#it's bad!!!! it's so bad!!!! why would you condense the description and comments so much

[pierz]

whyyy do social media sites love changing their layout with no warning and no way to reverse it without looking for janky extensions

[mrs-takami-keigo]

Something to Someone

Pairing: Bakugo x Reader x Shouto

Warnings: Mentions of cheating, and smut....lots of it....

Word Count: 5.3k                                                                         

Note: Everyone is aged up for this as usual. Ages between 25-27

Description: One is your past and the other is your future, but which is which

A/N: Please let me know if y’all think I should continue~ I thrive off of comments

Part 1 

Pushing the door open you struggled to get yourself through the entryway seeing as you had no hands. The passion fruit tea you picked up on the way was in between your teeth, while you had your duffel bag over one shoulder with a purse in your hand while the other had the room key and welcome papers in it. Finally, you were close to the bed, shrugging the heavy bag off your shoulder onto the king size bed throwing everything else next to it. Sighing and making your way towards the ceiling to floor windows, you lifted your arms above your head stretching your back and let out groan as the vertebra in your back cracked. It was a 2-hour drive to the hotel, and you caught Bakugou looking at you through the rearview mirror about six times, even Kyouka caught him. You thought about it the whole way here, what if he did love you? Does that change how you feel about Shouto, did you love Bakugou back? Do you still have love for Shouto as well? Taking your hands, you scratched the sides of your head trying to shake the thought of the two men. It was all too much; this weekend was about your friend not your fucked-up love life.

“You alright in here?” Turning around you saw red hair as it peaked around the wall and a smile on the person's face once he fully stepped into the room.

“I'm fine Kiri, just trying to release the tension you know?” Kirishima always had a soft spot in your heart. When you and Bakugou broke up he took it hardest, he had his “bakubro” and you were like a little sister to him.  Walking into the room Kirishima shut the door behind him and joined your side by the window. You could tell he was looking at you with a concerned expression. Kirishima was another person that could read you like a book and he knew you were holding so much back right now.

“You know, it's okay to not be okay, nobody would think any less of you.” An arm wrapped around your shoulder, pulling you in for a side hug. Kirishima was never one to beat around the bush, taking your arm wrapping it around his waist reciprocating the gesture. He was always one to tell it like it was, you appreciated that about him but right now you hated it.

“I'm fine I promise. I’m going to go take a shower but first,” breaking away from him and going to the duffel bag on the bed and opening it you pulled out a folded up black sweatshirt.  “Do me a favor and give this to Shouto for me. He forgot it at my place last week.” Pushing the grey fabric in Kirishima's arms, you smiled and turned away heading to take a much-needed shower.

Sighing Kirishima looked at the object and shook his head. Something told him this trip was not going to be good.

---

It was only two in the morning and the group of eight were drunk, some were drunk beyond repair.

“To the birthday boy, Denki Kaminari!” A drunk Denki yelled from on top of the table they had gotten. The group decided to go to a club after dinner and it may have been a mistake.

“Who shouts happy birthday to themselves?” Kyouka asked her boyfriend once he sat down after Chugging his drink.

“Your amazingly fine as fuck boyfriend does that's who! Now gimme a kiss!” Denki said, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. Rolling her eyes Kyouka turned over her shoulder to look over at the dance floor to see you and Mina dancing together. She knew you were drunk but she couldn't help but smile when a genuine laugh came out when Mina started to dance like a break-dancer.

“Tch I guess she’s happy.” Bakugou said, taking the empty seat that was next to Kyouka.

“It’s about time too. She tried to put up a front but whenever she was at the apartment I would hear her cry or she would take a bottle of liquor to her room and I wouldn't see her till the next day.” So many nights Kyouka would stay up with you as you cried in her arms. This whole thing broke you and all Kyouka wanted to do was beat the shit out of the two assholes but knew you wouldn’t let her.

“I didn't know she was that bad.” Bakugou felt that sharp pain in his heart when Kyouka told him that. Even with him just hearing about it started to break him down. Taking a sip of his bourbon on the rocks he leaned back watching as you dance with Mina not paying attention to all the male gazes. The crimsoned eyed man felt his hand tighten around the glass, he shouldn’t feel this way about you, you weren’t even his.

“Yeah the fight was pretty bad, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like that not since-.” She cut herself off knowing exactly the last time she saw you like that, with Bakugou. Turning her head while taking a sip of her drink and watched as her drunk boyfriend took another shot with a very drunk Shouto. She was really hoping that Bakugou didn't know the fight was about him.

“Yeah I know.” He said crushing all her hopes.

“How did you find out?” Kyouka turned to the blonde in shock, eyes wide.

“Your dumbass boyfriend told me. I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

“Hmm I see.” Kyouka made a mental note that tomorrow would also be Denki’s death day. “So, do you really still love her?”

Bakugou looked at her before looking back down at the drink. “I-“

“I think our friend here had way too much to drink.” The table looked over to Mina who was half carrying a very drunk you who wouldn't stop dancing.

“Why we stop dancing? The night is young, let's go!” You tried to walk back to the dance floor only to be stopped by the pink haired women who kept trying to tell you it was time to leave.

“Yeah because it looks like Denki and Shouto are in the same boat as her.” The two men were the definition of drunk. Denki was getting louder and louder and Shouto was becoming more unlike his usual quiet self by the second.

“Well I guess I'll take Shouto.” Sero said as he went to grab the drunk icy-hot hero throwing him over his shoulder.

Kyouka was trying to get Denki up but she too was a little drunk making it hard to stand up on her own. “I can take birthday boy. Let’s go you drunk bastard.” She heard Kirishima say from behind her and thanked him. Walking around the table she started to wobble only to be caught by Mina.

“I got you.” Looping her arm through Mina’s, Kyouka looked back at Bakugou to see him squat in front of you, instructing you to climb on his back.

“Onward my noble steed!” Bakugou made a face ready to say something back when he caught eyes with Kyouka. ‘Do you still love her?’ it rang in his over and over as he walked back to the hotel with you on his back calling him your blonde stallion.

“Oi! Dumbass you need to tell me your room number.” Bakugou huffed once he got off the elevator.

“1028.” You said in a sing-song voice as your arms tightened around his neck slightly, nuzzling the side of your face in his hair. The scent of caramel and vanilla hit your nostrils, you may have been drunk but you knew who's back you were on. The way his back muscles flexed under his black silk button down whenever he had to reposition you so you wouldn’t fall off or the way his calloused hands gripped your thighs, it all brought back repressed memories, dirty memories. Walking to the left Bakugou watched as the numbers got higher and higher.

“1022,1024,1026 and finally 1028. Hey, pass me the-” He soon found a key being waved in front of his face. “Thanks.” grabbing the key he swiped it and the little green light flashed telling him he could open it.

Once in the room he walked to the bed and dropped you down on it. When you landed on the soft mattress you let out a laugh and kept bouncing up and down.

“Well now that you are safely in your own damn room, I'm gonna get going.” Bakugou turned on his heel not trusting himself to be alone with you right now only to feel a hand on his wrist stopping him. Looking down he followed your arm to see you staring at the ground. A slight blush had appeared on your cheeks making the hero want nothing more than to kiss you right there.

“Stay please have a drink with me.” your voice was soft, if he said no, he knows you would break down.

“Listen I don’t-”

“Katsuki I just need a friend right now, please.” Your voice was low and serious. His eyes never left you as you lifted your head, eyes meeting his brilliant crimson ones.

“Fine but only a glass then I have to go.” You snapped a wide smile that he missed so much. He knew it was a mistake but he couldn’t help himself, not when it came to you.

One glass turned into 2 whole bottles of vodka. Most of the alcohol was drunk by Bakugou while you just stayed in the same level of drunk as you were in the club. This felt good to you, this felt almost right. With Shouto you felt complacent and comfortable but with Bakugou you felt adventurous and young.

“Did she really say that?” Bakugou asked you as you finished updating him on how your niece was.

“I kid you not. She said, 'Where is the firework man?'” While you and Bakugou were together your niece had grown fond of him, always following him around whenever you brought him over to your family’s house for the holidays. That little nut always loved when he made small explosions in his hands for her hence the name firework.

“She wants to become a hero because of you,” you paused and looked down at the now empty glass, the condensation from the ice started to drip on your exposed thigh. “She misses you.” You whispered but he heard every syllable. The mood in the room shifted and it went from fun to serious.

“I miss her too.” He realized that this was his one shot, he was going to get you back. “Do you miss me?”

“What?” You whispered back at him not meeting his gaze. You were sitting on the edge of the bed while Bakugou was sitting on the little chair by the window.

Putting his glass down, leaning forward he asked again “Do you miss me too?” His voice got a little louder as he spoke. He needed to know, he knew it was wrong but there was just too much between you two and he couldn't just let you go. If you didn't miss him then he had no choice but to let go, but if not then he was ready to fight for your heart.

“I- I gotta go to the bathroom.” Making a mad dash for the bathroom you shut the door behind not realizing it didn’t close all the way, you looked at yourself in the mirror.

“Did I miss him?” You asked out loud. Your hands were flat against the sink arms holding you. Those good times you had together popped up again. That time you went hiking for the first time where he told you he loved you, that time he tried to bake you a cake only to have somehow almost burn down your kitchen. All the times he would sneak up behind you wrapping his arms around your waist as he whispered sweet nothings in your ear as you got ready in the morning or how you spoke about the family you were going to have together. You could feel the tears starting to sting your eyes. It was wrong for you to miss him, you were the one who stepped out on him, the one who cheated.

“Princess?” Turning to the left you saw Bakugou standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

'Shit I forgot to shut it.'

“Just answer my question, do you miss me too?” with every word he said he walked towards you making you back up until your back met the shower door.

“I-I,” You looked him in the eyes and knew you couldn't lie to him. In his eyes you saw that he had missed and still misses you. “Yes, I miss you.”

Bakugou felt his whole being melt when you uttered those words. Carefully he reached his hand up cupping your cheek. He leaned down and did the one thing he has been dying to do since he got in the car, he kissed you with every fiber of his bones.

He brushed his lips gently against your own, he was showing you how happy he was. You ghosted your hands up his slightly unbuttoned silk shirt, wrapping your arms around him as the kiss began to deepen. Running your hands through that fluffy blonde hair giving his head an encouraging message.

Breaking apart you could feel those soft lips start a trail of butterfly kisses that slowly moved to your neck, feeling him graze his teeth over your delicate skin. The feeling of his teeth made you buck your hips up into his as a moan escaped your lips.

That moan seemed to wake Bakugou up seeing as he pulled away from you taking slow steps back to the bathroom door.

“Katsuki?” Bakugou shook his head soft blonde hair moving with each shake. His lip twisted up and a hiss came through his teeth, he was battling with himself you knew that face all too well.

“I'm sorry.” That was all he said before he turned around and walked out of the bathroom to sit on the bed, facing the starlit sky as waves crashed onto the beach.

Walking out behind him you watched as he sat down and put his head between his hands hunched over. Moving closer to him while paying attention to how the moon seemed to make him look even more beautiful than you ever imagined. Now taking a full moment to look at his face, you could see he had matured. That boyish charm he had all those years ago was replaced with a defined jaw and thick neck. His shoulders were much broader and muscular that much you noticed when you were on his back.  

Bakugou didn't even notice that you were standing in front of him until he felt you nudge his legs open with your own and stood in between then. He could feel his body move on his own as his strong arms wrapped themselves around your waist bringing you closer to him. Bakugou put his face flat against your stomach and just stayed there.

You missed this with him, when he woke up in the middle of the night from his nightmares, you would wake up too and let him hold you like his life depended on it. Bringing your hands to the top of his head you played with the hairs on top of his head knowing that this would calm him down. You both realized that even after five years apart you still remember what to do to make each other calm again. The way you felt so at peace with his soft breaths ticking your stomach through your thin dress made you want to stay like this forever. Feeling his calloused hands on your hips, Bakugou gently pushed you back slightly so he could make eye contact with you.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You can ask me anything.” Placing your hand on his cheek, he covered it with his own before leaning into it.

“Did you think of me when you were with him?” His question threw you off, but he needed the truth. So did you, you needed to come to terms with how you truly felt about him.

“At times, yes.”

“Is it bad to say that I still love you? That ever since the fucking breakup, I felt lost and regretted ever leaving you.” He had grabbed you again and put his forehead against your stomach. Your heart picked up its speed, you were shocked, he regretted leaving you after what you did?

“No, no it's not. Look at me Katsuki.” Squatting down you were eye level with him, “Katsuki Bakugou, part of my heart is still in love with you.”

Smiling gently at you, he took your face in his hands and brought it close to his own. He placed his lips onto your own, voiced six words that set your heart on fire.

“I love you so much, princess.” Smashing your lips to his, you had wanted to show him just how much you needed him in that moment. Standing up, you bent your body in half so those god given lips of his didn’t leave yours.

Pulling away Bakugou smirked at the position both of you were in, the heels on your feet made it perfect for his face to be right in front of your already pulsating cunt. Pulling the hem of the dress up so he could get a view of the red lace panties you were wearing; he kissed the exposed skin right above the waistline of the garment sending a shiver up your spine.

“Take this damn thing off.” He growled against your stomach giving it a small lick while staring up at you, those once bright crimson eyes seemed to have turned dark red. Nodding your head you did as you were told, when the dress went over your head you felt hands on your back already working on the bra clasps. Removing his lips from your torso Bakugou watched as you slid the straps down your shoulders before throwing the bra to the other side of the room. You could feel his hungry eyes washing over your exposed body. How your nipples were already hardened, all he wanted to do was run his tongue over those nubs while his teeth pulled on them.

“Come here princess, I want to feel you.” He had you by the hips pulling you closer making your trembling knees hit the bed. Watching as Bakugou continued to roam his eyes over every inch of your body and his hands not leaving any part of you untouched. You missed his touch, his large hands were rough and calloused from fighting everyday but his touch was so soft, as if he was touching the most precious object in the world.

“Still as soft as ever.” You heard him mumble. You let your head fall back and relished in the feeling that he was giving you.

Bakugou let his hands fall from in between your breasts, down your stomach landing on the hem of the lacy fabric. He pulled it down ever so slightly while he placed a small kiss where it used to be. Letting out short breathy moans with every kiss he placed on your burning skin, you looked down when you felt him pulling your panties all the way down. Lifting one leg at a time you helped Bakugou get rid of the cloth but when you tried to take the heels off, he told you no with a shake of his head. He grabbed your right leg and pulled it up so that you had that foot placed on the bed next to his jean clad thigh.

“I'm gonna need you to grab on to me if I become too much for you baby.” He whispered against your thigh leaving a wet trail from his tongue in its wake. The feeling of his hot tongue as it trailed higher on your thigh leaving bite marks, had you taking deep shallow breaths anticipating the feeling of his mouth on your throbbing area. Slowly he finally reached his destination and let out a shaky breath letting it fan across your slick cunt.

Taking his tongue, he let it slip out and gave your folds a quick lick, Bakugou felt your whole-body tremble before he heard you speak, “Oh god.” Realizing what he said about holding on was true, you grabbed onto his shoulders. Liking the reaction he was getting, he placed his whole mouth on your clit.

You felt him take his tongue out and started his sultry dance against you. Lost in pure bliss as you felt him go up and down and circle around your clit every now and then making sure to give it playful sucks as well. You had forgotten just how good he was at this, Bakugou always knew what to do to make you see stars and you loved every second of this.

Bakugou felt how wet you had gotten for him and smirked. His body longed for yours just as much as your body longed for his. But he felt he wasn't pleasing you as much as he wanted to, he wanted to have you dripping wet and screaming his name. Letting go of your cunt he watched as you opened your eyes and looked at him with confusion.

Bakugou laid his back against the bed but didn't forget to pull you along with him. Now with your knees on the bed, you let him lift your body wherever he wanted, which just so happened to be on his face.

“I want to do it this way. It's been so long since this happened to you right?” You just nodded your head. Shouto was good in bed but something about Bakugou was animalistic and that’s what you needed right now. Something so raw just fueled by lust. Bakugou wrapped his arms around your thighs pulling you down to his awaiting mouth.

“Oh fuck Suki.” You moaned when you felt him take your clit back in his mouth and tugged on it a little. You started to gently move your hips when you felt that the man below you stiffen his tongue. Your hands roamed your own body pretending they were his making you reach ecstasy faster. Bakugou moaned when he opened his eyes and saw you squeeze your breasts and pinch your nipples as his name fell from your lips.

“Please don’t stop babe.” He didn't like that you were having all the fun on your own, Bakugou grabbed your waist and held you still as he took control of the situation. He started to suck on your hard clit when he pushed two fingers inside your wet pussy, feeling your tight walls clamp down on him. Letting out a hum he sent shock waves of pleasure through your body making you double over.

“Holy fuck Katsuki!” You yelled as you placed your hands behind you to rest on his thighs. Bakugou kept that up until he felt you start to shake, knowing you were close his fingers kept going in and out of you. The sound of your wet pussy and your own moans had you cumming all over his fingers and in his mouth.

With long shallow breaths you got from him and watched as he sat up and licked his fingers clean of your juices.

“Still as sweet as I remember baby.” Smirking at him you pointed at your feet asking him to get rid of your heels, cause what you had in mind for him the shoes would just get in the way. Bakugou did so but also kissed your ankles as he pulled off the black heels.

Smiling at him you got on your knees and sat up in front of him pulling him by the collar of his shirt for a long passionate kiss. Still tasting yourself on his mouth you moaned into his lips.

“God princess I missed you so fucking much. How I missed your body,” He let his hands go down your back and landed on your ass giving it a light squeeze which caused you to let out a laugh, “I missed that smile and laugh so much that it hurt. I missed every little thing about you.”

“Show me Katsuki, show me how much you missed me.”

“I don't need to be told twice.” Bakugou had started to grab at his clothes pulling his shirt over his head while you worked on his jeans. Pulling them off his body you had taken his swollen flesh in your hands and started to move your wrist up and down giving it a twist here and there. Bakugou let out a hiss and took your hands in his own and stopped its movements.

“We will have time for that later,” He growled as he grabbed you around the waist and threw you down on the bed, “Right now I need to be in you before I fucking explode and we both know we don’t want that.” His body covered yours, slowly rubbing his cock against your folds, mixing his pre cum with your own. The heat from his body alone was making your own hot while the anticipation was starting to drive you crazy.

Bakugou took his penis and lined it up with your hot core. “You have no idea how many dreams I had of this moment.” His head was right next to your ear as those words came out as a growl making you tremble. You reached up and grabbed his head and gave him another kiss. Bakugou took that moment and thrusted into you.

Pulling away you let out a long moan when he finally pushed his whole length inside. You had forgotten how thick he actually was, out of all your partners he was the biggest and you weren’t used to it anymore.

“Fuck! So tight.” Bakugou had buried his head in your neck letting his breath fan across it adding more to the pleasure that was coursing through you.

“Move Bakugou.” He felt you rotate your hips begging for him to start thrusting. Pushing himself up Bakugou started to rock his hips in a slow and moderate pace leaving you and him moaning for more. You racked your nails up his chest leaving red marks all over him causing him to let out a growl.

“Faster.” You told him, but Bakugou was not a man to take orders.

“I think you forgot who you were fucking baby.” A rough hand soon came to grip your face, forcing you to stare in his eyes as his hips stopped moving. Letting his lips ghost over yours he snarled through his teeth, “Ask me properly princess and then maybe I’ll reward you.”

“I'm sorry, Daddy please move faster.” You remembered calling him that once by accident, finding out both of you were very into it.

“That's what I thought, such a good girl.” With that said Bakugou started to move his hips faster and his strokes became deeper, hitting that soft spot inside of you.

“Oh fuck Katsuki right there!” Both hands held onto the headboard, eyes rolling in the back of your head as he repeatedly stroked the same spot. 

Gritting his teeth Bakugou picked up his pace, grabbing the headboard like your own making the bed move slightly. Looking down between you, he watched as his dick disappeared inside of you over and over again. Moans kept falling from your mouth trying to say his name but only coming up with the first syllable.

“I've missed fucking you. Your body always knew exactly how I liked it.” He brought his lips down to your ear giving it butterfly kisses. That tightening sensation came back making you wrap your shaky legs around his waist while your free hand started to claw at his back.

“I'm about to cum please don't stop.” It took everything in you to form that sentence as drool started to pool in your mouth before spilling out.

“I wouldn't fucking dream of it.” At this point Bakugou was slamming his hips against yours, meeting each of his thrusts. “Come on princess, cum for daddy. Show daddy how much you've missed him, how much you love him.”

His voice and his words were all you needed to send you over the edge. Closing your eyes as your body started to convulse, cumming long and hard all over his dick. Feeling your walls tighten around him Bakugou bit onto your shoulder as he too came inside of her, leaving a very noticeable mark.

Slowly riding out your orgasms, you opened your eyes the same time he did.

“Every time I look at you, I just fall all over again.” He said as he placed his sweaty forehead against your own. His breath fanning over you making you place a loving hand on his cheek.

“And you know how to make me fall for you all over again.” Smiling down at you Bakugou kissed you letting his tongue slip past your lips, starting another make out session. Moaning into his mouth when you felt his cock that was still inside of you start to twitch, you smirked pulling away from him. He knew you could feel him getting hard again, the blonde male moved his hips to give you a playful tease.

“I see someone wants round two.” You said before flipping him on his back. “Now let me take care of you.”

Sitting up, Shouto looked over at the clock and saw that it was almost noon. Groaning he put his head down and closed his eyes. He thought back to the night before and remembered the talk he had with Kyouka.

“I know you miss her, and she misses you. Just talk to her and do it this weekend. Stop dragging this out.”

He knew she was right, and he did miss you, god did he miss you greatly. He was going to use this trip to ask you to move in with him but now, he had a different question for you. Would you forgive him, he let his insecurities take over him. Shouto stood up to go take a shower and get that alcohol smell off him when he saw a note on the desk.

“Shouto, she's in room 1028. I have an extra key take it and take some Advil with you; she's probably just as hung over as you.” -Kyouka

Laughing Shouto placed the paper back down as he went to the bathroom to take a shower. While in the shower he kept thinking of the perfect way to apologize to you. He was going to do anything to win you back.

Taking the elevator Shouto walked down the hall to your room and knocked on the door first. He heard a muffled voice come from inside that sounded like “Come in.” And that's what he did, but he didn't know he would be left heart broken. When he walked in, he saw clothes all over the floor, taking steps further into the room he saw a sight that made his heart stop and the anger rise back up. There you were, naked with only the sheet covering your lower half as the top half was on top of Bakugou, whose arms were wrapped around you.

“Are you fucking serious?!” His voice bounced off the walls, making you jump up. Once your eyes focused, you could make out a figure that looked an awful lot like Shouto. But why was he yelling and how did he get into the room? So many questions ran though your head as the hangover headache started to take effect.

“Shouto?” Just as you were about to get up, you felt the bed move beside you, looking over your eyes became wide as you saw Bakugou sit up and scratch the back of his head.

“Oh fuck!”

[moonflower-31]

I Won’t Forget You - Spencer Reid x Reader

Masterlist

Part 6 

Pairing: Spencer x Reader 

Warnings: Descriptions of murders, cases, Serial killer facts, 

Tags: @dra-reid, @eevee0722, @ceeellewrites, @anotherr-fine-mess, @ssahoodrathotchner

~~~~~~~~~~ 

○●♡●○ 

It had been about two months or so since your little impromptu sleepover at the resident genius's place. Things had gotten a little better, at least on your part. 

"Hey!" 

You jumped from your make-do desk in your room, snapping your head towards the doorway where a friendly face awaited you. Gabriel had a bag of sweets in one hand and a malt in the other. "Jesus, Gabe you scared me." You cursed, holding a hand to your chest. 

"At least we're even." He points out, putting the malt on the table in front of you. Also inconveniently on top of your written notes for the paper you had to write. You growled and moved the drink, glaring at your best friend. 

"You've gotten even with me plenty of times since then! How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" You ask in exasperation. Gabriel pretends to ponder your question as he pops a caramel apple sucker into his mouth. 

"Says the girl who didn't call me to tell me she was home and instead decided to stay with the coworker she has a crush on. You didn't even bribe me with details!" He complained, dumping a few sweets in front of you. 

You grumpily grab one of the sweets he had graciously offered and tossed it into your mouth. "It was one time! And I hadn't slept for like, four days! Besides, it wasn't my fault my mother decided to drop by and visit!" You huff. 

"Yeah yeah. You know how much I hate that hag. Nothing against you, sugar tits." Gabriel comments, pulling the pop from his mouth. "But still, no excuse not to call me. Send me a text even. Some proof of life." He grumbled. "That malt is yours by the way. Iris insisted I get one for you while we were out. Couldn't say no." 

You look over at the bright pink striped cup dripping with condensation that created a wet circle on the desk. For being pissed at you for over two months, Gabriel was a good friend. 

You took the malt and started sipping generously. "I'm sorry, okay? What do I have to do to prove it to you?" You ask. 

Gabriel smirked. You hated when he got ideas. 

"Tell me about your night with Mister teacher's pet. Then I'll consider it." He teased, quickly bopping your nose. 

"I already told you. After my bitch mother confronted me, he convinced me to head to his place. I couldn't say no. He eventually read me a poem and I fell asleep. And… he knows my real name now. Happy?" You asked with a groan. 

"Oh come on, that can't be all of it!" He whined, almost like a child about to throw a tantrum for being forced to eat his vegetables. Not that Gabriel was any different. He would fight you tooth and nail if you tried. 

"It is! Nothing else happened! No kiss, no dramatic display of feelings, no nothing. Just a really awkward drive to work." You huffed. 

The thought of the drive was a little hurtful. After the night you both had, well more like morning and you slept through the rest of the day, Spencer had been distant. It didn't last long as a couple days later they all had to get on the jet for another case. Spencer then began to re-warm up to you and now you knew nothing different. Though he didn't try to flirt with you anymore. Not like Morgan. But the previous moments where he had you backed up against the map, or had called you a good girl. He never did it again. And to be honest, you missed it despite how embarrassed you were afterwards. 

"Boo! And I thought you liked the guy!" Gabriel exclaimed, acting baffled at the chain of events in your life. He then shrugged. "More fish in the sea I guess." He teased, obviously gaging you for a response. 

"I do! Just… I'm not as obscenely obvious about it as you want me to be!" You hissed, sucking up more chocolate malt into your mouth with a little bit of a pissy attitude. 

"Well if you were, I'm sure he'd be your teacher's aide boyfriend by now. Now, who's right and wrong in this situation? Hm? Yeah, me. No debate." He insists, putting the sucker back into his mouth.  

"Shut up. I have to write this paper. For my doctorate in social science." You explain. "Just because you stopped going to school doesn't mean I can't go ahead and add another doctorate to my belt." You try to change the subject, hoping Gabriel would ease up on you. 

"You and those doctorates. Are you seriously trying to build a filing cabinet up there or are you just bored with working for the FBI already?" Gabriel asks, flopping down onto your bed. 

"Neither. I just want to know as much as I can in all of my areas of schooling. Be taken seriously." You insist. 

"Boring. Why don't you take classes on making candy or something? That would be seriously cool. And then you can open up your own business just to spite those parents of yours! 

I can see it now!" He rants, hanging his head over the edge of your mattress as he spreads his hands as if displaying the business name. 

You roll your eyes. "No thanks. That sounds like something you should do though. You'd fit right into that role, you know. Candyman." You tease. "Now I really gotta finish this paper." You insist. 

"Fine fine. Just be sure to come down from your academic heaven long enough to eat dinner once Iris is finished." He insists, winking at you before he leaves your room. 

Finally, you had your peace and quiet. But it was weird. The peace and quiet was very quickly becoming deafening by the influx of thoughts. Not the helpful kind either. 

You began to come up blank on ideas for your paper and had more ideas on how you could have maybe done something different to prevent that awkward drive to work all those weeks ago. Where did this uncertainty come from?

You grumble and close your laptop after ten minutes of no progress. Maybe you just needed a break. Then again, it was your day off. And you didn't feel like wishing bad things on someone just so you'd be able to go into work. 

Almost as if the universe had been listening and decided to throw you a sickened bone, you heard your phone begin to ring. You eagerly pick it up, knowing it would be something to keep you busy. 

"Hello, Agent (L/N)." You answer without checking the caller ID. 

"Yes, (L/N) I need you to come in. We have another case." Hotch answers the phone. You feel a slight feeling of excitement strike at your core. Sure, you'd been on 6 cases so far, but you enjoyed being around your fellow agents and putting another unsub away. 

"Do I get any insight, Hotch?" You ask. 

"It's a case in Lebanon Kansas. We have a large group of bodies piling up. We have two suspects we believe are working with each other. We just need to profile them and catch them before they kill again. I'll inform everyone once you've arrived." As soon as he finished, he hung up. He didn't give you any chance to reply. Typical Hotch fashion. 

You stand up immediately, grabbing your bag and your go-bag you had packed at all times just in case this happened. You grabbed the malt you still had and drank the rest of it, grabbing a couple of the caramel apple pops Gabriel had left and shoving them into your pocket. 

You wandered into the kitchen, grabbing a plastic container and putting some of dinner into it. 

"Woah, woah, where the hell are you going so late?" Gabriel asked in a fatherly tone. You rolled your eyes and glared at him for a moment. 

"I have work. Duh." 

"Work? I thought you were off?" Iris asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I am. But unfortunately serial killers don't care that I'm off. Sorry guys. I promise I'll call you guys once I get back, okay?" You promise, finding a lid and putting it on the tubberware. 

"You better. Or else I'll stick gum in your hair. And not the easy to get out stuff." Gabriel threatened teasingly, taking a quick bite of his food. "Have fun arresting some muttonheads!" He called. 

You chuckle and sling your bag over your shoulder. "Will do!" You reply before you turn around and head out of your shared apartment. 

○●♡●○

"Hey! (L/N)!" 

You turn your head as you arrive to the bullpen. You smile as the eccentric Penelope Garcia raced up to you to give you a hug once you were down the stairs. 

You graciously accepted the hug and turned to everyone else. "What did I miss?" You ask. 

"Nothing much. Only Reid finally showing us another magic trick!" Penelope answered for everyone. Morgan chuckled and Reid blushed slightly. Emily was leaned slightly against Reid's desk, looking at you warmly. 

"Seriously, he's really good." Emily affirmed. You chuckled and walked over in interest. 

"Really now? Show me." You insist, standing in front of Spencer. He looked up at you and did a nervous chuckle. 

"W-well your gonna have to turn around." He says, giving you an adorable michevious smirk. 

"Oh come on-" you begin. 

"He does this everytime, you'll get used to it." Emily adds, laughing slightly as she begins to turn around. 

"Spencerrr… please? For me?" You asked, batting your eyes pitifully. You knew it would probably get you nowhere, but you could at lease try. 

"No." He insisted. 

"Pleaseeee!" You beg again, putting your hands in a clasped position. You even bended your knees slightly to add to the effect. 

Instead of the immediate rejection, he pondered for a moment and stared at you. 

"Come on kid, one person knows a magician's tricks. Let her be your protégé." Morgan suggests. You giggle and shook your head.  

"No really, it's fine. You don't have to show me-" you begin to backtrack, not wanting to force Spencer into showing you. 

"I'll do it. I-I mean… I have to find someone to pass my gifts onto." He chuckles, rubbing his neck a little nervously. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah!" He expressed. 

Morgan raised an eyebrow and stifled a chuckle as he watched you two. He leaned over to Emily who had made her way over to where he stood and whispered into her ear. 

Spencer then told everyone to turn their heads away except for you. Then he began to show you the way he made the mini bottle rocket. He wrapped his hands around yours and helped you with each step. The warmth of his hands spread to your cheeks, and the touch of them sent shivers down your spine. 

"Then turn it upside down and…" Spencer instructed in a whisper, helping you to turn the cap upside down. You watched the foaming top for a few seconds, moving closer towards the unknowing danger of the cap. As soon as it began to jump up, Spencer pushed you back with an inaudible warning. You watched as the bottle skyrocketed and flew fast Hotch's ear. Through this, his hand clutched as your shoulder and refused to leave it. 

"Reid, I thought I told you not to do that." Hotch warned. 

Reid's face grew a little brighter with embarrassment. You didn't know what came upon you then, but you stood up and gulped. "It-it was me. He taught me and I shot it. Sorry sir." You insisted. 

Hotch's lips pulled into a slight smile as he looked back towards you. He didn't say anything afterwards, but you knew he was just teasing you both. "Meet up in the confrence room in five minutes, we have another case." He says after he cleared his throat. You nodded with a cheerful smile and put your bag in your chair. You glanced to Spencer, flashing him a gentle smile before you turned to enter the conference room. 

You entered the room and took your seat, taking the tablet out that Garcia had given you before. "So what do we have?" You asked. 

"We have what is assumed to be over a dozen bodies killed with different MO's and different stages of aggression. The only thing that links them are the DNA from one or both of these suspects; Jensen and Sam Westchester. And boy do they have long records. That's why we were able to find their DNA matches so quick." Penelope answered. 

Spencer took a seat beside you, causing your heart to skip just slightly. "How come we don't have these men yet? Why do they need our help?" You ask. 

"We need to apprehend them. And get a confession. The Kansas state court system has been known to be unpredictable. Sometimes evidence is enough, other times they get off with a warning and community service." Hotch answers. 

"At least they do that." Morgan grumbled. "How come we don't have these guys yet? Are they that slick?"

"Unfortunately yes. They are like Houdini when it comes to busting out of prisons and facilities. The last prison they were held in, one up in Ohio, said they were able to escape through knocking out a guard and switching clothes with him. They were in for a robbery charge." Penelope continued. 

"So why escalate to murder? Unless these murders were scattered." You ask. 

"They are. Over 15 years worth. It looks like they could maybe have more." Spencer spoke up, looking over the picture of one of the more recent bodies. 

"It's quite possible. After all, Harold Shipman managed to get away with 218 proven murders. But they think he could've done as many as 250." You answer, sharing a serial killer fact you found interesting. 

"So we just need to profile these boys and figure out the motive. And if we apprehend them, keep them apart." Emily points out. 

"Why do you say that?" Rossi asks. 

"If you notice the trend in each of these escapes, they only manage to escape when in contact with the other. In the prison they had time to be able to see one another and formulate a plan. Even when in questioning they were able to get notes to each other." 

"Then we'll have to split up and get seperate confessions. These two are brothers, and neither seem to fit the submissive type.' Hotch explains. 

"Two alpha males killing for seemingly no reason for half their lives. This'll be easy to get them to confess and rat out their partner." You say sarcastically. 

"We have to try. Wheels up in thirty." Hotch announces, standing up and leaving the room. 

You sigh and pick up the tablet. "Garcia, can you go ahead and check more than just their juvie records? I wanna have a list of information I can pick from for the profile. Possibly pinpoint some areas of their lives that lead to this behavior." You ask. 

"Oh, but of course Queen! I'll get straight on that. But most of it will probably be sealed." She warned. 

"Unseal those records Garcia. Anything that can help us." Morgan interjects as he grabs his bag and he too leaves the conference room. Garcia nods to him and quickly clicks her heels as she leaves the room. You sigh and pick up your things as you prepare to get onto the jet. 

"You didn't have to defend me." 

"Hm?" You ask, turning to look at Spencer. "Oh, you mean the rocket-thingy?" You clarify. "I was the one to beg you to teach me. Let's just be happy it didn't hit him in the head." You giggle. Spencer looked at you intently for a few moments before he nodded and turned his head away silently. Although it caused you to be uncertain, you brushed it off and walked out to your desk to grab your things. 

As you grab your bags, you feel the small raised bulge in your pocket. You remember the caramel apple pops and smile. At least you could enjoy one of these on the way to deal with a pair of serial killers. Fun.  

You pulled the sucker from the wrapper and popped it into your mouth, beginning your trek out to the jet. As you begin to walk towards the elevator, you notice a pair of hazel eyes following you. You feel a slight burning sensation on the back of your neck and your cheeks as you realized. He looked away once he noticed you were staring back. 

Was he really staring, or was he just spacing out? You hoped it was the former. You were practically begging and praying for it to be. But you knew you'd never be that lucky. 

As you began walking, you heard a jumble of feet behind you and the jingle of things inside a bag getting tossed around. "(Y/N!)" You heard. You widened your eyes and turned around, glad no one besides Spencer had been behind you. 

"Spencer! You can't just call me by my first name right now!" You hissed. 

"S-sorry, I just wanted to apologize if I sounded upset with you. I… I find it honorable that you tried to defend me. No one really does." He explained. You felt your heart melt a little. 

"Spencer… I didn't think that in the slightest." You knew you were lying, but it was going to make him feel better. Besides, it wasn't that big of a deal. "And if that last part is true then I'll be your legendary defender. Like Voltron!" You insist, already beginning to geek out in front of your workplace crush. Way to go, (Y/N). 

"Voltron? What is that? Is it like Star Trek?" He asked, beginning to walk towards the jet with you. You widen your eyes at him and gasp playfully. 

"You, haven't seen Voltron Legendary Defender? Okay, when we get back you HAVE to come over and watch it with me. Afterwards we can watch some documentaries." You insist, practically bouncing on your toes. Spencer looked over you and smiled, unable to tell you no.  

"Sounds like a plan." 

[ddaenghoney]

chapter eighteen

masterlist link in blog description.

As a successful songwriter, you want nothing more than the acknowledgment that the chart-topping musical pieces are your own creations. But contracts, relationships, and the difficulty of facing the stakes involved head on, keep your mouth shut until pressure builds too much.

Pairing(s): Park Jimin x Y/N, Min Yoongi x Y/N

disclaimer: any characters depicted do not represent the actual personality of the respected idol in real life.

Series warning(s)/genre(s): Chapter-based written fic, Slow-burn relationship(s), Fake-dating, Unrequited love, Songwriter/producer!oc, idol!Jimin, idol/songwriter/producer!Yoongi, friends with benefits, drama, romance, smut, angst, fluff (updated as needed)

Chapter warning(s): physical confrontation as well as mob mentality in that there’s a small group verbally harassing OC in a scene; nothing gets too severe, but the repetitive badgering could make some uncomfortable. OC speaking her mind a lot.

Word count: 6057

if you enjoy please, please let me know!

On weekdays Namjoon’s cafe is generally flocked with business workers in the early morning. An inconspicuous assortment of people walking in only long enough for a to-go order to be acquired before they whisk back out the doors in their commute. With the constant flow and few amounts of people that sit down to chat and relax, you choose it as the location to meet with the leader of a girl group from SoundWave you were quite fond of.

Through a series of overly polite texts, she requested a chat to catch up, and you have a feeling there’s more to it than that. You stir your coffee with the straw, watching the ice go in a circle over and over, while contemplating what the other thing she wants to discuss is. There’s no reason for her to want to wake up before her schedule just to catch up, especially not when her group will start promotion for a comeback at the beginning of the next month.

You have an inkling of why she’s going out of her way, but a large part of you hopes to be wrong. You want to assume you left the artists you worked with with a better image than the one swarming around in your head due to sensitivity. If you’re wrong, it would make you happier, and if you are right you are not sure how you will take her opinion.

“Y/N,” Your head lifts as a voice comes from beside you. Brightly she smiles, removing sunglasses from her eyes and keeping her beret style hat secure on top of properly styled straight hair.

“Jihyo, it’s good to see you.” You can’t help a warm greeting in return, undeniably glad to see a familiar face that you’ve never had a problem with. If the people around the cafe were not rushing in and out so haphazardly, you would even take the moment to give her a hug, but an accumulation of increased awareness lately, causes you to simply gesture for her to follow along as you take your drink. “My friend’s the owner and said we could use this meeting room to talk.”

“This is the place you always brought drinks from then?” She comments as she walks in your trail, giving a sweet smile to Namjoon as the two of you pass him by.

“Yeah,” You nod your head, using the previously claimed key to open the doors. “His coffee’s my favorite. Maybe I’m biased though.”

“I’ll grab some on the way out. I’ve been missing it since you used to bring it for meetings.”

You fumble needlessly putting the keys securely in your pocket, nodding your head at her words as you switch the lights on. Recalling the people-- generally artists gives you a difficult time rationalizing your decision to walk away from the company. If it weren’t for how you were ignored for credit, you really would not have left. Even with Yerin in charge looming over everyone with her calculative manipulations, you could get over that because the coworkers you saw everyday made it endurable. Comfortable.

“I was actually kind of surprised to hear you wanted to meet up, to be honest with you.” You sit in one of the chairs surrounding the table. You leave your glass on the wood where you’re sure to forget it quickly. Jihyo sits a seat away on the same side, simply dragging it out to angle it towards you. “I doubt I’m a company favorite right now.”

“It’s pretty divided actually.” She admits, brushing back her hair from covering the faintest of smiles. “Empathizing or thinking you’re acting insane.”

You bite your lip. Which side of the line she stands on you’re sure to find out soon.

“No one expected the thing with Min Yoongi either,” She laughs slightly, without joy. Ironically. “Who would think he’d put himself out there like that-- get fired because of those songs.”

She doesn’t look at you as she speaks, so the discomfort slipping into your eyes is never seen. Like you expect from the employees of SoundWave, they all still view Yoongi distantly. Granted, his involvement in releasing music with you is still a shocking thing to consider as reality. Moments occur where you still worry if you’ve ruined something big for him, but his excitement about conceptualizing a new company of his own sets you at ease.

“Are you both dating now?”

You look up from your lap, finding Jihyo’s eyes to be tame and her lips curled in a giddy way. As though the conversation really is two people catching up without a more grand issue looming in the background. Accepting this moment of simplicity, you don’t stop your mouth from smiling in return. Your head nods in small, but quick jerks. Still new to telling, but you enjoy that you’re able to say,

“Yeah, we decided to become a couple almost two weeks ago.”

“That’s really cute.” Her words beam brightly like the little bop of her shoulders, finding this news nice. “He always seemed so hard to approach-- I think because of how popular he is, I guess.” She rambles along as her fingers push straying locks from her face. “Then again, I’m sure you both had things in common… Both of you being producers and songwriters and all that.”

Contrasting her initial endeared temperament, the reminder Jihyo’s final sentence seems to instill in the forefront of her mind causes her voice to drift into a quieter murmur. She stares towards your melting drink, a hand atop her thigh squeezing to cause wrinkles in the denim she wears.

Finding her remaining silent, you do nothing to fill in the gap with words. Instead, your eyes remain on her, realizing that Jihyo likely means to say whatever is pressuring her shoulders. Her mouth opens slowly, a word apparently clinging to her conscious and away from being said, but she manages to shove the thought out entirely,

“Are you going to tell everyone about everything you made at SoundWave?”

Your heartbeat feels like it rumbles for a short moment in your chest as she asks. The expression on your face remains poised, and you’re more surprised with yourself that you aren’t shocked by her question than you anticipated. Its presence in the air resembles, to you, a draft. You wish it wouldn’t be here, but you aren’t frustrated. Simply expected this.

Collecting your condensated glass into your hand, you take a languid sip, mulling over a reply to her. Frankly, you find yourself remaining in limbo on the topic. In some ways you want nothing more than to scream about all of your production in songwriting to everyone, but maybe you didn’t need to.

“It really,” Jihyo’s voice chips her phrasing like she isn’t sure whether to interrupt your processing, but she goes on. “Would be so bad for us-- us idols. We,” She stammers as you place the glass back on the table so casually, missing your furrowing eyebrows confused at her suddenly timid disposition, “We never wanted you or everyone to make everything for us, Y/N. So many of us want to make our own music. We didn’t want to take credit for everything you made-- you know my group especially didn’t.”

Your lips purse into a line, spine straightening slightly as her plead completes. Like your contract with SoundWave, every idol you are positive had clauses they should have reconsidered or questioned. Considering the chance of a lifetime in front of the people like Jihyo obviously they would overlook the idea that they would not produce their own music-- most likely satiated with the idea that after gaining experience they would be able to create as well.

You realize this. Undoubtedly, the majority of idols and groups did not ever want to claim your songs as their own, but had no choice other than to do so. Ever since the feeling of unfairness started springing within yourself to receive credit, this factor has prevented you from blindly going to the press with your story. You don’t want to ruin all of their careers.

“Jihyo,” You begin as your fingers curl atop the table, loosely forming a fist. “I don’t know if I’m going to tell anyone about it. I really want to, honestly, but-”

“You’ll ruin all of us!” Your lips clamp shut as she suddenly bursts out. “Y/N, I know it sucks for you-- I really do; but this isn’t about you. This is everyone’s careers!” Your hand tenses further as she groans, rubbing her face with her hands. “Don’t you know how many all-nighters, how many days-off, how much we-- I’ve given up to make it this far-”

“You’ve given up?” You say like a knife in her sentence. Your eyes narrow as Jihyo looks at you with startled confusion at your interruption, her hands pausing from rubbing her neck. “Jihyo, regardless of if I was involved, your schedule was always going to be that harsh as an idol.” Her mouth peeks open uncertainly, but you speak on, “Do you know how many things I’ve given up too? You’re not the only one who pulls all-nighters, and gives up personal time, but at least when you give it up you get rewarded with people knowing who you are, meanwhile I get to watch them all think all the work I put into everything was something you did-- what all of you get to claim you did.”

“I know, but-”

“You never even stood up for me.” Jihyo’s eyes widen as though she can see the betrayal of your statement-- the unhidden spite firing in your irises. “None of you ever tried to change anything. You say you never wanted to do any of it, but you all aren’t ever going to try and change it, are you? Watching me get shut down each time was answer enough.”

“Why should I have to fight for any change?” She shoves her words out in haste, appearing defensive as her arms cross. “If you hadn’t noticed, it won’t work. We all get our careers thrown away if everyone were to find out.”

“Because it’s wrong!” Your words loudly propel you forward, leaning towards Jihyo in your seat as she shifts back into hers. “You know it’s wrong! You’re all lying to everyone and letting me be the dirty secret of the fucking company and I’m just supposed to accept it? I’m just supposed to start over from nothing all because none of you have any kind of guts to admit that I’m the one who made your chart-toppers!”

Concern runs rampant in Jihyo’s eyes, mouth remaining gaped as you stare at her with even, full breaths heaving in your chest. Clamping her lips together, she glances towards your drink for no reason other than to avoid your lingering eyes that blister every nerve of guilt swarming in her mind. Shoulders tensing when she listens to you scoff, she wills herself to remain silent from timid retorts as you speak up once more in a voice barely louder than the sound of the clock on the wall.

“Why is it that I’m the only one ever asked to suffer in silence?”

Jihyo blinks her eyes tightly together, building a wall out of every ounce of strength to refrain from the hollow apologies that she realizes would do nothing for you. All she can do is stay in her bubble, presented on the stage with her members as the image given to them by SoundWave. The liberty you explain a desire for isn’t something she can take hold of, especially if her group’s reputation is smashed to pieces by what you could say to clear your name.

“Y/N, I know it’s never been fair of anyone to use you like this-- to always erase your name from everything you’ve created.” Her voice drips frailty off of words intended to appear sound with reason. Composure is lost on her and you can see it as she talks without reaffirming eye contact. You acknowledge the weight in her throat likely at odds with what she feels convicted to ask of you as well, and it makes you feel sorry for her. “But SoundWave isn’t going to do this anymore-- they’re going to let us write our own music now and credit properly, so it’s over at least.”

Your heart drops like a weight towards the ground, eyes instinctively narrowing at her words. Within moments you feel a tremble ricochet throughout your shoulders, and when Jihyo finally tests a tiny look in your direction you know your reaction is not the one she wished for.

“What-” You stutter out the words, shocked beyond belief that a switch in the company had been so simply flipped. She’s able to tell you this so lightly as if the decision came with ease following your leave. “I,” A ball in your throat feels made of metal, scraping your words into fury as you speak slowly, “That was all I ever wanted from them, and they do that now. They do that after I quit.”

“Y/N-” You stand up cutting off Jihyo’s statement before it begins. Shaking your head, you let out a single breathy laugh as your hands clench at your sides,

“I can’t believe this.” You mutter and start an exit from the room, ignoring the clattering on wooden floors behind you as Jihyo stands up.

“Wait, where are you going?” She asks without the sound of footsteps under her words, and you don’t care to look back as you reply simply,

“Away from here. I can’t take listening to this crap anymore, Jihyo.”

Without missing a beat, you pull open the door and exit back into the main cafe space. Remnants of the morning rush cause a small line to linger along with busy employees completing their tasks. Namjoon catches sight of you as you walk along, but doesn’t attempt any wave of goodbye as he notes the contortion in your eyebrows as you quickly mash keys on your phone. He only bites his lip and continues filling paper cups full of hot coffee.

You have no hesitation in turning left down the street to walk northwards, but no destination is in mind as you do so. All you do is exhale a sigh to release some of the frustration while the repetition of a dial tone vibrates in your eardrum.

“Hello?” Yoongi’s voice rings clear on the other side of the line along with the clicking tone of a car blinker.

“Hey,” You say in response, crossing your free arm so that your hand can squeeze the opposite elbow. “Were you busy?”

“No, just on the way to pick you up from the cafe actually.” He says easily as you nod your head gently. Walking slowly upwards on the sidewalk you have little time to tell him a new location before Yoongi’s voice gently inquires, “How’d it go?”

“Bad.” You say as the news stings like a dagger in your mind. Huffing, you shake your head, “SoundWave’s going to start letting them all make their own music. Credit properly.”

“What?” Yoongi’s voice sounds baffled and you can imagine his neck tensing rigidly with lips frowning at the implication of your words. You nod your head despite him being unable to see you.

“Right? After all the shit they said about it never being possible for me.” Yoongi listens to the frailty of your words, realizing that this news must hurt you so much to have heard. He bites his lips, hands gripping tighter on the steering wheel as he turns a corner,

“I’m so sorry, angel. I should be there in a few minutes and we can go somewhere to talk about it-”

Yoongi’s voice falters away from your ear due to a swift grip on the back of the arm holding the phone. Instinctively, you pull your arm towards yourself as you take a step away from whoever grabbed you. The sole of your shoe presses flat on the concrete as you turn, facing the face of someone you’ve never seen before in your life.

As words scurry around your head in confusion, you say nothing as you take in the appearance of the girl about your height, then your shoulders tense as movement behind her gives reason to look to another. As your focus collects itself you see more than just the two people, but another onlooker further beyond them as well as a person to your side that startles you as she calls out your name.

“What?” You find yourself responding to her call, another step away from the small semicircle they form around you.

“Why are you using Yoongi-” “You got him fired-” “Use your own talent to get a career-” “I bet you didn’t even do anything on those songs. You just want the clout-”

Between the five people, you can’t distinguish whose words belong to you. Continuing rampantly in bursts of ignorant anger towards you, they simply persist onwards. Without giving you any opportunity to defend yourself, all the voices overwhelm your nervous throat and wildly scanning eyes. You take another step away when one becomes particularly enraged as she speaks loudly and her hand reaches out.

Your hand smacks hers away before it can make contact with your shirt, definitively colliding with her skin to make a loud sound that seems to reverberate throughout the avenue. The quiet ensuing is wholly false, but you find it impossible to actually hear anything from them as their reaction consists of even louder yelling at you. Any lips you take a look at are moving and no one reaches again, but you know they want to force their opinions on you with the fury at which they speak.

And all the words you’re able to visualize assert your disgracefulness. In different ways, with strong enunciations you simply are the target of their blame. Everything they don’t know about behind the scenes of all the trouble you’re finally escaping from, they frustratingly paint you as the perpetuator. The reason that all is wrong. “You’re lying to get attention-”

“None of you even know anything!”

Your voice breaks their flow of thundering rage, silencing them entirely by the brutal and unforgiving confidence of your frustrated exclamation. Just like that they’re startled. The fuel of adrenalin leaves them to course through you as you glare in response to their actions. You reaffirm, “Quit blaming me when you don’t know even a percent of what I do!”

One towards the back of the group glances uncertainly at the others, and the one whose hand you hit away takes a step back. Like they didn’t expect you to speak against them. Your hands clench tightly as you remain erect in posture. Eyeing each of them, you find it almost impossible to stop yourself from blurting out every secret you’re obligated to keep for everyone else except yourself.

“What does that even mean?” A guy pushes the girl at the front of the pack aside, storming in your direction but stopping short of contact as you do nothing to evade him. Instead his shoulders shake from your consistent glare that he felt tense in front of. “You’re causing all the trouble!” He manages to fumble out anyways as he works up the nerve to take another step with his arm rising as well, making you begin to move back.

Before contact ever occurs, his wrist becomes clenched within the hand of Yoongi as he steps in between the two of you. A shiver in your spine nearly shakes your knees to a buckle as the sight of his back shielding you releases a wave of worry building in your head.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Yoongi asks lowly, simply throwing down the arm he took hold of as his eyes freeze the man. Disbelieving calls of his name from the small crowd mumble and gasp, clearly overtaken by just the sight of him. “What were you going to do?”

“Yoongi-” You reach both of your hands to clasp onto one of his biceps as he tries to step closer to them. “Let’s go,” His head shifts to look back at you, dark irises tinted with immense irritation from what he just walked up to. You shake your head as you consider what could go on if you both remain, and your fingertips tremble on his skin.“Please. I don’t want you to do this.”

Yoongi turns towards you, maneuvering his arm as your hands fall away so that he can press a guiding hand to your back. He looks back towards the group as you both only take a few steps. Ignoring the cling of your hand on his chest to continue him along, he speaks up with conviction, “If I find your names, I’ll report this.”

He takes no heed of their instant rebuttals as they call feebly out to the pair of you as you walk along. Instead, Yoongi drops his hand from your back to take hold of yours as he believes you’d prefer. Finding your fingers quickly intertwining with his own, Yoongi sighs, squeezing as the severity of what you leave behind catches up with him.

“Did any of them hurt you?” He asks the moment he enters into the driver’s seat of the car. The door slams beside him and your head shakes as you fumble with the seatbelt to get it latched. “Angel,” He shifts towards you, delicately cupping your cheek as your body freezes in response. “Are you okay?”

Seeing Yoongi’s eyes searching through your own for any of the discomfort you should feel is soothing. His palm warms your skin and in that moment you relish in the sensation despite the heat that remains in the air of early fall. The breath in your chest escapes through your lips, and Yoongi’s thumb twitches worriedly against your cheek.

“Yeah.” You nod slowly, overlapping his larger appendage with your own freely allowing yours to grip softly. “Honestly, I am.”

Yoongi doesn’t completely believe your words, if only because he can’t imagine how terrifying being so arbitrarily surrounded is. He bites his lip, head tilting as though to ask again.

“Nothing really bad happened.” You say shrugging your shoulder, and glancing downwards. “And everything they were mad about is completely stupid-- they shouldn’t have done any of that.” The hand you left atop his own, strays to glide slowly up his wrist and resituated on his forearm, gently guiding him from cupping your cheek so that you can return to holding his hand. “They really don’t know anything.”

“That doesn’t give them the right to act like that, angel.” Yoongi’s hand engulfs yours while he talks, prompting your eyes back up to his. You nod your head, entirely in agreement. The sight causes Yoongi’s brow to furrow slightly.

“Can you drive me to SoundWave?”

“What?” He blurts out on impulse, frowning more from bewilderment than anything else. “What for?”

“I want to talk to Yerin.” You say simply, as the reasonings those people threw at you return to your mind, as well as the worries of Jihyo that brought her to plead with you for the sake of her career, and the voice ripped away from Jimin petrifying him from ever expressing his thoughts to you until it was far too late.

Yoongi’s mouth opens to speak, but he stops from doing so. Your eyes give him the answer before he has to vocalize the question. Instead a small chuckle escapes him more similarly to a grainy breath. “Okay.”

Within the confines of the elevator, Yoongi stares up at the growing number as you both go higher up the building. Between your bodies he starts a tiny sway of your held hands, while he squints in thought before finally speaking,

“Not that I think you’re wrong to go and talk to her, but do you think it’s going to do anything?” He recalls his own efforts of very early on in the merger that subliminally requested a change of his image to represent something closer to himself. Just like the rest of the employees who try to escape the confines of narrowly set paths, Yoongi too was swiftly rejected in few words with only an explanation of there being no need to change something that works.

“Who knows.” You say not realizing until your voice comes out that despite the mellow timbre that there’s a hint of timidness as well. Yerin has always been the greatest shadow in your mind for years now. Someone you’ve never been able to stand across from and feel equal with because of her subdued confidence that showered her veil of control over the entire company. “I don’t think I care if it does anything. I’m just over this.”

“Should I wait out here?” Yoongi asks as you both step out of the opening doors. He ignores the obvious shock in his peripherals from the secretary that likely has no way to gauge how to handle your presence in the room. Everything on Yoongi’s side is practically settled, and you have simply been a former employee for weeks now; not supposed to be returning so high up in the building.

“No,” You squeeze tighter on his hand, turning your head to look up at him as you remain paces from the secretary’s desk. You speak quietly. “I don’t think you’ll have to say anything, but having you there would feel better.” You frown as you think that it may sound selfish to have dragged Yoongi along this far only to tell him he won’t actually do much. “You’re comforting for me…”

“Then I’ll go in with you, sweetie.” Yoongi says before gently pressing a tiny kiss to your temple, as you squeeze his hand bashfully. “I’ll cheer you on-- you can give me inspiration for a diss track-”

“Stop.” You smile, bumping your hip against Yoongi and continue the walk to the desk with him trailing alongside you.

Satisfied slightly that he could at least break away some nerves, Yoongi takes in a larger inhale than usual. Frankly he’s unsure of what you plan to say to Yerin, but considering all of the grief instilled on you so far from her, Yoongi doesn’t doubt it could be definitive. If you find closure from this, then he’ll be content with this choice of a blindsiding meeting, but he can’t help worrying that some emotions could create words inciting angry retribution on the side of SoundWave.

Your collected demeanor as you speak to the secretary, along with the full way you stand with shoulders straight and each leg stood with no slouch gives Yoongi something to relax about. When he thinks about one of the first times he interacted with you, an evident difference in your assurance exists. Where you had bumped into him escaping a meeting room, you’re now choosing to cut into any current schedule to speak to Yerin following the public reaction she’s passively caused.

Steadily, you enter into her office only minutes later, never needing to bother with waiting in a seat. Yoongi follows after you simply standing closer to the door while he watches you stride towards the desk. Yerin sits with relaxed posture, though her eyes go from Yoongi to you with perplexity.

“Should I have the lawyer present for whatever you want to talk to me about?” She asks instead of greeting, letting her forearms rest on the wood before her.

“Doubt it.” You say, not taking a moment in your head to consider where to begin. Everything you would like to exclaim to her flutters violently around, so much so you believe her narrowing eyes to be preparing herself for the eventual explosion. You want nothing more than to get a genuine apology to fall from her lips along with admittance that she was wrong to do everything to you that she has, but your calm heartbeat reminds you of the impossibility of that route.

You know she wouldn’t loosen her stubborn tongue to admit anything of the sorts. You could even assume she has no regrets so far. Watching our reputation’s stature diminish for years is nothing but a casualty in her calculations. Needless to fret about it when the product of your fingers has given so much acclaim to the company. All Yerin’s allowed happen is a choice made to receive the most lucrative result. Whatever happened to you is of little consequence.

“Did you ever think what you did to me was wrong?”

Your question’s candor rings softly in the room. Not timid, but somehow resigned. Almost like a test, Yerin believes as she continues to stare towards you without so much as a waver in emotion from the depth of the question.

“You agreed to it.”

“As a twenty-year-old worried about paying back my college.” You swiftly insert the context, shaking your head so as to not let Yerin detract from the severity of her contract in your life. “You know how much of an incentive working at a company like this would have been to anyone in my position. Any student, or young adult just starting out. You used it against me.”

“You could have walked away.” Yerin reaffirms before sighing as she sits back in her seat. “Considering all of that about yourself back then, what would you expect a company to do for you? That was your chance back then to start in the career you want. Everyone starts small; why would there be an exception for you?”

“You came to me.” You say with an even voice. Yerin’s hand curls on the table, visually reacting slightly. “I submitted songs for a contest, but you came to me with a contract. I didn’t see anyone else getting contracts back then,” You cross your arms and your head tilts with your blunt conclusion. “You saw enough in me to seek out a long-term job, and you didn’t want me to leave when I didn’t re-sign. You can’t try to convince me otherwise of that.”

“Of course I didn’t.” She says with a scoff. “I don’t deny you’re talented-”

“But you denied me from showing everyone else that!” You assert as your arms gesture to emphasize your frustration. “In some ways, I could understand you not giving me credit as a new rookie at this job, but I worked here for five years. I have nothing to show for it anywhere because you wanted me to be stuck here for the rest of my career, and you know what? I probably would’ve stayed for a long time if you would have just given me the damn credit that I deserved!”

Yerin remains quiet as you pause to take a breath and collect yourself from the startling rant. Her jaw tightens along with her fisting hands on the desk and shockingly to you, she averts her gaze to the side. Swallowing down any nerves, you go on without remorse as you attempt to hit every point you can,

“Now I hear you’re going to let the idols produce, and give all the songwriters proper credit. Everything you did to me is going to just be me, huh? You won’t do it again because you know it’s wrong-- you know whoever you trap is going to end up wanting out just like me and you’re not willing to take any chances on this perfect company image getting messed up by some songwriter, isn’t that right?”

“Y/N, I’m not the only person in charge of these decisions. There’s a board. You know that.” Yerin says at a low volume. She still looks from you towards a window overlooking the city that you doubt she’s focusing on. She’s in the wrong. She knows it and you can see her silently admitting it whether she wants to or not. But no responsibility claimed.

“When Jimin, Jihyo, and all the other idols here wouldn’t take my side it was because you’re in charge of the decisions.” You say before scoffing, watching her flinch from the sound and turn to finally face you. “When I come up here to talk to you about it, you say it’s because of the board. It’s always someone else’s fault that I couldn’t be helped. You’re the CEO. If you knew this was wrong, you should’ve said something. It’s your job to look out for the company, but it’s also your job not to be spineless and pass blame around.”

Yerin’s eyes widen at the end of your composed speech. Standing up with intent to challenge your words, she opens her mouth with a glower aiming at you, but freezes as your eyes narrow and you take a step forward to stop just short of her desk,

“I just practically got attacked before I came here because people think I ruined a career just by having my name in the credits of his songs.” You coat your words with convicted resentment. “All of my friends are begging me to stay quiet because their careers could be ruined by me saying I wrote so much of their music. I wouldn’t have to be everyone’s enemy-- I wouldn’t be hated by so many people right now if you hadn’t forced everyone in this company to lie in the first place. Everyone wants me to be quiet right now because all the lying is supposed to stop? I’m supposed to be the scapegoat for this company and be the only one to receive all of the infamy for your unethical crap? That’s not going to happen.”

“What?” Yerin’s voice stutters a shocked response on impulse. Her fingers drag against the wood of the desk, evidently nervous by the implications. “You can’t mention anything about your job here, Y/N. That’s in the agreement.”

“Remove the non-disclosure clause.”

Yerin scoffs in pure disbelief, looking past you to Yoongi as he simply remains a spectator. Clearly unprepared for all that you’ve said thus far, but doing nothing to stop you from continuing. She shakes her head as her eyes come back to you. “I’m not doing that.”

“Then don’t. I’m still telling the press.” You say simply as a shoulder shrugs, and you loosely cross your arm.

“You’ll,” Yerin pauses when she realizes her heartbeats acceleration. “You’ll lose all your royalties. We’ll sue you.”

“Sue me then.” You nod your head once, completely unwavering as you just shrug again. “Really. I’ll just drag the suit out. Let you all show your true colors to the public and then we’ll see if you think it’s worth it to get involved in your fail-safe plan when everyone still realizes how much SoundWave has forced its employees to shut up and lie about.”

The brief wave of silence as you finish feels uplifting on your shoulders. Yerin only looks on at you with indication that she doesn’t know what to say to convince you otherwise. You don’t allow her to dwell, simply dropping your arms from their crossed position over your front.

“You made your choice.” You turn on your heel to start a path towards Yoongi, sparing a glance back towards Yerin as she calls out,

“You shouldn’t do this, Y/N! You’re trying to get back at me, but you’re just going to ruin everyone at this company-”

“I’m not trying to get back at you.” You turn to her as Yoongi opens up the door. “I’m not responsible for this anymore. This isn’t my fault. It was always your fault from the moment you made me sign that contract and never planned to change your ways.”

Without another word spoken you leave the room behind Yoongi, feeling absent of regret and restraint in your throat. As though lighter on your feet you exit the company and with it abandoning all of the fear it has instilled on you for years. No plan of avoidance lingers in your head to save face for the greed of SoundWave’s sake, and even though you’re still unsure of coming days, you don’t feel wrapped in deceit.

Upcoming seasonal winds will begin and you have no doubt the frail veil remaining on your image will drift away into the past as you walk into new days.

if you enjoy please, please let me know via ask, comment, rb with tags– however ! i’d just really appreciate feedback 🥺 i hope you enjoy the series, i’m working really hard on it! : )

tag list (send an ask to be added): @jaiuneamesolitaiire​ @tsvkino-usagi​@xionysus​​ @baebyjoonie​ @honeyoongles​ @betysotelo18​

[cluz1babe]

*** Strong Tongue and Slender Fingers ***

Summary: (READER insert)

Episode 1 Chapter 1: You Meet the Boys

A woman who can't stay dead, has strange abilities, and seeks out Dean and Sam for help.

Notes:

First 2 chapters are in a bad format.

Episode 1 has been Beta'd by http://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassidy_OMalley

Taking place after season 14 (up to 3 years after). The first two chapters are in a crap form, please push through them and help me with gentle constructive criticism. I need it. I know I’m not good at descriptions of surroundings and I’ve no idea how to learn writing them.

There are at least 7 Episodes to Part One, but I am shooting for 10 (as long as my brain works with me.)

Each Episode has an undetermined amount of Chapters when it begins. I will try to add extra warnings at the top of each chapter.

I apologize in advance for it being so slow to update. Writing is not my forte, but comments and gentle constructive criticism help me keep going! Suggestions, little requests, co-creators, co-developers, betas, etc. are welcome to inquire. I feel like I have a great base story, but I struggle with the little things.

Both of the Explicit versions, have extra fun one-shot chapters to add extra Rated X content and fun, but will not impact the story. I will try to add a link to the Alt Scene in the place it would go in the story.

Depending on my time, either my Chapters or Episodes will have a PLAYLIST link at the top or the bottom.

With the exception of characters who are dead on the show, and the Rated X stuff, it's as canon as possible. I try to fact-check as much as possible.

Early evening. Summer. Bar buzzing with people. You’re sitting at the bar, lollipop in your mouth, lighting matches with your fingers. You touch the condensation on your glass and as your fingers move, the water travels in a trail. When some hunters at a table begin talking, you raise the hood of your jacket and listen to the three hunters (ranging from late 20s - late 50s) at the table behind you.

HUNTER 1 We have to move out.

HUNTER 2 I thought the case was 50 miles from here.

HUNTER 1 Winchesters. Don’t know about you, but I’d prefer not getting involved. Or in their way.

HUNTER 3 They create all the problems, then pretend like they helped by fixing them.

You smile to yourself. A driver sits next to you.

DRIVER So I hear you need a ride?

YOU Yeah, I’m only headed to Ocean City.

DRIVER Really? What’s out there?

You throw him a smile.

. . . . . . . . . .

Inside the cab of a semi. You’re asleep, with your head lying against the window. The driver pulls off to a spot in the middle of nowhere, causing you to wake up.

YOU Are we there?

You look around, groggy.

YOU Where are we?

The driver attacks you. Pulling you forward with his hands.

. . . . . . . . . .

TRUCK

The truck rocks back and forth as the struggle inside continues. You manage to escape without your jacket and start running, but the driver pulls out a gun and shoots you. Your lifeless body, along with your bag, lay on the ground for hours. After dark, the grass around you grows. The individual blades wrap around your fingers, hands, arms, and legs. As they wrap around your head, you take in a quiet, deep breath. You sit up and look around. You pull yourself up and as you do, the blades of grass die and fall off. The bullet falls out of your back. Looking down, you see an outline of dead grass where you were lying. After looking in all directions, you pick up your bag and the bullet and begin walking towards the highway.

. . . . . . . . . .

THE HIGHWAY - EVENING

As you walk on the side of the highway, you turn to look behind you and see it. The black Impala that you’ve been looking for. The car rushes past you. You look up and see a starling on a lamp post. You stare at it for a moment and it looks back at you, head tilting. The bird flies off. You smile and continue to walk.

. . . . . . . . . .

SIDEWALK - THE NEXT NIGHT

You see Sam and Dean talking. You study them for a moment as you take a piece of candy and put it in your mouth. Before walking toward them, you crouch down and touch the grass. Your hand digs into the dirt. When you pull it out, about 3 worms come with it.

YOU Thank you.

The starling you saw earlier, picks a worm and flies off. You run your hands through your hair. Taking steps forward you don’t notice the jagged edge on the side of a bumper of an old van you brush past. Your jeans catch on the car and you get stuck. You pull your leg to break free, but you don’t come loose.

YOU Dammit! Come on.

The sound of your struggle gets the attention of Sam and Dean who notice a big truck speeding down the road. Dean tries to get your attention by waving his arms in the air.

DEAN Hey! (Pause) Hey!

Sam and Dean run across the street to help.

You feel arms wrap around you and pull you back. You are so preoccupied with getting loose and lost in your thoughts that it takes you by surprise. They all watch as the truck rushes through. After a few seconds of just realizing you almost died (again), you force the arms off of you. You take a defensive stance and come face to face with Castiel.

CASTIEL Just trying to help.

After a few seconds, you relax. Sam and Dean arrive.

YOU Sorry. I’m... Um... Obviously, not used to being helped out much. I mean, I’m not exactly…

You gesture to show you’re kind of a mess. You see the tear in your pants.

YOU And now I’m worse.

SAM You were really close to being hit.

YOU Yeah, I realize.

Sam puts his right hand out.

SAM My name is Sam.

You accept Sam’s hand and shake it.

YOU Y/N.

Dean slightly pushes Sam aside and offers his hand.

DEAN And I’m Dean.

You accept.

YOU Hi.

After a bit of awkward silence, Dean decides to speak up again.

DEAN Well, I bet you need a drink after that near-death experience.

YOU Sure.

DEAN Oh, by the way, this is Cass.

You smile at Castiel but quickly look away without making eye contact.

YOU Thank you.

Dean sends you in the direction of the bar. He walks behind you, pausing with Sam.

DEAN Dude, I need this.

SAM Since when do you need this?

DEAN Always. I always need this.

At a loss for words, Sam sighs.

DEAN Just tell me. Do you want in on this? Because if not, I’m going to make a move.

SAM I think I’m good, Dean.

Dean looks over at Castiel.

CASTIEL What?

DEAN Where is your head, lately? I’m offering you a chance with her and you don’t even seem to notice.

Annoyed, Castiel pointedly answers Dean, who doesn’t seem to notice Cass’s tone as being unusual.

CASTIEL No. Thank. You.

Dean smiles, hits his brother’s arm, and runs off to join you. Sam smiles at his brother’s ridiculous behavior.

. . . . . . . . . .

 MOTEL BAR - LATER

Sam watches as Dean heavily hits on you. He is smiling and talking to you, flirtatiously grazing your hand as he gives you a fresh drink. Castiel suddenly appears next to Sam.

CASTIEL It’s only a few ghosts. I’m sure it will be a simple in and out job. Where’s Dean?

SAM Dean is...

Sam looks over the table where Dean and you are sitting.

SAM Being Dean.

Castiel looks over at the table and sees Dean touching your arm. You return the flirtations with a smile and brush your leg against his.

CASTIEL What have you learned about her?

SAM You should probably ask Dean. He’s been talking to her for the last hour and a half. She’s been coming on to him harder than he is to her.

Castiel looks back at the table.

CASTIEL Interesting. I’m not sure I trust her.

SAM What makes you say that?

CASTIEL I don’t like the way Dean is flirting with her.

SAM What are you talking about? He’s doing what he always does.

Castiel looks at Dean, disapprovingly.

CASTIEL He’s being too honest about it. Being that open is dangerous.

SAM Cass, are you…jealous?

Castiel looks at Sam, genuinely confused.

CASTIEL Of what?

Dean joins Sam and Castiel as you walk away.

DEAN Damsel in distress.

Castiel & Sam recognize this as a code for a trap.

SAM What the plan?

DEAN My plan is to leave with her. You two can pretend to save me in an hour or so.

SAM An hour? Dean, if this is a trap, you can’t just willingly fall into it.

DEAN It’s a risk I’m willing to take.

Noticing the ridiculous smile on Dean’s face, Sam rolls his eyes.

SAM Is she even your type?

DEAN Uh, yeah.

CASTIEL I don’t think it’s a good idea.

DEAN Yeah? When is the last time you saw a woman like that?

CASTIEL Dean, just because it’s a trap, doesn’t mean it’s okay to use her for sex.

DEAN Oh, I’m not. She invited me to her room. I promise I’ll be careful by thoroughly checking everything out. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a trap to fall into.

DEAN winks and walks away.

. . . . . . . . . .

NEAR THE MOTEL ROOMS - MOMENTS LATER

DEAN catches up with you.

DEAN Hey, I thought we were having a good time.

You smile.

YOU We were.

DEAN Why did you run off?

YOU If I were running, you wouldn’t have found me.

. . . . . . . . . .

MOTEL ROOM - LATER

You and Dean are making out on one of the beds. You are under him. He pushes his hips into you. You breathe heavily at first, moaning, lightly. As Dean keeps going, your moans get louder. He moves to remove your pants, but you push his hands back, he looks up at you.

YOU Not yet. Keep going.

He gets back on top of you and continues. He adds a kiss. You moan louder.

YOU Yes.

You keep moaning until you orgasm and Dean pauses.

DEAN Did you just—?

You nod your head.

DEAN Damn, that is so hot.

He smiles and kisses you. Suddenly the door flies open and Sam & Castiel come into the room. Dean & you stop and look toward the door. Dean frustratingly yells at the guys.

DEAN Oh, come on!

OTHER VERSIONS AND EXTRAS

Because I am very visual, I have symbols to look out for.

~ Klee PG Version ~ (Currently only on AO3)

*** Strong Tongue and Slender Fingers *** (Here and AO3)

KLEE (Original Version) (Currently only on AO3)

Alt KLEE Smut (Currently only on AO3)

*** Alt Strong Tongue and Slender Fingers Smut Scenes *** (Currently only on AO3)

Please Buy Me a Beer!

Tip Me on Ko-Fi

AO3

[airspeedprime]

What are your gernal thoughts on The last Airbender movie? What are some positives and negatives?

General thoughts are that I neither absolutely hate it nor do I super like it. I am very middle of the road on TLA.

My main issue these days with it are that the majority of the fandom will not allow the movie to be discussed. Anyone who even attempts to discuss it is just bombarded with “whAt mOviE??” or “Worst movie ever” style comments.

It is stuff like the ATLA reddit having a line at the end of their description that says “There is no movie” that I just can’t stand. That any other content getting responses like that would have mods deleting stuff for spam and for adding nothing to the discussion, but it is just accepted because it is the movie. 

Myself I think the movie is actually a solid attempt at condensing Book 1 down into a 90 minute movie, Book 1 especially seems so difficult to cut down so much since so much of the Book is solo episodes that are not super plot focused. TLA hits a lot of the main beats, but also does skip over stuff that fans really wanted, but it is always going to be that sort of debate you have to leave out a good amount of stuff, but not too much while still keeping it a reasonable length.

One thing I do like in the movie is that it makes more of an arc out of Aang learning waterbending. I love how Aang holding back his emotions about the loss of his people means he can’t waterbend, and until his emotions flow like water he won’t be able to waterbend. It builds so nicely up to the finale where he finally accepts he is the Avatar and what happened, and we get both Avatar State and waterbending at once. I really liked this arc and it fit for this more serious Aang who is more heavily impacted by the results of his 100 years in ice. I honestly think ATLA itself should have had something resembling this, I think Book 1 should have covered Aang’s thoughts on the loss of his people a bit more and his waterbending should have had a bit more of a story to it.

Flaws are stuff like the actor choice for Zhao and Ozai being baffling in how they portray the characters, Ozai especially you cannot in anyway imagine this guy fighting Aang during the comet.

Sokka really didn’t have many good scenes, I don’t think it is purely a bad acting performance and instead just weak scenes and dialogue that gave the actor nothing to work with.

I actually thought Aang and Katara were reasonably well done in most scenes, again this is where tone comes in. I think so many fans cannot see Avatar in any way other than exactly as the show is, but directly adapting ATLA to live action would make for an off tone for a live action show IMO. 

I actually enjoyed how they did the lore with the Fire Nation not being able to generate their own fire and instead their industry and tech being the key to why they are so strong, that tech makes up for that weakness. But then revealing that Iroh can generate his own fire is so cool, that the “true way” of firebending has this extra meaning in the show, would be interesting to see how they did this going forward. Zuko gradually learning to generate his own fire and then Sozin’s comet being a threat because it straight away gives all firebenders the ability to generate their own fire. It is different and you question why, but I like how it heavily emphasises the fire nations success through their prosperity and advancement. 

Dev Patel as Zuko I thought was quite good, one of the most fitting performances. I really liked the scene where Zuko asks that Earth Kingdom boy what he knows about Prince Zuko, that worked well.

Beyond that the main issue with the movie is the script, a lot of weak dialogue that either is awkward or just gives the actors no hope. I agree with the lack of humour, but as I said I think you do have to slightly alter the tone moving to Live Action and you have to make it more serious and take out some of the comedy.

I would have liked to have seen Book 2 done in the movies, just to see how it handled a stronger and focused plot.

It is one of those things where I am not going to argue with people and overly defend it, but I would more argue with the fandom about just allowing the movie to actually be discussed. 

The “What movie?” and “There is no movie within the walls” stuff is utterly overdone, it has been 10 years, the joke is not funny anymore and so many people are so eager to jump on anything in anyway related to the movie just to be the first one to say “What Movie”.

So yeah, I think the movie is more interesting than people make out, but I would never argue that it is good.

[babemazzello]

‘39 - A John Deacon FanFiction

Chapter 10 - Getting Closer

Story Description: Amy is sitting in his apartment when she hears some frantic knocking outside her door. She opens it to see a frightened and frazzled John Deacon. A 23-year-old John Deacon. Who believes it’s still 1974, and not 2019. Amy takes it upon herself to help John and get him back to where he belongs.  Part 1 is here.

Chapter Description: Amy and John are even closer than before and there is absolutely no tension between them anymore. Amy tells John more things about the future and they spend a nice time listening to music together.

Notes: If you would like to be tagged for this story, either leave a comment or shoot me a message and I will tag you for all future chapters. Thank you all so much for reading, by the way. It means a lot to me. (Also, I took a week off to straighten some things out, so thanks for sticking with me and being patient. <3) ((Something got screwed up with the first version of this so I’m trying again. whoops.))

Warnings: none

Words: 3.3k

——–

1 week later

Since we held hands that night, we had been closer than ever before. We would stay up late telling jokes and funny stories to each other. Just loving the presence of the other person near us. Sometimes, when I would be cooking breakfast, John would come up behind me and place a hand on the small of my back. He would help me out if I needed anything and even set the table if the food was taking longer than I thought.

While our mornings before work were spent talking and enjoying conversations with each other, our evenings were becoming a little different. I would take John out to eat more than before. Getting him acquainted with little nuances of the future. Things like screens being everywhere, people having every piece of knowledge at their fingertips, and how multitasking was becoming an increasingly normal thing.

"So, people just listen to music while they do...anything?" He asked. We were sitting in a diner that I had been to a countless number of times before. The reason I hadn't taken him here was because the walls were covered in 1950's music icons and their music was constantly playing over the speakers just low enough that you could talk over it or listen to it to drown out the silence if there was a lull in the conversation. I was worried about him knowing that these artists are still respected and known over 50 years into the future since their start. But, because I was teaching him everything about the future, I figured this was something he was bound to figure out at some point since I had some of these records at home.

"Yup," I answered. "I thought you might have had that in your time, but you don't. It first started with something called a Walkman which I think came out in the late 70's." I was going into another history/future lesson and his eyes and ears were locked on me as he rested his face in his hand. "You see, the music industry found a way to condense a record into a plastic rectangle about...this size." I tried to make a box with my fingers in the shape of a cassette. "Those were called cassettes and you could play them as you walked around. But now, you can put music onto...want to take a guess?" I asked. Placing my hand on my phone next to me on the booth.

"Your phone?" He asked with a smile. I picked up my phone and showed it to him.

"Exactly," I grinned. I placed the phone down on the table. "So, the record and cassette could only hold about 12 songs, but if I really wanted to, I could fit over...I don't know...2,000 songs on here?" I was guessing on that part. I figured it could at least hold 2,000 and John would be impressed by that number anyway.

"2,000?" He almost yelled. Thankfully, the place was pretty empty so no one was bothered by our conversation.

"Yeah. That's normal now. Isn't that crazy?" I was beaming. I loved seeing him experience this world for the first time. Especially because when you live in a world like this, you get used to it. It becomes normal. Teaching him about all this stuff made me appreciate it more and actually realize how far we had come in a society in almost 50 years. There was a small silence between us.

"So...If you have all this technology and live in a time like this, why do you care about the past? I feel like I wouldn't," he admitted. I thought about it for a second. He stumped me. How could I put my love of the past into words? No one had ever asked me that before.

"Well," I stammered, trying to buy some time while thoughts raced in and out of my mind. "Everyone looks back on the past with rose-colored glasses, right? I guess that's very true for me as well. I see the amazing parts of the past. Like the music and the entertainment and the pop culture. The good stuff. And I guess I'm not doing you any favors by only telling you the good stuff about the future either." He knitted his eyebrows together.

"Tell me that too then," he said in a soft voice.

"Well, life expectancy is down for the second year in a row, companies are forcing people to work in low paying jobs and for despicably long hours, global warming is almost at a point where it might be irreversible, everyone in the world is more divided than they ever were before, people have begun to stop vaccinating their kids because of false scientific research, and then there are leaders here and all around that world that refuse to believe that none of this is happening. The people in charge who have the resources to fix most of the bad stuff don't want to because it would get in the way of their own interests to make a bunch of money. That's the bad stuff." I looked at John's eyes. He was staring down at the table, but looking through it. His eyes were in a thousand-yard stare trance. "And that's not even all of it." There was another silence.

"I'm sorry about that," he apologized.

"It's alright. Nothing to be sorry about. It's just the world I live in. I'm sure the time you're from isn't all puppies and roses either. It's just how the world works. There has to be some bad so you can appreciate the good. Focusing on the good parts gets you through the day. So, that's what I choose to do." I sat back in my seat.

"I guess that's true," he replied. There was a silence before he decided to change the subject. "But, why does Elvis seem to be everywhere? Is he considered the greatest artist of all time? Because it seems like it." He looked up at the giant mural of Elvis that was painted on the wall above our booth. To be fair, it was a good question to ask. Even when we would be walking down the street, there would be vendors selling art and they would always have some piece with Elvis.

"He's sort of a peace-keeper, I guess. I haven't met anyone who's said that they didn't like Elvis. He's like the one thing all of us can agree on. He's not necessarily the greatest, but he's loved by pretty much everyone. Guys wanted to be him and girls wanted to be with him," I explained.

"Must be nice," John said.

"What part of it?" I asked, not entirely sure by what his statement meant.

"The fact that everyone loves him." He was still staring at the painting. I bunched my eyebrows together in confusion.

"What do you mean? Do you think people don't love you? You have some fans, right?" I tried to be as nonchalant with my question as possible.

"Yes, we do. But, I don't like the fame part. If everyone could just like me and never acknowledge me for it, I'd be happy." He gave me a small smile right before our waiter came with our food. I sadly smiled down at my food. Knowing full well that after Freddie died, he retired from the music industry and was never seen again. And the fact that it was well known that he didn't like the fame, but liked making music. I was saddened to see this part of him even in his younger self. It reminded me too vividly of what was to come.

--------

We had started a tradition at home of trying to watch a movie together every other night. It not only gave John something to look forward to but something else to do. I explained to him what DVDs were. I didn't even try to explain streaming services because that would be a little too complex for him right now. So, our movie choice was limited to whatever DVDs I still had on my shelves. Thankfully, I had a lot of old movies.

That night, we decided to watch It's A Wonderful Life. It wasn't close to Christmas, but we both admitted that we loved the movie and decided to watch it anyway. I grabbed it off the shelf and popped it into the player.

John was sitting back on the couch. His legs spread a little bit and one of his arms resting on the back of the chair. A loud crack of thunder roared outside and we both stopped what we were doing to watch the rain blast against the window.

"Some storm," John commented.

"Happens more than you think this time of the year." April was always supposed to be the rainy season, but New York never got the memo. It would rain a lot in May which didn't please many of the tourists who thought this was the perfect time to come here.

"Glad we're inside then," John spoke again. I looked over at him and watched him watch the rain for a second. The yellow light reflected in the raindrops danced across his face and made him look more handsome than in the daytime, which I didn't think was possible. I shook the thought from my head and finished setting up the movie.

I walked over to the couch and sat down in the place beside John. The next couch cushion. There was room left between us, but not much. I liked it that way. His arm rested on the back of the couch behind me. I was very aware of it as I pressed a button on the remote to start the movie.

We sat and watched in silence. Laughing along to some of the jokes. That was until Mary showed up. The movie is often talked about as a Christmas movie, but not a romantic movie. My eyes widened when I remembered which part would be coming soon. Then, it came.

The part where George and Mary stand in front of her house and George says he would give her anything. He talks about giving her the moon if she wants it. And how he'll tie a lasso around it and pull it down. Then, they kiss. My heart melted seeing them kiss. Knowing that I was sitting next to the one person who I wanted to kiss more than anyone else in the world.

And, like he was reading my mind, his arm shifted off the back of the couch and onto my shoulder. Comforting me. He had made his move. I was shocked at the sudden touch. I looked over at him, unsure if he knew what he was doing. He looked down at me and saw the confusion in my eyes. He quickly thought that he had made a mistake and read the situation wrong.

I acted quickly to try and make him stay. To tell him that what he did was nice and right. As his hand slipped off of my shoulder, I caught it and pulled it back over. I scooted in closer to him on the couch and laid my head on his shoulder. Slightly resting into him.

I heard him let out a small chuckle at my actions. Happy that I wasn't backing away as I had done before. If I tried hard enough, I could hear his heartbeat. But, only when the movie was quiet or extremely low. We sat like that for the rest of the movie.

--------

The next day, I was home from work. Saturdays were nice because I could sleep for as long as I wanted and no one could tell me otherwise. However, I hadn't seemed to be able to do that since John got here. I was always waking up earlier than I normally would on the weekends just to make sure he had something to do.

However, I started to trust John a bit more. Trusted him to not defy me like he once did and be alright on his own in the mornings and let me sleep past 9. John liked to sleep in as well, but I wasn't akin to his sleep schedule, even after all this time. So, sometimes I would wake up and he would still be asleep. It didn't bother me too much because he looked so adorable when he slept.

Although that day, we were both up pretty early in the morning. We spent most of the day enjoying some music and I was telling him stories about some of the 'new' bands he hadn't gotten to experience yet like Journey, Boston, STYX, David Bowie, and other people from the late seventies and early eighties. He seemed to enjoy them quite a bit.

"Oh! Let's try this one," I suggested after scanning the newly refiled record collection. I had put all of the albums back because there wasn't a restriction on them anymore. Well, all of them except the Queen ones, but John didn't need to know that.

I slid the record out from the shelf and stood up. Walking over to the player and unsheathing the record from its sleeve. John watched my every move, but I tried not to focus on that. I placed the black and gold sleeve next to it as I smiled to myself. Knowing full well that he was going to love what I was going to play.

I placed the needle on top of the record and waited for the familiar piano rake to hit my ears. I turned toward John as Dancing Queen filled the room. I got the pleasure to show disco to a future funky disco man.

His eyes lit up as he listened to the song for the first time. I danced around to the beat that I had heard a million times before, but it suddenly felt so new and fresh. I swiveled around and mouthed the lyrics to the song. Doing my best to emulate what the dancing would have been like in the clubs when this song came on. Which was also similar to what people would do when the song came on now.

John laughed as I acted out every lyric and dance move. Shaking my hips around the room and even recreating some of the moves from the movie. I loved dancing around to ABBA's music and I hadn't done it in such a long time. I watched his eyes as the music flowed through him. He was listening to every beat and loving every second of it.

Up until now, he had his face in his book. Only listening to the music as background noise as a way to catch up on everything he had been missing all these years. But, with this album, he was focused completely on the music. Bobbing his head to it as he watched me dance.

I pointed to John throughout the chorus. Making sure that he knew that he was the dancing queen. He wouldn't understand what I was referring to yet since Disco Deacy didn't come out in full swing until the late seventies. So, he just enjoyed the attention I was giving him.

Eventually, the song ended, and he seemed sad. Wanting the disco beat to go on forever. I knew he would like the song, but it shocked me that he was so moved by it. We waited for the next one to start. Knowing Me, Knowing You began to ring through the apartment. I danced along with this one too. A little slower, but still dance-worthy.

I started singing along to the actual song. John chuckled and kept a smile plastered on his face the entire time. It was difficult to keep the blush from creeping over my face at how he was admiring me. My entire body felt like it was on fire just from his gaze. And I became embarrassed that I was dancing alone. I walked over to his and reached both of my hands out to him. I smiled at him. A wide grin plastered on my face.

"Come on. I know you want to," he grabbed my hands with a nervous laugh and started to dance with me. I held his hands in mine and swayed them back and forth to get him a little more comfortable. He was bobbing his head and two-stepping to the beat. He was trying to loosen up when he danced around me.

I broke away from him and started dancing crazily to the music to hopefully encourage him to let loose a little more. It seemed to work when I saw his hips begin swaying more and his arms started moving around to the beat. But, the song started to fade out. I had spent so long trying to get him to dance that the song had ended. But, I knew what the next one was and I smiled at him as Take A Chance On Me started playing.

I lip-synced the words at John while he was dancing to the beat. It was wonderful and soft. Both of us giggling at each other's silliness and feeling comfortable enough around each other to do something like this. Everything was going great until I sang a certain lyric at John that made his face fall.

Cause you know I've got

So much that I wanna do, when I dream I'm alone with you

It's magic

You want me to leave it there,

Afraid of a love affair, but I think you know,

That I can't let go

His face turned serious as his dancing began to slow and weaken. I kept singing, hoping that I didn't offend him in some way. I started poking his side with my finger. Hoping to get him back into the silly mood with me. With every poke of my finger, he seemed to cheer up a little bit.

And when I went in to poke him for the fifth time, he grabbed my hand and pulled me in closer to him. I laughed at his sudden movement as he brought my hand in his and we were in the slow dance position. We began swaying back and forth to the fast pace of the song. Laughing and giggling to each other. Loving how close we were.

John would extend his arm to push me out and pull me back in. He would even spin me as well to the beat of the song. It was intimate and close, and there wasn't any tension between us. None lingering from the last time we were in this position. It was calm and silly and had no expectations behind it.

When the song eventually faded away, we stopped and realized what position we were in. He looked over at our hands and then the small space between our bodies and then up to my face. There was a small twinge of fright at what he would do next. I desperately didn't want a repeat of last time, and I wasn't sure if I would pull away again or give in. But, thankfully, there wasn't a repeat.

"I feel like getting something to drink tonight. What about you?" He spoke. I was shocked and even stepped back a small step at his question.

"Yeah, sure," I laughed.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing, I just- That seemed to come out of nowhere, that's all," I answered him.

"Oh well, do you know any good bars we can go to?" He wanted to get out of the house, but I couldn't let that happen.

"Can't go out to any bars," I informed him. The next song started, but we didn't notice it or pay attention.

"And why not?" John asked in a playful fashion.

"Too many drunk people who might let something slip about the future to you. And I can't let that happen." I saw his face get sad, so I offered up another solution. "But, I can go get some bottles of something and bring them back here. We can have our own little party, how about that?" His face lightened.

"Sounds like a plan." He said.

--------

Tag List: @itsametaphorbriansblog @imgonnabeyourslave @deakyspuff @ahsokanarwhal @bestbuds55 @kurt-nightcrawler @ixchel-9275 @ccidk @1001-yellow-daffodils @jedi-dreea @rogertaylors-lipgloss  @queendeakyy @rogertaylorsfalsettogivesmehives

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Masterlist

[100-yardstare]

Making this a separate post cause it’s long, but here’s the second part to my fic.

Word Count: 5,788

Chapter 2

Steven couldn’t believe his ears. A Jedi? It made sense, but at the same time, it didn’t. His mind raced, filling in answers with the recollections of all the stories he heard, and books he had read. Sarai fit every description he had ever learned about the Jedi. She was here, alive— standing before him, but at the same time he kept questioning as to why. Why was she here?

               “Can you tell me what happened to you?” Steven asked, calmly and sincerely. He slowly rose to a sturdy stand, not once parting his gaze from her. Alongside him, R6 continued to stay silent, listening with Steven for Sarai’s answer.

               “I don’t know… it all happened so fast,” Sarai attempted to explain. Her eyes soon settled onto the smothered grasses at her boots. “I was being followed by the Empire. They finally found the whereabouts of my location, and I was trying to make a leap into hyperspace.”

               Steven eagerly kept staring, wanting so desperately to hear her story. Listening to her was almost as if the tales and legends in those books and history banks about the Jedi had come to life, and now were speaking back to him after years of his questions.  

“And then?” Steven asked.

               “They were going to pull me into their tractor beam, but I managed to get the boost I needed... Something happened though… The ships sensors were going haywire, and instead of going into hyperspace, I felt a tug—a rush of energy; warm condensed energy, as if all that was, would have been, and had been gathered around me at once into its embrace, and then gently let me go.”

               Steven didn’t understand her. She was talking about something rather vague to begin with, but her mannerism and choice of words didn’t strike as anything familiar to him.

               “I thought it had just been a dream… another vision, but before I was released I saw…”

               “Saw what?”

               “The light…” Sarai responded, finally her eyes lifting upward from the ground and up into the sky, meeting the clouds and snow filled air. “The Force; it brought me here… but why?”

               From her answer Steven’s mind only filled with more questions. Was there really such thing as ‘the Force’? And if there was, could it really be possible to have seen it physically?

               Before he could even think to ask her anything else, his comlink started to buzz, which instantly pulled him out of his calmed and inquisitive state, and to something on the lines of concern. He normally would never get a call unless it was his father worrying about him again.

               “Oh shit,” Steven mumbled out loud. He awkwardly fumbled through his back pocket and then took a hold of the device, answering it as calmly as he could. Despite his efforts, however, his voice started to shake.

               “H-hello? Dad?” He stuttered first.

               “Steven, where are you?” The voice from the other line was so obviously his father that he could even feel the steaming fury leaking from the speakers, and through his suppressed tone. “Tell me where you have been, it’s been way too long! You should be home!”

               “I’m-m—I’m well… out walking with Wheatles,” Steven tried to stay.

               “What’s wrong with you?” His dad asked next, taking immediate notice of how Steven was talking. “Is there something wrong?”

               Steven had to make up a lie, or something to cover the reasons for his mannerisms. “It’s just a little cold out here, Dad,” Steven finally said. “We got quite a breeze a few moments ago.”

               “All the more reason to come back then,” his father replied.  “You should hurry; I don’t want you out there any longer.”

               “Okay, I’ll be back soon,” Steven responded one last time, and shut off the comlink. His eyes instantly fell to Sarai, who had listened quietly the entire time to the conversation. “This is going to sound… rather weird, but I don’t think it would be a good idea if you told my dad you were… a Jedi,” Steven stated.

               Sarai raised a brow in confusion, but she didn’t bother to ask any questions. Instead she nodded her head softly and turned to look back at her ship. “I know you’re probably taking a risk allowing me to come with you,” Sarai said. “But I won’t say for long. I just need some supplies to fix my ship and I’ll be on my way.”

               “But where will you go?” Steven asked, but before his question could have a moment out in the open for Sarai to answer, he seemed to gather an answer for himself. His eyes shot open, as if he had surprised himself. “I know!” Steven chirped. “The Resistance can help you!”

               “Resistance?” Sarai asked. “But you said before that the Empire was gone… why is there still a resistance?”

               “Well, the Empire is gone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t bad guys about…” Steven gritted his teeth together, realizing that there was quite an amount of information to tell Sarai. But until then, he needed to get out the basics in order to properly help her. “He’s been missing for years, but General Leia may be able to help lead you in the right direction to find him. He’s a Jedi too; Master Luke Skywalker.”

               “A Jedi master!?” Sarai gasped. It was like hearing this was something she hadn’t heard in ages. Since Steven met her, this was the first time her eyes opened wide with what was hope. It also seemed that she had so much more to say, but her composure immediately took over, stripping her of her excitement. “If you can tell me where to find General Leia, I would be forever in your debt.”

               “It’s the least I could do,” Steven responded. “Here, I’ll take you back to my place. Just… act normal.”

. . . . . . .

                 The village area was quiet and spread out. There was the market place, and a means of public business, but the setting of private property and homes were further out and more divided. Homes sat on large sections of land in particular. Steven’s home was to the northwest of the village area, just far enough from others to provide a decent means of isolation, but close enough for a convenient walk to proper supplies, and ports.

To the left side of Steven’s home, a large barn-like building had been built. It was here that Steven’s father could be seen, inspecting a small sized star cruiser. It looked to be uncompleted by only a few minor means, but it looked to be able to fly out at any day.

               “Who is this?” the older man grumbled. “What’s a togruta doing all the way out here in the Outer-Rim territories?”

               “Oh, well… you see, she’s a bit in trouble, Dad,” Steven admitted. He couldn’t completely lie to him. “Her ship had some problems and she had to make a landing here. I offered to help her.”

               “Problems, huh?” Steven’s father responded. Although his tone didn’t sound bitter, his expression looked very much so.

               “Anyways…” Steven cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head momentarily before walking up closer to his father, leading Sarai up to him. “Dad, this is Sarai. Sarai, this is my dad.”

               “You can call me Connor. Connor Wheatfield,” Steven’s father added and then extended his hand outward for a handshake, in which Sarai would quickly take the opportunity oblige.

               “It’s a pleasure,” Sarai responded. “Did you build this ship?”

               “Not me… I wouldn’t want anything to do with the thing,” Connor answered. “My son Steven has actually taken the time to put this thing together based on the old cruiser the family used during the battle of Endor.

               “Endor?” Sarai muttered. Confused, she still managed to keep her attention set on Connor. “Quite a while ago… it seems.”

               “Quite a while indeed.” Connor  chuckled softly, as if attempting to make light of it. “Almost three decades ago… My how time passes; for only a brief time, the galaxy found peace. That is, until the First Order stepped up.”

               Sarai felt a wave of what felt like cold adrenaline pass through her. It was very brief, but the feeling rushed over her so quickly, and violently, it could have been compared to a thunderbolt striking the Kamino Sea. It was only at this moment, ever so briefly, her outward composure slipped again, and her expression which was usually suppressed of emotion crumbled, as of a child that had been given news they weren’t prepared for.

               Almost three decades. How long after Order 66 were the Jedi hunted, even after her disappearance? How long did the small teams of rebels, merely speaking of a rebellion at the time, take to build their means to fight the Empire? And ultimately, how long was it until this battle of Endor, which seemed to be the final marker of the Empire’s control of the galaxy?

               “Are you all right, Sarai?” Steven asked with concern. He took a step toward her, as if in preparation to console her if need be.

               “I’m fine…” Sarai managed to say.

               “I’m sure she’s shaken up from that landing…” Connor suggested. “I don’t know what you’ll be able to find around the house for your ship, since Steven has already taken the liberty to use most of our supplies to build that useless star cruiser. However, I’m sure you’ll find some parts in the market, but you’ll have to wait until morning. All the locals have already closed shop, I’m sure.”

               “Wow, that’s really nice of you, Dad,” Steven said. A smile seemed to creep over his lips as he spoke this, though his words came out with curiosity.

               “Don’t think this is all you can stay freebee though,” Connor immediately explained. “You can stay here the night, and then you need to try and get what you need by tomorrow and get going.”

               Sarai nodded respectfully, but she didn’t say another word.

               “Now then, I have some dinner cooking. It should be ready within the hour,” Connor stated, looking over at Steven. “It’ll be nighttime before you know it, so I don’t want you out here messing with that piece of junk.”

               “Okay, Dad,” Steven mumbled in response. His father would simply turn his back and begin walking towards the home, leaving Sarai and Steven among the lightly whitened grasses.

               “It’s not a piece of junk, just so you know…” Sarai commented then. This caused Steven to lift his gaze back up to her. “It looks pretty good considering it��s made from spare parts. Did your dad teach you?”

               “Dad? Oh, a little… You see, we both were—well, the family—used to serve in the Resistance. I learned all my training there. My dad was chief engineer and designer of our squadron. You could say I got the knick from him.”

               “Your family? Are they here as well?” Sarai asked.

               “It’s just my father and I now,” Steven responded, although his sentence ended with a sigh, and his eyes immediately would shift back to the ship. “My Mum… well… she didn’t make it.”

               Sarai was quiet. She could already sense some rising negative feelings in Steven that she didn’t want to stir. With his feelings she could see blurred images in the Force; distant outlined images as of shadows at ones feet.

               “I’m sorry…” Sarai finally said, gently.

               “Don’t be…” Steven replied. His eyes were a bit reddened, but he sniffled his nose and raised his eyes back up to Sarai. Quickly, he would dismiss his lowly state for a smile.

               “See, I don’t think Dad quite understands, but… this ship here, means a lot to me. It’s a symbol of all my hard work and accomplishments as a Resistance trainee. Accomplishments I didn’t get to prove.”

               “Why aren’t you and your father still there?” Sarai wondered. She had a gut feeling something had happened, but she wasn’t sure. Inquisitively she waited for a response, but again, this seemed to strike a negative topic.

               “The life of a soldier wasn’t a life my dad wanted. Not for him…” his eyes shifted to the floor, but not for long. “And not for me either.”

               “Do you want to be there? To be a Resistance soldier?”

               Steven laughed in response, as his face began to turn red. “Me? Back at the Resistance? Oi, yeah, that would be brilliant. I’m not necessarily fond of being stuck on this icy planet, but my dad insists. And what my dad insists, I do.”

               “I see…” Sarai muttered. She chose to return her attention fully to the ship, although her mind sat on what Steven had said. She had been around soldiers her whole life. She had seen the desire to serve, and be a part of something greater than the individual. Just like in the Clone Soldier legions she had helped lead into battle, she saw the same thing in Steven. The desire to be out there.

               . . . . . . .

                 “Food isn’t quite the forte around these parts, but it’ll do,” Connor said, handing a bowl of soup to Sarai.

               Steven had already begun eating, although reluctantly, as if he had seen the same bowl with the same broth hundreds of times. R6 simply stood beside Steven, making a very small coo sound, as if trying to show sympathy.

               “I don’t mind,” Sarai responded with a kindly smile. “It’s definitely a relief from the ration bars I’m used to eating.”

               “Ugh, you eat those things?” Connor responded. “They’re a good source of nutrition, I’ll give them that much. But they aren’t something I’d want to eat ever again.”

               “Yet you serve this soup almost daily,” Steven muttered.

               “What was that?”

               “Nothing.” Steven grumbled, stirring his spoon into the broth like a child.

               It soon grew quiet, with only the sound of the small bubbles popping from the large container of broth at the stove. Outside, and among the dark, snow was hitting the window, hard enough to sound as if a storm was blowing over. But despite that, the rich smell of the food, among a lightened fireplace to the leftward portion of the room, brought a comforting feeling in the home. It wasn’t made of marble and gold, but it was pleasant all the same.

The wooden floors that creaked under your feet reminded Sarai of some of the many villages she had visited during her service in the Clone Wars. Those moments when battle was at a pause, and it was only the people she was serving.

“What kind of ship is it that you have out there?” Connor asked Sarai next.

Sarai had just taken her first bite of the soup. Even with Steven’s complaints she enjoyed its taste and warmth. “My ship?” Sarai repeated aloud. “It’s a G9… Rigger-Class.”

“The Light Freighter?” Connor asked, his brows raising, causing his forehead to crease significantly.

Steven paused eating, knowing just like his father how curious that was. Although the difference between Steven and his dad was that only he knew about where Sarai had come from.

“That’s an extremely old model…” Connor added. “No wonder the thing crashed.”

Steven started coughing, apparently out of having something go down the wrong throat hole. His eyes watered, and his face shifted colors again, but he quickly got a hold of himself. “Oi, no wonder…” Steven chuckled after his awkward series of coughs.

“I’d normally suggest trying your hand at finding another ship to fly, considering the age of the one you have, but I guess credit is rather tight these days.” Connor proceeded to stand up and take his bowl, eyeing Steven momentarily before shifting his attention, and speaking to him then. “Now, son, are you going to finish that broth or should I just throw it away?”            

“I’ll finish it…” Steven responded, although keeping his eyes on the soup instead to continue stirring the liquid with his spoon.

“That’s what you always say,” Connor argued.

Before another word could be muttered, the simple sound of snow hitting the window was enveloped with a loud buzzing noise, and the black outside in return was shined upon with bright white and blue lights, causing the snow to become like silver.

It was so out-of-the-ordinary that Connor, in the split second it took him to register something was outside, tossed the empty bowl back onto the little table, nearly causing it to fall off, and ran towards the window. Steven, meanwhile, remained where he was, eyeing his father cautiously, but he himself still in a state of stillness.

“No… No no no no no no it can’t be!”  Connor shrilled. Panic was obviously taking him over, which instantly caused Steven to feel it too.

“What is it, what’s out there?” Steven asked first, setting his bowl down and lifting from his seat.

“We’ve got to hide!” Connor fretted. “Put out the lights!”

“Dad, what’s wrong?!” Steven fussed again, this time coming to a stand. R6 tried holding itself together, but it started shaking, and its little blue light that served as its eye glowed a little brighter.

“It’s them! They’ve found me!”

“Found you?”

“Just get moving, Steven!” Connor pleaded, although at that moment, it was a little too late to do anything, really.

Amidst Connor’s fear and Steven’s uncertainty, Sarai already knew. She didn’t quite recognize what she was sensing outside, but she knew it was an enemy.

“The First Order,” Sarai said out loud, opening her eyes as if she had been briefly under a trance; a vision. “There are two small squadrons outside; two ships total, one towards the market. There is no use in hiding from them. They’ll break in.”

“I can’t let them find me or my son!” Connor hollered again.

“They’re not here for you…” Sarai mentioned. “They’re looking for something else.”

“And how would you know that!?”

A loud knock on the door broke Connor’s question, twisting all the attention to fall onto the doorway. Terrified, Connor looked at his son, whose blue eyes matched his own in a sense of fear of the unknown.

Connor didn’t waste time deciding whether or not to answer the door. As much as he could he tried to bury his outward expression of fear and walked up to the door. However, before he could quite reach it the door was knocked down.

Walking inside, was a group of soldiers clad in white armor. To Sarai, they were the exact enemies she had known decades ago. Servants of the Empire—Stormtroopers. Only now, they served another evil just as devastating.

“Evacuate your home immediately or you’ll pay with your life,” one of the soldiers commanded. Connor raised his hands desperately, which triggered Steven to follow his actions. Sarai, on the other hand, followed, but very slowly. She continued to visualize the numbers surrounding the home, and just beyond the door.

Aggressively, the soldiers began to strip the three, and the droid, out of the home and outside into the snow. It was there that they finally saw two First Order ships had landed among the community, one close to the barn, and another at a distance, whose lights indicated it was close to the market area.

However, among the ship literally at their doorstep, and standing before the white Stormtroopers, was another.

“Captain Phasma…” Connor gasped, as if he was looking at a ghost. Her silver armor shined the brightest among the others, causing her to become a spectacle underneath the bright lights, and highlighted by the falling snow.

“Are there any others in the building?” Phasma approached, asking the Stormtroopers that had pulled them out from inside.

“No, just the three of them, and their droid.”

“Search the home, for any possible stowaways or further leads, I’ll take care of them,” Phasma ordered next. Four soldiers of the group scampered into the house then, but in return allowing Phasma full oversight of Sarai, Steven, and his father. “We have reason to believe that the map to Luke Skywalker could possibly be in this area. Would you have any idea where that could be?” Her tone was far more sarcastic than her question ought to be.

“A map? To Luke Skywalker?” Connor responded on behalf of the three, but his tone came out more in disbelief than anything else, and speaking mostly out of fear. “Why would there be a map of Luke Skywalker here?”

“Don’t play coy with me,” Phasma threatened. “Our leads would not have led to Pantora for nothing.” She was quiet for a few moments, observing her new captives. Even from behind her helmet you could feel her powerful, yet terrifying gaze melting right through you. “You do know of Luke Skywalker then?”

“I—of course I do. The name Skywalker is a legend,” Connor responded, although even at this point with his knees cold in the snow he still was managing to begin to break into a frantic sweat.

“I see… well, if you truly don’t have any information to help me on my mission, then you have nothing to fear.” She paused again, only shortly. “And yet, you are fearful, aren’t you?”

Connor couldn’t respond. He knew good and well at this point that Phasma was playing him—trying to creep into his insecurities and break him down from the inside in a form of interrogation. Despite knowing well what kind of situation he was in, the older man found his gaze shifting over to Steven; he would quickly, however, attempt to steer this attention back to Phasma.

But Connor’s attempts to overcome his strong panic response, only made uncontrollable by the presence of danger before his only living son, were futile. His glance towards Steven was a brief enough gesture to give Phasma enough personal information she needed in regards to the relations to the group.

“You look awfully familiar. Do you have a name?” Phasma asked next.

Again, Connor was quiet. On the outside, he was petrified. Fear had seemed to overcome him like a spreading disease; simply looking into his eyes reflected the chaos that was going on within his mind.

“If you won’t answer me, perhaps he will,” Phasma stated next, and looked over towards Steven next. “What is your name?”

“Steven…” he responded.

“Your surname?”

“Don’t talk to her!” Connor erupted, his voice mixed with terror, sadness, and anger, all jumbled together and clashing for dominance.

Phasma suddenly lifted a blaster upward and at Connor, which caused Connor to immediately cease his outward tensions and lock it back into his expression. “Do you wish to die here?” the Captain said next, her voice becoming even colder than the Pantoran air. “Lack of cooperation will make this introduction much more dragged out hand necessary. You missed your chance to speak. Let Steven talk.”

“Don’t hurt him, please!” Steven was slowly starting to be overcome with fear like his father, especially now that he had a gun pointed to his face. “My name is Steven, Steven Wheatfield.” R6 would coo sorrowfully at the situation, and seemingly guilty in consciousness for not being able to do anything to help his two masters.

Phasma chuckled maliciously. Steven’s answer seemed to be exactly what she was looking for.

“Interesting how the First Order has received countless leads to this planet, and the name of one of the Resistance finest engineers happens to be on its soil. Although I do recall Wheatfield being much older when he served… you seem far too young to be a veteran.” Phasma’s voice trailed off, her finger slowly sliding onto the trigger of her weapon as she stared back at Connor. “Unless, of course, Steven is your son.”

Utter silence took over the group then. Only the cold air, sending snowflakes falling consistently upon them managed to make a soft whisper. Phasma had all she needed, right here in front of her, in the form of a Resistance engineer, and his son. Having this kind of lead practically given to her upon setting foot on Pantora was something that brought her joy, which she didn’t particularly express often.

At that moment the troopers that had entered the home came out empty handed. It was obvious that they didn’t find anything else in the building that could help them, but Phamsa didn’t mind. She had enough kneeling before her.

“I ought to take both of you into custody for your affiliation with the Resistance,” Phasma spoke out loud. “But keeping you both alive for further interrogation would be a waste of resources. After all it only takes one of you to give me what I need.”  She looked up at her troopers then, who were patiently awaiting further command. “FN-1991, FN-711, please escort the young Wheatfield into our ship.”

Immediately the two troopers did as commanded, and grabbed Steven by both arms and began to thrust him away from his home, the group, and towards their ship that had landed a few kilometers away. If panic wasn’t already set in Steven by then, it was now.

“Wait—wait, no no no! You can’t do this! Dad!” Steven wailed as he was separated from the others. Phasma was about to follow after them, but the remaining four Stormtroopers continued to stand there with Sarai, R6, and Connor.

“What should we do with the others?” one of the troopers asked.

“Kill them.” Phasma’s response came out sharply. The sting could be felt in Connor’s heart as he sunk into the notion that his life was finally coming to an end, and the last thing he would see is Steven being dragged away by the First Order. And the worst part was there was nothing he could do about it.

“Dad! Dad! Please!” Steven continued to wail. Steven was trying his best to pull away from the grip of the troopers escorting him, but it was really of no use. He had extremely minor training in physical combat during his relatively short time in the Resistance, but it was never his forte to begin with. Never until this point had he felt the sheer dread of what it meant to be helpless. There was nothing he could do to stop what was happening to him, or even to his father, and Sarai.

Sarai, however, had been utterly quiet the entire time. Not out of fear or despair, but in vigilance. Among the interrogation between Phasma and the others, she had been able to feel every enemy among her, every possible way to fight back, and foresee every ultimate outcome. Each choice—each path she took— moved time onward in a very slight different direction. Her choices were slim, but hope was not lost.

Sarai’s montrals picked up the muted clicks of the trooper’s blasters as they prepared their weapons for the execution of not only herself, but Connor as well. The sounds came to her like sonar, spreading from the blasters, into the soldiers, and among the air and snow covered earth, allowing her to see them even as she begun to close her eyes. To her, things seemed to slow down as she tapped into the Force. With this power summoned within her, she made her move quickly, and grabbed her lightsaber that she had hidden under her white and grey robes.

A loud hiss consumed the quietness of the snowy night, and among the white and blue lights of the First Order ships, a new shade of violet escaped from Sarai’s ignited lightsaber.

From behind, Steven could only hear the buzzing sound at first, unaware of what it was. Out of curiosity, however, even the troopers had stopped their procession forward to look behind them. Phasma even had found herself turned around—staring at the sudden, and unforeseen occurrence.

Instantaneously, Sarai made her move, springing from her lowly position, and swung her lightsaber through the necks of the troopers among her. It had happened so quickly that the troopers holding onto Steven at their distance stared in disbelief. Not simply because they had never seen something like this before in their enemies, but because of how unprepared they realized they were. Even Phasma, whose high self-expectations of handling the mission had been compromised. Unlike the younger men and women she currently trained and led into battle, she knew better. This wasn’t an ordinary opponent. This girl was a Jedi.

“Don’t just stand there! Fire!” Phasma commanded loudly. Her order caught the stormtroopers escorting Steven to be on high alert, shifting their confused and shocked domineers back to competent and alert warriors. One continued to hold onto Steven, while the other began to open fire at the Jedi. Phasma began to join in the attack as well, using her blaster to attempt to take out the togruta that was a few yards away.

Phasma felt frustration rising within her as she quickly saw each laser that launched from her blaster merely become deflected by the Jedi’s lightsaber. Within a few shots, Sarai managed to deflect a shot back at the trooper helping her, sending him to the ground instantly from a shot to the chest.

“Don’t just stand there you imbecile, call for backup!” Phasma hollered then to her remaining trooper, but before the command could even be registered with him, he too suddenly had a deflected shot hit him in the thigh, causing him to immediately collapse and shout out in pain.

This attack had come out of the blue, but Phasma still had the upper hand. Reinforcements from the second squadron were less than a mile away, and among them the proper means to take out the Jedi and these traitorous rebels. She quickly ceased fire to relieve any more deflected attacks and raised the comlink on her arm to call for help.

“Reinforcements are needed over by civilian homestead to your south-west! Quickly!” Phasma ordered.

By this time Steven had found himself completely freed of the troopers that had begun to take him away. In a daze, he looked to both of his sides, seeing one of the troopers lying dead, and the other completely overcome with pain as his white armor among his leg grew steadily red due to the laser fire having missed his main artery just enough to avoid cauterization, and allow the exit of blood. But even with his enemies falling at his sides, he found himself looking up, seeing Sarai standing there. Again, he couldn’t help but feel as if he had set foot into a dream. The realization that a Jedi really was here among him seemed so surreal that even he couldn’t comprehend it.

“Steven, run!” Sarai yelled, extending her hand outward to him as a minor, yet gentle reminder of assurance to get up and keep going.

Steven blinked—things were still moving in slow motion. He saw his father, Connor, watching onward from behind Sarai, just as stiff and terrified as he was.

Steven saw Connor as himself. The sensation was brief, but enough to make his heart sink into his chest. He loved his father dearly, that much was so. But in these moments of terror, it was the last thing he wanted. After all, his place was out there, doing something.

As soon as his heart skipped those beats, motion around him returned, and his eyes lifted back upward to see Sarai with her extended hand. Her violet lightsaber continued to bring an illuminated, soft, yet striking light to the snow falling around her. When her voice commanded him to run, it was more than just words; it was a true calling—a call to action.

In a sprint as hard as his legs could take him, he launched himself toward Sarai’s direction, the fear he had having shattered then into pieces like glass.

The commander of the stormtroopers couldn’t allow this. Watching her enemies try to run brought a boil to her blood. Her troops were on their way at that very second, but even at their speed it wasn’t quite enough to satisfy Phasma.

Phasma grumbled, her anger driving her to lift her weapon up once more, and aimed it at Steven, who continued to sprint to his allies. Steven’s footsteps pounding against the snow were allowed to continue for four more beats, until she pulled the trigger.

It happened so quickly that a single blink would cause one to miss it. The red laser had indeed erupted from the barrel of the captain’s weapon, but instead of hitting its target, it hovered—shivering mid-air as if the surrounding cold atmosphere had grabbed it and was holding it in place.

Phasma, in a daze of disbelief, saw the togruta’s outreached hand had turned towards her shot, and had stopped it. Again, she watched as the boy continued to run away, finally reaching his comrades, before the laser was allowed to continue on its path past the light of the ships and into the wintery night.

“Hurry up!” Sarai hollered then, grabbing the cloth of Steven’s arm before she sprinted with the two humans, along with their droid, towards the big barn and into the ship waiting inside. “Start it up!” Sarai then commanded.

Steven was starting to get into the swing of things now. The adrenaline in his body reminded him of his time training in the resistance as a pilot. The commanding officers often raised their voices to provide a sense of urgency; it was meant to prepare them for what it would feel like in a real battle.

“Yes, Sir!” Steven cried, giving a brief salute before he stumbled to the cockpit, taking a seat and ignited the engines to the ship. It purred to life instantly, the lights flickering on, and the rumble of movement overcoming the cold metal floors and walls like the resurrection of a long dead creature.

R6 couldn’t help but let out a series of gleeful beeps before it got to work itself, maneuvering to the cockpit itself and stationing its small frame next to Steven, reading to take orders when necessary. Not before long, the ship lifting up, Steven taking it out of the barn and into the night, flying over Phasma. It was here that they could see the oncoming stormtroopers, as well as a dispatch of a Tie-Fighter.

“I hope you know what you’re doing!” Connor cried then, seeing the enemies raging towards them.

“I built this gal myself,” Steven snickered, although he was still clearly nervous. It didn’t matter though. He pictured his mother in the seat with him, her hands moving his, like a ghost. This is what he was meant to do, like her before him.

He never felt more alive.

[wehelddarkness]

Annual Writing Self-Evaluation 2018

The lovely @1diamondinthesun tagged me to do the annual writing self-evaluation! 2018 wasn’t my strongest year in writing, but let’s do this!

All answers should be about works published in 2018. (Skip any questions you don’t want to answer, but please leave them on the list so that others can answer them if they want.)

1. Number of stories (including drabbles) posted to AO3: 

Eleven (two long fics and nine drabbles)

2. Word count posted for the year:  154.876

3. List of works published this year:

Tell The World We Finally Got It All Right 

Belting out sunlight, shimmering love - The Spring Drabbles series

Joy and fresh days of love accompany your hearts - The Summer Drabbles series

The leaves are ready to begin falling again, as I am for you  - The Autumn Drabbles series

Make Your Heart Remember Me 

4. Fandoms I wrote for: One Direction

5. Pairings: Harry/Louis

(putting the rest of the questions under the cut because it became a long post lol)

6. Story with the most…

Kudos / Bookmarks:  Make Your Heart Remember Me

Comments:  Make Your Heart Remember Me &  Tell The World We Finally Got It All Right (both have 27 comment threads)

7. Work I’m most proud of (and why): Although MYHRM is my longest fic this year and even though I’ve envisioned it for two years before finally getting a start on it and spending months working on it, I have to say I’m proudest of TTWWFGIAR. This fic is part of a series that I love with all my heart as if it was a child. @regulusarcblack​ and I have created such a wonderful world for Muggle!Louis and Wizard!Harry that just getting to write more of their story, no matter if it’s something small and silly, and no matter if people don’t even pay attention to it anymore, it will always have a special place in my heart. I’m very proud of how MYHRM turned out and for the amount of attention it got as well, but TTWWFGIAR owns my heart.

8. Work I’m least proud of (and why): It’s not that I’m least proud of them, but I don’t precisely have much emotional connection with the drabbles series. I’m proud of myself for managing to condense three stories the way I did, but as for the stories, they don’t hold a lot of meaning for me.

9. A favorite excerpt of your writing: 

I have two. 

One from TTWWFGIAR:

Louis fixed his still wet fringe over his forehead and closed his eyes for a second before he answered her back. “That’s a funny story, actually,” he laughed again, “I… we came back here.”

“We? Who’s we, Louis? I’m sure it’s not Lottie because she came back yesterday morning and she was just as lost on where you’d be as I was.”

“It’s Harry.” He decided to cut to the chase and just spill it out. As soon as he spoke he opened his eyes again to see Harry walking inside the room, a white towel around his middle just like the one Louis had on himself, and a smirk on his lips.

It took a moment for his mother to speak again. “Harry? Is… he there now? With you?”

“Yeah, he is.” Louis watched as Harry got the sweatpants and jumper he had conjured for himself the day before and started getting dressed.

“And are you going to explain to me how and why he’s there with you?” Jay wasn’t demanding anything and Louis could sense she was feeling more relaxed to know that new piece of information. “I mean, I’m not mad that you’re there with him. I’m just confused, love, that’s what. What happened?”

Harry looked back at Louis when he finished dressing himself and was putting his hair up in a bun. “Is that your mother?” There was a small frown on his brows as he walked closer to where Louis was sat on the bed.

Louis nodded, mouthing a “yeah” and quirking his lips into a smile.

“Do you want the short or long story?” He talked back to his mother as Harry approached him, his eyes not leaving Louis’ as he softly ran his fingers through Louis’ hair.

“I’m gonna go make breakfast while you talk to her, okay?” He moved his hand down to Louis’ face, caressing his cheek with his thumb.

“Okay,” Louis murmured before turning his face a bit to leave a gentle kiss on the inside of Harry’s palm.

He saw Harry’s eyes soften with the gesture and scrunching up his nose as he leaned down to kiss Louis on the cheek before he turned around to leave.

And from MYHRM:

“Dad?”

Harry hears Lily’s voice very low before he can focus his vision on his daughter in front of him. It’s still dark but he can see her sleepy face yawning as she looks at him.

He startles himself a bit, forgetting for a moment where he is. Then, it hits him as he feels an arm around his middle and the press of Louis’ body behind him as they’re lying on the couch. He doesn’t remember when they decided to move from their sitting positions and sleep right there.

Louis’ breath is serene on Harry’s neck and he smiles at himself before he speaks to Lily.

“Yes, petal?”

“I woke up to go to the bathroom and you weren’t in the bedroom with me.” He sees her rubbing her eyes with one hand. “Can I sleep with you and Louis here?”

Harry wants to laugh because Lily could’ve asked him to go back to the bedroom with her, but the fact that she wants to sleep there, on a sofa that barely fits Harry and Louis together, only warms his heart.

He’s too sleepy to say no or to reason that he should really get up and move to the room and also wake up Louis, or even to think about what Lily has made of him and Louis sleeping together like that. So he simply squirms a little closer to Louis to give Lily some space, opening one of his arms so she can lie there and snuggle up to him.

“Goodnight, dad,” she says against his neck and Harry kisses the top of her head as he tries to get comfortable again to sleep.

“Night, petal.” He closes his eyes and just before he can allow himself to rest again, he feels Louis kissing the back of his neck and moving his arm from Harry’s waist to hold not only him, but also Lily in one embrace, intertwining his fingers with Harry’s over Lily’s middle.

This is the happiest he’s been in a long time, and it doesn’t matter that they are all cramped on Louis’ couch or that he and Louis haven’t actually talked about them and their future. But if the future involves more nights like this, with the two people he loves so much, then he truly can’t wish for anything better.

10. Share or describe a favorite review you received: 

I didn’t get many reviews on my works this year, but I have to say @derekhaleace’s thorough comments on MYHRM really lifted my mood! @doctorrainbows’ comments on TTWWFGIAR too (Rosie I miss you <3)

And I want to add one that was not my favorite, but it gave me a lot of perspective on MYHRM:

“Good story idea but written with too much decriptions and info ended up skipping a lot of the story.”

This comment really made me laugh out loud, not in a bad way though, but because this was exactly how I was feeling and why I struggled so much with that fic. I wasn’t content on how I was writing it because it felt like I was dragging the story. I was writing and writing and the number of words only kept growing and I felt like I wasn’t advancing on the plot. I took this as a constructive criticism and I know some people have validated me saying that for them the story didn’t feel like that, or others saying that the amount of description was just enough... So, yeah, I know it’s matter of like, but it helped me to be more critic about my own writing.

11. A time when writing was really, really hard: This whole past year tbh? first it started with the fact that I got a serious pain on my right hand, I didn’t know if it was tendinitis or what, so I went to the doctor, did physiotherapy for about 2 months? and in the end the end the only thing that helped the pain was arthritis medicine lol so for MONTHS I couldn’t write properly because if I forced my hand, it would be worse, that’s why I kept doing the drabbles challenge, because 100 words each was easier than trying a full fic. Then in august I finally started writing MYHRM, but it took me longer than I planned because of writer’s block and lack of motivation and a lot of self-doubt about my writing, so it wasn’t easy either :/

12. A scene or character that you wrote that surprised you: That’s a hard question, but probably Lily from MYHRM. I had already written a kid fic before, but it hadn’t been like this, because this whole fic focused on the interaction of Harry and Louis with Lily and I wasn’t sure how I would write her, and I needed to remind myself not to forget about her haha In the end, I think I did a pretty good job, her personality is so precious and I love her.

13. How did you grow as a writer this year: I think I stopped caring too much about people paying attention to my fics? It was something that always bugged me, expecting more people to read them, finding them in fics recs and so on. Obviously, I still want people to read them, but if only a few people read notice the and enjoy them, that’s what matters, and mostly, that I’m happy with how my fics turned out.

14. How do you hope to grow next year: I hope to keep writing more for myself, keep thinking of stories that I have fun writing and reading and care less about making it to the famous author’s niche in the fandom. Maybe also try to have some of other ideas I’ve had for other fandoms come to life, who knows.

15. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer: As always, @regulusarcblack who has to listen to my ramblings, even if she’s already sick of them lmao but she’s the one I seek when I’m writing and she always helps me put my idea in place. But I also have t give a HUGE shout out to @britpickerhl for sticking with me for another year, for dealing with my dumb mistakes, for having so much patience with gdocs and me, but mainly for helping me improve my writing and being my cheerleader!

16. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: I never know, because I’m not a person with much experiences, so there isn’t much to include in my fics lol I think I reflect some of my personality when I write Harry, but that’s it. And I’m a hopeless romantic and sap and fluff hoe, so that’s what my fics end up looking like hahaha

17. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: Keep writing for yourself and for the people you know who enjoy your work and try not to feel down if you are overlooked by the fandom. If you are happy with your story, that’s what matters. Also, try venturing to other pairings and fandoms, don’t stick to only what you are familiar with (not only regarding writing but also reading), it will give you a broader perspective of how readers and fandoms work.

18. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting or finishing in the new year: I’m writing a wip, which I can’t talk much about yet, but I’m quite excited about it because it’s been incredibly easy for me to write and I’m having so much fun with it, so I hope to kick off 2019 with this one in a good place about my writing!

19. Tag writers whose answers you’d like to read: I don’t know who has already done it lol so I’ll tag @mediawhorefics @emperorstyles @louisalbumnow @hrrytomlinson @hogwartzlou @tofiveohfive if you haven’t and want to do it!

[thepsychicwidget]

💡My Craft Essentials💡

My essentials are skills that I feel I need to keep in shape. This is in order to keep my magick accessible, potent, and practical (even in improbable situations). And, please note, I do not claim these skills are necessary for everyone, but they have become “essentials” in my own craft due to how useful they’ve been for me.

-

This post covers in-depth descriptions of useful skills in the craft that I have first-hand experience with. This serves as a get-go so that you might research and practice some of the mentioned skills if you don’t already. If you have any questions or would like to hear more, feel free to send me an ask. Feel free to comment if you’d like any posts regarding methods/training for any of the following skills that you are interested in.

-

Key Concepts and Skills:

1. Precognition

2. Intuition/Claircognizance

3. Aura Viewing

4. Clairsentience

5. Energy Manipulation

6. Meditation

7. Altered State of Consciousness (ASC)

-

Introduction

Psychic abilities allow you to perceive and comprehend energy before you, without having to poke around in the dark during manifestation (spellwork). In this sense, psychic abilities are more than just skills to predict the future and perform readings. Psychic abilities are foundations on which all manner of magick and the craft can grow into a deeper connection and be improved upon. Psychic abilities are about more than simply knowing. They give us the power and knowledge to make change, to adapt, to manifest, and to act. It is here that divination and manifestation cross over and fortify one another. Psychic abilities give a deeper understanding to the witch in order to cast for the outcome he or she wants or will want. This gives the witch the upper hand of precision, which can sometimes determine whether a spell is a success, a disaster, or a disappointment. Luckily, psychic abilities don’t have to be natural, but can be learned and developed.

Intuition and Precognition

Intuition and precognition: A person might cast a money spell with a green candle and some visualization, but only get a dime the next day. But being able to comprehend the outcomes of a spell as you’re casting it gives you the ability to know ahead of time any faults in your spell and correct them before the spell is complete. Recognizing the erroneous future outcome through psychic means, a practitioner can cast in the moment, for example, that the money spell will work in two days instead of one, where you can give the spell time to brew you up a little more cash. Having this psychic connection with your spell gives you the advantage of communication, as to make the spell as efficient as possible. It’s as if you’re reading the spell, like code, and fine-tuning it to meet your desires. The skills it takes to have this connection are intuition, precognition, and/or scanning.

Aura Viewing

Outside of intuition and precognition, aura viewing has proved increasingly powerful (clairvoyant/visual viewing). While it may not always be an issue for everyone, residual energy can have subtle to large effects on a spell. This is one of the reasons some witches opt to cleanse their items before any spell. Having the power to see auras gives you the ability to spot any residual or harmful energy that could negatively impact your spellwork, divination, or even your health (which will affect everything you do). You will be able to examine your aura, see the energy attached to your tools and ingredients, see energy in a place or person, and even see the energy of spells you cast.

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Outside of interpreting what these auras mean, they can help you identify where energy is most coagulated and where it is thinnest, possibly what is enchanted, cursed, blessed, etc. You will see what is actively working on a metaphysical level, see spirits, and much more. This allows the practitioner to be more aware of what is happening on the metaphysical plane(s). Your sight might not detect everything 100% of the time, but it will certainly prove handy.

Clairsentience

Clairsentience, the psychic ability to feel and sense energy, has done wonders and works great alongside aura viewing and energy manipulation. Clairsentience is the ability that gives people “tingles” when they start to astral project or manipulate energy for a spell. It’s the ability that makes people gasp when they return to their bodies, get possessed, or receive large amounts of energy. It’s what makes cats feel magick and fae.

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Why is this important for us as witches? It lets us be aware of energy that comes out of our bodies and the energy that comes in. If it weren’t for clairsentience, I would not have felt the low presence of a curse enter my body, nor the feeling of it leaving. Clairsentience gave me the ability to act quickly when I needed to. It also allows me to feel the movement of my own energy system when using energy manipulation, rather than simply visualizing the movements. That way, I can know if my system is clogged or how much energy I’m projecting to a more precise scale than simply assuming based on how tired or energized I feel. This can help control how potent a spell is and help conserve energy when you’re low.

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Of course, there are other uses for clairsentience, such as psychic empathy and your typical precognition and divination (interpreting touch and feelings). It’s important to note that precognition and the like aren’t limited to clairvoyant methods like visions of the future, but other Clair- abilities can crossover with these skills, such as smelling (clairalience), hearing (clairaudience), feeling (clairsentience), tasting (clairtangence), remembering, and knowing (claircognizant) the future. The Clair- abilities are quite versatile, for they are the methods in which our minds convey near all manner of psychic information, be it from the past, present, or future. It’s also important to know that psychic abilities are best controlled, rather than simply magnified to the highest extent. This is evident with sensitive empaths who sometimes require help to control their abilities. The key is control and balance. There is no positive extremity.

Energy Manipulation

I mentioned energy manipulation earlier, but didn’t go into much detail. Energy manipulation has become a key focus in my craft, which may be rooted in my primarily secular practice (a craft not revolving around the worship or aid of spirits/deities). I’ve encountered witches who do not use energy manipulation primarily, but send messages and requests to spirits who perform the energy manipulation for the spell themselves. This is not how I practice, and it is not how many people practice (including those who work with deities). I wont teach the hows of energy manipulation in this post, but I will explain its importance, and leave further research into methods to the reader.

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Energy manipulation is key to my spells and intentional use of psychic abilities (without tools). I take in energy and deconstruct it for psychic abilities, then my mind translates the information. I project energy into what are known as constructs to create spells. Energy manipulation is the practice of directing energy, to release bad energy, take in energy for a spell, release energy to finalize a spell, to create a metaphysical ward, etc. It is direct interaction with the metaphysical plane. This means I can use my own energy and direct it and program it as I please, and that direct contact is helpful when enchanting items so that the energy is as tied and potent to an item as it can be. Thinking back to clairsentience, you can feel the density of an enchantment you create and it’s stability.

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Energy manipulation allows witches to direct the forces in which they are attempting to control. Inward, outward, expansion, contraction, etc. It can be used to gain awareness of your surroundings (expansion) or condense and fortify an enchantment (contraction). Important concepts to look into regarding energy manipulation are grounding and centering.

Meditation and Altered States of Consciousness

Since this post is already awfully long, I will combine the entries for meditation and altered state of consciousness (ASC). Meditation helps a witch gain concentration, which is needed in order to effectively comprehend psychic information and to effectively project his/her intent during manifestation. It allows more control over the witch’s mind, body, and emotions, so that unnecessary energy and distractions don’t become a problem during their practice. Meditation is ultimately tied to altered states of consciousness. A term you may hear around chaos practitioners and Gnostics is gnosis, which, in context, refers to gnosis as an altered state of consciousness. This is the equivalent of an increased awareness of your surroundings and existence. Learning how to control ASC has felt, in my experience, like opening a cheat box for magick and the universe. It puts you in an awareness between the physical and metaphysical realm, a hyper-consciousness (or in some cases, less conscious) state of being. These mindsets have, to many people including myself, proven to ease access to metaphysical abilities such as divination and spellwork. ASC is often achieved through meditation-esque rituals and even hypnosis (I use meditative rituals to achieve this).

[kakkoweeb]

tagged by @atsumus thank you i see this is about writing and i love you for that

i,, don’t know who to tag WRITER FRIENDS ASSEMBLE okay maybe @karasunovolleygays hello i am interested to see you do this, if you haven’t yet

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

i formulated it for tumblr and and decided to use it for ao3 to retain my branding. it’s basically just, cool weeb idk it’s not even true but i’m owning it

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

that would be the multi-chapter i guess. though i do want to maybe someday do actual math like. compare the kudos/comment ratio with the hits and then calculate which ACTUALLY performed the best based on that.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

oh it’s that one art i did of oikawa saying “4 YEARS WE’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER AND YOU DON’T WANNA SEE ME JUMP OUTTA DA CAKE” except i put a comic sans ‘excuse u’. not sure why i used it either; it makes me look sassy whenever i reply to comments but it got me a mutual (lolol hi vio) and people comment about it when they see it so No Ragrets

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

yES. the oikage ao3 community is so kind to me tbh ever since i posted my first fics. of course i love every single commenter i get (with one exception, maybe.) and i appreciate the diversity when i post non-oikage fics too. (those are basically my ao3 categories. oikage and misc JDFKSJD)

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

i reread my own fics from time to time for no reason and the ones that i come back to the most are from the p+c series i did for oikage week. i’m sort of proud of them? but i feel like they didn’t get as much feedback as i would’ve liked so i appreciate them in my own time. #2 and #5 in particular.

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

i’m a picky person, so i only have 25 bookmarks, 8 work subscriptions, and 3 user subscriptions. the bookmarks and subscriptions may overlap

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

i am a private au royalty, and i have so many idek which to start, which i’m actually going to write, etc. i’m a sucker for complex and adventure aus, as well as the heart-wrenching ones

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

uhhh user subscriptions are 25, subscriptions are 86, and bookmarks are 331. doesn’t seem like a lot haha how dare you ask me this,

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

basically everything that i write yet don’t post. mostly because they involve my ocs. don’t get me wrong; i’m good at making ocs now i don’t mary sue or anything and they’re all really cool and story-relevant but people just don’t want/need to see that kind of thing, you know?

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

setting description, dialogue-heavy pieces, condensing a work to involve less words, romance in general u gh how an anti-romance as a genre person ended up here is a mystery to me, and just. writing in general. as far as i see, i still suck

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

rarepairs. i don’t think i’ve ever glorified a popular ship before. if ever i do write for them it’s just because it was requested or something.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

21

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

uhhhh last i counted i had like 30+ non-drabble/short WIPs but that was last year. a lot has happened since then adfjsdkf

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

my head can’t remember what day it is, so i write em down. 

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

nope (i want to tho)

16. How did you discover AO3?

tumblr, i would think, back when i was still fixated on dmmd.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

HAHAHAHA no

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

nope lmfao but i could. because i am kakkoweeb from now on y’all are The Weeb Shits djdkf im joking of course. does anyone other than youtubers even do that?

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

when i was eight years old, i think that would be anne mazer. right now, i’m inspired by my favourite fic authors bECAUSE THEY’RE ALL SO GOOD i’d name drop/tag but i’m embarrassed haha,, basically take a good look at my bookmarks you’ll know who they are

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

everyone has to start somewhere, and i think a pretty good start before the actual writing is reading. reading is where the whole thing begins, and from it you can get ideas and styles and words, and develop your way of thinking. as for actual writing: it’s important not to pressure yourself to be really really good and that you find ways to have fun with it. write for your own reasons. look to improvement, but not to the point that it’s all you care about. it’s normal to get stuck, it’s normal to go slow. but if you really love it, don’t quit. keep writing and you’ll never go wrong. oh, and editing is your friend.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

definitely plot out. it’s going to be impossible for me to remember everything on the fly, and ideas pop out at random times in the day and i can’t discard them, so each story has a plan. the level of detail depends on the complexity and my own creative ability at any given moment. sometimes tho i get ideas midway through speed-typing and just go with them.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

no, not really bad. some kind of off-topic, yes, but not bad. i just don’t reply.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

romantic things in general. the emotions and sensations that come with touch and affection, because i don’t write those based on experience.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

…a lot. just. a lot.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

bruh yeah. i even have projects that have spinoffs/sequels where i want to write the sequels before the actual project 

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

ideally, that would be to write and then feel satisfied with what i’ve written, in terms of the degree of accomplishment (did i just finish a subsection or a chapter? get past a part where i was stuck?) and the quality. most days, it’s too high a goal.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

infinitely, yes. it’d be a little embarrassing if i didn’t improve since childhood

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

i,, i don’t know, i like and hate them all to some degree lmfao

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

:)))) i don’t want to talk about it. if you read my writing journal though, you might be able to tell what it is.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

hopefully finished with a couple of things, still writing, and maybe with some writer friends? I HOPE AND CREI

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

…finding a word processor. LMAO idk each aspect has its own easy and hard moments depending on the type of project you’re working on. getting excited about an idea, maybe? that’s easy

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

writing

33. Why do you write?

because i have been for years and don’t know how to do anything else, and because i want to be the content i want to see in the world. also because i have like 34838 worlds in my head and need a medium for all of them 

[rtf393q-latina]

Journal 4

Commenting on Tumblr’s release of top discussed mobile games in 2018 on their platform, Polygon pointed out that 3 of the top 5 were from small studios, marketed to women, and were in the genre of choose-your-own-adventure visual novels. Tumblr’s own user base might skew toward female users, so it is important to be skeptical about what these findings say about culture at large. However, I am interested in this supposed recent rise in popularity of visual novels as a research topic for this class, so I thought trying out these top 3 games might be a good place to start. As an aside, I need to sort out how the different terms I’ve seen floating around these games (visual novel, chose your own adventure, dating sim or game, otome) relate to and differ from each other.

Top 3 visual novels on Tumblr in 2018. (source)

This week I played The Arcana (middle image above; story inspired by Tarot cards), which launched on Kickstarter in October 2016, and released in chapter increments beginning a few months later. Since April 2019, the game is currently releasing chapters for 3 new romance routes (now that the stories of the original 3 have ended). I played the prologue and began the romance route of the mysterious, emotionally unavailable character who I felt the prologue was most pushing you to be interested in. Once I moved past the prologue, I quickly found out that you can essentially only read 3 chapters every 3 hours. Perhaps this wasn’t an issue if you were following along as the game released. You could get excited and turn on the app once you saw an update notification. As a player arriving at this game several years later, hoping to get a general survey of the game over a condensed period of time, I felt viciously stymied and I never got very far romancing my brooding depressive nightmare boy. The overall problem was that I hadn’t found anything that hooked me into the story yet, making the waiting time turn into a total stopping point.

Arcana’s home screen, showing 6 different narrative paths. Minigames, features, and other monetizable parataxets available from the tabs at the bottom. (source)

Furthermore, the amount of paid options was egregious. Anytime someone dragged me somewhere, or I stumbled into a new room, yet again I would be forced to select (because I did not have enough coins, nor would I pay for more) some variant of, “oh never mind, I’m too tired,” as if I would ever willingly choose that option in a game…what I’m trying to say is, I believe they very purposefully made the free option seem as uninspiring as possible. It’s not really an option, it’s just a way to end the scene suddenly and rub in your face that you’re missing out on something. I am also not convinced that the paid options are just bonus material that’s not central to the story. It seemed like the most interesting potential plot developments had a paywall. What do you mean that after transporting unexpectedly through a magical fountain to see my romancee, all of a sudden I have to pay if I want to explore the mystical dream world he’s in with him instead of just going right back through the fountain to sleep? As a whole, playing this game was a very frustrating experience and the intrusion of monetization everywhere I turned made it unpleasant and deflating. How can you get excited when the game keeps trying to pry money from you?

Examples of in-game monetization. (source)

A question I should perhaps have led with is whether Arcana and other games of the visual novel variety would be considered games at all in the conceptions of the readings this week. I did wonder what Frasca would make of this game. Simulation is a part of the name (dating sim) and this genre encourages players to keep trying out different choices so that they can collect all of the different possible endings. (In addition to having different character romance paths, Arcana also has two different endings for each character. Also, each character has a gallery section with black squares to be filled in once you discover them in the story. Other similar features encourage you to play over and over.) This exploratory format, where the player is an author of what happens, seems as though it would appeal to Frasca’s ideas about the possibilities and specificity of games compared to representational media. On the other hand, visual novel is an alternate name for these games and they have the qualities Frasca associates with ludus: a 3-part story structure, an Aristotelian ending with closure, a world that has simple definitions of good/bad, winner/loser. Though I cannot comment on a full story arc in the Arcana, the game has a very clear goal of seeing the story play out to its end. Frasca does however admit that games might have a ludus structure.

In Grodal’s work, I found a very apt description of why Arcana did not interest me as a game. Grodal writes that third-person stories in video games often fail because “In films and novels (third) persons are infused with the life and agency by authors and characters, and most readers and viewers will attribute that life to the characters, not to the ‘storyteller.’ In the video game, it is the job of the player to create ‘life’ in the third person, and failure to do so will create feelings of a mechanical lifelessness, eventually perceived as due to the designer and his or her system” (152). Beyond not feeling like my choices had an impact on the story, I could not really insert myself or a character I gave life to much in the story, which did give me a feeling of mechanical lifelessness as I jumped through the hoops of the narrative. I think for this genre of games to work for you, you need to be imagining the character; I didn’t and the narrative felt blank and unfulfilling. Meanwhile, fan reddit and tumblr accounts often make fan art of their insert character. The Polygon review also claims that being able to control the personal pronouns in use and add a character name added a lot of enjoyment to the experience. But it’s just not something I invested in. I wanted to experience the story in a third-person way.

I’m not sure I agree completely that games best describe a first-person perspective and first-person emotions, as Grodal lays it out. Grodal links exploring, fighting, sex, eating, and laughing to first-person, active experiences, and other emotions stemming from empathy, like pity and admiration to third-person, passive experiences. This seems problematic to me because I enjoy reading novels and experiencing the emotions of the characters second-hand, an (active!) experience Grodal also recognizes in watching movies. While I do not have proof, it seems wrong to say that video games cannot also function in this mode.

Finally, Grodal suggests that emotions related to sex are ideally suited to video games whereas Juul argues that games resist complex themes like love, because you cannot really implement them in the rules of the game. He disparages the connection between simple mechanical tasks and the love story in Myst. Meanwhile, Grodal leans in to the aesthetic of repetition in video games, how they mirror the gritty, repeated, procedural actions of everyday life. Whereas I agree with Juul on the one hand, that dating simulations might be a rigid representation of romantic relationships, I do definitely agree on the other hand with Grodal that a relationship functions like a task that requires a repeated set of interactions, moving from unfamiliarity and challenge, to mastery, to automation. There’s something about how games represent relationships that really rings true to real life. Or rather, dating sims make sense in their representation of fiction through rules.

[sheikah]

What are your views regarding Melisandre, Val, Varys, Illyrio, and Littlefinger? And why?

Wow this is a lot in one ask anon haha. I will condense it to a few comments per person. 

Melisandre–Honestly one of the most interesting characters to me. I believe she does what she thinks is right. It doesn’t excuse the awful things she’s done, particularly Shireen. But Melisandre actually has power. 

There is a lot of religious discussion in GoT/ASOIAF, but we don’t get a lot of solid confirmation of the existence or power of the respective deities. We hear a lot about the Olds Gods and the Seven, but when it comes to the Lord of Light, we’ve actually seen Melisandre’s and Thoros’s power in action on more than one occasion. 

So I try to put myself in her shoes. In real life there are radical religious fundamentalists who commit horrific atrocities in the name of their god(s). Yet there is not verifiable proof of a higher power in our world. So imagine living in this universe and being a priestess like Melisandre who has actually seen people resurrected from the dead by your god, who has actually given birth to a monster, who can somehow fabricate eternal youth. All of this leads her to believe that she is on the correct path, that she is doing what she is supposed to be doing and is being rewarded and validated by her god. 

So in light of all of that I find it really hard to think negatively of Melisandre. I also think that season 6 showed us her humanity and confirmed that even if she does a lot of what she does out of blind faith with seemingly no remorse, she still harbors emotions and weakness. It made it easier to sympathize with her. 

Val–I was so intrigued by Val in the books and thought for sure she was going to be Jon’s next big love story. She is one of the characters that remains a bit of an enigma to me. 

I had an anon awhile back present a theory that Val was Dany and Jon’s child who somehow traveled through time in the Land of Always Winter haha. I don’t really subscribe to the theory but the anon brought up that part of why people believe it is that Val’s got the mannerisms of someone of higher birth and standing than one of the Free Folk. And that’s true. So, why? I don’t really have a good answer for it. 

Anyway, I think she’s interesting, another badass woman to cross Jon Snow’s path, and I really resented how at The Wall Stannis and Selyse presumptuously kept trying to marry her off to various men as political collateral. 

It’s interesting that you bring her up after Melisandre, because one of the moments I had distaste for Val was when she told Jon Shireen should be killed. Something those two women have in common I guess. 

The “lonely and lovely and lethal” line is one of my favorites and one of the few effective uses of alliteration in my opinion haha. I am bummed she didn’t end up in the show but I understand why she was cut. When we met Karsi in 5.08 I half expected her to be a Val stand-in. I was sorely disappointed. 

Varys–I looooove Varys! And if you had told me in 2010 when I started reading ASOIAF that I would love Varys, I would have laughed at you. At first I thought Varys was as slimy as LF and I did not like him. His descriptions in the books especially repulsed me, the powdered skin and simpering. Ew. 

Show!Varys is pleasantly much funnier than I ever expected and his friendship with Tyrion is one of my favorite aspects of the series currently. 

Just as a character, I hope I’m not wrong, but as of right now I trust him and believe his intentions are good. What’s so fascinating about Varys is that looking at him he seems very unassuming and he doesn’t present as a major player of the Game. But he’s (obviously) one of the most important players there is. 

One of my favorite moments is the one when he says that LF is the second most dangerous man in the realm (implying he himself is the first.) I love that, and I 100% agree. At Con of Thrones there was a panel on Varys vs Littlefinger and it completely filled up, had people sitting in the aisles and standing outside the door trying to listen. Because people are fascinated by this character!

Anyway, I think that Varys is smart, wily, hilarious, and a survivor. I think he will live until the end and that whatever ending we get is one that he wanted, planned, and played some part in bringing about. And for better or for worse, one of the reasons I am sure of that is that Varys seems to be the only person in the series who isn’t tempted by anything that could throw him off course. 

He is supposedly asexual and aromantic, saying that desire is dangerous. I haven’t seen anything to indicate that he cares much about money. And since he’s a realist I think he knows that he would never be accepted as king of the 7k, so I don’t believe he desires power. 

He genuinely wants to make the realm better, which is so? Crazy to me? He almost seems too good to be true. But then we can remind ourselves that he will let seemingly anyone die on the path to bettering the realm, and that’s where he becomes a problematic fave. 

Illyrio–The least interesting to me of all the characters on this list. Illyrio is transparent while the others seem (to me, anyway) to have layers of complexity. the scene where Arya overhears him plotting with Varys hints at Illyrio being a player on par with Varys and LF, but he just isn’t. 

Illyrio doesn’t support the Targaryens out of loyality or principle, he does it out of greed. And while his behind-the-scenes work with Varys has been extremely influential and important to the plot (marrying Dany to Drogo, housing Tyrion in Pentos after is escape from KL, etc) I am not nearly as interested in his actions as I am in those of LF or Varys. 

Because while Varys’s motives are still interesting to me and his actions are harder to predict, and while LF is a villain we all love/hate, Illyrio is just a typical greedy man. If I’m remembering right, he even tells Tyrion his ambition is to be Master of Coin to a Targaryen monarch. So bearing this in mind, Illyrio’s greed doesn’t even really make sense?

Because as Master of Coin, LF had (from what we could tell) a good life and a cozy living with immediate influence on the king in small council. But he wanted more. He wanted more because Master of Coin does not guarantee extravagant living. So to me it would make more sense for Illyrio to stay in Pentos in his mansion, where he clearly has a vast amount of resources and connections. Sure, accept the job of Master of Coin if it’s offered to you. But I don’t see why he’s going to so much trouble to establish a Targ monarch just to have that position as a reward. I just don’t understand it. 

Littlefinger–I hate him. He’s creepy and treacherous. But he’s losing control of his schemes now. I think (hope?) that Sansa sees straight through him by now and so all his scheming has been in vain. 

Look, I am impressed with what he has accomplished. I love the revelation of him being behind not only Joffrey’s death, but Jon Arryn’s as well. He truly has shaped the trajectory of almost every single character with his actions. 

So I don’t underestimate his cunning or his capabilities. But he made all of these things happen and still doesn’t really have anything to show for it. The only person truly under his sway is Robin/Robert Arryn. And is that really such a big deal? The knights of the Vale are excellent fighters and being the de facto Lord of the Vale is great. But that’s not what LF was after from the beginning, and I honestly don’t think he is going up from here. 

So what has it all been for? So many people died because of him who simply didn’t have to, and all of it so that he can take the Iron Throne. And let’s face it–he won’t. 

Unlike Varys, LF’s motives are pretty clear and pretty predictable. He wants power and he wants a woman. One of the things I find interesting about LF, though, is that he is a reversal of the “nice guy” trope. Ordinarily in fiction and especially in romance, the LF’s of the world are the underdog we all root for. The weak guy who can’t fight the Brandon Stark but whose mind reigns supreme always has the audience on his side and the girl on his arm. But LF doesn’t. Because he is the weakling with the powerful brain who isn’t the nice guy. 

In the panel I mentioned above the crowd booed about LF and cheered about Varys. The people running the panel hated LF too and pointed out how problematic he is, and one person compared him to Severus Snape. As much as I like Snape, as I’ve grown older I’ve come to realize how genuinely awful it is that this man bullied a child for years after holding onto love for his dead mother, love that was never reciprocated anyway. So it was super romantic in the moment when Snape died, that fateful tear rolling down his cheek and into Harry’s vial. But now I’m kind of freaked out about it. And LF is like Snape’s creep level times a thousand. 

So not only are his motives predictable, they are also not respectable. And if LF’s attachment to Catelyn wasn’t bad enough, his attachment to Sansa is absolutely disgusting. Because in a way I think he sees Sansa is this daughter that could have been with Catelyn. But at the same time he has a sexual attraction to her. All the while, he’s been ruining her life to serve his own ends, especially in the show. 

He needs to go. He needs to die. I can’t wait. 

Anyway, I hope these answers are interesting to you anon because this took me a seriously long time to write haha. Thanks for the ask :)

[nest-raider]

SEO for Better and Faster 2019

Search engine optimization, normally known as SEO, may be used within blogging and in other web marketing techniques to drive visitors to any webpage of your own choice, whether it is the blog, Squidoo lens or the traditional website page. This totally changes black head wear SEO tactics to gain relevance for various searches by creating pages that are individually designed for different keywords. L. S Please note that SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques works on the vast majority of websites. SEO agencies offer solutions that change from writing next text messages to giving advice on the particular subject of the website, plus choosing the best directories which usually the website can be signed up at. A few unethical SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION agencies have given the market a bad name through intense marketing strategies and attempts upon gaining ranks in unfair methods. These 8 On-Page SEO strategies are simply some of the particular ways to increase organic research traffic. Off page SEO signifies search engine that how the particular particular website is being recognized by other website and customers. Most associated with respondents gave thumbs up in order to Mobile SEO and AMP adopted by featured snippets and lengthy tail keywords. A report published by Cosmopolitan Journal of Advanced Research Basis states that India is fixed to see the incredible development of digital marketing industry due to the fact of growing acceptance of ecommerce and online businesses; and, I actually expect the same for the particular career of content writers or even SEO copy writers. Gaining higher ranks within the search results to gain leads and thus generate on-line revenue from organic marketing techniques is how you rock the particular SEO domain. Despite the ancient usage, Backlinks are nevertheless the most powerful facet associated with the latest SEO trends plus techniques. I discussed this idea within my last post here upon Moz — Get SEO 2019 PDF up, SEOs : the NEW New Google will be Here — so I is just not repeat myself, but I perform suggest you decide to proceed read it (again). Also, with just how SEO works today, just spamming keywords isn't going to assist you at all. All SEO professionals will give more emphasis in order to content marketing and social mass media in 2018.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, while still search engine optimisation, encompasses so much more procedures in 2018. Consumer experience has never been even more important to SEO. In this blog site post, I am going in order to share a few On-Page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques with you, that may be done completely through Light Hat method. Meta descriptions have simply no impact on your WordPress SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION when it comes to ranks. But if a person engage in genuine conversation plus your site is helpful in order to users, you're on the correct track to boosting off-page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION. With social videos producing 1200% more shares than textual content and images combined, according in order to WordStream, look for video spreading to be a big SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION trend in 2018. It can exciting, but my mind-set regarding SEO has changed… I utilized to over-think it, trying in order to develop the right” variety associated with periods to make use of key keywords. I've been doing SEO for the last 5 years, and throughout those years, I've attempted to consume all the information about SEO which i could get my hands on. This blog post is all that information plus new ranking techniques that work in 2018, condensed.

Incorporating SEO into your marketing and advertising strategy is currently crucial to the particular success of your website plus business. Hence, the particular business owners need to concentrate on each new development plus understand its tweaks and improvements and its effects on the particular website rating to establish the particular right type of SEO technique that retains high rankings. In 2018, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategies will be greatly affected by voice search as the particular focus will be on long-tail search keywords. Digital co-workers like Siri and Alexa are usually now common in many houses and the way the unit make use of search engines is moving the particular goalposts for SEO marketers as soon as more. Very helpful information for me, thanks intended for sharing with us, but i actually want to ask that We am doing seo for on the internet magazine and which new strategies i can value to obtain more traffic to our web site. Most of the particular newbies in the digital marketing and advertising field are executing Gray Head wear SEO techniques.

These niches or categories are usually labeled with keywords, so SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION enables you to be positioned for a particular category simply by using appropriate keywords or key phrases and key phrases. As predicted, local SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and local search made a good impact in the past season, though the online world have not fully embraced the new awesome introduced by hyper-localization. Consequently, let's have a look with the emerging SEO trends associated with 2018. Nearby SEO is always a great place to start for little businesses. Analyzing the quality of your own website's inbound backlinks and exactly how they're feeding into your website architecture can provide your SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION team insight into from your own website's strongest and weakest web pages to search visibility on specific keywords against competing brands. Because my company provides had lots of success in SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, I believed that search purpose wouldn't affect me. I would certainly just create a better page” and push that page upward with backlinks. So far, SEOs possess considered mobile search to become one of the many areas of expertise of SEO, on the exact same level as local search or even international SEO. Michael Klein, Senior Content Marketing and advertising Strategist at Be Found On the web shares why valuable content increases off-page SEO in the lengthy run. People may use search engines to research for something which they're searching for, and they'll be capable to believe it is by the natural results (SEO) or by the particular paid results (SEM). Plus the goal is not really to learn the trends, but rather to develop a reliable SEO process that will will bring organic traffic in order to your particular website. If you want to obtain a better idea of tips on how to create SEO type pages, We encourage you to review content that cover search engine marketing. In 2018, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is content and content is definitely SEO, content is digital plus digital is content. Each one of these types of steps are taken by the particular company to deliver the best lookup engine optimization services to the clients in Thailand, under the particular Thailand SEO concept. Because you may be able in order to guess from the name, WordTracker focuses in on one component of SEO: keyword research. Just like adding interlinks above, you should also include some external links to higher domain authority sites. ย This assists your WordPress SEO by allowing Google know that you are usually linking out to high-quality content material that is highly relevant in order to yoursย and improves the user encounter by giving them with extra information. Thus, SEO strategy can aim to develop a backlink user profile to avoid spamming in 2018 and yes, backlink will remain an important key to producing your business rank on best in search ranking. But it's perplexing why some businesses don't attempt harder with analysis, revisions, plus new at ease with their own SEO marketing strategy. Blogs, guides, whitepapers, case studies, videos, and interpersonal posts all have to consist of the right keywords for interpersonal and SEO. In case RankBrain can become more and even more influential in rankings, that is definitely very likely, that means that will SEO's will begin optimizing even more and more for user encounter instead of other factors. In today's internet age group, you must be careful along with conventional SEO standards like key phrases in content, leaving comments, plus even reusing content on several pages. Taking a few extra moments to make sure your blog post is fully optimized will enable you to harness WordPress' incredible SEO and content marketing energy for your blog post's articles. Search Console (Webmaster tools) is definitely one of the SEO essentials. With the increase of voice search, over fifty percent of Google searches coming through mobile devices, the impending mobile-first index, and mobile-friendliness as getting a ranking factor, you merely can't afford to ignore cellular SEO anymore. When you create brand-new content based on your concern keywords, you have several benefits with an SEO online advertising strategy. On-site SEO can consist of tasks like adding keywords in order to your titles, images, and web link, adding multi-media for example images plus videos throughout your content, inner linking, and updating your content material regularly with new information. Perhaps no place is this more evident compared to in search engine optimization (SEO). Thus, back links remain at the forefront associated with SEO trends. The strategies of the SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION search engines like google have fun with a major role in the particular life of a consumer. Within a world where mobile products and voice searches are significantly reducing individuals' screen exposure because they perform searches, offering the voice assistant answer can end up being a crucial SEO boost. When you want to get even more SEO traffic in 2018, all of us recommend you create and enhance content especially for YouTube. OK therefore you've created your High-Retention video clip, it's time upload and improve it for SEO. Given that more people than ever prior to rely on their phones in order to perform searches, mobile SEO can not slow down in the particular near future. Beginning with the basics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) we will likely then move on to the more advanced techniques, all of us are going to also move over backlinks, keywords, tools in order to help you & much even more that will help you move from an SEO beginner in order to some PRO.

Internal linking is amongst the major aspects of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION as with the aid associated with it you can direct visitors to your other pages plus posts too. The thing regarding YouTube Google rankings since Apr 2014 Google had a main update, many vseo have already been crying but the option might be pretty simple. This particular may not sound like a good advanced SEO strategy, but a person would be surprised the number associated with websites are missing basic on-page SEO like page titles or even descriptions. But this has a nice SEO advantage to boot: multimedia helps a person boost those user-interaction signals that will Google continues to be spending more attention to. I feel wanting to rank with the key phrase online jobs but as the particular URL is long & the particular keyword is in the finish associated with the URL, I am not really ranking on the first place even after my page and my SEO is way better than some other first 3 ranked sites. SEO is just about all about backlinks, right?

Becoming released on top with SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION depends on delivering a top quality website experience with awesome articles. Lots associated with people associate off-page SEO along with backlink but it is not really only is the process associated with promoting your website across the particular web. As a result, this is usually definitely an important part associated with WordPress SEO 2018 and the reason for making visual content component of your online marketing technique. These types of on-page SEO factors affect your own individual page rank searching outcomes. Hence, the business proprietors need to concentrate on every new development and understand the tweaks and updates and its particular results on the website rating in order to establish the best type of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategy that retains high ratings. According to the latest SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION trends and techniques of 2017, SEO moved their attention plus priority to mobile friendly web sites with quick loading time plus trusting to large social networking revealing platforms. If you want to become visible to your target target audience and see the peak overall performance of your website, then a person have to stay up in order to date with SEO (Search Motor Optimization). SEO experts manipulates a range of factors to provide your own site a boost to rise the very best of the particular search engines' list. As SEO heads towards even more relevant and personalized experiences, UX will be key to sustaining search traffic by creating a good engaged audience. The vast majority of the SEO trends with regard to 2018 are exactly as a person would expect, and show all of us where marketing is going -- mobilisation, artificial intelligence, localisation plus enhanced security. The SEO is definitely evolving and now it's getting very dependent on your articles marketing strategy. Then, your blog post may require backlinks from other SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION blogs. Today, optimizing the particular SEO techniques for voice research is of utmost relevance simply because, with the upgrading of tone of voice assistants, a large number associated with individuals as well as businesses are availing of voice lookup for prompt searching of queries. Away page SEO refers to methods that can be used in order to increase the positioning of the website in the search motor results page (SERPs). Long gone are the times when keyword placement and back links guaranteed success in SEO. I think the particular #1 trend for 2018 within SEO is going to end up being Google Voice. Links and technical SEO are usually the largest items of the cake, but multimedia efforts such since video, photos, and podcasts can be the game changer plus differentiator in many competitive marketplaces. Back in the wild-west times of SEO, Google wasn't therefore great at identifying the romantic relationship between semantic keywords. Changes searching algorithms and within people's search habits and the particular preferences of mobile over desktop computer are changing the world associated with SEO. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (Search Engine Optimization) has turn out to be the driving force behind prosperous web-based companies. Research engine optimization strategies and SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION best practices that were as soon as effective a year ago may not become useful today. People always consider direct method but most associated with time these trick don't functions for SEO. 1 of the biggest initiatives within SEO is creating quality articles. His expertise is within SEO, Paid Search & Content Marketing. Our goal with on-page SEO is to optimize a good article in a natural, yet smart way, so that research engines can easily choose the particular prospective keyword and bring the website targeted visitors. It may be helpful if you reveal some on-page SEO tips plus how to do a key phrase research. A number of non-SEO equipment still give you a great insight into keywords. The greatest SEO companies is going in order to do keyword research on your own company as well as your own industry to come up along with a list of terms which usually will yield the best outcomes for your website. Most likely, you heard about the word Google's Rank Brain, the latest synthetic intelligence & machine learning protocol that is considered as the particular supreme invention of SEO rank till now. Traditional SEO is targeted upon building (keyword relevant) links plus (keyword relevant) content. The search engine optimisation (SEO) industry is still expanding in recognition and is worth a excellent $65 billion SEO helps shops rank in search engines such as Google. What's coming regarding search engine optimization (SEO) professionals within the coming year? When you quality backlinks to your own blog post, you'll also much better search engine positions for the particular competitive terms like SEO Tips” with ease. SEO is the methodology that technically and topically aligns brand content and engagement along with searcher intent. SEOs are able to gain access to a lot more information compared to we ever could before straight from Google using Search System (like mobile friendliness of articles, and validation of structured data), and tools like the automatic assistant in the mobile Search engines Analytics app, which provides device learning insights to Google analytics data. Previously we knew that SEO- Search engine optimization is just a technique in order to drive a large number associated with organic searches to our sites but now its application is usually beyond the conventional content marketing strategies. Start using mobile SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION if you are thinking associated with keeping or raising your rates in 2018. Brian Dean, an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION expert recommends to even location your keyword at the starting of the title if feasible that will have more bodyweight in search engines. This new update had been obviously a sign that SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION ranking had become based upon content and keywords. The convergence of articles and SEO presents a huge opportunity for brands to evangelize organic search success and rip down the silos and stigma once associated with the darkish side from the industry. Content marketing and advertising may be the new SEO. I obtained Best off-page SEO strategies through this post it helps all of us a lot to build a lot more links. SEO provides you with a shot at ranking with regard to the terms which your clients use, so you can understand better business. When it arrives to on-page SEO, I'm particular you've heard enough about the particular meta tag and keyword denseness for one lifetime. Awesome article i don't understand about youtube SEO but right after reading this article i completely understand how to rank movie on youtube and google furthermore. Brand building is the particular new link building and off-page SEO strategy in digital marketing nowadays, given that when brands turn out to be true to their core ideals, messaging and personalities, it will be easy for them to enter and dominate their target viewers. So what is usually something the average joe may do to help boost their own SEO rankings for a specific keyword? Placing hyperlinks for your other website web pages, is a great way associated with enhancing your site and utilized properly, internal links can end up being a useful weapon inside your SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION arsenal. Top SEO businesses will even advice you within good time on the providers and features that you require to increase traffic onto your own website within a more practical time frame. Here I have began my Post title with our target keyword SEO”. And, as this so happens, engagement with your own listing may have a good impact on your rankings, therefore shock horror doing good advertising is also good for your own SEO. Yet, I'm quite sure by the particular end of 2020, voice research will be very common, plus there will be many discussions going on in the SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION world on how to enhance the content for a tone of voice search, similar how it's today about mobile. On-Page SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION describes all the things that will you can do on your website in order to assist you rank higher, like as page titles, internal backlinking, Meta tags & descriptions, and so on. Success in SEO is usually the best content for the subject you picked and quality inbound links to it from other sources with high authority level. Many electronic natives and marketers alike are usually using SEO to its benefit by incorporating every keyword possible into the content they create. Now that a person understand the way to please your customers, how to satisfy search purpose, and how to create content material, it's time to move on to Pillar #3 in this SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategy. As mentioned previously, businesses could not make the bigger mistake than thinking that will best SEO techniques only rely on content, because the most recent SEO techniques you need in order to adapt depend on more than simply content. Today that you're on top associated with these 6 SEO trends plus have an arsenal of guidelines to manage your strategy, a person are well positioned for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and digital marketing in 2018. In order to obtain a featured snippet, content entrepreneurs must structure their articles in order to a number of factors, getting SEO well beyond the existing competition to reach the number a single spot on Google.

[homeschoolbase]

Gamification: An Idea to Increase the Fun

Gamification: An Idea to Increase the Fun

Hello, all. U/SincereSass asked to be able to read this post after I took it down due to some negative remarks.

I'm a Redditor of a few years who started this account recently because I wanted to start providing some resources separated from my old reddit history. I run a YouTube as well (it's terrible), but this post isn't a video or a walk-through. I might make it one later but I thought it was more important to put this idea out there sooner than later. I have been instructing professionals for more than 10 years and found that the ideas of my profession’s formal schools were poorly designed, condensed versions of academic school. I began looking for ways to improve information retention and recall; I applied pieces of it at work, and did well enough that when I was moved to mentor instructors. My sections out performed their peers across the board (excluding some outliers both ways, not everyone is perfect).

The Beginning

With the pandemic my wife and I are working on homeschooling our children. That means we have, and by we I mean she has, done exhaustive research on different resources, accreditation, laws, requirements, and all of the other things that the blogs tend to cover.

What we rarely saw, but is important to us, were courses that are FUN for both the parents and the kids instead of insufferable. What we looked for in our courses, and I won't link them or promote them because this post is about an IDEA instead of a particular brand, are things that are fun, that our three kids don't realize that they're doing work because it's a game or game like.

The reason why? Oh, that's easy. We have three boys that are a total of 4 years apart and they are FULL of energy. Getting them to sit still for long enough to do reading lessons or a math work sheet can be terrible. And because they are young their curriculum and abilities are far enough apart but their energy isn't so we developed ways to integrate their studies together through the idea of gamification.

What is Gamification?

I've already explained it rather broadly up above, but what it boils down to is making a study, topic, lecture, worksheet, etc into a game.

Multiplication table worksheet? Why not have them move around a giant chalk numbers board in the driveway?

Reading lessons with sight words? Flash Card game, puzzle pieces to fit them together, or my favorite has been hiding the words around the house and having them use flash lights to try and find them (it was noon, they didn't need it but it was fun). Only my oldest is actually doing sight words right now, but ALL three had a blast because they were running around the house.

My middle kid loves to count but doesn't understand the concept, hop scotch it is.

My kids went through a phase of not listening to us so we played the dance freeze song A LOT. To the point my wife woke me up because I was singing it in my sleep.

But not everyone has young kids. And not all kids are easily entertained by simple games and not all parents have the time to make new games for their kids. I totally get it. Maybe even just getting children to understand the rules of a game can be hard, guess what, there are games for that.

​

Sorry! for counting and rules

Battleships for counting, rules, and communication

Guess Who for communication, descriptions, and rules

Life, Shoots & Ladders, etc.

Puzzles for spatial awareness, patterns, and images.

Technology: Screen Time Bad, mmkay? (prepare for a bit of a soap box)

As we continue to move into the future the Jetsons (that OLD cartoon) got it right: Working from home via computers, self driving vehicles, weird school work, automated robots to clean the house. What it didn't show was the affects that unregulated and unsupervised screen time can have on our family and kids.

Notice the keywords: Unregulated & unsupervised.

Technology is here to stay barring any catastrophic events. Teaching our kids how to utilize technology the best way possible, instead of letting them explore it without any direction seems to be a recipe for disaster. I mean school and society would never say, "Abstinence is the ONLY course of action and we aren't going to teach you the positives, negatives, and safe ways to do this natural action." Right?

For us, technology is a wonderful advantage to life that can make life much simpler and easier. Getting my boys to understand how to use a touch screen phone to dial 911 (when and why is another topic), how to use a mouse and keyboard for a computer, how to use a tablet to access an application they want to play, etc. are all vital skills for their future. Does that mean that I let them dial 911 on a live phone? No, I made up a game on the calculator where I would say a word and they would have to touch it. It's not hard, it's not long but it's effective. AND that game can be expanded to simple arithmetic as they continue to get older.

Let's be honest, we've done more than our fair share of 3+ hour car trips and we can only play "I, spy" for so long. Those kindle fire tablets are locked down so tight with just a hand full of games and Disney movies that we're comfortable with it BUT man, letting them choose their own game or movie, start, stop, rewind, etc. saves the passenger parent from an endless barrage of (usually unanswered) requests.

This is an individual choice for parents to discuss and make for their own households, this is simply our point of view. I am not an advocate for screen time. I have seen the negative effects it can have, especially on highly spirited children. What I am an advocate for is the introduction of a societal norm under controlled, monitored, and well parented environments so that my children understand our expectations.

I also want to ensure that I can give me boys every advantage when it comes to school and work. If the future is automation in the work place I want them to know how to work the technology so they can remain employed, or maybe even develop new technology to help future generations.

Ok off my soap box, this post is long enough for now. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. (or if I have a typo) I'm all ears. You can find me on twitter as well, I am generally more responsive there. I have a few ideas for different age ranges that I will write up over the coming weeks to support history, science, econ, literature, and math.

​

edit: typo again!

[johnmuffus]

Dropify Academy Review

Dropify Academy Review (Sebastian Bedoya Course)

In this article, we’ll go through Sebastian Bedoya’s Dropify Academy, a dropshipping course that claims to teach you all the steps and information you need to start your first eCommerce and live off your store, making thousands in an instant once you’ve followed the classes.

However, dropshipping has become so popular that almost everyone has their own course available, and finding a class that’s actually good and not just another cash grab can be a tough task for most.

Is Dropify Academy one of those? Or is it worth its asking price? Let’s find out.

What is it?

It’s an online course focused on dropshipping with Shopify, and it’s hosted with Teachables, which also means it’s responsive in all devices and easy to follow.

The course is very intuitive thanks to how simple It is, and it covers the basic steps while avoiding going too deep. It doesn’t really mention why it’s so simple, but it feels like it’s specifically targeted towards beginners.

The course explains the steps for building a website in one module, and it also has several videos on developing your marketing strategies, using different channels like Facebook and Instagram, emailing, and a few others.

The author is Sebas Bedoya, a young YouTuber. Despite having his own course, his YouTube channel isn’t really big, compared with similar gurus. Dropify Academy condensates the experienced he earned since starting out a year ago.

Unfortunately, you didn’t misread that part. His experience was a warning sign, but I was relieved to see that the course isn’t bad at all.

Target audience

Given the content, it’s an ideal course for complete beginners. You learn how to build your store from scratch, but it also teaches you about branding and the way your customers think. The first modules are very newcomer-oriented, and they provide a good foundation for building your first business.

All videos are short, most of them being less than 10 minutes, so they’re easy to digest, and some can feel quite entertaining. However, many videos fail to provide a full picture of the topics they’re covering.

That issue is what makes you realize its actual target audience: the first modules are great at explaining them the correct mindset and the foundations to start their dropshipping ventures. However, experienced people will likely feel the first modules like a waste of time before actually seeing some interesting content.

Who’s the author?

As said, Sebastian is an 18 years old YouTube personality who focuses on dropshipping. His channel isn’t as big as the most influential gurus, but he’s still close to 29,000 subscribers, so he definitely beats a large portion of most YouTubers.

His channel shows as created in 2017, but his first video is from August 2017 and has almost 9,000 views, and it’s an explanation of how he earned $10 thousand in a single day. The rest of his videos also follow your standard dropshipping YouTuber content, with the clickbait titles and emoji-and-Photoshop-filled thumbnails.

Despite the obvious red flags on his channel, he does have some videos offering worthwhile information about the business. For instance, he has a video explaining taxes and dropshipping, and a lot of people steer clear from it. He has another one explaining how you can exploit YouTube’s algorithm to help your videos go viral.

The less useful videos are just personal vlogs and some motivational content.

About his career, he says his online career started a year ago, and the Dropify Academy description states Sebastian discovered dropshipping in January. His last video was uploaded more than half a year ago after a constant stream of content, but he could just be dedicated to his course.

Reviewing Dropify Academy

Instead of listing all modules, I’ll just go through the general structure of the course.

First, you receive a video outlining the course with a link for a Shopify trial. Then there’s a 10-minute long video on creating your brand on Instagram and growing it before explaining and giving some tips about copywriting.

After that, there’s a module on building your website, and it provides straightforward videos explaining how you build the store, customize it, getting your domain, which apps you need, and how to create the necessary pages. The videos have enough depth to set them apart from what you can learn from YouTube.

The next videos focus on researching the products you want to sell. It goes through what makes a good product, the niches, how to research, and the last video is among the longest, explaining how to set up your listings.

You then go back to your site, and you learn how to build your store after your products. This is one of the most effective approaches to store design, and the videos are some of the longest.

Then, there’s a video on creating ads, but it’s just shy of 6 minutes, so it’s not really useful for people with knowledge, but it’s still good information for beginners. Afterwards, you go into Instagram advertising and influencers; the issue is that the videos average just 2 minutes, and it explains stuff you probably already know if you use the platform.

After Instagram, it goes into Facebook Ads, and this section sports 2 of the longest entries in the class. It offers some good insight, and some of the videos are great, but given the course’s price, it’s missing a few topics.

The rest of the content mostly feels like bonuses.

You have 2 videos on optimizing credit on Facebook and a Clickfunnels intro, 2 and 1 minutes respectively. Gabriel also introduces you to email marketing with an almost hour-long video. You have a case study from someone apparently making $60,000 every day, and there’s the steps guide to building a store from scratch, but it’s a deeper iteration of the videos you already saw.

More Info

The amount of topics covered definitely caught my eye, and that’s what made me get the course. It looked like an extensive masterclass, but once I finished the first few modules, I just knew I overpaid for it.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s some great content here. The Facebook Ads is exceptional despite the missing content, and I definitely picked up a couple of ideas and tips from it. But just like it had a couple of things I never thought, there was a lot of information I do know and was completely absent from this course.

While the videos aren’t boring, and Sebas is a good instructor, I had to fast-forward a lot of them since I was just hearing things I’m already aware of. Luckily, he usually goes straight to the meaningful content, so it’s hard to find a lesson that feels like filler.

What do you get with this course?

The first module jumps into product research, showing a 4-step method for finding “hidden gems”. However, it’s not as groundbreaking as he wants you to think: just a nice method for finding some products.

The first duplicate comes in the Facebook Ads module. It’s the same as his Tiger course, with 7 videos offering insight into getting started and setting up your account. I don’t know why he didn’t expand it since you can find courses with at least twice as much content as this section. Besides, it’s missing relevant updates.

The secret Instagram approach is also recycled from his Tiger course, and it’s not a secret. You probably already know it if you’ve seen videos on Instagram marketing.

An addition to this course is the print on demand business model and how Youssef teaches you to implement this strategy to your store on Shopify. He then compares it to using AliExpress.

You have a standard section on setting up your store, and it’s only different from Tiger in that it’s two shorter videos instead of a single long one. While the module focuses on a print on demand business, you can apply this knowledge to build any store.

You then get a couple of videos on growing your Instagram and building your brand account. This module stands out thanks to Youssef’s meaningful insight, and it’s something I was expecting, given his experience as a consultant. So I can’t really complain about this section –good job.

The last videos talk about live reviews for your store, and the last module about dropshipping in America.

You finally get a directory with verified suppliers you can use for your business, but beware that these will probably only work for US-based companies or residents. You can try as an overseas business, but you should just skip it unless you have an SSN or a reseller ID.

Final Verdict

This definitely isn’t a bad course by any means. I found myself surprised at the depth some of the videos went and the amount of knowledge Sebas has despite his age; he’s definitely wiser than a lot of the gurus I’ve found online, and beginners will definitely finish the course with all the basics (and some of the advanced) covered.

Nevertheless, I wouldn’t recommend you pay $357 for it.

Newcomers may see it as worthwhile, but experienced students will definitely feel they wasted a few hundred on it with the lessons they already know. Still, there are courses available for complete beginners that still go for much less, so there’s little reason to take this course above the rest.

If he lowered his price significantly, this would be a course I’d recommend without thinking about it towards those without experience in the business.

But as it is right now, you have zero reasons to spend that money on this course when you can get almost 10 times the content and depth for less money.

Best Alternative

The best alternative to this course is definitely eCom Elites. It provides hours of content in video lessons teaching you all the ins and outs of the business.

Franklin Hatchett, the author of the course, is one of the people who made dropshipping famous through his success, and his lessons have excellent content that will suit both beginners and experts for just $197 or $297 depending on the plan.

I hope you found this review useful and if you have any questions, please comment down below. I’ll be more than happy to assist you.

Once again, thanks for reading my Dropify Academy Review and I wish you the best of luck.

The post Dropify Academy Review appeared first on Only Genuine Reviews.

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