#finally decided on an Arthur design yay

[arthur-lesters-nipples]

He’s my little blorbo 💛

[creatureesque]

pt 2 of my attempt at reference sheets for hgtg characters, this time its Ford Prefect! Yay!

books 1-3

First of all, lets adress the elephant in the room: where did this moustache even come from? My answer is: i have. absolutely no idea. I do not remember why i started drawing him with a moustache at all, but if you look at my first ever post with hgtg fanart the moustache is already there and thriving. I guess it was some kind of a calling from somewhere beyond. I do not regret that design choice a single bit, though. It adds to his character a lot imo and its fun to draw

Another weird thing you might notice is the rainbow freckles, what in the skittles is it . Again, dont really know. It was added for fun when my friend and i were sad that he looks like a human so i decided to try and give him weird but slight (if u can even call it that) unhuman traits. That how the tail thing happened, too. However i think ill get rid of the taik because i just cannot make it look good, it looks weird and im very unsure about it. But hey! it was a fun idea! I think.. i thought its kind of silly

The clothes is loosely based of off the tv show like with Arthur

books 4-5

This is where it gets fun, i just went crazy with his design because why the hell not!!!

In book 4 design i gave him a mullet and a new wardrobe(which is almost identical to his og outfit lol, i tried) which honestly kind of has cool butch lesbian vibes, i think its because of reference i used.. anyway he is a little more tired but still doing his thing, good for him

Book 5 design is honestly just very random (no pun intended), i jokingly suggested ford with long hair but then i drew it and was kind of amazed so it stuck. Glad i finally gave him a hawaiian shirt like any normal person who draws him would already do. Something about him going to work wearing a hawaiian shirt AND a neat little tie is just so silly to me i had to include it

[martianbugsbunny]

OUAT Thoughts Pt.44--Episodes 1-2

I have watched through S5E2; spoilers DNI. Also, spoiler warning for those further behind than I am.

—The Dark One dagger being the end of Excalibur is awesome! I hope at some point we actually get to see when Merlin created the dagger.

—I didn’t know Excalibur destroyed anybody who failed to remove it from the stone. That’s dark.

—Yay, Merida! Her dress is a very nice shade of blue, although I personally adore the dark green one from the movie, and her clan tartan cloak is pretty. Her bow has some cool new decorations, too. As far as hair goes, it’s alright, but it’s more wavy than curly and it could have a bit more volume. I mean, come on! This is the princess with possibly the most b*tchenest hair ever, they might as well go whole and a half hog on it.

—It’s a great idea to have Merida and Camelot near each other. They probably aren’t from quite the same time, but I like them coexisting anyway.

—It was funny when Emma’s hallucination-Rumple commented about Merida’s accent.

—I’m gonna nitpick a lil bit here, but I don’t think Merida’s kingdom falling apart because they can’t handle a queen doesn’t quite work. This entire show is woman-geared. Snow leads her people to rebellion, and they don’t decide to switch their loyalties to David when Snow married him. People don’t want Regina to rule them because she’s terrorizing them, not because they had a king before her. Women with the blood right haven’t been forced aside in favor of men previously, and I’m not thrilled with it showing up now. There could’ve been any other reason for Merida’s kingdom to fall apart. Maybe they could’ve used the war that united the kingdom in the first place—it seems Fergus was the rallying force in the war, so his death itself could’ve been the catalyst for collapse. Then Merida could eventually have the chance to prove herself on the battlefield, as a leader and as a warrior, like her father did, and reunite the kingdom that way. Full circle, brah.

—Are we gonna see Emma in full Dark One makeup? I’d love that.

—It’s cool how her hair is full-on bleached pale now. I don’t think it’s quite as flattering as the honey blonde she had before, but it’s cool.

—I love that Regina’s dress for the Camelot ball matched Snow’s. I like it that they’re being friends now. I also adore that Charming and Snow taught Regina how to dance.

—Actually, the Camelot ball outfits were strong overall. Emma’s white lace dress with the wide sleeves and flower crown was gorgeous. Snow’s dress had perfectly-done decorations, and the material looked gorgeous, and her little gold circlet really suited her hair. And Regina got to wear pink! And Hook…well, Hook was just a fancy pirate. But who’s complaining? Pirate looks great on him.

—Emma giving Regina the knife was cool. Although, I don’t think Regina wants to stab Emma even if she does get out of line.

—The tornado portal was fun. They’re all lucky Granny’s dropped back into its original spot, though.

—The dwarves riding around in their van with Sneezy strapped to the roof was hilarious. Lucky that he’s back to being human, even if Dopey’s still a tree.

—It’s also good to have some of the dwarves being more involved in stuff. Grumpy is really the only one I love having around (especially when he calls Snow ‘sister’) but I really do love having him there.

—It’s nice that Henry got to meet Violet both in Camelot and in Storybrooke. She’s gotta be somebody, maybe the daughter of a knight or something.

—Guinevere is lovely. Her pink dress is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen, and her hair is really good in that style.

—Not quite sure how I feel about Arthur yet. He seemed pretty amiable at first, but now that things are going sideways for him, he might get kinda bitter.

—The Fury was cool. Great design, amazing final showdown, interesting principle. And then you’ve got Charon pulling a *Homer in the bush* when the Fury is defeated.

—Grrrrr, that rose is *stressing me out*. It’s totally going to be destroyed at some point, and I’ll have to watch Rumple die again.

—And good grief, like that wasn’t bad enough, Emma doesn’t love Hook anymore? WHY??!!!!! *curses the universe for letting me watch this*

[ttuesday]

Hello there you wonderful soul! I bring you a prompt that just popped into my head this fine morning:

How would the VDL gang react to a reader with tattoos?

I also bring you this pet seal 🦭

yay I luv seal!

Arthur

Arthur’s a little taken aback when he first sees your tattoos. He doesn’t mean to be surprised, he just never imagined tattoos on you before.

He’s intrigued by the different designs and the art style of each one so Arthur asks you a lot of questions about why you got them, how you chose each one and why that specific style.

When he’s looking at them, he subconsciously traces his finger over them, studying each line. When Arthur realises what he’s doing, he goes a light shade of red and apologises.

Charles

Charles is a big fan of your tattoos. They grab his attention almost immediately and he can’t help but admire them.

Charles always thought about getting a tattoo of his own so he’s glad you’re around to give him some advice. He’s hesitant to ask you for advice about it first, unsure if it’s something you’d be interested talking about but soon he relaxes into the conversation.

He doesn’t really understand why people get tattoos that have no meaning behind them so if that’s the case for any of your tattoos he’s a little confused by it but each to their own and all that

Dutch

Ok, Dutch really wasn’t expecting to see you with tattoos. He raises his eyebrows when he notices them and tells you that they look nicer than Pearson’s anchor tattoo.

Dutch wasn’t too sure if he liked your tattoos at first but the more he sees them, the more they really start to grow on him. Honestly Dutch is kinda jealous he’s never gotten some tattoos he can show off.

Slowly, Dutch will start talking about tattoos more and more and don’t be surprised if he asks if you’ve ever thought about getting a tattoo dedicated to the gang. 

Micah

Micah scoffs and rolls his eyes when he sees your tattoos. Micah’s convinced the only reason you have tattoos is to try and look tough and like a ‘proper outlaw’. It’s Micah so of course he’s initially gonna be an asshole about them.

Micah keeps mentioning your tattoos, making little comments and he might even give you a nickname based on your tattoos. 

When you and Micah become friends, he asks you more genuine questions about them and he even asks what kinda tattoo you think would suit him. Yeah he’s always liked your tattoos but he never thought he’d actually admit that.

John

John doesn’t ask you about your tattoos for a long time. He doesn’t want to be that person that makes a big deal out of them. John minds his own business and keeps his mouth shut.

The more John doesn’t directly talk to you about your tattoos, the more John really wants to ask you about them. Whenever he walks past you in camp, he always takes little glances at them until eventually he decides to say something.

As casually as possible, John says “They’re nice” and keeps walking. It takes you a few seconds to realise he was talking about your tattoos but when you do, you smile. John can be an awkward feller so unless you talk to him about it, that’s all he says.

Javier

The second Javier sees your tattoos, he needs to ask you about them. He loves to look at how each one was done and how the ink compliments your skin.

I hope you don’t mind answering questions about your tattoos because Javier asks you every goddamn question he can think of. He likes rubbing his thumb over them too, completely entranced by them.

If you ever get a tattoo, please leave Javier come with you just to see the whole process. He’s unsure if he’d be brave enough to get one but he certainly agrees to being there with you if you decide to add another one to your collection.

Sadie

Sadie never really thought about getting a tattoo or tattoos in general but when she sees yours, it’s like you’ve opened a whole new door to her.

She loves how badass they look and they look very impressive too. Oh yeah, Sadie could get used to the idea of seeing a tattoo on her own body.

A week or two after seeing your tattoos, Sadie sits down with you and shows you a few designs she’s been working on. She definitely wants a tattoo now.

Sean

Sean doesn’t want a tattoo. Sean needs a tattoo. He thinks it’s funny to have a tattoo that has no meaning so he will literally get a tattoo of anything.

Honestly he might even suggest you both get matching tattoos or else he could get a tattoo similar to one you already have.

Sean really loves the idea of getting a tattoo but the second someone comes near him with a needle, he starts to get nervous. If he chugs a few beers then he’ll be fine again and will probably want to get another 5 tattoos.

Pearson

FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WITH A TATTOO.

As official tattoo buddies, Pearson tells you all the stories behind his anchor tattoo. So basically he just rambles on about the navy to you for hours.

But he’s very happy and gives you first dibs on the stew cause y’all are tattoo buddies now.

[fill-me-with-your-memes-daddy]

Watching the Rise of the Titans movie and I'll be documenting all of my thoughts/reactions here. [Spoiler Warning]

So instead of reblogging every new update, I'm just going to have this post up on my phone as I watch and type my reactions in a bullet list format.

Nari's human disguise is so cute. As someone who does have a cottagecore aesthetic, I want to cosplay her so bad

Are Skrael and/or Belroc non-binary coded? Regardless, I'm also obsessed and I want to fuck Skrael and be Belroc.

STEVE CARING ABOUT JIM BEING HURT YESSSS!!! My god his redemption has probably been one of the greatest there is because he doesn't just suddenly go from being a bully to a completely good person. You can see the gradual shift in learning better throughout the shows which is awesome.

IN NEW YOOOOOOORRRRRRRK!!!!!! CONCRETE JUNGLE WHERE DREAMS ARE MADE OFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!

The mugshot montage reminded me of season 1 of trollhunters when toby and Jim were arrested at the museum.

STRICKLER PUT A RING ON IT??? HE'S THE ONLY DILF IVE EVER ACTUALLY AGREED WAS HOT WYM I CAN'T HAVE HIM??? well I'm still really happy about his arc over the series probably one of my favorite character growths.

Eli my guy got his growth spurt!!! As an 18 year old who is still 5'0", I'm happy but envious for him

So I went into this movie without watching any trailers or promo, but I doubt anything could have prepared me for the existence of mpreg. In fact, I wasn't going to document my reactions until I saw that.

NAMURA!!!!!!!!! MY BELOVED!!!!!! I CAN STILL THIRST FOR YOU WITHOUT GUILT

The coach teacher just called the kids zoomers so I have to dock one point from my final rating just because of that. Unforgivable

Those husky animation models suck lmao

Oh fuck the titans got power ranger zords!!

God why did they include the mpreg??? This movie would have been perfect without it.... After that plot point being revisited only one time I'm already beyond done with it

Like it's bringing me back to the v*ltron days where they're was a suspiciously high amount of klance omegaverse and mpreg fics and art created and it physically hurts because Steve and Keith's voice actor is the same person meaning this is especially cursed to me since I was unfortunately in the v*ltron fandom and remember all of that

But like on another note, how old are these characters again??? I haven't checked any wikis because of spoilers but is Steve an adult??? I know aja might be technically a lot older than 18 because alien but is whatever age she is equivalent to an adult as far as emotionally and physically in Akaridion development??? IS THIS A TEEN (M)PREGNANCY IN A KIDS SHOW????

Like bruh I saw a singular post on here before going into the movie that was like "rott spoilers without context" and there was a pregnant belly but I was absolutely not expecting the actual context of it. I'll find the post after I finish and edit this post to tag the creator right here: @makoden

This entire post is just gonna be me ranting about mpreg huh

Anyway I love the whole roundtable allusion to the legends of king arthur (not the toa version but the one he's based off)

THERE'S 3 TO 5 BABIES????? I need to take a break bruh this is just too much

Alright I've taken a 30 minute break got some food and did some things i love (decompressed by tactile stimming with some owl plushies and watched some videos on my favorite owl, Garu. He lives in Japan with his owner and is a domesticated eagle owl who basically just acts like a sky cat. If anyone else needs some eye bleach, here is their YouTube channel)

Blinky and ARRRGHHH!!! saying their "if one of us doesn't make it" talk my god one of them is going to die I can see it and I will be utterly crushed. Jim can't lose another father figure and Toby can't lose his wingman again I will riot if this happens

On a similar but unrelated to the movie note, can we just talk about how toa started with Jim having 0 dads and (if strickler and blinky live to the end) will end with 2 dads? Like I just really feel happy for him that he has two dads who actually figured out how to put the past behind them to not have any infighting between them so that both of them are healthy father figures. Jim has already been through literal hell and back losing his actual humanity in the process so if he loses one of them, I'm going to be really pissed because at this point, this is just Jim torture porn. Y'all know how as SpongeBob SquarePants went on, the show just became Squidward torture porn? It's starting to feel that way for toa and I really hope they cut the shit by the ending

Jlaire is such a good ship but like I feel like it's too perfect they never disagree with each other

YESSSSSSS Someone finally doesn't treat toby like a fat waste of space who messes stuff up!!! I think out of all the characters that would have been most deserving of a rewrite, it's Toby. Sometimes I just feel he's only comic relief and any heartfelt moments he's had in the series was also born of stupidity (ie his flour baby project being unharmed was seen by him as divine intervention from his parents but was actually just Eli and Steve behind the scenes).

Ohhhhh yesssssss Archie's father!!! I was hoping I'd see him again because we got so little of him last

Ooooooooooh Asian trollmarket!!!!!

Oh never mind slavery trollmarket

Bruh titanic camelot

I feel like we're not seeing enough of the villains because I completely forgot about the power ranger zord things

NAMORA NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY LAST CRUSHHHH

STRICKLER NO NOT YOU TOO PLEASE

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE ONLY TWO CHARACTERS I SIMP FOR ON THIS SHOW DIED WITHIN FIVE MINUTES OF EACH OTHER

THAT WHOLE ASS RANT I WROTE IS COMING TRUE FUCK THIS MOVIE THIS SERIES IS JUST JIM TORTURE PORN

WAIT JIM'S SPERM DONOR INFO?

Oh thank God I don't want to know anything about that person

For the record, I call that man Jim's sperm donor because he has no business being called a father to him. All he did was donate some swimmers to the creation of him and give him abandonment issues

Oh another blind troll elder???? This fucker is just if vendel was a bad guy

Bruh I was grieving

PACIFIC RIM WITH GUN ROBOT VEX AND THE BELROCZORD? I've never seen that movie but I know the reference

Bruh Blinky doesn't read horoscopes? Does he realize conspiracy theories are just the manly version of horoscopes?

NO DON'T KILL VEX STOP KO-ING FOUND FAMILY MEMBERS

Oh thank God he's okay

NO NOT ARCHIE AND CHARLEMAGNE OH MY GOD

oh never mind they're just gonna coup de tat I believe in them :))

But I want to see him again

But I'm glad to see vex

Yay they're in arcadia!

But yeah I wondered why the trolls and Merlin didn't keep the whole "daylight doesn't hurt trolls" feature from the eternal night but now Guillermo del Toro I see you were playing the long con in that just to kill my girl Namora :(((

Oooooh I love the animation of the Narizord over Chihuahua!! It looks very good and realistic (if only they could have put some of that into those huskies from before smh)

Bruh the character designs of the arcane order are so good I want to be them

Nari making sure the Skraelzord doesn't crush the bus

DAMN DOUBLE HOMICIDE

Bruh I'm just glad we finally have an answer on why arcadia had everything going on as opposed to literally anywhere else!! I always found that as a weird coincidence for plot convince.

BRUH WERE BACK TO THE MPREG IM SO JEALOUS I FORGOT ABOUT THAT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS BECAUSE I WAS GRIEVING THE LOSS OF MY LOVELIES.

Oh that's real convenient that the ninth configuration meant all of them. Way to not decide which character gets more attention. Though it probably was a smart way to not have any infighting in the fandom between each character's stan group.

Bruh I just realized where is Barbera did they just ditch her on the Camelot ship???

And where are the other trolls that migrated at the end of trollhunters s3? They said something about new jersey but obviously Jim and the other main characters got on Camelot instead.... This feels like a plot hole

And we never learned the process of how changelings are made and bonded to humans and stuff. We just know it's super painful but I'm curious ffs!!!!

THE DONT THINK BECOME HERO SPEECH ALL SAID TOGETHER!!!

BRUH THEY REALLY HAD TO SHOW HIM GIVING BIRTH??????? WAS THAT AN ABSOLUTE MUST??????

Plus the main audience for this series is little children (the rating for the movie is literally TV-Y7) so even though my adult ass is not in the target audience, I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND WHY WOULD MPREG AND ANAL BIRTH WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT THING TO 7 YEAR OLDS???? THIS IS A LITERAL FETISH HIDDEN IN KIDS CONTENT ITS ELSAGATE ALL OVER AGAIN Y'ALL 😭😭😭😭😭

Though it's probably hypocritical of me to think fetishes don't belong in kids tv when I've openly admitted to thirsting for strickler and namora

HUZZAH

NEW AMULET WAZ GOOD????

STAB THAT BITCH JIM

WAIT NO I SAID STAB NOT GET STABBED

Alright good job just missed the directions at first but you fixed it

SEVEN KIDS?????????

T O B Y ????????????

W A I T NO

N O

IS HE ACTUALLY

OH MY GOD THERE'S HOPE

NO THERE ISN'T

F U C K THIS SHIT THEY REALLY JUST HAD HIM TO BE BULLIED THEN KILLED

Y'ALL IM ACTUALLY CRYING THIS NEVER HAPPENS

I NEVER ACTUALLY GET SO EMOTIONAL OVER MEDIA THAT I CRY IT ONLY HAPPENED ONCE AT THE END OF VOLTRON BUT AHHHHHHHH

W A I T

HE'S GONNA BE BROUGHT BACK?????

HOLD UP THEY'RE JUST GONNA BRING ALL THOSE DEAD PEOPLE BACK??????

WAIT IS HE

BLINKY CALLED HIM A SON

HOLD ON IS THIS GOING TO BE A CLIFFHANGER???????????

BRUH THEY REALLY JUST CAN'T END THE SERIES WITHOUT CLIFFHANGERS like there's always an open ending

TROLLHUNTER TOBY????? You know what forget the whole rants I had on how toby was written they just redeemed it all

And that's all! I'd rate it a 6.5/10 because it's definitely the weakest of all the sequels but still had amazing animation and some good plot points. It's just really hard to look over the bad stuff enough to rate it any higher.

[elysiashelby]

In Another World - T. Shelby Imagine Ch. 11

Paring: (Eventual) Thomas Shelby x Aliena Welsh (OC) 

Fandom: Peaky Blinders 

Word Count: 8,081 

WARNINGS: Angst, Alcohol Consumption, Cursing, Brief Mention of Intimate Situations (smut HINTED, like joke about), Sexual Harassment

Summary: It’s a few weeks after the season 1 finale, Aliena finds herself lost within the family dynamic and her place in the their world. She’s no longer a nanny to John’s kids, Finn is rebelling against school work, and she finds herself done with her cleaning- fairly quickly. How will she deal with this restlessness? How will she cope in a world that’s not her own?

MASTERLIST  CHAPTER 10  CHAPTER 12

A/N: This chapter doesn’t have a lot of Tommy in it. This is the beginning of Aliena’s detachment from the Shelby Family. Thomas will be mentioned frequently, but he most likely have the bare minimum of involvement. 

It’s been abar two weeks since Tom killed Billy Kimber. Everything is...different. I can’t put it into words. Me place within the family is undefined. Since John’s married, I’m no longer needed to take care of the kids. Now, I knew this but he and Esme made it official. 

I wasn’t to be ‘round unless they called. 

I understood. I mean Esme is a new wife and they are in their honeymoon stage. Going at it like rabbits. I felt bad for the kids. I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I only see them when they come ‘round the house.

Luckily, they are warming up to Esme. There wasn’t any bad blood in the first place, but— you just never know when a new wife comes into the picture. 

I was still teaching Finn, but since I didn’t have any other students, I was really grilling into him. He’s beginning to hate school even more. It’s just that I practically have nothing to do!

I don’t have to clean two places anymore. I just clean the main house and I kept on top of me tasks all the time, so that means I practically don’t have anything to do! That’s where Finn comes in. I assigned him more homework and reading, but he doesn’t want anything to do with it.

Especially after doing Kimber over, the boy idolizes Tom too much. 

So, here I am at me special place just relaxing. Letting the wind go through me hair was always welcomed. I was just swinging and adamantly trying not to think. I took in me surroundings. But, that soon came to an end when I started to get nauseous.

I put me feet down and stopped. I didn’t get up, though. I just sat there, silently. I reach down and started running me hands through the tips of the grass. I sang to meself “I just want to be the one you love.” I sang ‘til even that gave me a headache. 

I sighed and stopped singing. I sat up straight and hopped off the swing. I took two steps back and just appreciated the nice breeze. I tucked a piece of hair that was in me face and started walking back home. 

It didn’t feel nice walking by meself for so long. I mean it was nice at first, but then I started getting paranoid. Worried that I would just get pinched off the side of the road. Only when me feet hit the familiar cobblestone, did I feel safe. 

Safe under the Peaky Blinders’ protection. What if I’m no longer needed? Do they just give me money and send me on me way? Do I just go and mooch off of Cassie? I mean, technically, didn’t they have that right?

I stopped walking and took the time to massage me temples.

“Are you all right, love?” asked a concerned woman.

I picked up me head and put on a smile. It was fake, of course, but polite. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” 

We exchanged smiles and nods and I went on me way. The second I wasn’t facing her, me smile fell. I was starting to feel lethargic again. That was also a bad sign. 

By the time I reached the front door, I was feeling a lot of things at once. I was annoyed, tired, hungry, and lost. I sighed again while opening the door. It was probably abar six in the evening. I took the pins out of me hat and hung it up. Then, I had to put those same pins in me mouth as I took off me coat. I hung that up as well. 

I took those pins from me mouth and placed them in a pocket in me skirt. I dusted off me hands and walked into the kitchen. I was gonna start making dinner. Decided shepherd's pie would do everyone some good. 

As I was cooking Arthur came in. How did I know it was him, you ask? He brings along the stench of sweat and booze, of course. 

“Whatcha cookin’ there, Ali?” Arthur asked before he took a seat down at the table. He took off his cap and smooth down his hair.

I smiled. “I’m cooking some shepherd’s pie.”

“Ah, thank fuck! When’s it gonna be ready?” 

I shrugged. “Not long now. Are you gonna stay or do I need to hound you down like the rest of your family?”

He sniffed. “Nah, I’ll be in me office.” The chair scraped against the floor as he got up, and then he left the room.

I turned back ‘round and grumbled to meself, “So, I’m chasing ya down like the rest of them.” I took a step back and leaned on the table. I rubbed me forehead and exhaled audibly. Eventually, I sat down ‘til the scran was ready. 

I got three plates, put two forks in me pocket, and cut out three slices for the family members I knew where in the shop. I took only two, though. Using me bum, I opened the doors to the shop and heard the bustling of men.

Not men looking to lay bets, but employees shifting to count up bets and such. I walked past them all. Esme was sitting at a desk as was Polly. I walked up to Polly.

“Dinner, Pol.” I said, rather monotone. 

She looked up at me ‘n smiled. “Thank you, love. Leave it there.”

I nodded and set it down at the edge of her desk. As I took a fork out of me pocket, I asked. “Happen to know where Tommy is?” I set it on the plate.

She picked up her head again, but was gazing somewhere else in thought. Her finger pressed against her lip. “I think he’s doing some business. Talking up plans with the architect that’s designing the company headquarters. Better leave him a slice for him to get on his own. Don’t go chasing him at this time of night.”

I nodded and walked over to Arthur’s office while placing a fork on his plate. I knocked and he told me to come in.

“Here ya are!” I said as I placed his food beside him.

 He made some breathy noise of excitement before saying, “About damn time. I was about to chew me arm and leg off. Thanks, Ali.”

A quick smile flashed on me face and I said, “Your welcome” before leaving. It turns out I had another slice to cut. So, I served John and Esme some dinner. Finn was out and abar. Polly said to just let him be. That he was being a child, so I just ate by meself at the kitchen table. 

While I was eating, the phone was ringing off the hook. I rushed to it and answered. 

“Hello, this is 6 Watery Lane?”

“A call from suite 226 at the Ritz Hotel. A Ms. Cassiopeia Johnson for Ms. Aliena Welsh. Do you accept?”

“Yes, I accept.”

“Connecting you now.”

I sighed and twirled me finger ‘round to wire.

“Ali! Are you free tonight?” Cassie shouted through the phone.

I clutched me forehead. “Yeah and every other night. Why?”

“Feel like going to a party?”

Me eyes widened and anxiety shot through me body. I looked ‘round as if I was going to get in trouble for ‘aving this conversation.

“I- uh. I’m not sure, Cass.”

She groaned exaggeratedly. “Come on, Aliena. You said it yourself, you have nights off now. So, let’s go to a party.”

I scoffed. “What kind of party?”

“Don’t worry! It’s casual. The girls and I are going down to the London clubs, and we wanted you to come. So, don’t wear any of those extravagant dresses Angie bought you. Wear something you can sweat in.”

I rolled me eyes while wearing a smirk. “Cass, you and me have different definitions of clothes we can sweat in, but yeah— I get your meaning. Okay, let me just make sure, okay? Stay on the phone.”

“Okay, hurry up.”

I left the phone off the hook and sped walked back into the shop. I walked up to Polly.

“Hey, Polly. Is it alright if I go out?”

Her head snapped up and her face contorted in confusion. “Go out? With who?”

“Me friends. Cassie, Angie, Tina. I’ve told ya abar them before.”

Her eyes darted from side to side then she nodded. “All right. Before careful, love, all right. Don’t be out too late. You get into any trouble call Tommy or the house. Be safe.” She stood up, smooth me hair down, and kissed me cheek.

I couldn’t help the grin on me face as I thanked her and ran back to the phone. 

“She said yes! I’m gonna go get ready.”

Cassie squealed into the phone. “Yay! We are going to have so much fun!” 

I hung up the phone and raced into me room. I slammed the door behind me and threw open me closet. I took out any “party” dresses that I had hung up. 

I wanted to look absolutely breathtaking.

Between abar five different dresses, I decided on a navy blue dress. Your typical 1920’s design. 

I quickly threw off me previous clothes and even me undergarments. I went to me drawers and found black stockings and a garter belt to match. I had to go through a different drawer to get a black bra. When I finished putting those on, I scrambled to stand in front of me mirror. 

I had to back up a lot to see me whole body in it. I stared for a while. Looking for imperfections. I turned to me side and pinched me stomach. I had a little bump, but I didn’t find meself demeaning meself as usual. I felt...sexy.

I squealed at meself and bent over into meself. Me hair flying as I did so. After I had me little moment, I stood back up, me hair flipping back, and kept me hand over me mouth. I dropped it and went to put on the dress.

Once I had it on, I sat at me desk in front of me mirror and began to do me makeup. I went more for a blue smokey eye to match me dress.  I didn’t add any contour or blush, but I added highlight and a pink nude lip. I blew meself a kiss and got up. I walked back to me closet and bent down to open the drawer at the bottom. 

I picked out me black purse. I opened its doors and took out me four-inch black heels. I put them on and hiked the purse up me shoulder. Then, I was stuck waiting for Cassie’s honk.

As I waited, I kept brushing out me hair. I knew I would look like the odd women out with hair as long as mine, but I didn’t care. I liked how I looked. With me finger, I touched up me lipstick slightly when I heard that infamous honking.

A shit-eating grin spread across me face and I raced out the door. When I made it out the door, Cassie was standing there waiting for me.

We shrieked when we saw each other and ran into each other’s arms. We laughed as we swayed each other. 

“Oooh, I’m so glad you decided to come.” Cassie sighed and pushed me back a little while maintaining our hug. “Look at you! Oh, Angie, Tina! Look at our baby. All grown up.”

She used me shoulders to guide me in front of the car. Angie clapped before bringing her hands over her mouth. Tina was just all smiles. 

I was so hyped up that I couldn’t stop the ugly smile on me face. While fanning meself, I begged. “Guys, stop! Let’s just get this show on the road!”

I climbed into the car and Cassie followed suit.

Their hands were all over trying to inspect all of me outfit. I fought off their hands, eventually.

“Okay, okay, enough! Which club are we going to?”

Cassie looked at Angie as did Tina. Angie made eye contact with the both of them before she bugged out her eyes.

“What?” She shouted then sighed, defeatedly. “I mean, we can start with the one we frequent the most. It’s real nice there. Shiny.” Angie said that last part in a childish voice while looking at me.

I glared at her before grumbling, “Shut it.”

I may have disclosed me affliction for shiny things. 

The rest of the ride was filled with mindless chatter. Just catching up with what has happened in our lives. 

Tina shuffled over to me eventually and took me hand in hers. She was playing with me nails. 

“How are things with you and Thomas?” She asked me softly. Her eyes flicked up to mine before looking back at me nails.

I hummed while sighing deeply. “Well, we’re not the same. He’s just so much busier now. It’s a win in itself that we’re not at odds with each other, but I wish it was like before Grace. We were so close. Well, I was closer to him than he was with any of his family members.” I leaned closer to her ear and whispered. “We slept in the same bed for Christ’s sake.” 

She gasped while looking into me eyes, horrified.

I knew she wasn’t gonna take it well. I gave her a sheepish smile. “It was nothing indecent. I swear! Thomas has trouble sleeping because of the war. I put him to sleep while talking to him and sometimes he would talk to me too.” I looked off thinking abar all the moments we shared.

Tina said nothing for a while ‘til she asked. “So, are you two in a good place or not?”

I rolled me eyes. “If you’re looking for a direct answer then, yes. Yes, we’re in a good place.”

Her cheeks turned red and she gave me a sheepish smile. I softly scoffed. 

The car stopped and we all hopped off. I followed them as they walked into the club. The doormen greeted them and opened the door for us. 

Angie clapped her hands and turned toward me. “What are you drinking?” She asked me.

I shrugged me shoulders. “I’ll drink whatever youse drink.” 

She rolled her eyes before she turned back ‘round and toward the bar. I mocked her expression as she walked away. Cassie linked me arms with hers and began to lead me to a table.

We sat down and I set down me purse. Cassie did the same, but dug through her purse for a ciggie. She propositioned me for one and I took one.

“Wow! Look at you!” Cassie said with her jaw dropped, a smile fighting for its place. “Just going all out tonight, are you?” She then cackled to herself.

I giggled at her as I held the stick between me teeth. I fished through me purse and found me lighter. I’m not familiar with the types of lighters, but if I had to describe this one— it would be a lift arm. I think it was anyway. There was a time where I did research types of lighters for a story, but I wasn’t expecting to remember on the fly.

Oh, how I miss the internet!

I flicked the wheel and inhaled. I pushed the arm back down, snuffing out the flame then tossed it on the table. I took the ciggie from me lips and let out the smoke.

“So,” I began to ask. “What do you guys usually do?” I looked ‘round saw people dancing, talking. The room was super loud. I was, in a way, used to it, but it hurt me ears at the same time.

The dances were so old, to me. They danced like animals, but I saw a couple of tangos. Some were doing the Charleston. 

I would never experience modern clubs. Grinding against strangers and jumping like nobody was watching. Loud music pumping through speakers. Hell, club music! Electronic music, or for Christ’s sake— music with words! I would never get to listen to the music that got me blood pumping and made me feel like the most attractive woman in the room. 

Cassie chuckled before she puffed out a cloud of smoke. “Well, first, we have a drink or two. To take off the edge, then we dance.”

I looked over at Tina who nodded and smiled. I scoffed playfully before blowing raspberries. Angie came over, a bottle and drinks in hand, and a ciggie hanging off her lips. Tina shot up from her seat and rushed to help her. 

Cassie and I sneak a glance at each other. Though, in all honesty, the interaction was innocent. They distributed the drinks and I instantly went to drink when me hand was smack.

Angie had her eyebrows furrowed at me in a glare. I looked back at her confused.

“Let’s make a toast.” She announced over the blaring jazz music. “A toast for Aliena’s first outing!”

Everyone made mischievous smiles at me, I returned it with a mocking one as I tilted me head from side to side. 

Cassie giggled. “May she drunkenly hook up with a stranger and forget all about Mr. Thomas Shelby.”

While I didn’t want Cassie’s toast to come true, exactly, I still clinked glasses with the lot of them. We, collectively, tipped our heads back and downed our glasses. 

I groaned at the taste as did Tina. Angie and Cassie both whooped in excitement.

“More! More!” Cassie chanted as she grabbed the bottle and starting pouring us another round. 

I took another puff of me ciggie. I could see I didn’t have many left. Left it burning for too long. I shrugged me shoulders as I took another inhale. I could always bum one off of them. 

Two more glasses later, I was dragged to the dance floor by Cassie. I tried begging her to let me go, but she wouldn’t. I tried telling her that all I knew how to do was sway, but she said that she would teach me.

And, boy, did she try! 

I swear I was getting it all wrong, but she was swearing that I was doing great.

Our hands were entwined and I shouted. “I’m not doing it right, Cassie!”

She shook her head as she brought me in so close that our lips were practically touching. “You’re dancing better than me. Stop thinking about it, Ali. Let yourself go.”

I wanted to. I really wanted to, but how could I lose meself to jazz music! How was I supposed to lose meself to jazz music?

I cringed. I literally cringed. I took a deep breath and cradled me forehead. “Cass,” I shouted. “Let’s get a drink, yeah?”

She pouted and her face contorted in frustration, but she followed me back to the table nonetheless. At said table, was Angie and Tina along with two new gentlemen friends. Angie looked like she was having a good time while Tina— not so much.

Angie noticed us first. “You guys are back already?” She asked.

Cassie nodded. “Yeah. Aliena wanted another drink.” Her tone, somewhat snappy.

I resisted the urge to roll me eyes as I grabbed the bottle and poured meself a glass.

I heard one of the men clear their throat. Angie sighed before announcing their presence. I gave them each a polite smile and nodded. I didn’t acknowledge them. They weren’t me type anyhow. 

I tipped back abar two more drinks before I tapped Cassie’s shoulder and nodded back to the dance floor. Her face lit up in glee as she took me head and we ran to the dance floor. 

I felt the booze lower me inhibitions. I listened to her words and let meself go. I was in a mix between the music in me head and the music that thundered in the club. I was in a mix between the dances Cassie taught me and the dances I knew from back home.

I ran me fingers through me hair and kept them as I swayed me waist. I let me hands roam me body as I did a body roll. I swayed me hips from side to side. I let me eyes flutter close and I embraced the music in me head.

I only stopped when I felt someone’s hand creep on me shoulder. I twirled ‘round to face the man who dared lay a hand on me. 

He smirked and shouted. “Mind, if I joined you?”

I looked at him up and down then scoffed. “Fuck off!”

His eyes widened and he left. I watched him leave. I walked closer to Cassie and pulled her to me. She giggled and then I turned ‘round. I grabbed her hands and made them roam me body as I grinded into her. 

Eventually, she got into the groove of it. 

“Men are looking at us.” She whispered in me ear.

I smirked and reopened me eyes. I titled me head back and whispered into her ear. “Let them.”

We danced for a little while more. I could see and feel all of these eyes on us. I felt so ethereal yet scared at the same time. All it took was one macho man. One macho man to try and demand that either us are entitled to give him a dance. 

So, with thought like that plaguing me mind— I stopped dancing and pulled Cassie back to the table. 

I hadn’t even noticed that women were glaring at us as well ‘til we were walking back to our table. 

We sat down while panting. I felt so hot. Angie chuckled at the sight of us.

“Where’s tweedle dee and dum?” I asked as I pinched a ciggie from one of their cases.

Angie scoffed. “Hopefully somewhere else. Fucking pricks!”

I inhaled as I lit it up. I knocked down the arm as I asked. “The fuck happened?”

Angie’s eyes darted to Tina’s, who was looking down at the table.

Tina sat up straighter and I could see her gulp. Her eyes kept shifting to me from the table. “The bastard put his hand up me dress.”

I felt rage surge me. I held me ciggie between two fingers as I shot up. Me hands slammed on the table. “Where’s the fucking bastard? I fuckin’ kill ‘em.”

Angie scoffed. “Calm down, Aliena. Already embarrassed them as much as I could.”

I looked over at Angie and gave her a satisfied smile. If it was Angie, then yeah— she made them wish they’d never been born.

Cassie stroked Tina’s arm before saying, “How about you and Angie go and have your turn on the dance floor. Ali and I will hold down the fort.”

Angie looked at Tina who just nodded. They got up from their chairs and walked onto the dance floor. I exhaled smoke through me nose and looked over at Cassie.

She smiled at me. “What was that? On the floor.” 

I smirked. “I let myself go.”

She giggled while tipping her head back. “Now, if Mr. Thomas Shelby knew you could dance like that. I bet he would be the one on his knees for ya. Not the other way around.”

I chortled at that. The bad thing that once she said it, I could imagine it. I could see Thomas Shelby on all fours for me as I sat in his chair at his future office with me legs wide open. But the thing is, I didn’t want to be the one in control. It’s just a personal preference.

Cassie slid a glass to me and I happily took a drink. I tsked after. 

Cassie was staring at me with this questionable look in eyes.

“What?” I asked with a giggle.

She squinted before sighing. “Why won’t you make the first move? You’re about to turn 18 and that woman isn’t in the picture anymore. Why not just,” She began to flail her hands ‘round herself. “Make the first move!”

I glanced away as I thought abar how to answer her. I sat up straighter and rested me back against the chair. “I won’t ever make the first move because I’m afraid of rejection. I’ve been rejected by all the males in my life that I have asked out. In my mind, I can’t convince myself that he will be different. Why? Because I’m shielding myself from feeling that embarrassment and sadness that would come from a rejection. 

Plus, like you said. Grace isn’t in the picture anymore, but that was like two weeks ago, Cassie! If he accepted me right now, I wouldn’t be able to perceive that other than him using me to be his rebound.”

I took the ciggie from me lips and titled me head back as I exhaled. Then, I picked up me glass and downed it. 

Cassie tapped the table with her fingernail before sighing and looking away. I started bobbing me head to enjoy meself. Cassie’s face contorted into something devilish. I squinted me eyes in suspicion.

“What’re you looking at?” I turned ‘round and saw two men sitting at the bar. Me eyes widened and I just zipped back ‘round. I shook me head. “You better not even-!”

It was too late as I saw the shit-eating grin on her face as she looked at me. I blew raspberries while rolling me eyes. 

His name was Christian and he was an accountant. He was attractive, for sure. But, we weren’t hitting it off like that. I pretended to be engaged, but anything he was saying was going in one ear and out the other. 

I nursed me bevvy as I dragged me fingertip along the rim of the glass. When I picked up me head ‘n saw Angie and Tina walking back with more than a pep in their step, I swear I thanked God.

“Hey!” I shouted while effectively cutting off the dude. “How was it? Your feets aching yet?”

Angie scoffed before her tipped toward Christian. She stared at him even harder while arching her neck forward. “Can you get up? You see women coming back from the dance floor and you don’t give your seat up! What kind of man are you?”

I looked away as I slapped me hand over me mouth. The guy stuttered and scrambled out of the chair. Angie just held up her hand and began collecting her stuff.

“I, for one, am tired of this place. Let’s go, girls.” Angie announced. 

‘Say less.’ I thought.

I already had me stuff in me purse, so I got up and shuffled toward Tina. I stroked her arm and asked. “Are you alright, hun?”

She nodded while hiking up her purse on her shoulder. “Just want to get out of here. Too many eyes.” 

I looked ‘round and sure enough, she was right. Some men had the balls to keep on looking. I rolled me eyes as it contorted in disgust. 

“Yeah, we’ll leave soon.”

Cassie flirted with that guy ‘til we left. She groaned exaggeratedly as she raked her fingers through her hair. “What the fuck, guys? I was still talking to him.”

I scoffed. “Don’t worry, Cass. I’m sure you’ll find someone else to satisfy you at the next bar.”

Angie nodded. “Yep. Looks like scum raided that bar tonight.”

By the end of the night, I was a fucking mess. I was stumbling ‘round and me speech was slurred. I was conscious of everything. I felt like it anyway, but something was telling me that I would forget bits and pieces in the morning. 

Oh! Cassie did indeed get her scratch itched. She had sex in the restroom. We cheered and laughed at her for it. Turns out that Tina and I were more alike than I originally thought. Though, I believe the reason for that was because neither of us were on the prowl. Angie and Cass, on the other hand, were.

So, right now, Cass was giving me a ride back home. 

I stuck me head out of the car and let the wind whip through me hair. I howled while extending me arm out. I could hear giggles in the car. When I felt content, I went back into the car. I draped over Angie and rested me head on her shoulder. I was sitting on me knees, so it worked. 

I smiled, drunkenly. Angie stroked me face and whispered. “You are so beautiful. Like so beautiful. It kills me that you’re stuck in that dump of a home. If you were born into me own world, you’d be sought out by all the lords and their sons.”

I psh-ed her words while hiding me face in her arm. “Why, thank you! I think you’re quite stunning yourself.”

“Marry rich, Aliena. So, we can see each other all the time.”

We stared into each other’s eyes for a while. ‘Til I broke it by smiling and cackling. She joined in on me laughter. 

The car had to stop eventually and when it did— they wouldn’t let me go! 

I let all me weight go as I tried to get out of their grasps. “Let me go, you wenches!”

Cassie aw-ed. “Stay with us, Ali. Just come back into the car and sleep over!”

Tina, who was very fucking bladdered, chimed in. “Yeah, stay with us, Ali!”

I giggled while tipping me head back. “No!” I shouted. “I have work tomorrow!” 

Their grip on me, eventually, loosened and I fell back on me arse. I laughed and moaned from the pain as me hand sluggishly went to soothe the pain. They laughed while crashing into each other.

“Fuck off ‘n go home!” I shouted while waving them off.

With ungraceful movements, Angie closed the car door as the other two fell back into the car. I stumbled to get back on me feet and opened the door. 

I sighed and looked ‘round. It was fucking dark and nobody was there. I didn’t take a coat, so I just hung up me purse. I tried to bend over and take off me heels, but I ended up leaning forward ‘n had to catch meself.

I giggled at me actions. Then, I heaved a big sigh and raised a fist to me forehead as I winced in discomfort. I crashed into the wall on me left and debated whether or not I wanted to go into the kitchen for water ‘n bread.

I burped loudly which caused me hand to fly over me mouth and then I chuckled. But, then that feeling contorted into something bad. I ran over to the sink and held me hair back as I vomited into the sink. 

I coughed and gathered all the spit in me mouth and spat it out a couple of times. I groaned as I slumped to the side. 

I’m so fucking tired!

I coughed a few more times as I turned on the faucet. I let the water wash away me vomit and I scooped some water to wash away the taste in me mouth. When I was done, I stumbled back into the living room and threw meself on the couch. 

I got comfortable and fell asleep.

“For fuck’s sake, Aliena.” I heard someone say. I groaned and refrained from opening me eyes. I didn’t want to fucking wake up right now!

Then, I felt someone pick at the hem of me dress and suddenly, me lower half was warmer. Not a second later, arms were under me knees and neck. I furrowed me eyebrows and whined in annoyance. 

They started shushing me ‘n telling me to go back to sleep. However, against their wishes— me eyes fluttered open. It was Tommy. I couldn’t stop the smile on me face from happening and as I attempted to snuggle into his chest.

“Warm.” I muttered.

He shushed me again and repeated himself.

I could feel the both of us jolt as he walked upstairs. I tried falling back to sleep, but felt like that wasn’t becoming a possibility.

Slowly, with me hand, I hovered it over his cheekbone. He looked down at me. I stared into his eyes and whispered. “So pretty.” His facial expression didn’t change. 

He just repeated himself yet again before he began to walk again. I let me hand drop and I closed me eyes. I tried focusing on the sound of his breath and the way his chest rose and fell.

I let him lay me in bed and tuck me in. As he turned ‘round to leave, I shot me hand out and grasped his wrist. “Stay with me?” I asked. 

Tommy looked down at me hand and slowly, he backtracked and sat down next to me. A grin broke out on me face. I tried getting comfortable all while trying to cuddle with him, but it was too awkward since all I would be doing is putting me face near his arse. 

Tommy cleared his throat then said something. Me eyes fluttered open and I hummed questioningly.

“Move over.” He repeated. And so, I did. 

Tommy laid down next to me and I, immediately, cuddled into his side. I didn’t even give him time to properly lay his arm ‘round me shoulders. I just sought out to comfort of his scent and warmth.

I felt his torso shake with laughter, but no sound came out.

“Now, go back to sleep, Ali.”

I was able to follow through on that order that time.

 When I woke up, me head was pounding, there was this god awful taste in me mouth, and I had light sensitivity. I groaned and held me head as I slowly got up. I held me head up as me elbows rested on me knees. 

Then, I looked to me side. There was a note on me nightstand. I grabbed it and read it.

‘Take it easy today. - Thomas’

I rolled me eyes, but I was actually brimming with happiness on the inside.

‘So, that wasn’t a dream.’ I thought.

I got to me feet and worked on getting dressed for the day. I settled for a fuzzy, grey long-sleeved shirt, a blue pleated skirt, and stockings. These ones went all the way up to me waist. When I was done, I trudged over to me desk and worked on getting last night’s makeup off.

I’m such a better beaut! I had to use so many cotton balls and wipes. I sighed as I covered me face with me hands. I spread me hands and looked at meself in the mirror. I stretched down me face before letting it go. I let me left arm fall and I laid me head down on it.

I desperately did not want to go downstairs. But, I have a fucking job to do! I whimpered before getting up and slipping on boots. After that, I made me way downstairs. 

As I turned into the kitchen, I should have known Polly would have been there. Sipping away at her mornin’ cuppa tea. She looked at me through hooded eyes. I looked away before looking back at her.

She set her cup down and leaned forward in her seat. “Well, aren’t you going to tell me how your night was?”

The only thought that went through me mind was, ‘Thank fuck!’

For several nights in a row, me nights have been nothing but partying. I’ve been getting up with a hangover from the night before, finishing me duties, making dinner, eating dinner, getting ready to go out, and then Cassie would pick me up.

When I left, I would drink so much that anything would fly out of me mouth as slurs and I was stumbling into people. Then, I would be dropped off home and luckily, I have been making it to me room. Oh, but first. I would vomit in the sink, or eat bread and drink water. So far it’s been a 50/50 chance for either.

Right now, I was dancing with a bottle in me hand by meself. Being drunk and dancing was freeing. I wasn’t thinking for once and I was just letting go. I didn’t have to worry abar who I was within the Shelby clan. I wasn’t overthinking every interaction I had with everybody I came across. I wasn’t obsessing over Thomas fucking Shelby.

I brought the bottle to me lips and took a swig. Cassie looked over at me and stumbled toward me, and I did the same. With me free hand, I cradled the back of her head and brought her forehead to meet mine.

“Are you having fun?” She asked me over the blaring music.

I nodded while gigglin’. “Yeah, what about you?”

She nodded too before stealing me bottle away. I protested and reached for it, but she stomped away. She couldn’t exactly manage a run, right now. I spluttered at the sight. When I stood up straight, I felt someone place their hands on me hips.

I didn't have to look behind meself to know it was some fella.

“Want some company, love?” He asked me.

I pondered it for a while before I decided on me answer. “I’m only lookin’ to dance. You got that?”

As he chuckled, I could feel his chest vibrate. “Sure, love.”

I rolled me eyes and started to dance to me own music. When I felt something hard press up against me arse, I pushed him away and started walking away. He tugged me back.

“Oi, slag. Finish what you started.” He shouted in me face.

I scoffed before stomping on his foot and kneeing his crotch. “You have a hand, use it!” I yelled as he doubled over. I shoved him to the ground and walked away. 

I was instantly smothered by hands. 

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you just did that! You just did that!” Angie exclaimed.

“That was so fucking awesome. Look at you, bad-ass!” Cassie shouted.

Tina just had this big-arse smile on her face. 

I laughed while shaking me head. “I’m glad youse enjoyed it, but unless he came here alone— we need to leave.”

We shuffled to our table, got our stuff and left. The night breeze whipped through our hair. I was falling into Cassie and Tina as we walked side by side. 

I groaned exaggeratedly before shouting, “Should we just go to the flat? De’ fuckin’ weirdos are out tonight!”

Cassie cackled. “Maybe it’s because your dancing is driving men wild.”

I scoffed while pivoting me hip toward her. “I don’t give a fuck abar what they see. I’m not there to satisfy them. I’m ‘aving a fuckin’ dance.”

“So, you won’t make the first move, but you don’t want men to make the first move on you either… How does that work?” Tina quipped.

I craned me neck toward her before glaring at her. “Okay, Tina! Some liquid courage, right now, huh? No, I’m playing! I don’t know how it works, but it’s gonna be up to me if I want to give them me time. Okay? Okay.”

Angie snapped her fingers before saying. “Exactly! Exactly! Anyway, Ali’s right. Let’s head to the flat.” She hailed a taxi and we all got it.

I left the window open and leaned me head against it. That was ‘til Angie made me shut it. I blew raspberries at her, but did it anyway.

It didn’t take that long to reach the hotel and Angie paid. I was too busy walking up the steps. I saw the familiar doorman.

“Good evening, Ms. Welsh.” He greeted me. Mr. Wilson was an older man in his late 40s. That’s all you have to remember.

“Evening, Wilson.” I flashed him as smile and walked through the door he held open for me. I stumbled straight to the elevator and saw that I was walking way ahead of me friends. 

I groaned while tipping me head back. The met me eventually and when the liftman spoke, I jumped. I didn’t notice that he was in here.

Cassie had to practically drag me out of the things since I had snoozed off. We were all full of cackles and giggles as we stumbled to Cassie’s flat. Once the door open and I crossed the threshold, I groaned extra exaggeratedly.

Angie shouted at me to shut up. I ignored her and worked on taking off these fucking devil heels. I threw them out of sight, out of mind then launched meself onto the bed. 

“Open a bottle!” I chanted. “Open a bottle!” 

When I heard the pop of a bottle, I cheered and flung meself back up. Cassie, Tina, and Angie were all sitting at the table. I trudged over to it and sat down rather unlady like. 

I took the pins out of me hair and shook it out while throwing them on the table.

“So, Aliena, why did you turn down that man?” Angie asked.

I shrugged me shoulders. I didn’t expect her to be the one to ask that. “Didn’t feel like he was the one. Yaknow?” I reached for the glass of wine she’d just poured me and sipped it. 

“Who will be the one?” Cassie quipped as she drank some of her wine.

Me gaze snapped toward her and I said without hesitation. “Perhaps it could be you.”

She as well as Tina spluttered. I smirked, victorious.

I sighed. “Why are you all so concerned with me love life so much? If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Right now, I’m not looking for meaningless sex nor am I looking to be in a relationship.” I realize that I didn’t say those words with perfect clarity, but— perhaps I did at the same time.

Tina cleared her throat. Everyone’s head turned to her. 

“Because… Because we want to see you happy as the baby in the group.” 

I blinked a couple of times as did everyone else apparently ‘cause once the three of us made eye contact with each other, we started cackling. I mean this was some heavy cackling. The kind that would embarrass you if your significant other heard it. 

“No, but seriously— she’s right.” Cassie said through pants.

I sobered up real quick.

Angie continued. “Yeah. Look, this Thomas Shelby doesn’t seem like the kind of guy for you. I mean, hasn’t he made you cry like more than ten times, already? You don’t even want to find out if he likes you back. Why don’t you just find someone new?”

I blinked slowly as I tried to process what they said. I shook me head and muttered. “I’m gonna head to the loo.” 

I closed the door behind me and stumbled to the sink. I was holding meself up on the sink and I looked up at me reflection. I took in a loud shuddering breath.

They didn’t understand. Tommy wasn’t a bad person, he was just ambitious. They don’t know abar his affectionate side like I do. The Tommy who joked and smiled with me at night. That Tommy was mine to adore on sleepless nights. The Tommy that makes me cry is very real, but it’s not even his fault. It’s mine.

It’s me who’s a coward. I already told them me reasons for not confronting him abar me feelings, why can’t they just accept that. I don’t want to have a bunch of one-night stands that’s not me! Why are they pushing me to do it when they don’t even do that to Tina? Is it because I’m a virgin?

I choked as I exhaled and wiped me eyes. I looked up at me reflection again and saw that I now had raccoon eyes. I blinked quickly while groaning to meself. The mascara was stinging me eyes. I opened the cabinet and scavenged for Cassie’s makeup remover items. 

I’m not going to hold on to Tommy forever. I knew that in me heart. I had too precious of a goal to do that shit. Plus, the choice will be made for me in two years time. If Tommy knocks up Grace, that is. If he does, then I’m done. He loved her and only her. I have no right in the matter nor am I gonna kick up a fuss. I’m just glad to be in their lives.

I cherished his character for so long and so intensely that I actually managed to be “transported” to the Peaky Blinder Universe. Even if I don’t end up with him, this is still an excellent shot at life. I know things abar the future that will help me descendants. As ugly as this is, I can make a profit out of ideas that were invented in me timeline.

Me future doesn’t have to be completely uncertain anymore. 

But no one can ever understand that. Not Cassie, Angie, Tina, Polly, or even Tommy could understand. I can plan me future with almost 100% guarantees that it will be a success.   

It’s so tiring, though. I’m so tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. I have to remember lie after lie after lie. 

I heaved for air as I slid down the sink. There was a knock at the door.

“Aliena, are you all right in there?” 

I nodded, even though they couldn’t see me. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just need some time alone, please.”

“Okay.” Cassie said with a shaky voice.

I’m not upset at them. I’m upset with the truth their words held. I needed to get over Thomas Shelby. I knew that better than anyone. But, I was gonna do it me own way. Nobody can do it for me. I’m gonna do it at at me own time, nobody is gonna plan it for me. 

I got up and wiped the tears that fell. I crawled over to where the toilet paper was, rolled some ‘round me hand and blew me nose. I threw it away and finally stood up. I walked back into the room where they all stared out me.

I pointed to the bed and whispered that I was going to sleep. They acknowledged it and I did as I said I was going to do.

I knew better than anyone that I shouldn’t be in love with Thomas Shelby. That he could get me killed, cheat on me, or ya know— create a toxic relationship. But, I didn’t see us as that. That’s what we were like on the surface. There’s unspoken words that are exchanged between us, always. 

I knew he wasn’t good with words or actions because of the war and the business empire he wants to build. Do I get caught in the crossfire sometimes? Yes. Does me mental health suffer because of it? Yes, of course, it does! I’m human and a very emotional one at that! 

I knew that some people think that Thomas Shelby was an absoulte arsehole and he is, but I saw why he was like that. I understood it. I would be that way too. I am that way. I do harbor similar feelings, but I also don’t want to be in a leadership position. I don’t want that dominance that Tommy does.

And, he does crave it. 

I can’t fix him just like he can never fix me. But in my heart of hearts, I knew he may be the only one who understood these dark thoughts of mine just like I did his. But sometimes that isn’t enough. 

I knew people like him craved an innocent partner at times. Not innocent in nature, but in their actions. They see the good in people, they’re optimists. A “low-born” man who is fascinated with a “high-born” woman because of her naive feisty nature. 

I wasn’t any of that. I saw the worst in people. I consider meself a realist, but I’ve been called a pessimist.  I was born from a middle-class family. And while I am bratty, yes, bratty. I’ve been labeled this by too many friends and family members to try downplaying me character now. I just want to feel safe. I want warmth. I want someone to hold me and tell me that everything’s alright.

I sniffled and wiped me nose. 

Truth is, right now, I’m in limbo. I’m surrounded by people who have good intentions but I’m feeling more depressed than ever. 

TAG LIST: @amirahiddleston @nemesis729​ @salvatoreitmeanssaviour @tlfshelby1 @halepea @lilymurphy03 @marsfireeyes @masumiyetimziyanoldu

[random-writing-things666]

Something Strange (Chapter 1)

"I will see you all on Monday!" I shouted cheerfully. I had just finished a really busy week with lots of clientele. I was a graphic designer, working for a big firm in Los Angeles.

Upon arriving home, I could sense something was off but, probably stupidly didn't think anything of it. "Hey, sweetheart. Are you ok?" Dad asked, peeking over the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, I'm alright. I had a busy week." I admitted, slumping onto the lounge sofa.

"I can tell. One day, you'll be owning your own business."

"Yeah, one day. But for now, ok happy where I'm at." I smiled.

"I'm glad for you, your mother would be proud of you." Dad finished, sitting in the sofa beside me.

"Thanks, Dad." I spoke softly.

"Oh, yeah. I have a gift for you." Dad smiled, getting up and leaving the room. Dad came back into the room with a small rectangular shaped thing that had been gift wrapped. It looked like a DVD.

"Silly Dad. No one buys DVDs anymore. That's what Netflix is for." I joked. Dad laughed and put the gift in my hand. Well, it certainly felt like a DVD. I opened the case to see that it was the game Red Dead Redemption 2. It had been a few months since it had been released and I had yet to play it.

"It has horses and cowboys in it, I've heard. I think we may enjoy it." He suggested.

After a few hours, I was tired and ready to get to bed. Not being able to stay awake any longer, I bid my goodnight to Dad and climbed into bed, falling asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.

Upon waking up, I could feel the cold wind hitting my face. Hmm strange, I'm sure the window was closed when I fell asleep. I thought to myself, only I woke up in the middle of a grassy field. "Dad!? Where are you!?" I called out. I got no response, causing me to instantly freak out. I stood up and searched around, I was nowhere near the big city skyscrapers that I fell asleep to. It looked like I was on a farm, a big farm. Looking around, I could see snowy mountains in the background. That's strange, last I checked, it was summer where I left off from. Even in winter, it very rarely snows in Southern California. I decided to take a walk to see if I could find help, or someone who could tell me where I was because it was clear that I had no cellphone reception wherever the hell I was.

After a few painful hours of walking, I had finally found some sort of trail. Yay! Civilization! I thought to myself. I still had no clue where I was though. "Hey, Ma'am. Can I help you?" I heard a voice call out. I turned around to see a man on top of a white horse. "I need to know where the hell I am." I snapped. The man got off of his horse and looked me over.

"Hmm, seems you are lost." He frowned. "Where did you come from?" He asked, leading his horse off the path and sitting beside me.

"I remember talking asleep in my bed in a house in Los Angeles, but now I'm here in the middle of nowhere, starving and thirsty." I replied.

"You're a long way East then." The man replied. His voice was so deep, he almost sounded like Arthur from that game. It was at this point I had realized that I may have somehow time traveled back to 1899. "If you come with me, my gang and I can help you get on your feet and you can head back out West when you're ready." He offered.

"Sir, you're a gentleman. But I barely know your name." I lied.

"Oh, I'm Arthur Morgan." He smiled, holding his hand for me to shake. Well, shit. I am somehow in the game.

"Ivory Lurz." I smiled, shaking Arthur's hand.

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Ivory. Now will you come with me?" He asked.

"Fine, but do you have any food? Or anything to drink?" I asked. Arthur laughed in response, pulling out some salted meat and a bottle of what looked like bourbon.

"I'd offer you water, but I don't have any." He admitted.

"Bourbon is fine, thank you." I said quietly, taking the bottle from his hand and taking a sip. It actually tasted pretty good. Either that, or I was really thirsty.

It didn't take long to get to the camp, but as soon as I arrived I noticed what seemed to be every member of the camp looking at me. John was on guard duty, so he followed Arthur and I into camp and waited in the outskirts with me, while Arthur went for Dutch. "Ahh, hello, ma'am." It was Dutch coming out of his tent and strolling towards me.

"Uhh...hi..." I said shyly, looking at the ground trying to avoid Dutch's gaze.

"The name is Dutch, and you are?" He asked, trying to get a word out of me.

"I'm Ivory. It's nice to meet you, Dutch." I looked up, smiling slightly. Dutch smiled and put an arm around my shoulder.

"It is lovely to meet you, Ivory. Mind if we take a walk? Just so I can get to know you and your backstory. Make sure you're not going to hurt us." He offered his hand. I obliged and let him lead me into the trees. My heart was racing at this point.

Dutch sat on the trunk of a fallen tree, I sat beside him. "So, Ivory. Tell me about you. Where are you from?" He asked.

"Well, as you know. My name is Ivory. I come from California, so I'm a long way from home. I fled here once my momma was shot. I didn't want to be near my dad and thought this may be the best place to go to." I lied slightly. I didn't want to tell him that I was actually from the year, 2020. He'd think I was insane.

"Wow, you're a long way from home. What are you like at riding a horse and shooting a gun?" He asked.

"I can ride a horse, but can't shoot to save myself. Think you could teach me?" I replied.

"I would love to teach you. But right now, I think it would be a good idea to introduce you to everyone else. If you last with us for a week, I'll teach you to shoot." Dutch offered.

[poetlcs]

books I’ve read in 2020 (so far) + their ratings

non-fiction

crossing the line: australia’s secret history in the timor sea by kim mcgrath: important research into australia’s theft of oil in timor leste. didn’t rate

hood feminism: notes from the women that a movement forgot by mikki kendall: essay collection dissecting modern feminism, pointing out the exclusionary practices of mainstream feminism and offering new frameworks through which feminism should operate. really recommend. didn’t rate

the uninhabitable earth: life after warming by david wallace-wells: good introduction to environmentalism and the climate disaster. a little too introductory for me but good for those new to the topic. ★★★

homo deus: a brief history of tomorrow by yuval noah harari: it is simply not Sapiens nor as good as Sapiens. Looks at potentials for our future but, thought it was a little poorly researched. Some parts were still interesting though.  ★★★

SPQR: a history of ancient rome by mary beard: a little dense at times, but super interesting and detailed look at ancient rome. enjoyed it a lot. ★★★★

sister outsider by audre lorde: collection of audre lorde’s essays and speeches, about feminism, lesbianism, the queer community, being Black and a lesbian ect ect. outstanding, important collection anyone interested in intersectional feminism must read. ★★★★★

all boys aren’t blue by george m. johnson: memoir about johnson’s experiences growing up as a Black gay boy in a poor neighbourhood. Very poignant memoir, written in such accessible language which I liked. guarenteed to get you emotional, another one everyone should read. didn’t rate because it’s so highly personal that felt wrong but highly recommend. 

under a biliari tree i born by alice biari smith: memoir by an Aboriginal Australian detailing her life growing up learning traditional Aboriginal ways and how the lives of Indigenous Australian’s have been impacted through the years, specifically in Western Australia. Probably more aimed at school age people but still a 101 I think many Australian’s (and non Australian’s) can benefit from. didn’t rate 

classics

maurice by e.m forster: gay man coming of age story in college + themes around class and sexuality. forster’s end note saying he thought it imperative to write a happy ending because we need that in fiction, i love him. ★★★★★

emma by jane austen: read before seeing the movie. loved emma as a character but thought this was okay compared to other Austen I’ve read. ★★★½

perfume by patrick suskind: a man with an incredible sense of smell starts murdering young women to try and bottle their scent for a perfume. weirdest shit I ever read still don’t know how to feel about it. ★★★

the color purple by alice walker: follows the life of Celie, an Black woman living in rural Georgia. deals with her relationship with her sister Nettie, her lover Shug Avery, and with God. this tore my heart to shreds absolutely everyone must read it, like even just for the beautiful writing ALONE. ★★★★

a study in scarlet by arthur conan doyle: its sherlock holmes #1 no further explanation required. not my fave sherlock story, was the weird morman subplot needed? ★★½

dracula by bram stoker: yeah vampires!! this was way easier to read and also way funnier than I expected. we STAN gothic aesthetics and Miss Mina Harker here. ★★★★

fantasy

the diviners by libba bray: teens with magical powers/abilities solving mysteries in 1920′s new york. reread. ★★★★★

lair of dreams by libba bray: the diviners #2. reread. ★★★★½

before the devil breaks you by libba bray: the diviners #3. reread. best one in the series hands down.  ★★★★★

the king of crows by libba bray: waited so long for this series ender and it let me down lol. ★★★

clockwork princess by cassandra clare: the infernal devices #3. dont @ me this is my comfort reread series and I was travelling. ★★★★★

we unleash the merciless storm by tehlor kay mejia: we set the dark on fire #2. latinx inspired fantasy about overthrowing a corrupt government with an f/f romance. didn’t like as much as book one but still good, BEST girlfriends ever. ★★★½

wolfsong by t.j klune: basically feral gay werewolves and witches living in a town together. feels like a teen wolf episode but way more gayer. despite that hated the writing style and I don’t like age gap romances so yay the concept no the execution.  ★★

the fate of the tearling by erika johansan: the tearling #3. finally finished this series, dunno why everyone loathes the ending so much I thought it was cool. underrated fantasy because it’s very unique. ★★★★

girl, serpent, thorn by melissa bashardoust: persian inspired fantasy about a girl who is cursed by a div to kill anyone she touches. has an f/f romance. bashardoust writes the most aesthetically rich settings I love her. ★★★★

crier’s war by nina varela: reread. f/f enemies to lovers where the main character poses as a handmaiden in order to try and murder the princess whose father killed her family. PEAK gay content literally a modern classic. ★★★★★

we hunt the flame by hafsah faizal: I was so disinterested in this book I barely can describe the plot but basically it’s a prince and a hunter who are enemies but are forced to go looking for this magical artifact together anyway it was boring.  ★

ghosts of the shadow market by cassandra clare + others: short story collection set in the shadowhunter world. probably the strongest of her collections but they just don’t hit the same as her full length books. didn’t rate. 

a storm of swords: part two by george r.r martin: a song of ice and fire #3. I WILL finish reading these books eventually i swear !! probably the best one yet though. ★★★★

amarah by l.l mcneil: world of linaria #3. high fantasy with politics, dragons, warring races. tolkein/asoiaf vibes if they had more women with agency. didn’t rate because I haven’t decided my feelings on the end yet. 

science fiction

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: f/f enemies to lovers between spies on rival sides of a time war. good book but writing style wasn’t for me (others love this so eh take my opinion with a grain os salt:  ★★★

not your sidekick by c.b lee: main character is from a superhero family but has no powers herself, so she takes an internship working with a superhero corp. has an f/f romance with a villain character. so much fun and super cute

speculative fiction:

the deep by rivers solomon: speculative fiction wherein pregnant African women thrown overboard by slave ships gave birth to babies that became mermaids. main character holds all the memories of her people’s past but runs away after being unable to deal with the burden. about self discovery, intergenerational trauma and the burden of remembering. a little short imo but still all round excellent book ★★★★

how long ‘til black future month? by n.k jemisin: short story collection, many with an afro-futurism focus. hard to explain because there is such a wide variety of stories but this is an AMAZING collection. didn’t rate because I don’t like rating short story collections but wish more people would read it. 

mystery

the family upstairs by lisa jewell: woman inherits an english house and starts to unravel the secrets of a mass cult suicide that happened there years ago. loved it because it was wild. ★★★★★

the hand on the wall by maureen johnson: truly devious #3. boarding school mystery where the main character has to solve a murder that happened in the 1920s at her school while another mystery is happening in present time. my least favourite of the series but satisfying conclusion nonetheless. ★★★½

contemporary fiction

maybe in another life by taylor jenkins reid: dual timeline book showing the two outcomes of a decision the main character makes. cool concept but ultimately boring book because I didn’t care about the main character at all.  didn’t rate because I didn’t finish it. 

girl, woman, other by bernadine evaristo: vignette stories of various women whose lives are vaguely interconnected. incredibly well written with such vivid characters. deserves the hype. ★★★★

tin heart by shivan plozza: australian YA, the recipient of a heart transplant wishes to connect with the family of her donor, after she discovers the identity of her donor. good story but didn’t like the writing style. ★★★

a little life by hanya yanigahara: follows the life of a group of friends living in life, especially that of jude, a closed off and damaged man with a troubling past. a little too torture-porny/Tragic Gays but I cannot deny the author has a beautiful writing style and I went through all the emotions. didn’t rate

a girl like that by tanaz bhathena: explores the events leading up to the main character dying in a car crash. set in Jeddah, saudi arabia and explores expectations on women, feminism and expressions of sexuality and relationships between women during teenage years. kinda no good characters but I loved it for it’s messy depiction of teen girls (whilst not condemning them for this). underrated. ★★★★

little fires everywhere by celeste ng: drama in white american suburbs when a new family moves in and the neighbours start investigating their past. eh, I heard a lot about this and thought it was just okay. ★★★

stay gold by tobly mcsmith: trans boy decides to go stealth at his new school and falls for a cheerleader, georgia. about navigating being trans and definitely felt like it was written to educate cis people. it was okay but ultimately not my thing and not really the story I was looking for, even though I respect it being written by a trans author and still would recommend to certain people. ★★½

everything leads to you by nina lacour: main character and her best friend have to unravel a hollywood mystery, all while the main character is trying to get over her ex-girlfriend and find work as a set designer. f/f romance and loved the focus on movie making and the power of stories. ★★★½

the falling in love montage by ciara smyth: a girl meets another girl at a party, but she’s not looking to date due to the amount of family issues she has going on. so her and the girl decide to spend the summer having fun, renacting scenes from rom-coms, but never dating. awesome family dynamics and the relationship between the two girls was sweet also set in ireland which is fun. 

normal people by sally rooney: explores the relationship between connell and marianne, who meet in school, date secretly, and then are inexplicably drawn to each other for the rest of their lives. explores power dynamics, relationships, love and trust, and what we owe to eachother. great book, great mini-series, love it to bits. ★★★★★

the glass hotel by emily st john mandel: impossible to explain this book, but there’s a mystery about grafitti, a ponzi scheme and a character falling to their death on a boat under suspicious circumstances. honestly idk what happened in this book but I liked it. ★★★½

historical fiction

half of a yellow sun by chimamanda ngozi adichie: historical fiction about the biafran war loosely based on adichie’s family experiences. incredibly well written with an ending that punches you in the gut. ★★★★

hamnet by maggie o’farrell: explores the shakespeare family after the death of their child, Hamnet, from the plague, and how this leads to Shakespeare writing Hamlet. cool as fuck concept and boring as fuck book with such tropey female characters. ★★

all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr: WW2 fiction, dual perspective between a blind girl living in france and a german boy forced into nazi youth. I cannot believe this book is award winning it’s so boring and predictable and i reget the time i wasted on it. ★

poetry:

on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong: poetry memoir. vuong writes a letter to his illiterate mother, knowing she’ll never read it, exploring their relationship, his experiences growing up as second generation Vietnamese-American, and hers during the Vietnam War. My favorite book I’ve read so far this year, just too good to explain, genuinely just feel like everyone is better off for having read this. ★★★★★

currrently reading:

girls of storm and shadow by natasha ngan

meet me at the intersection: edited by rebecca lim & ambelin kwaymullina

stamped from the beginning: the definitive history of racist ideas in america by ibram x. kendi

get a life, chloe brown by talia hibbert

[alj4890]

And Then I Met You

Part 4

What happens when the one you thought you were meant for turns out to be meant for someone else? 

@walkerinfolkvangr @alleksa16 @penguininapinktuxedo @blackcoffee85 @stopforamoment @fullbeaumonty @cocomaxley @darley1101 @hopefulmoonobject   @krsnlove @littleblossom357   @annekebbphotography  @gibbles82   @bella-ca 

 Masterlist

Part 4

A little over five weeks after arriving in Hollywood

"Not only will this give us a chance to set everything up, it will force them to spend more time together away from work." Addison explained to Holly.

"I suppose. Do you think he will agree to it though? I mean, they are both so stubborn." Holly whispered the nearer they got to the study.

"It's fool proof!" Addison took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Thomas called out.

They walked in to see him organizing the parts completed for the screenplay with Amanda's pictures and Addison's costume ideas. In the corner of the room, Amanda was typing away, only pausing to smile at them.

"Did you need something?" He asked without looking up.

"Actually, I need to borrow Amanda for a moment. I have one of the dresses nearly finished and would like some input to the final touch."

She glanced up in surprise. "Me? I trust your judgement. I'm afraid my fashion sense is subpar at most." Amanda went back to typing, thinking the conversation was over.

"Please! It is based off your imagination and I want to make sure it lives up to what you had in mind." Addison begged.

"I have learned from experience that she will not stop asking." Thomas told Amanda. "Better to go now than have endless hours of being pestered."

She chuckled and got up. "Show me what you got."

"YAY! I can't wait until you see it." Addison grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the study.

Holly waited until they were out of ear shot to enact stage two of the plan. She cleared her throat and waited for Thomas to look up.

"Yes?"

"What are your plans this evening?" She asked, while pretending to scroll on her tablet.

"Plans? I have no plans other than work." He muttered.

When she remained silent, he threw down his pen and gave her his full attention. "Why? Is there something I am supposed to be doing?"

"Yes. Ryan Summers is throwing a party at an old warehouse that holds all that old movie memorabilia you love." She stopped scrolling and looked up, judging his expression.

"And?"

"And I think you need to attend. You are considering casting him in the role of Arthur. Not only that, but you might spot your Reginald and Elizabeth there. Seeing them in an unscripted environment will reveal how much chemistry they all have." Holly argued.

He frowned as he debated whether or not he should attend. Holly stood calmly before him, waiting on his answer. He let out a beleaguered sigh. "Fine. What time is the gathering?"

"Eight o'clock." Holly promptly answered. She turned to leave and stopped.

"Is there a problem?" Thomas growled, wanting to focus on his work.

"Not a problem, just a thought. I think Amanda should go with you. These are her characters after all. I believe her input would be invaluable." Holly faced him with what she hoped was an expression without guile.

He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "You are only considering Ryan because you heard her say that he was the one she thought of when writing the character." She reminded him.

He nodded stiffly. "Very well, I will see if she is willing to go."

"Good." Holly began to walk out again and stopped. Thomas ran an agitated hand down his face. "What?" He bit out.

"I just remembered that I booked reservations to take her to Tao tonight. I completely forgot and promised to help Addison with that costume. She needs to complete it if she is going to start on some of the other costumes." Her brow puckered as she pretended to debate on what to do.

Thomas covered his face with his hands and counted to twenty. He reminded himself that Holly was an excellent assistant and she was a friend. She was annoying the hell out of him at the moment with these sudden plans, but he could deal with it.

"Help Addison. Amanda will understand." His muffled response came from behind his hands.

"I know she will. I hate canceling on her at the last minute. She's been so excited about it. I think she was hoping to get out of the house for the night." Holly hoped that would end up being the case.

Thomas stood up and shoved his chair out of the way. "And I suppose you will tell me no other night will do?"

"Well, it is a difficult reservation to make this time of year." Holly took a cautious step back when he glared at her.

"What time is the reservation?"

"Six."

"Then I will take her on the way to the party. Will that solve everything or do you have some other forgotten plan?" He raised his eyebrows in disbelief as she actually checked her tablet.

"Nope! That will do it. Thanks boss." She saluted him and quickly left. 

_____________________________

"It will really help us if you can keep Thomas distracted at the restaurant. There are a few things left we have to set up." Addison told Amanda. "His birthday was before you arrived and he hates a fuss. But, we came up with the best surprise ever. Scheduling it this many weeks after give us the ultimate element of surprise."

Amanda laughed at her excitement and puppy dog eyes. "Of course I will help. That is some dedicated party planning skills you both have."

Holly walked in on that last bit. "We aim to please. Plus, he gives amazingly thoughtful gifts for birthdays."

"I still tear up when I see my desk." Addison said, sniffing a little.

"Desk?" Amanda asked.

"He once asked me where my love of designing costumes came from. I told him about this desk my art teacher in elementary school set in a corner for me to use whenever I had a free moment. It was decorated with Lisa Frank stickers and every color I loved. And the glitter. It was everywhere." She laughed and then let out a sigh. "He found my art teacher and discovered she had kept my desk as it was. He had it shipped to my home as a reminder of where my passion originated."

"That is so sweet." Amanda said softly.

Holly nodded. "He does stuff like that for Christmas too. He never goes for the conventional stuff."

"Well, I will definitely help with this surprise. Just tell me what I need to do.

Addison and Holly beamed as they told her the plans. "Now remember, he thinks you and I were supposed to have dinner and that it is Ryan's party you are attending."

"Got it." Amanda stood up, "I'm going to finish up what I was typing and then get ready for the evening."

"We did it!" Addison squealed once she was gone. "I wonder if the sparks will keep flying."

__________________________

Thomas placed his hand on the small of Amanda's back as he led her into Tao. She paused and took in the shadowed ambiance with decoative lamps and candles flickering at each table. The Asian decor was prominent with the Buddha statues placed throughout. They were seated on the second tier of the restaurant and had a clear view of the entire place.

Amanda thanked the hostess and took the menu. Her attention wandered to taking in the sights before her. She looked up and caught Thomas staring at her. He quickly lowered his eyes to his menu.

He opened his mouth to only close it when their waiter came by. After he left to retrieve their drinks, Thomas asked her about her life back in Cordonia.

A teasing glint came in her eyes, "Haven't I bored you enough with all my stories these past few weeks?"

He chuckled. "This time I can actually listen without Addison's interruptions."

She shook her head with a smile and answered his questions. Over dessert, he brought up the pictures he had seen of the wedding at her home. "That was one of your friends, wasn't it? Maxwell, I think."

She paused a moment and nodded. If he hadn't been watching her so closely, he would have missed it.

"Yes. It was his wedding." She took a sip of water. "He met his Nadia and after a brief courtship, they decided to get married.

"You must be very close to him." Thomas noticed a sadness come over her.

"Yes. I suppose I am." She turned her head and looked out over the restaurant.

"You must miss seeing them."

"I do sometimes." A smile flirted about her lips. "I've been so busy with you though, that I haven't had much time to think about it.

"Is that a good thing?"

"It is." She picked at the cake on her plate. "I needed this."

"Cake?" Her laugh at his teasing made him smile.

"No, though it doesn't hurt." She sobered. "Working with you. Getting away from Cordonia for a while. I didn't even realize I needed a change."

His dark chocolate brown eyes studied her face. "Why did you need a change?"

She froze a moment and let out a sigh. "I needed to get my mind off of some things." She bit down on her lip as she debated on whether or not to tell him. He sat there patiently and eventually reached across the table. He covered her hand with his.

"You don't have to explain." He said softly.

"No it's fine. I...I once thought Maxwell was the one I was meant to be with." She paused when his thumb moved over her knuckles. "When I saw him with Nadia, well, there was no one else more perfect for him."

He glanced down at their hands when she slipped her fingers through his. He continued to move his thumb over her knuckles. "You hosted his wedding to another woman despite how you felt."

She gave a slight shrug. "He's my best friend. It would have hurt him if he had known how I felt. He is very tenderhearted and would have most likely eloped to keep from causing me pain. They were able to have their dream wedding and I was able to say goodbye to my imagined future."

He couldn't believe the selflessness in such an act. "Do you still have feelings for him?" He didn't know why, but he dreaded her answer and almost took the question back.

She met his eyes and slowly shook her head. "I don't think I do. I made a conscious choice to bury those feelings when they became engaged. I haven't really felt those twinges in my heart whenever I talk to him like I once did." She gave a small smile. "Perhaps my feelings for him were not as strong as I once thought."

Thomas relaxed some with her answer. He opened his mouth to only be interrupted by a lady rushing up to their table. "Are you Thomas Hunt?" She asked in an excited voice. A man, that was clearly her embarrassed husband, came up behind her.

"Yes, he is." Amanda said, trying not to laugh at the expression on his face.

"May I have your autograph? Your movie, Semblance, is one I know by heart! Casting Chris Winters and Shannon Wright as the two lovers was perfect!" She let out a soft sigh.

Thomas thanked her and handed her pen and paper back to her. "Why don't I take a picture for you with him? This way you will always remember this night." Amanda said, ignoring the glare he sent her.

The woman handed over her phone and yanked her unwilling husband in the picture. Thomas stood next to them and forced a pleasant look on his face. Amanda winked at him and snapped a few pictures. The couple thanked them and left.

Amanda started laughing the moment they were gone. "Your face!" She was able to get out between snorts.

He folded his arms and waited for her to calm down. "You had to mention a photo."

She nodded while giggling. "I'm not even sorry." His deadpan expression made her laugh harder.

He shook his head and stood up. He came up behind her to assist in pulling her chair back. He held her jacket up and waited as she slipped her arms in. She thanked him and linked her arm with his as they walked outside. "Come on, you know you are a little flattered by such attention." 

"A little." He admitted. 

_____________________________________

Thomas was speechless when he realized the party was for him. While people surrounded him, Amanda moved away and watched from afar. She leaned against a wall and grinned when Addison threw her arms around him when he thanked her and Holly.

As people began to mingle, Thomas searched the room for her. He stood with a few of the guests and tried to see who she was talking to.

"What do you think Thomas?" Ryan asked.

"Hmm? Sorry, about what?"

Holly looked at him in surprise. "About where you will shoot the movie."

Thomas finally spotted Amanda on her own looking at one of the exhibits. "Yes, I suppose the character would feel that."

"What?" Holly asked.

He walked away without responding. Ryan stood there in surprise while Holly's jaw dropped. She ran over to Addison to tell her the whole story.

"No! He really didn't answer the question?" She asked, bubbling with excitement.

"Yes! And he left without another word!"

They both turned to observe the two they were trying to get together. Thomas was pointing out something in one of the display cases and was giving some sort of explanation. Amanda smiled and said something that caused him to laugh. When she moved on to another exhibit, he followed her.

The rest of the night seemed to go in that same pattern. Addison drug Matt and Ryan in on keeping tabs on the couple. The four of them watched as Thomas seemed to leave a conversation if he saw Amanda on her own or near someone that had a questionable reputation. At one point, the model from the afterparty blocked his path and placed her hands on his chest. 

“I was hoping to catch you alone.” She purred.

He did not even attempt to mask his annoyance. “Didn’t you arrive with Tommy Phelps? I think you should stick by his side.”

“No need to be jealous. He is nowhere near the same caliber director as you are.” She moved closer to him. He took her wrists and gently but firmly pushed her away. “Don't mistake a question as jealousy. Now, if you will excuse me.”

She stared at his back in shock that he left her. Thomas walked over to where some tables and chairs were set up. He scanned the area and saw Amanda sitting by herself. She had a peaceful expression with a touch of humor on her face as she observed the party. She was so lost in her thoughts that she jumped when he sat down beside her.

“How are you enjoying your party?” She asked once her heart had calmed down.

“It is actually more pleasant than I would have thought.” He studied her for a few moments. “Why are you sitting here by yourself?”

Her cheeks began to color. “I like to mingle then get off by myself and observe. So often first impressions are false. I like to see how people interact with others to decide on whether or not I wish to move from being an acquaintance to a friend and so forth.” She traced the ring of condensation her drink left on the table. “I suppose that sounds rather silly or conceited on my part. I’ve learned through my experiences at court that one’s time is too precious to waste on the wrong people.”

Thomas looked out over the guests. Some had their false smiles and personas firmly in place while others genuinely had their hearts on their sleeves. He thought of all the people he had wasted time on to only find out that they were not worth another second of his. He then thought of those he wanted to spend time with. At the moment, there was one that topped that list and had for a while now. He let his gaze rest on the one and took in her serene expression as she watched, with a hint of a smile, those that fascinated most people. He couldn’t think of anyone in this room he found more interesting than Amanda.

He leaned over and asked if she was ready to leave. She nodded and they found Holly and Addison. Thomas thanked them again and ushered Amanda outside. The two instigators watched them leave and grinned when Thomas placed his hand on her back as they walked to the waiting car. 

When they got home, Thomas walked with her upstairs. He paused outside her bedroom. “Thank you for your part in keeping me from knowing about the party.”

Amanda chuckled. “It was the least I could do since I did not have you a birthday present.” He scoffed and said there was no reason for such a thing to be done.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. “Happy Birthday Thomas.” She whispered in his ear. She opened up her door and went inside.

He froze and stared at her closed door. He snapped out of the line of thoughts her kiss caused and went to his own room.

[iheardnewepsiodesofninjago]

Voltron Playlist Project by @iheardnewepsiodesofninjago and @the-stressmushroom

Hi everyone! We both know there are a lot of mixed reviews about season 7. Some people love it, some people hate it. There were a lot of upsides to the season and a lot of downsides. However, we have been working on a very special project for a very long time. We have been compiling playlists of songs that describe the different voltron ships throughout their existence according to our own fanon, and common fanons throughout the fandom. And we would like your help with the next part of this project! We will be creating fan art for each song depicting the couple in the scenario the song represents. (ex. River by Bishop Briggs is sort of when lance and keith come together in an I hate you so much but your really fucking hot way, in our fanon.) Please note that this fanart can be in whatever format you like! A comic, a single drawing, an animatic, ANYTHING! We just want y’all to be creative! We will be posting the playlists on both of our accounts with our ideas of where the different songs land in our fanon written below each link. Please, if you decide you would like to make fan art, tag it with #voltron playlist, and we will continue updating the playlists with different fan art submissions as they come in. We hope that this project may help bring the fandom together during this rather difficult time. Seeing everyone fighting is extremely discouraging and we would love to create something that everyone can happily work on.

The playlist we are starting with is Klance.

(Please note that both of us are multi shippers and will be creating playlists for every ship the fandom has to offer. We want everyone to be represented so everyone has a place to enjoy their respective ships. If this bothers you, please, keep these opinions to yourself.)

Klance Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

I hate u, i love u - gnash ft. Olivia O’Brien - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3UeoZechSg&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

Keith and Lance in the beginning, rescuing Shiro and becoming Paladins. Mutual crushes that they detest greatly. They are trying to work through their issues and are trying to figure out their feelings. This song shows there relationship through Lance getting hurt by the explosion.

(More exquisite art!!! This style is so good I am in love, by @cryptidcanadian)

Toxic - Britney Spears - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVdr_JWmnsA&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=2

Lance and Keith’s feelings only grow after their bonding moment and they both start to really fall for each other. During training, during meals, during fights. Mutual pining, but not accepted yet. This includes the Crystal Venom episode and Keith saving Lance from dying.

That Man - Caro Emerald - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFA6dEwWOb4&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=3

Similar situation as Toxic, same scenarios but now they have both kind of accepted their crushes. But they still are too oblivious to realize the other feels the same way. This starts to happen after the season 1 finally when they realize how worried they were for each other when they were separated.

River - Bishop Briggs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlISZWZMLsg&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=4

After they visit the Blades for the first time and Keith realizes he is part galra, Lance realizes that he should probably talk to Keith to check in on him. When he gets to his room Keith gets angry expecting Lance to hate him just like Allura. And lance gets angry because Keith is so self conscious he can’t believe that someone could actually care about him. Keith is stunned and rushes Lance. All the pent up feelings get released (y’all, this is your chance to get smutty if you so please)

The Only Exception - Paramore - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChXcD6Z4uvQ&index=5&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

After they get together, they talk about their feelings and possible relationship. Keith admits that he has never been able to be vulnerable and Lance decides it's his job to make Keith feel loved. This goes through their Zarkon fight and Shiro's disappearance.

Sugar We’re Goin’ Down - Fall Out Boy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ4ZngUSrZQ&index=6&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

This is Lance and Keith really starting their relationship and Lance being a really supportive boyfriend and Keith’s right hand. This includes Lance comforting Keith and telling him that he should pilot the black Lion.

(Omg we already have our first piece!!! Thank you to @mylenaart1998 for this beautiful artwork ❤💙)

Tear In My Heart - Twenty One Pilots - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-olL71GgdXQ&index=7&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

Shiro comes back and Keith starts training more with the Blades. Lance gets discouraged and thinks that Keith might be done with him. Keith assures him that this is not the case, but Lance is still doubtful.

I Was An Island - Allison Weiss - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vNNnDuMLNA&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=8

Lance says I love you to Keith in a last ditch attempt to get Keith to stay. Keith is stunned. He doesn’t say it back and leaves any way. Lance puts on a brave face but he has a breakdown.

Sad Song - We The Kings ft. Elena Coats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1KXLFj0rHI&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=9

It’s the Voltron and rebel’s battle against the galra and Voltron is about to be destroyed. Keith decides he needs to sacrifice himself to save voltron and lance. He realizes he loves Lance, and that Lance deserves better. He is willing to die to save him.

Certain Things - James Arthur - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxODjYmN9rY&index=10&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

After Zarkon’s death, the power struggle erupts in the galra. When Keith goes to the Kral Zera and almost gets killed, Shiro tells Lance and Lance gets pissed. He gets even more pissed when he finds out that Axca saved him. Lance was supposed to be the one to save him always, and he wasn’t there for him.

for him. - Troye Sivan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kUdvWMZjrk&index=11&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

Keith and Lance both decided they were not good for each other, thinking they are helping each other. During the radio silence on both of their parts, they reminisce about their relationship. This is an especially hard time for Keith as the thought of Lance coming back to him is one of the few things that gets him through his 2 years with Krolia.

Little Lion Man - Mumford and Sons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92_D-ZAlSTM&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=12

Keith finally returns to them before their battle with Lotor. He tried to apologize to Lance but Lance breaks down yelling at him for the radio silence. They have a huge yelling match because Keith was hurting too. They get back together passionately (another opportunity for smut y’all.)

Mystery of Love - Sufjan Stevens - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0CP9zpbmAQ&index=13&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX

After they have defeated Lotor and saved Shiro, Keith finally says I love you back to Lance. He says he wishes he had done it before their fight because if they had died his one regret would be not telling Lance the truth.

True Love - P!nk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppRARqw2KLg&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=14

This is Lance and Keith really trusting each other and seeing each other as equals throughout their journey back to earth.

(This is such an adorable design! I love the blade as the arrow in the heart. Thank you @egofan4evr!)

I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTEb7fVdzw&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=15

They return to earth in ruin and realize that saving earth may be the final battle that kills them. Keith and Lance accept this and understand that they will never stop loving each other. Even through death.

Can’t Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGJTaP6anOU&list=PLIxrUMcvFzabPYmex12KpEYw7-i9r1BWX&index=16

Earth is safe and the two can finally love each other easily and have their families back. Yay!

(MY BEAUTIFUL BABIES I AM IN LOVE ❤💙❤💙 a very big thank you to @paladinspride!)

[fire-bear]

I'd like #2 for both sentence and dialogue. USUK of course :)

“Warnings”:

Both of them in one!

Which has made it rather long.

It’s not exactly USUK? It’s more the start of USUK. Like, it’ll develop but there is absolutely no romance in this. Sorry. ^^” Unless you squint, I guess. Sort of. I mean, there’s blushing…?

Arthur is younger than Alfred. That’s, apparently, my thing?

As well as the teddy bears, of course. They’re in there, too.

I kind of made it so long because I was sort of developing an entire universe and plan for a bigger story than what this is. ^^”

AMagical Sleep

The Maskelyne School for Magic sprawled across theestate, a mixture of new and old, sleek and rickety. Faint noisesreached the gate: bangs and yells and laughter. A ring of treesencircled the buildings, a path of African daisies, asters, chamomileand heather winding its way through their roots. Signs had been tiedto trees and to the lampposts planted at regular intervals along thebrick pathways in order to direct new students and visitors to theirdestinations. Half of the lampposts seemed to be powered by gaswhilst the others were up to date, electric ones with the bulbs toreduce light pollution.

Magic thrummed through the air and Arthur Kirkland,third year and newcomer to the school, felt elated to be there.

He was also a little nervous. Because of his abundanceof magical prowess, he had been allowed to skip all the generalisedyears and go straight to the advanced, specialised classes. Since hehadn’t wanted to miss out on all of school life, he had compromisedwith starting in third year so that he had four years of schoolinstead of just two.

But that meant that he would be a twelve year oldamongst fourteen year olds.

Would they hate him? Everyone at his primary school andthose with him during his short time in his local high school hadthought him odd. They’d made fun of his love of plants and storiesabout magic. When he’d scored highly in tests, they’d also made funof him and Arthur had come to realise that a lot of the olderstudents had resented that he was already on their level. Would it bethe same here?

Shaking his head at his thoughts, he tightened his gripon his rolling suitcase. He’d enchanted it to transport things storedin his wardrobe to the school so he wouldn’t need boxes; his parentshad no excuse to walk him to his dormitory and embarrass him.Speaking of his dormitory, it was, according to the map by the gate,just beyond the bridge which connected a flashy, glass building witha wobbling wooden one. Having already said goodbye to his family atthe car, he made his way through the crowds of returning studentsalone, trying to look as though he belonged. The returning studentsalways arrived a week earlier than the first years in order to besettled in before the unstable and temperamental magical childrenturned up to wreak havoc on things – which meant Arthur wascurrently the only new face amongst them.

As Arthur passed by, he looked around at them all,noting the groups of friends chattering to each other. They allseemed much older and taller than him. Their magical auras pulsedwith their elation or their irritation. It was almost enough tooverwhelm Arthur. But he continued on his way and forced his own aurato shrink in an effort to lessen their affect on him.

Finally, he passed under the bridge and, when heblinked, realised the buildings had changed places. Instead of atall, stone cathedral, a wide brick building sat before him. Therewere rows of windows neatly spaced and Arthur realised he must be infront of his dormitory. The third year dormitory. He fervently hopedthat the fourteen year old he would be sharing with wouldn’t mindbeing forced to live with someone younger than him.

Checking the information, Arthur made sure he found theright room. Although, considering the magic pulsing through thebuilding, Arthur had a sneaking suspicion that it was easy due to thebuilding rather than his own sense of direction. He hesitated infront of the door, staring at the number 4-7neatly placed in the middle, just above his head. Then, before hecould convince himself that there was a chance they’d let him havehis own room, he knocked twice and tried the door. It opened easily.

Inside, the room was a little bigger than he hadexpected, the window in the centre of the rearmost wall. On eitherside of it was a bed with bedside tables directly underneath it, theleft table holding a small lamp. Desks were shoved together againstthe opposite wall to the right of where he stood and a door to the ensuite bathroom was to his left. On his right were two wardrobes and achest of drawers, the bottom two drawers open due to the clotheswithin. The left bed had already been made, an American flag on thesheets. Above the bed were several posters of superheroes and filmposters.

And, sitting up from where he had been lying, was a boya little older than Arthur.

Or, rather, as Arthurlooked at him, he realised he seemed a lotolder. And a lottaller.

The boy had blond hairwhich was a mess, a particular cowlick at the front of his headlooking as though it was an antenna. A pair of glasses sat upon hishead, sitting at an angle and all smudged. His blue eyes blinked atArthur as he stepped into the room, seemingly confused. Then heglanced at the empty bed beside him, grinned and stood.

He was a veritable giant.

“Hiya!” the boy exclaimed, thrusting his hand out.“I’m Alfred F. Jones. You must be… Uh…?”

“Arthur Kirkland,” he responded, trying not to feelintimidated by the fact that he only came up to the middle ofAlfred’s chest. He released his tight grip on his suitcase andclasped the boy’s hand to shake.

When Alfred squeezed his hand, he was sure he brokebones.

With a cry, Arthur yanked his hand away, staring up atAlfred with wide eyes. The other boy grimaced. “Gosh, I’m sosorry,” he said, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I… I keepforgetting my strength…”

“What?” Arthur asked, flexing his hand to becompletely sure he still had full use of it.

“Oh, um, I only cameinto my magic recently. It’s Personalismagic and I still don’t have full control of it at times.”

“Recently?” Arthur asked, blinking at him.

“Yeah, like, when I turned thirteen.”

“So, last year?” Arthur said, not understanding whyAlfred didn’t just say that.

“Nah, two years ago,” Alfred explained,off-handedly. “I got held back a year.”

“Oh.”

For a moment, they stared at each other. Then Alfredgave a nervous laugh and turned back to his bed, flopping onto it andletting it bounce him around till he was lying on his back. Arthurawkwardly smiled at him and proceeded to his bed, dragging hissuitcase with him. When he reached the bed, he picked it up andplaced it upon it. Then he began to unpack, looking for the sheets heknew were in his wardrobe.

“This might be kinda a dumb question,” Alfredsuddenly piped up, “but how’d ya fit all that in there?”

Blinking, Arthur looked over his many books and clothesand pens and notebooks that were spread across his bed. “Uh,magic,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “I enchanted the suitcase totransport what was in my wardrobe here.”

“Woah! Really?!” Alfred exclaimed. “That’s…That’s amazing! I bet no-one else in third year could do that!”

“Oh. Um, I see,” said Arthur, grimacing. If he wasthat far ahead of them, he really hoped they wouldn’t hate himfor it.

“It’s really cool! What’s the basis of your magic,then?”

Bewildered at theinterest, Arthur shrugged. “Transportation magic comes under Locusmagic but my firstmagic was Naturalismagic. I prefer Naturalismagic, actually.” Arthur stopped himself there before he revealedhis biggest secret.

Alfred looked so astonished that Arthur almost laughed.His eyes were wide and his lips were parted. “Wait, you can do twotypes already?! And you only just came into your magic?!”

“No, I’ve had magic all my life. My parents aremagicians, too.”

“Huh?” Alfred frowned at him, scratching at hishead and knocking his glasses until they were further skewed. “But…These are the third year dorms. You’re fourteen, right?”

Ducking his head, Arthur shrugged a shoulder. “I…skipped some years. I’m twelve.”

“You’re twelve?!!”Alfred shrieked.

Pouting at his obvious disbelief, Arthur lifted hishead to look at Alfred. “Sorry for not meeting your expectations.”

“No, no, that’s- It’s just… You’re really cool!”Alfred looked so earnest: his eyes were wide as he leaned towardsArthur, his fists clenched as he tried to convey how sincere he was.

At Alfred’s reaction, Arthur blushed and looked away.“O-Oh…”

There was a shortpause. “Aha, you’re really cute,too!”

“Sh-Shut up!”Arthur exclaimed, spinning on his heel to continue unpacking. Silencedescended between them and Arthur began to wish he had Personalismagic as well so he could will away his blush. Once he had gotten outeverything he needed, he made his way to his designated wardrobe andbegan to hang up his clothes, specifically his school uniform. It wasas he was doing this that Alfred decided to break the silence.

“This is probably another dumb question but, uh, doyou sleep in the dark?”

Confused, Arthur looked over his shoulder at him. “Um.Yes?”

“Oh. It’s just…” Alfred glanced at the lamp onhis bedside table.

“Ah. I don’t mind if you keep it on. Whatever helpsyou sleep at night.”

“Yay! Thanks!” said Alfred, waving his hands in theair in celebration. Arthur bit his lip to keep from laughing and wentback to his work.

It only took a few days of inductions andintroductions to classes for Arthur to realise that the reason forAlfred keeping his lamp on wasn’t because of a fear of the dark.There was something he was deeply afraid of and it wouldn’t let himsleep. Every night for a week, Arthur was woken by shouts of ‘No!’and 'Stop! Please!’. Alfred was never willing to talk aboutit.

Ignoring that issue, Alfred was a rather nice guy. Hehad already been at the school for long enough that he was able toguide Arthur around. And he was kind enough not to make fun of Arthurfor bringing teddies to comfort him. Not only that, but Alfred wasalways excited to talk about magic, eager to learn more despitehaving a horrible affinity for anything that wasn’t Personalis.As well as that, he liked a lot of the shows and films Arthur wasfond of and was willing to sneakily show Arthur films deemed too oldfor him – though Arthur had refused to watch anything scary,considering how often Alfred had nightmares.

Arthur considered Alfred a good friend already – andhe was concerned.

It wasn’t healthy for Alfred to be woken in the dead ofnight and spend the rest of it whimpering. His natural Personalismagic would help him stay awake but he needed some way of stayingasleep or, at the very least, helping him get back to sleep. So, justbefore classes started properly, Arthur called his parents and, a fewdays later, he came back to their room to find a large teddy bearsitting on his bed. Alfred was on his own bed, glancing betweenArthur and the teddy.

“It… just appeared. Outta nowhere,” he said,sounding awed.

“It’s from my mum,” Arthur said, grinning at him.“She’s really good at Locus magic.”

“Oh. Uh…” Alfred’s expression became strained.“What’s it for?”

“You,” answered Arthur, dropping his bag andhurrying over. “But it’s not ready yet. I just need to put a spellon it.”

“Wha-? Me? Why?”

“To help you with your nightmares. Now, shush.”Arthur clambered onto the bed and crawled over to it. He placed hishands on either side of the bear’s head and began to mutter thespell. Despite keeping his eyes on the massive toy, he could feelAlfred’s intense gaze as he watched him work; it made him a littlenervous. Finally, he finished the spell and willed some of his Mentismagic into the teddy.

Alfred must have felt the magic working because hewaited until Arthur was finished before he spoke again. “So, uh,this might be a dumb question, but how is that going to help mesleep?”

Rolling his eyes, Arthur hugged the teddy – andimmediately felt all his worries slip away. Earlier that day, he hadbeen uncertain whether to hide the extent of his abilities anddecided against it. He had noted that a lot of people were mutteringabout him and he had grown worried that they resented him. Now, itdidn’t seem like such a pressing matter and he knew the bear wouldwork perfectly for Alfred.

“If you hug this, you’ll be able to sleep,” Arthurtold him, shuffling backwards so he could get off the bed.

“That is such a-” Alfred began with a huff oflaughter. He trailed off, though, when Arthur finally wriggled offhis own bed, crossed the room and thrust the large bear at him. Aftera moment of stillness, Alfred sighed and took the teddy from him.“Like this?” he asked, his voice flat. Arthur waited until Alfredhad squeezed the teddy close and looked at him in amazement to smirkdown at him, hands on his hips.

“The bear will calm your worries and comfort you. Itshould work well enough to stop your nightmares or help you sleepafterwards.” Arthur paused, tapping a finger against his chin as hestared up at the ceiling. “I think it should last around a monthbefore the spell wears off and I’ll have to cast it again. Maybe, bythat point, I’ll be better at my Mentis magic and I can makeit last longer.”

“You’re amazing,” Alfred breathed, his eyes wide.

Arthur grinned at him. “Of course.”

Over the next few weeks, Arthur learnt more aboutAlfred. His parents weren’t magicians and had moved their family fromAmerica to England when he was just thirteen. The Master Magiciansbelieved that he had come into his magic then because of theupheaval. Alfred claimed it was because he wished really hard on hisbirthday cake to gain superpowers.

Though he had been delighted to discover his newpowers, it was not without drawbacks, such as ruining their lovelynew house. Not only that but Personalis magic came with itsown risks and usually wasn’t taught until fourth year. Alfred wasgetting his own special classes: they seemed to haunt him afterwardsand he used the bear before they even went to sleep on those days.

Despite these worrying signs, Alfred loved magic,though he seemed to think of it as superpowers and often tried toapply science to them. He could often be found in the Newer Librarywhere he would be reading the new science books. As such, he seemedto have a lot of difficulty mastering the simpler spells.

He loved puppies and kittens and had to have one ofeach taken from him one night when he went exploring and found someon the edges of the estate. When he discovered the birds of preywhich were kept in the hidden aviary, he had tried to befriend thelargest bird there and ended up with bandages over his hands. Hisfavourite ice cream was definitely Cookie Dough and he preferredCadbury’s chocolate over any other. Though his laugh was loud, it waspleasant and Arthur always found himself smiling when he heard it.

But, even with all these things Arthur now knew, hestill didn’t know why he had nightmares or what they were about. Theteddy bear worked, thankfully, and Alfred was able to get more sleepthanks to it. Arthur was proud of himself – but he was also worriedabout his friend.

Something Arthur also noticed were Alfred’s questions.They could range from difficult to explain (“How does Mentismagic even work? I mean, how do you tweak someone’s brain to makethem feel good or whatever?”) to downright stupid (“Did you justmake that float?!”). After a couple of weeks, Arthur was more thanused to it. So, that night, he was ready for anything.

“Can I ask a dumb question?” Alfred asked, leaningagainst the large teddy.

“Better than anyone I know,” Arthur answered as hescribbled in the last answer on the worksheet he was working on. Heignored Alfred’s protest before setting his pen down and turning sohe could peer at Alfred over the back of his chair. “What’s wrongnow?”

Alfred grumbled to himself for a moment, just to letArthur know that he was protesting against his treatment. “Well, isit just me or is this teddy not working much any more?”

Arthur blinked at him for a moment. Then he hopped offhis chair and made his way over. “Give it here,” he said, holdingout his arms for it. Alfred did as he was told and Arthur hugged it,trying not to topple over from the weight of it. He squeezed it tightand waited for a feeling of being enveloped in a comforting hug. Nonecame, just a slight feeling of happiness at having something to hug.He scrunched his nose up and sighed. “The spell’s worn off.”

“Can ya put it on it again?”

“Of course,” Arthur answered, setting it down onhis bed.

“You’re the best, Artie! Man, I’m not sure what I’ddo without you. You gotta let me do something nice for ya sometime soI don’t feel so bad! Anything you need!” Alfred crossed his heartas if that would seal the deal.

Snorting, Arthur rolled his eyes and clambered onto hisbed to do the spell. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

The power went out in the middle of the night.Arthur was unaware of that until he woke to Alfred’s usual cries.Gasping, his eyes flew open and he looked around, trying to force hissluggish brain to work out where he was. All he could see, however,was darkness. Alfred’s cries suddenly broke off and changed towhimpers. Arthur listened, waiting to hear if he would relax. Therewas some shuffling noises, slapping noises and then a sharp intake ofbreath.

“Alfred?” Arthur mumbled. “Are you okay?”

“A-Artie?” There was a brief silence. “Can… CanI ask a dumb question?”

“Better than anyone I know,” Arthur answered,rubbing at his eyes.

That got a huff of laughter from Alfred. “Yeah. Well.Can you see right now?”

“No. Hang on.” Arthur reluctantly pulled his handfrom under the covers and felt around for his phone. He pressed thebutton. Nothing happened and he grimaced; he’d forgotten to charge itover the last few days and had finally plugged it in before theyturned the lights off. Clearly, there was no power whatsoever. “Powercut,” he informed Alfred. “Either someone’s been messing withpowerful magic or it’s just a regular power cut.”

“Ah.” Another silence fell but, this time, it wasinterrupted by shuffling and slapping and even a thud followed byAlfred’s muttered curses. “I.. I…” he murmured, sounding alittle frantic. His breathing was getting heavier, too, and Arthurrealised he was panicking.

“What’s wrong? I thought I put that spell-”

“I’ve dropped it. I can’t find it,” Alfred said,his movements becoming even more panicked if the bangs and squeakingwere any indication. “A-Art-”

“Take a breath, Al,” Arthur told him, throwing hiscovers back and forcing himself to stand up. “I’ll find it foryou.” He crossed the room quickly, slowing when he thought he wasclose to Alfred’s bed. Then he reached out and felt around, trying tofigure out exactly where he was.

“It’s too dark…” Alfred mumbled, his voiceshaking a little. “This is…”

“Al,” said Arthur, trying to stop his train ofthought. “It’s fine. Nothing’s happening. Everything’s fine. You’resafe.”

“That’s not-”

At the same instant as Arthur, still waving his handsaround, made contact with something, Alfred cut himself offand made a noise somewhere between a shriek and a whimper. Sighing,Arthur rolled his eyes. “Stop panicking. It’s only me.”

“You…?”

“Yes. Let me just find-” Before Arthur couldfinish, something gripped his wrist and he was suddenly pulledforward. He gave a cry as he flew forward until he was sprawledacross Alfred. “What are you doing?!” he exclaimed, his heartbeating wildly in his chest.

“Don’t leave me…”

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Arthur rolled offAlfred so that he was squished between the older boy and the wall.The shock of being pulled off his feet had cleared his head enoughfor him to remember his magic; he raised his hand so his palm facedthe ceiling and murmured a spell. A bright light appeared above themand Arthur hissed as he squeezed his eyes shut. Beside him, Alfredyelped and moved his arms, probably blocking the light out with hishands. Hastily, Arthur flicked his wrist and the light seemed toshrink until it was at the level of Alfred’s lamp.

For a few moments, both of them lay there, breathingheavily and letting their eyes adjust. Finally, Arthur sat up andlooked around, spotting the bear at the end of the bed. “Aha,” hesaid. “I’ve found your teddy bear-”

Suddenly, arms wrapped around him and pulled him down.Alfred’s grip on him was tight enough to make Arthur think hewouldn’t let him go. “Thank you,” Alfred murmured into Arthur’shair.

“You’re welcome. Now, let me go.”

“Mm. Can I ask a dumb question?”

“Again?”

“Will you stay with me?”

“What, tonight?” Arthur asked, trying to pull awayso he could frown at Alfred. It only made Alfred pull him closer. Fora second, Arthur tensed. Then he relaxed, tucking his head down torest it on Alfred’s shoulder. “Are you ever going to tell me whatgets you so scared at night?”

“Nope,” Alfred answered.

They fell silent for a moment. A little while later,Arthur’s tired brain realised that Alfred wasn’t entirely still. Hewas trembling slightly. Evidently, he was still scared but trying notto disturb Arthur. Wordlessly, Arthur forcibly wriggled his way outof his grip so that he could kneel beside him. Alfred blinked up athim, jaw clenched and eyes shimmering in the dim light.

“Ar-” Alfred began.

“Hush,” Arthur interrupted him. Then, gently, hecupped Alfred’s face and began to murmur a similar spell to the onehe had cast on the bear. Alfred’s eyes widened slightly as he watchedhim work: Arthur could feel his own cheeks heat up as he stared downat Alfred. Finally, he finished and shuffled around to go back to hisoriginal position. As soon as Alfred’s arms slid around him andsqueezed him against Alfred’s side, he felt Alfred’s body relaxconsiderably. Alfred even sighed in relief, burying his face intoArthur’s hair.

“Man, you really are amazing, Artie.”

“Shut up,” Arthur grunted. He yawned, not botheringto try to stifle it. “Go to sleep.”

“Thanks,” Alfred said, obviously not payingattention. “Hey, maybe we should do this every time, instead of thebear. It’s kinda big, y'know? Takes up half the bed and I always kickit off and lose it.”

Arthur sighed. “When I said 'whatever helps you sleepat night’, I didn’t mean this. I mean, I really didn’t meanthis. We’re not sharing a bed, Al. Go to sleep.”

“Right. Yeah. Sorry…” There was a pause whereinArthur figured Alfred must have dropped off. He was bitterlydisappointed when Alfred began to speak again. “I’ll… I’ll tellyou about them. Maybe. But not right now. You don’t need to know.”

Arthur frowned. He tried to summon the energy to arguebut, instead, all he could do was huff and mumble, “Wait tillmorning to talk.”

“Okay. Night, Artie.”

“Mm.” Arthur shifted a little, getting comfortable.Soon, both he and Alfred were asleep, Arthur curled around Alfred andenveloped in his arms.

After this, whenever Alfred hugs/touches Arthur, he feels calmed. Arthur accidentally cast a stronger spell than for the bear. They end up sharing the bed quite a lot until they either end up in separate rooms or Arthur realises he has feelings and then he pushes Alfred away. Which just makes the nightmares increase.

Also, supernatural creatures exist in this universe but it’s taboo to talk to them. And by taboo, I mean, so frowned upon that nobody will admit to even being in contact with a ghost when they visit a haunted house. There’s never been anyone in recent times who’s been known to have talked to one. But I could be lying. :P

[roseknows20-blog]

Day 24 Crushing Sections, Slapping Bags-Hamilton Hut to Mt Somners

February 2nd, 2017 After a pleasant night sleep, the boys and I got up early to get the show on the road. Rowan got ahead start early around 7am, and then Dylan preceded about an hour after him. Eventually, I left the hut around 845am, after meticulously packing my belongings and chatting with the others. From Hamilton Hut, it was 18 drawn out kms to Lake Colderidge. Similarly to the previous day, the track followed the Harper river most of the way. The good news was that the track was flat, which allowed me to cruise at a steady pace of 5kms an hour. The bad news was the trail markers were sporadic and quite difficult to keep track of. At one point, I accidentally got lost, and got caught bushwhacking through the pesky prickly native bush. My arms and legs were all scratched up from nature lashing out at me again! Goly gee! Feeling a bit distressed, I reminded myself to take a breather and use the river as my guide. Intelligibly, I also utilized the GPS on my phone, and found the trail again after fifteen minutes or so. Bouncing back and forth alongside the river, I questioned the the necessity of so many river crossings. Most of the time, I tactfully made my own track, and trotted down the trail directly downstream- swiftly hoping over boulders and obstacles in the way. After the "big" river crossing, I met up with Dyl and Max, a friendly German guy, and we continued along the old somber gravel road for the rest of the way. Although the track today failed to offer us the most exquisite views, the thoughtlessness and simplicity of the track made the trail quite pleasurable. As we passed through the final farm gate, it amazed me that we had already reached Harper Road. From there, it was about 1km to Harper Village. The 18kms took us about 4 hours, including getting sidetracked a bit. When we arrived at the village, we waited patiently for Rowan, expecting him to already be there. We had discussed all hitching together to Methven to resupply and to detour around the Rakaia river, which is nonsensically part of the TA. After about 20 minutes or so, there was no sign of Rowan, and we figured he already started walking or got a ride. Shortly after, an older kiwi gentleman in a decked out camouflage jumpsuit picked us up in the classic oversized redneck SUV type vehicle. As we hopped in the car, the man noticed our American accents and sullenly said to us "if you didn't vote for Trump, you can get the F out of my car." Lolz. Dyl and I were terrified and uncertain if he was serious, so we nonchalantly chuckled and were grateful for the ride. The guy also asked Dyl if he was part of ISIS and questioned him putting bombs in his car. Haha- we will never nor ever know if he was being sincere or not! At least hitchhiking always makes for a comical story! Anywho, the racist kiwi dude dropped us off 10kms down the road. Dyl and I then decided it was the best time of the day (or one of the best times of the day) LUNCHHH TIMMMEEE! As we devoured our "tortunas", tuna and tortilla wraps, we calmly sat on side of the rode praying for a car to come. Suddenly, in the distance, we spotted a chunky yellow campervan coming towards us. The car promptly pulled over, and the awfully kind German boys offered to give us a ride to Methven, which was out of their way and 50kms from our location. When we reached Methven, Rowan had messaged us saying he was there. Yay! So, we reunited with him, and did the usual thing we do when we get into towns- cafe take over!! As we sipped our coffees, we did some imperative planning for the next sections to come. We also took turns monotonously resupplying at the Foursquare in town. Of course, I also bought the average mince and cheese pie and delightfully gobbled it down! It would be so uncultured of me to go into town and not purchase a traditional New Zealand cuisine. ;)! Incredibly enough, the American boys and Pea also made it to Methven! They convinced us to buy some bargained bag wine and chill out for the night. I mean, let's be real, we don't need that much persuading to have a drink or five. So, we then all contrived a plan to meet at the free campsite in Mt Somners, which was 10kms outside of Methven. Coincidentally enough, the German boys were also heading to that campsite, and agreed to give us a lift. Luzie traveled from Arthur's pass and was planning on meeting us in Mt Somners as well! Once we arrived, we soon found out that the campsite was only designated for self-contained vehicles, but, we pitched our tents anyway and made ourselves feel right at home. Per usual. Then, Rowan, Luzie, Dylan, and I cooked a scrumptiously fresh dinner together and goofed around while slapping the bag. Momentarily, the Americans and Pea showed up, and we all enjoyed our bags of goon and chillin out! They also introduced me to a Tim Tam Slam, which is where you bite off a piece of a Tim Tam and then sip hot chocolate from the cookie- so yummy! I said this while we were on the North Island, and I'll say it again, I wonder if other TA walkers have similar experiences during their thruhike? #doingthingsright! (18kms + hitching)