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ayuuria · 3 years

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Yashahime Translation: Prince Animage May 2021 Issue (Part 2)

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Due to the amount of content in the magazine, I have decided to the split the translation into three parts:

Part 1: Elder Son’s Resolve! Interview with Director Satou Teruo

Part 2: We Won’t Give Up On the Future! Father-Daughter Round-Table Talk with Narita Ken, Matsumoto Sara, and Komatsu Mikako

Part 3: The Strength to Overcome Destiny. Interview with Director Satou Teruo

Intertwining Fates

The curtains on the Yashahimes’ story briefly closed with the shocking scene of “Setsuna’s death”. With Towa and the others at its center, the complexly intertwined fates of various people continue into the second chapter (season).

The fire that tore Towa and Setsuna apart, the Dream Butterfly that stole Setsuna’s slumber, the sleeping Rin, and the Rainbow Pearls that possess demonic power; all these things that became key to the story were connected to Kirinmaru’s elder sister, Zero.

Zero previously heard the Shikon Jewel’s prophecy: “An existence that is neither demon nor human and can cross through time will destroy Kirinmaru.” Thinking that it refers to Towa, Setsuna, Moroha, and Inuyasha, Zero tried to eliminate them in order to protect her younger brother. However, that was just an ostensible reason. Behind her actions lurked a feeling of jealousy towards the half-demons and quarter-demon that carried the Dog General’s blood. It seems her unrealized love for the Dog General was the motivation behind her twisted emotions and actions.

Zero’s behavior rouses Kirinmaru’s anger and she disappears from his sight. However, the story does not end with just this issue being settled. As part of the “Rite of Courage and Cowardice”, Towa and the others end up having to fight Kirinmaru and unbelievably, Setsuna loses her life during the battle.

There is a heap of other issues such as Rin who still continues to sleep even now and the Grim Comet that has appeared in the modern era. It is now an anxious wait for the broadcasting to see how future mysteries will be unraveled in the second chapter (season).

Character Bios

Zero Kirinmaru’s elder sister. She was in love with the Dog General. Being that she was the one who created the Rainbow Pearls, she went to go look for the scattered pearls after her breakdown with Kirinmaru.

Kirinmaru The beast king of the eastern lands. Irritated by his elder sister, Zero’s, misconduct towards Sesshōmaru, they part ways as brother and sister as a result. He battles the three (Towa, Setsuna, Moroha) and kills Setsuna.

Sesshōmaru The son of the beast king who once stood on the same level as Kirinmaru, the Dog General, and Towa and Setsuna’s father. It seems he is searching for a child named Akuru but the reason why is unknown.

Higurashi Towa She treasures her younger twin sister, Setsuna, above all else. As she grieves over Setsuna’s death, she receives a broken Tenseiga from her father, Sesshōmaru… …?

Setsuna A half-demon whose sleep and memories were stolen by the Dream Butterfly. She loses her life while battling Kirinmaru but just before drawing her last breath, she calls Towa “Towa-neechan”.

Moroha Towa and Setsuna’s cousin. Despite being enraged by Setsuna’s death, when she turned into Beniyasha, she was able to maintain her (sound) mind and not get overwhelmed by the rampage of her demonic blood.

The Offense and Defense Concerning Half-Demons

Zero has attempted to eliminate the half-demons that carry the Dog General’s blood by doing things such as spurring Kirinmaru to kill Inuyasha or burning the forest that Towa and Setsuna were hiding in. Sesshōmaru was always by her side. Though he does not say much, Sesshōmaru may have seen through Zero’s intentions early and acted one step ahead.

Rin and Zero’s Connection

Zero can connect to others via “fate” and control them as she pleases. Those whose fates are connected to Zero will die alongside her should she lose her life. It seems Zero herself connected her fate to Rin and used that to keep Sesshōmaru in check. The details on how Rin and Zero’s fates were intertwined is of interest.

That Which Sesshōmaru Searches For

Sesshōmaru is someone who never appeared on the story’s center stage for long. During that time, he was searching for a child named Akuru. It seems that the pinwheel Akuru holds is somehow connected to the giant “Windmill of Time”. After Akuru appeared before Sesshōmaru, the Windmill of Time that had not moved for so long moved again but what does that mean… …?

Setsuna’s Seal

Zero wants Kirinmaru to exterminate Towa and the others but Kirinmaru, preferring to fight fair and square, realizes the difference in strength between him and the girls and decides to hold off battling them until they have grown (in strength). It is there that Zero forcefully releases the seal placed on Setsuna’s demon blood so that Kirinmaru will fight Towa and the others seriously.

A Broken Tenseiga

The Tenseiga that Sesshōmaru carries is a sword of healing that was created from the fang of the Dog General and is known as “the sword that saves the lives of the weak”. Sesshōmaru resurrects the dead Zero with Tenseiga but that enrages Zero and she breaks the blade. Will the broken Tenseiga be able to revive Setsuna who has lost her life?

Famous Quote Pick Up!

The role of Sesshōmaru, Narita Ken “Anymore will sadden Rin”

“Personally, the monologue in episode 24 “Anymore will sadden Rin…” struck me. Even though Sesshōmaru doesn’t show kindness, periodically he will suddenly say something like this. On top of that, he doesn’t even put a lot of emotion into it and it just comes out nonchalantly. I think that‘s what’s good about him.” (Narita)

The role of Higurashi Towa, Matsumoto Sara “We’re not alone now.”

“(the line) At the end of episode 16 “We’re not alone now.” I felt was just like Towa. She says that to Moroha but of course Setsuna is among those she’s thinking of. Towa came to the feudal era for Setsuna’s sake she has always held the feeling of “It’s okay because Setsuna is here” at her core. The strength of her unwaveringness really shows when the three of them are backed into a corner.” (Matsumoto)

The role of Setsuna, Komatsu Mikako “You can always change the way you live”

“The phrase in episode 16 “You can always change the way you live” left an impression on me. Even though Setsuna is a half-demon, she’s quite farsighted (philosophically) for a 14-year-old. I think her environment up until now and the blood that flows within her makes her that way. Having passed episode 20 which depicted Setsuna’s past, I once again feel how powerful this phrase is.” (Komatsu)

We Won’t Give Up on the Future! Father-Daughter Cast Round Table Discussion

Role of Higurashi Towa: Matsumoto Sara Role of Setsuna: Komatsu Mikako Role of Sesshōmaru: Narita Ken

Demanding “A Sense of Smell” From Playing Sesshōmaru

— Since this is after the recording of episode 23 today (the day of the interview), thank you all for your hard work!

Matsumoto: Thank you! You see, today is actually the first time I recorded with Narita-san for “Hanyō no Yashahime”. It’s like “we finally meet” kind of feeling and I’m very happy!

Narita: Finally, it was our first father-daughter meeting! I look forward to doing this interview together.

Komatsu: Likewise, I look forward to working with you as well. Narita-san went straight into recording episode 24 (the final episode) right after recording episode 23. The last episode is next week for us, but we read the script and it was completely shocking… …!

— The final episode had an ending that really made you wonder about the future. Having traversed through the story up to this point, what is everyone’s state of mind right now?

Matsumoto: After episode 20, going into the final stage, the vigor of the story increased. For viewers, I think their theories up to now were all overturned at one point. We also started recording not knowing what was going to happen in the future, so we progressed through recording while talking about “What’s going to happen next?” every time. It was a continuation of surprises. Just when I thought we finally got to interact with our father in episode 23, this time, something like that happens to Setsuna… … I was shocked like “To think they would end it like this!” and I immediately started thinking about how the second chapter (season) would connect from here. My current thought is that as I look forward to the second chapter (season), I want to rewatch season 1 one more time before the broadcasting (for season 2) begins.

Komatsu: Back when I didn’t know what was going to happen, when I asked the staff “How is season 1 going to end and what’s going to happen in season 2?”, they told me “Most of the questions that the viewers have will be answered in season 1. Around the last episode of season 1, you might be able to record with everyone in the Higurashi family again.” That’s why in my (mind), I had my hopes up like “I wonder if in the final episode, the whole Kirinmaru situation and Rin’s sleep would all be resolved and Setsuna and the others go to the modern era again, and in season 2 the three Yashahimes would start a happy school life?”

Everyone: (laughs)

Komatsu: And then it went in a completely different direction! Just when I thought the story was connecting in a line, there’s suddenly more questions. There’s still many unanswered mysteries and in the second chapter (season), what will happen (in regards to the those mysteries) … while having that anticipation, as Setsuna, I want her to be revived as soon as possible. In the Inuyasha world, you get pushed down many times, no matter what, and those intense developments where you fight as you climb back up are a distinct characteristic. Hence, I look forward to those intense developments in the second chapter (season)!

Narita: I don’t like calculating future developments and then think “I’ll do this part like this” so I go into the recordings without knowing the upcoming story or the movement of the characters as much as possible. Besides, it feels more fun to go into it without knowing the story. As such, all I use is my sense of smell. In this work, it feels like I’m using my sense of smell 1,000 times more than usual. That’s just how much concentration is needed, and I feel that this work is very stimulating in more ways than one.

— It seems that Sesshōmaru himself moves knowing what Kirinmaru and Zero are after but Narita-san, you were acting without knowing the upcoming development I see.

Narita: That’s right. Sound director Nagura Yasushi-san asked me “Would you like me to give you something that explains how things will turn out?” but I purposely declined. If I found out, it felt as though unnecessary emotions would come out of my voice. When I act, I aim for the middle between “Lines written in the script as is” and “my own considerations” like “It probably goes like this right?”.

Komatsu: Even though I think Sesshōmaru probably knows everything, his lines have various components mixed into them, so I always get a sense of “I wonder?”. That’s why as a fan, I love speculating that marginal aspect.

Matsumoto: I’m the same way. (His lines) always leave room for pondering.

Komatsu: He doesn’t speak much to begin with, but I think it’s just like father to not say everything within those few words. Watching Narita-san record in person today, I was moved by how Sesshōmaru’s nuances were expressed with such finesse.

Narita: As expected, you two are “Inuyasha” fans (laughs). But it really is difficult. He won’t say things with words after all. Although, he would just become a boring man if he said everything. I think he himself knows everything, but suppresses giving out the answer and just highlights it a little bit… that kind of moderation is important. I’m always conscious of this when I act but it’s tough after all. I only have a few lines so I have this feeling of “If I mess these words up, when is the next time (I speak)?”. That’s why I act with this feeling of “I’m going to put everything into these words” every time.

— Narita-san, how did you feel when you first heard about the “Hanyō no Yashahime” project?

Narita: I never thought they would revive “Inuyasha” in this form. If they were going to do it, I thought naturally Inuyasha would be the center of the story. The setting of Sesshōmaru’s children being the main characters never crossed my mind. I thought something like that would be impossible and I wondered about a lot of things like “Then who’s the mother?”. Rin (being the mother) was unexpected.

— It was unexpected?

Narita: I didn’t think he would ever touch upon that. I wanted to shake Sesshōmaru’s shoulders like “This isn’t like you~!” (laughs).

Komatsu: Love sprouted!

Narita: How do I put it, love is something far off to Sesshōmaru… I even think he had kids because he probably had some kind of objective.

— In other words, not because he wanted to create a family?

Narita: That might be true for Inuyasha, but for Sesshōmaru, I think there was an experimental aspect to it like “What sort of chemical reaction would happen in my heart if I had kids”. After all, I don’t think it’s necessary for him to be a dad.

Komatsu: Sesshōmaru certainly does seem like he would have that kind of desire to “want to know”.

— Then how did you feel when you saw the girls?

Narita: “Ah, so this is what they’re like” is what I thought. I thought they were brave, healthy looking kids. When color was added to the characters, I felt there were aspects similar to Sesshōmaru. But you know, the shock that he had daughters really is big. It was like “Will the Sesshōmaru up until now fall apart?” “I don’t want him to start ogling”. It was a little complicated there. It's just that it’s true that in the story of “Inuyasha”, he gradually showed his affection for Rin. In that case, something close to that may also bud for his daughters and that too may become a new appeal for him.

Reenacting Sesshōmaru’s Solitude for the Final Recording

— It’s been 20 years since the time of “Inuyasha” but Narita-san, do you remember the time you met Sesshōmaru?

Narita: I did not get the role of Sesshōmaru through auditioning. It seems there were actual auditions, but they couldn’t come to a decision, so they had Takahashi Rumiko-sensei, the author of the original work, listen to the voice samples of various candidates. It was there that Rumiko-sensei picked me is how the story goes. Until then, I did not have many appearances in anime works, so I think there are many young people who recognize me for my role as Sesshōmaru. I also felt that things changed after I played Sesshōmaru. That’s why to me, his existence is very big.

— His looks are androgynous but his voice is deep, so in the beginning, there may have been people who felt an element of surprise from that.

Narita: When I first saw his character appearance, I remember thinking he was woman dressed in a furisode. That’s why during the first test, I used a higher pitched voice. Like the pretty boy voice so to speak. Then, the sound director at the time, Tsuruoka Yōta-san told me “Please make it deeper”. I lowered my voice while thinking “What?” yet he still said “Deeper” … That’s why it was very hard in the beginning. It was to the point that I thought “I can’t keep going like this!”. That’s why I raised my voice just a little bit at time so that it wasn’t noticeable. Otherwise, I felt that I couldn’t express (things). When I did that, it gradually became easier.

Matsumoto: So that’s how it was.

Narita: Although, there was a trigger behind that. At one point, I received a letter from someone who was a fan of the work and it seemed that the Sesshōmaru that person imagined was a certain voice actor who was very popular at the time. When I read that, I thought “Whaaat!” (laughs). But if that’s the case, I thought “It’s fine if I do this more freely” and my shoulders relaxed instantly, and I felt better.

— As in acting in a way that only you can?

Narita: Yes, that’s why I’m grateful for that letter. It’s thanks to that that I was able to reach a turning point after all.

Komatsu: Meaning you broke through that “Sesshōmaru has to be like this” kind of (mentality). When I first heard Sesshōmaru’s voice in the animation, I was able to grasp that “This is what Sesshōmaru’s scariness was”. To begin with, his beauty and contrasting calmness pierced through me and I had this scary image of him from when I read the manga. However, the moment that became a voice, I really felt that it made it convincing. That’s why from the start in my mind, I couldn’t imagine anyone else for Sesshōmaru other than Narita-san. It’s the complete opposite of Inuyasha’s high tone and he’s calm. He felt like a true greater demon. His rank is much higher than Inuyasha’s and I could feel that sense of him being beyond anyone’s power.

Narita: Afterall, his father (the Dog General) was Ōtsuka Akio-san and his mother is Sakakibara Yoshiko-san. The parents were amazing, weren’t they?

Matsumoto: For sure, the whole family is strong… …!

Narita: But Sesshōmaru’s strength is that he doesn’t flinch even before such parents. Like he has his own world. I thought I really should (act) that part without wavering.

— How did it feel playing Sesshōmaru again for the first time in a while in “Hanyō no Yashahime”?

Narita: It’s been 20 years since “Inuyasha” and 10 years since “Inuyasha the Final Act” so that amount of time is pretty hefty. I thought I could do it instantly but when I tried, it felt off. I was bewildered like “I did this originally so why?”. I started acting while doing my utmost to recall the feelings from back then, but it didn’t go well immediately and even I was surprised. The stronger the emotional attachment, the closer to myself I got and I thought “This is a human”. I kept comparing and adjusting many times like “Gotta change it back, gotta change it back”.

— So there’s a certain feeling when playing a demon.

Narita: That’s when I thought I probably focused a lot more back during “Inuyasha”. The onsite studio for “Inuyasha” had a peaceful atmosphere and I felt that I couldn’t let myself get caught up in the atmosphere. Stubbornly, I strongly made myself think “I am solitary”. Until I stood in front of the microphone, I would create Sesshōmaru inside myself and carry on as such until the end. That may have been what I was missing. That’s why at the recording of the final episode today, I purposely told the girls “I want you out”.

— In other words?

Narita: Just as I said earlier, I recorded episode 23 with the girls but I recorded the final episode alone. During that time, the girls waited for me (until the interview started) and they could’ve stayed in the booth but I purposely wanted to do it alone. It probably wouldn’t have changed much whether there was someone inside or not but how to put it, I wanted to get closer to the me back then, even just a little.

— I see.

Matsumoto: There’s certainly emphasis on recording with a small number of people right now, so it might be a difficult environment to face your role in. It’s pretty much you get to the studio, immediately voice the scenes you appear in, and then immediately go home when you’re done. Even as a newbie, I can feel it throwing off my rhythm somehow.

— So even bout scenes get (cut up) into small pieces then.

Matsumoto: I think if we had recorded with everyone together from the top, we could’ve created time for each of us to focus on our roles while feeling the flow of the story. I think there’s definitely something that can be built with everyone onsite. However, there’s difficulty from not having time to build that.

Komatsu: When you can feel the flow of the whole thing onsite, the feeling changes a little from when you’re reading the script at home. There are times where you realize things for the first time. But right now, we’re only doing our corresponding scenes, so things come up that we just can’t grasp. There is merit in just doing your turn in a short time, but it feels completely different from doing it with everyone.

— So there’s a challenge that comes from the Corona crisis.

Komatsu: The staff have shown consideration for us by making it possible for us to interact with each other as much as possible, so I’m grateful. While taking in consideration counter measures against spreading the virus, they adjusted it so that those voicing scenes with character conversations can record in the same booth together. Thanks to that, the cast of the three Yashahime were basically able to record together.

Narita: They were limiting it to around 3, 4 people at most. I recorded with Kirinmaru (Yoshimasa Hosoya-san) and Zero (Sakamoto Maaya-san) many times. Then there was Jaken-chan (Chō-san). Jaken was the same old Jaken and he made me think that I had to do my best without losing. I didn’t (record) together with my younger brother (Inuyasha played by Yamaguchi Kappei-san). Not that I want to meet him or anything.

Matsumoto: It’s Lord Sesshōmaru! (laughs)

Komatsu: Thank you! (laughs)

Narita: (laughs) Also, I was able to record together with Rin (Noto Mamiko-san) in episode 1. It felt as though Noto-san had matured a little bit. Her growth as a woman came through a little in her acting, which I thought was wonderful.

Matsumoto: Us daughters haven’t recorded with Noto-san but I just happened to be able to watch the recording for episode 15, so that’s when I greeted her. When I told her “I’m your daughter; thank you for giving birth to me” Noto-san was like “Oh my god~! My daughter~!”. But we had to maintain social distancing so we were both like “I can’t hug youuuu~!” (laughs).

Komatsu: I’m so jealous. I can picture that situation (laughs)

Concern about Setsuna’s life and Towa and Riku’s relationship

— In regard to Rin, it was revealed in episode 23 and 24 that her “fate” is connected to Zero. Matsumoto-san and Komatsu-san, as daughters, what do you think?

Komatsu: I thought “what a cruel fate”. While the feeling of wanting to hurry and meet mother face to face grows stronger, currently the only way to prolong Rin’s life is to keep her asleep, and it’s there that Setsuna’s Dream Butterfly is involved. All that is linked to Zero.

Matsumoto: It’s a negative chain where in order to get Setsuna’s sleep back, you have to kill Zero but doing so would also kill Rin. Towa wants Setsuna to be able to sleep but she still doesn’t know about that connection. She tried to sever that in the final episode, but the result was…

Komatsu: Setsuna, who was never able to sleep, was finally able to sleep via death. It was such an ironic plot twist… …!

Matsumoto: Seriously, I thought “You’d write this kind of script!?”! (laughs) In the opening for cour 2, there’s a scene where Rin catches a falling Setsuna but I want them to hurry and do this scene in the main story.

Narita: Setsuna will be in season 2, right? We won’t be able to sleep in Setsuna’s place because we’re so curious.

Komatsu: I have faith that she’ll appear… … For that reason, I look forward to Towa’s efforts.

Matsumoto: I’ll do my best! At the end of the final episode, Sesshōmaru takes out a broken Tenseiga and says “Shall you try, Towa…”. That was the first time father said my name. Earlier, I watched Narita-san record from outside the booth and that was truly unforgettable. Seriously, I think it was a scene that entrusted a lot of things (to Towa) so I want to carve that voice into my heart and take on the recording for the final episode.

— In regard to Towa, her relationship with Riku is also of interest.

Matsumoto: You’re right. The scene where she told Riku “I like you!” really surprised me!

Komatsu: Love made up a large portion within the story of “Inuyasha” but “Hanyō no Yashahime” doesn’t have a love component to that level. It was a scene where you saw a small sign of that.

Matsumoto: For the line “I like you”, Nagura-san directed me before the recording “It is absolutely not fawning. Please don’t go in the LOVE (romantic) direction.” I think it was a refreshing emotion and that she liked Riku as a person type feeling. I was also told “It’s okay to show happiness when Towa sees Riku like ‘Oh it’s Riku’”. Even though she doesn’t think it’s (romantic) love, it seems she’s always had this perception of “Riku’s not a bad person” and I think what burst out from that was “I like you”. The fact that Riku hugged her was something that lingered with her into the next episode, and it was very memorable.

Narita: Riku… … he can’t be overlooked in many ways (laughs). This won’t do, I can’t let him live. I guess I should cut him down in a single stroke!

Matsumoto: Fatheeeeer!! (laughs)

Komatsu: Like “I won’t forgive anyone who make a move on my daughter” (laughs)

— Riku’s wellbeing will be something to pay attention to in season 2 (laughs). Lastly please give a message to our readers who are looking forward to the second chapter (season).

Komatsu: First off, there’s what’s going to happen to Setsuna. I’m sure Towa, who’s been entrusted with things, will revive her in the second chapter (season)… … Personally, I want to see father-daughter interaction and a reunion scene with mother. I also haven’t given up on my dream of an exciting modern era school life! Just once is fine but I want an episode where everyone goes to the modern era, wears a school uniform, and takes Kirin-sensei’s class. Having it end as “it was all just a dream” is fine too (laughs). I believe there are issues as well like Inuyasha and Kagome being trapped in the black pearl, so I hope everything is included in the second chapter (season)!

Narita: Indeed, when I think about what all is going to happen, I can’t help but be curious. Coming to episode 23, I recorded with the girls for the first time but how are things going to be between (Sesshōmaru) and the girls going forward? I’m also curious about the relationships with Inuyasha and Kirinmaru. I’m just like the viewers in that I want to enjoy each episode one at a time. I’m truly happy to have encountered this work. I would be happy if everyone continued supporting us.

Matsumoto: In terms of hopes, I want Setsuna to be revived immediately at the beginning of the second chapter (season)… … Even if that doesn’t happen, I want Setsuna to be revived as soon as possible. I think there will be new encounters getting there. At the end of season 1, there was a character named Akuru that appeared along with the keyword “Windmill of Time”. I’m excited to see how those will connect into the second chapter (season). Another thing I’m curious about is the promise that was made to Mei, “We’ll come back for sure”.

Komatsu: Oh yeah

Matsumoto: I do feel that I want to see a scene where Towa says “I’m home” to the Higurashi family… … but right now I don’t want to go back to the modern era! Need to revive Setsuna and clean up everything before that! Riku, Zero, and Kirinmaru might show some new movement in the second chapter (season). Please look forward to it without missing the details!

Q. Who did you think was Towa and Setsuna’s mother?

Narita: I thought it was Jaken (laughs).

Matsumoto: The Mama Jaken theory! (laughs)

Komatsu: Even among the fans, there was the Mama Jaken theory in the beginning (laughs).

Narita: Well, Jaken stays close to Sesshōmaru the most and knows him best. If love was going to sprout, it would’ve been from Jaken. Plus, he’s a full demon.

Matsumoto: Master Jaken really looks at Lord Sesshōmaru after all.

Komatsu: In actuality, Master Jaken was both the educator and caretaker, so his position was like a wet nurse.

Narita: He might’ve been breast feeding them periodically. Demons seem like they can do anything (laughs).

Komatsu: I think Master Jaken guessed what Lord Sesshōmaru was feeling and thought “What is my role…”.

Narita: He probably can’t be by Sesshōmaru’s side if he doesn’t have that kind of anticipation (laughs)

#Yashahime #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime: princess half demon #translation

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thedannyphantomcookbook · 3 years

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The Phantom Origins

Okay, so I know probably a bunch of people have already done this, but I wanted to rewrite Danny Phantom, from just before he got his powers to maybe when he tells his parents.

I’m tired of waiting for a reboot that may never come, so here is what I picture the reboot would look like.

I’ve always thought it would be darker and more horrific, that the ghosts he fights are more monstrous and demonic.

That there would be a little bit more of a medical concern for Danny’s humanity being affected by his ghost half. Is he becoming more ghost like? Is he gradually getting sicker and sicker, and his ghost DNA ravages through his body like cancer?

Would Vlad be not only a sexist, creepy, abusive old man, but contains a thirst for deception and power that he poses a real, apocalyptic threat on Earth and the ghost zone?

Are ghosts actually the spirits of the dead? Or are they a different breed of human that lives in a completely separate dimension, that’s is layered and hidden within ours?

What about Danny’s mental health. He has to keep this big secret from his parents because he absolutely FEARS what would happen if they found it to the point he’s scared they wouldn’t believe he was their son and try to kill him as a result, or keep him hostage in the basement, slowly torturing him and dissecting him until he’s dead? What would the world think of him? A prophet? A demon? Would they accuse his parents for experimenting on their own children? He would have so much fear and anxiety that he’d have to be on edge all the time, falling into depression, panic attacks - not to mention the PTSD he’d get from it all while battle nightmarish monsters and the hanging question over his head of what he is now.

These are just SOME of the questions I’ve had that Butch Hartman will never answer. He set up such a great plot and characters but carried it out pretty poorly over the show (which may or may not be his fault since they wanted to keep it kid friendly.)

I hope to get into the deep and dark and nitty gritty details of Danny Phantom we’ve imagined but never get to see. I wrote the first chapter below, and I plan to write much more. :)

I hope you guys enjoy it!

Follow me over at Ao3

Summary:

Dr. Madelyn Fenton and her husband, Dr. Jackson Fenton, have just built the world's first portal to the Ghost Zone - an alternate dimension where undead linger for all eternity. The only problem is no one believes in what they are doing. The townspeople call them the Fenton Freaks and the rejection letters from the National Science Foundation are piling up. Not even their own children can tolerate their ghost obsession. Their 14 year old son, Danny, does what he can to separate himself from his parents. Mocked by his peers and judged by his teachers, he keeps his head down and stays out of the spotlight.

It comes as no surprise to Danny when his parents' machine fails to work on the first test run. Discouraged, they leave empty handed for the weekend to go to the Ghost Hunter's Expo, where they were expected to present their portal during their panel. As soon as his parents leave, Danny invites his friends over to give a tour of yet another one of his parents' failed experiments. When he gets dared to walk inside the machine, he triggers something that turns it back on, and for the first time ever, his parents have an invention that works. But that's the least of the surprises when Danny emerges from the portal himself...

To Whom It May Concern,

To the esteemed members of the National Science Foundation, myself, Dr. Madelyn Fenton, PhD., and my husband, Dr. Jackson Fenton, PhD., write to you today to consider us for the New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant Award. Our combined decades worth of research within paranormal scientific research fields have led us to believe that the “ghost” entities that haunt our very Earth, could in fact be the missing link to creating new technology, curing human illnesses, and prolonging human life on Earth.

The term “ghosts” is defined as a religious or spiritual being, or the hypothetical soul of the human body, separated from physical forms, usually that of a person recently deceased. Dr. Jackson Fenton and myself have a different theory about the “ghostly” entities that visit our Earth. We have sufficient evidence to prove that ghosts are in fact not the spirits of the dead, but an entirely new species of the human race. We believe they exist in an alternate dimension - a separate plane of existence that is not unlike ours. Recent developments have also shown the possibility of dimensional travel - we believe ghosts are able to pass through into our plane of existence for a temporary amount of time. Through our rigorous research, construction, and experimentation, Dr. Jackson Fenton and myself have created what would be a “portal” to this plane of existence, to the “Ghost Zone.” By exploring and studying the ghost zone, we could collect a limitless amount of research and data that could be used to benefit humanity for the rest of our existence.

We have provided within our application our twenty years of research and development, along with video recordings of our experiments as evidence of our work in progress, as we humbly request your consideration for the New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant Award.

Sincerely,

Dr. Madelyn Fenton, PhD. in Quantum Physics and Paranormal Studies

Dr. Jackson Fenton, PhD. in Theoretical Science and Paranormal Studies

From the Grants and Admissions Office of the National Science Foundation

To Dr. Madelyn Fenton and Dr. Jackson Fenton,

Thank you for your interest in applying for the New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant Award. The New Exploratory Scientific Research Grant Award (NESRGA) is an esteemed scholarship opportunity that looks to provide funding for ground-breaking scientific research to scientists working within small and local laboratories. After carefully reviewing your application and research, we have come to the regretful decision to decline your request to receive the NESRGA.

We unfortunately could not approve your request due to the following issues:

Insufficient or lack thereof evidence or proof of scientific research of ghostly entities and/or undiscovered species, the “Ghost Zone” dimension in which these entities exist, or possible travel to said “Ghost Zone.”

Insufficient of lack thereof peer review research and laboratory data.

Paranormal entities and alternative dimensional research is not recognized under the National Science Foundation as factual scientific work.

We are thrilled to hear that you share such enthusiasm, passion, and ambition in the pursuit of scientific exploration, research and development. You are a part of a wonderful community, and through your tireless efforts, you will help bring our Earth into the future.

We welcome you to apply for the NESRGA again next year.

Sincerely,

Barbara Keaton,

Director of Grants and Admissions

National Science Foundation

GHOST HUNTERS EXPO - THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND

To Drs. Maddie and Jack Fenton,

We are excited to have you return to speak at the Ghost Hunters Expo this coming labor day weekend. We have reviewed your Ghost Zone Theory and we anticipate your presentation of your research.

Please note: due to new regulations we cannot allow the following into the convention center:

Ecto-infused food, inanimate objects, or animal mutations of any kind.

Alarm or defense systems that release a form of knock out gas, ectoplasmic goo, ectoplasmic foam, spoiled meats, or live rodents. All alarms and defense systems must be turned off while inside the convention center.

Samplings or gifts of homemade cookies or other food, beverages, or gifts to bribe the judges.

Disclosed weapons that are not a part of your presentation and/or not approved by the convention prior (we will have metal detections at all entry points of the convention hall)

Asking for audience volunteers unless approved by us prior your scheduled presentation time.

Ghost claims targeted towards convention guests, judges, or other presenters.

All presentations and inventions must have been tested and approved by a judge prior to your presentation time (i.e. no last minute or surprise inventions).

Fighting or displays of physical aggression.

Destruction of convention hall equipment, the building’s foundation itself, or other presenters equipment and or inventions.

We thank you in advance for your compliance and full understanding of the new regulations.

We look forward to seeing you!

Best,

Trevor Martin

Ghost Hunters Expo Coordinator

“Did you see this?” Jack Fenton asked, waving the notice from the Ghost Hunters Expo. He scoffed. “New regulations...I wonder who were the bimbos that made them enforce these rules.” He crumbled up the notice and threw it carelessly on the floor.

“How’s that portal coming, sweet cheeks?” he asked his wife.

Maddie Fenton was deep within a hexagon shaped chamber carved out of her laboratory converted basement wall. The interior was lined with a colorful array of wires and tiny blinking lights. At the end of the chamber, sheets of metal and hardware fanned in on itself. Maddie was kneeled on the floor, wrestling with a few cords.

“I’m just struggling to connect these last couple of wires,” she answered, pinching the two cords together. With a last bit of strain, the cords connected with a satisfying click.

Wiping the sweat off her brow, she came out of the chamber. “Hopefully that will stabilize the gravitational pull of the Ghost Zone once we get the portal running.” She briefly thought back to a dark memory from their college days when their first Ghost Zone prototype had malfunctioned and the toxins from the Ghost Zone leaked out of the portal, resulting in displacing one of her lab partners for the remainder of their college career.

“We got it this time, baby,” Jack said confidently. “There is no way we could make the same mistake twice.”

Maddie sighed as she walked over to the control panel to record the ecto-readings. “I just wish we knew for certain what had gone wrong that day. All of this guess work is driving me crazy.” She picked up her notebook and briefly reviewed her meticulously hand written notes before adjusting some dials.

“Okay,” she huffed, satisfied. “I think we’re ready for a test run.”

Jack clapped his hands. “Excellent! I’ll go grab the kids!” He ran to the basement steps and shouted, “Jazzy-pants! Danny! Get down here!”

A few minutes later both of their teenage children shuffled down the basement steps.

“Is this gonna take long?” Danny asked, disinterestedly. “Tucker and I were in the middle of planning our next battlefield strategies for Doomed. There’s only a few days left of summer vacation and we still have so much planning to do if we want to beat the other online players and achieve the seven Keys of Destiny.”

“And I was in the middle of an important breakthrough in my self therapeutic psychology research,” their daughter, Jazz promptly stated. In her hands she clutched an open copy anxiety and phobias workbook. “Did you know that high functioning anxiety in adulthood is caused by childhood trauma from never feeling safe in your own home? This would explain so much about me and Danny -” she paused in her speech when she saw the machine her parents were working on.

“Oh, no.” She snapped her book shut and pinched the flesh between her eyes. “ Please do not tell me you called us down here to witness another one of your experiments. Don’t you remember what happened last time?”

“Oh, Jazz, relax,” Maddie said, waving her off. “Those burn marks from the last ectoplasmic gun experiment healed eventually. And look!” She walked over to a closet in the back of the room and pulled out two polyester jumpsuits. “We made you both your own custom fitted, lab safe, jumpsuits!”

Jack appeared beside Maddie. “And we matched them with ours! Jazzy-pants, yours is teal to match your mother’s. And Danny, yours would have matched mine but the store didn’t have orange.” he held out a plain white jumpsuit with black gloves and boots.

“And I haven’t even shown you two the best parts!” he grabbed the jumpsuits from Maddie and spun them around. Crudely pressed onto the fabric of the jumpsuit was a cutout of Jack Fenton’s smiling face, emblazoned on the chest.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Jack grinned.

Jazz was the first to respond. “Dad there is no way you’re going to get me to wear that,” she said while backing away and shaking her head. “How about Danny and I will just go upstairs and you can call us down after you’ve tested it? That way we’ll be safe and not have to wear those hideous jumpsuits.”

Danny silently agreed with her while struggling to conceal his own disgust at the suits. It was one thing to be forced to wear a jumpsuit like his parents but it was an entirely different level of lame to have to wear his father’s face across his chest. What if his parents insisted he wore it all the time, like they did? Involuntary images of him becoming the laughing stock at his new high school was surfacing in his mind, more than he already was for being the son of the city’s eccentric ghost hunting husband and wife team. He was already struggling to stay above the pathetic nerd social ring in his class. They’d have to create an entirely new category of nerd just for him if he wore that suit. The thought of it made him want to crawl away in a hole and be left there to die.

“Mom, Dad, I have to agree with Jazz,” Danny said. “The suits are kinda...lame.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Maddie dismissed. “These jumpsuits are the latest fashion that every ghost hunter wants.”

“And when we reveal these babies with my face on them, everyone will be scrambling for one. We’ll be rich!” Jack stated proudly.

Jazz snorted. “Um, I somehow doubt that. Look, we’ll just go back upstairs and you two can let us know when it’s safe, okay?” She looped a hand around Danny’s arm and started pulling him away.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Jack clamped a hand on both of them and spun them back around. “You two are being given the chance to witness scientific history! And we are not going to let you pass up on this.” He tossed the jumpsuits to Jazz and Danny. They unwillingly caught them.

Jazz glowered at Danny. “If you take any photos and post them on the internet, I will kill you.”

Danny held out his suit reproachfully. His dad’s smiling face seemed to be laughing at him, like all of the students as Casper High will be if they ever found out about this.

“Don’t worry about it.”

A few minutes later, Jazz and Danny stood alongside their parents in their matching jumpsuits. Jazz stood with her arms crossed, silently fuming, her foot tapping impatiently. At her mother’s insistence, Jazz was forced to tuck in her long, red hair and wear the hair sealing head cover and thick, dark eye protection goggles that came with it. At equal height, Jazz and Maddie were identical in their suits.

At least Danny couldn’t match his dad. Jack’s suit was bright orange and about twenty sizes larger than Danny’s, due to his father’s obsession with Maddie’s homemade fudge and cookie inventions. Danny’s own white suit was slightly too large for him, and hung in odd places due to his skinny frame. He didn’t have to wear a hood and goggles like his sister either - another thankful shortage from the ghost hunter’s clothing warehouse. He picked at his dad’s pressed on face design on his chest as he waited for his parents to get the machine ready for its test run. His dad had tried ironing it on, but had done it poorly, so that with a bit of a tug, it was already beginning to peel off.

Jack and Maddie Fenton ran back and forth across the lab, double checking last minute calculations. Machines whirred and beeped around them, the hum of electricity warm in the stagnant air.

Danny had a good idea of how this was going to go. If this would be like any of their past experiments, it would fail miserably. The experiment would go haywire, probably spout ectoplasmic goo everywhere or accidentally giving ecto energy to the nearest food item. One year, their parents had tried making the Christmas Turkey in their newly invented Ultra-fast Instant Pot and instead infused it with demonic ghostly energy and reanimated it. Danny remembered hiding underneath the kitchen table as Jazz had to beat it back with a pastry roller, screaming for their parents.

The ghost zone portal was their most ambitious project yet. For most of Danny’s life, they had dinner table discussions, weighing mathematical equations and scientific chemical balances in hopes of being able to one day engineer the world’s first ghost zone portal. He was fairly surprised when he found out at the beginning of the summer that they were finally constructing it, and even more so when they claimed last night it was completed. They had been rushing to get it done in time to present it at the Ghost Hunters Expo this weekend.

He glanced at the table beside him looking at the pile of papers his dad had haphazardly stacked among the beakers and ghost weapons. Sitting on top of the stack was the rejection letter from the National Science Foundation.

“It means that they don’t think what they’re doing is science,” Jazz had interpreted for Danny after reading it when their parents’ back was turned. “And who could blame them? There is zero evidence supporting the existence of ghosts. It’s just superstition.”

That’s all it was. Superstition. And yet, his parents had at some point in their youth latched on to the idea that ghosts were more than a myth, and even though they’ve never actually seen one in person themselves, they were determined to prove ghosts were real. What amazed Danny the most is the amount of people who also believed in the same theory. In the years past when his parents had dragged him and Jazz to the Ghost Hunter’s Expo, the crowds always seemed to grow bigger and bigger. Scientists, hunters, enthusiasts, and even ghost cosplayers gathered under the same roof for a full weekend, exchanging theories, stories and footage of what they thought were ghosts. The most ridiculous rumor he had heard at the last ghost hunter’s convention was one of a young, blue haired female musician, who became an overnight sensation after one performance at a local carnival. She had also disappeared quite suddenly after the performance, which raised a lot of speculation. Ghost hunters claimed her unusually pale skin and hypnotic vocals were a part of her ghostly powers. Jazz had stated that it was simply because she was a successful female in the patriarchy they had to deem her as a ghost to explain it.

Danny didn’t want to say anything else after that.

“Jack,” Maddie called from across the room, typing away at a computer. “Did you remember to pour in the ecto-purifier?”

“On it, baby!” Jack cried while fumbling with a control panel. Danny watched as grabbed a can of diet cola, which sat next to the similar sized gray cylinder labeled “EP.”

“Uh, Dad?” Danny called. “I don’t think that’s the ecto-purifier.”

“What’s that?” Jack asked. He turned to look at the object in his hand and barked out a chuckle.

“Thanks, son! That was a close one.” He placed the can of diet cola down and picked up the correct cylinder. “Who knows what would have happened if we purified the toxic ghost energies with diet cola. Could you imagine?” He poured the bright green liquid into the appropriate chamber.

In the corner of his eye, Danny saw Jazz shake her head. “Idiot,” she whispered.

Jazz believed she was the only mature Fenton in the family. At some point during her high school career, she had decided it was up to her to convince her parents that ghosts were not real, and to force them to change their careers to something more normal or socially acceptable. She had tried to get them interested in just about any other scientific field she could think of, such as deep sea diving to discover creatures living on the ocean floor, to NASA’s space engineering program. When those didn’t work, she tried to build a case proving the psychological damage they were causing to her’s and Danny’s upbringing. Over the summer, when she wasn’t preparing herself for the SATs she’d have to take later that school year, she poured over every psychological book she could get her hands on from the library. No matter how many times she argued about the permanent damage her parents were inflicting on their amygdala by creating an unsafe environment for her and Danny to grow up in, their parents would say it’s all worth it for the sake of scientific advancement.

Danny tried desperately to stay out of their fights. Most days, he was too focused on trying to survive a day without being called “that ghost geek” by his peers, no matter how many times he told his classmates he didn’t believe in his parents’ work. Maybe it was because of his small, bony limbs that made it so easy for his classmates to mock him. Or the fact that his only two friends in the entire world were also considered a variety of nerd within the social climate. His best friend Tucker was a little too obsessed with the latest technology and his other friend, Samanatha - Sam for short - was the only school’s goth girl, who filled her entire personality and outlook with dark and depressing outfits and literature. In a weird way, it did make sense that the girl who loved to read about the dead, and the boy who loved technology, would want to be friends with the kid whose parents called themselves ghost scientists. Still, they were his best friends and he wouldn’t trade them for anyone else.

He had been telling them about the portal his parents were building all summer. Just like he was, his friends were also doubtful it would work. They deliberated about what the inventions would actually do. Tucker still brought up the time Danny’s parents were testing out an anti-ghost gravity spray, to temporarily make a ghost lose their flight ability. The morning they were testing it out, Danny had woken up in a hovering bed. It had shocked him so much, he fell off his bed and face-planted onto his bedroom floor, breaking his nose. At some point, Tucker and Sam started placing bets about the outcome.

“Maybe the portal will just blast a hole through the wall and you’ll send up in the Amity Park Sewer System,” Sam guessed last night after he told them his parents were getting ready for their first test.

“Bet you five bucks that Danny will lose all of his hair this time,” Tucker had joked.

He absentmindedly ran a hand through his exposed hair and briefly wished he had a head cover and goggles like Jazz. He couldn’t help but notice there was something different about his parents this time. They didn’t have the same, bubbly and excited energy they usually had when showing off a new invention. They seemed more focused this time. Even his dad’s goofy banter towards Maddie had taken a back seat as his dad frowned over the controls. It was weird to see his dad actually concentrating. Maybe it was the hundredth rejection letter they received from the National Science Foundation, or the pressure to present this weekend at the Expo, but it seemed like they were seriously trying to make this thing work. They did not want to fail.

“Okay everyone!” Maddie ran over and started waving her hands. “Backs up against the wall.”

Jazz sighed and turned to walk over to stand behind the boxed in yellow line, the “safe” spot in the lab. Danny thought a metal containment center with a viewing screen would have kept them safer, but supposedly his parents didn’t have time to build one. Danny followed his mother and sister.

“Almost…” Jack muttered at the controls, typing away. Suddenly there was a loud click that echoed off the basement walls. Machines roared to life and lights winked on. Inside the portal, the metal fans began to spin.

“YES!” Jack punched the air, triumphant.

“Jack!” Maddie called to her husband, gesturing towards the safe zone. He jogged over and squeezed himself in between his two kids.

“This is it!” he shouted over the noise, which was gradually becoming deafening.

All around the room, machines and computers turned on. Attached beakers and graduated cylinders filled up with green, bubbling liquid. A wall lined with dialers bounced up and down. Puffs of smoke expelled out of exhaust pipes. The portal itself began to crackle with electricity, its interior fans spinning faster and faster until it started emitting a bright green glow. The pressure in the room changed, popping Danny’s ears. He felt the tips of his hair begin to rise with the electric waves.

The whirring of the fans inside the machine began to ring out a high pitch squeal as the machine glowed brighter, and brighter, blinding Danny’s naked eyes. He squinted and held out a hand over his eyes, peeking through his fingers. The air around them grew warm and staticky. His father clamped a hand tightly on Danny’s shoulder, as if to hold him back from running away.

It was working. Danny couldn’t believe it. Not once in all of their years of inventing ghost machines and hunting equipment, they may have actually been able to build something that worked like they wanted it to.

What would this mean? That ghosts actually existed? That his parents were not the crackpot fools the town took them for? And if they did exist, there was the one question that no one has been able to answer.

Were ghosts dangerous?

He looked up at Jazz. Her expression was unreadable through the head covering. He looked at his parents, wild and furious excitement in their eyes.

Then, when it seemed like Danny’s ears couldn’t take much more of the screeching noise, a BOOM exploded from the portal. Light poured out of the machine and flooded the room. Danny yelped and turned away. Jack stepped in front of his family and hid them with his massive torso from the explosion. Then, very suddenly, the room went dark. Every light and machine that had been just buzzing with life, died. Danny’s hearing rang in the abrupt silence.

“What the heck?” Jack was the first to say something.

“I got a flashlight, hang on,” Maddie said next. Danny heard her fumbling around her utility belt and a small light winked on. She shined it around the room. Curls of smoke rose up from the machines. The glow from the ecto-purifier had also faded.

“I don’t understand,” Maddie said, dumbfounded as she gazed around the room. “This should have worked.”

“We checked every calculation,” Jack said, equally mystified.

“And tested every single machine.” She threw up her hands. “I even made sure the damn computers turned on!”

“Well, obviously, this wasn’t going to work,” Jazz suddenly said, her anger returning. “You guys were trying to open a portal to nothing . Because ghosts don’t EXIST.”

She ripped off the hood and goggles. “I’m going back upstairs to change and burn this stupid jumpsuit, and work on processing this trauma that you have inflicted on us, yet again.” Without waiting for her parents to respond, she stomped back upstairs, her footsteps echoing off the silent basement walls

Jack shook his head. “What is her deal?”

“Oh, never mind her, Jack,” Maddie said. “We need to figure out what went wrong. We only have a day until the expo and we promised to present this.”

Danny’s parents turned their back on him and began working to restore the power, jumping right into a deep discussion. Danny took the moment to quietly slip away back upstairs.

The second he was back into his room, he let out a long exhale. Suddenly remembering he was wearing the jumpsuit, he hastily ripped it off and then threw it in the trash bin in the corner of his room.

He flopped back onto his bed, and lay in the stillness of his room for a few minutes to collect his thoughts. He stared up at the plastic, glow in the dark stars and planets stuck on his ceiling.

He couldn’t believe there was a moment back there where he thought the machine was working.

He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if ghosts were real. There were no real scientific facts about them. All those convention attendees at the ghost hunters expo all had different theories about what ghosts are - the religiously damned, aliens, spirits with unfinished business, souls that died before their time, another species - no one could settle on a single argument.

But if they did exist, what would happen then? Would they swarm the Earth, like cicadas after their years long sleep? Would they haunt each and every home and building in towns and cities, and try to claim it as their own? Would the world be plunged into a ghost apocalypse, where every human had to fight for their own human survival and soul? Were ghosts malicious or peaceful?

His parents might be arrested for creating the portal in the first place, if it did turn out bad. Or the government might force them to work alongside them to rid the Earth of the ghost population. What would happen to him and Jazz? Would they be put into juvie, just for being the kids of the Fenton Freaks? Would they be put into foster care, once the government decided Jack and Maddie were unfit parents for him and Jazz?

What if the human population adopted a sick fascination of ghosts? Businesses would try to profit off the ghosts by selling fake anti-ghost protection devices or offer tours inside “haunted” houses. There might even be a community in which some would fall in love or even want to become a ghost themselves.

The world would become absolute chaos.

Danny shuddered at the thought. He didn’t understand what his parents saw in trying to prove their existence. What good would proving the undead existed bring to the world?

His anxious, spiraling thoughts were interrupted when his computer dinged. Danny got up and sat down at his desk. He wiggled his mouse to wake up his computer. Tucker had sent him a message.

Still have all of your hair?

Danny chuckled and wrote back.

Yep. Nothing happened though. But the power in the basement blew.

Damn , was Tucker’s response. And I had just invested in a 25 pack of markers to color your head in Lancer’s class when you fall asleep.

Danny laughed out loud. I can only imagine all the pensises you’d draw.

I had planned no less than 50. Two for each color.

Well I hope you kept your receipt cause I still have a full head of hair. Unlike you. Danny made a jab at Tucker’s own buzzed haircut. He had tried growing out dreads for the school year, but his mother forced him to shave it off after he got caught staying up on the computer way too late one night. She paid the barber to give him a military buzz cut.

Shut up, dude, Tucker typed back. While you were away not getting your hair fried off your scalp, I was devising up a new battle plan to defeat Chaos.

Danny smiled. Oh yeah? Lay it on me.

#danny phantom #phantomorigins #phantom #ghosts #nickelodeon #fanfiction #danny fenton #half ghost #sam manson #tucker foley #jack fenton #maddie fenton #jazz fenton #dannyphantomfanfiction #Phanfiction #ao3 #ao3 danny phantom

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extremelyblackandwhite · 4 years

Text

handmaid - 26

PAIRING: mob!sebastian stan x ingenue!reader

WARNINGS: age gap, mention of weapons and gunshots

A/N: will i ever write a chapter without a musical reference? no as i literally cannot help myself.

NEXT CHAPTER

The night was like a warm blanket tonight yet the world somehow seemed wider, brighter as she laid against his chest, hearing his heart softly beating against his ribcage. The sound itself sent her in a spiral of her own mind, the sound itself proved he was alive, he was real and he was there. Laying down next to him was just the right thing to do despite it being at the same time the wrongest of all wrong things. Sure, this was the man Gwen had been promised to ever since she was born but at the same time whenever she was next to him he seemed like a completely different person than the mythical mob boss her mind had fabricated over the years. When she was next to him he was her lover and at the end of the day that was what overwhelmed her overall perception.

- What are you thinking about? - Sebastian slightly raised his head with precaution as to not disturb her. - You’re very quiet.

- Just basking in the feeling. - she looked up to him without really moving the rest of her body, hand remaining in its imaginary circle drawing. - We should probably return to doing what we were doing.

- I think there’s more boxes in the garage. - he sat up, arms wrapped around her figure so she didn’t fall off his lap and landed on the ground. If it was up to him, he would remain in that position for another hour with his nose buried in her hair smelling the scent of her fragrance mixed with her shampoo. - Maybe there’s something there.

- You don’t need to do this for me. - she pushed her hair to the side, cocking her head slightly as her hand searched the ground for her jumper which was colder than she would like due to the winter weather just outside. - I know you probably have your own business to take care of.

- I’m a good multitasker, my angel. - he kissed her naked shoulder before she slide her jumper on, shivering at the contact of her warm skin with the cold fabric. Y/N gave him a playful smile followed by a roll of the eyes before getting up, picking up his garments in the process and throwing them at him.

Smiling like a fool who just won the lottery, and in a certain way he sort of had, he got dressed up in the wrinkled clothes and wrapped his arm around her natural waist before leading her out of his office and into the life to the garage. If there was a room in the house that was always, if not ever since its construction, in chaos, it was the garage. Whatever he didn’t want in his home anymore or anything for which he didn’t have space, he would send it down to the garage which meant the room was filled to the brim with boxes and boxes along with some record books and more contracts, most likely belonging to his father as Sebastian prided himself in keeping an electronic copy of all his contracts, just in case. Y/N couldn’t help herself but sneeze at the amount of dust that had gathered over the years as she grabbed one of the boxes. Surely he had enough money to hire someone to clean it, however it seemed to always escape his mind.

Sebastian took the other side of the box created walls while Y/N started to go through the first box which weirdly was filled with clothes, children’s clothes. She cocked an eyebrow in confusion, but continued to go through the box’s contents, carefully putting the clothing off the box by her side until she reached a silver picture frame of a woman holding a baby whose gaze was somewhere else. She smiled at the warm nature of the photo which looked to have been snapped unknowingly. Her fingers traced the contours of the photo as she wondered who the two individuals were until she felt Sebastian’s hand on her shoulder.

- That’s my mother. - he pointed at the woman in the photo. - And that’s me.

- Why is this photo here? - she asked, turning her head to stare at him. Y/N knew Sebastian clearly had a soft spot for his mother as he spoke of her like any kid spoke of their parents, something that didn’t seem to occur whenever he mentioned his father whose relationship seemed to be more apprentice-master than father and son.

- In all honesty, I didn’t even remember it was down here. My father got rid of most stuff related to my mother after the divorce. - his hand left her shoulder as he took a seat next to her.

- You’ve never spoke to me about your mother. At least not a lot. - it was in her nature to be curious, she found the most she knew about people, the best she could connect and help them out. Sebastian normally would’ve taken curiosity at harsh value but whenever she asked him something, he couldn’t help but feel wrapped around her kind nature.

- Well, they got divorced when I was 6 or 7. Bad divorce, my mother didn’t have enough money to get a legal team so my father got everything, including me. One visit a year ... she ended up dying when I was 14.

- I’m so sorry, Seb. - she wrapped her arms around him, kissing his temple, trying to console him the best way she could. Sebastian however had closed that wound a long time ago and instead looked inside the box she was looking at, recognising most of the items as childhood belongings. With a curious look in her eyes, his hand rummaged through the box’s belongings taking an old teared by time stuffed bunny which gained Y/N’s attention. - What’s that?

- Oreo. - he said nonchalantly.

- Oreo? - she giggled. - It has a name? You don’t mean to tell me that the mob boss had a stuffed animal named Oreo.

- Mob bosses aren’t born mob bosses. - he put the stuffed animal back in the box. - I thought one of my kids might want it someday but if they’re anything like Gwen, I think they won’t want something this old.

- Right. - she swallowed her worries which kept telling her that she would never be the one to bore him a child. Mr. Williams words rang inside her mind like terrifying echoes. Mistress. Mistresses don’t get happy endings. - Well, you have good taste, Oreo is a great name.

- Good taste ... - his eyes seemed to rewind to a past time, leaving Y/N to look at him weirdly as he jumped on his feet to walk to a little shelf filled with books which turned to be photo albums. Looking through several pages in second-like intervals, he finally stopped in the middle of the album, a smile on his face as his memories proved right. Quickly moving towards the young handmaiden, placing the book in her lap. Her eyes glued to the photo which was of a round table filled with mostly men and little to no women, however, a specific woman stood out in the middle of everyone, a kind smile contrasting with the tight lipped smirks of the rest of the crowd. Around her neck a golden necklace just like the one which was wrapped around the young handmaiden’s neck. - I knew I remembered the name Robin.

- What happened to her? - Sebastian sadly couldn’t answer this question as he was rather young and most of the times forbidden to even be close to any of his father’s parties or dinners. Y/N flipped through the pages noticing she showed up in a few more pictures before completely disappearing. - She seems to stop appearing.

- Whoever she was, she was no mere worker. My father had a rather elitist taste when it came to who got to attend his dinners and parties. - the theory that her parents didn’t want her screamed at her again. At that point, it just sounded like the most plausible theory. Noticing this shift his attitude, Sebastian closed the photo album, putting it away from her. - You don’t need to keep going, angel. You turned out just fine without them.

- I know. - she forced a smile, trying to see if she could fool Sebastian but he was much too familiar with her characteristics to be easily fooled. Sighing, Sebastian took her hands in his, slowly yet surely getting her on her feet.

- I think that’s enough detective work for today. - he leaned down, pecking her lips two times, a smile on his face. Y/N nodded, thinking it would be best if she didn’t dig in the past and together they returned to the lift which took them back to the penthouse. The lift doors slowly open and Y/N noticed her suitcase standing slightly to the side of the lift. She didn’t think much of it knowing Sebastian to be a man who had man for everything so he had probably gotten someone to grab it earlier than mentioned. Even with that, she felt a somber heavy vibe in the air as she located her suitcase, something that seemed to push her down, like a weight. - Your suitcase is here.

- Oh ... I guess I should just unpack. - his words took her from the glued, almost hypnotic glare at her own bag. Sebastian shrugged, letting her do her own thing, only offering his help to help her move the suitcase into her bedroom to which she declined.

Her intuition was telling her to be careful and as such, she closed the door behind her immediately opening her suitcase. There was nothing odd about it, mostly filled with the clothes she had brought to the Forrest along with other objects and personal belongings. Still there was a heavy weight which seemed to grow heavier and heavier as she folded her clothes and put them back in her wardrobe which hit a climax as she noticed a piece of white like fabric right at the bottom of her suitcase. She took a step back however her hand leaned forward, her fingers lightly tracing the fabric as if the fabric itself were a bomb.

The fabric itself didn’t feel worn out and as she raised it into the air so she could inspect it better. It was an old fabric which at his prime was white but had started to grow slightly yellowish with the passage of time, the material of cashmere itself however still had the same comfort of a new one, almost as if it had never been worn. However, the most notable feature of the blanket was the cursive embroidery spelling Ella next to the silhouette of a robin. Without much thought to it, she brought the blanket up to her nose, inhaling what was reminiscent of fresh rosemaries on a hot summer day spent in a garden. Then out of the sudden, just as her nose sensed the scent of the blanket, a loud gunshot sound seemed to reverberate from the back of her skull to the front. She let out a scared scream, dropping the blanket on the floor as if the fabric was burning her hands. Her eyes scanned the room, looking paranoiacally for where the gunshot could’ve come for but there was nothing in her bedroom, there was no one in her bedroom. That was until Sebastian broke into her bedroom, black revolver set in the air to which she immediately put her hands up, noticing there were few tears rolling down her cheeks and meeting at her chin. Sebastian lowered his gun, after inspecting her bedroom for any threats.

- I heard a gunshot. - her breathe came rather harshly through her mouth, almost as if she had been holding in her breathe.

- There was no gunshot, angel. - his hands cupped her face, kissing the top of her forehead as she leaned into his embrace. - Your mind’s playing tricks on you.

- No, I heard it. - she heard it, she could still hear it ringing in her ears like a never ending sound. Sebastian’s lips tightened as he embraced her tighter, letting go of his revolver on top of her bed. - I heard it.

- I know, angel. I know. - he spoke very lowly, whisper-like even. - You’re tired, you need some rest.

- I swear I heard it. - she looked around, her eyes convincing her that there was no real danger but her mind telling her to keep her guard up, specially when the blanket on the ground caught her attention once more like a cursed amulet. Like a child, she hid from it on Sebastian’s shoulders, the contrasting cedar wood scent almost erasing the soft and fresh rosemary from her mind. She had heard it, she knew she had heard it. - Maybe you’re right, I just might be tired.

- C’mon, I can make you a cheese toastie. - he rubbed her arm soothingly, a inviting smile on his reddish pink lips which just always looked so inviting. - It’s gonna be alright, angel.

- Well, I’m surprised you can use a sandwich maker. - Y/N pushed the worries to the back of the brain, that part you only see when you’re trying to fall asleep or too lost in your own mind to visit those darkest parts which you hope disappear with time.

- I’m not completely incompetent in the kitchen. - she looked up at him, a seemingly calm smile masking all her worries. - I never set it on fire.

- What an amazing astonishment. - she giggled, a hand coming to stand in front of her lips.

- C’mon angel, let’s get some food in you.

tag list: @lilya-petrichor @xoxohannahlee @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater @nikkipea @madisonpillstrom @cevans98 @thelostallycat @sideeffectsofyou @anxiousdreamersworld @captainchrisstan @lookiamtrying @sarge-barnes-sir @stuffforreferences @thebadassbitchqueen @sebastianstansqueen@nsfwsebbie @strangerliaa @emzd34

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan/reader #sebastian stan x you #sebastian stan/you #sebastian stan x y/n #sebastian stan/y/n #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan drabble #sebastian stan fanfic #sebastian stan AU #mob!sebastian stan #mob boss!sebastian stan #mobster!sebastian stan #mafia!sebastian stan #mafia boss!sebastian stan

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hanaasbananas · 3 years

Text

100 Ways to say I Love You Chapter 14

I need you (Ladynoir)

AO3

Chat Noir groaned, leveraging himself up into a sitting position against the wall he'd been thrown into. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard Ladybug’s triumphant cry “Miraculous ladybug!”

Through cracked eyelids, he watched as the pink light of the miraculous cure washed over the city, the healing ladybugs healing his bruises, knitting the ribs he was pretty sure he’d fractured earlier back together.

Standing, he grinned across at Ladybug, but she didn’t return his smile. Instead she gave him a cursory once over, an unreadable emotion swimming in the depths of her blue eyes as they lingered in the places that he’d been injured, making sure that he was well. Chat gave her a thumbs up, but she stiffened at the gesture and turned away, throwing her yo-yo and swinging up onto the rooftops.

Before he could follow, the reporters who had been waiting on the fringes of the fight descended upon the scene, blocking his path and asking him questions, requesting soundbites for whatever channel they worked for. By the time he’d answered most of their questions and made his way up onto the roof, Ladybug was long gone.

***

Ladybug ignored him on their next patrol. And the next, though Chat had no idea why. She’d wait for him, her back turned away from him, pausing only long enough to tersely tell him which areas to patrol, and then taking off without waiting for a response.

He’d tried brainstorming ideas with Plagg about what he could have done wrong, but his kwami had proved to be utterly useless. So instead, Chat simply did nothing, hoping that soon, she’d find a reason to talk to him again.

***

It was on the third week that he got some inkling of what he might have done wrong. Sitting at his desk, he was going over his notes from the last lesson when Alya and Marinette entered the classroom, the former gesticulating wildly as she spoke. “-she’s totally giving him the cold shoulder!”

“Mhm,” Marinette sounded disinterested, but Alya didn’t seem to notice, speaking over her friend.

“Seriously, I haven’t seen those two goofing off on patrol in weeks . Something’s up, and I am gonna get the scoop!” Alya nudged Marinette as they sat down “what’s your theory?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Marinette hummed. “She’s probably trying to get him to stop making those god awful puns.”

Alya snorted. “Good one. But seriously, c’mon, gimme your best theory.”

“I guess...” Marinette murmured “I guess...maybe she’s mad he keeps putting himself in danger. Did you see that last akuma battle?”

“Yeah,” Alya sighed, “that was a big one. I couldn’t even get close enough to record my own footage; it was so bad.”

“Exactly. Maybe Ladybug is just upset about it.”

Adrien turned around in his seat, resting his forearms on Marinette’s desk. “Yeah, but Chat Noir is supposed to protect Ladybug, that’s his whole thing.”

“No it’s not!” Marinette scowled. “It’s an equal partnership. How many times has she said that herself?” She fixed him with a fierce glare and Adrien noted with surprise that she wasn't stumbling over her words to him. At that moment, their teacher came in, and their discussion was cut short, but as he settled back in his seat, he heard Alya hiss across at Marinette “what was that?”

***

“Jeez, Hawkmoth may have slowed down with how many akuma’s he sends out but these last few have been some real bastards.” Chat whistled lowly as they followed the trail of destruction the akuma calling himself The Cannon had left in its wake.

“Focus, Chat Noir!” Ladybug called tersely and he almost tripped over his own feet, staring at her in disbelief.

“So you’ve finally decided to talk to me, huh?”

“Now is not the time-” her eyes widened “watch out!” Chat ducked, just as a large cannonball sailed past where his head had been only seconds before.

“Huh,” he stared at where it had landed in the car park below them, flattening two cars like it was nothing. “Somehow that looks less deadly in Tom & Jerry. That could have been nasty-” he turned to see Ladybug’s reaction, but she was already far in the distance. “Of course,” Chat sighed. “Who has time for jokes anyway?”

By the time he caught up to Ladybug, she was on the ground, circling around warily and spinning her yo-yo in anticipation for attack. Chat frowned. From the craters that had been left in the roads, The Cannon couldn’t have gotten far, and yet the trail just stopped , giving no indication as to where he’d gone.

Something glinted in the corner of his eye on the rooftop beside him and it took Chat a second to register what it was. Or rather, who.

The akuma stared down at Ladybug on the street, a manic grin on his face as he raised his arms, preparing to jump down and flatten her on impact.

So Chat did the only thing he could.

Just as The Cannon threw himself off the roof, Chat leapt sideways from his perch onto his back, wrapping his arms tightly around the akumas neck, clinging on like a monkey and throwing him off course. The Cannon roared, thrashing around to try and get him off, but Chat held on tight, keeping an eye out for Ladybug who had wisely gotten out of the way unharmed.

Chat couldn’t say the same for himself.

As The Cannon flailed, he finally threw out his arms, sending Chat flying backwards to slam- hard- against a lamp post. Ladybug watched the two of them with wide eyes, her head swivelling back and forth between the two of them, indecision warring over her features, unable to decide if she should run to him, or engage The Cannon in attack.

Remembering what he’d seen when he’d leapt onto the akuma’s back, Chat tried to sit up. Grabbing his abdomen, he gritted his teeth and yelled. “It’s on his wrist! The watch!”

He must have blacked out for a few minutes, because the next thing he knew, the road was smooth again and he could stand up straight without pain shooting through his body.

And Ladybug had taken off again. But this time, Chat didn’t wait, using his baton to vault after her. She hadn’t gotten far, so it didn’t take long to catch up to her. “Oh, so you’re just gonna go back to ignoring me, huh? What, you used up your ‘talk to Chat’ quota for the next three weeks?”

Ladybug didn’t stop, or even acknowledge his presence beside her and he faltered, “What the hell is your problem?” he shouted, a white hot burst of anger erupting in his chest, and blazing through his veins. It was as though all the loneliness and confusion, and sadness he’d felt over the last weeks had gone up in flames, leaving behind nothing but the bitter taste of ash on his tongue.

He would not leave without an answer. Not today.

“My problem?” Ladybug whirled around, a warning in her eyes “don’t even go there.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he threw his hands up in the air “why shouldn’t I try to find out why you won’t talk to me anymore? Why you’re avoiding me.”

“Because I need you!” she shrieked, her voice echoing around them, freezing Chat in place. “With your stupid puns, and jokes, and, and...I need you” she repeated softly. “And everytime you do something reckless or stupid during a fight, I get so scared that that will be the day I can’t save you, or bring you back, and you-” she stepped forward, jabbing her finger into his chest “you keep doing it!”

Chat opened his mouth to speak, to reassure her, but Ladybug shook her head sadly, tears glistening in her eyes. “I don’t need that much protection, Chaton. Not when you risk yourself to give it.”

He didn’t stop her when she left, staring after her in a daze, her words ringing in his ears over and over, and over again.

***

Chat arrived early to their next patrol, pacing back and forth as he waited for the telltale thud of her arrival. Turning to face her, he said: “we have to talk about this.”

For a long moment, she didn’t move, and he was worried she might shake her head, tell him to stop wasting time and start patrol, but instead she exhaled shakily, her shoulders drooping, and nodded.

They sat together in silence, legs dangling over the edge of the roof, until Ladybug rested her head on his shoulder, tugging at his arm until he put it around her. “Do you remember,” she began haltingly, “do you remember that year when we first started out, and I jumped into that T-rex’s mouth without telling you my plan?”

Even with her in his arms, safe and well, Chat’s heart seized at the memory, remembering the overpowering wave of terror and grief that had washed over him, paralysing him even as he felt the ground crumble beneath him. Instinctively, he tightened his arm around Ladybugs shoulders and she laughed weakly. “Yeah, that’s how...that’s how I feel, everytime you-”

“Everytime I put myself in danger for you.” Chat finished her sentence “oh god, my lady , I had no idea.”

“It’s okay,” she said, voice small “it’s not like I told you or anything.” Moving out from under his arm, she turned to face him, sitting on her knees. “I meant what I said before though. “I need you . We have the other temporary holders, but you’re my partner , and I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you.” She sniffed “I don’t ever want to find out either.”

“And you won’t have to,” Chat said, “because I’m not going anywhere.” He cupped her cheek “I’ll be more careful from now on, alright?”

Ladybug smiled tremblingly up at him, the relief evident in her large eyes and she leaned into his touch, her eyes slipping shut. “Promise?”

Chat pressed a kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering for a long moment. “I promise.”

#chat noir really out here fulfilling his dream to become Bella Swan: Spidermonkey in this one #(things i said to my friend while writing)#miraculous ladybug #ladynoir #chat noir #ladybug #100 ways to say i love you

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justasparkwritings · 3 years

Text

Codename Cupid: Chapter 24

Previous: Codename Black Panther Meets Codename Cupid

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x OFC

Genre: Secret AgentAU, Government AgentAU, Angst, Some Fluff

Rating: PG17

Word Count: 3.2K

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Consensual Sex, Mentions of Rape (as in, wait, she raped him?)

Summary: Black Panther is onboard and Cricket & Bunny make an important decision regarding the trajectory of their relationship.

Penultimate Chapter

OT8

Present Day

The sunlight streaks through my window, blurring my vision with its shine. I’m fairly exhausted, and sore, and dare I say, happy? I’m pulled away from my restorative slumber as my phone rings, Earth, Wind & Fire blaring. I’ve had the same ringtone since I was 19, and I’m never going to change it.

“Fuck,” I whisper, taking it from the charger and rolling my eyes at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hey, did you get kidnapped?” C asks.

“Um, sort of? Why?” I slip out of the bedroom, tossing my robe over my barely clothed body and sit on the couch.

“It came across my desk and I was wondering if there was something you needed to tell me,” C informs me.

“Oh?”

“Is there?” She pushes.

“No, everything is fine,”

“Okay, are you sure?”

“Are you tapping my phone?” I ask.

“No,”

“Do you know someone who is?”

“Depends, do you?” Her words are delicate, leading without being forthcoming.

“Perhaps,” My voice pitches up at the last syllable, a hold over, a question that I refuse to ask.

“Hmm,” That’s her tell.

“You knew, this whole time?” I accuse.

“Well, sort of. I was clued in a bit ago,” She tells me.

“Did everyone know about this before me?”

“What have they told you?” She’s trying to toe the line.

“A little, I go back in today,” She probably knows this already.

“Keep Jungkook close, he’ll be helpful,” C advices.

“How did you –

“Your onboarding will you go smoothly if you don’t fight RM and Suga,”

“Seriously?” I snap.

“Seriously, trust me,” Her older sibling reeks, doling out advice I didn’t ask for.

“Fine,” I huff, how is it that everyone knows about this organization besides me?

“Love you,” She says.

“Mean it,” I respond before I hang up.

I look towards my bedroom, where Jungkook lays, and am beyond upset. How is it possible that everyone knew about OT7, that I was being followed, except me? My own sister? Jungkook is one thing, he works for them, but her? Why didn’t she say anything sooner? That’s truly what’s making me so upset and frustrated, that I was working 14-16 hour days, beating myself up for not finding Cupid answers sooner, and my fucking sister was sitting on all the information I needed. What’s worse? She didn’t let on that she knew. She didn’t drop a hint, a breadcrumb, a wink or knowing glance. All she wanted to ask about was Jungkook, in a year, all she ever asked… Fuck sisters.

“Cricks, do you want coffee?” Jungkook stands in the door frame to the bedroom, chest bare, ink spread across his arm and up his right peck. His hand tattoos, and the one on his upper shoulder, are my absolutely favorite. They’re sentimental, meaningful, powerful. Black with minimal color, they’re staggering against his honeyed skin. While his model status is never lost on me, it’s his thoughtfulness that gets me every time.

“Yes please,” I reply.

“You thinking about last night?” He moves with ease towards the small kitchen, pulling my favorite mugs from the cabinet.

“Which part?” I ask.

“Any part,” He shrugs, his muscles moving up and down seamlessly.

“Yeah, a little,” I tell him.

“What’s on your mind?” He turns, arms crossing, I swear he tries to look tough, but he just looks like a pissed off Thumper.

“My sister knows,”

“Knows?”

“About you, about OT7,” I clarify.

“How?”

“No fucking clue, she said not to piss off Namjoon and Yoongi, though.”

Jungkook snorts before nodding his head, “Watch out for Jimin and well, you saw Seokjin. He bottles it up and then explodes. Jimin’s just a hot head. Namjoon, is ruthless, but no one is as ruthless as Yoongi-hyung.”

“That leaves you and Tae? And Hoseok, I don’t know much about Hoseok,”

“You’ll really like him, you’ll like all of them. They aren’t as rough around the edges as they seem,” He pours the coffee into our mugs, reaching into the kitchen to grab the oat milk to pour into mine.

“Did you put caramel in it?” I question, sniffing the liquid.

“Mm, three pumps right?”

“Yeah, what, a 1/5 of what it took you last night?” I wink. Jungkook hates when I’m blatantly sexual, murmuring a simple ‘stop’ as his cheeks become a deep crimson.

“That’s really what you think of me?” He questions, moving to stand in front of me. I spread my legs to let him stand between, and he leans down, hands on my thighs. “After last night?”

“You know that’s not what I think, Bunny,” I reply. “You know how highly I think of you and your sexual prowess.”

“Then don’t fucking tease me about it,” Jungkook leans down to place a kiss on my cheek.

“Can I ask one work question?”

“Yes,” He grabs his cup and sits on the stool next to me.

“What happened between Taehyung and Cupid? She says it was a difference in opinion, a misunderstanding that led to an abortion? That’s not Taehyung though, and OT7 wouldn’t make her abort anything, would they?” I sip my coffee. Fuck me if he doesn’t make it better than I do.

“She wasn’t pregnant,” Jungkook answers.

“She wasn’t? Why did she lie?”

“She’s full of lies, Cricket,”

“Okay, then what actually happened?”

“She took advantage of him,” Jungkook’s eyes stare into his coffee, the blackness reflected in his irises.

I nearly choke on my coffee. “Of Tae?”

“Mm, of Tae, more than once,”

“Did you-

“We didn’t know, I didn’t know until I was onboarded fully. Tae went to Joon-hyung, and then it was handled.”

“Oh my god,” I whisper. “Oh my god.”

“Mm,” Jungkook’s signature sound is muttered, a delicate whisper against my raging anxiety.

“She raped him?” I question.

“Yes,” He refuses to look at me, but the clench of his jaw is unmistakable.

“But... wow,” Is all I can say.

“Wow?”

“I just, if I had known, I wouldn’t have worked with her,”

“You didn’t know,” Jungkook’s hand engulfs mine in that familiar embrace.

“Is Tae alright?”

“Yes, he went to a lot of therapy and was pulled from field work,”

“The mission was terminated, fuck that’s a loaded word, but he didn’t have to –

“No, the second Namjoon knew, he ended it. That’s one of our rules, no one engages in behavior they are not comfortable with,” He informs me, another piece of information I’m sure Namjoon will be telling me during onboarding. God, days spent listening to Namjoon go over rules? I’d rather suffer through another one of Cupid’s family dinners than sit through him. Is he like, fun? Now’s not the time to ask… but fuck me if I’m not curious.

“She, Cupid, she said he made her abort the baby, which didn’t match up with the Taehyung I was seeing or with any evidence but then again she never gave me any records to check it with and I wasn’t allowed to look into her health record at all,” I ramble.

“That tracks. There’s a lot you’ll find out about Cupid, and her family… there’s a lot you don’t know, Cricket. But, for right now, you need to know that there was no baby, she was never pregnant, just wanted to trick Taehyung into sticking around. It began with Yoongi, and just escalated.”

We sip our coffee in silence. The tension is dissipating, but I’m still nervous and scared. I consorted with a known rapist, worked months with her, took her money. What will Taehyung think of me now? Do I apologize? I should apologize, when I see him. Though, that’s not the responsibility of the victim to accept an apology. I didn’t know. Like I told Yoongi, I’m not Nixon, this isn’t Watergate. No one will ask what I know and when I knew it, no one will back date and check my sources to confirm. But I will always know that I engaged with her after she committed various offenses against someone I know I will care deeply for, someone who cares deeply for the one I love.

I know it’s not in my place to feel guilty, or maybe it is. Isn’t part of being an ally sitting in your own privilege, your own ability to feel grateful that it wasn’t you, and recognizing you have leaps and bounds in order to support those who have gone through whatever it is? I’m an ally to Jungkook, though I’m not Korean or first generation, and he’s an ally to me, though he isn’t biracial or a descendant of slaves. We both work towards the same cause though. Doesn’t sexual assault, rape, harassment, fall under the same umbrella?

“Cricket?” Jungkook’s hand has moved to rub circles on my back.

“Bunny?” I glance at him, bottom lip between my teeth again, though I’ve already gnawed off every dead skin cell.

“Hm?”

I always smile when he makes that sweet sound, or its derivative, mm.

“Do you still want to move in, or was last night an over correction for the fight?” I question.

“You’re really doubting me today, aren’t you?” His brows slope against his eyes, his ministrations against my back freeze. Those furrowed little lines on the flesh where the slope of his nose meets his forehead mark his deep concentration.

“I’m not doubting you. I just want to make sure. You know, we’re in our twenties. We are prone to fall for the cohabitation effect.”

“The what?”

“Couples who move in together as a reaction to fear their relationship will dissolve, often move in to preserve something. Then when they realize they aren’t compatible or don’t want to continue being together, they don’t break up because they live together,” I inform him.

“Is this one of your theories?”

“No, it’s Dr. Meg Jay, The Defining Decade. I have two copies, you should read it,”

“Okay, put it on my bedside table and I will,”

“Oh, so you’re, in?” I smile.

“Oh, I’m in, completely,” Jungkook kisses me soundly, hand creeping under my shirt to caress the bare skin.

“We have to get ready,” I tell him, tilting my head to grant him access to my neck, which has thoroughly missed his touch in the last eight hours.

“Fuck it,” He murmurs, the vibration of his tenor voice echoing through my skin.

“Bunny, they’re going to be so mad, and I know Namjoon already hates me,” My hands gently ghost down his chest, drawing shapes against his abs before resting on the hem of his boxer briefs. He’s so tempting, all skin and muscle, sweeping bleached locks and soulful eyes. I was right for driving into them.

“He doesn’t hate you,”

“Yoongi at least-

“They don’t hate you, we’re just a unit and you bring new energy to the entire group, that’s all it is.” He confirms.

Pulling the inner flesh of my lip between my teeth, I exhale. “What if they hate me?”

“They won’t,”

“Jungkook,”

“Y/N”

“Will that change your opinion of me?” I ask.

“Oh honey, of course not,” He assures. I don’t know what it is, blind faith and trust I guess, but I always believe him on the first go.

“Okay, do you want to shower before we go?”

“Together?” He asks. His hands are still under my shirt, gently palming my latte skin until it burns with desire. I hate how good he is, how seductive, sensual, misleading his bunny smile and endearing eyes are. I want him always.

“Why else would I’ve skipped the underwear?” I move his hand under the hem of my night shirt. He growls ever so softly at the feeling of my bare ass in is hand. “And to think, you thought I was kidding about your work last night! Sore or night, I think we’ve got enough time for me to prove you wrong.”

~~~~~

“Here’s my question,” I start, directing OT7’s focus to me. It’s been three hours of listening to Namjoon go over protocols and procedures. I haven’t smiled once, well, Jungkook did walk by and wink at me, which I’ll admit, made me blush. This is my second time in the large conference room, and together we’re discussing the case, my knowledge of the Lee’s, and where we stand now. It feels like a scene out of Be More Chill, but instead of data dumping everything I’ve learned, they’re painstakingly pulling it from me. Yoongi’s got my hard drives, all my notes, he’s cracked every password and firewall defense I set up. Of course he is, he’s Min Yoongi.

“Yoongi, how the fuck did you become so off the grid? I couldn’t find you, period.”

“That’s part of my job, Black Panther,” He smirks.

“Your work on Enterprises was under Park Yoongi, and you left no visible trace on the company. You don’t show up in alum magazines or columns, no birth certificate, anything of public record is gone. What the fuck did you do?”

“That’s for me to know,” Yoongi winks at me.

“And Namjoon, what the fuck happened when you turned 16?”

“What do you mean?” He asks, puzzled by the question.

“You are everywhere, every magazine, every scholarly article, on every universities formal lecture docket, and then poof. Like you didn’t exist,” I stare at him, he’s far less of a dick than I previously thought. We have some similarities too, actually, OT7 and I are far more alike than I realized.

“I did exist, I was just busy training,” He shrugs.

“You started training at 16?”

“A little before that, has JK not told you?”

“He’s hardly told me anything,”

“Even after you found out?” Jimin asks.

“Even then, what was it you said?”

“They’re not my stories to tell,” Jungkook shrugs. He’s across the table, in his designated spot next to Taehyung and I desperately wish I could hold his hand. Who. Have. I. Become?

“Mm,” Namjoon nods, “I was brought on from an early age, trained and then helped shape this group into what it is today.”

“Namjoon’s the reason we exist,” Hoseok says.

“He helped select all of us, leads us, makes the decisions,” Jungkook says.

“So your stunted upbringings trace back to him?” I ask.

“They trace back to the people above him, Black Panther,” Yoongi corrects.

“Right, the mythical beings above Namjoon. Do they exist? Have you seen them?”

“They exist, and they’re a little terrifying,” Seokjin adds.

“So Namjoon isn’t the end all be all? He’s not even the oldest!”

“True, he does have to listen to Seokjin,” Jimin laughs. “Sometimes, when hyung is mad, he just launches at Joonie, it’s so funny.”

“You have to listen to him too,” Yoongi’s glare cuts through him.

“So do you, Yoongi-hyung,” Jimin doesn’t back down.

“Anyway, Namjoon-hyung had to go through everything first, that’s why he disappeared from the worlds stage.” Seokjin finishes the tale, bringing us back together.

“Yoongi joined shortly after,” Namjoon continues, “The rest fell into place, well, except Golden Maknae,”

“Jungkook?” I turn to face my boyfriend, his nose is scrunched, and his hand is behind his head, scratching his neck.

“He nearly left, luckily, Joonie always knows what to say,” Taehyung says. “I was what, technically last?��

“Technically, yes,”

“Which is why we were in training together,” Jungkook reminds him.

“So you’re one big happy family?” I ask.

“We fight, but it’s been a decade, we know each other too well,” Yoongi speaks. “which is why when Jungkookie fell in love, we were caught off guard.”

“Mm,” I nod, mimicking his gesture. “Though you left him off my romantic partners,”

“Well, that was his request,” Namjoon says.

“We’ve all experienced heartbreak and fallen out of love. We all hoped that JK wouldn’t be stunted because of our work,” Seokjin explains.

“Can we not?” Jungkook asks his hyungs. They all turn to him, sensing his discomfort, and laugh.

“Fine, fine. Back to work,” Namjoon advises.

“What exactly is the next phase of the plan?” I wonder. “I mean, Cupid doesn’t want to work with me anymore, so what’s next?”

“Good you asked, Black Panther,” Namjoon changes the slide and passes me another file. “The next phase requires little work from you, aside from ensuring we have all your evidence. The case moves up the line to the Feds and the other countries who are indicting them.”

“Who all is getting indicted?” I ask.

“Hopefully the entire board, the entire Codename Valentine family, minus Cupid,”

“What will be left for her?”

“Depends on what they take,” Yoongi sips his coffee. He’s much easier to read in person, his features, however angelic, are deeply expressive.

“What about their investors?”

Seokjin doesn’t hesitate to respond, “Their money will be frozen for a while, then returned to them.”

“Do you find it deeply romantic that you’re citing their financial downfall when that’s how you met Cupid?” I ask him.

“I prefer a slight twist of fate,” Seokjin nods, the bob of his head accompanying the pout. “When will this go down?”

“The Feds and a few other groups move in on Lee Enterprises early next week,” Jungkook answers. I remain confused as to what he exactly does within this group, it seems like a little of everything but what is everything?

“So, that’s it? I did my part?”

“Yes, you did, exceptionally well,” Namjoon answers.

“You kept her snooping for over a year, all of which we used to nab the rest of her family,” Yoongi starts, “Sure, you were an unexpected parasite for a minute, but you’ve done good work.”

“First of all, rude, secondly, what will you do now?” I glance at each of their expressions, they’ve mastered the slightly inquisitive yet passively uninterested poker face. It’s impressive, their collective shift in attitude, the quiet “hmm” Yoongi hums, the eyes widening on Jimin, the unmistakable panic within Hoseok, all gone within seconds, like a musician losing an award in real time.

“What do you mean?” Hoseok asks.

“When this is over, what will you do? You’ve worked on this for nearly a decade? Who will OT7 be after this?”

“Wow, ask the horrifying existential questions,” Jimin attempts a chuckle, but it comes out as a strained cough.

“We’ll move onto our next mission,” Namjoon responds confidently.

“Which is?”

“You will not know unless we need your services,” He snips.

“Okay but why onboard me? Doesn’t that already make me like an honorary member? No longer OT7 but OT8?”

“No,” The unison chorus of voices that radiates off the glass is chilling. Accompanying the harsh put down, a chorus of laughs.

“Cult vibes,” I mutter.

“We’ll be fine, Black Panther. The question remains, what will you do?” Namjoon asks.

I don’t have an answer, I don’t have a response, all I have is the panicked look on my face. They know I haven’t got a fucking clue what my next career move is. Will I become a member of their team, or a part of the larger organization? Will I go back to aiding depraved housewives in their mission to defame their cheating husbands? I have enough money to hold me over for a month or two, but I guess the question isn’t whether or not I will go back to cheating husbands and slutty mistresses, but do I want to?

I don’t know.

Next: To Have Loved and Lost

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creativitycache · 4 years

Note

Is Martin going to be mentioned again in ToT? Or is that little snippet in the buried going to be all Jon remembers?

Below is Spoilers, including details breakdown of the story’s meta. Bewarned! This is long & convoluted as all get out. It basically can be summed up like this:

Martin and other future people (not just events) have actually been mentioned more than that, and to answer your question right off of the bat, yes Jon will continue to remember.

As I was originally answering this, it kind of spiraled out of control as I dove into a detailed breakdown of some things so I decided to just go for the whole hog and put everything down here in one place. I’ve got a similar breakdown in another document, but that’s really just for keeping tabs on how many days have passed and not the meta analysis.

TL;DR on meta: Jon is leveling up at a ridiculous speed, but he already was high level to start out with so he’s really just lagging behind his adult self. The more he feeds the more he grows. In the Eyepocalypse, we’ve heard Jon lament that trying to access his powers within his body is like trying to “drink the ocean through a straw”, and it’s only gotten more difficult as his body has shrunk.

Another note on timing: in the original story, Jon had gained multiple marks in back to back horrible days. In my own small way, the pacing of these later chapters is repayment for Jon’s hell week.

Entity Touched events will be in bold. Jon’s powers being activated will be italicized. Remembering a specific person/statement/future event will be noted with (parenthesis). Please note that while I will put a specific name in the parenthesis Jon often does not consciously remember the name nor the full scope of the event/person/statement. I will keep a running total of how many days since the last notable entity touched event at the top.

Ch 1

Jon goes through the Spiral’s Doors. His body merges, and he fluctuates between seeing and Seeing. Eventually, his eyes settle upon Watching constantly. He struggles to remember Section 31 (Daisy and Basira “they were both strangers and enemies and friends“). He Knows Detective Davies exact schedule, and the train schedule. He attempts to Feed via Compelling, unsuccessfully. He Sees Detective Davies schedule change. He Senses stories nearby.

Ch 2

Day 3 post-emerging:

After reading a Story: he Knows the difference between true and fake statements, as well as Mr. Magnus’s true name and that he stole the name Elias. He can See farther than what his eyes should be able to, and is able to Watch Elias. He Compels Elias but does not stay long enough to feed off his answers. He remembers (Barnabas Bennett). He remembers (the feeling of his own rib.) He remembers (going into the Lonely to save someone). When pressed, he remembers (the Unknowing exploding into fire) and losing “them” (his Assistants). This causes him to vomit and creates a void within him that must be filled.

Ch 3

Day 3 post-emerging, less than one hour after reading a Story:

Jon summons tape recorders to listen to stories. He listens to dozens of Stories at the same time. Jon remembers (the layout of the Institute). Jon gives a Statement.

Ch 4

Day 3 post-emerging, hours after consuming dozens of Stories:

Jon remembers (the Dark Sun, and Looking directly at the Entities). Jon remembers (Michael stabbing him for Compelling).

Ch 5

One day after consuming dozens of Stories:

Jon reads a bedtime Story. This reveals to Elias that Jon is able to comprehend all languages.

Ch 6

Jon consumes multiple Stories per day, far exceeding the normal Archivist rate of consumption. He remembers (Elias unable to See him in Orsinov’s Circus) He is unable to lie. He walks through the Archivist nightmares and the nightmares of the Eyepocalpyse, but these future events are unable to be perceived by Elias. During these nightmares, he remembers (being hurt by several “monsters”.)

Post this chapter, assume Jon has read at least one bedtime Story and multiple Stories throughout the day for months.

Ch 7

Jon now Knows all answers to fact-based questions his teachers ask. He begins drawing Eyes that have some will of their own- refusing to be paired. Jon now speaks directly to the Eye. It is confirmed his eyes have now physically changed to be reminiscent of other Avatars of the Eye- ie Elias. Jon Sees all marks left on people by the Entities. He remembers (how the Entities make Avatars), (Simon Fairchild) and (that he did something very bad unwillingly). He can sense when Elias is trying to See into his head.

Ch 8

Jon Feeds off of Emma, and forces her to Know her victim’s pain. Everyone is unable to move or interrupt him. He forces the web of the Mother of Puppets to be Shown. He remembers (where the tunnels are and what they do).

Ch 9

One day after Feeding off of Emma

Jon grows bigger. Jon Knows the (true nature of the Entities, and their effects on the world) and tries to articulate them. His explanation is different than Gertrude’s. He remembers (Tim’s jokes, Martin’s love of fuzzy tarantulas, the fight with Peter, and Michael-as-the-Distortion’s Statement, being friends with his Assistants and that things went wrong when his Assistants were no longer his friends). He thinks, but is not sure, he remembers who the man in the tunnels is (Lietner) and that he can track him down. He can See everyone’s marks and make them visible to others. When attempting to consciously access Knowledge of Michael’s future, he faints and blood comes out of his nose.

Jon consumes a Story. Jon remembers (how to Quit). Jon fights with the Eye’s geas against speaking of escape and wins.

Jon remembers (the Eyepocalypse) and Knows why he can survive on only old stories and statements from Avatars. Reaching for this knowledge is even more difficult than just Michael’s future, and causes him to black out for a significant amount of time with a severe memory wipe. Despite this memory wipe, he remembers (Gertrude does not treat her Assistants well, and the location of Fiona & Joshua Gillespie’s statement).

Ch 10

Jon Knows how to get to the Coffin purely thanks to the Eye, and realizes the Knowledge is external because his sense of direction was previously so poor. He is now able to consciously communicate directly in a back and forth conversation with the Eye, although the Eye is currently only Answering Jon’s Questions and Jon is giving his opinion. Being near the Coffin causes Jon to remember (he was in the Coffin for 3 days).

Being in the Coffin causes Jon to remember (that he got stuck with someone else last time, that he had an anchor, and that it might be M-m-mar- ), then he gets out in a day and a half. This is half the time of the first round, despite Fiona being deeper in than Daisy had been.

Jon Feeds off of John the Buried Avatar.

Ch 11

Day 1 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John

Jon feeds off of Dr. Girard the pediatrician.

Jon still comprehends all languages, but now he can articulate something is strange despite still not realizing he’s not hearing English. Jon grows after feeding. Jon Knows when Fiona is in trouble. His eyesight is noticeably excellent. Jon remembers (Gertrude’s war against the rituals is “stupid”, and that Jonah stole Elias’s body and why. He remembers statements about Agnes, and how Agnes and Gertrude are bound, and what various members of the Cult of the Lightless Flame look like. He also remembers going out for Martin’s birthday and eating ice cream, which is how he knows where the nearest ice cream parlor is.)

This is the last time Jon takes out the crayon drawing of the Eye.

Ch 12

Day 2 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 1 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard

Jon remembers (you should never hold an Avatar of the Desolation barehanded, and that the tunnels go for miles and miles, and that Smirke realized his architectural theories were wrong.)

Jon Knows he loves tea but hasn’t found one that tastes right. (He’s thinking of Martin’s tea, but he doesn’t realize it.) It’s also revealed that Jon is crying alone sometimes in his room when he thinks no one will notice, but he doesn’t Remember why. When asked, he remembers (he was Made and not Born), and Knows that the Eyepocalypse/”his destiny” is preventable, but he had to lay down before remembering/realizing any further.

He remembered the (statement about Agnes’s childhood, and the Distortion’s Avatars, despite the fact the Distortion would not merge like that until post-ritual, and that Gertrude liked to blow things up/use fire to disrupt rituals.)

The Eye now is giving Jon specific suggestions, ie origami frogs, when he Asked for ideas.

Ch 13

Day 3 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 2 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard

When asked, he knows there’s no such thing as time where the Eye is, but vomits from trying to Know something directly about where the Fears currently are. Jon remains nauseous but does not faint, have blood loss, or memory loss. Then, when a Story is read to him from Van Closen, he remembers (the contents of a different statement entirely- Fanshaw’s letter.) He struggles to grasp something else the Eye is telling him.

Ch 14

Day 4 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 3 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard.

Jon remembers (being a manager.) Elias and Fiona do not realize Jon is using terms no one has used around him before- nor do they recognize like Michael did earlier that Jon’s specific grasp of corporate language is far outside the normal range of what children usually have picked up.

Fiona, newly awakened, uses her powers on Jon. He then, when in close proximity to her, is reminded of what information he hadn’t been able to grasp earlier (ie, Eric and Gerry).

Jon enters a battlefield surrounded by Entity-touched deathtraps being sprung. He remembers (wandering untouched in the Eyepocalypse, Mary binding herself to the book.)

Ch 15

Day 4 post-Coffin & Feeding off of John, Day 3 post Feeding off of Dr. Girard.

Jon (remembers “interrupting drinks” and that they always taste better when in a mug- ie, Martin’s tea. He remembers the Dark was “for babies”.)

When awoken, he is able to articulate that he did remember Gerry and Eric.

Jon summons Eric. The Archive speaks. Jon Knows how to edit the Book as Mary Keay did in the original timeline, and does so.

#timeline of theseus #Asks&Answers

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thedistantstorm · 4 years

Text

Project Compass 14

Read along on AO3 Here

<< Previous Chapter << >> Next Chapter >>

This time: Ivant and Un’hee and data that could change everything.

Next time: Vah’nya and Ezra meditate. Ivant and Ar’alani discuss what it means to be a warrior.

"You know, I'm really getting tired of being traumatized by you people," Ezra said, sounding sleep-rumpled and woozy. He stared up at the ceiling, blinking himself awake. The Force tended to give him a wicked hangover over events like these.

Vah'nya had the decency to look apologetic beside him, able to empathize with his current state. The Navigators had visions and dreams, too. "It was a recording. We didn't realize you would react so strongly."

"He's a Sith. He wanted me dead, and he used Thrawn to try and do it. Of course I was going to react strongly," He wasn’t angry, exactly, more annoyed and exhausted than anything.

"We know that now," Vah'nya agreed, voice low and soft. "Do you remember what the message was?"

Ezra turned his head to look at her. "He wants Thrawn," He said, then turned his head back to look up at the ceiling.

"He does." She leaned over his legs, plucking an errant shard of glass from a crease in his pants. Thankfully Ezra had been wearing shoes when he'd dropped the cup, otherwise he'd be plucking glass from his feet for days.

The door to the left opened, revealing Ar'alani and Thrass. Ezra tried to sit up, but the Admiral waved him off. He was getting tired of looking - and feeling - like an invalid because of these people. "At ease," She said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Admiral. It just shook me, is all."

"We failed to take into consideration how your abilities would warn you of your natural enemy. You have my apologies," She said primly, but no less genuine.

"How's Thrawn taking it?"

Thrass laughed. "Well, we haven’t heard more yelling or throwing things since he came barging in, so I think Ivant has it under control." He crossed his arms, "Though I am concerned for the state of my office, regardless."

Neither the Syndic or Admiral remained long after confirming the Jedi in their midst to be stable. Vah’nya lingered, not bothering to move from the chair she’d pulled across the room when she arrived.

“They’re talking to him,” Ezra sounded relieved to Vah’nya because he was. “Even if it’s just a little bit. He doesn’t do well when he’s not in the know, I don’t know if you’ve noticed.”

Vah’nya hid her smile behind a hand. “Yes,” She said wryly. “I might have picked that up.”

The Jedi propped himself up with his elbows, then swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He didn’t make any attempt to stand just yet. His heartbeat felt normal and he didn’t feel the sickly cold ooze of dark that he’d felt earlier. That was good. He’d have to meditate extra in the coming days thanks to this, he knew. Good thing he didn’t have anything else to do in this ridiculously sized mansion.

“So,” Vah’nya hedged slowly, tapping her knees with her hands, fingers fanned over them. She was still in uniform, though it was clear from the muted glow of her eyes she hadn’t slept yet. “There is something I should tell you, considering.”

“Me?”

“I have no doubt Ivant is talking to Thrawn about it now.”

“What?”

“I had a vision of your Emperor, not long after Thrawn’s defeat.” She paused, clarifying, “A dream, but I know the difference between a nightmare and Third Sight.”

“And?”

“I saw him manipulating Mitth’raw’nuruodo, with the Grysk as his allies.” She frowned.

“For the Empire?”

Vah’nya shook her head. "And I saw what they would make him do."

"Yeah, I don’t think any of us would have liked what happened if your vision came true,” Ivant said from the doorway. “I still don’t know that following me into the belly of the beast was the smartest move, but I’m damn sure glad you did." He didn't smile, exactly, but his eyes were clear and warm. Thrawn, much taller than the human he trailed behind, made very pointed eye contact with Ezra.

“You are well?” The Chiss asked. He didn’t seem terribly comfortable, but he didn’t look as on-edge as Thrass had made him sound, either.

“Yes, Thrawn,” Ezra answered, a bit of a nagging drawl to his voice. He nodded, holding the Chiss’s gaze.

Vah’nya rose. “I am going to sleep now,” She decided. “You need meditation,” She instructed. “I wish to speak with you later, if you are up to it. I want to compare the difference between my Sight and your Force visions.”

Because they hadn’t had that discussion before, Ezra thought blandly. Still, he agreed. It wasn’t like he had much else to do. “Sure. After the third meal?”

“I doubt I will be of much use after the third meal,” Vah’nya laughed. “I, for one, would like to drink some of Thrawn’s brother’s wine.”

Ezra rolled his eyes. “Do all Chiss drink this much?” He asked.

Admiral Ar’alani picked that moment to re-enter the room. She raised an eyebrow in a severe smirk, pleased that there was no open hostility to be seen. “We are not graced with superior livers for nothing,” She said dryly. She beckoned Vah’nya to show her to her room and they left, the Captain not far behind them.

Left with Thrawn, Ezra blinked. “Was she joking with me?”

“It was not entirely untrue,” Thrawn said, his voice softer, but not as smooth as usual. He was hiding something, Ezra realized. That wasn’t entirely surprising, considering he’d just had an exceedingly rare one-on-one conversation with Captain Ivant. It was too soon for him to pry, and there was no way he had the mental fortitude to deal with Thrawn considering the morning he’d had so far. “But I do believe that was her intention.”

The study was quiet. Across the room, only the slightest hum of a workstation - a powerful one with many holoscreens - provided the only sound beside the occasional flipping of a page. Un’hee laid flat on her belly on a chaise set off to the side, legs kicked up behind her, swinging as she read. She did not enjoy spending time away from Ivant, despite it being necessary. When she’d arrived at the Mitth family’s estate, she’d barely given a polite greeting to the Admiral or Syndic Thrass before inquiring after him.

He was occupied, though, as she knew he would be. And that was fine. She knew his work was important. That he saw things others could not. He was bright and strong. A navigator of a different kind than she, but no less for it. She looked down at the page she was on, the words blurring together. She sighed.

“What’s wrong, Un’hee?” Ivant asked. She waited a second to look in his direction, well aware that it would take time for him to divert his attention from the spreadsheets and charts he’d pulled up.

“Nothing,” She said, fingering the end of her braid where it dangled off her shoulder. “Just bored.”

“You could go join Ezra. I know he enjoys your company.” Then, expression softening, he added, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Ezra is sparring with Commander Thrawn,” She said. “And I do not think I want…” She frowned. “It is difficult to explain.”

“How so?” He hit a button on the workstation console and every holoscreen went dark.

“I feel like I am waiting for something to happen,” Un’hee admitted. Ivant pushed his chair back and held open his arms, and she rose, letting him sit her on his lap, fold her into an embrace. “I feel like we are on the edge of a knife made of ice.”

“I don’t think you’re wrong, exactly,” Ivant agreed. “How does it make you feel?”

“I don’t know,” She groused, lip curling in a pout. “My focus is not how it should be. I feel… scattered.”

“Have you been sleeping?”

“As best I can,” She said.

“Nightmares?”

She pushed her face against his chest, murmuring into his shirt, “Some.”

“Hmm,” Ivant stroked his chin, then toggled his workstation back on. “Did it start after you arrived here?”

“It didn’t get better,” She said, settling in. “Something happened, before I arrived?”

The Captain didn’t lie to her, but he didn’t give any details, either. “It did, but I think it’s alright now.” He readjusted her weight so that she could curl up against him without inhibiting his ability to work. Once her next growth spurt hit, there’d be little chance of such a thing. The nine year old Chiss was already becoming a lanky, awkward thing, mostly a tangle of too long arms and legs she hadn’t quite grown into yet. “I think your Second Sight is getting stronger,” He admitted to the top of her head. She hummed in reply as he continued, “But I also think you’ll feel clearer after a nap. I know you didn’t sleep well while I was gone.”

She put up a valiant fight, blinking tiredly at the screens that flickered and flashed as Ivant worked through the data, resorting and compiling things all while making notes on a separate datapad.

“You’re close,” She accused in Basic, after a long while. Ivant had thought her to be asleep, she’d been nearly limp in his arms for a while now, her breaths slow and even.

“I might be,” He agreed, and she giggled fondly at his Wild Space drawl. “Later, I might need your help to test my theory. But for now,” He murmured, “Rest, Un’hee.”

When she was well and truly asleep this time, her breaths coming in tiny whistles that were too faint to be snores, he lifted her up carefully and set her back on the chaise. He pulled the velveteen blanket that hung over its back down and over her, watching her for a moment to be sure the movement didn’t wake her. Then, he returned to the desk, pulled up the rest of the information he needed, and got to work.

There was nothing scientific about what would save the Chiss Navigators. At least, not in practical application. He’d done his best to translate the data into zeroes and ones, to make it all appear understandable and palatable to this warrior race. But the reality was that the initial solution to the question that hadn’t been asked of him had nothing to do with biology or ancestry, no variable that could be easily tweaked and applied to every Navigator in the Ascendancy at large to help them keep their gifts. Each Navigator was their own person, and thus their experiences were largely their own.

He pulled the most recent data he’d had on the Jedi. Then, he pulled Un’hee and three of the Navigators in her age group - ages seven through nine - and compared them over the last six months. Satisfied, he pulled the data of another six, from the nine to twelve, and thirteen and over age groups. There was no level in their bloodwork to indicate any changes, other than the changing flux of hormones that Chiss and Humans did not share, indicating their body’s maturation.

The issue was that the key didn’t lie in numerical data or statistics. Determining where Navigators would arise and if there was any statistical analysis that could predict them was a piece of the puzzle he would not be able to solve without first conquering this. There were, of course, probabilities that certain families and bloodlines would produce offspring more likely to possess Third Sight, but it was far more random.

But, Eli’van’to had seen something out in the Grysk Hegemony, in the dark abyss of space. He knew how it happened, He knew how it could continue to happen, he thought. The problem was that he knew politics. And the more he learned, the more he came to realize that politics and social structure had been the Chiss’s downfall in the first place.

There was a reason Admiral Ar’alani was good at her job. Why she was revered as a leader, cool and calculating and unflappable, and yet she nurtured and consoled, parented her navigators. She, Ivant knew, was an instrument open to the solution. Their political adversaries, not so much.

He had been fortunate to spend his military career within the Galactic Empire - and even now, within the Chiss Ascendancy - outside of the normal, to be in the shadow of a commander who saw all sides, not just the winning one. They encouraged him to pursue all avenues in search of the truth. And, outside of the Empire, that meant he had been able to access data that had not been concealed or tampered with. Now, he knew some of the history of the Jedi, though it was mostly scraps and pieces. It was how he learned that the Chiss did not have midichlorians like most other sentient species to gauge the strength of their abilities.

Through defectors and their networks, people like Karyn Faro who had gained forbidden knowledge in their quest for truth, he learned that there were inside orchestrators. He learned that the Jedi were not evil, simply flawed. And likewise, so were the Chiss and their Navigators. It was interesting that their very dogma, what they believed to make them strong, had cut them off from the lanes that would make them so, that they would be the instruments of their own demise.

The truth, regardless of the differences between Humans and Chiss, Jedi and Navigators, was simple. It was emotional openness and acceptance, embracing those feelings that allowed for a higher sense of self. Of course, unless exposed to a Chiss who could validate that claim - and even then - the lack of concrete proof would make such an assertion fantastical.

Of course, that was why Eli designed to prove it with science. Thus, he needed a subject who had not already undergone the necessary changes to prove it. He looked across the room at Un’hee, his lips pulling up in a tender smile.

She would be the one, he thought. She would be the example by which generations of Navigators would follow. He believed that. He only hoped that her awakening would not be through the same kind of horrific experience as Vah’nya’s.

He wasn’t foolish, however. The reality of the matter was that the Chiss were proud, stern warriors to their very core. Regardless of their age, gender, or abilities, they would not be able to fully realize their potential without undergoing some great battle, an impossible trial. For his and Vah’nya’s part, that meant helping to arm every Navigator he could with the skills they would need to recognize their moment when it was time.

And, silently in the background, Eli resolved to provide tangible metrics. Results. He pulled up the results of neural scans he had on file and highlighted several trends for further analysis. He had the feeling he might just be on to something...

#thranto #eli vanto/thrawn #eli vanto #mitth'raw'nuruodo #vah'nya #ezra bridger #un'hee #ar'alani #mitth'ras'safis #sw fanfiction #my writing

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internationalhouseofblupjeans · 6 years

Text

An Eighth Bird, Born Out of the Storm - Chapter 12

Based loosely on the Luume'irma headcanon from @interstellarvagabond

Lup and Taako get their decennial “visitor” just before the fateful trip on the Starblaster. Taako holes up in his room, meditating away the discomfort while Lup discovers a partner for the week. Unforeseen consequences arise. Bonds are created. An eighth bird rises.

Eighth Bird AU.

The crew reacts to Lup and Barry's decision. Plans are made. Lup and Barry make a connection

Next chapter will be on Faerun! Enjoy this little respite of fluff because next one will be a little ... less fluffy.

Thank you to Calcu from the writer’s chat for Beta'ing!!

Also on AO3 (link in the source)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 below Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22

Elven behavior can become erratic the closer an elf is to giving birth. Unlike most races, elves will become anxious and long to travel away from their home. Usage of calming spells from clerics will help with this, however it is important to observe an elf during the last stage of pregnancy as they will try to hide their symptoms.

Elves will often die in childbirth due to succumbing to the instinctual desire to hide.

- What to Expect When You’re an Expectant Elf

“Um … What the fuck?” Magnus asked.

Lup and Barry looked away from the rest of the crew.

“Um … Well, we found a way to get around the whole , ‘Can’t lose the whole crew in a cycle thing’,” Barry started.

“By becoming liches?” Merle asked. “You don’t think there was a better way of doing this?”

“The year with the Judges it … It scared us,” Lup started. “We can’t afford for anything like that to happen again! And it worked! We’re still here and we’re still us!”

“Lup …” Lucretia started. “What about your child?”

“Barry and I … we figured out how to only affect the soul. Our bodies should return to their recorded states every cycle … everything should return … Everything had to stay the same. If I lost a limb or Barry got stabbed, then it would have to be fixed by the time the cycle resets, right? It’s no different here! We just added a few extra runes and components to make sure!”

Davenport had been silent, something that was worrying to everyone in the room. He looked up at Lup and Barry and sighed.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” he finally asked.

“We … We needed to do this. We didn’t want to be persuaded not to,” Lup sighed. “And … I know we should have said something but we knew .. We knew that there was no way anyone except for Taako would be alright with this …”

“Of course,” he sighed. “Just … We’re a crew, right? We’ve been together for eighty-three years … We should be able to trust each other.”

Lup and Barry looked away.

“We should. It’s just … some habits are hard to break,” Lup whispered.

“Well, you do seem stable,” Davenport sighed. “Just … please … next time you decide to do something that might affect the crew and our bonds, please ask. Please tell us … Even if you’re going to do it anyway.”

They looked back up and around the room. Taako shrugged, Magnus looked confused, Lucretia was writing and Merle …

“Well, I need to check and see how well you two supposedly did,” the dwarf sighed, motioning for Lup to follow him.

“Do you want me to come with?” Barry asked.

Merle shrugged.

“Whatever. If it failed, then I guess you can see why you don’t do this shit.”

Taako sat outside the sick bay, Lucretia sitting on the floor across the hallway.

“So … They’ve been in there a while,” Taako sighed. “How much do you want to bet they fucked something up?”

Lucretia didn’t answer. She just stared between her journal and Lup and Barry’s notes.

“I … Hmm … Well, knowing them, they probably figured something out. Most of their spell theories have been flawless and airtight,” she started. “Looking at their notes, I can’t find anything wrong - about any of this. Granted, they have a couple decades on me,” she blushed.

“Yeah, I keep forgetting you humans are actually so young,” Taako laughed.

“Yeah …”

“Hey, not a dig on you guys! I just forget,” Taako laughed. “I guess that was one bit of good that’s come out of this whole thing. Lup isn’t going to be losing Barry any time soon,” he sighed.

Lucretia nodded and then started working on her journal some more. They sat in silence until Lup came out of the room.

“Well, our kid made it through the jump,” she smiled. “Barry’s getting read the riot act in there, however. For some reason, Merle thinks this was his fault. Something about Barry’s Year 9 research paper or something. I had no clue Merle was his counselor.”

Taako laughed, nervously.

“So … You don’t feel any different?”

“Nah,” Lup smiled. “Just same ol’ Lup.”

Lucretia continued to scribble in her journal.

“Come on, Koko, let’s go get dinner started. Barry will join us eventually!”

Taako followed Lup, looking back at Lucretia who was staring at her journal with a furrowed brow.

The rest of the crew was away, so Lup and Barry were able to rest on the couch, curled up together.

They talked about a world where they could live in a home, big enough for their entire family. They couldn’t imagine not living with the rest of the crew after all these years.

They talked about a yard, a dog for Magnus, a giant kitchen.

A greenhouse where Merle could be weird, away from everyone else.

Most of all, they talked about their child. Their child who Barry would be able to watch grow up.

Their child who still would not come. Not this year.

This year, they had yet to find the light.

And they were going to eventually lose a crew member to parley.

“Since this won’t be the year and I haven’t been as sick, think that I can go with you on the next survey?” Lup asked, her fingers intertwined with Barry’s.

“I don’t see why not,” Barry kissed into Lup’s forehead. “I miss having you on surveys with me.”

“I miss it too.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Barry pulled Lup even closer.

“I was thinking of going to the south to look tomorrow,” Barry started. “Maybe there will be someone down there who we can talk to about the light.”

Lup mused aloud, “Taako had said there wasn’t anyone to the north. I wonder if we got another uninhabited plane.”

“Maybe …”

“We could probably sneak off somewhere here and no one would know.”

“Or it would echo through the whole plane,” Barry chuckled. “Like during the day you planned for me,” he teased.

“You liked it and you know it,” Lup teased back, playfully nibbling Barry’s neck.

Barry laughed before Lup pulled him down with her on the couch. Their eyes met and Lup smiled before reaching up to kiss Barry.

“Ugh, get off my sister, Barold!” Taako’s voice complained from the doorway. “If you’re going to do that, at least take it to your room! Gross!”

“Hey, I don’t judge you and Magnus! At least we’ve admitted everything,” Lup laughed, sticking her tongue out.

Taako huffed and walked away, flipping Lup off as he left. Lup and Barry laughed harder before returning to each other.

“Maybe we should take this to the other room,” Barry smiled.

“Or, we could see if we can get back at Merle for that time we walked in on him and the honeysuckle.”

Barry laughed.

“Gods, I love you, Lup.”

“I love you too,” she smiled, reaching up and pulling him down for another kiss.

Memories are strange things.

Sometimes, memories are formed from vivid experiences. From traumas and pain or pleasure and joy.

Sometimes, memories are formed in words. Some are formed in silence.

Sometimes, you don’t even know the memory could have formed. Nothing lost, nothing gained.

Sometimes, memories are formed with a song whispered from a distance.

She hovered over her body. The body was mangled, having hit several branches on the way down to the ground.

That was a stupid way to die.

She sighed and floated over to Barry. He hovered over his own body.

“Well … I guess there’s a reason no one has said anything about the south,” Barry sighed. “I can’t believe our bodies fell that far.”

“Yeah …” Lup sighed. “I guess let’s head back to the ship? I doubt we’re going to find the Light down here.”

“Yeah …”

They floated towards the ship in companionable silence. Barry looked over at Lup, marvelling in how beautiful even her lich form was. There was an odd ethereal beauty about her, even more than usual. He supposed it was because he was looking at her very soul now.

Lup seemed to feel the smile that Barry tried to form in his spectral body. She turned to look at him and Barry could have sworn she glowed.

“The only thing that’s going to suck is that we don’t have physical bodies for the rest of the year,” she laughed.

Barry reached out a spectral hand. Lup looked down for a moment.

They hadn’t tried this. They hadn’t tried to touch yet, having just now experienced being solely spectral forms together. They weren’t even sure if they could.

Lup reach a hand out to his.

Somehow, Barry felt just as alive as he always had, if not more. Their souls seemed to meld where they touched, a tingle reaching through both liches. Barry looked at Lup.

“Well … this won’t be as difficult after all, huh?”

“Yeah,” he heard her smile. “Barry, I’m so … happy. If you had asked me eighty-three years ago if … If this would have ever happened … If someone as wonderful as you were to love me, I - I wouldn’t believe it. I feel like I must have done something right …”

“Lup …” Barry whispered. “I think I’m the one who got lucky. Before the IPRE - before you - I was … I was aimless. Lup, I was so aimless that I studied up on every class! It’s why I’m not as powerful of a wizard!” Lup giggled at that. “I studied fighting, sorcery, bardic arts … I even trained in being a rogue but thieves’ cant was a mess … I just, I didn’t know who I was or who I wanted to be but now … Now I know. I want to be there for you, no matter which world we’re on. No matter which plane. Dead or alive … I … I don’t ever want to know a day without you.”

They embraced, their souls intertwining and weaving together. It was a new experience, a new sensation as they felt their very essence joining together. For a while, there was no way to know where Lup ended and Barry began. They were truly one, just feeling each other’s emotions, each other’s souls. Any fears they had once had melted away. They were together. They were there for each other. They would always be a part of one another. Never truly alone.

If anyone had looked towards the south, they would have seen the pair of red cloaked lights swirling around each other, combining, dancing … Two beings of pure love and arcana energizing each other. It was freeing, more than either of them had expected it to be. Suddenly, giving into the thrall of being a lich made sense. To have this much power, it was addicting.

But they were each other’s anchors and they were able to still keep each other grounded. Yes, they had this near-unlimited power, but it was so that they would be together. So that their found family could be together. Could be safe.

So that every planar system could be safe.

Looking into each other’s souls, feeling each other’s souls, Lup and Barry found themselves falling deeper in love with each other. They weren’t just seeing each other’s bodies. Each other’s physical forms. The shallow trappings of flesh.

They could see each other as they truly were.

They would eventually make their way back to the Starblaster but for now, they could be content to just be alone together.

#blupjeans #barry bluejeans #lup #taz

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welcometophu · 6 years

Text

Not Your Love Song: Chapter 14

Marked Book 2: Not Your Love Song

Chapter 14

[ Previous | First | Next ]

I look at these kids sometimes and I realize that I’ve forgotten everything about being in high school.

Rory stares down at the message from Darrik on his phone, gaze flicking back to the professor at the front of the lecture hall after a moment has passed. He cares about music theory—it’s one of the foundation courses for his major—but he’s not sure he really needs it. He’s been writing and selling songs since he was in middle school. There’s probably something he’s going to learn here which’ll help him get to that next level, but he can also probably ignore it for a little while.

Besides. There’s always the recording available online after, if he needs to review.

You do realize I was in high school just last year, he types back. On the other hand, I’m happy to forget everything about it.

He hopes it makes Darrik laugh, rather than making him feel weird about their age difference. He locks the phone, sets it on top of his notebook and picks up his pen.

There’s no time to write before it buzzes again. Alaric this time, the message popping up and fading too quickly for Rory to read it.

If Rory wants to be a good student, he should shove his phone deep in his bag and ignore it.

Or he could just ignore this discussion of four part harmony as something he’ll never try to pull off with Phoenix Rising—Andy doesn’t sing, and while Stormy’s enthusiastic, she’s only passable, not great.

Rory unlocks his phone, and Alaric’s message pops up.

Why is Dayton offering now to carry children when I want them? I know it might be important someday, but I’m nineteen. I don’t want to think about being a father. I’m still trying to figure out how to be a leader. And how to play football instead of going to war.

Rory bites the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Because Clan is weird, he replies. And your Clan is a very particular brand of old-fashioned weird. There are Clan out there that like Mages and don’t feel the need to set up secret societies with lines of succession. Like Darrik’s family. Rory’s never asked about the humans that are born into Alaric’s family, but he can’t think it goes well.

A fresh message in yet another conversation thread pops up.

Pawel said I should use the cards because they’re traditional. I could try something else. Like bowls of water. Or crystals.

Yeah. Rory isn’t getting anything done, not if Kit’s free now, too. He resigns himself to having three conversations at once, although for the moment, he resolutely ignores the sudden stream of incoming texts from Alaric and Darrik while he responds to his group chat with Kit and Shane.

Well, you need to use your cards with Thorne, because that’s your assignment. Working with me isn’t for a grade, remember? We just need to do what you’re most comfortable with. What’s safest for Lorraine.

The professor’s voice goes silent, and Rory quickly scribbles down the notes that he’s paused for them to take. As long as he looks busy, his cell phone use should fly under the radar. He hopes. The girl in the seat two to his left glances over when his phone buzzes again. Rory scoops it up to hold in his free hand so the buzz won’t vibrate noisily against his desk.

Did you talk to Darrik? Shane asks.

There was an article about her in the paper this morning. About the benefit concert and the fund for the family, Kit sends. They mentioned her moving to Sunnyview this weekend, so that sounds like a real thing.

So if we want the hospital, you need to talk to Darrik, Shane adds.

Rory chews on the inside of his lip. Yeah, I know. I’ll try to do that today and get back to you. Okay? I haven’t asked him about Saturday yet, either.

He closes that conversation and switches to the thread which has a picture from Darrik. It’s an overview of Darrik’s classroom, taken at an awkward angle which manages to maintain privacy of all the students by not showing a single face. There are more than a dozen kids in the room, and three have their heads on the desk, while one is leaned back in the chair, mouth open, looking like he’s snoring. Three girls have made a small circle in one corner, and are painting each others’ nails. Two students look like they’re working on a project together. Most are just playing with their phones.

Study hall, Darrik says. Which is as boring for me as it is for them. It’s a struggle not to sleep through 6th period every day.

Which is obviously why you’re texting me.

You’re the most entertaining person I know.

It’s a lie. It’s flirtatious, and outrageous, and so obviously untrue, but it still makes Rory smile and flush at the compliment.

If I’m interrupting, you can tell me to stop, Darrik adds. I used to text Noah in the middle of his classes because I’d forget when they were. He once had his phone confiscated and after that he sat down at my computer and put all his classes in my calendar.

Noah is still such a huge part of Darrik’s life. Rory can’t think of a conversation they’ve had yet where Darrik hasn’t invoked Noah’s name within a few sentences.

It’s okay. The professor has a no phones rule but he’s not going to call me out in the middle of a lecture. At least, Rory’s pretty sure he won’t. His phone’s quieter than a few others that he’s heard go off repeatedly during this class on other days. Besides, you’re not the only one texting me today.

Oh? Who else is bored out of their minds? I mean, I did just have to break up a squabble about whether Joshua scored a goal or not while playing paper football. He didn’t, in case you’re curious. It was obviously outside the goal posts.

I have no idea why you went back to high school voluntarily. I couldn’t wait to get away from people like that. Maybe it’s too blunt, but Rory presses send before he can reconsider it. And I have a group chat with Kit & Shane. Plus Alaric and I are always talking about something or other.

There’s no immediate response, so Rory switches back to his conversation with Alaric while waiting. There’s a picture attached, of Chris, eyes scrunched close, one hand on his chest, mouth open as he laughs, followed by a series of texts.

Chris sent me this when I told him.

Why is Chris laughing at me?

Dayton just asked me this again. She says we should make it part of our formal alliance. I’m not marrying her. I am definitely not having sex with her. Although it’d be a good alliance, I know, and if I was straight I’d do it. Theobald would probably approve except I don’t think he likes Dayton.

Rory would be laughing if he weren’t in the middle of class. He puts a hand over his face, smothers the sound that almost escapes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He breathes deeply, gets himself under control.

I don’t think she expects you to have sex with her. Use artificial insemination. When you’re thirty. And did she ask you to marry her? She’s probably just asking you to join your lines, which isn’t a bad idea. Make sure there’s some kind of out in the contract, in case you change your minds. I mean, maybe in ten or twenty years you’ll be ready for kids. You might think having a surrogate ready to go is helpful then.

Rory hesitates, then adds, We’re still just kids ourselves. Whole lives ahead and all that. Don’t sign anything you’re not ready to make good on in a decade.

He touches the notification that pops up from Darrik. I remember you talking about Alaric. He’s your roommate. Who are Kit and Shane?

It’s the perfect opening. Rory’s fingers stutter and stall on the keyboard.

This should be easy. He doesn’t need to go into detail. And he can’t see Darrik’s expression—if he’s angry, or offended, or hurt somehow. They’ve both got time to think through their words and tailor their responses. It’s perfect.

Rory inhales, exhales slowly, then types.

We’re all in Coven together—that’s the magical club on campus. Kit’s from a predictive line, and he’s learning traditional magic. Shane’s just a totally typical Mage. They both might be interested in helping reach out to Lora. If you think that might still be an option.

Class ends, and Rory shrugs into his jacket then packs up. He doesn’t have a class now, so he texts Kit and Shane, I’m heading to get food if you want to sit down and talk about options. I’m going to the Townhouse Dining Hall. As soon as it sends, he shoves the phone deep in his pocket and shoulders his bag.

He feels the first buzz when he’s halfway to his dorm, and ignores it. But it keeps buzzing, so either he’s getting a string of texts or—he pulls it out, sees Darrik’s name on the screen and answers the call. “Aren’t you in study hall?”

“I have five minutes while one class heads out and the next one comes in, yes, Rachel, please put your report right in that bin there. Can you tell the rest of class as they come in? Excuse me.” Shuffling movement, then Darrik’s voice is muffled. “They like to listen to everything.”

“Can you blame them? High school life is boring.” Rory remembers writing a song about one of his teachers, making up an entire second life for him outside of school. It’s never been a popular song, and Rory resolved when he recorded it never to tell the truth behind the lyrics.

“The class coming in now—these are smart kids. They’ll go somewhere eventually.” Another shuffling sound, and Darrik’s voice comes clearer. “I was wondering what you’re up to tomorrow night. I could pick you up and we could go out somewhere around PHU, if you want to talk about these plans you’re making.” He hesitates, adds more quietly, “For Lora. Which yes, that option is still on the table. But I need information before I can talk to her family, because we can’t do anything without their permission.”

“She’s being transferred soon,” Rory says quietly. “Do you think it’d be better for us to do this in the hospital? Just in case she wakes up or something and needs medical care.”

Silence aside from the sound of Darrik’s breath.

“Darrik?”

“Do you think she’ll wake up?” Darrik says slowly. “Do you think you can make a ritual that will help wake her up?”

“It’s not what we’re trying to do, but it’s a possible side effect.” Rory’s not sure exactly what they’re doing, other than trying reach out to someone who is currently beyond any normal kind of reach. “If she did, that’d be good, right?”

“It’d be great.” No hesitation, only the sound of relief in Darrik’s voice. “I don’t know why I was fine, why I’m the only one who came out of that mess alive and awake and intact. And I just want her to be okay.”

“We’ll do our best.” There’s nothing more that Rory can promise. “And dinner tomorrow sounds good. I’m meeting up with Shane and Kit tonight, and I’ll make sure I have good information for you.” A bell rings in the background, and Darrik curses under his breath.

“I’ve got to go. They might be smart kids, but this class doesn’t follow the five minute rule. If I’m thirty seconds late, they decide class is canceled and disappear.” The click of a door, sudden noise in the background, blurring Darrik’s voice. “I’ll pick you up at six. Make a reservation somewhere you like, okay?”

“Okay,” Rory agrees, and the line clicks silent.

He never managed to ask about Saturday, either. He’ll just have to do that tomorrow night.

His phone buzzes, and he glances down, half expecting it to to be Darrik, but no, it’s Alaric’s message popping up. Dayton wants to arrange another alliance.

Rory snorts at that, types as he walks. How many alliances can you have with one person? Or is this another thing being written into your alliance contract thing, like babies?

She started by saying we didn’t have to have a formal alliance and now she’s the one mentioning babies. I don’t know why. A pause before another text appears. But not babies this time. I told you about Devon and Aly, right? The Clan from New Hampshire?

He probably did, but Rory can’t remember the details. My head is full of weird ritual things with Kit and Shane so remind me again?

They’re the ones who brought two Clans together along with a Mage community, and they’re still bringing in other Talented folk as they find them. Because Talented people are dying in New Hampshire.

Oh, right. Okay, yes, I remember them. Aly’s pregnant, right?

The dots appear and disappear several times before Alaric’s texts come through in a quick stream. Yes, she’s due in a couple months, and everything looks good so far. She wants to find a magical midwife to be with her in the hospital. She’s afraid the plague could impact the baby.

And they also want to talk to your family. Because they’ve got such a good community, and they’re open-minded, and they’re very self-sufficient. Which my Clan is, too—the self-sufficient part. I could help them with that.

But your family could help them with mixing Magic and normal and maybe some ideas for helping other Talented people too and building a community.

Rory wonders why he hasn’t heard about the plague aside from Aly and Devon. Why no one seems worried about it spreading, if it’s had that much of an impact on their Clan communities. What about the plague?

They think it’s gone. No one’s fallen sick in ages, and now there’s a second pregnancy—one of the Mages—that’s passed three months. But they’re still nervous about the babies.

It’s understandable. Rory’s caught in the conflict between knowing that Gram would want to know about this—she and Nana and David would want to go in and help these young people—but at the same time, he doesn’t want to put her in the path of danger.

He can’t make that decision for her. Give them my email address, he decides, slowing down his walk so he can finish typing before he goes inside. Once I hear from them, I’ll start up a group thing to get them in touch with my grandparents and with my folks. Mom will want to help, and Dad’s all about rights for Talented people and he’ll help them with setting up a community, all the legal things.

He gets back a small series of smiling faces. Thanks. I’ll tell them to email you.

Okay, Rory sends. He stands just outside the door that leads into the public entrance to the basement under the Townhouse, and he stays to one side while typing. I’m meeting up with Kit and Shane to do Mage stuff. We’ll try to keep it to the dining hall so we don’t stink up our room.

He shoves his phone back in his pocket; he doesn’t need to see Alaric’s response to that one. And if anyone else needs to find him right now, they can wait until after Rory’s seen Kit and Shane. He wants to make sure he has something to share with Darrik when they go out tomorrow.

[ Previous | First | Next ]

#welcome to phu #welcometophu #not your love song #phu marked #marked

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velvetchen · 7 years

Text

Anonymous | pt. iii

[ back to masterlist ]

Scenario: Tumblr AU Pairing: Chanyeol/Reader Word Count: 1339 Rating: T

Summary: Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met? You just shot to tumblr fame when the latest chapter of your webtoon went viral. Messages start flooding in – hundreds of people saying things good and bad alike. One anon catches your eye, and you find you just have to reply to them…

<< previous part x next part >>

New message [Draft] [12:23 PM]

To: XXX-XXX-XXXX (Unknown number)

You: Hey C, S here ^^

Send a message…

Anonymous asked: Dear S, sorry if giving you my number was a bit too sudden. I mean I did say I’d like to keep my privacy, but I also really want to get to know you! You don’t have to reply if you’re not comfortable. Sorry again. Sincerely, C

New message [Draft] [1:36 PM]

To: XXX-XXX-XXXX (Unknown number)

You: Hey C, this is S!!

[Message sent] [1:53 PM]

[1:53 PM] You: I don’t mind texting. I would love to talk to you some more.

[1:56 PM] You: i can’t believe i just texted C

[1:56 PM] You: >.< [2:01 PM] Jia: whoa you mean that anon from your tumblr [2:02 PM] Jia: you got his number? [2:03 PM] You: yeah he gave it to me… [2:04 PM] You: i’m so nervous jia what if it’s a wrong number or he thinks i’m too desperate or he’s a pedophile stalking young girls on the web [2:06 PM] Jia: calm down [2:06 PM] Jia: has he replied? [2:07 PM] You: not yet ;;;;;

Anonymous asked: how many followers do you have

It’s somewhere around 8,000 now and I don’t think it’s slowing down anytime soon ;;;;

Anonymous asked: how the fuck did you get famous? You’re trash and your webtoon is trash. I don’t understand why anyone likes it.

Well, I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion…

exordiums asked: S there are so many fan theories going around! Can you confirm or deny them because I’m at my wits’ end here

Nope! You’ll just have to wait till the next update ^^

Anonymous asked: what happened to C?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anonymous asked: i’ve read a lot of webtoons and none of them are as bad as yours, honestly

Thanks :)

[3 New Messages]

[4:43 PM] XXX-XXX-XXXX (Unknown number): Hey S! You won’t believe how relieved I am to hear from you [4:44 PM] XXX-XXX-XXXX (Unknown number): I thought I scared you off for a minute there [4:44 PM] XXX-XXX-XXXX (Unknown number): How are you doing?

Send a message…

[4:48 PM] You: JIA HELP what do i say [4:48 PM] You: sent a photo [4:50 PM] Jia: you’re so dramatic [4:50 PM] Jia: just be normal [4:51 PM] Jia: it’s not like he’s your crush or something [4:52 PM] You: I know -.-

[4:55 PM] You: Don’t worry, you didn’t! I’m doing well, I had a long day today. How about you? [4:59 PM] C: Good :) [5:00 PM] C: I had a long day, too. Work ran late, but it’s the weekend so I’m looking forward to resting. [5:01 PM] C: What about you, do you have any plans for the weekend?

[5:14 PM] You: Nope, no plans! I’m going to work on SS, it’s actually pretty hard to do one chapter a week :( [5:15 PM] You: You’ll probably find me slacking off lol. Don’t tell [5:17 PM] You: Where do you work?

[5:32 PM] C: I can imagine. It takes me ages just to think of a concept for a song, I don’t know how you manage [5:33 PM] C: Haha I told you, I write music. I was lucky enough to make it my livelihood

[6:19 PM] You: Songs are a bit harder, IMO? You’ll have to fit a whole story in such a small amount of time, that’s a lotttt harder than writing a 100-episode webtoon [6:20 PM] You: Oh, that is lucky. Sounds like a dream job [6:20 PM] You: Maybe I’ve heard of you. Imagine that

baeked-potato asked: I’m so sorry you’re getting hate already. SS is a great webtoon, one of the best, you should feel really proud of it~~ <3 Fighting!

Thanks so much ;A;

Anonymous asked: so are you going to answer any of our fan theories or no

No :)

WEBTOON Highlight: Strawberry Shortcake sets record for fastest webtoon to reach 1M views!

In romance webtoon Strawberry Shortcake, girl-next-door Yoon-ah’s life is turned around when Jin-ho, a handsome vampire, takes an interest in her. But maybe everything is darker than it seems at first glance…

Strawberry Shortcake, written by author S, recently crossed 1.5M views on LINE Webtoon alone.

just-another-shortcake:

Yoon-ah’s obviously going to end up with Jin-ho. I mean, he has so much depth as a character, and they complement each other so well. They have that classic chemistry everyone knows and loves. Yoon-ah is sweet and innocent, Jin-ho is that dark, brooding, protective guy. Do you guys remember from one of the earlier episodes when they were late coming home so he took her out for dinner and he was just so caring and gentle. The ship is real.

soldmyseoul:

lol i can’t believe you’re just going to forget about the lake scene

just-another-shortcake:

Oh no way. Seong-jin is waaaay too extroverted for her. That lake scene was either a) a once in a lifetime thing or b) he was trying to get something out of her (or into her lololol)

I mean, who trusts a vamp who makes crass jokes and flirts like crazy one moment, then turns into a sweet lover the next? Nope

[7:49 PM] C: Do you think so? [7:49 PM] C: I mean, I guess it sounds harder when you put it that way, but I’ve never really found it that difficult [7:50 PM] C: When you write music, it’s about you and what you feel inside...but when you write a book or a webtoon, you’re writing about another character that you have to create feelings for [7:51 PM] C: Or characters [7:52 PM] C: That’s just crazy. I don’t know what I’m feeling myself half the time [7:53 PM] C: Imagine ;) [7:55 PM] C: I’d say it’s pretty likely

[8:36 PM] You: When I think about it, writing a song is really scary lol [8:36 PM] You: Just the thought of putting my true feelings out like that and having people know it was me is just terrifying honestly. I’d rather hide behind my characters, I’m a lot more comfortable there [8:37 PM] You: And yeah I know you don’t have to write music about yourself specifically but what’s the point of making art if you’re not going to express yourself [8:38 PM] You: I hope you get it lol [8:39 PM] You: Seriously??? I’m not asking or anything, but now I’m really tempted to listen to one of your songs ^^

[8:44 PM] C: We have a totally different outlook, I’d say :D [8:45 PM] C: What’s so scary about revealing how you feel, though? [8:45 PM] C: It gets easier with time [8:46 PM] C: I understand. If I wasn’t allowed to write my own music I would’ve gone crazy [8:47 PM] C: Freedom is something a lot of us take for granted [8:49 PM] C: Hmm. I’ll have to hold out on you [8:51 PM] C: But maybe I’ll let you listen one day

[9:02 PM] You: Yeah, definitely different lol. It’s good to have another perspective once in a while though [9:03 PM] You: I don’t know, I think I’m scared of people using it against me? Or something like that [9:03 PM] You: I actually don’t know. I’ve never thought about it [9:04 PM] You: That’s a good question, I’ll think about it and get back to you [9:05 PM] You: How long have you been writing music? [9:07 PM] You: I’ll be waiting! :) [9:08 PM] You: Then it’ll be my turn to be your biggest fan

183 notes · View notes

sunbrights · 6 years

Text

fic: somewhere surely lived (2/14)

fandom: danganronpa characters/pairings: fuyuhiko & peko as main POV characters + a "relationship of the day" character + some side characters. kuzupeko + 6 secondary ships. rating: e (not all chapters have smut, but a fair number of them do) summary: Hope's Peak is not just a dating program; it's a guarantee. With the right compatible partner, the benefits are endless: boosted life expectancy, improved self-esteem, increased productivity, new opportunities, better overall work and life satisfaction. For society's elite, Hope's Peak makes finding that partner straightforward, if not easy.

It provides an Ultimate Match-- provided the participants are willing to go through its paces.

(AU based on the Black Mirror episode, "Hang the DJ.")

read on AO3

1 YEAR

Her partner slams her hand on the table. It makes both wine glasses rattle, enough that a dark-haired woman one booth over shoots a pointed glare across the divider.

“... Is that bad?” Peko asks.

“What?!” There are more heads turning in their direction. Her partner doesn’t seem to notice. “Of course not! It’s just the opposite: we hit the jackpot!” She shows Peko the face of her device, even though Peko is already looking at her own. “The system is built on data points, and we just got a whole year of them right out of the gate! Our profiles are going to have an unbeatable foundation. Isn’t that right, Usami?”

“The system considers all relationships to be valuable experiences,” her device responds, “and they are all weighted appropriately when selecting a participant’s Ultimate Match.”

“Right, but a year! That’s so much time! No matter what happens, it can’t not be useful.”

“That’s right!”

She seems satisfied with that. She sets the device aside, and leans forward on both elbows. “Please,” she says seriously, “tell me everything! I want to know everything there is to know about you. Leave no detail out!”

She smiles, eager and open. Everything about her is like that: she has warm, expressive eyes and animated body language. There’s a bright yellow headband with a flower decoration in her hair, and delicate ruffles on her blouse. Tenko, she said her name was.

Peko tries to think of a detail to share.

She draws a blank.

“Maybe,” she tries instead, “we could start with you?”

Tenko enthuses over everything: the food (both the herb-stuffed eggplant for her and the steamed sea bass for Peko), the automated transportation system, the spaciousness of their living quarters. She darts straight into the kitchen when they arrive, and checks through each and every one of the cabinets.

“It’s incredible! Look at this attention to detail! We have everything we could ever possibly need!”

“That’s right!” her device responds from her pocket, to her squealing delight.

Peko sets her purse on the kitchen island, and watches Tenko close all the cabinets again. “The system is comprehensive,” she says.

“Of course!” Tenko rises up on her toes to reach the tallest shelf. “A 99.8 success rate doesn’t come from nowhere. This way, we have so much more time to really connect with each other!”

She is a budding martial artist, trained in Aikido. Her favorite color is green. She loves hot pot and live performances of all kinds, and she doesn’t know how to swim. She is energetic in the extreme, and Peko is already exhausted.

But all the introductory materials had assured her that the system works if you let it. A 99.8 success rate doesn’t come from nowhere. Everything happens for a reason.

“I was thinking about going for a run in the morning,” Peko says. Tenko whirls around, so suddenly and so eagerly that it catches Peko off-guard. “... Would you... like to join me?”

Tenko is enthused about that, too.

Their living quarters are far enough west that they can see the towering outer wall around the grounds from their front windows. That had been in the introductory materials, too: an isolated environment reduces the impact of any external confounding variables. Participants are only reintroduced to the outside world after their match has been made.

The wall is tall enough that it throws wide, sprawling shadows across the grounds in the morning. Here, winter and spring are mild at worst, but the early morning chill is universal; she reminds Tenko to bring her ear warmers once while they’re getting dressed, and then again just before they walk out the door.

They run together, side-by-side. Tenko’s energy doesn’t diminish at all, even this early, before the sun has fully risen; Peko has to encourage her down from a breakneck pace to a moderate one.

She’d thought it would be a distraction, running with a partner. She’d thought it would be especially distracting to run with a partner like Tenko, all enthusiasm and little restraint. Instead, Peko finds it improves her focus, having someone matching her step-for-step.

“A record time!” Tenko announces, when they’re finished. “That was amazing!”

“It was our first run,” Peko says.

“Of course! And now we have a time to beat for our second!” Tenko scribbles the time on a scrap of paper, and stretches to tape it above the doorframe. “And I won’t rest until we have. Are you ready?”

Peko looks up at it. 09:23:05 in round, bubbly characters.

“Yes,” she answers. “I think I am.”

10 MONTHS

The weather warms. A stand in the park hands out cold drinks during the afternoon, so they go together; Tenko orders a lemonade, and Peko an iced tea. They sit on a bench and watch the half-grown ducklings chase each other on the water.

“You know,” Tenko says, fidgeting with the lid of her drink, “I didn’t forget.”

Peko has a plastic baggie of flaxseed in her purse; the ducklings hesitate when she tosses it out, but the draw of a free treat eventually bullies out their fear. They toddle toward her, scoop the seed up in their beaks, and then dash back to the waterline.

“Forget what?” she asks.

“Do you remember the night we met?”

Peko does. It’s enough for her to know where the conversation is headed, and her stomach twists.

“I said I wanted to know everything about you.” Tenko waits, but not for long. She snaps her nail against the lid. “It’s been almost two months and I still feel like I don’t know anything about you at all.”

“I’m sorry,” Peko says, and means it.

“No, no! I understand. It always feels like you’re so…” She grasps Peko’s hand and squeezes, once, in lieu of finding a word. Her fingers are damp with condensation from her cup. “Maybe we could… try again?”

In theory, there’s nothing to be concerned over. They’re simple enough questions about basic enough information. It’s just that none of those details feel important enough to tell, when it comes time to think of them.

“... I don’t mind,” she ventures, carefully. “But I don’t…”

“It’s okay! I’ll help you!” Tenko twists to face her, and pulls both legs up so that she’s kneeling on the bench, one elbow propped on the backrest. “What if I asked specific questions, would that make it easier?”

Peko isn’t sure it will, but Tenko’s face is undeniably earnest, so she says, “... Maybe?”

“Okay! First question.” It takes her a second to think of it, but only a second. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Black,” Peko decides.

“Favorite food?”

That one is harder. There isn’t even a range of possibilities that jumps to mind. She flounders, and Tenko notices.

“Okay, okay, wait, how about… what do you like about the food the system picks for you?”

She thinks. “It’s… savory, I suppose,” she answers. It feels silly to say, but Tenko’s smile stays encouraging. “Rich in flavor. Sometimes spicy, but not too much.”

“Do you have a favorite animal?”

Peko looks at the ducklings, who have finished all of the flaxseed she tossed out for them. They waddle closer in nervous, eager circles.

“... do I have to choose?”

“You can say ‘all of them,’ if you want,” Tenko decides. Her smile broadens. “Do you like animals?”

“Well…” She hesitates. “Yes. I enjoy seeing them, and petting them, when I can. I…” Tenko is staring at her, her expression strange. “... What?”

Tenko says, “Um. Just, um, I…” and then she kisses her.

It’s startling, but not because of the kiss. It’s startling because Tenko’s kiss is nothing like her at all: hesitant and fluttering, there one moment and gone the next. Peko barely has a chance to react before Tenko has jerked her chin away, pink straight up to her hairline.

“Sorry,” she whispers in a rush. “I got excited, and- and you were so cute, and—”

Peko squeezes her hand. “It’s fine.”

Tenko’s smile splits her face. She’s still pink when she kisses Peko again, unrestrained and slightly clumsy— but this time there’s all of her behind it.

They navigate the menus together. Main, Activity, Consent. There is a Consent All option and a Consent Specific option. Tenko insists on navigating through Consent Specific and marking only the activities that label her the giving partner. “I- I don’t need anything like that,” she says. “I’m fine! This… This is for you!”

It seems like an uneven trade, and Peko tells her so. Tenko doesn’t budge. “Don’t think of it like a trade,” she says. “Think of it like a gift.”

They sit on the bed together, on top of the sheets, with the pillows piled up to support Peko’s shoulders. Tenko kneels in front of her, close enough to touch, her face flushed like she’s been running for hours and only just stopped.

She unties the silk bow at the front of Peko’s pajama bottoms. She bites her lip when she slides her hand inside the elastic. Her fingers are cold, through the thin cotton of Peko’s panties.

“Peko?” she whispers against her temple. Peko touches the back of her head to acknowledge it. She doesn’t trust her voice. “You’re not breathing.”

She’s right. Peko manually pulls a single breath in, and then manually pushes it back out. “I’m sorry.”

“R-Remember your breathing!” Tenko’s fingers are trembling, now. “It’s important! For- for…” Her voice wobbles into a whisper. “Um, for... s-sensation. And so you don’t pass out!”

Peko turns her face down into her shoulder. “I won’t pass out,” she promises.

Tenko swallows. When she whispers, “Well… good!” it’s almost a squeak. She shifts herself into a better position on the bed, up on her knees, her other arm slid around Peko’s back.

Tenko touches her. It’s hesitant, at first, but not slow. The angle is strange to start, and not quite right, but the longer she goes, the more Tenko relaxes. She flexes her wrist, and her fingers trip a spot that pulls sensation back like a hook from Peko’s bellybutton.

She thinks about her breathing. She thinks about keeping it steady. She thinks about keeping it in. She clenches her teeth and swallows each time it feels like it might spill out, for no reason she can think of other than she must.

Tenko’s kisses get clumsier. The rhythm of her fingers gets less distinct, if not slower. The twisting key at the base of Peko’s spine winds, and winds, and winds…

And stops.

There’s somewhere more to go, she can feel it, like water crashing against a pane of glass or wind straining the edges of a tarp. Reaching for it is like straining to pull herself over a ledge, tipping at the top, seeing the other side, and slipping back down the face.

For once, Tenko is steady. For once, she’s calm. “It’s okay,” she whispers into Peko’s neck, beneath her ear. “You can let go. Just feel.”

Peko tries. She focuses on that thrumming coil of tension, and tries to imagine it snapping, letting all that energy out to vibrate through her, toe to tip. She tries to make herself feel it, only that, and nothing else.

Her fingers clench against Tenko’s hip. She thinks she must make a sound, a gasp or groan of frustration, because her throat suddenly feels rough, and Tenko suddenly lifts her head. She doesn’t have time to feel embarrassed or ashamed; in the next moment, Tenko’s mouth is on hers, deep and messy and desperate. She swirls her thumb in a quick, rough circle.

Finally, finally— it snaps.

6 MONTHS

Summer slides into fall. The grounds are picturesque, transitioning from lush greens to vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows over the course of a few weeks.

The system invites them to a pairing day. She’s never met the couple before, and neither has Tenko, but knowing them personally isn’t a prerequisite to be invited, as she understands it. “The pairing day is a celebration of the work the entire community has put in to helping participants find their Ultimate Match,” the device tells her. “It’s a party for everyone!”

They go. Tenko wears a pretty yellow dress that flares out from her hips like flower petals; Peko opts for something less eye-catching, a pencil dress in dark blue. The venue is a lodge deep in the woods on the northern side of the grounds, with roaring fireplaces to keep the cold out and wide bay windows to let the autumn colors in. There is a grand piano at the back of the ballroom, where a young woman plays a slow, delicate waltz.

It’s beautiful.

It’s also overwhelming.

Peko had known that the system's participant pool was large by design, but she's never seen so many people outside the central hub before now. There's food and drinks and dancing. The hum of idle conversation rises to a dull roar in her ears, too significant to tune out.

Even Tenko is intimidated. The piano transitions into a speedier, cheerful rhythm, and she hovers at the edge of the dance floor, fingers twisted in her skirt. Other guests twirl by her, hands intertwined, and she rolls back on her heels.

“Would you like to dance?” Peko asks.

Tenko balks, with both hands up. “N-No! No, it’s fine. I’m... not graceful like you.” She bites her lip, and looks back out across the dance floor. “... But you definitely should! You would be amazing.”

“Even if that were true,” Peko says, and she suspects it isn’t, having seen the way Tenko runs, “why does it matter?”

“What’re you talking about? Why doesn’t it matter?” Tenko splays her feet out and hikes her skirt to her knees, like forcing Peko to look at her legs will change her mind. “Me and my monster feet would just drag you down!”

“I don’t think so,” Peko says. “But even if you did… it would be fun anyway. Wouldn’t it?”

Tenko’s eyes are round. She looks at the dance floor again, and back. Out, and back. “R-Really?”

Peko holds out her hand, and Tenko steps into her chest, the plume of her skirt swirling around her calves.

The reception spills into the evening, and then into the night. The crowd never thins, at least not as far as Peko can ever tell. If anything, the room gets more crowded as the night wears on and guests retreat inside from the cold.

Tenko is riding the high of the evening. She gushes about the music and the decorations the entire ride back, and Peko’s head is throbbing.

“That was amazing!” Tenko hoists herself out of the cart one-handed when they arrive, and twirls on the pavement. “Ooh, I hope my pairing day is half as cute as that was!” Peko slides down the seat to pull herself out of the cart, too, and Tenko bounces toward her. “Here, let me help!”

She reaches for Peko’s hand, where it’s braced against the backrest of the seat.

Peko twists her wrist away.

Tenko’s expression flickers. She steps back to give Peko room to step out of the cart herself. “Is something wrong?”

Peko answers, “No,” and it’s true; objectively, the night has been fine. It’s been wonderful, even, as picturesque as anything inside Hope’s Peak.

“It’s alright if you’re upset!” Tenko says, reaching again for her elbow. “It’s okay to be frustrated after a long day. I understand! You just need to let it out. If you want, I can—”

“I would like space,” Peko says, sharper than she means.

“Oh.” Tenko looks down at her hands. She snaps them back to her side, and tucks them into the folds of her skirt. “Okay,” she says, only now her smile is strained. “Yeah! I- I can do that, too.”

The timer on the cart clicks over. Its electric motor revs and whirrs as it drives away.

“I’m sorry,” Peko says. “... I should go to bed.”

Tenko’s eyes soften. She nods. “It’s okay. I’ll be right behind you.”

It’s another hour or so before Tenko comes to bed. Peko feels her slide under the blanket, and then feels her stretching moment of hesitation before she nips close, one arm curled around her waist.

4 MONTHS

Peko mentions that she’s never had a crepe before.

There is a cart that sells them in the park, even during the winter. Tenko likes the craftsmanship that goes into them, with delicate whipped-cream flowers and swirls of chocolate syrup. They’ve always looked too sweet for Peko’s tastes.

“But they aren’t all sweet!” Tenko insists. “There are savory ones, too. You’d really like those, I bet!” She slams her hands on the table, and both their devices jump. “I’ll go and get one for you right now! Wait right here!”

“No, that’s not—”

It’s too late. Tenko springs up from her chair and takes off down the hill. She nearly clips another girl on the way, and it throws a splash of dark purple smoothie down the girl’s shirt and into the grass.

“Hey!” The girl’s voice carries up the hill. “Watch where you’re going, bitch!”

Peko makes to stand up, but the situation doesn’t escalate beyond that. The girl moves on with her companion, and Tenko races back from the crepe stand.

“Here!” She presses it into Peko’s hands. It’s cheese, mushroom, and spinach. “I have to go,” she says. “I need to apologize! Wait here, I’ll be right back!”

The girl with the spilled smoothie is gone, as far as Peko can tell, but Tenko skids down the hill again regardless. Peko stands to follow; the park is not small, and it would be worse to leave her to search alone.

Her device lights up when she picks it up off the table. The time remaining blinks up at her: four months.

It’s more a passing thought than a revelation: she thinks she’ll be relieved, once this is over.

She doesn’t crush it fast enough. Even when Tenko turns back to find her (“Did you see where she went?” she calls “Blonde hair, cute face, but like, cute-mean?”), the guilt that spills in doesn’t drown it. It wedges itself behind her sternum, deep and painful, and stays there.

2 MONTHS

“There’s not much time left,” Tenko says one night, while they’re curled together on the porch swing. It’s too cold, almost, winter tendrils creeping back in, but not so much to drive them inside, just yet. She has her device balanced on her knees.

“Two months,” Peko answers.

“Less than that,” Tenko says. She taps her device, and it lights up: fifty-seven days. “But it’s okay. A whole year of data points! We’ll be right on our way to our Ultimate Matches!” She drags her thumb over the bottom curve of the 5. “But… It- It’ll be sad, a little. Right?”

It will be. Peko’s chest constricts, thinking about it. It throws her relief over the expiration into sharper focus: once it’s over, she’ll be able to move on.

“Peko?”

It was always going to end. They’ve been expecting it, from the very first night they met. But it would be cruel to say so, so she doesn’t say anything.

“It’s okay for you to let your feelings out,” Tenko murmurs eventually. “Especially with- with me.” She wipes the corner of her eye with her thumb. “... I hope you know that.”

She gets up from the swing. Peko watches her retreat inside.

She thinks Tenko must be tired, too.

6 WEEKS

The days go faster at the end than they did at the beginning.

17 DAYS

It can’t be fixed. Maybe it isn’t supposed to be fixed.

“Everything happens for a reason,” the device tells her.

1 DAY

Tenko has always been a restless sleeper. She fidgets and sighs and tosses all night, not counting the time it takes for her to fall asleep in the first place.

Peko has slept under more trying conditions than that. She’d adjusted.

They both sleep poorly, that final night.

They spend their last few minutes out on the porch swing. It’s almost too cold, the last bit of winter fading out from early spring mornings, but together, it’s warm enough. Tenko has her device cupped in her hands. She watches the blinking timer count down.

“Peko,” she blurts. Her voice is trembling and too loud; she overcorrects, and cuts her volume to a whisper. “Could- Could I hold your hand? Just until the end. … If it’s alright with you?”

Their devices begin to beep steadily. Less than a minute remaining.

Peko picks off her gloves, and laces their fingers together.

END

#peko pekoyama #tenko chabashira #danganronpa #onwards!!#this fic is super challenging but really fun #tenko's voice was tough to nail down #i hope i did her justice she is a blessing #fic: somewhere surely lived #sunwrites

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hardyemma94 · 4 years

Text

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#What To Do For A Tmj Headache Wonderful Useful Tips #Tmj Adjustment At Home

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imaginefan · 7 years

Text

Face From The Past *Part 6*

Theo Raeken X Reader

Word Count: 2450

<< Part 5

You watched as the masked men known as the Dread Doctors carried you into a dark underground room, it looked like a theatre in a Hospital. You were young, 9 years old, the sat you on the table and for some reason you didn’t try to run, maybe it had something to do with the fact that you saw a boy around you age opposite you, you waved at him but he didn’t wave back, another masked figure forced a woman into the room “perform the spell.” Came the static sentence. The Woman looked at you and then the boy, she walked over to you and pricked your finger will a needle collecting some of your blood and then did the same with the boy, she started chanting and it felt like something was knotting inside of you, the masked men looked between the two of you and then roughly pulled your arm up to where your birthmark was on the wrist, it looked like a small T, they each nodded and then the man behind the woman stabbed her.

You shot up from bed pulling up your sleeve to see that the mark wasn’t there, you remembered having the mark when you were little but it faded over time. You looked over at the book that you had read last night, Malia called you and told you about the book and what the others had found out about the book and you decided to read it before your meeting and lucky for you Elijah had helped to improve your reading skill and he finished it in under 2 hours. “(Y/N)?” Klaus asked from the other side of the door. “Yeah?” You asked. “Are you okay?” He asked. “Yeah. Fine… Bad dream.” You answered picking up the copy of the book that Elijah had gotten a hold of for you, you sighed before throwing it back down on your bedside table and laid back with your hands behind your head, you remembered last night, you talked to Theo until Klaus got back. You got out of bed and walked down the stairs. “Did that bad dream have anything to do with that book?” Elijah asked as you walked into the kitchen. “Maybe I don’t know.” You answered shrugging. They all looked at you and you rolled before launching into the description of your dream. “They looked at the mark on your arm?” Elijah asked and you nodded. “Yeah, it looked like a T.” You frowned as you pulled your shirt sleeve up but your arm was clear. “Maybe it was just a bad dream.” You shrugged before grabbing your bag leaving for school.

You walked into school and was met by Malia “Did you read it?” She asked and you nodded. “Yeah, I read it.” You nodded. “Did anything happen?” She asked and you sighed. “Just a weird dream that Klaus is going to help me figure out.” You answered. “What was it about?” She asked. “I was in this old basement, it looked almost clinical, I was younger though, there was a boy in there with me and a witch and of course the doctors, they had the witch perform a spell and then they killed her.” You answered and Malia frowned. “Have you ever met the witch?” Malia asked you shook your head. “I never met her, I would have remembered and Klaus definitely would have.” You mumbled and she nodded. “Is everyone else still reading it?” “They are going to finish it tonight,” Malia answered, you closed your locker walking towards your first class. “Well, I guess I’ll be there tonight then.” You informed her and she smiled. “Thank god I don’t want to be the only one that stops them from running into traffic,” Malia said in relief, you giggled. “I’ll give you a hand.” You winked.

At lunch you were in the library again but this time you were looking for something on witches in Beacon Hills but there was nothing there, nothing that confirmed that there were ever witches in Beacon Hills, most supernaturals had passed through this town that was why you were surprised when the Mikaelson’s said that they had no idea what or where the town was. “What are you doing?” Someone asked from behind you and you jumped and saw that it was Theo. “I was looking to see if there were any records of witches in Beacon Hills.” You answered and he frowned. “In a school Library?” He asked and you smiled. “Well as we know most of the stories are true and if there were any here about witches in Beacon Hills that would have somewhat confirmed the theory.” You explained and he nodded. “You need a witch?” He asked. “No, I dreamt about one being here when I was little.” You answered and Theo nodded. “What was she doing?” He asked. “I don’t really know, the doctors had her do a spell and then they killed her, there was nothing boy and there was a mark, it was on my arm but it’s not there anymore.” You answered, Theo, looked at you and frowned. “Well maybe, your family can help you?” He suggested. “Klaus is trying to help me, I’ll just have to see.” You decided and he nodded.

“My mom's book club usually has more wine,” Lydia commented and you smirked. “I can get your wine.” You smirked. “Well I don’t think that’s a good idea, they also probably didn't read books that cause violent hallucinations,” Stiles said and you nodded. “That's why Malia and (Y/N) are here,” Scott answered. “So none of us go running into traffic?” Kira asked. “Or worse,” Scott added. “Like what happened to Judy.” Malia supplied and they all looked at her. “Chapter 14.” We both said. “Maybe I should have my mother read it. She might remember a girl with a tail leaping off the ceiling and attacking everyone.” Lydia said picking up to book and looking at it. “Yeah, if it works,” Stiles answered. “It has to,” Lydia answered. “What does that mean?” Scott asked. “I think I saw them during my surgery. When I look at the cover of the book… It's almost like-” “A memory trying to surface,” Theo suggested. “Yeah.” Lydia nodded. “Isn't that what Valack wanted when he wrote it?” Kira asked. “If they did something to me, I want to know what it is.” Lydia decided. “Anyone feel anything yet?” Scott asked after a few hours. “Tired,” Kira answered. “Hungry,” Lydia mumbled. “I think he meant the book,” Theo said. “I wouldn’t expect you to have felt anything.” You said. “What do you mean?” Scott asked. “Well, I didn’t remember anything until after I read the book.” You answered, “And mine was more of a dream, so I guess it presents in different ways, I mean Lydia felt something before she even opened the book, but I didn’t feel anything.” “Wait you remembered something?”Lydia answered. “Malia didn’t tell you?” You asked. “They never asked,” Malia answered. “Well I’m more astonished by the fact that you read this book in one night,” Stiles answered. “Before you left you hated reading.” “Well Elijah did not like that I refused to read things, so he made me read until I realised what I could find in a book.” You answered, after that conversation you ended up falling asleep.

The next morning you were Klaus called you home saying that he had a solution to your problem. “What’s the solution?” You asked as you walked into the house. “Good Morning to you,” Klaus smirked from the island in the kitchen. “It’s only a good morning if you really solved my problem.” You grumbled and he rolled his eyes. “Well, I have.” He gestured the living room where you saw Davina and Marcel. “How is the glorified vampire going to do for me?” You asked. “Oh, nothing but the harvest girl can help you,” Klaus answered. “Davina.” You greeted and she smiled, you were both good friends when she lived at the compound but then she was moved to live with the other witches when she was brought back to life. “He told me that you needed help,” Davina explained. “Yeah, I sort of do.” You nodded. You went on to explain what happened in the dream. “Well, the only way that I can help is if we got back,” Davina answered. “Into the dream?” You asked. “Mm-hm.” She hummed. “Can you do that?” You asked and she nodded. “Uh okay let’s do it then.” You nodded.

When you opened your eyes you saw that you were back in the basement or that was what you assumed that it was because it was definitely underground and there was no natural light in the room, you looked to see that this time you were actually l watching everything play out instead of being a part of it. “So who’s the boy?” She asked. “I have no idea.” You answered. “That’s a lie.” She mumbled. “What?” You asked. “I’m connected to your mind, so who do you think this is?” You asked. “I think it’s Theo.” You answered. “Who’s that?” She asked. “Someone in the pack, I met him when we came back.” You answered as you watched the witch take the blood. “It’s a linking spell,” Davina said. “It’s different from the ones that we normally do, I don’t know why. That mark it looks like there was a cloaking spell put on it after.” “Why didn’t I notice that before?” You asked. “Use your other eyes,” Davina ordered and you frowned before closing your eyes once you opened them they were a bright yellow, you looked down at your arm and saw the birth make that was supposed to be there. “Why can I see it now?” You asked. “Those eyes see through magic, I noticed on your last full moon when you lost control you were able to see the barrier around the compound that was set up to stop you from getting out,” Davina explained. “You waited and watched it before you found the weakest area to break out of.” “You never told Klaus this?” You asked. “I don’t like Klaus plus he acts like he knows everything already maybe you should ask him if he knows that,” Davina smirked. “Go see this Theo kid use your eyes, he should have a mark as well and it should be your initial if that’s what the T is for. I’ll head back to New Orleans and see if any of the other witches in the coven know anything, It’ll be hard though since some killed all the elders.”

Turned out you were actually in the memory for hours and now you weren’t sure where Theo was, it was easy to follow his scent though, Klaus had taught you how to use your senses better allowing for more options when tracking someone down. You ended up heading towards the gym. “Am I interrupting something?” You asked when you saw that Malia and Theo were talking not that you liked how close she was to him. “No.” Malia snarled before walking out. “Are you okay?” You weren’t really sure who you were asking but the only answer that you got from Malia was a slammed door. You looked at Theo who seemed to be smirking at the encounter and then he finally looked at you. “Are you okay?” He asked as he realised your eyes were glowing. “Yeah, I’m fine.” You answered as you eyes travelled down his arms and you walked closer grabbing his wrist and taking a deep breath as you noticed the (Y/I) on his arm. “What?” He asked. “Look.” You said putting your wrists together and he frowned. “With your other eyes.” He looked at you for a second and then finally looked down at your arms and while he did you just looked at him, you should have looked lower than is neck but your eyes kept travelling and you didn’t even realise that Theo was watching you. “What is it?” He asked as you snapped your eyes back to his. “Apparently according to a friend of mine we’re linked, the dream that I had it was me and you, you were the boy the marks are the evidence of the spell.” You explained. “What friend?” He asked. “Um Davina, she’s a witch that I met in New Orleans.” You answered and he nodded. “I have to go talk to Scott.” He said grabbing his jacket. “About this?” You asked, he shook his head. “We probably shouldn’t worry about this until we know what it is,” Theo suggested. “We’ll find out I promise.” He leant down and kissed your temple before leaving the room, you frowned what he had done didn’t feel wrong but you barely knew the guy.

“I need to test a theory.” You said as you walked down the hall with Malia. “What do you mean?” She asked. “I mean if they went through all of the trouble of finding a witch to do a spell, they need me for something, they are less likely to want to hurt me right?” You asked. “How can you be sure I mean they did this years ago.” She argued and you nodded. “But is it really a coincidence that I ended up back here the same time that they did?” You asked and she nodded.

The fight was not going well for Malia and in a moment of what Klaus would call crazy you jumped forward pushing Malia back towards the Elevator, the attacks seemed to slow as he tried to get around you, Malia harshly pulled you back into the elevator as the doors closed and you breathed a sigh of relief. “We never should have read that book.” Scott gasped and you raised an eyebrow. “It was probably the best thing that I could have done.” You smirked and he rolled his eyes. “They don’t want to hurt me, they need me for something, you can use me as a shield.” “They will do no such thing.” Klaus glared and you rolled your eyes. “What are you doing here?” You asked. “I tried to call you, you didn’t answer,” Klaus informed you. “So..?” You asked. “So you used a tracking spell?” “Your phone is easier to track.” Klaus winked and squinted at him. “Heard of overbearing parents, well introduce you to the overbearing Alpha!” You said as if presenting a show. “We’re done here.” Klaus declared. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” You whispered. “We’ll see,” Klaus called. “I’ll definitely see you tomorrow.” You winked before walking away.

Part 7 >>

Requests and general question!

#teen wolf #teen wolf imagine #teen wolf one shot #the originals #the originals imagines #the originals one shots #theo raeken #theo raeken imagine #theo raeken one shots #klaus mikaelson #niklaus mikaelson #Scott McCall #rebekah mikaelson #hayley marshall #elijah mikaelson #stiles stilinski #maila tate #malia hale

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hotcocosharing · 7 years

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Lose To Win Chapter 15: One Hell Of A Night (Ota / Reader Smut)

Title: Lose To Win Chapter 15 Fandom: Kiss By The Baddest Bidder & Her Love In The Force Rated: Drama, Thriller, Angst, Fluff, Smut, Mystery? MPD’s MC: Mika HIJIKATA KBTBB’s MC: Mia SAKATA Characters: Goto, Kaga, Shuichi, Eisuke, Soryu, Mamoru, Baba, Ota

Summary: Ota and Baba on the moves, well Ota’s one slightly involves more- more energy, more moan and sweat and among other things between reader’s character- silver-red-rose Background: Mika went to the Tres Spades Hotel under Eisuke’s request. (Order) and led to seeing her ex- Hyogo Kaga. With Namba’s persuasion, Eisuke agrees to work with Public Safety, going on an eight days cruise trip with Kaga, Goto and Mika. What kind of mystery and danger await? You have no idea!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ Chapter 1: The Reunion Chapter 2: RSVP Chapter 3: Recharge Chapter 4: Welcome Back Chapter 5: Decision Of A Lifetime Chapter 6: Our Story Chapter 7: Stress Release Chapter 8: Play Thing Chapter 9: What The Three Words Mean Chapter 10: A Real Man Chapter 11: The CEO Chapter 12: Boarding Chapter 13: What Did You Wish For? Chapter 14: Don’t Tease Me

Chapter 15: One Hell Of A Night

Most people wouldn’t at all be sure about the idea of being tied up, it sounds sexy in theory but in reality, it could be entirely something else. And it can be, depending on your partner. Staring into the pair of brown and lustful eyes, Mirana tries not to show her worries as well as anticipation.

“Do you like getting tied up by all your patients?” He asks with a smirk that doesn’t match with his angelic face.

With the swing of the pendulum muted, her room feels unsettlingly still. Silence seizes the room and the doctor shakes her head, "No but if it’s you Mr. Kisaki, I’m happy to make an exception.“

Twenty minutes ago, Mirana never would have guessed to have the famous Ota Kisaki in her room, the man she has admired for so long- technically his work but still Mirana totally fan girl the whole situation and tells him how much she loves his work, what an inspiration he is until the blonde artist returns her compliment by playing a clip that should not exist.

To Mirana’s surprise, she watches herself on the screen with her hand pressing her legs, soon her skirt is lifted up and she begins rubbing against her panties while her other hand’s squeezing her breasts.

“Naughty doctor,” Ota whispers into her ear. Mirana nearly forgets to breath, eyes wide and fix on the screen. “Someone’s a bad girl,” he adds.

Mirana shivers, “Where did you get this?” Ota shrugs, “What do you want?” On screen, she climbs up the examination bed, getting comfortable right before she pulls out a rather impressive looking dildo. “Oh!” Ota chuckles, “Naughty doctor playing with herself at work. Did you change the sheet?”

Mirana pushes his phone away and slaps his left cheek, “What the hell do you want?” She asks through clenched teeth.

“Just want to make a deal, well also to punish the bad girl in the process.” Ota whispers, “A very bad girl.” Moving her hair out of the way, he starts to kiss and nibble her neck.

“What kind of deal?” She asks, scolding herself internally for enjoying this while her brain tells her not to.

This is how it starts, a deal- trading information for her “behavior”.

A barely audible moan plays from Ota’s phone, “Horny?” The artist asks, one of his hands cupping her breast and he gives her nipple a little pinch. Mirana whimpers, still transfixed by this whole situation. Her breathing is getting louder as Ota continues to tease her breasts. She licks her lips, wishing her hands to be free and to touch the bulge inside his trousers.

“What do you say when there’s something you want?” His hand travels down her stomach to slip between her thighs.

“Please…”

Leaning in, he kisses her as his fingers rubs at her heated center.

“Will … you … punish me?” She hesitantly asks, sinking lower onto the bed and spreading her legs to give him more room. God, she can’t believe The Ota Kisaki is looking directly at her sex!

“Mmmm,” The artist sounds satisfied, “good girl.” Ota places his phone close by so they’d both watch the screen while he focus back on her nipples. By this point, Mirana’s fucking herself and on the edge of orgasm in the clip. Ota chuckles and slips his hand inside her drenched panties so he could touch her wet pussy without the barrier. But as soon as her wall tightens, Ota releases his fingers and searches for her used vibrator.

Mirana could not hold her loud moan as the large vibrator enters her, if he makes her feel this good with a fake cock, it’ll be heavenly with his own. Moaning louder, Mirana calls his name as he increases the speed and soon, she’s coming from her first orgasm. Instead of stopping, the artist fucks her even harder, using his other hand to rub and pinch her clit. Her back arch and her limbs freeze as shock of bliss run through her entire body.

“Is this too much for you to handle? Should I stop?” Ota kisses his way and his first lick on her clit almost kills her, “Fuck, you taste good, doc.” His hot breath ghosting her heated core right before he sucks all her dripping juice. “Mmmm,“ Ota says, vibrating his lips around her nub. “So… what are all these files on your desk, Doctor Edwards?”

“Oh god,” Mirana gasps. Her eyes roll back as his lips and tongue brings her right to the edge, she feels a second wave of orgasm round the corner.

Suddenly, Ota stops. Pulling the vibrator out in one go with the tip of his tongue just touching her folds. “I won’t be able to continue unless you give me an answer, doc.”

“I…..,” she pants. “Those are …” Her mind is blank and it takes every ounce of her strength to gather what she’s about to say. “Patients files, these are the medical records of our guests on this cruise.”

“All the guests?”

She nods and lower her head at Ota with a pleading look. He sucks her clit again and then she’s cumming, her whole body shuddering in pleasure ways that she’d never imagined possible. Ota’s grinning as he gets back up and meets her eyes, “Now tell me what exactly do you do here.”

“Okay,” Marian obeys. “but only if you fuck me with your own dick.” And in the next two hours, Ota happily obliges and satisfies the blonde doctor so many times that she loses count, and almost her consciousness too. She barely manages to tell him what he asks, how she’s recruited, the detailed medical history of each guest and staff, including sealed information.

Ota Kisaki is over the moon to find a new pet on the vessel and the fact that he has some kind of homework to show Eisuke after the bonus of having his fun. This trip turns out to be much more entertaining than he expects.

Once Mirana has caught her breath, she runs to the locked drawer and dails the only number on that mobile phone, “I’ve done what you ask, now I want what I ask for!”

Later that day

Ota’s extra lively after his intimate “sessions” with the doc, especially when Eisuke’s is satisfied with his findings which means he’d be free to do whatever he wants till the next order arrives. Maybe he’d play with the doctor again, training her to be a better pet then maybe he’ll keep her when they’re back in Tokyo.

The grand thief brings good news too, he has found the two hidden floors with heavily guarded securities. Luckily he has planted hidden cameras along the corridors, in hope to have a bit of clue before they finalize their next step. For now, everyone needs to get ready for another dinner party, especially Mia who couldn’t help with her grin as soon as she’s told the special guest of tonight will be her all time favorite band Revance!

On the other hand, Mika looks rather displeased because it means she’ll see the person she hates most (maybe after Eisuke)- fucking Prince Iori!

Hyogo Kaga, however has no interest in whatever is happening in the party as all he’d think of right now is the message he’s just received from Ayumu- two identified staffs on this cruise who’re confirmed to be active assassins now known as Star and Hikaru. His eyes will only be focusing on finding these two for tonight and nothing else.

Tonight is going to be one hell of a night.

Chapter 16: Feeling Lucky?

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transparentmanposts · 7 years

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A Demon Says," Trick or Treat, I'm Dress Up As A Ghost."

This article is written to discus what Ghosts are,according to what is written in the Bible about them. The reason i am writing about this subject,is not because other have neglected to write about it. I am motivated to write on this subject out of my dismay of the numerous people who claim to be students of the bible,yet hold unbiblical view on this subject.

As I stated in all my topical studies articles I have written, I am not attempting to mention every scriptural reference in the Bible on this subject. But to present portion of scripture that clearly with out a doubt shed the light of truth on the subject.

My Theories On Why People Want to Believe in Ghosts;

People are hart broken by the death of a loved one. They want to still believe they can carry on a relationship with diseased.

People want to believe their decreased loved one is going to guide them or protect them from harm.

People want to believe they can right wrong from the other side of the grave. The first problem with trying to commune with the dead to receive guidance and protect and have wrongs righted, are an act of Idolatry against God. When we look out side of God’s Hand of provision , for physical and spiritual needs. We our placing something or some one else on the throne of God in our lives.

Exodus 20:3-5American Standard Version (ASV)

3 Thou shalt have no other gods [a]before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me,

The Exodus 20:3-5American Standard Version (ASV)

3 Thou shalt have no other gods [a]before me.

Bible forbid The contact with the dead :

Isaiah 8:19-20 When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

There is only one occasion that is recorded in the Bible where God allowed a living person to talk to a deceased person. The incident involved a disobedient King,King Saul, who had his anointing of being king of Israel,and given to David who God had anointed to take Saul’s place. Saul was removed from being King by God , for his act of disobedience of offing the sacrifice to God before going into war. The sacrifice was only excepted by god when it was offered by his o pointed prophet Samuel.

So Saul facing a coming battle with the Philistines who brought their soldiers together to attack Israel. Saul saw their numbers and was scared to the point of shaking. He seeks God guidance, and god is silent. So Saul seek out a medium , to try to get her to make contact with Samuel ( who has died) to get guidance on how to fight the Philistines.

Here is the passage of scripture( advise you read the whole chapter)

1 Samuel 28:8 – 20

8 That night, Saul put on different clothing so nobody would recognize him. Then he and two of his men went to the woman, and asked, “Will you bring up the ghost of someone for us?”

9 The woman said, “Why are you trying to trick me and get me killed? You know King Saul has gotten rid of everyone who talks to the spirits of the dead!”

10 Saul replied, “I swear by the living Lord that nothing will happen to you because of this.”

11 “Who do you want me to bring up?” she asked.

“Bring up the ghost of Samuel,” he answered.

12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed. Then she turned to Saul and said, “You’ve tricked me! You’re the king!”

13 “Don’t be afraid,” Saul replied. “Just tell me what you see.”

She answered, “I see a spirit rising up out of the ground.”

14 “What does it look like?”

“It looks like an old man wearing a robe.”

Saul knew it was Samuel, so he bowed down low.

15 “Why are you bothering me by bringing me up like this?” Samuel asked.

“I’m terribly worried,” Saul answered. “The Philistines are about to attack me. God has turned his back on me and won’t answer any more by prophets or by dreams. What should I do?”

16 Samuel said:

If the Lord has turned away from you and is now your enemy, don’t ask me what to do. 17 I’ve already told you: The Lord has sworn to take the kingdom from you and give it to David. And that’s just what he’s doing! 18 When the Lord was angry with the Amalekites, he told you to destroy them, but you didn’t do it. That’s why the Lord is doing this to you. 19 Tomorrow the Lord will let the Philistines defeat Israel’s army, then you and your sons will join me down here in the world of the dead.

20 At once, Saul collapsed and lay stretched out on the floor, terrified at what Samuel had said. He was weak because he had not eaten anything since the day before.

Thou for His purposes God allow Samuel to speak with King Saul ,from beyond the grave,We know from Jesus re accounting of the after life,of the two different places that that Lazarus and the Rich man end up in.

We learn of the following truths:

8 That night, Saul put on different clothing so nobody would recognize him. Then he and two of his men went to the woman, and asked, “Will you bring up the ghost of someone for us?”

9 The woman said, “Why are you trying to trick me and get me killed? You know King Saul has gotten rid of everyone who talks to the spirits of the dead!”

10 Saul replied, “I swear by the living Lord that nothing will happen to you because of this.”

11 “Who do you want me to bring up?” she asked.

“Bring up the ghost of Samuel,” he answered.

12 When the woman saw Samuel, she screamed. Then she turned to Saul and said, “You’ve tricked me! You’re the king!”

13 “Don’t be afraid,” Saul replied. “Just tell me what you see.”

She answered, “I see a spirit rising up out of the ground.”

14 “What does it look like?”

“It looks like an old man wearing a robe.”

Saul knew it was Samuel, so he bowed down low.

15 “Why are you bothering me by bringing me up like this?” Samuel asked.

“I’m terribly worried,” Saul answered. “The Philistines are about to attack me. God has turned his back on me and won’t answer any more by prophets or by dreams. What should I do?”

16 Samuel said:

20 At once, Saul collapsed and lay stretched out on the floor, terrified at what Samuel had said. He was weak because he had not eaten anything since the day before.

21 The woman came over to Saul, and when she saw that he was completely terrified, she said, “Your Majesty, I listened to you andalled

Thou God allow Saul to speak with the prophet Sameul from beyond the grave. Jesus taght by share a true story about Lazarous and The Rich man,the two differnt places each went to to spend enternity in, and about the enteral boudries that separated the dead from the living,and Heaven from Hell.

Here are trueth about the after life:

Abraham’s Bosom. This was the place that all who walked by faith and obedience to the Lord,in His promised of His coming savior into the world. This place was lifted lived up to Heaven after the death of Christ on the cross. It no longer has a place in the earth.

Hades This is a place for all who live rebellous and disobedient lives befor God,Who reject God’s savior who was prophsized to come,Who has come, and is Coming back again. This place is still located in the eath.

Great gulf fixed, Their was anexspance between Abraham’s Bosom. and Hades. People could not travel between the two places.

The dead could not leave Abraham’s Bosom. and Hades. Thye dead could not enter,nor comunicate with the living world.

Here Jesus’ s teaching on the account of Lazarus and the rich Man

Luke 16:19-31King James Version (KJV)

19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

A fauls belief many have and might even be niev enough to back their eternal destination on, is the belief that they will have time in the after life is to atone for their own sins,or have a secound chance to change their hart toward God and recieve salvation by puting their faith in christ. The trueth is, that once we leave this mortal world,our decision are final, and our destinations are lock into for eternity.

Scripture that support this truth:

Hebrews 9: 27-28 27 And inasmuch as it is [u]appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment; 28 so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation.

A lot of people swear they have encountered ghosts! If their are no such thing as ghost, ,What are they interacting with?

The answer is, they are interacting with fallen angels. Fallen angels will appear as an angel of light. They may take the form of a decease person,to deceive per-sway their victim to letting down their guard ,and lead them into participating in activity that is forbidden by God, and that will position the victim for demon possession.

One of the clear signs that your ghost is really a fallen angel,is what might start out as a friendly encounter, will progress to a disruptive and violent consuming relationship. So at all cost if you do come across a fallen angel,tell it to leave your presence in the Name of Jesus ,God All Mighty! Don’t enter a battle of wits with these creature because they were created with superior intelligence and strength. But they are bound to obey the authority of Jesus the Christ!

Written By Stephen J. Vattimo August 26, 2017

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