#you can see fireworks over there on the 5th of november too

[foundtherightwords]

Winter Light - Chapter 3

Pairing:Tom Grant (Make Up) x OFC

Summary: Vanessa, a young cancer patient, arrives at a remote holiday park in Cornwall to wait out the rest of her days, but after a chance meeting with a park employee named Tom who's nursing a broken heart, Vanessa realizes life may not be done with her yet.

Warnings: slow burn, fluff with some angst, swearing, serious illness (cancer)

A/N: There's bound to be a lot of content this weekend with JQ's NOLA Fan Expo appearance so I'll the posting the remaining chapters a little later next week. Also, there's some spiciness coming in Chapter 4 (very mild though. Maybe just on the same scale as some black pepper. Or a mild chili.)

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Total Perspective Vortex

It was November 5th. The park had been closed for over a week. The remaining staff and the tenants were building a huge scrap pile on the beach, ready for Bonfire Night.

Vanessa watched them from the dunes, where she sat soaking up the last rays of the autumn sun. Tom was there. He waved at her, and she waved back, but she had no desire to join him. For some reason, she wanted to keep their moments together just for themselves, with nobody else encroaching on their solitude. She saw Kai looking over at her and making some sort of remark to Tom, no doubt a provoking one, because Tom then stormed off in a different direction.

Later, Vanessa was resigning herself to an evening with her books when there was a knock on her door. She opened it before the last knock died away, and sure enough, there he was, with his curls all fluffed up by the wind and the smile she'd known so well by now.

"Why aren't you at the bonfire?" she asked.

"Eh, it's just an excuse to get drunk. We can do that here," he said, holding up a six-pack.    

"Sorry, alcohol and my meds don't agree," Vanessa grimaced ruefully.

Tom put the six-pack down, deflated. "Oh. I didn't think about that."

"You go ahead."

"Nah, it's pathetic drinking alone."

Vanessa didn't want him to leave. "How about some hot cocoa then?" she said. "I can't cook, but I make a mean cup of cocoa. And we can watch the fireworks from the dunes."

Tom brightened up. "Sounds good."

When the cocoa was done, Tom carried the mugs to the buff right outside the caravan, and Vanessa followed with a blanket from the sofa. From the buff, they could see the bonfire crackling merrily in the distance. Tom shivered in his thin jumper, so Vanessa offered him a corner of the blanket, but it wasn't big enough to cover both of them. After watching Vanessa struggle with it for a while, Tom held his hand out. "Give it." He took the blanket, wrapped it around himself, and spread his arms out like wings. "C'mere."

Vanessa hesitated, but eventually the cold won out. She sat down in front of Tom, and he enfolded her in his arms, the blanket covering them both. "How's this?"

"Perfect," Vanessa said, trying to resist the temptation to lean into him. She felt his breath tickling her neck and prayed he couldn't see how flushed her face was.

"Sure you don't want to get closer?" Tom asked.

"What?" Vanessa almost shouted. Had he read her thoughts?

"To the bonfire."

"Oh." Her face, if it was possible, got even hotter. She was sure even the tips of her ears were burning and Tom must have seen them. She cleared her throat. "No, this is fine."

Down on the beach, fireworks and rockets were being set off at random, sparklers glowed like fireflies, and some brave soul was even waving around a flare. There was a sense of frenzied, almost unsettling wildness to the whole thing that was so different from the sedate, homemade Bonfire Nights of Vanessa's childhood, and she was glad to be watching it from afar.

"When I was little, we were only allowed a tiny fire in the garden," she said. "No Guy either. In school, me and my friends would make this huge Guy every year, but Mum never let me go watch it get burned. She said it was too dangerous. What she didn't know is that I would climb on the roof to watch the fireworks afterward."

Tom laughed. "And she let you become a lifeguard?!"

"It was at a community pool. Not as if I had to rescue people from the sea all the time."

She could feel Tom grinning as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Well, you did a great job."

It almost felt normal, snuggling up with him, sipping hot cocoa, watching the fireworks, and talking about her childhood. But Vanessa could feel herself getting too comfortable. She needed to break the spell before it took over. She wriggled out of Tom's arms and got up. "I'm going to get more cocoa, you want some?"

Without waiting for his answer, she walked briskly toward the caravan, but stopped short as she felt sharp twinge in her leg. Tom turned to her. "You all right?"

"Yeah, just my old war injury acting up again," she joked, and went into the caravan, to the bedroom, where her med bag was kept on the bedside table. The pain was building so quickly that just those few steps forced her to sit down. She dug through the bag, then upended it on the bed and sorted through the various bottles with shaking hands.

Tom stepped in. "Everything OK?"

"I can't find my morphine."

He'd seen her chugging it enough to realize how serious this was. "You don't have another?"

"No, I was going to pick up the refill when we go into town next." Her chest felt tight. As if they could sense the barricades were down, the wolves were rushing back, snapping at her bones with razor-sharp teeth.

"When did you last use it?"

"This morning, I think." Her heart sank as she remembered. "I went down to the beach. It must've slipped out of my bag."

Tom dashed out to grab a torch from the kitchen. "I'll go look."

"I'm coming too," Vanessa said through gritted teeth.

"You're in no shape."

"It'll save you a trip back."

Tom didn't argue again. He scooped her up in his arms and ran down to the beach. The party was in full swing now, the bonfire flaring its flames sky-high, its heat reaching them even from a distance. The revelers were dark, monstrous shapes, darting in and out of a hellish red glow that shrouded over everything. Some techno was playing at ear-bleeding volume, the pounding bass combined with the sharp explosions of firecrackers making the constricted feeling in Vanessa's chest worse. 

"Where did you sit?" Tom shouted in her ear. At first, confused by the chaos of the party and the pain, she couldn't tell one dune from another, but when she remembered where she had been in relations to the bonfire, it became clear. She pointed and tried to say "Over there", but it turned into a groan. Tom set her down carefully and started going over the sand with the torch. Vanessa curled up into the fetal position, as if doing so would stop the searing hot needles from spreading all over her bones.

A figure detached itself from the dark whirlwind around the fire and staggered toward them. Kai. "Look who's decided to join us!" he shouted at Tom, his voice slurring.

"Give us some room, mate," Tom said, brushing him aside. "Bit of an emergency here."

Kai saw Vanessa, and his lips twitched up in a leer. He bent down, pressing his face toward her. "Partying too hard, are we?" His breath reeked of alcohol.

Tom pulled Kai away from Vanessa and gave him a shove. "Leave her the fuck alone. She's in pain."

Kai's drunken grin was disconcerting to see, like a dog baring its teeth. "Don't get teasy with me now. Right about the other one, wassan I? Maybe this one's a bit more friendly..."

Tom lunged at the bigger man. "Tom!" Vanessa cried out, half in pain and half in fear. That cry froze Tom in his track. He turned his back on Kai and started sweeping the sand with the torch again. Kai stared at them in confusion for a moment, before lumbering off.

The pain was intolerable - it was no longer confined to her bones, but seemed to have spread over her every tissue until her entire body was one mass of pain. She tried to follow Tom's torch, trying to see where the bottle of morphine could be, but each sweep of light was a knife stabbing into her eyes. She couldn't breathe. The pounding in her ears was deafening. She couldn't tell if it was from the music, the firecrackers, or her own blood. The dark vortex around the fire grew larger. Then Tom was beside her, pressing a bottle to her lips. She swallowed a few gulps, and a black curtain fell over her eyes.

***

Vanessa woke with an unfamiliar sensation. The pain had dulled but left her tired and sore as if she had run a full marathon. Then she realized what the unfamiliar sensation was. There was someone else in bed with her.

She twisted around, as quietly as her pain-wrecked body allowed. Tom was lying next to her, one arm tucked under the pillow, the other wrapped around her. The morning sun shone weakly through the window, dusting his curls with gold and casting the shadows of his long lashes on his cheeks. Vanessa had to fight the urge to lean over and kiss those shadows.

She knew she had fallen in love with Tom, ever since the day he gave her the plants and smiled at her. Despite her determination to wall up her heart, that smile had broken through the barricades with no effort at all and taken permanent residence inside. The moment she saw it, she'd known. If she could have him smile at her like that for the rest of her life, she would not want anything else. There was something about him that made her feel safe, something that comforted her. Perhaps it was the way he took everything as it came, quietly and without complaint. Perhaps it was the way he always knew what she needed, sometimes even before she realized it herself. Perhaps it was just his smile. But she never really thought much about why she loved him. She just enjoyed it. She enjoyed the fluttering of her stomach whenever she looked at him, enjoyed a brief repose from her misery whenever she thought of him, enjoyed simply being in love without having to worry about him loving her back. In fact, she didn't even want him to love her back, because it meant he would be hurt when she died. She didn't want him to get hurt. But this morning, waking up in bed next to him, she ached for what could have been.

Tom stirred, and Vanessa quickly rolled over, pretending to be asleep so he wouldn't catch her staring at him while he slept. He woke up and leaned over her, so close she could almost feel his lips touching her ear. She heard him let out a sigh of relief at her breathing and felt his hand brushing a strand of hair away of her face, lingering on her cheek for a moment, before he got out of bed.

Vanessa couldn't move much that day. Tom asked for the day off and stayed with her, helping her in and out of bed, cooking, putting the caravan in order.

"Tom," Vanessa asked that night, while he was washing up, "why'd you stay with me?"

"I couldn't leave you alone after last night," Tom said, his tone implying that there was no debate.

"No, I mean... in general. Why'd you stay with me all this time? Do you feel like you owed me, because I saved you from drowning?" she asked. "Or..." She came up with the worst thing she could think of. "Or do you just feel sorry for me?"

"No, nothing like that." Tom came round to the sofa, sat down next to her, and took her hand. "I mean, I am grateful. But there's something else too."

"What?"

It took him so long to answer that Vanessa was afraid she wouldn't like what he had to say.

"I was dumped," finally he said. "Last year. She came down here to stay with me, and then she dumped me."

"Is her name Jade?" Vanessa said, without thinking.

Tom looked at her, surprised. "Where'd you hear that?"

Oh no. Perhaps she'd made a terrible mistake. Perhaps Jade was no one and had nothing to do with Tom at all, and now he was going to know that Vanessa had been obsessing over it like a fool. "Shirley mentioned her name when I first arrived, and you were kind of... angry," she explained, flush creeping over her face. "She used to live here, right?"

"Yeah," Tom said. "But she isn't my ex. My ex's Ruth. She, uh... left me for Jade."

"Oh" was all Vanessa could say. It made so much sense now.

"We've been together since we were 15," Tom said. "Planned our whole life together. Sounds pathetic, but I really thought we would last, you know?"

Vanessa didn't know what to say. "My longest relationship lasted for two months and ended because he went back to France and ghosted me," she confessed. Pierre the putain, she and her friends had called him afterward. But at least that relationship earned her the clout of losing her virginity to a French guy. "So I wouldn't know, really. But it must've been horrible for you."

"They fucked off to Madeira together, and everybody here knew," Tom continued, his brow darkening. "That's why I didn't want to come back this year. I kept thinking about it, did I do something wrong, if only she'd said something, if only I'd asked her..." Vanessa was reminded of what he'd said the day she told him about her family. Don't expect people to read your mind. So this was where it'd come from.

"It kept playing in loops in my head 'til it drove me mad. But then I met you." He turned to her, his eyes tender, and her heart skipped a beat. "You're dealing with this fucking enormous amount of pain, and you're so brave about it..."

If only he'd known. How afraid she was, going to sleep every night not knowing if she was going to wake up, waking up every morning not knowing if it was going to be her last. How she hid behind her jokes and her nonchalant discussion of death.

"And it made me realize how pathetic my problem is." Tom gave her hand a squeeze. "While I'm with you, I don't think about Ruth much, and if I do, it doesn't hurt anymore."

He clearly meant well. And he must've come to trust her a lot, to confide in her like this. But Vanessa was hurt. Although she didn't want him to love her back, she had hoped he would like her as a friend, perhaps even miss her a little after she was gone. But to find out she was only a distraction, a way for him to forget his own heartbreak... It hurt, and she didn't know why.

"So I'm like your personal Total Perspective Vortex?" she said, finding refuge in humor as usual.

Tom was used to that by now. "Another of your references?"

"Well, I can try to relate on a human level, but it's better to do it via media," Vanessa said. Tom rolled his eyes playfully.

"Let me guess, a Doctor Who monster?"

"No, it's from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You know it?"

"'Course I do!" Tom said, putting on a show of being offended. Then he added, sheepishly, "Only saw the series once, when I was little. Don't remember much except for the green alien guy. Scared the shit out of me."

Vanessa smiled at his honesty. "It's this machine that when you step inside, it'll show you where you are in relation to the whole universe," she explained. "It gets used as a torture device, mostly."

Tom raised his eyebrow. "Did you just compare yourself to a torture device?"

"Maybe."

"Sometimes you can be a bit fucking dark, you know that?" Tom said, shaking his head at her.

"That's me, the queen of gallows humor," Vanessa grinned back, despite her fractured heart. At least she could still make him laugh.

Later that night, as he was carrying her to bed, Vanessa almost asked Tom to stay. It was so tempting in that moment, with his face close to her and her arms around his neck. But before she could open her mouth, Tom said, as if he could read her mind, "I can stay, if you want." He quickly added, "I'll sleep on the sofa. Give me a shout if you need anything."

A voice in Vanessa's mind told her she would only end up hurting herself. Another voice said it wouldn't matter anyway. It was painful to have him close, true, but it was a safe, almost pleasant kind of pain. "You wouldn't mind?"

"'No, 'course not."

"Then yes, please," she said quietly.

Tom tucked her in. "You're not a torture device, Vanessa Curran," he whispered, before dropping a kiss on her forehead.

Chapter 4

[alloftheimaginesblog]

Life Without Colour (PART FOUR)

Soulmate AU: Your vision is in black and white until you meet your soulmate. You and your boyfriend, Steve Rogers, aren’t each others soulmates but you love each other. He introduces you to his friends, the Avengers, and a very odd thing happens.

Characters: Steve Rogers x Plus Size Female Reader, Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Female Reader

Taglist:  @domainoflostsouls​  forgetthisbull  handon-h-art  yourspecialcrush  giulsgotmusic  mrsbarnes-rogers  luosymekawa  linzeyzarcone  forgetthisbull   calamityreads  talgra 

Warnings: this one takes a darker turn; trigger warnings for kidnapping, drugged, threats/slight violence, Hydra, angst

Note: this is over 6000 words, enjoy!! x

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE

PART SIX

A few weeks had passed since you first saw colour; a few weeks have passed since you and Steve talked through everything and made peace with Bucky Barnes being your soulmate which mean a few weeks have passed since you last saw or spoke to Bucky Barnes. After your 3am phone call, you hadn’t seen him. You’d told Steve about the phone call when you were both awake the next morning, telling him as much of the conversation as you could remember. He seemed fine with it, knowing about Bucky’s nightmares and erratic sleeping schedule. In fact, he appreciated the gesture that Bucky reached out to ask what you were comfortable with. What Steve appreciated more though was your honesty and the fact you were straight with Bucky and told him that you and Steve were happy together and nothing would change that.

Everything was fine with you and Steve, every issue had been ironed out and in fact, the two of you had never been closer. You were truly grateful for Steve’s forgiveness and now, the guilt had almost fully disappeared. He had helped you to heal that wound and you had helped to heal his wounds with trust; you had proved yourself to be honest and that it was just one slip up. 

Life had been good those few weeks, you spent more time with Nat and got to know about her budding relationship with Bruce. You’d seen the team a bit more than usual as well. No one else - besides Nat and Sam - knew about the soulmate fiasco and truthfully, it wasn’t their business to know anyway. Bucky hadn’t been around much, he’d called Steve a couple of times just to say that he was doing his own thing for a while as per your wishes. Steve was thankful to Bucky for providing that space even if it meant he had only seen his best friend a handful of times since he returned from Wakanda.

Things were good. Until they weren’t.

Steve and the some of the team got dragged to a mission across the country. It was a big one; Hydra were back and trying to infiltrate the systems. Brock Rumlow, or Crossbones as he referred to himself now, was after Steve and he wouldn’t stop until he got him. You didn’t really know what was happening with the mission, Steve was never allowed to tell you a lot about the missions, you just knew that it was a big one and it was dangerous. You hated when Steve was away on a mission; you hated the not knowing part of it all but you supposed it’s what you deserved for falling in love with Captain America.

You didn’t know how serious it was until you had been bringing the groceries into yours and Steve’s apartment and saw four men - three very large, hulking brutes of men - waiting for you. The scream that rose in your throat never found its way out before a gloved hand was forced over your mouth, holding a rag with something strong smelling over your mouth and nose. Brock Rumlow had you pinned in his arms, forcing you to breathe in the chemicals. You tried to fight against him as the fear radiated through your body, trying to put some of those self defence techniques that Natasha had taught you to good use but he was too strong and everything felt fuzzy around the edges. Your eyes were wide as you struggled, trying to escape, trying to scream; trying to do anything that would help to save you. Your heart pounded painfully against your ribcage and you could feel the panic set in when your vision began to blur. You could see the three men approach, weapons in hand but a gruff voice in your ear said, “Stop struggling and we won’t hurt you.” Whether you wanted to stop struggling or not wasn’t up to you but instead, the choice had been taken away and given to the substance that you were breathing in. As the darkness crept in, you heard a faint voice say, “Get Rogers on the phone now.”

Flashes of light, snippets of sound and quick seconds of vision was what you experienced for a few hours as you drifted in and out of consciousness. It wasn’t until a loud bang erupted a few rooms away that you really began to come back to life. Squinting in the low light, you blinked hard, trying to focus on something to figure out where you were. Wherever you were, it was dark and dim and it smelled faintly of the explosion of fireworks on the 5th of November.

You weren’t hurt, your neck ached from the position you’d been in for what you could only assume was the last few hours. You went to move when you realised that your hands and feet were bound. That’s when you really began to wake up. What the fuck? Your memory was hazy but you remembered Rumlow and his goons in your apartment. You pulled at your hands, trying to get loose but the bonds that tied your hands were too tight. Squinting, you looked around the room, it was dark, with a metal door and a few wooden boxes in the corner. You were sitting on a wooden chair, hands and feet bound to the arms and legs of it. 

Your mind thought of Steve, oh god, Steve. You knew this had been Rumlow’s doing, what if he had gotten to Steve? What if- what if he- No. You couldn’t think like that. Steve had been on a mission states away from you. Rumlow had come to you because he obviously couldn’t get to Steve, he was drawing Steve out and you were the bait. Steve’s going to find you, (y/n). He said he’ll always protect you and he’ll keep that promise.

The more you panicked, the more you began to struggle; trying to break free of the ropes. Your breathing was quick and ragged as you struggled, your heart rate increasing with every passing second. Tears welled in your eyes as your mind raced with the horrors of what was going to happen to you. You froze when you could hear grunting outside, it sounded close.

Fear kicked you hard in the stomach, making you feel light headed and nauseous. You’d never been this terrified before. You thought that the most you could be scared was that time a spider ran across the bed when Steve was in a shower and you had to deal with getting it out of the apartment but no, tied to a chair after being drugged and kidnapped with explosions and not knowing what the fuck was going on... yeah, that’s a whole new level of fear. You tried to slow your breathing as you strained to listen to the commotion outside of the room you occupied. You could hear grunts and what sounded like punches before the metal door of the room was thrown open and there stood Sam Wilson. A sob got caught in your throat as you saw him.

He pressed his earpiece as he rushed to you, kneeling to help untie you, “I got her, Steve. Second floor, take a right, fifth door down. She’s okay.”

“Oh my god,” you sobbed as relief flooded your senses, “Oh my god, Sam!”

Sam murmured words of comfort as he worked on the ropes that bounded you to the chair, “It’s okay, they’re not gonna hurt you. We’ve got you now.”

He managed to get the last one untied when Steve ran into the room. He wore his Captain America gear sans the mask and carried the shield. As soon as he saw you, he tossed his shield to the side and rushed to your aid. Sam stepped to the side, picking up the shield and playing around with it as he allowed you two a moment to reunite. He was muttering about how the shield was much lighter than it looked.

“Steve,” you whimpered, throwing your arms around your boyfriend and allowing him to pull you up. He held you tightly, breathing heavy into your neck.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered into your ear, pressing a kiss to your neck, “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

“Sorry to interrupt but we gotta move,” Sam said after a minute, “before we get any more company.”

“Are you okay to walk?” Steve asks you, pulling you back to look at you, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” you say, wiping your eyes, “Tired but I can make it.”

The three of you hurry out, Steve tells you not to look at the bodies on the floor but you do and you instantly regret it. “Are they-”

“Knocked out,” Sam says, answering your question before you finish it, “but won’t be for long so we gotta hurry.”

Everything’s a bit of a blur as Steve and Sam usher you out, careful to take you the safest and quickest path. You feel queasy after seeing the blood and the carnage of the few HYDRA men so your eyes are trained to the ground until Steve has you safe and sitting in the quinjet. 

Steve doesn’t let go of you, always touching or holding onto you in some way or another. You’re silent as Sam begins to fly the jet. Steve’s talking to you but you can’t focus on anything other than his hand in yours, “I’m tired,” you whisper, “I’m so tired.” You lay your head on Steve’s shoulder and darkness quickly encapsulates you.

You gasp awake, jolting upwards, “Whoa, (y/n), it’s okay!” A voice says quickly, “You’re okay, you’re safe remember. It’s Steve, sweetheart; it’s Steve. Look at me, (y/n).”

Your mind whirs, the tendrils of the nightmare still creeping around in your brain. Hands on your face force your eyes to stop fleeting from wall to wall and instead focus on the person in front of you. Steve stares at you, telling you that everything’s okay and that you’re safe now. Steve’s hands are on either side of your face as he makes you look at him. You blink hard, as your eyes struggle to focus on him. You hear the rapid beeping of the machine and you register that it’s your measuring your heartrate. His face finally sharpens and you can see him properly now.

“Slow breath in, sweetheart. You’re safe, I promise you. Copy me.” Steve takes a deep breath and you follow suit, trying to calm the rapid beating of your heart. Steve repeats to you that you’re in hospital and you’re safe, “No one can hurt you in here.”

You look away from him after a few seconds to look around you and sure enough, you are in hospital. The walls are pure white, too white and you’re in the hospital bed, “How did I get here?”

“We got you and you passed out again, I took you here just to make sure that whatever drug they gave you was out of your system. It’s leaving so you’ll be okay, sweetheart.” He brushes your hair back, “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t ever want to be an Avenger, I know that’s for damn sure,” you mutter as you close your eyes and fall back against the pillows, “How you guys deal with the fear is beyond me.”

Steve smiles but it’s sad. You open one eye, “What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head, “Don’t worry about it. You get some rest and I’ll be right here, (y/n). I’m not going anywhere. Doctors want to keep you in overnight just to make sure it’s all out your system, okay? I’m going to wait by your side all night and don’t worry, we have agents at every door in the hospital.”

“Rumlow?” You asked him, voice trembling, “Where’s he?” 

“SHIELD are closing in on him, sweetheart,” he sighs, stroking your hair back gently, “Don’t worry... He can’t get you in here.”

As Steve looked over you as you slept, Sam came into the room, “Coffee delivery.” Steve sipped at the hot coffee happily, “How is she?”

“Had a nightmare about it but she’s okay. She’s scared.” Steve’s eyes were trained on you as though we were watching a newborn infant to check its breathing, “God, what if we hadn’t found her in time?”

“But we did and we got her out. She’s safe, Steve.”

Steve shook his head, “But for how long?” He asked as he rubbed his face tiredly with one hand, “How long before Rumlow or HYDRA or someone else targets (y/n) to get to me?”

Sam swallows, “What are you thinking then?”

“She has to go somewhere safe, somewhere away from the chaos and the danger.”

“How long?”

Steve shrugs, “I don’t know... At least until we know all of Rumlow and his men are locked up.”

“You’ll go with her?”

It’s a big decision and he knows that you should be involved in it but he knows exactly what you’ll say; you’ll say that you want to stay with him and stay by his side even if it means living in terror of every bump in the night. He had been reckless, Steve had thought he was untouchable, he thought that you would’ve been safe but Steve underestimated the lengths these sorts of guys go to in order to win.

He shakes his head, hating the decision that he’s about to make but it’s for the best. It’s the only thing he knows that will protect you; it’s the only way he’s happy with you leaving, “No... but I know someone who will.”

Sam shakes his head, knowing exactly who he means and he raises his eyebrows, “You’re kidding, right? That’s a stupid decision, Steve, and you know it.”

Steve scoffs, “I wish... but... he’s strong, he’s good in a fight and I know that he’ll protect her no matter what.”

“But what if... what if they... you know?”

Steve takes a breath and releases it slowly, “Then I’ll deal with that when the time comes. I need to keep (y/n) safe and this is the only way...”

Sam’s hand is heavy on Steve’s shoulder as they watch you, “She’s not gonna like that decision.”

Steve laughs, knowing fine well that you will fight against the decision for all its worth, “Oh, yeah, I know. Probably won’t forgive me in a hurry either.” Steve stands up, “Will you watch her so I can go make a phone call? I’ll just be outside the door if you need me.”

Sam nods, taking Steve’s seat, as Steve grabs his phone from his jacket, dialling one number. He waits outside the room, just across from the two agents that Fury had placed outside of (y/n)’s hospital room 24/7.

“Steve?” He’d been sleeping, the one time Bucky Barnes is getting a decent sleep and his phone rings and wakes him. He always answers when it’s Steve though, regardless of the time or where he is.

“Hey, Buck... I need to ask you a favour.” Bucky asks what Steve needs and Steve begins to tell him, “Rumlow and HYDRA are after me. They kidnapped (y/n), she’s okay, in hospital but no injuries. She’s shaken up pretty bad and... Bucky, this is going to be a big ask.”

“Whatever you need, Steve, I’ll do.” He’s sitting, tugging a shirt on with one arm,  “What do you need?” Bucky Barnes would go to the ends of the Earth for Steve Rogers and he knows that whatever Steve needs, it’s something big.

“I need you to take her to a safe house.” Bucky freezes, he had expected Steve to ask him to come help for extra protection or something like that but this... this is huge, “I need you to take her. I don’t know how long for, a few weeks maybe months? No one else, it can only be you.”

“But... Steve...” He doesn’t say much but Steve knows what he’s saying. But Steve, I’m your girlfriend’s soulmate and you’re asking for me to take her into a secluded house alone? Just the two of us for god knows how long? Are you sure that’s a good idea?

Steve sighs heavily, “I know, Buck.” His tone almost sounds defeated, “I know... We were finally back on track and the universe hits out with this... I just need her to be safe, Buck, regardless of who he soulmate is or who she ends up falling in love with; I want her to be happy and I want her to be safe.”

“Why can’t you go?”

“They’re after me, I can’t let you or Sam or the team pick up my mess. I have to deal with it. That’s why I need you to go with her. You’re just as strong as me and... I know that you’ll keep her safe. I know that whatever happens, you’ll do everything you can to protect her... I need you to take her until we have Hydra locked up.”

Bucky licks his lips as he thinks about it. He doesn’t really know how to feel about it but he doesn’t really have to, Steve needs him and he’d follow that scrawny kid into the depths of hell if it mean he’d be helping him, “Okay, I’ll help. I’ll need a few days to find a safe house and get it prepped then I’ll fly out, okay?” He agrees to Steve’s ask though he has a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that all of this won’t go to plan. 

“Thank you, Bucky.” Steve closes his eyes as he leans against the wall, “You can’t tell me or anyone else where you’re going or where you’re taking her. I probably won’t be able to contact you so-” I’m leaving you with my girl alone with no contact from me or the team for weeks or months potentially, “- you gotta keep her safe. I’ve got some cash together for you to buy everything with that so you’re untraceable. Fury’s giving us more cash since we don’t know how long you’ll be away for.”

Bucky swears on his own life that he’d protect you with everything he has. Before Steve hangs up, Bucky says, “Steve, I just want you to know that no matter what happens... no matter what feelings arise... I won’t- I won’t do anything, I won’t act on anything, I won’t try and do anything about them...”

It’s the reassurance Steve needs and he feels a lot lighter now that Bucky’s said that. He smiles as he release a long breath, “I know you won’t, Bucky. I’ll see you soon.” Steve hangs up and walks back into the hospital room where Sam has Marvin Gaye playing quietly on his phone, “Do you just play Marvin Gaye to anyone in a hospital?”

Sam rolls his eyes, “It was too quiet, man! How did it go?”

“He’s onboard.”

Sam claps him on the shoulder, “You sure this is what you want? You know that I could take her or you could and I could hold the fort?”

Steve sighs, “It has to be him.” He shrugs, “I... I can only hope that nothing happens but god knows... All I know is that she’ll be okay with him.” The pair look over you as Steve’s thoughts swirl. This might be one of the last times you’re together in a romantic sense, he doesn’t know if you’ll come back loving Bucky or hating him and it makes him feel sick at the thought but he’s okay with it. He wants you to be happy and if that means it’s with Buck, then so be it.

“Absolutely not.”

“(y/n), come on-”

“No, Steve!” Your voice is raising due to the sheer stupidity of his request, “You’re saying that because you’re being targeted that means I’m a target too, I understand that, but what I don’t understand is why you’re asking me to go live in a safe house with Bucky for god knows how long! He’s my soulmate, Steve, I- I can’t.”

“The plans have already been made.”

“Then unmake them!” You’re angry and he gets it and to be honest, he doesn’t want this to happen either but it has to. He’d told you the next morning when the drugs were completely out of your system. Sam was back at the apartment checking for bugs, just in case Rumlow’s gang planted some when they were in and then he’d take you back to the apartment for you to pack a bag, “I’m not going Steve.”

“Yes, you are.” He crosses his arms over his chest and looks at you with a furrowed brow. He understands that you’re an adult who can decide their own fate but Steve is choosing this one for you, “You might not understand right now but when you come out the other end of this safe then I hope you’ll understand then.”

You shake your head as tears threaten to fall. You’re angry at Steve, that he made this decision and you knew you would be going no matter what fight you put up. It annoyed you, made you feel small and made you feel like a child who couldn’t make their own decisions, “Not without you, Steve. Why can’t it be you?”

“I’m trying to keep the fight away from you,” he says softly, hand on top of yours, “Bucky’s the only way you’ll be kept safe.” Silence falls for a moment before he speaks again, “I know what this means. I know what this could mean for... for us. I know that you could come back in love with Bucky and he for you. I know that you could come back and break up with me on the spot... That’s a risk I am willing to take.”

You shake your head, “No,” you whisper, “I’m not willing to take that risk, Steve.” You could trust yourself, that wasn’t the issue. You knew that no matter what, you wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise your relationship with Steve. But... you and Bucky were soulmates and that had to be for a reason and it worried you that being alone with him for an unlimited amount of time would cause something to stir. You trusted yourself not to cheat on Steve but you didn’t trust your heart not to hurt Steve.

Steve crouched down beside the hospital bed and lifted your hand to his lips, “I know, sweetheart,” tears burned at his own eyes as he spoke to you, “I know the risk. I know that you could come back and we could break up instantly and if you want, we could break up right now so that whatever happens, you wouldn’t have to feel guilty about it-”

You swung your legs out of the bed, throwing your arms around him, “No,” you wept sadly into his shoulder, “that’s the last thing I want.”

He held you tightly, knowing that this very well could be one of the last times that the two of you had together in a relationship, “I’m doing this because I want to protect you, (y/n)… Bucky can protect you.”

“I-I love you, Steve,” you whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his neck. My god, how you loved him. He had changed your life, brought so much joy and happiness to it, “No matter what, I love you.” The two of you stayed like that for a long time, just needing to feel each other and needing to be with each other because... who knew what would happen over the course of the next few months?

With doctors granting you permission to leave the hospital and after having Sam debug the apartment, Steve took you home for your last night with him. The car ride to the apartment was quiet and your hand never left Steve’s as he drove you both home. You had relented with the decision, knowing full well that regardless of whether you said yes or no to leaving with Bucky, you would be going anyway. You and Steve had talked things over, about Steve’s duty to the job and to taking down Hydra, about Bucky and how he wasn’t going to overstep a line with you or anything like that. The pair of you spoke about the non-existent contact you’d have.

“Hopefully it won’t be too long,” Steve said, “maybe just a few weeks but these days, Hydra is everywhere and nowhere all in the one, it could be months. Bucky managed to find a safe house relatively quick. For obvious reasons, I don’t know where it is or what continent it’s on but he said that it’s secluded and it’s safe. He said that it comes with minimal furniture so tomorrow morning, you’ll leave.” You squeezed his hand tightly, not wanting to speak for fear of bursting into tears. Steve glanced over at you and gave you the tiniest of smiles. He lifted your hand and pressed a soft kiss to it.

When you reached the apartment complex, there were three black SUVs parked out front, Steve saw you looking, “SHIELD agents,” he told you, “We’ll have agents outside the apartment and one in each of our neighbour’s apartments.”

“Jeez,” you murmured, “I’m only here for one night, it’s like I’m a bloody Kardashian.”

Steve smiled slightly, glad to hear you make a joke, he wrapped an arm around you as you walked into the building, “Only the best for you, my love.”

You were rather apprehensive about going back into the apartment. It had been yours and Steve’s safe place and now... it seemed compromised almost. Steve seemed to pick up on your worry, “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said as he took the keys out of his pocket, “It’s been cleaned, debugged and also...” He unlocked the door to reveal red rose petals running from the front door into each room.

“Steve,” you whispered, looking at him with a smile. You walked into the apartment, hanging your coat up and kicking your shoes off. You followed the petals into the kitchen where there was a candlelit dinner waiting for the two of you.

“It’s not much but I had Nat come round and make it special since it’s our last night together.” Note; ‘last night together’ is different from ‘last night together for a while’. A pang of sadness shot through you, you leaned up to kiss him softly, whispering that you loved it.

“There’s a bath waiting for you if you want it. Some Chinese takeout if you’re hungry.”

You hugged him tightly, “Just hold me for a while.” So, the pair of you stood in the kitchen, holding each other in the dim light not knowing what would happen next. 

It was a few minutes later Steve tugged you to the kitchen table where you both sat down, “You remember our first night here?” He asked you as he handed you some take out cartons and began to eat.

You stifled a laugh, “Yeah, no electricity for three days and no hot water either!”

Steve laughed with you, taking a fork full of chow mein, “Yeah, having to eat Chinese take out on the floor with torches and candles all around us. Could’ve cried when the electricity finally turned on.”

You rolled your eyes, “You could have cried?! What the hell, Rogers? You teared up like you were watching your first born son marry!” 

The ice had been broken and the two of you could freely talk and laugh without boundaries. You both carried on as though it were a normal night, a date night with no mention As the night went on, you had a nice romantic bath as Steve cleaned the dishes and when you were finished, things ended in the bedroom.

You always loved laying on his chest, listening to the slow rhythmic beat of his heart and his steady breathing. Most people, if they knew it was their last night with someone would probably fuck until dawn but neither of you wanted that. You wanted nothing more than to lie with him, talking and just being there and being present. Steve wanted to hold you, wanted to tell you how much he cared and loved you and he just wanted to be with you.

“Whatever happens,” you said softly, “I just want you to know that this was real; this is real - that although we’re technically not soulmates, I truly believe that we are.”

Steve pulled you tighter into him, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “I want you to know,” he said, “that no matter what feelings you start to have for Bucky, no matter how you feel towards me in the end up... I won’t blame you. I won’t expect you to love me like this on the other side. I won’t expect you to still want to be with me. I know that I’m forcing you into this situation and that kills me to do but I have to do it so whatever happens, it’s not your fault.”

You look up to him as you both whisper your confessions of undying love before kissing him gently. It’s a soft kiss, full of emotion and full of such sorrow. It’s a goodbye. You would say goodbye officially tomorrow but this was the real goodbye, this was the intimate goodbye, the letting go of the intertwined hearts and this was it. The kiss soon turned more passionate and then the two of you were confessing your love in the most intimate of ways.

“How are you feeling about all of this?” Natasha asked you as she sat on yours and Steve’s bed. You were in the process of packing your bags.

“I feel like I’m perpetually on the verge of tears,” you answered, as you folded some t-shirts and squeezed them into the bag, “It’s hard, you know? I understand why but my god, Nat, I hate this.”

Nat studied you carefully and you knew the question that was on her mind. What if you fall for Barnes? To be honest, it had been the question on everyone’s mind that morning.

“I’m shit scared,” you admitted to her, dropping the bag onto the bed beside her as you ran your hands through your hair, “I am terrified. I am so in love with Steve and what if I come back madly in love with Bucky? Or better yet, in love with the two of them?”

Nat stood up, placing a gentle hand on your arm, “Hey, whatever happens, it’s going to be okay. You can’t stress about something that might not even happen. You have to take it day by day and if you fall for him then so be it. If you don’t, great. If you’re in love with the two of them then that’s something you and Steve have to talk about and sort out when you’re back. Don’t stress about it now.” She pulled you in for a tight hug, a very un-Nat thing to do, “Just know that I’ll be helping Steve sort out the Hydra mess, I’ll keep his ass safe and in line and hopefully it won’t be too long before you’re allowed to come home.”

“Thanks, Nat.” The two of you pulled apart, “You’ll need to keep a diary or something to update me on everything I’ll miss... especially with you and a certain Dr Banner.” You placed your phone on top of the counter, you couldn’t take it for fear of tracking so there was no point in having it. You sighed as you placed it down.

Nat rolled her eyes, “Yeah right. Let’s get this wig sorted.”

The Avengers were never too good at disguises, it usually always consisted of sunglasses and a cap so, in order to hide your identity further, Nat had brought you a wig the opposite colour, cut and style to your hair just now and some contact lenses of a different colour to your natural eye colour.

After a few minutes, you looked in the mirror, staring at someone who looked like a stranger, “Oh god, I hate it.” The top you wore wasn’t at all flattering for your body type. You tugged it down, wishing that it wasn’t quite so figure hugging. You didn’t mind things that clung to your body, you’d worked through a lot of the body issues you had but the top was a horrid colour and paired with this hair and these contacts... you didn’t feel like a Kardashian anymore. 

Nat laughed, “That means it works. Honestly, you look fine, stop worrying... Let’s go show the boys.”

You walked into the living room with your packed bags to see Sam and Steve standing talking. Steve smiled when he looked at you, “You look... interesting.”

“Shut it, Rogers.”

“I mean, it definitely works because I look at you and I don’t see (y/n), I see a complete stranger,” Sam offered.

“You ready?” Steve asked softly, taking the bags from you, “Got everything?” You nodded, murmuring a ‘think so’. He smiled and pulled an envelope out of his back pocket, “I wrote this letter this morning. I want you to read it when it’s time...” Your confused expression made him explain further, “I want you to read this letter when you start to feel things... things for Bucky. If that happens.” You took a breath, mind whirring with the possible things that could be in that letter,  “You’ll know when to read it.”

It was then that there was a knock on the door. Sam answered it to see Bucky Barnes standing wearing a cap and, you guessed it, sunglasses. He wore leather gloves to cover his metal hand and carried a bag over his shoulder. He lifted the sunglasses to look at you, “Ready?”

Oh god, it’s happening.

“I don’t want to cry because I’m scared of the contact lenses,” you whimpered as tears threatened to fall. You hugged Nat and Sam, thanking them for their help, before Steve said that he’d walk out with you both. He picked up your bags and the three of you left the apartment to the black car that was outside. Bucky packed the three bags in the trunk before hugging Steve.

You couldn’t hear what the two of them said in the brief encounter but you supposed that it would be Bucky reassuring Steve that you’d be safe and that he wouldn’t act on any feelings that may grow. Steve clapped him on the shoulder and Bucky got into the driver’s seat of the car.

Steve turned to you and wrapped you in his arms. God, you just wanted to cry. You wished that you didn’t have to go, you wished that you could just stay with him but you couldn’t. You had to leave. They’d already gotten to you once and Steve wouldn’t dare let it happen again.

“I love you,” you told him softly, “I love you so much, Steve. I-I love you.”

He held you tighter, “I love you, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll get this sorted so that you can come home to me.” You pulled back and he brushed your cheek, wiping your tear gently, “No matter what happens, it’s okay.” You hugged him again before he leaned down and kissed you softly. Bucky, who had been watching in the rear view mirror, looked away, “Goodbye, (y/n).”

“Goodbye, Steve.” He opened your car door and you slid inside.

“Thank you, Buck,” Steve said, clearing his throat, “Be safe.” He closed the door and Bucky started the engine, pulling out of the apartment complex. Your eyes were trained on the spot where Steve was, watching as he got smaller and smaller until you couldn’t see him anymore. It was only when he was out of sight that you allowed yourself to really break. Fuck the contact lenses, I’m too sad to care. 

Bucky glanced at you as he drove, feeling a pang of sadness for you as you wept in the seat beside him. He knew that part of the reason you were so upset was because it was him that was taking you, had he not been your soulmate you would have probably been okay but because he was your soulmate, it filled you to the brim with worry, guilt and pure sadness. All he could do was drive. Nothing he could say could help you. He reached to his side, taking a pack of tissues from the door’s compartment before handing them to you.

“Thank you,” you whispered, taking them from him. He couldn’t do much to help but he had done enough to make you feel comforted and to make you feel as though you weren’t alone. You wiped your eyes as you stared out of the window, wondering where the next few weeks would take you.

[betweentheheavesofstorm]

i keep thinking i’m done beating this dead horse but no, because i’ve now read an interview with Kester Grant that explains, Well, a Lot.

 I’m also pissing myself because on her Agent’s site bio, she’s listed as being born on December 5, “alongside notorious British rebel Guy Fawkes” which strongly suggests that SOMEONE involved thought Guy Fawkes was born on November 5.

I then looked at her About page on her own website, where the note is “Death-day of notorious British rebel Guy Fawkes celebrated annually in the UK by giant morbidly ironic bonfire's & firework displays” which is ALSO wrong because he wasn’t even brought to trial till the following January ?? the fireworks commemorate the gunpowder plot aka the actual thing that happened on the 5th of november ohh my god  kester grant use wikipedia challenge 

Anyway, this is gonna be a Long Post, so I’m gonna put the quotes + commentary under the cut:

Firstly, Marius DID appear in an initial draft, only to be deleted later:

He was present in the first draft of the book when I sold it to the publishing house and I just struggled every time I had to write a scene with him. All the scenes with Marius and Enjolras St. Juste (it was Marius originally as well as St. Juste, and St. Juste was just a secondary character) and I was saying to my husband ‘if only I could write this scene with just St. Juste it would be 3 million times better’ [...] So I said to my editor, “listen, could I cut Marius?” and she said “absolutely!” and everything was just three million times better and now we just have St. Juste who became the amazing star that he is and I love him.

so we did get Marjolas, just the other way round than we normally do. 

On her writing process:

I had the idea for The Court Of Miracles and I wrote it in six weeks to apply for a competition called Pitch Wars where you get mentored by two published authors and then at the end of the mentorship of two months they help you edit it.

Really? Written in six weeks? you certainly couldn’t tell...

Then, when asked about research:

I started to do research on a 48 hour flight from the States to where I live now in Mauritius [...] So I had this raging fever and I had a million tabs open on my computer and I was just eating the history of Paris, from this origin all the way through to Napoleon’s fall. And taking notes and getting ideas.

honestly her having a fever while doing the research suddenly means EVERYTHING makes sense 

On how she came up with the Guilds:

Then I went online to see what kinds of crimes there are and I looked up laws. I had a whole list of different crimes and said ‘okay, we can split these into guilds’ and then I thought if you’re two young girls living in a criminal world, who is the most terrifying criminal?’ and obviously it would be the human trafficker. So automatically I was like ‘okay that’s your big bad guy. That’s your Shere Khan’.

what kind of crimes there are

Being in the first person is interesting because I don’t normally write in the first person. Being of a certain age, I’m 35, everything I’ve ever read in England was written in the third person, but I knew I was writing a young adult book, or at least one bordering on young adult, so I had been advised to write in the first person, which I hated. It was completely unnatural to me but I think it’s worked very well for Nina. [bolding mine]

once again, you definitely can’t tell that she hates the first person !! not at all!! also that’s definitely not the sort of thing you should say in an interview?!

I have since been told, from my best friend and all of my siblings, that Nina is actually like me and of course it was easy to write her because she does what I would do.

ohoho it’s self-insert o’clock! and, as Briar pointed out, it’s just a wild coincidence that her self-insert is also universally beloved by the Hot Young Men of the novel. (Not that in fic I’m against self-inserts - but once again, this is published !) 

There’s going to be two sequels [to The Court Of Miracles] so there might *hint hint*, be a bit of jealousy or triangles or things between [Ettie and Nina]

personally i’m delighted by this! we already have a love square, what is it gonna become? a tetrahedron? is the dauphin gonna suddenly fall for Cosette? or Montparnasse, or Enjolras St. Juste????

Nina, if pushed a certain way, if she allowed herself to go a certain way, could easily become very similar to [Kaplan, the villain]. I’m not saying she would become a human trafficker but Nina is basically a walking PTSD case. She’s like Batman! She’s like Samuel Vimes in Ankh-Morpork [in Discworld]!

nina is like batman. right, got it.

Originally the book had the history of Paris by the Dead Lord in between every single chapter and I think it was a bit too weighty and a bit boring in places. So my editor said ‘let’s scrap that’ and I said ‘okay but then I’m going to put the short stories in’. 

you know, her editor dropped the ball in a lot of places, but at least they got rid of that, because I was skim reading the folk story bits as it was

I have another book coming out next year, it’s basically like The Jungle Book but on speed.

this is the bit that made me almost spit peppermint tea everywhere because who the fuck describes their own work like that

and finally, last but not at all least, here’s her overview of the French Revolution:

I mean the nobles [in The Court Of Miracles] were always monstrous in a way but they have become 100 times worse because they saw what the people of France were about to do to them. Which historically, the people of France, the revolutionaries, led the terror – they murdered everyone right left and centre! Then of course the revolutionaries famously turned on their own.

There was terrible suffering that led to the revolution but the revolutionaries were all mental. They literally murdered each other because they were so paranoid! Robespierre got rid of the Roman Catholic Religion entirely and then invented his own religion! Look it up its called the Cult Of The Supreme Being!

Then there were three guys who had joint power who were supposed to form an equal government. One of them rose to power and his name was Napoleon and he became a dictator. Although he was a dictator who took over almost all of the world, the people of France loved him. [Then] the people of France themselves in a strange turn of events turned on him in the end and betrayed him. Otherwise, he might still have been in power for years and years. And Napoleon is a big feature in Books Two and Three… just saying…

napoleon!! we’re getting NAPOLEON in the next two i am so genuinely excited because I have no fucking idea what she’s gonna do 

[leiasfanaccount648]

Pointe Before You Shoot [12]

Single Dad!Tom x Dance Teacher!Reader (Mob!AU)

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Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings/Contains: Fluff, car crash/explosion, mention of alcohol but no one’s actually drinking, also the chapter takes place on Guy Fawkes Night/Bonfire Night which is a UK holiday that I personally don’t know much about so I went off of what I found online on how people celebrate it. 

November 5th, 2021

Apart from her birthday, Bonfire Night was Kayla’s favorite day of the year. She’d get to go to her grandparents and see her uncles, watch fireworks go off all over the neighborhood, and best of all, eat s’mores all night long. Maybe her father would let her light a sparkler this year.

When Tom picked her up from school, he wasn’t surprised to see her run to the car with a huge grin on her face. She opened the car door, quickly getting in her carseat. “Come on, dad! We have to go get stuff for tonight!”

She clearly didn’t want to waste any time. After all, it was only 3pm and they needed to get to her grandparents by 5.

Tom chuckled, putting the car in drive so they could go to the store for a few last minute things before heading home. As he and Kayla walked around the store, he got a fun idea. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, opening up Instagram.

When it came to his fans and social media platforms, Tom kept most things about Kayla between him and his family as well as close friends. Everyone knew she existed, mostly because many news stations/articles covered the court cases and what had gone down, but they still didn’t know the full story like Tom did.

About a week after the court cases were finished and finalized, Tom had posted about Kayla on all social media he had and explained what he was willing to share at least, whatever wasn’t covered by the news already. Again, he only wanted what was best for her.

Tom slid his phone screen to the side, opening the camera so he could post to his story. He only posted about/of Kayla every now and then and he figured why not? He started recording as Kayla scanned over the bags of chips, trying to decide which one they should get. She wanted this Bonfire Night to be better than the others by having everything be perfect.

“So, Kayla and I are out getting stuff for Guy Fawkes tonight, and we need to do whatever we can to make the night perfect, right darling?” Tom turned the camera around to show Kayla still looking over the bags of various types of chips and pretzels.

Kayla nodded. “Yep!” She grabbed two different bags, placing them in the cart. “I know you and uncle Harry like these.”

Tom smiled. “And for Sam and Paddy?”

Kayla looked back over the chips, biting her lip in thought. “I don’t know what they’d like.”

Tom laughed, stopping the recording and putting his phone in his pocket. “You know, they actually prefer these over anything else.” He kneeled down next to her to grab two bags of a certain brand of pretzels that were almost right in front of her.

Kayla read over the label, memorizing it quickly before nodding. “Got it!” She grabbed the bags from his hands, putting them in the cart.

Tom stood, unable to keep himself from grinning. She really was growing up and he didn’t want her to do so too quickly. He pulled his phone back out to post the video to his Instagram story before following Kayla down the aisle, cart in hand.

When they walked down one of the frozen food aisles, it was completely empty apart from him and Kayla as Tom looked over the various types of ice cream cones and popsicles. Kayla on the other hand was distracted, looking down the long and empty aisle she was in.

She didn’t know why, but she got the sudden urge to start dancing down it. She took a step away from her father, going to the center at the end of the aisle she was at. Prepping her feet, arms, and legs as she remembered Y/N had told her to before starting to do the piqué turns she had been taught to do in her ballet class. She was able to do 5 before losing her spot halfway through the 6th turn, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.

At this point, Tom had turned his attention to his daughter as he heard her fall, shocked to see her almost halfway down the aisle at this point. He walked over to her, helping her up. “Kayla what were you doing?” He was worried that she had gotten hurt but she was simply laughing.

“I was doing the turns Miss Y/N taught me!” She walked back over to where the cart still was and got in her prepping position for the turns. “You wanna see?”

Tom watched her, smiling to himself. “Absolutely.” She was really loving dance so much that she had already started wanting to turn/leap down grocery aisles. He remembered when he used to do that every now and then. He stood back up, pulling his phone back out and opening the camera so he could record her. “Alright, go ahead.”

Kayla looked down the aisle, choosing to spot the sign hanging at the other end of it. She started to do her turns, making sure that her turning leg never bent and her passé leg stayed pointed and turned out.

Tom watched her in awe, proud of how far she was coming along after only 2 months of classes. And at her age nonetheless.

Kayla felt herself begin to lose her spot again and decided that she should land the one she was currently on. She was a little shaky, briefly forgetting how to land it, but she did nonetheless. She wasn’t counting but she had done almost 7 turns this time. She grinned, running over to her father. “How many turns did I do?”

Tom put his phone back in his pocket, bending down to pick up his daughter and hold her on his hip. “I wasn’t counting, but I’m so proud of you, darling.” He kissed her cheek, making her giggle and give him a hug.

“Thanks dad.”

~      ~      ~

Later that night, Tom and Kayla had made it to Nikki and Dom’s, Kayla having to remind Tom to get Tessa in the car since the two of them were in a little bit of a rush to get there on time; per Kayla’s request so that they didn’t miss out on anything by getting there late.

Tom had already posted the video of Kayla turning in the store on his Instagram but he still showed it to his brothers, parents, and any other family that had shown up. He was so proud of her that he wanted to show everyone what she was accomplishing.

Nikki herself was personally more proud of Tom than Kayla at this moment. He had slowly been getting better with letting her grow up and do as she pleases, but that’s why they’re called baby steps.

As the night went on, Kayla had enjoyed her time around the bonfire as she watched her twin uncles struggle to light and keep burning and the fireworks up above. Tom had even let her light her first ever sparkler, with his supervision and his hand holding hers that held it.

At one point during the night, while Tom was talking to Harry, Paddy had taken Kayla out to the front yard for a few minutes to see the fireworks that the neighbors across the street were doing, claiming they were amazing.

They were sitting on the lawn, Paddy listening to one of Kayla’s dance stories, when a car screech was heard down the street. It was loud and ear piercing, making Kayla cover her ears. Paddy instinctively took one of Kayla’s hands, standing so he could take her inside.

Instead she stayed put as a car sped drove down the street and crashed at the end of it where the lamppost was. She couldn’t help but watch the scene unfold, almost entranced by it. She had never seen anything like this before and it scared her, yet at the same time, she just couldn’t look away.

Tom had rushed to the front yard once he heard the car, his mind thinking the worst. He felt the tension leave as he saw Kayla and Paddy standing in the yard and staring at the car crash at the end of the street. The car had by now caught fire and there seemed to be no effort of the driver getting out of it.

Tom picked Kayla up, holding her close so that she couldn’t see the wreckage anymore. Tom on the other hand had watched the car, noticing that the neighbors across the street were calling the police as they all stood in their garage. He had first thought that it was a drunk driver, something that wasn’t uncommon during the yearly Bonfire Night, but he knew he was wrong once he saw someone finally exit the vehicle with what appeared to be a briefcase in hand.

His eyes never left the person as the car suddenly blew up, setting aflame even more, and fireworks had gone off the next street over. Kayla squealed in fear, holding onto her father even tighter, but he was still focused on the person running away from the car.

The person ran under the lamppost on the other side of the street and Tom immediately recognized them as the person looked back at the car, but met Tom’s gaze in the process.

“Y/N?”

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© copyright leiasfanaccount648 2022

[tsukkinoko]

001.

Hello,

Everyone is experiencing the current global pandemic differently. Many businesses have come to a screeching halt (and therefore, the hustle and bustle people's lives, too). Other sectors (like mine) have only gotten busier. Though, now that there is this moment of lull—of what feels like the calm before an even bigger storm—I have more time to reflect.

As I slowly run out of things to do, I start to look for things to fill up my time. Revisiting my love for writing, I thought it would be a great idea to spend the next few weeks practicing with writing prompts.

My favourite childhood vacation:

My favourite childhood vacation would probably be the four months I spent in Vancouver with my sister, aunt and uncle.

Actually, it didn’t really feel like a vacation. It just felt like a summer spent with my “second parents”.

I loved everything about going there and have longed to visit again since. 

I hope you enjoy reading my writing as much I enjoyed putting my thoughts down in pen. If you have any advice on getting better with my writing, please message me! I would love to listen to your thoughts.

Short read | 731 words  

I just finished grade 5 in the early summer of 2007...

In the beginning of 5th grade, I finally got into the groove of living in a new country. I could understand and speak English better. I was slowly getting the hang of how French worked. I even made some friends. On the last day of school, the "social high" of finally feeling like I belonged, came crashing down with one sentence: "You and your sister are going to Vancouver this summer, your flight is next week," mom said.

"Vancouver?" I thought, "But I've already made plans with my friends!" Being the eldest, I kept my mouth shut and forced a smile. I cried myself to sleep that night.

The day before we left, I spent the day talking to my friends on MSN. “I hate my mom,” I thought, “Why didn’t she tell me sooner?” I look out the window of our apartment, the grim weather reflecting my mood.

The truth was, I was excited to go. I haven’t seen my aunt and uncle since we moved away. But it was all too soon. I wasn’t mentally prepared and was more worried about missing out on a summer spending time with my friends.

My sister and I boarded the plane. It was our first trip without our parents. After my first experience on a plane, I wasn’t too fond of the idea of using flight as a mode of transportation. They knew my fear of flying.

Thoughtfully, my aunt and uncle went through great lengths to make sure we got the best of the best. We had a flight attendant regularly checking on us; a $50 allowance for any candy/drinks/snacks; we even got seats next to the window! 

The four-hour flight was doable for my flight-sensitive body. “I didn’t need to sleep or run to the bathroom, so that’s a plus,” I thought. I look over to my right. My sister was immersed in Disney film. Seeing she was busy, I carefully unravel my earbuds from my iPod and look out the window. It was a peaceful sunset behind the Rocky Mountains. Gentle shades of orange, pink, and purple glimmer softly against the snowy peaks as we near our destination. With Beyoncé Knowles and Marc Nelson quietly singing, “After All is Said and Done” into my ears, I begin to think more positively about the trip ahead of me. 

And I’m glad I did. My positivity from this trip carried into my adulthood. It taught me a lot.

I learned about so many different foods. Gelato. Sushi. Marbled Ice Cream. Breaded Calamari. Chocolate milk in plastic jugs. It was astonishing how different the way of life in the West Coast was. 

I walked everywhere. Swam in the beach. Watched fireworks on a weekly basis. Took evening strolls through Stanley Park. Ate a different cuisine every day. Learned to make cake and (really sugary) icing. I bravely crossed the Capilano Suspension Bridge and went tree trekking. Bought so much random trinkets at the Night Market. Took my first Ferry boat. Saw the Rocky Mountains up close. Played Runescape. Learned to make castles and buildings out of cut Styrofoam. Ran up and down flights of stairs in a 30-story building because I can. Had my first period and dealt with it like a champ. (AKA: Ran to my aunt in tears asking if we could go to the hospital because I was so distraught from vaginal bleeding.)

I know I missed a lot while I was in Vancouver. My youngest sister was born a few weeks before we came back (but I got to name her, so it’s alright? I guess?) A few of my friends moved away. Yes, I didn’t spend time with my friends. I didn’t even talk to them all summer. (Some friends, huh?) But I had so much fun without them. Looking back, I wouldn’t have had as much fun if I stayed.

It’s a trip I’m thankful for and often re-visit in my memories. 

When we came back from the trip, I met my new sister and essentially slept until school began. Soon it was 6th grade. Donning my newly prescribed glasses, I felt like an outcast again. (Talk about hitting reset...) Shortly after Halloween, my mom then announces we were moving... We moved mid-November of 2007 to the city I live now. What an unforgettable year! 

[leejeongz]

Fall/Autumn with Stray Kids

🍂aww this is such a cute request, thank you Hun I hope you like it! I tried to post this before Halloween but that didn’t seem to work lol🍂

🕸this is very British I’m sorry if you don’t understand everything I wrote here such as the bonfire night thing, just ask and I’ll explain🕸

Bang Chan:

All you wanted to do this cold autumn evening was cuddle with your boyfriend Chris, so that’s what you did. In the background Halloweentown was playing quietly, one of yours and his favourite films. It made cuddle time that little bit more sentimental. You weren’t exactly watching it this time but that was okay since you’d seen it about 50 times before. Instead this time you were watching Chan’s chest rise and fall slowly as he gently drifted to sleep. His arms were wrapped around you, his fingers tapping your back, sending you into a sleepy trance too. Every so often you’d hear a snore shortly followed by a laugh trying to play off him falling asleep. But nothing got passed you.

“Nooo I wasn’t sleeping no no no that doesn’t sound like me baby”

Woojin:

This year was your first autumn with Woojin and you were super excited to introduce him to one of your favourite family traditions, a pumpkin carving competition. The idea was each member of your family carved a pumpkin and then on October 31st everyone voted for their favourite that wasn’t their own of course. Woojin showed up at your house with two huge pumpkins and some carving equipment. He was so ready to get involved, especially since it was something so important to you. While you carved your pumpkins Woojin would ask a lot of questions about the voting process like it was super important and like he’d get killed or something if he didn’t win this year. He also explained one of his autumn family traditions which you also gladly took part in.

“What if your family don’t like me because I’m not good at carving? I’m sorry I’m not trained at carving y/n ahh I’m stressed”

Lee Know:

A lazy day with Minho was exactly what you needed after a long few weeks at school/work. You went over to the dorms in your favourite snuggly hoodie and some leggings, not caring that it was pouring down and getting you completely soaked. When you reached the dorms Minho took one look at you and pulled him into his shared room. He threw a pile of his clothes at you and sent you to their bathroom to get changed. When you returned, without thinking he placed your wet clothes onto the radiator and turned back to grab your hand to lead you into his little den when he caught a glimpse of you. Wearing his clothes made you look 10x cuter. Minho wasn’t that much bigger than you but the fact that they were his clothes was what made him the softest.

“And to think I was gonna roast you for your messy hair. How can I do that when you look like a sack of cutiepie potatoes?”

Changbin:

Your younger cousin had joined you this Halloween meaning you could go trick or treating with her so of course you invited Changbin along too. Changbin showed up in a werewolf costume and a black thick coat since it was especially cold tonight. He greeted you with a hug, looking around for your younger cousin as he did so. When he saw her he immediately went over and introduced himself. You’d only gotten to the top of your street when your cousin complained that she was cold so changbin gave her his coat. After that at of kindness, your cousin clung to him, holding his hand while trick or treating. It was pathetic to say you were jealous of her yet the truth was that you were but all that envy went away when it struck you what a great father Changbin would be.

“”Beware of dog”, awe don’t worry my darlings I’ll protect you both”

(Ignore Jisung or at least try to I know it’s hard)

Hyunjin:

His favourite thing to do in the autumn would be to walk his dog and now he has an s/o, that walk became more special to him. He’d ask you to accompany him on his walk with Kkami (I literally spell his dog’s name differently every time I write it I’m sorry) to which you gladly accepted. It was cold enough for gloves to be accepted by the public so you slipped on yours and forced Hyunjin to wear his. He put a little dog coat onto Kkami and attached the lead to his collar. You stepped onto the street, leaves crunching beneath your feet as you did so. Hyunjin’s hand was immediately in yours and his head turned to look at you. The smile on your face was huge and so was his. This was about to be the best walk of his life.

“I have plenty of poop bags we could stay out here for hours”

Han:

Halloween was just around the corner and you were both SUPER excited. You weren’t doing anything special, just the same as usual, decorating the house so the trick or treaters know they can knock on your door for sweets. You started up the Halloween playlist Jisung had made for you and Jisung walked into the living room in orange fluffy socks carry a box of scary decorations. There was no plan, just grab and throw was your motto. The house ended up looking a mess, but it was acceptable, it looked like a Halloween themed crime scene and both of your were evidently proud of it. There was just one thing left to do, open the sweets and tip them into the jar. Jisung jumped at the idea so you let him do it which was a mistake since there was barely any Haribos left for the kids.

“Let’s stick this tape here and oh the candy wait the skeletons Y/N THE SKELETONS”

(This is the cutest gif to ever exist thank you to the creator ahshsh)

Felix:

Felix still wasn’t used to fall being cold and rainy so when he stepped outside in just a tshirt on the first day of October he got a very big shock. You told him it was gonna be cold but no, Aussie boy Felix knew better. Nevertheless he struggled on throughout the day, exclaiming every time you asked or offered your coat that he wasn’t cold at all. The next day poor Felix fell sick, just like you told him he would. He made you stay with him all day, wrapped up in the covers. He made sure that he wouldn’t make you sick too and would try his hardest to get better, trying whatever remedies google told him. Although you had NO sympathy for the stupid boy, you couldn’t help but feel sad when you left him that night to go back home, hoping he’d be feeling better by the morning.

“Y/n I promise you I’ll be fine! Now go home and text me when you get there so I know you’re safe”

Seungmin:

Hahaha haunted house time... your favourite, not. Seungmin saw it from across the carnival and dragged you over to it while you protested. He held your hand as your went through the entrance, creepy nursery rhymes playing as you did so. As much as you said you wanted to leave Seungmin took you further and further in, laughing at your reactions and calling you cute every time you screamed. Not once did he let go of your hand though. You could soon see the exit and this time it was your turn to drag him but that didn’t go to plan: seungmin had stopped dead in his tracks. You turned around and walked towards him, afraid you upset him since it was something he really wanted to do. To your surprise he kissed you there on the spot. When the kiss ended he let go of your hand and quickly walked down the dark corridor and it of the house. Your first kiss was definitely one to remember.

“Because it was dark and you couldn’t see my blush okay and neither could anyone for that matter”

I.N:

One of your favourite nights of the year was bonfire night, all the pretty fireworks, the warm bonfires, the smell of smoke filling the air. It was truly the best night of the year in your opinion. This year you decided to take Jeongin to your local bonfire which he gladly agreed to for two reasons. One out of pure curiosity and two because it was with you so of course he was going to go. You both stood around the fire surrounded by lots of other couples who were all close to each other. Jeongin looked around and saw a figure being carried towards the fire and shook you so hard until you listened to his genuine concern. It was so cute that he was so concerned for a stuffed pillow but nevertheless you explained the whole 5th of November story to him. He didn’t really understand but pretended to just for you.

“He tried to do what? So why do you celebrate it then?”

Gifs aren’t mine

[ghostssona]

Ada Price....mooore....

Gonna do that template cause I like it as a template (with some more stuff).

Name: Ada Price

Partner: Edith Wilson

Date of birth: 5th November, 1886 (Fireworks night!)

Date of death: 18th August, 1918

Age when they died: 31

Cause of death: Infected wound caused when she trapped her arm in machinery

Died in Button House. She was visiting Fanny (we can assume Fanny was Lady Button at this point) when she died. Edith was there along with her.

What are their thoughts on the ghosts there?

Pat: He’s nice. Maybe a bit clingy but… nice

Thomas: He just WILL NOT leave her alone. Get the message, dude. When Alison came she was glad to have the attention diverted elsewhere

Fanny: They were friends before either died. Ada haunted the house after she died, then when Fanny died they reunited, glad to have at least somewhat of a friend in this limbo. 

The Captain: Decent guy. Completely obvious to Ada that he is gay but he stubbornly refuses to admit it. He treats her with more respect than any other man she’s met before and gives her the news that women gained the right to vote. 

Kitty: Adorably innocent in Ada’s eyes. Kitty obviously doesn’t have the faintest idea about women’s rights but she’s good to have around.

Robin: Good dude. Presents her with a challenge at chess.

Mary: Maybe just a little too obsessed with witchcraft for Ada’s taste. And she generally refuses to acknowledge the misogyny behind the witch trials.

Julian: Awful. Makes sexually suggestive comments far too often. Tory. Often considers ways to re-kill him.

Humphrey: They don’t talk that often but he seems a decent guy.

The Plague Ghosts: They can have long chats about the engineering behind the boiler and Ada enjoys teaching them anything new she learns from Alison about technological advances.

Jemima (the little girl): Creepy as fuck. How did she get out of the basement?

Do they have any special ghost powers? She can talk to and be seen by the living sometimes but she just started using it for shits and giggles after a while of trying to talk with Fanny. If they could be seen by a living human, what would their response be? She would probably freeze and just whisper “oh shit” What do they look like? I’m so glad you ask

This is what she wore when she died. Except like…without the top hat or coat. She died very suddenly whilst at dinner with Fanny and Edith from her infection.

This is what her hair looks liiiike. Pretty hair. 

Green/grey eyes. Dark Brown hair. Pale. 

Other Headcanons: Obviously she is…gay as fuck. When she first found out that gay marriage had become legal she cried for days holed up in her room thinking about Edith. One day, Alison came to see her having found some photos in the attic.

“That’s you, isn’t it?” she said, “Who’s the other girl?”

“She’s…” Ada felt the grief well up in her chest, “She was a friend. A close friend.”

Alison seemed as though she was about to ask more questions when an expression of realisation dawned on her face and she just nodded before putting the photo down on the drawer and walking away. 

Ada stood there, looking down at the photo. It was a grainy, yellowing, black and white photo. In it, she and Edith were sitting on a sofa, her hand lightly placed over that of her girlfriend. They sat there, mouths turned slightly upwards on each side with sashes slung across their chests saying ‘Votes for Women’.

If she were alive, a tear would have rolled down her face in that moment. But she wasn’t. She never would be.

[writing-through-time-blog]

Fireworks

The TARDIS landed with a soft thump, one of the Doctors smoother landings you thought to yourself. “Right then, here we are.” The Doctor said with a small grin as checking the the monitors of the TARDIS. 

“You sure we’re definitely in the right place this time? I’m not gonna go out that door and be attacked by a face eating alien or something am I?” asked Graham with the facial expression of someone who was only half joking.

“Yeah!” The Doctor exclaimed a little too enthusiastically for any of her friends to fully believe. You couldn’t blame them for their questioning of the Doctor, this was the third time she has tried to drop you home. The other two you had found yourselves in 14th century Italy and another planet that went by the name of Earth that was apparently 30 million light-years away, both trips ending in typical TARDIS team adventures.

You smiled to yourself and looked at the doors of the TARDIS at the thought of being home, you loved travelling in the TARDIS with the others and especially the Doctor so much but the thought of being home, on Earth (well, your Earth), to have just a little familiarity back brought you so much joy. You turned your smile to the Doctor and as you catch her rechecking the monitors out the corner of her eyes she immediately darts her gaze back to you giving you a slight nod that you took as confirmation of finally being home. 

You had only come home to collect some clothes and because if you were being truly honest with yourself, you had been travelling for 3 months and had started to get a little homesick but all of that faded when you stepped out of the TARDIS into the cold evening air. As you exited the TARDIS and the other filed out behind you, you asked a passerby for the date and found that it had only been an hour since you had left with the Timelord and her friends. 

You felt a rush of excitement as the stranger gave the group a strange look and continued on with his journey. “The 5th of November” you uttered, repeating the words of the stranger as you turned towards the group huddled behind you looking at you expectantly, you gave them a wide smile, “Well, that’s our plans sorted then.”. The group looked to each other obviously confused. “fireworks?” you say hoping for one of them to finally click. “Oh, of course it’s Guy Fawkes night.” exclaimed Yaz. Graham and Ryan letting out a simultaneous “aw yeah” while the Doctor stood, still looking bemused. 

“Sounds good but can we please get somewhere warm now I’m freezing.” whined Ryan and he had a point, the cold air was biting. “C’mon then” you excitedly said turning to return home, enjoying being in charge of the group for once as the others trailed behind.

It was strange and exciting inviting the others into your life, showing them where your favourite shops, cafes and places were on the way to your home, although there was a certain anxiety you felt showing the Doctor where you had come from and your home, you didn’t see her as a judgemental person but looking around you couldn’t help but notice how mundane it was in comparison with her world that she had invited you into and how different they were. You had been surprised to see The Doctor taking so much interest in your over excited ramblings considering your currently location, no monster or aliens, (that you were aware of) just home. You had been slowly developing a crush on the Doctor for a while now, every time you went to tell her or say anything to her about it this difference in your worlds had always held you back. 

You all decided to head down to the local park to see annual fireworks show and even the large crowds on the short walk to the park couldn’t dampen your high spirits, you had always enjoyed bonfire night, the beauty of fireworks as they light up the sky, you never could understand what about them made them so mesmerising but you loved it.

The closer the group got to the park the busier it got and as you entered the park the lights that had previously been lighting the park went off and plunged it into darkness, the only light provided came from a firework a few seconds after the lights went off by which point most of the group had been pushed in other directions by the crowd trying to get into the park in time for the show beginning. You see out the corner of your eyes Yaz, Graham and Ryan being pulled in another direction. You look to the Doctor on your right, you think she spots the fear in your eyes at the thought of being separated from the group and ending up by yourself and grabs your hand.

As you get a little further into the park the crowd around you starts to dissipate and you find yourself with more room to move, although you still cling on to the Doctors hand driven both by the fear of ending up on your own and from enjoying the soft feeling of her hands and warmth radiating off them keeping your own hand warm. You both make your way to spot fairly out of the way of the crowds but in a good enough position the see the fireworks clearly. 

“Do you think we should try and find the others?” you ask the Doctor pushing yourself onto your tiptoes and attempting to look over the silhouettes of the crowd to see if you could spot any of our friends. 

“Nah, I’m sure they’ll be fine” the blonde said turning to look at the fireworks “They were all together when we got separated, better looking for them when the lights come back on.” She continued and you silently nod you head, reassured that they’ll be ok. 

Once the worry is over though and as you begin to silently watch the fireworks one by one heading into the sky and bursting with light the reality of the situation you were in begins to dawn on you as you realise that your still holding the Doctors hand. 

Slowly you look over to her watching her warm breath escape her lips and noticing in the light of the fireworks that curious and excited expression that she wore so much that you loved.

She turns her head to you and you’re grateful for the poor lighting as the heat rises in you cheeks. Trying to take away from the fact that your clearly staring at her you blurt out “I bet they’re nothing compared to what you’ve seen”. 

The Doctor lets out a small chuckle “Y’know, you’d think so.” She pauses, clearly working out how to word what she was going to say next leaving you both confused and anxious. You watch as she looks up again to the fireworks and then back down to you. “but they bring you so much joy, and that makes them the most important thing in the universe right now.”

You stand, dumbfounded, not entirely sure if this was real or not looking into the Doctors eyes trying to figure her thought processes out.

After a few seconds you realise that you were now both stood looking into each others eyes, the Doctors filling more and more of what looked like fear with every second that passed. 

You somehow found the strength to pull yourself from the shock and lean forward into the Doctor to kiss her, you worry for the first second when there is no reaction but she then begins to kiss back easing all of your anxiety as she moves her hands to the side of your jaw to pull you in closer and you rest your arms on her waist, her movement slow and soft. 

You’re both suddenly pulled out of your moment when you both hear a loud “UGH, wish we hadn’t found them now” accompanied with disgusted face coming from Ryan, a sweet smile from Yaz and Graham clearly trying to look anywhere else. 

||||||||

Hope you enjoyed! This is my first imagine/fic thing I’ve ever written so sorry if its off the mark. If anyone has any feedback please do send it my way, hopefully it’ll help. Thanks.

[scrapyardboyfriends]

Jenny’s Belated Live Blogging - 5th November 2018

- First, I love Maxine. I saw someone say her episodes feel longer and god they really do. This episode somehow felt like an hour rather than a half hour. The pacing was so nice and the scenes were longer and not clipped yet there were still plenty of them and she gets so much out of every scene. 

- Second, Aaron wore green! And it was a new green and not that one I hated that looked like it needed a good iron. 

- Pyromaniac, Joker, Friend. What a fitting tribute for dear Gerry. I loved that. And the firework. And Liv getting to be there. And Doug’s little speech and remembering that this was Gerry’s favorite day of the year. (we’ll ignore Arthur’s interruption for now. Soz Arthur but shut up).

- I hope Laurel doesn’t go to Bernice for advice on how to break up with someone. She needs to do it faster. It is later this week right? I hope so. It needs to end. Doug, let her break up with him. 

- I love Ellis with April. They’re so cute together. I’m glad we got another scene of them today. 

- Can Billy not get in fights because I want him to get to the village sooner rather than later because I’ve been primed and now I’m ready to see the fallout. 

- Onto the meat of the episode with the Seb stuff. First of all...look at those communicating husbands! I’m so proud of them. I know people wanted arguing but I like that they’re showing that they can talk to each other too, that they’ve learned something. 

- So...no destroying a car? I guess it’s easy to mistake because Aaron doing actual work is so unheard of so he must have been doing something else and that was the closes they could come up with. 

- I liked their chats though. I liked that Aaron raised all of the questions that we had and I liked that Robert basically said most of what we said for his motivations. I still don’t totally agree with them but it is what it is. I’m still kind of on Aaron’s side, general audience opinions be damned! Haha. 

- I know people have issues with Chas’s sudden involvement and Aaron being affected by Grace and Liv being so invested in Seb and I’m sure a ton of it has to do with the new producers coming in and realizing that things needed changing. But like, I don’t care that it doesn’t have as much basis because frankly Chas should have been more scenes with Seb, Aaron should have been involved with the Grace stuff all the way through, Liv should have had more than like three interactions with Seb. So, I like that they’re rectifying these things and I’ll buy in to them because they should have been that way from the start. Of course, I’ve also embraced Seb as part of their family so it’s always going to work better for me than someone who’s less interested in that. 

- With that too, I liked that Aaron went to talk to Chas about Robert’s decision. I’ve missed them having mother/son time. I was pleased when she finally stopped treating him like a teenager when he and Robert got together but I like them still acting like family and that has been lacking this year so I’m happy to get that now. I also liked her wanting to have words with Robert but I wish we’d gotten to see it. 

- Robert apologizing with Seb was cute and so was Robert helping Liv with her homework while Aaron played with Seb on the floor. And I loved Liv’s snarky little ‘John needs to get a life’ line. And Robert coming over to sit with Aaron and Seb. They were good family scenes.

- And the Dingle birthday party was great. I liked that they all showed up for it. That’s something I like about Maxine’s writing, she always manages to get as many of the people that should be there in scenes if they’re available to her. If she’d had Vic and Diane, she’d probably have gotten them too. 

- The baby welly thing was cute and I liked Robert’s consistency of hating it and throwing it on the fire. 

- Lydia’s little moments in this episode were great too. I love that she’s fit in so well with the Dingles. I’m so glad that they found the right spot for her character. 

- All in all, it was a great episode for me and I loved every second of it (minus having to endure Bobel)

- Also...Cheek kiss - for the fans (Bless you Maxine!)

[kaialone]

Yokai Watch News: Forever Friends

Doing my monthly summary of recent Yokai Watch news once again.

Like always, information is taken from various website updates and Corocoro, and translated by me.

Beware of spoilers, naturally!

--

We got news about:

5th Yokai Watch Movie - Forever Friends

Merchandise (showing off some new characters, too)

A bit of Puni Puni and World

Like with the past few times, I’ll only show information from Corocoro if it’s not shown anywhere else.

And due to time reasons, I won’t be doing full translations for everything, especially if it’s just repeated information that I already covered.

--

Yokai Watch Movie 5 News:

The official website for the movie has gotten some updates again.

I’ll go over the minor ones first.

-

The main page got this new cover image that we had previously seen in Corocoro:

-

The general information page now also uses this image as a background for the “story” section, but the text seems unchanged.

It also has an added bit about Enma in this movie, among other things, but it doesn’t have any new information in there.

One thing of note is that the added cast list finally seems to confirm the name of this Whisper-like character:

Previously, it was unclear if he is supposed to be Whisper or not, since it was hard to understand him when he said his name. But now it seems confirmed that his name is 臼田さん/Usuda-san, so he’s probably not Whisper.

(Which makes sense, considering Whisper should be sealed up around this time.)

-

The character page had some characters added, but no new information about them.

They did fix the apparent typo in Itsuki’s bio, so he’s no longer called a “yokai” here. Seems like it really was a mistake after all. I mentioned that typo in this post here, back in July.

-

The design contest page now shows all winning entries. Note that, as far as I know, this information especially isn’t documented forever on these pages, so back it up if you’re interested.

-

Now, onto the actual news page of the site.

There’s been a comment by TVXQ, the band behind the movie’s main song 大好きだった/Daisukidatta (”I loved you”) . But it doesn’t really have any notable information in it, so I won’t cover it unless I see people who really want me too.

Same with the short interview videos that Corocoro’s youtube channel did with Chiemi Blouson and Shun Oguri, which you can see here and here.

They all talk about the basic points of “this movie is about friendship”, and “please watch it with your parents”, which is nice, but something they went over before, like these comments from last month.

-

Actual news is this section, where they introduce ”Yasha Enma”, a character that was name-dropped before, but we hadn’t fully seen him yet.

(Check out this post about the news from last month if you want to know the context of that.)

Here’s what they say about him:

"Yasha Enma", the ultimate king who controls fire and ice, unveiled!

The "Great King Enma" is a super popular character of the Yokai Watch series. His ultimate form, "Yasha Enma" which no one has ever seen yet, will appear in this work!! Wielding the strongest weapon, the "En Ma Rod" (1), and using the "Dragon of Ice" and "Dragon of Fire", he displays power like that of a fierce deity! Will fierce fights unfold at the "Enma Butōkai" where the next Great King Enma will be chosen?! Please look forward to the battles of the coolest Great King Enma to date!!

"Yasha Enma" Enma, bearing the name of fierce deities that appear in mythology, the "Yaksha" (2). In his hand, the strongest weapon, the En Ma Rod. He won't just appear in his regular form, but also forms in which he controls the "Dragon of Ice" and the "Dragon of Fire".

Notes:

I had previously translated the name of his weapon 炎魔棍/Enmakon as “Enma Rod”, but I decided to spell it as “En Ma Rod” now, to make it more clear that it’s not spelled the same as the name “Enma”.

“Yasha” is the Japanese spelling of “Yaksha”. I use the Japanese spelling for his name, since we also spell “Enma” like in Japanese, rather than calling him “Yama”.

-

Corocoro has some more information on Yasha Enma that the website hasn’t covered yet. So I will go over those next.

-

Corocoro introduces Yasha Enma with this two-page spread:

(image source)

In addition to his regular form, it also shows the two other forms that the website only hinted at.

-

悪の妖怪と戦うシンとイツキたちは妖魔界へ行き、 次の閻魔大王を決める 「エンマ武闘会」に出場。 そこで夜叉エンマと出会うのか！？ Fighting evil yokai, Shin, Itsuki, and the others participe in the"Enma Butōkai" where the next Great King Enma will be chosen. Will they encounter Yasha Enma there?!

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夜叉エンマ 最強の武器・炎魔棍をあやつる。 右目に特別な力を秘めている！？ Yasha Enma He wields the En Ma Rod, the strongest weapon. There's a special power hidden in his right eye!?

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羅雪 氷の龍を宿し、 すさまじい冷気を発する！！ Rasetsu Harboring the dragon of ice, he emits terrible cold!!

絢爛・羅雪!! Shine brightly, Rasetsu!!

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紅華 炎の龍を宿し、 紅蓮の業火を巻きおこす！！ Benibana Harboring the dragon of fire, he creates crimson fireworks!!

乱舞・紅華 Dance wildly, Benibana!!

Note that last month, I had mistakenly romanized “Benibana“ as “Kōka”, since it was really hard to read the furigana for the names.

It also seems that “Rasetsu” and “Benibana” are supposed to be the names of the two dragons themselves, so it’s a bit confusing about how those names also seem to refer to these two forms of Yasha Enma.

Notably, the merchandise I’ll go over in the next segment seems to call the forms “Yasha Enma Rasetsu” and “Yasha Enma Benibana” instead.

--

Yokai Watch Merchandise News:

Boys Toy Web has added two new Yokai Watch items to their list.

-

First we have the “Yōseiken Series 04: DX Ashura Goen-maru Yōseiken & Yōkai Ark Set”.

In other words, the 4th Yōseiken toy, and as always it comes with a special Yokai Ark.

The Yōseiken in question is of course the Ashura Goen-maru, which has actually been in the Shadowside anime for a long time, where it’s wielded by Dōketsu.

For a while it’s been unclear if Dōketsu was its Kenbumajin, but now it seems that he is not, and that it’s actually Ashura (Asura).

The special Yokai Ark that comes with it is an Extreme Rare-ranked one of “Sekka no Fubuki-hime”, following the trend of these bonus Arks seemingly always being a special form of a yokai who debuted in the original series.

This set will be released in December.

-

Next is the “Yōkai Arc Zero ~The Other Side of the Silver Screen” pack.

This is a special Yokai Ark booster pack related to the upcoming movie.

As always, each pack has 1 random Ark in it. There’ll be 13 Arks included in this series:

We got 3 Ultimate Rare ranks: Nekomata, Kappa, and Zashiki-warashi.

This time around, their backsides feature their Godside forms: Cat King Bastet, Kappa King Sagojō, and Tengu King Kurama.

Then there’s 4 Extreme Rare ranks: Yasha Enma Benibana, Yasha Enma Rasetsu, Shien, and one that’s secret.

We got 2 Rare ranks: Kukuri-hime and Karasu-tengu.

Karasu-tengu was seen in the most recent trailer, but I don’t think Kukuri-hime has been shown before. She is presumably based on the mythological Kukurihime, but her name is spelled differently.

And 3 Normal ranks: Yamata no Orochi, Tamamo no Mae, and Yamambā.

Interestingly, Tamamo no Mae is just referred to as “Tamamo” in her Lightside form here.

Yamata no Orochi is a legendary dragon, whom Orochi/Venoct seemed to be slightly based on, but we had never seen the real deal in Yokai Watch. Yamambā is one of the names of the yokai Yama-uba.

Curious that these guys are all Normal-ranked, Tamamo no Mae especially seems like she should be more special, right?

This booster pack will also come out in December.

-

Corocoro has also shown off a black Yokai Ark of Yasha Enma, and announced that they will be giving away 10000 of them in their January issue.

I think, because of how the issue naming works with this magazine, that might actually be the issue that comes out in December, but I am not sure.

Corocoro mascot/employee “Kaa-kun” made this tweet, showing off the Ark in question:

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With the three Yasha Enma Arks, and the Ark of Shien, we’ve been shown a new tribe symbol, resembling a sun:

It seems reasonable to assume that this symbol could possibly represent the Enma Tribe, but it doesn’t seem to have been confirmed as of me writing this.

But it is reminiscent of the moon-like symbol of the Izana Tribe that Kaira belongs to:

-

And lastly, Yoroz Mart is going to release plush toys of Junior, Nekomata, and Yasha Enma in December, as seen in this tweet.

--

Yokai Watch Mobile Games News:

This is just going to be really minor, but I wanted to go over it in some form regardless.

Corocoro revealed that the Great King Enma, in his original, young form that first showed up Blasters, will be added to Yokai Watch World soon.

And, you have probably heard of it already, But Yokai Watch Puni Puni is currently having a crossover with Dissida Final Fantasy, adding many characters originally from the Final Fantasy franchise as puni.

-

The offical Level-5 youtube channel has also re-uploaded their trailer for the mobile game “Yokai Daijiten”, which you can see here.

Though they still haven’t added a proper release date for it, in fact, it only seems to say “release date to be determined” now.

In case you don’t know, this game was first announced back in 2016, I believe, alongside a smartphone version of the first Yokai Watch game.

If I recall correctly, they were scheduled to be released in 2016, but when that year came and went, the release date was updated to 2017, and now, as 2018 draws to a close, many people thought they got cancelled, but this re-upload implies that Daijiten is still being worked on in some form.

The official website for Yokai Watch 1 for smartphone says that it will be released in 2019 now, but I haven’t seen anyhting else from it.

--

And that’s it for the general Yokai Watch news in November of 2018.

As always, I hope you’ve found this to be interesting and/or helpful!

--

[inexpensiveprogress]

Fireworks

Here is just a brief collection of Ravilious Firework pictures. During the war Eric wrote that the naval ship’s gunfire were like fireworks, I haven’t included those war works, but just the actual depictions of festive images. 

 Eric Ravilious - Fireworks - Mural at the Midland Hotel, Morecambe, 1933

The mural above was painted by Eric Ravilious and his wife Tirzah Garwood for the Midland Hotel in Morecambe. The hotel was designed by Oliver Hill. The murals in the dining room were in two parts, Fireworks and Flags, or Night and Day as they are also known. The race to complete works in time for ‘a grand opening’ of the hotel would mean the newly plastered walls they were painting the mural on had not been left to dry sufficiently. The diaries of both Eric and Tirzah tell of how leaks from the roof and cracks in the wall had also hindered the painting. The paint bubbled and chipped off within a year and the mural, only two years old was painted over.

The whole mural was repainted in 1989 for the filming of the Agatha Christie novel - Double Sin. Below you can see Hugh Fraser in front of the repainted mural. It is not precise, but good enough, the original pagoda building’s windows were circles, in the repainting they were rectangles. 

 Scene from Agatha Christie’s Double Sin, ITV, 1990

The painting below Alan Powers suggested might have been a study for the mural design by Ravilious. I think it shows a young artist in his bedsit flat in London, Bawden made a similar work in his etching, ‘London Back Garden, 1927’. As a friend of mine called it, “a stacked up world with too many people and not enough money”. 

All his life, fireworks were an important and special source of inspiration for Eric’s work, and were made use of in many different ways. By now he and Tirzah had moved from Kensington to Hammersmith, but not before Eric had painted an elaborate watercolour of Bonfire Night, as watched from the roof of their house in Stratford Road. †

 Eric Ravilious - November 5th, 1933

Below is another good example of Fireworks featured on the Coronation Mug by Ravilious for Wedgwood. The examples show wild fireworks on one side and on the other side firework fountains above the royal heraldic beasts.

A fun fact is that the shop Dunbar Hey were the first to stock the mug and the first customer was Wallis Simpson. 

 Eric Ravilious - Design for the Coronation Mug of Edward VIII for Wedgwood,  1936

The final of the pictures comes from the book High Street, a series of lithographs by Ravilious with text by J.M.Richards, then husband of Peggy Angus.

 Eric Ravilious - Fireworks - from the book High Street, 1938 Given the Second World War was coming I thought the inclusion of Mosley and his Blackshirt’s in the newspaper board highly interesting. If I was penning one of the many books on Ravilious I would say how Mosley and the fireworks were interlinked. That they would predict the horrors of the war to come and the domestic Ajax was a mockery of such views - Thankfully I think posturing after the fact is horse-crap. 

† Helen Binyon - Eric Ravilious: Memoir of an Artist, 1983

[islandpcosjourney]

Day 19 – Autumn ’21 challenge

5th November 2021

I LOVE LOVE LOVE comparing my previous challenge with today and finding similarities or indeed “coincidences” that happen. For instance, I started Day 19 of the spring challenge by quoting the following:

“Results happen over time, not overnight. Work hard, stay consistent and be patient”

Then today, through no coincidence, I believe it was meant to happen, I come across this quote to help me:

Both talk about the continuation of your goals. Remember why you started, where you’ve come from and where you’re wanting to go. If anyone had said to me during lockdown in 2020 that I’d be 64lbs lighter in November 2021, I’d have laughed at them and told them “maybe 64lbs heavier, but not lighter!”. First of all, I was in a bad mindset, I have a negative frame of mind and that in itself contributed to my state of health. Your mind is a very powerful tool. You can think yourself ill, you can think yourself healthy. It all stems from the mind because if you don’t have that on side, you can’t get anywhere.

I made the decision to change my state of mind. I made the decision to set long term goals. I made the decision to do it slowly. I made the decision to do it compassionately. I made the decision to do it for me and me alone. I made the decision to make it realistically possible.

Ultimately, I also make the decisions to sabotage it when I decide to eat badly for a few weeks or months. But what’s changed for the better for the long term is that even if I do “decide” to do that consciously, I am also in control to reverse it and get back on track. I will make the decision to enjoy Christmas, indulge a little but unlike last year when it took me many months to get back on track, I am already planning to have a cut-off point, a date where I’ll do a 3-, 5- or 7-day detox to snap me out of it again. I didn’t make any such plan last year and although I didn’t regret the splurge, I did find it hard to commit to getting back on track again and that’s what I’m preventing this year. Of course, we need a bit of indulgence at Christmas. We see friends and family, we enjoy the time together, but I suppose ultimately, it’s a bit of a habit too! Just like the habits I was thinking of on the way home tonight, driving passed all the bonfires and firework displays. Tonight, if we’d had a family, would’ve been the night to take them to a bonfire, stay warm with hot chocolates or soup and bacon rolls/hot dogs, that kinda thing. That’s what we did growing up and I’m sure bonfire nights are also like that these days, to some extent. My point is, having such delights while watching a display, was a treat and something to look forward to, enjoy & appreciate and then the next day return to normal again. Unfortunately, life has developed in such a way that the hot chocolates or other treats that children used to get, is now the norm and then you have to find bigger and better ways for the next lot of treats! My mum’s family’s treat once a week was having a mars bar cut between the 5 of them! Even when we were growing up that was seen as a ridiculous notion and we did get more treats than that, but we were always reminded of mum’s family mars bars! It does help to put things into perspective a tad.

When treats are part of a balanced lifestyle, they are completely controllable and manageable to keep weight maintenance steady. I have complete faith in my ability to sustain this lifestyle and live a healthy life. I have hope and confidence that by July 2022, I’ll have reached my 104lb total loss goal, bringing me into the healthy BMI range and fingers also crossed the healthy body fat percentage bracket. I even have confidence and visions that if I needed and wanted to lose more, I could. I have such a positive mindset that I have come this far and while I know I still have a long road ahead of me, I can totally do this. I am doing this, no matter how long it takes me. I was desperate once to be where I am now. I once thought it could never happen, but it has, and I made it happen. I did this. I conquered it. I am so close to my 25% total loss that I can feel it. It’s just around the corner and I deserve it.

[80smikewheeler]

Bonfire Night Headcanons

• In one chilly November month in the early 80s, Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin, are in a History class at school, taught by the ‘ever so boring’, Mr Whelan, as Mike calls him. They aren’t paying much mind to the lesson and what Mr Whelan is saying, as History has never really been a subject that the boys relish in or excel at. Lucas and Dustin are usually the only ones who are sometimes, intrigued by the more ‘interesting’ topics they cover, such as; The American Revolution, or sometimes, Army and Military History-Lucas especially loves this type of History. But for the most part, the topics are usually dull and uninteresting to them-Will often sneaks out a bag of crayons from his backpack and begins sketching away behind his taller friend’s-(Mike’s) back. Mike is usually half falling asleep, and is only snapped back into reality, when Dustin plays silly, yet entertaining jokes on Mike, as he starts drifting.

• However, one year, whilst the boys are all slouched around a table in History- Mike’s sleepy and sluggish movements, sending Dustin slowly into a slumber; Mr Whelan announces that they will be studying a new topic from outside the ‘normal syllabus’: The Gunpowder Plot that took place over in England, on the 5th of November 1605. This certainly sparks the boys interest, as Dustin and Lucas immediately lift their heads up, from the cold, wooden tables, to look at an old, worn out, Mr Whelan, with a slight gleam of excitement and curiosity in their eyes.

• After a couple of classes on the subject, they’re all instantly curious and excited to look into it more- especially Dustin and Lucas, who eventually end up spending their afternoons sprawled out in the school library, hidden amongst many heavy, dusty, and ancient text books.

• After spending what seems like an enternity to Will, in the school library, Dustin and Lucas come up with an idea, that they excitedly pitch to Mike and Will. They suggest that since they’re all so interested in it, and have learnt that over in England, they have; ‘Bonfire Night’, to celebrate this event, with lots of firework displays and bonfires of course- they could hold one in Hawkins, as something that the whole community could get involved in, and they figure that; although it’s not a tradition celebrated in the US, it could be just a fun thing to do, and something a little ‘cultural’ to take part in. They all agree and seem pretty excited about it, so decide to ask their parents about it.

• After the boys each tell their parents about the idea and how greatly they’re interested in the topic itself, it’s agreed that since it’s ‘educational’, and they are all so passionate and excited about it, they will allow them to hold a Bonfire Night in Hawkins, with the help of themselves, Nancy, Steve and Jonathan, and of course; Chief Jim Hopper.

• Since Dustin and Lucas are the most excited about the actual explosives and fireworks themselves, the both of them team up with Steve and Hopper to shop for the ‘coolest’, and biggest fireworks available. Steve and Lucas look for the loudest, and ‘most badass ones’ together; while Dustin makes it a personal quest of his to find the most colourful and vibrant ones, knowing that his little, artistic, best friend Will, will appriciate it greatly-since he just knows that he’ll want to sketch them and be completely mesmerised by the explosion of colours in the night sky, like Will’s very own; night sky canvas.

• When it comes time to pay, the boys all end up giggling somewhat, because, Steve and Lucas have typically picked, ‘loud’ and ‘crazy’ fireworks, while Dustin has gone for the most ‘spectacular’ and ‘kaleidoscopic’ ones. -Also making sure to pick up a packet of sparklers on his travels around the shop, claiming that ‘if they weren’t going to have sparklers at their Bonfire Night, what would be the point in any of it?’ Steve laughs at this, saying, “Ah, I bet he just wants them so he can write ‘rude’ words in the air!” To which, Dustin begins to smirk at, knowing full well, that Steve has him sussed.

• Meanwhile, over at Mike’s house, he and Will enjoy making life sized, ‘Guy Fawkes dolls’, to use for ‘Penny for the Guy’. They use old pillows and discarded bedsheets from Karen’s airing cupboard, being sure to check with her first that they are usable-wanting to avoid being shouted at for using, ‘the wrong ones’.

•Mike bundles them all together, and carefully arranges them, in the shape of a person, which he then hands over to Will, to paint their faces on, considering Mike knows he’d be hopeless, at trying to paint them, feeling that his talented, best friend, would do a lot better job than he could.

• Will takes great pleasure in this task, often giving them, ‘silly’ faces, complete with long moustaches and shaggy hairdos, to which Mike can’t help but giggle at this, and praise Will for the amazing job he’s done.

• Every so often, they stop for breaks in between; stuffing and arranging the pillows and bedsheets; and painting the faces onto them, for a snack-which Joyce insists on giving them, even after Mike has complained to Will many times, that he thinks, ‘his stomach may explode!’ She brings out warm milk, and cookies- knowing it’s her son’s favourite.

• They sit and snack for a while, chattering amongst themselves, and the conversation turns to how talented Will is at drawing and art in general. Mike telling him, that his pieces belong in museums and art gallery’s, they are that good. Will’s cheeks begin to burn, and turn the darkest colour of crimson, which he’s glad his mum didn’t see-since she’d go on about it, all night, after Mike had gone home-knowing of her son’s, little, adorable crush on his best friend, and this only embarrasses little Will further. However, when Will nervously looks over to Mike, to see if he’s noticed his change in colour, he sees that Mike is looking down. When he asks Mike about why he looks displeased all of a sudden, Mike sighs in a way that really makes Will feel a small pang of sadness; as Mike admits, with a heavy weight in his voice, and his shoulders slumping, that he wishes he was good at something like Will was. Will fiercely INSISTS,with a passion in his eyes that Mike is beyond talented at many things, such as his enigmatic and compelling storytelling skills, and that he is the most; caring; amazing friend, in all of the world to him, to which Will suddenly feels warm and fuzzy, at seeing a little glimmer of light, emerging it’s way out of his deep, dark brown eyes, and a widening smile, glazing his, peachy-pink lips. Mike instantly feels better at his best friend’s remarks, in a way that he realises, nobody else can ever do. He smiles again, at the thought of this, and nudges Will’s shoulder, in thank you, and playfulness-both of them feeling an unusual, warming sensation in their stomachs as Mike did so.

• Afterwards, while they are waiting for Steve, Dustin, Lucas and Hopper to get back from the store; Karen and Joyce decide to bake gingerbreads in the oven with the both of them, as a way to pass the time, and have some fun, while doing it. Mike and Will decorating them with the most vibrant food colourings and icing sugars, creating a ‘firework effect’ on the tops of each of the gingerbreads, to eat with the others when they get back.

•Will ends up getting flour on his nose, which Mike thinks is the most adorable thing in the world, and when he tries to wipe it off Will’s nose-gently licking his finger and rolling his jumper over his hand, to scrub it away; Will thinks that he is trying to put flour on his nose, rather than take it away, flinching back from his friend’s grasp. This erupts into a small, flour fight in the kitchen, between the both of them, with both of them, chasing each other around the kitchen, pelting flour at each other playfully. As much as Karen and Joyce try to shout at the mischievous boys to stop, at seeing the state of the kitchen, they both can’t help but burst into fits of laughter about it all, when Karen accidentally gets ‘lightly sprinkled’, by one of Mike’s throws-everyone suddenly freezing for a moment, as Will slowly turns his eyes to Mike, giving him the ‘ohmmm’ look and trying to control an outburst of laughter. As soon as the four of them are broken out into fits of laughter in the kitchen, over the sheer mess of the place, the others come back from their shopping trip- with Dustin immediately dropping the carrier bags on the floor, with a thud, and running in to join in the flour fight. However, on doing this, Dustin slips on the shiny, waxed floor, that’s practically snowed in with flour, and soon the entire house is in states of uncontrollable laughter. Mike thinking that if anyone walking past the house, can hear all the laugher that is coming from inside, they probably would call the police or something!

• Nancy, Steve and Jonathan all venture out into the woods on the foggy, eery afternoon, to collect firewood for the bonfire.

• Steve, being the natural joker that he is, picks up a smallish, but slightly pointed stick, creeping up behind an unsuspecting Jonathan, and lightly prods him on the bum, saying ‘boop’, in a girlish, high-pitched tone, as he does so. Nancy falls into a barrel of laughter at this, jokily shouting, “Steve!” in a playful manner. Jonathan laughs too, and jovially pulls Steve’s jumper over his thick head of hair, and the two end up playfighting in the woods. Nancy rolling her eyes at how, ‘immature’ they both are. They collect a large haul of firewood and lug it back to the Byers for the bonfire.

• In the final preparations, Joyce decides to take the boys shopping for marshmallows, to make s’mores with, and allows them to each pick out a selection of ‘goodies’ at the supermarket, to snack on while watching the display, making sure to purchase plenty of hotdog buns and burgers for the night, since the boys’ ‘little’ Bonfire Night plan, has turned into something that the entirety of Hawkins has heard about, and have decided to join in the festivities, over at Hawkin’s Middle School, whereby, some persuading from Mr Clarke to the headteacher, the school agreed to let them hold it on the sports field, out back.

• Dustin is sure to steer Joyce in the right direction of what type of food they should get, and what would be the best snacks and goodies to buy, in what he calls, his, ‘expert opinion’. This gives Joyce a good giggle to herself, and she agrees, practically getting dragged around the aisles, by an eager and excitable Dustin, insisting that everything they come across is a ‘must have item’!

• The boys end up having a shopping trolley race, switching their teams up for a change-with Mike and Lucas on one trolley together, and Dustin and Will on the other. They take turns in who pushes who, drawing twice-resulting in a ‘tiebreaker’ race up the aisles of the shop, crappy running towards the end of the shop at crazy speeds. -Will’s head, bobbing up and down violently, as Dustin puts all in his effort and force into powering the trolley.

• They get halfway down the aisle, when they are suddenly cut short, by an angry memeber of staff, shouting at them, after Dustin accidentally, crashes Will into a stand of toilet rolls, bringing the entire display, tumbling down-each roll bouncing off the top of Will’s head, causing him to make a ‘hilarious’ sound as each one falls, forcing Dustin to snort, as he tries to hold in his unstoppable laughter. Will isn’t hurt, and they all find the entire thing, absolutely hilarious, as Joyce pulls them all out from the shop, before they can do any more damage. Dustin still insists that if they hadn’t of run into that toilet roll stack, he definitely would of won.

• When it’s time for the display to begin, everyone gathers on the sports field outside and some of the smaller kids, sit on the squelchy, dewy ground beneath them, as most of the adults and teenagers occupy the stands. Everyone eagerly awaits the show, as they sit in almost, pitch black, as Hopper, and a few teachers check that all the safety precautions are in place.

•Dustin can’t take the tension and suspense anymore, and ends up starting a chant in his row, that soon causes everyone else to join in too, chanting, “Why are we waiting?!” Mike and Will find this hilarious and can’t join in the chant too much, without stuggling to breathe for air, from laughter at Dustin, managing to engage a full sports field of people, even adults, in a childish chant.

• Nancy and Jonathan help to serve out refreshments to people, offering up handmade boxes of popcorn to people, crafted by a very talented cook, Karen Wheeler. Nancy remembers eating her mother’s homemade popcorn as a child, when her and Mike would watch movies together, and insisted that she serve it up at the event.

• Will loves the pretty colours of the fireworks, as they burst and fizzle in the night sky. At first, when he hears all the loud banging noises, he is initially a little nervous and scared, jumping a little, when he hears the first few pops and bangs.

• Mike notices this and without drawing any attention to Will, slowly slides his hand down to Will’s and clasps his sweaty palm. This makes Will feel instantly at ease, the minute Mike grabs hold of his hand, and he begins to feels better, enjoying the fireworks, and the accompanying feeling of butterflies in his stomach as he feels Mike’s, reassuring warmth on his fingertips.

• Mike feels Will gently squeeze his hand in gratitude, and Mike edges his head a little to face Will. He catches the reflection of the fireworks, in Will’s sparkling eyes-illuminated in pink, green, blues and yellows, which really emphasise Will’s own emerald green eyes.

•Mike can’t help but stare at this captivating light show in his best friend’s eyes, and doesn’t even realise he is staring so deeply into Will’s eyes.

•Without even realising it, Mike whispers under his breath, ‘pretty’, and Will hears this-not quite believing that he’s even heard it at all. His heart begins racing so fast and so loudly, that he can almost hear it in his ears, as he turns towards Mike to ask him what he is talking about.

•Mike suddenly zones back in to where he is and his surroundings, immediately feeling a worrying, burning sensation in the pit of his stomach at what he has just said to Will, and realising that Will is now looking at him, in his proriffial vision, meaning only one thing…he must heard it…

• He tries his best to shrug it off, and act as though he has no idea what Will is talking about, when he questions him about it. However, Will, in a state of unexpected bravery, leans in, when he’s sure that everyone is distracted, watching the fireworks, and lightly kisses Mike’s cheek, sending Mike’s cheeks into the most dark, but prettiest shade of pinky red. A huge smile covering his lips, and his heart racing like crazy, over what has just happened.

• They hold hands for the rest of the night, and neither of them want or attempt to let go of each other.

• After the display is over, everybody starts to pack up, and herd towards the exit, chatting about how amazing and magical the night was, and what a good idea it was of the boys, to do this.

• Joyce goes to start clearing and decluttering the place, but Jonathan notices how, tired his mother looks, after spending the entire day, running around, helping the boys set everything up for the night’s event. So, he insists that she go and take the kids home, and treat herself to a hot bath, and relax, while he clears up-with the help of Steve and Nancy.

• After they finish clearing up-Nancy, Steve and Jonathan, head back in Steve’s car, with Steve and Jonathan riding up front, and much to her annoyance and grumbling, Nancy in the backseat. Steve tells Nancy that the reason why Jonathan is sitting in the front and not her, is because he has, ‘killer’ taste in music, and so has to sit upfront, to control the tape deck, playing his mixtapes as they drive along. -Nancy is initially annoyed at this, muttering under her breath, but not long after, they are all bopping their heads along to, ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go?’, to which Steve absolutely, INSISTS, that they have it on repeat.

• Not long after, Steve drops Jonathan and Nancy off, arranging a ‘jam-out session’ for both him and Jonathan, as he’s stepping out of the car, for over at Steve’s house, where they both ‘rock out’ to Jonathan’s mixtapes together, and Steve enjoys teaching Jonathan, how to play the electric guitar.

•When Nancy hears about their plan, she asks if she’s can come along too, to which Steve responds, “Sorry Nance, it’s strictly a guy’s thing!” Nancy showing her playful annoyance at how close the two have recently got, by reminding them, that not so long ago, they were tearing chunks out of one another, but insists that; them being, ‘bosom buddies’ now, is a lot better, than previous.

• All the boys go home after the Bonfire display, thoroughly having enjoyed their magical night, and take some Polaroid’s that Jonathan and Mike took of the fireworks, in to school to show an amazed Mr Clarke, telling them it was an brilliant idea, and that Mike has a real knack for photography, absolutely should really consider taking it up, as a hobby.

[superprincesspea]

Baby, you’re a firework.

You might have turned down Negan’s proposal but that doesn’t stop him from making you see fireworks. 

Warnings: Smut, Fluff, Oneshot, Negan/You

Words: 2274

Negan is sitting in the cafeteria nursing a cup of coffee. He’s alone and there’s something about the way he’s hunched over the table in the almost dark that gives you a shot of courage. You’ve been wanting to ask him this question for a while but for more than one reason you’ve held off.

“Hey,” you say, lingering in the doorway.

Negan looks up, a slow smile creeping across his face. “I thought you weren’t gonna talk to me again?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Maybe not but you sure as shit haven’t talked to me since we…” his easy smile fades to something else. “kissed.”

You can feel the way you’re blushing as much as you can still almost feel that kiss and now you’re kicking yourself. You should have kept on walking. What is it about Negan that always draws you in?

“Take a seat,” he says, pulling out a chair for you before heading over to the counter to grab another cup and fill it with coffee.

Of course you do exactly what he wants, even if you know you shouldn’t, even if sitting opposite him is making your foot tap a nervous rhythm on the floor. Without milk or sugar the coffee tastes bitter but you sip it anyway, buying time while he watches you, a smirk never leaving his face.

“I was thinking,” you say eventually, clearing your throat. “We did something for Halloween, it might be fun if we celebrated Bonfire Night tomorrow.”

“We?” Negan questions. “I don’t remember doing anything with you on Halloween. In fact, I remember having my face between-” he clicks his tongue, stopping the next words and chuckling darkly. “What the hell is Bonfire Night anyway?”

You ignore the first part of his statement, focusing on the question. “Its tradition. Every year on the 5th of November we build a huge bonfire and burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes to celebrate him and some others almost killing the King.”

“Wait a second,” Negan chuckles, “do you celebrate him trying to kill the King or the King surviving?”

You smile coyly, “what do you think?”

Negan leans across the table, his gaze holding yours, “I think this isn’t really why you came to talk to me…”

You sit further back into your chair, your cheeks heating as you stutter, “it is.”

“So, this has nothing to do with my offer? You’re not here to tell me you’ve changed your pretty little mind about being my wife?”

His frankness takes you by surprise and you’re not sure why. This is Negan, nothing is off limits. “This is to do with fireworks and treacle tart but if you don’t like the idea then that’s fine. I’m sorry I even asked!” You stand quickly and Negan does too, grabbing onto the crook of your arm as you try to get away.

“Now hold on a second, baby. I never said I didn’t wanna do this. If you want fireworks, I’ll fucking give you fireworks.”

“I’ve changed my mind!” you snap, shaking him off and deciding, stubbornly, you really will never talk to him again. In fact, as you march to your room you can’t think of a single thing that would be worse.

The next day is November 5th and you’re doing your best to forget about your conversation with Negan. It was a stupid idea anyway. You hadn’t given people enough time to look for supplies and setting a fire would only draw the dead anyway. Then for a split second you wonder if Negan was right. If you were only asking him to go along with your silly idea as a chance to talk to him again and the possibility makes you want to dunk your own head in the mop bucket you’re dragging to the nearest bathroom.

The man has five wives. You’re not about to become lucky number six. With an irritated huff you kick open the bathroom door and hold your breath at the stench. If you were married to Negan you wouldn’t have to clean toilets or mop the floors… You huff again, thoughts like that aren’t exactly going to make your day go any smoother.

Several painstaking hours later you’re just finishing up your days work when you see Simon heading your way, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Your stomach sinks, “have I done something wrong?”

“No,” he says, pulling a face, “the boss wants you. Says it's something to do with fireworks.”

You bite your lip, you’re not sure you should see Negan again or if you really want to. “I’m tired. I’m really not in the mood for any-”

“Not bringing you to Negan isn’t really an option sweetheart,” Simon interrupts, looking at you like you’re mad for even suggesting otherwise.

“So, what? I have to just drop everything and do whatever he says?” you argue, already knowing the answer to your question.

Simon sighs, “don’t make me drag you to him because we both know I’ll win and you’ll just look stupid.”

You drop your mop bucket on the floor, the contents sluicing onto Simon’s boots and if it bothers him, which it surely does, he doesn’t react and neither do you. You brush past him, never looking back as you march to Negan’s rooms. You’re just about to storm your way through the door when you’re pulled back.

“He wants you on the roof,” Simon says, directing you to another stairwell and letting you make the rest of the journey alone. There’s something about this last set of steps that cools your temper and leaves you wondering why you’d even let yourself get so mad. Except you already know the answer to that. The truth is you’d like to be with Negan, you’d like the easy life of being his wife but you’re too damn stubborn to ever accept it and that in itself is enough to drive you crazy.

With your temper quelled you’re nervous when you finally open the door to the roof. Being alone with Negan always gives you the same uncontrollable butterflies and this time is no different. You take a breath, stepping over the threshold as your eyes adjust to the dark.

“I thought you were gonna stand me up,” Negan says, his voice disembodied until you spot him strolling from the shadows.

“I didn’t think that was an option.”

Negan laughs, “you wanna leave?”

You know you aren’t going to leave but that doesn’t mean you’re going to make this easy for him either. “What do you want?” you ask instead.

“You already know what I want from you, baby. The question is, why are you here tonight?”

You shiver, the cold biting through your shirt and only adding to the impatience you’re starting to feel. “So, are you gonna tell me or not?”

Negan shrugs off his leather jacket, wrapping its warmth around you and like he always does when you’re alone, making you feel special. “Better?”

You nod, your heart pounding as his fingertips linger with every touch as he helps you fasten the zipper.

“Happy Bonfire Night,” he says, his hand sliding to your lower back as he guides you to where there’s a metal fire pit stacked with twigs.

It’s hardly the towering bonfires you’re used to but it's something and if you had to say it, it's kind of romantic. You can’t help but smile, catching Negan lapping up your happy reaction and no doubt waiting for you to tell him just how nice a surprise this is and how grateful you are and what a good husband he would make… You’re not going to do any of those things. “Shouldn’t we share this with everyone?” you say.

“I don’t give a flying fuck about everyone,” Negan replies, crouching down and picking up a small bundle of sticks from besides the pit.  

“I just thought this would be a fun thing for the whole group. A way to boost moral.”

Negan snorts, looking at you with his devilish smile. “Inviting some other fuckers up here would be a really shitty way of getting you all to myself now wouldn’t it?”

You try not to react, pretending you don’t hear his words even if they’re making your butterflies swirl a little faster.

“Do you think Dwight’s trying to fucking tell me something?” Negan says, placing the little bundle of twigs in your hands and it’s a miniature Guy Fawkes with the exception of a distinctive red ribbon tied around the neck.

You laugh, surprised that Dwight would have the balls to do it and convinced he isn’t the only one who’d like to throw Negan on the bonfire. “It's a perfect likeness,” you tease placing stick man Negan on top of the bonfire.

“You mean because it's got wood?” Negan says, laughing at his own lame joke while you find your eyes trailing to his crotch. “Don’t worry baby, I can control myself,” he adds catching you looking.

“I’m not worried,” you say. You’re not worried about anything but giving into Negan with your own free will.

You watch him digging into his back pocket and pulling out a zippo which he uses to lights the end of a wooden taper. “Are you gonna do the honors or should I?”

“You do it,” you say, buring icy hands into deep pockets and deciding Negan really doesn’t have much of an ass as he bends over to light the mini bonfire.

It lights quickly, the kindling catching on all sides and the smell of burning wood soon filling your nose. It's not like this is the first fire you’ve been around since the end of the world but lighting it for nothing but fun makes it feel different. You can enjoy the popping of the wood and the glow it gives off without worrying some creature will see it and find your hiding space. “Thank you,” you say, finally giving him the praise he deserves but he’s busy lighting the end of another taper to lap up your words.

“Do you think this is it?” Negan announces theatrically. “I promised you fireworks, baby…” he adds,  strolls dangerously close to the edge of the roof. “And fireworks is what you're getting.”

The tiny flicker of the taper becomes your only marker in the darkness and suddenly Negan’s running back towards you, his return marked by a loud swoosh as a rocket soars into the sky. You find yourself holding your breath, staring into the abyss of a cloudy night and BANG. The firework sprays golden light in every direction like a giant sunflower blooming in the darkness.

It’s so beautiful, so perfect and when he runs to light another one you find yourself giddy with excitement. The recklessness of setting off fireworks for the whole silent world to see only adds to the high you’re feeling with bang after bang as each rocket sprays the night with a whirlwind of colours.   

The sky is laced with red sparkles when Negan dips his head to kiss you and even though you know you shouldn’t you don’t stop his advances. Kissing Negan is as reckless as the fireworks and just as exciting. The kiss isn’t tender or slow and he doesn’t hold back like he did the first time you kissed. He holds you like he possess you, his lips firm as his tongue searches your mouth for the yes you refused to give his proposal and you enjoy every second of it.

Even if you’ll never say yes to being his wife, you can’t say no to this moment. He picks you up, wrapping your legs around him and abandoning the bonfire as he carries you down the stairwell and into his apartment. If his wives are there you don’t see them and you don’t care. “You won’t say no to me after this,” he promises, hastily tugging off your clothes, his lips devouring your skin.

You don’t tell him he’s wrong because all you can think about is yes. Yes to the way he’s kissing you, yes to the press of his erection and yes to your hands pinned above your head. You need to feel every inch of him inside you, your hips grind off the bed and he meets your urgency.

“You’re mine,” he says as his cock fills you and you can’t do anything but groan his name, submitting to the pleasure he’s giving you.

“You like that, baby?” he says, keeping you pinned to the bed while he fucks you deep into the mattress.

“Yes,” you pant, the familiar swell of release quickly building with every thrust. You’d sell your very soul to Negan if it's what you need to do for him to send you over the edge. Your toes curl, your body arching and when his pace quickens it isn’t long before your orgasm is exploding across your body in an endless wave of pleasurable tingles.

“Jesus, Baby, oh fuck,” Negan shudders, his body tensing as he finds his own release, his come shooting inside you, filling you up without restraint and claiming you as his own.

When he rolls away, you’re both panting. Surprised by what has happened but not regretful. This wasn’t exactly how you’d expected the day to go but like every November 5th, you’d certainly seen fireworks. You wonder how many more fireworks you’ll see when you try to leave the bed and somehow the thought of leaving Negan makes you sink even further into his sheets. You can be strong tomorrow, you can say no to being his wife tomorrow, tonight you’re going to be content.

Thank you for reading! It’s been a while since I’ve written a Negan one shot but I couldn’t resist doing a little something for Bonfire night :)

Tagging my forevers:

@negans-network // @strangersangel9 // @ladylorelitany // @heartfulloffandoms // @robert-d-j-bernthal // @isayweallgetdrunk // @ayodaddydom // @87dare2dream // @negans-dirty-girl // @ali-pennell // @cherieann-2001 // @myheart4ever47 // @kellyn1604 // @melodicdolls // @bamby0304 // @flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash // @vizhi0n // @smuttwd // @magikat409 // @lucifers-trash-stash // @starshinesupergirl // @kitcat44 // @wadeyourebarelyalive // @texasgal2222 // @idonthavehusbandsihavelovers // @female-x // @daintyunicorn // @ofdragonsanddreams16 // @grab-my-boner // @thephenomenonalkingofthebrogues // @asshatry // @backseat-negan // @supererogatoryblog // @megan-monroe // @lucianorsini // @negandaddyjdm // @gothica123 // @devilishcreature // @notice-me-senpai-sama @thatgingefromtheinternet // @collette04 // @heal-the-broken-hearts // @warriorqueen1991 // @i-am-negan-trash // @rockyrascal // @make-things-beautiful2 // @jackythemoo // @jml509 // @hotfornegan // @negan--is--god // @ariwolff14 // @hungry-hungry-hippogriffs

[sussex-nature-lover]

Thursday 5th November 2020

Remember, Remember...

♦ if you click on a bold link it will navigate away from this blog to an outside site. Outside sites are not affiliated to this blog

In my book the most important things to remember on (and around) the 5th November are wildlife, domestic pets and safety first.

Our hedgehog population is in severe decline and they’re well known for crawling into what they think is going to be a safe space for a long nap. Hedgehogs who are the right weight have also probably gone into hibernation with the recent very cold snap.  It’s possible something might be hibernating within your bonfire pile if you’ve been stacking for a while ahead of lighting it.

Please, please do check thoroughly.

Fireworks are a very stressful event for animals, bear this in mind always and act responsibly. Advice from last year here.

My mobile phone vintage snap at dusk - the Stand Off

OK, lecture over.

Last night we drove by Ms NW the Elder’s, only the fourth time we’ve seen her this year: we had one nice lunch together back in January and two no touching socially distanced chats. This one was about 20 minutes stood in the street at a safe distance from her doorstep. In the short time we were there we saw a bat fly around several times and the local fox trot across the close. For anyone who doesn’t know, she’s in South East London but in a quiet road where she’s becoming more and more interested in the local bird and wildlife population. On the way we knew we were getting close when we heard Parakeets chattering away. We saw two large skeins of Geese flying as well and actually heard more on the way home. Funnily enough they heard Geese in the dark on Autumnwatch last night too.

On the drive back we got snarled in the ridiculous traffic that got mentions in the national press, so it took around two and a half hours to come less than 50 miles. According to some reports that was getting off lightly.

Culinary Note: we ended up having beans on toast for supper as it was something quick and we were both ravenous. Added a couple of drops of Tabasco to the beans which made them just the right amount of spicy and used pumpkin seed bread. Not quite haute cuisine but very tasty and welcome.

 At least there were some pretty fireworks to watch along the route - not huge amounts but some of them were quite spectacular lighting up the skies. As an aside, despite the huge moon, it did seem particularly dark last night. It was crisp and clear too, very cold. I saw Mars shining very clearly when we got home.

When I was little we had a tiny box of  Standard fireworks to light at home. A few candle type, some Catherine Wheels, a packet of sparklers (my personal highlight) and a rocket or two. It was usually something of a damp squib to be honest and there were often failures to light - very dangerous. I preferred the baked potato, sausages and beans on a chilly night.

By the time we had our own children things had moved on tremendously and we wouldn’t dream of getting fireworks for home, it was always the community bonfire and big organised display. I used to love those nights. We’d get all dressed up with our woolly hats, gloves and scarves and everyone from school seemed to go. All the neighbours set off for the local field around the same time, so you’d meet up walking along and once arrived there’d be candy floss and toffee apples and so on. There were hot dogs and burgers too I think, but we’d have our traditional supper beforehand, it’d help insulate us against the November night air. The bonfire was huge and stringent safety precautions were in place before the fireworks were let off. At the end there was a gentle procession home again amongst the excited children scuffling through the fallen leaves and sleepy tots in buggies. I’ve just read this out to my OH and he agrees how good it was. It was very well run and always pleasant company. What lovely memories.

“Remember, remember the Fifth of November” or “Please to Remember” are variations of a rhyme that commemorates the day in 1605 when a group of Roman Catholics including Guy Fawkes, were caught in the act of trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

When news of the plot got out, Londoners were so relieved that the conspirators had been caught that they lit bonfires throughout the city as a celebration. Over the centuries the celebrations have become more elaborate and now fabulous firework displays are a feature throughout England on the night of November 5th. A week or so prior to that, children make effigies of Guy Fawkes which they take door to door asking for ‘A penny for the Guy’.’ On Bonfire Night these Guys are traditionally burnt on top of a bonfire.

Funnily I’ve never known more than the first two lines of the old nursery rhyme

Remember, remember the Fifth of November, The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent To blow up the King and Parli’ment. Three-score barrels of powder below To prove old England’s overthrow; By God’s providence he was catch’d With a dark lantern and burning match. Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring. Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King! And what should we do with him? Burn him!

Two things link up here for me. Firstly by sheer chance the National Trust property Chastleton, which I’ve only mentioned this week, was purchased from Robert Catesby, the leading figure behind the Gunpowder Plot.

That’s a fascinating read in the link, from a local newspaper. I can’t get my head around the intrigue, the danger and the money involved. It’s also a little bit spooky that the plot was originally intended for action the previous year, but was delayed because The Plague caused Parliament to be closed. 

Plague was one of the hazards of life in Britain from its dramatic appearance in 1348 with the Black Death. The Bills of Mortality began to be published regularly in 1603, in which year 33,347 deaths were recorded from plague. Between then and 1665, only four years had no recorded cases.

Secondly, is the matter of organised bonfire celebrations and Bonfire Societies. We’d never come across one until we moved to Sussex, where they are ‘a thing’ around the South East. I don’t know if they’re a thing further afield? Perhaps someone can enlighten me Boom Boom!!! <Pun Claxon> if they are.* see below for details

Back to Bonfire Societies, we’re not all that far from Battle, it’s where our ‘local’ police station is, although you wouldn’t want to walk it! and yes, it is that ‘Battel’ of 1066 and Hastings fame. In fact the local tourist organisation calls the area 1066 Country.

Fun Fact for your Zoom quizzes or how ever you’re going to be amusing yourselves: The Battle of Hastings wasn’t fought at Hastings. It was fought at ... BATTLE. Maybe they thought no one would take it all that seriously if they’d named it the Battle of Battle(Battel) 

The Battle of Hastings is curiously named, because it actually took place several miles away from Hastings, in the place now called Battle. An early chronicle simply states that it was a battle fought "at the hoary apple tree", a name which thankfully didn't catch on.

Anyway, if you do want to know the history of the oldest Bonfire Society and the making of effigies and so on, chose these links

Battel Bonfire Boyes

More info about the Guy

I don’t usually get political on social media, certain topics I much prefer to steer clear of, so take this as topical. Very topical. Quite often now public figures (of all kinds, not just political ones) are chosen as the year’s featured ‘Guy’ Boris Johnson has been a famous Guy too.

Just look at the scale of the build

So there we have it, a bit about nature, a wealth of trivia and some reminiscing and all because from today England is in official lockdown again,  A month long starter for ten - award yourself some cinder toffee or sticky parkin as a Bonfire Night prize if you know that one. If you do make some cinder toffee try dipping it in melted chocolate for your own homemade version of a Crunchie. Tomorrow, Thank Crunchie it’s Friday. Does anyone else recall that advert on the TV?

As we can’t be sure when we’ll all be free to celebrate again, enjoy this, the London Fireworks welcoming 2020. A new year is always full of hope. We just didn’t have a clue what a memorable year this was going to be did we. If we had, we might have decided to blow it up from the start!

Got to admit I thought twice about the Boom Boom joke just on the off-chance those words trigger monitoring by security services! Too paranoid? Well, you can’t be too careful, but no, for the record, I’m definitely not plotting to blow up anything. It’s just another childhood memory.

Plenty of linked reading today then to while away some time in lockdown or wherever you are. Stay safe chaps and fingers crossed for better days.

Poppy for Remembrance (not my photo)

[supersamevans]

Unwrapping Some Presents

Tagging: Sam Evans and Kitty Wilde

Timeframe: November 5th

Location: Kitty’s Birthday Party

Notes: During spin the bottle at her birthday party, Kitty gets a very interesting present from Sam. And a necklace.

Trigger Warning: foreplay.

Kitty

At least half the party has already passed and Kitty enjoyed it a lot so far. She wasn't sure if it was a good decision to invite half the school including losers she wanted nothing to do with, but it turned out funnier that she expected - Kitty didn't wanna join glee club but loving singing and dancing it was a good opportunity to do it with the half of the school who's actually good at it. Spin the bottle game was not exactly what Kitty was planning to enjoy since there were only one boy who she was interested in kissing tonight, but somehow Quinn's arguments how fun it will be grew on Kitty and she gave up. Mason Well that one would be easy - Kitty thought, smirking before leaning to Mason to smooch him.6 novembre 2017

Sam

For being the first party he attended since his family moved to Ohio, Sam could say that things were going great. Not for the party per se, which was being fun, especially considering how glee people and football ones were able to coexist for one night without creating a slushie massacre. The hugest thought on his mind was actually the chance of being alone with Kitty for a change, something that had seemed pretty much impossible since he asked her out on meteor shower night. When spin the bottle was suggested, he couldn't help but waver a little. Knowing his reknown luck, getting the bottle to point at Kitty was going to be a mission impossible, but seeing how eager everyone was about it, he just went with the flow. He found himself staring at the bottle as Kitty spun it on the floor, his eyes darting on the Cheerio boy as the two got closer. Lucky guy he thought to himself, wondering if looks could be lethal -or maybe a little bit painful?- to some people.

Kitty

Kitty saw enough in McKinley to say glee kids could use someone having their backs and that ridiculous idea of having jocks, cheerios and glee freaks at the same time strangely worked, even if it was for one night. Feeling a bit bad about kissing Mason, Kitty still found it a bit funny that every time Sam asked her out, it ended up in him watching her kissing the other boy. Touching Mason's lips and feeling his mint breath, Kitty heard the bottle spinning again knowing without even watching that it was Sam hurrying for them to stop. Looks like I'm popular today, guess that's what birthday girl gets Kitty smiled watching Sam's bottle pointing at her and for a moment she wanted to believe it was some magic Sam created.

Sam

It was either a case of bad luck or the fact that the universe didn't want him to get closer to the girl, it was that simple. At least now it wasn't his date going weirdly but a game, it helped making the thoughts less bitter about the situation. Sam felt Mike lightly elbowing at him, which gave him the chance to get his hands on the bottle and spin it, adding a "my turn!" in a cheerful voice, before Kitty's kiss to Mason was over. It was a matter of focusing all his energies, force of will or whatever one might call that, but the bottle stopped pointing right in front of him, where Kitty was sitting. He smiled, leaning over the bottle to reach Kitty, as his stomach gave a little twist -butterflies, at the worst moment he could get a severe case of them. The game supposed to have just some sort of peck and then go back to respective seats, but it was clear the moment his lips touched the other's that it was not going to be like that. Room fell silent, or at least that's what his mind told him: music in the background turned to zero, voices were just a buzzing sound in the back of his head. It was him and Kitty: her lips and their taste, her perfume, his hands reaching up to cup her face and hold that moment for a bit longer. It felt like the feeling one got with fireworks, the same feeling of looking at them in awe and hoping it's a moment that never stops. Which, unfortunately, happened when he heard Sugar voice calling for her turn. Sam pulled away slightly, looking at Kitty's green eyes, starstruck and unable to do anything but smile and stroke lightly her cheek, before Sugar intimated him to go back to his seat so she could spin the bottle.  He got back to his spot on the floor, unable to look away from the girl in front of him.

Kitty

While Kitty had thought about them kissing for a while already, she never expected it to be like this - in front of whole school, in the middle of drunk game - knowing it's gonna be Sam's first kiss, she wanted it to be some sort of special, being a romantic guy he is, Sam probably imagined it million times and she doubted at least one of these times required spin the bottle game and glee club and Titans around. She talked herself into doing it seeing Sam's face so much closer to her than usual, saying to herself she'll make up for it later and will give him a proper first kiss experience and leaned to him touching his lips. Kitty kissed guys before, but that was something new. Wow the moment his soft lips touched hers and his hand went to grab her face, Kitty knew she doesn't wanna kiss anyone else today - even for the game, it was like little fireworks filled the room the moment their tongues touched each other. Kitty didn't even wanna think if guy lied to her about it being his first kiss or he was just naturally so good at this, but she knew she doesn't wanna stop. She quickly sent Sam"Wanna play again? My room. I give you 30 seconds" text, curious if it'd be just as good without a game or anyone around and talked everyone she needs a new drink quickly sneaking in her room, smirking as she felt Sam was grabbing her hand moments after.

Sam

The game seemed to be forgotten after that kiss. Even though their friends were still cheering on the random couples who kissed each other over the bottle, filling the room with crazy laughters, his eyes were still fixed on Kitty. It all happened in a whirlwind: first kiss, first kiss with Kitty, the text he just got. Which actually reminded him that the girl in front of him had her phone in her hands and was now getting up and saying something he didn't really grasp. He took a look at his phone, getting on his feet as soon as he saw Kitty's name on the display. 30, 29, 28- he lost count and didn't even manage to find a good excuse for going away, though Mike's smirk clearly said that he didn't have to explain himself at all.  15, 14, 13... With the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Kitty and followed her through a door. His hand grabbed hers and gently pulled her close to himself to meet her lips once again, briefly this time. He smiled as his arm laced around her waist. "3, 2, 1... here we are," he said playfully.

Kitty

It was new to see Sam being so flirty and playful, but she actually liked it a lot. "3,2,1...look at you being just at time for giving me my presents, good job, Evans" she stopped for a bit to give him a proper deep sensual kiss only pausing to grasp some air, although that moment she was ready to stop breathing just not to stop with Sam "Well this is what you can call your first kiss, I mean without anyone around and not because of the game" Fireworks didn't go anywhere and kitty was grateful they had plenty of time to go on after she gets her presents. Speaking of which, present Sam gave to her was very special, very pretty...and very Sam, she didn't know any other guy who would give her a constellation neckless. While Kitty didn't wear anything on her neck except simple chain with a cross, she wanted to put it on the moment she saw the beautiful piece. "Will you help me?"-she playfully looked at Sam over the shoulder, putting her hair up leaving him a place to do it without any hair getting stuck in the locker. She felt Sam pressing his muscular chest into her back and was ready to hear the sound of the locker getting closer but she wasn't ready for what she felt next - Sam's lips leaving soft kisses on her neck, moving slowly to her shoulder. She arched her back a little as saying him not to stop and closed her eyes for a second before murmuring "how about my second present?"

Sam

Before he had time to reply about his presents, he was surprised to see Kitty going for a deeper kiss. It was natural to tighten his grasp around her waist and keep her close, to better kiss her lips, to make her feel comfortable as he was holding her. When she pulled away, he leaned in a little bit more, though conscious that air was still well needed to go on. With an embarassed smile, eyes far from her this time, he tried to play it cool and shook his head. "If I had to say anything about it, I'd say that first one was cool but you made this one even better." And oh, how much he wanted to just lean in again and let her take his breath away once again, but his common sense striked before her could do it once again. Pulling a bit away, Sam gave her the little box containing the constellation necklace.  He'd spent two hours wondering if that gift was too much or not enough, but the look on the girl's face spoke for itself. Taking the necklace from her hand, he positioned behind her back to help with the clasp. "It's Scorpius constellation, and it's because you're a Scorpio,"  in a low voice, his fingers slowly moved on her neck. "And the curious thing is that not for everyone it's a scorpion," his words became a low whisper as the clasp went to his place and he leaned to kiss her soft skin, following the line of the shoulder, right where the strap covered her shoulder. He gently put it aside to better trail that spot of skin with slow, measured kisses. Kitty's response to that made him stop for a second, feeling her back pressed against him, so perfectly combined with him in that moment. A small smirk formed on his lips at her question, so he gently made her turn and pointed at the bowtie he had worn that night. "Thought you had noticed I've had this all night long already, waiting for you to unwrap."7 novembre 2017

Kitty

Kitty never was a big fan of bow ties, but this boy managed to be cute even with it. It was even sweet that Sam thought of something she would be able to keep after "I am impressed you don't wear an actual wrapping paper on you"-grinning, Kitty mentally thanked her dad for asking her help with ties and bow ties before and after events so Kitty knew it would only take seconds of her to get rid of it. It always was mean when Sam called her midget, but height difference between them was really big- leaning to Sam's lips the moment she got rid of bow tie, Kitty was pleased with high heels she was wearing. It was only seconds before Kitty felt Sam quickly lifted her up and pressed her back to the wall; without stopping their passionate kiss even for a second, Kitty adjusted her position placing her legs just around boy's waist noticing how perfectly they fit for each other. It was a bit scary to go further not knowing if Sam will really stop when she asks, but their not quite sober minds were out of control - Kitty didn't even remember how her fingers started unbuttoning his shirt, getting rid of it and her palms started stroking his muscular biceps and chest as they did it before million times. "Let's get to the bed, mr Present" her low voice broke the silence in the room, although Kitty was whispering it into his ear, pressing her body even closer to him before touching blonde boy's neck with her lips.

Sam

A laugh escaped from Sam's lips at her words, and he quickly shook his head. "I tried, but the result wouldn't have been that good. I'm already wrapped enough." Compared to the full hour he had spent on youtube trying to figure out how to make the perfect bowtie, Kitty's hands untied the knot in such a hot way that it made impossible not to go for a longer and more intense kiss. It came natural to him to lift the girl up and let her back rest against the wall, leaving a trail of kisses from the corner of her mouth to the neck and back to her lips, only to gently nibble the bottom one in a teasing way. As her hands were working their way through the shirt, Sam kept his hold on her, enjoying the closeness of their bodies, their heat when together, especially now that a layer of fabric went on the floor. Her whisper against his ear sent a shiver down his spine, and he nodded slightly with a soft moan at the pressure of her smooth lips against his skin. Holding her as tight as he could to not lose that closeness, he carefully set Kitty on the bed and let her lie down so he could be on top of her, propped on his elbow. With his free hand, he started stroking her body under him to reach the hem of her top. Her skin was soft and warm, so smooth under his touch, it was impossible not to taste it again with his lips by going to her collarbone and slid his fingers further under the fabric, to hold her by the hip.

Kitty

There was no way in hell it was first time Sam got intimate with a girl, Kitty would never believe it, cause boy was too sure about what to do - from being assertive firmly pressing her to the wall to gently carrying her to the bed not forgetting to leave kisses on her lips down to her neck while his hands were sliding all over her body. After what happened years ago, Kitty wasn't always okay with boys touching her more private parts but feeling Sam's palms on her butt while he was holding her felt oh so right. Hours of working out in a gym totally paid of for Sam, not only giving him a spectacular upper body but also letting him holding her with his strong biseps without even being puffed. With any other guy she'd freak out even at shirtless making out phase - as much as she seemed to be slutty, Kitty's past left a huge mark on her, but with Sam it felt so good and so natural that she was willing to go further, she even felt safe having the weight of his body on her which never happened before. Kitty closed her eyes feeling how Sam's lips went down to her collarbone while his hand pulled the top highter exposing her toned flat belly, her skin was heating under his kisses trembling when Sam went where no one else kissed her before - from her cleavage to her stomach, she was so thankful Sam didn't went too far although from the tiny noses he made and his hand grabbing her hip she could tell boy didn't mind.And it's not like her body felt any different since with every kiss going lower she felt the growing heat inside of her body signaling her how much he turns her on. Bringing him up again with their open mouth kisses, Kitty allowed his hands to slide from her bare legs to the curve of her butt before it went highter gently grabbing her breast through the clothes. There was no need for talking at all, cause even if they weren't sure what to do, their wasted bodies knew everything working so perfectly together.Placing her hands around boy's waist she was able to roll over to, finally becaming in position of control. With making few slight grinding moves as she places her legs apart she rised up to his lips, teasingly touching his tongue with her own before going deeper for a kiss. Muscules under her touches tensed reacting to her fingers sliding on his chest while girl went a little lover quickly trailing from his neck to his chest with her tongue before kissing his muscular chest putting her plump lips down his abs going lower and lower with every touch.

Sam

If someone told him that he was gonna get that kind of time with Kitty Wilde, the girl that had literally stole his thoughts and attention after what could've seemed a weird start, he wouldn't have believed it. Up until a couple of weeks ago it was impossible to imagine that the outcome of a kiss -if there could've been a kiss!- was going to be that. To be able to be close to her and way more, to kiss her, lift her up in his arms and feel the heat of her body pressed against his, to be able to look at her lying on her own bed, as beautiful as always, even when she was flustered. The fact that it was the first time he went that far with someone, not once that thought had stopped him -as if alcohol wasn't playing its part in that- it all came natural with her. With every touch he could appreciate every corner of her, getting closer to her skin and exposing it a little bit further before kissing it multiple times, tracing invisible lines on it.His hand sliding on her bare thigh, he reached the hem of the skirt but went up again, and there Kitty surprised him again placing it on her butt. He didn't waste a second to look at her or say something, but only leaned to get a kiss from her lips, catching her breath in that exact moment, as his fingers delved into her back, arched in a way that made him wanna feel again that body against his. The switch of position definitely didn't interfere with that desire, as his hands were now free to wander on her as much as she did. Sure she made it hard to do, as every touch sent a shiver to his spine that made him get tense. His hands slid again on her back, stopping on her butt and squeezing it lightly through the fabric, as if there was still space for insecurity after they threw some boundaries like that. Any possible thoughts was deleted from her kisses, a trail starting on his neck and going lower, lower and lower- making Sam moan again, his breath now shallow, eyes closed. With his body reacting like that to simple kissing, he propped himself up again to gently pull her closer, hands sliding again on her upper body, slowly and almost methodic as they stopped on her breast; and even with fabric between him and her bare skin, he still pressed his lips against her cleavage and down, like she just did, hands holding her still , tiny as she was, until he found that little spot of exposed skin, where he lingered longer.

Kitty

Sam was really different from all other guys Kitty've met through her life - she was watching him going for her for weeks without pushing her even once - he respected her boundaries and had gained her trust piece by piece over past few weeks. Maybe that's why she was so relaxed with him, knowing that the only thing that would take boy to stop is her asking once; yet she didn't wanna use any stop words until Sam goes too far - she even let him go freely to the danger zones which she never was okay with dudes touching - safety of his slow touches let her relax and forgot about bad thoughts. It only felt natural to close her eyes while they suddenly went to what was more like foreplay then just kisses- like his hand sliding on her thigh going up to her ass with only tiny fabric between them as her lips and tongue founding it's way on his warm body. While the light was off, Kitty could swear they looked messy - Sam's hair she was going through with her hands were messy, last prints of her red lipstick were supposed to stay on boy's neck and chest while she was on top of him basically in her underwear - top's strings went to the side about an hour ago and raised by Sam, top was barely closing her chest while her shirt went up to her waist as she placed her legs apart of him. Sam gave her the feeling she've been avoiding since that cursed sleepover - he turned her on crazily and it scared her. Despite having only couple of glasses of champaign, it felt like her mind was out of her body watching from aside how she arched her back feeling boy exploring every inch of her body with his lips. Right at the moment they were moving just in her cleavage with his hands so naturally went to cup her boobs - while boy didn't focused on her nipples separately she was wondering if he felt how they went hard under the fabric as his fingers slipped through it.With his lips going so close under fabric, she brought him up slowly moving their position into her sitting on top of him. "Hey hot stuff", - Kitty murmured smiling as she pressed her bare stomach into his. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she went for the kiss, allowing her to do slow grinds as they got lost in their kiss. "Hey Kitty are you ok....Jesus" - hearing Spence's voice and seeing light touched the room, Kitty opened her eyes in one moment trying to adjust the top as her best friend didn't noticed what they were doing with Sam as she was sitting on top of shirtless guy. Not being sure what to tell, Kitty noticed the grin of approval on Spencer's lips as he said "You two are amazing, keep doing whatever you were doing, imagine I was never there", closing the door before they even were able to come with any reply. Kitty rolled to lay down next to Sam as she was adjusting her clothes on it's place "Well it was a bit awkward. I guess we need to come back since people started noticing we're away" It took girl few minutes to go back to normal breathing still feeling electricity in her body as she reached out for Sam's hand, intertwining fingers with his.

Sam

With no lights in the room and the body of Kitty on his, it was like being in a dream, a dream where it was hard to wake up from.  Even though his head was light due to the alcohol, which hadn't been much at all, it was most of all her way to move on him that drove him crazy. It was irresistible. With every little expression of pleasure, the need to further and explore more of her skin with his lips was more and more urgent. His hands were still on hear breasts as his kisses went down and down, but gladly let her guide him until they could shift position and welcome her in his arms again. He pulled her so close that they could almost be one thing, skin against what remained of shifted fabric, and smiled on her lips hearing her voice. "Hey, gorgeous." She got closer as well, allowing him to wrap his arms around her hips again, following that grinding movement. He was gonna shift position again when he heard the clock click. Lights were on again and, through his clouded mind, he heard Spencer's voice as if it was far, very far. Something clicked in his mind too, because a panicked gaze went from the guy to Kitty, his mouth open to find words he really didn't have but his arms still tight around the girl.Spencer got away literally in a blink, but the magic was now gone. Kitty pulled away but stayed close. "Awkward is only the first word to describe it," he joked, his breath still shallow, but happy to hold her hand and not ready to let fo of that moment. "I know, but stay a little while?" he asked, reaching out to let her rest against him. "Just for a little while, then I promise will get back to best party of the year." They gave themselves the time to calm down a little bit, close like that, until it really looked like the right time to get away. Kitty helped him getting back his shirt, slowly buttoning it up; it was tempting, for a moment, to lean in and kiss her again, but he let her go, listening to her advice of going out a little bit after her, so that it didn't seem like they'd been there all that time. Which, if he only could've expressed his feelings as he wanted, was exactly something he would've done. Still, Sam looked at her get away with a sigh. Realization of being in too deep hit hard, even though he was really aware of that. A couple of minutes more, and he got out as well, going back to the party.