#and like yeah it’d be about her separation from ten but frankly i’d do a whole arc on her complex pete feelings | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

svprncva · 3 years

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𝙿𝙻𝙰𝚈𝙴𝚁

𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴: Alex 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙽𝙾𝚄𝙽𝚂: She/Her 𝙰𝙶𝙴: 26 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴𝚉𝙾𝙽𝙴: CDT (GMT-5) 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁𝚂: None

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁

𝙽𝙰𝙼𝙴: Sirius Black 𝙰𝙶𝙴: 21 𝙱𝙻𝙾𝙾𝙳 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚂: Pureblood ( begrudgingly ) 𝙳𝙴𝚂𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙵𝙰𝙲𝙴 𝙲𝙻𝙰𝙸𝙼: Samuel Larsen, Jordan Rodrigues, Sebastian de Souza 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚁 𝙿𝙰𝚃𝙷 & 𝙲𝚄𝚁𝚁𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚃𝙸𝚃𝙻𝙴: Sirius Black in a position of authority, can you believe it? He certainly couldn’t, not when the Cannons first approached him about accepting a coaching position. Sure, he had a brief stint as a beater on Gryffindor’s team, but a poor practice attendance record and a penchant for less-than-textbook sportsmanship on the pitch ensured that he didn’t last a season beyond his fourth year. He was by no means an authority on technique or strategy when the job was handed to him, though judging by the Cannons’s previous season, no one on the team seemed to have a grasp on such matters. Vastly under-qualified, Sirius accepted the position as assistant coach and started the next week. After a single day on the pitch, he realized why they had come to him. They didn’t need another mastermind, they needed unity, and Sirius’s reputation for rallying the dead preceded him. If anyone could spark a flame from a dying ember, it’s Sirius Black. And if they need a morale booster to masquerade as a coach, he’s more than happy to wear orange. 𝚀𝚄𝙸𝙳𝙳𝙸𝚃𝙲𝙷 𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙴𝙶𝙸𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴: Chudley Cannons 𝚆𝙰𝚁 𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙴𝙶𝙸𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴: Order of the Phoenix 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙰𝚁𝙲: There are a thousand ways to sugar coat it, but quite frankly, life isn’t easy for Sirius at the moment. He’s always been cursed to be trapped between who he was and who he aspires to be, but since graduating from Hogwarts, each year has come with apathetic standardization of the world. Gone are the days where black was black and white was white. Now gray surrounds him, dogs his every step and haunts his dreams. See, when he was younger, his moral compass was perfectly aligned. No, he wasn’t a saint, but it was easy enough to look around and figure out what he should be doing, thinking, saying. Anything that angered his family and made his friends grin was bound to be a step in the right direction, another leap towards becoming the man he always felt he could be. Redundancy solidified certain behaviors, but after he stepped foot off the Hogwarts Express for the final time, he was forced to realize that a life can’t be dictated by the reactions of other people, try as he may. Graduation meant it was time to carve out a place for himself in the world -- this time without real-time feedback from professors, friends, enemies. Sirius had the rest of his life to establish, and the freedom of choice began to take its toll after a year or two of liberties. Never did Sirius expect freedom to be his downfall, but as drunken nights gave way to midday sunrises, he could feel himself sinking into the guilt of the stagnant. He’d spent the entirety of his teenage years in the pursuit of becoming a good man, and he spent the first few years of his adult life believing he had somehow achieved that goal. But the empty whiskey bottles and crumpled bed sheets read otherwise, and someone was wise enough to tell him that not everyone that happened to join the Order was inherently good. It jarred him, that conversation. War beckons good men to conduct bad deeds -- and at the end, when the victor has been declared, who is to say that the guilt of those deeds won’t outweigh their intent? Extrinsic guidance ripped away, Sirius was forced to begin the arduous process of making his own mistakes, learning the weight of regret, the sleeplessness of second thoughts. It motivated him initially, but a lack of experience brought about failure. He applied to be an Auror and was promptly rejected. He worked at the Leaky for a fortnight before throwing in the literal towel; the regulars came with more baggage than there was room. He even tried to work as an auto mechanic in Muggle London only to quit after being told on the daily to fabricate problems for income. The entire world was open to him, but he has yet to find a place within it. So when the Cannons offered him a coaching position, no matter how utterly absurd, Sirius accepted. He’d been recruited, told that there was a chance he could bring value to a team. He would never let it show, but he’s desperate to feel that sense of belonging he felt five years ago in the Common Room without a care in the world except for how to sneak in his next pack of smokes. After giving up his family and feeling friendships weaken amongst the war effort, he needs someplace -- someone -- to call home. And little does he know just how vulnerable that need makes him to the influence of the Insidio phenomenon. He’s staunchly against the mission of the Death Eaters, but he’s in search of open arms and with a high enough dose, he just may find them on the wrong side of the war.

𝙸𝙽 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙰𝙲𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆:

“'ELLO, HOWDY, HI - CAN I SPEAK TO YOU FOR A MOMENT? I JUST NEED A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME, HI, HELLO - HEY, I’M WITH THE QUIBBLER, YEAH! WOULD– GEEZ, WOULD YOU LIKE TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS! IT’S FOR THE SPORTS COLUMN, ON PAGE 17, YOU CAN’T MISS IT!”

Sirius laughed as the overeager reporter stumbled up to him, seemingly tripping over invisible shoelaces. “The Quibbler, yeah? You’ve got about as good a reputation as my team,” he said. There was no need to elaborate on which team. His jumper was that awful shade of Cannon Orange, a brand unto itself. “Happy to give you a bit of content, though I fully expect to be front and center on the cover.” A quick smile, effortless if a bit tired. The Cannons had been grappling for pitch space recently, and that meant everyone’s schedule had to be... flexible, to say the least. He’d seen more sunrises than sunsets this week.

The reported nodded and brushed off the lapels of his coat. For as much a mess as he appeared, Sirius should have expected the upcoming boom of another innocent-yet-abrasively-delivered question. Should have. Instead, his brows shot towards his hairline as a stranger shouted at him from point-black distance. “HOW COME YA ALWAYS HANGING AROUND HERE?! DO YA WORK HERE OR SOMETHIN’?”

“Something like that. The Cannons keep putting galleons in my vault at the very least,” he answered, consciously keeping his tone level. It’d always been easy for Sirius to become swept up in the tides of other people, especially those with louder personalities. If he weren’t careful (or exhausted), the interview would devolve from interrogation to screaming match. “Sirius Black, assistant coach of the Chudley Cannons. If you need a snazzy byline, feel free to call me Quidditch’s Savior.”

The reporter softened a bit and almost looked as if he were going to laugh. But then his quill touched parchment, his brow furrowed, and a second later another question errupted from his lips. “WHAT’S YOUR GOAL, THEN?! WHAT’RE YOU TRYIN’ TO DO? WHAT’S YOUR DYIN’ DREAM, PAL? WHAT’S THE POINT OF IT ALL?”

"Getting awfully philosophic for a sports column, aren’t we?” Again, Sirius’s voice was light, but something within him had seized upon hearing the question. What’s the point of it all? He’d asked himself that nearly every night for the past year, and he wasn’t any closer to finding an answer now than he was then.

Quidditch wasn’t that deep, no need to go scurrying about the shadows. He’d keep things light. It was his job, after all. “I’m rebuilding the best team Quidditch has ever seen. Everyone’s counted the Cannons out for the season, and it hasn’t even started yet. I can’t wait for the first game when you all see what I’ve been seeing out on the pitch during practice. This year’s team has spirit to match skill, and we’ll be taking the cup this season.” A quick flutter of something like hope erupted within him. It was a fool’s hope, he knew that, everyone knew that, but it felt good to drown doubt with conviction. “That’s a promise, by the way.”

Another flurry of the quill, another shifting of the reporter’s weight as if the world was forcing him off balance. Sirius slipped his fingers into his jeans and found himself rocking back onto his heels. He was about to walk away when the next question hit him like a bludger from a blindspot. “YA GOT ANYONE YOU’RE GOIN’ HOME TO? YOU HAPPY? YOU TAKEN? THEY FAMOUS? WHAT, A GUY CAN’T ASK A QUESTION?!”

Blind-sighted but laughing, Sirius clapped a hand against the reporter’s shoulder. “I’m not sure if you’re trying to start up a gossip column on the side or if you’re making an offer. Either way, color me flattered. But the answer depends on the night, and considering we’re on the record, I’d rather avoid giving you a straight answer.” He winked and let his hand fall back to his side.

Across the field, a separate voice thundered: “Coach Black! Practice started ten minutes ago!”

“That’s my cue,” Sirius said. “You know where to find me if you have any follow up questions, don’t be a stranger.” As Sirius walked away from the interview, the question unanswered nagged him: You happy? He swallowed it and stepped into the locker room. Maybe it was a good day to grab a broom and join his players on the pitch.

𝙼𝙸𝚂𝙲𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙴𝙾𝚄𝚂:

PLAYLIST

MOCK BLOG

AESTHETIC

BAD HABITS

GOOD HABITS

EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE

(LINKS TO COME AFTER ACCEPTANCES)

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seyaryminamoto · 4 years

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In your opinion, what do you think is the predominant love language of Sokka and Azula? And how would they express it to each other? :)

I really don’t know much about this whole classification of love languages, if you want me to be honest xD a quick wikipedia search says it’s basically a way to break down and categorize different displays of love? And there’s five of them, apparently? I have to say frankly that, as I write them, Sokka and Azula basically do everything in that list of five languages:

Words of affirmation: one of my main must-haves in virtually any Sokkla setting, where Azula is either not redeemed or halfway there, is Sokka telling Azula she’s not a monster. As you may have noticed, that particular thing bugs Azula fans a lot, and we really wish someone would tell her she isn’t one :’D thus, one of Gladiator’s most emotional scenes in Part 1 is Azula’s mild breakdown in Ember Island where Sokka reasons with Azula’s belief of being a monster and tells her that she’s about as human as can be, and the darkness inside her isn’t anything that makes her fundamentally worse than anyone else. There’s so many scenes I could point to that feature words of affirmation they say to each other, or that they say to other people about each other *cough* look forward to chapter 187 *cough*, some of my favorites from Azula to Sokka was her reasoning for wanting to celebrate his birthday (” I've wanted to celebrate your birthday because I'm quite grateful that you were born”), as well as her later affirmation that she loves him for who he is: (”I can say, truthfully… that I love that you're a non-bender. I know it might seem strange, but… I wouldn't change anything about you"). This is without going into the ten thousand times they’ve said they love each other :’D virtually all their conversations in Part 2 end up featuring words of affirmation of one sort or another, from either of them, no matter how often they may tease each other. So... this one is pretty predominant, I suppose?

Quality time: and see, this one happens to be Gladiator Part 2 in a nutshell. Whenever they have any time to spare (well, when Azula does, in particular), their immediate idea is to spend that free time together, in whatever capacity is possible. Outside of free time, they also work together as sponsor and gladiator, so they have their training sessions, Sokka’s fights, the events in the League... Sokka also helps her out with anything she may need (for instance, he took up a job as swordmanship teacher for the Enforcers to give Azula a hand, which still means they get to spend a bit of time together, even if she’s really busy with her new undertakings), so in the end, they spend most their time together, and they’d spend even more of it if they could. They only separate whenever they have no official justification for spending time together, such as when Sokka was still recovering from the Jeong Jeong incident, and even then they were desperate to return to each other ASAP. So... yeah, I think it’s safe to say, Gladiator-wise, they dedicate all the time they can to each other. And, as far as I’m concerned, other stories and settings could even have them spending more time together than they do in Gladiator, since there’s no Ozai breathing down their necks and threatening to kill Sokka if he finds out he’s his daughter’s secret lover. Therefore... quality time is also guaranteed.

Giving gifts: This one might be the less obvious one with Sokka and Azula, because Azula’s initial generosity (in Gladiator) answered some very specific needs: she ensured he was well fed, clothed, trained, bought him a house, found a maid for him... basically, she gave him a thousand things, but it wasn’t because she was showing she loves him, it was because she knew such things would be necessary for Sokka to offer a decent performance as a gladiator. Now then, after their initial hurdles are out of the way and their relationship has progressed, Sokka gives Azula occasional gifts but constantly struggles to come up with something she’ll genuinely cherish. He made Xin Long’s armor, he brought her flowers, he tried to cook for her, he gave her a tiny hot-air balloon, and crafted a betrothal necklace for her... he also wrote poetry, and he’ll try his hand at another artistic venture with Azula very soon. But this stuff is pretty sparse, even if Azula appreciates it a lot whenever it happens. As for Azula, she will give Sokka some pretty nice gifts very soon, just as she continues to provide for all his needs. In recent times, the gifts she’s been willing to give Sokka have been mostly non-physical ones, such as the thumbs-up she gives his crowd in his stead, once they’re leaving the Royal Dome on the day he wins against the Mad Alchemist, or ordering her Barge back into Whaletail Island’s port so Sokka could meet Katara... it’s stuff that means a lot to him, more than any physical gifts might (this, paired with the fact that Azula had offered to bring him home whenever he wished to go, without forcing him to stick to their original deal). So, maybe the gift-giving isn’t quite the classic sense of it, but it still happens in its own way. In general, I think it’s difficult for Sokka to give gifts to a Princess who basically can have it all... so that’s why he generally tries the DIY route with gifts, and so far it has paid off wonderfully because she genuinely loves everything he crafts for her. I think in most settings it’d have to be this way, and depending on Azula’s situation, she can either give him anything he wishes for or maybe resort to small but heartfelt gifts and gestures that mean a lot to the two of them.

Acts of service: this one may even tie slightly with the previous one, but frankly, as far as acts of service are concerned, these two take it the extra mile. Sokka didn’t always fight as her gladiator out of his own convictions, he started off doing it because of their deal... but as time goes by, he genuinely cherishes his role in her life and he would fight anyone for Azula’s sake, if need be. It’s, of course, a mutual thing because Azula will protect Sokka against anything, even her own father, no matter the cost. Hence, their relationship dynamics and battle couple behavior can be interpreted as acts of service for each other. Sokka, like I said before, has tried to cook for Azula too, which is a more classic act of service, as far as I can tell, and she appreciates his efforts even if not his results just yet xD in future chapters Sokka goes out of his way (in two different instances) to get lychee wine for Azula because he knows that’s the only licquor she likes, and every time he does that her heart grows twenty sizes. He also cared for her while she was sick, and she often does the same when he’s wounded, such as how she cared for him in Jeong Jeong’s arc. Sokka also tries to help her have good relations with people such as Captain Zhen, by agreeing to teach swordsmanship to his son because he hoped that would help Azula. Everything Azula did in the current Whaletail Island arc counts as well as an act of service: she’s privileging Sokka’s needs and his bond with his family well above her own needs, to the point of preparing herself to face that he might choose to stay with Katara - and she’s determined to respect his decision, if he were to make it. So, I’d say this one ranks really high, perhaps more than everything else?

Physical touch: ... but this one’s obviously a big deal too considering how damn difficult it is for them to keep their hands off each other at any given moment xD from something as innocent as walking through the Capital’s tunnels holding hands, hence, fulfilling Sokka’s wish for them to “walk through the city while holding hands”, to their very frequent intimate encounters, once these two are together they’re as good as magnets, constantly seeking contact with each other. Sokka has always struck me as a highly affectionate person once he’s with someone he genuinely loves, and so he pours that affection on Azula constantly, to the point where, in the early days of their relationship, she could barely keep up with it all. Physical touch doesn’t come quite as easily to Azula as it does to him, as she has never been someone who receives a lot of physical affection, but her attraction to Sokka has made it so she craves for him physically and on every possible level she can... therefore, despite she’s been awkward when other people show her any physical affection (often pushes Ty Lee off when Ty Lee hugs her, or remains unresponsive, barely responds to Toph’s hugs and stood limp and awkwardly the first time she did it, nearly flipped out when Ozai reached for her hand in the temple that one time, and most recently was left drawing blanks when Zuko hugged her....), she’s at ease when it’s with Sokka, so much that she welcomes his touch and everything about physical contact with him, altogether.

In short... I seriously think they do it all? You could, perhaps, rank the languages depending on which one is more predominant, to a fault xD but there’s genuinely no love language they outright don’t do, at least in Gladiator (and honestly, I doubt they don’t use all love languages in my other stories). But I guess, if you really want me to rank them...

Acts of service

Physical touch - Words of affirmation

Quality time

Gift-giving

Sorry, I really think Physical touch and Words of affirmation are virtually tied together in the story, both things tend to happen at the same time, and I really can’t bring myself to rank either thing higher, so it’s a draw. Quality time falls to #3 because they can sacrifice being together sometimes, as much as they hate doing it, but they can survive while being apart (despite Sokka would likely argue with me and say he absolutely can’t, but you know, ignore him (?)). Gift-giving, while very heartfelt and cute when it happens, is sparse, like I said... so it can stay in the last place, despite it’s still part of what they do for each other.

Is this comprehensive enough? :’D I sure hope so...

(if anyone needs me to hide this under a read more, let me know... got longer than I thought it would, woops)

#anon #... ended up being a very gladiator-oriented answer so #gladiator #sokkla #love languages is such a strange new concept to me #it's not the first time I hear it #but frankly Sokkla do it all #if that's not how it's supposed to work well #I'm sorry the love between my OTP is as OP as it is (?)#but that's how it works (?)

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dobriking · 5 years

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Bend Into A Break (2)

Summary: Not one, but two vlog-squads came with the death of Vine. And the rumored beef between you two is absolutely true! So, you and David (begrudgingly) set up a month long-retreat among your groups to film team challenges and go against each other. Y’know. For views. Pairing: David Dobrik x Reader, Enemies to Lovers, living together. Warnings: Profanity, Arguing

1 | 2 | 3

“Sorry, what?” Heath’s the first before the outbreak.

With your hands hooked together in front of your stomach, you take in a breath but don’t find the courage to let anything out. He’s not mean — certainly not to you at least — but his voice is so harsh about it. You look to David thinking he’d have something to say to tame Heath but he looks back at you. He’s not smiling snobbishly or anything. He’s keeping the baton passed to you.

And inside his head, there’s nothing malicious about it. He admits despite what he knows about this whole thing that it’s best if you explain it.

“We — me and David uh…” one last look and this time he encourages you with a nod. Your two groups, sitting as scrunched together as can be on David’s living room couch, bond with looks over how peculiar this is. “We decided that…it would be really good in terms of content and material means to—“

He drops the supportive look and rolls his eyes, stepping up to shout (quite coolly), “We’re going to be living and fighting with each other for a little bit. No big deal.”

In a moment of worry none of David’s group has ever seen, your Cody breaks the silence with a strained, “What?”

And then hell breaks loose.

“I-I think,” Drew looks around, “I think this is a joke…or-or something…”

Cody crosses his arms. “Definitely not funny.”

“Cause I am definitely not living with him.” Zane snorts almost, pointing to Cody without sparing a look.

You smile, balls of your cheeks as high as you can raise them. “Well good! Cause you are!” David chokes on his laughter and that provokes everybody even more.

Heath jumps from his spot, betrayed and pointing to David with both hands. “You’re in on this?!”

Noel squeezes himself deeper into the armrest. “No shit he’s apart of this.”

Heath stops, looking to David (who gives him nothing) then Zane. He claps, stomps, and shouts, “The fuck you just say to me!?” He finds the amusement at how fast all of this blew up on Cody’s face too condescending, and Cody claps his hands to his knees while looking at Heath with a mocking glare.

"He said no shit he's apart of this, dumbass!"

Standing, Heath begins to yell at Cody and Noel. Poor Drew is stuck in the middle of it, as quiet as Scott, Corinna, Amanda, Toddy — everybody that isn’t Zane, Heath, Cody, and Noel. Zane even stretches over Drew to yell in Noel’s face, clapping periodically when his voice gets its highest.

David jumps seeing how far back your eyes roll into your head. He just about thinks he’s kickstarted a seizure — so he goes “HEY!” and shuts everybody up.

“Guys, stop. Look, me and Y/n agreed to this together, okay? So if everybody would just sit down…?” His hands fan down. Heath is wary but he does. Cody, however, can’t help but stick his tongue out at him like a child, squishing his eyes nearly shut. The only thing that keeps Heath seated is you and your piercing eyes.

David holds his hands to present you. “Y-you wanna…?” He stutters.

You step forward but resist looking at anybody. You only look to various points in the room that could classify as ‘staring into space,’ mostly to avoid catching an irritating set of eyes that discourages you.

“So…” you start. David nods. It’s a bit of a push to get you to continue, “everybody on this website knows we hate each other. Okay well not really. We know we hate each other, the fans think this is just a fun little rivalry. If we do this they’re going to go absolutely crazy—“

Corinna raises her hand. You’d say she’s a sweetheart as she’s never been too harsh with you but you can’t shake the feeling that she’s judging you whenever she looks your way. You point and she puts her arm down, crossing them and leaning back against the wall (Toddy by her side). “We don’t even know what this is. So can you like—“

“Yeah, can you guys explain it?” Toddy interrupts.

Corinna scoffs and distances herself a little bit.

Shame to say not everybody is in this room. Only the “OG” group is present. And OG in itself is a tricky thing. You’d say the people present are the most beloved of your two groups, the ones in your vlogs most consistently, and the ones that have been around the longest. It’s even more of a shame to say that Tom isn’t here because the damn Brit is off being British in Britain. Your group is outnumbered. Even though Gabbie isn’t here, the addition of Natalie still puts you at odds.

You sigh, knowing to deal with it later. “The idea is that our two groups battle each other over the course of a month."

“Oh.” Cody pipes. “Yeah, I’d be willing to beat up this guy.” A thumb points over to Heath.

“Oh screw you.”

“No,” you pinch your nose, “not that kind of fight. Fun fights like volleyball. Or dodgeball or hell I don’t know, tennis maybe — shit you’d do on Field Day in elementary school. It’d be great for all of our channels, good for merch, good for sales cause I know that’s all some of you care about.” Noel just has to gasp out loud at the diss you whispered. “TLDR; we host a team-event with goals and prizes and take over Youtube, basically.”

They all hum.

Chloe’s in thought squinting at the ceiling. Emily is in a similar state but comes to her conclusion earlier. “So wait we’re like…the Jake Paulers and Logang…ers, now?”

You blink. “No.” But technically, “Wait, maybe. Never-mind that!”

“Wait wait wait,” Heath holds up a finger. “You said we were going to be living together.” That finger points to David.

"That's like the Team Ten house!" In comes the overlapping chatter.

You smile. “Yes. That’s cause it was David’s idea that we do. So!” You pull an expandable metal pointer from your sleeve (to the surprise of many) and David steps to the side, revealing his television. He glares softly for calling him out but the transition was so quick there’s no chance for retaliation. Natalie (thankfully yet to be caught in the crossfire) starts up the same presentation you showed him. Though you took in the time to add some of his ideas.

“I got in touch with my agent and found two possible places we could all pack up and yes, live in together!”

A shared groan. The boys on the couch begin flailing about like grumpy babies without enough space.

David jumps with the picture that pulls up. He does a double take, one at the screen and the other at you. He’ll never not admit you work your ass off, that’s for sure.

“The first option is the Ella Rose Estate, second is the Houdini Mansion.”

As the soft name may suggest, the Ella Rose is beautiful. It's painted white with a dark grey, almost black rooftop (for contrast) and despite vines and moss eating up most of the front side, the pop of color is what adds to the beauty. Only $1,500 a night although that might change with twenty fucking people, but it has a medium sized pool in the back and a more contemporary to modern aesthetic. Its size will certainly be a hassle getting around in with so many people but maybe that’s a good thing.

As for the Houdini…you flip to the pictures of that (also white on the outside with dark roofing) and the whole room jumps. Cody buries the side of his body deeper into the couch, and Zane looks back to see if his group is seeing what he is.

David jumps as well. Quite the change indeed.

It’s a Victorian-esk mansion on the outside, beautiful and pristine, but the inside (while kept up) is dark with everything made of stainless, shining cherry wood, and decorations which also point toward the Victorian aesthetic.

“David! You tryna put us in a horror movie?” Zane shouts.

“We’re already in one,” you mutter.

Natalie keeps flipping through and everybody is very audible with their chills. The house is beautiful (as Erin and Carly note, lips pressed tight but impressed with the pictures you’ve picked) but everything without the lights is so damn dark.

Beautiful, but dark.

However, it is very spacious. The dining room (depending on how you space the chairs) could hold 10 people on a side. And for the bedrooms you explain, “Houdini Mansion actually used to be an orphanage—“

“Nuh-uh!” Zane jumps and pulls his legs under him. “Don’t even try to tell me that place isn’t haunted!”

You grin. “Actually tourists report—“

“HELL NAH!”

“Yeah no."

“Noooo no no no no!”

People actually have the audacity to start leaving the room!

You drop your hands to your side, speechless frankly. When you were in school and your teachers started boasting about how immature you were being you always thought they were being overdramatic. This is the equivalent of students leaving three minutes before the bell. If they would just sit and listen they’d know where you were going with this. There's a pang in your chest for all the teachers you underestimated.

Because here you are with a bunch of actual children.

David doesn’t pay attention to the escaping flock. He looks at the presentation carefully. It’s on a photo of the entrance room. The composition isn't centered but straight ahead there’s the staircase (one of two he assumes), to the right is the kitchen separated with a glass door, and past the stairs is a horizontal hallway and another room he can see. He never-minds the fear of any extra cost you’ll have to pay in damages, and with a giggle and his tongue poking out of his mouth he goes, “I’m in. I choose this one.”

Somewhere in everybody’s collective mind, a record-scratch can be heard. People look over their shoulders for him to repeat, “I've decided. We’re going.”

Chloe chokes. “You can’t make us go.”

David ‘pouts’ and you do too. It’s not even on cue but the way your heads tilt inward and your arms go limp by your sides is so coincidental it's frightening.

You grimace. “Oh, but I can.”

David clicks his tongue and sighs. “Guess it’ll just be Y/n and me.”

“For a month getaway.”

“I mean — I guess it's fine since we’re the only two that’ll have a share of the money, I dunno—“

“FINE!” Heath steps forward, and so does Zane. You find it strange how Cody and Noel only step forward when they do. They return to their spots on the couch but this time poor Drew has some air to breathe now that he’s decided it’s best to stand up.

“Yes,” Cody seethes, rubbing his eye, “Y/n…continue.”

You nod at Natalie and she goes to the next slide.

“David’s crew will be red, mine will be blue. Which means for a month the only color any of us will be wearing is our team’s.” Enya (Always looking damn good in red) grunts into her first and slaps her chair’s arm. You look solemnly at her but shrug it off knowing full well that girl can pull off blue.

Carly raises her hand. “Okay wait. What don’t you classify as ‘colors?’”

David picks at his lips and mumbles “Black, silver.”

You shrug, “White. Also, you could get away with wearing black the whole time if you dye your hair.” It’s true. She feels at some tuffs between her fingers, getting along with this idea.

“Me and David would come up with challenges and things that can be won from those challenges. David will keep uploading Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I’ll keep uploading on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. And each day we will post a challenge spliced in with other shenanigans.” You look at him and keep eye contact. “And David and I can figure out what we’ll do on Sunday cause we agreed that we want a steady stream of content so whatever it is will probably be small or just between us like a uh…?”

“Q&A?” Cody suggests.

Bless Cody and his words which break your eye contact with David. “Uh yeah. That’s actually a good idea. We’ve also agreed it’s only fitting that David's his team’s leader and I’m my team’s leader—“

Corinna raises her hand, “What do you have in mind for merch?” but doesn’t wait for you to acknowledge before she lowers it.

“Well I haven’t gotten to—nevermind, we’ll get to that. Typical shirts, those like short-short 70s shorts, leg-warmers, headbands and uh…?”

“Bandanas,” David pipes up. He picks at the corner of his eyes. “Socks, backpacks, water bottles and stuff.”

“And how do we figure out where we’ll be staying?” Chloe asks.

You keep your lips shut.

David’s unsure if he should continue or not. But when his extended groan fails to jolt you out of your stasis, he steps forward and lazily gestures the presentation behind him. Natalie flips through it sporadically to match up with what he’s saying. You’re just shocked they’ve all become so accepting.

“Well Y/n said she’s already planned a photoshoot. So like, of individual teams, teams together, individual members, members together. And like members would be paired based on their stereotype or something?” He looks for assurance and you nod. “So Amanda and Toddy — you two would be paired I guess. Uh…Heath and Cody, Chloe and Carly, Erin and Emily — ha, that’s ironic. Right?” He nudges you. He’s actually concerned at this point. You look so flustered and he’s chewing on his cheek leaning forward to get a look at you. Thankfully you snap out of it before he looks like a creep.

“Uh yeah. Yeah yeah, that sounds right,” you say.

“Okay wait,” Zane purses his lips. “What kind of photoshoot?”

“We didn’t steal your 200th video idea if that’s what you’re asking.”

He sits back with nothing to say.

“Are we allowed to leave?”

You nod. “You can go do whatever you want in your free time.”

David sniffles. “We might leave to do some stuff too.”

You click your tongue and bask in the silence. But then it gets too awkward for your liking so you clap your hands together and open your arms to any more questions (physically and figuratively). But there are none. Matt perks up but deflates immediately, and the same for the others as they find questions but come to their own conclusions.

“So…” you clap, “sound good?”

The image of you and David standing almost as one, as leaders and together for once submits everybody else into something of children looking up to their apprehensive parents. So they act as such. Some cross their arms, others stomp but ultimately say nothing. And while most begin to pout there’s a select few who couldn’t care less, only thinking of the experience they’ll be able to say they had. They seem content: Carly, Erin, Natalie, Drew, Amanda, Scotty, and Toddy.

“Good!”

David puts his hands in his pockets and begins to sway. “Okay you can go now.”

They sluggishly leave the room and that leaves you two alone in semi-silence. Nothing is said but you react appropriately and together to the curses and hisses thrown around in the next room.

“Well…” you bite your lip, “this is going to be fun.”

David holds his hand to you.

“Yup.”

And you shake it.