#Free Spell To Win the Lottery near me | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bigskydreaming · 5 years

Text

Okay, I knew Alistair the Dream-Keeper wasn’t the first time I’d written the idea of magically weaponized dreams, so I went hunting through old email accounts and found a whole fucking manuscript I wrote like, twelve years ago and totally forgot about. WHOOPS. (This happens with me more often than you’d think actually possible). I’m only a third of the way through my re-read of it, but it holds up surprisingly well IMO, I’m pretty pleased. I can actually do something with this, I think.

Course, it was apparently written back during my whole “every thing must be hetero otherwise there will be no publishing” period, before the beginning of my personal Age of LOL Nah, Fuck That, Everything Must Be Gay. So, first things first, Jez definitely needs a girlfriend, and also a different name. I can’t believe I named her Jez, like, wow, I was really trying to get YA Bingo, wasn’t I? In my defense, this was when I was twenty-three. Also, this first chapter here has a character named Scott and this was before Teen Wolf even premiered, so apparently I just like the name Scott? Huh. Did not know.

BURNING DAYLIGHT

Jez O’Neill knows she has three years, two months, and sixteen days to live.

She’s had visions for as long as she can remember. She knows they’re never wrong. And when the boy her visions say will someday kill her comes into her life, she knows to stay far away.

But somehow he gets close anyways. Because Nathan is perfect. He’s handsome, he’s charming, he’s utterly, unbearably sweet. And when he learns of Jez’s visions, he promises to cheat Death for her. An interest in New Age turns into an obsession with the occult, and that leads to tiny cracks in the walls of the world, where strange and untrustworthy spirits wait to barter with anyone desperate enough to try.

Magic, however, always comes with a price. The higher the reward you seek, the more you can expect to pay, and the spell Nathan thinks will change their destiny instead puts them on a collision course with Fate. It changes him, twists him in mind and soul, transforming the boy Jez loves into the madman who will someday take her life.

With only three years left until the day she now knows she can’t avoid, Jez discovers she and Nathan share the same zipcode again as he sows death and destruction in the streets of LA. But rather than flee for another city, Jez pits herself against the monster she once loved, the monster she helped create, determined to make sure no one else gets caught in the crossfire of their attempt to cheat their fates.

Call it redemption if you want. Jez calls it Tuesday.

Chapter 1

Dreams are doorways if you have the right key.

That’s why I’ve wasted a perfectly good Sunday night perched on the edge of Scott Kinley’s desk. It’s awkward, uncomfortable, and I’m sure I look like a gargoyle in the pitch dark of the two o’clock hour, but every chair in his bedroom is covered in dirty teenage boy laundry. I’ll stick with my perch, thanks.

I kick my legs out and arch my spine, stretching my arms over my head with fingers laced together. Cramped and aching muscles voice their protest. Something cracks in my neck when I roll my head back. Meanwhile, Scott Kinley snores contentedly in his sleep in the bed across the room. I shoot him a glare that’s best described as withering.

Spears of pale moonlight slip through the slatted blinds covering the window above his bed. They stab the length of his body, highlighting a strong jawline and tousled blond hair, not to mention a chest and set of abs that frankly, I just find obnoxious on a fellow teenager. It’s L.A. in early September – code for unbearably hot – and he’s sleeping with the bare minimum of sheets, a loose span of cotton that’s only covering him up to his waist. I’d enjoy the cheap thrill more if it didn’t make me feel like such a perv.

After all, I’m a total stranger who broke into his house and has spent the last four hours going through his things and watching him sleep. It’s kinda hard to feel good about that. In my defense, I’m only here to save his life from a creepy magical serial killer. Course, I have strong doubts that would hold up in a court of law should he wake up and have me arrested for breaking and entering. But I still feel it’s worth mentioning.

A yawn and a glance at his alarm clock confirm that it’s 2:07 am and I have no life. I lean back on the desk and rifle through his homework some more as I go back to invading his privacy. My only defense here is I’m really bored.

His handwriting’s slightly more legible than your average garden-variety chicken scratch, but I’m still not one hundred percent his name’s Scott Kinley. The Scott part is clear, but the ‘I’ in what I think is Kinley could be a really jacked up ‘o’ I guess. Whatever. It’s a pre-calculus assignment, and the last yearbook on his bookshelf is from his sophomore year, so I’m guessing he’s a junior like me. Or like I would be, if I still bothered going to school. Hmm. Eleventh grade and already in precalc? Someone’s a smarty-pants. Interesting.

A row of trophies and a couple of team photos declare him a water polo jock, and not too shabby of one according to this MVP title. Explains the abs. I roll my eyes around the rest of the room. Small TV so old it has a VCR player built into it. An even older Sega Genesis console is hooked up to it, so either Scott’s big on nostalgia or his family’s not big on luxuries. There’s a couple of movie posters tacked to the wall, but the puddle of light leaking across the floor doesn’t reach far enough for me to make out any details. Then a freestanding bookcase, a good five shelves high, filled with actual books. Above it is a college pennant with a bear on it – I think that’s Cal Berkeley, right? Possible destination, I’m guessing….

God. And he was in bed by ten. Smart, good-looking, athletic and ambitious. Did his parents just win the baby lottery, or if I go down the hall will I find the altar they used to bargain with the Devil?

Not that it matters. I stretch my legs out again and dip my toes into the pool of moonbeams, watching them spill across my feet when I wiggle. It’s only been six months since my last boyfriend went all dark side on me and turned into a spell-wielding slaughterhouse. I’m kind of not dating right now.

So it’s only natural my visions would lead me to the most eligible teen bachelor in Los Angeles – I cast another quick look around the desk for the requisite ‘me and my girlfriend’ photo – nope, most eligible teen bachelor in Los Angeles. Ugh. It’s like announcing your diet and inheriting a pastry shop the next day. I feel a sudden urge to grab one of his dirty shirts off the floor just to make sure his one human flaw is real and not an illusion.

Wow. I can’t believe I just thought that. Apparently sleep deprivation makes me weird. Besides, there’s no way that smell could be imaginary.

I throw another withering glare in Scott’s direction. It’s his fault I’m a weird, sleep-deprived pervert in his stinky bedroom. My baleful stare bakes the air above his bed. It bends and twists like a summer heat wave on asphalt. Wait. That’s not right.

I shake my head, peering through the fog that shrouds my tired mind. Somewhere in my snooping I failed to notice Scott’s happy snores had turned into frantic whimpers. He’s writhing on his bed; sweat beads all over his restless body, glistening like fragile pearls in the faint light. The room is abruptly a sauna. Heat climbs the walls and steam mists the glass of the picture frames.

“Shit,” I whisper, and I’m in motion, leaping off the desk into a crouch. I dip my hand into my hoodie and whip out my knife, steel slicing moonbeams to ribbons as the blade springs free. A low keening shreds the silence, hoarse spectral shouts as faces flicker through the knife, reflected in the steel. I cross the room in three steps. Scott cries out. His fingers scratch at the air like crooked claws.

Somewhere a door opens, and something steps through. Between the space of one second and the next, a heavy silhouette takes shape on this side of the dream.

I slam into the figure with all my weight, blade aimed for the midsection where I’m hoping vital organs will be. The knife sinks in too easily. The sandman-born beastie is still in that transitive state where its dream wrought form has yet to shift all the way down the spectrum to vulnerable flesh. Then my knife catches and scrapes against bone. The nightmare screams as it sinks its roots into our reality and feels pain for the first time.

It’s tougher to pull the blade free, but I’m stronger than any normal seventeen year old girl has a right to be. More specifically, as long as I’m wielding that knife I’m as strong as all the monsters it’s killed combined. And I’ve racked up a decent body count. Blood and bile sprays in slow motion, a cresting wave of black tar. A few drops land on my arm. There’s a hissing sound and I feel like I’m on fire. I grit my teeth and swing again. It dodges and I miss. We both regroup, and I get my first good look at it.

Damn. Mr. Perfect Teen USA has one hell of a fucked up subconscious. I’m just saying.

The nightmare swallows what dim light comes near it, refusing to be illuminated. It’s thick, ridged with protrusions of bone and slick scales that shimmer with their own dark radiance. A trunk-like torso gives way to stocky legs. At certain angles they seem to merge into a single column similar to a snake. It has four arms, except for when it has six – and then two and then twelve and then they’re not arms at all, but tentacles. The head is a gaping chasm of teeth and forked tongue surrounded by a lion’s mane of mottled skin. It’s dizzying and hard to look at. Confusing and chaotic. The only constant is its ugliness.

I charge at it, because I’m just that dumb. Hey, only the good die young.

It dips to the side, cobra-quick, and its tail snaps out like the crack of a whip. I take the hit square in my ribs and I’m lifted off my feet, flying back across the room. My breath flees from my lungs, my head slams back into a wall. I bite my tongue and taste copper.

“Rude,” I gasp.

Scrambling up to snatch my knife from where I dropped it mid-flight, I steal strength from its macabre magic. Even still, regaining my feet takes effort and time I don’t have to spare. The nightmare’s turned its attention back to Scott. He’s finally awake and sitting up his bed. Pale, frightened, and totally out of his league. Considering we were dealing with his worst nightmare in every literal sense of the word, I cut him some slack. I’m a good person.

I roll forward and rake my cursed blade along the creature’s side on my way. It rears and screams again. Dimly I hear footsteps and distant shouting.

“What the hell is that thing?” Scott asks, eyes locked on the beastie like a man entranced. Oh good, he can talk. I was starting to wonder. I duck around the nightmare and stick myself in between it and him.

“Don’t ask me. It’s your childhood trauma,” I say, hefting my knife and gauging distance. “Now shut up, don’t die, and for god’s sake put on some pants.”

I lunge and bury my knife in the thing’s throat. I’m liking my odds less and less when it still finds the strength to knock my grip loose and drop me on my ass. More blood drips down on me, igniting nerve endings everywhere it touches my skin. Let’s recap. I have spunk, pizzazz, seven spells and a cursed knife on my side. It has burning blood, a build like a freight train, and claws and fangs that seem to multiply every time I look at it. It leans forward and roars its hostility right in my face.

Also, it has halitosis.

A swipe of its many tentacle-arms knocks me back and to the side again. I land on the floor, staring up at the bookshelf. It’s tricky reading the titles from my upside-down vantage point, but I hazily make out the collected works of one H.P. Lovecraft. That explains a lot.

“You know, there are worse things in the world than being a cliché,” I complain, glowering over my shoulder at Scott. He has the decency to look ashamed, over where he’s huddled on the other side of the desk. Course, I’m sure he has no idea what he’s ashamed of, but my tone conveys the point rather well, I think. “Seriously. The dumb jock thing. Just give it a try.”

Mano a mano isn’t working out too well for me so I switch tactics. I toss a quick ‘Hail Mary’ skyward, kick off my shoes and chant the most powerful – and dangerous – of my seven spells. It’s a nasty little sucker I bartered for in the second sphere, the Circle of Fire. I rattle off short, harsh syllables that climb reluctantly from the base of my throat, guttural utterances that were never meant to be made by a human voice. I dip my fingers in moonlight and etch glowing hieroglyphics in the air – they hang there for a moment, sharply luminescent in the seconds before they fade to black.

Staccato snaps and pops ring out. The alarm clock short circuits. Streetlights flicker and die. Every electronic in a fifty meter radius develops a sudden terminal illness and the air feels flooded. Thick and heavy with static as thousands of wayward electrical impulses conduct themselves through the atmosphere to me. I dig my toes into the heavy carpet and feel the hair on my head stand on end. Then I’m running, my nervous system supercharged with too much speed and power to contain long. I duck past the nightmare’s swinging arms – it might as well be lumbering at tortoise speed – and plant a single palm flat on its back.

My touch hits it like a thunderbolt, lightning barreling down the synapses in my arm and ripping into it with hurricane fury. It squeals and goes airborne, crashing into the desk and reducing it to kindling. Scott falls back, mouth open, and smoke wisps up from the creature’s motionless body.

For a second, I dare to hope it’s dead. It would be really awesome for me if it were. That was my most powerful offensive spell and using it comes with a one in ten chance of killing the spellcaster. So, you know. I’d really like to not have to use it again, please.

The nightmare heaves itself to its feet-tail, sending spears of desk turned firewood flying about the room. Some of the shrapnel heads my way and I cover my eyes. Splinters gouge at my palms. I peek past my fingers, and in a blur of motion the creature crosses the room and throws itself through the window. It rips through the blinds and shards of glass fountain into the hot summer night. The darkness outside swallows it whole.

“I hate you,” I casually inform the universe.

I pick past debris and make for the window. Or what’s left of it anyways. The house is on a hill, high enough elevation that glass from the window is still showering to the ground below. Chiming, delicate drops of crystal rain. City lights gleam from one horizon to the next. A pitch-black shadow makes its way across distant rooftops, dark even against the darkness, like a spreading oil stain spilling towards the downtown metropolis. Lovely.

“What the hell is going on?” Scott finally finds his voice again, but I have no time to soothe his shattered nerves or offer an introductory course on Things That Go Bump in the Night 101. I run my hands through my frizzy, static-damaged hair.

“That was disgusting, you need therapy, and the pants thing was not a suggestion,” I inform him, bending to retrieve my knife. Scott flushes and grabs the sheet off the bed. He doesn’t even try and peek at my ass. A piece of the Scott Kinley puzzle clicks into place, and I feel a tiny bit better.

“Hey, quick question. Are you gay?”

His jaw drops, but he recovers fairly quickly. “What – how did you – I mean, why?”

I shrug. “No reason. Just won a bet with myself is all.”

Hey, it’s the little things in life. I turn back to the window and track the nightmare’s course. Picking a rooftop a few buildings ahead of it, I prick my thumb and whisper a spell from the seventh sphere, the Celestial Circle. I sketch bloody sigils in the moonbeams cascading through the open window. They turn pale and faint and I grab their remnants like door handles. The silver light parts, a gauzy curtain opening on a window to a distant rooftop far below.

I cast a sigh at the bewildered boy behind me and step through. It’s probably for the best. Like I said, I’m kinda not dating right now anyways.

The curtain falls shut behind me and I resume my hunt.

#Burning Daylight #kalen writes things sometimes

5 notes · View notes

fk12b · 6 years

Text

Amortentia

Jack Kline x Reader

This was requested by my awesome friend @beccollie18 :

Can I request a Jack Kline x Reader one shot? Where the Winchesters and Jack and Cas go on a witch hunt and Jack is hit with a love potion and falls for reader? Reader is freaked out and runs from her feelings and Jack does cute fluffy things to win her over? Could you also put Lucifer there trying to give Jack advice and puts reader in awkward situations with him. Could you include Winchester teasing and marriage proposal? 172-174, 237, 242, 213, 207, 196, 194, 193 prompts? Fluff and light smut

A/N: This was awesome! I was planning to do a Jack fluff but had no ideas. So, your prayers were heard. So instead of Lucifer giving awkward bits of advice, That will be Cassie’s Job for today.

A/N/N: Anyone who’s willing to have a oneshot where Loofer gives/receives awkward pieces of advice can send me a request. As always I’ll use a song (you know me). Hope Y'all enjoy this and remember I love you.

Main characters: Team Free Will 2.0, Rowena

Prompts:

172 - “Let me love you”

174 - “Will you marry me?”

237 - “She’s hiding behind the sofa”

242 - “Don’t call me ‘princess’, asshole”

213 - “She said shut up to me”

207 - “You little shit!”

196 - “Shush, music first, then books and … maybe at the end… you”

194 - “Who dares to interrupt me when I’ve got my headphones on?”

193 - “Hey, beautiful”

Warnings: A lot of panicking. Adorable little nougat boy, Cas being Cas, light smut (If what I wrote could be considered that, sorry if you were expecting something different. Let’s say they are sexy times), the Winchesters being lovely, and tons of fluffy fluff (someday I’ll make serious warnings but that day isn’t today. Sorry not sorry)

Word Count: 4684 Words (as long as fuck)

Based on these songs -> Bed Of Roses - Bon Jovi & When I look into your eyes- Firehouse

Drink it. Drink it and all your dreams will come true.

A sweet voice said from behind the Nephilim, who was observing intently the elaborated thin crystal coup with an amber liquid, feeling the sudden need to reach for it. The witch materialized herself in front of him taking the form of Jack’s beloved one. Y/N. She delicately reached for the coup and holding it in her beautiful hands she drew near him.

You know you want this. Us.

The whisper was like the singing of a mermaid. Once you heard it, irrepressible. He couldn’t help but cautiously take the beverage from her. Sweet apple essence. Your perfume. Your essentia clouding his senses instantly. The sight of you clouding his mind.

Drink. And we can love each other forevermore.

It was almost unbearable for him. It was so wrong. But the thought of being away from you was taking over him to the point that it made his heart broke. He knew you didn’t love him, right? But, what if? Your figure cupped his face with those hands making him look into those mesmerizing Y/E/C eyes. Hypnotic.

Don’t be scared. The answer is in your heart.

He could die now and be happy forever and one knowing the last thing he saw was you, even though it was an illusion created by a witch. Jack gripped so tightly the coup that the witch thought it would break into pieces, however, he lifted the cup to his lips what made the witch smirk and he downed the love potion as Dean would down a whiskey shot.

The Winchesters along with Castiel and Rowena came rushing to the room, yet, it was late, the damage was all done. The witch turned around when she heard the door being open furiously, retrieving her original form.

“Jack no!“ The angel and Rowena shouted in an attempt to make the kid wake up from his trance but the Nephilim wouldn’t focus, he was blinking as if he would pass out at any second.

A loud bang was heard making Jack regaining consciousness, letting go of the coup only to be shattered into shards, and the witch fall to the floor with a loud thud. A second passed and the witch turned into dust along with the witch killing bullet. The brothers never saw something like this before.

“What was that?” Dean asked Rowena who was currently examining this witch’s grimoire while Cas rushed to Jack’s side.

“A potions witch, they are very rare and extremely powerful” The redhead explained “They gain their powers and immortality through potions. The immortality potion is a really complex one. This potion turns a human into dust, and for that, you have to die, but, to be still alive you need another potion called Angelus Anathema, in other words, the curse of the angel. A beverage made of demon blood, angel grace, and human souls. Anyway, they are not very immortal because you can kill them with a demon knife, angel blade or witch killing bullets or just steal the potion that keeps them alive.” Saying this in a snap of her fingers sent the books to a safe place in the Bunker.

“So they are like the Borrowers but they keep their existence to the potions because they aren’t powerful enough to cast spells?” The younger Winchester wondered.

“Exactly” Rowena nodded walking up to the Nephilim “But the question here is why are you still alive” She wondered cupping Jack’s face with her hands looking intently into his eyes.

“What do you mean,” Castiel asked frowning and concerned

“What Jack drank wasn’t a usual potion it was a powerful love potion” Rowena clarified placing both index fingers in the kid's temples.

“A love potion? Like the... Amortentia” Sam said making Dean throw at him a bitchface.

“Really? Harry Potter? Now?” His brother said annoyed.

“Guys!” Castiel spoke calmly “I learn that this potion is dangerous, why is that so?” He looked at Jack, panic taking over his body.

“It’s extremely dangerous because it’s made of Djinn’s blood, that’s what gives its amber or blue color. How do you feel sweetie pie?” The witch asked sweetly to the Nephilim.

“I’m” He frowned thinking for a moment “Fine. Overwhelmed but fine. Is it bad?”

“Considering that anyone who drinks this potion dies instantly, is not that bad” She smiled “You are very fortunate. There’s no escape from this potion”

“There’s no escape?” Dean asked

“No. There’s no escape from its sleep unless the person it made you fell for returns your love” Rowena explained

“Doesn’t seem that difficult” Sam commented

“No. Considering that this beloved one has to be your soulmate, it’s not that difficult no” The redhead commented with heavy sarcasm. “So, tell me, Jack. Who did you see?” Jack smiled sweetly.

“Y/N” He whispered sweetly making everyone in the room gasp.

“Today is your lucky day kid!” They all commented with one voice “I suggest buying lottery tickets. Hell no! You must buy lottery tickets!” Dean added exiting the room to head to the Impala.

“I thought you knew me better than to interrupt me when I’m watching the best show you have, Netflix,” You said out loud pressing the continue button harshly.

You were currently catching up with some of your favorites shows, you had so many that most of them were in their third season, as you had to sit this hunt out, due to some broken ribs in a not so sweet fight with a son of a witch. So despite your argument with Deano, saying that you could go on a hunt with no problem, he claimed that you should fully recover before going on another one again. As if you didn’t hunt with a broken arm or ribs before.

You heard the metal door of the Bunker being opened and instantly you knew that your boys were back safe and sound. As soon as you turned off the TV, you clearly heard a loud Princess I’m home from Jack making your eyes go wide. It couldn’t be possible, for some strange reason that nickname made you panic and look for a place to hide. Brilliant idea.

It was obvious, even for a blind one, that you love each other deeply. Well, It was crystal clear that you love him, but he was a Nephilim. Not that you minded. You were sure if things weren’t like that, he being a powerful being and you a stupid human, he’ll love you back. But life wasn’t so easy, and sure Karma didn’t leave you alone always making you fall for him every day more and more. There isn’t a chance that you two could be together. But you couldn’t hate him either. No, you couldn’t. So yeah, you were angry with him for being so cute and adorable as hell.

“Princess? Where are you?” There he was. In the living room doorframe. OH Chuck, if you could you’ll run to him and hug him tight and kiss him.

He took a look inside the room but saw no sight of you and frowned. Turning his head to look at Sam who placed an arm around his shoulders and chuckled.

“She’s hiding behind the sofa, Jack” He saw how the young Nephilim’s face lightened up with happiness and something more he couldn't quite pinpoint.

“Fuck” you muttered to yourself. Busted. You thought and as if it were a magic trick you stood up from the floor with a jump and a sweet smile.

“Princess!” Jack cheered as he opened his arms and in two long strides he hugged you tightly as if his life depended on it. You awkwardly patted his back and felt a fluffy touch on your left arm. Widening your eyes again you realized it was the feathers of his wings. It only meant one thing, and it made you panic even more. “I missed you, princess,” He said again.

“Don’t call me ‘princess’, asshole” You said grabbing him by his shoulders to move him away from you.

If there was something you hated more than anything was someone calling you princess. You knew damn well you weren’t one. And furrowing your eyebrows you left the Bunker’s living room and headed to the library. Jack turned to look at Sam who was chuckling softly.

“I thought girls liked to be called princess” the Nephilim wondered frowning.

“Well, this princess of the night doesn’t like to be called that” Sam gave him a soft smile.

They both heard you shout ‘I’m not a princess!’ angrily making the young Winchester laugh. You weren’t going to admit that your heart skipped a beat when Jack called for you as soon as he placed a foot on the bunker by calling you ‘princess’.

Later that day...

You were relaxing, reading one of the so many interesting books in the library listening to the best collection of heavy metal classics. Sitting next to you was the Nephilim talking with the brothers, his father Castiel and Rowena, who had a soft spot on him but wouldn’t admit.

“You should tell her how you feel, Jack” Sam commented taking a sip of his beer and typing on his laptop.

“Wait, she isn’t hearing our conversation, right?” Dean asked turning to look at you.

“No, I can hear Holocaust from here!” Sam clarified throwing a bitchface to no one in particular.

“Really?” his brother wondered in awe.

“What is Holocaust?” Jack asked the older Winchester frowning “That sounds terrible!”

“Well, better than what you should ask who are they” Rowena spoke not tearing her eyes from one of the grimoires she borrowed from the witch as she turned another page.

“They are a Scottish heavy metal band founded in 1977 and based in Edinburgh” Castiel answered Jack nonchalantly making all of them turn to him. “Y/N told me yesterday because I asked the same question”

“Guys, we are going around the bush, Jack, just listen to me” The witch closed the book and put it away. “You need patience with her. She might seem tough on the outside, but she is as soft as she is difficult to get through. You just have to find ways to demonstrate her how much you love her” Jack blinked trying to absorb the amount of information he just received and then nodded in understanding.

“Dean always tells me to be direct with my feels” Castiel explained tilting his head.

“Just, tell her you love her, already!” Dean grunted finishing his beer.

The Nephilim turned in his chair to face you. You were truly beautiful. But he didn’t love you just for your looks. He loved you because of your heart. You were the first one in helping him anytime he had a problem and a really good listener, so for him, it was impossible not to love you. You’ve really been nice to him since the very first second he met you and the sight of you and your cheerfulness was so contagious, that it always made him smile. So, feeling sudden confidence, he pulled your earbuds out of your ears, making all of them go wide-eyed while they shouted ‘Jack no!’. Castiel gulped hard, feeling your anger levels rising very quickly.

“Who dares to interrupt me when I’ve got my headphones on?!” You couldn’t help but snap at whoever did that. Everyone in the Bunker new not to disturb you when you were listening to music because, well, you’ll be ‘a little grumpy’ instead. “Just in the best damn part!” you continued ranting harshly turning to face the cause of such misfortune.

“You’ve released the Krakken, man” Dean joked to mask his fear, earning a bitchface from his brother. He knew better than to do such a thing.

Jack was staring at you dumbfounded and in fear with your headphones still in hand. However, when you saw it was only Jack, you softened your factions and instantly regretted snapping at him. Shit, he’ll hate me now.

“Sorry” You apologized softly clearing your throat “D-did you want something?” Jack could only shake his head no, he was still frozen. “Okay. Just don’t do that again, please” Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and kissing his cheek with a noisy kiss, making him relax instantly, you stood up retiring to your room, leaving a smiley Nephilim behind with a hand were your lips were moments before.

“He tamed the beast” Both brothers whispered together not believing their eyes.

The morning two days later after this...

You were sitting in the back seat of the Impala between Castiel and Jack, scrolling down your phone looking for some info, while you five headed to another hunt. You slowly looked up from it and turned your head only to find the cute Nephilim staring intently at you.

"Hi," He said raising a hand waving at you with a smile on his face. He crossed the line of awkward you thought. You found it really cute but you weren’t going to admit it.

"Um... hello, Jack" you awkwardly raised your hand waving a little bit your fingers not knowing where to look. As you leaned forward to turn up the volume of the radio as it was AC/DC on it, you whispered to the brothers what was wrong with him. Sam just shrugged and Dean started to sing along the lyrics of ‘Thunderstruck’ but didn't quite pay attention to him because you were trying to understand was being said behind you.

"Jack stop" Castiel whispered to him

"But did you see it?!" He whispered back.

"What did I miss?" You asked looking at Cas who was just facepalming and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Nothing really important" Cas commented with a wave of his free hand.

What you missed was Jack looking intently at your booty and while, you looked at Cas, he was admiring your cleavage.

"Jack" Dean called from the drives seat looking from the rearview mirror making him look at the hunter from it too.

"What?" He asked so innocently with a face of not having broken a plate in his life.

That afternoon...

After so much begin from you, saying that it was a beautiful day outside and warm, you were researching with Dean and Cas in the open space they had with picnic tables at the motel you were staying at, while Sam and Jack went to buy some food and drinks. So far you figured that a couple of vetalas were the ones behind the missing peoples, the hardest part was to locate their hiding place.

“Can I ask you something?” You asked looking up from the map frowning at the men in front of you.

“Of course” Castiel spoke while Dean gave you his full attention. “Shot”

“Did something happen in that witch hunt, two days ago?” You frowned and Castiel tensed immediately. “I mean, nor that I mind Jack being awkward, because you know it’s Jack” You laughed nervously “But his sudden affection towards me” You trailed off.

“Troubles in paradise?” Dean joked

“Dean” The angel warned and then changed his tone to a sweeter one “I don’t understand your point, Y/N. Jack has always been affective towards you”

“No yeah, It’s not that, I mean yeah” You stuttered suddenly feeling numb “What I mean, is if this affectionate Jack it’s because he was hit with a love spell or he drank a love potion” You frowned even more.

“I can assure you that your boyfriend is love potion-spell free” Dean teased you.

“Dean, shut up! He’s not my boyfriend” You snapped at him.

“Oh yeah, he’s not your boyfriend. But when he janks the headphones from your ears you kiss him, but when is Sam or me your ready to kill us. Worse, rip our hearts out of our chests and then feed it to us” Dean rolled his eyes. “So yeah, I think he’s your boyfriend”

“Shut up!” You threw a scrambled paper at his face which he caught with one hand.

“Oh, look, Cas” The older Winchester mocked “How cute, she said shut up to me. Twice!” Dean pouted.

“You little shit!” You shouted at him, scrambling another piece of paper and throwing it at him. This time hitting him right in the eye.

“Look, Who’s coming! Hey, boyfie!” Dean shouted and smirked waving his arm exaggeratedly. You, on the other hand, ignored him thinking he was joking because you didn’t hear the roar of the Impala. You weren’t that far from the parking lot.

“Hello, Jack” Castiel greeted making you throw at him a bitchface

“You too, Cas” you shacked your head, making Dean throw his head back in laughter, “I thought we were...”

“Hey, beautiful” You were interrupted by Jack plopping down next to you.

“Hello, Jack,” You said blushing and tried to cover your flushed face with your hair by moving your head a little, and turned in your spot to face the smiling Nephilim noticing he was hiding something behind his back.

“Hello to you too, Y/N” Sam greeted chuckling while he handed to each one of you the food.

“I brought you something,” Jack said smiling even more.

“Yeah?” You asked frowning catching a glimpse of a smirking Sam.

“Yeah” The Nephilim nodded showing you a cute rainbow stuffed unicorn and you couldn’t contain the growing smile. “Do you like it? I saw it at the market and thought maybe you would like one. It’s cute” But he was looking directly into your eyes.

“Well, I love it. Thanks, Jack” Taking the stuffed animal from his hands you kissed his cheek.

“Why aren’t they a couple yet?” Castiel whispered to the brothers

The night three days later...

“Why do you like this movie?” Jack asked you while you settled everything at the Bunker’s living room.

You decided it was a good idea to have a movie night with Jack while the brothers along with Castiel went on a hunt. The hunt didn’t require five people, so you offered to stay with Jack, not because you wanted to spend some time alone with him or anything, or something like that. What a crazy thing!

“I like this movie because it has two things I like the most: Egipt and books” It wasn’t a complete truth, but It wasn’t a lie either. Taking a seat next to him on the couch and placing the bowl of popcorns between you both you picked the remote. “You ready?” You asked looking at him and he nodded eagerly and you pressed play.

Though it wasn’t the best film in the world every time you watched The Mummy, 1999 movie, you fell in love with it once more. Not to mention that you had a crush on every character that resembles a bit Indiana Jones, what was the case of Rick O'Connell.

“Did you like the movie?” You wondered when the credits started to roll, moving a bit to face the Nephilim who had his eyes still fixed on the tv screen.

“Very much,” He said turning his head to look at you “Though is scary sometimes”

“Yeah” You chuckled “The mummy scared me the first time I saw this movie too”

“What do you like about this movie?” Jack wondered wanting to know more about your love for this movie.

“How the smart girl and the adventurer fall in love with each other” You simply said “And how Evelyn is passionate about books”

“You are passionate about books too” Jack cheered “That makes you Evelyn Carnahan” He smiled at you. You let a soft laugh at his sudden cheerfulness.

“Well, I don’t think I’m worth four camels” You chuckled.

“You are worth more than four camels. Actually” The Nephilim looked at your eyes intently “You are worth more than all the camels in the world”

“Jack that’s saying a lot” you whispered “considering that camels are of great value in the Arabian culture”

“Just, imagine how much you mean to me” Jack whispered, “Do you love me too?” He moved a little closer.

“Shush” You whispered moving a little closer too “Music first, then books and...” He leaned a bit “...Maybe at the end, you”

“Let me love you” The Nephilim whispered back and then crashed his lips into yours kissing you passionately.

Your heart skipped a bit. It was finally happening, he was kissing you and it wasn’t a dream. The soundtrack of the credits was filling the room and it was something magical. You tangled your hands in his blonde hair while he rested one hand on the small of your back and the other at the back of your neck bringing you closer to him. Suddenly, the ringing of your phone startled you, but Jack didn’t let go of your lips. You pulled his hair making him moan into your mouth allowing you to break the kiss a bit.

“Jack, I need to answer” You whispered before he was kissing you again. You pulled his hair again earning another moan from him. This time he let go of your lips just to kiss your cheeks, an allowing you to extend an arm to reach for your phone which was on the coffee table, while he continued to kiss you. “I-it’s Dean” He hummed in response. “Hey, Dean!” You greeted while you answered the call, while Jack pushed you back to lay back on the couch.

“Hey, Y/N/N! Having fun?” He asked. You could tell he was smirking.

“We are watching a movie,” You said trying to stay calm while Jack moved to kiss your jaw and leave a trail of kisses on your neck.

“Which movie?” Dean wondered.

“The” You gasped and tightened the grip on his hair because Jack had found that sweet spot and you sure were going to have a hickey “The Mummy” you tried to sound normal and calm.

“The old one?” You were sure Dean was doing this on purpose.

“It’s not that old, Dean!” You shouted at him annoyed that he called old your favorite movie, and annoyed that Jack wasn’t letting go of you in order to talk properly on the phone. It was a weird feeling, yet pleasant, talking while someone kissed your throat, and it made you pull his hair again to move him away from you. But Jack had other plans, and he kissed your lips again, this time roughly, for a few seconds then moved to your other untouched side of the neck finding another sweet spot, sucking and kissing it. It gave you goosebumps when he nibbled your collarbone.

“Okay, okay. Don’t need to shout, I need my ears to hunt. Well, we’ve just arrived at the motel. Don’t have to much fun, okay?” You were sure Dean knew what was going on.

“Okay, can we enjoy the movie now?” The movie that was long ago forgotten.

“Yeah, sure. Bye sweetheart!”

“Bye, Dean!” You ended the call and throwing your phone away to the table, you grabbed Jack’s face with both hands to make him look at you.

“Damn Jack, where did you learn that?” You asked him between kisses while you roamed his back.

“From the pizzaman,” He said while you tugged at the bottom at his t-shirt. He knew what you wanted and he got rid of it. You saw how his wings fluttered open. You reached with your left hand to cares them making him shiver. He didn’t question your acts. It was like if he knew you could see them. You placed your hands on his back, next to the base of his wings, fearing that you hurt him.

“Did I hurt you?” You asked moving one hand to cup his cheek.

“No” He looked at your Y/E/C eyes and rested his forehead with yours. “It felt amazing” He kissed you deeply again and you racked your nails through the base of his wings. The Nephilim left a sound, a mixture of a groan and moan. “Do that again, please” He whispered.

Two years later...

You were having a lazy afternoon, just taking a walk around a park near the Bunker. The sun was starting to set but it was still warm. It felt amazing, though you could tell Jack was more nervous than usual.

“What’s wrong, Jackie?” You asked softly tightening the hold on his hand.

“Nothing” He looked at you lovingly “I was just thinking” He swung your intertwined hands, making you chuckle.

“About what?” You wondered.

“About the day it all started” You chuckled.

“You mean, the day Dean almost made us Hellhound meal?” He chuckled along with you.

“Dean got so mad, I thought he was going to kill me for real that time” He placed your hand, the one he was holding, on his waist and then threw his arm around your shoulders pressing you to his side. “But no, not that day”

“Then, which day?” You asked leaning into him and he placed a kiss on your forehead which left a tingling sensation.

“The day I met you, of course,” He smiled “When Sam and Dean found me and brought me to the bunker for the first time, I was scared to death. But, then I saw your smile and I forgot about everything. I felt safe, at home. And I fell in love with you right there”

“You’re so cheesy sometimes” You chuckled and kissed his cheek. True was that his words made your heart skip a beat.

“Remember that hunt two years ago?” Jack looked down at you.

“The one where I had to stay at the Bunker because a witch smashed my ribs? Yeah, I remember. I wanted to kick all your asses for that” You both chuckled.

“That day I was hit with a love potion. A strong one” Jack confessed making you stop dead in your tracks.

“Oh, man!” You feared the worst “You’ve woken up from your trance, and you love me no more. I knew there was something wrong with you” He shushed you by kissing you deeply and cupping your cheek.

“Will you let me finish?” He chuckled “I’m totally fine. And I love you. More every second” He rested his forehead against you and kissed it. “Well, that day I discovered something”

“What did you discover?” You asked panic taking over your body.

“That you were my soulmate” He smiled warmly and kissed you deeply once more.

“Soulmate?” You whispered when you pulled apart.

“Soulmate, yes” He nodded, “Rowena said that it was a strong potion, one that has no escape”

“Well, if it has no escape” You interrupted once more “That means that you could have died. Jack, what’s your point? You are scaring me” You whispered once more.

“There’s nothing to fear, love” He kissed your cheek and then your lips once more “As I was saying, that potion, has no escape. Indeed, there’s only one way: The person it made you fall for has to love you back” You relaxed a bit but still felt anxious.

“Thank, Chuck, I fell in love with you the first time you came to the bunker” You chuckled while looking at the floor.

“And be that person’s soulmate” The Nephilim continued making you look up at him, your heart sure exploded.

“How is that even possible?” You whispered looking at his gold-hazel eyes.

“I don’t even know, but I know one thing.” He kneeled in front of you on one knee, making you freeze and some curious ones gather around you. “That I love you with all my heart, forevermore. Will you marry me?” He took a crimson velvet box from one of his pockets with trembling hands to reveal a beautiful ring. You were still frozen, but once you locked eyes with him, you threw yourself at him crashing your lips into his, almost falling while the crowd cheered and clapped.

“Is that a yes?” He whispered once you both pulled apart.

“It’s an of course” He chuckled and slid the ring on your finger.

A thousand pardons it took me so long to post something, I was busy with work. Also, let me know if you want to be tagged.

328 notes · View notes

itsclydebitches · 7 years

Text

Buffy’s “Empty Places”: Deconstructing Merit, Luck, and Betterment

Anyone who’s spent five minutes with me knows that I love ranty metas, and Buffy’s “Empty Places” is something I’ve wanted to tackle since I finished it. However, rather than try to unravel the entirety of that shit-show conversation I want to focus in on what Anya says near the end.

You really do think you're better than we are. But we don't know. We don't know if you're actually better. I mean, you came into the world with certain advantages, sure. I mean, that's the legacy. But you didn't earn it. You didn't work for it. You've never had anybody come up to you and say you deserve these things more than anyone else. They were just handed to you. So that doesn't make you better than us. It makes you luckier than us.

Here Anya lays out three important questions that I think are crucial to interpreting the Buffyverse.

Did Buffy “earn” her power?

Is she “luckier” than her friends?

Is Buffy “better” than her friends? And what exactly does “better” mean in this context?

Honestly, I still stand amazed that Anya can even voice the first two questions among Buffy’s friends and not get immediate, wicked backlash. Admittedly her use of “luckier” could be interpreted to mean “randomly,” but her word choice is still significant. Buffy is by no stretch of the imagination lucky. Does her calling give her purpose? Yes. Does it give her cool superpowers? Absolutely. But none of these benefits are free gifts—they’re balanced, even outweighed, by her responsibilities. This calling means that Buffy has no other options in her life, no career or family as a ‘normal’ person would experience it. Her powers are to keep herself and others safe, not to have fun with. Buffy didn’t win the freaking lottery here, this life was forced on her.

Throughout the entirety of the series we see the others’ (realistic) jealousy of Buffy: Cordelia views her as a threat to her popularity, Willow as the ‘cool’ girl she always wished she could be, Xander resents that Buffy always has the power to help, and Faith has a whole damn plot-line devoted to her jealousy, yet at no point does anyone acknowledge that Buffy is only the “lucky” one when things are going their way. They want to help, but they know she’s the only one who can finish things. Buffy announces that she’s the only one who can finish things… and everyone’s hackles go up. They don’t want her responsibility; they also don’t want to acknowledge that her responsibility makes her different from them. You can’t have it both ways. To say nothing of the fact that the rest of the Scoobies can leave any time they want. They can walk away from this life. Buffy can’t. She’s not the lucky one, she’s the one who’s trapped.

Now, did Buffy earn her power? Oh boy. Again, I don’t know how Anya can even ask that. Did she earn the power prior to receiving it? Perhaps not, but Buffy has absolutely earned her right to it since. She gave up the social life she desperately craved, a college education, she killed her boyfriend for the greater good, was ready to kill another friend (Anya) if the need arose, Buffy died, twice, and stuck around after she was wrenched out of Heaven to keep fighting the good fight. I honestly wanted to ask in that moment: what more do you expect of this girl?

Furthermore, there’s evidence that Buffy did ‘earn’ the Slayer power right from the start. She was chosen. Why? We don’t know exactly, but out of ALL the other Potential girls in the world Buffy was the one the legacy activated and I personally think she was chosen for a reason. It’s also telling that Season 7 throws Buffy into a houseful of other would-be Slayers and essentially let’s us compare them. One girl runs away. Another commits suicide. The others force out their leader and walk into a trap. Did Buffy make a lot of the same mistakes at their age? Yes, but it’s also worth considering that these girls aren’t ready in the same way she was at fifteen, that some might not possess the fortitude to be the Slayer, that seven years ago the magic chose Buffy for a reason. She was the one most suited for the position.

So is she “better” than her friends?

After Anya gave her little speech I had one, significant sentence running through my head:

Buffy is the only one who hasn’t been corrupted.

To lay out just a few examples:

Giles rebelled as a teenager by summoning a horrifying demon that eventually killed his friends. Buffy rebelled as a teenager by demanding that she get to go to the prom or out on dates with Angel.

Willow takes away the consent of her girlfriend, her friends, nearly kills Dawn, and when she suffers the loss of a loved one immediately seeks revenge, going so far as to try and destroy the entire world (something I think the show let’s her get away with far too easily). Buffy loses her mom and though there’s no person to seek revenge on, she also doesn’t release her anger on other innocents.

Years ago Anya happily chose to be a vengeance demon. She spent a thousand years torturing and slaughtering who knows how many. After being left at the alter she immediately turns back to those ways and attempted to seek revenge on Xander (and please picture for a moment how she might be received if that episode hadn’t been played for humor. If the whole ‘you can’t seek your own vengeance’ rule wasn’t in place and Anya had succeeded in killing Xander). She proceeds to murder a group of college boys before turning back to the good side.

Faith’s entire storyline revolves around her going dark. We can come up with endless justifications for her—from a terrible childhood to not fitting in with the Scoobies—but the fact remains that she is a clear foil to Buffy: the ‘bad’ Slayer to Buffy’s ‘good’ one. Ultimately, no one forced her to adopt that role.

Andrew very happily goes along with all the tormenting Buffy/killing women/taking over the world stuff, showing not an ounce of true remorse. Despite all his claims of ‘coming over to the light side,’ the only reason we’re given for him joining the gang was because he killed his only friend, was kidnapped by them, and literally had nowhere else to go. He’s not necessarily a ‘good’ guy now, he’s a lonely guy sticking with the only people capable of protecting him.

Xander and Cordelia are outliers in that neither ever achieves any real, formidable power (at least not on Buffy), but what power they do accumulate they don’t use well. Xander casts love spells, the magic equivalent of roofying a girl, deliberately falls asleep while he has the responsibility of watching Oz, or lies to Buffy to help get Angel killed. Cordelia uses her social power to harm everyone around her, as often as possible.

What I’m getting at is that most of Buffy’s friends go through the same sequence of events: free will + power = a decision that harms others to an extreme degree. The free choice aspect is important because I think there are only three core group members that don’t fit this pattern: Oz—who resists being a wild werewolf who would kill others if not locked up—Tara—who carefully controls the type and extent of her magic—and Spike—who never does anything of his own free will, if we buy into the Angel/Angelus dichotomy that the show initially set up (and then admittedly muddled with Spike). But if we go by that lore, everything he did post-vampirism was the demon. The women he killed with his soul was the First’s doing.

Notably, none of these people are in the room with Buffy to back her up.

Instead she’s surrounded by others who at one point or another are corrupted by the power they’ve attained. Buffy is living with a group of people who have willfully committed heinous deeds - deeds she’s forgiven them for - while they’re more than happy to toss her out the second she makes a mistake with actual consequences. Importantly though, Buffy never goes down the road they did. To my recollection the closest she gets is with Faith—“We are better than them”—but even then all Buffy does is loot a deserted store, playing at the ‘bad girl’ role without ever actually becoming her. Does she make mistakes over the years? HELL YES, but unlike the others they’re always made with good intentions. Buffy releases Spike because he’s needed and she honestly believes he’s not a threat anymore. She gets some of the Potentials killed because she’s trying to save the world. She pushes everyone away and acts ‘cruel’ because she’s told time and time again that that’s what they need—an unfeeling “general.” At every turn Buffy puts the greater good above her own needs and desires, from the small (dropping out of college) to the unfathomably large (killing Angel, dying twice). Is this ‘realistic’ characterization? Perhaps not, but it’s what makes Buffy the hero of the tale. No matter what she’ll always put others before herself and do whatever is required of her to keep them safe.

Honestly, her friends can’t claim the same.

So yeah, in this respect I’d say Buffy is “better.”

(Anyway, this all makes it sound like I hate these characters when in fact I love them all lol. Forgive the new Buffy fan still working through drama 20 years late. @thepinkrvnger I’m tagging you again not with the expectation that you’re gonna read any of this shit, but to let you know your previous Buffy response got me laughing. Kudos 👍)

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #Buffy #BTVS #Empty Places #mymetas #I needed to write this #I feel marginally better now lol

151 notes · View notes

inkstainedfanfics · 7 years

Text

A Lost Memory

Summary: Newt deals with a loss he believes he can never recover from with firewhiskey.

Request: "I would like angst and angst and tear my heart apart and smash it into the gutters. Regrets and tears and mistakes were made "I never want to see you again" HURT ME"

Word Count: 3,407

Pairing: Newt x Reader

Requested by @red-roses-and-stories (I hope this broke your heart enough) but also tagging @caseoffics @dont-give-a-bother @myrtus-amongst-the-stars @ly--canthrope @benniesgalaxy @thosefantasticbeast2

You run your hand down Newt’s bicep, popping up onto your toes to rest your chin on his shoulder and peer over him to the papers in front of him. “Whatcha doing, babe?”

“Studying the reactive tendencies of various…” he trails off, brow furrowing as the liquid in front of him turns a deep violet shade. “Well, that hardly seems right.”

You giggle and fall back to give him space. “Be careful you don’t let Pickett fall in.”

Newt scarcely appears to process your words, giving you a distracted “hmm” in response.

You roll your eyes and slide under his arm as he scribbles something onto a note. Extending your arm, you let Pickett hop onto your hand. He squeaks away as you draw him to your side.

“Come on, Pickett, we’ll go make supper so someone here doesn’t let us all starve.”

Newt’s eyes crinkle with his smile as he glances up at you. “And who did you say exaggerates the most this morning?”

You stick your tongue out. “I still think you do it more often.”

Newt watches you whisper to Pickett as you walk out, and before he returns to his work, he checks the drawer to make sure the box is still there.

Thunder rumbles, a heavy roll that rattles the rack of vials on the table.

Newt slams a tall bottle against the wooden counter in response.

He runs a hand through his hair, staring at the tiny glass on the table. The world’s wobbly in front of him, everything a smidge unsettled. He runs a hand over his face. The room reeks of alcohol, rotting food, and burning paper, but he barely registers the stench anymore. It’s as much on him as it is on the walls. You would never stand for this.

The thought bites. A pain he can’t control crawls up his throat and forms a thick knot he can’t swallow, choking him.

He chases it back down with a shot of firewhiskey.

Rain pounds into the dirt just outside the tiny shack, an effect of a storm that has been ravaging the case for weeks now. Newt hardly even notices the quaking building or the spilled ingredients for his elixirs. He can barely tell the difference between the ground shaking and his own shaking.

Another boom of thunder has a stack of books toppling into Newt’s lap.

“Newt, darling, have you seen my book? I could have sworn I left it on top of the dresser.” You stand in a ray of sunlight, squinting at Newt.

Newt glances up from the manuscript in front of him. “Sorry, love. I haven’t seen it.” He chuckles at your answering pout.

“Where in the world did it get to?” You mutter to yourself.

Newt chuckles once more and returns to his writing. The book needs little more to be considered complete, and he’s anxious to finish it. He spends nearly all his free time writing or working with a new creature. You mutter something else to yourself, gathering his attention again.

Newt’s heart swells with love. You’ve been so patient, so understanding of him and his job. You’d taken up the chores he misses with no complaint, been more than happy to cater to his creatures if he was occupied with another. The tip of the quill drifts to his mouth as he gets lost in his thoughts. He really couldn’t ask for anyone better, anyone more beautiful or with a better sense of humor than you, anyone that understands him more than he thinks even he understands himself sometimes.

Despite the urgency of the manuscript in front of him, Newt allows himself a peek at your confused expression as you lift a pillow. His heart stumbles at the sight as you bite your lip and place your hands on your hips, peering around the room. Bloody beautiful.

His hand instinctively drifts to his pocket, fingers grazing over the box in it.

Soon.

Newt grins and puts his quill back to paper. Very soon.

Newt lifts the bottle, examining the amber liquid in the dim light of the one lightbulb swinging above him. The others have shattered, consequences of violent reactions from two ingredients.

He hears the footsteps even over the growling thunder.

Tina flinches when she steps in as the shack’s stench strikes her.

Newt doesn’t bother to look at her.

“Newt, it’s supper time.” She says between coughs, trying to shout over the howling wind.

“Is it already so late?”

Tina brushes rain from her face, taking a breath as her perfumed wrist nears her nose. “Already?” Tina says it in a voice that indicates that she knows Newt’s aware of what time it is.

Newt clenches his jaw. Of course he knows what time it is. He always knows now. Always knows how long it has been since he found out. Who else is going to keep him on time now?

You stand in the doorway of the shack, hands on your hips and storm brewing in your eyes.

Newt gulps.

“Newton Artemis Fido Scamander.” It’s the first time you’ve used his full name.

Newt pinches the bridge of his nose, ducking his head. “Something wrong, love?”

“Is something wrong? Are you serious?”

“Erm, yes?”

A wrong answer, evidently. You huff, stomping into the room and glaring at the vial in his hand. “Do you even realize what time it is?”

Newt hazards a guess. “Just before noon?”

“It is nine thirty at night, Newt. Nine thirty. Do you know who was supposed to come over at eight tonight?”

Realization dawns on Newt just before you answer your own question.

“Your publisher. Do you know who I had to spend the last hour and a half talking with and assuring over and over that you would be here soon?”

“My publisher?”

“Good, you’re catching on.”

“I’m sorry, love.” His heart sinks. You hate being a hostess and hate lying, both of which he’d caused you to do just now. Newt sets his notes down; the breakthrough on a cure for obliviate seems far less newsworthy now.

“Sorry isn’t enough. You need to pay attention to the time.” Your anger is quickly fading at Newt’s solemn gaze, though. “What would you do if I weren’t here for you?”

A small smile twitches at the corner of his mouth. “Turn into dust and float away, if you’re to be believed.”

“Yes, well, I should be believed. I’m pretty smart.”

“You’re absolutely brilliant.”

You feel heat creeping into your cheeks. “You’d better remember that.”

“Who could forget when they win the lottery, my love?”

Newt just shrugs, hands trembling around the shot glass now. “It’s easy to lose track of time down here.”

“Newt, don’t lie to me.”

He glances at her, the shadow of a smile on his lips. “What purpose would that serve?”

“You need to eat.”

“I do.”

A plate of eggs and rotting bacon Tina brought down three days ago sits on the ground, tossed carelessly aside. Tina and Newt both look at it for a moment.

She sighs. “You’re going to die down here.”

He thins his lips. “I’ll be fine, thank you.”

“Newt—“

“Tina.” He interrupts, hands fully shaking now.

She ignores the interruption. “You need to take care of yourself. Do you really think she—“

“You have no right.” The words are quiet, a threat in themselves.

Tina persists. “You can’t let this happen. You’re better than this.”

The words are close, so close to what he used to hear and the memories are rushing back now, a catastrophic avalanche of thoughts he can’t stop, can’t end. Newt’s hands tighten around the glass and bottle he’s holding as he tries to block out the tidal wave of memories flooding him.

Tina’s footsteps pound against the floor, and she slams open the door, half falling into the room. “Newt!”

He shoves the box behind his back, snapping the top shut. “Everything all right?”

“She’s gone.” Tina’s face is red and she’s panting, not a line of amusement or composure in her face.

Newt feels his entire world stop on a dime. “Gone where?”

“Ambushed. Come on, we have to go.” Tina grabs his arm, pulling him half to his feet before apparating away with a pop. Newt’s grip loosens as he feels himself get sucked into that tube.

The ring box clatters to the ground and pops open, a small gold band rolls out and spins, spins, spins, finally falling after a minute. A heavy silence fills the room.

Tina takes a step forward, crunching broken glass underfoot. “Newt, are you all right?”

Newt clenches his jaw, heart pounding. All he can see is you, that day, with that blank stare and the cut and your words. Oh Merlin, your words.

The alcohol makes it all the more easy to fall into the sight, to smell the rancid odor of too much spilled blood and hear the way you spoke to him.

The shot glass strains in his hand, and Tina’s calls to him fade away into a distant noise.

Sweat drips from the tip of Newt’s nose and lands on his top lip, but he doesn’t brush it away as he ducks behind a shelf in the grocery store, dodging another curse.

Ambushed by fanatics. He curses Tina under his breath as he throws another spell over the boxes. She should have been paying more attention, focusing more. You could be in trouble because of her, could be dying. He stops breathing as the image hits him. You, lying motionless, not breathing, not smiling, not speaking. Just dead.

Newt shakes the thoughts from his head. You’re strong, a witch that knows how to fight. You have to be holding your own. You can’t be… He forces himself to take another breath and peer around the shelf. What matters now is finding you and getting you out of here, free from danger. Newt dives out from his hiding spot, running down the aisles, scanning them for you. Spells crack behind, breaking against cans of beans. His boots squeak against the tiled floor as he turns, rushing down another aisle.

He’s being reckless, and he knows it. Tina shouts at him as he dodges curse after curse, leaving the casters behind for the other MACUSA officers to deal with.

A spell splits open the skin on his cheek, but he just keeps sprinting down the aisles, searching for you. The smell of burnt flesh makes him gag, but he doesn’t slow down.

Newt pauses in the last aisle, legs nearly giving out in relief. Maybe you escaped, maybe you made it out. He gasps in two breaths and moves again.

He pushes a door open to a freezer room and you’re there on the ground, unmoving, a man next to you with a wand pressed against your temple.

Newt shouts his curse, a wave of rage surging through him at the sight. He sends the man reeling back, head cracking against the concrete wall. The stranger doesn’t move.

Not that Newt cares as he sprints to your side, dropping into a puddle of blood, a scream bubbling out of his mouth as his fingers press against your neck, searching desperately for a pulse, a breath, anything to prove that you’re still alive.

He sobs in relief when he finds one, a strong but rushed beat. You’re alive.

Newt kneels next to you, wand hovering over every small cut on your body. There aren’t many, thank Merlin. His hands shake and he can barely breathe when he finds a gash in your side, the one the blood covering the floor must have come from.

Newt’s pale face is the first thing Tina notices as she bursts into the room. Her own shriek echoes through the room at the sight of you unmoving on the ground, but Newt shakes his head, words trembling.

“She’s all right, just unconscious.”

She falls onto her knees next to you, “Not dead?”

Newt’s entire body shudders as he takes your hand in his. “No.”

“Oh, thank heavens.” Tina shakes her head. “I don’t know what happened. We were attacked out of nowhere, and one of them grabbed her. I couldn’t get her free, couldn’t get a clear shot on him.”

Newt thins his lips but nods. “This wasn’t your fault, Tina.”

She visibly relaxes at his sentence, letting out a breath. “The others. I have to check on the others.”

She stands, one final anxious glance at you, but leaves the room.

You stir minutes later, squeezing your eyes shut tight before finally blinking them open and gazing up at Newt.

Newt’s grip on your hand tightens as you prop yourself on one elbow. “You’re okay, love. It’s okay.”

“Where am I?”

Newt smiles a little at your confused expression. “The grocers. There was an attack, but they’re all gone now. You’re safe.”

You run a hand over your face. “What… how… what happened?”

Newt shudders in relief as he tugs you tight against him and explains. “Quite the eventful day, hmm?” The joke is weak, a fragile attempt from a fragile person. He takes a deep breath and reminds himself: you’re still here. Thank god.

You lean away from him. “Can I go?”

Newt nods. “We can go home.”

“We?”

He smiles weakly. “You plan on leaving me here?”

Your face screws up in confusion. “I’m sorry…”

Newt’s aware of Tina re-entering the room but he doesn’t turn around. “Home. The case, remember? You’re always nagging me to clean it up.”

You shake your head slowly.

Newt’s breaths quicken. “With the creatures. Frank and Clyde and Marietta. You know what I’m talking about. Even Pickett’s there right now.”

“Pickett. Who’s Pickett?”

The ground drops out from under him as he realizes the spell that must’ve been cast. The only memory spell he knows can do such extensive damage to a person, but no. He smiles gently at you, there’s no way your entire memory was wiped of him. Something, somewhere, there must be a memory remaining, a lingering bit of him that Obliviate couldn’t touch.

“The bowtruckle. A little pest sometimes, though I hear he’s more helpful in the kitchen than I.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know you. Thank you for saving my life, but I don’t… I just want to go back to my hotel room and sleep.”

Newt stops breathing. “Sorry, love, what?”

You slide away, flinching at the feel of the slick floor beneath you. “I have to go.”

Newt’s hand reaches for you and wraps gently around your wrist. “Love, where are you going?”

Your eyes flicker to Tina behind him, a mixture of fear and pleas.

Tina steps forward, resting a hand on Newt’s shoulder, her own heart breaking as she recognizes the look in your eyes too. “Newt, I don’t think she recognizes you.”

Newt desperately tries to hold his world together. “No, no that’s not possible. That isn’t-that can’t be true. We – we love each other.”

You slide further away, wrist slipping from his grasp.

Newt shakes, breaths trembling. “Love, come on. You can’t have forgotten me, can you?”

Tina gestures at you with her chin. “Get her to St. Mungo’s. See if they can recover anything.” Her voice softens as two women Newt didn’t notice before step to your side. “Newt, I’m so sorry.”

He sits there in the puddle of blood, unable to stare at anything but your gaze, a mixture of panic, fear, and utter bewilderment at his reaction. At this violent reaction you believe to be coming from a stranger.

“Maybe they know how to cure obliviate’s effects there. They’re good with maladies. I know that Queenie had to send a friend there once…” The words fade into nothing for Newt, just a background noise he can’t bring himself to care about.

Newt wonders if he’ll be sick right there as his stomach churns and a loud ringing deafens him to Tina’s words. He watches you back away from him, grabbing the arms of one of the women and clinging to her.

He’s supposed to protect you, supposed to keep you safe.

He failed, and now he’s paying the price.

You disappear with a pop, eyes wide and body shaking like Newt’s, but not a shred of recognition in your eyes.

Newt becomes aware of the glass bottle in his hand again. An urge to throw it, send it crashing and cracking open against the ground grips him. Break it. Destroy it like you destroyed him.

Newt sets the bottle down carefully, jaw clenched tight.

He won’t break it, not when he needs to start rebuilding himself.

He tunes back in to Tina’s lecture. “—two months. I know it’s hard, but you need to take care of yourself before you research anything.”

“Tina, take this and go.” He crumples a sheet of paper in his hand, shoving it at her. The world spins.

She coughs at the burning smell of firewhiskey on his breath. “What’s this?”

He slumps in his chair. “Her new address.”

Tina stares at him, lips parted in surprise. Her voice is soft again, as though she’s speaking to a child. “Newt, I’m not saying you should give up. Just give it some time. Maybe you’ll find something; a potion or a new spell.”

He shakes his head. “Stop it.”

“She isn’t gone.”

He doesn’t understand why she’s so adamant, so demanding of him to have hope until he drags his gaze up to meet hers and finds his misery reflected in her eyes. A lesser amount, sure, but the skin around them is red and puffy, a telltale sign of her own tears. He wonders for a moment if she’s right. Should he hope? Should he contact you and try it all again?

But no, that’s all bullshit. A tide of anger rises in Newt. What does she have to be angry about? Who is she to make demands of him, to instill him with a hope that is a complete lie? You’re gone. You’re bloody gone and there’s nothing either him nor Tina can do to bring you back to the person you were.

His fingers itch to grab the bottle and smash it against the table to quell the agonizing pain the hope always carries with it.

Tina’s breath catches at the unequaled grief in Newt’s bloodshot eyes. The black bags hanging under them and the stark contrast of his paled skin only emphasizes the gravity of his expression.

Tina’s voice leaps into a higher pitch. “She can’t be…” she clears her throat, next sentence more aggressive and assured. “She isn’t gone.

Newt’s voice is as flat as he can keep it as he suppresses the anger at her; it’s filled with numb pleasure he can only find in bottles of firewhiskey now. “She doesn’t recognize me, let alone remember a single thing I’ve ever said to her.” His voice breaks. “She’s gone, Tina. You need to accept that.”

“I can’t. I won’t.”

Newt shuts his eyes, picturing your face as he grabs the bottle again. “Fine. But don’t bring this up to me. She’s none of your business.” He can almost see the jab hanging in the air, and the slicing agony of Tina’s demands is fresh in his mind, so he takes it. “Not when you’re the reason she’s gone.”

Tina turns to stone at the comment. She takes three deep breaths, teeth grinding together, before smashing the ball of paper in her hands. “Fine, Newt. If you want to live in some fairytale land where she just stops existing because she doesn’t love you anymore, go ahead, but I’m sure as hell going to find her again and become her friend because we can still do that.”

“Just remember when you’re with her that you’re the reason you have to redo everything.”

Tina shrieks in frustration and storms out into the rain.

Newt sighs through his nose, a long breath that eases some of the tension in his shoulders but fails to remove the weight still tugging down his chest.

One more night.

One final night of mourning you. Newt will start rebuilding in the morning.

Thunder rumbles a final time, a long roar that sounds something close to your laugh as it rises and falls and rises again.

Newt squeezes his eyes shut and when he opens them again, Tina’s gone, you’re gone, and he’s all alone.

#Newt Scamander #Newt Scamander x Reader #Newt Scamander Imagine #Newt Scamander one shot #fbawtft #angst #pure angst #I'm sorry if this is the worst thing you've ever read #or if it seems ooc #Idk #but I do hope you have a fantastic day!!!!#This turned into something I was not expecting and also was much longer than I was expecting #I hope you like it #but if you don't I understand #if you have any criticism of it and want to send it my way that'd be chill #thanks everyone!

260 notes · View notes

tjspider · 7 years

Note

All of them ;)))))

Why you do this?

3 Fears

losing my mom, failing my friends, being forgotten

3 things I love

my friends, my family, good food

2 turn ons

making out, cuddling

2 turn offs

dishonesty, no sense of humor

My best friend

My cousins

Sexual orientation

Gynesexual

How tall am I

5′7″

What do I miss right now

Having my own space

Favourite color

International Klein Blue

Do I have a crush

Yes I do

Favourite place

A bar called Shamrock

What am I listening to right now

Myself typing

Shoe size

Eye color

Brown

Hair color

Black

Meaning behind my URL

Rooster Teeth + Achievement Hunter + Steven Universe

Favourite song

Attention - Charlie Puth

Favourite band

Linkin Park

How I feel right now

Hungry and touch starved

Someone I love

My mom

My current relationship status

Single

My relationship with my parents

I get along with my mom really well, I have no relationship with my father

Favourite season

Winter

Tattoos and piercing i have

9 tattoos, 1 piercing

Tattoos and piercing i want

Another spider tattoo and I think I want to pierce my other ear at some point

The reasons I joined Tumblr

I honestly don’t remember

Do I ever get “good morning” or “good night ” texts?

Social media messages, not text messages

Have I ever kissed the last person you texted?

No I have not

How long does it take me to get ready in the morning?

About 20 minutes

Have you shaved your legs in the past three days?

No I haven’t

Where am I right now?

In my bedroom

Do I like my music loud or at a reasonable level?

Depends on the mood, mostly a reasonable level at home, loud while I’m driving

Do I live with my Mom and Dad?

No I don’t

Am I excited for anything?

Excited to record my podcast again on Sunday

Do I have someone of the opposite sex I can tell everything to?

Yes I do

How often do I wear a fake smile?

Most days when I go into work

If I could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Geoff Ramsey

What do I think about most?

Sex and food

Do I prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Both are fine. I think I’m pretty good at both

What was the last lie I told?

I honestly don’t know

Do I perfer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

Out of the two, talking on the phone

Do I believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Don’t believe in ghosts, yes I believe in aliens

Do I believe in magic?

I enjoy magic, but I believe there is an explanation for everything

Do I believe in luck?

Not a firm belief, but yes

What’s the weather like right now?

Humid

What was the last book I’ve read?

To completion? Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

Do I have any nicknames?

TJ, Spider, Buff, Spidey and Ty

Do I spend money or save it?

Save it until it’s time to spend it

Can I touch my nose with a tongue?

I can not

Favourite animal?

Red Panda

What was I doing last night at 12 AM?

About to go to sleep or sleeping, can’t remember

What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it?

Surfin’ - Kid Cudi

What is my favorite word?

Indeed

My top 5 blogs on tumblr

@duoachievement, @always-amy-lou, @awkward-lee, @emietook and @a-pathique

If the whole world were listening to me right now, what would I say?

Love wins. There’s no reason to hate. We’re all human. Appreciate each other for their differences, don’t condemn them.

Do I have any relatives in jail?

Not to my knowledge

What is my current desktop picture?

A mountain

Had sex?

Yes

Bought condoms?

Yes

Gotten pregnant?

Physically impossible

Have I ever kissed somebody in the rain?

No but I want to

Had job?

Yes (Thought this said hand job for a second)

Smoked weed?

Yes

Smoked cigarettes?

Yes

Drank alcohol?

Yes

Am I a vegetarian/vegan?

Been overweight?

Yes and still technically am

Been underweight?

Gotten my heart broken?

Yes

Been to prom?

Yes

Been in an airplane?

Yes

Learned another language?

In school, but never retained anything

Wore make up?

Yes

Dyed my hair?

Had a surgery?

Yes

Met someone famous?

Yes

Stalked someone on a social network?

Been fishing?

Yes

Been rejected by a crush?

Yes

What do I want for birthday?

A Spider-Man Funko Pop figure

Do I like my handwriting?

Not really

Where do I want to live when older?

Somewhere secluded

Have I ever got caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?

I’ve gotten caught doing a few bad things but never sneaking out

What I’m really bad at

Believing in myself

What my greatest achievments are

Got a full scholarship to college, joined the military

The meanest thing somebody has ever said to me

That I was selfish

What I’d do if I won in a lottery

Pay bills, buy a house, save, invest, donate a million dollars to Rooster Teeth’s Extra Life stream to see Jack Pattillo freak the fuck out

What do I like about myself

I’m understanding

My closest Tumblr friend

I have a few that I talk to on a daily basis

Any question you’d like?

Free question? What’s my favorite cookie? Sugar cookies

Are you outgoing or shy?

Extremely shy

What kind of people are you attracted to?

Nice, sweet, funny, caring, and inquisitive

Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

I don’t know, but I doubt it

Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

Not at all

Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

My stepfather

What does the most recent text that you sent say?

Wyd

What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

Attention, Strip That Down, Feel It Still, Back To You, 1-800-273-8255

Do you like it when people play with your hair?

I don’t have any for people to play with

Do you think there is life on other planets?

Maybe not in our solar system, but out further in the universe, yes

Do you like bubble baths?

I haven’t taken one in ages but they’re nice

Do you like your neighbors?

I have no relationship with my neighbors

Where would you like to travel?

Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, London, Whatever part of Canada is good

Favorite part of your daily routine?

Watching Achievement Hunter videos

What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

My stomach

What do you do when you wake up?

Wish I could go back to sleep

Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

Do you ever want to get married?

Undecided

If your hair long enough for a pony tail?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Would you rather live without TV or music?

Without TV

Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

Absolutely

What are your favorite stores to shop in?

Best Buy

Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

No not everyone. Depends on how bad they messed up the first chance

Do you smile at strangers?

Most of the time, yes

Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

No I’ve been good

Ever wished you were someone else?

I’ve wished to be in someone else’s situation, but never to be them

Favourite makeup brand?

MAC is the only brand I know

Last thing you ate?

Chicken breasts

Ever won a competition? For what?

Spelling Bee, Homecoming pageant

Ever been in love?

Yes I have

Facebook or Twitter?

Facebook

Twitter or Tumblr?

Tumblr

Are you watching tv right now?

I am not

What colour are your towels?

Different colors

Favourite ice cream flavour?

Cookies and cream

First person you talked to today?

My aunt

Last person you talked to today?

Day’s not over yet, so who knows?

Name a person you hate?

Whoever asked me to answer every single one of these questions. (That’s not true)

Name a person you love?

My mom

Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

Not currently

Do you tan a lot?

I have what you call a permanent tan

Have any pets?

No pets

Do you type fast?

Typingtest.com says I type 66 WPM, so take that for what it’s worth

Do you regret anything from your past?

A few things, yes

Ever broken someone’s heart?

I’m sure I have

Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

OMG yes!

Is cheating ever okay?

No it’s never okay

Do you believe in true love?

Yes I do

What your zodiac sign?

Virgo

Do you believe in ghosts?

I think I answered this already, but no

Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?

I have no books near me. Lackluster ending, I know

#about me #long post #ask meme #read if you dare #thanks anon #Anonymous #ask rtahuniverse

4 notes · View notes

tipsycad147 · 5 years

Text

How To Sweeten Up Your Magic With Sugar Spells

SL Bear

It’s probably old news by now, but who got caught up in lotto fever? When I went to buy a ticket, the gas station was so packed you’d think they were releasing a new Harry Potter. I, like you, did not win. I knew I wouldn’t win. That didn’t stop me from spending the whole week — nearly euphoric — thinking about all the ways I’d spend a billion dollars. A billion dollars! Think of all the candles and oils and herbs you could buy for a billion dollars! I’d have an architect design my altar! I’d hire Stevie Nicks to light my incense!

But we didn’t win, so what? Money isn’t everything. There are lots of ways to make your life better without a billion dollars (man… that was hard to type). If you’re a witch, you can turn to magic. You may not be able to win the lottery (although I’m still waiting on confirmation that the winner isn’t a witch) but you can definitely sweeten your life. And what’s the best way to sweeten something?

That’s right, witches. Today we’re talking sugar, and how to use it in magic and spells!

Sweet & Sour

Once, sugar was a luxury referred to as “white gold” and was only consumed by the wealthy. Today, you can buy it in the grocery store by the pound or in the form of a delicious treat. Even when you’re not enjoying something like candy, you might still be eating a lot of sugar. It’s added to many of our daily staples; ketchup and spaghetti sauce are surprisingly high in sugar, as is BBQ sauce and a lot of canned soup! Many “healthy” fat-free items load up on sugar to try and make you forget you’re eating tasteless cardboard pulp. American obesity is attributed to our high sugar intake and pretty much everyone agrees that overindulging in sugar is terrible for you.

But enough about what makes sugar sour. In magic, sugar is used to attract. Where salt repels, sugar entices. It’s often added to spells with the purpose of summoning or bringing you something sweet — lovers and money, most typically. To begin, I’m going to keep it simple and show you a quick way to use sugar to attract what you desire.

Attraction Jars

I’ve spoken about spell jars before and attraction jars follow the same principle: They are a bottled spell with a set intention. These attraction jars have only three ingredients, can be any size, and are hugely customisation. The facilitator will be sugar — the main ingredient — while the other two additions are up to you. Here are some examples.

Money attraction jar: Fill a jar with sugar and cinnamon sticks, then add five pieces of pyrite, and seal. Cinnamon and pyrite are my go-to’s for money spells, but by all means, if you like using tarot cards, basil, aventurine, or something else, feel free! You can even roll up a dollar bill and put it in the jar instead of a stone. Try and keep it to three ingredients with sugar as the base, but other than that, the choice is up to you!

Love attraction jar: Mix your sugar with dried pieces of apple, and rose quartz. Keep on your nightstand or by a kitchen window.

Luck attraction jar: Add star anise and agate to your sugar and seal. Bonus: Make on a Thursday and seal with green candle wax for added oomph.

Success attraction jar: Take a lodestone and push it down into the centre of a jar filled with a mix of sugar and Frankincense. Lodestones are great for attracting money and success, though every time I put one on my altar it somehow disappears… perhaps frisky spirits are particularly drawn to them as well.

These are just a few spell ideas and hopefully, you’re thinking about different combinations you can use for your own attraction jars. Different kinds of sugar (and even honey!) can be substituted if you feel a draw to something besides regular white sugar. Get creative!

The Sweet Life

Now, onto the more complicated (and in my opinion, more fun) sugar spells. Instead of giving you a specific intention, I’m leaving these spells open-ended so you can fill in your own. Whatever area of your life you want to make a little sweeter, these spells can be catered to your own needs.

Candy Spell

This one takes some skill and is for the witchy baker out there. Make a simple sugar candy base. I’m not a baker so I’ll leave it to you to use your favourite recipe or just search for one online. Once that’s sorted, add in your flavourings based on your intention. Cinnamon for money spells, apple or cherry for love, etc. In essence, you’re creating a delicious candy spell that you can serve to your friends or just save for yourself (of course, make sure all your ingredients are safe to ingest!). Depending on how comfortable you are with candy making, you can get even more complicated, adding in chocolate (love and sex), edible flowers, and nuts — most of which also have their own correspondences.

Draw runes and symbols in the candy to make them even more personal. While I’m not a kitchen witch, I love the idea of combining cooking and witchcraft, not only because of transmutation but because of the time and effort that goes into it. So often with magic, we cast our spells and hope for the best. With baking, we can hold the result of the spells in our hands. A wonderful way to see magic in action.

Sugar Water

This one is much simpler. Boil some water and stir in some sugar, at about a 4:1 ratio, until the sugar dissolves. This simple syrup can be added to a spray bottle and sprayed on the ground (outside, don’t spray it inside unless you want ants) and your spell performed on top of this sugared area to sweeten the results of positive, light-hearted spells — especially those aimed at children or loved ones. Use the sugar water to put out candles for an added touch, or use the syrup as an offering during rituals or to lure jolly spirits to you. Sugar is an attractant, so based on what you’d like to bring into your life, herbs like lavender and cinnamon and even essential oils can be added to this sugar water to give it more focus. Though, be careful about spraying this near pets or outside as certain oils can be harmful.

Sugar Sigil

Sigils are simple but powerful magical tools and I like finding new ways to incorporate them. Before you begin, I strongly suggest using this method of sigil activation for a sigil with a positive intention, specifically a sigil aimed at bringing something good into your life. The results are meant to be sweet for you, so think of an intention that will make you happy — one that doesn’t include banishing, binding, or anything “negatively” involving someone else. Think fun. Once you’ve got your intention, create your sigil in your usual way to get the design down. Practice the design a few times so that you can draw it fast and try to simplify it as much as you can. I love complicated sigils, but they’re not easy to construct out of sugar.

For this spell, we’re going to use royal icing. Instead of creating a flower or swirl, you’re going to create your sigil out of this icing by piping it onto some wax paper. This may take some practice as the icing bag can be difficult to work with, but once you’ve got it, let the icing harden. Now for the fun part. How would you like to activate this sweet sigil? Eat it? Break it into pieces and share it with friends? Smash it into a dust and make a candy ring around a ritual or spell? Let it melt in your coffee or tea? Put it on top of a cupcake and post it to Instagram? Crush it and mix it into another recipe or use the pieces for an attraction jar? The choice is yours, and this is one activation guaranteed to be delicious!

When you think sugar, specific visions usually come to mind — everything from indulgent little moments to the splendour of the holidays, where chocolate, cookies, and candy are just part of the tradition for many families. To most, sugar is related to happiness, and although there are endless possibilities when it comes to using sugar in spells, I personally believe that’s how sugar should always be used in magic; to bring joy. So experiment, try new things, and enjoy this sweetest of ingredients!

https://thetravelingwitch.com/blog/how-to-sweeten-up-your-magic-with-sugar-spells

0 notes

ciaclouddearding-blog · 5 years

Text

Plenty of fish dating site phone number

I was scammed... Here is the details. Free Dating, Singles and Personals A username name search would show nothing. First he got us me and my lovely wife back together, got me a new and better job and helped my lovely wife win a Lottery. I contacted him and i told him my problems and gave him all the necessary information he required. She moved in with another man, I felt like killing myself and I've tried so many spell casters but all to no avail. Evidence after evidence, so many things that confirms and proves 100% it's a scam.

POF (dating website) Papa help me to get back my husband 1year after break up, and also helped me to give birth to a set of twins 4months ago. He had a really good job though so I was able to stay home and take care of our son when it was born. Getting my lover back is what i can't imagine but when I was losing Jackson, I needed help and somewhere to turn badly but my Aunty told me about this spell caster who also helped her on the internet. Then you message others then guess what? Your password stops working for no reason within a few days and the recovery system does not work - email reset never ever sends. I tried all i could do to have her back to all did not work out until i met a Man when i Travel to Africa to execute some business have been developing some years back.

I was scammed... Here is the details. Free Dating, Singles and Personals Some people testified that he brought their Ex lover back, some testified that he restores womb, some testified that he can cast a spell to stop divorce and so on. I feel so happy sharing this testimony because there was no negative act attached to his work. Dr Aluda is a man to contact for help please don't fall victim into the hand of scam Dr Aluda is here to help and a living testimony to his great work contact him on his private mail aludaspelltemple gmail. Fred, how he helped many people to get their lovers and broken homes back, i contacted him through his email address tradionalspelltemple yahoo. I can't tell you how many times I've reported these issues to them! Went on four dates that actually didn't turn out to be only about one night stands but even they were nothing like their profiles stated at all. Blessing be with you and yours throughout life. Instantly we email him 30minute later he reply us, as we were writing back to him we started crying we told him the situation we are facing now.

Top 477 Reviews and Complaints about com-k2.ru Our oldest son talked about seeing figures and hearing voices. We have move from different churches but no result. Dear friends out there, my name is Berra Christopher from united states i had a problem with my husband 5months ago, which lead to our break up. The company, based in , generates revenue through advertising and premium memberships. After 4 years together we are happy.

I was scammed... Here is the details. Free Dating, Singles and Personals That's when I realized all sites I saw all lead to the same exact place. Yes so you upgrade and of course you pay. So, i will advice you out there to kindly visit the same website {tataspelltemple gmail. Here's his contact: monicaspiritualtemple gmail. Me and my ex-husband at all times have always tried to stay friendly over again after our divorce which occurred in early September this year. You can reach him on his email: drogbidisolutionhome gmail.

Top 477 Reviews and Complaints about com-k2.ru He specializes in all aspect of problems; if you want your ex back. Ukaka contact details right now for the sake of those people that will need his help contact Dr. Note that try to answer to revolutionize the world coming back to help manage my account from users: 20 pm. Also you state that you would like to meet people of a certain size, age, etc, but guess what? And that's when she hits me with a response that confirmed it all. Hello, I have opened an account 3-5 times successfully with confirmation emails only to try and log in shortly after and get a response saying my email does not exist in the data base.

{ 1888 We loved each other so much but we did not know what came over us and we separated for 2 years. I personally think the developers are somehow involved in this mess! But then I noticed I had no views, I couldnt type in forum, I couldnt message anyone and when I went to upgrade my account it said that my profile was not complete. If this happens again on a site, not to ask questions and get help, by phone especially, like Airbnb do, they are great communicators on the web. The spell is working and guess what?. Plenty of Fish was pretty well made by some ingenious people like they had to go to a college to learn how to do things like communications and or get a technology degree and it paid off very well. Always there is trouble logging in and then when you are in you cant get out.

Plenty of fish dating site customer service phone number I felt like my life was about to end,and was falling apart. How do i appreciate him for the marvelous help he render to me? The only contact that made it past the first fence claimed to be based in the West Midlands whereas the truth was that the real location was Mexico. She responds saying I'm genuine, yadda, yadda, yadda and I reply back. We are brought back with the great powerful love spell and bonded with dr alli baba spell, we are happy and glad. I guess I will try emailing them again. Then click the Report User link located near the very bottom of the profile page. Well, it won't be easy, since you get what you pay for in this industry.

#Plenty #of #fish #dating #site #customer #service #phone #number

0 notes

thrashermaxey · 6 years

Text

Weekend power rankings: Counting down my worst rankings of the season (so far)

We’re getting into that time of year when power rankings start to lock in from week-to-week. A team might still occasionally have an especially good or bad week and move a spot or two, and every now and then a dark horse will make a surprise charge down the homestretch. But generally, once we get past the trade deadline and close in on the 70-game mark, there really isn’t much reason to make big changes to what we have. Spoiler alert: The Lightning are in first place again this week.

Before we can start looking at our Stanley Cup and draft lottery hopefuls, let’s take a look back with a different kind of top five: My five worst rankings from this season.

I’ll pause here so you can all make your “How did you narrow it down?” jokes.

It’s true that in one sense, we’ve got plenty of candidates to choose from. In all, there have been 15 teams that have made at least one appearance in the top five, and 13 that have made an appearance in the bottom (including one team that showed up in both). That’s a lot, more than in any previous season I’ve been doing this. It’s been a volatile season. Or maybe some of the picks have just been bad.

To be honest, I don’t think anything stands out as an embarrassingly awful call; it’s not like there was some week that had Tampa in the bottom five or the Kings as a Cup contender. But that’s a low bar and let’s just say that some of those picks hold up better than others. Today we’re going to take our medicine and own up to five of the worst:

5. Arizona Coyotes ranked No. 1 in the bottom five (Oct. 5) – The Coyotes might end up making the playoffs and at one point I thought they were the odds-on favorite to finish dead last. That’s not a great look, although in this case, it comes with a pretty decent excuse: The season was just a few days old. We even called that week’s rankings the “way-too-early edition.” The Coyotes had started 0-2-0 so they were probably as good a pick as anyone; within a few weeks they’d made their exit from the bottom five to great fanfare, never to return. But for one week at least, I thought they’d be worse than the Senators, Red Wings or Kings. They were not.

4. Colorado Avalanche ranked No. 4 in the top five (Dec. 3) – “I’ve never fully bought into the Avalanche. I still don’t, if I’m being honest.” Good for you, past me, but you still let a hot streak mislead you into ranking them as the fourth-best team in the league. This one only lasted a week, but it doesn’t hold up well and unlike with the Coyotes, I can’t claim the “it was early” excuse.

3. Buffalo Sabres ranked No. 5 in the top five (Nov. 26) – Of all the teams to crack the top five this year, none will finish lower than the Sabres in the final standings. In that sense, no call was more wrong than this one.

If that’s the case, why not rank it higher? For one thing, the Sabres only showed up in the top five once, at the tail end of that ten-game winning streak. That stretch had briefly elevated Buffalo to first place overall, and yet I only had them fifth that week. More importantly, my writeup was packed with caveats, like that their top-five case “is far from iron-clad” and that this is “probably the only chance to slide them into the top five” and “Will it last? Maybe not.” Reading it all these months later, I half-expected to go back and see that the first letter of every line spelled out “I don’t actually believe this ranking.” But I still made it, so I’ll own it. (But do check out the comments that week from furious Sabres fans who insist I’m short-changing them by ranking them below the Lightning.)

2. St. Louis Blues ranked in the bottom five (five weeks total, as late as Dec. 10) – I have to include this one, especially since it lasted over a month. But the funny thing was that at the time, nobody thought I was wrong. If anything, it became a running joke that Blues fans were mad that I was going easy on them (they dipped as low as No. 3 for a few weeks). As I wrote on Dec. 10, “something big has to be coming in St. Louis.” I was right, just not in the way I thought I was.

1. Minnesota Wild in the top five (for three straight weeks beginning on Nov. 12) – The Wild aren’t as bad as the Sabres and might finish ahead of the Avalanche too. But what stands out here is how long I had them listed – three weeks in all, with them drifting as high as third after a big win over the Jets. And I can’t even fall back on hedging my bets when I wrote about them, because I was saying things like “Yeah, it’s probably time to start taking them seriously” and “Honestly, (fifth spot) is probably too low for the Wild.”

They were playing well at the time, going 10-2-0 at one point, but it was a stretch powered largely by red-hot goaltending from Devan Dubnyk. He eventually cooled down and then got hurt to start an extended cold streak. I couldn’t have seen an injury coming, but I was too eager to buy into the Wild as a legitimate Central favorite instead of what they were: a decent team that can sometimes look like more than that when the goalie is hot and they’re getting some breaks.

OK, I feel better. Now onto this week’s ratings, which I assure you are all 100 percent accurate. (Unless they’re not, in which case, uh, it was still too early.)

Road to the Cup

The five teams that look like they’re headed towards a summer of keg stands and fountain pool parties.

One big story to watch in the final month: The Colorado Avalanche are going to have to make their playoff push without Gabriel Landeskog, who’s out four-to-six weeks with an upper-body injury. That timeline means he could be back early in the playoffs and there’s a slight chance he could return before the end of the season. But as Ryan Clark wonders, by that point will it still matter?

5. Washington Capitals (41-21-7, +22 true goals differential*) – Screw it, I’m back on board.

The Capitals showed up in our very first top five, then vanished for two months before reappearing in December. They hung around for five weeks, reaching as high as the two-spot on New Year’s Eve even as I wrote that the ranking “seems a little high.” Now, after two weeks of winning pushed them back into top spot in the Metro, they seem like as good a pick as any out of a crowded top-five field.

Or maybe not. You might prefer the Jets, who have a decent case even though they lost in Washington last night. But the Jets look to have a tougher road out of the Central than what the Caps will have in the Metro and that matters too. For the same reason, I can’t talk myself into Nashville. The post-Stone trade Golden Knights? They’ve looked great at times, but the top of the Pacific is very tough and they’re locked into third. The Islanders are still at least in the mix, but I’d rather know more about the Robin Lehner injury before I get them back near the top five. And the Leafs somehow haven’t shown up here in eight weeks even as they’re tied for second in the league in wins.

It’s a tough call. But this is about who’s going to win the Cup, and when in doubt, deferring to the defending champs doesn’t seem like a bad way to break the tie. For this week, at least.

4. Boston Bruins (42-18-9, +35) – Figuring out where to rank the Bruins is really getting interesting. On the one hand, you could make a very strong case that they’re the second-best team in the NHL. Last night’s loss aside, I’m not even sure you’d get much pushback from anyone. That means they should be ranked second, right?

But this isn’t a “best teams” list. It’s “most likely to win the Cup,” and that means that having the best team in the league in your division is bad news. Without going into the whole playoff format debate again, the Bruins’ path out of the Atlantic is brutal, and unlike the next two teams on the list, there’s no hope of improving it down the stretch.

>> Read the full post at The Athletic

(Want to read this post on The Athletic for free? Sign up for a free seven-day trial.)

from All About Sports http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DownGoesBrown/~3/3pRg6MRLRag/weekend-power-rankings-counting-down-my.html

0 notes

junker-town · 7 years

Text

99 NBA predictions for the inevitable, incredible 2017-2018 season

Yes, the Warriors are going to win it all. No, you don’t know what else will happen. Yet.

The 2017-18 NBA season tips off on Tuesday. After a completely wild offseason that saw several All-Stars change teams via trade and free agency, and coming off a thoroughly dominant revenge season for the Golden State Warriors, everyone is excited to see what’s going to happen.

So allow me to spoil it all for you by telling you exactly what’s going to happen this season. From the All-Star Game to the broader league narratives to the playoff races, I’ve spelled out 99 big predictions for you.

The predictions are organized into 11 topics, with nine predictions in each. These range from the silly to the serious, from the no-brainer to the completely unbelievable. Don’t hold the crazier ones against me if they fail to materialize, please.

Without further ado ...

The Warriors

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Warriors will win the championship. Sorry, I should have stuck a spoiler alert on this one.

The Warriors will go 16-0 in the playoffs. We’ve seen this team set impossible goals and achieve them. We saw this team go 12-0 through the Western Conference. We’ve heard Draymond Green declare how mad he was the Warriors didn’t sweep the Cavaliers in the 2017 Finals. It’s happening. 16-0 is happening.

The Warriors will accidentally win 73 games. It would actually be difficult for this team to lose, especially with new rules limiting the number of starters who can legitimately rest in road games. (I won’t put it past Steve Kerr to make up fake ailments to get his guys some rest, of course.)

Steph Curry will have a 60-point game. His current career high is 54. That’s a very soft career high!

Kevin Durant will have a 60-point game, too. Durant’s career high is also 54. This is also very soft!

youtube

Klay Thompson will live the best life.

The Nick Young-JaVale McGee friendship will be one of the most lovely stories of the season. The last time this duo was together had darker overtones as the Wizards foundered. They were goofs helping to hold an immature team back. No longer. Now they are the goofs helping a bored hegemon have fun.

The Warriors will drop regular season-games to the Thunder, Spurs, and Rockets. These results will give those teams and their fans false hope.

Steve Kerr will pen op-eds in The Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. He will also publish an essay on democratic norms in the New Yorker, do an interview with the Paris Review, write a first-person essay for Vox.com, and endorse quite early in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

The Narratives

Prepare for the G League to become a big deal. We’re nearing the point where every NBA team has a G League team. The NBA is debuting two-way contracts this season. We’re closer than ever to true farm league status. Pay attention. The teams that have embraced the G League are getting great value from it.

The age minimum will finally get solved. In 2011, the NBA and players’ union vowed to fix the age minimum outside of collective bargaining. Then the union leadership imploded and took forever to hire a new executive director, David Stern retired, and the Donald Sterling saga happened. Before we knew it, it was time to negotiate a new labor deal. But this time, I believe the NBA and players’ union are sincere in wanting to change the age rules in some way. Adam Silver has even admitted publicly that it’s not working.

Franchise owners, writers, and fans will continue to complain about superteams. Water is wet.

The Last Tank will be a massive story all year, thanks to a dope draft class. You’re going to have the Knicks and Bulls — two of the league’s most famous franchises -- chasing lottery balls all year. You have at least three potential franchise cornerstones in Luka Doncic, Marvin Bagley, and Michael Porter. You have lottery reform. It’s a stew of weird attention.

LeBron’s offseason plans will be a constant source of delight and frustration. Seriously, are you ready for it?

LaVar Ball actually has a son in the NBA now. All of that attention the sports media complex (myself included) lavished on him came before his kid even debuted in the league. FML.

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

All-Star Weekend will be a wonderful league showcase, belying the controversy over 2019 in Charlotte. Last season’s All-Star move from Charlotte to New Orleans over an anti-LGBTQ law in North Carolina showed the league making a political stand for decency. The NBA has already agreed to return to Charlotte in 2019 after what many consider a weak reform to that anti-LGBTQ law passed. No one will talk about that this year. That’s good in the short-term for the NBA ... but it’s a ticking controversy bomb.

NBA stars will not protest during the national anthem ... but at least one player will test the league’s willingness to punish those who do. LeBron has repeatedly indicated that he will not kneel during the anthem, and the Warriors are unlikely to do so, either. But some player out there will sit or kneel in solidarity with NFL players who have done so this season and last. And we’ll all look askance at Adam Silver to see if he’s serious about enforcing the NBA’s rule on standing during the anthem. (Meanwhile, in the midst of all that, we aren’t talking about the reasons NFL players are protesting.)

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

NBA players and coaches will continue to speak out about the President’s policies and tone. This is the important piece: the league’s faces will assuredly continue to use their outsized voices to raise objections to what is happening at the head of the federal government. It remains to be seen whether this translates into direct support for efforts to limit the impacts of the administration’s action. Speaking in generalities about decency and democracy in media availability is one thing. Raising money and awareness of actual organizations doing the heavy lifting on this issue is another.

What about LeBron?

LeBron is going to drive us crazy this season. I mean, this has already begun with his visit to a private school in Los Angeles over the summer with his wife. He explained it away as needing a place to work out after a long commercial shoot, but no one buys it. There will be more little flirtatious nuggets of news throughout the season that will point toward a Los Angeles sojourn for LeBron this summer. It’s going to drive us crazy.

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

LeBron isn’t going to try to score 50 on the Celtics. That isn’t LeBron’s style. He wants to beat teams he’s mad about, and he knows he can do that most effectively by using the full breadth of his talents. So opening night when the Cavaliers face the Celtics, expect fireworks ... but not a scoring explosion.

LeBron will continue to pick his spots to get political. James isn’t the most political NBA star, but he understands his power and has a clear point of view about human decency. That’s what led to “U Bum” and it’s what will lead to the next conflagration. But don’t expect him to get political every week. That’s not him.

LeBron will become the seventh player in NBA history with 30,000 career points. He’ll do it around All-Star weekend, joining Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Dirk Nowitzki. He won’t catch anyone yet, though.

The G.O.A.T. debate will get louder. If LeBron wins another MVP and leads the Cavaliers to yet another NBA Finals — even if he can’t beat the Warriors as presently constructed — the calls to compare him favorably to Michael Jordan will get only louder. You’re beginning to see more converts in the media willing to say it out loud.

LeBron will hype up Isaiah Thomas more than he ever did Kyrie. This isn’t so much a once-bitten, twice-shy scenario, but there’s something most NBA players seem to admire in Isaiah that makes him easy to embrace. LeBron will do so after having a long “work relationship” with Kyrie.

The LeBron-Dwyane Wade friendship will be hilarious and sweet. We lost the Road Trippin’ tag team when Richard Jefferson got traded for luxury tax relief, but at least we have Peanut Butter and Jelly.

PB&J ..We got a lot of work to do as a team but it felt good to be back on the court with my guy @kingjames &⚡️!!!

A post shared by dwyanewade (@dwyanewade) on Oct 10, 2017 at 9:26pm PDT

LeBron will be the dean of All-Star weekend. James’ pride in his own career and his status within the league is more important than his desire to lay low at this point. Plus, All-Star is in Los Angeles, which will make it even more of a circus than usual.

LeBron will remain in Cleveland, but somehow assemble the Banana Boat. This prediction extends beyond the season, of course. I think his desire to be “home” and help the children of Akron exceeds his desire to spend half the regular season in Southern California, especially when that means dealing with the stacked Western Conference, risking his Finals streak, and potentially dealing with LaVar Ball every day. But another defeat at the hands of the Warriors will sting, leading him to convince the front office to bring in Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony, even if it costs those two, LeBron, and Wade lots of cash, the Nets pick, and/or Kevin Love.

The Transactions

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Expect more Klay Thompson rumors. There’s like no chance the Warriors trade him this season, but he’s a free agent in 2019 and no one expects him to take less money to help out Joe Lacob. Thompson really does not seem like a guy who takes less money ever. He doesn’t have Nike or Under Armour money (no shots at Anta) and he has not seemed to embrace opportunity in Silicon Valley like Kevin Durant or Andre Iguodala. If Lacob gets antsy about an even bigger tax bill in 2019-20 as salary cap growth stagnates, he might direct the front office to look for a younger, cheaper replacement for Thompson on the market.

Isaiah Thomas vs. The Max. When Isaiah gets back on the court, you know he’s going to get questions about his offseason contract expectations. Isaiah has been underpaid his entire career. He wants to get paid, and he should get paid ... if his hip checks out. That could cause some friction as Isaiah speaks up and the Cavaliers (smartly) demure.

That Nets pick is getting traded. The Cavaliers, as presently constructed, are not going to beat the Warriors as presently constructed. Cleveland has the Nets’ unprotected pick thanks to the Kyrie deal. It has been presented as an insurance policy in the event LeBron leaves. Forget that. Use it while you have LeBron to boost your chances of winning another title. What is more likely to persuade LeBron to stay in Cleveland: a very competitive Finals against an unbeatable opponent that may or may not result in a title, or the promise of a good rookie next season? Come on. Trade the pick for an All-Star.

DeMarcus Cousins is not getting traded. There have been suggestions that if the Pelicans come out flat, New Orleans could flip Boogie (possibly for that Nets pick). For one, I think the Pels will be pretty good, and there’s no way New Orleans sacrifices a playoff run with Anthony Davis for a future asset. But here’s the flip side to that: if the Pelicans are bad, Cousins will invariably take the blame, tanking his already low trade value. Plus he’s going into free agency in 2018. No way.

Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Jahlil Okafor will be traded, and will thrive for a while. It’s been a long time coming. How hard must it be to give it your all in a situation where you know you aren’t wanted, especially as a relatively young person who is accustomed to massive success.

Nerlens Noel will get traded. Noel’s restricted free agency was completely bizarre, and his decision to sign the qualifying offer clearly angered the Mavericks. Dallas didn’t give up much to land Noel a year ago, and so it can justify flipping him for a low first if it determines in January it doesn’t plan on paying what it requires to keep him in the summer.

Eric Bledsoe will be traded. Bledsoe is on an old cap deal, due less than $30 million over two seasons. Phoenix is still not ready to win, and the Suns can’t believe Bledsoe will re-sign in 2019. Bledsoe would have been a more likely option for the Cavaliers before Dwyane Wade signed on. He’d be a brilliant fit for the Jazz or Bucks if they have the pieces to make it work.

Andre Drummond will again be in the rumor mill, and it will again amount to nothing. Drummond is a player whose potential still far outshines the reality. It’s really hard to trade those players because defining what good value looks like is really difficult. It’s clear he doesn’t mesh with Stan Van Gundy at all. Even with Van Gundy pulling the strings in Detroit, finding a taker who will offer the goods is a problem.

The Nuggets will be active. No team looks more thirsty for a playoff bid than Denver — remember the Dwyane Wade chase a year ago, and the Paul Millsap victory this summer, plus that awful Mason Plumlee-Jusuf Nurkic trade at the last deadline. That roster is still wildly unbalanced with youth and potential in the backcourt and veterans (plus Nikola Jokic) up front. Expect attempts to balance it all into a cohesive collection of talent. (The defensive upside still remains wholly questionable.)

The All-Star Game

Joel Embiid will be an All-Star starter. He came awful close a year ago as he expanded his fan base beyond the borders of Philadelphia and, uh, actually played NBA basketball. His fan voting campaign is likely to take on a life of its own, and he may even get a boost from media or player voters if he plays enough games and minutes. We know he’ll put up numbers if he can get out there.

Stephen Curry and LeBron James will be your captains. Remember, the leading vote-getter in each of the Eastern and Western conferences will pick rosters based off the All-Stars chosen through traditional methods. LeBron is almost a lock in the East, barring injury. Curry could definitely be beaten by Kevin Durant, James Harden, or Russell Westbrook for top billing out West, but he has won the honor last year, and I’m betting that holds.

Given the chance, LeBron will steal a Warrior. As I understand it, the captains will pick the other eight starters first (to ensure each team has five) and then start picking from the reserves. Assuming LeBron and either Curry or Durant are captains, and assuming LeBron is the overall leading vote-getter, and assuming the NBA determines that gives him first pick among the other starters ... LeBron would probably pick the available player out of Curry and Durant, just to break up the Warriors and add some intrigue. Don’t count out LeBron drafting his frenemy Draymond Green, too.

Neither Kevin Durant nor Russell Westbrook will draft each other. The prospect of either one being the West captain and passing up on the best All-Star style player on the board should LeBron go first and pick Curry is magical. It’s too bad LeBron would definitely want both of them on his team.

Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images

Joel Embiid will be the last starter picked, and will savage the other team for it. It appears that the draft will happen in advance of actual All-Star weekend: I bet they’ll roll it into the getaway TNT game before the break so Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley can chuckle about it. So whoever is the last starter picked will have time to stew before arriving in Los Angeles. Unless a goofy fan vote like Zaza Pachulia makes it as a starter, or a low-glamour wing like Gordon Hayward is named a starter, Embiid might be the last dude picked. Anyone think Embiid would take that in stride with his Twitter Army at his back?

LeBron is going to snub the hell out of Kyrie Irving. The one conditional exception to the above: if the West captain starts taking other players over Kyrie for various reasons, there’s no way LeBron is going to take him. Imagine the nation of Georgia and country singers and Warriors Nation all conspire to make Zaza an All-Star starter over Kawhi Leonard. Imagine LeBron and Curry are the captains. LeBron took Durant, Westbrook, and Embiid. Curry takes Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and DeMar DeRozan. LeBron’s up and the choices are Kyrie Irving and Zaza Pachulia. You don’t get an opportunity like that every day.

James Harden will not be a starter. He narrowly edged Westbrook last season. The Thunderian’s MVP and boosted team, in concert with Chris Paul shaving down Harden’s gaudy stats a little, should get Westbrook there.

Goran Dragic will be an All-Star. No offense to the Slovenian, but this says as much about the East as it does Goran Dragic. (He’s really good, though.)

The game will still be mostly non-competitive. The NBA and players’ union — led by Michael Jordan and Chris Paul respectively on this topic — think they found a way to turn the All-Star Game from a playful, non-competitive exhibition into an actual game by revising the team make-up and putting charity money on the line. Wrong. No one’s playing real defense here.

The MVP Race

LeBron will be the NBA MVP. It isn’t as if LeBron lacks help with Kevin Love, Dwyane Wade, and (eventually) Isaiah Thomas. But this is a perception thing, and Cleveland should be out in front in the East. LeBron is by far the best player in his conference, and he’s led teams to the Finals every year since 2011. He’s in the driver’s seat.

Kawhi Leonard will be No. 2, and has the best shot to beat LeBron. Leonard finished second when Steph Curry won it unanimously, and third last season behind Russell Westbrook and James Harden. The issue here is that he’s starting the season injured, and he’s likely to rest frequently throughout the season. There’s also a non-zero chance that the Spurs aren’t quite up to their elite standard this season given some player personnel losses.

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

Paul George will hurt Westbrook’s case. Let’s just say that Westbrook is unlikely to average a triple-double again. Westbrook will still be a top-flight scorer, but holding the ball less should reduce his assist numbers, and he has a solid rebounding team around him.

Chris Paul will hurt James Harden’s case. Harden’s problem with MVP hasn’t been a lack of stats or wins. It’s been timing. He ran into Curry and Westbrook buzzsaws at the wrong time. But CP3 will have the ball a whole lot more than Patrick Beverley ever did, which should reduce Harden’s gaudy numbers and hurt his MVP shot.

This @CP3 finish! http://pic.twitter.com/Tgm0GsR8Wl

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) October 12, 2017

Stephen Curry is never winning another MVP. This is not because he did not deserve the prior two MVP awards. It’s mostly because his team lost the NBA Finals to a LeBron-led team in 2016, and then grabbed another top-5 player to strike back. Honestly, this also means that ...

Kevin Durant has an added difficulty level in winning MVP. Remember how some voters kept LeBron off their 2011 MVP ballot, despite him being clearly no worse than the No. 3 player in the league that season? (I think he was No. 1 or 2.) People hold decisions they don’t like against the protagonists. LeBron eventually won two more MVPs, but Durant has a lower margin for error with such great co-stars and such heavy competition. That voter melt matters more.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is not there yet. Almost. The Bucks need to be better.

Jimmy Butler will get some push. If the Timberwolves are as good as many expect them to be, Butler will definitely get a push for ballot inclusion. You know, the old “Chris Paul belongs in the MVP conversation!” that gets a player a bunch of fifth-place votes. Get ready for it.

Ultra dark horse contender: Anthony Davis. If the Pelicans finally put it together and win close to 50 games — we can dream, right? -- The Brow needs to be in the conversation. You might think he gets dinged for having All-Star help in DeMarcus Cousins. Narratives can be framed that he’s the guy who finally took Cousins to the playoffs, though.

The Other Awards

A Timberwolf will win Most Improved Player. I once renounced this award as illegitimate because it only ever rewarded the player who got the biggest minutes played jump. But voters have seen the light and begun awarding it more appropriately -- Giannis was an inspired choice last year — and so Most Improved is back in my good graces. That said, I think team influence will matter a lot, and Minnesota’s expected improvement should help Karl-Anthony Towns or Andrew Wiggins get the nod.

Jusuf Nurkic is the dark horse Most Improved Player. This is tough, because a lot of people already consider Nurkic a basketball god. To get Nurkic MIP, we have to convince everyone he’s not actually already perfect. We have our work cut out for us. One more dark horse while we’re here: Justin Holiday. Okay, one more: literally any Charlotte Hornet other than Dwight Howard, Kemba Walker, and Nicolas Batum.

Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

If Norm Powell comes off the bench, he’s my Sixth Man of the Year favorite. As of press time, it’s not clear whether Powell or C.J. Miles will be the full-time starter at small forward in Toronto. I would encourage Dwane Casey to choose Miles, both for basketball reasons and to help make this prediction come true. Powell is a dynamo scorer ready to break out into the continental consciousness.

The Clippers have intriguing Sixth Man options in a post-Crawford world. Jamal Crawford, eternal Sixth Man candidate, went to Minnesota. But the Clippers still have two intriguing options for Sixth Man of the Year. The first happens if Milos Teodosic comes off the bench behind Patrick Beverley. Milos will be on “SportsCenter” every night due to his brash passing, so he’ll get juice off just that. Milos, however, might end up a starter alongside Beverley — especially if Austin Rivers is playing more small forward. That opens up the award contention for Sweet Lou Williams, a perennial contender.

Draymond Green will be the Defensive Player of the Year. There’s nothing more to say. Apologies to Rudy Gobert and Kawhi Leonard. Green is at that status where he should automatically win it as long as he plays 70 games.

Tom Thibodeau will be the Coach of the Year. Ending Minnesota’s long playoff drought will have been the work of Towns, Wiggins, and Jimmy Butler, primarily. But Thibodeau is the front office boss, as well, and he’s so damn respected among the media that he’ll get the nod as long as Minnesota is a comfortable playoff team.

Rookie of the Year is going to be a wonderful race I am not going to handicap. Last season’s ROY race was impossible because of a dearth of good candidates. This season’s ROY race is going to be overloaded with worthy contenders. I refuse to pick just one right now. Not even Milos.

The BEST of @MilosTeodosic4 for the @LAClippers in the #NBAPreseason! http://pic.twitter.com/e1DjvcAmuL

— NBA (@NBA) October 15, 2017

It will not be Markelle Fultz, though. It’s pretty clear that Ben Simmons will be more productive than Fultz this season, and that Joel Embiid will soak up attention and credit for any success Philadelphia has. Fultz’s narrative this season is not off to a great success with his jumper weirdness. Sorry, Markelle.

Here are your 2017-18 All-NBA teams. On the first team we have Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Karl-Anthony Towns. On the second team we have James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, and Rudy Gobert. On the third team, we have John Wall, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan. The biggest snubs include DeMar DeRozan (an outrage!), Damian Lillard (unconscionable!), Draymond Green (disrespectful!), and DeMarcus Cousins (no comment).

Welcome To Tankville

The last real year of tanking will be a barn-burner. Beginning with the 2018-19 season, the worst three teams will have identical draft lottery odds of winning a top pick, and the odds won’t be much worse for the fourth- and fifth-worst teams. But this year, the old rules remain in place: bad teams have significant incentives to be worse than other bad teams. The bad teams that own their own draft picks won’t ignore that. Get ready for the tank.

The Knicks are going to be the worst team in the NBA. This isn’t totally all about trading Carmelo Anthony. This is about committing to the future fully. Scott Perry, the team’s new front office leader, won’t ignore that it behooves the team to bottom out right now. That will inform the moves he makes. Jeff Hornacek is probably sick of losing, but his roster doesn’t have many winning pieces. Kristaps Porzingis will likely be an All-Star, but this team is going to be really bad. The good news is that a good shot at Luka Doncic awaits!

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The Pacers will be close. Losing Paul George, C.J. Miles, and Jeff Teague is such a drain on this team’s passing ability and versatility. It’s going to be a long season for Nate McMillan and the few veterans (like Al Jefferson) on the squad. But hey, Lance Stephenson is around! [hits face on desk]

The Nets will also be bad. Brooklyn again has no reason to tank: its pick will go to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unfortunately, as Kenny Atkinson and the crew learned last season, a lack of incentive to lose doesn’t mean you won’t lose lots of games. Trading away Brook Lopez was smart for the long-term — D’Angelo Russell has promise — but it doesn’t help win right now. Allen Crabbe is gonna score a bunch, though.

The Kings are the worst in the West. Unless Phoenix trades Eric Bledsoe, the Suns have a blue-chip top-50 player. The Kings ... do not. What’s more, Sacramento owes its 2019 pick, so time is of the essence to bottom out completely. The Kings are one George Hill injury from winning 20 games.

The Lakers will ascend to mediocrity. Lonzo Ball will make L.A. so fun to watch, and Brook Lopez will give them a blue-chip player to orbit around. But the depth is disastrous and I am deeply concerned about the shooting. Thirty wins seems right.

The BEST of the @Lakers from the #NBAPreseason! http://pic.twitter.com/bviUWCKX1R

— NBA (@NBA) October 15, 2017

The Hawks won’t be hideous. The Bulls will. Atlanta has a bad roster, don’t get me wrong. But the system abides and the Hawks should be able to pull some improbable wins out of their hats. Chicago, though? Unless Zach LaVine comes back early, Justin Holiday chases Most Improved Player, and Kris Dunn develops quickly, this season is one long search for Doncic.

The Process is over. No NBA draft lottery party in Philadelphia this year. It’s the end of an era!

There will be a surprise tank team. I’m not saying it’s definitely going to be the Mavericks, but ... it’s probably going to be the Mavericks.

The West

The Rockets will be a clear No. 2 seed in the West. The Thunder added a bunch of firepower and retained the most important pieces of their core, but I question their depth, especially at the point. Houston is built to survive road trips, long stretches, and injuries.

The Thunder and Spurs will battle for the No. 3 seed, which means avoiding the Warriors in Round 1. San Antonio has to be concerned about Kawhi Leonard’s preseason injury and the age of the frontcourt. But the Spurs just win games. The Thunder should be improved enough to make a run at No. 3 with 55 or so wins.

The drop-off between No. 4 and No. 5 will be enormous. There are really four tiers in the West: the Warriors, the three teams chasing them, the eight other teams who are realistically aiming for a playoff spot, and the cellar dwellers. Four of those eight playoff chasers will make the postseason, but my prediction is that six or seven of the team will fall within six wins. Forty-five wins might get you the No. 5 seed, and 41 means you’re out.

The Timberwolves will end their playoff drought. Hallelujah! The curse of Kahn is over! But I don’t expect many more than 44 or 45 wins. Even that is asking a lot, despite the arrival of Jimmy Butler.

The Clippers are in. Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan remain a deadly combo, and the depth is not as bad as you might think.

The Blazers are in. Last season was a disappointment that narrowly resulted in a playoff berth thanks to an inspired February trade for Jusuf Nurkic. I’d expect Portland to come off the starting line hotter and get a few extra wins.

The Pelicans win the last playoff spot on the final day of the season. I have New Orleans sneaking in past the Jazz, Grizzlies, Nuggets, and Mavericks. Utah has an elite defense but too little offense. Denver has an elite offense but too little defense. Dallas is in transition and may be closer to the No. 15 team than the No. 8. The Grizzlies are depending too heavily on magic and Chandler Parsons. Anthony Davis is too damn good to keep missing the playoffs, no matter what misfortune begets his team.

The Lakers will look frisky early and fade away as defenses figure out Lonzo Ball. The team’s defense is also going to be a real disaster. Again.

The Suns might be one of the most fun terrible teams ever. Devin Booker, Eric Bledsoe (so long as he’s around), Josh Jackson, Marquese Chriss — dunks and jumpers all day.

The East

The Cavaliers will not be the No. 1 seed. Over the course of LeBron’s seven straight Eastern Conference titles, his team has been the No. 1 seed only twice. With Isaiah Thomas unavailable for a bit and lots of new players to incorporate, expecting Cleveland to run away with the No. 1 seed is asking too much.

The Celtics will be the No. 1 seed. Boston, of course, is also incorporating a bunch of new faces. But everyone save for Marcus Morris begins the season healthy, and the offensive brilliance of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward should carry the Celtics through the growing pains.

youtube

The Raptors and Wizards are going to be pretty good again. Toronto lost Patrick Patterson and traded DeMarre Carroll, but so long as the Kyle Lowry-DeMar DeRozan combo is running the squad, the team will be solid. C.J. Miles is a good addition. O.G. Anunoby is on track to be a sleeper hit as a rookie. Meanwhile, the Wizards still have no depth, but that John Wall-Bradley Beal-Otto Porter core is too good to fail.

The Miami Heat are joining the playoff party. Miami has two potential All-Stars in the starting five with Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside. How many East teams can say that? Plus Dion Waiters and Justise Winslow are back, James Johnson stuck around, Kelly Olynyk joined the party, and Bam Adebayo looked useful in the preseason. Strong depth, good top-end talent. Playoffs! Dalé!

The Charlotte Hornets are your surprisingly good team. 2016-17 was a down season for Charlotte after a strong 2015-16 campaign. Blame injuries, ennui, fate. But the Dwight Howard acquisition should actually help (I know, I know) and the conference is exceptionally soft beyond the top nine teams.

The Bucks will be quite solid, too. I know it’s weird to talk about the soft East but bring up decent teams; this is all relative. Milwaukee would probably be the No. 11 team out West. That’s likely good enough for No. 7 in the East. Giannis Antetokounmpo is ridiculously good, Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton are valuable, and I will ride with Jabari Parker until he can no longer run and jump (which might be sooner than we think).

The best plays from @Giannis_An34 as he led the Bucks to the W last night!! #FearTheDeer http://pic.twitter.com/nWj4cayF1t

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 15, 2017

The Sixers are going to be in a pitched battle for the last playoff spot ... with the Pistons. Detroit was a massive disappointment last season, but the addition of Avery Bradley should steady things somewhat. Meanwhile, Markelle Fultz is going to be a real rookie (in other words, don’t expect much) and there is so much learning to do in Philadelphia, even if Joel Embiid stays on the court. (Please recall that the Sixers went 13-18 in games Embiid played last season. They were much, much better when he was around ... but not playoff-worthy.) I think the Sixers will end up with the No. 8 seed solely due to cosmic penance over us missing the Heat last season.

Seriously, don’t watch the Knicks or Pacers. Have I mentioned that I think they will be quite terrible?

The Aaron Gordon saga continues. He’ll be a full-time power forward (finally) and we still aren’t going to see what he’s truly capable of doing. There’s always the dunk contest, though!

The Playoffs

A Celtics-Sixers first-round series will break the Insufferability Scale either way. If Fultz has figured it out and abuses the Celtics, Philadelphia fans will be impossible to deal with, even in defeat. If Fultz struggles, Boston will be so condescending. If this series happens, I’m climbing into a bunker.

Boston’s going down in the second round. Either the Raptors or Wizards (or even the Heat) should be able to abuse what may be an uneven Boston defense. Al Horford is a high-end defender, and Jaylen Brown has enormous potential. But all those potential second-round foes have excellent point guards and shooting guards, making it tough to hide Kyrie. I like the Raps or Wiz to make the conference finals in place for the C’s. (I do think Boston eventually wins a title with this core, though.) This turn of events would also deny us a Boston-Cleveland playoff series, which is deeply upsetting to the point I would like to revise this prediction.

The Cavaliers have another cakewalk. Cleveland went 12-1 in the East last spring. That included a sweep of Toronto and a 4-1 win over Boston. The Wizards might be able to peel two off Cleveland, if Isaiah isn’t ISAIAH when he comes back.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The inevitability of the Cavaliers both will and will not overshadow fun series. As a fandom, we are learning again how to stay engaged despite inevitability. The Warriors teach us this. This is also writ small in the East as it concerns LeBron’s much longer hegemony. At times, the journey will seem so picayune given the high odds Cleveland advances to the Finals. But hopefully together we can find joy in the ultimately meaningless twists along the way.

The Spurs are the looming hulk out West. San Antonio got swept by the Warriors last season. But there’s a big ol’ asterisk on it: the Spurs were crushing the Warriors in Game 1 until Zaza Pachulia stuck a foot under Kawhi Leonard, ending The Claw’s season and the series. We can still make ourselves believe the Spurs have a real shot to dethrone the Warriors because of that.

Rockets vs. Thunder is the series we all want. It will pay off. James Harden, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Paul George ... plus Carmelo Anthony. Pinch me. Houston vs. Oklahoma City bogged down last season because Westbrook had little offensive help. That’s no longer a problem.

The Timberwolves are getting swept. This isn’t quite the 2010 Thunder, who won 50 games and took the defending champion Lakers to six. Minnesota’s learning curve is just a bit longer. And the top four teams in the West are buzzsaws.

DeMarcus Cousins is definitely getting ejected from one of his first playoff games. I’ll never forget when Boogie was ejected from the season finale of his rookie season. Some things are just perfect.

The Warriors will sweep the Cavaliers. Golden State is just too good, no matter how amazing LeBron is and what Dwyane Wade, Isaiah Thomas, and Kevin Love do. I wish it weren’t so, because the 2016 Finals were simply incredible. But this is what happens when a 73-win team adds a top-3 player. This is what happens.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the ride!

0 notes