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toomuchtv95 · 4 years ago

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Daddy’s Little Princess

Fandom: Chicago PD

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Wife!Reader

Warning/s: Fluff, medical talk (nothing graphic)

Word Count: 1.5k+

Requests: “Hi! I just saw you posting about your empty inbox so here I am... I was thinking maybe dad!Jay, anything would suffice, just overall fluffy. I'm in desperate need of some fluff and comfort.” And “Would you be able to do a Jay Halstead one-shot, please. There isn’t as much on him anymore”

A/N: I hope it’s what you were expect. I tried my best to grasp Daddy!Jay concept and I’m hoping I did that.

A/N: I woke up the other morning to 20 requests after making a post about my imbox being empty. That makes me so happy that I have the stuff to write now, and I will say that some of them were very similar to each other so I might combine those. Now I have a lot to get done, so bare with me while I work on them on as fast as I can.

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“Alright princess what are we coloring?” Jay walked over to Ava who was sitting at the kitchen table coloring. Jay placed a juice box in front of Ava before slightly lifted her to sit her on his lap.

“A picture for Mommy.” Ava took a sip of her juice before continuing to color. After a few minutes of coloring with Jay, Ava spoke up again. “Daddy, I want a sibling.”

Jay stopped coloring as he was in complete shock at what his daughter had just said. “You want a little brother or sister?” Ava nodded her head as she continues to color. Jay took that as his cue to let it be as he was still a little shocked about the conversation.

You had planned on being home for dinner tonight, but there was a pile-up on the highway, and the ED was flooded with patients. So, instead, you grabbed a quick snack in-between patients. It was now 7 pm and you were finally on your way out and you couldn’t wait to get home to your husband and daughter. As you headed out of the ED, you said goodbye to both Maggie and April and scurried out of the ED so you couldn’t be stopped by anyone else. After a 20min drive, you pulled into the driveway next to Jay’s truck and quickly headed into the house. The moment you walked into the house, laughter and screams filled the room which caused the smile on your face to grow even bigger.

You leaned against the doorway to the living room to see Jay on the floor tickling your daughter. “Daddy! Let me go!” Your daughter screamed as she tried to get out of Jay’s grip. Seeing Jay with your daughter made your heart swell in your chest. When you had found out you were pregnant with your daughter, both you and Jay had just gotten married and hadn’t planned on having kids so soon into your marriage, but the universe had other plans for the two of you.

“Mommy!” Ava managed to get out of Jay’s grip, sprinted around the couch, and hid behind your legs.

“Torching our daughter again?” You smirked at Jay as he rounded the couch to stand in front of you. You uncrossed your arms from your chest before rubbing your daughter's back.

“I would never.” As you turned around, you bent over and holstered Ava up on your hip. Jay reached over and tickled your daughter one last time.

“Daddy!” Ava wiggled around in your hands causing you to let out a small chuckle.

“Well now that you tickled her to death, I think it’s time for a bath.” Your daughter's face lit up like a Christmas tree. Ava loved taking baths she always has since she was a baby. “What do you say? You want mommy or daddy to give you a bath?"

“I want…” Ava paused for a moment, pretending to think who she was going to choose, even though you know actually who she was going to choose. “I want Daddy.” Ava reached out for Jay which he took as his cue to take her from your arms.

“Such a daddy’s girl.” You mumbled underneath your breath as a smirk formed on Jay and you knew he heard you.

“Don’t worry. Your still my number one girl.” Jay whispered against your ear as he walked past you and up the stairs.

“Ha. Yeah right. She’s got you wrapped around her finger real tight.” You chuckled as you headed into the living to see toys all over the floor. The place had looked like a mini-tornado had ripped through the small living space, which technically your daughter was a mini-tornado.

Once Ava was settled in the bathtub, Jay handed Ava her toys before sitting down on the floor. Jay loved being a father and to be honest he never thought he would become a father let alone a husband. Jay has had some rocky past relationships that he never thought he would find someone, but then you came along, and it changed everything. The first time the two of you meet was when you were a resident at Med, and he was a patrol officer and he had brought in a victim that needed medical attention. Jay smiled as he watched Ava splash around in the tub.

After Ava finished her bath, the two of them went into her bedroom to change her into PJs. “Okay, which Pjs, do you want to wear tonight?” Jay set Ava down on her bed with her still wrapped in a towel.

“Frozen.” Ava chirped up with a smile on her face. Frozen was of course Ava’s favorite movie at the moment, actually, any Disney movie was her favorite movie, but Frozen was number one at the moment.

“Of course, that’s the one you pick.” Jay let out a soft chuckle while grabbing the Frozen PJs from the top drawer of the dresser. Jay walked over to Ava and changed her into her PJs then moved on her comb her hair.

Once Jay finished with Ava’s hair, she went over to her bookshelf to pick out her bedtime story. “I wanna read this one.” Ava handed Jay a book before jumping on the bed.

“Okay, this one it is.” Jay pulled back the cover on the bed as Ava crawled to the top of the bed. Once Ava was settled underneath the covers, Jay sat next to her and started reading to her. Ava was 100% a daddy’s girl and Jay knew it and loved it.

While Jay was doing Ava’s bedtime routine, you had cleaned up the living room which had toys all over the floor then you had moved on to the kitchen which had dished piled high. After finishing the dishes, you headed upstairs to check on Jay and Ava. As you stopped outside of Ava’s bedroom, you leaned against the doorframe with your arms against your chest as you saw Jay laying the bed with Ava reading her a bedtime story. Ava was curled up against Jay’s side as he quietly read her favorite book. Jay was an amazing dad and husband, and you couldn’t imagine your life without him. After watching Jay for a few more seconds, you pushed yourself away from the doorframe and headed into the bedroom you shared with Jay. You headed into the bathroom, stripped out of your scrubs, and changed into a pair of shorts along with one of Jay’s old shirts.

You exited the bathroom to see Jay walking into the bedroom. “Oh, yeah. She not daddy’s little princess.” You smirked to yourself as Jay closed the door behind him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jay placed the baby monitor on top of the dresser before coming up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist. “No need to be jealous. Like I said earlier, your still my number girl.” Jay whispered.

“I’m not jealous of a three-year-old.” You leaned back in his arms just as Jay placed a soft kiss on the back of your head.

“So, I had an interesting conversation with our daughter today.” Jay unwrapped his arms from your waist, before stripping out of his flannel shirt.

“Well, any conversation with Ava is interesting.” You chuckled as you sat down on the edge of the bed while watching Jay empty his pockets onto the top of the dresser.

“Oh, well this one was very interesting.” Once Jay finished empty his pockets, he turned to face you. “She wants a sibling.”

“Oh.” Honestly, you weren’t shocked that Ava wants a sibling, she was an only child, and she has mentioned it a few times before. The truth was you have been thinking about having more kids lately, you just haven’t had the chance to talk to Jay about it, but maybe now was the perfect time.

“Oh? That all you got?” Jay crossed his arms against his chest while raising an eyebrow at you.

“Well,” you paused for a moment trying to gather your thoughts. “Maybe it’s time.”

“Are you saying what I think you're saying?” Jay uncrossed his arms while sitting down next to you.

You turned to face Jay while sitting crisscross. “Honestly, I have been thinking about it a lot recently and I know we haven’t talked about it in a while and-”

“I want another one, too.” Jay reached over your lap and grab your hand. “You know I love both you and Ava more than anything and I would love nothing more than to expand our family.”

A smile grew on your face before reaching over with your free hand and cupped his face. “So, we are doing this then?”

“Yeah, we are.” Jay leaned forward and softly collide his lips with yours. You smiled through the kiss as you wrapped your arm around his neck and uncrossed your legs in the process. You continued kissing him hungrily wanting more. His hands made their way to your waist and pulled you onto his lap. You wrapped your one arm around his neck while the other arm gripped his upper arm.

“I love you.” You whispered against his lips as you slightly pulled away.

“I love you more,” Jay whispered back before reconnecting his lips to yours.

Jay Halstead Taglist: @brithedemonspawn @baker151910 @samanthavitale@nerd-88 @mssleepy876b @hehurst23 @anotheronechicagobog @skyofficialxx @beautiful-bunny89 @panaitbeatrice@winterberryfox @itsmycorneroftheinternet

#jay halstead #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead imagine #Chicago PD #chicago pd x reader

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sideblog-666-thousand · 4 years ago

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A long bitch of an interview with Euronymous, from Orcustus zine in early ‘92.

What is Orcustus? Orcustus was an early 90’s black metal ‘zine run by none other than Bård “Faust*” Eithun— murderous pretty-boy, and o.g Euronymous simp. I think he might have also played drums in a band called Emperor... but I’m not sure! Its full name is actually “Orcustus— The Shadow of The Golden Fire”, and no, I’m not making this up.

This particular issue here opens up with a quote from a short story called ‘The Doom That Came To Thomas Parkes*’.

Assuming the reader hasn’t read the story, Faust explains that the quote is in reference to what happened to the titular ‘Thomas Parkes’ when he tried to raise spirits. Faust then admits that he’s unsure of his own ability to ‘raise spirits’, but says he hopes that he’ll raise some fists in agreement that there’s something wrong with the underground scene. Ironically (you’ll see why this is ironic very soon), he doesn’t like that certain bands, namely Entombed, are selling so many copies of their LPs.

After a brief diatribe on just that, he goes on to explain that he was in a rush to get this mag out because of problems with the printer. Then, he tells anyone who doesn’t like the fact that this ‘zine only features black metal that they can fuck off, with three exclamation points.

Finally, we get to the end of the opening page, where Faust pulls what can only be called an early form of the Twitter exposed thread. It reads as follows, with absolutely no changes to the text:

“I would suggest you to not do any business with that sucker Evil Ludo from France. He have riped me and several others off, by not return what we ordered. I suppose he’s a medical sensation, as I didn’t know it was physical or psychical possible to live without a brain”

Why am I telling you all of this, when this is only meant to be a transcript of an interview with Euronymous, you may be asking? Because I find it funny, that’s why.

Anyhow, the Euronymous here acts and feels very differently from the Euronymous of the last interview I posted. However, I hope you’ll still enjoy it, and I hope you’re able to appreciate the tiny glimpses of humanity talking to a close friend allowed him, even though they both behave like complete asses. Even though it’s hard to sympathize with him at points.

Like last time, any (sparse) commentary will be between (parenthesis) and in bold. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

F: Well, how in hell shall one be able to come up with an intro worthy enough for this band? The words I wanna describe Mayhem’s music with, is not yet created, and it won’t be created either, because no one has really experienced the real darkness and pure brutality with lays behind Mayhem’s hellish sound, but I suppose you all are familiar with this band anyway. Well, in the first place, I hadn’t really thought to enclose this band in this issue, because if we look away from rereleases of old demos (“Pure Fucking Armageddon”) and live tapes, it’s a pretty long time since their last release (in ‘87 that was). I thought I rather should interview them when they released their forthcoming album “Dee Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, but due to the circumstances, I realised the time was right for an interview now. I won’t bother you with any history shit, but I could tell a bit about what has happened last year. You all know that their vocalist Dead comited suicude in April ‘91, that was a bigg loss for the underground, and I suppose I don’t need to say that this mag is dedicated to the memory of that infernal man. Anyway, Dead was replaced by Cultòcùlus (back then called Occultus), but due to different problems within the band, he left the band in January ‘92, but let’s not say more about that, as Euronymous didn’t want me to say anything about it at all (but Euronymous, you must admit that it has sounded pretty artificial if I hadn’t mentioned it at all). So now, the band consists of Hellhammer (drums) and Euronymous (guitar (and probably bass too)). I know the singer of Tormentor (rip) from Hungary (Esihar Attila) is interested in singing on the album, and also even moving to Norway, so it seems like Mayhem got some sort of predilection to foreign vocalists, but this Hungarian guy happend to be a good one as well, so never mind that. But I don’t think this is official, so don’t tell anyone you read it here, ok? Well then, it’s an honour for me to dedicate the next following pages to one of today’s most legendary and infamous bands......... THE TRUE MAYHEM!!!!!!!

F: First of all Euronymous, I know you and Dead live/lived totally for the old black metal attitude. Is your hate now total to young and trendy bands after Dead’s suicide?

Euro: YES, we have declared WAR. Dead died because the trend people have destroyed everything from the old black metal/death metal scene, today “death” metal is something normal, accepted and FUNNY (argh) and we HATE it. It used to be spikes, nites, chains, leather and black clothes, and this was the only thing Dead lived for as he hated this world and everything which lives on it. If we had the economic possibility to do it, we should meet up at concerts and beat up ALL trend people ALL the time untill they would be too scared to go to concerts at all, now we need to suck their money instead. It’s impossible to stop the trend no matter how much we want, we have to do the best out of it and sell lots of trend shit to them. (I don’t need to tell you that that’s totally not why Dead killed himself, right?)

F: In the spring of ‘91 you started up a shop in Oslo which sells all sorts of music within metal. Is there anything you can tell us about the shop (ideas? plans?)?

Euro: Well, the original idea was to make a specialist shop for metal in general, but that’s a long time ago. Normal metal isn’t very popular anymore, all the children are listening to “death” metal now, I’d rather be selling Judas Priest than Napalm Death, but at least now we can be specialized within “death” metal and make a shop where all the trend people know that they will find all the trend music, this will help us earning money so that we can order more EVIL records to the evil people. But no matter how shitty music we have to sell, we’ll make a BLACK METAL look on the shop, we’ve had a couple of “actions” in churches lately, and the shop is going to look like a black church in the future. We’ve also thought about having total darkness inside, so that would would have to carry torches to be able to see the records.

F: Well, how is the situation all in all in the Mayhem camp right now?

Euro: Difficult as usual, but we’re closer than ever to record the Mayhem lp. Almost all the material is completed, then I and Hellhammer will record the whole thing with 3 guitars, 2 basses and so on. It will be very massive. Who’s to sing on the lp is not yet decided, we’ll wait and see what happens. We have several people who can do the job very well.

F: As Metalion of Slayer mag* said: “it seems like you at certain times lives on the edge of starvation”. Have you ever been on the thought to just give up the whole band and become a normal 9 to 5 person, or is this a completely stupid question to ask?

Euro: It has been very hard at times, but I am not a normal person anyway so it would just not be possible to do that. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why things are as they are (this answer will be long) (that’s okay for me/Ed). The reason why we don’t have any money, is because of hardcore. We have for too long been following the “underground” rules, which say that you must hate money, you must not think you are anything, you must be open-minded, you might have a lot of attitudes and so on. Extremely stupid. But the situation has been that if you don’t follow these rules which are made by hardcore pigs, you are not accepted as a death metal or black metal band! Then you MUST be signed by some big label to be able to make some money, and we’ve never wanted to do that. Then you would anyway be labelled as “commercial” by the HC pigs. This has caused that after 8 years, we are still as broke as ever, while the HC pigs themselves are controlling all labels, and they sign only the bands which fit into their own idiotic world, that means “death” metal bands with society lyrics and jogging suits, and this is what the people see when they grow up. They don’t see any EVIL bands with spikes, as we did. Well, I’m tired about being broke, just to be “underground”. I’m tired of not having money to eat for just because tons of people will call you a “rip-off” if you don’t write 20 letters each day. It’s time to say fuck off to the whole system, which is built to strangle the evil bands in the birth. We must start taking inspirations from the ancient ones, from Venom and their likes. They did their thing BIG, and they never had to think about any idiotic underground rules. They did it big and so must we, but it must never become a trend, it must become a CULT. This is why we have started on a brand new policy with the band and the record label. It’s about time that someone makes a label for black metal and other grim music, and STRIKE BACK. There is NO reason why DSP shouldn’t be as big as Peaceville or Nuclear Blast, if we can just get the business on its feet again and get good distribution. That’s the only way to compete with the HC labels. It’s about time we start taking control over our own scene. We must spread the EVIL bands and pervert people’s souls.

F: What about the Norwegian scene then? Don’t you think that something is terribly wrong when it have gone so far that we have a christian “death metal” band here (Crush Evil)? Advices on how we should kill them?

Euro: First of all— the Norwegian scene is the BEST. There are a lot of GREAT bands (yet with no album out) and of course some shitty trend bands, but nothing as in Sweden. There you have 2-3 good bands out of 100, while here we have a few shit bands who hardly have made even a demo, while all the great bands will make records in the near future. Such as Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Thorns (I’m flattered/ED*), Arcturus, Enslaved and newer bands like Malfeitor and others which I have not yet heard. BUT— when it comes to bands like Crush Evil, we must take serious action. It’s bad enough to have a couple of society bands, but a CHRISTIAN band is too much. But don’t worry, we have plans. They will not continue for a very long time.

F: And now over to something more humouristic....yes.... snuff movies. Who had been the perfect actor for a snuff movie, and why the hell aren’t they legalized? Don’t you think that every video-store should have its own section with snuff-movies?

Euro: Actually I think it’s great that movies like that are forbidden. If they were legal and easily accessible, all the small trend children would be watching them, and then it would not be something extreme anymore (I’m not sure if I agree with you here Euronymous. Snuff movies are usually too raw and brutal for the people with their “peace and life” infected minds. Remember the HC rules/ED) (shut the fuck up, Faust*) It’s just the same what happened to death metal— it became something everyone could buy in every store, something normal and accessible for everyone. All the mystic and evil atmosphere is GONE. I do not think snuff-movies are funny, I think they are DARK. I’ve seen people laugh at them, but that’s probably because they will not be mentally able to take the PAIN and EVIL on over themselves. That is the best way to watch such a movie, to try to FEEL the actual pain of the victims. It becomes much more gruesome then, and that’s great. One must be alone in the darkness and suffer with the victims, if you watch it with other people, they will often talk, laugh and so on, and then you get more distanced from it, it’s not supposed to be funny (death to fun), it’s much better when it’s depressive.

F: Through the years you have been talking about releasing bands like Samael, Rotting Christ, Master’s Hammer, Tormentor, Matricide, Imperator, Massacre etc. on Deathlike Silence Prod., but now some of these bands have released lp’s on labels which only have money in their eyes and know that black metal sells. Doesn’t that frustrate you, and don’t you feel it like the time is running out for you?

Euro: It’s a bit frustrating, but it is also a result of trying to be “underground” which is a suicide policy. Anyway, the main thing is that these evil records get released at all, and not who’s releasing them. We will probably release a record with Tormentor, they’re split up, but they still want to make their Anno Domini demo on vinyl, and we’ll try to fix it within the summer. The time is not running out, because there are a lot of really evil bands around. — most of the Norwegian bands which other labels haven’t heard about. Burzum is ten times better than all the bands on Earache together, and so are Thorns and Arcturus. So there is no problem, really. As for bands like Rotting Christ and Master’s Hammer, we might do something in the future instead. I’ve never been talking with Samael about any deal, but I wish I had as their album is FUCKING GREAT.

F: Almost all bands in the underground today says that they think they got their own style and originality, but the fact is that 95% of the bands sounds totally the same. What is an original death metal band today?

Euro: There exists no death metal bands today. There are only a handful of (mostly great) bands (in case someone hadn’t got it right— black metal has nothing to do with the music itself, both Blasphemy and Mercyful Fate are black metal. It’s the LYRICS, and they must be SATANIC. If not, it is NOT black metal) and what we choose to call LIFE METAL bands. Take a band like Therion. Their music is quite ok, it’s actually one of the best Swedish bands (even though that doesn’t say much) but their lyrics STINK. They are about society and pollution, what the fuck has that got to do with DEATH? If a band cultivates and worships death, then it’s death metal, no matter what KIND of metal it is. If a band cultivates and worships Satan, it’s black metal. And by saying “cultivates death”, I don’t think about thinking it’s funny, or being into gore, I’m thinking about being able to KILL just because they HATE LIFE. it’s people who enjoy to see wars because a lot of people get killed. How many bands think that way? Not many. I can’t think of one.

F: You’re maybe not the most active band when it comes to gigs, but at least you’ve managed to tour Germany and Turkey. What can you tell us from the tour, and is there any new gigs planed?

Euro: That tour was a big mess, we’ll NEVER take the train again! We lost quite some money, but still it was great to get to East-Germany and Turkey. The memories of the tour consist mostly of the starvation and idiotic custom officers, but still I wouldn’t like to have missed the opportunity. We don’t have any concrete plans, we’ll see happens in the future. We don’t like to play for a lot of trendies in jogging suits, so we prefer to leave it be.

F: What do you think of the fact that death metal has been on MTV?

Euro: It sucks. But it isn’t death metal anyway, so....

F: I know that you will soon release the debut album of Abruptum on DSP, so, what can you tell us about it?

Euro: It’s EVIL. It’s PURE EVIL, they were torturing each other in studio DURING the recording and you can HEAR on the music how they SUFFER. It will be the most demented record EVER, and it’s NOT for normal people. This is music which NEVER can become trendy, because normal people won’t be able to understand it. And that’s great. The price for the album it’ll be the same as for the BURZUM lp, which should be somewhere else in this ‘zine*. It’s called “Obscuriratem Advoco Amplèctere Me”, and stay away from it if you don’t like pure DARKNESS.

F: Don’t you think that people in the underground should respect others ideas and views more? I mean, it’s not accepted to spread unpopular thoughts. It seems like there is some sort of guardians of morality and most people keep in mind not to say or do anything which is not accepted by the public.

Euro: I don’t think people should respect each other. I don’t want to see trend people respecting me, I want them to HATE and FEAR. If people don’t accept our ideas as their own, they can fuck off because then they belong to a musical scene which has NOTHING to do with ours. They could just as well be Madonna fans. There is an ABYSS between us and the rest. Remember— one of the HC rules is that you must be open-minded (except for themselves), so we must be careful and avoid being open-minded ourselves. The HC pigs have correctly made themselves guardians of morality, but we must kick them in the face and become guardians of anti-morality.

F: You say you want your riffs to have a dark mood and really sound evil, but what if you came up with a riff which just sounded good, but not evil. Would you use it then?

Euro: Well, if a riff sounds good to me, it mostly means that it sounds evil too. At least when I make the music myself. Haven’t really thought about this about this before.

F: Do you think you’ve been playing this sort of music today if it weren’t for those old bands like Mercyful Fate, Venom and Hellhammer?

Euro: It’s impossible to say. Venom and the other ancient ones have been fundamental influences on Mayhem, and also the direct reason of the band’s existence. We like to think that if they hadn’t started up this, we would have, but who knows? Doesn’t really matter anyway, we hail ancient Venom as the CREATORS.

F: Ok, no more questions at the moment. End the interview in what way you want......

Euro: Perhaps it should be mentioned that well re-release the MAYHEM mini-lp “Deathcrush” VERY soon. We also have t-shirts available now. People should write for prices on things. Be EVIL, not open-minded.

Ok, I suppose some of you already know that Euronymous started up a shop in Oslo in the spring of ‘91. The shop is called “HELVETE” (which is Norwegian and means “HELL”) and are specialized within underground stuff and death metal in general (though he also have some other styles of music there). As he said in the MAYHEM interview, the shop really have a black metal look, so if you ever visit Oslo, I really recommend you to visit “HELVETE” as well. I think it’s good that people take the initiative to start up with such things, because if everyone were just passive, we would all get ruined by poser-shops like Hot Records where they take 140 NKR for the Earache albums (which you in “HELVETE” can get a CD for the same price). Euronymous also sells though mail, so write and ask for a list or something: HELVETE, Schweigaardsgt. 56, 0656 Oslo. NORWAY.”

That’s all! :)

And now for the things I put in asterisks, in order of their appearances.

*If for some reason you actually don’t know who Faust is, he was the drummer on the Emperor LP and “In The Nightside Eclipse” but you might also know him from other great hits such as “threatening to kill Mortiis from prison whilst simultaneously attempting to plead murder of the secondth degree”, “I’m glad the people Euronymous ripped off won’t get their money back because he’s dead hA hA!”, “I got fourteen years for murder because I’m a socially inept virgin— oops” and “bad... bad lyrics who’s quality somehow don’t improve with the passing of time”. All jokes are done in good humour— if it seems like I dislike him, it’s not that at all. I just find him easy to make fun of.

Here is another short bio, this one less sarcastic: he was born in Trondheim, lived around Kvikne, and Lillehammer, worked at Helvete, was a close friend of Euro’s, and has his sun in Taurus.

He also beefed with Glen Benton for dissing the Party City cape (Note: of course I’m being extremely reductive) he and Euronymous seemed to share. Here are a few pictures of Faust:

Here is the infamous Party City cape:

*This was surprisingly hard to find. I think he read it in a mag or something. Here’s a link to where you can find it: https://issuu.com/davidgamble/docs/paranormal37/3 page 64-65.

*Slayer mag was another zine, this one by a bloke named Metalion, who was Euro’s best friend.

*Faust (who felt the strange need to make a distinction between himself, the editor, and himself, the interviewer) also played in Thorns (well, Stigma Diabolicum), under the hilarious moniker: Fetophagia✨

*He’s being a fucking idiot, what was I supposed to say? It should be noted that Faust actually went down for the snuff films too.....

*In case you’re interested, for whatever reason, the prices for the Burzum LP were as follows:

Norge— 130 NKR

Norden— 100 K

Finland— 60 FN

Island— 1000 IK

Europe— 15$

Outside Europe,

Overseas— 15 $

Air— 22$

East Europe— 10$

By ‘norden’ he presumably meant ‘northern Norway’, and “Island” is the Norwegian word for Iceland. Notice the way he doesn’t include Sweden! (Edit: Originally I thought he didn’t include Finland because there was a black metal war with them as well, but it seems as though that feud came a bit later or had already passed)

That’s all, for real this time!

Legal disclaimer: I am absolutely, in no way shape or form, claiming that the stupid cape you see them wearing is literally from Party City. From my limited research, I’ve gathered that the Party City chain hasn’t yet opened its doors in the beautiful and glorious country we know as Norway— Norge. However, I am saying that the cheap, dinky piece of cloth covering their backs and shoulders are of the same kind of shitty quality you’d expect from a Party City Count Dracula costume and that maybe Glen had a point about how stupid Euronymous (and Faust) must’ve looked.......

#black metal #euronymous #mayhem #emperor #euronymous interview #interview #Faust #Orcustus zine #true norwegian black metal #my transcript #Bard Faust #look at these fucking dorks

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shirtlesssammy · 4 years ago

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4x17: It's a Terrible Life

How have we not recapped this yet? Man, this one holds a special place in Boris’s heart -- even if it’s a Cas-less episode. (Natasha: I LITERALLY said the same thing.)

Then:

This is just gratuitous

Now:

Okay, by this point we know the premise of this episode. I’m just going to list all the Well Respected Man things Dean Smith does.

He wakes up at 6:00am to an iPod.

He steams his rice milk.

He wears suspenders and cufflinks.

He drives a Prius.

He turns off the hard rock for NPR.

Dean Smith is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Sandover Bridge and Iron.

He types memos in Word.

He uses a headset to talk on the phone.

He plays office mini-golf while schmoozing on said headset.

He watches Project Runway (Ok, Dean Winchester totally watches that too, lbr.)

HE EATS SALAD.

He says the word ‘vis-a-vis’.

His boss Mr. Adler is very impressed with him. Good stuff!

He works late.

He is thinking of doing the Master Cleanse.

He leaves at 5:30 (or really a couple minutes before, rebel!)

On the elevator ride out of the building, another passenger asks if he knows Dean. Dean, focused on his Blackberry, does not recognize the dude. The other dude won’t let it go and Dean tells him to “save it for the health club” before leaving.

Sam Wesson works in the Tech Support section of Sandover. He mainly tells people to turn it off and back on again. Works every time! Sam and another buddy, Ian, head for coffee. They ask Paul, another worker, if he wants to join them. He’s busy working! Okay, okay, wait one moment. Paul got caught surfing porn on company computers and he still has a job!? WOW.

Ian grabs some office pencils in the break room. (And we get a nice little intro shot from within the microwave….very nice easter egg for us second (and beyond) viewers.) He then asks Sam about the dreams he’s been having. Sam tells Ian that he dreamed that he saved a grim reaper named Tessa from demons. Ian finds that HILARIOUS.

At his clown car sized cubicle later, Sam drifts off, only to have vivid visions of murder and monsters --and Dean’s in them. He bolts awake, and looks around disconcerted.

Sam takes a walk and ends up in the same elevator as Dean again. They eye each other warily. Sam asks Dean what he thinks of ghosts. TOTALLY NORMAL ELEVATOR TALK. Dean hasn’t really given them much thought. Vampires either. Sam decides now is a good time to corner a perfect stranger and tell him about his CRAZY dreams. That’s what a journal is for, Sam! Dean dismisses this crazy man and exits the elevator.

Sam starts researching (AW BABY) the monsters he’s been dreaming about. Ian interrupts him and tells him that he got an email telling him to report to HR. He’s not too worried as he heads off to his fate. Sam then hears Paul freaking out because he just lost a whole day’s work.

Paul stays way past closing time trying to find his lost files to no avail. His breath puffs. They must turn the temp down after hours at Sandover. He heads to the breakroom, sticks a plastic fork in the door of the microwave and sticks his head in the microwave, and hits cook. GOOD STUFF.

The next day, as Paul’s body gets carted away, the entire office looks on, including Sam Wesson and Dean Smith. Dean thinks there’s something weird going on. He looks up Paul’s personnel file (um, like whoa, how did he get access to that?) and learns that he was set to retire in two weeks. Curious.

Sam is curious as well, but Ian is too busy working to engage. Dean calls Ian up to his office. Dean points out that there were just a few errors in a form he filled out yesterday. Ian is very remorseful. Dean doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal. He just wants him to fix the errors. Very un-Ian-like, Ian starts freaking out over his mistakes. Ian runs to the bathroom and Dean follows. He finds Ian staring at himself in the mirror. His breath frosts just before all the water and soap turn on. He insists Ian leave with him. Ian turns to look at Dean, and stabs himself with a pencil. GUH. Dean sees the reflection of an old man in the bathroom stall door as Ian dies. Dean calls for help.

Dean is relaying the events to the authorities when he sees Sam looking on. Later, he calls Sam to his office.

For Thirst Science:

Sam and Dean learn that they both started working at Sandover three weeks prior. (Dean! You picked a hell of a week to start the Master Cleanse!) Sam asks Dean if he saw something when Ian died. Dean doesn’t quite admit it but he saw a ghost! Sam wonders about the suicides. “What if these suicides aren't suicides? I mean, what if they're something not natural?”

Sam brings up his dreams again. “So you're telling me that your dreams are special visions and you're some kind of psychic?” Lololololol. No, OF COURSE NOT. Sam shows Dean emails that Ian and Paul got that sent them to HR on the 14th floor --the HR office is on the 7th floor. Hmm. They decide to head to the 14th floor and room 1444.

Mr. Blandface McBlanderson heads there first. It’s an old storage room. The air gets frosty, electronics buzz on. Sam and Dean rush down the hallway after hearing the man’s cries. The door is locked but Sam Fucking Wesson just busts it open. Dean is duly impressed. Sam is too.

The ghost old man attacks Sam and Dean but Dean smashes him away with a wrench (an IRON wrench).

Decompressing back at Dean’s place, Sam longs for beer. “I’m on a cleanse,” Dean explains as he gets him a water. “I got rid of all the carbs in the house.” Oh DEAN.

At the end of this cleanse you chalk a pentagram on the floor, light a black candle, and barter your soul to get rid of those last five pounds

They compliment each other on their ghost fighting prowess. Sam “Boy Wonder” Wesson briefly tells Dean about how he feels out of place in his life. That’s SO MUCH oversharing, Sam! They decide to hit the research track. Dean finds………..the GHOSTFACERS.

We montage our way through Smith & Wesson’s research, interspersed with Ghostfacer tips. A guy named Sandover turns out to be the ghost - a workaholic who lived for his company. Turns out he’ll kill for it too. They trace a number of historical deaths to Sandover employees. It turns out that the room with the ghost attack was Sandover’s office.

The Ghostfacers continue to educate Sam and Dean on the finer points of ghost hunting: SALT. IRON. GUN.

Dean absorbs this, then wonders where one might even purchase a gun. Isn’t there a waiting period? Oh, sweet summer child. This here is the United States of America and it’s far too easy to get a gun. The Ghostfacers lesson continues...

Ed: The aforementioned super-annoying Winchester douchenozzles also taught us this one other thing. You have to burn the remains.

Harry: Okay, this next part gets a little gross. Sometimes you might have to dig up the body. Sorry.

Ed: It's illegal in some states.

Harry: All states.

Ed: Possibly all states.

Smith and Wesson return to the office to search for pieces of non-cremated Sandover. Sam gets cornered by a baby-faced security guard, leaving Dean alone to continue the hunt. In Sam’s elevator, electronics start to glitch. It’s probably nothing! The guard pries open the elevator door and crawls out onto the next floor.

The elevator slips and the guard falls victim to the blood cannon. Sam adds this incident to his list of Terrible Things That Happen in Elevators.

Sam and Dean reconnect by a historical display which includes Sandover’s gloves. Those gloves seem like likely candidates for remnant DNA...and in short order the ghost proves them right. Old Man Sandover zaps in as they break the glass. They fight!

Sandover looks like he’s got the upper hand, lowering his brain-zapping fingers to Dean, when Sam lights the gloves on fire. Sandover goes up like a torch.

Smith and Wesson are amped up after the fight! Sam wants to hunt ghosts full time. Dean scoffs at this. “How would we get by? Stolen credit cards, eating diner food drenched in saturated fats, sharing a crap motel room every night...You don’t want to go fighting ghosts without any health insurance!” Wise words.

For Look at this Well-Prepared Sunshine Science:

Sam confesses that his hunting dreams featured Dean as well. “What if that’s who we really are?” Sam wonders.

Dean defends the reality of his life. HE WENT TO STANFORD. His father’s name is Bob, his mother’s name is Ellen, and his sister is Jo. Excuse me. I’m just going to….stand outside my door and HOWL MOURNFULLY about this with the local coyotes.

“We’re supposed to be someone else.” Sam tells Dean that he started at Sandover because he broke up with Madison - but now her number leads to an animal hospital. (I swear to god, I’m gonna chew off my own arm at this show.) Sam says that Dean’s more than just a corporate suit. Dean shoos Sam from his office.

The next morning, Sam’s back at the daily grind. He steps back from his phone and then swings a crowbar at it, Office Space style.

Upstairs, Zachariah smarms his way into Dean’s office and clucks that he looks tired. He’s heard good things about Dean and offers him a generous bonus.

Zachariah hints that a big promotion could happen in 8-10 short years of constant work and sacrifice. The joy in Dean’s eyes fades. Dean turns it down and tells Zachariah that he plans to quit. “I have some other work I have to do,” Dean tells him. “This - it’s not who I’m supposed to be.” Zachariah smiles and zaps Dean’s brain. The camera desaturates.

“My god am I hungry,” a confused Dean observes as Zachariah chuckles. (Stop reading Goop, Dean! Get off that cleanse!) Zachariah explains that he’s Castiel’s boss, and he’s on Earth to ensure that the Winchesters fulfill their destiny - as hunters!

“You’re a hunter,” Zachariah explains. It’s in Dean’s blood. (I hiss at this.) And if Dean works hard enough, he’ll do everything he’s “destined to do. All of it.” GUH. Zachariah urges Dean to embrace his life. It could be worse, after all!

Semi-quote Kinda Life, Baby:

Good stuff

Did you try turning it off and then on?

Look, man, I don't know you, okay? But I'm gonna do a public service and let you know that you overshare

How the hell did you know that ghosts are scared of wrenches?

I don’t believe in destiny. I believe in dealing with what’s right in front of us

Most folks live and die without moving anything more than the dirt it takes to bury them. You get to change things

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #dean winchester #sam winchester #spn 4x17 #It's A Terrible Life #zachariah #supernatural season 4

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knightofameris · 5 years ago

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surprising changes — prince caspian

Request: Hi ! Could you please do a Caspian imagine when lucy, Edmund and eustace arrive in narnia and y/n is married to Caspian or something ?? Thanks xx

Setting: When Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace arrives on the Dawn Treader Contains: Nothing bad really. I’ll be going by the movie. Word Count: 1596

I really didn’t know how to end it, so I’m really sorry. Also, I might write a little prequel to when Caspian and Reader’s relationship starts. Stay tuned!

Edit: Sorry guys, I was reading through this and I realized a lot of grammar and spelling mistakes. They should be fixed but if not, please do tell me lol. I try reading them by myself but sometimes I don’t catch them until a little while after I post it. Thanks!

Enjoy!

[reposting from my old 2016 blog]

The waves hit the shore of Narnia repeatedly. It was early in the morning and the sun was barely rising. If you looked out into the ocean from the coastline, you could see the alluring waves just calling out to you, to sail into the endless sea. The salty fragrant of the ocean was somehow rejuvenating. That was the power of the Narnian ocean. Of course, Narnia was just magical in itself.

But today was the day the Narnia is to be left behind and Caspian the Tenth would travel out into the Great Eastern Ocean that was filled with the unknown. It had been three years since the Kings and Queens of old had aided him in the Narnian Revolution. Three years since (Y/n) had decided to stay in Narnia instead of going back to England. Besides, Narnia was her home and Aslan told her her duties lied here in Narnia now. In those three years, Caspian helped bring Narnia back up to where it used to be in the Golden Age. And in the three years, Caspian and (Y/n) had courted then got married.

(Y/n) was now known, once again, as the Queen of Narnia. She had ruled before with the Pevensies in the Golden age as (Y/n) the Daring so it was nothing new. Except for the fact that she’s now married to Caspian. It was strange because Caspian and her hadn’t gotten along very well until after the Second Battle of Beruna. And Caspian and Susan had a sort of thing between the two. But it wasn’t until the battle against the Calormens in the Great Desert that Caspian realized he had fallen for the Queen. But that’s a different story to tell.

“Caspian, you must let me go with you!” (Y/n) pleaded. Caspian was gathering a few personal things to bring with him onto the Dawn Treader, the first ship to be built in almost a thousand years. He grabbed Peter’s old sword, Edmund’s torch, Lucy’s healing cordial and dagger, and Susan’s bow and arrows. Caspian turned around to face his wife.

“I can’t, you have to stay here in Narnia to rule while I’m away.” Caspian explained then walked out of the castle towards the ship. (Y/n) following close behind.

“Well, we can just ask Trumpkin to look after Narnia in the meantime, can’t we?” (Y/n) suggested. Caspian sighed.

“We could but the ocean is a dangerous place. It’s filled with the unknown. I don’t want you to get hurt.” (Y/n) grabbed Caspians arm and the two stopped walking.

“Caspian, I’m not known as (Y/n) the daring for nothing.” Slowly she was winning. “Besides, I’ve sailed that ocean long before you were even born. I know Narnia and I know the Great Eastern Ocean. I’m not going just because I want to, I want to go so that I can protect you.”

“Protect me? I don’t need protecting.” Caspian scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Caspian so help me I’m going with you whether you like it or not.” (Y/n) scolded. Caspian huffed and finally gave in.

“Fine.” (Y/n) grinned and hugged Caspian.

She let go of him and looked up into his eyes. “Great! I already have everything set on board! I also already spoke to the Narnians and Trumpkin about everything.”

“What?! You mean you-”

“Yup, I knew you were going to give in.” Caspian sighed then hugged her once more.

“What am I going to do with you,” Caspian asked jokingly. (Y/n) laughed and rested her head against his chest.

“Love me?”

“Always.”

***

The Dawn Treader was sailing across the vast ocean and Cair Paravel was gone from sight. The winds were in their favor and they had left faster than expected. (Y/n) already had her favorite spot picked out which was in the figure head of the dragon. Reepicheep accompanied her in there.

Reepicheep was humming a tune when (Y/n) had asked him what it was he was humming.

“Ah, my majesty. It’s a tune that the dryads sang to me when I was a mere pinkie.” Reepicheep replied.

“It sounds beautiful, how do the lyrics go?” (Y/n) was intrigued.

“Well, I’m not that great of a singer but…”

“Where the sky and water meet~

Where the waves grow ever sweet,

Doubt not, Reepicheep,” Reepicheep seemed to dance a bit when he sang and (Y/n) giggled when he jumped on her shoulder then on top of the figured head and hung down from it. “ To find all you seek, there is the utter east.”

“Ah, Reepicheep, that was beau-” (Y/n) got distracted when she saw in the corner of her eye in the deep waters of the ocean something rather peculiar. “Hey, Reep.”

“Yes your majesty?” He looked where she was looking into the ocean.

“Get Caspian and another crewmate, we got three people overboard.” With that being said, (Y/n) dove into the water.

“Eustace swim!”

“What’s going on?”

“Eustace come on! Keep swimming.”

Two more series of splashes came in and by that time, (Y/n) had reached Lucy.

“Hey, Lu! Don’t worry I gotchu.” (Y/n) held Lucy as the two of them trod the water.

“(Y/n)!” Lucy was absolutely ecstatic when she saw her longtime friend once more. They both started to swim towards the ship but before they did Lucy called out to Edmund. “Edmund, it’s (Y/n)!”

“Caspian?” Edmund was extremely surprised to see Caspian right next to him in the water. “Are we in Narnia?”

“Yes, you’re in Narnia.” Caspian answered.

“I don’t want to go! I want to go back to England! I’m going back to England!” Eustace cried as he struggled against the other crewmate.

“Is that Eustace?” (Y/n) asked Lucy. They finally made it to the portside of the ship and they were about to get pulled up and out of the water.

“Yes, it is…” Lucy answered. (Y/n) had met Eustace once before back when they were all much younger. (Y/n) was about 4 years older than him then but now she’s 7 years older. Guess how Eustace reacted?

“Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“(Y/n)!”

***

After Eustace had passed out from the minotaur, and how he reacted to recognize and see (Y/n) once more and much older than before, they all went into the Captain’s Cabin.

“It’s been great seeing all of you guys again,” (Y/n) had her arms wrapped around Edmund and Lucy. “You guys don’t look as different as before, how long has it been?”

“About a year,” Edmund replied grinning. “How about with you?”

“Three years,” Caspian answered.

“Well, it explains why you look so grown up, (Y/n).” Lucy smiled at her.

“But of course, time here doesn’t run with the time back on Earth afterall.”

Lucy saw an image of Aslan engraved on one of the walls and she smiled. The warm feeling came through her again like it had before when she had heard his name and when she met him for the first time.

“Aslan…” Then something caught Lucy’s eye. “Susan’s bow and arrows!”

(Y/n) went to go grab something out of the cabinet as Edmund stared at a picture of him and his siblings.

“Hey Lu,” Lucy turned around towards (Y/n)’s voice and she saw her dagger and healing cordial. “IT’s about time you got this back I suppose.”

“Is that Peter’s sword?” Edmund asked when he saw Caspian holding it out towards him.

“I looked after it, as promised.” Edmund walked over towards Caspian and was about to take it but then decided not to.

“No, no. It’s yours,” Edmund took a step back. “Peter gave it to you.”

“Hmm, well. I saved this for you though,” Caspian turned around and went into a different cabinet and grabbed his torch. He tossed it over towards Edmund and he caught it.

“Thanks!” Edmund was actually pretty grateful for it. He looked down into the torch and tried turning it in. Though, it blinded him. “Gah!”

(Y/n) laughed, “You’re such an idiot, Ed.” Edmund smiled sheepishly.

***

(Y/n), Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, and Lord Drinian stood around the table with a map of Narnia and the surrounding countries along with the Great Eastern Ocean.

“Since you left,” Caspian pointed towards the Lands of the North, “the Giants of the North surrendered unconditionally.” He moved his hand towards the Great Desert.

(Y/n) interrupted and four heads looked at her, “It was surprising to see how they had surrendered. I’ll tell you the story later. Oh, and then we fought the Calormen armies in the Great Desert! That’ll be an amazing story to tell, too!” (Y/n) sighed contently from the memories of the battles she had fought alongside Caspian. She looked over at him and smiled.

“Right, and now there’s peace across all of Narnia,” Caspian continued smiling while still looking over at her.

“Really? Peace?” Edmund asked while eyeing Caspian and (Y/n). He was a bit suspicious that something was going on between the two.

“Yup! In just three years.” (Y/n) answered.

“And have you found yourself a queen in those three years, Caspian? Or a king, (Y/n)?” Lucy asked the two. (Y/n) and Caspian looked at each other and the grabbed each other’s hands.

“You all know her as (Y/n) the Daring. Now you can know her also as my wife,” Caspian grinned.

“I knew it!” Edmund shouted. Everyone stared at him like he was a mad man.

#prince caspian x reader #prince caspian imagine #caspian x reader #caspian drabbles #a.writes

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7team7 · 5 years ago

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Apron

In which cherry blossoms are familiar and Uchiha history can be found woven into all the fabrics of their household.

A/N: Hi everyone :) sorry for my own lack of posts, but I’m so excited to finally share this! My dear friend and the talented artist ALISS @alisstairs and I have been working on this project for a long time and we’re posting this part as a Valentine’s Day treat!! Our twitters are plumbIossoms and a_lisstairs. Please enjoy and look out for the rest of the project when it’s ready to be posted! Please do not repost any of this anywhere.

Sakura walked through the front door and was immediately greeted by a delicious scent and soft sounds coming from the kitchen — which meant her husband was cooking. The fact that Sasuke was both home early from a mission and cooking dinner was enough to put her in a good mood, so when she saw him standing over the stove, she couldn’t help but break into a big smile.

“Why’d you get an apron?” Sakura asked when she came up right behind him to peek at what he had set to boil. Sasuke jerked his chin towards his lone arm, “It can get a little messy with just this. I actually bought this for you while I was getting groceries, but I needed it myself for today.”

When Sakura walked in, Sasuke’s back was to her, so she only noticed the strings knotted around his waist that showed he was wearing an apron. Only when he turned around to kiss her in greeting did she realize the apron was pale pink in color and covered in a cherry blossom print. How cute.

“And when were you planning on telling me about this gift?” she asked with the same big smile she wore when she walked in.

“Never. It’s fine if you don’t use it and we just eat out all the time.” Sasuke honestly enjoyed his wife’s cooking, but it was always fun to tease her when everyone else claimed she was the worst. Sai’s pale skin turned a shade of sickly green anytime someone mentioned Sakura’s soldier pills.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Fine, he could just make his own bento next time!

“Sarada is still with my parents?” she queried instead. “Yes, I figured your mom would refuse to give her up if I attempted picking her up early. We can get her tomorrow morning?” “That sounds good. I only dropped her off this afternoon, so she’ll be fine for a little longer, but I’ll definitely be glad to have her back here. Sasuke-kun, aren’t you tired from your mission? Why didn’t you want to just get take-out or something?” Sasuke’s face fell almost imperceptibly, “You weren’t home when I got back. I wasn’t injured so I couldn’t bother you at the hospital. The house was too quiet without Sarada and I didn’t really have anything else to do.” He said it plainly, but the explanation made Sakura’s heart hurt a little. Coming home to an empty house was a certain kind of lonely feeling. The only downside of Sasuke returning early was that she hadn’t been there to greet him right away.

“Okay,” she smiled gently up at him, hoping to draw him away from any dark thoughts, “I’m glad you’re making something, I’m starving.” Sasuke nodded, but when his eyes narrowed soon after, Sakura already knew what he was thinking. “Yes, I ate lunch at the hospital. I brought the last of some leftovers.” He nodded again, satisfied.

Sakura moved away from his side to give him some space and started setting the table. “You know, this feels a little like before we had Sarada. Just me and you.”

“Except we’re not roasting fish over a fire in the middle of nowhere,” Sasuke deadpanned.

“Hey! You can’t deny that we had some good meals on the road. Well, I think cooking them was usually more fun than eating them because we never knew how they would turn out,” Sakura reminisced. And she was constantly impressed by Sasuke’s mastery of fire style; every single time he produced the perfect flame for their food. On her birthday, he even humored her and produced a baby flame for a candle they picked up in a random village.

They were able to find some familiar foods during their travels, but there were plenty of new flavors too. Naturally, some were hits, some were misses. The open air markets from the various nations always had something new to offer.

But having access to a kitchen inside a home was definitely a perk of returning to the village. For Sasuke, Konoha was a place where his home happened to be, and for Sakura, Konoha was always going to be home. Even if they couldn’t control the chaos outside the village walls, they at least had a warm kitchen to always return to.

A few days later, Sasuke returned home from the market with another apron, this one specifically for him: it was larger and free of (a specific pink) decoration. He hadn’t noticed how messy they could get while cooking and feeding Sarada until he did laundry recently. He always managed to get sauce splattered on his pants while cooking. Sarada was normally a good eater, but smashed peas often ended up on his shirt after dinner. Even on the darker fabrics he preferred, some stains just wouldn’t come out.

“Oh, but it’s so plain. At least let me sew the clan symbol on it?” Sakura rubbed the thick material of the apron between her fingers. It was so much longer than hers, Sasuke is so tall! Should she make a pocket? How big should the fan be? Should she sew his name on it too?

“Sakura the food is burning!” Sasuke was taking off his shoes and playing with Sarada by the door while Sakura examined the apron, so neither of them noticed the rising smoke until it was too late. Sakura rushed back to the stove to turn down the heat, but the damage had been done. Their meal was torched. Toasted. Singed. Seared. Charred. Fire style jutsu-ed. “That’s what I get for trying to speed up the process by using high heat,” Sakura sighed. Work had been long and taxing, she really didn’t want to spend more time chopping vegetables, but dinner wasn’t going to cook itself.

But thankfully, Sasuke was there to save the day (as he so often did). She felt his large, warm hand come to rest on the small of her back and at first she thought he was just trying to comfort her. But then his fingers fiddled around behind her and undid her apron’s knot. “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have distracted you,” he said mirthfully. “I’ll fix it or just make something else. Go sit.”

Sakura meekly shuffled away, grabbing Sarada to play on the couch. She wondered how she got so lucky.

After stealing several peeks at Sasuke’s broad back in the kitchen, Sakura carried Sarada over to him. “She wants to know if she can help,” Sakura held Sarada up and covered her own face. Sarada squirmed and babbled in her hands, making Sasuke smile. She would be talking, as in actually able to articulate her own sentences, soon enough.

“She can be our official taste tester.” He wasn’t going to let Sakura worry about dinner, but he also could never deny her attempts at having a little fun. He took a small spoonful of broth and blew on it until it had cooled considerably. He brought the spoon to Sarada’s mouth and guided it in.

She spit half of it up onto her white bib, but giggled loudly afterwards. “I think that means she likes it?”

“Mom, can I borrow your apron? I wanted to make ChoCho something for her birthday, it’s tomorrow,” Sarada called out from the kitchen where she was poking around and gathering ingredients for a cake. She had only ever made one with the help of her mother, but it couldn’t be that hard, right?

Sakura came in from the living room, “Oh, sure! It might be a little big on you though. We should just get you your own, even your dad has one.”

The thought of her father wearing an apron covered in tomatoes made Sarada freeze. Papa? Has his own apron?

“Well, he used to use mine, but then we weren’t able to cook at the same time. His would definitely be too big for you.” Sakura opened up a cabinet and pulled out her well-loved cherry blossom apron, plus a larger, blue apron with the Uchiha symbol in the center. It would definitely be too big on Sarada.

But Sarada always missed her father, so she asked shyly, “Can I wear dad’s? I’ll probably get really messy, so I need it to cover all of my clothes.” Sakura smiled at her and helped her put it on. Even though she tied the strings extra tight, Sarada was still swimming in the blue fabric. It didn’t feel wrong, though.

As she went along with baking the cake, she always made sure to avoid wiping her hands on the clan symbol. After learning about her family’s history, she had a certain reverence for the Uchiha. The fan represented her ancestors, her family past and present, and as silly as it was, she didn’t want to dirty it. When she pulled the finished cake out of the oven, she noticed the intense heat didn’t bother her as much now that she had become more proficient in fire style.

After frosting the cake with a simple birthday message, Sarada finally cleaned up, satisfied with her work. She was reluctant to take the apron off and part with another piece of her father. She wondered what kind of food he made when he wore this apron. Were there any Uchiha family recipes he could share? Maybe next time he was home, Sarada could make him something too

A/N: Like I said, this is just one part to a larger project, we will post the full thing soon enough but we’ve been working hard on it for a while. And again do not repost! Show Aliss some love on her accounts pwease she is the best <3 and happy Valentine’s Day!!

#sasusaku #sss fam #uchiha fam #Uchiha Sakura #Sasuke Uchiha #sarada uchiha #my writing #fan art #alisstairs #valentines day

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1337wtfomgbbq · 4 years ago

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"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," the giant man said, smiling broadly at a rather strict looking witch. "Thank you, Hagrid,“ she said primly, „I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have easily fit the whole St. Columbas Church into it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. From a doorway to their right they could hear the drone of hundreds of voices -the rest of the school must already be here -- but instead of joining them Professor McGonagall showed them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about, some of them nervously the others inquisitive.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Sean's shirt, which wasn't fully put into his pants, and on Odhran's open tie. The snooty looking dark haired girl straightened out her bangs. "I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber. Sean frowned. "How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Aaron. "Some sort of test. My brother refused to tell me what exactly."

Sean's frown only deepened. A test? And that in front of the whole school?

But, then again, Aaron said his brother had refused to say what exactly, and if Aaron's brother was anything like Andrew it could mean that he just wanted to make Aaron nervous and the sorting was nothing to be worried about at all.

Sean saw it as best to just wait for Professor McGonagall to return and see what the sorting would be like. Still, Liam and Ryan spend the better part of the next five minutes with speculating about the sorting.

Liam surmised the sorting had to be magical in some way at least, and Ryan immediately thought about Excalibur which had been stuck in a stone.

„It's just some old hat that they put on us,“ a boy said.

His icy blue eyes shone with the same harsh uppishness the girl had, and his dark brown hair was strictly parted. He kinda looked like military school.

But before Sean could do more than ask himself how a hat could sort them into houses Professor McGonagall was back.

„Form a line," Professor McGonagall told them while waving about with a role of parchment, "and follow me."

Sean got into line behind Odhran, with Liam behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Sean could have never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.

The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, ghosts shone misty silver. Sean looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars that looked strangely like the night sky outside.

Sean quickly looked back at Professor McGonagall again, watching as she silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. And if the boy had told the truth that hat would sort them into the four houses.

Everyone in the hall was staring at the hat, so Sean stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth -- and the hat began to sing.

Sean didn't really knew what exactly the hat was singing about, as he was way too stunned by the fact that the hat could talk at all. His brain had effectively short circuited.

It took a bit for Sean to come back to himself and listen to what the hat was saying. By the time he finally managed that the hat was right in the middle of its song.

You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends.

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. "Quite a strange thing that hat," Liam whispered to Sean. "And that song."

Sean chuckled under his breath. Yes, this hat didn't really help with trying to achieve a feeling of normality for the first years coming from the 'muggle world', as they called it.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding her long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.

And wouldn't you know it, one of them was actually the first to be sorted.

„Aberdeen, Shain,“ Mcgonagall called, and, swallowing nervously, Shain went up to take a seat on the little stool.

He grabbed the hat, sat it down, pulling it right over his eyes, and a moment later it proclaimed, „GRYFFINDOR.“ Shain grinned, and went over towards the table that was applauding, but not before high fiving Ryan as he passed them.

„Bachram, Liam,“ McGonagall called and, again, the hat called, „GRYFFINDOR.“ Liam went off to join Shain at the Gryffindor table.

„Backley, Sean,“ Mcgonagall called and, nodding confidently, Sean marched up and put the hat onto his head.

Everything went dark because, just like Shain and Liam, the hat was way too big for Sean's head. But immediately after he noticed that Sean heard the voice of the hat in his ear.

„Ah, very daring and confident young man, but also sharp-minded and creative. Hm... Merlin's Beard, that really isn't simple.“ „Well, Great,“ Sean thought to himself, and the hat responded with a chuckle.

„At least you keep your calm. Let's see, You have quite the creative mind and are very intelligent, but your heart is courageous and daring. Where to put you...“

Sean didn't knew how long it really took, or if he was just imagening it taking way too long and everybody staring at him and mumbling -Liam would later tell him that he sat there for over five minutes.

He didn't really realize it because he was way too busy going back and forth with the hat's voice, who asked him all sorts of questions.

Finally, as Sean was seriously considering asking Professor McGonagall if something was wrong, the hat asked, „Either choice would surely make you happy young man. But maybe I should ask you what you'd prefer.“

Sean thought about it. And for some reason the boy he had met at Platform 9 ¾ came to the forefront of his mind, as well as Liam and Shain at the gryffindor table.

„I wanna stay with my friends,“ Sean thought, while thinking of Liam and Shain.

The hat hmmm-ed again, took another moment to ponder before finally exclaiming, „GRYFFINDOR.“

With a relieved inhale of breath Sean tore the hat off his head and took off towards the second table on the left that was applauding, where Shain and Liam were already waiting for him.

After the little hang-up with Sean the sorting proceeded at the same pace as Liam and Shain's.

„Broderick, Travis.“ A blonde boy with a pretty ridiculous looking bowl cut ran up to the stool. He pulled the hat on and almost pulled it off again, hadn't the hat exclaimed, „HUFFLEPUFF!“

Apparently he was scared of having to sit there for as long as Sean had, because he legged it all the way to the far left side table so fast that the whole hall snickered.

Even Professor McGonagall looked quite amused.

„Butler, Jenifer,“ was called next and a brown haired girl with a pink hairband marched up to the hat, trying to exude the same confidence as Sean. Though she made her nerves quite obvious as she flinched once the hat yelled, „GRYFFINDOR,“ almost as soon as it touched her hair.

„Chapelle, Maximilian,“ was the first to be sorted into Slytherin, and the table at the far right side erupted into applause.

„Cobris, Curtis.“ The stocky boy with the blonde hair as light as a beacon walked up to the stool.

And now Sean experianced how strange the sorting could be when you were the one watching it, not the one being sorted. Because with Curtis the hat took almost a minute to decide the house, whereas Maximilian and Jenifer had been sorted almost instantly.

In the end Curtis was declared a Ravenclaw.

The sorting continued. Two girls were sorted into Slytherin and Hufflepuff before it was the turn of the boy that looked like military school.

„Devin, Charles,“ Mcgonagall called and Sean saw how Liam wrinkled his nose, knowing that he must be looking quite the same. Almost immediately after Charles sat the hat down it declared him a, „SLYTHERIN,“ and Charles marched off to join the table at the far right side of the hall. All the while grinning smugly.

„Dendron, Cary,“ a girl with a brown pony tail was sorted into Hufflepuff.

„Doxey, Ryan,“ was called and after a moment of contemplation he joined them at the Gryffindor table.

„For a moment there,“ Ryan chuckled as he plopped down on the bench next to Sean, „I thought I'd be stuck there for as long as you were, Sean.“

Sean laughed with Ryan and the other two, before directing his gaze back towards the front of the hall as Phillip was called. And moments later he also joined them at the Gryffindor table.

„Holmes, Sheila,“ was sorted into Ravenclaw before Professor Mcgonagall called Thomas.

And this turned out to be the first damper of their evening, because immediately after touching Thomas' dark hair the hat proclaimed him a, „RAVENCLAW!“

Thomas looked at them with quite the torn expression, as he slowly walked over to the table on the right side of the gryffindor table. Thankfully the place for the first years was on the same height as the gryffindors, so Thomas could essentially sit down next to them.

„I wanted to tell it to put me with you,“ Thomas grumbled, while Shain patted his back in a comforting manner, „but I guess it had other plans.“

„Hougham, Victoria.“ A girl with long curly hair and a button nose was sorted into Slytherin after half a minute.

„Jorkins, Bertha.“ The girl that had so desperately wanted to know what the IRA was stumbled up the stairs and sat down on the stool. A moment later she was proclaimed a, „RAVENCLAW,“ and Thomas let out a long suffering groan as she sat down next to him on the bench. Smiling at him shyly.

„Kitcher, Gwendolen,“ was called and the girl with the dark bangs that looked like royalty was put into, „SLYTHERIN!“

The hat had barely even thoughed her head.

She got off the stool and walked over to the table at the far right side of the hall, moving and behaving like the upper class Sean hated almost as much as the British.

„Langthorn, Eileen.“ A girl with blond hair that reached her chin was put into Hufflepuff, and the next to be called made Sean perk up.

„Larken, Ethan,“ just so happened to be the boy with the curly hair he had met at Platform 9 ¾.

He put the hat on and a moment later was proclaimed a, „RAVENCLAW!“

Sean didn't knew what he felt exactly. His stomach dropped and it felt nothing like the hunger he was also feeling.

He couldn't take his eyes off the boy as he walked over to the Ravenclaw table. An older boy at the Gryffindor table reached over and patted his shoulder and Ethan smiled at him. It had to be a brother or cousin or something.

An idea struck him and Sean leaned over to hiss at Thomas. Once Thomas noticed and turned towards him, Sean nodded in Ethan's direction.

Thomas was thankfully quick on the uptake and leaned over to talk to Ethan. The queasy feeling in Sean's stomach eased and was replaced by a warm one of contentment.

„MacCuinn, Deorsa,“ a very butch looking girl was put into Slytherin.

„McKinnon, Olivia,“ was put into gryffindor and shot Sean a bright smile as she sat down on the opposite side of the table.

There was this feeling again. That feeling that this smile should mean something to him, but the only thing Sean felt was confusion and a great big deal of nothing else.

„Miller, Odhran.“ And the second one out of their group was, not sorted into Gryffindor. But other than Thomas and Sean himself, where he could somewhat understand the hat gravitating towards Ravenclaw, everybody who knew him was shocked about where the hat put Odhran.

„HUFFLEPUFF,“ the hat called after the second it spend on Odhran's head.

Sean and the rest of their group erupted into questioning yells and Odhran himself looked utterly confused.

The applaus at the table on the far left side of the hall died down rather quickly, as they saw how slowly and unenthusiastically Odhran scuffed his way over to them.

„Don't be sad about it?“ Cary said, frowning at Odhran's reaction.

But Odhran ignored her in favor of leaning over towards the Gryffindor table, obviously considering just switching tables. Though a stern look from Professor McGonagall informed that decision.

„Molloy, Aaron.“ Aaron marched up to the stool and held the hat over his head, before finally setting it down.

„GRYFFINDOR,“ the hat called and Aaron joined them at the gryffindor table.

„Don't worry.“ A boy that had the same dark hair as Aaron, and by the way Aaron was glaring at him had to be his older brother Lewis, called to Odhran, „once the feast starts nobody really cares where you're sitting.“

Odhran, who was still leaning towards the gryffindor table to be able to listen to the rest of them, nodded with a relieved sigh.

„Mooring, Charles Ivor,“ was called, and the tall, lanky boy was put into Slytherin.

„Pertinger, Tillie.“ A girl with a short mop of curly hair joined them at the gryffindor table, and sat down next to Olivia. The two of them started to wisper and giggle almost instantly.

„Rampton, Josia,“ became a Hufflepuff, and, „Richards, Albert,“ became a Ravenclaw.

Both, „Sùdrach, Ailis,“ and, „Theron, Kian,“ became Slytherins and looked quite pleased with it.

„Towel, Edith.“

A girl with shoulder long, dark blond hair walked up to the hat not showing an ounce of fear. Promptly she was put into, „GRYFFINDOR!“ and Sean couldn help but clap as well.

„Well, could've told you that one,“ he chuckled as Edith sat down next to him.

„Right back at you,“ Edith said, smiling confidently. „I honestly thought you'd be freaking your shit up there but, calm as a millpond.“

She turned on the bench to look over at the Hufflepuff table.

„Edith,“ she told Odhran and held out her hand towards him.

„Odhran,“ Odhran said, taking her hand with a confused frown, which quickly turned into a spluttered exclamation of shock as Edith pulled him towards her.

„Get over here, McGonagall isn't watching,“ she hissed.

Odhran and Sean both glanced at the front of the hall, and Edith was right. Professor McGonagall was occupied with another first year. A girl with long brown hair, an orange hairband and a lot of freckles was just being sorted.

Upon seeing that Odhran quickly stumbled over to their bench, where Edith made him sit in between her and Sean. Like that McGonagall wouldn't be able to see Odhran.

„Feisty,“ Odhran grinned and Edith looked smug.

Fuada Zahirovic, a girl that looked almost as stern as Professor McGonagall, brought up the rear and was sorted into Hufflepuff.

„Wouldn't have guessed that,“ Shain chuckled, fiddeling about with the fork on the plate in front of him.

Sean looked down at his empty gold plate as well. The pumpkin pasties they had eaten on the train seemed ages ago.

Then Sean noticed that the hall had fallen quiet and he looked towards the teachers table. Albus Dumbledore, the head master, had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Bacon, Mayonnaise and Pickle Jar Water! Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Sean and Odhran exchanged a look. This head master was nothing like the head master of their muggle school.

"Is he -- crazy?" Liam asked Lewis uncertainly. "Crazy?" Lewis chuckled. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit crazy, yes. Potatoes, Aaron?" Sean's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of them were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

It wasn't that Sean ever went hungry, his mother had done her damndest to make sure that they were fed, but this was something else entirely.

Sean piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints but before he started to eat he remembered about Thomas.

„Thomas,“ he called, but Thomas didn't react immediately. He was engrosed in a conversation with Ethan.

When he finally turned, after Liam pulled at his shoulder, he and Ethan grabbed their plates and sat down at the Gryffindor table as well. Olivia and Tillie were both pushed further down the table during the whole thing.

„Now, don't look like that,“ Lewis said to a girl that looked to be about his age. She wore a red badge that read 'Head Girl'. „It's the feast. Let them have their fun.

#harry potter oc #hp oc #hogwarts oc #derry gang #derry gang at hogwarts #sean backley oc #liam bachram oc #odhran miller oc #ryan doxey oc #thomas holton oc #shain aberdeen oc #aaron molloy oc #ethan larken oc #edith towel oc #gryffindor oc #ravenclaw oc #hufflepuff oc #slytherin oc #marauders era

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bbq-hawks-wings · 5 years ago

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Ok, you know what? Enough moping. The ED is out and it echoed the clear message that we’ve all been talking about for years regarding Hawks’ connection to the Todoroki’s, but the connection I have yet to see ANY really concrete talk about is the old “Top 3″ paralleled to the new “Top 3″.

I’m talking about Midoriya, Deku, and Todoroki being transformed and renewed parallels to their respective predecessors in All Might, Endeavor, and Hawks. Shouto’s parallel with Hawks is almost never talked about in this very specific context, that I’ve been able to find.

Important note: the old 3 were all FAILURES.

All Might made peace on the surface, but never penetrated the heart (no pun intended) of the matter when it came to realizing true peace - it was always a power struggle in the end where might makes right.

Endeavor hasn’t grasped until recently what it means to be “The #1 Hero” and that a selfish perspective is fundamentally opposed to heroism in the first place and does not account for his weaknesses - leaving him vulnerable where he falls short and hamstringing his own improvement process.

Hawks as a naturally gifted prodigy has been so obsessed with freeing himself from the control and expectations of his groomers that he never embraced his individuality and principles to come into and fully realize his natural inclination and potential to help others in the special way only he can because of his suffering and experiences.

All Might has already fallen as a hero, Endeavor is close behind, and the buildup for Hawks’ fall is agonizing. None of these heroes made the cut in the end, and none of them have been or will be able to bring about a future that will render AFO’s influence impotent. It’s a battle of ideals, and the previous generation (and even the new one) hasn’t really realized that; but the new one has at least internalized it:

Midoriya is not a perfect hero by a long shot, but he’s a hero that inspires others to be their best. By knowing he isn’t anywhere near good enough to save everyone but determined to do what he can for those right in front of him, he’s a reflection of the average person’s “deku - I can’t do anything” and inspiring them to “dekiru - I can do something right here and now, however little it may be.” Every single person Midoriya has inspired experienced their inciting major character development as a result - Ochako, Bakugo, Todoroki, Aoyama, etc., and they’ve gone on to inspire others in kind. The buck doesn’t stop at Midoriya - the torch is no longer physically passing, but spiritually as well which is where it matters most.

Bakugo has recognized that being “better” does not mean being “stronger.” He no longer sees the others as competition or dead weight, but teammates. He recognizes that allowing others to make up for his weaknesses makes him stronger than he can be on his own. He pushes himself to his absolute best at every point that he can, but where he falls short, even if he complains along the way, he recognizes that even the #1 needs help once in a while and subliminally communicates that no person should be expected to stand on their own and that confidence should never be placed in one single person or group.

Todoroki has recognized that as awful as his abuse has been and that he has every right to feel hurt, betrayed, and angry at his abuser those traits do not have to define him or confine him. He has chosen to take those experiences he had no control over to pull what he can use to build himself and others up. He won’t be limited by the shortcomings of others and will be the best HE can be by continuously improving and holding steadfastly to his own principles. He recognizes the complex, morally ambiguous (or really, even just plain evil with “good results”), nature of his developmental environment, but has determined that he does not have to be in turn.

There’s a lot of “main protagonist” favoritism in the series that’s kind of just mandatory from a marketing standpoint; but the fact that it’s managed to focus on these secondary and background characters with as clear facets of this argument that “there is no perfect system to make lasting peace where everyone feels at ease - we just individually have to do what we can do when we can and pick up the pieces where we fall short” is incredible to me. We make jokes about HeroAca being “spot the main character on level 100,″ but again, that’s the point! Everyone is the main character of their own story. Nobody gets to be an NPC or crowd filler - not even “Can’t Ya See-kun.”

The moral ambiguity is there on PURPOSE. It’s not meant to be black and white, and there’s not supposed to be an easy answer for it all. Someone will always get the short end of the stick for whatever reason - from bad intentions, shirked responsibility, or even just bad luck - so it’s an individual choice what to do with the bad hand dealt out. It’s oversimplified with even an overly optimistic viewpoint, but as an adult looking around the world on fire (literally, even) that optimism is important because I can’t do the little good I can do for others’ sake if I feel like it won’t amount to anything. When I can squash down unnecessary negativity and elevate good where I can, it has a ripple effect. That’s the point. There will always be battles to be fought, but we can do more with every little bit that we can cumulatively instead of expecting and counting on some theoretical savior bigger than ourselves to do it for us, and when we can consistently count on others to do the right thing and help when we’re helpless - that does more to bring about a sense of security and unity than being disappointed in an institution and calling for its restructure when we inevitably fall through the cracks. We clearly have to build and maintain them the best we can, but just as stated before, we can’t wholly put our faith in it.

Or at least such is my interpretation.

I feel better. Ramble over.

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maaaddiexo · 5 years ago

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Chapter Three | Peter Pevensie

[Red Series Book Two: Ribbons]

Rosemary returned to England to find things just how she left them - her father and brother missing and her mother drinking in her bedroom. But Rosemary wasn't going to give up this time. She took charge of her family as the Pevensies took charge of a country.

But it's been a year since all five of them returned to England, and when they are called back by Susan's magic horn, they return to a completely different Narnia. Magic has been dormant for centuries and men now rule Narnia but with brute force and terror.

The Pevensies know why they've been called back to Narnia but Rosemary is once again left in the dark. And with Aslan making himself sparse, the five kids are left to their own devices to answer their own questions.

Do they trust the exiled prince? Can they save Narnia again, and this time without Aslan swooping in to save them? And in Rosemary's case, why was she called back?

[Chapter Four] [Series Masterlist] [Masterlist]

When Rosemary first heard her name, she thought it was Daniel and she was already being called back to England. Maybe Narnia had made a mistake and didn't actually need her. But it wasn't Daniel or James' voice - it was Peter's.

"Peter? Peter!" Rosemary dropped the blueberries she'd been picking and raced in the direction of his voice. She hadn't heard his voice in a year and yet she remembered it perfectly.

"Rosemary!"

Rosemary desperately looked around, searching for movement in the woods. "Peter, where are you?" She continued running, jumping over fallen logs and dodging low-hanging branches. She stopped again, looking around. Something white moved in her peripheral vision and she spun around, hoping desperately it would move again. It reappeared to the left of a thick tree and Rosemary could make out a white dress shirt and dirty blonde hair.

She almost didn't recognize Peter. He'd sent a picture from his family Christmas dinner to her in a letter, but it didn't seem to capture just how different Peter appeared. He was taller and broader. He held his head high and walked confidently. There was no self-doubt in his posture.

"Peter!"

She watched him whip around upon hearing his name being called but she was already running toward him. Much like she had when she saw Aslan, she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around Peter's shoulders. Yeah, he was definitely more muscular.

"Rosemary," Peter breathed, tightening his arms around Rosemary's waist. They pulled apart and she beamed up at him, her green eyes sparkling in the sunlight. They were the same colour as the fields he used to gallop through on his stallion, Talon. "Please tell me this is real."

Rosemary smiled again. Without thinking, she lifted her hand and brushed Peter's hair out of his eyes, dragging her fingertips across his cheek. He's so handsome. "I told you to call me Rose."

Peter laughed loudly. Definitely real. He snatched Rosemary up by the waist, spinning her around and smiling at the squealed laugh she let out. Peter positioned her over his shoulder and began walking in the direction of his siblings. "I found her!"

"Peter!" Rosemary shrieked. "I can walk, you know."

"Oh, I'm perfectly aware. But you see, Miss Bennett, I am not letting you walk away from me again." Rosemary was so happy that Peter couldn't see her face because it was bright red at the moment. "Ed! Look who I found lost in the woods."

"I wasn't lost," Rosemary argues. "And put me down. I want to hug my favourite Pevensie boy."

Peter scoffed at Rosemary's comment but let her down anyway. She spun in place, flicked her hair behind her head, and then pulled Edmund into a hug. He laughed and wrapped his arms around Rosemary, closing his eyes. He'd spent the least amount of time with the blonde girl, but he missed her just as much.

"Rosemary!"

Lucy and Susan raced towards the small group and she hugged both of them. Lucy had gotten so much taller in a year, her hair brushing her collarbones instead of her shoulders. Susan's eyes seemed less guarded but were still so curious. Some things never changed, it seemed.

"I know it's only been a year for you, but it's been so much longer for us," Susan said, bringing Rosemary in for another hug. "I really missed you, Rosemary."

The group of five turned back towards Cair Paravel and walked slowly. Rosemary was between Susan and Peter, but she stuck closer to the latter, brushing her hand against his. "I missed you all too. But it's just been so busy and with my father's death..."

"It's okay, Rosemary," Edmund said. "We haven't had the best year either." Like Rosemary, their father had been killed in the war and all four children and their mother were struggling to pick up the pieces.

They re-entered the clearing where Cair Paravel once stood and Rosemary took in a deep breath of salty air. Edmund walked ahead, looking around curiously. There were large rocks placed randomly around the ruins and he frowned, bending down.

"Catapults," he whispered.

"What?"

Edmund looked up at Peter. "This didn't just happen. Cair Paravel was attacked."

"That's what Aslan said," Rosemary murmured. "I was hoping he was wrong."

"You've seen Aslan?" Lucy gasped.

"Briefly. He's in hiding like the rest of Narnia. This isn't a free country anymore."

Peter nudged Edmund and looked towards the arched nook. Wordlessly, they walked to the wall began and pushing it to the side.

"A secret door?"

Susan smirked at Rosemary. "Cair Paravel had a lot of secret passages that we discovered over the years. This secret room was made just for us."

Behind the grand stone wall was a rusty and brittle wooden door that Peter broke down with ease. A mouth of darkness stared back at them.

Peter grunted as he cut part of his shirt off and wrapped it around a fallen branch. "Don't suppose you have any matches, do you?"

"No, but," Edmund opened his bag, rummaging around for a moment before pulling a brand new flashlight out. His eyes were teasing. "Would this help?"

Peter threw his makeshift torch over his shoulder. "You might have mentioned that a bit sooner."

The three girls giggled as Edmund smirked and turned the flashlight on and began descending into the secret room. It was musty and dark, and Rosemary kept both hands on the walls to help guide her.

The main room was brighter, the high ceiling broken and allowing sunlight down into it.

Rosemary gasped at what she saw. There were four chests, each in their own alcove, with immaculate stone statues behind them. No detail was spared anywhere in the room. Every inch was beautiful.

"I can't believe it. It's all still here," Peter gasped, walking over to his statue. It stood untouched and he sighed sadly at the sight of the beard. He missed being able to grow a beard. He lifted the lid of his chest and smiled at the sight of his sword and shield right where he had left them hundreds of years ago.

From across the room, Rosemary watched as Peter unsheathed the sword. The same look of reverence and awe was on his face now as it was when he first received the sword from Santa Claus.

"I was so tall," Lucy remarked, holding a purple dress up to her body.

"Well, you were older then," Susan replied.

"As opposed to hundreds of years later...when you're younger."

Rosemary giggled at Edmund's words before bursting into laughter at the sight of him. He was wearing a helmet far too big for him. When he turned his head, it turned too, and suddenly, it was on backward.

Lucy stopped looking through her belongings when she saw Susan with an armful of things. "What is it?"

"My horn. I must have left it in my saddle the day we went back."

"This place is incredible," Rosemary said, running her fingers over a pure gold chandelier that was sitting on the ground. There was a thick layer of dust and dirt on it and took a bit of scrubbing before she could see the shiny metal.

"Do you want to know a secret?" Lucy smiled, placing a dress back down in her chest. "This wasn't just made for us."

Rosemary cocked her head in confusion. Lucy giggled and walked over to Rosemary. She turned her around to face a fifth alcove. Instead of a statue of a person, an image had been carved into the wall. A rose.

"You didn't."

"We did," Peter came to stand beside Rosemary. "We were hoping you would return while we were still here, so we had one made for you. There are clothes in there, your bow, and some other random things we thought you might enjoy."

Rosemary felt the familiar sting at the back of her eyes and let the tears spill over onto her cheeks. Slowly, she walked to the chest - her chest - and carefully lifted the lid. Inside, her bow and a quiver full of arrows rested on top of clothes and books.

Rosemary was at a loss for words. "I don't know what to say."

"How about 'thank you'. It was Peter's idea."

The High Kung flushed and briefly had the courage to make eye contact with Rosemary. Her eyes were glossy, her cheeks were wet, and her lower lip wobbled. She stepped forward and Peter let her into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly. He knew the tears soaking his sweater vest were happy tears but he still didn't want her crying. He wanted to see her smile instead. Her smile was beautiful.

"Hey, hey. You know, had you stayed you would have been right up there with the rest of us. You're one of us."

"I don't regret going back but I also regret not staying here. Had I stayed, my life would be so different. I wouldn't have lost fifteen years with you and I will always miss the time I never had with you."

Peter smiled sadly, wiping her cheeks. "We're all here now, Rosemary. That's all that matters."

•

Back in the clearing, Rosemary ran her fingers over a tombstone sadly.

"You made them."

Rosemary nodded but didn't look back at Susan. "I wish I could have spent more time with them."

"After you left, we all still talked about you. Sometimes I would catch Peter and Lucy talking to the stars like you were up there. We all missed you. Not a day went by that we didn't think about you. I'm sure that they continued to miss and talk about you after we all went back to England."

Rosemary smiled gratefully up at Susan. She hated to admit it but one of her fears was that they forgot about her after she left. Not a day went by that she didn't think about the Pevensies and her friends back in Narnia. She didn't have a lot of friends in England whereas the Pevensies had each other and a kingdom full of people.

Rosemary stood up and wiped the dirt on her new forest green dress, pushing her blonde locks behind her shoulders. Lucy was collecting apples from a nearby tree and the boys were getting changed down in the secret room.

She adjusted her bow and quiver on her back as the boys appeared back on ground level. They stood in a circle in silence for a moment, appreciating the presence of everyone. Finally, Peter put his hand out in the middle and everyone piled their hands on top.

"I think it's time we found out what was going on."

[Chapter Four] [Series Masterlist] [Masterlist]

#narnia #the chronicles of narnia #chronicles of narnia #peter pevensie #susan pevensie #edmund pevensie #lucy pevensie #william mosely #prince caspian #peter pevensie x oc #peter pevensie x fem!oc #peter pevensie imagine #peter pevensie series #peter pevensie fanfiction #love #romance #fantasy #action #adventure

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narniagiftexchange · 5 years ago

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THE WINTER NARNIAN GIFT EXCHANGE.

for @tarragonthedragon by @nonbinarycasmund (formerly @blueandnoah) .

THICKER THAN WATER.

It’s a beautiful day to be a Pevensie in Narnia.

The forest races by them in a green blur as their horses gallop in pursuit of the White Stag. It’s the most exhilarating thing any of the Pevensies have done, their hearts and souls and minds filled with purpose and adventure, feeling as though they and their horses are melding together to form one new creature. The forest thickens, their horses jumping over more logs, the kings and queens tucking in even closer to their horses’ backs to avoid low-hanging tree branches.

Lucy’s horse takes a tumble, throwing Lucy to the ground. Peter pulls his horse up short, throwing himself from the saddle in one smooth motion, and runs to Lucy.

“Oh, Peter, I–” Lucy says, and cuts herself off with a cry, pressing her hand to her side. Crimson blood leaks from between her fingers.

“Where is your cordial?” Peter asks, trying his best to be calm. He rips strips from the hem of his tunic, wads them up, and presses them to Lucy’s side.

“I left it with the hunting party,” Lucy groans. She bends her fingers over the wad of fabric, tries to press it harder to her ribs.

“We will ride back to join them. You shall be fine, Lucy,” Peter says. He bends down by Lucy’s horse, inspecting its injuries, before retrieving his sword and doing the merciful. He gathers Lucy up into his arms and helps her into the saddle. It isn’t long before Peter’s horse is cantering back towards the rest of the hunters.

Susan and Edmund don’t notice a thing. Several hundred metres away, they dismount their horses and walk into the forest. On foot they have no chance of catching the Stag, but this part of the forest has caught their attention. The air weighs on them like a crown of solid gold.

“What is that strange object?” Susan asks, pointing to an iron pole.

“If I am quite correct, that is a lantern on the top.” Edmund frowns. “How queer!”

“Exceeding queer,” Susan agrees. “It makes me think that I have seen its like before, but how could that be so?”

“I feel the same, sister.” Edmund approaches the pole and walks around it in a circle.

Susan shivers. “I cannot help but believe that if we continue in this forest, nothing shall be the same again.”

“Then we must continue on this path to see what awaits us!” Edmund exclaims, turning to grin at Susan.

Susan sighs. “Must we?” She glances back at their horses. “Brother–where have Peter and Lucy gone?”

Edmund looks over Susan’s shoulder at the horses. He frowns. “I remember hearing them exclaim with joy some time ago.”

“Shall we turn back?” Susan says, in that tone of voice that means she doesn’t intend to be argued with.

“If we turn back now, we may well lose this opportunity – this must be a great magic, and great magics don’t last forever,” Edmund says. Susan recognises his tone as the one that means he heard Susan’s tone and elected to ignore it.

“And if we go, we may lose our siblings,” Susan says pointedly. “If this is some great journey, who knows when we shall return?”

“My dear sister, I do believe I shall go whether you accompany me or not.”

Susan would rather not encourage Edmund’s old beastly habits, but she doesn’t like the idea of being left in the forest alone… “Fine.”

Edmund leads the way into the forest, Susan trailing grumpily behind. She keeps one hand on her horn just in case.

Peter and Lucy soon make it back to the hunting party. Everyone is much concerned about Lucy’s injury, but with just a few drops of cordial, she is soon resting comfortably on a pile of saddle blankets with her injury rapidly healing. She insists the hunting must go on without her, but Peter wants to stay with her, and the others don’t want to go without the King and Queen. They have a merry little picnic in a clearing.

Edmund and Susan feel very, very strange as they move deeper into the forest. Unfamiliar memories creep into the back of their minds: stepping up into mysterious metal pods, listening to music coming from small wooden boxes, watching tiny people living their lives on glass screens.

“Are you suddenly knowing things you’ve never known before?” Susan asks Edmund.

“Yes, I am! It’s dreadfully exciting,” Edmund says, wondering where this strange usage of ‘dreadfully’ came from.

“What is that?” Susan points into the forest. There’s a narrowing of the trees, a distant clear light, that looks very out of place amongst the trees.

“Let’s go find out.”

The branches grow softer around them, trailing across their faces like gentle fingers. Susan stops to run some of the pine needles between her fingers. Ahead of her, Edmund gives a shout.

“Susan! It’s the wardrobe!”

“The–” Susan drops the pine needles and runs to join Edmund. “England!”

“I–I don’t–” Edmund says.

“We can’t just go back to England.”

“I’m not convinced we have a choice.” Edmund tries to stand his ground, but a force beyond his control sends him taking wobbly steps towards the ever-nearer light.

“I wish it would stop!” Susan tries to step backwards, but she, too, is dragged into the wardrobe.

They tumble out into the Professor’s house, landing on hands and knees. Susan instantly feels much lighter. Her long, long braid doesn’t come tumbling to the ground after her, so she puts her hands –

Her hands.

Her rings are gone. Her skin is smooth and tan.

She puts her hands up to her hair. It’s much shorter, in an unfamiliar curled style.

Edmund feels lighter, too. His clothes feel wrong against his skin. He looks down to see his polo shirt and shorts, his knees plastered with bandaids, his wristwatch on his wrist.

Susan and Edmund stare at each other.

The hunting party remount their horses after their picnic feeling much refreshed. They’re in a light and happy mood now, less intent on finding the stag, trading jokes back and forth as they ride. They eventually find the part of the forest where Lucy fell off her horse and spread out in rays to find Susan and Edmund.

“What would you wish for if you caught the stag?” Lucy asks Peter.

Peter rubs his reins between his fingers as he thinks. He’s a still man, Peter; he seems to keep his movements in his fingers, whereas Lucy, if she isn’t careful, expresses herself with her whole body. “I could only ask for prosperity for our kingdom. Is that too vague?”

“Of course that is what we would all wish for. It is more fun, however, to think of what our younger selves would have wished for!” Lucy says. “Sherbets and ponies and toys…”

Peter hums. “I…I can’t remember what I was like when I was younger.”

“I can’t either,” Lucy says, after a pause. “How odd.”

“Surely I would have wished for a horse, a sword, books,” Peter muses, “but the memories just… aren’t there.”

They lapse into a thoughtful silence, though the forest is far from silent. There are all the familiar sounds of birds and animals rustling in the trees and the jingle of their horses’ bits.

“Oh, I do hope all of this is a dream!” Susan exclaims.

“It feels rather like Narnia was the dream.” Edmund gets to his feet and stares at his knobbly teenage knees.

Susan gets to her feet and goes back into the wardrobe. Edmund hears her rustling through the coats and banging on the back of the wardrobe. He doesn’t move to join her.

Susan pokes her head out of the door. “It won’t open."

"It might open again later,” Edmund says, speaking as though from a great distance to his own body. “Like when Lu went through, and we went through later.”

“Yes. Yes, of course.” Susan plops down on the floor of the wardrobe.

“What are you doing?”

“I mean to be here when it opens again,” Susan explains.

Edmund goes over to sit next to her. They don’t speak or touch each other, just sit, watching the back of the wardrobe.

Peter and Lucy find Susan and Edmund’s horses tied up in a dense copse, but their siblings are nowhere to be seen. They dismount and continue through the forest. They begin calling “Su-san! Ed-mund!” as the sun begins to set. Dark falls quickly in that part of the forest, and neither of them have torches, so they go back to Peter’s horse. No one else has seen Their Majesties either. They all decide to make their way back to the camp that has been set up for the night. It’s possible that Susan and Edmund already made their way back, and it’s better not to get their wires crossed. Anyway, all the Pevensies have spent time in the forest, and the springtime evening is warm and gentle.

When Edmund and Susan don’t turn up by the next afternoon, though, search parties are sent out to scour the forest. As much as Peter and Lucy want to go, their advisors tell them that they can’t risk getting lost, too, leaving Narnia without any of its royalty. All they can do is stay at the castle, pretending not to be worried and going through the motions of their daily duties. They know logically that Edmund and Susan can look after themselves, but something feels wrong.

Later that evening, Lucy finds herself at a window overlooking the forest. Peter comes to join her, draping his heavy arm over her shoulders.

“Oh, Aslan, bring them back,” Lucy whispers. She buries her face in Peter’s chest.

They send search parties out every day for weeks. They only trace of their missing king and queen is one of Susan’s ribbons. Lucy feels empty and cried out. Peter seems to be putting on a brave face for her, but she can tell that underneath he’s just as shaken as she is.

They eventually, reluctantly, plan a royal funeral. Whether or not they’re dead, it’s been months, and the people and animals of Narnia want closure. Lucy sits next to Peter at the front of the great hall. She barely sees or hears anything around her. There’s an ocean roaring in her ears and a horrible clawed monster tearing up her insides.

They’re dead, they’re gone, they’re ripped up by wild beasts, you’ll never see them again, hisses the monster, sinking its talons deep into Lucy’s chest.

She thinks with all the strength she can muster that they’re alive, they all will be reunited, but it’s a losing battle against the monster. She tries to summon a mental image of Aslan, but it won’t come. She hasn’t seen him in years, and ever since her siblings’ disappearance he hasn’t even appeared in her mind.

Why did you let this happen? Lucy thinks. She raises her hands to her face and stifles a sob in her heavy fur-lined sleeves.

Peter leans over and puts his arm around her. Lucy drops her head onto his shoulder, letting her tears soak into his overcoat.

The wardrobe doesn’t reopen.

They’re dealing with their de-aging, the loss of their kingdom, and the loss of their siblings all at once. Edmund felt scooped out and hollow when they were first tossed through the wardrobe; now all that empty space is filled with a desperate, burning need to do something, anything, licking at his insides, hot on his heels whenever he stops to think, the ocean of his grief threatening to flood through him and knock him to the ground.

He stays in the wardrobe room all day, pacing, barely leaving to eat. Susan vetoed his initial plan to sleep in there, saying he needed a break from the constant desperate hope and despair. He sleeps a fitful few hours, if he sleeps at all, in his and Peter’s room. He’s not sure whether it’s better or worse that Peter’s bed is neatly made, just how he left it on the day they went to Narnia, leaving no trace of Peter’s personality behind. Edmund takes to wearing Peter’s shirts.

Susan approaches Edmund one day. She says that the Professor knows about Narnia. When they go to him together, he offers them the use of his uncle’s rings so that they might go back. They go out and dig in the garden, but the rings have been lost to the eroding forces of time. Edmund spends three full days digging even deeper, turning the Professor’s yard into a mess of dirt.

Susan retreats to her room for a few weeks. Edmund pokes his head in, once. Susan had tidied Lucy’s side of the room, putting all her things out of sight. She’s at the window, staring out, writing in her journal. She didn’t journal much before Narnia, Edmund thinks. It’s hard to say whether Narnia or this tragedy has changed her more. At least Narnia changed them slowly, as they grew. This has fallen on them all at once.

They don’t talk much at all with Edmund by the wardrobe and Susan in her room. The Professor, while sympathetic, is not exactly the person Edmund wants to talk to, and Mrs. MacReady is even less suitable. Edmund just leans his back against the side of the wardrobe, running his hands through fur coats, and tries to remember as much as he can. It’s easy to remember England now that they’re back, but his memories of Narnia are rapidly draining away. He suspects Susan is experiencing the same thing.

It’s a few weeks after It that Susan begins to leave the house to go to every social event under the sun. She begins to talk to Edmund more at mealtimes, but if he says anything about Narnia, she goes tight-lipped and silent.

He stops talking about it.

They have to deal with their parents somehow. The Professor’s house is behind the times and doesn’t have a phone, so they have to write a letter.

“We should just tell them they’re dead,” Edmund says, hoping he can get into a screaming match with Susan, anything to make him feel alive again. He hates how cold and quiet she’s gone. He doesn’t realise that they’re opposites: Susan’s fiery on the inside, Edmund on the outside.

“They would want to see their bodies,” Susan says.

“We can tell them they were torn up by a–”

“Don’t say that,” Susan snaps, looking at Edmund for the first time in days.

“Say what? That they’re dead?” Edmund says, viciously triumphant. “It’s no better to give them false hope.”

“I’m not the one who’s sitting by the wardrobe every day! They’re gone, Edmund, gone for good, but they weren’t torn up! I just don’t want–”

“You don’t know they won’t come back!”

“You just said that we shouldn’t give our parents false hope!” Susan stands up from the table, bringing herself to her full height. She’s taller than Edmund by two inches or so, which is just enough to force Edmund to look up at her.

“If we say they’re missing our parents will come over here and look in the forest for months, and they won’t find them!”

“Oh, but we’ll somehow magically find them in the wardrobe?” Susan mocks.

“Maybe! But we know they aren’t in the forest!” Edmund shouts.

“Stop trying to bring them back! They’re gone! But I am not going to tell our parents that they’re dead just because you want to make things easy on yourself!” Susan shouts back. She claps her hands to her face and takes a few deep breaths before whirling on her heels and marching out of the room.

Edmund goes and hammers his fists on the side of the wardrobe.

Decades pass on the Narnian side of the divide. Peter comes to accept that his siblings are likely dead. Lucy never quite gives up hope. Susan is with her whenever she draws a bow, writes a seating chart for a complicated dinner, dances in the Great Hall. She feels Edmund’s presence when she uses a sword, writes a tricky diplomatic dispatch, plays a game of chess. She and Peter talk about them often. When each of them gets married, they have new thrones made rather than having their spouses take Susan and Edmund’s thrones. In lighter moments, they joke that their disappearance was a good thing, since there really isn’t space for eight thrones on the dais in the throne room. When they have children and grandchildren, they tell them about Uncle Edmund the Just and Aunt Susan the Gentle while sitting on the abandoned thrones.

On the other side, Susan and Edmund tell their parents that Peter and Lucy disappeared. As expected, Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie search for months and come up empty. They cancel their planned teaching trip to America. Susan decides to go to America anyway. Edmund stays with their parents, away from all the memories and ghosts at the Professor’s house. He writes one letter to Susan. She writes back a jolly letter full of sweet nothings, and Edmund doesn’t write again.

He goes to visit Professor Kirke in the summer. They spend many quiet hours together in the Professor’s extensive library while Edmund studies in preparation for Oxford. Sometimes, when he can’t sleep, he goes to visit the wardrobe. He can almost hear Lucy’s voice begging them to believe her that Narnia was real.

Fifteen years after Edmund and Susan’s return to England, the antagonism in their relationship has softened somewhat. They attend family Christmases with their parents, spouses, and children. It’s at one of these holidays that Edmund and Susan go for a walk in the snowy forest.

It’s a beautiful evening, the snow blue under the shadows of the pines and orange where the setting sun sets it aflame. It reminds Edmund of Narnia, a little, as everything does. Snow, sleighs, turkish delight, beavers, crowns, castles…nothing is safe. He presses his hands to a tree trunk and feels the rough bark against his skin. He leans his forehead against the trunk and breathes in the scent of pine.

When he pulls away from the tree, the snowy wonderland around him seems even more sparkly than usual.

“Susan?” Edmund turns to his sister, who’s looking up at the sky, letting snowflakes fall on her cheeks and nose. She looks more peaceful than he’s seen her in quite a while.

“Hmm?” Susan turns to look at him. The snow in her hair reminds Edmund of that morning. They’d been making Christmas cookies when Susan’s daughter threw flour in the air.

A warm, flower-scented breeze blows through the forest.

“Oh!” Susan frowns.

“We have to find where it’s coming from!” Edmund stalks deeper into the forest, Susan walking behind him.

There’s a pair of oak trees that have grown together like twins. Green grass and otherworldly flowers are visible through the gap between their trunks.

The siblings stop and stare at each other.

“Look!” Edmund exclaims. He closes his eyes and takes in a big breath. “It’s Narnia!”

Susan covers her eyes with one hand. “Maybe–”

“It’s Narnia,” Edmund says again. “Look at those flowers!”

“I can’t do this again,” Susan says. She looks heartbroken. “I can’t go back, Edmund. And what about our families? What if we don’t come back?”

“Peter and Lucy,” Edmund says simply.

“It’s too much!” Susan begins to cry. “We don’t know where they are, if they’re alive. They probably think we’re dead! And I can’t go back to this country that might just throw me back to England at any moment! We lost so much, Edmund, don’t you remember?”

“I thought you didn’t remember!” Edmund says.

“Of course I do!” Susan fumbles for her handkerchief, but her cold, shaky fingers can’t manage it.

Edmund takes his handkerchief from his pocket and holds it out to her.

Susan accepts it and dabs under her eyes. “I can’t just leave my family behind.”

Edmund looks again at the gap between the trees. “I have to give it a chance. If Peter and Lucy are out there, I can’t just abandon them, Susan. They’re our family, too!”

“Go without me, then!” Susan chokes on her words. “I suppose if you come back it won’t feel like any time has passed for me!”

“And if I don’t?”

Susan looks up at him. A line of mascara trickles down her cheek. “I don’t know, Edmund. I just don’t know.”

Edmund looks between her and the gap in the trees. He tears up as he folds Susan in a hug. She leans down to tuck her chin over his shoulder, still taller than him after all that time.

“I understand,” she whispers.

“You do?”

“Yeah.” Susan releases him and taps her hands on each of his shoulders. “Yeah. Go on, find them. Bring them home.”

Edmund laughs wetly as Susan dabs her face with the handkerchief. “Can’t have mascara on your cheeks, eh?”

“Never.” Susan smiles as she holds up the handkerchief, though her smile wobbles.

Edmund gives her another hug. He can’t remember the last time they’d had a proper hug, more than just a quick arms-around, air-kiss kind of hug.

“Go on, before I start to think you might like me after all!” Susan smiles and gently pushes him away.

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

With that, Edmund walks backwards into the portal to Narnia, keeping his eyes on Susan’s face until it vanishes into the forest.

He steps from a snowy land into one in the middle of spring. It’s much too warm for his coat, but he’s too occupied looking around him to take it off. The landscape is achingly familiar, the greens a different shade than in England, everything just a little bit different.

His heart soars.

He has no idea where he is. Visibility is low through the forest, with no obvious vantage points to head towards, so Edmund picks a random direction and starts walking. Worries begin to flood in around the edges of his mind. He left his family without warning (not that he probably could have told them about Narnia anyway) and he didn’t bring any food…

Edmund soon finds a hill to climb, the top of which is bare of trees. From there he can see Cair Paravel, far, far in the distance. He’s too far to really see, but he imagines he can almost see a tiny red speck of a flag flying above the ramparts.

With that, Edmund scrambles down the hill towards his destiny.

It’s a beautiful day to be a Pevensie in Narnia.

#tcon #tconedit #narnia #peter pevensie #susan pevensie #edmund pevensie #lucy pevensie #for tarragonthedragon #by blueandnoah #by nonbinarycasmund #type: fanfiction #narnia exchange #winterexchange: 1

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twdmusicboxmystery · 5 years ago

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10x09: Squeeze - First Thoughts

Hey Everyone! How did you all like 10x09? I loved it! Thought it was fabulous. As per usual, today I’ll just give you some broad, first thoughts. Tomorrow I’ll do details and TTD. After that, I have some predictions. My peeps and I have been discussing what the spoilers told us all week and I have lots of connections to make. So, stay tuned.

***As always, spoilers abound for 10x09 below. Don’t click the ‘Read More’ until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

The first thing that caught my eye was a weird thing Daryl did with a walker hand. A walker grabs Kelly’s leg and is trying to pull her down off the rock and Jerry steps in and cuts the walker’s arm off. Then Daryl asks if he can have the arm.

Then…it just disappears. I actually re-wound that scene because I thought I missed something. It’s a right hand, btw. (Beth’s cast was on her right hand.) But from what I could tell, Daryl was carrying the walker arm/hand and a flashlight. The next shot (like 2 seconds later) both are gone and he’s carrying a torch. I’m thinking maybe he used the hand to prop up the flashlight so others behind him had light to see by or something. But again, we don’t see what he does with it. Or where/when the torches get lit. So, it’s weird. But there’s a tie to Beth and the fact that it just disappeared. And perhaps the light has something to do with it as well. There are lots of bathroom references in this episode. Some are gross. Can I just say…the whole Alpha/Negan thing is extremely cringe-worthy. *shudders* But even before that, he goes to talk to her when she’s at the latrine. He even makes a butt joke. Then she threatens to cut off his balls and kicks him into the latrine. Ewww.

I didn’t think much about it during that scene, but then Jerry makes a bathroom reference as well (but much less gross). He’s having a hard time crawling through the tiny passages in the cave and Aaron asks if he’s okay. He says something like, “I’m just a 6’2” dude who used to have a hard time fitting in airplane bathrooms. Why wouldn’t everything be alright?” When he said that, it occurred to me how many bathroom references they have in this episode. And we don’t actually see any toilet paper or anything, but the verbal references are there.

For those who don’t remember, we’ve seen a subtle bathroom motif around these kinds of scenes. Weird, I know, but it’s there. Back in S4, when Rick escapes the Claimer house, he does so through a window in the bathroom. Before that, when Carl is exploring the pudding house and loses his shoe, we have a walker that comes out of the bathroom and tries to get him. Carl shoots it in the head—same place Beth is shot—and the walker jumps back up again. So once again, this motif is there and very entangled with Beth symbolism. I definitely felt there were callbacks to Coda in Daryl and Carol’s conversation. Carol says she doesn’t want to just kill Alpha. She wants to torture her and make her beg for forgiveness and THEN kill her.

It reminded me of Daryl killing Dawn after Beth was shot. And the way Daryl just kind of stares at his hands and nods, I think he must have been thinking of that. And I remember Norman talking about that moment in an interview. He said Daryl might have gone into full murder-mode, killing everyone in the hallway, if Carol hadn’t put her hand on his arm right then and stopped them. Only after she does that does he drop his gun and look down at Beth and cry. So during the scene in this episode, after Carol says that about Alpha, Daryl replies, “If I’d been through what you’ve been through, I’d probably feel the same way. Unless you stopped me.” That simply has to be a reference to Coda. Um…there are long stretches of this episode where the group is literally crawling through dark tunnels. Daryl is always out ahead with a light, so they are crawling through the darkness and toward the light. There’s even a part where Carol starts to have a claustrophobic fit and Daryl says, “come toward my light.” Carol says, “I can’t.” Which is very telling about her state of mind. Though eventually, she does get through.

I’ll talk more about this Daryl-is-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel theme later in the week. I think it’s very important. At one point, Jerry gets stuck and some walkers are behind him, gnawing on his feet. They don’t actually bite him because they don’t get through his boots, but the camera focused on his shoes several times. So foot/shoe reference. Again, more on that in my details post tomorrow.

Let’s talk about the spoilers themselves. I’m feeling very suspicious about the bird cage spoilers. It’s one of those things that was weirdly specific and not really emphasized in the episode.

We definitely get a clear shot of the bird cage, but the camera just pans over it. There’s no actual mention of canaries or even that this is a mine. Maybe we’re supposed to glean that from the cage and the dynamite, but honestly, it might have all just been put there by the Whisperers. So I feel like this is one of those times it’s kind of apparent these spoilers might have been reported by AMC itself, and they want us to understand certain details that aren’t actually referenced in the episode.

There were other things that visually reminded me of Beth stuff. The episode did feel a lot like Consumed to me. When Carol fell and Daryl came to get her, it reminded me of Beth falling down the elevator shaft. And given the explosion when the mine caved in, it’s obvious why they would think Connie and Magna are dead. I mean, it was a pretty big explosion. If they’d been at the mouth of the exit when it happened, I’m sure they’d have both died. Only because they ran back in a little ways to fight Whisperers did they survive. There’s probably something symbolic in that. And this may sound really morbid, but even the way the debris and dust exploded kind of reminded me of the way the blood exploded from Beth’s head. So, I’m definitely feeling the parallels here.

We do see Connie and Magna very briefly. For me, it’s obvious that they’re showing us that they survived the blast. After it happens, we get a half-second shot of them turning around inside and then rocks sort of fall over the camera. So it’s like they’re watching their escape route disappear, but we don’t actually see any debris falling on them. So it’s obvious to me that they’re alive, but just trapped. And of course they could technically still die via walker, Whisperer, or just no food/water. It was emphasized several times that the group is very low on food and water, so that was a real concern for them. But the short of it is that we do see that they are okay inside.

I loved it when Daryl and Carol talked about not always telling each other everything. It came from the fact that Daryl told everyone Carol was claustrophobic and she was genuinely surprised he knew that about her. I think this is them acknowledging that they don’t talk about everything to one another, but also that, even though they don’t, the other one still knows.

So, I think it’s a way of pointing out that Daryl has never talked to anyone about Beth. Carol has also never talked to anyone about Lizzie and Mica (that we know of) or about Henry. Or about Sam. And it occurs to me that we know, via Henry, that she talked to Zeke about Ed and how abusive he was, but we’ve never been told that she talked to him about her lost children. To be fair, Daryl never talked to anyone about Denise, either, or anyone else he’s lost. But I think the emphasis here is also that the two of them (Daryl and Carol), because they’re so similar, can look at one another and know what the other one isn’t saying.

Maybe it seems fairly obvious on the surface. I mean, for anyone who looked at Daryl digging Denise’s grave, and stopping mid-shovelful to drink hard liquor, it’s obvious that this man is in an immense deal of pain. But the point is, even when he doesn’t tell her stuff, Carol still knows him well enough to understand what he’s going through, and vice versa.

It’s why she gave him Beth’s knife and wouldn’t let him go off on his own much during Them. And now the tables are turned. Just because Carol doesn’t talk to him about stuff, Daryl still looks at her and knows she’s not right in the head. Once again, the problem is that they don’t know how to heal each other. Carol isn’t responding to Daryl any more than he responded to her in Them or Twice as Far. At one point in this episode, he even says (and I paraphrase) “I want to be there for you, but I don’t know what else to do.”

I also think this may be a tongue-in-cheek way of the writers telling us to read between the lines. It’s almost kind of the “what cannot be seen” theme, except it’s “what is not being spoken.”

The last thing I’ll say is that the final scene with Daryl and Carol is very sad. I don’t think spoilers mentioned this but Daryl actually breaks down and starts crying. Like, a lot. I’m sure there will be drama in the fandom over this scene. The Carylers will, of course, say it’s because he’s in love with Carol and she’s being destructive. Others will say it’s because he’s in love with Connie.

Honestly, I think it was a little of both. (I mean both because of Carol and Connie, not because he’s in love with either of them.) My first impression was that he was just crying because Carol was crying. He points an accusatory finger at her first, so he’s obviously angry and blaming her. But when someone you know well breaks down, it always kind of makes you break down too, and I think there’s an element of that in it. Like, it’s just a sad situation and he’s sort of sympathizing with her.

But I also think it’s because Carol’s break down him to face the idea that Connie might be dead. Before she started crying and telling him to say it was her fault, he was sort of in his determined, I’m-gonna-figure-this-out Daryl mode. I think it made him stop and realize that Carol thinks Connie is dead and she might well be (from his point of view) so he cried because of that too. Again, just a very sad, poignant scene. I’ll stop there for now. Details coming tomorrow. Overall, I really thought this was a great episode. What did you think?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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wheremytwinwatches · 5 years ago

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[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 30

Last time: May Chang ducked just in time, Doc lost patience with his patients, and Ed decided to go for a double-major. Onwards!

Roy? Faded-out colors? Wait, are we getting a flashback episode? Come on, we just started progressing the plot again, especially after Beard’s episode-long mental debate. Ok, fine. Some old guy in a sickbed is refusing to teach Roy “Flame Alchemy” (aka the one thing he’s known for so I can tell how this is going to go) because he’s joining the Military. Obviously Roy’s teacher, given the different hair color I’m guessing not related. Student!Roy keeps talking about how Amestris is under threat from all sides, that the military needs Alchemists to protect their homes, but Master refuses to hear it. Even an appeal to Military funds to deal with the rundown house doesn’t work, since Master doesn’t need a grant for “something I’ve already completed.” What was Master researching? Master muses about he’s created “the most powerful alchemy”, and he’s grown complacent since completing it. The guy is definitely a Ravenclaw, saying that Alchemists have to hunt for knowledge all their lives, that he’s “been dead for a long time.” Oooh, and now Master’s coughs are a bit more wet sounding, we know that Roy figures out Flame Alchemy later but it’s not going to be from this- [Student!Roy]: “Are you all right?! Master Hawkeye!” [Master Hawkeye]: “Look after… my daughter. She’s in possession of… my research…look after...” Whoa, Master is Riza’s father? Was Riza’s father? Ok scratch my earlier complaining, I am totally down for an episode on how Roy and Riza met! Episode 30 - “The Ishvalan War of Extermination “ ...of course. I get all excited about seeing how my #2 ship first met, and of course it takes place during a friggin genocide. Thank Leto, their first meeting wasn’t in the middle of the ‘Civil War’. I guess they met up when Roy studied under Master Hawkeye, they seem familiar enough as they stand in the graveyard at her father’s headstone. Uh, Roy? I may not have much experience flirting or dating, but I’m pretty sure giving a girl your number literally over her father’s dead body is a slight faux pas. Beyond that, we get Roy giving his idealistic “I wanna make a difference in this country” speech, Riza saying she thinks it’s good to care. And with that, she trusts him with her father’s research. Back to modern day it seems! Gratuitous shot of Riza in the shower good LETO what is that on your back? Ok hold up, Riza’s always been one of the few in their merry band who doesn’t use Alchemy, faces down foes who can generate and manipulate matter with only her pistols or maybe a rifle. But that giant tattoo on her back (scars aside) just screams Alchemy, with something like that I’d expect her to be throwing lightning around with the best of them. What’s the story here? Barking dog? Oh yeah, Riza was walking a dog back when Barry made the poor decision to attack her. And Ed continues his streak of losing horribly to canines, he’s stopped by to catch up with Riza after everything’s that happened. Oh, and to return the gun! Riza’s cleaning it as Ed says he never had to use it. Or rather, he could never use it. Face to faces with Envy, he- Never mind, he’s talking about the time he dropped the gun facing Scar, and then stopped Winry from shooting him. Yikes, keep talking down about Riza’s method of combat as “something evil”, I’m sure she’ll take that well. (And hoo boy, this is gonna be an interesting episode if we go into the ethics of firearms, isn’t it?) Riza says he’s just dwelling because he made it back alive, he just needs to focus on living, to help Winry. [Riza]: “How else can you protect her? I mean after all, you love her, don’t you?” [Ed]: *spit take on the dog, frantic denials* Ha! But back to serious business, Riza’s saying that she’s killed too many to feel sorry for herself, that she chose this path. Yikes. Need to remember that although I don’t think we’ve seen Riza kill anyone on screen so far, she was involved in Ishval like all the other State Alchemists. Just like in another reality, Hawkeye can be a good friend, but they’re still a trained killer. Speaking of Ishval, Scar’s questioning Doctor Marcoh about his involvement in the genocide! Then we’re back to Riza, talking about the Ishvalan homeland and people. A place of sand and rocks, with a resolute people. A faction protested their annexation by Amestris (so was there a war of conquest before this, or did Amestris just roll in one day and say “You lot pay us taxes now”?), a random soldier/Envy shot a kid, the torches and pitchforks were taken out, and civil war raged for seven years. Huh, that long? With how calm and peaceful the Ishvalans seemed in past flashbacks and the sudden shock of cannons firing on Scar’s town, I thought this was a much quicker affair. Then, the Fuhrer signed a little piece of paper called “Executive Order 3066”.

Obligatory comparison is obligatory. So the Ishvalan War of Extermination began, and we get the now-familiar clips of cannons firing and blue-eyed soldiers marching in, with flashes of State Alchemists doing their thing. And- oh, Leto. By this point Riza had joined the military. As a sniper. That’s… that scene of seeing the Ishvalan through the scope… her eyes... [Riza]: “Most combat is blind. A normal soldier might fire erratically without a clear target in mind. But it’s different for snipers. Someone is sure to die when we pull the trigger. Where other soldiers don’t always have a direct line of sight on the effects of their actions… snipers do.” And then we’re back to the State Alchemists, who share a sniper’s viewpoint. Some pompous guy who I dimly remember getting HoD’d by Scar. Roy snapping his fingers. A familiar metal glove slamming down and Earthbending up a wall to block fleeing Ishvalans. And young Armstrong kneeling behind that wall, trembling as he listens to the Ishvalans being gunned down on the other side. ...why did I agree to see this show? We’re in the Amestris camp now, a guy who I’m pretty sure is Mr. Monopoly is ranting about “the savages” taking his leg, when Hughes (guuuuuuuuuh) spots Roy walking through the white cloaks. He turns around to show the same eyes as Riza. And as Hughes chats with Roy cleaning up, the Flame Alchemist points out those same eyes behind those shiny glasses. A letter? Aw, Hughes got a letter from Gracia, after the initial glee attack he starts worrying that being all alone in Central some creep’s going to hit on her. Awwwww. Wait, no. No! [Roy]: “Hey, Hughes? I got a little advice for you. It happens in movies in novels all of the time; the soldiers who never shut up about their girls back home? *finger gun* They don’t make it.” HOW DARE As heartbreaking as future events will be, it is good to see Hughes happy, having something to look forward to tomorrow. And then the mood goes RIGHT BACK DOWN as Riza shuffles up and greets Major Mustang, asking if he remembers her. Leto, this is the first time they’ve met since her father’s grave?! “Damn this war” indeed! Two mid-ep pictures of gratuitous-Riza with her tattoo? Although in the first one there’s no scarring… The three are sitting in camp now, wondering why they’re being ordered to kill citizens rather than protect them. [?]: “Because that’s the job we State Alchemists have been given to do!” Wait. Wait wait wait. I don’t have subtitles anymore, but that face… Mister Smiley? Oh wow. Mister Smiley is an ass. Guy’s happily saying that their job seems to be causing tragedy, and then slams Riza by asking if she feels satisfaction and pride when she shoots an enemy. Yeah, Asshole. Get this guy in the show proper so I can see his ass getting kicked, writers. Roy confronts Kimblee, who insults him for putting on a uniform and then being “surprised’ when he has to kill and arguing that the only thing worse than killing is turning your eyes away blah blah blah just SHUT UP you ass. This whole situation is messed up beyond anything our characters know at this point, but by no means can you sit there and say that it’s right. But it’s time to get back to “work”. Kimblee saunters off with a smile, and Hughes has to go as well. While explaining to Roy that his reason to fight is simple; he doesn’t want to die. Back to Marcoh, overseeing some Ishvalans getting ritually sacrificed to make a Stone. And to be completely honest… I’m a bit underwhelmed at the size of the sacrifice. Maybe it’s just how Leto-damn dark this show is, but with all the talk about the Ishvalan War being a cover to make Philosopher’s Stones I was expecting to see a heck of a lot more people dying to make the MacGuffin of the series. Or maybe…? This Stone was given to Mister Smiley, who Scar recognizes as the one who killed his family. We see the Crimson Alchemist laughing madly as he turns the battle around with that single stone, ranting about the “beautiful sound” of destruction. Again, get this ass into the show proper so he can suffer. Teatime with Riza again, now talking about how the Ishvalan High Priest surrendered personally to the Fuhrer- who mocks him for his ‘arrogance’ at offering his life as an equal exchange for every other Ishvalan’s, and when the guy’s flunkies declare God will punish him Bradley taunts them about how God hasn’t struck him down yet, how if they want to see him struck down for all his atrocities (his word, not mine, the guy literally calls his own actions ‘atrocities’) that they should use their own hands. Easy for you to say, buddy. You’re not the one with their hands tied behind their back. So the war ends, Roy gives his “I’ll protect my loved ones so they can protect their loved ones” speech now set to much more menacing music than last time, and after he has a staredown with the Fuhrer he’s sitting in his office when Riza walks in. Wait, “decided to take this path after all”? I would have thought that her serving as a sniper meant she was already in the military, how does that work? Or maybe it’s that she’s still continuing in the military even after what she’s seen in Ishval. [Riza]: “If the world truly operates based on the principles of Equivalent Exchange-” EEC: 11 “-then we soldiers have plenty to give back.” And with that, Roy assigns Riza to be his assistant, to watch his back. Aww, the couple’s finally- [Roy]: “Although, I expect you understand what this means. You’ll be able to shoot me in the back as well. If I ever deviate from this path, then I want you to shoot me. And I’m trusting you to do so. Do you accept my offer?” [Riza]: “Of course I do, sir. I’ll follow you into hell if you ask me to.” ...well ok then. I guess that’s one way to ask someone on a date. Back to tea time, Ed’s asking how things can be fixed even if Roy becomes the Fuhrer. That’s right, he’s grown up in Bradley’s military state, hasn’t he? Riza talks about restoring democratic principles, bringing back Parliament, charging the ‘heroes’ of the Ishvalan War as war criminals- wait, what?! Wow. Ok then. So even if our good guys beat the Goths, uncover the corruption of the Military and restore power to the people, they set themselves up to take the fall. That’s… wow. Ed protests that it wasn’t their fault, that the Goths were pulling the strings, but Riza just says that regardless of who started it they still carried out the orders. No hiding behind the chain of command, here. Ouch, Riza. You’ve carried around Mister Smiley’s words all this time, about never forgetting those you kill? I mean it’s great that you turned around that monster’s meaning, but still. What a way to live. Al’s saying bye to the Doc when May stops him, to thank him for saving her and her panda. She’s surprised to learn he’s an Elric, gripes that he probably looks like his mean older brother- Al, no. Al, NO! YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU HAVE UNLEASHED! Well ok then. That was a Leto-depressing episode for the most part, we got introduced to a character that I can’t wait to meet a painful demise, there’s an intriguing mystery of Riza’s tattoos and scars, and then we ended on Al making the second-biggest mistake of his life. Can’t wait to see how that turns out. After credits scene: Envy’s knocking on a door, asks if the Doc’s decent. Notes that it’s dark and quiet when he brings in food- and yup, Scar got his Vengeance on the one who empowered his family’s murderer. One down...

#wmtw #where my twin watches #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 30

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thinkingaboutyoungroyals · 7 years ago

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Tyrus Month: Basketball

Try Out For My Heart (AO3)

A/N: I’ve had this little fic playing around in my head since the finale and I finally found an opportunity to write it!

“All right! Everyone, gather around!”

The girls on the court paused their warm-ups and made their way to where Coach Coleman stood. On his right, stood Buffy and TJ, both holding clipboards and pens.

“Thank you all of you for coming to tryouts today,” the Coach began. “As you all know, this year, we are starting Jefferson Middle School’s very first girls’ basketball team and it’s all thanks to Buffy Driscoll, here, who petitioned the idea to Dr. Metcalf."

Buffy gave the girls a little wave.

"For those of you who make it today, I’ll be your temporary Coach until we find a permanent one. And since she is the reason that you are all here, it's only appropriate that Buffy will also be your future team Captain.”

He gestured towards her and Buffy took a step forward to the claps and cheers of the other girls.

“Hi, everyone, I’m Buffy,” she said with a giant and welcoming smile. “I’m so happy to see so many of you come to try out today. TJ, here.” She gestured towards the other Captain. “Is the boys’ team captain and he will be helping me and Coach evaluate your skills. So, do your best and bring your A-game!”

The girls clapped and cheered again. Then, Coleman told them to finish warm-ups and they would begin with some drills in 10 minutes, followed by a mock game.

Buffy smiled as she watched the girls talk amongst themselves.

“Wow… I didn’t think there would be this many girls interested in playing basketball,” she said.

TJ was surprised too, but considering Buffy was the first girl to try out for the basketball team, it probably just set the ball rolling (pun intended). And to make up for his past transgressions to the girl, he had volunteered to help scout for fresh talent.

“Well, I’m willing to bet you inspired them,” he stated, sincerely. “I was kind of hoping you’d take over as Captain of the boys’ team when I graduated, but this is cool too.”

Buffy’s mouth fell open. “Now you tell me?!”

“Hey, it was one of a couple of things I thought of to try and apologize to you.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow. “What were the other ones?”

TJ opened his mouth to answer then paused. “Honestly, that was the only one. Cyrus said he would help me come up with something else if you said 'no'.”

The girl snorted. “Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m very happy with having my own team.”

TJ flashed her a rare friendly smile. “You deserve it. Really.”

Buffy returned it. “Thank you. And I really appreciate you doing this with me today.”

“No problem, Driscoll. Besides, there looks to be a lot of great players here. I already marked off a couple we should keep an eye on.”

He looked down at his clipboard, flipping through sheets of applications and profiles of the students trying out. The profiles came with photos so he was able to observe the girls while they did warm-ups and practiced free throws. He meant what he said about them actually being pretty great. He kind of wished he had a couple of them on his team too, but he already ruined that.

“You know… Cyrus said he might stop by with Andi later.”

TJ looked up so fast that he felt his neck almost pull a muscle. “He is?” he asked, hopefully.

Buffy smirked.

“I… mean… Cool.” TJ nonchalantly looked back down to his clipboard but his heart was hammering in his chest.

Cyrus was coming to the tryouts. He was coming to see him. Okay, he was coming to see Buffy but surely, he knew TJ would be around too, right?

If TJ had known, he would have dressed better. It wouldn’t be the first time Cyrus would have seen him in just a shirt and basketball shorts, but he could have worn a nicer shirt! The gray one he was wearing now was all faded and old.

Letting out a chuckle, Buffy said, “I’ll go talk to some of the girls.”

She headed off to do just that.

When she had her back turned, TJ took the opportunity to run his fingers through his hair, fixing it and flattening some of the stray strands. Then, he checked his breath in his hand, glad that he decided on the chicken nuggets for lunch that day instead of the burger. Did he have time to run to the bathroom and check his teeth before Cyrus got there?

He felt almost silly, wanting to look good and decent for the younger boy. But, this was the first time he had a crush that actually lasted a long time instead of disappearing in a few days.

Cyrus was cute. Witty. Had a great sense of humor. Sweet. Kind. Loyal. Had a smile like sunshine.

He really liked Cyrus.

“Kippen! Come over here a sec!” Coleman called out to him.

Sighing, TJ jogged over to the Coach, hoping that their conversation wouldn’t take too long. He really needed a mirror.

The sounds of sneakers and basketballs bouncing against the floors greeted Cyrus and Andi as they entered the gym. Buffy was holding tryouts for her new team that day and they wanted to show their support.

Cyrus scanned the floor and found their athletic friend standing by one of the nets, looking serious with her clipboard and pen as she closely eyed the girls currently doing 3-pointers (he learned that from TJ!).

Swiftly, he and Andi found spots in the bleachers and sat down to watch.

Buffy saw them come in and waved before mouthing, “Ten minutes.” Then, she went back to observing her future team.

“Oh, I’m so proud of Buffy,” Andi gushed with a small clap. “And it looks like a lot of girls in school want to be part of her team. This is so exciting!”

“The rest of our semester and next year’s will be booked with games, for sure, but not to worry, I’ll jot them all down in my calendar,” Cyrus said, already mentally planning various signs and cheers.

On the other side of the court, he saw that TJ was watching another group of girls doing layups (another thing he learned from TJ!), his own clipboard attached to his hand. Cyrus couldn’t help but watch the handsome jock.

He had his serious face on. Others may find it intimidating but Cyrus thought it was cute. And that may or may not relate to the small little budding crush he had on him.

As if feeling eyes on him, TJ turned his head and looked towards the bleachers.

When he saw Cyrus, he broke into a smile. Cyrus waved, enthusiastically. The jock waved back before turning back to his task.

Cyrus sighed, dreamily.

“Are we really here just for Buffy or did you have another motive?”

He blushed and coughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied to Andi.

His friend was flashing him teasing grin. “I know that look. I hadn’t seen that look in ages.”

“What look? I don’t have a look.”

Andi placed a hand over his. “You know that I’ve got your back, right? And you can tell me anything?”

Of course he could. Cyrus trusted her and Buffy the most. But, in this case, this…crush…was still so new to him. So strange. And it confused him. So, while he was figuring it out, he planned on staying quiet. Just until he got a clearer picture of what was really happening with him.

Besides, TJ was first and foremost his friend.

“I know,” he replied, taking her hand and squeezing it. “When I’m ready.”

Andi easily accepted this and they went back to watching the tryouts.

Although he should be watching Buffy, his eyes couldn’t help but stray towards the other side of the court.

Ten minutes passed and the coach blew his whistle and announced a ten-minute break so the girls could rest and hydrate for a mock game.

Buffy came over to them to chat.

“I’ve never seen you so excited!” Andi exclaimed.

“Are you kidding me? I’m beyond thrilled!”

“And we’re thrilled for you!” added Cyrus.

Buffy sighed, happily. “Thanks, guys. Your support really means a lot to me. And I’m aiming to make this team the best in all of Shadyside!”

“It will be! I’m sure of it!” Cyrus piped with Andi nodding along beside him.

Buffy smiled. “TJ has been a huge help too.”

“That’s great! I’m glad you guys are really getting along!”

“I can’t believe Cyrus actually managed to get you guys to make up!”

Their athletic friend chuckled. “Well, it turns out getting to know someone can really surprise you. And he’s definitely full of surprises.”

“Awww, Slayer, thanks. I’m flattered.”

TJ came up behind Buffy, four water bottles in his hand. He handed one to her before giving the others to Cyrus and Andi and kept one for himself.

Cyrus tried not to let his hands linger against the jock’s as he took the water and said, “Thanks.”

“Don’t get used to it, Captain,” Buffy replied, sassily.

TJ rolled his eyes before turning his gaze to Cyrus. “I told her she could have been the boy’s team’s captain next year but I guess I would have to pass on the torch to someone else now.”

“You sound disappointed about that,” Cyrus pointed out.

TJ shrugged. “She was the best player… other than me, of course.”

“Not according to our last one-on-one.”

“I still want a re-match.”

“Sure, Kippen. Any time. Anywhere.”

“You’re on.” TJ turned to Cyrus. “Will you keep score again, Underdog?”

Cyrus nodded, excitedly. “Of course!”

“Can I watch?” Andi asked. “I didn’t get to last time.”

“Of course! You can watch me beat TJ… again.”

“Not unless I beat you this time, Driscoll.”

Before they could get into another argument, Cyrus decided to interject. “It will be a fun… and friendly game, I’m sure.”

Just then, they heard the coach calling for both TJ and Buffy so they bid the two goodbye and headed off to see what the man needed.

Andi’s phone ping-ed and her eyes lit up. “It’s Jonah!”

Cyrus still didn’t know how Jonah’s parents managed to convince the school that he could leave for 8 weeks for Frisbee Camp but he supposed being an athlete always had its perks.

Meanwhile, a few feet away from Cyrus and Andi, some of the girls trying out were sitting with their things, resting and hydrating.

Cyrus didn’t mean to eavesdrop on their conversation but they were quite loud and his ears were fairly good at picking up words and topics he was interested in… namely, TJ’s name.

“TJ is cute, isn’t he?”

“So cute. And he’s such an awesome basketball player too. Did you see how many layups he did at the last game?”

“Ugh, he’s so cool. Do you know if he has a girlfriend?”

“If he does, it’s probably Buffy.”

At that, Cyrus froze and he strained his ears even more.

“Makes sense. They’re both captains. And did you see how close they are?”

Cyrus’ eyes strayed to the said captains, who had finished talking to the coach and were now in deep conversation with each other as they scanned the sheets on their clipboards.

TJ said something and Buffy laughed.

Normally, seeing his best friend get along with a person he considered his close friend would have made him happy.

But… Cyrus wasn’t.

“They’re so cute together.”

“Do you know when they started dating?”

He felt a prick in his heart.

Not again. He couldn’t deal with this again. Another best friend dating a guy he liked? It wasn’t fair.

Before he knew it, he was on his feet, his breaths suddenly coming in pants.

Andi looked up at him, questioningly. “Cyrus?”

“U-Um… I’m gonna get a drink of water.”

“But there’s water right here-.”

“And chips! I-I want chips from the vending machine. B-Be right back.”

Without another word, Cyrus climbed down the bleachers and walked out of the gym.

“… so I’ll take group A and you'll take B,” Buffy explained.

“You got it,” TJ replied, circling some names on his list.

Coleman had made a list of players for their mock game and he and Buffy were each to keep a close eye on the players of each team.

“Huh, weird. Where is Cyrus going?”

TJ turned around right on time to see Cyrus walking out of the gym, the doors slamming behind him.

Andi was left on the bleachers, looking perplexed.

A strange feeling came over TJ and he felt like something was wrong.

“You know… you can go after him, if you want.”

He turned back to Buffy. She was flashing him a teasing grin and a knowing look. As if she knew what was going on inside his head…

“Just make it quick, the mock game is starting in 5 minutes.”

“T-Thanks, Buffy.”

He handed her his clipboard and dashed off to follow Cyrus.

He spotted him at the end of the hall, staring blankly at the vending machine there. It almost felt like déjà vu except, this time, it was the other way around.

Squaring his shoulders, TJ took a deep breath and walked over to the younger boy.

When he got close, he greeted, “Hey, Underdog.”

Cyrus jumped and hit his elbow against the glass of the vending machine.

“Ow.”

“You okay?!”

Without thinking, TJ took his arm to inspect for injury. Thankfully, the skin was clear of bruises.

“I’m fine, thank you.” Cyrus gently removed his arm from his hold. “What are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be in there. With Buffy.”

“I have five minutes. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

Cyrus couldn’t seem to look him in the eye. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You tell me.” TJ placed a hand on his shoulder. “You know I’m here for you, right?”

The younger boy looked up at him with his innocent brown eyes and TJ felt like he was drowning in a pool of them. He couldn’t look away.

“Do you like Buffy?”

TJ blinked, uncomprehending. “What?”

Cyrus bit his lower lip and TJ was momentarily distracted by the action that he almost missed what the other boy said next.

“I heard some of the girls talking. They think you’re dating Buffy.”

TJ didn’t mean to make a face… but he did. “I’m… not? We’re just friends. And I don’t like her that way. And isn’t she dating that Marty guy from the track team?”

“No, I'm not really sure if they still talk… but… you’re sure? You… don’t have a crush on Buffy?”

No, I have a crush on you! was what TJ wanted to say.

“I don’t have a crush on Buffy,” was what he said, instead. “Believe me, Underdog, I don’t. Okay? I mean, does it matter if I do?”

“Of course, it does! I’m her best friend!”

The exasperated tone suddenly made TJ suspicious. Cyrus looked distressed at the possibility that he could like Buffy. Could it be…?

“Do… you like Buffy?” he asked, hesitantly.

“Of course, I like her! She’s my best friend!”

“Let me re-phrase… do you have a crush on Buffy?”

It was Cyrus’ turn to make a face. “No! Again, she’s my best friend! That’s weird!”

TJ felt relief in his chest and a little hope bloomed as well.

“Then, why did you sound so mad when I asked if it mattered?”

“It just… does.”

“Why?”

Cyrus remained silent, his eyes trained on the floor.

“Cyrus?”

No answer.

“Okay, if you don’t want to tell me, it’s fine. But…” Feeling brave, TJ took one of the younger’s hands in his. “I’m here for you, okay? Remember that.”

Finally, Cyrus looked up. For a moment, he simply looked at TJ, as if reading him and TJ wanted to know what was going on in that cute little head of his.

“TJ… will you… hug me?”

The request was random but it had TJ’s heart beating like he was running a marathon.

Trying not to seem eager, he nodded and wrapped his arms around Cyrus, the younger’s head laying itself against his chest as his arms went around TJ’s middle.

It felt nice… this hug. It made TJ feel all warm and tingly all over and Cyrus’ hair smelt like lemon and orange. He hoped that he couldn’t hear how loud TJ’s heart was beating, though, that would be embarrassing.

“You give nice hugs,” Cyrus mumbled against his chest and it was probably the best compliment TJ had ever heard from anyone in his entire life.

He didn’t know how long they hugged. For all he knew, Coleman was screaming his name at the gym right now, but he didn’t want to break this moment.

Unfortunately, Cyrus eventually pulled away and TJ tried not to look disappointed.

The younger boy smiled up at him. “Thank you, I needed that.”

TJ returned the smile. “Any time, Underdog.”

Cyrus cleared his throat. “We should probably get back to the gym. It’s probably been more than five minutes.”

He turned to walk away but TJ gently gripped his arm. “If you need to talk or just need a hug, you know where to find me,” he told him.

Beaming like the sun, Cyrus nodded. “Thank you.”

Side-by-side, hands almost brushing, the two boys made their way back to the gym.

#tyrus #tyrus month #tyrus week 2018 #tyrus week

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omdaily10 · 6 years ago

Text

RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME

Album: Third

Writers/Producers: Claude Kelly, Steve Robson, Chuck Harmony, Ed Drewett, Steve Kipner, Lucas Secon, Wayne Hector, Andrew Frampton, FutureCut, Iyiola Babalola, Darren Lewis, Jim Eliot, Iain James, Julian Bunetta, John Ryan, Carsten Mortensen, Adam Argyle, Martin Brammer, Matt Prime

Release Date: 26/11/2012 (Original) / 25/11/2013 (Reissue)

Chart Positions: #1 (UK), #1 (Scotland), #3 (Ireland), #5 (Austria), #6 (Switzerland), #14 (Sweden), #17 (Canada), #19 (US), #19 (Denmark), #20 (Australia), #22 (Germany), #27 (New Zealand), #32 (Japan), #38 (Finland)

Sales: 1.38m (UK, 4x Platinum), 100k (Germany, Gold), 15k (Ireland, Platinum), 35k (Australia, Gold), 10k (Austria, Gold)

It goes without saying that ‘Right Place Right Time’ is unquestionably Olly’s best album to date – certainly the one that fans cite as their favourite to this day. The 1.38m copies it shifted in the UK alone might explain that one away, but it doesn’t tell the full story of why he is still to this day the only male solo graduate of The X Factor to better the sales of each of his subsequent albums. However, just as with its lead single, Olly’s third album in as many years had a bit of a shaky start. At least, to its US release it did.

The plan from Colombia had initially been to release an American version of the ‘In Case You Didn’t Know’ album (proposed artwork here), which would have been a 50/50 split of songs from his first two albums, in early September 2012. The flop of the US remix of ‘Heart Skips A Beat’ quickly put paid to those plans – and just as well really, for by the time that idea was put on the backburner, he had a new studio album ready to go that could be released across all markets. Naturally, however, his home turf would be the first to get the album.

Knowing full well that this was an album with an eye on launching Olly internationally, the feel of the music was reflected in the choice of producers in order to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. On his down days in between the One Direction tour in the States, Olly hooked up with Claude Kelly in New York to write with his collaborative Stateside partner Chuck Harmony, collectively known under their performing moniker of R&B/soul outfit Louis York. Out of those sessions came several songs for the album: ‘Loud & Clear’ and ‘Head To Toe’: one, a sweeping, lighters aloft torch ballad that called to mind ‘X&Y’ era Coldplay, and the other a toe tapping swingathon with a jaunty piano line and a set of counting in verses.

Columbia also granted him access to two of their star boyband’s chief writers for the record, in the shape of LA based Julian Bunetta and John Ryan, who turned in possibly the most perfectly Olly song that’s ever existed on an album of his before or since. Little wonder then, that ‘What A Buzz’ was written especially with him in mind, a shuffly slice of kitchen sink breakbeat pop calling to mind Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim)’s remix of Cornershop’s 1998 chart topper ‘Brimful Of Asha’. It’s suitably cheeky Essex lilt about first date nerves was added courtesy of lyrics from Ed Drewett, a much in demand singer and songwriter from just over the border of Essex in Bishop’s Stortford, who had turned in two number one hits for The Wanted and duetted with Professor Green on his 2010 single ‘Need You Tonight’. The pair quickly became good friends and have continued to write together on subsequent albums of his.

Whilst it is less pronounced on this record, Olly was evolving and shifting sound again, this time, to corner the same funk laden pop avenue populated by Jamiroquai, M People and Maroon 5. The sound of the former is particularly prevalent on both ‘Troublemaker’ and on ‘Hey You Beautiful’, a four to the floor come-hither belter that proved a fan favourite after Olly’s performance of it over the suspended catwalk section of his supporting arena tour around the UK and Ireland for the album in the spring of 2013.

That tour was also a first, as on several of the numbers, Olly got to showcase his skills on the guitar and piano that he’d been painstakingly practicing away at in the year since the last tour. It was the latter that got an airing for his performance of this album’s closing track – a simple but stripped back piano number called ‘One Of These Days’. It trod the same path as ‘I Need You Now’ on the last album, but also took a slight leaning towards the sound of modern country and adult contemporary radio.

The album’s original release was accompanied by a deluxe edition, on which were four additional tracks (plus a small change in colour on the artwork’s font from black to dark red). This would be the first album of Olly’s to come out on two separate formats. Adam Argyle and Martin Brammer are once again behind three of the four songs on the deluxe version, best of all being the soaring midtempo piano pop stormer ‘Sliding Doors’, a conversational track about dreaming of life with someone else in another moment that was inspired by the Gwyneth Paltrow film from 1998 of the same name. The closing track, ‘The One’, was another of his collaborations with Ed Drewett, which Olly also played guitar on, and is a rousing number, almost evocative of a poppier ‘Tender’ by Blur, about offering support to a friend in a dark place.

Critical consensus was divided between applauding and denigrating his approach of going forward by advancing the same sound that had carried him through two multi-platinum albums already. But it was seemingly missing the point either way. As Lewis Corner, reviewing the album for entertainment website Digital Spy wrote, “it may not be a big departure from Murs’ previous efforts, but when you're on to a good thing, why change the pace?” With this still being the biggest studio release of his career by far, Olly’s third album definitely was a case of being in the right place at the right time.

RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME: SPECIAL EDITION

When viewed retrospectively, 2013 was truly the year when Olly went global, with tour dates and promotional commitments expanding not only to Europe, but also to America, Australia and even Asia by year’s end – not to mention his successful stint supporting his ‘showbiz brother’ and former X Factor duet partner Robbie Williams on every single UK and European date of his ‘Take The Crown’ stadium tour that summer (the two would also record a rousing cover of ‘I Wanna Be Like You’ from the Disney adaptation of The Jungle Book for Williams’ second swing album ‘Swings Both Ways’).

This did however, create a small problem, in so far as all this hive of activity meant there was no time to record a new studio album for the end of the year, as had been the case in the last three years. Thankfully, Sony saw a little more mileage in the campaign for ‘Right Place Right Time’ to keep Olly active and present until he had his next album in the can, hence its repackaging and reissue with all new artwork almost a year after its original release.

The original twelve tracks on the album remained, and joining them were several tracks that had been recorded during the album sessions (some even earlier than that) but which for one reason or another hadn’t made the final cut first time round. It meant we got to hear ‘Stop Tryna Change Me’, a gentle paced toe tapper Olly co-wrote with Claude and Chuck which again, had a slight feel of country pop.

First demoed for ‘In Case You Didn’t Know’, ‘That’s Alright With Me’ was another jaunty post-Britpop offering from Samuel Preston and Mark Taylor, the sort of guitar flecked number you could see spilling forth from the mouths of The Kooks or Preston’s old band The Ordinary Boys. A stripped back seasonal take on Wizzard’s festive evergreen ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’, recorded back in December the previous year for BBC Radio 1’s popular ‘Live Lounge’ slot on Fearne Cotton’s mid-morning show follows and is a heart-warming delight.

Rounding out the new tracks were collaborations with two European pop chanteuses, both done to try and break Olly into their respective territories. It means that he turns up on ‘Did I Lose You’, a hypnotic, wistful track that you could’ve imagined playing over the opening credits of a Bond movie, for Italy’s Giorgia, whilst his own ‘Dear Darlin’ was given a Gallic reimagining by popular French star Alizée, who had scaled the UK top 10 in 2002 with her Europop thumper ‘Moi...Lolita’. Olly performed this version with Alizée at the Parisian date of his European tour that autumn whilst she was taking part in the French version of Strictly Come Dancing.

But the special edition didn’t end there. Footage of the first O2 show in London on Easter weekend from the spring arena tour that year had been filmed and broadcast live via Olly’s Facebook page, and it was quickly decided, after much demand from fans, to release it on an accompanying DVD, marking the first time that a live show of Olly’s had had a home video release. It was undoubtedly a large factor in helping the album to return to the top end of the album chart a year on from its debut, as well as being amongst the top 5 biggest selling albums of the year in the UK for two years running.

#Olly Murs #Olly Murs Daily #2012 #OM Daily #omdaily10 #10th Anniversary #reviews #Right Place Right Time #Third Album #Retrospective #Special Edition #Deluxe Edition

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