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handelplayssims · 2 years

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Another day and-

Hey wait, WHAT!? I totally reviewed three drinks! Come on now.

Anyway, we send Gunther off to work after taking care of his needs.

...and I suddenly notice that this career has work tones that allow you to skill at work. Really kinda wish all other jobs had something like that. But, since he has the skills to be promoted, it’s time to have him work hard.

Oh HUH! Yeah I know high levels of careers passively game fame, a mechanic introduced in Get Famous, and he has been getting fame for all of his writing and stuff but it’s still a surprise to get a fame level seemingly out of the blue! Which means, I suppose it’s time to talk about fame mechanics!

Get Famous introduces two social aspects to the game. One is reputation, where if you do friendly or mean things in public, it’ll influence how others think of you. It is very easy to get a good reputation if you passively play the game so you have to go out of your way to get, or maintain, a bad one.

The big meat and potatoes is the Fame system. You have this huge scaling tree of perks all lined up and ready for the taking. There are basically three sections to this. From the middle right, is the career focused one. The very first perk is the Notable one, which boosts fame from skills and careers, and is one recommended by everyone to pick up right away, as it’ll help immensely with the fame grind, even if you want to go to other tracks of the fame tree. Futher along are perks such as increasing earnings on created objects, which I’ll definitely want to pick up for this author, or faster career advancement and extremely positive moodlets coming off of work! It’s a real good track in general!

The middle one is focused on being a socialite. You got an especially social sim? This’ll be perfect for them as the first perk allows you to chat with even more famous sims one tier above you and gain fame from meeting any celebrity and easily manage your reputations. The middle-left one is an influencer sort of focused one, as you get calls to send footage of yourself for sponserships, gain perks for streams. But it also has things like fan mail being sent to you and one where everyone wears your outfit. I kinda like the idea of those for an author, even if I’m not a fan of the media influencer stuff for Gunther specifically.

And the far left and far right are perks based on reputation, either bad or good. If you think your famous sim particularly cares about that sort of thing, then go right for those perks! As for me, I’m going to nab level 2 of the influncer side, nabbing the Cooperate Sponsership and Influncer perks.

Oh, and before I forget, for every fame level you get, you tend to get a quirk of some kind. The most common one being a Refined Palette from eating excellent meals all the time. Which happens if you make your own meals and they end up being very good. Which feels extraordinary fitting for Gunther, a food critic. For now, we don’t have to worry about Gunther getting a second quirk, he hasn’t gained enough fame yet.

And one last marker of fame is that normal Sims can’t introduce themselves to you, even if you’re a basic celebrity. It’s kinda why Gunther had very few friends in the first place, he had to introduce himself to others. He’ll also restrict himself to lots that attract up-and-comers for the most part, places that low-level celebrities drop in at. Unless any of his other skills pull him any other place.

Oh and we got this again. Sometimes, you think, man, perhaps they do want to change their career, but most of the time, you have an idea of what you particularly want for your Sim and you don’t want to change it at all. I like Food Critic for Gunther! It feels right for him. Though with his high skills in charisma and logic, he could go practically anywhere he wanted.

...but smarty food critic just seems so fitting!

And since we are by our mailbox, I thought about Neighborhood Stories (no new ones, those refresh at like 2 or 3 am) and our Neighborhood Action Plans! Elected ordinances for the specific neighborhood! I’m kinda eh on the Upcycling Initative. Just kinda forces me to add in recyclers or fabricators into my home that I’m not all that interested in. And so! We are going to try to repeal it!

But first, we just send Gunther to regain his fun. Auto-solve brought me to video games and so I picked up the fantasy-based R.E.F.U.G.E. Which uses footage from the Sims Medieval to set up a generically medieval-esque game. And when his fun need is filled, his hygiene low and with the tense moodlet, I settled in for giving him a nice warm soak filled with milk and honey to boost his moodlet. A side-thing from Spa Day that gives you bath soaks to either give you a powerful emotion based one, or one that’ll simply boost your mood, for a bit of a price. A good casual one!

But anyway, there is actually someone I wanted Gunther to befriend! So I had him jog on over to the next-door neighbors and have him chat up with the Fyres family! Primally for one thing.

Morgan Fyres graduated from Uni and became a journalist. Even if they aren’t technically co-workers, I feel they should be anyway and at least should be on friendly terms. So basically I had him talk all about writing and his creative inspirations to her. They became friends quick and even gained a postitive sentiment! Nice! Perfect time to ask for that repeal signature!

To repeal a NAP, one has to stick within their own neighborhood and ask their friends they invite over, the people that live there, or random folks off the street if they are interested in signing this petition. AKA, you’re THAT person. You still have a chance of sims not wanting to do it, but a friendly conversation usually does the trick.

After raiding a cookie from the fridge, an extremely good one though, pleasing to Gunther’s tastes, we head around to find Moria Fyres.

And so we butt in her chatting with her husband Dominic in the bedroom. Not awkward in the slightest! But since she was talking to Dominic, normally we wouldn’t have been able to introduce ourselves to him, since he’s such a high-profile celebrity. Buuuuuut, if they’re talking to someone else and you introduce yourself to them, you gain a relationship with the celebrity as well! Nicely done for Gunther! A round of basic info gathering and then I ask for the repeal. A yay from Dominic and a yay from Moira! Success! I only need 5 signatures so it’s nice to be more than halfway done already! Time to return home to snooze.

But in the middle of the night, a cry not unlike a baby’s carries on the wind...did his lost brother mourn for his life, rudely taken? A thought that crossed Gunther’s mind...but he easily feel back asleep again.

Neighborhood Watch!

Genji Nakamura in the Nakamura household has died. Genji heard a dad joke and laughed a little too hard.

...I think I vaguely recognize that name. RIP!

Lorenzo McConnell in the McConnell household is now a Brigadier in the Officer career.

HA! I actually played this household. Seemed he wanted to get out of being a lowly chef and get into something a bit more better paying.

Aleki Niu in the Niu household has died. Aleki asked a rabbit if it wanted a carrot, but the rabbit chose violence.

Don’t mess with rabbits. RIP!

#sims 4 #liveblogging #gunther munch #windenburg #get famous pack #eco lifestyle pack #morgan fyres

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ironwoodprotectionsquad · 2 years

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Okay, I’m losing a bit of my faith in Ice Queendom. The first two episodes are just going to blow over V1-2, which means they’re going to blow over a bunch of character development and moments. Doesn’t help that V1-2 are the GOOD PARTS OF RWBY, so they’re limiting this series to fans only, because any new comers aren’t going to be attached to these characters because they’ll be given cliff notes of what they go through. Can RWBY be good again for once, please?

Hey anon! I honestly do not blame you for losing faith. I know a lot of people are saying we should still have faith and give this company a chance before judging and though we can still do that...I don't blame anyone for not having a lot of faith and not being sure they can trust Ice Queendome to do anything good for the show. The first episodes are supposed to help set up and build the world and explain how everything works, so new fans going into this might be extremely confused because if they just blow through everything they might not cover all the important stuff because potentially they are expecting people to read the website to learn about everything rather then organically introducing it into the show and it makes very little sense to me. And I do agree the fun Beacon days where the best parts of RWBY and knowing this new show will more then likely just blow through it makes me very sad because I was kind of looking forward to seeing what this new team planned to do with the beginning days and see if they got a little creative with some of the story arcs or did more to expand them properly.

I’m not saying people can’t be excited for Ice Queendome because this could turn out to be something nice for current fans of the show to enjoy, but with them saying they want new fans to enjoy it to I get a little concerned because if someone stumbled onto the show by chance (which for me at least is how I discover a lot of shows accidentally finding it) and they don’t know they have to read an entire website of information to know what’s going on they’re going to get confused and frustrated and quit watching pretty quickly. If the show is really only supposed to be for current fans that’s fine their is nothing wrong with media existing that is for existing fans and not meant to be a starting point for new fans. Their are plenty of games, movies and shows like that and those things existing isn't an issue, but saying something is for new fans and presenting it in what seems like will be extremely unfriendly to new fans just makes no sense to me honestly.

But at the end of the day we can only speculate what will happen until they release the show, but from what has been said so far, it sounds like CRWBY is pretty heavily involved in the show so I am struggling to maintain any faith the show will actually be allowed to be its own thing and made how the Japanese team wants to without heavy interference from CRWBY. But again, all we can do it wait and see. For me I am keeping my expectations low and hoping it will keep me from being disappointed lolz.

#RWDE #RWBY bashing #RWBY critical #CRwby critical

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creepyalienghost · 3 years

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Reunited

Deep down in the studio the ink creatures know only pain and struggle. The dreaded Alice Angel sacrifices all who she could get her hands on to fix her scars and her former beauty. The poor prophet sacrificed anyone he could find to please his lord. The projectionist struggled to remember anything other then his loop. Many lost souls struggle to even remember who they were anymore. All they could do is hear the voices swirling in there heads. With others not in the hive mind they either fight to keep themselves alive or hide in their spots, hoping to never run into the ink demon or the Angel.

The prophet was wondering the halls looking for my soup cans when suddenly it dawn on him that creatures were few and far between. Unlike before when you can’t turn the corner without running into one of the Butcher Gangs or seeing a Boris hiding. He found that strange and decided to take a look around though the walls.

He looked through holes, peaked in rooms and even going deep down below and sure enough so maybe we’re missing. All the butcher gang seen to have disappeared. The projectionist was no where to be found and even that new comer Sammy almost sacrificed wasn’t seen. Something was going on. Could this have been his lords doing? Or worst, that wicked angel’s? Sammy wanted to find out but he was also wondering of angering his lord. If it was his doing then maybe his lord would do the same to him...

He was caught up in his thoughts while walking that he didn’t notice the footsteps rushing up behind him until it was to late. The prophet was bagged over the head and tripped. He struggled and yelled for his lord for help as several creatures held him down or sat on top of him. They managed to tie his hands behind his back right before he felt a sharp pain in his neck. He screamed and cursed them out until the drug they infected him with started to work. His body went heavy. His hearing muffled. His sight started to fade. The prophet feared he was dying and had failed his lord. Hell, maybe this was his lords doing. Maybe this was what happened to the rest of them. He thought of this until his mind was even talking from him and soon after that the darkness of ink took over everything.

——-

It all felt like a dream. The sacrifices. The ink. Bendy and Alice. Everything for the pass so many years felt like a long band dream. But Sammy new it wasn’t a dream when his eyes flickered open and vision cleared. The first thing he noticed was that he was laying in hospital bed, hooked up to many Wires going to many different machines. There was one for his heartbeat. Another for monitoring his brain waves. A Machine pumping in blood inside him and the casual iv needle.

Sammy slowly sat up on the bed with Extreme exhaustion to looked around the room he was in. The walls were painted a pale blue and the floors were your typical white polished floor. It looked like any hospital but one from a sci fi movie. There was Technology Sammy has never seen before and has no idea what it is or how it’s use. Ones with big screens and buttons.

Just then a knock came from the door, making Sammy jump a bit and a nurse opened the door with a small smile, walking in. “Hello Mr. Lawrence. I’m glad to see your awake.” She held out hand as she introduced herself. “I’m nurse Beth. I’ll be taking care of you in here.”

Sammy took hold of her hand and shook it. “Thank you.” He replied. “I uh...I’m confused...what happened? How did we get out?...what ...what year is it” he asked as more and more questions start to form.

The nurse sat beside him and sat her clipboard next to her. “We’re not supposed to tell you guys everything right when you come to. It’s going to be broken in parts but I promise you. All your questions will be answered.” She relieved him. “But I am allowed to say you and your friends our at a government base and you guys are all free. Your old coworker Henry Stein came to us and told what Joey drew was doing. You are all safe now.”

Henry stein? Joey drew? His friends. Sammy hadn’t thought about them in so long and now his heart acted. He remembers Norman and the amazing guy he was. But he also remembered Joey. Joey was also a great guy before he lost his mind to the darkness. He missed both of them and badly wants to see them. “Can I see m-my friends?” He asked the nurse.

Nurse Beth nodded her head. “Yes. You may in a bit. I need to give you your daily check up first.”

Through out his check up, nurse Ann explained they would be here for a few weeks to watch and see how they would respond after being ink creatures for so long

and will be helped getting back into civilization with a new job and a home. She told him there be daily health checks in the morning and classes to understand the would now days.

After the check up, nurse Beth lead Sammy down the hallway to the wing where he and his friends would be staying at. “There’s access to a cafeteria for y’all and a tv room with games and books so y’all don’t get bored.” She informed him as she punches the code in for the wing.” Your room is Numble 20.”

“Thank you.” Sammy replied as he walked in. She nodded and closed it behind him. Sammy was on his own know.

There was chatter from down the hall. Some of the voices he recognized. Like Susie’s Jack’s and Norman’s he couldn’t wait to meet them again. He hoped they didn’t have no hard feelings from his role he unwillingly played in all this. However when he rounded the corner they all went silent pretty fast when they one by one noticed him. Sammy could see ether hatred or disappointment in each of their eyes. Norman’s hurt the worst. Sammy quickly got the hint we wasn’t welcome and left to find his room.

He sat in his bed staring at the green wall for some hours before a few security guards came to checked their wing. Sammy overheard one of them talking about Joey to his partner as they passed his room. “The psycho was placed in wing E.” Sammy Heard.

It got Sammy thinking again of their good times before. Joey was such a funny and sweet guy back then, handsome too. He spoiled Sammy with fancy dinners and parties as well as taught Sammy the wonders of magic and occult. It was fun and safe at first, but once Joey got the taste of the darkness is when everything changed. The abuse started, madness and control took over his mind and by then it was far to late to leave everything.

He wondered if Joey was still like that or like the way he use to be. He wanted to take the chance and see him. He stopped the security guard before they left the wing. “Can I see Joey Drew. Just once.” The guard didn’t laugh but looked at him like he was insane. “I know it’s crazy. But please just one time.”

The guard signed in hopelessness for the lost man. “I’ll ask and see if you two can meet.” With that the guard left though the wing doors.

———-

After receiving his check up the next morning, the same guard as before meet him out in the hallway. “Come with me.” He said right as Sammy stepped out. Sammy did so. They walked out the doors to the wing and down hallways, went further down an elevator and came to a new wing. The E wing.

This one was more Secure. The door here was metal and had an automatic lock that would lock it self if an alarm went off.

There was two guards station at the door to in case something went wrong. His guard had his ID checked and a minute later they both were though and heading down that hallway. The guard stopped at one of the meetings rooms and unlocked it. “You two have an hour.” Sammy nodded stepping though. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Joey sitting at one of the tables. One where their breakfast sat waiting.

He was much older unlike them. Of course he was he had been out in the real world growing older. Sammy could see the exhaustion in his face when he looked up at him. He was old and tired. Hair turned gray and wrinkly skin. Sammy realizes he doesn’t have much time left on this earth and this was likely the last time he would see him.

“It’s uh..nice to see you again.” Joey said to fill the silence between them. “ please...have a seat.” He offered and Sammy took it.

“Why?” Sammy ask, ignoring joeys attempt at welcoming. “Why did you ever let yourself get this mad? To start abusing me? To force me to hurt the others and putting us all in that hell?” He ask.

Joeys face turned to guilt and shame then. “I...I had a dream.” He answered Sammy’s question and continued. “That dream lead to magic so I could bring that dream to life which that lead to dark magic which corrupted me.” He sighed, disappointing in himself. “I shouldn’t had let it took me to a dark path, Sammy I am so sorry. If I could go back and changed everything I would.” He buried his head in his hands. “None of y’all deserved that. And you didn’t deserve the abuse I did. I’m really an sorry and I hope you can forgive me enough to enjoy one meal together?”

Sammy thought of this for a moment. He does seem genuine sorry and Is in his last days. He also missed these things they did together as well. Sammy nodded and smiled at Joey. “Let’s share one last meal together.” He replied and switched seats next to Joey. “And. It’s good to see you to”

#bendy and the ink machine #sammy lawrence #joey drew

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jenoismydad · 4 years

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Make Up

pairing: exboyfriend!Chenle x reader

genre: smut, soft sex, receiving(f), marking, unprotected sex, pwp

summary: You bump into Chenle at a business party, where he takes you to a secluded room. Lets just say things go down from there.

requested by anon

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You entered the large building sticking close to your dad as unfamiliar faces began surrounding you. Despite hours and hours of protest, your dad had managed to drag you out to one of his annual business parties. You had attended one before, and that was one of the reasons you wanted to bail this one. But your dad had promised that you were going to have a good time. By good time he meant that you were going to stand by his side the entire time sipping on your glass of faux wine, aka cranberry juice, while you got bored out of your mind.

You were stood beside your father, a smile on your face as he droned on and on about some investments with one of his colleagues. “D/n! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you last. How are things going with that new start up?”, another similarly dressed man said, patting your dad’s shoulder. Your dad beamed at the stranger, chuckling at him before replying, “Well just so you know, things are going quite smoothly.” The man scowled at him, quickly replacing it with a smirk. “Anyways, this is my daughter y/n. Y/n, this is Mr. Zhong.” Your dad introduced you to the older man. Mr. Zhong gave you a small smile, something about it throwing you off guard. You stared at him like a crazy person trying to figure out where you had seen that smile. It was oddly familiar and you almost had it until you were interrupted once again by another male. “Ah son your here!”, Mr. Zhong said, patting the new comer’s shoulder. “I kinda got stuck in traffic on the way here. But I made it eventually.”, his son spoke. You felt like you were hearing things. You had heard that voice before. Quiet a few times, more than you’d like to admit actually. “D/n, this is my son Chenle. Chenle, this is Mr. y/l/n and his daughter y/n.”

You froze, slowly bringing your gaze up only to be met with a pair of intimidating eyes. You looked between Mr. Zhong and Chenle. You definitely saw the resemblance now. No wonder Mr. Zhong looked so familiar to you. He was your ex boyfriend’s father. Actually, he was the very reason the your ex boyfriend had decided to break up with you. Apparently, Mr. Zhong and your father were competitors in business and he wouldn’t be too proud if he found of that his beloved son was having a love scenario with his enemy’s daughter.

You barely managed to smile at Chenle before dropping your gaze from his and nervously downing your drink. You grimaced at the bittersweet taste of the cranberry juice and licked your lips. “Someone’s going to turn out to be a great drinker huh?”, Mr. Zhong commented, earning a hearty laugh from your father. “She gets it from me.”, he said, patting your head lovingly. You laughed awkwardly, still not raising your head. “How about I go get you a refill?”, Chenle asked. “Umm, no thank you, I’m fine.”, you said, hiding behind your dad. “I insist.”, Chenle pressed. Your dad chuckled and pushed you towards him. “Go on y/n. He’s not going to bite you.”, your dad said, motioning for you two to go mingle.

“Fine lets go.”, you mumbled, speeding away to the bar located on the other side of the large room. You pushed past a few people only to be dragged to the side. Before you knew it you were being pushed into the buildings elevator. “What the fuck?!”, you screamed, peeling Chenle’s hand off of your elbow. “Woah calm down. I just wanted to talk.”, he said, raising his hands up as you composed yourself. “Yeah then we could have done it at the bar. Why did you drag me into the elevator?”, you asked sassily. Chenle rolled his eyes. “As if you were going to talk to me down there. Also, I just wanted to go somewhere quieter.”, he said, leaning against the wall. You didn't say anything further, quietly following Chenle when the elevator door opened again. He lead you to a room, unlocking it with a key card the he swiftly planted in his pocket again. He held the door open for you, following after you entered. “What is this place?”, you asked, studying the interior. “Its a hotel room.”, he said, plopping down at the edge of the large bed. “No shit Sherlock. I’m asking why you had a key to it.”, you said, standing in the small hallway. Chenle chuckled and leaned back on his hands. “My dad owns this building. I just picked up whatever key there was at reception.”, he stated. “Were you planning to kidnap me and bring me here?”, you said, crossing your arms. “No. I was going to come here alone and play games on my phone.”, he said. You nodded, slightly surprised by his transparency.

A silence engulfed the room. You looked everywhere but him. Chenle on the other hand had his eyes fixated on you. They had never left you since the instant they had first seen you in the building. “You were acting so nervous and shy downstairs. Look at you being all feisty now.”, Chenle said, receiving a cold glare from you. “He definitely has something against my dad. But he doesn’t really seem as strict as you said he did.”, you said, changing the topic. Chenle sighed, “Unfortunately that’s only for my eyes to see.” You laughed light heartedly sitting down next to Chenle. He smiled at you, this time happily.

“So.”, you perked up, facing him, “What’d you want to talk about?” Chenle shrugged. “Anything I guess.” You nodded slowly, thinking of something to ask him. “So have you met anybody new?”, he asked, cutting off your train of thought. You shook you head, laughing softly, “You?” “No. Not really.”, he said, laughing along with you. “Umm. How have you been coping?”, you asked awkwardly, playing with your fingers. “Its been fine. Hard at times, but overall manageable.”, Chenle revealed. It was your turn to speak. “Yeah same for me. Sometimes it's hard to fall asleep at night, because you know....”, you trailed off. Chenle understood what you meant and smiled sweetly at you. You returned the smile, taking your time to observe his features. It had been a while since you had last seen Chenle. And you weren’t going to lie, you missed him a lot. He had ended things quiet abruptly between you two, showing up at your door at 7 in the morning with an explanation of why he needed to break up with you, which left you confused more than heartbroken. He hadn’t been smiling that day, but he was today and it warmed your heart.

“Y/n?”, Chenle asked, getting your attention. You waited for Chenle to ask you whatever it was he needed to ask, but he never did. Instead he crashed his lips onto yours, moaning softly as you let them mould with his. He grabbed the side of your face, tilting your head so that he could deepen the kiss. His mouth moved desperately against yours, tongue swiping at your bottom lip, begging you for entrance. You parted your lips, letting his tongue explore your mouth. You held onto his shoulders, pulling away to regain your breath. Chenle stared at you, lips red and swollen, before attacking your neck. He sucked harshly, nipping and licking the skin, surely leaving marks. You let out breathy moans, hands pulling Chenle closer. Chenle slipped his hands behind your back, pulling the zip of your dress down. You slipped your hands out of it, letting it fall down to your waist. Chenle pushed you down so that you were laying on the bed. He hooked his hands into your dress, tugging it down along with your panties. You kicked off your heels to that he could take them off completely.

Chenle spread your legs, pushing you further up the bed so that he could settle between them. He placed small kisses on your thighs, moving closer and closer to you pussy. His lips ghosted over your core making you whimper. Chenle licked a stripe up your pussy, moaning as he dived in. He sucked your clit, occasionally nipping at it. You moaned uncontrollably, hips bucking involuntarily despite Chenle holding them down. “Fuck I missed this a lot. You taste so good y/n.”, Chenle spoke against your core, sending vibrations throughout your body. “I’m gonna cum soon.”, you said. Chenle’s tongue moved quickly against your clit, sucking your orgasm out of you. “Holy shit!”, you screamed, closing your legs around Chenle’s head as you came. He lapped up your juices, smiling as he hovered over you. He dipped his head down, kissing you, allowing you to taste yourself on his tongue. He unclipped your bra and pulled it off of your body, tossing it somewhere in the room. He leaned back down to kiss you, playing with your breasts. You let your hands unbutton his dress shit, tugging it off of him so you could feel up his chest. Chenle placed a hand over your lingering ones, pulling away from you. “Are you ready to cum again?”, he asked, wanting to make sure you weren’t still sensitive from your first orgasm. You nodded innocently, as Chenle tugged his trousers down along with his boxers, freeing his length. It slapped up against his stomach, already hard just from watching you cum.

He spread your legs open, lining himself at your entrance before slowly pushing his dick in. You moaned softly as he filled you up, before thrusting back into you. Chenle held your waist tightly and began thrusting at a slow pace. You held onto his shoulders moaning freely now. “Shit you feel so good y/n.”, Chenle said with a grunt, picking up his pace. Your moans started getting louder than before and you pulled Chenle down, hugging him tightly as his thrusts started getting harder. The knot in your stomach started tightening making you clench around Chenle. He let his head fall in the nape of your neck as he started milking your orgasm out of you. Without warning you came, juices coating Chenle’s shaft as you let out the most delicious moan ever. Chenle grunted and came inside you, thrusting a few times before pulling out.

He collapsed beside you, panting as he regained his composure. You turned to face him, him doing the same. “I could get used to seeing this view again.”, he said with a small, but hearty laugh. You smiled and brushed his hair out of his sweat covered forehead. “What about that man down there?”, you asked, frowning slightly. “He’ll just have to put up with it.”

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hazbin-omens · 5 years

Text

Sanders Sides - Hogwarts AU (Part 1)

I’ve wanted to do one of these for a really long time, and it turned out to be way longer than I expected it to be (sorry for posting late, I’m just really lazy). ENJOY!!

Patton

Because he was born to wizard dad and muggle mom, Patton had been anxiously waiting for an owl to arrive at his house when he turned eleven.

He squealed for 10 minutes when it did.

Was proper HYPER while shopping in Diagon Alley, to the point where he almost got lost.

Twice.

Took him almost 14 whole seconds to fall absolutely in love with a beautiful snowy owl, which he (very proudly) named ‘Sparky’.

Despite being totally elated to go, the departure was tough (many tears were shed, both by his parents and himself)

He finds a compartment, which already hosts a bespectacled boy (like himself), same age as Patton.

He knocks on the glass twice, and waves when the boy looks up from his book to him.

Patton slides the door open with a smile. “Hi! I’m Patton”, he says, “Can I sit with you?”

“Yes, you may”, the boy replied, gesturing to the seat across from where he sat.

“What’s your name?”

“Logan Carnell”.

Patton eagerly extends his hand for Logan to shake (’Maybe he’ll be my first friend!’ he thinks)

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,“ Logan says.

“You talk funny, I like it,” Patton giggles.

The door opens again to reveal two boys, one with a good portion of his face scarred, the other slouched behind him.

“This is ideal”, the first one says and drapes himself next to Logan, while the other one doesn’t move from the doorway. “Uhh, Dee, maybe we should ask first or-”. “Oh it’s ok, plenty of space!” Patton smiles, and the boy replies with a small grin of his own and sits next to Patton

Before he could introduce himself to the new comers, the door opens again and four boys scramble in frantically and close the door behind them.

“Remus, what were you thinking?” one says.

“I wasn’t!” the other one (Remus?) snickers

“Excuse me?” Logan says and the two identical boys look like they just realized they were not alone. The other two boys looked just as confused, though Patton could tell they had nothing to do with whatever happened

The (now) eight boys find a way to sit comfortably in the compartment, and upon hearing their story, Patton gasps, “You blew stink bombs in the sixth years’ carriage?!”

“Not just ANY sixth years. They were Ravenclaws! And everyone knows how prissy they get” Remus brags

Everyone laughs except Logan, who closes his book to say “Actually, Ravenclaws are not all irritant. Not what I’ve read.”

Patton tilts his head, “Do you have relatives who were in Ravenclaw, then?”

“Not exactly, I’m adopted. My parents do not possess any magical attributes either. They are, in simpler words, Muggles. But I am positive I shall be sorted in Ravenclaw”. Patton liked his confidence.

“I propose a small game”, one of the twins says, “Let us all introduce ourselves and tell which houses we want to go to, and why.”

Patton thought that was excellent! “Oh yes!” he exclaimed, “I’ll go first?”. With no sign of disagreement from anyone, he smiled and put a hand on his chest.

“Hi everyone! I’m Patton Whitlock and I want to be sorted in Hufflepuff because their common rooms are the nearest to the kitchen and I like my midnight snacks!”

Logan

Seeing an owl fly through the sky with a letter was an uncommon occurrence in Surrey. It was also the highlight of Logan’s eleventh birthday

Luckily, they had nice next door neighbours who saw the owl, and ended up confessing that they weren’t as ‘normal’ as Logan thought

It came to the neighbours having to take out their wands out to prove that magic exists, as Logan kept insisting that ‘it doesn’t make sense’

(A simple transfiguration spells were what changed his mind)

Diagon Alley was exciting yet scary for both Logan and his dads, but they ended up having fun

The trip to Ollivanders’ was…interesting – even if his Papa’s coat had to catch fire before a wand chose him

He almost ended up RAIDING ‘Flourish & Blott’s’ as he insisted he had to learn EVERYTHING there is about the Wizarding World before he left for Hogwarts

“Loganberry, you’ll be doing that your new school!”

“But Dad, I want to be prepared!”

“Listen-“

“Papa, please tell him how it would be better for me”

(‘Papa was always easier to convince than Dad anyway’, he thought)

“Honey, maybe we can get him a few of the books he mentioned?”

(‘YES’)

“Oh alright, but only a few”

They ended up buying 14 thick books, which Logan was doing his best to hold them, with his parents trailing behind, proud of their little genius

Leaving was difficult, and he knew he would miss his dads terribly

But it also meant he’d be exploring a whole new world all by himself, and he was excited

But that didn’t stop him from hugging his Dad and Papa

“I promise I’ll write to you”

“Ok, honey”

“Every week”

“Ok, honey”

Luckily he finds a empty compartment and quickly gets in before some group comes around. He sets down himself in the window and takes out his book from his satchel

Just as he was beginning to truly get engrossed in a particular passage about Centaurs, he heard a knock on the door and a friendly looking boy waving through the glass

He allowed the boy, Patton, to join him as he seemed rather nice and did not expect him to be a disturbance. However he did seem hard to understand at first, and overly eager

“You talk funny”, he said

Logan did not realize he had made a joke. Had he?

Before he could question, two more boys joined the pair, then four became eight and Logan decided to give up trying to read altogether

Honestly, how can eight people even fit?

“Not just any six years. They were Ravenclaws!”. Logan had perked up at that. From what he had learnt so far, he had come to the conclusion that Ravenclaw was the best house that best suited him. He fit all the criteria, his intelligence being his biggest arsenal

“And everyone knows how prissy they get”

Yeah. No. What?

“Actually Ravenclaws are not all that irritant”, he counter-argued “Not from what I’ve read”

When Patton questioned about his blood line and lineage, he got defensive. He had heard enough questions and slurs about his fathers in his old school, and like before, was ready to defend them in front of Patton

However, he was mildly surprised when no rude comment followed

“But I am positive I shall be sorted in Ravenclaw”, he said hoping he didn’t start far from the conversation at hand.

When Patton smiled at his comment, be decided that this fellow visually impaired boy shall be a good friend if given the chance

“I propose a small game”, one of the boys said, who sat next to his twin brother. Logan had decided that they were going to be a handful the moment that barged into the compartment and told about their prank

Patton began ‘the game’, his answer was the most innocent one anyone could’ve given

Patton looked at him next, gesturing at him to continue

“Oh right. Greetings, everyone . I am Logan Carnell and I shall be sorted in Ravenclaw for I believe that I possess the intellect required for anyone to belong to that particular house”

Virgil

Virgil wasn’t exactly disappointed when a letter addressed to him reached his family’s doorstep, but he wasn’t jumping with joy either

Mainly because he knew what would follow.

“My son! Another Slytherin in our family shall only bring more honour!’

Luckily his cousin was a little more understanding

Kind of

"Dee, what if I’m not in Slytherin??”

“Where else would be? Everyone in our family was. Pureblood, Slytherin and Proud”, he said cynically, “I know I am”

“You FIT the criteria Damien!! The qualifications or whatever…” his shoulders slumped as he sat cross-legged on his four poster bed, “I just don’t think I do”.

“You’ll be fine, Vee”

On the day they reached Platform 9 ¾, leaving wasn’t all that hard for him, especially since Damien was with him.

Despite being of the same age, Damien always looked out for Virgil, and in turn Virgil found much needed comfort in his cousin.

Still, the fear of the consequences that may befall him should he not be sorted in Slytherin had him on edge

As Damien led their way through the narrow corridors of the train, they decided to ask if they could settle in the cabin with the two bespectacled boys

Well, Virgil decided; Damien just got in and sat beside the boy clutching a huge book

However, they seemed friendly enough. Especially the bright, blue eyed, bouncy one

Everything seemed fine

Until the additional four boys shuffled in hastily into the compartment, disrupted their little peace

Sensing his discomfort, Damien put a reassuring (and protective) hand on Virgil’s knee, and gave the boys his most scrutinizing gaze, but they were too busy bickering about a 'stink bombs’ to notice and perish under it.

Soon, however, the group fell into a comfortable conversation

One of the boys in the glasses says something about Ravenclaws not being 'prissy’, which got him thinking about his Slytherin problem

He was too busy having an internal existential crisis, he didn’t realize there were six pairs of eyes looking expectantly at him and Damien

Suddenly, the cool September air felt that much warmer

Before he could jump out the open window of the moving train, however, Damien spoke :

“I am Damien Ethel and I’m pretty sure I’ll be in Slytherin, and I have no objections whatsoever, because they have the best common room”

Virgil thinks he heard someone mumble something suspiciously sounding like 'Falsehood’, but before he could think any further, one of the twins spoke

“But isn’t that where all the bad and wicked wizards and witches go?”

That got Virgil defensive, for some reason. “They’re not ALL evil, ummm…”

“Roman”, the twin pointed at himself.

“Right, Roman”, Virgil continued, “Not every one who was evil was in Slytherin. Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor, look how that turned out”. Virgil decided to stop there, as everyone staring at him again overwhelmed him.

Roman, however, spoke again, “Well then, which house do you want to be in?”

Virgil couldn’t answer, because he didn’t know what to say

“I don’t know”,he said after a beat, “I was hoping the Hat might make it easier?”

Thankfully, noone pressed on, only nodded

Patton was the one who broke the short silence with his cheery voice, “Well, what’s your name?”

Virgil didn’t realize he forgot to mention

“Oh umm… Virgil… Virgil Fawns”

Roman

Ever since he could remember, Roman had always been a big believer of fairy tales. His favourite past time as a toddler was when he wore his little cape and demanded to be called ‘Prince’ by his parents, who played along (except his twin brother, who just kicked him in the shins and ran away cackling).

Due to his firm faith in the existence of Kings, dragon witches and magic, the letters did not shock him. The only question he had was ‘ HOW is REMUS a wizard?!’

That is, until the Headmistress herself showed up and insisted that she spoke with the boys and then the family as a whole.

(It took Ms. McGonagall twenty minutes to convince Roman that all witches aren’t evil and that there would be no need for him to bring his Sword of Righteousness along with him)

Turns out, magical blood had been passed down from their mothers side, who herself had no idea about it.

A week later, the boys found themselves gawking at the eccentric landscape of Diagon Alley.

Their parents had never seen them so quiet and still, a reaction that lasted for about two minutes.

Next thing they know, each adult is running after an over excited eleven year old

Roman rushes to a window display of a shiny broomstick, which reminded him of the old, evil witches in his books. But something told him that this was something else, something …fun.

“Ro, it says here that first years can’t have their own broomsticks”

That was Roman’s first heartbreak.

Next stop was Madam Malkin’s, where Roman and Remus had to purchase their robes from. As Roman looked around the shop, he saw four different patches, out of which a certain red coloured one stood out for him. The moment he saw the golden lion embroidered on it, he decided that he wants this crest. Fit for a prince.

“Can i get that one, please?” he asked the nice lady attending them.

“Dear, those are for Gryffindors”, she said, and proceeded to explain the houses in the school and how he’ll be sorted by a Hat (a Hat???)

“What if i want to be in Gryffinkdor”

“Gryffindor, darling”, she smiled as she folded a simple and plain Hogwarts robe for Roman

“Yeah that”

“Well, you’d have to be very brave and honourable, every Gryffindor i knew was so daring”, she laughed, “but then again, they were also very - OH DEAR, NO!”

She caught Remus’ hand, which was holding several sewing pins and was dangerously close to his mouth

As his parents apologized for their son (‘We’re so sorry for that, he’s just not afraid of anything!’), Roman pouted at the interruption and shift in attention given. But he felt like he had heard enough.

Which is why, he would not stop talking about Gryffindor and the gorgeous red robes and the lion aboard the train (which was boarded after a very teary manly farewell) to the two other boys in their cabin, Remy and Emile.

“We get it, you want to be sorted in Gryffindor”, Remy said, rolling his eyes

“No, I WILL be sorted there”, Roman puffed his chest, “for it is 'where the brave and- EEK-”

His monologues was cut short by Remus sticking a wet finger in Roman’s ear canal

“Wait, how do we tell you apart?” Emile asked the bickering twins

“Well I have green eyes, like the weird goo that grows on a goblin’s knees, and Roman’s are red like … well blood obviously !” Remus giggled

Emile regretted his question immediately

Just when Roman thought he couldn’t get any angrier at his brother, he heard a loud BOOM sound outside their compartment followed by various screams. However, it was Remus’s laughter which shocked Roman the most

“What did you do?!”

“Oh nothing, just planted a few stink bombs in the Ravenclaw carriage that explodes when someone says 'Apple Cider Jelly’”

Despite his brain going 'who would say apple cider jelly?’ he instead asked “Where did you get them?!”

“I made em myself !”

“Cool…” Remy smirked

“Who, in Merlin’s musty fingernails, is Remus C.?!” Someone said

“You wrote your name on the bombs??”

That’s how they found themselves hiding sharing a cabin with four other boys (and Remus, to his dismay)

“And everyone knows how prissy they get” Remus said and Roman rolls eyes (no you don’t. You didn’t even know Ravenclaw was a thing a few weeks ago)

And then two of them started talking houses and Roman took the opportunity

“I propose a small game!”

He liked Logan’s confidence, even if he spoke big words ('Nerd’ he thought 'Definitely Ravenclaw’)

Patton seemed like the sweetest and warmest of them all ('Hufflepuff, no doubt’, he calculated implicitly)

Damien seemed intimidating, but fun to be around nonetheless. However he clearly answered 'Slytherin’ which made Roman wary

Virgil Fawns, however, intrigued him. All dark and brooding, but confused? That didn’t add up. Roman decided he would be in Slytherin because 'look at that hoodie, I mean, c'mon’

“Well Remy? What about you?” Roman said as he pushed the game forward

“I’m Remy Abberton and I don’t care where I end up”

Roman heard Virgil snicker lightly and smiled himself

“Emile?”

“Hi!” he said, and stood up enthusiastically. “I’m Emile Forrest and I really wanna be in Ravenclaw, because blue’s my favourite colour, and it reminds me of Stitch”

Logan, Roman and Remus where the only ones who nodded in recognition

“Well I-”

“I’m Remus and I’m going in Slytherin because people say I’m scary and because my eyes are green” Remus spoke, interrupting Roman again

“You cannot possibly predict your house upon traits like those, Remus”

“Thank you, nerd” Roman continued, “As I was saying, I am Roman Cicero and I’m going to be in Gryffindor because-”

“That’s where dwell the brave and true, girl, we KNOW, please shut up”, Remy exclaimed

Before Roman could respond with a sarcastic remark, the compartment door opened and a sixth year stood wearing a badge that said 'Prefect’

“Hey, better change into your robes, we’ll be reaching shortly"

Taglist:

@god-im-bored @salmonisforthebagel @melonlord527 @anxiousshadowling @anni-cat-flower @kaz-brekkers-gloves @lasilhouetteinbianco @rainboots-are-for-snobs @bihighandgivinghighfives @nadja-chamack16 @only-gay-in-theory

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captcas · 4 years

Text

Worth Fighting For

WORTH FIGHTING FOR by capthamm

Killian “Hook” Jones is a dominate up and comer in the UFC while Emma “The Savior” Swan’s career was cut short. When Hook’s manager moves up and the office brings in UFC’s youngest legend to keep him in check, will either of them be able to handle it?

read on ao3 // tumblr: ch 1/ ch 2

[CHAPTER 3/?]

Saturday night brings their monthly movie/game night and Emma has never been more grateful for a distraction. Ruby and the Nolans will come over around 6 o’clock and Henry is practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. Tonight’s theme is Star Wars and this will be Henry’s official introduction to the series; at David’s insistence they’re starting with A New Hope and going release order from there. They’re also going to play Star Wars trivia which Henry will undoubtedly suck at.

Should be a fun night all around.

And it was, until Henry went to bed and the “adults” got to talking.

Ruby cracks another beer and turns to Emma, “So, Emma, you’ve got probably the coolest new job in the world and you haven’t said jack shit.”

She shoots Ruby an icy glare as David and MM stop bickering over whether or not Kylo Ren deserved a redemption arc to hear what Emma has to say.

Emma sighs, “It’s going alright. All the onboarding is underway and between the perks, benefits, and pay, Henry should be set for life.” She’s been fortunate to live off her winnings for the past nine years, being mindful of money and not giving into the lifestyle of frivolous spending many fighters take on, but -even her friends know- she doesn’t have a money tree.

The looks on their faces when she mentions Henry being set for life could melt 1000 Olafs. When she arrived at Ruth Nolan’s home at the age of 16, she never expected to find a family. Hardened by a life too lived for anyone her age, Emma assumed they’d be like every other foster home and use her for the money. To this day, she’s never been so happy to be wrong.

Emma’s not sure what twist of fate landed an orphan with such a great support system, but she’ll be forever grateful. David took to the “protective brother” role immediately. Soon after Emma moved in, he met Mary Margaret (fireworks and butterflies and all that mumbo jumbo) who introduced them to Ruby. They’re small, and maybe a bit scrappy, but they’re family.

She breaks out of her thoughts and returns to the present, “I will need some babysitting though; I’m required to attend each of my client’s Fight Nights. But overall it’s great, really!”

She hopes she squeaked away without having to mention Jones at all but the glint in Ruby’s eye tells her otherwise. “Ok that’s all fine and dandy,” Mary Margaret shoots Ruby an incredulous look, warning her to tread carefully, but Ruby ignores her and continues, “but who’s the client?”

David is giving her a protective father vibe, Ms is practically vibrating, and she's pretty sure Ruby is salivating. Emma sighs realizing she shouldn’t postpone the inevitable, “Killian Jones.”

Ruby practically drops her drink and Mary Margaret squeals, David rolls his eyes and turns back to the TV where SportsCenter has been playing in the background. Mary Margaret beats Ruby to the punch, “THE Killian Jones?! As in Killian “Hook” Jones?!”

Emma nods, standing up to refill the only slightly empty chip bowl in front of her. She knew this was going to happen and she wasn’t exactly looking forward to her friends thirsting over her client– client… right.

Ruby speaks next, “Well that is probably the best case scenario. Do you think he can get us tickets? Have you met him? Is he as gorgeous in person as he is on TV? Can we meet him?”

Emma, now glad she’s in the kitchen with space to breathe, is starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. She knows Ms can sense it and is unsurprised when she speaks next,“For Christ’s sake Ruby let her breathe. She’s probably only had her initial meeting with him.”

Ruby seems to get the hint and it doesn’t take long before Ms is in the kitchen helping Emma pick up the leftover pizza, “We’re happy for you, Emma. He’s a huge client for them, they obviously trust you to do a good job.” Emma nods in thanks and they both head back into the living room. Her sister-in-law’s warmth always calms her (and Ruby) down which allows David to jump in and change the subject to the coverage of some football player’s arrest on SportsCenter. Emma finally catches a breath and realizes just how lucky she is for the friend dynamic they have before settling in to debate if this James Spencer kid should still be eligible for the draft.

As she lays in bed that night, Ms’ words ring through her head. Despite the rollercoaster of emotions she’s been feeling, Killian is a huge client, one that was formerly represented by a namesake for the company. This re energizes her a bit and helps her fall asleep, actually excited for what's to come.

She wakes up Sunday morning and makes Henry some pancakes and declares it a lazy Sunday. Henry happily obliged, cuddling up on the couch with The Deathly Hallows while Emma threw on some shitty reality TV.

. . .

When her alarm rings Monday morning, Emma pulls her pillow over her head like some teenager from one of those Disney Channel movies.

It takes her a second to remember what day it is and why she’s up at this godforsaken hour.

Killian Jones. Right.

She audibly groans before rolling out of bed and getting ready for the day. Between her shower and breakfast she gets Henry up. School starts at 8 so he’s technically running a bit behind but he’ll make it on the bus in time… hopefully.

She’s pouring him a bowl of cereal when he comes out of his room zipping up his sweater and rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, kid. Coco Puffs or Fruit Loops?” He mumbles some semblance of what she thinks is Fruit Loops so she pours the bowl and slides it across the kitchen island. He smiles in thanks as she pours her own bowl and sits beside him.

“So today’s the big day?”

She didn’t tell Henry about her new client and when she spoke to the Nolan’s and Ruby, he was definitely supposed to be sleeping. “How could you possibly know that?”

“You’re not as quiet as you think you are and I’m not as tired as you think I am.” He yawns as if to punctuate his point.

“Uh huh, sure, kid.” He gives her a knowing glance and she realizes she’s not getting out of this. She runs her hands over her face and sighs, “Yes, today is the first meeting and I’m only slightly nervous to fu— screw this whole thing up.”

Henry chuckles at her attempted censorship (she never said she was a perfect parent), “You’ll be great, Mom, and Hook seems like a decent enough guy. I’m sure he won’t give you too much trouble.”

She stares at Henry a bit dumbfounded. It shocks her everyday how old he’s getting– nine going on nineteen for sure. “Are you hiding some Weasley’s Extendable Ears in your room or something? Are you a wizard? Should you be at Hogwarts?” Emma is very obviously trying to derail this conversation but it works, setting Henry off about how he’s finally on the sixth book and explaining the concept of a horcrux.

Oh, her sweet summer child.

God, maybe he is old enough for UFC.

When did that happen?

She ushers Henry to the bus, promising him they’ll watch the sixth movie tonight if he finishes the book today and is to school on time. It’s only September and he can’t be late three times in the first month of school. She kisses his forehead and he wishes her good luck.

Sometimes she wonders how such a screw up ended up with the perfect kid.

After cleaning up the kitchen, Emma finishes getting ready. She jumps on the subway and finds herself at the office with a half hour to spare. She’s never early so she chalks it up to nerves and uses the time to prep for this meeting.

Over the weekend she received multiple emails from Gold’s team surrounding a possible spot for Killian on the card for the pay-per-view Fight Night in November.

A pay-per-view card. She did enough research about Killian this weekend to know that would be his first.

Emma feels like she’s been thrown into the deep end before being taught how to swim.

Go big or go home.

She did a lot of research about Killian and learned practically nothing. She knows he came here from London almost ten years ago and that his team includes his head trainer Robin (husband of now former manager Regina Mills), and three other men named Will Scarlett, August Booth, and William Smee (he’s really selling it with that whole Hook theme). Other than that all she found was his record and highlights. He’s 6-0 which is insane for only being in the circuit for a year and a half– fighters are usually limited to three, maybe four fights a year.

4 of his 6 are knockouts.

He’s good… really good.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a light tapping on the edge of her cubicle. She glances up to find none other than the man himself. She can’t help but double take.

Real professional, Emma.

She's only ever seen him in the ring, at the gym, or dressed up for a business meeting. She’s not sure what she expected, but a leather jacket and pants that fit him like his own skin definitely weren’t it.

He looks good… really good.

Emma snaps herself out of it, “Hi, Mr. Jones, just give me a moment and we can head to the conference room.”

“It’s Killian, love, please.” She notices he winces at the seemingly habitual pet name. Emma ignores the ring of disappointment that runs through her gut at the realization that it may not be reserved for her. “A conference room’s a bit formal, don’t you think? Let’s get out of here, Swan.”

He grabs her hand before she can answer. “Mr.— Killian. Is this allowed?”

He chuckles. “We can plan the meetings at our leisure,” he says the last bit in an almost scary imitation of Regina, “but even still, Regina and I never met in office. A bit silly for two people to take up an entire conference room, yeah? Come on, lass, try something new. It’s called trust.”

Emma rolls her eyes but follows along anyway. The elevator ride should’ve been awkward but Killian kept the conversation flowing by asking her preferred drink. “Coffee, tea, or smoothies?”

Despite the risk of sounding like a child, Emma finds herself being honest with him, “Uhh, I actually prefer hot chocolate… with cinnamon.”

He smiles brightly at her, as though her drink order was the most brilliant discovery this century, “Perfect, Swan. I know just the place.”

She was so swept up in his ambush, she doesn’t realize that this isn’t the cocky, asshat Killian Jones she sees on tv or at the gym until he’s practically dragging her across the street to a small cafe. This Killian seems genuine and carries this almost childlike excitement.

Emma tells herself she has no interest in learning more about this Killian.

(Emma doesn’t have to tell herself that that is complete bullshit.)

. . .

He can’t stop himself from beaming when she offers up her drink order without hesitation. Killian feels like a bloody teenager around her. He promised himself he wouldn’t feel this way again, but something about Emma Swan has completely entranced him.

He finds himself fascinated with every part of her, including the small things, like the fact she takes cinnamon on her hot chocolate.

Once they get to the cafe across the street, Killian forces himself to dial it back. He can tell she’s guarded and as much as he’d like to be friends (more than friends) with the lass, he knows business has to come first.

It wouldn’t exactly be a good look for him if he ran “The Savior” out of the office on her second day.

Somehow he thinks he doesn’t have that power.

He’d like to. (Obviously not to run her out of the office, but he’d like his existence to mean that much to her.)

Bloody hell, he's being ridiculous.

They sit down across from each other at a small table by the window. He expects to start the conversation but before he can form a coherent thought she’s speaking.

“So, Killian. I’ve already received some correspondence from Gold’s team. I’m not sure how much time you usually take between fights and I know it’s already the end of September but…”

She’s rambling and he doesn’t think he’s ever seen anybody so adorable when they’re nervous.

Adorable is not a professional descriptor.

Killian Jones doesn’t want “professional” with Emma Swan.

Fuck.

“...Gold is hoping to get you on the main card for November 14th.”

Did she just say main card?

He chokes on his coffee.

“Main card, Swan? I’ve never been on the main card. Strictly early prelims…”

She eyes him suspiciously, “Usually that’s a good thing. Upward momentum and all that. His team is clearly impressed by your dominant record.”

“Is his team the only one impressed?” The flirt escapes him before he can stop it.

Bloody idiot.

She doesn’t even bat an eye, “The entire league seems to be impressed, Jones.” Her tone tells him she knows what just happened but she shut it down immediately.

He likes a challenge.

Emma Swan may be his favorite challenge yet.

Emma Swan is off limits, but Killian will be damned if he cares.

. . .

Emma is surprised when Killian pays for their drinks despite her insistence that she can charge it to Mills Management. She’s also surprised by how nice he is.

She keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop.

She’s still waiting.

He’s definitely flirtatious, every other sentence being easily twisted into some sort of innuendo, but she can tell it’s a front. The little things he does like tipping the barista an extra fifty cents or holding the door for her, let on to the man behind the persona.

Well, and the fact he practically chokes when she tells him they want him for the main card.

He seems genuinely shocked that anyone would be impressed by him. His mask comes out almost immediately, another innuendo laced into his question. She doesn’t let him go there, shutting it down as quickly as it started. For this to work, she needs him the real him. Not the cocky MMA fighter who he used to catch the eye of UFC execs. She compliments him, and it’s beyond genuine. That seems to calm his nerves a bit as they move into social media management and he shifts into a professionalism she’s not entirely prepared for.

She’s not sure she wants professional Killian Jones.

Whoa, Emma, pump the breaks.

She shakes it off as she watches him take notes on what she’s saying about the importance of a lead up on Twitter and how it can set the tone for the entire fight. His tongue runs along the inside of his lower lip as he concentrates and she can’t help the overwhelming wave of attraction that hits her.

Like lightning.

It’s not just the tongue, (but that’s not helping) it’s his dedication to this sport and how he actually gives a fuck about what she’s saying. Killian never displayed even a hint of the deeply rooted misogyny that runs rampant throughout the industry. He actually seems almost humbled by her presence. The words escape her mouth before she can’t stop them, “Why are you actually taking anything I say seriously?”

Very professional, Emma. Way to instill confidence in your client. Smooth.

His head snaps up at her abrupt question and he looks confused. “I know you don’t like being called a legend, Swan, but you were a damn good fighter. If I walk out of this partnership with half the following and success you had, I’d call that a win.”

She’s stunned by his sincerity.

Brick. Wall. (She thinks she hears Pink Floyd somewhere in the distance.)

“And I suppose you think you know all about me from our, what, three conversations now?” She knows it’s snippy, that’s the point.

He stops typing and puts his phone down. “Pardon me, love, but you’re a bit of an open book.”

Emma scoffs, “Anyone with the internet knows I prefer people don’t call me a legend.”

“Aye, but do they know it’s because you feel too young with a career too short to have made an impact? That you feel choosing yourself, a life, over MMA removes all glory from your name?”

Emma is entirely shaken by his apparent ability to read her like a fucking picture book. (Does that even make sense? Do you read picture books?) Emma never had a formal retirement ceremony; gloves in the middle of the ring and all that. She had asked Gold to be taken off the roster and for a quiet exit and that’s what he’d given her. The public doesn’t know the real reason she left MMA, her attempt at keeping Henry’s life as normal as possible, but somehow Killian–

Brick. Brick. Brick.

“Let’s talk about Instagram.” She sees the disappointment sweep across his face, realizing she can read him pretty well too. That’s terrifying.

Way more terrifying than social media plans.

They keep it strictly business for the rest of the meeting. She’s startled when her stomach rumbles and she checks the time.

12:00. They’ve been strategizing for three hours.

She’s not sure where the time went, and when Killian asks her if she wants to grab a bite to eat together, she’s startled again by her initial gut reaction to say yes.

Obviously, she says no and makes up some lie about needing to get back to the office. He knows it’s a lie, she can see it all over his face. He doesn’t push her though, and she’s grateful. They set their next meeting and Emma’s heart speeds up, seemingly unaware that this is a business meeting and not a date. She shakes his hand and promises to have a full plan ready for Thursday before practically sprinting out of the cafe.

In three conversations Killian Jones has gone from asshat to… who knows. One thing Emma does know is that Killian Jones is off limits to the highest of ethical degrees. But what scares her most, is that she’s not entirely sure she cares.

. . .

As soon as he asks her to lunch he knows he’s pushed too far.

Actually, he perhaps pushed too far by letting on just how easy it was for him to read her, but lunch, well that was just asking for a brick wall. He runs his hands across his face, completely taken with someone he has no right to. She’s witty, smart, and could probably kick his ass— scratch that, could definitely kick his ass— but she also has demons, he can see them swimming behind her eyes. Demons that seem scarily similar to his, maybe not on the surface but definitely in their damage. Emma is raw and unapologetic; a real human being who is, for all intents and purposes, unimpressed by the suave persona of Killian “Hook” Jones.

She’s bloody perfect.

He’s fucking fucked.

Eloquent.

Killian decides to grab a quick lunch from the cafe and head to the gym. He has a lot of pent up frustration and really feels the need to punch something. Thank god that’s his job. He scarfs down his sandwich, not realizing how hungry he was and jumps on the subway to the training center. He miraculously finds a seat and is able to scroll through his phone a bit. As he pokes around Twitter he finds an article announcing Emma “The Savior” Swan’s comeback to the UFC. He clicks on it, curiosity getting the better of him despite probably knowing the gist of the article.

He didn’t expect a timeline of her very impressive career:

2008: Swan joins the UFC with her Boston gym. Her debut match against Aurora Rose ended in a TKO. She’s back in action six months later fighting Ella Tremaine. She wins again, this time after three rounds by split decision.

2009: A dominant start to the year for The Savior with a first round submission against Tiana Dampier in January. She rounded out her year with another first round submission against El Oldenburg in May, and a third round knockout against Esmerelda Gringoire in October.

2010: Swan goes three rounds with Merida Baer and wins by unanimous decision. Swan wins again after three rounds by split decision against Megara Alcmene. The Savior’s final match is a KO against Mulan Fa rounding out her record to 8-0. Her next match, meant to be for the women’s title, was declined with no comment from The Savior.

2020: Swan joins Mills Management as a talent manager assigned to Killian “Hook” Jones.

Killian knew Swan was good, an early legend in her own right, but he had no idea she was this dominant. He also had no idea she left without so much as a wave goodbye. He figured he’d just missed the announcement seeing as it came well before his introduction into the sport. Against his typical moral code, he tries to google why she left but finds nothing. She knocks out Mulan Fa and then just stops being added to cards and fades away as new fighters take her place.

He knows there’s a reason for her secrecy and he’d be lying if he said curiosity was the only driving force behind his attempt to learn more. He finds himself wanting to know everything there is to know about Emma Swan; a deeper part of him aches for her to be the one who tells him.

He’s positive he can only dream of gaining that level of trust from her, but he has to try. Liam's words ring heavy in his ears, "A man unwilling to fight for what he wants, deserves what he gets."

He gets off at the stop closest to the training center and walks through the front doors, waving to Belle at the front desk before heading into the locker room. He’s fortunate to be on the UFC roster, allowing him to keep his training gear at the center and not have to worry about lugging it around with him. It also gives him the freedom to come here whenever he needs to let off some steam. He changes quickly and finds a treadmill to warm up. He jogs a mile and a half before picking up the pace. Killian’s in the midst of his runner’s high when someone steps into the machine next to him. He turns his head to offer them a small smile in hello, it’s not that big of a gym, exclusive to the UFC industry and a few friends of friends, so chances are he knows the person at least in passing.

Oh, Killian knows them alright, and he practically falls off the treadmill when he sees her green eyes blown wide.

#Captain Swan #cs ff #cs modern au #emma swan #killian jones #capthamm #worth fighting for

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youngboy-oldmind · 4 years

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Lost Boy

“Try to take a walk up in my shoes/A n**** rapping like I really got something to prove, Cause motherf****er, I do/I climb hills, n***** was sleeping, on Nyquil/ Paint a picture vivid, dawg, on everything, my life's real”

Overall Thoughts

Maryland rapper YBN Cordae plants a solid footprint in the rap game on his debut album The Lost Boy: a 45 minute masterpiece filled with excellent storytelling and production combined with a unique style that proves he’s definitely an up and comer to look out for in years to come.

The Lost Boy was my favorite rap/hip-hop release of 2019. Cordae’s first studio album is contender for one of my favorite debut albums ever. In my opinion, related artists’ (Chance the Rapper, Logic, Bas, J Cole, Kendrick, Amine) debut album’s fall to The Lost Boy. And at 21, his debut releases at an age younger than everyone in that group. To have an excellent project at such a young age is another feat on its own.

One commonality I notice with debut albums is that new artists tend to sound like their biggest influencers; the biggest culprit being Logic. But Cordae stands out with his own style that doesn’t sound too similar to any of his numerous influences. His delivery, word choice, and flow (while not always mind blowing), is not a carbon copy of a rapper from the 90s-00s. Here, Cordae’s sound is his own.

His pen game on this project is consistently above average, but rarely mind blowing. Tracks like “We Gone Make It” and “Thousand Words” exhibit his strongest lyricism. However, Cordae’s story telling abilities are consistently powerful. Tracks like “Bad Idea”, “Thanksgiving”, “Nightmares Are Real”, “Family Matters” all have Cordae illustrating his experiences. He emphasizes his perspective as a young man who’s finding himself through all these experiences. Even his most bragging and banger tracks still feature great humility and storytelling elements, the stand out being “Broke as F***”.

The features on The Lost Boy are all top notch. Cordae includes Chance the Rapper, Ty Dollar $ign, Pusha-T, Anderson .Paak, and Meek Mill, all of whom bring elite verses to their features. It’s even better that the guests don’t completely outshine Cordae. Cordae brings enough weight to each song that its not completely engulfed by the feature. Songs like French Montana’s “No Shopping”, Logic’s “Homicide”, Chance’s “Handsome” all suffer from a feature that outclasses the main artist. But Cordae goes toe to toe with each feature.

I should also mention the two skits, “Sweet Lawd” and “Grandma’s House”. Both are pretty good as far as skits go. I can’t help but assume they were influenced by Kanye West’s “I’ll Fly Away” from The College Dropout, both of which sound very reminiscent to. They display Cordae’s singing abilities and soulful sound. And its touching to hear Cordae’s grandmother on the latter track.

Overall, I can’t really find a weak spot on this project. The runtime, theme/tone, uniqueness, production, and lyricism are all excellent. As far as debut albums go, Cordae made has created one of the best I’ve ever heard.

Album Breakdown

The common theme throughout this project is Cordae’s experiences being young and lost in a chaotic world. I love this theme because it doesn’t limit the scope about his topics. He can make fun tracks, political commentary, and emotional deep cuts while staying tonally consistent.

1. Wintertime

"Wintertime” features a smooth, mellow, jazzy beat; The vibe feels like a instrumental off of J Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only. Cordae introduces himself, compares where he started to where he’s at now, and discusses some everyday plagues that stress him (anxiety, maintaining success, pressure to appear problem-free) while also aiming for the top and hoping nothing he creates fades away. Great intro.

2. Have Mercy

This next track is lyrically nothing deep or profound, just a banger track with a dope instrumental. The echoy, bassy sound that develops on the last leg of the song is especially great. I also found Cordae’s music video technique interesting. He released two videos, Path A and Path B, that illustrate opposite tones. Path A brings more zainy, flamboyant visuals while Path B is much more dark and eerie. I personally think Path A is the more appropriate for the track. Overall, not a bad banger.

3. Sweet Lawd- Skit

This skit features Cordae singing the hook off “Have Mercy” over a church-like piano. As I mentioned early, strongly reminds me of “I’ll Fly Away” off Kanye West’s The College Dropout. Cordae’s voice is soulful and pleasant to listen to as well. The first gospel-esque track.

4. Bad Idea

Chance the Rapper and Cordae team up to create one of the best songs on the album. They both deliver great verses, Chance’s middle verse being the best. Here they talk about the downsides of Home and the impact those experiences had on them. They borrow the beginning chorus lines “It might not be such a bad idea if I never went home again” from Gil Scott-Herman’s “Home is Where the Hatred Is” and heavily styled like Kanye West’s “My Way Home”. Although Cordae is the main singer on the chorus, he layers his voice to make it sound like an ensemble of singers. A great stylistic choice. And the heavy piano X light strings perfectly end the track. Between the strings at the end, the Kanye West sample, and Chance’s (a huge fan, supporter, and protege of Kanye) involvement, I definitely smell influence from West’s sophomore album Late Registration.

5. Thanksgiving

“Thanksgiving”, the first deep cut on the album, has Cordae introducing a girl to his family during Thanksgiving. However, she’s fake and never stays around, making him question their relationship while remaining hopeful they can maintain it. Cordae demonstrates his powerful storytelling abilities. The overall mellow tone in the production allows his lyrics to fit perfectly in the instrumental; it doesn’t outshine but it doesn’t get over shadowed either.

6. RNP

Anderson .Paak has collaborated with Andre 3000, J. Cole, Rhapsody, Kendrick Lamar, BJ The Chicago Kid, Pusha-T, and Q-Tip, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw Cordae would be collaborating with the talented singer. However, I couldn’t prepare for the amazing back-and-forth chemistry between them. You wouldn’t think when listening to them trade bars that they have a 12 year age difference between them. Also fun fact: J. Cole produced the track.

Both these artists are just having fun over a bouncy beat, talking about the “problems” they’ve experienced being rich. Definitely be favorite fun track so far.

7. Broke As F***

This is tied for my favorite track on the album. Cordae’s lyrics aren’t necessarily the most complex and deep, but he brings such a indescribable energy to his storytelling. He basically tells the story from him being a baby, being in high school appreciating hip hop, where he came from, and where he’s going to go. The great thing here is that its not solely bragging about his possessions. Its a commentary on what he’s GAINED. This adds a touch of humility. And at the end, he comments on how he’s lost, still searching, and doesn’t “really have a lot of answers”, tying into the theme of the album. Perfect.

The spacey instrumental on the chorus, the beat drop after the first line of the first verse, and the beat change midway through makes this one of the best instrumentals on the album. And the ending drums transition to the next song perfectly.

8. Thousand Words

“Thousand Words” has some best verses on the album. Here Cordae talks about the toxicity of social media and how people create false perceptions to hide true pain. While already an intriguing topic, Cordae goes a step further by admitting he’s not holier than thou. He admits everyone lowkey wants to be a little famous, and nobody wants to be “nameless”. I love that. It’s easier to say Instagram and Twitter are toxic (Logic on Confessions of a Dangerous Mind). But to admit there is some validity and positivity to social media...very profound for someone so young. My favorite lines are:

“Living in this false reality that's in this picture gallery/ Based on a n***** profile, we guessin' salary/ The lifestyle you advertise was quite strategized/ Make a minimal amount and then we maximize/ These n***** cappin' with lies how they capitalize/ Creating they own perceptions, what a massive facade/ Digital marketing schemes even broader regime/ Live how you want on the internet, who thought of this thing?”

9. Way Back Home

Ty Dollar $ign stands out on the feature, talking about not letting fame and success pull him from reality. Cordae sings the chorus and most of his verse. Admittedly, I wasn’t a fan of Cordae’s parts; It felt underwhelming. But the instrumental and Ty’s verse carry a significant part of the song. I especially loved the high pitched melodic voice that pops in the beat throughout the song. I also love the sci-fi, techy “WORP” effect throughout the instrumental. But ultimately, this felt more like Ty’s song than Cordae’s.

10. Grandma’s House- Skit

Between “Grandma’s House” and “Sweet Lawd”, I prefer this skit. The harmonious vocals that echo Cordae’s grandma’s vocals give off an amazing gospel vibe. The simplistic yet soulful and intimate aura of this skit makes it one of my favorite interlude-skits off any rap album.

11. Been Around

Another mellow song on the project, “Been Around” has Cordae talking about the development of his career and how he’s going to keep moving forward and not let doubters or bad situations slow him down. I like the chorus more than the verses, but overall its not a bad track. It maintains the tone of the album and flexes Cordae’s pen game a little.

12. Nightmares Are Real

This was the most intriguing collaboration on the album. Pusha-T and Cordae have very different sounds and styles; Pusha-T brings much more aggressiveness whereas Cordae is softer. Cordae’s hardest verses don’t compare to Pusha-T’s baseline intensity. Although they don’t demonstrate strong chemistry, they both bring solid verses. Both tell stories of how they started in the rap game, however, Pusha-T’s wordplay and lyricism is a step above Cordae’s. He talks about dealing with selling crack while developing his skills in rapping. Particular set of lines had me shook.

“Asterisk, skipped school, recorded with The Neptunes/ We was makin' high school classics/ Before I took a kilo and I wrapped it, I rapped it/ Around the funeral with the casket/ Coke avalanche, like a landslide/ Only grew my hair this long because my man died/”

I don’t wanna go too far into explaining these lyrics cus genius will do better job. But Pusha-T brings fire to this track. The tone of the instrumental matches Pusha-T’s intensity as well. As solid of a collaboration this is, its not in my top 3 collabs. That goes to show how amazing this project is.

13. Family Matters

"Family Matters” is tied with “Broke as F***” for my favorite song on The Lost Boy. Cordae talks about the stress of witnessing family traumas and difficulties while experiencing his own success. He expresses feelings of guilt and selfishness when his family hides things from him so he can focus on achieving his goals. He talks about abandonment from baby daddies, aunt’s raising kids that aren’t theirs, a cousin in an abusive relationship, a cousin addicted to xanax, and another aunt who’s a prostitute. All of this is happening while he’s worried about “plays and streams”. It’s an interesting sentiment. Is it selfish to focus on yourself when your family has a load of obstacles and difficulties? Every time he succeeds he has to look back at where he came from and be reminded his family does not share his accomplishments. Nearly brought me to tears when I first heard it.

As I already stated, lyrically this is one of Cordae’s top songs. Arin Ray brings a choir on the chorus that sounds amazing, adding to the gospel sound sprinkled throughout the album. And the light violin strings at the end encapsulate the emotional turmoil Cordae expresses.

14. We Gone Make It

Another top track, “We Gone Make It”, features a collab with Meek Mill to make political/social commentary on todays world and encourage others to keep pushing to succeed. Unlike the other three collaborations “Bad Idea”, “Way Back Home”, and “Nightmares are Real”, Meek Mill’s verses are actually equal with Cordae. Although I’m not a huge fan of Mill, he brings in a succinct, powerful 12 bars and a hook so dope he, as Cordae puts it, had to “sing it twice”. Also fun fact: Cordae used a modified version of the first verse on H.E.R’s “Lord is Coming (Remix)”.

Instrumentally, the beat accompanies the message without overshadowing it. The piano melody and vocal chops throughout mix well with the verses. I personally love the piano keys in the final minute. It adds an aura of delicacy to a song with such an intense message.

15. Lost & Found

In the perfect closing track “Lost & Found”, Cordae displays pride, stating “I was lost boy, now I’m found”. Over a bumpy, bassy beat with epic trumpet harmonies, he comments on everything throughout the project. However, now he has assurance he’s not lost nor insecure from his experiences. And he knows things are going up from here. Like the rest of the album, he’s lyrically above average, reflecting on his life while introducing a fun, braggadocios vibe. Kinda like a “the balls in your court” to the rest of the rap game. Loved it.

Final Thoughts

I look forward to Cordae’s next album. This was a near perfect debut solo album. At 21 years old, Cordae displays strong lyricism and production skills. His ability to story-tell and introspect indicate incredible feats in career. The lowest parts of this project are still amazing, and the high points put this project as my favorite of the year. I don’t know how else to say it. The rap game better watch out for this Maryland born “Lost Boy”. If The Lost Boy indicates the trajectory of his future, Cordae will have the crown in no time.

Top 3 Tracks:

1) Family Matters

2) Broke As F***

3) Bad Idea

Overall Grade: A+

#music review #album review #hip hop review #hip hop #cordae

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lightforgedeve · 6 years

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Battles and Orphans

Dear Journal, Sorry my writting is rather messy today, i'm a bit sore and worn out. I seem to be out of practice with my abilities in combat so i really had to hoof it on training. Today some of us went off to help our allies take back a small town being overrun by the undead. I think i did well enough, i only got an arrow in my collarbone. Could have been worse. Though i ended up slipping and falling which was rather embarrassing. Luckily the High Vindacator didn't see. Instead he saw me almost finish slaying this big ugly monster thing with guts coming out of it's stomach and throwing hooked chains about. However...he ended up finishing the beast upon his arrive. It was beautifully executed, i just wish it was me slaying it. The battle was rather quick, but tense. Our allies took one side of the town and we came in from the other. There was only five of us in the end, plus a lion. Which seems to be a clumsy creature. Don't know why the Humans have that animal as their sigil, sure it's pretty but don't see what else it has after today. The ending was...rather anti-climatic. The one who seemed to have been the boss well...died rather easily. One of the other paladins in our allies side throw a Lights Hammer at it, the High Vindicator and i filled it a bit with our own energy as it flew and as it struck the being, well they fell, rolled down the hill and died. The other beings were more of a challenge. I guess being a leader can get ya a bit rusty. I'm rather worried of that, so i'll be increasing my training regiment from now on. Afterwards, the High Vindicator and i went on a scouting tour of the area for our future mission. He also told me about some of the places we will be targeting and explaining on how they can not be spared, the people within the areas i mean. Of course i wish to show mercy, however i have faith in my High Vindicator and i believe in his words on such matters. For this campaign i will prove my might and not show mercy. Later on i went to Stormwind to see about a nice city meal and to relax a bit. I ended up meeting with Eveneah and we shared a drink and had a chat in the Mage District. We were bumped into by a fellow who had joined, a Panadarian so i stayed back a bit. He seemed a bit..scattered brain? I think i'll be keeping a eye on him anyways. I think it's a him...i can't really tell with them bears. Upon finishing some delicous cocoa Eveneah showed me the cities library. I find it's weird that it's within the Kings home and open to the public, just seems unsafe. Humans have weird ways of going about some things i think. The library was nice though, a wide range of books on different histories. The Elves library is bigger and nicer though i will say, however theirs isn't as diverse. Another of our order happened upon us, think their name was Talia? They seem nice enough, though a bit uncertain as to why they are with us. They look like a good fighter though, a good form and nice armor so i look forward to see what becomes of them. Soon i was by myself so i helped myself to a couple books. I noticed some in a glass case, i thought it was weird putting books there. They were much older too, which i was happy about. I like older history, don't want it being lost after all. So i helped myself to one about a war in the same area we had just come from, i figured it'll be helpful in the future. Maybe there's a plan we didn't consider that was used, or some old trails or hidden pathways that we could use to our advantage. Sorry i haven't gone into grand detail this time, like i said i'm very tired. So i'm going to sleep now. Good night.

Dear Journal. Ugh! Aursuna is soooo mean! We were meeting some new recruits at our home base to give them a tour, have them introduce themselves and see abou assigning them to divisions and surprise! I'm the one giving the tour. I had to really rake my brain to remember what all the buildings are used for. I almost forgot what the Augaris building was for. I've never talked to a crowd before either! Well..not like..addressing them. I felt so nervous! And i obviously did a bad job as the High Vindicator and Aursuna kept stepping in to add things. Oooh i hope i never have to do something like that again! The new recruits look promising. We have two more in the Infantry which i'm of course happy with. One seemed uncertain as to where they'd like to go, but i'm sure they'll be able to talk to someone about it to get a better idea of what each division does and see where they can best grow with their talents. After the tour, Eveneah took us on a tour of her own. Taking us to Stormwind. it was nice seeing it in anothers eye and being able to get some history of some of the areas. Like how Lion's Rest use to be a park but is now a memorial ground. It's a beautiful area, but i find it can be over crowded and i get a bad feeling something dark still lingers there sometimes. Than we headed off to the Cathedral area. I've already been a few times, but i've never been inside the Cathedral. I...wasn't sure of it's purpose till now. It's quite big and you can really feel the Light shining over you there. I still get this odd feeling in their too though. Though Eveneah did confirm with us that some people do practice the Shadow arts, as well as a Discipline art which is a delicate balance of both the Light and Shadow. I think it's an interesting idea, but i'd never want to be part of that. Bah. The next place was the hardest place to be. The orphanage. it was so heart breaking, seeing so many children without families. At least the kids seemed happy enough, besides their stares at us. However one boy caught my attention, he was all alone and looked rather sad. So i offered him to join our family. Apparently...that is not a thing one does. There is this process to "Adopt" and also...Aursuna and the High Vindicator wouldn't allow me to keep him. Which...with their reasoning i understand and i do agree. It's not like i'd be there with him all the time and i do have to go to battles and missions and if something happened to me well he'd be alone again. Which would be super bad. I just think we should adopt all the orphanes, bring them into our family, raise them together for our future and take care of them all together ourselves. Like how it was on the Ship. Some kids lost their parents in the battle, but someone else was always there to help out or be there for the child. Even my moma took in someone whose parents died in a battle. Uh, but anyways. It was hard. Later we went on to the Kings library. I went on ahead to return my books. There i learned in a harsh lesson, i wasn't suppose to take the old book that i did. I had to pay a fine, i thought he was saying i was fine, but...no, that wasn't the case. He was very angry. Aursuna did step in for me and took care of it, but i wasn't allowed back in the library. Which was fine because there was a little girl in the gardens so i went to go play with her. Also...it seems i have my own...bodyguard? Lyn'dara kept following me and keeping close to me since the orphange, which...i found odd and she did say she was suppose to keep an eye on me. I don't know what for. So i decided to teach her how to play fish so she could join the little girl and i in for a game. OH! I also learned that Aursuna has this...file for me, apparently it's big and it's for in case i make more mistakes. I really don't know how to take that! She is really confusing me at times i tell ya. For instance, when i was explaining the game of 'Go fish' to Lyn'dara, Aursuna just runs right over and talks on quickly and than said she missed me. How confusing is that! We were only apart for a few moments. I'm starting to think she needs a vaction. For the end of the tour we went down to the Valley of Hero's, though...all the statues they have i think need to be replaced or least the plaques. They have Turalyon there and Alleria, but it says they are dead. Obviously they are not. And Khadghar looks like really weird, with a beard. Eveneah explains this alternate timeline thing? She doesn't get it much herself, i have no idea how that's possible. Her not understanding something and about what or how an alternate time line could exist. Pfft. Impossible! There were two other hero's as well, both just assumed deceased. Which, by this track record they are wrong. Maybe we'll meet those two in the future too! To wrap up the night, Eveneah had a picnic ready. However it was just me and her at the end, which i didn't mind. We chatted a bit about the orphans, how the tours were, little things. I like talking with Eveneah, she's really relaxing to be around. Even if she did admit before that she dabbled in the shadow arts. However, i can't sense any of that with her and she's a very kind person, so i'm not going to let that affect how i think of her. While we were eating i say someone with a beautiful feline! I think it came from Argus too. Than i saw her again in Telaar! She was waiting to talk to Aursuna, who i was checking in on. I wanted to let her know that even though we were apart again for a while that i missed her too. I hope it helped. I'm not really sure, it's just...all...weird. So while the lady with the cat and Aursuna chatted i fed the feline. it's so big and pretty and nice too! My Marsuul and it got along rather well, even though he was mean at first. My Marsuul i mean. Such a little fighter. Of course i was able to chat with the new comer too, her names Siva and she's joining our ranks too. So i look forward to working with her. She's...uh...interesting to say the least. I'm not quite sure how to take her yet i think. She's...definitely different than what i'm use to. Whew, that was such a long day. I didn't even get to do some training, i'll have to work extra hard tomorrow! I best get some good sleep. Night!

#ante tiriosh #world of warcraft #orginal character #roleplay #ic #journal #draenei #lightforged draenei

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robonomics · 4 years

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Robinhood vs. Wall Street

Yesterday, social media and the news was full of thoughts about the stock market. It all had to do with shares of GameStop and what happened with it over the last couple weeks.

GameStop is pretty clearly in a shitty situation as a going concern. It’s has billions in sales, but hasn’t had a profit in a couple years. Unless it changes it’s brick and mortar business model will cease to exist. It’s main business is game sales after all: just a piece of software that can be digitally transmitted. As a result, the shares have been heavily shorted by tons of hedge funds, making it one of the most shorted stocks on the Street.

Many retail, or mom and pop investors, didn’t see the picture that way. Some even thought that bringing on a new member to its Board, a guy originally from an online pet supplies company called Chewy, would revamp the model back toward profitability. They started making bullish bets, both buying the stock and placing call options. Nothing unique here. Then they went and sold their idea like a salesman on a popular Reddit forum for traders call wallstreetbets. Again, nothing unique here. However, something was different this time about this particular idea. It actually caught on. It then lead to a short squeeze for the hedge funds. What’s that? A short squeeze is where a short position loses (the price of the stock went up), and the seller of the short position has to buy out stock at a higher price than they expected because the options contract ended and they have to deliver shares to the person they borrowed the shares from. Just like that, the little guy outplayed the big guy. It may have had something to do with the fundamentals.

But this is where things went awry. That wallstreetbets forum at some point figured out that if they collectively work together and place tons of call options and buy shares of the stock, it would continue for force another short squeeze come the next Friday expiration (options always expire on Fridays for whatever time period they last, whether weeks or months). Because the stock was so heavily shorted, unlike most other stocks out there on the market, it wouldn’t take much pushing up of the price in order to create a snowball effect. More sinisterly, the faceless, nameless people using Reddit openly talked about how they wanted to manipulate the stock in order to force another short squeeze. Then another. Then another. Unlike normal market manipulation, where a single or small number of people with large leverage push their weight in order to drive a stock’s price one way or another, this was being done by a huge number of little guys. And they weren’t being quiet or tacit about it. They blatantly said what they were doing.

The price of GameStop’s stock went from $17/share on the first day of trading in January to $347/share by January 27th. Nothing at all changed about the fundamentals or information pertaining to the company’s future performance in this time. Sure, maybe some investors became aware of the information about the stock that they didn’t know before. Hey, who’s looking at GameStop on a normal day anyways? But we’re not blind, and the Reddit forum wasn’t quiet about it either. This was pure and unabashed market manipulation. Not even speculation! Just flat out pump and dump. Seeing how high the wave can ride and get out before it crashes.

In the last two days, broker trading platforms, like mine at TD Ameritrade, put a stop to trading in GameStop and various other “meme stock” securities, the group of heavily shorted positions favored by people on the wallstreetbets forum. Volatility was too high to deal with, and I suspect they are worried regulators will soon be down their backs for allowing it to happen, given the high risk that mom and pop investors lose it all, and possibly then some, when the bubble eventually bursts. The brokerages took a beating yesterday for it. The target of all the outrage was Robin Hood, a relatively new brokerage app that is popular with Millennials and retail investors. It’s reputation is for hosting mostly unsophisticated investors attracted by the ease of the platform’s design, making it easy to buy and sell stocks, and importantly options, with zero commission fees. People on the Street refer to stocks popular on the platform as “Robin Hood stocks”, a snub at the stupidity of the cheap investment that only gains in price because of retail investors buying name brands that they know, completely detached from the fundamentals of the company’s future earnings prospects (Hertz, airlines, Nokia... GameStop). I understand that I now sound like a Wall Street snob without the income to back it, but after 20 years of researching stocks and understanding how they work, the analogy to ignorant investors during the Dot Com bubble of the late 90′s and early 2000′s shows why Robin Hood stocks are named with such disdain.

Anyways, retail investors, and populist political pundits were pissed that Robin Hood halted trading. (Robin Hood specifically halted buy or call orders, but not sell orders, which is a fair criticism, but that’s not the main focus of the outrage). The reason: this was the little guy getting even with the big guy, and the so called democratizing force in trading, Robin Hood, caved to the evil hedge funds. While I certainly love a David win over Goliath, this is not the same, at least there isn’t publicly known proof or evidence yet to confirm the suspicions. First off, people who can afford to trade in options tend to be well capitalized given all the margin requirements necessary. Sure, they are still a retail investor, but they aren’t struggling for cash to begin with. So David is usually doing fine financially to begin with, even though he isn’t even close to as big as Goliath.

Outside the comfortable lifestyle most of the traders likely already have, it’s not clear why the particular Goliaths they went after were targeted. Citadel, Citron, Melvin Capital, and the other hedge funds that lost billion from this appear to be grouped together as bad simply because they are hedge funds. What did they specifically do? Well, they are accused of a host of things, but none seem to be specific to them, just to hedge funds generally. It’s an attack on their status. Now I’ve hear a few accusations about these hedge funds, Citadel in particular, front-running orders; that is, having a buy or sell order sent to them to broker a deal for, but then doing the exact order request for themselves and then doing it for the order that was placed with them in order to take an extra cut of money on top of the bid/ask spread they get for commission from their market making activities. Confused? Look it up. Anyways, they are accused of front-running, which is illegal. They were even fined for it in the past by regulators ($700,000 for what I expect was a lot more in profits). Citadel is certainly not playing fairly. They are an evil goliath. The others, I don’t really know, and have not researched too far into.

What I mostly see though, is public justification for one bad act because of the past bad acts of another (Citadel), or another group (hedge funds generally). The little guy got it’s chance to attack the big guy for all the years of its parasitic behavior. And while I don’t have too much sympathy for the goliath hedge funds in this story, I don’t likewise think the traders here are members of the Boston Tea Party. Why is it bad when a goliath manipulates the market, but not when a group of small investors do it? Is it just because of the concentration of wealth? I assume it has to do with the redistributing effects of wealth from the goliaths to the victorious Davids, but the story hasn’t quite ended. The manipulation will eventually stop it’s momentum, and once it does, the people who will be hurt most are the late comer mom and pop retail investors who can’t get rid of their losing shares quick enough. Then the wealth transfer ends up benefiting only the early arrivers, but screws over all the late players to the game. Hell, there’s a good chance that hedge fund will be able to spot the top better and place put orders magnifying their gains on the crazy volatility in the shares. So in the end, it may just be ignorant Robin Hood investors who get screwed because the smarter small players fixed the game to their advantage.

How’s that for democratizing trading? On that point, the whole idea that Robin Hood was wrong for stoping trading because of it’s goal to “democratize trading” is stupid. Robin Hood is new to the game in the brokerage industry. Fidelity, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, etc. have all been around for decades. Just because a new player entered the market with a slogan to democratize trading doesn’t mean they did anything revolutionary. In fact, the only thing they did of note was be the first to introduce free trades. Otherwise, everything they do has existed for years. Marketing to millennials better than the existing firms doesn’t mean you’ve democratized Wall Street, it just means you’ve gotten more people to join the club than previously existed. And the club was open to anybody to begin with! So the cries about how they halted trading is anti-democratizing wall street is dumb. To me, it’s a fair attempt to pull the punch bowl as the party gets going to prevent the sloppiness and ensuing hangover the fun lovers have blinded themselves to in the heat of the party.

But we will see how things go in the coming days. I could be wrong.

I’m most interested to see what the SEC and DOJ do with this. Market manipulation is illegal. But is it really market manipulation if a large group acts? Sure, there is always a tidbit of truth to the original decision to buy or sell an eventually price manipulated stock, but we know this wasn’t fundamentals driven trading. But how do you go after a group of nameless, faceless user names in a chat room who’s identities are potentially difficult to come by? There’s a strong chance that silent observers of the Reddit forum got in on the action, so how do you know if they tacitly agreed to the collect action or not? Importantly, how do we stop this from happening again? It may make it scarier for short sellers to pile so heavily into stocks in the future knowing that a group of mischievous investors working together can force a massive snowballing short squeeze on small stocks with relatively low trading volume.

I wouldn’t care so much about this event (so what, a bunch of hedge funds lost billions; I’m not particularly upset). But the strong favorable reaction towards blatant market manipulators upsets me. One bad act is not remedied by another bad act. Two wrongs don’t make a right. That whole thing. I think people have conveniently blinded themselves to what happened because of how good the story of the little guy beating the big guys sounds. But in this case, the little guy is also doing a wrong thing. So they shouldn’t be celebrated, encouraged, and heralded for it. After all, they were simply acting in a way that made them rich, for all the convenient societal righteousness they may claim. But alas, maybe they see themselves as modern day Robin Hoods (even though the “poor” they’re giving to happen to be themselves).

I’m sure there will be cool interesting articles that come out of this event in the future. Maybe even a sweet documentary or episode in a mini series. I’m eagerly awaiting to see what they have to say, especially from an author who actually understands how stocks work and can explain what’s happening from anything but a politicized view.

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regnumrp · 4 years

Text

WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM SHANNON! YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO SEND IN YOUR BLOG. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!

OOC INFORMATION

Name/Age/Pronouns/Timezone:

Shannon | 20 | she/her | BST/GMT+1

Activity

Did I put seven last time? That’s still about right.

IC INFORMATION

Introducing Lucasta Bellegarde, the 28 year old Lady in Waiting for House Bolger. She is a human and bears a striking resemblance to Jodie Comer.

Biography:

Lucasta Bellegarde has only ever known privilege through the lens of bending the knee; acquiescing to a family higher than theirs. The Bellegardes have a name as a family of intellectuals, of advisors and council-members, but it had always been a dream of hers to transcend the circumstances of her birth; particularly as her parents never felt she met the par.

A dream to transcend her parents’ minimal expectation for the life of their younger daughter, their first a renowned academic who made leaps and bounds.

To be a queen, as some were lucky enough to be born to be. Her ambition was never something that was encouraged by her family ( wary of disgrace ) but it grew independently without their nurturing; wanting to know all of the idle gossip that flitted about court, from a young age she was an ear to the walls and the ground, never wanting to be left out.

Perhaps the amount of what she heard that she believed, even when it was ludicrous, could’ve been a cause for concern — and certainly that trait has worked against her own ambitions — but even though ‘intrusive’ and ‘gullible’ were the first words one could use to describe Lucasta negatively, she knew how to work the crowds at court with humour & common courtesy in spades; she could always be counted upon to occupy visitors with idle chatter to distract them from goings-on the families did not want them to see.

( Lucasta was not enough of a fool to believe herself an asset. Perhaps once she wanted to be, but by now, she learned that everyone was replaceable. That it was no insult so much as a fact of life. )

Lucasta has, as the Bellegardes do, always been a part of the Bolger household — doesn’t remember anything else, in fact, intended to be a lady-in-waiting to the Countess from her infancy — but she doesn’t necessarily feel as beholden as perhaps others in her family have before. They are good to her, yes, and certainly they have given her much, but she can’t help but ask what the world and the crown of Parcovia could give to her.

Relationships:

The Seeker: There's something between her and the Lord of House Dall'aglio. There shouldn't be something; their loyalty to their houses should certainly be more absolute, but in her, the Seeker finds what he’s looking for, and in him, she sees her way to climb the social ladder.

In Character Questions

What are your thoughts on being brought to the castle?

Lucasta’s eyes sparked; something vivacious, something half-fuelled by the goblet of wine her fingers were twined around, grin made easier by the fruit of the vine. “Do my thoughts matter?” she asked, genuinely curious as to the answer. “I was told we were going, and I came; it’s a surprise for me that I’m allowed to play this game, too.”

Are you interested in winning the crown? Why or why not?

“Of course, don’t you think I’d look great in a crown? Some people just can’t pull them off…”

She sighed in such a way that made it abundantly clear she had a list of who she believed could and could not pull them off; after all, Lucasta Bellegarde was known to be quite the gossip, lips only closed when secrets were of concern to the woman she served. And even then, it was out of necessity, and the fact neither would function to their best ability without the other.

Do you think the magical beings should stay hidden or join the humans in the open?

Her shrug was utterly nonchalant. It was the complete lack of concern that was only enjoyed by the fully human. Perhaps that came at the cost of lifespan, but she didn’t much care. “Doesn’t bother me, does it.”

Writing Sample (Optional)

Yes, she would gladly walk alongside the gods of art, and music, and literature, and yet — much like the ill-fated traveller a much-later poem was penned about — these pleasures of life could be stifled and chased away by an anger so destructive and conquesting. It was a gloating anger that tormented others with how wholly ( beyond all reason, often ) it encased the woman in fire, and it was the lot of the grey-blue roiling seas to quench it.

After all, the sole force more powerful than anger, in her life, was wanderlust: it gripped her with a totality like the sun disappearing behind the moon in eclipse, let far more long-lasting.

So, for now — with no stone nor fountain forthcoming — the captain had settled upon retaining her youth in a manner beyond the physical: never relinquishing her hold upon her wonder ( her eyes still wide as dinner-plates when she saw a new marvel ) and curiosity, lest she be too overtaken by worldly monotony.

( She had never, though, allowed this curiosity to be mistaken for optimism. Optimism was a naive trait, and one she — hedonist, truest cynic that she was, seeing the world and other people for all their shadows and faults. Perhaps to detract from her own, which she never did — disdained virulently at that. )

Anything Else?

A second fun fact? I’m reading Atonement again because my mum started a conversation with me about it today. Oops.

#accepted #submission

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bookloversreviewer · 5 years

Text

THE TRADE by Meghan Quinn

Release Date: March 12th

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2Pn6QjR

AVAILABLE NOW!!!

FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2PX9cWz

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/331G5qu

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2xfWuvF

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2TzycW8

Blurb:

Can you pinpoint a time in your life where you realized you are completely and utterly screwed?

I can. I got the dreaded phone call, the one every baseball player hopes and prays never comes.

I was traded. Yeah, that phone call.

Traded from my long time team of over ten years. And not just to any team, but my childhood rivals; the Chicago Rebels.

Completely and utterly screwed, right? Wrong. The trade was the least of my concerns.

I met a girl. Natalie. Man, she's perfect.

I swore I would never get involved with anyone during the season. Too complicated. But can you believe I have zero restraint when it comes to this girl? I couldn't get her out of my head and the more I talked to her, the more I realized I needed her in my life.

So what's the problem? Why am I screwed? Because, Natalie, the girl I can't stop crushing on, yeah . . . she's married.

At least, that's what I was told . . .

CORY

I’m fucked.

I’m sure you hear that all the time, so the term has lost its impact.

I ran out of sugar for my cookie batter . . . I’m fucked.

Forgot my phone in my car . . . I’m fucked.

Saw my neighbor’s old-man balls . . . I’m fucked for life.

I can guarantee you right now, this is nothing compared to old-man balls and cookies.

This is way worse.

This defines the term, I’m fucked.

What is it you ask?

It happened after one of the worst baseball seasons of my life. Traded halfway through the season to the team I’d hated my entire life, I was drowning in the constant media attention, persecuting me for the pass off for my multi-million-dollar contract.

“We want to win,” the Rebels said. “We can do that with Cory Potter wearing black and red.” And just like that, the team I’ve been playing for my entire professional career up and traded me to unload my hefty salary to develop new up-and-comers from the farm system.

The Rebels.

I’m a fucking Chicago Rebel. Words I never thought I’d say, especially growing up as a Chicago Bobcats fan, the rival team to the Rebels. Not just rival, but enemies. The teams themselves don’t get along, the fans hate each other, and Chicago is divided for a good portion of the year when the stadium lights are on.

But here I am, my name attached to the biggest trade in sports history.

A ballsy move.

An upset to Baltimore.

A baseball anomaly: All-American turned Rebel.

I’ve heard it all, I’ve seen it all, and no matter what’s splashed across the headlines, it doesn’t deviate from the fact that my long-time team decided to part ways with me midseason.

Mid-fucking-season.

After fourteen years, I packed up everything and moved back to Chicago.

But even that’s not why I’m fucked; it’s just the start of it.

The beginning of the end.

Dramatic? Maybe.

But if you were in my shoes, you’d be thinking the same thing.

After not even coming close to getting into the playoffs, the season ended, I was booed off the field because that’s how Rebels fans are—you don’t perform, they hate you—and I sequestered myself to my practically empty and cold apartment.

After a week of binge-eating deep-dish pizza and watching every prison documentary on Netflix, my sister finally dragged me out of my apartment, forcing me to attend a Bobbies playoff game with her so we could cheer on my brother-in-law. Her husband.

Seeing a Rebels player cheering on a Bobbies player plastered all over the news went over just as well as a grandma telling her grandson her favorite pastime is cock-tickling.

Not well.

But still . . . not the reason I’m fucked.

This is beyond worse than that.

During that game, I got the talk. Not the birds and bees, but the talk from a concerned sister about my lack of social life.

You really should get out more.

I know some single moms who are really nice.

Maybe a dating app might be fun. Girls would be ecstatic to match with the one and only Cory Potter.

I don’t want you dying alone.

That last one was a real kicker.

Dying alone. I’m fucking thirty-five and she has me with one toe in my grave.

The way I see it is, if you don’t meet your girl in college or high school, you’re sure as shit not going to meet her while playing professional baseball. Not when the schedule is obscenely busy and long, and not when you’re known for one thing in your city: making a shitload of money for playing a sport.

It’s almost impossible to find genuine relationships when you have this level of fame.

So I’ve resolved to waiting until after I retire to fall in love.

That doesn’t mean I’ve been celibate, I’m a man after all—a man with a shitload of adrenaline pumping through him on a daily basis. I’ve had my fair share of one-night stands with women, and a few on a solid repeat with zero expectations. Every woman I’ve bedded I’ve treated with respect, and I’ve been honest with them, because if anything, I’m a genuinely nice guy who doesn’t ever want to make someone feel bad.

Ask anyone who knows me, I’m the nice guy, the dependable guy, the leader with a heart.

I don’t screw women over, ever.

Are you thinking one of those one-night stands turned into an “accident”? Is that the reason I’m fucked? Got a girl I don’t know pregnant?

Nope, not that either.

But the conversation I had with Milly pushed me to a new way of thinking.

I don’t want you dying alone.

She made me fucking paranoid.

Was I really going to die alone?

Were my good years behind me and now I’m old meat on the market?

Should I be trying to find love in the midst of the craziness of my life?

Milly made me think, which then made me open up to the idea of finding someone, of looking at women differently, of allowing the relationship part of my brain to turn on.

So instead of ignoring every woman that has relationship potential I’d possibly look for, I turned off my blinders and started looking for them.

But I didn’t come close to meeting anyone that remotely fit the box of someone I’d consider going out on a date with. That was until I attended a certain charity event.

I saw her from across the room. Her smile was what caught my eye, then it was the way she laughed and held on to her brother’s hand, her brother who had cerebral palsy.

It was the way she’d lean into him, hold him, as if he was the most wonderful human she’d ever met.

The fact that she was absolutely breathtaking with piercing blue eyes had nothing to do with it.

It was her infectious laughter.

Her kind heart.

Her dedication to her family.

In a matter of seconds, I wanted to know her, wanted to find out her name, wanted to be in her orbit. Wanted to be a recipient of her warmth and affection.

I watched her from across the room, how she interacted with every person who came up to her, and when I was finally granted the opportunity to introduce myself, my breath caught in my throat when our hands connected. I felt my heart slam against the cage in my chest. And I knew, in that moment, with our hands mid shake, my life would never be the same.

Her name is Natalie.

Sister to my new teammate Jason Orson and his twin brother Joseph.

Director of Jason’s foundation, The Lineup.

And the reason why I’m utterly fucked.

Because while I started to grow attached to this magnetic and beautiful woman, when I told my sister about her, she informed me there was a ring on Natalie’s finger.

A ring that didn’t belong to me.

Hope plummeted in the matter of seconds as I felt the color from my besotted face drain into a puddle of remorse.

She was married.

She is fucking married.

See? Totally fucked.

I’ve been crushing so hard, because even a month later, I still think about her. I can still hear her laugh, see her smile, feel her hand in mine.

I want her.

Fucking bad.

They say time will heal all wounds, well for me, the more time passes, the more my wound is exposed and tormented.

Cory Potter is crushing on a married woman . . .

That is why I am completely and utterly . . . fucked.

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

Connect with Meghan:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7360513.Meghan_Quinn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormeghanquinn/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn

Website: http://authormeghanquinn.com

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/meghan-quinn

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LitE4x

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peter-pan-hoe · 7 years

Text

Another World Entirely pt2

Warnings: swearing, severe emotional toying,

Word count : 2,083

masterlist

part 1

Those 2 words rang in my ears.

“Help me,”

His voice was so soft and full of fear. I looked in his eyes and saw truly how scared he was.

“I don’t understand,” I said slowly. “This isn’t you… You’re Peter Pan. You don’t get scared,”

He suddenly released my hands and moved back. “Well when a random girl shows up on my island knowing everything, tells me I’m going to die and she’s been right about everything else so far, it can be a little daunting,”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m just a little surprised is all.” I looked down at my hands in my lap. What is going on. Stop treating him like a damaged little boy. He is evil! And crazy powerful! And super cute! But whatever.

“Okay,” I said after internally fighting with my love of this nutjob (and losing).

“What?” he looked at me, confused.

“Okay,” I repeated. “I’ll help you. When the time comes that I can prevent your death I will warn you against actions that will lead to it,”

He studied me curiously, as if trying to see if I was telling the truth. When he found no reason not to believe me he stood up quickly and held out his hand for me.

I took his hand and he pulled me up with a surprising strength for his slim body.

“What will you ask for in return?” he asked me.

Boy I already got what I want.

“I’ll have to think about that,” did that sound mysterious or just dumb?

He laughed so purely. “Okay then. Let’s get you back to camp, hungry?”

I hadn’t thought about food since I found myself here, but as soon as he asked me my stomach decided to answer for me with a loud growl.

“So that’s a yes?” He smiled and started walking to the trees, with me following close behind.

It took about 10-15 minutes to walk from the beach to the camp. I stayed by Peter’s side the whole time. At first we walked in silence, but he chose to spark up a conversation.

“So since you know practically everything there is to know about me, why don’t you tell me about you?” he suggested.

“Well, I spend too much time watching TV or on the internet,” I giggled.

“I have no idea what that means,” He said plainly.

“Oh right,” I laughed. “a TV is a box that has moving pictures that tell stories or inform people of current events. It’s powered by electricity. And the internet is a virtual place that can access any information in the world,”

“Any information? Seriously?” he asked.

“Yup. As long as the information has been put there. For example I could find the entire life story of a famous person but if a random person hasn’t had there information posted anywhere then I wouldn’t be able to find it,” I explained.

“is this how you know everything about me?” he stopped walking.

“Yes. Both TV and the Internet,” I stopped too and turned to face him front on. “You have many books and stories written about you. And some plays. There is a TV show called Once Upon A Time, that follows the stories of many people from the enchanted forest. Rumplestiltskin included,” When I told him that his eyes flicked with something I couldn’t identify.

“And the boy you seek, he is in this story as well. I’ve seen when you meet him. When you were introduced I knew immediately that you were my favourite. When you were gone I was so sad. I don’t think you understand how amazing it is for me to be here, to have met you personally,” I started to babble, and Peter just smirked at me as we started walking again.

“okay, you know you aren’t to tell the lost boys about my past?” he put his hand on my shoulder to be sure I was listening.

“Of course!” I moved his hand away and put my own over my chest. “I swear I will not divulge any of your deep dark secrets, King Peter of Neverland,”

he laughed again and shook his head. “The camp is just up ahead,”

I could smell the smoke from the bonfire, and there was a light chatter of voices in the air.as we got closer I could see tents made of blanketst and animal skins, set up around a bonfire in the middle of a pit, surrounded by the lost boys.

Peter pulled away some branches and allowed me to go through ahead of him.

“Wait, Peter, why did we walk all the way here when you could have poofed us here?” I called back over my shoulder. No answer. I turned and he wasn’t there. “Peter?” I called louder, alerting the lost boys of my presence. They all immediately started moving towards me, unaware of the truce I struck with Pan.

“Peter?” I saw him on the other side of the group of boys standing with Felix, both watching with devilish smirks. That little shit is playing games with me!

“Fine!” I shouted. The lost boys halted in surprise. “Peter if you want to play games then you have to tell me the rules so I can join in,”

The lost boys exchanged looks ranging from confusion to humour

But Peter diminished these looks when he chuckled and pushed his way through the crowd of boys.

“Okay then. Let’s play Wave!” Peter’s suggestion got a loud cheer from the boys and they all started to run off.

“Wait!” peter yelled. “New comer gets to choose whose It,”

They all looked at me, waiting for me to choose. I scanned the group, looking for someone who perhaps wanted to be it. I found one. He had big dark eyes and dark hair, light skin and freckles.

“You,” I pointed to the boy.

The boys erupted in cheers again and took off for the trees.

“You chose Devin,” Peter smiled as Devin leant against a tree, covering his face with his cloak and started counting.

“You’d better go hide Y/N, you have until he counts to 50,” Peter began walking into the woods in search of a place to hide. I ran after him, following him through the trees around the edges of the camp.

“I don’t know how to play! Do I just hide and wait to be found? Is this hide and seek?” I asked, getting a low laugh from him.

“it’s very similar to hide and seek,” he began explaining. “You must hide, whoever is it searches and once they find someone, that boy follows them while It continues searching for others. But if the boy they found sees someone before It does, they wave, and the boy hiding waves back, which means the found boy can run off and hide again,”

“That’s easy and complicated at the same time,” I thought aloud. “So, King of Neverland, this is your island, where are all the good hiding spots?”

“Follow me,” to my surprise he took my hand and started running away from the camp.

We ran through trees and he pulled me along the whole time. We finally came to a stop near the beach. He suddenly was no longer standing beside me but atop some rocks maybe 7ft high.

“Hey!” I called up to him. “What about-”

“If you yell like that Devin will find us in seconds,” he harshly whispered over the edge. The next thing I knew I was standing by his side, his arm around my waist to prevent me from falling off.

“Thanks,” I said slowly.

“Lay down,” he dropped down and lay on his stomach, looking out over the edge of the rocks.

I did the same, propped up on my elbows next to him.

“This is actually really fun,” I nudged him with my shoulder. “Thanks for y’know, not killing me and everything,”

“Well it would have been wrong of me to kill someone as lost as you,” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry, what?” lost? “You think I’m lost?”

“You know everything don’t you? Shouldn’t that include Neverland’s number 1 rule? This is a place for lost and lonely children. Some cases of children showing up on Neverland are so intense that they didn’t need Shadow to bring them here,”

“But my world doesn’t have any magic like this. I mean we have the odd witch or psychic but the real ones are so rare that they are believed to be frauds when they are found,” I looked at him curiously. “Besides, as far as I can remember I don’t have any lost and lonely feeling back home. Sure the odd wish to be in a great adventure or fantasy world but none strong enough to rip me from there and bring me here. But I also don’t remember what happened before I came here so who knows. Maybe something super shitty happened,”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” he rolled over and put his hands behind his head. “but given your value to me and my goal, I don’t want you to leave.. at least not just yet,”

A voice bellow us cut us off. Peter flipped back over and grinned at me. “Here comes Devin. He’s got Curly with him.”

“How do you know?” I whispered as I eyed him accusingly. “You totally used your connection to the island! Is that considered cheating?”

“it’s not cheating if he’s searching for us anyway,” he laughed, rolling onto his back once more.

“Well they’re going away now I don’t think they’ll find us,” I copied his actions and rolled over, folding my hands over my stomach.

“Of course they won’t why did you think I chose this spot?” he moved his hands from under his head so they were on his stomach too. His elbow lightly brushed my own, causing me to shiver.

“Is the thing about the second star real?” I asked after a minute or two of silence.

“What thing?” he turned his head towards me.

“To get to Neverland, you just follow the second start to the right, straight on til morning, is that real or just a song?” I rolled onto my side and propped my head up on my arm.

“I have a song?” He laughed. “Sing it to me,”

What?

“Oh, no I-” I started but he cut me off.

“Please? I want to hear it,” he looked at me with a stare that was so strange for him.

“Fine but only a little bit,” I surrendered.

“The second star to the right, Shines in the night for you. To tell you that the dreams you planned, Really can come true. The second star to the right, Shines with a light that’s rare. And if it’s Neverland you need, It’s light will lead you there…”

He was quite for a while. But then he just burst out laughing.

“Hey!” I whacked his shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me! I didn’t want to sing for you in the first place,”

“Don’t fret love I’m not laughing at your singing. It was quite nice. But that is not how you get to Neverland. You either need the shadow or a portal,”

“I guess it was all just part of the fairy tale then,” I mumbled.

“Fairy tale? And with that much detail? Am I really that famous in your world?” he put his hands back under his head and smiled lightly.

“Yes. Your stories change a lot. I have no idea which one are true. But in all of them you are a boy who doesn’t age, who flies around an island only inhabited by young boys. In the original you’re quite inherently evil. Killing any lost boy who grew up. In most others you are simply a fun loving boy who ran away to avoid growing up. And more recently you’re evil again. More similar to you right here,”

“Evil huh…?” he said thoughtfully. “I prefer the term ‘powerful.’ It suggests that I am indeed powerful which in turn suggests I should be feared. But really I came here because it was a fun place, and I had to be a child to stay. I never really intended to be seen as evil. But if that gets me respect then I guess it’s just a bonus,”

“You’re so different to all your stories,” I looked up at the stars, which were half concealed by clouds.

“Yeah? For better or worse?” he asked.

“Definitely better,”

PART 3

#peter pan #peter pan imagine #peter ouat #peter pan x reader #peter pan once upon a time #once upon a time #once upon a time imagine #ouat #ouat imagine #lost boy #lost boys #lost girl #neverland

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ramialkarmi · 7 years

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The FCC will vote Thursday to repeal net neutrality — here's what that means for you

The FCC will vote Thursday to repeal the net neutrality rules it put in place in 2015.

The repeal will likely mean higher prices and fewer choices for consumers.

The repeal is good news for large telecommunications and internet companies.

In a move that could fundamentally reshape the internet — and spur a new wave of legal wrangling — the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday will vote on a proposal to repeal its net neutrality rules.

The vote will take place during the FCC's monthly meeting, which starts at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. With Republicans who oppose those rules in control of the commission, the proposal is basically guaranteed to pass.

Here's what you need to know about net neutrality, the proposal, and what's likely to happen next:

What's net neutrality?

Net neutrality is the principle that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally. Under net neutrality protections, internet service providers (ISPs) are barred from blocking, slowing, or providing preferred treatment to particular sites and services. The rules are designed to keep the internet open to all comers and give everyone a fair shot.

Without net neutrality protections, ISPs could block you from streaming video from Netflix or YouTube or charge you extra just to access those sites. On the flip site, they could force Netflix or YouTube to pay them to ensure that their videos were streamed to their users at the same speed and quality as other video sites.

Such moves would likely force you to pay more to view and access the videos and other information you regularly get through the internet. They also could limit your choices if the ISPs block access to particular companies' sites or charge those companies tolls that only the biggest and richest among them can afford.

The FCC has had some form of net neutrality protections in place since 2005. After two different versions of the rules were struck down by the courts, the FCC in 2015 officially designated broadband providers as telecommunications companies, a move that allowed it to put in place new rules grounded in its authority over such companies under Title II of the Communications Act.

The latest proposal from the FCC would reverse the designation of broadband providers as telecommunications companies and do away with the three major net neutrality prohibitions. Under the new proposal, companies would be able to block, slow, or provide fast lanes to particular sites or services. Their only responsibility under the proposal would be to disclose such practices to customers. The FCC would leave it up to the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether broadband companies were doing anything they hadn't disclosed.

Why does the FCC want to repeal net neutrality?

When it comes to his philosophy regarding telecommunications companies, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a former lawyer for Verizon, is a free-market libertarian. He's ideologically opposed to even the idea of the FCC regulating such companies. He opposed the FCC's 2015 rules and announced even before he became chairman that he would seek to overturn them.

But ideology will only get you so far when it comes to changing regulations; agencies have to have a reasonable rationale for reversing themselves. Pai's main argument for doing away with the net neutrality rules is that they have depressed industry investment.

Broadband investment can take different forms, but it usually results in faster, more reliable networks that are available to more people. Those are outcomes that partisans on both sides of the net neutrality debate support.

The problem with Pai's argument is the data he himself cites doesn't support his claim that investment is falling. Instead, that data shows that broadband investment has basically been flat since 2013, with a lot of variation among the different companies. Meanwhile, a study from consumer advocacy group Free Press indicates broadband investment has actually increased since the 2015 net neutrality rules took effect.

Regardless, some companies have significantly cut back on their investments in recent years. But even just looking at those companies, none has blamed their reduced investment on the net neutrality rules.

What happens after the repeal?

The rules won't take effect for a matter of months — some 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register. In the meantime, consumer advocacy and other groups will almost certainly file suit to try to block them. Members of Congress, particularly Democrats, will also likely introduce legislation to try to overturn them.

Assuming the rules take effect on schedule, broadband providers — wired and wireless alike — would be free to create so-called "fast lanes" for their own sites and services and those of partners who pay for the privilege. They'd also be free to charge you extra to access certain services like streaming video, or block or slow down sites or services that compete with their own — or that they simply don't like.

Any of that and likely more would be fair game under the FCC's new regime. The only obligation broadband providers would have would be to tell you what they're doing. However, you can bet such disclosures will likely come in the kind of fine print that few of us understand or even read.

Who benefits from the repeal?

The big telecommunications companies including AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast are cheering the impending death of the net neutrality rules, in part because they think the repeal will allow them to make more money and give them more control.

But even the large internet companies that support the rules — including Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix — will likely benefit from their demise. There's a good chance, once the rules are gone, that broadband providers will try to make internet companies pay to transmit their web sites, stream their videos, or send their data to the providers' customers. And the internet giants, with their deep pockets, are the companies in the best position to afford those tolls.

The end of the rules could end up cementing the dominance of the big tech companies by thwarting their potential competitors and disruptors.

Who loses?

Normal internet users like you and me will lose out with the repeal of the net neutrality rules. It won't happen overnight, but you can expect broadband providers to start limiting what you can access on the internet or charging you more to get to the sites and services you regularly use.

Also, entrepreneurs and smaller internet companies — the people and startups pioneering new kinds of services or aiming to be the next Netflix, Google, or Facebook — could lose out if they can't afford the broadband companies' potential tolls.

What's next?

The main action on net neutrality is likely to move to the courts after the FCC vote, but a decision likely won't come until at least a year after the repeal.

Given the broad public support for net neutrality, there's a good chance lawmakers or the FCC will try to reinstate the rules if Democrats regain the majority in Congress next year or the White House in 2020.

Come back to Business Insider on Thursday, when the FCC's meeting starts. We'll have all the news as soon as it breaks.

SEE ALSO: Three-fourths of Republican voters say they support net neutrality — and party lawmakers are starting to speak out against repealing it

Join the conversation about this story »

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danuta5035266472-blog · 7 years

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