alexpdcl · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media
based on 'the fall'
525 notes · View notes
the-owl-house-takes · 1 year ago
Note
I absolutely hate the argument that Luz can be excused for her actions and people have no right to dislike her just because she’s neurodivergent. I struggled immensely in school both academically and socially in large to my own “neurodivergence”-can I just say I hate that word-but I was never so stupid as to think about bringing live animals and fireworks inside my school. The fact that Luz, the 14-year-old daughter of a veterinarian, saw a bunch of living, breathing animals and thought-‘yeah, I’m gonna use those as props! My book report is gonna be so cool! I surely can’t just use rubber snakes!’ Which probably why they were so damn aggressive! Because snakes only really bite and attack when they’re threatened, or stressed, or pissed off! Which really does not paint Luz as being a very caring or thoughtful person!
“But that’s the point! She needs to get better and she does!”-No she absolutely fucking does not. Instead of realizing that she can’t just run away and live in fantasy-land, the show again and again reaffirms that Luz can do no wrong, everybody else never should’ve felt angry about her reckless idiocy-because that’s what it is, idiocy-she gets to live out her little fantasy world and do whatever she wants. The way the show acts like the principal giving the summer camp pamphlet was some horrible evil thing, how could anyone do that? B I T CH LUZ IS FUCKING LUCKY that she weren’t expelled or arrested! She brought EXPLOSIVES WITH THE INTENT OF SETTING THEM OFF INSIDE A SCHOOL BUILDING. In an area of mass shoring fears and schools prohibiting anything can looks like or emulates(even if it is just a foam sword or something), Luz really should’ve just taken two seconds to think to at least leave the fireworks. Course at 14 I would think that a person who have the common sense for that to never be a thought.
And no, “neurodivergence” is not an excuse. It pains me when characters in media doing stupid shit and senseless(especially when it gets on the audience’s nerves) gets pinned on having autism or ADHD like it makes it okay, and that the character can’t be blamed or held accountable for it. Why do people hold those with these conditions to such low standards? When this happens, it feels like people are saying, “Yeah, this could’ve easily caused grievous bodily harm or death but they’ve got anxiety and autism, so we can’t be mad, they couldn’t possibly know better because they’re simply not on our level, they’re too stupid to understand!” Hell no. Stop giving excuses! The “I’m literally neurodivergent and a minor” attitude does not work in court!
And maybe if they understood this and actually challenged Luz on being very episodic on learning her lessons and that she did in fact run away to avoid consequences of her actions and reality won’t bend to her interests and she can’t treat everything like it’s a fanfiction instead of beating the dead horse with another dead horse about how Luz ““““helped”””” Belos when all she did was teach him one glyph and got used as bait by someone who she KNOWS tricked her. By that logic Lilith is just as responsible for Belos meeting the Collector as Luz is. Yeah she’s 14 but did it really have to stretch through the entirety of season 3?
Because season 3 is where I officially knew that Luz hadn’t learned a thing. The way the show frames the art teacher giving Luz the side eye like it’s wrong for her to distrust the kid who used the art supplies-that she probably paid out of pocket for-to infest the school with spiders and snakes and then would’ve blown it up if she hadn’t gotten sent to the principal’s office is so out of pocket. She has every right to view Luz with suspicion! People don’t tend to like others who make a mess in their areas with their stuff, shocker. I’ve already said a bit about the summer camp thing, but seriously, a summer camp that teaches teens about mortgages, how to manage a bank account and checkbook, do taxes, etc is literally the best thing Luz could’ve gotten out of that situation. She would’ve learned something many people complain wasn’t taught to them at a young age AND would’ve met people who she could easily befriended. Yeah, it’s boring and Luz probably would’ve checked out of the situation but it’s better than juvie! Also boring stuff is apart of life, it’s part of the way we can live the way we do because everything is easier said than done. Also with Camila, it’s a dumb retcon to have her not understand anime or Luz’s interests in Season 1 and 2 but a secret nerd who just got put down by the man in season 3. Like, Camila had to make a change with Luz, because 14 is not far from 18, and if Luz did do something stupid that ended up being a crime, she could very well be charged as an adult.
Then the whole ‘I just wanna be understood!’ Luz, honey, you’ve been surrounded by people who understand you and don’t get mad when you mess up, even if it’s spectacularly. Your girlfriend literally immediately told you she essentially wanted to spend the rest of her life by your side right after you got revealed as a liar which you promised you wouldn’t do anymore. Your best buds have always been on your side even when you’ve gone behind their backs. Your mom was sending you to that camp bc she had too, even though she originally believed it would expose you to kids with similar interests that could be befriended. And again, her hands were tied, because you were being reckless to the point of danger. But oh wait, it’s all okay now because you’re ‘understood’.
Not finding that happy balance where you can express yourself but not act like an idiot or endanger yourself and others, just some vague ‘understanding’ by an anonymous ‘them’. Do you mean everyone, all the time has to understand you the way Camila, Eda, King, Willow, Gus, Amity and Hunter do? Because that’s not how real life works.
And this isn’t a character hate-though I do hate the way Luz was finished-this is on the writers for not going through with the themes of Fantasy Vs. Reality they had going that could’ve taught Luz that balance and management; which in my personal opinion, would’ve been a better arc for a person with ADHD.
-
166 notes · View notes
clexaweekofficial · 2 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media
Here are the themes that won for the upcoming Clexaweek23! If you would like to participate, just create something (write a fic, draw some art, make a moodboard, a video edit, you name it!) that somehow involves that particular theme. Whether you create or not, please participate by supporting each other! :) Reblog posts instead of just liking, and leave nice comments on content! 
Day 1: Monday, February 27th - Childhood Friends
Clarke and Lexa were friends as children! Example: maybe Clarke and Lexa have been glued at the hip since they were five years old. They went to school together, then college, and now they have an apartment together. They don’t really understand why everyone assumes they’re dating; or why they seem to get so jealous when the other person IS dating. Maybe Clexa were best friends in elementary school, until Lexa moved away. Now they’re in their thirties, Clarke is a divorced single mother, and she’s shocked when she realized that her kid’s teacher is none other than her childhood best friend. Maybe Lexa had a very difficult childhood and Clarke was the first friend she ever made, until Lexa was forced to move away; years later, they meet again in a support group, both having lost their partners. Maybe they were best friends until a falling out in middle school; awkward moment when they realize they’re roommates!
Day 2: Tuesday, February 28th - Secret Relationship
Lexa and Clarke in a secret relationship with each other. Examples: Are Clexa rivals in public but besotted behind closed doors? Is Clarke secretly dating her best friend’s sister which is totally off-limits? Is Lexa hiding the fact that she’s been dating her ex’s ex? Is Clarke secretly dating her best friend’s worst enemy? 
Day 3: Wednesday, March 1st - Fake Dating
The opposite of day 2! Clarke and Lexa are pretending to date. Examples: Maybe Lexa desperately needs a date to bring home for the holidays to get her mom off her back, so who better to ask than the cute girl she keeps running into at her favorite coffee shop? Maybe Clarke needs some temporary arm-candy to make an ex jealous! Maybe Clarke is trying to impress a boss who seems to only want to hang outside of work with a couples’ date, so she convinces Lexa to pretend to be her girlfriend and come out to dinner with her unbearable boss because she REALLY needs that promotion! 
Day 4: Thursday, March 2nd - Accidents Happen!
I put together Accidental Kiss and Accidental marriage/relationship since they’re so close together. Bottom line is Clexa accidentally do SOMETHING. Maybe they’re rivals on the same sports team and are so swept up in the euphoria of their win that they kiss right there on the field! Or maybe they’re strangers who wake up in Vegas and are horrified to realize they’re married. Maybe Lexa’s wife left her at the alter because she claims Lexa will never love her as much as she loves someone else. A devastated Lexa has no idea what she means, but she already paid for the honeymoon so why not take her best friend Clarke with her? Except oops, in the morning they wake up hungover and naked and the ring Lexa had bought Costia is on Clarke’s finger. Maybe Clexa are just fuck buddies, friends with benefits - except one day they realize oops, it’s been ten months and I have my own drawer space at your place and my own toothbrush and shit are we dating, are we living together??
Day 5: Friday, March 3rd - Friends or foes?
Both Enemies to Lovers and Friends to Lovers tied, so what does that mean? We do both! You can choose to use one of these, or do both! Examples: Maybe Lexa HATES her neighbor Clarke, who always seems to wake her up in the middle of the night because she apparently can’t paint without listening to music. Maybe Clarke is Lexa’s best friend Clarke HATES her neighbor that always seems to throw rowdy parties, and she lets her know that (and later, makes the horrifying discovery that this woman, Lexa, is not even the actual neighbor; it’s Lexa’s sister, Anya). Maybe Clarke and Lexa are work friends until Lexa’s given a promotion that Clarke deserved, and now she hates her. Maybe they’re allies in a war until Lexa takes a deal and leaves Clarke to dry. Maybe Lexa hates Clarke, who broke her best friend’s heart - except then she realize Clarke is actually super nice and they’re friends now and maaaaybe Lexa looks at her lips too much.
Day 6: Saturday, March 4th - Workplace Romance
Clexa at work! Examples: Are they rival farmers? Are they firefighters who can’t keep their cool around each other? Do they both contribute at the local farmer’s market and their stalls are right next to each other but they’re both too useless to actually make a move? Does Clarke get hired to paint a mural in Lexa’s cafe? Is Clarke an ER doctor and Lexa the cute EMT that picks terrible times to flirt with her? Are they coworkers at some company kept vague bc all we’re focusing on is the opportunities that await us once all the items have been swept off the desk? 
Day 7: Sunday, March 5th - Free Day
For free day, you can do anything you want. You can choose a theme that didn’t win. You can even use it as an Update Your WIP day!
Here are the guidelines for participating.
I posted this on November 11th; we have exactly 3 months and 17 days until Clexaweek23! :) 
So excited to see all the new creations! Leida!
386 notes · View notes
localplaguenurse · 1 year ago
Note
What’s the whole gingko family doing in the modern era besides losing a piece of their sanity every they go into the museum
Okay it’s raw brain mode since I woke up not too long ago and I gotta get ready for work. Also for simplicity we’re gonna call it “lived to the modern era” because I have different ideas for an AU specifically set in the modern day. (Will I write it out? Depends on if prompted because otherwise it’s just gonna float around in my brain soup.) Also, wifey and Zhongli are keeping a low profile since he’s supposed to be dead, but the kids can be open about their identities.
Zhongli and wifey: Wifey is still doing art, but they have to be very careful about it. They have to pretend that instead of doing art for thousands of years that they actually come from a family of artists. I feel like Zhongli isn’t too picky what his job would be, my brain says historian, teacher, or maybe still funeral consultant. One thing’s for sure: they’re still married.
Yánjiāng: His love of cats has paid off and he now has a cat cafe. Is this a goofy idea? Yes. Absolutely. 100%. But people kept asking about him and cats so I gotta make a reference lmao. I’ve got a cold and am still tired, forgive me. The cats like to snuggle his tail after hours.
Lihua: A lot of modelling/fashion. I always imagine her wearing traditional and very ornately designed hanfu, so I also see her being one of those tiktokers/youtubers that critiques how period accurate costume designs in movies are.
Zhusha: A lot of pottery (better than whatever that thing in the museum is...). But like honestly I can see her doing a lot of art things and following in her mother’s footprints. Her preferred medium is sculpting. When she’s not designing/making statues, she’s running one of those pottery stores where you go in, pick a premade cup or bowl or whatever, and paint it. (I wanna go to one of those again soon...)
Yaling: So beta gave me the idea that she finds good high quality ore for mining. I think she still does that, however she’s become fascinated by those lab grown gems I hear about every once in a while. I feel like in the modern age she would also start looking into that. Granted she can literally just make crystals on her own but the people can’t, so y’know. Also hates Musk for all that shit about the emerald mine so it’s both “this is better for the environment/safety of the people plus oooo modern science” and “fuck that guy.”
Feng: Still does blacksmithing obviously but I feel like he’s also become like... this big himbo nerd. He makes regular blades and jewellery but sometimes he makes functional replicas of weapons and costume pieces from books and shows he likes. Yaling gives him shit for it whenever he asks for highly specific stones. “Nerd.” “Oh come on! So we can’t make fun of Yánjiāng for the cat cafe but we can pick on Feng for making a functional hat with hidden blades?” “First off, we do. Second, you stole that from that one jojo guy that kinda sounds like dad.” “... Shut up.”
7 notes · View notes
hellyeahheroes · 4 years ago
Text
Robin(2021) #1 Review
Tumblr media
Opening this comic with an assessment of a character that I have no choice but to agree with is a cheap way to score points with me.
Anyways, we caught heat for being unfair to this story since it was announced because all of us wanted it to be a Cass story since forever. And it became yet another thing Damian absorbs. I mostly ignored it because I’ve always been open about my disdain for the character and his fandom for nearly a decade. I never liked Damian because put these characteristics on a non-white passing character, they’d be dead inside of year. Then again I hate almost all of Grant Morrison monstrosities.
Regardless, new story who dis is in full effect here. We open this bad boy up with Damian gone missing and the Batfamily searching for him. Nightwing tried asking Damian’s old Teen Titans team and they obviously don’t know and probably hope Damian is dead. Tim checked Arkham Ruins(???) and Damian wasn’t there. I honestly don’t think Tim was trying to find Damian. Steph and Cass checked Damian’s farm and Steph concluded Damian has been there at least because while Damian may be a little shit, he loves his dog and pet bat dragon. Barbara checked facial recognition pings and his transactions and dude is an IRS nightmare.
Damian is missing. Bruce is worried that maybe making a violent murderous preteen Robin raised in a cabal of killers to be chief murderer was a bad idea and is worried. Barbara ensures him that they will find his son and we cut to Damian fighting Snake guy in some musty ass fight put somewhere. Because of course it’s a musty ass fight pit because while the story is well drawn, it never claimed to be not cliche.
Damian hands the scrub his ass and it turns out Damian is trying to earn a marker to participate in some tournament. I liked this panel.
Tumblr media
Not because of the artist flex of changing the art style, but it establishes Damian with a relatable hobby, reading manga. And not just a Shounen as you expect him to read but a slice of life manga which kind of puts his life in perspective. Also the lesson in the manga is reflective of what happens in the comic. Damian’s mastery is reflective of how he sees Hana. Hana decides to go beyond what her masters taught her. She decides to innovate and make her art her own. And that’s indicative of another flaw of Damian: Damian leans of the prestige of his teachers. He is the student that replicates the style 1:1. He wants to inherit Batman’s mantle, but doesn’t want to shed his teachings that he is proud of. And it comes down to this idea that Damian refuses to innovate and adapt because he is hiding behind his masters.
This panel saved the story so good job.
And after a talk with dead Alfred, it’s revealed that Damian is on this journey as a way to mirror Bruce’s journey into becoming Batman. It’s his way to iron his resolve without a catalyst to find a need to. It highlights his naïveté. He thinks that he can just simply copy the steps and get the same results.
Regardless what happens next simultaneously undermines the story or the impact of it.
Tumblr media
Okay, when you think of Martial artists in DC, you immediately think Batman, Shiva, Deathstroke, Black Canary, Bronze Tiger, Richard Dragon, and Shiva. Why I said Shiva twice? Because Shiva is the pinnacle.
So to reveal that three premier martial artists in the universe are not only not participating but they were paid off to not participate, cheated out, or were subbed in as an entry replacement, it undermines the promotion. It’s like going to a Beyonce Concert only to find out that between the words in small print Beyonce and Concert was ‘s Sister’s and now you are watching Grammy award winning Solange. Sure, it’s an unique experience but it ain’t Beyonce.
And also, there is no amount in the world that would keep Shiva away from this tournament if it’s as prestigious as it’s led to be. Let’s be real. If anything, it’s far more likely that she saw the roster of scrubs and decided to make some scratch.
Tumblr media
There are two characters that I recognize: Connor Hawke and Rose Wilson. I am not familiar with Connor so I am not sure if he is out of place. Rose is fine but y’know, scrub. I’m sorry Rose Wilson got her ass handed to her by Cass in the previous universe. There is no universe where I take her seriously in a fighting tournament to crown greatest fighter because the ass stomp was so thorough that Cass was beating Slade’s ego by proxy.
Back to the comic, Damian interrupts the host and basically is the fighting tournament trope of overly confident disrespectful guy with too many accolades which he will proudly tell you about them. What I like about this is the nice nod to the previous manga panel. Damian is not a great fighter. There I said it. Damian’s ability hinges on the idea that he was trained by the greatest killers and Batman but the issue is that name prestige doesn’t make great fighters. Too many times, comic books overly rely on this idea of fighting being a what you know and not being a game of not getting hit and getting hits in. It does not matter if Damian is trained by the League and Batman and it’s questionable as to how much Batman taught him in the first place. Hence why we see Damian with a sword or staff to compliment his lack of range. Damian can’t read muscle twitches like a Cass or Shiva so he has a normal reactive response and comics never highlighted his ability. The most impressive thing I’ve seen Damian do is catch a Batarang which is something I’ve seen Tim do. Damian overly relies on the idea that his teachers taught him to be the best when they simply taught him to survive in a fight.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
“But why does Cass get away with it?,” you ask. Cass has this broken hax that is reading muscle twitch and immediately knowing the instant of what you are going to do before you do it or decide to do. Cass doesn’t need range because to her, you are screaming your intentions. She doesn’t need to block an attack when she can just parry. She doesn’t need to step back when she can just step forward while slipping all attacks. She is an autistic savant at fighting with an absolute defense. Damian is just another badass teen in a world of badass adults.
Tumblr media
And the humbling of Damian begins...again.
Pros:
-Damian’s new costume. I like that he is branching out and starting to own his own colors. It’s nice.
-Using a character flaw to make it a theme. I like Chekhov’s gun via teachable moment. In tournament arcs, what separates the good ones and the bad ones is the idea that the hero simply must overcome their opponents and not their own self. This is why Yuyu Hakusho is awesome.
- Great art and nice continuity. It’s nice that Damian’s past wasn’t ignored for once and they didn’t just throw his Teen Titans characterization down the tubes. Say what you want, but it was arguably Damian’s longest run in spite of his fans hating it. And contrary to what they believe, it was very much in character for him. My fear going into this that Damian would not face any fallout and lo and behold he ran away.
- it’s a good start for a Damian story. Say what you want, but it’s unique in that the little shit gets his comeuppance immediately. And not that just by losing, but by dying. Damian has killed before and readily justifies it because he never realizes the weight of taking someone’s life. He’s been killed before but those were painted in a way that he is valiant. Here, this is death caused by his own arrogance. He mocks a fighter for talking shit and gets murked while talking shit. He spouts names of his own teachers and expects people to care or be weary as if Rose Wilson and Connor aren’t there. It’s a tournament sponsored by the League of Assassins, Damian. They have been taught by the league too.
Cons:
-Look I get promotion. No promoter is going to undermine their product but the fact that this tournament reeks like ABA is killing my interest to give a shit. It’s a convenient caveat to say that, “Well, a character won this so they can have the title but the title doesn’t mean anything.” I know of regardless of whom wins this, they aren’t the best. Go ham or don’t at all.
-not enough emphasis of the importance of this arc. Why even have this tournament? What’s the prize? What’s even the point?
-While the art is nice, the action is framed poorly. I like physical action like this to be nearly choreographed in a way I can see and piece movement in my head. The two fight scenes we get are somewhat disjointed in that it’s just poses. For example, Flatline’s first kick makes no sense at all and I don’t get her follow up. Trying to picture the movement hurts my head and in an action concept like this, it’s best to frame action scenes as more than doing poses. Here is a good example:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
This only emphasizes the action and gets the reader to acknowledge that this a tournament of great fighters or at least a great fighting story.
All in all, do I think this story is off to a good start? Yes. Is it going to change my opinion on Damian? Hell no. My reaction to Damian getting his ass handed to him was this.
Tumblr media
The issue is that it never sticks. Damian can learn and be a better person but the development never sticks. It becomes a cyclical series of events because whoever writes him next will just keep writing him as this shitty entitled murder rich kid who never learns anything and gets validated somehow. It’s been over a decade and I’m tired of the same excuses of his shitty behavior. I am tired of writers validating it or excusing it.
Damian losing isn’t an outcome I care for because it’s wasted on him. Honestly I am more interested in Connor and Rose being there. I have no faith that it will stick nor does it undo the shitty idea of the character. I have never wanted to see Damian fight. It’s never been fun to read about nor has the impetus of his character emphasized the ability or style. Placing Damian in an Enter the Dragon style tournament lacks the pizzazz of Cass doing the same thing. For example, let’s try Marvel.
Let’s say someone pitches an idea of a tournament arc styled after Game of Death. Immediately you think Martial Artists non-powered. Danny Rand, Daredevil, Elektra, Shang-Chi, Pei and Colleen Wing. Okay, instead of giving those characters the honor, you give the story to Black Cat. Honestly, I’d read it because Felicia could sell me a documentary on grass and I’d buy it but the point stands, why does Damian have this Bruce Lee inspired Martial Arts story versus the actual Chinese or East Asian Martial Arts focused member of the Batfamily, Cassandra Cain?
But this has nothing to do with what could have been. It’s a fun beginning of a possibly fun arc. In that regard, it delivers but what’s the point?
Like I said, fun story.
@ubernegro
116 notes · View notes
ladyreapermc · 4 years ago
Text
Fic: Your Move (Chibs x fem!Reader)
A/N: Unsuprisingly, I’m writing for SoA. It was just a matter of time until this new obsession caught up with me. This is my first attempt to write an accent phonetically, so I apologize in advance for the mess.
I also wanna thank @toomanystoriessolittletime​ and @penwieldingdreamer​ for beta’ing this for me and @ly--canthrope​ @wishuhadstayed​ and @chibsytelford​ for welcoming me to the SoA fam and encouraging me to write for it.
Summary: When you returned to Charming after your father passed away, you planned to only stay long enough to settle his affairs, but memories of the past and the prospect of a certain Scot in your future made you stay longer than planned.
Wordcount: 4,5K
Warnings: mentions of alcohol and inebriation and that’s it.
Tumblr media
You knew the Sons of course.
There was no way to live in Charming your entire life and not know about them or at least some of them. You went to school with Jax and Opie and you remembered having such a crush on them, like most girls your age. They were the cool guys with their air of danger and the prospect leather cuts they wore every single day.
Your father warned you to stay away from them, as most parents would. The thing about the Sons was that they were a necessary evil to your small town, but it didn’t make them any less dangerous. Your father made sure to steer clear of them unless he absolutely needed it. You watched him seek out Clay Morrow once in a while if there was a problem in the diner, but it always pained him so much to do so.
You could see in his eyes, the exhaustion and barely contained shame whenever he had to have a sit down with the President of the MC. Always at the diner because he refused to go anywhere near the Teller-Morrow Garage.
He invested every cent he had to make sure you had a good education and could leave Charming for good. Do something he could never do in his own life and you appreciated that with all your heart but once he passed away and you had to come back to settle his affairs, sell the diner and the house and everything else, you found yourself caught up in the memories and the charms of the small town.
Everyone seemed to know you. Sometimes by name, most times as Allan’s kid. They paid their respects at the funeral, even the MC. You saw Gemma and Jax at the back and when your eyes caught the bright blue of the man Jackson had become, his lips tilting into a small, sympathetic smile in your direction, you didn’t feel the same butterflies as you used to when you were a teen.
He and his mother came closer after everyone else was gone. He still had that same sad smile placed in his face as Gemma pulled you into a hug that you didn’t really feel comfortable with, but didn’t know how to refuse.
“Allan was such a good man,” she said, pressing a kiss to your cheek and you could feel the lipstick imprint Gemma left behind. “Anything you need, sweetheart, just give us a call.” She handed you a Teller-Morrow business card, her number scribbled on the back.
“Thank you.” You nodded as they stepped away letting you go back to your grieving.
The diner was quick to sell. Your father, once he got sick, already found a buyer on call, you just needed to finalize the deal. The house was harder to do so. Not because you didn’t have people interested in it but because you couldn’t bring yourself to put it on the market. Not when there were so many childhood memories in it. This was the house you grew up in, where your father raised you to be the woman you were now. It was hard to let go of that, so you found yourself searching for reasons to delay your departure.
Separating possessions that would stay, be donated, sold, or thrown away. You started doing small repairs around the house, just like your father taught you because he wanted you to be as independent as possible. Taking off old, worn-out carpets and wallpapers, fixing the yard and clogged pipes, and closing off holes in the plaster walls.
Before long, a month had passed and you were still in Charming, only making weekend trips back to your apartment to bring more of the essentials with you. Even your cat had found residence in your father’s house, taking long naps in the porch bench, apparently much more comfortable with the small-town life than you expected.
Still, you had a hard time admitting that you didn’t intend to leave any time soon. Being in the house was a constant reminder that your father never wanted this life for you but at the same time, after spending the last 10 and something years in a big city, you had never felt more at home than when you got back here.
You were even painting again, something you haven’t done since you settled for a career as an art teacher. You were even more surprised when you opened up the yard sale and a couple of people ventured into the garage while you were distracted and asked about your paintings.
“They’re not really for sale,” you replied to a woman around your age, her dark hair falling over her shoulders in waves and she was so familiar, but you couldn’t place her in your memory.
“You should really think about selling them. Maybe even opening a gallery? They’re gorgeous.”
Her words stayed with you after the sale was done because it had always been your dream but in a big city, renting space was expensive and there were tons of small art galleries other there. It was hard to compete. In a town like Charming? It would be a place one of a kind.
The next morning, you found a small store for rent in the main street as you walked through the wide-open space, the morning bright light filtering through the half-closed blinds from the window, you could already see your works hanging around, the small counter with the cash register to the left and the backspace for your studio so you could work during slow days.
“I’ll take it.” The words were out before you could even think it through but once they passed your lips, you knew they were the right thing to do. You just needed officially move back to your hometown after so long away.
You took a week to go back to the city, pack up your belongings, and put in the moving truck. A few boxes of more personal stuff you loaded in your own battered old Chevy to bring with you on the drive back.
The car gave out in the middle of the night, still on the highway, miles away from Charming. The engine coughing and spluttering but refusing to start, no matter how many times you spun the key in the ignition. You had to settle for your fate and call a toll truck.
It was almost like destiny that when you pull out your phone from your pocket, the TM card fell out too and you didn’t even realize it had been there all this time. Gemma’s number in pen was washed out but the printed one for the garage was still visible so you dialed it. It wasn’t like you had another garage’s number on speed dial.
You waited at the side of the road for about 50 minutes until the headlights of the toll truck lightened up the night before pulling by your car and you couldn’t help the nervous flips of your stomach as the man stepped out of the car, in tight jeans and leather cut. His longish dark hair combed back, peppered with grey strands at his forehead and the goatee gave him such a distinguished look that you had a hard time not staring. You couldn’t remember the last time you were this attracted to someone at first sight.
“Ye called for a toll, lass?” he asked in a smooth drawl and thick accent that made shivers run down your spine, and for a second you couldn’t find your words.
“Uh… yeah, yes. I did,” you finally managed, glancing back to your car. Seemed to be the safest thing to do. “The old piece of junk died on me. Sorry for the hour.”
“No problem,” he waved off your apology, setting up to get your car secured in the back of the truck, before opening the door for you. “Come on, I give ye a lift.”
He helped you into the truck’s cabin, taking your hand in his gloved one like a perfect gentleman and closing the door behind you before he got behind the wheel and started the engine.
“Thank you so much, mister…”
“Nah, lassie. No mister required,” he offered you a soft smile and from this close, you could see the pale line of the scar in his cheek. “Chibs is fine.”
“Alright. thank you, Chibs,” you replied smiling too as he pulled into the road and turned the radio into a classic rock station.
You remained in silence for most of the ride, sneaking glances at the man next to you. Had he been in Charming all those years ago? Before you left? Why didn’t you remember him? How many times had you seen the Sons riding through the main street in their Harleys and leather cuts? You would probably have seen him before. Then again, back then your eyes tended to seek out Jax’s slender form due to your stupid teen crush. Maybe that was why you missed him.
“Mind if I smoke?” Chibs asked, startling you out of your thoughts.
You shook your head, feeling the heat of embarrassment burning your face as you tried to ignore the way his lips closed around the cigarette and how his long fingers operated the lighter.
The flame lit up his face for a brief second, reflected in his deep, dark eyes and you had to look away, clearing your throat. You never felt this awkward and uncertain in the presence of man, so you raked your brain for something to break the tense silence.
“Why Chibs?” You blurted out before you could stop yourself and he chuckled, the sound low and husky and it went straight to your center, making you press your legs together as discreetly as you could.
“It a Scottish slang,” he started, glancing your way as he took a deep drag of his cigarette. “For knife.”
“Oh,” you replied dumbly, mulling over his words. “Because of…?” Unconsciously, you reached for your cheek and froze in shock at your own insensitive action. “Oh shit! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean…”
“It’s alright, love,” he chuckled again as he slowed down the truck and you didn’t even notice he was dropping you off at home until you recognized the construction in front of you. “I dinna mind. And yes, that’s why. Bu’ Filip works too.”
“Thank you, Filip,” you spoke softly, meeting his eyes and he smiled around his smoke and nodded. “I’ll drop by TM tomorrow morning to settle everything?”
“Aye. I’ll let Gem know.”
You hesitated to step out of the truck, and you didn’t even know why. You just didn’t want to leave. Not yet, but there was no reason to stay. So you resigned with doing what needed to be done and watching as he drove away before finally getting inside the house.
Next morning, you took your dad’s old Jeep – and how lucky it was that you hadn’t sold it just yet – and headed to TM to settle payment for the toll and get the cost for the work.
While Gemma was ruffling through some papers trying to find your invoice, you let your gaze wander through the open side door towards the garage, noticing the men in overalls talking and joking while working.
“He’s not here,” Gemma said, startling you to turn back and meet her narrowed eyes. You wondered how she could possibly know. “Jax.”
“Oh!” Relief washed over you and you managed a timid smile. “I wasn’t…”
“And he’s back with Tara.”
There was a clear warning in her tone, almost as if saying you shouldn’t dare to try and intervene between the couple, not that you would want to. She finally handed you the paper so you could sign it, authorizing the service.
“How soon can I expect the car?”
“Maybe a week? Might be more,” Gemma replied, pulling the paper back and giving you a long look. “There were some boxes in the truck… You’re uh, staying in Charming, then?”
“Yeah…” it was the first time you said it out loud and it felt almost like a confession. “I am. The moving truck should be arriving soon so can I drop by later to pick them up?”
“I’ll get one of the prospects to bring them to you,” the older woman declared after an assessing look. Like she was measuring you up, making sure if you were worthy of her town.
You just offered a quick thanks and headed off, resisting the urge to glance behind your shoulder at the men working on the cars or the side building that housed the club. Even if you could feel the baby hairs in your nape prickling due to an intense gaze at your back. If it was Gemma or someone else, you didn’t find out.
The entire thing slipped from your mind by the time you got home and found the moving truck already waiting for you. The rest of your day was spent moving boxes and furniture to their designated spaces, making sure the movers didn’t break anything with their careless demeanors.
It was late afternoon when they finally brought everything in and took off, leaving you to sort out the mess. Just the sight of scattered boxes all through the wooden floor of the two-store house was enough to make you regret your decision. It would take you days to get everything in order and that on top of making sure your gallery was up and running too.
“Better get to it,” you whispered to yourself, tuning in the radio and letting the melodic beats of Pat Benatar set the tone for your work. And if you sang along and danced around the house through it all, well there wasn’t anyone around to see it, even if no curtains were covering the windows just yet.
The knock on the door made you jump midway through setting the cutlery in place and you lowered the radio before making your way through the maze of boxes, your lips tugging into a surprised smile when you found Chibs standing outside, cigarette in his mouth, sunglasses covering his eyes.
“Hia, lass. Gem asked me to deliver some boxes?” he explained, and you smirked, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over your chest as you examined the biker in front of you.
“Gemma asked you?” you repeated, brow arched. “Sounds more like a prospect job…”
“Might ‘ave volunteered,” Chibs admitted, his smirk matching yours. “Memory’s a little fuzzy on the details.”
With a chuckle, you stepped aside to let him in offering quick instructions of where to put the boxes while you watch him move around. This time, there was no leather jacket below his cut, only a sleeveless shirt, and you could appreciate the flexing of his muscles and the ink adorning his skin as Chibs worked.
“That’s the last one,” he said, setting the box down by the door and meeting your gaze.
“Thank you. I really appreciate the help.”
He waved off your gratitude and silence fell over the two of you, thick and heavy like a blanket of all the things unsaid. In your brightly lid living room, you could properly see Chibs’ face and his dark eyes watching you as if waiting for something, a sign maybe, but you didn’t know what to do. Had you always been so bad at this? Or was just his presence that seemed to strip you from all functional reasoning?
“I, uh…” you looked around, searching for what to say or do. “Wanna drink?”
“Sure.”
Chibs followed you into the kitchen and you were very aware of his presence behind you like a shadow as you stopped by the fridge, pulling out two beers and offering him one. You drank in silence, watching one another and you wished you could explain why this felt so strange. You wished you could make the tension and awkwardness fade away, but you didn’t really know how and Chibs didn’t seem inclined to help.
Then again, he did take the first step, coming all the way here with your boxes to see you and he wasn’t even trying to hide or deny it. It was your move but just his mere presence made you freeze and you didn’t know what to do, how to show him you were glad he came and wanted him to stay a little longer.
All you could do was watch him, the way his lips fit around the tan glass of the bottle as he took a gulp of the drink, his throat working as he swallowed. You wondered if Chibs knew how effortlessly sexy he was. How just having him leaning against the counter watching you with that heavy-lidded gaze was enough to make your knees weak and your breath speed up.
“I should head off,” he finally broke the silence, setting his empty bottle on the counter and you felt your heart sink. “Get out of yer hair…”
“Right…” you followed him to the door, hands in your pockets. “Thanks again.”
“No problem, love.” Chibs paused outside, his eyes lingering on you. “Ye know, the clubhouse has a bar. Ye could stop by some time.”
“Yeah,” you hurried to say with a nervous smile. You almost thought he had given up on you but here he was, throwing you a line. “Sure.”
“Good,” he smiled too. “‘Night, love.”
You watched once again Chibs driving off from your place until he disappeared around the corner before you stepped back inside, leaning against the closed door. It was your move and knew. You just had to figure out a way to actually take that step.
A week passed since Chibs’ invitation and you had yet to find the courage to meet him at the clubhouse. At first, you told yourself it was because of the move. You were busy getting the house in shape and then your gallery but you knew you were lying to yourself.
You were just afraid. Torn between wanting to learn a little more about the mysterious Scot that didn’t seem to leave your mind and knowing that going there, getting mixed with the Sons was getting yourself involved with a crowd your father worked so hard to keep you away from. Those two sides seemed to be at war, and you didn’t know what do to.
You knew, however, that the longer you waited, the more you made it clear to Chibs that you might not be interested, even if you were definitely were. So you needed to make a decision. Soon.
When you finally worked up the nerve to go to the clubhouse, you spent hours deliberating on an outfit. You wanted to look good but not like you were trying too hard because you knew what you were going to find there.
Several of your high school friends had sneaked in at some point to check out the Sons’ official hangout and report back. You knew there would be the club members, of course, and other friends, but most importantly, there would be other women, croweaters.
The expression always made you grimace in distaste, the implications clear in the pejorative tone used and it made you stop and consider if you weren’t exactly like them, chasing away a biker you knew nothing about.
The thought was almost enough to make you give up, turn around and go back to your car but you were already there at the garage, might as well bite the bullet and do this. With a deep breath, you crossed the parking lot, the heel of your boots crunching the cement as you walked toward the clubhouse, hands in the pockets of your jacket, out of sight so no one could see them tremble with your apprehension.
When you walked into the smoky room, you were almost expecting to see all eyes on you, the outsider in their territory, but no one paid you any attention as you surveyed the space, searching for Chibs. He was nowhere in sight and the longer you stood there, awkward and afraid, the urge to flee grew in your chest. You shouldn’t even have come.
Turning around to walk out, you ran straight into the solid chest of the man you came here to find. Chibs held you steady with a hand on your elbow, watching you with curious eyes.
“Leavin’ so soon, lass?” he asked, his voice a smooth drawl and it set your body on edge, in a good way.
“Yeah, I, uh,” you glanced around at people dancing and drinking and making out in front of everyone, verging on indecent exposure. “Didn’t really seem like I belonged.”
“Give it a chance, love,” he said with a smirk and offering you a hand. “Ye might actually enjoy yerself. How ‘bout a drink?”
“Ok,” you accepted after a moment’s hesitation, taking Chibs’ hand and letting him lead you to the bar.
A drink turned into several and before you knew it, you were playing pool against a guy named Tig, barely being able to stay upright but still managing to be the better player of the two of you to Chibs’ great amusement and loud heckling.
“You’re sure he’s not just letting me win?” You asked Chibs as he brought you another shot of whiskey, chuckling as you winced and pulled a face after downing it the shot. You had just won yet another round against Tig and his annoyed, barely conscious face was very amusing.
“‘M surprised he managin’ to hold on to his cue,” he commented as he took your cue and handed it over to the first person around. “How ‘bout some air? Sober ye up a bit?”
Chibs led you into the cold night air of the yard and to the picnic tables outside. Out there, you two were completely alone except for the stars and the random passing car but it was late enough that the town was mostly silent, the only sounds coming from inside the clubhouse, the music leaking out muffled due to the soundproof walls.
There were just the two of you, sitting side by side as Chibs lid a cigarette, and before he could even take a drag, you snatched out of his lips, bringing it to your own, making him smirk. The alcohol had dissolved most of your reservations, leaving only you desire for the man next to you.
“Bigge’ men 'ave lost fingers stealin’ ma smoke, lass,” Chibs commented, turning his body towards you.
“Good thing, I’m just a little lass, then,” you teased, trying to mimic his Scottish drawl as you shifted your position until you were straddling the bench and facing him.
“Wee lassie,” he corrected, watching intently as you took a drag of his cigarette and puffed out the smoke.
You liked this, being alone with Chibs. Having his dark eyes focused on you and only you. Being close enough that you could smell the whiskey, leather, and the heady sweat of his skin. Feel the heat of his body. You reached over to trail the black Reaper etched on his biceps, daring to touch without asking permission first.
As Chibs allowed the touch, you grew bolder and moved closer, letting your fingers travel higher, over his shoulder and on his neck, until your thumb brushed his jaw and cheek, touching the rough stubble beginning to grow there.
His own palm had settled over your clothed thigh, large and hot, making you acutely aware of how close you two were and how it would barely take a move for your lips to find his. You wanted that more than anything. Chibs had to know that, right? He had to see it in your eyes.
“Ye should head home, lass,” he said instead, pulling away from you and you felt the loss of his heat. “'t’s gettin’ late.” Then you felt the burning shame as he refused to look at you.
“Yes,” you croaked, eyes darting around at anything other than him. “You’re right.”
You had put yourself out there for this man and he was shipping you off like unwanted cargo. You didn’t even know why.
“I’ll get one of the prospects to drive ye, just…”
“It’s fine,” you didn’t let Chibs finish, getting to your feet and stepping back. “I brought my Jeep. I can drive myself.”
You walked away before he could say anything else because you could feel the familiar lump in your throat and the burning behind your lids. The last thing you wanted was to cry in front of him. You already made a fool out of yourself enough for one night.
You were almost at the car when you stumbled on your own feet. Fortunately, you never met the ground as a strong arm surrounded your waist, keeping you upright and pressed against his strong chest. You could feel his breath tickling your nape as both of you stood there, neither daring to move.
“If I ‘ere a good man, I’d let ye walk away,” Chibs sighed and you sagged against his warmth, letting him inhale your scent on your neck before you turned around to face him, hands resting against his chest.
“Maybe I don’t want you to be a good man,” you whispered, looking up at him. “Maybe I just want you to kiss me.”
His lips were softer than you expected, just a gentle press against yours the whiskers of his goatee tickling your skin. It was almost as if Chibs weren’t really sure if he should do this. Like he was giving you the chance to pull away and change your mind.
Your fisted his vest, pushing closer to him, pressing harder against his lips in search of more. Letting your own lips part in invitation and soon enough, his tongue was exploring your mouth, tangling with yours, bringing forth the taste of whiskey, nicotine, and something dark and addictive that you could have for the rest of your life.
One hand on your hip, the other on your nape, adjusting the angle of your head so he could better deepen the kiss, Chibs pressed you against the cool metal of your Jeep, his body crowding yours, one of his thighs between your legs as he devoured your mouth.
Everything seemed to fade away then but the taste of his lips and the touch of his hands on your skin, burning a bright fire within you as his calloused hand sneaked under your shirt, exploring your back, his rings catching lightly on your skin, making you shiver as he nipped at your bottom lip and allowed you a second for breath.
“Go home,” Chibs grumbled, his lids even heavier than usual as he peered at you with what you could only describe as bedroom eyes. “Before ye do somethin’ ye might regret at the light of day and without the haze of alcohol.”
You paused, considering his words, licking your lips as if to chase the aftertaste of his kiss.
“And if come tomorrow morning, stone-cold sober, I still want this?”
“Ye know where to find me.” Chibs let his lips brushed over yours one last time, just a small temptation of what he could offer before he took a step back and pulled the car door open for you. “‘Night, lass.”
“Good night, Filip.”
xxx
147 notes · View notes
artzychic27 · 4 years ago
Text
Reverstrator
‘This is perfect, astoundingly perfect.’, Lila thought to herself, hunched over her computer. For some time, she’s noticed her control over the class was wavering, and it was all because of those two idiots from the stupid art club- Nathaniel Kurtzberg and Marc Anciel. They had some nerve, getting into her minions friends heads and pointing out flaws in her lies. It wasn’t her fault people wanted to hear so many of her stories; she just had trouble keeping up with them sometimes! Lila gave them a chance like she gave Marinette. Either believe her lies and keep their friends, or become social pariahs... They always choose the second option.
So, she went around claiming that Nathaniel stole some of her drawings, Marc plagiarized some of her essays, and she even threw in a couple of lies about Marinette, saying she convinced the two boys to go against her. But what Lila didn’t account for was Alix. She never really believed her lies either. Apparently, the famous skateboarder Lila told her about was dead so that got the pink-haired girl suspicious. Whenever Lila tried to make Marc, Nathaniel, or Marinette look like the bad guys, Alix would step in and act like their self-righteous white knight. Well, she won’t look like the hero tomorrow, her and Adrien. When those idiots in her class turn against those two, Lila will be free to ruin the comic book duo’s reputation as she pleased, she’ll have Adrien all to herself, and Marinette gets to suffer. Win-win-win! ‘Damn it!’, Lila mentally cursed as she glared at her computer screen, ‘Undo... Undo...’
How is photoshop so easy for some people?! And how can they edit these crappy romantic pictures without gagging? Especially this photo she snapped of Marc and Nathaniel a couple of weeks ago while they were on one of their dates. ‘Ugh.’ Lila nearly threw up when she took the photo, and this was taking up way too much of her time. Fixing the lighting, finding the right photos of Adrien and Alix, it was so frustrating! But it’ll all be worth it tomorrow when she finally puts those losers in their place
And hopefully, Marc or Nathaniel will get akumatized. Sure, this would be a stupid reason, but people have gotten Akumatized for less. Hawkmoth was a great guy and the Italian admired his work, but Akumatizing a baby, and a man obsessed with pigeons like thirty times? If she had the Butterfly miraculous, she would at least give the Akuma a gun. Then Ladybug would finally perish and be out of her hideous sausage hair.
‘Focus! You can fantasize about her death later.’
“Geez, Nath. I haven’t seen you look this happy in a long time,” Alix said as she poked her redhead friend who had a dreamy look on his face with her pencil “So, what’d you and Marc do last night?” she asked with a smirk, making Nathaniel snap out of his daze and blush madly, “Alix!” He looked around the cafeteria to make sure no one heard that
She snickered, “I’m kidding! Come on, tell me what happened. Your date had to have been amazing if you’re all happy and stuff.”
This is one of the things Nathaniel loved about Alix; she was a great listener. Growing up, no one really paid attention to him. Ever since his dad left, his mom has been busy running the diner, he always blended in with the background so no one at school noticed him either. It sucked until he met his first real friends
His mom took him to the Louvre when she noticed his interest in art and while there, he met a brunette girl running all around the museum while a ten-year-old boy tried to catch her. She was loud, energetic, and immediately took a liking to the young boy. Over time, she was able to pull him out of his comfort zone and he listened to whatever he had to say.
Then he met three other girls when he was ten- One with black hair, one blond, and one bluenette. The four of them met at a fine and performing arts fair and were probably some of the youngest people there to enter each of their work in the fair contests. His painting of the Seine took third, which wasn’t too bad. First and second were high school students. The three girls immediately went to congratulate him and asked all sorts of questions (The black-haired girl didn’t talk as much, though) For once in his life, Nathaniel had friends. Friends who noticed him and listened.
“Well, it wasn’t much,” he answered with a smile, “We just got ice cream from Andre’s, went to this new museum that just opened up, went to the park.”
“Didn’t it rain a little yesterday?”, she asked
“Yeah,” he blushes, “I may have used my blazer to cover us up-”, off Alix’s snicker, he playfully slapped her arm, “Alix, come on!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”, she continued laughing while Nathaniel gave her an annoyed look, “Go on, continue. But if you say anything else like that, don’t expect me to keep a straight face.”
Nathaniel rolled his eyes, “So I used my blazer as an umbrella,” he rephrased, “and well, we were just so close, and... God, he looked cute in the rain. So, I just leaned in and kissed him.”
Alix sighed dramatically, “Ah, to be gay and in love.”
“Uh, I’m bi,” he corrected with his arms folded
“Yes, and I’m aroace, Rose and Jules are lesbians and Mari’s pan as hell. These are things we know.” she said as she leaned back into her chair and propping her feet up on the lunch table, relaxed before perking up and asking, “Did’ja give him the necklace?!”
Without saying a word, Nathaniel pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of him and Marc kissing in the rain. Alix zooms in on the silver half-heart necklaces around their necks. She remembered how Nathaniel begged her to help him look for a gift he could give to Marc on their date. She helped him in exchange for a drawing of her performing some skating tricks. It took hours to find a gift; this is one of the reasons why Alix doesn’t date. Finally, they settled for a simple, but sweet silver heart necklace and Alix had never been so relieved to see jewelry before.
Alix couldn’t help but let out an out-of-character squeal at the sight of the picture. Her excitement turned to bitterness when she looked at something else that made her narrow her eyes “Where’s she going?”
Nathaniel follows her gaze and glared at the Italian girl leaving the cafeteria, “Don’t know. Maybe she’s just looking for more people to buy her lunch.”
“Or carry all of her stuff.”
“Or carry her.”
“Or build her a palanquin.”
“How about a monument made out of solid gold?”
At that last one, the two best friends laughed
“Lying skeeze,” she muttered, “I’m glad the others are sorta taking what she says with a grain of salt, but she’s still got them wrapped around her talons. Especially Bustier and Damocles.”
Nathaniel rolled his eyes at the mention of his teacher and principal, “Ugh, don’t get me started on those two. I almost got detention because Lie-la claimed that I stole her ‘masterpiece’. Thanks again for backing me up.”
Alix responded with a nod, “Yeah, but it’s bull that she didn’t even get in trouble. Claimed it was a problem with her long-term memory or some shit, and Bustier ate it up!”, she exclaimed, “God, we’re surrounded by idiots. How long do you think she’s gonna last?”
Nathaniel pondered before answering, “I give her one more week. She’s exposed by an Akuma who’s after her for lying about them or one of their friends.”
Alix nodded, “Three days. Truth akuma who just blasts people at random and she gets hit, so she’s forced to tell the truth. Put that in your comic”
Nathaniel reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out his sketchbook, “Maybe something like... Lady or Lord Justice?” He pulls out a pencil and begins sketching on a blank sheet
“Truth fairy?”
“Lie-on Tamer?”
Alix shook her head, “Now that just sounds like a bad pun.”
“Akumas have dumb names,” Nathaniel said with an eye roll, “If anything, this is better than what Hawkmoth comes up with.”, he gets back to work on the sketch
“... Can’t argue with you there, man.”
“Come o-o-o-on, Marc! Tell us everything!”, Aurore urged the shy writer as the group of four made their way to Mme. Mendelieve’s class
“Who made the first move?”, Julian asked, smirking
Marc blushed, “Guys, keep your voices down.”
Mireille squealed, “Sorry, but you can’t just go on a date and not expect people to be all excited and ask what happened! So tell us!”
Marc loved these three to death and loved them like they were his sisters and brother, but sometimes they got just a little too much for him. When he first announced that he and Nathaniel were dating, the three of them wouldn’t leave him alone for weeks and constantly asked questions whenever they went out together
“Well, went out for ice cream, went to a museum we both like, and spent the rest of the day at the park before it rained.” He smiled fondly at the memory, “Nath actually used his blazer to cover us up.”
“Aww!”, Aurore and Julian cooed while Mireille squealed, “So romantic! Please tell me you kissed in the rain!”
When Marc tried to hide the blush forming on his cheeks, that was a good enough answer for his grinning friends
Julian clasped his hands together and crouched a little lower, “Please, please tell me you have photos!”
Marc laughed at his friend and pulled out his phone, “I do.” He shows them the screen and Aurore immediately grabs the phone out of his hand. Mireille and Julien huddle around her, “Oh my God! It’s like a scene from a movie!”, Mireille exclaimed before squinting her eyes, “Wait... Are you wearing the necklace now?!”
“Necklace?”
“He gave you what?”
Marc knows there’s no hiding it from the people who were very invested in his love life now. He slips his hand under the collar of his shirt and pulls out the little half-heart charm connected to a simple white cord. Marc was once again bombarded by questions
“Guys, can we do this after class? We’re gonna be late.”
Aurore let out an exaggerated groan but complied, “You better be prepared for any question we throw at you, Rainbow.” She said his nickname teasingly as the four of them made their way to class, but stopped to look and see Lila walking out of the locker room
“How long is she gonna be here?”, Julien questioned, his tone laced with venom, “I can’t take another minute of, ‘Oh, but all of her stories are real,’ ‘Don’t be so mean,’ ‘Lila’s hurt, don’t put any more pressure on her,’ ugh! Marc, I’ll say it again, your boyfriend and cousin’s class is full of idiots.”
“Well, their hearts are in the right place, they’re just being taken advantage of.”
“It’s been like three months since she, ‘Returned from Achu,’” Aurore said with finger quotes, “How has that lying fox not been exposed yet? Everything she says is full of holes!”
“It’s because whenever someone tries to point out her lies, she’ll play the victim and get sympathy,” Mireille said, disgusted, “It’s honestly just sickening listening to her fake crying.”
“Here, here,” Julian said in agreement, “I cannot wait for a truth Akuma to appear and just make her reveal everything so her classmates and that teacher will finally stop kissing the ground she walks on.”
“That would make for a pretty good Akuma,” Marc commended
“Hell yeah, it would.”
‘One for the soulless redhead. And one for that... “boy.”‘, the Italian sneered as she slipped an envelope into the vent of Marc’s locker, ‘Let’s see if they’re still together after this. Once Alix is out of the picture and Adrien only has me to talk to, I’ll ruin those losers’ lives. They should know damn well than to cross Lila Diabla Rossi.’
--
Nathaniel felt like someone was burning holes in the back of his head... Or rather the side. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he moved his bangs to the side, acting as if he was just scratching the side of his face, and saw Lila glaring at him before quickly looking to the front. ‘God, what’s her problem?”, he thought to himself. ‘Probably gonna spout out more bullshit about how I stole her work. Heh. Good luck you vursht-kherd ligner.’
The bell rang, ‘Finally. I get to see my Rainbow.’, Nathaniel thought as he gathered his books in his bag. He was about to grab his sketchbook, only for it to be snatched by Lila. ‘Great, now I have to disinfect it.’
“Oh, Nathaniel! I’m so sorry about what happened!”, she “apologized” in that over-the-top sweet voice. “I just have so many problems with my memory because while I was helping disabled children in America, I fell off of a ladder while trying to get their frisbee off the roof of one of their homes, and I hit my head.”
‘Maybe that isn’t a lie, because that would explain so much.’, “Okay, so can I have my sketchbook back?”, he asked in a bored tone
“And I draw Ladybug all the time because we are besties after all!”, she exclaimed
“Great, so my sketchbook?”, he holds out his hand
“And your little drawings look so much like mine, and I got concerned. I’m sure you understand, right?”
“Can I have my sketchbook back?”, He repeated, now very annoyed, and even more when Lila sent him a smirk she didn’t think he noticed. ‘This bitch is trying to make me lose my temper or something?’ Then she just started talking again
“I know how awful it is for an artist’s work to be stolen! I actually witnessed art-theft first-hand, so you get why I accused you of stealing what I thought was mine. I just didn’t want to believe that you would steal a fellow artist’s work.”
‘God, strike me now.’
“But if you stole it out of jealousy, I would completely understand.”
“... Excuse me?”
‘Got him.’ “Well, let’s face it. Your art style is a little overused and no offense, but, not very original. So, if you were jealous of my drawing style, then there are no hard feelings. You’re still an amazing artist. While I’ve studied and perfected my work over the years, you-”
“Oh meyn got! Zey shtil!”
The students who were packing away their materials and getting ready to head out turned their heads towards the redhead who was shouting furiously in Yiddish
“Ir zent nisht a farshiltn kinstler! An anoying, lignerish hur iz vos ir zent!”
Alix, who actually understood a little of what Nathaniel was saying, tried not to snicker
“Aun gebn mir meyn sketshbook, ir vursht-kherd tokhes!” At that last sentence, Nathaniel snatched the sketchbook out of her hands, then he looked around and saw the shocked or confused looks on his classmates' and teacher’s faces. He ducked his head down, trying to look as small as possible right now
Breaking the silence was Alya, “What did you say?”
“It... It was...” Nathaniel stammered and his face turned as red as his hair.
Max turned to the little robot hovering beside him, “Markov, can you translate what Nathaniel just said?”
“Certainly, Max,” a little pixelated hourglass appeared the screen on the little robot’s face before disappearing with a little ‘PING!’, “Oh my.”
“Oh, what did he say?”, Lila asked as innocently as possible.
“I’m not comfortable repeating the last two, but he did tell you to shut up, and that you have sausage hair.”
“Oh, crap,” Nathaniel muttered
Lila started rubbing her eyes to make it look like she’s crying right now. “Nathaniel, how could you be so rude?! I was only trying to help you!”, Alya and Mylene went over to console her, not noticing the smirk on her face. The classmates that were on Lila’s side sent the redhead glares and disappointed looks
Mme. Bustier frowned, “Nathaniel, go to the principal’s office, now!”, before Nathaniel could respond, Marinette spoke, “You can’t do that. It’s the end of the day, so you can’t tell Nathaniel what to do,” she sent her enabler of a teacher a sneer
“W-well, I-”
“Check the rule book!”, Alix snapped, “Students are out of teachers’ jurisdiction as soon as school hours are over. So, you can’t send him to detention.”
“But he called me horrible things!”, Lila wailed
“Well, it’s not his fault,” Juleka whispered, but everyone heard and turned their heads toward her, “... He has bipolar disorder, and sometimes he just... Yeah.” Rose takes over for her, “And you did take his sketchbook, Lila. I saw you snatch it off the table before he could grab it.”
“W... Well, I just wanted to see it!” She claimed
“Doesn’t give you the right to snatch it,” Nathaniel murmured. Marinette walked over and took his hand, “Let’s go.” The five art club students made their way to the door, but Mme. Bustier called out, “Hold on! Nathaniel still needs to be punished for using such language in class!”
Alix rolled her eyes, “Did anyone in the class, besides Markov, understand what he said?”, all she got in response were head shakes and some muttering, “Did anyone hear any curse words?”, once again, head shakes. She turned to Mme. Bustier and shrugged, “As long as he doesn’t say it in French, I don’t really think you can punish him. He said it in a language none of us knew, so you can’t really punish him for cursing in class.”
Bustier’s face turned red in embarrassment. A student just corrected her in front of her own class. Before she could say more, the five of them were gone.
“Nath, that mouth!”, Alix cackled, “That was priceless!”
Marinette smiled, “I wish I knew more Chinese so I can cuss Lila out in class. The only curse word I know is húndàn.”
Nathaniel blushed, “Thanks for helping me out back there, you guys.”
“Of course, Nath!” Rose hugged him, “Lila stole your sketchbook, you had every right to be upset.” Juleka nodded in agreement
Nathaniel smiled before he realized something, “I left my colored pencils in my locker.” He reluctantly pulled away from Rose’s legendary hug and ran to the locker room, “I’ll catch up with you guys later!”
Once Nathaniel walked into the locker room, he made his way down the row of lockers until he got this. Right between Alix and Nino’s lockers. He put in the combination on the purple lock he brought from home since the school has terrible security. After Marinette’s near expulsion, some of the students bought locks for their easy-to-open lockers so no one could frame them for theft. Damocles tried to stop them from doing this but he was severely outnumbered, and the fact that some of the students had lawyers for parents who could sue the school for not protecting their children’s items made him concede
Once his locker door was open, an envelope fell out as he went to reach for his pencil face. Furrowing his brow, Nathaniel picked up the mysterious envelope he didn’t remember being in his locker. ‘Maybe it’s my report card?... But it’s the middle of the quarter.’, he thought, ‘And why would they put it in my locker?’ With a shrug, Nathaniel opened the envelope and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. He unfolded the paper, and his eyes widened in shock. His jaw hung open, his hands were shaking, and his breathing became unsteady
In his hands was a photo of Marc and Adrien, but not just any photo. It looked like someone took a photo from a distance, but you could make out every detail. The two of them were sitting on a bench in the park, hand in hand, bodies pressed together, and kissing. Nathaniel wanted to cry, to punch Adrien, to throw up. He looked over the picture even though his brain told him not to, but he had to look for something. Watermarks, any signs of smeared paint, anything!... Nothing.
“N-no... No... He wouldn’t... H-he...” He crumples the paper and throws it to the floor, then he makes his way over to the door. When he opens the door, he froze at the sight. Adrien and Marc were walking the stairs, talking. Adrien must’ve said something funny because Marc started laughing. “... Oh my God...” A tear streamed down his heartbroken face which contorted into a scowl. Not able to take another second of this, Nathaniel charged out of the lockers room and ran to the doors, bumping into people along the way, but he didn’t care. He just needed to leave.
__
Marc laughed, “Oh my God! He really cursed Lila out in Yiddish?”
“Yeah, it was pretty funny,” Adrien chuckled, “If I knew we could do that, I would’ve cursed Lila out weeks ago. But yeah, if he seems a little off in art club, it’s because of Lila.”
“Thanks again, Adrien,” Marc smiled
“No problem. I’ll see you around Marc.”, and he left
Marc still couldn’t believe his sweet boyfriend cursed someone out. But, it was Lila, so he could understand that. He made his way into the locker room and walked over to his locker. He pulled a silver key out of his pocket and uses it on the lock he bought for his locker. Marc’s always been a little protective of his stuff, but after what happened with Marinette and... Her... He and most of the students took action and bought locks for their lockers.
As he opened his locker, he noticed a crumpled ball of paper on the floor. Before Marc could go to pick it up, out of peripheral vision, he saw an envelope fall out of his locker and land on the floor. Marc picked up the envelope he didn’t remember being in his locker before and looked over it to see if anyone write anything like their name. With a shrug, Marc opened the envelope and found a folded piece of paper. With some hesitation, thinking it might be something bad like a photo of something gory or inappropriate, he pulled it out and slowly unfolded it... It was worse.
His widened green eyes scanned over the photo of Nathaniel and Alix, holding hands as they kissed on a bench in the park. He dropped the photo and sat on one of the benches, looking pale and shaking. Then he brought his gloved hands to his face and started crying. “What did I do wrong?”, he asked himself
__
“Anger, despair. Both caused by an untrustworthy partner, and those who turned out to be false friends. So hard to pick.” Hawkmoth beckoned a butterfly that landed in the palm of his hand. Once covered by his other hand, the butterfly was consumed by dark magic and turned black. Hawkmoth released the Akuma, and it fluttered away, “Fly away my little Akuma, go towards the one who feels the most pain!”
__
The akuma fluttered over to the school and found its target. Sitting on the steps of the school with his head tucked into his knees was Nathaniel. And while he could sense Marc’s sadness, Nathaniel’s feelings of rage and betrayal were too good to pass up. So, it dived down and flew into the half heart necklace turning it black. He looked up, revealing the Akuma symbol over his face
__
Once Hawkmoth felt Nathaniel’s emotions, he smirked, “Welcome back Evillustrator. I can assure you, you’ll have your reven-”, Hawkmoth stopped mid-sentence, a look of confusion on his face, “What’s this?”
__
Marc lifted his head up from his hands, revealing an Akuma symbol over his tear-stained face. And his necklace was now pitch black
Hawkmoth rubbed his temples, obviously overwhelmed by the emotions these two boys were feeling. Anger, sadness, betrayal, disbelief, “Well, there’s no need to choose now. Reverstrator, I am Hawkmoth. With my help, you won’t be separated from the one you love again, no one will come between you. All I ask in return is that you bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.”
“Yes, Hawkmoth,” they say in unison. Once the Akuma symbols disappear, the purple and black mist bubbled up from their necklaces and surrounded them. The purple mist that covered Nathaniel went towards the front doors of the school, phased through, and made its way through the courtyard, startling a few students, then it went into the locker room and combined with the mist that covered Marc
The mist lifted up revealing a tall akuma, around Kim’s height, who looks like a fusion of Evillustrator and Reverser. The left side of his face is purple while the left is black, and his lipstick, while the same colors are inverted. The left side of his short-sleeved hoodie is white with black slanted stripes, the hood is black, he has black sleeves with white stripes under the hoodie, and he has white fingerless gloves which reveal black fingers. The other side is inverted. On the front of his hoodie is a black and white circle with the primary colors on it, but one is half yellow and half black. His pants are half black and white, he has a black boot on his right foot and red on his left. His hair is similar to Evillustrator’s but is more downward, the purple tips at the end are now black and white, and he has a black beret. Two noticeable traits about this Akuma is that he has two forearms on each upper arm, and he has four eyes, but two are closed at the moment while the top eyes, which are turquoise, are narrowed.
“I’m coming for you, Agreste.” He summoned Evillustrator’s tablet and pen in his hands
__
“Man, why isn’t Nath texting back?”, Alix questioned as she continued texting Nathaniel for the sixth time, “He’s been gone for like five minutes.”
“Yeah, and Marc isn’t here either.”, Marinette said, “You think they got... Sidetracked?”
Rose giggled, “Maybe.”
M. Haberkorn intervened, an amused smile on his face, “Now let’s not assume anything. They’re probably helping each other look for something.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet.”, Juleka said, a hint of playfulness in her monotone voice
Alix shook her head amusedly, “Alright, they get three more minutes, then we gotta go looking for them.” The three other girls nodded in agreement before they heard some screams coming from the courtyard, “Must be another Akuma.”, Alix said. The students and the teacher peaked out of the window and saw the Akuma running rampant around the courtyard
“WHERE IS HE?! WHERE’S ADRIEN AGRESTE?!”
“Who’s that?”, Juleka asked, shocked at the appearance of the enraged Akuma
“Damn, Hawkmoth,” Alix whispered, “you’ve made some weird-looking ones, but this one is just... God.”
“And why does he have Evillustrator’s tablet?”, Marinette piped up when she noticed the familiar Akuma weapon on one of the arms, and in the akuma’s hand was the drawing pen. She took a closer look at the Akuma and noticed a necklace with a heart charm around his neck. The more Marinette took in his appearance, the more she noticed how similar it looked to Evillustrator and Reverser, “Guys, I think that’s Marc and Nathaniel!”
The four looked at her in bewilderment before she urged for them to take a closer look at the Akuma. “It is them!”, Rose exclaimed
“They’re fused like Oblivio,” Juleka said, “How did this happen?”
M. Haberkorn shook his head solemnly, “I don’t know. But the four you need to get out of here before someone gets hurt.” As if proving his point, a loud crash was heard followed by more screaming. “Wait until I say it’s safe.” The four of them nodded. He made his way over to the door and carefully opened it. Peaking his head out, he saw the Akuma was erasing walls to classrooms, trying to find Adrien. His back was turned to the art classroom. “Alright, hurry out,” he whispered
They nodded and quickly ran out of the classroom; M. Haberkorn went to help any of the other students evacuate. Alix, Marinette, Juleka, and Rose ran through the crowd of panicking students, but Marinette stopped suddenly and ran in the direction of the locker rooms while Alix, Juleka, and Rose made it out
She opened her purse, allowing Tikki to fly out, “How do you think this happened?”, Marinette asked the tiny goddess, “I don’t know, but this Akuma is a combination of Reverser and Evillustrator, so you need to be careful. You remember how they were last time.”
Marinette nodded at the memory. Marc and Nathaniel were reckless, hostile, and apathetic as Akumas. Nathaniel almost killed Chloe with a buzz saw, and Marc nearly caused a meteor shower that could’ve destroyed Paris. Fused together, there was no telling what destruction they could cause. Before Marinette could say the phrase and transform, she noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the floor. Curious, she picked it up and opened it, revealing the photo of Marc and Adrien kissing
“What the?”, she whispered. Tikki’s eyes widened, “Well that answers Nathaniel’s akumatization, but what about Marc?” Marinette shrugged, but then noticed a piece of paper by the bench. She picked it up and saw that it was a photo of Nathaniel and Alix kissing. “There’s no way these are real. Marc and Nathaniel would never cheat on each other, Alix is Nathaniel’s best friend, she’s aromantic, and Adrien’s dating Kagami!”, she narrowed her eyes at the fake photos, “Someone must have wanted this to happen, t-to get them to break up, or maybe even deliberately try to get them Akumatized.”
“Well, you can figure this out later!”, Tikki told her chosen
“You’re right.”
TIKKI, SPOTS ON!
__
“He’s obviously not here, you jerk!”, a voice that sounded a lot like Reverser’s exclaimed
“Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!”, Reverstrator shouted, “Fine. I’ll go look somewhere else.”
“NO! We’re going after Alix first! You let her get away!”
“What’s your deal with her?”, he growled, “She didn’t do anything!”
“Neither did Adrien!”
“Oh, of course, you take his side!”, Reverstrator exclaimed as he drew a boxing glove that punched the front doors open. Before he could walk out, Ladybug’s yoyo wrapped around his waist and flung him into a wall, “Oh, great. You’re here.”
Ladybug retracted her yoyo and spun it, preparing to use it as a shield, “The feeling is mutual! Marc, Nathaniel, whatever happened-”
“DON’T SAY HIS NAME! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT RIGHT NOW!”, he shouted, then drew seven swords, all aimed at Ladybug
From her hiding spot under the stairs, Lila watched the scene unfold with a twisted, unsettling, sadistic grin on her face. “Come on, do it!”, she whispered
Ladybug dodged each sword, quick and easy. They embedded themselves into the courtyard floor and formed small cracks. Lila stomped her foot in frustration and cursed out the Akuma for his failure to kill the spotted heroine, “Stupid akumas can’t do anything right!” Caught up in her ranting, Lila doesn’t notice Aurore standing a few feet away, but still in earshot, recording the battle and her. The blonde weather girl looked appalled.
“HOLD STILL, YOU PEST!”, Reverstrator was becoming angrier and angrier every time Ladybug dodged his drawn weapons. Swords and axes? Avoided and embedded into the ground. Missiles? Uses her yoyo to fling each one into the sky so they don’t destroy Paris. Boxing glove? Jump over it and just let it fly through the holes in the school walls. As she prepared to dodge more attacks, Ladybug noticed Reverstrator holding his head, and it sounded like he was muttering to himself
“God, you suck at this.”
“Well, why don’t you try it if you’re so great at it?”
“Maybe I will!”
“Don’t you dare- AH!”
Reverstrator seemed to go limp above the waist for a moment and stops moving. Ladybug slowly approached him, but stopped when he suddenly straightened up, and she grimaced when a few bones made an audible crack. His turquoise eyes closed and two monochrome eyes below them open up. Evillustrator’s tablet and pen disappear and are replaced with four monochrome paper airplanes sitting in Reverstrator’s hands.
“Let’s try this again! Your powers are useless now! REVERSION!”, Reverstrator hurled the four paper airplanes at Ladybug who acted quickly and shielded herself with her yoyo, blocking each one, “Are you KIDDING ME?!”
“Not so easy, is it?” Evillustrator’s voice snarked
“Shut it!”, Reverstrator yelled to the voice in his head as the glowing Akuma symbol appeared over his face
“Reverstrator, focus!”, Hawkmoth yelled, “I want my Miraculous!”
“Forget this!”
“No!”
Reverstrator’s body convulsed a bit, and as the monochrome eyes closed, the turquoise ones opened, “I’m going after Adrien,” Evillustrator's said, speaking through Reverstrator. His tablet and pen reappeared, which he used to draw a ball and chain around Ladybug’s ankle, preventing her from moving
“Don’t go after the boy!” Hawkmoth commanded, now concerned for Adrien’s safety
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t,” Reverstrator snapped, “You don’t even care who lives or dies when you send out a damn Akuma every week!”
“Your prime objective is to take the Miraculous!”
“Sure. Right after I give that rich boy what he deserves!” He drew a jetpack on his back and took off. Ladybug wrapped the string of her yoyo around the anklet, and it snapped open due to the strength of the magic weapon. Before she could swing away, Ladybug noticed Lila glaring up towards where Reverstrator flew away. ‘Later,’ she thought to herself before swinging off after Reverstrator.
__
Adrien, Nathalie, and the Gorilla sit through some traffic. Nathalie scrolls through her tablet, “You have a piano lesson in two hours, then tomorrow after school, another photoshoot...”
Adrien just zones out as she drones on in her monotonous voice. Plagg pokes his head out of his pocket and gives him a bored look as he munches on a piece of cheese. Adrien feels himself dozing off when suddenly- “ADRIEN AGRESTE!”
Nathalie put a protective hand on Adrien’s shoulder and ushered for him to duck down. She looked out the window, seeing nothing but cars and a few people getting out of there to see what’s going on. It was quiet for a moment when suddenly, an arm penetrates the roof, making Adrien let out a yelp as the hand grabbed his head, two more burst through and grab his face. Nathalie reacts, hits the first arm with her tablet, making it recoil, and grabs the other two arms wrists, “Adrien, run!”
With a nod, Adrien bolted out of the car and ran down the sidewalk, catching a glimpse of the Akuma as he rounded a corner and made his way into an alley. Plagg flew out of his pocket, eyes widened, “Did you see that guy?!”
Adrien nodded, “Hawkmoth is officially twisted.”
PLAGG, CLAWS OUT!
__
Reverstrator finally releases himself from Nathalie’s grip and runs off to find Adrien, “WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“Lookin’ for me?!”, Chat Noir’s boot made contact with his stomach, sending him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him, “I know I’m no Adrien Agreste, but you gotta admit, I’m way better.”, he smirked
Reverstrator got back up, “That, we can agree on. Adrien Agreste is a backstabbing two-timer who steals people in relationships!”
“What are you talking about?!”
Chat Noir furrowed his brown in confusion, and he didn’t have time to react when a fire hose drawn by Reverstrator sprayed him with a powerful blast of water. Chat backed away, grabbed his baton, and spun it around so it acted like a shield, deflecting the blast
“Marc, Nathaniel! Stop!”, Ladybug yelled as she dropped in and wrapped her yoyo around Reverstrator
“Don’t call me that! I’m Reverstrator now!” Suddenly, his torso started rotating around rapidly, unwinding Ladybug’s yoyo. Chat surged towards him with his staff ready. Reverstrator grabbed the staff with one set of hands and used the other set to grab Chat Noir by his waist then fling him into the streets. Ladybug threw her yoyo at him, but he managed to catch it just an inch away from his head. Grabbing the string of his yoyo with all of his hands, Reverstrator kept a tight grip as he spun his torso around and then flung Ladybug right into Chat Noir when he abruptly let go of the yoyo
Reverstrator got out his pen and drew a hole on his tablet, then a second later, one appears beneath the heroes and they fall in, “See? That’s how you get rid of heroes!”
“...”
“Oh, silent treatment, huh?!”
“Reverstrator! Why didn’t you take their Miraculous before sending them into the hole?!”, Hawkmoth asked, enraged
Reverstrator rolled his eyes, “They can’t get out of there. I’ll come back for them later.” He leaped onto a roof and made his way to the Agreste mansion
__
“Oh, I hope Marinette’s okay,” Rose voiced her concern as she, Juleka, and Alix walked back into the school when they saw that Reverstrator was gone
Juleka places a hand on her shoulder, “Maybe she just got separated while we were running. I’m sure she’s okay.”
Alix agreed, “Yeah, she can take care of herself. Maybe she just hid in the locker room.” The three of them walk into the locker room and look around for the pigtailed girl, “Marinette?!” She called out, “Marinette?!”
Juleka knocks on a few lockers, “Marinette? You in here?”
Rose walks out of the bathroom and shakes her head, “I don’t think she’s in here.”
Alix furrowed her brow in confusion, “Okay, maybe she got swept up in a group. Jules, you might be right about her getting separated.” Juleka smiled at that
Rose sighed with relief and then sat down on the bench, “Well, that’s good.” She felt her foot brush up against something and looked down to see the photo face-down on the floor, “Hm?” She picked up the photo, flipped it over, and her eyes widened in shock, “... Alix? Could you take a look at this?” She hands the photo over to Alix. The pink-haired girl gave the photo an incredulous look, “WHAT THE HELL?!” She stomps over to Juleka who’s looking down at something in her hands, “Are you seeing this?! I did not kiss Nathaniel!... Jules?” Juleka shows her and Rose what she’s looking at.
Rose gasped, “That’s why Reverstrator is after Adrien!”
“So if Nathaniel saw this photo, then Marc must’ve seen the other one.” Juleka turns to Alix, “So Reverstrator might be after you next.”
“But I didn’t kiss Nath!” She exclaimed, “And Marc definitely didn’t kiss Adrien!” She takes the photo out of Juleka’s hand and examines both photos, “These had to have been photoshopped, o-or something!”
Rose notices something on one of the photos, “Hey, what’s that?” She points to an orange smudge in the corner of the photo of Alix and Nathaniel kissing, “Looks like nail polish.” Juleka smirks, “Or Nathaniel uses hair dye.”
“Wait.” Alix narrows her eyes at the nail polish stain, “There’s only one person in the whole class who wears orange nail polish.”
“LILA!”, Rose and Juleka said at the same time
Alix nodded, “It makes sense. They know she’s lying too, so of course, she’d pull this shit! We gotta tell them before they go after Adrien!” She’s about to head out of the locker room, but Juleka stops her by placing a hand on her shoulder, “But what about you?” “I’ll be fine. It’s Lila you should be worried about when they find out what she did.” After that, she stormed out of the locker room with Juleka and Rose behind her.
__
Ladybug and Chat Noir were still in the hole. Ladybug tried using her yoyo to get out, but there was nothing for it to wrap around outside the hole. Chat Noir then wrapped his arms around Ladybug and extended his staff so that they rose out of the hole
“Nice thinking, Chat.” Ladybug commended as Chat shortened his staff
Chat smiled, “Thank you, m’lady. Now let’s go!” He and Ladybug vaulted and swung away
__
Reverstrator landed on top of a roof and just stands there, “... Why can’t I move? What are you doing?!”
“We need to talk right now!”, Reverser’s voice shouted
“I don’t want to!”, he yelled back while covering his ears, hoping that will block out his voice
“Well, I’m not letting you go until we talk!... Please?”
Reverstrator sighed, “Fine.” The monochrome eyes slowly opened, and immediately a few tears pour out as Reverstrator has a conversation with himself
Reverser speaks through Reverstrator, “... Why would you do this? W-what did I do wrong? I... I love you and you just...” One of his right hands wipes away the tears. Evillustrator speaks through Reverstrator, “I could ask you the same thing. I-I don’t know why you’re mad, but you really hurt me.”
“How did I hurt you? You kissed Alix!”
“W-what?! I never kissed Alix!... Is this why you’re mad at her? You think we kissed?”
“... Yeah.”
“No! That never happened! And I saw the photo of you kissing Adrien!” The turquoise eyes start crying, “Then I saw you and him laughing. An-and I just-”
“Well, that’s only because he was telling me what you said to Lila in class! I-I would never cheat on you. I love you...”
“I’d never cheat on you either, and Alix would never hurt you like that.” Reverstrator’s right hands wipe away the tears forming in the monochrome eyes
“I’d never do something like that to you... But where did the photo come from?”
The turquoise eyes narrowed when they noticed Alix, Juleka, and Rose walking down the sidewalk, “Let’s find out.”
__
“When I see that girl tomorrow in class, I’m gonna-!”
Reverstrator dropped down right in front of the three girls, startling them and cutting off Alix’s rant, “ALIX!” Upon seeing the menacing glare he was giving their friend, Juleka and Rose shielded Alix from the Akuma
“You better explain why there’s a picture of you kissing Nathaniel!”, Reverser shouted through the Akuma and summoned two paper airplanes in the two left hands
Alix gently nudged Juleka and Rose out of the way and approached the Akuma, but the two girls held onto their friend’s arms for protection, “Nath, Marc...” Hearing Reverstrator let out a low growl, she corrected herself, “Reverstrator, those photos are fake! I never kissed Nathaniel, and Adrien never kissed Marc! We wouldn’t do that!”
Before Reverstrator could say anything, Juleka spoke, “Lila faked those photos. W-we found some of her nail polish smeared on the back of one of them
“That... That...”
“Lignerish shlang!”
Without saying another word, Reverstrator crushed the paper airplanes in his hands and ran off to find the lying Italian who nearly destroyed a beautiful relationship. Alix called out to him, but he was already gone, leaping over the city once again. A second later, Ladybug and Chat Noir land by them. “Are you okay?” Ladybug asked as she checks to see if Reverstrator hurt them in any way
Alix nodded, “Yeah, we’re fine. But it’s Lila that you gotta save.”
Ladybug tried not to show her disgust at the mention of the liar, but Chat Noir wasn’t holding back, “What’d she do now?” he asked bitterly
“’Now?’“ Rose parroted
Chat continued, “Yeah. This wouldn’t be the first time she’s pissed off an Akuma.”
“Chat,” Ladybug hissed, “Not now.” She turned back to Alix, “So what happened?”
“Lila photoshopped a photo so it would look like Marc kissed Adrien, and Nathaniel kissed me,” she explained. Off the heroes’ looks of disgust, she continued, “Yeah, and all because they knew that she was lying!”
Ladybug took a sharp inhale. That liar could ruin her life all she wanted, but rope her friends and cousin into this? There will be hell to pay, “Alright. I guess we have to save her again. The three of you better get to safety.” Then she and Chat swung and vaulted after the Akuma as the three girls just stood there
“We’re gonna see how this goes, aren’t we?” Juleka asked after a few seconds of silence
Alix nodded, “Hell, yeah!” She exclaimed as they began springing in the direction of Reverstrator and the heroes went, “Hey, if we’re lucky, Lila might be exposed in front of everyone.”
__
Lila was walking on air. Marc and Nathaniel were probably beating that pesky bug to a bloody pulp right now. She was a little miffed that they didn’t slice her open with one of those swords or reverse her powers so she’d be useless as always. And hopefully, when she fails, those two f*gs will become public enemy numbers one and two. She could spin a whole sob story about how they were jealous of her relationship with Ladybug and they’ll be banished from Paris. Maybe she could even throw in something about Marinette and those d*kes she hangs out with. They are close; maybe get the idea of them working for Hawkmoth into those idiots’ heads-
“So, what do you think of doing another interview tomorrow?”
‘Ugh. Remember your fanbase, remember your fanbase,’ Lila reminded herself every time she hung out with Alya, “Alya, that’d be wonderful! I’d love to!” She exclaimed, before quickly dropping her expression, “But I just hope I’ll be okay to do it tomorrow. I’m just so worried about my bestie getting hurt!”
Alya nodded, “Yeah, Reverstrator doesn’t seem like the type of Akuma to hold back. But, I’m sure she’ll be fine... Though, I wonder why Marc and Nathaniel got akumatized in the first place.”
Lila internally smirked, ‘Perfect,’ “You don’t think it was because of me, do you?”
Alya immediately went to comfort her, “Girl, I’m sure it was just something else. Maybe stressed out from their comic, or-”
“But we haven’t been on the best terms lately, and-” She choked back a sob, “I can’t help but feel that I’m the reason they were Akumatized... Or... Maybe they were jealous that I’m friends with Ladybug?”
Alya frowned, “Well then, that’s just not right. Once they go back to normal, we’re gonna confront them about this!”
“ROSSI!”
Parisians cleared the way as Reverstrator dropped down from above and landed in the middle of Pont des Arts. “It’s time to reveal every single one of your lies!” Four monochrome paper airplanes materialized in his hands, “REVERSION!”
Lila ducked out of the way as the planes came for her, and they instead hit a few pedestrians who started revealing everything they’ve lied about, “I-I didn’t do anything! Please, whatever happened, I can help you!” She whined while throwing in a few tears for good measure
“ENOUGH!” Evillustrator’s pen materialized in one of his left hands, and the tablet on his right arm. He began drawing, “You won’t try to tear us apart ever again!” A buzz-saw appeared beside him and spun its way towards the two girls. Not taking any chances, Lila grabbed Alya and put her in front of her like a shield
“LILA?!”, Alya screamed as she struggled to get out of her hold, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” The more she struggled, the more Lila’s nails dug into her skin and she let out a pained scream
“Call it off! Erase it!”, “I’m doing it!” The buzz saw was erased from existence, and Alya was safe. Lila pushed Alya to the ground then ran away. Reverstrator was about to run after her, but when he saw the look of betrayal on Alya’s face, he said to her, “I’d start looking for new friends if I were you.” And he ran after Lila, leaving Alya horrified at what just happened
‘How could she do that?’ She thought to herself, ‘She used me as a human shield, I-I could have died. Why would she do this?... I thought we were friends.’
Rousing her from her thoughts was the sound of a notification from her phone. She wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks and checked her phone. She furrowed her brow as she read what was on her screen. Aurore had made a post on her blog, Bug & Cat Chat. She wasn’t a fan of the blonde girl having a blog that rivaled her own and stole most of her viewers, but she kept tabs to see what she posted and how she could make the Ladyblog better. ‘Ladybug’s Supposed Bestie Roots for Akuma?’
__
Lila ran as fast as she could down the streets of Paris, but Reverstrator was faster. She dodged every paper plane, every sword, dagger, and flaming arrow, shoving pedestrians out of her way and almost getting them hit in the process. When the attacks stopped, Lila stopped running and took a few breaths.
“Damn it, Hawkmoth,” she cursed under her breath, “Control your freaks.” This moment of peace was cut short by a scream. Lila looked back and saw a car being tossed into the air and heading right for her. She leaped out of the way as the car hit the ground
“Lie-La~” Reverstrator called out, “It would be easier for everyone here if you just gave yourself up!” He started lifting another car
Lila rubbed her eyes to make it look like she’s crying, “I didn’t do anything! Why are you after me?!” She looked through her hands and saw people in the vicinity giving her wary looks, ‘Why are none of these idiots helping me?! Can’t they see I’m in danger?!’
“Mommy! That’s the girl who put the Ladyblogger in danger!” A little boy shouted
Lila looked again and saw many of the citizens scowling at or backing away from her. Some were even looking down at their phones. When she listened closely, she could clearly make out Alya’s panicked voice coming from their phones
‘Who the hell recorded that?!’
“Aurore got a video of her rooting for the Akuma!”
“She wanted Ladybug dead!”
“I bet she’s working for Hawkmoth!”
Lila scowled, ‘That blonde b*mbo!’ She put her hands behind her back and pinched her wrists to make herself cry, “I-I’d never do that! I’d never put Ladybug in danger!” Another car was thrown her way, she ran with Reverser hot on her tail
“IT’S NO USE RUNNING, LILA! JUST GIVE YOURSELF UP! EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS WHAT YOU’RE REALLY LIKE!”
Lila was about the round a corner, but Reverstrator grabbed her by the back of her jacket and held her up in the air, “It’s over! Now confess everything you’ve lied about!”
Even when her life was on the line, Lila would not own up to her lies, “I didn’t do anything wrong! I don’t know why you’re after me, but-”
“ENOUGH!” Evillustrator summoned a paper airplane, “You are now forced to tell the truth! Reversion- HEY!” He tried to yank his arm away as Ladybug’s yoyo wrapped around his wrist
“Reverstrator, stop!” Ladybug called out as she and Chat Noir arrived, “Everyone already knows that Lila is dangerous-”
“SHUT UP LADYBUG! NO ONE ASKED YOU SHIT!”, Lila screeched, making everyone gasp. Lila was about to say more, but one of Reverstrator’s other hands wrapped around her neck and she started choking, but then he dropped her to the ground when Ladybug yanked on her yoyo and flung him into the side of a building
Chat narrowed his eyes at Lila who had taken off running a while ago, “Better hurry before she causes more trouble.”
Ladybug nodded then called for her, “LUCKY CHARM!” What dropped in her hands was, “Another yoyo?”
Chat Noir extended his staff, “Better figure out how to use it quick; Reverstrator won’t go down so easy!”
Reverstrator started drawing again, and another buzz saw came spinning for them. Chat Noir jumped in front of Ladybug and yelled out, “CATACLYSM!” The buzz saw crumbled into black dust, and immediately, the heroes were barraged by arrows. And with his free hands, he threw paper airplanes at them. They take cover behind a flipped car. Not wanting to risk getting shot by an arrow or reversed, Ladybug used the mirror in her yoyo to find a way to use her lucky charm
Use your yoyo to deflect his attacks
Wrap both yoyo’s around Reverstrator’s arms
He has super strength, so you won’t be able to hold him down on your own
Tie the ends of the yoyos to the lamp posts; they’re bolted tight to the ground
Break the necklace, catch the Akuma
Ladybug turned to Chat Noir with a determined look, “Hey, Kitty? Ever use a yoyo before?” With a grin, Chat takes the lucky charm yoyo and extends his staff. Ladybug spins her yoyo; the two run out from behind the car and start deflecting Reverstrator’s planes and arrows. Once they got close enough, Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around Reverstrator’s left arms, and Chat wrapped the Lucky Charm yoyo around the right arms. They ran in opposite directions and tied the yoyos around lamp posts so he can’t get free.
“NO!” He growled with tears in his eyes, “You won’t separate us!”
Ladybug walked over, reached into the monochrome hoodie, and pulled out a black heart-shaped necklace. She threw it to the ground, making it shatter into many pieces so the Akuma would fly out. She quickly unwrapped her yoyo, “No more evil-doing for you little Akuma... Time to De-Evilize!” She caught the Akuma, “Gotcha!” Fluttering out from the yoyo was a pure white butterfly, “Bye-bye, little butterfly.”
Chat Noir tossed her the lucky charm yoyo. She tossed it into the air and yelled out, “MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!” The yoyo burst into millions of ladybugs. The swept around the city, fixing the school, getting rid of the weapons drawn by Reverstrator, removing the reversion curse of citizens who were hit by the paper airplanes, and finally, Reverstrator was washed over by a black and purple mist that lifted up and revealed Marc and Nathaniel passed out on the ground
Ladybug and Chat Noir did their signature fist-bump, “Pound it!”
“Ugh,” Nathaniel got up and rubbed his head, “What the hell...?” His eyes widened when he saw Marc on the ground, “Rainbow!” He rushed over to his boyfriend’s side, “Baby, are you okay?” Marc’s eyes fluttered open, and Nathaniel let out a relieved sigh, “Marc, I’m so sorry I thought you cheated on me, I- You’d never do that! I just-” “Nath...” “When I saw that photo, I just panicked!” “Nath!” Nathaniel was cut off by Marc throwing his arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. “... I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions either. Nath, I’m sorry.”
Ladybug and Chat Noir offered their hands and helped the two boys up, “I’m guessing you guys remember what happened.”
Nathaniel furrowed his brow, “I-I just remember seeing that photo of Marc kissing Adrien...” No one noticed the look of shock on Chat’s face, “Then I remember Alix mentioning...” His expression darkened, “...Lila.” Marc held his hand and kissed his cheek, “She’s sort of had out for us ever since we pointed out a few holes in her lies.”
“Well, don’t worry. I’m sure you won’t be seeing much of her anymore.” At the superheroine’s words, the two boys smiled. Suddenly, the distinct beeping of Ladybug and Chat’s miraculous’ were heard
“Well, we best be off,” Chat said as he extended his staff and vaulted away
Ladybug gave the two one last smile, “Bug out.” and she swung away
__
Hawkmoth threw his can to the ground, “NO! How could they have beaten Reverstrator? He should have unstoppable! Ladybug, I swear, I will have your Miraculous!”
__
Lila felt all eyes on her as she walked into Dupont. Normally she would preen at the attention she was receiving, but these looks were hate-filled. They all looked like they wanted her dead. Ignoring the glares, she put on a prideful demeanor as she strutted her way to class...
...Where she was met with even more death glares.
Alix stood from her seat, “You’ve got some fucking nerve coming back here, Rossi.”
She reared back, “Oh, Alix!” tears began to pour, “How could you say something like that?!”, she started sobbing into her hands but no one was buying her fake tears
Nino wrapped his arms protectively around Alya and glared at the Italian, “Just get lost, Lila. Everyone in Paris saw the shit you pulled.”
“I-I don’t know what-”
“YOU PUSHED ALYA IN FRONT OF A BUZZ SAW, YOU BITCH!” Marinette screamed as she stormed over towards the Italian, “You could have killed her!”
Lila backed away from the enraged pigtailed girl, “I-I was trying to push her out of the way, but my carpel tunnel acted up, and-”
“Cut the crap, Rossi!” Nathaniel yelled, “Marc and I almost killed Alya because of you!”
“It wasn’t my fault you two got akumatized!”
“IT WAS!” The entire room went silent when the redhead slammed his fist on the desk, “You photoshopped pictures of us cheating on each other, and that’s what got us akumatized!”
Lila forced tears out of her eyes, “I’d never do something like that!” she whined
Juleka spoke up, “We found your nail polish on one of the photos,” She held up the photo and pointed to the orange nail polish. Before Lila could retort, Marinette held up one of her hands, her nails were still painted the same shade of orange as the nail polish on the photo
“Th-that was just a coincidence! It’s a very popular color!”
Chloe laughed, “Newsflash, Rossi. Raw sienna looks good on no one. Especially not you.”
Adrien stood from his seat, “And I’m sure you can explain why there’s a video of you cheering for the Akuma,” he sent Nathaniel an apologetic look, “then saying Akuma’s can’t do anything right.”
The Italian went silent before, “Ow! My head hurts! See, while I was in Africa, I hit my head and-”
“That explains a lot,” Ivan muttered
“B-but guys, I’d never...” Seeing that no one was buying a single thing she said, she scowled, “Alright, fine! So I pushed her in front of me, so what?! Better her than me!” Marinette and Nino looked ready to strangle her. She points to Nathaniel, “And you and your f*ggot boyfriend should learn your place you k**e!”
The entire room gasped at the slur used against their friend
“Lila Rossi!” Everyone turned to see Mme. Bustier standing at the doorway, “Principal’s office, now!”
“B-but Mme. Bustier!” Lila stammered
“NOW!” She repeated, “I will not have that type of language used in my classroom!”
“But Nathaniel cursed me out yesterday!”
Mme. Bustier nodded, “Yes, but no one could understand him.” She shot the redhead an apologetic smile and he smiled back, “You on the other hand, we understood you loud and clear. I will not tolerate the use of derogatory terms in this class! Now go!” She points to the door. Defeated, Lila trudges out but not before she adds, “And I’ll be giving your mother a call as well.”
Mme. Bustier followed her out and slammed the door behind her, leaving the classroom in silence
“... Okay!” Kim yelled out, “No one’s saying it, so I will.” He approaches Marinette, “Mari, I-I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you. You’re one of the most honest people I know, and I just picked that... Cáo nói dối over my own sister.”
Marinette smiled and embraced Kim, “Thanks, Kimmy.” The athlete wrapped his arms around her, “Anytime, em gái.” The whole room started apologizing to the students who didn’t believe Lila’s stories and gathered for a group hug
Marinette hummed, “Guys, this is nice... But if you ever do this again, I will not hesitate to knock some sense into each and every one of you. And believe me. I will be very violent.”
Mylene chuckled nervously, “Noted.”
__
“Hey, Rainbow.” Marc looked up from his journal and saw Nathaniel standing by the stairs, “Hey.” Nathaniel went under the stairs and sat next to Marc before littering his face with kisses, making the black-haired boy blush
“What’s got you so happy?”
Nathaniel smirked, “Two things. First: Lila’s being arrested for possibly working with Hawkmoth,” off Marc’s incredulous look, he nodded, “Seriously! After that video Aurore posted, the police took her in for questioning.”
Marc tackled Nathaniel into a hug, “That’s amazing! So, what’s the second thing?” He gives Nathaniel a knowing look
“Well,” he takes Marc’s hand and kisses it, “Ever since we were fused together, I just... I’ve never felt closer to you. Even though we were Akumatized, it just felt amazing.”
Marc can’t help but blush, “Yeah. I-I know we were arguing most of the time, but I still loved being that close to you.” His smile dropped a little, “I could feel how upset you were. That also showed how much you really care about me.”
“Of course I do, Rainbow,” Nathaniel said as he caressed his cheek, “You’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. I was prepared to murder Adrien because of that photo.”
“And I was going to throttle Alix...”
“... Not our best moment.” “No, not really.”
“But,” Nathaniel pulls his sketchbook out from his messenger bag, “It does give me a few ideas for our next comic.”
Marc shows Nathaniel the page he was working on, “Me too.”
80 notes · View notes
ms-demeanor · 5 years ago
Note
After reading your "ultra-long postivity post", now I have kind of a weird feeling because i relate a lot to pretty much everything you said, but i ended up approaching the "not everyone can x" from the opposite side, being the "gifted kid" teachers used to hold everyone to unrealistic standards (that i knew most couldnt achieve in the given timeframes), and now i get frustrated when i dont develop skills immediately, because i have done it before and feel like i should be able to and aaaaaaaaaa
Funny story: when I was a kid my parents had both my sister and I tested for learning and developmental disabilities. This testing included IQ testing.
It identified that we were both “gifted” kids* and that I’m dyslexic.
It totally missed my ADHD, though!
The problem with that is that my parents. Hm.
Okay my parents both grew up in very poor families. VERY poor. And they both wanted to go to college and knew the only way that they could was through scholarships. So they became debaters. They met at a tournament in high school.
Debaters are weird. You need an efficient working memory and strong recall and the ability to think quickly on your feet. Being witty and kind of an asshole are also good traits for debaters. Basically you’ve either gotta be really fuck-off smart to be a competitive debater or you’ve gotta at least *seem* really fuck-off smart.
And my parents were champion debaters at a national level. The Whittier College debate trophy has my mom’s name written directly under Richard goddamn Nixon. My dad was on the USC debate team and competed against Harvard and won. Not only that but he ended up coaching debate for USC and Cal Tech.
So as kids who grew up in extremely poor families and were able to go to college and get middle-class jobs and buy a house because of intellectual ability my parents placed A LOT of importance on intellectual ability.
So that IQ score became a large part of my life.
First we attacked the dyslexia. The approach was basically teaching me a bunch of sight words because sounding out phonics doesn’t work when the letters get screwed up. And because I was *gifted* we did a lot of really BIG sight words.
It took about six months to get me up to speed from “memorizing the pages of a story to match the pictures because I couldn’t read along in class” to “the first book I read on my own was The Hobbit.” I guess that counted as “cured” because that was the last time I got any kind of educational assistance.
At that time I was at a gifted school, a really tiny private school that was also an after-school daycare where we did full-day classes and then did gymnastics and swim from 3-6pm. I also was there over the summer because my parents worked.
So going from “tiny private school where the teacher has you stand up in class to read your failing grade in front of everyone so that she could shame you into performing better” to “fine public school in a suburb wealthy enough to have arts programs” was a major, major change. They did an aptitude test because I was transferring in from a different district and there was much discussion about whether or not to move me directly from the second to the sixth grade.
The district refused, thank fuck.
The public elementary school didn’t *have* a gifted program so it took very little time for me to become the Certified Weird Kid. My third grade teacher had me read aloud to our class for twenty minutes a day. I taught the class the multiplication table.
When it got to be time to go to the junior high school my mom went to a meeting for the school’s gifted kids program. APPARENTLY one of the kid’s dad’s basically said “I don’t understand why you’re wasting school funds on field trips for the stupid kids, the school should spend more of its resources on kids who have a chance of actually meaning something to the world” and my mom decided that while being gifted was important it was less important than making sure I wasn’t exposed to assholes of that caliber on a regular basis.
(thanks mom, I actually do really appreciate that reprieve)
Several teachers pushed me into advanced classes - my math teacher insisted that I take the advanced algebra classes in the seventh and eighth grade.
The GATE kids *WERE* assholes and were extra bonus special assholes to me because math was the only advanced class that I was in. (At my junior high school you had to pick your elective based on what level of classes you were in - to take the GATE classes you HAD to take a music elective; if you took art, drama, shop, or home ec you couldn’t take the smart kid classes. The algebra class was a new, separate addition to the program so *some* of the kids in the “electives for dropouts” program could take algebra. Schools are really fucked up, guys, in case you didn’t know schools are really fucked up and that was BEFORE No Child Left Behind).
I got a C in that algebra class and sat in my room for literally an hour screaming at myself for being such a selfish, distracted idiot that I let myself read my books instead of studying harder for the class. (clearly very healthy, normal twelve-year-old behavior)
When it was time to go to high school my teachers made a united plea to the district to transfer me into honors/IB/AP classes.
The kids in the honors/IB/AP classes continued to be kind of awful to me. I got extremely depressed and basically started doing the lazy-but-brilliant thing of completely ignoring homework or in-class work but performing spectacularly well on tests or essays in the classes that I wasn’t catastrophically failing
I was the only person at the school who got a perfect score on the vocab part of my SAT. I was the only honors kid who hadn’t been in SAT prep classes. There was only one other kid who graduated with the same number of units as I had, we’d outstripped the valedictorian and salutatorian but three classes each. I only applied to one college - I got accepted for painting but my interviewer urged me to move to the writing program and I got accepted for that too.
My financial aid didn’t come through and my dad wasn’t willing to cosign for loans on “an art program at a trade school.”
I got accepted to Pratt Institute on their Writing for Publication track which included an internship with the New York Times for third-year students in the program.
At that point I had a Columbia Scholastic Press award for my work on my high school yearbook.
Let me tell you, the community college that I went to and spent five years variously failing and succeeding at had a fucking *killer* newspaper and magazine when I was there. The local community newspaper that hired me when I was 21 was also much better designed and edited than it had any right to be for the three years I worked there (getting paid a whole eight dollars an hour and sometimes working 20 hours straight to get it in to the printer on time).
When I transferred to the state school I got perfect grades and worked full time and won every contest offered by the school’s English Honors society (which I couldn’t join because I was a transfer student and hadn’t done honors classes my freshman and sophomore years). I started a literary magazine with some friends when I graduated; we published four full issues online before it fell apart.
You know what’s also funny?
Even the food-service job I had to pay my way though the community college I felt terrible about attending was a skills test. I was a barista, so of course for a while I was a competitive barista.
I disappointed my parents a lot. I heard a lot of “we know you’re better than this.” I got told I was too smart to be screwing up this bad. I mentioned it a couple weeks ago but my results from that IQ test got compared to my sister’s and that was the justification for holding me to a higher standard. “You’re measurably brilliant, why aren’t you acting like it?”
Here lies the corpse of a gifted kid. Look on my works ye might and despair.
I am the perfect picture of a twice exceptional gifted kid and the reason I wrote all of this out is to tell you one thing:
“Gifted Kid” is a label that someone applied to you, it has nothing to do with who and what you ARE.
It’s very, very unfair that the adults in your life used you that way. I have an exceptionally terrible memory of being singled out as the only one who passed the first test in my IB World History class; “Why is Alli the only one of all of you who is writing at grade level? You’re supposed to be the smartest kids in the school, why did you all fail?”
That’s awful for the kids around you, that’s awful for you. It doesn’t do anybody any favors if people around you are being informed that you’re setting the curve they’ll be judged against. And it really, really doesn’t do YOU any favors because it doesn’t take long *at all* for your brain to learn that that’s all you’re good for. If you aren’t the best at a thing then what’s the point, you HAVE to be best because they already SAID you were best and if you aren’t then all these other people hate you for setting a standard that even you can’t keep up with.
You end up competing with past versions of yourself and focusing on those things that make the grownups in your life praise you because the grownups in your life has praised you in such a way that it’s turned all the other kids against you.
You know who bullied the fuck out of me? The kids I taught the times tables to, the kids I read to for half an hour a day.
Those kids were MEAN to me but the teacher who told me to read Boxcar Kids to the class after lunch everyday was NICE and she told me not to worry, they were just jealous and I should be proud of my gifts.
“Anon did this in three minutes. What’s taking the rest of you so long?” - what a terrible weight to put on a child. You’re right. Not everyone can do everything.
Fucking hell.
Adults what the everloving shit is wrong with us? Please don’t treat kids like that.
Okay.
Okay.
But here’s the other thing:
If there’s any time in your life that it’s easy to acquire skills with no apparent effort it’s when you’re a child surrounded by a support system that is engaged in making sure that you can acquire those skills.
It took three adults, two dictionaries, and several hours a day to teach me enough sight-words to throw me into “look at baby genius*” territory but from my perspective as a little kid I was just reading cool stories.
I spent four hours a day in the yearbook room and ditched and failed other classes so that I could work on the yearbook. I collected hundreds of magazines to get an eye for layout. But from my perspective as a teenager it was a fun activity that I did with the closest thing I had to friends.
I’m sure that there are some skills that you had a natural aptitude for, some things that came naturally. But I’m also sure that you didn’t learn those skills with no effort, it’s just that now as an adult with a life and other shit going on it takes more effort to learn to do things.
In all likelihood you weren’t a savant who did everything perfectly the first time you tried. It just seems that way because even really smart kids don’t know when they’re bad at things and are mostly being compared against other kids (with the few rare exceptions of music prodigies or math prodigies or those kids who end up in science grad programs at 12 and boy howdy do I think there’s a whole other can of worms when it comes to the way child prodigies* interact with the world).
You wanna know what probably saved my life in the last few years?
That “anti-capitalist love notes” tumblr post.
Tumblr media
You are worth more than your productivity.
You are worth more than your productivity.
You are worth more than your productivity.
I was actually kind of offended the first time I saw that post on my dash. “No I’m not,” I thought. “You’re only worth what you can do, everyone knows that. People care about what you do for them.”
And why the hell would I think anything else? That’s what I’d learned for pretty much my whole life.
It took me a really long time to understand that I was wrong. I matter outside of what I can do for people or how well I perform. I matter more than being able to perfectly recite poetry from memory or do calculations on command or sit down at a piano and play a piece I’ve never played by sight-reading it.
And you matter outside of that too. You’re more than your performance, you’re better than being gifted. There are people who love you for the way you make them laugh and how you listen to their stories and for the simple joy of your presence.
It’s nice to be clever, it’s handy in a lot of situations even if it does come with a lot of baggage for some people.
But god damn, it’s important to be kind.
* Personally I have issues with the way that society constructs the concepts of giftedness, genius, and prodigies. There are a lot of “gifted” kids who were the kids who scored in the top 5% of their class in school but there are also gifted kids who were doing high-level math or reading novels as toddlers; there are prodigies who showed an aptitude for music young and who were then schooled in that instrument to the exclusion of all other activities (and I bet there are a fair number of kids who might be considered prodigies if they were trained to play flute for nine hours a day and didn’t have friends but thankfully we don’t *do* that to very many people - side note, ask me my opinion about olympic athletes some time). Words like “genius” and “gifted” are very nearly meaningless and almost *never* accurately reflect skills proficiency or long-term success or are reflected in income or respect. People think that geniuses are hypercompetent robots with their shit together but literally every adult I know with a genius-level IQ is some variety or other of total fucking tire fire.
557 notes · View notes
amerrierworld · 4 years ago
Text
Curtain. (i)
Tumblr media
Carol (2015) fanfiction 
Summary: An on-and-off job as photographer can only pay so much, so Therese Belivet has taken a job at an elementary school's art program to help pay the bills. One of her last jobs before the school year begins is photographing a preview night of a successful play where she meets the well-known artistic director of the show, Carol Ross. She forgets about their meeting until September rolls around and she starts teaching an inquisitive young six-year old by the name of Rindy.
Characters: Carol x Therese
Word Count: 1,491
Warnings: none yet!
June.
Therese was staring intensely at her laptop, watching as all the little photo icons from her camera began transferring over to her drive. Rain tapped gently against her windows and a can of Coke sat on her desk, half-empty. She had shut all the windows to avoid any light or outdoor distractions as she tended to daydream while looking out in the distance, but this time Therese was determined to get this job finished.
As she waited for the files to continue transferring, the brunette arched her back, yawning as her body creaked and popped from sitting for so long.
It had been three days since her lucky photography gig at the Hudson Theatre. Thinking about it still made her limbs jittery. It was a smaller theatre, but being the oldest theatre in the city and having hosted many successful shows, it was still a landmark. Therese had been overjoyed at the prospect of working inside the theatre for once and seeing all the ins and outs of the show she had been asked to document.
Her phone pinged from where she had haphazardly tossed it on her bed. She stood up and shuffled over, stretching again and giving her legs a shake as she opened a message from Dannie.
preview done. again.
how was it?
tbh a little messier than when u were there, richard kept missing his mark
of course he did.
yeah ross wasn't too pleased with him...
At the mention of the director's name, Therese's stomach lurched a bit, though she couldn't tell why. They had only exchanged a few words during the preview when she'd been there.
...anyways, manager wants to know how ur doing with those photos
workin on em right now actually
tsk that's too bad
why? did she need them now? i thought i had until next week
nah i was just gonna ask if u wanted to get some food and then get plastered w me and phil
Therese snorted and looked back at her laptop, which lit up, indicating all the files had been successfully imported. Temporarily forgetting about her conversation she hurried to glance through them, immediately noticing the faulty pics that she knew she wouldn't be able to use.
Her phone rang and she picked up.
"Is that a no?" Dannie asked from the other end. Therese rolled her eyes.
"Dannie, not responding in 30 seconds does not automatically mean no. But yeah, I don't know if getting drunk right now is such a good idea, I have a lot to go through. Plus, don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"Preview isn't until the afternoon, Belivet. I have all morning to sober up."
Sighing, Therese flicked through a few photos, stilling as she found one of the director whose back was to the camera as she directed Gen, the lead actress, who stood off to the far side of the stage.
"Therese?"
"Hm? Yeah, for sure. I'll come for food, but I'm going home afterwards, I really don't want to be hungover. I've had three cans of Coke already, alcohol and caffeine don't mix well for me."
"Alright, sounds good."
"When do you wanna head out?"
"...now?"
At that, the intercom buzzed at Therese's front door, indicating someone was in front of the apartment building.
"Jesus, Dannie, really?"
"I know you're always hungry, Therese. Plus, getting off the subway from work at your place is so much closer than mine. Forgive me?"
"Ugh fine, give me 20 minutes to get ready though. I don't care if you're stuck in the rain outside. That's what happens when you constantly drag me out for last minute plans."
"Yeah, yeah, Belivet, just hurry your ass up. We're not going anywhere fancy cause God knows I don't get paid enough to afford anything like that."
"Is Richard coming?" Therese asked, brow furrowing in a split second of worry.
"Him? Nah. I actually think he somehow managed to lure Gen into a date tonight. I saw them talking after the show."
"Oof, poor girl."
"Yeah, maybe I should warn her, y'know. Get her out while she still can."
"Terrible idea, McElroy. You know how actresses are with stage hands."
Dannie barked out a laugh. "Shut the fuck up, Belivet. You're one to talk, considering you were ogling the director the entire night."
"I was not."
"Yeah you were. Now get going, or I'm gonna melt in this downpour."
Therese smiled and ended the call, closing her laptop and hurrying to put on some decent clothes before meeting Dannie outside.
-
"C'mon Terry, not even one shot? As a celebratory drink for this job and the next."
"No, Phil," Therese laughed. "I already told Dannie, I have work to do later."
"Alright, suit yourself, but that means I'm gonna drink extra just to make up for you!"
After having grabbed a bite at a cheap Thai restaurant, the McElroy brothers had dragged Therese to their usual bar even though she was still determined to stay sober.
"Do you even know how to deal with kids, Therese? Elementary school can be vicious, y'know," Dannie said, sipping his beer as he ignored Phil stumbling from his seat to order another drink.
"It's only part-time, Dan," Therese shrugged. "Plus, what kid doesn't like art? If one of them throws a temper, I'll just let him go ham on a canvas with some paint, no big deal. It's therapeutic that way."
"How'd you manage to get a job there anyway?"
"Well, their usual art teacher had to take a break for a year 'cause of an injury, so I'm just filling in for the younger grades. They were desperate for more staff for their programs."
"Jeez, is that allowed? You've barely worked with kids until now."
"I dunno. I did a full police check and stuff, besides I'm not hired for the school, just the programs afterwards so I'm not technically a teacher. But it's a small school with a shit ton of younger kids that often need an after-school program. Chances are they won't even need me in the New Year if the other teacher comes back."
"So they just really need extra hands on deck?" Dannie concluded and Therese nodded. Phil came staggering back with a glass of water, grouchy and mumbling something about the bartender not letting him have another.
"Yeah. What about you though? What's happening after Woolf?"
Danni sighed and slumped back in his seat. "Who knows at this point? Ross is taking a break too, from being artistic director-,"
"Wait, really? She's not retiring is she?"
Dannie smirked at Therese but ignored her sudden eagerness in the conversation.
"Nah, just something about needing to be home with her family. She's worked her butt off for the theatre more than anyone, so it makes sense she wants a break for a little while after this show's done. But she'll probably be back in no time, cause she's like that. In the mean time, Gerhard is taking over. I don't know what she has up her sleeve yet, but I'm thinking a typical Christmas show is coming up."
"Any idea what it might be?"
"Nope. Everyone's talking and wanting to do A Christmas Carol but it's been so overdone, and Abby's always doing unexpected things."
"Damn, I wonder what it could be," Therese chewed her lip in thought.
"You sure you're not just upset at the idea of Ross not working there anymore?" Dannie teased. Therese smacked his arm.
"Dannie," she scolded.
"What! Even a blind person could see she's literal eye candy, though she can be a tough boss. I'm not blaming you for liking her, but I am telling you that she's not as sweet as she looks."
"Hmph, whatever. She's probably got someone anyways, if she's taking a break with family."
"I dunno, Belivet, I've never noticed a wedding ring." He winked at her.
"God, you're the worst y'know?" Therese sighed, though her eyes were twinkling. "I never should have come out to you when all you do is tease me about every girl who I just happen to find kinda cute."
Dannie grinned. "That's what you get for being besties with the McElroys, Belivet. Besides, since Phil doesn't like girls, who am I supposed to go to when I get lady problems?"
Therese shook her head and chuckled before checking her watch.
"Damn, it's getting late. Alright boys, I'm going home. I really need to work on those photos. Don't drink yourselves to death, please?"
"Wouldn't dream of it, Belivet!"
She grabbed her purse before going to hail a cab as Phil and Dannie waved goodbye, her mind whirling with thoughts of the intriguing blonde director. Therese wondered who she was, besides the 'literal eye candy' that she'd managed to capture on camera. Sighing, Therese shook her from her mind during the brief cab ride home, deciding it was best to leave her daydreaming behind for the rest of the night.
A/N: heh... hi. here's my take on carol/therese because i can’t get enough of them honestly. Let me know what you think; this’ll be a pretty packed series so enjoy :3 
I’ve also been posting my stuff on AO3 if any of you use that as well so you can find this and my other stories there too! <3 
84 notes · View notes
swordarkeereon · 13 years ago
Text
Discrimination & Discernment
I actually got this post idea from the esoteric author Sorita d’Este after she asked the question on her FB “How important is discrimination on a magical and spiritual path? And … how often is discrimination ignored because of a feeling that one should be more “accepting” of others?” It’s a brilliant question actually. My answer to it will probably piss a few people off, but here goes…
So many people use the word discrimination to suggest unfair treatment, when in fact the actual definition of discrimination (aside from making a distinction for or against someone based on something other than individual merit) is making fine distinctions or judgments.  Discernment means an acuteness of judgment or understanding. It can also mean to have discriminating taste (i.e. fine distinctions).
IMHO discrimination can be a wise thing. Without any discrimination (as in making fine distinctions) you can open yourself up to a world of hurt. This goes for everything – not just magickal or religious communities, but also when choosing friends, jobs, a home, etc… Not everything or everyone is unfairly judged imho.
You wouldn’t buy a house with a heaving foundation, would you? Or take a job that paid you less than minimum wage? Would you choose to take art classes from a teacher who couldn’t paint or draw? Then why should you choose to allow people into your life who might be bad for you – spiritually or otherwise?
For example – having been a group leader for several occult organizations over the years I’ve learned that one must discriminate against those with an active alcohol or substance abuse problem. Why? Because people like that can wreak havoc on a group or take down other people with them when they start toppling over the edge.
“But Steph, shouldn’t a religious organization help them?”
To the extent that they give them the phone number to a substance abuse hotline – yes. But otherwise my answer there is no because the fact of the matter is that in non-Christian religions (and sometimes even in those) the clergy or leadership isn’t trained well enough to help a person who has a substance abuse problem. That requires professional help. The same goes with un-managed mental disorders.
It’s not a magickal or religious order’s job to “fix” broken people. If a person is broken they need to seek professional help. Not to mention a huge part of fixing themselves is about taking self-responsibility and doing the self-work to fix themselves. Anyone joining a religion or magickal order to get “fixed” by someone else, or by the gods,  is in for a rude awakening.
It is a group leader’s discrimination that can help weed out those people who are looking for a quick fix and looking for other people to fix them. I have known several people over the years who have bashed Demonolatry as a religion because they didn’t “grow”, “learn”, or “get fixed” by it (or by the other people involved in it). Well – that’s because they didn’t do the work. Any spiritual path that promotes self-growth can help a person grow, learn, and change as long as they do the self-work required to help themselves, instead of waiting for someone else to do it for them. A priest (or an adept) is merely a guide – not a miracle worker.  The old adage “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink” comes to mind.
I am also for discrimination when it is clear that a certain person isn’t a good match for a group or after 10+ years of practicing a religion or belonging to a magickal order they still need hand-holding. The latter is usually a sign that they’re stagnated and aren’t growing. (Thanks to Mike for pointing that out!)  I also think it’s perfectly fair to not put an unstable person in a leadership position where they’re tasked with helping others find foundation in their lives. I also think it’s fair for magickal students to look at their teachers with scrutiny and pick teachers based on stability. Seriously – if a teacher doesn’t have their own shit together, should they be teaching others how to get their shit together? It’s a fair question.
If you want all out acceptance regardless — join a Judeo-Christian faith. A big impersonal church can handle all kinds of different personalities. A small group may not be able to do the same thing. Like it or not – humans are social creatures. We are very clique-y by our very nature (despite how many of us scream about wanting to be individuals). We all want to feel a sense of belonging or have a place where we feel we fit in. If you join a group started by three friends, don’t expect to walk in, march up to the pulpit and start making demands that one of the friends is booted from the inner circle just because you don’t like them. The sad truth is that unless the friend is doing something the entire group dislikes – that person is staying right where they are and you’re probably going to be the one who gets booted (unless you get pissed off and leave). On that same token – you might end up hitting it off with the inner circle and they may discriminate in your favor – deciding you’d be a good leader and tasking you with some group responsibility.
Is it fair? Probably not. But that’s human nature, that’s how it works. Life isn’t fair. Pull on your big-girl/boy undies and get over it.
Discrimination is also beneficial in cases where a member (or leader for that matter) is excessively antagonistic and is consistently creating drama within a group. In a case like this – such a person should be removed as people like this can destroy a functioning group. That’s why there needs to be some discernment and discrimination when adding people to a group, or removing someone. I have admittedly discriminated against potential members who seemed overly needy. In a group where no one has time to hand-hold – it’s only fair to the needy person that you don’t accept them into the group or you remove them from the group. The reason being that they’re not going to get what they want or need from group membership and their neediness may feel like a burden to other group members, making more than just one person unhappy.
Sadly it can take these people years to realize you were right in removing them from your order or group.  I instinctively knew certain former members of my coven weren’t growing and that Demonolatry (at least in a group setting) wasn’t the right path for them. I knew when it was time for those members to move on. Sometimes there’s no easy way to get this to happen. Sometimes it can require a group leader kick someone out of his/her life (and/or their group) knowing everyone will be better off for it down the road. It’s not easy, that’s for sure.
The same could be said for friendships or business associates. Relationships need to be mutually beneficial for them to be healthy and to thrive. A relationship should end once it’s clear one party needs more than the other can provide. Or when only one person is giving and another is just taking (and taking and taking). Or when you notice one person isn’t growing in the relationship and the relationship itself is causing one of the parties to stagnate. Perhaps this is an over-simplification, but it’s the general gist. A good example of a business application of this was when I realized I had to leave Lulu as my primary printer once it became clear to me they couldn’t give me what my publishing company needed with regards to distribution and compensation. My business had become stagnant and wasn’t growing.  So while I still use Lulu as a secondary printing service, I have moved on to other printing sources to do my primary distribution because it’s more lucrative a relationship. As a result, my business grew.  This is true for all things in life.
Is it fair? Again – probably not. But then life isn’t fair.
I think more people should be accepting about moving on once a relationship has ended. If you are discriminated against by a magickal order or religious group – don’t look at it as a bad thing. It’s probably a blessing and you just haven’t realized it yet. You wouldn’t have been happy there anyway (and it probably wouldn’t have been a positive growth experience) and this way – you can keep searching for a group or community that IS right for you. And if you’re on the other end of that and have to be the person who is discriminating – don’t feel guilty for it. Being accepting of everyone can bite you in the ass (as I’ve learned from numerous personal experiences). Allowing pedophiles into a group with children is probably not a good idea. Letting completely unstable people sit at the head of your group and lead others is probably not a good idea.  The needs of the many sometimes outweigh the needs of the one (or few) and as a group leader it’s your job to keep the group together and functioning in the way beneficial to the most people. Not always an easy task since at least one person (the one who is a problem) and his/her supporters is bound to be hurt by your decision and go off on a rampage against your group. Such is life if you want harmony and stability – especially in a magickal or esoteric order.
That’s my take on the matter. (Commence throwing daggers!)
PS> Please be reminded that I’m not talking about  racial discrimination, age discrimination, sex discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, or any other type of discrimination based on someone’s skin color, age, or their personal preferences that would have nothing to do with a person’s interactions with others in the group. I’m talking about discrimination based on well-intentioned, reasonable expectations of group members based on the existing group and its dynamic.
2 notes · View notes
ih8paris · 3 years ago
Text
i hate paris
Do people still use tumblr? I’m so old. And I never used it. I don’t keep up with the times. I don’t give a shit. You know what? It all passes. Except facebook. They made a deal with the devil and really, was it worth it? I use facebook. I live in Paris and there are these groups for women, expats, cheap people like me that want free yoga. That’s what I use it for. And news. BBC CNN ABC NBC MSNBC, you get it and the posts. They report what the people supposedly want, but then we can see what the people are actually saying. Donald Trump won’t win? Look at voices talking? Look at the little people. It looked like he was going to win. What do you know, he did. But what if he had lost. What if Hilary didn’t get a handle on COVID and then Donald won in 2020? We would all be so fucked right now. Maybe we already are. Anyway, I’m not here to talk politics. I’m here to process my life choices and see if there were signs that I was making HUGE mistake. 
So here’s the thing. I’m a bit untraditional. Growing up was shit. Chuck left and made sure to shit all over everything before he did. And the whole get married in your 20′s have babies get divorced get remarried have more kids bc hey you’re not old at 30 and this is the guy you actually wanted to have kids with. I rant but you get it. Traditional not for me. Also not traditional, i have some money. This money has paid for college, pastry school and yes this wonderful covid filled experience in paris: the city that hates me. I’m fortunate. I don’t live lavishly. It’s not that much money. I grew up poor, I pinch pennies. Then i do exciting things. Or maybe challenging things? I am fortunate and grateful. And guilt filled. I am given this gift and shit it away, trying make something out of this paris experience. It’s like a bad relationship where i keep begging to give it one more change. It will get better. I’m a fucking idiot. So here I am, you know third times the charm, right? Back in paris. Vaccinated. I’ve made connections with people. I feel confident that this will not be a waste. It will be fun. It will be educational. I will network. Gain experiences. Omg learn so much. Be able to travel. OH the hopes and delusions i had. But maybe we should start from the beginning. 
Omg, which beginning. Paris, i guess, we can go back further when the moment calls. So 30 is approaching. I’ve moved back home. That’s story for another time. Remember my life is not traditional. So I’m home to help out and idk try to figure out what the fuck i want to do with my life. See the big mistake i made in my 20s was listening to people i don’t admire. i graduate with an art degree. my college exit interview said i am qualified to work at a bank or Kraft foods. no connects, recommendations. No direct. And my family keeps talking about getting a job, benefits, 401k. At one point a little later on, my grandpa was pushing for me to go into service. Sorry gramps, they don’t want me. My education was good. I learned a lot. They had good resources and a lot. But then nothings. So i worked at a bakery. I worked hard at this bakery. For more than a few months i worked 7 days a week. I didn’t have a life. i had money. Money i made. And apparently that was the most important thing, from the talks i keep getting from my family. And of course i wasn’t earning enough, so needed to work harder and climb the ladder. There is no ladder in a bakery. Whatever, I rant again. We’ll come back to this. 
So 30. It’s looming. I’ve thought about grad school. The money I mentioned earlier. It’s had time to grow. The GRE expires after 5 years, not that i took it but 7 years after I graduated, i wasn’t taking it. So Europe. Europe is artsy. I would like to make good money, enjoy the work okay, but mostly make good money with the least amount of actual work. So teaching. My mom teaches. Computer programing. She’s the head of the department. She fucking hates it. The dude that was suppose to get that job, he died. It was sad. But they also didn’t replace him so when the other guy retired, it became her job. It was an unpleasant 10ish years. But again, I digress. So teaching. Work hard and play hard. And it’s always changing - ish. I guess as much as you want, or don’t. New students every 15 weeks. breaks at all the holidays. Summers off. And when you’re just about to get bored, you’re back at work. Maybe because this is the only lifestyle i know, but it doesn’t sound bad. I worked in an office of women in high school. That i for sure knew i never wanted. But teaching. College. Okay. I need a masters. Learn about MA and MFA. Start looking for jobs in Cali because life’s too short to fucking deal with the snow and mosquitos. Idk everyone doesn’t live in Cali. So now the plan is MFA. They are much more rare and more in demand at universities. More money - but this time i think chasing the money necessary bc Calif = expensive. Now back to looking in Europe. I love Italy. I would love to live in in Italy for more that just a semester but actually live Italian or close to it. The language makes sense. The people make sense. The art makes sense. And it’s omg gorgeous. Alas, no American accredited MFA programs I could qualify for in Italy. I don’t know if there were none but if there were, they would have been in textiles, or digital/graphic design. Which I don’t know anything about. I’m old school, metal work, drawing, printmaking - although so far we haven’t gotten along, another thing i going to try to make work before i leave this city that hates me, for good - painting, ceramics, you get it. I hate computers. I appreciate technology but my mom teaches computers therefore there was never a working computer in my house so we (my brothers and me) don’t do computers. So i find this school - in english and in Paris. Paris, so glamorous. Home of famous artists and their art. The Louvre and Eiffel Tower and Fashion. So okay, i check out their programs. One i have no fucking clue what it is. Still don’t. Another is Photography - pass. Graphics - no. List continues. Then i see Drawing. That’s interesting. I can draw, i draw well. This is a program i could probably get into. SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: you can get into any program. No program is ever full. It’s bull shit. Masters program. Undergrad = everyone is applying at the same time. Masters = ages range and much fewer people go. So don’t fall for that shit - EVER. 
They have a one year and two year program. The second year is less than half the first year so makes sense to go the second year and get the MFA vs MA. So that works out. I’m reading and checking it out. Not sure what I’m looking for but in hindsight, i knew something was missing. Talk it over with my mom and her peers who are also teachers. Consensus - don’t be part of the first group. So i have an interview to get it - what a joke. It is also a time for me to learn more about the program. So i ask, is this new? How long has it been around. Answer: Oh no, it’s been working several years. Very confident. I didn’t have a follow-up, just said I don’t want to be in the first group. I said those words. Her response: Oh no no don’t worry. I was so naive. And yes this continued through the whole program. People’s personalities are what they are. So she lied to get me into the program and just kept lying. No respect for the insane about of money i was paying for this ‘experience’. No respect for the education i could have gotten somewhere else. Because this program had NO educational value. I’m not being bitter or dramatic. It was a complete waste of time and money. Then covid happened. Might have been a blessing in disguise. I can go into detail of the program later. This is just an overview of the beginning. 
So, I get accepted. What a surprise. I’m now officially 30 and this - i feel- is my last hoorah. After this i will be an adult who can get an adult job and become an adult. But first i need housing. And a visa. Which is very confusing. So the French and Italians - Italians I am familiar  with, tell you about it later. So they’re similar in that lazy, lack of thoroughness, that’s their thing. Difference being Italians own it, French hardcore deny. So I’m reading this paperwork and it says thing like you need to have all your documents before your visa appointment including plane ticket. Well I can’t go without the visa so why would i get a plane ticket? Cart before the horse shit - it’s very french, wait until you hear about banks.  
1 note · View note
flirting-with-psychology · 4 years ago
Text
Reblog & Bold what applies to you;
I know all the words to some of the songs from Grease I have seen a show on Broadway before I have ran up and hugged a stranger, mistaking them for someone I knew I have drooled all over my pillow before while in a deep slumber I’m listening to my favorite song right now I have/had a mood ring(s) I have an Apple Mac I have taken an art class in school before I have owned a disco ball at one time or another I can speak fluent Spanish I’ve been to a roller rink and fallen flat on my butt I can write in Japanese I have been hospitalized for more than a month before due to a terrible injury I would streak for 50 bucks I have pole danced before just for fun I have a ridiculously large purse I have ridden a camel before I love carnivals and fairs I have spent the whole day at the mall and just walked around I live/lived/visited in Germany I love to people-watch at the airport I don’t have a favorite flower I have seen the movie Love Actually I have a lot of random shit hanging on the walls of my bedroom I drink as much milk as I’m recommended to I keep my movie ticket stubs I’m going to go see a play or musical soon I have studied abroad before I don’t drink enough water I love yogurt I’m trying to lose weight I HATE my toes I’m trying to gain weight I love the show “True Life” on MTV I loathe reality TV I have taken a College Algebra math course I can count from 1-10 in two or more different languages I need to paint my toenails My internet homepage is my email provider’s page I never send e-mails anymore I have a cell phone & I don’t think it’s a piece of trash I have an iPod/MP3 player & a really kickass case for it, too I put my shoes in the dryer I still watch the Price is Right and Jeopardy I love to bargain shop I could live off of breakfast cereals I wish I could be a member of the opposite sex for one day I dislike standardized tests I hate 90s music I can’t wear watches because I have too much electricity in my body I just don’t wear watches because I think they’re ugly I text in class or at work I can’t WAIT for summer I once wore something that was 5 times too big for me in public I have been to Canada I hate it when guys leave the toilet seat up I have a really cool 6-CD changer stereo I own all the CDs from my favorite band I hate Myspace My favorite band has a “The” in front of it All I wear is band teeshirts I’m a loner I can speak another language fluently I like Dave Matthew’s Band I practically live in my pajamas when I’m at home I love mashed potatoes I have seen my favorite band in concert more than twice I love string cheese I hate The White Stripes I’m homophobic I have a certain order in which I put on my socks and shoes I’m a morning person I have a High School diploma I love Chinese take-out I think sushi is disgusting & I’ve never even tried it It’s raining right now I love listening to old-school Madonna I’m picky I’ve volunteered before in my community I’m always sore I hate back massages I give a mean back rub I’m interesed in acupuncture I love foreign food I listen to my iPod/MP3/CD player in class or in the office when I’m supposed to be paying attention or working I fall or have fallen asleep in class I would never wax my legs, even if you paid me I have tried Nair before & it hurt like hell and didn’t work I suffer from sleep apnea Someone in my family or someone I know battled cancer and won I have a shirt hanging in my closet that hasn’t been worn for over 2 years Snickers is my favorite candy bar I had an imaginary friend when I was younger I do my chores every day My favorite soda is Dr. Pepper Okay, this survey is going on for way too long I know the difference between “to”, “two”, and “too” & when is the appropriate time to use them I have/had birds I have been to Hawaii before I want to go on a Cruise I always read before going to bed I passed Geometry the first time I took it My nails are not painted I have a song stuck in my head right now I have watched at least one episode of “Friends” before Chocolate chip pancakes are pretty much the bomb I have no clue what IHOP is or stands for I’m currently avoiding someone I know morse code Facial hair hot I’ve been dehydrated before I love to run! I have a crush on someone right now & they don’t even know I exist Bolding surveys are calming I’m listening to a sad song right now I still use old-fashioned bar soap to wash myself in the shower I have an electric toothbrush I have taken professional studio photos with friends or family I have seen Steven King’s movie IT When I was younger, my friends & I always used to make up dances and perform them I think I’m going deaf I’m getting bored of this stupid survey all ready I’m an accident just waiting to happen I’m so clumsy I have licked someone else’s shoes before, for money or just because I’m always indecisive I have kickass bunny slippers I need a tissue I have watched the Disney movie Mulan before & loved it I have attended a tea party before I have seen a bear before, and it wasn’t at the zoo I have walked in on someone having sex before The drawers on my dresser don’t close all the way because they’re so full I hate my 3rd period teacher I read Manga I used to collect beanie-babies way back when I sell or buy stuff on eBay I have been to a museum before I have plans tonight I like Spongebob Captain Hook is one of my favorite Disney villains I hate the movie The Sound of Music I need to charge my phone I like elephants
3 notes · View notes
pip-n-flinx · 4 years ago
Text
Among Us
So this is going to get long, this is going to get personal, this is going to be about prejudice and race and self-serving bad-faith arguments and flawed rhetoric. And for all of these reasons I’m going to leave the rest of this under the cut.
As a few of my friends will know, earlier this week I was delivered an ultimatum from my landlord/roommate. He disguised it well, telling me he was ‘concerned for my mental health’ that my ‘negativity was dragging the whole house down’ and that I was simply too filthy to live with. I won’t pretend I’m a neat freak, and I can honestly say that I have taken some pains to clean more since, to his surprise and delight, though its particularly hard to take coming from him.
“You’re always so down. It’s making you lazy and thin skinned” You know its funny you should say that, now specifically, because I’ve actually been on the up and up this last week and you didn’t mention this at all in January when I was actually at my worst, or February when I was afraid I was going to have to quit my job, or back during the holiday season when retail work was breaking my back... Only now do you think to check in on me?
“You left a pair of gloves, a letter, and a small wooden trinket on the table!” Indeed I have, as you have left your pair of gloves, well over 21 letters, and regularly set your packages on this same table, including today two packages to be returned to amazon. I didn’t realize I didn’t get to use the table the same way you do.
“You don’t do dishes! except that you did this week, which is cool I guess but still!” You do realize that I actually hand-wash every dish I use within 24 hours of using it, right? And that often the dishes you come to me bitching that I never cleaned are in fact your fiances, yes? Ok good, next question.
“You’re always complaining about work. I don’t mind that you vent, but its all you talk about anymore!” I have either lost or walked away from 4 jobs in this last year, and that has not been easy, or fun. I have worked essential retail jobs the entire pandemic thus far. Additionally, in the months leading up to you storming out of your 75k a year salaried sales job, I had told you to leave it because I could see that it was killing you. You got so fed up with the job that for 4-5 months before you left your grandma-paid-off-my-second-mortgage capitalism-knows-best-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-ass spent more time playing valorant and league of legends on the clock than doing actual work. Need I remind you that every time I stepped into your office, or simply stepped upstairs to get ready for work, you would complain about how awful your managers were, or how shitty someone had been to you over the phone? DID I EVER BELITTLE YOU FOR ANY OF THESE THINGS????
The real kicker was that the spark, the moment that started this (at least for him) was me trying to explain why racism and ‘cultural supremecy’ was bad. I had brought to him something I thought we could both agree on, that we could both laugh at. I brought him a series of tweets about how problematic Van Gogh was for studying and imitating traditional japanese painting techniques. He took this, and immediately turned into a piece of the culture wars. Now, I agree, this is an egregious example of trying to ‘cancel’ someone. How cancelling a long dead artist who couldn’t sell his art while he was alive is important is beyond my comprehension, its not as though the market value of these comes up very often, and almost no-one will ever have a chance to buy or reject a Van Gogh. But to him this was emblematic of ‘liberals’ cancelling Seuss and Rowling.
He even went so far as to say that Van Gogh probably ‘did it better’ than the artists he was studying/imitating. Now, this is a huge red-flag to me because this is straight out of the Nazi playbook. This is William Shenker, proposing a theory of music to proof ‘German cultural superiority.’ This, if you will pardon my language, is the real culture war: trying to supplant other cultures art and history with western figures and events.
Now, for those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, this man is sexist. He doesn’t believe women are equal, complains about women’s sports, and rejects a woman’s right to choose. This man is a transphobe, questioning the logic of ‘safe-spaces’ and allowing people to change their pronouns. This man is a Trump supporter, and voted for him twice. And all of these things I found out years after we became friends. I have in the past contemplated what it would take to cut him out of my life wholesale. Despite our wealth of shared experience and our shared interests, we’ve been drifting apart as he drifts further and further to the right. And he has been drifting. He’s parroted more bad-faith arguments from Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson in the last 6 months then he ever did when I first moved in with him.
I have been trying to push back, especially when he says the quiet parts out loud. I try to let him know that it is not acceptable to say he would rather an unarmed black man die that risk that a police officer might be injured. When he compares the people in control of Seuss’ intellectual property and works choose to stop printing less than 6% of his published works to the book burnings in Mao’s china. When he says that its more important to protect teacher from students trolling them by changing their pronouns than it is to protect trans or NB kids. When he espouses his belief that trans and NB kids are ‘just mentally ill.’ Whenever he says any of this shit, I have pushed back. I have tried to halt, or at least slow, his descent towards eugenics and white supremacy and fascism.
It has been to no avail.
And to be honest its exhausting. I wanted to believe that he would trust me, not just to be a moral and thoughtful person, but to be educated and informed on these issues. We went to school together, spent countless hours solving homework and trying to crack games together. If I don’t know the answer to his questions immediately, he often jokes ‘C’mon, you’re supposed to know everything!” and has frequently told me that I’m selling myself short.
But apparently all that trust and all that respect goes out the window when I challenge him. Suddenly I’m ‘overly negative’ or ‘too sensitive’ or he’ll ‘need to look into that, but...’
And the thing is, he is capable of great acts of kindness. He offered to rent me a room in his completely paid-off house, no mortgage at all, simply because he could see living at home was killing my mental health. He offered me 50-75% off of market rate. He buys gifts all the time, has landed tenants job interviews, set people back on their feet, and refused to press charges for several major financial loses he’s taken on the determination that it would do more harm to the defendant than he could ever recoup from it.
But he does not extend this kindness, this generous soul, to everyone. And lately, his circle grows smaller, and his kindess has waned, and it’s been so devastating to see him slip further and further towards his own worst impulses.
I know there will be people who think I should have cut him out of my life years ago, who can’t believe we never talked enough to know that he voted for Trump in 2016. I think back then he was genuinely ashamed, or at least guilty, about that vote. Now? It’s almost a matter of pride for him. I can’t tell you the number of times in the last 4 months that he’s told me that Biden “couldn’t possibly” be as “great” a President as Trump.
And he hides behind this “praise them when they do good, cuff them when they do bad” line and I used to take comfort in it but now... Now it’s clear that it was just a front or excuse for liking these abhorrent people.
I’ve had a couple of hard conversations with some of our mutual friends about what this means for me, and how I interract with the whole group of friends as a whole, in the last 3 days. None of our mutual friends seem to take any of these things as seriously as I do, with my oldest friend even telling me that he ‘can’t imagine’ breaking a friendship off over politics.... I know I know, the caucasity of it all, yes ha ha. And it does make me genuinely worried that I’ll wind up losing the 5-6 close friends that I actually rely on these days over this horrible sonuvabitch. But all this personal venting aside, there’s something bigger here I want to address:
I sat down this evening to watch Last Week Tonight and I was struck by this piece about Tucker Carlson, because while I knew some of what was said on his show, he is remarkably confident for a man who spouts the quiet parts of racism/sexism/homophobia on TV. I have a hard time imaging a more blatantly racist thing to do then declare that a woman who suggested ‘dismantling systems of oppression wherever they are found’ wants to dismantle the American system...
And I have to say, we should go back to punching Nazis. I want these fuckers afraid. I want them to crawl back to the furthest reaches of the internet, relegated to be laughed at for their bigotry by pundits of every political ideology. I want their vile vitriol hidden away where it doesn’t embolden others. I want them to know that they are out of line, out of touch, out of time. I want them to feel ashamed, like the relics of a bygone and worse era that they are, and for them to quietly fade to an ignominious death. I’m tired of seeing them on National News. I’m tired of Pewdiepie’s channel and influence refusing to die despite all the horrible things he’s said and done. I’m tired of Ben Shapiro spouting off about a woman’s place and rights, as if he has any fucking authority on the matter. I just want these people to lose their platforms and their followers. And for me the fact that they haven’t yet is so incredibly discouraging.
I know I didn’t offer any answers here I’m just tired of being alone with this defeated attitude and I guess I needed to get this off my chest as I try to disentangle myself from the losing battle of trying to save a friend from alt-right radicalization.
1 note · View note
withasideofeggsy · 6 years ago
Text
Are You Open to the Idea of Nude Modeling? :: Sweet Pea Imagine
Tumblr media
Drawing by yours truly.
Summary: Transferring to Riverdale high wasn’t easy for Sweet Pea and when he meets an eccentric art student it gets all that much more difficult to settle into the school. It was easy to deal with the Bulldogs who were constantly trying to pick fights with him and his friends so why was it so hard to deal with a single girl who kept pestering him to explore the world of nude modeling?
Word count: 12K
Warnings: Coarse language, humiliation, bullying, sexual references 
Author’s note: I haven’t written anything in over a year so of course I find the weeks nearing the end of my thesis to start writing for something no one asked for LOL. And since I’m terrible with finishing pieces in chapters I MADE THIS MONSTROSITY.
I skid to a stop at the entrance of Riverdale high right as the first warning alarm sounded. With a yawn I step onto the tail of my skateboard so it met with my hand midway. Holding the metal bearing on the wheels I push through the front doors to find myself engulfed amongst the mob of students. I could hear the rowdy hollers coming down the halls, unmistakably belonging to the Bulldogs. Unlike everyone else it was way too early for me to have my curiosity peaked by their commotion, so without a glance in their direction I weave my way through the hoard to get to my locker absentmindedly trading my board for the thick math textbook. As I began to walk to my morning class Kevin fell in step with me.
 “Good morning [Y/N]!” he smiles.
 I quirk a brow at him as I notice that there was a slight bounce in his step, “Did you get laid or something? What got you so cheery this Monday morning?” I laugh.
 Kevin scoffs, “Oh god I wish!” he dreamily sighs as he tugs on the collar of his sweater, “But I have high hopes now with the Serpents transferring here.”
 I tilt my head in confusion and he laughs rolling his eyes, “You got to get your head out of the clouds once in a while! Didn’t you hear the commotion? The Bulldogs were going bat shit crazy in some weird protest about the Serpents transferring.”
 I gasped opening the classroom’s door for the both of us, “Oh right! Yes!”
 Kevin wipes a mock tear as he plops down at the desk beside me, “Goodbye my dear friend, I guess I won’t be seeing you around now since your best friend is back.”
 Laughing I shake my head, “That isn’t true, besides, Jughead’s probably too busy showing his friends around or protecting them from…well, everyone here. So you’re not getting rid of me that easily,” I muse with a smile.
 Math class was a blur.
 I couldn’t focus on the blackboard and scratchy white numbers plaguing the surface so I decide to take a nap. Opening my textbook I burry my head into the crevice and successfully dozed off. However, I awake with a jolt as someone tapped my shoulder.
 I yell, “TWENTY FOUR!”
 The class erupted in laughter and the teacher shook his head with a sigh, “Sleeping again are we, Miss. [Y/L/N]? I would give you detention like last time but you just ended up sleeping there too.”
 Blood flushes to my cheeks as I mumble out an apology a waiting for him to return to his lesson. When he finally does, I whip around to see the culprit who exposed me. There sat a new face. The olive skin boy clad in leather stifles a laugh with his knuckles but the smile crept into his eyes.
 He composes himself terribly and slides his hand away from his mouth, displaying his perfect pearly whites in a grin, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to ask if you had a pencil I could borrow.”
 I try hard to hold a stern face but an airy laugh escapes past my lips, “How in the world can you forget to bring a pencil on your first day of school?” I tease passing him my pencil.
 The cute boy grins taking the pencil from my fingers, “I’m Fangs.”
 I smile turning back around. Noticing without fail Kevin’s gapping mouth at the boy who sat behind me for the remainder of the class.
 -
 Finally the only class that I looked forward to: art class. I made my way into the classroom and was welcomed by the faint scent of acrylic paint. Grabbing a canvas from the rack I place it on the easel and began setting up my workspace. It was quiet as I move the jars of paint from my cubby to a small table that sat beside my easel. Until two sets of heavy boots echo in the empty room.
 A familiar voice calls out, “Hey twenty four!”
 Without lifting my head to meet his gaze I shake my head with a small laugh, “Don’t tell me you forgot an eraser now, Buffy.”
 The male outwardly giggles making his way over to where I stood. I finally look up only to see Fangs accompanied by a much taller, darker, and handsome companion. My curious eyes meet his and he glowers down at me with a snarl before facing his friend, “You’re already cozying up with the Northsider trash?” he says exposing his perfectly sculpted profile for me. To the slope of his nose, plump lips, chiselled jaw, and the ink that hugged his thick neck, it was evident that god definitely spent extra time on him.
 Fangs open his mouth to say something but before he could, I beat him to it, “Fuck, you’re beautiful!” I exclaim.
 The tall male whips his face in my direction and his eyes widen to the size of saucers as I step forward to grab his face in my hands. Mesmerized, I tilt his head around carefully with the pads of my fingers so I could get a better look at his features. Satisfied, I squished his cheeks with the palm of my hands, “Are you open to the idea of nude modeling?”
 “W-Wha?!” he splutters taking a step back and tempting to cover his dusted pink cheeks with his hand that was adorning multiple rings.
 “Oh! Look at that!” I muse grabbing his hand, “Your body proportions, face, and even fingers are perfection. Seriously, it would be a waste if you don’t.”
 He flinches, retracting his hand to his face as if I burned him. Fangs finally broke out from shock and laughs hard enough to draw tears. He clutches his stomach with one hand while the other flailed around slapping his flustered friend’s back.
 “Yeah Sweet Pea! Don’t let god’s work be in vain,” Fangs wheeze clutching the tall male’s shoulder for support.
 Before I could comment on his adorable name, students start flooding into the room. Judging by how he played with the helm of his leather jacket and how he chewed on his bottom lip, I could tell he was trying to compose himself to keep up with his scary bad boy rep. Which I understood, so I gave him a break and sat down in my seat. Fangs and Sweet Pea follow suit taking a seat beside me.
 The teacher gives us an assignment brief and we were off to work on our own devices. The class goes by relatively smoothly, most likely due to the fact that the art kids usually didn’t care much about gossip regarding the new additions to our class seeing that we were usually the weirdoes of Riverdale high anyways, of course along side the typical nerds.
 I look away from my canvas to steal a glance at Sweet Pea who was intently mixing colours on a palette. Oh gosh, he was so cute. Sweet Pea suddenly looks up and meets my gaze, his cheeks burning red as he forcibly looks away to aggressively apply his newly mixed paint onto his canvas. Drifting away from Sweet Pea’s, probably not intentional, abstract piece, I look over to Fang’s canvas. I burst out laughing but thankfully no one paid much mind as they were absorbed in their own conversations and music. On Fang’s canvas was a poorly drawn stick figure in the “draw me like one of your French girls” pose with an arrow pointing to the figure with “Sweet Pea” roughly scribbled in a fat paintbrush. However, my laugh did catch the attention of the said male so when he looked up from his own canvas he also saw Fang’s masterpiece.  His nose scrunches up as he playfully punches Fang in the shoulder as he did nothing to defend himself but laugh hysterically.
 “That could be us but you playin,” I sing making sure to catch Sweet Pea’s gaze before turning away.
 He scoffs rolling his eyes, “Yeah, in your dreams perv.”
 I smile, “Oh yeah, you will definitely be in my dreams beanstalk,” I say teasingly.
 Sweet Pea opens his mouth, but before he could make another snarky remark the bell rings signalling for lunch. Everyone hustles to clean up as I continue to work on my painting. Bidding farewell to my new acquaintances results in a cheery “see ya!” from Fangs and a mere glance from Sweet Pea. However, despite his cold shoulder and his understandable despise for the Northside I was determined to get him to model for me.
 Sweet Pea’s POV
 Fangs and I made it to the rendezvous spot, Jughead’s locker.
 Jughead raises a brow at me as I sigh and lean against a locker, “Someone gave you a hard time Sweet Pea?”
 Fangs answers for me but not without letting out a snort, “Yup.”
 I groan, “I just met the weirdest girl in my art class.”
 Toni wiggles her eyebrows and nudges my stomach teasingly, “Is she cute?”
 “Kinda,” I shrug, “I mean she’s okay for a Northsider.”
 With that Jughead tries to stifle a laugh, “You probably met [Y/N]. Did she ask if you would be interested in nude modeling for her?”
 The blood rises to my face once again for the third time today, “Yes! Does she do that to everyone?”
 Jughead smirks at my flustered state, “No, only to the really handsome guys. Okay, this is important. Did she call you handsome or beautiful?”
 I chuckle proudly, “She actually called me perfection.”
 Toni bursts out laughing throwing herself at Fangs, “Do you hear this?!”
 Fangs nodded enthusiastically, “I was there man!!! It was so fucking hilarious! You should’ve seen Pea’s face it was priceless.”
 I glare at the two buffoons I deem my best friends.
 Jughead sucks in a sharp breath as he nervously readjusts his beanie, “Perfection, huh? You are in some deep shit just a heads up. She only ever called one person that before you,” he says trying to keep a stoic face but the twitch at the corner of his lips shows his enthusiasm regarding the whole situation, “She’s going to be after your naked ass.”
 I scratch my cheek, “She scares me,” I confess before breaking into a shit eating grin, “And honestly I kinda like it.”
 Toni wipes the tears from her eyes, “Oh my god Pea! What the fuck!” she exclaims still hysterically laughing.
 Jughead shakes his head still amused as ever, probably the most amused I’ve seen him ever, “Trust me. You have every right to be scared, my dad is still shaken up.”
 “FP?” Fangs questions loudly before I could.
 He nods, “Yup,” he says popping the ‘p’, “I never seen him make an excuse about Serpent business and dipping so quick. She pestered him for WEEKS saying how he was perfection and how god spent extra time on him,” Jughead explains half out of breath from laughing so hard.
 All of us burst out laughing harder if that was even physically possible seeing that Toni and Fangs already had tears streaming down their faces. We only stop when our stomachs start to cramp and growl from hunger. Jughead cocks his head to the cafeteria, “Come on, I’m starving. And don’t worry [Y/N] spends her lunch break in the art room you will be safe Mr. Perfection.”
 I roll my eyes at his newfound nickname that I know without a doubt would be used for the rest of the week. Walking into the cafeteria and taking a big waft of the food I found myself pretty excited. The food smells so much better than the slop we were served at Southside high, and I would never admit it but I was excited to see if I had any remaining classes with the weird art girl after lunch.
Your POV
 Tilting my head inspecting the canvas I nod with satisfaction. Not bad. Looking at the clock on the wall I notice that I still had about half an hour left for lunch so I quickly clean up thinking that I should be there to at least see Jughead on his first day back. Slipping into the cafeteria I make a beeline for the food grabbing the last plate of mashed potatoes and an apple juice. Holding my tray I purse my lips as I scan the cafeteria for the familiar beanie. But I found him relatively immediately seeing that he sat at a long table occupied by all black leather jacket wearing students. As I near the group and a few of them look up with a bit of hostility in their eyes but I didn’t mind, transferring to a new school in the middle of the semester is tough I get it. I stand right behind Jughead and snatch the beanie off his head, “Hey!” he exclaims. Immediately a few chairs screech loudly as some Serpents stood up from their seat ready to defend their friend. Ignoring them I plop down between Jughead and a pink haired girl.
“HEY! Back at ya,” I yell as he flashes me a smile.
 “God I definitely don’t miss you at all [Y/N],” he says sarcastically snatching his hat back.
 The pink haired girl pipes up, “Wait. You’re [Y/N]?”
 I turn to face her with a smile, “That’s me. I guess Jug’s been talking about me. All good things I hope?”
 Jughead scoffs, “I wouldn’t say ALL good things since you came up in our discussion on how you were harassing our little Pea over there.”
 “Huh?” I ask following the direction of his craned neck. There sat Sweet Pea.
 I giggle, “Oh! You know beanstalk! Is this about the whole nude thing? I’m a professional I swear! I’m not going to molest you or anything,” I try explaining, “Oh…and if you’re worried about the size of your junk I promise I can draw you bigger than you are – to your ideals even!”
 “That’s not the point!” the tall male stutters, “God…” he mumbles as his cheeks grew pink.
 His group of friends start to laugh. Ignoring him I took over to the giggling Fangs who sat beside his friend who shrank in embarrassment, “Hey Buffy.”
 “Hey…” he says in dumbfound awe.
 “What did you tell them?” I immediately accuse my best friend who just stifles a laugh.
 “Just told them that you harassed my dad,” he simply says popping a fry into his mouth.
 I burst out laughing, “Hey! Mr. Jones was totally down. He said he wouldn’t though because YOU would be embarrassed if the whole town saw his naked butt.”
 “Oh my god, you are the best!” the pink haired female said, “I’m Toni Topaz by the way.”
 I smile at her, “Nice to meet you Toni!”
 Before we could delve into a conversation the bell rang. With a sigh I pick up my empty tray, “Off to English.”
 Toni smiles brightly, “I’ve got English too! Wanna head there together?”
 I return her smile, “That sounds great.”
 Exchanging a few goodbyes to Jughead and his friends before splitting ways. Toni keeps close to my side as we navigate through the crowded halls filled with students scurrying to their own classes. We make small talk mainly consisting of asking her how she was keeping up with her first day of school. Everything was going great we even found two seats at the back of the classroom but to get there of course we had to pass by Cheryl, who sat at the front and centre without fail in every class.
 “Hello outcasts, it seems like a snake and a untalented sloth can be friends,” the ginger muses.
 I roll my eyes, “It’s not my fault you can’t accept that your nose looks weird. I drew what I saw and it’s not my problem that you weren’t happy with it,” I explain matter-of-factly.
 I hear an “Ooof,” whistle past Toni’s lips who stood behind me.
 The redhead rolls her eyes in return, effectively shutting her up for the time being. I plop down in my seat as Toni takes her respective one beside me. Immediately after settling in she leans on the palm of her hand, her body completely facing me, “So tell me what that was all about.”
 Letting out a small noise that was between a laugh and a scoff, “We were partnered up for a portrait drawing exercise last semester and she got mad because apparently I got her nose wrong,” while explaining I dug through my bag to pull out my sketchbook to show her the page with the infamous Blossom’s face on it.
 The pink haired girl hums, “Looks pretty on point to me, especially the nose,” she smiles.
 “That’s what I said!” I exclaim with a laugh.
 “But hey you’re really talented. Do you mind if I take a look through the rest of your sketchbook?”
 I pass her my most prized possession that I had, “Sure. And no worries there aren’t any nudes in there. I haven’t found someone who was willing to do that for me yet,” I say with a disappointed sigh.
 After Toni flips through each page carefully that mostly consisted of Jughead and sometimes Betty sprawled over the sheets she passes the sketchbook back to me, “They’re amazing! Are you sure you want to waste your talent on Sweet Pea?” she jokes.
 I nod in all seriousness, “He is absolute perfection. His Olympian proportions would be wasted if they aren’t spread on a canvas for the world to see.”
 Toni’s eyes widen in amusement and she covers her mouth holding back a loud laugh so we don’t get in trouble by the teacher, “If that’s what you really want then okay. I never seen anyone get Sweets flustered before and I’m honestly living for it. I’ll help you convince him into modeling for you.”
 My eyes widen as the biggest smile broke onto my face, “Really!? Thank you so much Toni! You have no idea how much that means to me!”
 I spent the rest of the English sketching out Toni’s profile as she paid attention to the teacher.
 -
 The next day
 I found myself oddly excited for school even though it was just a Tuesday, which is usually a little too early to be excited in the week seeing that the weekend is so far away. But something with the Serpents showing up to the school is nice, something new and new to look at and draw.
 In math I ended up successfully staying awake, much to the approval of my teacher. However, he didn’t need to know that I was focussing on the swishing of my pen as I drew Fangs.
 In art class it was the most fun since I got to bug the said boy and his giant of a friend counterpart. Which to my disappointment the latter still refused my offer to fulfill his meaning in life.
 And lunch was different. Instead of hiding out in the art room which was of habit after Jughead transferred away, I found myself following Fangs and Sweet Pea to join them at their table. I guess it was nice to spend more time with Jughead and finally have friends. I especially enjoyed talking to Toni about everything and anything.
 However, everything turned for the worse nearing the end of the day. I leave the science lab making my way to my locker to pack up to go home when I hear a commotion near the student lounge. Intrigued I make my way over there to see the Serpents and Bulldogs at each other’s throats. Mainly Sweet Pea and Reggie Mantle.
 “You think you can just invade our school like some disease and tag your logo everywhere?” Reggie yells shoving Pea in the chest.
 Sweet Pea shoves the shorter male back, “It wasn’t us you fucktard. You did this to frame us!”
 I cock a brow at all the students who had their phones out snapping pictures of the ground where a huge serpent tag as painted on top of the existing Riverdale high logo. I tilt my head curiously and walk right between the boys who started throwing punches. They stop mid brawl out of confusion as I crouch right before the emblem on the floor, studying it.
 “Hm…beanstalk here is right. You yeasty doggos did it,” I say matter-of-factly before standing back up to look at Reggie and the rest of the jocks who stood closely behind him.
 “Excuse me?” he growls out taking a step toward me.
 I smile and pointed at the Bottom of the snake tag, “I believe if a Serpent had done this they would’ve at least gotten their emblem correct. It’s a dual headed snake, a head at each end of its body, but this guy right here only got one.”
 Reggie flicks my forehead causing me to stumble back and I couldn’t help but notice the growl that left Sweet Pea as he inches forward. Reggie gets up into my personal space and tilts my chin up, “Since when have you’ve been so involved with these snakes? Oh! Is it because they are finally getting you laid because everyone here refuses to fuck you, you freak!” he bursts out laughing causing the rest of the Northside student body to do so as well.
 I roll my eyes slapping his hand away from my chin, “First, off. You have to be utterly stupid or blind to not notice that detail of their emblem,” I gesture to the leather clad students, “Considering that these guys literally display it on their backs all day. Maybe you can take your head out of your ass so you can take a look around your surroundings, I think it would do you good. And second, I apologize if I offended you by not asking you to model for me. I just don’t really see anything special there, sorry,” I explain genuinely.
 The serpents end up laughing at Reggie’s face causing him to shove me harshly out of spite. It all happened so quick, Jughead grabs my arm to steady me as Sweet Pea decks Reggie in the face, “Don’t fucking touch her!” he shouts just as Reggie throws a punch back into Sweet Pea’s face.
 My heart beats rapidly and I could feel the blood rushing to me cheeks, someone stood up for me. I watch in complete awe as the mass of boys start to gravitate together, ready to fight. Luckily, it was cut short as Principle Weatherbee bellows over the crowd, “Enough! Miss. [Y/L/N] is right. I didn’t think it’s possible but… Bulldogs clean up your mess!” he yells gesturing to the floor, “And you, Serpents, no gang related in duos while on school premises so as of today you are to leave your jackets at home. If I see that logo of yours you will be suspended!”
 An argument breaks out between Weatherbee and the Serpents as they refuse the newly implemented dress code but they couldn’t do much since he was the principle. The crowd quickly disperses and I stand there awkwardly not knowing what to do with myself after the burst of confidence to stand up to the Bulldogs. I hear a sigh coming beside me and I look up to see Jughead, “I can’t believe you did that [Y/N] they’re going to make your life harder than they already do.”
 I shrug, “I guess it’s hard to stand around and watch others get picked on when you know how that feels y’know?” I shyly confess picking at my cheek.
 The beanie clad boy smiles pulling me into a tight embrace, “Thank you [Y/N], for standing up for me…us.”
 Toni and Fangs quickly agree and transforms the embrace into a group hug.
 I let out a breathy laugh as they squeeze the air out of my lungs, pulling away I gesture to Sweet Pea who awkwardly stood a foot away, “I mean I got to keep my golden model out of – WHAT THE FUCK!” I scream noticing the purple bruising skin decorating his eye.
 I grab his face pulling him down to my height to inspect his black eye, “NO! My baby! Your face!” I cry devastated hugging his head, “I’m going to fucking kill Reggie!”
 Sweet Pea chuckles pulling back so we held eye contact, “It’ll heal. And when it does maybe,” he pauses with a sigh, “I can be your model – clothed model. But maybe if you take me out on a date I would consider going topless. How about that?”
 I smile nodding continuously, “Yes! Yes, I thousand times yes!”
 That was the first time I saw his face soften, he lets the corner of his lip tug up slightly, “I’m only doing it because you did that for the Serpents. And I’m not one to not return favours.”
 Giggling I pull him into a tight embrace, “Whatever, I’ll take it!”
 He returns the hug.
 -
 Friday of the following week
 “So…” I trail off leaning beside Sweet Pea’s locker, “Your eye is about healed. Are we still on?” I ask coolly trying my best to hide my excitement just in case he reveals to me that it was all a joke.
 He places his math texture onto the top shelf of his locker before turning around giving me a view of his smirk, “We’re still on, as long as my pants stay on too.”
 I giggle, “Yeah…I think I can do that – for today anyway. Seeing that it’s your first time modelling I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I don’t want you to end up looking constipated in my piece.”
 The smirk continues to stay on his plump lips, “Just so you know, my resting face is up in that alley. Don’t blame me if I look constipated.”
 A shy smile found its way on my own lips, “You don’t give yourself enough credit. I think your resting face is more smouldery than you think,” I say brushing my hair behind my ear as I led the way to the still life drawing studio.
 Sweet Pea makes his way up on the large pedestal and sat himself down on the stool making him still look like a huge looming mass even though he was seated. He watches me as I readjust the light source making sure it illuminated all the perfect features of his face. Taking a step back I look up at him and I couldn’t help but to admire him even more as the light and shadows enhanced all his already stunning features. Satisfied I take a seat on a stool that sat in front of the pedestal with my sketchbook and pencil in hand.
 He clears his throat awkwardly, “So…what do you want me to do?” he mumbles looking at the lamp.
 I hum tapping my pencil against my chin, “Honestly you’re perfect as is. You can keep looking at the light. But of course not directly, I don’t want your eyes to burn out,” I laugh.
 “Gotcha.”
 My medium glided along the paper effortlessly, it just came so natural drawing him. I wasn’t being dramatic when I tell him that the construction of his face is perfect. Every stroke of graphite was smooth and represented his features flawlessly. I just about finished his face and I extended the line from his chin to sketch out his neck. Looking back up at him I giggle at the turtleneck that he so reluctantly had to wear.
 “That’s not gonna do,” I sigh and his eyes glance over at me as he tries to keep his pose, “Can you pull down your -”
 “No! I don’t want to pull down my pants!” he exclaims immediately breaking from his pose to stand up, ready to make a run for it.
 I laugh shaking my head, “Sweets no!” I exclaim standing up to place a reassuring hand on his broad shoulder, “I was about to say turtleneck, like can you pull it down for me cause this preppy Riverdale high attire isn’t really working for me and I think it’s safe to assume that it isn’t working for you either.”
 His cheeks dusts pink as he scratches his cheek, “Haha…yeah. Yeah I can do that,” he mumbles taking a seat again.
 I pull gently hook my finger in his collar feeling the contrast between my cool digit against his warm neck. And he felt it too as he shivers. I pull down the fabric with one hand as I use my other to lead his up to hold down his collar.
 I retract back into my earlier position holding my sketchbook again, “Don’t worry Sweets, I don’t bite. Contrary to popular belief,” I explain focussing back at the task on hand.
 He chuckles, “I can just take this off if you want.”
 I look back up to him, “We don’t wanna do that. If I say yes you’re going to get freaked out and run away. I’m almost done so I don’t want that,” I tease smiling.
 The corners of Sweet Pea’s lips curl up as he looks back at the light source. Watching him for a moment and back down at my finished drawing of his face, I pull out an eraser.
 “Alright! I’m done,” I chime.
 Sweet Pea stretches with a sigh before jumping off the pedestal, “Let’s see the masterpiece!”
 I smile handing him the sketchbook that captured the profile of Sweet Pea smiling in his usual leather jacket and plaid attire.
 “Is it okay?” I ask timidly.
 “Okay?” he gasps, “This is amazing! Damn. You even got my jacket on point without a reference!”
 With a blush I smile, “Thanks. So I guess you know that I have the ability to draw you wearing anything…or nothing at all at my freewill,” I tease jokingly which causes him to laugh.
 “I mean if I were to model for you naked I think you would do my body justice,” he teases back with a wink making me laugh in return.
 I pack up my stuff as he waited patiently. I look up at him and he didn’t say anything – a comfortable silence envelopes us. And I decide to ask him the subject that has been plaguing my mind since the first day I met him.
 “Um…Sweet Pea?” I ask shyly suddenly finding my paint-splattered shoes to be interesting.
 He hums a waiting for me to finish. I smile up at him optimistically, “There’s this art competition happening next month and it’s really important to me. I was wondering if you would be interested in modelling again.”
 I smile unsurely as my eyebrows knit together. He shrugs, “Sure why not? Today wasn’t exactly terrible.”
 “Really?” I stutter out in disbelief, “But the competition has a canvas size requirement…it’s quite big I don’t think I would be able to finish it in one seating.”
 Sweet Pea nods humming thoughtfully, “Do you think meeting twice a week would do?”
 “Are you sure? That’s a lot of time commitment.”
 “Does it look like a have a whole lot of shit I got to be doing?” he retorts back.
 I shrug, “I don’t know what you Serpents do after school hours,” I quickly add “But all good things I assume.”
 The tall male snorts, “Nice save. But yeah I’m down to help you out.”
 Gratitude fills my chest causing warmth to tingle throughout my body. I pull him into an embrace, “Thank you Sweet Pea! This means so much to me I hope you know!”
 I pull away and raise a brow, “But what do you want in return?”
 He genuinely smiles, “I actually can think of one on top of my head right now. Maybe you can give me a cool tattoo or something.”
 I grin, “You’re really going to trust me to draw something permanent on your skin? Especially considering that I never ventured off a piece of paper before.”
 Sweet Pea shrugs, “After seeing what your skills I’m not too worried.”
 “Thanks,” I smile the butterflies in my stomach taking flight.
 -
 The following weeks consisted of us spending the brute of our time in the still life studio after school. We would spend about three hours per session before he drops me off back home on the back of his motorcycle as I attempt to hold onto my skateboard and his waist for dear life. That was how Tuesdays and Fridays went without fail until today. Sweet Pea took his usual spot on the pedestal as I set up the biggest canvas I’d ever worked on. I revived the dried acrylic paint from Tuesday. However, before I could even apply the paint onto the canvas someone burst into the room. We both jolt up and look towards the door where Josie made her entrance.
 “Hey Sweets! There you are, I was looking everywhere for you. Why are you in this dump on a Friday evening? Let’s go to Pops!” she says pulling the said boy of her interest up.
 He staggers slightly gaining his balance before answering, “Sorry Josie, but I’m busy.”
 Josie casts a glance at my direction and eyes me up and down before turning to the male and smiling brightly again as if that stank face never happened, “Don’t you remember that you owe me? Due to my efforts we passed that chem lab with flying colours! And I think I deserve a shake for that,” she says poking him playfully in the chest.
 He was a little unsure of himself as he looks between Josie and me. So I made the decision for him. He wasn’t one to be pressured into anything he didn’t want to do so by him not turning down Josie it was clear that he wanted to leave with her and I respected that.
 “You know what? We’ve actually made really good process already. Why don’t you go enjoy your Friday night?” I smile but it definitely didn’t reach my eyes.
 However, I don’t think he noticed since almost immediately that left my lips Josie hugs his bicep and drags him out of the room.
 I click my tongue absentmindedly as my eyes focus back on my canvas. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. I haven’t relaxed on a Friday night in a while it could be a nice change for once. Taking my time cleaning up I make my way to my locker grabbing my skateboard.
 -
 Tuesday rolls around and I was determined to finish a vast majority of the piece seeing that next week was the deadline for the competition. I had set everything up, all that I was missing was the model himself. I rocked on the uneven stool for a few minutes before the door swings open. I look up with a smile for it to only change into a look of confusion, “Hey…Fangs?”
 He smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes, “Sweet Pea sent me here to tell you that he can’t make it today.”
 “Oh…” I nod, “That’s okay. Thanks for telling me.”
 Fangs makes his way towards me to look at the canvas, “That looks amazing!” he says before trailing off, “But you’ve still got a lot to do…the thing is next week too right?”
 I sigh in defeat, “Yeah…but that’s okay. I got his face finished already it’s just his hair…and everything else,” I humourlessly laugh.
 The olive skin male stays silent for a minute before he breaks it, “I’m going to drag his ass back here. He’s just going on a date anyways and that can wait,” he explains already making his way out the door.
 “Wait!” I call grabbing a hold on his sleeve, “He’s on a date?”
 Fangs turn around giving me an apologetic expression, “Yeah…with Josie. I’m sorry.”
 The palms of my hands cramp and I feel my heart drop to my stomach but I nodded and tried for a smile, “I…I see. That’s alright then, I don’t want to interrupt that. I’m pretty sure I can make do from memory anyways.”
 He sighs patting my head softly, “That’s not the point. It’s more about principle,” he mumbles the next part, “And I was kinda rooting for the two of you to become a thing,” but he increasingly got louder with passion, “And he goes off and pulls this shit!? With Josie of all people?”
 I couldn’t find it in me to keep angry seeing that Fangs channelled all my frustration out through his own body. I smile softly pulling him in for a hug, “Thanks Buffs,” I sigh against his shoulder.
 “But [Y/N], do you have feelings for Pea?” he asks in all seriousness.
 I pull away with a shrug, “Doesn’t really matter now does it?” I chuckle watching him frown causing me to punch him playfully in the shoulder, “I’ll be fine, don’t look at me like that!”
 He nods crossing his arms, “Alright fine. But is there anything I can do for you before I go at least?”
 Humming I eye him up and down, “If it isn’t against the rules or anything would it be possible if I could borrow your jacket?”
 Fangs shrug out of his Serpent jacket that Weatherbee finally allowed them to wear again starting last week. He hands it to me, “Promise me you won’t get paint on it.”
 “I promise,” I smile hugging the leather to my chest.
 With a soft peck on my forehead he leaves closing the door behind him. I hold out the jacket feeling determination coursing through my veins. Pulling up an extra easel I hang Fang’s jacket so that the emblem faced me and got straight to work.
 -
 Friday
 Sweet Pea doesn’t show up again.
 And he didn’t even bother to send Fangs to tell me that. The heavy compression grew in my chest again but I didn’t have time to be upset. Shaking my head and plastering a smile on my face I got to work.
 I only halt in my painting when my bladder became unbearable to hold. Getting up with a groan and a satisfying stretch that resulted in a ‘pop’ I dash for the washroom. With a relived sigh I make my way back to the studio, only to be greeted by a tall male who loomed over my canvas.
 “Hey, sorry I’m late,” Sweet Pea says handing me a milkshake.
 I look up at him with confusion but nonetheless I take the drink from his hand. He cocks his head to the Pop’s takeout bag that perched on top of a table, “That’s for you too, I hope you accept my apology. I had a talk with Fangs and realized how big of a jerk I was being.”
 “A bigger jerk than usual,” I correct as I sip on the strawberry shake.
 “Yes that too,” he chuckles.
 I walk up beside him inspecting the canvas alongside with him, “I’m about done anyways. Just working on the background so you don’t really need to be here if you don’t wanna.”
 He casts a soft gaze my way, “What if…I want to be here?”
 I shrug indifferently trying to ease the harsh beating in my chest, “I’m not going to kick you out or anything. Especially since you got me food,” I laugh rummaging through the paper bag.
 Sweet Pea nods looking over the canvas again, “What were you planning on for the background?”
 “Yellow sweet pea flowers,” I mumble out with a full mouth.
 He chuckles, “That sounds beautiful, but why a Serpent in a field of flowers?”
 “Well…everyone around here sees Serpents as thugs and such but I think you guys represent so much more than that. I wanted the piece to embrace the power of youth and rebellion and how beautiful and rejuvenating it can be, hence the flowers…well that’s what I was going for anyways,” I explain with a small smile.
 Sweet Pea worries his bottom lip between his teeth staying silent but I can feel his mind running thoughts miles per second. I nervously laugh holding out my hands in defense, “Sorry if you think that’s stupid especially since I’m using your face for this! Honestly, it doesn’t have to be that deep it can literally be you with a blank background!”
 Before I could ramble on Sweet Pea leans down and presses his soft lips against mine, successfully shutting me up. He pulls away slightly, our noses still touching. Looking down at me with a warm soft gaze, “No, I think that’s beautiful…just like the artist,” he breathes kissing me once more.
 My body felt light and warm. I wasn’t sure if it was from the kiss or the close proximity of his body as he held mine against his. We stay still, basking in the moment and it was perfect. His gaze holds mine searching for something that I couldn’t exactly pinpoint. His lips part before closing into a gentle smile.
 He tries again, “I never felt this way before…and I’m kinda scared but it’s exciting – this feeling.”
 I nod understanding what he meant, “I’m new to all this too…but I thought you were already scared of me so…what’s the difference?”
 Just then the door screeches open. Without pulling away we simultaneously look towards the door. Josie. There she stood with her hands on her hips looking rather livid.
 She huffs, “I can’t believe you really blew me off and didn’t come to watch me practice.”
 Sweet Pea shrugs, “I told you that I had other plans.”
 Josie rolls her eyes, “Surely you would’ve enjoyed watching me sing than – her just sitting there and paint,” she angrily expresses gesturing towards me.
 He sighs before replying with equal frustration, “Josie, I already held up my promise and took you to Pop’s for helping me do well in that assignment. So I don’t know what you want from me.”
 I watch the Pussycat smirk as she crosses her arms, “I want you to do what you did with me that night,” she then eyes me, “It felt so good, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
 Instantly I felt dirty.
 I pull away from the taller male, wrapping my arms around myself protectively. Sweet Pea frantically tries to stitch words together to explain himself but it fell upon deaf ears as all I could focus on was wiping my lips with the sleeve of my hoodie.
 “Um…I don’t really have time to be in the middle of a lovers quarrel,” I explain keeping my gaze locked on the floor, “I gotta finish this painting…so why don’t you just leave Sweet Pea?”
 I look up and that was my second mistake, first mistake was giving him my first kiss. He watches me with knitted brows, it could’ve easily been mistaken for anger but I’ve watched his face carefully enough for the past month to know that it was a look of pain and sadness. The lump in my throat grew as I force my face to stay stoic as he tries so hard to explain himself, but I couldn’t find it in me to care anymore. Suddenly his face grew angry as he realizes. The tall male turns around with a furious growl, shoving tables, kicking stools, and ultimately picking up easels to throw them across the room. In his rampage Josie was smart enough to keep silent to not fuel his explosive anger. Regardless he makes his way right in front of girl and he rolls his neck, a habit I noticed that he had when he tries to hold in his irritation, “Get the fuck out of here before I break all your music equipment. Whatever the fuck happened that night is NEVER going to happen again.”
 His shoulder sags noticeably before he turns around to face me again. I stay planted before my easel, which was the only one in the room that wasn’t destroyed in his explosion episode. He looks defeated as he stands right in front of me – a careful distance between us.
 “I’m sorry…” he pleads, “I swear I wouldn’t have done that if I knew that you liked me back.”
 I shrug nonchalantly, “I guess you don’t like me that much then if you were to be swayed so easily.”
 “But I do...” he says quietly, “I…just didn’t think that you could’ve possibly seen me as something more than your muse.”
 “I mean if Pygmalion could fall in love with his sculpture I don’t think it’s that wild for me to fall in love with you, a real person,” I explain.
 He lets out a breathy laugh, “I don’t really get that reference but I get the gist. Basically you’re saying that I’m an idiot?”
 I nod, “Exactly that.”
 “Do you forgive me?” Sweet Pea asks suddenly.
 I wasn’t sure how to reply so I shrug. The rest of the evening consisted of him quietly cleaning up the mess from his rampage as I finished the painting.
 -
 Monday
 After the whole confessing over deal on Friday the relationship between Pea and I was awkward to say so in the least. So when Monday rolled around it wasn’t a surprise that the tension still lingered. Fangs and I walk together to art since we had first period together. So as we sat and talked at our table before the class started Sweet Pea finally makes his way into the class. Our conversion trails to a stop as we make eye contact. He tries for a small smile which I return before plugging my ear buds in to completely focus on my project. I blast my music but I can still hear the usual faint bickering between the two boys.
 Sweet Pea’s POV
 It made me sad that [Y/N] was still not like herself but I understood. I really fucked up and hurt her feelings which was the last thing I ever wanted to do in my life. Respecting her space I focus my attention to my best friend. Barely getting anything done, which was the norm for any students who took art – of course besides [Y/N], I ended up goofing around with Fangs. The shorter male dips his fingers into a jar of purple paint and smears it on my forehead.
 “Yooo did Reggie beat you up again?” Fangs cackles holding his stomach.
 “He never beat me up you dick!” I roll my eyes slapping a yellow hand mark onto his cheek in return.
 And one thing led to another. The next thing I knew I was holding my large cup of used rinse water chucking the contents at Fangs who expertly ducked. Simultaneously our eyes bug out of our heads as we watch [Y/N] get drenched with the grey water. The poor girl blinks the water out of her eyes and looks down at herself in confusion as a blush crept onto her face.
 She was wearing white.
 Her head snaps to look at the two of us but I felt majority of the wrath. She glares at me silently as the droplets run down her face and to her chest which was completely on display as her shirt grew translucent. A blush spread onto my cheeks as well as I take notice of her lacy [colour] bra.
 “What the fuck!?” she exclaims wrapping an arm around her chest before quickly running out of the class.
 The class starts to erupt in laughter as I quickly chase after her. Before leaving I hear Fangs shout over the class, “Shut up! Nothing to see here!”
 Running into the hallway I see her turn sharply into the women’s washroom. Not giving a shit I follow her in.
 “Hey I’m so…” I trail off watching her struggling to pull the clinging fabric over her head.
 Blood rushes to my face as her cleavage was on full display. “Oh – Oh my god!” we yell in unison.
 I turn around immediately as she simultaneously pulls her shirt back on.
 “Pea?! Why are you in here?”
 “Uh...” I stutter, “To apologize? I don’t know?!”
 She sighs and I hear her footsteps making her way behind me. She places a hand on my shoulder and I turn around to face her. Rolling her eyes she speaks, “It’s whatever. I know it’s an accident. Just don’t be so stupid next time.”
 I sigh in relief, “You aren’t upset?” I ask looking into her eyes.
 The shorter female shrugs, “Eh…just adding it to the list now. Nothing special.”
 I wasn’t sure if she was joking but it made my heart sting. Pushing my thoughts back I shimmy out of my jacket to take off my flannel. I hand her the shirt and she gratefully smirks, “Thanks.”
 Just then the door opens. Looking over there nervously we both sigh in relief to see that it was just our pink haired friend.
 “Uhh…why the fuck are you in the women’s washroom Pea?” she questions with a raised brow.
 I roll my eyes, “The girls are probably more comfortable with me being in here and you, you predator.”
 Toni mocks offense but she ends up cackling, “You right, you right. But get out of here before you get in trouble. I’ll help [Y/N] clean up.”
 Your POV
 Changing into Sweet Pea’s flannel I couldn’t help but to bask in his scent that consisted of the perfect balance of soap and musk. Especially with the scent wafting everywhere as I bent under the hand dryer while Toni tussles my hair in hopes to dry it out a bit.
 “There, I think you should be okay now,” Toni pulls away with a smile, “Besides the flannel eating you up.”
 I look in the mirror and I couldn’t help but laugh. The blue plaid flannel was about triple the size of me. My hands disappear in the sea of extra fabric from the sleeves and the length of the shirt fell at the middle of my thighs. My pink haired friend tried to tuck the excess into my pants without avail as there was just that much fabric causing us to laugh.
 “Hey I’m sorry that you’re stuck with my two idiots I call friends in art. I wish I was there to keep them in check, babe.”
 I smile shaking my head, “It’s alright. I rather enjoy their company. I just wished they didn’t splash me with dirty paint water though.”
 Toni nods in agreement, “Can I ask you something?”
 “Shoot.”
 “What is your relationship with Sweets?” she asks crossing her arms her face suddenly growing serious.
 “Uhhhh do you like him or something? I can back off I swear,” I laugh holding my sweater mitts up.
 She bursts out in a hearty laughter, “Oh jeez no. I definitely would go for you first before him.”
 I smile shyly, “Thanks Toni. In that case, then yes I guess you can say that. But I don’t know anymore. Him and Josie seem to hit it off pretty great.”
 Toni rolls her eyes at that, “No I think you got it wrong. Nothing happened between them.”
 I open my mouth but Toni doesn’t give me a chance to speak, “They went back to his trailer. They were making out and when they started to take off their clothes Pea put a stop to it. He said something about not wanting to show his body to anyone but you. He beat himself over making out with Josie all week I swear.”
 I shake my head with a look of pure confusion, “Then why didn’t he just tell me that nothing happened between them?”
 At that Toni scoffs, “It’s fucking stupid,” she continues, “He didn’t want you to know that he’s a virgin.”
 “What?!” I laugh, “Really?”
 She joins me, “I know right! We all told him that and he was so stubborn. Going on that how you were too cool to want an inexperienced guy.”
 “Fuck…he’s so adorable,” I sigh covering my blushing cheeks.
 Toni pulls my hands away from my face looking deep into my eyes, “I hope you can forgive him now?”
 I nod, “Yeah, definitely.”
 Giving Toni a final hug I make my way back into class. Immediately my two friends look up from their conversation. I take a seat and realized that they had cleaned up the mess while I was gone.
 “You alright?” Sweet Pea asks dipping his head apologetically.
 “Yeah,” I say giving him a genuine smile, “Thanks for the shirt by the way.”
 His face lights up and a blush dusts his cheeks, “You look really great. You can keep it.”
 I smile at that, “I was planning on never returning it anyways but thanks.”
 Fangs sighs happily clasping his hands together as he looks at the both of us while he sat stark in the middle, “I’m so happy right now guys.”
 -
 The bell rings.
 “Hey, you guys head to the caf first. I got to drop off something in my locker,” Sweet Pea says cocking his head in the opposite direction.
 “Okay! We’ll save you a spot,” I say with a smile before waving at him.
 Sweet Pea’s POV
 Closing my locker I was surprised to see Josie leaning against the locker beside mine.
 “Hey Pea,” she smiles seductively.
 I cock a brow, “Yes?”
 “It’s a little chilly today,” she starts.
 “And I can’t do anything about the weather,” I add.
 She laughs, “You’re funny. I was wondering if you could lend me your flannel.”
 I shake my head, “Not my problem. Maybe check the weather next time before leaving the house without pants,” I deadpan gesturing to her mini skirt.
 Josie’s jaw drops and I was satisfied. I left it at that and made my way to the cafeteria where [Y/N] was waiting for me.
 Your POV
 Sitting with a plate of my favourite school lunch I pick at my food as I make conversion with Jughead about his new article. A tray slides onto the table and I look up at my favourite beanstalk as he makes himself comfortable beside me. Giving him a shy smile I focus back on my best friend.
 Looking at my phone I notice the time,” Oh I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’m going to go pack up my painting for the competition this Wednesday.”
 “Oh! I haven’t seen it yet. Can we see it?” Jughead expresses and Toni nods in agreement, “I haven’t seen your masterpiece either.”
 I laugh, “Sure! Why don’t I bring it here for you guys. I’ll be right back!”
 Getting up from my seat I make my way to the studio. However I didn’t realize that Josie and a bunch of her Bulldog friends also made their way out of the cafeteria as well. Walking nonchalantly down the halls I was surprised to see Chuck approach me. I knit my brows together, “Yes?”
 “Hey freak. Finally getting some from those snakes?” he laughs obnoxiously as he thrusts his pelvis into the air.
 “I didn’t know you were so invested in my life. Thanks, I’m flattered,” I sarcastically reply turning the corner for only my heart to stop.
 There in the middle of the hall was Josie accompanied by a bunch of Bulldogs, minus Archie. But that wasn’t what made me nervous it was the painting that one of them held as Reggie playfully threw punches against causing the canvas to bounce with each contact he made.
 I grit my teeth, “What do you want Josie?”
 “For you to take that off,” she points out gesturing to Sweet Pea’s flannel.
 I squint in confusion, “Okay? I can change out of it just give me a minute.”
 She shakes her head, “I want you to take it off now.”
 “What?”
 Josie nods, “I think you heard me. Take it off and walk into the cafeteria and give it back to Sweet Pea.”
 “Why are you doing this? Are you really that upset that he refused to have sex with you?” I ask crossing my arms in a challenge but she didn’t have to know that my heart was hammering against my chest.
 She sighs closing her eyes, “I just don’t understand why he would chose you over me. Maybe if he sees you topless he would come running back,” she shrugs.
 “Do you really like him that much?”
 “No not really. I just don’t like losing,” she explains evenly.
 Josie casts a glance at Reggie and he presses a finger into the painting of Sweet Pea’s face causing the canvas to stretch painfully.
 “As an artist yourself I’m really surprised that you would do this,” I say with shaky fingers as I unbutton my shirt.
 I could feel hot tears starting to prick at the corners of my eyes but I will myself to hold them in. Undoing the last button I pull the flannel off my body exposing my supple skin for everyone to see. I stare at Josie holding her stare as some of the Bulldogs pull our their phones to snap a photo.
 “Now go on,” she waves.
 I clench my fist turning around. With every step I feel every crevice in my body start to grow clammy. I felt myself getting light headed as I walk down the hall as a few students stop and turn but it was nothing compared to what’s going to happen when I enter the cafeteria. Swallowing hard I throw the door open and make my way to the opposite side. Keeping my eyes focused on Sweet Pea’s back, refusing to pay attention to the hollers and clicking of cameras.
 Jughead notices me first. He stands up in shock already taking off his jacket causing the rest of the Serpents to turn. Sweet Pea freezes for a second before darting towards me. The rest of the Serpents stand up making their way to me. But I didn’t answer any of their frantic questions. I shove the flannel into Pea’s arms and ran out of the cafeteria despite his protests.
 I hold my hand out as I was now seething in anger, “Please.”
 Josie nods and the rapid beating of my heart finally calms down but it shatters into a million pieces immediately. I watch as Reggie’s fist goes through the canvas. I let out a piercing scream as I try to stop him but another Bulldog held me back. All I could do was watch him throw the broken canvas onto the floor, stomping it into pieces. I cry, hot tears bubbling over streaming down my face as I claw at the arm that held me back – thrashing.
 “[Y/N]?” Sweet Pea frantically calls out turning the corner with my friends by his side.
 I look up at him and his expression zones out at the scene before him. He was seeing red. I duck as his fist flew in my direction, knocking out the person who held me. Toni immediately rushes to hug me in her arms as the other Serpents joined in on the fight. I cry as I watch Sweet Pea pinning Reggie on the ground as his fist smashes into his face over and over again. Jughead puts a hand on his shoulder, “That’s enough. He’s already unconscious.”
 Sweet Pea heaves, pulling away but not before landing a kick in Reggie’s stomach for good measure. At that, the rest of the Bulldogs scramble to retrieve Reggie and drag him away before he died from the tall Serpent. Surprisingly, amidst the whole chaos Josie froze from her spot and didn’t run away until it was too late. Sweet Pea was seething in rage as he stood before her, “I don’t hit girls,” he explains shaking.
 “But I can,” Toni says colliding a fist into Josie’s face.
 Sweet Pea drapes the flannel back over my shoulder, “You okay [Y/N]?”
 I shake my head pointing at the broken canvas that Toni, Jughead and Fangs were trying to piece together but it was fruitless. It was beyond repair.
 “Maybe we can start new?” he encourages and I shake my head.
 “There’s no time Pea…it’s useless,” I sigh as I find myself crying again.
 “You’re really talented. I’m sure you can finish it.”
 I shrug, “Maybe…but I can’t afford a new canvas.”
 He holds me close to his chest running his long digits through my locks soothingly, “There’s always other competitions?” he tries again.
 I shake my head pulling away to look into his eyes, “That’s not the point. I need to win this one,” I sigh casting my gaze to my shaking hands, “I need the award money to pay for my dad’s medical bills. He got into an accident a few months ago and it’s been hard with my baby brother and my mom who’s already been picking up odd jobs. This competition was the only way I could help my family…”
 Sweet Pea holds me tightly.
 -
 The next morning
 I was not looking forward to school. Seeing that I spent all night crying my eyes were so puffy they were almost impossible to even open. But not wanting to worry my parents I grab my skateboard that sat at the front door, “I’m off!”
 “Have a wonderful day, sweetie!” calls my dad from the kitchen.
 Pulling on my backpack my ears perk up at the loud rumbles coming from my driveway. I look outside to see Sweet Pea, Jughead, Toni, and Fangs on their motorcycles. I give them a confused grin and leave my skateboard at the entrance as I make my way over to them.
 “Good morning everyone!”
 They all return my greeting and Sweet Pea takes off his helmet, placing it on my head, “Come on, we’ll give you a ride.”
 “Thanks!” I say gratefully snapping the strap shut.
 I wrap my arms around his waist as we drove down the road together, giggling as some seniors jolt in their morning walk when we zoom past them. I watch as we drive pass Riverdale high, “Huh? You guys missed the turn.”
 “I said we’re giving you a ride. I didn’t say to school,” he shouts over the loud exhaust.
 “What?!”
 I couldn’t exactly make out the time we spent on the road but watching as the buildings start to grow sparse as greenery took over it was safe to assume that we’ve been driving for a while. They pull onto a dirt road and continue for a while before halting in front of an open field full of flowers. It was beautiful. Wafting in the sweet scent I stumble off the bike to get a better view of the breathtaking scenery.
 “They aren’t sweet peas but I hope it will do,” Sweet Pea says.
 “Huh?” I tilt my head turning around.
 I blush as I cover my eyes, “Oh – oh my god! What are you guys doing?!”
 The four of them were shimmying out of their clothes. Fangs was the one to speak up, “Making your dreams come true twenty four!” I look at him and immediately regret it he was already taking off his black jeans.
 “You said you didn’t have time to paint a whole new portrait or get money for a canvas. So we thought maybe you could use us as the canvas,” Toni explains pulling my hands away from my face.
 “But…” I splutter, “You guys are really okay with being nude? In front of each other?”
 “Didn’t you say you were a professional? Isn’t it for art?” Jughead shrugs.
 But the piece will be on display for all of Riverdale to see!” I exclaim.
 “Well I think it’s about time the world sees my ass in all its glory,” Fang explains twerking slightly, “Show em what my momma gave me.”
 Toni hums in agreement pointing at him, “True that! You gotta flaunt that baby!”
 “Toni, you’re really okay with this? These doofuses are going to see you naked,” I ask to make sure.
 She smiles standing there in her bra and matching undies, “Yeah! We grew up together anyways so it wouldn’t be the first time they saw me naked. Only difference being that I hit puberty,” she laughs, “But nah, I ain’t worried.”
 “We’re too scared to let our gaze linger on her anyways,” Fangs add.
 I lastly turn to Pea for his consent, and he shrugs, “Seems like we’re more down for this than you are [Y/N]. For someone who asks for nude models you are quite shy aren’t you?”
 “Well no one has ever agreed!” I stutter defensively.
 “But here we are, so lets do this before I change my mind,” he says unbuckling his jeans.
 “Guys…” I don’t know what happened but I burst out bawling, “I love you guys! Thank you so much!”
 Fangs squats in front of his bag in just his boxers as he rummages around for the tubs of paint he packed and Jughead couldn’t help but to say what we were all saying, “Wow, you really do have a nice ass.”
 Fangs grins ear to ear, “I know right?!” he exclaims passing me a plastic bag of paint and brushes.
 I look at my friends who stood closely beside each other waiting for me to get started. I nod with a grin growing on my face, “I just got the perfect idea.”
 I pose them with their backs facing me. Taking in consideration with their height and skin tones. I use watered down black paint to make a sketch on their back before I worked on them one on one making sure Toni was last so she didn’t have to wait around without a bra for others to be finished. A little too shy to work on Sweet Pea just yet, I used Jughead as my guinea pig as the rest of them dug in the sandwiches that they prepared for lunch.
 Jughead was relatively easy to work with as his pale complexion took to the paint extremely easily. Fangs on the other hand…well. He was a giggly bitch. Each stroke of paint made him erupt in a sea of uncontrollable laughter. Then there was Sweet Pea. He smirks as he sees me bashfully examining his sculpted body.
 “Enjoying the view, princess?” he teases, flexing causing the muscles under his golden skin to ripple. My breath hitches in my throat as he sits before me on a towel we had laid down. His broad back on full display. I gingerly touch his shoulder blades and I quickly retract my hand causing him to chuckle, “I don’t bite contrary to popular belief,” he says making me puff my cheeks.
 “That’s my line!”
 Working on him probably took the longest, that mainly being my fault as I found my usually steady hands to be shaking uncontrollably.
 Next it was Toni.
 Toni looks at her phone as I start finishing up the details on her back, “Ten minutes before sunset,” she informs.
 “Perfect because I’m just about finished!”
 Toni goes to fetch the camera in her bag and gives it to me. I look at all four of them and admiring them each individually. I really hope it all lines up when they are posed together.
 “Um…are you guys ready to take off your undies?” I laugh bashfully.
 At that Fangs was over the moon as he quickly removes his boxers flinging it god knows where as he then proceeds to run into the field of flowers.
 “Oh my fucking god,” we burst out laughing as the rest of them follow suit.
 In the flower field I position them. Jughead, Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs in that order stood in a line with their backs facing me. They wrap their arms around each other’s waist and shoulders making the individual pieces of the painting finally connect.
 I position the camera and snap plenty of photos.
 “Damn, Jughead. Would it hurt if you went outside in the sun sometimes? Your pasty ass butt cheeks are fucking glowing in all the photos,” I wheeze causing the group to turn their head slightly to look at the boy bursting out in laughter.
 Click.
 I look down at the final photo I captured, “I think I got the winning shot guys!”
 We all hover over the little display on Toni’s camera. There it was. The four of them stood in the frame with their backs facing the camera as a magnificent black serpent coils from Jughead’s body through to Toni’s waist and Sweet Pea’s arm and neck before ending on Fangs’ back where another head emerged. The beauty didn’t stop there however, the look of pure happiness in their faces as they look at Jughead who had his head knocked back in a closed eye laugh also added something to the piece. And not the mention the beautiful field of wild flowers and the setting sun up above their heads.
 “That’s fucking beautiful,” Toni breathes, “But you right, Jughead’s glowing ass is something else. Don’t worry I’ll edit it a bit don’t want to blind the judges now do we?”
 We burst out laughing.
 “Hey the sun’s still up, why don’t we take a selfie so you can be in a photo too [Y/N]?” Toni suggests.
 I nod happily, “That sounds great!”
 In the photo Toni holds the camera with one hand as her other arm drapes over her chest. Jughead cups a hand over his crotch as he gave a thumbs up with this free one. Sweet Pea hugs me from behind, pressing his cheek against the crown of my head. And Fangs…oh god Fangs. The boy literally turned his back to the camera so his ass was on full display as he throws his arms up in victory.
 Toni laughs at the photo, “Alright, I’m going to edit these babies tonight and I’ll get them printed for you by tomorrow.”
 I smile at her, “Thank you so much Toni. And everyone. Thank you. I really hope I win this competition but I kinda already feel like I’ve won by having friends like you guys,” I confess tearing up a second time that day.
 -
 Wednesday, competition day
 I can’t believe it, but I won.
 Butt.
 Maybe it was because of Fang’s glorious butt.
 My friends all cheer pulling me into a group hug.
 That night we celebrated at Pop’s and when I returned home my family were also over the moon. We were no longer in debt and my father can finally be on his way to a smooth recovery with my mom by his side without working day in and out.
 -
 A month later
 “So…” my tall boyfriend drawls out beside me.
 “Yeah?” I look up at him.
 “I kind of miss our weekly sessions. I was wondering if we could still continue them,” he says.
 I nod with a smile, “Sure, I would love that.”
 We decided to meet after school in the studio. I settle in the empty room, taking out my supplies when I heard heavy boots at enter the room. I look up to see my model of a boyfriend lock the door behind him causing me to give him a look of confusion.
He gives me a smirk as he starts discarding his jacket.
 “I was thinking we could try a one on one nude modelling session today,” he explains pulling this t-shirt over his head to expose his strong sculpted abs.
 “Oh?” I muse as he takes off his jeans.
 He casts me a smirk as he makes his way in front of me in just only his boxers. I watch him quietly as he leans down to press his lips against mine. Sweet Pea cups my cheek with his large calloused hand to deepen the kiss. Pulling back with a slight ‘pop’. He then starts to pull his boxers down allowing his thick member to spring free.
 “Um excuse me, Pea,” I laugh pointing at the – thing, accusingly.
 “Hm?” he mumbles, slipping his hand up my shirt.
 “What do you think you’re doing?”
 “I was thinking we could do some – other things that people do naked,” he softly explains closing his eyes, leaning down for another kiss.
 I pull back causing his eyes to open in confusion.
 “I told you I’m a professional, I don’t rendezvous with my models when I’m working,” I say crossing my arms.
 “Yeah a professional who giggles at Fang’s ass. I think you can make an exception for me can’t you?” he asks with a curl of his lips.
 I giggle pulling him down, “Maybe just this once.”
1K notes · View notes
yeetingmyfeeling · 5 years ago
Text
A Rose Tattoo
Chapter Eight
Remus Lupin
Coffee sounds good
Remus Lupin
Would you like to
go to the pub
 Instead?
Sirius Black
Sure!
When?
Remus Lupin
Friday night?
Sirius Black
6:30?
Remus Lupin
Yeah, that works
Sirius Black
Can’t wait
I’ll pick you up
~~~
Last time, James was stressing about what socks go better with his jacket. That was for his date with Lily, a confirmed date. Sirius doesn’t even know if this is a real date. He’s technically just returning a book.
“Sirius, stop pacing,” James sighed. “You just showered, don’t gross yourself up even more.”
“Even more?” Sirius stopped pacing. “Excuse me?”
“Ladies,” Peter put his hand up. “We need to make Sirius pretty,”
“Not that hard then,” Sirius stuck his chin in the air. His friends rolled their eyes.
“Something simple?” James asked Peter, ignoring Sirius now. “Smart casual?”
“Yeah..” Peter nodded. He started going through Sirius’ many clothes. He threw a shirt at Sirius’ head.
“With these,” James added pants to the shirt. 
“Topped with.. This,” Peter added a jacket.
“And these,” James added shoes.
“I would have appreciated that if none of them were thrown at my body,” Sirius said, laying the clothes out on the bed. He started stripping, his friends groaning in annoyance and looking away.
When Peter and James turned back around, Sirius was all dressed. He wore a tight, fitted black shirt that was pulled over loose fitting black jeans. Over the top was his infamous leather jacket, and on his feet he wore his also infamous Doc. Martens. 
James walked over and carted his fingers through Sirius’ hair. “That seems fit,” He offered to Peter. Peter just nodded.
Sirius went over to his full length mirror. After he checked himself out for five minutes, he deemed himself good looking enough.
“So, we agree I look sexy?” Sirius questioned.
“Yes Pads, you look incredibly sexy,” James rolled his eyes. “Spray your wet dog smelling ass then get out.”
Sirius stuck his tongue out at his friend but did as he was told. He used his good cologne, that’s when James knew it was serious. Then he grabbed his phone,keys and wallet and left, with a nervous goodbye.
He hoped on his motorbike, then having second thoughts. He continued on anyway and rode to Remus and Lily’s shared apartment. He got the number off Remus earlier that day.
As he walked up to the door he realized something. He forgot the book. He knocked on the door.
Lily opened it, already in her pyjamas and a grin on her face. “Evening, Sirius. Remus is just about ready, oh here he comes.”
Sirius smiled at Lily, but grinned when Remus came and stood next to her. Boy, was he beautiful. He wore a dark blue, leaning to green sweater. Paired with brown loose fitting pants and blue converses. His hair was as fluffy as it always is.
“Hey, Sirius,” Remus spoke with a soft, shy smile. Lily suddenly disappeared. 
“Hiya Remus,” Sirius grinned back. “Uh, funny thing. I forgot the book,” Remus laughed. “Would you like to just come over and pick it up after dinner? Maybe stay for a coffee?”
“I don’t see why not,” Remus shrugged.
“Also uh.. I brought my motorbike. I do have a spare helmet,” Sirius now went all shy.
“That’s okay,” Remus bit his lip. “Please make sure I don’t die?”
Sirius laughed but promised he wouldn’t kill the taller boy. They went down to Sirius’ bike, Sirius lending the boy a helmet, then they were off. 
~~~
“You go to uni right?” Remus asked. “What is your major?”
“Art, mainly,” Sirius answered. “I understand it is questionable how I already have my own tattoo shop at twenty, but I had my ways, and really good teachers.”
“It’s okay, people don’t know how I managed to get my own shop either,” Remus shrugged.
“Do you go to uni? I’ve never seen you on campus,” Sirius was cutting up his chicken schnitzel. Everytime he looked at Remus’ steak, he noticed how rare it looked. Surely that can’t be healthy. “Unless you go to a different uni.”
“Oh, no,” Remus shook his head. “I don’t go to uni, didn’t even finish schooling, left in year ten,” He now looked quite ashamed.
“How come?” Sirius asked, interested.
“Well, at that time I was really struggling… with some stuff. I stopped going to school halfway through year ten. I occasionally showed up in the third term, then just dropped out,” Remus talks, uncomftorbale. “I had a job. I would help my father at his work, he had a government job. Then I had a cafe job, babysitting, and walking dogs. Then I decided last year I want to open my own shop, and mum and dad helped me with that.”
Sirius just looked at Remus with pure admiration. 
“Shit sorry! You probably didn’t want to hear my life story..” Remus went bright red.
“I enjoy listening to you,” Sirius blurted. “I like your voice.”
“Oh,” Remus mumbled, his face and ears red as a tomato. “I’m.. glad?”
Sirius just laughed, or more giggled. “Have you always been interested in flowers?”
“Oh yes,” Remus nodded. “You should see the garden at my parents. It’s not as good as it was a few years ago, but it is still beautiful. I love flowers and plants, and all of those things.”
Sirius listened to Remus, having a soft smile on his face. He liked him, for sure, no doubt. But, it felt too early to act on anything. Yet, he is an impatient little shit.
“What about you?” Remus asked after finishing his last bite of questionably raw steak. “Have you always liked tattoos?”
“Oh yeah, I love them!” Sirius gleamed. “I got my first one when I was thirteen, through a friend. My parents were pissed. It’s the Sirius constellation, right above my ankle.” 
“That’s cute,” Remus smiled. “Very young, I hope you don’t regret it.”
Sirius shook his head. “I only regret one tattoo, I may have been drunk, but I’m keeping it because it especially pissed off my parents.”
“I knew you were a troublemaker,” Remus pointed. “It was from the nails.”
Sirius held up his painted black nails with a gasp. “Excuse me, I get these done professionally.”
“That doesn’t help your case,” Remus giggled.
They laughed, and it was nice.
“Me, James and Peter are planning on getting matching tattoos,” Sirius brought up. “But we feel like something is missing.”
“What is the tattoo?” Remus was curious. 
“Well..” A light blush flushed Sirius’ cheeks. “They are pawprints, as our nicknames are animals. So I have a dog paw print, James had a hoove, and Peter has a rat paw. We would all get them though, with our.. Friends group name..”
“That sounds really sweet!” Remus gushed. “I love that idea.”
“Yeah?” Sirius smiled. Remus nodded.
“Mary wants all of us to go get tattoos,” Remus chuckled. “Mainly so she can see you.”
“Do you have any tattoos?” Sirius asked. Remus shook his head. “You should get one!”
Remus shrugged. “Well, maybe I’ll take Mary up on her offer.”
“Just come in by yourself,” He got an idea. “I can give it to you for half price! You gave me a discount for the flowers.”
“Oh I couldn't do half price!” Remus flushed. “I only gave you a small discount,” Sirius just shrugged. “I’ll think about it..”
They finished their dinner with small talk, just enjoying each other's company. Sirius enjoyed it, probably too much. He is happy James is madly in love with Lily, because he got to meet Remus. 
After the dinner, they shared a drink of alcohol, or two, then went to Sirius’.
“I really don’t think you should have drunk,” Remus stated. “You are experienced, but still.”
“I’m not even tipsy,” Sirius smiled softly. “You are safe with me.”
Remus blushed.
“I’m not just experienced in driving..” Sirius mumbled loud enough for the other to hear as he opened the door.
“Sirius!” Two voices shouted as the door opened. “How was- oh..”
Sirius glared. “I thought you two would be.. Literally anywhere but here.”
“I live here?” James offered.
“I just wanted to know how the date went,” Peter smirked. “Clearly, very well.”
Remus blushed harder.
“Well, since you two are here..” Sirius put his hand on Remus’ lower back. It was the first touch of the evening, excluding Remus holding Sirius’ hips on the bike. Remus’ face darkened incredibly. “This is Remus. Remus you know James, and that’s Peter.”
“Hi,” Remus offered awkwardly, offering a wave.
“Sorry,” Sirius mumbled. “But would you still like to stay for coffee?”
“Of course,” Remus smiled. His blush was slowly going down as he controlled his breathing.
Sirius led him over to the other couch. Remus slowly sat down.
“How do you take your coffee?” Sirius asked.
“Strong. Some milk and sugar,” Remus answered. “Please.”
“Do you two want a coffee?” Sirius asked his annoying friends, they nodded. Sirius went into the kitchen and began making the coffees, as well as finding the good biscuits. 
“So, Remus,” James began the interrogation. “You work at the florist, yes? And you own it?”
“Yeah,” Remus’ voice was soft and shy. “Most of it is my own money, with a loan from my parents that has been paid back.”
“So your parents must have some money?” Peter asked.
Remus shook his head. “We aren’t poor, but also nowhere near middle class.”
“Oh..” Peter mumbled.
“I am here to inform you now, we are posh rich artistrat assholes,” James sighed. “We all come from wealthy families, so warning, we tend to be annoying in those sorts of topics.”
“And in general,” Peter added. “We are still quite stuck up, but better than what we used to be.”
“Oh much better,” James nodded. “But,” He started to whisper. “Sirius will buy you things.”
Sirius came back over with a tray of coffees, and a plate of biscuits. He sat the tray down on the coffee table and handed everyone their mugs. He then sat down next to remus.
“Remus,” James turned serious. “Sirius is probably too much of a pussy and hasn’t asked yet, but I must know. What are those scars on your faces from? And on your hands too, oh where did you get them?”
Remus’ eyes widened and he looked down at his lap. Sirius watched him. He looked at James, glaring at him for being so blunt and rude.
Though, Sirius himself was very curious. He really hoped no one had hurt this precious boy.
He watched as Remus slowly lifted his head back up. He was biting his lip and looked pained, and sad.
“I..” His voice was very low and quiet. “Rough upbringing, I guess you could say.”
They all finished their coffees, having small talk. For the rest of it, Remus seemed very quiet and distant. Sirius hoped James felt bad. 
Lily was here to pick Remus up, which made Sirius sad. He walked the boy to the car, like any gentleman would do.
“Thank you for coming,” Sirius grinned.
Remus grinned back. “I enjoyed it, I hope we can do it again.”
Sirius wanted to kiss his cheek, oh so bad. But now it was too late, and Remus had left. Back inside, James spoke his feelings about the tall boy.
“I like him, I do,” James started. “He’s, mysterious. It will slowly kill me until I find out the reason behind those scars.”
15 notes · View notes
surveys-at-your-service · 5 years ago
Text
Survey #253
hope everyone is staying safe through this quarantine. wash your hands.
Which band do you have more music of than anyone else on your computer? Ozzy. Who’s your favorite philosopher? *shrugs* I don't know any's ideals well. How old were you when you learned how to read? I'm not sure, but I know I was exceptionally young. What’s the coolest Halloween costume you’ve ever worn? I don't think I've ever worn something rather cool. Who’s your favorite painter/artist? If we're talking about well-known, "popular" artists, I'm not sure. Maybe DaVinci. What’s your favorite song lyric- ever? ARE YOU??????????? FOR REAL?????????? Holy FUCK I get goosebumps from lyrics SO easily, this is like impossible. Probably an Otep lyric, though. I really don't like her personally, but goddamn can she write. What’s your dream tattoo if you don’t have it already? I've linked it before, so I'll just remind it's "Denialism" by deviantART's NukeRooster on my entire, upper left arm. I've already gotten her permission (I don't like just... stealing artwork to put on my body), now just comes the day I can pay for it by a top-tier pro. What’s the coolest screen name you’ve ever had? I don't think any have been necessarily "cool." Who do you think was the most badass serial killer? (Real life.) I'm not well-versed in serial killers honestly, but I can say Charles Manson was a C A S E. I think we can all admit he was... interesting. Just the epitome of weird. Most badass fictional serial killer? ig Jason; again, I don't know a lot off the top of my head, but I like him. How many bank accounts do you have? I don't have one. Have you ever been falsely accused of starting drama? Yep. Have you ever found a song that describes your whole life? Parts of it, sure. What kind of car do you drive? I don't drive a car, but Mom's is a... Honda? Kia? Idk. I'm bad with car brands. What kind of car would you like to have? Average size, pretty simple. Burnt orange or red. I know I want one of those screens you look into to see what's behind you when backing up. Have you ever been to Dairy Queen? If so, what’s your favorite thing to eat from there? mmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. So unhealthy, but I will destroy and Oreo Cupfection. Try. That. Stuff. Their milkshakes are also great. Which website do you email from? Outlook. Do you enjoy receiving souvenirs? Sure, it's nice. Have you ever had the flu? No. What about strep throat? Maybe once? Do you normally have a lot of homework, if you’re still in school? Kinda, yeah. Did you ever enjoy gym class? Fuck no. Even when I was healthy. What is your biggest insecurity? My body. Have you ever painted a room alone? No. How many huge secrets do you have? Huge? Uhhh, none, I think. Have you ever painted something and been impressed by it? Yes. Would you rather go out to eat or stay in? I prefer eating out because yummy food, but considering I'm working on losing weight, I avoid it. Do you have any younger siblings? One. Have you ever considered bleaching your hair? To the point of being snow white. Considering my hair is super healthy and bleaching so heavily would destroy it, I'll be avoiding that. I DO want to bleach my hair to do other colors, though. Brown hair sucks. Do you drink vitamin water? No. Are there any old movies you absolutely love? Oh sure, a good handful. The Outsiders probably tops it. Have you ever had a Big Mac before? No, doesn't appeal to me. I don't like veggies on my burgers... despite eating veggie burgers when I was vegetarian lmao. Do you think you attract the opposite sex at a reasonable rate? I doubt that. Have you ever filed a lawsuit on someone? No. Do you enjoy reading often? I'm finally back into it!! Lately all I've been wanting to do is READ READ READ. Have you ever had a deadly illness? Well, I consider depression (among other mental illnesses) to be very deadly, but on a literal level, no. I mean I have dormant MRSA, which can kill if active, but it never has been. Most people carry that dormantly anyway, if I remember correctly. Ever had food-poisoning before? No, thankfully. Where did you last eat dinner at? Mom bought Nicole and me Sonic. Have you ever had someone pick you up off the ground & carried you? When I fainted, yes. Are you a flirty person? Not really. A name you hate with a passion? Edward, to name one. Erwin. A lot of old names. What is your favorite type of water (ex. arrowhead)? Essentia mmmmmmmmmmmmm,, Have you ever been to Warped Tour? I WISH. :( Do you know anyone who wears fur? I fucking hope not, because I wouldn't associate with them anymore. When was the last time you were on myspace.com? Damn yo, millennia ago. How often do you cuss? Too much. I mean, I don't even believe "profanity" is a thing by our definition of "that word is magically bad," but still, it's like when people say "like" too much. Have you ever cussed out a teacher? No. What did you think of the movie Juno? I never watched it. How often do you eat meat? Sigh, more than I wish. What grade did you meet your best friend in? We didn't meet in school. Last time you cleaned your room? Couple days back. I'm honestly bad at dusting regularly in here, but that's gotta change with Mom having chemo now. Her immune system will be compromised so this house needs to be as pristine as it can. When you were little, would you have rather watched Cartoon Network or Disney Channel? Disney Channel. We weren't really Cartoon Network kids, actually. It was Disney or Nickelodeon. Do you shave your arms? No. Are you a big fan of the Harry Potter series? Never read a book, never watched any movies; the first one was playing in my presence once, but I paid no attention. How often would say you pulled all-nighters, if you ever do? Shit man, never, nowadays. I don't think I've had one for two years now. My youth is escaping. Has a friend’s boyfriend/girlfriend ever had a problem with you for any reason? I don't think so. How many times a day do you find yourself cracking your joints, if at all? Maybe not even once a day. Only my big toes and upper back can pop. Is there a particular sport you follow on a regular basis? No. Are you 100% over the last person you kissed? No. Do you put ketchup on top of your french fries or on the side? On the side. Who was the last person you talked to in person? Mom. Do you have a dog? Not anymore, thank fuck. Do you like orange juice? Yes. Are you one of those people who obsesses over Hollister? I never liked it. They're not inclusive at all towards fucking NORMAL bodies, nevermind plus size. Apparently even their rules on looks for workers are absolutely horrible. Ashley liked them though, so sometimes I just had to go in with her. If money was no object, would you change your wardrobe? My goth could finally  E S C A P E. How do you/did you get to school? My mom drives me. Have you ever had to have a pet put down? Four times that I remember off the top of my head. What candy cane flavor is your favorite? MMMMMMMMMM get the pink Starburst kind. Do you get angry when fast food restaurants mess up your order? It's annoying, yes. Angering when you've already driven away, especially when you really wanted something. What was your favorite elective class in high school? Art. Did you ever wish you could be homeschooled? Yes. I was homebound for a little while. Have you ever had a dream so realistic you could’ve sworn it happened? Yes. Do you have any mental disorders? I'm a walking mental disorder, lmao. Y'all know the biggies, and now ADD and especially DPD (dependent personality disorder) are being considered. Do you feel comfortable talking about these disorders, if you have them? Yeah, I really don't care. Where did you go on your last field trip? I want to say to a band competition in high school. Are you able to agree to disagree? Or do you have to have the last word? Yeah, pretty easily. Is there a cover song you like better than the original version? A whole lot, actually. Do you have a hard time talking about sex with the opposite gender? I have a hard time with anyone. Have you ever had major surgery? Major, no. Is there any food you don’t like that a lot of others do? Here in the South, everyone is most surprised when they hear I hate fried chicken. What was the last thing you bragged about? Hm. I'm not sure, actually. I don't make a habit out of doing that. Can you do a backflip? Hell no. Are you listening to anything right now? I have a video up of relaxing tracks from Silent Hill 2 + 3. Great shit. Has anyone ever tried to tell you you were adopted? No. How many doors are in the room you’re in? Two, but one's just the closet door. Have you ever been engaged and broke it off? No. Has anyone ever drawn a picture of you? Yes. Do any of your friends have children? Yep. Is there anything you’re craving right now? Not really. Who got married at the last wedding you attended? A family friend. It was the second wedding I shot. Is happiness something to be achieved and sought after or is it something to be retained and held onto always, no matter what happens? The former. You can't just stay happy when, like, your grandma dies. What gives you a peaceful feeling? Nature. Hearing water and birdsong, specifically. Are you a Toys-R-Us kid? Hell yeah I was. My sisters and I would go crazy if we had the chance to go there. We were SOOOO upset when it closed down. If you believe in Heaven, are there separate heavens for different animals (kittie heaven. dog heaven, bird heaven, etc)? I don't know if I believe in a "heaven," but some sort of peace after death, yes. I believe it's one, unified "heaven." When you sleep next to someone do they fall asleep first usually or do you? They always do considering it takes me ten years to fall asleep. If they do, do you watch them sleep? I have. Not in a creepy way, but rather a "wow I love this person" sorta way. What is your usual breakfast? Usually apple and cinnamon oatmeal What do your salt and pepper shakers look like? They're nothing special. The salt is a blue ceramic, and the pepper one is just what you get from the store. Have you ever had your car towed? I've never had my own car. What band or singer do you believe started rock and roll? I'm pretty sure Elvis is given that credit. Whose voice irritates you like fingernails on a blackboard? The female singer of Mother Mother's voice. Mom and I can't stand her singing. All I songs we enjoy feature almost solely the main singer. I can *tolerate* it in some songs, but. What do you contribute to society? Ha. Do you take naps? Almost daily. Do you have any cavities? Not to my knowledge. Do you believe that there has been a man on the moon? Yes, though I do believe the "first" landing was faked in competition with Russia. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm so serious, look into the theory - there's incredible evidence. Would you ever go into a sex shop? I'd be too self-conscious to. I'd just order online. Let’s just say your school team is on a winning streak. One of the cheerleaders cheers both for your team and the other team during games. Does it make you angry? I don't care enough about sports to even consider how I'd feel. Do you prefer carnivals, festivals, circuses, parades or faires? To be real, I only know the difference between parades and circuses. What even distinguishes the other three from each other. Do you believe in psychic ability or is it a sham? I lean towards no. What is your favorite classic rock song? You CANNOT ask me this question. Classic rock is some of the best music there is.
3 notes · View notes