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marshmallow-phd · 4 years ago

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Book of the Dead

Genre: The Mummy AU

Pairing: Junmyeon x Reader

Summary: After traveling to the fabled city of Hamunaptra, you read from the Book of the Dead and accidentally resurrect an ancient mummy with extraordinary powers and quest for revenge. The only thing to do now is try and convince your less-than-traditional guide to help you save the world.

Part 1 I Part 2

“I just said a few sentences!”

“What did you do that for!”

“Well, I didn’t know that that would happen!”

You stared at the aggravating, self-absorbed, cocky Korean soldier and wondered why on earth you had decided to negotiate for this man’s life.

Alright, you did know why. You needed him to show you to Hamunuptra - the fabled City of the Dead.

Too many times you had stood in front of the museum curator with pages and pages of references and evidence that the place existed and just needed a small team of archeologists in order to track it down. He’d shot you down every time. And each time he took the liberty of reminding you that while your father was an exceptional explorer who had many successes under his belt, you were a woman whose life had been spent between the shelves, cataloging. Your adventures consisted of the fictional kind, devouring any novel you could when you weren’t archiving the latest crate of artifacts and texts.

Then your cousin showed up. Your normally useless, hare-brained, erratic, drunkard cousin showed up at your apartment with a “fun new artifact” he found on his latest trip. And suddenly your luck had completely turned around.

Or so you thought.

Now you were standing in the middle of Hamunaptra, feet sinking into the unstable sand, with an empty sarcophagus and everyone blaming you because you did what you did best - read.

It was only a book. Albeit, a very heavy, possibly-made-of-painted-solid-gold book that was written in the dead language of ancient Egypt, but still. What harm had ever come from reading a book?

Kim Junmyeon stared at you as if you were the one who had risen from the dead. You were still stunned at how different he looked from when you had first met him in that smelly prison, minutes away from being hanged. His hair had been long and stringy, clumps of dirt clinging to the dark brown strands that brushed his shoulders. Now it was shorter, cut above his ears and gelled back in the current style that almost made him look like a gentleman. The several days’ stubble was long gone to reveal smooth skin and a sharp jawline. He was actually very handsome - when he was cleaned up.

Stupid, you hissed at yourself. Now was not the time for this. Because right now there seemed to be a reanimated mummy running around here. And by the looks of Barney’s husk of a body lying deep within the temple underground, it was hungry.

As it should be, given the three thousand years it spent locked up under piles of sand.

“Really, you should have been more careful!” your cousin, Baekhyun, scolded.

You scoffed. “You’re one to talk. You were the one who snatched the key off of Mr. Kim here at one of your seedy bars and then proceeded to lie to me and say that you found it on a dig in Thebes which in turn brought us here!”

Baekhyun opened and closed his mouth as he searched for a possible retort.

“I think this is more your fault,” Kim Junmyeon’s own cousin and traveling partner, Oh Sehun, said. “You told us to go down a level and dig under the statue, which in turn,” he mocked your tone almost precisely, “caused the mummy to be able to get out of his sarcophagus. If we had dug somewhere else entirely, then he’d still be trapped under the statue of Anubis.”

“Despite the fact that it was two layers deep, nothing would have been able to hold a victim of the Hom-Dai.”

“Would have given poor Barney a chance,” Kim Junmyeon muttered under his breath. You shot him a glare that he hardly noticed.

“I say that we get out of here and to the safety of the city before the mummy finds us.” Oh Sehun swallowed thickly. “Or worse. The beetles find us.” The supposedly brave soldier who had two pistols hanging under each arm was more terrified of the flesh eating bugs than he was the living mummy that was bringing about the ten plagues of Egypt. You’d already lived through the locust infestation, but that was always the most minor of the plagues. In your opinion.

“We told you to leave,” Ardeth said in that low, monotone voice that made him seem centuries old. You had only known him for a few hours, but you already feared and respected him. Despite the fact that he had attacked your campsite the night before. “Now you have condemned the whole world to the very monster that we have spent three thousand years keeping hidden.”

Kim Junmyeon finally tore his face away from yours. “I told you. I shot him. He went down.”

“Mortal weapons are useless against this creature. None can kill him.” Stepping up, he stood toe to toe with the soldier who led you here. “A gun is nothing more than a fly to him. He will never eat. He will never sleep. And he will never stop. Not until this world is only sand.”

Though still not completely backing down, Kim Junmyeon took hold of your arm. “Come on. We’re going back to Cairo.”

The camel ride back to the city was long, tiring, and a bit painful, if you were honest. The inside of your thighs were sore from keeping you up right on the animal’s back for hours on end under the blazing heat. You were used to the comfortable back seat of a car, even if the roads here tended to be on the bumpier side. Kim Junmyeon stayed at your side the entire time, up until you were back in your hotel room. All your things were still in there. That was nice, even if it was to be expected. The desk clerk had sworn he would keep the room reserved for you until you made it back. And now that you had, you were on to the next fight.

“We’re not going anywhere!”

Kim Junmyeon pretended not to hear you as he started emptying the dresser drawers of your clothes and stuffing them in your suitcases lying open on the bed.

“Excuse me! I said we’re not going anywhere!” As soon as he stepped away again, you slammed the suitcase shut. A stray white cat that you didn’t have the heart to remove from your room took advantage of the newly available space and laid down on the surface of the luggage. Unbothered by the argument taking place in its presences, it purred as it curled into a ball and closed its eyes.

“You keep using the word ‘we’ and I’m not sure why,” he said. “I believe you were the one who woke him up in the first place.”

“Yes, I get it!” you shouted. “Everyone can blame me because I read the damn book, but that is why we need to stop him.”

He closed the empty drawer and turned back around to face you. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that? You heard Ardeth. No mortal weapon can kill this guy.”

“That’s why we’re going to find some immortal ones.”

He pulled a pair of rounded glasses from his pocket, wiped the lenses with his shirt, and stuck them on the bridge of his nose. “There goes that ‘we’ business again.”

You huffed, trying not to focus on the newest version of the soldier now being presented in front of you. “Yes, we. Because this curse will continue to get worse until the whole world is destroyed.”

“And that’s my problem?”

“It is everybody’s problem! You live here, too!”

Kim Junmyeon stepped up until he was mere inches away. “Listen. I appreciate you saving my life and all, but when I agreed to this idiotic mission my objective was to show you the way and then bring you back here. I have done that. End of job. End of story. Contract terminated.”

You tried not to show how his last few words affected you. Though you had been a little intoxicated two nights ago, you still very much remembered how sweet he had been, how he had listened to you go on and on about your parents and how much you wanted to be a famous adventurer like your father. And how you almost kissed him. And how he was going to kiss you back. Stupidly, you had thought that there was something growing between you. Apparently, you had been wrong.

“Is that all I am to you?” you whispered. “A contract?”

Kim Junmyeon blew out haughtily from his nose. His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed. He opened his mouth and then closed it. You waited in hopes that he would contradict you. That he would say, no that was not all you were to him. And it really seemed like he would be saying something along those lines. But other words came out instead.

“Look. You can either come with me or you can try and stay here and save the world. So. What’s it going to be?”

You didn’t even hesitate. “I’m staying.”

“Fine.” He headed for the door.

“Fine,” you bit back, following him.

“Fine,” he threw at you again as he barely glanced over his shoulder.

“Fine!”

He got the last word in before slamming the door to your room shut.

You huffed as you crossed your arms. Yet, as angry as you were, you still hoped that he would come back. That he wouldn’t let you take this on alone. But the footsteps on the other faded away and you were alone.

Looking around your room, you didn’t think there was much you could do. So, you did what you were best at. You grabbed all the books you thought could help you and got to reading.

While sitting in the wicker chair in the corner, you skipped around the books and pages, clinging on to any small word that you thought could lead you to a possible solution. There wasn’t much to be found, unfortunately. Most works spoke of how to perform the Hom-Dai and how it should never be performed due to the curse that awaits should the victim ever be awakened. You already knew that. You needed specifics on what to do after the victim came back.

“(Y/n)!”

Kim Junmyeon came bursting back into your room. You slammed the book in your hands closed, feeling very high and mighty indeed.

“Ah. Mr. Kim. Have you changed your mind?”

“Doesn’t matter now, he’s here!”

“What!”

He didn’t clarify as he hoisted you up out of the chair and pulled you out of the room, and into the hall. Through the windows, you watched in horror as fire fell from the heavens. The balls of flame engulfed anything it touched when it landed, whether it be plant or human life. Turning a corner, Kim Junmyeon ran into a room you knew was occupied by another one of the Americans that you had ran into on your way to Hamunaptra. You gasped.

In the chair, now nothing more than dried, husky skin and hollow bones was… oh, dear you couldn’t remember his name. You hadn’t bothered to learn them. You and Baekhyun had simply referred to them as the “Bloody Americans”. You were feeling a bit awful about that at the moment.

But you didn’t have much time to dwell on that. Standing in front of the fireplace was a new version of the mummy. His skin was starting to come together, though patches were still missing, allowing you to see the gray bone and lack of organs underneath. Kim Junmyeon pulled out both of his guns as the mummy stalked forward.

“We are in deep trouble,” he murmured before opening fire. The loud pops banged on your poor eardrums. You stumbled back a few steps to try and soften their blows. It didn’t work.

The bullets passed through the mummy as if they didn’t exist at all. Even when Oh Sehun and the other Americans came running into the room and firing off their own guns, the mummy still kept going. He shoved Kim Junmyeon back into the others as if he were nothing more than old wrappings. Then he turned on you.

Completely unarmed, you stumbled back until you were betrayed by the bookshelf behind you. There was nowhere to run. Instead of sucking out your liver, however, he spoke.

“You were the one who saved me from the afterlife.” His words were haunting, echoing as if he was speaking in a cavern. And the language he spoke… ancient Egyptian. You weren’t sure why you expected to speak anything else. Coming in closer, he lowered his voice. “I thank you.”

He leaned in his head, those very human eyes lowering to your lips. You turned your head away to try and avoid the kiss, confused as to why he was trying to seduce you.

Sharp, unpleasing notes from the piano pierced through the air. The mummy turned and gasped when he saw the white cat from your room walking across the keys. In a whirl of sand, he fled from the room.

“Oh, thank god,” you said with a heavy breath.

“No kidding,” Kim Junmyeon groaned as he sat up.

You ran to his side, fearful that he might have been injured. “Are you alright, Mr. Kim?”

“Yes,” he huffed. With a very odd expression, he added, “And I told you to call me Junmyeon.”

To be honest, after your fight, you didn’t think you would be allowed to anymore. A strange silence settled between you. He was trying to say something with his gaze, but you couldn’t interpret it. So, instead, you helped him to his feet. “Come on. I know who we need to talk to about all of this.”

It took a while to get back to the museum that had employed you for the past year or so. Every street was full of panicking people. Flames no longer fell from the heavens, but little fires still raged on homes and carts. The Americans had declared that they were coming along, so your group was slower in moving. Although you didn’t really want the mummy bait to be anywhere near you, Junmyeon and Sehun decided that it would be better to keep an eye on them and - hopefully - keep them out of the mummy’s grasp.

“Dr. Bey!” You ran into the museum’s main storage room, happy when you saw the curator. But then you skidded to a stop at the sight that he wasn’t alone.

Ardeth was talking with him in hushed tones that stopped the second you appeared. Both men turned towards you, the curator wearing a very readable expression. It was one that stunk of “I told you so”. The others were only a few steps behind. As soon they, too, saw the unexpected visitor, Junmyeon, Sehun, and the Americans pulled out their guns while Baekhyun simply squeaked in surprise.

“Gentlemen,” Dr. Bey greeted as if this were any old meeting on a Tuesday.

“What is he doing here?” Junmyeon demanded. Even with the black tattoos etched under Ardeth’s eyes, you could tell that he was tired, dark circles from lack of sleep bruising his skin.

Dr. Bey raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to know? Or perhaps you would prefer to just shoot us?”

“Either sounds good.” Junmyeon cocked back the hammer of one of his guns for emphasis.

“Stop it,” you hissed. “Bullets won’t do any good here. Besides, you might damage some of the artifacts.”

Junmyeon failed to suppress a laugh over your concern. Despite the present danger, you still didn’t want to see the carriages or sacred jars damaged because someone got trigger happy. So, Junmyeon holstered his guns and the others soon followed suit. “All right. I’ll give a little faith.”

Dr. Bey motioned for the group to follow him in deeper. “We’re part of a secret society-”

“Aren’t they all?” Baekhyun muttered. Both you and Dr. Bey shot him glares that made him snap his mouth shut.

“For over three thousand years, we have guarded the City of the Dead. Once we reach manhood, we swear an oath to do anything and everything in our power to stop the high priest Imhotep from rising from the grave.”

“And now we have failed. Thanks to you.” Ardeth gave you a particularly pointed look.

By now, you were getting very irritated with the constant finger pointing. What was done was done. You were not going to show him any cowardice. “And that justifies the murder of innocent people?”

“Hm. To stop this creature?” Dr. Bey pretended to think for a moment. “Yes.”

Junmyeon, untroubled by that, raised his hand from the golden seat of a dead royal that he had taken over. “I have a question. Why doesn’t he seem to like cats?”

“Cats are the guardians of the underworld. He will fear them until he reaches full regeneration.”

“Then there will be nothing that he fears.” Worry was very much apparent in the soldier’s voice.

“And you know how he gets regenerated?” one of the Americans asked rhetorically.

The other one finished. “By tracking those of us down who opened the chest and sucking us dry like a nomad in the desert, that’s how!”

It was completely pointless to go over the things that were already known. Now was the time to try and piece the unused parts together. Two particular moments were sticking out in your head.

“Back in Hamunaptra, the priest - Imhotep - he called me Ack-Su-Namun. And then just now at the hotel, he….” You cringed at the memory, thankful that you didn’t have to feel the decomposed skin against your own. “He tried to kiss me.”

“It’s because of Anck-Su-Namun and his love for her that he was cursed,” Dr. Bey explained, exchanging a look with Ardeth. “Even after all this time….”

“He’s still in love with her?” Sehun finished with a scoff.

You appreciated the backstory, however - “As romantic as that is, what does that have to do with me?”

“Perhaps he will try to raise her from the dead once again?” Ardeth guessed.

“Yes,” Dr. Bey agreed solemnly. “And it would seem that he has already chosen his human sacrifice.”

All eyes in the room turned to you. Wonderful.

Not only were you the one who read from the book and raised him, but you would also be responsible for the return of his beloved, who was the reason he was cursed in the first place. Absolutely beautiful.

Baekhuyn came up behind you and patted your shoulder. “That is some rotten luck, dear cousin.”

“Actually, this could work in our favor,” Dr. Bey countered. “It could give us time that we desperately need to kill the creature.”

“We’ll need every second, I think,” Sehun said. He pointed towards the ceiling. “I think he’s getting stronger.”

Through the large window high up on the wall, the sun was in clear view. You all watched in horror as the moon moved too quickly across the sky and blocked the light from reaching Earth.

“I’m guessing this is the plague of darkness?” Baekhyun said ominously. You nodded slowly.

“Let’s go,” Junmyeon said softly beside you, his hand coming up protectively behind your back. “We’ve got to get back to the hotel and come up with a plan.”

“I’m just saying, it seems very stupid to comdem someone to a curse when the result of that would be for them to come back a supernatural creature who is practically unkillable.”

“The ancient Egyptians believed in balance,” you explained to Baekhyun for the hundredth time in your life. “To curse someone so badly in both this life and the next, there has to be a consequence to balance out the scales. If not, then the whole world could still fall apart, in even worse ways!”

“All of this is kind of pointless now, isn’t it?” Sehun sighed from the small table in the antechamber to your room. His feet were up on the polished surface as he leaned back in his seat. A look of irritation was etched on his face as he stared at your cousin. “What’s done is done. Right now, we need to focus on our next step.”

“Well, I know you two,” you pointed to the Americans, “opened the chest. As well as Barney. Was there anyone else?”

“The Egyptologist that was with us,” the shaggier one answered. “Professor Chamberlain. He has a temporary residence a few blocks over.”

“What about my best friend Beni?” Junmyeon asked. You nearly snorted. You knew the two of them were anything but friends.

“No. He ran out before we took the lid off. Ended up saving his own skin.”

“Sounds like Beni,” Junmyeon said dryly. “Okay. We’re going to go get the Professor. You four,” he pointed to all the men, “come with me. You, stay here.”

Oh, no you weren’t. “Excuse me! I am just as capable as any of them are. I will not- What do you think you’re doing!”

Junmyeon marched over to you, picked you up, and carried you over his shoulder until you were in your room. Then he dropped you on the floor, closed the door, and locked it tight. “This door doesn’t open.”

You didn’t know who he said it to, who he left in charge of watching you like an infant. It didn’t matter. You pounded your fist against the solid wood door. “Baekhyun! Junmyeon! Let me out! Baekhyun, you coward! Help me out here!”

“Sorry, cousin!” Baekhyun yelled on the other side of the door. “But… he’s got a gun.”

“Smart choice,” you heard Junmyeon say. Oh, you were going to kill him. Which “him” was yet to be decided. Perhaps both would be most satisfactory.

Well, now you were stuck here.

Crossing your arms, you sat on the edge of the bed and contemplated your choices. Not that you had many.

A yawn forced its way out. You were tired. Over the past few days, you had hardly been able to get any real sleep. And, well, now seemed to be a time. So, you changed into your nightgown and slipped under the covers. The mattress was soft, like a cloud. The pillows were stuffed into freshly cleaned cotton cases. It was barely a few minutes before you drifted off…

And then abruptly woke up to something moving against your mouth. It started out soft but quickly turned ashen and tough. Your eyes flew open and you screamed, the sound muffled by the kiss of Imhotep!

You tried to shove him off, but he didn’t budge. Your touch meant nothing to him as he continued the unwanted kiss.

The door to your room burst open, finally taking his attention and allowing your scream to be heard at full volume. Imhotep’s face was half rotten away, his lips completely gone, the cheeks held together by thin strips of jerky-like skin. You scrambled out of reach, to try and get as far away as the tiny room would allow. The movement caused you to fall out of the bed and land hard on the wood floor.

Standing up, Imhotep said something in ancient Egyptian, but your jumbled, still half-asleep brain couldn’t translate it.

“Oh, really?” Junmyeon mocked. “Here’s my answer.” He held up the poor cat who had saved you earlier, the animal hissing threateningly at the mummy. Just like last time, Imhotep fled in a tornado of sand out the window, terrified of the innocent creature.

“Are you alright?” Junmyeon asked as he let the cat fall from his hands. The cat landed gracefully on its feet and walked over to the bed with more dignity than you’d ever seen a human radiate.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Baekhyun answered. After a glare from Junmyeon, he cleared his throat. “Oh. You weren’t- that’s fine. Go… check on her.” Junmyeon did just that.

Kneeling in front of you, he pushed away a few stray hairs that had fallen in your face. Warm, soft brown eyes searched for any sign of harm. The tips of his fingers brushed against your cheek, setting the skin on fire. Or perhaps that was just the blood rushing up to your face in slight embarrassment. This man made you… nervous in a way. He could be dastardly at times, but… also very sweet.

Clearing your throat, you pushed yourself up to your feet. “I’m fine. A little disgusted, but I’m fine.”

A smirk and knowing gleam flashed on Junmyeon’s face as he rose. “I’m sure mine was better.”

He was referring to the lip-smash he desperately pulled before he was to be dragged to the hangman’s noose. Not exactly the best first impression.

You snorted. “No. I wouldn’t say that.” His jaw went slack. Sehun and Baekhyun snickered behind him. “Did you find the professor?” you asked in order to change the subject.

“Yeah. He stayed out in the sun for a little long by the time we found him.”

“What are you-” Oh. Oh. That was why Imhotep was so far along in his regeneration. He’d found another victim to suck dry.

“And he has the Book of the Dead,” Sehun added. “According to Beni, that’s what he’s going to use to raise Anacsunmum.”

“Anck-Su-Namun,” you corrected.

“Yeah, her.”

You rolled your eyes. Why did you even bother?

You started pacing the room, trying to figure out what would be the best next move. You couldn’t keep playing hide and seek with the cat for all eternity. There needed to be a way to end this. Before he read from the book and raised-

The book…

The book!

You whirled back to the others. “I have an idea!”

“Care to share?”

“The Black book has always been rumored among scholars to be able to bring people back from the dead. Something I had always thought was nonsense,” you added to yourself. “But since that part is true, that means other rumors must be as well. Such as the Gold Book being able to send a soul back to the afterlife.”

“A balance.” Baekhyun looked awfully proud of himself. At least something finally stuck.

“Exactly. Now all we have to do is find out where it's hidden.”

Junmyeon frowned. “But I thought it was supposed to be hidden with Anubis?”

“Exactly,” you agreed. “It comes from a translation of an ancient text. A stone that’s at the museum here, actually. It also says where the Black book was supposed to be hidden. I think they got their translations mixed up. So, where the scholars who originally translated it said that the golden Book of Amun-Ra was in the statue of Anubis, it's actually wherever they said the black Book of the Dead was supposed to be.”

“And where is that?”

You swallowed. “I don’t remember. We’ll have to go to the museum so I can read it again.”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Junmyeon checked the barrels of his guns, reloaded the revolvers with bullets from his belt. “Then I guess we’re headed back to the museum. Hopefully we don’t run into Ugly Face before we get to the rock.”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” you said with the utmost confidence.

Sehun, who did not share that sentiment, looked up towards the ceiling. “Oh joy. Another book hunt.”

#exo #exo fanfic #exo fanfiction #exo fantasy au #exo fantasy!au #junmyeon x reader #junmyeon x fem!reader #kim junmyeon #kim joonmyeon #suho #exo mummy au #exo egypt au #exo 1920s au #byun baekhyun #oh sehun #exo adventure au #Book of the Dead

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bluntforcefem · 4 years ago

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bug fables roleswap au!

hi thank you @cyanopicacyanus most beloved i would LOVE to! fair warning to anyone reading the text under the cut that this au explanation will have spoilers for the entirety of bug fables! so if you’re someone who wants to go in entirely blind and hasn’t watched/played bug fables yet- don’t click!

similarly, this covers similar things to the original bug fables stories, including the themes and plots of the requests. so watch out if any of those bug you! (Bug You haha)

the central focus of the au is the swap between the three main characters: leif takes vi’s place, vi takes kabbu’s place, and kabbu takes leif’s place. however, it gets a little more funky from there, in the nature of telling a fun and fresh story AND preserving major & important parts of their original personalities and backstories!

this explanation will go over the characters, and then specific moments & such that i think would change as well! ft. vi & leif getting to do crime, as they deserve

VI AS KABBU

vi, her sister jaune, and a currently unnamed friend of theirs are from a hive outside of bugaria, beyond the wild swamplands. they all decide to go to bugaria to explore - vi for money and exploration, jaune to see the art there. on the way there, in the same fashion as kabbu’s master and bit, vi and jaune’s friend dies to the beast to protect them while they run away.

vi and jaune, fueled by grief and anger at the loss, have a VERY LARGE blowout fight that ends in jaune leaving the swamplands for their home hive, and vi continuing on to go to bugaria! wooooo

what you get here is. vi largely keeps her desire to prove herself and get rewards from exploring, but there’s an added layer of: “if i can just prove myself as an explorer, i can kill the beast, and show jaune that she was wrong and trying to go to bugaria was worth it all along.” (even if vi doesn’t fully believe herself that the loss was worth it! character nuance my beloved)

KABBU AS LEIF

HERE’S WHERE THINGS START TO GET FUNKY! stick with me here folks, because ghosts are going to be real and in your home (and in bugaria.)

it all starts with a change with what the roaches in snakemouth labs are researching - instead of trying to achieve immortality with cordyceps (which is relegated to another lab, which is a special tool that’ll help us later), the roaches in snakemouth were attempting to achieve immortality by finding a way to bind spirits to exist after death, subsequently to re-enter their bodies. snakemouth was chosen for this for the high concentration of magic that allowed this to be possible - magic that permeated beyond just where the labs were. however, no corpse fit the conditions for spirits to re-enter them, leaving tens of spirits lonely and wandering. eventually, they all ganged up on the roaches who left them this way and killed them!

enter: kabbu, his master, and bit, who entered snakemouth den during the reign of elizant the first to find the artifact! the same beat as leif and his exploration team in canon. they get ambushed by a spider while investigating, and kabbu wakes up decades later when leif & vi rescue him!

what happened in snakemouth den was this: all three of the exploration team that entered perished, including kabbu. due to the experiments going on in snakemouth, and the roaches’ adjustment to the area and its energy, all three of their spirits sustained after death, and All Three Of Them Went Into Kabbu’s Body! kabbu is fully unaware of this until his request is done, in which the final battle of snakemouth labs is not a zommoth, but an amalgamation of lost ghosts that kabbu (and master and bit) refuse to acknowledge any similarity too.

instead of using the royal we and slipping into “i” during his request, kabbu uses “i” most of the time, and slips into using “we” when he sees the amalgamation and realizes the truth about what happened to him and his old family. i have given the kabbu ghosts both metaphorical AND literal this time!

tl;dr: the theme of snakemouth labs is ghosts instead of zombies, and kabbu is very, very haunted.

LEIF AS VI

remember when i said that the cordyceps being in another lab would be my special tool that would help us later? yeah! so. the most important part of this is that both leif & muse are still alive! it hasn’t been decades, for him - he’s been around during elizant ii’s reign.

leif and muse were an explorer (muse) and scientist (leif) duo exploration team that was sent by elizant ii to study the lost sands and find clues on the roaches and the everlasting sapling. they were pretty good at it! and one day, near the sand castle gate, leif finds a cordyceps colony that acts a little weird, has some sort of magical ability. so he takes it back to his lab for isolated study!

while he’s studying it, bandits from the lost sands attack while muse is gone, hoping to find research, etc. to hand over to the wasps. the cordyceps’ tube keeping it temperate and lively is shattered, leif is heavily injured, and it isn’t looking good for him or the cordyceps. so they reach out to each other, and fuse into each other, and the cordyceps “patches up” leif. both of them are still kicking around in there! it’s a very confusing case of identity for a while, but in a similar case to canon, the cordyceps Wants to care about muse and the people leif cares about. this time they’re just aware of what they are!

HOWEVER. muse comes back! and leif fills muse in on the situation, but neither him nor the cordyceps are particularly interested in studying himself or the effects it could have on his body, or any form of self-preservation related to it - they’re mostly just content to take their blessings as it is. This Does Not Sit Well With Muse! they argue about it for a while, it causes a rough patch, and they both agree that it would be better if they took a while to think about it by themselves. for context, this happens about six or seven months before the bug fables canon Starts.

leif is also SUPER banned from the explorer’s association & science groups for unethical science practices, particularly when the queen herself condemns his actions (mostly after he refuses to share the information he gained about what this could mean for the everlasting sapling. the cordyceps’ dislike of the roaches and what they did to it sustains post-fusion!)

leif’s request, then, centers around him coming to terms with the idea that he can be both kind to himself as he is (him and the cordyceps, him-and-the-cordyceps) AND make sure that this fusion is healthy for him AND continue his work in some form. it’s all about accepting that although his response was reasonable for when he had it and his experiences, muse was also very right about the fact that he needed to take care of himself after that! and it’s also about reconciling with muse herself. they do NOT get divorced i promise they’re happily married and have a kid

OTHER FUN THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

this is longer than i thought it would be! but hey, here’s my favorite part - getting into some of the major/minor plot changes that result from the changes in the roleswap!

all of the characters keep their attack types! for the reasons explained (gestures above) in their plot. however, kabbu gets a ghost-related TP skill after his request is completed!

leif & vi don’t have a legal explorer’s permit until AFTER snakemouth den. vi isn’t allowed to get one by herself, and when leif offers to be her partner, he’s reminded that he is SUPER BANNED from doing that! so they both sneak into snakemouth den illegally to find the artifact and prove that they can be an exploration team, and along the way find kabbu. inside your local fucked up cave you will find a free moral compass and friend

also: both kabbu and leif have a SUPER weird reaction to areas with heavy magic/the artifacts/roach technology! in this thread, they also have a super fun reaction to seeing each other for the first time, while vi is Literally Just Sitting There. sorry vi you’re on a team with not one but TWO fucked up guys (affectionate) on it

vi’s request is similar to kabbu’s with setting up the gravesite in the swamplands, but team snakemouth also helps her write a letter to jaune! i think in a post-canon world jaune eventually comes to bugaria to see vi and they (after a very long talk and bribery via vi getting jaune into this hive’s art gallery) reconcile too.

muse is HERE and i like her SO MUCH. this isn’t much of a plot thing but she’s alive in this au and everybody gets to see how like. Much she definitely made the first move, etc. i think her and elizant ii are friends they have tea on saturdays

if you made it this far - thanks for reading!! this is an au i love dearly and have put a LOT of thought into and i hope to write some fic for it sometime!!

#kbitycus art #bug fables roleswap #<- this'll be my tag for it lmao #whew this was a lot #bug fables

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pikky126 · 5 years ago

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rating bee emojis because every other rating is wrong

all bees are good let’s get that squared away. ON WE GO

This is a good bee! she has a very strange art style, she looks very realistic but also fake. She kind of looks like a toy but also... not quite. I think I like her! I wish she was more stylized. 13/10

This on has... extremely bad anatomy! her head is on backwards. I don’t like this. this is the only bee that I cannot in good conscience rate highly because she’s... that’s not right. I hope she’s okay. 8/10

THIS is a good one. I love the simplicity and the bold black lines. she looks realistic and also cartoonish! I would give this bee my wallet. 18/10

really nice! I love the transparency on her wings, showing stripes through them! she’s really nicely detailed and very beautiful. I love her so much 16/10

this one I... don’t like so much I must be honest. it’s a very fine bee just the weirdly high detail kind of turns me off. also she’s missing two legs. 10/10 because she’s still a very good bee

very very simplistic. this is actually not my favorite one, I think it suffers a bit from the simplicity. there isn’t much to say on it, I wish discord used a different one instead. 11/10

this one’s got a really neat angle! this is another one that tries to be very realistic, and i’m not sure it works too well! she’s really not offensive though, and I really respect her 13/10

oh this one looks like an illustration in a book! I think she’s a bit flat, but otherwise i’m loving her... I can’t help but notice though that she’s missing two legs... 12/10

this is a controversial one in most bee emoji reviews, and the reason i’m making this to begin with. this one is FLAWLESS. I LOVE HER. is she a bee? no! do I love her? YES!!! she’s a bee fly! you might know them from being the inspiration of cutiefly and ribombee in pokemon. they’re wonderful and lovely, and despite not being part of the bee family, I love them more than anything. 20/10

this one is a friend!! look at her! she looks like she belongs in bug fables, or another similar game! she’s industrious and gorgeous 18/10

oh this is a FRIEND, another really nice angle, with a really soft color palette. I love her I want to take her to a coffee shop 20/10

this is so cute oh my god. this bee is enchanting my life and making everything better every moment. i’m gonna cry (also she’s missing two legs but I can excuse it because she’s SO CUTE) 25/10

very simple! once again she’s missing two legs, unless they’re hidden behind her completely opaque wings. I gotta be honest I don’t care for this one 10/10

I was going to make a joke and say “twitter... 2!” but... this one.....is just so much worse than the twitter one. I don’t like it. 10/10

my love my life my greatest friend. my reason for living my daughter my favorite girl my beautiful most lovely creature the best thing i’ve ever seen. I love her with my entire heart. I look at her and cry and want to cherish and protect her. she is missing a leg but I don’t care, she makes up for it with all of the love she holds in her soul 500/10

CUTE. 20/10! very simple but it works!!

to close it off. I’ve seen some people complaining that the google bee has four wings. first of all, that is nowhere close to the only problem she has. secondly of all... all bees have four wings!! it’s a thing. or at least most of them. anyways! thanks for reading I love bees and emojis are good

#long post #bealinposting #insects #bugs #bees #I spent literally like 25 minutes on this and it was time well spent #fav

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antonradke-music · 4 years ago

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DJ’s: YOU AREN’T PRODUCERS. TAKE THAT WORD OUT OF YOUR SOCIAL BIOS.

Possibly controversial opinion:

TLDR: DJ's: If you're not posting original music, edits, remixes, or anything of the sort. Please don't put "producer" in your SoundCloud bio. It's alot like that guy in High School who would say "Yea man I play guitar, I shred like, all the time" then you hand him a guitar and he just starts goin ham with a poorly executed and under-practiced "Smoke on the Water" or "Enter Sandman" opening riff. On repeat. The entire time he plays. Except with DJ/Producers you can't just hand someone a laptop to "hear them shred on a DAW" so its alot easier to get away with in our EDM world.

FULL RANT: There is a huge difference between "DJ" and "Producer" and there isn't a single thing wrong with just being a "DJ" and not both. People still need and want DJ mixes. There's zero shame in admitting that you don't, or don't know how to, produce music.

It only bugs me (and to be clear, it doesn't even bug me all that much) coz producers like myself and my friends spend countless hours learning and mastering our craft, so that title of "producer" is somewhat earned in my opinion. You can't just download a DAW and say "I'm a producer" if you've never once truly used it.

Producers create. DJ's mix. If your SC page is only mixes, you're a DJ. If your SC page contains original content/music you created yourself, then there's nothing wrong with adding that "producer" bit in your bio. Even if what you're posting is ID's, WIPs, ideas, bootlegs, etc. It doesn't need to be fully finished and mastered music. If you created it, you produced it, you are a producer on some level (beginner/intermediate/TUNE GOD, etc)

If you're a DJ now, and are just now learning to produce, just wait until you start posting/uploading your tunes. THEN add that fabled "producer" title to your socials.

I'm also not alone. Myself and several of my producer friends have expressed at least some frustration towards the DJ's that both call themselves a producer in their socials and even (sometimes) out in public. It can definitely be a "wtf" moment (and this has literally happened to me before) when you are talking to someone, be it an Entertainment/Booking manager or a bigger DJ, telling them about your music and your work. Then another DJ shows up and starts doing the same. But you know that person, and you're aware of the fact that they've never made a tune or have even tried to start learning.

Now there's the possibility that someone who's never worked on tunes in their life could get the credit or booking that you were working so hard for, and they didn't spend a minute doing the same. They just happen to be VERY good at talking to promoters, knowing what they want to hear, and manipulating the truth to fit a narrative that will get them hired or booked. And this has happened to me. They ended up getting a better time slot than me as they grossly exaggerated their SoundCloud stats, and played a song to the promoter by an underground artist claiming that it was their own. I kept my mouth shut. I should have spoken up, but I didn't think his ploy would work and I was new to that particular local scene, I wanted to avoid burning bridges or looking salty/bad. His set ended up being really rough, he'd lied about knowing CDJ gear (he didn't), spent an hour trainwrecking almost every transition, the dance floor was empty by the end of his set, he left the venue in a hurry afterwards and I've never seen him since.

Unfortunately it's not like many local event managers actually care. They just want a good DJ, and they'll often believe you if you tell them you're more than just a DJ. They likely don't have a reason to doubt you, and often don't care enough to check the validity of those claims. Or maybe they don't even know the difference between "DJ" and "Producer"

So in in summary: DJ's. You're not producers. Not unless you make your own music/Unless you are a creator. And just for the record, opening a DAW, playing with Serum for a few minutes, and tossing a few loops into a bus/channel doesn't count. Take the time to learn properly how to write progressions/melodies, program sequences, mix-down your track elements, structure your tune and bonus points for doing it all without presets (learn sound design) and without loops (learn drum & pattern sequencing) If you have that DAW installed, you're already sooo much farther ahead than tons of others in your position. Hit up YouTube for some tutorials and you're on your way!

In Conclusion: Please. Please. PLEASE don't take credit for the kind of work producers spend up to 10-15 hours a track doing (my average time to finish a song entirely). You could cost a talented soul a gig or time slot they've been busting their asses for for years. There really isn't anything wrong with being JUST a DJ. Its a good thing, and still a valid and useful skillset with tons of work/gig opportunities. I played plenty of gigs before I really started calling myself a "producer". You may not get the best timeslots as compared to producers. But be honest with yourself, you could be a fantastic DJ, but who most deserves good timeslots at events? The guys with something to promote. A product to offer. And that product is their creative content/music/whatever. And that guy could be you, you just need to take the time to learn and work hard at honing your craft and skillsets.

Soooo take "producer" out of your bio if all you're posting is mixes and mashups. And if your bio says it, or you identify as a Producer, you better expect me to fuckin test you on it cause I will. Immediately. And if you don’t pull a home made, non-plagiarizing, ORIGINAL piece of creative expression/content out of your ass in that very moment then I swear to Cthulhu I will perform a social/career crucifixion (alot like “social/career suicide” except I do it to you) on you. Your ‘music career’ ends right there on the spot, ESPECIALLY if you play some underground artist and act like its your music and take credit for it. That’s just so far from ok. And I WILL notice. I was an underground non commercial radio DJ for over 2 years. and a lifelong enthusiast all around. Trust me. I will know. So just be honest with yourself, and others. Please, and thank you.

- Signed, bedroom producers the world over.

PS - I’m SERIOUS guys. I won't stay silent next time. If I see a DJ try to take credit for another artists work (especially while talking to promoters, and especially taking credit for underground artists work) I will shut that shit down instantly. I will ensure they're instacancelled on the spot and won't play a gig in that area ever again. Plagiarism is NOT COOL. Don't plagiarize. Seriously. You will never have a career in music if you make Plagiarism a part of your “strategy for success” in the music industry. And I will personally work towards ensuring that. (example: I still to this day convert people to the cancellation of DJ Bl3nd. That POS blatantly ripped off so many artists, and is a perfect PERFECT example of a DJ claiming to be a producer. But isn’t. AND he used plagiarism + ghost producers COMBINED to make it seem like he was a producer) I don’t care if you do end up learning to produce after the fact and start making decent tunes.. If you plagiarize and try to use it to advance your career, I will do everything I can to stop you. For ever.

P.P.S. - For those of you DJ's who are learning to produce, don't take any offense to this rant its not directed at you guys, and please PLEASE don't get discouraged. You're likely not even applicable to this rant as you're actually working towards the title. So let me help you in that, below this text I'll be linking a few awesome YouTube producer channels who upload educational music/producer content. As well as some links to great sample/drum kits and more useful tools to help in your learning curve. I am also always available for producing tips and advice, just send me a direct message or comment on this post and I'll give you the best answer from my own experience/abilities/knowledge. Thanks for taking the time to read this ridiculous and stupidly long rant. I hope you can see where I’m coming from. And I’m sure many actual producers can agree with a lot of my points and reasoning. Have a good one. Peep my tunes if you have some time. Peace and deuces to all! -Anton Radke

www.soundcloud.com/antonradke www.facebook.com/antonradkemusic booking/collabs/commissions/general inquiries/demos: [email protected]

Resources and tools for learning producers: Some production education channels on YouTube that I highly recommend:

Dylan Tallchief has some fantastic tutorials for many different EDM genres which cover more than just production. He talks in depth about music theory, sound design. All of it. He shows how to use both Ableton and FL Studio. HIGHLY RECOMMMEND this channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIu2Fj4x_VMn2dgSB1bFyQA

For rap/hip-hop producers, I recommend watching videos made by these two gentlemen:

Praxi Plays covers tons of genres/sub genres, and different styles of commercial, and less than commercial rap/hip hop music. He teaches using FL Studio:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAE7Doxo5WQRjLPz7JYa7Fw If you prefer darker, more underground rap music, or just less than commercial stuff in general, Based Gutta covers tons of styles of rap beats from the underground rap culture. He’s great, and also pretty hilarious. Also uses FL Studio. Oh and he does Lo-Fi stuff a whole lot as well:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTrrlfsv-5IBQ1SgPBawT3w

COMPOSERILY is also a good one. But a lot less serious. His videos are definitely more parody and satire than anything, but there’s still lots you can learn from watching him. Tons of useful stuff in his videos. He also does both Ableton and FL Studio depending on the song/artist he’s trying to sound like.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Ujq8PBm0MWraaXd8MsIAQ

For drums and other samples, I highly recommend getting a Splice Account. Its incredible So many options! And you can download individual sounds. You don’t have to download an entire sample pack if you just want one kick drum that it happens to have which is great. A good brokeboi alternative would be Looperman. Its basically a discount/Wal-Mart level “Splice” style service but free.

www.Splice.com

www.looperman.com

Some useful sample kits I recommend getting for the sake of drum sequencing/programming:

XFER Pack by Steve Duda and deadmau5 (great for house and 4/4 edm genres)

BIGHEAD Sample Pack by BigHead (available on Splice) [great for trap/rap/hiphop]

literally ANY vengeance or cymatics sample pack will also be a great choice for practically any type of bass music. Face it. Bass music drums are boring and are all almost IDENTICAL from song to song (with the exception of the kick drum) so any Vengeance or Cymatics dubstep sample kit will do you justice here.

VSTs to consider: EDM: Sylenth1 (must have), Razor (underrated), Massive, Serum (must have), U-He Diva, Nexus (overrated but useful), Dblue Glitch, DBlue Tapestop, Engineers Filter (free, amazing Equalizer. deadmau5 approved), CamelCrusher, OTT (overrated but useful), Cthulhu (MIDI sequencer programmed by deadmau5, hella cool but confusing)

Rap Music VSTs to consider: Omnisphere. that’s it. I’m not kidding. A talented producer armed with Omnisphere, and a decent drum sample kit, who is very good at sampling and writing melody/progression can create THOUSANDS of Grammy worthy rap/trap beats without even once reusing an Omnisphere preset. Its like Nexus. Except it truly doesn’t suck, and is worth the absurd price tag.

-Anton Radke www.soundcloud.com/antonradke www.facebook.com/antonradkemusic booking/collabs/commissions/general inquiries/demos: [email protected]

#edm #DJ #producer #house music #bass music #dubstep bass #bass #festivals #concerts #clubs #shows #music #music industry #plagiarism

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a-totally-legit-farm · 5 years ago

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The Hunt (Nikoma Drabble)

drabble - nikoma | read on google docs

Nikoma had been losing his mind as of late – it had started in his compulsory excursion to Zuzu, being cooped up in supercooled office spaces and hotel rooms. He still got to drink, and smoke, but he had… More requirements. The man sighed, like he had just got a hit of nicotine or a mouthful of good whiskey –

His broadsword cleaved the leaf clad golem in twain, splitting its core, its tacky sap tarnishing the usual sheen of the carbon-greyed steel. The creature moaned in faux pain as its form dissipated, becoming little more than bark, leaves and ichor. As it gurgled, he flicked the weapon in a swift, clean motion, the force from the twist flinging his victims’ lifeblood into the dirt.

It always felt good, removing that little bit of magic from the world. After all, Nikoma reasoned with himself, it was magic that killed my dad. This was something he had come to tell himself in his years of monster hunting. He remembered the autopsy results clearly – nothing was wrong with his father; it was a freak heart attack. The only conclusion a young Nikoma could come to, in his rage-filled, sorrow-riddled mind, was that his father had been the victim of some sort of magic.

The bushes ahead rustled, and from it, poured more monsters. A pair of golems and a small fleet of giant bugs rushed his position. Nikoma pushed forwards, the man’s steps placed with powerful intent, propelling him towards the blood that his sword hungered for. The sword was something else. Nik had always been an excellent fighter, a force of nature that would take enough damage to kill a man and still march on the offense, but this sword, Vice, was a different creature. The ouroboros engraved above the cross guard was telling of its nature – self-destructive, forever hungry.

The first bug was dispatched with a well-placed front kick, his black combat boots tearing through carapace and fluorescent gore, shattering the exoskeleton of the mindless creatures. The buzzing quieted slightly as the pink mist settled on the insect’s comrades – Vice swung left and low, through the pivot point in the closest golem’s knee, the green, spellbound husk toppling to the dirt. Nikoma followed the sing through as he was dive bombed by another beetle, leaping into a roll to try and regain his footing.

Beetles poured in from every direction now, with a golem leading each wave of insects. Again, he darted in, the six-foot tall man moving like a lightweight boxer, each footstep and sword slash carefully timed to wreak maximum havoc among the growing ranks of enemies. It was tiring work; Vice was not a small sword, yet each swing clipped at least one foe, never wasting energy in missed attacks. He cleaved through the horde of beetles, taking only superficial damage from their kamikaze-style dive bombs – it was rare for a bug to leave Nikoma’s reach once it had entered it. It was the golems Nikoma was weary of, the dense bark that made up their exterior was like rock and being punched was not in the swordsman’s list of things that were fun.

Vice spearheaded upwards as Nikoma lifted, the blade’s navy-grey steel piercing up and under the golem’s chest plates, his sword shattering the core inside, as its dead weight was lifted into the air, limbs limply dangling. It was a show of pure strength, as Vice relished the sticky ichor leaking from the now defunct golem. Again, that rush of adrenaline, that nicotine hit feeling, and a soft quenching of that ever-present bloodlust. Nikoma sighed, as he shrugged the golem off his sword.

It was quiet now, the cacophony of carapaces clacking silenced for the first time in what felt like forty minutes. Discarded exoskeletons and that bright bug meat littered the forest floors, piles of sap and bark and leaves piling amongst the corpses. It was a brilliant sight of awesome violence, and Nikoma reveled in it for slightly too long. It wasn’t what he had come into the forest for, but it was what he needed. His cuts and bruises pulsed and ached, a trail of red running from his eyebrow to his jawline. The pain was good.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

That was a mistake.

The iron grip of a golem wrapped around his ankle – it was the second he had faced, the one he had lopped at the knees. It was a rookie mistake not to destroy its core. He twisted, in an attempt to stab at it from above, but vines lashed around his right arm from the surrounding scrub, as he heard the uttering of a Fae language. Son of a motherfucker… His irritation spiked as he realized what had happened. The reason he was here had happened.

Nikoma was aware of a rumor, relating to a possible Spriggan sighting in the deep woods. Spriggans were fae of fables, renowned for their affinity of the woods, and known master manipulators. Good thing Nikoma didn’t care for trees. He had set out, Vice crying to taste the organs of a faerie, and Nikoma willing to do the deed. After all, he was a monster hunter. And now, his target hovered just two meters in front of him. It garbled its disgusting dialect at him, and he felt the digits of the golem grow and stretch and harden around his left leg.

It was a curiously grotesque creature – its skin tone was a pasty green, with what seemed to be wrinkled leaves making up some sort of garment around the faerie. Its face was long, its nose bridging in a very inhuman way, creating deep wells for its golden sliver-irises to sit in. Atop its head was a moss that did not seem to be a part of the Spriggan itself, instead its own, independent organism, moving slowly despite the lack of breeze.

“Human, who are you to encroach upon my territory?” The Spriggan’s voice was like wind blowing through leaves, whispy and whimsical, yet the tone behind the words was sinister and menacing – and Nikoma couldn’t help but scoff at the monster. A typical fae trick, to ask a human their name. There was a lot of power in a name.

“Get fucked, monster.” Clearly the faerie did not take the insult lightly, but whether it was the f-bomb or the monstrous insinuation, it wasn’t clear – regardless, the golem and vine’s grip on Nikoma grew tighter. The man could feel the plant matter cutting into his skin, rubbing and burning as friction held two of his limbs tight in place.

The creature’s eyes narrowed as it muttered more gibberish, “Gweles’m neb eghen’gas…” Nik spat at the faerie, saliva and blood intermingling as his disrespect landed on the fabled being. “You think yourself higher than us, gowygyon fethesik, yet you don’t realise you lunch with monsters worse than I.” Nikoma gritted his teeth – the fairy was monologuing now, great. The words had weight to them, however – magical weight, the Spriggan’s powerful persuasion pushing its rhetoric into his head. “The flame-haired one, she is a monster, duwesow’a chatelydheith , not of race nor magic, but a monster nonetheless…” The Spriggan hissed his words at Nikoma, hovering in and out of Vice’s possible strike range as his speech filled the air.

“You know this, yet you only strike us down… Pystyon…”

Nik growled, slowly rotating his sword in his right hand – and not bringing attention to his left, barely moving it at all, for he was still not fully restrained. Clearly the Spriggan had not fought a human before, despite all its wisecracks. “You know this to be true, gowyow soudoryon. Are you fine with dining with monsters, yet killing innocent peoples?” His growl turned into a snarl as his teeth become bared, and the fae retreated a few meters, in expectation of more bodily fluids.

Instead, that same flick of the wrist this time sent Vice up into the air, and with a precise strike Nikoma had caught the handle and degloved the golem clutching his ankle, and following the momentum through, slashed the vine holding his good sword arm. In a flash, he sprinted at the faerie, who had frantically begun chanting its putrid dialect. Roots burst from the ground and vines lashed from the trees – they managed to catch hold, but the warrior was a force unstoppable. Clay cracked and crumbled as the root tips ripped out, and trees creaked as the vines pulled on the smaller branches.

Nikoma leaped, screaming, sword ready to thrust into that sickly green skin. The closer he got, the more biological chains he felt halting his decent. He closed his eyes, and he heard Vice. Push now. Feed me. He thrust the blade forward – just as he came to a complete stop. His amber eyes opened, to meet the Spriggan’s golden gaze. Through its chest was Vice, soaking in a soft ambrosia gushing from the mortal gash.

He was suspended by a harness of roots and vines, now completely immobile, yet his blade pierced the ground, via the fae’s internal organs. One final rush of that satisfaction hit Nik, as he watched the life drain from his latest victim. As it died, the Spriggan uttered one final phrase.

“A-barth Duw, gwitha fleghes rag an euthvil ma…”

Its final words was its final mistake. As his organic shackles became limp and unrestrictive, Vice spoke – also for the final time. The creature has kin. They must be removed. Nikoma grunted – normal people’s swords don’t talk to them. He wiped the warm, golden blood on the bark of a nearby tree, before trekking off into the woods. He sheathed Vice, and retrieved his flask of whiskey, gulping down the bronze liquid with ease.

Oh well.

Guess he was off to kill some more fairies.

#nik drabble #long post #theres not a lot of nik being a badass asshole #so heres a little bit

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texanredrose · 5 years ago

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Hey there ! Apparently you like video-games (or at least Smash), so what's your favourite one ?

Hookay, so… I know this is going to get long, so adding a Read More, but the short answer is: I don’t have a clear cut favorite, but some of my favorites include such well known properties as Mass Effect and lesser known ones like Sudeki. I’m not some gaming guru but I definitely have some Opinions™ about video games.

Favorite First Person Shooter: Halo: Reach. Generally, I don’t ask for much in my FPS; let me kill shit and the less I have to reload, the better. However, Halo: Reach, being at the time the 4th game in the franchise that served as the prequel to the entire series, provided an excellent story with great characters and an underlying message about the indomitable human soul.

Favorite Real Time Strategy: Halo Wars. Okay, yes, another entry from the same franchise, but!!! This one also has some fantastic characters and a great storyline, even if it’s… somewhat confusing when considering the bigger narrative (Halo in general is just messy af and retconned-but-not all to hell anyway). Still, it’s a fun, mostly intuitive RTS, which is notoriously difficult on consoles.

Favorite Horror Game: Resident Evil. Listen, this game came out when I was seven, and my Uncle let me play it to fuck with me. Nothing will be scary than those early PS1 graphics, the loading screen a constant tease of ‘what’s behind this door? Is it death? It’s probably death!’ that got me good. Fear Factor comes a close second, as though it wasn’t much of a horror game, the game mechanic of your character’s rising stress level kept me on the fucking edge.

Favorite Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy X. Listen. I don’t care how awkward Tidus’ laugh was. I don’t even mind how passive Yuna was. Blitzball was amazing and I have forgiven all sins. No, seriously, I loved the cast in FFX, much like other FF games, and Seymour was a villain I enjoyed hating with every fiber of my being, and even some of the mini games were fun, too. But Blitzball could’ve been a standalone game and I would’ve bought it. Still would.

Favorite JRPG: Sudeki. If you didn’t get a chance to play this on the original XBOX, you missed out. The characters were fun, if a bit goofy, and the high fantasy mixed with science fiction was a nice touch. What really sold me, though, was the AI. Not only could you switch between different available characters in the middle of a fight- very easily and very intuitively- but the AI actually behaved very well, saving my ass more than a time or two. In most games, AI are either cannon fodder, immortal, or require close attention/precise manipulation of their preset actions. Not in Sudeki; some fights, I could actually stand back and let my party do their work, and that was immensely gratifying. Yeah, the ending was a bit of a let down, but it didn’t erase how much fun I had with the rest of the game.

Favorite Super Smash Brothers: Super Smash Brothers Melee. Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of the elements in the sequels but SSBM was the version I played most heavily with friends, so I have the most fond memories of it. Plus, it was before they changed Link’s moveset, which I’m still high key upset about. (I don’t like the new bombs or his new down attack.)

Favorite Series: Mass Effect. Now, one might expect Halo to be my favorite series, seeing as two of the games are some of my all time favorites, but… nah. When you take out the multiplayer element, the Halo games didn’t have much left. Yes, they had a galaxy spanning conflict with twists and turns but, honestly, Mass Effect did it better, with better world building and exploration, and a lot of interactive features that I enjoyed. From what I played of Andromeda, (long after it released, so no weird bugs yet), it continued to build on the foundation of the original trilogy, though I would’ve preferred to stay in the Milky Way, and Ryder can’t hold a candle to Shepard. Still, even what issues I have with the series (LET ME ROMANCE KROGANS, DAMNIT) don’t detract from the excellent story, fun gameplay, and intriguing mystery.

Favorite Elder Scrolls: … okay, I actually don’t like any of them, tbh. And??? I’m not sure why??? I actively can’t stand Skyrim.

Favorite Soulsborne: There is only Dark Souls, and it’s the pinnacle of ‘I don’t need my brain for this’ for me. It’s just… run around and kill things. Nothing matters. I think the main difference between this and Skyrim is the way the player character moves. ES games look so… silly. At least Dark Souls looks silly for a reason.

Favorite Sports Game: NCAA 2007. I’d rather play as a college team than a professional one. Although, NFL Blitz comes a very close second, purely because it gave no fucks and only barely qualifies as a sports game.

Favorite ‘Oh Fuck’ Game: It’s a tie between Minecraft and ARK: Survival Evolved. And you’re asking ‘how are those two in the same category’ and the answer is ‘because the only difference between the two for me is, which is going to kill me, lava or a raptor?’ and don’t ask how I die to these two things with equal frequency. More to the point, I usually play these games with friends, and thus my ‘oh fuck’ moments are witnessed by others, or I witness their ‘oh fuck’ moments. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re sad, but they leave an impact and, hey, that’s fucking impressive.

Favorite Pokemon Game: Blue Version. Yeah, it’s a bit of a cop out, but the original game I got back when Pokemon first came over to the States actually taught me a life lesson: that it is possible to play a game wrong, which is what I was doing. So, I started over, and I was much happier for it! No matter what features are added to the franchise, I don’t think I’ll ever gain such an important life lesson from one again, so it’s gonna stay at the top of the list.

Favorite Chill Game: Any Harvest Moon. Let me tend my farm. (I haven’t had a chance to play Stardew Valley, which is basically Harvest Moon but gay, so that’ll probably take the top spot once I get a chance to play it.)

Favorite Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Although there are some aspects of Majora’s Mask I liked better, OoT had fishing. Yes, that’s honestly my favorite part of the game. I love fishing in video games. Don’t judge me.

Favorite Team Game: Overwatch. Love the character designs and gameplay. Witch!Mercy still owns my soul.

Favorite Battle Royale: Apex Legends. For some reason, one of the few ‘competitive’ games that doesn’t spark my frustration when I lose. Dunno why, it’s just fun. Lightning rounds are great, too!

Favorite Hack-n-Slash: Brutal Legends. Heavy metal, axes, and guitars- everything from the aesthetic to the gameplay is fun and the story is interesting as well. The RTS portion can get a bit annoying but, other than that, no complaints here.

Favorite Fable: Fable III. I endorse any game that allows me to woo as many people as I can find who are attracted to me. Let me have as many spouses as I want, one in each city. I will marry half the kingdom, damnit, just watch me.

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I know I’m missing some but I’ve sunk perhaps hundreds of hours into the games listed, so, yeah.

#TRR asks #me playing video games

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space-whalesharks · 5 years ago

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Author Interview

(lol remember when I said I would do this when I was bleaching my hair and then I couldnt see shit so I quit? WHOOPS)

Tagged by @starsandskies @seedlingsinner @amistrio @troyebakers. Look Ma, I’m popular.

Name: Sarah

Fandoms: Far Cry 5, Marvel, kinda sorta Star Wars?, Van Helsing, 3:!0 to Yuma, LA Noire, Fable, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Leverage, Longmire, White Collar, Sleepy Hollow. There are more but that’s all y’all are getting lately. Too many to list.

Where You Post: Here, AO3, and... well, I haven’t touched it in months but I still have my page up on fanfiction.net.

Most Popular One-Shot: On AO3: Technically it was Between and Tree and a Hard Place before I added to it, but going by single-chapter stuff now: Her Scientific Method. On Fanfiction: Save Your First Prom For Me. Using the AO3 link because nowadays looking at ff.net’s formatting makes my eyes bleed, I hate it so much.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story: On AO3: New Divide On Fanfiction: 2B and Not 2B

Favourite Story You Wrote: I’ve said it before, as news to no one, it’s New Divide.

Story You Were Nervous to Post: Also New Divide. Basically when the game came out and I finished up the Valley, my theory got proven wrong so the writing bug bit, I went in fully expecting there to be a million “Joseph does boot John out of Eden for failing” fics. I expected it to be the biggest trope. So even if I had checked like... hourly and had a feeling I was going to be the first one who wrote something like that, there was some sneaking suspicion that the second I hit “post” there were going to be twenty others with that idea and I’d be accused of copying.

How You Choose Your Titles: 20% of the time they’re wordplay/a common phrase slightly changed into a joke, 80% it’s named after a song that fit the story the most in my head. Complete: On AO3: 20/37 On Fanfiction: oh god don’t make me look aahhh 16/24. I could’ve sworn there were more. Maybe Past Me was ruthless and deleted a bunch.

In-complete: AO3: 17/37 FF: 8/24

Do You Outline: Occasionally I do. I outlined the original New Divide pre-that silent communication scene/before I overhauled everything, so you can see how well that usually goes. I think??? I outlined Tangled a bit.

Coming Soon/ Not Yet Started: Definite: More of the Fake Dating AU, more Gatthew content, a prompt fill that @deputyash gave me what I’m hoping was less than a year ago but I’m 80% sure it was from 2018, Tangled??? Maybe: Tremors ‘AU’, While You Were Dreaming, Injured John for @argetlam007

Do You Accept Prompts: I do/I try to. A lot of interest in my stuff has dwindled though, so I’m just kinda “eeehhh” about it at the same time.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write: I still adore my plans for the Fake Dating AU, but I’ve got like... a chapter, and then a bit a fair ways down the line where John gets all the info about Nic’s past with her father and he gets his chance to air his grievances against the man- as well as his own father, and have the man confess and atone. But what happens in the middle outside of Nic and John having to hold hands and be cutesy while being mad about it? Who the Hell knows.

Tagging: The girls and boys reading this uwu

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searchingwardrobes · 6 years ago

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Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

Happy birthday, @flslp87 ! I really hope you like this fic I wrote for you because it’s a little different. We've had conversations about our mutual love for Scarecrow and Mrs. King, so I put on an 80s playlist to get inspiration. I was struck by the line about traveling the seven seas in the Eurythmics song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and the muse just took me here. I feel like there could be more to it, but I really liked the up in the air way I ended it. I actually think you could right part two with lots of steamy scenes with our ship, lol, because you are so good at that!

Summary: Nothing has been normal since Emma snatched that dreamcatcher from the motel. She keeps dreaming of a pirate with a hook with blue eyes the color of the forget-me-not and of a profound melancholy . . . or are they Emma’s dreams at all?

Rated G because our OTP doesn’t technically “meet.” And this could totally be canon in my opinion . . .

Trigger warning: I just thought I should warn everyone that I did something completely new for me: I wrote from Neal’s point of view and tried to get in his head and, you know, NOT make him a complete asshole. I know, I’m shocked myself.

Words: almost 4,000

Also on Ao3 and part of my Fandom Birthday Playlist

Tagging the usuals: @snowbellewells @let-it-raines @kmomof4 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @winterbaby89 @teamhook @bethacaciakay @thislassishooked @delirious-latenight-laughs @branlovestowrite @kday426 @jennjenn615 @tiganasummertree @shireness-says @optomisticgirl @welllpthisishappening @wellhellotragic @distant-rose @snidgetsafan

Sweet dreams are made of this

Who am I to disagree?

I travel the world

And the seven seas,

Everybody's looking for something.

“Aw look, the granola family left a dreamcatcher!”

Emma turned to Neal with the dreamcatcher dangling from her fingertips, smile

gracing her face. Neal, however, frowned in confusion.

“You know,” Emma continued, drawing closer to her boyfriend’s side, “it catches the bad dreams so you only have good dreams.”

“Right,” he chuckled, and Emma shook her head as she hung the dreamcatcher back on the lampshade. Neal was always funny about things like that: fables, legends, fairy tales. It never failed; he always changed the subject when they came up. She got it, of course. Who wants to believe in that sort of thing when all life has handed you is a shit show?

“You know what we should do?” Changing the subject, as usual, yet Emma didn’t protest when he pulled her into his arms.

“What?” Emma wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Maybe we should stop this whole Bonnie and Clyde routine. Settle down.”

Emma laughed, shaking her head as she stepped out of his embrace. “Where? Neverland?” He might as well believe in fairy tales, after all, to suggest something like that.

“I’m serious. We can get jobs, maybe even a house.”

He looked around and yanked the cheesy framed advertisement off the wall, the one that marked where other motels for this cheap chain could be found. He tossed it onto the bed and gestured to it with a flourish.

“Go ahead. Pick. Anywhere you want.”

Emma eyed him with hesitant enthusiasm, trying and failing to keep the smile off her face. She was so in love, so giddy with happiness living life with someone by her side for the first time, that his words actually sounded possible. She closed her eyes and put a finger on the map. When she opened them . . .

“Tallahassee,” she breathed, “does that mean there’s a beach?”

Neal grinned broadly, pulling her into his arms again. “It’s Florida. There’s gotta be a beach somewhere nearby.”

Emma kissed him. “Tallahassee.”

When they left, she grabbed the dreamcatcher and hid it inside her jacket. They needed it a lot more than the granola family did. No nightmares were going to snatch this dream away from her.

***********************************************************

Emma blinked, then rubbed her eyes. Why couldn’t she see clearly? She shook her head, but the hazy air, like cobwebs floating before her vision, remained.

“Milah! Milah!” a voice cried.

Emma turned towards the sound. There, in the middle of the hazy gray of the place was a man – a pirate? He certainly looked like one, dressed all in black leather from head to toe. He looked panicked, turning around in circles and yelling that same name – Milah - over and over.

Emma drew closer, a question on her lips, but her voice wouldn’t work. The man began to run towards a shadowy figure in the distance, and Emma found herself drawn after him. The man’s legs moved as if he were treading water in molasses, and likewise Emma couldn’t get her legs to work properly either.

“I can’t get to you!” he screamed, moving even closer, and the figure laughed, running farther away.

The man was crying now, begging the figure not to go, falling to his knees. The surroundings turned into jungle instead, though still just as hazy and dark. Emma felt an oppressive heat, and her chest tightened. The man stumbled to his feet, and he looked unseeing straight at Emma. She was struck by his eyes: not only how blue they were, but by the deep sadness glistening in them. He lifted both hands to his face as sobs wracked his body. Suddenly, his left hand was gone and blood streamed from the stump that remained. Emma stumbled back, the scene grotesque as the man screamed in agony.

Figures flooded in from all sides, crowding in around the man. One looked familiar, like a figure Emma had seen somewhere before.

“What’s the matter, Captain?” the figure said. It came into focus, and Emma realized it was just a boy. “I so wanted us to play. Does your hand hurt?”

The man stood, and at the end of his left hand was a hook -

Emma jerked awake, breathing hard. She lifted a shaking hand to her damp brow. Neal sat up next to her, groaning, and as she replayed the dream in her head, she started to laugh, almost hysterically.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Neal grumbled.

“Know how I joked about us settling down in Neverland?” she laughed. “Well, I just dreamed about Captain Hook and Peter Pan.”

“What?”

Emma shook her head incredulously at the angry tone of Neal’s voice and the slack-jawed expression on his face.

“Yeah, I dreamed about a pirate with a hook and a kid who looked just like Peter Pan in the movies.” Emma drew her knees up, uncomfortable in the cramped backseat of the Bug. They hadn’t been able to find anywhere else to crash for the night.

“That’s weird,” Neal commented in a strained voice.

“You’re the one being weird,” Emma laughed. “It was just a dream.”

Neal shook his head and gave her a forced smile. “Yeah, I know.”

Emma reached up and absentmindedly fiddled with the dreamcatcher she had hung in the back window. “Captain Hook was different though,” she murmured, “he was . . . handsome. With really blue eyes that had a . . . profound melancholy.”

“What did you say?” Neal bit out.

Emma jerked away from the dreamcatcher, brow furrowed at her boyfriend’s angry tone. “His eyes were the blue of the forget-me-not with a profound melancholy. Like in the book Peter Pan?”

“Like you read much,” Neal snorted.

“I read it a lot has a kid,” she shot back, “it was one of my favorites.”

Neal shrugged. “Whatever, Ems.”

“What the hell is your problem!”

“You wake up and go on and on about some hot guy in your dream. How am I supposed to feel?

Emma rolled her eyes “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I am,” he snapped, yanking open the door and getting out.

“Neal,” she called after him, “don’t be an idiot! It was a dream! God, I’m sorry, okay?”

“Whatever. I need air.” He reached in to grab his coat, and pointed angrily at the dreamcatcher. “And get rid of that stupid thing!”

****************************************************************

When Emma opened her eyes, the ground swayed beneath her. Above her was a dark sky twinkling with stars and a white sail flapping in the wind. She scrambled to her feet and saw that she was on a ship, an old sailing ship, like in a pirate movie. She turned when the floorboards squeaked, and she saw the same man as before, the pirate with the hook, coming up from below deck.

“Hello?” he called, looking around with a worried expression. “Where is everyone?”

Emma held her breath, wondering if this time he would see her, but again he looked right through her. He called out several names as he strode across the deck – the names of his crew perhaps?

“You’re alone, little brother,” a voice called out, “you’d better get to the wheel.”

“Yes, Liam, you’re right,” the dark-haired pirate murmured in response, “you always are.”

He moved in an almost dreamlike state to the upperdeck and took his place behind the wheel. Emma followed him, the ship swaying more beneath her feet. She stumbled just as she reached the wheel, almost falling against it. The pirate struggled with the wheel as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed overhead. An eerie song floated through the air as the ship crashed into the rocks.

“Bloody mermaids,” the pirate grumbled.

Emma was sent sprawling across the deck. Every time she struggled to her feet, she was knocked over once again. This dream felt so much more real than the last one. The ship pitched and rolled as rain poured from the heavens. Emma screamed when she looked up to see a giant wave poised over the ship. The pirate turned his gaze upon her, and their eyes met. Did he see her?

“Lass!” he shouted, reaching a hand out for her, but before Emma could crawl towards him and take it, the wave crashed into the ship -

Emma gasped upon waking this time, almost as if she had just been clutched from a watery grave. Her sheets and her hair were drenched with sweat, and her heart hammered in her chest.

“Emma?” Neal asked her, worry in his voice. “You’re trembling and sweating. Are you sick?”

Emma shook her head, “No, I’m fine. It was just a dream.”

And it felt so real . . .

It was pitch black, but when Emma took a step, she realized there was water all over the floor. It sloshed over her bare feet, yet it was too shallow to reach her ankles. As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, she gasped. The water was viscous and black, clinging to her skin.

“Hello?” she called, her voice echoing in the emptiness.

She heard someone crying and tried to move towards the sound, though it was hard to get a sense of direction in this place. The crying grew louder, and she knew it was a child. Finally, there, just ahead, a figure curled in on itself. Light from an unknown source surrounded whoever it was. The closer she got, the more sure Emma was. It was a child. A little boy.

“Are you okay?” she asked, crouching down to better see the little boy’s face. His eyes were bright blue and freckles dotted his cheeks.

“He’s gone away,” he sniffled. “They’ve all gone away.”

“Who?”

“Everyone.”

The way the child said that word – everyone – caused terror to fill Emma’s heart. Suddenly, in the boy’s face, she could imagine her own.

“What are you doing here?”

Emma spun around at the sound of the adult voice behind her. She stumbled backwards to see the pirate from her other two dreams standing before her.

“I . . . I . . . “

“You shouldn’t be here,” he spat.

“Who are you?” Emma asked.

The man narrowed his eyes. “Why do I keep dreaming about you?”

“Why do I keep dreaming about you?”

“You have to get her out of her!” the little boy interrupted their senseless argument. “You know what happens next.”

The boy stood, revealing his scrawny frame clad in a long nightshirt from a long-ago era. What was it about little kids in creepy situations that made things ten times more terrifying?

“What’s he talking about?” Emma asked the pirate.

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand. Emma snatched it away.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“Fine,” he snapped, “let it take you then.”

“Let what take me?”

“The darkness,” the little boy said in a flat voice, “it always gets us.”

“Quit talking like we’re two people,” the pirate snapped.

Emma looked long at the little boy’s face, then the pirates: the same dark hair, the same blue eyes, the same tiny scar on one cheek.

“He’s you and you’re him!”

“Bloody brilliant of you, lass,” the pirate snapped.

“I think she’s smart,” the little boy said, “and pretty.”

“How would you know?” The pirate ran his hand through his dark hair, causing it to stick up in all directions. “Great, now I’m talking to myself. This isn’t usually how this nightmare goes.”

Emma narrowed her eyes. “You’ve had this dream before?” She shook her own head, grasping her temple in both hands. “What am I saying, I’m dreaming this!” She was getting a headache. Could you even get a headache in your sleep?

The little boy took her hand. “I’ll get her out if you won’t.”

The room shook, and the pirate swore under his breath. “Bloody hell.”

Emma cried out as the strange, thick black water began to bubble and lap at her ankles. “What the -”

“Give me your hand, love.” He rolled his eyes when she once again hesitated, then added, “The name’s Killian Jones, okay? Captain Jones.”

“Captain Hook?” Emma asked incredulously, glancing down at his hook. Oh shit, she probably shouldn’t have pissed him off.

“Ah, so you’ve heard of me!” he exclaimed with a cocky grin.

“You could say that . . . “

This was by far the weirdest dream she’d ever had.

The room shook again, and Emma yelped as she felt herself sink. Without hesitation, she took Killian’s hand. Or his adult hand anyway, her other still clasped in the little boy’s. Who was also Kilian, apparently. God this was bizarre.

The three of them began running as best they could through the sticky substance at their feet. Since this . . . darkness always got them, according to the little boy, how where they supposed to get away?

“You have light in you,” the little boy said as if he’d read her mind, “so you can get out.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Emma saw the outline of a door ahead. Light spilled out of the cracks around it, getting stronger and brighter the closer they got. Yet the closer they got to the door, the more the black tar at their feet battled to pull them down. It seemed to have tentacles now, reaching up to grasp at their legs, their arms. The little boy screamed and almost got pulled under, so Emma stopped and scooped him up in her arms. The door was only about three feet away and was swinging open, they could make it . . .

Emma glanced back and screamed to see a large, gaping mouth form out of the darkness. It was like a large, sticky crocodile jaw, and it was bearing down on them. The adult Killian shoved her and the boy towards the door, and the tar like jaws closed over his waist.

Emma’s hip hit firm ground, one arm still wrapped around the little boy. Her hand still held fast to Killian’s, but he was being pulled under by the darkness.

“No!” Emma screamed as she tried to hold on. Something in Killian’s bright blue eyes compelled her to fight to save him.

“I’ll never forget you, lass,” he said before his hand slipped out of hers and he was pulled into the inky black.

“Killian!”

“Killian!” Emma screamed, her arms flailing, searching. “Killian!”

“Emma!” a hand was on her shoulder.

“Killian?” she asked, her eyes flying open, but hovering over her was Neal. And he looked angry.

“Where did you hear that name?” he demanded.

Emma was gasping for air, trying to process the dream she had just had. It was the strangest of all she’d had since she got the dreamcatcher, but it has also seemed the most real. The dreamcatcher! Emma sat up quickly, her head almost hitting the top of the broken-down conversion van they had found in the scrap yard to make into a temporary home. She grabbed the dreamcatcher from the window where she’d hung it before going to bed.

‘The pirate’s name is Killian,” she whispered, staring in amazement at the dreamcatcher.

Before she even knew what was happening, Neal had snatched the dreamcatcher out of her hands. With a shout of rage, he snapped the frame in half. Emma shouted for him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen. He kept attacking the dreamcatcher with his bare hands, wood snapping and thread breaking. Then he tore the feathers to shreds and crushed the beads beneath his heels. For reasons she couldn’t quite put into words, Emma sobbed as he completely destroyed.

“I’m sorry, Emma,” he gasped, his emotions spent, “nothing’s been right since you got that damn thing, and I . . . “

He trailed off, then opened the van door and stomped out. Emma lay back down, curling in on herself. She couldn’t get that last look in Killian’s eyes out of her mind. She didn’t understand any of it: why the dreamcatcher had coincided with the bizarre dreams, why the man seemed so real, or why Neal had gotten so angry. All she knew was that without the dreamcatcher, she felt bereft, like a part of her had been ripped away.

******************************************************************

Emma didn’t dream of him again. Neal kept asking her. He knew she was telling him the truth. For one, Emma was a surprisingly horrible liar. Second, she hadn’t once awoken crying out or sweating since he broke the dreamcatcher.

Yet his Emma simply hadn’t been the same since. Worry seemed to always wrinkle her brow, and she was often distant, like she was gazing off into a dreamworld that he couldn’t see. He cursed that damn dreamcatcher! His old warning bells had gone off when he’d seen it: the same ones that had plagued him when Wendy Darling had mentioned the shadow at her window. He should have gotten rid of it earlier; he knew what magic really was. But fear of having to tell Emma the truth about his past had made him hesitate. How could he have expressed the danger of a magical object without sounding like a lunatic? And now magic had cost him yet another girl that he loved, just like Wendy.

Just like his mother before her.

Killian? A handsome pirate with a hook named Killian? Neal’s hand clasping Emma’s tightened. Could it really be the same guy? He was still working for Pan when Neal left Neverland, so it was entirely possible he supposed. But through Emma’s dreams? And why Emma? It wasn’t even like Hook had magic himself. What game was he playing? Was this still about killing Neal’s father?

“Ow!” Emma exclaimed, yanking her hand away and rubbing it. “Afraid I’ll run away?”

Her words startled him, hitting way too close to home, but the grin on her face made him relax. Emma adored him, she would never take off like his mother did. And yes, he knew all along Hook was right. His mother had left him. Left his father, yes, but it was the same thing. She chose adventure and romance over her own son, and it left a gaping hole in his heart that nothing could ever fill.

“Sorry,” he sighed, pulling Emma close. He didn’t know what to say, so he just held her.

“Hey,” she said, pulling back to look into his face, “this isn’t still about those weird dreams, is it? Because they weren’t, like, sex dreams or anything.” She bit her lip and blushed in that cute way she had.

“Cause you only have those about me, right?”

She giggled, pressing her face against the crook of his neck. She was so innocent; it was one of the things he adored about her. He held her tighter.

“And now you’re choking me,” she joked, exaggerating a breathless voice.

He laughed at the sparkle that was back in her eyes, but then he saw something over her shoulder, and his chuckle drifted off. Emma shook him gently.

“What’s up?”

Neal shook his head to clear it. “Um, nothing, just . . . “ he reached into his pocket and pulled out the little cash they had left. They’d need to lift some more cash soon, maybe hit the park where mothers wouldn’t be watching their purses. He pressed the money into Emma’s hand. “Go over to that diner and get us some burgers.”

“Really?” Emma squealed, throwing her arms around his neck. “And onion rings?’

“Mhm, get us a booth. I’ll be right there. I just have to take care of one quick thing.”

He flashed her a smile so she wouldn’t worry, and she kissed him briefly before heading across the street. Once she was safely inside the diner, Neal turned and went inside the store that had distracted him a moment ago. Stepping inside made his chest tighten with anxiety: it was filled floor to ceiling with magic. The painted window proclaimed: Moana’s Curio Shop. A woman with tanned skin and long black hair stepped out of the back store room. She wore a flowery, one-shouldered, sundress, and another large flower was clipped in her hair. She didn’t look like the sort of person who possessed magic or ran a shop like this, but Neal knew from experience that looks can be deceiving. Pan and his Lost Boys were the greatest example of that.

“May I help you?” she young woman asked, tilting her head as she appraised him. Whatever she saw, it made a slow smile spread across her face. She marched closer, propping her hands on her hips in a scrutinizing fashion. “Never mind pretense, you are just like me, aren’t you?”

Neal shuffled nervously. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Mhm,” she replied with a knowing grin, “stick to that story if you want.”

“I am looking for a particular item.”

“Oh really?” she asked casually as she re-organized a shelf of incense.

“My girlfriend had a dreamcatcher . . . “ he trailed off, grasping a handful of hair in frustration. How did he even begin to explain?

“And you don’t like where it’s taking her?”

“Well, I solved that problem. I broke the dreamcatcher.”

The woman shook her head and clucked her tongue. “It may have closed the opening to the dream world, but she’s still connected to the person who’s dreams she infiltrated.”

Neal’s eyes widened. “Um, what?”

She arched a brow at him. ”Don’t play dumb. You already expected as much.”

She didn’t even wait for an answer. She went to the front of the store where a display of dreamcatchers hung from the ceiling. As she placed it into his eager hands, Neal felt relief wash over him. He’d have Emma back.

************************************************************

Emma arched a brow and laughed at Neal’s eager expression, the dreamcatcher he had bought her dangling from his fingers.

“Sorry?” he asked hesitantly.

Emma threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek. He’d been so weird about the dreamcatcher and even weirder about her dreams, but this showed just how badly he felt about all of it. It was kind of cute, actually, how jealous he got of a dream guy who wasn’t even real. He watched her intently as she grasped the new dreamcatcher in her hands. The room spun and the colors of the dreamcatcher seemed to meld together.

Emma stumbled, then shook her head. She smiled at Neal and kissed his cheek.

“Aw, you remembered how I liked the granola family’s dreamcatcher! Thank you!”

“You um,” he licked his lips nervously, “never had one before, right?”

“No,” Emma said, shaking her head and smiling as she watched it spin, “I never have.”

#cs ff #cs canon compliant #tallahassee #dreams #dream-sharing #dreamcatchers #fandom birthday playlist #for flslp87 #on her birthday #sweet dreams (are made of this)

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gotatext · 6 years ago

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TASK OO1 / OOC SURVEY.

[kermit voice] hallo.... its me

YOUR ALIAS & NICKNAMES — nora

AGE — 23

TIMEZONE — gmt

PREFERRED PRONOUNS — she/her

MBTI — enfp-infp border cos im an introvert who Masquerades as an extrovert :)

HP HOUSE — i spent 10 yrs of my life thinkin i was gryffindor.... to find out.... huffle....puff......

ARE YOU A STUDENT? WHAT DO YOU STUDY? — i fuckin wish! being a student was dope af i got stressed about essays like once a month and apart from that i was just chillin, surrounded by really intelligent people every day n livin it up on the party scene. adult life fucking sucks no one wants to have fun cos we all work fuckin tonnes of hours so we can afford to eat and get paid peanuts xx

ARE YOU ENJOYING IT? — im really afraid of bein one of those jock types who peaked in high school but i deff peaked in uni like 100% i was way more interesting 2 years ago

LINKS TO OTHER ACCOUNTS & SOCIAL MEDIA — im not showin u my instagram bc im a fuckin embarassment but this is pinterest , this is my personal blog, this is my writing / 1x1 blog i never use any more n this is my trash talking twitter where i mostly just cry about timothee chalamet and bash the tories.

DISCORD USER — kristine’s forehead vein#8664

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FICTION GENRE? — i dont read fanfiction much but when i do u can be sure it’s slow burn angsty enemies to lovers mutual pining heart attack every time one of them accidentally brushes the other’s hand

TOP FIVE FAVOURITE FILMS — suspiria (2018 luca guadagnino version rogue i kno but i prefer the remake), the lobster, before sunrise, baz luhrmann romeo + juliet, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, thoroughbreds (REC!! so underwatched pls watch it. compelling female characters), hunt for the wilderpeople (also so underwatched), swiss army man, call me by your name, atonement, moonrise kingdom, trainspotting, the florida project. i rlly like films ok

A BOOK YOU FEEL “CHANGED” YOU? — the song of achilles by madeline miller n also fen by daisy johnson

A MOVIE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? — booksmart cos its fuckin dope

WHAT IS YOUR SIGN? — libra

ARE YOU INTO ASTROLOGY? — i like to pretend im super invested in it mostly to anger my friends but tbh.... i just use it as a rough guide for character creation.... its fun but i dnt .... fully invest in what it has to say..... altho i am the most unbalanced n indecisive bitch on earth so i guess they got that right !! i just live to please baybeyy!

WHAT PLATFORMS HAVE YOU ROLEPLAYED ON? — tumblr for about 8 year (omg) n before tht facebook..... i was very embarassingly in a twilight rp..... i wrote jane..... i also rped as a scene kid oc n when i was like 12 i was on some weird forum harry potter roleplay where i basically played a self insert with georgie henley as the fc......

WHAT OTHER HOBBIES DO YOU HAVE? — i used to have so many hobbies but now i jst lie in my bed staring at the ceiling. but before i was workin like a dog i loved reading, writing, acting in theatre productions..... going out on the town getting bevved..... big druggy EDM nights in warehouses tht probably weren’t liscenced for tht many ppl..... gigs... costume-design and making, spoken word poetry, acrylic painting n rollerskating but my sister broke my skates abt two years ago in vengeance and i’ll never forgive her that fuckin bitch

HAVE ANY PETS? IF SO, TALK ABOUT THEM! — no my landlord is a fascist

IS THERE A TV SHOW YOU RECOMMEND A LOT? — i’ll never stop reccing euphoria!! also i was pleasantly surprised by looking for alaska!! but i also rlly like bob’s burgers, parks and rec, good omens.... black mirror, n sharp objects. lovesick on bbciplayer (n netflix i think) is also rlly fun

ANY SHOWS YOU LIKE SOME MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT YOU DO? — maybe love island, idk if i talk abt that much bc i am ashamed but i am so obsessed with it. i even got the love island game n got so invested in my fictional relationship w bobby tht i had to delete it

WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT? — god god... i haven’t finished a book in ages.... i recently started reading milkman by anna burns, the bees by laline paull and everything under by daisy johnson.... bt the last book i read cover to cover was probs circe. defs read it. feminist and witchy

CURRENTLY READING? — i jst said this but the bees, everything under and less so milkman cos im finding milkman a bit tough

LAST FILM? REC IT? — i watched ladyworld the lord of the flies all-female remake n even maya hawke could not save it.... dnt get me wrong from an art film point of view i loved it but it felt a bit underdeveloped n a level media studies for me..... apart from tht?? the runaways (yorkshire film not released yet at a preview screening) and threads (also a yorkshire film from the 80s about nuclear apocalypse)

THREE MOVIES YOU NEED TO WATCH — portrait of a lady on fire, i work at an independent cinema n we recently had a preview screening and everyone said it was SICK, uhhhh short term 12, n the new eliza scanlen movie babyteeth

WHAT MOVIE DO YOU THINK YOU’VE SEEN THE MOST TIMES? — madagascar because when i was 12 my parents bought me a little television with a dvd player in it for my birthday and madagascar was the only dvd i owned for like..... the first two years of havin the absolute luxury of a tv in my room so i just used to watch it all the time n i now basically know the script inside out

WHAT ALWAYS PUTS YOU IN A GOOD MOOD? — nothing, life is pointless n i hate fun, let me rot in peace

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE MUSICIAN / BAND? LIST IF THERE ARE MORE THAN ONE. — ughhh god probably lcd soundsystem. gorillaz, the streets, tame impala, talking heads, soft hair, i also love lizz tho n also angry twangy guitar girl bands like girlpool, courtney barnett, best coast, cherry glazerr,

WILD NIGHT OUT OR QUIET NIGHT IN? — quiet night in my party days are over i cant even be bothered to go to the shops if its past 4.30pm and dark these days

ANY PHOBIAS? — clowns n rats

DO YOU LIKE BUGS? — absolutely not

BIRDS? — yes but not if they fly in my face

ARE YOU A CAT OR DOG PERSON? BOTH? — i love both i want one

BIGGEST PET PEEVE? — tory middle aged boomers who treat me like actual shit on their shoe because i work in the service industry like thats my choice and their poor economic decisions didnt mean i have to do a shitty job to afford to live bcos of austerity n cuts to arts funding meaning i cant get a job writing unless i self-fund :)))

FAVOURITE THING ABOUT THE RPC? — that everyone ive met through rp is a fuckin LAFF

TOP TEN FAVE FCS TO USE? — god .... diana silvers, timothee chalamet, margaret qualley, kristine froseth, froy gutierrez, zendaya, elle fanning, astrid berges frisbey, hunter schafer, leonardo dicaprio

FIVE YOU LIKE WRITING AGAINST? — herman tomeraas, hunter schafer, saoirse ronan, timothee chalamet, froy gutierrez

FAVOURITE TYPE OF FOOD? — linda mccartney 1/2pounder mozzarella veggie burgers, sweet potato wedges, tomato soup, mozzarella sticks, brownies

WORST FOOD? — green things like broccoli n sprouts gross. baked beans cos as a kid ppl used to do baked bean baths for comic relief / red nosed day a lot n i thought when they were finished in the baked bean bath they just put all the cold beans back in the tin. actually anything small that moves around on your plate. peas. spaghetti. sweetcorn. i dont like small things i cant control.

DO YOU PLAY VIDEOGAMES? IF SO, WHAT ONES AND ON WHAT PLATFORM DO YOU PREFER? — last year my housemate had an xbox n i went through a phase of obsessively playin fable 3 it was amazing. i had like 5 husbands and 3 wives and loads of kids but they all ended up leavin me cos i spent so much time out doing quests neglecting them

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH THE TAG? — this

LASTLY, HOW DID YOU FIND US? — im one of those bitches who was in this grp all the way back when it was swipe... so quirky and original!! i knew the band before u! anyway im goin now this has been sufficiently embarassing..... i am lame

#huntingtonooc #huntingtontask #huntingtontask001

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meeresnaechte · 6 years ago

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Get To Know Me Questions (Very long)

1. What is your first name? Justine

2. What is your nickname? Jess

3. What is your zodiac sign? Gemini

4. What is your favorite book series? I do not really have a favorite book series since I actually do prefer shows or video games to get lost in. However, I once read a "self published" ebook by an unknown author called "Human" which is actually a fanfiction but it was SO well written and it made me more emotional than any other book ever could.

5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Yes I do believe in such things. I often experience sleep paralysis and get visited by someone- or something. I can see a person who's not actually there and I do believe it's a lost soul or the ghost of the person which committed suicide in my apartment before I moved in. I believe in demons and posessed things, I am really scared of dolls but I think not believing in such things would make life more boring.

6. Who is your favorite author? I do not have one.

7. What is your favorite radio station? I don't listen to the radio.

8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? I like any flavor except sweet flavors like vanilla or else.

9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Pure. It's one of my favorite words. I often like to refer to my best friends as pure.

10. What is your current favorite song? Anarchist by Yungblud is a really good song at the moment.

11. What is your favorite word? Pure in english or Bettgeflüster in German, I'm sorry but the sound of that word is just so beautiful ahhah

12. What was the last song you listened to? I write sins not tragedies by panic at the disco. Definitely one of the best song ever made (Also Brendon is especially hot in this one)

13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? How I met your mother (very life changing) & Stranger Things

14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? The perks of being a wallflower. It changed me and my perspective on life completely.

15. Do you play video games? Yes. I love them, especially Fable 2 and Bioshock Infinite.

16. What is your biggest fear? The ocean. I love the beach but I am really scared of deep water because my father and I had to save a man from drowning when I was maybe 7 years old. He experienced a stroke and only his little daughter was with him.

17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? I can be very interesting to talk to because I love getting into depth about everything.

18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? My self confidence and my mental illness. It ruined and continues to ruin many things for me. It took my youth away.

19. Do you like cats or dogs better? I cherish dogs so much, they make me so happy.

20. What is your favorite season? Summer or winter. (Fall is quite awesome too, it's kind of spooky)

21. Are you in a relationship? No.

22. What is something you miss from your childhood? Not being afraid of anything. Being free, not being judged for what I do and who I am.

23. Who is your best friend? I have more than one. Someone I met through the internet in 2013. Someone I've known since kindergarten and suddenly met again 15 years later. Someone I've been deeply in love with for 5 years & Someone who's always been there but never really got the courage to be around until last year.

24. What is your eye color? Green.

25. What is your hair color? Blonde.

26. Who is someone you love? My best friends & my lovely grandma.

27. Who is someone you trust? My best friends.

28. Who is someone you think about often? I often think about someone I haven't met yet. Someone who will change my life forever.

29. Are you currently excited about/for something? I am truly trying to live in the moment. I'm not excited for something, but scared of the future because I have to move abroad next year and leave everything behind.

30. What is your biggest obsession? Fable 2, Dan and Phil and Stranger Things.

31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? Spongebob or Max & Ruby

32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? All except one person of my best friends are my opposite gender and I can tell them anything.

33. Are you superstitious? Yes

34. Do you have any unusual phobias? I don't know if they are unusual but the ocean, dolls, funfairs, bugs and speaking in front of people (except acting)

35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? In front of it. My greatest passion is acting and I've always wanted to become an actress.

36. What is your favorite hobby? Acting.

37. What was the last book you read? It's been a long long time. I have no clue.

38. What was the last movie you watched? Annabelle 3. Yesterday at a drive-in cinema with my best friends. One of the most special moments I've made so far.

39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? I can play the piano. I would love to play any instrument.

40. What is your favorite animal? Dogs, wolves and red pandas.

41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? I don't have a favorite.

42. What superpower do you wish you had? Time travelling, being able to read people's minds and heart.

43. When and where do you feel most at peace? At the beach, listening to the sound of the waves. I tend to forget everything during those moments.

44. What makes you smile? When people aren't afraid to show me that I mean something to them. Not only words.

45. What sports do you play, if any? Football, Basketball, Badminton.. did I forget anything? I like all sports except gymnastics.

46. What is your favorite drink? Water or Iced Coffee (it's so bad for my skin)

47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? This month, I believe. It was a letter.

48. Are you afraid of heights? Yes, but I still manage to push myself to do things that involves heights. I just recently climbed up a 80 metre high building with my friends at night to get a nice view of the skyline. Almosy shit my pants but I am still alive. Little did we know someone killed themselves by jumping off that exact building at the exact night.

49. What is your biggest pet peeve? Screaming. I hate it. I love chill people.

50. Have you ever been to a concert? Do little concerts count? If not, no.

51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? No.

52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? I've always wanted to become an actress or a police officer.

53. What fictional world would you like to live in? Albion from Fable the video game.

54. What is something you worry about? My future.

55. Are you scared of the dark? I love the night and being outside during the night but I can't sleep without keeping my little light on because I tend to get sleep paralysis when my room is all dark.

56. Do you like to sing? I wish I could sing

57. Have you ever skipped school? Yes

58. What is your favorite place on the planet? Wherever I feel happy and where I can connect with the people I love the most.

59. Where would you like to live? California.

60. Do you have any pets? No.

61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? Night owl.

62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? Both. Sunsets are like a beautiful ending, they make me believe that no matter how hard things are at the moment, they will pass, but the bittersweet feeling of the ending of my best memories comes after. Sunrises feel like a new beginning after the dark.

63. Do you know how to drive? No, I'm currently doing my car and motorcycle driving license though.

64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? Earbuds for music, headphones for gaming.

65. Have you ever had braces? Yes, I want them again, I'm not satisfied with my teeth.

66. What is your favorite genre of music? Rock

67. Who is your hero? Daniel Howell. I've never met him, but I saw myself in him. He saved my life. I feel like I've known him before.. in a different life.

68. Do you read comic books? No

69. What makes you the most angry? Negative people who always complain and never see the beauty in certain things or moments.

70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? A real book.

71. What is your favorite subject in school? Sports.

72. Do you have any siblings? No

73. What was the last thing you bought? Film for my polaroid camera.

74. How tall are you? 5'4ft

75. Can you cook? Not really. I can make pancakes, that's about it.

76. What are three things that you love? Dogs, nature, video games

77. What are three things that you hate? Negativity, hatred, self-centered people

78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? More male friends.

79. What is your sexual orientation? I don't care who I fall in love with, but I don't know how to label myself. I'm in love with the feeling of love.

80. Where do you currently live? Germany but I'm moving to London next summer.

81. Who was the last person you texted? One of my best friends.

82. When was the last time you cried? This week

83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? Dan and Phil.

84. Do you like to take selfies? I take like 2 selfies each year so, no.

85. What is your favorite app? Twitter or Tumblr

86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? Not very good. I feel pressured most of the time and can't connect to them on an emotional level. It's even harder now since they got a divorce. I love my grandma so much.

87. What is your favorite foreign accent? American.

88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? New Zealand, Norway and Canada

89. What is your favorite number? 24

90. Can you juggle? No

91. Are you religious? No

92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? Outer space. I'm scared of the deep ocean and I don't even know what's down there.

93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? Not at all

94. Are you allergic to anything? Wasps, dust

95. Can you curl your tongue? Yes

96. Can you wiggle your ears? No

97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? 50/50

98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? Both.

99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? "Cut the seed before it grows"

100. Are you a good liar? I hate lying and being lied to.

101. What is your Hogwarts House? Slytherin

102. Do you talk to yourself? A lot

103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Introvert.

104. Do you keep a journal/diary? I use my Tumblr as my diary since 2013

105. Do you believe in second chances? Yes

106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Search for an ID and try to reach out to the person who lost it.

107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? Not really..

108. Are you ticklish? Yes

109. Have you ever been on a plane? Yes

110. Do you have any piercings? Yes

111. What fictional character do you wish was real? Reaver from Fable, I'd like to marry him

112. Do you have any tattoos? No but I'm planning to get three.

113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? To keep going.

114. Do you believe in karma? Yes.

115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? Either I wear glasses or go through life blind lmao

116. Do you want children? I'm not sure, but I prefer to adopt.

117. Who is the smartest person you know? Daniel Howell

118. What is your most embarrassing memory? I reject them lmao

119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? When haven't I?

120. What color are most of you clothes? Black

121. Do you like adventures? I love them.

122. Have you ever been on TV? Yes.

123. How old are you? 18

124. What is your favorite quote? So many. I really like "Irgendjemand liebt dich immer" a lot these days, it means "someone will always love you"

125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? Savory. I hate sweet.

I tag @ludicrousperson

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