#If you read up on her history it's noted her parents showed favoritism to her other *comma* kinder siblings and it makes so much sense

[shokuto]

Giving Starfire the stolen amulet the space cops were looking for and being off on her way wasn't enough, Blackfire wore Starfire's clothes, tried stealing her friends and even bought a pink wig, she wanted to BE her

[yazthebookish]

I loved all of what Sarah highlighted in her interview today and I'll elaborate a bit especially on the romance part:

In Maas’ fantasy worlds, love interests often exist as fated “mates,” with invisible strings between them that are powerful and often poetic. Readers can see the literary metaphors, like complementary powers between two characters. But other times, there are no metaphors, with their connection initially seeming random.

She's too attached to the mate trope and I like that she gives us different cases and scenarios for it, otherwise it'll be boring.

“Sometimes, I will write a scene with two characters that I’ve planned for them to get together, and then they have no …” She shakes her head slightly at me. “It’s like holding two dolls and being like, now kiss! And they won’t. … And then sometimes a different character will walk in and they will just” — she snaps.

I yelled at this part because it's as if she plucked the scene from Azriel's bonus chapter and used it as an example. Those parallels between Elain and Gwyn are intentional. It doesn't mean Elain is bad it's just their dynamic doesn't work as a couple and it was obvious to the author. I know she didn't specify who this was about but like, come on, who tried to kiss and which character showed up in a bonus chapter after that depressing scene and gave a glimmer of hope?

“It feels like magic in a way where, as much as I tried to plot out things years in advance, I let my characters guide a story. And they usually wind up with the people that they need to be with and who offer them the most growth and joy.”

I love this so much and allow me to speak about my favorite ship and its because the snippets we saw of Az and Gwyn together especially in the bonus chapter brought out a lighter version of Az. His scenes with Gwyn were light-hearted and the bonus chapter ends on a hopeful note for them. It's hard to deny that connection between them whether you theorize she's luring him or they're mates, those theories wouldn't exist if she had no ties to him (she's in his own chapter like come on).

I go the philosophical route with my next question: We’re talking about fate here, but at what point is a character the agent of their own fate? What happens if someone rejects their mate? (Listen, if I were Fae and I didn’t like my mate, whatever God chose for me is not my business.)

People are jumping the gun and assume this example is set to be Elucien but... we have Helion and Lady of Autumn likely being an example of a tragic rejected mates story (if you read ACOWAR and their history it's obvious they're mates). Maybe it's Mor and Eris and that's the secret that ties them to each other. We have other characters from other series too.

For a convincing mate rejection story in my opinion, it needs more than one book or it's a case that we see with side characters where we can see their history and the long-term implications of a rejected bond.

It's too easy of a story to have one person's central conflict be the words "no I reject you" and they're done. Again, this is not exclusive to ACOTAR but also her other series.

“That’s something I find to be very interesting,” she replies. “What if the forces that be put you with the wrong person? Or what if you just decide, eh, I’m not interested. … There’s a lot to explore within the concept of mates and your agency about it.

The concept of agency is something many readers in the fandom discussed especially when it comes to mating bonds and there were arguments on (would Rhys fell for Feyre if she wasn't his mate or would have Cassian fell for Nesta if she wasn't his mate). We know that some mates don't work out but stay together because their dynamic is unhealthy (Rhys's and Tamlin's parents). We got examples of a loveless mating bond already.

We also saw that Nesta didn't immediately accept the term "mate" because it would mean cutting off her last tether with humanity. It's not a matter of "you're my mate" "yes I'll be with you", the dynamic between the mated couple is important to explore.

“I’m not going to say if I am exploring it in future books or not,” she continues, “but it definitely offers a wealth of things to explore with this concept of freewill and what is true love. Is it something that’s destined? Or is it something that you make? Is it both?”

This part aligns with what I think about Elucien. We never had a mated pairing who knew they were mates but are not in love with each other. Every mated couple found out they're mates when they were already in love.

Can a destined love turn into true love? Or do you settle for a destined love without love being in the equation. Love wasn't in the equation for Rhys's parents, but love was the equation for Feysand and Nessian. Elucien was left unexplored for a reason and both Elain and Lucien view each other by label "mate", they didn't have a chance to get to know each other. So it's going to be very interesting to see them navigate their feelings for each other despite the mating bond.

I didn't expect her to elaborate a lot on this but I love that she did and I hope in future interviews she gives us more good bits about her writing and examples of the decisions she took for some characters and couples.

Didn't expect this post to be long but happy reading! I'm still reeling from HOFAS 🥲

[averagewriter-inthedark]

Hollywood’s Angel 🎬 | Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado Imagine

TGM Masterlist

Characters & Pairings: Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado x actress!reader (romantic)

Content warnings: slight profanity, fluff | female!reader (she/her) | wc: 5k

Requested 📨 Yes/no (for @stephthestallion 🤍)

Premise: Lights. Camera. Action!! Whether it be on the big screen in movie theaters across the globe or at home streaming the latest hit show, the name Y/n L/n would forever be known one of the world’s greatest entertainers. From humble beginnings the odds didn’t appear in her favor at first, but sometimes taking a risk could lead to endless opportunities. And maybe even love along the way…..

Note: This was so fun to write and I’m so sorry it took so long. I’ve been so busy lately with work and trying to get stuff settled. I hope I did this work justice for you 🥹 Also Y/Z/S stands for your zodiac sign.

—————————

“Hello, my name is Y/n L/n,” A beaming smile was sent to the camera once the producer gave a thumbs up. “And I’m here to do the Wired autocomplete interview.” She clapped her hands, “Let’s do this.” Handed a card stock with a printed google web search filled with blanks save for the, ‘Who Y/n L/n….’, her eyebrows rose with curiosity.

“You know I’ve watched dozens of these interviews in my free time. My favorite being the one with Ryan Renolds and Jake Gyllenhaal.”

“Have you ever searched yourself?” The producer asked off screen. Y/n’s response was a cheeky smirk.

“A long time ago when I was teenager and social media was first becoming a thing—you know when we had MySpace, but since then I have not. While I love the internet sometimes it can be a little,” she makes a face, “too much you know.” Focusing back on the card stock, Y/n takes a deep breath as the nerves start to arise. “I’m starting to feel a little worried but what I’m gonna discover is searched about me on Google.”

Her fingers grip the first piece of paper, reading off the statement as it peels away, “Who is Y/n L/n?” An instant chuckle leaves her lip, turning to the camera. “Y/n L/n is um…,” she shrugs, not sure how to really answer the question, “a 28-year-old woman who started out as a child actress in the mid 2000s. She’s a Y/Z/S, a newly-wedded wife, producer, and sometimes sings and dances or models in her free time.”

In truth, Y/n L/n was so much beyond that. Her name and legacy was embedded into history at such a young age the whole world knew who she was by the time she was 14.

Born to a middle class family in 1995 in New York City, Y/n’s parents were hardworking people who raised her and her siblings to appreciate the beauty in life. Though there were times of struggle, living paycheck to paycheck and having to sacrifice the lights in order to have food on the table, there was always love, support, and care in their family. Y/n witnessed her parents do everything they could to provide for them, her mom working double shifts at the hospital and dad on the road thirty weeks out of the year as a truck driver, and made the vow to repay them. Whether it be working her ass off in school in order to graduate from a prestigious university with a degree that would get her a stable career, or succeed in her dreams of breaking through in the entertainment industry.

Acting, singing, dancing. One could consider it the love of her life. Being on stage to a crowd made Y/n feel on top of the world. Playing dress up and house with her friends and family, pretending to be someone else was so much fun to the little girl. Y/n loved the little school plays she would do in preschool and kindergarten.

“One day,” she said to her childhood best friend while they swung on the swing set, “I’m gonna be on Tv like Disney Channel,” a squeal left her when she leaned back a little too far. “In front of cameras where I get to be someone else.”

Little kids always tend to dream big. Their desires and goals often shift. One day they wanna be a popstar. The next a veterinarian or an astronaut. But Y/n always knew what she wanted in life. To be in Hollywood with her face on the big screen for the world to see. To give back to her parents and support her family so they could accomplish their own dreams and aspirations.

She was destined for greatness. Now fast forward to the present, and Y/n is celebrating 20 years of being in Hollywood.

“Who was Y/n L/n’s first TV role?” The next question read, mentally traveling the actress back to the year 2003 when she was eight years old. She had been in Los Angeles to visit her grandparents and practically begged her grandma to take her to open auditions. Whether it was for a commercial or as an extra in a show, Y/n simply wanted to at least try despite being so young. She’d maybe auditioned for six roles in various media before getting a call back.

“My first role,” she begins with a grin at the memory, “was Rosie Whittman on Law & Order: SVU. Season five, episode 25 which was the season finale and the most viewed episode of the season,” Y/n remembered how intimidating the whole experience was, but loved every minute of it. “I was eight-years-old. No agent, no experience in Hollywood and was only in town to visit my grandparents for the summer. My grandmother took me to auditions that were open—because I didn’t have an agent and was a nobody,” she couldn’t help but laugh. “My parents obviously let me watch SVU as a child, but I wanted to audition for every open casting I saw so it took a lot of convincing on my part for my parents to allow my grandma to take me.” Boy it sure was a lot. Y/n was fighting for her life on the phone while her mother voiced disapproval.

“I was a pretty confident child,” a smirk takes her features, “I went in and did my thing—impressing the casting director, the producers, and Mariska Hargitay who happened to be there to do a chemistry read— since the character I was auditioning for was being questioned by Olivia Benson for what she witnessed.” Y/n pauses for a brief moment. “And yeah, Mariska was very impressed with me, going as far as to set me up with my first agent. I really owe my entire career to her and I love any chance we get to work together. She took a chance on me when I was just a child with big dreams with little connections and,” Y/n lifts her hands, “look where it got me. Here with Wired to see what people have been searching for about me over the years.”

After a few more questions about her personal life before she was an Emmy winning actress, Y/n moved to the next card. “What was Y/n L/n’s breakthrough role?”

Y/n made a face to the camera, “This is an interesting question. And I say this because depending on who you ask, the answer might be different.” She tilted her head back and forth, “Most would say Wren Stone—after all I played that role for nearly a decade. I got quite a bit of recognition in the 2000s as Magik in the X-Men films and of course as Padaline in the Hunger Games franchise—you could say people who grew up with those films know me best by that. But,” she licks her lip, “I would consider my run as Jodie Pip to be my breakthrough role.”

Jodie Pip, the longest running companion to the Tenth Doctor in the BBC hit series Doctor Who threw Y/n into worldwide recognition. After appearing in episodes of television hits like Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, and Dexter, Y/n took a risk by traveling to England in hopes of securing a main role in a show rather than a supporting one. She was itching to play a character for longer than one episode. And sadly, Hollywood just wasn’t doing it for her.

Therefore going across the Atlantic seemed to be the solution. A decision which would change her life for the better.

“Picture this: you’re twelve-years-old in a country you’ve only been to maybe once and this time around you’re looking to permanently move there. Your family is back in America waiting for the call from your Agent, who’s your legal guardian at this point, to tell them you’ve got a contract and will be there for God knows how long.” Y/n lets out a sign, reliving the nerve racking first few months in England with only her agent and Godmother with her. “It was a stressful time. I was losing hope while waiting patiently for a sign. Getting the call that I got the part—I was going to be the companion to one of the most iconic television characters of all time…” she shrugs as if it was obvious, “Getting to work with David Tennant, Freema Agyemen, Catherine Tate, and Alex Kingston….It was the best day of my life.” Placing her hand on the next slip, she adds, “I cried for a good couple hours—pure happiness.”

“Is Y/n L/n British?” A full blown laugh escapes, hand flying up to muffle the sound. “Oh my Gosh this is too funny. The amount of people I meet every year—whether it be costars, colleagues, or fans at cons—who are so surprised to discover I’m not British,” she raises a hand in defense, “It doesn’t happen quite as often as it did ten-fifteen years ago. And I understand why people assumed I was because for so long I played characters who were.” Making herself comfortable in the chair, Y/n explains her career further in depth.

“First was Jodie, who I played for three years from 2007 to 2010 and then again in 2013 for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special. Playing her put me on the map in the UK. I was on Skins for several episodes, one season of Merlin. I had supporting roles in the Golden Compass and Nowhere Boy. And because I had worked with Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall on Doctor Who, I booked Eurydice on Sherlock and Shania on Broadchurch years later—getting to work with the lovely, talented, and amazing David Tennant for a second time.” Y/n’s face turns semi serious, “I love that man. He’s like my work dad for real—he was at my wedding,” she counts off on her finger, “I was at his. I’m Godmother to his daughters..he’s my ride or die.”

Getting back to the original point, Y/n snaps her fingers twice, “But back on track. Jodie, Eurydice, Shania..then of course playing Wren Stone on Game of Thrones for eight years had everyone on the planet believing I was British.” Wren Stone was the bastard of Jon Arryn in HBO’s critically acclaimed series Game of Thrones based on the books by George R. R. Martin. A ward of the Arryn family due to her status, Wren was introduced in the first season and went on to become a close ally to the Starks as well as a one of the longest running characters on the show when she appeared in all eight seasons. A fan favorite, her surviving the last season was one of the only good things to come out of it.

Cause…well we don’t talk about season 8.

“The last BBC show I did, what had me move back to the U.S permanently, was Killing Eve since it was with BBC America. By the time I booked Hunger Games and Ellie,” she corrects herself, “Negasonic Teenage Warhead in Deadpool, people were like, ‘you do a great American accent.’ And I just smile and nod, going, ‘yeah, I’m from New York.’ Their reaction,” she laughs, “every time was priceless.” Going to remove the next strip, Y/n pauses and looks back at the camera, ending with a wink, “Considering I’m joining Bridgerton this upcoming season as Sophie Beckett, I feel I will be having this question come up again a lot.”

‘What are some movies Y/n L/n has been in?’

“Well,” the actress rubs her chin with a knuckle, deep in thought. “I’ve been in a few—give or take,” she winks again. “My first movie role was X-2 in 2003, playing Magik although the role was minor compared to what it was in The Last Stand and Days of Future Past. In Spider-Man 2 I was in the train scene for a brief moment,” she pauses to laugh, “now that I think about it I have been in several projects related to Marvel. X-Men, Spider-Man and Deadpool. Not to mention I'll be taking on the role of Felicia Hardy in the MCU—that I’m really excited for. Umm what else,” she clicks her tongue to think.

“I had a small part in Constantine with Keanu Reeves, who along with David Tennant is someone I’ve worked with several times and love him to death,” she points a finger up, “The Golden Compass and Nowhere Boy as I mentioned earlier. In the 2010s I was in several features like Snow White and the Huntsman, The Help, New Year’s Day, Furious 7. I was in Catching Fire and parts 1 and 2 of Mockingjay—again I would say is one of my most recognizable roles. John Wick Chapters 2 & 3. In 2017 I was in The Greatest Showman. Oh!” She exclaimed with a grin, “Can’t forget I was in three Bond films: Skyfall, Spectre and the most recent No Time To Die. Another example of why the whole world believes I’m from England. Honestly England is my second home and where my career initially took off. I miss it there terribly, but coming back to the States has been a blessing—being close to my family and getting to do projects in Hollywood which was my dream since I was a little girl.”

Biting her lip the actress finishes up with, “my most recent movie roles have been Annihilation in 2018, Knives Out, Dune, The King’s Man, Uncharted, and Mortal Kombat—both of which are based on popular video games.” If she were being honest, playing Mileena in Mortal Kombat was one of her favorite movie roles to date—especially after having to fight with the studio to give the character justice when they were the ones calling her for the role. As a fan of the game and character, Y/n wasn’t going to settle for a small cameo. Ed Boon loved her interpretation of the character so much he asked her to voice Mileena in the next installments of the game.

Not to mention in the last several years any project with Y/n attached to it already had support and a loyal fan base to promote the show/film. After winning five Emmy’s—for her roles in Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Sherlock, and Euphoria—Y/n was a household name.

So yeah, she wasn’t gonna be cheated out.

“Last year I was in Elvis plus back to back features with A24. X and Pearl were a lot of fun—and we’re currently filming the final installment to the trilogy, maXXXine.” Moving on she revealed the next statement, “Who was Y/n L/n in Euphoria?”

“In Euphoria,” she clears her throat, trying not to physically cringe at the thought of its creator, “I played Rue’s cousin Reece, who like every character on the show was dealing with difficult issues. I did a lot of research into my role so I could remain authentic and true to the character and the real life struggles people like her face.” Y/n softly smiled, “I won the Supporting Emmy next to Zenday’s leading—and it was a wonderful feeling to be recognized for a fifth time by the Academy while next to one of my best friends. Zendaya and I met when we were teenagers and have been so close. Working together on Euphoria was a wonderful experience and I’m so blessed to have received the honor alongside her.”

‘What episode of Black Mirror is Y/n L/n in?’

“Nosedive,” she turned to the camera, “it was in season three with Bryce Dallas Howard and Michaela Coel—both whom I adore. Aaaaand the episode was terrifying.” She simply said with a blank expression. “Watching it back gave me actual chills because one day technology will be so advanced that what took place in the episode could become our reality. And when I read the script my immediate reaction was like, ‘this is gonna be intense,’ and sure enough it was.”

‘Does Y/n L/n sing?’

A childlike grin appeared once again, “I do sing! Anytime I get a chance to sing I immediately say yes. It’s something I love. All the time on set I’ll be humming a tune or belting out lyrics to whatever music is playing. I got to sing a lot in The Greatest Showman so I was very happy about that. It’s my actual voice in the karaoke scene in season 2 of Euphoria. The one at Maddy’s birthday party—I had to beg them to let me do it live and not pre recorded. So when you see Lexi, Maddy and Kate filming me it’s actually Maude, Alexa, and Barbie using their personal phones, not the ones their characters use.” Offering a smirk she finishes with, “A little BTS you may have not known.”

‘Who does Y/n L/n model for?’

“Hmmmm” the actress puckers her lips. “As someone who was a fashionista growing up, I am filled with gratitude at being able to answer this.” Where could she really start with this? Having been labeled a fashion icon in 2020 Y/n had a long resume of working with brands and designers. “To start, I am an ambassador for Prada as well as its subsidiarie Miu Miu. We’ve partnered together for years and I’ve gone to the Met Gala with them a few times—most recent being in 2022. I’ve done campaigns for Calvin Klein and Stella McCartney. I recently did a collaboration with Dior. This year I went to the Met with Chanel—wearing vintage Chanel and ended up doing a campaign with them. Donatella Vesache and I have worked together.” Y/n scrunches her nose, “Every year I look forward to fashion week as you can imagine.”

‘Does Y/n L/n have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?’

“If you asked me this the other day I would’ve said no,” she replies cheekily, “But….if you’ve seen the news recently then you would know that I’ve been selected to receive one this year and I….can’t even put into words the feeling. I better stop before I get emotional,” she felt her eyes well up slightly. “I’m extremely honored and blessed to receive such recognition. All I dreamed about as a kid was to have my name on one of those stars and now it’s coming true. I’m overjoyed.”

‘What did Y/n L/n win the Tony for?’

“I won the Tony back in 2018 for my role in Wicked.”

“Will Y/n L/n be in DW 60th special?” Throwing a look to the camera, smirk threatening to appear on her lips she goes, “I don’t know…you’ll have to watch and find out.”

“Is Y/n L/n in Stranger Things?”

“I am not, but I would love to be,” she shrugs with a smile. “I love that show and everyone is so talented. I can’t wait for season five—it needs to hurry up before I lose my mind.”

‘Who is Y/n L/n in Star Wars?”

“So I voiced the absolute badass and Jedi master Ahsoka Tano during Clone Wars from 2008 to 2014, returning for the Rebels series form 2014 to 2018,” she pauses to cross her legs to make herself more comfortable. This was one of her favorite characters to play and despite the criticism and dislike for Ashoka in the beginning, she grew to become a fan favorite in the Star Wars fandom. “I was thirteen when I first voiced Ashoka and I got the privilege to bring her to life again by playing her in live-action for the Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett—not to mention getting to have a voice cameo in The Rise of Skywalker.” Y/n gets ready to move on, “Now you’re about to see Ashoka again for her spin off show coming this summer on Disney plus.”

‘What all has Y/n L/n and David Tennant worked on?’ The question made her chuckle, surprised it was a top search on Google.

“David Tennant—the man, the myth, the legend. I’ve been lucky to work with him on several projects over the years,” the memories appear in her mind as she recalls them. “We first met in 2006 after I got the role of Jodie Pip opposite his Tenth Doctor. That lasted almost three years but during that time we both did Clone Wars—he voiced Huyang and he actually will be retuning as Huyang for the Ashoka series.” The moment she got the news the woman had FaceTimed him screaming. Although he was only voicing the droid they still made plans to reunite since they hadn’t seen each other since before Covid when Y/n moved back to the states.

“Broadchurch happened a few years after we both left Doctor Who—around the same time as the anniversary special—and then I got to work with him again when I appeared in an episode of Good Omens as one of the demons passing judgement on Crowley. Finally I wanna say before the Ashoka series the last thing we did was Staged back when quarantine was a thing.” Y/n’s face turns serious, “Anytime I get to work with David I take it. Like I said, he’s my ride or die,” she crosses her fingers, “we like this. And I love when people send me those YouTube videos where it’s like, ‘Jodie Pip and The Doctor sharing a brain cell for 10 minutes straight,’ or ‘David Tennant and Y/n L/n being a father-daughter duo on and off screen.’ Really brightens up my day.”

A few more questions went on, Y/n answering as best as she could with details. Doing this interview really gave viewers a more personal outlook on the actress. She was known for being reserved and private in her career expanding two decades. As a child star, her agent really shielded her from a lot due to the cruel nature of Hollywood and the media. And as a result of criticisms Y/n only was active on social media when it came time to promote projects and events.

She had a large and loyal fan base. Probably one of the largest for a celebrity due to her being in so many popular shows and high-grossing movies. On TikTok she & her characters were the most edited when it came to fancams. Pinterest had its own board dedicated to all the outfits Y/n wore.

She was Hollywoods Angel. Fans loved her, celebrities adored her. Before joining the cast of Bridgerton she met them at the Bafta’s the year prior and had them all starstruck when she approached. Nicola Couglan, who plays Penelope Featherington, even mentioned in an interview how the cast pretty much lost their minds when they found out she would be coming onto the show.

“No one knew about the end credit scene at the end of series three,” she told Graham Norton, seated alongside her costar/leading man, Luke Newton aka Colin Bridgerton on the show. “It was a big secret between Shonda and the crew. After we wrapped up, they went ahead and secretly filmed the scene with Sophie getting ready for the masquerade ball,” Nicola raises her hands, grinning from ear to ear, “and when I tell you we all were freaking out.” The audience laughed, Graham leaning foward in his seat with an awe-struck expression.

“So how did you find out? Was it when you watched the finale?”

Luke was the one to answer. “When I watched the episode,” he points to Nicola, “and I think you said you did this too—same with some of the others, I exited Netflix once the credits started to roll. Not thining much of it,” he shrugs, “then later that night Claudia Jessie who plays Eloise FaceTimes the iMessage group chat we have—.”

Nicole gently cuts in, “I’m surprised so many picked up.” That ignites a laugh from everyone.

“Yeah,” Luke agrees as he sits up. “Luke Thompson, Johnny Bailey, Simone, Nicola, Bessie, and I all answer—one after the other—and Claudia is shouting, ‘Did you see the end credit scene!?!’ Of course I’m confused because I’m like, ‘what is this, the MCU?’” Nicola bursts into laughter along with Graham. “Everyone’s asking what the hell she’s talking about because we’ve all seen the finale and were texting about it—but nobody mentioned an end credit scene. It completely went over our head. So…as you can imagine we all turn our tv, still on FaceTime mind you, and low and behold not only is there end credit scene….but Y/n L/n is gonna be Sophie Beckett.” Just the name alone ignites eruption from the crowd.

“Wow,” Graham exhales, “And you guys met her at the Bafta’s last year, yes? I remember seeing a picture of you two and other cast mates from Bridgerton with her.” Nicola nods excitedly.

“We did. It was such a surreal moment. She was with her then fiancee and the Euphoria cast—it kinda looked like a school mixed with Euphoria cast on one side and us on the other. But she came over and we were all buzzing in the corner, ‘Y/n L/n is coming over here. Oh my God-oh my God.’ Most of us have been watching her since she was on Doctor Who so this was like meeting your childhood idol,” Nicola used her hands to emphasize the point, “And she expressed how she was a fan of the books and loved the show. She even made a joke like, ‘Tell Shonda to call my line.’”

“And did you?” Graham asks for the audience and viewers at home, on the edge of his seat. “Cause didn’t they work together before on Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal?”

Luke nods, “we brought it up during press for series 2. I forgot Y/n was on those shows actually so when I told Shonda I thought ‘there’s no way they’re gonna get her’.” He glances at Nicola, excitment on his features, “I think everyone is ready to get back to set and start filming series four. I know I’m already missing everyone and I’m excited to pass the torch to Luke and Y/n.”

Coming down to the final cardstock, Y/n was sad to end the interview. It was fun seeing what people searched on the web and giving a more in-depth look at her life.

Peeling back the paper on the final card, the statement read, “Who is Y/n L/n’s husband?” Cue the butterflies in her stomach, picturing the man’s gorgeous face. “My husband is Lieutenant Commander Javy Machado. Although he is known to his colleagues as ‘Coyote’.” Lowering the cardstock she went on to say, “Javy and I met four years ago in 2019, he’s a fighter pilot for the Navy and was stationed in San Diego for an assignment. It happened to coincide at the time I was filming a small part in ‘Friend of the World’.” A small independent film her friend was producing and asked if she would take a small role to help promote the project. It’d been the first film Y/n had taken on after moving back to the States following her nearly 12 year residence in the United Kingdom.

If she thought hard enough, Y/n could feel the warmth of the sun on her arms and smell of the ocean salt water as her eyes landed on a group of people playing football with two balls. Instantly drawn to the man sticking his tongue out at his friends when running backwards to the end line. “My costars and I had wrapped up for the day and decided to go to the beach. We were waiting for this bar to open at five so we strolled for a good bit to pass time. That’s where I saw him playing football with his colleagues,” a shy smile stayed on her lips the entire time Y/n relayed the story.

“And then when the bar opened that night we formally met.” Man what a night it was. Every social media platform was buzzing with pictures and videos of Y/n behind the bar of The Hard Deck surrounded by patrons. The bartender, Penny, was so cool and didn’t mind the actors coming in despite the madhouse they caused. She did, however, have to close the doors once it got too packed due to locals sending word the five-time Emmy award winning actress was there. Before she knew it, Y/n was making drinks with her while taking pictures and signing autographs to everyone who approached. Y/n even rang the bell a couple times and bought the first round for those in attendance.

And when Javy appeared in front of her, it was like time had stopped. The noise eloping them was muffled, movement slowed to where the only clear focus was on each other.

“Hi,” he beamed, looking at her like she was the only person on the planet. “I know you’ve heard this all night, but is it alright if I get a photo with you?”

“Of course,” Y/n found her voice after a second, smiling wide as she inched closer to the bar counter. Javy thanked her, moving so his back was to the surface since the bar stood in between them and positioned his phone so it captured both of them. They posed, Javy snapping a couple pictures with Y/n making a kissy face at one point. When it ended Y/n motioned to the draft beers beside her, “Can I get you anything? Round is on me.”

Well Javy couldn’t say no could he? Pocketing his phone he replied, “Whatever you recommend, I’ll take.” Had he been to the hard deck several times in the past two weeks? Yes. Did he know what all was on draft and bottled? Sure did. But he wasn’t gonna pass on the chance to flirt with one of the greatest actors Hollywood had ever produced.

It was Y/n L/n for Christ’s sake. Hollywood’s Angel as they called her.

But what the pilot didn’t expect was to have found the love of his life. The same went for Y/n. Sure they had a moment movies often depicted as ‘love at first sight’ but c’mon, that was only in the movies…right?

Well perhaps it wasn’t just in the movies.

“Okay I see you!” Javy hollered from the side, standing on the red carpet a few paces away from where Y/n was posing for the cameras. Dressed to the nines in a black tux, Javy hyped up his fiancée like he always did at premieres and carpet events. This one happened to be at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of Elvis. “Give me face—yes ma’am! Work it-work it! Mmmh.”

Giggling the whole time, Y/n reaches out with her hand for him. He skips over, stopping to snap a picture on his phone. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, the two embrace for the photographers—who eat up every second they get with the couple. Ever since they announced their relationship in 2020 they were the it couple of Hollywood despite Javy not being in the industry. But his energy, personality, and of course his adoration for Y/n, made him well liked by her fans.

He worshiped the ground she walked on. Never did he give any indication he was with her for malice. Social media accounts he had were private and mostly to keep in touch with people he worked with. Her family loved him and his loved her. Whenever reporters approached him to try and ask invasive questions Javy would redirect to whatever project was staring in. “Isn’t the show amazing? I would say this is her best work yet—and the cast was amazing throughout.” He was definitely a keeper.

With similar personalities, though Y/n was more reserved in the public eye, the two were like a lock and key. Fitting together with a love so natural they couldn’t believe they got to experience it. They enjoyed going to concerts and the movies—getting into disguise whenever they didn't want the paparazzi following them. Sang and danced in the kitchen while they cooked, having their own karaoke parties with friends.

At one point in their relationship Y/n was to play a fighter pilot. So, what better way to prepare for the role than to shadow her partner and his colleagues. Once they got the green light from the Navy, Y/n had to do all the necessary training a pilot did to get into a jet. From there she was allowed to get in the backseat with either Javy or Natasha flying.

Flying with Natasha went smoothly….but her boyfriend was a different story. Of course she trusted him with her life and knew he would never put her in harm's way, but damn did he unlock his inner Maverick when she got in the plane with him.

“Javy Machado!!” She screamed, holding onto her seat for dear life when he flipped them upside down. “I swear I will kick your ass in the afterlife if you kill us!”

“Relax, baby,” he laughed, earning a groan from his girl. “I promise we’ll have a graceful landing.”

“It won’t be graceful when I’m puking my guts out!” She actually did vomit in the bag he provided her with before they took off. Instead of embarrassment she was just annoyed with him, but still enjoyed the ride no less. “I’m sticking with Natasha from now on.”

When it came to the squad, they were Y/n’s biggest supporters. After the initial shock and fangirl/fanboying—nearly shitting their pants at the fact their best friend was dating an absolute Icon—Y/n became part of their family. They pre-orders tickets to her movies, attending midnight premieres and after parties the actress invited them too. Sunday nights were reserved for watching her HBO shows, while Netflix series that were to binge watch were planned accordingly.

Nat loved having another gal in the group. It was a breath of fresh air and the two would go to lunch or have their own movie nights. “I’m surprised Machado hasn’t crashed in yet,” the pilot commented with a mouthful of popcorn as they sat in Y/n’s living room. Javy was in his office playing COD with the guys after pouting when Y/n said no to him joining in on their girl time.

“He’s occupied with his game. I’m surprised we haven’t heard any screaming at the tv yet.”

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT, JAKE??”

“Spoke to soon.”

The couple were stars at award shows. It was no surprise they were always the best dressed. People constantly tweeted their excitement to see them attend, and expressed disappointment when they would not. And often the two’s reactions to cringe/unexpected moments resulted in them becoming popular memes—something Y/n already had a reputation of long before they got together.

2022 Oscars? Y/n’s Twitter froze due to the amount of tags from the snapshot of her and Javy’s expressions to Will Smith slapping the shit out of Chris Rock. “Did he just—?” “he did.” “Holy shit. Where’s the popcorn—I feel I need some right now.”

2023 Met Gala? People kept replaying the moment the couple did a double take at seeing Doja Cat dressed up as Karl Lagerfields cat. “What the actual…” “now that’s what camp should’ve been.”

And of course they couldn’t forget the most recent one of their unimpressed look from Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue at the most recent Oscars. “Should I go up there and pull a—.” “Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Machado.”

Expect YouTube to be filled with videos complications titled, “Y/n L/n & Javy Machado being flabbergasted at award shows for 15 minutes straight,” and, “Y/n L/n & her husband Javy being Hollywoods favorite couple.”

Then there was Javy’s to die for reaction to Y/n recieving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at only 29 years old. The only other day besides their wedding day where the man was in a heap of tears. “I’m just—,” he sniffed, “so proud of you, baby. You’ve earned this.”

When it came to live reactions at events years after getting married and Y/n embedding her legacy as the greatest actress of her generation, let’s just say Hollywood’s Angel and the Navy’s Coyote would always be its champions.

………….

TGM Tag List: @avaleineandafryingpan @caitsymichelle13 @poppyalice2001 @cutelittlepotatofry @luckyladycreator2 @americaarse @elenavampire21 @back-tooo-black @wildellaa @artemissunn @pinkpantheris

[stxrvel]

birthday love present

pairing: steve rogers x f!reader

words: +4k

warnings: some bad words, age gap (steve's his canon age), reader has a lip piercing.

note: hi guys! this is my first time writing on the steve side. ive been trying to write this one for a long time and the inspiration finally came in today and i think im proud of this one so i hope you guys like it too! this oneshot is from a request i had some time ago that said:

Imagine being Tony Starks daughter and having a massive 21st birthday party at the tower. Despite her younger age either bucky or Steve is in love with her and they end up kissing at the party. Tony sees this and absolutely FREAKS!! Calling Steve/bucky (...) some shit cause he’s technically like 100 and it’s her 21st birthday. Mama pepper wouldn’t be super upset and calms him down and it ends in fluff of course lol

you can read some other works at my masterlist! also, if anyone has a request feel free to send it to me as a message or an ask!

The Tower had been filled with color that night. The pastel pink reigned in the decoration that your parents had put together and you couldn't have been more delighted, it was everything you had dreamed of. The music was perfect, you sang and moved to the rhythm of your favorite songs; all the people around you enjoyed as much as you did that huge birthday party. The food was sensational, there was a whole table full of all your favorite dishes that seemed endless.

Of course the best of all was the bar. Natasha tended it with finesse and mischief, she was the best of the bunch making cocktails. And she only winked at you every time you came back to the bar for another shot as if you hadn't just walked by two minutes earlier.

You had lost sight of your parents a while ago, but you were having an amazing time with your friends singing at the top of your lungs and dancing until your heels burned. You didn't want to take any breaks, you wanted to enjoy every moment of that party to the limit.

Every once in a while you would run into some of your father's friends and say hello. The whole Avengers group had attended that party, although you had asked your mother not to invite them because it would be weird, even though you saw them as a family. She obviously didn't care and so at that moment you were stuck in a bay surrounded by testosterone, with a Norse god telling a weird story to the whole assembled group. There was a pile of bottles and cans on the floor that you couldn't help but grimace at.

“Everything okay?” You heard next to you.

Steve Rogers was to your left, leaning a little closer to you so you could hear him over the loud music. His short blond hair was messy enough that you could tell he was having a good time too, and his light eyes were exalted, as if he had just come running up to where you were. But you didn't know if you could answer him with him so close.

Your history with Steve was… kind of complicated.

Tony Stark was your father, so consequently you used to spend quite a bit of time at the Tower and you knew all the team members as if they were your own family, even though you'd only met them a little over a year ago.

Steve was captivating from the first moment. Maybe it was that lopsided smile that took over his face every time you greeted him or said goodbye, or the way he would throw his head back when he laughed at something you said, even if you didn't think you were very funny, or the way he was always so considerate and cautious when he addressed you.

You didn't know exactly how it happened, or maybe you did, but there came a time when you simply wanted to go to the Tower just to see him. Tony would gladly take you along, completely unaware of your reasons, hoping to spend quality time with you and show you the latest inventions he had designed. But you were always waiting for the moment when he would show up.

And that was perhaps a serious problem. Because he was your father's best friend, or something like that, or because he was exaggeratedly older than you even though he spent 80% of his life inside that plane on the ice and basically time stood still for him. But for whatever the reason, you never told anyone, not any of your friends or your mother who was your confidant, there was even a time when you fought those feelings because you knew no one around you would understand, not even your parents. And you didn't think you could bear their disappointed looks.

Carrying that secret inside your chest used to not be difficult, you considered that you were very good at hiding those feelings and those longing looks. However, you had never put that statement to the test while drunk.

“I'm fine,” you slurred the words and frowned at how terrible that had sounded. You cleared your throat to speak again, but Steve was quicker.

“It seemed to me like you weren't enjoying Thor's amazing stories.”

“Ah,” you laughed slyly, moving your hair off your shoulders and turned to look again at the group of people gathered at the front listening to the other blond's words. “No, it's very entertaining. Not at all like the stories he has told before.”

Steve sketched a smile and through all the noise you could barely hear his laughter. It was only at that moment that it bothered you terribly that the music was so loud.

But his blue eyes rested on yours again and the words and thoughts evaporated in your head. A rational thought ran through your head telling you that maybe you couldn't disguise the lamb's eyes much with alcohol in your veins, but you very responsibly decided not to pay attention.

“You look good,” the blond shook his head looking at you down to your toes and you felt your ears heat up. “Finally 21.”

You didn't lose sight of the way Steve's eyes moved to read the band across your body, the one that Pepper, your mother, had put on you before you arrived at the huge party on this floor of the Tower. You felt a shiver run down your back and you straightened up unconsciously.

“My mother gave it to me,” you commented, trying to shake off the tension you felt in your shoulders from the intense look he was giving you. Or maybe you were just feeling it like that.

“I figured as much. Tony just took care of the money then.”

“Actually,” you moved a little closer to Steve to talk about the music, as he leaned next to you too and you felt shivers run through your body, “my mother told me he chose the color of the decor and the food.”

Too close to be true, you saw him nod at your words and his hair almost brush your cheek as he pulled away so he could see you. You felt your stomach do a flip and for a moment you thought you were going to throw up. Anxious, you fiddled with the piercing you had in your lower lip.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?”

You shook your head embarrassingly fast in a nod.

Steve moved to walk towards one of the two exits the bay had, which led directly to the bar Natasha was still tending. You followed closely behind him, with a bubbling feeling in the pit of your stomach.

He had dressed in a basic white shirt and a royal blue jacket that brought out his eyes beautifully. You remembered well that you had once told him that that blue looked great on him, and that in general dark colors really brought out his eyes. You didn't want to think that's why he had chosen that jacket, but…

Steve leaned over the bar where Natasha had already approached to greet you two and smiled before speaking.

“A shot of strong coffee for the lady here,” the man gestured to you.

You stood there for a few seconds staring at his perfect smile before realizing what he had said. Natasha barely nodded before heading over to the coffee machine Tony had set up in the corner of the bar.

You frowned at Steve, your hand moving to bump against his arm in a playful action.

“I'm not drunk!”

“You're very red,” he replied, after letting out a laugh that you could hear more clearly as you were further away from the speakers. His head moved to where Natasha was standing and you took a moment to see his arm resting on the bar, where the sleeve of the jacket was tucked up and clinging like a second skin. “I don't think it's a good idea for you to arrive dizzy like this for the pie game.”

“I'm just fine, Steve,” you slurred the words again and mentally cursed your lousy alcohol tolerance. You hadn't even had that much to drink, the party had only started about two hours ago. What did he want? For you to sit around drinking orange juice until you split the cake? No, how boring. “I'm lucid enough to break pieces of cake for everyone at this party.”

Natasha arrived with a ceramic mug and set it down in front of you on the bar. You would have preferred to leave it there, but maybe it wouldn't do you too much harm to take it?

“It's better not to take any chances anyway,” the redhead leaned her arms on the bar and gave you a smile.

“Argh,” you frowned at both of them and grabbed the mug to take a long sip. “Neither of you trust me.”

“Well, I can only say that one of us would blindly trust you with our lives, and I already have a person for that,” Natasha commented very nonchalantly as you continued sipping your coffee, and you barely noticed the look she shared with Steve before she walked off to the other end of the bar.

“What was she talking about?” you asked Steve once you let go of the cup.

The blond shrugged in man. “She sometimes just says cryptic things and goes off like that. I'm used to it.”

You nodded agreeing with his words. You were already feeling the effect of the coffee and were starting to see a little clearer. Well, maybe you were a little drunk. And maybe you needed a little more coffee.

-

Steve very kindly made you another coffee and you sat down right in front of him to watch the whole process as if you had never seen anyone make coffee in your life.

When you finished it, you let out a sound of approval drawing a smile from him.

“This was much better than Natasha's.”

“No one makes coffee better than she does.”

“You do! You should make coffee more often. In fact, you could start a coffee shop.”

Steve smiled broadly and you rejoiced at the butterflies in your stomach.

“I think I'm going to stick to being an Avenger for now. But maybe I can make you coffee every time you come over.”

Your eyes sparkled at the prospect. “I'd come by every day, Steve.”

“I'm counting on that.”

“Maybe you'd get tired of seeing me so often,” you twisted your lips into an expression of mock regret, lowering your gaze and wiggling your index finger over the rim of the empty cup. The black remains of the coffee made an odd figure that painted the white ceramic background.

“I don't think that's possible,” Steve muttered, and if it hadn't been for him coming over the bar and the music not being so loud you wouldn't have heard him. “I like having you around.”

“Really?” you raised your head, your facade fading.

“Sure. You're like the life of the party. Everything's better when you're around.”

Hearts flew around you as you saw the smile he was giving you. Just for you. You felt like fireworks were about to explode all around you and the anticipation of having him closer gnawed at your insides. Your fingers tingled and your heart was pounding.

You just had to get a little closer and…

“… and where's the birthday girl?”

You broke off suddenly.

Now you felt like your heart would pound out of your chest, but from fear.

You turned around as Steve rounded the bar to leave, and found your father walking toward you with his arms outstretched. Beside him, your mother was smiling tenderly at you.

“Come, honey, it's time to sing happy birthday.”

You stood in front of the cake, a bunch of smiling faces in front of you. The lights began to change color and dimmed. The atmosphere was a little more closed in, but it was perfect. You watched as the people in front of you sang happily, celebrating another year of your life, a whole year of experiences and changes that you had accepted with patience and love. There was nothing more at that moment that you could ask for to make it perfect. You had all the people you loved around you and delicious food, what more did you need?

The song ended and you blew out the candles. Your wish was a secret even to you.

The cake was passed around and you even had repeat servings. It was delicious.

But the party didn't stop there. After the cake the music continued and the drinks kept coming. You decided not to drink any more for the moment, at least while the food went down a bit because you had also stolen a few bites from the table full of your favorite dishes when you thought everyone was distracted.

Your parents hugged you at least five times since then and had reminded you how proud they were of you, all you had accomplished and the woman you had become. You couldn't have been happier.

Sometime during the night you slipped off to the bathroom. You arranged your hair that was quite messy from all the dancing before you left.

At the end of the hallway, reaching the stairs to go down to the party, you found Steve and Clint watching from above. They both greeted you as soon as you arrived. You noticed how, poorly disguised, Clint pushed Steve closer to you.

The blond cleared his throat as he walked over to where you were.

“How've you been doing so far?”

“It's been amazing! It's the best birthday party I've ever had,” you commented to him with a huge smile.

You heard Clint cackle sonorously and Steve in front of you rolled his eyes. But he smiled at you when their eyes met.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

You stood static for a moment, before replying, “Yeah, sure.”

Steve calmly led you back down the hallway you had traveled from the bathroom and they stopped at a safe distance.

You stood there for a few seconds, in somewhat awkward silence. Steve seemed to be thinking deeply about whatever it was he wanted to tell you, and his hesitation did nothing to help calm the anxiety that was beginning to course through you from the tips of your hands to the way your stomach sank.

Already your palms had begun to sweat when Steve finally spoke.

“I wanted to talk to you about something that… I don't know how you're going to take.”

You passed saliva despite the lump you felt in your throat. you didn't know what to expect from his attitude, because he looked too nervous and almost worried, you could say scared. you didn't want to expect the worst, so you waited for him to continue.

“What happens is that I… I wanted to tell you that… I don't expect you to take it the wrong way or reciprocate, I mean, you can say no…”

Steve was silent once again, avoiding your gaze. Your head was racing a mile a minute and it filled you with nerves to think that maybe he was going to say what you wanted him to say, what you wanted to hear and what you wanted to tell him too. But how… perfect would that be? You had imagined it so many times, but what was the likelihood that it would actually happen?

“I love it when you laugh,” Steve spoke, pulling you out of your head. His determined eyes looked anywhere. You felt a warmth blossom in your chest and you were sure your eyes must have looked like two crystal balls because of how bright they must have been. “And when you have that giant smile on your face that could light up an entire city. And I love when you tell me what you do in the day so animatedly that you don't even realize you're moving your hands too much. I also love when you dance like you're the only person on the dance floor because you sparkle. And I love how your eyes look in sunlight or moonlight, how they shine so bright I feel like I could orbit around them…. I just- I…”

“I like you too, Steve,” you interrupted him, noticing his frown.

His head moved quickly to stop looking anywhere but at you, and you could finally meet his beautiful blue eyes. His chest was heaving, almost as much as yours as you realized what had just happened. For a moment you thought that, if that was all you could do, just look at each other, you might stay right where you were for a long time. His warm, welcoming eyes roamed over your face and more than nerves and anxiety you felt very excited, so much so that you could run through a field of flowers. A smile was making its way on your face and he promptly followed you.

When it seemed that his nervousness had left him, you felt his hand brush yours. You took it without a second's hesitation.

“You do?” he asked, his voice cautious but full of excitement.

“Yes!” you replied, your smile widening. You squeezed his hand and pulled it closer to your body.

Before you gave him time to process what was happening, you crashed your lips against his.

The fireworks exploded.

You felt him tense as you rested your hands on his shoulders, but it was a matter of seconds before he let go.

His lips assaulted your mouth, delicate but passionate. It was everything you wanted and so much more. A love so fierce it could sweep away everything in its path. Your lips welcomed his, hoping this would not be the last time, and his hands clung to your hips with a promise to never let go. It was soft, desperate, tender, wild, all at the same time. Steve seemed to want to take his time savoring that moment, but at the same time he wanted to take it all at once and leave you breathless.

His body moved until you bumped against the wall and his hands squeezed your skin. The sensation was new, welcome and maddening. Now that you had tasted him you didn't think you could ever stop. His sweet scent flooded all over you with your hands tangled in the strands of his hair. His hand on the back of your neck pressed you against his lips and you felt infinitely close, but you still wanted more.

You felt like you were going to explode into a thousand pieces when you…

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO DOING?”

Steve turned away from you before Tony finished speaking.

You turned to see your parents in the hallway and Clint off to the side of them, an apologetic grimace on his face.

“Dad-”

“Get away from her. NOW.”

“Tony,” your mother put her hand on Tony's shoulder, who was looking at Steve as if he wanted to fly him out of the Tower.

Your heart was pounding wildly, a sour feeling making its way into your chest.

“I'm sorry, Steve. I turned the volume down and got distracted for a moment and they just appeared out of nowhere,” Clint tried to approach, but Tony's deadly stare drew him back a few steps.

“DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS? AND YOU LET THEM?”

In the midst of all that flurry, you turned to look at Steve. His face was nothing compared to the happiness he had radiated a few minutes ago and it contracted your heart. You moved closer to him, alerting him a little as he continued to watch Tony's argument with Clint and Pepper trying to calm them both down.

You took his hand without taking your gaze from his and when he turned to look at you you didn't like the fear you saw in his eyes.

“LET HER GO!”

“Tony, that's enough,” Pepper grabbed his arm preventing him from getting too close to the two of you.

“Are you out of your mind? You're like a hundred years older than her!”

“Dad, stop, you don't know-”

“She's my daughter, Steve!”

“I know, Tony, and I'm sorry, but-” he paused, his hand squeezing yours in support. “I can't apologize for that. I love her. I swear there's nothing stronger than that, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her either. I know it's hard for you, but I've been holding this in for so long and it's because of you, because I knew you'd react like this and I can't go on like this.”

Your father held his gaze on Steve, his eyes a blaze of burning anger and for a moment you feared he wouldn't relent. But Tony moved letting out a snort and walked over to where Pepper stood. She put her arms around him and murmured some things to him that you couldn't hear.

You turned to see Steve, who already had his gaze on yours. It was electrifying. You didn't think that he would ever really look at you in that loving and caring way as he was doing at that moment. You felt at peace for the first time, without having to pretend around him or around anyone else. You could finally show all that you had inside instead of holding it in.

He gave you a small smile, but enough to give you the strength to argue with your father if necessary.

Tony sighed audibly and you both turned to look at him. Your father passed his gaze over both of you, as if hoping to find some response. You squeezed Steve's hand in preparation for anything.

“Just…” Tony clicked his tongue. “Do you think you'll be okay with him?”

The question surprised you, and even more so his warm look, but you nodded quickly.

“Yes.”

Your father shook his head, thinking to himself, before looking back at Steve.

“This… is going to take a good while, Rogers,” he pointed at him with his index finger, accusingly. “You better not screw this up.”

Your mother smiled at you, still wrapping her arms around Tony, her fingers massaging his tense muscles. You heard Steve's positive response and your father looked at you again.

“Fine,” he nodded. “Fine, whatever. Don't ever do that around me again,” he dismissed them by waving his hand and started to walk away down the hallway. “I can't believe it, Pepper, since when?”

“Actually, love, I'm surprised you barely noticed.”

“What do you mean?”

Steve walked over to Clint and put an arm around his shoulders. The latter grimaced shaking his head.

“That's the last time I'm counting on you, Barton,” Steve patted his shoulder amicably before walking away again.

His gaze met yours and he extended his hand toward you.

“I already apologized, Rogers, what else do you want?”

You took Steve's hand and pulled him in the direction of the stairs with a huge smile, not waiting for him to respond to Clint, and squeezed his hand when you could see the party still going on downstairs.

“So we're really doing this,” you heard him murmur, and you turned to give him a resounding kiss on the cheek. His lips curved.

“We're really doing this.”

You didn't know what the future held, but you were more than willing to face it head on. You walked down the stairs moving your clasped hands back and forth, feeling the happiest you could have been in a long time, more complete and loved than ever, and you knew the smile on Steve's face said the same as yours.

You hoped that wasn't the last time you would hold his hand that tight.

[elizaditton]

Too Small To Be Afraid (Chapter 9)

Links:

Cover / Master Post / Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

- - - - - - - - - -

To say sharing English, History, and Algebra classes with a perthean was difficult would be a severe understatement. All that occupied my mind during class was whether or not my deskmate was staring at me. The thought sent shivers down my spine, and I couldn't help but glance behind me every few minutes just to make sure his attention was fixed on the teacher and not me. I doubt I retained any information from the first half of the school day.

Brown paper lunch bag in hand, I close my locker and start towards the cafeteria. I thank my lucky stars that the PE and lunch periods at this school separate humans and pertheans. I have no idea what I'd do otherwise. The very thought of watching a perthean eat... I'd pass out for sure!

As I make my way down the hall my gaze meets a pair of wide, sparkly brown eyes belonging to a girl with frizzy black hair. Is she staring at me? Is something the matter? Did I put my shirt on backwards after getting out of the shower? My face turns red and I quickly shift my focus to the floor. When I look back up again, I see the girl's curly hair bounce as she walks down the hall past me. Then, she looks back at me and stops. What's with this girl? Maybe my shirt really is on backwards? I inspect my uniform, but everything is as it should be. I try not to focus on the girl and keep walking past her towards the cafeteria.

"Excuse me," someone pipes up from behind.

I turn around. It's her. Blood rushes to my face again. What could possibly be the matter?! Why in the world would someone randomly talk to me of all people?!

"Y-yes?" I answer.

"Did we... go to stage 2 together?" she asks, cocking her head.

I look her up and down. I mean, she does look familiar... but what are the chances of someone I went to stage 2 with in Maedri showing up at a school in Chancelor?

"Not unless you're from Maedri," I say.

Her face lights up immediately.

"Kaylin?"

No way.

"It's me, Brittney!"

"I-I know...! I'm just..." I look her up and down again, at a loss for words.

"Surprised?" she says, jumping with excitement.

"Yes! What in the world are you doing here?!"

"I've been going to this school since I started stage 4! What are you doing here?!"

I ponder for a moment. What am I doing here?

"I'm kinda new here. It's a long story," I say, rubbing my arm.

"Come on! We were both going to the cafeteria, right?" Brittney says, grabbing hold of my hand as she starts running off. "I'll show you the way there! We have so much catching up to do!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After sitting down at an empty table with Brittney, I reach into my lunch bag and feel around before pulling out a small piece of paper. Yep, he's done it again. Although I've never asked him to, for as long as I can remember, Dad's made my school lunches for me. And every time, he includes some kind of note. It's usually a corny joke. This one reads:

What's a dresser's favorite type of instrument?

A 'socks'-ophone!

I chuckle. Not because it's a good joke, but because it's a terrible one. At least Dad's trying.

"What's that?" Brittney asks.

"Just a corny joke my dad wrote," I say, passing her the note.

She reads it over and laughs. "That's a good one!" she says, handing the note back to me. I guess we have different tastes when it comes to jokes.

"So, how have you been for the past..." she says, counting on her fingers, "...seven years?"

"Well," I say as I unwrap what I think is a peanut butter and honey sandwich, "I ended up going to all-human schools from stage 3a through stage 4c. West Maedri in stage 4 was kinda rough. What about you?"

"After moving to Teran, I stayed in public schools until stage 4, which was okay, I guess." She takes a thermos and a wrapped sandwich out of her bag. "Then my parents decided to send me here for stage 4. Something about me needing to socialize with pertheans more."

"I totally get that!" I say. "My dad pretty much forced me to come here because... well, you may remember how I am."

"Oh, right! Your fear!" Brittney exclaims.

"Shh! Not so loud!"

Brittney covers her mouth with her hand, and we both look around us to make sure nobody heard.

"Sorry," she whispers.

"It's alright," I sigh. "Anyway... this is your fourth year here?"

"Yeah!"

"And you... like it here?"

"Mhm," she dips her grilled cheese into her soup and takes a bite. "I've made a few friends over the years, plus I'm deskmates with my boyfriend. So, I'm happy!"

"B-boyfriend?" I ask. My mind flashes back to my own deskmate. I can hardly imagine being in a relationship with someone of his size!

"Yeah! Speaking of deskmates," Brittney says, "how are you getting along with yours?"

"Well..." I put down my sandwich and stare at it for a moment. "I wouldn't say we're getting along. It's more like he's trying way too hard while I'm kind of just... tolerating him."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, take when he dropped me off for PE. The way he said goodbye, asked over and over again if I had everything with me, and reminded me a thousand times where we'd meet up after lunch period... it's like he thinks he's my dad or something. And the way he smiles at me... it's almost sickeningly sweet, like that time my dad tried to make chamomile tea the way my mom used to. It sort of just makes you wince, you know?"

"That makes sense," Brittney says. "Maybe try not to give him such a hard time about it. I'm sure he's probably nervous and just trying to be a good deskmate."

"I guess," I say. "It's just really hard when all I'm thinking about is how he could be out to get me. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"Out to get you?" Brittney says, putting her sandwich down. "No one in this school is out to get you, Kaylin. Trust me."

"How can you be so sure? You don't even know my deskmate!"

"I don't know, I just know it. You're safe here, trust me."

There's a sparkle in her eyes that makes me really want to believe her. But with this fear controlling me, I don't know if I can.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

My legs tremble at the knowledge that I'm going to be reunited with my deskmate any moment now. I wipe my sweaty hands on my skirt and try to steady my breathing, but I can't seem to get anything more than shaking, shallow breaths out. I just hope I can get myself to calm down before my deskmate sees me like this.

"So, this is the spot?" Brittney asks as I come to a stop in front of her.

"Yeah," I say, "this is where he dropped me off."

"Do you see him anywhere?"

I scan the room from the balcony. There's so many pertheans, but I don't see my deskmate.

"I don't see him," I say.

"Maybe try texting him. You did get his number, right?"

My heart sinks at the thought of initiating contact with my deskmate, especially when I didn't answer his last text.

"My boyfriend isn't answering me. I guess I'm stuck waiting and watching," Brittney says.

"Is that how things normally go?" I ask. "Waiting and watching?"

"More or less," she says, crossing her arms. "It'd be different if a certain someone remembered to charge their phone, though."

I scan the room again for any sign of my deskmate, secretly hoping he'd just come get me so we can get the rest of the day over with. Right when I think I see him is when a pair of narrowed brown eyes meet my gaze. Was he staring at me first? Wait, isn't this the same creepy guy who was staring at me this morning?!

"Kevin! Over here!" Brittney shouts.

I look beside me to see her jumping up and down and waving her arms. I follow her line of sight, and lo and behold it leads me back to the perthean who was staring at me. Blood rushes to my face. They know each other?!

The perthean standing next to him turns around. I immediately recognize his wide blue eyes as being my deskmate's. I stumble behind Brittney, and my heart begins to pound. The two pertheans are walking right towards us!

"Huh?" Brittney says before letting out a huge gasp. "No way!"

I look at her, her hands covering her mouth in surprise. I look back at the two perthean boys, my heart still pounding. What could be the problem?

Brittney grabs hold of the balcony railing as the boys approach. "Derrick! What are you doing here?!"

What?! No way! How in the world do they know each other?!

My deskmate rubs the back of his head. "I'm back this year," he says. His eyes turn to me. "I see you've found my deskmate."

Brittney's jaw drops to the floor as she turns around. She stares at me, wide-eyed, and points to my deskmate. "You guys are deskmates?!"

"Y-yeah?" I manage.

"This is awesome!" Brittney exclaims. She pats my right shoulder and looks back at the boys. "Kaylin and I have known each other since stage 2!"

"Is that so?" my deskmate asks.

"Yeah!" Brittney says. "Although, after I moved from Maedri to Teran, the letters stopped at some point during stage 3."

"I hate to break up this reunion," says the boy beside my deskmate, "but if we don't leave now we're going to be late for our next class."

"Oh, wait!" says Brittney, turning to me. "Kaylin, this is my boyfriend, Kevin."

I look up at the boy she's referring to. I cross my right arm over my chest and am about to bow as I usually do when I meet someone new, but I notice the boy simply nod at me. I end up sort of just... sheepishly waving. His gaze is so... heavy. Okay, this guy has officially freaked me out!

"Can we all meet up again after school? Pleaaase?" Brittney pleads as her deskmate lifts her up from the balcony.

"Of course! Let's meet here at the balcony," my deskmate says, fistbumping the other boy.

Brittney and her deskmate head to their next class, leaving my deskmate and I at the balcony. He smiles and holds his finger out for me to grab onto. With my only comfort in the whole school being whisked away, my eyes begin to glaze over with tears. I wish we had more time in the human part of the school. Heck, I wish we were at a human school. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to suppress my fear around these pertheans!

Hands shaking and heart thumping in my chest, I reach out and grab onto my deskmate's finger. I blink my tears away as he lifts me up and places me in his hand.

"Miss me?" he asks as he starts down the hall.

I keep to myself, staring down at my hands in my lap. What am I supposed to say to that? 'Yes?' 'No?'

The boy laughs nervously. I guess he realizes I'm not in the mood to talk right now. I just hope he doesn't take it the wrong way.

[merlot-and-chardonnay]

The Targ from Horsing Around: A Character Comparison of Aegon and Bojack

For anyone whose read my post about the Blacks vs Greens discourse, I once brought up that I was someone who 1) have watched the entirety of Bojack Horseman and 2) made a comparison of the horse's life to that of Aegon from HotD.

Now you're probably wondering, how is so? Well if you stick around, I'll be more than happy to explain why. So sit back, relax, and read my...unnecessarily long take of our favorite brooding blonde dragon prince and...the Horse from Horsing Around.

Also quick spoiler warning for both shows as well as content warning for subjects such as addiction, depression, and abuse of power as well as dysfunctional family dynamics.

So, first off we have to do a little brief background for both characters.

So first we have Aegon:

Aegon Targaryen (second of his name), or also known in the history books as Aegon the Usurper, is the firstborn son of King Viserys I and Alicent Hightower, and in the patriarchal world of Westeros the heir to the Iron Throne...or he would've been had his father not named his older half-sister Rhaenyra heir, changing the line of succession.

Having not experienced much affection from either of his parents, Aegon strives to fill the void in his life by means of sex and alcohol, which doesn't do much as deep down he craves for someone to love him as he is and not because of what he can accomplish as the future king.

And then we have Bojack Horseman. An actor most noted for his role from the 90s sitcom Horsin' Around, and someone who comes from a very dysfunctional family, Bojack struggles with addiction and depression and self-loathing as well. He too has a void in his life that he tries to fill with drugs and booze and sex, but that doesn't do much.

So with the character synopses out of the way, now we'll dive into their similarities.

1. Family Background

While Aegon's family may not be arguably as dysfunctional as Bojack's (the casual eye mutilation and kin-slaying not withstanding), the dysfunction is still there. Aegon is the firstborn son of Viserys and Alicent. As I mentioned before in my Black and Green take, Alicent was basically forced into the marriage, never having a say in the matter, but did as she was bid because she felt it was her duty. She does not love Viserys, and frankly it was mutual for Viserys, as the two only lay with one another for the sake of fulfilling their material duties and to produce heirs.

I've already established Viserys was practically an absentee parent with his children, sans Rhaenyra, but we also see the way Alicent treats her children. She dotes on Aemond (more so after he lost his eye), and...she tries to dote on Helaena, bond with her, but she doesn't quite understand her (something I can kinda relate to in regards to my own relationship with my mother). And there's the way she treats Aegon.

Partly driven by paranoia by her own father, Alicent pushes Aegon in more ways than one in trying to prepare him to become king. She...uses some rather controversial tactics, most which include her slapping him out of the blue when he steps out of line, or for things that happened that were beyond his control as we saw on Driftmark, or covering for him when does something really bad, to which she proceeds to scold him in private and then slap him again before disowning him.

Alicent's relationship with Aegon is dysfunctional and complicated to say the least, and again to reiterate it was very telling that Aegon had asked her on the day of his coronation if she loved him.

I find it interesting how much of driving force between Alicent's parenting towards Aegon actually comes from her father pushing her, which led to some rather trauma inducing consequences to Aegon's psyche.

Sounds familiar Bojack Fans?

In contrast to Alicent Hightower, noble woman turned queen, Bojack's mother, Beatrice Horseman was a sugar heiress, i.e. someone who definitely comes from old money. Her father, Joseph Surgarman, also had an impact on Beatrice from an early age (especially after what he did to Beatrice's mother), and it haunted Beatrice for the rest of her life, to the point where she refused to love anyone the same way her mother loved her brother Crackerjack.

While Joseph didn't force Beatrice to marry (though he tried), Beatrice nonetheless found herself in a loveless marriage to Butterscotch Horseman, after she fell pregnant as the result of a one night stand with Butterscotch on the night of her debutante ball (keeping in mind it was the 60s and despite the sexual revolution having kicked off around this time, a woman pregnant out of wedlock was still considered scandalous).

Butterscotch was also an absentee parent to Bojack (when he wasn't busy smacking him around), spending his days at the office (*cough cough* having affairs with his secretary) and then shutting himself in his study at home to work on his inevitably failure of a great American novel (I could compare Butterscotch's obsession with being a writer of working class origins to how Viserys obsessed over his model of Old Valyria and its history).

Beatrice, meanwhile, was left with the burden of raising a child, and she often took that frustration out on Bojack, if not physically, than emotionally and psychologically. Beatrice also instilled into Bojack a very toxic need to perform in order to please the people and give them what they want, whether he wants to or not. (this was also a mindset Bojack would sadly pass onto Sarah Lynn and we know how that ended).

To summarize, Aegon and Bojack had some pretty shitty upbringings and it affected them greatly into adulthood.

2. Unhealthy coping mechanisms

As I mentioned before Aegon and Bojack use unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with their lives, in the form of sex and booze.

Aegon drinks copious amounts of wine and cheats on his sister-wife with any woman who will (or won't) have him. He has also fathered an unknown number of bastards (something Bojack likely would've also done if he didn't use condoms or send money to his one night stands to get abortions).

Bojack took the unhealthy coping a step further in season 5 when an accident on set of tv show Philbert resulted in him getting addicted to prescription pain killers.

And of course people got hurt from these addictions. We saw what Aegon did to the servant Dyana, which resulted in Alicent putting out fires and giving the poor girl silence money as well as moon tea (and as I've mentioned before it's heavily implied this was NOT the first time something like that has happened). We also got a glimpse of the damage he caused Aemond, when the guy recalled to Criston his first and only time Aegon dragged him to the Street of Silk...when he was THIRTEEN FREAKING YEARS OLD!

With Bojack, we saw the damage his drug and booze benders have done, as we saw with Sarah Lynn in season 3, and with Gina in season 5 (and though he was not really on a bender in season 2, we saw what he almost did to Penny). And while Bojack's mother would never be willing to step up and pick up his pieces, that burden was constantly left to his agent Princess Carolyn (my favorite character of the show).

3. Toxic Personalities

It's no secret Bojack is a pretty toxic individual especially to his friends and loved ones. We see how he often takes Princess Carolyn for granted, especially when she goes out of her way to find him acting gigs and he flat out turns them down all the damn time. Not to mention he practically dropped her in season 3 when she screwed up ONE TIME for the first time in the many years those two had worked together. We also saw the way he treated Todd, never having given the guy the guest room, despite allowing Todd to crash on his couch for five years, and when Todd did have the opportunity to make it big and get his own place with the debut of his Rock Opera in season 1, Bojack goes out of his way to sabotage the whole thing cause he was scared of being left alone.

Bojack is a toxic person, something he is actually very self-aware of, but he doesn't do anything to change it, not until the very last season when he actually puts in the effort to go sober and reflect on why he is the way he is. But before that, his toxicity had real consequences and left lasting impact on the people around him.

Aegon is a toxic person too. He is something of a shit stirrer, as showcased in episode 8 during the family dinner when he tried to goad Jace and then made unwanted advances towards Baela. He's not the best person to his siblings either, particularly towards Aemond, such is in episode 5 when he convinced Jace and Luke to prank Aemond by giving him a pig with wings when he knew the boy wanted a dragon, and of course I already brought up the Street of Silk incident and what he did to Dyana.

Both Bojack and Aegon's toxicity are also compounded by their status as celebrity actor and royal family member respectively, which means there is little chance of being held to true accountability by others (though in Bojack's case, the closest we get to that was the second interview in the final season when Biscuits Braxby confronted him about the circumstances surrounding Sarah Lynn's death).

4. Need to feel affection from others

THIS....

This is actually the one thing that prompted me to make the character comparison in the first place. In HotD episode 9, after Aegon was crowned king, he pulled out his sword, and he saw the way the people cheered for him, practically cutting the image of his namesake Aegon the Conqueror.

Note the small smile Aegon made in this gif when he saw the way the people reacted to him in this state:

Aegon made not have had any desire to rule up until this point, and he probably still doesn't have that desire... but dammit, if being king is all it takes to win the love and affection of complete strangers, if that is what it takes to receive even an ounce of validation, then he will role with it.

This was the scene that made me think about Bojack. The reason Bojack got into acting, why he embraced celebrity status during his time on Horsin' Around was because that was when he had an audience to perform before. There were people out there that gave him love and validation for it even if they didn't know who he really was. And Bojack accepted it, because he certainly wasn't going to get it from his mother or anyone else whom he felt would eventually leave him for one reason or another. People in his life may come and go, but his audience would always be there for him...supposedly.

Spoiler alert, they weren't there for him as we saw as various moments in the show, ESPECIALLY the third and second to last episodes of the final season.

Bojack and Aegon gave the people what they wanted in performing their assigned roles, and it gave them the rush of validation and temporarily soothed their craving and need for the love and affection that was basically denied them since childhood (not true affection as much of this would be akin to a para-social relationship).

While there are similarities, there is also a key differences between the two (and NO it is not that Aegon is a human being in a medieval fantasy epic and Bojack is a anthropomorphic horse in a series set in modern day Hollywood).

It's fair to say Bojack had a stronger support system than Aegon, granted one he often took for granted. He had friends that actually cared for him and had stood by his side for most of the series, even when he kept screwing them over and throwing them under the bus. I already mentioned Todd and Princess Carolyn, but there was also Diane and Mr. Peanut Butter. And before that, before Horsin Around, there was Charlotte and Herb (though Bojack was quick to burn those bridges with those two when he failed them on two separate occasions).

Diane was the one who was there for Bojack during his low points in the show; she was the one who comforted Bojack when he was reeling over the death of Sarah Lynn, and she was the one who took Bojack to rehab in season 5 when he decided things needed to change if he was to become a better person. She was also the last person Bojack talked to in the final episode.

I already know how the events of HotD are ultimately going to end...I'm not optimistic Aegon will have that kind of support system, save for enablers and sycophants and just about any nobles and Green supporter who want nothing more than to win his favor by kissing his ass.

...that was kind of a grim note to end on, but that is what I got.

Hope you enjoyed this take. Now have a nice day.

[written-in-flowers]

Something ive always wanted to see with Otto and Rosebud's family is how does Otto hang out with little Cedric? Would he carry him around the red keep or sit with him during council meetings when theres nothing serious on the agenda? Take him to the stables and watch horses? Keep Cedric's drawings in his office?! You have no idea hod often do i think about this little family 💚💚💚

Oh gossshhhhh I've been wanting to write some fluffy domestic stuff with this universe, so this is my chance!

Note: as of the newest installment "In the Dunes" , Cedric Hightower is three-years old. In these headcanons, the Greens kids are still teens, since I'm going based off of the age-group in the last part of the series.

***

Otto often remembers his time with his eldest son, Gwayne, whenever he holds or spends time with Cedric. Cedric certainly has more Hightower than Tyrell with his dark ginger curls and brown eyes, but he had your temperament. Or so Otto believes whenever he giggles or smiles. It still amazes him that he's doing the parenting thing all over again at his age, something he did not plan on until he married you. When people reach a certain age, they don't feel like going through the troubles of child caring again, but with you at his side, he feels just as confident than he once did.

He does spend time with his son in the family apartment, watching over him fondly and cuddling him whenever you're occupied or tired. He buys him small toys that are usually fit for toddlers: small wooden blocks, wooden knights and horses (especially horses), and even a wooden play sword that Cedric likes to swing around aimlessly.

He's a father of two already. He has experience with babies, even if they do have mothers and wet nurses to care for them. When Cedric cries, he can usually guess what the problem is: hungry, changing, or sleepy. Having a sister significantly younger than you and nephews and nieces, you've learned the basics of raising infants, but Otto knows the ins and outs.

You sometimes find him comforting a weeping Cedric in his solar. He'll have the boy cuddled to his chest, soothing him with back rubs while writing to Lord Whoever about Very Important Thing. He only hands him off to you when Cedric has fully calmed down, then goes back to work.

If this boy ever gets sick, Otto gets hourly reports about his illness when he is not around. When he is there, he does what he can to relieve any discomfort his baby boy might be having.

He isn't a man to be annoyed by a crying infant or have very little patience when they do not stop. It does rob him of sleep when Cedric wakes in the middle of night, but he never shows he's upset or angry. He simply lets you handle it, watching you sing him back to sleep in between you, since he refuses to sleep anywhere else after a nightmare.

We know little Ced loves horses. The calf you'd chosen when Cedric was an infant is now a grown pony, and Otto often takes him out riding whenever there is a hunting party or a trip into the forest. He loves seeing Cedric ride because it's the first thing a proper nobleman learns to do as he is growing up.

Since he's only 3-years-old, Cedric cannot hold a proper sword or learn any other martial skills, so Otto focuses on the academic side. He reads to Cedric, usually about history or The Faith or House Hightower. He used a book from Alicent's childhood to show him shapes and colors, teaching him how to say them properly. He showed Cedric pictures of animals or maps of different places, pointing out things and teaching him how to say the words. His son will be educated as well as strong.

Now, just because Cedric is a Hightower, does not mean he's isolated from the rest of his family. Alicent dotes on her younger brother, and showers him with sisterly love at all times; you and Cedric spend a lot of him in her rooms with Helaena and Aemond. Helaena herself sewed a dragonfly pillow for Cedric, and it immediately became his favorite pillow; she likes to give him her one of her many fidget toys to keep him occupied for short periods of time. Aegon doesn't dote or coddle his "baby uncle" like everyone else, but he may have once let Cedric drink from his wine cup when nobody was looking. Aemond sometimes reads to him as well, stoking Cedric's interest in dragons, and tried teaching him chess once. Daeron has met Cedric on a handful of occasions, and loves to play games with him, and showing him books about knights and legends.

And for the sake of utter cute, fluffy visuals: a clingy Cedric may have waddled behind his father into the small council chamber one day when you weren't paying attention to him. Since Alicent heads most of the meetings in her husband's place, she has no problem with Cedric remaining there until the end on the less important days. Otto likes to think one day Cedric himself might sit in Otto's seat, or on any of the council positions.

Cedric is a baby boy who is utterly surrounded by love from people who think themselves incapable of it for a time. All the things that happened to them, they will not let happen to Cedric, the purest and sweetest of them all.

A/N: feel free to send in more cute things because otherwise I'll start rambling about them in blank posts lmao

[judgementdaysunshine]

May I please request headcanons for Odd, William, Yumi, and Ulrich reacting to their female S/O getting into shape and losing weight which causes her to become more confident in herself?

Oooh ♥️

Ulrich

He noticed that you never really had any type of self esteem in a loving or happy manner towards yourself and he would always compliment you and shower you with love every time he saw you and spent the day or night with you

You weren't really big but not stick thin either but in the middle where you were a little bigger than others but mostly still smaller than many others as well but that didn't matter to him

He would see you running on the track field with Odd in between classes during the week and swimming with William and Yumi but what he didn't see or know was that you would go to a gym a couple of blocks away from campus and exercise for 2-4 hours whenever you weren't in class,doing homework,helping the others on lyoko or with XANA,and slowly getting into both Korean and Japanese martial arts

Soon he noticed how much happier and relaxed around people you were than before but also confident wearing shorts and crop tops whenever it was really hot out when classes weren't happening occasionally sporting a tank top outside of gym class and even wearing a couple of different sun dresses both to and outside of classes

One day the two.of you were spending the night at your home while your family was out of town as you did every time when it was just you at home and while you were quietly listening to music he looks over and tells you "I'm proud of you and I love you" you smile giving him a peck on his lips making him turn bright red

Yumi

She could always tell that you had problems with your self esteem always doing everything in her power to just make you smile and not think of the self bashing you always did to yourself

She knew one big insecurity you had was your weight but her and the others didn't think anything bad of you and you weren't crazy big you were just a bit bigger than others but your weight was normal

As time went on from meeting,becoming friends,and started dating that she noticed a slow change in you starting with how you talked about yourself in a more positive and self loving manner

You started changing from loose fitting and mostly baggy clothes to more fitting and revealing clothing that enhanced the curves of your body but didn't show any skin

You also started wearing more shirts with straps on your shoulders and dresses whenever it was hot

Soon your dates went from studying,watching movies,and having lunch together to swimming,dance classes,and spending the day in the park dressed up in shorts and tank top or a loose fitting dress

The two of you were at her house for the week with her family while your family was out of town visiting a family friend playing video games and joking with her brother and helping her parents even when you didn't have to

You were reading comics laying against her Totoro while she was channel surfing the tv looking over at you then laying beside you holding you making you smile "I'm glad your starting to love yourself I'm proud of you" the two of you share a kiss and continue reading just before her parents quietly peek in smiling that their daughter found someone she cares so much about and hoped the two of you shared your futures with each other

William

He could tell that you never really had any positive self view of yourself which hurt him and made him wish he could show you how he and the others saw you

He would always try to do little things to make you feel loved and know that he cared about you from leaving little notes under your door,carrying your favorite snacks and candy bars on him,always helping you with math and history when you were getting overwhelmed and frustrated,saving you a seat by him at breakfast before first period,always saying how pretty or beautiful you looked in your outfits,and spending nights in your room or taking you to his room to watch movies

He noticed how you started doing more gym time for extra credit but also to help with your weight and self esteem

He soon noticed how you would wear crop tops or cropped jackets in and out of class,dresses that fitted your figure perfectly,and tank tops that defined your shoulders and collarbones and wore amazing outfits that enhanced your features making him catch his breath and his heart stop

The two of you were eating beside a pond not far from campus just spending time with each other away from teachers and other students especially sissi who never failed to bully you in some way

"You changed for the better and I'm glad that you're happier and seeing yourself in a much healthier way and I'm really happy for you and proud" he kisses your cheek making you giggle as the two of you head back placing a kiss on his forehead making him almost fall over his own feet

Odd

He may seem like he didn't pay attention but he certainly knew how you secretly scratched your skin until it became red and chewing on your nails until your nails were short and little bits of skin hanging on the sides of your fingers

He hated how you talked bad about yourself to Aelita knowing that she wouldn't tell anyone even odd thought she wanted to many times after hearing what you would say about yourself

He not only saw you start to get in a better mental and emotional state but he also helped you get into a better mindset and gain confidence even to where you'd started snapping at Sissi whenever she would give you a hard time

He always gave you a compliment or kiss you on your face making you turn to jelly and giggle at how by being in a dress or different outfit he just always smiles at how you show your confidence and newfound self esteem

Every time he sees you he always has to show you off to anyone around even teachers who just smile and giggle at the two of you and he always hugs you saying your the prettiest human in the world

The two of you were dancing and listening to music in your living room while your parents were out running errands and soon the two of you were watching a movie "You're the best thing to happen to me and I am very proud of you being you" you turn red laughing and he starts tickling and kissing all over your face

[tumblasha]

what will happen to me afterwards?

on death and social media - 11 april 2024

(content warnings for ovarian cancer, death of a teacher, death of an online friend, future death, grief)

today, one of my twitter mutuals found out that one of their online friends (known each other for Years) died back in january. they're obviously devastated and it makes me think of a three thoughts that run rampant in my head after every death that happens around me.

it's no secret that my first french teacher in high school died (72 year olds don't really survive ovarian cancer, ya know?). it's no secret that she was one of my favorite teachers. i think a lot about her life. her long-distance husband, the children she's "adopted" by teaching them french for four years (she could never have kids herself), her obsession with turtles. she gave so, so much of herself to her community, over 50 years teaching in my little high school. and she was not celebrated as much as i would've liked. she had a memorial service the saturday after she died, and we all talked to / near her urn in the school gym. the principal didn't give a shit, and her husband didn't show up. the other old faculty member (my us history teacher) retired at the end of the next academic year.

the way i found out was through text. i went through the first stage of denial, saving my grief for four hours later when i fully found out the context behind the "i'm so sorry" sent to the group chat. my french teacher had over 100 turtles, little trinkets she put all over her classroom. and she let each of her students take one home.

for almost a decade now, i've grown quite fond of the community i found on twitter. i made my little fan account, i followed people who were also obsessed with my fav pieces of media, and the rest is history. over the years, i also had to take breaks from being online after reading some "this is X's mom. X passed away last night" tweets or just let a friend fade away after their last tweet ("going into surgery tomorrow! should recover in a few months :3") turned one year old.

and i'm so scared. i think that with the many diseases running rampant on the planet, the lack of secure infrastructure in my country, and other problems, i realize that i could simply go away at any second. and who would know? legally, they have to tell my parents (they're the secondary recipients of health and retirement accounts). legally, they have to tell my job. legally, they don't have to tell anyone else. but i have friends everywhere. the most important ones existing as little icons on my screen or little words in my messaging apps. how the hell are they supposed to know?

when i was a kid, i always imagined myself having at least two weddings: one with my family in peru, one with my spouse's family and our joint community in the united states. now i realize the same might have to happen for my funeral. how am i supposed to plan ahead for that? now that i've finished school, there's never going to be a "guaranteed" place for me to be. i can go anywhere at any time! and none of you have to know!!

there are no conclusions to this ramble. there is only the three threads: online friends leaving but being remembered, people in my real life leaving but being forgotten, and me who will leave someday too. maybe i'll leave behind some turtles, too.

--

author's note: no, i'm not suicidal. you should not express concern to medical professionals over this post. i am healthy and happy to be alive.

[americangirlstar]

Meet Claudie - Infodump

So bc agwiki hasn’t got any real info on Claudie yet and they’ve banned me from editing, here’s a quick rundown of the info we garnered from Meet Claudie!

Date: The book takes place during the Summer. It’s not specified when, but it’s at least a month before school starts, as Claudie’s mother’s trip is for two weeks and two weeks after that is the variety show, which will still be summertime. I suspect very early summer.

Claudie info:

Claudie is a dreamer and storyteller, though she doesn’t realize the second part of herself quite yet and sees herself as someone with no talent, which makes her insecure.

Claudie often ends up daydreaming and losing her focus. She doesn’t realize until later how good she is at making up stories in her head.

She is incredibly shy around strangers and when public speaking. She hasn’t done any solo performances, mainly due to her anxiety.

She is noted to be very responsible, especially with her little brother, and never breaks a promise.

She enjoys learning about history, curious to learn about how life came to be as it was. “Besides, if you understood how life came to be, you could also imagine how it might someday be different.”

Claudie likes to read the funnies in the newspaper every morning, and visits Angelo’s Bakery every afternoon, as her dad will give her a special treat. She also likes watching the writers at the café across the street.

Claudie takes dance classes with the Harlem Angels, who dance in ballet, tap and African dance. She has poor motor skills however, and can “barely sway in time.” This embarrasses her, but she likes dancing when she’s alone or just with her family.

She also says that she’s “no singer” and sings quietly in church so nobody can hear her. However, Selma believes she has a beautiful voice.

She was born and raised entirely in Harlem. Claudie’s family lived in a cramped apartment when Claudie was “little,” but she doesn’t remember it, and only remembers Miss Amelia’s boardinghouse. Her parents sometimes talk about finding their own apartment, but Claudie likes the crowded and noisy house.

Three years before, in February, Claudie, Jody and Mama waved a flag in the Hellfighters welcome home parade, waiting for Daddy. Claudie remembers being bundled in “the prettiest blue coat.” An older white woman cried happily beside her; she also spotted Mr. Rockefeller. She finally saw Daddy with a fold metal, and Claudie called for him, though she thought he wouldn’t see her. However, when the formation broke, she ran right into her father’s arms, and felt like she was flying.

Claudie vaguely remembers people marching or fighting in the street that summer, because she couldn’t go outside to play. She didn’t realize at the time this was the Red Summer.

For her eighth birthday, Claudie got a leather-bound maroon notebook from her mother. She still hasn’t written in it.

The previous Christmas, Miss Amelia had sewn Claudie several finger puppets. Daddy made a stage out of cardboard box, and Mama used scraps of fabric to make the curtains. She uses her set to tell Jodie stories at bedtime. The three characters she has are Domino the cat, Puddles the duck, and Miss Pink the pig. Domino is a poor dancer like her. She considers the puppet show as “just a thing” she does for her brother.

Claudie’s Family:

Jody: Claudie’s little brother, who is six years old. He’s often mentioned racing his toy car. He adores Claudie’s puppet shows. He is also obsessed with the NLB. His favorite player is Joe Williams. He also idolizes Henry Johnson of the Hellfighters.

Mama: A brave and dedicated newspaper reporter for the Amsterdam News. She is always working or reading or hunting down a story. She has a beloved Underwood Typewriter. Claudie wishes she could be as passionate as her.

She likes living at the boardinghouse, as she often works late and likes knowing that someone is there to take care of her kids. She likes when her kids visit her at work, but will flip over the article she’s working on if it’s something too grown-up for them.

She was raised in Shellman, Georgia on a farm, but she came up north because she didn’t want to be a farmer and hated the way black people were treated; as such, it’s “hard for her to go back” and she is hesitant to take her kids there.

Both of Claudie’s parents are described as practical.

Daddy: An artistic baker and veteran of World War One. He works at Angelo’s Bakery. He’s famous in the neighborhood for his beautiful cakes. Every time Claudie visits the bakery (which she tries to do every afternoon), he offers her a sweet from the counter display.

He grew up in South Carolina. Daddy tells Claudie a story of the first caked he baked; he wanted to make a birthday cake for his mother, but it looked and tasted awful. He kept working on baking however, and after the war, he would bake during his insomniac episodes.

Daddy served in World War One (referred to as the “Great War” in everything but the narration, presumably so little kids don’t get confused.) He fought with the 369th Infantry Regiment, the Harlem Hellfighters. He would like the “peace and quiet” of their own apartment as he had to live in crowded barracks during WW1.

I think it’s safe to say he’s showing signs of PTSD, with insomnia and nightmares when he does manage to sleep.

Grandma: Mama’s mother in Georgia. Claudie has never met her.

Cousin Sidney: Either Mama’s cousin or nephew, I’m not sure. He’s a woodworker who lives upstate, and whenever he visits he brings Claudie and Jody a new toy.

Non-Wells Characters:

Miss Amelia: The woman who runs the boardinghouse. She is an immigrant from Port Antonio, Jamaica. She came to Harlem to visit her cousin thirty years previously, and ended up staying as she fell in love with the city. When she was young, she worked in a shop as a seamstress. She now uses her skills to mend clothes for extra money.

Dizzy Dot: Miss Amelia’s dog. She’s described as energetic.

Gwen: A watercolor artist who paints pictures of Harlem.

When Gwen was little, she used to sneak off to art museums to study paintings. Her mama gave her a watercolor set for Christmas, and that set Gwen on the painting path forever. She came to Harlem to study art, dreaming of becoming a famous painter, but the racism around her crushed her dreams.

She doesn’t care much for sweets, but still admires the decorative artwork that Claudie’s Father does in the bakery window.

Gwen doesn’t "take to” children very much, so Claudie avoids her out of politeness.

Nina: Claudie’s best friend, who loves to dance. She has a solo for the performance the Harlem Angels are practicing.

Nina hates history lessons, finding them boring. 

Nina seems to be more well-off than Claudie, and lives at Striver’s Row in her own apartment. Her place is mentioned to be “big”, and she has a pedal car. Claudie sometimes visits Nina, but feels strange and restless at how quiet her place is. Nina’s family hosts Christmas parties there.

Nina’s mother is also mentioned, making “finger sandwiches.” Nina’s father belongs to the Elks Lodge, and lets them rehearse in the lodge basement as long as they left the space as they found it. 

Porter: A musician who plays cornet in a brass quartet.

He grew up in New Orleans, “the birthplace of jazz.” He fell in love with the surprise and improvisation of jazz. He drove his cornet teacher crazy by continuously riffing off the music. 

Porter also served in WW1, playing in a band. He says the “french boys” called their horns magic. However, after the war, he returned home and was jumped by white men who didn’t like seeing him in uniform. After that, he left the city.

He acts fake-offended when Claudie compares cornet to a trumpet, telling her it’s “smaller, and the sound is warmer.” He says it’s a perfect instrument, as “you carry it in this little bitty case,” so you can take it anywhere, unlike a trombone or tuba.

Porter helped Claudie learn to balance while riding her scooter.

Selma: A glamorous and talented jazz singer. Claudie likes visiting her because Selma keeps a trunk of costumes that she lets Claudie try on, and would tell her stories about performing over the city while she shows her perfume or does her nails.

Selma grew up a preacher’s daughter in Texas, and grew up singing in the church. She learned she wanted to be a traveling performer from a vaudeville troupe that visited her town when she was “about Claudie’s age” and visited with her cousins. She was enchanted by the everyday wonder of it, “the simple beauty.” But she was most entranced by the blues singer at the end of the show, knowing that that was what she wanted to do with her life. When she finished school, she went on the road with her own traveling show. After becoming tired of living out of a trunk, she arrived at Miss Amelia’s boardinghouse intending to stay for only a few days. But she found herself home there.

Selma had taught Claudie how to tie her shoes.

Winston Martin: A boy from the South who loves to draw. He is Claudie’s friend, with dark skin and thin, wire-rimmed glasses that he always forgets to clean.

He comes from Canton, Mississippi, and was surprised by how big Harlem was. He started drawing so he could remember everything. His family moved to Harlem because his parents wanted him to have more opportunities.

Miss Zula: Claudie’s dance instructor. She is endlessly patient, and says that “There was no such thing as a bad dancer, only an unskilled one.” 

Unnamed Characters:

English Teacher: Claudie dreads when she has to read a book report in front of their class.

Synopsis

We begin with Claudie in dance class. Miss Zula is teaching them a griotic dance, with griot being a traveling poet or musician in West Africa. “A griot tells stories that keep history alive. Dance is a form of storytelling, too.” While Claudie likes the idea of telling a story in ways other than words, she’s too distracted trying to keep up with the other kids to pay attention to the story. As she watches Nina practice for her solo, she feels sad she wasn’t born with a special talent.

Claudie scooters on over to meet her dad at Angelo’s Bakery. She reads through The Brownies’ Book trying to enjoy the stories about heroes of color, but is still sad. She goes to the kitchen and asks her father if she has any special talent, and he tells her that she’s kind, smart, and a good sister and friend. This does not cheer her up. 

Claudie returns home to the boardinghouse and asks Miss Amelia about how she came to Harlem. The kitchen then “descends into its typical chaos” as the other boarders enter. Claudie’s mother is working late and misses dinner, and while Claudie understands, she misses her mom and wishes she had a normal job that would mean she could be home.

Claudie is eventually cheered up after telling Jodie a puppet story, taking comfort in the fact she’s good at making her brother happy. Mama arrives after Jodie has fallen asleep, telling her she was late because she had to interview a few more sources. She asks her mother what she’s good at, and Mama says she’s inquisitive. She then informs her daughter that she’ll be going to Georgia for two weeks, but says it’s “not time” for Claudie to go. Claudie is worried that Mama thinks she’ll get in her way.

She wakes up the next day and decides to spend the rest of her summer finding her talent. She proceeds to interview all the other boarders and ask how they’d discovered theirs. She starts with Selma, who tells her her backstory, and then teaches her the song that made her want to become a performer. Claudie then talks to Miss Amelia, who is mending a pair of trousers for extra money, which she has been doing a lot recently. She tries to teach Claudie to sew something, but Claudie is predictably bad at it. She tells her to practice, and Claudie asks how to practice something you’re not good at. Amelia says, “A lot of people quit if they aren’t good at something right away. But don’t worry about sewing the whole dress. You just start with one little button.” Claudie thinks about focusing on the smaller steps of something.

That afternoon, Claudie takes Jody to Amsterdam News headquarters to visit Mama. As the kids arrive, Mama flips over her article, and hesitantly tells Claudie that another man was lynched the day before. Claudie notes that while her mother can write any story, she most often writes the scary ones, and asks her why. Mama says that she wants to help people see what they’d rather ignore, then takes her and Jody home for dinner.

The rest of the week, Claudie tries to find her talent. She shadows Daddy at Angelo’s, but she keeps losing her focus and forgetting important steps. She follows Mama next, but while she’s fascinated by her mother’s bravery, she knows she’s too shy to do her mom’s job.

The next afternoon, Claudie visits Porter in hopes of learning to play cornet. He tries to teach her “When the Saints Come Marching In,” but she’s not great. He tells her about improvising in her music, the way she improvs her puppet shows. In the afternoon, Porter takes her and Jody to the Bronx to watch the Lincoln Giants. Claudie spots her friend Winston and sees him drawing Joe Williams, and she’s shocked by how realistic his doodle looks. He tells her that Harlem has more opportunities for black people than Canton did. Joe Williams hits a baseball high, and Jody cries that he hit it to the moon. Claudie imagines that something like that could only happen in Harlem.

Claudie awakes that night to find her father baking a crepe in the kitchen. She asks why he’s awake, and he told her he had a nightmare he was still in the war. She asks why some people were mad that the black soldiers came home, and he tells her that the white men were scared they’d think highly of themselves. The Red Summer occurred when they came home, which was disheartening for the men who thought they’d proved themselves in Europe.

In the morning, Claudie arrives downstairs to find everyone surrounding an Eviction Notice. Mama tells Claudie to take Jody to play outside with Dizzy Dot, where Claudie has to explain to him what eviction means; she had previously heard horror stories of classmates’ families receiving eviction noticies. She assures her brother everything will be fine, though she herself is afraid. That night, the boarders around the table only discuss making more money. Claudie eavesdrops, finding out that the rent was raised and they will be evicted if Miss Amelia can’t pay over a hundred dollars by the end of the month. Porter complains that black residents are given unfairly high rent. While Mama suggests talking to the Tenant Association, Papa tells Claudie that a lawyer would be more expensive than the rent. He then tells Claudie that people have started having rent parties, where they throw a party and charge people to enter. However, he doesn’t think they could throw a party big enough. The boarders all pick up extra jobs to pay rent, putting extra money in the coffee can in the kitchen, but it’s nowhere near enough.

Claudie gets ice cream with Nina and tells her about their problem. Nina suggests Claudie doing something to help, like a lemonade stand or sidewalk sale. Claudie isn’t sure what any of the boarders would be able to sell. That night, Claudie thinks about putting on a variety show as a rent party, selling tickets around the neighborhood to earn money. She thinks about organizing, as she doesn’t have a talent to put on. She would have to gather the performers, find a rehearsal space, and get word out. At daybreak, she decides to attempt it.

Claudie finds Selma at the theater and tells her about the variety show, which Selma is excited about. She asks if Claudie will perform, and Claudie, insecure and full of anxiety, doesn’t think she’d be good. Selma suggests focusing on some spot in the back instead of the large crowd, and assures her that lots of performers get stage fright. When Claudie still declines, Selma says that she can still be their director, which is a very important job.

Porter agrees to have his brass quartet perform. Claudie starts writing ideas in her notebook, before going to Miss Zula’s dance class. At the end of the class, she tells them about her variety show and Miss Zula agrees to perform and choreograph a new routine just for her, with her own solo. Claudie is ashamed at the idea of doing a solo, but Miss Zula says this thing that made me bawl my eyes out:

Miss Zula paused. “Claude,” she said, “do you like to dance?”

Claudie paused. She supposed she did, at home at least, when she knew that no one was watching. She would dance with Jody to the phonograph or stand on Daddy’s feet as he twirled her around the living room.

“I think so,” Claudie said, “But I’m not very good at it.”

Miss Zula smiled. “I did not ask if you were good at it,” she said. “I asked if you like to dance.”

Claudie nodded. Then Miss Zula patted her on the shoulder.

“You will miss the dancing,” she said, “if all you do is stare at your feet.

– Meet Claudie, Chapter 8: “Calling the Shots”, pg. 54-55.

Claudie cautiously goes to Gwen’s room. She asks her to paint a backdrop for her show. Gwen says she doesn’t know about painting backdrops and tries to close the door, but Claudie wedges her foot in the doorway. Claudie begs to see her paintings, and Gwen only lets her in after inspecting her hands and ensuring she won’t touch anything. Claudie is amazed by Gwen’s paintings, but shocked that she will sell them as they are art. Gwen compares her father’s cakes to art, and Claudie realizes that artists are not separate from other people. Gwen tries to get Claudie to understand they may not sell a lot of tickets, but Claudie says she still has to try to protect her home. Gwen carefully says she’ll paint the backdrop under one condition: that Claudie will be in the show, too. She says this is because Claudie wants to be an artist, and art is about taking risks and sharing yourself. She suggests Claudie put on a puppet performance and write a sketch for it, and Claudie agrees, though she doesn’t know what to write about.

That next afternoon, Claudie goes to the YWCA pool with Nina, then takes Dizzy Dot to the park. While Nina and Jody play with the dog, Claudie goes through The Brownies’ Book for ideas. Nina discourages her from writing about someone else, though Jody says that he’d wright about the Hellfighters, especially Henry Johnson. Claudie doesn’t like to imagine the war, however. She thinks about asking the writers at the café, but is too shy to.

The day before Mama’s trip to Georgia, Claudie has set the show date for two weeks after Mama’s return, just before rent is due. Claudie asks Gwen, who is surprised to see her, what she should write a sketch about. Gwen and her painter friends set Claudie up to paint for inspiration as Gwen details her backstory. She compliments Claudie’s painting, though Claudie hates it. Gwen assures her that it’s her first try, and the important thing with first tries is noticing and observing. She encourages Claudie to find her inspiration in something new. She wanders down the block, wanting to tell a story about her city, about the feeling she had long ago at the Hellfighters parade, “as if she were invisible yet part of a community at the same time.” She feels discouraged.

After dinner, Claudie asks her mother, who is packing for her trip, what she does when she needs to know what to write. Mama had been busy recently, writing about the NAACP’s anti-lynching campaign and tutoring children in reading and writing to earn extra cash. Mama suggests talking to someone else, who either know information she doesn’t or can help her talk through an idea to see it differently. She compares writing to a conversation, talking to the people they care about. Claudie remembers Gwen’s advice to do something new, and realizes everyone she’s talked to came to Harlem from somewhere different. Claudie begs her mom to go with her to Georgia, so that she can learn her own story.

“You said we never write alone. I think that’s true, and that each person is part of a much larger story. I want to understand my story. Until I do, I won’t be able to write a sketch and... save the boardinghouse.”

Claudie had never spoken words so true– or pushed back so firmly after her mother had told her no.

– Meet Claudie, Chapter 9: “Inspiration”, pg. 69-70.

Hesitantly, Mama agrees, which excites Claudie immensely. Mama warns her there will be different rules they have to follow, and Claudie will have to mind her completely. After talking it over with Papa, Mama gives Claudie a suitcase and Claudie excitedly packs for her own adventure. Lastly, she packs her maroon notebook, daydreaming about the stories she will write for it.

[nickeverdeen]

hi! how are you? are you still doing match-ups for harry potter? i would prefer a male match up, please. if not and you no longer doing matchups then you can delete this and I'm sorry to bother you.

appearance: she/her. i'm 5'3 and a bit chubby. i have a strong southern accent. i have mid-length light brown hair with blonde highlights and blue eyes. i wear glasses and i have faint freckles that really come out during the summertime (my fav season). i have little scars all over me from my love of being outside and my cat. i love doing my skincare/hygiene things, it gives me such serotonin. my fingernails are always painted bright colors. i always have a scrunchie on my wrist. i love jewelry, especially necklaces so i am almost always wearing a necklace of some sort. i don't know how to put my style into words so here are a few pics i found of my style:

personality: i am argumentative, sassy, sarcastic, and opinionated. i am also kind, almost to a fault because i can literally not be mean. no matter how much a person gets on my nerves, and they do, very much, i just cannot be mean. i blame my parents. i love to learn everything except for math, i have dyscalculia (which is a learning disability in math, it's sort of like dyslexia but math). but i love everything else, especially history and english. i am a huge bookworm, my favorite genres are fantasy and greek mythology. i love playing my own therapist and finding out why i do things. i am a very curious person so my google history is very strange and i fall into Wikipedia rabbit holes very easily. i am a very emotional person but i hate crying in front of people, i like to cry by myself and then be comforted. i am observant and i learn a lot from watching those around me. i am quiet until you get to know me, then i won't shut up. i am very sentimental and if you give me anything, card, sticky note, whatever, I'm keeping it. i write letters to get my emotion's out a lot but never send them.

random facts: i love music, my favorite artists are taylor swift and alec benjamin but i also love classical music and lofi. my favorite band is 5sos. i want to learn to play the keyboard and guitar. i am obsessed with photography. i love being outside.

have a great day!

Of course I still do match ups!

Btw you look amazing!!!

Your Harry Potter match is…

Cedric Diggory

Cedric loves your accent

He definetly buys you some jewelry like rings or necklaces

You can’t be mean? He’s gonna be mean for you if it’s really a case

Cedric is very protective towards you and if someone is making you uncomfortable, he’s most likely to confort them about their actions

Complimenting you 24/7

To him you’re the most intelligent person in the whole world

He doesn’t know what Math is, but after you’d show him, he definetly wouldn’t like it nor understand it

“I’m sorry princess, but fuck Math, it’s so stupid”

Cedric doesn’t read much, but he’d love to listen to you telling him what’s going on or what happened in your book

Jokes about Greek Mythology

As much as it hurts Cedric, he is letting you crying by yourself if that’s what you need, but expect a huge comfort from his side later

Hands holding

Cedric loves to talk to people and if you’d later tell him what you learned from observing others, he’d be shocked and suprised that you read so easily in people

Gives you his scarf in winter so you wouldn’t get cold

Only if you’d want the scarf of course

Walking dates

Cedric is 6’1 and you’re 5’3 so expect a LOT of joking about your height

Takes you out to sit near the lake or just somewhere quiet

Sometimes he’d just play some of your favourite songs and dance with you in your or his dorm

Hates it when others talk shit about you

Cedric is VERY supportive

————————————————————

[the-weirdos-mind]

Estella Garcia: Profile Update

Link to old profile of interested (btw this will mention SH and suicide so be warned)

Name: Estella Madeline Garcia

Nicknames: Stella (by pretty much everyone), Henchman (by Grim), Herbivore (by Leona), Shrimpy (by Floyd), Potato/Little Potato (by Vil), Trickster/Reine des Secrets (by Rook), Child of Man/Child of Magic (by Malleus), Siren (by Lo), Big Sissy Stella (by Castor)

Twisted from Cinderella, Mirabel Madrigal, Luisa Madrigal, Jim Hawkins, Milo Thatch, Loki, Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlet Witch

Age: 16

Height: 5’2

Weight: 120 Pounds

Species: Human

Homeland: Somewhere in the South of the US, Earth/The Forgotten World

Family:

Rafael Garcia (Father)

Kendra Garcia (Mother)

Oriane Garcia (Older Sister)

Consuelo Garcia (Parental Grandmother)

Austin Garcia (Cousin)

Selena Garcia (Cousin)

Carlos Garcia (Cousin)

Dorm: Ramshackle

Best Subject: Literature/History

Class: 1-A

Club: Pop Music Club

Pet Peeves: Being underestimated

Favorite Food: Chicken, Chocolate, Ramen

Least Favorite Food: Sour and bitter things

Talents: Writing, singing, and playing guitar

Background

Estella was born into a seemingly normal family. However her family was far from normal, her family is one of the only families in her world to practice magic. It’s kept secret so the government doesn’t know and use the families against each other. They have a secret job; protect their world from the Heartless. Over the centuries the Garcia’s have defeated and protected their home from the Heartless. When a child is 18, they know the family secret and begin their training to help. Their magic unlocks during their training and they spend two years training to perfect their spells. Those married into the family can’t use magic but are offered magical weapons for self defense against their foe.

As a child, she was bullied relentlessly by her schoolmates when she first enrolled in school. She doesn’t know why but she sadly has the aurora that makes her an easy target for bullies. Until her disappearance from her world, she was bullied constantly. In fifth grade was when she grabbed a razor and harmed herself. Due to years of bullying and some family history of mental illness she gained depression and anxiety. She has tried to take her life but chickened out. At times she felt that her parents favored her sister more than her due to her negative emotions and seeing the three head off somewhere to do something. It also didn’t help that she felt like a failure and screw up, thinking her parents saw and were ashamed of her. Whenever she would make a bad grade it was known right away and her parents would scold her on the grades.

It wasn’t until she finally told her parents after three years of bullying about everything in school and home life. Her parents felt awful as they didn’t see the signs, since they were busy with her sister and she hid everything well. Her relationship with her family had strained during this period and they were just starting to patch things up when Estella suddenly disappeared one night, just like her cousin Selena. They didn’t find a note and feared the worst.

She ended up in Twisted Wonderland and discovered she had magic. Something she wasn’t supposed to know. The Dark Mirror couldn’t read it when she first appeared but the more she stayed, the more it showed.

Personality

Estella comes off as a shy and reserved girl due to her trauma. She has learned to put up a shield to protect herself from others. She slowly lowered that shield as her friends had managed to move past those walls. When she feels like she can trusts you then she’s really nice and friendly with you. She’s often sarcastic and mischievous, cracking jokes and making wise remarks that makes her friends laugh. To cope with her issues, she got attached to fiction and would imagine herself in a different world to escape from everything, making her a massive geek. She will ramble on about the fandoms she likes and fictional crushes. There are times when she doesn’t want to do much and would rather stay inside but there are times when she has the need to do some work. It’ll vary depending on what she feels like doing. She would rather stay away from fights but if she’s challenged then she will fight back. Good.

She seems to have everything together but it’s a facade. She hides behind a smile to not worry people and feel like a burden. When she’s alone, she lets it out. If she’s made angry by someone then it’s best to run. Latina’s have a reputation for a reason and she’s not immune to a hot temper. If you mess with any of her loved ones then you better run.

Signature Spell

From Fiction to Reality

This spell allows her to bring any object she has written into the real world. It’s as she described it and the details match. She can’t use the spell to bring living beings into life or alter anyone living. Just objects. When she’s done she simply erases the object away.

Trivia

Since her arrival in Twisted Wonderland, she has no control over her magic. It comes and goes as it pleases with the sign being the magestone glowing a lavender hue

She speaks with a Southern accent

She knows Spanish and is fluent in it

She taught herself to play guitar to cope with her issues

She wrote as a way to get some thoughts out of her head

She has a cat named Nemo back home

Her cousins taught her to fight

@adrianasunderworld @mangacupcake @writing-heiress @marrondrawsalot @anxious-twisted-vampire @achy-boo @abyssthing198

[lipstickmarks]

Cunningham Manor Mystery

Summary: Gravity Falls Hellcheer AU where Eddie is a professional ghost hunter and Chrissy’s family hires him to banish the ghosts from their house. 

Author’s Note: Hellcheer is literally dipcifica and northwest manor mystery is my favorite GF episode so here is this <3 

Warning: smut, fingering, mentions of demons, mentions of ghosts, smidgen of violence, allusions to Chrissy’s ED, no Vecna, no Jason :)

Additional tags: nervous chrissy, 10 points to anyone who can spot the Robin Hood reference 

~

A sinister storm was brewing on the night of the Cunningham’s Annual Soiree. But something even more sinister lurked within the walls, beneath the floorboards that were built atop hushed atrocities. 

And that something was threatening to come out. 

The Cunninghams, wanting to keep things quiet, begrudgingly reached out to the only person insane enough to even dare dabble with the Satanic presence they could no longer deny. 

Eddie Munson. Ghost Hunter.

Phillip Cunningham had read about him in the paper-- he was a Hawkins local who made a name for himself uncovering supernatural happenings throughout the small town. It was nothing to pay much mind too, until spirits began making themselves heard throughout his house. Vengeful spirits. 

“We need to do something about this.” Phillip said to his wife, Laura. There were only 12 hours until the party started and cups had been flying off shelves, the fire place had been turning off and on by itself, plus an hourly ghostly wail was making everyone’s ears bleed.

“I will not have this nonsense in my house, Phillip! How would we even go about contacting him?”

“I can ask him.” 

Laura and Phillip looked at their daughter, Chrissy who had entered the room unseen. 

“Eddie,” She clarified. “We go to school together, he’s in my history class. I can ask him if he can come fix our ghost problem.” 

It was just like Chrissy to offer to do errands for her parents. Usually, as an excuse to get out of the house and away from them. Cunningham Manor may be a stunning house, but it is not a home. Not with Laura Cunningham’s venomous words and Phillip Cunningham’s constant absence. 

“We do NOT have a ghost problem! Keep your voice down, the neighbors will hear you!” Laura chided her daughter, even though she was the one being loud. 

A loud creak came from the family room, followed by an intense chill that all three of them felt. Phillip sighed and pulled his checkbook out of his pocket, thrusting it into Chrissy’s hands.

“Be quick about it, and do not let anyone in that part of town see you.” 

Chrissy felt a chill go up her spine, not from the ghosts, but from the excuse to leave. And the thought of seeing Eddie...

It’s the only thing that occupied her thoughts as she drove her dad’s Lincoln Continental all the way to Lover’s Lake. Chrissy had had a massive crush on Eddie since middle school, where he and his band performed in the school talent show. He looked so free as he wailed on his guitar, something she longed to feel. Ever since then, she’d taken note of him in the hallways, sneaked longing looks while they were in class together, and let her mind take her places that her conscious body would never.

Chrissy parked underneath and oak tree and got out, walking toward the only lake house on the property. When she approached the door, she saw a sign that read HELLFIRE GHOST HUNTERS FOR HIRE.

“This must be the place.” She muttered to herself. Chrissy knocked on the door and waited in anticipation. 

Disappointment washed over her when a long-haired guitarist did not open the door, but rather a 14 year old kid. He stood behind a screen with a notebook in his hands.

“Do you have an appointment?” He asked.

“I’m sorry?” 

“Do. You. Have. An. Appointment?” He asked, an air of annoyance in his voice. 

Chrissy suddenly got nervous. Should she have called ahead? Maybe his ghost hunting business was more in demand than she thought. Were they even available to help out today? Was Eddie even here? Maybe he had another ghost hunting gig or he was out on a date or--

No, no, Chrissy. Don’t go there. 

“Um, I- Hi. I’m a friend of Eddie’s-- well, I know him from school. I was just hoping that he could help me out.” 

The gatekeeper narrowed his eyes and consulted a notepad in his hands. 

“Name?” 

“Chrissy Cunningham.” 

Before he could say anything else, a hand appeared out of thin air and yanked him back by his shirt. 

She could hear a loud voice yell “Wheeler, go wash something!” A very familiar voice.

Chrissy’s heart started to race when he appeared in front of her. Eddie. All long hair and chocolate button eyes and ring-clad hands. 

He looked a bit startled to see her, but then his surprise melted into a grin.

“Well, Chrissy Cunningham, as I live and breathe...” 

She didn’t know what else to do so she awkwardly waved at him.

“Hi, Eddie.”

Eddie grinned as he opened up the screen door to let Chrissy inside. The lake house was not as shabby as the outside would have you believe. There were small mis-matched love seats, a scattering of comic books on the floor, and posters of different rock bands. 

Eddie picked up a few boxes labeled “Dungeons & Dragons” off of an ottoman and pushed it over to Chrissy. She sat down while he sat on the arm of the couch. 

“So, uh, what brings the Queen of Hawkins High to my humble workplace?” 

“I need your help. Well, my parents do. You see, we have this party tonight. It’s kind of an annual thing and they invite the mayor and a bunch of really important people but we’re having this insane ghost problem.” 

Eddie’s eyes didn’t leave Chrissy’s face as she spoke. It struck her as odd, given that people usually don’t pay attention to her when she talks. They either stare at her legs or stare at something more important and only pretend to listen. But Eddie... she had his undivided attention. 

“How insane of a ghost problem are we talking?” 

Before she could answer, the gatekeeper came back in carrying a tray of mugs. Eddie plucked one off the tray, but his gaze never strayed from Chrissy’s face. He shyly walked over to Chrissy and offered her a mug too.

“Sorry about before, the power of being Hellfire secretary goes to my head sometimes. Um, cocoa? I make it myself with my sister’s secret recipe.” 

Chrissy faltered. Her stomach twisted in both repulsion and yearning for such a sugary drink. She was never allowed cocoa. At Christmas, she could only have half a cup brewed with water instead of milk and absolutely no marshmallows. 

But it’s freezing outside and her mom’s not here to tell her no and it smells so good and she feels... safe here.

Chrissy takes the Hard Rock Cafe mug off the tray and offers him a smile of gratitude.

“Thank you.”

Chrissy takes a sip and allows herself to savor the deliriously amazing taste of cocoa and marshmallow. 

“Wheeler’s a good kid, he’s just... annoying as fuck sometimes. So, Chrissy, you were saying?” Eddie asked.

Chrissy nodded, remembering the task at hand. It was funny, she had only been here for a few minutes but she already felt so at ease. This place just felt warm and homey. 

“Right, um...moaning, things falling over, the feeling of being watched...” Chrissy shivered as she recounted the last few nights. There was no other word to describe it. She felt completely and utterly haunted. “I’ve even woken up with scratches a couple times.”

Eddie’s eyes darkened, which gave Chrissy the impression that her ghost problem was maybe bigger than her parents had led her to believe. Eddie sat his mug down on the coffee table and braced his hands on his knees. 

“Chrissy, it sounds a bit worse than ghosts.”

Chrissy swallowed.

“What’s worse than ghosts? Demons?” 

Eddie winced.

“Something like that.” He stood from the couch and sat down on the coffee table that was directly facing Chrissy. “But, it’s something my crew and I have dealt with a million times over. I would be more than happy to banish a few cranky demons for you.

Chrissy felt her face flush from his flirtatious words. She fished her dad’s checkbook out of her pocket to keep from having to look directly at him.

“How much is your going rate? We’ll pay you for a rush job.” 

Eddie placed a hand on top of hers that was clutched around the checkbook to stop her. 

He looked up at her and she couldn’t deny that Eddie Munson was even prettier up close. His eyes, his smile, his curly hair... he was making her swoon without even trying. 

“First banishment’s free. Special deal-- it’s the uh, longevity discount.” 

“Longevity?”

Eddie nodded.

“Oh yeah, you and me go way back, Chrissy. Middle school talent show? I was with my band and--”

Chrissy’s eyes widened.

“You remember the talent show?” 

Eddie looked playfully affronted.

“How could I forget? Your cheerleading routine moved me, truly. I have had such a deep appreciation for the sport ever since. You changed lives, Chrissy.” 

She was laughing now, a true, guttural laugh. One that she didn’t try and hide behind her hands or lower the volume of for fear of being too loud.

She didn’t have to hide around Eddie. She could just...be. 

“I did, huh?” She asked through her laugh.

“You changed mine.” 

And maybe it was the way he said it, or maybe it was the twinkle in his eye, or the playfulness in his voice, but Chrissy felt a rush of something she never had before. And she was certain that there was nowhere on Earth or in between that  was felt safer than with Eddie Munson. 

~

The party was in full swing. Eddie had performed a few banishment spells when he arrived. The rest of his crew-- Dustin, Mike, and Lucas, had all but completed their jobs so they helped themselves to the fondue fountain. 

Everything was going smoothly thus far so Eddie took to monitoring everything with his equipment to make sure it stayed that way.

Chrissy shuffled over to Eddie and leant down to his level.

“How’s it going?” 

“I feel like I’m suffocating.” Eddie huffed, tugging at the bow tie Chrissy had helped him with earlier. 

“I’m sorry, my parents have a strict dress code.” 

Phillip and Laura all but gagged when Eddie showed up with his ripped jeans and Hellfire t-shirt. They ordered him to change so he borrowed a tuxedo from Phillip’s younger years that still didn’t quite fit right.

Eddie shrugged it off. 

“I’ve had tighter.” 

If he noticed the way Chrissy’s cheeks darkened to a shade of pink that matched her tulle ballgown, he didn’t show it. He simply kept his face on the EMP as he scanned every inch of Cunningham Manor. 

“Don’t you wanna mingle with the nobles?” Eddie asked, noticing that Chrissy hadn't really left his side.

She shook her head, curled ponytail shaking as she did. 

“No. These parties have never been my thing.”

“Because the hors d'oeuvres taste like concrete?” Eddie asked.

Chrissy laughed at his very fair assessment of the slop her parents served.

“That, but also no one really wants to talk to me. I mean, they come up to me and ask me questions but I can tell that they don’t really care what I have to say.” 

Eddie lowered his EMP and faced Chrissy, a deep frown set on his face as he listened to her. 

“Have you ever just had people... tolerate you? Not accept you, or even love you but just let you exist?” Chrissy’s own bluntness surprised herself. This wasn’t something she talked about, to anyone. Her feelings of being invisible and unwanted. But it was just so easy to talk to Eddie. 

Eddie cleared his throat.

“Um, yeah actually. My mom split when I was still in underoos. Dad went to the big house not too long after. After a while, I kind of just accepted that everyone skips out on people like me.”

“People like you?” Chrissy asked.

Eddie managed a smile, although it was sad.

“Freaks.”

“If you’re a freak, then so am I.”

“You flatter me, Chrissy Cunningham.”

Without thinking, she reached for his hand. It was just so... easy around Eddie. It was easy to talk to him, it was easy to be around him, it was easy to touch him. 

When she met his eyes again, there was an intensity to them that ignited a fire in her belly. 

“Eddie, it’s kind of stuffy in here, do you wanna-” 

“Yes.” 

Silently, they slipped into the long hallway, far away from the party. They walked to the opposite end of the house and Eddie took a shot in the dark, opening up the door to a room that was thankfully empty. 

It was a modestly decorated guest room, but it was unused. The only light was from the full moon shining in from the window. 

It was as if nothing else existed in this room besides Eddie and Chrissy. No expectations, no loud voices demanding that they be one thing or another. 

Chrissy shivered from the lack of warmth in the room and Eddie slipped his jacket off and onto her shoulders. He straightened out the lapels and Chrissy blushed.

They smiled at one another and maybe Chrissy should have been afraid of how much she felt drawn to this man. How strongly her feelings were after only being ignited a few hours ago. But then again, maybe they’ve been building all this time, a steady plant that had grown from the seed planted all those years ago in middle school. Maybe that little flicker of attraction had always been there and had always been growing.

And maybe that’s why she kisses him. 

Chrissy placed her hands flat on his chest and Eddie reached up to push a strand of hair back behind her ear. 

She didn’t have to get on her tip toes to reach him, Eddie came down to her level. He dipped his head down and slotted his lips against hers, soft and gentle. 

Eddie was an amazing kisser, he matched the pace that Chrissy set and followed her lead. She gripped the fabric of his shirt to keep him closer (as if he was going anywhere) and he slid his arms around her waist. 

Chrissy’s eyes were still closed when Eddie pulled away, wanting to savor the magic. When she finally opened her eyes to look at him, Eddie looked flabbergasted. Like he couldn’t believe this was real life. 

He leaned in to kiss her again. And again. Then a third time for good measure. They were soft, gentle pecks that he moved to her chin, then along her jaw line, then steadily down the side of her neck and down to her collarbone. 

“Eddie...” Chrissy whispered breathlessly, gripping his bicep. 

“I’m here, Chrissy.” He said between kisses. 

She mumbled something and apparently she said it much too quietly because he didn’t pull away from her. Chrissy decided to take matters into her own hands. She tangled her hands in Eddie’s hair and tugged at his roots. 

When he finally met her eyes, she got the confidence to say what she wanted.

“Bed.” 

Eddie looked behind him at the empty California King and then looked back at Chrissy with a wicked grin. 

“Why, Chrissy Cunningham, you little minx.”

Chrissy giggled as Eddie placed both hands on the side of her face and kissed her feverishly. He walked them toward the bed and let Chrissy push him onto the plush mattress and climb on top of his lap. 

Now it was Chrissy’s turn to love on Eddie’s neck while he undid the ribbons and buttons on the back of her dress. It was a convoluted enough design to get her out of but his concentration was impeded when Chrissy started licking and sucking a hickey into his neck. 

He stifled a tiny moan and his hands stalled. 

“Chrissy, I have no idea how I’m gonna get you out of this dress.” He admitted through short breaths. 

“No time for that anyway.” Chrissy mumbled into his neck. She took one of Eddie’s large hands and placed it on top of her thigh. 

Now this, this Eddie could do. 

He tapped his fingers against her inner thigh, dancing along her skin, not quite reaching the apex of where she needed him most. But when Chrissy lets out a little whine, well how can Eddie deny her? 

He bunches her dress up and pulls her panties to the side. He plunges one finger inside of her and almost gasps at how wet she is. 

“Ah!” Chrissy whimpers and Eddie could just cum right then and there. 

They’ve only been going at it for a few minutes, how is she so wet? Has she been thinking of this all night? 

He thinks Chrissy might be able to read his mind because at that moment, she sinks her teeth into his skin. Eddie can’t hold back anymore, he moans loudly and feels Chrissy smile into his skin. 

Eddie can’t take it anymore, he needs to see her. He slides his hands through her hair just like she did to him, but instead of pulling her hair, she finds the pink scrunch holding her pony tail together. In one swift movement, he gently tugs it out of her hair and slips it onto his wrist. 

When Chrissy pulls away from his neck, he can finally look into her icy blue eyes, wide from lust. 

“You stole my scrunchie.” She says through a breathy giggle. 

“Stole?” Eddie gasped, feigning offense. “That’s a naughty word. I never steal. I simply take what is mine.” 

He gently took hold of Chrissy’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, his chocolate brown eyes boring into her blue ones. 

“Do you wanna be mine, sweetheart?” 

Chrissy feels a warmth pooling in her lower belly. She would be embarrassed at how wet she is except for the fact that she can’t find it in herself to be embarrassed around Eddie. Ever. 

“Yes. Yes, Eddie.” She says desperately. 

That must have been the answer Eddie was looking for because he pulls her in for a heated kiss. He slides his finger back inside of her and swirls it around, causing Chrissy to moan into his mouth. 

Their kisses become more heated and messy as Eddie pumps his finger harder and faster into her. Chrissy nearly comes undone when he adds a second finger. 

“Jesus Christ, Eddie.” Chrissy thinks she might die when he curls his finger and rubs her clit with just the right amount of pressure. “I think I’m gonna--”

“You wanna cum on my fingers?” 

Chrissy whines, the image of Eddie’s ring-clad fingers soaked with her cum almost topples her over the edge. 

What finally does finish her off is when Eddie adds a third finger. 

His fingers are somehow the perfect size to stretch her walls in a way that burns with pleasure. His three fingers pumping in and out of her, soaking her thigh and his. 

Chrissy is moaning, whimpering, whining, getting louder as she builds to a climax. All of it is music to Eddie’s ears.

He swirls his finger around her clit and Chrissy has to bury her face in Eddie’s neck to keep from screaming his name. She cums on his fingers and she cums hard. Eddie continues fingering her through her orgasm and even teases her a little bit all the way to an aftershock. 

When she finally finishes, she’s panting into his neck and Eddie is holding onto her for dear life.

He presses kiss after kiss into her hair. 

“Doing okay?” 

Chrissy nods, then raises her head up to face Eddie. Her cheeks are flushed, her hair is messed up, her dress is bunched up at her thighs. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m okay.” She beams at him. Then, because she can, she traces the outline of his lips with the tip of her index finger. “Thank you.” She whispers.

Eddie laughs quietly.

“What kind of a gentleman would I be if I didn’t make a lady cum after banishing her demons?” 

Chrissy giggles and leans in for one more kiss when a loud banging and sharp screams start coming from the other room. 

“Shit.” Eddie curses under his breath.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Chrissy works on getting her dress straightened back out, but doesn’t bother with putting her hair back up. Eddie helps her up and the two of them rush back out to the living room, only to see some sort of apparition flying over the party. 

The guests are huddled in a corner, terrified. And it’s not hard to see why. 

In the center of the room is a cackling spirit with glowing eyes, flying out into the crowd and sending out blasts of lightning to different areas of the house. One of the lightning blasts shatters the glass window that leads to the backyard and 

“Oh my God! What is that?!” Chrissy grabs onto Eddie’s arm, shaking like a leaf.  

“A level 7 ghost.” Eddie says, his voice even. He’s seen this before. He turns to Chrissy, sincerity and affection in his eyes. “Chrissy, stay here.” 

Chrissy’s eyes widen and her heart drops into her stomach.

“What? No. Eddie, no--” Tears build in her eyes. She just got Eddie. She can’t lose him. 

Eddie places his hand on the side of her face. Although he’s smiling, she can see the terror in his eyes. He leans in and presses a desperate, searing kiss to her lips. Somehow, among the chaos and world caving in, everything quiets. 

“I’ve been in love with you since middle school, Chrissy Cunningham.” 

Chrissy gasps, those earth-shattering words that Eddie leaves her with as he dashes into battle. She does her absolute best to stay upright as she watches Eddie wave his arms around and call out to the ghost. 

Tears overwhelm her and she can’t do anything but watch. 

Eddie pulls out a small device that had been hanging from his belt. How did she not notice that before? 

He presses a button to activate it and aims it at the ghost. It emits a powerful signal that sucks the spirit into it. It shrieks at an unforgiving volume, and Chrissy winces, covering her ears. 

The spirit gets sucked into the canister and Eddie struggles to keep his hold onto it because of the sheer volume. His shoulders are shaking and it’s obvious that he’s doing everything to keep it from overpowering him. 

“AHH!” Eddie yells out as the spirit finally gets sucked into the canister and the boys quickly slid the cap on to keep it from escaping. 

The entire room breathes a sigh of relief.

Chrissy nearly falls over. 

“Eddie!” Chrissy runs at full speed toward Eddie and wraps her arms tightly around him. She doesn’t care who sees. She doesn’t care that her house is caving in. Eddie is safe. That’s what she cares about. He risked life and limb to save everyone. To save her.

He’s her hero.

[silent-dragon]

TWST OC Profile ~ Kimon Dustfinger

Personal Info

Name: Kimon Amber Dustfinger

Nickname: Lil Squirrel - Everyone

Gender: Non-binary(Any pronoun)

Age: 18

Species: Human

Birthday: 6/23

Zodiac: Cancer

Height: 170cm/5ft'5in 

Orientation: Abrosexual

Eye Color: Green Yellow

Hair Color: Tea Green

Health Condition: Narcolepsy

Homeland: Forest Kingdom of Dustfinger

Family: King Dustfinger - Father

Queen Dustfinger - Mother

Joshua Dustfinger - Cousin

Grandpa Dustfinger - Grandfather

Genesis Ash - Ex-Fiancée

Nutty - Squirrel Familiar

Twist of Lynt Akedia from Court of Darkness Otome

School Info

School: Royal Sword Academy

Dorm: Armonye

School Year: 3rd

Occupation: Princess/Prince

Best Subject: Magic History,Animal Linguistics/Culture

Other Info

Dominant Hand: Both

Favorite Food: Bread,only thing he eats

Least Favorite Food: Anything thats not Bread

Dislikes: Anything that Disrupts Sleep,Food except Bread type foods,People being mean to animals,Nightmares,Too cold areas,Isbrand's Chilly aura,Thinking to Hard

Likes: Squirrels,Small Animals,Bread,Napping,Sleep,Blankets,Genesis's Warm Aura,Picture Books,Libraries,Big Shaded Trees

Talents: Ancient Magic,Animal Speech,Gardening,Sleeping,Being so Calm

Unique Magic: Classified due to Royal Status

Personality: Sleepy! Due to her condition she is always sleepy so is very calm,relaxed,and slows down when doing anything. He also taciturn with hardly speaking unless spoken to and is hard to hear or read what he is saying/feeling. Very affectionate towards friends since she needs help so much to do things.

Fun Facts: Kimon is the only child of the King of Dustfinger putting a huge weight on shoulders for familyline.

Among all other princes/princesses from the 7 kingdoms Kimon is the most sought after due to the non-conflict ways of the Dustfinger Kingdom.

Kimon lacks the effort to think about things too much; she rather always makes the easy choice.

Kimon goes by he/she/they. Most at the academy call them by he since old all boys school thoughts but every other prince refers to Kimon as her since long time knowing her as a princess only. Joshua says they more and most of the royal family does the same. If you ask Kimon which is what they want to be called by she will just shrug as thats way too much effort to think on which she doesn't do.

She has a habit of not eating due to always being so tired. As a child^ had to be fed quickly and always given nutrients via IVs. Currently still has to be given two IVs every two days at bedtime.

Loves small animals so often outside under a big tree playing/reading to them or napping with some.

Only Armonye student allowed to not wear the standard rsa jacket as instead they wear a big white & blue hooded cloak that doubles as a sleeping bag.

Due to customs in Dustfinger Kimon for the longest time was unable to be courted as was arranged to be married to Genesis since she was 2yrs old. This made her even more desirable for political means. Genesis dissolved the arrangement finally 2yrs ago which surprised so many.

Kimon loves to lay on/cuddle others as his way to show affection or that he cares. He doesn't mean it in a romantic manner usually unless he has expressed he is. The warmth from others is so soothing to him.

Joshua cares deeply for his cousin as often Kimon helped him out when he needed it and gave him a home to get away from parents. They have a sibling type relationship and while not his valet he often will do things to make sure his naps are comfortable.

To help her eat more things,her caretaker bakes other things into the bread like nuts or dried fruit pieces. Kimon's eating issue is difficult to find solutions for so her health isn't the best.

With his condition the times he is fully awake he does given schoolwork and reads a lot of notes or books to be caught up. It's the only way he can learn along with others. He doesn't go to class as sleeping in class is frowned upon.

[mattatouile]

15 QUESTIONS, 15 TAGS

Tagged by @gallabee 😘

Read more cause it's long.

Were you named after anyone? Only in the sense that there's a character in the Bible named Hannah. But no. I don't even know that that's where my parents got it from. My parents were kind of intense about their kids not sharing initials and not being named after people so we could ~have our own identities~.

When was the last time you cried? Genuinely, not sure. I cry pretty easy, so there's like...no use even making note of it. It's been a long time since I cried hard enough to have a migraine, but just tearing up or gently crying over a song/book/tv show is pretty standard. I'm soft as butter tbh.

Do you have kids? I have two stepkids that are college age. They're pretty great! Beyond that, I have no desire for more kids, especially not anyone of my own body. I love taking care of babies though and will absolutely dote on my siblings kids.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? I don't think I do? I think because a few of my siblings are definitely on the autism spectrum, my family was just really accustomed to direct communication and I expect that.

What sports do you play/have you played? Unless we're counting dance and gymnastics, not a single solitary one. I was not an athletic team sports kind of kid. I wanted to be left alone with my books.

What's the first thing you notice about someone? I'm assuming we're speaking in person, in which case height and smell. I'm really short and I'm really sensitive to heavy perfumes. (Also my wife keeps calling me a super smeller in general because I get weird if she changes her deodorant or shampoo or body wash.)

Eye color? Very dark brown.

Scary movies or happy endings? 😂😂😂 Happy endings. I tend to avoid things that don't end happily. I've also seen MAYBE five scary movies in my whole life.

Any special talents? No. I mean, I read super fast. I can do a few different needlework craft things. And I have a nearly sociopathic ability to seem competent and professional in job interviews. But I don't think any of that counts. (Oh and I can remember the absolute fuck out of names.)

Where were you born? central east Texas.

What are your hobbies? I read. A. Lot. I also cross stitch and started getting into embroidery. Sometimes my hobby is me being hyperfocused on a video game for weeks on end (aka Operation Fuck Cullen in DA Inquisition). Once in a blue moon, my hobby will be writing (I wrote almost 300k words of fic in 2019 and haven't written a word since really). I indulge in the act of viewing sporting events. Can being hyperfocused on a TV show count? I do that too. I wish any of my hobbies included exercise. But they don't.

12. Do you have any pets? I have three cats! Littermates Luther and Lagertha are 10ish years old and Pandora is 9.

13. How tall are you? 5'2"

14. Favorite subject in school? In pre-University years it was anything English or History and then in University I liked all my math classes because they were straight forward.

15. Dream job? To make what I make now as a library technician again. I loved working in the library, especially in the back, ordering books and placing them in circulation and all the other extremely tedious collection maintenance. But those guys make like ...a third of what I make now. So it's just unreasonable. Makes me sad. Otherwise, I would pick something menial like data entry. But again, can't afford to do that.

Tagging: @dollsome-does-tumblr @scoundrels-in-love @sdwolfpup @pretty-thief @justshellies @hinakyuu @teex @starrybouquet

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

Stress Reliever

December 9, 2022

Prompt - Staying Inside

Notes - This was so much fun to write! I wrote this today after reading over the comments on my last few posts and, Eleanor, I have to thank you for giving me an idea to add toward the end! I feel like it worked perfectly with what I had already written and wanted to sneak it in for you, haha. I hope you like it!

The Birch family living room was silent apart from the rapid clacking as finger met key. After the jump she had ever-so-gracefully landed a few days prior, Vivien O’Brian was forced to stay off the ice and practically off the ground too. Her sprained foot and ankle gave cause for concern as the girl had a couple of upcoming performances, not only with Riven on the ice, but also with the high school color guard and the theatre troop she was a part of. With all of her deadlines creeping up on her like Bentley’s attempts at jump-scaring her and Royce, Vivien couldn’t afford to spend any time doing anything other than resting her leg. Her school had the option of online learning for those who were sick or injured, so she took full advantage of what was available. The only thing was, her parents had to drive her to and from the Birch house every day before they left for work so she wasn’t alone all day. 

Mack and Brady had been very accepting of Vivien’s presence since the girl practically lived there anyway, the only difference was that she was now there all through her usual skate practice times and all through the school day. Vivien was grateful they had allowed her to stay over. Her and Loki, that is. The giant Saint Bernard had made himself comfortable in front of the fireplace, sprawled across the floor so that nobody could join him. Every time the dog heard someone enter the living room, he would sit at attention, watching them like a hawk to make sure they didn’t get close to his Vivien. He wasn’t much of a guard dog, but he was protective and his growl could be considered menacing if Vivien didn’t tell him to stop.

Vivien’s fingers flew across the keyboard of her laptop as she worked on her assignment for history class. Her teacher, Mr. Brunner, was a laid-back guy who was also in charge of the photography and Dungeons and Dragons clubs. He made his history class interesting by allowing the class to watch movies and clips of shows from times they were working on in class and comparing them to what actually happened. Even though she could have easily transferred to Advanced Placement History, Vivien had been in Mr. Brunner’s history class since freshman year and loved his way of hands-on teaching far more than the AP History teacher, Mr. Shepherd’s boring, by-the-books-and-nothing-else way of teaching. Her friends that had transferred always complained about the man being an awful, opinionated, and strict teacher who locked the door to his class as soon as the bell rang and hardly ever accepted excuses unless they were from his favorite students.

Vivien’s history assignment was a free-for-all where all she had to do was interview someone about their life in a different decade and write a short story about a day in their life. Of all the people she could have chosen to interview, she chose Carrie. She had spent the previous day asking Carrie any questions she could think of, recording the conversation with her phone and making sure to ask every question she could about an average day in the life of superstar actress, Caroline Cole. After spending half the afternoon sorting through the questions and answers, taking out useless information, and organizing the list into a coherent storyline, Vivien wrote it all down in a notebook Royce had bought her for her birthday. Vivien had already mostly filled it with script and novel ideas she might never even get the chance to work on, but she had enough space to fill the last few pages of it with information about Carrie.

Before getting up to make breakfast, Mack and Brady had joined Vivien for a while in the living room, sitting on the opposite side of the couch and reading together, but Vivien was so in the zone that she barely acknowledged their presence. Lela had come downstairs around seven, taking the time to sit and play with Loki by the fireplace before asking Vivien if she could take him for a walk. That was the first time in two hours that Vivien had looked up from her keyboard long enough to do anything more than drink whatever she had put in the metal water bottle she had brought with her. She set her computer aside and dug Loki’s leash out of her backpack before handing it to Lela with a Ziplock baggie of treats and some bags for the walk. After telling her different instructions Loki knew and making sure he responded to Lela just as well as he did with her, Vivien watched them leave and immediately went back to typing.

Royce and Bentley were next to make their appearances known, talking animatedly about something Bentley had a dream about as they made their way down the stairs to the main floor of the cabin. Bentley jumped over the back of the couch on one side of Vivien while Royce took the other side, pressing a kiss to his girlfriend’s cheek as she worked. “Good morning,” Royce said softly as Vivien continued typing like a madman.

“Morning,” she replied quickly.

Royce and Bentley leaned forward so they could see each other past Vivien and her computer. With a shrug, Bentley offered, “Do you want to play some Rocket League when you’re done?”

It took Vivien a while to answer, her eyes following the letters on the screen as they appeared, but once she realized the question was directed toward her, she glanced over at Bentley and asked, “Huh?” Before Bentley could restate his question, Vivien nodded and went back to her laptop, “Oh, yeah, sure. I could do Rocket League. Might take a while for me to finish, so you two can play for now, if you want.”

Royce watched as Bentley stood from the couch and headed for the bins on either side of the fireplace where the gaming things and cases of movies were kept. After watching his brother set up the Playstation, Royce turned to Vivien and watched her type faster than he’d seen her go before. “How long have you been working on that?”

“Since last night,” she breathed. “Started as soon as I had it all organized, but Mom stopped me at two this morning so I could get some sleep.”

“How long have you been working on it today?”

“Since I got here at five-thirty.”

Glancing to the corner of Vivien’s computer screen at the tiny clock above the date, Royce sighed; it was already almost eight. If what she said was correct and she had, in fact, stopped writing at two and got here at five-thirty, that meant that she was running on three hours of sleep, give or take. Placing a hand on Vivien’s arm, Royce softly admonished her, “Vivi, you need sleep.”

Normally cheerful green eyes were bloodshot and glassy as Vivien spared a glance at her boyfriend. “No, I need Red Bull and to get this project done. It’s almost done.”

A gentle, almost statically charged shock greeted Royce as he took Vivien’s hand in his with a sigh, “Vivien.”

Vivien huffed, tossing her head back so she stared at the ceiling, “I need to get this done as soon as possible. It counts toward both my English and my History classes and is a huge chunk of my grade because of how long it is. If I can write out two more pages by the time my class would be in lunch, I could raise both of my grades enough to qualify me for early graduation and my associate’s degree.”

“You’re in high school,” Bentley stated curiously. “How are you going to get a degree early?”

“I’m in the vocational programs for history and creative writing,” she answered. “We attend college classes every other week and, once I graduate, I get an associate’s degree for both.” With a heavy sigh, Vivien looked back at her computer screen and shook her head at the eight pages she had managed to write since she began typing after lunch the day before. “I need two more pages before I can send this to Mr. Brunner and, even then, I’d have to go back through and edit the whole thing.”

“Why not take a break and get some breakfast into you?” Royce suggested, rubbing circles into the back of Vivien’s hand with his thumb. “You deserve a break.”

Vivien’s shakily exhaled breath almost convinced Royce that she was willing to take a break, but the firm shake of her head squashed the idea like a bug under a newspaper. “I only have two pages left and I can finish them in about an hour if I really focus on it.” Turning to her boyfriend, Vivien gave him her best smile and said, “I just need an hour. After that, you can take my computer away and I’ll edit it later.”

Royce didn’t want to let her continue, especially with her looking so exhausted and drained, but as long as she actually rested once the hour was up, he could handle that. “Promise you’ll actually rest later?”

With a nod, Vivien tightened her grip on his hand and said, “I promise. Now, you two have fun and I’m going to go back to work, alright?”

Royce hummed and let go of Vivien’s hand, accepting the controller Bentley handed him and turning toward the TV as he started the game. As the game started, Royce continued sparing glances at his girlfriend, making sure she was alright as he and Bentley began racing their cars toward the giant soccer ball they would have to fight the other team for. He just hoped that Vivien would be alright and, more than anything, she would keep her promise once the end of the hour came. He didn’t want to fight with her over something so trivial.

Before Vivien knew it, the hour was up and, in the middle of typing her final paragraph, her laptop was snatched away from her by someone much quicker and much taller than the person she had expected to take it. “Miles!” she screeched, propelling herself off of the couch. In an instant, the laptop was forgotten and a searing pain scorched from her foot up to the bottom of her spine. At once, Miles shifted the laptop to one arm and lowered Vivien back to the couch cushions with the other.

“Get that leg back up, kiddo,” he ordered.

“Alright, alright.” Once Vivien had lifted her leg back onto the coffee table where they had set up a pillow and a heating pad for her, she sighed, “Thank you. Now, can I please have my computer back? I was almost done with the last paragraph.”

“You said that three paragraphs ago,” Carrie commented from the other side of the couch where she was busy filing and painting her nails.

“Not helping,” Vivien huffed, sending the blonde a sharp stare.

Carrie only shrugged and returned to the glittery polish hed between her thumb and index fingers. Miles chuckled as he handed the computer off to Royce over the back of the couch, “You need to relax, Viv. You’re a smart kid, I’m sure you can see the reason behind us making you rest.”

Taking in a long breath and letting out a heavy sigh, Vivien said, “I can, but that doesn’t mean I like it.”

“Nobody likes being told what to do,” Royce commented from behind the couch, making sure the laptop was kept out of his girlfriend’s reach. As she tipped her head back to look at him, Royce pressed a light kiss to her forehead and softly told her, “I’ll work on the editing while you rest. When I’m done, you can finish up, alright?”

“You’d really do that for me?” Vivien mumbled, glancing blearily up at Royce.

“I would do anything for you,” was Royce's reply. “All you have to do is ask.”

Vivien smiled, “That goes both ways, you know?”

Royce chuckled, “I know. Now, get some rest.”

“Yeah,” Miles said with a grin. “You better get some rest or we’ll sic the warden on you.”

“‘The warden?’’ Vivien snorted, sparing a glance at the slumbering giant whose slobber was puddling on the wooden floor under him. “If you’re talking about Loki, he’s not going to do much other than lay on top of me and lick me to death.”

Miles shook his head, a knowing, mischievous look glimmering in his icy eyes. “Loki isn’t the warden.”

“I am,” came a voice to Vivien’s right. Glancing to the side, Vivien met gazes with the blue-eyed blonde who had just tightened the cap of her glittery gold nail polish and set it back into the bag she had pulled it from. Carrie’s smirk was enough to make Vivien swallow thickly, a feeling of defeat building inside of the teenager.

Glancing back at Miles, Vivien sighed, “I’m not going to be able to get away with shit today, am I?”

“Not with her around,” Miles said with a shake of his head as he made his way toward the kitchen for another cup of coffee. “Good luck, kid.”

As Royce and Miles left for the kitchen - Miles in search of coffee and Royce to make up a plate of food for Vivien - Vivien watched as Carrie zipped her makeup bag shut and shuffled closer to her. “So,” Vivien began, “why did they stick you with me?”

Carrie scoffed, patting the girl’s good leg as she sidled up beside her, “They didn’t stick me with you, I asked to stay with you.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Vivien sighed, “I just figured you would’ve rather liked spending time with Miles or something more than hanging out with some teenager.”

“You’re not just some teenager, Vivi,” Carrie said, turning so she had one leg bent on the couch. “You’re my friend. Besides, you need some girl time and someone who won’t let you get away with stuff because you bat your little eyelashes and flirt with him.” 

Vivien’s face burned as she tried to argue, “I don’t do that!”

Carrie hummed, “Sure you don’t. Just like I don’t when it comes to Miles.” The look of defeat on Vivien's face made Carrie smile as she nodded, “Yeah, I’m not dumb. I know all the tricks of the trade.”

“I really can’t get away with anything if you’re around, can I?” Vivien sighed.

“Nope!” Carrie giggled, proudly popping the ‘p’ sound. “Now, I was thinking, while everyone else is out Christmas shopping or whatever else they have to do, we could do a spa day.”

Vivien had never been to a spa before - the closest thing she had was the sauna at the gym and the ice baths she would take after volleyball practice in the summer. “What, exactly, does a spa day entail?”

“Well,” Carrie drawled, “Mick and I just got these face mask things at the mall the other day and she has an entire line of lotions that are just collecting dust in her bathroom, so I figured we could put up our hair, relax, and do some at-home facials for the day.”

“That actually sounds like a lot of fun,” Vivien chuckled as Royce brought her a plate of food he knew she liked.

“I hope it lives up to your expectations, then,” the blonde said with a grin. “I do have one condition, though.”

Vivien sighed as she stabbed a piece of pancake with her fork, “Of course, you do.”

“You have to do your physical therapy stuff first.”

“Of course, I do.”

By the time Vivien had finished eating and completed the exercises she had been taught for her leg, almost everyone was occupied with shopping, reading, or, in Royce’s case, editing. While Vivien was busy, Carrie had brought out the face masks she had bought, taken some of the lotion bottles from the bathroom Mick and Butchy shared, and piled a plate full of cookies that had been made the night before. The arrangement of everything was put out on the coffee table in a haphazardly organized array and, after taking the time to decide who wanted what, the girls set about on their mission of relaxation.

The first thing Carrie insisted on was making sure their hair was out of their faces. After letting Vivien brush out her hair, Carrie braided it out of her face and used a hairband to slide any stray hairs away from the girl’s eyes. Since she had no clue how to make a braid, Vivien had a fun time attempting to wrangle Carrie’s curls into something half-decent, but eventually settled on a bun that she secured with a silky scrunchie. Even though Vivien apologized for such a messy hairstyle when the blonde had done such a great job on her, Carrie brushed it off with a wave of her hand and told the teenager that she loved it anyway.

Despite telling Carrie she was more than capable of putting on her face mask herself, Vivien found herself resting back against the couch with the blonde painting the hot cocoa-scented face mask on her skin with such a light hand that she barely felt Carrie’s movements. Once her mask was done, Carrie wiped off the paint brush they were using to put the masks on and handed it to Vivien along with the gingerbread-scented one she had wanted to use before laying back on the couch with her head as close to Vivien as she could manage.

Vivien was glad she was getting to spend time with Carrie one-on-one. There were others in the room, of course - Royce was editing her assignment at the island off of the wall separating the kitchen and living room, Miles was drawing something in a sketchbook with Bentley, and Lela was watching something on her phone - but it felt like she and Carrie were spending alone time together. Vivien didn’t usually get a lot of one-on-one time with other girls. Sure, she had Abby who used to be practically up her ass all the time, but they never really spent time doing stereotypically “girly” things. Most of the time, they were studying, working in the vineyard, or training together for competitions. Over time, it seemed as though Abby was more interested in her gaggle of friends to spend much time with her older sister. Outside of family members, Mick was the first friend who had taken Vivien in as a little sister. They had known each other for as long as Vivien could remember and, since the beginning, their sibling-like bond was strong. The two of them did everything they could together when Mick was visiting New Hampshire, but it was hard to bond much when the older girl had a whole other world of people to care about. Carrie was new to Vivien. A whole new person to bond with and love who she hadn’t grown up knowing or been made to love due to being blood-related. Vivien wasn’t about to complain about having the opportunity, though. She needed a day to just hang out with a friend.

“This is kind of nice,” Vivien said with a grin as she slathered a glob of the gingerbread face mask on Carrie’s forehead.

“I knew you’d have fun with it,” the blonde muttered, attempting to keep her mouth closed while Vivien worked.

“I am.” As Vivien smoothed out a layer of the mask on Carrie’s skin, she said, “I think I needed this, you know.” One of Carrie’s eyes peeled open and she raised an eyebrow at the girl curiously. As though answering the girl’s question, Vivien took in a deep breath and sighed, “There is this insane competition this month that Riven and I are waiting for an invitation for. If we get a letter in the mail, it will tell us where the competition is. If we don’t, it means we didn’t qualify. It’s a lot of stress on top of school, my spot in the color guard, and my role as Irene Molloy in Hello Dolly.”

As Vivien swiped the extra mask back into the container it came in, Carrie sat up and said, “I know how awful such a busy schedule can be.”

“I bet you do,” Vivien sighed. “With your acting and all, you must be busy all the time.”

Carrie shrugged as she turned on the video of calming music Vivien had picked out, “It comes and goes. Once you find a solid way to balance everything out, things get a lot easier to deal with and you get more time to yourself and the people you love.”

“I think I’m still working on that whole balance thing,” Vivien chuckled.

“You’ll get there.”

With a small smirk, Vivien nodded, “I sure hope so.”

Carrie took the younger girl’s hands in hers and squeezed them, her signature smile beaming so brightly Vivien worried about it burning her retinas, but it was reassuring all the same. “You will.”

Vivien smiled in return and followed the actress into relaxing with her head resting against the back of the couch and her eyes sliding closed, allowing the music to lull them into a sense of serenity until their masks were done setting. Hearing the gentle music over his headphones, Royce, tugged one earbud out and turned toward the living room, finding Vivien and Carrie sitting with their heads toward the ceiling, colorful paste on their faces, and Vivien’s right hand in Carrie’s left, a smile on both girls’ faces. Royce felt a smile tug at his lips as he watched them, he was glad someone was keeping Vivien relaxed. She needed the break. With any luck, she would pass out exactly like she was and would get at least some sleep before her parents came to pick her up. Smiling to himself, Royce turned back to the project at hand, having only a couple of pages to go through before reaching the end of the writing Vivien had done.

After a while, the timer went off and Carrie helped a drowsy Vivien clean up her face before diving into the nail polish and lotion they had picked out earlier. When she finally was awake enough to be aware of her surroundings, Vivien was surprised to note that almost everyone had disappeared, leaving the two of them alone in the living room. While Vivien watched Carrie paint a tiny flower on her ring finger, she asked, “Hey, Carrie?” The blonde hummed, attempting to focus on the artwork she was doing. “You remember those TikToks I was showing you the other day?”

“Those are the short videos on your phone, right?” Carrie asked as she came up for more paint.

“Yeah,” Vivien confirmed. Carrie nodded in understanding. “Well, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to make some with me?”

“I’m not sure how we would go about it, but sure,” Carrie said with a smile. “No dancing ones until your leg is better, though.”

“Of course not,” Vivien agreed.

“Alright,” Carrie nodded. “Once your nails are dry, we’ll find something you want to make.”

“Actually,” Vivien began with a hesitant, but hopeful smile, “I think I already have something in mind.”

By the time everyone was home from shopping or done with what they needed to get done around the house, Vivien and Carrie were sitting on the couch, laughing and talking like old friends. The pair watched Vivien’s cell phone for a few seconds before muttering something to each other and giggling as though they had seen something hysterical. After a while of this happening, Mick asked, “What are you two doing?”

Carrie turned to Vivien with a grin before replying, “Watching TikTok.”

“Is it that Dylan guy baking weird recipes again?” Butchy asked as he found a spot on the couch to call his own.

Vivien giggled, “No, we watched him earlier. We’re watching ones that we made while you guys were off doing other things.”

Miles nudged his girlfriend over the back of the couch, “What happened to you making her rest?”

“She was resting,” Carrie claimed, “while also being my camerawoman and director.”

Vivien quickly turned the TV on over the mantle, scrolled down past the videos they had posted earlier, and connected her phone to the screen so everyone could see what she was watching. As the rest of the family piled in on the couch and found a place to sit, Vivien and Carrie smiled at each other in giddy anticipation. “Ready?” Vivien asked, making sure everyone gave a sign of agreement before scrolling to the first video they had posted. It wasn’t the first one they had made, but it required the least amount of editing. 

The video was of Carrie in an all-black dress they borrowed from Mick’s closet, dancing to Bloody Mary by Lady Gaga the same way as Wednesday Addams had in the show the family had recently started watching. A few other videos were just the two girls acting out different songs, but the last one they posted, the one that they spent the most time editing due to them just sitting and laughing every few seconds, was one showing pictures of Butchy with the lyrics of Taylor Swift’s song Anti-Hero in the background. The words on top of the pictures were, “Why is he always so grumpy?” A heavy sigh came from Butchy as he rolled his eyes, but he stopped as soon as the pictures and words disappeared and Carrie appeared, turning around to face the camera with a beaming smile as she mouthed the lyrics, “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.”

Butchy let out a bark of laughter, “Damn straight!”

Carrie turned to Vivien and, as soon as the pair locked eyes, they burst into hysterical laughter, leaning into each other and revealing their inner hyenas. The more they laughed, the more everyone wondered what was so funny. With everyone else’s eyes on them, Carrie and Vivien eased themselves back to normal, eventually getting ahold of themselves enough for them to laugh out, “We knew he’d say that!” before their laughter picked up once again, earning a round of laughter from the rest of the people in the house.