an empty seat at the counter.

Opening the door, you walked in with as much confidence as you could muster. Your confidence fell when you crashed into a body and tumbled to the floor.

“Mierda,” you muttered out while standing up. You rubbed your hand over your butt and looked down to find that before you lay a dark-skinned boy.

“Ay, Dios mío, I am so sorry,” you told him, extending your hand out for him to take. He did, and with your help he stood up.

He shook his head. “Don´t worry, it was my fault.”

“Are you kidding? I literally rammed into you. I don’t know who I thought I was, stumbling in here like that.”

The boy just laughed. “It’s fine, really. By the way, are you new here or something? I’m pretty sure there’s no one in Kildare that speaks Spanish.”

You nodded softly, expecting the classic questions to follow from his lips. Where are you actually from? How long have you lived here?

“Oh, cool. So you moved here?”

You nodded again. “Yeah, I moved into the yellow house on Gordon Street.”

“Oh, really? I live right around the corner from there! And my dad owns the market by the docks, just two streets over from Gordon.”

“Oh, nice. So have you lived here for a while?” you were trying to make small talk, as you had liked the boy standing before you and he had been nice enough to speak to you.

“Try my whole life. But it’s fine. I love it here.”

You smiled at him as you both moved to the side, allowing someone else to exit through the door you had been blocking. He suddenly stretched his hand out. “I’m Pope.”

You smiled. “I’m Y/N.”

While still being connected by your hands, Pope almost fell onto you because of a boy that had jumped on his back. The boy was blond and white and had spiky teeth that reminded you of the stories your mother would tell you about the Chupacabras. His blue eyes were shiny and alight with mischief, reminding you of Diego and Lucas.

Pope let go of your hand and tried to push the boy off. “JJ! What is wrong with you?”

JJ laughed, getting off Pope and wrapping a hand around his shoulder. “Just came to see why you were taking so long in the bathroom. We were waiting for you, bubba.”

JJ then turned towards you and his jaw fell slack. You didn’t take notice of this, as you were looking at Pope, who said, “Yeah, I was held up by Y/N here. She’s new in the OBX.”

JJ shook his head lightly, trying to act normal. “Pleasure to meet you, baby.”

You didn’t like that. At all. You hated when guys were just the biggest flirts, and this guy seemed to fit right into that category.

You rolled your eyes a bit, not trying to come off as rude, and took the outstretched hand he placed in the space between you. You held onto it, shaking up and down before trying to let go. He wouldn’t let you.

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

“Ay, por favor. I’ll do what I want,” your sassiness broke out. You covered your mouth with your hands and widened your eyes. You couldn’t believe you had already been sassy to someone. In the place where you lived before you had gotten into a lot of problems for being sassy, and you had promised your parents that you were going to control yourself here in the Outer Banks.

Pope pressed a balled-up hand to his mouth trying not to laugh as JJ’s expression fell. Pope couldn’t contain his laughs any longer and broke out, while JJ shoved him and smiled towards you.

“Sassy and you speak Spanish? You’re a dream, Mamacita,” he tried to flirt with you once again. You groaned out loud this time. The boys seemed to enjoy your sassiness, so you decided not to hold back.

“Look here, Papi,” you spoke, sarcasm dripping from each word. “If I wanted to flirt with you I would have done it by now. Y por favor, don’t call me ‘Mamacita’ ever again.”

JJ was bewildered. He had never met anyone that had flat out rejected him before. Staring at you, he tuned out the world around him and ignored the conversation that was going on between you and Pope. He watched Pope grab onto your arm and drag you to where the rest of the Pogues were. And JJ stood there, staring at you go along with his best friend.

He decided that he really liked the view.

Catching up to the two of you, JJ ran to be by your side. He reached your arm just as Pope was done presenting you to Kie and John B.

You smiled at them and began to speak to them casually, getting to know them better. They were making you laugh, even JJ, and you were happy that they were there to cheer you up. If they became your friends, you wouldn’t really mind moving away from your previous home as much as you imagined. They seemed fun and adventurous and nice and loyal. And they seemed a lot more diverse than other groups of teens you had seen.

You had decided that they would be your friends.

*************************************************

Diego, Lucas, and Lucy were a mess. A mess meaning that they were a royal pain in the ass. And sometimes you were the one that had to take care of them, especially when your parents went out for business dinners or dinner dates.

You had been living in the OBX for about three months now, and your father was trying to sign a business deal with some real estate companies that ruled the rich side of the island. That was why you were staying home tonight instead of heading out with one of the Pogues like you usually would. They had asked you to babysit.

You were happy in the OBX, much to your surprise. Discrimination towards your family didn’t happen often, and you were always defended by your friends. It was mainly the rich that were offensive, but it became easier and easier to ignore them once you realized that everybody else on the island did that as well.

“¡Callense!” you screamed out at the triplets who were screaming at the TV screen. “I’m trying to concentrate over here.”

Your homework lay before you on the table, and you could barely concentrate on it with all of the screams in your house. School had started recently, and it was a lot harder than your previous one. The Pogues would sometimes help you (mostly Kie and Pope), but you liked trying to do things on your own first. If you couldn’t do it then you would call one of the brainiacs over to help you.

Another scream left Lucy’s mouth and you groaned again. You were going to need help with them.

You fished your phone out of your bag that was resting on the table. You opened the messenger app and sent a message to your group chat.

Y/N: HELP! I’m babysitting for my parents and the three devils are driving me insane. Can someone please come over?

Pope: Sorry, Y/N. I’m working with my dad tonight.

Kie: I’m working a shift! Sorry babes.

The hottest boy ever: I’m coming over!

You glared at the name JJ had put to his contact and changed it back to what you originally had saved it as: Imbécil.

You sighed now having to deal with JJ too. Whatever, at least maybe he could distract your siblings and leave you alone so that you could study.

Not even twenty minutes later you heard a knock on your door. JJ stood there grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey, Mami,” he said. ‘Mami’ had become his new nickname for you, even though you hated it. You felt like one of those stereotyped Latinas on TV.

“Hey, loser.”

He frowned but then brought his hand up to your hair and ruffled it. You swatted his hands away and opened the door wider for him to come in. He brushed past you, your arms coming into brief contact. Tingles rose from the contact.

You hated the fact that you were attracted to JJ. He was funny and hot, you had to admit, but he was also the most infuriating person ever. He liked to push your buttons and bother you to no end. The worst part of it all was that Kie said that he was trying to flirt with you.

You had scoffed. “Como si de verdad te creyera.”

You closed the front door and walked to catch up with JJ. He was almost at the living room door before you held onto his hand and pulled him around.

“What?” he asked you.

“I just want you to know that they’re extremely annoying and loud. So just -- be ready.”

He nodded before joking, “I’m all of those things too, Mami.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, how could I forget? I was just warning you, idiota, but whatever.”

With that, both you and JJ walked into the room where your siblings were. The loud seven-year-olds were still screaming. They stopped when they saw JJ at the door.

“¡Un cabeza de pipí!” Diego exclaimed. Your face dropped with mortification at what he said, and you hoped that Lucy and Lucas would not translate what their triplet had screamed a few moments ago.

“Diego!” you screeched out.

“What does that mean?” JJ asked under his breath, turning towards you. He hadn’t met your siblings ever, and he was surprised to find them laughing at him. “Did he say something funny? Should I laugh?”

You smiled at him, trying to pretend as if your brother had said a joke for everyone. “Yeah, just laugh along with him.”

JJ began to laugh, not very sure of his actions, and this only egged your siblings to continue laughing at the blond boy by your side.

When you sobered up you scolded your brother in Spanish, making sure that JJ did not understand a thing about what was going on. You made your siblings promise to speak English and to be nice to JJ (you knew your mother would be mad if she heard a word about this).

“¿Lo prometen?”

They only nodded. With that, you turned towards the table you were working at but noticed your stomach grumble. Looking at the time on your wristwatch, you turned to the kitchen instead, realizing that it was almost dinner time. At least for you, it was. Your parents had always disliked how people in the States ate extremely early, and they had maintained the custom of eating at around eight o’clock (which would have been early if you still lived in your country of origin).

“JJ have you had dinner yet?” you called out to him. You could hear him talking to your siblings and asking their names.

“No! Why?” you stayed silent as you began to cook. Empanadas sounded great about right now, so that was what you decided to make. You placed your phone on the counter, playing some of Morat’s, a Colombian band’s, songs. You whispered along to the lyric and danced a little as you continued to hear JJ talk and joke around with the kids. He suddenly appeared in the kitchen with Lucy on his shoulders and one boy hanging on each of his legs.

“I need help,” he spoke out. You set the dough you were kneading down and spun around to face them.

“A ver, sueltenlo. Vayan a ponerse pijama por mientras. Y vengan en veinte minutos para comer.”

With that, the boys had sped off to their rooms, and Lucy wiggled to get off JJ. He reached up and set her on the ground. As she followed behind Lucas and Diego, JJ asked, “What are you making?”

He turned his back to the counter and stretched his legs before him. His hands were rested on the tabletop, making his elbows bend back. His green hat was blocking the kitchen’s light from his eyes and his blue shirt was tight against his body from his position. His face was looking in your direction, as you began to spread the dough and roll it out.

“Empanadas.”

JJ frowned. “What are they?”

You laughed a little before replying. “They’re fried dough with filling inside. The filling can be sweet or salty, but where I’m from, we normally eat them with cheese or pino, which is meat with some seasoning. But we’re not frying it cause I’m too lazy.”

JJ nodded. His eyes were trained on your fingers, looking at you leave the dough to rest as you began to work on the filling. Only then did he notice you were slightly dancing to the music coming out from your phone. He tried to strain his ears to listen to it until he caught on to the fact that he didn’t understand anything at all. It was in Spanish.

“What are you listening to?”

You kept on swaying around, almost done with the meat filling for the empanadas. You placed it in a bowl before turning to him. “It’s a Colombian group called Morat.”

JJ raised his eyebrows at you, surprised that for once you were responding to him in the same manner you would usually reply to Pope.

You kept on preparing dinner, not even realizing what he had realized about you. However, you felt JJ staring at you, so you decided to ask, “Do you want to help?”

The blond boy was surprised. He was bad at cooking but you seemed to be working on the easiest part of the process. He had noticed you scoop up some of the fillings onto the circular cuts of dough and folding them in half. He nodded at you.

“Okay, so you have to scoop only one spoonful of the pino onto the dough. Then you fold the dough in half after putting a bit of water onto the edges of the dough. Like this.”

You showed him how to dip his finger into the little cup with water before rubbing the water onto the whole circular edge of the dough. You looked back at JJ, his eyes concentrated on your finger.

“After that, you fold the dough in half. But make sure that the stuffing is far away from the edge. And then, using a fork, you press the edges down so that the empanada is sealed and complete.”

JJ nodded, finding the instructions easy enough. He began to help you, shooting glances at you every once in a while. You didn’t seem to notice at all, completely concentrated on the music (which you were singing under your breath) and on the food. Once you had both finished, JJ helped you place the empanadas onto a tray so that you could put them in the oven.

Closing the door of the oven you headed towards your phone, deciding to change the music up a bit. You played one of your old playlists, which contained some of Reik’s old music, as well as some Juanes and Miguel Bosé. Shifting around the kitchen, you moved JJ aside to clean the counter and to wash the items you had used to prepare the empanadas. JJ was enchanted by you, watching you dance around and sing to the music he couldn’t understand at all. All he could understand was that he was slowly but surely falling for you.

Just as you were done washing, Lucy came into the kitchen. She was wearing her pajamas and she had clearly showered. Her wet hair was enough fo you to know that.

“¿Me puedes cepillar el pelo?” she asked you holding up her hairbrush. You shook your head saying, “Iba a hacer el postre. Pero JJ te lo puede cepillar, si quieres.”

Lucy nodded at your suggestion. You turned towards the blond boy that was still staring at you, transfixed on your mouth that always seemed to look kissable.

“JJ? Would you mind brushing Lucy´s hair?”

Even if JJ didn’t want to do it, he couldn’t say no to you or to your sister’s puppy eyes. He nodded his head as Lucy pressed her brush into his large hand and turned towards him. He didn’t know what he was doing but he tried his best, basing his actions on what he had seen in movies and TV shows. He tried to be as gentle as possible, not wanting to pull her hair out or anything.

In the meantime you analyzed what you could prepare for dessert. You noticed that you had some butter cookies and some dulce de leche. If you had chocolate then you could prepare alfajores. Checking the pantry you noticed that there was chocolate. Excitedly you pulled out the ingredients.

“Where’s Diego and Lucas?” JJ asked Lucy as he was halfway done with her hair. Her curly hair was long, and it took him a lot longer than he had expected to brush her hair.

“They started watching a movie.”

“Why didn’t you watch it with them?”

“Because I need to comb my hair,” Lucy stated. The tone of voice she used made it seem as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. JJ laughed, being reminded of the sassy tone you would usually use with him.

“You’re so sassy, Lucy. Just like Y/N,” JJ confessed. This earned an offended gesture from both of the girls in the kitchen. He only laughed harder.

You put the chocolate in a bowl and in the microwave. Lucy realized this and asked, “¿Estás haciendo alfajores?”

You nodded, causing her to smile. You smiled back at her, glad that she was just as excited for dessert as you were. Right at that moment JJ said, “All done, princess.”

Lucy beamed at what he called her before running off with her hairbrush in her hand. JJ stood from his spot and walked to you, noticing how you opened the cookies and the dulce de leche.

“What are you making now?”

“Alfajores. It’s dulce de leche between two butter cookies and dipped in chocolate.”

JJ’s eyes widened at how good they sounded (even if he really wasn’t sure what dulce de leche was) and grabbed two cookies. He began to help you.

Little feet could be heard running through the house, and Lucy returned to the kitchen. She pulled a chair right between you and JJ and stood on it. Her little fingers latched onto two cookies, wanting to help.

“JJ, put some dulce de leche on Lucy’s cookies,” you told him as the microwave began to beep. You put some kitchen gloves on knowing that the bowl was going to be hot, and pulled it out. Setting it onto the counter you began to mix the chocolate around. “C’mere, Lucy, you can dunk the alfajores in the chocolate.”

Lucy gave the cookies she was holding to JJ and grabbed onto one of the already made cookie sandwiches. She dumped it into the chocolate and then pulled it out, placing it on a plate that would go into the freezer later. You helped her through the process, making sure that her chocolate-covered fingers didn’t touch the counter or her clothes.

JJ paused his actions halfway. He was on the last pair of cookies, but he couldn’t help but stare at you and your sister. You were both singing the lyrics to whatever song was coming from your phone, only stopping to speak to each other in Spanish. Your hair was in a bun on the top of your head and Lucy’s was tied back. Both of you would scrunch your nose up at the same time when dipping the cookies into the chocolate, and you would both laugh together when the cookie would slip from your grasps.

Shaking his head, JJ decided to finish the last cookie sandwich. Ever since you had arrived at the OBX, he had tried to get over the fact that you were clearly not into him, but that didn’t seem to work at all. The more he tried to push you out of his head, the more he felt he liked you.

Once you had finished preparing the alfajores, you passed the plate to Lucy for her to put into the freezer as you began to wash the bowl you had used. JJ approached you and began to dry the dished that were already washed from before, when you had finished the empanadas.

“You know? You’re a good sister,” JJ said suddenly. Your cheeks grew warm and you smiled at the compliment. It was true. Even though you would often deny it, you loved your siblings more than anything.

Trying to ignore the feelings that rose from JJ’s compliments you replied, “What? No ‘Mami’ this time?”

JJ laughed but shook his head. He continued to help you around the kitchen, setting the table with you and pulling the empanadas out.

“Can you go get the triplets, please?” you asked him.

JJ went into the living room where Diego and Lucas were staring at the TV screen. “Your sister says it’s time for dinner.”

The two younger boys turned towards the blond, curiosity in their eyes. “Are you our sister’s boyfriend?”

JJ’s eyes widened, as Lucy walked into the room. “Yes, he is!”

“No, I’m not, Lucy.” He turned to the boys. “I’m not.”

The boys just giggled along with their female triplet, before jumping over the sofa and pounding into the kitchen. JJ simply pressed his hands to his blushing cheeks, ordering them to go back to normal before stepping into the kitchen.

When he stepped back into the room that was now filled with Y/L/Ns, he noticed you were serving the empanadas onto everybody’s plates. Two for each of the triplets and three for him and you, each. He smiled before sitting down in the seat next to.

“No coman con las manos. Mamá se enoja si hacen eso,” you reminded your siblings as they reached for the food with their hands. Begrudgingly they took hold of their cutlery.

JJ cut the first empanada into smaller pieces and brought one of them up to his mouth. It was amazing. His eyes were wide as Diego laughed at his reaction. You turned to look at him and smiled.

“You like them?”

JJ moved his head up and down, shoving more empanada into his mouth. He couldn’t wait to try the alfajores.

*****************************************

Once the triplets were in bed you moved to the couch to work on your homework as JJ watched a movie. He had his legs perched on top of the coffee table before the couch and your legs were thrown across his lap. His right hand rested on one of your calves, moving from left to right, distracting you from your homework. You were too tired to do it anyway, so you placed it onto the coffee table.

Turning towards the TV you noticed that it was in Spanish and frowned.

“Why are you watching it in Spanish?” you asked JJ.

JJ shushed you, before whispering, “So I can learn.”

You furrowed your eyebrows and sat up, removing your legs from his lap. He pouted at the loss of contact but his eyes never left the screen. You pushed your body closer to him so that your legs were touching.

“Why do you want to learn Spanish?” you asked, genuinely curious as to what he would answer.

Your voice was almost a whisper, and suddenly the air around the both of you seemed to thicken. JJ finally broke his stare away from the TV to your eyes, before smiling. “So that I can understand you.”

You blushed but didn’t turn away from him. “Why would you want to do that?”

Now JJ blushed. “Because I want to get to know you better. Believe it or not, I think you’re really cool and sassy and different from everybody I know. And I want to know you. All of you. And your culture and being able to speak Spanish is a part of you.”

Your smile widened to the largest JJ had ever seen it. You wrapped your arms around JJ, almost wanting to cry. Nobody had ever cared enough about you to learn about your culture and to learn Spanish or to even show an interest in learning those things. You felt a single tear escape your right eye, not even realizing it until JJ had pulled you back and swiped his thumb under your eye. JJ smiled at you, his hands on your waist.

“No one’s ever done that for me before,” you told him.

“Then I’m happy I’m the first.”

You hugged him again. With his arms still around your body, you said, “If you want I can teach you how to speak Spanish.”

“Nah,” JJ said while shaking his head. “I bet you’re too sassy to be a teacher.”

You pulled back and lightly punched his chest. “Shut up.”

JJ only continued to laugh and pulled you towards him again.

*************************************************

“Yo me nombro JJ.”

“Wrong.”

“Yo soy nombre JJ.”

“Wrong.”

“Yo tengo nombre JJ.”

“Still wrong,” you sighed.

“I give up! Spanish is too hard for me,” JJ replied as he fell down onto your bed.

It had been a two weeks since you had offered to teach him Spanish, and you had spent almost every afternoon after school together trying to teach him. But he wasn’t good at all.

“You got this JJ. I swear it’s only practice,” you told him, rubbing a hand up and down his arm to comfort him. He latched onto the fingers of that hand and pulled you down on top of him. He enveloped you in his arms and said, “Let’s just nap together.”

You groaned and laughed at the same time. “You’re never going to learn if you convince me to nap every afternoon.”

“I don’t care,” he said in his usual sleepy voice. “Just speak to me in Spanish for a couple of minutes and I’ll be out.”

As you began to talk about random things in your room (JJ would occasionally stop you at words he knew), you began to move your hands up and down his chest in small circles. Over the past week, the amount of body contact between you two had exponentially grown. You went from not touching each other ever to cuddling and napping together. The Pogues had felt this shift in your relationship, as well, and would often tease you and JJ.

“What happened between you guys?” Kie had asked one afternoon you had gone with her to the Wreck. You shrugged your shoulder, as you truly didn’t know.

Something had changed between the two of you the day he had helped you take care of your siblings, and now he was over at your house all the time. Your parents loved him (even though they teased you because he couldn’t speak Spanish and you had always said you would date someone who could speak Spanish), and he spent almost as much time with you as he did messing around with the triplets. You loved that he got on amazingly with your family, and you loved how he would ask everybody in your house about your customs and traditions and culture.

You continued to speak in Spanish until you were certain he had fallen asleep. Then, you slipped out of his arms and began to work on your homework. You concentrated on it for an hour, until you grew way too frustrated with it to continue.

“¡Pero que estupidez!” you exclaimed while shoving it in your backpack. You heard JJ chuckle behind you, startling you. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I woke up a while ago,” he said, stretching. “You wanna go downstairs and cook something?”

That had become your activity together. Cooking something traditional of the Latino culture. He had loved the empanadas and the alfajores so much that he had wanted to try everything there was to eat in your culture.

“We could try making cocadas,” you told him. “But I’ve never made them before.”

JJ hummed and closed his eyes again. He was still tired for some reason. He stretched his hands out for you to take only to pull you down on top of him. “Then let’s stay here. I don’t want to cook with your mom right now.”

You frowned. “I thought you loved my mom.”

JJ nodded. “I do, but your dad told me that you always giggle about me with her. He said you were being mean.”

That was true. You blushed and hid your face in his hands. “Sorry. We just find you cute, though.”

JJ smirked, opening his eyes and looking down at you. “You find me cute, Mami?”

You groaned. “I hate that nickname.”

“I know,” JJ laughed out, breathily. “That’s exactly why I use it.”

You stayed in silence, staring at each other. Your fingers danced across his feature, tracing the outline of his nose and of his cheekbones. JJ did the same to your features but with his eyes. You leaned a little closer to him, wanting to brush your fingers by his hairline, but the movement had surprised him and caused one of his hands to move to your waist.

“Hey,” he brought you out of your actions, making you separate your hand from his face. You looked down at his eyes and put your hand to your side. He quickly grabbed it and placed it on his face again.

“Hola,” you said while continuing to trace his features.

“How do you say ‘I love you’ in Spanish?”

His voice was soft and velvety. You liked how it reached your ears, and his statement made your cheeks blush.

“Well, there’s two ways to say it. The first is ‘Te quiero’ and you mainly use that in a platonic way. It’s for your family and friends. Or for someone you’re dating but aren’t ready to actually say ‘I love - love you’ yet.”

JJ nodded in understanding. “What about the other way?”

“The other way is ‘Te amo’ which is more romantic,” you said as your fingers fell down the bridge of his nose.

He stared at you, trying to imagine what you would say and react if he said what he wanted to say to you right now. He didn’t know if you would want him to say what he wanted to say, or if you would even understand him through his bad pronunciation.

“Y/N,” he called out. You hummed in response, your finger tracing his right eyebrow. “Te amo.”

Your finger froze right in the middle of his right eyebrow. You looked down from your finger into his eyes.

“Really?”

JJ’s cheeks were flushed. More than you had ever seen them. “I - I don’t actually know. All I know is that I feel great with you and that you make me happy and that I want to learn Spanish for you. No other girl has made me want to learn something for them.”

You smiled at what JJ said. “You make me happy, too.”

JJ didn’t even hesitate when he connected your lips. He pressed his hand to your neck and the other to your waist as you moved your hands to the back of his neck. He brought you a feeling of tranquility and of excitement all at the same time. Your heart seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. Your lungs seemed to inhale and exhale at the same time. Your stomach seemed to swallow itself and explode at the same time. You loved every moment of the kiss, and you could feel both of your smiles pressed together.

Once you both pulled away, you sighed and continued to trace his face as if nothing happened.

“How do you say kiss?” he asked you a few seconds later. His voice was a bit deeper than before and you giggled.

“Beso.”

“Can I ‘beso’ you again?” JJ asked, making you stare down at him.

“Wrong!”

“I don’t care, just kiss me already.”

And so you did.

#outer banks #obx #obx netflix #jj maybank #rudy pankow #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank x latinareader #jj x reader #jj x y/n

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luciehercndale · 4 years

Text

There’s nothing worse than feeling like a ghost // Blackdale

Couple: Blackdale, Lucie Herondale and Jesse Blackthorn Rating: T

Lucie always liked to sneak out during the night. While they were in Herondale Manor in Idris, she often went out of her bedroom window to go on little adventures, unbeknownst to her family who had never found out about her little escapades. Lucie’s parents probably thought she stayed in her room to write or to read after her training. Little did they know that she probably left the Institute more than James, who was usually the one who got caught and scolded.

Lucie felt a bit guilty that she left her house without telling anyone, but how could she find more material to use for her writing if she didn’t see the world?

Sure, she and Cordelia, along with the Merry Thieves, went out a lot. But that didn’t mean that she could do what she pleased, because she would still be under the watchful eyes of her friends. Lucie wasn’t secretive, she liked to be upfront and honest about her thoughts, but what she was about to do felt like something she didn’t want to share with the others, something personal. And illegal, maybe.

Midnight. The old woman asked her to come to the Cross Bones Graveyard around that time, and Lucie was obeying.

Naturally, she used a rune to camouflage herself in the disturbing and stormy London night. There were no mundanes around the block, perhaps they decided to take shelter in their homes or somewhere else, because it was raining.

Lucie didn’t want to grab an umbrella, instead she wore a cloak she hoped would protect her from the heavy storm that was raging above her head.

She laughed at herself, and found it funny that the night she was able to contact somebody who could help her with her current problem, was also the first in a couple of weeks where the sky was giving its best to unload all of its watery anger all over town.

She clutched the stele in her pocket. Yes, it’s still here, she thought as she approached the area.

She wasn’t afraid of the night, but still, she was alone. She wasn’t afraid. She was still in the suburbs, after all.

Turn right, and then… She arrived.

Lucie sighed once she saw the stones in front of her. “It’s a cemetery, Luce,” she told herself as she walked towards the first graves. There was a path in front of her. According to what she knew, the person she was looking for was in one of the graveyards in the east area. She hoped she would find it despite the weather wasn’t letting her see what was in front of her clearly. She had already lighted her witchlight, but to no avail. Maybe because that place was plagued by death.

She tried to ignore the ghosts that came out of their graves and tried to scare her. She wasn’t easily scared, especially in a cemetery, but ghosts liked to be tricky, and she had to stay alert.

At some point, she found the grave she was looking for. “Molly,” she whispered, her voice barely audible in the rainy night. “Molly?”

“Who’s calling for me?” the ghost asked, and appeared out of her grave. There she was, Molly, or Old Molly. She was a powerful ghost. “What do you want, little girl?”

“I’m not a little girl,” Lucie protested, even if she was indeed quite short. “And I don’t answer to ghosts. Ghosts answer to me.”

The ghost of Old Molly made a sinister smile. “You’re quite bold, little girl. And my time is precious. Have you taken what I asked?”

Lucie retrieved a small bag from her shoulder and gave it to the woman. Inside, as the ghost would see, there were a lot of golden rings. The woman didn’t accept mundane money as payment. The only thing Molly wanted to do was to find her wedding ring, and leave the world of the living for good, but she didn’t have much luck so far.

“Are they enough?”

“Yes, little girl. Now what do you want?”

“I need these,” Lucie said, showing the ghost a piece of paper with some ingredients written on it. She would never reveal where she found it, but at least she had found it.

The ghost raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I see. Black magic, huh? Do you want to end up like me?”

“What? No! Don’t meddle in my affairs!”

“Calm down, calm down. I’m fetching what you asked,” she said, then she disappeared in her tomb.

Lucie folded her hands and waited. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, and not even of being among the dead at night. She was more scared that Molly would return and say that she didn’t have the ingredients she needed to perform necromancy. She sighed, and shook her head. “Don’t be negative, Lucie.”

Eventually, Molly came back. She wasn’t empty handed, at least. Lucie eyed the small bag she was carrying with awe. She still didn’t know how to process the ingredients, but it was a big step already if she got them, right? As Molly approached, Lucie anticipated the moment she could go back to the Institute to sleep. She had to go back before dawn, and she had to move. It was getting late.

She wasn’t paying attention to anything but the bag, and didn’t realize the demon until he hit her.

“What?” she asked to the void, since she was alone in the cemetery. She realized that Molly had disappeared as well, leaving no trace of the things she was waiting to get her hands on. Her hands fumbled for a blade, for anything, until she found two daggers in the pockets of her cloak. She unsheathed one and tried to stab the demon, but her aim wasn’t good. Perhaps she was out of practice, perhaps she was alone and anxious. She needed to tell someone, but what use was now to think these things? She got distracted, and the demon made her lose her balance. She fell on the humid grass. She willed herself to get up, to fight, but she couldn’t. She had been knocked out too hard, too fast, she couldn’t stand. She couldn’t… she lost consciousness.

Jesse found himself at the cemetery without knowing why he was there. He was surprised at first. The area was deserted, save for the ghosts of dead people roaming around like him.

What pulled him there? Who called him there?

Disoriented, he was about to leave when he noticed someone lying on the ground a few feet from him. Why hadn’t he noticed her?

“Lucie,” he said hurriedly, and run to her motionless body as the rain fell profusely over them. “Lucie, what happened?” he asked tentatively, but got no answer. He touched her neck. She was still breathing at least, but he noticed the slash on her arm. Someone had attacked her, but she probably fell. Maybe that was how it went. But the wound didn’t look too serious, and he tried to shake her body awake. Well, not shake. He caressed her cheek, and whispered her name several times until he saw her eyes slowly open.

“Am I dead?” she wondered, worried.

Jesse smiled instinctively. “Not at all,” he replied.

“Oh, what a relief!” she exclaimed, then she sat down abruptly and hugged him. “Wait, how…”

“I don’t know either, Lucie.”

She removed her hands from the back of his neck and winced. “My head hurts. But still, how it’s possible that I can touch you now?”

“What were you doing at the cemetery at this hour of the night?” he asked instead, and Lucie glared at him.

“That’s none of your business.”

“On the other hand, it is. I know who does their business here.”

“I may have a passion for cemeteries, ever thought about that?”

Jesse rolled his eyes. “Or maybe for ghosts,” he proposed.

Lucie frowned. “Sometimes I wish I couldn’t see ghosts,” she lamented with a snort. “Ghosts are nosy.”

“Living people are nosier, in my opinion. They have to eat, sleep… live. They’re high maintenance.”

She stood up, cleaning her clothes from the dirt, although it was no use since the rain had already soaked her. “But you crave their company.”

“So, do you, with the ghosts.”

“I want the ghosts to go away!” she exclaimed, too loudly for the hour.

She realized her mistake too late. One moment Jesse stood in front of her, the next he wasn’t anymore. She remembered that the ghosts listened to her. They didn’t just obey when she called them, they also went away if she didn’t need them anymore, and that was what Jesse did. He disappeared because she expressed the desire to make him leave. She felt lonelier than she did before she went there, and out of her ingredients too. Molly hadn’t reappeared after the demon came, which meant she couldn’t do anything yet concerning the spell. She sighed, her heart full of regret for sending Jesse away and for losing precious jewels to get nothing in return. She gave one last look at the tomb and then turned around to leave the cemetery. While she walked back to the Institute, she also conjured Jesse to appear again, but he never did.

#blackdale #tsc #tlh #lucie herondale #jesse blackthorn #the last hours #the shadowhunter chronicles #lucie and jesse #Chain of Gold #chain of iron #chain of thorns #tweety.writes

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heylabodega · 3 years

Note

re: your latest post: can we please have more romance novel recs, then, as a treat

Can you EVER. Ok bear with formatting here I'm on my phone.

I JUST finished one I HATED called The Unhoneymooners which started very promisingly: they hate each other but have to pretend they're married on an all-inclusive romantic trip to Maui. For Reasons. Unfortunately it turned out to be very nerdy (she swoons at him understanding a Harry Potter reference and I snorted out loud on the subway), and then he doesn't believe her when she tells him his shitty brother hit on her so they should not have gotten back together and I could not enjoy it.

The Worst Best Man does a more fun enemies-to-lovers and brief fake-dating (can't have one without the other) though it gets eye-rollingly heavy-handed about the way it deals with racism and sexism at times. Then again, I'm sure it's the entree for someone into thinking about those things so fine I guess.

Another one I hated, sorry, was Happily Ever Playlist which got SO stressful and real (...ish, there's still some very contrived miscommunications) about external forces keeping them apart that I was anxious while reading it and legitimately stressed when I thought about it for like a week after. Maybe that means it's more Art and less RomCom but oh my god I'm tearing up with stress just thinking about it. Anyways it’s about a widow and this hot musician guy she falls for when she finds his lost dog and at first it’s sweet and genuine and they really love and like each other but I cannot emphasize enough how relaxing it isn’t.

Headliners, on the other hand, and this is barely a spoiler, ALMOST does the obligatory conflict/misunderstanding and then just kind of...doesn't? Which was really relaxing although maybe not "technically" "good" "novel writing." It's a Lucy Parker which means it's about semi-celebrity hot Londoners who think they hate each other but actually just want to smash and find that out prettyyyyy quickly as soon as they're forced to hang out all the time For Reasons.

So you can guess how Pretty Face goes. In this case it's an actress and her director though so the thing is they...shouldn't date? You can just not kiss people even when you're attracted to them if you're in a position of authority. You can just not. Even if you're both hot and both enjoy like the same obscure Dickens novel or whatever.

Beach Read was chill and fun, semi-enemies to lovers, a little too much Dad Stuff for my taste. A woman who writes romantic novels and a man who writes gritty “real” novels try to write each other’s genres and spoiler alert learn about each other and develop great respect and affection in the process.

Don't You Forget About Me was mostly fun, again I love a "huge mess is eventually loved by someone who is very tidy and Together" story who knows why big mystery can't relate. This one DOES have an unnecessary sexual assault backstory. Like I just. Do romance novel authors not understand what disparate tones they're knitting together? Am I the problem? extremely the simpsons voice no it is the authors that are wrong.

I also Could Not Deal with The Ex Talk sorry I know you asked for recommendations and these still kind of are recommendations in that you should read them I'm just telling you the specific ways they were bad. Half the fun, really. Anyways this should have been good--radio personalities, fake-dating but with a twist (they're fake-exes) but was simply too sappy and earnest even for a me, a person who multiple people have come to associate with the gesture of bringing the tips of my fingers together and making kissing sounds as shorthand for everyone should kiss. Also, any story where a lot of the conflict is fame-related or like people-on-twitter-have-opinions-about-us related is not fun. For me PERSONALLY.

For that reason, I loved the start but hated the end of Love Lettering, about a woman who makes a living making fancy lettered planners for women in Park Slope (haha) and a guy who does...math things for work. It's really sweet and warm and then, again, stressful for publicity reasons.

Evie Drake Starts Over was a very...gentle book. There's love and sex and arguments and getting over trauma but it's all just very...gentle and soothing. I highly recommend as a nice little warm bath for your brain.

Ok I think that's all I've got for you right now. I've been trying to get into To Have And To Hoax but I can't yet for whatever reason.

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peteywillproceed · 4 years

Text

Kiss Me

Author’s Note: Hey guys, this is my first fanfic on here! lol I wrote this whilst I was super bored and it is 10000000000% self indulgent fluff but we’ll ignore that ;) hope you like it x

Summary: Y/n and Tom have known each other since Uni began, but knowing each other doesn’t mean they have to like one another...right?

Word Count: 2,970

“You broke his nose?” Tom whispered, pulling you into a classroom.

“He was harassing me! Speaking of which, kindly remove your arm.” You glared at the fingers wrapped around your bicep, wishing you could light them on fire.

“Y’know, you could’ve just told him to piss off.”

“And where would that have gotten me? A slap on the arse and a ‘see you later, cupcake’?"

Tom ran a hand through his hair, looking exasperated. It was your final year, and you honestly thought you were done with him after all that had happened last term. You’d made it clear enough you didn’t like him for the past four years, and if you could just get him to understand that, maybe you’d finally be able to graduate in peace.

“He’s in hospital getting stitches and his nose reset, I can’t believe you didn’t get suspended.”

You smirked, reaching for the door to make it clear you were done with the conversation. “You can’t get suspended if no one can prove it was you. It’s his word against mine.”

With a wink, you stepped out into the corridor and allowed yourself to get swept up into the crowd heading to lectures, the groan of a man defeated echoing behind you. Your history with Tom was hardly rosy; the first day you’d walked into lectures he’d kicked his feet up on the desk and asked if you were lost. You’d spent the rest of the year forcing him to dodge you when you’d promptly added phenolphthalein to his drink and given him the shits. Chemistry degrees were worth it when you knew what worked as laxatives.

But you were tired of having to constantly be on your guard, of trying to think of something sharp to say back in case he started on you in the halls. It felt like you were constantly hyper aware of where he was in class, just in case he tried to throw paper aeroplanes at you again, and even though you owed him nothing you were half hoping he’d show up one day begging for a favour just so you could turn him down. Needless to say, when his mate Harrison had started wolf whistling and making comments, you’d thrown the punch before you could think twice, half thinking it was Tom before the fist connected and the yell told you otherwise.

Suddenly, a hand waved frantically in front of your hand, wild black hair tickling your nose as you spat out the strands caught in your mouth.

“Y/n!”

“Abby!” You laughed, almost dropping your textbooks as she threw herself at you.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you suspended?”

“No,” you laughed “the Dean let me off because there wasn’t any evidence it was me. But you’re not the first person to ask that.”

“Ooh, spill!” Abby’s eyes sparkled as she pulled you along behind her and towards the chemistry block.

“Who do you reckon?”

“Holland? Again? That kid has a problem!”

“Yeah, but there’s only three months to go. We’ll get our masters and never have to see him again,” you sighed, rubbing your shoulders as you stepped into the heat of the science block. Outside, the air was wobbling on the brink of winter, the leaves not yet sure whether to fall or turn orange, and you regretted leaving your coat in your dorm room that morning.

“Still,” Abby slid into her seat “you shouldn’t have to put up with him.”

“If you’re going to talk about me, can you do it quieter? I can’t hear Dr Bowman and some of us want to pass exams,” the familiar voice huffed behind you. You turned around, one eyebrow raised, ready to snap back, when your eyes landed on Harrison. You hadn’t realised you’d done that much damage, stunned by the plastic cast and tape holding his nose in place. It was bloodied and he had a black eye, but he smiled weakly at you, wincing before it could reach his eyes.

Tom was watching you, his jaw set as though he had something to say. But before he could open his mouth, you cut across him. “I’m sorry I hit you that hard, Harrison. I…didn’t think it was you.”

Tom’s eyebrows raised imperceptibly, and you caught the narrowing of his eyes out of the corner of your eyes. He hadn’t expected that, had he?

“S’okay,” Harrison shrugged “I deserved it.”

“Well, even so. I didn’t mean to break your nose.” Before you could turn around again, Tom reached for your shoulder and stopped you, his brown eyes wide and, for a second, you thought desperate.

“Wait, who did you think it was?”

Abby kicked your shin beneath the desk, a silent warning to be careful, but something told you this wasn’t a trap. Maybe it was the slight choke to his voice or the way his fingers barely grazed your shoulder, but you felt a tug in your chest at the thought of telling him the truth. The silence seemed to confirm it for him, and he nodded once and settled back into his seat, not looking at you again.

For a second, you felt empty, the loss of contact leaving your skin cold, and you wanted to ask him if he was okay. But then you remembered the morning’s conversation and shook yourself for even feeling sorry for him.

When the class began to start, Abby passed you a note, her familiar scribble hardly legible and you were grateful for normalcy. There was that party tonight, someone graduating early and saying goodbye, and she was wondering if you were still okay to go. With a quick grin in her direction, you opened your laptop and lost yourself in the beauty of the equations, the weird look Tom had given you fading from your mind until you’d forgotten about him entirely.

***

When you stepped into the house that night, you were instantly deafened. The wild bass throbbed under your feet and someone had switched the normal lights for deep purple mood lighting, casting all the rooms with an eerie glow. People crowded into every corner, drinks in their hands and, given it was now almost midnight, on the floor as well. You hadn’t intended to come tonight, but the whole thing with Tom this morning had made you want to escape your dorm room for a little while.

Abby had helped you wriggle into the red skirt you’d had since you were eighteen and lent you one of her silky tops that you couldn’t stop touching, and even though you’d almost frozen to death on the way here, you’d thrown on some open toed flats that wound their way up your calves.

“I’ll get us some drinks,” Abby yelled over the noise, pushing into the living room. You watched as the crowd swallowed her up, and looked around to see if you could see anyone familiar. Pete from your Tuesday morning lectures was disappearing out of the back door with a girl you’d never seen before, and Bex from your writing society was standing with two boys and a girl by the stairs, talking animatedly and twirling her hair around her finger.

With a laugh, you sidled over as the boys disappeared and grinned at her, embracing her with one hand whilst she balanced a drink in the other. “Y/n! I haven’t seen you in ages! Have you met Lucy? She’s a fresher this year.”

“Hi,” you waved, smiling at the blonde girl in front of her. You were about to ask her what course she was on, when the two boys Bex had been talking to before returned, sliding round the side of you.

“Two vodka and cokes for the ladies,” you heard Tom laugh “and who did you – oh.” He froze, cup halfway handed to Bex, surprise dancing behind his eyes. “Wouldn’t have thought this was your scene, Y/n.”

“And what would you have thought my scene was, Holland?” you replied, glancing towards the small amount of space between you both.

“You two know each other?” Bex asked as she started drinking.

“Yeah, she’s the one that did this,” Harrison laughed as he pointed to his nose.

You grinned, dragging your eyes away from Tom. “Guilty.”

Bex raised an eyebrow, a smirk appearing on her face as she glanced between you and Tom. “I meant those two.”

“Oh, um, we, um…” you started, cheeks burning as Tom slid away and brushed your back.

“Chemistry class,” he supplied for you, velvet voice filled with mocking laughter. God dammit, what the hell was wrong with you? Tom fucking Holland came with two inches of you and suddenly you couldn’t speak? You mentally kicked yourself for letting him get one up on you and relief washed over you as Abby appeared with your drink.

“You look like you need it,” she muttered, clocking Tom.

“Abby!” Bex exclaimed, swaying slightly on her feet “You’re here too!”

“Yep,” she replied, and you could hear the sarcasm that laced her tone.

“You know what we should do? Since we’re all…friends and all that,” Bex grinned “Truth or Dare!”

Even in the darkness, you could sense Tom roll his eyes. “What are we, six?”

“Well I think it’s a great idea,” you shot back, seeing the hurt form in Bex’s eyes. You tried to tell yourself it was about backing up your friend when he turned to glower at you, but you couldn’t help but feel you’d taken back your lead.

“Alright then, y/l/n, you’re on.”

Harrison whistled, clapping his hands as he pulled you all into the next room. It was much quieter in here and you waved your hand against your face as you brushed a cobweb away.

“Alright, who’s first,” he grinned, falling to the floor and spinning a bottle he’d found tucked away in a corner.

“I still think this is stupid,” Tom muttered, and you couldn’t resist shooting him a glare from where you sat. To your surprise, as he looked back at you, there wasn’t a trace of the usual arrogance you normally saw there, and instead there was something that looked like…fear?

“Alright, Abby, you’re up!” Bex announced as the bottle landed on your best friend. “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth,” Abby answered, and Bex clapped her hands.

“When was the last time you had sex?”

Abby’s eyebrows shot up, clearly not expecting her to have gone so far so quickly. But this was Bex, the girl who’d gotten drunk and done a strip dance to Let It Go – anything was possible.

“Err…last week,” Abby answered flippantly, spinning the bottle. You wondered if everyone else could tell she was lying too.

As the bottle slowed, it crawled past you and came to a stop on Tom, who had conveniently sat opposite in the centre. Your eyes flicked up and met his, seeing the confident smirk reflected in the deep brown. You drew in a deep breath and squared your shoulders, waiting for Abby to ask the question.

“Truth or Dare?”

“Truth,” he replied without missing a beat. Abby’s eyes slid round the room, not sure what to ask him, landing desperately on yours. You took a breath and met him head on, surprising yourself when the words fell out of your mouth.

“Why are you such an arsehole to me?”

He grinned as Harrison wolf whistled and yelled “she got you bro!” around the room. But you didn’t move your eyes away from Tom, the alcohol buzzing through your veins making you more confident than you usually would’ve been.

“Are you sure it’s just you I’m an arsehole to, darling?” Tom laughed, his gaze fixed on you and you squirmed beneath his stare, heat flooding. Suddenly, it felt like nobody else was in the room as the two of you stared at one another, everybody else melting away whilst you watched his lips twist into a smirk.

“Answer the question,” you mumbled as Abby nudged you, giving you a ‘what the fuck?’ glance.

“Maybe it’s just easy,” he shrugged, and the moment was broken as he turned to spin.

You held your breath, watching as the bottle span in the silence, praying it wouldn’t land on you and you wouldn’t have to answer some stupid question. But of course the universe didn’t work like that, and you felt your heart begin to race as it slowed to a stop and pointed at you. Bex laughed, swigging from her bottle as you shifted from side to side.

“You don’t even need to ask the question, Tom, there’s no way Y/n would ever choose anything other than truth.” She grinned, and you wondered if it was too late to smash the frigging bottle over her head.

“Oh really?” Tom raised an eyebrow, and it was a challenge you couldn’t ignore. Maybe it was buzz in your head, or the high of the party but something made you sit up a little straighter and look him dead in the eye.

“Actually, I choose dare.”

“Good choice,” Harrison wiggled his eyebrows “I don’t think there’s anyone more qualified to give you one.”

“Go on then Tom,” you folded your arms as you leaned closer “do your worst.”

The over confident smirk vanished from his face as you settled back in your seat feeling triumphant. He chewed on his cheek as concentrated on you, his eyes narrowed and you were starting to feel a little unnerved by the staring. Just as you were about to call him out on it, his face cracked into a shit eating grin and his eyes flared dangerously.

“Kiss me.”

“What?” At first you thought you'd simply misheard him, but as he said it again you realised you’d heard him perfectly fine.

“You asked me to do my worst, and my worst is asking you to kiss me.”

You balled your hands into fists, trying to suppress the anger that coursed through you. The boy that had taken the piss out of you all year, tormented you, picked fights every chance he got had just asked you to kiss him and you had to wonder where he got the audacity. White hot rage flared in your veins but you forced yourself to think clearly, knowing that if you slapped him and then left you’d have lost your lead.

So instead, you cocked you head to one side and winked as you got to your feet, enjoying the way his eyes widened in surprised as you crossed the room and sat in his lap. Maybe the best revenge was to just piss him off.

“Like this?” you asked innocently, slowly lowering your lips until they hovered just above his own.

You felt the heat from his breath against your skin as silence swallowed the room, everyone clearly surprised at what you had done. All at once, you pushed your reservations aside and crashed your lips against his, not expecting it to last more than half a second until his hands slid into your hair.

You could barely think as waves of shock and desire coursed through you, taking you completely by surprise as he traced a finger down the hollow of your spine. You shuddered beneath his fingertips, biting down lightly on his lip, moving your mouth to match the rhythm as fireworks exploded behind your closed eyes. It felt like a thousand fires had erupted across your skin as his hands moved across your bare arms, and you were breathless by the time he pulled away and rested his forehead against yours.

“What was that?” you whispered breathlessly, glancing over your shoulder suddenly acutely aware that there should have been four pairs of eyes on you. But as you turned to look, Harrison was ushering everyone out of the room and you barely noticed as he sent a wink in Tom’s direction.

“You tell me, darling,” he replied, his fingers cupping your chin to turn you to face him “what do you want it to be?”

“I don’t know,” you breathed, feeling your heart still slamming against your chest.

“I do,” Tom sighed, entwining your fingers in his. “I know I’ve been an arsehole to you, and I hate myself for it. But ever since I met you you’ve been the one person who didn’t fall at my feet or let me say whatever I wanted. And at first, that drove me insane, but now…”

“Now you’re in love with me, and you didn’t know how to tell me,” you cut him off, whispering quietly into the darkness. All you could see was the shining light of Tom’s eyes staring back at you, shock filling them.

“How did you-?”

“I’ve seen enough romance films, Tom,” you laughed “and I know enough about myself to know that hating you wasn’t something I was ever capable of.”

“So you feel the same?”

A long silence stretched between the two of you as you placed your lips back on his and kissed him gently, a different kind of sweetness filling you up. At last, you pulled back and nodded, not wanting to say the words in case they sounded cheesy, but Tom didn’t seem to care, pulling you back into him like he was on fire and you were the only water around for miles.

As he intertwined his hand with yours and ran another through your hair, you felt whole, like a little part of you had been missing and you’d finally found it in the last place you’d thought to look. And as he kissed you deeper, whispering sweet nothings in your ear, you felt like you were floating, held in the sky by nothing more than your heart beat and the strength of Tom’s lips on yours.

Maybe breaking Harrison's nose wasn't the worst thing you'd ever done after all...

#tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland smut #tom holland au #tomholland!au #peter parker #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker fanfic #tom holland fanfic #tom holland one shot #oneshot #au #peter parker smut #fluff #tom holland fluff #peter parker fluff

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toloveawarlord · 4 years

Text

A Rambling about Obey Me and some of the discourse going around:

I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and think hard on the whole Lucifer didn’t listen to the MC say no in the newest event.

First of all, this post likely won’t be spoiler free so read at your own risk. I’m not going to censor myself for those who haven’t played up through Lesson 20 but most of the things I hit on is common knowledge anyways.

Secondly, I do not condone what they implied that Lucifer did. Consent is important, that’s not the point of this post. I’m not saying it’s okay to do so. This is simply the context of the game and my own viewing of it from a writer’s standpoint.

I put it under a cut because this is a long post.

Okay, now that we have all the disclaimers and stuff out of the way, let’s move into my own thoughts.

Firstly, this was meant to be dream sequence. I know a lot of people gripe about it doesn’t matter that it was dream, but if it’s supposed to be mc’s dream, then likely this particular mc was probably meant to be paired with Lucifer, they just gave options for those who aren’t Luci stans to get more people to play. But was a dream, and likely meant to represent an mc that wants Lucifer.

Was it a good writing choice to add in a choice to say and then do it anyways? Probably not, because this kind of thing always gets backlash from the community (i.e. Arthur in Ikevamp). But they did it, and it wasn’t explicit, nor did it actually say that Lucifer actually went through with it, again, because it was a dream and it ended at that particular point. You can argue that it shouldn’t have been implied, but you can also argue that it didn’t happen because it was simply an implication. The point that is made though, is that Lucifer didn’t respond in a “Okay, I’ll stop” manner. As far as him being a character and a demon, that response would be really strange, to me. Is it right? No, no one should force themselves on anyone. Is it a normal response for a demon who is the avatar of pride and thinks humans are lowly creatures? Yeah, kind of.

Secondly, this game is dark as hell. A lot of people don’t want to see it that way, because it’s an otome game and otome’s are typically solely focused on the romance aspect. Obey Me is riddled with violence, sexual tones (i.e. Asmo outright tells MC that the bar they are at is has sex rooms and can even be bought out for an orgy, and he has participated in those), and the main boys are even avatars of sin. It’s not an otome with a sprinkle of angst and sadness for backstory and character development. It’s a dark and twisted world where you can romance demons.

Speaking of demons, that’s my next point. The boys are demons. They have been around for millenniums, and demons are not known to have morals and live by our human standards of what is right and wrong. (again, see above, I don’t believe what Luci was implied to do was right.) But honestly, you cannot expect demons to have the same moral code that us humans do. It wouldn’t make sense and to be honest, it’s part of the appeal of the game.

Part of the underlying themes and tones of this game is that romancing a demon is taboo. It’s not going to entail the same trials and character problems that other otome suitors deal with. These aren’t boys. These are demons, powerful demons with their owns sins and they also believe that they are above humans. So, being above humans, of course Lucifer doesn’t really care if you say or not. He’s a demon and he is used to getting his way. He’s also the avatar of pride so he can’t fathom why you wouldn’t choose to be with him. (Again. I do not think it’s right for Lucifer to force himself on anyone.) From a writing standpoint, that was a perfectly acceptable thing for Lucifer to say, because of who he is as a character and a species. (But that doesn’t make it okay. I never said it was okay. I said it was normal for him as a character. I do not condone forcing anyone.)

Was it necessary for the story? That’s a little more difficult to define. I understand that this can be triggering material for some, and you are perfectly valid to say you didn’t like it and it was wrong. I don’t personally think that they made a huge mistake and should be reprimanded for it. It’s a story with dark themes and violence so it’s reasonable to assume that things like this are going to occur. They are demons with a very skewed sense of morals. But I totally get that there are people out there who don’t like reading that kind of triggering content.

I think a good middle ground would be to add some kind of warning to events or chapters. I don’t know how they would implement something like that, but it might be a more peaceful solution instead of going to the creators and telling them that they are wrong to add that content. Because, let’s be honest, not everyone is bothered by that kind of thing and creators can’t always cater to everything that might be a trigger to someone. For some, that kind of content is wanted and there aren’t any otomes that I’m aware of that has the option to explore those darker kinks. (Please don’t bring up Princess of the Moon Ultimate. That game is not what I mean.)

Obey Me really teeters on the edge of being too adult for minors, but there is plenty of content in the games that are okay for a younger audience. No matter what anyone says, the younger kids are not going to stop playing just because a stranger on the internet told them to. It’s not going to happen, so really, it’s only stirring up drama. I will say that minors should stay away from explicitly adult content created by us adults, mostly because of legal reasons, but again, I don’t think it’s going to stop anyone from doing it if they want to. Just know, that as adults, it’s really uncomfortable to think of minors engaging in explicit content. You are still children, whether you think so or not, but you’re going to play the game regardless (I know because back in my day, I did too). I think the middle ground for this is for minors not to engage with adults in any explicit or sexual themed content or talk. That’s about the most we can ask. Telling them not to play the game isn’t solving anything. (Please don’t come at me with this drama. I don’t want to hear about why they shouldn’t play or why they should be allowed, I don’t care about it.)

This kind of rounds me up to a big final point. I got off track with the content thing but back to the demons and their morals.

This why Obey Me is such an interesting story to me. The point of the whole game (so far) is that YOU are the one controlling the demons with the pacts. It takes a while for Lucifer and Belphie, but in the end, you get a pact with all of them. This really eliminates a lot of the dangers with the brothers. They obey you now. So, in the main story game (after lesson 20), if that Lucifer scene had happened (remember, it’s a dream), if you had chosen the NO option, then he would have no choice but to listen to you. Because the pact allows you to control them (we see this time and time again with MC telling Mammon to do things or stop doing things).

Which opens up the opportunity for you as the mc to teach them. I know this isn’t a prominent part of the game (it’s still real early to tell what’s going to happen) but now that you have them under a pact, you have the opportunity to reign in their sins and teach them to be decent demons. And honestly, it’s really one of the only ways that they could have handled the demons and a human in a romantic relationship. There is no such thing as a morally righteous demon. That would be angels (hello simeon). It’s going to be very interesting to see how having a specific suitor under a pact will effectively even the playing fields in a romantic relationship.

Take Asmo for example, as the Avatar of Lust. Before the pact, the scales of power were completely in Asmo’s hands. As a human, you literally couldn’t do anything to stop him from doing anything (hence the fact that Belphie literally kills mc, and there has been very dangerous situations). He’s a demon with enormous powers and the mc is a lowly human. And honestly, with Asmo being a narcissist, he probably wouldn’t understand why you wouldn’t want him. He’s Asmodeus. He’s wanted by everyone.

BUT

With the power of the pact, the scales of power in the relationship tip into the MC’s favor. Will this stop them from trying? Not at all, but now MC has the power to make them stop. And that’s really the only way that a relationship could happen. The power difference is simply too great for a human to date a demon without that added layer of control in MC’s hands.

I know that this is an otome game, and it’s supposed to be about romancing them and all that, but the story is riddled with dark tones and themes and it will most likely have more triggering material. I think that’s something that everyone is going to have to accept in this game. It’s not a lighthearted romance with angst and sex. It’s definitely not as dark as like Diabolik Lovers, but like vampires, demons have a whole added layer of twisted and taboo subjects that are going to play a large role in the game.

And I think that’s part of the point. This game is not going to be like Cybird’s games. It’s not going to be like MLQC. Personally, I like the idea of a darker game with wiggle for more adult oriented themes and content that we miss out on in the other games (i.e. I would have loved to seen a part of Edgar’s route where Claudius orders him to kill MC and he struggles with doing it or not and maybe even harming her in the process of figuring it out. Because, Edgar is kind of brainwashed by Claudius and it tracks for his character. But its romance otome, so of course, they weren’t going to take it that far.). Exploring the darker sides of romance, allowing for more raw and twisted concepts.

All in all, if you want a happy go lucky, suitors with cute romance and just a bit of angst and sex, this is not the game for you.

I also don’t think that going after the creators and saying that they shouldn’t put out darker content and having Lucifer do what he did in that event was right. This game is going to have uncomfortable topics and ugly moments. They are demons and this is devildom (see also: hell). Warnings would be great, I think finding a balance is good, but the creators are making this content for a broad audience. Not everyone is going to be happy. You can either take it with a grain of salt, and continue playing. Or you can not play it because you don’t like some of the content. The content creators don’t owe us anything. The whole “well this is for a western audience” is mute. There is likely going to be other triggering content because of the nature of the game. You can’t expect a dark otome to not have that, just because it triggers you. Warnings, yes, I think that that would help, let people know what they might be getting into in an event or chapter, but catering to the needs to every single player of a game is not going to happen, and it could cause the game to be shut down. This game is more adult oriented so it’s going to have more adult content that might not sit right with you.

I’m gonna end this by saying: Obey Me is an amazing game, and it has quite dark content in places. That’s the whole point of the game. It’s not a standard romance otome and trying to change it to be one is not okay. That doesn’t mean that your feelings toward it aren’t valid. It simply means that we cannot expect the same content as other otome games when it involves darker content. I don’t really want a watered down version of this game where they ignore the dangers of demons for the sake of romance.

I am gonna repeat a few things: I do not condone Lucifer’s actions, that’s not what I’m about. No one should force themselves on you. And this is filled with my opinions, yours can differ, but I’m not looking for anyone to come tell me why I’m wrong. This is just a few points of why I personally think that the game is doing just fine and doesn’t need to change.

#obey me #shall we date obey me #obey me lucifer #obey me thoughts

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supergirl-fanfiction · 4 years

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Betrayed In The Worst Way

Alex Danvers x Reader

Requested By Anon-

Can you write one where you and Alex are together and you and Maggie are best friends and you introduce Alex and Maggie. They start to hangout which makes you happy because you wanted your girlfriend and best friend to get along but soon you become suspicious because of how they begin to act with each other like being flirty and touchy feely. How it ends is up to you.

(Y/N)- Your Name

Warnings- Cheating, Language

A/N- Not gonna lie Honest by bazzi came on while I started writing this and I may have cried a little bit. Also it hits kinda close to home.

P.S- Sorry if the ending kind of sucks. I wasn't really sure how to end it.

You and Alex had been together for 6 months when you had finally managed to get Maggie and her to meet. They got along from the beginning and that made you happy. You just hadn't been aware of how well they got along.

You felt your jaw clench and you looked away from the sight in front of you. You weren't usually a jealous person, but you felt in your gut that something wasn't right with the way Maggie and Alex acted with each other. Neither one of them were big on physical affections but lately they always seemed to be touching in someway. It bothered you but you tried not to think too much into it and you ignored your gut feeling. I mean surely they wouldn't be doing anything behind your back. Still you couldn't help but feel the jealousy rise every time Maggie was around Alex and the way Alex acted around her. You sighed and turned around walking away from them. You felt like a shitty person for the thoughts running through your mind. You were just reading into things a little too much. Alex loved you and Maggie knew how in love you were with Alex. You were so stuck inside your head that you ended up running into Kara.

"Shit. Sorry Kara I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." You apologized to the younger woman. She gave you a small smile and waved off your apology.

"No harm, no foul (Y/N)." She told you before walking away. You were about to continue walking in the opposite direction when you suddenly called out to Kara.

"Hey Kara." She turned around and looked at you.

"Can I ask you something and you give me an honest answer?" She tilted her head to the side and frowned slightly.

"Yea of course. What do you need?" She asked you as she walked back over to you. You bit your lip as you began second guessing yourself. Should you really ask Kara this? You felt your stomach churn and refused to make eye contact with her.

"Is..do you know...um what I mean is." You couldn't seem to get the words out and you could feel the tears beginning to build in your eyes. Kara began to become worried and she laid her hand on your arm.

"Hey it's ok (Y/N). Whatever it is you need to ask just ask. I promise I won't judge you or be upset." You looked up at her as you felt a tear escape from your eye and begin to trail down your cheek.

"What's going on between Alex and Maggie?" You managed to choke out. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped opened. If she had made that expression any other time it probably would have made you laugh but right now you were just trying to hold yourself together.

"What do you mean (Y/N)?"

"I mean it's just I don't know. They just seem to be really affectionate with each other. They are always touching in some way wether it just be a hand on an arm, an arm around a shoulder, or hugging. The way they just seem to kind of gravitate towards each other. Like fuck I know I shouldn't be thinking this because Alex is my girl and Maggie is my best friend but I just can't help but keep thinking about all the what ifs." You confessed to Kara as you broke down. All of your emotions becoming too much for you to be handle at the moment. Kara wrapped you in a hug as a frown pulled at her lips. Now that she thought about it, there did seem to be something going on between those two. She didn't say anything though. She just let you cry as she hugged you. Eventually you pulled away from her and wiped your face with the sleeve of your shirt.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just unloaded all that on you. It wasn't fair." You mumbled as you looked at your shoes. You heard Kara sigh softly before she pulled you into another hug.

"Hey it's ok. You should really talk to Alex about the way you feel though. She will be able to help put your fears to bed better than I can." You nodded your head realizing that she was right. You just needed to talk to Alex about this and let her know that you know she would never do something like this to you. Especially not with Maggie. Your insecurities just took control of your thoughts sometimes. You gave Kara a small smile as you removed yourself from her.

"Yea you're right. Her and Maggie left to go to the Alien bar so I think I'll just head on down there. You wanna join me?" She gave you a smile and nodded her head.

"Sure it's been awhile since I went there. In fact how about we turn it into a super friends night? It's been so long since all of us have hung out." You felt your smile grow at the thought of hanging out with all of your friends for the first time in weeks.

"That would be awesome. It's been ages since I've seen all of them. I really only see you, Alex, and Maggie on a regular basis now." Kara laughed as she nodded in agreement.

"Yea same. I'll text the rest of the group and we can surprise Maggie and Alex with a get together." You could feel yourself getting excited as you thought about finally being able to spend time with all of your favorite people. After Kara texted everyone and told them you were all going to surprise Alex and Maggie at the bar with a get together the both of you headed out. You got there right as you saw Lucy, James, and Winn walk out of the door with shocked looks on their faces. You and Kara walked up to them and they immediately tried to stop you from entering the bar. You frowned at them not understanding what the problem was.

"Come on guys seriously what is the issue?" You asked them as began to feel your teeth grind together. They were really starting to piss you off. You just wanted to be able to go into the bar and hang out with your girlfriend and all of your friends. They all exchanged worried looks before they stepped to the side with a sigh.

"Just know that whatever happens we've got your back (Y/N)." Lucy told you. That only confused you more and you shook your head before heading inside the bar with the rest of them behind you. As soon as you saw Alex and Maggie though you understood why they had tried to stop you from entering. There was Alex in Maggies lap with their lips pressed together. You felt your heart shatter inside your chest. How could they do this to you? After everything you had done for both of them. You wanted to look away but you couldn't. You hadn't even realized you were crying until Lucy began to wipe away your tears.

"Come on (Y/N). Let's just leave." She tried to convince you but you shook your head no as you walked over to them. Kara, Lucy, Winn, and James followed behind you conceded for you and what you were going to do. You stopped right beside Alex and Maggie yet they didn't even realize you were there. You could feel your hands begin to clench into fists.

"How could you?" You finally spat out. They jumped apart like they had been burned.

"How could you Alex? How could you Maggie? I introduced you to each other because I wanted you to get along. Guess you got along better than what I had thought." You chuckled humorlessly.

"(Y/N).. I...this isn't...we didn't." Alex stumbled over her words trying to find the right ones to fix this situation.

"I hope you both rot in hell." You growled at them before you turned around and walked out of the bar. As soon as you got outside you slumped against the brick wall. You buried your face in your hands as you let the sobs escape. You felt someone wrap you in a hug and you moved your hands from your face and gripped onto whoever it was as tightly as you could. You buried your face in their neck as you continued to cry.

"I've got you (Y/N), I've got you." A voice you recognized as Lucy whispered as she picked you up. You heard the others walking towards you shortly afterwards. After that you aren't sure about what happened. You had cried so much you had exhausted your body.

When you woke up in the morning you reached out beside you in search of Alex before the events of the night before returned to you. You felt the tears begin again and you curled up into a ball hoping it would ease the pain. It didn't but you refused to move. Your whole world shattered all within the span of a couple of seconds. You still didn't understand how the two people you trusted the most could stab you in the back like that. Normally if something like this happened you would call Maggie but she was part of the reason why the reality you had once known was no more. Fuck why did Alex have to chose her of all people? You shook your head. You couldn't get stuck in all the why's and what ifs because if you did you would only cause yourself more harm. You eventually got out of bed. You just moved to living room and curled up on your sofa. You had your phone in your hand debating wether or not to read all the messages that Alex was sending you. You bit your lip as you opened her messages to show you had read them and then you turned off your phone. It felt like a dagger in your heart to not respond but right now she didn't deserve a response from you. No amount of explaining or excuses could justify her cheating. For the rest of the day whenever she sent a message you opened it to show her you had read but you never once texted her back. It killed you to do it but whatever pain it caused her couldn't even come close to comparing to the pain that spread from your chest to all over your body when you saw her and Maggie lip locked. The next few days you spent the same way. Slowly you began to go back to your normal routine and began to avoid Alex and Maggie whenever you could. You hadn't spoken to either one of them and you had even begun to erase them from your life. You deleted their contacts from your phone, erased them from all of your social media, and even changed your emergency contact information. There was just one thing you hadn't done yet. You had also put in a transfer form to transfer to the DEO location that Lucy was in charge of.

It had been about 3 months since you transferred and about 7 months since the incident, yet you were still receiving texts from Alex. Maggie had given up around the 4th month. You scrolled through all of the messages. It didn't hurt as bad as it used to whenever you remembered how you had been betrayed by 2 of the people you had trusted the most. You decided that maybe it was time to put the past behind you. You felt like your throat was clogged as you did the 2 things you never thought you would. You blocked Alex's number and went through your pictures, selecting all of them that contained her or Maggie. As you went to delete them you hesitated for a brief second before going through with it. You thought that you wouldn't ever be able to trust anyone the same way again but maybe a certain green eyed DEO director would be able to help you learn how to trust again. A small smile grew on your face as you looked over at Lucy. If anyone would be able to make you believe in love again you knew it would be her. You just needed a little more time to heal before you were ready to put your heart on the line again.

#alex danvers x reader #alex danvers #alex danvers imagine #supergirl #supergirl fanfiction #supergirl imagine #x reader #x reader fanfiction #x reader imagine #Chyler Leigh #DC imagine #DC Universe

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paceypeternathanslawyer · 4 years

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Iconic things about The Dick Van Dyke Show

-For the time The Dick Van Dyke Show was incredibly diverse. You got to remember this was the early 1960s, back in the day you were lucky to see African Americans in any capacity and when they were in shows or movies they were strictly in the service industry. That started to change in the late 50s to early 60s and TDVDS was kinda the start of that in Television. People of color were depicted in different capacities than usual. In the episode “That’s My Boy??” the actors Greg Morris and Mimi Dillard played a normal upper middle class family. In this episode Rob thinks that Laura and himself were sent home with the wrong baby from the hospital and he believes that their baby was taken by a family with the last name Peters. The Peters ended up being African American and they were depicted as well dressed and well spoken people who seemed to live in a similar area and walk of life as the Petries and in that episode the black couple is funny and completely sane whereas the white man (Rob) is depicted as the butt of the joke. Also at the end of the episode Rob subtly mentions how their son Richie is getting horrible grades and the Peters’ son is at the top of the class. It’s small things like that, that had never been seen on Television. In a episode named “The Man from My Uncle“ an actor by the name of Godfrey Campbell played an FBI agent. And that’s not counting the numerous POC in smaller roles or as extras in scenes. This was a time where you were lucky to see POC even as extras. -The feminism in TDVDS took amazing strides as well. There were times where Rob is shown to be very insecure, and I think that’s some of the most of it’s time aspects of the show. It’s not great, but it’s realistic. One of my favorite character choices for Laura Petrie is that we find out that she is proficient in self defense.... she learned self defense techniques when she was an entertainer for the troops. In the episode “My Mother Can Beat Up My Father,” a drunk at a bar harasses Laura and Rob tries to defend her and he gets laid out by the drunk. Laura then does a judo throw on the guy and lays him out. It becomes a big thing for Rob in that episode and he’s very insecure about the fact that Laura can take a guy that Rob can’t. But Laura does not apologize for that fact, and in one scene Rob is trying to prove that he’s all tough and so he challenges Laura to do the same throw with him. Laura doesn’t pretend she can’t do it to spare his fragile masculinity, she lays him out and if I remember correctly he broke a few bones. Also the character of Sally Rogers has been touted as one of the first women’s lib characters. She’s a Television writer alongside Rob and Buddy and she is treated with respect and is presumably paid the same as Buddy who is a writer on her same level. She is a proud career woman who is damn good at her job, and is an equal to the men in her workplace. Another big way that TDVDS broke ground was the fact that Laura wears capri pants. Believe it or not that caused a firestorm of controversy.... up to that point housewives had been shown as wearing dresses and skirts on TV and once the dust settled the fact that Mary Tyler Moore wore capri pants on TDVDS caused those pants to become a huge fashion craze in the 60s. -TDVDS became a huge hit starting with the second season against all odds. First off Carl Reiner had created the show a couple years prior and had actually shot a pilot with an entirely different cast and with himself in the lead, at that time it was called “Head Of The Family.” It aired and did not get picked up. Carl just gave up on it and it lay on a shelf collecting dust. A couple years later someone with the William Morris Agency tried to get Carl to retry it and he refused. That agent then went to the most successful producer at that time, Sheldon Leonard. Sheldon was known for having a perfect record for his pilots, absolutely all of them had been picked up to series, some of which were huge hit shows. Sheldon saw the show and immediately saw the potential. He approached Carl about the idea of retrying with an entirely different cast and name.... once a famous producer says they have faith in your show, how can you say no. So they set to the task of finding a cast. Dick Van Dyke was one of the first people to be cast in the show, and at that point Dick was in the middle of a successful run on Broadway in the show “Bye Bye Birdie” which he’d won a Tony Award for, but being successful on Broadway doesn’t usually translate to fame with the general public (up until Lin Manuel Miranda that was true). So not only did they cast an unknown in the lead role but they then turned around and named the show on the said unknown actor. That was an extremely ballsy and risky move. At the time there were a lot of shows named after actors but they were all famous stars like Doris Day etc. To name a show after an unknown actor was unheard of!! They then cast Mary Tyler Moore (who was an unknown), they cast Rose Marie (who was never hugely famous, but had a really good career on radio and in night clubs. But even if you consider her to have been famous, she was kind of a has been), Morey Amsterdam was cast (an unknown), Jerry Paris and Ann Morgan Guilbert were cast (also unknowns). It was really a cast full of unknowns in the leads. There were no big names. Which was really a disadvantage going in. The first season bombed, it was near the end of the Nielsen ratings and morale was severely low at the end of the season. Sheldon Leonard actually got word from a friend who was on the committee that decided which shows were cancelled and which her renewed, that the show had indeed been cancelled and it just hadn’t been announced yet. So Sheldon went into problem solving mode. He knew that going to the network wouldn’t get him anywhere. At that time sponsors were king and TDVDS had one of the biggest sponsors in the game, Proctor And Gamble. So Sheldon flew to Proctor And Gamble’s headquarters and in his own words he “sang mammy” in other words he begged and he charmed their pants off (figuratively) :) At the end of his pitch, they agreed to go to bat for the show... on one condition.... that he found a sponsor to sponsor the second half of the season. So he raced from sponsor to sponsor pitching his show and begging them to co sponsor them. He was in the middle of a pitch when he was alerted that Kent Cigarettes had decided to sponsor their second half. Proctor And Gamble and Kent Cigarettes went up against CBS and demanded that they renew TDVDS or else they would withdraw support from all their other popular shows. And CBS caved and renewed the show. With S2, TDVDS became a massive success and by the end of S5 the network was begging Carl Reiner to make another season but Carl wanted to end the show while they were still on top. TDVDS also became the darling of the awards shows. They continually swept the Emmys every year starting with S2. They won for writing, directing, and acting, it also won Best Comedy in 1966 with it’s final season.

-The scripts were largely based off of real life. Nowadays it’s more common for shows to take ideas from real life, but at the time Carl Reiner’s wish for authenticity was largely unheard of. Writers on the show described the writing sessions as therapy sessions because it would start with Carl probing into their life and them talking about embarrassing things that happened to them. Carl and the writers would take those ideas and make them bigger and crazier but there was always that nugget of truth in there.

-The marriage between Rob and Laura was also iconic. You gotta figure that I Love Lucy was a huge show of the past decade and it really shaped most future shows. In some ways TDVDS was the antithesis of that. Carl wanted to create a show where the main married couple was united... it was them against the world. He shied away from battle of the sexes storylines whenever possible. He wanted Rob and Laura to be clearly in love. And it’s a unique relationship where you can tell that those two have an active sex life... and that was really unique for the time.

-Carl Reiner made a decision at the beginning of the show that he would never use popular slang terms of the 60s. In fact if you watch beginning to end, only one slang term slipped in, in S5. Otherwise, he remarkably kept to that. Because of that crucial decision, TDVDS is not as dated as it could be and it has a very timeless feel to it.

-The cast was known to get along famously, there were only a few moments of tension, otherwise the set was known to be very light and there was little tension. They were all pranksters and the set was alive with hilarity, laughter, and pranks. They used to haze guest stars... most of the guest stars were fine with being hazed but there was one who did not take it so well. During the filming of one episode Robert Vaughn was the guest star and he was on the outskirts of the set waiting for his cue to come in. The actors led the entire cast and crew off the set and turned off the lights and left Robert waiting for his cue for about an hour, until he walked in to see what the holdup was only to find the entire cast and crew gone. It’s hilarious, but he wasn’t too happy. The cast was like a huge family, but most guest stars described them as being very welcoming as well.

Edit. Another iconic thing I almost forgot is the fact that certain episodes are used in film classes as examples of how to write comedy. It’s so funny and iconic that it is the textbook case of how to write comedy shows!!!! When will your favorite show ever... ;)

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keiscait · 3 years

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Is you’re still doing these can I please request one? Could I have a living room and possibly a bedroom matchup?

My pronouns are she/her and I’m straight. In romantic relationship I like them to be built upon friendship not just physical attraction. But that said once it’s established I’m up for just about anything. All it takes is for me to feel safe in the partnership.

I act confident, spontaneous and am very friendly but do have a temper... however I’m not rude when I get angry I just become very blunt. I don’t mean to offend anyone thou. Dispite how confident I act it’s a front to hide inner self doubts. I’m surprisingly a bottom, I tend to look for someone to have fun with who likes to take control. But out of the bedroom I seem like a leader.

I look for loyalty and confidence in a partner. Someone how can deal with energetic personality and will join in rather than tell me to chill. Need someone to match my vibe.

I’m an extravert and love public scenes etc... My hogworts house is Slytherin and my star sign is Sagittarius don’t know my rising sign.

I’m hugely into sports, especially running. I’m also really into to singing but can’t dance! I hope to work in medical research one day.

I’m 5.7 and with natural strawberry blonde hair and blue/green eyes, with quite an athletic build. And music is basically everything apart from rap, my fav band is either the weekend or the neighbourhood.

I hope this is enough information and that you’ll enjoy (maybe) writing this for me. Thank you soo much 😊

-Lucy

Hello and welcome, darling Lucy! Thank you for paying me a visit and trusting me with your matchup. Let’s head to the living room first! ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

Here in the living room, I’ve invited over...

Hinata Shouyo! (Runner up: Bokuto Koutarou)

Our little tangerine here is fantastic at building relationships with even the most difficult of people. He’s brought out the softer sides of the likes of Yachi, Bokuto, Kageyama, and even AONE. He earns the trust of others by accepting them for who they are, and making them feel welcome enough to be themselves.

- He would absolutely love having an extraverted s/o. He’s one of the characters I believe would gladly match spontaneous and energetic personalities, and would never try to dampen your light

- Also can I just say how cute you two would look! You, a strawberry blonde, and him with his orange hair DFSHSKJ 🥺

- Loves your interests. So excited to have someone to run with and share the love for sports, and will BEG you to sing. Might tease you a bit for being a bad dancer but he will embrace it and show you that you’re “both bad at dancing! Don’t be ashamed! Let’s go dance badly together!”

- This guy NEEDS your leader qualities. He’s a mess. Will appreciate you being a guiding light for him, and he’d gladly follow by example

- Can handle your temper. He’s so used to stuck up bitches like Kageyama and Tsukki (don’t get me wrong, I love these two) so he will never make you feel bad for your temper, and knows how to deal with it (but also please take it easy on the blushy baby)

- Since he’s friends with literally EVERYBODY, it will take a very special friendship and connection for him to realize that he’s actually in love

- Once he realizes, baby will panic HAHAH would not have an idea on how to act now that he’s acknowledged his feelings for you

- You two would be the SUNSHINE COUPLE!! Outshining everyone!!

- You’ll be the absolute best of friends and your relationship would have a super strong foundation. It will take A LOT for problems to ensue, because you both understand each other so well

- HINATA IS YOUR # 1 FAN. He will cheer you on in whatever you’re doing, and will crush murder any self doubts that you run into

- Dates would involve running/working out then chowing down right after. Lots of cuddles when you get home

- Once you get past the blushy phase, the boy has no filter. Will spit out any thoughts and feelings he has. Will tell you everything from happiness to jealousy, and will tell off anybody who tries to hurt you or hit on you

- The most social couple. Mr. and Mrs. Congeniality

You and Hinata were, yet again, on the floor, laughing your asses off at the dumbest thing.

The two of you spent the entire day out. A morning run, then you both got ready for a day at the carnival and food tripping. Come nighttime, you joined a few friends for a get together. Others would expect you both to be completely drained by now, but here you both are, in his room, at your wits’ end with hilarity, laughing about some mindless thing Tanaka said at the party.

“Did he even realize what he was saying??” you said breathlessly while laughing.

“His face looked like this the whole time,” Hinata contorted his face to look like Ryu’s grumpy expression, but more pouty and exaggerated. Seeing it on Hinata’s softer features added to how ridiculous it all was.

Shouyo loved this beyond anything more in your relationship. He loved the way you threw your head back laughing, without a single care in the world. He loved it especially when it’s him that makes you laugh. He’s so used to people brushing him off or telling him to straighten up, but you’ve embraced his sunshine and made it even brighter.

He stared at you in amazement, eyes sparkling, making a you blush a bit.

“What?” You giggled, and faster than you knew it, he tackled you to the floor in a hug.

“Boke, be careful!” You were laughing the whole time, lessening the harshness of your words.

He buried his head in your neck, mumbling something you couldn’t understand.

“I didn’t get that, baby, what did you say?”

He turned his head so you could hear, “You’re my best friend. My favorite person in the whooole world,” he extended his free arm to add emphasis on the expanse.

“...you’re so cheesy,” you teased. He made the same face from earlier, causing your laughter to erupt once more.

There’s nothing more he could ever ask for.

I hope that was alright, dear! Let head over to the bedroom ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

For some private time, I’ve invited...

Yaku Morisuke! (Runner up: Daichi Sawamura)

Ahhhhh, Yaku. Morisuke comes off to me as a mix of Hinata and Daichi (the runner up). He takes on a more parental role for his teammates and pulls it off, but he’s also chaotic and fun to be around.

- I headcanon Yaku to be a more dominant partner in bed, but I think he’s the type who wants to make it a fun experience for both him and his partner

- He likes to take control, and he loves making hearing his partner’s mewls and moans, knowing that he’s the one doing that

- Will praise you and tell you he’s impressed that you’re able to handle all the things he’s doing to you

- Will throw in an occasional “Are you okay? Is this fine?” here and there

- Very energetic. Handles your body well, knowing where to grab you and how to flip you this way and that

- Handsyyyyy *chefs kiss*

- Loves seeing the faces you make, especially when he’s going down on you. Will smile while he’s doing it

- A KING AT AFTERCARE. Knows exactly what to do, how he should help you, but he’s still playful and teasing the whole time. “I got you really riled up there, didn’t I?” with a smug smile

That is all, Lucy dear! I hope you’re happy with your matchups. Do feel free to pay me a visit again, everyone is welcome!

Thanks for stopping by! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ

#haikyu matchups #haikyuu!!#haikyuu matchups #hq matchups #hq!!#haikyuu requests #haikyu requests #haikyuu matchup #haikyu matchup #hq matchup #livingroom #bedroom #hinata shouyo #hinata shoyo #yaku morisuke #morisuke yaku #shoyo hinata #shouyo hinata

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thecrystalquill · 4 years

Text

The Taming of the Shrew

A/N: hey hey it’s chapter 1!! Let me know if you want to be tagged or if I missed you out at all. And don't forget to read the intro bc I swear it's important that you get it!! Enjoyyyyy! :)

Masterlist Series Masterlist Prologue/Intro

•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

Chapter 1: Technically-Philosophy and a Battle Against Society

•*•*•*•*•**•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

Bianca Stratford was absolutely beautiful. Her short light-brown hair bounced at her shoulders and her eyes shone with an adorable sense of innocence - and by Merlin did her yellow robes suit her exquisitely. She sat in the courtyard on this particular afternoon, talking away with her friends and practically glowing in the sunlight. No wonder Regulus Black was completely infatuated with her - she was truly stunning.

“Staring again?” A voice beside him interrupted, causing Regulus to flinch back and tear his eyes away from the girl. Of course his best friend would catch him at a time like that - it was almost as if he did it on purpose. “I honestly don't get what you see in her though, mate. I mean, I get it, she's cute and all, but really?”

Regulus was almost offended by his friend’s lack of attraction towards the girl, shaking his head in an almost practiced defiance that showed how they'd had this conversation before. “What are you talking about? She's completely perfect, and smart and funny an—”

“—And how would you know?” Jacob mocked, moving his strawberry-blond hair out of his eyes. “You’ve never even talked to her.”

“That's not true…” Regulus muttered, frowning defeatedly.

Jacob scoffed. “Oh, forgive me. How could I forget? She asked to borrow a pencil once in second year and you told her she could keep it - such a romantic moment. I'm sure she's treasured that lump of lead ever since—”

“—Oh shut it will you?” Regulus elbowed him in the ribs, walking back towards the school slowly, hoping to catch a word of the girl's conversation as they would soon pass. “She's completely pure!”

“Not to mention vein.”

“Don't be ridiculous!” Regulus argued as they neared the group, “she's so—”

“—Supercilious?”

“No, you're wrong.” Reg replied, rolling his eyes. “She isn't like that at all, she's sweet and mindful and—”

“—Mhmm,” Jacob interjected again, “and deep, I'm sure…”

“Well you see, there's a difference between like and love,” they overheard, glancing over to Bianca and her friends, Regulus feeling a little smug after his friend's last sarcastic comment, “because I like my Witches Weekly subscription, but I love my Monthly Magical Makeup parcels.”

Feeling slightly less smug, Regulus continued walking as his friend snickered behind him. Well, he thought, it was still technically philosophy…

“Look, Reg,” Jacob continued, wrapping an arm around his shoulders comfortingly, “I’m just saying, you could do so much better than her.” It wasn’t that he didn’t necessarily approve of Regulus’ love interest, he just didn’t want him getting his heart broken by a girl that wouldn’t give him the time of day; he didn’t need that, Jacob decided, and he would be much better off falling for someone a little more in his reach – Bianca wasn’t even allowed to date, no matter how much she might want to. But never the less, Regulus just wouldn’t listen.

“So, how was your day?” Lily asked, strolling next to the (y/h/c) in the hallway, handing her bag over so she could wrap her robe around her waist, whereas (Y/N) had discarded hers long ago.

The girl shrugged carelessly. “Oh, y’know, people suck, teachers suck, school sucks. The usual, really.”

The red-head laughed and nodded along; it couldn’t be denied, could it? “Well, on the plus side, we only have just almost two years until we can leave.” She reassured – she always has been the more empathetic of the two.

“I can’t wait two years,” (Y/N) groaned, feeling her life being wasted away by hours spent doing homework, “I want to get as far away from here as possible – Australia maybe.” She half-joked, smirking at her friend.

“Well, until then, how about we go change then do our homework by the lake today?”

“Absolutely.”

The nearest common room was Slytherin, which was of course where they went; luckily the two did this so often, that they both had clothes in each other’s dorms. Some thought it odd – a Slytherin and a Gryffindor being such close friends – some even frowned at the very idea, but the two had known each other for so long (even before Hogwarts, having lived in the same area and going to the same park) that something as silly as a house rivalry could certainly never separate them. And it only sometimes became a problem with having their clothing in the same draws; Lily was somewhere between sweet and girly and incredibly casual in her style. Whereas, (Y/N) had taken more of a tomboy fashion in these last years. Still, they would occasionally accidentally wear each other’s things – but hey, who cares?

The girls changed and re-packed their satchels with only the essentials before heading out again. Just as they stepped through the exit, their conversation was interrupted by an incredibly pretentious noise. “Well if it isn’t Stratford and her little Gryffindor pet,” Malfoy teased, only to show off to his party of snot-nosed prats. “What’s with the camouflage? Running off to that muggle military, are you? Let’s hope you don’t come back any time soon.” He laughed with his peers, obviously thinking he had offended her – which would be pretty impossible for him, given that (Y/N) would have to actually value his opinion in the first place.

She did nothing but roll her eyes in response, “Keep walking, Lucy,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand, then continued on her route. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of a reaction; besides, calling him ‘Lucy’ was revenge enough.

Malfoy scoffed and angrily lead his friends into the common room, annoyed that his attempt was so easily deflated.

“Oough! Sometimes I really just want to hit him in the throat,” Lily growled, curling her fists at her sides. She hated Malfoy – they both did. He was a bully and an arrogant pureblood supremist who thought he could do anything just because he was loaded, of course they hated him! “Seriously, (Y/N/N), just give me the word and I’ll throttle him – I will!”

“I don’t doubt that, Lils,” she assured, shaking her head slightly in amusement. ‘Gryffindors’, she thought. “But if you really want to hurt him, I’d suggest going straight for the pride – cut off the ponytail.”

“Oof, that’s just evil… I like it.” She amused, subconsciously playing with her red hair.

It was an unusually sunny day today, considering that it was mid-October, but it wasn’t time for the snow just yet so they would make the most of their time while it was still dry, albeit quite cold. They sat against a tree on a plain of grass not far from the Clocktower Courtyard, and started working on whatever work they were given today; luckily enough, there wasn’t as much as usual. “So…” Lily began, with a smirk that (Y/N) was both concerned and proud of, “off to join the military, are you?” They eyed each other playfully for a moment, occasionally glancing at their outfits before neither could contain their smiles.

“In a way, yes.” The Slytherin laughed and rolled her eyes mockingly, “I’m preparing for my inevitable battle against society.” She answered seriously, the corners of her mouth turning upward slightly as she looked down at her outfit: her comfiest cargo pants, her favourite boots, and obviously the camo-patterned vest she wore under her jacket. She looked comfortable, that was for sure, and anything but girly. But what was the social ideal of beauty compared to complete comfort?

Lily snorted. “Ever the dramatic, aren’t we?” She wasn’t surprised at all, to be frank. (Y/N) was very opinionated – which was a good thing, as far as they were concerned – and often felt at war with her peers and their social norms, so it was no shock that her style could reflect that; she always wore whatever she felt like anyway, regardless of what anyone would think. Lily hadn’t noticed that she had been too lost in thought to notice that (Y/N) had given up on her homework and was now reading a book. Frowning, Lily nudged her side to break the Slytherin out of her novel-induced trance. “Hey, you’re supposed to be doing Herbology,” she scolded; their observational notes still needed to be translated into read-able sentences and then converted into a short essay, “it has to be done by tomorrow afternoon.”

(Y/N) shrugged and turned a page. “Then I’ll do it tomorrow, at lunch. Right now though, I just want to relax a bit, yeah? Enough work for one day.” It was a new book that she was reading, having purchased it before the summer came to an end, and only now had she gotten enough time to make it past chapter two. It was an old muggle classic – as many of her books were – written in 1815 by Jane Austen. She wasn’t quite sure if she liked it or not yet, but (Y/N) was determined to make it at least half-way through.

“What are you reading, anyway?” Lily asked, still scribbling away at her parchment; she really was such a perfectionist when it came to her studies, making sure each sentence was clear and specific. “Any good?”

Lifting the book up higher in front of Lily, (Y/N) continued to read, letting her friend read the title and blurb. “S’fine I guess, can’t tell yet,” she mumbled, refusing to remove her eyes from the page.

“Picky…” scoffed the Gryffindor beside her, earning a kick in the foot, “just don’t forget about your homework, okay?”

(Y/N) only waved a hand in her direction. Although, she soon became bored of her book – five chapters later – and turned her head back to Lily, who seemed to be finishing her work already. How long had she been reading? “Lils, what time is it?” She asked, sitting a little straighter.

For about a minute and a half, Lily did nothing to answer the question, just held a finger up as she finished writing, crossing out a couple of things and replacing them; only when she read over the page to make sure that everything was correct and written as intended did she finally give her friend her attention. They stared at each other for a beat, until Lily recalled what was asked of her and looked down to the dainty watch on her wrist. “Half five,” She informed, catching the (y/h/c)’s eyes widen, “why?”

The Slytherin quickly started to pack away her things and stood. “I have to meet at my dad’s tonight, said I’d be there by five at the latest. I got to go – see you later, okay?” She rushed.

“What? No…” Lily complained, “lunch ends at seven, I don’t want to have to fend Potter off on my own!”

Five times a week, the Stratfords would meet at their family’s personal quarters – or rather, Professor Stratford’s personal quarters – to have a family meal and catch up and all that. It was usually quite tedious, but her father would go absolutely insane if they didn’t go – the man had issues. “I’m sure you’ll be fine for a while, I’m not your only friend y’know.”

Tag List:

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@siriuslysirius1107

@missmulti

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