Laura is the face in the misty light Footsteps that you hear down the hall The laugh that floats on a summer night That you can never quite recall

DANA ANDREWS in Laura (1944) dir. Otto Preminger

Cloacked Heart | Jackson Avery

Requested by anon:  Hi😊💕 Are you taking requests? Also, I wanna tell you that your works are very good💯👏👏👌🏻 and then, I was thinking on using “Oh, do you ever shut up?”; “You can call me whenever you want.. Even if you don’t have a reason to.”; “Tell me I’m wrong.” where the reader is DeLuca's sister and gets to work for the first time with Jackson but they don't get very well at first :) xx

Word count: 2.7k

Warning: none

Note: not my gif! kinda enemies to lovers

Thank you so much, darling! It really means the world to me :) Hope you like it xx

#11 - ‘Oh, do you ever shut up?’

#46 - ‘You can call me whenever you want.. Even if you don’t have a reason to.’

#67 - ‘Tell me I’m wrong.’

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Today was your third week at your new job. Thanks to your brother Andrew, you got in at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Before, you worked in a hospital on the other side of the country which you thoroughly enjoyed but due to staff cuts, you had to leave. Being incredibly good at what you do, you got offered some jobs but none of them interested you. So Andrew spoke to his superior and got you a job as an attending in OB/GYN. Your sister Carina worked in OB/GYN also, so that’s where your fascination and passion for this specialty came from.

‘Hey, Y/N! How’s moving in going?’ Arizona asked, handing you a coffee. You took a sip and let the hot beverage slip down your throat. Warmth spread through your whole body as you enjoyed the bitter taste on your tongue.

‘It’s going okay, actually. All I need to do is paint the walls and I’m done,’ you nodded contently. Moving in was less stressful than you thought it would be, thanks to your newly made friends here at Grey Sloan. Arizona was the first person Andrew introduced you to and since he’s her roommate and head of Ped’s, you knew you would most likely see each other more.

‘Cool! Hey, you wanna come over for dinner on friday? I’ll kick Andrew out and we can have a girls night. If you want I’ll invite the other girls too,’ she said, pointing to the three sisters at the end of the hallway who waved at you.

‘Yeah, that would be fun. If it’s not a bother to you, that is,’ you said. You hated being a bother to anyone and always did your best to keep to yourself. Especially since you were new, you didn’t want to intrude. All of the staff seemed really close to each other by what you had seen so far.

‘Oh it’s no problem at all!’ she waved off, ‘And besides, after such a stressful time you deserve a glass of wine. Or bottle.’ She winked at you and left to check up on het patients. You knew you had surgery tonight, so you decided to lay down for a little in one of the on-call rooms. Thinking about your life before and now made you smile. The job you had was great, but they didn’t let you do what you did best; save lives and deliver babies. There was always someone who was better than you or stole your patients. It was unfair and definitely uncalled for, but being here made you feel appreciated and welcomed. You hadn’t met everyone yet, but so far you got along with everyone.

You heard a knock on the door and got up. It was one of the interns who told you the surgery had been moved to the afternoon. You decided to check on the patient before surgery, but someone already beat you to it. A man was talking to your patient. He was tall, muscular and had piercing blue eyes. You knew it was Jackson Avery, as you had seen on the board earlier today, but you had yet to meet the man. Your breath hitched for a moment and that caught the attention of both your patient and the still unknown man.

‘Hi, sorry to interrupt. I’m doctor DeLuca. I’ll be performing your surgery with doctor Avery,’ you introduced yourself to the patient with a smile. She shook your hand and then turned her attention back to Jackson. He explained every step of the surgery. She was pregnant with twins, but her skin had been completely stretched out, making the continuation of the pregnancy very dangerous. You would deliver both babies safely while Jackson restored the skin. It wasn’t a risky procedure, but it did require some skills. Hence the two of you being here. Once he was done explaining, she felt safe enough and two interns took her to pre-op. You handed the tablet to one of the nurses, who you remembered was called Linda, and turned to Jackson.

‘I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I’m Y/N DeLuca, ’ you said with a smile and held out your hand for him to take. He shook it and nodded at you.

‘Jackson Avery. Let me be clear straight away. Don’t try anything funny with me or anyone in this hospital. This hospital is funded with the money I provided, so this placed is owned by me, no matter what anyone says. I can kick you out as easily as you came in. So, let’s do this surgery, because I have more to do today.’ Not waiting for an answer, he turned around and left to prep for surgery. You stared at him until he left and shook yourself out of your haze. What crawled up his ass and died?

When you tried to leave, you bumped into Andrew.

‘Hey, Annie,’ you asked, hearing him groan behind you. You had called him that since you caught him singing along to Annie: The Musical one night. He hated it ever since, but after doing it for so long his actual name sounded weird so you just kept using it. ‘Is Jackson always such an ass?’ You turned around and watched his face turn into a frown.

‘No.. most of the time he’s the nicest guy around, why?’ he asked. He saw you frowning and stepped towards you, placing a hand on your shoulder. ‘Did he do something?’ 

Your sister was older than you and he was younger, making you the middle child, but he always protected you like an older brother. Whenever you felt sad or angry, you came to him first before anyone else.

‘No, nothing happened. I just introduced myself and he started going on about me not trying anything funny here because he could kick me out if he wanted to,’ you mumbled.

‘Hmm.. maybe he has a bad day? I can talk to him if you want me to?’

‘No, it’s okay. I’ve got surgery with him, so I’ll talk to him. I gotta go, see you tonight?’ you asked. He nodded and smiled. 

‘Goodluck, peanut! Page me if you need anything.’

You scrubbed, changed into different clothes and stared operating. You could see how tense Jackson still was, so you tried to lighten the mood.

‘So, Jackson, how long have you been here for?’ you asked. Your hands worked flawlessly and Jackson noticed. He was pissed off at someone new coming to work at the hospital again, thinking it would only cause more drama again, but you seemed actually nice and talented. It sparked a little jealousy in him that he hadn’t felt before.

‘Long enough,’ he grumbled. You couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was. His eyebrows were furrowed and he watched the skin he worked on closely. You had seen his work before and it was incredible.

‘Okay, well..’ you started, ‘Not to kiss your ass or anything, but I think you’re a great surgeon and I am really looking forward to working with you more in the future.’

There was no response as you continued on delivering the babies. You soon delivered a boy and shortly after a little girl.

‘There they are. Please take them to either doctor Robins or Karev. They’ll check up on them and inform the parents. I’ll be right there,’ you told the interns with a smile and they quickly left.

‘That was really nice, you know.. Saving the hospital and all. I couldn’t-’ you got cut off by a load groan of Jackson.

‘Oh, do you ever shut up?’

Shocked at his sudden snap, your hands froze and your breath hitched. He seemed to be okay with what he said, since he just kept going. What you didn’t know was that he didn’t mean to snap. It was like he lost control over his mouth, because when the words left his lips, he was shocked himself. Snapping at a woman like that was very unlike him, so when you mumbled out a sorry, he wanted to apologize, but the words were stuck in his throat.

-

The ‘shut up’ incident had been almost a year ago. You had worked with him a few times after that and he talked to you more often now, but luckily Arizona offered to take your surgeries with him so you could take over hers. She had truly been your best friend since you started at Grey Sloan, besides April. The three of you got along incredibly well and you even went out for dinner once a month. Andrew and you had switched apartments, so you now lived with Arizona and he lived in your apartment.

It was saturday and you were about to leave, but you wanted to check on you patient Amy one last time before she left. She was allowed to leave tomorrow and you had the day off, so you wouldn’t see her anymore. Sofia was 18 and was now a mother of a healthy baby girl. Her parents refused to see her as they were religious and didn’t approve of their daughter having sex before marriage. So you kind of took her under your wing until she left.

‘How are you holding up?’ you asked her, sitting on the end of her bed. She smiled at the little peanut laying on her chest as she wrapped her little hand around Amy’s finger. 

‘I’m okay. I guess all the cliché’s are true. Whenever I look at her everything just falls away. I’m going to be okay. We will be okay. I know we are,’ she spoke and you felt extremely proud of her. When she came in, she was terrified, alone and hurt. Now, she was all grown up and not scared of what the future would bring.

‘I’m proud of you, Amy. I really am. You have my number, so if anything happens or if you need anything, just give me a call, okay?’ She nodded and you hugged her goodbye. You caressed the little girl over the head and was about to leave when suddenly her heartbeat picked up and she started seizing. You took the child away as you yelled at nurses to help you, but to no avail. She had a heart attack and didn’t survive. The baby was taken away to the pediatric wing and her body was taken to the morgue. You sat in the middle of the room, staring at the place Amy laid alive and smiling just a little over an hour ago. Your bottom lip trembled and you could feel your throat closing up as you choked back a sob.

Jackson was about to leave too, when he saw you sitting alone in an empty room quietly crying to yourself. He glanced around to see if anyone knew what you were doing there, but when he saw no one even noticed you were sitting on your own, he stepped in. 

‘What are you doing here?’ he softly asked you. He noticed you tensing up, but something inside him told him you needed someone to be there for you. Clearly you were shaken up, so he couldn’t just leave you here alone. He grabbed a chair and sat down next to you. He followed your gaze and it didn’t take long for him to realise you’d lost a patient.

‘How old was she?’ he whispered. You let out a shaky breath and wiped away your tears.

‘Eighteen. Heart attack,’ you whispered back, your voice breaking. His heart clenched when he saw you so broken. You always wandered and skipped around the halls, a smile on your face and carrying positivity with you everywhere you went. Seeing tears falling down your cheeks and a frown on your face was nothing like you.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, placing a hand on your thigh. You felt a spark of electricity flow through your body and turned to face him. His eyes held remorse and his eyebrows were furrowed in worry.

‘I’m sorry too.’

You two sat like this for a few minutes. Sitting in silence cleared your head. You enjoyed Jackson’s company and it made you feel safe and warm to know he wanted to know if you were okay.

‘Come on. I’ll take you home,’ he offered, holding out his hand for you to take. You gladly took it and placed the chairs back on their spots. You got in his expensive car and silently drove to Arizona’s and your place. When you arrived, you didn’t get out right away.

‘Thank you Jackson. You didn’t have to do that, wait for me, I mean. But thank you for waiting and being there. I appreciate it,’ you told him, not daring to look him in the eyes. You could see him nod in the corner of your eye.

‘No problem. If you need anyone, you can call me whenever you want.. Even if you don’t have a reason to.’ 

Your heart fluttered at his words and you blushed. He reached out for your hand and kissed the top of it.

‘Goodnight, Jackson. Thanks again.’

-

Three years you had been working here. Since the passing of your patient, you and Jackson got along surprisingly well. Others seemed to notice as well, because both of you got invited to parties and dinners more, because you finally could be in a room with each other without one killing the other. Either of you were unaware of the feelings you shared for each other, that seemed to increase more every day.

‘Hey Jackson, wanna come over for dinner tonight? Arizona is out and I don’t wanna sit alone all night,’ you asked him, flopping down on the couch next to him. He seemed to ignore you as he continued playing on his phone.

‘Jackson? Are you okay?’ you asked again, this time softer and turning your body to look at him. You saw him swallow thickly and nervously play with his beard. It felt like a slap to the face when he ignored you. After three years you could finally have a decent conversation and now he was shutting you out again..? It simply didn’t make sense.

‘Did I do something wrong?’ you whispered. You swallowed the lump in your throat and Jackson finally looked up at you. He had to say it. It was now or never.

‘Tell me I’m wrong,’ he stated. His eyes held fear as he looked you in the eyes.

‘Wrong about what?’ you asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. ‘Jackson, what’s going on?’ Placing a hand on his knee, his eyes flickered from your hand to your face.

‘Tell me I’m right to believe you share the same feelings I have for you,’ he breathed out. Your heart beat loudly in your ears and you felt like he could hear it. He placed his hand over yours that laid on his knee and interwined your hands. You couldn’t believe it. Taking you silence as an answer, he chuckled bitterly and let go of your hand.

‘I guess I was wrong,’ he mumbled, standing up. You quickly stood up too.

‘I want to tell you you’re wrong, but that would be a lie. And I can’t lie; not to you. I actually wanted to tell you the same. Tonight. If you wanted to of course.’ You stumbled over your words as you tried to tell him how you felt. He chuckled at your rambling and he cut you short by placing a hand in your neck and pulling you against him, kissing you softly. His lips were soft and full and he smelled amazing. You closed your eyes, wrapping your arms around his neck and standing in your tip toes to pull him closer.

‘Only if it’s a date and I cook for you,’ he whispered against your lips. You giggled and nodded, making him smile.

‘I’m sure we can arrange that.’

You leaned in again, but froze when you heard a voice behind you.

‘Oh come on! Not you too. Now I’ve lost both my sisters to my co-workers. I shouldn’t have offered you the job, damn it,’ Andrew grumbled.

‘Oh, shut it Annie. Your time will come,’ you called after him, earning a middle finger in return, making you and Jackson giggle.

Drunk on a Sunset | 3 #ShawnMendesWritingCircle

A/N: Week THREE!!! Can you BELIEVE 🥳 Bc I can’t sdjfs Too busy having too much fun collaborating 🥂 Here’s part three to @mendesficsxbombay​ absolutely wonderful co-workers series!! Previous parts linked below!! Can’t wait to see where the next part goes (hopefully in an ~angsty direction sljfdkl)!!!

I wanna shout out @saysweartogod-og​ for being an absolute inspiration to me and always brainstorming with me in the wee hours of the night 🤧 Love you to the moon and to Saturn 💫 (she also created this circle game so props to her)

Part ONE | Part TWO | Shawn Mendes Writing Circle MASTERLIST 

Warnings: None // WC: 2.1K

Tour was everything and more Shawn could have ever imagined.  Sure, he’s traveled the world and met plenty of fans before, but something about this tour was special.  And he knew that the reason why this tour felt extra special.  All he had to do was look to the left, squint hard enough to see through the pink lights that came from the screen behind him, and see you singing along to his songs.

It was a sight he was sure he would never grow tired of.

With the fluttery feeling of butterflies he felt whenever he saw you, it was quickly followed up with flashbacks to that night.  The night of your birthday that he wished he remembered more of, that he wished had played out differently, a night he wished you remembered.  Shawn told himself that everything happens for a reason, that maybe you were supposed to stay Andrew’s tour representative, but he wanted to be so much more with you.

All he wanted was to be in your presence, but he couldn’t stop the nagging he heard in the back of his mind that said to leave you alone.  Sure, he walked on eggshells around you, but your presence was so alluring, that he always chased the feeling.

There had been a travel day––flying from Turin, Italy to Barcelona––and then the day before the show was full of stage set-up and rehearsals.  Shawn tried his best to get you to hang out with him, but you were always whipping out an excuse from your back pocket.  And yes, he knew you had actual responsibilities because this was your job, but he became suspicious when he thought more about it.  You had hung out with him whenever you had a spare moment, mostly just watching films on his tour bus or hotel room, but you never spent more time than necessary with him.

So he was going to try and spend more time than necessary with you.

He helped you bring in the merchandise boxes to the stalls in the arena, he helped you set up his green room with the production coordinator, and he looked over your shoulder when you were with the lightning director making sure everything was working in line for the show.  He knew that he was probably acting a bit childish, but if you didn’t remember what happened that night, he was going to try his damn best to get on your good side.

The day of the show came and Shawn wasn’t able to help much because he was needed to do his responsibilities.  Because just like how helping Cez, and reporting everything back to Andrew was your job, being a performer was his job.

In his pastel yellow hoodie, you stood off to the side, and watched as he flipped the microphone in his hand every now and then, as he walked along the stage for soundcheck.  He was incoherently singing the melodies to the songs you knew frontwards and backwards at this point, and you couldn’t help but feel a small smile tug at the corner of your lips.

He always made you smile, and you had butterflies in your stomach all day yesterday when he helped you with your tasks, but there was part of you that still didn’t know how to act around him.  You were happy that he wasn’t making your business relationship with him weird, but you could tell that he was overcompensating because he thought you didn’t remember that night.

Ever since you heard him stumble while putting his jeans on and sneak out of your room, you were on the same page as him in regards to pretending the night never happened.  Him leaving the warmth of your sheets was confirmation that he thought what happened that night was a mistake.  Although, you thought it was the most miraculous thing that happened.

His touches were gentle, his words were sweet, and his smile was infectious.  That night was a dream in every way possible and you were looking forward to waking up and spending the rest of the day in bed with him.  But he obviously didn’t see it the same way.  So, you tried avoiding him, but his presence was so captivating that you couldn’t avoid him any longer.

“Y/n,” Cez brought you out of your daydreams, “Will you go see if Alessia is in her green room? They want to test her lights one more time with her on stage in…” he looked down at his phone, “15 or so minutes.”

“On it, boss.” You smiled as you whirled around to walk away from the stage.

You walked down the back steps of the stage, almost tripping on the last step, as you walked further back into the arena.  You flashed your “ALL ACCESS” tour credential badge to the security guard who stood at the end of the hallway to the green rooms and he let you through without any trouble.

When you got to Alessia's room, you knocked on the door twice, “Alessia! Can I come in?”

You heard a cheery come in and swung open the door with a smile.  While Shawn’s crew did have people on the younger side, you clicked with Alessia the most.  You plopped down on the couch next to her and laid your head in her lap with a sigh.

“Aww, Y/n,” Alessia rubbed the top of your head with the tips of her fingers, “Talk to me.”

You let out another sigh, “It’s nothing.”  Alessia gave you a pointed look, knowing that it wasn’t nothing, and you closed your eyes, “Something might’ve happened with Shawn.”

“Did he fall off stage again?”

A laugh escaped your lips, but it was quickly left for the empty room to pick up, “Something happened with Shawn…And me.”  Her fingers stopped their languid movements as she just looked down at you for you to continue your confession, “On my birthday we kinda––slept together.”

You expected Alessia’s eyes to bulge out of her head and your confession, but her face stayed neutral, “And what happened in the morning?”

“That’s just it,” you shut your eyes, the embarrassment you felt in the morning when he left crept up in your stomach, “Nothing happened because he left.”

“Typical boy move.”

“Alessia,” you whined, “He’s my boss––”

“Technically Andrew’s your boss.”

You glared at her, “Well, he’s my boss’s boss.  I could get fired.” Panic filled your system as your breaths got shorter, “My reputation could be ruined because of one drunken mistake––”

“Hey, hey…” Alessia’s words were soft as she offered you a small smile, “One, Shawn would never fire you.  And he wouldn’t let Andrew fire you either,” you rolled your eyes, “And two, do you see it as a mistake?”

Of course you didn’t see that night as a mistake.  You weren’t even that drunk.  But he left in the morning before you thought you were awake so he obviously saw it as a mistake.

“He left when he thought I was still asleep,” you sucked in a breath and looked up at your friend with sad eyes, “He definitely sees it as a mistake.”

“But do you?”

You shook your head, “I really like him,” you said just above a whisper, “But we can’t––”

“There are ways––”

“You know better than anyone else how misogynistic the music industry is,” you sat up and looked at her with wild eyes, “If word gets out that I slept with my boss––Don’t correct me again––” you cut her off when you saw her mouth begin to open, “–I would be done for.”

She offered you a sympathetic smile, “Try talking to him.”  You let out a laugh, but she held up a finger, “He might surprise you.”

“I got my answer when he left–––”

“Y/n?”  Cez calling your name through your ear piece cut you off, “Is Alessia lost?”

“Shit,” you swore under your breath as you shot up from the couch, pulling Alessia up by her wrist, “They want you on stage to test lights.”

Alessia nodded, “I'll give Cez an excuse,” she gave your hand a reassuring squeeze as the two of you walked toward the stage.

Cez directed Alessia to where they wanted her to stand to test out the lights as you stood off to the side. You were checking the rest of the day’s schedule on the Master Tour app when someone bumped their hip against you; you looked up to see Shawn smiling down.

“Need help with anything?”

You clicked your phone shut and shook your head, “I think everything is pretty much set––Unless Cez says otherwise––You just have your fan Q&A in an hour.”

“Cool,” He nodded his head and rocked back and forth from his heel to the tips of his toes, hands behind his back, “Wanna do something?”

You were about to say yes, but part of you knew you had to put some distance between each other.  You had to try and make your relationship with him as professional as possible.

“Promised my mom I would call her when I got a free moment,” you saw his face fall at your little white lie, “Which I should probably…Call her now.”

Shawn nodded his head, trying to hide the hurt of your rejection as he kept his stare focused on Alessia, “Calling your mom––Yeah, yeah––Family’s important.”

“See you around, Shawn.” You waved at him and walked off the stage.

Shawn watched you leave until you were no longer in his sight.  All he wanted to do was make you see him in the way he saw you.  He’s always wanted you to feel the way he felt whenever he heard good news; he always wanted to tell you first.  He’s always wanted you to feel at peace in his presence because you always calmed him down.  He wanted you to feel everything he felt towards you, and when he saw Alessia bouncing off stage, he knew he had to ask her for help.

“Just talk to her,” Alessia said as they walked around the lower mezzanine level until Shawn plopped down in a seat with a defeated sigh, “She’ll appreciate that more than trying to get me to tell her that you like her.”

He slumped down in the hard seat covered his eyes with a hand, “But I left in the morning, Les,” he peaked an eye through the slits of his fingers, “She probably doesn’t even remember that night.”

“You’ll never know unless you talk to her,” Alessia sat down next to Shawn and angled her body to face him, “You’re twenty-one, this isn’t grade school.”

“Just help me make a plan up––Just so she––So she knows I like her,” Shawn sat up straight, leaned forward so his face was close enough to Alessia’s eyes so she could see how desperate he was, and took her hands in his, “Please.”

“Shawn––”

“Hey––Oh…Oh––Wow––Um, sorry,” when Shawn heard your voice, his eyes widened as he whipped his head around so fast it would’ve qualified as whiplash, and removed his hands from Alessia’s, “It’s um––Shawn, you’re needed at the Q&A and Alessia wardrobe wants you.”

“Y/n––”

“Doors will be opening soon,” your voice was barely above a whisper, hurt evident as you glanced at Alessia whose eyes were just as wide as Shawn’s, surprised to have ben caught with Shawn,“Might want to go somewhere people won’t see you.”

You walked away without another word.  You valued your friendship with Alessia, but after confiding in her that you really liked Shawn, and seeing them so close together, it made you question her authenticity.  And it made Shawn’s sweet gestures all the more confusing.

Of course you were upset, you made a beeline to the nearest bathroom and locked yourself in one of the stalls to stop your shaking hands.  But how could you be mad at them? Rang in your head;  people love them together.

A relationship with Alessia would definitely be a lot less messy than anything you could give Shawn.  They were both creative, professionals in the music industry that understood the demands of being an artist, and had an undeniable chemistry.

If this is what he wants, you unlocked the stall as you went to wash your hands as you thought to yourself; then you were going to be strictly professional with him so he wouldn’t get any ideas that you wanted to be something more with him.

Chapter 1- Prayers to the False God. February 9th, 1925 Saint Michael’s Home for Boys Hampstead, London. I was a quiet child growing up. I was a foundling. Found one morning on the doorstep on a January morn in 1915, or so the nuns tell me. I grew up in England. From the time I was an infant, I knew I was different. When I was younger, before the abuse began, the Nuns would talk about the golden rule. That we needed to treat each other as we wanted to be treated. I, personally, did not believe that first part. I knew I was meant for more than dreary orphan halls, secondhand clothes, and a greatness few of these brats would know. I knew this because the little voice told me. The voice didn’t talk to me all the time, and sometimes went months without even interacting with me. But, it did give me impressions about my surroundings and the other orphans. This meant that I preferred talking to the little voice instead of talking to the other orphans. When the voice was silent, I would practically live in the library. The little voice had taught me to read by the time I was three. The voice also acted as my conscience of sorts, teaching me when and when I shouldn’t do something. The Voice didn’t speak to me, no, it just gave me impressions. Wrong and Right, feelings that felt like praise, and joy when I was doing things properly. These feelings helped me, and gave me something to hold unto as the Voice came and went as I got older. My social reclusiveness led me to be bullied by the other children at the orphanage. There were a few moments that stood out. The first was the week Tommy Michaels killed my pet. I had a hamster, the nun’s allowed us to keep small animals in our rooms as long as we kept their cages cleaned and fed and watered properly. Tommy was a vile child. We had never gotten along, and when I was seven, my hamster escaped. It returned to me piece by piece. His legs, one after the other. Then his torso. Day after day. Until one morning I woke up to his furry brown head on my nightstand. That morning at breakfast his smirk told me everything I needed to know. That day, in our playroom, Tommy taunted me about the death of my furry companion. I proceeded to lose my mind. It felt like a dam burst somewhere deep inside me. A wave of light surrounded my palm, and a shimmery blast of emerald light exploded out of it. Tommy was catapulted into the wall of the playroom and fractured his leg. I was sent to bed without dinner. The voice had wanted me to kill them. The next morning, I looked in the mirror. I noticed that my normally blue eyes had turned a startling bright, vibrant green overnight. When the nuns noticed, that was the first time I was locked in a closet and forced to pray for my sins. For my eighth birthday, I had my first exorcism performed on me. For Tommy’s, he got adopted. I found out after some experimentation, that I could make things happen. I could levitate and move objects with my mind. I could force someone to tell me the truth and knew when they were lying. I had learned to read early, and frequent trips to the library led me to discover and cultivate a passion for reading. I dove into the classics and the new. I was particularly drawn to fantasy novels for some reason. I knew what I could do was magic, or something similar. The voice had told me this, and it was always right. Those works of literary masterpieces, and a restless urgency from the voice, gave me an impetus to learn all I could about my new abilities. It all made sense, from a literary perspective. I was the downtrodden orphaned magic user. Voice was my version of the Blue Fairy. Of course I’d be the hero in my story. Meanwhile, as I practiced my newfound abilities, my hair changed from blond to the same emerald shade of green. The nuns took offense to this, they called me a devil, or a demon; Insisted on praying over me and forced me to learn their scriptures in hopes of drawing out the demon they swore lived in my body. It might have been a self fulfilling prophecy, but I drew special motivation for training when they screamed Exodus 22:18 in my face. My life became hours locked in a closet that was barred with planks, or chairs. Filled only with mental conversation. That was more me talking and the voice giving impressions of sadness and helplessness that only served to add to my drive to train, to become more powerful. This was how my life was for those three dark years. I’d attend the trivially easy school they had in the mornings. Then, I spent my afternoons having the bible literally pounded into my skull on a few occasions, and my evening’s were passed by sneaking out to the small green grove near the woods, experimenting with my magic or powers. I’d earned quite a few scars over the years from the nun’s tender mercies, and slowly, began to resent them and the religion they tried to literally cram down my throat. I certainly wasn’t the only orphan they did this too, but I was definitely one of their favorites. One day, I had enough of the endless lectures, of being locked away for hours, or deprived of meals for some perceived slight against their God. The Voice was urging me to get me-us out of this mess. When the nun’s decided they had enough of my “devilry.” and decided to lock me in the prayer closet overnight one evening, I turned the tables on them. I broke the ropes they had bound me with. Then I locked them in the small room where I’d spent so many hours forced to pray to a deity, I frankly had my doubts about. Usually they left me with a candle. I didn’t grant them that luxury. I forced my magic to hold the door, and then let them stew for a few hours. They stopped trying to “convert” me after that, and I was allowed to eat on a fairly regular schedule. This continued until shortly after my tenth birthday. It was Monday, and I had settled into the library. My homework was arrayed before me, and a day of pretending to care about basic sums and Latin awaited me. Some things, I instinctively knew, or the voice did. I wasn’t sure which. That was where Sister Agnes found me. She approached me as she always did, an aged leather hand clutching a wooden crucifix attached to the matching rosary in one hand. A glare on her face, and a murmured prayer on her lips. She was one of the oldest nuns at the orphanage and was convinced that I was the devil incarnate. She was one of the nuns that had led a crusade to remove the so-called demon from beneath my skin. “Good day sister, what prayer are you muttering to the false god today?” I asked with a sneer. Okay, so I’d learned to play up to the sisters. Sue me. “Stephen, there’s someone here to see you.” She said, a look of fear on her face. Her back was straight, and her posture stiff. I looked up from my compendium on Latin. That was certainly odd. I had no known associates in this life. I also knew that I was growing into the age where it would be harder for me to be adopted. I wasn’t concerned with that reality. I had my own plans for what life would entail after I aged out of this place, if not earlier. “A prospective mother.” The nun said. “Just the mother? Where's the father?” I asked. “He’s attending to other matters. You’ll only be meeting the mother today.” She replied, “come on boy, before I drag you by the ear.” She said, and I closed my book. I followed her into the office that the nuns used for administration. Mother Superior sat at the front of the desk, and seated in front of it was my prospective parental unit. I took a seat, and Sister Agnes left. The woman was dressed casually, in a dark blouse and skirt. Her hair was pulled up in a severe bun. She didn’t wear much jewelry. A string of pearls, a single diamond ring on her finger. When she turned her gaze on me, I instantly felt a tingle come across my skin. I could feel the magic practically pouring off this woman. It was the first time I’d met someone else magical, and a weight I didn’t know I carried felt like it was lifted from my shoulders. The voice was excited too. “This is the boy?” She asked. Her tone was grim. “Yes, just as you wanted, an older child, independent. Smart.” The nun said. The woman sniffed. “His hair?” “Not a clue. The boy is quite adventurous. He just showed up one morning with his hair like that. Don’t worry, he won’t be doing that again. ” The nun replied. “I should hope so.” The women remarked with a murmur. “Stephen, my name is Bethany Andrews. If you’d like, I’d like to adopt you. My husband wants a son, and I am unable to conceive.” She said. Mother Superior gasped, and I gave the matron an innocent look of curiosity. We learned quickly in the orphanage, and I admired Bethany for how blunt she was. I looked into her eyes. There was something about her gaze that seemed to pull me in. “Careful boy, you might not like what you find if you keep looking.” A voice in my head said. Her voice. I gave her a startled look, and recoiled visibly, almost knocking over my chair in the process. and she smiled softly, a knowing glint in her eyes. I nodded once, and the woman smiled. “Fantastic!” Mother Superior said elatedly. “I’m sorry you’re leaving us child, I hope you’ll carry the lessons we taught you in your new life.” I looked at the matron. “Mother, I appreciate how you’ve treated me over the years, and I hope someone will return the favor to you one day.” I replied with a too-sharp smile. She faltered for a moment before she spoke again. “Good! I’ll fill out the paperwork while you go pack your things.” She said. I nodded. I knew there had to be other people like me out there, people with magic. There always was in the books, after all. My plan was to find them after I left the orphanage. I needed to learn more about these abilities, how to use more than the paltry telekinesis than I currently had access to. I went back to my room and grabbed the few belongings that I had. I didn’t have much, a few sets of threadbare clothes. A stuffed bunny; A couple of shells from souvenirs at the beach; The one trip we had made there. I shuddered as those memories came to the forefront of my mind. Lingering hands belonging to old men who had no place touching younger boys in those places. Memories I squished down. I quickly packed it all in a rucksack and went back to the office. Bethany had finished the paperwork. She grabbed my hand, and we walked out of the front. A car was waiting for us. It was a gorgeous piece of engineering for the time, painted a shiny silver. I recognized the hood ornament, and realized this car likely cost more than the orphanage’s yearly budget. The rear doors of the car opened, and we got inside. As soon as we settled, the car roared to life and took me away from the dreary orphanage forever. Okay, so, this is actually a completed work. I’m just trying to get that ever elusive exposure. If you like this, reblog, and I’ll post the second chapter, in a week, or a year, or whenever I get back to tumblr.

Hiding. Part 7a

Cowritten with @disastrousintention

-x-

Duffy winced as she got out the car. She sighed as she looked up at the hospital building in front of her. Her day had gotten worse as it had progressed and now she had to face her colleagues once more. Entering the building she tried her best to avoid eye contact as she walked towards Charlie's office. She could see the policemen tensing up as she reached out towards the handle.

"My, um, friend." She explained, gesturing towards Charlie's name on the door.

Charlie was pacing the office, in pieces. He’d been in two minds whether to ring the police for a welfare call but that feeling just wouldn’t disappear. He heard movement outside of the office but didn’t say anything nor did he move. The policeman seemed to relax as she gestured towards the name on the door and nodded.

Duffy pushed open the door to the office.

"Hi." She whispered, unable to look up as she knew he'd be horrified when he saw her face.

Hearing her voice, he stopped pacing and turned to her. Charlie took a deep breath and stepped towards her, “Hi.”

The moment he moved towards her she crumpled, reaching out to him as tears began to stream down her face.

His heart shattered. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, “I’m so sorry.” He whispered, “I had no idea.”

Duffy froze as she suddenly heard a knock on the door. She relaxed slightly as she heard George's familiar voice.

"I've cleared a side room like you asked, Charlie. We won't be disturbed."

He smiled sadly as he looked up and met George’s gaze. He nodded, “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

"Let's get you checked over, Duffy." She spoke softly but firmly.

Charlie reluctantly released his arms from around Duffy, “I promise I’m not going anywhere.” He whispered, “I’ll be right by your side.”

As they stepped back out into reception Duffy pulled her hair down across her face. She kept herself close to Charlie until they reached the side room. She winced as she sat down on the trolley.

Charlie tried to keep out of George’s way whilst she examined Duffy. He couldn’t believe he’d allowed her to get hurt. If he knew about Andrew getting handy with his fists, he would’ve stopped her from going home to him.

Duffy winced as George worked her fingers across her cheekbone. She became more agitated, however, when George indicated that she needed to lift her top so the younger woman could examine her ribs and abdomen.

Charlie took Duffy’s hand and entwined his fingers through hers. “You need to let George examine you.” He said gently, trying to reassure her.

She slowly raised her top, unable to meet Charlie's eye as she knew that her skin would already be starting to bruise.

Charlie saw the bruises and swallowed. “It’s ok. I know how delicate your skin is.” He whispered, before he glanced at George.

George tried to keep the anxious look off her face as she looked over at Charlie. Despite the knowledge that Duffy bruised easily it was clear to see that the bruising was deep and widespread. What she also couldn't fail to notice was that the older woman's stomach was swollen and rounded. She'd not been informed of that particular detail!

Charlie swallowed and glanced at Duffy’s stomach and then up at George. “Duffy’s pregnant. But she’s not had a scan yet.” He confessed. It made him feel sick, looking at her stomach, knowing Andrew had done that to her.

"Have you had any pain?" She paused. "Or bleeding?"

Duffy bit her lip. "Some pain." She whispered.

Charlie closed his eyes, if they’d lost their baby because of Andrew, he wouldn’t be able to control his emotions or actions.

George nodded, “No bleeding?” She asked.

"I don't think so." Duffy confirmed.

“Am I ok to run an ultrasound? Make sure you’ve got no internal bleeding? And the baby’s ok?”

Duffy nodded. She didn't dare speak for fear of bursting into tears again.

Charlie’s thumb stroked over the back of Duffy’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

"I didn't want you to get hurt."

He smiled sadly, “Who says I would’ve got hurt?”

"I know what you're both like. You would have confronted him."

“Of course I would!”

"I couldn't risk that." She whispered. Out the corner of her eye she saw that George had finished setting up the equipment she needed to perform the scan.

“I’d do anything to protect you. You know that, right?” He brought her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss against the back of her hand.

George was reticent to interrupt the intimate moment but she was also concerned that time was pressing.

He smiled sadly, “Do you want me to stay for the ultrasound?”

Duffy nodded. "Of course."

Charlie returned the nod, “Ok.” He smiled and kissed her hand again.

George smiled, “Sorry to interrupt, am I ok to carry out the ultrasound?”

Duffy nodded. Without being asked she shifted so she lay flat on the bed and unzipped her trousers slightly so she could lower them enough for George to easily complete the scan.

Anxious moments ticked by as George moved the scanning wand across Duffy's abdomen. The atmosphere in the room grew thick at the silence from the machine.

Charlie squeezed Duffy’s hand reassuringly.

Suddenly a noise was heard, faint at first but it quickly grew louder as George shifted the scanner slightly. She let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding.

"This little one apparently thinks its funny to play hide and seek!" She said, attempting to alleviate the tension.

Charlie exhaled. That sound was the best sound in the entire world! “Cheeky, like its mummy.” Charlie replied with a sad smile. The baby was ok! “Is it ok? The baby? Is she fine?”

George took a few moments to study the image more closely. She nodded. "I'd still like an obstetrician to take a look too but as far as I'm concerned everything seems fine. Developmentally the baby is fairly young so is protected by the pelvis. You're also lucky that it appears to be well cushioned."

Flooded with relief, Duffy couldn't quite keep the sarcasm from her tone. "I'll try not to take that too personally George!"

“Sorry, I just meant..”

Charlie shook his head fondly, “It’s alright George, we know you didn’t mean anything. Don’t we?” He gently poked Duffy’s thigh.

Duffy shot Charlie a brief dirty look before relenting. She'd never coped well with how drastically pregnancy altered her figure.

He lent forward and whispered in her ear, “You know I find your figure very attractive. Even during pregnancy.”

A flustered blush rapidly crept up Duffy's cheeks.

“I intend on making the most of your new found curves.” He whispered again.

"Charlie!" She hissed, tilting her head slightly in George's direction.

He grinned cheekily, “Sorry George.” He apologised for embarrassing their colleague.

"How about I, um, give you some space whilst I call obstetrics?" She gestured to the scanning wand. "You both know how to operate it." She smiled and left the room.

“Thanks.” He smiled as he stood up from the side of the bed and picked up the scanning wand. “Can I?”

Duffy nodded. "Go ahead." She smiled.

He smiled as he placed the wand on her stomach and tried to find their hiding baby. “I know you get self-conscious about your figure...” he started.

Duffy mumbled distractedly, her attention on the screen.

“But don’t be. Because I think you’re so sexy.” He replied. He moved the wand around and eventually located their baby. The sound of its heartbeat once again filling the air.

"You're weird!" Duffy giggled.

“Why?” He pouted. “It’s a girl, I’m going to say.”

"What makes you say that?"

“I’ve just got a hunch.”

"Do you want to find out?"

He shrugged, “I don’t know, do you?”

"I didn't find out with the boys. Did you find out with Louis?"

“No, it was a surprise.” He smiled, “This one will be a surprise too.”

"I think about 10 weeks." Seeing Charlie's brief confusion she clarified. "I did a couple of stints in antenatal when I was training. Was considering midwifery."

“You’re definitely maternal, midwifery would’ve loved you.” He smiled as he turned his head to the screen and looked at their blob.

"In the end I realised I got more of a buzz being down in a+e." She chuckled.

“Unfortunately for me.” He teased.

"Rude!"

“Wouldn’t have me any other way.” He lent forward and placed a kiss against her lips.

Duffy hissed slightly. Despite the cut having stopped bleeding her lip still stung from where Andrew had split it open earlier in the evening.

“I’m sorry.” He sighed, “How long has he been hitting you for?”

"It doesn't happen often. Only when he's been drinking." By this point the lies came so naturally to her.

“And how often does he drink?” He asked. Charlie placed the scanning wand on the side as he sat on the edge of the bed, facing Duffy.

"When I make him mad." She whispered.

“He uses that as a pathetic excuse to use his fists.” He answered back as he placed his hand on her cheek. “Baz makes me mad but I’ve never hit her.”

"I deserve it. I shouldn't anger him so much."

“No you don’t deserve it. Any man who even raises their fists to a woman isn’t a man.” He smiled sadly and stroked her cheek, “You make me angry sometimes but I’ve never wanted to hit you...”

"I wouldn't blame you if you did." She admitted softly.

“Why would I want to hurt the most precious thing in my life?” He asked.

A look of disbelief filled her eyes.

“I promise you. I will never ever hurt you ok?” He stroked her cheek.

"I've heard that before." She whispered.

“I’m going to show you, just how much you mean to me.” He kissed her cheek.

Duffy suddenly let out a gasp, her hand clutching at the side of her stomach.

“Duffy?” He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

"It... Hurts..." She stammered, her breath hitching as she spoke.

His eyes widened and he moved off the bed. He went out of the side room, “George?” The panic was evident in his voice.

"The obstetrician has been held up by an emergency." She commented distractedly over her shoulder as she wrote up her notes.

“George, she’s in pain!”

"Shit!" George cursed and hurried back into the room.

He returned to Duffy, his heart hammering in his chest. Pain was never a good sign.

"Where's the pain?" George asked Duffy.

"Here." She groaned, indicating just above her hip with her hand.

Charlie watched the interaction between both women. He was so scared, not that he’d show that on the surface. “What does the pain feel like?” George asked.

"Cramp. Its easing a bit now though."

George nodded, “I’m going to chase up obstetrics. It could be a number of things...”

"Please don't let me..." Her voice broke with a sob, rendering her unable to finish the sentence.

“Miscarry?” George shook her head, “I can’t promise anything but I’m going to try my best ok?”

Duffy watched as George left the room again. She tried to move but couldn't reach the scanner.

Charlie watched her and sighed. “Do you want to hear the baby’s heartbeat?”

She nodded. It was the only way she could reassure herself.

Charlie quickly moved round to the other side of the bed. He picked up the scanner again and pressed the wand around her stomach, trying to locate their baby.

Becoming increasingly agitated Duffy snatched the wand from his hands.

He sighed, “Duffy...”

Her hands shook too much and she struggled to see as her vision filled with tears.

Charlie placed his hands over hers to steady them and helped her locate the baby. It was hiding again.

Her breathing rate increased the longer silence filled the room.

“She’ll be hiding somewhere.” He replied, in an attempt to reassure her.

She rolled her eyes at the grin that appeared on his face as the whooshing sound of their baby's heartbeat once more filled the room. She forced herself to smile back as she attempted to hide the panic she had felt.

He smiled brightly at the sound before he kissed Duffy’s nose. “She’s hiding. Keeping mummy and daddy on their toes already." His eyes sought out Duffy's.

"You seem mighty calm about it." She remarked.

He took her hand and placed it against his chest. “You feel that? That’s panic.” His heart was still pounding fast.

Her own heart was racing in much the same way. The whole day had been just too overwhelming.

“I’ll be glad when today’s over. It’s been an overwhelming day.” He admitted.

Duffy glanced up at the wall "Only a few more hours." She commented.

“And then we both need to figure out, how to move forward.”

"I can't really go home." She sighed.

mahpiohanzia | chapter two [Remus Lupin/Reader]

You are an Animagus-in-training nearing the end of your education. He is Generic Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher Replacement #7. Your final year at Hogwarts couldn’t possibly be any stranger than the previous six...but seven is one of the most powerful numbers in magic, after all.

[ AO3 Link ]

Author’s Notes: Co-written by Andrew. Follow the blog @ http://mahpiohanzia.tumblr.com

Notes: what do you guys think so far?? please let me know!

If you were asked to sum yourself up in a single word, that word would be ‘tired’.

The final couple years’ curriculum at Hogwarts was dedicated to preparing students for N.E.W.T.s at the end of their seventh year. Your workload for year six was overwhelming, and with graduation on the horizon, you had no reason to doubt year seven would be even worse.

Your stellar academic performance so far was wholly attributed to hard work and sheer force of will--doubly so, as you entered the tail-end of your education. Within the past year, to keep up with the quality of your coursework, you’d evolved into a hyper-focused, largely isolated monstrosity of a workaholic; you never considered yourself antisocial before, but there were only so many times you could turn down your roomates’ invitations to hang out before they stopped asking altogether.

Right now, you kept huddled against the window of your compartment, rain showering the glass as the constant rumble of the train rocked you to sleep. You were practically swaddled within your robes, having changed into your uniform early for the sole purpose of sleeping as much as you could on the way there.

Although you’d fallen asleep alone, by the time you reached Hogsmeade Station, you woke to the anxious chatter of fellow members from Slytherin house, who’d used your colours as territorial claim to the train compartment.

“Oh!” squeaked a small second-year girl sitting across from you. “They’re awake!”

A young man with broad shoulders and fantastic hair looked over at you, concerned. “Did you actually sleep through that whole thing? You weren’t just faking?”

“Didn’t get much sleep last night,” you lied, annoyed at having to explain yourself. You rubbed at your eyes beneath your glasses. “Why?”

When the rest of the compartment exchanged wary glances, you realized at once that something was very wrong.

-

“It is not in the nature of a dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you.”

The enchanted ceiling showed a dark, muddied sky still recovering from the evening storm, as if the weather mirrored the dim atmosphere of the Great Hall. Beneath the light of a thousand flickering candles, the entire school sat in rapt attention during Dumbledore’s announcements, with many of the younger years breaking into nervous discussion at the mention of dementors. In light of recent events, you were told, security at Hogwarts had been escalated, with the infamous wraiths of Azkaban now guarding every entrance to the grounds.

When your housemates filled you in on the dementor-related mishap on the train, you were suddenly very glad to be a heavy sleeper.

Shifting gears, Dumbledore went on to introduce the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor: a rather plain, shabby-looking gentleman who looked as if he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in years. Even more surprising, however, was the retirement of Professor Kettleburn, and the appointment of Hagrid to the position of Care of Magical Creatures.

Not everyone had taken Professor Kettleburn’s class, but everyone knew Hagrid.

After the last of the dessert disappeared and bedtime was finally called, you used the ensuing crowd as cover to approach the end of the staff table where Hagrid sat.

You caught his eye, and offered a handshake. “Congratulations, Professor Hagrid.”

“Don’t think I’ll ever get used ter that!” the large man bellowed, going red in the cheeks as his hands practically swallowed yours. “Appreciate it, though--really lookin’ forward ter it. Got some great lessons planned. Will I be seein’ yeh there, erm...sorry, didn’ catch yer name?”

You reintroduced yourself. “And no, unfortunately--I never got the O.W.L.”

“Ah, well...” He hesitated for a moment, glancing at the green and silver of your robes, before shaking his shaggy head and waving a hand dismissively. “Nonsense--yeh ever wan’ ter sit in on a lesson, yeh jus’ let me know. I’d be glad ter have yeh.”

“Planning extra lessons before receiving your timetable?” came the stern voice of a familiar witch. “Quite optimistic for a seventh-year.”

Hagrid straightened up like he was the one in trouble.

An older woman stepped out from behind him, wearing dark green robes and a strict expression, her grey hair pulled into a tight bun beneath her pointed hat. Although never an unfair teacher, she exuded a presence that always made you feel like she’d caught you in the act of doing something unsavoury--this would make you nervous, which would make her suspicious, which would toss you into an endless feedback loop of looking highly suspect over absolutely nothing.

“Professor McGonagall,” you greeted with false cheer. “Have a good summer?”

“Yes, thank you.” Her intense gaze did not falter. “Did you receive my note before the start of term?”

“I did, ma’am, yes. Your office, Friday evening.”

“Good. Now, enough dawdling--please make your way to the dormitories with the rest of your house.”

You obliged, taking the excuse to break eye contact with her as you retreated from the staff table.

You glanced a goodbye at Hagrid, who mouthed ‘Let me know’ and gave you a thumbs up as you left.

-

[ Image Full View ]

Save for some minor changes, your timetable was the same as that of your previous year. The large amount of free periods once gave you the misconception of free time, back when you were naïve to the ways of the world, but after the near-daily ten-hour study sessions of your sixth year, you knew better than to fall for that illusion again.

Keeping time would be important this year, so you’d bought a watch over the summer--simple and black, with silver embellishments. The watch itself was charmed to zap you with a small electric shock at set times throughout the day. You enchanted it with your school schedule.

It wasn’t unusual for the first few weeks of term to be punctuated with various mishaps that spread around the school like wildfire. Draco Malfoy, the pompous third-year son of a powerful political figure, managed to get himself injured the first day of classes, and rumour had it he was milking it for all it was worth.

You never subscribed to pure-blood elitism or discrimination, nor did the majority of your house--more than half of the entire Hogwarts student body was half-blood or Muggleborn, after all, Slytherin population included. Yet, it was people like Malfoy who reminded you that the loudest, most obnoxious members of any group were the ones responsible for its reputation, and whenever you caught the pathetic thirteen-year-old boy strutting through the halls, retelling the increasingly outlandish tale of how he almost lost his arm to a rabid Hippogriff, you couldn’t help but feel deep embarrassment for your house.

There was little time to dwell, however.

Seventh-year N.E.W.T. courses featured advanced-level magic with smaller, mixed-house classes, meaning much stronger individual attention and higher workloads. Two days into term and the assigned readings were already threatening to consume your entire weekend, and the only reason you wanted Friday to be over was to get a headstart on Monday’s assignments.

Your last class of the week was your first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, and somehow, Professor Lupin looked even worse than he did at the start-of-term feast.

Now that you were only a few feet away from him, you learned he was a taller man, his tousled brown hair salted with touches of grey far beyond his years. He wore clothes a half-size too large for his frame; the fabric of his cardigan was pilling at the edges, and his robes had clearly been darned in several places. It was a good thing none of the classroom windows were open, you thought to yourself, as a stiff breeze would’ve been sure to knock him over.

“Good afternoon, class,” he began, his voice much stronger than his posture. “My name is R.J. Lupin, and I have the honour of being your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this term. You may call me ‘Professor.’ I assure you I have been called worse things.”

The class gave a small laugh.

“Now, in an attempt to establish myself as your favourite teacher right at the start of term, I will be administering a test for our very first class.” There was a collective sigh, but Lupin was already raising a hand to placate the room. “Not to worry, not to worry--this won’t be graded. It’s just a little something to gauge the level of your study progress. I’ve come to understand that your sixth-year N.E.W.T. lessons were rather...inconsistent.”

“That’s because Lockhart was a quack,” shouted a voice from the back row. Sounds of agreement and jeering filled the classroom.

“All the more reason for this test,” he said. “Your N.E.W.T.s are at the end of this year, and if I am to prepare you for them, I must learn exactly what you don’t know.” He took his wand from his inner pocket and gave it a wave. From a large stack on his desk, folded sheets of parchment distributed themselves around the class. “Again, this is not being marked--answer what you can, leave blank what you cannot. You have thirty minutes. Begin.”

You unfolded the parchment in front of you, dipped your quill into your inkwell, and set to work.

The exam began with simple questions that could be answered in a few words or less, about dark magical creatures, general defensive spell knowledge, and various incantations. As you progressed through the parchment, however, the questions grew more complicated; there were sections in which to illustrate differences between mirrored and non-mirrored wand movements, the most efficient methods of spell-chaining, and questions regarding counterspell theories you only vaguely remembered reading about. As instructed, you began skipping questions you didn’t know the answer to, until you reached the end and realized in a heart-sinking panic that nearly half of your test was blank.

All too quickly, Lupin called time, and with another wave of his wand, gathered the papers back to his desk. As your half-empty parchment slid away, you immediately glanced around the room to gauge overall impressions of the exam; thankfully, at least you weren’t the only one looking bewildered.

“Good, good--thank you, this will be very helpful.” Lupin arranged the completed exams back into a neat pile on his desk. “As I’ll need some time to get up to speed, I will not be assigning any homework this weekend--however, I would like to finish today’s class with a bit of a practical test. Everyone, put away your things and pair up, please, facing one another.”

As everyone packed up and got to their feet, Lupin moved the rows of desks up against the walls, clearing enough room on the floor for two lines of students. By process of elimination, you ended up pairing against a familiar, burly seventh-year with short hair and a strong jawline--the infamously tenacious Quidditch Captain of the Gryffindor team, Oliver Wood.

Wood pursed his lips and gave you a polite smile. You returned it.

“Now, get out your wands,” said Lupin. “I’d like to measure your proficiency with nonverbal spellwork. Should be very straightforward.”

You pulled out your wand from your inner robe pocket: a jet-black length of carved wood, the edges where your fingers rested worn to a dark grey. Nonverbal spells were a well-practiced skill learned at the beginning of your previous year--even if Lockhart didn’t teach them, every spell learned across classes during your sixth year was expected to be performed without speaking.

“Those on my right,” Lupin called out, raising a hand to indicate the row, “will cast a Stunning Spell on their opponent without speaking, on my mark. Those on my left will cast a Shield Charm in return, also without speaking. For those casting Shield Charms, please dissipate the Stun instead of deflecting it--I’d appreciate keeping my classroom intact, if possible.”

The students in your row would be performing first.

You made eye contact with Wood and nodded, making sure he was ready. He nodded back.

“Wands at the ready, very good. Three, two, one.”

With a sharp flick of your wrist, you cast a Stunning Spell in Wood’s direction. A burst of red light shot from the end of your wand. Wood shielded himself against it easily, dissipating your spell into a small wisp of red smoke. All your neighbors shared identical results.

“Excellent,” said Lupin. “Let’s switch, now, wands at the ready. Three, two, one.”

Mirroring the rest of the students in his row, Wood raised his wand at you, and cast the spell.

It wasn’t until the jet of red light sped towards you when you realized you’d forgotten the Shield Charm incantation completely.

Muscle memory alone drew your wand in front of you with the correct motion, but without the proper incantation to go with it, the Stun ricocheted off the end of your wand--and straight into your own face.

You were on your back in an instant, halfway across the classroom floor.

Gasps of shocked laughter accompanied the loud, painful ringing in your ears. Somewhere in the distance, you could hear Wood apologizing like mad.

The ceiling of the classroom spun and blurred into your vision. Your eyes were stinging, and you were trying to will them not to water up, if only to save what little dignity you had left--you weren’t actually crying, you were experiencing that awful, biting, welling reflex of getting hit hard in the face, but you knew there was no difference to the outside eye.

You tasted copper in the back of your throat long before you realized your nose was bleeding.

Suddenly, there were a pair of hands on you--someone was guiding you to your feet, hooking one of your arms around their shoulders to help you walk.

“Class dismissed,” Lupin said abruptly, leading you from the room.

-

The first week of term was typically the busiest for Madam Pomfrey, and today was no exception. By the sound of it, she had her hands full tending to several first-years who, on a dare from a rival house, ignored instructions during Herbology and were now paying a painful, swollen price for it.

You sat in silence in the Hospital Wing lobby, one hand still wrapped tightly around your wand, the other holding your sleeve against your nose to stifle the bleeding. Your face was burning--partly from the pain, partly from the sheer embarrassment of having a teacher waiting there with you in the neighboring seat.

More than anything, you wished Lupin would’ve just left you there to stew in peace, but the man seemed dead-set on doing the exact opposite. He’d helped you to the Hospital Wing, after all--there was no polite way of asking him to leave.

There was also no polite way of holding back the frustration bubbling inside you, either, so after several minutes of idle silence, you stopped trying.

“Protego ,” you snarled. The injury dulled your syllables, like you had a stuffy nose. “The incantation is Protego . That’s fourth-year stuff, for Merlin’s sake--how am I supposed to pass my N.E.W.T.s if I can’t remember Protego ?”

“You’ve nothing to be ashamed of,” he said, softly. “It’s my fault for doing a practical test without having a proper understanding of everyone’s abilities.”

“I know the spell,” you snapped. “I just--”

“--haven’t used it in a long time, I understand. But this could’ve been avoided if I simply had everyone recite the spells before we began casting them.”

“No, this could’ve been avoided if I just remembered the bloody spell. I was the only one in the class who forgot it, this is on me.”

“An oversight on both our parts, then.”

His tone sounded final, and you bit back the urge to argue. You weren’t sure why he was being so understanding about this whole thing, but you knew you’d be a fool to challenge it.

With one part of your robe sleeve thoroughly soaked with blood, you made a disgusted noise as you folded over a dry part of the fabric and pressed your leaking nose to it. “S’pose I won’t be gracing the cover of the Daily Prophet any time soon.”

Lupin leaned over in his chair and looked at you, reacquainting himself with your injury. “It’s not that bad,” he assured. “When I was your age, I fumbled a fairly standard Conjuring Spell during class. I learned two things that day: that enunciation is vital , even if it’s just in your head--and that birds like to go for the eyes.”

You gave a snort of laughter, then an immediate curse of pain as it reminded you that your nose was broken.

“Sorry,” he said, sounding more amused than sincere.

You shrugged it off. “Did that really happen?”

“Feel free to ask Professor McGonagall yourself. Definitely wasn’t one of my proudest exams.”

“Yeah, well.” You dangled the wand in your other hand in a hopeless sort of motion. “This isn’t one of my proudest days, either.”

“That’s quite the antique you have there,” he said, motioning towards your wand. “Ebony?”

“Oh. Yeah.” You looked it over. Did he just call your wand old ? “My grandfather left it to me. Phoenix feather cores are rather rare--I guess he reckoned I could squeeze another lifetime out of it.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

You shrugged, sliding the wand back into your inner robe pocket. “It’s alright, I guess. A little temperamental. It, uh.” You clicked your tongue and motioned to your face. “Doesn’t like unclear instructions.”

He leaned in for a whisper. “In its defence, I doubt many of us do.”

Remembering not to laugh, you instead smiled into your sleeve.

Without warning, Madam Pomfrey swept into the lobby, her stark-white robes billowing behind her as she towered over your seated form. She moved your arm from your nose, holding your chin and tilting your face from side to side as if she were examining a particularly interesting fruit. “And what have we here?”

“A rebounded Stunning Spell,” said Lupin.

“Broken nose and a black eye, easy fix.” She turned heel and made her way back into the main ward. “Don’t move.”

Now that you were being looked after, Lupin got to his feet and prepared to leave before Madam Pomfrey managed to shoo him away, grabbing his robe from the back of his chair and folding it over his forearm. Your conversation had made you feel so at ease that you’d forgotten to be embarrassed he was still there.

“Oh, that’s right.” He reached into the pocket of his cardigan and pulled out your pair of broken glasses.

(No wonder everything was still blurry.)

Lupin tapped on your glasses with his wand, repairing them at once. Before you could say anything, he’d leaned over and slid them carefully back onto your face, minding your injury; his fingers brushed against your cheeks as your vision became clear, and his face was just close enough for you to learn his eyes were green.

“There we are,” he smiled. “Just like new.”

You mumbled a small ‘thanks’ as he straightened back up to full height.

“Right, then. See you Monday.”

You stared after him while he left, at least until the sudden, unexpected pain of Madam Pomfrey’s spell snapped both you and your nose back to reality.

-

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 7 was propped open in front of you during dinner that evening.

Though you were only two days into term, N.E.W.T. preparations were fully underway, starting with condensed reviews of nearly every spell, potion, and number chart you encountered throughout your first six years. Though Lupin hadn’t assigned any homework, you wanted to get a head start on reviewing your old Defence Against the Dark Arts notes to prevent any repeat incidents involving embarrassingly basic spells. You also had a one-on-one meeting with McGonagall later that evening.

In spite of having more than dinner on your plate that night, your attention constantly drifted towards the only empty seat at the staff table.

Lupin wasn’t there.

Somewhere between the fifth and tenth glances at the staff table, your book slipped out of your hand, and page 24 received a healthy serving of gravy.

You decided you were being ridiculous.

You would pay his office a visit and dispel the day’s awkwardness before your next lesson, if only to prevent making a complete ass of yourself two Defence Against the Dark Arts classes in a row.

After dinner, you made your way up to the second-floor corridor, mentally rehearsing bullet points of conversation on the way. You were going to apologize for causing a scene in his class earlier that afternoon. You would thank him for his help getting you to the Hospital Wing. You would promise to do better in his class. That was all. Simple and clearcut.

Yes, just to clear the air.

Taking a deep breath, you knocked on his office door.

There was no answer.

“Professor?” you called. Maybe he’d already retired to his living quarters for the night--he certainly didn’t look well earlier in class.

However, as you knocked again, you noticed the doors to his office were locked--not just fastened shut, but magically sealed .

Behind you, a sharp voice spat out your last name.

The call gave you a start.

Be it due to your gross lack of awareness or his unspoken mastery of stealth, Snape had managed to make it all the way down the second-floor hallway without you noticing his approach.

Snape looked down his nose at you, his gaze cold and unblinking. “What are you doing here?”

Your first instinct was to lie, but your second instinct thought better of it. “I...caused a disruption in Professor Lupin’s class earlier today.”

“So I heard.”

You swallowed. Of course he would’ve heard. “Yeah, so...I came to apologize.”

“The most sincere apology,” he started, raising a brow, “would be to simply improve your behaviour in class going forward, would it not?”

“I just wanted to make sure we were on good terms.”

Wrong answer.

“Five points from Slytherin.” The corner of Snape’s nose curled, as if he suddenly smelled something foul. “We do not grovel for forgiveness in this house. You would do well to remember that.”

You bit your tongue. “Yes, sir.”

“Now, unless I’m mistaken, you have a meeting to attend.” He stepped aside without looking at you, making a path for you to pass by. “If you are late, I will know.”

As if on cue, your watch gave you a small bzzt on the wrist, marking your fifteen-minute warning.

You mumbled a final, “Yes, sir,” before passing him on your way back down the corridor.

-

Out of everything you would have to face this year, you thought you were looking forward the completion of your Animagus training.

Like everyone else, you first learned about Animagi in Transfiguration class during your third year. When asked about the process to become one, however, McGonagall was quick to inform you that it was an extremely rare skill not to be studied lightly; being an Animagus trained under Dumbledore himself, McGonagall wouldn’t consider taking in any candidate who proved themselves anything short of outstanding in her field.

This meant achieving top grades in both Transfiguration class and the mounds of prerequisite extracurricular homework she assigned you--term after term, year after year--just to convince her you were worthy of her time.

This meant keeping your head down and not giving Snape, as your head of house, any excuse to deny you permission to pursue the additional line of study.

This meant getting an Outstanding in both your Transfiguration and Potions O.W.L.s to qualify for private lessons with McGonagall throughout your sixth year.

Becoming an Animagus was, above all else, an extremely bizarre goal--a complex, demanding, high-risk process to endure for the acquisition of an esoteric skill with little to no practical use. One’s efforts were much better spent in something more valuable, practical, and marketable--but that was why you wanted to do it.

The journey was for you and you alone, just to prove you could make it.

At least, that’s what you thought.

McGonagall sat silent behind her desk, leaning forward as she kept her hands folded in front of her. She stared at you over the rim of her glasses, studying your pale expression, while your eyes remained fixated on the small crystal phial sitting on the desk between the two of you.

“Are you going to be sick?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet,” you croaked.

“I urge you to do it away from my desk, if you don’t mind.”

You gave a nervous laugh, though your eyes didn’t move from the phial.

“We can revisit this next month if you’re having doubts,” she suggested, a bristle of impatience in her voice.

“No doubts,” you replied. “Just nerves.”

“Tell me what’s on your mind.” Her intensity eased, just a little. “That’s why I’m here.”

“I’ve been studying for this for almost four years,” you said. “It always seemed so far away. ‘I can’t be an Animagus unless I get good marks on this assignment.’ ‘I can’t be an Animagus unless I get perfect O.W.L.s.’ ‘I can’t be an Animagus until I qualify for registration in year seven.’ But now .” You breathed another small laugh. “Now I’ve got the Mandrake leaf sitting right in front of me and I’m terrified .”

“As you should be.”

You tore your eyes from the phial and looked up at her, surprised.

“The successful completion of the final Animagus ritual is one of the most daunting feats in the field of Transfiguration,” she said, quite severely. “The slightest misstep will have disastrous results--permanent disfiguration at best, and at worst ...well. Let’s just say St. Mungo’s has a long-term residents ward for a reason. You’d be a fool not to be terrified.”

“Professor--”

“That being said,” she continued, raising a finger to quiet you. “The reason this process is so involved is because it is meant to teach you the virtues of knowledge and patience . You may not find day-to-day use in becoming an Animagus, but having studied the skill successfully these past few years has given you a framework of discipline that you will carry with you for the rest of your life. Now,” she motioned to the phial, “tell me why I called you here today.”

“...it’s a full moon, Professor. I have to put the leaf in my mouth tonight, and keep it there until the beginning of the next cycle.”

“Which is?”

“October 6th.”

“What will you do then?”

“Meet with Professor Snape that evening to create the Animagus potion under the light of the full moon.”

“And if the full moon isn’t completely visible on the night of October 6th?”

“Discard the leaf, come to you, and start over again.”

“And if Professor Snape is unavailable to help you the night of October 6th?”

“Discard the leaf, come to you, and start over again.”

“And if the leaf is swallowed or otherwise removed from your mouth at any time between now and the night of October 6th?”

“Discard the leaf, come to you, and start over again.”

“Good.” With a graceful nonchalance, McGonagall picked up the crystal phial containing the Mandrake leaf, and placed it into the palm of your hand. “You’re ready.”

Your heart already feeling lighter, you beamed.

“Thank you, Professor.”

458

A bunch of name surveys just because.

Do you know people with these names? For each name, say if you know someone with that name and how you know them.

Aaron: Aaron’s a good friend and a part of my high school friend group. We don’t see each other anymore but we’ll sometimes bump into each other on campus. Adam Aisha Alanna Alex: There’s someone in my college with this name. She sings and is taking up broadcast communication. Alexa: Someone from my high school batch. Was a popular girl and a little too sassy for my liking. I think she’s moved to Australia now. Alexandria Allegra Allie: It’s spelled Alli, but she’s a member of our rival org. She’s the fakest bitch I know and ugh, she’s just so rotten and loves to talk shit about people behind their backs. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s said anything about me. Allison: This was the name of my Comm 100 instructor. I found her really pretty but she doesn’t teach very well. She’s also taking up her Masters in the same department, which explains why she did one sem of teaching.

Alondra Amanda: I have an orgmate named Amanda. She’s taking up engineering but I’ve forgotten which sub-branch. Super quiet girl but I found her reliable in the few times I worked with her. Amber Amie: It’s spelled Aimee but whatever. Rich girl, is the equivalent of a white girl where I live. Is dating one of the star basketball players from Ateneo. Ana Anaïs Andreas Andrew: Dude from my course. Likes wrestling, is funny and has good insights, but is a little too clingy for my liking. Also feels as though he’s friends with everyone which can feel a tad bit invasive. Angela: My best friend’s name is Angela. Angelica: Sweet girl from my course who is super passionate about science journalism. A little dorky but I like her, and I find her really sweet. I admire her for always sticking up for what she wants and believes in. She’s really resilient and adventurous; she always signs up for conferences, seminars, workshops, and stuff, whether local or abroad. Her mom’s a famous journalist in the country. Anna Annie: One of my grandma’s close friends is named Annie but I haven’t seen her in a while. I don’t even know if she’s still alive? Ari: I have a friend-ish who has a little sister nicknamed Ari. I’m not close with her enough to know Ari’s full name lmao. Ashley Ashna Audrey: Someone from my batch. She stayed in UP Los Banos for a while, but she’s since moved to my campus but I’m not sure what course she’s taking. My bets are Math or Architecture, but I can be wrong. Austin Becky: Nasty fake bitch from my AJPunk days. I had a close-knit group of friends during these days and we were all brought together just by our love for wrestling and our favorite ship at the time. She was a part of it too, but someone discovered her private Twitter and it was just her saying a bunch of mean, nasty things about everyone else in the group, including me. When we confronted her about it, she blocked us. Messy times, lmao. Ben

Berkeley Beth Bobby Bolor Brendan Bridgid: I dunno if this counts, but I had a batchname with the name Bridgette. I don’t know much about her other than the fact that she once dated a dude from one of the popular bands from our scene who played the saxophone. Britney Brooke Cal Callie Cam Cameron Camille: When I was younger, I used to ride the school bus with an older girl named Camille. She was 3-4 years older, I don’t really remember; but she was one of the nicer older students and always spoke to us on the bus. She’s since moved to California and I never got to talk to her anymore. Camryn Carmen Caro Caroline: Jane’s middle name is Caroline. Casilda Cecile Cecily Chanel Chloe: Another high school batchmate. I remember her as being kind of a snob and would look down on people who weren’t popular. She was always kind to me though so that was nice. She’s taking up Psych in my school now but I’ve never seen her around. I also know another Chloe from communication research, but I don’t talk to her. Chris: Not the same spelling, but I know a Kris. She’s one of Gabie’s two best friends. All I know about her is that she likes doing outdoor stuff, like hiking and going to the beach; but she’s too extroverted for me to wanna hang out with her all the time. Christina: We all call her Tina but this is her whole name. She’s the new VP for Publicity in our org. Real sweet girl, not a bad bone in her body. She’s also one of the more mature people I know. Christopher: My uncle’s whole name is Christopher, but he’s Tito Perry to me. I have no idea how his nickname turned into that. He works abroad so I don’t see him much but I know he’s hilarious. Claire: Ms. Claire was the guidance counselor assigned to my batch for several levels. I didn’t really cultivate a relationship with her as much as I didn’t with all the other mentors/teachers in my old school. Claudia: Her name was Klaudia and she was an It girl all the way from preschool to the second we graduated high school. She was really mean when she was a kid but I think she’s been nicer in high school and now that we’re in college. Typical rich kid who has snooty tendencies, but I appreciate the one time she said hi to me on campus haha. She’s taking up a course in economics now. Claudine Cole Connie Connor Courtney Cyrus Daisy: My 6th grade Math teacher had this name. She did not teach well and I mostly got bad grades in math that year. Dakota Dana: If you mean Danna, then I know someone I went to grade school with with the same name. She was...honestly a little weird, and knew so many sexual innuendos at like, 10. That creeped me out and I didn’t hang out with her a lot. But if you mean Dana with a long A, I know a Deina too; different spelling but whatever. I don’t know much about her but we’re course mates and I’ve been classmates with her a few times. She had a dog who died recently :( Danielle: She goes by Giana but her middle name is Danielle. Sweet girl from my high school, but never really got to hang out with her since our personalities are super different. She’s taking up philosophy in my school. David: Callo’s foreign boyfriend is named David but I’ve never met him precisely because he lives somewhere in like Europe and only comes over to the Philippines a couple times every year; Patrice’s boyfriend is also named David and I’ve met him a few times. Nice dude. David’s also the name of one of my groupmates from my communication research class. He sucks and barely contributed anything. Delilah Diane: Dianne’s someone I went to high school with. We were never close but we were always friendly to each other when our paths would meet. Super smart–she’s taking up business administration and accountancy also in my schoool–and is a beast at dancing. Diego: A high school batchmate has been going out with a dude named Diego in the last 5 years. Donald Doug Duncan Dylan: My sister went to high school with a girl named Dylan but that’s all I know. Eleanor Elijah: I have a cousin named Elijah and also a high school batchmate with the same name. The first Elijah’s really quiet and likes to keep to himself, preferably with a book; the second one I’m not very close to. All I remember is that she kept on having these really bad allergies when we were in kindergarten but that’s about it lmao. She also goes to the same school I do and I think she’s also taking up business ad. Elise: Some girl a batch higher than me in college who served in the student council. Never talked to her. Eliza Elizabeth: See Ellie haha. Ella: Angela’s family nickname is Ela. Elle: I had a former batchmate whose middle name was Elle but we all called her Rielle. Insanely rich. Moved to Nevada when we were all still kids. Ellie: It’s spelled Ely, but I had a class with her just this semester. She’s soft-spoken and I found her to be really elegant. Elliot Emerson Emily Emma Eric: My godfather and uncle is named Eric. He was the funny uncle when I was a kid but I never really see him anymore. Erika: There was an Erycka from my high school batch but I genuinely dislike her. She was rich, liked to brag, and to look down on those who weren’t on her level. Acted like hot shit because she was in a band. She asked me to drive her along with her other (much nicer) friends for the Paramore concert last August, and as much as I didn’t want to, I had to say yes because I had no reason to decline the request. Ethan Faith Fiona: One of my sister’s closest friends is named Fiona. Francesca: Such a common name. Francesca is my friend Michelle’s middle name, and the first name of my close friend from Batch 2017 in high school (I’m from Batch 2016) as well as the names of two girls from Batch 2019. I also have a distant cousin with the name. I’m sure there’s loads more with this name. Franz George: Weird dude I was classmates with in a history class this semester. It’s the kind of weird that you know just how smart he is that you just accept the weirdness and go lmao. Ginny Giselle Grace: One of my great-aunts is named Grace. Graham Hadley Hailey: Not a person, but one of Angela’s shihtzus is named Hailey. Hannah: Orgmate, groupmate, classmate, and a good friend of mine. Also not a bad bone in her body. She’s a born performer and has a massive crush on David Archuleta. Havana Helen Henry Hugo Huma Ilana: Close enough. I know an Ylona but we all call her Summer. Guessing she got that nickname as she was born in April. Indra Isabel: High school batchmate who I mostly remember because she’s super religious, which is also why I didn’t really want to be close to her. She’s really nice though. Isabelle’s also my middle name. Isabella: One of Gabie’s sisters is named Isabela. Itza Ivy: This is the name of my professor in feature writing. Really good at what she does and I’ve always enjoyed her writing. Izzy Jackie Jacob James: I have a younger second cousin named James. I’ve only seen him once though, when he visited the country last December for Christmas, because he’s been raised in New Zealand and Vietnam his whole life. Jamie: She was one of my groupmates in an English class. I found her hardworking so I liked her. She was also my classmate in a pol sci class but I think she dropped it halfway through. Jason Jennifer: One of my teachers in kindergarten. She was very maternal and always looked out for me knowing how shy I was as a kid, which I’ve always appreciated. Jenny Jess Jhadha Joe John: I know a bunch of Johns but the most prominent one is my older cousin that I’m closest to; his first name is John. Jonathan Joseph: Dude from my course. Kinda cheery dude, always active and in a good mood. Sometimes he’s too extroverted for me. Joyce J.P. Jude Julia Julie Justin: Some dude from the org I used to apply for. I didn’t last very long in the application process so I only know him by name. Kaan Kai: One of my sister’s best friends from school is named Kairin but she goes by Kai. She’s also a neighbor of ours. Karina Kat: I had an internet friend back in like 2012 named Kat. She was mysterious and had a twin sister, but she disappeared and had her Twitter deleted not long after. Kat’s also the nickname of my cousin’s girlfriend. Kate: One of the best friends I’ve made in college. We started out as orgmates and didn’t really talk for two years, but we got closer since we were both vice presidents and had to work a lot with each other. She’s graduating next month and I’m really sad about it. Katherine Kinaya Kira Kristie Lanie Laura Lauren: A batchmate from high school. She studies med in college now. We were close from Grade 3 to 4 but grew apart as our circles and interests changed. Had a slew of boyfriends and girlfriends in like 6th grade and was one of the girls who started drinking early lol so she was one of the pretty cool kids for those. Leah León Lexxi Liberty Lisette Louisa: One of my good friends in college is named Luisa, who I also met from our org. She graduated last year but we still keep in touch in groupchats and I’ll also see her from time to time in sports events since she covers the sports beat. Luca Luis: A close friend that I met in high school. We were part of the same friend group, and now he’s taking up architecture in my school with Angela. Lynette MacKenzie Maddie Maggie: There was a girl from two higher batches with this name. I also have a younger cousin we call Maggie. Makena Manlio Margaret: Yeah, my cousin Maggie’s first name is Margaret. Margo: Used to go to grade school and ride the school bus with a Margo. She would let me listen to her MP3 when we were in 3rd grade; her favorite album at the time was Ashley Tisdale’s Headstrong because that’s all we would listen to hahaha. Maria: This is the most common name in the Philippines and I literally know like 50 people named Maria. Marianna Mariely Martha Martin Mayuri McKinley Megan: A high school batchmate’s middle name is Megan, but her first and chosen name is Denise. Meredith Mia: I know a Mia but only from mutual friends. We’ve never talked to nor met each other. Michael: See Mike. Michelle: Yup, she’s my orgmate and a friend of mine. I’m also gonna be working with her in the next executive board term in the org since we were both elected as VPs. Mike: He was my almost in high school. We met each other at a soiree and hit it off really well from the start. I was considering it for a while and he even asked me to senior ball, but it clashed with me getting back together with Gab while all of that was happening. Minah Miranda Molly Morgan Nadia Nancy: We had a bus mother we called Manang Nancy and she practically raised me my whole childhood. I changed school buses when we moved houses and never really was able to get back to her, which I continue to feel sucky about. She’s really old now and highkey not even sure if she’s still alive, and it’s why I’d love to see her again. Natalie Nathan Nathanael Neoma Nichole: I had an annoooooooying bus mate named Nicole. She was the kind of kid that would do all kinds of stuff just to grab your attention and to have you look at her. I think she graduated this year. Nico: One of my high school batchmate’s went out with a Nico for a really long time. I don’t think they’re together now though cos its been ages since she posted about him. Nikki: Old high school batchmate, but she moved out early to transfer to a science high school. Noah Noelle Octavio Olivia Orion Owen Paige Pam: Again, another girl from high school. I also had a classmate named Pam in my broad comm class this semester, and she was always nice to me and helped me out a lot whenever I needed it. Pat: I know a bunch of people named Patricia who go by Pat. Patrick: Audrey’s boyfriend. All I remember about him is that he gets annoyingly aggressive when he’s drunk. Paul: An alumni of my org. Was a former president, too. He’d show up to org events here and there. Paula: I went to elementary and high school with a girl named Paula. She was painfully quiet for the most part but I think she’s blooming a lot in college now. Pauline: My 4th grade social science teacher was named Pauline and she was also one of my first woman crushes lmao. I also used to go to school with two Paulines; one was really girly and a little snooty, and the other Pauline is one of the most talented artists I know. Peter Phoebe: There are two Phoebes in my college. One is taking up journ and the other is from broad comm. Phong Price Quinn Rachel Rai: A girl from one of my old broad comm classes. That was really the only time I encountered her. Railey Raquel Ray Rayne: There was a Raine from my old school. Smart, talented, very tall, hilarious, clever, cool girl. She’s the daughter of one of the more popular national basketball coaches. Rebecca Rebkah Regina: She goes by Reggy but this is her full name. She’s the beeeest baker I know. She’s had her own successful baking business since high school and I’m just glad it’s going nowhere but up for the last five or so years. Reilly Remy Ren Rhianna Robert Rohini Roither Rose: Marielle’s (my lifelong enemy lmao) first name is Rose. Ruby Ruilin Sabrina Sakura Salim Sally Sam: Sam is a really popular white girl name in the Philippines and I know so many of them. Sapna Sarah Savanah Sebastian Shani Shannon Siena Snigdha Sofia: Gab’s youngest sister is named Sophia. My old best friend is also a Sofia. Sophie: ^ It’s the former’s nickname. Soren Spencer Summers: Close, but I know a Summer from my college and org. Sydney Taran Taylor Tessa: My prof in PR class is a Tessa. Thea: Another girl from high school. She was a teacher’s pet even though I always found her to be a bit snobby and having a little atittude. Theo Theresa: My profs in PR and Newsroom classes are Theresas. Tim Tom Tori Ural Victoria: I had a groupmate in civic ed whose middle name was Victoria, but we all called her Kristine. Viviane Walter Will Willa William Yujin Yuta Zac: I think one of my cousins has Zachary as his middle name, but I’m not so sure hahaha. Zoe Which names do you prefer?

Alice or Allana? Allie or Andie? Alexandra or Anastasia? Anna or Angela? Annie or Angelica? Ana or Ashna? Audrey or Ashley? Ansel or Annika? Brooke or Britney? Berkeley or Bella? Bo Chao or Beatrix? Camille or Camryn? Cristina or Casilda? Chloe or Courtney? Charlotte or Carol? Cleo or Chanel? Davin or Dillon? Delilah or Dutra? Erin or Elina? Emin or Emerson? Emily or Emma? Erika or Estelle? Faith or Frannie? Fernanda or Francesca? Georgina or Gracie? Gabriela or Gina? Hailey or Hannah? Hadley or Havana? Indra or Isabel? Indiana or Ivy? Jenny or Jessie? Julia or Joyce? Jasmine or Jackie? Jamie or Jennifer? Kimia or Karina? Katerina or Kate? Kira or Kristie? Lia or Lily? Lauren or Lynette? Liberty or Leila? Margaret or Martha? Michelle or Mackenzie? Mia or Michaela? Morgan or Maddie? Maya or Mayuri? Megan or Makena? McKinley or Margo? Nikki or Natalie? Nadia or Nancy? Nicole or Olivia? Rachel or Rebecca? Remi or Rosie? Ruby or Reine? Ren or Sakura? Sapna or Snigdha? Sally or Stella? Sophie or Sydney? Sophia or Solana? Skye or Sierra? Serena or Savanah? Sarah or Sabrina? Tara or Taylor? Vittoria or Yahs? Yoonju or Yukine? Aidan or Austin? Alan or Andrew? Aldo or Alexx? Ben or Brian? Billy or Brodie? Corey or Carlos? Coleman or Connor? David or Dylan? Eli or Eric? Franz or Fernando? Gabe or Graham? Holden or Hudson? Jacob or Justin? Jack or JP? Jimmy or Jared? James or John? Karm or Kian? Lou or Lenny? Michael or Mickey? Nick or Nathan? Peter or Pierson? Rai or Rafael? Sanjay or Supawat? Will or Wynn? Zachary or Zack? Girls’ Names - This or That?

Aisha or Allana? Alex or Alexa? Alexandra or Alexandria? Ali or Allie? Allegra or Allison? Alondra or Amanda? Amber or Amie? Ana or Aneka? Anaïs or Anh? Angela or Angelica? Anna or Anne? Annie or Ashley? Ashna or Aziza? Astrid or Audrey? Beatrice or Beleicia? Becky or Berkeley? Bethany or Bethlehem? Bo-Chao or Bolor? Bridgid or Brooke? Britney or Brittany? Callie or Carlie? Camryn or Camille? Carmen or Casilda? Carol or Caroline? Catherine or Charlotte? Cecile or Cecily? Chanel or Chloe? Christina or Claire? Claudia or Claudine? Connie or Corrine Courtney or Cristina? Daisy or Delilah? Dana or Danielle? Dakota or Diamond? Diana or Diane? Eleanor or Elizabeth? Elise or Eliza? Elle or Ella? Ellen or Evelyn? Emlyn or Emerson? Ellie or Elly? Emily or Emma? Erika or Erin? Fiona or Francesca? Faith or Frances? Gabi or Grace? Gardenia or Giselle? Ginny or Genesis? Hadley or Hailey? Haley or Hayley? Harriet or Helen? Hannah or Heather? Havana or Haligan? Ilana or Isabel? Indra or Itza? Ivy or Izzy? Isabelle or Isabella? Jackie or Jamie? Jasmine or Jeanne? Jenna or Jenny? Jen or Jess? Jennifer or Jessica? Jae-Min or Jhadha? Julia or Julianna? Jude or Joyce? Judy or Julie? Karina or Kinaya? Kat or Katherine? Kate or Katie? Kyra or Kira? Kiki or Kristie? Lily or Leah? Laura or Lauren? Lexxi or Lizzie? Lisette or Lynette? Louisa or Lucia? Lanie or Liberty? Maddie or Maggie? Mackenzie or Makena? Mallory or Margaret? Madeleine or Megan? Margita or Maria? Marie or Martha? Marianna or Mariela? McKenna or McKinley? Miranda or Meredith? Melissa or Michelle? Margo or Marianne? Mariely or Mayuri? Minh or Mitsuki? Molly or Mia? Morgan or Marge? Nadia or Nina? Natalie or Natasha? Neoma or Naomi? Nancy or Nicole? Nichole or Noelle? Nikki or Nelsy? Olivia or Oratilé? Paige or Phoebe? Paloma or Pamela? Pam or Price? Paula or Pauline? Rachel or Rebecca? Rayne or Reyna? Raquel or Rebkah? Regina or Rita? Railey or Rhianna? Remi or Ruby? Ruilin or Rohini? Rose or Rosie? Sabrina or Sydney? Sadie or Sally? Salomé or Silvia? Sara or Sarah? Shannon or Simone? Shu-Shu or Sakura? Siena or Sofia? Sophie or Sophia? Soren or Summers? Swapnika or Snigdha? Syd or Savanah? Taylor or Tori? Tessa or Theresa? Victoria or Viviane? Waverly or Willa? Yasmeen or Yvonne? Yoonju or Yujin? Yahs or Yukine? Zoe or Zoey?

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING REVIEW

Since 2002 we’ve seen two actors take up the mantle that is Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Now, with the MCU’s continuously expanding universe and a partnership with Sony, a third joins the fray, Tom Holland. Spider-Man is one of the most recognizable icons in all of pop-culture, so when Spider-Man: Homecoming was announced and that Marvel Studios and Sony came to an agreement to allow Spider-Man to join the MCU, there was a lot of excitement. In addition, we got a wonderful taste of the new take on the web-slinger in Captain America: Civil War (2016), so a solo movie showcasing what this iteration was all about, naturally the hype was extremely high. And it really pays off in the end.

WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD

CHARACTERS/PERFORMANCES

It should be made known that this interpretation of Peter Parker is a younger kid than the past two live-action ones, specifically a 15 year old high school sophomore. Tom Holland is the youngest to play the role to date, and he fits it like a glove. Not only does he look the part being so young, but his whole demeanor and personality is immature, but in the best of ways. He’s quick-witted, and about as blown away as audiences are while he’s pulling off his super stunts. Tom Holland is a refreshing take on a character we all know, and have seen on the live-action screen twice before, and that’s great. He owns everything about Peter, the awkwardness, the genius, and the whimsy and outgoingness of Spider-Man. He’s perfect for the role. Alongside Tom Holland, he has his best friend character, Ned played by Jacob Batalon. Batalon plays the comedic role well enough, however I personally feel that there were too many bits of him just derailing scenes. He was funny, don’t get me wrong, however the film is filled with humor so to have a character that was there almost devoted as the comedic relief seemed a bit tried. His relationship to Peter, however, felt very genuine, so the constant gags he plays always feel in character. From a villain perspective, Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes (The Vulture) isn’t anything groundbreaking, but here he works very well with what the film is going for. He is realistic and felt mostly justified with what he was doing, however some jumps in motivation were a bit stark, which made Toomes feel a tad bit under developed. Nonetheless, Keaton plays him very well, with confidence and with just the right amount of broodiness that he didn’t feel at all like another cheesy, weak Marvel villain. On top of Adrian Toomes’ evil doing, I appreciated the humanistic approach to him and his team. When the world is now wracked with aliens and monsters, people of course will start to try and get ahead just to survive, but then to profit. It was a nice commentary on how humans react when they feel outgunned or up against a wall. A “force hand” to The Vulture’s character was very apparent.

Among the top stars in Homecoming, Robert Downey Jr., and Jon Favreau reprise their roles as Tony Stark and Happy Hogan respectively. I’m glad that this film didn’t try too hard to bank on Iron Man, he was a very welcome supporting character, an awkward mentor and a person that Peter thinks very highly of. I’ve missed Happy, not seeing him since Iron Man 3 (2013), and the same goes for Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. These characters were all very welcome on screen. The other cast of characters including the rest of Peter’s classmates like Laura Harrier as Liz, Tony Revolori as Flash, and Zendaya as Michelle were all great to see. The diversity in the casting of the film is very commendable as well. It felt like a real diverse high school in a real city. It’s often seen as a little thing, but roles like these do carry a lot of weight and it’s very refreshing to see. On another beat, the younger take on Aunt May (played by Melissa Tomei) worked well with the younger take on Peter as well. She didn’t feel out of place, and honestly, I kind of preferred it. I did want to chime in on the MJ talks too. Zendaya plays a role named Michelle Jones, and at the end of the film she says “my friends call me MJ”, a clear emulation of the known character Mary-Jane, “MJ”, and Peter’s wife in the comics. There’s no real content in the film to say that she is the “new MJ” but regardless, she’s a different character entirely, as seen by how she carries herself here. The nickname is really the only place where the two characters cross. Regardless of future intent for the character, like her potentially becoming Peter’s love interest, she’s not Mary Jane. Her nickname of course pays homage to the “original MJ”, but that’s it. This is Marvel taking artistic liberties, with both diversifying its casting, as well as creating a unique, but still recognizable, universe for Spider-Man.

DIRECTION/WRITING

Director Jon Watts and his writing team had their work cut out for them, crafting a fresh take on the character of Spider-Man as well as blend him in with the established MCU. Skipping the original story completely was the absolute best decision for the film. Instead focusing on Peter’s dealings as Spider-Man, his desire of becoming an Avenger, and his really being a young, naïve kid. This is a grounded, small-scale approach to Spidey. He’s never in downtown Manhattan for example, he’s swinging from smaller building, and using what’s around him to get around. There’s even a bit of him swinging into a gold course where there nowhere to swing so he ends up just sprinting across the screen muttering, “This sucks”. The plotline as well is very small compared to the “world ending” stories that we’ve gotten used to seeing from Marvel at this point. It was refreshing to take a step back and focus on building Peter and Spider-Man, and establishing him, before anything else. The writing is very strong with Peter’s character. I will say though, that there were several bits throughout the film that had great dramatic potential, but were undercut by daft attempts at comedy. Spidey is always going to quipping, that’s a given, but here I felt like the writing was trying way too hard to add humor in not-needed places. I wanted to take things a tad bit more seriously, but I feel like I wasn’t allowed to.

As a storyline goes, it hits all the generic notes, but it relies a lot on Tom Holland’s character to do the heavily lifting. His character is meant to draw in viewers, and if done right, whatever Peter is doing, people should be invested in it. Like I said, it’s a small scale film, and it definitely plays on a lot of cheesy elements (typical high school, typical romance, the same Peter Parker troubles we’ve all seen before), however the film generally does a great job with allowing those things to work with the script and have it still feel exciting, rather than tried. Homecoming paced itself generally well, too. There were some parts that felt a little rushed, some of the high school sequences felt a bit lackluster as well. Almost like they were in there because they had to be, but they didn’t carry too much weight. What really moved the film along was Peter himself and whenever Spidey was on screen. There were some great fight sequences, the ferry scene being the most notable. Spidey was quick, quipping the whole time, and showcased some amazing talents. I very much enjoyed “Karen”, Spider-Man’s computer that Stark put in his suit. I loved seeing the high-tech suit, something we hadn’t seen before. There were some great action scenes throughout, the ferry scene being the most notable. It being the clear height of the film, where we get a real showdown between Spider-Man and Vulture, a great scene with Peter trying to keep the ship from breaking off, as well as Tony confiscating the Spider suit. The movie was in full swing by this time, and Peter’s transition back into his make-shift suit through the end of the film didn’t feel spoiled at all. Heading back to the roots was a nice direction to go in, especially to give a glimpse to what Spidey was before Tony’s suit.

I think Homecoming started in the best of ways. After being introduced to Adrian Toomes during the clean up after the “Battle of New York”, we get a first person, video footage perspective of Peter when he is first picked up by Tony in Civil War, to when he gets his new suit, as well as him filming while he’s waiting for his queue to swing in and take Cap’s shield. I thought that whole bit was extraordinarily clever and the best way to introduce Holland’s Peter into this movie. Separately, it isn’t abundantly clear when this film takes place. We do get an ”8 Years Later” stamps after we see Toomes cleaning up New York; we’re obviously somewhere in between Civil War, as Cap is cited as a war criminal now, and the events of Doctor Strange and the Earth bit of Guardians 2 isn’t mentioned at all. I also have to give a great commendation for Cap’s troll of a post-credits scene. After Gunn’s clever post-credits bombardment in Guardian’s 2, we get Cap doing a PSA announcement on “patience” and how it’s so important, even when faced with something so disappointing when you waited a long time to get to it. I see you, Marvel.

Final Rating: 8.5/10

I think Spider-Man: Homecoming is exactly where the MCU needed to go with Spider-Man. It didn’t waste too much time getting to him, it gives Tony and Happy, new Spider-Man gadgets and things, and it was an all-around good time. There may have been some issues with the comedy undercutting some important, potentially dramatic scenes, and the plotline being a generic one, but the film is a lot of fun regardless because Tom Holland alone reels you in and keeps you smiling. It’s small scale, and to some it may feel a tad bit underwhelming, but for the character of Spider-Man, this is where we needed to see him. In a “friendly, neighborhood” setting. It worked really well, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Spider-Man in the future. I really hope he’s here to stay because: objectively, this is a great movie and Tom Holland is wonderful, but subjectively, Spidey is my favorite in all of Marvel comics, so I really want him to stick around in the MCU.

Why Narrating 'Born in China' Made John Krasinski So Emotional

‘Born in China’ narrator John Krasinski at the premiere of his 2016 film “The Hollars” (Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

John Krasinski has always been a guy who gets emotional watching nature documentaries — but narrating the Disneynature film Born in China, shortly after having his second child with wife Emily Blunt, took things to a whole new level. “I was weeping very openly,” Krasinksi tells Yahoo Movies of his experience working on the documentary (in theaters April 21), which he describes as “the entire process of parenthood in 76 minutes.” That is to say, the film’s rare footage of panda, leopard, and monkey families, as ably narrated by Krasinski, is at once hilarious, heartbreaking, adorable, and awe-inspiring, in a way that most parents will find familiar. Of course, Disneynature’s younger audience (including Krasinski’s older daughter, who, at 3 years old, is new to the movie-going experience) will just want to see the baby panda and funny monkeys. Yahoo Movies spoke to Krasinski from the set of Amazon’s spy-thriller series Jack Ryan (he’s playing the title character) to talk about crying over animal babies, his nature doc obsession, and the art of telling a Disneynature story.

Is doing this narration this a bucket list item for you? Do you have ambitions of being David Attenborough?

Oh my god, no! No one can be David Attenborough. There’s only one. But certainly the programs like his are the inspiration for why I’ve always been into nature programs, or even YouTube clips of baby pandas — I’m a sucker for all of it. But truly for me, the Disneynature movies have been a step above all of it. I’ve seen every single one of them, and I’ve gone to all of them on opening weekend. I’m that much of a nerd for them, because not only are they so beautiful and so much fun to watch, but they’re so emotional. And I think they’re as good as any narrative out there that’s scripted.

Do you take your kids? I guess they’re a little young still.

My older daughter is animal obsessed, and we did our first movie recently, so I think our second movie theater experience might have to be this one. She’ll probably not like the person narrating, but she’ll like the images.

Like you, I had a baby last year, and I found myself relating very strongly to the panda mom in the movie.

Oh my God, right? It doesn’t take much for me to cry, but with this movie I was a mess. It’s the entire process of parenthood in 76 minutes.

‘Born in China’ pandas Ya Ya and Mei Mei (Photo: Ben Wallis, Disney)

Did you see the footage for the first time while you were narrating?

They pretty much had the finished movie for me to watch, which was amazing and obviously extremely helpful… But I think the coolest thing for me was how seriously they take it. You know, I would have totally leaned into the adorable nature of the images that you’re seeing and probably read this a much different way. But instead, they really push you to feel the reality and the drama and the intensity of these stories — you know, really take it seriously and respect the landscape and the environment that you’re talking about, which was so great, because of course, that’s how you get moved and that’s how you learn something. You know, they’re fully aware that they have baby pandas in their movie. [Laughs.] But the baby pandas are part of a larger structure. And that’s what makes these movies so good and so moving.

What were the kinds of directions they gave you for your narration?

They really want you to communicate to the audience the gravity of what’s going on. Just outside of China, with all these cities and industries and people, is this whole different world, a whole different planet, for lack of a better term. I think they really want you to frame the story in that way. So right from the beginning, talking about the crane being a symbol in China of taking the souls of people who recently passed and bringing them to the other side, there’s such beautiful imagery and such beautiful poetry. They don’t want it to just be, “Aw shucks, look at that baby panda.”

There are some serious moments of drama, too — more than I expected.

It really sneaks up on you. And I don’t know if you were like me — I was weeping very openly.

I was noting in the narration that you have to pivot relatively quickly from “Look at me, I’m a silly monkey!” to “There is a force stronger than love, and that force is nature, and it’s tearing them apart.” I’m paraphrasing a bit, but that’s a big range.

What you’re saying is it’s my best performance yet. I appreciate it. Thank you. [Laughs.]

John Krasinski and wife Emily Blunt on January 29 (Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)

Is there an animal you found yourself relating most strongly too?

I think most people would think I related to the monkey the most, but we had recently had our second daughter when I had gone in to record this, and so the snow leopard story really just completely gutted me. It’s inspiring to know that this sort of love and commitment to your kids at all costs is inside each and every one of us. In human terms, everyone’s heard the story of the mother picking up a car to save her child. And to know that that’s in us is really inspiring. So seeing her go through that whole adventure with these beautiful, adorable cubs, but also this incredibly treacherous and intense situation, was really moving and powerful to me.

It’s been 24 hours since I saw the film, and I can’t stop wondering what happened to the cubs.

They’re fine, don’t worry. They’re fine. Look away!

How did working on this film affect you? Have you booked your ticket to China?

I have not booked my ticket to China. I was offered by the Disneynature folks to go over there, and sadly I couldn’t because I was starting Jack Ryan, but I would love to at some point for sure. But like I said, I really am first in line to see these movies because I find them so inspiring. It’s very rare these days to leave a movie theater and feel better coming out than you did going in. We live in a very digital, insulated world, and so there is something very expanding about seeing all this stuff and knowing that it’s right there — if you wanted to go, you could go! — and that these animals are existing like this every single day.

Well, thanks for taking the time out of your intense Jack Ryan schedule to talk to me about pandas.

Hey, it’s always nice to talk about pandas.

Watch the trailer for ‘Born in China:’

Read more from Yahoo Movies:

New Pixar Short ‘Dante’s Lunch’ Introduces ‘Coco’ Dog, Plus Director Lee Unkrich on Whether ‘Coco’ Will Make You Cry (Exclusive)

‘Beauty and the Beast’ Lyricist Howard Ashman’s Loved Ones Recall How He Brought Story to Life — And Changed Disney Films Forever

Emily Blunt’s First Photo as Magical Nanny in ‘Mary Poppins Returns’: Compare Her Look to Julie Andrews in ’64

Awesome Queer Media to Check Out!

Piper Gibson | March 20, 2017

Sorry for the absence (school is kicking my ass but what else is new) but I’m back with another list! This time, I’m cataloging some of my favorite pieces of media with LGBTQ+ characters and plotlines. Of course, nothing is perfect, and all these shows/books/movies/etc. have their problems, but I still think they’re pretty damn cool.

1. Check, Please!

What is it: A webcomic

Who makes it: Ngozi Ukazu 

Why you should read it: Queer boys who play hockey! Lots of pie! Discussions of mental illness and drug abuse! An ensemble cast! Comedy and drama in one! Slow-burn, healthy, communicative, gay relationship!! Confirmed happy gay ending!!! Most of my friends know that I love this comic with my whole heart, and it’s really easy to see why. There’s a character in it for everyone, and they’re all easy to relate to and care about. Personally, I relate so hard to Jack having anxiety and trying to navigate his life and career in the intersection of being mentally ill and queer. No spoilers, but this comic includes the best queer relationship I’ve ever seen portrayed. Don’t get discouraged by the hockey-- I knew nothing about the sport going in and it really doesn’t stop you from enjoying the comic at all! Currently in Bitty’s third year and gearing up for more spring updates, Check, Please is a master of storytelling and will make you laugh and cry. Read it here!

2. The Get Down

What is it: A Netflix Original series

Who makes it: dir. Baz Luhrmann

Why you should watch it: Almost the entire cast are people of color, it’s set in the 1970s and focuses on both the dying out of disco and the arising hip-hop scene, and the performances are incredible. You see this world through young Zeke’s eyes, a complex and talented kid looking to be a part of something bigger than himself and for a community to fall back on. No matter what’s going on, the story never lets you forget these characters are in the middle of the South Bronx in the seventies, fighting for a way out of poverty, strict religious family, or gangs, all while holding on to their passions. The music and the performances of these young actors are what sold me immediately. The queer relationship in it (I won’t spoil it) is lovely and gentle and blooms very naturally. The story, the characters, and the music are the focus, and if you’re like me, you’ll be hooked immediately. The second season just came out this month and it’s incredible but holy shit so intense. Catch it on Netflix!

3. Carry On

What is it: A young-adult novel

Who makes it: Rainbow Rowell

Why you should read it: Did you read Harry Potter and think: “Wow, Harry is super bi. Wow, he’s pretty obsessed with Draco. Wow they could be friends if Harry was sorted into Slytherin WOW THEY COULD EVEN BE MORE THAN THAT!” ...Okay, well this is the book for you. Set in a magic school more different from Hogwarts than you’d think, Simon and Baz are roommates that hate each other. But things are complicated when you’re the chosen one and you think your roommate might be a vampire and there’s an evil something out for you. It’s like Harry Potter except different and more queer people and people of color. Plus a happy ending that’s so, so much better than that “17 years later” shit. If you like gay magical boys and ass-kicking best friends and plot twists, you’ll definitely enjoy this.

4. Fourth Man Out

What is it: A 2016 movie

Who makes it: dir. Andrew Nackman

Why you should watch it: If you’ve been searching your whole fucking life for a queer rom-com like me, this’ll make you immensely happy. The story centers around Adam, who comes out to his mostly clueless friends in his twenties. They’re all a little uncomfortable and shitty at first, but they all grow and learn and by the end of the film have created the kind of caring and casual atmosphere any queer person hopes for when initially coming out to friends. The movie explores those awkward first steps after coming out, including online dating and homophobic neighbors, in a comedic yet respectful way. It’ll make you laugh and it’ll make you care a lot about Adam-- his puppy-dog face just makes you root for him from the beginning. Watch this if you hate that more comedies don’t center around queer themes, and then please recommend me more!!

5. About a Girl

What is it: A young-adult novel

Who makes it: Sarah McCarry

Why you should read it: Okay, maybe you should read the first two books in this series first, All Our Pretty Songs and Dirty Wings, but I read this one first and I think it can stand alone pretty well. There is an abundance of queer people of color in this, a beautiful, mythological storyline, a girl/girl romance, and a main character you’ll fall in love with. This book is so gorgeous to read and so rewarding, and I couldn’t put it down. In fact, I’m due for a reread... good thing I just impulsively bought all three of these so now I OWN THEM. Please, please give at least About a Girl a read, though-- the lyrical, soft nature of it was so incredibly healing and I can’t tell you how much I loved it.

5. Moonlight

What is it: A 2016 film

Who makes it: dir. Barry Jenkins

Why you should watch it: First of all, if you haven’t been following the mess that happened at the Oscars with La La Land being announced incorrectly and this film winning Best Picture, where have you been? I saw this rather recently, I’ll admit, but it blew my socks off. This film is so completely centered on the experience of black queer men, and allows them to be so honest and tender, so complex and multi-faceted, in a way we haven’t much seen in mainstream media so far. We know why this is-- mainstream media is overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly straight, and wants to put down and silence differing experiences as much as possible, making Hollywood a boring and homogeneous space. But Moonlight has broken through and shown that when these stories are told, and they are listened to, something incredible can happen. 

6. Ask the Passengers

What is it: A young-adult novel

Who makes it: A.S. King

Why you should read it: Holy shit, y’all, I loved this book so fucking much. I reread it a little while ago and it still punches me in the gut just as hard. The book centers around Astrid, a teenager navigating her sexuality, her family, and suffocating small-town life. She’s a philosopher at heart, so nothing comes easy, especially not love-- it’s not as clear-cut as her other queer friends may think. This is a really honest portrayal of figuring out sexuality and Astrid is such a lovable narrator that you just want to bundle her up and let no one else hurt her. The book hit close to home as a queer girl who spent a lot of time figuring out my identity and what it meant to me personally. If you have a similar story, prepare to get emotional.

7. One Day at a Time

What is it: A Netflix original series based off Norman Lear's 1975 series of the same name

Who makes it: Too many directors & executive producers to name! But if you’re a Norman Lear fan, he stayed on to be an executive producer for the remake.

Why you should watch it: The show centers around a Cuban-American family living in California and tackles topics like immigration, religion, sexuality, PTSD, divorce/separation, and more. Elena’s coming out storyline is beautifully and respectfully done and I really appreciate how realistic it is. This show will make you laugh and make you cry, but mostly, you’ll just fall completely in love with the Alvarez family and their story. And they’ve just been confirmed for a second season!! (GET ELENA A GIRLFRIEND!!)

8. The Real O’Neals

What is it: An ABC comedy series

Who makes it: Executive producer Dan Savage

Why you should watch it: Okay, I’ll admit, I have more problems with this show than the others-- namely its consistent biphobia and very few characters of color-- but besides the problems, it’s still hilarious and honest. In the very first episode, Kenny comes out to his conservative, Irish Catholic family in an... explosive way, and what follows is them all trying to figure out how to navigate his identity while still being religious. It’s important to see representation of queer people who keep their faith after coming out; it reminds us that religion and queerness aren’t mutually exclusive. Plus, I love Kenny’s relationship with his siblings, and the fact that his younger sister Shannon is the smartest and most put-together of them all. The show just finished its second season, and as of yet there has been no announcement of a renewal for a third season.

9. The Raven Cycle

What is it: A young-adult novel series

Who makes it: Maggie Stiefvater

Why you should read it: Holy wow, this book series is fantastic. I had no idea what it was about when I read it (because I read it for the gays...), but the story is complex and fascinating. Blue is our narrator most of the time, the daughter of a psychic who has no psychic abilities herself and who lives in a house with a bunch of other awesome psychic ladies. Her life has always been surrounded by magic, but it gets even more magical when she meets Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah, four boys who go to the near Aglionby Academy and are dubbed “Raven Boys” because of the raven on their uniforms. I’m pretty sure shit starts to get Really Actually Gay in the last book, but the entire series is fantastic and well worth a read. If you like ghost boys, dead kings, magical dreamers, and weird curses, this series is for you. It’s recently been announced that there will be a TV show based on the books, and there will also be another book series just about Ronan, so I’m super pumped for those cool things... Unless they ruin the TV show, in which case I will be incredibly disappointed. (In the meantime, though, you can read the first chapter of the first book, The Raven Boys, here!)

10. Yuri On Ice

What is it: An Japanese sports anime series

Who makes it: Creator Mitsurō Kubo, dir. Sayo Yamamoto

Why you should watch it: LISTEN, I’ve never finished an anime before this, because I’m not really that into anime. But this series is about figure skating, has twelve episodes, and is hella gay, so it’s not hard to binge it. (For the love of God, please watch the subbed version if you can, the dub voices give me nightmares.) The story is beautifully done, Viktor and Yuuri’s relationship is stable, loving, and realistic, and the portrayal of Yuuri’s anxiety is so important and made me cry in spots. Plus, it’s really funny and the competition scenes are thrilling as all hell. You can watch the series in literally a day, so what are you waiting for?? Binge it and then listen to the soundtrack on Spotify on repeat while crying, like I did.

11. Brooklyn Nine-Nine

What is it: A Fox-produced police sitcom

Who makes it: A million directors and producers, it’s a comedy sitcom

Why you should watch it: A diverse ensemble cast, comedy that isn’t at the expense of any marginalized group, complex characters, a stable gay relationship, Andy Samberg??? I love this show so much, y’all. To be fair, the main relationship is between a man and a woman, but the captain of the 99th precinct is an openly gay black man who’s in an amazing, loving relationship with his husband. And the relationship between Jake, the main character, and Amy (Spoiler! But you’ll see it coming from a million miles away, promise.) is one of the most delicious slow-burn plotlines I’ve ever seen. And as far as I know, the writers have no intention to break them up for “conflict” (cough cough New Girl cough). In an episode from the current season, a character called something transphobic, which was the first time I’ve ever heard that word on television, and I had to pause and look at my girlfriend in wonder, like “Did he just really say that? Oh my God??” Anyway. Please watch this show. It’s currently in its fourth season, just recently back from its haitus, so go binge it now!

There’s so many more to add to this list (Legend of Korra! Rock and Riot!! Etc etc etc!), but since you now have 11 new (or not-so-new) pieces of queer media to consume, I’ll leave you with that. Till next time!

para || Brobastian: Another Shot, 12/25/2016

Tagging: @sebadasssmythe and @squaredancing-weston

Time: Sunday evening, 25 December 2016

Setting: JAX Tavern, Forrest, OH

Summary:  When Brody invites Sebastian to be his ringer at the Christmas Pub Trivia game with a first prize of a free tab for the night, of course he says yes.  And of course they make a mockery of the competition.  What’s left but to drink to themselves?

Part 3 (End)

Note: Kind of jumbled because we started out just headcanon-ing and then got more detailed...

"The real ones or the stripper version?" Brody retorted with a laugh.  "Because that was //not// the type of dance I spent over a decade studying."  Not that he hadn't put on more than one show in his experience, //especially// during his time at Tisch.  The older man chuckled, "I've heard of worse ideas, although it'd be a drive to find anything worth paying for," he replied, although did Bas really think he was so straight-edge that he needed to make up excuses for strippers?  "I'm not saying I need to justify going to a strip club; just that we've made up a lot of themes to make the visits more interesting.  Creativity is the spice of life after all-- otherwise you're just wasting your money on something you can get for free at home."

Brody inhaled deeply in satisfaction at the thought.  "Well, when you've got a hot guy deep-throating //and// swallowing, it can be a heady thing.  We both know that it's slim pickings out here finding someone who does one, much less both."  Goddam, he was hard.  The whole experience was a fucking fantasy.  And a nightmare, because now he just wanted more.  Brody tried to shift subtly and get a hold of himself and focus on the game.  The game always helped him keep his composure, although it was rough thinking about the cold shower waiting for him at home.  "Well, at least you're aware of them.  I mean, it'd get very awkward very fast if you kept going into these places thinking you had a handle on it every time."  Bas nudged his shoulder, and Brody flashed a grin-- they had definitely done better than the older man was playing off, crap furniture or not.  "Hey, you know, if I only got one thing out of that hook up, I can definitely say it was a great bedding recommendation, right?" he half-teased.  He definitely had received way more than just a soft place to pass out.  Fucking Sebastian Smythe pretty much clarified any story he'd ever told about people practically stalking him over another shot-- Brody apparently was even one of them, he was a little ashamed to admit.  He swallowed thickly as a shot of adrenaline raced down his spine to his eager cock.  "Oh yeah?" he tried to play off with a joke.  "You really think I'll be that hard up for company that I'll need your hookups in it?"  Brody nodded in understanding at Bas' rational.  "Yeah, well, I guess some of us just aren't up to that sort of adventure," he remarked.  For him personally, even if he could have had sex at his dad's office, it would have felt weird-- way too much stud stuff around.  Kind of kinky in a bad way.  Bas would have had a field day with the bestiality jokes involved in that image.

"Yeah, well, surprisingly, I wasn't //that/ crazy in high school, so circuit hook-ups were kept at a minimum.  But I'll keep an eye out next time I'm wandering around in gear for someone with the potential to be worth the trouble."  Brody rolled his eyes, even though in his mind, he could already see all the trouble he and the younger man could get into in the tack room...  Brody shook his head and laughed as Bas threw back his shot.  For all the trouble he made, he'd never managed to get arrested for it-- thrown out of school, however... "How many of you were there?" he probed with interest.  "Or was this like one of those high society club things?"  Brody snapped his fingers in faux disappointment at the reveal, although he was definitely glad.  Not that it was his business, obviously.

Brody leaned forward eagerly-- he was winning so far, although Bas had the chance to catch up.  Which he did-- in the most ridiculous way possible.  "Wait-- how did you get arrested having sex in a club of less than three people?" he retorted incredulously.  No way was this one true-- and if he caught Bas in a lie, that meant Bas had to drink, so he determined not to cave to the statement so easily.  Sebastian's insinuation, however, had Brody's eyes bug out incredulously.  "I'm sorry-- are you asking me if I purposely had sex for other people's kinky voyeurism?  I mean, public sex, sure.  Lots of people around-- it's happened.  But I'm not usually waving around a big sign saying 'Watch Me' when I got at it."  He rolled his eyes and scoffed.  "Asshole."

As stupid as it was, Brody's pride was a little hurt by Bas' charge-- although he supposed for how open he was about his sex life, he shouldn't be surprised Bas would think he was capable of something like that.  But in reality, Brody tended to keep his personal life personal until the facts and circumstances were completely irrelevant to his life.  But still, he was wounded, and so he chose to deal out a low blow in return. "Never Have I Ever...had an orgasm outside of North America," he said smugly, eying Sebastian's next drink pointedly.  It was a lame shot, to be sure, but wanted to win, and maybe knock Bas down a peg in the meantime.

"I think we already established - I want the /real/ version. But, hey, if you want to give me a strip show while you're at it, don't let me stop you." Now /that/ was a scenario that he really wasn't going to get out of his head any time soon. Goddamn, why did he even bring it up? Well, Brody did. But he really needed to stop entertaining the thought right now. He shrugged, chuckling. "True. You know how much I enjoy a bit of creativity. Really makes everything more fun, right?" "Yeah, it can be," he agreed. Fuck knows /he's/ envied people in the past who have been able to experience his own techniques. He can count on one hand how many he'd been able to find in return - and that included women, too. Not that he'd minded at all doing it for Brody. Actually, one of his favourite things about sex was seeing the other person fall apart and knowing that he'd been the one to cause it - and Brody's own reactions had been particularly delicious. "Awkward, and dangerous. I'm promiscuous, not an idiot," he commented. Thinking that he was indestructible or trusting people too easily definitely wasn't going to get him anywhere in life. He was slightly distracted by Brody's grin, but he managed to catch his words just in time. "/Just/ a great bedding recommendation, Brodes? I like to think you got a hell of a lot more out of it than that." But he took the comment for what it was and snorted. "Dick." He huffed, shaking his head. "I was hardly planning on bringing my own hook-ups, Weston, but if that's the way you want to play it." He wasn't even sure if he was joking anymore. "Or maybe some of us were too busy pursuing adventures away from their home." Because fuck bringing any hook ups to meet his parents. Shit, he'd never even brought /Andrew/ to meet his parents. Something he was extra grateful for now, of course. 

"Damn. Well, I'm sure that person will appreciate it." He knew /he/ would. Which, really - since it had been his suggestion and all - it /should/ be him. Apparently repeatedly sleeping with Brody was something he was willing to do now - especially if this game went the way he'd planned. Fuck it - best not to think about it too much, right? The sex was good, and Brody wasn't clingy. He huffed in amusement, putting the shotglass back on the surface of the bar. "Nightclub, Brodes. Loud music, drowns out the sounds. It was pretty crowded." All the more reason why they'd thought they'd be unnoticed.

Sebastian paused, thinking back to his wording, and then shook his head. Damn, how much had he had to drink already? "No, no. That wasn't quite what I meant," he clarified. "I'm asking if you've had sex as a performance piece. You know - in front of people. On purpose." He snorted at the question, nodding in confirmation. He grinned at Brody's response. "Hey, you never know." But he felt a thrill of victory run through him when Brody didn't take a shot regardless. Surely losing shouldn't be making him /this/ happy. 

He raised his eyebrows when Brody asked the next question. "Really, Brodes? You're asking the guy who used to live in Paris if he's had an orgasm outside of North America?" Rolling his eyes, he took the shot, Adam's apple bobbing as he gulped it down. Apparently Brody wasn't even /trying/ anymore. But then again, that did mean that he got what he wanted - so who was he to complain? He twisted the shotglass in his hands, before placing it next to the other two empty ones. Two to go, and Brody still had four left. Things were shaping up nicely, as far as he was concerned. Again, though, he didn't want to look like he was /trying/ to lose. "Never have I ever used a someone else's sex toy - either on them, or on myself." He got by on this one on a technicality, really. He had used them with Andrew, but they had been Sebastian's - and seeing as everyone else he'd slept with apart from Brody and Marley had been strangers, he never had the opportunity to do so. Which was fortunate, in this case, since he was running out of shit that he hadn't done.

"I think you'd have to buy me a fair amount of alcohol to inspire me to try to make a stage show out of stripping off real chaps," Brody remarked.  "I mean, I guess if I was up there //with// someone, you know providing a little assistance, it'd be more attractive and worth the effort, but still-- a lot of alcohol, for sure."  Although if //Sebastian// was the one offering, Brody probably wouldn't even want to be that drunk for the show.  "But if we're playing this game anyways, I would also like some hot blondes in body glitter backing me up," he added with a laugh.  "Exactly: you got to keep the game interesting.  Otherwise you may as well be playing Candyland."

"I mean, it obviously doesn't hurt if they're moderately attractive, even if they lack any discernible ass," he added for good measure.  As much as the damn thing had grown on him, Brody still got a kick out of mocking Sebastian's backside.  Which was funny, considering how often now he just thought about putting his hands (and other parts) on or in it.  Brody shrugged, "Fair enough, although in some respects I'd argue that point."  Brody laughed, waggling his eyebrows teasingly.   "Hey, that was a damn nice mattress," he contested.  "But yeah, I guess there were some other upsides to the night."  Fucking god, Brody really had some imagery of Bas back at his place, on a new mattress-- somewhere with decent furniture, with a good headboard, with a lot of condoms hidden in every nook and cranny...  Just flirting, he reminded himself.  He's just messing around.  "Well, I'm not usually the voyeur type," he replied with a smirk, "but I mean, if you and NPH and David all need a place to crash, you are more than welcome to swing by.  I will never kick you out."  Brody wasn't sure, but it felt like he was hitting close to a nerve.  Or maybe he was just projecting based off of what he knew about Bas' family issues.  Which, while not much, was enough to know Bas probably was done talking about his folks.  "Well, at least that means your stories are more interesting," he offered with an easy smile.

"Yeah, I'll have to make sure they do," Brody nodded, licking his lips as he thought about Bas peeling off his chaps-- because right now, that's who he wanted peeling shit off of him.  "You know, if I find someone worth the hassle."  Brody still shifted his gaze to the floor in amusement, shaking his head, "And they arrested you for that?  Man, the rich really do live differently."  He couldn't imagine being at a club that would have //arrested// him for the shit he pulled there, but those kind of places charged twenty bucks for cover and cheap booze and music, so he doubted Bas would end up there.

Brody watched Sebastian take offense to his next question-- it was pathetic, really, who was he kidding.  But what could he say?  Sometimes he was just petty like that.  And anyways, watching Sebastian suck the shot down was intoxicating on its own, because that was his third empty glass resting on the table.  God fuck, he could almost feel him, and he just wanted this game over with so he could drag him somewhere, anywhere, and fuck some part of him senseless.  Then Vanessa could have him, Brody promised himself.  Brody listened to Bas' claim, and laughed loudly, not even hesitating as he threw back the shot.  He should have known that one was coming-- he'd heard Bas talk about it earlier, after all.  "Nothing too...crazy," he clarified.  "Well, there //was// a riding crop and a ballgag this one time, but I don't judge.  But besides that, you know, just the norm: cock rings, a Rabbit... once I met someone with a real sex swing, so that was fun.  Just that sort of thing."  Was he giving the other man ideas?  God he hoped so, because for all the discomfort Bas was giving him, he really wanted to repay it in kind.

Unfortunately now, Brody was catching up to the younger man, so he had to get his head out of the gutter and back in the game.  Or, well, the gutter of the game.  "Never Have I Ever...been filmed in any sort of way having any sort of sex."  That one was definitely cutting it close: the older man had been drunk enough in college to have an incident with a partner, but it hadn't been sex so much as suggestive acts on camera.  And considering how badly it had backfired on him, he was in no hurry to ever repeat the misstep.  But he was curious as to whether Sebastian had any sort of recorded evidence of his prowess or proclivities.  Hell, Brody'd probably pay to see it, to be honest.

"Mm, well, if you need assistance, then allow me to offer myself. Do I get to strip the chaps off of you?" He smirked. "Don't worry - alcohol /will/ be provided. All too happy to put money towards a worthy cause." The more they joked about it, the more Sebastian wanted it to actually happen for real. He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Fine - you can have your hot blondes. All the more eye candy for me, too." So long as he was the one that was the sole focus of attention, he didn't really care. With a snort, he shook his head. "Sure. That's one way to look at it. Only with less sugary snacks to look at. Although..." he hummed. "Chocolate is kind of fun to play around with in the bedroom. But that would require the aforementioned creativity."

With a scoff, Sebastian gave Brody a skeptical look. "/Moderately/ attractive? You're so full of shit and you know it. And I'll say it again - you've developed some sort of obsession with my ass. I like to think you're pretty well aquainted with it by now." The older teacher certainly brought it into conversation often enough. He wrinkled his nose. "You could argue, but you'd be wrong. I won us a bar tab," he said, gesturing to the bar as though to help Brody understand. Okay, so Brody had probably put just as much into it has he had, but that didn't need to be said. "Oh, I know it was a good mattress. Memory foam is the only way to sleep." He grinned. "Sure. /Some/ upsides. Like I rocked your world." And vice versa. Fuck, that was some good sex. Not that he'd doubted Brody for a second, but even with the expectations, he hadn't exactly expected it to be as hot as it was. It wasn't often that he craved more from a person. "I'm pretty sure NPH and David Burtka would be happy to whisk me away to somewhere exotic, but we're always happy to do you a solid. Maybe I'll even let you join in," he teased, adding a wink at the end. Thankful that Brody had dropped the subject of his parents, he let out a breath. "Yeah - wouldn't want to be boring. Not that you haven't managed to create some interesting stories of your own," he commented. "Most of which end up with you getting some sort of injury. I'm almost disappointed that sex with me didn't leave a mark on you. Well, one that /didn't/ fade." He'd made sure to make plenty of temporary marks, of course. 

Sebastian glanced at his three shots lined up on the table, training his face not to look too excited about the fact that he was so damn close to getting what he wanted. Still, Brody downed his own shot, and he grinned. Still two to three in Brody's favour, and he was sure the older man would manage to stay ahead of the game. He would make sure of it. As Brody began to paint the scenario in his head, though, Sebastian felt his throat tighten, pupils dilating at the list. "Right," he managed, voice tight. He shuffled a little, his pants beginning to feel uncomfortable. Which meant that he had to get them off - and fast. Thankfully, Brody's next question was... well, a little less insulting, but just as easy, and he didn't need to think about it before taking his fourth shot. "Really? Never been filmed? I find that one hard to believe." Though he probably should've expressed his doubt before he took the shot, but it didn't really matter, anyway. Why he was questioning it, he had no idea. He /wanted/ this, he reminded himself. As for Sebastian - well, he wasn't a moron. Well. That was to be debated, really, considering that the person who he had let film him had turned out to be an untrustworthy asshole. He wondered if Andrew had kept the videos. Fuck, he hoped not. "Once or twice, in college," he said, but he didn't really feel like elaborating, so he chose to switch the focus instead. "I'd make a damn good porn star." He tapped on the bar, going through possible questions in his head. If Brody really wanted him, he'd likely make the next question an easy one, right? So he supposed it didn't really matter what he came up with. “Never have I ever… had sex in a tent.” Kind of a lame question, but he was definitely running out of shit he hadn’t done already. Thankfully, Sebastian had dodged a bullet with that one, seeing as he refused to go camping in the first place.

“Well, I mean-- if //you’re// offering…” Brody tipped his shoulder nonchalantly, but basically any combination of the man in front of him and the word //strip// was leaving him anything but blase.  “I mean, might as well cast it to get the most bang for my buck, right?  Maybe we’ll get you a bridle and bit to really sell the look.”  He laughed, even though the image wasn’t much his style.  He preferred Bas to have full capacity of his mouth, honestly-- throat, voice, tongue.  He wouldn’t want to block any of it.  Brody let out an exaggerated relieved sigh, “Well, thank god for that-- can’t imagine how I’d get through such an ordeal without it.  Oh, come on: don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to be surrounded by hot blondes if you were going to be displayed on stage?”  Who didn’t love a good blonde at a strip club?  It was a little stereotypical, but Brody just seemed to appreciate the color more in the environment.  The older man smirked, biting his lip in thought as he bobbed his head side to side, “You know, I’ve got to say I never really got into food play myself.  Too sticky-- give me some ice or wax or oil over whipped cream any day.”  It probably sounded a little contradictory-- after all, Brody and Bas first started this whole bar scene based off of body shots-- but in reality, Brody just didn’t really have the same sweet tooth as his friends seemed to.  The idea of covering someone in dessert and licking it off actually made him cough a little from sugar-overload.  “But tomato, tomahto in terms of creativity, right?”

Brody bit his lip to suppress the grin that was threatening to overtake his face.  Hassling Bas about something as completely bullshit as his looks was just fun.  “Eh, I’ve seen better,” he defended half-heartedly, not quite holding back a laugh.  “Hey, it’s not my fault you keep flaunting it like there’s actually something worthwhile about the damned thing.  It’s like staring at a ruined souffle or something.”  This time he didn’t even bother hiding his own amusement, though he deliberately ignored the second part of Bas’ statement, or the truth of the first.  He still stood behind Bas’ ass not being much to look at at first, but the tone and the feel was just something that could make his cock itch just thinking about.  “I’m sorry-- //who// won us a bar tab?  I could have pulled a random person off the street and you would have known maybe three more answers than they did.”  Well, not really-- but there had only been a handful of poli sci questions, and less legal ones, so Bas’ use during the night was mostly about his efficiency in answering quickly.  Which, yeah, he had been good at it.  Although, just then Bas’ hand attracted a new set of shots (that bartender was definitely noticing the younger man), and Brody happily downed one.

“Ha, not just sleep,” he added with a grin.  “Seriously, even if the sex had been a complete let-down, I might have overlooked it for that mattress.  Although it was awful getting out of bed in the morning.”  Not just for the bed though: Brody fucking loved morning sex usually, loved to spoon, loved just lying in bed and not feeling alone.  But Bas wasn’t the type, he knew-- he was the guy that snuck out while someone was in the shower, or before they woke up.  Brody hated the idea of that being him.  Not that he would be; Brody tended to wake up early regardless of how much he drank the night before, or whatever day it was, so it was hard to get the jump on him.  But he didn’t want that awkward dismissal either, so he’d simply forced himself out of bed before sunrise, leaning over Bas with a kiss he couldn’t //not// press to the younger man’s temple, whispering that he had an early day and to “go back to sleep” before hunting down his scattered clothes and tiptoeing out the door.  It had obviously been the right call, since things were still fine with them now.  Bas knew he wasn’t expecting anything; that he got him.  And now they were drinking at a bar, completely platonic.

“Yeah, I guess you and the mattress were //pretty// close in terms of impressiveness.  Like 60-40 close.”  He just loved fucking around with the pompous peacock: Bas always seemed to get his blood up; it was fun trying to do the same, even if Brody had no real skill for it.  “I don’t know-- maybe they stopped by Ohio for some of the old town feel during sex.  Thanks, but I still draw a line with couples, even if they’re at the same time,” he reminded Bas.  Brody grinned, proud and yet slightly sheepish, as Bas brought up his penchant for injuries in his stories.  “Well, I feel like good sex is almost always worth the risk,” he remarked.  He shrugged, “Eh, you can’t win them all, Bas.  Sometimes you just have to accept that you’ll have to depend on my memory without the physical mark.”  Not that Brody thought he’d ever forget that night, because god freaking damn.Brody slammed the empty glass back onto the counter, grinning as he looked at the remaining shots.  He was going to win-- he really wanted to win.  And did Bas’ voice just tighten up a little?  Because Brody was totally willing to pull out (buy?) some toys if that got the guy going.  Of course Bas was taking the shot, although Brody cleared his throat uncomfortably when the younger man challenged his own stance.  “Uh, //sex// or sex activities?  No.  I did a...different recording thing.  And, well-- let’s just say disciplinary action was involved.  Lesson learned.”  He rubbed his neck sheepishly, but smirked as he considered Bas’ words.  “God, please tell me you still have those,” he groaned, a jolt of adrenaline shot down his spine to his dick with the idea of a private viewing, especially at the tease of having Bas’ heat surrounding him.  Which holy shit fuck, he was so close to getting.  Brody laughed at Bas’ statement.  “Okay, I know you think I was this total cowboy growing up, but I didn’t spend //all// my time recreating scenes from Brokeback Mountain,” he replied, rolling his eyes.  “I don’t even really like camping,” he added with a scoff.

Brody really wanted this one.  Fuck he wanted to win this one.  He eyed the last shot glass on Bas’ side.  “You know, I almost feel bad for doing this,” he told him.  “I mean, for Ness, really, because I’m going to be really taking a chunk out of her run time here.  You-- well, fuck you.  I mean, literally //and// figuratively…” he snorted, before settling back down.  He was trying to think of something interesting-- something worth finding out about Bas, but would still hopefully likely earn him a win.  “Never Have I Ever...told a guy I loved him during sex.”  Definitely a risky move, but Brody was genuinely curious if Bas had ever gotten that emotional with someone.  He was mad he couldn’t open it up to include girls as well to better his odds (since that wouldn’t be true on his part), but he was running out of crazy shit to think up, and this certainly seemed out of the box for the man before him.  “I mean, not that it really counts //then//, but still…?” he added, trying to soften the potential overstepping of unspoken boundaries.  They were friendly, but Bas //was// a walking cliche, and this could easily be a sore spot for him.  In retrospect Brody wished he’d just chosen something more vanilla, like being caught by someone’s parents or something.

Sebastian snorted at the imagery, grinning at Brody. "Now you're just making it sound ridiculous. All I wanted to do was strip you." His tongue ran over his lips at the thought. He couldn't decide what he wanted more, in all honesty. Brody in full cowboy gear, or Brody half naked with chaps. Or Brody fully naked - although the latter, he /had/ had the pleasure of seeing already. Not that he'd complain about seeing it again. "What exactly is it about me that makes you think that I'd have any issue whatsoever with being on display onstage? Having people admiring me is incentive enough. The hot blondes would just be the sugar on the top. We all know who the main attraction would be." Okay, so he might have had a little bit of an exhibition kink going on. Just a little. He scoffed. "Could've fooled me, considering the fact that you basically jumped at the chance to drink shots off of me, but sure. Whatever. For the record, though, you're missing out. It's not too sticky if you're thorough." Licking every inch of wherever said food had been was all part of the fun. "Right. There are plenty of ways to get creative," he agreed, lips twitching into a slightly suggestive smirk.

"Not quite sure you have, Brodes, but keep telling yourself that," he replied, lips tugging into a somewhat smug grin. "That's the analogy you're going with? A ruined souffle? It's more like a valuable sculpture - just not as fragile. For the record - you talk about it more than I do at this point." Not that Sebastian had a problem with that in the slightest. In fact, he was always happy to indulge the older man. "Sure, whatever you want to tell yourself. Besides, even if that statement was anywhere /close/ to true, a random person off the street just wouldn't have been as pretty to look at." He cocked his head as a new round of shots appeared on the table, but shot the bartender a wink in thanks, raising one up in toast and downing it fast without thought. "True. I'll amend my statement. Memory foam is the only way to do anything bed-related on." Brody's grin was infectious, and one of his own spread on Sebastian's face. "Yeah, so you see why I'm not exactly a morning person. What kind of mattress is it that you own that gets you out of bed at ass o'clock in the morning anyway?" It was a shame, really. Sebastian wasn't one for hanging around his one night stands the next day, but he wouldn't have /minded/ Brody's company. Not in a weird clingy way, obviously - but he wouldn't have said no to a morning throwdown if the older man had initiated it.

"You protest too much about my appeal, Brodes. You're only confirming more and more how obsessed you are with me," Sebastian quipped. Really, though - he had no insecurities about his own ability to impress in bed, and Brody's reactions to everything he did that night had pretty much spoken for themselves. "Sure. Because Nowhere, Ohio is exactly the place I know /I'd/ want to stop during my sex tour. Hey, it's not like a three way is cheating." Not that Sebastian had exactly been great at avoiding that type of situation, either, but at least sleeping with other peoples' boyfriends or girlfriends or whatever here wasn't going to ruin his career - if you could even call teaching at a public high school a 'career'. "Good thing I'm pretty memorable then, huh?" Sebastian nodded with a hum as Brody explained his stance on sex on camera. "Right. Enough said." Sebastian conceeded with a nod, holding his hands up. He was almost tempted to ask Brody to expand on that, except that it seemed like a subject that the older man wouldn't be much up for talking about. Disciplinary action was hardly a light topic of conversation, and it wasn't like it was any of his business anyway. His stomach twisted a little at Brody's question, but he just gave the other a tight smile, hoping that Brody doesn't notice that it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Afraid not, Brodes. Sorry to disappoint. Although, you /have/ experienced the real thing, so consider yourself lucky, I guess." He snapped his fingers in an exaggerated show of disappontment. "Damn. I had you pegged for the camping trip type. Although, I have to say, my ass is a little grateful about the Brokeback thing, considering the lack of lube and prep that was portrayed in that movie." He shuddered. "Seriously. Is that what straight people think we do?"

So close - and Sebastian could feel the anticipatian coil in his gut, but he managed an eyeroll at Brody's words. "Slow down, there, Cowboy. Still one more shot to go." Although he kind of regretted the whole game entirely when Brody went ahead with his selected question, shoulders stiffening a little. Part of him wants to just deny it, and let Brody win with a different question, but his hesitation was probably speaking volumes already, so he wrapped his fingers around the glass, swallowing it down in one gulp and slamming it down on the bar with a little more force than he'd meant to. /Shit/. "We all say shit we don't mean during sex, right?" It was a glimpse into his life that he really wasn't a fan of sharing. He tried for a more casual smirk, leaning in a little closer and murmuring in Brody's ear, "But I guess you win, Handsome. So should we get out of here? I believe you mentioned something about a sex swing."

Brody grinned at Sebastian's response.  "What can I say?  I decide to do something, I go all out."  He laughed, "Oh, I don't think it's the stage part-- I just can't imagine you wanting to share the spotlight.  But so long as you don't have a problem with the blondes, I think we're good."  The older man scoffed-- he knew he was going to get called on that.  "Booze is an exception," he clarified.  "I will never say no to a body shot off a hot guy-- or girl, obviously," he added for good measure.  "Well, I guess maybe I could be convinced to reconsider if someone was that gung ho about it."  He definitely wouldn't mind Bas' tongue all over him, that was for sure, although he still was a little hesitant about the concept itself.  Damn those lips-- Sebastian Smythe was going to be the death of him.  "Hey, preaching to the choir, Bas."

"I've got a few years on you, Bas-- I'm pretty sure I've seen something more impressive than that bean pole of backside," he asserted.  Which was true-- Brody definitely had found quite a few asses that he'd appreciated-- a lot-- in his time.  Definitely an ass man.  But damn if this one wasn't almost impossible to get out of his head.  He shrugged, "It fits-- sunken, dipped, underwhelming.  Are we talking about one of your type of sculptures that are crappy and useless?  Because yeah-- I can get behind that."  He laughed teasingly.  Brody shook his head, "Considering how often you're out and about, I highly doubt that."  Bas called the thing his best feature-- surely he'd talk it up to all of the other targets he'd hit up at a bar.  Brody couldn't be talking about it //that// much, right?  "So I won you a free tab in exchange for you looking pretty?" Brody scoffed.  "I could have found that with anyone out here tonight, and looked twice as good for doing it on my own."  He couldn't help but roll his eyes as Bas flirted with the bartender-- god the guy was ridiculous.  But hey-- at least it kept the drinks coming.

"I will definitely drink to that," Brody agreed, raising up his shot and throwing it back.  "Hm, good point-- I wonder if I should resist then, since I actually do have stuff to take care of in the morning."  Similar to how he should stay the hell away from Sebastian, because he seemed unable to get him out of his head under normal circumstances currently.  "Hey, it's a good mattress-- it's the years of practice that get me out of bed on time.  Some of us have lives, after all."  Yes-- lives.  Away from Bas.  Away from sex with Bas.  Away from thinking about sex with Bas and lots of masturbating in the shower.

"I feel like any level of disagreement would be protesting too much for you, Bas," he retorted with a grin.    "One day someone's going to actually get under your skin and turn the tables on you, and your brain's going to short-circuit."   The thought made him laugh-- he couldn't imagine what kind of person could affect Bas to that level, but there had to be one somewhere, right?  "Oh yeah-- it's that whole Mayberry appeal, but in Lima," he laughed.  "A three way isn't, but it's weird if two of them are basically together," Brody insisted.  He knew that couples did that sort of thing all the time (well those who did three ways), but the idea just didn't sit well with him on a personal level.  He'd feel like he was intruding on something.  "Well, at least something better comes along," he agreed with a smirk, although that still probably would stroke the moron's ego beyond the telling of it, because Brody couldn't imagine a night like that happening anytime soon.

Bas didn't ask for details about the scandal, and Brody let it go.  He'd told the story before-- it wasn't //that// big of a deal, since he downplayed most of the details-- but he was kind of glad not to get into it currently.  Especially if Bas wasn't going to play up his own experience.  He smirked, "Yeah, I suppose.  I certainly wouldn't hate to watch one day though," he added with a laugh.  "Especially if Neil and David are involved."  Brody rolled his eyes, "I'm not saying I don't have sex outside, or on the ground, or in the woods..."  Okay-- he wasn't doing a very good job selling why he wasn't much of a camper, now that he thought about it.  "Yeah, now that I think about it, I should like camping more-- I have no excuse."  He laughed about Bas' analysis.  "Well, I'm not sure they were that great at it either, right?  I mean, weren't they fake straight in that movie?  With no instruction-- it's not like you could go online and find tips.  Plus I think they were both kind of bad at sex all around.  Although man-- riding a horse after a night like that.  I'm surprised they didn't have serious injuries."  He crinkled his nose at the thought.  Rough sex before a ride was hard enough-- doing it without prep...Bas was right.  That would be awful.

Brody couldn't stop grinning, even at Bas' warning.  He was going to get this-- he had this.  The other man didn't answer right away, and Brody's face fell a little, worried he'd said the wrong thing.  Bas took the drink, but the counter practically vibrated with the force the little shot glass hit with.  His response was something Brody could work with though-- try to smooth over whatever he'd managed to snag.  "Yeah, definitely," he nodded.  "I'm pretty sure I told //every// girl I slept with in high school I loved her, so yeah-- not really the most honest time to admit anything, right?" he was trying to soften the blow, because he felt like he might have hit a nerve, even if Bas wasn't really giving anything away. But his efforts were completely forgotten when Bas' voice hummed in his ear.  A canary-eating grin broke out on his face, which shifted immediately to one of surprised confusion when Bas suggested leaving.  "Wait-- you want to...you want to //go//?" he sputtered, turning to meet at him and desperately trying to control his suddenly very enthusiastic hard-on.  "What about--?" His eyes shifted over to where Vanessa was still standing, sipping her drink and glancing over at them casually-- or at least pretending to be casual.  Because hell yeah, Brody wanted to get out of here, but that hadn't been the deal, had it?  Otherwise he probably would have made the game go a lot faster, because Bas' naked body pressed up against his chair was a fucking image he wanted to see like, //now//.

"So I've noticed," he replies, shaking his head with a puff of laughter. "True. But like I said - we all know that I'll be the main feature. Well, me and the guy in chaps, but I'm willing to share if it means I get that kind of show out of it." He snorted, raising an eyebrow at Brody. "For the record - the body shots were /your/ idea. Not that it wasn't a spectacular idea. I'm kind of disappointed I didn't come up with it myself, actually." He grinned. "Well just say the words, Brodes. I'm fully willing to try to change your stance. I can be pretty convincing." 

"Well, yeah. You're an old man. I'm sure you've seen plenty of interesting and sexy things in your life. Still doesn't change the fact that you can't stop thinking about my ass." Okay, probably exaggerating a bit - but considering the amount of times Brody had talked about it, he knew that his ass had definitely been something worth thinking about. Hilariously, Brody /did/ have a point. He really didn't have /much/ of an ass - but he damn well knew how to work it. "Useless? Now I know you're talking out of /your/ ass. You got plenty of use out of it," he grinned. "And, yeah - you did so by /getting behind it/, as you say. He scoffed. "No - /I/ won us a free bar tab by using my intelligence. It just so happened that I looked pretty while doing it." He just smirked in reply to Brody's eye roll. Hey, the bartender was cute. Didn't stop Brody from drinking the shots that he'd attracted with the bartender's interest, so who was he to complain? 

"Mm, suit yourself. Don't blame me for the fact that the quality of sleep that I get is higher than yours." And, okay, it was a damn expensive mattress, so he'd have been disappointed if it had been anything less than stellar. "Right. Are you trying to imply that I don't have a life? Because I thought I'd established that I don't spend that much time lounging around my own place." The furniture he did have /was/ more for asthetic than anything, really. 

"Not fucking likely, Brodes," Sebastian shot back, rolling his eyes. "Told you - not my style." There was no chance in hell he was going to let himself drop his guard again. He knew what it felt like to have his heart trampled over, and /no fucking thank you/. "Hey, don't kinkshame. If NPH and Burtka are into three ways, who are you to judge them?" He tutted, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "Shame on you, Weston." He chuckled. "It doesn't get better than me. I'm afraid I've ruined you for any future experiences." 

"Well, if Neil and David were involved, I'd have had that shit backed up on several devices." /That's/ a sex tape that he'd be all too happy to film. Not that his experience had put him off of the idea in general - and he'd certainly sent his share of kinky photos, but thankfully nothing that's resulted in a mess. Well, not the bad kind of mess, anyway. He laughed. "See? You should be into it purely for the sex. Although I have to admit - while I'm happy to have sex wherever I can, I'm with you on the camping thing. Sleeping on a cold, hard ground vs. sleeping in my warm, comfortable, bug free bed? No question." He wrinkled his nose. Camping sounded like hell on earth, in all honesty. Not that he'd ever been taken as a kid. He nodded his head in concedement. "Well, I guess you have a point. But, yeah. I mean, I'm assuming they carried on that way every time they had sex. There's no way that could've been healthy. Not that I remember it all that well. Heath Ledger is hot and all, but Donnie Darko doesn't really do it for me." 

His ears were still pounding with the brief attack of fury that he'd had over the thought - because apparently the memory of Andrew had been brought up one too many times for him over the course of the night. Not that he wasn't entirely over the asshole, but he was still furious at himself for even letting himself /be/ that vulnerable in the first place. "Exactly. Yeah." He nodded, trying not to appear as if his mind was somewhere else entirely. Brody's surprise made him cock his head, and then his eyes shifted over to Vanessa's at the other's prompt - because, right. Yeah. "Well," he said, turning his attention back to Brody. "How else am I supposed to show my appreciation? Hardly a prize if it's just a quick romp in a bathroom stall, is it?" Not that the last time they'd spent together in a bathroom wasn't great, but still. If he was going to give in to his rule again, he figured he might as well get as much out of it as he could. "I'm starting to think you've been lying to me about this sex hammock."

Brody’s smile only broke wider with Sebastian’s compliment, even as the other man laughed.  Because with Bas, being full throttle could never be a bad thing, Brody was pretty sure.  “Well, I mean, the two brunettes in a sea of blondes would stand out, I guess.  I take it you’ll be thrusting in the g-string to make sure they know where to deliver the tips?” he joked.  “You know-- since I’ll be weighted down with the heavy gear.”  Yeah right-- if Brody could dance in a ballroom dress, he could dance in chaps, but the picture sounded much better from his angle.  He bobbed his head in acknowledgement.  “True, but like I said: booze is my exception.  Especially on hardbodies-- it’s an Achilles’ Heel, really.”  His eyes flickered over Sebastian’s regrettably concealed torso, still appreciably, and he can’t help it-- he licks his lips.  How could he not, with a memory like that one?  He scoffed, “I’ll consider it-- or at least attempt to keep an open mind.”  Yeah, he’s a little torn on that idea-- although he supposed it wouldn’t be //so// bad if //he// was the one covered.  At least he wouldn’t get sick from the sugar.  But really-- isn’t there //any// other way to get Bas’ mouth all over him?  Because the idea itself was making his pants tighter than he’d prefer in a public area.

“Old, but my mind hasn’t gone just yet, and you know, I’m pretty sure I’ve already established that your ass //didn’t// actually make the list of things I found most impressive about your physique, just worth pointing out,” Brody argued.  Although for his own sanity, he still refused to name off the other very attractive features that he would actually put about Sebastian’s ass if asked.  The guy already thought himself the perfect Adonis-- Brody wasn’t going to feed into that anymore than he already had.  Brody inhaled and bit his lip, humming in amusement.  “I did manage to find a way to enjoy myself, didn’t I?  Have you ever been that kid that got stuck at recess with the ball that was half flat, Bas?  You just make do.  I think that actually says more about my sexual prowess than about your ass.”  He barked out a laugh.  “And another bad pun.  Is there a limit to these, or…?  Also, I’m pretty sure you were grateful for me being behind your ass, just for the sake of saying.”  Brody shook his head incredulously.  “Um, I’m pretty sure //I// won us that tab-- you just seem to be keeping the bartender’s attention so we can use it.”  He shrugged, “Which I suppose has its own benefits.”

“I’m not sure that’s the case, Bas-- how much //sleep// do you actually get at night?” Brody countered with a grin.  He was pretty sure, after all, that they’d spent a lot more time doing other things besides catching z’s while he’d been there the other night.  Although, to be fair, Brody probably spent a lot more time actually sleeping in his bed, so didn’t he deserve something as nice as what Sebastian had?  “No, you spend your time lounging around on other people’s mattresses.  Talk about a waste,” Brody ribbed.  Man, if he had something like that, he’d do nothing //but// bring people back to his place.

Brody grinned at Sebastian’s quick retort.  “You know, if this was a holiday movie, this would be the moment that some sort of Christmas angel would float down and zap you into a life you’d never imagined wanting, but turned into everything you needed.” His tone took on a mocking lilt as he described the formulaic scenario.  “Probably with a girl that’s always been in front of you but you’d never realized up until now.  Because of course it’s a girl, right?”  He laughed again, enjoying his game as he threw back another shot.  If people didn’t shut him up, Brody could make up weird scenarios all night-- it was a skill that his mouth never turned off.  “Now, now-- I’d never kinkshame NPH.  He could do just about anything legal and I’d be okay for it. I just wouldn’t be okay to play along.”  Brody’s lips quirked in amusement.  “Well, then, I may as well tell the hook-ups that I had since then that I apparently wasn’t as into it as I thought.  Maybe get some sort of disclaimer when I head out to the bars…”  He gave a dry laugh.

“And sharing, right?” Brody pressed with a smirk.  “I mean, you’re not going to sign some lame contract keeping your friends in the dark about this sort of thing that should really be gifted to the world?”  Brody bit his lip as he grinned in agreement with Bas.  “Yeah, I mean, all the parts sound pretty good, but I don’t know, you get to the part about sleeping in a bag in a tent on the ground and I just lose interest.  Also the whole food situation is kind of a turn off, not gonna lie.”  The idea of having Bas in front of a bonfire was pretty appealing though-- hell, he could think of having Bas in a lot of places that would be worthwhile.  “Yeah, if the guy didn’t die the way he did, I would have guessed they’d both go from an infection or something incredibly damaging, because riding like that, on top of, you know, //riding// like that?  You’re just going to rip yourself all up.  No wonder people think sex between two guys is wrong-- they can’t seem to find a good example in film.  Maybe you should start championing that cause, Bas.  I’m sure people would much rather see you than Jake, and you know-- Heath’s, you know, dead.” Was that insensitive?  Oh well; he was drunk-- he could have one free for the night.

Brody’s blood began racing, and definitely not in the direction that encouraged rational thought.  He raked his teeth across his lip, his mouth suddenly parched.  “Uh, yeah-- right.”  He reached over for one of the shots leftover from the game and threw it back-- why the hell he was nervous was beyond him, but nonetheless he was a little thrown, he had to admit.  “No, fuck-- yeah.  Let’s get out of here.  It’ll at least give you the chance to see what real fucking furniture is like.  Hammock and all.”  He pulled out a bill to tip the bartender, and grinned.  “You sure about this?  Because I may actually //really// feel bad for Vanessa, since you’ll be too damn sore to come back till after New Year’s if I take you out of here now.”  He arched an eyebrow up in challenge, because if he was going to have Sebastian Smythe again-- just once more, for sure, but again nonetheless-- he was going to have him in so many rounds that one of them wasn’t going to be able to see straight by the end of the night.

"Like we don't stand out anyway," Sebastian replied with a smirk. "I mean, come on," he gestured between them, letting his point speak for itself. "Mm, not sure if my g-string would be able to hold /that/ much money. You'll have pockets on you somewhere, right?" Did chaps have pockets? Whatever he'd be wearing under them would, he was sure. More to the point - why was he considering this hypothetical scenario as though it were a real thing? "Hey, I was hardly complaining, Brodes." He caught sight of Brody's eyes raking over him, and his lips twitched smugly. Clearly Brody was as fond of the memory as he was. He could still remember the way Brody's tongue trailed over his torso - /fuck/, it was... an experience. "Good. I'll be waiting," he teased. "Open offer." Fuck, part of him wanted to throw his shirt off right fucking now and drape himself over the bar for Brody to work his magic. Probably not a good idea. They weren't in Scandals, after all. Not that kind of bar. 

"Actions speak louder than words, Brodes," he reminded the older man. "I mean, when you start talking about it in every other conversation, even if it's to deny the existence of it, one has to wonder." His shoulders shook with another laugh. "I think you did more than /make do/." His grin spread a little wider, not even remotely ashamed of the terrible pun. "Fuck you - I'm hilarious." He shook his head, laying his palm on Brody's shoulder, tone turning a little on the patronising side. "Okay Brodes. You know what? I know it's hard for you to accept when I'm better than you at something. As usual, we'll just agree that it was a draw." Fuck, even when they were on the same side, Sebastian couldn't help but turn it into a competition. 

"Depends where I'm sleeping," he conceeded with a shrug - because, yeah. Some weeks he'd be out more days than he'd be in. "Still, it's good to come home at ass o'clock to a comfortable bed after a night of shitty half-sleep on a motel bed." He hated early mornings at the best of times - dragging himself out with his head throbbing was never fun, especially considering that he was constantly trying not to wake his conquest for that night.

 He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Sure. We both know I've always craved the whole wife and kids thing all along, right? I mean, how could I not? Marital misery, screaming brats - not getting sex from her and not being allowed to get it anywhere else? Totally my kind of deal." He shuddered at the thought. No, he wasn't going to be like his parents. Miserable with each other, resentful of their son - only ever putting on a mask of marital bliss and being the picture perfect perfect at parties. No thanks. In an attempt to mask the bitter turn his thoughts had taken, he gulped down another shot, following Brody's example. "Fine, fine - your loss. More NPH for me." He nodded in agreement. "Yep. It's almost unfair to make them believe otherwise. Don't worry - if your standards are high enough, there's a chance I've been there already. They'll understand." 

"Well, yeah. It'd be a crime not to. Don't worry, I'll make sure to send you a copy. Fuck, you could even have an advanced private screening. I've always wanted to see myself on the big screen," he replied with a chuckle. Surely someone at the local cinema could be easily bribed, right? "I mean, it's possible to have the whole experience without having to actually sleep on the ground, right? Drive out, have sex in the woods, drive back. Easy." He laughed. "An educational sex video? Fuck, I'll make everyone want to do it. Sex with women will lose all its appeal. The population will dry out." He snorted, immediately wincing after the fact. "I shouldn't have laughed at that. Poor Heath. He was hot." 

He let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding when Brody /finally/ stopped questioning him and just agreed, already. "I do have real furniture," he argued, but he was hardly thinking about that right now - his cock uncomfortably trapped in the tight restriction of his jeans. His mind was too busy racing, that he almost missed the chance to pull out a tip of his own - but like hell was he going to look like /that/ kind of asshole. Making quick work of pulling out his wallet to match Brody's tip in kind, he smirked, eyes flickering over to Vanessa. "I guess I'm just gonna have to come back another time, hm?" He raised his eyebrows. "Strong words, Cowboy. You better be ready to back them up." Not that he had any fucking doubt. Brody had the ability to make him see stars. He knew this all too well. Still, if the challenge made him want to go at it a little harder, then he was more than happy to issue it out.

New from Jonita Davis on The Black Cape: TIFF Reviews: From Romance Fizzling ‘Mondays’ to Historic Bros in ‘One Night in Miami’

The Toronto International Film Festival Kicked off on Thursday, September 9th with a film that so many Black critics were waiting for, Regina King’s directorial debut One Night in Miami. The film is as of press time, the best film of the fest for me. That does not mean that TIFF2020 is devoid of stories. There are so many tales from so many perspectives that this year’s festival has me watching films until the wee hours of the night. I ended last night with The Third Day, at about midnight–after doing some anxiety baking (peach cobbler). The series is a thriller that will really make you anxious and unable to stop watching at the same time!

Yes, I said baking. TIFF this year is a virtual affair that has most critics taking in the fest from home or wherever they can comfortably view them. My family has been tolerating me roaming the house with noise-canceling headphones on my ears and my eyes glued to the film on my tablet or phone. Here are capsule reviews for the films I viewed at the virtual TIFF over the first two days of the fest.

One Night in Miami

I’ve read countless accounts of the friendships that our most legendary figures formed while fighting for the rights we take for granted today. Regina King brings this musing to life in her directorial debut film One Night in Miami. In it was Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), and Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), as four best friends who come together to celebrate a monumental win.

One Night in Miami is not set up like a biopic or historic narrative this is not. King pulls these four off their pedestal and drops them into a moment that is reminiscent of the Big Chill. She shows us their stark realities in conversations that you will only hear Black people speak amongst themselves. Then she takes us to a hotel room where some of the most explosive action happens, along with the most quotable phrases (“most people want a piece of the pie I want the whole damn recipe”), and raw revelations (Malcolm X realizing that the Nation was corrupt and he recruited Clay to help him leave without incident). The most powerful men of the movement are thus reduced to the human men they truly are, frustrated about their past and petrified of their future.

King’s (and Kemp Powers’s script) depiction is fun and thoroughly entertaining. Audiences will feel like they are a part of the moment. Just prepare tissue for those closing credits.

One Night in Miami premiered at TIFF on September 9. It will be released on Amazon Prime at a later date.

Rating 5 of 5

Penguin Bloom

A traumatic event can change a person’s life, but what about the rest of the family? In Penguin Bloom, we follow the Bloom family of five as they try to adapt to a new life after an accident that changes the way they live and love forever.

The oldest child Noah, played by (Griffin Murray-Johnston and Essi Murray Johnson as a younger Noah), narrates the tale of a family vacation gone tragically wrong. Noah, his mother Sam (Naomi Watts), father Cam (Andrew Lincoln), and brothers Oli (Abe Clifford-Barr) and Rue (Felix Cameron) are an Australian family that loves the outdoors. They are very active until Sam leans on a fence of a rooftop overlook and falls to the ground. Her injuries leave her in pain and two-thirds of her body paralyzed. At home after all the surgeries, the family tries to adjust to the new way of life, but Sam has the hardest time. Without her, the family seems helpless, until a broken baby bird comes into their lives.

Suddenly, Sam has somewhere to put her energy, a place where she can’t fail (as she feels she is doing in caring for her family). As the bird becomes a part of the family and heals from its injuries, Sam and the rest of the Blooms find their way out the darkness of trauma. Penguin Bloom is more than a saccharine story of a woman’s resilience. It’s about an entire family damaged by trauma and how the healing must include everyone, even those who don’t wear their injuries on the outside.

Noah’s narration drives this home, meanwhile, the cast, which includes Jacki Weaver who plays Sam’s annoyingly cheerful mom, all deliver stellar performances. This is important because Penguin Bloom, despite being a true story, treads the dangerous line between a feel-good drama and a corny Hallmark movie.

Rating 3.5 of 5

Akilla’s Escape

Akilla (Saul Williams) is a grown man in the drug business, just as the government comes in to legalize things. He’s been in the illicit business all his life, so he knows a boy in trouble when he sees Sheppard. The boy is part of a team that robs Akilla. So, he keeps Sheppard in an attempt to track down the cash. Along the way, Akilla goes back over his own life and remembers how the cycle of trauma is manifesting before his eyes in Akilla.

Charles King’s use of this noir story of drug dealers and gangsters isn’t the type of film the audience will expect. The film is actually a commentary on multigenerational violence and toxic masculinity. Both take a toll on Black men everywhere. The international setting will give Americans a new perspective on a topic that has tackled for far too long. Watch out for Thamela Mpumlwana, the young actor who plays young Akilla and Sheppard. He carries the film well, easily sliding between roles. Audiences will also appreciate King’s depiction of violence as it is more implicit than we are used to from films that delve into the drug trade and gang violence. Akilla’s Escape is a movie that may end up being an education for us all.

Rating 4.5 of 5

Monday

Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough are Mickey and Chloe, two people who fall hopelessly in love after a Friday night together in Athens, Greece. They are passionate and so deeply in love that by Monday, Chloe decides not to fly out to take a job in the US. That weekend was her last one before the big move. After falling for Mickey, Monday brings a whole new life for her. Monday picks up at the place where most romances end, right after the moment that true love is confirmed, and the couple commits themselves to be together. What ensues is the reality of loving a person you hardly know. For Chloe and Mickey, this also means asking if that first romantic feeling is really enough to keep a couple going after the lust has rubbed off.

Monday offers the stark reality of romance, something that fans of the genre will find interesting. The beginning is shot so well and feels so rich that it feels like enough. The second act, however, flips the entire script onto its head as we see the chemistry influence some very misguided choices that both end up having to live with if they ultimately stay together. There’s a drugged, drunken, desperate dash to rekindle things in the end that may end up making this situation monumentally worse.

Rating 4 of 5

The Third Day

Jude Law, Naomie Harris, and Katherine Waterston lead this cast of an HBO miniseries about a curious little island that can only be reached by a road that appears in low tide. The Law is Sam, a father, and a husband who goes into the woods on a serious sentimental mission. There he finds a girl attempting suicide. His day ends at this little island where they are preparing for a music festival. However, all signs point to shenanigans afoot. Viewers won’t be able to shake the feeling that Sam should’ve gone home when he had a chance. Not the tide is in and the road is gone until morning. He meets Jess (Waterson) who is there for the festival too, but also well aware of the ancient, Celtic rituals that the island residents are so proud of. They come in Summer.

Winter is Helen, Naomie, is a mother of two biracial girls who come to the island on an outing. She booked the Air BnB, but now no one wants her and the girls in their place. Everyone is inhospitable and they really should leave. However, that means getting to the causeway before the tide comes in. Their stay on the island comes after Sam’s, after the festival. The vibrant, charming community is now ravaged, feral, and the site of a gory happening that may not be over.

TIFF showcased two episodes of the show that were definitely not enough. This eerie show has the feel of that old FOX series Wayward Pines. Nothing is as it seems, and a sinister power seems to be in control of things. These two visits prove that. What is going on and why are two things we must figure out when the show airs on HBO.

The Third Day premieres on HBO September 14, 2020.

Rating 4.5 of 5 

Holler

Ruth, played by Jessica Barden, is a girl living in the Rust Belt, in Ohio. Her mother is struggling with opioid addiction, and her brother is a high school dropout. Blaze (played by Gus Halper) is struggling to keep himself and his sister from being hungry and homeless.

The factory that is the only decent workaround has no room. Worse, Ruth gets accepted to college and needs to pay the bill. She and Blaze team up with a no-good scrapper to do nightly raids on construction sites of their precious metals. This illegal job is bringing some real cash and also some danger. Can Ruth get her money and get out safely?

The story is one by the director, Nicole Riegel. I can’t help but wonder why she made Ruth so ambivalent to all the people trying to help her. Blaze even says at one point “I am getting tired of being the only one sticking up for Ruth.” This hints at his annoyance with her ambivalence. I am not sure if it’s a survival mechanism or something more. I also had a tough time getting into this film because it triggered me a bit on a story from earlier this year. Ahmad Arbery was run down by two white men who saw him coming from a construction site. They accused him of doing what Ruth nonchalantly calls work. Ruth and a whole crew of white men and later a woman. The girl’s ambivalence comes off worse with this knowledge on my mind.

Holler is an interesting look at white America in the Rust Belt, their struggle. It drags a bit and is sometimes tedious. However, they do offer a message of struggle to get out of poverty that some may find intriguing.

Rating 3 of 5

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Being Alone, Andrew Bogut, and Apparently: ID 47024 @ 4 YRS., 45 LBS. OF ADORABLE, WAITING FOR YOU, AT THE BROOKLYN ACC Loveable Louie Super sweet affectionate, social & playful. Gentle with children, an exuberant friend in doggy playgroup. *** I'm still here! *** :-( LOUIE and his sister Princess were BACC Royalty! But Princess has been rescued without him, and now Louie not only misses his parent who died, but now his beloved sister too! Will you save his life? He never thought it would happen, but one day he awoke to find his world forever changed. His parent passed away, and then later at the shelter, his sister walked by his kennel on her way to her new life. She looked back longingly at him, tried to pull her new parent towards him, tried to say "but my brother, please!" To no avail. He cried, he whimpered in response, but it was the last he was ever to see of her. Louis has rolled with the punches because he is as sweet as sweet can be -- a total lovebug. He also tries to smile and make the best of his situation, and the best of his time with the volunteers he loves. But in the end, he is still alone, still waiting and dreaming of a home for the holidays and a new family. Can you make his dream come true? PRIVATE MESSAGE OUR PAGE or email us at [email protected] for assistance fostering or adopting sweeet, loveable Louie! A volunteer writes: "I just LOVE Louie (a.k.a. "Loveable Louie')! He's so sweet and affectionate that when I called him over, he walked right into my arms like he wanted to give me a big doggie hug. (Or maybe he wanted a hug from me....or maybe both!). A few times he jumped up to give me kisses too! His tail is constantly wagging and he often walks around with a big doggie smile on his face. Louie is a high-energy boy but also knows "sit" and "come", and was gentle with the children who visited in his previous home. Louie lived with other dogs, though he sometimes played a little rough with them. If you'd like to meet Lovable Louie, please come down to the Brooklyn ACC shelter, where he's patiently awaiting his forever home. A Staff Member Writes: “Princess and Louie are two very sweet and sociable pups from a 5 dog household. Their owner sadly passed away and the owner’s mother had been taking care of them for a while until she was no longer able to do so because of her own parent’s health issues.” Another Staff Member Notes: “Louie is a younger, very social guy who’s affectionate and playful but has displayed some anxiety during his stay at the Brooklyn Care Center so that’s something for his future family to keep in mind.” A volunteer notes: Louie is a very sweet and sociable pup from a 5 dog household. His owner sadly passed away and the owner’s mother had been taking care of him for a while until she was no longer able to do so because of her own parent’s health issues. MY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kARRUkuzDTA LOUIE, ID# 47024, @ 4 Yrs. Old, 45.8 lbs. Brooklyn ACC, Medium Mixed Breed, Brown / White, Male Owner Surrender Reason: Owner died Shelter Assessment Rating: Experienced Home Intake Behavior Rating: I came to the shelter with my sister Princess, ID 47023 (already rescued): https://www.facebook.com/…/a.112459638940…/866988150154123/… INTAKE NOTES, DATE OF INTAKE 11/11/2018: Upon intake, Louie was pulling very hard on the leash. He allowed to be collared and walked fine on the leash. OWNER SURRENDER NOTES - Basic Information: Louie is an approx 4 year old dog that was surrendered to BACC due to owner passing away. Louie has no medical issues or any injuries. Louie is very friendly around strangers. Louie has only had children visit the home but will be gentle with them . Louie has been around 5 other dogs and will play somewhat rough with them. Louie has never been around other cats so it is unclear how she will react. Louie is not bothered when someone touches his food, takes his treat away, or takes his toy away. Louie has no bite history. He is housetrained and has a high energy level. He has never had any medical issues. Other Notes: Louie will not be bothered when someone pulls him off the furniture or when he is held. Louie is also not bothered when someone gives him a bath, brushes his fur, trims/touches his foot, or when someone unfamiliar approaches the home or a family member. For a New Family to Know: Louie is described as friendly, affectionate and playful. When someone is home he will follow them around and has been kept mostly indoors. Louie has been fed dry food and is house-trained. He will use the bathroom on grass or cement. When left alone at home or in yard he is well behaved but needs to be tied up when left home alone. Louie knows how to sit and come. For exercise Louie will either go on brisk walks or play in the yard. Louie pulls very hard when on leash and he is off the leash he will wander but come when called. SHELTER ASSESSMENT - Date of assessment: 12-Nov-2018 Look: 1. Dog leans forward or jumps up to lick the Assessor's face with tail wagging, ears back and eyes averted. Sensitivity: 1. Dog leans into the Assessor, eyes soft or squinty, soft and loose body, open mouth. Tag: 1. Dog assumes play position and joins the game. Or dog indicates play with huffing, soft 'popping' of the body, etc. Dog might jump on Assessor once play begins. Paw squeeze 1: 1. Dog gently pulls back his/her paw. Paw squeeze 2: 1. Dog gently pulls back his/her paw. Toy: 1. Dog settles close, keeps a firm grip and is loose and wiggly. Dog does not place his/her body between you and the toy. Summary: Louie was highly anxious during his assessment, incessantly panting and vocalizing; he allowed all handling without issue and displayed social behavior towards handlers. PLAYGROUP NOTES – DOG TO DOG SUMMARIES: Louie's owner reported that he played roughly with the other dogs he lived with. 11/12: When off leash at the Care Center, Louie greets a novel female with a slightly tense posture, exchanges a brief muzzle sniff, then runs around the yard mostly ignoring the solicitations of the playful female. He begins a bit sexually motivated, attempts to mount but is easily re-directed. INTAKE BEHAVIOR - Date of intake: 11-Nov-2018. Summary: Allowed all handling ENERGY LEVEL: Louie is a young, enthusiastic, social dog who will need daily mental and physical activity to keep him engaged and exercised. We recommend long-lasting chews, food puzzles, and hide-and-seek games, in additional to physical exercise, to positively direct his energy and enthusiasm. BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION: EXPERIENCE (suitable for an adopter with some previous dog experience, especially with the behaviors outlined below) Potential challenges: Anxiety Potential challenges comments: Anxiety: Louie appears anxious at the care center, whining, panting, and barking during his assessment and during interactions. This behavior was not reported in his previous home so it is likely a result of the care center environment. If it does appear in a future home, we recommend puzzle toys, long walks, and giving him other things to focus on to alleviate his anxiety. Positive reinforcement, force-free training only should be used. MEDICAL EXAM NOTES 20-Nov-2018 Progress Exam. Progress exam-New CIRDC noted on rounds History: Intake 11/12-dental disease. 11/16-neutered, started on carprofen post op. Subjective: QAR. Noted to have vomited and has been coughing for 2 days per rounds board. Objective: EENT: no nasal d/c bilaterally, no ocular d/c ou. L: Eupneic, normal RR/RE but coughing. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, good haircoat. CNS: mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities. Assessment: CIRDC. 2 episodes of vomit. Plan: Start baytril 10mg/kg PO SID x14d until 12/4. Start doxycycline 10mg/kg PO SID x14d until 12/4. Start LRS 20ml/kg SQ SID x3d until 11/23. Start cerenia 1mg/kg SQ SID x3d until 11/23. Recheck at day 7. Move to iso Last day of carprofen for post op pain. Prognosis: Good 16-Nov-2018 Spay/Neuter Summary. Pre-surgical exam, anesthesia, and surgery performed by ASPCA. Green linear tattoo placed on ventral abdomen. 15-Nov-2018 Pre-Op Exam H: Pre-op exam, going to Glendale tomorrow S: BARH. No csvd. Eyes: Grossly appropriate OU. Ears: Unremarkable AU. Nasal Cavity: No nasal discharge. Lungs: Eupneic Abd: Soft, non-painful. No palpable masses. No organomegaly appreciated. U/G: male. No discharge. Musculoskeletal: Ambulatory x 4 with no appreciable lameness. BCS = 5/9, Integument: Otherwise unremarkable haircoat. Neuro: Appropriate mentation. Rectal: Not performed. Externally normal. Assessment: Apparently healthy. Plan: Ok for surgery. 12-Nov-2018 DVM Intake Exam. Estimated age: ~4yrs. Microchip noted on Intake? scanned negative. placed by lvt. History : Owner surrender; original owner is deceased . Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, allows all handling. Loose body with tail wagging. Evidence of Cruelty seen – none. Evidence of Trauma seen – none. Objective: BCS 5/9, EENT: Eyes clear, ears have mild brown debris, no nasal or ocular discharge noted. Oral Exam: dc 3/5; pd 2/5, PLN: No enlargements noted. H/L: No murmur ausculted; CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic, ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated. U/G: intact male. testicles smooth and symmetrical. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat. CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities. Rectal: externally normal. Assessment: dental disease. prognosis: excellent. Plan: ok for sx. recommend dental cleaning and routine daily dental care once placed. SURGERY: Okay for surgery *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** If you would like to adopt a NYC ACC dog, and can get to the shelter in person to complete the adoption process, you can contact the shelter directly. We have provided the Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan information below. Adoption hours at these facilities is Noon – 8:00 p.m. (6:30 on weekends) If you CANNOT get to the shelter in person and you want to FOSTER OR ADOPT a NYC ACC Dog, you can PRIVATE MESSAGE our Must Love Dogs page for assistance. PLEASE NOTE: You MUST live in NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Northern VA. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a NYC ACC dog. Transport is available if you live within the prescribed range of states. Shelter contact information: Phone number (212) 788-4000 Email [email protected] Shelter Addresses: Brooklyn Shelter: 2336 Linden Boulevard Brooklyn, NY 11208 Manhattan Shelter: 326 East 110 St. New York, NY 10029 Staten Island Shelter: 3139 Veterans Road West Staten Island, NY 10309

NBA commerce deadline: Six errors groups make when wheeling and dealing

There are a number of the way a trade-deadline deal can go horribly improper. That is the time of yr the place determined groups make dumb selections. Executives swing for the fences attempting to save lots of their jobs. Draft picks change palms in difficult, complicated, multi-team trades. With Thursday’s Three p.m. ET cutoff proper across the nook, listed below are six of the commonest errors groups make: 

The pricey, ill-fated rental

If you happen to run a group that’s underachieving, injury-plagued or theoretically a chunk away from successful a sequence/turning into a contender, it’s straightforward to persuade your self to sacrifice a future asset for some short-term assist. This may be disastrous, significantly in case your group shouldn’t be really able to make a playoff run. And it occurs on a regular basis. 

Final yr, the Washington Wizards gave up the first-round decide that turned Jarrett Allen to the Brooklyn Nets in change for a couple of months of Bojan Bogdanovic and a mulligan on their Andrew Nicholson signing. This was comprehensible on condition that their bench was so skinny, however bench manufacturing remained a weak point within the postseason and Bogdanovic signed with the Indiana Pacers in the summertime. Allen seems like a keeper for Brooklyn. 

One other latest instance: In 2016, the Los Angeles Clippers despatched a first-round decide to the Memphis Grizzlies with Lance Stephenson with the intention to purchase Jeff Inexperienced. Their Jeff Inexperienced expertise ended with a first-round loss, after which he signed with the Orlando Magic in free company. 

There are fascinating 2018 unrestricted free brokers obtainable now, together with DeAndre Jordan, Derrick Favors, Tyreke Evans, Dewayne Dedmon, Joe Harris and Avery Bradley. If you happen to’re going after a kind of guys, although, you have to be comfy with the danger you’re taking. 

Giving up on a younger participant too early

Damian Lillard lately met with Portland Path Blazers proprietor Paul Allen to debate the state of the franchise, and the star guard introduced up the 2015 commerce that despatched then-24-year-old wing Will Barton to the Denver Nuggets with the intention to hire veteran guard Arron Afflalo. The thought was to attempt to salvage the season as greatest as they might after swingman Wesley Matthews tore his Achilles, with star massive man LaMarcus Aldridge’s impending free company hanging over the group. Afflalo by no means fairly discovered his footing in Portland and left in the summertime, whereas Barton broke out in Denver.  

One other corollary of this sort of unhealthy deal is needlessly blocking a great, younger participant, and this Afflalo deal is an instance of that, too: Portland might have performed nothing and easily let CJ McCollum (and Barton) play extra minutes. 

Essentially the most egregious instance of giving up on a younger participant too early is when the Boston Celtics despatched a rookie Joe Johnson and a first-round decide to the Phoenix Suns for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk 16 years in the past. My favourite reality about this sort of commerce, although, is that Tobias Harris has been concerned in two of them — the Bucks dumped him to Orlando in 2013, and the Magic despatched him to Detroit for no actual cause three years later. 

It must be famous that there’s a flip aspect to this: You’ll be able to maintain on to a younger participant for too lengthy. Simply ask any Philadelphia 76ers fan about how the Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel conditions have been dealt with. 

Appeasing a star

The Aldridge state of affairs would not even come near the worst instance of attempting to please a veteran participant on the expense of the group’s long-term future. The 2012 Nets infamously traded a first-round decide to the Blazers for Gerald Wallace. Deron Williams was months away from free company and needed rapid assist, however that decide become Damian Lillard. 

(I thought of making a separate class for not closely defending first-round picks, which wound up haunting the Nets in that deal. It is usually how the Cavs wound up with Kyrie Irving — on the 2011 commerce deadline, they ate Baron Davis’ contract with the intention to purchase the Clippers’ first-round decide. That decide received the lottery.)

This, by the best way, is what Cleveland is afraid of now. If it sacrifices the Brooklyn decide with the intention to give LeBron James a greater likelihood of competing for a title this season, it may very well be costing itself the possibility so as to add somebody like Luka Doncic, Marvin Bagley or Trae Younger to the roster in June. There’s an argument for doing all the things doable to maintain James completely satisfied, however there’s not a deal on the market that can assure he re-signs. If he doesn’t re-sign, then the draw back could be very actual.

Not buying and selling a star

It has develop into a cliche to say that the most effective offers are typically those you do not make, however the reverse can also be true. Do you suppose Hawks normal supervisor Travis Schlenk would have appreciated the earlier entrance workplace to have acquired one thing for Al Horford or Paul Millsap earlier than they left city? Even when the commerce gives weren’t good, it’s mind-boggling 60-win group was damaged up with so little to point out for it. Certain, Atlanta acquired a first-rounder for Kyle Korver and Taurean Prince for Jeff Teague, however dang. 

This kind of miscalculation can apply to non-stars, too, and it is why you hear names like Marcus Good and Aaron Gordon popping up now. Even with restricted free brokers, in the event you do not suppose a brand new contract goes to be greatest for each side, you will need to discover the commerce market. Getting lower than honest worth is healthier than getting nothing in any respect.   

Overlooking chemistry

Keep in mind the 2013-14 Pacers? They traded Danny Granger to Philadelphia for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen on the commerce deadline, lower than three weeks after signing Andrew Bynum. The Bynum signing had rattled Roy Hibbert, and Turner wound up getting in a scuffle with Lance Stephenson when the group was making ready for a playoff sequence. A ebook might and must be written about that season; Indiana began out not solely dominating the East, however with a well-defined id and powerful chemistry. That every one fell aside, and so they one way or the other made it to the Japanese Convention finals anyway. 

Three years later, Paul George introduced up the Granger commerce for instance of the Pacers not doing proper by a participant who gave them all the things he had. George didn’t suppose it was honest to ship him to the tanking Sixers whereas he was attempting to get wholesome. 

That is a part of why the prospect of a Good commerce is so fascinating. Past the protection, playmaking and flexibility he brings to the desk, his teammates love his competitiveness. He’s a part of what makes the Celtics the Celtics. I’m wondering if buying and selling him for a draft decide would lead to Boston shedding a few of its edge.  

Undervaluing your individual participant

It’s uncommon normal supervisor publicly says he made a foul commerce a yr after making it, however the Suns’ Ryan McDonough did simply that with the deal that despatched Isaiah Thomas to the Boston Celtics on the loopy 2015 commerce deadline. Thomas needed an even bigger function, McDonough mentioned, however all Phoenix acquired in return was a Marcus Thornton rental and a first-round draft decide that hasn’t conveyed but. Thomas, after all, turned an All-Star in Boston, and Phoenix — a group that had Thomas, Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe on the roster at first of that yr — continues to be looking for a solution on the level guard place.

Is there a Thomas-like participant on the commerce block now? It is onerous to say, however it can be crucial for groups to correctly venture the event of fellows they see on daily basis. What do the Magic suppose Gordon may be in a couple of years? Do the Nets imagine Spencer Dinwiddie can construct on his breakout season? As a lot because the Lakers crave cap area, are they certain they should not make Julius Randle part of their core? These will not be straightforward inquiries to reply. 

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30 Days of Character Development

I did this once before for two of the brigade, but I want to do this again. I dunno why though. However, this time I’m gonna do it for 5 people from Lumis AU. I’m doing days 1 and 2 today, and the characters are the 5 girls that make up the Tonettes: 

Melanie Cosma Stellato (Canary/Ms Canary) aka Songbird, The Cosmic Songbird, Mel

Lorena Casey Stellato/Reinhardt (Cherry/Ms Cherry) aka Medusa, Lory, Lolo

Mazella Ashley Liore (Emerald/Ms Emerald) aka Zelly, Mazel

Mariani Justine Avesta (Plum/Ms Plum) aka The Lilac Jester

Liliane Alisha Richter (Sapphire/Ms Sapphire) aka Lily, Water Lily, Precious

(Under a cut for length)

Day 1.) Describe your character’s relationship with their mother or their father, or both. Was it good? Bad? Were they spoiled rotten, ignored? Do they still get along now, or no?

Lily:       She is the only child of Ambros and Lisa Richter and perhaps it shows. Her relationship with her parents is fantastic. There isn’t much that she keeps from her parents and sometimes even that is just out of her own forgetfulness. I would not say that she is spoiled rotten, however, she was never without an abundance of love and affection from her parents. 

     She loves watching her parents being so in love with each other. So sometimes she gives them time alone so they can have little dates or similar things without much thought. Lily knows that no matter what her parents will always love her, and she will always love them. 

Lory:       If we’re talking about Vincent and Nadia Stellato? It’s hard to say if she ever really had I good relationship with them. She wasn’t spoiled nor was she ignored all the time. Except at the events they planned and held, or if she had done something Vincent did not approve. Lorena, herself, would often say, she was raised like they felt an heir should be raised. She was groomed to a knowledgeable and efficient businesswoman.

       Being shown affection or being nurtured was not in the lesson plans of the cold and calculating “Iceman”, or the dangerous beauty “Buttercup”. No, they wanted their daughter to be cold and hard woman, focused on doing what was needed for the Stellato family to grow once more, to make their “Medusa” a force to be reckoned with when the time came. Lory is glad she does not have to deal with those two anymore, and is over the hurt that them disowning her caused. 

        The Reinhardts however? Emil and his wife? Sometimes the way they spoil her is overwhelming, but she does not take it for granted. She’s certain she’ll get used to it in time, and is thankful that they are so accepting of her. She won’t admit this out loud yet but sometimes when she is alone with her thoughts she wonders what it would have been like if they had been the ones to raise her from the start. 

Mariani:        Mariani’s memories of her father isn’t the best or the clearest. He had ‘disappeared’ when she was younger. Left her and her mother to try and make a big name for himself in the movie scene. She didn’t understand for quite some time what her mother had meant by he had disappeared, as her mother nearly refused to talk about him. Still, her mother made sure she was loved and cared for she so she never tried to question it too much. 

At least not until the news of her father’s passing had reached them. An accident on the movie set, and some would say that it was the curse of the Avesta family striking again. That is what prompted her mother to tell her the truth and about the so called curse, along with the fact that at the time Mariani was starting to be interested in magicians and illusions. 

She knows her mother worries about her and her choice to perform. However, now Mariani is the one to make sure her mother feels loved and appreciated. As well as reassure her that she won’t be like her father. 

Mazella:          With as jovial parents as Ashton and Emily she hardly ever had sad days in her childhood. Even when her father was away from home on his travels? Whenever he returned it was hardly like he ever left. Her father was the one to start her on the path to collecting playing cards. While her mother is where she get more of her mannerisms from. 

          They were the type of parents who always wanted to make sure that she knew that they loved her. Sometimes it was little gifts, and sometimes it was special treats. Just little surprises for her just in case they forgot to mention just how much they loved her. Nowadays Mazella is more independent from them, but she still can’t help but do things herself to make sure they know she still loves them dearly.  

Melanie:         Her experience as a Stellato child was different from her cousins as her father, Andrew, is a cousin of the main family himself, falling between main sons Vincent and Marlon in age. Still, that didn’t mean she was necessarily free to do whatever she wanted. Her mother Lucia was best friends with Ruba’s mother back in the day and both considered themselves to be glamour girls. And she tried to bring Melanie into that way of life but was often met with resistance. 

However, that still affected her personality to dream big and at times be show-offish. Her father, would try to remind her that she would need to someday contribute something practical to the family. Not that he didn’t enjoy his little Songbird’s singing and aptitude for music, however, neither he or his wife felt it was what a Stellato should be doing. Still she loves her parents, despite the limitations they try to put on her and her music inspired dreams. At least they weren’t like Lory’s parents, Melanie would not have been able to stand being so caged and conditioned like that.

Day 2.) What are your characters most prominent physical features?

Lily:     Like her mother it is probably her striking blue eyes. However, also for Lily it would be her height as she is shorter than most other girls her age (and also shorter than her mother). Not that she tends to mind her height unless she can’t reach something and there is no one to help her 

Lory:       For her it used to be her stony expression, in addition to the dyed tips of her hair. Now perhaps it is just her golden eyes and her hair.

Mariani:        Her different colored eyes, for some it seems more subtle, for others they notice something is off right way. 

Mazella:         Her long, deep green/teal dyed hair. She’s had it that color for so long people forget that her natural hair color is black.

Melanie:         Like her cousin she dyes the tips of her hair, besides that she has a brilliantly white smile.