#input and discussion are totally welcome here

[tathrin]

Writing three thousand words of The Definitive* History of Oropher was definitely not on today’s agenda...but here we are, I guess!

*definitive as in the definitive version in my head, not actually “definitive” in any way; obviously 80% of this is pure invention because Oropher barely even appears in the Unfinished Tales and basically nowhere else so we’re not working with a lot of canon here is what I’m saying.

And since I’ve written this nonsense out, I figure I might as well share it because frankly, the world needs more Oropher in it...and I might as well have something to show for my squandered day, even if it’s just an extremely geeky tumblr post about a dead elf-king.

And no I will not be including his deadname or his dead-to-him-after-the-Kingslaying name, because he wouldn’t want me to.

—Under a cut for both length and inevitable later edits—

Oropher was one of the first generation of Teleri, born before the Sun and the Moon were placed in the sky. He followed Thingol (then called Elwë) and his brother Olwë on their slow journey to Valinor but, like the rest of group that had fallen in love with the lands of Beleriand while they waited there, he refused to leave with the Valar when Thingol went missing.

When Thingol returned with his wife Melian, Oropher joined in the building of the Kingdom of Doriath and was from then on one of the Sindar. (At that time he was still going by his first name, but that is not a name recorded in any histories that have survived, so he will heretofore be referred to only by his third name as it is the only one by which he would allow himself to later be known.) He was fascinated and delighted by the strange dwarves who carved the caverns of Menegroth, which Oropher always held were the greatest and most elegant of all dwellings ever built in Middle-earth, even long years after they had been destroyed.

When the Green-elves of Denethor came to Beleriand and established themselves in Ossiriand, which they named Lindon, and brought with them warnings about Orcs and other foul creatures in the north and the east, Oropher was one of the quickest of Thingol's people to arm himself; for he (at that time still believed by all including himself to be a maiden; but the elves did not scorn women from their armies as many later Men did) loved his home and to Oropher love always manifested as a blazing urge to protect more than to possess, so he was determined to defend it against all threats.

It was in that time, before Morgoth destroyed the Two Trees, while the lands of Beleriand were still lit only by the stars, that Oropher fell in love and wed his husband, another elf of Doriath. Their son was born shortly before the Two Trees were destroyed, and Thranduil first opened his eyes in the gloaming before the coming of the Sun and Moon.

The family had many happy years in Doriath under the rule of Thingol and Melian, who were both beloved rulers and dear friends, and Thranduil grew especially close to Celeborn, Thingol's grand-nephew. The two were accounted nearly as close as brothers in those days.

When the First Age brought Finrod and Galadriel to Doriath, Oropher joined in the happy welcome of these long-estranged kin of his lord. It was at this time that he chose a new name, having determined that he would henceforth be an ellon instead of an elleth. Being charmed by the language that the Noldor had brought with them out of Valinor, and one of the few Sindar elves to begin learning it with enthusiasm, he crafted this in Quenya and was for a time quite pleased with it. His husband, too, briefly took a Quenya name, and it is likely that they gave one to their son as well, although no histories now record them.

Young Thranduil was especially taken with the prowess of Galadriel, and was delighted when his dear friend Celeborn married her, although even at that time he considered her less cheerful than she might have been; for in those days darkness had not yet darkened the hearts of the Sindar in Doriath. Indeed, Oropher at first argued with Thingol that the elves of Doriath should have closer ties with the Noldor and fight themselves in the war against Morgoth—although he ceased to make such arguments once the fell deeds of Fëanor and his sons became known.

It was at this point that Oropher abandoned the Quenya name he had given himself, and named himself Oropher instead. This was the name he bore for the rest of his life, and his first two were never spoken again; for the first was no longer suited to him, and the second felt like poison in his ears. Never again would Oropher let any word of Quneya pass his lips, for all that he had once praised the language as being the most beautiful tongue known or spoken.

Even after the truth of the Kinslaying at Alqualondë was revealed, the family of Oropher did not turn aside from their friendship with Galadriel and Finrod, accounting them as having been beguiled by the fell and faithless Feanor rather than judging them for being faithless themselves. They would be less forgiving of future betrayals, however, and would eventually grow estranged even from Celeborn in the years after Doriath's fall and the War of Wrath.

Oropher was left particularly bitter by the betrayal of the dwarves who coveted the Nauglamír, although he and his family survived the Battle of the Thousand Caves. He was left even more bitter, however, by the departure of Melian—whom he had heretofore adored as both queen of Doriath, and wife of his dear friend Thingol—because to him, her departure back to Valinor after Thingol's murder seemed to be yet another betrayal, for were not the people of Doriath hers as well? Should she not have stayed to protect them in Thingol's stead?

It seemed then to Oropher that all things that came from Valinor brought ill with them in the end, even the once-dear Melian, for if she had not left and lifted the Girdle of Melian around Doriath, the dwarves would not have been able to plunder it and kill so many—but all the Valar, it now seemed to Oropher, had no sense of duty or love in their hearts, for it was faithless of Melian to abandon her people in her sorrow over Thingol; surely she could only have done it if she never truly believed the Sindar to be her people at all, but that was no suitable attitude even for a member of a society, let alone a ruler of it. For years after, he would not even speak of his former friend, so bitter was the wound her departure over the Sea left on his heart.

Oropher has never been one to give up on a cause or duty, even when perhaps he ought to; he thus has little respect for those who are less steadfast (or less stubborn) than he, and is especially bitterly disappointed when his friends prove faithless (or sensible).

However, stubborn as he was, Oropher did allow his mind to change when circumstances warranted rather than clinging to old beliefs in the face of new knowledge; his opinion of the Green-elves, who had settled in Ossiriand under Thingol's generosity, had not heretofore been great; he did not dislike them, but he was not impressed by what he saw as their shirking flight from the Orcs in the north and the east and their decision to take refuse in Thingol's lands rather than rally and retake the ones they had left. After the Battle of Sarn Athrad, when the Green-elves helped Beren destroy the dwarves who had plundered Doriath, his opinion of them was raised much higher, and he thought of them henceforth as a brave and stalwart people.

He was pleased when Dior came to Doriath and was one of the peredhel's supporters when he took up the kingship of his grandfather. Oropher let go his bitterness and wrath then for a time in wonder at the renewed glory of Doriath under Dior's rule, although his sorrow for his lost friends never left him (nor did he ever fully forgive Melian for what he saw as her abandonment, although his heart lightened towards her somewhat in these days, and he could at least now remember with happiness the old days with his friends before Thingol died).

After Lúthien's death, when the Necklace of the Dwarves came to Dior, and rumor of the Silmaril within it spread to the Sons of Fëanor, Oropher scoffed at their demands to have the gem returned to them; for ever since word had reached Doriath of the Kinslaying, Oropher had had little love in his heart for any of the Noldor and for those of Fëanor's line least of all; although he had grown close to Galadriel, who was a kinswoman of his friend Thingol, and especially to her husband, Celeborn, who was a particularly dear friend of his son, Thranduil. It was not until the Sons of Fëanor came to Doriath to claim the Silmaril that Oropher's heart hardened against all their kin, including his one-time friend Galadriel; for the blood and the grief of that day never left him.

Oropher's husband was killed in the Second Kinslaying when the Sons of Fëanor assaulted Doriath with a surprise attack in the middle of winter. Oropher himself slew Curufin, although he was grievously wounded in the fight, and was forced by his son to flee bloody and weeping. Thranduil's sword was broken in the battle, but Oropher's sword and that of his murdered husband had been forged in the early days of arming when the Green-elves first brought word of Orcs and other dangers, and both blades remained hale and beautiful through all the ages of the world, despite the elf-blood that now stained them.

Along with some of the other survivors of Doriath, Oropher and his son now made their home in Lindon, and lived there briefly among both Green-elves and Noldor. However, some thirty years after Doriath fell, Maedhros heard that Elwing had survived the Kinslaying at Doriath with the Nauglamír and its Silmaril, and when news of the subsequent slaughter at the Havens of Sirion reached Oropher, he decided to have no more to do with any Noldor and led a small group of elves away from Lindon before the Valar returned to begin the War of Wrath against Morgoth.

Oropher and his small contingent of Sindar elves had no interest in getting involved in "the Valar's fight" or in "the wars of the Noldor," as they termed the current conflict; instead they sought the distant Silvan elves in the east, and there found Greenwood the Great and took refuge there. They were welcomed gladly by the Silvan elves, who had never suffered the bloody betrayals of the Noldor; the Sindar elves who had traveled with Oropher were relieved at the salvation they saw in these wild woods, and abandoned much of the ways of the Sindar in order to cleave themselves to their new Silvan people instead. They deemed the culture of the Silvan elves more natural and more wholesome, for it was free of interference from the Valar, whom many of them now blamed for much of the strife that had assailed them.

Many of the Sindar refugees flung away their swords, happy to think themselves free of the conflicts in which such weapons would be required, and heart-sick at the elven blood that they had been forced to spill during the Second Kinslaying. Oropher, however, kept his sword close, and Thranduil, who now carried the sword of his other father, did as well; they remembered well the lessons of Doriath, which had fallen when the Girdle of Melian was removed from it, and they knew that there were no such powers to protect their wild Greenwood.

The elves of Greenwood the Great did not participate in the War of Wrath, although they were not ignorant of the chaos and danger; even their fair forest was shaken by the upheaval. They kept to their trees, however, and turned away all messengers. At that time, Oropher led some of the Sindar elves to build a great refuge upon Amon Lanc, in case it should be needed: the tower was built both high amidst the huge trees and deep under the tall hill, and was fashioned to much resemble the lost Menegroth; although since it was made without dwarven skill the caverns could not hope to rival that lost magnificence. Its walls were sturdy, however, and its doors thick, and it would serve as a strong refuge that would turn back many an assault with ease; for in addition to its sturdy walls of stone, the citadel of Amon Lanc was festooned with many trees and watch-posts from which sharp-sighted archers might rain peril down on any enemy, and the elves of Greenwood boasted great skill with their short bows.

The native Silvan elves were somewhat bemused by the insistence of their Sindar neighbors that such a structure was necessary, but they were charmed by the craftsmanship of its creation—for they themselves had yet done no stonework or metalwork at that time, and lived in light wooden dwellings among their trees—and the perilous days of the War of Wrath had taught them caution, at least in theory if not in practice, and so they were glad enough to have Oropher's expertise in setting-up a strong place to which they might retreat should danger ever come to their woods.

Amon Lanc was abandoned some centuries later not because it fell to any attacker, but because of encroachment to the south and west by the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm and the coming of too many Noldor, like Celebrimbor and Galadriel, to Lothlórien. The elves of Greenwood were reclusive, the native Silvan wood-elves having heard many cautionary tales from their new Sindar kin, and the refugees from Doriath having still great bitterness and suspicion in their hearts from all the dark things they had survived. So slowly the Greenwood elves withdrew from the south of their woods, leaving the great citadel of Amon Lanc abandoned to the trees—and later, to the dark and evil things that would claim its mighty walls for their own.

Those evil things did not come to Greenwood for many years, however. Sauron first assailed and overran the lands of the elves in Eregion outside Greenwood's trees in S.A. 1697, and scattered the survivors. Then the Doors of Durin were shut, cutting that kingdom off from the outside world. Greenwood did not interfere, save to draw further north. By the end of the Second Age, the elves of Greenwood dwelt mainly in the western glens of the Emyn Duir, although they still roamed freely through the forest at will, and there was as yet no Shadow over their trees.

Even they could not ignore the fact that Shadow was gathering in the lands outside, however, and while they paid little note to the attacks on Gondor and Imladris, when the Last Alliance of Elves and Men marched over the Misty Mountains in S.A. 3434 and came to the Vales of Anduin, elves from both Greenwood and Lothlórien joined them, the latter led by Amdir. It was at that time that Greenwood the Great took Oropher as a king, although many of the histories written by outsiders assumed that he had claimed kingship shortly after his arrival in their woods; in truth the Greenwood elves had never bothered with kingships or lords the way the High Elves did, for they had never needed one before they went to war.

They chose Oropher then because he was the oldest of the Sindar refugees who had made their home in Greenwood, and the Sindar had experience at war which the Silvan elves did not. It had been Oropher's voice most of all that had pushed for the building of safe strongholds, and had cautioned his people to be wary of the dangers outside their trees, and they trusted in his wisdom and in his bitter history. Oropher had never sought to rule over anyone, having himself been content as a subject of first Thingol and then Dior, and then finding joy in the wild Greenwood where neither kings nor Kinslaying had ever come; but when his people needed a leader to guide them into war, he agreed to shoulder that task.

Calling himself King of Greenwood the Great, rather than merely captain or war-leader, was a choice made out of consideration for the Noldor and Men and Dwarves he knew they would have to ally themselves with; Oropher knew that his people, with their small numbers and scanty arms, would garner little respect from the High Elves at first glance—and he was not about to bow and place himself and his people under the command of the High-King of the Noldor, for all that he had agreed to swallow his pride enough to march to war with them.

And so Greenwood claimed a king, and marched to Mordor behind his banner, and they fought and died fiercely at his side out of love and loyalty rather than from oaths or duty.

Amdír pledged his warriors to Oropher's leadership, rather than Gil-galad's, the Greenwood elves being much greater in number than the Galadhrim from Lothlórien. They were friends of old, and while they had grown distant in recent years when Amdír welcomed many Noldorian exiles to his land and Oropher did not, there was still much trust and affection between them. It was Amdír who first pressed for a swift charge against Sauron's forces, thinking to wipe them out quickly and end the war with a mighty opening blow, but Oropher took to the idea immediately and it was he who argued the strongest against Gil-galad and Elendil's insistence on a more cautious assault.

Oropher died in the Battle of Dagorlad along with over half his army when they, and the Galadhrim, charged the enemy before Gil-galad gave the order for an attack. No one survived to tell whether it was Oropher or Amdír who gave the fatal order to charge prematurely, or whether it was agreed upon mutually by them both, they were in agreement on many things, and it was held likely in later days that they had decided between them that if they led their forces forward, the rest of the army would have no choice but to follow them rather than waiting on the orders of Gil-galad, with whom they had so often clashed.

Rather than retreat and risk taking heavy casualties for no purpose when they realized that Gil-galad was not going to order the rest of the army after them, Oropher and Amdír pushed forward with their doomed attack, hopeful that they might still win a retreat from Sauron's forces, at least, if not a victory; hopeful at least that they might do some damage to his army, rather than fall in vain. Amdír and the Galadhrim were cut off and driven into the marshes, and half of them perished there; the thousands of bodies that would be buried there later earned this place the name of the Dead Marshes, and memories of the tragic slaughter there ever-after haunted those lands.

The rest of the army of the Last Alliance eventually followed the rash charge of the Silvan elves, but too late to save the leaders of the Galadhrim and the Greenwood. The battle they began lasted for many months before Gil-galad and Elendil finally managed to turn the tide and press Sauron's forces back to the Black Gate. Enough of Sauron's forces died in that long battle that the remnants were driven back and besieged, and the surviving Greenwood elves could not help but wonder bitterly if they might have claimed a victory then if the High-King had only followed Oropher when he first charged.

Despite cutting down more than four hundred Orcs, Oropher died in the first onslaught and his son, Thranduil, was left to lead the surviving warriors of Greenwood for the seven years of siege that followed.

When Oropher's body was found in the carnage, he had been pierced by so many blades and was covered in so much blood and gore—both elvish and orcish—that it was only by the gleam of his golden hair that he was recognized. The body of his gon, a Silvan elf of Greenwood named Gilthawen, lay atop him where she had been hacked nearly in two by the enemies' weapons before she fell. Oropher's sword was afterwards presented to his son, but Gilthawen's lighter weapon lay shattered beneath their broken bodies and her hands had been ravaged by the heavy orcish blade she had wrested from her foes to use in its stead.

They were buried together with as much honor as the beleaguered Greenwood warriors could manage in that foul place, along with the rest of the fallen who now lie in the Dead Marshes.

[716chr]

“WE ARE M・T・T・B” - Chapter 4

📍 HAMA House - Kitchen

Ten: Ah—...today’s finally over…..

Ten: (The practice itself isn’t all that hard so I can’t complain……it’s still a drag though.)

Ten: (I guess it still beats getting ambushed by a certain recruiter every day. Feeling kind of thirsty though—)

Ten: Hm?

Muneuji: Murakumo-san.

Ten: (Muneuji Kaguya…..)

Ten: Ah~ Good work today, have a good night~.

Muneuji: Do you have a moment? I’d like to discuss something.

Ten: What?

Muneuji: We really want to know what you think of our performance. As the expert around here, we value your honest feedback.

Ten: (Mm, I figured it was something like that.)

Ten: If you’re feeling that off about it, doesn’t that mean you can already tell what the problem is? You don’t need me to spell it out, do you?

Muneuji: …………。

Ten: (Ah~, was that too unserious?)

Muneuji: I see…. you might be onto something. That really resonates with me.

Muneuji: Your input is profound and very sensible. I really appreciate such insightful words.

Ten: (Insightful words….? Well whatever I guess.)

Ten: ……You’re welcome~. Keep at it~.

📍 HAMA House - Tiger Room

Ten: Oh boy.

Renga: Welcome back, Ten! Dance practice really held you up, huh.

Ten: Yeah, because of that I have a crap ton of messages to reply to now.

Ten: Hm?

Renga: That crow is looking right at us. Maybe it’s a fan of mine….?

Ten: ……。

Ten: (Yeah, yeah. “Know your place as a family member.” You didn’t need to send a messenger, I know that much.)

Ten: Hah, can’t wait to get this whole thing over with—.

📍 HAMA House - Dining Room

Chihiro: Hmm~….

Chihiro: (Lately, it feels like there’s this huge wall between me and the other 3 during practice…..)

Chihiro: (I can’t let it go on like this~. I gotta find a way to break the ice a bit…..)

Chihiro: …..Well, I came to the dining room for that but….. nobody’s here~.

📍 HAMA House - Kitchen

Chihiro: No way~, nobody’s here either…. This is a total bummer…… Did everyone already go back to their rooms—— Oh?

Chihiro: (The back door’s slightly open. Maybe someone was airing out the room?)

Chihiro: Huh!?

Kitty: Meow.

Chihiro: Oh, it’s you, Meowster Jr…. You’re not with your Mama today~?

Kitty: Meow mreow.

Chihiro: Hehe, you’re way too cute. ….I didn’t find anyone I wanna talk to, but seeing you here makes this trip to the kitchen all worth it ♪

Chihiro: C’mere, c’mere~. If PT were here, you’d have a playmate already~

Kitty: Mreow meoow!

Chihiro: Ah…..!

Chihiro: Hey….! Wait, that’s Turysuke!

Kitty: Meow!

Chihiro: Hold it~! That’s not a toy!

📍 HAMA House - Entranceway

Ten: Like I said, you’re really putting me on the spot by asking me to take responsibility here~. Hellooooo, are you listening? Are you crying?

Kitty: Meeeow!

Ten: Oh, what are you doing in there, runt?

Chihiro: Ten-cham! Don’t let that kitty get away!

Ten: Eeeeh? I’m on a pretty serious phone call, you know……

Kitty: Meeeoww!

Ten: Oops, he ran away.

Chihiro: Hey! Ten-cham, you’re responsible too, help Chii catch that lil guy~!

Ten: What do you mean responsibility…… Ah, whatever.

Ten: My bad. Something came up so I’m hanging up now—.

📍 HAMA House - 2F Hallway

Akuta: Arrghhhhh, I’m starvinggg….. I wonder if there’s any food, cooked meals, or just plain ol’ white rice leftover. Would be a godsend if there’s some meat as well.

Kitty: Meeow!

Akuta: Eyy, I know I said meat but that’s not what I meant! I’m against cat consumption!

Chihiro: Atta, catch that lil Meowster for us~!!!!!

Akuta: Aww hell naww! I’m a cat lover not a cat eater~~~!

Ten: I think you’re having a weird misunderstanding here, Akuta.

Akuta: Kitty! Run!!! Run that way before they catch and make a meal outta you~~~!

Kitty: Meeeeoooowwww!

Chihiro: Huff, huff…… We’ve finally got you cornered…..!

Chihiro: You’re as trapped as a mouse in a mousetrap now~! Except, well, you’re a cat~! ……Huh?

Ten: ……Sounds like a familiar tune…

Chihiro: Is that….. our song….?

(Godbless Jelly for the help on Akuta’s dialogues 🙏)

[canonrpfinder]

Omg hi. My name is Canti !! I am here to humbly request a roleplay because I've been super into NARUTO lately. “But Canti?? I know nothing about you!!” You might be asking, and yeah. I'm very aware of that! Here's some quick Canti Facts™ ;

—> He / Him. 18 years young!!

—> semi - lit to literate roleplayer

—> cst timezone

—> discord user ONLY.

—> totally super awesome and cool

BAM! You know me, and I don't know you, but that's totally cool. Anyway, there's gotta be a point to all this!! And there is!! Because I'm looking for a handful of ships. Listed here ;

—> Obito x Kakashi

—> Obito x Deidara

—> Obito x Rin

—> Kiba x Hinata

—> Shikamaru x Temari

with some other info right here;

—> I only roleplay with people 18 to 25

—> I'm cool with making plots, but I want some input too!!

—> HEADCANONS ARE ALSO WELCOME :3

and that's it!! As for characters, I can play any of them listed, with the exception of Kakashi. I'm also sort of open to playing other ships, however I am NOT open to any oc roleplays at the moment. I'm slightly impartial to any ship with Obito bc he's my fav and I'm his biggest fanboy. Any other rules and such can be discussed privately!! Like, dm me directly or add my discord (divinerot. with the period) if you're interested at all :3

✒️

[haroldtea]

For the fic title ask game: leading threats

hmmmMMMmmMmMmm

ok first off, apologies for such a late response. i had a hard time coming up w something for this one! and then i got completely carried away. hope you enjoy!

it’s an au where the war ended early and everyone’s aged up a bit. sokka is the highest ranking representative of the SWT other than hakoda and he goes on a diplomatic mission w yue and arnook to the fire nation where they are to meet with fire lord iroh and work out something fairly innocuous like naval trade routes.

the reason they’re having a fancy in-person summit for something innocuous is because it’s been awhile since leaders of the water tribe met w that of the fire nation and it just looks better diplomatically to have personal meetings like this from time to time. although the war ended early and there is peace, the nations do not necessarily feel the warm n fuzzies about each other yet. they decide on the fire nation rather than one of the tribes because the dates they agreed upon coincide with a fire nation holiday the fire lord can’t miss - and the holiday gives the opportunity for a public appearance of the two nations’ leaders together.

sokka has never actually been to the fn before and it’s not like he’s heard the most amazing things about it back home, but he’s gonna be with yue, and katara and aang are going to meet up with them in time for the holiday after aang is finished with his pre-planned visit with the earth king. he’s there as a representative of the SWT, yes, but this visit is mainly business between the NWT and the fire nation (cuz of where the waters they’re discussing are, idk) so he’s essentially just here to keep up appearances, and to offer his input when needed, which is why hakoda felt it appropriate to send him in his stead. so… some political stuff, but this is mostly just going to be a vacation for him. (there probably already is some kind of au like this out there tbf)

they arrive and are welcomed by fire lord iroh and his family. son and crown prince lu ten, as well as iroh’s brother prince ozai and his wife and children. the overall first impressions are…colorful…but iroh receives them warmly and lu ten seems cool enough for a crown prince.

they’re not to start negotiations until the next day, so iroh tasks his nephew zuko with giving yue and sokka a tour of the palace. he thinks it’s a wonderful idea because zuko is around the same age as yue and sokka, but it becomes apparent very quickly that tour-guiding is not one of zuko’s strengths (although sokka wagers he’d still rather have him as the tour guide than his sister azula, who clearly did not have the warm and fuzzies for any of them). he tries to make jokes in such a dry tone that yue and sokka can’t tell that they’re jokes. he’s prickly when sokka offers his own sarcastic commentary and then when he realizes sokka was being just that, sarcastic, tries to make up for it by overcompensating with another terribly timed joke.

he relaxes a little when yue starts to ask light, but thoughtful questions that get thoughtful answers out of him. they have being royal children in common and find out they share a distaste for the same things that come with the title. by the end of the tour, he’s wearing an easy smile as he asks some palace staff to see yue and sokka to their rooms to rest before dinner.

sokka does not retain much from the tour (seriously, there’s only so many times one can say “and this room is the ___” with no other details as the 3 of you just stare into an empty room before moving on) other than being totally smitten with zuko.

yue clocks this immediately and sneakily arranges them to sit together at dinner. and by “arranges” i mean “pretends the cushion on her seat is too soft for her liking and asks sokka to switch seats with her loud enough that sokka can’t refuse without everyone noticing and thinking he’s being rude to the princess, which puts him right next to zuko.” the cushion is fine. what does “too soft” even mean? he grumbles as much to himself, which zuko overhears and lets out a surprised little laugh at, and that interests sokka much more than the cushion. “you know, i’m something of a prince myself back home…”

they continue to talk and laugh throughout dinner, zuko having relaxed that much more since the Tour That Shall Not Be Named, and later sokka feels eyes burning into the side of his head. he turns, expecting to catch yue being not subtle at all, but instead finds prince ozai, zuko’s dad, leering at him from down the other end of the table. sokka assumes that he’ll glance away once he knows he’s been caught, but ozai’s eyes just grow darker as he holds his stare.

unnerved, sokka turns his attention back towards zuko, who doesn’t seem to have noticed the interaction as he continues telling sokka about something called the ember island players while he pokes at his food. (i do think zuko is burned before this but i can’t think of a way to have that be true and have iroh be fire lord without ozai being dead or banished so… just let that be a plot hole in this fake fic. maybe it happened while azulon was still alive so iroh couldn’t do anything about it at the time. sure idk)

the negotiations begin the next day and sokka sits dutifully at yue’s side during the meetings, but zuko’s there too sitting next to lu ten and they quite literally can’t stop glancing at each other with furtive smiles, so much so that lu ten even elbows zuko to get him to pay attention. yue hides a laugh in her sleeve and disguises it as a cough.

they break for the day and zuko sidles up to sokka on their way out and asks if he’d like to see the palace gardens, which he didn’t get the chance to show him and yue yesterday. yue’s already gone off somewhere with arnook and iroh, and although sokka reallyyyyyy doesn’t want to relive any more of Zuko the Tour Guide, he won’t pass up the chance to spend time with zuko one on one. it ends up not exactly being one on one, and not really a tour either, as they end up at the turtleduck pond and find zuko’s mother already there. they spend some time with her, ursa teaching sokka how to get a turtleduck to come to him (a work in progress) and then lending him a scroll of old fire nation poems he might like. eventually zuko invites sokka back to his quarters for tea and they leave the pond.

finally alone, sokka thinks to himself when they reach zuko’s rooms. zuko brews them some tea, making small talk about how his uncle taught him the best way how, and pours some for sokka and then himself before sitting down at the table.

they sip their tea for a little while, chatting aimlessly, and sokka tries to act cool and collected while feeling anything but. eventually there’s a pause, and zuko gently places his teacup down and says, casually, “i actually don’t really like tea.”

sokka’s heart rate picks up as he places his own teacup down and says, “me neither.”

their eyes meet, another pause, and then the two of them scramble out of their seats to create their own meaning of diplomatic relations rather enthusiastically.

the week continues on like this, daytime political negotiations followed by a deeply satisfying rendezvous in whatever secret corner of the palace zuko brings him to next. or one of their rooms. beds are usually a good fallback. sokka is very much enjoying his first visit to the fire nation. he will absolutely be recommending it on trip advisor.

the vibes from ozai get increasingly whack, though, as the days pass. there’s a tension coming from his end of the table at dinner every night that only sokka seems to notice, although he does catch zuko minutely shrinking under his gaze once or twice. he’s not going to ask zuko about his dad issues, but something tells him there’s something bigger going on with ozai.

so in between his meetings of the political kind and his meetings of the… carnal kind, sokka snoops.

this is where the “leading threats” part comes in (finally, you’re thinking). sokka finds out in ways i do not feel like figuring out or describing that ozai is planning a coup to overthrow both iroh and lu ten so he can take over. he’s planning on using the visit from the water tribe officials as a cover — he plans to frame iroh and lu ten’s deaths as murders by the water tribe, then kill the water tribe officials themselves so they can’t clear their names. not only will this get ozai to the throne, it’ll give him a clear cut motive to restart the war that his brother ended.

sokka also discovers that ozai is not acting alone — he’s roped azula into masterminding much of the logistics of the coup, but also he’s coerced ursa into being involved with the actual murders (she poisoned azulon in canon right? or something? whatever it is, ozai is having her do that to iroh and lu ten) under threat of zuko’s death.

so yeah, sokka’s secret boyfriend does not have a chill family.

i think sokka would not immediately tell zuko (or anyone else) because 1) he doesn’t want to risk the consequences of being wrong and 2) he’s not sure if he 100% trusts that zuko isn’t also involved, even if it is coercion like ursa. not wanting to risk the consequences of being wrong is also why he doesn’t alert the rest of the water tribe or iroh & lu ten. this is a hugely serious accusation against ozai and by association, the fire nation, and if sokka’s wrong the diplomatic fallout would be catastrophic. beyond repair.

so he decides to try and usurp ozai himself and catch him red-handed. it does not go well. he’s quickly apprehended by azula and ends up becoming ozai’s hostage. ozai probably says some mean shit about zuko and their relationship. i think it’d be really evil if he told sokka that he’s gonna kill him and make it look like zuko did it. etc. (this would also confirm for sokka that zuko is definitely not involved)

not sure exactly how we get from point a to point b but i imagine sokka either finds a creative way to escape and alerts the others, and/or this is when aang and katara arrive and aang swoops in and takes care of business (this is, let’s say, the day before the holiday i mentioned), and/or ozai is intercepted by zuko, lu ten, and iroh because sokka is not as subtle as he thinks (the bar is low, okay? his best friend is yue) and zuko picked up on something being off. maybe it’s a big fight scene combining all of these things. let your imagination run wild!

“dude, your family is kinda…” sokka would shout to zuko while they’re fighting side by side (idk i imagine ozai has some other buff lackeys working for him too, guards he turned to his side, what have you).

“yeah, i know,” zuko would respond sheepishly.

“it’s okay, i still think you’re hot!” sokka would reassure him.

it ends with ozai being imprisoned. i think because this coup was a more short-term plan than ozai’s whole plot in canon, his claws aren’t sunk so deep into azula that she has the same mental break that she has in canon. i say she and ursa are sent to ember island for awhile on “house arrest” as like, diet banishment. not full banishment. azula is a child and ursa was clearly under extreme duress and truly believed ozai would kill zuko if she did not comply (he would have). azula and ursa can work on their shit while they’re away.

the next day is the fire nation holiday, and the royals & officials make a lovely public appearance as iroh formally begins the festivities. the trade negotiations are settled, so all there’s left to do is party. aang, katara, sokka, yue and zuko hang out around the festival, checking out performances and trying new foods.

eventually zuko pulls sokka away from the rest of the group and they hide behind a larger tent. “you know, i don’t actually care if people know. i just figured it wasn’t the best thing to advertise during the, y’know. diplomacy stuff,” sokka says, taking zuko’s hands.

“me too,” zuko replies. “but also, it’s kinda fun?”

“definitely,” sokka agrees and then pulls zuko into a kiss.

later (much later), sokka and zuko are meandering through the festival stalls, swinging their clasped hands between them, when zuko sees a stall selling messenger hawks. “do they receive mail in the southern water tribe?” he jokes, reaching up to stroke under the chin of the closest hawk.

“you know, i’ll have to get back to you on that one,” sokka says, rubbing his chin and pretending to look unsure. zuko elbows him. “you’d better write me. i know where you live, you know,” sokka adds.

“and you’d better write back. i don’t know where you live, but i’m told i’m pretty good at tracking.”

“tempting,” sokka hums. “that would be one way to get you down to the southern water tribe, i guess.”

“you know, my uncle has mentioned recently that i should probably do more traveling. get to know more about the other nations so i can help lu ten when he’s fire lord,” zuko says casually as they pass by another stall.

“he has, huh?” sokka tugs zuko into his side.

zuko smiles. “yep.”

“he has a point. international diplomacy is invaluable. just ask aang.”

“right,” zuko says, staring at sokka’s mouth. “international diplomacy.”

sokka thinks he says something like mhmm or uh huh in response but he quickly loses track of anything that isn’t zuko kissing him, so he lets it go.

the next day, zuko grabs a sheet of paper and goes to his desk with a fresh well of ink before sokka’s ship has even dipped from the horizon.

-

[if you can stand me writing more insanely long shit like this, weeks late, send me a title and i’ll tell you what kind of fic i’d write for it!]

[shrikehq]

∘ ₊✧────── anonymous asked ; i know this group's been around for a long time and has its subtleties, so i'm wondering if it'd be hard for someone totally new to the group to figure out the unwritten details of storyline and blend in?

i absolutely understand where you’re coming from with this question; sometimes groups - particularly those that are plot heavy - can be difficult to join as a new writer once it’s established. this is something that we’ve always kept in consideration, however, in an attempt to make sure that this can be a fun and welcoming experience for all, and so we do try our best to act accordingly to ensure that writers can join at any point and get just as much out of it as any other writer who has joined at any other point in time. i apologise in advance, as i know the full answer to this is going to be quite wordy ! 

the general feedback we get from our writers is that it’s not difficult to fit in and to catch up. we have our lore easily accessible, with summaries for plot drops, npcs, stores, relationships, etc. to help you understand the happenings without forcing you to read an overwhelming amount of text or without requiring you to have been in the group any earlier to completely understand what’s happened thus far. our discord also serves almost exclusively as a platform to enhance development and what’s written on the dash; we have a questions channel for writers to ask lore ( and group ) related questions, as well as a headcanons channel for writers to share headcanons or ask questions for the other writers to answer about their characters - reading through those channels as a new writer can be a great way to familiarise with all of those otherwise unwritten details ! 

we also have our sideblogs shrikesfm ( our ic radio show and where we host our npc information and relationships ) and shrikejournal ( our ooc musings blog ). these blogs are another way for writers to catch up without having to read overwhelming amounts of text or without having to have been there to understand characters, dynamics, and group quirks.

another factor that can help new writers blend in and catch up is how we really love member input. our group wouldn’t be what it is today without our members, both past and present. we really value hearing everyone’s ideas and contributions, and welcome this from new writers as much as we do our older ones. we’ve had feedback from writers before that being able to bring their own unique ideas into the group right away can help them to feel established, properly a part of the group and much less intimidated than they’ve felt in other groups where everything feels so detached from new writers / where no writer input is allowed. of course, not every idea can come into fruition as some can be conflicting with other already existing lore, but we are always open for discussions, be it privately or openly in the discord, and we’re always open for questions that can help you better understand everything shrike is about to help you better understand the details and better blend in. 

i think something great that could hopefully reassure you that it’s totally possible to blend in and feel connected here despite how long the group has been open is to know that all of our members have joined us at different points of the duration we’ve been open for. the group isn’t dominated by more established writers, in fact, most of our writers have joined at a time where the group was already established. we like to think that that’s a good testimony to the fact that new writers can join and thrive here ! 

i apologise once again for such a lengthy answer. ultimately, you’ll only know if the group is the right fit for you and if you’ll find ease and yourself thriving here like other writers if you join and try it out for yourself. not every group is suited for every writer, that’s something that we understand and support. no matter what, we’ll try to make this group a good experience for you, and we’ll try to foster a positive writing environment that you feel connected with and valued in. 

[findyourrp]

The Purge (OCxOC or OcxCC Doubles Welcomed)

🔪🔪🔫🔫👺

I’m 18+ and All Participants must be 18+

Please allow me to introduce myself! My name is Kim and my timezone is CST. Now onto the rp. So I love love love the purge movies and series. The thrill, the danger, the drama, and backstories. But I always wished that the purge had some romance. I mean it does but still more! Anyways if your interested in doing a purge rp I’m your gal

Anyways I have a idea that I can tell you more in dms but for your male oc for my female oc I would love if maybe he is a dominant handsome wealthy son of a businessman or a crime boss who is against the purge? The reason I ask for this type of male for my oc is because of my idea. I don’t want to send it all here because it would be too long. I can totally double and I can play a canon character as long as you play a male oc on my end. I would like the rp to have 50/50 mature scenes and stuff. I do also want to talk about ocs and be friends and just get all cute with our Ocs hahaha and their respective partners.

Now Rules:

1. Be of Age because this is a Purge rp so it will have content not suitable for minors.

2. Next is reply length.. NO ONE LINERS

3. I'm a very enthusiastic person when it comes to rp, so please if you just want to write don't reach out. That may seem harsh but when writing I want someone who I can discuss head canons with, create playlists with and share thousand image Pinterest boards with...

I do work Monday- Friday from 7:30 to 3:30 but I do have breaks however I am not available Monday evenings or Saturday Mornings but any thing other than that I’m free and I will let you know if I am not. That being said I will be available for four days next week. I run on CST time

I write in third person and I am semi literate and ask you are the same as well as creative! Bring your own ideas and input I love when we can brainstorm and trade ideas and make it even more better Roleplay. I also only rp on Discord

If you’re interested tell me your characters and favorite character from The Purge. Thank you for reading! Is you're interested please do let me know!!

.

[hoghtastic]

You all blame her for doing everything to get attention and then you give it to her. The last blog was her hatepage and this one looks like her fanpage. I don't know which option is funnier. Has Alex really become such a boring person that even his fans prefer to give their full attention to his girlfriend or his ex instead of him and his work? The name of the blog and the pinned post contradict the content

While I don't think Alex has become such a boring person, the truth is that the past few months his online presence has mostly been reduced to his relationship with Johanne (and vice-versa). So what is there about him and his work to discuss at the moment, that hasn't been discussed already? Should we keep talking about Vikings forever? Or some Danish series very few people were able to watch? Or about his upcoming projects that have no release date yet and no new info? I understand you, I'd love to be sharing and commenting new pictures of him from some new photoshoot, or videos of him at some charity events, or gif sets from a new series, but there's none unfortunately. And he also doesn't share as much content as he used to in the past.

So of course people are going to talk about the only available topics. And because this is intended to be a free, safe space for everyone to share their opinions, it's obvious that we won't always agree with each other, and that's perfectly fine. And this is exactly what is stated in the pinned post — "everyone is welcome and discussions are encouraged". This blog doesn't intend to be neither a hate page nor a fan page about her, but expect her to be discussed, since she's a part of Alex's (public!) life, and people are free to like or dislike her.

And if what bothered you was the last post, note that we were just talking about a dress (designed by one of Alex's friends), which happened to be worn by her. It would still be a pretty dress (in my opinion, of course), had it been worn by a totally random model or the Queen of Denmark herself. 😆 Liking something a person wears or the way they sing, for example, doesn't mean to actually like them as a person, or to approve of the shady things they'd done in the past. Two things can co-exist.

But if after all of this you're still bothered about seeing content about her here, there are a few options: ● Notice that the posts that are more specifically about her and her projects have been tagged #johanne milland, so you can easily block/filter this tag and you won't be seeing them anymore; ● You can send in asks about things you'd actually like to discuss here and actively contribute to the debate; ● You can find other blogs with content that's more to your liking.

Nevertheless, thank you for your input and have a nice day. 😊

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

Some of you might be wondering what kinds of activities we do with our Teen Advisory Group! Basically, our activities change depending on what our library needs at that moment.

Let's talk about what our group did yesterday!

First, we discussed the New York Public Library's new "virtual sticky note" advocacy campaign, and how important it is to fill out a note yourself and also spread the word to other people who want to support the library. P.S. - Many libraries have also started collecting paper sticky notes, as well. And some of them are VERY cute!

We took a sneak peek at NYPL's Summer at the Library 2023 programs.

We looked at the final design (which I selected based on their suggestions) of an item that we'll be giving away during programs and outreach visits this summer. I can't share it publicly yet, but I can tell you that its colors will match the NYPL library flag, and that it's made of recycled material. Stay tuned for pictures when I can share them!

We worked on button designs for our May 19th TEENS GET CRAFTY: Buttons For Bronx Week program. Basically, I used a 1" button template on Canva, and created button designs during the meeting while getting input from the group. For example, the conversation went something like this [Google Meet chat edited down for added coherence]:

That sounds fun

can you wear the button

can you use it

that looks good

those look so cute

Be looking like anime

can you add color to button

hearts LGBTQ

rainbow

star

sun rainbow

I feel like one of the NY gardens (for example the botanical garden), I feel like the floral would be pretty even if it was black and white

(floral for the background)

ice cream

flower

yes I like that

oooo! thats cute

sun

that black and white one

the heart with x

I would totally wear that

i love that omg

thats better

are the kids going to color it

make one with emoji

💃

the flower emoji is so cute

this one

the star one

the smiling one

the heart one

And then I used bits and pieces of that conversation to create designs like these!

If you're a teenager who would like to attend our virtual or in-person programs, have I got news for you!!!

Our TAG program is virtual, it meets year-round on Tuesday afternoons at 4:00PM, and it's open to teens ages 13-18. You can learn more about this program and register at http://bit.ly/KBTAG

Teens ages 12-18 are welcome to come to our in-person teen programs celebrating Bronx Week in May. Both of these programs will be held in our Community Room on our main floor.

Painting for Teens: Bronx Landscapes and Landmarks will take place on Monday May 8th @ 4:00PM. Learn more about this program HERE!

TEENS GET CRAFTY: Buttons For Bronx Week (featuring lots of cool button designs like the ones I shared above) will take place on Friday May 19th @ 4:00PM. Learn more about this program HERE!

We'll also be having lots of teen programs this summer, starting in June. STAY TUNED!!!

[tsasocial]

Assessing its role with Uster contamination control in yarn production

Profitability is obviously a basic requirement for spinners – so how might they benefit from applying wider economic ideas alongside established ways of improving mill productivity? This article examines contamination-controlled spinning from the viewpoint of one such well-known concept – the Pareto Principle – and assesses its validity in a yarn production environment.

In the late 19th Century, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto made the initial observations on which the Pareto Principle is based. Also known as the 80-20 rule, it suggests that in many cases only 20% of the effort put in will account for 80% of the result. This imbalance between input and output has been used in business to choose priorities and focus on the most effective areas to bring the greatest reward. Although not a hard and fast rule, the Pareto Principle can help to increase productivity and efficiency in industrial settings.

Specifically, it can be applied to determine ‘best practice’ in some elements of spinning when focused on contamination control.

Small effort, big effect

Experienced spinners know that contamination control in the blowroom exactly follows this principle. Correct positioning of the fiber cleaning system – at the point where the fibers are most open – is crucial. Contaminants might otherwise be hidden inside bigger tufts, but not with Uster Jossi Vision Shield at the fiber opening stage.

Uster Jossi Vision Shield is backed by 20 years’ experience. Conventional camera-based systems cannot match its performance. Operating across a much greater wavelength, Uster’s spectroscopes can find contamination even within the ‘invisible’ range of IR and UV light. Fragments of contamination in light pastel colors and white also pose no problem.

The final check

The non-Pareto effect

The second part of the Pareto concept – that the ‘other’ 20% of the results require 80% of the effort, does not actually apply for contamination-controlled yarn production. The principle here is “managing remaining contaminants in yarns at minimum possible cost” – and the solution is Total Contamination Control, which achieves far more than any 20/80 correlation! Total Contamination Control means precisely controlled contamination levels in yarns, with minimum waste as an integrated solution.

Total Contamination Control (TCC) balances ejections in the blowroom along with cuts in winding in the most advanced way. Uster Jossi Vision Shield and Uster Quantum 4.0 are two perfectly linked systems in the production process, minimizing the risk of foreign matter quality issues and focusing on defined quality and profitability.

TCC is an Uster Value module with Quality Expert, which also reveals optimization potential to save costs. Data from Uster Jossi Vision Shield and Uster Quantum 4.0 combined with Uster’s long experience in contamination control, answer the following key questions in practice. What is the right level of contamination removal? How does fiber cleaning and yarn clearing achieve consistent levels of contamination that will satisfy the customer requirements? And how does it prevent waste of good material?

Beyond Pareto

Vilfredo Pareto of course couldn’t know, more than 100 years ago, about Uster’s preventive yarn clearing. This solution follows its own rules: preventive means that there’s no 20% or anything remaining needing extra effort, but there is security. The new combined clearing and enhanced detection modes protect yarn quality, while reducing cuts at the same time.

Furthermore, disturbing defects cannot pass, so that issues in downstream processes are prevented. Upstream, connectivity to Uster’s quality management platform contributes to ‘preventive yarn clearing’. Perhaps preventive yarn clearing could be called a 100/0 rule?

To discuss the Pareto method, or any solution to control contamination effectively, Uster staff will be glad to welcome spinners to their booth at ITME. In Hall 9 visitors will quickly recognize booth C5 from distinctive white and red design. Uster looks forward to being your host at the upcoming show in India.

[keiyoomi]

▸ title: the proposal ▸ details: 1.3k+ words | s. kiyoomi × reader | slight angst, fluff ending ▸ note: rewritten version of this fic which i wrote when this blog was still new. lmk what you think about it! hihi. ah, and as usual, unedited.

“You’re not avoiding her, right?” Komori asked after reading the message that you’ve sent him. “Don’t tell me this is still about—”

“—I don’t know how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it.” Sakusa unconsciously nipped the tip of his finger. “I want it to be perfect. To be grand, yet intimate. I want everyone to hear how much I love her and how important she is to me.”

“And you’re avoiding her because. . .?”

Sakusa sighed. “I might end up proposing on the spot.”

Komori stared at the television where they were watching their previous matches. An idea crossed his mind after watching the video clip wherein his cousin made numerous service aces followed by the spectacular reactions of MSBY’s fans. “I know when and where’s the perfect time and place for you to propose.”

⚭

You were nervous, to say the least.

From the moment Komori picked you up from your place, until he made you sit near the courtside along with several family and/or friends of the other players present, you couldn’t seem to calm your nerves.

Not when you haven’t seen your boyfriend in person for more than a month. No text messages, no video calls, hell, even the emails you’ve sent were blatantly ignored. You even tried to visit his place to check on him, but he wasn’t there whenever you visited.

You were dying to know the reason why he’s doing this because you’re sure that you haven’t done anything that would cause any drama in your relationship.

Rumors about him dating an influencer were peacefully discussed and fixed. He easily solved your problem with your officemate who’s shamelessly flirting with you.

So, why is he avoiding you now?

Why now when you’ve finally learned how to handle each other and how to respect each other’s boundaries?

Why now when you two could easily discuss numerous issues just to avoid any unnecessary conflicts?

You roamed your eyes around the arena and looked for anyone you knew, or probably knew you. But you couldn’t even see Osamu who was standing behind his food stall earlier.

“What the hell is happening here?” you wondered. Soon after, the lights went out and you don’t have the slightest idea of what’s about to happen. Neither the fans of both Adlers and Jackals who watched the monsters’ generation’s rematch in person.

Amidst the confusion, a familiar tune began to play in the background earning a mixture of shrieks and cheers from the fans. “Welcome to MSBY’s channel! This is Hinata Shoyo and—”

“—Sakusa Kiyoomi.” Hearing his muffled voice reminded you of that day when you first met each other. Back when he deliberately approached Karasuno’s team while waiting for your turn to play. Back when he asked for your name without caring about the people watching his every move.

You sighed and smiled upon hearing the lifeless response of your boyfriend, contrary to Hinata’s bubbly way of introducing himself. Sakusa was wearing his MSBY face mask, one that was sold out as soon as it hit the market recently.

“Today we’ll be able to know more about Sakusa-san.” Shoyo threw one of the cards he was holding somewhere in the room earning a glare from Sakusa. It was noticeable how Shoyo winced upon feeling his senpai’s sharp gaze. “Few days ago, there was a poll on twitter. We’ve asked our fans—your fans—for their input. The result of that poll was surprising, at least according to Miya-san.”

“My poll didn’t even reach that number!” You giggled upon hearing Atsumu complain. Everyone in that room—the members of MSBY, you guessed—laughed at his complaint earning more whines from the blond setter.

“Three-fourths of the total number of those who voted wanted to know more about your love life.” Shoyo looked at Sakusa with hesitation. “Will that be—?”

“Y/N is fine with that.”

Blush crept on your cheeks upon hearing his response. Hearing MSBY’s supporters cheering and whistling made you feel more shy than you already are. “What the hell is happening here?”

“First question, when did you first meet L/N-san?”

“Before our match during the Spring Tournament.” He looked at the bubbly wing spiker with deep frown. “Can you not pretend that you didn’t know when it happened?”

“I-I’m not pretending or anything, Sakusa-san!” Hinata responded, clearly startled by the response from your boyfriend. You shook your head at Hinata’s reaction though. It was as if he was caught lying on the spot by someone.

Well, Sakusa wasn’t entirely wrong though. You were helping Hinata with his warm-up exercises when Sakusa Kiyoomi approached your group. You, to be exact.

A sudden rush of nostalgia flooded your system. It’s been a long time since your relationship with the “snobbish, germaphobe” blossomed into something wonderful. Something that you’d like to protect and take care of for your entire lifetime.

Hinata cleared his throat before reading the next q-card. “Next question—”

“If it’s about our first date, it was in Tokyo. When your team was invited by Nekoma. When and where did she agree to become my girlfriend, when our team visited yours, just before we graduate.” Then, you noticed that glint in his eyes whenever he’s teasing someone. “Karasuno didn’t even notice that one of their beloved managers went out.”

Hinata looked flustered upon hearing the response from your boyfriend. “Uh. . . Sakusa-san, when did you realize that she’s the one?”

You waited for his response, but instead of hearing his reply, the music playing in the background played louder than his voice. “What? Come on!” you complained, earning snickers from the people surrounding you.

Then, the lights were switched on.

Your jaw dropped when you saw the members of MSBY holding a letter. Sakusa was kneeling on top of a black yoga mat in front of his team members, hands holding a black velvet box with a shiny ring inside. Tears clouded your vision, but after reading the whole sentence, you laughed at the words formed.

‘MARRY ME WILL YOU?’

With shaky legs, you approached Sakusa and cupped his face before kissing his lips. He hasn’t voiced out the question yet, but you’re sure as hell with your answer. It doesn’t even matter if Bokuto and Atsumu’s group jumbled the words. What matters most is you and that man kneeling in front of you.

“Should I still ask you the question?”

With teary eyes you nodded your head while giggling. “Only if you’ll say their question out loud.”

His eyebrows furrowed before looking at the men behind him.

You could hear him curse at his teammates, somewhere along the lines of ‘stupid Atsumu.’

He, then, looked up at you. Eyes were begging, probably for you to drop the jumbled words made by his team, and you did.

“Y/N, you’re the most precious person I’ve ever met in my entire life. I am more than willing to tolerate your personality, but I do appreciate it if you’ll minimize your interaction with Atsumu—”

“Kiyoomi!”

“I’m always looking forward to our adventures together and I would never get tired of you and your weird habits. As long as our kids don’t get your worst quirks—”

“Sakusa Kiyoomi!”

He chuckled. “I’m kidding,” he responded before kissing the back of your hand. “Will you allow me to become the happiest man in this place today? To be your lawfully wedded husband and to be the father of your future children?”

You nodded your head, unable to form any words at the moment. He slipped the ring on your finger before scooping you up and twirling you, earning cheers from everyone inside that gym.

“You still have to explain why you avoided me for a month, okay?” you whispered against his ear.

“And here I thought I’m off the hook.”

“Mmhmm. You wish.”

[yespolkadotkitty]

Turn the Page

A Librarian Pedro!AU.

Warnings: None. Well, inaccurate assumptions about fancy libraries, but otherwise this is pure fluff, for the very lovely @kindablackenedsuperhero 

Wordcount: 1200

The first time you see him, you're lost in the stacks. You catch a glimpse of his faded band t-shirt as he mutters to himself, organising books from a trolley. A pencil is clamped between his teeth and wire-framed glasses sit on his face of planes and angles. 

Facial scruff, patchy and a little greying in places - hello, silver fox - hugs his beautiful jawline.

His hair tufts up at the back, tousled in front, as if he's constantly been running his hands through it. You want to do the same. Eyes the colour of fine whiskey narrow in concentration as he slips a book into place, then makes a note in the little pad stuffed into his jeans pocket. 

He wears black Converse hi-tops that are very worn, well-loved, and you watch his hand move over the notepad page, unspeakably enchanted.

You must make some noise, a squeak of your shoe perhaps, because he looks up, that soulful brown gaze pinning you, And shoves the pencil behind his ear. "You okay there?"

You hesitate, because you weren't done drinking in his quiet, relaxed beauty. The softly rugged edges of him.

"I need a newspaper from the archive room."

"Oh, sure." He flips the notebook closed, sets it on the trolley. "Which section?"

"Literature, please."

You try, and fail, not to eye his backside in those jeans as he leads you to the counter where he fetches the key, and then you follow him down the stairs to the archive room. 

It's temperature controlled, so access is only granted with a staff member, and for maximum fifteen minutes.

He hums to himself as he inputs a code into the keypad.

"The Chain?"

He blinks, then grins at you, and the smile makes him so beautiful that you have to focus on his words when he next speaks.

"Another Fleetwood fan, huh."

"Hard not to be."

"Amen," he agrees in that husky-edged voice, laid back California with just a lick of Texas.

The door slides open and he turns his key for the inner metal panel. As it too, slides open, you follow him into the temperature-controlled room. The outer door, on a sensor, shuts behind you.

"Lit.. here we go." The librarian trails a finger along the guard markings. He has an interesting little tattoo on his left hand, a spiral in faded blue ink. "Which collection?"

"The Jane Austen letters."

He nods absently and digs in his pocket for cotton gloves, snaps them on, before handling the delicate folder. "You'll need to read them in the adjoining room; you have an hour."

"Thanks."

He holds the folder and turns to the door  but the loud blare of a fire alarm makes you both jolt.

"Damn thing's been going crazy all week." The librarian pulls a radio from his pocket, depresses the TALK button. 

You listen to him converse with his colleague. Yes, it's a false alarm. 

He goes to the outer door, inputs his code. But it shoots back what sounds like the growl of an insulted robot.

"Everything okay?" You ask, a little nervous now. And a little chilly.

"I'm sure it's fine."

He radios upstairs again.

And it turns out that the fire alarm has short-circuted the electrics down here. You'll have to bide your time until the tech arrives.

The librarian turns to you. "Shit, sorry. I mean - shit. Potty mouth. Hopefully the tech won't be long."

You shrug. There are worse people to be trapped with. And worse places. "No problem." You offer your name.

He nods. "I'm Pedro."

"Ever seen Fleetwood Mac live?"

That sexy grin again. He has one dimple; it's devastating. "Six times."

You tour the room, it's a small space, but packed with riches. "You ever just come down here, to explore?"

The corner of his mouth quirks up, a little. "We're not supposed to."

You glance at him. "That's not a no."

Pedro shrugs, but his lips twitch with a suppressed smile. "Can’t blame a guy. It's like our own secret museum."

His eyes are chocolate brown, the brown of your favourite gourmet coffee brand. And so warm and soulful. You could lose yourself in them. “Ever take a date here?”

He just lifts one finger to his lips and winks at you. But there’s something so sweet and wholesome about him; it’s impossible not to like him. “I plead the Fifth,” he murmurs. 

The temperature seems to drop a notch and you shiver.

Pedro sets down the folder - with great care, you notice, and you love that he handles the documents here with the reverence they have earned. “Cold?”

“A bit.”

He frowns in sympathy. “The temp’s set by the main system. I - c’mere.”

You crease your brows. “You wanna cuddle?”

Pedro shrugs helplessly. “If I had a jacket, I’d give it to you. Sadly this t-shirt won’t provide much heat, but you’re welcome to it.” He starts to lift the hem.

“No!” You’re gonna combust if he gets undressed and although that would be one way to solve the problem, you don’t want this lovely man getting fired for being found half-naked in the archive room. “No, I mean, thankyou… A hug would be fantastic.”

And he opens his arms like it’s the easiest thing, and you step into them, and he’s warm and solid, and his scent of cinnamon, thyme and bergamot wraps around you. And then you look up into his eyes, and he’s smiling slightly, and all of a sudden you think: there you are. I’ve been waiting for you.

In total you’re trapped in the archive room for an hour. You and Pedro discuss the Paris Review, how much you both love Yeats, his current read, a 700-page book about death (he chuckles when he describes it), yours (The Time Traveller’s Wife), and how much you’re going to kick his ass at Scrabble on your first date.

He tells you about his favourite document in this room (a first draft of Hound of the Baskervilles with pencil notes in the margins by Arthur Conan Doyle), and he shows you it with careful page-turns, murmuring a commentary to you in that deliciously husky voice.

And even though your second kiss is interrupted by the tech freeing you, the first one was perfect - his lips soft, his facial scruff tickling pleasantly -  so you don’t mind. There’ll be plenty of time for kissing when he gets off work at 5.

**** 

Unbeta’d.

Tagging the Pedro pals: @alwaysbethewest @alldatalost @songsformonkeys @alienprincesspoop @beccaplaying @agirllovespasta @knittingqueen13 @heatherbel @abuttoncalledsmalls @buckstaposition @phoenixhalliwell @jaime1110 @soldade @arch-venus25 @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @thegreenkid @chews-erotically​ @mrschiltoncat​ @mrsparknuts​ @synystersilenceinblacknwhite​ @cryptkeepersoul​ @lackofhonor​ @nelba @mourningbirds1​ @badassbaker​ @starlight-starwrites​ @winters-buck​ @keeper0fthestars​ @pedropascallion​ @dornish-queen​ @gamingaquarius​ and although you didn’t ask to be tagged, @ohpedromypedro​ I think you’d like this <3

[popcorn-kitten]

new hiveswap info and development timelines just dropped on the Kickstarter ✌️

Over the years, a lot of misinformation, as well as deliberate disinformation, has spread around about the history of Hiveswap. The purpose of this post is to clarify these matters for backers who've been wondering what the truth is.

The Kickstarter was planned by the What Pumpkin business development team in mid-2012. One member of the team was a crowdfunding specialist who led the planning process and managed the contracts with the developer. Prior to the Kickstarter opening for pledges, What Pumpkin worked out a plan for a flexible game concept that could be refined according to how much the campaign ultimately brought in. As Hussie was still working on Homestuck full time at this point, the plan was to hand over his game concept and story outline to a development company that could deliver the project.

The crowdfunding campaign finished out at a gross total of $2,485,506, as well as a gross total of $207,930 from PayPal pledges. But because of platform fees, as well as the costs of producing and shipping merchandise to backers of the campaign, the effective budget was significantly lower than the gross pledged total:

The above deductions from the gross total do not include taxes.

After determining the final budget for the game, What Pumpkin signed an agreement with the contracted game company (hereafter “GC”) to develop Hussie’s game concept. WP and GC entered into a development contract on November 30, 2012, shortly after the conclusion of the Homestuck Kickstarter. WP paid $788,000 to GC in late 2012 for development.

Because there was an understanding that delivering the complete game development documents would take some time, during which it would be difficult for GC to make meaningful progress on the Hiveswap game build, GC inquired about getting involved with other Homestuck-adjacent projects to do immediate work. WP let GC know about the Act 7 animation plans. With an assurance that this work could be done in parallel with a flexible timeline and would not impact the development cycle of Hiveswap itself, Hussie and What Pumpkin saw this as a good opportunity to establish a working relationship with this organization prior to the start of development and agreed to contract GC to do animation work for the Act 7 project. WP and GC agreed that this project would have a separate budget from the Hiveswap Kickstarter money, paid for from WP’s regular operating funds. As the existence of this animation itself would not be revealed until its release in 2016, this was not publicly announced at the time. GC and the lead animator on the project specifically requested not to be credited upon release of the animation.

Hussie initiated the “Megapause” on April 14, 2013 in order to devote his full attention to finalizing the Hiveswap development documents. What Pumpkin soon provided its story documents so that GC could formally begin core systems development. In July of 2013 WP and GC mutually agreed to push back GC’s deliverable dates without penalty. Hussie would share an update in 2013 detailing the state of predevelopment:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/708686

In 2013 following receipt of WP’s deliverables, GC enthusiastically assured WP that it was positioned to begin development. GC would deliver its first prototype in early 2014.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qSXwWKD5Km1yL-3Cj_W5IevW-IA978zJ/view?usp=sharing

This prototype, linked above, was sent to WP on 2/18/14. At this point, it was becoming a significant concern among backers that WP had yet to show proof that the game was being made, so WP was looking for any sort of tangible progress update from GC that was suitable to share with the public. But Hussie and WP found the quality of the prototype somewhat alarming, and decided that sharing any shots from the game would only cause embarrassment for GC. Nevertheless, WP was still willing to assume that this was a very early draft of something that would develop into a more promising product soon, and gave GC some more time to improve on it.

But the improvements didn’t come. No other advancements on the prototype were ever made. After waiting weeks with no update other than assurances that progress was carrying on smoothly, Hussie initiated the “Gigapause” both to take care of personal matters and later to get directly involved in the development of the game himself. He decided to move to southern California from the east coast in hopes that working directly with the GC could help them overcome whatever obstacles they were facing with Hiveswap’s development. GC responded positively to the prospect of Hussie’s involvement, but when he made the move and tried to coordinate a time to visit the GC offices and meet, GC insisted it was a bad time due to office renovations and a busy schedule. Here is a timeline with quotes from emails exchanged between Hussie and GC:

May 12, 2014 - from Hussie to GC

“Just letting you know I actually moved to the west coast recently. I'm only an hour or so away from LA now.

I could drive down and check out the office, see how things are going with the game and animation in person some time soon. Is there a time that would work for you guys? In a week or two maybe?”

May 15, 2014 - from GC to Hussie

“That's awesome about being on the west coast. It'd be great to have you come to the studio.

Dev has slowed a bit on our end, as we wanted to take a step back and really evaluate what was needed and the best way to achieve the features that have been coming online in the docs. We're continuing to break that all down so we can build and plan most effectively moving forward. We also wanted to find some simple formats for input from your writing team for dialogue content and are getting that squared away.

The best time to come by would actually be right after E3. Things are a bit nuts until then.”

May 18, 2014 - from Hussie to GC

“[Name redacted], sounds good. I'll set aside some time after E3 to make the drive down. As we approach the date, just let me know what works for you.”

E3 was June 10-12, 2014. GC did not invite Hussie to visit at this time.

Hussie and WP representatives were in LA over July 4th weekend, 2014. When they inquired about visiting the offices again they were still not welcome. A GC representative insisted that they meet at a restaurant instead. Yet GC continued to telegraph that they were receptive to the idea of inviting Hussie to the office well into the summer:

Aug 18, 2014 - from GC to Hussie

“We'd love to set up a new time for Andrew to come to the studio as well as a skype chat to meet the other team members.”

Despite apparent enthusiasm about meeting with Andrew in their email correspondence, GC continued the pattern of refusing to meet at the office or supply any signs of progress on the prototype.

Over that summer, GC delivered several pieces of concept art that WP had been requesting since January. Hussie did his best to present this publicly as a positive development as WP felt it would be counterproductive to the project and harmful to GC to publicly detail the development troubles at the time.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/883860

There was no indication from GC that the Act 7 animation project was in any way in conflict with Hiveswap development. GC was enthusiastic about taking on this project, and bidded against other animators for the contract. They saw it as a useful tie-in to concept art work on Hiveswap, as GC leadership conveyed in an email to WP in early 2013:

WP also does not have any reason to believe that the Act 7 project in practice created a conflict that was not disclosed by GC to WP. Act 7 was a 2D animation project, and Hiveswap at the time was a 3D game, so it did not pull GC’s programmers or 3D artists away from work on Hiveswap. GC never mentioned the development needs of a separate project at all to WP, or cited any such reason as distracting from work on Hiveswap; GC instead repeatedly provided WP with various assurances that everything was still fine with Hiveswap.

Had GC communicated that they had scheduling conflicts or some other impediment preventing them from developing Hiveswap, WP would have terminated the contract even sooner.

WP moved to terminate the agreement with GC late summer of 2014, and Hussie pivoted towards establishing a new independent game studio while consulting with a designer who had stepped up into a leadership position during the GC development period. That individual lived in NYC, which is why that location was chosen to establish the new studio rapidly. They helped build the studio through a local network of professional contacts. While this “What Pumpkin NYC” studio shared a name with What Pumpkin, it’s important to note that all of WP NYC’s studio staff save for the aforementioned individual were hired without any prior affiliation with WP and thus had no association with the GC contract. WP documented this development on Kickstarter on October 30th, 2014. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/1035099

At this point, negotiations were very amicable; both parties agreed the project simply wasn’t turning out to be a good fit for GC, and were both ready to move on. There were no signs given at all that WP was about to have trouble recovering the remaining funds.

WP is legally permitted to discuss details of the resolution of the dispute only under very specific circumstances. WP may make additional disclosures outside of this post to individual backers in accordance with legal obligations.

Following resolution of the GC contract, in Spring 2015 the WP NYC studio was running at full capacity on Hiveswap. The main problem was the fact that WP management was blindsided by the revelation that much less money would be coming back than expected. The WP NYC project manager had designed the schedule based on the good faith presumption that most of the development funds would be recouped. When it was finally revealed the return was far short of what was expected, and the repayment plan could in no way keep up with the schedule as currently drafted, it threw the project into a period of chaos as plans were quickly redrawn. The length of Act 1 was slashed, and other modifications were made to try to fit the rest of Act 1 into the newly shortened runway. But in the end, the revisions still weren't enough to save the game as it existed, and the studio needed to be closed in order to reserve what funds remained to finish the project in some form.

This may have come across as a sudden or spontaneous decision. Part of this is because the WP NYC senior staff and WP ownership were doing everything in their power to save the project, including injecting WP regular operating funds into the project, until it was determined that going any further would be disastrous for the future of Hiveswap. Another is that WP was legally unable to give any detailed disclosures about the financial troubles, even to many of the WP NYC staff.

It should also be noted that originally the NYC studio was not going to be permanently closed, but only frozen for a reassessment of the project. But during this freeze period, there were some dramatic events. One staff member behaved in a destructive and threatening manner. For the protection of those involved, details shouldn't be disclosed. But these events made navigating the post-freeze issues impossible. Communication between ownership, management and staff broke down because of these events, and the freeze turned into full closure. This version of the project was then abandoned for many reasons, including these events.

Some misinformation claims that at the time the WP NYC studio was shuttered, its iterations of Act 1 and 2 were complete. This is wrong. Act 1 was very far from a shippable state and absolutely no work on Act 2 had been completed besides some concept and 3D art. Here you can see a video documenting one of many major bugs with critical path progression in the final build produced by WP NYC, where it becomes impossible to re-focus on the Simon Says toy if Joey fails and then exits out of the puzzle:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M2mmkMx8Wkwp1VU_5IpMKDvngmUFS0IG/view?usp=sharing

At the point the WP NYC studio was frozen it was still difficult to finish a full run of the critical path without the debug tool, and the UI was far from complete. With that build, Act 1 ended the moment Joey passed through the portal on Earth. The current version of Act 1, where Joey makes it to Alternia and meets Xefros, is more indicative of the original length of the NYC version of Act 1. Not only did it need to be slashed from what the original script proposed, the NYC version of Act 1 still wasn't that close to resembling a shippable product after those changes were made.

Because of the amount of time and resources already devoted to this project, WP was initially very reluctant to lay anyone off or scrap the work being done. It was for this reason that the studio stayed open for months after the contract with GC was resolved; WP made every effort to deliver a game with that team, but at the time WP NYC was shuttered, the funds just weren't there to keep the studio running at its current burn rate and schedule slips. The game was never going to reach delivery with the funds available. The studio urgently needed to be frozen for a full reassessment, and then it was closed after the freeze due to the reasons stated above. This was the only course of action that could have saved the project.

To WP's knowledge every artist whose work was used in the final release of Act 1 was included in the credits. The final version of Act 1 was in large part built off concept art and storyboards drawn during the WP NYC era, and many of the artists who made them continued to work on the team that produced the final version of Act 1; the roadmap for the completion of Act 1 was specifically planned because WP had determined that the existing 2D concepts could easily be refined into a final product that would both be visually appealing and more economic to produce. Unfortunately due to the transition to 2D WP no longer had a place for the 3D artists or the original 3D engine, and all of those assets were dropped. They were not used as a basis for the finished assets in Act 1, and visual similarities to WP NYC 3D assets are due to the fact that final Act 1 assets are in large part refinements of the original concept art. Any artist whose work was used incidentally was included in Additional Contributions.

Both the GC and NYC phases of Hiveswap were setbacks to the overall fulfillment of the project, but not insurmountable. WP reorganized the budget to establish a new version of the studio, and Act 1 was released two years after the closure of NYC.

As an addendum, WP has identified the primary source of a disclosure to a well-circulated document of the Hiveswap development process. WP has been aware of a pattern of false claims this former employee has made since the end of their employment at the beginning of 2014. As this individual was not present during the end of the development contract with GC, nor the WP NYC development period, all of the information they have shared is based on speculation and conjecture.

At this time, WP does not wish to invite more controversy into the lives of anyone previously involved with this project, and considers these matters to have been resolved long ago. The goal for years has been to turn the page on flawed attempts by earlier studios, and simply move forward and bring Hiveswap to completion without sparking the chaos, disruption, and threats to personal safety that would have resulted from disclosing many of the details stated above. Doing so would only make it more difficult for the staff to rebuild the project during these periods immediately following the termination of the GC agreement and closure of the NYC studio. Since preservation of the project was the primary responsibility to the backers, making destructive disclosures that put the project at risk along the way would have been at odds with that responsibility. This policy also served to protect individuals from personal or professional harm, including those who were responsible for serious setbacks with the project. Please respect the privacy of any persons affiliated with GC and WP NYC.

[hotpodsummer]

Welcome to the 2021 Hot Pod Summer Exchange! Hot Pod Summer is a fic exchange challenge focused on Crooked Media podcast hosts, contributors to Crooked Media podcasts, real-life partners of pod hosts, and/or Crooked Media employees.

Rules:

You can nominate anyone who is a Crooked Media podcast host, a contributor to a Crooked Media podcast, any real-life partners of pod hosts, or any Crooked Media employees.

You can request between 3 and 6 relationships, and offer between 4 and 10 relationships.

Your assignment must be a complete textual story (no WIPs, please) of at least 1,500 words.

Your work must be archive locked so only registered users can access it.

How do I get in touch with the mods for this exchange? You can email us at hotpodsummer@gmail.com. 

Schedule

Nominations: April 30th-May 6th, 2021

Sign-ups open: May 7th, 2021 

Sign-ups close: May 16th, 2021 at 11:59PM EDT (what time is that for me?) 

Assignments go out: May 17th, 2021 

Default deadline: July 11th, 2021 at 11:59PM EDT

Assignments due: July 18th, 2021 at 11:59PM EDT (what time is that for me?)

Staggered reveals: July 25th-30th, 2021

Author reveals: August 5th, 2021

FAQ

Nominations

What can I nominate?

You can nominate relationships that include anyone associated with Crooked Media as a podcast host or contributor, a real-life partner of a pod host, or a Crooked Media employee.

A relationship can include two or more people. Please note that romantic relationships are denoted by / and platonic relationships are denoted by &. Thus, if you’d like to see a romantic story between person A and person B, you’d nominate that relationship as A/B. If you wanted to receive purely platonic fic without any romantic components, you’d nominate them as A&B. You can also combine & and / and nominate, for example, A/B & C, in which case A/B would be romantic and C would be a platonic part of the ship.

How do I nominate relationships for this exchange?

Go to the tag set! You're allowed to nominate up to 5 relationships during the nomination phase.

Sign-ups

How do sign-ups work?

On the collection page, find the button that says ‘Sign up’ and follow the prompts. You can request and offer any of the previously nominated relationships (no matter if you nominated them or not). You can request between 3 and 6 relationships for which you’d like to receive fic, and can offer to write between 4 and 10 relationships.

Do I have to write a letter to my author?

No, you do not have to write a letter to your author, though you are absolutely welcome to write a letter with optional details, prompts, or whatever else strikes your fancy. Leaving your author optional details in the sign-up field is not required either, but strongly encouraged. The details are optional, but some authors find it helpful to know what kind of story you’d like to receive, which tropes or prompts you’d really like to see written, or what your Do Not Wants (DNWs) are.

How does matching work?

The Hot Pod Summer exchange matches on relationships. Your assigned recipient will have requested at least one relationship that you offered to write. If you have entered optional details or DNWs in your AO3 sign-up boxes, these may also be taken into account when matching. Once matching is done, you will receive an email with your recipient’s AO3 username and their requests.

Assignments

What are the requirements for the story I’m writing?

Your story must feature at least one of the relationships requested by your recipient. It must also be a complete story (no “I’m posting chapter 1 now and other chapters later”, please!) of at least 1,500 words.

If I offered more than one ship that my recipient requested, which one do I write? If I want to write a ship they requested that I didn’t offer, am I allowed to do that?

As long as your story features at least one of the ships they requested, you’re good. If you offered more than one of their ships, which one you end up writing is totally up to you.

Is my assignment a secret?

Your assignment is a secret until authors are revealed. Please do not discuss the story you’re writing publicly, we all want to be surprised on reveals day. :) If you need to contact your recipient because you have a question about their sign-up or for whatever other reason, please do not contact them directly, even anonymously! Instead, email us at hotpodsummer@gmail.com and we will contact your recipient to ensure anonymity is maintained.

What if I can’t complete my assignment before the deadline?

Please reach out to us. We’re here to help, but we have to know if there’s a problem. We have a default deadline set for a week before assignments are due and while we understand that last-minute things can happen, it would really help mods with planning if we got a heads-up from you a week before your assignment is due if you think you won’t be able to turn in a story -- just hit the ‘default’ button on your My Assignments page if you need to. That way, we can send your assignment to a pinch hitter and ensure your recipient doesn’t go gift-less.

Am I guaranteed to receive a gift?

If you signed up for the exchange and turned in a story, you are guaranteed to receive a gift. If you default and your author does not, you will also receive a gift. If you default and your author defaults as well, you may not receive a gift, depending on availability of pinch hitters.

Can I make a fanmix/video/draw fanart instead of writing a story?

This is a writing exchange, so for your assignment, please stick to writing a story of at least 1,500 words. You’re welcome to add art, music, etc. to the story you wrote, but this is primarily a fanfiction exchange.

Can I write more than one story for my recipient?

Oh my god, you overachiever! :) Yes, you totally can. In that case, you’d post the extra gift as a treat, but you’re of course only asked to write one story.

What is a pinch hitter and how do I become one?

A pinch hitter fills in for somebody else who can’t complete their assignment and writes a story for that person’s recipient. A pinch hitter may be somebody who’s already participating in the exchange, but if you aren’t formally participating in the exchange and would like to pinch hit instead, you’re more than welcome to. If you’d like to pinch hit, please fill out the form any time after sign-ups begin (it will be linked here and/or posted on social media) or email us at hotpodsummer@gmail.com.

Can I write treats?

YES. All requests will be made public after assignments go out and if you’re inspired by one (or more!) requests that aren’t your assignment, you’re welcome to write a little bonus story (=a treat) on top of your assignment for anybody else who signed up for the exchange. You may also write treats if you aren’t officially participating in the exchange. Treats do not have to fulfill the minimum word count and may be multimedia.

How do I find a beta reader for my story?

If you’d like another pair of eyes on your story before you publish it, you can email hotpodsummer@gmail.com. In the email, please tell us: the ship you’re writing, the word count of your story, and what kind of beta you need (for example: SPAG, structure, canon, special knowledge of [certain subject or matter], etc.) and we’ll try our best to connect you with someone to look it over for you, though we can’t guarantee it.

I would like to beta someone else’s story!

Great! Sign up using this form here and if anyone needs a beta, we may contact you with their request.

Posting

How do I post my assignment?

In the top right corner of AO3, where it says “Hi, [your username]”, select “My assignments” from the dropdown menu, find the Hot Pod Summer exchange and click “Fulfill”. You’ll be taken to a form where you can input your story, title, etc. Preview it, make sure it looks how you want it to, and click on Post. Your story will automatically post into the Hod Pod Summer collection as a gift to your recipient. It will remain unrevealed in the collection until an admin reveals it.

Can I edit my story after the deadline?

Yes, you can edit your story until it’s revealed, but please do not upload an unfinished story.

How do I post a treat?

Posting a treat works a little bit differently than posting your assignment. In order to post a treat, you have to visit the Hot Pod Summer collection page (you’re probably on it now if you’re reading this FAQ) and click “Post to collection”. This will take you to a posting form that has the collection name already filled in, so it’ll be posted in the right place. From there, fill in the AO3 name of your treat recipient manually and then input your title, story, etc., preview it to make sure it looks the way you want it to look, and then click on Post.

Story reveals

What are staggered reveals and why are you doing them?

Staggered reveals mean that we’re only publishing a small number of stories at a time every day, thus, you might get your gift on any day during the reveals period. We’re doing this so every story can get the attention it deserves and readers aren’t overwhelmed by a lot of stories dropping at the same time.

How do staggered reveals work?

We will email you the night before the story you wrote will go live (please check your email!). That way, you’ll have the chance to put that day’s date on your story and make sure it appears at the top of the collection once your story is revealed.

Do I have to comment on my gift?

Look, we can’t mandate it, but please comment on your gift. It’s the polite thing to do if somebody else took the time and effort to write a story for you. 

Any other questions?

Email us at hotpodsummer@gmail.com and one of us will get back to you.

[lilxberry]

The Glitch: Chapter Two

Synopsis;

Wanda certainly had attracted the newest Avenger. Y/N’s usual overconfident façade seems to easily drop when around the Sokovian witch.

Warnings: Language. I think that’s pretty much it for now, unless you wanna be warned about hella sarcasm and snarky remarks too lmao

Words: 1,010 

Pairing: Avengers x reader, Wanda Maximoff x reader (later chapters)

(A/N: For future knowledge, chapters will be kept under 3000 words)

< CHAPTER 1  CHAPTER 3 >

--- flashback ---

‘Man, those assholes were ANNOYING.’

Y/N stretched her arms above her head, groaning slightly, cracking her back, working out the painful kinks that developed from the whole bank fiasco.

She had rid herself of her jacket as she moved further into her apartment. “And what do I feel like having today?” She questioned herself aloud, swinging the fridge door open to scour the selves for food.

She huffed and straightened her back, slamming the fridge door shut with her hip before proceeding to search the freezer instead. 

“Bingo!” She reached in quickly and retrieved the piece of frozen plaice she got a few days ago from the store, smiling victoriously.

Preheating the oven and setting the piece of fish on to a cooking tray, she places the tray with the fish into the crematorium for food before getting herself the box wine from the kitchen and heading over to couch.

Kicking her shoes off, she swings her legs up on to the couch, sprawling herself along the faux leather seating, afterwards turning on the T.V. and waiting for her food to finish cooking.

_______________

Her meal had finally heated thoroughly, Y/N now had the finishing touches to add.

Setting her plate down upon the dinning table, she seats herself with her meal in front. She picked up a sliced, fresh lemon, squeezing the sour fruit to further add flavour to her fish.

Satisfied, she smiled picking up her knife and fork, ready to devour the plaice before her. She sliced a small bite off, impaled by the fork. She brought it up to her lips, almost shoveling it down her throat when-

‘KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!”

“You gotta be fucking kidding me, man.”

Y/N let out an aggravated groan as she threw her utensils back on to the plate with a loud clatter and stood up harshly, chair scraping against the kitchen floor, enough to make her screw her features up and cringe.

She shuffled towards the door. “If you’re girl scouts, try shoving the cookies through the letterbox and I’ll slide the money under the door.”

“Unfortunately, Miss Y/L/N, we aren’t selling cookies.”

She threw the door open and leaned against the door frame, eyeing the man. “Oh boy, I see this lil’ girl scout hit puberty. Sounds like she started smoking too.” She felt humoured at the remark, though his face held no amusement. She noted his attire and quirked an eyebrow. “Listen, patches, I don’t want whatever it is you’re selling so please, fuck off so I can enjoy my dinner. Thanks, BUH-BYE.”

She moved to close the door when he barged into her apartment. “No, you listen, glitch, we have a lot to discuss, whether you like it or not. What happens after our little conversation, is entirely up to you.”

The use of the word ‘glitch’ had made her stiffen, her posture made rigid. His voice held an threating underlining tone as he spoke with authority. All she could do is nod slowly, showing she understood.

“Good. Now, Miss Y/L/N, I’m director Nick Fury of the organisation S.H.E.I.L.D. and I’m here to discuss recruiting you, and your abilities, for the Avengers”.

‘WHAT. THE. FU-’

--- end of flashback ---

_______________

“Pardon my Goddamn French but what the fuck, Fury?” Stark started, shortly followed but Steve muttering ‘language’ under his breath.

“Seriously, you can’t just spring shit like this on us!”

“I believe I can, I will and I have.”

Soon began a shouting match between Nick Fury and the Avengers. Some trying to defuse the tension, some inputting their out thoughts on the sudden matter at hand and others continue to spectate whilst sitting on the couch still.

Y/N rolled her eyes and groaned loudly, gaining the attention of the people in the room. “Listen, C-3P0,” she spoke, gazing pointedly at Tony. “I get this may not be ideal for you and the others but it sure as shit ain’t ideal for me either. First, my trip to the bank went tits up ‘cause some inconsiderate assholes decided to hit it, then patches her interrupts my dinner, now I’m gaining a migraine ‘cause you asshats wanna scream at each other and still, no one has answered the ONLY question I’ve asked.”

Peter could only let out a snicker, trying to hold in his laughter, at her hilarious out-burst as the others stare at her, moths agape.

Tony sent the young teen a look before turning his attention back to Y/N and Fury, letting out a scoff. “Pray tell us, what makes her so special? Why exactly is she here?”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., bring up the footage of bank incident today.”

“Yes, director Fury.”

‘What the fuck was that?’ Y/N looked up and around her, searching for the feminine voice that answered the man before turning her attention towards the large screen mounted opposite the large couch.

The T.V. displayed the combat she partook in at the bank against the group of men, the Avengers witnessing the skills and abilities she possesses. 

“So that’s how you found out about me, huh?” She glanced towards Fury as she crossed her arms. 

“If you didn’t want to be found out, you should have hidden your face better, Y/L/N.”

“Touché.”

Soon, the footage ceased, allowing the team to soak in the new information that they had just been presented with. “So, you’re like a, glitch, or something, right?” Sam turned towards her, his own arms crossed over his chest.

“Something like that, Tweety Pie, yeah.” She retorted back, eliciting a raised eyebrow from him and a snicker from Bucky.

“I like her.” Clint muttered quietly to the Black Widow beside him.

Steve glances at everyone occupying the room before letting his vision focus solely on to the girl. “I guess, welcome to the Avengers, Y/N.” He extends his hand out for her to shake, which she hesitantly grasps in her own, smaller appendage and shaking firmly.

“Now, I have two questions. One, where did that voice earlier come from? And two, where are we on the whole snack thing?”

_______________

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So, here’s chapter 2!

I’m still fairly new to writing so this may or may not be shitty (it totally is)

I still haven’t really came to a decision who i would like to pursue as a main love interest but I have decided who I would not like to see:

        * Peter Parker. (You) are supposed to be in your early/mid 20′s, possibly even older, and he’s still like 15 so nope

        * Bucky Barnes. I kinda don’t want to see Bucky as the main love interest in this as Bucky tends to get a LOT of fan fiction written about him. This brings me on to my next character

        * Steve Rogers. I’m not entirely opposed to Steve but like Bucky, he has a load of fiction written about him and I’d like to change it up

        * T’challa. Honestly, even before Chadwick’s death, I have felt weird when it comes to romance with the character. I feel like if i write anything beyond a platonic relationship with his character, it would be disrespectful and objectifying. This is my personal reasoning and you do NOT have the agree which is perfectly fine

I’m so open to hear your thoughts and suggestion on this matter as I’m pretty stuck on this decision lmao

I hope you enjoyed. please show me so by hitting that lil’ heart at the bottom of the post my doods

And finally, constructive criticism and requests are welcomes as always and are greatly appreciated :D

[mentally-in-northern-italy]

Raising the Stakes — Oliver Wood x reader

***not my GIF***

Summary: you are the newly appointed Slytherin captain, ambitious to win at least one match after your two previous losses. But when the stakes are raised, you seem to be playing for more than just to clear your name as a “failed” captain.

Word Count: ~3.4K

A/N: OH MY GOSH! I’m so sorry, I know I “announced” that I would be writing my first fic a while ago, but to be honest, I was so overwhelmed with everything else that I had to keep putting it off. Anyway, this fic is super duper long, because I totally got carried away while writing, I’m so sorry! It’s a lengthy one, but if you give this a read, I’d be so grateful! Feedback is more than welcome, as I’ve never really done this before. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy!! :)

____________________________________________________________________

The day before a Quidditch game was always tough for you. And, rightfully so, seeing as the pressure that was put on you every single time was incredibly overwhelming. See, this year was not a good year for Slytherins when it came to Quidditch. When Marcus Flint was temporarily suspended from his position as Quidditch Captain due to very distasteful, (what many would refer to as... foul) play, they needed someone who could fill his shoes, and fast. 

You just had to be the one who got the short end of the stick. 

Being Quidditch Captain came with many benefits, of course -- anyone could see that. You were able to order around everyone on the team, especially the people who you didn’t get along with too well, decide the times for practices to fit your schedule best and if the match resulted in a victory, get all the credit for the marvellous match. 

Except every seemingly perfect thing has its flaws, after all. Flint’s shoes as Captain were hard to fill. Many people at Hogwarts may tell you that he is the most disgusting, obnoxious, and arrogant person around… and they wouldn’t be wrong. But what many people cleverly omit is that he is a brilliant Quidditch player -- when he doesn’t resort to cheating. The Slytherin Quidditch team, under his strong guidance, was practically unbeatable. They were doing better than they’ve done in years. Needless to say, when they won match after match, the team’s thrilling victories were all attributed to the fact that they had someone as masterful and godly as Flint as their Captain. 

You, however, had a different approach as Captain. While you weren’t an angel, you certainly weren’t Flint. Your approach to leadership may be considered too laid-back for some, but you never wanted to be as overbearing as Flint. 

Unfortunately, this approach wasn’t exactly successful. The Slytherin team had now broken their winning streak, and lost two games ever since you were appointed Captain. Naturally, they blamed these losses on your failed leadership. 

The first game that was played with you appointed as the new Slytherin Captain was against Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff had a strong team, their plays were tactful and their brilliant seeker, Cedric, almost always managed to pull through and catch the snitch. However, and one can blame it on the fact that this was because you were simply a Slytherin, you and the rest of your team had severely underestimated the sunshine-coloured team. Call it overconfidence or just sheer misfortune, you and your team had not trained nearly hard enough and the match was over extremely quickly, and all the plays that you had devised, hunched over in the common room, all went to waste. 

This was a devastating loss for Slytherin, as it had broken their streak. People whispered about you whenever you walked by them in the halls, spreading gossip and judgement because of your failed leadership. 

But true to the verdant-coloured house’s core values, they stayed loyal to you. Many excused your failure by simply taking into account the fact that it was your first match as Captain, after all. The second one will be better… right?

Wrong.

For your second match, you took the opposite approach. You trained hard, and made sure that everyone else trained hard as well. 

Oliver, the Gryffindor team’s beloved Captain, took notice of how often the Quidditch team was booked under your name. And he would never give up on an opportunity to tease you.

Oliver and yourself, had a complicated relationship. You were never exactly friends… no, that was definitely not the right word. You two had a few classes together, but barely ever talked off the Quidditch pitch. You thought he was incredibly infuriating with his smug smile plastered on his face 24/7 and his thick Scottish accent. But even you, couldn’t deny that he was attractive. He thought you were… well, this bit was a bit more complicated. 

He didn’t like you, but he couldn’t possibly hate you. He had always thought you were incredibly pretty and the way you always raised your hand in class was adorable. He loved how out-spoken you were… that is, until you picked up a Quidditch broom. 

You could still remember your first match like it was yesterday. You had done a spectacular job as a chaser, scoring not five but six goals against Oliver. And when the Slytherin seeker finally caught the snitch, your team had consequently won that match. You were ecstatic, meanwhile Oliver had decided that it was his new-found goal to beat you. After the match, he had come up to you and told you that you had played horribly. Taken aback a bit, you gave him no response, but only smiled at him coolly. Your smile perfectly disguised your new-found resentment of the Gryffindor, who instead of congratulating you, had just insulted you. 

“Training hard, I see,” he said as he jogged over now, to you one evening after a particularly lengthy training session. You were bent over, trying to properly place all the balls in their rightful places in the box. 

You looked up to glance at him before turning your head back downwards, paying no attention to him. 

“You know, Ravenclaws aren’t particularly skilled when it comes to Quidditch,” he said casually as he took in how attractive you still looked, even when you were drenched in sweat.

“Thank you for your input, Wood,” you said sarcastically, not even bothering to look up.

“No problem,” he smiled at you smugly as you began to stand up, “I think you can beat them. Good luck.” 

“Why would you want me to win?” You questioned with narrowed eyes. This was not like Oliver.

“Because no matter what happens in the match tomorrow,” he drawled as he leaned in slightly, “Gryffindor will still beat you.” 

There it was.

You groaned and shoved him lightly and started to walk off. You could hear him chuckling under his breath as he watched your receding figure. 

But when it came down to it, in the middle of the match, most of your team had begun to realize that there was no way they were going to come out of this victorious if they followed your plays. Malfoy, ever so resourceful, pulled the rest of the team aside and advised them to completely abandon the plays that you once again had worked hard for and try offensive.

This lack of unity within your team inevitably led to another loss.

And your house was not happy. 

___________________

So, here you were, eating your breakfast in the Great Hall with extremely shaky hands. You could not afford to lose the match tomorrow. There was no way you could let that happen. That would surely end your Quidditch career before it even started, and the whispering in the halls would not come to a stop. You tried to run through the Quidditch plays once again in your head, to ensure you had them down for the practice tonight when Malfoy swaggered in and took a seat beside you.

“We better not lose again, [Y/L/N],” he grunted as he reached over to grab the jam, “you’ve failed us enough.”

“Shut up, Malfoy,” you snapped at him after rolling your eyes so far back into your head that it hurt a little, “maybe if you played well and followed my plays that I spend HOURS creating, we would do better.” 

“Whatever,” he muttered under his breath as he took a bite, “Flint was better.”

With a groan you decided that you had had enough food to eat. You felt as though if you ate anymore, you would surely have to rush to the girls’ lavatory and throw up. You stood up and started to head towards the exit of the Great Hall, not having any particular idea what exactly it was that you were heading towards. 

All you knew is that you had to win. 

____________________

“[Y/L/N],” called two familiar voices from somewhere behind you. 

You had been walking, on your way to the common room, to try to have a final look at the Quidditch plays when you heard the seemingly identical voices.

You turned around to see the Weasley twins, with Oliver, standing in the hallway, discussing something hurriedly. Oliver’s back had been turned to you, but it wasn’t hard to recognize his very distinct broad shoulders that Quidditch had blessed him with.

Oliver turned around and met your gaze, before looking back at the twins confusedly. 

“Um, yes?” you said, reluctantly as you walked closer to them. 

The twins had a toothy grin stuck on their face which, you decided, was not a good sign. This meant that they were up to something. Oliver continued to look between the two twins and, occasionally you, with a dumb-founded look.

“Ready for the match tomorrow?” one of the red-headed twins asked in a teasing matter.

“Yes, actually, I am,” you said rather defensively. You crossed your arms to try to look more intimidating but this clearly failed as the other twin started to snicker.

“You know, Oli here thinks so too,” the other one started to say as he clapped Oliver’s shoulder, “he’s a little scared about tomorrow. Doesn’t think we can beat you.”

You raised your eyebrows at this. Well, this was a new development. You looked at Oliver for confirmation.

“What? N--” he exclaimed at the twins before the twin to his right shushed him and cut him off.

“Georgie and I think it would be rather fun to raise the stakes, don’t you think?” Fred said quickly before Oliver could interrupt him again, “Motivate him a little, perhaps?”

Oliver had gone back to looking lost.

You didn’t say anything to this but George must have picked up some sort interest in your gaze.

“Tell you what, [Y/N], you win tomorrow and Oli boy here,” he says as he claps Oliver’s shoulders again, making him slightly wince in pain, “owes you a favour.”

Oliver opens his mouth to say something but is once again, cut off.

“Anything you want.” Fred said.

“Whenever you want.” George finished.

You opened your mouth to reply but you were unable to find the right words. Of course, you wanted this. You could make Oliver give over all his booked quidditch pitch hours, you could make him carry your books, do your homework---

“Hello?” George said as he jokingly waved a hand in front of your face. 

“Uh, yes! I mean, yes. Yes, that sounds good, I guess.” You said as you tuned back into the conversation.

“I--” Oliver started.

“But what if you win?” you ask suddenly as the realization dawns on you. You were not about to add onto your humiliation of losing three consecutive Quidditch matches by becoming Oliver’s personal servant as well.

“Glad you asked, dearest [Y/N],” Fred smirked as if this is exactly what he was waiting for.

“If we win, you and Wood go on a date,” George said with a big smile, “that’s it.”

“A pretty great deal if you ask me,” Fred added in quickly.

Oliver’s expression contorted into absolute shock as his cheeks started to redden the faintest shade of pink. He opened his mouth to yell at the twins but was unable to. Something compelled him to shut up and turn to you, desperate to see what you thought of this. A small part of him hoped that you would agree.

This clever plea presented by the twins had taken you back by surprise, to say the least. On a date? With Oliver? Didn’t he hate you, and you him? You almost wanted to laugh at what a ridiculous idea this was, and you almost did, before you saw that Oliver was watching you with his eyebrows furrowed. Did he want this? Did he not? It seemed pretty harmless, right? Plus, if you declined, wouldn’t that show that you were nervous and unsure about the match? 

“Fine. You have a deal.” you said assertively and reached out your hand to shake Oliver’s. 

Now, Oliver wasn’t a bright student, but he wasn’t dull either. But at this moment, his brain had completely stopped working as he stared at you, taking in your eyes that twinkled and your perfect lips that looked so soft---

His thoughts were rudely interrupted by Fred’s aggressive approach to bringing his attention back to this conversation; he shoved Oliver, almost causing him to fall over.

“Wha--? Oh, yes. Yes. Date,” he stammered, trying to find the right words, “I mean--, no, not a date. Dea--Deal. Yes.” 

He extended out his incredibly sweaty hand to take your noticeably smaller hand in his and gave a firm shake. He smiled at you and you returned it hesitantly before you turned back around to walk away.

What a weird night this has been. 

______________________

The match had started nearly ten minutes ago and Oliver had not taken his eyes off you once. It did work in his favour a bit, as you were a chaser, so it didn’t look out of the ordinary at all. But Fred and George caught on quickly and exchanged knowing looks, smirking slightly.

The match, dare you say it, was going extremely well. The other chasers had already scored multiple goals and this offensive-style play was proving to be very effective. 

But your head was not in the game. Not at all. 

The way that Oliver was flying on his broom, strategically blocking goals and giving a victorious smile each time to the crowd was proving to be particularly distracting. And it may just be your brain playing tricks, but you could’ve sworn you saw him watching you a few times, too.

It was somewhat of a revelation last night. This morning, you saw Oliver in a completely different light. Your mind even tried to convince you that maybe it wouldn’t be that bad if your team lost again. You quickly mentally slapped yourself to get rid of this thought. You had to win.

______________

The match went on for a while after, and it came incredibly close to being a victory for Gryffindor.

But it wasn’t. 

Many people blamed it on Oliver’s lazy and distracted gameplay, and many on your brilliant one.

You exclaimed loudly and smiled broadly as Malfoy caught the snitch, and the stands erupted into applause and cheer.

You hopped off your broom and went to congratulate Malfoy and your other teammates, all the while the stands clapped and screamed. It sounded like music to your ears. You were so incredibly happy that your hard work had paid off and you had broken the losing streak. 

Your smile faltered, however, as you saw how defeated Oliver looked. This was a major bruise to his ego. He was not used to losing. But you couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, he looked that disappointed because he would be unable to go on that date. If you were being honest, part of you was also disappointed for the same reason. 

_________________

You were sat in the library, trying to focus on your Charms homework but that was proving to be quite… impossible.

Oliver was sat two tables ahead of you, and while his back was turned, you still felt yourself feeling a little flustered. 

You had been gazing shyly at the back of Oliver’s head when a sudden tap to your shoulder scared you half to death.

“Hellooo [Y/L/N],” said the slightly taller twin, which you now were able to tell was Fred.

“For Merlin’s sake,” you exclaimed with hand to your chest, “you can’t scare me like that, Fred!” You whirled around to see Fred standing behind you with his infectious smile on his face and George, standing beside him in an identical manner.

“Sorry.”

“What do you want?” You questioned dryly, picking your quill back up again, pretending to get invested in work.

“Congratulations on your win, [Y/L/N],” George said pleasantly as he patted your shoulder, “you played well. It's a shame though, isn’t it, Freddie?” 

“Yes, it really is, Georgie.” Fred said, crossing his arms, faking sadness.

You turned around to face them, your eyebrows furrowed, “What? What is?” 

“Oh, just Oliver,” George sighed.

“What about him?” 

“You know, after the match…” Fred added. 

“What?” you said again, curiously. You desperately wanted to know. What were they talking about? Was Oliver alright? Was he mad at you?

“Oh, you know…” George sighed, again, faking disappointment.

“Fred, George, will you please just get on with it?”

“Well, y’know,” Fred said but stopped again. 

“Merlin’s beard, you two are infuriating!” you whisper-shouted, “what is it?!”

“Hmm, you seem to care about Oli boy a lot,” George said thoughtfully, with a hand to his chin, “I wonder why that is, eh?”

“Please just get to the point,” you huffed, annoyed at yourself for feeling butterflies at the mention of this ridiculous idea. You were glad your hair was covering your cheeks or else they would surely be able to see you blushing.

“He’s quite disappointed he wasn’t able to go on that date with you,” Fred said smugly, “He was crying about it.” 

“Oh, shut up,” you said, turning back to your work. They were only pulling your leg, you could tell. 

“Ok, ok, maybe he wasn’t crying,” Fred rushed to tell you, “but he might as well have been.”

“Yeah, right,” you rolled your eyes.

“We aren’t lying, you know,” George rushed to Fred’s aid, “why would we ever do that?” 

You snorted quietly under your breath. 

“Alright, alright, all jokes aside, we saw you staring at him,” Fred told you, as he sat down beside you, “it’s obvious you like him.”

“And, it must be your lucky day, because he likes you too,” George added, taking a seat on your other side.

“So just ask him out.” 

“It’s as simple as that.” 

“We’re bloody geniuses, Georgie.”

“We bloody are, aren’t we?” 

You were watching this scene unfold in absolute horror. Your cheeks were as red as a tomato and your stomach had dropped. People knew? They knew you liked him? Did you even like him? Did he even like you?

“I don’t know what you two are talking about,” you started, trying to compose the storm raging within you, “I don’t like him, you two are mad.” 

“You have a favour, lying around in case you forgot,” George said, wiggling his eyebrows at you, “use it.”

The truth was, you had forgotten. You did have a favour overdue. The excitement of the win had made you forget that you could make Oliver do whatever you wanted. 

“I will not do that! Are you two insane?” you exclaimed again. This idea was mad. 

“Come on,” Fred whined, “it’s not like he can reject you. Which, if you ask me, he wouldn’t do anyway because he’s so bloody in love with you.”

“No! Absolutely not. There is a reason I’m not a Gryffindor, you know.” you protested.

“Hey! Oliver! Wood!” George shouted, much to Madame Pince’s dismay. She gave him a mean look and carried on reading. You looked at him in shock and harshly whacked him in the shoulder, to which he responded by snickering. What was he doing? 

Oliver turned around and looked at you three before furrowing his eyebrows again. He got up from his spot and walked over to your table, while you gave George a murderous look.

“Hi.” he said, quietly, looking only at you. 

“Hi,” you muttered back, a little breathless. Merlin, why were you behaving like this? You hated it. 

“[Y/N] here, has something to say,” Fred said suggestively, as he stood up from his seat.

“Have fun, you two,” George said as he, too, stood up and walked away with Fred, leaving you and Oliver feeling incredibly awkward.

“So…” he tried to say casually but he was much too nervous to be in your presence.

“Uhh, I--, I wanted to call in that favour you owe me,” you said, thinking quickly before this becomes even more weird.

“Right,” he said gloomily, once again reminded of his loss.

“I…” unable to think of anything, you uttered the first things that came into your head as you glanced down at your incomplete homework, “I need you to tutor me.”

“Tutor you?” 

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“At the Three Broomsticks.” you added, not really sure why. 

“Oh?” 

“Yes.”

“Alright.” he nodded, looking a little surprised at your odd request.

Before you knew it, you were uttering the three words of confirmation that made both of your hearts leap simultaneously, “It’s a date.”

Oliver raised his eyebrows, unsure of what to say. A date? You cringed at yourself for even thinking of saying that.

“A date?” he asked, still surprised, but his tone suggested it was pleasant surprise more than anything.

“Uh, yes.” 

“Alright.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll pick you up at 11? Next Saturday?” his heart was beating a hundred times per second but it was evident that the Gryffindor courage had kicked in. 

“Yes. I’d like that,” you managed to get out.

“Alright, it’s a date.”