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idk6123 · 11 months

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A Deserving Reward (Handsome Jack X Male Reader)

The sun is shining bright yet again on the wastelands of Pandora. Corpses of bandits are lying around a town nearby a dried up lake. The only things that remain is shacks of the bandits. Currently, Hyperion is looking around for any survivors. Amidst the chaos is one of the highest Hyperion generals. As he looks around the dead town, he walks over his super visor, who’s currently busy planning his idea out.

“So, we all fill this up. And I was thinking to build all these fancy lodges near the water.” Besides Handsome Jack is loader that is taking notes. “Ooh! I’m way too excited for this! I didn’t even thought about blowing these shitholes first.” The billionaire refers to the shacks with disdain. “Send your buddies to pile up the corpses first and burn them, eat them, or whatever you want to do. Destroy these low class structures and then we talk about the build plans.”

“Understood.” The loader turns around and walks away.

Handsome Jack watches it leaves, then he notices his general behind him. He can’t help but smile at him. “You did good today, pumpkin. Now, I can finally let one of my dreams to become true, making my own resort!”

“I thought getting rid of the bandits was your dream.”

“I said one of my dreams. Dreams.” Jack emphasis like Y/N is an idiot. “For someone good at killing stuff, you can’t even listen to me properly.” He still smiles despite making fun of Y/N. “Get over here.” Y/N walks over to Jack, who puts his arm around him. Both of them turn around to take a great look at the empty crater. “Tell me. What do you see?”

“A hole.”

“Correct. But I was looking for a hole with potential.” Jack then realizes how wrong that sound. “I could’ve phrased that better, but my point still stands. Besides, you probably like it if I use euphemisms. Anyway! What I see is a future beach, where people can swim without worrying about getting killed by some dibshits.” He then moves over to the side. “And here I will put a some lodges, or even a five star hotel. Then there, I will make a tropical town with a shopping district. Even though this is now a shit hole, I can make a different to make it amazing. You understand that, right kiddo?”

Y/N can see Handsome Jack’s smirk looking at him and so close. Most people would be extremely scared to be so closed at him, yet Y/N is merely unbothered by it. “Yes.”

“Of course you do. It’s like you. Was shit first, and then I came by to fix you and now look at you! One of my strongest men.”

“Was I really shit?” Y/N frowns a bit.

“Honestly, yeah. But that doesn’t matter anymore, so don’t cry about it.” Handsome Jack removes his arm to walk back at the crater, thinking. “Speaking of which… Perhaps I should reward you? How about a nice beach house or something. One that you’re never going to use.”

“Because I’m too busy working for you?”

Jack finger points towards his worker. “You know it!” He then thinks further about it. “Nah! That would be too mean. I will reserve that to someone else, like Tony. Fucking cocksucker. So, what do you want kiddo? You can get anything unless it revolves a free day.” Despite his words, Jack tries to make enticing.

“Dunno. I still haven’t got a chance to get a partner-”

“Then I will buy you a boyfriend!” Jack says with a wide grin, though Y/N doesn’t.

“You can’t buy a boyfriend.”

“Said the guy that said you can’t buy a diamond pony.” The CEO retorts. “You will have no choice, pumpkin. I’m going to get you the perfect man. You want regular one, or should I create on in the labs?”

“By the love of-”

Back at the quarters in one of the bases, Y/N is ready to rest for the night. Though once he walked in, he sees Handsome Jack with a proud smile. Besides him is a human size wrapped up present.

“Surprise! Here is your boyfriend!”

Y/N still can’t believe Jack did this. “Don’t tell me there is a guy in there.”

“There is, and this time, I made sure he can breathe.” Jack gives a pat on the present. “Open it. I want to see your reaction.”

“Of course you do…” Y/N mutters. Jack stands aside as Y/N get over to the box. He grabs the piece of paper, starting from the top and rip it down, where he quickly see the boyfriend Jack got him. “The fuck-!?”

“Ta-daa! Isn’t he perfect?”

Y/N looks back at his boss. “Why did you put one of your doubles in there?”

“Why not? I was thinking about the best qualities your man has to have. He needed to be smart, good looking, great at sex. Basically perfect. And that’s when I realized that you needed me.” Handsome Jack casually explains.

“You’re saying I should get one with a doubleganger?”

“Yes.” Handsome Jack merely answers. “Now, let him out to check it out. Let’s hope everything turned out alright…”

Y/N removes all the paper and opens the plastic box to allow the clone to get out. The general get a bit freaked out with seeing two Handsome Jack. Although he saw this situation before, he never thought one of them would be gifted as his boyfriend.

“Y/N, I want to meet your boyfriend, Handsome Jack. Less Handsome Jack, this is your boyfriend, Y/N.” The real one introduces each other. “Be sure to tread him well. You know what happens if you don’t.”

“Of course I do, pumpkin.” The doubleganger responds. He looks back at Y/N. “What’s up handsome? I’m up to anything if you want me to. Dates? Sure. Movie night? Fine by me. Sex? Always.”

Handsome Jack holds his product proudly. “And he’s into anything. So all your kinky desires can be become true. So, do you love it, or love it?”

“You’re encouraging me to have sex with someone that looks like you?” Y/N questions.

“Yes. Why do you keep asking unnecessary questions?” Jack looks a bit irritated by Y/N’s behavior. “Anyway, I’m bored. Have fun with your boyfriend.”

The two sees Handsome Jack leaving. After he left the room, the doubleganger looks back at Y/N. “Wanna have sex, sexy?”

“No thanks.”

Back at Jack’s office in the space station, the big boss is sitting on his chair with his legs on the desk crossed.

“I don’t care if they can’t make it.” Handsome Jack says while eating chips, one by one from the bag. “I have an important event that day.”

“Sir, the spa can always be-”

“Martha, did I ever gave you permission to talk back?” Handsome Jack looks at the phone, daring his assistant to talk. “Thoughts so. Now, I don’t want to move my spa day. Let the rest of board know I have this meeting exactly one week from today. And if they’re complaining that falls on their vacations, let them know they’re free to have an unending vacation once I fire them and blacklist them from any future job.” Without a respond, Jack hangs up the phone and let out an annoyed groan. “God, why am I doing everything?”

From the other side of the room, Y/N enters, which lightings Jack’s mood. “Finally, someone I find competent…” Y/N walks towards the desk as Jack put his legs back on the ground and adjust his posture. “Good day, kiddo. What can I do for you?”

“Jack, I want you to get rid of the double jack you gave me.” Y/N says with a hint of irritated voice.

“It’s rude to be so dissatisfied with your gift, Y/N.” Jack sternly says.

“I don’t care. He makes me uncomfortable in many ways. He’s constantly wants sex, even when I decline, and that’s just to put it lightly. And since he looks exactly like you, it’s hard to distinguish him and you.”

“That’s the point of a double, dummy.” Jack casually points out.

“And I’m fine with that. But I don’t want my partner to be a double of you, so let him know to get out of my quarters.” Y/N tries to sound as insistence as he can, while still acting proper in front of his boss.

Jack doesn’t look amused. He merely looks deadpanned at him, which Y/N worries a lot. This usually means bad news when he looks like that. To his surprise, a smile creeps on Jack’s smile, which makes Y/N worried even more.

“Oh, I know what this is about.”

For whatever reason, Y/N feels like he doesn’t. “You do?”

“Sure am.” Jack stands up to walk to the other side of the desk and sit on it. “The reason you don’t want a double, is because you want the real thing.”

“E-Excuse me?” Y/N raises an eyebrow.

“You heard me. I know you have a crush on me. That’s why you follow me around.” Handsome Jack shows his smug smiles.

“Yeah, because that couldn’t be my job.” Y/N sarcastically respond.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Jack gets off the desk to walk over to Y/N, with their faces in front of each other, with Y/N starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable. “It’s alright if you do. I like the attention.”

“Uhh…”

Jack smirks. He walks back behind the desk to sit on the big chair. Afterwards, he pats on his legs. “Sit.”

Y/N gulps, though he doesn’t question it. He walks over to the smug man to sit on Jack’s lap. The Hyperion hero put a hand on Y/N’s lower back. The commander looks literally down, while Jack looks up. “It’s been a while when I got a proper partner. You can blame my high standers for that, but you barely passed them. Consider it a complement.”

“Alright…”

“So, how about I take you out on a nice date? I can buy you the best quality of food, no matter the price, no matter the restaurant. Then, after we dine, I would love you to show me what your made of. Whaddaya think? A hero needs a lover by his side.”

Y/N is having difficulty processing the info. Since when did Jack had feelings for him? Was this all some kind of ploy to get him dating him? Is it wise to be in a relationship with your boss, who’s the most controversial man in the galaxy? As Y/N thinks, he didn’t realize he already answered.

“I would love to.”

#borderlands #handsome jack #handsome jack x male reader #borderlands x male reader

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ashesandhalefire · 4 years

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i know, you know

alex, michael, and a lonely hearts club gone slightly awry.

inspired by @malex-cupid day one and three themes: wooing my way into your heart and valentine’s day.

“Okay, here’s a nightmare scenario,” Michael says as he eases back down onto the couch with another slice of pizza in his hand. He crosses his ankles on the coffee table and bites the tip off. Alex raises an eyebrow expectantly, drawing a sip from his beer, and Michael nods. After a rough swallow, he wipes the corner of his mouth with his thumb. “I once hooked up with a girl on February thirteenth. Totally lost track of the date.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “That’s not a nightmare scenario for someone like you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael takes another bite of his pizza and tries to talk around a mouthful of cheese, face twisted with playful indignation. “Someone like me?”

Alex leans his head against the back of the couch and says, “Charming people never end up in nightmare scenarios because they can, by default, charm their way out of anything.”

Brow furrowing, Michael wrinkles his nose. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called charming in my life. A few other choice words, sure, but not charming.”

“Well, I guess my perspective is a little different from the sheriff’s department. In my experience, you have a tendency to be very good at saying the right thing.” Alex wiggles his left foot where it sits, tucked beneath the center cushion on the couch, and rubs distractedly at his right knee. The knot in his sweatpants jostles close to Michael’s hip.

Entirely by accident, he’s significantly more dressed-down than Michael is in his slim jeans and crisply colored flannel. Neither piece of Michael’s outfit has the well-worn softness of his usual wardrobe, none of the torn seams or threadbare elbows, but the top two buttons of his shirt are undone like always and the collar hangs wide against his clavicle. Alex tries not to let his eyes linger.

As he chews through another bite, Michael stares back at him, and the gaze feels heavy enough that Alex turns away. “And, please, you’re sitting on my couch, watching my television, drinking my beer, and eating my pizza. If that’s not the direct result of charm, what is it?”

“Dumb luck,” Michael says. Amusement glints in his eyes as he licks his lips. “Besides, this whole lonely hearts club thing was your idea.”

“Yeah, but it was originally a party of one.”

Alex had quickly opted out, making his answer a polite but firm no, when Kyle mentioned the flier on the Crashdown’s front door that advertised the latest Wild Pony cash-grab attempt, but that hadn’t prevented him from running face-first into Isobel’s advertising efforts all over town for the next week and a half. General buzz at the post office and hospital implied that her reputation for event planning had drummed up some genuine interest from the locals, and that in and of itself cemented his plan for the weekend as pizza, beer, and whatever cable had to offer. His plan had, at no point, included running into Michael in the candy aisle at RiteAid at three o’clock in the afternoon on Valentine’s Day.

With an armful of personal care items marked with discount stickers, Michael had taken one look at the prescription envelope in Alex’s right hand and the box of chocolates in his left and said, “Got a hot date?”

“No,” Alex had said, wishing he’d chosen to put on something neater than his faded sweatpants. Michael rarely looked presentable by general standards, but he always looked good. “Just chronic pain and a sweet tooth.”

“You should come back tomorrow,” Michael had suggested. “Better sales after the holiday.”

“True, but then I won’t have anything to eat tonight.”

Michael had visibly perked, even though his face stayed neutral. “You’re not going to the singles night thing at the Pony? I thought Valenti would have roped you in for sure.”

“No.” Fleetingly, Alex had considered the idea of wandering through the crowded bar, equally decorated in distasteful neon and garish party store hearts, and trying to pick which of the Pony’s regular stock might like to have his drink bought by an openly gay veteran with one leg while his friends watch from the sidelines of their depressingly stable relationships. “There’s not enough booze in the world.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Michael had laughed. He hadn’t quite met Alex’s eye as they both carefully side-stepped the rest of the conversation. Alex had stopped paying attention, so he wasn’t sure if Michael had retaken to running up a tab yet. “Is is completely pissed at me, but I told her there was no way in hell.”

Alex had swallowed. “Got a hot date?”

“Totally,” Michael had said. He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers. “I think you’ve met him.”

In retrospect, Alex blames the rest of the conversation on the fact that he’s been unshakably in love with Michael since he was seventeen. For the better part of a month, he’s been trying to work up the courage to throw out a line. But they exist in a strange no-man’s-land of casual acquaintanceship that borders on friendship and romance simultaneously, and Alex hasn’t quite found the right way out yet.

“If you don’t have plans tonight, you could swing by.” Michael, already at the end of the aisle when Alex called after him, had looked mildly startled when he turned around. “We can get pizza. Or something. Whatever goes with beer.”

“Everything goes with beer in my world.”

“It’ll be a lonely hearts club type of thing,” Alex had said, primarily for the deniability.

Michael had cocked his head. His eyes drifted lower and lower until they paused and climbed back up Alex’s body at a crawl. “Are you lonely?”

“I had a nose ring, remember?” Alex had clutched the prescription bag in his fist with a crunch and forced himself to laugh, even as bashful panic squeezed at his throat. “You don’t end up with a nose ring and Danger posters on your walls at seventeen unless you’re deeply lonely.”

A slow smile had stretched across Michael’s face, and he ducked his head like it was too private to share with the open aisle. When he looked up again, he wrinkled his nose to help steady his armful of bottles with a nudge of his telekinesis. “I’ll see you at six, then. Pizza and beer.”

Now, Michael breaks a wayward string of cheese away from his last bite and asks, “You want me to go home? Leave you to your pity party?”

“No. I’m enjoying the company. I think it’s because you’re so charming.”

Michael laughs. “You’re so full of shit.”

“Fine, don’t believe me. But hooking up with a girl who was looking for a hookup on the day before Valentine’s Day is not a nightmare scenario.”

“Alright,” Michael says, nudging Alex’s bent knee, “so give me a better example.”

“Uh, pizza and beer with a guy that never learned how to chew with his mouth closed?”

Michael tears into the crust of his slice and says, muffled by food, “I’ll leave anytime. Just say the word.”

Alex pulls his foot out from under the couch cushion and rolls his heel into the side of Michael’s thigh. “Don’t be disgusting!”

Mashing his teeth, Michael chews with his mouth open for another two bites and then relents. He drops a hot palm into the exposed skin of Alex’s ankle, holding it in place, and Alex manages not to react until Michael strokes his thumb into the hollow beside his Achilles tendon.

“I need a refill. Do you want another beer?” he asks, pulling his leg away and turning to plant his foot on the floor. He bends down to grope beneath the couch for his crutch.

“Yeah, I’ll take another one.” Michael stands, taking his empty bottle in hand, and says, “I’ll get it. I know my way around the fridge.”

As he shuffles between the couch and the coffee table, he drops a hand onto Alex’s left shoulder and squeezes. The touch is gone almost as soon as it starts, but Alex still lets out an audible squeak on his next exhale.

Being touch-starved is hardly new, but it makes him feel like an especially pathetic rescue cat when his body shivers at the barest graze. Twice it happened when Kyle leaned over to look at his laptop and put a hand on his back while they worked on the salvaged hard drives together, and Alex had barely been able to hide the heated flush in his cheeks. It’s more humiliating with Michael, somehow, because Michael has always been exactly the same. He’s always turned into Alex’s touch with eagerness, always looked for the most contact he could find. Something about touch between them turning casual and unaffecting on his end while Alex is gasping like an Austen heroine is especially unsettling.

He takes three deep breaths, holding the air in his chest and releasing through pursed lips, and then Michael squeezes between the end table and the chair with two beers. He twists the tops off with a twitch of his nose, and Alex watches the bent metal land on the coffee table with a ding.

“Show off,” he says as Michael hands him a bottle. Their fingers brush against the glass. “You’ve never fought with a jar of pasta sauce in your life.”

Michael eases back down onto the couch, snagging the last garlic knot from the crimped tinfoil on the coffee table on the way, and says, “Rubber band trick works wonders. Not that I’ve ever needed it.”

“Smug bastard.”

Alex watches the bob of Michael's throat as he takes a long draw from his beer.

“Oh, here. Almost forgot.” Michael pops the rest of the garlic knot into his mouth and lifts his hips off the couch to give himself room to root around his pocket. After a moment of tugging, he tosses something across the couch. It lands on Alex’s thigh. “For your sweet tooth.”

Alex stares down at the packet of SweeTARTS heart candies, emblazoned with the same sentimental phrases as classic conversation hearts. “These are sour.”

“Well, yeah, but aren’t those the ones you like?”

Fingers toying with the crimped edges of the paper wrapping, Alex nods.

“Then Happy Valentine’s Day.” Michael sucks a spot of oil and garlic from his thumb. “I had to go to, like, four different CVS stores to find them.”

“Thank you,” Alex says. “You didn’t— I didn’t get you anything.”

Michael shrugs. “You paid for dinner. Least I could do was pick up some candy.”

Darkness creeps up on them while they trade sarcastic commentary about the fake detective comedy marathon they found on a higher cable channel. The lone bulb still on over the sink casts a warm yellow glow across the kitchen and dining room, and the living room flickers between dark and light as the scenes change on the television.

Alex glances down at Michael, who has made himself comfortable with one leg dangling off the edge of the couch and the other curled up against the arm. His head rests on a pillow that he laid atop Alex’s right leg, and he has Alex’s left leg stretched out in front of his chest to keep it from blocking his view.

The shift was gradual: he slumped sideways and curled his legs up; he leaned on his elbow and tried to stretch out; he whined about his neck and grabbed the pillow off the floor, checking that it wouldn’t bother Alex’s knee if he put pressure on it; and he grabbed Alex’s left leg by the ankle to straighten it out while complaining that he couldn’t see. And now Alex’s shin is pinned beneath Michael’s palm, feeling the rise and fall of Michael’s chest whenever he chuckles at one of the jokes.

They’ve spent hours together, rolling around in Michael’s cot and the back of his truck and motel beds, but Alex isn’t sure they’ve ever been more intimate. Quiet stillness has always been difficult for them to come by, and he can barely remember the last time they spent an afternoon together without some sense of doom hanging over their heads. They’ve certainly never laid on a couch together for four hours.

Michael shifts, rolling onto his side, and his hand drifts down towards the top of Alex’s foot. The calluses on his palm catch against the weave of his sock, and Alex listens to the faint scratch of material without breathing. After a moment, Michael’s fingers slip beneath the elastic at the bottom of his sweatpants, and he strokes absently at the ball of Alex’s ankle.

The fears and the doubts are as present as they’ve been for the last few weeks. All of their baggage is exactly the same.

Alex winds one of Michael’s curls around his finger, and he feels the stutter in his breathing.

With empirical evidence like that, he has to be brave.

He mutes the television and says, “I don’t have to work tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Michael glances up. “Is this…new information? Should we be celebrating?”

“No, I mean—” Alex swallows. “I don’t have to go out tomorrow, so if you stay over afterwards, we can talk.”

Michael stares at him. “After what?”

Alex shrugs, but his eyes linger pointedly on Michael’s mouth.

“Oh,” Michael says. He turns onto his stomach slowly, like he thinks moving too quickly will turn Alex skittish, and then he eases up onto his knees between Alex's legs. Carefully, he pushes the pillow on Alex’s lap out of the way and onto the floor. “Yeah. Yeah, I could stay over. Afterwards.”

Light from the silent television flickers against the side of his face, and Alex reaches for the loose collars of his shirt. Michael bends pliantly, anchoring his hands beside Alex’s shoulders on the arm of the couch, and lowers himself until their noses brush. Then, he hesitates. He nuzzles against Alex’s cheek, rolls their foreheads together, and sighs out a laugh.

Alex giggles back, a nervous sound he has no control over, and asks, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing. I just— I don’t wanna screw up. This has been a no-fly zone for weeks.”

“It really hasn’t.”

“It really has. I have the bruised ego to prove it.”

A missing piece slots into place in Alex’s chest, loosening every ounce of tension left in his body, and he sags down against the couch cushions. He takes a moment to look up at Michael, at the vulnerable pinch of anxiety that crinkles the corners of his eyes, and then he reaches up to smooth his thumb over the crest of Michael’s cheeks. The wrinkles worsen, so he tows Michael in by his hips and shakes his head. “No. No, you’re— you’re cleared to land.”

“That’s not— ” Michael blinks, and then says, affectionately, “Oh, fuck you.”

He laughs, deep in his chest, and finally presses his mouth to Alex’s. Alex surges into the kiss, letting it linger until the smile splitting across his lips forces Michael to pull back. He tries again, but Alex can’t relax his grin, so, for a moment, they just breathe, silhouetted in the dark.

Then, Michael says, “No regretting it tomorrow?”

Alex shakes his head. “No.”

“No nightmare scenario? No backslide with my ex?”

“No.”

“No… I scratched my itch, now get out of my house?”

“No!”

“Okay, good. Good. Because I’m playing for keeps this time.” He settles his weight between Alex’s thighs, and Alex is struck suddenly with the realization of how easy it is to be happy, how earned it feels after all this time.

They kiss, lazy and unhurried, until the cable box starts to idle in the background and leaves them in a nearly pitch black room. The last three buttons of Michael’s shirt come undone under Alex’s fingertips, and Michael’s unshaved jaw scrapes his mouth almost raw.

“Next year,” he mumbles against Alex’s cheek in a moment of reprieve, “I’m gonna fill this house with roses.”

Distractedly, Alex hooks his heel around the back of Michael’s calf and says, “If you somehow have a quarter of a million dollars to waste on that many flowers next year, we will not still be living in this house.”

Michael’s whole body jolts.

“We?” he teases gleefully, and he digs his fingertips into the soft back of Alex’s knee. “Did you just forget we don’t have a joint bank account? Oh, fuck, you really do like me.”

A hot flush rises in Alex’s cheeks as he squirms. “I like your fake money.”

“I think you mean our fake money.”

Alex laughs. “I fucking hate you.” He turns away, and Michael bends down to kiss the exposed line of his neck.

“You don’t,” he says between nips. “You really don’t.”

“No,” Alex agrees. “I really don’t.”

#michael x alex #malex #malex fic #malexcupid21 #roswell new mexico #alright it's DONE it's out of me so now i can read all the other ones lol #it's been a long while since i posted fic but!!! i kind of need them back together ASAP #my fic

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shoutaaizawas · 4 years

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For the au prompt event can I requst a fantasy!au Shinsou with the prompt "Is there a reason you're blushing like that?" please!

thank you for the request!! 💖

↳ shinsou hitoshi x reader → remember

event: au prompt event summary: shinsou hitoshi was an assassin sent to kill you but he didn’t and your trying to figure out why. word count: 2,479 tags/warnings: fantasy!au, light angst, happy ending a/n: this was a fun idea and it was kind of hard to fit it in to a one-shot

Was Shinsou an assassin sent to kill you? Yes. Were you sort of friends at the moment? Maybe. Friends was probably too strong of word to use for him but he wasn’t trying to kill you at the moment so that was good.

You were a princess, next in line to rule. You had been traveling to another kingdom to meet your betrothed when you were attacked. It had happened so quickly. The strange purple-haired man had a blade to your neck but he hesitated. You weren’t quite sure why he stopped but you weren’t complaining.

Somehow this all lead to you traveling home with this assassin. With his change of heart, he decided to escort you back to your kingdom. Unfortunately, you were a very long way from home so this would be a long journey.

Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. You weren’t looking forward to seeing your home. The pressures of being royalty were simply not for you. You would prefer to live a peaceful and simple life. But you were stuck in a world where you would be a leader and not only that but you’d be wed to a man you didn’t even know. All of it was terrible.

At first, your travels were stale with this assassin. He barely talked to you and would hardly look at you. This left you with the sound of your footsteps and whatever sounds the forest made.

Sometimes you would take in his features, his pale skin and the scars that marred it.

“So, been an assassin for a long time?” You asked trying to break the silence. You were tired of being stuck in your thoughts of what awaited you at home.

“None of your business.” He said simply.

“Just trying to make small talk.” You huffed.

“I don’t do small talk.” He replied.

“No small talk, just murder.” You retorted.

“I didn’t murder you.” He said shooting you a glare.

Okay, so small talk wasn’t going to work. You ended up counting the trees to keep yourself busy but there were too many trees so you gave up on that.

“I spy, something green.” You said after another hour of silence.

“I’m not playing a child’s game.” He said.

“Oh come on all this walking is so boring.” You said.

“I’m sorry that I don’t have a pretty carriage for you or a white pony, princess.” He said.

“It’s not the walking it’s just the silence.” You said. "I used to have a white pony, her name was Snowflake. She was such a good girl." You reminisced about your childhood horse.

Shinsou just looked at you with an odd stare.

“It was that tree, by the way.” You said answering the game you had tried to start earlier.

There was a lot of walking through forests, it all started to blend in together. Some days you sang until he told you to shut up. Others you attempted asking him questions to be shot down. Sometimes you would just start telling a story since that required no response. He would eventually get annoyed with that.

One night you sat around the campfire he created, keeping yourself warm in the harsh cold. Watching the flames dance you imagined a life where you could live in a small cabin far from others, tend to your own crops and animals, and simply enjoy life. Maybe even share it with someone else.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” You asked breaking the silence.

“It’s none of your business.” He replied not sparing a glance.

“It feels like it’s a little bit of my business. You know if you hadn’t spared me I’d be a dead body floating down a river right now.” You said.

“That’s not how you dispose of a body.” He scoffed.

“I’m not sure that’s what I wanted to hear but I’ll take it since it’s the first thing you’ve said that’s not ‘it’s none of your business’ or ‘shut up’.” You said.

Slowly but surely he slowly opened up. Maybe opening up wasn't the most accurate phrase for it but he would let you sing a song as you walked. Sometimes he would answer one of your dumb questions.

One day you were walking along the dirt path leading you to the next town when you started talking about your kingdom. You hadn’t been thinking much about what you were saying but you got on the topic of your role as princess.

“You know, I don’t even want to be queen.” You rambled on. “I don’t want to marry some random guy I’ve never met, I don’t want the responsibility of leading people. Sometimes I just want to run off and never look back.” You sighed.

“What?” You were shocked at the sudden interest that Shinsou showed.

“Hmm?” You hadn’t expected that he was listening. “I was just saying I don’t want to be queen.”

“But you have to.” He said seriously. You hadn’t expected that either.

“I mean who’s gonna stop me if I don’t go back?” You shrugged. “What’s the difference between that and me being dead?”

Shinsou was silent but despite the fact, he was hard to read, you could tell he was deep in thought.

It was yet another day traveling home, you were close maybe a few days out now. You felt nauseous. You didn’t want to go home to a life you hated. You wanted choices, you wanted freedom.

You weren’t expecting the sudden attack. You were tackled to the ground and fear seized you as you looked at your attacker. He wasn’t on you for long, Shinsou ripping him off you. You watched helplessly as he fought off the attacker along with three others that had been apart of the group.

You hated that you couldn’t help, you hated being so helpless. You let out a gasp of horror as a blade sliced against Shinsou’s side. Even with the wound, he fought them off with a lot less trouble than you expected someone to fight four people by themself.

“You’re hurt.” You said going to his side.

“I’m fine, let’s get out of here.” He said, waving away your concern before grabbing you by the shoulder as he gripped at his side.

After insisting he finally gave in and stopped at a local tavern that doubled as an inn. You wanted to help bandage him up and let him get rest. Once you were in the room you sat him down, you reached for the pack you had with first aid. Worry filled you at the sight of the blood that had soaked through his clothes.

“You don’t have to, I can do it myself.” He said.

“You got hurt defending me, I’m not going to sit here.” You huffed. “I already didn’t help in the first place.”

The last thing you were expecting was for him you grab your chin tilting your gaze from his wound to his eyes.

“I’ll always protect you.” He said in a soft tone that had your heart skipping a beat.

Not a moment after Shinsou’s eyes fluttered shut and he fell back onto the bed unconscious. Okay, maybe that was the last thing you expected in retrospect.

You panicked for a moment before you reached for his side pulling aside cloth to look at his wound. It didn’t look right, it was foaming. It hit you, you had read it in a book once, the blade had poison on it.

You recalled a night a few weeks ago where you had been poking through his bag, he had vials of poison himself as well as antidotes. Thanking yourself for your curiosity you dug into his bag looking for the vile.

Shinsou was now shaking and convulsing on the bed and fear gripped you even stronger now. You couldn't lose him.

Pressing it to his lips you tilted his head so he could drink the antidote. Once it was all gone you pulled him onto the bed fully before starting to tend to his wound.

The antidote was working, his body stilled and his breathing evened out. His body was burning up but you assumed that that was part of the poison leaving his body. You hoped that you had done everything right.

After you cleaned and dressed the wound you pulled off the outer layers of his clothing so he would be more comfortable. He was sweating, touching his forehead you could feel he had a fever. You went down to the tavern to retrieve water.

You sat at his bedside, dabbing his forehead with water and doing whatever you could to help him be more comfortable. Watching his unconscious form you appreciated how handsome he was even looking sickly as he did right now. You had stared at him before but he would usually catch you and it almost felt like he didn’t sleep considering you only ever saw him awake and on guard when you set up camp. But now you could take in his peaceful features.

His long purple hair that rested against his shoulders, his sharp cheekbones, and the darkness under his eyes that was oddly attractive.

It was a hard thing to admit to yourself but you had slowly grown close to this man along your travels. It may have taken a while to get him to talk but once you did you weren’t expecting his dry sense of humor or the soft tone he took with you when you did something that could get you hurt.

Shinsou stirred in his sleep, tossing and turning. You cleaned the cloth off in the cool water and dabbed it on his forehead.

“Princess.” He mumbled out and you quirked an eyebrow.

“Shinsou, how are you feeling?” You asked leaning foreword to hear his quiet words.

“Princess, I can’t go I have to clean out the stables.” He said. Your eyebrows furrowed. What was he talking about?

“What are you talking about?” You questioned.

“I’m sorry princess, next time.” He said softly.

Suddenly you were pulled into a memory. You were young, maybe around ten years old. The boy in the stables with the purple hair and the soft eyes that matched. Oh, how you loved how gentle he was with horses, how he talked to you in that soft voice of his. He was so kind-hearted.

You spent so much time with him, talking to him, telling him stories, singing. You always wanted him to go with you to the forest and explore and run around. But he always had to work, even when you asked your father to let him have the day he refused and said you shouldn’t be hanging out with such a lowly servant. It didn’t stop you, you spent every day there with him for years.

Oh, how you fell in love with the sweet boy, Hitoshi. As you got older you both planned to run away far away from it all and get married. You could live a life free from your family and the things that kept you apart.

But one day he was gone, you went to your father only to find out that he had him sent away. You cried and cried for weeks, heartbroken at the loss. You looked for him but there was no trace of him anywhere. You missed him so dearly.

How had you not realized sooner? How did it take this to make you realize your lost love was in front of your eyes the whole time.

“Hitoshi?” You said, tears welling in your eyes.

This pulled him from his feverish dream. His eyes snapped opened and focused on you.

“You remember?” He asked cautiously.

“I don’t know how I could forget you, ‘Toshi.” Your tears broke and rolled down your cheeks. You moved forward, perching on the side of the bed so you could pull him into your arms as carefully as possible.

You tucked your face into his shoulder and his arms pulled you in.

“It’s okay princess, I’m here now.” He said, stroking your back.

After a few moments of resting in his arms, you pulled back looking into his purple gaze.

“Let’s run away together, I don’t want to return. Let’s run away from it all like we talked about when we were kids.” You said.

“We’re not kids anymore, we’re adults and we have responsibilities now.” He replied in a stern tone.

“Oh yeah, like murdering people?” You bit back, pulling away from him.

How could he say that after finding each other after all this time? You could finally be together.

“You don’t know what I’ve been through!”

“How am I supposed to know you just disappeared!” You shouted back. “You were gone and I was so alone, I couldn’t find you no matter where I looked!”

“Your father sent me away, he sent me to an assassin’s guild. They trained me to be some kind of monster. I realized what real life was like, not like the little fantasies we dreamed of. How am I supposed to be worthy of someone like you with all the blood on my hands? How could you ever love me?”

You stared at him in disbelief. How could he think that?

“You’ll always be that boy in the stables that I loved nothing could change that.” You said softly. It didn’t matter what he had done you could work past it. “You don’t have to kill people anymore, we can both leave our lives behind and start fresh.”

Shinsou started deep into your eyes, his own eyes filling up with tears.

“That sounds nice.” He said.

Shinsou leaned up, minding his wounds, pulling you in before pressing a kiss against your lips. You were shocked for a moment before melting into it and wrapping your arms around him.

"Is there a reason you're blushing like that?" He said as he pulled back taking in your red cheeks.

“No, no reason at all.” You teased. He gave you that smirk that you loved so much and it was easy to imagine the boy you fell in love with even with the scars he had now.

“Let’s get some rest.” He said pulling you down to the bed with him, holding you firmly in your arms.

“Tomorrow is the start of the rest of our lives.” You whispered into his ear unable to hold back the smile on your face.

As you laid there wrapped up in his arms listening to the soft music that drifted from the tavern below it was easy to imagine the rest of your life with Hitoshi.

A small house secluded away from the harsh realities of your past. A warm fireplace to sit next to in his arms with a warm drink. A life free from what you were both born into. A life made on your own terms.

#shinsou hitoshi #shinsou x reader #hitoshi x reader #shinsou hitoshi x reader #bnha x reader #bnha #mha #mha x reader #my writing #au prompt event #starri-night

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soyeahitsmiddleearth · 5 years

Text

Hush Now

I accidentally deleted the request, but anon asked for “Kili saving human Reader who’s usually very brave from something which terrified her a lot.” I changed it up a bit and its story heavy. But here we go!

Kili x Reader

Trigger warning: Mentioned character death

Throughout your life you’ve always had to be strong.

When your father died, you stayed strong so your mother didn’t have to.

When your mother fell to sickness, you stayed strong so your sister didn’t have to.

When your sister sold you out for a reward of 200 gold pieces, you stayed strong so she wouldn’t have the satisfaction of knowing that she completely destroyed you.

After you and your sister were left as impoverished orphans, you took to a life of crime to make sure she would always have something to eat. Not just crime, though, for you also sold your services as a mercenary amongst… other things.

You had learned how to kill at the prime age of 15, and very quickly after that did your skills polish into something that even a grown man would fear if he knew what you were capable of.

You’d done everything for her. You’d sold yourself, your dignity, your innocence of the blade, everything. And after you had no more to give, she tossed you aside for barely enough to last her 6 months.

The look she gave you that day, that apathetic stare as you were dragged away, shattered your heart into a million pieces, and it wasn’t until later when you’d killed the guards and fled from the city that you actually sat down and cried.

Despite the tragic nature of your past, though, there is no dramatic revenge plot or motivation to hunt her down. There is no desire to make her pay or see her suffer, for you released all of these feelings of contempt years ago.

A part of you wonders from time to time if she knew you would escape. If she, perhaps, sold you out for such a small amount so you would be freed from watching over her and catering to her. That, maybe, if you were to search for her, then she would smile and tell you how much she missed you, how sorry she was for not telling you of her plans.

You know those are just the fantasies of a foolish girl holding onto the image of a sweet 9 year old, clutching your leg and asking when your next meal will be and telling you how she never wants you to leave her. It’s just your mind clutching onto the past, wanting to smooth over the trauma and pain that you go through thinking of her every day…

Though, in another regard you might also thank her.

If it weren’t for her treachery, you would’ve never met him.

After you abandoned your home town and became a full time rouge and sword for hire, you were sought out by a greying old man who claimed to be a wizard named Gandalf.

He offered you a 15th share in a mountain full of riches and the opportunity to help reunite a king with his castle.

It all seemed far fetched and kinda ridiculous, but he paid you a handsome amount up front so you agreed. And then it turned out that he wasn’t lying, for not even a week later do you meet this king in a wonderful town called the Shire.

This Thorin was reluctant to allow you on the quest, but upon the instance and praise of Gandalf, he agreed.

His youngest nephew, Kili, caught your eye right away.

He is, not only, rather tall for a dwarf, but he’s quite cute by human’s standards too. Not to mention the fact that he approached you first with a big goofy smile on his face and curiosity in his eyes.

The two of you got along rather easily, and for the first time since you became a devout mercenary and rouge, you found that you could trust someone.

Trusting someone other than yourself is not easy, though, and there are many moments in which you doubt that trust when the more paranoid part of your mind whispers how he’ll betray you; but your fondness for this dwarf wins out for you in the end.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry or heard you complain before.” Kili comments suddenly, successfully snapping you out of your spiraling thoughts.

You look down at him from your horse and raise an eyebrow, “Are you saying you wish to see me cry?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant at all!” He stutters when you seem to take his words the wrong way, “I only meant to say that you… come across as very impassive and restrained. Like when you got stabbed in the arm, you didn’t so much as utter one ‘ow’."

He has a point, you realize, but it’s only become so natural for you to keep it all inside that you barely noticed, "I’ll have you know I did cry, it was just very quiet."

It looks like he doesn’t believe you.

"Really, it’s true. It hurt horribly, but I waited until Oin was done so my tears wouldn’t bother him.” Saying it out loud makes you feel silly and a little weird, and you wonder why you even told him in the first place.

“Are you telling me you didn’t cry because it would unnerve our healer?” He asks incredulously, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“Well when you say it like that…” You grumble, unconsciously reaching up to rub where the healing wound is.

“I don’t mean to judge you, Y/N, I’m only curious.” He adds quickly, having his pony move a bit faster for a moment so he can get a peek at your face. “You seem to be rather fearless, I don’t think even my uncle could intimidate you."

His words draw a laugh from your lips, and you look down at him with amusement sparkling in your eyes, "Everyone is afraid of something, Kili."

"Then what are you afraid of?”

An innocent question, but one you don’t much want to answer.

You force your smile to stay on your face and reply rather slyly, “Nothing other than Dwalin’s smell."

"I heard that!” Said dwarf grumbles angrily not too far behind you.

Kili stares at you for a few moments, clearly not believing you but not pressing on it any more.

Honestly, you have no idea how he does that. He can read you like a book; somehow always knowing when you’re holding something back while also being able to tell what you’re feeling at any moment.

But for some reason, you don’t really dislike having someone know you so well.

“We’re going to be at the Misty Mountains soon enough, do you think we’ll get a chance to stop at a town?” You ask suddenly, looking down at him again.

“Yes, actually. My uncle had this part mapped out with Gandalf.”

Well, that’s a relief.

—

The group did end up stopping at a town, and let me just say, finally getting a chance to sleep on a soft, warm bed after being condemned to the ground for so long is a glorious experience.

You slept pretty well that night, and at around 5 in the morning you get up as per usual.

You’ve always been an early riser, or maybe paranoid sleeper is a better way to describe it. Your body has adapted to less sleep, and it got to the point where you just can’t stay asleep much later than 6 on any given day.

Anyway, you get up early and decide to browse around the town for anything you may want or need, and for the better part of the next hour while you wait for your friends to awake, you idly wander and enjoy the tranquility of the morning.

Everything is wonderful and calm… until it isn’t.

At first, you thought you had imagined it.

The sudden flash of a figure in your peripherals, but when you turned there was nothing. And then when you turned a corner, there was a flash of familiar (h/c) hair that whipped past. Your hairs began to stand on end, and you knew right away that you were being watched.

You thought that perhaps someone saw you and was planning to rob or assault you, but you knew you could take whoever it is if that were the case.

And then you saw her.

For real this time, head on with no blur or fuzzy images.

There she stood in front of you, her expression blank and body frozen in place, her face the exact same as you remember it from all those years ago.

You breathe her name in disbelief, taking a few steps back. It can’t be real, maybe you’re still dreaming?

“You’re a hard woman to find.” She states softly in that sweet voice you could never forget.

“Y-You were looking for me?” You stutter with, dare you say, hope, hand falling from your weapon while you look on in shock.

“I was.” Is her only reply.

It’s as if your brain has stopped working and you can no longer form a coherent thought or phrase, but you do eventually stammer out, “It’s been so long…"

She doesn’t reply, and you suddenly feel unnerved.

"Why were you looking for me?"

She still says nothing, her gaze burning into you like the sun on a hot summer morning and her face unmoving.

And then she steps forward, but you don’t move and let her get close.

"I’m going to get a lot more than 200 coins for you, this time.” She whispers, reaching up to press her palm to your face.

You know what she means, but for some reason your feet won’t let you move. It’s as if your feet are glued to the ground and knees locked tight. You continue to stare into her eyes, seeing nothing there like the day she let those guards drag you away.

Her movements are fast, and before you can even open your mouth her dagger is sticking into your neck.

You sit up with a loud gasp, hand flying to your throat as you frantically look around the room.

It all floods back to you, and you realize that it was only a dream. That you made it out of the town with your throat intact and never having seen your sister.

That you all faced those god awful goblins and ended up here at some point.

For the first time in your 10 years of isolation, you want to cry.

To scream and break things, to pull out your hair and hurt someone.

To find her and hurt her for what she did to you all those years ago.

This line of thinking shocks you to your very core, and you reach up without a second thought and rub your face roughly, willing the thoughts to disappear.

You haven’t had a dream like this in years, and you have no idea what’s prompted it now.

When your eyes begin to burn and a lump settles in your throat, you jump to your feet and hurriedly go to another room so you can sort it out away from prying ears and eyes, only your sudden jerking awake alerted someone else to your state of distress.

Once you’re isolated in another room, you begin to pace back and fourth quickly with you hands tangled in your hair.

No matter how much you will the tears to evaporate and for your breathing to calm, though, they remain. Very soon do those unshed tears begin to stream down your face in long wet streams, and your breathing becomes more ragged as hyperventilation starts.

And then you hear someone call your name.

“Y/N…?"

Your shoulders stiffen and you resist the urge to turn towards that ever familiar voice, your hands shaking at your sides as you clench them into fists.

"You shouldn’t be here, Kili.” You say softly, your voice thick with emotion and not as strong as you’d like for it to be.

There is no response, but you hear him approach carefully. He’s very good at keeping himself quiet, you’ve noticed, but your ears are trained to hear every little thing, so naturally you can hear him quite clearly.

“Are… you crying?” He asks slowly, now standing right next to you.

“No.” You deny a bit stronger this time, turning your face away sharply so that he won’t get a peek at your tear stained face.

Once again there is silence (a much longer stretch of it this time), and for a moment you think he may have even left without you noticing; but when you look back, he’s looking at you with an unreadable expression on his face,

Right away you reach up and rub at the tear streaks staining your face, and a deep set frown settles on your face, “I’m fine."

Pain flashes across his face at your assurance of being alright, and if it weren’t for the fact that he could see you, he probably would’ve believed it too.

"You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you?” He asks just as quietly, placing a hand on your arm lightly.

“…No.” You mumble after some time, sighing heavily as you move away to settle into a pile of hay with your back to the wall and your arms wrapped tightly around yourself like a shield or self hug.

Kili follows you without hesitation and sits next to you, his leg pressing against yours while you both descend into silence once more.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He offers in that same soft, sweet voice of his, reaching up to rub your arm reassuringly. “You don’t have to."

For some reason, you actually kind of want to.

"I told you about my upbringing, didn’t I?” You answer his question with a question and feel no remorse for it. “And of my sister?"

He nods his head and drops his hand back into his lap, looking up at you with the smallest of smiles on his face.

"I haven’t really thought about any of that in a while, you see. Not to say that I don’t think of it every day, but I more so mean the feelings I had then, how it felt and all the anger I once had.” You pause and shake your head, “I’m not making any sense."

"No, I understand. And even if I didn’t, it’s your story to tell, so you tell it how you wish."

You nod your head at that and continue, "I had a dream…,” you begin with a softer voice this time, your fingers digging into your arms while you huge yourself, “Of my sister. Of her finding me, having fallen onto the same wretched path as I, and killing me. Sticking me in the throat with a knife like a pig being bled out for a feast, telling me that she’ll be awarded much more for me this time around as if I were some sort of merchandise that she was selling.” You spit out the similes like they taste bad in your mouth, and you unconsciously hold yourself tighter as you remember the night terror.

Long silences are very quickly becoming a trend, for once more the only thing filling the air at the moment is the quiet that wraps around the both of you.

“That’s why you’re crying?" The dwarf inquires compassionately, looking over at you with a frown of his own and sadness shinning in his eyes.

"I’m not crying anymore.” You grumble, only to realize that tears have, in fact, begun to shed tears once more. “O-Oh…"

Before you can reach up and dispel the salty droplets of your sorrows from your eyes, two hands come up to cup the sides of your face while two matching thumbs smooth across your wet cheeks to do it for you.

This time he wears a small, sympathetic smile, and once he wipes all your tears away he keeps his hands as they are. "I cannot pretend to know what you go through or how that night terror made you feel, but… I do understand. What you’ve had to endure throughout your life has shaped who you are now, and while I would not trade who you are for anything, I do wish that I could do something to ease your pain."

His fingers continue to smooth along your cheek gently, and you find that you can’t help it when your eyes slide shut and you lean into the warmth of his hands.

With delicate movements, you reach up and place one of your hands over his, sighing through your nose before opening your eyes again to look at him.

"Thank you for saying that, Kili.” You breathe with a small smile upturning the corners of your lips.

When you smile his own brightens and he says more joyfully this time, “Of course. And know that I meant every word of it."

Slowly you slot your hand against his own until you’re holding it, and then it rests between the two of you while you engage in some sort of odd, intimate stare down.

And then you lean forward and press a light kiss against his cheek, brightening when you see his face turn slightly red.

"I meant that, too.” You reply cheekily, forgetting your sorrows for a moment while you just enjoy the company of this wonderful dwarf.

“And I mean this.” He shoots back before pecking your lips gently.

This time it’s your turn to become flustered, but you still smile and allow yourself to laugh.

“Thank you."

#kili durin #fanfic #fluff #reader #the hobbit fanfiction #the hobbit #kili #kili fluff #kili x reader #reader insert #comfort #the company of thorin oakenshield #request #anon

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beesonestopcurioshop · 5 years

Text

By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes.

Chapter 2: Trouble Comes A-knockin’

Photo Credit: Google Search.

Warnings: None currently. Standard Peaky violence if you squint?

Note: Hi there everyone! Shew was this past week somethin’, I’ll tell ya. I’m glad to finally have something to put out for you. I really hope you enjoy. I can’t wait to hear what you think! Also fun side note, I figured out how to do those fancy “keep reading” links lmaooo.

“It was those Peaky Blinder devils. They caused this. They cleared out so the coppers could come.”

“They told that inspector to come, and they left so it didn’t look like they were involved, I’ll tell ya. But they didn’t help neither. So it don’t really matter.”

The harsh whispers all over the city were heard loud and clear and still echoed in her mind. Ellie had strolled into town this afternoon to see that there was some sort of clean up happening. Pieces of broken furniture had been piled high on wagons. The tears from the chaos had dried but the discord still hung in the air. It was dense. It made her apprehensive. Ellie wasn’t entirely sure what happened while she was away, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“The coppers came a rousting but they caused damage everywhere.”

“That new inspector is more trouble than he’s worth.”

Ellie worried her lip as the dissonant voices hissed in her memory. One of the people that had been complaining on her way to Charlie’s Yard mentioned the police were mainly looking for communists but had tossed the houses of everyone just to be ‘thorough’. The people of Small Heath were downtrodden enough. They didn’t need any more abuse. It wasn’t just houses that had been turned upside down. It had been a few pubs as well. All that were under the protection of the Peaky Blinders, at least they were supposed to be. Townsfolk were steaming about the Blinders not being there. It was amazing what information slipped through lips when anger got in the way.

Ellie knew it wasn’t any of her business. Her nose had never belonged in Blinder business before, and it didn’t now. That was primarily her self preservation speaking. The intuitive side of her screeched louder. The dreams of a fox. A fox that is wily and wild and knowing. The dreams that mixed with fog, smog and billowing smoke from a cigarette said otherwise.

“Alright, in with ya.” The phrase was punctuated by a light pat on Stevie’s hind to get him moving. He grunted in protest but was immediately happy when he saw the water waiting on him. Ellie secured the rope behind him and shook her head to bring herself back to the present. The fog of her dreams and this morning was clouding her focus. There was tack to be put away.

The soft tss tss tss of excited footfalls caught Ellie’s attention. Hearing the words “Spanish saddle, he’s beautiful, Spanish saddle” repeated almost like a prayer to not be forgotten, she knew that Curly must have been on his way to the tack room. She turned and picked a Spanish saddle and it’s matching bridle out for Curly, wanting to have it ready for him when he arrived.

“Oh! Miss Ellie!” The man beamed happily in her direction.

“‘Ello Curly. ‘Ere’s that Spanish saddle you were lookin’ for.”

“Magic you are. I see it.”

Her lips pressed together in a smirk, her sets of dimples dotting her rounded cheeks. “Just ‘eard ya comin’, Curly. Not magic by any means. I just have ears that work really well. So who are you working with today?”

“Not me, Miss Ellie. Tommy. He brought the horse from the fair. He needs to stretch his legs.”

“Right, I know the one. I handed him over.”

“Beautiful isn’t he?”

“That he certainly is. Definitely makes a statement that one.”

“Curly,” a smoky disembodied voice questioned from around the corner and caused a frenzy of motion from the man in front of her. Curly grabbed the tack from her and began to head for the door. “There you are.”

“Tom!”

“Why don’t you come help Charlie finish up, eh?” A flurry of nodding followed Thomas’ statement but went unnoticed by Ellie and Thomas.

“Help Charlie, Spanish saddle.”

The impassive expression on Thomas’ face silently drove Ellie mad. It was difficult to read him at face value. The silhouette of him in the threshold had flashes of billowing smoke running through her vision.

“Interesting seeing you here, Miss Byrne.”

“Told ya we would meet again at some point, Mr. Shelby. That point just ‘appened to be soon. I also board me ‘orse here.” Back in the city her vernacular had a tendency to be a little more direct. In the wild she was softer. She didn’t have a need to be aggressive. “Ellie though, I insist.”

Thomas stepped into the dim light of the small room. Ellie looked on with quiet curiosity as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth. She knew her tone had a habit of getting her in trouble. She knew that people had disappeared for less in the presence of Thomas Shelby.

The room came alive when he stepped in. There was a flurry of noise. It was like crackling or sizzling. Her gaze locked on the electric blue stare and she felt her jaw drop open just a hair. It was like he knew everything about her right at that moment.

Without breaking her eye contact Ellie asked, “How is the horse?”

“He looked footsore. I wanted to give him a chance to stretch his legs.” Thomas tossed his head in the direction of the door indicating that he wanted her to follow him out.

“That boy sure can run. I’m sure he’ll thank you for it. I don’t know how well he’ll be around the industrial noise though.” She was very aware of his hand near the small of her back as they began to make their way back out front. “The only thin’ he’s use to is field and forest. I’m surprised you got him into the box.”

“I can charm horses and dogs, didn’t you know?” There was a mirth hidden behind his statement.

“Oh, can you? I hadn’t heard.” Her doe brown eyes squinted cheerily in his direction.

“What happened to ‘No one comes out of Small ‘eath and doesn’t know the Peaky Blinders,’ eh?” Thomas stepped closer to her in jest, a small show of teeth, when her gait slowed.

“I know of you. I don’t know everythin’. Trouble likes to find me on it’s own fairly easy, so I like to not go diggin’.”

“Smart girl.”

There was a fluttering of wings and a soft swishing of fur to her left and right. No one else appeared to hear it, so she hadn’t responded. If that confounded fox had followed her into the city, it had signed its own death warrant. The air slapped and crackled in the background. It was like she could hear it, but also could just barely make it out.

“Not smart, Mr. Shelby. Just adaptive.” Curly was finishing something up with the horse so she went over to lend a hand. Thomas made his way over to his uncle. It appeared that they were having words. Something about guns, minding how one was spoken to. ‘It’s Thomas Shelby against the whole bloody world, right?’ stuck with her. When Thomas was firmly in his seat, he gave Ellie a quick glance and clucked his tongue. She let her hand slowly drift off the horse as it strode forward.

Charlie had a surly expression on his face. She was certain it was from the conversation that had just transpired. Her feet wanted to have her flee as far from the feeling as they could as quickly as they could. There was a shift at the Guns waiting for her.

••

Ellie walked into the pub just like any normal day. Although it wasn’t turning out to be normal by any means. When her first footstep into the building caused a round of quiet with the few patrons who had started early, she hung back. They looked to be cleaning the place up. Now that her eyes had adjusted from the light outside, Ellie noticed that the pub looked like it had been turned over proper. The feeling in the air was off kilter. Trouble was coming. Looking over to the barkeep, Eddie, he had a somber look on his face.

“Ellie, s’probably best if you leave now before Richard sees ya.”

Ellie’s eyebrows drew together in confusion while she walked closer to the bar. “You what? So what if Richard sees me? It’s my time to be back after he gave me three days off for the fair to help me friend.”

“About that,” a long sigh slipped past Eddie’s thin lips, “Richard isn’t happy you went there.”

“I’m again missing the point. I’ve gone to dat fair every year of my life since I was a girl.” Ellie was needless to say bewildered. Eddie motioned around to the mess that still had to be fixed up and she took it all in. “How do I have anythin’ to do with dis?”

Eddie grew frustrated trying to explain the bad news. “The Peaky Blinders left so that the coppers could come in and rough things up. It was only pubs and houses under their protection that got touched. They went to the fair. Someone from town saw you there.”

“Yeah because I was. Like I said I would be.” Ellie’s hands slapped her sides as they swung back down in exasperation.

“No, Ellie. I can’t make it any more clear. With the Peaky Blinders.”

She was irate.“Oh for cryin’ out loud, Edward! I was helpin’ my friend Johnny with pony rides. Johnny is friends with Mr. Shelby and had something for him. I was just there. I didn’t even know they were showin’ up.”

“Well Richard doesn’t see it that way and wants you gone from the Guns.” His tone was final.

Ellie stared at him in utter disbelief and her heartbeat quickened. There was no way that Eddie was being serious. She had to have been dreaming. The anger she was feeling right now was otherworldly. “You know what?”

Richard’s voice came booming from the back. He came to see what the raised voices were about. “Nothin' Ellie! Leave. I’m ashamed that you had anything to do with this. I thought you knew better than to get mixed up with those devils, but yet here we are.”

“Richard, you can’t be serious?! How on earth,” she took a deep breath, “do I look like someone who would be involved with the Blinders? I usually keep to myself. Stay outta trouble. Just take care of me and me ‘orse.” She was desperate.

“Don’t forget, Ellie. The devil was once an angel. I don’t want to hear another word now. Go before I throw you out myself.”

Before her temper got the best of her and she landed herself in jail, she left her apron and walked. She wasn’t sure where she was heading. She needed to get to Charlie’s Yard. Stevie could always help.

••

Ellie sat in a devastated state. Her hand almost numbly patting Stevie. Her time at the Guns wasn’t long, but she had learnt so much about herself and others while working there. She thought she had at the very least. Richard had taken her under his wing and made sure she had just enough to scrape by. Ellie would have liked to think he thought better of her. It really was correct when folks said you never truly knew someone.

Her sniffling was muted as a light rain began to tink on the tin roof. What wasn’t muffled though was the sound of hay shuffling around with human footsteps. It could have been Curly, or Charlie for that matter. They were here all the time anyhow. They did own and run the place.

She stood to make her way to greet them and tell whoever it was that she would be out of their hair as soon as possible, but the Romany coming from the grey’s stall caused her movements to cease. Listening to the vernacular, she knew it was the Lees. Ellie couldn’t see what they were doing, but there was a fairly educated guess as to what it could be. She had to find someone and tell them.

There was a hole in the back of Stevie’s stall that she could squeeze out of and make her way to the front gate through the back without being seen. She said a quick prayer of safety over her boy and slipped out the back. A sigh of relief escaped her lips at the fact that it wasn’t dark yet. This way back to the front would be a little more intimidating if night had fallen.

Making her way around the front gate, she knew the Garrison was a good place to start looking. If only she would have seen the hand that reached out to wallop her across the cheek, she would have made it to her destination.

••

Polly made her way into the betting shop. She was unhappy with what had come to pass with Monaghan Boy. Thomas should have known better. Thomas did know better. Now Billy Kimber was going to be breathing down their necks for fixing races underneath him.

“So Monaghan Boy finally lost.” Polly placed her things down on the desk, giving herself time to think of her approach.

Thomas sighed. His aunt was surely about to lay it on him for things that she wasn’t aware he had done on purpose. “Third time unlucky,” he paused briefly, “we took money from all over the city.”

“Yeah, but you’ll give it back. Earn back your popularity.”

“Already done.” As he finished, Thomas took a swig of his whiskey.

“Taught you well,” she bent down to look Thomas directly in the eyes, “and you fixed this race without the permission of Billy Kimber?” Polly’s breath quickened as she struck out at Thomas’ glass, causing it to fly across the room and smash in a shower of glass and alcohol. “Obviously didn’t teach you well enough! Rule one, don’t punch above your weight.”

Thomas’ jaw tightened at his aunt’s outburst. “Billy Kimber is there for the taking.”

“Says who?!” Polly scoffed in cynicism. “Tommy and his parliament of one?! I ran this business for five years!”

“Yeah while I was away fighting. While I was away, I learnt things. Like you strike when you’re enemy is weak.”

••

The pounding in her skull was what brought her back to consciousness. It sounded like someone beating a large lap drum over and over and over again without any sympathy. A deep, mournful sound passed through her lips while she tried to lift her body prone. The rain that had started as a drizzle now downpoured and made her cold.

A low chuckle sounded from behind her. Not knowing who it belonged to, made her blood run even colder. Trouble definitely had her name on it’s breath.

••

Ahhh so here it is! I’m curious to see where my own brain takes this lmao. I can’t wait to see what you all think! I hope you enjoyed. Hit me up with your favorite part or line. I would love to hear from you!

#peaky blinders #peaky blinders writing #peaky blinder fanfic #tommy shelby x oc #tommy shelby #thomas shelby x oc #thomas shelby

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machinequeen4 · 4 years

Text

Fic rec bingo list!

I thought I’d fill out this fic rec bingo card, posted by @lightveils on Twitter!

It sort of turned into the History of MachineQueen in Fanfiction. All you unsung heroes who write and publish fanfic, I love you and remember your names.

Recs for Fire Emblem Fates, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Yu-gi-oh, Doctor Who, RWBY, Ace Attorney, Tales of Graces follow!

1. A fic you love without knowing the source material

Undone - codenamecynic, Dragon Age II, E rated, Fenris/Female Hawke, multichap 135k words

https://archiveofourown.org/works/482156/chapters/838851

I know nothing about Dragon Age and can’t remember why I decided to read it. TV Tropes maybe? From what I can tell it’s the events of the game with additional sex scenes. Hawke is witty, Fenris is a tragic broken bird, I was sold.

2. A fic with a premise that shouldn’t work but it does

Trial and Error - undieshogun, Fire Emblem Fates, T rated, Subaki/Takumi, multichap 15k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6890677/chapters/15719992

Not so much a premise but a ship I wasn’t convinced on. But it had Subaki in it so I gave it a try. It’s really cute - Subaki tries to teach Takumi social skills, much to his annoyance.

This line alone is gold star characterisation:

"I couldn't tell you why Tsubaki has taken such a liking to you, but I do know that any time he wants to befriend someone, it's because he sees in them something he lacks."

3. A fic you’ve reread several times

Gratitude - GoldenThreads, Fire Emblem Three Houses, T rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, multichap 8k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20344273/chapters/48239686

The writing style is so beautifully layered that I find new meaning every time I read it. The scene where Ferdinand offers a hairpin for each story Hubert tells is gorgeous, one of my favourites to reread.

4. A fic you still remember many years later

A Song I Think I Heard Before - Scribbler, Yu-gi-oh, T rated, Mai/Jounouchi (Joey), multichap 40k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5924028/1/A_Song_I_Think_I_Heard_Before

My favourite Mai fic. This gives her a backstory with Dartz based villainy and recontextualises her relationship with Jou (Joey in the dub, most YGO authors used the JP names to distance themselves from 4Kids’ added cheese). I was on tenterhooks waiting for each new chapter. It’s got real emotional depth, capturing Mai’s cynical nature perfectly. Also I still think about/use the phrase bumblefuck in the morning.

5. A comfort fic

just a little stuck on you (you’ll be on me too) - flowermoons, Fire Emblem Three Houses, T rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, one chap 33k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21875707

This brings the cast of FE3H to the modern world and drops them into reality TV show The X Factor. There’s no war or death angst, just a singing contest. I grew up with The X Factor on TV on a Saturday night so this was a delight. Like me, the author is cynical about reality TV which makes the fic even more engaging. Ferdinand mourning his long hair after he cuts it and Hubert running round London looking for him really made my day.

6. A catharthic fic

Long and Lost - Windian, Tales of Graces, M rated, Richard/Asbel, multichap 36k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5357546/chapters/12372899

Listen game, you can’t spend 40 hours having the protagonist’s motivation as ‘save Richard’ and then pull a no homo on me! In this fic Asbel dutifully marries Cheria only for the whole thing to collapse in on itself when he realises he’s in love with Richard after all. The snow storm scene is something I’ll always remember.

7. A fic you’d like to print and put on your bookshelf

Revival series - MyAibou, Yu-gi-oh, T rated, multiship, many k

http://fanfiction.net/s/2681684/1/Revival-Prologue-Paradox

This is split into multiple parts and has another multipart followup. A continuation of Yu-gi-oh Duel Monsters with shipping and very decent original characters including villains. My polarshipping heart is in love with this scene on the clifftop in part 2 chapter 11 - a slow dance to the sound of the waves to help Mai remember she isn’t alone *melts into a puddle*

8. A fic you associate with a song

Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been - darkrunner, Yu-gi-oh, rated K+, Mai/Jou, multichap 9k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4445992/1/Who-I-Am-Hates-Who-I-ve-Been

It’s titled after a song. This was one of the first fics I ever found, read and loved. I was way too shy to review but I loved this author dearly. Good old angst & hurt/comfort with a happy ending. A happy ending for Mai was all I wanted haha!

9. A fic that inspires you

Patience, Ponies and Pastries - GoldenThreads, Fire Emblem Three Houses, T rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, multichap, 27k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20722859/chapters/49231019

A shipping fic where the two characters being shipped spend most of the fic apart! This author is so good at characterising the pair, there are treasures hidden throughout. I never thought reading about horses of all things could make me so emotional...

And this passage from Ferdinand’s point of view:

As long as Hubert did not truly reject such affection, did not throw him in the stocks for his bleeding heart, then he did not require reciprocation. He required that Hubert be cherished, and that was that.

10. A fic that brought you on board a new ship

Marik and Bakura Go To Censored Town - Little Kuriboh, Yu-gi-oh, M rated, multichap, 24k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6954805/1/Marik-Bakura-Go-To-Censored-Town

I spent most of my Yu-gi-oh fandom life wishing there were more fics about Mai and tended to avoid the big slash ships. However, Yu-gi-oh Abridged’s strongest pair were always Marik and Bakura. When I read this fic I realised yes, Marik being an idiot and Bakura being the straight man (not literally) makes this ship sing.

11. A fic you wish could be a movie

Denial & Deception - Bohemienne, Fire Emblem Three Houses, M rated, multichap, 74k (incomplete)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20895731/chapters/49671050

The setting of Derdriu is so lushly described that it would make a wonderful movie setting. Additional points for the masked ball chapters!

Hubert and Ferdinand infiltrate the Leicester Alliance using a fake relationship. It goes as well as you might expect. There is comedy, there is romance and the whole thing makes you want to smack Hubert round the face with a fish.

12. A fic that led to you making friends with the author

Past Future Continuous - HermitsUnited, Doctor Who, T rated, multichap 20k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4917490/1/Past-Future-Continuous

We are not in contact anymore but we shared a love of Donna Noble. This shines through in all her alternate season 5 fics!

13. A fic you’ve gushed about IRL

Festering Under Your Skin - Bohemienne, Fire Emblem Three Houses, M rated, multichap 52k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20465312/chapters/48559553

My poor gf had to put up with me going on about this one. Lady Edelgard is dead and Ferdinand is a Blue Lion who spares Hubert. All of this is played for maximum dramatic potential. Special marks for the scene where Ferdinand accidentally poisons himself with Hubert’s coffee. So brilliantly in character for both of them. And excellently foreshadowed earlier in the fic where an imprisoned Hubert keeps asking for his coffee...

14. A fic you associate with a place

Heart of Defiance - battlemage15, RWBY, M rated, multichap 150k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7896874/chapters/18038116

I downloaded this to my phone and read it on the top deck of the number 6 bus as it bumped along the country roads of deepest Devon. I was on my way to job interviews in the city and the trip was 2 hours long. The fic itself is a Yang centric shonen power fantasy that goes to pretty dark places.

15. A fic that made you gasp out loud

Blood and Ink - ShowMeYourFury, RWBY, M rated, Cinder/Ruby, multichap 45k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11754595/1/Blood-and-Ink

This fic is ruthless with Cinder’s villainy. Every time you think she can’t go any further, she does. I love it.

16. A fic you found at the right time

Forward - Lyricanna, Fire Emblem Fates, not rated, multichap, 34k (incomplete)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12747516/chapters/29075913

I love the concept of this fic so much. Subaki is selected to be a Hoshidan ambassador in Nohr and gets lumped with Niles as a guide. Neither is having a good time. There is a plot going on involving kidnapping and asassination that forces them to work together.

17. A fic that you would read fic of

The Obligatory Hot Spring Scene - Scribbler, Yu-gi-oh, T rated, oneshot, sub 1k

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6368612/1/The-Obligatory-Hot-Spring-Scene

Written as though the characters are actors and canon is a TV show. I love this concept and would read more in a similar vein

18. A fic that made you laugh out loud

Surrender To Your Peace - spiralpegasus, Fire Emblem Three Houses, M rated, Sylvain/Felix, one chap, 11k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20757260

“This is very unfortunate,” Dimitri says with a frown. “As the leader of this mission, I will take full responsibility and use the Swamp Bedroll.”

One does not simply sacrifice themselves to He Who Saw The Bottom Of The Earth And Lived with such a cavalier attitude. “You know your guilt complex doesn’t actually have to extend to sleeping in a gross swamp bag,” Sylvain tells him disbelievingly.

“I agree, Your Highness,” Dedue says, setting He Whose Stench Haunts The Dreams Of Man down on the ground with a delicate sort of distaste. “None of us need use this… bedroll.” He says bedroll the same way he says food when it’s Flayn’s turn to cook.

19. A fic with a line or two you’ve memorised by heart

one sentiment enlightens to another - newamsterdam, Fire Emblem Three Houses, G rated, Hubert/Ferdinand, oneshot 6k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21074840

Ferdinand rolls his eyes. “Of course I do, Hubert. I remember very well. I just— well. Perhaps I’ve overestimated you.”

Hubert, who has spent the better part of the past few weeks believing he constantly underestimates Ferdinand, bristles.

Not the exact lines but I always keep this in mind when writing the ship. I think these hit on the fundamental misunderstanding between the two characters. Hubert is only human, not some all powerful hero/villain. And Ferdinand isn’t stupid just because he’s honest and emotional. I think the two of them have trouble getting their heads round these concepts!

20. A fic that gave you butterflies

Ataraxia - Windian, Tales of Graces, T rated, Cheria/Pascal, 13k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7828981/chapters/17871247

"I want you," Cheria tells her, and the night catches like a rubber band. Her hands are in Pascal's hair, Pascal's arms around hers, her mouth on hers. Their kisses are sloppy and messy, noses knocking against one another, but it's everything and it's nothing at all like kissing Asbel.

When they break for air, Pascal tells her, "You don't know how long I've wanted to do this, Cheria."

Cheria asks, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I dunno Cheria, because you were gonna marry Asbel, maybe?"

It stops her in her tracks. Voice low, she asks, "What am I going to tell him?"

Pascal cups either side of her face. Kisses her, so hot and hard that Cheria's left seeing stars, clinging at the strings of Pascal's swimsuit like a shipwrecked sailor to a spar.

"Screw it. Think about it in the morning. For once in your life, do something you want."

21. A fic that embodies something you value in life

The Truth About Love - MistressAkira, Fire Emblem Fates, T rated, Niles/Subaki, 2k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036081

This fic is experimental in style - the author descrbes it as a soliloquy. The sentiment I take from it is that love is compromising, inconvenient, illogical. Yet it’s still something beautiful and something worth fighting for.

22. A favourite AU

Mobius - SirTeateiMoonlight, Xenoblade Chronicles, T rated, multichap, 17k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17845748/chapters/42111473

Melia finds a copy of Xenoblade, plays it and knows exactly what’s going on in the story. She uses this knowledge to her advantage. It’s a slippery slope. By the end of the story she’s mercilessly torturing Lorothia against her brother’s wishes.

23. A fic you’ve stayed up late to finish reading

Dirty Sympathy - ideny, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, M rated, Klavier/Apollo, 130k on AO3 not sure on kink meme

https://bludhavens.livejournal.com/88397.html?thread=41790541#t41790541

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075868/chapters/2160789

I stayed up reading this until 4am and for some reason (probably tiredness) confessed this to my not-yet-gf. She cites this as one of the moments she fell for me!

It’s a dark fic in which Klavier and Apollo are both in abusive relationships with villains. They concoct a plot to implicate the two of them in criminal activities to escape and fall for each other along the way.

24. A fic that made you feel seen

i knew you were trouble - Magepaw, Fire Emblem Fates, M rated, Niles/Subaki, 8k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19314568

First of all the title is one of my favourite songs. Second of all the dialogue is everything I want from the Niles/Subaki ship. Third Subaki’s pegasus makes her presence known. Fourth there is a gory battle scene and hurt/comfort gone wrong. And fifth, a happy ending.

Niles had to turn away, hand pressed to his mouth, before his own blush betrayed him. This was too good to last. This had to be the most embarrassingly vulnerable moment of his entire life, and of course the entirety of the Nohrian and Hoshidan military combined had to be there to see Niles go soft.

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salmonthestoryteller · 5 years

Text

Don’t You Forget About Me

I was hit by a random thought based on the UFO Emporium Gala scene, where Maria isn’t wearing her necklace, and her mentioning her mother taking it off her own neck to putting it on Maria’s when she turned 18. Which means all her issues started after she stopped wearing the necklace. Maria isn’t wearing the necklace in 1x11 and part of 1x13.

Contains Miluca/Marichael, but I have their romance end in a really sad way. The evil plotbunny demanded it! (No character deaths involved.) Also contains Liz and Maria being besties, and way more Rosa than originally intended.

Don’t You Forget About Me A Roswell New Mexico Fanfic

The first time it happened was at the UFO Emporium Gala. There’s drink involved, and a drugged drink as she later learned, so Liz didn’t think anything of it.

“You fit right under his chin like a perfect little zupple piece – pu.. Puzzle piece.”

“Whoa. Puzzle Piece.”

“Puzzle piece.”

They both laughed.

—–

“..and Thompson broke three tables.” Maria was seated in one of the chairs around Michael’s fire while he worked on a customer’s car. She’d been sharing the story of the latest drunken brawl at the Wild Pony he’d missed.

“Three tables? He repeated. He’d broken furniture at the Wild Pony before but the tables were pretty sturdy and he had a hard time imagining anyone breaking three.

"Chairs. Did I say tables?”

“You did say tables.”

“Chairs. He broke three chairs.”

“That makes more sense. If anyone breaks three tables, I want to be there to see it.”

“If anyone breaks three tables, Guerin, it will probably be you.”

“Ouch. I feel attacked.” He glanced over at Maria, enjoying her amused smile, and the slip up was easily forgotten.

—–

The second time it happened, it gave Liz a pause. It was a text asking if she wanted ice cream when they met up that night. She sent back asking if she wanted to meet up again, and if everything was alright. Maria didn’t text back right away, but when she did it was to say she meant next week, because they’d just met up last night. The way she phrased it was odd and she asked again if everything was okay. Maria assured her it was just a crazy month and she kept forgetting what day of the week it was. It sounded odd, and she decided to talk to her about it the next time they saw each other.

—–

The first time it happened, Michael didn’t think anything of it. Maria was getting dressed for the day, and she hadn’t thrown him out of her bed yet - which was a vast improvement on previous partners over the years. “Do you have to get up so early?”

“My liquor shipment is due today.” Maria told him. “Someone has to take it.”

“I thought your shipment came yesterday.” He told her, confused.

“No, it comes on Mondays.”

“It’s Tuesday.”

“Very funny. You’re not getting me back in bed, Cowboy.”

“No, I’m serious, it’s Tuesday.” Michael repeated.

Maria picked up her phone from the nightstand, then stared at the screen a moment. “It’s Tuesday.”

“Did I blow your mind last night?” MIchael teased with a grin.

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Maria tossed her pillow at him.

“So, you can come back to bed.” Michael caught the pillow with ease.

“Or you could get dressed and we could get breakfast together. Because unlike me, your working hours are daytime.”

“Nobody ever comes to Sander’s Auto on Tuesday mornings. This is Roswell.” Michael complained.

Maria leaned in to kiss him, but pulled back when he tried to tug her closer. “Get up. Let’s get breakfast.”

He flopped back with a groan of complaint, her slip up of days forgotten.

—–

“So what’s been going on with you?” Liz asked her when she joined her for drinks at the Wild Pony.

“What do you mean?” Maria asked her, doing her best to look like she didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Maria…”

“I don’t know, it’s just been such a crazy month. Crazy set of months. Things have been slipping my mind. I’ll wake up convinced it’s Monday, and it’s Tuesday. I’ll think I didn’t pay a bill and go to pay it and it’s paid. Just little ghings… little things.” She corrected herself.

Liz frowned, straightening. "You did that before at the UFO Emporium Gala. Said Zupple instead of puzzle. Maria-“

"I’m fine. Just overworked and tired, Liz.”

“Okay. Well, I’m here. If you need anything.”

“I just need a night off.”

“So let’s do it. I’ll get Ros-Romina.” She corrected the name last minute. It was hard to call her sister by a new name but there was no way she could have come back to town as Rosa. Romina Ortecho - a younger cousin of Liz who resembled her dead sister - that was passable. In some ways Rosa seemed to enjoy getting a chance to live life as someone new, but it was also hard on them both as well. “And we’ll party.”

“I don’t know, it’s a busy night. I could get good tips.”

“Workaholic is a disease. C'mon.”

“Mmmnnn… okay ”

—–

“Y’know, you’re not wearing your necklace.” Liz pointed out. She, Rosa, and Maria were on the Crashdown Cafe. She and Maria were drinking, but Rosa had told them she would watch over their dumb asses. Despite being eight years younger than her now, Rosa still felt she was the big sister. Liz would be lying if she said she didn’t like it.

“It’s funny, I never used to forget to put it on, but some days lately I have been.” Maria admitted.

“I always loved that necklace.” Rosa mentioned.

“I said that too!” Liz raised her hand with a small cheer.

“We should be doing something besides lying around up here.” Maria had opted to lie on her back for a better look at the stars. The Ortecho sisters were sitting besides the sign. “Singing. Dancing.”

“We should go downstairs and make fries and milkshakes.” Rosa suggested.

“Yes!” Liz seconded.

“Let’s do it!” Maria pushed herself up, and went over to tug the other two woman to their feet.

—–

“I think something’s wrong with Maria.” Michael’s voice was laced with concern, and Liz leaned closer on the counter to keep the conversation private.

“What do you mean?”

“She’s just… she keeps messing up the days.”

“Well, people do occasionally do that, Michael.”

“No, I mean. Not like saying it’s Thursday when it’s Wednesday. I mean, she won’t remember things that happened a previous day. Taking a supply order at The Wild Pony, that we got coffee together the previous day. Or anything we talked about.”

“Maybe she’s just overworked.” LIz suggested.

“I… I don’t know, maybe. Has she ever… messed up words around you?”

Liz felt her heart stop. “Like what?”

“Like said one word when she means another, or mix up letters?”

“…Yes.”

“So it’s just something she does sometimes?” Michael looked relieved, even hopeful.

Liz felt the opposite. “Only since the UFO Emporium. Only since…”

“Noah?” MIchael filled in. The weight of that name brought them both down. “Do you… do you think he did something to her? Wasn’t careful with her mind?”

“Look, I’ll talk to her, okay?”

—–

“Hey.” Rosa entered The Wild Pony with a bag from the Crashdown Cafe. “You should really get a better lock on your doors cuz just about anyone could…” She trailed off.

Maria was seated on a stool of the bar crying. She looked up. “Ros-Romina. People need to stop kipping my locks… picking my…” She broke off into a sob.

Rosa was there in an instant, tossing the bag on the bar top and pulling her into her arms. She muttered soothing words in spanish, petting Maria’s hair. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s happening to me.”

“What’s happening to you, huh?”

“The same thing that happened to my Mom. It’s happening to me. I… I can’t remember what happened yesterday. At all. And then, there’s more. There’s words. Words aren’t making sense sometimes. It’s like someone is speaking a foreign language, even though I know they aren’t.”

“Shh… shh… we’ll figure it out.”

“But they haven’t. They don’t know what’s wrong with my mom. If the same thing is happening to me - Romina, what do I do?”

“Just trust me, I’ve got you. I’ve got you, and you’re going to be okay.”

Maria clung to her, and let the tears fall.

—–

“We can’t heal damage to a mind.” Michael reminded Liz.

“Has anyone ever tried?”

“You know we haven’t tried a lot with our powers. Doesn’t mean we should go trying something like that. I mean, if this is Noah’s fault, we could make things worse. He understood our powers better.”

“We need answers.” Liz paced. “About what all your species can do.”

Michael shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “We don’t have answers to that.”

“Maybe Kyle and Alex do.” Liz reminded him.

For the most part Michael had avoided the files to Project Sheppard since they’d gotten Max back. They contained all the worse nightmares Max, Isobel, and he had dreamed up over the years, and some they’d never imagined. Ten years ago, Project Sheppard had still been sanctioned. Ten years ago, if they had been caught during the murders, they would have ended up at Caulfield, too. There were nights that the guilt of covering the murders made Michael wonder if they wouldn’t have deserved it. Every time he looked at information from the prison, though, he was selfish enough to admit he’d do it again to avoid that fate.

—–

“I’m sorry, what month is it?” Maria asked as Michael clasped her necklace on her. “Nn.” She pressed the heel of her hand to her head.

“The headache again?”

“Yah, don’t worry - it passes.” Maria assured him, toying with her mother’s pendant.

“I’ll get you some aspirin anyway.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Maria gave him a pained smile. “The month?” She asked again.

Michael looked at her, troubled. “Beginning of February.”

“Right…” Maria’s expression was troubled.

—–

“Don’t touch those.” Liz reminded Michael as he glanced warily at the flowers she now had growing in a greenhouse on the Crashdown Cafe rooftop.

“I feel kinda ill just looking at them.” He backed away.

“Figuratively or Literally?” Liz asked him.

“Just figurative. I handled the pollen before. But knowing what it can do? I hate that we’re literally growing something that can kill us.”

“And cure Maria.”

“That’s why I’m not uprooting them and tossing them in the nearest garbage.”

“It’s also possible this may help, but not cure.” Liz reminded him.

“I know.”

—–

“Liz says you worked with her to help make this.” Maria had a cup of the tea in front of her on the bar counter.

“Yah.” Michael admitted. “Though I’m under strict orders not to touch it. And definitely not drink it.”

The tea that was fixing the damage that was done to her mind was deadly to the three of them. Maria had insisted on trying the tea first, but since it was working she’d begun making it for Mimi, too. Whether or not either would regain the memories lost had yet to be seen. It seemed they were both able to retain memories again, though. And the confusion had faded.

The flowers in the necklace had prevented damage to Mimi until she’d removed it at Maria’s graduation. And, likewise, Maria had been fine until she had spent time not wearing it. It truly had protected them from danger. Maria had promised her mother to never take the necklace off again, and Rosa was working on making a different one for Mimi from the flowers they now grew.

“So be sure not to accept drinks from strangers.” Maria lectured him.

“Why do you not want me to have any fun?” Michael teased back. When she gave him a warning look, he sobered. “So you don’t remember anything after the Gala?”

Maria shook her head. “It’s all just blank. Months of memories just gone.”

Michael nodded, looking away and taking a deep breath. “Well, maybe they’ll return. Y’know. Once you drink enough.”

“I hope so. I really want my mom to get her memories back, y’know?”

Michael nodded, and stood up. “Well, I’ll see you around.”

“No doubt causing bar fights in my bar.” Maria accused.

“Yah, I… um, don’t really do that anymore.” Michael confessed.

“Oh? Wow, what did I miss?”

“… a lot.” Michael admitted. “But, um, mostly I just had some help getting my act together.”

“Well, that’s good, right?”

“Yah… yah, it’s good.”

“Hey!” Rosa bounded in, carrying Crashdown Cafe Bags and a drink carrier. “Who wants Milkshakes and fries?

“Yummy!” Maria held out her hands.

“I should go.” Michael turned to leave.

“Nope.” Liz, who had followed Rosa in, linked her arm through his. “You’re staying. Everyone is coming over for a party.”

“Is that so? Did I volunteer to host this?” Maria challenged her.

“Absolutely.” Rosa told her.

“She’s lying.” Michael assured her.

“Well, I never say no to a party.” Maria grinned.

“That’s the spirit!” Rosa cheered. “I’m playing first!” She wandered over to grab up the guitar from the stage.

Liz glanced at Michael, who shook his head. She offered a half hug, before tugging on Maria’s hand where she had started on the fries. “Let’s dance!”

“You bring fries and now you want to dance?” Despite her words, Maria was already up.

“C’mon, you too.” Liz tugged on Michael’s arm.

“Didn’t you learn about my lack of dancing skills in Texas?” He reminded her.

“Oh, yah, they’re worse than Max’s, but it still gets you out of nothing.”

“Yep, this is what happens when you have friends. You get out of nothing.” Maria pulled his other arm and together they got him in front of the stage as Rosa began to strum the guitar.

Fini

#roswell nm fanfic #fanfic #maria deluca #miluca #roswell new mexico #roswell nm #marichael #michael guerin #liz ortecho #rosa ortecho #plotbunnies are evil #i apparently found my lost angst muse

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fightevilandthengetblownup · 5 years

Text

CANONFIC: ...Two Turtle Doves...

—

19th of December

Shrugging out of her jacket, Jo heard her shoulder pop loudly as she stretched her arms high and fell back limply onto the hard motel bed with a groan. It had been a long, long night dealing with the exorcisms, and they always took far more out of her than some of her more physical hunts ever did. But a demon is a demon is a demon - and this little nest was a particularly nasty shade of darkness that needed taking care of for sure.

It had been hard enough locating the demons themselves in the small town in Wyoming that they were slowly turning into their own playground of destruction and horror - the building number of electrical storms and lightening strikes in the usually sleepy and mild-weathered town had been the draw card for Jo to begin her investigation; before getting to the town to find an unnatural number of deaths in increasing horrific ways was running rampant throughout the town in such ways that had originally been identified as suicides until the deaths were determined not to be physically possible for the victims to have truly done such acts to themselves. The pain and injuries should have stopped them by far before the the results that the bodies were found with as the cases had piled up - what had started as explainable deaths had escalated quickly over two weeks, and the medical coroner had almost vomited when the last body had been brought in unexpectedly while Jo was being given a tour around the morgue.

The smell of rotten eggs had hung heavily over the body, and Jo had known immediately that it had all been the work of a truly disturbing demon running rampant.

Unfortunately, it had turned out to be three of them - but by then the hunter had already begun working over the first demon she had captured, that had hissed and snarled and jeered under her interrogation as to why they were doing what they had. Her back and head had hit rather painfully on a door frame as the other two had arrived to free their compatriot - or perhaps to simply observe the spectacle of his exorcism originally - but it hadn’t slowed her down or kept her from being successful in the end for long.

The stab of the silver, elongated blade she had brought with her had crackled and shone as she was forced to slide the blade through the chest of the second demon as it had lifted her by her hair from the ground - the light casting eerie shadows upon the walls from the point of it sticking out the back of the demon for a long moment before Jo had shoved the now dead body off of herself and her angelblade with a groan. The third demon had tried to flee at that moment before also collapsing as the blade plunged into it’s back from her throw as Jo started towards it.

Two out of three was definitely bad in this case, and Jo had spent the next thirteen hours reciting the invocatio and Psalms until the sun had sunk back down behind the horizon and the moonlight and her flashlight had been needed to illuminate her journal as Jo finally began the twist on the Rituale Romanum she needed upon the demon without having had to draw any blood or damage the host in any way.

Normally such levels weren’t really necessary unless trying to uncover information from the demon, and if she had been with another hunter she probably would not have risked or tried the approach but simply jumped to the traditional exorcism to banish the demon to Hell again - but Jo smiled to herself as she ran a hand over her sweaty hair in the motel room and tilted her head to look at the smallish box beside herself that perhaps she’d never need to use that method again since this had worked.

As she let out a long tired sigh, the tinny sound of Rocky Mountain Way filled the room from her phone that signified one and only one person was calling her. Dragging the device from her pocket, Jo swiped her finger up before sliding the answer button and then speaker button in quick succession.

“Hey Bobby, what’s up?” The blonde asked around a yawn as she set the phone down on the quilt cover beside her head. “How’s it going?”

“Better than you sound. You busy?” “Just finished up a case-” “That business in Sundance?” “Yeah that’s the one.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone for a long moment, and Jo rubbed tiredly at her eyes as she continued to stare across at her newest weapon in the fight against the forces that crawled out of that godforsaken place.

She hadn’t known at all what it was when she’d found it hidden in the depths of what had once been her dad’s storage unit years ago when she’d emptied it out into her own one closer to home. She hadn’t even thought about it until she was at Bobby’s the previous month on her way through from a shifter case on the East coast - Jo had seen the same symbols from the box written up on a board with small annotations and was how she had learned that it was the language of the Angels and after taking several photographs and several hours spent deciphering the markings she had managed to make out the words ‘demon’ and ‘trap’ along the bands that covered the edges of the box. It took another few days before she managed to crack the code of the puzzle to open it like a flower and look into the empty, inky depths that she so desperately wanted to see work.

And that night she had gotten to watch as the tied demon has finally been drawn out of the body it had inhabited and it’s smoking true form sucked straight into the dark center of the box as she finished the exorcism and closed the puzzle box around it’s screeching cries. The man tied to the chair had slumped before he started crying and Jo had managed to drop him home without a scratch upon him compared to the other two bodies.

Smiling to herself and biting down on another yawn, Jo jerked slightly upon hearing the gruff voice near her ear. “What’d it end up being? A baku? Soul-eater? Crocotta?”

“Jesus, Bobby, I’d have thought you’d know better - electrical storms in the area all week before it started.” “A demon then?” “Three of ‘em actually.”

“And you didn’t call in back up?” There was a tight sound to the other’s voice through the line as he spoke, and Jo rolled over onto her stomach with a groan at the tug to her sore back and the way she could just tell she was going to need to do some stretches as soon as she hung up as well as a long hot shower. “Ya idjit!”

“Hey! I only thought that there was one of ‘em when I got here-” “You best tell me you are okay, missy, before I go get my car in gear right now.”

That did get a laugh from the hunter as she nodded her head, before speaking aloud again and reaching out to run a finger over the intricate gold design along the edge of the puzzle box. “I’m fine, Bobby. I got two of ‘em with- uh… well I exorcised all three of ‘em and managed to save one of the people.”

“You managed to save one?” “The, uh, others were too damaged-” “Fuckin’ demons. Filthy fuckin’ things.” “You’re bloody tellin’ me, Bobby!”

Jo could hear a weary but satisfied sigh through the phone as she finally pushed herself to sit upright and picked up the phone to bring with her towards the small bathroom. Tugging her sweaty, dirty shirt off, she twisted slightly and could see the faint red mark from the doorway and frowned to herself realizing it would probably be bruising and a not so pretty purple color right in time for Christmas. It couldn’t be helped, and it could have been far far worse.

“Anyway, what were you callin’ for?” Jo asked cheerily aloud, as she pulled her hair down from it’s pony tail and shook her head to try to get some of the dust to fall off easily. “Please tell me it ain’t to say you can’t make Christmas, Bobb-”

“No, you idjit. I was calling to see if you wanted me to bring anything along actually. I..” There was another pause, but this one felt more significant for some reason as Jo frowned to herself slightly in the mirror and glanced down at the phone in concern. As she opened her mouth to speak, the hunter’s voice came through strong again. “I ain’t had to go to someone else’s for the day since my wife was around. Just thought I’d check if you need anything or a hand with something, Jo.”

Jo sucked in a breath of her own quietly for a second, a soft whistle sound pulling through her teeth before she shook her head to herself before vocalizing her response again. “We should be alright, I know Grey’s sortin’ out a roast of some sort - and I’m bakin’ pie once I get home to keep Dean happy-”

“That it definitely will.” “I thought it was a good idea - do you like pumpkin or apple?” “Girl-” “Which one Bobby?”

The gruff tone as the word ‘apple’ was muttered back was enough to make Jo laugh all over again as there was a grumbled growl from the other along with several interjections of the word ‘idjit’, ‘brat’ and ‘balls’ between other phrases as the older hunter grouched at her over her teasing.

After a good five minutes teasing and talking about what might be shaping up to be another case in the new year that Bobby promised to bring with him to Christmas for her to look over, the pair finally said their goodbyes and hung up with a parting “You take care of yourself, girlie, you hear?” and a quietly muttered “Love you” in return only after the dial tone could be heard bouncing off the tile bathroom; Jo gave another deep sigh as she stared herself down in the mirror, hands clenched tightly upon the counter top as she glanced out the open door to see her father’s box sat judgingly in the center of the bed before she finished getting ready for a nice, long hot shower to work the knots out of her back and shoulders before sleep would come.

—

22nd of December

“But why there of all places?!”

“Dean, are you really looking a gift-pie in the filling?” Sam’s voice was gratingly knowing and confident as he replied to the same question Dean had been asking for the last two weeks since they’d been invited to the celebration. “C’mon man, lighten up. You might even have some fun this year if you just relax about where and who we’re seeing.”

“Look, I get you two are growing to becoming bosom buddies or something-” “That’s a bit of a stretch, Dean.” “Is it though? You’ve been excessively chipper lately, and you were all too comfortable when Jo and I got back that last time-” “For fucks sake, he’s not a bloody mons-” “No, Sam, that’s exactly what he bloody well is.”

“God help us if that word can’t be metaphorical for once, Dean.” His brother growled back, a large clump of dirt that the taller man was shoveling out almost hitting him in the face as Sam dug a little deeper and more aggressively than the previous shovel full as they took turns digging up the remains of some angry, pissed off school janitor that had been wrecking havoc right before the school closed for the holiday season. It had taken barely three days to sort this haunting out for once, especially given the janitor had only died thirty years earlier and all of the victims were teachers who had been students at the school when the man had died in a freak accident involving hydrochloric acid and a faulty wash station. Finding the grave had been easy enough too, and they just waited for the night to fall before heading out there to finish up before heading towards the little lakeside city there after, regardless of Dean’s complaints according to Sam. “The guy is not even half bad if you give him a chance.”

“I’ve promised Jo I’d not complain-” “That barely means anything from you.” “And not to be uncivil to the sha- uh… guy.” “You can just call him Grey, Dean, it’s not going to hurt you.”

“What the hell’s gone and gotten you so positive lately, Sammy? You’re very pushy for me to go about forgetting and forgiving what the guy is all of a sudden.” Dean looked curiously, pinning his brother’s shoulders with a sharp eyed look as he watched the sudden sharp freeze of the other’s movement before the tall hunter began digging again with renewed vigor. He had noticed the change over the last week, that Sam was in equal parts argumentative, confident and almost cockily smug or apologetic, complying and co-operative - it was like one minute he would be buying Dean’s drinks and burgers with no complaint and the next digging at him about being more ‘friendly’ and ‘open to new ideas’ about the Christmas holiday, and especially about the shadow who’s house they would be visiting over the season. The way Sam seemed to freeze and his shoulders shifted into the rounded shape Dean knew to be clearly the other’s brooding shoulders, he knew there had to be something bigger than Jo and the shadow at play but God knew what. “You going to tell me what’s been up with you or not?”

“It’s nothing, Dean - I’m just looking forward to Christmas is all.” The brooding shoulders sunk in on themselves even further, representative of an even deeper sulk growing in the other hunter as Sam continued to shovel the dark dirt up out of the grave as they were reaching the five foot mark. “I know it’s not really been a positive time of year for us-”

“You mean getting stranded in hotel rooms with me and spaghetti-o’s isn’t your idea of a good time?” “I mean, you were never the problem.” “I’d leave you to finish the digging on your own if you ever suggested I was.” “Of course. But anyway, like, I know it’s not our best time. I know you’ve got some hang ups all your own, and I’ve only ever had two good ones back when I was… well, when I was at Stanford.”

Dean was on his feet at that and then down into the grave itself, hands wrapping around the worn wood of the shovel with a frown as Sam looked straight back at him, a small apologetic and sad twist to his lips as he relinquished the hold on the implement to the other. As the taller man pulled himself from the hole with ease, Dean began his own digging with a pensive frown on his face.

“Regardless, I just think we could definitely end up having a good time this year.” Sam continued after a long pause, a dirty hand running over his hair to push the sweaty strands back with a sigh. “I mean, Jo’s around and happy, and Bobby is even leaving his junk yard for it.”

“Of course Jo is happy.” Dean growled the words out quietly to himself, piercing the hard ground with the tip of the shovel with a little extra force, before slamming one of his booted feet down on it, driving it deeper in still. “She’s made that abundantly clear - but I’m glad Bobby’ll be there. An extra set of eyes to make sure everything is okay.”

There was a pause, a beat long enough for Dean to do another two shovels worth before the other spoke. “You aren’t still thinking he’s brainwashed her or something, are you Dean?”

“….No.” “For fucks sake, Dean! You’ve heard the stories, I know Jo told you about them or something of importance - but if seeing them properly together, like properly a couple and doing normal shit like Christmas is what you need to get your head out of your ass-” “I do not-!” “Dean, man, I know you. I know how your mind works. And I can guarantee that you’ll see nothing suspect at all between those two from what I’ve seen of him and her lately.”

Shoveling another clump of dirt, Dean drove the point back down and let out a relieved noise upon hearing the cracking sound of wooden boards and the hollow thump of a coffin as he brought it down again, before he looked back up into the earnest smile of his little brother. It was so familiar - it was the smile that had Dean picking up ice creams every afternoon on the way home from high school when John was away on a job, or Dean letting Sam have control of the TV remote for them to watch some nature documentary, or even for Dean to shove the last slice of pie across a diner table towards the other when the waitress would say that it was the last one in the shop. It also reminded him sharply of the gentle, fond smile he’d seen shining up at him when the topic of their conversation had looked up at him and said that she was happy. Letting out a growl, Dean dug another clump of dirt up out of the grave before driving the shovel down to tear open the coffin lid before the other poured the salt and lighter fluid down once he’d climbed out of the pit gracelessly.

Flicking open one of his lighters, Dean looked down carefully at the grotty skeleton of the man that had let his resentment and bitterness get the better of him. Sighing, he dropped the lighter in resolving to burn away his very own just the same as the bones that lit up below him. “Fine, Sammy, I trust you - besides…” Dean brushed his hands off on his jeans, leaving trails of dust as he looked across at his smiling brother, returning it with his own twitch of the lips. “It might well be good to start a new tradition of having an actual merry Christmas.”

—

#fic #ca #jopov #deanpov #cc

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thesinglesjukebox · 5 years

Video

youtube

LIL NAS X - OLD TOWN ROAD

[6.73]

We're gonna bluuuurb til we can't no more...

Katie Gill: The problem with "Old Town Road" is that it's more interesting as a thinkpiece than an actual song. The song charting, then being excluded, from the Billboard Country Music charts opens so many questions that can't be answered in one sitting. Is this a further example of the well-documented racism in country music? Or is this just a freak accident hick-hop song that vaulted it's way out of the depths of subgenre hell? Is a twangy voice and references to horses enough to make a song "country"? Does the presence of Billy Ray Cyrus in a remix that dropped on Friday legitimize the song's credentials or just make them worse? Where was all this controversy when "Meant To Be," an honest-to-god pop song, was holding steady on the charts? There are so many questions and so many points of conversation that spring out from this song, that it's a pity "Old Town Road" itself is just okay. Everything about it screams "filler track for the SoundCloud page," from the length to the trap beats to the aggressively mediocre lyrics. The song didn't even chart on it's own merits: it charted because it's used in a TikTok meme! This is like if "We Are Number One" or "No Mercy" made their way to the top of the iTunes charts and people decided to have a conversation about the limits of genre based on those charting. I'm a little annoyed, because the conversation around "Old Town Road" is something that country music should be having... but just not around "Old Town Road." [5]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: There are essays upon essays to be written about "Old Town Road" as a prism for the racial divides that have served as undergirding for the modern American genre system since the 1930s division between "hillbilly" and "race" records. It's the perfect hunk of think-piece fodder: a simple core question -- is it country? -- that can spiral out to all corners of culture until the song itself is obscured. So let's focus on the song, instead. Because beyond all world-historical significance, "Old Town Road" fucking bangs. It's all in the bait and switch of that intro -- banjos and horns plunking away until Lil Nas X's triumphant "YEAAAH" (second this decade only to Fetty Wap) drops and the beat comes in. It's a joke until it's not -- maybe you came in from the Red Dead Redemption 2 video, or from a friend of yours talking about the hilarious country trap song, or from the artist's own Twitter, which is more Meech On Mars than Meek Mill, but no matter the source, you'll find that "Old Town Road" has its way of looping into your brain, all drawls and boasts and banjos. It's meme rap, but much like prior iterations of this joke ("Like a Farmer"), Lil Nas X fully and deeply commits -- he doesn't drop the pretense for a single line, keeping the track short enough to not outlive its welcome while still exploring its weird conceit to its fullest. Yet even in its jokey vibe there's some actual pathos -- no matter how put on, the lonesome cowboy sorrow of Lil Nas X's declaration that he'll "ride till [he] can't no more" feels genuine. "Old Town Road" is everything at once, the implosion of late teens culture into one undeniable moment. [10]

David Moore: So here's a true gem of a novelty song -- a phrase I use with both intention and respect; I grew up in a Dementoid household -- that could launch a thousand thinkpieces about hip-hop, country, class, the object and subject of jokes, whether to call something a joke at all, you name it. But what I keep returning to is the economy of it, its simplicity, how there is so much in so little, the way that someone on the outside can grok things inaccessible to the insiders, maybe by accident or by studious observation and a fresh perspective, the way music can be a multiverse, characters from one world complicating or clarifying or confusing the limits of another in a mutually provocative way. I'm not a backstory guy, which is to say I'm not a research guy, which is to say I'm either intuitive or lazy or both, so I don't have any clue where this came from, but I know magic when I hear it, I know what it sounds like when you discover, or simply stumble into by accident, the path beyond the bounds of territory you presumed exhausted, territory that can always get bigger, always invite whole new parties to the party. It's a real party party; you can get in. [10]

Katherine St Asaph: "Old Town Road" is the "Starships" of 2019: a song that objectively is not great, but will be called great for the understandable reason that liking or disliking it now unavoidably entails choosing the right or wrong side. This tends to lead to hand-waving freakoutery about critics not talking about the music, man, but once The Discourse is out in the world, it becomes a real and critical part of the song's existence; not talking about Billboard punting "Old Town Road" would be like talking about "Not Ready to Make Nice" as an workaday country song. The problem is not quite as simple as "the Billboard charts don't want black artists," an argument with historical precedent but now doomed to fail: clearly, people like Kane Brown and Darius Rucker and Mickey Guyton (who's left off lists like this, somehow) have hits. It's more about respectability politics. Traditionalists hate the idea of memes, social media, and perceived line-cutting, all of which means they'll hate a song born not of the Nashville and former-fraternity-bro scene, but via TikTok and stan Twitter. But what they really, really hate is rap and anything that sounds like a gateway to rap; like if they tolerate this Cardi B will be next. Country radio, for the past decade or two, has been pop radio with all the blatant rap signifiers removed; its songs aren't about cowboys or horses but suburban WASP life. Of course, double standards abound. Talking about lean is out; talking about bingeing beer is fine. "Bull riding and boobies" isn't OK because it's from a guy called Lil Nas X -- I honestly think people would whine less if this exact song was credited to "Montero Hill" -- but "I got a girl, her name's Sheila, she goes batshit on tequila" is OK because it's from a guy called Jake Owen, and "Look What God Gave Her" is OK because it hides its ogling of boobies behind plausibly deniable God talk. Fortunately "Old Town Road" is better than "Starships" -- the NIN sample is inspired, and the hook is evocative and sticky. (It fucks with authenticity politics, too -- Lil Nas X wrote his own song, but the big corporate country artists often don't.) Its main problem is that it's slight: a meme that doesn't overstay past the punchline, a song that never quite gets to song size. [5]

Thomas Inskeep: Sampling Nine Inch Nails' "34 Ghosts IV" to (help) create a western motif is hands-down brilliant, so huge thumbs-up for that. Lyrically, this is pretty empty, a bunch of western clichés strung together -- but then again, the same can be said of plenty of Big & Rich songs. Split the score down the middle, accordingly. [5]

Scott Mildenhall: But surely this is how country music should sound? Lil Nas X has performed alchemy in combining two generic styles into something inspiring, flipping the meaning of "pony and trap" on its head. The mechanical sound of trap is rusted into the mechanical sound of fixing a combine, or at least pretending that is something you might do, and such performance is fun for all the family. Well, unless you're an American farming family tired of stereotypes anyway. [7]

Stephen Eisermann: Non country (trap) beat with subtle country instrumentation? Sounds like much of country radio, only way better! [7]

Nortey Dowuona: A burning, humming bass girds under sticklike banjos as Lil Nas X rides into town to water his horse and head back out onto the open road. [5]

Alex Clifton: I spent the weekend re-enacting this scene from Easy A with this song, so it's safe to say I like it. I especially love the "horse"/"Porsche" line, which is unexpected and amazing. [7]

Alfred Soto: The usual genre conversations threaten to smother analysis. If Lil Nas X can use trap drums, then why can't Sam Hunt use loops? Silly. (Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes: "The Constitution is what the judges say it is"). The Kanye allusion ("Y'all can't tell me nuthin'") works extra-diagetically. An assemblage of modest, discrete charms held together by a solid performance at its center -- nothing more. I await the Future-Frank Liddell collab. [5]

Edward Okulicz: It's affectionate and actually quite deferential in its treatment of its parent genres. Crossovers like this have been hinted at, and gestured towards in the other direction quite a bit of late (country artists affecting hip-hop, less so the latter), and the two genres have more in common than the caricatures of the sorts of people who are supposed to listen to them do. Of course, I mean those genres as they exist today, and not in the warped imaginations of purists. You can see why kids have latched on, and it's easy to snarl at Big Chart for sticking their oar in. The kids are right; artists control the means of production and radio and chart compilers can accept that they aren't the tastemakers, and attempts to force their tastes down other people's throats will lead to a backlash. This is not a brilliant song but it's a picture of one of many potential musical futures and, at two minutes, the perfect length too. The right response is to smile, and "Old Town Road" makes it easy to smile -- it's an earworm. Sure, it doesn't give me the same immediate feeling of fuck!!! this is the best that I got when I first heard that version of Bubba Sparxxx's "Comin' Round" but country music survived "Honey, I'm Good" and it will survive this. It might well thrive. [6]

Joshua Copperman: I recently found out that I have a moderate Vitamin D deficiency, but looking up the song everyone was talking about and hearing this basically confirmed that I should go outside more often. There are definitely things to talk about: it's the logical conclusion to "I listen to everything except country and rap" jokes when the inverse has taken over the Hot 100, and it's a song that's set to hit number one because everyone is incredulous that it exists at all -- with a Billy Ray Cyrus remix to boot. The conversations about what makes a song "country" are all fascinating, but it's hard to fully enjoy pieces about something that, as an actual song, is so fundamentally empty. The Nine Inch Nails sample is interesting, but like everything else, more intriguing in theory than execution. This will wind up on every site's "best of 2019" lists, and then in ten years people will snark on how a song with "My life is a movie/Bullridin' and boobies" was so critically acclaimed. As a meme/discourse lightning rod, it's an [8], as a how-to guide for late-2010s fame, it's a [10], but there's little appeal in a vacuum. Adding a bonus point, because music has never existed in a vacuum anyway. [5]

Taylor Alatorre: Remember when the internet was still described as a realm of lawless and limitless potential, when open source could be touted as revolutionary praxis and "free flow of information" was a sacred utterance? Now one of the key political questions is whether private companies should be doing more to banish online rulebreakers or whether the federal government should step in to delimit what those rules are. Whichever side ends up winning, it's clear that the wide open spaces of the Frontier Internet are rapidly facing enclosure. Montero Hill learned this the hard way when his @nasmaraj account was suspended by Twitter as part of its crackdown against spam-based virality. While Tweetdeckers are nobody's martyrs, it's a minor tragedy every time an account with that many followers and that much influence gets shunted off to the broken-link stacks of the Wayback Machine. Rules must be laid down, but their enforcement always entails loss -- the bittersweet triumph of civilization over nature that forms the backbone of every classic Western. Maybe Hill/nasmaraj/Lil Nas X had this loss in mind when writing the jauntily defiant lyrics of "Old Town Road." Maybe he was just riding the microtrends of the moment like he was before. Still, this particular microtrend -- the reappropriation of cowboy imagery by non-white Americans -- feels too weighty to be reduced to mere aesthetics. Turner's Frontier Thesis may have been racially blinkered to the extreme, but the myths and yearnings it spawned can never die; they just get democratized. So it makes sense that young Americans, even those who don't know who John Wayne is, would subconsciously reach out for the rural, the rustic, the rugged and free, just as we feel the global frontiers closing all around us. Our foreign policy elites hold endless panel talks about "maintaining power projection" and "winning the AI race," but most normal people don't care about that stuff. We're all secretly waiting for China to take over like in our cyberpunk stories, so we can drop all the pressures of being the Indispensable Nation and just feast off our legacy like post-imperial Britain. And what is that legacy? It's rock, it's country, it's hip hop, it's "Wrangler on my booty," it's all the vulgar mongrelisms that force our post-ironic white nationalists to adopt Old Europe as their lodestar. In short, it's "Old Town Road." We're gonna ride this horse 'til we can't no more, we're gonna reify these myths 'til we can't no more, because when the empire is gone, the myths are all we have. (Oh, and the Billy Ray remix is a [10]. Obviously.) [9]

Jonathan Bradley: People suppose that genre exists to delineate a set of sounds, and while it does do that, it depends even more on its ability to build, define, and speak for communities. The question of whether "Old Town Road" is a country song or not is in some ways easily resolved: country music showed no interest in Lil Nas X -- or at least not until Billy Ray Cyrus noticed an opportune moment to complicate expectations and grab headlines -- and so Lil Nas X's song was not country. Even taking into account its sound and subject matter, his hit is best understood as a burlesque on country music, one that parodies and exaggerates the genre's motifs and themes for heightened effect. The kids on TikTok, who turned the long-gone lonesome blues of the song's tumbleweed hook into viral content, understand this intuitively: they use the incongruity that clarifies at the beat drop as an opportunity to engage in caricature and costume. And while Lil Nas X, a huckster and a trendspotter before he was a pop star, has been happy to embrace the yee-haw mantle that has been bestowed upon him, his song is a familiar rap exercise in play and extended metaphor. The Shop Boyz did much the same thing with "Party Like a Rock Star" and it would be obtuse to suppose that was a rock song. And yet, as the country historian Bill C. Malone has written, country since its inception has attracted fans "because of its presumed Southern traits, whether romantically or negatively expressed"; there has always been a bit of schtick to this sound. I wondered when we reviewed Trixie Mattel whether country is, on some level, intrinsically camp, and it's tough to declare definitively that Lil Nas X's bold hick strokes are that much more stylized than Jake Owen's performance of small town ordinariness. And just as a country music based on cohesive community rather than sound has found itself broad enough to encompass northern hair metal, Auto-Tuned club stomps, and Ludacris, the gate-keeping involved in keeping Lil Nas X out begins to look suspicious. After all, the first song to debut on Billboard's Most Played Juke Box Folk Records chart, the predecessor to today's Hot Country Songs, was "Pistol Packin' Mama," a hillbilly goof by the decidedly uncountry combination of Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. As Malone has written, "While the commercial fraternity thought mainly of profits, the recording men, radio executives, publicists, promoters, ad men, sponsors, and booking agents who dealt with folk music also readily manipulated public perceptions in order to sell their products." One of the ways they did that was to tap into already mythological figures of American individualism like the cowboy, who is, after all, a creature of the west and not the South. "The respective visions of cowboy and western life drew far more from popular culture and myth ... than they did from reality," Malone writes of the early country singers who embraced cowboy personae; in some ways Lil Nas X's purloining of meme interest in that same culture places him within a rich country heritage. After all, when in popular entertainment has shameless self-promotion not been part of the aspirant's trade? It does matter how cultural communities react to the music made in their name, but when certain people are adjudicated not fit for club membership, it is worth asking why. Country's culture, I said recently, is "one that's implicitly but not definitely Southern, implicitly but not definitely rural, and implicitly but not definitely white," and it's easy to see how Lil Nas X doesn't fit into that. Country music's racism isn't unique to the genre -- the historical hegemonies of punk and indie rock are at least as determinedly white -- but it is particularly visible. Country is racist like the South is racist like America is racist. Lil Nas X disrupts that settlement, helping us imagine a country music that genuinely encompasses the music of the American South -- a genre that has space for "This is How We Roll" and Miranda Lambert, Lil Boosie and Young Thug, "Formation" and Juvenile, and perhaps even Norteño and banda sounds. That would be, however, not only a far different country music to what we know today, but the music of a far different America. [7]

Iris Xie: Yeet haw! Aside from the great pleasure I've had in showing this to my friends, (Me, two weeks ago: "Have you heard this country trap song???" My friends, this week: "Iris, that song you're talking about now has Billy Ray Cyrus on it??") and either slinging back and forth memey references, engaging in discussions on the state of white supremacy in the music industry while also debating about the song's merit, or hearing my friends start singing "can't nobody tell me nothing..." very quietly at any moment and I can't help but join in -- it's all been very fun. Aside from making plans to play "Old Town Road" on my next country road drive to Costco, something that's occurred to me is that this is a song boosted by the status and calamity of its metanarrative. We could always use more discussions of the double standards that Black and POC artists face in the industry when it comes to genres and participating in it, and I'm honestly glad Lil Nas X just made something that was fun and made sense to him, even if "Old Town Road" doesn't stray too much from the conventions of both trap and country, resulting in a well-balanced mashup that sounds more safe than surprising to me, but is serene in its confidence nevertheless. On the flipside of that genre-mashing, Miley wishes and is probably very jealous of her father now for hopping onto this train, lest we forget about all of her cultural appropriation attempts. But for the song itself, those long, relaxed drawls and the imagery of riding a horse to the trap beat -- why not? We live in weird times now, Black people's contributions to country music were erased, and it's kind of a relaxing song. Also, I'm a fan of the "Can't nobody tell me nothing" lyric, which has become an unintentionally defiant line in the face of all the backlash, resulting in a message to rally around. Now excuse me, as I text my friends that "I'm gonna take my horse down to the old town road." [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Lil Nas X #country #pop #music #music review #writing

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digikate813 · 5 years

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My Little Pony Re-Watch: Episode 21 Over a Barrel

*I never realized that this is the first time the Mane Six have ventured outside of Ponyville. You could argue that they did in Dragonshy, but that was to a mountain. Not exactly a memorable location. It’s kind of weird that the Mane Six traveled to a new settlement before they even went to Canterlot together.

*Is “Bloom”berg supposed to be a pun name for a tree? I might be looking too deep into it.

*But at least it’s not as much of a stretch as the “Fluttershy is a tree” comment becoming yet another freaking meme! Seriously what was it with you guys? I probably shouldn’t judge as someone who was active in the Gravity Falls fandom during the “Tad Strange” era, but between this and Scootaloo the chicken, there’s some elaborate ones among bronies.

*Also the “Huffy the Magic Dragon” joke. No comment...

*While we’ve seen dragons before, I’d argue this is our first introduction to a civilization not comprised of ponies. This episodes debuts the Buffalo. Who weirdly have made very limited appearances since given how much the show has evolved with interacting with other species. If i had to guess why it may have something to do with the buffaloes, real life inspirations, and the fear of being offensive with them.

*It really gets on some peoples nerves when stories about what are essentially Native Americans and colonized settlers, being portrayed as both sides are at fault. And I completely understand that. However, in this case, the circumstances of the feud between the settler ponies and the buffalo are far different and simpler then their real world counterparts, so as someone who is not an expert in this kind of thing, I don’t think using these inspirations is as problematic as it could have been.

*But is Little Strong Heart the only female buffalo? I have so many questions that I don’t want the answers to

*The introduction of Braeburn! Another character who became fairly popular to the point that I’m surprised he didn’t start appearing more until fairly recently. I’m going to give another voice actor shout out here to Michael Daingerfield, since i think at least half of Braeburn’s appeal comes from his performance.

*I also get a kick out of seeing a brand new pony town being developed. The old west angle is cute, especially with sentient horses, and stuff like “horse drawn horse drawn carriages” and “Mild West dances” are so silly, i find it adorable. Also the saloons serve salt. Again, no comment.

*Pinkie tries to solve the feud with a song! Of course she does. It’s not one of Pinkie’s best songs. It’s probably one of her worst, especially lyrically. But not only is that by design as it’s performance is enough to provoke war! But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy more then i probably should. I’m listening to it again as I’m typing this.

*On a Y rated show, war equals knocking things over and throwing pies! If you haven’t guessed by now, this episode is kind of silly.

*But luckily that pie ends up solving all of their problems! Agreeing to share the pie with the buffalo in exchange for a path through their orchards which will help them harvest those apples. Oooh! Ooh! A Running of the Apples! How did they not call it that?!

This episode is really, really silly. Like one of the most silly in the series that doesn’t focus on Pinkie Pie. And that can be jarring shift. Especially in a show trying to teach a lesson. But for me, it was very entertaining in it’s silliness, and it portrays a good message of the circumstances that come with a lack of understanding and communication. And how trying to compromise can, for lack of a better phrase, open new paths. A lesson that I think we can all agree, we desperately need right now. You gotta share. You gotta care. And maybe have some laughs too. Next Time: A Bird In the Hoof!

#My Little Pony #MLP Rewatch Marathon!#over a barrel #My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Review #analysis #MLP:FiM

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onlyfangirlsunderstand-blog1 · 6 years

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Adventure Can Be Anywhere- Ponyboy Curtis Imagine

(Hey, it’s Jay. Guess who has a six-page essay due Monday and hasn’t started??? It’s me but here I am doing this instead. This one’s just gonna be something small. Send me requests! Enjoy.)

Warnings: small mentions of abuse, unedited.

Another hot Saturday afternoon in Tulsa and Ponyboy found himself in the lot once again. He was alone this time and stayed staring at the puffy clouds in the sky.

He was lost in a trance before he heard police sirens a few blocks away. He sat up and looked around. He could tell they were close.

Before he laid back down, he saw a girl running through the park and into the lot. He watched as she ran closer to him.

That girl was you of course. Y/N Y/L/N Winston. You had lived in New York until yesterday. You called up your brother, Dallas, and caught a train over to Tulsa. You love the city, but your mom...she was another story. Drinking was one thing, but when you became her babysitter and punching bag you couldn’t take it. You didn’t even pack a bag, you just heard the words “get out” and you were gone.

Of course, you were as reckless as Dally, but you preferred the phrase “free spirit”. You loved trouble and adventure. It kept life interesting for you. Especially at night, it kept it from getting too quiet.

It’s only been a few hours in Tulsa and here you were, running from the cops. It was just a pack of cigs...and a candy bar...and an iced tea. But it doesn’t matter. Here you were just running.

You saw the brown haired boy laying down in lot. He looked like a greaser. So maybe he could help. You ran over to him, knowing the feds were only a few streets down.

“Hey, I’m a bit of trouble here and uh...help?” You talked fast to the stranger. He was confused but something in you knew he was good people. You weren’t like Dally in that way...you had some faith in people.

“Uh-those sirens for you?” You nodded quickly and he nodded. “Um...follow me.”

You watched him get up and he looked at you. You looked back at him and realized he was very cute... like really cute. His hair was a brown color and his eyes were a piercing gray-green. You almost forgot the problems coming at you until the sirens got louder. He noticed too.

“Follow me.” He grabbed your hand and started to run behind a building to an alleyway. You both sat behind a dumpster and waited there for a bit.

“Thank you.” You smiled at him, trying to catch your breath.

“No problem.” He smiled back at you and began to speak. “My names Ponyboy by the way.”

“That’s original...I like it. Parents must be really creative.”

“Yeah, they were.” You frowned at him and he shook his head with a small smile. “Don’t worry about it, you didn’t know.” He sighed and looked at you. “So you got a name? Or you just gonna be a mystery girl?” He gave you a reassuring smile.

“Y/N.” You laughed and put your hand out. He returned the gesture and shook your hand. His was warm and soft, but not clammy or anything...just warm...

“So you look new. Do you live around here?” He broke the silence as your hands pulled away.

“Uh, well now I have for about three hours. I guess,”you only laughed,”I’m from New York actually. I’m gonna stay with some family. It’s...interesting here so far.”

“It’s not really. It’s just the same old every day.”

“Well yeah, only if you let it be boring. Life’s what you make of it.” He watched as your eyes lit up. “Come on...I’ll show you.” You stood up from behind the dump and smiled at him with your hand out.

He doesn’t know why he grabbed your hand, but he was in for an adventure that’s for sure. Something in his gut trusted you.

You pulled him up and smiled up at him. “Let’s go have an adventure, Ponyboy.”

With that, he followed you through the alley and into the town. “What are we gonna do?”

You tapped on your chin as you looked around and thought to yourself. You got a mischievous smile as you spotted two office chairs being thrown out. “Any hills around here?”

He saw the look in your eyes and grinned at you before nodding. Anyone driving by would have seen two 14-year-olds pushing office chairs and knew they were up to no good.

“Now some people like to say I’m up to no good, but I like to say having some unorthodox fun.” You told him as you two pushed up the hill.

Darry was gonna kill him for not being home by five and he could feel it. It was only two, but he knew he was stuck here with you. He had no problem with that.

He smiled at you. You couldn’t see because he was behind you, but that boy was grinning and thinking about all the trouble you were...but you were in the best way.

Once you got to the top he looked at you. “Now what?”

“Well, now we sit on the chair and roll down.” You laughed as his eyes popped out of his head. “Come on, don’t be chicken.”

“Are you crazy?” He looked at the steep hill and saw death. But then he looked at your excited face and his fear vanished.

“Of course I am. And so are you because you’re here with me.” You smiled and sat in your chair. “Look, it’s not scary. I did it all the time back home. See?” With that, you pushed your self down the hill. His eyes were wide and he was gonna stop you, but he watched as the chair moved faster. The wind was through your hair and you laugh could be heard for miles. You felt like you were free and flying in the moments before the chair stopped.

You laughed and looked up at him. “Now you!” You shouted from the bottom. He sighed and gulped. He took a deep breath before pushing himself down the hill. His scream turned into laughter as he realized the way you felt. Free.

He reached the bottom and you looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Well?”

He was quiet before he looked at you. “That was awesome! Let’s go again!” He stood up and pulled you up before running up the hill again.

You couldn’t get the smiles off each other’s faces. It was like being a kid again. You two spent three hours up there. The last ride down you looked at him and smiled as you sat down. “Grab my hand.”

He did as he was told an looked at your hand intertwined before looking up at you. “Now on 3, okay?” He nodded. “1...2...3!” You two pushed off and let our screams and laughs.

On the way down, one of your chairs hit a rock and took you both down. The ground scrapped your leather jacket and his arms. It was quiet as you laid on the floor, but when you looked at each other, you busted out in laughter. It was the best kind of laughter: loud and obnoxious.

He stood and pulled you up. “Come on, I wanna show you something.” You nodded and followed him up the hill again, without the chairs. You guys went all the way to the top. and he took you to the very top. The sun was going down and the sunset was a golden pink.

“Pony...this is beautiful!” You spoke excitedly as you saw the city and looked up at him.

“I know...I love it here. It’s quiet. Come on, sit down.” You both sat and watched the sunset.

“So why here...why not stay in New York?” He looked at you curiously.

“My momma...she was a drunk. She would never be home so it was me since I was like 8 when my brother left. It was...it was hard. I couldn’t take it so I called my brother and here I am.” You looked sad and he could tell you were upset. The thought was killing you. “But adventure can be anywhere...right?” You gave a sad laugh.

He smiled at you and put his hand over yours. “Yeah...it can.”

You sat there for another hour and talked. This boy was special. You could feel it within you and he felt the same.

It was six or seven when he realized he said he’d be home by five. “We should go...my brother expected me home hours ago.”

“Okay, I’ll walk with you. I gotta go find my brother anyways.” You stood up with him and began walking.

“Who is your brother? I might know him.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the streets.

“His name is Dallas. Dallas Winston. I was supposed to meet him at his friend's place. The Curtis’, do you know them?” Oh boy, he was gonna be in trouble. Dally had been waiting all morning for someone...he just never said who.

“Well I am them...and we gotta get you there quick or Dally is gonna have our heads on a stick.” He grabbed your hand and dragged you to his house.

“You know Dally?” You yelled while running with him.

“Small town and your brother is one of my best friends.”

You could hear his nerves. Eventually, you were in his front yard. Pony walked in first and there was his brother waiting.

“Ponyboy Curtis! Where have you been? I said five, it’s seven thirty! And who is this?” His voice calmed when he saw you.

Before Pony could answer, Dallas walked in. “Y/N?”

“Hey, Dal...” Darry looked so confused.

“You know her?”

“Yeah, that’s my kid sister and I wanna know why I said I’d be waiting at the station and your ass wasn’t there? You could have been dead.”

“Dallas, you said nine and I waited past ten you ass!”

He stayed quiet until Darry spoke. “Why the hell are you both so scratched up? What did you do?”

“Oh my God, Darry, if he touched her, you’re only gonna have one little brother!”

“Ponyboy, what did you do with this girl?”

They were yelling and then you spoke up. “Hey!” They looked at you. “We didn’t do anything except having some fun in this town because apparently, no one knows nothin’ about it. And Darry, is it? I’m sorry I kept him late. It was my fault, not his. I’m sorry.”

Darry’s expression softened at you. He sighed and rubbed his red face. He wasn’t mad at you or Pony, just frustrated and you could see it. “And as for you Dallas, I feel bad arguing in a stranger’s house so please, follow me.”

Pony looked at you. The word stranger hurt a bit and he was in awe, along with Darry and the boys who had been in the kitchen with how you talked to Dally. No one ever raised their voice at him...ever.

He did follow you and looked at you. “Did you do anything with Pony?”

“No! Of course not Dally, he helped me get out of some trouble. We were just finding some fun.” You sighed and ran a hand through your hair. “You know Dallas you have some nerve being all protective now. You left me all alone with that monster!”

“I know! Okay, I know and I’m sorry. I couldn’t stay...I couldn’t. I wish I could have taken you but I’m making up for it now, kid. I’m sorry, alright?” He pulled you into a hug and held onto you. He never told anyone how much he missed you. You were his only weakness and he loved you as much as he loved Johnny. You and the boys inside were his only family. “I did miss you, kid.”

You hugged him back. “I missed you too.” He messed with your hair and walked you back in.

All eyes were on you two. “Oh um...hi?” You laughed and smiled at them. Ponyboy couldn’t take his eyes off you as you spoke to everyone. “I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you all.”

A blonde boy put his hand out. “I’m Keith, but they call me Two-Bit because I always put my two bits in.” He laughed and so did you as you shook his hand.

A boy with brown hair and beautiful eyes looked at you with the most striking smile you had ever seen. “I’m Sodapop Curtis.”

A boy with cake on his face smiled. “I’m Steve.”

A shy boy with jet black hair looked at you. “I’m Johnny.”

The rest of the night was spent getting to know them all. Your charm got Darry to warm up to you through the night. Laughter and stories filled the living room for hours on end.

Eventually, you got up and excused yourself to take a smoke break. You sat on the porch and lit up a cancer stick. You heard the door open and looked behind you. You smiled at the boy with the grey-green eyes.

“Hey, Ponyboy.”

“Hey...so some stranger’s house?” The word bugged him. Stranger. It just didn’t sit right to him.

“You know what I meant. You’re not a stranger. I trust you, Ponyboy Curtis.” You smiled and nudged him gently. He smiled at you as his chest warmed up. Words have never touched him more.

You took a drag. “Want a smoke?” You held the cig up to him and he nodded before taking it. He saw your lip gloss stain and took a drag from it. He thought it tasted like nicotine and cherry. It stayed in the silence until he broke it.

“There is some more to this town...it’s not always quiet.” He said looking over at you.

“Mind showing me?” You smile said mischief, but he didn’t care at all.

“Y/N Winston, it would be my pleasure to have many more adventures with you.”

Your eyes lit up in excitement and a smiled was stuck on your face.

“Ponyboy Curtis, I cannot wait for the adventures to come.”

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cathygeha · 6 years

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REVIEW

One For Another by Andrea Jacka

Idaho Territory in the era this story was written still had Indian raids as well as settlers and prospectors looking for gold. In remote and larger towns there were businesses that catered to the needs of those living in the vicinity and Hennessey Reed was the proprietor of the Fleur-de-lis – in her own words: a cathouse, bordello, house-of-ill-repute, den of iniquity, place of solace. She is the madam and has a group of women selling liquor and flesh to those that come to buy. The patrons are varied and quirky as are many of the characters in this story.

Ness is a woman that is as different as the rest of those peopling Melancholy, Idaho. She lost her entire immediate family at the age of six and how they died has that left her with rather unsettling memories and flashbacks. In addition she sees apparitions, has an addiction, works in a profession many look down on, and keeps personal secrets that increase her mystery. Marshal Rafael “Raff” Cooper is another interesting character that seems to know Ness better than most. He has history with her that is only alluded to for the most part. He is part Indian but in a position of power – something different for the time and the location.

Into town slithers evil and when the first body of a young girl is found the unveiling of multiple heinous murders begins. Who is killing young girls and why? Will they find the murderer and be able to impart justice or will the murderer continue killing in a painful sordid way?

The writing reminds me of novels of the past with more description than modern books tend to have. I believe someone who has nothing on their mind and wants to sink into a historical novel rich with phrases that paint pictures in the mind might fall in love with this book. I have to say that today was not the day for me to read this book but I have a feeling that if I were to pick it up in a month and have nothing else to contemplate this story would be one I would sink into and truly enjoy. My takeaway today is that I wished that I had learned more about Hennessey between the time she was six and the time that this book takes place. I think I might have preferred either a straight-line story or flashbacks that told more of the backstories of Ness and Raff. That said, if this is to be a series then perhaps more will be unveiled in future books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Red River Pony Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39297002-one-for-another

BLURB

Laudanum. Irish whiskey. The tried and true escape routes of bordello madam Hennessey Reed. On this occasion she suspects even their combined magic will not soothe her distress. The girl lying violated on the undertaker's table will remain dead, wounds horrifying and inexplicable, reminiscent of Indian sacrifice. Hennessey treasures the uneasy peace she has found in the remote town of Melancholy in 1880s Idaho Territory. However the discovery of three more young victims—all girls of similar age to her daughter Evie—compromises this hard-won equilibrium when she recognizes one of the girls. Usually content to tend her own business and leave others to mind theirs, Hennessey decides U.S. Marshal Rafael Cooper requires her help to search for the killer but acknowledges, if consulted, he may not necessarily agree. Although helped by an eclectic group dedicated to the barstools in her saloon, she is hindered by demons stifled by addiction and myopic hatred of Jedidiah Cannon: a man from her past she is convinced is involved in the present-day murders. So with her Bowie strapped to her calf and wolfhound Raven at her side Hennessey sets out to investigate—a one-woman stampede.

#Andrea Jacka #Red Pony Publishing #Historical Fiction #Old West Fiction

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tarotfurbyandchill · 7 years

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Megalist of Unique Furby Names

Naming a Furby is one of the best parts of owning one. By naming your new friend, you are officially adopting them into your family, making them your own. But naming can also be one of the most difficult parts, especially when you just can’t find a name that fits. I mean, furbies aren’t exactly human. Sometimes your “Sarahs” and “Johns” just don’t work on your new pal. Wouldn’t it be nice, then, if there was someone crazy enough in Furblr to organize 900+ unique names for your convenience?

You already know where this is going.

Below the cut are over one thousand Furby names, organized by category (listed below). I wanted to make the names as different and individual as possible, so instead of only researching “normal” names that could easily be pulled from a baby book, I tried to branch out a bit into stranger categories like Scooby Doo villains. This resulted in some interesting (and stupid) names – you’ve got pretty ones, like Mulberry, and shitpost-y ones, like Cackling Skeleton. You could casually browse the names, or, if you’re on an internet browser, Ctrl+F the category you’re most interested in to be instantly taken to it. Enjoy!

A big thank you to anyone who has helped me out with this last over the past few weeks!

** If you reblog this, put your favorite name in the tags! And if you name your furby using this list, please feel free to submit pictures of your newly named friend! **

*** If a name on this list is inappropriate/appropriated/etc., PLEASE TELL ME! I tried to be sensitive and educated when choosing names for this list, but with 900+ names, something is bound to fall through the cracks. ***

Categories)

Adjectives ✦ Animal Crossing Villagers ✦ Animals ✦ Bagel Flavors ✦ Banned Books ✦ Bee Species ✦ Blogs that follow tarotfurbyandchill ✦ Carmen Sandiego Villains ✦ Chillwave Names ✦ Colors of the Nintendo DS ✦ Color Swatch Names ✦ Crab Names (according to an online generator literally titled “pet crab name generator”) ✦ Crayola Color Names ✦ Death Deities ✦ Disney, Character names ✦ Dungeons and Dragons Monsters ✦ Fairy names from a suspiciously 2000s-looking website ✦ Food ✦ Food that I have eaten in the last 48 hours ✦ Gender Neutral Names ✦ Hurricane Names ✦ Lake Names ✦ Legendary Creatures ✦ LGBT Bookstore Names ✦ Lisa Frank, Character Names ✦ Locales ✦ “Me Sleep Again”-Appropriate Names ✦ Music Artist Names ✦ Mute Furby Names ✦ My Little Pony, Character Names ✦ Names from the “Anime Companion” books I bought with real money in sixth grade ✦ Okami, Character Names ✦ Orcish ✦ Pizza Chain Restaurants ✦ Plants and Vegetation ✦ Precious Stones ✦ Roller Coaster Names ✦ Sanrio, Character Names ✦ Scooby Doo Villains ✦ Scott Pilgrim, Character Names ✦ Seapunk Names ✦ Shakespearean Names ✦ Shawn Wasabi Songs ✦ Small Town Names ✦ Song Names ✦ Star Names ✦ State Nicknames ✦ Tamagotchis ✦ Thrift Shop Names ✦ Toy Robots ✦ Vaporwave ✦ Victorian Names ✦ Watership Down, Character Names ✦ Warner Brothers, Character Names ✦ Words and Phrases that Stuck Out to Me in Poems ✦ Words of the Day from Merriam-Webster ✦ Youtube Music Artists

Names)

Adjectives: Brave ✦ Breezy ✦ Chunky ✦ Dizzy ✦ Humdrum ✦ Macabre ✦ Sleepy ✦ Puffy ✦ Quixotic

Animal Crossing Villagers: Analogue ✦ Bam ✦ Bangle ✦ Beau ✦ Biskit ✦ Blanche ✦ Bones ✦ Boris ✦ Charlise ✦ Cheri ✦ Cherry ✦ Curt ✦ Dotty ✦ Francine ✦ Freckles ✦ Gigi ✦ Gloria ✦ Groucho ✦ Hazel ✦ Julian ✦ Keaton ✦ Ken ✦ Kiki ✦ Lobo ✦ Midge ✦ Pango ✦ Peaches ✦ Peck ✦ Rizzo ✦ Scoot ✦ Soleil ✦ Spork ✦ Stitches ✦ Willow ✦ Yuka ✦ Zell

Animals: Beluga ✦ Cicada ✦ Clam ✦ Cobra ✦ Cockroach ✦ Conch ✦ Crab ✦ Crane ✦ Dogfish ✦ Grasshopper ✦ Heron ✦ Lark ✦ Lynx ✦ Magpie ✦ Mosquito ✦ Moth ✦ Newt ✦ Peacock ✦ Partridge ✦ Pidgeon ✦ Reindeer ✦ Toucan

Bagel Flavors: Asiago ✦ French Toast ✦ Garlic ✦ Marble Rye ✦ Momofuku ✦ Poppyseed ✦ Pumpernickel ✦ Pumpkin Pie ✦ Salt ✦ Sweet Potato

Banned Books: Beloved ✦ Candide ✦ Curved River ✦ Doctor Zhivago ✦ Frankenstein ✦ Gatsby ✦ Howl ✦ Leaves of Grass ✦ Persepolis

Bee Species: Blueberry ✦ Honeybee ✦ Hoverfly ✦ Leafcutter ✦ Mason ✦ Squash ✦ Sweat

Blogs that follow tarotfurbyandchill (with links; I do not specifically endorse any of the following and if they’re problematic, please tell me and I’ll remove them): Artho ✦ Beautiful Azalea ✦ Dopwangel ✦ Lethargic Lesbian ✦ Monsieur Raspberry ✦ Muck ✦ Neon Nightmare ✦ Plastic Bile ✦ Shyopossum ✦ Small Bird ✦ Vampyre Willow ✦ Yuck

Carmen Sandiego Villains: Anita Dayoff ✦ Ann Arky ✦ Art Schrival ✦ Barb Dwyer ✦ Baron Wasteland ✦ Belle Igerant ✦ Carmine ✦ Carri Daway ✦ Contessa ✦ Cy Berpunk ✦ Dee Cryption ✦ Dinah Myte ✦ Double Trouble ✦ Electra Vector ✦ Hannah Lulu ✦ Indy Slammer ✦ Jacqueline Hyde ✦ Jane Reaction ✦ Jess U. Wait ✦ Lars Vegas ✦ Patty Larceny ✦ Ruth Less ✦ Sarah Nade ✦ Top Grunge ✦ Vic the Slick ✦ Wonder Rat

Crab Names (according to an online generator literally titled “pet crab name generator”): Chester ✦ Crabbitz ✦ Crusty ✦ Grabandhold ✦ Hermi ✦ iSnap ✦ Muffin ✦ Ripple ✦ Sheldon ✦ Waddle

Chillwave Names: Blanket Vessel ✦ Brite Rocket ✦ Cold Marrow ✦ Cloud Control ✦ Deer Shade ✦ Dune Summer ✦ Eternal Ash ✦ Failure Gloss ✦ Forever Locket ✦ Inner Glitter ✦ Lost Vessel ✦ Sand Black ✦ Shore Champ ✦ Siamese Arrow ✦ Sonic Fear ✦ Teardrop Elixir ✦ Temporary Bones ✦ Topaz Angst

Colors of the Nintendo DS: Cosmo Black ✦ Felyne White ✦ Flame Red ✦ Galaxy ✦ Ice White ✦ Metal Slime ✦ Turquoise

Color Swatch Names (you can Google “*name here* color” if you want to see what it looks like!): Absolute Zero ✦ Aero ✦ African Violet ✦ Alabama Crimson ✦ Alabaster ✦ Alice Blue ✦ Alien Armpit (no, I’m not kidding) ✦ Almond ✦ Amaranth ✦ Amazonite ✦ Ao ✦ Apricot ✦ Arctic Lime ✦ Arsenic ✦ Artichoke ✦ Atomic Tangerine ✦ Auburn ✦ Avocado ✦ Axolotl ✦ Azure ✦ Baby Blue ✦ Baby Powder ✦ Banana Mania ✦ Beau Blue ✦ Bisque ✦ Bistre ✦ Bitter Lemon ✦ Bittersweet Summer ✦ Blood Orange ✦ Blush ✦ Bottle Green ✦ Canary ✦ Chartreuse ✦ Cinnabar ✦ Cobalt Blue ✦ Cyber Grape ✦ Dust Storm ✦ Eucalyptus ✦ Flattery ✦ Folly ✦ Golden Poppy ✦ Gunmetal ✦ Honeydew ✦ Inchworm ✦ Irresistible ✦ Lemon Chiffon ✦ Limerick ✦ Lotion ✦ Mardi Gras ✦ Milk ✦ Papaya Whip ✦ Princess Perfume ✦ Quincy ✦ Rose Vale ✦ Rust ✦ Saffron ✦ Sasquatch Socks ✦ Sepia ✦ Shampoo ✦ Sienna ✦ Silver Foil ✦ Soap ✦ Spicy Mix ✦ Temptress ✦ Thistle ✦ Tumbleweed ✦ Volt ✦ White Coffee ✦ Xanadu

Crayola Color Names: Baby Powder ✦ Blush ✦ Canary ✦ Carmine ✦ Cerise ✦ Cerulean Forest ✦ Cornflower ✦ Cosmic Cobalt ✦ Dandelion ✦ Goldenrod ✦ Jazzberry Jam ✦ Magic Mint ✦ Maize ✦ Maui Sunset ✦ Melon ✦ Midnight Pearl ✦ Misty Moss ✦ New Sneakers ✦ Razzmatazz ✦ Rose Dust ✦ Scarlet ✦ Shrimp Cocktail ✦ Sizzling Sunset ✦ Spring Frost ✦ Sunglow ✦ Thistle

Death Deities: Azrael ✦ Donn ✦ Dullahan ✦ Hades ✦ Kalma ✦ Keres ✦ Mania ✦ Styx ✦ Tartarus

Disney, Character names (requested by anon): Anna ✦ Ariel ✦ Bambi ✦ Baymax ✦ Belle ✦ Bellwether ✦ Boo ✦ Chesire ✦ Chip ✦ Clarabelle ✦ Clawhauser ✦ Daisy ✦ Dale ✦ Dopey ✦ Dot ✦ Duchess ✦ Drizella ✦ Eeyore ✦ Elsa ✦ Esmeralda ✦ Fauna ✦ Flik ✦ Flounder ✦ Flynn ✦ Gaston ✦ GoGo ✦ Goob ✦ Goofy ✦ Hades ✦ Hiro ✦ Jafar ✦ Jasmine ✦ Judy ✦ Kovu ✦ Lady ✦ Launchpad ✦ Lumiere ✦ Maleficent ✦ Marlin ✦ Meg ✦ Merryweather ✦ Mickey ✦ Minnie ✦ Mushu ✦ Nala ✦ Nemo ✦ Pacha ✦ Pascal ✦ Pongo ✦ Remy ✦ Roz ✦ Scar ✦ Scuttle ✦ Simba ✦ Sneezy ✦ Stitch ✦ Sven ✦ Sully ✦ Syndrome ✦ Thumper ✦ Tigger ✦ Tramp ✦ Vanellope ✦ Violet ✦ Wasabi ✦ Wendy ✦ Woody ✦ Yzma ✦ Zazu

Dungeons and Dragons Monsters: Basilisk ✦ Blight ✦ Bugbear ✦ Chimera ✦ Darkmantle ✦ Dracolich ✦ Gorgon ✦ Hobgoblin ✦ Imp ✦ Landwyrm ✦ Mimic ✦ Sprite

Fairy names from a suspiciously 2000s-looking website (and supposed translations): Abella ('the beautiful') ✦ Acacia ('flower') ✦ Adorabelle ('the adored and beautiful') ✦ Ailive ('elf darling') ✦ Alalia ('not talkative') ✦ Alina ('the fair') ✦ Alura ('elf peace') ✦ Alysia ('of captivating power') ✦ Alzena ('a woman') ✦ Amber-Jewelle ('orange beauty') ✦ Ambrosine ('the immortal') ✦ Amelinda ('the loved and beautiful' ) ✦ Araxia ('of the river') ✦ Ariella ('ethereal', 'airy') ✦ Aurelie ('immortal') ✦ Azura ('sky jewel') ✦ Bliss ('she that makes me happy') ✦ Caelia ('fairy queen') ✦ Calista ('the most beautiful') ✦ Cameo ('ivory jewel') ✦ Candace (‘iridescent, incandescent') ✦ Carita ('luna, moonlit beauty') ✦ Cerylia ('a sea bird') ✦ Cein ('jewelled') ✦ Celinette ('the moon') ✦ Chrissanth ('gold flower') ✦ Christalle ('translucent') ✦ Chryseis ('the golden') ✦ Clairette ('bright and clear') ✦ Cleantha ('glory flower') ✦ Cymbeline ('melody') ✦ Delicia ('delightful') ✦ Desta French ('destiny') ✦ Deva ('the divine') ✦ Dwynwen ('white wave') ✦ Elgiva ('elf gift') ✦ Elodie ('water thyme') ✦ Eloiny ('precious') ✦ Emerenta ('to glisten') ✦ Epifania ('the manifestation') ✦ Elysia (‘blissful beauty') ✦ Estrellita ('little star') ✦ Euclea ('the glorious') ✦ Euphraxia ('to delight the heart and mind') ✦ Evvie ('life') ✦ Eliska-June ('sweetly scented') ✦ Fay/Faye (‘fairy or elf') ✦ Fayette ('fairy fate') ✦ Faylinn ('fairy kingdom') ✦ Fayre ('fair one') ✦ Fialka ('violet') ✦ Felicitae ('happy one') ✦ Fossette ('little dimple') ✦ Gaea ('earth goddess') ✦ Glykera ('the sweet') ✦ Hyacynthie ('fragrant warmth') ✦ Ianthine ('frail flower') ✦ Ilona ('beautiful, of the light' ) ✦ Jarita 'a bird' ✦ Jewele ('jewel') ✦ Lunette ('little shining one') ✦ Loxy ('loving') ✦ Meliantha ('honey; sweet flower') ✦ Niada ('river nymph') ✦ Niamh ("brightness" or "eternal youth”) ✦ Nata ('dancer') ✦ Nyx ('of the night') ✦ Nolana ('little bell') ✦ Nissa ('elf') ✦ Olinda ('sweetly fragrant') ✦ Oona ('old Irish') ✦ Pherenice ('heavenly blue flower') ✦ Rosalva ('pretty rose') ✦ Sarette ('princess') ✦ Shea ('fairy palace') ✦ Sorcha ('dark princess') ✦ Tania ('fairy queen') ✦ Tertia ('3rd born fairy') ✦ Tyballa ('people’s princess') ✦ Tryphosa ('the delicate') ✦ Tita ('safe') ✦ Trixy ('she that makes me happy') ✦ Tunder ('fairy') ✦ Una ('the one') ✦ Vashti ('the beautiful') ✦ Xylia ('of the forest') ✦ Zuleika ('the fair')

Food: Albacore ✦ Alfalfa ✦ Apples ✦ Avocado Roll ✦ Bagel ✦ Barley ✦ Basundi ✦ Batter ✦ Bisque ✦ Blondie ✦ Blue Raspberry ✦ Bratwurst ✦ Brownie ✦ Bruschetta ✦ Burrito ✦ Buttercream ✦ Buttermilk ✦ Cheddar ✦ Cheesecake ✦ Chowder ✦ Chimichanga ✦ Clotted Cream ✦ Cocoa Krispy ✦ Cream Cheese ✦ Donut ✦ Dumpling ✦ Eggnog ✦ Enchilada ✦ Fajita ✦ French Toast ✦ Frosting ✦ Funfetti ✦ Glaze ✦ Gnocchi ✦ Grits ✦ Guasacaca ✦ Gumbo ✦ Ham ✦ Hershey ✦ Italian Ice ✦ Kabob ✦ Lemon Pie ✦ Linguini ✦ Linzer Tart ✦ Macadamia ✦ Mac and Cheese ✦ M & M ✦ Meatball ✦ Pancake ✦ Parmesan ✦ Peanut ✦ Pecan ✦ Pizza ✦ Quiche ✦ Quinoa ✦ Raisin ✦ Red Velvet ✦ Reese ✦ Salt ✦ Sausage ✦ Scrambled Egg ✦ Sherbet ✦ Slushie ✦ S’mores ✦ Soft Serve ✦ Spinach ✦ Thin Mint ✦ Twizzler ✦ Waffle ✦ Walnut ✦ Wheat ✦ Yogurt ✦ Yolk ✦ Ziti

Food that I have eaten in the last 48 hours: Brie ✦ Cantaloupe ✦ Caprese ✦ Carrot ✦ Cheez It ✦ Egg ✦ Famous Amos ✦ Homefry ✦ Snow Caps ✦ Syrup

Gender Neutral Names: Addison ✦ Adrian ✦ Albie ✦ Alex ✦ Ash ✦ Aubrey ✦ Avery ✦ Bailey ✦ Beau ✦ Blair ✦ Blaine ✦ Blake ✦ Brady ✦ Brynn ✦ Casey ✦ Carey ✦ Charlie/Charley ✦ Cody ✦ Corey Dana/Dane ✦ Devin/Devon ✦ Dorian ✦ Drew ✦ Dylan/Dillon ✦ Eden ✦ Eli ✦ Elliott ✦ Ellis ✦ Ellery ✦ Emerson ✦ Emery ✦ Finley ✦ Florian ✦ Flynn ✦ Francis/Frances ✦ Frankie ✦ George ✦ Gray ✦ Grayson ✦ Hadley ✦ Harley ✦ Harper ✦ Hayden ✦ Hunter ✦ Jackie ✦ Jaden/Jayden ✦ Jamie ✦ Jay ✦ Jean ✦ Jesse/Jessie ✦ Jordan ✦ Joss ✦ Jude ✦ Jules ✦ Julian ✦ Kai ✦ Kaden/Caden ✦ Keegan ✦ Kelly ✦ Kendall ✦ Kennedy ✦ Lane ✦ Lee/Leigh ✦ Leighton ✦ Lennon ✦ Linden ✦ Logan ✦ Lux ✦ Mack ✦ Mackenzie ✦ Madison ✦ Marley/Marleigh ✦ Max ✦ Micah/Mika ✦ Mickey ✦ Morgan ✦ Nico ✦ Nicky ✦ Noel ✦ Oakley ✦ Ollie ✦ Orion ✦ Paris ✦ Parker ✦ Pat/Patty ✦ Pax/Paxton ✦ Payton/Peyton ✦ Perry ✦ Piper ✦ Phoenix ✦ Quinn ✦ Ray/Rae ✦ Reagan ✦ Reed/Reid ✦ Reese/Rhys ✦ Riley/Reilly ✦ River ✦ Robin ✦ Rory ✦ Rowan ✦ Rudy ✦ Ryan

Hurricane Names: Arlene ✦ Bonnie ✦ Bret ✦ Camille ✦ Cleo ✦ Fabian ✦ Felix ✦ Fifa ✦ Flora ✦ Frances ✦ Greta ✦ Gustave ✦ Hilda ✦ Hugo ✦ Ike ✦ Irene ✦ Isidore ✦ Ivan ✦ Joaquin ✦ Katrina ✦ Klaus ✦ Lenny ✦ Opal ✦ Ophelia ✦ Otto ✦ Rita ✦ Roxanne ✦ Wilma

Lake Names: Champlain ✦ Club ✦ Dingle ✦ Rainy ✦ Rush ✦ Salt ✦ Skadar ✦ Victoria ✦ Volta

Legendary Creatures: Alicanto ✦ Arion ✦ Bugbear ✦ Callisto ✦ Cinnamon Bird ✦ Cockatrice ✦ Encantado ✦ Harpy ✦ Hellhound ✦ Jackalope ✦ Kelpie ✦ Lamia ✦ Onikuma ✦ Pegasus ✦ Pooka ✦ Selket ✦ Selkie ✦ Tengu ✦ Thoth ✦ Qilin ✦ Zu

LGBT Bookstore Names: Antigone ✦ Calamus ✦ Charis ✦ Common Language ✦ Outwords ✦ Wild Iris

Lisa Frank, Character Names (yeah, they had names, I’m as shocked as you): Dotty Paws ✦ Emerald ✦ Forrest ✦ Iris ✦ Lily ✦ Markie ✦ Rainbow Reef (technically a location in the *~Lisa Frank lore~*) ✦ Rainbow Chaser ✦ Rose ✦ Skye ✦ Spotty ✦ Valerie

Locales: Amarillo ✦ Amazon ✦ Amery ✦ Ankara ✦ Ashanti ✦ Avalon ✦ Bahama ✦ Barbados ✦ Bermuda ✦ Canterbury ✦ Capri ✦ Casablanca ✦ Chaco ✦ Chicago ✦ Chita ✦ Congo ✦ Corfu ✦ Cork ✦ Cuba ✦ Cyprus ✦ Dakota ✦ Dallas ✦ Danube ✦ Darwin ✦ Delphi ✦ Ecuador ✦ Everest ✦ Fiji ✦ Galapagos ✦ Joplin ✦ Kilimanjaro ✦ Lagos ✦ Myra ✦ Oahu ✦ Pacific ✦ Rhine ✦ Salem ✦ Tuscany ✦ Vegas

“Me Sleep Again”-Appropriate Names: Aurora ✦ Daydream ✦ Doze ✦ Sandman ✦ Shuteye ✦ Snore ✦ Trance ✦ Wink

Music Artist Names: Arcade Fire ✦ Black Sabbath ✦ Chainsmokers ✦ Florence ✦ Halestorm ✦ Little Mix ✦ Madeon ✦ Omniboi ✦ Slayer ✦ Slime Girls ✦ Waterparks ✦ Weezer

Mute Furby Names: Bean ✦ Chane ✦ Chell ✦ Gordon ✦ Groucho ✦ Molk ✦ Muffle ✦ Tih ✦ Tishina ✦ Tyla

My Little Pony, Character Names: Adagio Dazzle ✦ Apple Bumpkin ✦ Apple Munchies ✦ Banana Fluff ✦ Berry Dreams ✦ Blossomforth ✦ Blueverry Curls ✦ Bumblesweet ✦ Button Mash ✦ Charm ✦ Cheese Sandwich ✦ Chestnut Magnifico ✦ Cherry Jubilee ✦ Coco Crusoe ✦ Coconut Cream ✦ Dance Fever ✦ Drizzle ✦ Eff Stop ✦ Elbow Grease ✦ Fine Line ✦ Florina Tart ✦ Gilda ✦ Heart Throb ✦ High Winds ✦ Honey Rays ✦ Junebug ✦ Juniper Montage ✦ Lemon Heart ✦ Lickety Split ✦ Lighting Dust ✦ Lilac Links ✦ Lucky Star ✦ Mango Dash ✦ Masquerade ✦ Meadow Flower ✦ Orange Swirl ✦ Parasol ✦ Party Favor ✦ Peachbottom ✦ Photo Finish ✦ Powder ✦ Tealove ✦ Thunderlane ✦ Toola Roola ✦ Tree Hugger ✦ Trixie ✦ Truffle ✦ Twilight Velvet ✦ Rainy Feather ✦ Rare Find ✦ Rarity ✦ Sassaflash ✦ Screwball ✦ Snuzzle ✦ Spitfire ✦ Spring Forward ✦ Sprinkle Melody ✦ Star Hunter ✦ Starlight Glimmer ✦ Strawberry Sunrise ✦ Stellar Eclipse ✦ Sweetcream Scoops ✦ Sugar Belle ✦ Sugarcoat ✦ Sunburst ✦ Surprise ✦ Vapor Trail ✦ Violet Blurr ✦ Whiplash ✦ White Lightning ✦ Windy Whistles ✦ Wisp ✦ Zipporwhill

Names from the “Anime Companion” books I bought with real money in sixth grade (I have no idea if these actually translate to what they claim to translate to, take with a grain of salt): Cha (Tea) ✦ Gekkin (Moon Lute) ✦ Ikki (Peasant Revolt) ✦ Ikura (Fish Eggs) ✦ Taiko (Drum) ✦ Tsubame (Swallow) ✦ Tsuru (Crane) ✦ Kaiju (Giant Monster) ✦ Pachinko ✦ Yakisoba (Noodles)

Okami, Character Names (I just really love this game, man): Amaterasu ✦ Blight ✦ Issun ✦ Jorogumo ✦ Kamiki (Village Name) ✦ Kushi✦ Orochi ✦ Sakuya ✦ Susano ✦ Yami ✦ Yumigami

Orcish: Gashraz ✦ Glurfish ✦ Krogak ✦ Lambl ✦ Lorban ✦ Mork ✦ Murbug ✦ Shazrub ✦ Shelern

Pizza Chain Restaurants: California Pizza Kitchen ✦ Dominoes ✦ Little Caeser’s ✦ Papa John ✦ Pizza Hut ✦ Uno

Plants and Vegetation: Acorn ✦ Aspen ✦ Balsam ✦ Banyan ✦ Beech ✦ Blueberry ✦ Candleberry ✦ Checkerberry ✦ Fern ✦ Phlox ✦ Pine ✦ Chicory ✦ Pichi ✦ Gooseberry ✦ Hawthorn ✦ Juniper ✦ Mistletoe ✦ Myrrh ✦ Salvia ✦ Underbrush ✦ Yarrow

Precious Stones: Carnelian ✦ Coral ✦ Citrine ✦ Druzy ✦ Garnet ✦ Jade ✦ Jasper ✦ Kyanite ✦ Lava Rock ✦ Moonstone ✦ Mystic Quartz ✦ Obsidian ✦ Onyx ✦ Rhodonite ✦ Selenite ✦ Serpentine ✦ Sunstone ✦ Tiger Iron ✦ Zircon

Roller Coaster Names: Acrobat ✦ Afterburn ✦ Apocalypse ✦ Behemoth ✦ Bizarro ✦ Boomerang ✦ Bullet ✦ Cornball Express ✦ Cyclone ✦ Dodonpa ✦ Fujiyama ✦ Goliath ✦ Montu ✦ Nitro ✦ Phantom’s Revenge ✦ Raptor ✦ Steel Dragon 2000 ✦ Viper ✦ Vortex

Sanrio, Character Names: Charmmy ✦ Chibimaru ✦ Cinnamoroll ✦ Keroppi ✦ Kuromi ✦ Mimmy ✦ My Melody ✦ Tuxedo Sam

Scooby Doo Villians: Amos Crunch ✦ Baba Yaga ✦ Cackling Skeleton ✦ Creeper ✦ Headless Specter ✦ Mr. Wickles ✦ Pietro ✦ Redbeard ✦ Spooky Space Kook

Scott Pilgrim, Character Names: Envy ✦ Gideon ✦ Kim ✦ Knives ✦ Ramona ✦ Scott ✦ Wallace

Seapunk Names: † вода 韵律 † ✦ ▩ LIL CORE ▩ ✦ SAMSUNG ∞WAVE ✦ ☥ ṪHE F00TB∀TH ☥

Shakespearean Names: Balthasar ✦ Benedick ✦ Benvolio ✦ Caesar ✦ Calpurnia ✦ Caius ✦ Cassandra ✦ Cassius ✦ Ceres ✦ Cicero ✦ Claudio ✦ Corin ✦ Demetrius ✦ Desdemona ✦ Diana ✦ Edmund ✦ Helena ✦ Hero ✦ Iago ✦ Iris ✦ Jessica ✦ Juliet ✦ Lennox ✦ Luce ✦ Macbeth ✦ Mercutio ✦ Octavia ✦ Othello ✦ Portia ✦ Prospero ✦ Puck ✦ Regan ✦ Romeo ✦ Rosaline ✦ Silvia ✦ Tybalt ✦ Ursula ✦ Valentine

Shawn Wasabi Songs: Burnt Rice ✦ HOTTO DOGU ✦ i lost all my eggs ✦ Marble Soda ✦ Otter Pop ✦ Spicy Boyfriend

Small Town Names (every town listed is from the US and has less than 1,000 residents!): Angelica ✦ Arietta ✦ Avella ✦ Belmont ✦ Blanca ✦ Bliss ✦ Colt ✦ Damascus ✦ Delta ✦ Errol ✦ Garfield ✦ Granger ✦ Grove ✦ Holly Grove ✦ King Salmon ✦ Kraemer ✦ Marlow ✦ Morris ✦ Minerva ✦ Noble ✦ Orient ✦ Otto ✦ Ovid ✦ Pitkin ✦ Ravenden ✦ Rose Bud ✦ Schaghticoke ✦ Sugarloaf ✦ Venice ✦ Victory ✦ Welcome

Song Names (suggested by sea-slug-flow): Absolute Territory ✦ Aftermath ✦ Apollo ✦ Cake by the Ocean ✦ Eros ✦ Flamingo ✦ Gimmie Chocolate ✦ Hollaback ✦ Hot Milk ✦ Lowlife ✦ Sick Beat ✦ Sixteen Candles ✦ Strobelite ✦ Sugar and Cream ✦ Summer Holiday ✦ Wonderland

Star Names: Aries ✦ Bootes ✦ Cassiopeiae ✦ Chameleon ✦ Fornax ✦ Gamma ✦ Gemini ✦ Lyrae ✦ Hydra ✦ Iota ✦ Orion ✦ Pavo ✦ Pegasus ✦ Ursa

State Nicknames: Bluegrass ✦ Centennial ✦ Evergreen ✦ Gem ✦ Golden ✦ Last Frontier ✦ Magnolia ✦ Peace Garden ✦ Show Me ✦ Sunflower ✦ Treasure

Tamagotchis: Kuchipatchi ✦ Lovelitchi ✦ Makiko ✦ Mametchi ✦ Memetchi ✦ Petipuchi ✦ Violetchi

Thrift Store Names (at least according to a Buzzfeed article I read): 10 Feet Single ✦ Collective ✦ Ditto ✦ Junkee ✦ Monk ✦ Pretty Penny ✦ Rumors ✦ Strange Cargo ✦ Unclaimed Baggage

Toy Robots: Bender ✦ Billybot ✦ Buster ✦ Garloo ✦ Ideal ✦ Newton ✦ Paya ✦ Piston ✦ Pleo ✦ Simpathetic ✦ Smatty ✦ Spacedog ✦ Zoomer

Vaporwave: </body> ✦ Anthology ✦ Arizona ✦ Banshee ✦ Crystal Vessel ✦ Dodge Viper 2000 ✦ High Fructose ✦ Macintosh ✦ Playstation 64 ✦ Polygon Dream ✦ PRESS 1 FOR ENGLISH ✦ Saint Pepsi ✦ Space Cowboy ✦ SYNEFELD ✦ Utopia ✦ .WAV

Victorian Names: Augustus ✦ Ada ✦ Alice ✦ Arabella ✦ Beryl ✦ Blanche ✦ Bram ✦ Cassius ✦ Clementine ✦ Cora ✦ Edward ✦ Grover ✦ Ives ✦ Lottie ✦ Luella ✦ Oliver ✦ Vinnie

Watership Down, Character Names: Bigwig ✦ Blackberry ✦ Dandelion ✦ Fiver ✦ Frith ✦ Hazel ✦ Hyzenthlay ✦ Pipkin ✦ Woundwort

Warner Brothers, Character Names: Bugs ✦ Cecil ✦ Daffy ✦ Foghorn ✦ Junior ✦ Lola ✦ Porky ✦ Road Runner ✦ Sniffles ✦ Sylvester ✦ Tweety ✦ Marc Atony ✦ Marvin ✦ Witch Hazel

Words and phrases that stuck out to me in poems: Ever Tenacious ✦ Frosty ✦ Harvest of Sighs ✦ Hurricane ✦ Pale Branches ✦ Shining Beads ✦ Undone ✦ Yield

Words of the Day from Merriam-Webster: Dithyram (Poem/writing written in an erratic or excited strain) ✦ Fey (Fairy) ✦ Garble (Sift impurities from) ✦ Hebetude (Lethargy) ✦ Vermicular (Wormlike in motion) ✦ Waif (Thin Woman)

Youtube Music Artists: In Love With a Ghost ✦ Pogo ✦ Ramune ✦ Snail

#text #allfurby #furby #botblr #safefurby #reference

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nerd-breached-containment · 4 years

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More shenanigans with Clanmen

And another big one coming:

What the censored does this even have to do with clans? lol

A lot, actually. :’D

And quite frankly, we are unbothered by you telling what makes our clan image really. It's not like people think you even look pretty yourself out here kissing the admins' boots for everything they do.

I can’t phrase what it is, the “we are unbothered by you telling what makes our clan image really“ and “you even look pretty yourself out here kissing the admins' boots“ makes me giggle a lot - y’all can check my Track history (yes, I’m bringing this back) and y’all can view that I only “defended” the Admins around.. 2-3 times during my life, and that’s about it - if y’all check both my Tumblr, Discord, ect, y’all can see that about 90% of the times, I do despise them - I, at the least, know the difference between an Admin and a Developer (this will be brought up again, don’t worry). As for the “unbothered”, about... 6 clanmen of the same clan say otherwise, two (now 3) still show signs of such.

Let me tell you one of the things that irks me the most:

It's that when people basically just complain - telling people off for giving the admins/developers the amount of negative feedbacks that they get, saying: We complain too much; the admins are humans too give them a break; be grateful this game still exists; and negative comments impolite (apparently? :'D)

So.. basically being a normal civilized human being irks you? Like..

telling people off for giving the admins/developers the amount of negative feedbacks that they get: You’re basically saying to continue to bash them for “not fixing x” even though they’re Admins and not Developers, they can’t really fix anything;

We complain too much; the admins are humans too give them a break: While I do agree some complaints are a tad... why and some do need more attention, I really don’t see where’s the bad in the latter, if you were an Admin, you probably would wish people would give you a break after receiving thousands and thousands of PMs; :’D

be grateful this game still exists; and negative comments impolite (apparently? :'D): To this day, it’s the only MMORPG HTTYD game you’ll ever see that’s in a... complete state, until someone makes an upgraded (and better) MMORPG HTTYD game... yeah, be grateful this exist. As for the latter, I’ve seen multiple cases where users spoke with a very unreadable or plain-out negative text and the Admins tried to help them but the user didn’t gave enough information - if you want the Jumpstart Support or the Admins to help you then... write a goddamn decent and polite comment with all the information they need, it’s common sense, for crying out loud.

I mean.. where do I even start?

Listen pal, if we see an issue in the game, as players/customers of the game, we have the rights to be free to speak up about it. Sure, the admins/developers are humans too, but it is what they signed up for, as much negative feedbacks that they recieve, they are responsible and accountable for what it is. And just so you know, the players who complain are actually the supporters of the game, and the more open the players are about the issues in the game, the more support this game gets, because those who complain about the problems are those who care about the game and we address them because we wish to see a better future to the game. So, just because we have bad things to say, doesn't mean we don't believe in the admins too. Otherwise, why would we even bother to give a comment.

“Sure, the admins/developers are humans too, but it is what they signed up for, as much negative feedbacks that they recieve, they are responsible and accountable for what it is.”

Hum... oh okay, so if I signed up as a receptionist, it’s my responsibility for all the negative commentaries, even those that can’t be solved by me? That’s why there are people out there that support the idea of “being polite with those who work hard”, often times, people who work at receptionists, cash registers, you name it, about 80% of the complaints they get are complaints they can’t even fix and either have to ask for a manager or try to calm the person down since there’s not that much to do. Saying that “it is what they signed up for“ it’s basically saying “they’re the fault of all the glitches that happen and therefore they have to fix it right away” even though they can’t really do that much but to:

Ask you to send an email to Jumpstart Support (the equivalent of asking for a manager);

Or try to keep them calm.

Hell, I’ll give another example, a part of the Fandom website got fucked up and an user files a complaint reply to me about how there’s a section of the website itself that’s glitched, so I send a Glitch Complaint Email to Fandom support about said glitch - according to you, it’s MY responsibility that the Fandom website has that glitch and therefore, it’s ME who has to fix it, not the Fandom Devs. Do you understand what the fuck you just said or...

And just so you know, the players who complain are actually the supporters of the game

Since when though? Would be nice if you added a source referring to that, and just because they are the “supporters of the game”, it doesn’t mean they have to be respected - hell, I may be an Admin of the Wiki, but that doesn’t mean that everyone needs to fall to their knees before me, I ain’t some kind of goddess, I’m just a casual player who edits the wiki. And if they’re the “supporters of the game” then why don’t they have a special title? Supposed “supporters” should at the least have a special title like games like Pony Town has. Hell, there was even a Narrative Designer that appeared when clearing up the Hobblegrunt confusion (link available at the Hobblegrunt page at the SoD wiki btw) and how do we know it’s a Narrative Designer?

Because they have their own title. If these supposed “supporters” don’t have their own title then... I’m sorry but you are saying fake shit and I don’t believe one bit until you give a proper source.

And the funniest thing? The same two “supporters” are the same users that are calling those who believe the Admins “fools” so... what a nice duo of supporters the Admins have, huh.

the more open the players are about the issues in the game, the more support this game gets, because those who complain about the problems are those who care about the game and we address them because we wish to see a better future to the game.

One thing is complain about a glitch to bring awareness, another thing is call everyone a “fool” for believing in the Admins - and I should note that this only started to happen after CotC got cancelled. No one was calling anyone a fool for x, it only and exclusively started happening after that became a thing.

And you’re saying that as if that’s what they’re doing when they aren’t. Need I remind you that one of the.. supposed “supporters” said this:

And this:

The bottom one was repeated 3 times throughout the entire thread. And remember, ever since this thread happened, the same user is now going on a spree of casually telling everyone that they’re fools for believing in the Admin’s lies. And this user is supposedly a “supporter”, everybody.

What a great way to show how good your clan is by having a clanman doing... this.

So, just because we have bad things to say, doesn't mean we don't believe in the admins too. Otherwise, why would we even bother to give a comment.

Again, those two “supporters” (specifically one of them) have something to say about that. And given how a clan behave... you probably only did that to “protect the other clanmen”.

And the devs need negative feedbacks, otherwise how can they even know what's wrong with the game DUUHHH. Other than that, the admins/devs themselves (most of the time (?)) don't always know what's good for the game, because unlike the players, they don't experience the gameplay experience themselves, so they don't know what bugs/glitches that actually matters and needs fixing and changes that needs to be done.

I agree with your point, though, like I said before, one thing is complain about a glitch to bring awareness, another thing is call everyone a “fool” for believing in the Admins. Those guys, specifically one of them, was going around casually saying that everyone’s a fool for believing in the Admin’s bullshit, how is that bringing awareness??

And “the admins/devs themselves (most of the time (?)) don't always know what's good for the game, because unlike the players, they don't experience the gameplay experience themselves“ yet again, Admins =/= Developers, and Developers have Beta Testers within them, to build a game and release it to the public, you HAVE to play it, there has been games where it really looks like the Testers didn’t played at all and have the double the amount of glitches that SoD has. And granted, there are suggestions that have been a thing for years (like the Feed All Button), though, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they haven’t added suggestions - as someone in the CotC Thread said before...

And you can't expect everyone to address things the way you approve, nor expect everyone to shut up and deal with it like the admins/devs are saints - pretending there's nothing wrong for the sake of human sympathy, as it's so irrelevant. Kindly open your eyes please, this world isn't perfect and someone needs to say something about it.

What way I approve, though??? Like... what??? xD

File a polite, informative complaint email or PM is like. common sense. To let them help you, you have to help them understand what happen, that’s the basic of rules when it comes to file a complain to any form of support. And showing politeness to any support, really, gives off a better self-light than talking like you have some sort of anger problems with all caps and “speakin lik dis”. It’s literally common sense, it’s not a thing from me, it’s common sense - you wouldn’t file a complaint to any support email from any real life brand by typing “my machine doesnt work now, pls fix it”. They’ll probably either ignore it or ask for, you guess it, more fucking details.

Also I didn’t even told them to shut up????? I just told them that going around also telling other they’re fools for believing the Admins wouldn’t really give their clan a good image, that’s all I said! I didn’t even told them to shut up! Are you that protective to your clan that you’re assuming waaay to many things that I said??? Goddamn. xD

Also, where did you even g e t that “pretending there's nothing wrong for the sake of human sympathy, as it's so irrelevant.“???? “Kindly open your eyes please” Look who’s talking, at the least, I know what I’m talking about, I don’t suddenly bring “sake of human sympathy” and “expect everyone to shut up” out of the blue! xD

I think I've said enough. Oh and P.S _--_-- and _------_------ are actually one of the game's biggest supporters just so you know, especially in clan tournament ;)

Like I said, a source about that would be appreciated and those same guys are also the ones going around saying “we are fools for believing in the Admins’ bullshit”. And “especially in Clan Tournament”, well, that explains their sore loser behavior, you just made my point even stronger by proving once again that the reason they’re behaving like that is because of the cancellation of the CoTC.

Oh and after I said that second-to-last paragraph explains practically everything, I’m amazed they didn’t understood what I meant with that and... sent this:

Why do people geninely think that sending gifs makes them feel more powerful and threatening? What is that gif supposed to imply? Fear? Dread? “Urgh”? Explain to me, please because all I see is a gif with... “Now run along”. Ofc I did thanked them for the lil chat because it was pretty nice.

#school of dragons #you dont see this everyday folks #lps100 derps

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