#drew those wolf ones right after i watched the bad guys. wolf was my favorite ofc <3

[quirkle2]

miscellaneous stuff i didn't manage to finish before the year ends. maybe next year !

[luv4fandoms]

Earth Angel (GabrielXOFC)

(Part 1)

So this doesn't fully follow the Supernatural timeline, somethings have been changed (like Gabriel's death in the au world cause it was stupid and I refuse to accept it lol) so just a heads up. This is also inspired by @askpsychocas 's Angel Courting Ritual post (which I use in my story. Askpsychocas if you want me to take those parts out let me know and I will). This story also has a Scott Pilgram vibe lol.

(Also if anyone knows how to do the "Keep Reading" thing on the mobile app can you let me know? Cause I can't figure it out)

If you would like to be added to a taglist for this story let me know.

Pairing: Gabriel x OFC

Warning: Cussing, killing, slight mention of torture.

Word count: 5,668

https://ko-fi.com/luv4fandoms

(From @askpsychocas 's angel courting ritual)

Step One: Recognize your intended.

Angels are warriors, no matter what rank. Most are attracted to strength of will and faith in their cause. Bright plumage is often utilized. Angels either grow in brighter feathers or they naturally change colour in order to lure in intended mates. Large, well-groomed wings is a sign of vitality.

Obviously, this is a step both modern and traditional courting rituals use.

"Earth angel, earth angel, will you be mine?

My darling dear, love you all the time

I'm just a fool, a fool in love with you"

I sang along as I drove down the road, my latest case bringing me back to my childhood state of Florida. There had been at least three people turn up dead recently, all with their hearts missing, so originally I thought it would be a werewolf, but there have been more and more people talking about the recent "Dogman" sightings...So...Skinwalker maybe? Either way, off I drove from the case I just finished up in Alabama, back home. My stomach growling loudly was the only other noise beside the radio and the car, and it was my indication that it was time to stop in at my favorite diner.

A few more miles and I was pulling into the parking lot of "Sally's diner" a small little place off the beaten track, one you wouldn't find unless you knew about it or were taking the scenic route, but it was a diner that hadn't been touched by time since it opened back in the 50's, and it was a place I visited often when near. Once I parked I noticed a very familiar vehicle a few spaces down, and I couldn't help the smile that formed. Quickly stepping into the diner I was greeted with the smell of fresh brewed coffee and cooked onions...Ah...Home.  Looking around I spotted who you knew would be here, the owners of that familiar car, Sam and Dean Winchester, but what really caught my eye was the person sitting with them,or rather the giant pair of gold wings that sat with them. I looked around, but no one seemed to notice them.

'How does no one notice them?! Ok...maybe only hunters can see them? Maybe he makes them only visible to us...yeah it has to be something like that, just shrug it off Liz'

I mean, Sam and Dean seemed to be getting along with whoever it was...somewhat well...Ok they looked kinda annoyed, Dean more than Sam. So the...Being couldn't be that bad,right?

Heels clicked across checkerboard floors as I made my way over to their booth, the stranger's voice reaching me as I drew closer.

"Come on Dean-o, you love me and you know it" 

"I swear Sam I'm going to kill him" Dean muttered while Sam just shook his head.

"I thought I recognized that beauty out front,and I don't mean my car" I smiled, finally reaching the booth and catching the attention of all three men. The boy's smiles matched my own as they quickly stood from the booth.

"Long time no see" Dean smiled, hugging me tightly before releasing me to Sam who was quick to get a hug in as well.

"How have you been?" He asked.

"Good, just came off a job, though I'm guessing we're here for the same reason" I laughed.

"And who is this beauty?" The new voice spoke again, this time when I turned I could fully see the owner, and well...I was not disappointed. Golden brown hair swept back over a face that couldn't have been much older than the boys, whiskey colored eyes filled with mirth, and...something else, and a smile that was both inviting and also showed mischievousness. To say that the man...Being...was gorgeous would be an understatement, and the golden wings really suited him, both in appearance and, what you suspected to be a very flashy, playful personality.

"Well hey there sweetie, they call me Liz, nice to meet you" I smiled, holding out my hand for him.

"Nice to meet you too" he smirked while taking my hand and kissing the back on it, his eyes never leaving mine before he gave me a wink.

"Ok ok that's enough Gabriel" Dean spoke, causing Gabriel to let go of my hand and me to laugh.

"So, what's a beautiful classy lady like you doing hanging out with these two lumberjacks?" Gabriel asked, scooting over and patting the seat beside him, I sat down before Sam or Dean could protest, but made sure to watch out for his wings, it was bad enough the poor guy was tucking them as much as he could, I didn't wanna sit on them by accident.

"They helped me out on a case a few years ago, we've just kept in touch ever since" I shrugged

"They help when I need it and I help when they need it," I added with a  smile.

"Wait...You're a hunter?" Gabriel asked, looking honestly shocked.

"What? Women can't be hunters?" I teased, he opened his mouth to speak before someone chimed in.

"Here are your drinks, your food will be out soo- Liz! It's good to see you!" The young waitress smiled, Maddie and I were good friends since I started coming to the diner, after I politely publicly embarrassed and pretty much shamed a dude who was grossly hitting on and harassing her.

"It's good to see you too sweetie" I smiled, leaning up to hug her when she leaned down.

"Just passing through again?"

"I may be staying a couple of days this time" 

"Well we are always open for you" she winked before asking

"Your usual?"

"You know me so well Mads" I smiled, she smiled back and with a nod turned to leave.

"You must come here often" Sam laughed

"As often as I can when I'm near" I smiled.

"So, back to the fact that your friend here doesn't think girls can be hunters" I smirked.

"Now I never said that" Gabriel defended himself which caused Sam and Dean to crack a smile.

"I just mean...You don't...there seems to be a uniform with this type of work"

"Flannel?" I asked with a laugh.

"Exactly! And you...Well" he gestured to my figure, my blue polka dotted 50's style top, black cigarette pants, and small heels. my makeup light except a winged liner and bright red lips...it was true...I didn't look like a hunter.

"Sorry, I left my plaid dress in my bag" I smiled.

"I'll take it as a compliment though," I added, giving him a wink.

"So you're saying Liz is too pretty to be a hunter?" Sam asked

"Oh don't worry Sam, you're pretty too" I smiled causing him to chuckle.

"Isn't he though? I keep telling him that" Gabriel teased and I couldn't help but laugh at it, especially when Sam just rolled his eyes.

"Ok now that we have established that Liz and Sam are both pretty" Dean started, earning a glare from his brother.

"I'm guessing you're here for this case too," he added.

"Yeah,though I'm a bit stumped" 

"What's there to be stumped about, classic werewolf" Dean stated.

"See that's what I thought too, until I noticed all of the Dogman sightings being reported recently." I started, leaning onto the table to lower my voice.

"Wait Dogman, really?" Dean asked mockingly.

"Mock all you want to, but I know a hoax from real and Dean, we don't have another moon landing on our hands here"

"Skinwalker?"Sam suggested

"Possibly, but I've never seen one like this, legit looked like the classic wolf on two legs deal" I stated, leaning back in the seat when I heard footsteps approaching. 

"Here you are! One bacon deluxe burger, one complete breakfast combo, and two mega waffle plates. And here is your coffee Liz" Maddie smiled.

"Thank you" Sam and I smiled, Dean already eating, Maddie nodded and left again, I turned to pour syrup onto my waffles when I noticed eyes on me, turning my head I was met with wide eyes and a smile.

"Yes Gabe?" I asked before returning to my syrup task.

"Nothing just...Where have you been all my life?" He asked, causing me to laugh while cutting into my waffles.

"Mostly in Florida" I shrugged

"Until later on, then...well...then I guess it was just catch me if you can" I winked, popping a piece of the sugary goodness in my mouth and giving a small moan at the flavor.

"Still the best waffles ever" 

"So we are thinking what? New monster? A-a skinwolf? Werewalker?" Dean asked.

"Possibly?" I answered

"A werewolf and skinwalker danced the lambda?"Gabriel asked, I simply shrugged.

"Love is love, who are we to judge what two different species do" 

"Yeah expect when that offspring starts killing people"

"Well one good thing, silver kills them both" Sam replied

"There we go, Sam always coming in with the silver lining" I spoke.

"Pun intended?"Gabriel asked before taking another bite.

"Happy accident" I smiled.

As I ate I noticed that neither of the boys mentioned Gabriel's wings, even as they twitched and ruffled from being constrained for so long, poor guy, I hoped it didn't hurt. But the fact that no one had brought it up made me wonder if it was rude to mention them? Or was this such a common occurrence that they were simply used to them? Either way I watched them spread a bit wider while Gabriel stretched once the four of us were outside the diner, I could see now that the color wasn't simply gold, but an array of gold-ish shades, going from a dark gold almost bronze at the base of each feather, up to an almost honey color at each tip. They did shine a bit in the sun but they weren't the glittering gold I had originally thought they were. Though, even in their half stretched state I could tell that they were massive, and if unfurled fully would be very intimidating.

"So, until we know what we are dealing with, why don't you let us handle it" Dean started, but I quickly cut him off.

"Uh no. We ain't doing this damsel in distress thing, I can hold my own just as well as you two can and you know it. And besides, you know this town? These people really well?" After a moment of silence I continued.

"Exactly, so I'm part of this case like it or not" I finished, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You tell em sweetcheeks!" Gabriel spoke, walking up beside me. I noticed now that we weren't sitting, due to my heels I was a few inches taller than him.

"So where is the scooby gang off to first?" He asked.

"Ok fine!" Dean sighed.

"Dean why don't you and Gabriel go to the morgue and Liz and I-" Sam started before Dean and Gabriel both interrupted.

"No I am not getting stuck with him" came from Dean while

"Hey hey how come you get Liz?" Came from Gabriel.

"Hey, the only reason you're even here is because Cas suggested that we take you along" Dean pointed at Gabriel who simply rolled his eyes and looked away from Dean.

"Ok Sam and Dean you two go talk to the families, you're better at that, Gabriel and I will go check out the stiffs" I smiled before turning and making my way to my car before they could say anything. I looked back at Gabriel but found him right beside me.

"I love a woman who can take charge" he winked, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Hunting with those two, you have to, otherwise they steal all the action" I smiled while climbing in the driver seat, I noticed that Gabriel hesitated to climb in, and for a moment I wondered if he was afraid of my driving, but upon leaning over to tease him about it I noticed him looking at my car. I knew she was a beauty, a white 1958 Chevy Impala with gold accents, our cars were the first thing Dean and I bonded over. But what really seemed to be holding his attention was the gold pinstriped wings and name of my car...Angel.

"See something you like?" I giggled, catching his attention as he looked through the window at me, a smile forming before he opened the door and hopped in.

"And soft seats" he said while moving around.

"You really know how to spoil a guy"

"What can I say? I like to treat my men well" I chuckled while backing out of the diner and making my way to the morgue.

"So what was that about someone suggesting that the boys take you along for a ride?" I asked after a moment.

"Ugh, my little brother Cas decided that it would be a grand ole time if I tagged along with Scully and Mulder, said it would be a good bonding experience" he explained. 

"And is it? Do you feel bonded?" I giggled.

"I wouldn't mind bonding with you" he smirked, wiggling his brows and earning another laugh from me. 

"Sorry sweetie, I ain't that type of gal" I replied while pulling up into the parking lot. 

"So is this where we get to pull out our fake badges and pretend to be the FBI?" He asked, raising his hand like he was about to snap his fingers.

"Nope,this is the part where the sheriff knows that I'm a hunter and anything weird that comes in I get a call about" I smiled while stepping out.

"Aww, I wanted to play criminal minds" he pouted, and I had to admit, he could rival Sam in adorableness. 

"Sorry sweetie, maybe some other time" I patted his shoulder before leading the way. Just as I had said, the sheriff let us look at the bodies right away, and yeah...All signs pointed to either werewolf or skinwalker. 

"Well it looks like I'll have to get my silver bullets ready" I sighed while pulling the sheet back on the third vic, Gabriel walked around the room, looking at random things, and for a moment I watched his wings easily avoid everything they might hit before I turned my attention back to the body.

"You really don't have a problem with any of this do you?" Gabriel asked from across the body.

"An innocent person dead? Yeah I got a lot of problems with it"

"No not that, this" he gestured to the body

"Looking at dead bodies, hunting monsters, most women I've met wouldn't go near this kind of stuff"

"Sweetie no offence but it sounds like you've been hanging out with little girls then, not women" I smirked while meeting his eyes, his wings ruffled behind him in almost a shiver motion, jerking slightly open for a split second before hiding behind him again. 

"You know...Maybe you're right" he spoke, his voice quiet, almost as if he were speaking to himself instead of me. I tore my eyes away from his to look back at the body, a young girl, no older than nineteen, heart gone and a lot of her guts too.

"Wait" I tilted my head trying to get a better look at what was attached to where her intestines used to be. 

"Hand me those tweezers please" I asked Gabriel, motioning towards the table behind him. He quickly handed them to me and I plucked the strange fibers off of the body.

"Well agent, any ideas?" Gabriel asked.

"That my lovely partner...Is wolf fur" I stated before adding

"So skinwalker"

"Or Dean-o was right and we are dealing with a skinwolf" Gabriel replied.

"Let's stick with werewalker" I spoke, pushing the body back into its freezer and tossing the gloves off on my way to the door.

"Skinwolf sounds like some really weird porno you'd find on the wrong side of the internet at like one in the morning" I laughed 

"You sound like you're speaking from experience, something you'd like to share with the class?" 

"Trust me, no, I'll leave all the weird stuff to my family" I told him before calling Dean to tell him what we had found, he explained that all three of the vics had gone hiking out at the major state park where their bodies were found. So I agreed to head there and we'd all check it out.

"So you're family, they hunters too?" Gabriel asked when I pulled back out onto the road.

"I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours" I smiled, watching him from the corner of your eye. I was hoping maybe some info on his family would help me figure out what he was because honestly the wings were throwing me. My first thought of course was an angel but...I had never met one before...I suppose there could be angels out there, perhaps in hiding or fallen, but if he was hiding why did he show his wings to every hunter? So maybe he was something else? His wings were sure majestic enough to be angelic that was for sure, I had noticed it when you left the police station, the way his wings seemed...brighter almost. They were lighter in color, the base of each feather now a burnt gold instead of bronze, to a lighter honey color at the tips, but what caught my eye was how much more they shined than they did at the diner.

'Maybe the color is attached to his mood?'

"Not much for me to say sweetcheeks, brothers are douches, love em to death but, and dad...dad left a while ago"  he stated, his voice lowering at the last part.

"Yeah my dad left a while ago too" I nodded.

"Is that the reason you started hunting?" He asked.

"Partially, after he left my mom got back together with her first husband..he's a hunter so..didn't take long for all us kids to get into it"

"How many siblings you got?"he asked

"Six counting step siblings. Got one half brother, two blood brothers, a step brother and step sister" Gabriel let out a low whistle that made me laugh.

"Yeah I know, the kicker, I'm the youngest out of them all" 

"Yeah me too, but, that just means that we are the final perfect outcome, all the others were just prototypes" he said with a wave of his hand. I couldn't stop the laugh even if I wanted to, and the look on his face almost made me wonder if his whole goal was to do just that.

"I am so using that at the next family gathering" I told him once I had finally caught my breath.

"So…"Gabriel started after a moment of silence.

"Have you ever wanted to do anything other than hunting?" He asked

"Don't really know" I shrugged

"I've been doing this since I was nine so" I stated.

"So? You've got your whole life ahead of you! Come on, ever wanted to travel?" He asked

"I do travel" I smirked, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Outside of the country, France, Italy, places like that"

"Oh, yeah I guess I always wanted to visit like England. But work keeps me pretty busy, and it's not like hunting really pays the bills" I laughed while pulling up into the park's entrance near Dean's car. You heard Gabriel mumble something as I got out, but it was too low for me to understand, and Dean started talking as soon as I got out. 

"So what did you find out?"

"That you may actually be right" I replied as I made your way over to them.

"That doesn't happen often" Sam joked, earning a glare from Dean.

"The vics were all missing hearts sure, but I found fur on one of them as well"

"Could just be an animal that left that" Sam added

"Wolf fur? Gray wolf fur? Not here in Florida" I replied

"How do you know it was wolf fur?" Dean asked

"My stepdad hunts, more than just monsters, I know my fur" I laughed. 

"Ok well, everyone have their silver?" Sam asked, to which I showed my two loaded pistols and knife. He and Dean nodded before leading the way, leaving Gabriel and I to trail behind.

"You always carry those around?" He asked, nodding towards my weapons.

"Always best to be prepared" I winked, watching as a smile spread on his lips and his wings ruffle behind him. I found myself once again curious about them, were they attached to his emotions? Could he move them like an actual bird? Or did they just kinda do their own thing? They were the same colors as in the car but now with the bright sunlight peeking through the trees, they shimmered much more when you weren't looking right at them, like only if you caught them out of your peripheral did they look like metal. The hike was fairly quiet, the sounds of our collective footfalls and the creatures of the forest the only things meeting my ears, nothing seemed out of place-until we all reached the middle of the park. I knew that there was an old ranger station out this far, had been since the park was zoned, but a while ago they decided to make a new ranger station closer to the trailhead and exit, figuring it would be better than in the middle if someone were to get lost out here. The sounds of a branch snapping behind us had both Gabriel and I turning to look, but not being able to see anything. 

"Gabriel?" Sam asked quietly while surveying our surroundings. 

"There's something there," he replied, eyes darting around the treeline. 

"Just one?" I asked, slowly reaching for my gun.

"No, there's four of them," he stated.

"Four?" Dean asked just before something lunged at him, knocking him over and causing him to let out a grunt.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, turning and shooting the beast as it pinned Dean, jaws snapping at his face while he pushed back. One clip in and finally the thing fell over, motionless beside Dean who quickly got up.

"What the hell is that?!" Dean shouted, wiping the things blood from his face.

"Werewalker" I replied, looking over at the beast who did in fact resemble the beast from every werewolf movie I had seen. The body not quite human but not quite wolf, shaggy gray fur covering the stretched skin, hands and feet now clawed appendages, and the face having a long snout filled with long sharp teeth. 

"Ok that...That isn't natural" Dean spoke, finally regaining his breath.

"Well one good thing, your gunshots and girlish screams chased the other three off" Gabriel stated, still looking around.

"I did not scream" Dean quickly defended, to which Gabriel simply smirked, man he really loved messing with them, and honestly it was quite comical how easily he could do it. 

"We need to find the others" Sam quickly spoke, getting everyone back on task.

"There is an old ranger station not far, that might be their hideout" I told them, already stepping ahead, we needed to get this done, and we needed to do it quickly, if these things got out of state it could lead to a trail of bloody bodies and fast. Gabriel quickly caught up, flanking my right but also slightly in front, the boys on my left. Man if a girl ever wanted to feel protected this was the group to hunt with. About fifteen more minutes of hiking and we could see the collapsing roof of the old station. The building had long since started to decay, broken windows from rowdy teens, and holes in the walls and roof from most likely the same cause. 

"Anything?" I asked, glancing over at Gabriel who's eyes were focused on the building.

"Two inside" 

"Werewalker or?" I inquired further, watching as he focused.

"One's just a skinwalker...The other" he started, trailing off as his eyes widened before he muttered "shit" just as something could be heard running through the trees to our right. Quickly pushing Gabriel aside I unloaded my clip into the beast as it leapt from the brush, dodging it as it's limp body fell to the ground where I had been standing. I was about to ask if he was ok when we heard more noise from our left, Sam and Dean were only able to get a few shots off before they found themselves thrown, Gabriel ran over, an odd silver blade in hand as he began to fight one of the beasts. I reached for my other gun, about to go help when I found myself face first on the ground, a weight holding me down as a growl echoed behind me.

"You stupid hunter bitch!" She yelled, before her weight left my back and I felt her gripping my collar, I reached back to grab her hand but soon I was sent flying. My body collided with the tree before I even felt it, a grunt slipping past my lips as I hit the ground. 

"Liz!" I could hear Dean yell while I tried to fight off the dizziness. 

"You three will not interfere!" She shouted, before letting out a whistle, which was soon followed by the growls and heavy footfalls of more beasts. Who the hell was this woman? Finding my balance I rose to my feet, gun in hand and pointed towards her before she turned to look at me again, a smile on her face revealing sharp teeth. She wasn't the same as them...she was just a werewolf.

"That's cute" she spoke, turning fully towards me now.

"So what did he tell you huh? Or did he just give you a fun night and you were hooked?" She asked, slowly advancing towards me.

"What?" My face showed true confusion at her words, what the hell was she talking about?

"Gabriel" she stated, as if that would explain everything.

"He won't stay, he'll just up and leave one day, no goodbye, no anything" she added...oh...oh she thinks.

"And you'll look everywhere for him, cause he was the only one that ever made you feel alive"

"Listen lady, I don't know what you think, but he and I just met today," I explained.

"Doesn't matter, you're an obstacle, and I'll be damned if I lose him again"she spoke, bolting forward and grabbing my gun before I could get off any shots, her other hand grabbing my wrist and slinging me into a nearby tree. I could hear more gunfire, everyone else still struggling with the werewalkers as I tried to grab my knife.

"Oh no you don't!" She yelled, punching me in the stomach before throwing me back towards the station. I gasped for the air I had lost upon impact, when her face came into view again, her body pinning mine down as her mouth stretched into a smile. I glanced around, Gabriel, was helping Sam finish off one beast while Dean quickly killed another, but what caught my eye was the silver knife nearby, within arms reach, it looked just like the one Gabriel held but he still had his, so this must have fallen off one of the boys? At that moment I didn't care, looking back at the woman as she hovered closer.

"You know, I would turn you, make you one of my pack, but you see...You'd still be in the way..so I think I'll just kill you instead, easier that way" she spoke, mouth opening and starting to lunge forward when her body halted, mouth slowly closing while her eyes widened and she leaned back, examining the blade that now protruded from her ribcage.

"You're right killing is easier" I told her, watching as she slowly fell to the side, her body still as I yanked the blade out of her heart. I pushed her body fully off of me and stood, looking over at the boys who looked just as disheveled. I turned back to the station, remembering Gabriel had said there was a skinwalker in there as well, but the sight I was met with wasn't what I was expecting. A young boy, no older than eighteen was chained to the wall, the lower half of his body already changing to that of one of the beasts. 

"What the hell?" I heard Dean's rough voice ask beside me, we all looked at the kid, barely breathing and too weak to even open his eyes, but somehow found his voice.

"Please" he begged, his pitiful noise causing my eyes to tear up.

"Don't let me become like them" he added, we all looked at him for a moment, this poor kid, life barely begun and he was already a skinwalker...Now he was becoming...Something even worse. I looked away as Dean lifted his gun, seeming to be the only one that had the will to give into the kids request. The sharp sound of the shot rang out and my body jumped a bit, before feeling a hand rest on my shoulder, I looked up to be met with a comforting honey gaze and I nodded at his unspoken message 'it was for the best'.

 Night had fallen by the time we had dug a hole big enough to put all the bodies in and we stood for a moment after Dean threw the match.

"So..I have a question" I started.

"I have a lot- Like who the hell was that?" Dean added as we all looked at Gabriel, who never took his eyes off the fire.

"Her name was Sophia, we met...a while ago"he started

"We had a fling for a bit and then it ended, I'm all for getting crazy, but she was an animal in bed" he added, trying to lighten the mood, but if the resting bitch faces Sam and Dean were giving him were anything to go by, it wasn't working.

"So you mean I almost got killed by your crazy ex girlfriend?" I asked, arms crossed.

"One, I didn't think I would ever see her again, and two, your handled yourself beautifully sugarplum, even against an alpha, you two boneheads need to take notes from this one" Gabriel spoke, gesturing towards me, but his last quip wasn't what caught the boys ears, or mine.

"Alpha?!" I asked, looking down at the now burnt body.

"That was an Alpha?" Sam asked, eyes never leaving Gabriel's form while Dean looked upset.

"Liz just went toe to toe with a fucking alpha?" 

"And she won! She's a lot tougher than she looks." He smiled, walking up behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders. 

"You son of a-" Dean started but I cut off his no doubt, bloody rant about killing Gabe.

"That's how she was turning them so easily, the Skinwalkers" 

"Seems like it, Sophia always said she would do anything to make her pack strong again"Gabriel confirmed.

"I wonder if the bunker has anything about alphas doing stuff like this in the past" Sam spoke, by his quiet tone I knew he was speaking more to himself than anyone else but his words made my ears perk up.

"Bunker?" I asked.

"Yeah it's…" he started but seemed unsure on how to proceed.

"Our home" Dean provided, looking over at Sam.

"Home" I nodded, sure I had a family, but home wasn't something I had for a while. We kinda jumped from safe house to safe house making sure everyone was ok. As if sensing my declining mood, Gabriel draped his arm around my shoulder, the body heat seeping through my cardigan and warming the skin I hadn't even realized was cold. But what really caught my attention was the golden wing that also came to wrap around me as well, the fire causing a more orange glow to overtake the gold, but they still shimmered in the flickering light, and they almost seemed...Fuller. 

"How about we go grab some food, I know I could eat, how about you sweets?" He asked, his face inches from mine as I watched the light of the fire dance across his honey gaze, almost causing them to become the same color as his wings. 

"Yeah, I could eat" I nodded.

"Alright, let's head out"Dean spoke, turning to leave. 

"And uh, if you don't have any more cases...You can come back to the bunker with us, there's plenty of room" Sam suggested, Dean looking back as they both waited for my answer, I thought for a moment, all I really did was travel from case to case, it would be nice to rest for a bit. 

"I'd like that" I smiled, Sam's grin mirroring mine while Dean gave a small smirk. We all began to walk towards the trailhead but I noticed that Gabriel hadn't followed, looking back I noticed he was still by the fire, staring at the now pile of ashes.

'He must be remembering the times he had with her' I thought, and for some reason that thought made my stomach feel uneasy, confused I pushed those feelings aside, they didn't make sense anyways, instead my gaze landed again on Gabriel before I called out.

"You comin' sweetie?" My voice seemingly knocking him out of whatever trance he was in because his head soon lifted so that our eyes locked once more, but this time there was something different in his stare and I watched as his wings rose high above him, stretching out to their full size. The thick mass of feathers glinting in an unearthly way in the flickering light, and for a moment it didn't seem like I was looking at a human form, instead I could almost make out a golden light, something that both held form and didn't, something that seemed ancient and unknown. My breath caught in my throat and I wondered for what felt like the hundredth time today just what he was. Our stare never broke, and I realized what I was seeing lingering in his stare...Determination.

I hope everyone enjoyed part 1! Let me know what you think! Please stay tuned for part 2 and if you would like to be added to a tag list for this story let me know!

[blackjack-15]

Silly Rabbit, Ecological Terrorism is For Kids! — Thoughts on: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek (ICE)

Previous Metas: SCK/SCK2, STFD, MHM, TRT, FIN, SSH, DOG, CAR, DDI, SHA, CUR, CLK, TRN, DAN, CRE

Hello and welcome to a Nancy Drew meta series! 30 metas, 30 Nancy Drew Games that I’m comfortable with doing meta about. Hot takes, cold takes, and just Takes will abound, but one thing’s for sure: they’ll all be longer than I mean them to be.

Each meta will have different distinct sections: an Introduction, an exploration of the Title, an explanation of the Mystery, a run-through of the Suspects. Then, I’ll tackle some of my favorite and least favorite things about the game, and finish it off with ideas on how to improve it. As ICE sends off the Jetsetting Games category and moves into the Odd Games category, there will be a section between The Intro and The Title called The Weird Stuff, where I’ll go into what storyline marks this game a bit Odd in the Nancy Drew series as a whole.

If any game requires an extra section or two, they’ll be listed in the paragraph above, along with links to previous metas.

These metas are not spoiler free, though I’ll list any games/media that they might spoil here: ICE; TRT; mention of FIN; mention of CUR; mention of TRN; mention of SEA.

This meta is under a read more because of its sheer length.

The Intro:

Ughhhhh. UGHHH.

The White Wolf of Icicle Creek has a lot of things that make it distinct in the Nancy Drew video game series — it sports the first new interface since SHA, it has the world’s most boring list of ‘enticing moments’ from the game on the back, its assets look like they were forcefully molded out of gummy bears, it randomly was released on Wii, it’s the best-known game among non-fans thanks to the Game Grumps — but it also stands out because not one of those things make it enjoyable to play or to watch without a heavy amount of MST3K-style commentary.

Also because it features the fandom’s least favorite puzzle of all time…but more on that later.

A point to get out of the way before we get into the game proper is that this game feels a lot like a cheap knock-off of Treasure in a Royal Tower. Like, a lot like a cheap knock-off. One of those animated films called “Bemo’s Lost in the Ocean” or “A Toy Tale” that come out around Disney/Pixar films to try to trick hapless grandmas into buying them.

Just lining it up, we have Nancy stuck in/around a lodge in winter, an edict from the owner of the lodge to figure out what’s up with repeated Incidents and possible sabotage while most guests have left, an academic around Nancy’s age, an Old Coot, an Olympian whose grandparent was important, chores (including food related chores) to do in order to progress in the story, a suspect you can only talk to face-to-face for part of the game…the list honestly goes on in both big and small ways.

While ICE isn’t the only one that tries to do this (since I’m not doing a SEA meta, I won’t get into the fact that SEA literally just remastered DDI’s characters and said ‘good enough’), it does feel particularly egregious because, for all its copying, there’s not enough in the game to distract from it even a bit.

ICE is a game searching for an identity and unable to find one, no matter how many plot points, chores, or games (horrible, unskippable games) they throw at the player. We have full on international espionage and ecological terrorism here (more on that in the next section), and it just…doesn’t matter, at the end of the day. It also takes place in Canada, but your only clue to that is that one of the characters says “eh” a lot, so that’s not great either.

If ICE is a new game to you (it can be a bear to install and even worse to complete, so I’m going to go off the assumption that not everyone will be familiar with it), you’ve probably only heard of the cooking chores, fox and geese, and that this is the game with the Return of Tony Balducci, previously of TRN fame. (Honestly, ICE had a big enough cast without its phone characters, but HER decided to shove three phone characters along with one partial phone character at us anyway.) And, to be honest, that’s pretty much all there is to the game.

Now I know this sounds harsh, but there is a possible explanation to the lack of content in this game. In my previous meta (link at the top of this post) I made a note that CRE’s production in all likelihood suffered because the company was focused on ICE’s new interface. I don’t think it’s a leap at all to say that ICE’s story and characters could also have suffered because of the same thing.

The biggest problem with ICE — besides the weird stuff we’ll get into below — is that it’s a shallow game. None of the characters have any real depth, the plot is a paper-thin copy of TRT, the puzzles are alternatingly impossible and extremely easy, and in an effort to add “depth”, we get…well, we get this next section.

The Weird Stuff:

With each of the Odd Games (ICE through RAN, Heaven help us all), there’s something that makes the game truly…well, odd. Odd for the Nancy Drew series, odd for the age range specified on the front of the box, and odd in general when you look at the rest of the plot.

In this game, it comes in the form of terrorism — or rather, two types of terrorism. Guadalupe is our first (and only, in this series) ecological terrorist, belonging to a fringe group called “Run and Go Free” and being perfectly fine with illegal acts (destruction of the fishing lodge, sabotage of personal property), even telling Nancy that she’s done worse in the name of Run and Go Free.

Nancy Drew Games are no stranger to hippie/naturalist types (see DOG, DDI, CAR, etc.) but Lupe is our first to be legitimately dangerous. Sure, she doesn’t end up being the ultimate Bad Guy, but she is A Bad Guy, and it really does seem very odd to me that after everything Lupe does (and insinuates that she’s done), that she gets away with barely a slap on the wrist in having to leave the lodge.

Lupe in no way fits in with the rest of the plot; there’s nothing to justify her being present in the game, she can appear about halfway through the game and then leaves to become a phone contact soon after, she’s not present enough to be an actual suspect — she has no place in the plot nor the game, and it really does just boggle the mind that a character is in it at all, especially with ICE having a greater than average number of suspects to begin with.

On the other hand, however, we have Yanni, an Eastern European Olympian spy/terrorist, sent by the Fredonian (a commonly used fake country) government to bomb around the lodge to find uranium under the cover of training for the next Olympics.

That is a whole lot of things for one character.

You’d think with the presence of Lupe that Yanni would fit right in, but he doesn’t make her — or himself — any less odd or out of place than he would have been alone. It’s a ‘suspicious Olympian’ character that we already got with Jacques, but he’s a million times worse, setting off friggin bombs to find a metal that his government wants for…well, the normal reason that governments want uranium.

So we can add in “reference to ongoing nuclear warfare” as another thing that makes this game Odd.

Yanni doesn’t fit the game or the plot, which is pretty bad considering he’s responsible for about half the plot in the first place. He also has that weird aside about his grandmother being eaten by wolves, as if HER wants the player to suspect him because of some twisted revenge against wolves plot (which would have been Very Weird) so that they can pull the rug out at the end and be like “see?? He’s a political terrorist looking for uranium for nuclear bombs for his country!!! Gotcha!!”.

Like, it’s not a Gotcha if it’s absolute lunacy. My land.

With that explanation out of the way, let’s get to something a little less Odd.

The Title:

 I actually don’t have much to say here. The White Wolf of Icicle Creek is honestly a great name; it tells us the focal point of the game (the wolf), the location, (Icicle Creek), and even pretty much tells you the season that this game is happening in (white, icicle). It accomplishes a lot in a very short amount of words, and pertains accurately to the game we’re dealing with.

We’ll chalk that up in the “Win” category…especially since we’re going straight back into the “Lose” category with the next section.

The Mystery:

The mystery is a mess, full stop. There’s way too much going on for the amount of payoff (i.e. little to none), and the plot, thin at best, completely drops off at the 2/3rds mark when all the player has left to do is wait for random events to occur and keep putting off fox and geese.

Anyway.

We begin with strange, destructive incidents of sabotage happening at a renowned winter resort. Most of the guests have left, and there’s been some damage to parts of the resort. Asked for help by the owner of the resort who’s away on business, Nancy must pick up the slack left by staff who have quit, run food-related errands, and discover who might be behind these attacks before it’s too late.

Oh wait, that’s Treasure in a Royal Tower. Lemme start again.

We begin with strange, destructive incidents of sabotage happening at a renowned winter resort. Most of the guests have left, and there’s been some damage —

You get the picture.

The biggest difference pre-game is that after every incident, a white wolf is spotted, only to disappear before the police get there. People start connecting the wolf to the crimes, and go as far as blaming it for cases of food poisoning and slashed tires, as if the wolf is cooking food and using a knife with its paws.

Just as Nancy’s arriving on scene, the bunkhouse is blown up and she hears the wolf howling — so obviously there must be a connection there, and a wolf definitely isn’t just responding to a loud noise.

This part honestly feels a bit like the beginning of CUR, where the game tries to establish Scary Feelings and Ominous Threats and just comes off ham-fisted.

The back of the box features three ‘exciting’ things that Nancy gets to do in this game, which are as follows: cook lunch and dinner, ride a snowmobile and wear snow shoes, and do snowball fights and ice fishing. While it’s sad that those moderately exciting things are the best that the box can boast, it’s even sadder that they really are the best the game has to offer.

It’s easy to lose thread of the mystery nearly as soon as Nancy gets to the lodge, because she’s immediately bombarded with laundry that has to be done before a certain time, meals that have to be done within a certain hour or two, and a suspect (Lupe) that can just refuse to show up.

Oh, and the return of Tino Balducci.

Returning in a game where he doesn’t fit in and where no one wanted him in the first place, Tino’s there to “help” Nancy solve the mystery by giving her a questionnaire for her suspects to fill out that asks what planet they see themselves as, among other inanities.

Honestly, this whole section could be summed up as “Tino returns, among other inanities”.

Nancy, throughout all of this, somehow has time to do a bit of detective work, interviewing a cast of rather one-note suspects, figuring out that more than one person is responsible for the many accidents. Guadalupe’s sabotage is discovered and she’s sent home, Yanni is increasingly unavailable (which is hugely suspicious), snowball fights are more prevalent than necessary, and finally the villain is exposed, all culminating in a glitchy, nigh-impossible snowmobile chase.

Oh, and there’s a half-tamed wolf storyline that kinda pops up every now and again.

All in all, the mystery is a weak thread throughout the game — which is a problem, because it’s the only thread throughout the game — that’s easily overshadowed by the chores, games, and frankly awful visuals throughout the game.

Now, to those who contribute (in a way) to the non-entity that is ICE’s story:

The Suspects:

Ollie Randall is our resident grumpy caretaker and is Chantal’s right-hand man, along with being on the Avalanche Patrol and a firm believer in the bad luck that wolves bring. His wife can’t handle cold temperatures due to a nerve condition, so he’s also his daughter Freddie’s sole parent during the winter.

As a culprit in the game as it now is, Ollie would have been the only sensical option; fed up with the awful guests that come and cause havoc, he starts causing little easily-solved accidents to spook away the less hardy-type guests, but it keeps spiraling as it doesn’t keep out everyone but people like Bill Kessler. Frustrated by the treatment the lodge gets, he decides that if people don’t treat it nicely, they can’t have it at all…

Unfortunately, Ollie is limited to being Grumpy, and not a lot else.

Freddie Randall is Ollie’s daughter and the self-proclaimed Snow Princess due to her ability to stay out in the cold for hours in her snow fort, and to take repeated snowballs to the face courtesy of a teen detective.

Freddie is…I know I talked about how Yanni and Lupe don’t really fit into the game, but Freddie really doesn’t fit any version of this game. She’s there for a mini game, she doesn’t have a personality, you can’t skip her mini game, she’s voiced by Lani Minella…the list goes on and on. Her shining moment of glory is acting as a red herring by throwing a snowball through Lou’s window.

She’s pointless to talk about as a potential culprit, even though she would have been an interesting “culprit” in a case where all the incidents are actually Freddie accidentally causing trouble, but that probably would have been even less satisfying than how the game actually went, so we’ll just move along here.

Our cross-country skiing Olympian from the fictional Eastern European country of Fredonia, Yanni Volkstaia is both our only suspect wearing a onesie and our only suspect with a family member eaten by wolves.

I know, that’s already a high bar to top. Don’t worry, he’ll fall very, very far below it.

Yanni, as mentioned above, is our odd spy/terrorist villain who is disguising his being there for uranium by saying that it’s his Olympic competitors trying to throw off his training. Why an Olympian is training alone without any coaches or security…well, let’s just say that Yanni didn’t really think his cover story through.

Just because Yanni’s the obvious culprit doesn’t mean he fills the role well; Yanni is obvious, annoying, and his paper-thin cover is just annoying enough to be…well, annoying. He throws out that his grandmother was “killed and devoured” by wolves as if he wants Nancy to believe that that’s the reason he’s targeting the lodge but…it still points directly to him. It’s just not great all the way around.

Joining Yanni in terrorism is Guadalupe Comillo, activist from California and hard-to-find suspect. Lupe can, as mentioned above, literally just not appear for a bit, stalling out the game and making her even more annoying than she already is.

Lupe’s cover is that she’s a bird watcher, but she knows absolutely nothing about birds — like honestly nothing, even though she had time to make her cover story (not unlike Yanni).

She gets sent away by destruction of private property (Ollie’s gun – super dangerous to make a gun misaim out in the wild and she’s lucky he didn’t hit anything problematic [like another person] because of it) and good riddance, but appears as a phone friend to rather pointlessly exonerate herself and do pretty much nothing else but stop the game in its tracks until she lets it proceed.

As a culprit, Lupe would have been the other obvious choice, but she’s just not in the game enough, so she’s easy to ignore. Her cover is thin, but so is her motivation (!!! Save the wolf!!!), so she’s one of the most annoying non-entity suspects in this series.

Our second Californian in the cast is Lou Talbot, who is a college student, master of ‘earthitecture’ (inspired by Poppy Dada) and stealer of dinosaur bones for money. He also plays fox and geese with Bill in his spare time. He does a really good impression of the Guy in my MFA twitter as well, but that’s literally it.

No, really, that’s his entire character. I can’t even posit what he would be like as the culprit because that is LITERALLY all we’re given on him. End of bio. My gosh, what a waste of pixels.

Lou’s partner in fox and geese is Bill Kessler, who loves to fish and whose grandmother used to own the lodge before Chantal. While he feels that his grandmother Tilly was cheated out of the lodge, he has little desire to get it back, and really just wants to hide the fact that he’s been to the lodge before (an odd thing to hide, but whatever makes him feel better.)

Like Lou, apart from that, he really doesn’t have any character. He basically is a mix of TRT’s Jacques in his family connection to the lodge and SHA’s Dave in actual amount of motivation (i.e., 0 motivation) to do anything about it. He is, however, the person who makes Nancy play fox and geese, and for that alone, I hate him.

As a culprit, Bill’s played as a red herring for a solid 5 minutes of gameplay (though not very well — why would an avid fisherman blow up a fishing shack?), and then totally discounted the moment Nancy finds out his backstory. He’s really just there — like most of the cast, worryingly enough — to pad out the number of suspects and to give Nancy a taste of Hell through fox and geese.

The Favorite:

There are a few bright spots in this confused mess of a game, so let’s go through them.

My favorite moment in the game is when Nancy, after Yanni says the horrific line about his grandmother being killed and devoured by wolves, can ask “how”. As if that’s a sentence that needs a ‘how’. It’s a great moment of Nancy being absolutely tone deaf, and I giggle like a madman every time I think about it.

My favorite puzzle in the game is probably the cooking minigame, which I dislike in frequency and time requirement, but do love in actual practice. It’s fun to cook in every Nancy Drew game, and this one is no exception. I just wish it wasn’t regimented so heavily.

I love the atmosphere of the lodge; it’s beautifully animated (in fact one of my favorite locations in the ND games), big without being too big, and is never boring, even by the end of the game. The lodge is largely a character unto itself, and is quite successful as a wonderful location.

The Un-Favorite:

There’s a lot to unpack here, but we’ll keep it short because the fix section of this meta is gonna have me by the throat.

My least favorite moment in the game is the moment Tino comes into the game. As the game now stands, there’s no reason for him to be involved, and short a comment about him by the Hardy Boys, which would at least justify it a little, he’s purposeless. He’s worse than that, actually — he’s there to slow the game down, and that’s a cardinal sin.

My least favorite puzzle in the game is a tie between fox and geese (UGH) and the final snowmobile chase. My problems with fox and geese are obvious — they’re everyone’s problems with fox and geese: it’s a required puzzle, it’s hard to do, there’s no way to cheat through it, and it takes forever.

The final snowmobile chase is somehow even worse. It’s buggy, laggy, has nothing to do with the actual plot, has arbitrary win conditions — it’s the worst (or at least among the worst) that HER has to offer with final puzzles. If everything else about ICE was perfect, engaging, fun, and thought-provoking, this final puzzle would still put me off of playing it. It’s just that bad.

The storyline with Isis and that whole backstory isn’t treated well in game; it’s almost as if they came up with the title and then remembered at the last minute that there’s supposed to be an actual wolf. I would have loved more of a focus on that storyline; as it is, it barely counts as a blip on the game’s radar — which is a shame.

The Fix:

Gosh, how on earth will I fix The White Wolf of Icicle Creek? The answer is that I don’t feel like I can just apply a few quick fixes and be on my way; the only answer I could find is to approach this as if I was at the proposal meeting for this game — how would I outline the barebones scenario?

This section will be long, as I’m going to start just from the skeleton and build things in. What follows is my own imaginings of what my own personal ideas would be to create ICE, rather than to fix it from what the finished product was. As an important note, the side-plot with the wolf, as it was really neglected and bare-bones to begin with in the game, is mostly removed.

The first section I’ll work on is structure. Though it wasn’t done perfectly in FIN, I feel like the pacing of ICE could be vastly improved by putting a clock on the game by assigning designated days and tasks. Three days is still probably a good idea, as it lets us easily break the story into a 3-act structure and delineate certain tasks for certain days without overloading one day in particular. We’ll get more into what should happen in Days 1, 2, and 3 later in a general overview of how the plot would go.

The mechanism used to get Nancy there — Chantal being a friend of Carson’s — isn’t bad, but I’d change it up just slightly. Nancy’s not yet a “professional” detective, but we’re only 2 games from her being hired by a foreign country’s authorities, so she should be making her way up there. It stands to reason that Nancy would attract some attention from the business in CRE since the Hardy Boys would definitely mention Nancy in their de-briefing and Aikens is a big name, so let’s build on that from here. Chantal is still Carson’s friend, and she still wants to get these incidents solved while she’s away from the Lodge for legal matters — someone got injured at the lodge and is now suing.

Carson decides to officially hire Nancy — paperwork, legal documentation, etc. — as a “concerned third party” in Chantal’s problems, telling her that her job is to find out two things: find out what’s causing the incidents of sabotage, and give Carson enough evidence in favor of the lodge’s safety that he can prove reasonable doubt against the people accusing Chantal. Nancy will be there undercover as a family friend of Chantal’s, with only Ollie knowing that she’s there in an official capacity.

ICE has a cast that is both unwieldy and characterless, and I feel like the way to fix that is through combining characters. Starting out we have Ned, Chantal, Tino, the ex-maid, her boyfriend, Ollie, Freddie, Lupe, Yanni, Lou, and Bill — 10 characters that we deal with in the present, plus one other player (in the boyfriend/stalker guy). 11 in total. That is a huge, huge cast that we definitely need to pare down.

The first thing to do is to take out Tino Balducci. He slows down the plot, is completely unnecessary, and isn’t even entertaining. Since there’s no Hardy Boys to play off of him (and I would keep the Hardy Boys out of this game, even with my love for them), Tino needs to go the way of the dodo. And good riddance to him, honestly.

Freddie, an obvious subject to axe, should instead be aged up to around 20 and combined with the maid whose ex-boyfriend’s letter Nancy finds at the beginning of the game. Freddie would handle all the chores the first day except the cooking.

Instead of a nebulous, incident-causing ex-boyfriend, Freddie would have just started a relationship with Lou, keeping our cast tight and visible, rather than one-off characters with nothing else to give to the story.

By now we’re down to Carson, Ned, Chantal, Freddie, Ollie, Lupe, Yanni, Lou, and Bill. I think we can do a little better than that.

The next step I’d take is to remove Yanni entirely. Yes, I know it’s a big change to remove the canonical culprit, but bear with me. With Yanni and Lupe having so many similarities and together being guilty of 99% of the Crimes in this game, I’m pretty comfortable in combining them. I’d also make the minor change of having Lupe be an Indigenous Canadian rather than Hispanic and from California, since our game is set in Canada and there’s absolutely no reason for a large portion of our cast to be American.

With Yanni gone, Lupe (or whatever her new name would be, since the name ‘Lupe’, all nationality changes aside, in a game ostensibly about a wolf makes me want to kill myself) assumes a few of his personality quirks – most importantly, a family member with a past with wolves. It doesn’t really matter if it’s positive or negative, you just want the association there as a herring (red or otherwise).

That puts us down to 5 suspects to talk to and three phone friends for a total of 8 players in the present. Since Chantal is supposed to be busy, I’d remove the ability to talk to her entirely — anything that Chantal could offer can come through Carson as Nancy’s official “employer”, which brings us to a nice 7 players — an entirely manageable number.

So let’s begin.

The beginning of the game with Nancy at her desk always includes a case file, so this time the case file would say that Nancy, at the behest of her ‘client’, Carson Drew, is flying out to Alberta to investigate strange happenings at Chantal Moique’s lodge. Chantal is trying to settle with people who got hurt there and are trying to sue her, and Carson’s helping to advise her. Nancy’s mission is two-fold: figure out what’s causing the incidents at the lodge, and find evidence that Chantal can’t be held liable for the injuries incurred by the guests suing her.

Wolves are commonly seen around the area of the lodge — Northern Alberta has some of the highest population of wolves in North America — and there’s a rumor at the lodge that the spirits of the wolves that are hunted in the area every winter are causing some of the sabotage.

Chantal thinks the rumor is being spread by whoever is doing the actual sabotage to make her guests leave and force her out of business, so Carson tells Nancy to pay attention to the stories about the wolves — and one snow-white wolf in particular, who is often sighted very close to the lodge. Carson suspects that, if it exists, the white wolf is actually a trained dog (a white/white and silver Siberian Husky, for example) being used to whip up panic, but tells Nancy to keep an open mind.

As Nancy’s arriving at the Lodge, an explosion occurs in the distance, causing the rumbling of snow to start. Ollie, who’s picked up Nancy from her plane, says darkly that he’s been waiting for something like this to happen, and that this will probably cause a minor avalanche (his opinion as the head of Avalanche Patrol in the area), making it impossible to leave the lodge for a few days. He tells Nancy to head straight to bed once they get to the lodge, as she’s in for an exhausting time dealing with the “weirdos” still left at the lodge.

Nancy wakes up and Day One begins with Freddie freaking out outside Nancy’s door. After explaining that the regular chef (who was off for the last month visiting family) can’t get back to the lodge until tomorrow and that Freddie’s only manned the kitchen once or twice, Nancy says that she has experience cooking and offers to take the chef’s duties for the day.

Day One has Nancy meet all the suspects – Bill’s playing a game (I don’t care what it is as long as it’s something that involves writing things down) with anyone who passes by and talks about how out of all the lodges in Canada, this one’s his favorite; Lou hangs out near the bones (make him an archeology major or something related to but not exactly paleontology) and Definitely Doesn’t Know the Cute Girl Who Works at the Lodge, How Dare Nancy Assume; Not-Lupe is gone until 4pm when it starts getting dark because she loves spending time in nature, especially with the Super Special Wolf running around the place; and Ollie’s in the workshop fixing the things that have been sabotaged, worries about his daughter being away from her mother and about her ‘cavorting’ with a guest.

Nancy still preps lunch and the day goes on without a hitch other than Lou having an overheard argument with someone at around 6. Nancy cooks dinner, accidentally (due to smudged instructions from Freddie) sprinkling paprika in everyone’s food and setting off an allergic (mild to moderate anaphylaxis, helped by an epi pen) reaction + hives in Freddie, who they fly out via helicopter that night.

Ollie, feeling hostile towards Nancy, takes a look at the instructions/recipe that Nancy worked off of and says to her that the first page is Freddie’s handwriting, but the second page isn’t — someone did this on purpose. Nancy calls Carson, who says that the soonest he can get there is the day after next, and to keep herself safe above everything — he’ll check in with the hospital Freddie’s at since it’s also in Edmonton, where Carson and Chantal are. Carson warns Nancy that the guests were about to settle the lawsuit when the news about the explosion hit the news, and are now more determined than ever to sue for all Chantal’s worth.

Day 2 opens with the cook (who’s unseen and just exists in order to relieve Nancy of kitchen duty) arriving and a phone call from Carson asking for Chantal/Freddie if Nancy can grab the laundry bags from the guests’ rooms and that the spare key is in the register at the front (of course guarded by a puzzle — I’d even accept a mini fox and geese, as one of the big problems with that puzzle in the vanilla game is that it goes on way too long.

While snooping in the desk, Nancy finds evidence that Chantal might have been guilty of criminal neglect — a few things around the lodge are listed as “fixed” and totally safe when really they still need some maintenance — and wonders how she should tell Carson and if she should wait until she has more evidence. Before she goes out for the day, Not-Lupe mentions to Nancy “in confidence” that she overheard Lou fighting with Freddie before dinner, calling it a “lover’s quarrel”.

After lunch and talking with all the suspects again, Nancy goes to grab the laundry with the master key and snoops in everyone’s rooms, finding various clues and suspicious things: Bill’s journal detailing how Chantal is running the place into the ground and needs to be replaced, along with a few lodge magazines; Not-Lupe’s gloves with suspicious specks of things on them (Nancy takes a sample of it in a Kleenex or something); Lou’s heavy suitcase that has a case with imprints of bones in it; Ollie’s has maintenance books that also detail how to take things apart and maintenance notes that say he saw the wolf around but didn’t have his gun; Freddie’s only thing of interest is a little dinosaur pin on her dresser.

Nancy takes the opportunity to snoop in Chantal’s normal room and finds that the things that were listed in the documents in the front desk really were fixed; Ollie reported to Chantal that things that he fixed were un-fixed by the time he went back to them the next day — most of the time suffering damage as well, such as the sauna that injured the guests that are suing Chantal. Nancy calls her father with the news, and Carson says to save those documents so that he can come get them tomorrow, and to see if she can find any clues to who might have done it.

After dinner Nancy talks to Lou, who confesses that he and Freddie started dating a few days ago after meeting online last semester in a dinosaur enthusiast forum — hence his decision to come to the lodge, as Freddie said there were cool bones here. He was originally going to steal a few small ones and thought no one would notice if he replaced them with resin-cast replicas, but Freddie caught him and they had a fight which ended with Lou deciding not to steal, and Freddie saying that she could help him make replicas for him to take home and keep in his house.

Nancy asks why he’s telling her, and Lou says that Ollie seems to get along with Nancy well, and he’d like Nancy to calm Ollie down if Ollie discovers that he’s dating Freddie. Nancy asks Lou about the wolf, and Lou says that some of the stuff could be a wolf — he’s seen one around the lodge once or twice — but he hasn’t really been paying attention to anything except the bones and Freddie (who he’s looking forward to visiting once he can).

When talking with Bill, he offhandedly mentions that he used to be a handyman — the sink in his room started acting up, but he fixed it easily because he thinks that Ollie has enough to do without doing this easy fix. Bill says that this would never have happened when Chantal’s father was running the Lodge and accuses Chantal of preferring to spend long “business trips” in the city to actually paying attention to the Lodge — he says she should just live in the city and hire a manager with experience who actually cares. Nancy asks Bill about the wolf, and he says if anyone could be haunted by wolves, he’d believe it was Chantal.

Nancy, it should be noted, during her explorations around the lodge, sees a few pawprints and some chewed-on debris, but otherwise hasn’t seen the wolf in person. Just traces and tracks.

Not-Lupe and Ollie both dodge Nancy’s questions – Ollie’s busy as everything seems to be breaking at once, and snaps at Nancy that without Chantal around, he’s the only person keeping the lodge afloat, and he’d be better off without the stress of this job. When Nancy asks him about the wolf, Ollie says that the last thing they need is some idiot tourist being attacked by a wolf, and so he refuses to believe that there’s a wolf around the area.

Not-Lupe is at her normal place at the window (though there’s a chair there because no one stands all day), and when Nancy asks about the wolf, says that that’s why she’s there — she heard the rumor about the wolf and wanted to see it, but that her visit’s been very disappointing — just a junky lodge with incompetent staff and no wolves anywhere. Her hobby is visiting winter lodges, and this one just Isn’t up to snuff.

Nancy tries to pry deeper, but Not-Lupe shuts her down and goes to bed; Nancy investigates the living room as everyone leaves for bed and finds crinkled up under the couch a magazine cutout about the Premier Lodge Group, a company that owns winter lodges all over Canada and the United States, and their plans to build a group of lodges in Alberta as soon as a few “minor inconveniences” with location are solved.

The day ends with Carson calling; Nancy tells him about all the suspects (Carson confirms Lou’s story by having talked to Freddie), the magazine, Ollie wanting to quit, etc. Carson promises to do some research on Premier Lodge Group and tells Nancy to send him a picture of the stuff she found on Lupe’s gloves. Nancy does so, and that’s the end of Day 2.

Day 3 opens again with Carson’s phone call, informing Nancy that he’ll be there in the early evening — he’s having a contact of his look at the photo Nancy sent, but he’s pretty sure it won’t be good news.

Premier Lodge Group was investigated a few years ago for sabotage to their competitors but ultimately nothing came out of it, and Carson suspects that people were paid off to keep quiet about it. Carson says that he’s looked into Ollie (since Carson suspected him the most) and apparently Ollie always grouches about quitting when he’s stressed but has been there for 20 years and is as loyal as they come, so Nancy says she’ll focus on Not-Lupe and Bill — the two lodge-hoppers who seem dissatisfied with the lodge.

Both Not-Lupe and Bill are gone when Nancy gets downstairs, and Lou (who’s planning on leaving that night to go to Edmonton) says that they both got a sack lunch from the kitchen and left early in the morning to go explore outside. He tells Nancy she can borrow his snowshoes and says that they both headed out (independently) in the direction of Skookum Ridge.

When Nancy gets up to the Ridge, she spots the “wolf” — really a Siberian Husky, like Carson thought, who seems very well trained. When the dog comes up to Nancy, a gunshot ripples through the air and nearly hits the dog, who would have gone running off had Nancy not grabbed her collar and yelled not to shoot. Nancy sees Bill across the ridge and waves him over, explaining that it’s a dog, not a wolf. The dog (whose name is something way better than Isis — literally anything else would do) is suspicious of Bill at first, which convinces Nancy that it’s not Bill’s — the only suspect left is Not-Lupe.

When she tells Bill what she knows about Not-Lupe, Bill admits to having seen her before at a lodge that went out of business due to mysterious accidents, but thought it was a coincidence before digging deeper in the magazines he brought and finding Not-Lupe in the back of a small photo of Premier Lodge Administrative Staff — he was worried about keeping it safe and knowing that there would be no cleaning staff until at least the next day, crumpled it up and put it under the couch he normally sits by.

A happy, friendly dog in tow, Nancy and Bill head back to the lodge only to find Ollie and Lou standing outside looking worried. They tell Nancy that they both went outside because they heard a loud noise, only to find the door locked behind them — and every other door locked as well. After realizing that Not-Lupe wouldn’t open the doors for them, Ollie went to get an axe for the door, only to have a note appear on the door’s window that if they forced their way in, the whole Lodge would be burned to the ground in an instant.

Carson calls then, saying that he’s a few minutes away, but that his friend got back to him — Not-Lupe’s gloves were covered in residue from explosives. Bill takes Nancy’s phone and begins to fill Carson in on who they think Not-Lupe is working for and who she is. Nancy asks Lou and Ollie to hoist her up to her own window, which she keeps unlocked, and crawls in, creeping downstairs to the main room to try to find how Not-Lupe will burn the lodge and stop her.

Nancy confronts Not-Lupe, who confirms her identity as a saboteur for the Premier Lodge Group, saying that with the bad press around the lodge Chantal would have already had to sell — but she’s going to go one step further and cause an ‘incident’, blowing up the lodge with fuses hidden around its ground floor — Chantal’s father won’t spend the money to rebuild the lodge, and the only proof that is against her is the word of two American kids, an old man, and a lodge-hopper with a very incriminating diary that would be found soon enough. She tells Nancy that she can either try to catch her or try to save the lodge and runs out the back, intent on escaping as she pushes the button to arm the explosives.

Nancy yells out the window for them to catch Not-Lupe, who’s got to be headed out to the main road, tossing the cushion of the seat Lupe usually sat in so that her dog can catch her scent, then has the final timed puzzle be switching off each detonator (which would be in each of the places where the suspects usually were, with the exception of Ollie’s whose is in the front desk).

As soon as Nancy disarms them, Bill calls out to her that Carson just called — Lou and the dog tracked Lupe to the main road, and Bill called Carson to let him know. Carson’s car stops Not-Lupe (Carson brought a policeman on a hunch), and the day is saved. Premier Lodge is snagged in a major lawsuit by Chantal’s father and other lodge owners who have had the same thing happen to them, and Chantal hires Bill as co-manager to ensure there’s always someone there to manage the lodge and for his wealth of knowledge of what makes a good lodge and good experience for guests.

The game ends with Nancy writing her letter to Hannah (so that Hannah doesn’t worry about them), and with her dad’s praise for a job well done.

I realize that this is a monumental fix; it’s a brand-new game made out of the skeleton of the old one. I also realize that there are a million and one ways to re-write this game; this one takes the idea of sabotage, one of the most frequent inciting incidents in the Nancy Drew world, and just makes it a little bigger.

No terrorism required.

[when-they-write-stuff]

“You’re not in bed. I came looking for you.” [Any ship you want to write about]

This is so adorable, I can’t. I ended up doing sterek (no surprise, ha).

- -

“You weren’t in bed,” a soft voice said, the sound of footsteps pausing at Derek’s back. “I was looking for you.”

Derek didn’t glance back, but he smiled softly. Stiles plodded over and sank down at his side, the old wood of the porch creaking slightly. A hand found his own, long fingers intertwining with his own.

“Der, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Derek said, gazing out at the forest beyond. It was the day before the full moon and he hadn’t been able to sleep. The urge to get up, to move around, to go outside, had overwhelmed him until Derek couldn’t take it anymore. But he hadn’t meant to wake up Stiles.

“Okay,” Stiles said, bumping against his shoulder. “So what are you doing out here, then?”

“Sitting.”

“Wow, big guy, you’re full of words on this fine night. Might I ask why?”

Derek glanced over, eyebrow raised, and Stiles smirked a little. The amber-eyed boy was wearing one of Derek’s shirts and it hung loosely off his frame, draping down his arms and across his chest like a sheet. Stiles was wearing his wolf pjs too— the ones Derek always thought were so stupid, but so Stiles, it made him roll his eyes every time.

“Derek,” Stiles said, poking his nose. “Talk to me.”

“I love you,” Derek said, and Stiles blinked in surprise. “You know that, right?”

“Dude, you’re starting to scare me.”

“Sorry,” Derek said, squeezing Stiles’s hand. The boy narrowed his eyes and then stood, turning back toward the house and tugging Derek with him. Derek pushed himself up with a last glance over his shoulder, and let Stiles lead him back inside.

But to his surprise, Stiles didn’t lead him back toward their bedroom. Instead, the boy sat him down at the couch and patted his head, before starting toward the kitchen. Derek turned around to watch him and Stiles held up a hand.

“Stop it. No peeking.”

“Stiles, what are you doing?”

“Stuff. Now read a book or something, this will only take me like five minutes.”

Derek raised an eyebrow but Stiles only grinned and blew him a kiss, before vanishing into the kitchen. Derek was half-tempted to follow after him, but he turned back around instead, spotting his favorite Orwell book sitting suspiciously on the coffee table.

He knew that’s not where he’d left it.

Derek could hear the sounds of Stiles moving around, followed by the occasional curse as he ran into a counter or fumbled with something, but he couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Grunting, Derek reached for his book. 

Stiles was a weirdo. Derek didn’t even have a clue.

Stiles was in the kitchen for longer than five minutes. Derek thought he vanished into another room at some point too, the sounds of the house going quiet. None of the other betas had woken up; but Derek wondered if it was only a matter of time.

He shifted on the couch and resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder.

When Stiles started making noise again and came out of the kitchen, his arms were laden with plastic containers, a stack of movies, and Derek’s favorite blanket. Derek raised a brow as the boy plopped down beside him, amber eyes dancing.

“There. See? Five minutes.”

“Stiles, what are you doing?”

“We’re going to watch some movies, Sourwolf.”

“... Why.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and proceeded to wrap the blanket around Derek’s shoulders, chuckling as he pulled it over Derek’s head too, making him growl. Then he popped the tops off the plastic containers and Derek realized they were full of baked goods— ones he didn’t remember Stiles making. 

His brows drew further and further together, especially when he realized the movies were his favorites, not Stiles’s. The Princesse Bride (he refused to admit that one out loud), the Lion King, and the Goonies. Derek blinked a few times, unsure of what to do.

“You look like you’re about to blow your top,” Stiles said, settling down beside him. “Are you feeling alright there, Sourwolf?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Clearly, everything had taken some kind of preparation. But Derek didn’t remember seeing Stiles acting any different. He didn’t think he’d been that obvious before tonight either.

“I… know what day is coming up,” Stiles said, a twinge of nervousness to his voice. “I mean, I know it’s still like a week away, but I know it’s close. The, uh, anniversary of the fire, that is.” 

“So why are you doing this now?”

“I’m not going to wait until you need-need me,” Stiles said softly. “I’m here up until then and always after.”

Derek stared at him for a moment. Stiles fidgeted with his fingers and then squeaked as Derek moved forward, capturing his lips. The boy melted against him, careful fingers dancing up his arm and tracing around his jaw until Stiles drew back. There was a grin stretching from ear to ear. 

“You are such a softie, Sourwolf.”

“Me?”

“Eh,” Stiles said with a shrug, grabbing the remote and turning back to the TV. “My reputation doesn’t depend on my grumps and growls, I’m allowed to be. You, on the other hand, better be careful. Or people are going to start thinking you like me.”

Derek huffed at that, catching Stiles’s hand with his own again. “I don’t think that would be so bad.”

“You’re worrying me again, Sourwolf.”

Derek couldn’t help rolling his eyes. Stiles poked him on the nose again before turning on the first movie he’d put into the TV; The Princess Bride. Derek knew that was going to wake the others up.

It only took a few minutes.

Stiles glanced up as the sound of footsteps plodded into the living room and Isaac rubbed at his eyes, looking blearily from Derek, to Stiles, and then the containers of food on the coffee table. Without a word, he walked over and grabbed a cookie, then plopped down at Stiles’s other side.

Erica and Boyd were slower to follow.

“You two,” Erica said as she came into the room. “Are so fucking adorable I hate you for it. Does sleep mean nothing to anyone in this house anymore?”

“Cookie?” Stiles said, offering the one in his hand forward. Erica grunted and took it, dragging Boyd to the armchair and pushing him down first, before dropping onto his lap. The dark-skinned beta didn’t even protest.

And when Stiles looked back over, a stupid grin on his face, Derek couldn’t help but smile back. He hadn’t climbed out of bed an hour ago expecting this. The comfort, the consolation, the gathering of his pack.

He hadn’t, but maybe he should have. Because it was Stiles.

It was Stiles.

“I love you,” Derek said softly. “You know that, right?”

Stiles’s face softened and he leaned forward, touching his lips against Derek’s own. He tasted like the chocolate cookie he’d just eaten and his lips were soft. The feeling of Stiles so close felt like safety. It felt like home.

“I know, Sourwolf,” Stiles said, pulling back an inch. “And I love you too.”

Derek closed his eyes. Stiles didn’t even have to ask— Derek knew that too. He had since Stiles first stumbled into his loft in those stupid wolf pjs and declared himself part of the Hale pack. In fact, he probably had even before that.

Long before that, he thought. Derek leaned forward and kissed him again.

It always felt like home.

- -

The soft feels got away from me, I’m no longer in control. Thanks for the prompt, nonnie, I was itching to write some fluff!

(Support your overcaffinated (so much so) student writer? Seriously, I’d adore you guys so much). https://ko-fi.com/rh27writer

[gravityfissure]

Wildest Dreams : Otto & Ariana

TIMING: Current. PARTIES: Otto & @letsbenditlikebennett​ SUMMARY: Ariana and Otto catch up at Layla and Luke’s birthday but things don’t seem quite right.

By all indications, the party was wildly a success. Ariana had to shake away the creeping concern that Layla could return to her hypnotized self at any moment, but she was having fun. It looked like everyone else was, too-- especially Luke, who more than anyone, deserved to have a blast on his birthday. How many years had gone by celebrating alone because he was in hiding? She’d make sure he never had to do that again. He was loved and she was determined to continue reminding him of this fact. Somehow, something felt off though. She couldn’t quite shake an uneasy feeling and she wasn’t quite sure why the recipes to all the bars cocktails were flying through her mind. She’d never even heard of half of them. She shrugged it off and approached Otto behind the bar. “Any good non alcoholic drinks for your favorite teen wolf,” she joked.

By Otto’s estimations it seemed like things were going well, admittedly by his standards it was a bit of a tame party but those for whom it had been thrown seemed content and at the end of the day it was their happiness that mattered. So he’d contented himself with tormenting Noah and Nate with inappropriately named cocktails for absolutely no other reason beyond he simply could. It was entertaining to watch the blush and bluster that came when the aptly named blow-job was presented with the criteria it be drunk sans hands. Though a pesky thought and concern for Layla kept gnawing at the back of his mind, frustrating considering… well, he didn’t really care about this Layla girl in any true capacity. Not when there were far more enjoyable people to pay attention to… Luke for example. That said, Otto was drawn out of his appreciation by Ari’s approach and he leaned up a little more on the bar considering her for a moment. “Well… Since you helped organise this and the fact no one’s looking…. Maybe I’ll treat you. Just don’t tell anyone I broke the rules hey?” He tilted his head “what do you fancy little wolf?”

For some reason, Ariana was stuck with thoughts of making inappropriate shots for Noah and Nate… which gross. Nate was like old and Noah was like the jock of a big brother she never knew she needed. Her nose scrunched up in disapproval even though her mind was egging the whole thing on. It was odd having her thoughts feel out of place in her own head, but she ended up smirking as she watched them down their blow job shots. Boys. They at least provided a good distraction from staring at Layla who was moping against the wall and chatting with Ulf. Part of her wanted to wish her a happy birthday while a larger part was still fuming. Still, she leaned against the bar and smiled at Otto. There was a devious spark in her eyes when he mentioned turning an eye. She knew better than to try and pull one over on him with her fake, but this worked out even better. “I knew you were pretty cool,” she joked, really Otto was probably cooler than she was, but she didn’t care about that, “Anything citrus-y sounds delicious to me.” She spared a glance over toward Layla again. Frankie was with her now and things seemed to be getting heated. Frankie had every right to be pissed at Layla. Now was just the worst possible time for it. Who knew just how strong the compulsion on Layla was. Last thing she needed was the headache of her turning all bad girl on them again.

Otto couldn’t understand why his thoughts kept going to Layla, who by appearances from what he could see seemed more concerned with staying out of everyone’s way rather than anything else. What was there to worry about after all and why did he feel annoyed whenever he thought about her? It was strange, she’d be one of many people he didn’t know that had been on his mind lately. Namely her sock-smelling ground beef. The memory earned a small wrinkle of his nose. “Just trying to add to my street cred with the pack,” he joked light-heartedly. “Citrusy, coming right up.” It wasn’t hard to fix a drink up and Otto returned after a moment sliding a blueberry lemonade sangria over the counter with one for himself. His eyes drifted over to the pair near the side of the party, lowering his voice to speak to Ariana without drawing too much attention “don’t think we’re going to have trouble are we?”

Everything in her head seemed to be confusing her right now. Ariana knew her concern for Layla was well placed, but every so often feelings or thoughts she didn’t quite relate to slipped in. Maybe the drink Otto was making her would do the trick. She laughed and explained, “I think with this party and that wolfy GPS thing you did, you’ve got plenty of pack street cred, but I’ll still take it.” When he returned with the drink, she felt herself begin to relax a little bit. It smelled like lemons and berries. It tasted even better. The alcohol even made it a bit novel. “Thanks.” Her smile was pretty wide until he mentioned troubles and guessed maybe her concern had been written all over her face. She looked down at the bar momentarily, debating on what to say, before she opted for the truth. She owed Otto more favors than she cared to count at this point. “I mean, probably not. I’m a little worried the compulsion on Layla won’t hold and she’ll go back to being hypnotized and kinda… how do you say psychotic bitch nicely?”

“Well, a little extra never hurts does it?” Otto joked while taking a sip of his drink as he surveyed the people at the party, mingling and chatting and seemingly having a good time. His brows pulled together a fraction with Ari’s admission, “like that probably. But compulsion? What happened there?” Unfortunately any further explanation was cut off as a crashing din from the other side of the party echoed through the space as a redhead he hadn’t admittedly paid much attention to shoved another individual that had been getting in her face over one of the tables that had been set out. “Oi! The fuck? Stop that!” he yelled, pushing up from his leaning perch on the bar. “Pete?” he looked around for the weasley looking demon (who was freakishly strong despite his wayward appearance) that typically sorted most scuffles out, But he couldn’t find him. “That what you mean by psychotic bitch?”

“Before you know it, you’re gonna be an honorary pack member,” Ariana responded playfully before she took another sip of her drink. Somehow hers and Nell’s joke of my wolves, my witches, and my bitches seemed to apply yet again. While she wasn’t keen on explaining, after that she did owe some sort of explanation and Otto looked confused. She shrugged slightly and answered, “She got hypnotized by a cursed fidget spinner. Ulf knows a vampire who compelled her to be like normal so she stops trying to destroy the town until we figure out how to break the hypnosis.” Hearing the crash in the corner, she let out a groan. Her leg was still throbbing and her stitches were still fresh. Judging by Otto’s reaction, she was pretty sure this venue wouldn’t be an option for future parties. “Ugh, yes, that just about covers it. I’ll get her out of here.” So much for a fun evening. She darted across the dance floor and let out a small yelp as a pain shot through her leg. There went her stitches. Dr. Lin-King was going to kill her. “Layla, stop it!” Her shouts seemed to fall of deaf ears. Why were none of the other wolves reacting? Where were Ulf and Miles? Even Luke or Winn would be a huge help right about now.

“Aawh, do I get a badge? I feel like I should get an honorary pack member badge. Tell me you guys have patches or something cool.” Otto’s smile was lopsided as he sipped his drink. “What the fuck? A cursed fidget spinner? Who would… actually scratch that I can think of plenty of people who’d do that…” His eyes returned to the girl for a moment. “Huuuh, and it’s working?” Crash. Oh. Maybe he’d spoken too soon. A single incident was hardly room for barring from future occasions, maybe just this Layla girl until she got her shit together. “I’ll help,” he said hoping that Thierry might be able to cover the bar for the time being while he followed Ariana. Everyone else seemed lost in conversation, paying no attention to the scene unfolding at one side of the room. Otto hated getting into altercations but it felt like it was happening more and more of late. “Come on… There’s no need for this let’s just--” he raised his hands in the hopes of a quick charm, but when he reached for the familiar tethers found there was… nothing there to grasp. “What the??” so perplexed by this development he missed the fist that was being swung straight towards his face cracking as it impacted and knocked him stumbling into the wall grasping his face. “Ow- what the fuck ?”

Normally, Ariana would have had a quip in response to the badge thing, but Layla’s outburst drew her attention. Making sure Layla didn’t hurt anyone was top priority and where the hell did Ulfric go? The other wolves seemed to be pretty content and too drunk to notice the scene Layla was about to cause. “Pie prize contest. Don’t know why they cursted a fucking fidget spinner,” she grumbled as she tried to ignore the sharp pain in her leg. She had to stop Layla, she could already see the claws coming out as she threw one of the tables. Otto was trying to reason with her, but she could hear the snarl coming from the redhead. Fuck, this wasn’t good. They were in a public place. They couldn’t just wolf out here. What if there was a hunter? They’d both get killed. Panic rose in Ariana and she instinctively lunged toward Layla to tackle her to the ground, but ended up on the ground herself as Layla dodged.

Otto could only stare in abject horror as the scene seemed to go into slow motion. The young woman’s features growing more animalistic, jagged rows of teeth belonging to a snarling muzzle turning in their direction, as fur began to sprout forth and a rather charming appearance became something much more terrifying in her apparent rising anger. “Uuuuh Ari?” Where were the other wolves when you needed them? This was not what he needed tonight. It was meant to be a chilled party with no drama. What was so hard about that? He reached again, trying to find some tether of familiarity of his power but again none came. There was a singular moment of isolating paranoia and fear, was this really how it was going to end. Fuck no. Get a grip of yourself. He backed up right at the same point a claw lashed out, his hand instinctively throwing up to try and counter but instead the claws racked over his arm and he recoiled with a pained hiss, “Ari! Get this under control!” because I sure as hell can’t.

Watching Layla transform into a wolf mid party left her both seething in anger and terrified for those around them. “Layla, stop it! Now” Ariana called out. She shifted her focus to trying to change her own form. For some reason, she couldn’t seem to connect with the wolf that was part of her. What was going on? The ginger wolf was charging directly toward her and she was completely defenceless. Not even her instinctive fight or flight seemed to be able to coax her wolf out. What the hell was going on? Panic made her heartbeat race. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the feeling the moon always gave her. She pushed herself to transform, but she stood there, unmoving and unable to connect with the animal inside. There was no way she could fist fight a fucking wolf. The other wolf sent her body thudding to the ground and Ariana winced at the fangs bared in her face. If her wolf didn’t come out, she’d be torn to pieces in no time followed by the rest of the bar. Or someone could end up shooting and killing Layla. Each thought left her petrified and as teeth were only centimetres away from her throat, she found her eyes fluttering open as she gasped for her breath. A coat of cold sweat covered her body and there was the tiniest amount of blood coming from her throat. She hugged the covers close to her and decided sleep was out of the question tonight.

If Otto would classify anything as a shitshow, this would certainly be up there in the ranks as he watched the ginger werewolf leap at Ariana. Why wasn’t she turning? It hadn’t seemed too bad the last time they’d seen one another and yet now she just… Wasn’t? None of this made sense and Otto’s sense of self-preservation made him step back, once and then again staring as she was knocked prone by the massive snarling creature. Oh hell no. Nope. Absolutely not. There was a single, last-ditch attempt to reach for his magic as the creature’s head lifted and peered straight at him and in a blur of snarling muscle and flesh leaped, claws lashing out.. And his last thought was is this how it ends?

His eyes snapped open in a blind-panic a sudden flare of energy shunting the nearby furniture a few screeching centimeters out of place. Sheets tangled around his legs as he tumbled out of bed onto the hard floor, breathing hard and clasping a hand to his heart. “What the fuck?” he panted a trickle of blood trailing down his arm as he stared around a dark empty bedroom trying to piece together what just happened but finding no answers in the silence. Perhaps sleep wasn’t a good idea tonight.

[twilightvolt]

Twilight Thoughts (BEASTARS Episodes 1-4 Part II)

WARNING: SPOILERS IMMINENT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO’RE DECIDING TO WAIT FOR NETFLIX TO RELEASE THE SHOW FROM PRISON. But hey, if you don’t mind, then let’s get this show on the road!

Episode 3: Inner Thoughts and Personal Secrets

Now THIS is the episode where I really felt invested in the characters. Like, there’s so many tidbits of info that I found that made me question a LOT about certain characters.

- Legoshi stopping Haru by putting a blanket over her saying that she’ll catch a cold and get bitten by the insects, while also nervously bolting out of there and slamming the door on his tail was so adorkable and gOD I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS BOI IS SO P U R E . Ngl I kinda was the same way in high school not long ago. Hell, his overall character so far is basically me in high school. And it’s crazy how much I can resonate with him, wolf problems aside.

- I think next they explained what the drama club was all about and how the auditions go. This actually gave me a huge amount of questions to consider. Like, Louis is the “perfect” leader, so of course he has something he’s hiding. But Legoshi just seemed so….normal. and they said they only accept people with unusual backgrounds. So….what’s Legoshi hiding?

- And speaking of Legoshi, I did notice he was much bigger than most of the wolves that went to the school. And the following scenes told me more things about him that went quick, but I saw it with the right fansubs considering others didn’t translate it well.

1. He says he cuts his nails, but the very next day they grow back like nothing happened? I was like “Iiiiiii don’t think wolf claws grow back that quickly.” I mean unless you’re a werewolf, but I don’t think were anything is possible in this universe.

2. It’s the first time someone treated him the way Haru just did earlier. So I guess he doesn’t know about intercourse? Or like, he does, but no one’s ever….come onto him like that? This one I might be reading wrong.

3. He notices just then that he’s happy. It makes me think he’s not used to feeling that emotion which makes me concerned.

They haven’t gone into his past at all these past 3 episodes. So literally everything about him before his second year of high school is a total mystery. Heheh, it makes me so excited to hopefully learn more in the later parts of the season.

- That scene between Louis and Legoshi was also super intriguing. As Legoshi talks to him with his hand gestures (Also something I do. Lol), it looks like he’s studying his movements. Idk why, but I guess maybe he’s watching his hands cuz his claws are uncut? like, he’s sensing the danger levels?

- He pushes him to try and bite him (Yeah, I know.) But as his fangs are coming down, I notice there’s a reflection coming off of them. So I’m not sure if Louis’ expression changes because of his herbivorous instincts kicking in to let go of him or because he sees himself and is reminded that he is in fact an herbivore and shouldn’t be doing this cuz he could get hurt. He’s also jealous that he can keep his carnivorous tendencies so suppressed apparently. So maybe all of this is just him feeling frustrated that he’s not doing what he was born to do?

- This episode’s ED i think is my favorite so far. it focuses on Legoshi’s internal struggles with his instincts. the song i think i like more than Le Zoo, the first ED, but the visuals really nail the thoughts going on in his head. or maybe this is just my inner edgelord coming through. lmao

Episode 4: Real Idiot Hours

Ok, this one was certainly the craziest one so far. I’m still reeling and i feel like this episode was not only super emotional, but also it went so damn fast that i barely could think about what was going on. Lmao

- Now, my initial thoughts about Bill were “Oh, is he gonna be the big lovable idiot? D'aww, look at him quoting Louis. He’s such a dork!”

- Legoshi still being adorable cuz he has to be on stage, but he doesn’t want to so he hides behind the board. ;w;

- He’s been in this club for 4 years? Huh….and this whole time, he was able to get by like this. As an introvert. Guess things can change pretty suddenly.

- Then my opinions on Bill quickly changed when he decides to go all out against Legoshi in their rehearsals. I was like “Hold up dude! Calm the frick down with that stick!” But then realized it was cuz they were both carnivores, so he must think he doesn’t have to hold anything back. Which I guess is understandable.

- But then he’s talking with Louis later and it just feels like his personality is so….flip floppy. Like, one minute he’s all “Hey buddy! Let’s do our best!” and the next he’s seriously hurting my boi! Oh, don’t get me started on that scene. We’ll get to that.

- Legoshi sniffs him and finds out he has a bottle of bunny blood in his pocket. I was like “Oh….O h  n o . O_O’” then he says, while it’s not from a student, it was from an upperclassman….but Haru’s an upperclassman, so Legoshi gets super pissed. Understandable, but I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding.

- He says he can’t say anything since he drew blood from her too, so I was like “Why not tho? It’s not like you killed her.” But then I realized maybe telling him he drew blood in the first place would be bad, so I guess there’s that.

- Anyone else think the blood thing was a parallel to drugs?

And now we get to the second night of the play. Oh boi….w o w .

- Watching Legoshi just…..snap and start beating the crud out of Bill on stage hurt my heart. It was also a stupid move on his part, but the emotions must’ve driven him more than his rational thoughts. He did look really badass in that getup tho.

- His screaming when he really started getting into the beatdown hurt the most. Like, oh lord. You can really feel just how much he really cares about her deep down.

- Then Bill stops him and uhh…..dIGS HIS CLAWS INTO HIS BACK AND GIVES HIM A HUGE GASH. HE H U R T . MY B O I .

I do think Legoshi was overreacting. I do think he was taking it too far. But nOSEBLEEDS AND BLACK EYES CAN HEAL. SCARS CAN’T. YOU HURT HIM, YOU HURT ME, DAMMIT.

Though….after awhile of thinking about it….I remember that line he says as he’s getting scratched. That the blood that’s coming down is the same as Bill’s. A carnivore. Something that he’s trying so hard not to be. Maybe he was partly beating the hell out of him cuz of what he’s done, but also beating the hell out of himself in a way. If that makes any sense. Like, I can imagine that scene was basically him using his fists to yell at himself like “I’m not like you. I don’t wanna be like you. Shut up!”

- Louis saving him from getting even more scarred like “Oh not today, bish.” was SO badass. Quite a master at improv, I must say. he even just walked on stage without his crutches no problem. he was like “Broken leg? Hahahah, that’s cute.”

- Him giving Legoshi his hand and telling him that he’s right was interesting as well. It’s like he was saying “It’s ok. You can stop now. You did the right thing.” Like, as if he finally understands why Legoshi is who he is. this week’s ED sequence focuses on their relationship too btw.

- Also, I started bein’ like “Ooooh, he gon’ get it now.” Cuz he knew about the blood, so it looks like someone’s getting cut from the acting team in the next episode. :^)

In fact, this episode is probably gonna spawn multiple consequences for everyone involved. Bill of course cuz blood, but Legoshi might get seriously punished for what he did as well. Louis miiight get a stern talking to cuz he wasn’t supposed to be on stage, but that’ll probably be the extent of it. i mean y’all gotta remember they’re high schoolers here. i’m sure the school staff definitely won’t let this slide.

After all this, I’m still wondering why everyone wants to push Legoshi into being more carnivorous. I guess maybe it’s just something he has to learn to control rather than suppress completely? But like, why? It’s his choice to be who he wants, right? Why can’t he live in peace? but then again….this is a prime example of why he should learn. when he can’t control his emotions, he becomes extremely dangerous to not only himself, but the people around him. he could actually kill someone with his kind of strength if he’s not careful. someone smaller than Bill at least. maybe it’s not good to just push it down….

*Sigh* hoo boi, that was a lot. as you can see, this is quickly becoming one of my favorite anime. and it’s only been like, 4 episodes. if this is what it’s like NOW, i can only imagine what’s gonna happen in the rest of the season.

See you guys next week hopefully when i talk about episode 5 once that drops! ^  ^

[ren-of-the-arcana]

The Lucio Incident

How Ren recieved his scars and ultimately made a lifelong enemy...

Warnings for blood, child abuse, another long post, and casting Lucio in a very negative light...

~

It had been a cool, spring evening. There wasn't much for Jazmine and I to do at the shop. Our chores had been finished early, and Ilana had all but kicked us out the door after our lessons. So, true to our nature, we went to the docks. It was a perfect night for stories.

Jazmine had a small group around her fire, dramatically walking about as she told the tale of Elaena Drake, the fierce warrior queen who became a dragon king, and the the figurehead of the Dragons of the West. It was one of her favorite stories, as well as mine. But, there were a lot of children tonight, and I couldn't bring myself to come close to listen.

I was staying back, out of the light, and away from the still bustling docks themselves. I recognized a few friendly faces, Asra's fluffy white hair just visible past the shadow that Muriel cast over them. I knew with Asra and Muriel present, the less savory kids wouldn't go anywhere near Min. I could relax if I could just shake the anxiety that was screaming at me to not let my guard down.

This evening's lessons had been over divination, specifically runes. And with my luck, I drew Thurisaz to carry me through the day. Forces of evil, a warning, threats from people of power, omens of physical harm. A thorn that could protect or cause harm. It had been in the back of my mind for hours. We were at the docks, so I shouldn't worry about anyone in power aside from the Palace guards. As for the forces of evil...They were ever present. But I wasn't worried for myself, and Min had her protection charms. My anxiety just wouldn't let it be.

I found myself at the edge of the sea, my boots discarded and up to my ankles in the cool water. The moon was starting to rise, and I could just hear the sound of Jazmine's voice over the waves. For a moment, my mind wandered. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of the salty air, trying to find a place of calm. The day was almost over, I didn't have to worry. That rune can also mean luck. Maybe it was just meant to be a good day.

When I opened my eyes again, a figure was standing in front of me, waist deep in the swaying water. When had I walked this far out? How did they get here? The golden eyes of the wolf-headed figure glinted in the moonlight as they regarded me. Their expression gave nothing away, just cold indifference. Their deep violet tunic moved with the sea, making it appear as if they were moving closer. And maybe they were. The distance between us seemed to shorten; the figure was close enough now that I could smell the saltwater in their fur.

Their head tilted to the side, and for a moment, I thought they were going to speak. Instead, they let forth an echoing howl, which melded into Jazmine's scream. I whipped around, my feet already carrying me up the beach, dispelling the Moon's illusion.

In the firelight, I could see Jazmine suspended in the air by her shirt collar. Asra was on the ground, disoriented. Muriel attempted to rush at the man holding Jazmine, who I now recognized as Vesuvia's new count. The Count knocked Muriel to the ground, kicking up sand beside Asra. The other children scattered down the alleys of the docks.

Jazmine was squirming and trying to kick at the Count, but the grip of his alchemical arm was too strong for her to break.

"Who told you those stories? Tell me!"

I jumped over the fire, running at the man. "Leave her alone!"

"Ren!"

"Oh, I see how it is. You need one of your fellow street rats to stick up for you, hmm?" He threw Jazmine hard enough that I could hear her teeth rattle when she hit the ground.

I stood between the three of them and the Count. "I said leave them alone!"

"And I said I want to know who told her those stories, brat!" He tried to move me out of his way to get to Jazmine, who was being pulled away by Asra as Muriel stood guard right behind me.

I ducked under his arm and grabbed his cape, swinging around him to knock him off balance. He started to lose his footing, dragging me down with him.

"Ren, no!" Jazmine tried to come towards us, but Muriel stopped her. She had been trying to reach for my shirt sleeve, but I had already danced out of her way. If this so called Count was willing to hurt children, then he deserved to be wrapped in his bloody cloak and knocked down at the very least.

In my haste to protect Min and the others, I didn't see the clawed gauntlet until it sparked in the firelight. I crashed hard into the sand, Jazmine breaking free from Muriel and coming to my side.

"Who do you think you are? You urchin! Don't you dare touch me! Do you know who I am? I'm your Count!" The man huffed, throwing his cape back over his shoulder and attempting to smooth out his ruffled hair.

If I hadn't been in such a state of shock, I might have laughed at his resemblance to a perturbed cockatiel.

I gingerly touched the bleeding wounds on my face, pulling back to see the red on my fingers. I stared at them for a moment, before clenching them into a fist.

"Oh, no."

I barely heard Jazmine's concerned whisper as I glanced around to see looks of fear, or was it hesitation, on Asra and Muriel's faces. I rose carefully, deliberately meeting eyes with the Count. My vision was going fuzzy in my left eye, but is was nothing that Ilana couldn't fix.

"You're no Count of mine." I spat a mouthful of blood at his feet, the bright scarlet shining in the moonlight. The look of pure disgust on his face was worth it, but I wasn't done yet. "You will leave this place. Leave us, here and now, with no memory of what occurred." I could feel my magic swirling in my clenched hands. "Forget our faces and our words. Go!"

The magic I had gathered flew from my palms and into his chest, physically pushing the Count back. His eyes became glossy and confused.

Jazmine gripped my arm tight. "Run!"

She dragged me over the dunes into a side alley, while Asra and Muriel raced out of our sights. I slumped against the cold wall, suddenly exhausted.

Jazmine grabbed a rag from her pocket, handing it to me as she watched the Count flit up the street, stumbling every few steps like he was drunk. Once he was out of sight, she turned on me.

"What were you thinking?! Are you as insane as you are stupid?" Her hands were on her hips, emerald fire in her eyes. They softened somewhat when she caught me wincing as I dabbed the blood from my face.

"I didn't want you to get hurt...or them. I couldn't care less if he hurt me, but you? Asra and Muriel? I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself." I couldn't meet her eyes. I knew it was stupid. But the fear that had taken a hold of me when the Count had her in the air was not something I wanted to feel ever again.

She sighed heavily, taking the cloth from me to finish cleaning my wounds. "You know these will scar, right? Ilana won't be able to prevent that... And that curse? You know he will remember soon enough. At least your face."

"I know..." I slowly got to my feet. "But at least you guys will be safe for a while. My curses only backfire on me." The excursion was starting to get to me. I shouldn't have risked such a trick when I was already exhausted.

Jazmine slung my arm over her shoulder, supporting most of my frame.

"Come on hero, let's go home. We can come up with a story to tell Ilana on the way." She couldn't suppress a laugh. Coming up with an excuse was her favorite thing to do when we knew we were going to get in trouble.

"As tempting as that sounds, she already knows what happened." I pointed to the mouth of the alley. Fenrir's golden eye was already glaring at us dissapprovingly.

"Well, we're in for it now..."

The shaggy dog huffed, and turned to escort us back to the shop.

~

Though Ilana healed my wounds, scolding Jazmine and I the entire time, there wasn't much she could do about the magical side-effects. My left eye was now a sharp seafoam green. The trio of scars didn't fade as the days passed either. The vision in that eye was off, but colors seemed more brilliant, and the shadows of auras extended well past what I had once been able to see.

The final unintentional side-effect of our incident with the Count took me much longer to realize. Asra and Muriel weren't the same towards us. It had taken months for them to even begin talking to us, once Jazmine began telling my stories. Now the two stayed as far away as possible, while still in range to hear. Muriel watched me with suspicious eyes, and Asra didn't even look at me.

At first I thought I had scared them with my curse. But, after some time, I realized that wasn't the case. They didn't know who I was, and by extension, Jazmine. It was upsetting, but at the same time, a relief. When my curse finally backfired, like I knew it inevitably would, they wouldn't face the Count's wrath at my expense...

And there it is, the story of Ren's most prominent scars, and his beginnings with bad curse casting...

@asras-wife

[witchling13]

The time has come!

I am posting Chapter 1 of Her Cadre below.

You can also find it on Ao3 here or search for my name live_manon. 

I split it into three chapters because I’m forcing myself to stop editing it and just live and let live. Chapter 1 is primarily build-up because I got a little carried away with the storyline, but I think it makes the whole fic more enjoyable in the long run. Chapter 2 (and chapter 3 if I finish it) are exclusively sex and it gets very lemon. I will be posting those soon. Guys, when I typed the whole thing out on Word it’s over 36 pages long....and chapter 1 is the smallest part! *fans face

xo

------------------------

Fenrys chuckled as he entered the main bed chamber of the suite and spied the largest bed he’d ever seen lining the back wall. The ridiculous amount of fanciful throw pillows and fluffy duvet cover had been removed and placed neatly on the adjacent decorative chairs.

As promised, there was ale and fairy wine with plates of fruits, meats, and cheeses on the three large ottomans in front of the oversized fireplace. A roaring fire crackled in the grate.

He examined the bed again. It was wide enough to sleep six grown men across.

If Rowan and Aelin had a similar one in their chambers, why the hell did they ever leave? In this weather, he’d bury himself in the mounds of covers and sleep or read all day— preferably not alone…with breaks for other pleasurable activities.

So this was the Stag Suite.

It was one of those palace secret compartments very few knew existed and even fewer knew how to access. Designed as a getaway chamber primarily for the King and Queen of Terrasan, the suite was at the top of the West Tower and outfitted with an excess of luxury comforts.

Rowan stood on the balcony overlooking the forest. There was eleven feet of snow on the ground not including the two feet of fresh powder that had fallen overnight. A big storm had moved in nearly two weeks ago, the remnants of which still feathering the countryside in a constant blanket of white. All of their latest attempts at regular travel and communication had proved futile.

Fenrys slid a hand along the soft white sheets of the bed. He was tired of playing chess and easily besting the Queen’s guard in competitive wrestling matches. And wandering around the castle in his wolf form. Although Aelin or Evangeline came to accompany him often. The little girl had taken a liking to exploring the castle while riding atop his wolf’s back.

The quiet feet of a female escort reached his side, inquiring if Fenrys wanted to begin with a massage. She smiled and he eyed her appreciatively. Her long gauzy tunic did little to hide her shapely figure and intricate undergarments underneath.

She was pretty. Very pretty.

Fenrys hauled his wool-lined tunic over his shoulders. The chamber was warm and he was tired and his limbs a bit frozen from scouting the countryside. He and Rowan had shifted and left the castle grounds during a brief respite of snowfall to check on nearby towns and villages.

He stretched his neck sideways. Infinite points of approval for Aelin’s idea of relaxation ”preparation.”

Of course, the few women in attendance had volunteered and would be paid well beyond what they charged for their services. Ever since they had returned from their latest visit to the Kaghan’s court on the Southern Continent, Aelin had discreetly removed the ban on escort services in Orynth. It was a trial, of sorts, to allow those who chose the profession willingly to make money under consensual circumstances but included strictly enforced laws on safety and fair treatment. The law also banned brothels or pleasure houses in hopes they wouldn’t pop up in the rebuilding city.

Fenrys wouldn’t be able to stomach it otherwise.

He shoved the thoughts away, declining the linen breeches she offered him, opting to lounge naked on a chair in front of the fire to sip on some ale and thaw himself.

Rowan returned to observing the sunset over the treeline, a cup of wine in one hand. He drank to ease his brooding.

The truth was, the whole inner court had become intimate—friends. Or at least, that’s what they told themselves.

Several years had passed since the war against Maeve and Erawan and Aelin’s blood-sworn cadre including Lysandra and Elide had become a devoted family. The demands on the inner court for decision making and coveted attention from nobility kept them consistently convening together in Orynth.

But the winters in Terrasen were long and hard. During bad weather, such as this godsforsaken blizzard, they were often confined to the castle grounds.

The result being they spent a lot of time together. It was easy to go a little stir crazy, the Fae in particular. But the pranks made that bearable.

Rowan tried to suppress his smile as he remembered last Mid-Winter’s Eve when Fenrys and Aedion had somehow dressed a piss drunk Lorcan in a tutu and tights and dumped his incoherent ass in a pile of hay in the royal stables.

He inhaled. But this.

This was a whole new level of “intimate.”

Why couldn’t it have stayed a simple game of strip poker.

He sighed in slight amusement remembering just how well that had played out last night. Drunken words, naked bodies, and playful touches. The males had become experts at dancing around the feelings and desires that pushed the boundaries of devotion to their queen.

 Rowan looked towards the chamber entry way. Aelin had arrived, Lorcan, Elide, and Manon in tow. Followed by two lovely escorts in long sheer tunics and a servant bearing a small trunk, a few books, and a mysteriously sealed black box.

Rowan kissed her on the forehead, “how long are you planning to be here?”

“I thought I’d come prepared. You males may be comfortable walking around naked whenever it suits you, but I prefer my silky adornments to appease my inner goddess,” she batted her eyelashes, “don’t worry, I didn’t bring the gold one.”

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

Truth was, he didn’t care what she wore. Nothing made him happier than Aelin’s pleasure after all she had sacrificed.

He drew her into his side and bent to murmur in her ear, “presumptuous of you to think you’ll have a chance to dress up at all…or that you get to decide when to put your clothes back on.”

It was like a weight dropped straight to her mound. A thrill of desire wound tight in her core from the anticipation that had been building since their group “discussion.” They’d come to an arrangement with a few stipulations and she’d be damned if she didn’t allow them to pleasure her and take their fill until the satisfaction drowned them all.

Manon had come from the Wastes for a trade agreement meeting over a week ago when the snow storm hit. She and Abraxos had the misfortune of being cooped up, drunk under the table, and even serenaded from this lot over their stay.

Fortunately, for Aelin, Manon’s “evolving friendship” with Elide had been enticing enough to prompt the witch to accompany her beloved friend tonight.

They’d all observed the two women’s suppressed attraction to each other over the past few years, even Lorcan, and wondered when on earth either one of them would get a clue and make a move. Not that Manon and Elide would want their other respective relationships to be affected long-term, it seemed. They just enjoyed each other’s company, and Lorcan thought there was little reason for them to hold back when they happened to be visiting and spending some quality time together.

Whatever made Elide happy made Lorcan very happy. There was no issue, only pleasure.

Elide was surprised with herself at how eager she was to come here with them both. She’d teased Lorcan as they shared breath amongst their pillows the night before, “I know you hold back with me sometimes so don’t think I won’t thoroughly enjoy seeing you come undone.” She meant his tendency to be dominant and make love to her until she was incoherent didn’t afford her as many opportunities to see him in such a state.

Aelin asked the servant to diffuse some jasmine and lavender oils in all the suite’s rooms for relaxation as she, procured a large piece of cheese and shoved it into her mouth.

Rowan chuckled as her cheeks bulged with the large bite.

“I didfnt havfe lunch.”

“Why not, my love?”

She swallowed. “I was too busy concocting lies about my inner court’s absence from meetings tonight to remember.”

Rowan drew her close and laid broad hands on her shoulders, kneading away some of the tension.

She sighed in contentment, continuing to stuff her mouth with food. Fenrys glanced up at her from the chair.

“I see you’re quite comfortable already.”

“My balls are quite toasty now, thanks for asking.” He smiled and reached up, undoubtedly asking for a chunk of cheese. She swatted his hand away.

“There’s a full platter right in front of your lazy ass.”

He chuckled and she reached a hand to run her fingers through his short hair.

“And what did I do to earn this petting?”

“Simply being my favorite Moonbeam.”

He smiled again, “I’m your only Moonbeam,” and winked up at her, “but I thank you, my Queen, lover of such fine things—like myself.”

Rowan hid his amusement.  

“Unbutton me?”

She half turned to the male behind her, placing a hand on his chest before angling her head so he could claim a soft kiss.

“With pleasure.”

She let her gown slip to the floor in a heap and kissed him again in thanks before striding away to the bed, claiming a large piece of fruit on her way.

Fenrys watched her intently. Prancing around in her lacy undergarments in front of them all like it was the easiest thing in the world. He’d seen her naked many times before, but the more he watched her happiness grow as Queen, the less the horrific memories plagued him. Aelin was whole and healing now and being in her court had redeemed his own sense of comfort. Of home.

His mind drifted while he watched her stretch her torso and lean arms over her head. There were still parts of her he hadn’t seen. Her soft blond hair had concealed them at the time. The opening in her mound…the delicate lay of her folds that probably peaked out from the slit. He wondered if they were just a deeper shade of pink than the peaks of her breasts. His cock began to harden.

A hand interrupted his thoughts and he welcomed the escort’s skilled ministrations to his neck and shoulders. With a gentle tug, he pulled her into his lap and a smile lit her eyes as she used deft thumbs to press along his neck muscles.

The sun had set fully now. The relaxing smells of lavender and jasmine, fragrant in the air, were accompanied by something else. Something that hinted at spice and stirred up desire.

Lorcan hadn’t even bothered with a hello before stripping bare and lying face down on the bed. His head was in Elide’s lap and she toyed with his jet black hair and points of his ears as a pretty escort rubbed hands along his oil soaked back.

Except for the crackle of the large fire, it was quiet, but the air was charged with anticipation and the scents of their arousal.

Aelin stopped at the side of the bed and dragged a lazy finger up the back of Lorcan’s massive hamstring until it halted below his ass. He growled low. “Lorcan dear, in our rush to get here, you didn’t say hello.”

He waited a moment. On his own time then.

“Hello.” He ground out into Elide’s trousers.

Aelin’s finger hovered, drawing small circles on his war-toned muscle.

“It’s nice to see you too grumpy face.”

Despite the tumultuous nature of their relationship, Lorcan had softened to Aelin while being in her court, and she to him. She imagined he was like that teenage older brother she’d never had as a child. Except he wasn’t. He was dark and menacing with a bravado and sultry eyes that mesmerized even her.  

“You keep drawing circles like that and I’ll bite that finger off. And it will never grow back.”

It was Elide who suppressed a chuckle.

Aelin scowled. “I haven’t seen you for days and your literal first voluntary words to me are a threat to maim my royal hand.”

His hurumph was muffled, but he turned his head to look up at her as she moved to hover over his shoulder, “royal hand, royal pain in my ass,” he sighed. Then roamed her body with his eyes, narrowing on her undergarments.

“Those look expensive.” She saw the glint of desire in his expression and heard the unspoken words. Better take them off before we get to them first.

Her skin prickled under the intensity of his attention. She squeezed his hand and brushed his shoulder as she leaned in to kiss Elide lightly on her cheeks. The girl smiled amused and returned the gesture.

“Care to join me in the birchin, Manon?”

Manon sat observing behind them, both arms splayed across the back of chair.

“What’s a birchin?”

“The small chamber in the bathing room heated by a stove with hot rocks. It’ll make you sweat your worries away.” She wiggled her eyebrows and Manon stared at her confused.

Aelin shrugged. “I read about it in a book and it sounded exotic, so I had it installed.”

She had indeed, been reading her new favorite series A Court of Thorns and Roses and several scenes conjured up delightful images of her cadre all piled in a birchin sweating their asses off. She had yet to convince them to try it out, but the few occasions she’d used it herself after training sessions had been extremely relaxing.

Manon sighed and rose, arching her back in a stretch. “What can it hurt. Better than sitting here stewing in all your scents.”

Rowan had taken a big chair by the fire next to Fenrys and stripped except for the linen pants offered by an escort. He closed his eyes as the shapely brunette rolled up his pants to the knee and worked his tight calves and shins. Her hands were firm, but skilled and her long hair hung loose, tantalizing his skin as she worked.

Passing them on the way to the bathing room, Aelin halted. She inspected the beauty in Fenrys lap, the gentle eyed woman winding her fingers through his hair and grinning wide at his flirtatious whispers, no doubt, promising and skillful. Aelin was surprised at the possessive twinge that hit her heart.

He was fine. He was in good hands. Even if she felt she had every right to be just as protective of the male as he was her.

She squeezed Rowan’s shoulder, sliding her hand down his chest until it drifted lower on his bare abdomen and the tips of her fingers slid under his loose waistband. She leaned down and kissed his neck.

“Be good. I’ll be done soon.” She inclined her head towards the bathing room.

He growled and the fingers of his hand reaching around the back of her thigh dug into her soft skin.

“Soon is quite a promise considering your bathing habits.”

There was need in his grip.

“Pushy, pushy,” she smirked into his lips as she kissed him one more time. “This one,” Aelin pointed at Rowan as she rose and spoke to the escort, “is all talk. If you want him to be quiet, tickle the back of his knees.”

“Aelin--,” he growled again.

“Or lick up the lines of his war-honed abs. Whatever seems best to you.” She waived a hand in the air dismissively, scampering out of the way as he reached for her. His eyes followed her into the bathing room, hips swaying, until she was out of sight and Manon followed, unceremoniously stripping as she walked.

————

 A half hour later, Aelin emerged, hair towel dried from the quick dip in the bath they’d taken to wash off the sweat from the birchin. Manon had donned a plush white robe, but Aelin had simply wrapped a short towel around her torso.

She strode to the oversized chase lounge where Rowan’s strong, sinewy body lay face down in the pillows, dozing after surrendering to a fully body massage.

Aelin climbed up his back and kissed his tan face. “Enjoy your nap?” As he stirred, she moved to sit on his backside so she could sweep her hands from his shoulder blades down the groove of his spine.

“You smell good,” he mumbled.

“Thank you. I used your soap because I forgot we ran out of mine last time we were here.”

Rowan grunted. With no hesitation, he shifted, toppling her into the blankets and rolling so he hovered over her face on his forearms. His lips were an inch from hers and the weight of his abdomen and legs pressed fully into her body. The heat radiating from his skin and breath made her heart pound.

“Use it always.”

He kissed her deeply and she opened for him, melting into the pillows as his tongue tasted her own.

Aelin’s hand clutched his back as the other drifted into his hair. He slid a hand down her curves until he found her thigh and pulled it to the side so he could settle between her legs.

She sucked in a breath.

He was naked and his cock was fully erect brushing against her towel. With one shift, he could push up the edge of the flimsy fabric and slide into her welcoming heat.

But he had something else in mind; something they needed to prepare for later.

And it was time to play.

--------

@theilliumbluebell10 @highladyofherondale @running-with-thieves @lestrangelady20 @fantasylover1996

[bendywackyadventures]

BATIM SOL AU-Feast

I know in my past post I said I was going to take a break from posting stories on here due to some stuff going on Tumblr, but I’m seeing less and less of it now. Also this is a Thanksgiving Story! 

Happy Thanksgiving you guys!!!

Henry and Linda were taking the toons on another road trip. The toons were excited over the trip, however it wasn’t a short trip they were going to be gone for a while to celebrate Thanksgiving over at Henry’s mother’s house. The toons were confused as they never heard or celebrated Thanksgiving before. Joey never mentioned it to them, but they were curious over the holiday.

“Mom?” Alice asked. Linda turned to face her daughter, “what’s Thanksgiving?”

Linda chuckled, “I think it would be your favorite holiday besides Halloween.”

“Why?” Bendy asked.

“Well,” Henry started. “Thanksgiving is a holiday where family and friends gather together and we eat a huge dinner.”

This got the attention of Bendy and Boris, “how huge?” The wolf asked.

Henry chuckled, “well there’s turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie are the main courses.” Boris and Bendy were drooling over the thought of food. Alice got disgusted and lifted her feat up incase any drool got on her shoes. “My mom goes overboard for Thanksgiving besides the food I mentioned my mom makes the best bread and pastries for dessert, salad, vegetables,” Henry stopped when he heard the little devil darling gagging.

Bendy stopped when he felt Henry’s glare from the backseat, “sorry Henry, but no way your putting a vegetable on my plate. All it is going to be loaded is turkey and pie.” Bendy replied.

“Well like it or not my mom is strict on those who didn’t eat vegetables. Trust me.” Henry remembered his childhood with Joey when they didn’t eat their vegetables they couldn’t leave the table or their sketchbooks were confiscated. Though the two got used to it after a while.

The drive was smooth after their talk, the toons all slept in the backseat and Linda was looking out the window. To her surprise not a sight of traffic anywhere, though she wouldn’t say it, she didn’t want to jinx the trip.

By sundown the Stein family finally made it to Henry’s house. It was in a small neighborhood, almost like Henry’s except there weren’t any houses that had stairs, all of them were small or one-story houses. Henry got out of his car and he smiled when an elderly man and woman came out.

“Henry!” The woman called out. The toons looked through the car; they looked at each other realizing this was Henry’s mother. The woman hugged her son tightly almost squeezing the life out of him.

“Ma…crushing…me…can’t breathe.” Henry struggled.

“Molly! Sweetie.” Linda stepped in. “Your crushing my husband.”

“Oh.” Molly let go letting Henry breathe, “thanks for reminding me.”

Linda smiled hugging her mother-in-law “Hi Mrs. Stein.” Linda introduced. Molly smiled and hugged Linda back.

“Linda long time, no see.” Molly replied.

Linda smiled, “so glad to see you again Molly.”

Linda let go of the hug and opened the car door, “Henry and I brought someone over, please don’t get mad, or scared, or anything.” Linda smiled and motioned the toons to come out.

Bendy, Boris and Alice came out of the car nervous over what Henry’s mother would think. To their surprise Molly didn’t scream and pass out like in the past. She was speechless over seeing the live toons.

“Hello.” Bendy waved.

“Mom. This is Bendy, Boris and Alice.” Henry introduced. “The toons from the cartoons.”

Molly walked close to the toons looking at them closely one by one. Molly touched Bendy’s cheek making the toon giggle. “Your. Real?”

“Of course.”

Molly started to chuckle. “H-How? How are-“

“Joey.” Henry interrupted.

Everyone went inside as Henry told his mother the story of what he went through in the studio. That he went through a series of his former co-workers attacking him, Bendy turned into a beast, and meeting up with the two hero toons, Allison Angel and Tom.

The toons were quiet throughout the story, remembering everything they suffered. Molly was horrified, and looked at the toons. “Is that true?” Molly asked. The toons slowly nodded.

Bendy sighed and faced Henry’s mother, “Mrs. Stein! I’m sorry for hurting your son! I-I didn’t mean to! Joey made me! He told me lies, and that Henry was the bad guy. I-I didn’t mean too. I’m sorry.” Bendy cried.

Molly walked over to the toon, and put her hand on the toon’s cheek wiping the inky tear. “I forgive you Bendy. I know you didn’t mean it.” Bendy sniffled and wiped the tears from his eye.

“But. I almost killed your son.”

Molly sighed and hugged Bendy, “but you regret it? Right?” Bendy nodded slowly, “and I know its mostly Joey’s fault.” Bendy gave a small smile agreeing with Molly.

“T-true.” He stuttered.

Molly hugged her grandson figure showing bygones were bygones. For the rest of the day everyone relaxed and listening to music on the radio. Molly and Linda talked as Henry led the toons up to the room he and Joey used to share.

“Here it is.” Henry announced opening the door to his childhood room. Everything was kept the way it was, except there were new bed sheets for the toons so they can sleep.

“We’re sleeping here?” Bendy asked. Henry nodded. Bendy looked around the room and sat down on the bed on the right side of the room. “This bed is comfy,” he then turned and saw drawings on the walls.

The drawings were smiles, squiggles, and two boys that said, Henry and me!

Bendy gulped; he remembered hearing from Henry that Joey lived with him during their childhood. “Were these Joey’s drawings?”

Henry nodded, “yep. Most are mine too, Joey and I did this as a past time or when there was no paper around.” He explained.

“And did you get in trouble?” Bendy asked.

Henry shook his head Bendy glared knowing he did the same thing and Linda scolded him for drawing on the walls. “Times we’re different Bendy.” Henry replied. Bendy smiled, and relaxed on Joey’s former bed.

“So when’s Thanksgiving? I’m hungry!” Boris exclaimed sitting down next to Bendy.

Henry chuckled, “tomorrow.”

“Aww…” The toons sighed.

“Don’t worry tomorrow it would be worth it, and you can help us out.” Alice gasped. Alice loved to help others and she was more excited to volunteer.

“I’ll volunteer!” Alice cheered.

Henry chuckled and ruffled his daughter’s hair, “Alright, mom and I got a helper!” Henry cheered. Alice chuckled and hugged her father tight in glee.

The family had dinner, and then vanilla ice cream for dessert. After that everyone sat down and watched TV movies. After the movie was over, Bendy was just about to get ready for bed before he saw some photos on the wall and on the shelf.

The photos included Molly’s wedding photo with Henry’s father, a family portrait and another family portrait with Joey. What made Bendy more shocked was there were more photos of Joey with the Stein family during their youth. One that made Bendy glared was the studio being built with Henry and Joey smiling, not know those smiles would turn to hatred glares.

The demon sighed as she saw another photo right next to it. Bendy grabbed the photo from the shelf. It was a Christmas photo with Molly and a man, which would be Henry’s father along with a 7-year old Henry and to his surprise 7-year old Joey who looked shy in the photo.

Molly walked up to the toon and chuckled, “I see you found an old family photo.” Bendy turned around and surprised to see Molly.

“Yeah. I was curious.” He paused a bit to look at the young Joey Drew. From what Henry told him, Joey was a shy, quiet young boy. Not the manipulative, greedy backstabbing murder Bendy grew to know. “What happened with Joey? What made him so…mean?”

Molly sighed, she wondered that herself. She remembered the day Henry and Joey left together to start their studio. Both were excited and celebrated, but within two weeks she noticed the changes. Henry would call her complaining about how Joey was keeping him from work and not being with Linda, who was his girlfriend at the time. When she called Joey asking what was going on, Joey would lie and said everything was fine that it was stressful running a business.

Molly wished she talked to her two boys and hoping to knock some sense into Joey, but they were adults she thought they would handle their situation like adults, but to her she needed to push herself and talked them. Now hearing from Henry what happened, she had some guilt in her.

“I always thought of that myself Bendy. But the truth is, I wish I could of talked to Joey face to face, maybe none of this could of happened.” Molly sighed looking at the shy boy she took in, “they were adults. I couldn’t step in and treat them like babies.”

Bendy put his hand around his grandmother and hugged it. “It wasn’t your fault. Henry didn’t know. I didn’t know. None of us didn’t know what would have been the outcome,” Bendy explained.

Molly nodded in reply. She hugged the demon and led him to bed.

The next morning was Thanksgiving Day, the toons and Henry had their eyes glued to the TV watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. During the songs and performances Alice and Bendy danced and sing giving a performance to Henry and Boris. During the parade, Alice was called up to do some work around the kitchen.

Boris and Bendy smelled the turkey in the oven licking their lips over the food. Bendy and Boris took turns looking in the kitchen seeing mashed potatoes and everything all on the table.

“That looks delicious!” Bendy beamed.

Linda chuckled as she and Alice set the table, “remember Bendy when everything is ready and were seated we can all start eating.”

“I know. I know.” Bendy and Boris replied. They retreated back into the living room as Henry grabbed a box and brought it to the couch.

“You two want to see some more family photos before dinner?” The toons nodded and ran to the couch. Ever since Henry showed them photos during that rainy day, it’s been a fun past time for the toons to look at photos of Henry and Linda, and even learning how they were in the past.

Bendy and Boris chuckled seeing Henry’s baby pictures. Henry blushed in embarrassment over the baby photo; he quickly grabbed it and put back in the box. They’ve been looking at photos for a solid hour, “Boys.” Alice called out.

“Dinner is ready!” Linda added. In a split second, Bendy and Boris ran towards the kitchen and sat down at the table looking at all the food.

“This looks amazing!” Bendy drooled.

“I want to eat now!” Boris exclaimed. The two were about to be wild animals during feeding time at the zoo.

“Wait!” Linda and Alice yelled. “Everyone needs to be seated first before we can start eating.” Linda explained. Boris and Bendy sighed, as Henry chuckled sitting next to his wife. Alice and Molly too took their seats. “Okay now we can eat.”

The toons smiled and started to fill their plates with food. Henry however was serving the turkey so they had to wait for their creator to carve the turkey. Once they got their food they started to chow down.

“I’m stuffed.” Bendy groaned before letting out a loud burp.

Boris chuckled, “Same here.” He then replied with a burp too.

Alice felt disgusted over what he brothers were doing, groaning and face palming. “Boys, be polite.” Linda whispered scolding her sons. Linda heard another burp and turned to Henry covering his mouth, “Henry!”

“Sorry.” Henry replied. Everyone at the table laughed. Linda, Henry and Molly washed the dishes and Boris and Alice put them away. Bendy set up the table again for pumpkin pie for dessert. When no one was looking he grabbed the whip cream can and sprayed whip cream into his mouth.

“I saw that.” Bendy turned to see Henry smirking at the demon. The demon swallowed the whip cream and chuckled. Henry held his hand out for Bendy to give him the whip cream. The demon sighed and handed the can over to his father, but Bendy was surprised when he saw Henry take some whip cream and put it in his mouth too.

Bendy chuckled seeing his father, “What? Can I be a child sometimes?”

“No!” Molly and Linda scolded. The two guys turned around seeing Linda and Molly glaring. Henry and Bendy chuckled as the former handed his wife the whip cream can. Linda snatched it and put held on to it till the group had their pie.

After pumpkin pie, the toons were now getting ready for bed. Coming into the room, they saw Henry drawing with crayons on the wall. Looking at each other, the three walked over to Henry.

“What are you drawing, Henry?” Bendy asked as he and the toons came into Henry’s old room.

Henry chuckled and moved a bit to show the toons what he drew on the walls. The toons were awestruck over the drawing it was them with Henry smiling together over a rainbow. “Aww! Henry! Its beautiful!” Alice beamed. Henry smiled and chuckled.

Bendy smiled almost tearing up at the drawing. He turned to his creator squealing in joy over the drawing, then tackled hug Henry. Henry chuckled and hugged the toon back, “you’re welcome Bendy.” He replied.

The toons got to bed as Henry tucked them in giving them a kiss on the forehead, and shutting the lights off.

[the-got7-bts-imagines]

Night Walkers

NOT REQUESTED

Word Count: 1964 Pairing: Mark x Reader Part: 1 Previous: Teaser Summary: Midnight always seems to be something that people always associate with bad memories, loneliness, despair… but to some, it’s home. Especially to you. You’re not a normal human being. You don’t belong with the race. You belong to a race that’s entirely different, yet somehow so similar. You look like them, talk like them, walk like them, but that’s only during the day.

 At night you seek refuge in the woods. At night, you’re someone completely different. At night, you change.At night, you’re thought to be a murderous monster that takes the form of a wolf. 

But, that’s not the case. You see, you aren’t the hunters…You’re the hunted

The night crisp night air caused a chill to run down Mark’s spine as he stood outside on the front porch of his house. His elbows rested on the wooden railing, his eyes gazing out into the woods behind his house. He drew in a breath, slowly letting it out as the wind blew gently on his face. His brown hair blew back, slightly tickling his forehead.

Mark reached up to lightly scratch his head then lowered his hand back down to the railing. The door behind him slid open and shut soon after. The wood of the porch creaked slightly as someone approached him. Mark looked to his right, spotting Jaebum standing next to him.  “Hey,” Mark greeted with a sigh, turning his attention back to the trees in front of them.  “How come you’re out here? You do realize it’s like three in the morning right?” Jaebum chuckled slightly, looking towards his friend with a small smile. “Couldn’t sleep,” he droned, standing up straight, “I’m still pretty hung up about last night.”  “You can’t save them all Mark… It sucks that some innocent teenager was killed, but we just have to focus on finding that beast and killing it.” 

Mark nodded and started walking back to the house. He slid the door open and glanced back at Jaebum, “I’m gonna go look for it tomorrow night. You can come if you want, but don’t try to stop me.” 

Jaebum let out a frustrated sigh when he heard the door slide shut. He knew Mark was upset about what happened the night before, but he never expected him to be so torn up over a random kid’s death. They were going to have to be more careful than they all anticipated, and that was a fact.

“Y/N, let’s go! Everyone’s already gone! Sara and I have been waiting for forever!” Your sister called out to you, her head poking out from behind the front door. You spun around and rolled your eyes as you smiled, combing your fingers through your hair to push the stray strands out of your face. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming! Hold your horses!” You replied, gently pushing Maya’s head out of the doorway so you could exit the house. The wooden door shut gently behind you, leaving the breeze to kindly greet you to the outside world. You had expected to see your friends but remembered that Maya had told you the others already left. ‘They’re always so eager,’ you thought with a small smile, taking your first step off of the front step. 

It didn’t surprise you to see Sara waiting for you with Maya. She was your best friend, and your third in command of the pack. Sara was trustworthy with everything, and insanely friendly towards everyone unless she had a good reason. Plus, she always brought along a ton of laughs. She had a habit of trying to hook you up with any cute guy she saw. There was something that made you feel so comfortable around Sara, and you could never put your finger on it. You just knew that you loved it about her. 

You took in the sights around you; the green grass, the trees swaying gently in the wind, the cool fall air racing past your skin. To any normal person, today would seem like a normal, beautiful day. But to you, it felt quite odd. It wasn’t that something didn’t look right or was out of the ordinary. It just felt different, and that scared the living hell out of you. Especially since your hunches were usually right. 

“Guys, be careful today. Something feels off.” You warned, your mind on high alert. 

“Hm?” Maya replied, looking towards you with confused eyes, “What do you mean ‘of?’” 

“I’m not sure yet. Just be careful, ok?” 

Sara and Maya smiled gently and nodded her head, causing you to return the smile second later as you turned down the road that led to your guys’ favorite cafe. After a few more minutes of walking, you breathed in the calming scents of cinnamon rolls and coffee and swung the door open. If anything, being able to smell something this good was definitely one of the perks of being a werewolf. 

It didn’t take you very long to find your friends sitting in one of the few booths by the windows. They were as rowdy as ever, laughing and messing around like five-year-olds at the table. All you, Sara and Maya could do was roll your eyes and giggle before making your way over to them. The group of four greeted you and your sister with bright smiles and cheerful ‘hellos’ as you sat down on one side of the booth with Maya. Over the span of about an hour, all that went on was you all talking and having a good time. Eventually, though, yours and Maya’s friends left the cafe, leaving you two alone there.

A few minutes later, the small bells that hung from the top of the door chimed and you turned your head to see who walked in. A group of seven guys that looked to be around your age. All seven of them were pretty handsome, to say the least. They all walked with a coolness to their step and smiles on their faces that could mesmerize any girl. The boys took their seat at the booth next to yours and Maya’s, giving you a perfect view of the one you found most interesting. He had deep brown eyes and brown hair that looked so soft and fluffy you couldn’t help but want to touch it. Maya knew which one you were staring at and chuckled. You looked at Maya and gently elbowed her side, glancing towards the boys to get her to look at them, “Damn,” you whispered, “look at those guys.” 

Maya laughed a bit and looked towards them. “Looks like you guys were checking each other out,” she whispered back with a small smile. You furrowed your eyebrows at her before looking back at the guy. You blushed once you saw him staring at you like you did to him. You could see his cheeks turn a light shade of red when you two made eye contact. He quickly looked away and you just smiled at his cuteness. Maya playfully rolled her eyes and stood up to walk to the bathroom, leaving you alone in the booth, your warm coffee cup in hand. You could hear the boys whispering in the next booth over, which consisted of: 

“Just go talk to her!”

“Come on! Don’t be shy!” 

“Yeah! You can do it!” 

“No! What if I saw something stupid?” 

You found yourself silently giggling at their conversation, but seconds later you were shocked to see one of the guy’s friend’s dragging him over to your booth and forcing him to sit down across from you. “His name is Mark,” is all the one guy said before sitting back down in their booth with the rest of Mark’s friends. At first, you were slightly lost as to what just happened, but turned to Mark when you heard him sigh. 

“Sorry about Jackson, he’s always like this.” Mark apologized, his voice slightly deep and sexy, yet shy. 

“Oh, no worries. I have a friend exactly like him. She always tries to set me up with guys, and most of the time it fails.” You laughed a little bit, and so did Mark, revealing that angelic smile of his to you. His laugh, as well, was adorable. It seemed as if it could bring anyone’s spirits up. 

“So you understand my pain then?” He asked, laughing slightly as he took a sip of his drink. “What’s your name by the way?” 

“Y/N,” you told him, “My name is Y/N.” 

“Y/N...” he echoed, “it’s nice!” 

You blushed lightly, taking a sip of your coffee to try and hide it. Just at the right time, however, Maya reappeared at the table. She greeted Mark kindly, and looked down towards you, giving you the ‘you better tell me every detail the second we leave here,’ look. You just smiled and gently shook your head at her. “I better get going. Can I see your phone?” 

Mark’s eyes seemed to light up as you asked the question. He quickly nodded, handing you his phone so you could type your number in it. Once you finished, you shut his phone off and handed it back to him before standing up. Mark followed suit and stood up with you. “Text me later, ok?”

Mark smiled and nodded, watching you walk out of the cafe with your sister. 

It was already starting to get dark out. Maya had asked you to help pick up her apartment, which made you a bit late heading back to yours. It didn’t matter though since you were used to walking around in the middle of the night with your pack. Everything was perfectly fine until you caught the fresh scent of blood. The only thing that made you more worried than you already were was the fact that it smelled insanely familiar. 

“Shit...” you mumbled before dashing off into the woods. You followed the scent closely, panic starting to rise in your body the closer you got to the source. Finally, you came upon an old oak tree. The tree itself looked fine. It was the rope wrapped tightly around the trunk that worried you. You walked around to the other side of the tree, only to find one of the most horrific things you could ever lay your eyes on...

Sara... your third in command. And your best friend. She was tied to the tree by her wrists, which were bruised and red. Sara has countless gashes all over her blood-stained body. But one, in particular, caught your eye. It was an arrowhead pointing straight downwards carved into her stomach.

It was the werewolves symbol for war between two packs.

“No...” you mumbled, your knees giving out as you started to break down into tears. “NO! SARA!” You screamed, tears streaming down your red-hot cheeks. You started to rock back and forth, anger, fear, and sadness hitting you like a brick to the face all at once. First, your fangs and claws started coming out, then your eyes started glowing blue. You drew in a few quick breaths, each one slightly longer than the last. Finally, you drew in one large breath and let out the loudest howl you ever had, which, in this half-shifted form, came out sounding more like a dragon's roar than anything else. 

This was war. You knew that the second you saw Sara tied to the tree. You may not know who the werewolf that did this is, but one thing was for sure; you weren’t about to let it happen again. 

You are going to find this wolf.

And you are going to kill it.

A/N: The first part of Night Walkers is finally done! It definitely took longer than I’d hoped, but I really hope you enjoy it! I might go back an edit it since when I started writing it again my internet cut out and I had to rewrite half of it at 12 AM, which means that it’s not as good as it was originally. But nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!

Once again, thank you so much for 100 followers! I’m so grateful!

[poppymadness]

💖 HQ, Knb, All Out, Free, BNHAand DnA I think you watched at least a little bit of it, didn't u? And since I know who some of your favorites are already u can just rant about why u love them

@naturalpeaches said:💖 can i be an ass and say twdg even tho ik the answers p much OH the last kingdom. bring it to ur blog amber. talk about it. accept it.

💖 listen those 2 weren’t enough. give me the raven cycle. give me the foxhole court. give me six of crows. giVE ME CRIMINAL MINDS HAAAAA BITCH. why not throw the 100 in there too. also talk abt ur boo in the sun is also a star. give him some lovin

💖 N A R U T O

hope it’s cool just to throw ya both in here bc i’m lazy

haikyuu: (3) kuroo tetsurou - iiiiiiiiiiii fucking love kuroo sO much, a huge tall not so dumb dumbass god. i don’t know what to say dfkhka i fuckin Love him thanks dude. i nEVER FORGET THE FUCKIN LAUGH GOD FUCK FOR FUCKS SAKE skjfd. whenever i get in Kuroo Moods they last SO long i can’t get a break. and gamer au kuroo is killer it’s too good. listen he’S A BIG FOOL and i LOVE him want the best for him bc he’s great, good, good dude. i also rlly fuckin love terushima man ooooo my god, imagine him and kuroo bein buds hORRIBLE

kuroko no basket: (1) kiyoshi teppei - mY BOY KIYOSHI AAAAA. hE’S EVEN T A L L E R mmmm 6′4″ the fuck mann. we know my love for this dumbass i love him so so muuch fuck. thought it was kuroko at first, bitch no. I LITERALLY DIDN’T KNOW I LOVED HIM TILL AFTER I FINISHED THE WHOLE SHOW. like, just, the more i saw stuff involving him the more i was like ooo no no waiT i LoVE HiM i screamed when he showed up in the second opening when we rewatched it oooommggggg. he’S SO GOOD I HOPE HIS KNEE IS HEALED I HOPE HE GETS TO PLAY BASKETBALL AS A LIL SIDE HOBBY OR SOMETHIN HOPE HE’S FUCKIN HAPPY!!!!! whY DOES HE SELF-SACRIFICE SO MUCH BOY OOO MY GOD WHEN HE REALIZED THE TEAM GOT HIS BACK TOO BITCH HE SO CUTE. mmmmm  i love hiiiiim bois. also love akashi i keep finding it funny ur intimated by him cj

all out: (4) ebumi masaru - i can’t. i can’t explain why i love him oR WHY HE’S SO HIGH A FAVE GOD. this whole fandom is like Those Thighs and make ebumi all about fuckin sex like what a Tough Boy like yA HE BUYS (rents? whatever) PORN THAT’S FUCKIN SO FUNNY TO ME BUT MMMM he. more. i nevER STOP THINKIN BOUT THE EP WITH ISE THAT EMO SHIT DO U SEE HOW MUCH EBUMI CARES BOUT HIS FRIEND GOD Fuck. like yeah, just take the money. this is what was left for me but idc here take it u need it i stg season 2 better be in the works i want more of his backSTORY. oh hE FUCKIN BLEACHES HIS HAIR WHAT A PUUUUNK, HE TRAINS SO HARD HE CARES SO MUCH ABOUT RUGBY GETS P I S S E D WHEN PPL HALF-ASS IT LIKE?? FAIR ENOUGH. OH THETY ACTUALLY DREW HIS HAIR DOWN RIGHT ADJHF A OoO FUCK TAHT. i’m good it’s cool alright bye gion, raita & ise are my best friends thank

free: rin matsuoka - i. thought it was nagisa at first. i wanna cry fuckin nagisa jesus. good boy but hell no. rin?? is so sweet i’m sorry fuckin flew haru to australia & shit he’s so good i love him. i gotta do this i’m srry FUCK whoever thinks rin would be abusive with haru thx. i havE A RIN POSTER G O D

boku no hero academia: todoroki shouto - i literally didn’t have a fave in this show until one (1) specific episode in season 2 with him. thought i was gonna live forever not having a fave in this show. i had actually been growing to like him and was like No, i told myself to not like him bc he’s so popular hdkfa. and then that ep came and i was like,,,oof i Love him, love love love what a goOD BOY. he’s…so cute..comin to terms with his powers still can’t get over he interned with his dad he just…..wants to improve…is improving…..so good.

daiya no ace: ? - ok, i never developed a fave while watching it, at least not where i got to. i don’t even remember where i stopped oof that’s bad. but i had thought at that time that i rlly loved chris?? eijun is precious, i fuckin love him. miyuki is great i love him too. also really loved kuramochi?? so if i had continued i think it would’ve been one of em.

the walking dead game: kenny, luke, clem, gabe - pls don’t make me choose… kenny…tried his hardest to be good, worked his ass off till the last moment to improve himself and didn’t get the redemption he deserved. that man is good, he was just pushed to his max and couldn’t get back down. luke, luke is a sunshine boy who was too good for the world, a positive outlet could make anyone happy, did his best, didn’t deserve to die. cleM MY BADASS B A B Y HAS GROWN SO MUCH I LOOOOVE HER AND CAN’T WAIT FOR HER HAPPY ENDING TELLTALE YOU FUCKS I AM BEGGING YOU1!! gabe…annoyed me at first…stole my heart….just a boy thrown into the apocalypse tryin to be happy…he’s doing his best, he’s learning, truly not such a brat as assholes make him out to be. nick my boy i’m so sorry i would’ve included you ur so close

the last kingdom: uhtred & alfred - i love uhtred the godless and king alfred of wessex very much indeed. uhtred is just a wreck honestly, this danish bro got a lot goin on he just wants the land he deserves i just say he’s bein greedy, go be happy under alfred’s rule i still love u tho uhtred u dumbass. alfred! got the peace he wanted! i love alfred so much he wants to be a king without war unless he’s not given the choice, cares about his family so much, afraid he’ll be punished for the crown that’s not rightfully his own. alfred is so good, i love this man.

the raven cycle: (5) adam parrish - mmmmmmm what a good boy. an important boy, a very much loved boy. iiiii hate havin his pov sometimes, some relatable things in there, i love him so much. he’s not. his father. thanks. gotta say that a lot wanT HIM TO KNOOOOOOOW. he’s so good he’s improving himself he’s doin it!! go adam!! goD ASHLETY I KEEP THINKING OF THINGS YOU HAVEN’T GOTTEN TOOOOOOOO. mmmm it’s ok to still be stuck and to have bad days he doesn’t have to get over it right away!! it’s not somethin that’ll just be over!! dhfad smALL STEPS my boy i love u…. all bc, he…legally free (tryin not to spoil dfhjdaf).. don’t mean he has to be over it…take ur time adam. i’m thinkin of the emo thing in trk fuck wrong devil dkhfad. i just wanna cry he’s so good worth so much ronan & i will fight any and all fucks who wanna Go. i!! love him!! he deserVES TO FEEL LOVED AND TO FEEL HOW TO LOVE MMMM COOL i’m gonna stop i’ll just repeat myself - i just thOUGHT OF THE ‘FUCK YOU GANSEY’ WOW FIRST BOOK FUCK B YE

the foxhole court: …andrew minyard… - idk man?? it’s so lowkey?? it’s chill i literally don’t even have anything to say. nicky, neil & dan are my squad love em.

six of crows: jesper fahey - idk what fuckin bitch ass mood i had to be in when i read soc but if i wasn’t in it jesper would totally have been my fave. i wouldn’t take him away from wylan anyways (statement kiiinda counts for the two aforementioned also whoop). jesper?? deserves the world, but so does everyone else they all deserve the world even u bitch ass brekker who would not deal with my bullshit ever. 

criminal minds: aaron hotchner - god ashley screw off askin me for cm. love hotch, would die for him, too good of a guy.

the 100: bellamy blake - is a fuckin whore. iiiiiii love bellamy so much. bitch ass goes from a punk i hated to a good dude to a punk ass influenced by some huge ass prick dick and then struggles with himself for the next season and will now hopefully feel a bit better at least for gods sake. all bc you’ve done bad things doesn’t mean ur bad bell… i still never get over fucking pike taking advantage of him when he was vulnerable fuck off i just want him to feel better!! take responsibility but don’t let it push you down fucking get up!! you’ll get up!! mmm he’s so good he just wants to make everything right but clarke makes everyTHING FUCKIN GO WRONG. i just…not everything is excusable but he can make up for it he will and he’s worth it,,,, people gotta forgive him at some point he’s trying his hardest to make up for everything and he keeps beating himself on it mmmmdfahdf i love him

the sun is also a star: daniel jae ho bae - idk what to say about him ashley god fuck. he’s so cute though?? what a cheesy dude. ugh literally so cute i gotta reread it

naruto: kiba inuzuka - what a prideful ass i fuckIN LOVe him thx. i mean i was fuckin doomed from that start he has best boy akamaru & fuckin has a jutsu where he turns into a wolf?? and his fuckin mom and sister have wolves?? doomed before i even fuckin knew it. he’s soooo cute, never take his fuckin hoodie off idk what’s cuter him trying to look tough in that hoodie that everyone literally thought was hair or havin the hoodie off and showin his actual hair that somehow makes him cuter,,, what’S HORRIBLE IS THE LEATHER JACKET OR WHATEVER IT IS HE WEARS IN SHIPPUDEN fuckin idiot. imagine him as hokage i can’t believe he wants to be hokage it’s so funny i’m sorry kiba i’ll support u just give me a minute to catch my breath. guys he’s just so cute, trains so hard, he’s so good i love him enthusiastic boy

[argentarium]

kara sevda (3) ↠ stilinski

author ; fessa

rating ; 18+ nsfw

pairing ; fuckboy!stiles X oc!reader

word count ; 3003

warnings ; angst

a/n ; u guys r making me cry with all your support, thank u for all the feedback, i really appreciate it and i love u guys :,) p.s. playlist coming soon

i. ii. - iv.

*not my gif*

kara sevda

/noun/

1. blinding love;

literally translates as “black love”

The past couple weeks went by with blur. When you first saw your Gran again, that’s when all the tears began to pour out. You held it in for a while but when you saw her in the hospital bed you just lost it.

You were barely in school because you needed to keep driving down south to take care of your Gran as much as possible with your dad. It was a horrible schedule to balance but it kept you on your feet. Your mind was mostly occupied and you didn’t really think about how you were feeling but how everything was going around you. You simply didn’t have time to think about yourself and you liked it, because if you could really just sit down and think about what has been going on, it would rip your mind in half.

That’s when your father made the decision. He hated how you kept travelling back and forth from Beacon Hills down to Emeryville, California. He was able to be transferred down south with his job and you were going to be moving down to be closer with your grandma. It did compromise your college plans of going out of state but you had to be with her as much as you could before she died.

It was your last day at Beacon Hills High School. It was the first day you came that week and it was Wednesday already. Scott checked up on you a lot but you rarely had time to talk but you appreciated how he did. Through all of the hell you were going through at the moment you found yourself lucky to have him there, Allison was one lucky girl.

The icy stares never stopped but you continued with your life nonetheless. You had bigger problems to worry about other than stupid high school teens. As you were pushing your way through the crowded halls, you heard your name being called out.

“Y/N!” You turned to see Scott weaseling his way through to catch up to you. “Hey, uh- haven’t seen you around in a while..” He trailed off awkwardly.

You let out an awkward chuckle, “Yeah well I’ve been a little busy lately..” You said, hugging your books to your chest as your eyes trailed down to the ground.

Scott couldn’t help the immense pity that washed over him when he finally spoke to you. Ever since that night, he was torn between you and Stiles. Stiles wanted him erase your friendship with each other but Scott didn’t want to lose his best friend. “Oh.. Right..” Scott mumbled and you nodded your head, about to walk away before he spoke up again. “Uh, how’s Grams doing?” He asked so sweetly, causing a memory to spark in your head.

Scott met Grams a many years back when her illness wasn’t bad yet. She was still able to walk around outside and play with you and your friends. She loved the both of them like they were her own but she always had this feeling about Stiles. As much as she loved Scott, she would often ask about Stiles and want to know what he was up to, you assumed it was favoritism but she was onto something else.

“Oh, um- she’s been.. she’s been sick lately and it’s not looking to good..” You said softly, shifting the books in your arms. You turned and saw him nod in understanding, you didn’t have to have werewolf senses to feel his sorrow. As he was about to say something you cut him off, “I’m moving down to be with her.” You stated abruptly. Someone had to know what was happening. “Wait- What? When?” Scott asked in shock, his eyes almost bulging out of his head.

“Today.”

“Today?!” Scott exclaimed and you glared at him for causing some attention to fall upon you two. “Today?” He repeated much quieter.

“It’s my last day I guess..” You shrugged as you stopped right next to the door of your classroom. “If you want to come see me before I leave, that would be great rather than saying our goodbyes right now.” You chuckled but his facial expression didn’t change.

“What about Stiles?”

The dreaded mention of the name pulled one of your heartstrings. Scott could feel the spike in your heartbeat and smell your uncomfortability. “What about Stiles?” You asked back in a rougher tone.

“Come on, he hasn’t been the same for weeks and you-” Scott cut himself off, staring at you with remorse. “You haven’t been the same either.”

“If you lost your best friends in one night, how would you feel?” You tried your hardest to not snap at him, he didn’t deserve your rage. The mere mention of Stiles triggered you.

“But you’re fine.” Scott stressed but you were certainly not. As you were about to protest he cut you off, “Compared to him!” He added quickly. “Stiles has been off the rails.. He’s been with another girl every night and when he isn’t, h-he’s drinking you know? And you know him, he isn’t like that and his grades are plummeting..”

You heard the worry and fear in Scott’s voice. At this point, you wanted to just yell at Stiles for being so stupid and then hug him after he realizes what’s been wrong. But you couldn’t, Stiles wanted nothing to do with you but listening to Scott stumble over his words like that.. You haven’t seen him so worried about something before.

“What am I supposed to do about that?” You shrugged, keeping your emotions inside although there was no point, Scott could hear your heartbeat spike from being nervous.

“Can you just talk to him?” Scott asked pleadingly, somehow making his eyes seem bigger, and puppy-like.

“Stiles won’t even look at me, let alone talk to me.” You stated, partially true. You had the run in a few weeks back but that was it, no contact with him whatsoever. “And I don’t want to either.” You stated defiantly, folding your arms across your chest.

Scott rolled his eyes, “I don’t have to be a wolf to be able to tell that you are lying.” He said, rubbing his crooked chin before looking at the ceiling in thought. “Just talk to him, you don’t want any loose ends before you leave, right?” He raised a brow, holding his hands out to urge you on. “It’s your last day, you won’t see him again for however long, can you just try?”

You looked at him with annoyance. You didn’t want to comply, you wanted to just leave and forget, but there was a part of you that wanted to talk to Stiles, make it all better. You didn’t want to lose your best friend already. It may have only been a year but usually friendships last much longer than that. And those damn puppy eyes Scott gave you were the bane of your existence.

“Fine.” You muttered through grit teeth, watching as Scott silently fistbumped the air in achievement. “But how are you going to get him to? He doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Trust me, I can make it happen.”

“What do you mean there’s a werewolf in the janitor’s closet?!” Stiles whispered as loud as he could to his best friend as they were speed walking down the hallways.

“I mean there is a werewolf in the janitor’s closet at the end of the hall!” Scott said shaking his head, waving his hands around in the air like it was obvious. “Just shut up and walk.” He muttered, knowing his lie was terrible.

As the two approached the door, their steps became much quieter and Scott moved a finger up to his lips. Stiles nodded his head, creeping behind Scott, watching him carefully open the door.

Stiles tentatively payed attention, peering his head over Scott’s shoulder until the door was open. Scott motioned to let Stiles go first but Stiles’ face was already twisted in confusion as he began to walk inside, “Scott, there’s nothing in-” The spastic boy was immediately cut off as Scott forcefully pushed the skinny kid into the dimly lit closet.

Your head snapped up as you heard the door slam. You sighed, putting your phone in your back pocket, there was a reason why Scott never came up with the plan. “Hi.” You said shortly, looking at the boy you fell in love with right in front of you.

Stiles didn’t say a word but glared then turned toward the door, pounding it hard, “Scott, let me out of here!” He ordered, not even looking at your face but his eyes burning holes in the wooden door.

“No!” Scott replied. “Not until you guys make up.”

“I didn’t want to do this either..” You said, drawing your eyes on the ground so you wouldn’t have to look him in the eye. You agreed that you didn’t want to be in the same room as him, you felt it would’ve been easier if you just left.

“Then tell Scott to let us out of here.” Stiles grunted, folding his arms across his chest as he rested his back against the shelf.

“But this needs to be fixed.” You reminded yourself out loud, it was for closure. Like Scott said, you didn’t want any loose ends. Twiddling with your fingers shakily, you didn’t let him speak, “Look Stiles, I am sorry I said that, it was an accident..”

“You don’t get it, do you, Y/N?” Stiles spat, causing you to look up at his angered face. “Nothing will ever be the same between us and I will never love you that way.”

Stiles’s words were like knives, scraping on the strings of your heart and ripping you to pieces. He was right, and the mere thought of it was bringing tears to your eyes. But you had to keep trying, Stiles always came around.

“I’m really sorry, Stiles. I want to fix this, I want to fix us and all I want is to be your friend again, like we were before.” Your voice faltered, you were practically begging at this point. You kept your eyes focused on his chest, staring into those whiskey eyes would make you so weak.

Stiles drew his lips in a thin line and shook his head, beginning to pace in the small space. “This can’t be fixed. There is nothing that will ever fix what happened.”

You nodded your head, feeling your eyes well up again until a single tear rolled down your cheek. Your vision was blurry as you tried to keep your eyes open, not blinking so the tears wouldn’t fall. “I know-”

“You know this is your fault, right?” Stiles barked, cutting you off as your body twitched in shock. “You can’t even look at me right now! And you are trying to get us back to normal? Piecing us together again is impossible, Y/N. Whatever was between us before..” He said darkly, moving closer to you. “.. is gone.”

You swallowed a thick lump that was sitting in the back of your throat, which in turn let all the tears stream down. You finally looked up at him and couldn’t find any hope in those amber eyes, just a cold, heartless void showing the Stiles you knew and loved was no longer there all because you ruined it.

You cleared your throat, trying to tame your emotions to match his stiff demeanor. “Just to be clear,” You began as you brought your hands up to wipe away the tears. “We are no longer going to be friends or anything else from now on because I ruined it?” You asked, summarizing everything Stiles blamed you for and wanted.

Stiles’s look never changed, his arms still folded across his puffed chest defensively and no feelings of remorse passed his eyes. You were so desperately trying to find a sign that showed he cared but there was none. It was like your whole past with him was erased, the moments you shared on a video call, or when Lydia was in the hospital after being bitten and he was terrified for her, you were there for all of it.

“Correct.” Stiles confirmed, the word easily rolling off his tongue.

You swallowed once again before nodding your head, the simple word ringing in your mind again and again. “Alright.” You responded softly, clearing your throat. “I won’t bother you anymore and you won’t ever want to be friends again..” You sighed, reminding yourself of what he wanted.

You motioned him to move out of the way as you moved towards the door, patting softly. “Scott?” You asked out, pressing against the door. “You can let us out now.”

Not a moment later you heard the lock click and watched the doorknob twist from the outside. Scott pulled the door open slowly, letting the hinges creak loudly. He didn’t look at you, he was unhappy too, thinking Stiles would come around but he didn’t. The only time Stiles let him down.

And you.. You weren’t a mess like you thought you would be. That was the only time you were able to focus on something, you had been pushing your feelings aside for weeks already from being so busy all the time. After everything that had just happened, you didn’t feel pain anymore but you couldn’t tell if it was acceptance or not. All you felt was this numbness.. a feeling that you began to like.

Scott was kind enough to stop by your house and help you pack the rest of your things in your car. You were supposed to leave at three-thirty, but Scott insisted you stayed to wait. The two of you were sat on your steps of your porch, looking at the clouds moving through the sky. Scott claimed he knew Stiles better than you, which you didn’t necessarily doubt. The two were best friends way before you came around, he knew Stiles like no one else but at this point, Stiles was unpredictable.

“Scott, this is pointless already.” You sighed staring into the distance from your porch before looking down at your phone as it was already four o’clock. Scott had convinced to stay a little longer because he was so sure that Stiles would change his mind and come running back to you. “If Stiles wanted to fix things with me he would’ve shown up thirty minutes ago..” You said hopelessly.

You tried to not get your hopes up, burying all of your emotions deep down because you knew he would not come around. Stiles never let you down.. But that changed. And as much as you really wished he would just come back and sweep you up in his arms, it wasn’t going to happen. And you were just trying to accept it.

“No, he’s coming, give it another five minutes..” Scott piped up. “He’s probably finishing homework or-”

You turned your head looking over to Scott. He looked so hopeful. You checked your phone once more and noticed two more minutes had already gone by. You kept your feelings inside and set the phone down on your steps quietly. “Scott, it’s okay..”

“No, Y/N, it’s not okay. Stiles is just being - difficult - right now, you’ve never doubted him before so don’t start doubting him now.” Scott declared with confidence, taking your hand and looking you in the eyes. “Stiles would not do this to you.”

“Scott, some friendships don’t work out.” You breathed truthfully, turning your head away and looking towards the horizon. “It’s been like a month already and he still looks at me like I am worthless. I can’t chase after someone who doesn’t want me even as an acquaintance because I have been the patient one here and I can’t let this happen to me anymore.”

You felt Scott’s stare at the side of your head, “Y/N.. He loves you.”

You wiped your eyes, feeling a tear beginning to roll down your cheek as you were shaking your head, “No, Scott. Stiles loves Lydia. The girl he has been pining after since the third grade because he is not good enough for her just like how I am not good enough for him.” Your voice faltered, admitting the truth, noticing how hard it was to actually accept it.

“Who is going to come up with our plans? W-Who is going to be there when we screw up and we could die on the spot?” Scott began to list just as your dad honked the car horn. “We need you, Y/N. Stiles needs you, I need you, we all need you.”

Your dad was motioning for you to come to the car. There was still no sign of Stiles and you weren’t that disappointed. You stood up and Scott did the same. “Scotty, you need each other more than you need me. You’re never going to be given something that you can’t handle. By the time this whole supernatural drama is over, you won’t even remember why you needed me.” You said letting a smile start up on your face. You were calmer and accepting it slowly became easier.

Scott pulled you into a bear hug, nuzzling his face in your shoulder, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“But I am going to need you to do me a favor..” You mumbled.

“Hmm?”

You pulled apart from him, “Don’t let him contact me if he decides to have second thoughts.” You told him, knowing it was for the best.

“But Y/N…”

“Scott, please.” You said softly and he nodded his head after a moment. You couldn’t let Stiles just waltz back into your life if he pleased and you didn’t want anymore drama in your life. You gave Scott one last hug before you walked to your dad’s car, getting into the passenger’s side.

“Ready to go?” Your dad asked, offering a smile as he fastened his seatbelt.

“Ready as I’ll ever be…”

tags :) ; @squirels-angels-and-moose @were-cheetah-stiles @shameless-danni @danopeg @aestheticallytrashysunflower @lcnelykth @rememberstilinski @wydobrien @amethystmerm4id @charmedjeri @itskatiemahoney @leilaelizabth @pufflethehuff @parislight @unfoxs @infinitydunbar @ellie-bee242 @iknowisoundcrazy @mieczzyslaw

[rockinchicagomag]

Melissa Nestor’s Top 10 of 2017

Melissa Nestor is the bassist for Orinoco and is a concert photographer. 

10. Gravebloom by The Acacia Strain

The Acacia Strain has never put out a band album. Credited as one of the pioneers in the genre of “deathcore,” The Acacia Strain has continued to put out one album after the next and typically getting better and better with each release. However, I do not feel it was as strong as their 2014 release, Coma Witch, or even their 2012 release, Death is the Only Mortal. Still, Gravebloom was the best album released in the deathcore genre in 2017. Stand out tracks: “Worthless” and “Gravebloom”

9. Relentless Mutation by Archspire

Archspire is in the running for best guitar riffage on any album of this year. Even though I was completely in love with their prior 2 albums, they have more than sold me with the release of Relentless Mutation. They are one of those death metal bands that combine the perfect amount of melody and brutality to create one hell of a sound that has me wanting to throw all my guitars in a wood chipper.

Stand out tracks: “Human Murmuration” and “Relentless Mutation”

8.  Wizard Bloody Wizard by Electric Wizard

As a band that has so much history of creating legendary albums in their genre, it seems they are always under so much scrutiny when a new album is being released. People have expectations of it topping albums such as Dopethrone which is still considered one of the greatest albums in the doom genre to this day. While this album comes nowhere near topping that, it stood out enough to me to make it into this list. They went a little different route with Wizard Bloody Wizard than their last album Time to Die, which came out in 2014. Time to Die had their evil occult flavored lyrics as always and a sinister sound to go with it, while Wizard Bloody Wizard has the same lyrical content that everyone is used to but a bit lighter in the music department. Going a bit more vintage psychedelic musically caused a lot of criticism amongst Electric Wizard, but I think it was the right move on this album.

Stand out Tracks: “See You in Hell” and “Wicked Caresses”

7. Hiss Spun by Chelsea Wolfe

Chelsea Wolfe seemed to rise to popularity out of nowhere after her release Abyss in 2015, but she has been an active musician since 2010. While her genre is somewhat difficult to nail down, she is loved by fans of many different genres from goths to the most annoying black metal elitists. I have a friend that exclusively listens to country (I know…ew…) that loved this album. One of the reasons Hiss Spun made my list is because of the accessibility and relativity to so many different genres. When Chelsea sings, people pay attention. Her voice is just so haunting, it makes people pay attention. Hiss Spun has won my favorite production quality of the year. It was recorded with and produced by Converge’s Kurt Ballou in Salem, Massachusetts. Any time Kurt Ballou and producer are used in the same sentence, there really needs to be no follow up conversation. I really loved Abyss, but think this has taken the throne for my favorite Chelsea Wolfe album.

Stand out tracks: “16 Psyche” and “Vex”

6. Emperor of Sand by Mastodon

Emperor of Sand is also a very controversial album among fans of the band. Mastodon has a history of changing sounds from album to album, but to a lot of people, Mastodon is really reaching with this one. To me, it is a balance between a call back to their more mainstream attempt of their last full length album Once More ‘Round the Sun and a return to their roots taking influence from Crack the Skye. I suggest anyone that shot down this album at first to give it another couple of listens and also look into the concept of the album.

Stand out tracks: “Show Yourself” and “Steambreather”

5. Reflections of a Floating World by Elder

Reflections of a Floating World has my favorite album opener of any album released this year. “Sanctuary” drew me into this album and didn’t let me go. Despite each of the tracks being between 8-13 minutes long, it never gets monotonous or boring. Usually on albums with only a few songs that are so long, I usually have at least one that I will skip. I can never bring myself to skip a song on Reflections of a Floating World.

Stand out tracks: “Sanctuary” and “Blind”

4. Rust by Monolord

Prior to this year, I wasn’t familiar with Monolord. I normally wouldn’t put such a “new to me” band on my end of the year list, but I have certainly gotten familiar with them over the last several months. Rust is the third full length album from these sludgy Sweden doomsters, and it is every good as the last two. I can usually pick out a favorite album from a band pretty easily, but Monolord has really made that a difficult task for fans of the band.

Stand out tracks: “Where Death Meets the Sea” and “Rust”

3. Wrong One to Fuck With by Dying Fetus

As soon as Dying Fetus released the gruesome and somewhat hard to watch music video for their single “Die with Integrity,” I knew these guys had something special up their sleeves. I’m always a sucker for the most gory and disgusting death metal videos so I tried to not let that make me play favorites when it came to putting them on my list. After listening to the album front to back several times, I realized there was no reason to play favorites. Dying Fetus earned their way to the top of many end of the year lists with an album of non stop brutality that will make you want to punch your neighbor.

Stand out tracks: “Die with Integrity” and “Wrong One to Fuck With”

2. Will to Power by Arch Enemy

It’s no secret amongst my friends and enemies that Arch Enemy is my favorite band and has  the release of War Eternal, I was shocked. All of a sudden, things were up in the air for my favorite band. I was a huge fan of Angela Gassow, who had been the bands vocalist since 2000. At first, I was one of those fans who folded their arms and refused to listen to the newest album with new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, formally of The Agonist. Finally, curiosity got the best of me, and I bought a copy of War Eternal. I let my guard down and listened to the album un-biased. I fell in love with it and reclaimed my Arch Enemy obsession. I began to look forward to the release of Will to Power. I was looking forward to the addition of Nevermore guitarist, Jeff Loomis. I have always credited Michael Amott as my favorite guitarist with Jeff Loomis not falling too far behind, so the prospect of them working together was very exciting. Will to Power is not only one of my favorite albums of the year but in my top 5 of Arch Enemy’s expansive 10 studio album catalog. My favorite live performance of the year also belongs to Arch Enemy who I saw at Concord Music Hall this past November.

Stand out tracks: “The World is Yours” and “First Day in Hell”

1. Mareridt by Myrkur

Myrkur, like Chelsea Wolfe, seems to have become huge out of nowhere, however, there are some select people that know better. I have been following Myrkur since before she went by that name. Amalie Bruun has released music since 2006 but took on the persona Myrkur during her debut EP, which was released in 2014. Since I’m a creepy weird person, some of my favorite things to do are experience music in different environments such as sitting alone in a dark room or walking through forests just on the brink of being lost. Mareridt has been my favorite album to take on my musical journeys. Influenced from everything to folk to black metal, Myrkur takes fans on a trip through the darkest depths of her mind. A couple years ago, Amalie began to have such bad hallucinations in her sleep that she would scream herself awake. Now, some people would usually be so frightened by this, they would do everything in their power to try to forget. No Amalie. She found inspiration in her horror. Mareridt is a recollection of darkest thoughts during slumber.

Stand out tracks: "Måneblôt" and “Funeral (feat. Chelsea Wolfe)”

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Halloween Mishap|Chase Brody x Reader

So here’s the first story I’ll post on Tumblr! And it’s a Halloween one, too, featuring Jack’s egos ^^ Tho it’s never too early for Halloween...r-right? OuO Anywho, this was requested by @narutofoxlover and they recommended that I post it here. Hope you all enjoy it~

It was Halloween, your favorite holiday of all time where you'd either go out to costume parties, visit haunted houses, or go Trick-or-Treating with your friends (while dismissing anyone who said you were "too old" to do such things). But this Halloween in particular was different, as you were spending it in Brighton with Jack and his egos, which was actually quite enjoyable to say the least. Most of the day was spent with you all going to a local haunted house (where Jackieboy Man screamed his head off nonstop despite his claims that he was the "bravest"), carving pumpkins (which Anti and Rob enjoyed), and watching classic horror movies (in which Henrik criticized the actors and their choices throughout). All in all, you had a blast, but as the day drew closer to an end, you were wondering what other sort of spookiness awaited you tonight.

  "Man..kids are already going out?" You remarked as you looked out the window and saw several Trick-or-Treaters in the streets. "The sun hasn't even gone down all the way yet." "Hmm..maybe they wanna get first dibs on candy," Marvin said while he was practicing some magic tricks. He muttered a spell in what you can only assume was Latin under his breath, and when you turned around, you gasped as you saw a green, wispy, ghoulish figure rise from his palm. He flipped his hand upwards, sending the spirit flying around the room. You and the egos watched in awe, although Jackieboy Man seemed a little terrified. It then descended in front of you. But when you went to touch it, the ghost suddenly dissipated into a thousands tiny skulls, which vanished soon after. A chill swept over you, making you shiver slightly. "W-Wowie...that was awesome, Marv," you told the magician, smiling. Marvin simply shrugged in response. "I'm still working on it....but y'know...I was thinking about opening my own haunted house some time and just having a bunch of ghastly spirits flying about." "Could...Robbie...be in...it..?" The gray zombie asked as he pointed to himself, tilting his head to the side. "Ja," Henrik nodded in agreement, smiling at him. "You'd fit right in! No need to buy silly Halloween decor or hire lame actors vhen ve have you fine gentlemen~!" "Brooooooo that would be sick! You'd make some mad cash off'a that!" Chase laughed as he attempted to toss a teabag into the small bowl of candy that was on the other side of the room. When he made it, he jumped up in excitement and dabbed. "IAMTHEONEDON'TWEIGHATONDON'TNEEDAGUNTOGETRESPECTUPONTHESTREE-" "Jesus flippin' Christ..I'll never get how my own egos can be louder than me.." Glancing over, you saw Jack enter from his recording room, with Anti in tow. It was then you remembered that the pair did a Halloween special together, one that would make the fanbase freak out for sure. "Well, the video's been uploaded," Jack smiled as he turned around to high-five his demonic half. "Great work, dude." "Thanks. Can't wait to see their reactions tomorrow~" He chuckled. "Awww I see a little guy dressed up as Spider-Man," Jackieboy Man cooed as he looked out the window, before frowning slightly and glancing back at you. "Man..now I kinda wanna go out and get some candy, too." "Well..why don't we then?" Marvin suggested. "I mean technically we're already in costumes. You're a superhero, I'm a magician, Henrik is a doctor, Rob is a zombie, and Anti...could pass as a ghoul or something, too. The only ones who really need a costume are [y/n], Chase, and Jack." "Hmm..I zink I'll pass, though," Henrik declined, "I don't vant to go out and zink about all ze poor kids who are gonna have cavities and tummy aches after tonight." He grimaced at the thought. "And I think I'll just sit outside with the candy bowl in my lap an' pretend to be dead," Anti volunteered, a grin appearing on his face. "Then when those little kiddies come by to take some... I'll scare the livin' daylights outta them~" He cackled. You laughed a bit. "Alright..well that could work. Just don't give anybody a heart attack." "No promises." "I..don't really have anything to wear," Chase sighed, before he perked up. "But what I would love to be is a werewolf! They're so cool and ferocious looking!" "They are," you nodded. "But..unfortunately I don't think we'll have time to go out and buy you a cos-" "Then..maybe Marvin can change me into one!!" ".........." All of the egos fell silent as they turned to look at Marvin. "Ah...well..." He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's...possible for me to turn you into a real one, but I don't-" "You can do that???" Chase's eyes lit up as he sprinted over to the magician, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Dude, that would be sick!! Do it!!" Marvin frowned a bit, before sighing and shaking his head. "Chase..I..I don't think you understand. The consequences could be--hey! What are you doing?!" He growled as the ego in the snapback grabbed his spellbook that was on the table. "Put that down!!" "Maybe you got a spell in here or somethin'!" He grinned, taking a step back when Marvin tried to grab his book back before proceeding to open it and flip through the pages. "It's gotta be here somewhere, man....oooooh..this looks like it." "Chase, please, give that back-!" "Eh? Lupino.....Lupinotuum....pec..tinem?" Chase's eyebrows furrowed as he read the two words that were in bold, confused. "What does that mean? Lupinotuum..pectinem..?" "Chase, stop! Don't say it a third-!!" "Why not? It sounds kinda cool. Lupinotuum pectinem-" Suddenly, the pages began to glow, and from them emerged a yellow, ghostly wolf, surrounded by white whisps of smoke. Chase's eyes widened in both shock and amazement, although he shivered a bit as the creature locked eyes with him. Then it raised its head, letting out a quiet howl before leaping out of the book and phasing right into his body. With a gasp, he stumbled back, dropping the book as he clutched his chest in pain. "G-Gah...wh-what was that...? I...I feel like I've been shot through my goddamn chest.." He knees buckled and he fell to the floor. "Oh no...." Marvin muttered as he got up and crouched down in front of Chase, who was starting to writhe in pain. He then sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Chase, listen..it's gonna be okay. Just stay calm and...." His eyes widened behind his mask as he saw that Chase's were now an unusually bright and icy blue. "O-Oh this is bad.." "Wh-What is it..? What's bad...?" "Nothing," the magician shook his head, "you'll be fine as long as there's no full moon right-" "Umm..guys? We may have a tiny problem.." You and the egos glanced over to see Jackieboy Man draw back the curtain, revealing a clouded, full moon in the dark sky. "There's already a-" "AGHH!!!" Looking back, you all gasped in horror as you saw that Chase's fingernails were starting to become long and sharp, along with his teeth. "I-It hurts...EVERYTHING HURTS!!" He screamed, clutching his head in pain. Then he started to hyperventilate. "I-I-I'm scared..I-I don't want th-this anym-G-GAHH!! M-Marv...y-you c-can reverse this somehow, right? Right??" The terrified ego clutched the magician's shoulders, his eyes wide and desperate. "P-Please, y-you gotta stop this bro! PLEASE!!" But once more, Marvin shook his head. "I..I'm sorry, but there's nothin' I can do," he said regrettably. "I haven't worked on a way to reverse the spells...but if it's any reassurance you'll be back to normal by dawn-" "I-I can't wait that long!" Chase whimpered, letting go of him before he scrambled to the corner of the room and curled up into a ball. "I-I fucked up...I-I m-made one dumb mistake. And..a-and now I'm g-gonna turn into a..a-a..." "Chase.." You took a step forward, crouching down in front of him. "It's alright..we're here-" Though when you went to put a hand on his shoulder, he suddenly smacked it away, making you wince in pain. "DON'T TOUCH ME!!!" He growled, although he realized what he did and his expression shifted into a remorseful one. "I-I'm so sorry [y/n]...I..I-I..." Tears were now streaming down his face. ".....j-just g-go...leave me....b-before I turn into a goddamn m-monster and hurt any of y-you.." Rubbing your hand a bit, you sighed sadly and stood up, taking a step back. The others, along with Jack, then tried their hand at consoling their fellow ego. Looking back, you realized that the only one who wasn't doing that was Anti. He was still sitting down on the couch, watching the scene unfold before him with a blank expression on his face. You frowned slightly and opened your mouth to scold him for not trying to help. But before you could utter a word, the demon abruptly stood up and walked past you. He brushed past the other egos, giving them a silent message to stand back, before he crouched down in front of Chase, who was now rocking back and forth slightly. "Brody..if there's anyone here that's a true monster...it's me." You all fell silent, shocked, when Anti spoke. For once his voice didn't sound distorted, glitchy, or layered....it was actually....calm and gentle. But all you were quiet as he talked to Chase. "Listen..knowing you...you're..you're not one to hurt anybody. Yer a guy with nothin' but a heart of gold, and that'll still be there even when you turn into a..werewolf." A small, genuine smile appeared on Anti's lips as he put his hand on his shoulder, gently rubbing it. Surprisingly, Chase didn't do anything except listen to his words. "But if it's one thing we're not gonna do, it's abandon ya. Even if ya lost control of yer humanity... we'll still be right here by yer side." Sniffling, Chase looked up at him. There was already dark brown fur appearing on the sides of his face. "Wh-Why do you care?" He frowned. "Af..After everything you-" "Look...I've already shed enough blood....and..." Anti glanced back at you. "Robbie and "ze good doctah" have, too." "Vhat?!" "Hmmm?" "But I'm not gonna let ya follow that same path," his gaze returned to Chase's as he withdrew his hand. "If you're scared....just....think of how after tonight you'll be back to yer old self, how we'll still be here with ya, and how you'll still see yer kids. Just think...happy stuff, Chase, an' you'll be fine." He took in every word that the usually malicious demon spoke, before smiling a bit. "A-Alright..." His nodded, his tears ceasing. "I-I'll try my best....thank you, Anti." Anti's eyes widened in surprise, as he had never been thanked for anything in his life, but he then smiled back and nodded. "You're welc-" *CRACK* "AAGH!!" Gasping, the demon glitched away from Chase, seeing that his painful and agonizing transformation was starting. "Everyone, behind me!" Marvin ordered, quickly snapping his fingers which summoned glowing, green chains that wrapped around Chase's wrists and anchored themselves to the floor. You all watched as he tried to get up, only to collapse to the ground and scream in pain. The sickening popping and cracking noises told you that those were his bones being restructured by the spell. Fur began to coat his body as a bushy tail sprouted from his tailbone. His facial features morphed to resemble those of a wolf while his muscles grew drastically in size, eventually ripping through his shirt and shoes. Surprisingly, his pants and hat still remained on him. After about a minute or so, the transformation was finally over as Chase rose to his feet once more, hunched over, before unleashing out a howl that startled all of you. "M-My G-God.." Henrik muttered, trembling slightly. "Zis is just like zose old verevolf films. Ch-Chase?" He stepped forward cautiously. "A-Are you still zere?" But he immediately stopped when the beast glanced at him, his blue eyes glowing. But he didn't attack him. In fact he seemed rather...calm. Chase then noticed the chains and began to struggle against them, although not aggressively as you were expecting him to. He then stopped and looked back at you, letting out a small whine as his ears drooped slightly. You and the egos exchanged glances, baffled yet relieved that your friend didn't immediately turn into a mindless, bloodthirsty killer. "Chase.." The werewolf glanced over at Marvin, flinching slightly when he saw the frown on his face. He whined again, as though to say he was sorry. The magician then sighed and walked up to him. "It's alright but...I did warn you, didn't I?" Chase bobbed his head up and down in understanding. He then tried to talk, but all that same out was a growl and a couple of grunts, before his black lips curled into what appeared to be a smile. "...uh....did..anyone understand what he's tryin' to say?" Jack asked, confused. "I do," Marvin replied. "He said he believes he can control himself. And..seeing how calm he is-" He snapped his fingers once more, and the chains vanished into thin air. "-I think I can trust him this one time." He looked back and smiled. Your eyes widened in shock, although a wide smile appeared on your face as you walked up to Chase. Then you boldly put your hand up and patted his snout, giggling when you saw his eyes widen. "Yep. He's still our Chase Bro--Hey!" You grimaced as the werewolf suddenly gave you a wet, sloppy kiss with his tongue. Jack and the other egos chuckled in amusement. "Blegh..just like a dog..." Wiping the drool off with your sleeve, you looked back up at Chase and sighed. "Oh boy...what are we gonna do with you now?" "Well...we can always still go Trick-or-Treating," Jackieboy Man suggested as he held up an empty pillowcase. "Just think of all the people that'll be spooked by Chase's "costume"!" He grinned widely. "Hmmm..perhaps we can," Marvin agreed. "We'll just have to keep our eye on him and make sure nobody else knows that he's a legit werewolf." Everyone nodded in agreement, although Jack's eye went wide. "Oh fook! I almost forgot!" "What is it?" You asked him, confused. "You and I still need somethin' to wear," the YouTuber replied, before he turned to you. "C'mon, let's see if I got anythin'. Surely I must." "Ohh that's right. Alrighty then." You began to follow him out of the room, though you looked over your shoulder at the egos. "Make sure he doesn't run off, alright?" Once more they nodded. With a sigh, you and Jack headed out of the room to find a quick Halloween costume or accessory to put on. "Sssoooo sssssofffft..." Turning around, Marvin, Jackieboy Man, Anti, and Henrik stared at Rob, who was hugging Chase with his head buried into his chest. The werewolf was surprised, but he awkwardly patted the top of the zombie's head, before shooting the others a confused look. But they simply shrugged and smiled at the scene. Perhaps... this wasn't such a bad Halloween after all.

[takaraphoenix]

Book Adaptations Wishlist

Let’s start with my biggest fandom that is based on a book-series. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan.

I’m one of the... very few who likes the Percy Jackson movies. Most certainly not in the sense of them being adaptations of the books. Hah. Good one. No, I view them more as “motion picture fanfiction”. I mean, damn the pretty cast they got. I love Clarisse and Chris in particular. And I will forever be grateful to the first movie because without it, I would have never in a million years found the books simply because I’m not a big reader so the only way I ever learn about books is by watching an adaptation and deeming it to be my taste.

Now, things with PJatO were a little more complicated than that. Back before the movie hit theatres, I was checking out all the releases announced for the year and among them was this. The word “Thief” in the title caught my attention because I love a good con movie or show. I clicked it and back then the link only lead to the book and a section about it getting an adaptation, so that’s how I found out it was a book adaptation. Reading the synopsis of the book, I thought it sounded pretty cool. Next step was, of course, to check the character list. Because I love Greek mythology.

Main character a son of Poseidon. That’s cool. I love elementals, particularly those with water-powers. And there, not far down, was the name that got me hooked. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. HOLY UNDERWORLD YES. Hades is my favorite male god. That his kid was listed as one of the main characters of the series - and NOT as a bad guy, because if modern adaptations taught me one thing, it’s that American authors love to paint everything in black and white and anything related to the underworld had to be the devil.

So Nico di Angelo was why I went to see the movie. Needless to say, Nico wasn’t in it because he only joins the series later on. But I did like the movie, Percy was cute, I was still curious to meet Nico, so when I found myself on a classtrip to Munich weeks later and was dragged from store to store and ended up in a bookstore where all six books (I do count The Demigod Files as part of the original series too) were on display at the time, I impulse-bought them.

I loved them. A lot. We’re not gonna talk about Heroes of Olympus here because that will take too many hours of my time. Let’s just say I don’t love them.

But yeah, the movies are not good adaptations of the books.

Then again, personally, I think that no movie can ever properly do a book justice. You can’t take a story that unfolds in like 500 pages of book and cram it into a two hour movie. You’re forced to cut sooo much out of it. It just doesn’t work.

That’s why I’m a huge fan of this new trend of adapting books as TV shows. It’s a very good way of covering more ground, taking things slow and giving the plot its due.

I’m desperately waiting for a good Percy Jackson adaptation. But I don’t want it to be live-action, to be honest. I mean, between Grover’s furry butt, Chiron’s horse-hide, the monsters and pegasi and demigodly powers, the show would need a huge special effects budget. And that’s just not gonna happen. So it’ll look cheap as fuck. Which would be an utter shame.

No.

I want a Percy Jackson cartoon show. I’d entrust DreamWorks with this. DreamWorks has done some amazing cartoon shows the last decade - Voltron, Dragons, Trollhunters. Particularly the cooperation with Netflix is working well for them. And with the team behind Avatar, like they’re doing with Voltron, I could REALLY envision a Percy Jackson cartoon. Imagine Percy water-bending like Katara or Korra, Nico looking like Keith in goth-clothes, I’d be dying to see that. Particularly considering that Avatar and Voltron use this beautiful 2D art style. I wouldn’t object to quality 3D like Trollhunters and Dragons, but I’d prefer 2D. I’m an old-fashioned gal like that.

To me, that would be the perfect way of adapting Percy Jackson.

Aaand I got a little lost in Percy Jackson. It happens. Oh well, I guess this is gonna be a long-ass entry then.

What I wanted to say was that I thoroughly approve of the TV show adaptation of books. I know I love Game of Thrones and Vampire Diaries and, of course as you may have noticed if you know me at all, Shadowhunters. All books I haven’t read (though I’m trying to read The Mortal Instruments. I’m just slow). I’ve just always been more of a TV-show kinda gal than a book-reader.

Now, if only they’d adapt the books that I actually love to read. That would be amazing. But somehow, I read stuff that doesn’t even get movies. Sure I read Percy Jackson and that got two failed movies, but we already covered that.

Because yes, I actually do read. Books that I haven’t met through their adaptations.

My all-time favorite book is Wicked, by Gregory Maguire.

I started reading it back in 2010 when I was doing an internship at our cozy local little bookstore - a very homey little place that was specialized on fantasy and sci-fi books. And Wicked was relatively fresh out back then and stood there in the special display and drew me in because of the green-skinned lady. I have a thing for green-skinned ladies, but that’s between me and Shego. So I started reading it during my breaks, when I had nothing else to do. Ten pages here, twenty pages there. By the time my internship ended, I was too hooked to forget about it so I bought it.

I saw its musical adaptation twice. Once in Stuttgart, the German version, and then when I was in London for the first time, the English version.

I love that musical as much as I loathe it.

The same as The Lightning Thief movie. And I mean it. Literally the same. You can view it as live-action fanfiction, but you can not with half-a-mind view it as an adaptation. It has as much to do with the book as The Lightning Thief movie had to do with The Lightning Thief book. That is to say, the characters shared the same names, but neither their behavior nor their physical appearance actually fit. And the plot, if you cook it down to a very basic one sentence summary - “Percy Jackson has to find the Lightning Thief” and “Elphaba Thropp rebels against the wizard” - fits, but do not ever dig for actual details, because those do not cover what happens in the book.

As a musical lover and someone who can view an adaptation as a separate thing from the source-material, I thoroughly love the musical. But as someone who loves that book to bits and pieces, I hate that the majority of people have only ever heard about the musical and are most likely not even aware of the book or haven’t bothered reading it and are now actually under the impression that all it is is a cheesy love-story. Which it is not. The romance is a foot-note in this long masterpiece that is basically a metaphor for the holocaust. And I will never be able to forgive the stupid fix-it shit of “Oh, Fiyero was turned into the scarecrow and they lived happily ever after”. No. They don’t. Or the fact that they turned my favorite character into a vindictive piece of crap.

(Okay, so maybe I am not as able to separate the two as I like to think, but cut me some slack they turned Elphaba’s trusted friend into a literal heartless tin-man who wants to slaughter her. What the fuck is that even.)

And I got lost again.

So, yes, I want a Wicked adaptation done right. A TV-show. After all, this is a book that literally covers her entire life, from birth to death. It tells a pretty long  story and I’d like to see it done right, instead of turned into a high school musical love drama, as the musical did. Not to mention I want to see the polyamorous relationship between Elphaba’s parents and Turtle Heart, maybe if we take more time for her childhood, we’d get more feels for the threesome too. Her two gay friends Crope and Tibbett. Her own “maybe not quite just friends” with Glinda. Her bisexual son who was entirely cut out of the musical. I mean, maybe we cut the girl out who married the Cowardly Lion, but uh they never had sex because she was a rape survivor who had no interest of ever having sex again - perhaps was even asexual, though it was never explicitely stated in the books - and only married him for safety reasons and all that did connect them was deep friendship?

I’d also like to mention my favorite book-series - while Wicked is my favorite book and its direct sequel Son of a Witch might be the only book I ever read within a literal day because I couldn’t put it down, the third and fourth books were a little on the... drawn out and exhausting side of things.

The Bartimaeus-series by Jonathan Stroud.

Bartimaeus is my favorite book-series, because it is - from start to finish - perfection. And Bartimaeus himself is a sassy little shit. We’d definitely need voice-over narration to not forget his sass. Can’t decide if I’d want it as a cartoon or as a live-action show though. But either way, I’d kiss the feet of the person who would fucking finally decide to adapt that book-series. I mean, seriously, among all the many, many shows and all the many, many adaptations these days, how has no oneever thought about giving this book any form of adaptation? It deserves it. It really does deserve a good adaptation.

And then there’s just one more. My favorite childhood books.

The Woodland Folk, by Tony Wolf.

I don’t think many people have ever even heard of this. It’s from an Italian author and as a child, I only owned two out of the twelve books that existed. But they were my most often read books. I knew them by heart, literally.

I later on, as a teen, bought the missing ten books on the internet and devoured them.

Those books are the reason I got hooked on fantasy, why I am obsessed with fairies and mermaids and witches. Tony Wolf’s illustrations in those books are the reason I always wanted to draw. They are beautiful and sweet and they would make for an amazing cartoon.

I know out of all of those books on this wish-list, this is the one that’s most far-out-there and will probably never happen, but I’d be ridiculously happy if it did.

[plasmachaos]

About the Mun

Tagged by: @branch-chief--faba​ and I think someone else tagged me- if you did I’m so sorry but I’ve lost the mention post ;m;!

Tagging: @blazing-kitten-litten​ @plasma-grunt--regina​ @tigernightfury14​ @lightning365​ @trainercolress​ @kawaiigoth13​ @beautiful-lusamine​ @pyroarofghouls​ @champofpallet​ @lysandre-of-flare​

[And anyone else who wants to do it, consider yourself tagged! Those who have been tagged don’t feel obligated to do this! :3)

RULES: answer the questions and tag 15 (lol how ab out 10 tho) blogs you want to know better.

Nicknames: In RL: Ali, Al, Ali-Baba (though this one is often to annoy me XD) Online; Sooty, Soots, Shivu, Shivvy, Plasma

Star Sign: Virgo

Height: 5 ft 6 or 7?

Time Right Now: 22:33

Last thing I Googled: ‘Is cream cheese the same thing as soft cheese’

Last Movie I Watched: The Electric Piper- it’s one of those ‘lost media’ films that I saw on a list by blameitonjorge on YouTube :3

It perked my interest because it was the only one of the list that wasn’t really a part of a long-running series

It’s decent, I guess! Kinda like a more child-friendly Footloose in  a sense and, of course, based on the story of the Pied Piper

Last TV Show I watched: Animal Cops Houston, I think?

When did I create this blog: September 2013! So the blog is, what, 4 years old now? 

Why I choose my URL: Well originally it was shivuthewolf! Yes, for some reason people are surprised to find out Shivu was also the name of my fursona- and is still the name of my fursona! (come on guys, it’s right there in Shivu’s profile)

(Essentially there are two Shivus- the wolf, and the human. Why? Because I don’t see the point in making two different characters who are going to be exactly the same in personality anyway!)

I changed it because the blog was originally going to be an art blog related to my comic but I changed my mind! I thought Plasmachaos was the name of one of the Team Plasma themed TCG decks, but upon looking it up it’s not? 

So I’m not sure where it came from!

Gender: Male.

Hogwards House: I don’t know? I haven’t read Harry Potter though I’ve seen the first three movies numerous times (mum loves them)

I think Slithereen is the bad one right? So... The good one?

Pokemon Team: In Moon? Mismagius (Missy, Lv. 69), Toucannon (Pedro, Lv. 67), Alolan Muk (Diesel, Lv. 69), Primarina (Zero, Lv. 67), Jolteon (Cheetah, Lv. 66), Magmar (Firestorm, Lv. 65)

Wanna know the meaning behind the names? Of course you do!

Missy- Name of one my sister’s cats (she now lives in Canada- the cat I mean!) and also makes sense cos of the Pokemon’s name

Pedro- Name of the red-crested cardinal in the film Rio (who looks similar to the bird Pikipek is based on)

Diesel- as its colours are based on oil spillages 

Zero- I believe someone drew a picture making connections between Popplio and Zero from The Nightmare Before Christmas? :3 That’s why!

Cheetah- Based on the electric cheetah-wolf of the same name from Arevn92′s comic Chakra

Firestorm- a typo from the book series Warrior Cats in which a character is supposed to be named Firestar

Favourite Colour: I really liked bright colours! Blue and yellow are my favourites but you add red to that you got a raINBOW MY DUDES

Lucky Number: Call me uncreative but... 7? 

Favourite Character: Honestly I have too many to mention! I like so many characters for a variety of reasons- though its usually the hyper ones I will be honest XD 

Number of Blankets: On what? My bed? The sofa? The ferrets hutch? Either way it’s a lot

Name: It’s a secret I tell to people a lot but SHHH 

It’s Alex

Birthday: September 21st

Siblings: One sister and one brother (both older)

Favorite Smell: I like a lot of sweet smells? You know, vanilla, chocolate, gingerbread, coffee (I guess it’s subjective on whether or not that’s sweet but still)

But there are a few smells that bring back memories for me! Musty smells remind me of my grandparent’s house (before we moved in!) and always gives me a sense of adventure as it’s how our attic generally smells (and if you know me, you know my attic is a great source of adventure)

That and stew (or just onions and meat being cooked) always reminds me of just home! x3

Pets: Two fuzzy noodles (ferrets) but if you want to get technical as a family we own two dogs and four cats (two extra if you count my sister’s cats)

Wake Up: Generally 8am- my aforementioned brother has severe autism and goes to a day centre and as I’m his sole carer I’m the one to get him ready in the mornings :3

Sleep: *snorts* early! About 9 or 10... Okay, 11... Fine! It’s more like 2am!

Type of phone: Motorola! Don’t ask me which type

I used to be so knowledgeable about phones but now I’m just like “it’s the one where I can touch the screen and magic happens”

Love or Lust: FOOD No okay, I’ll say love XD I honestly think it’s a very important aspect- not just in a romantic relationship but also in any friendship! Okay, that sounds mushy but for real- platonic love homies!

Lemonade or Tea: LEMONADE 

Cats or Dogs: BOTH

Coke or Pepsi: Both is good but I prefer Pepsi

Day or Night: BOOOOTH

Text or Call: Both? 

Make up or natural: I don’t personally wear makeup but I think whatever makes you feel more comfortable!

Met a Celebrity: If I did I didn’t notice. 

I know I’ve met a few members of the Belfast Giants (the ice hockey team who plays here, they often visit the cafe) and I didn’t know who they were but one of them mentioned they played ice hockey and one of my co-workers slung his arm over my shoulder and goes, “Hey I’ll bet this guy here could take you on!” Me, again not realising these guys were professionals, agreed and proudly stated I could beat all three of them in a game Only after did I realise who they were but they seemed to find it funny! XD

Smile or Eyes: I just got a weird image of like nothing but a mouth and eyes and I’m scared ;w; Erghh I think eyes? Frequently I can tell a lot about someone by their eyes!

Light or Dark Hair: Idk man, either or 
 Shorter or Taller: WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME ALL THIS I guess shorter? But why? Who is this? My ideal partner? My crime fighting buddy? My post apocalyptic friend?  
 Intelligence or Attraction: I don’t knooooow 
 Chapstick or Lipstick: Please let me go home, my family misses me and I miss them

City or Country: BOTH 
 Last Song Heard: Bolt OST it’s a song now shut it

Fruit or Vegetables: FRUIT

Anime or Cartoons: Both? Though fun fact; I used to hate anime! :D 
 Phone Case: None, it’s just black XD 
 Showers or Baths: We only have a shower- I prefer to get the deed of washing done and over with asap so that’d be what I’d pick anyway XD

Dream Job: I’d love to work in an animal sanctuary! But sadly, no such paid job exists in my country and I can’t really move away because of obligations to my brother :(

Milk and Cookies or Doughnuts and Coffee: BOTH BABY