#yes Reggie has the best time of his life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

welcomehomediscordserver · 1 year

Text

(joking) CW: AGGRESSIVE SUPPORT AND LOVE FOR CLOWN FROM THE MOD TEAM AND MEMBERS OVER AT OUR DISCORD SERVER !!

I have found joy in your little show that I rarely find in things. The overwhelming love and care I have not just for these specific characters but for your art and talent as a whole is astounding. I want you to know that your community, the good parts of it, support you in any endeavor you choose to take. Although this project may have blasted your popularity you are 3-dimensional, you are much more than the creator of welcome home. You are a multi-medial, skilled, talented, and strong artistic being. Throughout all of this I have had nothing but the utmost respect for you. I will continue to no matter what. Just know we over at The Welcome Home discord server have been following your art closely and appreciating every detail! Do what is best for you clown, and continue to do so! -Reggie

It's been a while since something has grabbed me like this... Welcome Home is one of the most precious things I have ever seen, the creation has and will it always have a place in my heart. Thank You creator for sharing this piece of you heart with us. But your safety is more important, I hope that you'll be safe. -Jax

"dear clown, from the heart of one fan to many others, i find so much comfort in your project that i hope that even when things just like now are awful, you know that there's people simultaneously supporting you in every step of the way! We can wait however long you believe is necessary, you deserve to feel respected with your own passion project! And with that to a close, i wish you well! Thank you for giving us a grand welcome home!" -gremints

dear clown, you don't know me. i don't know you either. but everything you've been working on? it's changed my life. and i know that sounds cliche and silly, but it's true. you've inspired me to keep working on my own passion projects, to keep going. because of you, i have found a little community to call home. because of you, i have rekindled my love of silliness and color and creativity. i cannot thank you enough. without you, i would not have found the friends i have now. whatever you do, i want you to know that we're here to support it. and i hope that wherever you go, you also find home. - moth

Hi you dont know me but im Bug, one of the mods^^, I just want to start my message with this, Before I found welcome home, everything for me was going downhill, I had lost so much that was important to me in less than 2 weeks, I couldn't get out of bed and I wasn't doing my favorite things anymore. I couldn't even smile, My eyes were tired and heavy from crying. But thanks to you, Clown. Wonderful you..and your beautiful vibrant creation. With characters I saw and adored right away. I've smiled, danced, sang my favorite songs again, met new and amazing friends & began to draw again. I felt happiness faster than I thought I would again. A peace from your life helped heal some of mine and I'm grateful. Your creations bring me and so many others joy, But even then it as not as important as you. Yes It brings many smiles to people and i hope that doesn't sound to overwhelming.. But although we can't fix the issue people have caused you, we can't apologize for those who don't respect the boundaries you've set and we can't take back what others have done we want you to know that no matter what, the good of the community will always Have what's best for you in mind, in our server we make sure all rules are followed and you're privacy and mental health is respected. Take as much time as you need to take it all in, relax, do what's best for clown. 💚 take care of yourself before aything else. We thank you for all you've done already. -Boogerbug

EVERYTHING BELOW WAS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS !!

Hi Clown! Just another rando passing through! While I have known about your artwork for a few years now, I never dove into it until Welcome Home became popular, and I genuinely love the vision you have. Your other artwork is also phenominal and genuinely inspires me, and it always has, even before I discovered the Welcome Home website. Your character designs are impeccable, the way you portray the muppets is genuinely awesome and brings back a lot of good memories, as I grew up watching puppet shows. Explains one reason I enjoy your work doesn't it?Despite making godly artwork, people forget that you are a human like the rest of us. Most people who become famous or popular because of something they have done experience this and it is unfortunate, but there are some of us that know you have a life and are already struggling. Take the time you need to rejuvinate yourself and try not to let these people get to you, as hard as it is to do, as even I still struggle with this daily. These are your creations, and you deserve to have control over what happens with them, and the disrespect this slowly growing fanbase has for your requests is terrible. Hoping that things eventually improve on your end, especially since you already aren't in a safe environment, something I also understand. I've already planned on throwing some bucks at you through Ko-Fi once I open my new bank account, and even if I cant, I still want to help prove that you are worthy and deserve better than this. You are incredibly talented and I hope to see Welcome Home and all of your other works of art flourish over time! - Sunnie/Mizo

Now onto the big reveal....

Our server members as well as a few mods all banded to together to create a collage showing our appreciation and support for Clown during these rough times. I hope this can serve as a reminder that despite the shitty people out there, there is a large community who still very much respects and enjoys every aspect of Clowns artwork.

An art collage put together by the moderators with art submitted by members.

Below are more signages as well as the usernames of everyone who participated:

Micah

Maximus

Beans

Wynn

Avery

Global

Vinnzhe

- and lastly, the rest of the welcome home discord server 🩷

@partycoffin

460 notes · View notes

jweekgoji · 1 year

Note

yandere five with a reader who's just as smart as him, but is still really sweet. however, she won't take any of his shit and gets past all of his shenanigans, escaping every he drags her back.

Yandere!Five x Reader

warnings: yandere behaviour, dark themes (obviously), yandere Five, kidnapping, mentions of breaking bones.

a/n: I'm sorry if that's not...what you expected? i dunno why I'm saying this, it's just every time I'm doing requests I have a feeling I didn't do it perfectly? and you probably expected more-

For a man like Number Five, having a potential competitor around is kinda a great danger. For him? Haha! Definitely not, more for you. You see, since childhood, Five has been a pretty...competitive guy. He's faster, smarter, stronger than the ones he grew up with at the Academy when he was much younger.

In fact, meeting the same person who can make Five sweat so well would be very interesting to him. If Five were younger, his reaction would be simple. He wants to be the best, as well as get his dose of praise from Reginald, will simply start spending a day to get ahead of you. He'll work out, he'll solve more math equations, he'll read every book in the house day and night, he'll do anything to say, in the end, “I'll always be better.”

Five, who survived several apocalypses, life in the Commission and other things, will be a little...calmer. Yes, he has a younger body, which means he must have strength. But. Five was tired mentally and physically. His body may allow him to do a few runs around the academy if he really wants to, but the other question is, will he compete with you? No.

I understand that you are probably a little disappointed with this answer, yes? Sorry, but Five is not 13 years old! There may be a part of him that wants to get some praise from Reggie, but for the most part, he just doesn't care. He is an old man. He's 58 years old guys, all he wants to do is drink coffee and read some newspaper while enjoying a legal retirement. Your games do not impress him, play such games with Diego or Ben from Sparrow, and please do not bother him.

And so, we approach the other side, by some miracle Five liked you so much that he now loves you, congratulations! I think some of your sarcasm plus sweet and intelligent behaviour will annoy him a little, but for the most part it will amuse him. You, compared to him, are so inexperienced and cute, you are probably trying to copy him, right? He will rather laugh at your behavior.

But if you really are really incredibly smart, then congratulations, you can even shut him up for a while. Remember how Viktor reminded him of the events of season 2?

You stand next to Five, silently looking at him, then at his older doppelgänger lying on the cold metal surface of the table. A moment, and you noticeably shift your gaze first to the younger, then to the old man, and so on several times. This obviously does not go unnoticed by Five and he, already on the verge of breakdown, turns to you.

„What?” he practically grinds his teeth, trying to keep from sounding rougher.

“Nothing,” you shrug, chuckling softly. “It’s just that if he is you, and you are the creator of the Commission, then it’s a little funny.”

He raises one eyebrow at your words and, moving away from his counterpart, now seems a little interested in your point of view.

“What the hell is funny about that? Can you try to explain yourself, missy?”

“You complained that the suitcases are not bulletproof, but it turns out that this is like your mistake?” you are still smiling. “It's not that I blame you...”

For a moment there is only awkward silence between the two of you. You look at him, he looks at you, only making this conversation more awkward now. He seemed to think about your words and the realization really hit him hard, and his face turns red, more likely from anger, and possibly embarrassment.

“You brat really think it's a good idea to say it right now-”

I think if you have yandere Number Five behind you, who, if you remember, is one of the most dangerous people in the world, then you must be pretty damn smart. You must be much smarter than him, considering the fact that you are a simple person with no abilities. It will be incredibly difficult for you to avoid problems if he wants to have you with him 24/7, since he can literally appear at any moment and move you anywhere and you won’t even have time to blink.

Dealing with a person with teleportation is a 50/50 situation where you may or may not get lucky. Your reaction should be quick and immediate, being able to analyze your situation in a stressful situation, because then the right to make a mistake is a luxury that you cannot afford.

Right now, one of your many attempts to escape from Five, and you can tell exactly how he is not happy about this fact. How many times have you already done this? Five times? Ten? Twenty?! He is tired of constantly pulling you away from leaving the house, you damn annoying him at such moments, and after each such attempt, he often has to change the doors and locks on the windows, because you, by some fucking miracle, manage to break them.

“Can you stop this for one freaking day?” he hisses angrily, wrapping one arm around your neck, pressing you closer to him.

His other hand is on top of your mouth, thereby shutting you up. Just from looking at Five's face, you can see how tired he is. Sweat runs down his forehead and his chest rises up and down incredibly fast.

There is a slight smile on your face and for a moment you froze, looking up at him.

“Oh, I'm really sorry for all the trouble I'm causing you,” you say in your real, sad voice. “And sorry about that too.”

Without giving your kidnapper time to react, you strike him hard in the side with your elbow, causing him to groan in pain and let go of you for a moment. Enough for you to be able to escape from it.

If you are smart and have abilities that can help you, then it will be a little easier for you. Because you can at least protect yourself a little if something happens. But in the end, Five is an experienced killer who has a lot of experience and a mountain of corpses behind his back, so at some point the cat and mouse games will end and you can hardly escape your fate.

“You really made me all so worked up over this little games of yous ,” he admits, tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear. “But in the end, you can’t run away from fate, right, angel?”

“My dear, it's only a matter of time before I can get away from you again,” you chirp happily, your wrists a little sore from how tight the ropes are pressing against your skin, but your whole appearance doesn't show it.

“Then I need to try to take this opportunity away from you forever,” his hand rests on your knee, squeezing lightly. Your breath is held for a moment and you look down, your heart beats stronger in your chest and it seemed that it was about to jump out.

He won't dare to break your legs, will he?

#yandere tua #tua x reader #yandere x reader #five hargreaves x reader #yandere five hargreeves #yandere five hargreeves x reader #five hargreeves #umbrella academy x reader #yandere umbrella academy #tua imagine #yandere number five #number five x reader #number 5 #five hargreeves headcanons #number five #five hargreeves x reader

921 notes · View notes

thisliminalspacedaydreams · 7 months

Text

Roadtrip (Part 1/?)

“I’m not going in the back.”

“You’re going in the back.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No—”

“Reggie is up front with me, I need a good guide.”

Regulus smirks at Sirius, tongue out and teasing as he opens the front door. “There you go, Sirius. I’m a good guide,” he says, closing the passenger side door with a snide smile.

Asshole.

Sirius throws hands, opening the back door and climbing in with Remus, who’s already settled in, kindle open. He doesn’t look up as Sirius slides in. “You know you were never getting in front, sweetheart, right?”

Sirius kisses his teeth. “It’s like Reggie’s trying to steal my best friend from me.”

Remus hums, “It’s possible to have several best friends.”

“No. James is one of a kind.”

Remus turns back to his kindle, “Then date him instead,” he shrugs.

“No!”

Remus’ eyes are back on Sirius, twinkling. “No?”

Turning to his right to grab the top of the security belt, Sirius mutters as he slides it on. “I don’t want to date him, I’m just saying he and Reggie have been chummy with—”

“Aannndd we’re ready to go,” James says as he slides into the driver’s side, smiling with all his teeth. “Take us away, space man,” he says, passing the map to Regulus, who opens it up.

“Tell me again why we aren’t using Google maps?” Sirius asks, and Regulus reaches back to slap the map over Sirius’ head.

“Hey!”

“Because Google maps is turning our brains into mush, and we’ll miss all the fun,” Regulus says.

Sirius rubs at his head. “All the fun of…knowing where to go?”

Regulus kisses his teeth. “I have a map, I know where to go.”

“But you could be using Google maps,” Sirius reasons.

“Yes, I could,” Regulus starts, with the tone of someone who is about to launch— “And I could also have chosen a different breakfast, a different degree, I could have decided to wake up and pick another type of shirt, there are so many options around me, all the time, and I am picking a map on purpose.”

“But—”

“It’s the adventure,” James interrupts again, pulling out of the main house.

The Black summer house is less of a house and more of a mansion, where most of them have been spending a lot of time this summer. To cap it off, the general consensus was that a road trip—wouldn’t it be fun?—would be a great way to end it. In two weeks, Remus and Sirius need to be back in England, where Remus will start teaching. James will head back to England a few days after. He’s got friends to see in Paris, so he’ll make the final leg of the drive up with Regulus before abandoning him to the clutches of City of Love while he goes back to London.

In the meantime?

Two weeks of road tripping the french countryside, from Cassis, where the Black family owns a house, all the way to Bordeaux, where the boys will take a train to Paris, leaving James and Regulus to climb up alone.

The problem Sirius has, is that Regulus and James have become friends.

The problem Sirius has, is that he is no longer the center of attention, the main tool through which everyone communicates. Over the course of the past two weeks, he has seen the blossoming friendship between his brother and his best friend, and he’s not—happy about that.

James has been remote working, and so has Regulus (who technically, is remote working from anywhere), while he and Remus have been on proper holidays. And okay, their schedules have been different. Okay, maybe James and Regulus have been left alone while Sirius took Remus out and about town, kayaking and paddle boarding to nearby islands, and maybe it would make sense for them to bond. And okay, it would have been sad for them not to get on, but they’re just… getting along too well. It’s freaking Sirius out.

“The adventure,” Regulus confirms, opening the map to its maximum before folding it back the way he prefers. “Right, Jamie, you’re going to take a left and follow the signs all the way to A50.”

Sirius is right there, once again, “Why Marseille, Reggie?”

“Because you’re going to have the best ice cream of your life there, that’s why.”

“But I hate Marseille.”

“And so you shall suffer.”

Sirius rears back, turning to look at Remus, who’s sporting a little, barely-there smirk, “He’s already bullying me!”

Remus doesn’t look up, reaching one hand to tangle it in Sirius’. “He’s not bullying you. You agreed to this road trip, you knew Reggie was going to pick the stops.”

“But Marseille?”

Regulus turns around from the passenger seat. “If I give you music rights, will you leave it?”

And that, is that.

Sirius grabs the aux cord and starts fiddling with Spotify. “Oh, there’s so much, I have so many ideas, let’s start with Chappell Roan.”

Regulus is quick to reach for the aux, “No, not Pink—”

“Pink Pony Club,” Sirius nods. “Yep. That’s the one.”

Regulus turns his head to James, please help, but James just shrugs. “I’m happy with all music.”

“No,” Regulus moans, just as Sirius fist pumps the air. “James, turn the car around.”

James doesn’t look up from the windshield. “Nope, we’re in this together now. No one is ruining this for me.”

“For you?” Regulus asks. “How has my road trip become yours?”

James sneaks a look at Regulus, “Since you sat next to me, polluting my work environment and telling me everything you wanted to do and whether everyone else would be on board.”

“That’s not how I remember it.”

James scoffs, “Sure it isn’t, Baby Black.”

“This is actually the worst thing to come out of this adventure,” Regulus says.

And Sirius is there, right away, putting his head in between the seats, pulling on his seatbelt. “Baby Black?”

“I like it,” James says right as Regulus quips, “It’s horrible.”

Sirius squints between the leather seats. “I can’t decide.”

“Sirius, the beauty of it,” James starts, taking a right, “is that there is nothing you have to decide on. It’s been decided on already. I like it, so I will use it.”

Regulus looks out the window, “I’m pretty sure that’s not how democracy works,” he pouts.

“Funny of you to think it’s a democracy. I am driving—”

“It’s my car—”

“I’m in charge of the music,” Sirius cuts in right before Remus grabs his arm and pulls him back to his seat behind Regulus, enough of that.

“Remus, they’re—”

“They are chatting. Leave them alone.”

“They’re flirting.”

“They’re not.”

Sirius turns to James. “James, are you flirting with my brother?”

“Um, not really?”

Remus turns to Sirius, “See?”, just as Regulus turns to James.

“’Um’? What a vote of confidence.”

“Well, do you want me to flirt with you?”

“No,” Sirius says, just as Regulus says nothing.

Regulus says nothing.

Regulus says.

Nothing.

“Reggie.”

Silence.

“Reggie.”

“Sirius, don’t say anything,” Remus says.

“I—”

“Just. Leave it.”

Sirius does.

For a minute.

“Okay, but—”

#mar's first micro fic #jegulus #wolfstar #french roadtrip #this is my sandbox #I'm just going write a silly little roadtrip drabble #mar gives the morning news #jegulus fic

79 notes · View notes

1mnobodywhoareyou · 3 months

Text

emotional damage

willex | gen | 2,948 words

on ao3

thank you for hosting this event @jatpfebfanfest! it was great fun :D This is for the most lovely @floating-in-the-blue and I definitely experienced no crises writing for you <3 (she lies). I hope you like it! The greatest of thanks to @bbreaddog for beta-ing for me and @narcissusbrokenmirror for being my personal cheerleader! I appreciate you both so much!

“Ohhhh, look who it is Alex!” Luke teases as he catches sight of a familiar crew member helping them get set up for their show.

Alex can feel the heat travel up his face to the tips of his ears. “Shut up!” he mumbles, trying to make sure his voice doesn’t carry across the stage. “I never should have told you.”

Alex crouches down to finish setting up his drum kit.

“You should talk to him,” Luke insists as he unwraps a set of cables, laying them out as he goes.

“Not gonna happen.”

Alex feels an elbow rest on his shoulder and looks up to see Reggie grinning at him.

“We talking about Alex’s favourite stage hand?” Reggie asks cheerily.

“No,” Alex grumbles at the same time as Luke excitedly exclaims, “Yes!”

Alex shoves Reggie off of him and returns to getting set up. He nods Reggie toward his own side of the stage, silently begging him to drop it.

Reggie’s grin grows. He doesn’t move from his spot, calling back to Luke, “Hey Luke, how much you wanna bet that Alex can’t do it?”

Luke meets Reggie’s gaze and a grin of his own spreads across his face, “You’re on!”

“Terms?”

Alex interrupts them, voice laden with frustration, “Can you two not?”

Both Reggie and Luke turn their most exaggerated innocent expressions on him.

“Not what?” Luke asks.

“Can you not make my personal life the center of your amusement?”

“That’s not… that’s not what we’re doing!” Reggie cries defensively.

Alex raises an eyebrow, “really?”

“Really! We just want to see you happy.”

“I AM happy,” Alex insists.

“Yeah but you could be happy AND have arm candy and someone to smash faces with.” Reggie’s grin is back as he finally leaves Alex to go finish his own set up.

Alex rolls his eyes, “You’re ridiculous.”

“Guilty as charged!” Luke exclaims shamelessly before sending a dramatic wink Alex’s way.

Alex sighs as he turns back to his drum kit to ensure they’re set up properly for sound check. He doesn’t miss Luke’s exaggerated whisper to Reggie, “Loser buys pizza.”

“Mmmmm, free pizza! The best kind,” Reggie enthuses before returning to his bass.

“It’s rude of you to think I can’t do it!” Alex shouts back at Reggie and he’s simply met with Reggie’s signature shit-eating grin.

“Prove me wrong!”

And Alex tries. He really, really does. He works himself up to leaving the green room and makes it halfway down the hall before he has to circle back. His second attempt has him almost all the way to the stage wings before he’s again fleeing to safety. Before he knows it, his time is up and they’re called to the stage.

He gives it his all for their performance, the way he always does. If he maybe plays a little harder and sings a little louder, knowing that the person occupying so many of his thoughts is in the building and might be able to hear them, well then that’s for him to know and him alone. Though the knowing glances that both Luke and Reggie direct his way cause his face to flush. Maybe his thoughts are a bit louder than they should be.

He doesn’t even know this guy’s name, it’s unfair that he’s completely taken over Alex’s thoughts.

Alex finds that after finishing their set, he doesn’t have the opportunity to even think about finding the stage hand. Between taking things down and interacting with fans, he completely loses his grasp on time. Before he knows it, Luke and Reggie are steering him toward their van.

“I WIN!” Reggie cheers and Luke sends a wry look Reggie’s way.

“You never set a time limit,” Luke pointedly reminds him. Reggie’s eyes widen, his face immediately falling into a pout.

Alex’s own expression brightens as he remembers their exchange. “YOU’RE RIGHT! You didn’t!” Alex claps Luke on the back excitedly. “Thanks, buddy!”

Luke grins, “Welcome! You still have to do it eventually though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex grumbles as he starts the van. He’s the only one of the trio that can be trusted behind the wheel, as hard as Luke and Reggie might try to continue to convince Alex otherwise. How they managed to get their licenses, Alex will never know. “Where we going?” he asks.

“I still want pizza,” Reggie mumbles as he buckles himself up.

Alex turns to Luke, “What’s the band account balance say?”

Luke reaches down and digs out their cash jar, shaking it sadly.

“Not happening, buds. Unless one of you wants to treat,” he replies. What little they do have and keep in their individual accounts is normally reserved for emergency emotional support (or making bets at the expense of their friends), not impulsive pizza runs.

“Cup noodles it is,” Alex says as he steers the van toward home, grateful for the lack of traffic at this time of night.

He doesn’t miss the way Reggie’s face falls as he glances in the rearview mirror. His heart shatters thinking about how often he’s seen that expression. Reggie might be good at hiding his feelings behind a goofy grin most of the time but Alex knows him and has learned to see through some of the cracks. The same way they have for him.

Alex takes a deep breath, refocusing on the road in front of him.

Luke gushes excitedly from the passenger seat, “We’re gonna make it, guys. I can FEEL it. Then you can have all the pizza you’d like, Reg!” He’s speaking in his typically amped up way that makes you wonder if he’s convincing you or himself. Apparently he’d also taken notice of Reggie’s pouting. Or, even more likely, just knows their friend that well at this point.

“Yeah,” Reggie agrees dejectedly. “It’s just temporary.”

Alex shoulder checks and moves into the right lane, slowing down to make his turn. He’s just made it to the corner when suddenly something thumps against the passenger side of the van.

“Holy shit, dude! You hit someone!” Luke exclaims, pulling himself forward in the seat to look out the window.

Alex immediately stops the van and shifts into park. He slams open his door, jumping out to see what had happened. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit,” he recites to himself the entire time he’s rounding the front of the vehicle.

He gets around to the front passenger corner of the van and notices a person brushing themselves off and pushing away from the van. They’re just barely illuminated by the street and headlights, still shrouded by the darkness of being just the wrong side of midnight.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry!” Alex rushes out as soon as he notices them.

“It’s all good, man. Not your fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Alex reaches them just as they remove their helmet, flipping their hair up and over their head as they do. As soon as Alex realizes who it is, his mouth goes dry and he loses all coherent thought.

He’s startled back to reality by the sound of car doors slamming.

“You hit Willie?!” Reggie cries, “Dude!”

Alex is sent reeling for a second time.

He hit his crush.

Who has a name.

That Reggie knows.

“How did you-? Wha-?” Alex stammers as he looks between his friends and Willie, who hasn’t stopped grinning for the duration of Alex’s crisis.

Alex shakes his head, trying to clear his head but with limited success. He redirects his attention to Willie. “Are you okay?” he asks simply.

Willie nods, “Yep, totally fine! I’ve been through worse.”

“That’s not… Okay,” Alex runs his hand through his hair. He can feel his pulse quicken and he reaches out for the van, realizing that he needs some support to remain standing. Alex feels Luke immediately shift into crisis mode beside him. They’ve been through this enough times by now that the signs of oncoming panic are clear to his friends.

Luke guides him so that he’s half sitting on the front bumper. He starts to coach Alex through some deep breathing and grounding practices to stave off the impending panic attack. It only takes a few minutes for his breathing to stabilize and he’s able to tune back into what’s happening around then.

When Alex looks up, he notices Willie’s concerned expression and that Reggie is now holding a skateboard. He must have gone hunting for it while Luke and Alex were otherwise occupied.

Luke rubs a few more circles onto Alex’s back before standing to join the others.

“You good, bro?” Willie asks.

Alex nods. He wipes his hands on thighs and stands, “Yeah. I’m good. This is weird. I’m so, so-”

He’s cut off before he can apologize. “Dude, seriously. This was my fault. I literally skated into the side of your van.”

Alex directs a skeptical look Willie’s way so he continues, “Honest, it wasn’t even possible for you to have hit me. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

Alex stares at Willie in with combined disbelief and awe for another moment before Willie’s voice interrupts his thoughts, “I’m Willie, by the way.” Alex looks down to see Willie’s hand extended in greeting.

Alex reaches out to shake it. “I’m-,” he starts before he’s interrupted.

“Alex, I know.”

Alex’s brain threatens to shut down yet again, “You… you know?”

“Well, yeah. You’re the drummer of one of the hottest acts in town. Of course I know who you are!”

“I told you!” Luke cries as he elbows Reggie in the ribs. Reggie grunts at the unexpected contact. Alex barely registers their activity as he continues to process everything from the last… Five minutes? Night? Day? Week? How long have they been in each other's orbits for?

“Hey, Alex,” Luke calls, “you with us?”

Alex turns to glare at Luke though he has to admit (privately) that Luke has once again succeeded in getting him out of his head.

When he turns back to Willie, he finds he’s again met with that grin. An all-too-knowing grin.

“Reggie owes me pizza, wanna join us?” Luke directs to Willie. Alex starts at the unexpected invitation but doesn’t have time to dwell on it before-

“I do not!” Reggie exclaims petulantly.

“You do!” Luke insists, waving his arm toward Alex and Willie.

Alex turns to look at Willie, aghast with both the realization of what Luke is talking about and the implication that Willie is expected to engage with their chaos. “You don’t have to! I’m so sorry about them,” he says before turning back to Luke, “Are you serious right now?”

Luke crosses his arms across his chest and returns a smug grin, “TECHNICALLY, I win.”

“That is SO not what I meant,” Reggie mumbles.

WIllie looks between the three boys with confusion, “Win what?”

Before either Luke or Reggie have the chance to consider responding, Alex is between them with a hand covering each of their mouths. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Don’t worry about it.”

He feels them both lick his palms simultaneously and pulls his hands away from them. “You’re both disgusting,” he says, wiping his hands on his pants.

Willie muffles a laugh at their antics. He quickly composes himself before interjecting, “Luke said something about pizza?”

Alex turns wide eyes on Willie, “You want to come for pizza? With us?”

Willie shrugs, “Yeah, sure. Except it’s my treat. You know… for the damage.” He smiles at Alex again and Alex is sure that his brain has completely left the premises.

“Emotional damage,” Luke whispers teasingly, barely audible but loud enough for Alex to hear. He directs another glare Luke’s way. Luke’s only response is a shit-eating grin.

“YES!” Reggie whoops as he climbs back into the van. Luke very quickly clambers in after him. When Alex sends Luke a confused look, Luke simply nods toward Willie in silent suggestion.

Alex lets out a soft sigh. He redirects his attention to Willie, “Do you want a ride? We know a place that’s still open and is cheap enough that Reggie can’t eat you out of house and home.” He raises his voice toward the end of his sentence to ensure that Reggie can hear him and, hopefully, take the hint.

He does. “What do you think I am?” Reggie calls back, “Some kind of animal?”

“You said it, not me,” Alex mutters under his breath and Willie coughs out a laugh. Alex smiles at Willie before gesturing toward the van, “Your chariot?” he offers.

“My Prince Charming,” Willie says with a grin as he climbs into the van. Alex stumbles over himself in surprise as he walks around to the driver’s side. He takes a deep breath and a quick moment to calm himself before opening the door and climbing in.

Alex buckles up his seatbelt. He turns to ensure Willie and the guys had done the same before shifting into drive. After another shoulder check, he completes the turn he had started before hitting… being hit by…? colliding with Willie.

There’s a moment of awkward silence as the four of them settle into each others’ company. It of course doesn’t last long.

“So Willie, what’s your favourite Sunset Curve song?” Luke asks as he pulls himself up between the two front seats.

Alex groans, “Really, dude? Seatbelt!”

“Hey! My seatbelt’s on!” Luke insists as he tugs on the shoulder strap that crosses his chest for evidence.

Alex rolls his eyes, “It doesn’t count when you stretch it out like that.”

Willie can’t help but laugh at their bickering as he turns to Luke to answer.

He’s interrupted by Alex, “You really don’t have to answer him.”

Willie smiles at Alex, “It’s alright! I love your music. I think ‘Now or Never’ is my fave though.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Luke encourages Willie to explain further.

“Luke! Seriously, not everyone is as deep into music as you are. Sometimes people just like what they like!” Alex chastises Luke again.

“It’s chill, Hotdog. I don’t mind.”

Alex sputters at the unexpected nickname. Reggie chimes in from the back, as if pulling the thought directly from Alex’s brain, “Hotdog?!”

Alex can FEEL Willie’s grin from beside him. He finds his ability to focus on the road slipping away with each passing moment.

“Yeah, from that time y’all got so sick from street dogs?”

Alex groans again, “You mean when we almost died?!”

Luke reappears between them, “Do we get nicknames too?”

“Mmm,” Willie hums, “sorry, that’s a privilege reserved only for my favourites.”

Alex again feels his brain completely vacate the premises and yet somehow he can see the grin growing on Luke’s face without even looking at him.

Alex autopilots into the parking lot for the pizza place they love. He pointedly avoids looking at anyone as they climb out of the van and into the restaurant.

“Order for me!” Alex calls back to Luke and Reggie as he beelines to the restroom in the back of the building.

He locks the door behind him and leans up against it, trying to swallow air into his lungs. This has all been just… too much.

Alex finally manages to slow his racing thoughts enough to push off of the door. He takes the three steps required to stand in front of the sink. He grips the edges of it and stares at himself in the mirror, unseeing. This can’t possibly be reality right now, can it? Willie is absolutely flirting with him, right? But… not directly. Through his friends. He’s not dreaming or in some alternate reality?

He splashes water on his face to try to reset so that he can go back out there and face whatever is coming next. This is good. It’s a lot. But it’s good. Willie has not only taken notice of him, but actually seems to like him? Enough to know his name and feel comfortable teasing him, anyway. Enough to explicitly tell Luke and Reggie that Alex is his favourite. Alex is never anyone’s favourite. Okay, no, he’s not going there right now. He can do this.

He lightly smacks his cheeks to refocus.

Alex nods to himself in the mirror, satisfied with his internal pep talk. He pulls a handful of paper towels from the dispenser and dries his hands and face. He takes one last deep breath before opening the door and heading out into the restaurant.

As Alex walks up to the booth the others had claimed, he overhears Luke and Willie continuing their conversation from the van.

“That searching for tomorrow line,” Willie says and Alex can see Luke’s grin grow from over Willie’s head. Luke and Reggie are on one side of the booth, facing the back of the restaurant, and Willie is on the other side, back to Alex.

“Ohhh, that’s Alex’s!”

“I know,” Willie replies cheekily before leaning conspiratorially over the table toward Luke, “you’ve got a hot drummer.”

Alex makes a choking sound, attracting the attention of all three guys. Willie turns, resting his forearm on the back of the booth bench, Luke’s eyes widen slightly but the grin remains, Reggie lifts his eyes from where he’d been focused on taking a bite of pizza and waves at Alex with his free hand.

“Yeah, we do!” Reggie agrees enthusiastically. He takes a bite of pizza and speaks around it, “We’ve been trying to get that through his thick skull for ages.”

Willie tracks his gaze over Alex’s body. Alex can feel the flush move up his face and to the tips of his ears.

“Cute when he blushes too,” Willie winks at Alex before turning around, sliding over to make room for him at the table.

#willex #jatp #JatP 2024 Feb Fan Fest #nobodys fics #fanfic #julie and the phantoms

21 notes · View notes

rythmicjea · 27 days

Text

Archie's Dream 5x04

Should I be finishing up my chapter for Narwals? Yes. Am I? No. Instead, I can't get Archie's dream out of my head. Season 5 is considered to be "the worst" season. That's because the majority of people don't understand it. There are so many layers to this season. It's like a 14 hour long episode of the X-Files. If you take episodes 1-3 to really be the end of season 4 (and we all should) it's the shortest season out of all of them.

The show needed to get everyone back together in Riverdale. That's how shows like this work. The impetus is Archie's dream. On the surface it's a warning that Riverdale is in trouble. The soul of Riverdale is on the verge of collapse. And yes, that is true. Get closer though, and you start to see the shadows underneath.

The dream opens in the boys locker room of Riverdale High. Archie Andrews is giving his team a pep talk before the game. His voice is darker, deeper, it's that of a drill sergeant. He prepares them saying it's not going to be easy. That they have never faced anything like it but they cannot be afraid. He barks, "Do you know why?" And they answer "Because we're Bulldogs!"

The camera lingers on Reggie. Why Reggie? Here's the thing most people don't recognize about Mantle the Magnificent. He may not like you, but if you go to Riverdale, you're a Bulldog. And he will defend any Bulldog for any reason. That's why he's so offended and incensed that Jughead wears his Serpent's jacket. Because to him, Jughead is spitting in Riverdale's face. Jughead is one of Riverdale's sons and that should mean more.

We see the General tell them that their mission is to save their fallen brother. The next shot is of a football field as No Man's Land (the stretch of land between two trenches in war). There are football players in the background running plays. There are bombs going off and artillery fire whizzing by. I am an avid football fan. I grew up on Ohio State football. A football game is often referred to as a "battle". You'll hear phrases like "Battle on the Grid Iron". Each game is life or death for the players and the fans. But this is more than just a football game. This is actual life or death.

Reggie goes down. Shot in the chest from enemy fire. This is representative of how Reggie is on the "wrong" side in the season. He's aligned himself with Hiram. He doesn't care for the town and the school that he once loved so deeply.

Archie is then flown into the air by a bomb. He doesn't want to go further. He doesn't think he can. You would think that he would look at his target. Instead, he sees Cheryl. She's in her Vixens uniform. And while you can hear the squad cheering, Cheryl isn't speaking. She smiles at him, with tears in her eyes, nodding at him to go forward. Why is she here? They weren't particularly close. Why would she care about his mission? Because Cheryl has lost a brother. She knows that pain of not being able to help and the guilt that comes with surviving. She can't let Archie go through that.

Then we see the fallen soldier. We don't know his identity until Archie gets to him. It's Jughead. A chest wound pouring out blood. His heart was broken by his first love and his best friend. Jughead only says one line and it is "I just need a little help". We come to learn in the season that Jughead has become an alcoholic. His line is one that many addicts say. It's so simple to believe that with just a little help they can overcome their affliction. A lot of times it's said to get a fix. Just a tiny one to help get through the withdrawal.

On the sidelines is everyone who loves Jughead. The Serpents, Betty, Veronica, and Pop. They're all cheering for Archie to do what needs to be done. And at the last moment we see Hiram standing with a gun pointed at Archie. In the first four seasons it was always about Archie vs Hiram. But everyone forgets that the actual thorn in Hiram's side was Jughead. It's Jughead that exposes him. It's Jughead that picks up the pieces of his parental duties for Veronica. It's Jughead who is willing to risk everything to see Hiram exposed for all of his corruption and evil deeds. And Hiram knows it. But Hiram can't do anything to Jughead without exposing himself. That's why he willingly lets Jughead take himself to the slaughter against the ghoulies. Hiram was behind riot night. And that gunshot wound in Jughead's chest? Who's to say it wasn't Hiram who pulled the trigger?

Archie's dream tells the story of season 5. There's many reasons for him to come home. He declares that Riverdale is "dying" and they need to save it. But it's not Riverdale that he has to save, it's Jughead. He hasn't spoken to Jughead in seven years. When he calls his three friends, Betty and Veronica drop what they are doing immediately to answer. Jughead is the only one who hesitates. We never see him answer. Jughead is the most reluctant to stay.

NO ONE on the show knows how to handle an addiction. Not even Jughead. He knows how to take care of his father but it was never his responsibility to save his father. And FP? FP gets sober cold turkey. He falls off the wagon at his retirement party. He is magically able to handle alcohol responsibly. That's not how addiction works.

Archie offers Jughead a place to stay and a teaching position at the school. Archie lets him go when he needs to go back to New York without any questions asked. Archie is the subliminal support system that was taken from Jughead at the end of high school. He doesn't know what to do exactly (and he has his own issues - PTSD) but he can do the passive things to help his brother.

After seven years of silence, Archie has a dream that tells him his best friend and brother is in danger and he's the only one who can help. And if that's being an invitation back to a safe place and a warm bed then he does it without hesitation. To many Archie IS Riverdale. He is the heart of the town. But, Jughead put Riverdale on the map. Jughead is the town's conscience. To Archie, Jughead is Riverdale.

#riverdale #jughead jones #archie andrews #cheryl blossom #jarchie #Not a Jarchie post but celebrating this friendship #long post #very long post #long reads #character analysis #media analysis

19 notes · View notes

docholligay · 4 months

Text

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

THIS IS ALL SPOILERY AND ALL OF IT IS JUST GUSHING AND RAMBLING AND VIBES. NO ACTUAL REVIEW WE DIE LIKE MEN.

I love this book. We all know I love this book. I have read this book at least a dozen time sand we all know I'm going to read it again. I'm never sure whether I like this or Tipping the Velvet more, but I think as a piece of literature, this is the better book. (But Tipping the Velvet is the one I often recommend to people. Sarah Waters can be hard for some people to hang with and Tipping is her fluffiest.)

Kay Langrish, what a fucking piece of work this bitch is. She's so pathetic, and I do sort of resent her for it, but also I love her. I want to beat the shit out of her. She's Poor Little Rich Butch who literally shuts herself the fuck away and gazes out the window all day. She's one of those people for whom the war was the best thing that ever happened to her, and people like this do exist! Some people are great in a crisis, and some people are ONLY good in a crisis. Is it about her being butch and that being easier in wartime? Sure, but Mickey has it even worse and seems to manage being a member of society. (Mickey is the best person in this novel and perhaps of all time. I love her so much, she takes it all in so much stride in her shitty little houseboat, and then she offers it to Kay. Mickey will be played by Lena Oxton in the blorbo adpatation in my head and Kay will be played by Haruka Tenoh) I think Kay is just a fucking rich loser, and I love that for her.

Viv! What a moron. My wife read this book and her takeaway was the the book was about "Gay losers and a token sad straight woman" and she is not wrong. I love how much Viv hates her life in the present day and how pathetic she feels it all is, but she can't get away from it, because! Yes!! I always privately hope that the book will be different this time and there's an afterword where Viv goes and finds Kay and they get together, because I think Viv could be perfectly happy being Kay's wife and being doted on. She wants that! And Reggie will never ever give it to her (blah blah not being into women whatever it's my fantasy afterword and I can do what I want with it)

Speaking of morons let's talk about Helen. I hate Helen and I LOVE her storyline. I love her absolute dedication to ruining her own life. I'm not saying she has to love Kay, I would love to be doted on by Kay but it's not for everyone, and I'm not entirely convinced they didn't get together for any reason other than Helen felt grateful to her. BUT, what about with Julia? What about her insane reactions, the way she barely allows Julia to have friends, the way every time they go a party Helen acts like everyone is trying to fuck Julia? She basically manifests an affair into happening by her constant assumption that it is. IF Julia is sleeping around, of course that's her bad behavior, but let's not pretend like Helen's ridiculous suspicion and quarreling over nothing, her low-key resentment of Julia's success, isn't doing anything.

And Duncan, man, talk about your easily led, whatever's happening is what may as well happen, type. His thing with the junk that he considers 'antique' is so sad. He lives in a little boy's room and is kept like a little boy as a sexual pet and it would be disturbing if it wasn't so much just what Duncan had decided was the logical next step just like killing himself along with Alec. He was happier in fucking prison, it almost seems because there at least everything was just...decided for him.

I wonder if Waters isn't making a commentary about the idea that London and the UK more broadly was "never better than in the Blitz" and all that Blitz spirit stuff which i confess I can be real prone to as well, but I don't live there and am allowed to engage in a bit of romance over a situation that in no way involves me. Is Waters saying, "If we think that we, as a country, city, community, were never better than when we were actively being firebombed, it might just be that we have decided that, and have decided not to make ourselves better than that moment. Anytime, we could decide to be a better London & UK, but we aren't doing that. We're staring at the rubble and wishing we were there." I don't know! I have literally never thought this before it just came to me while writing this, it might be bullshit.

Basically the summary of this novel could be "Four people ruin their own lives because they aren't sure they deserve anything better" and I wouldn't argue with that. I love this book so fucking much.

#doc reads

24 notes · View notes

gravity-barbie · 2 years

Text

Getting married to The Sparrows HCs

Request

Masterlist

Marcus Hargreeves

-Marcus puts a lot of thought and effort into giving you the perfect proposal

-He’s used to success but he’s never felt like more of a winner than when you say yes

-He’s very well-connected and has great organisational skills, so you can trust him to help with or even take the lead on planning the event, which he will gladly outsource his other responsibilities to achieve

-While he’s never been above using your relationship for a bit of pr, he’s insistent on this being private

-He takes advantage of his charisma to make the rounds charming his new in-laws, all the while eye-flirting with you from across the room

-Standing at the alter with you is the height of his life, and really reiterates to him that this is more important than his job

Ben Hargreeves

-Ben debated whether or not he should propose to you for months, so when he finally decides to go for it he goes all in, heart on his sleeve, showing vulnerability and trust as he asks

-His more guarded side comes through in the planning though, he’s very particular and perfectionistic

-Ideally the big day would just be the two of you, you’re the only person he feels he can really be himself around, and he has a hard time loosening up and getting in the romantic spirit with an audience

-For all the stress and defensiveness the event brings, when he gets to see you walk down the aisle it’s all worth it, and he allows himself a moment of pure, unfiltered contentment

-He wrote and rewrote his vows like 50 times but ultimately he’s able to put something very touching (and articulate) together

-He feels such a weight lifted from his chest when you two finally leave and can be alone where the real celebration can begin

Fei Hargreeves

-Fei isn’t much of a risk taker so you’ve definitely discussed marriage plenty before she finally proposes, very elegantly

-Despite her slightly formulaic build up, once you say yes she’s all giddy and romantic, keen to celebrate the occasion, just the two of you before you start telling others

-She’s very sensible and feelingless for most of the planning and while dealing with others but always softens whenever you two get a moment alone

-She certainly brings an aesthetic to the wedding -curtesy of Reggie’s bank account-, complete with an amazing dress with her signature high neckline

-She’s never been drawn to a normal domestic lifestyle, but standing at the alter with you she definitely sees the appeal

-Maybe it’s your company, the milestone you’re reaching, or even the alcohol, but she really allows herself to let go and have fun during the ceremony, letting it go down as one of the best nights of her life

Alphonso Hargreeves

-Alphonso is 100% the type of guy to propose with a ring-pop, seriously he wants to do it in a fun way, at least partially so he can pass it off as a joke if you sa

-But when you say yes he takes that seriously, making sure you mean it and then letting himself get really excited

-He’d really rather a more casual -or as he tells you, intimate- ceremony, really just something at the academy sounds perfect to him, but he’ll support whatever route you want to go

-He’s fairly lax when it comes to planning but he’ll suffer through it if you push him to, he suddenly gets pretty enthusiastic when it comes to choosing things like cake and music

-You can guarantee it’ll be a fun night, the kind that you’ll look back at your photos and videos from for years to come when you need to bring a smile to your face or have a good laugh

-But he also knows what parts of the event to be a bit more romantic for, his vows for instance, sure they’ll have a couple of jokes in them, but they’ll be from the heart

Sloane Hargreeves

-It’s a given that Sloane proposes in the most romantic way she can, going out of her way to plan the perfect date leading up to it, reminding you of all your great memories together along the way

-She’s almost as excited to plan the wedding as she is for the big day itself, she has so many ideas, and would love for you two to do as much of the arrangements and whatnot yourselves as possible

-She’s literally bouncing off the walls in the days leading up to it, an actual apocalypse couldn’t even kill her mood, and she does her best to share that happiness with you

-Despite the trouble they tend to cause, and their varying levels of disapproval Sloane would like her siblings there, which is fine because as long as Marcus and Fei are there, they’ll keep the others in line

-All your efforts pay off, not in the event being technically perfect, but in it reflecting your personalities and your relationship, the way it radiates warmth, and how it captures the romantic spirit

-It’s when the wedding is over that she’s surprisingly at her happiest though, because now it’s your marriage she can focus on

Jayme Hargreeves

-Jayme’s proposal is casual but heartfelt, it seems spontaneous but she had spent way more time than you’d believe planning it, she thought up around 30 scenarios before she settles on one

-She’d really rather a private, minimal event, or even a Vegas thing sounds pretty good to her, but if you want something more traditional she’ll comply, albeit with plenty of teasing

-Unlike her proposal which she poured some actual passion into, she’s fairly unenthusiastic to discuss the wedding, very obviously forcing effort for your sake, which is a bit unusual since she’s the one that proposed, plus your relationship is usually the only topic she doesn’t appear bored about

-Eventually she explains that it’s not that she doesn’t care, but that the thing she wants isn’t a wedding, it’s to be married to you, it doesn’t matter to her how you get there

-For all her stoicism leading up to it, on the day itself she melts enough to appreciate the silly spectacle and get swept up in her love for you

-She’s actually the most expressive anyones ever seen her at the alter with you, grinning as she’s asked if she’ll take you to be her spouse and almost tearing up when your pronounced married

#marcus hargreeves x reader #ben hargreeves x reader #sparrow ben x reader #sparrow!ben x reader #fei hargreeves x reader #alphonso hargreeves x reader #sloane hargreeves x reader #jayme hargreeves x reader #tua x you #tua x reader #the sparrow academy #the umbrella academy #tua #the umbrella academy preferences #the umbrella academy imagine

346 notes · View notes

sunflowerim · 7 months

Text

I don't wanna say goodbye, 'cause this one means forever

Journal entries of our resident drama queen, Sirius Black. 12 birthdays. 12 entries. And a great deal of friendship, pining, love and heartbreak.

Wolfstar-Marauders hc. Word Count: 5155.

🌙💫

November 3rd, 1971

Dear Diary,

I am Sirius Orion Black and today is my birthday

I, Sirius Orion Black, turn 12 today.

This diary was a present from Andy for starting at Hogwarts but all these months I didn't know what to write here. Today, I asked James what he would do if he had a journal, and he said he would write about all his exciting days in Hogwarts so that it would be stored forever in pages.

I think today was pretty exciting, so I am going to start this journal, finally.

This birthday was quite different from the ones I've had before

My parents forgot to wish me. Or they just chose not to. Probably because I'm the first Black to have ended up in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. It should have made any regular kid sad but I'm somewhat relieved.

I was not woken up by Kreacher loudly cleaning my room in the morning (because apparently, my room must be squeaky clean on birthdays even though no one really comes up here except to reprimand me for something), but instead by James jumping on my bed to wish me. It startled me a bit but the change was welcome.

I was not greeted in the morning by my mother or father who, at some point in the past few years had started saying that this day was an annoying reminder (well, they never really said it but actions speak louder than words), but instead with a freshly baked pie which James's mom had sent because he'd mentioned to her in his previous letter that it was his "best friend's birthday". I liked that too.

People in the hallways wished me and it made me very happy; unlike when people at home wished me lectured me about my noble birth and it made me want to hide in my room.

I did receive cards from Andy and Uncle Alphard AND received some more cards from a few friends. (Remus is excellent with cards by the way)

I had no idea birthdays could be this fun.

I really hope I can stay in Hogwarts for a long time.

P.S. Reggie did not wish me either and I wonder what’s up with him. I was expecting a letter from him. But then again, my birthdays have never been a big deal in the family (what with my rebellious streak and all) so I suppose that’s okay.

* * *

November 3rd, 1972

Hello journal, it's me again.

It's not that the past 365 days were not exciting; they were. I just forgot to write about them. Also, I doubt if I would have been able to fit an entire year's worth of adventures in a single journal. Yes, we indeed had THAT much fun.

I am a year older today and once again glad that no one from my family has been able to ruin this day for me this year either. Somehow they just decided not to acknowledge that I was ever born. Maybe they would if I was more like Narcissa or Bella. But who'd want to be like them? Gross. I'd much rather celebrate the day with people who truly care about me.

One thing that did upset me a little was Reggie's behaviour. He started Hogwarts this year and was sorted into Slytherin like the rest of our "noble" family, but it's like he doesn't even recognise me anymore. I know that my being sorted into Gryffindor was a matter of disgrace to the family but I don't understand what that's got to do with Reggie. We're supposed to be brothers, but whenever I look at him these days, he looks like a miniature version of our birth giver. I wonder who brainwashed him like that.

Actually I don't have to wonder. I know it was our mother.

Anyway, Lily once said that I should be more grateful for things I have rather than complain about things that displease me, so here:

I'm grateful that James and Remus are in my life.

I'm grateful for all the things they did to make my birthday special.

I'm grateful that I'm not lonely anymore.

Most importantly, I’m grateful to the Sorting Hat for putting me in Gryffindor. I would have missed out on everything if not for this.

And I'm not just saying these because Lily asked me to but because I really mean it. I'd be nowhere without James and Remus.

That's it for this year.

I will try not to ditch this journal until my next birthday.

Sirius Black, aged 13, signing off.

* * *

November 3rd, 1973

I am now 14, and I've just had the best birthday ever.

It was a stroke of luck that my birthday fell on Hogsmeade weekend. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Also because 3rd years are allowed to stay in the common room till late, I had the golden opportunity of attending two celebrations this week: the Gryffindor Halloween party and my birthday. Yes indeed, James and Remus pulled all the strings to throw me a birthday party after our already amazing day out in Hogsmeade. I have no idea how they managed to put together so much but it meant a lot to me.

James gifted me a two-way mirror so we could communicate during detentions. That's the best idea he's ever had! And Moony, a.k.a, Remus (Moony is his nickname now; reasons: non-disclosable) gave me an enlarged disc containing muggle music (apparently it's called vinyl, and we need a vinyl player to listen to it). Frank says he'll find a vinyl player for the common room so everyone can listen to muggle music in general, but I have decided that I will be the first one to listen to this particular vinyl, alone. I don't think I wanna share Moony's gift with everyone right away.

I love the presents and I love my friends.

P.S. I have resigned myself to the fact that my journal entries are indeed gonna be annual and not as regular as I had initially promised and I think it's better that way. I'll be able to keep using this diary for a long long time. Until I'm withered and old and will need to use magic to write instead of my tired hands.

P.P.S. James, Moony, and I go by the name 'Marauders' now and we've made quite a name for ourselves in Hogwarts. Not something my parents would be happy about and that's exactly what makes it so much better for me.

As for Reggie, he never tries to talk to me in school and keeps his distance at family dinners, like I am an object of disgust to him. It's gonna take some getting used to, but I suppose I'll manage as long as I have James and Moony.

* * *

November 3rd, 1974

I, Sirius Black, 15, have a major crush on Moony. I know this is my birthday journal and I shouldn't be pining away here, but I cannot talk to anyone about it and will combust if I hold it in any longer. Hence, the journal.

James got lucky. He can talk about his hopeless crush on Lily all the time without any restraints and he doesn't care if she rejects him a hundred times. I can't say the same for myself. Not to be dramatic but I'd be pretty devastated if Moony ever turned me away the way Lily does James. Some girls have asked me out this year and I did go to Hogsmeade with one of them last month, but I cannot seem to get Moony out of my mind.

Not to brag but a lot of girls asked me out for the Yule Ball too but I had zero desire to be bored so I went in with Moony. In hindsight, it might not have been the best idea because going to a 'Ball Dance' and trying to dance around with Moony had me panicking throughout. Why am I such a mess when it comes to him?

Over the year, Moony has randomly brought in more muggle music for me and I have loved every single one of them. I don't know how he knows just what I'd like. He just gets it.

Frank found a vinyl player for the common room, but the seller also had another slightly broken player which he was ready to give up for free, so of course I took it and fixed it, and placed it right next to my bed. Now I can listen to music anytime I want. But mostly I'm not alone because there's Moony who loves music just as much and he often joins me and tells me all about these muggle singers I'm constantly in awe of.

For this birthday he built me a tiny shelf for my vinyl records, the keyword being 'built'. Sometimes he amazes me like that, by doing things himself that could otherwise be done quicker with magic and I love the effort he puts in for other people (even though he tries really hard to come off as this guy who doesn't give two shits about anyone, he's secretly a softie).

The birthday surprise was amazing as usual.

The Marauders' birthday parties have started to cause some real hype in the school. Even people from other houses come in too (not Slytherin though, never Slytherin).

Anyway, for my next birthday, I hope Remus just gifts himself to me. Or maybe I should stop being a little shit and ask him out. But before any of that, I have to be sure of his feelings too. So far he's been constantly giving off the vibe that he absolutely doesn't want to date anyone which means, I have a LOT to work on until my next birthday.

Merlin, it's gonna be one long year.

* * *

November 3rd, 1975

I, Sirius Black, am 16 today, and an animagus. I'm an illegal one so technically I shouldn't even be writing it down here (like I haven't in the past 2 years of attempting to be one) but my charms have gotten stronger and nobody but me has access to this journal. Anyone else who opens the journal is only going to find blank pages.

Moony, my beloved, is a werewolf (Hence the nickname Moony. Get it? The moon? The furry little problem? Yeah). James and I found out about it in our 3rd year and since then we've been trying to learn about animagi and transformation so we could keep him company on full moons and this year we finally pulled it off. My animagus form is a dog. Not that I mind but I'm beginning to think that all the people who have called me a little bitch before, might have been onto something. Except I'm not little. I'm huge and I really really really hope that idiot Snape bumps into me someday while I’m in my dog form. I'm going to scare the living daylights out of him.

James' form is a stag with huge antlers so we're calling him Prongs. We have decided to call me Padfoot, but sometimes Moony just shortens it and calls me Pads, and my insides start to melt. When and how did I become such a sap?

Anyway, I'm an absolute coward who hasn't done anything in the past year except pine from a distance. And the pining wasn't even mutual. It’s so embarrassing. I think Lily is catching up but Moony, that oblivious idiot, never notices. I'm not persistent like James so I'm not hoping for a miracle.

My birthday was cool because duh, I'm a Marauder. Prongs got me a leather jacket. Apparently, it was Lily's idea, but she still doesn't like me enough to get me something herself. But I'm glad she at least gave the suggestion to Prongsie because boy do I look smashing in it.

Moony got me a photo frame with a picture of me, Prongs, and himself and I really had to hold back tears upon seeing the picture. A little backstory: a few months ago, the three of us had got dressed in tuxedos and went to a studio to get our picture taken, as a joke, because we were that bored. In fact, I'd forgotten about the picture until today; the picture that looks more like a family portrait than any picture in the hallway of Grimmauld Place. It looks real and is currently resting on my bedside chest of drawers, right next to the vinyl player. Merlin, I'm really soft for him. Maybe I really shouldn't bother talking about my crush on him and give up on the whole confession stuff. I don't wanna ruin what we have right now.

Signing off.

* * *

November 3rd, 1976

TURNS OUT THE PINING WASN'T ONE-SIDED AFTER ALL. GUESS WHO ISN'T BITCHLESS ANYMORE? THAT'S RIGHT! ME!!!

Long story short: a few months ago on Moony's birthday, we almost had a moment I guess. His birthday party had just ended and people were slowly leaving the common room and trailing back to their respective dorms and the two of us were sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. I was tired and I almost dozed off resting my head on Moony's shoulder (!! internal screaming !!) and I think he was carding his hands through my hair (!! internal screaming intensifies !!). Anyway, a slight tug on my hair woke me up and he was like 'Don't fall asleep here let's go back to the dorm'. I will never understand what possessed me at that moment but I ended up saying, "Let's stay like this for a little while. Please." And the way he looked at me after hearing that, oh Merlin. I cannot describe it in words but it was enough to give me the confidence I'd been needing for months, and I actually pulled him closer by tugging at his shirt and I'm almost sure I'd have kissed him if Prongsie didn't choose that moment to come down looking for us. I love him to death, but at that moment, I really wanted to punch his face. The spell was broken and Moony pulled back and I faked a yawn in an attempt to be nonchalant.

But ever since then, there has been this tension between us. I think I had finally made him stop and think about things and probably recently, he finally came to a conclusion because last night at 12 after Prongs had gone back to sleep in his bed after wishing me, Moony stayed back on my bed and following some awkward small talk, actually kissed me!!

And then guess what he said?

"I hope that's okay."

Well duh, of course it's okay Moons. It's me, and it's you, so it'll always be okay.

I was too stunned to say any of it though, so I just kissed him back to make him understand that I wanted this too. That I had waited ages for this moment.

I am mad blushing as I write this. This is embarrassing.

I will not go into any further details but yeah I'm really happy today.

Another important event that happened in the past few months is that I ran away from home after last Christmas. Yes, it finally happened and I was backed by the Potters. I live with them now and I'll forever be grateful for that. On top of that Uncle Alphard had left me all his money which I could access once I turned 17, so now I'm not financially dependent on anyone (which is very important to me). Again, I shall not go into details regarding why I ran away from home because it's gonna ruin the vibe of this journal. That's something I'd rather not vent about.

Anyway, it's been better since then. The Potters take care of me. Prongs takes care of me. And Moony takes care of me. A lot. Even Lily isn't as rude. I hope things stay this way for a long long time.

Happy 17th indeed.

* * *

November 3rd, 1977

Lily and Prongs started dating this year. I wanna say I saw it coming, but that would be a lie. I think I was almost as surprised as Prongs was.

I'd thought I would be spared from Prongs ranting about Lily once they start going out and at least have the last year at school free of "Lily this"and "Lily that", but I was wrong. If anything, it has increased. But it's okay because hearing him talk about random things while the Wizarding World is slowly heading toward destruction and war is calming at times. It also seems like he's become more responsible over the past year. It suits him.

Moony and I are okay, but I'm worried about him. With the current insurgence of dark power, it feels like only a matter of time before people start coming for him. But one thing's for sure, I'll protect him with everything I have. He probably doesn't need it but the very thought of something happening to him keeps me up at night.

We've all decided to join Dumbledore once school is over to fight death eaters and You-Know-Who. I'd imagined a safe and happy future with my friends and I'm willing to fight anything that stands in its way.

I was not in the mood to celebrate my birthday but because it's my last one in school I didn't protest. We still have fun but it's overshadowed by this constant fear of something happening to the people you love. We live among enemies. We go to classes with people who might potentially join the dark side and it's hard to ignore such thoughts.

I think I would have lost my mind without Moony beside me.

I love Moony and he loves me and we've decided to live together after school is over. I don't want us to stay apart in times like this.

I genuinely feel responsible for the people around me. Maybe I really did grow up after all. We've all grown up. 11-year-old Sirius would be surprised to see 18-year-old Sirius now.

On another note, I finally lost patience with Reggie. I found him torturing younger students because they were "half-bloods" and at that moment I could see our mother in him. Nothing could have prepared me for that image of him. I interfered and overpowered him, which resulted in a burst of insults; everything that our mother would have said in that situation, word for word. Maybe I should have started fighting him from the day he started calling Remus names because of the half-blood bullshit, but Remus always used to stop me. But this time, Remus wasn't around and I was not having it. I would have fought him again if not for Prongs and Lily, who were then doing their rounds as Head Boy and Head Girl. I'm glad they stopped me though, because, despite the anger, I was too hurt and was very close to tears which is the last thing I'd have wanted Reggie to see. I never thought things would turn out like this between us.

* * *

November 3rd, 1978

School is over and I'm currently living with Moony. I feel more at ease somehow now, than when I was at school. I suppose it's because I don't feel helpless anymore. James and I started our Auror training and with every passing day we're becoming stronger. I can fight death eaters and I am capable of protecting other people. Moony couldn't join Auror training because he cannot be involved with the Ministry but he's been carrying out other missions for the Order of the Phoenix, aka the face of the fight against You-Know-Who.

My birth family, as expected, has joined the dark side. The Blacks are supposedly among the biggest supporters of You-Know-Who and I've faced immense backlash because of the name I carry.

Living with Moony is one of the only comforting things in my life right now. We've moved into a small house close to the Potters and after a whole day of meetings and missions, I am so grateful for his warmth next to me.

A lot of my friends from school joined Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix and I see them regularly. We hang out sometimes like we did today for the impromptu birthday celebration Moony put together for me. But it feels like a privilege we can't afford. Not yet. Not when death eaters are running loose and You-Know-Who is gaining power.

* * *

November 3rd, 1979

James and Lily got married at the end of last year!! And of course I was James' best man. Their getting married has given me a new sort of hope that things will be okay. They have to be. So that Moony and I can get married at some point too. And we'll all be happy. After such a shitty childhood, I deserve to be happy.

On top of everything, Lily is pregnant, which means things will have to get better very soon. James Jr. deserves to be born into a peaceful world. I am going to make sure the kid doesn't have to go through what we all did.

Moony and I don't get to spend much time together these days because of our missions and it's hard but it's a price we have to pay to secure the lives of our loved ones. Being an Auror helps me with that. I'm 20 today but I feel much much older.

* * *

November 3rd, 1980

We lost James' parents to dragon pox. They left before little Harry arrived.

Reggie is dead. So are my parents. Reasons unknown. But I'm pretty sure they got into trouble with the Ministry like most other death eaters.

Anyway, that doesn't matter now. What matters is that I have to protect James, Lily, and Harry. I won't let the war orphan him like it did James and me.

The Dark Lord is after Harry. There's apparently a bullshit prophecy that states that Harry will be able to kill him and so that moron is after a literal baby. And guess who relayed that prophecy to the Dark Lord? Fucking Snape. I knew he was bad but how evil do you have to be to do something like that?

James and Lily are to go into hiding and I am to be their secret keeper. Dumbledore said he might change the secret keeper because everyone is going to suspect that I know about it. After all, I'm close to them and if I get captured, they might torture me to get their location out of me. I know I won't give in to torture but we're trying not to take any risks.

It's not going to be Moony either. Dumbledore has sent him on a lot of missions to try and bring other dark creatures to our side and every time Moony comes back from those missions, he seems a little different. I find it hard to communicate with him these days. It might be my paranoia speaking but I am not ready to take any risks. Moreover, after me, Remus is going to be the prime suspect of being the secret keeper. So we can't risk that. I've relayed as much to Dumbledore and we will be choosing someone unsuspecting.

Turning 21 was supposed to be fun but 'fun' is something I can't even imagine anymore when I go to work every morning and round up death eater after death eater or when I find myself staring frozen at the occasional familiar name on the list of casualties.

It seems stupid to write all this down in a journal but my head will explode if I cannot vent about all that goes on in my head, so in a way, I'm glad this journal exists.

* * *

November 3rd, 1995

It's hard to believe that this journal still exists and that it has been 15 years since my last entry. I showed it to Moony yesterday and he said I should try writing again. Might be good to vent. So here goes,

I turned 36 today. But James and Lily aren't here to see me now.

We lost them to the war 14 years ago.

I couldn't save them but I wanted to rescue and take in their son, Harry, my godchild. But I couldn't even do that because I was convicted of murder. They really went ahead and put me on trial for the murder of my best friends and everyone just stood and watched. Funny how easy it was for all of them to forget that James and I were brothers once they looked at the cursed name I carried : Black.

I'm ashamed to admit that I had suspected Remus of being a spy. That I had distrusted him which led to the real spy taking advantage of it. That spy, who of all people had ended up becoming the Secret Keeper for James and Lily and consequently revealed their location to You-Know-Who, who reached them and they sacrificed their lives to protect little Harry…

I don't think I can write at length about the plethora of emotions I have on this subject. It still hurts to think about it.

You-know-who too died that night supposedly but he's back now and we are approaching another war, hopefully to end things for good this time, and I swear on my life, I'll protect the ones I love. I couldn't save James and Lily but I won't let anything happen to Harry. Moony and I will see to that.

I had been shipped off to Azkaban and I stayed there for 12 years until I made my escape 2 years ago. I will not go into details about that either, for the sake of my sanity.

Speaking of people I love, it took some time, but I think Moony and I have been able to navigate through our misunderstandings. I've altered the spell on the journal so Moony can have access to it too if he wants. This journal is possibly the only keepsake we have of our childhood together. I told him that he may read it some years down the line.

About Harry, I don't know where to start. I love that kid to death and I'll never forgive all the people who made his life this miserable. If I had known the kind of life my Godson was forced to lead, I'd have made my escape sooner and rescued him. Both Moony and I had been under the impression that he was taken care of, so he stayed away from Harry's life and I thought about him from a distance. There's only one person I'm blaming for this - Dumbledore. We were stupid for entrusting him with everything.

One day, when the war is over, I hope we can all live in peace. Harry, Moony, and me. But for now, I'm just really worried because Harry always has this tendency to dive head-first into trouble and I'm too scared to lose him. I'll have to give him some serious talk soon.

About James and Lily, it feels like I'm being repeatedly stabbed with a dagger every time I try to talk about them. When we were in school, James used to say that he hoped he'd never have to outlive any of us. That he couldn't handle the thought of being left behind. Who knew his words would come true like that? It's been 14 years but the wounds are as fresh as ever. Some grief, you aren't supposed to move on from.

Anyway, time to wrap it up. Harry and his friends are going to come over in the evening to see me and I'm so thankful for the time I get to spend with him. And Moony.

P.S. Moony if you ever decide to read this, know that I love you. That I have always loved you. That I spent every moment in Azkaban regretting my decisions. I'm sorry that I let my paranoia get the better of me and blindsight me to all that I held dear. I hope you can forgive me.

* * *

November 3rd, 1996

I'm not sure I can do this but I think it would be wrong to not continue this birthday journal.

Sirius.

How could you do this to me? To Harry?

How could you leave us a second time?

The war is still going on but your absence is eating me up from the inside. Every place I go, screams your name. We were all supposed to survive the war, you idiot. You were supposed to continue writing in this journal till you were old and withered. You can't just not keep your word.

Just when I'd finally made peace with your long absence, you came back into my life and made me realise that I never truly had moved on. How can I go through that again? I'm not ready to say goodbye. Not again. Not when you did not spend enough time with me. We've been apart longer than we were together and I hate it.

Harry has been inconsolable and more reckless than ever. Losing you really shook him to the core and I don't know what to tell him when I can't even deal with this myself. I'm losing my mind at the suddenness of it all. All I can do is keep fighting so more people don't have to lose their loved ones. The fight at the Ministry was like fuel to the fire and the war is on the way to reach full scale soon. I don't know if I'll survive this but I do know that I will ensure the safety of as many as I can.

Against my better judgement, I did end up reading your whole journal, and Pads it hurts. It hurts so much. The way I'd give anything to get back our time together in school.

To get back James, Lily, and you.

Come back.

I think it was cruel of you people to leave me alone, to make me arrange and attend all your funerals, to make me go through all this heartbreaking ordeal. To leave me nothing but your gravestones to talk to. There's only so much grief I can hold.

You just wait till I see you again.

I remember you saying that 'Dust thou art, to dust returnest' only applied to us 'earthlings' and that you'd just go back to the star you came from. It sounded like a harmless joke in school but now I just hope I can reach you wherever you are, Pads.

I cannot continue any further but I'm somewhat relieved I could add one more entry to this, that this journal could have a closure.

Happy Birthday Pads. I Love You. And goodbye I'll see you soon.

Yours forevermore,

Moony.

🌙💫

A/N: I won't say that this song inspired the whole fic but towards the end I thought that the grief I wanted to portray with this fic resonated perfectly with how this song makes me feel so I listened to it again and it kinda helped me articulate things better.

And this is the cover I was obsessively listening to while writing the last entry :

P.S. To anyone struggling with grief and loss right now, I hope that you can be okay eventually. And I hope that it can get better someday soon , if not now. Please take care.

My Other Works

23 notes · View notes

onlygenxhere · 9 months

Note

hahaha 37 + 32 is screaming pregnant julie & drunk luke

“Hey Alex,” Luke looked up at him as he sat down.

“Hey, how ya doing buddy?” he gave Luke a pat on the back.

Luke had been dancing pretty hard with everyone else when Alex had stepped out to take a breather from the chaos of the reception about thirty minutes ago.

Now he was slumped over their table looking red faced and sweaty drinking what must be a rum and coke.

“Isn’t Julie pretty?” He sighed into his drink looking toward the dance floor.

Alex followed Luke’s line of sight to see Julie and all their friends still laughing and dancing around Reggie and Carrie, currently leading the cha cha slide.

“Yes Luke,” He gave him another pat on the back before reaching for a bottle of water across the table and taking a long drink. “Julie is, and always has been, very pretty.”

“Yeah,” He nodded. “She’s so pretty it makes me want to punch myself.” Luke declared with a dreamy sigh as he took another long sip from his drink.

Alex grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him up from his hunched over position to look at him. “Are you drunk?”

“Yes… very,” Luke blinked at him a few times. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

Alex open and closed his mouth a few times. “Okay…why would you think punching yourself was in any way a good idea?”

He turned around in his seat to face Alex. “I was thinking about that movie.”

Alex was gonna get whiplash from the apparent subject change but he knew drunk Luke had a point and would get there eventually, “I’m gonna need more than that Luke.”

“That movie with that guy who died,” He nodded at him expectantly.

Alex bit his lip trying to be patient with his best friend. “That narrows it down some but I’m gonna need a little more.”

“With the knights and the long.” He threw his arms out wide and wobbled a little in his chair. Alex grabbed his arm. “sticks… no, poles.”

He frowned racking his brain, movie with knights, poles, actor who died… “A Knight’s Tale?”

“Yes, yes!” Luke grinned and snapped his fingers pointing at him. “You know how he proves his love by loosing and takes all those hits?”

“Yeah…” Alex nodded not exactly the same thing as punching yourself in the face but he could see where drunk Luke might make a parallel. “Where are you going with this?”

“I was wondering if punching myself would prove my love to Julie?” Luke looked at him earnestly.

Alex had so many thoughts. The first was he wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen Luke this drunk, or more likely he’d never seen Luke this drunk when he was this sober.

The second was… what the fuck.

“Why would you think you need to prove your love to Julie?” Alex frowned at him.

This time it was Luke who opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking. “I can’t tell you, it’s a secret.”

Alex hummed, well that was interesting. As drunk as Luke was he could probably get it out of him, but it hardly seemed fair to use his best friend powers for evil. He knew Luke would tell him if he could, so it must be Julie’s secret.

He glanced over at the dance floor where she was and then back at Luke. “Well maybe you should ask your wife if she thinks you should punch yourself in the face.”

Luke narrowed his eyes as he stared at him obviously thinking hard. He could see the gears slowly turning in his mind and if this was a cartoon a literal light bulb would have popped on above his head when he remembered Julie and wife were the same person.

In his defense they’d been together for years but they’d only been husband and wife a few months.

“Yes! Thanks man!” He smacked Alex on the arm and turned to bellow toward the dance floor. “Julie!... Jules… Wife… Love of my life!!!”

Alex slapped his hand over Luke’s mouth. “Shit dude. I meant GO ask her.”

But Julie had heard him and came over to see what all the shouting was about. “Hey baby,” she ran a hand through his hair. “You doing ok?”

He looked up at her like she was an angel come to earth and leaned into her touch. “I love you so much.”

She gave Luke a wiry grin and glanced at Alex before turning back to her husband. “I love you too.”

“You are so amazing and you do so much for us.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked up at her with his chin on her stomach. “I was just wondering if I should prove my love to you by punching myself in the face?”

He kissed her belly.

OH!

Alex looked at Julie with wide eyes and she giggled and gave him an almost imperceptible nod before looking back down at her husband and shaking her head. “You know I didn’t realize when I told you to drink for me tonight you’d take it quite so literally.”

“My queen gave me a task.” He grinned up at her and then frowned. “Are you upset with me?”

“No baby,” She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead and Alex watched as Luke’s smile grew back on his face even bigger than before. “And you don’t need to prove your love to me.”

“I don’t?” he furrowed his eyebrows at her and glanced back at him. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“You show me you love me every day Luke.” Julie said pulling his attention back to her. She grabbed his hands from around her waist and stepped back.

“I do?” He stood up slowly and swayed slightly in front of her.

“You do.” She nodded as she pulled his hand up to her lips and kissed his knuckles. “I know what you can do for me right now though.”

“Anything for you Jules you know that.” He looked down at her so intently.

“Take me to get some water?” she smiled up at him batting her eyelashes.

“I can do that.” He bounced on his heels as he looked around spotting the bar across the room.

Luke straightened up, stuck his elbow out for Julie to take, which she did, and proceeded to escort her across the room.

Alex watched them fondly as they walked away, thinking they were both very lucky to have each other and that the little secret Julie was carrying with them would be very lucky to have them too.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #juke #alex mercer #these prompts did seem super easy at first #then the bitch fought me for a whole day #i think i'm finally happy enough with it now #it's rairrie's wedding if that's not clear #writing prompt

41 notes · View notes

period-dramallama · 19 days

Note

What's your opinion on The White Queen and the other shows in the PGCU?

*stares out of the window, eyes full of memories* The White Queen… now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time…

Ah, 2013. Springtime. I was excited for the White Queen to air through the Beeb. Since 2011 I had devoured the first four books of PG’s Cousins’ War series: The White Queen (loved it) The Red Queen (loved it even more) The Lady of the Rivers (you mean best girl Jacquetta gets her own book? RESULT!) The Kingmaker’s Daughter (whaaaat the story is completely different from another person’s POV? MIND BLOWN!)

Yes, people don’t like the role of witchcraft in the story, but I didn’t mind it at all. It made sense to me that women might practice white magic, because medieval people really did believe magic could work. And if the Tudors felt special by claiming descent from King Arthur, it made sense that descent from Melusine would feel special to Elizabeth Woodville and her family. After all, as far as back Julius Caesar people were claiming descent from heroes gods and mythological figures. And yes, it’s a cliché to have your Empowered Woman practice herbology or witchcraft etc Divine Feminine etc, but Margaret Beaufort was a HBIC while explicitly rejecting magic, and the same goes for Anne Neville.

The tabloids were already grumbling about how the show filmed in Belgium because the medieval architecture there was less intruded-upon. Then the first episodes aired and the tabloids were grumbling about zippers, straight teeth, concrete steps, guttering, handrails, Rebecca Ferguson’s accent. ‘It’s not as good as Game of Thrones’. What was this show, ‘Game of Thrones’? I felt rather envious/jealous. I wanted my show to be good. I wanted my show to get good reviews and have people enthused about it and be genuinely objectively well-made. Now I’ve moved beyond this attitude; and if a show is better than ‘my’ show I don’t resent it because there’s nothing to stop me enjoying the better show too.

(….mostly moved beyond this attitude).

Funnily enough it was because of the White Queen that I landed upon this strangely-formatted website called ‘tumbler’. Sorry, ‘tumblr’.

Ah, the cast! I wouldn’t change a single person. Janet McTeer! James Frain! David Oakes! Rupert Graves! Amanda Hale! Veerle Baetens! Eleanor Tomlinson! Faye Marsay! Aneurin Barnard as Richard the Frodo!

Also, Leo Bill as Reginald Bray, he was great! I remember at the time saying that Reggie B and Maggie B should have their own sitcom spinoff called Saints’ Knees.

Episodes 6 and 7 were my favourite because I was a big Richard/Anne shipper. Even the reviewers came around to the show with episode 9 ‘the Princes in the Tower’.

And then the finale….how I hated it. Bosworth FIELD in a wood?? In winter?? Bullshit! Torpedoing the Richard/Anne ship with INCEST? UGH.

I particularly hated the last scene because it was such a damp squib. The show should have ended on a high note, with Margaret’s triumph, with her dream coming true, with her sheer relief that her only son has gambled his life and won. With mother and son gloriously reunited. But no, it ended with Elizabeth of York, the least interesting character in the whole show. SNORE. I have the White Queen on DVD but idk if I’ll ever rewatch it.

Then the book The White Princess came out and W-T-F? I loved the first 4 books but the 5th book was a SLOG to get through. What was PGregs thinking?? This wasn’t Henry VII. This wasn’t Elizabeth of York. This wasn’t the Margaret of the Red Queen, with her flaws, her loves, her fears, her strength, her dreams, her humanity. I finished the White Princess but I only got through 2-5 pages of The King’s Curse before I gave up, suspecting that the book would be another 500 pages of whining about the Tudors and nothing else. Yes, it’s unfair to call Margaret Pole whiny as she had legit reasons to be unhappy, but it felt whiny.

Years passed. Empires rose and fell. Ironically, I got into Game of Thrones and read all the books. Then 2015 arrived and I watched the first episode of series 5, realised they made a huge mistake killing off a certain major character, and I was right because it was DOWNHILL ALL THE WAY.

2017. I didn’t watch the White Princess but I followed the Discourse, especially the excellent analysis by MelinaPendulum (now Princess Weekes). In theory, the show should be right up my street. A vengeful princess in love with her shady king uncle? Her shady king uncle is killed in battle and she must marry the conqueror? Vengeful princess vows to be ‘hidden and patient’? It’s enemies to lovers? The conqueror reveals hidden vulnerabilities? She realises she wants her son to be king after his father? She’s torn between her ambition, her mother’s ambition, her brother’s ambition, and her burgeoning desire for her husband, a sexy mop? She destroys her brother, the Rightful King ™? She executes her brother, just as her father executed his own brother? She finds her own power but loses a tiny and precious part of her soul in the process? SIGN ME UP.

The show should have been historically inspired fantasy. Just change the names! The costumes were more fairytale than medieval anyway! Change Richard III to Gorlois, Elizabeth to Igraine, Henry VII to Uther Pendragon.

I loved the posters for The Spanish Princess series 1 but I had no reason to watch it.

And then… The Spanish Princess series 2. What an event that show was! We didn’t know what Fraham would give us each week but we knew it would be illogical, hilarious, terrible, TASTELESS. Reading everyone’s reviews and liveblogs each week, the endless meme potential, the consensus that the show was utter shlock, so lowbrow that it made The Tudors look like Breaking Bad in comparison. The show was so stupid that it was almost beneath contempt. And there were unironically good things about it: Georgie Henley and Sai Bennett acted their socks off and I wish them all the best, I hope they get good parts in better shows. Their characters were genuinely interesting and engaging: fun, sassy, flawed. Me gusta. Maggie Pole, Lina, Oviedo… sympathetic characters with little to do, but it was nice seeing POC and ‘middle aged’ women and I wish they were the protagonists instead of poor Charlotte Hope desperately struggling to speak Spanishly. (Ruairi O’Connor also tried hard, he just wasn’t well-cast or well-written.) In a way, maybe it was more fun than Becoming Elizabeth because at least there was no wasted potential and no frustrated expectations: we expected shlock, we got shlock. The show wasn’t good but the community around the show livened up the end of a….not terrible but definitely WEIRD year of my life.

#period drama #the spanish princess #the white princess #the white queen #thanks for the question! flattered you wanted to know my opinion on all 4 shows

8 notes · View notes