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samsonet · 4 years

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Mum said it's my turn on the Switch.

Sometimes, Leon’s family comes to Wyndon to visit him.

Today’s one of those days. He’d been looking forward to it for a while, even cleaned up his flat so his mum and brother wouldn’t tease him for living in a mess. He’d gotten groceries. He’d gotten some new toys for Hop. It’ll be a good day, if it goes according to plan.

The doorbell rings.

“Hey!” Leon says, opening the door. “It’s so good to see yo—”

Hop slips under his arm and disappears down a hallway. A door slams.

“...is he okay?”

Their mum sighs. “He’s getting to the age where he’s too cool to spend time with his family, that’s all. I’m sorry, Leon. Here, why don’t we cook together? He’ll come out if he smells his favourite food.”

She opens a few cabinets before she finds the pans.

It’s been too long since they’ve gotten to cook together. Leon remembers the first lessons, back when he was a little kid. He’d been so excited, thinking of adventures and new experiences, but Mum insisted on teaching him how to make curry before he left. He’d whined and complained, but he still followed her directions and came out with something pretty good.

Even now, he follows her directions, getting the meat and potatoes as she starts up the stove.

“You don’t have much silverware,” Mum observes. “Do you ever have company?”

“Heh. Nobody I cook for. Raihan and Nessa come over, sometimes, but we usually order takeaway.”

He stops halfway through mashing a potato, letting himself think. Why doesn’t he ever cook for them? He’s capable of it. Years of being the man of the house (of being Hop’s second parent) have given him the necessary skills. He might actually enjoy cooking alongside his friends, too.

But…

Cooking with someone, cooking for someone… It’s what he does with his family. If he did it with anyone else, it would be like having a new family. He’s not ready for that kind of intimacy.

“Something wrong, Leon?”

“Nothing’s wrong, don’t worry. It’s just… been awhile since we got to see each other, you know? I really missed you and Hop.”

Mum looks at him, an undefinable emotion in her eyes.

She opens her arms. “Come here.”

He has to lean down and she has to stand on her toes, but the hug is warm and comfortable.

His mum steps back first. “Hop missed you too, you know. He’s such a lonely child.”

“Is that so…”

Hearing about Hop’s troubles always makes him feel guilty. As a big brother, he should be present whenever Hop needs him, not available over the phone from 3:00-3:30 on Tuesday and Thursday.

It’s not that he doesn’t care. Being champion just keeps him busy, and he lives so far away. He wishes things could be different, but...

“Are you sure you don’t want to move to Wyndon? I could get you a place, easy.”

“I know.” Mum stirs the potatoes. “Hop really likes his friend, though. He wouldn’t want to move away from her.”

Hop’s friend Gloria, the girl next door. Leon has never met her, but from the calls and letters he feels like he knows her well. She’s the best friend anyone could ask for. She’s super cute. She’s there for Hop, every birthday, every holiday. She’s the one he can go to when he makes a discovery or wants to try something new.

Not his big brother. Her.

“Well… it’s good he has a friend, at least.”

Mum gives him a sad smile. “I can finish up from here. Why don’t you go tell Hop the food is almost ready? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind talking with you when boring old Mum isn’t there.”

“You’re not boring! But… okay. Love you, Mum.”

She nudges his head down and kisses his cheek. “I love you, too, Leon.”

Down the hallway is Leon’s bedroom. The door is closed, but not locked, and Leon has pushed it open an inch when he hears Hop’s voice on the other side.

“Wyndon is super awesome! At the station, there was this guy with a scarf, or I thought it was a scarf, and then it turned out it was a Sizzlipede! It spooked me! But the guy thought it was funny.”

There’s a girl’s voice, muffled through the wall.

That must be Gloria, he realizes. They’re on a video call.

Seriously? An hours-long trip across the region to come visit, and Hop’s first action on arrival was calling his friend? When did she start becoming so important to him?

The darker side of him answers. When you were gone and she wasn’t.

Leon simultaneously loves and hates her.

You should be happy about this, he tells himself. It’s good for Hop to have a life outside of you. If something happens to you, he’ll be fine.

But is it wrong to want his brother to still miss him like a little kid?

“Knock, knock,” he calls, loudly enough that he hopes Gloria hears it. “I’m coming in!”

“SorryGlogottagobye!”

When he opens the door, he finds Hop innocently turning on the TV and starting up the gaming console.

Leon deadpans, “Mum said it’s my turn to use the Switch.”

“Hahaha… sorry, Lee, I really wanted to play this game and I couldn’t do it at home...”

“Really? Because I seem to remember buying you one just a few months ago.”

He’d bought one for Hop’s friend, too, because the price meant nothing to him and he wanted them to be able to play together. Is it petty to regret that?

“It’s not the same! Your place is so much nicer!”

“Well, then,” Leon says, sitting on the floor next to him. “Mind if I play with you?”

“Er…”

“Unless you think you’re too cool to hang out with your big brother, Galar’s undefeated champion.”

“O-of course not! You’re the coolest person I know!”

He loves to hear that — he always loves to hear Hop’s praise — but he can’t help but think of the abruptly-ended video call, the girl on the other side.

“Are you sure? It sounds like you’ve got someone else you’ve a fan of, now.”

“Wha… You mean Gloria? No way! She’s just a friend!”

It’s adorable, really, the way Hop lets his emotions show on his face so easily. This is a kid who gets to grow up without always being followed by cameras, a kid who gets to be himself and not the person the region wants to see.

If Hop moves to Wyndon, that would change.

Maybe it’s a bit selfish of Leon, but he thinks it might be worth it.

He leans back, watching the game. “I asked Mum about this, but I want to ask you, too. Would you like to move to Wyndon? You could even live here, if you want. There’s plenty of space.”

“Wyndon is really nice,” Hop says. His character punches an NPC so hard, it flies off the screen. “An’ it would be nice to see you more, but…”

“But?”

“I’m Gloria’s only friend. I don’t wanna leave her alone.”

Aw, does Hopscotch have a crush? Leon considers teasing him about it, but decides on a more serious direction.

“You’re a good friend. But you can’t be her only friend forever, you know? You want to be champion someday, right? If you do, you have to move to Wyndon. Being champ has a lot of responsibilities.”

Responsibilities. Ugh. Sometimes Leon forgets that his brother is only twelve. That is much too young to have a dream ruined by thinking about responsibilities.

“I guess what I’m saying is, if you want to move here, you can’t hold yourself back because of someone else. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you, you know?

Hop seems thoughtful. “Yeah, I’ve thought about that. It was the same situation with you an’ Sonia, right? How did you guys make it work?”

“Er…”

They didn’t, that’s how. They’d been even closer than Hop and Gloria were, but after the championship, everything changed. Leon stayed in Wyndon and Sonia went home, and their calls became less frequent and their meetings rare.

He wonders how it must have been for Hop, to watch them slowly falling apart. Was it an adult who pointed out the parallel, or did he realize it himself? How old was he when he put the pieces together?

It happened while you were away.

Leon always won on the pitch, but it felt like he was always losing off of it.

He offers, “Well, growing up is hard. Things change, you know?”

Hop stares up at him, his honey-coloured eyes as all-knowing as ever. He’s obviously not buying it.

“When I’m champion,” he whispers, “I’m gonna buy two flats right next to each other. I’ll have one and Gloria can have the other one, and we’ll still be friends and neighbors and nothing will change.”

No, something will change. You will be champion and she won’t. That’s a big difference.

That's a mean thing to say, though. It’s a nice dream to have, truly. Leon hopes for his brother’s sake that it comes true.

“Will I be invited to your new flat?”

Hop hums. “Sometimes.”

“Can I close myself in your room and play on your Switch?”

Hop laughs, pulling off one of the controllers and hands it to him. “Okay, I get it. You can play. But I’m not going to go easy on you!”

“You better not!”

They start the first round of the multiplayer course.

Across Galar, there have to be hundreds of siblings spending time together. Exploring, training, reading, playing games.

In Wyndon, here and now, Leon is with Hop. They’re playing together, immersed in the game, enjoying each others’ company and having a champion time.

#pokemon swsh fanfic #leon pokemon #hop pokemon

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callunavulgari · 5 years

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Year-In-Life | 2018

Or that annual New Year’s meme about yours truly.

1. What did you do in 2018 that you’d never done before? Got a big girl job! Got insurance! Made my very own eye doctor appointment! Got an apartment all on my own with my boyfriend! And this all happened since October! Basically I haven’t had time to do more than sleep in like two months!!!!!

But like. I’m making good money now, I can actually do things like go to the freaking doctor when I’m sick and not completely bankrupt myself if I get hit by a truck or something. Oh, and my new job has PTO! How rad is that, I can get paid for taking vacations now? The only downside is my eyes are not taking the staring at a computer screen all day very well and ache ALL the time now. But hey! Things are looking up other than my eyes being stabbed out of my skull?!

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Ugh I never remember what resolutions I actually made though! I mean, I know one of them was get a better job, which I did. I started smoking again for like two months and then quit again in November because holy shit I don’t need that in my life. I... briefly lost weight and then gained it all back because I stopped caring.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Couple high school people, I think. One of my best friend’s from middle school had her second kid. Another friend from middle school is expecting a third next year. But nobody particularly close, no. 4. Did anyone close to you die? I don’t think so.

5. What countries did you visit? Alternatively, what is your favorite place that you did go this year? Ugh, no countries. Nick got to go to Germany for his job training but I had to stay here because y’know, money, and also, money. Didn’t have the big girl job at the time and he went to Germany the week before we were due to go to North Carolina and I’m sorry, but I can’t freaking afford two weeks off of work. Couldn’t? Eh, still probably can’t unless I work crazy overtime to obtain more PTO.

That said, I had lots of fun on our annual trip down to North Carolina. Once again I got to read a lot of books in the pool, chill on the beach, and play dumb drinking games with people five years younger than me. We also had an added date night, which I think I’m going to require every year.

6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018? Oh hey, I basically got everything that I wanted from last year. More steady job with insurance, apartment, not doing the college thing yet, but I’m going to have to think long and hard about how I want to proceed from here. This job opened up a LOT of opportunities for me, and I may pursue some of those instead of college. I just have to decide if that’s what I want.

Only thing that I didn’t get was, y’know, the ring thing. So here’s to hoping for next year?

Also, ideally, we’re looking to buy a house sometime in either 2020 or 2021, so here’s to hoping we save up enough to make that happen.

7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? October 15th is when I started my new job. November 9th was when we moved out. Not many big events this year other than those. 8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Got new job! Got apartment! Read a metric crapton of books! Bought a nice couch that is all ours!

9. What was your biggest failure? Honestly? I’m not really sure. This year was kind of a good one. I’ve been very patient with Nick’s mom whenever we go on our weekly outing to one of the bars in our hometown and haven’t dropkicked her into the street whenever she gets too drunk. 10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Since moving out of the old house last month my weird allergy thing has improved wildly. We’re still using the sensitive skin detergent and I’m using very mildly scented soaps, but all in all the itching is so much less. I got really sick and missed Thanksgiving because I got some kind of stomach flu, and I think I had another stomach issue a few months back, but it’s been mostly mild. 11. What was the best thing you bought? I got new glasses at a vastly discounted rate because my vision insurance is apparently really good? We also bought a huge new sectional that is bigger, comfier, and LESS EXPENSIVE than all of the other couches we were looking at. I got Nick a sit/stand desk for Christmas and got upgraded to his old one by proxy. Got new books and a new painting for our living room. We also bought a new TV, because my old one was fucked and since we were moving out we didn’t have Seth’s to watch. 12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Mine. I was so good this year. 13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? Eh. Nick’s mom drives me nuts, my mom drives me nuts, the roommates aren’t as bad now because we aren’t there, but it got a little spotty near the end there.

14. Where did most of your money go? Mostly things like bills, car payments, groceries, plane ticket to South Carolina to see my family, Christmas presents. While I got a reasonably good big girl job Nick got a reasonably good computer engineering job which means even if he is just a starting salary it’s still about 30k more than I make. Which just, blows my mind to say? Because I’m not making less than 15k a year now? 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? I’m sorry that you have to hear it again, but new job! New apartment! New books and new things and hopefully a new chapter of our life. I’ve been trying to not get too psyched about things just in case the bottom drops out, but for now I’m letting myself enjoy this.

16. What song will always remind you of 2018? Paradise Valley. The Sailor Song. Daddy. Smallest Light. Lots of things off the Stranger Things soundtrack. 17. Compared to this time last year, are you: i. happier or sadder? Happier? Yeah, happier. ii. thinner or fatter? Little more, maybe? Again, lost a bunch but gained it back. iii. richer or poorer? Richer. With both of us having good jobs it’s so much easier to save. I dumped a little more than I should have into Christmas presents, but I’m still okay. 18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Write. I’ve been really bad about it, but I’m hoping that this year I’ll find my stride.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Still pretty chill this year. Maybe gotten my head out of my ass and tried to get a good job earlier, but I can’t regret it too much. 20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent Christmas Eve listening to Nick’s mom bitch about things and eating food that kind of turned my stomach. Spent Christmas Day at his mom’s in the morning and then his grandparents’ all afternoon. Only managed to squeeze a tiny amount of time for ourselves this year, but we had breakfast together and opened our presents. Hopefully next year we get Christmas Eve to ourselves again. 21. How will you be spending New Year’s Eve? So, last year we spent New Year’s cooking curry (him) and pirozki (me) and watching Planet Earth. I’m hoping to do something similar this year, but we might end up at his mom’s place getting trashed since we’re both off the next day. We’ll see. 22. Did you fall in love in 2018? Maybe a little more. 23. Best month for you this year? October? November? August? April-ish? Honestly most of my months this year were pretty okay. Like, I’m so sorry for all of you that had shitty years, but mine was so much better than basically anything from the past goddamn decade.

24. What was your favorite TV program? Of just 2018? Didn’t watch too much this year? Watched the second season of Westworld, Voltron, the Sense8 series finale, Killing Eve, Castlevania, The Haunting of Hill House, Bride of the Ancient Magus, Lost In Space... But honestly, most of them were good but not fantastic. I really liked the Sense8 finale and Hill House. Oooh, also, She-Ra. And Little Witch Academia! Those were good ones. 25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Eh.

26. What was the best book you read? Spinning Silver was so good, guys. The Goblin Emperor, A Tale For the Time Being, the Queen’s Thief series, the Kingkiller Chronicle, and the Nightrunner series were highlights too. It was a real good year for books, okay. 27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Paradise Valley. Holy shit that song is the best. 28. What did you want and got? I got a lot of stuff I wanted this year. The job, the apartment, books, games. Nick got me a fucking switch for Christmas and this really pretty teardrop necklace made of green glass that’s just fucking gorgeous. And I got the glasses, the stupid tv, the better couch... ugh, we spent so much money this year, but I mean, it’s kind of about time that we had the money to splurge a little?

29. What did you want but didn’t get? A... ring? I mean, we’ve talked about it and we’ve both been moving steadily in this direction, but it didn’t happen this year. I foolishly made a bet with one of his brother’s friends while I was drunk. He thought that he’d propose before December of 2020, I thought he’d propose before the end of 2019, so now even if I’m right I’m wrong and I know he is going to give me shit about it.

Also. I think I might actively want kids now? Like, not in a nebulous eventually kind of way, but I think I might want to start trying? I don’t know. More on that next year. 30. What was your favorite film of this year? The Greatest Showman was really great. Other than that though, I didn’t watch that many. 31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 29 went a lot like 28 and 27. Had lunch with Nick at the Lantern, and then lazed around until we went out to Old Bag of Nails with a few of our friends. It was nice. Nick got me knitting supplies because I mentioned a million years ago that I kind of wanted to learn so I could do something while listening to audiobooks.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Hah! A better president and a ring is the only thing that I didn’t get from my wishes last year. 33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018? Honestly until I started having to dress for an office job my personal fashion concept was PJs all the time except for when I had to go wait tables for a few hours. Now that I have the office job I’ve been wearing lots of sweaters, scarves, and skirts with tall boots when it’s not too cold for them. My bet is next year I’m going to give up and buy scrubs like everybody else in the nursing department. 34. What kept you sane? Reading was really, really great this year. - STILL leaving this answer 35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Eh. Amber Heard was recently very pretty on my tumblr dashboard? 36. What political issue stirred you the most? FUCK DONALD TRUMP IN THE EAR 2015678. —– Ayyyyy, this was my response from last year, and apparently also the year before and the one before! Hello past me’s, don’t worry, it’s still getting worse. 37. Who did you miss? Nick, while he was in Germany and when I was in South Carolina. It was dumb. I wanted to smooch his forehead gently. 38. Who was the best new person you met? I have lots of new coworkers, but Bryan is my favorite. He’s pretty cool and I could see myself being good friends with him if he doesn’t fuck off to a different state.

39. Talk about a new friend that you made this year: *Sherlock voice* I don’t have friends. ---- I’m just going to leave this here.

40. Post a picture from the beginning of the year:

Took this one in... early March, but it’s technically the earliest photo I took of myself that wasn’t technically from December of 2017. I really miss the dark hair.

41. Post a picture from the end of the year:

This was taken a couple days ago when I got new glasses. I am 100% not naked, I’m wearing a tanktop.

42. A memorable meal discovered this year? Uh. I don’t know if I actually tried any new recipes this year? Most things that I cooked were repeat favorites from last year and Nick hasn’t cooked too terribly much either. The new jobs thing has been nice, but also we have SO MUCH LESS TIME.

43. What was your favorite memory this year? I don’t know. There have been a few of them. I had a night that was kind of shitty and empty, and ended up reading that Cornstalk Fiddle fic that I’ve talked about and it turned into one of my favorite memories. The vacation and moving was pretty nice.

44. What are you excited for next year? Still wanna try for that trip that’s just me and Nick, but I’ve got my little brother’s graduation to go to in May and the North Carolina trip in August, which basically wipes out my PTO for the year, but we’ll see. Maybe we can take a weekend trip somewhere nice.

Oh. Also, I’m freaking excited for KINGDOM HEARTS 3?!

45. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018: Things can get better? Your life isn’t over if you don’t make it to college? Just. Things get better. We’ll go with that one. 46. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I’m singin’ in the rain Just singin’ in the rain What a glorious feeling I’m happy again

First Fandom of 2018: January seemed to be an ecclectic mixture of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Captive Prince, The Exorcist, and Teen Wolf before I settled into Stranger Things at the end of the month. Favorite Main Character of 2018: Ahhhh. Fuck, I don’t know. Ryan Dalias or Doug Eiffel, probably. Favorite Villain of 2018: Damien, from the Bright Sessions. He’s not... exactly a big bad, but he certainly isn’t good. Also, Billy Hargrove. Favorite M/F Couple of 2018: I actually read a lot of Jaime/Brienne this year because astolat started writing it and it was just really solidly good. Oh, Miryem and the Staryk Lord was also A++ Favorite F/F Couple of 2018: I did not read or write any, but let me tell you, I felt Isabelle Lovelace and Renee Minkowski on a fucking galactic scale. Favorite M/M Couple of 2018: Mark/Damien and Billy/Steve absolutely dominated all of my other fandoms this year. But also, Ryan/Akmazian hurts my entire heart. Fandom That You Never Expected To Get Into: The Bright Sessions? I did not expect to actually have feelings about these characters. Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Read some Harry Potter and Thor fic sporadically throughout the year. And Pacific Rim 2 hit my like a freight train. Fandom That Inspired The Most Crack: Uh. Stranger Things, I guess? Last Fandom of 2018: I mean, technically I’ve been reading more Harringrove because of the holiday exchange, but I’m still pretty hung up on Wolf 359 and the Bright Sessions. Unfortunately, neither of them really have fic? Favorite Fandom of 2018: I liked all of them, but Stranger Things and The Bright Sessions was so much of my year I’m gonna have to go with those two.

#heather says what #2018 #new year's memes #selfie tag?

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