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#and portraits can be really rough in places but it's also her coming into her own stylistically
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i had a dream last night where i was trying to put together a piece for an art final in one afternoon (because apparently i was taking an art class? i kept having lucid moments of hey i’m not even taking a real art class but i was content to still do the project) and actually i remember very clearly what i was planning and i have all the stuff for it i think i should recreate the dream art final piece
#i was doing a giant collage and i was cutting up bits of colorful + textured paper and running them through a printer over and over#again so that the words were overlapping to make an interesting texture and i was moving them around to make an image and i don’t#remember exactly what it looked like but it was an underwater scene and i can remember a few of the fish and coral structures in relative#detail so i think i’m gonna do it why not i do not have a big enough canvas (it was bigger than me in my dream) but i do have some#30in x 40in canvases (originally bought for giant self portraits of me bc i’m vain lmao) but perhaps one could be spared for this?#i also do have a giant sketchbook but i’m unsure if the paper could hold the weight of what i’ll need to do to it. hmmm#i also have a wall….. but i think i was only granted permission to paint over it smoothly and i hate painting smooth i need texture and i#doubt glued paper would be easy to take off if needed. sad. i really do want to do something to a wall some day. maybe i should just build#myself a giant canvas so it can be moved? it would have to be able to fit through the door though :/#what about a bunch of smaller canvasses that slot together to fill the whole wall? that would be kinda cool i can work with that#maybe not for this project though that would be a lot of work bc if i’m gonna do a whole ass wall i’ll need to measure it n shit and then#i wouldn’t want the canvases to fit as squares i’d want them to be cool and interesting shapes so i’d have to build them myself#hmmmmmmmm. i will think about that later perhaps when i get my own place . it will be epic though i assure you#so i can add some supports to my giant sketchbook paper to keep it sturdier or perhaps i could use a giant canvas. decisions decisions#i will think abt it after i get her up how much colored/printed paper i have (a lot bc i get some every time they’re on sale at micheals#because i have a problem) and i should cut them all to like 8x11 so they’ll slot through the printer so i can cut them up after?#or perhaps i will cut them up before so i can get the vision right? there will be a lot of layers to this i know the pov of the one in my#dream was from the sea floor but near a reef so i will need to work on perspective a bit so maybe a nice big preparatory sketch for a rough#placement of everything then extra details i can come up with as i go? the fish and things will need to be layered a lot but once the base#colors are on i can’t really sketch it out. hmmmmm. i’ll contemplate some more i think
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apollo-cackling · 8 months
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god bless birdy's patience tbh if I started a music career at 15 and my (both pretty mid) debut + second album blew up and the (slightly less mid but still mid) 3rd album did pretty good too then I hiatus for ~4.5 years coming back with an album that was so, so much better and more artistically developed than any of that and it didn't have anywhere near the same impact I'd have a joker moment
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Queer indie dramas are an entire subgenre, and I am OBSESSED!!! I just wanted to shoutout some of my favorites real quick.
(Warning: These films will rip your heart out and then put it back together again.)
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God’s Own Country (2017)
This film takes place in the Yorkshire countryside and is basically Brokeback Mountain with a happy ending. It is nitty-gritty and rough around the edges and kind of hard to watch at parts, but there’s so much tenderness woven throughout. Francis Lee did an outstanding job, especially considering this was his first film. Plus, it has a cutie baby Josh O’Connor in it 🥰
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Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
This film is about a painter who is hired to do the wedding portrait of a young woman who is engaged to be married to a nobleman. She refuses to sit for the portrait, so it must be done without her knowledge. Marianne poses as her companion so she can study her features for the portrait, but an intense emotional connection forms. It’s a very artsy very French film, but it’s so beautiful and emotional and the intimacy and care between Marianne and Heloise melts my heart 🥺 I also love the friendship they have with the young maid, Sophie.
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Weekend (2011)
This film takes place over the course of a weekend as two men have a Friday night hookup but then start talking the following morning and realize that maybe there’s something there. They’re at different places in their coming-out journey, but they spend the entire weekend together in a little bubble, talking and getting to know one another. And then as the weekend comes to a close, they realize that they’re starting to genuinely fall in love. It’s a quiet, introspective film and it brings up some really important conversations around sexuality as well.
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Boys/Jongens (2014)
I always call this film Dutch Heartstopper and I watched it on repeat in the days leading up to Heartstopper’s release. The plotting is very similar, although the tone is quite different. Two boys meet when they are on the same relay team at school. One is a year older and more confident in his sexuality and the younger is still struggling to figure himself out but knows that he is irresistibly attracted to his new best friend. This film has butterflies and first kisses and first love, and I will always recommend it to fans of Heartstopper!
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itsamenickname · 1 year
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So a little under 2 weeks ago, I was responding back to some of the comments from chapters 13 and 14 of To Break the Bonds Within Two Kingdoms. As I was having a conversation with one user, they made a very interesting comment about how E. Gadd's chaotic nature had to have rubbed off on Luigi a little bit.
And when I saw the words 'chaotic nature,' I kid you not, one of the first things that popped into my head was the D&D alignment chart where it ranges from lawful good to chaotic evil.
And then I started to ask myself where the 5 main characters (6 if you count E. Gadd) in TBTBWTK would be placed in the D&D alignment chart.
Which leads us to what is going to be this very long post. XD
Now, I do want to point out that this is a rough idea and that it could change over time. In addition, this alignment is also based on how the characters are portrayed in my story. There is a possibility that you guys might have different thoughts or opinions on where each character should be placed and that's perfectly okay! If you guys do think that Luigi, King Boo, or any of the other characters listed should be aligned somewhere else, then feel free to let me know because I'm curious to see what y'all's thoughts are. :)
Alright, without any further ado, let's get started! :D
(Adding a cut to avoid minor spoilers to those who haven't read TBTBWTK yet (or at least haven't read up to chapter 15).))
Luigi: Lawful good
Cause let's be honest here: Luigi is the purest thing in the entire world.
2. Mario: Chaotic good
So with the way I envision Mario, I see him as someone who wants what's best for the people he loves (especially Luigi), but the reason I listed him as chaotic good is because the things he feel that are best for Luigi don't always align with what Luigi thinks it's best for himself (i.e., Bowser). Plus, I can see Mario as someone who is willing to break a few rules if it ultimately means helping out Luigi, Peach, or anyone else he loves and cares about.
3. Peach: Lawful neutral
I see Peach as a kind-hearted soul who cares about her people, her friends, and her family (especially Mario). However, the thing I think that ultimately makes her lawful neutral is the fact that she is also a princess/queen and I can see Peach as someone who occasionally (but not always) puts the rules, orders, and traditions above personal preference.
4. Bowser: Chaotic neutral
So Bowser was tricky to figure out, but when it comes down to this, I see him having two different sides: The one side we're all more familiar with in the Nintendo games (e.g., he's not afraid to do whatever he wants whenever he wants, arrogant, and stubborn) and the second rare side he doesn't show very often (e.g., he cares very deeply about his minions and family (i.e., Luigi) and would do anything to protect them. Plus, he does feel certain types of negative emotions such as guilt and regret because of the bad choices he made even if they didn't seem like bad choices at the time (a great visualization of this is in chapter 14 & 15)).
5. Professor E. Gadd: Chaotic good
So E. Gadd was a little tricky to figure out as well, but it's really because there isn't any interactions between him and the rest of the characters in TBTBWTK. With this being said though, I see E. Gadd as a kind-hearted little old man who absolutely loves to learn new things, especially paranormal stuff. However, the thing that makes him chaotic is that I feel like there are times (not a lot of times) where he doesn't care for Luigi's wellbeing as much as he should be. (One good example of this is Luigi's Mansion 2 because the reason that whole adventure happened in the first place was because E. Gadd sold King Boo's painting at a garage sale when he should've known that selling King Boo's portrait was a bad idea.)
6. King Boo: Chaotic evil
Need I say more?
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wordly-beginning · 1 year
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Sammy headcannon : background
Because this little bitch has been brewing rent-free for 4 years in my mind, and now i think it's finally time to write about him.
Okay so hear me out, because it's one hell of a story.
It all starts in London, right before the Great War starts : a young and calm bartender goes on with his day, cleaning up tables and chairs while humming a merry tune in a quiet manner. He could be 25, but not older ; and his father still runs the place. The bar is all silent, since it's only the start of the afternoon, so, when the door opens and the small bells chime, it doesn't go unnoticed. Used to this routine, the young bartender greets the door opening with a smile and a wave, on his knees while scrubing the dirt off a chair's leg. Two young children run in, visibly holding a grudge against each other as the tallest pushes the smaller against the doorframe for the privilege of coming in first. They both put down their schoolbags against the bar, and as the tall one helps his way on a chair on the counter, the other child decides to wander around, still looking at everything as he discovers his environment for the first time. He peaks above the weary tables, and chuckles quietly as he deliberately make the woodplanks squeak under his feet. He has on his face the same calm as the bartender, the same expression of rêverie as he wanders around.
Sitting on his chair, his elbows on the oaken counter, the older child moves his legs around as he looks at the posters behind, mostly regarding the venues of a beautiful singer : a woman with mesmerising, dusty blue eyes, and long, flowing blonde hair giving her the panache and the elegance of an American diva. Her name, as stated with many beautfiul lettering on each of these posters, is Edna Lawrence, the Fabulous Edna Lawrence. There's also sketches of her, in front of an amazed audience, and all sorts of cheery expressions on her face as the pencil strokes bleed out love and admiration. They don't comport any kind of signature, except an occasionnal "With love," scribbled in the corner of a particularly good portrait.
The small child eventually bumps into the bartender's leg, and their eyes lock : the brownish, gentle gaze of the adult encounters the stunning, icy blue of the boy and they both illuminate with joy. The bartender puts away his cleaning tools and hugs the young boy, stroking his really, really blonde head. They rarely exchange words, that's all. But the bartender loves his sons, and as the afternoon goes by, he doesn't even mention that it was way too early for them to come home. And as the evening falls, the family, joined by the bartender's father, are playing cards in a spot clean bar. The oldest son is winning, as the youngest and their father teamed up against him. The grandfather looks amused, as he knows for sure that in a couple of rounds, he'll win easily, if the luck of the draw is with him. "This is not fair ! Jacob's always winning ! He's cheating !", complains the boy while shuffling through his hand in order to find something good to play, as if counting and organizing his cards would make a stronger one appear. His father looks over his shoulder and discreetly points out a card : it's part of their team play. "Sammy, please calm down and think about it for a moment. If you take some risks, you can win big afterwards.", says the father with a not-so-discreet wink. Sammy finally throws in his card, pouting and already figuring out that the game was lost. "Ah, to be a gambler. Good lessons you give your sons, Glenn.", laughs the older man while slightly bending his own cards, before releasing them for a quick whip sound, right before playing his own card. He looks just as rough as his voice, and his laugh seems filled with smoke even though he hasn't lit up a single cigarette in days. Too expensive to waste money on, he now says. "I'm not-", the bertender tries to defend himself as he is interrumpted by his father. "I know, I know. You're a good father... And your own son already outsmarts you.", he laughs again.
Pride burns in the Jacob's blue eyes as he tries to decrypt the messages between his father and his younger brother. His brown hair is as smooth as silk, perfectly combed, and reflects some shine from the lamps and the rays of sunlight. "You're cheating !", complains again Sammy as he pulls out a good card and takes away all the points. "And tarot is dumb !". He accelerates the game's tempo and already throws his strongest card on an impulse. "Hey, shut your mouth ! I'm just lucky, and you're jealous !", lets out the older. "You're always jealous !", he adds before being interrupted by his grandfather's hand on his shoulder. He plays his card, just enough to top Sammy's, which owes him an other complaint from the smallest. "You two, calm down.", he sighs. "You're too young to compete against each other. And besides... No competitions between two losers." There it was : the World gets put on the table with a grin from the grandfather, and his card-bending and slapping gets louder and louder. The few last turns go on the same way, and upon counting up the scores, the old man easily wins by a dozen points. Glenn chuckles as he tries to cheer up Sammy, who's apparently very upset, whereas Jacob still, quietly, tries to figure out why his granpa didn't play his most powerful cards first.
"The problem is that, both of you, you're too impulsive. Jacob, don't scream out your victory before receiving the medal. And you're the opposite, Sammy : why are you certain you're going to lose anyway, before the game has ended ?" He raises up his head, and while looking at his grandpa, he wonders too. Why does he always feel like Jacob is going to one-up him ? Will his brother always be better than him ?
"You got lots of things to learn, and you better start out soon."
Oh, Sammy didn't learn soon enough to prevent himself from his own demise. And his brother still does better than him.
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Diamond In The Rough Ch6 Settling Down In Circhester
(Thank you to everyone for the name suggestions for the houndoom. The one most voted/commented was Cerberus so that shall now be the name for it. Don't forget to comment what other 3 pokemon you all as reader would like to catch! Can be native to Galar or not. I will pick just three others randomly.)
Well..that was that you guessed.
There really wasn't anything more to do than to just wait and see what would happen. Hopefully everything would sort itself out. In the meantime you had to figure out what the heck you were going to do until August when the school year started back up again. You knew the scholarship you got from the Chairwoman would cover all the next year's school expenses as well as you'd get free housing in the dorms and food from the cafeteria, but there was about seven more months until the next school year and you'd have to pay for room and board at the hotel until it reopened. But you were PRETTY sure you wouldn't be able to last seven months on just your savings alone. Why? Well there was a few good reasons-
1. The hotel charged sixty five dollars a night, you remembered that from the last two times you were there. There was NO WAY, you could afford that amount of money every night for seven months straight.
2. Basic food and other necessities would also cost you money. Plus you had pokemon to take care of.
3. This houndoom's food was EXPENSIVE! Seriously! This specific brand of fire type food was working to help the houndoom get better, but BOY was this brand expensive. No way you could afford to keep affording it for another seven months or however long it took for you to take care of this stuff!
Which only left one option for you. After many hours of sitting there, thinking about it and trying to decide what to do next, you only came up with one thing that would help your situation- You had to get a job. At least until the next school year started which was still seven months away, not your most ideal situation but for this hotel room and that houndoom food-...Yeah. You were going to need a job before your savings ran out. The problem was you didn't know where to get one. You tried the hotel first. No open positions. Well you just needed to expand your search for the moment. Local barber shop? Nope. Clothes store? Nah. Antique shop? Not a chance. Pokemon Center? You already know the answer to that. On your fourth day of searching you FINALLY found one. An opening at Bob's Your Uncle! It was right beside the Hero's Bath so you walked past it like every other day when you did, and in the window was a 'Help Wanted' sign as clear as day! You lit up and immediately walked right in to the small cafe letting the small door's bell go off. The entire place looked the same. Same small booths and chairs. Same old black and white pictures hung on the wall. Same portrait of the cafe's mascot 'Uncle Bob'. And the same two chefs handling the front counter-...Wait. No. Now there was only one chef and a young lady in front of the cash register. Strange but you didn't comment on that instead you walked right up to the counter where the girl smiled at you.
"Good morning! Welcome to Bob's Your Uncle! How can we help you today?", she asked nicely.
"Hey,'' you greeted back before motioning towards the window, "I'm actually here about the job opening? I saw you guys have a sign up."
At this the girl beamed in an instant. "OH! Yes we were hoping someone would notice it!" With that she turned to one of the chef's. "Hey, Bobby!" Immediately the dark blue haired man looked over at her. "We finally got someone interested in taking up the job!"
"Oh thank goodness!," his sigh of relief was immediate as well as his smile. "We've been short staffed for a while."
You blinked. "Short staffed?"
'Bobby' you guessed, nodded. "We've had a hard time for a few reasons. Since last year, Circhester has seen a boom in population, and a lot more tourists have been coming through so more people are coming into the business. Especially with the college back opening up and all the newcomers coming in it's been really busy. Two people aren't going to cut it anymore. That's why we've had to hire more help."
Ah. So that was it. "Oh..Well what kind of job are you looking for?"
"To be blunt, someone who can help man the register and clean. Maybe even wait tables," Bobby bluntly stated. "My brother and I are chefs so anything food related would be taken cared of by us." Oh. So just a front desk job kinda deal? "Do you have any experience in that sorta deal?"
"Kinda? I had a part time job in a bakery as a kid," you answered with a shrug, "I made food, cleaned, did dishes- Things like that."
Bobby lit up. "Oh good! That's good enough experience for me. When are you able to start?"
"Well I can come back tomorrow if it's a good time."
"That sounds perfect! Come back tomorrow morning and we can show you the ropes."
"Sounds good."
Well this was good. You got a job opportunity and it would be a great way to pay for everything you needed! Fast forward to the next day you left off to your new job first thing in the morning after feeding your pokemon and telling Zen to keep things handled until you returned and absolutely under NO circumstances fight! The last thing you needed was to pay for repairs on top of everything else. You arrived back at Bob's Your Uncle and was again greeted by the young lady who introduced herself as Sapphire and handed you a white apron with the cafe's logo on the front.
"Here. Put this on and I'll walk you through what we're doing today." After it was securely tied around you she guided you to behind the counter and pointed out to where a few things were. Napkins, spices, salt and pepper, extra cups- "And the beverages are in the glass bottles behind you, but any adult beverages needs only goes to those with an I.D. proving they're over twenty one. You'll be helping me waiting tables, bringing customers there food, helping me behind the counter, and cleaning up the front of the store. Bobby and Billy Bob take care of the real heavy work in the back kitchen, but I handle the register for now. We're also aloud to keep any tips we get."
"Sweet. So when do we start?"
"Now. All we do is wait for customers and do what I just explained."
Well...It was exactly like she said. Customers come in, you took their orders, gave them their food, helped Sapphire clean up, and then return home for the day around five or six. Wash rinse and repeat day after day until February ended and March began. Maybe not the most ideal option for you but it paid the bills and it gave you what you needed to help care for the houndoom. He seemed to be doing a lot better than he did just two weeks ago. On your first opportunity you had taken him to the local pokemon center to have Nurse Joy look over him, and it turned out he went from sixty two to sixty eight pounds. He gained six pounds! That was good! He was almost back to his normal weight which was good. He also seemed to be getting along just fine. He still wouldn't let you touch him, and he still glared at you and your pokemon, Silver was still keeping his distance from the houndoom and Zen was still keeping a close eye on him as if any moment ready to tackle the dog pokemon to the ground again. But he seemed..calmer. He didn't make any moves to harm you or your pokemon, and he came when he was called whenever you gave him food or water, so you guessed he trusted you a bit in that regard. About another two weeks passed uneventfully and peacefully, you still went to work and paid your dues and made sure that houndoom was getting in better shape than before. It's been nearly a month since you had him in your custody now and he didn't look that skinny anymore. In fact..during the last two weeks it seemed like he gained more weight around the waist and stomach too! Which was good. He was getting there! You again brought him to Nurse Joy by the end of the next two weeks to discover he was now at seventy four pounds! He was making great progress! You still did what Nurse Joy advised to do however until he was able to regain his full weight. In the meantime you were fine with just still doing your own thing until one day things changed for a bit. A third week went by and it was Friday afternoon, nothing really out of the ordinary other than you having your back to the cafe busy restocking some glasses and other things on the shelf before you got that weekend off, you already planned to take your pokemon out that weekend and get them some exercise and do a few more things but what you weren't expecting was a VERY familiar face walking into the cafe.
"Hey You! I was expectin' your cute face back sometime! Been a while since I last saw ya!," you heard Sapphire's voice greet someone familiar. Must've been one of the regulars. "Ya'll here for the usual?"
"*sigh* Yeah. It's been a pretty busy time for me lately. And..no. I wanna place a large order? My Ma asked me to pick up some fast food for dinner tonight."
"Oh! She just called in a little while ago! The chefs are workin' as we speak. Why don't you sit down and have a drink while you wait? I can put the charge on your tab."
"That sounds great! Uh..Hey how long until they get done?"
"I can run to the back and check for ya. Go ahead and have a seat. Ok?"
"Sure. Thanks!"
You paid no attention to Sapphire as she went through the door leading into the kitchen and just continued to stock the shelf with instant noodle cups for anyone wanting a quick instant noodle curry. You still had your back to the man who came in and heard him after a moment slowly walk over and take a seat in the stool seat behind you.
"Uh hey. Can I have a mug of ginger ale on ice?"
That's when you turned to look at him, and nearly dropped the instant noodle cup in your hands when you saw none other than Gordie sitting there arms leaning against the counter. The blonde gym leader also seemed shocked to see you because he froze and you saw the way his blue eyes widened in shock behind his sunglasses as you both just stared at one another. Ten seconds of silence passed between you two before you finally broke it by asking-
"Gordie!?"
"Y-Y/n!?," he sputtered practically dazed, "I-..You-..I mean-...W-Wot are you doin' here?!''
"I'm..working?" You held up the instant ramen cup as proof of that. "I had to get a job if I want to be able to afford the hotel and everything else I need. What are you doing here?"
"I-I-I-...*AHEM*" In an attempt to regain some composure, he turned away and reached a hand to fiddle with his glasses. "I-I'm here to pick up an order my Ma called in. My lil brothers wouldn't stop pesterin' her for take out tonight."
"Oh. That's really nice of you. ...Did you still want that drink?"
"Um..Yeah. I'd like that. Thanks."
He sat there and watched as you grabbed a glass mug, waiting patiently before a mug of ginger soda and ice was placed down in front of him. "Here you go!"
"Thanks!" He smiled softly and took it from you with a sigh. "Been a while since I had this. A-Anyways, how have you been?" He questioned raising a brow and head tilting at you in interest. "Been a while since I've seen you around town too."
"I've been good. Got a job, paying the bills, taking care of my babies-...Y'know how it goes."
"Oh! Since you brought that up-" He took a moment to just take a gulp of that drink, ice tinking against the glass before he placed it back down, the glass making a 'thud' noise against the wooden countertop. "Ah...As I was sayin'. I looked into that matter of yours concerning the pokemon ya found."
You stopped staring at him. He got info concerning the houndoom? "I-..Yeah. And what did you find out?"
"Well I ran it past someone I knew who works in laws-," he explained pointing a finger from the hand holding the mug at you, "-and by Galarian law, any lost or abandoned pokemon still bound to a pokeball is free game for anyone unless the original owner claims it within a month's time with proof of ownership. Then the pokemon by default either goes to the one who found it or into the rotomi system to be eventually reclaimed or released into the wild."
You...blinked for a moment. "I-...R-Really?"
He nodded. "Has this..'roommate' of yours tried at all to come get 'em?"
He hummed as you shook your head no. "No. Not at all. I don't even know where she went." You had no idea whether or not Emerald had come back at all or not since you last saw her to look for her houndoom, but if she did..wouldn't she have found you by now? A lot of people already stared at you for openly walking around with two non-native pokemon. You were sure if she just asked around, she'd have found you. "I haven't seen her since school let out months ago."
Gordie hummed again seeming to think a moment..before sighing. "Well then, since it's already been months, by law that houndoom's yours now unless you surrender it to the Pokemon Center or gave it away." He finished that sentence by taking another deep gulp of his drink.
"Mine? I didn't think Cerberus would be abandoned like this-"
Thud- He gave you a puzzled look from behind those glasses. "...Cerberus? Who's that?"
"Wha- Oh. That's what I call him." he rose his brow more. "The houndoom."
Now this caught him by surprise because Gordie's face gained an expression like you'd grown another head. "You named it?"
"It's a him actually. And no I didn't 'name' him exactly. I just gave him a nickname since I got tired of calling him 'Houndoom' all the time...But I guess now it is his name if he's stuck with me."
"You name your pokemon?", Gordie asked more to himself than you but you rose a brow back.
"Yes. I named all my pokemon...Why do you ask? Is it weird to you?"
In an instant he held up his free hand. "W-Wha- N-NO! I-I ain't findin' it weird! I-I just-...I don't know many people who d-do that. It makes you look...c-compassionate."
Now it was your turn to be surprised as you blinked at him. "...Compassionate?"
He nodded and all of a sudden his face seemed a bit pinker as his eyes looked to the side. "Y-Yeah..I don't know of m-many people who name their pokemon unless they're real attached to 'em. A-And they care about them enough to give 'em a name in the first place, like-..They see 'em more than just tools ta battle with..With how you're takin' care of the poor hound- Uh..'Cerberus'. I can help know a person's character better with those lil facts."
Again you remained silent and Gordie feeling awkward used the silence to continue drinking his ginger ale as an excuse to keep busy. But he thought you were...Compassionate? He judged you as so based on one little detail you shared?
"That's...awfully nice of you to say so," you settled on after getting your thoughts together, "But how could you deduce that about me? We barely know one another."
"Hm?" He finally glanced at you and blinked, taking a moment to process what you said- "Oh. Well I just listen to what you have to say." He shrugged leaning back against the countertop. "When you're around so many people who wanna talk to ya, and being a big brother, you pick up on a person's words and their meanings pretty quickly."
"Really? Can you always tell what someone's personality is by just talking with them?"
"A bit-...But not all the time and I obviously don't know someone's full person unless I spend time with them a whole lot or knew them a long time. But a lot of the time I can at least get a good feel for why they're talking to me. Whether it be cuz they're a fan or looking for attention..." His eyes narrowed. "Or something more selfish...*sigh* It's sorta like a gut feeling? Sixth sense? Whatever you wanna call it, I get after hearing people talk to me. ..Sorry. I must sound crazy."
"No. I don't think you do. I guess everyone has a sixth sense about things. That just makes you really unique!''
He was about to open his mouth to thank you when the door the kitchen opened back up and Sapphire came back out. "Ok. They're almost done but it'll be another ten minute til it's done." She paused blinking at the sight of you two before smiling. "I see you met our newest worker. Y/n's just joined us for around three weeks now!"
"Yeah! We know each other actually!," you happily said smiling and looking back to him. "Which reminds me, your mom said she'd call some other gym leaders. How'd that go?"
"Oh. Well Piers honestly doesn't know a whole bunch about houndooms, but Kabu originally coming from Hoenn knows a bit more about other regional fire types than anyone. He said if you're unable to handle it, he'd gladly take it in and train it up."
"Oh..Actually I haven't made up my mind about that yet. But I will let you know if it ever comes to that. I have to finish restocking the shelves now, but it was really good seeing you again! Say hello to your mother for me."
"Uh..Y-Yeah. I'll do that for ya."
Ten minutes passed. You finished restocking the shelves, Sapphire brought out Gordie's food, and Gordie finished his pint before paying and giving a small hand salute before taking his food and walking out the door, bell jingling as he departed. You smiled and waved after him but paused when Sapphire held up a twenty dollar bill to your face making you blink.
"..Oh. Is that from him paying for the drink?"
"No. He says this is your tip."
Your mind blanked for a moment. "...What!? No way!"
"Yes way. He asked me to hand it to you after he paid. You two must be real good pals, eh?"
You slowly took the twenty from here, "I-...I guess so, b-b-but I wasn't expecting THIS!!" You stared at the twenty in your hands in amazement. Before shaking your head. No. Gordie was obviously very well off being not only a gym leader but a very popular one, he could probably afford to spare a big tip when he wanted. "It was nice of him tho. I bet he always does this."
"Well..yeah he does leave a generous tip whenever he eats here, but that's the first time I've ever seen him give out that big o' a bill! He must really like you then!"
"More like probably feels sorry for me." Or he gave this to you by accident which wouldn't be too far a stretch, but you were grateful to him either way. Again, Gordie was a really nice guy.
It went like this for the rest of March and the first few days of April. Gordie would sometimes come in and stop for a drink or something to eat, smiling and making small talk with you and sometimes Sapphire while you worked and left tips that ranged anywhere between ten to twenty dollars each. Which was-...Strange, but you weren't complaining or ungrateful in the slightest. It just seemed strange as Sapphire and the chefs didn't seem to get the same amount in tips, the most you saw them each get was ten dollars in one go, which again was a pretty good tip. Other things were working out in your favor too. You managed to call Sonia that weekend and asked her to send you a couple copies of her two books and the research she did on the discoveries of the true heroes of Galar, you managed to save up some money, and when checking back in with Nurse Joy, you found Cerberus had gained back his weight fully and was making his way back to being stronger, and you had planned on getting a few things you needed for your school project next year. Thanks to Emerald talking (complaining loudly and annoyedly-) in detail about most of the projects all second year Standard Course students had to do. If you did some of the hard projects earlier then you'd be able to just turn it in without having to worry about stressing over it later with deadlines looming over your head. At the moment you were just in Circhester's local grocery store just going through and picking up a few items on your list.
"Goose?" Zen tilted his head at your form, his arms full of items you had him and Silver help you carry. And he sniffed at the array of objects and gave a grunt sound when you placed a couple of microave TV dinners in his arms adding to what he was already carrying, making Silver chirp.
"Sorry, Sil. But you'd just try to eat everything I handed you." Silver scowled with another noise. "Hey! Last time we were here, you drank two bottles of milk and then I had to get more plus pay for the ones you drank! So you can just carry the non edible stuff!" Silver still frowned but you were distracted by a muffled bark and you turned around noticing Cerberus had somehow gotten ahold of a decently sized bag of the specialized fire type food you had to buy him. He sat there proudly tail wagging and a bag of food so big it halfway dragged on the ground by his feet. How did he-...Oh yeah. Pokemon. They were pretty strong. Duh! "Uh...*sigh* Good boy, Cerby." You rewarded with a tired smile and sigh. "That's a big bag of dog-..Uh. Food. That should last us for a while." Never mind it was WAY bigger than the bags you usually get. "All we need is Silver and Zen's foods and we can leave-"
"*BARK!!*"
The bag of food was dropped with a thud sound and you watched him paddle off with a sigh, leaning down to pick up the bag. Guess you were buying a bigger bag this time around to avoid hurting Cerberus's feelings, he had just been warming up to you after all after he noticed you weren't going to treat him badly- THUMP!! Both you and your other two pokemon looked up as a thump sound followed by a dragging sound was heard and you found out the reason why when an equally big bag of water type pokemon food was dragged over to you by Cerberus and then dropped it in front of you. It was the kind you usually got for Silver.
"I- You-...*sigh* Thank you, Cerb. But I can-"
"BARK!!"
You only watched deadpanned as he did it yet again and watched as he dragged the expensive normal type food bag (Zen needed it being a none native pokemon too-) over to you and dropped it on top of the first two bags with another thump. You deadpanned stared at the three very expensive food bags before looking up at Cerberus who panted and wagged his pointed tail happily.
"...Zen. Hand Silver the basket. I'm gonna need your help carrying these back."
Whelp. Thanks how it went. You had Silver (drag-) carry the groceries, with Zen carrying the other half plus one of the giant bags, while you struggled to carry the other two bags with you. It must've looked funny to anyone else watching a woman stumble down the street with heavy bags blocking half her view being followed by three pokemon, two carrying groceries, and two being none native Galarian pokemon as well. Well it wasn't funny to you who couldn't tell if you were heading back to the hospital or not because the bags blocked half your view while your noodle arms struggled to hold onto the weight of the giant bags. Each step feeling as if you would lose your grip on them any moment- Until you did. One of the bags leaned too far to the left and you gave a yell as you slipped from the weight. Both giant bags tumbling to the ground with a loud sound and you faceplanted right on top of them with a loud thud. Snowflakes were thrown up from the collapse and there you laid stunned for a long moment-...Until Cerberus nudged your head with a paw in question. You groaned and looked up with a frown on your face, shaking the stray snow from your head before staring at the bags on the ground. Great. At least none of the bags busted open.
"Great. At this rate it'll take me until tomorrow morning to get home." You looked about ready to start lifting those bags again when a tall shadow fell over you making you blink, and then you looked up-
"Y/n?" A man in a coat lifted his sunglasses and you saw a head of blonde hair poke out from under his hood.
"Gordie!?," you asked back equally surprised. "...What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way to my Ma's for Friday dinner and I saw your lot." He then kneeled down to one knee eye level with you. "You 'lright? Ya fell with a splat on those things."
"*sigh* Yeah. I'm fine." You waved him off. "Just not used to carrying something this heavy. It'll take me til tomorrow morning to get all of this back to the hotel."
Gordie didn't say anything for a moment before he just held out his hand to you and you blinked for a moment, before registering that he was offering to help you up, so slowly you took his hand and with one strong pull you were on your feet wobbling a bit but didn't fall over before he let go of your hand as you went to dust yourself off. You opened your mouth to thank him, but paused when he kneeled back down and you stared stunned when he picked UP your giant food bags with ease and with a grunt, easily lifted them up, one on his shoulder and the other held under his arm with ease with a smile on his face.
"Right. Which hotel room should I drop these o' at?"
You stared faw dropped for a moment before shaking your head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute. You can't just carry those for me!"
"Well considerin' ya can't carry 'em, I'll have to help ya as my duty as gym leader." With a smile he then turned and began walking towards the hotel and you naturally followed him.
"Hey wait! What about dinner with your family?"
"Their house ain't that far away and I can afford to be late one time. No worries!"
"Yeah but-...UGH! At least slow down!" He chuckled and you frowned. "It's NOT funny!"
Well Gordie did NOT listen to you. In fact he just carried on all the way to the hotel making everyone stare at his chuckling form followed by your red face and three pokemon, but he only continued not putting the bags down until you showed him to your room but stopped him at the door.
"Ok. You can put them down here."
"Are ya sure?"
"Y-Yeah. I can have Zen bring them in from here. It's not a problem."
"Hm...Well if you're sure." He took a moment to place down the bags against the wall. "There ya go. That atta tide you over."
"Thanks for the help! You've been a real big help lately actually."
"Uh.." He coughed and turned away cheeks tinting a light pink. "W-W-Well i-it's my duty as gym leader. Y'know? A-And I'd feel bad just leavin' a friend like that when you needed a hand!"
You smiled. "Well it was still really nice of you to do so. Guess I was lucky a strong and handsome man was around to save me," you joked with a chuckle but Gordie gawked at you for a moment before you turned towards the door. "Well I better get inside and put everything away. Thanks again for the help! Tell your Mom I said hi!" You opened the door-
"WAIT!!" You jumped from the sudden yell and blinked at Gordie who held out a hand....before he coughed and looked away again. "I-I mean-...I-I'm hostin' a party for Circhester's Foundation Day next Wednesday...I'd be really cool i-if you'd come. I m-mean-...You're gonna be in Circhester for a while right? Haha! It'd b-be a good way f-for you to meet some of the people who l-live here-"
"That sounds great, but I can't. I have to work that day. I'm sorry."
"Huh?...Oh. Yeah. R-Right. *ahem* That's cool! I c-can dig it! I-If you change your mind however-..You're free to come without a doubt! Ya can't miss it since it'll be in the town square."
"I'll think about it. Shouldn't be hard to spot you anyways. You'll the tall, strong, and hansdome center piece of it all!," you again joked with a chuckle not noticing how frozen and red he had gotten. "Well I'll see you later. Thanks again for the help! You're a life saver!"
You then disappeared into your hotel room followed by your pokemon, and the door soon after closed with Gordie just standing there for a long moment...before he gulped feeling like a melting snowman under the heat his red face put out.
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moonandris · 1 year
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5 13 30 for the WIP ask game
Five = I’ve been steadily worldbuilding the universe of this series for a while now but I only just recently started to really really get into it. I’ve made this project my main focus and I’m putting a ton of effort into it and making it interesting, mysterious, and magical. The fact that it’s basically one giant guilty pleasure WIP with a ton of my favorite fantasy/romance/horror tropes definitively helps with inspiration and the writing process, hehe. :)
Thirteen = I plan for the series to have six protagonists, and thus three couples, each with their own narratives. The first two characters I’m focusing on are Raine and Desmond (tentatively named), who are probably my favorite because they’re so dramatic, problematic, and just overall a dumpster fire of a couple, lol. They’ve both been through some pretty traumatic things, especially Raine.
Raine = He was orphaned at a very young age in a very horrific way. He was placed in an orphanage and, of course, ran away and was found by what would be his adoptive father. Raine stayed with him for about six years until his adoptive father passed away, leaving Raine with no family, no connections, and little resources in a dark, dangerous city at the tender age of 14. Experiencing so much loss and being put out on the streets at such an early age affected Raine and his personality. He’s tender and sensitive at heart but has been hardened by his experiences. He can be described as ‘broody-eyed and stubborn-faced pretty boy’ and puts on a cold, stoic front unless he’s relaxed and around his found family.
Here’s a portrait of him:
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Desmond = Desmond is a real piece of work, lol. He was raised in a harsh, ‘strong eat the weak’ Greek/Roman inspired magocracy empire (those with magic rule over those who don’t have magic). Desmond comes from a distinguished noble house and was disowned at a very young age, losing the protection and privileges of his house. It’s safe to say he had a not so fun childhood trying to navigate the politically dangerous and power hungry magical empire he grew up in. So, he’s calculating, rough, twisted, sardonic, and manipulative.
Here’s a portrait of him (he’s very spicy): 🥵
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But that’s all the concrete details I have for now! I’m looking forward to sharing more about Raine and Desmond and the world they live in soon! Thanks so much if you actually read all that, haha! 😭🥺
Thirty = Oooh, I’m definitely a name queen and am super picky and annoying about names, so a lot of my names have meanings. Desmond, short for Desmondius, means to defend or to be a defender of mankind (not in real life, it’s a meaning in the actual lore/history of my world). Raine’s name is important because his mother (who had very little agency) fought for the right to name her own child because Raine’s father was at times controlling/abusive. She wanted her son to be named something meaningful, poetic, and special to her... and as he was born in the middle of a thundering rainstorm, she thought it fitting for him to be named as such. 🥺💕
I’m also thinking of naming him Loren/Lorian (and thus having him born under a laurel tree or something). I'm going the naturalistic route with his name for a very specific, plot related reason too. Curse my indecisive mind!
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sisi-halloway · 2 years
Text
What We Were (Salice x Daniel) Part 1
for @asranemesis
I love you baby
____________________________________
Hey.."
Salice opened the door to her apartment. She wasn't expecting her ex. Red eyes were blinking back tears, her weak hand lingered on the doorknob and the other almost let the expensive tumbler cup drop to the floor. It was full of vodka and fruit punch. Salice never liked the taste of alcohol. It was strange for her to be drinking.
"Hey..."
Daniel didn't know what to say. He hadn't seen Salice like this, maybe ever. His stomach churned. He clenched and unclenched his fist, just looking at the young woman that had been such a joy in his life a few years before. She looked so different now, but also so much the same.
"You can, uh... stand there all night if you want or you can come in... it's up to you."
She turned her back and trudged back to the couch. Dan followed her, standing in the middle of the floor. The television was on and the sound was loud. Dan knew that sign if the others weren't apparent. She always did that when she was upset. Dan knew she didn't like to hear herself think.
Dan looked around. The place was pretty clean. There was new artwork up, stuff he'd never seen before. A lot of photos of Salice and Kenai, a lot of solo portraits of her too. He wondered who photographed them. They were really good.
"Where's Kenai?"
He was looking around and he didn't see the dog. Something in the pit of his stomach twisted, he didn't know what he thought.
Sisi drew her legs up on the couch, putting the sleeve of her sweater to her nose. "He's sleeping in the bedroom... he didn't hear you come in over the TV."
She grabbed the remote and turned the sound down. She kissed her lips to call the dog, her voice breaking a bit. "Kenai!"
He came trotting in the room, tail wagging, his nails clicking on the wood floor of the apartment. He was having trouble picking who to run to, he was excited to see his daddy.
Dan crouched down to scratch behind the puppy's ears. He was still so young and full of energy.
He and Salice had adopted that dog together, two years ago. Sisi had found him on the street and brought him home. He grew up in a house full of people when everyone still lived together. Charlie was with Yumi now, and Salice left. When she did, she took Kenai with her. Dan really missed him, and he didn't want her to take their puppy, but she left for a good reason. Dan couldn't bear to have her be alone, so he didn't make it hard on her to let Kenai stay. Ever since they reconnected earlier in the year, Sisi had always been so good about letting him visit.
"Who's a good boy... yeah... I missed you... yes..."
Dan's deep voice echoed through the apartment. Salice watched them with wet eyes. She was having a really rough spell, and she wanted her dog here. She didn't want him to go just yet.
Dan grabbed Kenai's lead on a peg over the trash can. He raised his brow when he noticed two boxes full of stuff near it.
"Hey... you want me to throw this away for you?"
He walked over to the boxes. It didn't look old or worn out, it just looked like a lot of miscellaneous items someone didn't want. Dan picked up a desktop keyboard, the kind that turns rainbow when you plug them in.
"No.. It's not trash." Sisi was hesitant to tell him what it was, but she didn't want him to touch it. She still hadn't gone through all that stuff... she didn't want anyone to get to it before she was ready.
"Please... don't touch it... Any of it."
Dan twisted his mouth and put the keyboard back. Why was she getting so defensive over this?
"It must be your neighbor's then? Your boyfriend?" He remembered the guy she was seeing. He lived right next door to her. He really didn't like that guy. He couldn't honestly think of any other reason other than the fact he was seeing his ex, but there had to have been some other things. Dan thought a moment. He didn't like how friendly he was with his dog. He wouldn't have liked it any better if Gage was mean to Kenai, but just the fact that Kenai had gotten so familiar with someone else. He imagined his dog sleeping in a bed with Sisi and that guy she was dating. He loathed that thought.
Sisi stands up and goes over to tape the boxes shut. Grabbing the folds of the boxes and swiping the packing tape over them, she sealed them so she wouldn't have to look at Gage's stuff anymore. Her voice was harsh, and the alcohol gave it a sharp edge that was unusual for her.
"Well, he's not my boyfriend anymore! But yeah, it's his stuff." She spat, throwing the packing tape back in the coat closet. She stomped to the kitchen to pour more fruit punch into her cup. Only a little, Dan noticed, and she filled the rest with vodka until it was brimming.
Oh... that's why she was drinking.
Daniel didn't know if he should ask what happened. Scratch that, he knew he shouldn't ask... but he really wanted to know.
Salice turned and leaned against the counter. Her face was turned into something short of a grimace, but somehow Daniel still thought that was pretty. She was just pretty. No matter what mood she was in.
"Aren't you gonna say something?" Her raspy voice was unforgiving.
Dan shook his head. "Well, what do you want me to say?" He didn't want to fight with her. They never fought. And Dan remembers... this is the first time she's ever picked a fight with him.
Salice lifts her arms and hands in a hysteric shrug, letting them fall to her thighs with a loud slap.
"I don't fucking know. You can start by asking me a bunch of questions about what hell happened. Or you can give me that smug little look, like 'oh, great! that guy I intimidated on their date night isn't around anymore' or maybe you can seem like you're even a little sad for me?"
Dan grits his teeth and tries to remember this isn't Sisi, this is the alcohol talking. She's never raised her voice like this at him. He doesn't ever recall her raising her voice at all...
"Well, if you don't want to tell me that's okay too. I am sorry it didn't work out..."
His mind was searching for the right words: something else to say. What came out just now wasn't all that genuine. He truly was sorry Sisi was so upset about her breakup that she was drinking like this... but he wasn't that upset about the breakup itself. If he was honest with himself, which he was most of the time, he was a bit glad he didn't have to see that guy every time he came over to visit his dog. Especially because he didn't have his own girlfriend to go home to anymore.
Salice bit the inside of her cheek. Daniel didn't like the way those big green saucers of her bore into his soul. He didn't like the tears that flirted with her lashes, threatening to spill over onto those full, red cheeks. He didn't like to look at this cheery girl so sad.
"We never talked about it."
Dan puts the lead back on the hook. He didn't want Kenai getting all excited to leave when he was anticipating this conversation to last a little longer than he thought was comfortable.
"You and Gage?" He leaned back against the wall across from her. He folded his arms.
"No... you and me."
Dan's stomach sank. Somehow he knew it was gonna come back to this. She was right. They had never really talked about their own breakup. She had apologized for leaving, but he knew there was more than that. So much more than that. She wasn't the one who broke his heart.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. He didn't want her to answer, but he needed to ask.
"Do you?"
He wasn't sure. He didn't want to be under fire, especially by someone who was so volatile. She looked so hurt like she had never healed from it. Maybe she never did. The point was Dan didn't know. He didn't know because he never asked.
"What did you need to know?"
Salice scoffed. It was almost malicious.
"Do you wanna guess?"
Two broad fingers pinched the bridge of Daniel's nose. He didn't want to play games. He didn't even have to stay for this... he didn't know why he was still here.
"Salice-"
"Why didn't you come see me?"
Those tears were spilling now, jumping from her eyes and plummeting down to the skin of her breast. Her tank was dappled with them before Dan could answer.
"I didn't think you wanted to see me." It was simple. It was the reason.
"Of course, I wanted to see you, Daniel! Do you know how much I missed you?"
Daniel was quiet. He had missed her too. More than she was believing right now.
Salice grabbed her phone. Her nails were bare. They were short. That was so unlike her. Daniel remembered all the nights she'd scratch his neck and hair for him while he slept. The marks she'd leave on his back after a good night... He remembered her whines from the other rooms when she would break one while cooking or playing with the puppy.
"I waited for this fucking thing to ring, or buzz or something, with you telling me I could come home! That I would be safe or something-" she sniffed, not letting her running nose get the best of her.
"But you never called me..."
Her tears were running freely now, and Salice's words were barely audible while she wept. It was one of the hardest things Daniel had to sit and endure. He didn't know if he should hug her or if he had that privilege. He couldn't bring himself to leave. He deserved every word coming out of her mouth and somehow, even drunk and hurting she hadn't said one thing to wound him.
"Yeah, I was the one who left, but I had to make a decision I shouldn't have had to make at all!" She paused a swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing in a defeated whisper.
"I love you so much, Dan but I left because it seemed like I couldn't love my sobriety and you... together. So I chose."
(TBC)
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echantedtoon · 5 months
Text
Diamond In The Rough Ch6 Settling Down In Circhester
(Thank you to everyone for the name suggestions for the houndoom. The one most voted/commented was Cerberus so that shall now be the name for it. Don't forget to comment what other 3 pokemon you all as reader would like to catch! Can be native to Galar or not. I will pick just three others randomly.)
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Well..that was that you guessed.
There really wasn't anything more to do than to just wait and see what would happen. Hopefully everything would sort itself out. In the meantime you had to figure out what the heck you were going to do until August when the school year started back up again. You knew the scholarship you got from the Chairwoman would cover all the next year's school expenses as well as you'd get free housing in the dorms and food from the cafeteria, but there was about seven more months until the next school year and you'd have to pay for room and board at the hotel until it reopened. But you were PRETTY sure you wouldn't be able to last seven months on just your savings alone. Why? Well there was a few good reasons-
1. The hotel charged sixty five dollars a night, you remembered that from the last two times you were there. There was NO WAY, you could afford that amount of money every night for seven months straight.
2. Basic food and other necessities would also cost you money. Plus you had pokemon to take care of.
3. This houndoom's food was EXPENSIVE! Seriously! This specific brand of fire type food was working to help the houndoom get better, but BOY was this brand expensive. No way you could afford to keep affording it for another seven months or however long it took for you to take care of this stuff!
Which only left one option for you. After many hours of sitting there, thinking about it and trying to decide what to do next, you only came up with one thing that would help your situation- You had to get a job. At least until the next school year started which was still seven months away, not your most ideal situation but for this hotel room and that houndoom food-...Yeah. You were going to need a job before your savings ran out. The problem was you didn't know where to get one. You tried the hotel first. No open positions. Well you just needed to expand your search for the moment. Local barber shop? Nope. Clothes store? Nah. Antique shop? Not a chance. Pokemon Center? You already know the answer to that. On your fourth day of searching you FINALLY found one. An opening at Bob's Your Uncle! It was right beside the Hero's Bath so you walked past it like every other day when you did, and in the window was a 'Help Wanted' sign as clear as day! You lit up and immediately walked right in to the small cafe letting the small door's bell go off. The entire place looked the same. Same small booths and chairs. Same old black and white pictures hung on the wall. Same portrait of the cafe's mascot 'Uncle Bob'. And the same two chefs handling the front counter-...Wait. No. Now there was only one chef and a young lady in front of the cash register. Strange but you didn't comment on that instead you walked right up to the counter where the girl smiled at you.
"Good morning! Welcome to Bob's Your Uncle! How can we help you today?", she asked nicely.
"Hey,'' you greeted back before motioning towards the window, "I'm actually here about the job opening? I saw you guys have a sign up."
At this the girl beamed in an instant. "OH! Yes we were hoping someone would notice it!" With that she turned to one of the chef's. "Hey, Bobby!" Immediately the dark blue haired man looked over at her. "We finally got someone interested in taking up the job!"
"Oh thank goodness!," his sigh of relief was immediate as well as his smile. "We've been short staffed for a while."
You blinked. "Short staffed?"
'Bobby' you guessed, nodded. "We've had a hard time for a few reasons. Since last year, Circhester has seen a boom in population, and a lot more tourists have been coming through so more people are coming into the business. Especially with the college back opening up and all the newcomers coming in it's been really busy. Two people aren't going to cut it anymore. That's why we've had to hire more help."
Ah. So that was it. "Oh..Well what kind of job are you looking for?"
"To be blunt, someone who can help man the register and clean. Maybe even wait tables," Bobby bluntly stated. "My brother and I are chefs so anything food related would be taken cared of by us." Oh. So just a front desk job kinda deal? "Do you have any experience in that sorta deal?"
"Kinda? I had a part time job in a bakery as a kid," you answered with a shrug, "I made food, cleaned, did dishes- Things like that."
Bobby lit up. "Oh good! That's good enough experience for me. When are you able to start?"
"Well I can come back tomorrow if it's a good time."
"That sounds perfect! Come back tomorrow morning and we can show you the ropes."
"Sounds good."
Well this was good. You got a job opportunity and it would be a great way to pay for everything you needed! Fast forward to the next day you left off to your new job first thing in the morning after feeding your pokemon and telling Zen to keep things handled until you returned and absolutely under NO circumstances fight! The last thing you needed was to pay for repairs on top of everything else. You arrived back at Bob's Your Uncle and was again greeted by the young lady who introduced herself as Sapphire and handed you a white apron with the cafe's logo on the front.
"Here. Put this on and I'll walk you through what we're doing today." After it was securely tied around you she guided you to behind the counter and pointed out to where a few things were. Napkins, spices, salt and pepper, extra cups- "And the beverages are in the glass bottles behind you, but any adult beverages needs only goes to those with an I.D. proving they're over twenty one. You'll be helping me waiting tables, bringing customers there food, helping me behind the counter, and cleaning up the front of the store. Bobby and Billy Bob take care of the real heavy work in the back kitchen, but I handle the register for now. We're also aloud to keep any tips we get."
"Sweet. So when do we start?"
"Now. All we do is wait for customers and do what I just explained."
Well...It was exactly like she said. Customers come in, you took their orders, gave them their food, helped Sapphire clean up, and then return home for the day around five or six. Wash rinse and repeat day after day until February ended and March began. Maybe not the most ideal option for you but it paid the bills and it gave you what you needed to help care for the houndoom. He seemed to be doing a lot better than he did just two weeks ago. On your first opportunity you had taken him to the local pokemon center to have Nurse Joy look over him, and it turned out he went from sixty two to sixty eight pounds. He gained six pounds! That was good! He was almost back to his normal weight which was good. He also seemed to be getting along just fine. He still wouldn't let you touch him, and he still glared at you and your pokemon, Silver was still keeping his distance from the houndoom and Zen was still keeping a close eye on him as if any moment ready to tackle the dog pokemon to the ground again. But he seemed..calmer. He didn't make any moves to harm you or your pokemon, and he came when he was called whenever you gave him food or water, so you guessed he trusted you a bit in that regard. About another two weeks passed uneventfully and peacefully, you still went to work and paid your dues and made sure that houndoom was getting in better shape than before. It's been nearly a month since you had him in your custody now and he didn't look that skinny anymore. In fact..during the last two weeks it seemed like he gained more weight around the waist and stomach too! Which was good. He was getting there! You again brought him to Nurse Joy by the end of the next two weeks to discover he was now at seventy four pounds! He was making great progress! You still did what Nurse Joy advised to do however until he was able to regain his full weight. In the meantime you were fine with just still doing your own thing until one day things changed for a bit. A third week went by and it was Friday afternoon, nothing really out of the ordinary other than you having your back to the cafe busy restocking some glasses and other things on the shelf before you got that weekend off, you already planned to take your pokemon out that weekend and get them some exercise and do a few more things but what you weren't expecting was a VERY familiar face walking into the cafe.
"Hey You! I was expectin' your cute face back sometime! Been a while since I last saw ya!," you heard Sapphire's voice greet someone familiar. Must've been one of the regulars. "Ya'll here for the usual?"
"*sigh* Yeah. It's been a pretty busy time for me lately. And..no. I wanna place a large order? My Ma asked me to pick up some fast food for dinner tonight."
"Oh! She just called in a little while ago! The chefs are workin' as we speak. Why don't you sit down and have a drink while you wait? I can put the charge on your tab."
"That sounds great! Uh..Hey how long until they get done?"
"I can run to the back and check for ya. Go ahead and have a seat. Ok?"
"Sure. Thanks!"
You paid no attention to Sapphire as she went through the door leading into the kitchen and just continued to stock the shelf with instant noodle cups for anyone wanting a quick instant noodle curry. You still had your back to the man who came in and heard him after a moment slowly walk over and take a seat in the stool seat behind you.
"Uh hey. Can I have a mug of ginger ale on ice?"
That's when you turned to look at him, and nearly dropped the instant noodle cup in your hands when you saw none other than Gordie sitting there arms leaning against the counter. The blonde gym leader also seemed shocked to see you because he froze and you saw the way his blue eyes widened in shock behind his sunglasses as you both just stared at one another. Ten seconds of silence passed between you two before you finally broke it by asking-
"Gordie!?"
"Y-Y/n!?," he sputtered practically dazed, "I-..You-..I mean-...W-Wot are you doin' here?!''
"I'm..working?" You held up the instant ramen cup as proof of that. "I had to get a job if I want to be able to afford the hotel and everything else I need. What are you doing here?"
"I-I-I-...*AHEM*" In an attempt to regain some composure, he turned away and reached a hand to fiddle with his glasses. "I-I'm here to pick up an order my Ma called in. My lil brothers wouldn't stop pesterin' her for take out tonight."
"Oh. That's really nice of you. ...Did you still want that drink?"
"Um..Yeah. I'd like that. Thanks."
He sat there and watched as you grabbed a glass mug, waiting patiently before a mug of ginger soda and ice was placed down in front of him. "Here you go!"
"Thanks!" He smiled softly and took it from you with a sigh. "Been a while since I had this. A-Anyways, how have you been?" He questioned raising a brow and head tilting at you in interest. "Been a while since I've seen you around town too."
"I've been good. Got a job, paying the bills, taking care of my babies-...Y'know how it goes."
"Oh! Since you brought that up-" He took a moment to just take a gulp of that drink, ice tinking against the glass before he placed it back down, the glass making a 'thud' noise against the wooden countertop. "Ah...As I was sayin'. I looked into that matter of yours concerning the pokemon ya found."
You stopped staring at him. He got info concerning the houndoom? "I-..Yeah. And what did you find out?"
"Well I ran it past someone I knew who works in laws-," he explained pointing a finger from the hand holding the mug at you, "-and by Galarian law, any lost or abandoned pokemon still bound to a pokeball is free game for anyone unless the original owner claims it within a month's time with proof of ownership. Then the pokemon by default either goes to the one who found it or into the rotomi system to be eventually reclaimed or released into the wild."
You...blinked for a moment. "I-...R-Really?"
He nodded. "Has this..'roommate' of yours tried at all to come get 'em?"
He hummed as you shook your head no. "No. Not at all. I don't even know where she went." You had no idea whether or not Emerald had come back at all or not since you last saw her to look for her houndoom, but if she did..wouldn't she have found you by now? A lot of people already stared at you for openly walking around with two non-native pokemon. You were sure if she just asked around, she'd have found you. "I haven't seen her since school let out months ago."
Gordie hummed again seeming to think a moment..before sighing. "Well then, since it's already been months, by law that houndoom's yours now unless you surrender it to the Pokemon Center or gave it away." He finished that sentence by taking another deep gulp of his drink.
"Mine? I didn't think Cerberus would be abandoned like this-"
Thud- He gave you a puzzled look from behind those glasses. "...Cerberus? Who's that?"
"Wha- Oh. That's what I call him." he rose his brow more. "The houndoom."
Now this caught him by surprise because Gordie's face gained an expression like you'd grown another head. "You named it?"
"It's a him actually. And no I didn't 'name' him exactly. I just gave him a nickname since I got tired of calling him 'Houndoom' all the time...But I guess now it is his name if he's stuck with me."
"You name your pokemon?", Gordie asked more to himself than you but you rose a brow back.
"Yes. I named all my pokemon...Why do you ask? Is it weird to you?"
In an instant he held up his free hand. "W-Wha- N-NO! I-I ain't findin' it weird! I-I just-...I don't know many people who d-do that. It makes you look...c-compassionate."
Now it was your turn to be surprised as you blinked at him. "...Compassionate?"
He nodded and all of a sudden his face seemed a bit pinker as his eyes looked to the side. "Y-Yeah..I don't know of m-many people who name their pokemon unless they're real attached to 'em. A-And they care about them enough to give 'em a name in the first place, like-..They see 'em more than just tools ta battle with..With how you're takin' care of the poor hound- Uh..'Cerberus'. I can help know a person's character better with those lil facts."
Again you remained silent and Gordie feeling awkward used the silence to continue drinking his ginger ale as an excuse to keep busy. But he thought you were...Compassionate? He judged you as so based on one little detail you shared?
"That's...awfully nice of you to say so," you settled on after getting your thoughts together, "But how could you deduce that about me? We barely know one another."
"Hm?" He finally glanced at you and blinked, taking a moment to process what you said- "Oh. Well I just listen to what you have to say." He shrugged leaning back against the countertop. "When you're around so many people who wanna talk to ya, and being a big brother, you pick up on a person's words and their meanings pretty quickly."
"Really? Can you always tell what someone's personality is by just talking with them?"
"A bit-...But not all the time and I obviously don't know someone's full person unless I spend time with them a whole lot or knew them a long time. But a lot of the time I can at least get a good feel for why they're talking to me. Whether it be cuz they're a fan or looking for attention..." His eyes narrowed. "Or something more selfish...*sigh* It's sorta like a gut feeling? Sixth sense? Whatever you wanna call it, I get after hearing people talk to me. ..Sorry. I must sound crazy."
"No. I don't think you do. I guess everyone has a sixth sense about things. That just makes you really unique!''
He was about to open his mouth to thank you when the door the kitchen opened back up and Sapphire came back out. "Ok. They're almost done but it'll be another ten minute til it's done." She paused blinking at the sight of you two before smiling. "I see you met our newest worker. Y/n's just joined us for around three weeks now!"
"Yeah! We know each other actually!," you happily said smiling and looking back to him. "Which reminds me, your mom said she'd call some other gym leaders. How'd that go?"
"Oh. Well Piers honestly doesn't know a whole bunch about houndooms, but Kabu originally coming from Hoenn knows a bit more about other regional fire types than anyone. He said if you're unable to handle it, he'd gladly take it in and train it up."
"Oh..Actually I haven't made up my mind about that yet. But I will let you know if it ever comes to that. I have to finish restocking the shelves now, but it was really good seeing you again! Say hello to your mother for me."
"Uh..Y-Yeah. I'll do that for ya."
Ten minutes passed. You finished restocking the shelves, Sapphire brought out Gordie's food, and Gordie finished his pint before paying and giving a small hand salute before taking his food and walking out the door, bell jingling as he departed. You smiled and waved after him but paused when Sapphire held up a twenty dollar bill to your face making you blink.
"..Oh. Is that from him paying for the drink?"
"No. He says this is your tip."
Your mind blanked for a moment. "...What!? No way!"
"Yes way. He asked me to hand it to you after he paid. You two must be real good pals, eh?"
You slowly took the twenty from here, "I-...I guess so, b-b-but I wasn't expecting THIS!!" You stared at the twenty in your hands in amazement. Before shaking your head. No. Gordie was obviously very well off being not only a gym leader but a very popular one, he could probably afford to spare a big tip when he wanted. "It was nice of him tho. I bet he always does this."
"Well..yeah he does leave a generous tip whenever he eats here, but that's the first time I've ever seen him give out that big o' a bill! He must really like you then!"
"More like probably feels sorry for me." Or he gave this to you by accident which wouldn't be too far a stretch, but you were grateful to him either way. Again, Gordie was a really nice guy.
It went like this for the rest of March and the first few days of April. Gordie would sometimes come in and stop for a drink or something to eat, smiling and making small talk with you and sometimes Sapphire while you worked and left tips that ranged anywhere between ten to twenty dollars each. Which was-...Strange, but you weren't complaining or ungrateful in the slightest. It just seemed strange as Sapphire and the chefs didn't seem to get the same amount in tips, the most you saw them each get was ten dollars in one go, which again was a pretty good tip. Other things were working out in your favor too. You managed to call Sonia that weekend and asked her to send you a couple copies of her two books and the research she did on the discoveries of the true heroes of Galar, you managed to save up some money, and when checking back in with Nurse Joy, you found Cerberus had gained back his weight fully and was making his way back to being stronger, and you had planned on getting a few things you needed for your school project next year. Thanks to Emerald talking (complaining loudly and annoyedly-) in detail about most of the projects all second year Standard Course students had to do. If you did some of the hard projects earlier then you'd be able to just turn it in without having to worry about stressing over it later with deadlines looming over your head. At the moment you were just in Circhester's local grocery store just going through and picking up a few items on your list.
"Goose?" Zen tilted his head at your form, his arms full of items you had him and Silver help you carry. And he sniffed at the array of objects and gave a grunt sound when you placed a couple of microave TV dinners in his arms adding to what he was already carrying, making Silver chirp.
"Sorry, Sil. But you'd just try to eat everything I handed you." Silver scowled with another noise. "Hey! Last time we were here, you drank two bottles of milk and then I had to get more plus pay for the ones you drank! So you can just carry the non edible stuff!" Silver still frowned but you were distracted by a muffled bark and you turned around noticing Cerberus had somehow gotten ahold of a decently sized bag of the specialized fire type food you had to buy him. He sat there proudly tail wagging and a bag of food so big it halfway dragged on the ground by his feet. How did he-...Oh yeah. Pokemon. They were pretty strong. Duh! "Uh...*sigh* Good boy, Cerby." You rewarded with a tired smile and sigh. "That's a big bag of dog-..Uh. Food. That should last us for a while." Never mind it was WAY bigger than the bags you usually get. "All we need is Silver and Zen's foods and we can leave-"
"*BARK!!*" 
The bag of food was dropped with a thud sound and you watched him paddle off with a sigh, leaning down to pick up the bag. Guess you were buying a bigger bag this time around to avoid hurting Cerberus's feelings, he had just been warming up to you after all after he noticed you weren't going to treat him badly- THUMP!! Both you and your other two pokemon looked up as a thump sound followed by a dragging sound was heard and you found out the reason why when an equally big bag of water type pokemon food was dragged over to you by Cerberus and then dropped it in front of you. It was the kind you usually got for Silver. 
"I- You-...*sigh* Thank you, Cerb. But I can-"
"BARK!!"
You only watched deadpanned as he did it yet again and watched as he dragged the expensive normal type food bag (Zen needed it being a none native pokemon too-) over to you and dropped it on top of the first two bags with another thump. You deadpanned stared at the three very expensive food bags before looking up at Cerberus who panted and wagged his pointed tail happily.
"...Zen. Hand Silver the basket. I'm gonna need your help carrying these back."
Whelp. Thanks how it went. You had Silver (drag-) carry the groceries, with Zen carrying the other half plus one of the giant bags, while you struggled to carry the other two bags with you. It must've looked funny to anyone else watching a woman stumble down the street with heavy bags blocking half her view being followed by three pokemon, two carrying groceries, and two being none native Galarian pokemon as well. Well it wasn't funny to you who couldn't tell if you were heading back to the hospital or not because the bags blocked half your view while your noodle arms struggled to hold onto the weight of the giant bags. Each step feeling as if you would lose your grip on them any moment- Until you did. One of the bags leaned too far to the left and you gave a yell as you slipped from the weight. Both giant bags tumbling to the ground with a loud sound and you faceplanted right on top of them with a loud thud. Snowflakes were thrown up from the collapse and there you laid stunned for a long moment-...Until Cerberus nudged your head with a paw in question. You groaned and looked up with a frown on your face, shaking the stray snow from your head before staring at the bags on the ground. Great. At least none of the bags busted open.
"Great. At this rate it'll take me until tomorrow morning to get home." You looked about ready to start lifting those bags again when a tall shadow fell over you making you blink, and then you looked up- 
"Y/n?" A man in a coat lifted his sunglasses and you saw a head of blonde hair poke out from under his hood.
"Gordie!?," you asked back equally surprised. "...What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way to my Ma's for Friday dinner and I saw your lot." He then kneeled down to one knee eye level with you. "You 'lright? Ya fell with a splat on those things."
"*sigh* Yeah. I'm fine." You waved him off. "Just not used to carrying something this heavy. It'll take me til tomorrow morning to get all of this back to the hotel."
Gordie didn't say anything for a moment before he just held out his hand to you and you blinked for a moment, before registering that he was offering to help you up, so slowly you took his hand and with one strong pull you were on your feet wobbling a bit but didn't fall over before he let go of your hand as you went to dust yourself off. You opened your mouth to thank him, but paused when he kneeled back down and you stared stunned when he picked UP your giant food bags with ease and with a grunt, easily lifted them up, one on his shoulder and the other held under his arm with ease with a smile on his face.
"Right. Which hotel room should I drop these o' at?"
You stared faw dropped for a moment before shaking your head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute. You can't just carry those for me!"
"Well considerin' ya can't carry 'em, I'll have to help ya as my duty as gym leader." With a smile he then turned and began walking towards the hotel and you naturally followed him.
"Hey wait! What about dinner with your family?"
"Their house ain't that far away and I can afford to be late one time. No worries!"
"Yeah but-...UGH! At least slow down!" He chuckled and you frowned. "It's NOT funny!"
Well Gordie did NOT listen to you. In fact he just carried on all the way to the hotel making everyone stare at his chuckling form followed by your red face and three pokemon, but he only continued not putting the bags down until you showed him to your room but stopped him at the door.
"Ok. You can put them down here."
"Are ya sure?"
"Y-Yeah. I can have Zen bring them in from here. It's not a problem."
"Hm...Well if you're sure." He took a moment to place down the bags against the wall. "There ya go. That atta tide you over."
"Thanks for the help! You've been a real big help lately actually."
"Uh.." He coughed and turned away cheeks tinting a light pink. "W-W-Well i-it's my duty as gym leader. Y'know? A-And I'd feel bad just leavin' a friend like that when you needed a hand!"
You smiled. "Well it was still really nice of you to do so. Guess I was lucky a strong and handsome man was around to save me," you joked with a chuckle but Gordie gawked at you for a moment before you turned towards the door. "Well I better get inside and put everything away. Thanks again for the help! Tell your Mom I said hi!" You opened the door-
"WAIT!!" You jumped from the sudden yell and blinked at Gordie who held out a hand....before he coughed and looked away again. "I-I mean-...I-I'm hostin' a party for Circhester's Foundation Day next Wednesday...I'd be really cool i-if you'd come. I m-mean-...You're gonna be in Circhester for a while right? Haha! It'd b-be a good way f-for you to meet some of the people who l-live here-"
"That sounds great, but I can't. I have to work that day. I'm sorry."
"Huh?...Oh. Yeah. R-Right. *ahem* That's cool! I c-can dig it! I-If you change your mind however-..You're free to come without a doubt! Ya can't miss it since it'll be in the town square."
"I'll think about it. Shouldn't be hard to spot you anyways. You'll the tall, strong, and hansdome center piece of it all!," you again joked with a chuckle not noticing how frozen and red he had gotten. "Well I'll see you later. Thanks again for the help! You're a life saver!"
You then disappeared into your hotel room followed by your pokemon, and the door soon after closed with Gordie just standing there for a long moment...before he gulped feeling like a melting snowman under the heat his red face put out.
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eggillustration · 1 year
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Artists Research- Nan Goldin
Notes from Nan Goldin 55 Phaidon “with nan holdings photography, a certain kind of critical caution is unnecassary” Photographs draw you into their world- both interrogating and being interrogated “- her photography succeeds in using common archetypes, collective memories, stories which most of us can identify” “-seen as a mirror held up to her generation, or as a disenchanted record of recent moments in our collective experience” Romantic artist, anti ideological. Beyond the traditional conventions of photography- raises issues such as the relationship between- individual and collective history, prose and poetry. Creating narratives that cut across official history. “What aspects of ourselves do we recognise in her?” Her appetite for the truth- her disregard for the fact that what is true can also be uncomfortable, tiresome, compromising. She is gripped by the need to hold on to what would otherwise disappear or be forgotten. “(Her photos have) to much life, too much truth in them”- reject pretence or illusion. Her photographs have a roughness typical of reportage - but more intimate, private, participatory. “Pure determination to capture the moment, free from domination by abstract constructs of art” More human, genuinely sad and truthful. Interest in the soul of a person Individual shots- belonging to a more complex narrative. “It is possible neither to make a critique nor to obtain redemption” Claustrophobic hues Social rituals and communal life Pushing boundaries of social taboos Rooms as portraits
Notes from The ballad of sexual dependancy Nan Goldin pictures come of relationships, not observation Instant of photographing is a moment of clarity and emotional connection. Preserve the sense of peoples lives. Show exactly what the world looks like, without glamorisation, without glorification. Memory vs history- history is memorised repeatable, safe. Real memory triggers colour, smell sound, physical presence, density and flavour of life. Controlled and uncontrolled at the same time- record every detail of life- allows to remember Examines relationships, gender roles, domestic violence, solidarity among women, fragility of masculinity. “I don’t really remember my sister. In the process of leaving my family, in recreating myself, I lost the real memory of my sister. I remember my version of her, of the things she said, of the things she meant to me. But I don’t remember the tangible sense of who she was, her presence, what her eyes looked like, what her voice sounded like. I don’t ever want to be susceptible to anyone else’s version of my history. I don’t ever want to lose the real memory of anyone again”.
“I took the pictures in this book so nostalgia couldn’t ever colour my past. I realise I took the picture of myself battered so I wouldn’t go back to the man that beat me up”. “I thought I could save off loss through photographing. I thought if I photographed anyone or anything enough I would never loose the person, I would never loose the memory. I would never loose the place. But the pictures show me how much I’ve lost”. Photography as means to understand and survive- to preserve life.
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deadcuntry · 1 year
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I quit my job yesterday.
I’d clung on for as long as I could. And it was a really fun place to be for a good amount of time, honestly. I remember waking up excited to go there because my coworkers were fun to be around, the regulars were a trip, and you never knew what you were gonna see brought in by consigners. I never missed a day, never called out, and covered every shift I was asked. I don’t need to get into why and how it all went south, probably because it’s not unique in any way. Management did what management does. Two of my coworkers are now some of my closest friends. I hope they get out soon too, because the two managers in charge are getting worse and worse with every passing day.
My favorite regulars could turn a rough day into a good one. Liz and Gloria told me at our first meeting that I “didn’t belong there,” that I was “meant for something better.” Which is kind of wild to say to a person you don’t know. Gloria pulled me aside after that and said, “are you an artist? I can tell you’re real talented.” Which hit me like a ton of bricks as I hadn’t created anything substantial in months at that point.
I saw Gloria four days ago and she said to me, “I keep anticipating the day i don’t see you here anymore, because you’re gonna be a star and I’m gonna see you in lights.” I met her granddaughter yesterday.
Roxanne read palms and fortunes. She told me my lifeline was strangely long and that I’m also iron deficient. She wanted me to call her but I lost her number. Melanie Stafford knew all about gemstones and precious metals. We talked about jewelry, the value of amber, and Patsy Cline all the time.
Reda would bring in the weirdest stuff. Items he got from storage lockers or something. Signed portraits of Julia Roberts, Singer sewing machines from the 30s, a whole-ass working pottery kiln. He’d been getting frustrated at the pricing of his items by management and had told me more than once that it wasn’t fair. (It wasn’t.) When he heard I love cassette technology he brought me cassettes for recording and just gave them to me. I hope he starts taking his stuff elsewhere.
And then there was the elderly woman known in the store only as “The Jewelry Lady.” She would either come in early and stay at the jewelry counter for hours, or come in 30 minutes to close. Most of my coworkers were too awkward to tell her to leave, it was so funny. She’d keep you busy up at the counter pulling pieces all day and talking about how it’s from qvc. She’d talk about how sad it made her when pieces are melted down and destroyed. She was also always stealing. I helped her do it a few times too. (We all did.)
I guess I really liked working there. Now I have to find another job, but I can rest for a minute and recharge. Thinking about setting up a Depop for some of the stuff I got from there. I can also finally be more present in the lives of my friends and family. I think I’m gonna move to St. Louis in 2023.
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dromjournal · 2 years
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June 15 2022
I'm in a part of town I'm unfamiliar with, but feels like it's in or close to my hometown. I walk up a street (there's a lot of hills so you're mostly going either up or down) and passes a bunch of shops. One of the shops sell popcorn. At the top, or at least as far as I get, there is some kind of attraction. It looks like a large slide or waterslide more like, but without the water. There's three slides side by side, with only a small rail dividing them. I decide that why not and ask to try it. At this moment it's just maybe one or two other people trying it out. Everyone goes one at a time, despite the three slides.
I go. Inside the slide, there is body parts sort of like the golden rings in video games you can catch. Mostly like, hands and feet. If you touch them they disappear with a little ping and glitter. Since I'm the only one, I reach over to touch the ones in the adjacent lanes too.
When I get out at the bottom I am surprised to feel like I have changed. Just subtly, not completely, but I'm a bit more conventionally attractive than before. With this weird idea in mind, I go back up and tries the slide again to find out that I definitely didn't imagine it.
I'm not the only one noticing this. More people start showing up, flocking even to the slide. The lanes fill up and people come in with very specific mental images.
People start disappearing. They go in but never comes out on the other side. There is some factor that makes certain people disappear, but no one knows what. Still, people keep going in because they want the change that bad. The operators are starting to look less and less human, limbs too long and moving in strange ways. People must notice, but they still don't care since the operators are still helpful and polite if you talk to them.
I start talking to an older man that had chickened out last second, and he tells me about his friends and people he had known of that had gone on the slide and what happened. I start to come to my own conclusion, taking it all in.
Basically, what I figure out, is that if you want to change you can't want it because you think you'll change for the better. This makes more sense in my mind in the dream, but I'm gonna try to explain. There's an old lady he talks about, she used to be very pretty with a lot of male attention and wants to go on the slide to go back to how she used to look because she feels that her current body is worthless in comparison. I on the other hand also want to change, not because I hate the body I already got, but because there's other features I've always wanted. The slide eats her, because if she comes out looking the same she will be disappointed. It lets me pass, because if I come out the same I would just shrug my shoulders. The thing is though that the more times you go, the easier it is to get obsessed with your appearance and changing it.
I've gone through a few times so I'm unsure if I should really risk it with another ride.
I notice a really small barely visible fourth lane leading kinda in under the others. I ask about it. The ride operator kinda creeps me out with how their body twists and turns towards me, getting all close with their dead smile and eyes. It feels like they are trying to discourage me.
I go on the tiny slide anyway, though it's so small I'm not sure how I even fit, sliding through just barely. Instead of a steady descent this one drops out of view almost immediately. In difference to the others there's no body parts to catch here, instead I end up in s room with a large screen wishing me welcome and shows a rough sketch of a body. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do,but theres a timer counting down. I say something and the screen starts drawing on the portrait, changing stuff about it. I realize I can make it look however I want and I try it out to make a character but I don't have much time left, so I go over to the last part of the slide.
I am dropped off at the same place as every other time, and I don't realize immediately something is different. I don't expect anything to be. But it doesn't take long at all to realize this body is different than my usual somehow. I use a window as a mirror to see that I am now a spitting image of the drawing in the room. Parts of me has changed that shouldn't be possible, like my hair is longer and my ears are larger and my body is shaped differently. You could change small parts of yourself with the normal slide already, sure, but it was really just stuff like rejuvenation. You still looked like yourself. This was something different entirely. This was a new person staring back in the reflection.
Now that I've understood how the drawing worked, I go back up to ride again. I hesitate a bit, thinking I might be too excited, but my curiosity wins out. I go on the slide again and this time when I end up in the room I immediately start drawing a picture of how I'd wish to look. It's tall, androgynous, sharp face, kinda asian for some reason.
It works. I end up looking like a character from an anime or drama. Looking back I kinda feel like I should've gotten eaten for that.
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proserpina-magnus · 3 years
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Yay your requests are open! 😄 Could you pleeeease write a Dom poly!marauders (no Peter) x sub!reader, where it’s a new-ish relationship between the 4 and the reader breaks her first rule, leading to her first punishment and they can all see she’s nervous so they are soft!doms during (you can decide the rule she breaks and the punishment🙊) and the aftercare they give her 🥺
Yes absolutely, it’s kinda rough and I didn’t realize how lengthy it was! This is actually not that good and the aftercare could be better but I hope you like it!
First Punishment’s (R.L, J.P, S.B)
Reader: fem (she/her)
Word count: 2.6
Warning: swearing, rule breaking, spanking, bratty reader (sorta), d/s (sorta heavy?) Remus is the main dom, safe words are definitely in place, lots of aftercare and praises, reader becomes a cry baby super fast, soft doms, Sirius actually doesn’t show up that much and that sucks :(
p.s: my bad spelling also plays a role in this!
There were only a few solid rules the Marauders had set for you, no back talk, no touching yourself sexually without permission, and always thank them when they give you something. They had a few smaller rules specifically for themselves, such a James saying you can’t cuss while Sirius allows it. Remus has to approve your outfit before going out to hogsmeade. Sirius, surprisingly, doesn’t have many rules other than the main ones.
It must have been a bad day or you just felt bratty, because you had been tempting their rules all day. You had gone out to hogsmeade with your dorm mates, not checking with Remus about your outfit. When you returned, a bag full of honey duke treats, you got stopped by Remus in the hallway. He shoo’d your dormmates away, an eyebrow raised with his hands crossed over his chest.
You shrunk slightly, fiddling with the edge of your rather small skirt that Sirius had gifted to you just days ago.
“Bun, did you forget to do something?” He asked and you nodded. Yet you and Remus both knew you had done it on purpose.
“What did you forget?”
“To check with you,” you mumbled, distracting yourself with flattening the fabric of James jumper you had stolen.
“To check with me about what?”
“M’outfit,” you whispered and you caught Remus's stern look and spoke up. “M’outfit sir,”
“mmh,” was all he said, giving you an opportunity to apologize to him properly. You dug through your bag, taking out a chocolate bar you had gotten him.
“But I went to get you guys sweets!” You excused yourself, pushing the chocolate in Remus's hand. Remus shook his head, taking the chocolate. “Alright, I’ll let you off this time. But no matter what your excuse is, it doesn't mean you can go around flaunting your ass to Hogsmeade, understand?”
“I’m not flaunting my ass!” You exhaled quickly, pushing down your skirt as you began to get offended. Remus raised his eyebrow, “I’m sorry?” And you grew quiet. Real quiet.
“Hey lovely,” you heard James call from behind you, you had turned around to see him race down the hall and swing an arm around your waist, a big smile on his face.
“What’s the issue?” James got the tension and Remus motioned for you to explain yourself.
“Went to hogsmeade without checking my outfit with Remus,” you whispered rudely, James raised an eyebrow as he didn’t quite catch it.
“Hm? Speak up poppet,” he said, and you sighed and said it again louder this time.
“Oh let her off this one time Remus, she must have forgotten,” James defended you, rubbing your back so you knew he was on your side.
“I was,” Remus started, irking slightly as he recalled how you talked back. “But instead she told me off for my offer,”
James grew confused, looking down at you. “Love, that’s not true is it?” He asked, pinching your cheek and you pushed his hand away. You thought he was on your side.
“Remus said I was flaunting my ass! I wasn’t! And even if I was, what's the problem with that? I’ll flaunt my ass whenever I want!” You huffed, another small rule broke at your words. Remus rolled his tongue over his teeth, James folding his arms over his chest. Oh dear lord, you were in for it now if you kept going.
“This isn’t far, it’s 2 against one,” you pointed out as you now realized James wasn’t on your side. You copied them, crossing your arms over your chest.
“It wouldn’t have been 2 against one if you didn’t break a rule,” Remus reminded you, you grew frustrated.
“Well I don’t like your stupid rules,” you stated, now you began to get worried. Why did you keep talking, it wasn’t too late for you to apologize and say you were sorry.
“Up to our dorm,” James said roughly and grasped your elbow, you shook him off and stepped back. “No I don’t wanna,” you said and they both let out a laugh.
“Come on, we’re not asking again,” Remus said, you felt your nerves jitter. You’ve never been punished before and the worry began to build quickly.
“No,” you said, shaking your head as you took another step back. Your back hit a person and you cursed yourself. Without turning around, you knew it was Sirius. But hopefully, you prayed he was on your side. Sirius must have read your thoughts, because he quickly said a “they’re right bun, you know if you break a rule you get punished,”
You frowned, huffing out as you realized there wasn’t a chance to escape now. “Fine,” you muttered, pulling away from Sirius as you began to walk down the hall to the portrait. They followed behind, Remus shaking his head.
You stopped at the portrait, arms still crossed over your chest as they said the password and led you upstairs to their dorm. With the thud of the door being closed, you felt the need for a meltdown.
They hadn't discussed what kind of punishment went with each rule, they hadn’t thought they wouldn't need to punish their good girl. James had insisted you would never break a rule, but apparently he was wrong.
They picked up that you were worried, but they couldn’t just let it slide, you’d think that breaking rules was okay and that you could get away with it.
You walked over and set your bag down on James' dresser, sitting down on his bed, hands still folded over your chest.
“Okay, cool off,” James said and walked over to you. “I want you to know we aren’t punishing you while mad, that’s not how this is going to work,” he stated, and Remus nodded.
“We honestly hadn’t planned out a punishment, we thought you would be good,” Sirius said, that hurt. “I am good!” You replied, upset at the fact they didn’t think you were good.
“Hey, you’re not on thin ice anymore missy, I’d watch what you say if I were you,” Remus snapped and you went quiet with a frown.
“We know you’re a good girl,” James soothed over, giving a glare to Sirius. “That’s not what he meant,”
You began to open your mouth for a snappy comment, maybe even going as far as to call James dumb, but you closed your mouth and stayed silent. “Okay,” you nodded, “I understand,”
“You know why we have to punish you?” Sirius asked, and you nodded. “Say it, we want to know that you know what you did was wrong,”
“I broke a rule, well two rules,”
“Two rules?” Sirius questioned, he had missed the start of the backlash. “She went out to Hogsmeade without my permission for her outfit,” Remus cleared up.
“technically she actually broke three,” James said, your eyes opened as you looked over at him. How could he? You felt the need to cry, they seemed really upset. Who knew you would hate them being upset at you so much?
“Three?” You questioned in pure confusion.
“You cussed, you know I don’t like that,” James explained with a hand on your thigh, you nodded in defeat. “It’s alright, bun,” he kissed your cheek.
“James, don’t encourage that she can break your rules,” Remus advised and your shoulder slumped at the fact this wasn’t a time for you to get praises.
“Alright, let’s discuss punishments, she’s scared I don’t like that,” Sirius said and sat opposite of you, Remus took a seat on the chair by James dresser.
“You want us to list some?” James asked, “we won’t do anything without your permission,” he explained and rubbed your knee, you sighed but was a bit confused.
“You can use your safe word any time you feel unsafe, even during punishments. We never want you to be scared of us, okay?” Remus said, rubbing your cheek and you nodded. You leaned your face in his palm, you wanted to soak up all the affection before your punishment.
“We need clarification, you understand bun,” Sirius said, you opened your eyes when Remus pulled his hand away. “I understand, I can use my safe word whenever I need to, even during punishments,” you nodded along, slowly the nerves began to settle.
“Good girl,” James praised, “don’t think we’re going to praise you during punishments either, but since it’s your first time we’ll be more understanding,” Remus explained and you nodded.
“Alright, what about spanking? Not letting her cum for a certain amount of time? Degrading?” Sirius rushed out the ones off the type of his head, your stomach flipped at the word spanking.
They discussed punishments in front of you for a few minutes, some making you worry and others you nodded along like you’d enjoy it. You didn’t know why, but hearing them talk like you weren’t even there was making you feel dizzy.
“What about a simple time out? I don’t want to go all out for her first punishment, I don’t want her to be scared,” James said, rubbing your back gently.
“Let’s make her pick, that way she has control over the first punishment,” Remus said, looking away from Sirius as he kept his eyes on you. “We’ll let you pick this time, but don’t think you’ll get to pick the next time you break a rule,” he explained and you nodded.
“No punishment,” you choose and Sirius laughed, kissing your forehead. “That’s not how it works bunny,” he began and you sighed. You thought for another minute, spanking couldn’t be bad could it?
“I guess spanking,” you nodded, Remus nodded but James wasn’t so sure. “I don’t know, I still think we should give her a time out, maybe even not let her speak for a day or so,” James said, Sirius didn’t agree.
“She wants to be spanked, we’ll spank ‘er,” Sirius said, patting your thigh.
“The whole point of a punishment is that we don’t do what she wants, it’s not a punishment if she likes it,” James explained, you began to worry again.
“I don’t wanna do something scary,” you say, you thought about the discussion of the things you definitely didn’t want to do at the first of your relationship. Were they going to do something that was past your boundary? At the thought alone, you began to sob.
“James look what you did, you’re scaring her,” Sirius rolled his eyes as he took you in his arms, shushing you gently as he rubbed your back.
“M’don’t wanna do things past my boundary,” you sobbed, they all softened at the miscommunication. “Oh no poppet, we would never go past your boundary, that’s not what a punishment is,” James sighed, you sniffled and pulled back, wiping your eyes. “No?”
“Of course not,” Remus clarified, “like we said, safe words can be used during any moment you feel unsafe, do you need to use it now? We can postpone the punishment until you’re ready,”
You shook your head, “no, the faster the punishment is over the faster I can be your good girl again,” you whispered.
“That’s right, just focus on that huh? We’ll be so proud of you for taking the punishment like a good girl,” Sirius said, looking over at James and Remus. They all agreed and you wiped your cheeks.
“Okay but how many spanks? And how hard?” You asked, they all thought for a moment, james and Sirius looking over at Remus for the final answer.
“20 or so? That seems fair,” Remus states and the latter agree, you felt confident with being able to handle 20. “But how hard?” You asked, James stood you up and you felt a hard smack against your ass. You yelped, hand going over to rub the now red skin.
“Does that count as one?” You question, Remus was about to say no but Sirius caught him off. “Might as well,” he states, “who’s giving the punishment? Cant be me cause I’ll enjoy it too much,”
“I want James,” you say, but James shakes his head. “You upset Remus' earlier love, I’ll give you 10 and Remus will give you the other,” he says, looking over at Remus to see if he agrees. The taller boy nodded.
After a few minutes of questioning, you had situated yourself on James lap. Sirius laid on his bed, clear view of your now exposed ass (James had previously risen your skirt and pushed down your panties). You took a deep breath, Remus explaining once again that you could use your safe word whenever you needed.
With the first official smack, you sucked in a breath. There was a certain excitement about it, even the boys felt their heart race as James abused your soft flesh with a couple more smacks. Your skin red on both cheeks, James even went as far as to hitting the low of your thigh.
After the tenth smack, you had begun to let tears slip past your waterline. Sniffling as you sat up and moved to sit in Remus' lap. Once sprawled out, you whispered a small choked out “okay” for Remus to continue where James left off.
Remus’s spanks we’re harder than James, by the fourth you had become a whimpering mess. Your apologies for misbehaving leaked out every smack, it was like dominos. Your skin felt raw to the touch, the spanks stung.
Remus applied the last smack quickly, Sirius sitting up as James fell to his knee beside the bed, stroking your hair. “You did such a good job, poppet, made us so proud,” James whispered as Sirius passed Remus some cream.
Your face deep in the sheets, sobs admitting loudly as you feel the cool cream get rubbed into your hot skin. Sirius rubbed your leg, Remus finished and flipped your skirt down to hide your reddened ass.
“Look at that, you took your first punishment so good,” Sirius said, Remus helped you sit up as you wrapped your arms around his collar.
“M’so so sorry, never break a rule again,” you sobbed, vowing to never receive another punishment. Even though they knew a punishment was necessary, they felt their hearts stop at the sound of your cry.
“Oh baby, shh. Let’s get you some candy from your bag,” Sirius says, grabbing the honey duke's bag as he rummages through it. Remus guides you away from his neck, sitting you down in his lap. You hissed, the contact not feeling good on your abused behind.
James had opened a water bottle for you, pushing in a straw and holding it for you to drink. You nodded your thanks and shakily took it, sipping it graciously. Your eyes were puffy and red, James wiped your face with a tissue, cleaning your mascara from your cheeks.
Sirius had opened a pack of peppermint patties for you, you chewed on it gently and leaned against Remus’s back. After they got you calmed down, the praises had been never ending.
“Look at you, took your first punishment so well,”
“Good girl, best sub we will ever have, hm?”
“Took the spanks so well didn’t she, prongs?”
“She’s such a good girl, don’t you think moony?”
You felt dizzy at their compliments, nodding as they all came tumbling in at once. Sirius had begun brushing your hair, James kissing your cheeks to make you laugh.
“So proud of you poppet,” James whispered in your ear, you wrapped your arms around his neck as he picked you up.
“Let’s go run you a bath and soothe your skin hm? Then will bring you dinner and you can rest with us tonight,” James said, stepping into the bathroom.
“Okay, I’d like that,” you nod tiredly, resting your head on James' chest. Maybe being bratty wasn’t so bad.
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aurorablue22 · 3 years
Text
Scarface - Young!Remus Lupin x Reader
Summary: Somebody decides to mess with Moony. 
(A/N): This can be interpreted as a platonic or romantic relationship between Remus and the reader, it hasn’t been specified! Also, as far as I know, I have created the names and characters of Michael Bershire and his crowd. 
Warnings: violence, blood, mention of scars, heavy swearing. If you are sensitive to these things, please do not continue below the “keep reading” line. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a typical Sunday night for Remus Lupin. As per usual, he had picked up prefect duties for this evening, and wandered throughout the corridors of the castle. 
Midnight was fast approaching, and Remus paused for a moment. Due to him being a werewolf, his senses were amplified, meaning that one of his abilities was superb hearing. 
Lupin cocked his head towards the dungeon staircase, where he heard a bit of commotion. He didn’t even have a moment to approach the noise before the cause was revealed. 
Michael Bershire and his Slytherin gang. 
Remus forced himself not to roll his eyes. Of course, they just had to be out while he was on prefect rounds. 
It seemed that the five lads didn’t notice Remus until he cleared his throat. They quickly snapped their heads in his direction.
“Lupin, ol’ chap! What’re you doing out so late? Haven’t you got a book to read?” Michael Bershire held his head up high, an annoyingly perfect grin plastered on his face. His gelled auburn hair reflected so strongly the candlelight in the halls. 
Remus had to refrain from rolling his eyes as Bershire took a few steps forward. “Gentlemen, it’s approaching midnight. I’ll have to ask you to return to your dormitories.”
“Oh and that we will do! It’s just, we’re a bit preoccupied at the moment. Isn’t that right, lads?” Bershire looked back at his companions, who nodded fervently. 
Remus was taller than Bershire, but because of his horrible posture, they seemed to be on the same level. He bit back a grimace when Bershire’s painfully minty breath stung his eyes. 
“Now if you’ll excuse us, we have business to attend to.” Bershire dramatically turned, his house robes swishing behind him. 
“Well then,” Remus says, “I’m afraid I’ll have to report you to your head of house, and I don’t believe you’d want that to happen. So if you don’t mind-”
And just as dramatically, the Slytherin boy whipped around again. 
“What was that, Scarface?” 
Before Remus could even form words, Bershire was stalking towards him. 
“How dare you speak to me in such an authoritative tone? After all, you’re... well you’ve got mud in your veins!” 
“And blood on his face.” one of the boys behind him added. Remus recognized him to be Adam Percival, the greasiest boy he knew. 
“You’re right Perce, he does have blood on his face. What, was ol’ Minnie upset you didn’t grade her papers for her? Or was it-”
“Shut it, Bershire.” Remus tried his best to compose himself, but couldn’t seem to look away from his shuffling feet. The full moon was only a few days ago, and he’d been left with a couple scrapes around his jaw and cheeks. 
Michael Bershire was baffled. That is, until he came up with another one of his clever ideas. 
“Boys, I’d say we teach Lupin a little lesson. After all, he should know - given his crowd - that snitches are frowned upon.” The 5 Slytherins slowly stalked towards Remus. “And you know what they say-”
“Snitches get stitches.” 
It was then that Remus was swiftly grabbed by two of the boys, and his arms were held behind him as Bershire swung at his stomach. Once they’d decided he’d had enough, Remus’ arms were dropped and his knees buckled under their forceful kicks. 
They pushed him onto the ground where they continued to harm him; kicking and hitting with all their might. It seemed like ages before they let up. 
Slowly, they backed away, but not before Michael could kneel before Remus’ shaking form. 
“Remember what I said, Lupin.”
And with that, he stood up and hurried away, while Remus was left alone in the dark corridor. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius’ head perked up as Remus entered the common room portrait hole. 
“Moony you’re back! Merlin we thought you got lost-”
“Where ya been, mate?” James cut him off. “We had to play three extra rounds of exploding snap waitin’ for you!”
Peter sat up from his position in front of the fireplace. “Alright Moony? You seem kinda quiet-”
“Good Godric Remus, you look awful!” Sirius shouted when Lupin faced them. 
“Yeah, and I feel just as great.” he said, taking a seat on the worn out couch. 
James came to sit on the armrest beside him. “What happened Moons?”
After Remus came to explain the series of events, the rest of the Marauders were fuming. 
“Oh I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him!” Sirius shouted as he kicked over a coffee table.
“Sirius please, not now!” Remus groaned, covering his ears. “All I want right now, is to go to my room, and get a good night’s rest. Alright? I’ll deal with this bullshit in the morning.” 
“Here, we’ll help you up.” James offered his arm, to which Remus took politely. Just as they were lifting the lycanthrope off the couch, they heard giggles coming from the staircase leading to the girls dormitories. 
“Who’s there?” Peter whisper shouted, receiving a “You bloody idiot!” and a slap from Sirius. 
“It’s just us!” Marlene whisper shouted back, as she, followed by you and Lily, entered the common room. 
“What the hell are you doing up?”
“Nice to see you too, Black.” Marlene raised an eyebrow. 
“If you really wanted to know, we were hungry, and figured the house elves might have some snacks for us. What’s your excuse?” Lily said, crossing her arms over her pajama top. 
“Remus just got back from prefect duties, figured we would-”
“Sweet Merlin Remus, what happened to you?” you suddenly exclaimed, making Peter jump. 
You rushed over to him, taking hold of his face, forcing him to look at you. 
“It’s nothing (Y/N), really. My transformation was a little rough, that’s all-”
“Remus, your transformation was three days ago. What the bloody hell is all this?!”
“Bershire beat him up.” James confessed. 
Remus turned to face Potter, shooting imaginary daggers at him. 
“She was bound to find out anyway! Besides, look what he’s bloody done!”
“Michael Bershire did this to you? That bastard-” 
Remus gently removed your hands from his face. “Listen, I appreciate your concern, but I really don’t want to deal with this right now. Can somebody please just help me to my room?” 
The boys swooped in and half carried Remus to their dormitories, while you and your girls quietly said goodnight. 
“Can you fucking believe that?!”
“Marlene, hush.”
“That fucking twat. Oh, I can’t wait to see what the boys have in store for him. I bet-”
“Marlene, please! Remus said he didn’t want to deal with this right now, so we’re dropping the subject. I say we go back to our rooms and get some rest.”
“But I’m hungry!”
“Swallow your spit. Now c’mon.” Lily ushered Marlene back up the stairs, before turning back and taking your hand. 
“You alright, (Y/N/N)?” she gave you a knowing look. 
“I’m with Marlene. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for him.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lily was the earliest riser in your dorm. That being said, she took it upon herself to wake the rest of you up in the morning. You’d had a half decent sleep, and as you rubbed your eyes awake, you heard the playful banter of Marlene and Alice.
“Marls, get a move on!! You know what we said about those Hollywood showers!”
“It’s Americano, Ally!”
“I don’t give a damn what it is! Get out!”
You and Lily were ready before the rest of the girls, so you walked arm in arm down to the Great Hall. It wasn’t until the Marauders sat at your table you recalled everything that happened last night. 
“Alright (Y/N/N)? That vein in your forehead looks like its’ bout to burst.” Sirius said while grabbing a stack of pancakes. 
“Do you have an bloody clue what you’re going to do about this?! Remus, you can’t let Bershire off this easy.” you turned your head towards your favorite (and slightly bruised) lycanthrope. 
“I swear, I’m fine. And besides, the boys will work up something eventually.”
“Yea, eventually.” James exclaimed through forkfuls of food. “Moony made us promise to not even look at Bershire for a week!”
“A week?!”
James nodded enthusiastically, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk. 
“Since when do you defend bullies, Remus?!” you practically yelled, clenching the cutlery you were holding. 
“It’s not that (Y/N), it’s just-”
“It’s because he’s afraid of him.” Peter blurted out, making everyone’s heads turn. His hands shot over his mouth in realization. 
“Why is it the only time you open your mouth it’s to say something stupid?” Sirius said, hanging onto a glare. 
“You’re afraid of Michael Bershire?! Remus that’s not healthy! That’s- that’s horrible! Sweet Merlin Rem, I’ll show him what to be afraid of-” Remus cut you off.
“I’ve told you already, please don’t make me repeat myself again.” Remus placed his hand over yours. “The boys will handle this eventually. If you really love me, stay out of it.”
You settled down then, but still scanned the Hall for any signs of Remus’ attacker. The rest of breakfast carried on as usual, the rest of your friends joining you for the meal. 
Sirius walked you and Mary to class, giving you each a courteous bow. 
“Shall I pick you up after your lesson, my fair ladies?” he said in a deep bow, with a rigid posh accent. “The gentlemen and I were planning on.. err.. skipping our courses.” 
You giggled at Sirius’ poor attempt of finding a replacement word for “skip”.
“Yeah, why not. See ya then, Black!” Mary turned towards the door.
“I bid you farewell my lovelies!” he then proceeded to bound down the hallway to Astronomy, which was on the complete opposite side of the castle. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, passed fairly quickly. And just as he had promised, Sirius came to pick you up, now with James and Marlene in tow. 
Marlene beamed at the sight of you and Mary. 
“Thank Godric you’re here! I was getting tired of these two.”
James gave her a light shove. “We’ll be meeting Moony and Wormtail towards the east end.”
“Couldn’t convince Lily to come along?”
James looked like he was about to protest, but sighed in defeat. You and your friends continued down the corridor, eventually meeting Remus and Peter after their rigorous Astronomy note-taking. You soon found yourself squished between James and Remus, marching down the main hallway.
“Hey, I thought we were sticking to the east end?”
“Silly (Y/N), we were meeting in the east end.” Sirius explained, as if he were speaking to a child. “Now, we’re on our way to the west end.”
“Ah right, and it makes perfect sense to take the busiest corridor in the school.” Mary quipped, and Marlene giggled.
The walk was pleasant, and filled with greetings from fellow classmates. Every now and then, James and Sirius would snicker about something, or mutter jokes to the group. It was then, that you saw him.
Michael Bershire, proud and tall, lead his pack of nuisances opposite you down the bright hallway. Most students ducked out of the way to avoid him, and a few first years were visibly shaking at the sight of him.  
Your vision went red as you locked eyes on your target. It was time.
“James,” you slipped your bag off and passed it to your left, “mind holding this f’me?”
“Uh, yeah su- (Y/N)!!”
In the blink of an eye, you had left your friends’ sides and found yourself hurtling towards Bershire. Although you were smaller than him, the sheer impact of your collision with him knocked the two of you off your feet. You landed on top on him. 
He knocked his head off the stone floor, and for a moment you thought he’d lost consciousness. But the bewildered look in his eyes told you otherwise. It was now or never. 
“YOU BLOODY BASTARD!” you screamed, letting hell rain down on Michael Bershire. You swung left and right, pummeling his once perfectly sculpted face. You could feel the bruises forming on your knuckles already. “HOW DARE YOU TOUCH REMUS LUPIN?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, YOU BLITHERING FUCK!”
Somehow, Bershire had managed to wrap his legs around your waist, pulling you towards him and flipping your bodies so that you were beneath him. He pinned your wrists beside your head, and you felt the concrete sting your hands. 
‘No, how dare you, you muddy little bitch?!”
And that’s what set you off. You produced a sound that could only be described as a battle cry, and flung your forehead up and into his. Distracted by the headbutt, Bershire’s tense core loosened the slightest bit. It was enough for you crunch up and bring your knees into his groin, causing him to cry out in pain. 
Using his own momentum against him, you successfully flipped around again, resuming your position above his quivering form. Your hands found themselves around his throat, and without realizing it, you were bashing his head in the ground. 
thunk, thunk, thunk.
It was only Professor McGonagall’s shrill cry of fear that brought you back to reality. 
“MISS (L/N), GET OFF OF THAT BOY!”
You felt strong hands wrap around your arms and shoulders, whipping around to see that it was the four Marauders pulling you away from Bershire. The Slytherin gang was dragging said boy’s writhing and groaning form onto a cot from the hospital wing. 
You only stopped your kicking and resistance when McGonagall approached you, pointing her finger in your face, looking more angry than you’d ever seen her. 
“My office. Now.” she spoke, in such a tone that visible shivers went down your spine. The boys had yet to let go of your arms, and half carried you down the hallway of gawking and goggling students. 
Once arriving to her office, McGonagall stood in the doorway. She looked expectant and impatient all wrapped into one. You were finally let go of, and slowly turned to the four boys behind you. 
James and Peter still looked a bit shocked, and you found little comfort in the proud look Sirius was trying to hide. But Remus’ face is what hurt you the most.
“Rem, I-” you croaked. He wouldn’t even look at you. “I’m so sorry, I don’t-”
McGonagall cleared her throat bitterly behind you, cutting you off. You whispered another, barely audible “I’m sorry”, before following the Professor into her office. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello my lovelies!! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Let me know if I should follow up with this fic! 
Also, a reminder that requests are open!! <3
~Aurora
229 notes · View notes
invalid-prongs · 3 years
Text
“For who could ever learn to love a beast?” from Beauty and the Beast, except I’m making it Starchaser because I miss writing about them </3 Also, the Gryffindor password is “venom of the snake” but in Italian, just in case you didn’t know.
It burns far worse than Regulus thought it would. He keeps wondering if there’s something wrong with it—there’s no way it should burn so much after having weeks to heal.
He clutches his left forearm between his thighs in an attempt to ease the pain and bites into his right hand to stop himself crying out. It’s kind of late and waking up his dormmates doesn’t seem like a bright idea.
Asking his parents for help is useless—they would just tell him to get on with it surely. The look of disappointment in his brother’s eyes would be too much to bare. Who else could he turn to?
With a deep, shaking breath and silent tears trickling down his face, he slowly peels back the covers of his bed and slips out from the green and silver sheets. He scans the room to make sure the other lads in the room are fast asleep before pulling his right hand from his mouth and using it to grasp his wand.
Regulus waits until he’s stood outside of the Slytherin entrance before waving his wand and muttering “Lumos” under his breath. The wand lights his way down the endless corridors as he drags himself around the castle, thinking of places to go. The burning in his arm doesn’t cease, even when he presses it to the cool stone walls and steps outside in the softly raining night.
It hurts and adds another layer of regret onto the Slytherin lad.
After what feels like hours of aimless wandering, too scared to visit the hospital wing, Regulus turns to head back to his dorm room. He can suffer through the next few weeks, and if it gets exceptionally bad, he can go to Hogsmeade one weekend and find something to help.
Before he can reach the Slytherin quarters, however, he’s stopped by the light tinkering of footsteps heading straight for him. He gasps softly, waving his wand behind his back. “Knox,” he mumbles, pressing himself flat against the wall as another figure steps around the corner.
“Hello?” a voice calls out and Regulus curses himself silently for picturing them in his mind. “Hey, is somebody there? You can come out, you know, I’m not a teacher or anything.”
Regulus takes a daring breath but doesn’t reveal himself. The person chuckles softly. “Hey, come on, don’t make me feel crazy.”
There’s nothing else for a few moments as Regulus screws his eyes shut and holds a hand to his mouth to muffle his breathing. But then there’s a lit wand in his face and the wide grin of one James Potter. “Gotcha. What are you doing out here at this time of night, Reg?”
He swallows thickly, trying to hold back the pain in his voice. “M-My name is R-Regulus, y-you know.”
James’s elegant face twists slightly. “Hey, are you alright? You sound like you’ve been crying?”
The Slytherin clamps his lips shut and shakes his head, but the Gryffindor isn’t fooled. He reaches softly for Regulus’s arm—his left one since it’s the closest—but it’s snatched away quickly.
They stare at each other for a few moments, wide eyes. James’s expression is hard for Regulus to decipher; he’s hurt, confused, and it causes the younger lad’s guilt to flare. James steps back slightly, allowing Regulus to fall out of the shadows.
“It’s hurting you, isn’t it?” James whispers into the darkness, and all Regulus can do is nod pathetically and whimper. James sighs and runs a hand through his unruly hair, assessing the situation. After a moment, he sighs again and holds out his hand. “Come on, come with me.”
He doesn’t trust James fully—what if he takes him to Madam Pomphrey, or worse, Dumbledore? But Regulus takes his hand anyway and lets himself be pulled in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.
“Veleno del serpente,” he nods to the portrait, who twists her nose at the sight of a Slytherin buts lets them through anyway. Regulus is terrified of entering, because he’s sure there’s a rule specifically against entering the wrong house even on accident.
There’s probably a rule against having the Dark Mark, too, he figures to himself, ad follows James down the small tunnel. When they step into the empty common room, Regulus is hit with the warmth and comfort of the place, and the fire roars to life.
“Wait here,” the elder pushes him onto one of the sofas and wraps a blanket around his shoulders. “I’ll be right back, okay?” he disappears up the spiral staircase and Regulus just sits there, his eyes trained on the burning fire.
He thinks he should probably look around. Investigate the mighty Gryffindor house whilst he can. But his left forearm is turning numb, and not for a good reason, and his shoulder feels like it’s carrying the weight of a brick. He inhales sharply, willing himself not to cry again, and James reappears from the stairs with a small tray and a box.
“My mum is a healer,” he explains slowly, setting everything down on the coffee table and kneeling in front of Regulus. “She taught me some things, and I always have supplies for Quidditch accidents and such. Can I see your arm?”
Regulus pulls his left arm behind his back and shakes his head. He himself has avoided looking it as it as much as he can, and the thought of showing it to not anybody, but the proudest Gryffindor on the planet who is violently against everything Death Eater related…
But James’s  eyes are so soft and welcoming, and when he smiles gently and whispers, “I won’t judge you, I want to help you, Reg,” his voice is like velvet, and all Regulus can do is offer forward his arm and turn his head.
“I’m sorry,” Regulus chokes out when James gasps softly. “I didn’t—I had no choice.”
James simply shushes him softly by resting a hand on his knee before getting to work. Every movement is fluid and gentle, as if he’s cleaning a priceless artifact, and not just helping to stop the burning of a Dark Mark. It doesn’t hurt much, just a few stings, but it feels uncomfortable when James waves his wand over the snake and it writhes on the younger’s arm.
He tenses and automatically pulls away. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” James soothes him softly. “I just needed to cast a spell, but I guess it didn’t like that.” He chuckles softly, and Regulus takes enough comfort in the sound to let a smile tug at his lips.
“Guess it didn’t.”
James works for a few more minutes, and by time he’s finished, Regulus can barely feel the mark. James flicks his arm experimentally, and Regulus flinches softly, so he’s assured he hasn’t lost all feeling in his arm.
Their eyes meet for a moment, flickering with the fire in the background. “How can I repay you?” Regulus asks gently. “I—you really didn’t have to help me. I’m sorry if this made you… uncomfortable.”
“You don’t have to repay me with anything. I would hate for you to be in any kind of pain, love.”
At the slip of the name, Regulus blushes softly and James clears his throat. They look away for a moment until the Slytherin dares to peers through his eyelashes to see James staring straight at him.
“I missed you,” he mumbles before he can stop himself, almost smiling at the way James cocks an eyebrow in questioning. “Over the summer. I kept thinking of you. I was… I was half tempted to come and see you before… but I didn’t. I couldn’t.”
James tentatively reaches up a hand and wipes a tear Regulus didn’t know was falling. “It’s okay, I understand. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I missed you too. Sirius is nice, but he isn’t quite the same.” He winks at the end of his sentence, and Regulus can’t help spitting out a small giggle.
James bites his bottom lip softly, one hand still on the younger lad’s face, the other moving to rest on his knee again. Regulus knows they have a lot to talk about, and probably won’t get it done in one night. He knows he should be going before someone finds his empty bed or walks into the Gryffindor common room. But instead, he bats his eyelashes at James and tips his head down ever so slightly.
“Can I…” he trails off softly, waiting for James to pull away, maybe even yell at him about how he’s a Death Eater and they’re on opposite sides and they can’t.
But James doesn’t. Instead, he nods so softly that if he didn’t whisper a soft “yes” then Regulus would have thought he imagined it.
Their lips connect in harmony, and they melt together like they did every other time they did this. It’s as easy as anything, and Regulus can feel every negative emotion, every horrible feeling be flooded with the absolute adoration he has for the boy in front of him.
And then Regulus pulls back sharply to stare at James with his eyes wide and jaw slackened because he’s in love with him.
“Sorry,” James rocks back on his feet and pulls himself up off the floor. “Fuck, uhm, I’m so sorry, I didn’t… we can just… I don’t…”
“I love you,” Regulus whispers, raw and rough, and James shuts his mouth, honey-brown eyes snapping to meet an ocean of grey-blue. “I-I’m sorry, but I love you.”
James doesn’t reply straight away. He just sinks onto the sofa and reaches out, running a finger against Regulus’s bottom lip, which is red and slightly swollen. And then he smiles wider than he ever has, pearly white teeth almost blinding the room, and he laughs.
“Don’t be sorry, don’t ever be sorry. I love you too,” he replies, and Regulus reaches up a pale, aristocratic hand on James’s. “I love you more.”
The younger lad goes to protest, but his words are swallowed by another kiss, and when he wakes in the morning, stretched on the sofa with his limbs tangled with James’s, all he can do is smile and thank whoever controls fate that after everything that has happened, given everything that is and will happen, he’s found somebody who can still love him.
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britishsass · 2 years
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I just remembered an old au from pre-PN2 that I drew-- I called it Adult Swap.
I have old notes about them, but nothing here is new. So here goes. My past notes from pre-PN2.
What I've got is that Fred and Sasha swap, Milla and Gloria swap, and then the last four just get shuffled around. Edgar is the coach who teaches basic training, Boyd does like every job and no one questions it, Morry is the guy outside of TT guarding it, and Ford is trying to get over past trauma on his own.
Here's a bit of discussion about the folks from WR in this au, though!
-All four are getting treatment for their problems.  -Also they're all dating in a big poly relationship.. because I can ship what I want.
FRED
is a friendly guy, but he can be rather intimidating thanks to his height (he's a tower in his own right) and he kinda vibes w/ David from Camp Camp. You know, overly friendly, naive, but a nice chap.
He still has the stupid hat. it's a gift from an old camper and he's not taking it off.
jack of all trades, master of none, but he really doesn't like to harm others if he can help it.
mostly uses telekinesis to catch things he drops or to catch himself when he trips
if he had to choose favorite campers, he'd say Dogen and Milka
His mind still has a portrait of Napoleon. He doesn't like to talk about it. Ever.
He comes across as a bit nervous, but he has good reason since he's almost died more than the others due to his unyielding stupidity loyalty to those he cares about.
GLORIA
Hair is a lot more swoopy, she's a lot more bright and kind, but she still falls into depressive states that take a while to get her out of it.
She's the second most grounded of the quartet, which is funny, since she's a levitation specialist.
She really wants to help Crystal and Clem, and knows what they're planning. She specifically takes care about them, and offers them more help.
Her mind is still a stage, with more of a backstage now.
Does plays with her students sometimes, doing her best to involve all of them, and she loves the campers a lot, though it hurts when she sees herself in them.
She calls them all her little starlets
She's the best at pulling Edgar back from one of his states, though Fred is a close second thanks to his nursing training.
EDGAR
He's called the coach, but he's really just a friendly fellow who wants to keep up with the students.
He teaches basic braining, and it's basically black velvetopia with a lot less bull, literally. The dogs are still there, they can fight other figments of his memory, but usually it's a very kind place, with people always willing to point the way for a bit of help.
If he had to choose favorites, he'd say Misha and JT, but he doesn't like to choose favorites.
He still paints, and decorates the whole camp for holidays. Any holidays.
He also has a bullfighting cape in his mindscape, and he loves it.
He does not do what Morry does. I don't know the plot of this au but none of these four are going to harm their partners and that is final.
Specializes in psy-blasts, but he prefers to leave teaching that to others, as he has issues with getting his emotions back under control.
He's the best at talking to Napoleon in a way he understands, and also he can give a very, very rough translation of the french from his knowledge of Spanish, so he tends to have to help when Fred gets into a rough situation where Napoleon has to front for him.
He helps with Gloria's plays behind the scenes, and does a lot of repair work with Boyd too.
BOYD
He does about 15 bajillion jobs around Camp Whispering Rock
I'd be lying if I didn't say his specialty was pyrokinesis
His favorites are his fellow pyrokinetics.
If he gets startled, he will almost always light something on fire as a reaction.
He doesn't have dark circles under his eyes because he can sleep now!!
Boyd's head is still a twisting, turning, mess... But it's fractured into fragments, thanks to everything that happened on one of their missions. (Remember: I made this pre-PN2.)
Boyd is the best when Fred is out of commission, and he does his best as a sort of second-in-command at camp, even though he's a bit messy and almost always has a few burn marks on his clothes, hats, or nearby tools.
Now for the folks from this version of Thorney Towers!
Out of these four, you'd usually see them in the order of Morry, Milla, Sasha, Ford. Crispin and Loboto still have the exact same roles and personalities because I couldn't bear the thought of anyone else having to take Crispin's place, and Loboto is perfect for his role. Here are some notes about them in general before I again ramble: -It mostly goes off of the same problems that they have in-game, just brought to much worse conclusions thanks to Shaky Claim being awful. -You get the straitjacket from Sasha, metal tongs from Ford, and a picture of Loboto from Milla for the disguise. -Sasha and Milla are still in love. Because I ship 'em. Shh.
SASHA
His glasses were broken ages ago, making it hard for him to see
He used to be a psychiatrist who used puzzles as his personal favorite thing to do. However, when he left Crispin alone with his puzzles, Crispin, being the worst, stole one piece from each puzzle, destroying it.
He stares at the sky a lot.
Very dull colors
His mind is full of puzzles and trying to put the right pieces together, having to do things in the correct order to push giant pieces into place to continue.
He keeps lashing out at others, but it's mostly because he can't see much, feel much, or do much since he's trapped in a straitjacket and in his own mind.
shoes and his childhood trauma do occur a lot
Crispin makes fun of him for being a doctor and yet being the most broken now
none of his shoes (the two on his shoulders or those on his feet) match.
MILLA
She basically broke after what happened at the orphanage.
Lots of fire, lots of panic, lots of nightmares to fight
There are what seem to be ghosts of children walking around, running around, laughing and playing
Her hair hasn't been taken care of in ages
Her clothes are still burned, and she refuses to give up on seeing her children around. Raz helps her to return to reality, and she and Sasha hold hands at the end, burying her face in his shoulder when Morry burns it all down.
her picture is something she believes to be from her children before she comes to her senses
Music is playing throughout, and playing it helps her to return to her senses. maybe an emphasis on violin/nero playing violin while rome burns?
MORRY
Fam, we all know what happened to him.
his getting close to the rabbit. him being rejected over and over. its all a comedy of errors and it drove him mad in canon, in this au it just didn't get helped either.
he sees raz as a bunny and tries to help him, but refuses to let him in because that's where he thinks the butcher is
it's a lot like basic braining is in canon tbh
lots of things seem weird, and there's an inner soldier that's hidden deep, deep inside, behind a fight against the butcher. it's hard, but it does help him in the end. soldier is his milkman tbh
there are a lot more rabbits in his mind, trying to lead you astray from the right path.
FORD (Please remember, pre-PN2!)
Yet again, we know what happened. the psychic duel
In this it's just a physical fight that still nearly killed him and nearly ruined his entire life.
this time it's full on DID instead of just different roles at camp
The different parts of his mind have keys to other parts, and it's a maze of doors and the like
He's trying to make the perfect burger, just stuck trying over and over as each personality argues how to do it until it's burned again.
He hands over the spatula once he does it, and he just sits on the edge, eating the burger, wondering why any of them stay in Thorney Towers
The plot would not include any of them being actually bad people. It would likely be that there’s bad guys actually trying to use these kids, but they don’t know them that well. And so they hire Loboto to take the kids’ brains, and accidentally involve some pretty heavy issues. Though it might be that Crispin’s part of the final boss fight, idk. That whole plot thing is still super up-for-debate, y’know. If anyone has any thoughts or ideas about them, feel free to ask me stuff!
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